#this was monstrously long

[rainintheevening]

For Broken Constellations: 12, 14, 20, 24

I want you to know that I was seriously tempted to ask for number 1 but refrained.

From these asks.

12 - What's your favorite line from this fic?

But then Love spoke.

(Because of that BUT. But holds so much possibility, it is the turning point, the change in the story. But then! And Love. It is Love that changes everything; Love that conquers fear, pride, anger. Love speaking, calling our names. It is Love that everything turns on. Four words, and Hope is born.)

14 - Write a little snippet set in this verse, but with a character you haven't used so far. (Or if you've used everyone, one you haven't utilized much.)

Sorry, this turned into part of a scene. Featuring Squatch! My beloved little Bothan, and maybe my fave OC ever.

Enn was already sitting cross-legged in his usual spot, dead centre in the cave mouth, shadow stretching behind him. Squatch smothered a yawn as he stepped out into the evening light, and gladly collapsed into his master’s lap, like an untidy heap of fur and limbs.

"Tired?"

Enn sounded mildly amused, and Squatch hastily straightened himself out.

No, he started to say, before he caught himself. A Jedi had to be honest. "A little," he admitted, and let himself relax against his master’s chest. He liked how big Enn was, it made him feel safe, as if he was a pup again, being held by Papa, even if Enn was a human.

Enn tilted his head to glance down at him, and smiled, making the two halves of the pale scar at the corner of his right eye crinkle together. "Ah, the little Bothan is a little tired."

"You're trying to be funny."

Enn snorted, bumped his chin against the top of Squatch's head. "One of these days you'll realise I am."

"Maybe."

Squatch didn't have the energy to continue the banter, and after a short silence, they both exhaled at the same moment.

Squatch felt Enn's chin settle on his head, before he wrapped both arms around Squatch. Squatch patted the gloved metal hand that rested over his stomach, the way he used to pat his mother's soft furry one.

The green grass rolled away into the valley, the stream bubbled softly, and the sun made everything soft and warm. Down by the mines they would be banking up the smelting fires, down in the village the lights would be lit. The green-tinted sky shaded down in front of them in yellow, orange, and red.

Enn said that where he grew up, on Tatooine, they had two suns, and therefore two sunsets. Squatch had never seen that before. He thought one was beautiful enough.

20 - Share THREE headcanons! But about different characters.

-Cal often reads memories of Anakin off of things in Obi-Wan’s quarters at the Temple.

-Squatch is left-handed, so Anakin ends up teaching him how to use a lightsaber in either hand.

-Once, when visiting Tatooine, Luke and Leia sneak off to hunt a Krayt dragon. Rex and Echo nearly get killed by said Krayt.

24 - Ramble about something you haven't gotten to talk about yet.

I am nuts about Squatch, okay? He's this little kid of a Bothan (furry and cuddly!) who shows up when Anakin is two millimeters above rock bottom, is entirely too pathetic for Anakin to not care (especially since he is trying to find his mother, whom he's been separated from for almost a year), and then becomes the one to catch Anakin when rock bottom caves through. For a time they are each the others primary reason to keep living.

Squatch is like 13 or 14, but parts of him are far older, and other parts far younger. His humor is dry, but he's a dreamer, and he loves colours. He's Force-sensitive and it's in trying to teach him the basics of understanding and harnessing that, that Anakin walks himself through the basics again, and starts to remember what being a Jedi is truly about.

It's because of Squatch that Anakin takes the name Enn Kenobi. Because he can't use his real name, he doesn't even feel like he has a name, but Squatch insists on knowing his name. (When Force Ghost Qui-Gon shows up, Squatch finds out Enn's real name, but he sticks with 'Enn'.)

They save each other. They breathe new life into each other. Qui-Gon might be Anakin’s guide for much of the healing process, but for years Squatch is his touchstone. Squatch makes Anakin want to be better. To get better, to heal. Because this youngling needs a master, and a good one.

Anakin is Squatch's protector, his teacher, but also his friend. Squatch saw his father killed, and has lost his sister and mother, so he needs a parent, and he latches onto Anakin like a barnacle. He sees Anakin’s thoroughly messed up state of mind, and it doesn't make him less in Squatch's eyes. It just makes Squatch care about him even more.

They're both suicidal when they meet, that's the thing. And then they both decide the other should live. So they balance each other out, until they know they want to live themselves.

And then they build a starship together, from the ground up, and they run together. A couple space nomad Jedi, doing good, finding kids to send to the Temple, keeping ears and eyes out for any of Squatch's missing family. Learning from each other, chasing stars, Anakin seeing the galaxy anew through Squatch's eyes, Squatch seeing more than he had ever dreamed.

Years later, when they finally see each other again, they can look at their families, and be glad they survived, be grateful that they saved each other, be glad that they chose life.

I will go on at length about them when I write the dang fic. I love them so much. They really are the Tony and Peter of Broken Constellations. No surprise there.

[endlessburningdarkness]

what if i wrote a bingjiu post-canon redemption for both evil fucks, the originals, luo binghe and shen qingqiu. they get reincarnated back to the moment before luo binghe is pushed into the abyss. shen qingqiu qi deviates from the shock of having limbs again and luo binghe thinks it'll be a nice dream if he takes shen qingqiu into the abyss with him. they both fall.

que a very long angst train where luo binghe battles the desire to kill shen qingqiu vs the desire to keep him alive out of spite. shen qingqiu honestly wants to die and is firmly in denial about what he put an innocent luo binghe through (the first time) even as he witnesses the brat suffering (poison, broken bones, exhaustion, loss of limbs etc). the idiot demon insists on keeping him alive even though it slows him down and puts him at risk. the beast got his revenge, why won't he let him go?

luo binghe wants more than revenge, this time, he wants answers.

forced bonding via circumstance go! at some point, they have to fuck or die hehe

[frogeyedape]

I am so unbelievably pissed off. FUCK HOAs

Oh, my trash/recycling bin can't be visible except on pickup day? Ok whatever fine I hate you but I can deal with this

Weekly inspections?????? FU FU FU FU FU

SECOND NOTICE ALSO WE'RE CHARGING YOU MONEY TO SEND YOU CERTIFIED MAIL OF THIS TOTALLY LEGIT TOTALLY SECOND NOTICE OF WHAT IS ACTUALLY A VIOLATION cue me: checks notes. Hmm. My recycling bin was. on the curb. on recycling pickup day. You know. The day it has to be out. The day it is motherfucking ALLOWED TO BE FUCKING OUT AND VISIBLE.

so. 1) not a violation

I have sent them the trash AND recycling pickup schedules, which are DIFFERENT, btw

I have disputed the fact of the violation

I have disputed the linking of this "violation" to a previous violation MONTHS AGO--their "first notice" in this case was a "Courtesy Notice" LITERALLY 5 MONTHS AGO and they've done so many inspections since then and my bin CLEARLY WASN'T OUT IN THOSE INTERVENING MONTHS so WTMFH

So I am posting like a crazy person here instead of sending the absolutely deranged email I almost sent (I did send a slightly less deranged version with the disputes, and requesting a hearing)

OMG. It has been. Less than one hour since I learned this fun fun news. My bin was out YESTERDAY, y'all. YESTERDAY. I am going to blow a gasket

[pencildragons]

snippet from my upcoming foxquin fic sinner, sinner (come to dinner) for foxquinweek !!!!!

“Commander Fox,” says the Chancellor, smiling his kindly smile. Fox stands very still and stares straight ahead, past Palpatine and through the great transparisteel window at the city below, skyline exploding in the brilliance of the sun’s final dying rays. The fanciful part of him that will one day be responsible for his death imagines that, if he’s just still enough, Palpatine will forget him entirely. It’s ridiculous, he knows, he knows, of course he knows, but he clings to it anyway, endeavours to move as little as possible, turns trying to hide even the slight rise and fall of his chest into some sort of test of how good his impression of being a block of stone is. “Sir,” says Fox. “Commander Fox,” Palpatine says again, still smiling that awful fucking smile, but sadder, now, mournful, bushy eyebrows doing something terrible and expressive. “You have disappointed me.” “Yes, sir.” “I gave you a very simple directive, Commander, and still you failed.” Fox is barely breathing now. Only a few klicks away, the spire of the Jedi Temple burns in a halo of pink-red, spearing through the cloud-strewn sky. It looks like one of the paintings hung in the Senate rotunda corridors, the ones that like as not cost more to procure than he did. His throat is dry. He tries to swallow. It sticks. It is likely he is dehydrated. There is a little light flashing on top of the spire, warning away in-atmo transports and low-flying starships. Orange-blue-green. Orange-blue-green. He stares at it, so he doesn’t have to look at Palpatine. “Yes, sir.” “Such inadequacy is, of course, unacceptable, Commander, as I’m sure you’re aware. I really had hoped it would not come to this, you understand.” Liar, Fox thinks. You love this. “But there is only one way to learn, and that is through experiencing consequences of your actions. Perhaps next time you will not take your sworn duty so lightly, hmm?” “Yes, sir.” “Draw your blaster, please, Commander.” Fox blinks and, in his surprise, breaks his stillness to turn his head to face Palpatine properly. “…Sir?” “Must I repeat myself twice? Draw your blaster from your holster.” Slowly, Fox draws. He wonders if this is some sort of test, if he’s going to be punished further for making his weapon naked in front of the Supreme Chancellor of the entire fucking Republic. (In the light of the dusk spilling through the window into the opulent office, Palpatine’s eyes seem almost gold. It is for but a brief moment, just the rays of the fat sun catching oddly, and then they return to that sharp, ice-chip grey like nothing at all happened.) “Good,” says Palpatine, and smiles again. Like this, he looks like some natborn’s father’s father—grandfather, he believes the term is—all benevolent wrinkles and knowing looks. “Set it to kill.” Fox sets it to kill. It is not a difficult thing. He is just as much a weapon as the blaster in his hands, well-oiled, clean, smooth. Efficient. He was designed for this. It is easier to follow orders mindlessly; his brain, like all their brains (except, perhaps, Kote’s, but Kote’s a little fucked up and is an outlier for everything else, anyway), is primed for command, made to obey. A perfect, thoughtless gun, with just enough ruthlessness and self-determination to set them apart from the CIS’ droids. That’s the idea, anyway. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Kaminoans failed in the execution of something. “Turn around, Commander,” Palpatine murmurs, words soft and smooth and rich as the heavy velvet-fabric from his home planet that he has all his clothes cut from. “And fire at will.”

rbs deeply appreciated :]

[aerequets]

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: SPY x FAMILY (Manga), SPY x FAMILY (Anime)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Anya Forger & Loid Forger | Twilight & Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess Characters: Loid Forger | Twilight, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Anya Forger, Shopkeeper (SPY x FAMILY), Matthew McMahon

Additional Tags: identity reveals, post reveal pre relationship, Slow Burn, First Kiss, dual missions (kinda), Getting Together, Pining, Yearning, lowkey a love letter to yor, garden being garden

Summary:

“So, your proposition,” Yor hastened, “is just that we… ignore all this? Ignore everything we know about each other?”

Loid nodded. “See nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing.”

Or: Secrets are revealed, choices are made, and lines are blurred.

[navree]

The words echo within her ears, pound at her skull. Cutthroats in the Red Keep, telling their victims that she is the architect of their doom. As if Aegon's little boy could bring back her own, that one assassination could scrub the stain from the other, that unjust death is justice indeed. And others whispering it too, to the point where it has come to Dragonstone. Rhaenyra understands the gravity of what transpired in the Red Keep against her siblings and their children, and makes different choices.

Fandom: House of the Dragon (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms Pairing(s): Alicent Hightower & Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aegon II Targaryen & Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen & Rhaenyra Targaryen Words: 15,213 Chapters: 1/1

[devouring-hive]

She had gotten it in her head that since the vest she was wearing had already torn somewhere anyways that she may as well go whole-hog for a meal, damn the consequences.

Well, indeed, were it not her own estate the consequences certainly would have damned her. Fortunately, no one is going to call her out for waddling about topless in her own home.

[snowthornes]

➸ Avriel | @uroboros-if

✦ Moment of Creation 🍂

In the all-encompassing cradle of the universe, Avriel came into existence within the embrace of light. They first felt pain. The universe wracked every thread of their existence with the agony of every being, all at once — then soothed the fractures left behind with the love of all that ever was and ever will be. Upon his first time laying eyes on another being, he attempted to replicate her smile. The first... emotion he ever felt in the waking world was curiosity.

✦ Pieces of a Soul 🍂

➸ Avriel stands at 5'9. He sits with his knees curled against his chest whenever he can get away with it, making him appear to be smaller than he actually is. 🍂

➸ He can be quite contradictory in the sense that while he approaches the world with an unrelenting — sometimes reckless ��� optimism, he’s always very surprised whenever someone seems to enjoy or even want his company. Years of subtle, minor, rejections have trailed him since his creation, as if the waking world was determined to wear him down little by little. As a result, he has a severely low view of himself when it comes to his worth as a friend or as company.

Despite that, he persists with dogged optimism and continues to seek out the company of other beings. He keeps trying, keeps hoping, but he never really… expects to actually get anything back. 🍂

➸ Rarely holds grudges. He could be called forgiving at best, and overly passive at worst. 🍂

➸ Not one to hide his emotions, he often speaks without thinking. Fortunately, for what he lacks in tact, he makes up for in intuition. He’s quick to sense the emotions of others, including discomfort or distress, and will immediately back off and apologize if he feels he was the cause. He’ll attempt to make amends, but whether he's successful or not is a different matter. 🍂

➸ Avriel loves to dance! He started learning when he was young and picked up different styles by observing other mortals and deities, though Rafaele was also a very willing (and delighted) teacher. Would be all for dipping his dance partner in a dance! In fact, it's at the top of his bucket list! 🍂

➸ Has a sword he often uses in his dances. Avriel picked up sword dancing when he was young. Years of diligently honing his skills in the art have made him skilled in the dance of the sword, able to move his body and blade with the lightness of a swallow. 🍂

➸ Like most beings, Avriel has his personal preferences. He particularly likes eating meat. His favorite flower is the Krio firosafa. Delicate and enduring, they are often overlooked because they are always there, as if there would never come a day when the streets would truly lay bare of them — Avriel thinks there is much worth treasuring in that. 🍂

➸ Extremely affectionate. He makes it incredibly obvious when he's happy to see someone, whether platonic or romantic, and will perk up with sparkling eyes upon seeing them approach. Loves pestering friends once they've gotten close enough — a befriended (or romanced!) Ciocana may find that a happy and secure Avriel can be even more of a menace than they are. Although he would settle down somewhat when with a more reticient friend, content to accompany them in quieter activities. As long as he's given a sense of security and acceptance, Avriel is happy to follow their lead.

It's uncertain what the ettiquette is in Galaio in regards to skinship, but if Avriel were a being in the modern world he would be the type to affectionately link arms with his friends or drape himself over their shoulders. 🍂

➸ Becomes quiet and subdued when upset. It is rare that something affects him to this extent, but when it does, he shuts down like a flower withered in winter. There is an off-putting silence in his expression, in his downcast eyes. It is best not to leave him alone when in this state. 🍂

➸ Is very active, and prefers to take the longer, more creative route rather than simply using the streets. He often climbs, leaps, and bounds his way around Lucidio in an effort to add some fun to his hectic yet rather repetitive schedule. It works, most times! He appears to be drawn to high places, and can often be seen crouching on a pillar or making himself at home on a roof. 🍂

➸ Is actually quite content with his current life. While he’d probably definitely fall over from shock and joy if he got even a single offering from a mortal, his lack of power or recognition isn't something that weighs on his mind, not anymore. He’s long come to terms with his status and makes the best of it — though the mockery occasionally thrown at him still affects him.

Although it would be nice if the world wouldn’t look upon him so harshly, Avriel’s dearest wish is to have meaningful relationships with other beings — bonds where he can safely go to them and know that they want him there. If he were able to have such relationships one day… well. Who could ask for anything more? 🍂

➸ His fathers are his anchors. Avriel is a being who thrives off love and attention; his fathers have always given him the steadfast, unwavering love and acceptance that the world so often withheld from him. Even now, he actively seeks out them out when the endless streams of errands in Lucidio start to make him feel a bit too lonely, a bit too isolated. He adores their frequent visits very much, and is always noticeably livelier than usual for a few days afterwards. Avriel loves them dearly. 🍂

✦ Height Chart

✦ Afterword from Distant Lands

You’ve reached the end of this monstrously long post. Congratulations! You survived 😌✨ I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to see this little person that I made, so. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ahead is an afterword elaborating a little more on the background of Avriel’s relationship with the others. I tried to make it short, but… it appears I’m not very good at this short and sweet thing. 🫡

When I started forming Avriel, I wanted to make it clear that he had imperfections of his own. He has qualities that will make him clash with the other characters of Uroboros — at the beginning, anyway. 

(In case you missed the link at the top of the post, Avriel is my MC for Uroboros by @uroboros-if !)

Due to his passive tendencies and his subconscious wish to preserve the “peace” that he has carved out for himself, Avriel will initially be extremely wary of Alessi and everything they stand for. The fall of the reign of the gods? He really doesn’t like the sound of that. But passive he may be, Avriel carries a heart that stubbornly longs to love the world and all its beings. The things Alessi will show him may just break Avriel out of the passive shell he's unknowingly created 🫡 I’m looking forward to seeing how they will clash and develop together in the future.

Avriel will have to look past the lens of his hero worship for Luciel in order to truly understand the person they are — imperfections and all. Though come what may, you can rest assured that Avriel will always be Luciel’s number one supporter! But to close that distance between them, Avriel will have to do his part and understand that putting the other person on a pedestal will only do more harm than good to a relationship.

His relationship with Luciel is inspired by the ‘looking’ scene with them. I imagine Avriel halting in place and staring Very Starry-eyed at Luciel during the times he meets them as the text from the Looking scene skitters through his head at the speed of light, a scenario I find extremely funny and will hold onto till the day I die. The MC talks about Luciel’s eyes and kindness a lot, and I took that fact and ran with it.

Salvatore… Avriel's relationship with him is quite complex. I’ll wait to see how future chapters develop before I write more about their relationship. However, I will say that I pounced on these paragraphs from the game to use as a foundation:

He opens and closes his mouth, tasting the words on his tongue before deciding. "Please, let's speak another time! I wish to hear more from you." You see a glimpse of his younger self—Salvatore from a bygone era, when things seemed less complicated, less troubling. You think time has robbed him a part of his spirit. He has become busy. So very busy.

I suppose I felt a faint sense of regret from that last paragraph. The regret of standing before a person once so very close to you, and now so changed. For the better, most people would say, but Avriel secretly wishes that Salvatore could have stayed as happy and carefree as in the past. Though Avriel doesn’t really know that. He’s not one for introspection. He just feels very complicated whenever he meets Salvatore, though he still does his best to regale the deity with comedic retellings of his errands in Lucidio. Just to make Salvatore laugh.

As for Ciocana, I’ll also wait to see how future chapters develop before further shaping his relationship with Avriel. I feel that Ciocana has a lot of hidden depth that we have yet to see. But going off of initial impressions alone, I can say that Avriel definitely had a very good first impression of the other deity. It was an instant squish, if you will. Avriel’s boundless energy syncs quite well with Ciocana’s mischief, and if given enough time to develop, I feel their dynamic has the potential to become the “ride or die (enthusiastic)” kind. 🫡✨

Aaand, that’s all. Thank you for reading this far (again). If you've somehow managed to read this far, then 💐🥺💍hand in marriage pls. Avriel was a joy to create, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he develops in the future. The world within Uroboros is so wonderfully crafted, its characters so vividly alive; Avriel would not have existed without it. I’m very grateful to the author for sharing their world with us. Thank you. Have a very good day, and may you all have as much fun writing and creating your characters as I did!

➸ Picrew:

[hockeyisforthegays]

the nanami things include btw

a short oneshot, pretty much done but im struggling on what beat to end on; out of these, most likely to be finished by nanami day if i really set my mind to it

the first chapter of a 5 part nanago fic that ive had slowly cooking on the backburner for ages. like 3/4 done. if you remember me mentioning a yuuji plays matchmaker fic ages ago its that one

anaother nanago fic that most definitely will not be ready for nanami day & the one youre most likely to get in preview form. bitter exes nanago weeeee

[tortoisesshells]

if you were in control of a dark shadows adaption (or, hypothetically, could alter the original; whichever you find more interesting to think about!) what does your ideal version of 1795 look like? are there things you would change? things you’d want to keep?

Let me preface this by saying I do genuinely like or appreciate a lot of the 1795 arc! When it's at its best, it's a tragedy born out of hubris and the terrible things we'll do for the people we love (or the terrible things we'll do to hold on to love. or the problem of love without respect). I'm up to episode 741, and the confrontation between Joshua and Barnabas over the latter's coffin is still one of the best scenes in the show, for my money. That said; Broadly speaking, most of my problems with 1795 either have to do with characterization, or with historical context: that DS's unwillingness to delve into historical realities undercuts its ability to talk about monsters, and that it completely mishandles Vicki to the point of functionally ruining the nominal main character (who, to be fair, was already being pushed out).

Historical Context: DS loves the past, conceptually, but it really doesn't deal in historical conditions, and that's on full display in 1795 - witchcraft trials? zippers? claiming a house built in the early 20th century, with the attendant architectural style, was actually built in the years leading up to 1795? okay. I forgive that, because we do live, narratively, in a world with witches and vampires and curses and passenger rail service north of Portland, ME after 1965 - and in a make-believe world where the costumes are as good as a budget of a crisp single and a pb&j can make 'em. I say this mostly lovingly: DS simply is not the kind of show that cares about historical plausibility, let alone accuracy. Plus, Reverend Trask was great, and on the basis of giving Jerry Lacy scenery to chew on, the witchcraft trial plotline is excused.

More seriously and damningly, I do think it's a glaring omission on a show being made and aired in the late 1960s to have three characters said to be from the (fictional) wealthiest family of planters and enslavers on Martinique and have that go unexamined and unpacked, especially when commentary on class in Collinsport has been a constant undercurrent (sometimes more of an under-trickle, or under-vague-breeze) since episode one - and because Joshua Collins is very explicit about how beneficial the connection between the two families will be for the Collinses, who always need cargo for their ships. [Since David Ford's here, you'll forgive the reference to 1776: "Molasses to Rum" playing vaguely in the background] But that's the problem with Post-Barnabas DS. Since there's a Collins running around befanged and literally drinking the blood of others, the show's lost interest in discussing how, exactly, the Collinses became wealthy and powerful, beyond the odd occasional reference to the fishing fleet and cannery or, in 1795, the shipyards. We've got a real vampire, what do we need all that metaphorical monstrosity and class/race/gender analysis for?

As a choice the show's made, I think it fundamentally undercuts one of the show's most reliable and interesting points of commentary: how charming and human some monsters are, or that humanity and monstrosity are not entirely mutually exclusive conditions.

also speaking of monstrosity. the show excuses Barnabas for so much outright evil because he preys on sex workers, primarily, and other assorted poor men and women of Collinsport, who the show ... doesn't really see as people. but that's a separate but not unrelated rant.

Characterization: really, this is about Vicki. So much of what I dislike about 1795 has to do with Vicki's characterization changing for the worse (granted, I think this problem starts much earlier, but see digression a below) once she hits the ground in 1795, AND that the 1795 arc continuously insulates her from the important parts of DS's narrative. If the whole point of Vicki landing in the past was to explain how it all began (whether that's Barnabas's vampirism, or the opening of the great house at Collinwood - Sarah's ghostly goals are unclear here), she's party to neither: Vicki spends very little time in Collinwood, and is kept completely apart from even a hint of knowledge that Barnabas is a vampire. In effect: Vicki, as nominal main character, gets sent into the past, but not as a character - she's just a windowpane, or a magic mirror as far as her importance to the narrative goes. Which is unfortunate for her, because as a character taking up space, she's given screen-time without agency, intelligence, or inner life. The only change that being dragged by her puppet strings through 1795 effects in Vicki Winters is a rope-burn from a failed hanging, an infected gunshot wound, and a I-wish-he-were-more-permanently-dead rebound boyfriend whose response to Vicki panicking about being hanged was to slap her for being hysterical.

Forgive me for being unimpressed.

As far as fixing it goes - there's where I've been striking out. She's fatally passive in 1795 as written. Why doesn't Vicki try to figure out how to get back to her present? (and if she doesn't, perhaps ... gesture at why Vicki might feel like there's not a lot to return to in the present? She nearly jumped from Widows' Hill about 10 episodes before 1795 started.) Why does Vicki persist in making herself suspicious, when she was introduced as a character hampered more by inexperience than true ignorance? In the idea 1795 that lives in my head, why wouldn't Vicki try to figure out who the real witch was, because - given her experiences with the supernatural! - surely a witch might be any help in getting her out of the 18th century and back into the present? End of day, she needs a real plot which doesn't end with her in prison unconnected to the Collinses. Whether that's searching for an escape hatch back to the Swinging Sixties, or Sarah's ghost giving her clear instructions - some kind of a goal! - Vicki either shouldn't exist in 1795 (recycle Moltke as another Collins sibling? that would add a wrinkle to the question of Vicki's antecedents) or she has to be given something to do.

&, finally ...

Digression A: In fairness to the 1795 arc, I think the arc was only following a pattern of characterization and plot involvement that started with Barnabas's arrival: first, that Vicki initially wasn't really involved in the Barnabas plot because she was more involved with the Liz & Jason plot, and, unfortunately for Vicki, everyone still talks about Barnabas, where no one (alas for Patrick and Bennett!) talks up the blackmail thing; second, I think, that the one-two punch of the definitive end of the era of metaphorical monsters & the Burke recast meant that a lot of the dramatic tension that Vicki was carrying either got dismissed or dissipated. We're not playing Jane Eyre any more, we're doing Dracula: Vicki's relationship with Roger and David no longer bears any dramatic weight. We've completely sidelined the question of Vicki's origins, so whether or not Liz is her mother doesn't matter (and the revelation and dismissal of Liz's not-actually-monstrous conduct sort of defangs that relationship, too? oh, Liz isn't actually a murderer? so mother or not, there's no strain on her relationship with the conspicuously virtuous Vicki.). Burke's no longer threatening to burn down Collinsport for revenge, and all of his various relationships with the Collinses or Collinsport denizens have gotten abruptly normalized, so there's no tension to his relationship with Vicki any more: he's rich (don't ask where the money came from), he's in love with her, and now he's chummy with all her friends/stand-in family members. He doesn't even have conversations that are totally just about pens or guns with Roger, for god's sake. The show kicked out all the pillars Victoria Winters as a character had been built on, and it only gets worse after 1795. No wonder Moltke left.

[miazeklos]

I'm writing a fic so long that I'll likely split it in two parts (because it's getting a bit heavy for a one-shot) and at one point in the writing process, I removed all of the outright smut and left it with a tasteful fade-to-black so that it wouldn't distract from the plot. Then I made the mistake of logging onto twitter, where I saw stupid smut-related discourse and am therefore adding it back in out of spite. Such is the way of the fic writer.

[gyn3c]

this is the coolest thing ever

[re-d4cted]

POST ABOUT THE GODS AU I CANT CARRY THIS BURDEN ALONE

you would be the one to ask 💀 I've been tormenting you for YEARS with this au

okay so since this is going to be a massive word vomit post ill put it under a cut after I give a quick summary of the basic premise

so there is a family of gods who are known to be cruel. who have a hatred for all mortals and will use them for their own entertainment as some sort of sick punishment for the wrongs of the past

philza, the God of death, and his sons techno, willow, grian (you can ask about this LATER), and tommy. who are the gods of blood, madness, tragedy, and chaos respectively

now to give a brief summary up to right before purgatory (I will be skipping over the grian stuff but if you want to know more about that I will explain) meaning I'm not going into full detail, because if I did this post would be a novel

*disclaimer!!!!!! I HATE dream but unfortunately he is a big villain in this au so he is gonna get mentioned just be aware that he will always be the most vile person in any au I make

DSMP

SO it all starts when willow gets bored of her challenges (the 100 player challenges) and decides she wants to do something new. she takes tommy and they disguse themselves as mortals and go to the land of dsmp to spread their madness and chaos there

tommy pretended to befriend tubbo because he found him interesting and then the three of them created l'manburg. tubbo doing it for a place to be free and the two gods doing it to see how other residents would react

the revolution was exactly what they wanted, beautifully chaotic and allowed willow to let her madness infect everyone who opposed l'manburg

erets betrayal wasn't planned but it was wonderfully entertaining for the gods watching the revolutionaries get beaten over and over just to keep getting back up

in the end tommy makes the deal to trade his disc's for independence because he and willow had already planned an election

and the elections go exactly as planned with the betrayal of schlatt being planned since the beginning. you see schlatt was someone willow had previously turned mad and she knew exactly what would happen if she brought him in

in Pogtopia is where things start to go off track, because tommy starts to realize that maybe his friendship with tubbo isn't just pretend and he starts trying to convince willow that blowing up l'manburg won't be as entertaining and leaving it be (it doesn't work)

techno just makes things more complicated because he wants blood to spill, and to help his brothers with their little game

the red festival and tubbos execution creates a conflict between techno and tommy, and willow just thinks it's because tommy wanted to mess with tubbo more. to settle this argument they fight in the pit

November 16th is when everything goes ary. at first everything is according to plan, techno "betrays" them, willow blows up the country, phil is waiting in the wings to collect all the souls. but then something unexpected happens, tommy doesn't go through with his part of the plan and refuses to kill tubbo

the others have to improvise, because even though they could kill everyone there, tommy doesn't want to and they aren't going to go against family, they couldn't care less about the mortals but tommy is another story and if he wants to play nice they'll let him play nice (for now). willow and phil stay back to keep an eye on him while also playing the parts of father haunted by his dead daughter just for the fun of it

and tommy does well for a bit, keeping his chaos in check at least, and not seeing tubbo as just another mortal (he couldn't care less about the others), he does find the newcomer interesting though and doesn't immediately dismiss them

when his chaos reaches a point where he needs to let some out he takes the new guy (ranboo) and goes to rob the mushroom house, things get a bit outta hand and the house ends up burning

tommy takes the fall

he gets exiled by the same person he went against his family for

he is hurt

brought to logstedshire, he plays along with whatever, letting his chaos and willows madness infect dream, taking joy in watching it consume the man. when he finally gets bored he leaves and joins his brother at his cabin

not even a week later the butcher army come to try and execute techno, which doesn't end well at all. tommy stayed behind while techno humored the mortals letting them attempt their little execution than easily breaking free and killing quackity in the process. phil goes with him

doomsday is planned by the gods to get back at the mortals who hurt their youngest. tommy blows up the community house so he give the warning for what's to come

during actual doomsday they finally reveal what/who they are, so the residents of New l'manburg can see just how badly they fucked up

tommy is supposed to kill tubbo, before he can however tubbo asks him if it was all fake, and tommy is honest. tells him that in the beginning it was but at some point that changed, and he started caring and now he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't. he can't even bring himself to kill tubbo

something shifts in tommy and he is no longer chaos, and instead becomes loyalty

phil, techno, and willow are blinded by rage towards the people who made tommy hurt and attempts to kill tubbo but something unexpected happens

for his accomplishment of doing the impossible, making a cruel God kind, tubbo is turned into a God. the God of forgiveness

the three leave once tommy runs up and hugs him, realizing Tommy's domain has shifted and that like it or not a pair of gods have just been born

ranboo ends up being taken to the cabin along with tubbo because he has no where else to go. it helps that the gods have all taken a liking to him

over the next few months tubbo along with ranboo start working with the gods to try and get them to see mortals as more than just tools for their entertainment (the two also get married and adopt micheal at this point)

everyone else on the smp believe beeduo got kidnapped by them and keep trying to "save them" and failing miserably every time

ranboo happily playing cards and winning with them, cut to quackity spying on them and thinking this must be some advanced torture technique

all is well until tommy and tubbo get attacked by dream using a god killing axe (he was angry that tubbo took his only chance to become a god and now wants to kill him). while protecting tubbo and fighting back (killing dream twice) sam and the others arrive and think it's tommy who snapped and attacked first (they still think he is chaos)

he gets captured and put into the prison that was built to keep the gods imprisoned. tubbo runs back to the cabin and tells the others what happened, and while he is breaking down tubbos domain shifts from forgiveness to destruction and becomes cruel

Niki joins them at this point and the syndicate is formed

over the next few months while tommy is trapped in the prison, tubbo pretends to be glad he is free and roams the server letting off radiation and slowly weakening and killing anyone he comes across. just biding his time until the syndicate is ready to break tommy out

when they are ready they strike at night, tubbo gets in by pretending he wants to settle things with tommy and "get peace", once he is on the moving bridge he reveals his true colours letting his radiation kill the warden

he finds tommy weak and in chains, tommy who even after months in prison, has not gone back to chaos. wasting no time tubbo destroys the chains and breaks down the "impenetrable" walls with his destruction. meeting up with the rest of the syndicate who were waiting on the outside

ranboo and Niki were told to stay behind at the cabin incase tubbo couldn't control his power, unfortunately that's what dream was expecting. so while the gods aren't there to protect them, dream attacks, they hold him back long enough for the others to get back but right as they get there ranboo is struck with the same axe dream used against tommy

niki takes tom so tubbo and willow can go to ran, while techno and phil fight off dream. willow plays a song to keep ranboo calm, while tubbo tries to stop the bleeding. in this moment they are not the cruel gods they are known as, and like tommy months earlier, their domains shift

madness becomes music, blood becomes protection, and death becomes family

dream is killed for good this time, ranboo is healed by phil who refuses to let his death take him, and they leave for good with the few people they care about. they can learn to be kind later for now they need to heal

between dsmp and qsmp

there is about a 1000 year gap between the two. and the first 400 of those years is spent happily traveling together and leaning to be kind with ranboo and micheal, who have been made functionally immortal by phil (he asked beforehand of course)

willow is the first to split off wanting to play his music for the world and distance herself from her past madness. then tommy leaves because he wants to explore the world, techno goes with him for protection

leaving phil to look after the _Beloved family who have made a little home for themselves. tubbo has to leave occasionally go preform whatever duties he has as a god, but he always comes back. and micheal goes on his own adventures for years, even decades at a time, he too always comes back

after 200 years of this little routine ranboo asks phil the question he's been dreading for 600 years. he waits until tubbo is out of the house and asks if he could take back the immortality. says that he's been thinking about it for a long time and now that he's lived such a long life he's ready. when phil asks if tubbo knows, ranboo can only say his expression would make him change his mind

after explaining that ranboo would still have to live out the rest of his natural lifespan and that ranboo has to promise to tell everyone sooner rather than later, it is done, and ranboo is mortal once again

the first ones told are micheal and tubbo, who comes home a year later, the tears are expected and there are a LOT of tears, it's almost like ranboo would drop dead any minute and not live nearly another 100 years. tommy, techno, and willow find out not long after and their reactions are similar, with lots of tears and hugs

they all promise to make as many memories in the next 100 years as possible

and once those 100 years are up, phil personally escorts ranboo to the afterlife to be taken care of by his wife, the goddess of death

ranboo would be joined by micheal not much later

NOW FOR QSMP

qsmp is set long after the gods have learned to be kind (thanks to the efforts of ranboo and micheal) now the family is off doing their own things and trying to atone for their pasts. their old domains will always be a part of them and they still have power over them, but they don't abuse that power

willow and phil just so happened to end up on the same train to quesadilla island together. little did they know the descendants of people they once knew (and tormented) would also be on the island, along with foolish and slime who are the same people from the smp

they both end up finding foolish and slime and apologizing for what happened in he past. slime doesn't really care cause the gods never messed with him much, if anything he was one of they few people they were kind to, and foolish had no problems since what they did never really effected him 💀

of course neither of them reveal what they are to any of the other residents (that don't already know) and just go on with their lives on the island, well willow goes off island for a while so she can go off and spread her music and phil stays behind giving small blessings to the islanders

when the kids come it becomes increasingly clear why phil was drawn to this place, he is the God of family after all. and to his surprise all of the kids have been blessed by various gods given to the residents to be raised as new champions, and of course the one phil ends up with just so happens to be blessed by one of phils own sons, techno

when willow comes back she can feel the presence of the young champions, but there is a stronger presence that she couldn't explain, at least not until she meets tallulah

because unlike the other egg children, tallulah isn't blessed by a god, and she wasn't born from the dragon like the others (I WILL BE MAKING A SEPARATE POST ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT IT GETTING LOST IN THE MASSIVE SUMMARY POST)

while the other eggs are simply blessed by gods, tallulah is one, and she's not just any god, she's a god born from music itself, from willow

she's not sure about being her mother at first, she's too scared her lingering madness will infect and ruin her, but when she helps her paint her first sunrise she knows she will never be able to let her go

when she has to leave again she promises to send her the prettiest birdsongs every morning so she knows she will always be there for her. phil promises to protect her with his life while willow is away

the nightmare that happens isn't actually a nightmare, it really happened, and it's the first time phil uses his influence over death in centuries. he refuses to let his kids die like that, but if something like this were to happen again he wouldn't be able to bring them back. not without the other islanders finding him out

and no one does find out, at least not for a while, when the Brazilians came a few of them seemed to know something was up but couldn't quite place what it was.

when tallulah got attacked by the code phil got carried away and death slipped from his grasp causing tallulahs death

and everything goes back to normal, or as normal as things could be, until Bobby's death. and there's nothing phil can do, his domain may be death but even he has rules he must follow and he's already broken them once, he cannot do it again. the most he can do is bring Bobby's soul to the living world and allow his parents one final goodbye

he can't help but feel guilty for not being able to do more for the grieving parents of the island

when the codes disguse themselves as Phil's kids he is pissed, and he can't help it when death surrounds him. if he uses an excessive amount of power while fighting them, the only one to notice is etoiles who had only seen philza use this kind of power once before

finding tubbo had been a surprise, and phil hadn't expected the warm hug he got. not after he left 300 years ago, after the loss of his family. but as it turns out he missed phil greatly and was excited to see him again

introducing him to tallulah and chayanne was easy, and they took to him quickly. phil was quick to make him their godparent (pun intended)

one day after putting the kids to bed with him, phil could tell there was something on tubbos mind. he didn't have a chance to ask what was wrong before tubbo spoke, saying he hadn't put a child to bed like this since... he couldn't even finish his sentence. sometimes he would see micheal in the egg children and it was just too much for him

and once again things seem to be going back to normal until the eggs are taken away. phil knows they aren't dead, he would have known if the were, but still their absence drives him mad. he has half the mind to think willow is behind his madness but he knows his daughter would never

tubbo is a mess with them gone, he doesn't want to lose another family

the birdhouse is much like the prison tommy was once put in, and with the stress of losing the eggs, phil starts seeing things. and he really starts to wonder if some of willows old madness was re-emerging

willow comes back to the island as soon as she stops seeing tallulahs paintings in the sky, and when she finds out she's missing... that madness he's been running from sneaks back up on him. she leaves before it can infect anyone else, and when phil finds her later he doesn't mention it

when she finds the recording of her song with tallulahs turtles, all of the madness disappears. perhaps it's her music that will reach her

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and that's all the notable lore bits up till purgatory (I am begging someone to send an ask about purgatory cause I have many thoughts)

^this is a lie, there is so much I left out, like the entire backstory of why they were cruel in the first place, or how any of the dsmp backstories play into this, and also Kristin's whole role in this, and I completely left out ALL of the Hermitcraft and life series stuff that has to do with grian

I just put the bare minimum and this is still monstrously long 😭😭😭😭

genuinely anyone who makes it to the bottom of this post good job, it took me days to write because it was all off memory 💀

anyways please send me more asks about it because writing it all down has made me brainrot over this au again

[incensuous]

almost went off anon just to share images but i’m too much of a coward 😭 i apologize for the discord link. anyway, this is copy pasted from the wiki of what ephraim says in jp for that bit (i can no longer get the japanese button to work on the wiki so this is an old screenshot lol): https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1067293931433381918/1110747625726169118/IMG_3586.png

obviously google translate is Questionable but it’s hard to imagine what else “strange rumours” could mean lolll.

this bit was from a little collection of maps that had a few sets of siblings, some of which may be normal, but it also contains eldigan and lachesis from fe4, whom you…. may have heard of. she’s canonically in love with him (says a lot that she can’t see herself getting married because no man will ever compare, and if you make her daughter marry eldigan’s son, the daughter says lachesis was in love with him lol). in the game it’s not ever shown how he feels about that, but in the official manga (by oosawa if you’re curious) they very nearly have sex. the only reason he doesn’t sleep with her isn’t because they’re siblings, but because he knows he’s likely about to die and he’s not willing to let her “live with that sin” on her own. this franchise……………..

the chapter where that happens, if you’re curious :) https://mangadex.org/chapter/92ae5c75-5700-4d07-a569-f01a6a92c798

[LINK]

THANK YOU FOR LINKING THIS

I. AM.

FUCKING.

S C R E A M I N G

sobbing crying throwing up why'd they have to make it so heartwrenching. but it's only so sad and tragic because they present the two of them so beautifully in love with each other, that the audience cares and is sad they can't be together <3 i'm shook that i actually haven't heard of these two and WOW, they're amazing.

i read up until the part where lachesis is told her brother is dead (feel free to point out more great moments if i should continue reading) and goodness... so many amazing moments between them in just the few panels i read. i find reincarnation so sweet yet tragic, but hey, wild idea, CAN WE JUST LET THE SIBLINGS KISS AND BE HAPPY FOR ONCE.........

this is a work of fiction, let the man have fucking titanium bones idgaf!!!!! he man-of-steels that sword and comes waltzing home like hey funny story i think i'm part-wolverine, anyways let's continue where we left off!! my theory for why they didn't let eldigan talk about his true feelings for lachesis in the game is because they were afraid of the absolute incest bomb that would've happened.

as for ephrika ... <3

i have ABSOLUTELY NO CONTEXT FOR THIS, BUT:

"WHEN IT COMES TO BROTHER-SISTER LOVE, I HAVE NO INTENTION OF LOSING. AFTER ALL, OUR RELATIONSHIP IS ENOUGH TO MAKE STRANGE RUMORS." -Ephraim, 2023

SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST EPHRAIM!! in this translation, he sounds so proud!!! he's like "you think you love your sibling? well people think my sister and i are having sex! TAKE THAT!"

[star--nymph]

me, writing my essay in a few hours before the due date and not proof reading it: man fuck it this is sHIT

Teacher, weeks later: this could have used a second proof read it starts getting confusing but here’s a B+

me:

Me: O-only a B+ though?

[medicinemane]

Everyone's against cringe culture and shit like that, but pretty much everyone seems to have an arbitrary line they draw in the sand

I'm not talking concrete lines where like you have some quantifiable metric for it. You think I don't have lines? Of course I do, there's stuff that's blatantly stuff that causes direct harm to people, though at that point it's not about someone being weird, it's about someone doing actual bona fide harm

But that's the thing, a lot of people it's just they'll be like "no, we shouldn't make fun of people... but this person's being weird"

And it's like... you can say anyone's being weird. If that's where we draw the line then literally there's no reason for people not to make fun of you for innocent but slightly weird shit, and we're right back where we started

"Yeah, but this person's being weird", yeah, not shit, I think they're weird too but like... that's not the point, that's irrelevant. The point is that you can't just shift the rules. If it's wrong to shit on some people for being weird, it's wrong to shit on any people for being weird. You need to produce some quantifiable bad they're doing like say... going in to strangers in boxes to say stuff that makes them uncomfortable, now we've got a clear reason why what they're doing isn't ok

Though to be clear here, they're still not bad for being weird, they're bad for their other actions

Like... I don't want to give an actual examples, cause it honestly doesn't matter, but do you think I don't browse the internet and find all kinds of stuff where I think "could you fucking not"?

...but then I move on cause it's honestly not worth my fucking time. Either there's an actionable offense that needs reporting or I can just move on (or a need to change things so certain destructive or dangerous behaviors can be reported, though that requires being able to say why this needs to be a thing in concrete terms)

Just... I don't know... drives me nuts how people, including people I like, will talk a big game about cringe culture needing to die, but then do the exact same shit

"But you don't get it, this time they we're being too weird, it was creepy", yeah, but they weren't actually hurting anyone, and guess what? There's someone out there who'd be happy to use that excuse to shit on you

So there it is