#which makes a little more sense since she joined post-live through this

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

bitches will say they’re hole fans and then the only member they can name is courtney love

[pastanest]

Spencer Reid x she/her!reader

A/N: this song is so post-prison reid coded, it was only a matter of time. 

Shameless

The tension had been instantaneous, from the very moment you first met him. It was no more than a passing glance across the office to begin with, but you have been proud of the double take you caused Doctor Spencer Reid, ever since. 

Emily Prentiss had been giving you a tour of the BAU offices on your first day; you had been listening to her intently, making as many mental notes as you could to avoid having to ask where things were and embarrass yourself further than you already feared you would, joining a team of seasoned profilers. When your gaze met the glance that had originally been absentminded, but was heated when it returned to you, all words lost their meaning. Hazel was the only colour you could recall the existence of for the next few minutes.

The tour of the offices continued, and you tried your best to keep your eyes to yourself, but there was a near gravitational pull to the attractive gentleman who you suddenly had a sixth sense for, acutely aware of just how far away he was at all times, until the very moment you were introduced.

“And this is Doctor Spencer Reid.” Emily had introduced you, exchanging a smile with him that told you the two of them were good friends. 

“Pleasure to meet you…?” Spencer held his hand out to shake yours, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth when you looked up at him, your eyes widening ever so slightly on being close enough to appreciate his full height, his wild curls, and your new favorite color.

“(Y/N).” You had answered, meeting his hand with yours, an electricity passing through you that was unlike anything else you’d ever felt, from such simple contact.

The way his much larger hand squeezed yours, how gently he shook your hand, and the slightest twitch in his smile; you knew that he felt it, too.

“Pleasure to meet you, (Y/N).” Spencer reiterated, tasting your name for the first time and deciding there was no other name he liked the flavor of more. Your name swirled around his brain like whiskey in a glass that he nursed for a little too long, savoring each sip like the finest critic, not missing a single note of you.

From that moment, everything Spencer did exacerbated your situation. Naturally, you went out of your way to avoid talking to him; any close proximity was a risk to your health, but that didn’t matter. The way he stood, the way he sat, walked, leaned, frowned, smiled, breathed - it was all too much for you. What did he expect? You are just a girl with hormones that you are certain he could sniff out from a mile away, given the look you’d see in his eyes during instances where you caught him staring at you. Or rather, instances in which Spencer’s gaze deliberately lingered long enough for you to notice.

He was a quiet man, and an observant one. A seasoned profiler, yes, but his time in prison had given him a fresh insight to people, particularly their primal instincts. Survival had been a focus of his during his time behind bars, but it seemed that living in that wild mindset had tuned him into other primal instincts, too. While Spencer had no scientific evidence to support his theory, he was certain he could hear your heart rate pick up whenever he passed you. 

Having never felt like someone that women fawned over, Spencer took great pride in your attraction to him that was so obvious even he could not deny it. He almost felt cruel, impacting you to such an extent, but he came to find that this was the conclusion no matter what he did; it was simply a result of him, to you.

The tension between you thrives during cases where the two of you are forced to work together. Spencer has even been known to volunteer to assist you when you are set specific tasks, and you have always been too flustered to politely dismiss him. Conversations between you are minimal, mainly spent with Spencer smiling to himself and you avoiding looking in his general direction; an experience you’d wager to be more painful than pulling teeth. 

Of course, when working together, you do have to talk to him on occasion, but everything feels far too charged. The subtext is blinding to both of you, even in small talk. 

“Good morning, (Y/N).” Spencer greeted you when you had arrived to the office this morning, not long after him. He was still unpacking his bag, leaning over his desk in a way that made you want to scream, and you couldn’t even consider the smile he gave you as he looked over his shoulder.

His greeting was as generic as it always was, but the subtext told you more. 

I’m pleased to see you.

“Morning, Spencer.” You had answered, smiling at him in turn, but your breath caught in your throat, making your subtext just as obvious as his.

I’m pleased to see you, too.

In a moment of self-awareness like you’d never known, you and Spencer simultaneously acknowledged that there was nobody else in the office. At the same time as your eyes widened with the realisation, Spencer’s gaze softened, settling on you.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked, his voice quieter, more tentative - another object of small talk that you understood loud and clear.

Did I cross your mind last night?

“Yeah, thanks. Did you?” You returned the question, words casual but voice rising in pitch steadily, something a profiler couldn’t possibly miss. 

Of course. Did you think of me?

“Yes, thank you. I tend to be quite lucky, in that regard.” He paused, letting his words sink in before he added, “I don’t struggle with sleep as much as I used to, when I was young.”

As Spencer spoke, you noticed he was slowly walking towards you, crossing the small amount of space between his desk and yours in no more than three paces. He stood purposely close to you, leaning against your desk as your shaking hands continued to unpack your things from your bag. He could hear your sharp intakes of breath, and he couldn’t wipe the grin from his face.

A notepad fell from your trembling hand as you retrieved it from your bag, a soft thud against the table. With only half a second’s delay, you put your hand on it, intending to pick it up, but finding Spencer’s hand was already there, acting as a barrier but applying no pressure in holding your notepad against the desk, no resistance, because he didn’t need to apply that to you. Centimeters separated your fingers and his, tiny bolts of lightning sparking in the space between.

Eyes wide like a deer in headlights, you lifted your head to find him already smiling down at you, exuding charm and another sensation rolling off of him in waves that you dared not clarify.

Silence. 

Seconds.

You couldn’t even breathe.

And then the elevator doors opened, the rest of the team beginning to file in for the day, and Spencer broke eye contact to look over at the office entrance. He noticed the deep breath that you took the moment he looked away, of course. As he walked over to the rest of the team, he took the chance to drag his fingers across the small of your back when he passed behind you; a deliberate act of sabotage. Had it been anyone else, that touch had been so light you’d be surprised if you even registered it, but from Spencer? Your senses were heightened like that of a small animal in a clearing, face to face with a creature that wanted to eat you alive.

It is completely unsurprising that you have failed to recover from the events of this morning, which have been replaying in your subconscious for the entire day while you have filed case reports. What would usually be a welcomed distraction has, today, been nothing short of a curse. To make matters worse, you have felt his gaze on you from across the office, periodically throughout the day. Monitoring the results of his varying hypotheses based around the growing impact he can have on you, and you on him - though he is far better at concealing that than you are; a long standing career as a profiler has its advantages in replicating calm behavioral signs with absolute precision. Still, he would admit that he has been struggling to catch his breath since the events of this morning, too. If you asked.

However, the rest of the team are just as good at maintaining their composure in the wake of the obvious, and they are not as unaware as they pretend to be. In fact, they are excruciatingly aware of the tension between the two of you that, actually, weighs heavily on everyone, wherever you go. It is almost as suffocating to them as it is to you. Almost.

That is why not a single member of the team is surprised when, at the very end of a day spent filing without any computer troubles, your laptop receives a particularly well timed virus from a specific technical analyst, that does not allow you to log out or shut down your system as quickly as everybody else manages to. The rest of the team pile into the elevator with giddy smiles, having noticed much like you have that - to your absolute dismay - Spencer is deliberately packing his bag at an excruciatingly slow pace, to keep him in the office just a little while longer, his gaze fixed on your frustrated countenance as you argue with your laptop while it simply follows the list of commands sent by Penelope Garcia in the form of a calculated delay. 

The sound of the elevator doors closing and the team’s voices fading beyond its closed doors, make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end. Mere seconds later, your laptop completely fixes itself, logging out and shutting down at its usual speed, and you let out an exasperated sigh. 

“It’s finally let you go?” Spencer jokes casually, his tone teasing and his subtext as clear as ever. 

You have no excuse to avoid looking at me when I’m talking to you, now. Can’t risk being impolite, can you?

Swinging your bag over your shoulder, you begrudgingly lift your gaze to meet Spencer’s, your heart skipping a beat when you acknowledge just how close he is to your desk, for the second time today. 

“Yeah.” You answer, not having the capacity to verbalize anything more, but Spencer hears the rest.

Yes. You are always right, and it is infuriating. 

“Ready to go?” He asks lightly, his smile having evolved into a smirk filled with secrets and unspoken desires.

“Yeah, are you?” The voice that passes your lips is barely recognisable as yours, it’s so strained.

“Definitely. It’ll be nice to sleep in my own bed, rather than a hotel, for once.” Spencer chuckles airily, the sound making your chest tighten even more, because you know exactly why he’s laughing.

You’re thinking about my bed now, aren’t you? Wondering if there’s enough space for you. Of course there is, you’re such a small, sweet thing.

“Agreed. I need an early night!” You joke with Spencer, intending to throw his own sultry subliminals right back in his face.

Perhaps I’ll spend some time in my own bed, waiting for you to cross my mind again.

Reaching the elevator, you press the button, standing at Spencer’s side and waiting for the metal box that will force you to linger in close proximity, to return to this floor.

“You’re in need of that? I thought you said you slept well last night?” He catches you out, his knowing smirk looking down at you. 

Making your motivations even more clear than usual, I see.

“A girl can never get enough beauty sleep! Trust me, I need it.” You chuckle, but your heart is in your throat.

“What a nonsensical implication.” Spencer murmurs as the elevator doors open, and the two of you step inside, not daring to force anymore space between you. 

Centimeters between your hands again, your opposite hands holding the straps of your bags to your shoulders, your free hands hanging loosely at your sides, those tiny bolts of lightning causing an instinctual pull, until you feel his pinky finger brush yours ever so lightly. 

Your breath catches, and you bite your lip. 

Your eyes and his dart up to the top of the elevator doors, watching the floor numbers tick down, and you can almost hear Spencer calculate exactly how long the two of you have as his gaze lowers to you, pulling yours to his. 

The pace at which he leans down to you is premeditated, you are certain of it, and against your better judgment, you find yourself standing on your tiptoes without an ounce of free will. 

His breath fans your nose, and for the first time you can detect the shakiness in him that he’s been able to read so easily in you from the moment he saw you; the impact that this same tension has on him is not so easily hidden in close proximity, either.

If Spencer speaks now, his lips will brush yours.

And then the elevator doors open, the entrance lights flooding in and forcing the two of you to part from each other. 

“I should…walk you, to your car.” Spencer says, his voice huskier than you’ve ever heard it, the subtext louder than before.

This isn’t over. 

Your head is spinning, but you manage to nod it. Admittedly, it is darker than you had anticipated when you walk out into the parking lot, and had you been with anyone else, you likely would have asked them to walk you to your car, given that fact. But Spencer’s hand at the small of your back is making you forget the very ground beneath your feet, let alone how this could have played out if he had left with the rest of the team. But he has waited, since your very first day, for a moment like this. 

Seconds.

Silence, save for your equally hurried footsteps towards your car. Stopping when you reach your car door, you swallow, hard, and turn to face Spencer.

“Thank you.” The words match the comprehensive size of your voice as you speak them. 

I’ll never forget this. Not a microsecond.

And the look in his eyes mirrors your subtext.

His large hand stays at the small of your back, despite you having turned to face him, and he is closing in. Closer, closer, and closer still, until that deliciously familiar sensation of his shaky breaths flutter against the skin of your face. 

“Is this what you want?” Spencer whispers into the dark, your body now pressed against the door of your car as his other arm cages you in, his palm flat against the roof of your car. His whisper is heavy, and for a moment your delirious mind wonders if you are hearing the subtext aloud, rather than feeling it in between the lines of your gestures, glances, small talk. 

All you can do is nod, but that is not enough.

Spencer shakes his head, some of his curls brushing your forehead.

“Need to hear you say it.” His voice is still a whisper, but it’s more desperate now. The mask has fallen, the yearning beneath it felt in full force, unconcealed before your eyes for the very first time.

“I want this…you.” Despite your best efforts, your voice is no more than a whisper, either; the tension holding you both by the throat, squeezing every last breath from you, until there is no other choice.

Spencer’s lips fall onto yours, the his hand at the small of your back instinctively moving to claim your hip, squeezing, grabbing, pulling you closer when his body is already flush against you, holding you against your car. He breathes life into you, and you return the favor, granting him passage to foreign lands that he’s been dying to explore, to taste, to master. And he does, in a matter of seconds. While his tongue does not hold a separate brain, Spencer’s eidetic memory carefully notes every detail of you that his body learns, every instinctual reaction you give him. Your shaking hands card through his wild curls, tugging him down to you as if to pull him into you, to become one with him. In this moment, and in every moment since the day you met, you have wished for nothing more. His lips move with yours in a dance unknown to both of you, but you are two partners across the floor that have eyed each other all night, rehearsing with each other in your glances for far too long, and practice makes perfect. 

Losing himself in you, Spencer’s hand that was once at your hip is now at your thigh, lifting it to hold it up at his own waist, gripping the soft flesh through your suit trousers. Only when you whimper into his mouth does he come to his senses and pulls away from you, but barely. 

“Can’t do this here.” He utters between breathless kisses, unable to stop himself, unable to get enough of you.

“My bed or yours?” The question comes with a smirk that you press into Spencer’s lips, and he chuckles darkly against yours in turn. 

“Bad girl.” He teases, and he loves saying it, too, but he doesn’t answer your question with words. Instead, Spencer releases your thigh in favor of wrapping an arm around your waist from behind, leading you across the parking lot, to his car. 

And, interestingly, his answer to your question is the one word swirling around his mind like whiskey in a glass when he looks down at you. 

Mine.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

So was rewatching Othertale: Before the Hack (part 1) a few days ago and posting about it, which you can find here, and i was taking notes as i did.

You can also find the link to my analysis of the [caring] animation here, and my analysis of the [experiment] animation here and here.

And happy 9th birthday to both Othertale, and Color Sans!

“Undyne, or Ivory, comes from an AU called Othertale. She can play piano and has a nice sense of music, but can’t sing. She’s much weaker than her Undertale counterpart.

In this AU, Sans never existed (aside from a mysterious sock in the house that Undyne and Papyrus eventually move in to.)

And instead, Undyne—an orphaned street kid blind in one eye with her red hair in a braid—starts looking after an even younger orphaned kid named Papyrus from bullies and thieves. Before eventually, the two decide to stick together as siblings.

Due to being more focused on looking after and raising Papyrus, Undyne does not have any goals to join the Royal Guard or free the Underground or capture any humans.

She cares more about her little brother than anything, and even uses piano skills to eventually become something of a celebrity for the Underground while Papyrus goes on to become a math teacher.

Othertale Undyne grows up in a universe where Sans doesn’t exist, Papyrus is her younger adoptive brother, and she had to work to keep herself and her brother alive.

Using her skills in piano playing to perform concerts, she earns enough to get herself and her brother off the streets.

She seems to take this very seriously, such as being nervous and not sleeping, staying up all night practicing. Especially since she’s become so well know that even King Asgore and Gerson Head of the Royal Guard would be there.

Neither she nor Papyrus have plans to join the Royal Guard, so Gerson is still the captain of the Royal Guard.

Neither Papyrus nor Undyne have any official training, although Undyne and the Royal Scientist Alphys are still love interests—with Alpyhs being Papyrus’ Undernet friend, and appearing to have a celebrity crush on Undyne—even giving her a gift for her big concert.

Because the six human souls also don’t exist in Othertale, breaking the barrier isn’t possible. Mettaton operates more like a living weapon than a star, and the amalgamates don’t exist either. Although Flowey still does.

In the present day of Othertale, many monsters have mysteriously been going missing; with the King himself having to speak on the issue.

It is unclear if Undyne is any concerned about this, given how she readily goes on walks alone with Alphys and was eager to explore an abandoned sentry station that showed up out of nowhere when she heard someone calling her name from it.

One day, however, Undyne is lured into the Void through a sentry station; she hears someone calling her name but no one else can hear it. She decides to immediately go exploring because she wants to have fun. She is rather pushy when Alphys is too scared to go in and explore, but ultimately doesn’t force the other woman to go in.

But inside she is confronted by Gaster and Sans/Color!Sans. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, but is knocked out by a magic fueled punch by Color that transfers some of Color’s “soul power” into her, which opened Undyne’s “blind eye.”

Ivory is not afraid to defend herself; not hesitant at all to summon one of her spears and point it at Gaster when he advances on her, warning him to stay back or else she will hurt him. Although she only does this when he attempts to make a move towards her.

She seems very very nervous about her concert, and she doesn’t seem to have been ready for the level of attention and popularity her skills brought her.

Due to her magic eye that Color unlocked, she seems able to immediately tell if there’s danger nearby; like a warning, perhaps from Color himself. She seems to trust her instincts a lot, immediately ditching her big concert and audience to follow her gut and run straight into danger.

When she finds Alphys injured, she’s furious and fiercely protective; demanding to know who did it in a low growling tone.

Once making sure Alphys is okay, her immediate concern after is her brother and his safety. But rather than immediately running off and abandoning Alphys, she expresses this to her—and after getting reassurance that the other woman is okay and understands, she gives Alphys a tight hug before running off after Papyrus.

As soon as she finds and protects Papyrus, she orders her brother to run and get help while she fights off against the other monster attacking him on her own.

She’s able to shortcut a lot like Sans is able to now. Her eye glows like Sans’ did, only yellow this time. Her fish ears/gills pin back when she’s scared.

When she gains her second form, her hair is chopped off to what appears to be about ear length. Her spears are stronger and longer, and she has her own Gaster Blasters.

She dresses like an Underfell Undyne in this form—and she wears a heart shaped golden necklace with the letter “f” on it.

We don’t know where she got it, what it means, who it came from—but it was said to be a gift from someone.”

^ the images I am referring to. (All art by superyoumna.)

This part is in reference to the [experiment] short, and the brother & sister comic.

Before Gaster jumped into the Core and Sans was forgotten in the Void to create Othertale, back when the universe was still Undertale—this universe seems to subscribe to the idea that both Sans and Undyne’s magical eyes were due to experiments by Dr. Gaster.

Sans says that Dr. Gaster made a mistake when giving him his eye, that it made Sans’ body extremely unstable and fragile—and possibly more, although Sans doesn’t seem to hold it against Gaster even when Gaster holds it against himself.

Sans reassures Undyne that Gaster won’t make that same mistake with her, but when the experiment finally works and Undyne is able to see from her fake eye, Gaster immediately tells Sans to remove the soul energy or it would damage Undyne’s body.

Undyne during this flashback seems to be around 5, while Papyrus is at most 1-2, and Sans seems to be in his late teens to early 20s. When Sans is pulled into the Void and the world is rewritten to forget Sans and make Othertale, Ivory’s eye is blind again and later needs to be reactivated by Color transferring his soul energy back to her.

All a part of Color and Shade’s plan to empower Ivory with knowledge and power so she can fight against the impending threat, since Color and Shade cannot leave the Void without the risk of dying.

Despite how Ivory and Shade’s meeting in Othertale’s Void is confronting and wary, in the past, child Undyne seemed to find comfort in Gaster and trusted him a lot—such as wanting him to share in her happiness, being worried about him when he leaves in frustration, and saying that the lab is spooky without him around.

As a child after Sans is forgotten, however, it appears little Ivory met little Sage sometime after an event just referred to as “the explosion.” And ever since then, Sage only ever sought Ivory out whenever the other children would steal from and bully him—and Ivory would beat up the bullies for him and get his stuff back.

One day, while searching for a rubix cube in the garbage dumps, a frantic and crying Sage runs up to Ivory to tell her that the others kids stole his toy car.

Ivory notes that he only ever comes to her when he needs protection. Sage immediately apologizes for this, but Ivory quickly corrects herself as that wasn’t what she meant—this is the moment where Ivory proposes that Sage stick with her instead of surviving on his own.

Sage is reluctant to accept because even though they are friends, they are still strangers. In answer to this, Ivory gives Sage her rubix cube and loudly states that they are neither friends nor strangers—instead they are siblings.

Sage immediately gets excited by this idea, and the two proudly and loudly declare that they are siblings—and Sage promises to always look up to her and support her as his big sister and as the “great Papyrus!”

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on the Batch's Ending

Ooookay. This is going to be a long one. (Little note from Steph who just finished writing this: it’s nearly 3000 words…)

Tagging @saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings and @eriexplosion because I value their thoughts (but I'm also not demanding that you read 3000 words of waffle)

I’ve had a lot of thoughts about the finale of The Bad Batch and honestly, my mind is a bit of a mess right now. One of the things I just want to try and tackle is how I feel about the ending of each Batch member individually, because while I can look at it and say “The Batch got a happy ending!”, I feel like that doesn’t really give me much of an idea of whether or not each character got an ending that I feel is fitting for their story arc.

So, this post is basically just going to be me unpicking the ending for each of the Batchers and working out how I feel about it (aka me trying to unscramble the mass load of thoughts going on in my head right now). 

Omega

Overall, I’m very happy with where Omega ended up. When you look back on how she was when we first met her, you realise just how much she has grown over the last few seasons. She didn’t just learn to be a part of the squad, she also learned how to look after herself. It isn’t just a development of her skillset, it’s also a growth in maturity, which allows her to have a clearer head and more rational decisions in the field. While Omega trusted her brothers to come and rescue her, she didn’t just sit around and wait for them, she hatched her own plan to not only get her and the other children out, but also help the Batch when they arrive at Tantiss.

Like Echo, she strongly believes in helping people and I love that that has carried through into her ending. While it would have been nice for her to live a quiet life, free of any more troubles, it makes complete sense for her to want to join the Rebellion. And I think it was at a good time as well. Omega got to spend the rest of her childhood being raised in a more peaceful, safe environment, before making the decision a few years down the line to go her own way. This is her leaving the nest and I think it was tackled incredibly well. You can see how she has taken on attributes from all of her brothers, and judging by her style choice, Phee as well. We see Omega using the support of her brothers to carve her own path and I love that.

Personally, I can’t really see a more fitting development in her story than this. And I’m reluctant to actually call it an ending because for her, this feels more like the beginning of a new chapter. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her again later down the road.

Hunter

Now those who follow me may be aware that Hunter was never my favourite member of the Batch. I didn’t dislike him, but I never really connected with him in the same way that I connected with all of the other characters. Saying that, it doesn’t mean I haven’t given a lot of thought to him and his character.

Hunter always had a lot on his shoulders. He was the leader of the Batch and that meant keeping a rag-tag group of defective clones in line, but it also left him with the belief that if anything were to happen to his squad, it would be his responsibility. So, with Crosshair and Omega stuck with the Empire, and Tech dead, Hunter had a lot to carry. At the beginning of Season 3 we saw that he had become more reckless and irrational, not really thinking about plans and wanting to jump straight into things. It was Wrecker who had to step in and make sure Hunter didn’t do anything stupid. Hunter felt like he lost control and that took a lot out of him, especially since this is something I think he could feel creeping up on him throughout Season 2, even if he tried to fight it. The Batch had started to make decisions without him, and Omega was forming close attachments to other people, which was digging a knife into Hunter’s fear of losing his squad. So S3 saw him trying everything he could to reunite the Batch, because he couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.

And he achieved that. But what I also deeply appreciate is that we see Hunter accepting that Omega wants to go her own way. This was something he didn’t want happening for a long time, but once he accepted that she was capable of looking after herself, and once he accepted that he could never keep her tied in place forever, he supported Omega in her decision to join the Rebellion. Yes, he will always worry about her. He even tells her that she will always be their kid. But he knows that it’s time for her to carve her own path, and that means for him, finally letting go and accepting that Clone Force 99 will never be what it once was. 

Wrecker

Wrecker is an interesting one for me because he’s one of the few characters where I can’t really see a big step for his character in the final episode. For many of the others there is some form of acceptance, or big step in their lives, but for Wrecker I don’t really see that. And unfortunately, I think that comes from Wrecker never really being the focus of any strong character development throughout the history of the show. That’s not to say there wasn’t any growth at all, but when we look at how far everyone else has come in their stories, Wrecker always feels like he never got the same treatment in this show. The biggest growth I saw was when he stepped in to help Hunter when he could see the sergeant was spiralling.

So, while I’m happy he lived and has gone on to enjoy a longer, more peaceful life than we ever expected for the Batch, it makes me sad that we never really saw anything big for Wrecker in this ending. No big acceptance, no huge sacrifice. We don’t even get to see him say goodbye to Omega when she leaves. I love that Wrecker got a happy ending, but I always wish that we had gotten the opportunity to see more of a character arc with him over the course of the entire show.

Crosshair

I accepted a while ago that if any of the Batch members were to survive, Crosshair would be one of them because I didn’t expect the writers to kill him off after everything that he had been through. And thankfully they didn’t! I love that after everything, Crosshair has managed to find peace. Maybe not completely, but enough that he has the chance to live a life that doesn’t involve him being a soldier. 

Throughout S2 and S3 we saw Crosshair come to terms with the fact that he was disposable to the Empire and that they didn’t care about him as much as he had made himself believe. And one of the things Crosshair fought with the most was his own identity as a soldier. For so long, he believed that that was all he was, all he could be, so that’s why it has been so amazing finally seeing Crosshair acknowledge that he doesn’t need to be a soldier to still live a life he deserves; his purpose is and always has been more than that.

Saying that, I want to address the hand thing because I am still unsure of where I sit with it. Following his escape from Tantiss, we see Crosshair has developed hand tremors as a result of his PTSD, and a decent chunk of the season has been dedicated to him learning how to live with them. The biggest reason for this affecting Crosshair so much was that it impacted his ability to be a sniper, which is what Crosshair believed to be his main purpose: he didn’t know what to do without the ability to use his hand. And we were given some incredibly sweet scenes between him and Omega as she helped him work out the best way to manage the tremors, for example, them meditating together.

But then that brings me onto my main issue, which is, why remove the hand? One of the reasons I keep seeing is that it removes Crosshair’s ability to be a sniper, but we had already seen that. That’s the issue that the tremors were causing. Crosshair had already been struggling with that ability as a result of what happened to him on Tantiss, so cutting his hand off as a way of preventing his sniping ability seems a bit unnecessary. Now admittedly, the soldier who cut his hand off didn’t know that he had hand tremors, so logistically it makes sense, but as a story tool it seems a bit bizarre to me. Personally, I think it would’ve been more interesting to pursue the idea of Crosshair learning to manage his tremors through meditation etc. and adapting to a life that has less of a focus on sniping. 

Another reason I have seen for the hand is that it symbolises Crosshair finally becoming free from the Empire and what they did to him on Tantiss. Him no longer having the tremors indicates that he is no longer burdened by the Empire and his time there. But that doesn’t really work for me either. For one, Crosshair will never truly be separated from what happened to him there; even if he lost the shaking, he would still have a number of psychological issues as a result of what he went though, so I can’t see it as a way of symbolising a true separation. Which is once again why I think that following the story beat of him managing the tremors would have been a more interesting path for them to go down with his character.

Saying that, I’m still happy with where Crosshair’s story went. He is arguably the most complex character in the Batch and I’m so glad we have been able to see him develop the way he has. Him living a long, quiet life is something that I’m happy he has gotten, and I truly don’t think that him dying would have brought nearly as satisfying a conclusion as Crosshair finally finding a new place in the world.

Tech

Oh boy… this is going to be an interesting chunk of this essay. So errm… it turns out Tech is actually dead, which is… kinda shit. 

Back when we saw him fall at the end of S2, I said that one of the reasons that I didn’t believe that Tech was really dead was because if he was, I would’ve found the writing kinda cheap. I said repeatedly throughout that season that I didn’t want all of his character development to simply be an emotional manipulation tactic to make us even more sad when he died… which is what it turned out to be. It doesn’t surprise me that Tech sacrificed himself, but it makes me mad that ultimately his death never really had any real impact on anything. I mean, they hardly even addressed it in the final season!

I get that animated Star Wars is known for rarely addressing characters after their deaths, but The Clone Wars focuses on so many characters that if we gave that much attention to every character that died, then we would never progress the plot. However, unlike TCW, The Bad Batch primarily focuses on a smaller group of clones and therefore not only has the space to explore the impacts that death would have on the squad, but really should find it a necessary part of the storytelling. The lack of attention given to Tech throughout this season has been beyond frustrating to me. He deserved better.

And I can’t write a section about Tech’s ending without addressing the CX-2 situation. Were we all delusional for believing that Tech was alive? No. Now before people come at me for saying that, I want to explain why that is the conclusion I have come to. You would have every right to label us delusional if there was absolutely no proof behind the claims that we made, but when the writers give us a character that both speaks and acts like Tech, what did they expect us to think? There were too many parallels between Tech and CX-2 for it to be coincidental and I still stand by the fact that we had reason to believe that they were the same person.

Now, looking at the other CX soldiers we see in the finale, they all seem to parallel the OG members of the Batch: there’s a larger one who primarily focuses on hand-to-hand combat, someone who favours blades, a sniper, and a more tech-savvy one. And I’m sure there is a reason for that, symbolically or practically, but if the fact that they all resemble the Batch is important, then why was so much focus put primarily on CX-2? There was no way we weren’t going to think that they would reveal him to be Tech.

Overall, I’m annoyed. Tech was such a brilliant character and I am so frustrated that not only did he get a death that I felt was kind of cheap, but he didn’t get nearly the respect he should have been given in the final season. Now, I’m not using this as a way to bash the writers, and I definitely don’t think that anyone should use it as an excuse to be bullies, but unfortunately, I can’t be satisfied with the way Tech’s story ended, and I’m not sure I ever will.

Echo

Last but certainly not least, Echo. To say that Echo means a lot to me is an understatement, and I was genuinely terrified that I might have to say goodbye to one of my comfort characters. But thankfully, our boy made it!

Following Season 1, we all wanted for Echo to get some more development. It never felt like he had truly been used to his full potential. And thankfully, Season 2 began to give us that. Yes, we ended up saying goodbye to Echo for half a season, but we saw some incredible growth in his character, and him choosing to join the rebellion made too much sense not to happen. Unfortunately, this also meant that we didn’t get to see Echo for the majority of the final season, but I am beyond grateful that what they gave us in these last few episodes has been some of the best Echo content that we have ever seen. Watching him grow and find where he belongs has been a pleasure to watch, He really is an ARC trooper through and through. Particularly in these last few episodes, seeing how much he has grown to be like Fives, and watching him carry on his brother’s legacy, has been so incredible, No matter what anyone says, I believe that he truly is one of the greatest, and most important characters that we’ve ever gotten out of animated Star Wars.

However, I do have one gripe with Echo’s ending, and it’s the fact that it doesn’t actually feel like a conclusion. If anything, I have more questions about Echo now than I did before the last episode. Echo going to the Rebellion is an absolute given; he still has stuff to help Rex with. But the fact that there is absolutely no mention of him in the epilogue has just made me wonder where he is. Omega mentions Crosshair and Wrecker, and we only see Hunter, so we know that Echo isn’t with them. But we also know that at that point in the story, Echo also isn’t with Rex (assuming we’re in Rebels era). So where is he? What is he doing? Is he actually dead at that point??? I really hope we see more of Echo in the future because if this really is the last time we see his character, it’s too open ended for me to really be satisfied with it.

But if I’m being honest, I really don’t think that this is the last time that we are going to see him. And especially with Omega joining the Rebellion, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw another clone-centric show following these characters in the future.

Concluding Thoughts

All in all, my thoughts are still a bit jumbled. I still don’t know how I truly feel about everything, but hopefully this post at least gives some insight into how I think each character’s endings were handled. Will I change my mind at some point? Probably. But for now, this is where I stand.

At its core, I think the ending we got makes sense for a lot of the characters, and I’m glad that they didn’t all just die at the end. Sure, there are choices that I’m not happy with, but seeing that some of the Batch go on to live long lives is something that I’m very happy to see. It doesn’t happen enough in animated SW, so I’m glad we got to experience it.

[variousqueerthings]

thing about rose, for me, is that she wasn't there first -- this in a "she was first in nu!who in the sense that this was the first person to travel with nine, and the first person since the timewar, and the last person that nine was with, to the point that ten was born out of that experience/modelled on her."

and in that framing, I am a big fan of her haunting of the narrative, because it start outs with her placing herself inside the doctor's ribcage and rebooting their ability to want to feel things, but unfortunately rose is still a human, like every human the doctor travelled with before, it's just that the doctor forgot how to steel themself against that inevitability because of the circumstances around meeting rose

this is The thing that I find tragic about martha, because I think she could have been that person, if she'd been the first person post-timewar to travel with the doctor, but because she's coming in during bleeding-heart times, she's got to deal with triage instead. and yes, there are wonders, and yes, there are good times, but for a lot of it, it's shrapnel, and I think if it hadn't been, she would have had a very different attitude towards *waves hands* space and time travel and aliens and the universe (one where she wouldn't be the person trusted with something like the osterhagen key)

and donna had a sense of that Space the doctor was in post-rose (she canonically stopped the doctor from dying in runaway bride) and stepped away from it, and didn't get back to the doctor until some of that hole-in-chest had been bandaged up, which martha did a great job of, but didn't get to really benefit from, and I think that's the sad thing about martha jones, is that she absolutely got a taste of the beauty and the splendor, but never without all the violence and heave weight that was put onto her

which, again, she seems to have been very aware of, considering she joined UNIT and Torchwood. her eyes were barely ever rose tinted (no pun here) during her whole journey in the story. martha really is in my opinion the most tragic companion (that I've met so far, I know Adric straight up dies, but maybe he had some fun times before that?), because yes, donna loses her memories and rose is in a parallel universe, but that's more tragic for the doctor -- they've both built lives

in donna's case there's probably a lot of imperfection in that life, but clearly a lot of joy as well, with her and her husband and her kid and her mum, and I'm sure she'd have preferred to be the donna who saw the universe and was splendid, but martha never gets to forget, and has to continue her life one step out of sync of everything she could have been

which, maybe her life is pretty flipping fantastic, but we really don't know, which is the biggest thing I side-eye about the first nu!who era. that whole weird ending with the sontaran and mickey is like... anti-character work, it answers nothing and it makes very little sense

all I know about her at the end is that she more than anyone saw the doctor's life and became a soldier (still a doctor as well, but...) because that was the work she saw needed doing, and she's the kind of person who does what needs doing. but is she... okay? youknow?

but going back to the original point, is that framing martha through the lens of rose is all well and good in the sense that rose is the reason the doctor is at that emotional point when he meets martha -- although donna absolutely had a very big hand in that as well -- but once we've established that, martha's arc is martha's arc, and it's dull to me to frame it as the "rebound" arc or even particularly about alloromanticism (including -- and this is why i get why people do it in fandom -- some shit said by rtd, which is just less interesting than what I get out of it, so shhhh)

she's got so much going on, and her relationship with the doctor changes the trajectory of her life, and it's in many ways a more interesting and far less straightforward trajectory of bad-to-better that many companions get -- it's a wonderfully complicated narrative that (and again, I get that some of this comes from within deliberate framings of the text, even though I think it's more than open enough to do more with, death of the author and all that -- but certainly not all of this is text either, some of it is ignoring what is actually there) is done a disservice by not going through the real messed up fascinating extraordinary shit that's going on during her era + arc in s4

but also... is she ok? I want to know. it's one of my top three burning questions, since we're getting a bit of best-ofs of the noughties DW era, some of your crimes can be righted by a simple bit of martha mr davies

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-10-08

(Previous post - current page 666)

Just caught the tweet announcing an Update as soon it went up! From the look of the log it seems we're moving on, unless there was an addition to p666 which I doubt since they would have warned people to update their cache in the tweet or what have you. So it's time to finally move on from this page, I'm clicking that Next button!

I get the feeling from the log moving onward that this situation isn't going to be resolved in the next page, and we're either going to cut back later... or cut back to Vriska emerging from the Plot Point from John and the others' perspective, because we know she only has one thing left to do. (Other than the question of exactly how she's leaving there, which I assumed would be something special rather than the Plot Point simply "running out of time".)

(==>)

Yep, the resolution with Vriska is coming later.

ROSE: This is an impressive shield. ROSE: I don't think I've ever seen you make one this size before. JADE: ive been practicing! JADE: if i stay focused i should be able to keep it up for quite a while.

Oh heck I didn't notice, that's a cool-ass green Spacey shield with a Space symbol on it! That ought to be a tough nut to crack with any weaponry! (Is she protecting the ship, or the rebel forces maybe? The bubble doesn't seem to be wrapped around the meteor.)

ROSE: Honestly, if it gets to be too much of a hassle, we should be fine as long as the kids stay inside. ROSE: This ship was specifically designed to take a battering. JADE: from artillery maybe JADE: but who knows what kind of other nasty weapons jane has tucked away in her diabolical business pantsuit! JADE: its not like she tells jake everything JADE: or almost anything, really JADE: when it comes to the kids id rather be safe than sorry ROSE: Sure.

Ohh, of course they're shielding the ship, especially the part containing the children. A good chance they won't just stay inside though, especially given this caveat being announced-- though whether they can or can't get through Jade's shield is a different story, unless they break out some new powers or the ship's possible transportalizers.

JADE: by the way JADE: i saw kanaya leave earlier ROSE: She's meeting Karkat on the field. JADE: without you? ROSE: Yes. ROSE: She made it pretty clear that it wouldn't be wise for me to join her. JADE: oh... ROSE: Mhm. ROSE: Some barb about the danger of me "Being Maimed Quite Viciously" on account of all humans looking the same once the bloodshed begins. ROSE: Then she shot me a peace sign and walked away. JADE: ugh, im sorry rose :(

Yeah, Kanaya's off working out some SERIOUS stress most likely. And Rose was very awful pulling that Sapphire future vision excuse to avoid contending with the emotions of the present, to "stop trying" with her. Hopefully someone or something lights some sense under her ass, maybe something to do with the children and them going off to do something dangerous simply because Rose hadn't bothered with the trouble of discussing more of the live situation with them... I dunno. She clearly needs something jarred loose about her attitude, if what Jade said earlier didn't explicitly do it. Maybe Jade can help more right now?

JADE: this should never have happened JADE: between yiffys capture and rescue and finding dave... JADE: like that... JADE: i just feel like my life flashed before my eyes and it made me a little crazy! JADE: after being unconscious for a bit things feel way clearer now ROSE: Nothing beats a rump to the skull for mental clarity.

Oh my god, Tavros actually knocked her out cold when he fell from the ceiling?! (And I'm reminded again that she was carrying the stuffed corpse or arm of someone, presumably Dave but we can't be 100% sure.) I wonder if this is trying to make excuses for some of her Candy-timeline behavior... though out of all of them, she has the least to excuse, really? I feel like both versions of her were remarkably in character and didn't do nearly as much weird potentially-Muse-guided stuff like Roxy and others at that initial funeral for Dirk back in the epilogues.

JADE: the mistakes we made are so obvious to me now JADE: embarrassingly obvious! JADE: we should never have talked to john in front of kanaya, for one thing JADE: they required way different approaches ROSE: Oh, so that was the problem? JADE: one of them at least

Bolding Rose for dryly pointing out that this is VERY MUCH a backslide into the wrong approach to this entire situation that Jade's having, focusing on the actions required to approach or defuse each person as if fulfilling video game objectives, trying to make everyone happy instead of trying to come clean and trusting the others to do as they will. She's trying to control (Witch) the situation too much, which was her issue in the Candy timeline in the first place.

JADE: i definitely wasnt expecting you to say all THAT either JADE: but i know she hit a sore spot so its understandable why you lost your temper JADE: its my fault for panicking ROSE: Interesting. ROSE: I didn't even realize I was mad. JADE: i mean JADE: it brought me back to the last time i mentioned your mom and you flipped that table ROSE: I was eighteen. JADE: you didnt talk to me for a month! ROSE: Eighteen years old. JADE: yeah and i havent tried to talk to you about it since!

Oh damn, those are some gigantic fucking unresolved Mom issues she has in this version of events that it sounds like she should have seen a psychologist or dozen about! D:

JADE: look all im saying is JADE: i understand why things went downhill the way they did and im not going to get caught off guard again JADE: this whole situation is my fault and even though it just keeps getting more frustrating and shitty im going to do right by you JADE: were going to figure this out ROSE: Are you sure it's prudent to keep this amateur marriage counselor performance up? JADE: rose... JADE: youre taking this seriously JADE: right? ROSE: I don't know what you mean by that.

Jade is still thinking she has to be in control and responsible for everything... and Rose is so afraid of tackling everything that she's practically dissociated from her own marriage. Her distorted Seer of Light vision or not, that's not going to help-- again, Steven Universe taught us that with Sapphire in Keystone Motel.

(==>)

COOL-ASS shot of Jade and her adorable pawprint gloves-- goofy shot of Rose with her short hair practically invisible. :D

JADE: i think you do but bleh whatever as long as we don't have a repeat of last time we can still position you as the good guy JADE: or at least less of a bad guy JADE: though playing stupid and cajoling her into slapping me around for catharsis wont work anymore JADE: well have to think of something else... ROSE: Jade, I've been compliant with these clumsy machinations partially because they weren't all that consequential at the time, but you need to cut your losses. ROSE: It's time to start looking beyond the end of your own nose, and accept that these methods aren't going to work. ROSE: This is not a situation you can win. JADE: im not trying to "win" anything!

Yes she is, this is exactly what I was talking about! Jade treating this like a problem to be solved instead of confronted, much like she did with trying to be in a relationship with Dave and Karkat at once in this timeline, instead of allowing others agency to help determine the endpoint of the situation. Because if she's too controlling, those methods themselves are going to dismantle her efforts, which at least Rose recognizes even if SHE'S wrong about other things.

JADE: im trying to be an adult and not run away from this ROSE: Look, I know better than anyone the satisfaction of gaming people's reactions and getting into their heads. JADE: (oh my god are you even listening to me) ROSE: But it's a losing game. ROSE: You're going to push too hard, or misconstrue something critical, or cross another line. ROSE: And you'll regret it. ROSE: That's not conjecture, it's a guarantee.

She IS right. But she's also being defeatist to avoid opening up and admitting fault, and ESPECIALLY to avoid confronting any uncomfortable emotions or problems she's still stopped trying to confront both without and within herself. That Mom stuff especially from the sound of it. Maybe unpacking that at some point soon will help shake Rose loose a bit.

JADE: youre so frustrating to talk to these days! JADE: "ohhhh bluh bluh blah i can see the fruitlessness of all our clumsy insignificant thrashing in fates cosmic current" JADE: dont forget im more than a little versed in future sight myself ok JADE: i dont care how credible it seems, you cant depend on that information!

An allusion to her long, long childhood stint inverted to Seer of Time and guiding everyone with Skaia's clouds before she was knocked violently loose from the habit out onto a true path of active agency!

ROSE: I know it's hard to hear, but you need to take a second to think about what I'm saying. ROSE: Don't you feel the least bit relieved? ROSE: You've spent so many years wrangling this dirty little secret. JADE: that "dirty little secret" is my fucking daughter ROSE: Well, now she's not a secret anymore. ROSE: You don't have to shoulder the burden of keeping her tucked away from everyone in the entire world for fear of the consequences, because the consequences have happened. ROSE: You're free to invest all that energy elsewhere. ROSE: Maybe work on yourself a little bit. ROSE: We could even unpack the hamster guy. JADE: oh we are not talking about the fucking hamster guy JADE: i don't want to talk about any of it really!

It's kind of fascinating how they've constructed a conversation where not only are BOTH parties acting so wrong, they're also completely right in naming each other's faults. Jade, the problem *IS* that you don't want to talk about it.

JADE: ever again! JADE: thinking back to that whole conversation makes my skin crawl!!! JADE: "abloo hoo hoo, my life is a monkey paw, everything i want hurts me in the end" ROSE: It was a little pathetic. JADE: I KNOW!

Jade has been hiding her vulnerability from the ENTIRE WORLD to the point where she essentially wanted to stop existing, except vicariously through her daughter, and she thinks now that it's been uncorked a little she can just go RIGHT BACK to never dealing with her problems ever again. NOPE! Doesn't work that way, Jade!

JADE: it had nothing to do with what we were trying to DO JADE: it just derailed everything... JADE: and worst of all, yiffy heard it! JADE: ugh!!!! ROSE: You can't keep trying to control the narrative forever, Jade.

Hah!!! (Bolded for emphasis.) Controlling the narrative, controlling her friends, controlling reality because reality IS "the narrative" here (and Space is the story's pages).

Geez I've had a lot to say and I'm only partway through the second page of this upd8.

ROSE: If Kanaya wants to hate me, or punish me, she has every right to. ROSE: She asked for the truth. JADE: oh come off it!!! JADE: the truth is whatever people WANT to believe JADE: you can either try forcing them to understand your side JADE: leave it completely in their hands and take no responsibility JADE: or you work with their wants and perspectives JADE: and make some informed compromises ROSE: Over the state of reality? JADE: rose i am begging you can you please cut it out with all the cryptic cosmic crap and come back down to earth???

Rose is absolutely WAY too defeatist here, and Jade is still trying to take too much control. FORCING them to understand your side? It's impossible for people to perfectly understand each other-- and mutual understanding takes time and being open about yourself. Jade had to be forcibly pried open into revealing what vulnerabilities she actually had here and she thinks it's pathetic and regrettable, instead of the biggest step towards salvaging this situation that anyone has taken so far, which it was!!! Taking responsibility means taking responsibility for your own flaws; at least Jade is right here that Rose is basically taking NO RESPONSIBILITY AT ALL for her side of the relationship, consigning it all to fate so she doesn't have to work on herself. Neither of them want to confront what's wrong inside their own hearts and their own insecurities. (When really they should be opening up about themselves and getting closer to my Kanaya/Rose/Jade OT3 ship. /s )

ROSE: Things aren't like they used to be, Jade. ROSE: There are no right or wrong routes, anymore. ROSE: Just a tangle of meandering side-paths. JADE: so what, that gives you a free pass to self-destruct? JADE: the best choice was to "double down and say a bunch of horrible insane shit to your wife" ?

Rose still feels deep down that because this isn't a "relevant" timeline anymore, that nothing here matters, just like Vriska used to. Maybe if they pull off the Plot Point plan and forcibly drag this timeline closer to relevance, something will kick off in Rose's mind that tells her, GUESS WHAT, THE STAGE LIGHTS ARE ON, you can't just say that this entire timeline doesn't matter anymore? Hmm.

ROSE: Jade, over the course of 15 years, when have any of your efforts done a grain of good? ROSE: For yourself or Dave? JADE: woooooooow i know what youre doing ok? JADE: go ahead push every button i have i dont give a fuck JADE: youre the one that has everything to lose here JADE: and no matter what awful things you say it wont change the fact im worried about you ROSE: Don't be. ROSE: I've done fairly well for myself this past decade and a half. ROSE: I've been happy. JADE: thats whats scaring me! JADE: youre not prepared for how bad it can get JADE: you have no idea at all!!!!!!!!!!! ROSE: If you say so.

Having felt like she failed with Dave, and then had him go off and die on her rather than stay with her, Jade is TERRIFIED that Rose is going to ruin the amazing thing she's had with Kanaya out of apathy and fear. Maybe if Kanaya turns out to be in serious danger from something she didn't foresee, and Rose actually has to confront being genuinely scared of losing her for good, it can dislodge Rose from feeling like she'd be happy letting everything keep falling apart around her? That she absolutely HAS TO FIGHT to keep this relationship, that a relationship requires "trying", and that you can't waste time not trying at all thinking you have everything locked down tight and nothing to lose, because as Jade recently learned you can lose EVERYTHING in a moment.

JADE: ... between you and dave and john i dont know whos worse JADE: is it really that hard for any of you to care? JADE: if you dont get your head on straight and begin trying shell leave you JADE: all youve had together and everything you could have had JADE: gone! JADE: and since youre so cool with talking about your mom now JADE: you shouldve learned that lesson from her a long time ago! ROSE: Excuse me-

OUCH. Bringing up all the regrets from the moments after Rose realized she'd lost her mother, lost ANY CHANCE to make amends with her before Jack killed her... the moments which Jade was there for over pesterchum talking to her during, right before she flew into a Grimdark rage.

JADE: look it takes a lot of concentration to hold this perimeter JADE: i think itd be best if you looked after the kids ROSE: ... JADE: inside. ROSE: Fine.

Why is the next command "Rose: Ramble"? Is she going to start talking to herself? Probably, set up by Jade's "(oh my god are you even listening to me)" line. Pulling a Dave Strider and talking to herself since she can't hold a conversation with Jade here.

(Rose: Ramble)

Yeah that's a dark, hopeless, kind of dissociated look on her face.

Oh she's rambling INTERNALLY, there's a lot of black text on this page. XD

You saunter on out of there. You could say so much more, but it’s fine. Jade has no idea what she’s talking about. There’s not a thing to worry about here. You came out the womb playing defense, you’re not about to drop the ball now.

Opening up for self-examination, being vulnerable like they BOTH need to let themselves be to move forward, is the polar opposite of "playing defense". I wonder if she's dunking on herself, here.

If you hadn’t, maybe you’d be more concerned with the torrent of bullshit you’re dealing with. You really are getting it from all ends here, between Jade’s guilt-ridden busybodying and the glint of rage and pain in your wife’s eyes and the sudden, inexplicable tragedy of your brother’s demise.

Ohhh fuck. Dave's death is hitting her too. I'm not sure why I forgot it would. No wonder she's been shutting down instead of confronting anything.

All that on top of the twist of your gut every time you see your mother in Roxy’s face or hear her in Roxy’s voice. Really, you should be losing your shit. Instead, your emotions are in order and your shit is on lockdown exactly where you tucked it away, smooth operator that you are. God, you need a fucking drink.

Gosh, that's sad. And yeah, she totally IS dunking on herself. She knows on some level that something's seriously wrong with her, and she's just avoiding it, conceding defeat even though she knows she's undoubtedly part of the problem. A part of the problem she's partially given up on fixing.

Submission -- to fate, to the oblivion of drink, to everyone else's will -- is Void, simultaneously the essential duality of and a weakpoint of her nature as a Light player.

Instead of folding, you try to curb the craving by focusing on the inside of your hand and slowly moving that energy to your fingertips. Jade is right, of course, but only on a base, intuitive level that is otherwise lacking in specifics and easily misinterpreted and manipulated. For there to be inarguable truth there has to not only be an authority, but one that cares enough to reinforce their intentions absolutely, and you can’t imagine any such authority caring all that much about this laughable mess.

I'm not sure if I completely agree on inarguable truth being contingent on an authority existing (I mean I suppose so in terms of the limits of both-scientific-and-historical observation in our universe, relying on human and imperfect accounts, and also it's DEFINITELY true when talking about A STORY and being able to read the author's interpretation of something or if there was one at all as opposed to the Death Of The Author that Andrew has been foreshadowing since most of the way through Homestuck is what he believes to be a better outcome for the work), but I suppose she doesn't realize that Calliope is the one who authored this timeline-- the living, non-ascended Calliope back in the Meat side. And she absolutely cared-- and we, the readers, do too!

If there’s no truth, then why even bother looking for your best option? Just leave the hierarchy of choices in ashes, the Mayor would be so proud. And then horribly disappointed, realizing this doesn't mean democratic power to the people. It means total fucking black out.

She's really, REALLY hung up on this being a non-canon timeline isn't she? Not only that-- but an AUTHORLESS timeline. She sees this whole timeline as Void (a black out, devoid of meaning and importance) and she can't see how she should actually be caring about it; she's just as doubtful about the validity of non-canon works of Homestuck, that the fanfics that we come up with because we care about these characters could be anywhere as interesting or worth caring about as canon, much in line with Dirk Strider's viewpoint that nothing could possibly matter if it doesn't have a Higher Purpose to the main, author-stamped story. Luckily enough HS^2's entire thematic structure is built to eventually prove her wrong, to teach her and Dirk and all the rest of us that Homestuck and its characters are worthwhile even wrested from the author's grip!

It’s only through quite rigorous contemplation of this metaphysical miasma (to the detriment, some might say, of your attention to the present moment) that you’ve managed to glean much of anything at all, a wonder in and of itself. Trying to decode these countless twisting paths has taken years of practice, but like all your favorite games the tedium enhances the satisfaction of playing. A small pastime, like a crossword, to privately enjoy outside the scope of any intrusive third persons. Currently, for example, you know that Vriska’s up to something important within the meteor. Exceedingly important, actually, far more important than anything here has had any right to be in a long, long time. It’s a point of almost disturbing clarity in the otherwise nebulous and ill-defined milieu of your prognosticative purview. You’re not quite sure what it actually is, though.

Interesting look into her non-ultimate Seer of Light talents, and the current limits they possess based on the combination of her abilities' limits in this Candyverse and her own beliefs and perspective. Why IS what Vriska's doing so important?

It doesn’t really matter, in the long run. Important or not, Vriska’s going to fail. Jane’s going to fail, too; really, just about everyone is going to fail to do something that really matters. In an unsuccessful effort to stave off that failure, and perhaps to atone for it on some level, Calliope will sacrifice herself, fruitlessly. You’re not exempt from the firing squad, either. In the imminent battle, you are going to be shot in the head, the bullet burying deep into your moral grey matter and jamming up the works of your conditional immortality, leaving you confined to a hospital bed. You had to pull all kinds of ridiculous, eyebrow-raising Chaos Theory shit to figure that one out. The rat-tail was worth it, your daughter’s anguish aside.

I'm not sure what she means by "the rat-tail" (does one of the people she knows have that hairdo?? Meenah? what does that have to do with her daughter? if anyone knows what she's alluding to by saying "the rat-tail was worth it" let me know in the replies), but I'm starting to see why she's been acting so hopeless. She doesn't mind Kanaya getting serious distance from her because she thinks she's going to get locked into a coma soon and she doesn't want Kanaya to mourn her as badly. That's pretty fucking depressing. I wonder which parts of this whole prediction are wrong, and why?

Calliope, this Calliope, sacrificing herself I can absolutely see (she's done observing within her fanfic, in a sense, and while not in a serious relationship with anyone she might decide to step out of the way and relinquish her Ring of Life for the sake of saving someone else)-- but fruitlessly how? And if Vriska is going to "fail", then why is what she's doing so damned important, hm? Fail at what, and gain what else in the process, to still invoke such importance? That's not something Rose has addressed or been willing to see. (EDIT: To clarify a bit here, not only is she blind to the purpose Vriska will accomplish-- it's definitely possible that Vriska leaves the plot point WITHOUT resolving her psychological issues, "fail" to, but even then she'll be only one step away from becoming her Ultimate Self at a pivotal moment and she'll already know what that last step IS inside herself, holding on to the Point's importance to finally do the most important step at a later time after getting out. That's just one of many ways to spin things, and she's blind to the true purpose of the Point regardless, or what "failure" truly constitutes in this situation.) Will Rose really enter a coma, and if she does, is her fatalism keeping her from seeing that some unexpected ray of hope is probably going to free her from said coma?

Kanaya may not see it this way at first, but your lobotomy sleepytime will be a well-earned, golden opportunity for her. A chance to experience life unshackled from the ol’ ball and chain. Even if it requires you to foist some compelling motivation for her to embrace it. She can’t waste her independence waiting on you again. You refuse to accept that outcome. What’s the point of a world where anything is possible if the love of your life won’t explore her full potential?

Yeah fuck that!!! I figured this was where Rose was leading, seeing herself as a net negative and refusing to believe that she's WORTH Kanaya, an insecurity she holds so tightly to that she's unwilling to fight for her own happiness. Thinking Kanaya's true potential lays in places that won't circle right back to you eventually. (Rose might be hinting at Kanaya unlocking some of her latent power, quite possibly-- considering the Sylph of Space as a healer, breaking through to that potential might even be enough to save her from the coma she's mentioning.)

It might even be gratifying for her romantically, though you haven’t peered too deeply down those corridors out of respect for her hypothetical privacy (surely not because they’d make you want to rip off your own face to perceive; that’d be hypocritical). Whatever. It’ll be good for her to stretch her legs, and it’s not like you’ll be awake to miss her.

Interesting... now THIS is a huge, huge blindspot for Rose. Since she's refusing to look down the paths of possibility where Kanaya feels for anyone other than her, what if this is one of the biggest reasons she's missing the path of possibility which eventually saves her and reunites them? (No, I'm not just saying that for the sake of Kanaya/Rose/Jade OT3... not entirely, anyway. >_>")

Or everything will collapse and everybody will disappear. It’ll certainly happen eventually. Maybe in an hour, maybe a day, a couple weeks, millenia from now. Who’s to say? Those specifics are beyond you now.

Everyone's seriously underestimating the Candy timeline. Everyone except Roxy and Calliope, the Rogue of Void and the Muse of Space, working together across the canon-to-non-canon barrier... the perfect pair of heroes to set events into motion that will make everything outside of canon real.

It’s this thought that unwinds you, untwisting your knickers. It’s hard to take things too seriously when you know that the details don’t matter and the ending never changes. It’s out of your hands. There’s nothing left to lose.

When Did You Stop Trying

She's practically LETTING herself get shot just so she doesn't have to see the rest of a story she doesn't think matters! Hopefully she'll be rather ridiculously surprised to find her timeline mattering after all-- to everyone both inside and outside their story. Hopefully we don't have to watch her agonize TOO long waiting for her to figure that shit out, even if the possibility of a certain duration of coma ends up making that wait longer than we'd like. At least in that case, we'll get to see the flabbergasted look on her face when she's brought out of her condition and realizes that everything suddenly matters again!

(==>)

A preview of what she sees ahead. Damn.

You’re nobody now. Just a shadow. Dirk was right to leave. He would have hated this existence. Ah, well.

I'd hoped both this Rose and Rosebot wouldn't make the exact same mistake, because hopefully we get to see them both convinced out of it... but possibly it could be circumstantially simultaneous? That'd be pretty appropriate given one of them is Ultimate Rose.

All tension has left your body, at this point. You don’t retreat to the heart of the ship; you have somewhere to be, so you set off, moving not towards a definitive point on the horizon but in cadence with a song that dances on the periphery of your awareness. You heard its first few tentative notes years ago. A subtle ‘ding’ when your ecto-father died. A little ‘dong’ when your wife handed you your daughter. A clear ‘ting’ when an old friend asked you for her first and only favor. Over time, and especially within the past few days, these scattered sounds have woven together into a compelling melody.

This sounds sort of like a mix of what meat!Calliope wrote into the Candy timeline, and intervention of other authors like Dirk excising himself to strengthen his meat!timeline importance? But mostly that Calliope, the story written in part by that distant author who wouldn't leave you to such a fate as you're expecting.

It helps you drown out the noise of war and focus, taking you back to times when there was destiny and indignation and righteous fury. A colorful cat-squid princess, advising a young girl to “play the rain.” She wanted so much, always needing to be seen, desperate to fight for some shred of validation. Only to never appreciate what was already in front of her. Thankfully, you aren’t her anymore. You don’t owe her anything either. You are unbound to that person completely. Defunct. As above, so below.

I wonder if that statement, behaving like this is Hell (to go with Vriska's purgatorial little trip in the Point), is also a reference to her making the same mistakes on both sides of the Candy/Meat divide? And I wonder if Rosebot truly believes, deep down, that she's the unlucky one in Hell too. Probably not yet, or at least not consciously, especially with Dirk artificially suppressing her doubts. (Also, playing the rain brought up again because at least ONE of these Roses is going to have to pull it off before HS^2 ends!!! It's one of the biggest unfulfilled threads that people wanted to see filled in Homestuck before it ended, and its subsequent continuation-- and goes hand in hand with all of Rose's unresolved psychological issues too somehow most likely, unless it's going to be done to show us that it wasn't indeed the biggest point after all?)

Also, just noting on the side the comparison of the woven thread of the narrative and fate to a musical score, one where the different authors, participants, are contributing parts of the music and different instruments, like the Fraymotifs that blended their aspects to write reality like a song.

Also also, it occurs to me that if Rose is going to enter a coma, she's quite possibly already going to have left a VERY INFURIATING farewell note for Kanaya that shows she saw her coma coming all along, and inadvertently clues Kanaya into the stupid game Rose had been playing by distancing herself so cruelly.

(==>)

A troll soldier looks down from something.

(==>)

Oh, they're bumping face first into a (much taller than them? and very pissed) Kanaya aren't they.

(==>)

Ooh, aglow, too. I wonder if this is a younger recruit or if Kanaya is just tall and huge now; she didn't seem like she compared much taller than Rose and Jade, though most people have always seen Kanaya as tall. This seems like the sort of thing I'd like to see artist commentary on when it comes out. (I've been trying to chew on the artist commentary first back-to-front from where HS^2 first became Beyond Canon, but I'm very slow at it due to some energy issues lately, so even Part 1 of that will be some time coming.)

(==>)

Literally haloed in light! If you weren't so preoccupied with your imminent demise, Rose, you could take some time to appreciate how amazing your wife is and believing in how much she loves you instead of thinking yourself less worthy than SHE thinks of you and casting her off.

(Commanders: Congregate.)

Ooh she mad.

Nothing too important in this page's dialogue, other than Kanaya acknowledging that Rose and Jade won't be involved in directly attacking and that she'd rather that be the case regardless, from an emotional standpoint. She definitely still wants Rose out of the line of fire, even if she's mad at her. (And Jade pulling defensive duty around the children might lose you a big offensive card but it isn't TOO bad, hopefully.)

(==>)

KARKAT: FUCK ‘EM.

Hah! Totally moirails. (Also look at that BLOOD imagery behind the grasping of hands, in all colors of the hemospectrum. That's not subtle Aspect imagery at all! I love unsubtle Aspect imagery! :D )

(==>)

MEENAH: shell yes motherblubber MEENAH: wayward wenches betta step the fuck back MEENAH: its a troll thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang

you're ruining the mood meenah

(Jane: Push the big red button. Blast it all to high heaven.)

Yeah Jake's gonna have dismantled that moon superweapon WELL before it fires.

You do not push the button because that would be incredibly stupid. The battle hasn't even started yet. Instead you take advantage of the momentary quiet to breathe. To think about life. About situations you could have handled differently. Feelings you could have... considered better. People you could have saved.

Does she? Does she really? Really now? ¬_¬"

(==>)

OH GOD IT'S A GIANT CAKE LASER THAT'S HILARIOUS

Your father never did voice any kind of opinion on your parenting style. In hindsight, he was probably avoiding the subject altogether. Or didn’t think much about it, focusing his pride on your exploits instead. He did raise a businesswoman, after all. At any point you could have asked for his advice. Now you can't. 15 years. Utterly botched.

Yeah, she definitely screwed the heck up on the parenting front, I suppose that *IS* something she's seriously reckoning with now that Jake has pulled back the curtain. It's too late for her to consider backing down, but she's at least going to feel some regrets and let that eat deservedly away at her before her final moments in this timeline.

Oh pfff, I hadn't even looked at the title of the next link (I'm guessing the answer is YES OF COURSE)

(Jane: Consider, is it too late?)

Of course not.

Really?

You remind yourself, you are incredibly young for a god. It’s natural for your growing pains to be this calamitous. All of the struggle and regret will feed into a brighter future. Newfound order will ensure stability, leading to a period of progress this planet has never seen before. There is so much living left. So many opportunities. This will not be your last chance. You’ll do better with the next one.

This is pretty in line with the way megalomaniacal way Jane behaved back when she was controlled by the Condesce, envisioning an empire with Jake at her side bearing her children forever. Candy is essentially an entire timeline where she followed through on her ambitions without constraint.

Speaking of constraint-- (Gee I thought he was totally going to take the Third Option and fly up to destroy the laser, this can't be over this quickly with a gun to the head--)

(Jane: Look behind you.)

Oh dear, so it definitely IS assassination, then. You must really hate how bad she's been for the children, Jake, to really go through with this as personally as BGD suggested. I was thinking about turning points like this for Hope players (in other media actually, a certain Hope player in Murder Drones actually) and moments of Rage being negative or positive turning points in equal measure, points where their belief in the breadth of possibility is pushed into a corner and it's time for them to narrow everything down to ONE CHANCE, to do or die, to a gun to someone's head or a blade to someone's neck and a willingness to cut a possibility off forever when it REALLY COUNTS to come in balance with their role (in ways depicted in Murder Drones with, hint hint, exactly one of their eyes showing a murder-mode X and the other eye open, as if on the tipping point before that Hope is cut off). How for a Hope player to be effective and balanced, they HAVE to know when they can't just sit on their heels and need to take action even if it means cutting off all the other paths they WISHED were true but can't be, acknowledging reality.

But seriously, if he was fast enough he could have just flown to space and blown up the Cake Laser. I guess this is more effective.

JANE: Jake? JAKE: Hi. Sweetheart. JANE: What are you doing here? Is everything ok? JAKE: It's all gravy train, don't worry! I was only thinking to myself and... JAKE: realized how sorry i'd be if i didn't come wish you good luck. JANE: How thoughtful! JAKE: Mm hm! JAKE: Come here.

Is that really going to work? Maybe with Jane deluding herself this much right now. I feel life if Jake actually pulls this off it'll end the battle far too quickly; maybe he'll shoot her and her Maid of Life powers will bring her back to retaliate the moment he turns his back on the body?

(==>)

Oh dear, he's going in EXTREMELY personal for this isn't he. A point blank shot through the heart in honor of Dirk maybe?

JANE: Well! That felt very lucky. JANE: Hoo, hoo! JAKE: I was hoping so ha ha! JANE: Thank you. ;B JANE: Wow you sure are holding me very tight, I assure you we don't have that kind of time sir! JANE: *eyebrow wiggle* JAKE: So right! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. JAKE: Oh Jane. JAKE: Before I let go, I wanted to say first. It's been a hard life and all but, JAKE: I'm really happy I got to see you. JANE: Me too J! JAKE: And... I'm going to miss you. JANE: Aw! JANE: Wait, what?

Looks like she didn't see it coming, even if I don't think it's gonna stick. Just exhausting whatever extra life she's built up in reserve, I'd bet.

[click]

(==>)

OW, to the head! No wonder there was a blood/violence warning in the tweet announcing this upd8.

(==>)

Oh god that's horrifying it didn't finish her off

this dialogue is horrifying why do you have to traumatize Jake more like this he's promising it'll stop oh that's awful okay serious fucking trigger warnings ouch

(==>)

OH GOD and she healed herself and knocked his aim off course. This is why you always double tap. D:

She's gonna be PISSED. (I didn't need the vivid mental imagery of bullets stuck in heads a third time counting Rose AND this anyway, brain damage is a bit of a trigger for me.) Hopefully Jake at least gets away, or destroys the launch button, or with his assassination attempt failed NOW goes to fly off and destroy the cake laser directly on the moon.

(==>)

Alright that's pretty cool! Not good obviously, but inevitable.

JAKE: W-w-w-w-w-w-wha? JANE: As I was saying- JANE: Jake.

Counter-attack incoming.

(==>)

JANE: IF YOU HAVE ONE SHOT

(==>)

OH THAT'S SOME HYPER VIOLENT PISTOL WHIPPING OUCH. EVEN IN BEYOND CANON THEY AREN'T HOLDING BACK A BIT ON THE MATURE GODDAMN RATING even when it isn't a psychological deep dive owowow

JANE: YOU BETTER JANE: MAKE IT JANE: *FUCKING* JANE: COOOOOUUUUUUUUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder how he's going to get away? He deserves to after this, and also he's possibly the only one who knows about the space laser and isn't coming out of this without at least one big solid heroic accomplishment that sticks under his belt. The space laser seems pretty much designed for him to intervene.

(==>)

You stop your onslaught, knowing the next couple blows will finish the job. A just death. How romantic.

Pfff-- I guess even if she killed him, it wouldn't announce that the death had been Heroic over his head.

Oh wait, I just realized--! Jake has TWO GUNS. Both the prior shots ought only to have been from one, unless he switched to single shot pistols for some arcane reason.

Between the adrenaline and taste of blood in your mouth, the decision is clear to you. You will not fail yourself. You will claim the spoils of this war and oversee a thriving planet. Cultivating an ever bettering stock of humanity. Your future. On and on. Forever. Alone.

Yeah sure you will.

Wait, what does that next link even mean? --Oh, it's Spades Slick and the co-opted Felt gang members she captured isn't it?? :D I've been waiting for her to unleash them!

(Jane: Release the Brig Boys.)

Wait what the fuck

As if!!!!! Maybe some time in the trenches with the Brig Boys will do him some good.

Oh my GOD she's seriously letting him go?! I'm not sure if that's not even more messed up in the head of her than killing him! She's seriously got a screw loose. She's really afraid of being alone and sure he'll come back to her side, isn't she, even if she needs a leash to force him? (And plot-speaking this just gives him a chance to fly up and bust the Moon Laser.)

Why are they Brig Boys, doesn't that mean prisoners? I mean I guess she probably paranoidly imprisoned some of the clone soldiers, but...

(==>)

Oof, Jake splats to the ground.

Death would be a kindness, after all. You gave Jake a shot to stay by your side and make something of himself, but in the end he proved himself just another deserter. You should have seen it coming; you learned 15 years ago that people will slip right through your fingers if you let them.

well what's your plan then

It’s fine. You won’t let go again. Jake is your means to an end. When you scramble his frontal lobe, you’ll make sure it doesn’t heal right. It won’t be much of a change, anyway.

JESUS CHRIST WOMAN

If I didn't know better I'd accuse someone who worked on this slate of updates to have known about my trigger about the idea of brain damage and personally stacked this one up against me! Good thing I worked out a lot of my fears in therapy so much before this, sheesh. Beyond Canon might know when to STOP punching and crack a joke but when they punch they don't pull those punches, ouch.

(Jane: Commence battle.)

Good thing Jake's already sitting up. You'd better not wallow in that discouragement from the failed assassination attempt, GO AFTER THE MOON LASER. (Though, Rose did warn us that from her biased point of view "just about everyone is going to fail to do something that really matters".)

(Jake: Look out into distance.)

JAKE: TAVROS!

Aw damn, is he going to fly in to help and leave the moon laser problem to someone else? At least he's the one parent of Tavros's focused on something he should of the two.

(==>)

That's a letter from Rose and a pack of trail mix. Rose, now that we know you're lining up future events so things turn out a certain neutral-victory sort of way, I can't help but wonder what the fuck you're planning with the kids. (And how they're going to potentially far surpass your limited expectations.)

On the plus side this means that as soon as we've reckoned with that letter WE FINALLY GET BACK TO THESE KIDS AND POTENTIALLY HAVING SOME FUCKING DIALOGUE THAT INCLUDES YIFFY OR IS ABOUT AND AROUND HER AT LEAST, I'VE BEEN WAITING SO EXCITED TO GET BACK TO THEM AFTER THAT JADE HEART-OUTPOUR THAT YIFFY OVERHEARD AND IS LIKELY STILL MIFFED ABOUT! :DDD Gosh I've been waiting for Yiffy and the other kids to interact more.

I'm extra busy with family stuff for a couple weeks so I probably won't post anything extra between now and the next update, but as usual I'll be right there when it arrives. Until next time!

[leclerced]

hear me out

lando and oscar just can’t keep their hands off of you and it’s kinda a secret like you were dating oscar and then all 3 of you started dating but McLaren was like “ummm guys this isn’t good for our PR” and so you keep it hush hush like NO ONE knows except for you 3 , the boys trainers , and Zak Brown. So during COTA you guys do the little teenage dream fuck your small town bf on a back road or whatever… but a group of teenage boys were out hunting , and coincidentally were F1 fans , so they recorded you and leaked it on F1 twitter so your relationship is not only OUT but so is your new sextape !

and there is a race the next day meaning none of you will be escaping this.

-🪼🪼🪼

ur insane for this jelly. adding a read more bc this is lonf

the thing about small towns is that everyone knows everyone. and they keep up with each other even if they move out. you start popping up around formula one drivers and people are gonna see it. even if it’s just one of them, they send it to all of their friends and family. the first time, it’s a screenshot of you in lando’s vlog, “hey didn’t we go to school with this girl?” and later, when you’re being posted on main at every race, every kid you went to school with is sharing the photos, “how do you think they met?” “which one is she dating?” the guy you went to prom with has an odd sense of satisfaction knowing he got to feel you up after the dance and now you’re rumored to be dating some race car driver(s).

when you get spotted in a club with them getting handsy, it 100% makes its way to your parents. your kindergarten best friend’s aunt sends it to your mom, “honey, is she doing okay?” and you want to die in a hole when she forwards you the texts, “honey, i hope you’re being safe! nancy is worried. send her a text to let her know you’re doing fine. she said she messaged you on christmas and never heard back.”

when the race is back in your area, the whole town is buzzing thinking you’re bringing them back home and they’ll get to meet some celebs. you’d never allow it, you just know the girl you fought with from preschool all the way to your high school graduation would love to tell them any and all embarrassing stories. even stopping at one of the small stores is risky, no telling who is the cashier now.

but if you stay on the back roads you can avoid most of the houses you know, and the rental truck conceals your identity. there’s an old spot you want to show them. you def think it’s secure. it’s got a decrepit house on the corner, no one really knows who owns it so you know the owners won’t be around to yell about trespassers. you have to climb through a barbed wire fence behind it and make your way through some woods before you find the clearing. it’s obvious it’s still the spot for some people, it hasn’t been forgotten since your class graduated. the tradition of debauchery in the woods has been passed on.

there’s a circle full of ashes, the same spot your friends had campfires years before. it’s the first spot you ever kissed anyone, smoked weed, drank. you just planned on driving through the town and pointing out your childhood home, where family lives, the school you went to. you decide on popping by and showing them the clearing last minute because it’s on the way out of town. it’s chilly out and you carried the blanket from the truck to shield you from the evening breeze. lando takes it and lays it across the bed, wants to stargaze for a bit. within minutes of you and oscar joining him, he’s turned it into a makeout session, and then you’re being fucked in the woods in the middle of the night.

the ones hunting don’t even recognize you, they just hear moaning and go to the clearing, expecting to find one of their friends so they can give them shit. they record it, send it to someone who forwards it to others. it’s the way small towns work. “who’s fucking at the clearing?” with a video attached. makes its way around until someone recognizes you or the drivers. then it’s back down the chain, “ohh its the girl from my sisters class, the one dating those drivers. apparently they’re in town for the race this weekend.”

by the time you make it back to the hotel, it’s being shared across the internet. most of the people in your town disregard it, but there are some asshole guys who post it on snapchat, twitter. share it in the gross group chats men have with each other. the f1 fans find it by searching “lando and oscar” on twitter and looking at the recent tweets. then it’s spread amongst them, people trying to figure out if the grainy footage is real, if the audio is real.

the next morning, the mclaren team is sitting them down for a pr course and training them on the responses to give. you stay at the hotel to avoid any and all attention, but the lack of your presence at the track leads to them being asked why you aren’t there.

[siyooungi]

can i please request a chaewon oneshot where reader is live and chaewon joins reader and sits on her lap which shocks the viewers and the two accidentally lets it slip thay they’re dating? thank you so much!!! <333 very sorry if this didnt make sense!!

Pairing: Chaewon x Fem!Reader

Idol: Kim Chaewon (Le Sserafim)

Warning(s): None!

A/N: Had to repost because I forgot to post this with the request!

-

Although you were tired, you decided to do your weekly live on weverse. You loved catching up with fans and answering any questions they might have. Your lives were always chill and you did initially fear that they would be boring, but fearnots always reassured you.

“I’ve noticed that you guys are enjoying all of the content that’s been put out.” You spoke as you read through the comments, smiling at the reactions.

“Of course, there’s more to come but I won’t say a word.” You stated before you zipped your mouth and threw the imaginary key away. You couldn’t help but laugh when fans started begging for any kind of spoiler. You feigned to ponder whether or not you’d tell them, but you shook your head.

You spent some more time reading the comments and responding here and there, but a knock at the door pulled your attention from them. You moved the camera over so the person who were to enter wouldn’t be in view, just in case they didn’t know you were live.

The door opened and you were met with your lovely girlfriend. “Oh! It’s Chaewon unnie, everyone.” You spoke as you moved your phone back in its original place. It was a bit weird calling her ‘unnie’ ever since you both made it official, but no one else knew but the two of you and the members. So, she had to be addressed that way in public, of course.

She came into frame and waved, smiling once she saw all of the greetings from fans in response. There was only one chair since you were doing a solo live and Chaewon took note of that.

“It’s nice of you to join us.” You said as you looked up at her with a smile, to which she returned. “I was watching for some time.” She stated as she stepped closer to you and put her arm around you, allowing you to lean into her.

Many people in the comments were talking about how they enjoyed seeing you both together, resulting in your smile only getting bigger. After more time of reading comments and replying to them, you felt some movement from Chaewon. She had went behind you to pull your chair back slightly, surprising you a little. She made her way back to your side and went to sit on your lap, blocking you from the camera.

Your eyes widened out of pure shock but after it wore off, you happily wrapped your arms around her waist. The chat suddenly increased and although you couldn’t see, Chaewon did and a smile formed on her face once again. You peeked your head out from her shoulder and tried to read chat.

Everyone was going insane and there were quite a few comments talking about how their ship was sailing and that they clipped this moment. You rested your head on her shoulder and hid your face once again. She reached her hand back and patted your head.

“She’s so cute.” Chaewon mouthed to the camera, leaving her hand on your head to caress it. You were so comfortable in this position that you completely disregarded your live, allowing your girlfriend to take over.

Chaewon spent time catching up with fans and unbeknownst to her, you ended up falling asleep on her. She was so distracted by telling stories that once she read chat again, everyone was talking about how you had fallen asleep. They noticed that you repositioned your head were able to catch a glimpse of your eyes being closed.

Trying to limit her movements, she slightly turned her head in your direction. “My love..” she whispered as she rubbed the side of your thigh, causing your eyes to flutter open. You lifted your head and she couldn’t help but smile, to which you reciprocated. You put your chin on her shoulder once she turned back around to read chat.

Her eyes widened when she saw what everyone was saying and her hand immediately went over her mouth. You turned your attention to the chat, leaning in to read what she was seeing. You gasped when you realized they were talking about the endearing term Chaewon called you and how that wasn’t something she called her members.

Not only were they talking about that, but they were also speculating and trying to figure out how long you’ve been dating and some questioning how they haven’t noticed the looks you gave each other. Your shippers had only multiplied and were glad to get the unspoken confirmation they’ve been wanting.

Chaewon facepalmed herself when everything set in. You let out a giggle, causing her to turn her head to you. You pointed at the screen, which now showed a message from your manager. She fixed her attention back onto your phone and after reading the message, she threw her head back against your shoulder, groaning loudly. This only caused more laughter to erupt from you and you tightened your arms around her, rocking her side to side.

You found this entire situation humorous and she had no choice but to laugh at her slip up because your laughter was contagious.

“Well, we have to go..” You stated after your laughing fit died down. Fans were wondering what would happen after this slip up, but said their farewells nonetheless and mentioned how much of a power couple you both were.

Chaewon simply watched as you leaned forward to turn off the live. “We’re so fucked.” She admitted as she hid her head into your neck. “We’ll be okay.. my love.” You teased, causing her to sigh loudly. “Shut up..” She mumbled, earning a chuckle from you.

[the-arkhamwolf]

Current lay out for my random reverse robins Au

-Damian getting dropped off at Bruces's step and forcing Bruce to take him on as a sidekick; Something-Wing (yeah that's the best I got)

-Bruce becomes a more lighthearted Batman for Damian's sake. After all the kid's been through.

-Wally and Damian meet and eventually become friends (They most likely will have a friendship similar to my Falling in Reverse AU)

-Bruce and Damian grow pretty close until a bad fight over the Joker, which causes Damian to move out

-One day he walking home he sees a woman being attacked. He saves her but ends up getting shot by the Joker (All this happens while he's a civilian)

-Bruce finds his son lying unconscious in the middle of the street bleeding heavily

-Damian wakes up in the hospital unable to move his legs

-Damian becomes bitter toward Bruce and the two have an even bigger falling out

-Bruce becomes a harsher Batman

-Tim appears on Bruce's doorstep with his Batman Needs a Robin propaganda

-Tim comes in to stop Bruce and somehow gets pushed into taking Damian's mantel

-For a good while, he spends most of his time trying to get Bruce and Damian to talk to each other

-Damian treats Tim harshly believing he hates Tim for taking his place

-Damian really hates himself because he thinks he's broken and sees what he could have been in Tim

-Tim eventually does break through to him and Damian comes back taking up an oracle-type role

-Damian starts to see Tim as a little brother and enjoys having him around

-Tim meets Stephine one night on patrol and through a series of events gets her to join the bats

-Tim works on a secret project called Titan that only Steph and Damian know about

-he plans to leave Gotham to work on Titan so He trains Steph to take his place

-Angst coming up

-Tim gets shot in a scene kind of similar to Batman Beyond; he goes to save a woman only for the woman to shoot him in the stomach. Tim gets away but he's bleeding heavily.

-Damian's on the comms trying to help him

-Everyone is to far away

-Tim stumbles through the street before sliding down against a pole

-Damian is on the comms the entire time helpless as his little brother dies

-Steph and Bruce fight/She leaves

-Jason steals tires and Bruce adopts him because no one said he couldn't

-Jason trains

-Damian disapproves but comes around for Jason's sake, not Bruce

-Steph hates Jason but they become friends later

-Ras brings Tim back and Tim Scares the heck out of him and then destroys his league (This is going to be a what the heck moment as it is revealed Tim was playing Ra's the whole time and I am so excited for it)

-Tim saves Cass from her father and then trains her

extra

-Tim has trouble sleeping due to nightmares. He also has the episode called freeze outs (Yeah I suck at names) where the pit takes over making him very cold and withdrawn and dangerous to everyone.

-Barbra becomes Cassandra's little shadow and Cass has no idea how to deal with a child (Which just leads to a lot of adorable Cass moments)

-Tim's living room is always cluttered with projects he and Roy are working on

-Rose is like Casse's big sister

-Damian gets conned into taking Jason to the fair and ends up coming home with an extra kid

-another pairing Wally and Jinx (not really a big part of the story but may be of use )

-Dick is a little monster who will disappear every chance he gets

I know this makes no sense but I love it

.

.

So either Wally will be there for Damian when Tim dies or Damian will push him away for two years (around when Tim comes back) then the two will reconnect and Damian will be shocked because Wally has a kid.

Reasons I want the second one

1- I love the angst of Damian feeling guilty as he realizes his best friend has a Daughter and he never knew about it

2-I love the fluff of Damian getting to be like an uncle and interacting with a baby

but also I don't want Damian to push away everyone because that is a lot of angst since Steph leaves for a while Idk

.

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Original Post

any thoughts? also what should I name this Au?

[laelior]

Six Song Soundtrack Game

Tagged by absolutely no one but this looked fun so I'm doing it anyway. <3 Tagging (with absolutely no pressure!) @vela-ad-astra @vorchagirl @citadelsushi @shadoedseptmbr @hawkeykirsah @unicorn-farm @pigeontheoneandonly and @nerdyspeechy

Rules: If tagged, make a new post with links to music and/or lyrics describing the following: 1. An event that defines your character's past 2. How your character sees themselves 3. How others view them 4. Their closest relationship (platonic or romantic) 5. A major fight scene 6. End credits song

Doing this for Peggy Shepard, Beth's badass grandma, because her story is a great one to tell through songs.

The short version:

1. An event that defines your character's past: Mountain Song - Flatland Cavalry 2. How your character sees themselves: Years - Sierra Farrell 3. How others view them: The Son Never Shines (on Closed Doors) - Flogging Molly 4. Their closest relationship (platonic or romantic): The Story - Brandi Carlisle and You're Gonna Be - Reba McEntire 5. A major fight scene - God's Gonna Cut you Down - Johnny Cash 6. End credits song - The Garden - Sierra Farrell

Details and descriptions beneath the cut:

An event that defines her past: Mountain Song - Flatland Cavalry Pinyon perfume blowin' in the wind Time ain't a thing here, luck is my best friend Carryin' with me everythin' I own and who I am Pray to God, I see your face again Peggy Shepard (née Richwine)'s father died of cancer when she was 17. He was the only family she had and he had nothing to leave her but debt, which he tried desperately not to do to her. She had few options, so she decided to enlist in the UNAS Marine Corp as a means to escape poverty. She had only the clothes on her back when she joined. It turned out to be the most consequential decision of her life since she met her eventual husband, John Shepard, shortly after boot camp, which in turn influenced the path she took through life. In a more metaphorical sense, her sense of identity is rooted in her childhood in the Appalachian mountains, and she still feels strongly connected to that region in her 80s.

How she sees herself: Years - Sierra Farrell Those years, everybody knows you gotta let 'em go And they kinda roll by like tears Just a measure of time, playin' with your mind And passin' you by, those years Not to put too fine a point on it, but she's old. She's in her 80s, which by 2186 isn't quite as close to the edge of typical human lifespans as it is now (at least according to the Codex), but it doesn't stop her from feeling all those years. And at a certain point, you just have to roll with the punches and take the years as they come.

How others view her: The Son Never Shines (on Closed Doors) - Flogging Molly I saw her there from afar Her hair gray charcoal, takes a drag from her tar I kissed her a smile, but her blood-red shot eye Said the son never shines on closed doors Little old lady who is at once inscrutable and intimidating? Check and check. The song more fits her vibe than the lyrics, but there aren't a lot of songs out there about badass grandmas.

Her closest relationship: This one's a twofer, describing her relationship with her late husband, John, and her descendants by him. The Story - Brandi Carlise All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am Oh, but these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to It's true, I was made for you She was married to John for almost 50 years. They raised children and grandchildren together. They (figuratively) built their house together. They experienced so much of their lives together. So much of story of her life is rooted in what they had together before his sudden passing. He'll always be a part of her through what they built together. You're Gonna Be - Reba McEntire I'm afraid you'll have to suffer through some of my mistakes Lord, knows I'll be trying, oh, to give you what it takes What it takes to know the difference between getting by and livin' This applies equally to her granddaughter, Beth, and her youngest daughter, Jo. She's made mistakes as both a mother and a grandmother, but she's never not loved her children and their children with every single piece of her heart. What she wants for them is to have lives that being them happiness and meaning like she's had. Jo got there eventually, but Peggy worries that Beth never will.

A major fight scene: God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash No specific lyrics, just vibes. It's a good song with a steady beat, minimal instrumentals, and strong chorus which reflects how she approaches combat: coldly, methodically, and without and ounce of pity of sentimentality. She didn't spent the better part of 50 years specializing in sniper weapons for nothing.

End credits song: The Garden - Sierra Farrell I'm livin' in the garden again Where I fall to my knees and work with a lamp And I keep on prayin' with two dirty hands I'm livin', yes, livin' in the garden again This one can be taken pretty literally. When the Reaper War rolls around, she's working in her garden and her fondest wish is to go right back to it when the war is over. And so help her god, the Reaper better not have so much as touched her flower beds. If the universe is kind to her, that's exactly how her story will end, with her planting more flowers in her garden while this song plays over the credits.

[yunhoee]

Synopsis: Living post grad can be tough, especially when most of your friends are just entering their senior year. Your best friend invites you to play a practice game, but there couldn't possibly be ulterior motives could there?

Pairing: Choi Jongho x Reader

Genre: non idol!au, soccer player!jongho, soccer player!reader, mainly fluff, suggestive

Wordcount: 2.6k

Note: This was originally a one-shot, but I may write more! Please let me know what you think :)

It’s a wild Friday night. Pajamas are on, you have your favorite comfort show on, and a bucket of ice cream all to yourself. You are casually scrolling through social media. A lot of your friends have moved back in for their final year of college. You graduated the year before them, which at the time you were thrilled to be done. Now seeing them all go back without you hurts. You were the captain of your soccer team, and seeing your teammates prepare for the indoor season without you is a little bit of a bummer. 

You were able to land a corporate job, which you are of course grateful for. Most days are spent alone considering you work from home. You can’t deny the depression that is starting to creep back in. Your phone dings and you smile at the photo that your best friend, Lauren, sends you. The photo shows a smiling Lauren with the rest of your team, and you can see part of the men’s team trying to get into their photo. You chuckle and heart the photo in imessage. You can’t deny the pain you feel knowing you won’t be there this season. 

Turning up your show to try to drown out the sadness seems like the best idea. Until your phone goes off again. 

“You better not be moping all alone right now. We miss you.”

Lauren always has a sense for whenever you’re feeling sad. Something you love and hate about her. Mostly love. 

Nah. I’m at a huge corporate rager. Drunk off my ass, might go home with someone.

Lauren replies almost immediately.

“Okay now I’m actually worried. Why don’t you play in our practice scrimmage tomorrow? The boys have an unfair advantage, so we need all the help we can get.”

You roll your eyes.

Don’t you think that would be a little pathetic? And what unfair advantage could they possibly have? You stomp them at every scrimmage.

As you wait for a response you think about joining your old team. I mean it is just a practice game, and it’s not like you have anything better to do. The exercise would be nice.

“Are you kidding? The team would be thrilled. We miss you all the time :(. The unfair advantage would be Marcus’ friend that is in town. They went to elementary school together when Marcus lived in Korea, and well he’s fucking incredible at soccer.”

You sigh and try not to think too much about your answer. Maybe just going with the flow will work out for me this one time.

Damn all you had to say was Marcus and I’m in. I can’t wait to see his face when we win. Just text me the details and I’ll be there.

Lauren sent you a voice memo of her and the rest of the girls screaming in excitement. You laugh and then start to get ready for bed. The scrimmage is at 9am so you need to make sure you get plenty of sleep. 

Tomorrow comes and before you know it, you’re at the fieldhouse. You’re not sure why you were so nervous because the girls give you an enormous warm welcome. Lauren forces you to start stretching and warming up early since it’s been a few months since you’ve played. As you and Lauren are warming up together, you notice she has the biggest smirk on her face.

“Why are you smiling like that?”, You ask.

Lauren giggles, “Don’t hate me. We obviously needed you to beat the boy’s team, but I also had a bit of a side quest.”

You narrow your eyes, “What are you up to?”

Lauren says, “Well Marcus’ friend is super hot and good at soccer. I thought maybe you guys could get to know each other.”

“This was a set up?!” You gasp.

Lauren hushes you, “No one else knows. Even if you don’t want him to be your boyfriend, it could be a fun hookup. Just trust me on this.”

You roll your eyes, “Whatever. He better not be ugly.”

Lauren laughs as the two of you continue to warm up. You can’t deny the butterflies you feel at the idea of this mystery man. Lauren has never been wrong before, so you’re just hoping you can muster up enough courage to be yourself. 

“Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in”

You immediately know who the voice belongs to. You turn and can’t help but smile.

“I’m not admitting that I missed you”, You say with your hands on your hips.

Marcus laughs and opens his arms. You both embrace until Marcus tries to squeeze the life out of you.

“Okay! Are you trying to squeeze me to death?!” You shout as you wiggle out of his embrace. 

Marcus smiles, “I missed you.”

Lauren interrupts, “Okay okay enough with the flirting, Marcus.”

Marcus recognizes someone behind you, “Over here, Jongho!”

You all turn to see the man that Marcus was calling over. Fuck Lauren was right, he’s gorgeous. He gives your group the cutest smile you’ve ever seen and jogs over to your group. 

Lauren whispers to you, “You’re drooling.”

You lightly smack Lauren’s arm and try not to keep staring at Jongho.

“Alright everyone! This is Jongho. We met when I lived in Korea and he’s here to stomp your asses.” Marcus says as he wraps his arm around Jongho’s shoulder.

Lauren rolls her eyes and puts her arm around you, “Well, Jongho, this is y/n and she’s here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

You are giggling at Lauren when you finally make eye contact with Jongho. He is smiling brightly at you. You’re unable to hide the slight blush that appears on your cheeks. A burst of confidence comes through you. 

“Yeah sorry you came all this way just to have your ass handed to you” You say with a smirk. 

The teams are laughing and you can’t bring yourself to look away from Jongho. The sexual tension is undeniable. He steps closer to you and you refuse to back down from eye contact, even when you have to look up to meet his eyeline.

Jongho looks down at you flirtatiously, “You’re a mouthy one aren’t you. I like that.”

He walks towards his side of the field, the rest of the boys follow after him. While you’re momentarily frozen in your spot. You can’t believe someone as beautiful as him said that to you. 

Lauren drags you back to your side of the field while you continually thank her for making you come. She continues to nod her head with that ‘I told you so’ look. You can’t even argue with her because she was oh so right.  

Your team is huddled and hyping each other up. You are all in agreement that you must win this scrimmage no matter what. Even though it’s only a practice game. You will be in your favorite position, center defender. Lauren let you know that Jongho is a forward, so you will definitely be seeing him. Your team all put your hands together.

Before you can break you tell them, “Not one of his balls will get past me.”

Your team cheers and breaks. As you walk to your position, you’re shaking yourself out. You can’t decide if it’s because it’s been awhile since you played or because you’re nervous as fuck. Either way, Jongho is not getting past you. 

For the first 10 minutes you wonder when you will get to play. Both teams are so hyped up that it was really just a battle of the forwards and midfielders for a while. This was good because you were able to watch Jongho in action and see how he plays. Unfortunately for you he is incredible, so this will definitely be a tough match. 

Jongho is the first one to slip through the midfielders and he is barreling right towards you with the ball. You take a deep breath and immediately go into action. He attempts to side step you, but you step directly in front of him and kick the ball between his legs. Jongho wasn’t prepared for you to be able to disable him so quickly that he didn’t have time to slow his body down. The force causes Jongho to fall, bringing you down with him. You immediately jump back up, only to sag in relief when you see Lauren is on the other side of the field with the ball.

“Are you okay?!” You see a frantic Jongho searching all over you to make sure he didn’t cause you harm.

You laugh, “I’m fine. Better luck next time.”

You can see that Jongho is taken aback by you. He wasn’t expecting you to be so incredibly good at defense, and also not afraid to put yourself directly in his path. He can’t help but admire you, but he will also not be misjudging you again. 

Before leaving, he can’t help but brush the few hairs that are in your face out of the way. He tucks them behind your ear, and then runs off to the other side of the field. Leaving you there speechless, and furiously blushing. 

As the game continues, the girls are not backing down. The score is 1-0, with Lauren being able to score because you got the ball from Jongho. You had a few more run-ins with different people on the other team, but none of them were able to get past you. With only a minute left, you can feel a flip of the switch for everyone on the field. The girls, desperate to defend and keep their advantage. The boys, desperate for one goal.

You can feel all the attention is on you. You are the reason they can’t score. You continue your breathing techniques as Jongho makes a beeline for the goal. Needing to get past you, he has three different guys running with him. As they go down the field they’re passing it to one another, in an attempt to confuse you. The three of them are now running side by side and passing it between each other. 

They reach you and the fight begins. You get the ball from one of the guys and attempt to kick it, but Jongho blocks you. You are trying to get the ball back when he passes it to another teammate that you didn’t see. He was further away so you start sprinting right at him, but right before you get to him he kicks it far. You hold your breath while watching the ball soar right to Jongho. Who happened to be right by the goal box. 

You immediately take off towards him, your other defender doing her best. He’s able to fake her out and make it past her, as she falls to the ground. Jongho is lining up his shot, and you know the only way to stop him is to slide to the ball. He doesn’t see you coming up behind him, and right as he’s about to kick the ball his feet are taken out under him. Since he was so close to the ball, you had to risk a slide tackle. The ball went right to your goalie as you planned and the buzzer went off. 

You are laying on your side breathing heavily as you hear the rest of your teammates screaming in victory. You turn over and see Jongho laying right behind you with his hands on his head in defeat. 

You sit up, “Are you okay?” 

Jongho looks at you and smiles, “You really weren’t kidding. I thoroughly just got my ass handed to me.”

Jongho sits up as you two begin to laugh. Even after the intense game and you’re not sure if you’ll be able to move later, the chemistry is undeniable. 

Jongho picks up one of your hands, “Would you let me take you on a date? You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

You blush and begin to laugh, “Even after I slide tackled you?”

Jongho smiles, “Yeah. I’ve met my match, and now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop thinking about you.”

It’s your turn to fix his hair. 

“Let’s get you checked out by the trainer first, and then we can see about that date.” 

[vesselandmoon]

Sundowning

Since I got ahead of myself I decided to post the story version of this first, I thought it only made sense to also post my own take that is not in that format.

I swear I will attempt to be concise and not ramble, but no promises.

When I first saw the title of the album I thought it was a little odd but it stirred some memories of a deceased relative that struggled with this. For that reason I will TW sundowning as well as dementia and Alzheimer's, just in case. Also, the little personal experience backstory here will be between the asterisks if you wish to skip it.

***

That being said, I recall how she was during the day. Of course, we are talking about a woman well into her nineties at the time so there was very little that she did besides watch television. Evangelical preachers and the news more often than not. She wasn't bed ridden or anything of that nature and other than typical ailments for her age, she was rather healthy. Days were slow and quiet.

But as late afternoon crept in, tension built in the house. As she was able to stay home until her passing, she was accompanied at all times by at least one other person, be it family or hired ladies that assisted in her care. She would become confused, agitated, and paranoid. I won't go any further into it, but what I experienced made me wonder about Vessel.

***

Why the title of Sundowning when that is usually reserved for individuals suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's? Then I considered it as less of something he could not help, and more of a state he suffered as a result of knowing Sleep was coming. This plays up on my thought of Sleep being a separate entity that can (in some way) possess Vessel. Sleep isn't always there, but when he is, Vessel can feel him coming.

See, in lore context I wonder... when it's sundown you're growing closer to the time to sleep. Night is settling in and there is only so much time left before you must sleep. Fighting that sleep is always an option but rarely has positive consequences.

Vessel obviously doesn't have dementia so what if it's more in the sense that the night is coming and so is Sleep? I assume Sleep does not join Vessel every night, mostly because I believe that Sleep finds ways to manipulate Vessel and keep him in a state of longing or desire and what better way to do that than by living by the adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Let Vessel suffer through the night alone and when Sleep is present, it would bring so much relief, that Vessel would see the encounter as worth it no matter how unfulfilled he feels in the morning.

The prospect of the encounter could cause Vessel to pace and grow agitated or confused on how to feel about it. Seeking some kind of companionship to not be alone through the night, which is when most people struggle with loneliness, while also knowing that what's coming might not leave him feeling as fulfilled as he hopes.

This would tie in with my thoughts on Thread the Needle but that is for another post. However, I will say that it is the idea of giving his all to Sleep while accepting the bare minimum in return. I can relate to Vessel's side of that. I'm not proud to admit it, but when I was younger I obsessed with someone very similar. Only at night did they acknowledge my presence and they gave me just enough to keep me craving more. I was afraid of being alone, afraid of losing them, so I allowed a lot of things to happen just for the sake of the relationship. I'm still fighting the consequences of that.

A bit of a personal take I suppose, but aren't we all projecting just a little?

[animatorweirdo]

Assigning mutuals with elf horses

(I was like... really bored then I remembered @lamemaster's post about elves reacting to our blogs, and I was slightly inspired. Sorry? I am not, so prepare for some chaos and hope you enjoy,)

Warnings: none really. It's just my opinion on how you all would do as horse owners in the horse au.

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

@a-contemplation-upon-flowers

- Not just because he is your favorite in general, but Fingon just seems like your type of horse. 

- You would take tender care of him and your sunshine personality would go with his. 

- I feel like you would enjoy racing and taking calm walks through the woods. 

- And you would probably not get mad with his mischief, like stealing treats or playing a bit too hard with one of those giant balloons, which he ends up popping. 

- Honestly, you would probably be more mad at the balloon for popping itself and then go buy another balloon because you can't stand to see Fingon sad even if your wallet is already suffering from all the other expenses. 

@springfountain

- Well, my dear muffin friend. You're pretty sweet and creative with your writing, so I feel like you would go along with Galdor. 

- I feel like the leaf forehead-marked stallion would enjoy listening to you reading a story or two to him while you two lie under his favorite tree in the pasture.

- He might try stealing treats from you and give you puppy eyes, and you would be tempted to give him one of your chocolate chip cookies, but since chocolate is not good for horses -- you resist in anguish. 

- But it doesn't stop you from making special cookies with his favorite leaves in it. 

- You two would have a sweet bond and Galdor would always be ready to hear the next story from you. 

@edensrose

- I know you're solely fixated on the Ainur, but if you had a horse. I think it would be Aredhel. 

- You are genuinely pretty sweet, but once you get comfortable — all hell breaks loose. 

- You two would bring an equal amount of chaos to each other’s lives, and your relationship would be one of those love-hates like you find her a pain in the ass, but you can't live without her. She's technically your overgrown cat. 

- Like when you find her stealing food again and rolling in the mud, you would cuss her out, but if anyone else did that --- you would destroy them because only you are allowed to do that. 

- And the same goes for Aredhel. She would not accept anyone else than you as her rider. She cares for you but also has a great need to test your limits. She does get worried if she doesn’t see you half of the time. 

- Make sure not to let her join forces with Celegorm. He will join in her shenanigans and you will not get any peace with two annoying horses on your ass. 

- a little side note. you probably had a crush or two on the stable owners. just saying. 

@eunoiaastralwings

- If you had a horse. I think it would be… Finrod. 

- You two make a pretty sweet pair, and he brings a lot of silliness into your life. 

- He would probably do a lot of funny things just to make you laugh, and when he senses you’re feeling sad or stressed, he turns into the cuddliest bug and does anything to comfort you. 

- Like he won’t leave you alone till you at least crack a smile. 

- You two would give vibes like you two had been friends in a previous life. 

@lamemaster

- Nerdanel

- .........

- Do I even need to explain this?

- Like... you were cool with Feanor's owner that the two would make a couple of foals together, but when the two began to make surprises. You put a harsh stop to it after Nerdanel gave birth to the twins. 

- You would probably physically threaten Feanor to stay away from Nerdanel because you are not gonna risk your sweet mare's health. 

- You would also be one of the only ones, who doesn't fear him and be ready to fight him even if the giant racehorse could stomp you to death. 

[vodkacheesefries]

Thought it would be fun to do an intro post for each of the three households I'll be rotating through in my historic sims file. Also told my buddy @schitzophrenicrainbows I would make one of these. It'll also help me keep things organized as I play the challenge since I'm committing details to writing.

Up first and beneath the cut, we have a little history dump and our Gladiators.

Gladiators initially started out as poorer people and slaves who were inscribed to fight and train in the gladiator schools, Ludus Magnus. Over time as people began to see the fame and honor that could be won in the arena, though it was more rare, people did start to voluntarily join these gladiator schools.

Due to the popularity of gladiator fights, and how pricey it got to train and house them, not every single gladiator fight was to the death for its contestants. (For the purpose of Finn's story/challenge rules, his fights will be.)

There's debate whether the infamous "thumbs down" actually meant the opponent HAD to die or not. It could have just meant they were disgraced and couldn't compete anymore, but I can't find definitive answers one way or the other, and the opinions I found on this often contradicted each other. (I could probably text my sister with three degrees all about ancient to medieval Italian/Roman history, but how do I explain to her I need to know for my Sims game lmaooo) All that said, gladiators often didn't live past their mid-twenties given the hazards of the job.

Gladiators were also sex symbols (do yourself a favor and look up ancient Roman graffiti. Humans are the same now as they were then lmao). Idk how much that'll play into my game but Finn does have to find a partner and have kids so the legacy continues but we'll get there when we get there.

Rana

Rana is the gladiator who has been at the Ludus Magna the longest. Her traits: Creative, Self Assured, Loyal.

She came from a wealthy merchant family, but the family business didn't interest her much. She left home when she was young to find herself and ended up finding the arena. She picked up sword fighting quickly and proved her aptitude for not only fighting, but teaching others to fight as well. These days she only competes occasionally, as she has proven herself invaluable in creating more gladiators.

She's hitting a point where the losses of her pupils, and more importantly friends, are starting to weigh on her. She likely isn't going to just be allowed to retire, though, so she has to figure something else out.

Apollo

Apollo named himself after a Greek God because he thinks he's hilarious. (This is debatable if you ask anyone who has spoken with him for more than five minutes.) He ended up at the Ludus Magnus due to his sense of humor; turns out a Senator doesn't like it when you make jokes about their philosophical ideas, even if they are stupid.

He doesn't enjoy the gladiator lifestyle much if he's being honest, and is counting down the days until his "voluntary" contract with the school is over so he can use what money he's won and travel the world like he's always wanted to. His self absorption is part him being young, and part it being a front for the fear he has of not living out his dreams and he wears it like a protective front. His friends know better, though.

(He also thinks Spartacus is cute, but he's certain Spartacus is going to stay a gladiator till he dies and that doesn't work with what he wants in the long run.)

His traits are: Loves the Outdoors, Self Absorbed, and Outgoing.

Spartacus

Disclaimer: I did not make Spartacus lmao. I was hitting create-a-sim burnout so I hit up the gallery to find someone else's Roman themed sim. Although I did make some minor changes to his wardrobe, added scars and swapped out a couple of his traits, which are: Athletic, Proper, Loner. I ended up keeping his name because while it's on the nose for a gladiator, it fits.

Spartacus is a former member of the Roman Legionnaires. He was released from his service due to an injury he sustained abroad. Once he had healed, he found civilian life to be difficult to adjust to, so he signed a contract with the Ludus Magnus. He's here for a good time, not a long time.

But lately, he's been spending more time with Apollo, and he's starting to change his mind. But surely someone as handsome as Apollo wouldn't be interested in someone who'd rather spend his time meditating than socializing at a party...

Finn

Finn's traits are: Athletic, Loyal, Ambitious

Finn knew the risks he was taking when he killed Antonius, but he doesn't regret it. He's now plotting his escape, and if his new found friends can survive, he'll bring them with him if they like. He really just wants to get back to Britain to what's left of his family and help them take back what is rightfully theirs and drive the Romans out.

By challenge rules, he has 10 fights to get through first. I also have to receive a silver medal or higher on at least 50 events, and I'll probably use his fights to accomplish at least 10 of those. (I've done six so far).

Will probably go over Laelius' household next along with the parts of the challenge they'll be completing, followed by his daughter's. Who I don't think I've posted so far.

Other households:

The Emperor's Family

The Frugi Household

[winterchimez]

Beast in the Beauty - Epilogue

pairing: profiler Hyunjae x detective f!reader

genre & warnings: jack the ripper au, angst, violence, thriller, crime, mentions of prostitution, graphic description of death, major characters death, alcohol, some fluff

word count: 1,362

taglist: @deoboyznet @hokupi @kyusqult @asteriaskingdom @flwoie

a/n: read till the end for a surprise!! 👀

series masterlist

The breezy wind ruffles your hair as you made your way up to the cliffs of Whitechapel.

In the blink of an eye, 3 months have passed since that fateful day and it was already Spring as the flowers bloomed which filled the entire district. 

A good number of events happened aftermath of the execution. 

Chief Ayden has officially decided to resign, saying he was getting too old for the job and would like to settle down with a quiet life with his family on the outskirts of town. 

In return, your two best friends have been promoted from their posts which they have held long enough since joining the force. Haknyeon was now the chief-in-command, and he has been busier than ever, overlooking all of the crimes and whatever issues may arise in Whitechapel.

At the same time, he has finally decided to wed his long-term partner, and they have officially moved into a bigger living space in hopes of creating a better and bigger environment for the now family of 3. 

You were ecstatic when you found out that Haknyeon’s wife was 3 months pregnant during the wedding, and she decided to give you the honours of naming the child. Everyone was certain that the child was going to be a female because hands-down Haknyeon would be the biggest dotting father and will literally repeat the phrase “daddy’s little girl” as if it was his sole duty. Well, not that the male couldn’t lie about that since he was the one himself who desperately wants a daughter.

With given permission, you decided to name her Selene. In honour of your late childhood bestie. And everybody couldn’t agree more on that.

On the other hand, your buddy Eric has since taken over Haknyeon’s former job, so the lad technically works under his senior now. It was hilarious, to begin with, you seeing how the lad would come to you time-to-time to complain about how tyrannical Haknyeon can be when he is in full chief mode. The young lad even thinks that he could be more terrifying than Chief Ayden ever was. 

You couldn’t help but chuckle every time whenever you hear Haknyeon yelling the young lad’s name out loud from his office whenever he messes up big time. But still, the both of them worked amazingly together and the station couldn’t ask for a better pairing. 

On the contrary, you continued to stay with the force until you ultimately decided to resign a month prior. 

It was one of the toughest decisions you ever had to make. The Whitechapel police department was what you called your home. You have gone through so many ups and downs with all of the amazing fellow detectives for the past decade, and there are just so many things you could never thank them enough for sacrificing so much for a female detective like you.

But at this point, everyone knew about how the recent Jack The Ripper case has left such a deep impact on your life, which eventually affected you most in the worst negative way possible.

And that everyone knew about your relationship with Hyunjae by then.  

So there you were a few weeks back, standing in Haknyeon’s office with the resignation letter in your hand. You had to contemplate a few moments to really question yourself if you were keen on this idea you were having.

Even your friend Eric had to knock some sense into you. 

“Are you sure, Y/N? Where will you go?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll eventually find out as I go I guess.” 

With that, both detectives pulled you into their deep embrace, and you took in all of the warmth and scent that they gave you. You will surely miss the fun little trio group that you’ve built all these years.

“Someday, we will be reunited again. I promise.” 

As you made your way up to the top of the cliff, you were met with a small little headstone that was carved specifically for your significant other. 

Ever since the public knew about Hyunjae’s identity, nobody was willing to provide a place for the brunette to rest in peace. Hence, that was where you guys came in.

You knew the cliffs were his favourite spot, heck it was the place you both almost had your first confession. 

With the help of your 2 detective friends including the former chief, you managed to prepare the perfect spot for him to be able to lay down and peacefully head towards the afterlife. 

However, ever since that day of the burial, you could never bring yourself back to this spot. 

Until today. 

With a bouquet of flowers and a handwritten letter in hand, you gently placed it on top of the headstone, while bending down on the cliff that was now a field of dandelions. Plucking one of the flowers out from the soil, you added it on top of the two items you have laid down before. 

And finally, the tears that were dried up over the past 3 months, were beginning to form again in your eyes. 

However, it was different this time. Instead of having an emotional breakdown, you were actually smiling. In a way, both of you were finally at peace. 

Wiping off the tears that were slowly dripping down, you slowly picked up the letter and decided to read it aloud, knowing that your significant other will be somewhere listening to your thoughts. 

My dearest Hyunjae,  How have you been, my love?  The harsh winter months have finally come to an end and it is now Spring here in Whitechapel. It has been 3 months since the day I received your letter, and I deeply apologise for taking so long to give you a reply.  I would be lying if I said I’ve never once thought about you in my everyday life. I miss you so freaking much, and it pains me how you are no longer here to grant me the warm company that I long craved for the past several months.  It was so tough at the beginning, and how much I hated you decided to leave the world before I did. But I knew, there was no point in me being all sulky about it forever, and I know that you’d hate to see me in the worst possible state once again, especially since you’ve seen me at my worst multiple times.  So I moved on. And like you said, it definitely took longer than expected, but Whitechapel and I are finally at ease. And now, I’m leaving this place that has been my home for the past 2 decades, and I’m starting all over again.  Where will I be heading next? Frankly, I don’t really know myself yet.  But I’m sure as the dandelion seeds float in the air and head towards a certain direction, that will possibly be my next place of interest.  Like these dandelion seeds, I pray that you too are finally at peace and will look after me, Hyunjae. I know you’re always somewhere nearby, looking over and protecting me. You could be a form of a white butterfly, or even, these dandelion seeds itself.  Whatever it may be, I feel your presence and love you so deeply, Hyunjae.  I will never stop saying I love you, even till the day I have to leave this earthly home.  So I ask that you wait for me and that you’ll continue to guide me with the remaining years that I may have here.  Just like you’ve mentioned that you’ll always love me, I’ll also do the same.  Always. Sincerely, Your absolute favourite, Y/N. 

With that, you folded the letter back neatly and placed it once again on the headstone, and slowly stood up as you looked up into the blue calming sky. 

Taking in a deep breath, you turned your heel and make your way down from the cliffs. 

“We will be reunited once again someday in a much better place. Wait for me, Hyunjae. For I shall surely make my way to wherever you’ll be."

a/n: and that's a wrap!!! omg y'all i can't believe my first-ever fanfic has finally come to an end 😭 i was sceptical about writing this in the beginning since jack the ripper is kinda a sensitive topic to write about (y'know having all the angst, gory, etc. contents) but i'm so so happy to see that so many have given this series so much love, and i can never thank y'all enough 🤧 (fun fact: i actually wrote this for another kpop group 2 years ago, ultimately i decided to change it to tbz hyunjae and tweaked some of my original ideas and here we are haha)

if you haven't heard, i'm officially turning this into a full-fledged OT11 series!! here's a little hint of who are the members who will be appearing in the next seasons / which story i will be writing based off next 👀

members: 🐧🥭 | story: 👻🎭🎶(actually y'all can click here to find out more hehe)

if you've enjoyed this series of mine, do consider reading my other works or even joining my permanent taglist!

i truly appreciate all of your love and support, you guys mean the world to me 🫶🏻🩵

love, ally ❄️

[bluegekk0]

1 does holly remember any of the spells from the pale vessel fight 2 does holly remember godhome and what happened there 3 was godhome like a dream for hornet or the nailmasters? 4 how are the nailmasters and sly doing? 5 how are cornifer and iselda 6 did the knight finish seer's quest

Oh that's a lot of questions, let me think.

1 - They remember some of them, yes. Particularly focusing to heal, this wasn't a thing in the fight but I assume it's something anyone who learns soul magic can do. They can only heal themselves, though, and to a limited degree (like I mentioned in a previous post, they can't grow back the arm or heal any of their disabilities, only surface wounds). The biggest reasons why they don't generally use soul magic in the AU are: 1. they don't really feel the need to, the domestic life doesn't require combat abilities and they rarely have to heal and 2. they don't have a constant source of soul to use, there are some soul totems scattered around Hallownest but they rarely travel outside of Dirtmouth, and the hot springs in the AU are just water that contains minerals which help you relax and focus, they aren't a source of soul. So while they would in theory be able to use some of the spells, they choose not to.

2 and 3 - Godhome in the AU works a bit differently, I decided to interpret it that way to fit my vision for the AU. It's, as the name suggests, the home of the gods, those which do not have physical forms such as The Radiance and other gods that I want to design some day. Another name I tend to use for this place is The Gods' Plane. The hall of gods doesn't exist in the same form it does in the game (I choose to interpret that part as simply just a gameplay thing with no lore implications). Godhome/The Gods' Plane can be accessed with a Dream Nail through the Godseekers, who I imagine have a similar role to the Moth Tribe and thus similar abilities. Through the hall of the gods, you can enter individual realms of the gods (for example, The Radiance's dream realm, as well as the realms of Unn and The White Lady; the nightmare realm was once part of it but was separated following Grimm's banishment).

So none of these characters were actually there in the AU, physically or through dreaming. The way I imagine it, The Radiance was "summoned" to Godhome from her dream realm and challenged by Ghost. The void then followed, seeping through Godseeker's mind into Godhome. Perhaps Holly witnessed the fight in their consciousness, but they weren't part of it - to them it's more like a memory. So they're the only one who remembers what happened, even if the Pure Vessel fight didn't actually happen there. I hope that makes sense.

4 - Sly moved to the City of Tears after the infection ended, in hopes of becoming rich, to put it short. He has his little shop in the city and finds many more customers than he ever did in Dirtmouth. I imagine he and Lemm are direct competitors since they ended up selling very similar items, so there is some beef between them.

The Nailmasters are where you'd expect them to be. Sheo and the Nailsmith are together, and the other two still live in their huts. Though I like to think Mato visits Dirtmouth from time to time, so he's the most involved of the three brothers. Perhaps there's something going on between him and Brumm, wink wink.

5 - They still live in Dirtmouth and run their shop, though Iselda began joining Cornifer on his trips. They are good friends with the Vyrm family, especially Vyrm himself since Iselda played a big part in helping him recover after the Grimmkin incident (she ran after Brumm as he carried bleeding Vyrm home and then helped with treating the wound). Cornifer is also buddies with him, and Hornet often accompanies him during his trips if they overlap with her morning patrols.

6 - They did, yes. They were collecting dream essence anyway and decided to help her. Which means that the Moth Tribe (that is moths associated with The Radiance, I imagine there are still moth-like species out there) is officially extinct in the AU.