#worm spoliers

[shsl-heck]

While I procrastinate working on an actual effort post about superhero fiction, I want to say that we here at Wormblr love to mock r/parahumans (frequently this is deserved), and will occasionally bring up SpaceBattles to dunk on, but TV Tropes also has some real gems we've been sleeping on. Compiled below are some of my favorites.

^^^ This one I love because it actually just does not fit at all. Gold Morning is pretty blatant abt hammering in the thematically appropriate call backs, and the story literally has Taylor get asked whether or not the ends justified the means, and her answer is no.

^^^ These are just alien thought processes to me. How you could find none of the undersiders sympathetic is buck wild to me since they are a group of horribly traumatized children. Also I will quibble here and say the rape allegation is presumably leveled at Alec, who 1. Never pretended it was justified, and 2. Was like 10 years old??? Literally a full ass child being groomed to commit heinous acts. It's weird to me to act like he is a monster under those circumstances.

^^^ I assume Brian is the guy being referenced here? Absolutely unhinged take.

^^^ And finally, someone who simply hates to see a girlboss winning (committing acts of terrible violence) 🙄

[shsl-heck]

We were robbed of a scene like this tbh

the funniest part of the endgame sequence of Worm is when the narrative completely forgets about the END OF THE WORLD for a hot second to describe in great detail how sexy and effeminate Marquis is. how even though she isn't usually interested in feminine men or older men Amy's dad is gnc af and just so incredibly fuckable. Taylor there's people that are dying

[mysteryfeesh]

Some fanart of @kenneduck’s SidLink comic! This was so fun to draw and I love the little changes that were made to Link’s design! If you aren’t already following along with the comic I highly recommend it, the art and writing are amazing!

[tiredqueermushroom]

There is something about the way in which the Prime Deities can construct and bend reality to their will but still are unable to conceive a reality in which they can both love and protect their siblings and their children.

[little-ghostgirl-31]

Pookies <33

Don’t ask why they look like that 😭😭😭

BLOOD !! TRIGGER WARNING ‼️⬇️

[shsl-heck]

No exactly! I am the world's biggest Doctor Mother apologist. I've seen people who say that the difference between Cauldron and Taylor is that Taylor doesn't expect people to do anything she herself wouldn't be willing to do, and I fundamentally disagree. Doctor Mother and Contessa gave up the same things their test subjects did! DM was also plucked from her world! She was just a young woman who helped a little girl when no one else would, and her reward for that deed was to become the most powerful woman in the world to her own detriment. (I should write about the parallels between Kevin Norton and Doc Mom at some point).

After doormaker and the clairvoyant she could've gone back home, but she didn't. She gave up everything to try to save the world, even though she fully expected to fail. Maybe she didn't become physically monstrous but she certainly gave up her ability to ever live anything resembling a normal life.

Contessa was a literal child, and her power denied her any chance to ever grow up, so the things she sacrificed are kind of obvious. It's horrifying to stop and think about the situation these two were put in! Like we can go on and on about how stupid some of their decisions were, or about Cauldron being the embodiment of cold utilitarianism, but personally I find it hard to see them that way. To me the real way they parallel Taylor isn't how they do wrong things for the right reasons, but that they were handed the power to do something and couldn't have lived with themselves if they chose to just look away.

One thing that I don’t think gets talked about enough in Worm is the way that Cauldron is set up as this horrific inhuman force, and then how effectively its humanized.

Like, we start off hearing only whispers, a few interludes deal with the results of their experiments and the aftermath of combat with Contessa, and they seem just terrifying. When we finally meet Contessa and D.M. face to face, they’re ridiculously put together, at the head of some of the biggest movements and organizations in the world, and they’re almost sadistically efficient and uncaring.

But when we finally see everything unravel, and get a Contessa POV interlude, they start to make sense.

D.M. was just a random person with nowhere else to turn, trusting another random person from an alternate universe who always got it right, and might be just a bit wonked out from microdosing omniscience. Contessa is that random AU person who just got the power to win and is being dragged along by it despite her lack of understanding. When faced head on with the results of their actions, they aren’t cool or uncaring, they get emotional, they still feel justified but it shows that the cold demeanor was a means to an end, a step on the path to victory.

I especially like how this applies in terms of the vials.

We hear little about them, know they exist and that people actively seek them out but also see that they have potentially deadly or monstrous side effects. They can grant amazing power, and for most of the story you’re left wondering who Cauldron is, and how they managed to create powers in a bottle

…which we find out was done by them hacking apart a mostly dead god and just feeding it to people to see if that does something.

They went from “invincible masterminds of the PRT” to “well fuck, maybe eating god let you kill god?” in like two chapters

[bluejaysandworms]

No one understands Oobleck!Nightmare like I do

[hiperacid2]

Mariners Apartment Complex - Diluc Ragnvindr

.·:*¨༺ Chapter One ༻¨*:·.

.·:*¨༺ tags for this chapter: jealousy, childhood friends, teenage sweethearts gone south, maybe spoliers for dilucs backstory, thoughts of cheating, Donna is her own tag here, angst if you squint. Reader knows shes in the wrong - this has a big fat chance of turn slightly dark content for the second chapter. - word count: 4.7k - crossposted from ao3!!

.·:*¨༺ Summary: It's been years since he changed from his teenage, bright self. But like phoenixes, you've seen him rise from the ashes of the incident that changed the trajectory of his whole life.

How can you not love him like time has never passed? Even with his sudden new relationship you feel like your hearts are connected, two cracked halves of the same whole that fit perfectly. Surely you can worm your way back into the forefront of his mind, right? Even if you know very well you shouldn't?

Attending guests on business dinners at the winery is not a regular nor strange occurrence, however, what is an uncommon sight is seeing Master Diluc without his girlfriend, Donna, glued at his side.

It was no surprise that he was going to end up with Donna, the girl was infamous for being the first thing you heard when you step foot into Mondstadt city with her sighing of his name; 'Oh, Master Diluc…', it's all the poor woman seems to know how to say. If this was a fantasy, she would belong to a temporal loop in which she would be stuck.

You wouldn't call yourself jealous, after all, you've been serving the Ragnvindrs since you were a teenager, thanks to crepus generosity of giving a homeless young girl a roof above her head, yourself promising to be a fast learner and help in gratitude of shelter and a warm bed. That was almost a decade ago, his death a long while past us, with Master Diluc's disappearance for years also left behind for it to be forgotten with all the anguish it brought, all the things that belonged to the shadows and the cover of the night.

You wondered if his touch was as warm as when you two used to sneak into eachothers beds at night to sleep cuddled and warm. One would think 'damn, his girlfriend must be so lucky to sleep each night by his side' but the reality is that Donna hasn't ever stepped foot into the Winery, not even once at night. You're not even sure if she ever did by daylight, too.

Addie left you in charge of manning the maids in the dining room as she went back to lead the kitchen. This left you with the important task of not only making sure the girls did their jobs accurately but also serving the man that plagued your thoughts tonight. The painful reminder of knowing how to read his expressions and seeing how much this social gathering was wearing him down made your heart squeeze for a second, but you couldn't exactly dwell on it right now. Looking at your pocket watch, it was about time to start clearing out plates if no one else was still eating, the desserts should be rolling out in half an hour by the schedule you memorized these past few days.

Approaching Diluc, you want to give him a minute of mercy, away from the constant buzz of voices networking businesses that bounce off the cozy walls of the dining room. Your hands fold over your apron, politely bowing to speak low, face leveled against his ear. "Master Diluc, why don't you go pick the next bottle of wine to serve our guests? I seem to recall Connor deemed the batch as almost finished." A pause, Diluc looking ahead at some point visible to only him. His face hadn't even changed a bit, but he grunted in affirmation. Your voice was low, but airy in an effort to not let anyone else listen in, "a point for everyone, you get to escape a little bit, i can tidy up the plates from the table and you get some valuable feedback on that batch," A pause, "what do you say, hmm?".

You lean back, smiling, speaking a bit more loud to command the attention to you, away from him. "The dessert should be getting out in a few moments, Master Diluc." The corner of his lip twitches upwards at the gesture, almost imperceptible but you see how the tension lessens on his frame for a mere second.

Diluc makes a big movement of dabbing his mouth with his napkin after a gulp of juice, then placing it on the table. You step back and away from him as he speaks, the dining room growing silent for a second to hear its host. "If you'll excuse me, I remembered today my winemaker, Connor, had finished a new batch of wine. I would like to get some feedback from you all." a pause, some murmurs of excitable agreement sounding among the guests. "Perfect, I shall be back." As he gets up from the table, he gestures towards you, "Please don't hesitate to ask her for aid should you need it while I'm gone, she's the right hand of our headmaid, more than capable of helping and directing." He passes a cold, stern glance around the grand dining table, as if daring anyone to disrespect his maid staff; then, he exits the dining hall towards the cellars in search of a moment of silence and calm, his steps controlled but full of urgency to flee the crowded room.

Once Diluc's footsteps faded out, you did a small curtsy at the guests. "Thank you for your patience while Master Diluc returns from the cellars." Your hands now rest behind you, posture straight but not tense. "If you don't mind, my girls will start to pick up your plates and tidy up for the upcoming dessert." Walking opposite to where Diluc left, you raise your voice just enough to be carried through the hallway leading to the kitchen, but not loud enough to disrupt any of the resuming talk in the room.

"Moco! Hillie! It's time! Please bring a new jug of fresh water each!" you walk back to your place on the corner of the room, right beside a nice, big portrait of Crepus. All the guests are taking part in their own conversations, some of them expressing their curiosity towards the new wine Diluc is bringing. Moco and Hillie come walking through the door, carrying three cold water jugs, surely Addie's doing. Surprisingly, as if your thoughts summoned her, she comes walking behind the pair, back straightened and cold, steely gaze analyzing the room. It softens almost imperceptibly when her eyes land on you, and she makes her way closer as Moco and Hillie start tending to the guests.

"Dear, where is Master Diluc?" she says, tone low enough to not draw attention to you both. You look at her from the corner of your vision, then back at the maids tending to the guests, your hands shift where they are clasped behind you.

"He was getting overwhelmed and fed up, so I sent him to fetch some of that new wine with Bulle Fruits from Fontaine, the one Connor thought was almost finished for a bigger batch?" You shrugged "He seemed like he needed the break." A pause, Addie hums in agreement. "It's a good thing y'know who isn't here to add onto that stress though." You feel a slight push of shoulders, playful in nature, slightly scolding like a mother would. "Now, don't be like that, you know well it's not our place to judge his partners." You open your mouth slightly to refute Adelinde, but she beats you to the punch. "No matter how much you love him either now or years ago."

You don't even bother to answer her, this is not the time nor the place to have that long, worn down conversation. Adelinde sighs softly, and it's full of distress over having to remain impartial between the ones she considers her adoptive children. "Why don't you take a break? Take the cart full of dirty dishes and empty jugs back to the kitchen…" Her hand comes to rest comfortingly in the middle of your back and it rubs there small, but soothing circles, trying to mask for the guests to stay clueless as to what the two of you were talking about. "Besides, you're better than me at finishing decorating the desserts." She winks quickly and you chuckle, taking the metaphorical olive branch extended to you.

"Okay, then, let me see if anyone needs anything before I go away." You smile at her and walk towards the head of the table, where Dilucs empty chair waits for him. "Excuse me, can I have your attention for a second?" The conversation dies down as a table full of eyes stare at you, and you briefly understand why Diluc almost ran away from the room, "thank you so much, i will be leaving you all in the care of our Headmaid, Adelinde. As Master Diluc said, should you need something, don't hesitate to ask her," A pause, Adelinde nods her head, face hardened and commanding. "I hope you all enjoy the desserts that will be coming out as soon as Master Diluc comes back. I hope you have a good rest of the dinner." You do quite the elegant curtsy, though small, and promptly get a hold of the loaded cart, pushing it towards the kitchen as the room regains the chatter.

After leaving the cart for the kitchen staff to take care of, you decide to quickly check on Diluc, noticing he has been gone for too long. Was he more overwhelmed than he let on? Were you rusty reading Diluc's body language? No matter, it's your job and responsibility to make sure he is taken care of, you promised Crepus as much a long time ago.

Getting to the cellars without going through the dining room wasn't that hard, the heavy door sheltering the room from the constant buzz of people that can still be heard here. You knock lightly on the wood, before pressing both hands against the door to open it with a little bit of effort. You speak low and smooth as it opens silently, "Diluc? Are you here? You've been gone for too long now." Silence almost blankets over you heavily as the door closes with a soft click, and you hum curiously at the mane of bright red hair peeking from between barrels at the other side of the cellars, then snorting at the childishness of hiding away and far from the inside entrance.

Walking in his direction, you repeat yourself, this time more playful, more as a friend than a maid. Your heart squeezes at that thought, but you forcefully cast that aside for later. "'Luuc…" The sound of your shoes on the floor and the skirts rustling as you walk is the loudest thing in the room, bouncing off barrels and shelves full of bottles and other brewing supplies. He grunts, silent as ever. "You okay there? I was starting to worry, you've been gone for longer than it takes grabbing a bottle and going back…" You look at him, searching for any sign of discomfort in his face and body.

"No… I'm fine, just tired of people sucking up to me for business." He sighs, you frown and look at the shelves of wine bottles to your left and spot an unlabeled one, that must be the wine you suggested. Your hands dance around you with uncertainty as you battle yourself between touching his arms to try to comfort him like you did all those years back or just crossing them to not make any wrong movements. You fail to see how he's looking at your face, searching for something and tracing the contours of your face while you're lost in thought about how to approach this without making him clam up emotionally.

He finally sucks in air slowly, sighing heavily, making heat bloom in your belly at the sound being so close and being the only thing that is breaking the heavy silence in the cellar, but it also makes you feel thorns coiling and constricting around your heart, reminding you that this side of him does not belong to you, his voice breaking that train of thoughts before they fully poison your body. "Don't worry, this is the last business dinner until next season starts." His hand comes up to grab the outlier bottle on the shelf, elegant leather gloves getting into your field of vision and closing around the neck of it. "I'm sorry I made you worry." The liquid inside the bottle dances and sloshes against the dark glass as it's lifted and moved away into his personal space. You sigh and smile, tight lipped, thinking that it could be worse and your heart squeezes once again at that. "It's okay, I don't mind, really." Worse than how painful it is? Your home is here, with them, no matter what and how much your heart feels like it shatters when you see him smile at another woman.

He hums, his gaze feels like it's burning a hole in the middle of your face. "Let's go, Adelinde must be worried about me now." He motions with his head towards the door, bottle firmly grasped in one hand as the other comes to grab your forearm softly, tugging you in front of him and prompting you to walk first. When his head moves, a small lock of hair falls close to his eyes, and you stop in your tracks instinctively.

"Wait, let me…" your free arm comes up to his face to slowly tuck the stray hair away from his face and make it look like it's framing his face on purpose. You realize what you've done and your face quickly warms up, retreating your hand like you just burned yourself. "There, just- Ummm- Errrrr… Let's go." you start walking away, tugging diluc along. His grip never falters nor tightens, your heart feels like it's about to beat out of your chest and you're sure your ears are red as his hair. His hold feels warm and heavy despite the gentleness with which he's grabbing your forearm, as if you were made of glass.

You pull him along as you both pick up the pace, not quite running but still walking pretty fast. Weaving around the hallways you know like the back of your hand, you take Diluc around to the one closest to the dining room. The light feel of his hand on your arm feels heavier than it should, and you're sure that your ears are tinted red. Stopping abruptly a few meters away from the doorway to the dining room, his chest collides softly with your side as he tries to avoid bumping into you, hearing an almost inaudible 'oof' close to your ear that makes your blush bloom even more if it was possible. You start speaking really low, internally grateful that the carpet under your feet muffles both your steps.

"There, shoo, go!" For the first time since you took off with him in tow, you look at Diluc, and you notice him looking at you in a particular way that you haven't seen since before Crepus died. There was vulnerability on his face, cheeks slightly reddened, searching your face like you're about to disappear in a 'poof!' under his grasp just like an abyss mage does when teleporting itself, his hand unconsciously twitches as if to assure himself that you're real. And the first thing you think is 'This is Wrong'. You shouldn't have done that but your relationship with Diluc has always been like a moth to the flame. Is this how Icarus felt drawn to fly close to the sun? The irony of his pyro vision is not lost on you, and you hate how thrilled it makes you feel, the possibility of placing your hand on the fireplace, cradling the flames and interlacing burning fingers.

You shouldn't be enjoying how he's looking at you, and vaguely you think again that this is wrong and that gaze and sentiment should be reserved for his actual partner. Sucking in a sharp but mostly silent breath full of disappointment, you gently pry his hand from your arm, feeling the warmth of his hand through the leather gloves and suppressing the overwhelming need to intertwine your hands. "...Go, 'Luc." Your voice shakes slightly, and the loss of his hold on your arm makes your heart painfully squeeze again, you don't want to look at him in fear of seeing his reaction, the thought of seeing any other emotion than his usual stoicism in his eyes will make you fold. He sighs, and it sounds strained, almost disappointed. "Hm, sure."

You see him walk past you from the corner of your eye, and as soon as he does, you look at his back, flaming red hair standing out even in the dim lights of the corridors. As soon as he disappears from your sight, you exhale heavily, the sound bouncing off the walls of the corridor. Picking up the pace back in the direction of the kitchen, you try to think about your duties and the finishing touches of the desserts that surely are waiting for you, but Diluc's disappointed sigh before you sent him on his way is ingrained in your mind, poisoning every single thought, your feet feeling like they're about to take you there and cause a scene just to feel his touch on your skin again, to make him realize you're here to stay and take care of him.

Once the desserts are rolled out of the kitchen, thankfully being carried away by Moco and Hillie, you go around the manor making sure everything's in place, stress cleaning and leaving everything pristine behind you. Crossing paths with Addie, all it takes is one look at you for her to know something happened during the time where the two of you were missing from the business dinner together in the cellars, her face telling you she feels as troubled as you are. You vaguely recall going back to the kitchen, since any guest seeing you cleaning in the middle of the gathering was not ideal by any means.

Diluc couldn't wait until the dinner was over and he could go back to enjoy the usual silence of the Winery. His hands twitch for the weight of his claymore, finding it a calming presence, maybe he can sneak out to beat up some treasure hoarders that camp either in the Liyue border… or some of the usual hilichurls that attack people in the trails to the Winery? That is if the Traveler didn't do it already… Adelinde is serving the guests the wine you suggested and Diluc is watching them raptly to see how they like it, all the while sighing tiredly behind his cup of grape juice.

He then begins to explain to the guests what the new brew has in it. "We wanted to experiment a little with flavors, so we thought to make a first time limited run of a few batches of our signature dandelion wine with Bulle fruit from Fontaine." The room falls almost silent as he speaks, the guests listen to him and the only sounds heard are hums or wine glasses clinking with the dessert cutlery and plates. "This is by no means the final product, but it's in the final stages." Some people taste the wine eagerly, their faces excited to be able to take part in this exclusive tasting experience. "We… the brewers mostly, of course, hope people like the new flavors enough to incorporate it as a seasonal variety moving forward." Diluc's own wine glass sits untouched besides his juice cup, his distaste for alcohol known to everyone present so no one bats an eye at it being left aside.

As he looks around to watch the guests' reactions to the tasting, his mind can't get over how warm your arm is and how it just fits in his hand. He felt like he was thrown back to when you all were teenagers, and how he and Kaeya used to drag you around with them, making you skip your self-imposed responsibilities knowing neither Crepus nor Addie would scold you for being a teenager just like them. All the nights sneaking off between the vineyards under the cover of the moon, not knowing anything better. Both of you shedding off the titles of youngest Captain of the Knights and youngest maid of the Ragnvindrs just to act like the teenagers you were.

But the reminder of his girlfriend, Donna, feels like someone dunked him back into one of the snezhnayan lakes in the middle of their eternal winter naked while asleep, bringing him back to reality, and making him find himself in the middle of a conversation with someone where he was answering in autopilot. Taking the reins of his consciousness again, he answers to the Liyuean merchant that was to his right. "Thank you for the feedback, please make sure to tell my brewer, Connor, your suggestions, he knows much more than me about this and is better equipped to receive the feedback and apply it to the brewing process." His tone was polite but deflecting, he was right though, no one knows the brews better than Connor. If he relayed the message without knowing what he was talking about, it wouldn't be the same, neither productive to the brewing process.

Some people nod at this comment as Diluc turns to the rest of the guests to say something. "Since we're a lot of people and Connor is already at home as he should be, I will ask that any feedback you may have, be it negative or positive," He makes a pause to let that fact sink in. "I'll ask you to please write a letter and send it here to the Winery for Connor to read and manage." He picks up his glass of grape juice and sips on it to parch his dry mouth, everyone is waiting for him to keep speaking and he feels a vein about to pop under the collar of his coat from having so much attention directed at.

"Nevertheless, I preemptively thank you all for the feedback on the new brew should you have it." Conversation resumes and Diluc breathes deeply as he looks at the wall clock, seeing there's at least an hour left of hearing more business proposals and the chatter of guests filling the usually silent winery.

His mind goes back to you again. Why was he feeling like this? He has a girlfriend already, these feelings for you should have been left with the old Diluc, the one he abandoned when he decided to go on a rampage of vengeance in Snezhnaya. And he can't delude himself thinking this is a fluke, that his need for a moment of calm away from socializing today was a moment of weakness. He knew these feelings very well, the almost familial but too romantic love for you that nothing could ever replace or make him forget about it. A guest to his left taps his arm, a worried expression on their face, Diluc realizes his face must be showing his inner turmoil, he smiles, tight lipped. "I'm okay, thanks…",

Damn himself and his ever wandering mind today, the guest touching his arm discreetly makes him think of how he can still feel the warmth of your hand brushing his hair away from his face still, even after probably more than an hour, he can still feel the phantom of touch from your hands; how they were still careful with him and the touch a bit roughed up from all the cleaning work that entails being a maid. He wonders idly if you still fret over taking care of them with creams and balms, if they still smell like that Glaze Lilies hand cream Crepus gifted you once and you kept buying from that point onwards. Maybe the years made them even rougher, does he even know them by heart still? And a dark, twisted corner wonders how much different your hands feel from Donna's- he pauses his train of thought, realizing he doesn't even remember how his girlfriend's hands feel on his, he never cared to take off his gloves around the woman, showing his scarred hands from fighting.

The sudden weight of someone's hand on his shoulder makes his whole back go rigid for a few seconds, hands tightening ready to summon his claymore in the middle of the dining room to swing it over the table, until he recognizes Addie's motherly touch and her ever lasting smell of home close to him. "Master Diluc, carriages are starting to arrive to pick up guests. They're starting to line up on the road, if you want to start closing up everything here."

He grunts softly in response, seeing the guests pretty much done with their wine glasses and desserts. When there's a lull in the conversation from people seeing Adelinde by him, he leaves his napkin on the table as he stands up, commanding the weight of the attention in the room back onto his shoulders. "Thank you to everyone who lives in other nations for taking the time to travel all the way to Mondstadt, I hope the dinner was to your liking and that you all had the opportunity to make connections with new businesses…" Pausing, his shoulders tense from wanting this to be over with. "But most of all thank you for continuing to support us and our wines, some of you recently since I took over the business, others since probably before my father."

He informs the guests that carriages are starting to arrive to take them either back home or to the nearest hotel. Moco and Hillie return everyone's belongings and coats under the watchful eye of Addie, Diluc oversees and says his farewells to the guests, watchful for any monsters appearing. The lack of you fleeting around the younger maids, replaced by the more strict and applied Adelinde makes him feel distracted, conflicted with his uncharacteristic wandering mind tonight. He really needs to fucking decompress before he accidentally flings his claymore inside the winery or burns through his gloves, anything to get your closeness earlier and the annoying guilt of not personally knowing his so called girlfriend out of his brain.

The Winery falls into the usual calmness after all the guests say their goodbyes and take their carriages away into the city or towards the Liyue border on their way to Wangshu Inn. You were elbow deep into the murky waters of dirty dishes and kitchen supplies in hopes of erasing his flushed face from the forefront of your mind. But of course, nothing related to him will ever leave your head that easily, you've tried so many times, but Diluc is a constant in your mind ever since you came to work for the Ragnvindrs.

The phantom feeling of his secure grip around your forearm is still there, even with the cold water around it as you rinse the soapy silverware and porcelain dishes, it burns your skin in a way you haven't felt in years. The last time you recall yearning for a second of his touch is before he left Mondstadt all those years ago, leaving behind all the people close to him with a hole in their hearts, and yours especially by the way you were left only with Addie, a broken heart, an empty house, and a whole new Kaeya. A childhood friend that looked at you like you were a ghost haunting and tormenting him.

When Diluc came back from traveling, he was bigger, stronger, and more handsome. But he looked like he was plagued by the things he saw during that time away from home, and thinking about the first encounter after his disappearance makes your heart squeeze. He came home with new battle scars, more ragged and roughened up, you know some of them hurt on particularly humid days, or after a long night out doing god knows what and you find bloodied bandages in between his laundry while you collect it. You wish you were blown off the face of Teyvat with one of Klee's jumpty dumpty's when Addie deflects what he does after hours in the city or insinuates that he's with Her. A scowl makes itself present on your face at the thought of Diluc with Donna and not Home, where he belongs.

Unbeknownst to you, tonight would be another night where he's not home, as he's telling Adelinde he might be out until morning, to not wait for him awake as soon as the last carriage is gone from view and Moco and Hillie are finishing tidying and cleaning the empty dining room, leaving them alone in the front of the big house.

a/n: its finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!! i needed this OUTTTTTTTT of my system its been almost a year since i started it. thank you kiri for the support through this madness and reading it on its first rough stages ♡ thanks for reading!! reblogs are appreciaed ♡

DO NOT REPOST OR TRANSLATE. this work belongs to hiperacid2

[lesbiangummybearmafia]

The Gilded Age season 2, episode 1: You Don't Even Like Opera spoliers...

First I have say I'm so happy The Gilded Age is back! I've waiting since they showed us the teaser for season 2, thought I'd lose my mind. But finally...

I'm so glad to see Bertha there in all her glory. Reminding, re-reminding, annoying, giving a headache to especially Mrs. Astor and showing them all they need to be falling under her reign. I definitely think that lovely surprise at the end of her dinner helped greatly. Mrs. Astor was squirming like worm on hook. Which I personally couldn't been happier about. Because some time in first season I completely fell under Bertha's spell I'm good with that still. It's not just that she's attractive because well duh, but it's that she's cunning, brilliant, devilish, crazy intelligent, 6 steps at least a head of anyone else, always has plan, suffers no fools, old money/new money she'll can take you down faster then you snap your fingers. But I do think she's a loyal friend and a good person to those who prove to that her too. So I have very deep affection for her character.

My heart went out to Peggy and her Mom that they didn't get to her son in time. That whole arch just put me in tears time and again. To get that close to her son only to lose him like that was just cruel. I really want to see happiness for her character. I still will never be ok with what her father did but I understand a little more why he did it. Especially back then, they have soften his character which helps to see where he may have been coming from trying to protect his daughter. It would be nice to see Peggy as some point have a relationship with her father again. Her father know the pain he has caused to both his wife and daughter. It's easy to the guilt and pain he himself is feeling.

Same for Marian after what happened last season, I hated watching her fall in love for first time to that low life who didn't deserve her. I doubt it would happen but I think her and Bertha's son Larry would make a wonderful couple. He definitely likes her, we seen that last season. I just like to see happiness for her. I really think Aunt Agnes needs get over Marian teaching water painting to upper class girls at a private school one day a week. Give me a break, it's so not a big deal. Even for back than it's shouldn't be a big deal.

I have such a I like her/I dislike her relationship with Aunt Agnes. All last season I was like this omg one moment I wanted smack her upside the head and next I was nodding my head agreeing with her. I feel it may be another season of that with her.

Then there's Aunt Ada in middle trying to keep to peace or keep the house from burning down. Their like sisters that got custody of an adult teenager which it basically was back then when you had an adult young woman in your house. But I really love Aunt Ada. I know she's always keeping the peace but she did say in episode sometimes yelling could be a good thing so. But she has such a loving heart and she truly wants everyone to find happiness. I'd like to see her get happiness also. I could easily seen her be a wife and mom. So she deserves her own amount of happiness.

Now I know, we all know there is no way that Bertha is going to allow Gladys to marry Oscar. But what I'm trying to figure out is this is that good or bad? Now I see Bertha wanting have what happened with Cora on Downton Abbey, with Gladys ends up marring a English Lord or Duke. Not Oscar Van Rhijn that's for sure. But what about for Gladys at first I was against the idea because shouldn't she find a man that actually want to be in love with her? With Oscar because he's gay that's never a true possibility. But after what Oscar said in episode it got me thinking. Because back then it wasn't like a wife square and equal partner in a marriage. Depending on husband it was expected for the wife to have the husband's opinions on things, to keep in line. Gladys being married to Oscar she would have freedom she most likely never have in any other marriage. But she would also never have romantic love, I definitely think she'd have love with Oscar. Now I'm a lesbian so it is different to say the least but some of my closest friendships have been with gay men. One I consider the brother I never had. So Gladys could have a very deep emotional relationship with Oscar that's love just not romantic. So I'm lost what to think, however Oscar would need to show that wanting to marry Gladys isn't just for his own selfish reasons.

Than the mess with the robber barons. Which I wonder is just ment to mirror so many CEOs, Executives, Studio heads and etc... that are fighting the unions in our own time? I don't know if labor unions started because of robber barons or not. However I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they did. At that meeting with George Russell and the other robber barons is having talking about workers wanting medical care, better housing, better pay, 8 hour work day. While they choke on their own wealth but don't want to give the very people that are making them that wealthy a better life should be definition of greed. Is this how America became the greedy horrible place we now live in? That's why I use the term robber barons instead of successful heads industrialists. One tell everyone plainly what exactly what they were. But in the show it hard to know where place my feelings. Because the show is based somewhat in reality but the Russell's are fictional. But say that George Russell had been a real robber barons of the time. A large part of me wants to hate his character, but the problem is I actually like his character quite a bit. I want to see him put in ethical workplace practices for his workers, I want you see him do the right thing for the people that work him. Now I'm somewhat fearful what the show will have them do. Most likely mirror history no doubt.

Because I'll attempt it I love seeing Bertha in all her gorgeous, insanely beautiful dresses. Their so many of her's I was drooling over in this episode along, (she has the best wardrobe of whole cast). But if we were talking realistically, where is all that money coming from to pay for those dresses and grows. Off the backs off works who live in poverty. Does now, just like then makes so much sense why all jobs and industries need labor unions. But perhaps ultimately that's a part of the show. Because those two very thoughts were fighting against themselves at the same time in US right then. I do like the idea of the Gilded Age making us really think about that.

I'm so looking forward to whole new season!

I'm 100% on Bertha Russell side. She's basically Regina Mills cousin to me, don't ever ask me explain that outside my own mind lol.

Oh yea can't wait to see all the gorgeous clothes.

[frescopino]

Yeah, sorry 'bout that but I gotta agree. Theo has, as far as I remember, never exhibited any Neo Nazi behavior aside from literally just being born.

Plus, still as far as I remember, he did think about the name. His relationship to Kaiser and Purity was made public when their identities were, he knew he had both the world and his own family's attention on him, the latter of which literally abandoned him to try and force him to trigger. The choice of a Jewish inspired name was a very deliberate stance on what he thought about his family.

The lie is "mass suicide is the way to save the world." That's a plot point in Ward. Suicide baiting is the way to save the world in Worm.

[shsl-heck]

One thing that's had me thinking about Amy lately, is the tension between disgust and desire. She is horrified by the immensity of her desire for Victoria, but the shame and guilt over it can only ever make it worse. Fear and arousal, disgust and desire, all of them bleed into each other (we see this constantly in both porn and horror). It's like she has this splinter at the core of her being and she either cant realize or wont accept that the more and more she digs for it to try to get it out, the deeper she's driving it into herself. She cannot remove this without help from someone else. (Coincidentally, not being able to recognize that her attempts to do/be what she's supposed to are only making things worse is also what leads to the Enwretchening)

I'm aware there's a reading of Worm in which Amy's attraction to Victoria is purely an expression of a kind of morality focused ocd, but I personally think that's less interesting. She definitely experiences some level of that (the urge to fuck up a baby she's healing followed by disgust with herself is like a perfect example of an intrusive thought associated with that brand of ocd), but I think this is a case of *and* rather than *or*. My reading of Amy is that of a deeply lonely and emotionally neglected child clinging to the one person in her life that gives her any form of affection, whose attachment only gets increasingly complicated as she starts to grow up and realizes she is attracted to women.

She has never been treated as part of the family, has always felt on some level that she's only playing at being a sister to Victoria, and she is dealing with that during a stage of her life that is turbulent at best for even people raised in a healthy functional environment. There is a broad cultural taboo around sex and desire, but there's a special sort of self-loathing and fear that you're somehow predatory for finding someone attractive that a lot of queer people experience due to the stigma surrounding their sexuality and/or gender. Homoeroticism and attraction is seen as disgusting and fundamentally wrong by society no matter what. It is especially disastrous for Amy because even though she's never been able to see herself as Victoria's sister, she knows she's supposed to, and that adds a whole new layer of guilt and shame to even a passing thought about Victoria being attractive.

Then she triggers. Suddenly she not only has to pretend to be Amy Dallon the well behaved unintrusive family member, she has to be Panacea, the girl who performs miracles. She doesn't even have a secret identity to fall back on for privacy because of New Wave's gimmick. Any resentment about her role, or desire to live a normal life become more proof that she is a sick, evil person; a parasite who has wormed her way into the Good and Heroic Dallon-Pelham family and is eating away at them from the inside-out.

Even as it forces her to repress more and more of herself, Panacea also offers Amy what is seemingly her only chance to be Good like her family. Healing people isn't just something she has to do in order to avoid being a terrible person, but also how she can atone for everything else that's Bad about her. Saving people is a way to try to purge herself of the desire for Victoria, and to prove that she can be a Dallon in more than name.

Like, as awful and lesbophobic as Wildbow's handling of Amy was, there is something deeply compelling and even relatable about her to me. She perfectly captures an emotional state that I've struggled (and failed) to explain as I wrote and rewrote this post. It's the hunger, the guilt, the shame, the fear, the loneliness that settles on your skin like frost as a child when you accept that there must be something wrong with you, because if there wasn't then you wouldn't have to try so hard to be good.

[lunapokema]

Potential Spoliers

For LoZ TotK

(Upfront, I am a Sidlink shipper. However, that actually has nothing to do with the following opinion.)

Say what you will about Yona, I think we are all overlooking the most glaringly obvious flaw with the character:

She's fucking ugly.

I mean, the design team at Nintendo really screwed the pooch on this one. If she had that demure beauty like Mipha I could've lived with this development, but noooo.

Her Lime green color scheme doesn't compliment Sidon's Red at all. You could have picked blue, purple, gold (< I know that's orange cut me some slack), one of the standard colors of the other Zora characters in BotW. But no.

Her horns look like Leucochloridium - the parasitic worm that invades a snail's eyestalks. Just with less pulsating.

And let's not forget that 500 years down the line, we are looking at a female Muzu - I hope you all realize this. She's the only other stingray based Zora, they have to be related.

In conclusion, Mipha is lovely and Yona is shit. Plus, the childhood best friend who just shows up out of nowhere and was never mentioned or alluded to before, even in DLC, is just really lazy writing.

[agendergorgon]

Pitch 1: an alternative idea for Jack to give on Scion. Maybe in this scenario Jack knows Cauldron is opposed to him but doesn't quite grasp how powerful this thing is. Idk. The result is some kind of mass stranger event that is letting everyone hear what they want to hear, things start going right for them and finally everyone else seems to get it. Finally, everyone was working together. It lasts a day or two at most before everyone's fantasies start to fray, people on the street who dreamed they stood up to their boss vs managers who want their subordinates to always say yes. Cauldron works to gather people together and uses capes like Mantellum to establish temporary refuge and a chance at conversation, determining that Scion's got some weird cape broadcasting the effect idk, its a guy they can track down and gank. Pitch 2: Capes in shardspace, in an imagined simulated world that's having to pull double duty dealing with the violent impulses of its inhabitants. The unwritten rules are actually a thing, there's a cops and robbers scene so pervasive that the Slaughterhouse 9 (possibly shy a few members since one can imagine Shatterbird and Burnscar's ideal might well be something different, possibly up a few members with a Worm era Damsel co-leading the team to the respect and fear of the rest of the cape world) are on par with silver age Joker and Jack Slash is out to commit boner themed crimes. Nobody's mother or brother is dead, but somehow Taylor crosses paths with Tattletale and the audience is able to think about the comradery she doesn't have in this world, how a world where she got to be a hero and be respected and listened to has robbed her of the people she spent the most time getting to understand and care for. (Tattletale is playing the part of Layla Miller in this, who is missing in the original post but in House of M served as a device to allow the heroes to wake up to the change in timeline)

So for those of you who don't read twenty-year-old marvel comics a lot, the 2005 Marvel Crisis Crossover was called House of M. The basic premise of this was that this was smack dab in the middle of the Scarlet-Witch-is-Having-a-Normal-one arc that was very, very loosely adapted into Wandavision; in her initial breakdown, she'd killed several of the Avengers, wound up in the protective custody of Magneto, and the recently reformed team was debating whether or not they were going to have to kill her before she deleted reality on accident or some such thing. But when they're on their way to Magneto's stronghold to have a "talk" with her, the world is enveloped in white, and Wolverine (the initial POV character) wakes up in a world where Mutants are 98% of the human population and have been for decades, and Magneto and his family (the titular House of M) are leaders of the global political order, and Wolverine is one of the only people in this realigned world who remembers that it was ever different.

Wolverine initially is operating under the assumption that Magneto cajoled Wanda into rewriting reality in his family's favor, but after rounding up and waking up several of his allies, he realizes that what actually happened is that Wanda rewrote reality so that everyone she knew would get everything they wanted- Magneto being in charge with a 98 percent global mutation rate is just the inevitable byproduct of that. The resulting world is an amalgamation that has to accommodate the conscious or subconscious "perfect life" of every superhero on earth, in a way that acts as a fascinating characterization tool, often with a monkey's-paw angle. Spider-Man is a beloved celebrity wrestler, and Uncle Ben and Gwen are both alive, but he attained that status by pretending to be a Mutant and he lives in constant fear of being exposed. Mystique, Rogue, Nightcrawler and several of their associates are the tight-knit family unit they were always kept from being.... as the elite jackboot of Magneto's regime. Luke Cage and Hawkeye lead the human resistance, standing in perpetual principled opposition to the powers that be, but with no real hope of accomplishing anything. Captain America didn't lose years of his life to the ice, but he had to live through a global authoritarian takeover he ultimately couldn't do anything about. Wolverine gets to remember his entire life, but that includes remembering that his current ideal circumstances were manufactured to keep him placated. And on and on and on. Lot of really interesting character takes packed up in there, paired with the equally interesting project of packing as many of them as possible into the same timeline without contradicting each other- after all, from the word go you have to contort everyone's happiness around the basic conceit that Magneto rules the world.

Anyway. House of M AU for Worm. Discuss.

[coffeetummy]

BG3 Spoliers ~~ Act 1 specifically

Can't get over the fact that when you get the chance to try out the worm remover chair in the githyanki creche, Gale will encourage you to try it. THEN! THEN as the chair is fucking killing you, he has the audacity to say "oh no you should get out of there!! You're gonna die" BESTIE I KNOW I WAS FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE!

Any way I like to think this is something my Tav would lord over him from time to time, because I will never forget it. It's so funny.

[tiphyrow]

I’ve been hearing about the Magnus archives for years now and finally decided to try it out. I’m really enjoying it but I have like crazy serious vermiphobia and didn’t know those little beasts were so crucial to the plot. Hearing, reading or saying the word makes me itchy and I’ve literally had nightmares about the type of stuff that happens in the podcast since I was like a baby. Obviously this has been a problem but i really want to keep listening so I’ve started imagining Jane prentiss like this.

It’s working

[deadinsideart]

Art Dump!! I made fake screenshots from the fanfic and I will make more because it's fun to imagine it being animated. I always wanted to draw them doing that hug scene..

And I used the idea's doodle I did some time ago and forgot how the actual goon outfits looked even when staring directly at a reference image. So, let's just assume Snatcher modded it to fit how he'd have it ig????

And Professor Wormton! I laughed so hard when I did the googly eyes!

Below is Snatcher in a different shade of purple bc I color picked it wrong but still love it and a sprite for the potion Snatcher gave Layton.

I wanted it to look like a flair in AHiT and I think I nailed it pretty well.