#because like imagine if you found out your best friend saw an alternate timeline where you lost control and destroyed the city

[soullessjack]

so im on s5 of miraculous and i keep thinking about cat noirs whole “kept at a distance” arc bc it’s genuinely really interesting but gets so wasted by always winding up with him basically validating ladybugs nonsensical decisions and treatment—the same treatment that we were already shown upset him enough to destroy public properly about it. the most consistent reason LB ever gives cat about why he can’t be fully trusted or relied on is that he’s too much of a liability for their partnership to work—either because he’s too reckless, too in love with her, or his cataclysm would be too dangerous to use.

whatever it is, the baseline is that she thinks he’s a liability, and obviously that’s like salt in the wound for cat since he genuinely loves her and enjoys being partners with her, but it’s also just sad to see him continue to respect her decision and act like it isn’t a problem for him when he’s literally upset enough to physically lash out and use his powers to do so. and I know a lot of it can probably be explained by ladybug’s experience in the cat blanc timeline, but 1) she starts holding him at a distance way before that even happens, 2) she’s actively making it worse by not telling cat noir about cat blanc and why she thinks she has to exclude him for his own safety, and 3) SHE SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM ABOUT CAT BLANC TO BEGIN WITH BECAUSE IT’S LITERALLY A WORLD ENDING SITUATION INVOLVING HIM DIRECTLY‼️‼️‼️‼️

instead she just allows him think he’s unwanted and unnecessary, calls the shots on how he should feel about “having more free time” and ironically makes him even more susceptible to being Akumatized because of it. ladybug might not be aware that cat is adrien and has a terrible home life he actively uses his miraculous to escape from, but she’s playing right into all the key aspects that adrien resents from his father; she decides what he wants without considering or asking him, she trusts him conditionally and still distances herself enough for him to just not know certain things. it’s done with good intentions, but it still clearly affects adrien very poorly, and it’s just such a frustrating glass-chewing miscommunication that only needlessly complicates the situation

don’t even get me started on Kuro Neko where ladybug falls head over heels for the changed version of her partner and narrowly avoiding her having to actually screw up and learn a lesson about accepting cat for who he actually is because catwalker is just “too perfect” for her to function—instead of being an obedient idealized version of her best friend who lets her be in control of everything (WHEN ADRIEN LITERALLY USES HIS DOUBLE LIFE TO HAVE THE CONTROL HE DOESN’T GET AT HOME).

theres so much potential for the base concept of the miraculous of destruction and its Kwami/holder being distrusted outliers among the rest of the Kwami/holders, but the magic system sucks and it kind of loses any chance when the other Kwamis are established to be catastrophic if they use their powers without a holder. and it gets even more confusing if you consider that Fu specifically chose adrien to hold that miraculous, but then encourages Marinette to keep her distance from him and barely acknowledges him as a hero in general. Like why did you even bother testing adrien for his worthiness or whatever if you obviously don’t think he’s worthy of knowing anything about you or the rest of the miraculous OR his best friend’s identity??? but you’re totally okay with her just giving them out to anyone in Paris who’s conveniently around and having her know their identity???? master fu when I catch you master fu

auugghhhfgg I don’t know the magic system thing could be its own separate post but likeeeeee I just think the miraculous of destruction whos constantly mistrusted for no reason and goes Kamehameha Krazy in another timeline is very special and could be treated so much better if the writers were good at their job and didn’t make every character’s sole purpose be validating ladybug/marinette even when she’s in the wrong

#honestly he deserves to be a villain #at the very least an antihero. gotta push my antihero propaganda into everything I enjoy #like the same way Luka got Akumatized over his frustration with people keeping secrets #that should 100% happen to cat noir im so deadass #because like imagine if you found out your best friend saw an alternate timeline where you lost control and destroyed the city #and spent months completely isolated by what you did and slowly goinf crazy with grief and guilt and just wanting to fix it all #and she just doesnt tell you about it but she clearly sees you differently than she used to because of it #that is literally such juicy material for him to get Akumatized and yet. #Thomas Astruc you and I are public enemies now #cal.txt #miraculous ladybug #cat noir #adrien agreste #cat blanc #ladybug and chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #master fu #I need to fix this show I need to or I will also blow up Paris #I LOVE BEING AUTISTIC 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️

[dragonsdomain]

Lair

“Well that explains why you’ve never been to your lair,” Ember said, smirking. “You didn’t even know it existed.”

Danny laughed before turning his attention back to the oddly familiar door in front of him. “Well I do spend most of my time in the human world. And I don’t even usually pay much attention to these doors. There are so many. How’d you find it?”

“Ectosignature, silly,” Ember said, rapping a knuckle on the wood. “Don’t you know anything about ghost culture?”

Danny looked away, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“Er, sorry. I guess that was a dumb question,” Ember said. She gestured to the door. “Well here you go! There’s your lair. You can… ya know… explore it and stuff.”

Danny moved to open the door but let his hand hover over the knob, strangely apprehensive. “What was… what was inside?”

Ember’s eyebrows flew up. “You think I went inside?” She sounded dumbfounded. “Even if lair doors weren’t locked until the owner of the lair first opens them, Don’t you know how- I mean…” She corrected herself. “It is super rude to enter a ghost’s lair uninvited.”

Danny’s mouth formed a silent “O”, causing Ember to perform a facepalm. That did explain some of the encounters he’d had in the Ghost Zone.

“Well, uh…” Danny’s attention fell back to the door in front of him. “Do you at least have some idea of what I might find in here? I mean… what’s a lair usually like?”

“Eh, I don’t know exactly how it works,” Ember said, leaning back in the air thoughtfully. “I think sometimes they’re connected to your obsession. Sometimes they’re just like, where you’d be happiest or thrive the best.” She shrugged. “I dunno, I’m no scientist.”

Danny exhaled a puff of air. “Okay. That doesn’t sound so bad.” He placed his hand on the handle of the door. He hesitated. Why was he so nervous?

Vaguely ominous notes began strumming from behind him. Danny turned towards the girl behind him who was currently plucking out the foreboding background music on her guitar with a mischievous half-smile on her face.

“You know, you’re not helping,” Danny said in slight exasperation.

Ember stopped playing as she stifled a snicker. “All right, all right,” She said, feigning offense. “I’ll take my leave. Don’t die in there!” She said before speeding off into the foggy expanse of the Ghost Zone.

“Still not helping!” Danny called after her before turning back to the door.

Danny put his hand back on the handle. He hadn’t noticed taking it off. Perhaps because of curiosity, perhaps because of some unidentifiable anxiety, he paused before opening the door to examine its exterior. It looked familiar somehow, yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on where he’d seen it before. It was something he knew he should know, but the recollection of where the door was from escaped him.

He sighed. Come on. Just open the door. There’s nothing to be afraid of.

He opened the door.

And he suddenly remembered where he’d seen that door before.

Behind the door lay a perfect replica of his own bedroom. He looked around in puzzlement as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Every detail was the same, all his model spaceships exactly where they should be, the little glow-in-the-dark stars arranged on the ceiling as close to the night sky as he’d been able to get them, everything precisely where it should be all the way down to the math homework laid out on his desk which he’d only gotten that morning.

Danny looked behind himself at the door, an eyebrow raised questioningly. Had the door just taken him to his own bedroom? His own house? Was the ghost lair of a halfa just his own home?

He looked back at his room and let out a laugh, changing back to human form. He felt a little disappointed that his adventure had simply led him back to where he went every day, but mostly relieved. He’d been afraid he’d find… well, something… in his lair that he didn’t want to find. His lair simply being his own bedroom was a bit underwhelming, but far from the worst it could have been.

In fact, he thought as he looked back at the oh, so familiar door, it was a little convenient that he’d been dropped off straight at home. He’d had his little adventure, and now he could commence his evening again right off the bat.

As Danny opened the door, he was pleased to see that it opened to the hall of his house, not back into the Ghost Zone. Yep, he was back at home.

“Danny, come down for dinner!” his mother’s voice echoed up the stairwell.

“Coming!” Yep, very convenient that he’d been brought straight here. He didn’t want to make his parents suspicious by missing dinner again.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and was promptly greeted by his parents and sister, all sitting down at the dinner table.

“Hey,” Danny said as he sat down, looking around dubiously. “...Why are we all eating dinner together? What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing, Danno! Except that your mother and I thought it might be nice to have family dinners more often,” Dad explained.

“We know you’ve been having a bit of a rough time with school and, well, everything, and something’s obviously going on with you that you’re not telling us,” Mom began.

Anxiety spiked in Danny’s gut. Did they know? Were they going to figure it out? How did he mess up enough to tip them off to that fact? They couldn’t figure out his secret; they’d hate him if they knew that he was a-

“...But we just want you to know that we love you no matter what. And nothing could ever change that.”

“We wouldn’t even stop loving you if you became a ghost!” Dad bellowed jovially. Mom rolled her eyes at him but smiled at Danny in silent agreement to the statement.

Danny sat back, stunned. Did he hear that right?

Jazz looked as surprised as he was. “Did you just say you’d love him even if...?” Her question trailed off.

Mom cocked an eyebrow. “...He was a ghost? Of course. He’d still be our Danny.”

It was too good to be true. Danny still almost couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Tears pricked his eyes. “Thanks. That’s… good to hear.”

At the sight of the tears Mom wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders. “Oh, sweetie, was that what you’ve been worrying about? Why you always look so scared when we talk about ghost hunting?”

“It’s just that, the way you’ve been treating Phantom…”

“Oh, we actually just made a truce with him this morning.”

...Wait. What?

Danny glanced at Jazz in confusion. She was grinning at him, but stopped when she saw his confusion. What? She mouthed.

Danny’s eyes dropped to the table in puzzlement. Something was wrong here. That hadn’t happened. At least not to him. Was there a ghost impersonating him or something? He really needed to get Jazz alone to talk about it.

Just when he was about to speak, something beeped loudly down in the lab.

Mom and Dad’s eyes met. “Jack, did you forget to-” Mom started.

“Yes.”

At that, they both rushed down the stairs.

“...Perfect timing.” Danny muttered to himself. He looked at Jazz. “I didn’t make a truce with Mom and Dad this morning.”

Jazz frowned. “But you told me about it during lunch. It happened during first period, remember? You missed that chemistry test to go fight Skulker? And you told me about how you were worried that was going to make you fail chemistry but I told you your grades were great even if you couldn’t retake it?” Danny looked more confused by the second. “You don’t remember any of that?”

“Jazz, since when have my grades been great?”

Jazz raised an eyebrow, pulled out her phone, and showed him his grades on it. He stood up and walked around the table to get a better look. Straight A’s.

Danny stumbled back. That- he didn’t have straight A’s, what- something wasn’t right-

“Jazz, where are Sam and Tucker?” Danny asked hesitantly.

“I think they said they were going to be coming over any minute now.”

At that exact moment the door burst open. Sam and Tucker entered, looking too happy, too healthy, much too carefree. Oh no, not them too.

“Danny!” They called out, rushing to give him a hug. Danny returned their embrace stiffly.

“Hey guys. You look like you’re doing… really well.”

Sam snorted, pushing him away. “Well you sound weirdly disappointed about that. What, do you miss all the ghost fighting we used to do?”

“Used to do?”

Jazz looked down at Danny in concern. “Are you okay, Danny? Don’t you remember all the truces you made with the ghosts? You’ve hardly had to fight anyone for weeks.”

“...I…” Was he in some kind of alternate timeline? How did he get here?

He suddenly remembered something Ember had said about ghost lairs: “Sometimes they’re just like, where you’d be happiest or thrive the best.”

Of course.

“...This isn’t real…” Danny whispered.

“What?” Jazz asked.

“It’s not… you’re not real!” Danny stepped back and glared at the things that looked like his friends and sister.

“Dude, of course we’re real,” Tucker said, reaching out a hand in concern.

Danny slapped it away and stepped back again. “No, you’re all just figments of my imagination or something.” He stepped back again and found his back against the door. “This isn’t real. It’s all just… fake.” He wasn’t really talking to the people in front of him anymore. He slid down to the floor and buried his face in his hands. “Why would Mom and Dad actually make a truce with me? Or be willing to accept me? Of course it’s not real.”

A hand rested on his shoulder. “Danny-” Jazz began.

Danny flung her hand away and phased through the door behind him, ignoring the shouts of surprise from those in the room. He found himself back outside his lair, in the Ghost Zone. A glance over his shoulder revealed the door, which looked like his bedroom door again, still shut. No concerned voices leaked through. Nothing thrust the door open to search for him.

He stared at the door numbly. It had been nice while it lasted, to have a dinner with his family, to have his parents not plotting his murder for once, to see Sam and Tucker without injuries stemming from his folly. Even if it wasn’t real.

A wry chuckle escaped his lips at the same moment as tears began to well in his eyes.

Of course it couldn’t be real.

#Danny Phantom #Oneshot #Angst #My Fanfics

[diamaker-moon]

Moving Forward - Chapter 4

Chapter Four

First day and investigations

—————

"Haven't you heard?" She asked back in a cold tone.

"Heard what?"

"You're class... drove Marinette to transfer schools. All because of you guys." She said in an icy tone before passing by him then rest left him in the locker room— gaping.

— previous chapter... —

Adrien was stunned.

'Marinette transferred schools?! When did that happen?!'

He stood there for a few minutes before fishing up his phone and texted Marinette, he waited for a reply, but nothing came. He came back to his classroom in a daze.

He didn't bother sharing the information with anyone, thinking that Lila might steal the spotlight again. And besides, he was too busy thinking why Marinette needed to transfer, and why she didn't inform him— her friend.

Nino was worried for his best bro. Adrien barely spoke throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Marinette was given a few hours in the morning to roam and get acquainted inside campus grounds. She was joined by Allegra, who happily toured her and introduce her as well to every student they pass by.

She was enjoying her time in Jeanne.

But behind all the happiness she was feeling at the moment, there's a huge responsibility whispering in her ear. The Cat Miraculous is currently in camouflage mode in her right ring finger as a rose gold ring. She needed to find either a new permanent cat holder or a temporary one. Part of her wants to trust her dormmates. She couldn't trust her temporary heroes anymore, aside from Viperion and Ryuko. 

She could imagine Allan using the Turtle miraculous since he is already protective of his friends. She was stuck between Claude and Allegra for the Fox miraculous.

Claude is a theatre kid, he can imagine a lot of things and that can help during battles but he's more of a fighter than hiding in the shadows. Allegra, however, can do the opposite.

But for now, her main priority is to find a cat holder, even if it has to be temporary. It was a good thing that she had bought a mini fridge for Plagg's camembert stash and stored it in her room or else her dormmates might think she's a cheese hoarder!

All the teachers and students in Jeanne were very welcoming. Her classmates were friendly to her, and her teachers are fair educators. When there is a disturbance in the class, they reprimand both students not only one, and Marinette noticed that there's no 'model student' treatment like the one she had in Dupont.

It was lunchtime, she and her dormmates decided to eat in a nearby restaurant. She missed how she just goes home and eats lunch in her home then sometimes returns with a bag of pastries as snacks. She missed her home and her parents' bakery.

Marinette and Allegra were busy chatting about Marinette's current state in Jeanne, while Claude and Allan are busy bickerings on who will win if Batman and Iron Man fought.

Félix just observed them, and from time to time read on his book.

None of them saw a blonde looking at them with a melancholic look. The blonde smiled bitterly before they left the restaurant.

"Are you all done? Lunchtime is almost up." Félix announced.

The other four nodded and paid for their meal, then walked back to school.

Marinette wants to thank her luck and Tikki, for not having any Akuma throughout the rest of the afternoon.

Upon returning to the dorm, she went inside her bathroom and stared at the mirror. She was looking at her reflection, but somehow it felt unfamiliar to her.

The girl in the mirror, has her hair down, wearing a white button-up shirt underneath a black blazer that had red accents and trimming, the school crest sewed on top of the front pocket and a red tie. Paired with it is a plaid red, white and black skirt that reaches up to her mid-thighs, she also wore black knee-high socks and strapped two-inched heels.

She moved her hair on the right side a bit and saw her signature black stud earrings which are actually the camouflaged ladybug's miraculous earrings, then the rose gold cat miraculous on her right hand that moved her hair.

It was a huge change.

She was used to seeing her previous look since Dupont doesn't require school uniforms but Jeanne does.

Marinette sighed then stripped out of her uniform to take a short shower.

Once she came out of the bathroom, she was wearing light pink high-waisted shorts, a white halter-top with her signature flower design, then a sheer black cardigan.

She turned the soundproofing on then locked her bedroom door before she let the kwamis out of the miracle box.

"Did you have fun on your first day, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

Marinette hummed before answering. "Yeah. It was quite strange to see all the students wear the same outfit, but everyone was very welcoming. Quite different in Dupont. And there were no Akuma attacks today!"

Tikki smiled at her holder. The kwami thought that the girl deserves it. She needed a new environment away from the previous one since it was toxic.

Marinette was skimming through the Grimoire, and the kwamis knew not to be close enough since it is prohibited to know about the knowledge inside the book.

Shadowmoth. A unified Butterfly and Peacock miraculous holder.

Hawkmoth was becoming stronger, and Marinette needed to be ten steps ahead of him. She cannot use her previous temporary heroes.

Rena Rouge, Carapace, Pegasus and Roi Singe betrayed her in their civilian lives, unknowingly. She cannot trust them in battle, even if they were efficient heroes.

She was alone at the moment. No temporary allies, and no partner.

But she might have a lead on who Hawk—Shadowmoth is.

She looked at her bulletin board that is hanged on the wall.

If anyone ever saw the board, they might think she is a detective, due to having a map of Paris wide opened, with marks, sticky notes, red strings, etc.

She closed the book before putting on a sleeve cover for the book then plainly placed it on her desk together with a stack of books.

"Marinette?"

She hummed before looking at her left seeing the kwamis stare at her.

"We finally might have a lead on who Hawk—Shadowmoth is. Why does he need to change his name? The hawkmoth is already a stupid name, but he had to change it to Shadowmoth! Ugh!"

The kwamis laughed at their guardian's frustrations.

"Who do you suspect, Master?" Wayzz asked.

"Plagg, do you know where your previous holder got the book and tablet?" She asked the cat kwami who's busy eating a wheel of Camembert on top of her chaise.

Plagg looked to her before swallowing the rest of the whole wheel then answered.

"In his deadbeat of a father's office. That's where we found the book first, inside a safe behind her mother's painting."

Marinette hummed.

She had valid points at the moment to suspect him. And no one can prevent her from suspecting the fashion guru like before when she had Chat Noir as her partner. He was adamant that the guru isn't Hawkmoth, but now she understood. The man was his father. If the fashion guru is Hawkmoth, he'll be losing both his Mother and Father.

Something clicked in her mind. The alternate reality that she prevented: Chat Blanc.

She gasped. Then hurriedly grabbed her notebook that has all her points and suspect list with a list of reasons. She flipped the pages towards Gabriel Agreste's page.

Possible Suspect: Gabriel Agreste

Affliation: Fashion Designer

Relationships: 

◈ Emilie Agreste (Wife)

◈ Adrien Agreste (Son)

◈ Nathalie Sancoeur (Assistant)

  Reasons why suspected?

- Mme Agreste has been gone for three years, can use the ultimate power to wish her back.

- Secluded from the outside world.

- Assitant is very devoted, can possibly be the ally— Mayura.

- Another possible ally— Lila Rossi. Got akumatized after leaving from the first bathroom confrontation looking all smug, and has been akumatized repeatedly. Also might be involved with the Heroe's day illusion of Dark 'Ladybug'.

- Akumatized when suspected before. Hypothesis: possibly to divert attention?

- Very attentive and tried to reach for earrings and ring before during 'The Collector' after getting de-akumatized...

- Briefly saw an intrigue look on his face when he saw Chloé open a miraculous box in public.

- Has the Grimoire. Now, he also had Master Fu's tablet (stolen possibly during Miracle Queen battle)

-Theory: Chat Blanc said that Hawkmoth was a reason why the alternate timeline was destroyed by Blanc, Marinette is almost akumatized before (in original timeline), is it possible that in that timeline, Hawkmoth tried to akumatize Marinette then accidentally finds out Chat Noir's identity, leading up to a possible confrontation? It is quite hard to choose between a family relative and a relationship...

Marinette observed the page. If she was impulsive, she'd probably march up to the Agreste Mansion, but if her possible suspect is truly a villain, she cannot impulsively attack since he had two miraculouses that can create an Akuma and a Sentimonster.

She was a tactician. She always thinks about how she can use her lucky charm, and mostly in the most complex ways on how to use it.

The only thing she can do for a while is observing the Older Agreste.

"It's decided then," She looked at the kwamis then continued her sentence.

"We're going on a stake-out outside the Agreste Mansion, and possibly the inside as well. But that mansion is heavily guarded with cameras! How am I going to enter it?!"

She annoyingly said the huffed.

"Kwamis can help with the cameras and if there are alarms!" Trixx reasoned.

"Hmm... That can be useful... But how am I going to get an inside look? If there's a hidden safe behind Mme Agreste's painting in M. Agreste's atelier, I need an entrance."

Plagg thought about it before gasping.

"I can look around! I've been in the mansion for a long time, I can search around that room to see any open windows or entrance!"

Marinette actually smiled at that statement, she scratches Plagg behind one of his ears which made the cat kwami purr in happiness.

"Looks like someone earned a prize!"

The kwamis laughed in seeing the stubborn cat kwami happily purring due to the young guardian scratching him. Marinette needed a thorough plan. A plan to look around M. Agreste's atelier without being detected. And if she is lucky maybe retrieve one of the missing miraculous.

—————

"Nathalie!"

The woman flinched before she composed herself and made her way towards her boss's atelier with a tablet in one hand.

"Yes, M. Agreste?"

The man was seething, and she didn't know why. The last time she saw him like this was when they caught Adrien taking the miraculous book to school.

"Where's the Grimoire and the tablet?"

Nathalie blinked. "It's in your hands Monsier. Or maybe safely hidden in the safe."

Gabriel sighed deeply. "The book and the tablet is missing. I check the cameras, Adrien got it again, but when I asked for it back, he said you had it."

"I'm sorry, M. Agreste, but I didn't even know that it was in Adrien's possessions. I'll look around the mansion, maybe Adrien misplaced it, I'll also ask him to remember where he left it."

Gabriel nodded and dismissed her.

Inside Nathalie's head, it was trouble. They were fortunate to steal the previous Guardian's tablet that has a translated version of the book, to fix the Peacock miraculous. They had also found a translated pages about the power-ups but we haven't figure out what it actually means. They also don't have a backup copy of the translated pages!

"Adrien? Adrien."

Nathalie knocked on the younger Agreste's door. She heard a faint 'wait, Nathalie!'. Soon the door opened and revealed a dishevelled Adrien who was currently drying his hair with a towel.

"Yes, Nathalie?"

"I heard from your Father that you had the book and tablet he's looking for. Do you remember where you left it?" She said and noticed how Adrien paled.

"I was only looking at it, I left it on my desk but the next morning it was gone. I figured that you might've found it on the desk and took it back to Father... That's the only place I left it before going to bed."

She observes the young boy and hummed. She instructed Adrien to try and look around thinking that it might've been misplaced.

'I have a bad feeling about this. It's already bad that it's missing, but if my theory is right that it is in Ladybug's possession, we might be at a disadvantage.'

Chapter 3 — Moving Forward: Masterlist — Chapter 5 

#miraculousladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #movingforward #adrien agreste #class salt

[mxndoscyarika]

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice (Sam Wilson x fem!Reader) | Chapter 2: Apple Pie

Summary: Being best friends with Sarah Wilson was simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing you’ve ever experienced. You felt at home with the Wilsons, and helped raise Sarah’s children after her divorce and the Snap. But harboring feelings for her brother, Sam, and not being able to do anything about it hurt more than it should. When he comes back home between leads on Karli Morgenthau, with Bucky in tow, you can’t help but feel a spark of hope.

Ao3

Like my writing? Here’s my masterlist.

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice masterlist

Author’s note: It’s been a bit of a wait, but it’s here! I love writing the reader and Sam’s dynamic, and how they fit together so well. Just one more chapter to go after this one, and their story will be complete 🥺 Enjoy!

Warnings: food, mutual pining, smut (semi-public, unprotected) - 18+ ONLY

< previous | next >

Sunlight streamed through the windows, golden beams striping across the counter where you and Sam stood, preparing apples for a pie. You had wanted to try out a new pie crust recipe, and had picked up more apples than you’d intended at the farmer’s market. It was funny how life worked out like that sometimes, like the universe was telling you to do what you love.

Sam’s arm brushed against yours as he placed a peeled apple onto your cutting board, the touch sending electricity up your arm. You weren’t sure why he was standing so close when there was plenty of space, but you didn’t want to complain. After all, this was the closest you’d ever get to being with him. Even if it had to end, you couldn’t help but imagine an alternate timeline where you and he were baking together because you loved each other.

“Those apples are gonna cook if you keep staring that hard,” Sam teased, bringing you out of your reverie. “What are you thinking about?”

You shrugged, trying to ignore the heat rushing to your face. “Nothing important.”

“It didn’t seem like it was nothing important,” he said softly, glancing at you. His breath caught as the light graced your face just right, highlighting your features with gold. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

You nodded, adding the sliced apples to a bowl. There was something you wished you could tell him, but it wasn’t just anything. It could ruin everything. “I know.”

With Sam and Bucky around, it was getting harder to hide your feelings. You knew that, Sarah knew that, and maybe even Bucky knew. Bucky was sweet, a gentleman at his core. He knew how to flirt around, but you weren’t quite enamored enough to fall for him. The man beside you was your perfect match, or so you hoped.

The sound of footsteps approached from behind.

“Whatcha making there, sweetheart?” Bucky asked, leaning into the small space between you and Sam. His broad frame nudged Sam out of the way, making the other man frown. “Anything I can help with?”

“No,” Sam said bluntly.

“We’re just making an apple pie for later tonight,” you answered, giving him a small smile. But as much as you liked the warm feeling of being close to another person, you already missed Sam. “And no, Sam and I should be able to get everything done ourselves. It’s just a couple more steps and then we’ll bake it.”

Bucky hummed in understanding, walking around to your other side, which allowed Sam to begrudgingly settle back next to you. “Are you sure? I’m pretty good with my hands…”

You let out a huff of laughter, shaking your head. “I’m sure you are, but we have everything under control here. Besides, you’re a guest.”

At last, Bucky relented and backed away, watching Sam amusedly. “Don’t have too much fun without me, kids.”

When Sam sighed in relief,  you looked over. “You alright, Sam?”

He chuckled softly, bracing his arms on the counter. “Yeah, I just find it funny how the abominable snowman comes to Louisiana and woos all the women in my life. I should’ve known that was gonna happen.”

Although he had a fond smile on his face, the spark was missing from his voice. He sounded almost sad.

Before you could stop yourself, you leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, you’re still my favorite.”

Sam froze, dumbfounded. But then, beaming, he turned and pulled you into a tight hug. His strong arms wrapped around you and held you close as he swayed back and forth, laughing softly with you. You couldn’t help but wrap your arms tightly around his waist, resting your cheek against his chest. “I better be your favorite,” he teased. You thought you felt a gentle pressure against your temple, but you were too caught up in his scent of seawater and oranges to care. “I knew you first.”

---

“Sam?” you called, stepping onto the boat. In your hands was a tupperware with a slice of pie, the ice cream half melted and pooling at the bottom. After helping out, he’d gone to the docks to keep working on the family boat; he’d mentioned something about the engine needing to be fixed. So, you figured that you’d surprise him with his favorite dessert.

“Over here!” he replied, coming back up to meet you. The sleeves of his shirt were pushed up to his elbows, drawing your eyes to his muscular forearms and strong hands. “What do you have there?”

It took you a moment to realize that he asked you a question, making heat rush to your face. “Dessert. Well, a snack for you. You’ve been working all evening, so I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.”

You settled in the cockpit of the boat, basking in the familiar room.

“Okay, miss fairy god-baker,” he said, sitting down next to you. “Why don’t you take the first bite? You deserve it, of all people.”

Knowing he wouldn’t relent until you took a bite, you scooped up some of the crust, soft apples, and ice cream and slipped the fork into your mouth. The pie was still slightly warm, the apples spiced with cinnamon and a hint of molasses from the brown sugar and the ice cream cool and light on your tongue. The crust was just right, not too crumbly and not too sweet. You hummed in satisfaction, smiling sheepishly as you realized you’d just made a sound.

“How is it, baby?”

“It’s sweet,” you answered, assembling a bite for him. “Do you want to try some?”

You didn’t pay much attention to his low hum of affirmation until you glanced at him and saw he was watching you with a small smile.

The next few seconds were a blur as he leaned in and kissed you, lips melding against yours.

He tasted sweet, and you couldn’t help but set down the container so you could scoot closer. A shiver ran down your spine as his arms wrapped around your waist and held you. The warmth from his body surrounded you, bringing with it a peacefulness that you never knew you missed. It felt...right. Like your missing puzzle piece had finally clicked into place. Like you had found your home.

When you finally parted for air, Sam let out a chuckle. “You’re right. You’re very sweet.”

“I-I don’t understand-”

“It’s you,” he murmured, cupping your cheeks and kissing you sweetly. “It’s always been you. I’m tired of waiting and doubting myself. Doubting us.”

“I’ve wanted this for a very long time, Sam,” you began, your words soft between the kisses. “I’ve wanted you for a very long time.”

You often wondered what your life would’ve been like if you’d faced your feelings earlier. Would you be married? Would you and Sam have had a family? So much time had passed, it wasn’t hard to imagine the different ways your life could’ve gone.

A wave of anxiety washed over you. What if he didn’t really want you? What if you were just a distraction from his work? Part of you screamed to control yourself and consider the consequences, but another part of you told you to give it a chance. After all, it was Sam; he cared deeply and saw the best in everything. Maybe you could do the same, for once.

You had waited long enough. He had waited long enough.

“I want you too, honey,” he said, hands slipping down to guide your hips towards him. “Come up, baby.”

Your face burned as you realized what he wanted, but you couldn’t help shuffling closer. There was no doubt that he was strong; years of physical training had done him well. But nonetheless, you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “I-I don’t want to squish you-”

“You won’t, baby,” he replied, groaning as you kissed him deeply. “I want you on top of me. Let me hold you...please.”

Unable to resist, you climbed onto his lap. Your arms went around his neck so you wouldn’t slide off; not that you were going to. Sam’s hands rested respectfully on your waist, pressing gently to keep you close. You never quite realized how big they were until then; those were the same hands that tickled you back in high school, held yours during dances, and saved the world.

His lips were as soft as you imagined, the years of holding out and waiting poured into each movement. Your hips involuntarily started shifting against him, making him groan softly. A soft laugh escaped your lips as he encouraged your movements. It wasn’t long until you felt him pressed against your core. Though, you’d have been lying if you said you weren’t affected yourself. Every movement stoked the flame in your lower belly, reminding you of just how long you’d been dreaming for this moment.

“I need you,” you gasped, shuddering as his lips trailed down your neck. “Sam…”

“I know, baby,” he soothed, his fingers tracing the top of your pants. “I need you, too. Do you want this? I need to hear you say it, sweetheart.”

“Yes,” you answered, tugging at his hands so he would take them off faster. “I want you inside me. I want to feel you.”

“I want you, too,” he said, his voice like velvet. “I’ve dreamt of you for so long.”

You were glad there was no one around as you stepped out of your pants and pulled off your shirt and bra. The change in temperature made you shiver, along with the sight of Sam undressing himself.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he mused, watching with hooded eyes as you straddled his hips. Your hips fit against his perfectly, nestled against him. Without the barrier of clothing, you could feel everything, from his soft skin to his rippling muscles. The only way that it could’ve been better was if he was inside of you.

You reached down and stroked his length slowly, rubbing your thumb across the tip. A soft laugh left your lips as he gasped your name and bucked his hips into your hand, clear fluid beading at the tip. If you weren’t on a boat, you would’ve taken more time to taste him. But that could be saved for later, when you and Sam were home.

“You’re beautiful,” you murmured, leaning in for a kiss. Once you felt his lips against yours, you knew you were done for. No one could take you away from him. “Are you ready?”

“I think a better question is, are you ready?” he mused, slipping his hand down to rub slow circles on your bundle of nerves. A smirk appeared on his face as he found you slick and pliant, the tips of his fingers shining with your arousal. “Next time, I’m gonna make it up to you. We have years to make up for, babe.”

A gasp left your lips as the head of his cock slipped into you; it was thicker than you’d expected. You could tell he was going to fill you perfectly, grinding against all the areas that made you moan.

The touch of his thumb against your clit made sliding down on him easier, each flutter of your walls letting him go deeper. By the time he was seated fully inside you, you were a mess. Your breaths were shallow and your hands roamed his chest.

Your breath caught in your throat as you started moving, lifting your hips before sinking back down.

Sam couldn’t seem to get enough of you, his hands roaming your body and squeezing and caressing until you felt like you were going to combust.

“Sam, please,” you moaned, bouncing on his cock. Every time you sank down, he ground against that sensitive area inside you. You dripped down his length as you slowly lost control, your arousal collecting at the base until it looked like he was leaking out of you.

You moved against each other with an indulgent drag, as if everything was going to turn to dust again. The life you shared was a gift, one that you no longer wanted to waste. You wanted to spend the rest of your years with him, wanted to have his children. Just the thought of him filling you made you clench so tightly that you had to stop, hovering on the precipice of ecstasy.

As you sank back down, you were pushed over the edge.

Sam’s name left your lips as you came, swirling your hips for more friction. Beneath you, Sam reached his peak as well, pulling you down so he stayed buried deep inside. Hot ropes of his seed painted your walls, filling you with a warmth that you’d never felt before.

He kissed your neck as you both shuddered in each other’s arms.

Eventually the sharp burn of pleasure settled into a soothing glow, as if everything was right in the world. You stayed on top of him for a few minutes, savoring his warmth and the fullness inside you. Soft murmurs of his name left your lips as Sam kissed down your neck and mouthed at your tits. “Sam, baby…”

“You’re so amazing,” he said, voice soft. Trailing kisses back up until he reached your lips, he murmured, “I love you so much.”

Those three words made your heart skip a beat. You never thought you’d get to hear those words, much less say them in return. They were always a late night fantasy, a makeshift reality that you could fall asleep to.

You no longer needed to fantasize.

Tears pricked at your eyes. “I love you, too. I have for a very long time.” You kissed your boyfriend deeply, committing his touch to memory. “Let’s go home.”

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[book-o-scams]

'Sorry Wrong Ed' Alternate Ending Storyboard Sequence

Check out Al Kang's Ed, Edd n Eddy portfolio!

Al Kang worked on the show during seasons 3-4 and had roles on the storyboard and prop teams apparently. (IMDb says he was credited as Al Choi at the time, but it also says he worked on season 1 episodes, which doesn't line up with the timeline he mentioned.. anyway.)

I discovered his portfolio a few months ago after seeing fandom discussion of the alternate 'Sorry Wrong Ed' ending. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few other treats as well! But yes, I even sorta liked what I learned about 'Sorry Wrong Ed' in the process... (I threw in a little analysis comparing the two endings at the bottom)

I noticed Al seemed to mix up the order on these, so I thought I'd try my best to figure out the right order. This was the most confusing one for me to try and figure out the order of since almost all 8 pages were out of order. I think I finally figured out what's going on in the original ending.

So this alternate ending starts at an unknown point with Eddy flat on the ground, presumably injured, picking himself back up. At this point in the final cut of the episode, Eddy has just been squashed by a tree, but this seems more like a different injury, and he's not even retaining his injuries from the truck scene... The scenes with Jonny and Plank from the final cut of the episode seem to not exist at all here, Jonny and Plank don't appear in this sequence.

Anyway, Eddy picks himself up in the middle of an on-going scene, sees Jimmy drop a coin in a jar for Ed, who has inexplicably turned the cursed phone into a scam on his own. Edd is glaring at the off-screen kids, who have somehow learned about this phone and are excited to kill Eddy with it.

Eddy: "Jimmy! No!"

Jimmy answers the phone: "Hello?"

Ed: "HA HA HA"

Edd: "You people don't seriously believe--"

Then we sync up with gags that did happen in the ending of Sorry Wrong Ed, with context that makes its tone a little more sadistic than random. Jimmy's paid phonecall drops the sandbox on Eddy.

This page has the most skeletal dialogue...

Kev: "Yes." (I think he's meant to be fist pumping because Eddy got hurt, more of a "Yes!")

Jimmy: "BAD LUCK EDDY PHONE." (this dialogue must have been a placeholder)

Edd: "HA HA" (sarcastic ha-ha or did Al mean to write "Ed" for this?)

Jimmy seems to offer the phone to Edd.

We sync up again with Edd's denial from the final cut of this episode, except now it actually makes sense that he's so one-track-minded, because there are people actively arguing with him and keeping him disengaged from the victim.

Edd: "There must be a cargo plane overfilled with playground supplies..."

Sarah interrupts him.

RING RING

Sarah: "Oh, that's for me."

Eddy at this point holds Ed responsible, as he should, and starts running to stop Ed or Sarah. Ed offers no explanation for his betrayal.

Eddy: "Ed! What are you doing!?"

Sarah: "Hello?"

Sarah's paid phonecall summons the hippos, the most random moment in the final cut of the episode. Note how both of these slapstick gags were storyboarded on the same generic background, seems like the lane or an empty lot, but clearly a different location than Eddy's front yard from the aired ending.

And that's all we have to go off of!

I'll put my updated opinions below the cut, but suffice it to say, I like the episode a little better now! Knowing what the ending was going to be and trying to figure out the choices that led to the ending we got, I feel more appreciative that it didn't end up a lost episode or something and less annoyed that it was 11 minutes of one joke.

I know I have a reputation for not finding slapstick funny and disliking this episode, but violence was never my only issue. Lots of episodes have lackluster slapstick that I just let wash over me. My point that never gets as much focus is that this episode never felt FINISHED to begin with. It's just a slapstick vacuum with no ending and no point, and it used to be frustrating to me not knowing for sure if my hunch was right or not that it felt like the episode just wasn't working and they had to cobble it together from the scenes that almost worked.

I am surprised to say I like the episode more now that I know that is pretty close to the truth. Judging from this peek into the episode's development, this episode seems to have reached Danny Antonucci's and/or Wootie's (the episode's lead board artist) limit for being mean-spirited with the characters without a reason. I'll still probably avoid rewatching it, but knowing the episode has no ending specifically because it's been trimmed to bare bones is somehow reassuring.

The most obvious flaw to this original ending is the lack of motivation for Ed's or the kids' actions. The kids presumably still weren't in the rest of the episode, so there's really no reason for them to be here other than reiterating the same idea from 'Your Ed Here' and 'The Good Ole Ed' that the neighborhood kids are always looking for a reason to gang up on Eddy, something that isn't really true of those characters in earlier seasons.

I think I can imagine how, on paper (in the writers' outline), this episode sounded funnier. Trying to imagine this ending as part of the whole episode, I think the script's idea of the final joke is that Ed is not satisfied with ending the tests at the point where they tried to return the phone to Rolf. I think Ed converts the curse-testing process to a scam at that point, building off of how Ed already wasn't processing Eddy's safety in anything so far, and is probably more focused on proving to Edd that curses are real (as Ed was previously in league with Evil Tim). The addition of Ed running his own tests and the kids arguing Eddy's point against Edd's while Eddy's busy, does sound more like a complete manic cartoon boiling point than the way the finished episode just petered out with Edd as the sole antagonist. But unfortunately, in visual execution, suddenly piling in so many aggressive characters and so much random violence at once, would only really result in it petering out at a higher volume.

Meanwhile Edd's characterization is made much more structurally sound in the original ending. He's annoyed FOR Eddy's sake, and the only reason he's not actively helping Eddy is because like 3 other characters were supposed to be arguing with him while this was happening. It seems extremely apparent to me that the cuts made to this ending were for the sake of mitigating Ed's reputation in the fandom, as well as the kids', and I think it's really unfortunate that Edd's characterization was the cost for salvaging everyone else's. I'm glad I already considered his behavior in 'Sorry Wrong Ed' non-canon, because now it feels like the reason the aired ending is so out-of-character is just because Edd is basically arguing with the ghost of the original scene. I formally forgive 'Sorry Wrong Ed'. Production turnarounds are tough and AKA did their best to not turn this into another forgotten 'Special Ed' episode that simply wasn't working.

I think ditching the original ending was ultimately the right call. It was not an exemplary episode, but I can admit it's less out of place to have a pure "vacuum of violence" story than it would've been to essentially give the kids a supernatural revenge plot like this. That would've been really weird to have to accept-- Eddy definitely wouldn't want to be friends with anyone at the end of the movie if THIS was their past. Changing it to an unaware Jonny and a questionably aware Plank being responsible, indeed, was a vibe that landed much more like standard EEnE fare. It was weird enough that the kids all saw Santa in JJJ, can you imagine if they all knew curses were real AND participated in attacking a neighbor with one??

If there was a silver lining for me the first time I saw this episode, it was that none of the kids were directly involved in Eddy's suffering. It made the questionable reality of the cursed device slightly more acceptable that only the Eds and Rolf know about the curse. If this ending had happened, I would've reacted the same, but I would've rejected its continuity even more than I do now, because it would just feel like they animated one of the DC Comics (where the kids can blow the Eds up with fireworks at the end or the Eds can randomly be crushed under an avalanche of anvils)-- the art could end up gorgeous but the characterizations don't exactly land as real human beings, the balance this show strives for typically.

And I think that's all I wanted to say! In the end, I found myself liking 'Sorry Wrong Ed' slightly more than I used to, all thanks to this glimpse into how the animation production system morphs the outcome of a cartoon. Thanks so much to Al Kang, for sharing your art and this insight into the industry! I don't know whether he did both the gesture drawings and the revised art, but judging from his other boards I think the cleaned up art is his, and I liked seeing the poses that almost were!

#ed edd n eddy #sorry wrong ed #al kang #storyboard #concept art #alternate ending #deleted ending #alternate sequence #analysis

[goddessofmischief]

Blue Monday, Chapter Thirteen - Loki x Reader

TW: Mention of the word ‘suicide.’ Not discussed in graphic terms.

Author’s Note: It’s been a long journey! There is still so much more story to tell, so please send me questions or feedback if you liked this chapter!

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

...

The last day of Amora Freyadottir’s life had begun like... well, almost any other.

Loki had woken up next to you. His Amora.

The pair had risen in synchronization, methodically buckling up armor after armor, sword after shield.

And when you were both ready, you’d descended down the stairs together, one perfect unit, marched down to the castle courtyard, where Odin and several other highly-trained soldiers were assembled. He’d instructed you on the mission-

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to escape the flood of memories that had suddenly fallen into your mind.

"I’m... I’m what?”

“You,” said Mobius. “You’re Amora. You always have been.”

“Loki, I don’t... I don’t understand,” you stammered. “You lied to me, you swore you knew I wasn't her, you swore it-”

“I didn’t,” Loki promises. “You aren’t. These lies are simply a diversion to distract us from Mobius’ misdeeds.”

“Oh, Loki,” said Mobius. “Poor, poor Loki - if only that were true.”

He gestures, and a T.V.A. guard rushes in, restraining you both.

“Our story begins in Asgard, I think,” Mobius spoke, sipping from a tumbler of whiskey that had magically appeared. “Yes, that’s the one. Asgard. You and Loki had just marched off to the battle of Vanaheim... a terrible, terrible battle. Oh, they found you in pieces, Y/N. You died a warrior’s death.”

“Not me,” you said, stubbornly. “Amora did.”

“Yes, well... Loki got kinda despondent after that... not all that surprising, since he obviously loved ya-”

You glanced at Loki. He paled.

“And, well, Loki usually gets what he wants... and he decides he wants you back. Only problem is, he wasn’t sure how to do it. You were about as dead as it gets, sweetheart. So he studies, right? He studies for months and weeks, until he finds the plan that works best for him... that he’s going to reincarnate you.”

“No,” you argue, stubbornly. “No. No, that’s not true, it’s not true, it can’t be-”

“Crazy, right? I thought so, too. But I saw potential, in his failures, cause, the thing was... I’d started to see where things were going, even then.

The Earth was on the verge of nuclear war. The stars, divided by piracy and battle. In the middle of all of it... the two of you. I’d been trying to leave this universe for a long, long time - only problem is, the Watchers have kept me here. Something truly cataclysmic would have had to happen in order to let me destroy it - and, well... this little Romeo and Juliet story was a pretty good disaster-in-the-making, if I do say so myself. I knew if I stoked the fires of it, Loki would find a way to make the universe burn.

Soon enough, our friend Loki here uses a considerable amount of dark magic to reincarnate your soul into that of a mortal. He’d thought... well, I imagined he thought that once you reached a suitable age, about the age you are now, he’d give you your old memories, and find a way to make you immortal again. But you just couldn’t stay away, could you, Loki?”

“What does he mean?” you asked.

“I don’t know,” Loki stammers, and Mobius snaps his fingers - and suddenly, Loki’s eyes glow bright green, and a single tear rolls down his cheek.

“I visited you,” Loki whispers, slowly. “In your dreams, I -”

He paused, removing his glove and resting his palm on your forehead. You couldn’t see everything, not just yet - so many of your memories were still blocked out.

But you saw him. You saw him... throughout your life. Long walks, chess games, dives into swimming pools. He’d appear in your dreams, even. You were never alone.

Never.

“You didn’t have any friends,” Loki said. “And... I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“But if you were there, for everything... why can’t I remember any of it? Why can’t you?”

“Well, you can’t remember much of anything, can you?” said Mobius. “Only... the moments without him. The moments with your father. And, of course... your would-be death. But you never could remember what drove you to make that choice, could you? Only that you did, that cold Monday morning, and that I saved you, and swept you away to a life with us. You have wondered, haven’t you?”

You had.

“That was my work. I needed you to get to a point of desperation, so that the T.V.A. would seem the perfect option for you, so that you’d feel you had nothing else left. The thing was, when I made Loki forget... I kinda altered his memory two years before yours. So I doomed you, you see. I left you for two years, without him. He abandoned you... or, so you thought. And without your protector, well, you were a mess, weren't you?”

You had been.

“And without him to stop you, you made the rashest decision you could. You made an attempt upon your own life - and thus, my plan fell into place.”

“So it’s my fault,” said Loki. “If I’d never visited you... none of it would have happened. You’d never have thought I left you. Mobius never would’ve been able to manipulate us. It’s my fault you... died. Or, almost did.”

This was almost too much for you to comprehend. You were Amora? Loki had known you all your life? His leaving caused your depression, and set Mobius’ plan into motion?

But something more important stood out, too -

You loved Loki.

And he loved you.

Somehow, that had to mean something.

With a growl, you kicked Mobius across the room.

Loki turned to you, and without wasting a moment -

The two of you ran.

“Loki!” you found yourself shouting, tempted to shake him and make him listen to you.

“We can’t just run!”

“Why ever not? I’ve used this strategy - it’s worked for me, many times.”

“Because your last enemy didn’t have access to every timeline in existence! We can’t hide - he’s just gonna follow us there!”

He considered this.

“Fine,” Loki said. “How about this - we’ll fetch some back-up.”

You had to admit, your heart began to pound a little faster about the idea, just imagining the heroes you and Loki could recruit.

Alternate Iron Man. Alternate Black Widow. Perhaps even Thor himself-

“I’m sure me, being me, would be more than willing to help.”

Just like that, all those hopes came crashing down, all at once.

“Uh... what?”

"Well, in this scenario, I can really only trust myself, darling. You of course can understand. We’ll simply locate a variant of me... and enlist their assistance.”

You shrugged, helplessly.

“I... I guess.”

By this point, you figured you were going to die, anyway. You may as well just give in to his flawed logic and see where it would lead you.

“But I’m not dealing with another Lady Loki,” you insist, as Loki started to focus his energy on programming the tesseract with coordinates. “Not again.”

“No, no, of course not... then again, we would have gotten along, had I not possessed something she wanted. So, it seems to me... all I have to do is find a ‘me’ that hasn’t yet lost his Amora.”

“Okay, how do we do that?”

Loki focused on the tesseract.

“There,” he uttered, after a moment. “It’s... it’s programmed. It’ll take us somewhere, I know not where... to me. A me who has a version of Amora with him. That me will have no need for jealousy, and I’m sure I can reason some way to tempt them to aid us-”

“And... we’ll take her with us, too? The other Amora?”

“Jealous already, darling?”

“No,” you said, raising your gun to blast an approaching T.V.A. soldier. “Never.”

He grinned, and takes your hand.

And together, you both disappear into the icy-blue light of the Tesseract.

...

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[opinions-of-loki]

Loki - Episode One, Summary bullet points in form of an unnecessarily detailed opinion

- What I found sort of funny was Loki, who immediately hit the dessert and immediately hurried to the next higher stone, as if this were the pedestal that was his equal, only to be able to explain / present himself to the Mongolian inhabitants, only that they did not understand him and asked again who he is. It kinda gave me Hela vibes. Black haired Odin children have a tough time getting heard.

ALSO! THE SASS! Yet staying polite despite him being confused of what is going to happen to him - Trying to be all intimidating, but nobody takes him serious, as always! You can’t scare the time space cops my boy :/ Finding out how the company works and being all confused was honestly a very sweet and funny moment

- What’s up with the soundtracks??? Someone give this dude a raise who composed these Blade Runner-que music for the TVA followed with those cool bagpipes traditionally used for Scandinavian folk music? FUCK YES! Also the end credits music, it’s just excellent!

- Loki questioning if he’s a robot or not! I mean, he was told to believe he was an Aesir but in the end wasn’t. So who knew if Odin adopted a robot son? Better check on this one - I kinda got cute vibes from Mobius and Renslayer, they seem to perhaps have a closer connection towards another, especially after he greeted her with a formal Hi and talking to her on a somehow personal level - Mobius at first seemed like a very kind man and being patient with Loki, even supportive, but he is an experienced cop and knows how to handle complicated people, especially Loki variants. Mobius gives off a vibe of an older Blade Runner who takes his job very serious. But in the middle I kind of started to hate him a little

- The story of why Loki is an American crime legend D.B. Cooper just because he lost a bet to Thor when they were younger! Hilarious! Most of the most legendary pranks ever! I would have been more happy about the details of why Thor demanded this, or if it went like ” Loki! Cause some chaos on Midgard. Humans are easy to impress.” ” Say no more, Brother!” - Though Mobius seemed like the only person ever who had the ability to call out Loki to his actions: That he isn’t a God of mischief, because he confronted Loki about if killing innocent people is part of his fun, if it brings enjoyment to him to torture people who had nothing to do about Loki’s past. Loki denying that it’s not true, Mobius harshly confronts him about his earlier maniac like expression when removing someone’s eyeballs, if this is still harmless mischief-making. - BUT! Where is it mentioned he was controlled by the mind stone and the thriving fear of Thanos to get killed??? Loki was under pressure, to get killed by the Mad Titan, and he wasn’t thinking rationally when he invaded New York? For someone who studied Loki’s life so well, Mobius sucks to get a point to this one, or it will be mentioned in the future, I better hope so - Loki doesn’t trust easily, because “Trust is for children and dogs.” Gave me Natasha vibes. Because she and him were sharing a quite similar conversation a few hours earlier.

- SEEING FRIGGA’S DEATH! Loki giving great speeches about wanting to free everyone, being a ruler of the Nine Realms to hide away what he truly desired and that nobody would understand his thoughts and emotions, but seeing 2012 Loki seeing that HE gave the coordinates to the Dark Elves, unknowing Frigga would be on this very wing, you can see how hurt he was and panicked! He completely lost all trails of thoughts, asking where she is, if the TVA also kept her, if she is okay! He wanted to save her so badly, he doesn’t want to become the version who will kill her once again. - Mobius saying that there is nothing he can change and that Frigga HAS to die to get back in the flow of time, OUCH! - I get more TTDW vibes when everything that has been explained to Loki, that he will only bring death and chaos no matter what he does, that not only Frigga is destined to die, but Loki is about to die at some point, it made me think of Odin’s words:

Mobius said the same things, Loki’s destiny is to bring death or to ultimately die himself, no matter if he goes the bad or good path. It left me with weird vibes about Mobius being like Odin, just less of an abusive father mentor thing. He was made to cause pain, death and suffering. It hurt. Knowing those weren’t Loki’s goals, he came to the realization that Mobius is right, but doesn’t want to admit it, or at least denies it, but agreed in the end in a very subtle way - MOBIUS AND LOKI FIGHTING!! ” Do you enjoy killing?” “I will kill you!” “Like you did to your mother?” MOBIUS! FUCK YOU! At this point, he lost any sympathy from me towards him. He was guilt-tripping Loki, perhaps even gaslighting him. But this is also part of his job. He isn’t supposed to be Loki’s friend, he is a cop after all. Loki is an emotional and vulnerable being, so hitting him at the worst spot to get out more of him probably wasn’t the kindest thing to do, but probably the most effective for Mobius. Loki likes to pressure other people, but doesn’t like to be the pressured one. - Loki’s purpose is to bring those together he ultimately tried to remove according to Mobius, Loki brought together a team of legendary superheroes together that barely knew each other, and they grew strong together thanks to Loki’s wrongdoings. It somehow hurt a lot, but in the end, Mobius was speaking the harsh truth -  "I will gut you out like a fish!” “What's a fish?!” BLESS CASEY!

- Endless Infinity Stones! I am in love with this idea! I don’t know why I saw people getting confused by it because even though the Stones are what hold the universe together, the TVA doesn’t live in that very universe, they are beyond that very space and time we don’t know and can’t grasp, they visit timelines after timelines, so of course it happens they find stones and keep them, either knowing or not knowing what they are, or they simply don’t care, because they have no purpose in the TVA. Perhaps these stones are variants too and don’t belong to a certain timeline and needed to be removed, such as Loki’s Tesseract

- What got me the most, and we all know what I mean, Loki crying privately when he once again viewed the life of his alternative self, viewing the loss of his family, the loss of his own life. I don’t really know if he mourned over Odin too, but in this series, Odin never threatened to kill or imprison Loki which perhaps didn’t cause any damage towards his anger. Though he was aware that Odin took the other Loki in a cell, but it was a destiny he could avoid now that he knew how things will turn out when he returns to Asgard. He will never get arrested, Frigga probably wouldn’t die because of him, though I get a feeling the Dark Elves will come nevertheless, but this time, it shall be Thor’s problem not to screw it up. Though it was a relief to see him smile soon after when he realized Thor was the only one believing in him, even though their relationships always has been kinda weird, as Loki always was jealous of him being everyone’s first choice, but in the end, Thor was alive, everything that was left, and Thor didn’t hate him - End of File - I don’t know why, but reading this, Loki himself reading this, the very end of his life, it made me shiver. He saw his memories of what could be, what MUST happen to him, and that there are more happy memories. But in the end, there are no memories anymore - end of file. That’s it. That was his life. - I can’t imagine how many thoughts must have been go through his head to see Thanos again, Loki’s try to kill him, just to see his neck and wind pipe getting cracked. He currently recovers from the effects of a full year of torture, both mentally and physically, just the same he would treat his ‘Children’. I can imagine Thanos promised him the world, something small to rule over to expand over more realms. Thanos triggered Loki’s fear and anger, who had to deal with the information he never belonged to Asgard in the first place. Whenever Loki would try to flee or play games with Thanos, I can imagine Loki got punished for it, he never even spoke sassy with Thanos during Infinity War.  Loki is terrified of him for good reasons. I imagine this young man, feared, terrified, trapped on a rock with daily mental manipulation and pain. Loki became obedient and would have done anything for Thanos, whatever he ordered, including an exchange of power. Even if Thanos never fully was on his side and used Loki as a puppet with power and sorcery, being useful, I get a feeling Loki clung to his words and promises to rule over Earth as a savior and liberator, which completely went wrong - His laughter following after could have many reasons, relief, stress or disbelief. He was still crying between those laughs, which could be taken as desperation about no matter what he does, his actions will lead to harsh consequences. Disbelief of what he just saw, as if it felt so unreal to even believe what he had just witnessed, that it was all real, a destiny that was meant to him. But what else did Loki do during serious situations? He avoids them, he doesn’t want to acknowledge problems and shoving them away with a sassy comment or a smile to cope with it - which could mean this laughter could be part of his coping mechanism

- Him opening up, addressing why Loki hurts people, was honestly the best scene to me. He spoke about his inferior complex, his fear of not being strong enough to survive, building up a facade, a fake personality to survive also with the help of his magic. He thought he can be superior to anyone if he could scare everyone, gaining respect and love in form of war and destruction, as he perhaps thought of Odin being a former warlord, he would prefer a son who is able to conquer, being merciless. He doesn’t want to get hurt, he doesn’t trust anyone easily, that’s why he has to hurt people, to avoid of getting hurt or betrayed in the end. He became a double-edged sword I’m open for opinions and private chatting if you guys want to add something ! :DD

#Loki #loki spoilers #tom hiddleston #mcu #marvel #disney plus #owen wilson #agent of asgard #hiddlestoner #avengers #black widow #thor

[supercorpkid]

This is why you should never trust an Imp – Part 2.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader

Word count: 2376.

You are going to be ok. It’s what you keep telling yourself. So what if there is no you in the future? In two days, that imp is coming to pick you up, and you’ll go back to your own timeline and you’ll be written back into existence.

But what if he doesn’t come? What if that lying cheating bastard leaves you stranding two years into the future where no one knows about your existence and you’re totally alone? You need help. Who can help you besides your moms? Alex, Kelly, Jamie… Jamie! You wonder if Jamie is still around.

You fly to school. You’re still a teenager so, keep your head down, blend in. You can do it. Lucky for you is lunch time, that means you can talk to Jamie freely. You make your way to the table you two usually sit, but she isn’t there. Jamie is a few tables away, in a cheerleader uniform (wait, excuse her?), surrounded by a lot of people.

Ok. That makes sense. You don’t exist here, so she was never stuck with you in the first place, and the only reason why she doesn’t have any friends, is because she is always with a freaking Luthor. And people don’t like Luthors. So, what do you do now?

“Hey, Jamie.” Everyone stops what they’re doing to stare at you. You smile embarrassed. Jamie looks at you with curiosity for a second. Your heart beats faster. Maybe she’ll recognize you. Maybe she’ll remember everything, she’ll remember the conversation on the training center and she’ll know you did the dumb thing, but she’ll help you anyway.

Her face turns back to no expression, like you saw it on both of your moms’ faces. She doesn’t know you at all. Your heart drops one more time, and you can’t take this expression anymore.

“Can I, um, talk to you?” You force yourself to speak. You don’t even know what you’ll say to her, but still, you need to talk to your best friend.

“Why is that nerd talking to you, Jamie?” Someone says and she smiles at the joke.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen this weirdo before.” She answers, making everyone laugh.

“Scatter, nerd. We don’t want anyone to see you around us.” One of her friends says and you take a deep breath. You know when you’re defeated. So, you turn on your heels and leave. Before leaving school, you take one last look behind you. Jamie seems happy. Happier than you’ve ever seen her. She has friends and there’s a guy practically glued to her, and you can only imagine they are dating.

It’s a weird feeling. You always thought you and Jamie were an inseparable combo, but apparently a freaking imp can separate you two. Rao, you hate him so much!

No time to waste dwelling on this hate. You need somebody else to help you. Maybe you could fly to Superboy and ask for his help. He probably would believe you since he got in so many dumb situations himself. You just need to find him. You fly the whole country and you can’t seem to locate him. Where is Conner? Is he not in the future? Or in this reality?

You sit on top of a tower, and try to think. Lena found out how to combine the alien and human DNA, you know that much. You also know that you and Superboy are about the same age. So maybe, they’ve used Lena’s research to create him. If that’s the case, if CADMUS stole Lena’s research and created Conner, you not existing also made him not exist in this timeline/reality.

You fly back to National City. There’s one person who can help you with your time travel questions. One person who came from the future himself. You need to see Brainy. You wait outside the DEO, so you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone else.

You see aunt Alex leaving with Brainy later that night. They’re talking and laughing, and you just want to run to her and tell her everything. You feel your heart squeezing in your chest, and there’s a tennis-size ball stuck in your throat. What the hell have you done? Why would you do something so stupid like trusting an imp, when everything was completely fine?

They finally part ways, you wipe your tears and breathe deeply before running towards Brainy.

“Brainy! Wait.” He turns around and looks at you confused. He, too, never saw you before. He might not have a lot of face expressions, but you can see that.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever met.” He says monotone.

“We haven’t yet. Or, maybe we have, and now we don’t anymore. It’s confusing.”

“I see.”

“I’m Kara’s daughter.” You smile and he tilts his head at you. “And Lena’s. Obviously.”

“There’s one percent chance that this information is correct.” He says, making you sigh.

“Brainy, please, just hear me out, ok? If after everything I say you still don’t believe me, I’ll leave you alone.” You ask and he doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. You can see he has already agreed to it. You look around to make sure no one can see you. “First, you need to see something.” You fly a little off ground, just enough he’ll know you have superpowers, but not enough that people would turn their heads to look at you. When you land back, he has a different expression. You blow out so he can see your freeze breath.

“You’re Kryptonian.” He states, not looking shocked.

“Half Kryptonian. I also have Lena’s DNA.” You breathe heavily. “Ever heard of an imp from the fifth dimension called Mxytopolis?”

“You mean Mxyzptlk?” He corrects you and you shake your head agreeing.

“He said he would show me the future. And I am two years in the future, but no one here seems to remember me.”

“Interesting. Your story seems to be making sense. Although, people usually know they should never trust an imp.”

“Yeah, I know that now.” You scoff, but you’re really just mad at yourself for being so dumb. “Do you think I’m still in my reality? Was I erased from my timeline?”

“Unlikely.” He turns on his heels and walks from one side to the other with his hands clasped behind his back. “He could’ve, however, erased everyone’s mind, but I would say this scenario has a 45% chance of being true.”

“Ok. So maybe I’m in a different reality?” He looks at you, turns on his heels again and paces around himself for a while.

“73% chance.”

“Is there one scenario where we’re closer to 100%?” You raise your eyebrows at him.

“You might be stuck in the fifth dimension. And this is an alternative reality playing only in your mind. Like a…”

“Dream.” You sigh. “Or a nightmare.”

“But the percentage is still only 86%.” He turns to you abruptly. “Were there any further agreements?”

“He said I had to stay here for two days, and then he would come and pick me up.”

“What would you do for him?” He asks and you shake your head as if you mean to say nothing. “Interesting. He didn’t ask for something in return.” He thinks for a while and you don’t say anything to disturb him. “Have you made any contact with any family members?” You nod. “Do they know who you really are?” You deny. “Great. Let’s leave it at that. Until we figure out what scenario is the real one, we better not do anything that might jeopardize that.” You agree again. “Meet me here tomorrow morning. I need some time to calculate further probabilities.”

“Ok. Thanks, Brainy.” You smile at him and he nods one time.

“Of course there’s still 58% chance you’re lying. So, I have to consider that into the calculation. Goodnight!” Brainy leaves and you look around, unsure on what to do next.

No one knows you, you don’t have any money, you have nowhere to go and you’re starving. You should’ve asked Brainy for some money, so you could eat.

You’re not really thinking about what you’re doing next. But you find yourself flying to L Corp and sitting on the rooftop listening to your mom’s heartbeat and her boring meetings. Hearing her voice calms you down. When you think about flying to CatCo and listening to your momma’s boring meetings, Lena decides to go home. So, you follow her.

She doesn’t go to your house. She goes to a very fancy building. You look through the window when she arrives at the penthouse. It’s all so pretty and fancy inside, but there’s something off. It doesn’t feel very homey. Kara arrives a few minutes later, and you hide better so she can’t see you.

You stay there watching them, and feeling empty inside. They’re fine. Honestly, just look at them, talking about their days, laughing, living their lives. Sure, they don’t know you exist, but you at least expected they would be a little less happy given you’re not in their lives.

Is this what Mxyptelk wanted all along? Did he want to show you that people’s life would go on without you, no problem at all? And that some of them, like Jamie, would actually have a better life?

You’re confused, scared, and you can’t help but feel like that asshole is going to double cross you one more time and leave you stranded wherever this is forever.

They go to bed, and you stay there. You sit on their balcony, hold yourself and try not to think about how hungry and sad you are. You listen to Lena’s heartbeat. She’s fine. They’re fine. You take a deep breath and rest your head on the wall next to you, and you fall asleep.

“Shhh… We’re being watched.” You hear Kara’s voice and open your eyes. It’s morning. Shit, they’re up. She knows you’re here. “There’s someone on the balcony. Stay here, love.”

You fly away when you hear that, but you’re not fast enough. Actually, Kara is faster. She grabs your leg before you go too far and you stop.

“Wait. I know you. You’re the girl from the park yesterday. The girl that looks like me when I was young.” She says looking shocked. “What were you doing on my balcony?”

“I’m sorry. I-I just…” You don’t know what to say. What can you say? Should you tell her the truth even though Brainy told you not to do anything that could compromise your future/reality/dream state?

“You have superpowers?” She finally realizes you are both flying right now.

You shake your head agreeing.

“And the watch. You said it’s a family heirloom?”

You nod one more time. Kara doesn’t speak for a whole minute.

“You have superpowers. You look just like me. You called me mom. And the watch…” She seems to be thinking out loud so you don’t say anything. “Are you? No, that’s not possible. You can’t possibly be…”

You nod again. Your stomach growls and Kara notices, looking at it.

“You’re hungry. When was the last time you ate, kid?” She asks and you shrug, still not using your words. “Come on, we need to talk, and you need to eat.”

She holds your hand, probably scared that you are going to fly away when she still has so many questions to ask you. You look at her expression while you fly back to the penthouse. She is so confused, it’s kind of cute. You both land at the balcony and go inside the penthouse. Lena is in the kitchen making some eggs.

“Did you find out who was watching us?” She asks without looking behind her.

“Yes, well, she is here.” Kara says and Lena looks back at you.

“But she’s just a kid. Wait.” Lena squints her eyes looking at you. “Wait a minute, I know you!” She leaves everything behind and comes closer. “You’re the girl who came by my office yesterday. Lexa! Right? You wanted to know about-”

Before she’s finished, you see the eggs she was making are on fire and you use your superspeed to go to the oven, and put out the fire with your freeze breath.

“What the fuck?” Lena asks when she realizes what you just did.

“Language!” You and Kara say unison and she only furrows her brows harder at that.

“Kid, why don’t you explain what’s going on here so we don’t make any wrong assumptions?” Kara asks and you walk back to them.

“I would love to. But I can’t.” You try to smile. Kara puts her hand on your shoulder and all you want to do is hug her tightly and tell her the whole truth.

“You can trust us. Whatever it is, we will believe you.” Kara says and your stomach growls again, this time so loud even Lena looks at you worried. Kara gives you a smile. “Come, let’s put some food into you.”

Kara grabs a cereal box and milk. She puts them on the counter so you can eat. You serve yourself, refilling the bowl three times until you’re finished with the whole box. You stare at Kara trying to tell her you’re still hungry. She seems to understand and doesn’t say anything while she takes another pan and fries some eggs for you. They’re still hot and you’re already inhaling them full speed.

“She can’t possibly eat that much.” Lena says furrowing her eyebrows at you, and you stop immediately.

“Sorry. I-I was a little hungry.” You get up from the stool. “Thanks for the food. I should get going.”

“Wait kid.” Kara holds your hand before you can leave. “If you tell me the truth, I’ll believe you.” She pleads with a gentle smile. “I will.”

“I-I shouldn’t.” You swallow hard so she won’t see your tears. “I have to go before I ruin something.”

“Ok.” Kara runs to the kitchen and comes back to you. “Take this, in case you’re hungry again.” She hands you some protein bars and you accept them, putting in your pocket. “If you need anything else…”

“I’ll call you, Supergirl.” You wink at her before flying away to your meeting with Brainy.

#supercorp #supergirl #kara danvers #kara x lena #lena luthor #supercorp fanfic #supercorpfamily #kara x reader #lena x reader #supercorp daughter #reader insert

[lovelivingmydreams]

A might have been part 2

Okay listen. If you really believed for even a moment that I was going to make an alternative past for @kingcreativityau where King got to be friends with baby instinct/fear and write all the way up to the split and then not include everything that happened after... Do you guys know me at all? My brain will not be sattisfied with this narative until i have written at least up until the return. And if there ever comes a time where the og comic comes to a conclusion, you better believe I’ll write how all of those events transpired in this alternate version of the timeline. So like it or not, at least two more parts are coming. So there. Enjoy!

part 1 here

A friendship for the ages

Creativity blinked in confusion. What… What was he doing? He looked up and saw… Himself? “Wow, you are just like me!” they chorused. They looked at each other stunned for a moment before they burst out laughing. They got up and shook hands. “Creativity,” they introduced themselves, laughing once more. “Wow, no kidding,” they snorted. “King?” a broken voice wondered. Both looked up. Curious about who spoke. Someone about their height took a step closer, pushing away from a smaller boy. Wait they knew this guy right? The name was at the tip of their tongue. “Not me. Is he talking to you?” they both wondered, looking at each other. “Guess not,” they shrugged. But King did sound familiar, though it didn’t quite feel like them. “I call Prince!” the one in the red cape declared. “Why?” The green caped one pouted. “Because I was first to call prince!” the prince reasoned. “Oh… That makes sense. Then I’m duke!” duke grinned. They turned to the boy, both grinning widely. Seemingly unaware of the atmosphere surrounding their appearance. Prince stepped forward proudly. “I am Prince!” he announced with a bow. “Nice to officially make your acquaintance.” Because they did know him didn’t they? Why was it such a mess in their heads? “Duke!” the other cackled. “Duke, dukey!” he giggled then. “I’m dukey,” he exclaimed with glee. “This… Is quite the unexpected turn,” a taller boy with glasses said. “Unexpected? You killed king! And all you can say about it is that it was unexpected?” The familiar boy cried, making the tall boy flinch. “Fear, kiddo…” the shorter boy soothed. Fear! “Oh! Fear! You are Fear!” Duke shouted, jumping up and down as he pointed at Fear. “You are our friend right?” Prince added. Fear looked up at them, tears still in their eyes. “Why are you sad? Whom must I slay?” Prince asked. “Yeah! We’ll make them poop their pants!” Duke added. Fear took a step back and shook his head. “You stay away,” he sobbed and took of. “Fear!” the little boy with glasses pleaded. The twins looked at each other. “What did we say?” “Fear simply needs time to ‘mourn’ your previous form. He’s highly emotional, it was to be expected that he would not respond well to such a big change with no time to mentally prepare. Let him have his tantrum. He’ll be back soon,” the tall boy stated firmly, adjusting his glasses. The boys wanted to believe him but both he and the little guy who introduced himself as Morality and the other as Logic cast worried glances in the direction Fear had ran of to. Sometimes they’d disappear in that direction and come back looking sad. Prince and Duke got to know the mindscape and, more importantly, the imagination fairly quickly and both agreed that Thomas was the most amazing person in the world and deserved everything he wanted. Sure Duke could be a bit gross sometimes and Prince could get a bit egocentric and too caught up with his own thoughts. But they were doing well. Logic was frustrated though that neither had interest in homework. And Morality seemed upset that they didn’t care much for playing with the other kids. Not even Thomas’ brothers. Well that was their problem really. The twins had each other. There was one side they were interested in though. Fear. The ‘tantrum' as Logic called it had still not blown over and everyone seemed worried. So, deciding to investigate to satisfy their curiosity they went looking for him. They knew what direction to go in. The others had gone to talk to Fear a bunch of times since he left. All they had to do was walk in the direction they went until they found him right? The walk was long, but eventually they saw a big willow. No Fear though. Was he in the shadowy part of the mind? “Stop!” The twins froze and looked at the willow. Had the tree just shouted at them? “Hello?” Prince called. “Leave me alone!” They knew that voice! The twins ran up to the tree and pushed the branches out of their way and froze. Fear was sitting up in the higher branches, hood pulled over his face and four spider legs springing from underneath his clothes. He looked down and six purple eyes lit up in the dark. “I said go!” he growled. A yellow snake slithered up from a hole in the tree wrapping itself protectively/comfortingly around his figure. “That is so cool!” Duke grinned getting himself a jab into the ribs from his brother. “Fear. We… We just wanted to know why you don’t want to be our friend. Did we do something?” Prince asked gently. “No! I’m keeping everyone safe. People who are nice to me get hurt.” “That isn’t true fear…” the snake hissed gently, surprising the twins. Fear glared at the snake. “Isn’t it Deceit?” he growled, making the snake recoil. “Thought so. Just… Go with them. I’ll be fine,” he muttered as he curled in on himself and wrapped his legs around himself like a cage. “That’s a lie. You aren’t fine,” Deceit objected. “Is he… Is this because we aren’t king?” Prince wondered nervously. For all his grandness he was terrified of falling short. He didn’t want to be less wonderful than this King person. If he wasn’t as good or better than the original, what was the point of him existing? “This has nothing you do with that! Just leave me alone!” Fear growled hiding in his hoodie. The snake sighed and came down, turning into a teen boy. Duke whistled impressed, while Prince looked away. Something about the scaled half of the boy's face made something in his gut twist. It felt like guilt. But he’d never met this side. What could he have done to feel this way? “Maybe you two have more luck,” Deceit muttered as he left the shelter of the Willow. “Finally,” Fear huffed. “Now if you two would kindly go back to the central consciousness and get back to work. Thomas needs you two too much for you to waste time on me.” Prince rolled his eyes. “As if. Logic is making homework and if we try to have fun now we’ll get yelled at.” That caught Fear’s attention. “You aren’t helping?” he asked confused. “Why would we? Homework is boring,” Prince scoffed as he put a hand on his hip and made a gesture with his other as if to indicate how obvious his statement was. “Yeah, we only ‘get in the way’,” Duke chipped in. Sounding like he was quoting Logic. Fear rolled his eyes. Honestly. “Have you not been listening to anything Morality’s been teaching you?” he asked. “I am a prince! I know good from bad!” Prince objected, sounding rather insulted. “Not about being moral… Has Logic been showing you around then?” Fear wondered. He had assumed Morality would take up the role of care taker. But maybe Logic had taken up the task of instructing the new sides in the ways of the mindscape? “Showing us around?” Duke wondered as he and his brother exchanged glances. “Wait… so they just… Expected you two to know what to do?” Fear asked shocked. “What is there to know? We are creativity. We found the imagination and that is that,” Prince huffed. Though he was intrigued by the idea of more, he wasn't going to admit to being I’ll informed. Fear jumped out of the tree and took them both in. “You’re not lying to get me to come back are you?” The confusion on the twin’s faces must’ve been enough. “Fine,” Fear surrendered grumpily as he started walking to the central conscience. “I’ll show you the basics, but then I’m kicking Logic’s behind in gear and heading back home.” The twins protested, but were secretly excited. They’d needed someone to actually break their ties when they disagreed. To actually listen to their stories and give input other than almost blind praise or cold analysis. Not to mention the fact that they had known him as a friend when they woke up while the others had been mostly strangers in their eyes. That had to mean something. Surely he was a fun playmate. When they saw the stress bunnies for the first time they were absolutely delighted to have something to hunt. And surely enough, Fear was enjoying himself too. Fear showed them how to make learning fun for Thomas and he even showed them that playing was more fun with others. And though he insisted he’d leave again soon, and avoided the others for a good while, he stuck around. Prince and Duke soon discovered just how far Fear was willing to go to keep them safe. During the first nightmare Fear encountered with them he defended them fiercely. Actually almost injuring himself. The twins were shocked by this and took better care to make sure Fear didn’t endanger himself for their sake again. “You aren’t really going back to the willow are you?” Prince asked one day, almost timidly, though he tried his best to sound casual. Fear shifted. The twins knew how to work with the others, they understood what to do with stress and worries and fears, they knew who to turn to when trouble arose… But he could find a million reasons not to leave them and he knew why. He had grown attached to them. He’d tried not to. It felt like a betrayal to King and he still worried he’d loose them right when he got comfortable with the new situation. But he couldn’t leave their side now. “Nah. I don’t trust you two not to burn down the mindscape without me keeping an eye on you,” he teased. Prince scoffed and gave him a push. Duke just shrugged, because honestly? He would definitely cause chaos and destruction if Fear didn’t redirect him every once in a while. Fear knew that if he was staying he should talk with Logic and Morality. “Padre! Teach! We got someone here who wants to talk to you,” Prince announced. The two sides turned and the twins made way to show Fear was with them greeting both sides with an awkward wave. Morality gasped and clasped his hands in front of his face. “Kiddo! Are… Are you back to stay?” he asked carefully. “I mean… I’ll stay out of the way if you want. I just… Yeah, I’m back. Those two need babysitting and neither of you are up to that it seems so…” He felt two fists push at his shoulders and chuckled. “You know I’m right,” he grinned. Then he looked up at the two sides he’d been rather rude to. “Listen, I’m still not happy about you guys not including everyone in the decision. But Princey and Duke don’t seem to be upset with you two. Not really, so I can’t be either. You tried to do what was best for Thomas. I can’t be mad about that. I just… I was afraid to let you guys back in I guess.” Fear couldn't meet their eyes. He was sure they hated him by now. He'd been pushing them away and…

Suddenly he was tackled in a hug by Morality.

“Oh kiddo. Of course you're welcome back!”

“Indeed. Though you might not have been talking to us, we have noticed your efforts. Or was I to believe that the twins suddenly got interested in assisting with schoolwork on their own?”

Fear shrugged as best as he could while still being embraced by the heart.

“From what I heard, yeah? I mean you guys seem to expect them to just know how things work.”

Logic nodded. “I see. Well we did attempt to explain at first, but we failed to communicate with the twins properly.” It had been puzzling to him why the twins couldn’t just follow his instructions. He would have to ask Fear what he’d done to get them suddenly interested in helping out. But almost overnight Logic had gone from overseeing the homework by himself to having two eager assistants making Thomas excited to learn again.

Morality finally let go and grinned up at him. “Guess a dad can sometimes learn a thing or two from his son,” he teased. Recalling how Prince had suddenly started to include his family and classmates in the stories he and Thomas made again. How Duke’s unfiltered curiosity started branching out to other people as well. How had Fear done that? Fear rolled his eyes. “Whatever short…” the teasing remark was cut off as Fear looked Morality up and down a few times. “Did you get taller?” he asked perplexed.

He was sure Morality used to be a head shorter than him. But now the difference was less than an inch.

“Um yeah. I guess…” Morality mused waving his hand above their heads in fascination. “I didn't really notice. Gosh. Maybe I’ll end up taller than you. Wouldn't that be something?” he chuckled.

Fear just shrugged dismissively.

“Nuh uh! We'll be the tallest!” Prince declared. “Just you wait!”

“Fear is going to be a midget forever though!” Duke chuckled.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Fear frowned.

In answer the twins flanked him and he could see they were both taller than him. Not by much, but enough that he couldn't deny it once he paid attention to it. Of course. Even when he was no longer the youngest he was destined to be the baby of the group. Well better remind the twins why he's called Fear then.

“You have five seconds,” he smirked.

“Huh?” Duke wondered.

“Four seconds, “ Fear grinned as his eyes lit up with a violet shine.

“Duke run!” Prince urged and the two took of. Fear chuckled for a few seconds before he let his spider voice echo through the mindscape. “One, Here I come.” And then he took off after the twins.

“He’s a little different isn't he?” Morality mused worriedly as he listened for the sounds in the mindscape, relieved to hear nothing but laughter fill the metaphysical air. Fear was just playing.

“As was to be expected. Fear held a strong attachment to king. More so than either of us. I don't think that I would've been able to convince him to help me stage a coup so to speak if it had come to that.

That loyalty and attachment has now transferred to the twins in some measure, but that does not replace what he had with King. The roles seem to have switched though. He is the caretaker now, though the twins seemed ready to fight on his behalf when they first formed…” Logic summarized looking into his notes. He’d been cataloguing the changes in the Thomasphere after the split and how they correlated to changes in Thomas’ over all wellbeing for future reference.

“They are more equal now,” Morality noted. “Fear wouldn't have dreamed to initiate such a game with King, or to say anything suggesting he needed help. I think… “ Morality frowned. There was no way to say this without sounding terrible. “They might both be happier like this. King… he would want this for Fear,” he decided. King cared for Fear almost as much as he cared for Thomas. It was out of concern for them that he’d asked them to do this. He might not have expected this outcome, but he would understand right?

“So long as the progress of the past week keeps up, Thomas will greatly benefit of the situation.” Logic supplied.

Morality let out a sigh. Thomas would be fine and Fear would fully forgive them with time. And then they could build on this new foundation. He would make sure his family stayed happy. That was his job. He was the dad after all.

It was only a matter of time before the twins would run into Deceit. Especially since the Dukes ideas were unpleasant to Thomas more often than not. Fear usually managed to get Duke to use his ‘inside voice’. Sometimes Prince would notice Fear was getting uncomfortable and reign his brother in. But that couldn’t last forever.

“What is going on here?” Deceit wondered as he walked in on the trio. Duke paused in his rambling and Prince looked up from where he and Fear were sitting on the ground, his arm around the nervous side’s shoulder while Fear had been curled up in a ball trying to block out the images Duke was planting in his head. Once he saw who it was though Prince looked down, he still didn’t like looking at that scaled face.

Fear looked up and went from comforted to comforting. He didn't know what happened, but he did know that for some reason king had changed Deceit and Prince had inherited some sort of phantom guilt.

“Snake-face hi!” Duke on the other hand found it amazing.

“You’re clearly the charmer of the two,” Deceit drawled. Fear was pretty sure that some of his change in attitude had to do with him spending so much time with Dee right after what everyone just called ‘the split’.

He had simply rubbed off on him. “Hi Dee,” Fear smiled tensely. “Fear, good to see you out and about,” Deceit smiled warmly. It was odd. When King first discovered Instinct, he’d been sure he wouldn’t like the new side. He didn’t like how excited King already was for a new friend. And by all accounts he should’ve stayed away from him, but he just couldn’t help but feel a bond with him. They both had a job that wasn’t particularly fun to do, both had parts of them the others disliked. And they both took King’s split hard. Not that he had told Fear of the latter. What was the point? And King hadn’t wanted Fear to know anyway.

“Yeah, I guess you were right. I couldn’t hide away forever,” Fear smiled tensely. “What seems to be the problem here?” Deceit wondered. Something had called him here after all. He knew he couldn’t avoid talking to the twins forever, but he had pretended he could. And now he had to make a stellar first impression. Great. “Oh… Did I do the thing again?” Duke wondered. He didn’t get why the others got upset over is suggestions so much, but they did and he tried to not be too much. But now he really was just having some fun. He wasn't saying Thomas should do anything. He was just making pictures.

Still, Fear was clearly upset. “It’s… It’s fine. You can’t always help it,” Fear assured him. Duke looked around and noticed an abundance of stress bunnies and kittens and puppies, most of them slightly more grotesque than Fear’s usual were. He liked it. But why hadn’t Fear gotten rid of them yet? It wasn’t like him to let them roam free for long.

“Want some help with those?” Deceit wondered as he gestured around. Fear looked at the dozens of creatures and let out a tired sigh. “I’ll get it. Just… I need a moment,” he muttered. “Very well. Duke was it?” Deceit asked. Duke nodded. “I need some help maintaining the Willow. Would you be so kind?” Fear frowned. What? Duke just jumped up with a big smile. “Of course double D!” he grinned. “Wonderful. Fear, Prince, you don’t mind if I borrow him for a couple of hours right?” he asked. Fear looked at Prince who just shrugged. “If he’s okay with it. But he will come back after right?” The prince asked tensely. “Of course. I’ll send him straight to the imagination even,” Deceit bowed before leaving, the Duke following right by his side, ranting about one thing or another. Fear looked at Prince. “You sure you are okay with this? You two haven’t been apart since… Well. Ever.” Prince shrugged again. “I… I think so. We don’t have to be together all the time right?” Fear shrugged. “I guess not,” he allowed. They weren’t one person anymore after all. Fear tried to remember that, but it was still strange sometimes. “I’m going to round up those guys,” he announced as he got up. Prince followed his example. “Want some help with that?” Fear hesitated, he didn’t usually ask anyone for help. The point was that he’d deal with them alone right? He'd just told Dee he could handle it… “Morality says that friends should be able to count on us to help them. So… I want to help,” Prince insisted. Fear smiled at that. “Yeah, sounds fun,” he allowed. As Deceit promised, Duke returned to the imagination after a few hours. All the shadow creatures had been dealt with and Duke was back to a level of crazy Fear could handle. Thomas had not been negatively affected by Dukes mood after he went to the back of the mind it seemed. The twins started going off on their own more often after that. Duke tended to venture to the willow to chat with Deceit for a while, while Prince remained on the front of the mind at all times. Fear wandered between the two. He couldn’t really handle not seeing either for too long. Still things started to get to a new sort of normal and Morality and Logic became more and more convinced every day that they’d done the right thing. Everyone was happier now. That’s what Morality thought, until he found Fear, sitting in a corner of the mind by himself. Which was unusual. “Heya kiddo. Where are the twins?” he wondered gently as he knelt down. He was a good inch taller than Fear by now. Which made Fear officially the shortest of the group, a fact the twins loved to tease him about. “Duke is at the willow and Prince is fighting a dragon or a witch, I don’t know,” Fear shrugged, his eyes shimmering. Had he been crying? “Ok… And why are you here all by yourself?” If Prince was fighting something, Fear would usually stick close by just in case. And sometimes that was indeed needed, though Morality and Logic both wondered if Prince occasionally just liked having Fear save him and fuss over him afterwards.

“I… It just hurt too much today,” he whispered, a sob breaking free. Morality felt a sharp pain in his chest. He knew what Fear meant and he couldn’t believe he never picked up on this. Of course spending time with the twins was hard on Fear. “Oh Kiddo… Do you want a hug?” Fear didn’t always allow physical affection. This time however he seemed to be really in need of some, because he almost immediately latched onto the fatherly side and started sobbing. “I care about them, I really do! But I miss him so much!” he tried to explain. “Of course. Loving them doesn’t take away how you felt about him. I think those feelings actually make each other stronger. Remember what he said? That it didn’t matter what name you used, you’d always be his friend? This is sort of like that,” Morality assured him. “I… I know… Most of the time. But sometimes I feel so bad for liking them, and then I feel bad about feeling bad…  What if that never stops? I don’t want to hurt them!” he pleaded “It’ll get better. There will be bad days, but it’ll get better. I miss him too. I know it wasn’t the same as it was for you. But he was important to me too.” “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean-” “No kiddo, that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to say that I understand. And I’m here to listen. Okay? Just come to your dear old dad whenever you need to okay? I’ve got you.” Fear let himself relax into the embrace and cry the tears he’d been holding back for months. He didn’t notice someone was watching them. Morality did though, and he tried not to let the accusatory glare get to him. Deceit could think of this what he wanted. Morality was just trying to look out for his kids. Things got a little better after that. Fear was more relaxed when hanging out in the back of the mind, the vague memories of being an incorporeal instinct not as haunting as they once had been. He got even bolder in his banter with the twins. He was also a bit more comfortable with letting them be without him from time to time. And he got a bit braver when it came to confronting the uglier parts of the past. “I’m just saying. If you ask them they’ll probably change you back,” he insisted as he laid down in the patch of grass underneath the willow. The twins were doing a school project with Logic and he had chosen to catch up with Deceit who still didn’t come up to the central consciousness except to retrieve Duke when needed.

“I don’t want them to change me back Fear, drop it.” “Then why are you hiding away all of the time?” Fear countered. “I know Princey is kinda awkward around you, but that won't get better if he never gets to know you. And the others will warm up to you. I'll have your back remember? No matter what happened between you and him, the twins deserve a chance don't they?” Fear pointed out. Deceit sighed. “I suppose you have a point… And Duke isn’t horrible company,” he allowed. Fear smiled and they both started debating over something Thomas' teacher did that week. The subject laid at rest. Deceit never did ask the twins to return his face to normal. He felt it was fitting honestly. A permanent warning to everyone of what he was. Princey slowly relaxed around Deceit as the later visited the central consciousness more often. And once again things in the mindscape improved.

#kingau #sanders sides #tssides #creativitytwins #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #this au lives rent free in my head #but i need the space #please send help

[16woodsequ]

Ramble about your favorite headcanons please!!

Okay, well you asked for it. 

(Some of these headcanons I haven’t been able to write into fics, so if anyone sees anything they really want, let me know, and I might have a flash of inspiration.)

TW: discussion of panic attacks and PTSD and child abuse

First off, major headcanon that I have yet to be able to put in a fic:

I fully believe that – during CA:WS, after Steve learned who the Winter Soldier was, and after he and Nat got rescued by Hill – Steve excused himself quietly at some point and went and had a panic attack in the bathroom or something because he seriously hasn’t had any time to process what has happened the last two days. He’s had hardly any sleep, been attacked by SHIELD, lost Fury, found out he is still alive, almost died in the street and found out Bucky is still alive but doesn’t know him.

So yeah, I think in between the planning session and the scene with Sam on the bridge, Steve stepped out and quietly fell apart for a moment, before pulling himself together again.

Another fic I am dying to write, but haven’t been able to yet: 

What if Steve and Howard weren’t as close of friends as everyone thinks they were? We always have fics were Steve remembers Howard fondly, and Tony hates it, but what if that isn’t the case? We know Howard cared a lot about the serum, so what if he saw post-serum Steve as better than pre-serum Steve, and that really grated on Steve and Bucky?

(Also what if it really bugged Bucky, but Steve asked him to just let it go - and then, when the Winter Soldier is sent after Howard, he has a flash of that memory for just a second? What if he had a flash of hesitation before his conditioning came back in?)

Anyway, if this were the case, I think Steve would have tolerated Howard, but he probably wouldn’t call them friends. And then he would wake up in a world where Howard had complete control of the narrative and everyone believes they were best friends... It would be alienating, especially if Tony came into it expecting Steve to wax poetical about his dad.

Steve’s dad was abusive and ableist:

Yeah, I know in the mcu they say his dad died of mustard gas, but that is a really easy fix. It’s a lie. Steve was already lying about his enlistment anyways, and if his dad came home a gas casualty, then he almost isn’t even lying. Anyway, I’m pretty sure there is a comic where his dad is abusive, and I just think that there are so many interesting dynamics that could happen between him and Tony because of it. Also, if he dad harped on him for his illnesses, that would feed into his need to be a strong, infallible leader later on.

Don’t know why it isn’t discussed more in the fandom, but if I have to make “Joseph Rogers’ A+ Parenting” a tag myself, then I will. 

Headcanon for Tony in The Alternate Timeline:

Okay, so in this story, there is a scene where Bucky talks to Tony about wanting his arm off, and Tony suggests making him another - non-Hydra one. Anyway, we don’t know, since we don’t have Tony’s pov, but I imagine he relates a lot to Bucky then. Tony’s arc reactor was his own design, but he was still forced to make it under terrible circumstance, and, when he got back from Afghanistan, he made a whole new one. I can see him wanted to have something not made in pain to replace his old reactor.

Headcanon that I am writing right now:

So, we all know that Tony doesn’t like water because of what happened in Afghanistan. But Steve doesn’t like water either... and what if Tony is actually, you know, getting therapy and stuff, so he is dealing with his issues... and Steve hasn’t been doing that, so that when they both have to deal with water... it is Tony that is able to keep a level head.

I just really like the idea of Tony suddenly realising that he and Steve have the same issue, and that Steve is Not Handling it.

SHIELD’s A+ Parenting:

This is the best way that I can put it, but like, SHIELD really dropped the ball when it came to rehabilitating Steve into the 21st century. And I think it was on purpose. I think Hydra very much wanted the transition for Steve to be rough, and their influence is part of why everything is done so terribly. (I will make this a tag also, I swear.)

I almost forgot this major headcanon I haven’t been able to put anywhere yet:

I headcanon that Steve fought on the beaches at D-Day. I’m still doing research and stuff to learn more about what that would have been like, and why he would have been sent out there, (since it would have been a major risk), but I think that would have been a very tough battle, and waking up in the 21st century, people would probably say how awesome and heroic is was, when it would have been very traumatising.

Anyways, I think he would have been fighting on Utah beach (since he’s more likely to survive that one) and he would have been sent after several waves (also more like to survive.)

There’s a few for now! Let me know if any strike you, or if you have more to say about them, or if you want me to ramble about any individually. :)

Headcanon masterpost

#asks #headcanon #marvel #steve rogers #captain america #panic attack #ptsd #child abuse

[vivithefolle]

I'm a bit confused. You said in one post that you thoroughly dislike Hermione and that you had no respect for her at all. Yet ... you like Romione? idk, it seems contradictory tbh. I like when Romione shippers acknowledge her flaws and messed up moments but when someone that dislike and even hate her character that much ships Romione and I see them posting about them and calling them "cute" just seems weird

I’ll share with you my whole thought process so you can understand where I’m coming from:

Itty-bitty Vivi who read Harry Potter for the first time (at 13/14, so not so itty-bitty I guess, oops): Woaaah Hermione and Ron yaay!!! They're awesome I love them! They're my OTP always and forever!! Best thing to happen in Harry Potter!! JKR is a genius!

Slightly less itty-bitty Vivi discovering the Harry Potter fandom online (thankfully years after the ship wars, else I probably wouldn't have survived): Why is there so much hate towards Ron? And why are people so opposed to Romione?? It was meant to be since the first book! Or, okay, the second book is when I realized it was gonna happen, but still! Oh well, here is a fic where Hermione berates Ron for everything and he is the only one actually working for their relationship. Cool, more Romione!

Even less itty-bitty Vivi starting her own Tumblr and going around, adding her grain of salt to debates and talking about stuff: Yeah! Ron is great! He's done bad things of course but Hermione has done her fair share of bad things too! Actually, now that I'm rereading the books, I'm reminded of this person I used to call a friend, who was quite smart and cultured but would often be very harsh to me because they claimed it was “for your own good" and “because I'm more mature than you"… I still wanted to be around them, because they were just so smart and passionate, but we often rowed and eventually they really just went too far and tried to make ME out to be the bad guy and most people believed them because they had a reputation as someone cool and logical while I was known for being emotional… wait, what the fuck, that's… that's exactly what happens in the fandom with Ron and Hermione! What the fuck, was I Ron? Admired their intelligence, praised and supported them, fell in love even but was met with scorn and open disdain?!… no, no, come on. Hermione wasn't that bad.

Vivi rereading Half-Blood Prince (and no, this wasn't about the canaries, but about what Hermione was doing after): Oh my god she was that bad.

Vivi as she ponders alternately: Wait, what about JK Rowling? What does she think about all that? What was her intention, what did she want to accomplish with the characters? I know books belong to their readers but if I want as objective an analysis as possible I must try to understand her thought process while she wrote.

Vivi learning about a staple of British literature called “literary alchemy”: The quarreling couple!! Sulfur and Mercury, the Red King and the White Queen, who must marry for the story to end happily!! And their union is represented by… a rose!! Oh my god, that is brilliant, that is so cool! Romione was ALWAYS going to happen, I knew it! Ha!

Vivi discovering the “[Ron] needed to make himself worthy of Hermione” quote: Wha… but… what? Worthy? As if Hermione was some sort of precious trophy or whatever? What the hell? Wait, Ron had to make himself worthy of her but Hermione didn't have to make herself worthy of him? Is it because Ron is the boy or some shit like that??

Vivi going through JK Rowling's interviews and finding sexism and double-standards galore: Yep, it's because he's the boy. And that bit about Hermione being based off herself when she was younger… ouch. And to top it off the scriptwriter pretty much worshipped Hermione…

Vivi rereading the books again: Is it just me, or does Ron hardly ever get any praise or acknowledgement from the adult characters? Meanwhile Harry and Hermione get stuff like “as good as Charlie Weasley" or “brightest witch of her age"! And, damn, I used to side with Hermione because I love cats, but she was completely awful in POA! She apologized but then the plot made her out to be right even then?? And I always thought her Yule Ball entrance was kinda over-the-top, but damn if that's not compensating for something! Also what the hell, I get that Harry is suffering and all but will someone PLEASE pay attention to the fact that Ron is being bullied BY A FOURTH OF THE STUDENT BODY AND NOBODY SEEMS EVEN REMOTELY CONCERNED????? Also what the hell is wrong with the sixth book, I never liked it much but it's like it's trying to make every character look bad, wtf?? And, and, holy shit I never noticed but Ron was asking legit questions during the Horcrux Hunt debate but Harry kept deflecting or mocking him but it's still Ron who had to apologize in the end??? And I've read a whole post about how Hermione punching Ron is the appropriate reaction for a very small child and not a supposedly “mature" character, and that Harry had to SHIELD RON FROM HER, oh my god?? It's… oh my god, what the fuck is wrong with JK Rowling?

Vivi, in denial: Well, Harry Potter is decidedly not a romance. It's about love, but romantic love is quite far down the priority list when it comes to it. JKR has herself confessed that she wasn't too good at writing romance, and I don't blame her because writing romance is hard. But I did enjoy Romione! When I was little I saw it coming from a mile away, granted I was already savvy in literature but that must have been because she was doing something right! And then the sixth book happened… the sixth book which… which was released after the Harry Potter movies were being filmed, wasn't it?

Vivi looking up the timelines: Oh my god. Oh my god it's even worse, the movies were being discussed before Goblet of Fire came out. Come to think of it, I always found that the Trio felt… different, after Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry and Ron especially felt like they had gotten dumber? And Hermione was suddenly explaining everything when exposition used to be split between her and Ron…

Vivi, in mourning: So that's what happened. Ron ended up being shortchanged to make Hermione look better, because Rowling was fonder of Hermione than she was of Ron, and the scriptwriter too come to think of it. Curse you, Steve Kloves!!!

Vivi, who is nothing if not what Pokémon fans call a nostalgiafag: But… but… yeah, it sucks that Ron was shortchanged, and actually yeah it's a freaking travesty and I WILL freaking spread the world about this, mark my words, but, but I still… I can't help it, when Hermione “looked up at Ron and her frostiness seemed to melt" I melt too. When Ron compliments Hermione or tries to take care of her as much as he can I… it still does something to me, I still find myself rooting for them even if I know there's the awful sixth book and the stupid post-Locket beatdown. Their kiss, for God's sake, I've just realized that Ron may have swept Hermione off her feet physically, but it's Hermione who jumped him, you could say Hermione metaphorically swept Ron off his feet!! God damn it, that's good, that's so good!

Vivi, at war with herself: No, I can't let myself be blinded by nostalgia!! The facts are that Hermione shows borderline abusive - even actually abusive - behaviour, this can't be denied! I don't want to root for an abusive relationship! I don't want to root for a relationship that relies on my favourite character being dumbed down to work!!!

Vivi, about to uncover the secrets of the universe: … wait a second. I don't have to.

Vivi, having an epiphany: Reading Solstice Muse's Romione fanfics gives me such happiness because she just gets the characters! She doesn't portray Hermione as perfect and never fucking up, and she always treats what happens to Ron with respect… Well, especially since she can't play them off as a joke since she often makes Ron the POV character. But, yeah! I can still like Romione… if it's well-written. Which, well, isn't the case in the original books… at least, isn't the case anymore after Rowling's bias got the best of her. Even though they do have their great moments.

Vivi, finding purpose in her life: I am going to spread awareness. I am going to tell the world. Fuck, just rereading the books, I've noticed how blatant the favouritism is and how unbalanced it can be. No wonder the fandom seems to collectively scoff at Ron - the books themselves do whenever it's convenient for them! The fandom plays favourites, because the author herself played favourites, and the worst part is that she didn't even realize it! Imagine you spend your life getting into traumatic situations out of love for your friends who always receive compassion and validation for their feelings about said traumas, but YOUR trauma is hardly touched upon and in the rare case it is, it's only to be mocked or used against you… Fuck! You're a piece of work, JKR! And the fandom just swallows it whole like a bunch of lobotomized snakes! Screw it! Screw it, I'm going to say it like it is, and I'm going to say it LOUDLY! People are going to hear about what Ron goes through and we'll see if Harry and Hermione look like the only ones worthy of therapy then!!

Present day Vivi, as she scrolls through the (heavily filtered) Romione tag on AO3: Ugh, another Drarry… and another… and another… oh, a Hinny-centric fic for a change, cool but I'm looking for more Romione than that, sorry. Gah, why is it that Romione appears as a secondary ship everywhere but they can't get their own stories? I've just seen a Snupin come up for God's sake! Oh, finally, a full Romione!! *clicks* … … … awww that was so sweet. Kudos! Okay back to the search… oh, another one!! *clicks* … … … it's Ron-bashing. It's Ron-bashing and it's not tagged Ron-bashing and that's why it showed up in my search AND I'M GOING TO FREAKING RIOT-

#vivi answers #ask #romione #ron weasley #hermione granger #ron weasley defense squad #ron weasley defence squad #ron x hermione #harry potter series #anti jk rowling

[gamerwoo]

Minghao: Little Talks

Characters: Minghao x female reader

Genre/warnings: non idol au, angst, a lot of mentions of death, stuff about grieving, implied suicide at the end

Word count: 2,870

Summary: Don’t listen to a word I say. The screams all sound the same. Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore.

a/n: this was inspired by little talks by of monsters and men!!

Seventeen Song Series

“It was built in the 1800s,” Minghao had beamed as the two of you looked up at the house before you. “The inside has been updated but it still has that vintage feel. I’m telling you, it’s our house.”

Now you wished it wasn’t. You wished you never bought this old, creaky house because you now resided in it alone. What was once a warm home now was like a cold, dark space that didn’t even feel like it belonged to you. All because Minghao was no longer there to make it feel like a home. He went out to see his friends but he never came back. His car slid into a tree on a winter day, and died before he even got to the hospital. Everything was taken from you that day.

You had just gotten home from the funeral. It was back in China and you had flown there with his friends. You didn’t mind staying in a hotel room with Joshua because at least somebody could be there to comfort you. But now as you set your suitcase down in the foyer of your house, it set in just how alone you were. You could hear the house settle as the wind continued to blow wet leaves around outside, and that only reminded you of the day you got the call about Minghao. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes.

It was early afternoon, but you decided to go upstairs to bed anyway. The stairs creaked like they always did when you walked on them, and Minghao used to always tell you that it gave the house character so you never fixed it. Now, you didn’t like how the old sound echoed through the house. It creeped you out, like you were now living in a house that hadn’t been lived in for years.

As you were getting settled into bed, your phone vibrated from where you set it to charge on the nightstand. You reached over for it and saw that it was Junhui. Besides you and Minghao’s family, his best friend was taking it the hardest. The two boys had moved here together, and now that Minghao was gone, Jun felt alone like you did. He even stayed home in China just to be with his family for a while, hoping that would help him.

Jun: Are you home already?

You: Yeah

Jun: How do you feel?

You: Alone

Jun: :(

Jun: He’s always with you, _____. You’re never alone.

You knew he was trying to comfort you, but it made you want to cry. You just wanted to hold Minghao in your arms again. You wanted to feel his lips on your forehead and see the fond look in his eyes as he chuckled at whatever dumb thing you said or did that he always found endearing. You just wanted Minghao back, not any of that ‘he’s watching over you’ crap.

You set your phone down and laid down in bed, curling up on your side. But it felt too empty. You’d never slept in that bed alone, and you didn’t like how it felt. There was no dip in the bed, no warmth, no arms wrapped around you. And it didn’t help that Minghao’s scent still lingered on his side of the bed, tricking you into thinking he could still be there.

With tear-filled eyes, you got out of bed and grabbed Minghao’s pillow. You brought your phone and your charger downstairs and plugged it back in before putting the pillow on one end of the couch. Then you laid down, covered yourself with the blanket folded over the back of the couch, and cried silently until you fell asleep, your tears staining Minghao’s pillow.

-

You woke up multiple times, but you forced yourself to stay asleep. The house groaned and creaked too often like somebody was walking through the house, and you didn’t like it. But you’d rather be asleep and not think than be awake and not only listen to the noise your empty house made, but remember that Minghao wasn’t there with you. 

It wasn’t until it was 3am that you couldn’t force yourself to sleep anymore. You weren’t tired and the noises were keeping you awake. The house was just so old that it made every creepy and creaky noise imaginable — especially the stairs that weren’t too far away from the living room. So you got up and began wandering the house, turning on all the lights just to make it a bit more bearable. You didn’t like walking around the house alone because it felt so big and so...off. It was like you never even lived there. The pictures of you and Minghao that you had around the house, though, felt like they were from another life or an alternate timeline. They were like they never happened even though it was only a few weeks ago that he was here.

You sniffles as you explored the house, seeing it as a different place even though you’d live there with Minghao for the last five months. You had previously lived together in an apartment for three years but he wanted to finally have a place to call your own. This house did feel like a home with your boyfriend in it, but now? It was unfamiliar to you. It felt cold and empty and alone, and there was nothing you could—

Warmth touched your hand. You gasped and yanked your hand upward, staring at your fingertips as they tingled. Were you going crazy and imagining things? Was it some sort of wishful thinking that somebody — specifically Minghao — would comfort you? 

You slowly put your hand back down, trying to see if you would feel it again. Sure enough, warmth encased your hand, and it was oddly comforting. It felt like when Minghao would hold your hand when you were afraid to do something like go through a haunted house on Halloween or stand on the short step ladder to put the star on top of the Christmas tree or when you’d wake up from a nightmare. 

Maybe Minghao really was with you. Maybe he knew that you were afraid without him and he was here to comfort you. Maybe when people said your loved ones were watching over you, they really were.

-

It had been two days since that weird occurrence, and you still couldn’t tell if it was just your imagination or not. Not to mention it was 3am. It was really late, so maybe that had something to do with it. 

But...what if…?

You decided that maybe you’d talk to Seungcheol about it. He invited you out that day because he wanted to make sure you were okay. However, he made sure to say he would be picking you up rather than having you meet him somewhere. You knew he’d give you his honest opinion on what was going on, even if maybe it wasn’t what you wanted to hear. 

You went for lunch at the place he knew was your favorite restaurant. He was standing outside your door to pick you up with one hand shoved in his jacket pocket while the other held his phone, his head bowed as he looked at the screen. His nose and cheeks were pink from the cold, but he still smiled when he looked up at you, and wrapped his arms around you in a hug. 

“How’ve you been?” he asked just as he pulled away.

“Okay,” you shrugged. “You could’ve waited in the car for me, y’know. It’s cold.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” he chuckled. “I’ve only been here a minute.”

The two of you drove to the restaurant while making small talk. You mostly asked each other how you’d been and how readjusting was going. Seungcheol had been seeing a counselor now because he was afraid. He was the one who invited Minghao out and asked him to meet the rest of them there. Now he’s afraid that none of his friends will show up, just like Minghao never did. It’s why he insisted on picking you up, like he did with anybody he wanted to hang out with now. However, he offered to hang out even less than he used to. He used to want to do something almost every night, but now he stayed in and just texted his friends. 

Everybody thought it was best for you to see somebody, too. You and Minghao had been together for almost four years, and all of his friends knew he planned on proposing on your four year anniversary. However, that obviously didn’t work out, and everybody was afraid to tell you. The ring was ultimately given to his parents, so you never saw it. But because they knew how much he meant to you and that you both wanted to spend your lives together, everybody thought it was best for you to talk to somebody about how you felt -- especially now that you lived alone. 

For now, you just cooped yourself up in your lonely house, which was why everyone was so worried about you.

“Can I ask you a weird question?” you asked after the small conversation about what Seungcheol had been up to since arriving back home had died down.

“You can ask me anything,” he replied, glancing at you.

You weren’t sure how to ask something so odd, but you knew if you just beat around the bush, you’d never get the question out, “Do you believe in like...ghosts and things?”

“Ghosts?” Seungcheol repeated. He stayed silent for a second as his mind seemed to start to put the pieces together. “Why, do you think…?”

“It sounds crazy, but I swear I felt someone touch my hand the other night,” you admitted, unable to look at him when you said it because you knew how insane you sounded. You sounded like a heartbroken girlfriend grasping for anything to find comfort in -- and maybe you were in some ways. “I don’t know who else that could be.”

Seungcheol sighed softly, not wanting to come off as rude, but he had to admit he didn’t believe you, “_____, you haven’t been getting much sleep since the accident. I think your mind is just playing tricks on you. Seriously, you should see a professional to cope. I can try to hook you up with--”

As Seungcheol went on about how the person he was seeing was really helping and he thought it would help you too, you zoned out. Was Seungcheol right? Were you just grasping for straws?

But you swore, it felt so real…

-

Despite the seemingly constant texts from your friends to check up and make sure you were taking care of yourself, you didn’t do much and you didn’t go out to see anybody. After seeing Seungcheol almost a week ago, you didn’t want to tell anyone else of what happened. In fact, you were worried he had told the others, which was why they were even more adamant in checking in. You didn’t want them to pity you, thinking you were going crazy with your loneliness.

Maybe you weren’t going crazy, but you definitely weren’t motivated. Taking care of yourself was something that was difficult for you to do. Showering had become a chore, changing your clothes was something you hadn’t done since getting home from your outing with Seungcheol, and eating was something you did once a day -- on a good day. It wasn’t just because of grieving, but it was also because of the house. It was all too empty and sad. You didn’t like walking around it if you didn’t have to, so you chose not to.

During the week, you couldn’t help but feel like there was somebody watching you. You wondered if it was Minghao, but you kept reminding yourself of what Seungcheol had said. It was all in your head. ...Right? But you also knew that even if it was him, he’d be hurt to see the state you were in. You’d had your share of bad days where he’d do his best to try to get you out of bed and do something, but sometimes you just had really bad days where you couldn’t do the smallest things.

‘It’s killing me to see you this way, love,’ you faintly heard his voice say, like a memory in the back of your head.

Was it just a memory…?

You’d decided to stay in your bedroom instead of the couch. It was harder to hear the sounds the house made at night, but it didn’t mean you still didn’t hear them. The sounds of the stairs creaking at night kept you up when you tried to sleep, making you think someone was walking around. That whole week, you hardly slept at night -- but you didn’t sleep much during the day, either. The winter wind howling against the windows and causing the house to creak never seemed to become background noise like it had when Minghao was by your side.

You pulled the covers up to your nose during another sleepless night, ears listening to the sounds of the creaking stairs that were muffled by the closed bedroom door. It sounded like weight shifting as someone ascended the stairs, but nobody ever padded down the hall or opened the bedroom door. It was just the old house settling.

‘It’s the house telling you to close your eyes.’

It was something Minghao had said when the two of you first moved in and you had yet to adjust to the new noises and creaks your house made. You were afraid of the odd sounds that sounded creepy and made the house seem like it was alive, but Minghao tried to reassure you they were comforting sounds to not be afraid of.

However, this time when you heard it, it was like his soft voice was reminding you once again. It was still quiet, almost like it was all in your head, but it wasn’t just the memory of him saying it.

You felt warmth on your back, going all down the backside of your body. But this time, it didn’t startle you like it did when you felt it on your hand. This time, it felt comforting. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep, or maybe it was because it was the middle of the night and being awake so late would make anyone a little loopy. But you found yourself letting your heavy eyelids close, and you drifted off to a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.

-

If you really were hearing Minghao, you didn’t tell anyone. You knew they would all say what Seungcheol had, and you were already struggling against yourself to know if you were crazy or not. Some days, you were sure you knew what you were feeling and hearing. You were positive he was with you, trying to have little talks with you. Others, you convinced yourself you were crazy. Seungcheol’s words would ring in your head, and you could almost hear your other friends voicing their concern for your mental health. 

The days where you believed Minghao was with you, you’d speak aloud. It was like you were trying to talk to him, wherever he was. Maybe he couldn’t actually hear you, but you didn’t care. Sometimes, you swore you could hear him reply to you, but you’d look back on it a different day and tell yourself it was just wishful thinking. You never did truly know where you stood on if you were wrong or right.

There was one thing you were sure of: you weren’t getting any better. Whether you were crazy or not, the days never got any easier. You found it harder and harder to even reply to your friends, asking yourself what the point was anyway. Minghao was gone, leaving behind faint traces of himself in your house that slowly slipped away like faded memories. And with him completely gone, you couldn’t handle it. Little things you held onto like the smell of his pillow and the clothes still in the closet were becoming more and more faint, leaving you feeling more alone than you’d ever felt.

As you laid in bed, on top of the covers this time, you stared up at the ceiling. The edges of your vision warped and were slowly eaten up by black fog that started to consume everything you saw.

‘Just let me go, _____,’ you swore you heard Minghao’s voice, much clearer than any other time you’d thought you heard it. But you knew, even now, it might’ve been from your current state. Maybe it wasn’t real. But you wanted to believe it was; that he was on the other side. ‘I promise, we’ll meet again. But let me go for now.’

“Hao…” you croaked out quietly, your voice being met with the creaking of the house as the wind whipped the bare tree branches around outside “Please...wait for me…”

With a faint smile on your face, your eyes slowly closed, knowing that once you’d fallen asleep, you’d see your love once more.

#seventeen #minghao #the8 #seventeen au #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #seventeen oneshot #seventeen fanfic #seventeen x reader #minghao au #minghao imagine #minghao scenario #minghao oneshot #minghao fanfic #minghao x reader #the8 au #the8 imagine #the8 scenario #the8 oneshot #the8 fanfics #the8 x reader

[thatoneao3writer]

(6/?)

b!Puffy is imprisoned on the Crimson’s main ship, traveling through the Nether. She’s not really a fully brainwashed cult member; instead, she’s one of the many prisoners kept aboard mostly as slave labor, to keep the ship running. She isn’t under the Crimson’s control, per se, but there’s a culture of reporting one’s neighbors in exchange for marginally better conditions, and she has risen to a spot in approximately the middle of this hierarchy. Her main job is to clean out the cells where people who... misbehave are... punished. She’s a favorite of the person in charge of this particular task force, so she usually gets to clean the... less messy cells, like the ones where the prisoners are mainly there for solitary confinement.

Remember how Bad used to be placed in solitary confinement when he misbehaved? And remember how he got a diary once he arrived on Earth? Well, I’m thinking, maybe he didn’t just pick up that habit on Earth. Maybe, back when he was with the Crimson, he had a habit of venting by writing stuff down on paper and then just burning it. But... maybe the paper didn’t always burn all the way.

One day, b!Puffy found a half-burnt piece of paper in room 001, a solitary confinement cell that only saw use very rarely, and when it was in use, always contained the same prisoner. The paper was difficult to read, not only because most of it was burnt, but also because it was written in a very messy, stream of consciousness manner. Most of it was filled with self-doubt and worry about whether the writer was doing the right thing. There was also something about hating to see people get hurt.

Now, b!Puffy wanted to respond, because Mom Friend Instincts, but she has to be careful, so she writes a response (something along the lines of hello, are you okay, I’m concerned about your well-being, you said you don’t like seeing people hurt, and to me that sounds like you’re probably a good person, if you need to talk you can just write me another note, etc.), and signs it with “P”. Bad responds, signing his letter with “S”. And so a very weird friendship was born. Bad will teleport down there to get the letters and drop off new ones so the conversation can continue even when he isn’t being punished for something. At this point, despite never having met face-to-face, both consider each other one of the few people that they can trust.

Anyway. Back to a!Puffy. She appears next to b!Puffy while she’s cleaning out the cell. They have a very quick conversation in which a!Puffy explains the situation and b!Puffy concludes it’s probably best for a!Puffy to stay hidden. b!Puffy agrees, for now.

b!Puffy spends some time showing a!Puffy around. a!Puffy is, of course, horrified by basically everything she sees, while b!Puffy is kinda desensitized to it by now and mainly focuses on trying to keep them both out of trouble. Tension continues to mount between the two, as a!Puffy can’t understand how b!Puffy just sits by and lets this all happen. (She isn’t. She’s just found different ways to resist. This will be covered more later.)

Meanwhile, a!Skeppy appears next to b!Skeppy at an anti-Crimson planning meeting at an impromptu Green lantern base somewhere in the Oort Cloud that also includes Phil, Techno, Grian, Sapnap, and Sapnap’s parents, who a!Skeppy recognizes as the people that a!Puffy had traveled back in time to save. a!Skeppy’s sudden appearance derails the meeting somewhat, as you can probably imagine, so after a!Skeppy proves himself not to be a threat, the group adjourns, though not before assigning b!Skeppy as a!Skeppy’s unofficial babysitter.

a!Skeppy realizes, based on what little of the meeting he actually saw, that this alternate timeline is VERY different from his own, and that his best hope for locating and reuniting with the others is to figure out how this all happened in the first place. He starts off by trying to subtly question Sapnap’s parents, but he isn’t actually very good at the “subtly” part of that. He does manage to find out some additional information on demon imprinting, however. Such as the fact that demons, after being separated from their parents, will latch on to and imprint on the first adult figure that acts... well... like a parent towards them. This mostly just causes more confusion, as a!Skeppy was there when a!Bad and a!Sapnap “first” met, and a!Sapnap had showed signs of having imprinted on a!Bad even before they’d properly spoken to one another.

During this time, a!Skeppy is staying with b!Skeppy. The two of them... don’t really get along super well. I think of b!Skeppy being similar in personality and demeanor to red Skeppy on dsmp, the main difference being that while red Skeppy only cares about the Egg, b!Skeppy only cares about taking down the Crimson. This very much clashes with a!Skeppy’s much more talkative and fun-loving personality. b!Skeppy mostly just sees a!Skeppy as annoying and naïve, whereas a!Skeppy sees b!Skeppy as far too serious, and also, knowing himself and his own insecurities, he can also see b!Skeppy’s many, many issues a lot better than b!Skeppy seems to realize or give him credit for.

At some point, b!Skeppy gets fed up with a!Skeppy “pestering” him (information gathering combined with trying to cheer him up), and starts giving him a lecture along the lines of “do you have any clue what I’ve gone through? You have it so easy... etc., etc.” During this lecture, b!Skeppy happens to mention some previous encounter with Saint, and this is when everything starts to click. This is a bit after the Red Banquet, so both a!Skeppy and the hypothetical audience are aware of a!Bad’s backstory and how he escaped the Crimson. Basically, a!Skeppy has all the relevant information to figure out the chain of events that led to all the changes in timeline b. He remembers how a!Bad told him about the rainbow sheep woman and the demon child that led to his escape, and realizes that they were Puffy and Sapnap respectively. He can see exactly how a!Puffy saving Sapnap’s parents led to b!Bad not escaping. From there on out, most of the changes that a!Skeppy’s seen are obviously direct consequences of b!Bad never having escaped the Crimson.

a!Skeppy ends up interrupting b!Skeppy, saying something along the lines of “Shit. Bad never escaped. That’s what’s different. Bad never escaped.”

-🤺

Okay I love this so much, this whole arc is fricken amazing. Poggers Fencer!! ^v^

and ooo found different ways to resist? 👀 Puffy resistance arc pog?

- 🏒

#ttau #fencer anon #skeppy #captain puffy

[oscopelabs]

Christopher Nolan: The Man Who Wasn’t There by Daniel Carlson

1.

So, we’ll start with the fact that all movies are make-believe. It’s a bunch of actors on a set, wearing costumes and standing with props picked out by hordes of people you’ll never see, under the guidance of a director, saying things that have been written down for them while doing their best to say these things so that it sounds like they’re just now thinking of them. We all know this—saying it feels incredibly stupid, like pointing out that water is wet—but it’s still worth noting. There is, for example, no such person as Luke Skywalker. Never has been, never will be. He was invented by a baby boomer from Modesto. He is not real.

And we know this, and that’s part of the fun. We know that Luke Skywalker isn’t real but is being portrayed by an actor (another boomer from the Bay Area, come to think of it), and that none of the things we’re seeing are real. But we give ourselves over to the collective fiction for the greater experience of becoming involved in a story. This is one of the most amazing things that we do as humans. We know—deep down, in our bones, without-a-doubt know—that the thing we’re watching is fiction, but we enter a state of suspended reality where we imagine the story to be real, and we allow ourselves to be moved by it. We’ve been doing this since we developed language. The people telling these stories know this and bring the same level of commitment and imagination and assurance that we do as viewers, too. The storyteller knows that the story isn’t real, but for lack of a better way to get a handle on it, it feels real. So, to continue with the example, we’re excited when Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star because he helped the good guys win. For us viewers, in this state of mutually reinforced agreement, that “happened.” It’s not real, but it’s “real”—that is, it’s real within the established boundaries of the invented world that we’ve all agreed to sit and look at for a couple of hours. Every viewer knows this, and every filmmaker acts on it, too. Except:

Christopher Nolan does not do this.

2.

There’s no one single owner or maker of any movie, and anyone who tells you different has their hand in your pocket. But there’s an argument to be made that when somebody both writes and directs the movie, it’s a bit easier to locate a sense of personhood in the final product. (This is all really rough math, too, and should not be used in court.) Christopher Nolan has directed 11 films to date, and while his style can be found in all of them, his self is more present in the ones where he had a hand in the shaping of the story—and crucially, not just that, but in the construction of the fictional world. Take away the superhero trilogy, the remake of a Norwegian thriller, the adaptation of a novel, and the historical drama, and Nolan’s directed five films that can reasonably be attributed to his own creative universe: Following (1998), Memento (2000), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Tenet (2020). These movies all involve themes that Nolan seems to enjoy working with no matter the source material, including identity, memory, and how easily reality can be called into question when two people refuse to concede that they had very different experiences of the same event. Basically, he makes movies about how perception shapes existence. How he does this, though, is unlike pretty much everybody else.

Take Inception. After a decade spent going from hotshot new talent to household name (thanks to directing the two highest-grossing Batman movies ever made, as well as the first superhero movie to earn an Oscar for acting), he had the credit line to make something big and flashy that was also weird and personal. So we got an action movie that, when first announced in the Hollywood trades, was described as being set within “the architecture of the mind.” Although this at first seemed to be a phrase that only a publicist could love, it turned out to be the best way to describe the film. This is a film, after all, about a group of elite agents who use special technology to enter someone’s subconscious dream-state and then manipulate that person’s memories and emotions. The second half of the film sees team leader Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the rest of the squad actually descend through multiple nested subconsciouses to achieve their goal, even as they’re chased every step of the way by representations of Mal (Marion Cotillard), Dom’s late wife, who committed suicide after spending too much time in another’s subconscious and lost the ability to discern whether she was really alive or still in the dream-world.

I say “representations” because that’s what they are: Mal is long dead, but Dom still feels enormous guilt over his complicity in her actions, and that guilt shows up looking like Mal, whose villainous actions (the representation’s actions, that is) are just more signs of Dom not being able to come to grips with his own past. It’s his own brain making these things up and attacking itself, and it chases his entire crew down three successive layers of dream worlds. You get caught up in the movie’s world as a viewer, and you go along because Nolan is pretty good at making exciting movies that feel like theme-park rides. You accept that Dom and everybody else refer to Mal as Mal and not, say, Dom. Dom even addresses her (“her”) when her projection shows up, speaking to her as if she’s a separate being with her own will and desires and not a puppet that he’s pretending not to know he’s controlling. It’s only later that you realize that the movie is in some ways just a big-budget rendition of what it would look like to really, really want to avoid therapy.

Which is what makes Nolan different from other filmmakers:

None of this is actually happening.

Again, yes, it’s happening in the sense that we see things on screen—explosions, chases, a fight scene in a rotating hallway that’s still some of the best practical-effects work in modern action movies—but within the universe of the film, none of what’s going on is taking place in the real world. It’s all unfolding in the subconsciouses of Dom’s teammates. In the movie’s real world, they’re all asleep on a luxury jet. They’re “doing” things that have an outcome on the plot, but Nolan sets more than half the movie inside dreams. It’s a movie about reality where we spend less time in reality than in fantasy. Half the movie is pretend.

For Nolan, filmmaking is about using a dazzling array of techniques to create a visual spectacle that distracts the viewer from the fact that the real and true story is happening somewhere else: in the fringes we can’t quite see, in the things we forget to remember, or even in the realm of pure speculation.

3.

Memento arrived like (and with) a gunshot. It seemed to come out of nowhere and leave people struggling to describe it, and they usually wound up saying something like “it goes backward, but also forward at the same time, except some parts are actually really backward, like in reverse, so it’s maybe a circle?” Written by Christopher Nolan from an idea originally shared with him by his brother, Jonathan (who eventually turned it into a very different short story titled “Memento Mori”), the film follows a man named Leonard (Guy Pearce) who has anterograde amnesia and can’t form new memories, so every few minutes he sort of just resets and has to figure out where he is, what he’s doing there, and so on. He’s on the hunt for the man who attacked him and his wife, leaving his wife dead and Leonard in his present condition, which you can imagine does not make the gathering and synthesis of clues easy.

What’s more, Nolan puts the viewer in Leonard’s shoes by breaking the film’s linear timeline into two halves—call them A and B—and then alternating between them, with the added disorientation coming from the fact that one of those timeline halves plays out backward, with each successive scene showing what happened before the one you previously saw. So, if you numbered all the scenes in each timeline in chronological order, they’d look something like this when arranged in the final film: Scene A1, Scene B22, Scene A2, Scene B21, Scene A3, Scene B20, etc. You get why it messed with people’s heads.

As a result, we spend most of the movie pretty confused, just like Leonard, whose suppositions about what might or might not take place next begin to substitute for our own understanding of the film. It’s not until the end that we find out the shoe already dropped, and that Leonard killed the original attacker some time ago and has since been led on a series of goose chases by his cop friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), who’s planting fake clues to get Leonard to take out other criminals. In other words, we realize that the story we thought was happening was pretend, and the real story was happening all around us, in the margins, memories, and imaginations of the characters. The most honest moment in the movie is the scene where Leonard hires a sex worker to wait several minutes in the bathroom while he gets in bed, then make a noise with the door to wake him, at which point his amnesia has kicked in again and he briefly thinks that the noise is being made by his wife. He’s wrong, of course, but this is the only time in the movie that we actually know he’s wrong. It’s the only time we truly know what’s real and what isn’t.

Yet you can’t talk about Memento without talking about Following, Nolan’s first feature. Although the film’s production was so extremely low-budget you’d think they were lying—the cast and crew all had day jobs and could only film on the weekends, so the thing took a year to make—Nolan’s willingness to dwell completely in a make-believe world that the viewer never knows about is already evident. It’s about a bored young writer who starts following strangers through the city for kicks, only for one of those strangers to catch him in the act and confront him. The stranger introduces himself as Cobb—I kindly submit here that it is not a coincidence that this is also Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s name in Inception, but you already knew that—and reveals himself to be a burglar, spooked by the tail but willing to take on an apprentice. Cobb trains the writer to be a burglar, only for the situation to ultimately wind up implicating the writer himself in a complex blackmail plot. You see, the writer didn’t latch onto Cobb in a crowd; Cobb lured him in. The whole movie has been Cobb’s story all along, with the writer as a patsy who doesn’t understand the truth until the final frame. None of what we saw mattered, and everything that actually happened happened off-screen just before or just after we came in on a given scene. It’s like realizing the movie you’re watching turned out to be just deleted scenes from something else. You can’t say Nolan didn’t show his hand from the start.

4.

That same general concept—that the movie we’re watching is actually the knock-on effect of a movie we’ll only glimpse, or maybe never even see��underpins Nolan’s latest movies, Interstellar and Tenet, too. Interstellar has some concepts that are iffy even for Nolan (it makes total sense for someone to do something for another out of love, but somewhat less sense that that love somehow reshapes the physical universe), but it’s still a big, bold approach to exploring how time and perception shape our actions. As the film follows its core group of astronauts while they search for potentially habitable new worlds, they encounter strange visions and experiences that turn out to be their handiwork from the future reflected back at them. Sure, it raises the paradoxical question of whether they had a first mission before this that failed, so now their future selves are intervening to make the second one (which feels like the first one to the astronauts the whole time) successful, and all sorts of other stuff that your sophomore-year roommate would like to talk with you about in great detail. But so much of what we see isn’t the stuff that happens, or that winds up being important. There’s the great scene where the astronauts land on a planet near a black hole, which is wreaking havoc on how time passes on the planet. A minor disaster delays their departure for the main ship still in orbit, but when the landing team returns, they find that more than 20 years have “passed” since they left, with the one remaining team member on the ship having spent more than two decades waiting for them to return. It’s a moment of genuine horror, and it underscores the fact that what we thought was the one true reality was just the perspective of a handful of characters we happened to follow for a few minutes. There were whole things happening that changed the plot and story and direction of everything that would follow, and we never saw them; we didn’t even know we’d missed them.

Tenet is, of course, the latest and most recursive exploration yet of Nolan’s obsession with showing us a story that turns out to be mostly fake. It is almost perversely hard to even begin to explain the film (Google “Tenet timeline infographic” and have fun). One way to think about it is to imagine if the two timeline halves from Memento somehow existed at the same time, with people moving both forward and backward through time while inhabiting the same location. Basically, some scientists figured out how to “invert” the basic entropy of objects, so that they exist backward: you hold out your hand and the ball on the ground leaps up into it, because you’ve dropped it in the future, so now you can pick it up, etc. … Look, it doesn’t get easier to understand.

The upshot is, though, that we spend the film following the Protagonist (that’s his name), a CIA agent played by John David Washington, as he’s tasked with tracking down the source of the inverted stuff to figure out what’s unfolding in the future and why it’s suddenly started to make itself known in the present. He gets marginally closer to understanding the truth by the end of the film, but because this is a Nolan film that is maybe more expressly about the nature of reality than anything he’s ever done, his journey doesn’t so much take him forward as it does in a large circle. Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this, the true story of Tenet is taking place outside the Protagonist’s actions and knowledge, alongside him but invisible, often steered by people who themselves are moving “backward” through time and thus have already met the Protagonist in the future and are old friends with him by the time he meets them in his youth. Even more brain-liquefying, some of these people have been working under the orders of the Protagonist himself—the future version, that is—because his past self has already achieved the victories that allowed him to send the future people backward through time to meet his younger self so they’d achieve the victories that allow him to etc., etc., etc.

With Tenet, Nolan didn’t just make a movie that challenged perception, like Memento, or that dwelt in fiction, like Inception. He made a movie that can only be understood (to whatever degree true understanding is possible) by rewatching the movie itself, over and over, as the multiple timelines and harrowingly complex bits of cause and effect come into some kind of focus. The whole movie itself isn’t happening, in a sense, but is just the ramifications of something else, the echoes of a shout whose origin we’re straining to pinpoint. It both is and isn’t.

5.

Christopher Nolan is a talented director of action-driven suspense thrillers. He’s canny at controlling the audience’s emotions, and he knows how to put on a dazzling show. Plus he’s fantastic at picking when to deploy non-computer-generated effects for maximum impact. But you could say that about a lot of other directors, too. What sets Nolan apart from the rest, and what makes him a director to keep watching and returning to, is the teasing way his movies wind up being just deceptive enough to fool you into thinking that you know what’s going on, then just harsh enough to disabuse you of that notion. Looking at what seems to drive him, I don’t think Tenet is his best movie-movie, but it’s his most-Nolan movie. It’s almost a culmination of his continuing efforts to tell stories where what you see and what actually happens are two different things. It’s not that he makes puzzles to solve. There is no solving these movies. Rather, it’s that he sculpts these delicate artifacts that only let you see two dimensions at a time, never all three, no matter how you twist your head. Craning back and forth, you can almost see the whole thing, but not quite. Some part of it will always have to exist in your memory. And that’s where Christopher Nolan likes to be.

#chrisopher nolan #tenet #memento #following #following movie #christopher nolan film #inception #inception film #memento film #tenet film #interstellar #interstellar film #oscilloscope laboratories #musings #film writing #beastie boys

[darks-ink]

Rewind - Ectoberweek 2020

Acknowledging canon episodes? In my fanfic? It’s more likely than you think. Also I’m experimenting by adding the links onto this post so lemme know whether this shows up in the tag or not.

Rating: Gen Warnings: - Genre: Hurt/Comfort Words: 2,834 Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Masters of All Time, Families of choice/Found family

[AO3] [FFN]

---

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Danny darted around Clockwork, refusing to let him turn away. “Clockwork!”

The ghost sighed, heavily and wearily, and looked down at Danny. “I cannot. It is that simple.”

“But that’s— that’s nonsense,” Danny insisted, gesturing wildly. “You’re the ghost of time! How can you not rewind this and fix it?!”

“I warned you, Daniel, that this would be a permanent change.” Clockwork blinked slowly, as if trying to convey some sort of emotion with his empty red eyes. “You did not heed my warning, or considered yourself above it. Now, you must live with the consequences.”

“But you’re—”

“Not all-powerful, no matter what you might think,” Clockwork cut in, narrowing his eyes. “You have altered the past, despite my warning not to. To travel back again would risk the stability of the timeline entirely. Would you rather see all of reality destroyed?”

Clockwork hummed before Danny could answer. “I would not, therefore I will not allow it to be so. The past has been set in stone, but the future is still malleable. Make it into something you can live with.”

“But…” Danny bit back his automatic response. There was no point. He’d tried fighting Clockwork before, and gotten his ass handed to him as a result. He sighed instead. “Can you at least take me back to Mom and Dad, then? The Portal looked like it blew up after I flew through it, and I don’t know where to find another.”

At that, Clockwork smiled. Or, Danny though it was a smile, at least. A small twitch of the ghost’s lips. “That, I can do.”

“Thanks, Clockwork.” Danny watched as the ghost swung his staff, a portal opening in its wake. “And… sorry, I guess.”

“Apology accepted.” Clockwork floated aside, waving a hand towards the portal. “Goodbye, Daniel.”

Danny nodded back, before flying through the portal. Welp. Time to face the music.

The portal spat him out in Amity Park, near his house. For a moment, Danny paused, considering the possibility that it brought him here because he consider Amity to be his home, no matter what. But then he realized that there was a car parked in front of the garage, one far too fancy for the neighborhood. His parents must’ve come this way, taking one of Vlad’s cars.

Thus satisfied, he flew down, phasing through the front door. No need to be secretive—both Jack and Maddie knew his secret already.

Still, he was surprised to find them both in the living room, apparently trying to clean up the place. Maddie saw him first, her body stilling. And how strange was it, that he found it comforting to see her here, in her cyan jumpsuit, with red goggles over her eyes? (That was weird, right? Danny felt like it should be weird.)

“Danny,” she said, quiet with surprise. “What are you doing here?”

At her words, Jack also looked up from where he was standing. He, too, looked almost exactly like his counterpart from Danny’s own timeline. Except with ecto-acne, of course.

“I, uh.” Danny shrugged, unsure. He felt thrown off by seeing his parents like this. It was almost right, but just slightly off. “Clockwork couldn’t undo it. Apparently the timeline is too unstable, or something. So I have to… stay in this world, I guess.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” She straightened up from her crouch, walking closer to him. “I— It probably won’t be easy, but you can stay with us for as long as you need to. Right, Jack?”

“Of course!” his dad immediately responded, nodding vigorously. “We’re… figuring stuff out, of course. But it’s thanks to you that we reunited in the first place. And you’re our kid!” He grinned, wide and loving, in that typical Jack Fenton way. “Even if the way you got here is a little weird, you’re still our family!”

“I…” He landed, noiselessly. Hesitated for a moment. Then closed the space between him and Maddie, wrapping his arms around her. “Thanks. Both of you. I’m sorry.”

The enormous warm arms of Jack Fenton came up around them. “Don’t be, kiddo. You have nothing to be sorry for,” he rumbled, underlined with an almost audible buzz of his core. It emitted a palpable feeling of family.

“No, but, I…” Danny sighed, crushing his head against Maddie’s shoulder. “It’s my fault. All of this is! I tried going back in time to change the past, to make it so Vlad wouldn’t get ecto-acne so he couldn’t infect my friends with it, but instead you became half-ghost.”

Danny drew a shaky breath, trying to fight past the emotions welling in his throat. They needed to understand. “It’s all my fault! Without my meddling, none of this would’ve happened!”

“Sounds to me,” his mom began, her thin fingers gently combing through his hair, “like you tried to help your friends, Danny.” She clicked her tongue. “Maybe not in the best way possible, but the intention was good.”

“I can’t imagine that Vlad would’ve dealt with being half-ghost much better than I,” Jack added, faint laughter in his voice. “Never mind the ecto-acne. But, of course! That’s how you recognized it!”

“Yeah, um.” Danny drew back from the hug a little. “I can… tell you guys, I guess? About my timeline. The differences, at least.”

“That’d be nice,” Maddie agreed, as Jack’s arms released them. She looked around, and Danny could read the reluctance in her body language, even despite the goggles. “We might have to clear some more stuff before we have the space to sit.”

“We could always sit on the floor?” Jack suggested, shrugging at her look. “Or Danny and I can float as ghosts.”

“Right.” Maddie shook her head, wandering over to the single chair not covered in debris and trash and reaching up to her hood. “If that works for you two, that might be the most convenient.” She paused, frowning at Danny, hood pulled off but still in hand. “But… if Vlad was the one who became half-ghost in your timeline, why are you half-ghost as well, Danny?”

“I, uh.” He shrugged, lifting his feet off of the ground to sit in mid-air. “Became half-ghost in an accident of my own.”

The frown he received from both parents very clearly asked for him to elaborate, so he did. “Okay, so. The point of divergence is the accident in college, obviously. In my timeline, Vlad got hit by the explosion, not Jack, so he becomes half-ghost and stuff. You two, Jack and Maddie, get together, especially since Vlad was cutting contact. You decide to become ghost researchers together and move to Amity Park.”

He paused to gesture to the house around them. “Specifically, you move here, to this specific house. You make it your place of business as well, called FentonWorks. Big neon sign on the front of the building, the basement downstairs becomes a lab, and at some point you two built the Ops Center at the top, which can also be used for inventing stuff. I’m… obviously not very informed of the details, since I was the second kid and you two talked very little about the past. Only,” here he made a face, “ghosts. Everything was always about ghosts.

“Anyway,” he continued, after a short pause to take a breath. “You two have Jazz first, and then me two years later. At some point after that, you start working on a new Portal, full scale, down in the lab. It takes forever to build, because you’re trying to be careful about it, I guess? But you finish it, eventually, when Jazz is sixteen and I fourteen.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes, darting them over his body. The question is clear as day: isn’t he basically fourteen?

“So,” Danny trumped on, ignoring the silent question, “After years of work, their Portal was finally finished! The ultimate proof that ghosts were real! And then it didn’t turn on.”

“It didn’t?” Jack gasped, clearly startled. Danny realized that, somehow, he’d missed the man shifting into his ghost form. “But—”

“It didn’t,” Danny interrupted, holding up a hand. “Because apparently, someone had built a secondary power switch inside the Portal, and they had forgotten to turn it on. So when they plugged in the power, the Portal didn’t turn on.”

There was clear calculation in the eyes of both of his parents, now. Danny continued his explanation before they could figure it out. Needed to tell his story to his parents, for once. He didn’t think he would ever get a chance to tell his actual parents, after all.

“Later that day, after Jazz convinced you two to take a break, my friends talked me into checking out the Portal. Just the three of us, since Tucker was interested in technology and Sam was interested in all things goth and occult.” He shrugged, almost fatalistically. “Sam suggested I take a closer look, and I did. Only, I didn’t realize that the power was still plugged in, so when I accidentally hit the power switch inside…”

“Oh!” Maddie gasped. “Oh, how terrible!”

“That must’ve hurt like hell,” Jack agreed, a painful grimace on his face. It looked strange, the genuine emotional expression with the blue skin, the pointed fangs poking out of his mouth. “Your parents must’ve felt awful, to know that they put their kid in such danger!”

“Well…” Danny made a face. “They kinda… didn’t know? They were both avid ghost hunters, both full of hate towards ghosts. I considered telling them, at first, but then they saw their first ghosts and…” Danny sighed. “I guess I was just scared that I’d be just a ghost to them. That they wouldn’t believe me.”

“That’s… That’s awful.” Jack floated over to nudge Danny. “Kiddo, if your dad was anything like me, I promise you, he would’ve cared.”

“I know.” Danny shook his head dismissively. “I know. That wasn’t why I was worried. I was afraid that they wouldn’t believe that I was me, that I was their son. That they would think that I had hurt or replaced their own kid.”

Maddie touched his shoulder, and Danny jerked, surprised. When had she stood up? Walked over? “Well… At least it is of no concern anymore, right? You’re here now, with us, and we believe you.”

It felt like something had crawled into his gut and died. “Yeah,” he said, with terribly faked enthusiasm. “Yeah, right.”

“It’s not much of a comfort, is it?” Maddie made a face. “I’m sorry. I guess I have very little parenting experience, compared to your actual mother.”

“Honestly?” He snorted. “It makes very little difference. Like I said, she and Dad spent most of the time in the lab, or otherwise occupied with ghost research.”

Maddie clicked her tongue, distaste clear on her face. “Well, isn’t that a waste. They have such a lovely son, and they don’t even enjoy his presence?”

“Well, y’know.” Danny shrugged, trying to ignore the pleased whirring of his core. “They try, now, but with all the ghosts we’re all kinda distracted. Them with trying to catch some for their research, and I with trying to protect the townspeople from the ghosts.”

Jack’s expression visibly brightened—as did the glow around his body. “You’re a ghost hunter! A ghost-fighting superhero! Just like I tried to be!”

“Uh.” Danny felt his brain skip over, then remembered. Somewhere in the blathering when he first arrived, Jack had mentioned that he’d tried using his powers for good. “Yeah, I guess so. But I had a little more success with it.” He grinned sheepishly.

“We should team up!” Jack exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Danny’s shoulders. “The two of us, and Maddie, if she wants to! We’d be a fantastic team!”

Danny laughed, a little uncertain. “Well, maybe. But we’ll need a Thermos to catch the ghosts, and a Portal to dump them back into the Ghost Zone, first. Those were kind of my major tools in managing. And Sam and Tucker, of course.”

“Oh?” Maddie asked, perking up. “Sam and Tucker? You mentioned them before, I think. Are those your friends?”

“Yeah, they… I guess they don’t know me, here.” He sighed, feeling himself drift down closer to the floor, away from his dad’s arm. “They… We were best friends, to the absolute end. Even after the stuff in the lab, the half-ghost stuff, the constant attacking ghosts and hunting them down, they stuck by my side.”

“I’m sorry, kiddo.” Jack landed as well, although unlike Danny, he landed on his feet. “But they’ll be around, right? It might not be the same, but they’re not gone.”

“Might as well be,” Danny huffed. He shook his head. “It won’t be the same. Without the years of shared experiences…”

Maddie and Jack shared a look—not quite as conversational as the ones his parents shared, but a good enough substitute—before apparently deciding to change the topic altogether.

“Why don’t we see if we can clear some rooms upstairs?” Maddie asked, clapping her hands together. “We’ll need at least two rooms clear enough for use, preferably three.”

“Three?” Danny echoed, frowning at them. “You’re not sharing?”

“We haven’t seen each other in years, Danny,” she pointed out, getting up from the chair. “We’re still reconnecting, never mind actually getting together.”

“Right,” he agreed, following her to the stairs. “But you are moving in?”

“Friends can share a house,” Jack pointed out, shifting back to his human form in a flash of white light, and reminding Danny to do the same. “And this way she won’t have to worry about getting kicked out of Vlad’s mansion while all the paperwork and stuff is happening.”

“And I never liked the mansion much,” Maddie admitted with a wry smile. “I liked the Vlad I knew, way back when, but over time it became clear that that wasn’t the real Vlad. I’d been thinking about divorcing him for longer, but… I don’t know. There was no one else I knew, nowhere I could go.”

“Not even to Aunt Alicia? I mean, she’s divorced as well, isn’t she?”

“I… didn’t realize she had married in the first place.” Maddie’s steps faltered for a moment before she continued up the stairs. “I guess I was afraid that she would judge me for marrying Vlad in the first place. I don’t know… It seems rather illogical, now, but I figured I could put up with Vlad well enough. And with his money I could afford my research, even if I had to do it behind his back.”

They stopped in the hallway upstairs, looking around. Danny resisted the urge to grimace. Somehow upstairs was even more of a mess than downstairs had been.

“Which room was yours, in your timeline?” Jack asked, sidling up to Danny.

“Uh.” He carefully stepped past the mess, stopping in front of his door. Or the door that belonged to the room that was his, in his own timeline. “This one. And Jazz had that one,” he pointed over to the room that his sister used. “The one next to mine was a guest room.”

Jack nodded. “Right, that makes sense! You can take that room if you want, Danny. Mads, you can take the other room if you want. The one next to here I used as a lab for a while, so cleaning…”

“Won’t be easy, got it.” She nodded as well. “I’ll take the other one. Let’s start with clearing out this one, shall we?”

“Let’s.” Danny pushed open the door, bracing himself mentally for the whiplash of seeing his room without it being his room.

As a result, he was almost toppled over by the cat that rushed past his legs.

“Jasmine!” Jack cheered, crouching down to pick up the fluffy white thing. “Is this where you’ve been hiding, honey?”

“Well,” Danny said, then stopped. He had no clue what to say. He didn’t even know what he thought of this.

“Well,” he tried again. “At least now I know who picked the name for Jazz, and who picked mine.”

Maddie snorted, gently pushing him into the room. “Personally, I think Danny is a great name, honey.”

“Thanks,” he retorted, eyes darting over the room. It was dark—the curtains were closed despite the time of day—but his night vision was pretty solid. “It’s short for Daniel.”

“And Jazz for Jasmine, then? That’s cute.” She ruffled his hair as she stepped past him, drawing open the curtains. “Hm. we certainly have our work cut out for us.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, looking at the piles of he-didn’t-know-what lying around. There was a bed buried in one of the piles, which suggested it might’ve been a guest room at some point. Or used by someone else, before Jack moved in. “And we still need to clear yours, too.”

“Better get working then,” Maddie decided, shaking her head as she crouched down. “Things won’t get better on their own, after all.”

#danny phantom #ectoberweek2020 #ectoberweek 2020 #dp fanfic #phanfic #phic #danny fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #dark writes

[mon-dayragingslut4monstaxday6]

Let’s Talk

I decided to combine requests for a reader and Shownu fic (I hope this is ok for both anons). I got really soft in the heart with this one. Around 1.8k with fluff and smut (and internal angst?). NOTE He is referred to as Hyunwoo in this fic.

Don’t make it awkward, it’s just a wedding. Hell, it’s a celebration of close friends who found love. It’s not their fault me and Hyunwoo, the maid of honor and best man, broke up just weeks before the big day. We’re both civil, respectful adults who comfortably agree to not let anything happen to alter their big day. I admit, it does hurt talking about him with the bridal party, mostly because they don’t know we broke up.

Getting dressed with the girls felt like old times, like having a dress up party during a sleepover back in college. Hair and makeup went quicker than expected, and I’m starving! Thank goodness the wedding venue is at the bride’s family mansion, I can sneak to the kitchen! Sneaking to the kitchen was almost too easy, finding something to eat wasn’t. I hear footsteps behind me while I peruse through the refrigerator. I duck to hide.

“Snuck out to eat?”, Hyunwoo sighs. Oh thank goodness it wasn’t the bride. She would kill me if I ate in this dress.

“Haven’t eaten all and I might pass out if I don’t eat something. I’d kill for some ramen”, I groan. He chuckles under his breath. His laugh still makes me smile.

“I ordered food, it should arrive in a few minutes”, he whispers. I gasp, closing the refrigerator.

“Could we share?”, I wonder, still curious on boundaries.

“That’s why I ordered a lot. I figured you would be hungry, I haven’t seen you leave that room all day”, he leans against the counter, being unconsciously suave. How could he still be the sweetest man on Earth? We simply wanted different things for the future. We wanted to be together forever, obviously, but we had different ideas of a timeline. I wonder if breaking up was worth it. Stop, stop, this is just “love in the air” season due to the wedding.

“Thank you”, I pat his arm. He takes a moment to look at me all gussied up. I’m used to him seeing all dressed up, nothing is new. He always looks incredible.

“You look…”, he chokes. “Lovely?”, I sigh, sarcastically.

“Perfect. Like a dream”, he compliments. I bashfully hide my face. Shit like that makes my heart flutter.

“Don’t say that, Hyun”, I fight back tears. Can’t ruin this mascara!

“Regardless of what we are, you still are the greatest woman in my life”, he confesses. Fuck this. I press myself on him and pull him to my lips. I would say this feels like we kissed just yesterday, but this feels new. I feel the same rush as we did the first time we got together. His hands on my waist make me feel grounded, which is nice, because I feel like I could float into the clouds. Devour me, Hyunwoo, please. The doorbell rings. Fuck. Hyunwoo struggles to pull away, as do I. A moan from Hyunwoo is what sent me over to pull away.

“Let’s eat before we pass out”, I change the subject. He nods and answers the door. We shouldn’t have kissed. We shouldn’t have talked. We were supposed to be civil. He comes back to the kitchen with a large bag. I see the logo on the bag and immediately squeal with excitement. Our favorite place.

“Our favorite, got you your favorite rice to save as a snack for later”, he adds. I stop myself from saying I love you. I’m so used to our routine that I struggle to break out of it. I don’t want to break out of it.

“I’ll grab drinks if you set the table”, I offer. He accepts without question. I grab some beers from the minibar. I see the menagerie of plates on the table. A plate of my favorite rice dish, two full servings of my favorite dumplings, exactly two cups of soy sauce, all for me while he has some cutlets and rice with a side of dumplings. With the beers on the table, visually, this looks like our typical Friday date night. Why did things go wrong? Why did we want different things? He wanted to marry me before his enlistment, I wanted to wait till after he came back. I wanted kids sooner than he did, he wanted to wait a few years after marriage, so we can enjoy the “newlywed phase” longer. He wanted to announce our relationship to his fans, but I wanted to keep us safe. Was it worth the fight? No.

“Eat before we get caught”, Hyunwoo points to my plates.

Fuck, it feels like forever since I ate. He does his cute eyebrow thing where it looks like he’s focused on what he’s eating.

Are we going to talk about what happened in the kitchen? I don’t know if we’re ready to have that conversation.

We ate faster than usual, trying to hide our shame of eating in our wedding attire. Cleaning was fun, sneaking around to dispose of the evidence. Still an hour and a half away before the ceremony.

“Hyunwoo. What happened in the kitchen?”, I whisper.

“You kissed me, I should be asking you what happened”, Hyunwoo shuffles.

“Do you wish we could get back to what we were before the fight?”, I twiddle my thumbs.

“Of course I do, but we can’t ignore what we want”, he nods.

“We can talk about it, let’s compromise. I want a future with you”, I suggest. He grins from cheek to cheek.

“Then let’s talk”, he agrees, escorting me to the study. We manage to be alone. Thank goodness all of the staff are working outside to prepare for the ceremony. Closing the door behind us, Hyunwoo and I immediately lock lips. He raises my arms and holds my wrists together above my head. Kissing my neck, I apologize vigorously for being selfish about my wants instead of talking it out. I beg him to tell me what I can do to make it up to him, wanting him to tell me what dirty thought he has in that beautiful brain.

“Have my baby”, he wishes. Did I hear him right?

“Have your baby?”, I choke.

“We wanted a baby, didn’t we?”, he questions.

“We did, but I thought you wanted to wait”, I laugh off the nerves. I would love to have a baby with this man. Something made from us, something we grow together.

“I’m ready if you are”, he growls in my ear, pressing his hard dick against me.

“Now?”, I gasp.

“Remember when we were spontaneous?”, he chuckles, slowly lifting up my shirt.

“What if we get caught?”, my nervousness turned into eagerness.

“Let them. I want to love you right here, right now”, he smiles, dropping my panties to the floor.

“Love me, Hyunwoo”, I pant in excitement. He sweeps me in his arms, bridal style and lays me on the desk, my ass on the edge. My legs rest on his shoulders while he gets himself ready.

“You will look so beautiful pregnant”, he licks his lips.

“Your tits are already perfect, but imagining them swollen makes me want to put my dick between them”, he dirty talks. This is a new Hyunwoo that I haven’t seen before. He commented before how beautiful I would look glowing from a pregnancy, but never talked about my body.

“You would fuck my tits while I’m pregnant?”, I tease.

“And after the baby is born”, he adds. He thrusts into me without issue, I’ve been wanting him since I saw him in the kitchen. The sex felt like it’s our first time all over again. We took our time, alternated speeds and depth, loud as ever. I’m surprised no one found us from all of the noise we’re making with our bodies and from our mouths, but it’s part of the thrill. I hold onto his strong shoulders while he leaves hickeys on my tits, thank goodness I have concealer upstairs. His tongue on my nipples make my toes curl, he’s sucking the life out of me. We get worried that we would break the desk, so he takes me to the floor and fucks me from behind, one of my favorite positions. His iconic hip rolling is what sends me over the edge, making my vision blur, my ears ring. I grip onto the rug from the pressure. I cross my arms behind me so he could be more stable. Doing so, he hits my spot deeper than I could imagine. I shed a tear cumming on him.

“You’re doing so well, baby”, he grunts. His thrusts grow more aggressive, slamming hard into me.

“I’m going to fill you up with my cum. You’ll get pregnant for sure”, he moans.

“Fill me up”, I whimper, getting overstimulated. He slams into me once more before holding me still while he spills his seed. He’s choked up from the sensation. We’re used to using condoms or pulling out.

“Just a little bit longer, I want to give you all of me”, he softly sighs. He pulls out of me and sits down where he was kneeling. I lay on the floor, exhausted from pleasure.

“I love you”, he mumbles.

“I love you too”, I smile sweetly.

“Come back to me?”, his eyebrows furrow.

“Figured we already established that”, I playfully tap his leg.

“But you didn’t explicitly say yes to having my baby”, he shrugs.

“Hyunwoo, I will have your baby”, I accept. He looks out the window as if he’s going to cry. I reach to grab his hand.

“Let’s talk about plans after the ceremony”, I offer.

“Marry me”, he changes tones from soft to serious. Pardon me! Not even a question, but a statement? Hyunwoo, you know what you want and I love that about you.

“Is this the way you want to propose?”, I bashfully hide my face.

“We’re unconventional, something I love about us. Marry me”, he continues. He pulls out a ring from his pants pocket. What the fuck!

“You had that on you?”, I cough from shock.

“I had this in my pocket all day because I knew I would see you. I’ve been wanting to find a way to get you back”, Hyunwoo confesses. A way to get me back? Having a nice meal with me, asking me to have a baby, then giving me one of the best sex we had? Couldn’t imagine a better proposal.

“Yes, but let’s wait to announce till after the wedding”, I squint, not wanting to ruin our friends’ day. He puts the ring on my finger, on the brink of crying. He kisses my knuckles then my palm.

“You make me happy. I can’t wait to live my life with you”, he chokes.

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