#event has been completed!! now we're getting back to these :D

[wouldntyoulichentoknow]

See previous message of horribleness but with michiru

I'm what's left when children go to war

#sailor moon #Michiru Kaioh #Fanart #music shuffle meme #event has been completed!! now we're getting back to these :D #doing lots of hand stretches though bc I can feel cramps coming on after. two and a half months straight of drawing (so far) fhsdklfjs

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC’s Lucien Reunion Date English Translation

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

This post contains a detailed spoiler for a date that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

Lucien’s 2023 CN Birthday Event (The New World)✧ Birthday Story | Birthday Prologue | Birthday Date (You're here!) | ASMR | Birthday Party

It turns out that on a day like this, I'm allowed to have both loneliness and warmth at the same time.

Translation under the cut~

Special thanks to @/ivioivioivi for helping me translate some sentences. I am really thankful that you replied to my messages even in odd hours :"D.

[T/N: I don't want to break the flow, so I'll say it now. You need to at least read Lucien's 3rd birthday date and phone call (Looking Back Date+ Saplings of Love Phone Call) first to understand half of the date. It's even better if you've read all of his birthday dates and birthday R&S/stories. YEARS worth of build-up pays off wonderfully and painfully on this date :". Some non-birthday dates that get referenced/I think are important to understand his growth are:

Standstill date (I forgot the official EN localization of this date, so here is the fan translation ver of it. The 'old game' in this Reunion Date is a reference to this date).

Wild Luxury Date (not a direct reference, but MC's idea to book a B&B for his birthday can be traced back to them going to a wild luxury hotel LOL. Because of the 'memorable things' that happened here, they've been exploring many kinds of hotels ever since then.

Tidying-up date (The date dives deep into how Lucien dealt with his pain and grief- that is, by trying to abandon them because he didn't know any better, there's no time to slow down and properly deal with it :". But because of the 'complex feeling' (that he FINALLY got to understand in Reunion Date) he's unable to do so.

Also, a casual reminder that his birthday is also his parents' death anniversary since they got into a car accident during his 7th birthday- it'll come into play on this date ;).

ANYWAY, this date is such a TREAT for ppl who have been liking him for years and watching him grow slowly.

[Subtitled Video Ver - TURN ON CC]

VERY recommended to follow along with the voice acting for a more complete experience! It's just that he never sounded this vulnerable before :"". And BGM choice is really superb hhhh. I don't expect them to use that angsty BGM from last anniv.

[Transcript Ver]

I'm looking at the phone screen with one minute left on the countdown and placing the candle into the cupcake I secretly baked in the evening.

MC: 51, 52, 53......

I silently count the time, and at the last second, I push Lucien's study door open and turn off the lights.

MC: Happy birthday to you~

MC: Happy birthday to Professor Lucien, the smartest professor in the world~

The dim candlelight gently illuminates Lucien, who is sitting at the desk. He seems stunned for a moment, but soon, a joyful smile fills his eyes.

Lucien: So, the idea of celebrating my birthday at a B&B was just part of your surprise.

MC: I can't have you guessing everything. I still need to prepare some unexpected surprises for the birthday boy.

It's rare that Lucien doesn't have to go on a business trip this year, and there are no additional work assignments at the institute.

So, I booked a B&B in advance, taking two days off together. We'll celebrate his birthday while enjoying a brief vacation.

I smile and place the cupcake on the table, brushing away the strands of hair that hang in front of his eyes.

MC: And since we're both on vacation, every second from now on is worth celebrating.

MC: So, it's now a special midnight blessing time~

Lucien: [chuckles] And what blessing are you going to give me?

He wraps his arm around my waist, allowing me to sit on his lap.

His deep pupils dive into the depths of my eyes along our pressed foreheads, and even our breaths become intimate.

MC: Hmm... Midnight blessings mark the beginning of your birthday, so I'll start by wishing you... to be yourself on this day.

His pupils briefly contract, and it seems like even his breath has slowed down a bit.

MC: Usually, we often do things we don't particularly like for various reasons.

MC: Whether it's playing a role or fulfilling responsibilities, life is often filled with many “have to's”.

MC: But the privilege of a birthday means that today, you are the most important person in the world.

MC: So, on this day, do everything you want to do and be as comfortable as you can be.

MC: That's my midnight blessing.

The candlelight light is long, silently enveloping both of us and turning this small space into the whole world.

Lucien: (whispers hoarsely) Then I'll accept it.

His warm breath touches my lips, lingering into the first long trailing note of a wish.

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

After he blows out the candle and finishes the cake, I follow his wish and nestle into Lucien's embrace.

I occasionally use my gaze to trace his face. Although I don't know what he's busy with, I'm happy to spend every moment with him.

Spending it in silence is fine too.

Lucien: Several student papers that I was helping to mentor were sent over just in time. I'll finish them quickly.

MC: Take your time reading them~ This way, I'm also absorbing the essence of wisdom.

He arches his eyebrows, leans against my head, and then shifts his gaze back to the screen.

The mouse wheel sound bears witness to the continuously flipped text, and suddenly, I detect a brief moment of silence.

Lucien appears to have no reaction. His gaze is lingering and seems to have also frozen in this moment.

Did he encounter any problems?

I tilt my head and find the cursor paused beside a cited reference, flickering silently.

An obscure and minuscule string of English appears in the lower corner, with only "1996.98~99" discernible.

Lucien: MC.

MC: Lucien?

Our simultaneous saying left me momentarily stunned, and he seemed to be surprised as well. The hold around my waist tightened imperceptibly.

MC: What's wrong?

Lucien: (tenderly) Nothing, I just wanted to call your name.

Lucien: In order to give you my undivided time for the next two days, I just need a little more time.

Lucien: (softly) You go ahead and sleep.

MC: (smiles) Don't stay up too late then.

With a familiar warmth beside me, I don't say much. I simply raise my head and lightly peck his lips, only to realize that he hasn't let go of my hand.

Lucien: Just stay by my side, I'll take care of getting you back into bed with me.

—-------------------------------------------------------

When the alarm clock goes off, I sleepily roll over and discover that the other side of the bed is empty.

The hour hand has just pointed to six o'clock, and I shake off my drowsiness, getting up to search for Lucien's figure.

MC: Did he leave this early? There isn't anything urgent at the research institute, is there…

I'm contemplating whether to send him a message when the door is pushed open.

Lucien is uncharacteristically dressed formally, and I wonder how long he's been outside as he's covered in the chilly air of early autumn.

He probably doesn't expect me to wake up so early, but he just stands there indifferently.

It's as if he's stripped away all emotions and turned into a blank slate in human form.

Somehow, I don't ask him where he went. Instead, I walk over and instinctively take hold of his somewhat stiff and cold hand, placing it against my own face.

MC: Why didn't you wear a scarf? Come here quickly-

Before I can finish speaking, he envelops me in his embrace.

It's an incredibly tight embrace.

Lucien doesn't say anything, yet it's as if he's telling me something.

I simply tighten my hug, letting this silence continue.

The chill fades away as if bidding farewell, and the person in my embrace slowly opens his mouth.

Lucien: (quietly) MC, I went to do something very important.

Lucien: It feels like I'm years late, but fortunately, nothing has changed.

I can't see Lucien's face at this moment, but I can only feel his voice, soft as if not wanting to disturb a certain tranquility.

Lucien: But because of this, I seem to have some new questions.

Lucien: Can you help me with these things I haven't quite figured out yet?

He speaks vaguely, yet there's a genuine sincerity in his words.

A vague idea forms in my mind, something that I can't pin down, but I don't want to put off either.

I gently brushed his bangs with my fingers and looked at him calmly.

MC: Of course, I'm willing to help. How do you want me to help you?

This question seems to have stumped Lucien. He ponders for a while and then smiles helplessly.

Lucien: I don't know either.

MC: Well, it's wonderful. The world has left you with a special puzzle on your birthday~

Lucien that's somewhat at a loss makes me unable to suppress my laugh.

MC: It's okay. After all, growing up doesn't necessarily mean always moving forward. I'll help you find the answers.

—-------------------------------------------------------

I lead him into the living room, where the golden sunlight streams over the horizon, casting its glow upon us.

MC: But since student Lucien doesn't have a direction, I'll have to guide you in my own way, so you better cooperate with me.

Lucien: I'm more than willing, Teacher MC.

MC: Very well. First... let's start by filling our bellies!

—--------------------------------------------------------

After eating, as Lucien places the suitcase in the trunk, I suddenly recall something and retrieve the car cooler from the storage room.

Lucien: It seems that Teacher MC is indeed well-prepared.

MC: Hehe, I must protect my main course well~

And this way, you can go wherever you want.

I don't want to impose any pressure on him, so I simply think to myself and smoothly take the driver's seat.

MC: Today, let me be the escort for the birthday star.

Lucien: What if I also wish for MC to enjoy herself?

MC: You can't use the blessings I gave you against me!

I laugh and pinch his nose. Before starting the car, I come up with a great idea.

MC: Let's play an old game.

Lucien: Aren't we supposed to go to the B&B you booked?

MC: We have plenty of time, so we can have some fun before heading to our destination.

MC: No need to rush, taking it slow is also good. It's also the birthday star's privilege.

Lucien: [chuckle] I can't help but want to be this willful birthday star every day now.

MC: In that case, I'm fully on board!

I grip the steering wheel with both hands, waiting for his response.

MC: So, what's the number in your mind?

Lucien: How about... 389?

MC: Got it!

I enter the number into the map app and, without any reservations, start the car towards the unfamiliar location 18 kilometers away.

I don't drive too fast along the way. Rather than rushing to the destination, it's more about enjoying the scenery along the route. I ask him for the next random number when we encounter red lights.

MC: When did they start repairing the bridge here?

Lucien: It seems they started construction last year, and judging by the progress, it should be completed within the next six months.

Lucien: I hadn't noticed that park over there before.

MC: I remember that this place used to be a lake?

Lucien: Mm, they probably redesigned the walkway, and it seems like cars aren't allowed in anymore.

With Lucien's various choices, we leisurely travel the road, watching this extremely familiar city give birth to new branches in unfamiliar corners.

Time has always been silent, seeping into every crevice, every building, every plant, and every person's face.

The city also seems to be growing up with us, shedding a certain part of itself and transforming into something more fresh and new.

And as Lucien and I walk through these changes together, it's hard to say whether I feel more nostalgia or anticipation.

Until the red light appears, I have no idea where I've driven us to.

In the unfamiliar scenery, warm light falls upon Lucien's face.

MC: Now, do you have any places you'd like to go or things you'd like to do?

This time, I didn't ask him for a random number but instead posed a question during this brief moment of silence.

Perhaps it's only after walking many paths that you'll discover the one you want to take.

The red light flickers and the countdown numbers slowly extend into his field of vision.

Lucien: I want to... look at the flowers.

—-------------------------------------------------------

Under Lucien's guidance, we continued to drive for a while.

The unknown world gradually added familiar sights, and the road ahead also widened.

The road of the old street is wider than it was three years ago, as if it had been freshly paved with asphalt, shining brightly in the sunlight.

Heading uphill all the way, not far ahead, I can vaguely see a massive white building.

Unlike the last time, Lucien confidently directs the way this time—until we park in the parking lot next to the white building.

In the distance, the hills and fields are vibrant, and osmanthus flowers dance silently in the wind like tiny specks of light.

They complement this massive white building, radiating splendid beauty, which makes my eyes well up with emotion.

It turns out that something new has already bloomed on that empty lot.

MC: So, this hospital has already been built…

Lucien: Um, it will officially open to the public in a few months.

Lucien shows no intention of getting out of the car and calmly gazes ahead.

I also follow his gaze. The hospital is surrounded by hills and forests, and we listen to the distant chirping of insects, telling the secrets of the wilderness.

The wind rustles through the leaves, and the lush greenery and deep red hues cast beautiful light and shadow under the sunlight.

MC: Were these trees here before?

Lucien: I believe they were also transplanted here in the past two years.

I lean against the steering wheel, looking at the scenery in front of me that is entirely different from what I remember, and I can't help but not know how to describe my feelings.

MC: Can a hospital be built so quickly?

Lucien: Of course, it's even faster since this hospital is a crucial project for expanding clinical teaching bases in Loveland City.

He said it naturally, causing my gaze to unconsciously shift back at him.

Perhaps my gaze is too probing, so Lucien casually slumps down on the right side of the dashboard.

Lucien: Actually, I've been here a few times before due to work reasons.

Lucien: While their primary research focus is orthopedics, they also want to incorporate related studies in neuroscience to treat more complex and critical diseases.

Lucien: That's why the hospital director approached me for a collaboration.

MC: You surely agreed, right?

Lucien: Do I appear so easy to persuade?

MC: You're far from being easy to persuade.

I reach out and gently caress his cheek that's nestled between his arms.

MC: (smiles softly) It's clear to me that you've always known what you want to do.

In the sunlight, Lucien seems to smile more comfortably. He nuzzles my palm, bringing himself closer to me.

Lucien: Although they are still lacking in clinical expertise in neuroscience, Lucien's Bioscience Research Center has already signed an agreement with this hospital.

Lucien: I will provide them with the necessary research theoretical support.

Lucien: However, to bridge some gaps, I recommended one of my former classmates from my doctoral program to them. Whether they can persuade him to join depends on the efforts of the hospital director.

Lucien appears nonchalant, but I can hear so much sentiment in his words.

It's Lucien's own research institute that concluded the collaboration, and even though he's aware of the shortcomings on the other side, he still chose to cooperate.

He probably unconsciously hopes that the things that are growing anew on that land will turn into something even more beautiful.

Perhaps because I've been staring at him, Lucien seems to have also understood the unspoken words I haven't uttered.

Lucien: The reason I agreed may be because, at some moment, I felt like I had touched upon a coincidence called fate.

MC: Should scientists believe in these things?

Lucien: [chuckle] It's needed once in a while.

We can't help but laugh together.

MC: How about we get down and go for a walk?

MC: Perhaps fate has other words to speak within this coincidence.

While that's what I'm saying, I actually don't know what else fate might have to say.

We don't enter the hospital; instead, we aimlessly stroll around.

That empty lot is no longer just a distant memory, nor does it remain stagnant in its place.

We walk up the hill and see a slightly small but uniquely looking shop by the side of the side road.

It quietly nestled amidst the woods directly facing the hospital, the rich aroma of coffee blending gently with the scent of fresh grass.

MC: This shop is also new, right?

Lucien: Indeed, I didn't expect a new coffee shop to open here.

Our gazes collide, and in each other's eyes, we see the same expectation.

MC: Let's go check it out then!

The simple and elegant decor made the whole café look clean and bright.

There's only one owner in the store, even though it's not yet opening time, she warmly welcomed us.

Owner: I didn't expect to have customers at this time.

Owner: The sunshine is lovely today. Why don't you two sit over here and enjoy the beautiful scenery?

She says as she leads us to a floor-to-ceiling window on the south side. Looking at the scene in front of me, I unconsciously hold my breath.

Emerald green, golden yellow, and crimson red – time unfolds the colors it has painted to depict life in front of this window.

It's as if the four seasons silently cycle, but at this moment, it kindly extends all of its vistas, leaving the shadow of time here.

Owner: Not far away, they've built a new hospital, and it seems the director is very environmentally conscious as they've planted many trees in the vicinity.

Owner: Looking out of this window, there are two very special trees, and I observe that only during this season of the year is there such a unique view.

MC: ...It's really beautiful, thank you for your recommendation!

After thanking the boss, we're sitting in front of that window.

Lucien gazes out of the window, slightly lost in thought. The colorful light and shadows fall delicately on him, as if embracing him, sinking him into the shade of the trees.

MC: I wonder if this place is directly facing the window where the little boy used to be.

He pauses for a moment and looks at me amidst the gorgeous display.

MC: At this moment, can we also see the four seasons in his eyes when he looks outside the window?

Lucien: (smiles while looking away) Probably so.

Lucien: After all, it's what has grown anew on this land.

His voice is heavy and resolute.

MC: That's wonderful.

Lucien: Hmm?

MC: They are so beautiful, it's truly wonderful.

Memories are now distant and unattainable, but they still remain here. And in such a birthplace, all the beauty that has grown is so delightful.

MC: Perhaps this painting-like scenery is also a gift from fate to you.

Beneath the play of light and shadow, the girl's face is filled with the colors of sunshine, and she smiles warmly.

Lucien always feels that the emotions that he couldn't figure out the answer to seem to open a small crack, allowing even more indescribable feelings to pour out.

When discussing the collaboration compensation, he proposed donating two trees in the name of the research institute as a partial substitute for the hiring fee.

At every moment when he came here alone, he could clearly feel the spreading branches and twigs.

Perhaps, the meaning of time lies in the fact that nothing stays in one place, and this is also a form of trace and continuity.

It's just that, some changes would be better if they happened slower.

He always selfishly thinks this way.

Lucien: Probably... it really is a gift, isn't it?

Lucien: However, there may be more to it than just fate.

The colorful world is distant yet clear, all frozen in the eyes.

Because of you, I can see the traces of time so clearly.

It turns out that everything has passed for so long, long enough that I'm almost forgetting the name of this feeling.

It turns out that on a day like this, I'm allowed to have both loneliness and warmth at the same time.

It turns out that what I felt was sadness.

—--------------------------------------------------------

=Flashback Start=

The cemetery in the early morning is dark and solemn, with only a few stars twinkling in the sky.

The streets at four o'clock were too deserted, so Lucien bought a particularly simple bouquet of flowers from a newly opened stall at the door.

He passed through the freshly painted iron gate and walked slowly along the gravel path.

The paper's reference seemed to pull him into the light and shadow of time that he couldn't speak or think of yet also couldn't forget.

There were always two busy figures, always smiling with their eyes forever gazing into the distance.

These long-ago scenes that feel more like yesterday are strangling his breath and cutting open his wound today.

The time devoured by enduring anxieties of emptiness returns in its entirety today, as it does on all other 'todays'.

Some kind of longing dug into the wound, causing him to suddenly pause before tucking the girl in his arms into the quilt.

He pondered for a long time, and in the end, he decided to put on a suit.

That period of time was like this road, neither long nor short, but he spent many years on it.

Lucien stopped before the graves, gazing at the familiar names on it, and heaved a long sigh.

What should he say? He didn't know.

He simply gently placed the flowers down and reached out to touch the name on the tombstone.

The dust had settled in the gaps, and he cleaned it meticulously, even those stubborn stains were carefully wiped away.

He silently gazed at those two clean names, looking at them again and again.

Lucien: I seem to... miss both of you.

Today belongs to both of you, yet it also feels like it belongs to me.

When I abandon my name, I can treat it as a day that only belongs to me.

Now that I stand before you, does it mean that the distant past has slowly arrived at my side?

When I leave, the time left for you both will come to an end, and the time ahead should be reserved for her, or maybe for the me who's blessed by you.

Is that okay?

Lucien knew that no one would provide him with an answer. He simply sat there, no longer dwelling on anything.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, until the slowly approaching light from the distance began to illuminate him.

=Flashback End=

—--------------------------------------------------------

MC: You can open your eyes now!

Lucien opens his eyes under my guidance, and I happen to collect the last decoration.

Lucien: The issues troubling me seem to have somewhat disrupted your preparations.

MC: That's not entirely true.

Noticing that Lucien has picked up on some clues, I place the cake on the small couch and pull him down to sit.

MC: No matter how grand the birthday celebration is or how it is celebrated, the focus should be on the person who is celebrating it.

MC: You are the most important.

MC: Everything I've done is simply in the hope that they can appear more fittingly before you.

The warm light falls on the small arched couch, enclosing our figures leaning against the glass within it.

Outside, it started raining at some point, the raindrops hitting gently against the window. Much like the indescribable feelings, the world was shrouded in a misty haze.

Lucien: It feels like we're inside an egg here.

MC: Right? I think so too.

MC: So, let's just imagine we've briefly returned to the state before venturing into the human world and taking a rest here.

Lucien: Hmm, what's outside the window then?

MC: Outside the window is the place we'll go to.

MC: It might rain today, it might be clear tomorrow, or there might be a sandstorm.

MC: Every day, the weather will be different, there will be many sad things, and there will also be many happy moments.

Lucien: Can sadness and happiness... exist at the same time?

MC: Of course they can.

MC: Because they are both important to you.

I gently stroke his brow and gaze deeper into him through those eyes filled with emotions.

Lucien: (in the most fragile tone you ever hear-) ….Then, can you hug me?

I don't speak; instead, I answer him with my actions.

Perhaps I had also waited for a long time, waiting for him to come to me, letting me accompany him and giving me the right to comfort him.

Lucien: I went to meet some very important people today.

MC: Um.

Lucien: I miss them very much.

MC: Mm.

Lucien: But I feel happy again because of you.

I bite my lower lip hard and feel my eyes slightly welling up.

Lucien: I don't know how to handle these emotions, but I also feel a bit childish like this.

MC: I don't think so. I really like you just the way you are now.

MC: Being candid and clumsy, like a child without any worries. It's a kind of growth for you too.

Lucien: But today is obviously my birthday, isn't?

MC: It's precisely because today is your birthday that you can be like this.

I can't help but hug him even tighter.

MC: Sometimes, I feel as if we're growing up like layers of an onion, with each year wrapped around the last.

MC: Even though you're growing older, you still have all the previous ages you've been.

MC: You are also the 26-year-old Lucien, the 20-year-old Lucien, the 18-year-old Lucien, the 14-year-old Lucien – you are every version of yourself from different time periods.

MC: So, you can think rationally, but you can also be indifferent; you can be passionate, yet feel discouraged at times.

MC: When we grow up, we don't abandon ourselves. Every version of you from the past is still within your heart.

MC: You will see them, comfort them, and accept them.

Behind me, Lucien is silent, but the slightly tightened arms seem to quietly reveal something.

MC: What did the ten-year-old Lucien do today?

Lucien: Mm... I read a very special book.

MC: And what about the fourteen-year-old Lucien?

Lucien: I went to Venice, took photos at the Bridge of Sighs, and accidentally dropped my camera.

MC: Hmm, and what about when you were seventeen?

Lucien: Spent an entire night in my own independent laboratory.

MC: Wow, you! You didn't pull an all-nighter at twenty as well, did you?

Lucien: When I was twenty… I was given a graduation ceremony that I think is a bit special now.

MC: And what about you today?

He slowly lifts his head, his soft fingertips caressing my cheek.

Lucien: I went to meet important people

Lucien: And returned to your side.

MC: So you see, today may be your birthday, but it's also a special book day and a day for a bit of luck to escape.

MC: It can be an all-nighter day or a day for sleep. It's your graduation ceremony, and it's also the day of your important people.

MC: It doesn't just belong to happiness, it simply belongs to you.

MC: Happy birthday, Lucien. You don't have to be just happy.

The droplet on the glass window reflects the candlelight, resembling burning osmanthus petals as if time itself has paused by our side.

Lucien finally smiles, his eyes sparkling.

Lucien: I think, I know what wish to make now.

He wraps my hands together in his and looks at the candlelight.

It seems like he's saying a lot of wishes, and only after a while does he rest his forehead against mine.

MC: I hope all your wishes come true.

Lucien: Well, this Miss will have to work hard because it's not just from the present me.

Lucien: I just took the opportunity to make up for all those days I forgot to make wishes.

MC: Right now, I feel like I'm accompanying the past you.

MC: Would you call me silly for feeling this way?

Lucien: (whispers softly) Of course not.

His warm lips gently cover mine, devout and solemn.

Lucien: Furthermore, for the future me, the present is my past.

At the moment the candles were blown out, the sound of fireworks bursting in the distance could be heard. Colorful fireworks exploded outside the window, decorating the night sky.

It turns out that the rain had silently stopped at some point.

Lucien: It looks like there will be fireworks outside the window.

MC: It's welcoming you.

At this moment, there are less than 10 minutes left until the end of Lucien's birthday.

I grab his hand and run out of the B&B, running onto the street.

The street scene is incredibly lively, and for some reason, the celebratory fireworks keep lighting up the night sky, leaving colorful streaks in their wake.

Pedestrians pause for a moment, and I hold Lucien's hand. We walk through the crowd and I excitedly turn back to him.

MC: Lucien, it's wonderful that you came into this world.

MC: Thank you for coming into this world, thank you for coming to my side.

Another burst of fireworks soars into the sky, and the world is so beautiful, as if gathering all the colors of this moment into his eyes.

All the accumulated emotions are like the fireworks at this moment, making him vibrant and alive.

I see him take my hand and wrap his other arm around my waist.

Perhaps this isn't even a dance, we're just embracing each other and spinning around while laughing.

It seems like only the two of us exist in the world.

Lucien: MC.

I hear him calling my name.

Lucien: Thank you, for giving me this beautiful world as a present.

MC: Then I hope even more that whether I participate in your world or not, you will have the beauty of the whole world.

Lucien: Don't worry.

Lucien's eyes are filled with a smile, and the lamp's warm glow makes him look incredibly bright.

Lucien: All my time is as dazzling as you.

-

[Phone Call- coming soon]

-

[Lux's small rambling corner]

Dying rn after two sleepless nights, so I'll say a little for now and will add more after resting for some days orz. But really, I think what makes this date good can be felt with heart. Every single sentence is golden and worth to be screaming about hnghhh.

Where should I start??? Everything about this date feels perfect. I don't even know where to begin🥹 I genuinely think this one is his best birthday date. The pay of years' worth of build-up and the metaphors are perfect, and GOD, how this date consists of everything that makes them unique and lovable to me.

I didn't anticipate that the writers would skillfully weave together past birthday dates on this occasion. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if this marks the final instance centered around the theme of the past self. Embracing every version of your past self that makes up 'you' is truly a fitting conclusion.

It's INSANE how his writers are able to build up the whole thing over the span of 6 YEARS like??? The way his change and growth happen little by little as we accompany him in those years, watching him now just being himself, frankly expressing his emotions and longing, and taking the initiative to be vulnerable for the first time, I can't help but feel emotional sob sob. Trust me, I CRIED the first time I read that part when he asked for a hug. We've seen him being vulnerable before, but him being the one who takes the initiative is an entirely different matter. I mean, Lucien????? the same guy that says he's okay when he got heatstroke???/hj.

Anyway, with each birthday, Lucien seems to discover something new. Like last year when he finally found a place that can be called home, this year, what he found was the loneliness and sadness from the past that he hid so deeply because he just didn't understand and had no time to deal with it. After his parents' death he give himself a new name and abandoned his old one. Like cutting off his past memories, put them in small box, locking them and hid them. Back then, he probably thought that he would never open that 'box' again and he would eventually forget its existence. But every time he get reminded of them, like in this date when he saw their names in reference he'd see the key of that 'box', reminding him of its existence.

Now, because of his encounter with her, he is gradually able to slow down, slowly understand his feelings and emotions. And so, he finally opened that 'box', went to the cemetery to see his parents and clumsily told them what he unconsciously always wanted to say, letting years of sadness and missing from losing them filled him. With this, he also slowly accept his every past self.

Like the fireworks after the long rain, his present self is alive and vibrant. Be it sadness or happiness, Lucien, I'm glad that now you can experience and accept both.

#he never take initiative to be vulnerable so when he did in this date I- #GENUINELY this is my fav birthday date like ever? #such a perfect pay off from YEARS worth of build up sob sob #mlqc lucien #mlqc #mr.love queen's choice #mlqc translation #mlqc cn #mlqc spoiler #Youtube

[fivewholeminutes]

there’s a part in take me back to Eden that says “i’m in a waking hell and the gods grow tired.” do you think it’s referencing the origin of vessel and sleep? as in, vessel was in “a waking hell” (reality/earth) before he shifted away from his previous life to believe in sleep (a ‘tired’ god)?

Hello there, Anon! This is a goooooooood one, let me roll my sleeves up for an answer-

This is a delicious perspective I have not considered before, however! I do believe he says "I'm a waking hell" there and I will explain later why, but for that I would have to leave the interpretation of the whole song here. And it will kinda mix the being in waking hell and being a waking hell, because I overdid it again. Apologies in advance.

For me, this song refers to the beginning of it all, to an event which was perhaps the final straw for the trilogy (or even the general idea of Sleep Token) to exist. There are parts of this song that feel like a reminiscence of a catalyst for the whole sleepy business and parts that describe the present, after Vessel got a taste of what the whole sleepy business is about. I'll try to explain that now!

I dream in phosphorescence Bleed through spaces See you drifting past the fog But no one told you where to go

We dive through crystal waters, perfect oceans But no one told me not to breathe And now the weightlessness recedes

Okay, for me, the first verse is him dreaming of the times before, of his Eden (a person, a "better" time in his life, whichever suits you). He bleeds through spaces (in the Dreamworld?) to see what he has lost and craves to come back to. But the dream turns into the moment it all went wrong, where they got lost/drowned. He comes back from the dream-turned-nightmare to the present with the chorus:

My, my, those eyes like fire I'm a winged insect, you're a funeral pyre Come now, bite through these wires I'm a waking hell and the gods grow tired Reset my patient violence along both lines of a pathway higher Grow back your sharpest teeth, you know my desire

(Oh god let me be feral about the chorus for a second here, ok. GOD I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, HOW CAN YOU WRITE POETRY LIKE THIS AND HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DELIVER THOSE LINES SO DELICIOUSLY. WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT. IT'S BEEN ALMOST 8 MONTHS AND I AM STILL EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS UNNOWN TO HUMANKIND WHEN I HEAR THIS- okay I am back to being normal now.)

He wakes up and remembers how cruel being under Sleep's influence is. That no matter what he dreams of (hello, The Apparition), he is always waking up to the reality, which is still terrible, despite Sleep's promises. The eyes (probably 6 of them huh) are Sleep's. Sleep continues to lure Vessel in, even when Vessel knows, after being with/serving/worshipping Sleep for quite some time now, that Sleep is going to be his downfall. But he stays, cause he has no better options, mayhaps?

And we're finally getting to the waking hell part which you've asked about!

He is in waking hell still, even if he thought he's going to escape from it. He knows he cannot/will not separate from Sleep now, but it's not like he's going to make Sleep's life easier with completely giving up. He:

isn't happy about the sleepy business (anymore);

has an attitude and WILL bite back;

will make his suffering everyone else's problem now.

Which brings me to the gods - in many interpretations I've seen, Sleep is an outcast in some sort of pantheon. He needed Vessel as much as Vessel needed him and together they are more powerful. Sleep helped Vessel in his lowest moment and Vessel, while gathering more and more worshippers, gave (and is still giving) Sleep enough power to make other gods' lives miserable as a revenge or something. Or just, you know, grow in power in general, it doesn't have to be a revenge. The other gods will be pissed off either way, because one thing all gods hate is other gods/entities growing in power.

The symbiosis with Sleep has worked for a while, but due to various reasons (Sleep getting too greedy, as gods do, not all Vessel's problems being magically fixed by Sleep's presence, miscommunication, different expectations, broken promises etc. etc.) Vessel started to rebel. He's in waking hell still (despite Sleep's promises that lured him in in the first place), so he will become one for the ones he can lash out on now (Sleep and the other gods). He embraced the become ungovernable meme. Isn't there a saying "hell is other people"? He took that literally. While he's awake, he is insufferable to all who he thinks is at fault for his current state now.

I will travel far beyond the path of reason Take me back to Eden

And he's happily going to continue to be insufferable to get what he wants (what Sleep has promised him when they've made their pact or whatever it is they did tbh), even if it's not reasonable to do so. He's beyond caring at this point.

And we're back to flashbacks, baby!

Well yeah, I spit blood when I wake up Sink porcelain stained, choking up brain matter and makeup Just two days since the mainframe went down and I'm still messed up Room feels like a meat freezer, I dangle in it like cold cuts Missed calls, answered phones from people I just don't trust Mirror talk, fake love But I'll take a pound of your flesh Before you take a piece of my paystub White roses, black doves, Godmother, rise up I need you to see me for what I have become

I really think this depicts the catalyst for going under Sleep's influence and the very moment they became entangled. Something happened (accident, death? and the aftermath of it, the lowest point, depression, becoming wary of people around him, aggression etc.) and that's when Sleep took an opportunity that would benefit them both (with the hidden agenda for later, of course). Now imagine the magical girl transformation with the roses and doves flying around and from Just Some Guy he becomes a Vessel and in the last moment of realisation of what he has done, he's crying out to the Godmother (whoever she may be!) that he's changed and probably irrevocably so.

Back to the present!

I guess it goes to show, does it not? That we've no idea what we've got until we lose it And no amount of love will keep it around If we don't choose it And I don't know what's got its teeth in me But I'm about to bite back in anger No amount of self-sought fury Will bring back the glory of innocence

He's realising that no matter what, he cannot turn the time back. Not even with Sleep's "help". He's not going to give up though, just for the sake of having something to do out of spite.

I have traveled far beyond the path of reason Take me back to Eden

Ok, with this one I am frankly not sure if it's "I have travelled" or just a repetition of the previous one. Can't hear it clearly and we don't have official lyrics (i am side eyeing Vessel so much rn). But. If it's "I will", it's just repeating of the things he'll do to piss the gods off. If it's "I have travelled", then maybe he's just confirming the past won't come back, even though he tried everything (has travelled far beyond the path of reason) or maybe he is still hoping the possibility to get back there physically, when everything was fine, and will fight for his Eden still. And not just out of spite.

#last time i focused on literary analysis this much was my end exams in high school for real #i hope that makes sense i feel like i have become a different person while writing it lmao #sorry anon i have not given you a straightforward answer #is this coherent? no #am i correct? also no #but it's one of the ways i see it #sleep token #sleep token analysis #asks #tumblr stop making random letters big in the small font challenge

[haecien]

Fast pace.

" We're going to that place we shouldn't go "

Synopsis — You're both starting to drift away from each other like pieces of broken wood in the ocean but he's going at a fast pace whilst your left behind.

Paring — Joshua x G/n!Reader

Genre(s) — Angst, He fell first and lost feelings first, You fell last but fell harder, fantasy au

Warnings — Mentions of arguing, like some cursing at the end.

Wc — 770 words 3,942 characters

A/n : This is apart of @caratsland event! Please check out this post to see the other members works !!! also... yeah I couldn't help myself I made it a fantasy au, Its maybe cause I wanna play d&d SO badly but I got no one to play it with HAHA

So, how does this world work? Since its a fantasy au, of course they're different species. Yeah... this is going to be too long so the details will be at the end! happy reading<333

" You're going too fast baby. " you yelled out to joshua, most of the time it's you who always ran ahead but, he seemed to get out of your sight and was now deep in the forest. Almost completely disappearing.

You felt your wings flutter in excitement whenever you felt his presence, your heart pounding very hard almost feels like its escaping out of your chest. You loved him deeply, and he knew that.

What so who cares if you're both different species? You didn't care, You both knew you loved each other, He says " I Love you, " whenever we see each other in the mornings, he says it proudly too. He doesn't care if others are watching, he will say it loudly and proud.

But, hes walking so quickly. I can't keep up with his pace, the days go by and I feel like i'm losing him, he was always faster than me. I could never catch him anymore, It feels like we used to click so fast but now I'm finding it difficult for you to open up to me.

You walk at a fast pace and I can't meet it. What could I do even if I walked as fast as you? getting further away. I don't know, there's something about you I like a lot. I thought we would work, now we're arguing and making each others faces red, with anger. A year ago, I wouldn't believe that I would have been fighting with you, the one I said I loved.

Weeks of arguing and awkward conversations, did you just have enough of me? Now you never said " I love you, " unless I said it first. You never thought of me unless someone mentioned me, I wonder if you even remember me. I'm starting to think you don't.

You've disappeared, you left our home town. All your friends and family miss you very much, I miss you. The hands we're both holding have no warmth at all, is it time to let each other go. Why now? How come we've let it come to this, Why do we have to hurt like this? It’s no fun. Even when we make plans to meet up in the future I don’t look forward to it,

you sighed as you took out a piece of paper, It's been 3 years since Joshua cut contact with you completely. The jar of ink with your feather sitting beside it waiting for you to start writing you couldn't help but cry a little bit. It hurts how he sends letters to his friends, his family, but not you.

He looks like he has completely moved on while your still stuck on the memories you had together. Yet your still waiting by your mailbox just even a tiny gift from him would make your whole entire year.

It's been three hours since you've started writing, you're finally finished. You wrapped your letter in an envelope, you sticked on a beautiful flower, It was his favorite. He said it reminded it of you, so beautiful and delicate.

" My dear, Hong Jisoo

I'm writing you this letter because I still need something, anything, from you. I'm waiting for your response. It's been three years, I miss your morning "I Love you," perhaps even an apology. You allegedly tell your pals that you adore me even when I'm not around before stopping one arbitrary night. It appears as though we are now strangers.

How can I win back your favor? I've been wanting to express this in front of you without scaring you away, but how do I make you feel the same as me again? I had hoped that we would remain in love until we were elderly, but you left me far sooner than I had anticipated.

It's strange that it has been more than a year since we last spoke; I wasn't even aware that you would be going away. Even though you've gone on from me, I feel like I've already forgotten what your voice even sounds like because I still think about you every day. How a part of me still loves you is strange.

This entire experience felt real to me even if it wasn't to you. It's strange that even though we haven't spoken in a very long time, I still miss you.

It seems strange that after everything, I can still miss you. "

You sent this letter to the post office, it's been a week now. You still don't know if he ever got your letter, who knows? He never replied.

You're set in a place called "Καράτι" (I used Google translate so if any1 speaks Greek im sorry!!) Which means "Carat"

This place is home to many creatures a like, you have your common fairies, dragons, elves, dwarfs, and all those types!

Well ofcourse humans still exists but, eh fuck them they're not important here!

We will be focusing on 3 major species

Fairies, Dragons and Elves.

Who are the fairies in the story? :

Reader, Wonwoo, Minghao, Dino

Who are the dragons in the story?:

Mingyu, Vernon, Seungkwan, Woozi

Who are the elves in the story?:

Hoshi, Joshua, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Dokyeom

General taglist: @woozvc

#✦cienlvrs.mp4 #seventeen #caratlibrary #kflixnet #seventeen imagines #seventeen x reader #svt imagines #seventeen imagine #svt fanfic #seventeen angst #seventeen x you #seventeen fic #svt x reader #joshua hong #joshua #svt

[hotpinkboots]

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~"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫?"~

(𝓞𝓫𝓲-𝓦𝓪𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓫𝓲 𝔁 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻)

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HERE'S THE WHOLE "PUTTING YOUR COLD HANDS ON OBI-WAN'S NECK" PROMPT I THOUGHT OF FOR STAR WARS MONTH WOO. Also I'm definitely going to have the Star Wars month event thingy go into next month, because this month has been busy and tiring so I haven't really gotten out the amount of fanfiction I wanted to. So we're gonna have two Star Wars months here LOL

Up next is the prompt where the reader washes Anakin's hair 🥺

Obi-Wan is so done help him please. I just wanted to get this silly short mini-oneshot out, it's full of dumbassery :D

~Enjoy~

★★★★

𝓞𝓫𝓲-𝓦𝓪𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓫𝓲

★★★★

Obi-Wan looked so done.

A few days ago, you had put your cold hands on his neck just to get on his nerves, and the reaction you got embarrassed him to no end. He gave a tiny shiver and dodged forward, shouting your name in disapproval. You laughed, he had a chuckle, of course, because he had figured it was a one time surprise.

He had underestimated how annoying you could be.

It was repetitive, now, putting your cold hands on his neck to warm up and make him sigh in annoyance or tell you firmly to stop.

Today, you were quite horribly bored. Why not go bother him again? It's not like you had anything else to do today. No missions, in fact, it was oddly quiet, which was quite rare.

The joke would certainly get old quite fast, and you did have the feeling Obi-Wan was already sick of it. It's not like he had a say in the matter, of course.

After going out of your way to grab a couple ice cubes from the mini-fridge in your quarters, you left to find the Jedi, for no reason other than to bother the poor man.

Trotting down the halls of the Temple, you at last spotted Obi-Wan. His arms were crossed, his back turned to you, and he was looking up at his Padawan. Whatever Anakin had done this time wasn't your focus, although you took note of his expression, he seemed tired and humiliated with himself. A laugh ought to do the poor thing a bit of good, you thought sympathetically at the sight of Anakin's frown.

You walked silently behind Obi-Wan, although he knew already of your presence and began to turn towards you, while Anakin gave you a mumble of a greeting.

"Surprise." You stated, putting your cold and wet hand on Obi-Wan's neck, making him tense up and shut his eyes. The deep sigh of exasperation was heard, and Anakin knew better to laugh, although he was unable to hold it in after seeing his Master so exasperated.

It wasn't until you cut off Obi-Wan's sentence with a, "Wait!" and made the Jedi look at you like you were crazy that Anakin began to laugh. You had tugged back Obi-Wan's robes and put the melting ice cubes down his bare back, and he immediately yelled your name in protest.

"(Y/N)!" Obi-Wan shouted, looking shocked and almost panicked for a moment as the cold ice hit his back and slid down.

"Stop doing that!" He said sternly, giving you a sharp look of disapproval as he tried to remain composed, like there weren't freezing ice cubes going down his back. Obi-Wan quickly tried removing his robe to get to his first layer of clothing to remove the cubes before they melted even further.

The poor man looked completely annoyed as he saw both you and Anakin laughing together like you'd just seen the best circus show in the galaxy.

Obi-Wan paused, his eyes looking to the side as he thought for a moment. At last, a huff of a chuckle escaped him. How ridiculous was this situation? He'd definitely have to have a talk with you later about pushing his limits. But, for now, he simply let you enjoy your laugh.

The Jedi sighed and shook his head fondly, standing there cold and slightly annoyed but amused, and fond of seeing you and Anakin having a genuine laugh. He rolled his eyes.

"Why am I here, just to suffer?"

~~~~~~~~~~

I was going to do something more romantic at first but I realized that the only correct way to write this was to push Obi-Wan's buttons

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Request Guidelines!

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Discord Server! Here you can roleplay with and as your favorite characters, get updates on my fanfiction, and get sneak peaks for my upcoming videogames!:

tell me if this link works btw it's acting weird today

~~~~~~~~~~

~Love, PinkBoots

#star wars #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan x reader #obi wan #obi wan kenobi #star wars x reader #star wars month

[saezurufeels]

I am very interested in seeing how their dynamic will change after this kiss and if they have sex next chapter. It is so interesting to read it from the beginning since both Y and D have changed. I know some people get frustrated with how slow things can go but I like the angst and emotional conflict lol. I am a bit worried about D being cold after this point since I think that would hurt Y a bit but he also initiated the kiss so maybe he is also ready to open up emotionally again. Idk, there are so many paths that can be taken.

I agree with you, I think the angst and emotional conflict are central to the story! The emotional conflict is The Point. Critiquing the story's pacing (aka, "Yashiro isn't doing enough, he should just confess") and coming up with unlikely hypotheticals (aka, "what if Yashiro 'goes back' to being dishonest") doesn't help anyone understand the themes or the characters any better, it only serves to diminish everything that has actually happened. Like you said, Yashiro and Doumeki have changed, so I wonder why Yashiro is still on trial for his past behaviour, superimposed on present day events? If we take everything into consideration, Yashiro's past behaviour makes complete sense, cause we know exactly what demons he was battling. And if we take everything into consideration, Yashiro's present day behaviour still makes complete sense: Doumeki is acting cold, and Y has a fear of rejection.

The only way I can explain this whole line of reasoning ("Yashiro Bad") is that when a character is perplexing they seem more intimidating, and when a character is intimidating and confusing, we tend to villainize them more. In the same vein, infantilizing Doumeki and framing him as Yashiro's helpless test subject, who lacks any and all autonomy, helps vilify Yashiro even more. Doumeki is not at Yashiro's mercy. Doumeki is an adult with the freedom of choice. In fact, not all of D's choices post-timeskip have even helped bring about a neat, fairytale conclusion. Conveniently, that's often left out of the discussion about the plot. Doumeki's actions, as well as Yashiro's actions have been messy and complicated, making this emotional conflict come to a peak in chapter 51. That's how the author intended it. Again, if we focus on what Yashiro has done "wrong" 4 years ago, then we miss the whole Point of the story.

The point is to understand how rejection (and abuse) impact people. Yashiro's rejection (childhood neglect) made him develop negative coping mechanisms and low self-worth, which made it impossible for him to accept Doumeki's love. Doumeki's rejection has resulted in him putting up walls and concealing his emotions (similar, if not exactly like Yashiro btw). Knowing that, we're suppose to empathize with Doumeki AND Yashiro. We're suppose to understand why they act how they act. And although trauma doesn't justify abuse, I would hardly consider Yashiro rejecting a potential romantic partner to be abuse. Abuse is the opposite of letting someone go.

Going back to your ask, I totally agree, I would love to see Doumeki open up and be vulnerable with Yashiro. You're right, the story could go in many directions. I'm pretty optimistic now, given that they've both shown some very revealing emotions, even before the kiss. Yashiro didn't beat up Doumeki just for the sake of beating him up. Doumeki didn't forcefully drag Yashiro away from Kido for nothing. They did those things because they care about each other. I think it's going to be hard for them to go back to pretending nothing happened. It seems that Saezuru is attempting to show how two people can find their way back to each other despite their individual struggles. Thanks so much for the ask!

#asks and replies #yashiro #doumeki

[hoffmannwrites]

On My List

1  - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 + 1 Masterlist

Author’s Note: OMG this is the last part. I can't believe I actually finished a fic?? who am I??? anywho, this part gets a little hot and heavy, so just a warning there. Nothing super explicit, but like dicks are mentioned. Thank you for reading alone and indulging me!!

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Description: 5 Times Steve and Eddie kiss as friends, and one time they don't.

Warnings/Tags: Everyone lives, Nobody dies, 5+1, Kissing, Fluff, Idiots to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, heavy petting, brief sex talk, gay stereotypes, brief mention of Upside Down induced PTSD and panic attacks, uhhh they're gay your honor, no beta we die like Barb, let me know if I missed anything?

I Think We're Alone Now

+ 1

There’s only so many platonic kisses from a super hot jock that a single-braincelled gay man can take. And 5 is the limit. Eddie has been absolutely losing it since he high tailed it out of the last sticky situation he was in with Steve, still trying to wrap his brain around what the fuck was happening. He’s gone back and forth between a bunch of different theories, but usually ends up ping-ponging between “Steve is just a very affectionate friend who is comfortable in his heterosexuality” and “Steve keeps kissing me for a reason”. Eddie refuses to acknowledge the fact that this reason is because Steve actually likes kissing other boys in a very gay, very homosexual way, refuses to even toy with the idea that Steve likes him in that kind of way. But even though he fully believes it is actually impossible, Eddie has been mildly avoiding Steve for the past few weeks. Not totally! But anytime that Eddie isn’t sure if Robin is also working, he waits to return his tapes until he’s sure she is. And anytime Steve calls to invite Eddie over for movie night or to do something with the kids or anything, Eddie makes sure he leaves early enough that he’s not the last one standing. Makes sure he only goes into the kitchen for a snack when someone else is already in there. It’s just safer this way, he thinks. He doesn’t have to deal with the issue if it’s never really an issue, right? Doesn’t have to answer or ask any questions if he and Steve aren’t alone together for them to come up. 

However, Steve isn’t a complete fucking idiot and notices something is up. It takes him a little while, assuming Eddie is just busy with the band or D&D for a couple weeks before he really starts to notice the pattern. But once he does, he’s worried. Worried because he knows what Eddie’s been through in the past year, knows from personal experience how hard it is to live in "the after" of that. He knows that sometimes it can take a long time to really process and show any signs of PTSD, knows it can get even worse around the anniversary of the event (which is right about…now actually). And above all of it, he knows how fucking lonely it is, how hard it is to try to do it by yourself. I mean, hell, Steve didn’t really have anyone to talk to until Robin came around, because it was just too weird with Jonathan and Nancy, and the kids were just kids. And even after he had Robin, he still had to go home sometimes. Usually to an empty house. And even if it wasn’t empty, it’s not like he could tell his parents what was going on, just had to put on a brave face and blame his weird mood on a failed algebra test or a bad day at work. So yeah, he’s no stranger to having to go through all this shit alone and trying to just deal with the impossible- with the way his scars itch and he always feels like there’s something just around the corner and the ringing in his ears sometimes and the migraines and the way his chest starts to tighten when he thinks about any of it too hard. And Steve is determined to make sure Eddie doesn’t have to go through that alone, not like he did. 

So they have a movie night. It’s supposed to be Eddie’s turn to pick, but he’s waiting for the new Evil Dead to get in at Family Video, so they let El pick and she chooses The Goonies (after some helpful suggestions from Robin), which no one is opposed to because it’s fricking The Goonies. And they're at the point where Chunk is telling the Fratellis about everything bad he’s ever done when Steve gets up and goes to the kitchen to make more popcorn. He hates yelling during the movie, but knows it’ll actually be less distracting in the long run. “Eddie can you come here and help me with something?” He knows Eddie is about to complain, ask why someone else can’t do it, he can feel it in his bones like a sixth sense, so he continues. “I need someone tall.” He knows Argyle is actually the tallest out of the group, but he’s been passed out in the recliner since the Truffle Shuffle. He also knows Eddie will never resist an opportunity to remind everyone that he is exactly one inch taller than Steve and yes it matters. 

Eddie hops up from his spot on the floor, too blinded by his own ego to see this is obviously a trap. Steve would never ask him for help to reach something, his pride would prevent him. But Eddie is in the kitchen now, and Steve is pointing to the cabinet above the fridge “there’s more popcorn in there, I just can’t reach it.” 

“Aw, too short down there in under 6-foot land? Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you, seeing that I’m the tallest man in the world,” Eddie says, patting Steve on the head patronizingly. 

“In the world?” Steve just repeats, in disbelief at how Eddie’s ego knows no bounds. 

“Ever, actually,” he casually replies, handing Steve the box of Pop Secret with a smug smile. 

He turns on his heel to return to the living room, but Steve grabs his wrist before he can. 

“Uh, actually I wanted to talk to you for a minute.” Steve says, voice softer and eyes kinder than they were a minute ago. 

Oh no. Oh no oh fuck oh shit. He was about to tell Eddie that he thought this had all gone too far and he knew Eddie had a big fat gay crush on him and that Steve was flattered but just Straight with a capital S. And that was fine! Eddie could live with that, it was honestly probably the best let down he could hope for. But it was so nice living in this delusion where every kiss with Steve didn’t have an overcast cloud of “he rejected you!” over it yet. But Eddie realizes that he’s going to have to have this conversation sooner or later. And he wants to run, oh god does he want to high tail it the fuck outta dodge, but he can’t. No more running, right?

“Ohkayyyy,” Eddie says, feigning oblivion. He decided to stay, not to face it like a man. Baby steps. 

“I just uh.. I just noticed that you’ve been ya know kinda off the past few weeks." (Eddie starts to sweat) "You haven’t been around as much-" (his eyes are looking everywhere except Steve) "-and you pretty much always leave while it’s still light out-" (oh god was it that obvious that he didn’t want to be alone with Steve at night?) "- and you’re just keeping to yourself a little more.” (God he’s so fucking transparent) “I just wanted to let you know that, I get it." (Here is comes) "It’s been a year since everything and it’s never easy on the anniversary and I know it’s fucking scary but you don’t have to do this alone."  (Steve is still holding his wrist) “You know, you have me and Robin and everyone else to talk to or to stay with and we get it. And I know it’s hard to talk about this shit, but you went through literal hell and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. " (Wait he’s confused) "We’re all still processing and dealing with that trauma and PTSD is super complicated, so like we’re here to talk. It helps a lot more than you think, and I just don’t want you to have to deal with all your Upside Down shit alone, okay?" (He’s still confused but putting the pieces together.) 

And Eddie just stairs at Steve for a minute, computing everything Steve just said. Just stares for too long then is appropriate, probably. And Steve looks so concerned, so sincere. And Eddie can’t help but laugh. Fucking fully toothygrincan’tbreathe LAUGH. And now Steve’s a little pissed because, hey man-we all went through shit and people died and we almost died it’s not fucking funny. But before he can chastise Eddie, the taller man is apologizing. “Oh fuck I’m sorry. I’m not—that was really sweet. And I appreciate the fuck outta you. That’s just so not where I thought this conversation was going.” 

Steve’s relieved. “Oh.” 

Eddie’s relieved “Yeah.”

“So where did you think it was going? “

Eddie is no longer relieved. “Oh it’s nothing.” 

“Because something is definitely up with you.”

Fuck. Damn Harrington and his spider sense for always knowing what’s wrong.

Eddie has a couple options. He can keep walking on eggshells, ignoring his friends, and flaking early and pretend like nothing is happening forever. (Or until his crush on Steve goes away. Which it won’t. So forever). He can stop doing that, but still avoid this conversation, and just act like nothing ever happened. (Which notably will be impossible, with the way he can’t ever take his eyes off Steve when they’re together.) Or he can face this. Right here, right now. He can tell Steve what’s going on and they can both get the fuck over it. And hell, the man saved the entire world with a guitar solo, he can face a straight boy not liking him back. 

“I like you” 

“Yeah I’d hope so. You’re in my home and we’ve been hanging out for like a year.” 

“No like… I have, uh, romantic feelings for you. And I know you don’t feel the same and you’re straight and that’s fine, I just couldn’t keep dealing with being around you all the time and you flirting back and kissing me because even though I know it never meant anything to you, it meant something to me and was really confusing so I just had to put some distance there. And I know that you’re probably gonna be pretty upset with me for, like, being gay and letting you joke with me or whatever and that’s fine, I just, uh. Yeah. That’s why I’m being weird. The Upside Down stuff is like, completely secondary to everything else going on in my head right now.” 

Steve just lets Eddie ramble. Lets him get it all out while he listens with his arms folded across his chest and eyebrows raised. Once Eddie finally finishes, finally meets Steve’s eyes, Steve can’t help but quirk his brows into the bitchiest expression he can muster. 

“First of all, you gotta sort out your priorities. The anniversary of our group shadow dimension almost-death should definitely come before worrying about boys. Second of all, who told you that?” 

Eddie’s a little taken aback at Steve’s nonchalance. And confused again. “Told me what?” 

“Like. Half of that shit. That I’d be mad at you for flirting with me? That it was a joke? That I’m straight?”

Now that last one really catches Eddie off-guard. “Well. No one. But like. You are. Right? Straight I mean.” 

Steve’s face is just getting more contorted as this conversation goes on. “Eddie!” He pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Who’s my favorite singer?” 

“What?” 

“Answer the question” 

“Springsteen. Or Madonna.” 

"And what’s my favorite movie?"

“You tell everyone its Animal House but its Rocky Horror.” 

It’s like Eddie doesn’t even hear the words that are coming out of his own mouth. And Steve is looking at him wide eyed with an eerily similar expression to the one Robin gave him in that Star Court bathroom stall in the summer of ‘85. “Eddie…” he takes a step closer and Eddie move his eyes to meet Steve’s, brow still furrowed, ass now pressed against the countertop. Steve boxes him in, puts both hands on the counter on either side of Eddie. He wants to kiss Eddie, wants to kiss him and shut him up and drown in those stupid big eyes so fucking bad, but apparently that hasn’t worked yet! Apparently kissing 5 times is just too vague for the metal head. So Steve does what he does best, he flirts relentlessly. His mouth is inches away from Eddie’s and Eddie looks almost drunk off it, trying to follow around Steve’s eyes and lips at the same time. “Remember what you called me in the RV when you were hotwiring it last spring break?” Steve is whispering into Eddie’s blushed skin. 

Eddie swallows heavily trying to focus on the meaning behind the words and not just the fact that he can feel them on his skin. “Uh…big boy?” He says, voice almost squeaking, completely void of all previous bravado or sex appeal. 

“Mhm,” Steve nods slightly. “I always knew I was into guys. But you calling me that, while hot wiring a fucking trailer. It wasn’t just Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elm Street in a crop top or Tim Curry in those fishnets anymore. It wasn’t a hypothetical anymore. It was right in front of me. It was you. A little dirty and in leather and me in your fucking vest and you grinning up at me like you didn’t know exactly what you were doing to me.” The whole time he’s making this confession, he’s whispering it straight into Eddie’s skin. He’s getting impossibly closer and ghosting over ever where Eddie needs him. But they’re crotch to crotch at this point and Eddie can feel Steve getting half hard against him at the thought of the memory and Eddie is quick to follow in his footsteps. Eddie is silent, eyes half closed and just relishing at Steve being all over him. “Eds..” Steve practically licks up Eddie’s neck, getting only a hum that sounds like a question back. He removes his right hand from its place on the counter and brings it to Eddie’s chin, gripping it just enough to shock him into opening his eyes and really looking at Steve. “Kiss me.” 

Eddie doesn’t need to be told twice. His hands are in Steve’s hair, his shoulders his waist, his ass, just moving trying to feel all of him. Steve is pressing him into the counter so hard now Eddie thinks there might be a bruise across the backs of his thighs, but he doesn’t fucking care because the way the front of their bodies press together is worth everything. Steve’s hands are in Eddie’s hair now, tugging just right and Eddie’s mouth opens enough to let Steve bite his bottom lip and tug. And Eddie almost moans out loud, but catches himself just in time. “Steve.” Now it’s his turn to return a noncommittal hum. “Steve-“ Eddie says more pointedly this time, pulijng him back just slightly by his pockets. Before Steve can protest, before he can let out the whine he's on the verge of, Eddie reminds him of their current situation. “There are kids in the other room. And if you keep going, I’m going to cream my jeans in your kitchen.” Steve loves the idea of Eddie cumming in his pants for him, if he’s being honest, but understands the issue. “Stay the night?” He asks with a few more kisses to Eddie’s neck. “You’ll be lucky if you ever get rid of me again” and Eddie has to practically drag Steve back to the living room, where they’re now sitting almost on top of each other on the floor against the couch. It takes about 10 minutes before the kids realize they never brought back popcorn and Nancy decides to go do it her damn self. 

A/N:

The Goonies came out in June of 1985. It’s a banger. I think that El would really like it because it’s got adventure and friendship and bad guys who get what’s coming to them and has a happy ending. It remind her of her friends and she has a crush on Mikey (also rip Bob) 

Popcorn was like huge in the 80s? Act 11 and Pop Secret both came out in the early 80s as microwave popcorn and so did a bunch of other brands. I didn’t know it came out so late??? Wtf??? I forget microwaves didn’t exist.

I named each of these chapters after a song from the 80s and they've all been period accurate accept for this one, which came out in August of '87 ( this would take place around March/April of '87), but it's fucking TIFFANY so I made an exception. Anywhore, here's a list of the songs in case you wanna check them out.

You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive

Every Breath You Take by The Police

Happy New Year by Abba

Suddenly, Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors

Drive by The Cars

I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany

Thank you for reading my little fic, gay people in my phone! Feel free to follow my fandom Twitter @ hauntedvaginas , check me out on Ao3 @ hoffmannwrites or shoot me DM here if you ever wanna be my friend. I love you and I'm kissing you on the forehead.

#fluff #stranger things #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things au #rattwrites #steve harrington #5 + 1 #5 + 1 fic #steddie fanfic #smut if you squint #idiots to lovers

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #57 (part two)

Journal Entry #57 (part one) // STORY INDEX

Victor

Just in case anyone was getting the impression that mine and Yuri’s time apart has been completely consumed by thoughts of each other and of Yuri's therapy, let me fill you in on what else I've been doing since I've been back in Willow Creek.

To be fair, Yuri is on my mind a lot, and for the first few days I was here, I felt a little bit guilty whenever I was having fun with my friends or doing something new without him, but I'm feeling better about it now. I talked to Yuri and he said he felt the same way at first, but then he realized what a perfect opportunity he had to spend time bonding with his family.

Despite his initial misgivings about staying with his parents, he seems to be having a good time now, and he's obviously happy. I figured if it was okay for him to feel happy without me, it was also okay for me to feel happy without him. I missed him desperately though. No point in trying to hide that.

Anyway, once I got my head around my "temporary bachelor status", as my cousin Leo put it, I started to relax and really enjoy myself.

Speaking of bachelors, Uncle Stephen, Leo and I have been planning the most epic bachelor party of all time for Julian. We decided on an Italian theme because he and Mom are going to Tartosa for their honeymoon. There's going to be Italian food and music, and everyone's going to be encouraged to wear Italian beach club fashion. Uncle Stephen managed to reserve an event room at the Harbourside Haven with a view overlooking the water. It may be Newcrest, but we're gonna pretend it's a Tartosan beach scene.

At first, I thought it was kind of weird to have a theme, but Uncle Stephen said a lot of people have bachelor parties with themes. I deferred to him because what do I know? Nobody threw a bachelor party for Yuri and me, and this was my first time planning one for somebody else. Uncle Stephen has been involved in organizing at least three — his best friend Matthew's, Uncle JP’s, and my dad's — so that makes him an expert, as far as I'm concerned.

"By the time you get around to planning Leo's bachelor party, you'll be an expert too," he assured me.

Leo wants a superhero theme when his turn comes. Probably no surprise there.

Leo, Ellie and I have been spending as much time together as we can, which probably isn't going to be much of a surprise to anyone either. We've been getting up to our usual nonsense; playing soccer and racing bikes in the park, going to the pool and the arcade, and generally just hanging out, but we've been getting some productive stuff done as well.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but Julian moved in with Mom around the beginning of January, like maybe a week or two before my accident. He was originally planning to sell his house, but what ended up happening was that he transferred the title to Ellie instead. What that means is, Ellie gets to live in her childhood home and doesn't have to worry about paying a mortgage since Julian managed to fully pay it off a couple of years ago. At the end of April, Leo moved in there with her, and now they're wholly involved with renovating the place to make it exactly how they want.

They're actually not changing it significantly, but even cosmetic changes require a fair amount of work. They had to hire somebody to install their new kitchen cabinets and appliances, but Leo decided they could do the hardwood flooring in the living room themselves, as well as the painting and redecorating.

And that's where I came in. I might not be very good with electronics, but I definitely know my way around carpentry tools. My mom taught me a lot about home maintenance, so I can measure, saw and hammer with the best of them.

Almost as soon as I arrived, Leo enlisted both me and his sister Kiki to help with the flooring. Ellie and Kiki gleefully ripped out all the old carpet, and then they sanded and cleaned the subfloor. After that, Leo and I got down to business. We got the entire living room done over three days, and it looks fabulous, even if I say so myself.

We're all getting pretty good at painting too. Leo, Ellie, Kiki and I painted Ellie and Leo’s living room, kitchen and bedroom, and then I got them to come over to our new house and help me paint mine and Yuri's rooms, our living room and downstairs bathroom.

Robert and Kim did a bunch of renovations before they put the house on the market, so there’s really nothing much that needed to be changed except the colours of a few walls. The only thing I really want to do besides the painting is to install a jet tub in the upstairs bathroom. Yuri got used to having that at Uncle Kaz's place, and I think he should have one here. It’s very therapeutic for him.

You knew I'd inevitably come back to talking about Yuri, didn't you? Some of you are probably laughing over my inability to keep my mind off him. Go ahead. I don't mind. I'm hopelessly in love with him, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

As a matter of fact, Yuri is the whole reason why I was motivated to record this entry tonight, after kinda forgetting about our journal for almost three months. Now that I’ve gotten all the life updates out of the way, I can get to the really good part. It's the part I maybe should’ve led with, but I guess you’ve all figured out by now that I sometimes like to leave the best stuff till the end.

So, here’s the story. It actually started yesterday evening, when Yuri missed our regular seven o'clock FaceTime chat. By seven-fifteen, I decided I'd better call him. He didn't answer, but I wasn’t overly concerned right away because I thought there might just be something wrong with his iPad, so I texted him instead. I started getting scared when I received no reply to that either, and when I phoned him, I got a robotic-sounding error message that said the customer I was trying to reach had the phone turned off.

At that point, I systematically called everyone I could think of who might know what was going on, but Takahiro, Fox and Sakura had no clue, and the most that Mr. Okamoto's personal assistant Koichi could tell me was that Mr. Okamoto was away on important business for the next several days, which didn’t really help. When I tried to call Yuri's parents, I got the same error message I'd gotten when I attempted to call him.

I tossed and turned in bed all night, and every time I woke up, I sent another text to my husband. By seven o'clock this morning, when I still couldn't reach him, I started scrolling frantically through my phone to see if I had his grandparents' numbers. Somebody had to know something.

I didn't have a number for his grandmother or grandfather, but I did have contact information for his boss, Mr. Tanaka. It was a long shot, but I called him, which may not have been the wisest thing to do. Mr. Tanaka didn't have any idea where Yuri was or what might be happening, and I think I might've caused him to worry with my asking him about it.

Around ten o'clock, I was seriously considering getting online and trying to arrange an earlier flight back to Japan. I'm not even joking.

That was when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was a message from Yuri.

You ever hear that phrase 'weak with relief'? I literally was, and I sank down the kitchen floor, nearly crying, with my phone still clutched in my hand.

As if he'd been reading my mind, the message said, «I love you and I'm okay.»

«Where are you?» I texted back with trembling fingers.

He sent, «I’m outside. Are you at home?»

Perplexed and still shaking, I replied, «Yeah. Why?»

«Look out the front window.»

Feeling thoroughly confused, I got to my feet, put my phone back in my pocket and made my way from the kitchen to the dining room so I could peer outside. Parked at the curb was a vehicle I didn't recognize. I took off my glasses so things further away would come into sharper focus, and I think i may have let out a small gasp when I realized who was behind the wheel of the unknown blue minivan.

It was Kenji Okamoto.

I was still forcing my mind to process that when the van's side door slid open and first Yuki and then Yuri climbed out. Mr. Okamoto got out of the driver's side to open the front passenger door for his wife, who was holding baby Kinai.

To say I was shocked would be putting it lightly. During all our daily conversations, Yuri hadn't mentioned anything about him and his family travelling. I could only assume they were here for the wedding, which is coming up in four days, but if they were here for the wedding, that would mean Mom and Julian both knew they were coming as well, and yet nobody had breathed a word about any of it to me.

I should've been upset about that, but I was way too excited over being unexpectedly reunited with Yuri to worry about having been kept in the dark. I mean, real talk here, the sound I made when I saw my husband was a lot louder than a gasp. A second later, I was flinging open the front door and flying down the steps, and he was hurrying to close the distance between us too, arms outstretched for an embrace.

I caught him and spun us both around in a circle right there on the walkway. "Yuri! I missed you!"

"Me too," he said, clinging tight as we completed our big, joyful circle. "I couldn't wait to get here. The last couple of hours, I was getting so impatient I could barely cope with it any more."

"This is why I couldn't reach you, isn't it? You were in a plane."

He was laughing. "Ah... surprise?"

"I was freaking out!" I exclaimed. "Like, I was literally just about to change my flight and everything! You should've known I'd panic when I couldn't reach you. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I'm sorry," he said, as I carefully set him down. "Don't be angry. It was so hard to keep the secret, and I almost let it slip out, but we really wanted to surprise you."

"I'm not angry," I said. "I'm relieved you're okay, and I'm thrilled you're here, but..."

"But what?"

"I thought you couldn't travel," I said. "What about your therapy?"

"We'll only be here for a week," Yuri said. "I'll miss my psychologist appointment this week, and one in-person session with my nutritionist, and a food intelligence class.”

“Can you afford to miss that stuff?”

“I think so,” he said. “The nutritionist scheduled a fifteen-minute video call so I can check in and show her my food diary and talk about any concerns, but she said I’m doing so well that she thinks I’ll be all right even if I miss a full session.”

"So, uh... I guess you're here for Mom and Julian's wedding?"

"Of course," Yuri said. "I promised them I'd play, didn't I? And I've brought my accompanist with me."

Mr. Okamoto laughed at that. "The things I let myself get talked into," he said. "Grace called Yuri about a week ago to ask if he was able to come, or if they should make different arrangements for their wedding music. When he told her he could, she asked if we'd all like to come, and then Julian got on the phone with her and said that if I was coming, I ought to help with the music as well."

"Nothing like being drafted into a project last-minute," I said, amazed that Julian had felt comfortable enough with Mr. Okamoto to even make a request like that. They'd become fast friends when Mom and Julian were in Mt. Komorebi just after my accident, but I didn't think they'd gotten that well-acquainted. I mean, practising a whole set of wedding music with only a couple weeks' advance notice was a huge ask. I'm not sure I'd even ask my best friend in the world to do something like that.

"I don't mind," said Mr. Okamoto, much to my astonishment.

"You don't?"

"Yuri and I hadn't played together in a very long time, and we've been rediscovering how much we like our violin and piano duets. The music isn't that difficult, and we're already familiar with each other's playing style, so I think it'll work out quite well."

"That's...impressive," I said.

"It's an honour for us to play for your parents' wedding."

"I'm grateful to you for agreeing to it," I said, and I totally meant it. One of Yuri's favourite memories that he always talks about is of playing duets with his dad, and I'm glad they've started doing that again. I'm also super happy that Mom and Julian didn't end up having to hire random music students from the local college or something.

I pulled Yuri in for another hug. "And you too, sweet boy. I'm super happy that you... hang on."

"What?" Yuri said.

It'd taken a moment for my brain to register the observation, but it seemed that Yuri felt more solid in my arms than I remembered. "Excuse the change of subject, but have you gained weight?"

I know... not a very smooth question, right? In any other context, it would probably seem rude, but for us it had the complete opposite meaning.

Yuri drew back a little so he could look up at me. His face practically radiated happiness, and his beautiful smile accentuated the new fullness in his cheeks. "You noticed."

I slid my hands down his sides. "I can barely feel your ribs."

"I gained four kilos since you last saw me in person," he told me.

"In three weeks? Really? That's like, more than a whole kilogram per week." I glanced over his shoulder at his parents. "What have you been feeding him?"

From beside her father, Yuki piped up, "Milkshakes!"

"Not just milkshakes." Mr. Okamoto interjected hastily. He seemed to feel the need to be accountable to me, to prove they hadn't been so reckless as to let Yuri subsist on such a limited and arguably unhealthy diet. "He's been trying all sorts of new foods, haven't you, Yuri? But he does enjoy his strawberry milkshakes."

Of course I knew he'd been consuming more than milkshakes, but I acknowledged Mr. Okamoto's explanation with, "I'm glad you've been getting him to try new stuff." And then to Yuri, "Have you tried any other dairy products?"

"Real butter," he said. "And cream of broccoli soup. I didn't like that."

"Because of the broccoli, I guess. What about cheese?"

He made the most adorable face, scrunching up his cute button nose in distaste. "No. Cheese is disgusting."

"Unless it's in strawberry cheesecake," his father commented, looking entertained. "You should've seen him devouring that."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yuri, you ate cheesecake?"

"Mm-hmm, and cinnamon buns and dango. Oh, and ice cream!" Yuri said. "I can't believe I've been missing out on real ice cream this whole time."

“He’s been making up for it,” said Mr. Okamoto. "I've never seen anyone eat so many desserts."

"Well, I guess that explains the four kilos," I said.

Yuri offered up a grin that somehow managed to be simultaneously angelic and cheeky, "Aren't you proud of me, Victor?"

"Very," I said. "Four whole kilograms. That's awesome. You don't want to shoot past your goal, though. I hope you've been eating low-fibre vegetables and healthy proteins along with all your desserts."

"I don't like vegetables," he said.

"You like carrots and squash. I'll make you some carrot soup. That'll be the next thing for you to try, okay?"

"Okay." He leaned into me and nuzzled his cheek against my chest. "I'll eat it on one condition. You need to take me on a date to that ice cream place you're always talking about, with the forty flavours."

I laughed out loud and gave him an affectionate squeeze. I was beyond happy he'd discovered something new that he wanted to eat. "If you're not too tired from the trip, we can go this evening after dinner," I told him. "On one condition."

"Oh? What condition?"

"I know how much you love anything with strawberries, but The Frozen Cone has forty flavours. I really want you to try something other than strawberry."

"Peach?" he ventured.

"Good choice. They probably have that. They usually have orange-pineapple too, and cherry."

Yuri hummed softly, a little sound of satisfaction. "Let's try peach and cherry. I don't want to taste pineapple until we go to Sulani, okay? I want to save that experience for a really special occasion."

"Okay," I agreed.

"If we get a scoop of each kind in a bowl, we can share. Would that be all right?"

"That sounds perfect," I said.

"And you can feed me," he whispered, but evidently not quietly enough to prevent his father from overhearing.

Mr. Okamoto sounded torn between scolding and amusement. "Yuri—"

"One spoonful, because you're cute," I said. "But you'll be on your own for the rest of it. Rules are rules, you know."

"I tried," he said.

"Full marks for effort." I laughed, and kissed the top of his head. "Come on. Let's go inside. I can show you the paint job Leo and I did in your bedroom, and we can give your family the grand tour."

"Our family," he said.

"Our family," I repeated. I nodded to my in-laws. "Come on in."

Mr. and Mrs. Okamoto both thanked me and bowed respectfully, but I think Yuki forgot her manners in her excitement. She bounded forward and grabbed one of my hands. "Yuri said there's a ghost! Can I meet her?"

I smiled. "Well, that'll be up to Sachiko. I think if you call her Kobayashi-san and remember not to use her favourite mug, she'll come out and meet you. Don't be too surprised if she starts making small objects fly around the room, though."

Mrs. Okamoto frowned. "Are you saying the house really is haunted?"

"That's why the asking price was so low," I told her. "Don't worry, though. Sachiko isn't a bad ghost. She's just been here longer than we have, and she thinks it's her place, so her rules should apply."

"I... see," said my mother-in-law.

"What's this about the mug?" asked Mr. Okamoto.

"It's a red one," I said. "It's Sachiko's, and she's very possessive of it. No pun intended."

"Well," said my father-in-law. "A ghost with a mug, a wedding, and my son wanting to go to a forty-flavour ice cream shop. This should be an interesting week."

I couldn't resist a grin. "Family," I said. "Welcome to Willow Creek."

#writing #victorsworldadventures #victor nelson #yuri okamoto #tw chronic illness #stargazersims

[dreamlingbingo]

And that's a wrap!

Congratulations everybody, you survived the 2023 Dreamling Bingo! That's right, you made it to the end and you didn't even get a T-shirt. Boooo.

We had a lot of fun watching the last minute fills coming in and we were definitely rooting for all of you as we got closer to midnight. (It was pretty much us just going "You're at 24, you're so close! C'MOOON!!" LOL) We were also really excited how many of you got into the bingo spirit!

If anyone ran into technical difficulties or anything else that prevented you from submitting your fills, please reach out to us ASAP.

In the meantime, We. Are. Done! WOOHOO!! Thank you to all of you for making this year successful, we absolutely couldn't have done it without you! Even if you never even started your card, we're still glad you took an interest.

So what happens next?

Right now we're taking your masterposts! These are completely optional but are a great way to show off everything you completed. Just send us a message with the link to your post (or tag us) and we'll put it in our queue so they can run once all the other posts are finished.

If you're not sure what a masterlist is, check out this template for reference. If you want to make one but don't have a tumblr you can always submit a post.

The due date for masterposts has been pushed back to August 12th! Hopefully this will give everyone more time to wind down. <3

We're sending an email to all participants with a list of the bingo fills we received from you. Let us know if everything is good to go by August 12th. If we don't hear from you by this time we'll assume everything's fine and will get started on your badges. :) If you want them faster just get back to us ASAP so we can get started! :D

We'll have another follow up post soon with fun things like stats, a general idea for Round 2 and anything else we might have missed. While you wait, just sit back, relax and enjoy the bingo fills!

Thank you again to everyone for making this such a fun event!

#dreamling bingo announcement #2023 dreamling bingo

[blackjackkent]

OK, leaving the Underdark behind for now and heading back up to the Nautiloid crash site. We're gonna try and scour this map a bit more thoroughly before moving on to the mountain pass because I have been told (and have already discovered in the other playthrough I started) that there's a bunch I missed in the initial area. So let's scout around and explore!

First of all...lol. Wandered back near the ancient ruins and I totally forgot that when I fell through the floor that first time and fought people inside, I left three of the bandits on the surface. And apparently they've just been standing here for the ensuing weeks and got really pissed off when I got close. Bit immersion-breaking but hey, XP is XP.

Wandered a bit more around the Grove - there's actually definitely some events that I missed while the tieflings were here because I found them on another playthrough, but sadly they're already gone so not much to see there now. The saddest one is a tiefling kid you can save from luring harpies, who is instead dead now bc I missed the chance. :( Whoops.

Having cleared that out, our next stop is the area south of the Blighted Village, which has a BIG dark area on the map that I completely ignored before.

Luckily the goblins here don't seem to have gotten the memo that I killed all the ones up at the temple, as they're still non-hostile.

Ran into a group of ogres who were chowing down on something - or someone; one of them was much more erudite and talkative than the other two, and was known as "Lump the Enlightened." Sadly, they threatened to eat us unless we had the Absolute's brand; we did not get that from Gut back at the temple and Hector, as usual, refrained from trying to lie about it, so we had to smoke them before they smoked us.

Lump's journal:

That tracks with this which he was carrying:

I actually kind of love this for Hector bc from an RP perspective his INT should be a lot higher than it is given his nerdy book-reading background. So I'm gonna put this on him to help him with some of the INT checks he's been failing. :D

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle

[esthermitchell-author]

Here's another one of those "bracing for impact, cap'n" posts... because I always brace for inevitable backlash...

But I just can't let this go... It doesn't feel right to ignore it.

Saw something today that someone's pissed about the concept of the Metatron as a usurper, and that God's Ineffable Plan might actually include Azi (so sorry to the person who gets offended when I use this shortened form. I have my reasons, and it's technically proper enough -- I mean, AziCrow *winkwinknudgenudge*) and Crowley being together.

Let me see if I can explain my logic (not sure if this holds true for others, but I can only speak for myself) in believing Points A, B, and the underlying but unmentioned C...

Gonna start at the beginning, with Point A.

Point A: The Metatron as an evil d**k/usurper.

This isn't about God being incapable, or away, or etc, etc, etc. There are two very good reason (in my mind... and it's scary in here!) why this works, and how it could actually happen. Starting with: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Metatoad has that absolute power. The only being higher in power than him in all of Heaven is God. And let me be clear -- I don't think God's entirely off the hook, here, but that's part of Points B & C, so we'll get back to that.

Metatrash is "the Voice of God" This means that Metatron has been given the unique place to actually Speak FOR God. And if you don't think any one of those bigoted Archangels (including Gabriel) wouldn't have jumped at the chance to abuse THAT kind of power, then we're not watching the same show. Basically, all the Metatron has to do is say "God says do this" any the entirety of Heaven falls into line, no questions asked.

Metatrash doesn't let anyone speak directly to God, either. In S1, Aziraphale attempts to speak directly t o God. Despite constant insistence, the Metatron refuses to allow him to speak with God. Now, could God just not want bothered with crap? Sure. But then, why doesn't Metatron just say "God is too busy for you" Instead, he keeps insisting he speaks for God, and what's said to him is said to God, and why doesn't Aziraphale just fall in line like a good little soldier? (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the gist." I believe that the current situation in Heaven -- and spilling out to impact Earth, as well, IS the Metatrap's doing, but that it must happen a certain way, in order to clear out the trash in Heaven and perhaps remake Heaven and Hell both? Remember that the Metatrash doesn't want to just cast Gabriel out, in S2. That's bad storytelling, and everyone will start wondering if maybe HE'S the bad. This is classic "Man Behind the Curtain" illusionist work.

Also, there's a pretty extensive history in various Pagan lore that involves a usurper, who takes over whatever constitutes "Heaven" and is then taken down by either mortal or demigod beings. This is a story arc literally thousands of years in the making,

On to Point B: God's Ineffable WTF Plan

This one, I have to admit, leaves me scratching my head for some reasons, and (as a writer) so absolutely there for it. Let me explain...

First of all, we must acknowledge the ineffable elephant in the room: God's Ineffable plan is, well, INEFFABLE. Now, if you'll pardon me mixing in the IRL with the story, we can admit that, in reality, God is a representation of the authors. And given that Azi and Crowley started out their character life as one person, whom part of the "God" played by the authors, chose to turn said character into two. Therefore, the concept that "God" really did intend for them to be a complete unit is actually borne out by the IRW events.

But let's say, for argument's sake, we remove the non-fiction semi-canon. Is it still possible God's enough of a bitch to create this elaborate situation where the world's about to end, for the express purpose of getting two of her creations together? Absolutely. Throughout the Old Testament, God is depicted as highly capricious, terrifyingly violent, and not above creating the most ridiculous drama to orchestrate some elaborate plan... I mean, a baby floats down the Nile River in a reed basket, doesn't get eaten by any of the Nile crocs, gets picked up and delivered to the exact person who will insist on raising him as royalty, which he will eventually turn his back on, and then have a conversation with a bush that's on fire, then goes on to predict 10 terrifying plagues that all come true... And all of this was done just to get the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Why couldn't God just wipe out the Egyptian people and be done with it? Because God's THE fucking drama queen, who insists on doing literally EVERYTHING the absolute hardest way possible.

It's also just as likely that God would knowingly let the Metatrap take over Heaven, knowing he was an absolute d**k, and that the Archangels were a bunch of abusive assholes, and the best way to get rid of them all in one fell swoop is to let Metatrash essentially coerce Azi back to Heaven, so something can happen that requires both an angel and a demon to carry it out, thereby ridding Heaven of its cumbersome problem of the Metatrash and his sycophants. This whole convoluted process is entirely plausible, just working in the confines of both Biblical canon and non-Christian mythology. Deities are well-known in most ancient texts for all sorts of religions, as being capricious drama queens who do all sorts of nonsensical things for totally random reasons (Oh, and if you're wondering... I'm a polytheist. I grew up in a Christian family where my beliefs were NOT accepted, so I know all about having to live within a system that doesn't work for me, and being the outcast at every turn. I have no affinity for Christianity at all... my observations are just that... observations based on my understanding of biblical texts and general non-Christian mythology).

All of which brings us to Point C (and this is the fun bit)

Part C: This is Love Story.

This is fiction. It is a farcical pseudo-religious satire that is also, at its core, a love story. Azi and Crowley's love story for each other, and for the world and humanity. As such, the authors (in this case, now Neil Gaiman, working off conversations with his co-writer, Terry Pratchett before Terry's untimely demise) can do whatever the hell they please.

If they want to make God a cold, calculating bitch who is the ultimate bad guy, then that will be official canon when it happens.

If they want to make God an ineffectual twat who's been willfully usurped by Metatron, then that will be official canon.

If they want God to have orchestrated all of this nonsense in order to clean house and make sure her all-time favorite ship ends up together, then... that'll be official canon.

However, official canon doesn't make any of the headcanons that came before (or come after) necessarily wrong, either (that's why AU exists, after all).

If your own personal headcanon won't let you enjoy any ending that doesn't fit with your own views, that is perfectly okay. There's plenty of fic out there, and if you don't agree with whatever becomes official canon, then you can go write fixfic, or read a bunch of it that agrees with your sensibilities on the matter. Go fly your flag and enjoy Good Omens however you wish. That's the joy of it.

But don't take other people's joy in their own headcanon and theories away by making sweeping statements that they're wrong, and that's it. That's just mean, and it's not why the majority of us are here.

Thank you all for "listening" to my long-winded self. Carry on, and have a perfectly wonderful day, everyone! 😊😊❤️❤️

#good omens #good omens fandom #aziracrow #azicrow #aziraphale x crowley #ineffable husbands #fanfic #ineffable spouses

[ad-hawkeye]

Hello! I'm a pretty new tot player (joined mid-june this year) (also new to tumblr and this blog) and I've been loving artem's characterization in his personal and main stories. But I don't really follow cn leaks (bc spoilers) and pulled for artems 2nd anniversary card without much thought. And hated it. I wish I'd found this blog sooner. Your thoughts on his characterization in the newer cards are very articulate and I think you've done a great job of highlighting the important aspects of his character and his dynamics with mc and how the newer cards are missing it.

On that note, can I ask which of his cards post-2nd anniv feature the old Artem and (especially) the og artemrosa dynamics because my mind tends to stick firmly to canon and I'm having a hard time trying to pretend 2nd anniversary never happened. It's fine if the plot isn't too exciting as long as the artemrosa interactions are good and Artem isn't suddenly a suave sex god (or has a randomized hobby as his selling point).

I don't have many of his old cards since I joined late and wanted to know if I should pull for new cards or just wait for the old card reruns.

That's all!

OMG HI!!! welcome to tot land and also tumblr!!!! i hope the fandom's been welcoming here! : D

ah gosh, i think people like you are why i was so anxious about second anniversary dropping on global. i am genuinely SO sorry. it comes out of no where. like it's a very notable drop in quality and shift in characterization, so anyone just pulling for second anniversary thinking it'd be fine just. woof. it's honestly EXTREMELY bizarre.

i really appreciate your kind words though!!! i started tot back during 2021 with the lost gold event, so all i had was the original artem for well over a year and got used to him, so it STUNG when second anni dropped. i totally and completely understand where you're coming from here, we're in this together!!!!!

oh gosh i haven't read ALL of the new cards yet, but i know enough that should be able to help for now. i do plan on watching them once i gather the Nerves to do so and writing a list of the must pulls and the must misses HAHAHA BUT. FOR NOW!!

MR cards can be missed unless if you really like the card art. the audio has always been pretty pointless and skippable. can't think of any SRs coming up for artem. go figure. his au SSRs (bakerlon, etc) are all good and in the clear. worth pulling for, imo, esp if you like the art.

skip any SSRs where it seems like artem is just doing a random new hobby. this includes his billiards, racing, and surfing cards. skip any top up SSRs. aside from saving you money, all of the new top up SSRs are just pure fanservice.

fluffy fuzzy time is in the clear. in all honesty it's baffling that a card where artem is flustered about mc playing with his hair comes after the sex god daddy dom card but whatfuckingever who needs consistency

his upcoming personal story card isn't like, life changing, but it's in the clear from what i remember of watching it. the art is very cute too.

third birthday card isn't amazing, but plot and character wise, it's also in the clear and has very cute art.

the other SSRs i know nothing about, so i can't speak for them yet. my apologies!!!! i'd personally recommend focusing on artem's older cards (i genuinely love all of them except for like. por una cabeza which is just kinda mid), as they are still stronger character wise than the newer ones, but the ones i listed ARE still fine. the game itself likes to only pretend second anni happened every once in a blue moon so it's very very easy to ignore . THANKFULLY.

thank you again for the ask anon!!!! i hope i could help! keep an eye out for when i get to watching all of them, i DO want to make that list HAHA

#asks #anon #fifty shades of artem

[atherix]

YOU- I'm very sorry for not screaming in your ask box a lot lately, life's been a thing... BUT IM HERE NOW, AND OHMYGOD seems like ohmygrian would also work given recent events ATHERIX IM SCREAMING AND SHAKING YOU WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Ok ok ok, so lore lots of lore where to begin

Let's start off with one of the big ones. WATCHERS?? I am very calmly and politely asking you what the hell is happening with Scott and Jimmy. What. is. happening. Listener lore?? Other equally interesting plot points?? Only time will tell I suppose... I don't like how much power you hold over us atherix 😑 you like the tourment a little too much 😑 but seriously I love it so much you evil writer

Don't you just love it when your mate is brutaly murdered infront of you, then ages later (is it hundereds of years? thousands? i cant remember. lets just say time. Time has passed), you find 2 new mates! Who you love very deeply! Who you would do anything for! Only to learn one of them is constantly tap dancing at deaths door, and the other has now become a God after friggin dying in front of you 🙂 You cradled his dead body in your arms. You uselessly checked for breath even while knowing there was none left. You begged him to come back, to not leave you like she did begged him to LIVE. couldn't save them couldn't save them couldn't save And then he does. he comes back. And he's a watcher now! So you know. There's that. Then he tries to single handedly fight off two harbingers of death while injured, and while using his godly powers for the first time! <3 like an idiot <3 Everything's going great :D

Then scar. Scar. I think him and I need to have a little chat about the whole distracting the warden thing. Brave! Stupid! Suicidal! Luv I don't care if you think you're gonna die at any moment, please have some self preservation <33 if not for your sake, at least for your son?? And your mates?? (On the other hand it was very sweet. Still stupid, but sweet) But wow is he going through it too... nothing like a track record of your loved ones consistently dying for you :) it's something he's definitely not traumatised over :)) it's all completely fine :))) someone get this man some cuddles and emotional support STAT

By the way Tubbo must be having a great time right now 😃

All of their mental and physical health needs some serious help rn

Atherix. ATHERIX. 30 thousand years?? The magic residue?? The unsolved mysteries?? What does scar know... what's going on... what pieces of the puzzle are we missing... or have we completed the puzzle and it's just upside-down? Either way it's pain :D

Also the worldbuilding detail?? The descriptions of the city?? The wardens?? The enchanting?? This all makes me very happy <33

Im sure I've forgotten a LOT about these last 2 chapters, but this is all I got for now... your writing has a grip on me ohmygod

So yeah I'm normal about this. Thank you for consuming my waking hours <33

-🍂

(This is also from chapter 8/9 not the latest chapter <3)

No worry! Real life is Like That sometimes <3 I hope everything's okay! Highkey if it hadn't been a Serious Moment Grian would have said "you're welcome" when Tubbo said "thank god" LMAO A LOT HAPPENED-

So much lore mmm

YEP. WATCHERS. WE'VE FINALLY MADE IT FOLKS, WE'RE HERE, THE WATCHERS ARE HERE. Haha well we've answered Jimmy, haven't gotten into Scott yet but that will come up in the future <3 I on the other hand LOVE the amount of power I hold over y'all :) This is delightful <3 <3 <3

Mmmm Mumbo was born almost 500 years ago so it's been probably a little more than 4.5 centuries <3 But yes. Mmmm history sure does rhyme. "One of them is constantly tap dancing at death's door" I'M SORRY I AM SENT HJKSJKJKFSHJ but yes! Yes! Mmm Mumbo watching yet another mate of his get killed and he has absolutely no power to stop it :) Only this time the mate WAKES UP and now he has to trust the mate who just died and came back to know what he's doing so Mumbo can go help their mate to not die, too! Yay! Oh the trauma haha Mumbo will have nightmares about this day for the rest of his long life :) Also my dear 🍂Autumn 🍂 Anon how in the world did you make this even angstier than it already is <3 (Fun fact I plan to write a tumblr exclusive/aside of that moment from Mumbo's pov <3) Hahaha yeah god or not might not want to fight off the "monster god" who has ended the world who knows how many times <3 But at least they're there to stop him from facing down the Warden like he tried to face down Blondie <3

Oh yes, Scar is certainly going to be getting Talked With by a few different people in the coming days :) Once they've recovered more haha. "Hey Scar what the fuck" <3 But yes! If he's gonna die he's gonna make it matter </3 Try and give them a chance to get away <3 Mind you Grian's little trick didn't actually work, the Warden just fuckin. Mm. But the fire is a surprise tool for the future ;) God yeah :) Scar is so. Mmm trauma. He doesn't want anyone else to die for or because of him </3 He'll get cuddles and emotional support but he might also need a li'l therapy <3

Tubbo is having a GREAT time haha "I said I was FASCINATED by the Warden, I didn't say I wanted to MEET one!!"

Oh yes. Absolutely. They need all the help they can get.

:) Haha chapter ten answers these <3

I love worldbuilding and I really wanted to flesh the Ancient City out so <3 I'm glad you enjoy this~! <3 hjhgjfdj <3

Haha you've summed it up pretty well methinks <3 Thank you much <33 hhghjjhgdj <3

Thank you for reading~! <3

#ask #Midnight Series #🍂autumn🍂 anon #Long Post #<3

[sign-seeker]

So I've been absolutely ridden with pain induced insomnia for the last week, so instead of sleeping I've been watching Stranger Things, which I've been putting off watching for a good long while now. So far I am up to the first few episodes of season 3. Some observations:

1) The science teacher just told Joyce that her seeing magnets becoming demagnetised all over town is her seeing patterns on coincidences and NO! This man does not understand that he lives in the Joyce Byers show: She is the fucking Cassandra of this small Indiana town. The whole point of this show seems to be "what if the schizophrenic lady that all the townsfolk make fun of was totally right about everything" and people need to start respecting that. Next person to suggest she's imagining things needs to get eaten by a monster.

2) I'm kind of sad that Will doesn't have a lot of character. His role in season 1 is defined by his absence, his role in season 2 is defined by his possession and acting "off", and so far in season 3 all he's done is say "I want to play D&D" a whole lot. After 2 seasons of Will-as-McGuffin, I want some Will-as-person time. Also his hair seems to be getting uglier every season.

3) Lucas didn't have a great role in Season 1, so it was nice from him to have more to do in Season 2. He was sort of relegated to the role of "the negative friend" who complained a lot, so having him be more front and centre in driving events and relationships in Season 2 was fun.

4) I think the Duffer Brothers must sit down at the start of each season's production meeting and say "so what's El's cool outfit for this season?" Season 1 had the denim jacket over pink dress outfit, which just radiated Weird Little Girl In A Stephen King Novel vibes, Season 2 had her punk outfit with the leather jacket and the slicked back hair... I can't wait to see what her iconic outfit for Season 3 will be.

5) Monster in the Woods: Exists.

Nancy & Johnathan: Instantly upgrade from scared teenagers to killing machines.

I adore them.

6) Dustin's so fucking funny. No notes, perfect job.

7) Mrs Wheeler needs either a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer.

8) I like that in Season 1, there was a head on collision between 2 different Stephen King obsessions: the "Psychopathic school bullies who will literally attempt flat out murder" and "the psychic little girl" came face to face and the bullies did not enjoy the experience.

9) Hopper's genuinely been amazing for 2 seasons, but suddenly he's a fuck in season 3, but it makes perfect sense: he suddenly has an actual daughter, having spent his life recently pretending that his late daughter is still alive because he can't deal with having lost her. This is the flip side of his overly domineering parental nature: when El was in constant danger, his need to keep her close and control her "for her own protection" was useful, but now that she wants to live a more normal life, that once-admirable quality has become stifling. GOOD STUFF.

10) Max & El are friends. :) I was afraid that she'd continue to be jealous of her, as she was when she first found her hanging out with Mike, but nope, they have fun girl times at the mall complete with AMAZING OUTFITS.

11) Speaking of Max, is a plot thread dangling from Season 2? When she says "we're stuck here" her step brother angrily responds "well whose fault is that?" and she looks chargrined, which implies that it's her fault they're in Hawkins, and had to leave California. But this is never brought up again, and the story she tells Lucas later when they're bonding has nothing to do with her, but makes it clear it her mother and stepfather decision that they be in Hawkins. That's going to buck me until it's addressed.

12) LOVE the anti-authoritarian vibes. "This is our government honey, they have our best interests at heart" as the government agents who've faked a child's drowning, a man's suicide, and a young woman's running away in order to cover up their own incompetence and violence are heading out to murder their son and his friends.

#stranger things #stranger things spoilers

[sparatus]

What oc do you not talk about enough? Tell me about them but I require also to know what their favorite color and prehistoric creature. Thank you!

ohhh so many really, lemme think who's a good one [rifles through catalog] ..... man i haven't really talked about rise & reign much since i made this new account huh. okay kids let's talk about my dumb stupid son axilus :)

this big beefy dumb idiot is axilus madelivio (bold is a link, there's a size comparison ;) ):

(i know he's big and beefy but if you thirst over him i'm legally allowed to kill you. his story starts when he's like 16 this is not a thirst character he's just a big boy)

he's actually my very first mass effect oc and the reason i got into it!! my partner @lightspeedpowerpunk started playing m.e. alllll the way back in senior year of high school (2014!!!) and texted me about the m.e. au he was thinking of for some of our existing ocs, and asked me to look up turians and give him some design ideas for a turian expy of one of our original verse characters, axel madsen, and while i was doing that i just kinda... fell in love with the species and wanted to play the games, and then eli published the first chapter of an oc fic featuring axilus and his (eventual) quarian boyfriend thie'haasn, and now here we are 8 years later,

he's also going to appear in in the land of giants in a couple story arcs, can't wait to force everyone to see my actual favorite child, sorry matteo

(more under the cut cause this got. rEALLY LONG OOPS,)

axilus is a big boy, and a sweetheart, but not really a gentle giant; he's very much large and in charge, and isn't afraid to use both his immense strength and biotics to get rid of people annoying him, lmfao. his biotics manifested late, when he was 16. he'd been latent until then, until an accident during what was supposed to be his squad's last training mission activated them (read: thie detonated his own biotics in ax's arms to save them from incoming batarians) and sent everything a little loopy. he was already not doing hyper-amazing in the military, and his commanding officer saw nothing but misery in his future if he was shoved into the cabals, so she pushed him out to go adventuring with thie instead before the transfer could be completed.

considering ax's dad aephis and grandfather octyrus are both high-ranking officers in the army and navy respectively, this uh.... didn't go over well :D

after a bunch of other events that are detailed in mine and eli's series rise & reign that we swear we're planning to rewrite soon don't read it god the 2014 humor and "these authors need therapy actually" jumps RIGHT out, he and thie end up becoming captains of their own pirate-slash-mercenary crew, favored activity being hunting slavers for fun and profit. then All That Shit happens in 2186 [reaper war or cerberus trying to start galactic war, depending on canon] and they decide to retire, passing the ship on to their longtime friend raik gemeng and settling on palaven in ax's mom's family home in zouklos [tropical jungle + farmland nation on the southern continent] with their big gaggle of a family: along with thie he also marries his childhood best friend freiya and has a son with her, they have two asari children fathered by one of them each and mothered by a couple different asari friends, they adopt some war orphans who latched onto them, it's a full house.

all the while during their travels, axilus also works on steadily getting his doctorate in turian history, specializing in pre-spaceflight palavenian history and a sprinkling of cultural anthropology. once they retire, he gets a teaching job with the university he was studying with. freiya is an army officer and thie ends up working with c-sec, so axilus is the one home with the kids a lot, and if his parents or grandparents aren't available to take care of them while he's off teaching, they'll sometimes come in to class with him and steal the show.

his father aephis is a spec ops officer with the army, and his mom sephira is an astronautical engineer with TEC specializing in mass effect propulsion drives. she was even the project lead for the tantalus drive core project! he has an older brother, tollak, who's autistic and goes into law and later politics, eventually becoming the new councilor once sparatus retires after the war and the thessian beacon conspiracy have been mopped up.

when thie first wakes up after ax and his squad saved him, he meets axilus properly for the first time... and mistakes him for councilor sparatus, whom ax looks nothing like, because thie, a quarian, can't tell turian markings apart properly and also we hc quarians have reduced color vision so thie straight up cannot tell that the two are different colors. this is actually a meta joke, as when i was helping design ax, again with zero knowledge of who any of these characters were, i picked sparky's picture of the wiki and said "here, like this" for the color. the end result was more maroon than sparky's true brown, but eli threw that in the fic as a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to my design notes, and now we just. hang onto it, for comedy reasons. it is in fact funnier the less alike they actually look, thie's just colorblind.

..... and then, after that joke was already written and published, we went "haha hey what if" and then decided sparky and ax are, in fact, related. they're first cousins once removed. axilus's father aephis is ierian sparatus's cousin, their mothers corinn and meana are sisters, ax's great-grandma and sparky's grandma are the very same person, the one and only calvetana sparatus. hilariously, i probably never would have started really considering sparky as a character if he didn't have that one minor joking connection to my big dumb son. so, really, everything about my work to date with the sparatus clan and "the council does have a good reason to not believe you actually" defense is axilus's fault.

he's a sweetheart and usually the level head to thie's impulsivity, and honestly a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for. he's just not good at math! it's fine! he has computers to do it for him! his mommy is an engineer and he thinks he's dumb cause he doesn't understand what a derivative is, but she doesn't know how he remembers specific dates and years in history and why they're significant so it's fair. sephira loves and supports her sons and is secretly very happy when ax retires from piracy and comes back to palaven, she doesn't want her babies in danger even if they ARE absolute fucking tanks of drakes.

his favorite color is red, even if tragically it doesn't look great on him as a main color thanks to his being maroon, and i haven't put a lot of work into prehistoric palavenian wildlife (the megafauna in tiirtias technically count but they're very much still alive, lol) but i think he'd go apeshit for sabretooth cats, because they look very similar to how i imagine shatha!! and he'd think it's super cool how animals from completely different parts of the galaxy can still evolve roughly the same way, and then the theorizing on why terran sabretooth cats went extinct while the palavenian shatha variants survived would begin,

thank you for asking!!!! i love my big dumb baby i swear a r&r rewrite is in the plans so i can force you all to know my ocs against your will y'all can see the story unfold with better writing and updated lore, we just have to reread and make a plan for what's getting fixed

#press conference #Anonymous #ierian's ocs #axilus madelivio

[surely-galena]

Hey Galena!

Much much much much thoughts on your status quo post so imma drop this all in an ask and not discord because.... well, no reason.

//cn spoilers

You are so right something is shifting right now bc in current main story the nxx is drifting apart and the boys are pushing Rosa away and frankly, all around sussiness (i haven't read it, i've only read my friend freaking out about it)

For main 5 traitor route, disregarding Vyn's status as sussy, I actually see Marius and Artem as traitor more because they have more at stake here. It's just 1) so interesting to see them!! Traitors!! and 2) I want to see what would happen that Marius can't manipulate out of a situation and turn traitor for some reason or even better, what would happen to cause Artem to become a traitor.

What's more interesting than Kiki though: If Darius has some important information we don't know about.

YES. JEROME. 5TH LI ROUTE. JEROMEEEEEEE (thank you for the shoutout). Jerome 5th LI makes so much sense, man's got a whole illustration dedicated to him, a whole new outfit, lore, hotness, and he's the black hair LI we need in ToT and the only reason Marius enemies to lovers route isn't real is because they had to save it for Jerome (coping)

If Zangr was right all along though, it could be interesting for Hoyo to put a bit of horror into it. What if this point gets explored in the "mls figured out Rosa was being controlled by some unknown entity... ". For instance... Us. The player. The manipulator. The puppeteer dragging Rosa around on the string.

I once had an idea with Rosa time looping except she was consciously aware of it and sets out to change her fate. (Context: she died episode 6 with the air tank thing) I never completed it :'D but the idea is she finds herself time looping over and over again whenever she dies and slowly unites NXX and tries to prevent repeating prior mistakes

OH MY I DIDN'T READ YOUR POINT 6 WHEN I WROTE POINT 1 BUT YES YES YES YOU ARE SO RIGHT

Alternatively, what if we're not hearing all of her thoughts? We think we know Rosa pretty well because of what we read about her, but what if that's just a small peek into her psyche, enough for us to think we know her, when in reality we know nothing about her?

I love outsider POV stories. It's always so interesting to see something major - for instance, a time travel story - but everyone else's POV is shown except the time traveler's. Also I think Baldr is a joke because well, Rosa POV and we always beat her. But it'd be so interesting to see everything from a Baldr POV and show that they aren't the losers we see them as. Maybe we get a Baldr POV story and we find out they have deep ties with Heirson, NXX, and holds a lot more power than we thought. Then we head back to NXX POV and we're freaked out about what we've learned... that the team doesn't know. (I am playing a game rn where we go through the story from our team's POV, then after the chapter is completed, we unlock a shorter Hidden Story for that chapter, where we get backstory & depyh on the events of the chapter we just played, all from an outsider POV. Devs have used this to break my heart with antagonist lore several times hfjksahjkfs - did we literally just beat up the antagonist only to get smacked in the face with her backstory and find out that the place we fought her at is her home and she's never going to be able to return again? Yes. - and while I love Anomaly THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. For instance, we get a look into Pedro's psyche and guilt as he sabotages Grandpa Vern, someone he once thought of - and possibly still thinks of! - as a grandparent or his acceptance of his fate after, with a "I deserve this" mindset.)

I don't know if the story will have a happy ending - it really depends on if the prologue is also the actual ending with Luke, Artem, and Marius gone and Vyn being the only one remaining. Which would make me cry so hard but at the same time... what happened?

Oh gosh Rose I'm sorry answering this took so long!

1. Is that so about the main story? That's an interesting turn because they were never that close in the first place, it was only because of MC + Nosta + other team events that they started to grow closer. So for them to grow apart again might be an interesting development. It is, however, mildly funny for them to push MC away because although it's most likely for her safety, it also sounds like they want her out of the picture because she does the team building, she brings them together -- and they don't have to function as a cooperative group if she's not around!!

2. I agree that Artem would be an interesting option because of how connected his character is to the law. To have him resort to perhaps more underhanded tactics, perhaps for Neil, would be an interesting twist.

3. Yeah, that's fair about Darius! The NXX would barely be able to make the important arrests without him, so to have Darius not entirely on their side would definitely change things up.

4. Jerome has a lot of potential for an enemies-to-lovers route, so if canon doesn't do it, I'm sure fanon will eventually come up with something XD

5. Ahh, referencing / talking to the player! That one is fun, too, although the developers would have to be careful because you don't want to attack the player or make it so abrupt that you rip the player from their immersion.

8. Exactly! It would be such a twist if we weren't hearing all of MC's thoughts. It would be the unreliable narrator all over again and it would dramatically change the way we saw MC.

9. That's a really great concept, actually. I like the Anomaly levels, too, but having Outsider POV or side stories would really flesh out the world of Stellis so that it feels more like an actual place where people live and struggle and work. I think it's great that the NPCs aren't entirely discarded (e.g. MC running into them in certain events), but it would also be very cool to hear from their perspective.

10. I like to think there would at least be a hopeful ending, because that seems to be a recurring theme in the game. I hear hyv does have a pattern for tragic stories, however, so while everything might not be completely okay in the end, I think the main cast will have to be in a relatively stable place. This sort of links back to the otome aspect -- because there aren't multiple endings, that means there's only one true ending per love interest, and as such, they would all need to be okay so they can live happily with MC in their respective routes. The prologue being the ending would be very interesting for the circular effect, though!

Thanks for discussing this with me! Again, I apologize that this took me so long to get to!

#asks #roshie-writes