#so i may revisit it and rewrite some of it

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

Our Angel of Brahma, pt. ix

Travelers. Friends. Mutuals. @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @ananxiousgenz @the-private-eye @demonic-panini @gwenlena

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING BEGINS. MOTHERLY VOICE: I finally got a moment to myself thanks to Eber and Camilla… Thank the Goddess… I don’t know what I would be doing without them. (THE PERSON SIGHS) Where do I begin? I guess… my name would be a good start.  (CLEARING THEIR THROAT) My name is Eevee Bell, and I am one of three to four dozen Dome Wardens on Brahma. Our duty is to perform routine maintenance on the planet’s Dome, track incoming and outgoing shuttles and ships, and monitor Brahma’s severe weather outside the Dome. I love my job. I think I do my job very well. From what I’ve heard about other planets, they have robotics and computers to do this job now. Artificial intelligence that the Solar Planets spent a fortune to perfect. Of course just like with everything else though, Brahma gets left behind in the dust. (EEVEE CHUCKLES UNDER HER BREATH) EEVEE: Goddess bless our savior New Kinshasa. (EEVEE LAUGHS A BIT HARSHER) EEVEE: What happened to us though has been brewing under their noses for some time now. I guess it was only a matter of time before… something was done.  To be honest I’m still not entirely sure what did happen. I know that our alarms went off when the Reactor Core was removed, and I know they stopped going off when the Core was put back. I know that the Chief Constable called all of our stations, and ordered us to go home. I know that we have not gone back to our stations for nearly ten days. I know that if we don’t accept any imports within the next seven days Brahma will begin to suffer. And if we fall, New Kinshasa falls with us.  Cyrus called me while I was rushing to get home to Baird. He asked me how much I knew and after I told him, I asked how much he knew. He said it would be better if he came to speak to me in person. He lives across town with Iris. I told him it wouldn’t be wise to meet up so late, especially with a curfew in place. He disagreed, but I talked enough sense into him that he waited until morning to catch a tram over here to the apartments.  Baird was not enthused to see him. He was rather… indifferent, actually. I know it hurt Cyrus’ feelings, I do plan on talking about it with Baird when I can, but it’s so hard to talk about anything seriously right now. I’d rather keep things as light-hearted as possible.  I sent Baird over to Camilla and Eber’s apartment while I had tea with Cyrus. He looked so worried. He asked me if I saw the Chief Constable’s broadcast about the Revolutionary, Peter Nureyev. I have. I watched it with Baird the night before after I got home from my post. Cyrus said that he doesn’t know of any Peter Nureyevs in any of his revolution circles.  He surprised me by asking me for my thoughts about the Constable they allegedly found murdered by the Revolutionary. I didn’t at the time, and I still don’t now. Cyrus said that he has reason to believe that part was a lie. He doesn’t believe the Revolutionary killed a Constable. He thinks it might be an elaborate lie or cover-up for some more vain truth. (EEVEE INHALES SHARPLY) The revolutionaries are holding a meeting tonight. Cyrus invited me to come. He wants me there. I don’t want to get in trouble, but… I need to keep Cyrus and Baird safe. And by extension, it’s my job to keep Brahma safe.  SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS: EEVEE:  What the fuck! NEW VOICE:  What are you doing? EEVEE:  What am I doing I’m recording you idiot! Cyrus, don’t you see? If what was discussed tonight has any truth to it, New Kinshasa isn’t going to let any of this get out. More than– I bet you my next paycheck that Dark Matters is going to play a role in covering it all up! (CYRUS TRIES TO SHUSH EEVEE) CYRUS:  Alright, alright– you have a point. Keep your voice down alright the streets have ears… You really hope your little comms though is going to play a role in– This? EEVEE: Mark my word, I think my little comms will outlive both of us. If Baird’s lucky it will outlive them.  (CYRUS GROANS. EEVEE GIGGLES) Okay, okay… I attended the meeting– CYRUS: The book club. We went to a late-night book club meeting. What? Don’t give me that look. Plausible deniability, Eve. EEVEE:  Right. The Book Club. We attended Book Club and talked about the climax of a war story. In the story, the main character kills a man with radical ideas to overthrow their government. The man he killed was not popular amongst the rebels. In theory, they should have agreed with him. CYRUS: In practice, however, the rebels do not condone murdering hundreds of thousands of people. Thus the whole unpopular amongst the rebels.  EEVEE:  Of course, word got out about the man’s death, and to cover it up, the government claimed him as an Enforcer. And they were getting away with it because the last clothes the man was found in was a stolen Enforcer uniform.  I don’t know if I believe the rebel or the government’s of the story– CYRUS: Eve– EEVEE: But! But. But I do believe that it was the right call for the rebels to sit back and wait for information to trickle out to them slowly… I think I’ll need to attend the next meeting to really make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into. Oh– I’m so tired. Can we discuss all this in the morning? With hopefully less ears listening in? (CYRUS HUMS AFFIRMATIVELY) CYRUS: I’ll even let you sleep in if you let me crash on your couch.  EEVEE: Of course, I wouldn’t make you walk across town while already breaking our curfew.  CYRUS: Thanks, Eve.  (LONG PAUSE) Baird’s not going to be mad to see me, is he? EEVEE: This late at night? I doubt it. If anything he’s staying over at that Spade’s apartment probably fast asleep with Charlie. Oh, they’re so sweet together. I went to say good night to them one evening and I couldn’t kiss Baird’s head because Charlie had a death grip on his shoulders. He's always polite and entertains all of Baird’s whims… I wish you were around more to see it happen. CYRUS:  You and I both know why that can’t happen.  (BOTH OF THEM SIGH) EEVEE: You know he’s only so pouty around you because you and I split up, right? He just wants us all together again. Like a proper family. CYRUS: We are a proper family. Mom who works too hard, dad who left to get milk and never came back– see? Proper family. (EEVEE LAUGHS CAUSING CYRUS TO LAUGH) UNFAMILIAR VOICE: Hey, state your business and show your credentials. CYRUS: Shit, Constables. Run Eve! SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. RECORDING BEGINS.  (EEVEE WHISPERS) EEVEE: Cyrus and I got away from the Constables last week perfectly fine. This week on Brahma: we went to another revolution meeting. A few old timers took roll call and one of them said he had reason to believe that the person the Angel of Brahma killed was one of theirs. A man who wasn’t the least bit popular in any particular revolutionary circle. Apparently, he wanted to drop New Kinshasa out of the sky and saw it perfectly fit to kill all of Brahma in the process.  (EEVEE SCOFFS) The nerve of some people. No one at the meeting could remember his name though, and no one still knows who Peter Nureyev is outside of the photos projected on every billboard on the planet now. He looks so young. Those dark and haunting eyes and sharp teeth. I find it hard to believe that he’s just a teenager. But– he is.  I’m trying to keep my voice down right now because Baird is asleep. The meeting was held before curfew this time so Cyrus went home to Iris and I walked alone back to the apartment. Eber was waiting for me just outside and before I could say hello he was dragging me down the halls to Hank’s apartment. His dog Missy was sprawled out on the sofa but Hank, Camilla, and Josie were all gathered around the dinner table. Mrs. Darius was upstairs with Talia, Charlie, and Baird. I sat down and told them everything I could.  The revolutionaries wouldn’t let me record anything with my comms during the meeting, but there wasn’t much that I think needed to be recorded. Just talk about who was storing what, who was leaving their doors open to help others. There was a lot of talk about going on strike. Either food or labor. They want to send a message to New Kinshasa. I don’t think I can afford to do much of anything. Me and the other Dome Wardens just went back to work two days ago, we are working through a backlog of off-planet imports and exports still. If I strike alone I’ll just be fired. If all the Wardens strike, then the Constables will take over and that will lead to certain catastrophe. And if I stop eating then Baird will stop eating and he’s already so… short.  Oh– I wish I got a chance to talk to Cyrus before we went our separate ways. He’d help me think of some way I can help. Better yet, he’d probably be able to give the others here at the apartments the answers they wanted from me. Hank didn’t say anything other than telling us to get out. Eber, Camilla, Josie, and I were silent on the walk upstairs. The kids were delighted to see us. Eber walked Talia back down to Hank, Josie was trying to fill in Mrs. Darius, and Camilla and I watched the boys play some sort of game where they kept pinching each other and trying to not shriek? I think that was the objective? Children’s games used to be much less violent when I was that age. I remember when– BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Memma? EEVEE: Bairdy! What are you doing awake? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I couldn’t sleep. You were being too loud.  (EEVEE TSKS) EEVEE: Then let’s put you back to bed alright baby? C’mon. I’ll even sing for you if you’d like.  SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: I have either made the best decision of the revolution that will turn the tides in favor of Brahma, or the worst mistake of my life.  I told the old-timers at this past meeting that I work as a Dome Warden, and that a few of my colleagues seemed interested in joining the rebellion but were uncertain on how to go about it. The old-timers were delighted for a number of reasons and had drawn the same conclusion that I had a few weeks ago when a labor strike was first brought up. They think it would be very good if I was able to get some of the other Wardens on board with the revolution.  Cyrus was very quiet during the meeting. I asked him before we left if he had any opinions he was holding back, and all he said was to trust my gut. So… I trusted my gut. I told the other Wardens at my post about the meetings. I told them about going on strike. A few seemed skeptical. Others wanted to know when the next meeting was. I’m going to contact Cyrus and get him to help me get the others to the next meeting.  I hope… this wasn’t a mistake. I guess time will only tell. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: –you turned it on. Good job, baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Mom, why are you showing me how to use your comms? Is something going to happen to us? Is something bad going to happen to you?  EEVEE: What? Oh no, baby. Nothing is going to happen to me. I just think you would find more use out of my comms than I would. Look, since you got it to record you can start recording all those little songs you like to sing. Or maybe you can get Charlie to record a story for you.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): But Mom, I like your singing and your stories more. Will you sing for me? And tell me a story tonight? EEVEE: Absolutely not. You get one or the other. Take your pick. And whatever you don’t choose, you have to give to me.  (BAIRD POUTS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… I want a story from you, and then I’ll give you a song. EEVEE:  Good choice, Bairdy. What kind of story would you like? (BAIRD HUMS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I want a story about Brahma.  EEVEE: A story about Brahma? Well… there once was a boy born on Brahma with nothing. Not even a name. He grew up just like everyone else, hungry for more. More food, more freedom, more time. The boy followed a man who dreamed of dropping the New Kinshasa on top of the planet.  The boy was very tired. Tired of being poor, tired of being hungry, tired of being alone. But he knew, that if he let that man drop New Kinshasa out of the sky, he would never be able to forgive himself. Brahma is his home. He looked down at Brahma from up high, and saw them: his people.  Starving young faces just like his looked up to the sky and stared back at the city as it trembled. The boy had the power at his fingertips to stop a tragedy.  This is it. The people thought. This is how we go out. Not with the big bang, but crushed under the heel of our jailor.  The boy heard their thoughts. He felt a rush of adrenaline and stopped the man from getting away. The city of New Kinshasa never fell out of the sky that day. The people were ordered to retreat to their homes. But that evening, everyone heard about the great threat against the Guardian Angel System. And everyone learned the name Peter Nureyev. And for the first time in the last half-century, hope bloomed on Brahma. The Boy, The Legend, The Angel of Brahma.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): That’s not a story Memma, that’s history.  EEVEE: And what is history but a story we have to learn from? Now, I believe you owe me a song. (BAIRD GROANS AND HUFFS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… (BAIRD TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND HUMS. THE SOUND GETS CLEARER LIKE HE’S BROUGHT THE COMMS CLOSER) My angel, I must ask you keep singing for me.  How sweet your tune, like a songbird at noon.  What a lovely trill, it makes me feel ill. O’ My heart overflows, I could never let go.  Like chimes in the wind, it must be destined.  I’ll find my way home, with your voice I’ll never be alone. Happy? (EEVEE SNIFFLES) EEVEE: Very. Thank you, Baird. That was beautiful.  (FABRIC RUSTLES, BOTH BAIRD AND EEVEE HUM) Promise me you’ll never stop singing baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Of course, Memma. I don’t think I could even if I tried.  EEVEE: Good. Now– (EEVEE PRESSES A KISS TO BAIRD’S HEAD) Get some sleep. Okay? We have a long day tomorrow. And Bairdy? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Yes, Mom? EEVEE: You know that I love you, right? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): To the moons and back, yeah… Mom you promised nothing bad was going to happen to you.  EEVEE:  And nothing will. Good night, Baird.  BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Night Mom.  SOUND: DOOR CLOSING. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Which button was it to end the recording? Was it this o– SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

- EEVEE BELL. BAIRD BELL. must contact Frannie’s friend about both of those names. - Dome Wardens are indeed an old, out of date job. Eve is right, they’ve been replaced with robots. It’s actually kinda scary how right she was about things. About that, about Dark Matters probably covering everything up with New Kinshasa. - Cyrus and Eve sound so fun together. I can see why they got married and had a kid together. - Bairdy and Memma… right up there with Charls and Dearest. - Oh Baird, he was 12 when these recordings were made. 12. Just almost a teenager, not quite. Almost too old to be called a baby. - Eve loved Baird so much. She reminds me of my mother a bit. And she knew exactly what she was doing tucking Baird into bed that final time. There’s no doubt in my mind this is the last recording with her in it. She was taken away after this and never came back. The Dome Wardens did go on strike at some point according to Baird in other recordings, so did someone snitch to a Constable? Did she the Constable that almost caught her and Cyrus track her down? - I think that’s the most frustrating part of my job. No matter how much I dig and research, there are some things that will be lost to me forever.

#at some point this was like pulling teeth #so i may revisit it and rewrite some of it #or elaborate/add more #BUT im happy rn #funfact: the story eve tells is almost word for word what i wrote on buzzkillgirls post #about nureyev the legend vs nureyev the man #our angel of brahma #the penumbra podcast #private eye's keys go jingle jangle #the penumbra fanfic #a hotboy's writing #FUCKGING BIRDS NEED TO SHUT UP NOW SO I CAN SLEEP-

[delicatebarness]

bring him home | prologue

Summary: A revisit, back to where it all went wrong, when The Mad Titan finally did it himself.

Warning: MCU Spoilers, mainly Infinity War. Avengers: Infinity War contains extended, intense sequences of violence and peril. Swearing.

Word Count: 1791

Masterlist | Next Chapter

A/N: I thought this was longer to be honest, I have split it up into four named parts. However, it just mainly a recap of Avengers: Infinity War with some rewrites to fit the reader into the story.

Tags: @crazyforbarnes | @whiminiferous | @armystay89 | @bucky-just-needs-love

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED OR PUBLISHED TO ANY THIRD PARTY SITE OR APP. IF ANYONE SEES MY WORK ANYWHERE BUT HERE, IT HAS BEEN REPOSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

The Children of Thanos.

It was a typical spring day, the farmers market in Greenwich Village was blooming. Flowers, fruits, vegetables, all the colours were so vibrant. Walking past a fruit stall, you can’t help but smile when you notice the plums. If only he could have been here with you, pick out some for your fruit bowl in the home you created together. But, no, it couldn’t be done. Not yet anyway.

You carried on your morning walk around the city, daydreaming of what may be. You smiled and waved at locals, and took photos with anyone who asked. “Miss Stark! Welcome!” You knew the city loved you. The child of a genius, a superhero. They adored your father for what he created, they adored you for who you are. The kind, empathetic daughter of Tony Stark.

~

You stopped just by the end of a stall and pulled out a flip phone, but still no messages. Suddenly, a non-forecasted breeze began to pick up. And, fast. Before you knew it, the plums from earlier began to roll past you in the street. Intuitively, you tapped your chest and allowed the nanotechnology to cover your entire body. Pink and gold wrapped around you perfectly as you rushed to help stop stalls flying, catching pushed-over citizens.

“Friday? Where’s my dad currently?” You called to the AI within your suit while pulling an elderly man back up onto his feet, guiding him to a nearby cafe where other pedestrians have taken safety. A blue digital map appears on the holographic display with the location of your dad. 177A Bleecker Street. Not far, you thought to yourself.

Finally, you reached the address Friday had given you. You burst through the front door of the place, releasing your head gear the moment you notice your dad.

“Dad! Bruce? You might want to get out here and see this!” You didn’t stay to see if they were following, you ran out as quickly as you ran in. Making your way towards the source of wind and destruction, you continued to help fallen citizens.

~

You fight your hardest to keep Bruce safe, you don’t understand what is happening with him and Hulk but that was their issue, all you could do was protect them both.

“Wong, you’re invited to my wedding.” Watching your dad fly up to reach Peter and the ship, you began to thrust your reactors to follow his lead. “No, I need you on Earth.” His voice echoed through your comms, you tried to argue back with him but he knew what your argument would be and he didn’t want to hear it. “Now, Y/N, please.”

Just like that, you were back on the ground standing with Bruce, watching him pick up your dad’s burner from the ground.

“Bruce?” He looked up at you, seeing how your eyes were fixed on the phone.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Call Steve.”

Brother.

After Bruce had called Steve, you both headed back to the compound and explained the situation to Rhodey. You frantically start to move things around the holographic screens trying anything to locate Vision.

“Hey, Steve’s on his way, it’s okay.” Bruce came over trying to calm you down, he knew that look on your face. It was the same face Tony pulled when he was focused and lost in it.

“He’s the closest thing I have to a brother, I need to find him, Bruce.” Picking up your phone, you tried to call him, you tried Wanda too, but no answer,

“Tony said-“ Bruce pointed to an error on the holographic, referring back to when your dad explained Vision couldn’t be located.

“My dad doesn’t know shit, Bruce.” You continued to go over everything on the screen, hearing only mumbles from Rhodey in the other room. You’re too fixated on the screens to realise they weren’t just his. Until the movement of Bruce walking out catches your eye.

“This is awkward.” Sam! You close the screens down and rush out to where Bruce is now standing. Steve, Natasha, Sam, Wanda and Vision. They all are here standing in the compound once again.

“Vis?” You gasp as you notice he is limping, being held up by Sam and Wanda. “Come on, let’s get you fixed up.” You relieve Sam from his duty and help Wanda get Vision back into the office to rest. Passing, you make eye contact with Steve, and exchange a look that only has meaning between you two.

“We have to destroy it.” That one sentence made you stop thinking and trying to understand. A quick “What?!” escaped as you glared at your android brother. You knew that if that stone got destroyed, especially while still in Vision's head then he’d be destroyed too. Vision and Wanda began the conversation about her being the one to do it, you couldn’t help but feel for them both. On one side, your brother is asking your best friend to kill him. On the other, your best friend was being asked to do the impossible.

You listened, it was all you could do, to the discussion further. Bruce explains that it isn’t just the stone that makes Vision, Vision. It’s Jarvis and Ulton. Your dad, Bruce and the Stone. Even, you. The discussion led to carrying out a procedure to remove the stone while keeping Vision exactly how he is. All they needed was someone able and a place to do it.

Once again, you and Steve exchanged looks. He grabbed your hand and squeezed it with a nod.

“I know somewhere.”

Wakanda.

You sensed a sort of thrill flying into Wakanda, you’ve admired the entire country and its technology since finding out about its existence. You also admired how welcoming, understanding and extremely helpful they have been in keeping your not-so-little secret. You sighed in relief as you edged closer to the kingdom, knowing soon you’d be the safest you have ever been in your life.

You look over at Vision sending him a hopeful smile. Knowing first-hand how incredibly smart Shuri is, you know your brother is in safe hands. That's what Wakanda meant to you. Safety. Protection. He reached out, squeezing your hand. He knew you were deep down terrified of something happening to him, you are his big sister after all.

“Whatever happens -“ he began, you stopped him giving him a ‘do not say another word’ look.

“It’s going to work. It HAS to work.” You emphasised you couldn’t think of any alternative. Not when it was his life on the line. You already couldn’t get a hold of your dad or Pete. Vision was not leaving as well.

When you landed in Wakanda, everyone made their way off the jet but you held back for a moment. You double-checked yourself in the mirror, noting your puffy eyes from the tiredness from fighting, flying and mind-blowing experience yet, you smiled. What waited for you outside of the jet would make it okay.

“A semi-stable, 100-year-old man.” You heard his voice as you started walking down from the jet. You watched as Steve went in for a hug with an old friend, Bucky’s eyes caught yours as he finished the embrace.

“James!” You exclaimed as you ran towards him, jumping to wrap your legs around his waist, his arms tightening around your back. He held you as close as he possibly could.

“Hey Doll.” He whispered as started to place a soft kiss on your cheek, taking in your scent. Neither of you noticed the glances from your fellow heroes.

As everyone begins to gather outside, you give Vision a reassuring look as you decide to wait outside with Bucky and Sam. You talk together about the journey, Buck’s new arm that you helped Shuri design on your private trips to Wakanda.

Suddenly, the defence shield around Wakanda destroys a vessel that tries to enter the atmosphere. You felt your boyfriend’s left arm wrap around your waist, it felt strange for a moment as you grew used to always having the right one around you.

“God, I love this place.” You watched his smile as the three of you looked up at the explosion the shield had protected you from.

No Goodbye.

You fought your way towards Thanos, dodging his attacks and shooting blasts. If it wasn’t for that one stone, the wizard's stupid green glowing stone freezing you in a stance, you could have prevented it all.

You watched frozen unable to move, scream, or cry as Wanda, your best friend, destroyed a part of your brother that was currently keeping him alive. You watched as his body turned grey, falling to the floor. Then, before you knew it, you watched him come back to life only for Thanos to kill him again only this time. He forced the stone out of Vision's head, leaving a hole the size of a fist in his head.

You saw everything. Your friends and family are lying on the ground, defeated. Your best friend is devastated holding onto your brother’s lifeless body. Your eyes searched everywhere for Bucky, your internal thoughts screaming his name in search of him. Then, you saw Thor coming down with force and an axe, but, he was too late and went for the heart.

The second Thanos left, you fell to the ground, rushing to Vision’s body.

“Vis?” You screamed at his body, shaking it to wake him up. “Come on, Vis! Get up!” Wanda grabbed you, shaking you until you looked at her. You both collapsed into each other arms over Vision's body.

“Steve?” His voice, he was okay. You dropped Wanda’s embrace for a second to look over at the man you fell in love with. Before you had fully stood to run to him, he just disappeared.

“James!” Screaming his name as you hastily ran towards the spot he disappeared from. Steve caught you in his arms before you could fall to the floor. “James!!” You kept screaming, looking around frantically thinking it was just the light playing mind games with you. Placing both of his hands against your cheeks, Steve forced you to look him in the eyes, reminding you to breathe. “Where’d he go, Steve?”

“I don’t -“ he began before you pushed him away, you had watched the rest of the world disappearing in the reflection of his eyes. “Y/N?” He called as you ran to where your best friend had once been sitting comforting you.

You turned back to face Steve, Bruce, Thor and Natasha. Your face soaked from the tears that would not stop flowing. It had been hours, who knows how many since you last heard from your dad or Pete, now, you’ve lost Wanda, Vision and Bucky.

“They’re all gone.” 

#bucky barnes #white wolf #falcon and the winter soldier #james bucky barnes #catws #the winter soldier #winter soldier #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky barnes x reader #x reader #dad!tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark x reader #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #james bucky buchanan barnes #the avengers #infinity war

[thisisthinprivilege]

How can I overcome internalized fatphobia? How can I not hate what I look like when I'm fat?

This is going to be a different process for everyone, so I'm not sure what will work for you. I will let you know what worked for me, and hopefully you find it helpful.

Deprogramming Step One: Coming to grips with having been programmed in the first place. Beauty standards change from age to age, they are not inborn as far as our research is able to conclude. There's perhaps a weak preference for facial symmetry, but that's about it. Weight-based beauty standards have not only varied wildly through human history, they vary in our very own era, between-cultures. Often what we believe we find beautiful has been programmed into us from a very early age. There's no conspiracy, it's simply how cultural preferences are transmitted within-culture: through the adults we look up to, media, and reinforced by peers. That's not to say deprogramming is a simple matter. It's very difficult. I wonder now, almost 15 years after starting my own journey to deprogram myself, whether who I find beautiful or attractive is rooted in beauty standards I saw reflected as a kid or teen.

Deprogramming Step Two: Define and avoid thin-centric messaging. A big part of this for me was controlling the media I consumed. I unsubscribed to cable, for instance, because of the intrusive and omnipresent weight loss ads. That was 15 years ago, but it's surprising how similar some streaming services/channels are in terms of ad length and intrusiveness these days. Unfortunately, tiktoks/reels aren't entirely controllable. Even though I don't consume weight loss or diet content, weight loss/diet tiktoks/reels pop up occasionally. Besides ads, you should also consider whether your magazines, books, movies, and shows over-focus on the stories of thin people, or demonize fat people. Obviously, stop watching exploitative shows that turn the lives of fat people into sideshows or sob stories. More controversially, you might want to temporarily unsubscribe or mute fat activist content. Fat activism is a highly stressful space where we confront the hatred of fat people explicitly. It's not great for deprogramming thin-centric messaging, because fat activists will be talking about thin-centric messaging from a critical perspective. Take a break, for a while.

Deprogramming Step Three: Exposure to fat-positive content. This is the fun part of the process, where you get a chance to rewrite the aesthetic coding in your brain! I suggest searching out fat models who wear the kind of clothing you like, fat role models who share your interests, fat positive videos showcasing fat people doing amazing things, fat positive art, fat positive fiction and movies, and so on. Fatshion is full of fat positivity. Be wary of "body positive" content, as it can still be subtly or explicitly fatphobic. I warn you, after a few months of exposure to a different aesthetic, thin-centric media is gonna look hella strange. You'll go to see some romcom-flavor-of-the-month movie and be like, "Where are all the fat people? Why is everyone super skinny?"

Deprogramming Step Four: From theory to practice. This step is about starting to wear the clothes you want to wear, being loud and proud to exist as a fat person in public, being romantically bolder if romance is your thing, being more assertive and confident in your body, traveling to the places you've always wanted to go, doing things you were holding back doing before, etc. You may need to dwell in Step Three for a while, or revisit it over and again, in order to complete Step Four. This doesn't mean becoming an activist. This means becoming your authentic self without fat-related qualms. Yes, you will still be constrained by the greater world around you. Traveling, going out to eat, dating, interviewing for jobs, even going to a fucking concert will present constraints and bigotries that smaller people (everything else held equal) don't have to face. But you can now see them as constraints placed on you, not as constraints you place on yourself or that are in any way deserved. Hopefully, you will be able to face them without it destroying your sense of self-worth.

Deprogramming Step Five: The authentic self...? We know that as fat people we are not morally or otherwise inferior to thin(ner) people. So what does it mean to leave our best and most authentic lives, as fat people? This is the human question, that all humans share with each other equally. We are connected to each other, each on our own grand journey to answer this question. When you are able to separate the sociocultural difficulty of being a fat person in a fat-hating society from your own life journey, you have one less barrier to manage in answering the great human question. At this stage, you'll feel calm and comfortable in your body, and surprised when people point out your fatness or treat you differently for it. They're distracted by false moral categories, while you have better things to do. Does anyone ever permanently dwell in this stage? Probably not. But I feel like this most of the time, now. It takes a lot to drag me back into the world where one of the worst things you can call another human is "fatty." I've got books to read and write, math to learn, art to create. A life to live, where my possibilities are not defined by the size of my body.

-ArteToLife

#thin privilege #thin-centric society #deprogramming fat hatred #fat positivity #fat acceptance #fat activism #tips for overcoming fatphobia

[campgender]

i was scrolling your “life is in your home too” tag, which I love btw, and saw a post about how you learned to be a good dom from experienced expert doms by reading how they dom and some of their best scenes, do you think you could point me in the direction of some resources for me to study that too? thanks in advance, if not, thanks anyway!

(post referenced is here - link 1)

first of all tysm for this ask (+ your incredibly kind follow-up), it was a delight to receive + i’ve been wanting an excuse to talk about a lot of this for a while so i very much appreciate the interest!

as always please keep in mind that i am Just Some Fem, nothing is universal including when it comes to D/s & i can only speak to what works for me. i try to focus on starting points rather than specifics but ultimately my advice will always be limited by what i needed to hear & wasn’t told, which may not be what’s helpful for a different person. with that being said, here’s some suggestions!

i’ve posted a previous reading list (link 2) with relevant recs; particularly the practicality + sex writing sections have the kind of thing you’re looking for. specifically, The New Topping Book (2003) is a solid starting point; i definitely have my issues with it (haven’t read it recently enough to recall many specifics but i have the sense of general pervasive racism & ableism) but it did a good job at making me think & i appreciate the supportive tone they were going for

another book added to my tbr since then is Coming to Power (link 3), released by SAMOIS in 1983

other authors whose sex writing has been influential in my life: Sandra Cisneros, Natalie Diaz, Joan Nestle, Judy Grahn

the fic At The End of His Rope by Letterblade (link 4) is genuinely some of my favorite sex writing of all time & accomplishes the incredibly impressive feat of representing a broad array of dom styles & changes over time in the same piece

my “impurity culture” tag (link 5) houses the building blocks of my sexual ethic

i’ve found many of those foundations by poking around the incredible bodies of work original & archived @newsmutproject @woman-loving @gatheringbones

for me, studying sex is the same as studying poetry – reading for craft is a different process than for pleasure (not that there isn’t a great deal of pleasure to be found in such practice, especially for sadists – perhaps that’s why as a child i never resonated with Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” like i love tying poems to chairs & beating them idk what to tell you). so, keeping in mind that these are suggestions not requirements, here’s how i read for + work on craft:

there is no such thing as too much journaling. this can take whatever form you prefer – voice memo, discord message to yourself, the noble notes app, your own personal sexy red string corkboard, a vast & stunning array of other approaches i can’t even begin to imagine. i personally have an elaborate web of spreadsheets & google docs lmao. what matters is developing a collection of ideas you want to play with + a practice of continually reflecting on past experiences.

pay attention to structure, not just content. find a scene you think is disjointed and pick at the seams, brainstorm better transitions. then find a scene that flows so smoothly it carries you with it and figure out what makes it work.

rewrite a scene you’re drawn to or affected by to suit your own preferences. i first did this when i couldn’t shake “Interlude 3” (link 6) from my head after reading The New Topping Book; you can read my variation on the theme here (link 7) if you’re interested.

write or think through a scene fantasy you have from negotiation to aftercare. obviously it’s very difficult if not impossible to fully script a scene in advance; the purpose isn’t planning something you’ll later do but rather getting used to coming up with ideas to get from one disparate moment / act to the next.

revisit a scene you’ve read, written, thought about, etc and list the physical & mental acts that are required / expected of the sub (eg, kneeling for 10 minutes; making eye contact; counting to 30, etc). then rework the scene for a sub who has the same interests & goals who cannot do 20% (or 50%, or any) of these acts.

revisit a previous scene and list the places where you think a sub might safeword & why. then rework it with the sub safewording somewhere that isn’t any of these places.

i also recommend keeping in mind that like… for me, reading about ethical sex can often be a very distressing process for the same reason that it’s liberating: because it proves that things i’ve experienced are not the way sex has to be. i’ll tell this story in its fullness one day but the first time i read S/HE by Minnie Bruce Pratt i literally had a flashback to events i’d repressed for years, it was devastating, i’m so grateful for it. hell, in the process of compiling resources for this post i cried twice editing this quote (link 8) because between reading that book the first time & now someone did “respond with scorn or ridicule” when i safeworded. so i would really encourage folks to approach this kind of work with as much grace & comfort for yourself as you can muster or borrow – if it’s really fucking hard, you’re not alone in that, & it’s okay to take your time + pace yourself + seek support.

your + others’ interest is definitely motivating me to actually write posts i’ve been tossing around for months so thank you again & feel free to keep an eye out for more shut-in sex tips in my new “tomorrow sexting will be good again” tag. would love to hear your thoughts on any of this post / these or other books / whatever really lol. wishing you all the best & i hope today is kind to you! 💓

#asks #D/s #reading lists #mac.txt #tomorrow sexting will be good again

[henrysglock]

Local Man Uses The Cyclical 27-Year Torment Nexus To Try And Change His Fate [EPIC FAIL COMPILATION]

You probably guessed that this is the time-travel post I've been slaving over. You'd be right. This is the newest and most formal iteration of my long-standing time loop theory (I have drafted flowcharts back from February that actually predicted a dimension/time fuckery event in 1943 in relation to Brenner, which was made canon by TFS). So...Let's just dive right in. Note: I'm planning to keep calling TFS Henry "Henry" here just for simplicity's sake.

Now, fair warning: There are a few big "bear with me"s in this post. I promise they make sense, I just need you to hear me out.

It all started with Henry's self-proclaimed superhero name: The Stardust Spider.

Some of you may have seen my original post about The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars (here).

Before anyone says "Oh, but that album didn't exist yet", a reference in 1959 about a Bowie album that wouldn't be recorded until November of 1971 is in keeping with TFS's habit of directly referencing things from the '70s that "don't exist yet".

However, all that aside, there's a specific piece I want to return to, because it bugs the living daylights out of me.

There was a cut song that was meant to go on the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars titled "Shadow Man":

For obvious reasons in relation to Henry in The First Shadow, this song already stuck out.

Specifically, though, these few stanzas hit me weirdly:

You should call and see who answers For he promises to come running Guided by the truth For the Shadow Man is really You Look in his eyes and see your reflection Look to the stars and see his eyes He'll show you tomorrow, he'll show you the sorrows Of what you did today You can call him foe, you can call him friend You should call and see who answers (see who answers) For he knows your eyes are drawn to the road ahead And the Shadow man is waiting 'round the bend ('round the bend) Shadow man is waiting up ahead

The Shadow Man is you from the future. He's waiting up ahead to show you the the truth/the consequences of your actions.

Considering that the TFS version of Young "Henry" has a direct connection to both the Shadow and Dimension X from a young age, and he also experiences what seem to be Vecna-type visions, this becomes particularly interesting to me...Especially seeing as said fates are not only possible for future "Henry", but also canon for future "Henry". (See: Vecna guy vs Mindflayer guy)

So, when I see an almost comical number of lines in TFS relating to rewriting known, undesirable endings (here are a few of my favorites):

And when we revisit some of the on-film classics:

I start to think it's time we revisit the concept of time-travel and trying to change your own fate.

It's always hard to know where to start with posts like these, so I'm going to kick things off with the technical aspect: The Cycle.

Something I've talked about in the past year, mostly on Discord, is this concept of a time loop. Not just any old time loop, though. A 27 year cycle, specifically.

Not 20, not 30...

Now, we all know the TFS timeline is messy as hell and doesn't actually align with anything that's possible in filmed canon...or within its own time span, even.

For example, the attack on Mr. Newby happens both some point after October 1st, 1959 and before November 20th, 1959...but the papers for the incident report it on March 20th, 1958:

The timeline we're given also largely fabricated, as I pointed out in relation to the newspapers with dates that don't actually exist.

However, much like NINA, the sequence itself being fake doesn't mean the events didn't happen. It's just not happening in the time frame we're told it's happening in:

It's a set of real events, just portrayed on a different time scale.

So, with all that in mind, I want to lay out a timeline, starting from Season 4 and moving backwards in time:

— Vecna opens the rifts, and El opens a gate to Dimension X in NINA, both in 1986. The March 1959 Creel Murders occur exactly 27 years before the Rifts and NINA's Dimension X gate open in 1986...at which point the Mindflayer is shown to be active.

— Mothergate opens through to Dimension X at some point between November 1983 and October 1984, this being somewhere between 16-28 months prior the Rifts opening. The paper about the attack on Mr. Newby, dated March 20th, 1958, is released exactly 610 days, or 20 months, prior to the Creel murders on November 20th, 1959. It's not necessarily the exact dates that are important here (again, these dates are relatively unreliable), but the gap between the dates.

When put in accordance with filmed dates (i.e. setting the release of this paper exactly 610 days prior to March 22nd of 1959), the paper for the attack on Mr. Newby would have been released on July 20th, 1957. This would be in line with Edward Creel's move to Hawkins in the spring of 1957...while also occurring 27 years before July of 1984, at which point Mothergate is open, and the Mindflayer is active.

This July date is especially funny to me considering we get "throwaway" lines like this...with shots in filmed canon from summertime:

Top: Joyce and Jim beginning their investigation into the attic attack. Hopper Sr. is questioning why Joyce and Jim are investigating, rather than attending school. Bottom: Alice and Henry with the rabbit death scenes in filmed canon, the setting showing full foliage and both children in summer clothing. "Is it summer break?" I don't know. You tell me, Chief.

Per TFS, Henry went missing in a cave system near his home town of Rachel, Nevada (hold that thought) at some point in the year prior to the attack on Mr. Newby. We've been told that Dimension X was involved in this event in Nevada, something happened there that left "Henry" altered physically. He was also flayed at some point around this time.

This all coincides with Henry's dramatic mood shift from a "normal and good" boy to one suffering from Mindflayer-induced psychosis. This change happened in tandem with the Nevada incident, dating back 10 months prior to the attack on Mr. Newby:

If we set Henry's initial disappearance in line with filmed canon like before, it becomes September of 1956, which is just over 27 years before Will's disappearance in November of 1983, at which point we know at least one gate is open.

We also have 1952, at which point TFS Henry would be 7 per his age as a 14 year old/freshman in play canon. This exists in a 27 year interval against 1979, when El opens the original gate that sends One to Dimension X, where he subsequently shapes the Shadow into the Mindflayer.

Here comes the first "hear me out".

My questions are:

Since Henry/Vecna/The Mindflayer/etc. in general don't show any capability for opening gates before 1986, then how the hell is the Mindflayer possessing anyone in 1959?

How did "Henry" get involved with Dimension X in Nevada in the 1950s?

Unless, by some chance:

Dimension X exists all the time simultaneously (i.e. it's a space outside time)

The gates exist simultaneously across time and space in the Right Side Up in 27 year intervals. By which I mean: A gate that opens in, say, 1983 would exist simultaneously in 1956, so on an so forth.

There's the disappearance of Captain Brenner and the USS Eldridge in 1943, which would, interestingly enough, align with 1970, the supposed year of El's conception.

Then, 1952. Now, I'm not sure what's special about 1952, when TFS "Henry" was 7, because they don't actually say what happened to make that year important! They make a point to show it to us, though, meaning something happened...we just don't know what. All I can say is that 1952 does exist in a 27 year interval against El's 1979 gate. Hold that thought.

Those addressed, let's fast-forward 4 years: 1956/1983.

Now, to be fair, there is some uncertainty in my mind about whether this specific gate incident stems from Brenner's involvement with Project Rainbow in Nevada pre-1957*, or if it stems from Mothergate in 1983, or if they created some kind of wormhole between the two locations 27 years apart...but that's a concept I need to explore more thoroughly in a another post.

In short, though: Did a singular El open a singular Mothergate? Did El open mothergate? Did Mothergate actually open on November 6th, 1983...or are we just supposed to assume it opened the same night Will went missing/the demogorgon came through? We're never given a concrete date for when Mothergate actually opened.

* In TFS, Brenner claims he's dedicated his life post-1943 to Project Rainbow with the goal of finding Dimension X, and that he's doing so in pursuit of knowledge regarding the circumstances of his father's death in connection with the Philadelphia Experiment. The USS Eldridge, Brenner Sr.'s ship, disappeared into Dimension X briefly on October 28th, 1943. "Brenner Sr." was the sole survivor. "He" returned to the Right Side Up with a completely unique blood type, supposedly altered by his travels into Dimension X. This is what ultimately led to him succumbing to his injuries, due to his body rejecting all forms of blood transfusion. Brenner Jr. tells us that about 10 months prior to Henry's first stay in HNL, a scientist from Project Rainbow escaped Brenner's lab carrying a container of a dangerous material, and ended up near the same Nevada cave system Henry disappeared into. We don't know how or when this material was collected, or what it was, but we know they found Henry's Captain Midnight spyglass next to a body (identity unspecified) with no trace of that dangerous material. We get no further detail about the Nevada Disappearance.

Anyway, someone opens a gate in the fall of 1956 and/or 1983 (my money's on it being directly linked to an El in 1983 either way). No matter who did it, though, someone opened a gate at both time points, showing us this 27 year link between the 2 dates, 2 key locations.

"Henry" goes missing in Nevada in 1956, and ends up involved with Dimension X...Which aligns with the choice of song surrounding this version of the Creel family while they move into their new home:

Coincidentally, 27 years in the future, so does Will, in Indiana. Their experiences are linked across those two spaces via that 27 year period.

We know that regardless of the gate in Nevada...Mothergate, at least, stays open until from fall 1956/1983 to fall 1957/1984. That covers exact time frame that the adjusted dates for both Henry's accident with the boy in Nevada and his accident with Mr. Newby fall in (as well as Will's time between his disappearance and his flaying).

The closer we get to Will's flaying in 1984, and the closer the Mindflayer gets to crossing through Mothergate, the more TFS Henry sounds like One (post-1979) while he's possessed in 1957, the more strangely he behaves in general (almost as though the Mindflayer is more enmeshed in his everyday life/closer to the surface), and the stronger the possession attempts seem to become overall. He begins giving nightmare visions to other people, namely tormenting Virginia with spiders and her past. He has his final and most powerful "Vecna" vision on the night of the attack on Mr. Newby.

Any kind of reciprocal gate irt Mothergate in the '50s would have gone unnoticed, since the papers in TFS indicate that HNL wasn't established until Brenner showed up to take Henry in.

Mothergate closes briefly, only for a gate to open in July 1958/1985 in the underground location of the future Starcourt Mall. This, in 1958, is during our unaccounted-for 20 months between the attack on Mr. Newby and the Creel murders. (Something rattles about this and the scene where Henry nearly makes full contact with the Mindflayer, when he has a handful of duplicate lines re: his 4.07 monologue self, but I don't have sufficient evidence to make that claim with any certainty.)

That gate closes, until Vecna opens gates in Hawkins in March of 1986, and El opens a Dimension X gate briefly and simultaneously in both Hawkins/Nevada in September of 1979 (September of 1952) and Hawkins/Nevada in March of 1986 (March of 1959) during NINA, concurrently...at least one of which may have gone unnoticed, since the Rainbow Room and the surrounding labs seems to have been abandoned entirely after 1979, and HNL as a whole has once again been abandoned after the events of 1984 ("unnoticed" and "abandoned", I say as if the building isn't still being surveilled by Brenner/Owens et. al...I just mean that the building isn't in use by the government at that point in time.)

We're shown the Shadow activating all the way in Russia due to one or multiple of these events. 27 years earlier, in March of 1959, the Mindflayer once again becomes active, per TFS's adjusted dates. Chaos ensues.

At this point, "Henry" starts swapping between sounding like his young self and sounding like his 4.07 Monologuing Adult self again, doing that kind of "I've seen the future" foreshadowing talk with Joyce that his visions did with him:

Here, he also sounds distinctly like ST3 flayed Billy, specifically in the way of the scene with El in the cabin when "Billy" outlines the Mindflayer's plans for her, her friends, and all of Hawkins while crying.

The rest is, well...history. Whatever fuckery went on, it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference. After all, TFS is a "canon event", meaning it had to end the way it did.

Remember those thoughts I asked you to hold?

TFS being a "canon event" means it had to end with Henry in the lab alongside baby El...thus completing our loop, which starts again with the events of 1979/1952. A 27 year loop. TFS may be indicative of a time loop.

Hence:

Out of place dates from the 1970s start to bleed into the 1950s: - A town like Rachel, Nevada, which wasn't established until 1978, now exists circa 1952-1959 after El opens a gate to Dimension X circa 1979 in Nevada circa 1986 via NINA, which exists...about 40-50 miles from Rachel.

- An album like Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (November, 1971) or a song like "Chuck E's In Love" (April, 1979) gets referenced circa 1957-1959. - An article about a "younger, more handsome" alien clone of Elvis appears in a 1959 Weekly Watcher paper about the Creel murders, despite Elvis having been 24 at the time...making this an article more likely to have appeared in the '70s or later, likely sometime around Elvis' death in 1977.

2. The Shadow is always depicted as the fully formed Mindflayer circa 1956-1959, despite the shaping event happening in the 4 years between 1979-1983:

3. Henry has Vecna-type visions, despite being the only vision-giver we know of circa 1957-1959.

4. 6 different guys later in the HNL massacre: 2 with the original baby El, 2 with teen El via NINA, and 2 in an as-of-yet unseen product of NINA's Loop (see: the final scene of TFS).

All this laid out, some questions remain:

Why do Henry's visions show him the genuine, terrifying reality of his future?

Why are these visions generally lacking in coercion?

Why are Vecna chime sounds heard before the major supernatural events that deal with visions, even though we never actually see the clock? (They're heard before Virginia in the attic, before the attack on Mr. Newby, before the Creel murders, and in the basement when Henry monologues at Joyce while viewing the corpses of his family.)

Why don't these chimes play when the Mindflayer alone is present, e.g. when no visions occur? (See: Henry contacting the Mindflayer in the lab)

And we don't really get an answer to any of these. Not an easily spotted outright answer, anyway.

But what's really fascinating, which I mentioned just a second ago and takes me back to the top of this post, back to the "Stardust Spider" and Shadow Man, is the fact that despite occurring concurrently with the possession attempts...none of these visions contain an ultimatum. There's no "If you don't obey me, I'll hurt someone you love", no "I'm showing you what's going to happen if you don't obey me", nothing of the sort.

The closest we get to coercion is the bathroom vision, when Henry fights off a possession attempt in the school bathroom and ends up in a vision regarding Patty. When "Patty" starts to talk to him about his future, about how Henry's going to kill her and so many others, Henry says "you're not Patty...what are you?" Then he gets into a physical brawl with her, which is surprisingly well matched. Vision Patty encourages him during that fight, saying things like "That's it!", "We want the same thing!", and "We can have her!"

Those seem like pretty straightforward "the Mindflayer's encouraging Henry to kill" encouragements, right?

Yeah, at first glance. However...lets read that back right quick, but with Moral Objectivity Goggles on this time. Henry openly, verbally identifies that Vision Patty is "not her, not Patty", but is, in fact, something else. He does this multiple times before he lunges at "not Patty", and he is subsequently encouraged by not-Patty...who tells him they want the same thing. That's not suspicious at all. The motives here are definitely crystal clear and totally aren't conflicting in any way.

There's the straightforward surface aspect, and then something else piggybacking on it, complicating it. Hold that thought.

Other than that instance, the negative parts of Henry's visions are all just...information. They're showing him what will come to pass...almost like they're motivating him to fight the Mindflayer. Hold onto that thought too, it buddies with the previous one.

Henry's freaking out about Prancer because he's getting close with Patty, and he's worried he'll hurt her?

His vision informs him that he's going to kill more, that he's going to hurt things, that he's going to kill Patty if he stays around her and/or gives into the Mindflayer's desires. And then it happens. All of it. He kills more animals. He hurts things and people, the pets and lab animals, Mr. Newby, and Inmate 58361 being prime examples. He gives in to the Mindflayer's desire to kill and kills Virginia. He does, by the extent of his perception, kill Patty in the accident.

The same goes for his vision in the attic. Henry's up in the attic using his powers to find someone/snoop on them, fearful of opening himself up for a possession attempt?

The vision version of Patty's mother catches Henry and tells him she "wants to tell him a secret" while his body is being puppeted to attack Mr. Newby. The next time the curtain rises to show us the inside of Henry's mind, he's seeing himself as Vecna, strung up on the tentacles and strangling people with them...just like the end of Season 4. Once again, he's seeing the future that will come to pass...should he fail to fight the Mindflayer off.

We can tell it's a vision, not what's physically happening in reality, because: a) Henry's watching himself in the attic from the stage below. b) It's got the messed up red lighting c) They show us reality just moments before, not a tentacle in sight and without Henry on the stage there observing:

d) The ending of the vision doesn't match with reality:

At the end of this vision, Henry passes out both in the void and IRL, while the vision version of Henry remains crouching. That is a different guy, entirely separate from IRL/Void Henry. There is at least one other person in the visions who is not a product of the vision itself.

Remember those thoughts from a bit ago that I asked you to hold?

Well. This also happens to be the sequence where we not only get Vision-Patty repeating Henry's own words from just after Prancer's death ("It's not real. It's not real. It's a nightmare") back to him, a phrase IRL Patty has never heard, but we also get:

Visions Patty telling Henry how to fight and evade the possession, as if she knows what she's doing ("It's your dream, remember? Anything is possible").

Vision Patty telling Henry she loves him as the last-ditch effort when his "good dream" memory of the real Patty fails to save him from the possession.

These are both things IRL Patty wouldn't know or think to say, since IRL Patty fully believed that Henry attacked her of his own volition out of malice, and she needed to be shown a drawing of the Mindflayer by Mr. Newby in order to abandon that belief.

IRL Patty's behavior is not the behavior of someone who a) knows the ins and outs of Henry's situation with the Mindflayer, and b) coached him through overcoming a possession attempt a little while earlier. It's just not.

Just like before, we're seeing contradictions and complications between vision-selves and IRL selves, along with a sense of piggybacking within possession attempts, wherein the vision serves as motivation for Henry to fight harder in resistance to the Mindflayer...while the Mindflayer is possessing him.

It's starting to become my favorite thing in the world: A pattern of behavior.

In summary:

Henry's are visions are visions of his future, and they're being shown to him by someone.

They are separate from, but piggybacking on, the Mindflayer's possession attempts.

The purpose of the visions isn't solely to torment Henry or coerce him into doing the Mindflayer's bidding. In fact, the content of the visions seems curated to make Henry fight harder in resistance to the Mindflayer.

So if, for example, Vision Patty ≠ IRL Patty, but she's acting against the Mindflayer's best interest/in support of Henry...then...

I think my answer to the questions of "who", "when", and "how" should be at least somewhat clear by this point:

Someone...from the future.

Specifically, someone from 1979-1986 who has access to the gates from the Dimension X side, someone with both vision-giving and time-related abilities who's directly connected to the Mindflayer/the Hive Mind, but who has a vested interest in countering the Mindflayer, saving Henry Creel, and trying to change the course of the future.

A traitor. A spy, if you will.

"A spy...from the future?"

[gestures at the Signs] Yeah, you heard me.

A spy from the future.

So, on that note: The point in this section wherein I ask you to hear me out.

I get the feeling TFS Henry is being told and/or shown what will come to pass in the future by himself...the Mindflayer.

And you're probably going "How do you figure that one, James? Isn't the Mindflayer a villainous force?"

I mean, yeah. Of course it is. However...

There are clearly multiple forces at play within the Mindflayer (hive mind!), and TFS shows us that Henry Creel wouldn't choose to be a villain.

Thus I think the visions in TFS are situations where, as in the 4.07 rabbit scene, things look really damning on first view. They play on our empathy using small, visibly-frightened, helpless victims and shocking, violent circumstances to guide us into making the assumption that everything about the situation is inherently malicious.

We're shown this poor little guy, "Henry". He's 14 years old, he clocks in at 5'5", he's skittish/scared of (ha) his own shadow, and he's geeky to the nth degree about comic books (just LOOK at that Captain Midnight salute? What an cute little nerd). He's immediately lovable. He's also, we find out rather abruptly, plagued by horrific visions and murderous fits of possession.

The immediate response is to go "He's being psionically tortured by some sick, sadistic son of a bitch who hungers for nothing but blood and control", just like Nancy and the ST fandom collectively did with Young Henry's rabbit scene...only to be proven wrong about Henry's intentions via TFS.

I mean, does anyone (anyone who's able to read this post, anyway 🤭) look at TFS Henry, filmed Young Henry, or even Orderly Henry and go "Yeah. He totally wanted what he got, and if he had the chance, he definitely wouldn't try to save himself from that fate"?

No.

TFS Shows us that "Henry" was a terrified, traumatized boy who wanted it all to stop. He's kind, brave, and stronger than he seems. We're also shown that he's capable of overcoming the Mindflayer to issue warnings to people he cared about (i.e. telling people to run, or prophesying dangers he'd seen via the visions). He was trying to survive with next to no help while causing as little harm as possible. He was a good kid, and he certainly wasn't evil.

So, all that said...I think that, via the Shadow's hive-mind capabilities, Henry's "fronting", in a manner of speaking, in order to show this version of himself the future. Probably as a warning, probably as motivation to fight the Mindflayer, and all with a nice side-dish of "here's how you fight this thing off so that my current future doesn't become our future" before someone else tapes over the figurative laptop camera.

[coughs, drops this Brenner-Mindflayer collage on the table in front of you, and then scurries away]

With that said, I'd like to loop all the way back to the top of this post: The "Shadow Man" may be Henry from the future. He's waiting up ahead to show his younger self the true outcome of his choices.

We all know how TFS ends, though. Hence:

[EPIC FAIL COMPILATION]

This brings me to my final "bear with me" point: The matter of the strange double-agent vibes from the UD in every season.

I'm not sure if anyone else outside the unholycule has noticed this, but in every season there's at least one instance of the UD just...offering up information.

"It does?"

Yup! Let me explain.

On first glance, we look at things like Nancy's vision and even El's vision with Billy in the cabin, and we go "Oh, it's because [insert "the bad guy's cruel/he wants to scare her/his hubris will be his downfall/all serial killers want to be known for their crimes" etc here]"...but maybe that's not the case.

For example: Vecna told Nancy his backstory, and then he immediately went

"Oh hey, so not only am I revealing my identity (Which may help you find out more about me via lab records later on, things like...maybe a list of my abilities, or my weaknesses, like the fact that I have a nut allegry. Allegedly.), but I'm also gonna give you a sneak peek of my apocalypse plans. For free. As a treat. Don't use these to prepare or anything. I'm totally not giving you a head start".

Terrifying, yes. A taunt and a threat on surface view, yes...but also showing his hand. "I want you to tell Eleven everything you see" Why. Why would he want that. He may be confident in his plans, arrogant, even...but he's not that stupid.

I'm serious, though. Check it out in comparison to Henrys visions of the future. The pattern is patterning:

We can track that back to El's cabin scene with Billy, wherein he tells her she shouldn't have looked for him, warns her that they all can see her, and that they're going to be coming after her...and he cries about it. That's vision Billy. That's someone else who piggybacked into El's mind from Billy's mind. That's not real Billy, just like how Billy in Max's vision wasn't the real Billy. The person giving El that vision warns her. Why on earth would he tell her that they can see her, that they're coming for her? That's sensitive information! It would be smarter to let her think she's safe and use that false sense of security to catch her off guard.

In fact, this pattern patterns so well that I'd like to argue this: Henry's TFS visions, Nancy's vision, and El's vision are all the same type of behavior displayed in NINA's chess scene, just in different contexts.

Henry ("Henry") gives some kind of scary prophetic information ("He and the others are going to attempt to kill you", "I would very much like to show you where I am going", "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"), and then we're left to question if it's a scare tactic, manipulative misinformation, or helpful inside information.

It's not that the Mindflayer or Vecna can't hide things from people (see: "Somewhere he didn't want me to see")...like, say, the fact that the Mindflayer is now able to see El, or that Vecna's planning to open 4 gates with his 4 kills.

It's always this miraculous "Huh! Weird info-dropping behavior from the UD's side. Shouldn't look that gift-horse in the mouth though. It's probably just a writing oversight or a shoehorned exposé, so really there's no need to question it." situation where it's just...information that's offered up with no real explanation.

Some of my favorite examples:

...and it's all topped off with Max's line:

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time".

That is to say...You're telling me:

The first message from the Upside Down isn't any of the messages that are concretely Will's, but instead it's the one that's a repetitive Henry line...and it's conveyed in a distinctly not-Will style? A message that saves Joyce, something that's definitely not in the UD's best interest given her tenacity in finding her boy...but is definitely coming from the UD nonetheless?

Will, who fell total prey to the Mindflayer in less than 3 days, was not only able to figure out how to defeat the Mindflayer, but was also strong enough to convey it in Morse code? The Mindflayer, who is able to keep secrets (see below), just...let that information slip?

El, who acknowledges that the Mindflayer is more than able to hide things from her, is suddenly released into Billy's memories and allowed to find the source unimpeded?

The Mindflayer, as Billy (Remember: not actually Billy, because Billy can't give visions or invade minds), is telling El that because he's able to see her now, she shouldn't have looked for him? The Mindflayer, which was supposedly building the Fleshflayer to track El down and kill her? Suddenly he's telling her she shouldn't have done the thing that allowed him to find her more easily?

Vecna's giving up all the information about himself and his plans before he's even gotten the 4th gate open, despite him being so secretive about it up until that point?

Henry's visions in TFS are going to scare him into resisting the Mindflayer, making it less likely that he's going to upgrade to killing humans, i.e. the very thing the Mindflayer wants him to do?

None of that makes any damn sense...until we hit this last point:

Orderly Henry is known for giving inside information about "Papa" to El with no clear motive other than getting her to leave the lab.

Now, if you know my page then you know Em's been talking about double meanings in phrasing recently (see: this post about "who"s and "what"s).

So, with that in mind, I'd like you to chew on this:

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time." vs "He's been telling us His plan this whole time."

By which I mean: "He's been telling us some other man's plan this whole time."

[Mike voice] Superspy.

As a parting thought, I made it all into a nice, neat set of collages:

Not to mention this final, parting bit:

#henry creel #time loop theory #st: tfs

[fluentmoviequoter]

The Price of Christmas Connections

Day 8 of 12 Days of Ficmas

Pairing: Dalton Lambert x reader

Summary: You knock on Dalton's door and offer him some Christmas cookies, and when he offers to pay, you gladly accept.

Warnings: so much fluff; I think I forgot how to write for Dalton.

Word Count: 0.9k+ words (sorry it's short, I liked the idea but couldn't figure out how to make it longer then got too busy to try)

A/N: Like I said in the warnings, I need to watch The Red Door again bc I feel like I'm not writing Dalton as well as I used to, but I have finals this week so this is the best I can do for now. I may revisit this next week and rewrite it if anyone is interested, but for now enjoy some fluff (which Dalton very much deserves after the semester he's had)!

The best part of JPU, in your opinion, is that your last class of the week is across from the art building. Better, is that you get to see the guy you wish you knew. You know his name because his friend yells it whenever she is around. But that is all you know about Dalton. Though you want to know more.

Dalton watches for you when he leaves Professor Armagan’s class, wondering what it would be like if he dared to introduce himself. You’ve waved at Dalton a few times, and he’s awkwardly returned it or pretended not to see you. Every time Dalton walks back to his dorm, feeling disappointed, ashamed, and prepared to get yelled at by Chris.

When December begins, you can’t help but imagine how different the holiday season would be if you could talk to Dalton, get to know him… fall in love with him. The last idea hits you out of nowhere, but you mean it. The rest of the students at JPU seem disinterested in the time of year, with no sign of the Christmas spirit anywhere to be seen. Deciding that something needs to be done, you pull on an invisible Santa hat and set out to bring the spirit of Christmas to JPU until everyone goes home for Christmas.

You pile all of the homemade decorated cookies (and some undecorated, in case someone doesn’t like icing) onto a Christmas platter you picked up from the nearby grocery store. After dressing up with a Mrs. Claus dress pulled over your warmest leggings and a long-sleeve thermal shirt, you leave your apartment and walk to the nearest dorm building. Nearly everyone on the first floor accepts at least one cookie. By the time you reach the third floor, you’re preparing to return to your apartment to refill the platter. As you knock on a door, you count the cookies and decide to offer the last three to whoever is in the dorm. The door opens, and you smile, hoping to spread a little light. You see Dalton on the other side of the door, and your smile grows.

“Hi,” you greet. “I’m handing out Christmas cookies, could I interest you in one? Or three?”

Dalton’s jaw drops nearly imperceptibly as he looks between you and the platter.

“I’ve been watching you, I wanted to meet,” he blurts out. His eyes widen as he rushes to correct, “I mean- not like stalker-watching you, I just know when you have class and I wait until I see you when you leave. No, that’s not better, um-”

You laugh, shifting the platter so you can lay a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I’ve been wanting to meet you too,” you admit.

Dalton nods, unmoving because you’re at his dorm and touching him. His mind races, forming plenty of things to say, but nothing comes out.

“So, do you want a cookie?” you repeat.

“Oh, yes, please. You- you can come in, if you want, since you said you wanted to meet me.” Dalton cringes as he finishes, whispering an apology.

“Sure,” you agree, entering his dorm.

You set the cookies on a clear corner of his desk, walking to the edge of his bed to inspect the art on his wall. Each piece tells a different story and you feel like you know Dalton more after each picture.

“Are you selling the cookies, or? I mean, I’ll pay for them if you are,” Dalton says, watching you look at his pictures.

He notices your eyes light up as you turn to him and say, “No, I’m not selling them, just handing them out. I’ll accept payment anyway, though.”

Dalton’s brows furrow as his arms drop. You realize you confused him with the conflicting information, so you decide to show him instead. Grabbing his sweatshirt, you pull him to you, kissing him as payment for the cookies, for allowing you to come in and get to know each other, and most importantly, and the opportunity to fall in love with him.

When you pull away from him, breaking the kiss, his eyes remain closed as he mumbles, “That works.”

“I’m glad we finally met,” you tell him.

“Me too.”

“There’s still cookies over there.”

Dalton rolls his eyes and smiles before leaning in to kiss you again.

��✯✯✯✯

After turning in your last test, marking the official beginning of Christmas break, you run to the art building and wait for Dalton to finish his final presentation for Professor Armagan’s class. When the door opens, you perk up, standing on your toes to watch for Dalton.

“Dalton!” you yell, waving at him when he appears.

He smiles, rushing down the stairs and pulling you into his arms as he asks how your final went. 

“Cookie girl!” several people yell, hooting and pointing at you. “Be my Mrs. Claus!” one of them requests.

“My cookie girl,” Dalton says shyly, looking into your eyes as his arms tighten around you.

“Your cookie girl,” you agree, boldly kissing him in front of all the students.

The previously interested guys boo playfully as they continue walking, and you hear Dalton’s friend yell his name in surprise. You pull back, turning into Dalton’s shoulder before facing her.

“This is Chris,” Dalton introduces you. “Chris, this is my cookie girl.”

You roll your eyes at Dalton as you shake Chris’s hand.

“Oh my gosh, my roommate saved me one of your cookies; they were so good!” she gushes.

“Best priced cookies I’ve ever gotten,” Dalton says as he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you against him.

Because of a few cookies, you went from staring longingly across campus to see each other to running into his arms. They’re the best-priced cookies you’ve ever had, too.

#fluentmoviequoter12daysoffics #dalton lambert #dalton lambert x reader #dalton lambert fluff #dalton lambert fic #dalton lambert imagine #insidious #insidious the red door #fem!reader

[ariaste]

I just read your theory and I'm SO blown away by it! I was skeptical at first (I know how bad the theorizing for Supernatural and Sherlock got) but honestly your analysis is incredibly sound compared to those. You took all the things that rubbed me wrong about this season and recontextualized them so well!

Here are some things that I also noticed:

The depiction of Job's misery seems ... out of order. Jumbled, even. I re-read the entire Book of Job as preparation for s2 and he isn't stricken with boils/bad health until *after* he finds out about the destruction of his children and property. I figured that someone as well-versed in mythology as Neil (especially when it comes to Judaism/Old Testament stuff) wouldn't necessarily present it that way. It really took me out of the loop - and that might also be why Aziraphale looks pensive after revisiting the memory, and why he seemed to want to ask Crowley about it. So much is just slightly off-kilter there, like it's a botched rewrite or a conflicting memory.

And Dalrymple. We've heard of him before. He's the guy crazy enough to devise a thundergun that fires silver bullets, garlic, and bricks to hunt witches with. And THIS guy is suddenly a very sane, very grounded, "why the hell would I put myself in danger to go bodysnatching" surgeon type? Witchfinder Dalrymple and Surgeon Dalrymple may be two different people, but what's the point in that? Dalrymple is such a stupidly distinct name. It smacks of the Metatron taking a random person and repurposing them for the edited version of a story.

Then again, the historical minisodes weren't entirely written by Neil and so they're the most prone to genuine mistakes and inconsistencies. Idk how much Neil got to meddle with the details there but I choose to believe your theory anyway, it just fits too well :'D

"And Dalrymple. We've heard of him before. He's the guy crazy enough to devise a thundergun that fires silver bullets, garlic, and bricks to hunt witches with." OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH SHIT i forgot about that! FASCINATING! WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN. I will reverently add that pushpin to my murderboard and contemplate yarn choices, thank you for this

#good omens spoilers #good omens season 2

[probablyhuntersmom]

Brief Meta on Memories and Traumatic Grief

Memories change over time and don't stay exactly the same. Each one is fluid, tied to a web of ever-changing associations we draw between them and other thoughts, and we actually make small edits each time we revisit them, like small tweaks in a word doc file that we may hardly notice.

But we are undoubtedly rewriting them over time, changing the narrative even if not by much, forming new associations big and small with them by weaving other thoughts/feelings/beliefs/perspectives/memories with them, no matter how consciously or subconsciously we do so. It's like playing the telephone game with ourselves without being able to stop it.

The fascinating thing about this is it opens up room for trauma treatment approaches such as Eye Movement Desensitizing and Reprocessing (EMDR), narrative therapy, journaling, memory rescripting etc to be effective, since memories are therefore subjective. Memories are always malleable, though at the same time they have foundational roots.

Which brings me to the above. I believe it was tremendously important that others were physically present and right next to him in the moments right after Flapjack faded away. Trusted loved ones who felt the same kind of emotions as he was, to collectively grieve as a group (hell, there hasn't even been time for them to properly mourn without rushing the process. Not yet). This would've influenced the forming of Hunter's traumatic memories related in any way to Flapjack dying.

Instances like below - him being held tightly and soothed while being in an unmatched level of pain - must have shaped the newly forming memories in a major way:

Oddly enough, this scenario in which a death has just occurred has some similarities with its opposite: birth 🤔🤔🤔🤔 The minutes and hours after any childbirth are a very sensitive window for foundations of a sense of safety, emotional regulation and even physiological processes to be built. That's why newborn infants should have pretty much constant physical touch with caregivers via e.g. skin-to-skin contact for healthy bonding to take place. *tempted to philosophize more about birth vs death but I'm holding back from being unnecessarily lengthy*

Back to Hunter's major traumatic loss above. I'm referencing it because it's not long till we'll see him witness Belos be imprisoned, dying or however way in which he will be defeated. How could this impact on all the Belos-related memories and Flapjack-related memories he will keep recalling for the rest of his life?

I think he will require the exact same type of support once that milestone of his life - truly losing Belos - arrives. This but on a way bigger scale:

Why? Because there's no way this part of him has totally disappeared, even now:

There are formative memories do to with Belos which can't be whisked away with a Delete button. There are a number of factors influencing how he's going to absorb the seconds/minutes of that upcoming loss in Watching and Dreaming. The hours afterward will matter so much too. Will he witness that loss with his own eyes or e.g. might Camila pull him close into an embrace and tell him not to look? Will he have an active role in making the moment of Belos's defeat happen, or might he watch passively from a distance? Will Belos say anything to him while it happens, or not? If yes, what are the words Hunter will hear? What thoughts and feelings will he have about himself, and what memories will fill his mind while it happens? Who else is there with him during and right after it happens, and what do they tell him? All these will add up to form his experience of that loss (which is made more complicated because it is also a major gain/win for him). There is no way through this where he escapes further loss (which coexists in a messy way with gain), since trauma be like that.

Examples of other important moments in other media that portray what I'm trying to explain include this part of Avatar: The Last Airbender..

where Katara is by Zuko's side as he watches Azula, his sister, have a nervous breakdown. The physical touch from Katara matters. The memory of this event is forming in Zuko's mind and being shaped in real-time. and will continue to be shaped over time.

Another one I remembered is this moment of Silver shielding Jim in Treasure Planet (the supernova scene) when Jim's skills as a crew member (which he bet all of his self-worth on) were truly being tested:

This proved to be vital "cushioning" for what happens right afterwards: Jim, already stricken with a fragile sense of identity and no self-love, being blamed for the death of a crew member.

The last example is from How to Train Your Dragon 2. Hiccup not being on his own during his father's death and funeral:

A negative, dark example is Jinx losing Silco in Arcane:

Nobody to soothe and hold her (because she rejected Vi's help due to lack of trust), and she had been the one to end his life.

Whether a parental figure we lose has been kind or cruel to us, grief is unavoidable when they are gone. Hunter's is on a exaggerated level in fiction since Belos technically murdered him via the possession and he had to be brought back to life via external means (Flapjack's sacrifice).

I was especially compelled to write this meta after a fresh realization that being physically alone and hidden in the crucial minutes and hours after a few life-altering incidents in past decades, significantly prolonged my recovery time from such awful traumatic memories. But I'm very glad Hunter should be in excellent hands having to say that complicated goodbye (which realistically, will not be a one-time send-off) to his 'uncle', which he most definitely won't be responding to with a triumphant Hollywood kind of smile on his face.

SOMEBODY HAS TO TAKE CARE OF THIS BBY AND PUT A BLANKET OVER HIM

#toh analysis #toh hunter #toh belos #the owl house #loz writes a meta #acute grief #it's hella weird: I wrote this on my main abuser's birthday without realizing at first #death mention #trauma mention #abuse mention

[teamoon7]

🇺🇲: I tried to redraw that classic Maribug pose (but with a bit of distance between both to show the design haha) with my LB design and a "preview" of my Marinette and Tikki design (I'll definitely change them in the future though). I was trying to go for a way simpler style than that but ended up failing lol- I'll try again in the future

(More versions under the cut)

I'll also probably revisit all those designs eventually, since I still dislike some parts a bit and *IF* I ever do the AU/Rewrite I want to, I'd probably at least do a simplified version of the designs so it would be easier to draw in the comic

I know I take WAY TOO LONG to post but (I'm lazy and) I've been kinda busy- but I'll try to post my Hawk moth redesign probably before the year ends lol

After I do the 3 main ones, I'm not sure if I should do their civilian designs first or do the other heroes- but I'm also not really sure if I'll do ALL the heroes (at least right now) since, if I ever do the AU I plan to, I don't know if I'll give all the characters a miraculous (and if I do, I also don't know if I'll keep them with their original ones since I'm changing the power system). So, if I don't do the civilians first, I'll probably do only the secondary holders (QB, Rena, Carapace, Mayura and Argos) because I'm sure I'll keep those

But I assure you I'll definitely not give up on my "redesign series" :D (even if I take IDK, one year to post the next one haha)

🇧🇷: Tentei refazer aquela pose clássica das Maribug (mas com um tico de distância entre elas pra mostrar melhor o design kkkk) com meu design da LB e uma "preview" do meu design da Tikki e da Marinette (Mas eu vou definitivamente mudar eles no futuro). Eu tava tentando fazer um estilo BEM mais simples que esse mas acabei falhandokkkk mas vou tentar dnv no futuro

Eu também provavelmente vou revisitar todos esses designs eventualmente, já que eu ainda não curto muito algumas partes, e *SE* eu algum dia fizer a comic da AU/Rewrite que eu tô planejando, eu provavelmente vou pelo menos fazer uma versão simplificada dos designs pra que fique mais fácil de desenhar nos painéis

Eu sei que eu demoro pra krl pra postar mas (eu sou preguiçosa e) eu ando meio ocupada- Mas eu vou tentar postar meu redesign do HM provavelmente pelo menos antes do ano acabarkkkk

Depois que eu acabar os 3 principais, não sei se eu devo primeiro fazer os designs civis deles ou os outros heróis- mas eu tb não tenho certeza se eu vou fazer TODOS os heróis (pelo menos por agora) já que, se eu algum dia fizer a AU que eu planejo, não sei se vou dar um miraculous pra todos os personagens (e mesmo se eu der, não tenho ctz se eles vão continuar com suas jóias originais já que eu tô mudando o sistema de poder). Então, se eu não fizer os civis primeiro, provavelmente vou fazer só os portadores secundários (QB, Rena, Carapace, Mayura e Argos) pq esses eu tenho ctz q vou manter

Mas eu garanto que eu definitivamente não vou desistir da minha "série de redesigns" :D (mesmo que eu demore sei lá, um ano pra postar o proximokkk)

+2 versions more accurate to the image

(+2 versões mais parecidas com a imagem de referência)

#fanart #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #kwami #mlb unnamed au #miraculous ladybug #mlb #ml #ladybug #my art #artists on tumblr #marinette #redesign #miraculous au #character design #design #brazilian artists #i keep forgetting which tags i use 💀

[exilethegame]

Writing Update (11/28/22)

Hello everyone!

Unfortunately on Friday I had the wonderful pleasure of catching the flu. On one hand, I've been stuck shivering and coughing all day. On the other hand, my fever-induced psychoses gave me wonderful material to write with in the future.

Because of that, I wasn't able to get much done this week, though I was able to get a jump on some scenes before I got sick!

This past few weeks I've managed to write 5k words making Chapter 5, pt. 2 51k words long!

As of now I'm working on Sabir + Nikke's scenes simultaneously so I can bounce back and forth between them whenever I get bored. The scenes are "simple" enough when compared to Vethna + Amilia's that it's easy for me to do and usually allows me to write a bit quicker since I won't be able to run into writer's block this way!

Ideally, I'll be able to finish both of their scenes by the midpoint of December, but we'll see. I also then need to revisit Amilia + Vethna's scenes to add in extra dialogue + flavor text based on things MC might've done if they went to speak to Sabir/Nikke first, since I find it enjoyable when all the characters acknowledge one another.

Once I get this check-in scene finished, I'll then be able to move onto chronological + companion scenes, which should be pretty smooth sailing. I put on the tumblr's actual website (it might only be visible on a computer) an estimated release for Part 2 which is Quarter 1 of next year-- so anywhere from January - March 2023. I feel confident about that window and will likely shrink it down to more specific dates the more work I get done.

That's all the main stuff! I also included some vocabulary down below for what I personally mean when I'm referring to the "check-in" scenes and such for those of you that are interested. Otherwise, that's all, and thanks for reading! :)

Chapter 5 (Part 2) Progress Scene 1: Linear Scene 2: Hobbies (Finished -- 10/10 Branches) Scene 3: Hobbies Scene 4: Check-in (50% -- 1/3 Branches) Scene 5: Chronological (75% Done) Scene 6: Chronological Scene 7: Companion Scene 8: Companion

Check-in: A check-in scene is when MC is given the choice to speak to the characters "one-on-one." MC can always choose what order to speak to the characters in, but otherwise it breaks down into two more subtypes.

A Check-in 1, which hasn't been seen in-game yet but will be in Part Two, requires MC to speak to every NPC before the scene can go forward. There may also be certain dialogue choices with each character that must be picked in order for the scene to go forward. In scenes like this, main-plot information will be included as every MC will be forced to see it regardless of their relationships or personality.

A Check-in 2 allows MC to choose who they speak to, sometimes under a condition where MC must choose a limited amount of characters to speak to. This means sometimes MC will be able to talk to everyone with ease, and other times (Like in the War Room) MC will be forced to choose who to speak to out of 2 or 3 characters. These type of check-ins will be more common, and they'll also contain information important for side-quests. They'll allow MC to built up trust/respect with characters even if MC + them don't get along, which will then get them to tell MC more about themselves... which, chances are, will open up some unique storylines in the future. The "side-quests" will open up additional scenes for MC in the future where MC can influence how they end, and the ending of these side-quests will then influence the main story (usually). They're not required-- and sometimes MC not getting involved can even be better-- but they're there!

Companion Scene: A companion scene is when a single scene can include any given character in it-- meaning in some playthroughs the scene will have Vethna in it, in others it will have Amilia. So essentially I'm rewriting the same moment of time several times over again for every companion who could be in it. The character who will be in the scene can sometimes be chosen by the player directly-- other times it will be a matter of what MC's relationships are. Sometimes a scene is limited to being with MC's romantic partner or best friend, other times a scene can be played with anyone who MC is amicable with, other times a scene can only be played with whoever MC has the lowest affinity with, etc. It's the closest in style to a classic sort of IF structure-- "You're tired and lonely, only one person comes to your mind to spend time with. That person is..." type of beat.

Hobbies Scene: A hobby scene is a scene that changes depending on what MC's hobby is set as. For example, an MC whose hobby is cooking might have a scene where they're helping make dinner for the group at night while another MC whose hobby is exploring might be sneaking out and climbing things they probably shouldn't be climbing... Sometimes these events will be done with companions as well! Not always, of course... otherwise I would have to be writing 60 variations of scenes which is... not possible <3

Chronological Scene: I just use this to reference a normal span of writing where the scene doesn't vary based on relationships but on choices. So I'm only writing variations for the choices you make as MC-- not for the stats that are behind the scenes! These types of scenes are significantly easier to write than the ones above. Even though I'm needing to write the multiple ways a scene can play out, it's not quite as repetitive as the check-in scenes are, nor do they take as long to finish as the Companion + Hobbies scenes.

Linear Scene: I don't write much of these in comparison to the others, but it's exactly what it sounds like. These tends to be scenes from other character's POV where there are no choices-- and, if there are choices (Like the Freedom removal scene in Chapter 5 pt. 1) then they don't have any actual affect on the scene and how it plays out. These are incredibly easy to write, and usually I'm able to finish them in a single sitting!

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading! :)

#writing update

[onewomancitadel]

A smattering of general updates:

I played Tears of the Kingdom. I didn't really enjoy it. I understand why it was popular though; I'm just not the demographic for these types of video games anymore. I didn't find it creatively rewarding and after a time I sat there thinking 'I would rather be writing right now', and since then I have learnt that writing is made easier by doing things which are not writing, because it makes me miss it. My dad also doesn't really like it but for some reason has played hundreds of hours in it. I don't know either - I think he will take anything called Zelda at this point.

I spectated the Doctor Who David Tennant Special and watched some clips of the new season. I'm not a fan of RTD, and not a DW fan anymore (not for a long time), but it was an interesting study in how studios try to attract old and new fans.

I read a lot of books, and that lie people tell you about all books being good for you is a lie, because a cyberpunk anthology of short stories made me so angry I got heartburn. I think people who say that are saying so because they wish that they could read a lot, in which case I say, yes I think reading is a gift and we should engage with it, however, sometimes I get so physically angry from something stupid/bad I've read because bad writers exist that it gives me actual pain. I am reading Howl's Moving Castle right now and it's very joyful; I am very surprised by the liberties the animated film took! However so far I do think both experiences are worthwhile, and if you enjoyed the Ghibli film, I very much recommend checking out the original book if you want to revisit that world again. The prose is straightforward but a little whimsical, and Howl is very, very funny. I have laughed aloud a few times.

Well, you know I rewatched Dark, and it's funny that during my exile I said 'this is like if RWBY got the ending it deserves' and then, er, I found out it's not renewed yet, and that's still up in the air, which for the entirety of RWBY I have only had one true moment of doubt of such a thing, and that was a while ago.

On that topic, yes, I still ship Jaune/Cinder, believe Cinder's redemption is likely, etc., although there are some more external concerns I would wager now than before. Before I thought it very possible to do without any commercial influence, and it depends what compromises they do or don't end up making or having already made. My analysis of Jaune's arc in V9 may not hold water as much (e.g. if you lean towards the view there were rewrites to cater to growing the audience, or perhaps it's two ideas married? I'm not sure) so I'm going to think about it more, and there always has been a tension in RWBY between what is being expected/baited and what is foreshadowed/said/actually happens.

I figured out how to write again and what was blocking me, so there's that. To talk about it a bit more, since my break I have worked every single day on writing. My key takeaways are that you need a delicate balance of delusion and self-doubt to get anything done - you don't know you can do something until you actually do it - and every excuse I invented for not writing was not the reason I was not writing. I can write with a migraine beginning to set in on an uncomfortable desk where I can't even rest my elbows properly on the end of a bed with no back support without aircon in the middle of summer before I've even taken my hair out from bedtime plaits in my pyjamas. I didn't even expect to get my fic done right before midnight, actually I was like 'well lol that's not going to happen, I'll write anyway though, fuck New Year's' because I wasn't doing anything, and then I finished and looked at the time and was like ooooh. I actually completed my goal! So I'm very proud of that. Anyway writing is breathing, to me, I go crazy if I don't do it, no matter what it is, and every single piece of nonsense advice of productivity was not helpful, ever, but I did figure it out. Also admittedly I got a fire burning under me again because I found out I was actually right about Raven, in which case I took that as a sign from heaven I was on the right track. One should hope.

I am excited about Dune Part Two, yes, although I am trying to avoid Villeneuve talking about the film because I know all the marketing is basically directed at people who aren't Dune fans, and I have to see it for myself to see what it's worth. I enjoyed the first film, and Villeneuve seems excited to direct Dune Messiah, in which case I am willing to do whatever possible to make that happen. Because that's about as complete a story you're going to get in a major motion picture adaptation and it would be So Fucking Good.

#seraphina party hour

[infernothechaosgod]

Should I make a video essay about epic mickey? (Rewrite)

i already made this post once but Im rewritting it becuse It looked too much like someone else's take And I have much more to say now that I thought about this post longer

So as we all know Theres alot of epic mickey video essays on youtube however alot of them Are beasicly Roasting the game as if it was made in 2023 in this weirdly sugarcoded way so you'll feel bad for liking the game but you'll also hear good stuff about it so you'll FEEL like it's good critisism but trust me its just the complement sandwitch

(complement sandwitch is when someone gives you a complement and Then critisism either deserved or not then another complement so you'll feel better...but it doesnt work too well with bad critisism lmao)

Theres alot takes about how The game doesnt look good enough and Im like...Good people, IT WERE 2010s! What do you expect? Not only computers could handle less then but also making games was VERY DIFFRENT and you never should come to a game from 2010s with expectations of good graphic, seriously never, Modeling and such were also very diffrent

Now I say I agree with some things The game could be a bit darker I think a bigger exploration of how oswald or anyone in fact feels about being forgotten Could be great, like it's horrifying and oswald Went from very beloved by audience to fully forgotten in a very short amount of time for a toon Also some concept arts Imo should make it into game and enemies could look creepier, also the morality system could be more effective like there could be a line saying "you notice oswald looks around more than usualy...prehaps he's looking if there are any witnesses around" Or something like that Like mickey litellary has a weapon capeable of erasing you from reality but also capeable of making beautiful things and fixing peoples problems i could argue it deserves more exploration

But the thing is...the game is amazing

It is, I hate most things from my childhood now becuse I went through critique era that im semi still in and I revisited things from my childhoot and most of them sucked lmao (being a writer I just cried from dissapointed sometimes) but epic mickey? It was still amazing, and 2d parts to this day look GORGEOUS The story is great and I do agree that the oryginal plot for second part should have stayed but it got replaced by a Still good idea

Also its so SO creative! It uses the fact the characters are cartoons to its fullest really theres no other game that I know of where you go into old projectors and where you can paint and erase your sorounding with accualy good explanation The mage was creative as hell its amazing

Also

The whole time you play youre suppoust to play for the plot not for the "gamer experience" Becuse it may suprise you but You dont HAVE to get all the pins and tickets, you can for fun But no one is forcing you to and whining about how long it took to 100% the game is not a good critique, you did this to yourself bro

The reviews or essays are often beasicly copypasted from eachother, I watched like 4 essays and reviews but it felt like one dude talking in 4 diffrent voices and repeating himself it's baaaaad

Epic mickey was a great game and it deserves a remake 200% and explaining how "it feel from its grace" isnt gonna be helpful

I wanna make a video about How there are things to change definitley (CURSE YOU WEIRD CAMERA) but its still a great game with some amazing plot And with great effect on younger audience at the time who played it

So help a boy out (again) and tell me do you think I should make that video essay? It may be long But I think you'll see it as a good thing haha

#epic mickey 2 #epic mickey #mickey mouse #oswald the lucky rabbit #video essay #Em #Em2 #Em deserves remakes fr #wasteland #cartoon

[ourpickwickclub]

Ooh B you have some really good points. I agree that GR blew a gasket last year with the kids spending all summer with G & B, King performing at OR, Zuma dressing like a cowboy & attending Zach Bryan, and Apollo basically clinging to & emulating Blake every chance he gets. Gavin is trying to wrest back control of the situation/his family and will pull any dirty tricks he can. I too believe he will have King (maybe Zuma?) on stage with him this summer. You made another good point. He’s probably scared shitless of Gwen’s new album and what it may reveal and is trying to get ahead of it by trying to enhance his public perception and cast shade on her. She hasn’t written anything even alluding to his shadiness since 2016, but he probably noticed on her PI radio tour and the PI lyrics that she may be ready to revisit some past pain.

You guys may not remember, but years ago my guess was that, much like Pearl with Daisy, GR would let Gwen and Blake do most of heavy lifting of parenting and then attempt to swoop in when the kids were older and rewrite history. It’s one of reasons I dislike him so much. Of course, Daisy was not a child of someone super famous or who had a lot of money and / or connections, so she was of no use to him until she became famous on her own.

- B

[purrincess-chat]

For the writers truth or dare ask: 🌿❄️🍄

Give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

So, this is something I've actually been dealing with a lot over the past year. Some of it is out of my control, but the other side is just a general lack of motivation. Here are a few tips I've found that are helpful for me:

First, identify where your block is coming from. Is it because a scene isn't working and you don't know how to fix it? Is it because you don't know what to do next in the story? Is something else in your life stressing you out? Do you suffer from a mental illness that may be making you feel disconnected? Once you recognize what kind of block you're facing, you can find ways to overcome it.

The way you handle your block is going to depend on what kind of block it is. For me, I've been dealing with a lot of outside stress in my personal life that doesn't usually leave me with much mental energy to devote to writing or even some of my other hobbies. In cases like that, I've found it's best to be patient and kind to yourself. I've been working on managing my stress and taking breaks to fight the burn out. If this is the case for you, I can tell you it's sadly a slow process depending on your circumstances. Be kind to yourself, write when you can, and don't beat yourself up if you are struggling, it will only make it worse. Try to rebuild a habit of writing. Maybe set aside a certain time every day or every other day to write, even if you can only manage a few words. Building a habit will help you get back into the swing of things. If your daily life is too hectic to allow for that, then put the writing down and take care of your business. Sometimes things are just more important than writing, and you shouldn't feel guilty for putting aside a hobby. Life is hard. You'll get there.

If your struggle comes from being stuck on a particular scene, I have a couple of remedies that usually work for me. One way is to skip ahead and bridge the gap later, so for me if a conversation between characters isn't going how I want, or what happens more to me is filling in exposition between conversations, I might skip ahead to the next portion of the scene or chapter that I can clearly picture in my head and work on that for a while. Often times I find when I go back to bridge the two sections later, it's a lot easier seeing where exactly I need to end up, and I can usually fix the problem with a sentence or two that was previously tripping me up. The second option that I also sometimes run into is if I follow a particular thread and find out it's a dead end or just not flowing how I want, I might cut a chunk of the most recent bits I've written. Sometimes I delete it, other times I just cut it and paste it either further down on the same doc or by itself onto a blank doc. That way if I decide I want to keep it or add it back later, it's not totally gone, but sometimes going back and rewriting a particular bit that isn't quite working how I want gives me a fresh start to try something else. Writing sometimes is throwing things at a wall until something sticks. It's okay to delete something you've already written or cut it. In fact, oftentimes it's needed. It can be frustrating when you realize something you've spent a lot of time on just isn't working, and you have to cut it, but in the end, if it will fix the issue, it's unfortunately time to swallow your pride and just cut it.

On the other hand, if your block is coming from just not knowing what to do next in the story, I have a few options to re-spark inspiration. First, I recommend rereading over what you've written. Get a sense for what you already have on the page or in your notes. Next, revisit the source material you're writing from if you're writing fic. Sometimes I find that putting myself back into that world helps me put myself back into the characters heads, and sometimes getting a renewed sense for who the characters are and what drives them can help me figure out how they would react in a given situation or what choices they might make. Third, ask yourself what your end goal is, then work on figuring out what you need to get your characters or plot there. I know a lot of people don't like outlining, but if you find yourself running into this issue a lot, it might be worthwhile to figure out a system that works for you. I utilize a number of different kinds of outlines when I write. I usually start with a bare bones outline and summarize each chapter in a sentence or two. What is the main focus of each chapter? After that I work on a more detailed outline and fill in the blanks, focusing on what I want for each character throughout the story. What challenges will they face, what lessons do they need to learn, what flaws are they going to overcome, and how are they going to grow? Once I know that, I work on putting them in situations that will accomplish that. Sometimes, when you're making things up as you go with no real plan, it can be easy to write yourself into a corner. Planning a little bit ahead of time can help you see where you're going and hopefully avoid pitfalls. If you've already fallen into a pitfall, I'd recommend advice I gave earlier and go back to the point where things went wrong and cut the parts that aren't working and try a new approach. Writing takes patience, and you don't always get it right the first time. That's perfectly fine, just keep trying.

Some other remedies that work for me are taking time to clear my mind and refocus on the story I'm telling. I may go for a walk, or clean my room, or listen to a song that reminds me of the characters/story. I'm not the best example of it, but also sometimes reading other people's work (professional or otherwise) can spark inspiration, or studying the way they tell their story can help you figure out how to tell your story. Also, keep in mind that you're not going to crank out 3k every single day. Sometimes all you can manage is 500 words or even one sentence. That's fine. Every day is different. Just keep going. It's difficult to give a blanket piece of advice because everyone suffers differently. Hopefully any of this advice was helpful 😅

What's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Ooo, so it depends. I have a lot of ideas all the time, and I love all of them in different ways for different reasons. I've been dipping my toes into the LoZ fandom lately, particularly the botw/totk side. I've been working on a Zelink fic that picks up right after botw ends and bridges the gap between botw and totk following how they began recovering from the calamity, so right now that is my dream fic, I suppose. I've also been working on my secret project for ML that I'm not quite ready to reveal yet, but it's another Adrinette centric story (surprise, surprise, Cat) where the reveal has happened and they're together, but things aren't as wonderful as they'd hoped. As for who will write them, ehhh me 😅 all of my ideas are things that I would write. But typically if I post about something publicly like in one of my brain dump posts, I don't mind if other people get inspired by the idea and want to write it. 🤷‍♀️

Share a head canon for one of your favorite ships/pairings

I'll give two because my brain lately is oscillating between love square and Zelink.

For the love square, I headcanon that Adrien would be the dad that wants to take his kids to do everything that he couldn't do as a kid, and Marinette has to reel them back in bc I don't care if it's fun for you, you can't take our five year old skydiving. Let's just go to Disneyland 🤦‍♀️

For Zelink, I headcanon that post botw, pre totk when Zelda is a teacher at the school in Hateno, that Link often brings her a picnic lunch, and they sit outside under a tree in the school yard and eat his cooking while talking about their day. I also hc that Zelda would absolutely rope him into teaching PE to the kids.

#cat replies #asks #ask game

[jozor-johai]

Revisiting the Rat Cook, Part 6: "As a dog will kill a rat"

Hi all, back with Part 6 of the Revisting the Rat Cook series. Sorry for the long break since the last part, it was partly the holiday season and partly because I ended up doing some more rewrites to this part.

This post is a return to form in the sense that it will mostly stand alone without reading the other parts, although as always the meaning is more complete in the context of the series. The last part was kind of the big one so far, and you can find links to the rest of the series here.

To anyone who is reading this part first, "Revisiting the Rat Cook" is a series that is built on the understanding that GRRM's use of metadiegetic legends provide a "road map" of symbols and meaning, used in their abstract form, which we, as readers, can use to better understand the relationships between symbols, motifs, and themes as they recur throughout ASOAIF as a whole. The Rat Cook story is about a rat which eats rats, or a cook who serves kings; The Rat Cook story is about fathers and sons, about cannibalism, about trust, about vengeance, and about damning one's legacy... but this part is a minor digression, where I talk about another metaphor for power throughout ASOIAF, the relationship between rats and dogs.

This dog & rat digression takes up two parts of this series, and you can read the second part here

"As a dog will kill a rat"

In the last part, we saw how rats are the least desirable food that starving people might eat, and being the lowest on the hierarchy of power in the world, so too are the smallfolk themselves “rats”. However, choosing to eat rats, even though it means conditions must be terrible, also means choosing to survive despite those conditions. We saw how those in power demand absolute control, how these "ratlike" smallfolk escape notice by melting away into the crannies of the world, and how, once overlooked, they may take back power when the chance appears, just as the Rat Cook does.

In this part, despite being a slight change of focus, I examine some of the symbolism of "dogs," at least in how they relate to "rats," to deepen our understanding of the themes present in the "Rat Cook." Fully examining the symbolism of dogs could be an entire series in its own right, and I have not investigated the importance of “dogs” to the same degree that I have examined “rats” because there are no dogs directly within the “Rat Cook” story. I confess that without that complete investigation into the significance of the dog symbol, I may not be seeing the full depth of the picture here. Nonetheless, I believe that the deeper understanding gained from seeing the two symbols in concert strengthens the understanding of either symbol in isolation.

After all, the innate relationship between “dogs” and “rats” is integral to the comparison Thoros makes in AFFC Brienne VIII, the quote which I ended the last part with:

“Like rats, we must run back to our holes when the dogs come sniffing after us, and there are more dogs every day."

The Brotherhood are “rats” because they lack official power and because they live in “holes” while the men live in castles, but they are also “rats” because they are “hunted by dogs." In other words, their flight from the “dogs” of the world defines their rathood. If the “rats” are the people underfoot and without access to de jure power, then according to Thoros’ metaphor, “dogs” are the men hunting them, those agents of the lords who seek out these dissenters and enforce the Lord’s strength.

Even when the comparison does not appear directly, Martin keeps the theming of this metaphor very consistent. Looking back to ACOK, we see the same metaphor made less explicitly in Arya VI:

Ser Gregor Clegane himself would stand motionless, watching and listening, until the victim died. The questions were always the same. Was there gold hidden in the village? Silver, gems? Was there more food? Where was Lord Beric Dondarrion? Which of the village folk had aided him?

We have seen the Brotherhood compared to rats, the smallfolk compared to rats, and here Beric’s identity, decentralized Spartacus-style, represents all three things at once; more symbol than man, Dondarrion reflects one method by which the masses can defend themselves and take their revenge like the Rat Cook himself. The nature of the questioning implies the correlation by presupposing that the village folk must be supporting him. Gregor's men do not ask "did they aid him," but "which" of them aided him. Subsequently, all of the punishments that might be destined (or cordoned) for Dondarrion are carried out instead upon the smallfolk as Gregor’s men torture each to death in turn. Therefore, this effort to capture and subdue Dondarrion is, in practical application, the effort to capture and subdue the smallfolk. From the perspective of the questioner, the two are one and the same.

Consistent with the metaphor, the questioner here is, by proxy, Ser Gregor Clegane, one of two men who bears three dogs for a sigil. Within the extended metaphor that Thoros makes, in which the Brotherhood are "rats," Ser Gregor is not just marked by dogs, but is a dog himself, hunting after them on behalf of his Lord. So here, two books before Thoros makes the metaphor outright, we see the “dog” Ser Gregor hunting the “rats” of the smallfolk and Beric Dondarrion.

-

This dog-killing-rats relationship is not only symbolically consistent, it's also a specific metaphor which Martin returns to frequently, and one which is deeply integrated to the framework of ASOIAF as a whole. This is why I digress from the “Rat Cook” to talk about dogs—their antagonism is ubiquitous, and warrants examination.

Though earlier I mentioned there were no dogs in the “Rat Cook” story itself, this imagery appears alongside the telling, when the sight of Summer with a rat in his mouth prompts Bran to recall the story ASOS Bran IV:

Once the direwolf bolted through a dark door and returned a moment later with a grey rat between his teeth. The Rat Cook, Bran thought, but it was the wrong color, and only as big as a cat.

Like the symbols within Rat Cook story, this image of a dog killing a rat is repeated constantly. AGOT Bran I, the first chapter in the entire series, defines “dogs killing rats” as a quintessential reference for a violent and imbalanced power dynamic:

A direwolf will rip a man's arm off his shoulder as easily as a dog will kill a rat.

ADWD Bran I, five books later, uses the same metaphor to show the direwolf’s power again, this time from Summer’s perspective:

Yellow fangs snapped closed on his throat, but he shook off his old grey cousin as he would a rat, then charged after him, knocked him down.

Summer is to Bran what Gregor Clegane is to Tywin Lannister: both a ferocious beast and an invaluable ally.

Similarly, Martin shows Drogon’s ferocity with the same dog-rat metaphor in ADWD Dany IX:

Drogon wrenched his arm from his shoulder and tossed it aside as a dog might toss a rodent in a rat pit.

Drogon, though perhaps wilder still, plays an analogous role in Dany’s life that Summer plays in Bran’s, or Ser Gregor in Lord Tywin’s.

However, Dany does not only rely on her dragons; like Lord Tywin, she has human “dogs” as well, protectors and agents who are both loyal companions and brutal fighters. In ADWD Dany I, Belwas plays the role of dog in this familiar comparison while defending Dany:

Strong Belwas was on him at once. The huge brown eunuch yanked him up one-handed and shook him like a mastiff with a rat.

The way that Summer and Drogon are fierce companions, so too is Belwas, who attacks this would-be assailant in Dany’s name. With this added context, it is clear that Gregor is a prime example of this "dog" role; he can be as ferocious as a wild animal, yet he is “tamed”, so to speak, in the presence of his master, Lord Tywin, who uses that ferocity in order to enforce control—especially against the “rats”. So inherent is the violent power disparity to this dog-rat metaphor that it can be used to describe the physical strength of dragons, direwolves, and bodyguards.

-

Looking at this hierarchy from a different scale clarifies that this is not just a power dynamic between individuals, but also between whole factions. In ACOK Daenerys II, Dany echoes Viserys’ opinion that Lannisters and Starks are equal, and even interchangeable, as the “Usurper’s Dogs”:

And with him stood the great lords her brother had named the Usurper's dogs, cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart, and the golden Lannisters, father and son, so rich, so powerful, so treacherous.

Dany may hold a simplified view of the war, but she sees it true, at least from her one-sided perspective. Despite their differences, the Starks and Lannisters alike were Robert’s “dogs” in their role as agents of his force against the Targaryens, and also in their later vassalage to him as king... and though, no doubt, Tywin would resent that status, Tywin was never king.

The Lannisters, in turn, have their own “dogs” in House Clegane, who, as mentioned above, fittingly bear dogs for a sigil. As if that visual symbolism were not clear enough, Sandor even wears a dog’s head over his own.

When the “rats” rise up, as with the smallfolk in the riot of King’s Landing, it is dogs like the Hound that subdue them, returning to his words from ACOK Sansa IV:

A dog doesn't need courage to chase off rats.

The “rats” here are the rioting smallfolk, as identified in an earlier part—powerless people seizing on their means to vengeance, true to the form that the “Rat Cook” describes. The Hound, both symbolic dog and self-identified “dog,” explains what makes someone a “dog” versus what makes someone a “rat," especially in the minds of the “dogs." Dogs see themselves as above rats, separated by their power, which makes their disparity in hierarchy and strength so vast that he "doesn't need courage."

Importantly, though, dogs by definition cannot be at the top of the hierarchy. Tywin himself puts it in plain terms in AGOT Tyrion IX when he hears of The Hound’s promotion to Kingsguard:

You feed your dog bones under the table, you do not seat him beside you on the high bench.

This makes the hierarchy more specific: though dogs are above rats, both are still below the Lords themselves. Even though dogs carry out their orders, even though they may get “bones” as reward for their service, they will never be considered their master’s equal, only their subservient agent.

-

Speaking of subservience, Reek’s relationship with Ramsay acting as a microcosm of the relationship of power in the realm at large remains true even in regard to the placement of “dogs” in that hierarchy.

Though in the last part I discussed Reek extensively as “rat” figure, Ramsay actually plans to make Reek a “dog” in this brilliant quote from ADWD Reek II:

Lord Ramsay laughed. "You're not a man, Reek. You're just my creature. You'll have your wine, though. Walder, see to it. And fear not, I won't return you to the dungeons, you have my word as a Bolton. We'll make a dog of you instead. Meat every day, and I'll even leave you teeth enough to eat it. You can sleep beside my girls. Ben, do you have a collar for him?"

As usual, Ramsay’s words to Reek make the implicit agreements of power explicit, here between “dog” and “lord.” As a “dog,” Reek is only Ramsay’s utterly obedient “creature,” but there are new perks to be had. Reek will “have his wine,” as well as “meat every day”—two of the possible “bones” to give a dog “under the table,” in Tywin’s parlance. Meat and wine might also be called food and leisure, or perhaps more famously named bread and circuses.

In the last part, we looked at the significance of Reek’s teeth, how he was so conscious of his missing teeth while eating the rat, and how to be “toothless” is to be without weapons. Here, in one sentence, Ramsay also explains the power allowances that being a “dog” guarantees: not just meat, but also “teeth enough to eat it.” If Reek is a loyal dog, he might even get to keep his weaponry, and with it, his remaining ferocity. This is exactly the case with Gregor Clegane, who Tywin never punishes for his brutality so long as that brutality serves him. Even after slaying the royal children, Ser Gregor keeps “teeth” enough to appreciate the “meat” Tywin grants him, or, in other words, Ser Gregor could not hold Harrenhal without a fighting force.

Even more significant is what Reek and Ramsay mean for the relationship between dogs and rats. For Reek, “doghood” means elevation from “rathood” at Ramsay’s hand. Brienne mistook Thoros’s cave for a dungeon, and here Ramsay says he will not return Reek to the “dungeons,” promising a privileged position amongst the dogs instead. The Cleganes, dogs that they are, have an identical origin story, in which Lord Tywin’s father raised the first Clegane up from smallfolk status as a reward for his particular worth and loyalty.

The first and last sentences of Ramsay’s deal, though, are the most potent of all: Ramsay begins with the reminder that Reek is “not even a man,” and ends with the promise of a “collar”. A dog gets to eat meat and escape the dungeons, and even to keep his own force, so long as that dog wears its collar, obeys its master, and never “sits at the high bench.” Even as a dog, though, Reek is still Reek; none of these promises truly diminish Reek’s potential “rat” status; to a Lord, a dog is like a rat that has been raised up—but not too high.

Tyrion’s own experience with collars later in the same book echoes these same conclusions. Tyrion’s induction into Yezzan’s host in ADWD Tyrion X sounds eerily like Ramsay’s promise to make Reek into a dog:

"Those are the dwellings of our noble master's cooks, concubines, and warriors, and a few less-favored kinsmen," Nurse told them, "but you little darlings shall have the rare privilege of sleeping within Yezzan's own pavilion. It pleases him to keep his treasures close." He frowned at Mormont. "Not you, bear. You are big and ugly, you will be chained outside." The knight did not respond. "First, all of you must be fitted for collars."

Like Reek’s change in status following his ascension to “dog,” allowed to sleep with Ramsay’s “girls” instead of in the dungeons, Tyrion is granted the so-called “privilege” of sleeping away from the other, lower slaves—though he must be given his collar first.

Tyrion’s thoughts later in the same chapter offer insight into the mindset of accepting this alleged advancement:

Better a collar than a brand. A collar can be removed.

A collar can be removed, but will it? Tyrion’s own father advised against the idea back in AGOT: you do not seat the dog up on the high bench.

In his next chapter, ADWD Tyrion XI, now with a more intimate understanding, Tyrion thinks about the nature of bondage in more direct terms:

The most insidious thing about bondage was how easy it was to grow accustomed to it. The life of most slaves was not all that different from the life of a serving man at Casterly Rock, it seemed to him. True, some slaveowners and their overseers were brutal and cruel, but the same was true of some Westerosi lords and their stewards and bailiffs. Most of the Yunkai'i treated their chattels decently enough, so long as they did their jobs and caused no trouble … and this old man in his rusted collar, with his fierce loyalty to Lord Wobblecheeks, his owner, was not at all atypical.

The similarity between the slave and the “serving man” across cultures elevates the explicit conditions of Tyrion's servitude to a more universal scale. With the added context of the "Rat Cook" story—alongside the backdrop of the slave revolts and unrest in ADWD—this comparison also highlights the inherent tension between the de jure power of the lord keeping servants and the potential de facto power of the man serving the food, a tension dependent on the intimacy of that relationship and on prime display in the Rat Cook story.

The nature of this stratification explains why a shrewd man like Tywin is willing to grant a small army to a beast like Gregor Clegane. Even if, as Ramsay might put it, a dog is still “not even a man” in the terms of the hierarchy, it can be a comfortable enough life—comfortable enough not to prompt rebellion, at least, nor to warrant defying the hierarchy like the Rat Cook does. These “dogs” may only receive their rewards “under the table,” but the good favor of their master and the associated privileges can go a long way towards accepting their lower status and even potential mistreatment. As Littlefinger sagely words it in AGOT Eddard VII:

Even hungry dogs know better than to bite the hand that feeds them.

As Ramsay says, these dogs are allowed to keep their “teeth,” knowing that they will never turn against their master so long as they are kept well.

After all, Tyrion’s own musings are prompted by a slave defending his own slavehood:

"Us slaves?" said the brown woman. "You wear a collar too." "Ghazdor's collar," the old man boasted. "Known him since we was born. I'm almost like a brother to him. Slaves like you, sweepings out of Astapor and Yunkai, you whine about being free, but I wouldn't give the dragon queen my collar if she offered to suck my cock for it. Man has the right master, that's better."

The old man’s assertion about the importance of the “right master” is the same lesson as Littlefinger’s assertion about hungry dogs, seen from the other perspective.

Even landed knights, like Ser Gregor, or household soldiers, like Sandor, might be doing their dog duties with the understanding that they are being treated “decently enough”. Or, as Ghazdor’s slave thinks, a vassal might even think that they are “like brothers” to their overlord. Perhaps they may even think, the way Tyrion did, that “a collar can be removed” —though, unlike the case with Reek and Ramsay, their collars are less explicitly stated, and instead built into their system of governance.

Such is the dream of every knight who angles to become a lord through marriage or reward. Though maintaining these possibilities is advantageous when commanding loyalty, actually granting them disrupts the hierarchy and ruins the dog’s usefulness—consider the trouble Bronn causes once he is actually granted a "seat at the high bench" in his marriage to House Stokeworth.

The distinction between smallfolk and soldier—or even a knight—might seem vast, and in practice it can be, but ultimately Tyrion has the right of it, earlier in the same chapter:

"You do not tell soldiers what to do," Scar said. "Soldiers?" Tyrion affected puzzlement. "Slaves, is what I see. You wear a collar round your neck the same as me."

Of course, Tyrion is literally right here, because these men are both soldiers and slaves, but this interaction also echoes the Hound’s words about the riot in King’s Landing. Like Scar, Sandor considered his doghood a boon, his soldier status making him so far from the “rats” that he had nothing to fear from them. As Tyrion points out, though, that boon might be reframed: Scar considers himself above the other low folk around him, but though he is given the power, allowance, and weapons of soldiers, his doglike “collar” marks the reality of his place in the hierarchy.

To go a step further, if we see Ramsay’s offer of a collar as indicative of Reek’s doghood, and because here in Essos that same “collar” comes with the promise of slavery, perhaps “dogs” like the Cleganes, with their imagined collars wrought by the structure of their hierarchy, are not so different from the “rats” that they hunt.

-

Because this is the Rat Cook series, though, and because we have already repeatedly seen how social dynamics are carried out over meals, we can examine this dynamic through a food metaphor.

Within the starving city of Meereen, Quentyn meets the Tattered Prince in ADWD The Spurned Suitor to discuss the uncertain conditions of an uneasy alliance. Each has a reason to be wary of the other; to mimic this dynamic, their meeting place offers a stew, which the Tattered Prince offers to his peer in princehood:

Sit. I understand you are a prince. Would that I had known. Will you drink? Zahrina offers food as well. Her bread is stale and her stew is unspeakable. Grease and salt, with a morsel or two of meat. Dog, she says, but I think rat is more likely. It will not kill you, though.

I held off looking at this quote earlier to save it for this part, but now, with a better understanding of these symbols, we can examine how stew alone says much and more about the nature of this meeting. Given the symbolism that “dog” would represent a strong and loyal vassal while a rat would represent a disloyal peasant seeking vengeance, the uncertainty of the meal Quentyn is offered symbolizes the uncertainty of the allegiances in this scene. Is the meat dog, and does Quentyn earn an ally, or is it rat, and does Quentyn reveal his plans to a betrayer?

In Quentyn's next chapter, ADWD The Dragontamer, these plans come to fruition, reliant on the veracity of a certain notable code word:

"They may ask for a word," the Tattered Prince had warned them when he handed over the bundle. "It's dog." "You are certain of that?" Gerris had asked him. "Certain enough to wager a life upon it." The prince did not mistake his meaning. "My life." "That would be the one."

Almost verbatim, this interaction serves as a response to the Tattered Prince’s offer of the stew during their initial meeting. The Tattered Prince reports that the stew is “dog, she says,” just as he reports that the Brazen Beast’s code word is “dog.” In regards to the code word, Gerris demands certainty, and the Tattered Prince is “certain enough to wager a life on it.” In regards to the stew, though, he thinks “rat is more likely” … but he still puts it in terms of life or death, saying that the stew “will not kill you.” The nature of the meat—which may not be “dog”—is uncertain, but the Tattered Prince is confident enough, at least; on the certainty of the word—which may not be “dog,” either—the Tattered Prince bets Quentyn’s life a second time.

The end of this conversation appeared in part three of this series, where I questioned the wisdom that Quentyn assumes, and it’s worth repeating here:

"How did you learn their word?" "We chanced upon some Brazen Beasts and Meris asked them prettily. But a prince should know better than to pose such questions, Dornish. In Pentos, we have a saying. Never ask the baker what went into the pie. Just eat." Just eat. There was wisdom in that, Quentyn supposed."

Given what we’ve identified about the distinction between the “dogs” and “rats” of the world, the Tattered Prince’s willingness to conflate the two should have been an unsettling attitude for Quentyn, as the “prince’s” power relies on the “dogs” being specifically different from the “rats” of the world. Without the “dogs” to enforce the will of the Kings, after all, a prince might end up inside the pie, and then he would have reason enough to wonder what was in it.

However, that attitude from the Tattered Prince also offers the exact reason why the “Rat Cook” plot was able to work on the Andal King in the first place. While dogs are obedient and rats treacherous, the two act alike in their subservience to their lords. In comparison to princes, the two may not look so different, just as in this meeting between two princes, the difference between eating them is assumed to be of little importance.

Considering the weight of mystery-meat pie imagery, and a mystery-meat stew being served—with either dog or rat—it’s interesting that the word “dog” is later related to a Brazen Beast wearing the face of a rat:

Torchlight glimmered off the polished brass of their masks—a rat and a fox.

Appropriately for what we now understand “rats” to accompany, the recipients again give Quentyn reason to question “what went into the pie,” so to speak:

"Give us the day's word," said the fox. "Dog," said the Dornishman. The two Brazen Beasts exchanged a look. For three long heartbeats Quentyn was afraid that something had gone amiss, that somehow Pretty Meris and the Tattered Prince had gotten the word wrong. Then the fox grunted. "Dog, then," he said. "The door is yours." As they moved off, the prince began to breathe again.

Just as Quentyn chooses not to “ask what is in the pie,” he ignores the same concern when the rat-masked soldier seems to doubt the promise of the name “dog.”

As with the “Rat Cook” story, this amalgam of rat-masks, a code word "dog" of uncertain loyalty, a stew of unknown meat, and a suspicious pie would not be complete without a prince getting roasted.

The Tattered Prince promised that whether “dog” or “rat,” neither would kill him. The “Rat Cook” story, though, would warn that the rat probably would. If the distinction between dog and rat is not so significant, as it so appears from the Tattered Prince's perspective, is it possible that the dogs would kill their masters too?

-

That consideration reframes the “hungry dogs” Littlefinger spoke of. Though he meant to make a point about obedience, Littlefinger’s adage also requires that these "dogs" too, are hungry, not unlike our starving smallfolk, whose desperation turns them into rebels and “rats." The masters might use that hunger to their own ends, as it keeps these dogs wanting their "bones," but the similarity ultimately suggests that the circumstances of dogs are not so different from the conditions the rats live in.

After all, even as a dog, Reek is still only “Reek”— perhaps less abused, “Reek” may be Ramsay’s agent, but only so long as he is still “not even a man.” Once Theon returns, reborn, he is no dog. In contrast to when Reek was starved, and when even eating raw rats was an act of disobedience, Theon commits acts of disobedience out of desire, not necessity. This transformation takes place across the entire book, exemplified in the names of Theon’s POV chapter titles, ending with his self-realization: Reek, Reek, Reek, The Prince of Winterfell, The Turncloak, A Ghost in Winterfell, Theon.

The Rat Cook kills the Andal Prince—and Theon, in his ascension from rathood (as Reek) to doghood (still as Reek) then becomes a “Prince” in Winterfell, and later, dead, a “Ghost.” Because what is dead may never die, we watch a ghost, like a rat, go unnoticed through a castle, able to “run back to [his] holes when the dogs come sniffing.” The reborn Theon is an agent of himself again, but this time one who consciously utilizes the power of rathood to his advantage, including his position under Ramsay as a privileged “dog,” rising again, harder and stronger.

The “Rat Cook” story, too, is one of transformation, where the cook becomes a giant rat. Considering that Ramsay could make Reek into his “dog,” it may therefore be possible that a dog that went too hungry might be made into a rat once more. We might start to imagine a counterpoint to Littlefinger’s adage:

If even a hungry dog knows better to bite the hand that feeds him, it is the hungry rat which turns and bites the hand that doesn’t feed him.

Or even, perhaps, that the “dog”, obedient but hungry, may turn and become the vengeful “rat” once they are no longer fed or when they are abused too far.

-

For another example, we can look to the Unsullied, who also transform from dogs to rats. In ASOS Daenerys II, the slavers make a point about the nature of their obedience:

"Sheep are obedient," said Arstan when the words had been translated. He had some Valyrian as well, though not so much as Dany, but like her he was feigning ignorance. Kraznys mo Nakloz showed his big white teeth when that was rendered back to him. "A word from me and these sheep would spill his stinking old bowels on the bricks," he said, "but do not say that. Tell them that these creatures are more dogs than sheep.”

Kraznys speaks candidly to Missandei and then rephrases what should be repeated to Dany, but this “translation" aspect of the interaction allows for the double meanings of these symbols to be stated literally. Even as he names the Unsullied “more dogs than sheep”, he privately explains the important qualities of the “dog” symbol that we have seen in the Cleganes, and even of Reek. A "dog," unlike a sheep, is obedient to his master but has the ability—the teeth—to kill.

However, these exact Unsullied, dogs that they may be, turn around and kill their former masters in this very chapter. Even though this is, technically, Dany using this exact “dog” obedience to her own advantage, we can also compare the slavers’ misplaced belief in their control over the Unsullied to Ramsay’s equally misplaced trust in Reek—or even the Andal King’s, who trusted a cook that killed his son.

Appropriately, these same Unsullied transform into “rats” once they are freed, shown in ASOS Daenerys VI:

The slaves are rising, she knew at once. My sewer rats have gnawed off their chains. When the last resistance had been crushed by the Unsullied and the sack had run its course, Dany entered her city.

No longer “dogs” in Astapor, under Dany they have become “sewer rats” who now “gnaw” the chains off of other slaves in turn—a notable choice of verb that focuses on how this power shift is built on the power of rats, specifically, rather than the obedience of dogs. In the context that Theon, too, is “rising again,” we can see how that Ironborn adage has echoes here, too, as these slaves, no longer “dogs,” rise against masters.

After all, so long as a dog is only a dog and never the master, there is always the risk that the dog stops being fed, or is abused too far… and then they must either starve or become a rat. By that time, it makes no difference which is in the stew that the prince eats.

Which is unfortunate, because a prince might be better off being sure what is exactly in the food, and contrary to whatever the Tattered Prince says, a prince might be better off certain who has remained an obedient servant and who has become a Rat Cook, lest the Prince become a pie himself.

-

Now, if you’ve noticed the absence of a certain Hound in this discussion... it's because he's the focus of the next post, along with a certain "drowned rat" that he catches.

#asoiaf meta #asoiaf #rtrc #jozor thoughts

[fandom-trash-xl]

DOMESTIC UNIVERSE CROSS ARC

A rewrite of a 2017 mini fic

Well, this is a big throwback rewrite I wrote on a whim based on the plot of two old mini "chat" fics- two rewritten chat dialogues with a new fully written in fic prose part 3! A little self-challenge to revisit old content and work off of it. A bit of Frieza, Kuriza, Frost, and a little Hit.

General Preface Notes:

There are no ties to "Shattered Ice" or any of my Frabba shipping content.

This does not reflect my current depictions of Frit- I still ship it, but there's implications of... stronger shows of affection that I tend not to delve into much.

The headcanon I use has no biologically female Arcosians- you'll see why.

The setting is somewhat of a "domestic fluff" world that allows the universes to intersect and the characters within to casually interact. No need to take it too seriously to canon.

Here's the original versions of parts 1 and 2 if you want to check them out: "More Kuriza Stuff" and "Kuriza Thing, Part 2"

PART 1 (SCENE SET: A CAFE in the OTHERWORLD; "just visiting", FRIEZA is conversing with COOLER) FRIEZA: And then, the hopeless fool, he just starts screaming- (mocking FROST's voice) "Treat me like some sort of neophyte will you? I'll show *you*!" (his ringtone, "Cold as Ice", starts sounding from his pocket) Blast... and right at the good part. Hang on a moment, I need to take this. (answers) Hello? FROST: (nervously on the other end) Uh, h-hello, Frieza... FRIEZA: (sigh) What is it, Frost? FROST: Um, I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but I'm kind of calling you from an ambulance. FRIEZA: Ambulance?! What happened over there?! FROST: Well, everything was going just fine and then Kuriza just collapsed all of a sudden. (a pause, prompting him to frantically clarify) It's not like I accidentally stuck my needles in 'im or anything! FRIEZA: (sternly) Frost. Did you give him anything to eat? FROST: Nothing out of the ordinary, the usual pantry fare, plus I had gone to the store and brought over some brownie- (mutters) Ah shi- FRIEZA: Frost. What the hell did you do to my son? FROST: There may have been nuts in those... FRIEZA: How many times did I have to point out the very obvious red 72 point note on the fridge that told you not to feed him those?! This is why! FROST: I thought it was just because he didn't like them... or because eating a chestnut would be cannibalism in a sense- FRIEZA: It's because he's *allergic*, you dolt! FROST: Well, the box just said it *may* contain nuts! I was betting on "no"! I've never found one- FRIEZA: (grumbles and rubs the bridge of his nose) Well, clearly your amateur status extends beyond your fighting "prowess" or lack thereof. At least you have better skill in *that* than in taking care of children. I'm coming over there! Tell the people at the hospital that they'll need a second stretcher for when I'm done with you! FROST: Frieza-senpai, please, it was a genuine mis- (FRIEZA hangs up) COOLER: Hmph. Didn't know your stories about that twit weren't exaggerating that much. FRIEZA: Yes, clearly Frost wasn't the best choice to babysit Kuriza. Let's try this coffee thing again sometime, when your nephew *isn't* in medical danger. COOLER: If not for that old crone being so jittery around us, I'd say I'd come along as an... *extra hand*. FRIEZA: (chuckles, a little shaky because of the circumstance) No need, brother. I'm perfectly capable of delivering the due punishment by my own hand. Now, I'm off to hand my babysitter's tail to him on a bloody platter for endangering my son's life. Ta-ta~ ------------

PART 2 (SCENE SET: A HOSPITAL RECEPTION AREA, a frantic FRIEZA has stormed up to the main desk) FRIEZA: Please tell me my Kuriza is going to be fine! Tell it to me straight! HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST: Mr., umm, Frieza, is it? We can assure you that your son will be alright, he's stable. A minor reaction, just from a trace amount. FRIEZA: (mentally) Minor?! Geez, dramatic even in anaphylaxis... HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST: Thankfully, your sitter found the epipen and called right away. Otherwise, his recovery may not have been as smooth as it was. (FRIEZA suddenly realizes that he was wrong about FROST) FRIEZA: I see. And where is that sitter of mine now? HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST: Last time I checked, he was trying to hide himself in a gardening magazine. I don't know about now. FRIEZA: I'll find him one way or another... FROST:(nervously squeaks, causing FRIEZA to turn and see him in the crawl space beneath the waiting room chairs) FRIEZA: Frost, come out of there! FROST: Plea- Please, spare me Frieza... FRIEZA: Stop resisting. (pulls FROST from out of the chairs) FROST: P-Please, I have- (FRIEZA hugs him instead of attacking) Huh? FRIEZA: Thank you. Sure, your actions from the start were... *reckless*, but your quick reflex to call for help saved Kuriza's life. FROST: Much obliged but- could you let go? This is getting kind of awkward. FRIEZA: (release) Yes, of course. I was hoping you'd say something. FROST: Heh. FRIEZA: Now, what were you talking about earlier? FROST: What? FRIEZA: You said you had soemthing. FROST: (sigh) Well I guess that cat's out of the bag... FRIEZA: What cat's out of the bag? FROST: I should have told you earlier, but... I... I have a... (Swallowing, he still can't say it- he taps to his lower abdomen then makes a cradling gesture with his arms; FRIEZA gets the picture) FRIEZA: (cries out as loud as allowed in a hospital) Pardon?!?! You- FROST: (nods) Awhile back... before you called me to take care of Kuriza, I was having some awful pains, sick to my stomach. Then, the unexpected happened. All of a sudden, I laid an egg. FRIEZA: You... laid an egg? But who would be the- (notices FROST looking a bit nervous as the answer hits him) Ah. Anyway, if I knew you were about to become a father, I wouldn't have hired you on such short notice. My plans could have waited. You could have declined. FROST: Yeah, but I wasn't ready to tell anyone. Hit nearly passed out when he found out about the egg and, considering he's a tough assassin, I wasn't sure how other people would react. I just... wanted life to seem normal again, even if it was just for a few hours. I was still a bit frazzled, so that's why I wasn't at my best when taking care of your son. FRIEZA: I understand now, Frost. We need to get you home. FROST: Why? FRIEZA: So you can look after your egg, obviously. The thing needs warmth. FROST: I put it under a heat lamp, it should be fine. FRIEZA: No heat lamp can beat a father's warmth. (FRIEZA gestures to the gem on his chest. FROST touches his own to find that it has significantly warmed up.) FRIEZA: Here. (pulls money out his wallet) This much should cover the bus fare to your place (as he speaks, he takes a little more out), and perhaps some melatonin drops from the drugstore. FROST: Wait, why do I need mela- FRIEZA: (dead serious glare) You will need all the sleep you can get while you can. Now, head to the bus stop down the street and get home. FROST: What about Kuriza? FRIEZA: Ugh, excuses, excuses, Frost. Kuriza's going to be fine now that his father's here. Now, get home! I shouldn't have to tell you again. FROST: O-of course... Thank you. (nervously leaves the hospital) ------------ PART 3 (NEW!) TUMBLR HATES IT FOR SOME REASON! Here it is on AO3! LINK: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51795625/chapters/130950829

#dragon ball #dragon ball super #little drabble fic #well multiple in one #rewrite #frieza #frost #dbs frost #kuriza #hit #dbs hit #frit #nostalgia rewrite #I'm sorry for the posting dilemma so there's an AO3 link in there #Happy Thanksgiving- time for the mini nostalgia feast