#three years of speculation and trying to fit him into all of this and for what

[consultingfujoshi]

everyone else is giving their take on this so I feel as if I should too. I am angry about burt and irving now having two almost-kisses and them still finding a reason for them to never close that gap. like, yea it makes narrative sense that neither of those scenes contained a kiss, it's compelling even, if I view it objectively I actually love that because I care deeply about these characters and want them to be written realistically and with nuance.

but I am not gonna sit here and pretend that I'm fine with how this compares to the straight couples that have had so much more this season. if burt and irving's story existed in a bubble where markhelly and all the rest didn't serve as points of comparison I don't think I'd be half as upset at the way this ended. I'd be able to appreciate the impact of their being unable to kiss TWICE now in different universes because of forces outside of their control without looking across at every. single. other. couple. who are all straight. and going. why do they get that and we don't. why is it only the gay couple that have to be written "realistically" where they're still not ready to kiss. why can allowances and indulgences be made for dramatic effect for EVERYONE except them. I don't know if it's intentional homophobia, or queerbait, or if they're really just that squeamish about the idea of two old men kissing each other, but the double standard is there no matter the motivation behind it. and when you combine that with irving's innie being effectively killed off four episodes into the second season, and now his outie potentially written out of the show too, all I'm saying is it becomes hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.

we're all aware john turturro may not return for another season and that's why they felt the need to wrap up irving's two storylines somehow so they weren't left on a loose end should he decide not to come back, and I get that, and I'm glad there was some sense of finality to it, but then why not allow us just this one thing. just one moment of indulgence. because it might actually be our, and their, last chance. would it have killed them to just let them kiss this one time if there was a chance we'd never see them again, a chance they'd never see each other again. the truth is, no, it wouldn't have been hard at all. but they still made the decision to withhold that. because they can't allow us or them even the most basic kindness whilst handing the straight couples everything on a silver platter.

I'm not gonna get into the pacing issues of their relationship this season, how we jumped from them shyly asking each other out on another date to burt carrying out the hit on irving, how there feels like a missing scene in between those two events, because that relates to a wider problem with the structure of the show itself that is beyond the scope of this criticism. but i think it's telling that rather than giving us that extra time with them, they took a whole episode away from our main cast where even cobel got to kiss a one off male character that we will never hear from or see of again, and the supposed flagship romance of season 1 can't even get that. at what point am I allowed to call that thing in the corner that looks, acts, and talks like a duck a fucking duck?

if it sounds like I'm bitter, and jealous, it's because I am. because whether or not the double standard is intentional or not, it's still there. and I really did think a show that was able to present such special, compelling, meaningful queer characters would be a little more self aware about the message they're sending. and it fucking sucks that this has become just another show where I have to swallow my frustration and accept that they're not writing this for me. I and my fellow queer audience will never be the priority. even now we are still begging for scraps

[heartepub]

studio seventeen presents . . .

welcome to the studio seventeen special collection: kingdoms of dreams and madness! dive into thirteen different stories and celebrate ten years of magic. 🎞 aka, a series featuring the SEVENTEEN members, each inspired by a different studio ghibli film.

▷ PLAY ALL | ☞ SELECT ONE | ♫ OST SAMPLERS

the courage to live 🌱 choi seungcheol.

“my mother used to tell me about the little people who lived under the floors.” — the secret world of arrietty during a forced retreat pre-surgery, seungcheol learns what it means to persist.

the boy who swallowed a star 💫 yoon jeonghan.

“there you are, sweetheart. i’ve been looking everywhere for you.” — howl’s moving castle three things are true: there is a war. there is a curse. there is love. and jeonghan can’t keep running away.

signal flags 🚢 hong joshua.

“i pray for safe voyages.” — from up on poppy hill amid efforts to halt the demolition of the latin quarter, joshua finds himself drawn to the girl hoisting flags every morning.

the path of the wind 🌳 wen junhui.

“everybody, try laughing. then whatever scares you will go away!” — my neighbour totoro junhui observes the highs and lows of the new girl, who sits in front of him in class.

fly once, fly again 🧹 kwon soonyoung.

“flying used to be fun until I did it for a living.” — kiki’s delivery service soonyoung’s attempts to befriend the town’s new witch have varying degrees of success. and then she stops flying.

beautiful, cursed dreams ☁️ jeon wonwoo.

“the wind rises. we must try to live!” — the wind rises all wonwoo wanted was to create beautiful things.

more thicker than forget 🐉 lee jihoon.

“will we meet again some time?” — spirited away when jihoon gets himself in another bind, the gods seem to find it fitting to send the girl who had already saved him once. too bad she doesn’t remember.

take a leap 🐠 lee seokmin.

“life is mysterious and amazing.” — ponyo seokmin is thrown back into his extraordinary childhood when his best friend’s distant cousin pulls the same trick and tries to turn herself human.

heart notes 💌 kim mingyu.

“can’t you be in love without determining your future first?” — whisper of the heart mingyu knows who he dreams of being. scribbling his name in library books to make his crush notice him is not part of that plan, but it could be.

with eyes unclouded 🦌 xu minghao.

“it’s time for both of us to live.” — princess mononoke cursed after an encounter with a rampaging demon, minghao leaves his town in search of a cure.

safflowers and memories 🌼 boo seungkwan.

“how come i let him get so close?” — only yesterday going to the countryside to help harvest safflowers was part of the plan. meeting seungkwan was not.

unfolds and unfolds forever 🎍 chwe hansol.

“that tomorrow never came.” — the tale of the princess kaguya a lost love comes and goes. it only ever lingers in hansol’s dreams.

the girl who fell from the sky 🎺 lee chan.

“the world cannot live without love.” — laputa: castle in the sky chan has been searching for the lost island of laputa, wondering if it even exists. one day, the answer falls right into his arms.

note. all fics will be tagged #svt x ghibli by heartepub. i chose to theme my svt 10-year celebration around my very first post on caratblr (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) i’m awfully late bc life is hectic (as i say every month, unfortunately), but i’m excited to bring these to life!!

count on many of these to be on the longer side since i am too obsessed with ghibli for them to be otherwise. the film plots may not be followed exactly, if it’s necessary to honor the members’ characterization being a bit different from the film’s characters. also, some may be speculative sequels to movies (jihoon’s and seokmin’s). no taglists. but at least one fic will be out by may 26 — see you then!!

[queerfables]

The real Oasis iceberg is Lock All The Doors lore because yeah yeah, star shaped tambourine, and yeah the '92 version of the song evolved into My Sister Lover, but THEN you learn Noel has also said an entirely different song evolved out of that early first draft.

When I did the Chemical Brothers track, Setting Sun - "You're the devil in me" was the verse of this tune called Lock All The Doors, right? And for some reason, I'd had that song in the early, early days of Oasis. And the verse fit, and I thought, "It's alright, because I'll keep the chorus and I'll just write another verse. Anyway, it took me the best part of twenty years to write another verse. (Back The Way We Came - Track by Track)

And:

Noel Gallagher first began working on a song in the early 1990s. It appears on many lists in his notebooks from that period, which were auctioned at Christie's in 1998. "Half of it was used for the Chemical Brothers track," he recalled to Mojo magazine." I had that song knocking around from before we got signed. I thought I'll use that verse because it fits and I'll write another one. It took nearly 20 years." (Quoted on Songfacts)

Looking at early demos, though, Noel appears to be talking about two separate songs.

Lock All The Doors (with lyrics that match both My Sister Lover and NGHFB's Lock All The Doors)

Coming On Strong (with lyrics that match Setting Sun)

They're both from that early, pre-record deal period when Oasis was working with the Real People so at first I thought maybe Noel had "mixed them up" (ie, lied to avoid saying the words "My Sister Lover" in relation to a yearning heartbreak anthem which all but namechecks Liam in the first line). But! Then I listened to them back to back and, wow, even by Oasis's standards... that's the same song. My ear for music is not what it once was but it's hard NOT to hear it. It's particularly noticeable when you realise Coming On Strong barely has a chorus, but the gap between verse one and verse two fits Lock All The Doors' exactly.

It seems, then, Lock All The Doors has gone through not two but three sets of lyrics. And especially in conjunction with the other two versions, the original Coming On Strong lyrics are delightfully damning. The full set can be found on Genius lyrics, but my favourites are the opening lines:

You're the devil in me that I brought in from the cold Your body's still young and your mind is very old

There's a real undercurrent of illicit temptation here, and I love that second line, which also ends up in Half The World Away, taking on far more philosophical implications in that context. Actually, though, I prefer the version of the line that Noel gave to the Chemical Brothers in Setting Sun. "You said your body was young but your mind was very old". Because, well. It does sound like something Liam would say.

Like maybe in a brazen song full of darkly erotic overtures?

Take me when I'm young and true Was it me or was it you?

(...)

Take me 'cause I'm feeling old All my life I've been so cold Take me when I start to cry Take me, take me don't ask why

Noel and Liam's songs always feel like they're in conversation with each other, and it could be that goes all the way back to the beginning. Because if Liam's first hit was built around this theme, "Take me, take me, don't ask why," and the earliest version of Lock All The Doors echoes the refrain of, "You're coming on strong, you're coming on strong," then... yeah. It's easy to imagine one as a response to the other.

That's my take, at least. But even if you don't want to speculate about exactly what the Coming On Strong lyrics mean, the fact that Noel wrote at least three versions of this song suggests that it was important to him. He was trying to get it right. Perhaps, too, he was trying to walk back lyrics that felt too revealing; he's known to do that, as well. And on the other hand, since Setting Sun and the Coming On Strong demo started their life as part of Lock All The Doors... it's not so far-fetched to think they might be about Liam.

[jinxthequeergirl]

Night of the Witch

Papa IV x(implied) Witch!reader

SUMMARY: myths have always circulated the ministry but copia only really believes in one about a witch

Warning: talk of death and dying copia being lowkey a hopeless romantic,

(Before I disappeared off the face of the earth, I really wanted to write some sort of eternal lovers/rediscovered lovers, and now, hahaha, now I have the chance! does this fit lore? No, i dont think so, but Baba booie, also if this does good, feel free to request past Papa versions of this)

Didn't have the motivation to finish this completely but New ghost song made me wanna post so

Enjoy!~

~~~~~~~

The rumors started with the very first Emtertis who led the clergy and a witch who acompinied him. Of course, it was implied that the reason for his life cycle ending was due to their relationship. He fell in love with the witch, neglecting his duties to the church for her, leading to both their executions. The witch forced to watch her lover die infront of her as she was later burned at the steak. It was speculated that before the witch died she swore to return in the next life to right the wrongs and help and guide the next papa to come. This was known as the night of the witch.

Copia had heard this story more than once through his life. It was one he found particularly amusing, even partaking in the witches ritual every year. He liked to say he didn't believe in it. However, even he knew that every now and then, some heart-felt message would slip through the cracks in the form of a song a song dedicated to one of his brothers' former "dark muse"

It started with Elizabeth inspiring his eldest brother through opus and upon his passing she was over come with grief and passed along side him. No one really knew her, where she came from or when her and Primo got together.

When Secondo rose to power, he met his, he kept their relationship more private it was rumored amongst the ghouls at the time that not only was she Elizabeth back from the dead to be reunited with an emeritus.but Zombie Queen was about her. In the end, they met the same fate as the two before them.

And of course, it was no secret that Terzo was a ladies' man, to say the least. But when he met cirice, things were different. The rumors were still prevalent she was the reincarnate of the last here to help spread the message and inspire terzo. Of course, like Primo. There was no denying it when Cirice was written who it was for. She passed before terzos...unfortunate passing.

There was no denying each woman's feeling for each papa, and no doubt the feeling was returned. In copias mind, it was clear the night of the witch wasn't just a silly myth. It was no coincidence that his three formers would all happen to meet a beautiful woman who helped him through his life cycle.

The myth did end up growing a few years before primos rule. It grew into a holiday of sorts where everyone would come together in the ballroom in a masquerade style party. The night was mainly an excuse to gourge yourself on wine and food and to dance your cares away. For some, it was an excuse to try and make a pass at the current papa. By playing into the myth by claiming they were the witch. The night ended, usually with a senseless ritual said to "raise the dead".

Copia did actually enjoy the festivities for those exact reasons and would offten find hinself wondering if maybe he'd get a muse now that he was Papa, the ministry could be lonely, and he wondered what it was like to have the company of someone else. He wanted to feel what it was like to love someone so much that they inspired music within you, even if it was for a short time before his time passed.

As the night approached, he felt an eerie air surrounding him. He tossed and turned at night, and when he was awake and walking through the ministry, he felt eyes on him

"I've been having these dreams." Copia opened up to sister imperator in the ball room just before their patrons arrived for the festivities She hummed in response as he followed her through the large room, checking over everything, making sure it was adequate. "Of a woman... they feel like memories... I can't quite make her out, but I can feel her presence. I can see...her eyes they're familiar, they know me." Copia said.

"Cardi..your just letting the day get to you." She said, waving his woes off.

"Si, but what if-"

"Cardi, relax it's was just a dream, now let's get ready guests will be arriving soon."

A storm brewed outside lighting stuck lighting up the room as he left to get himself ready.

It was a perfect night to raise the dead.

Guests arrived in varying costumes and masks, arms full of gifts and offerings they would throw into a large pile. Usually, the ghouls would go through it at the end of the night, taking whatever treasures their heart desired.

Lightning stuck outside, and the rain began to pour down hard the people inside laughing carelessly with each other, unaware of the outside world.

All while in the grave yard just outside the earth moved split as a hand pushed through the soil, reaching around aimlessly, attempting to gain its baring to lift the body it was attached to out of the ground.

Your body snapped and cracked into place as you pushed the dirt from off of you and, as you clawed at the growned, pulling yourself up from the damp soil. Your head swelled as you rose to your feet. You couldn't grasp a single, though. Not of who you were or where. Your head was filled with fog and hushed whispering voices chattering about something you couldn't make out. If you could think straight or even at all, you'd assumed you'd been dead for years.

You look up through the gaps in the trees above you at the full moon, peeking out from the storm clouds as the rain came down on your face washing the dirt from your dress and skin.you closed your eyes at the rain hit you Breathing in the night air.

Despite all this, you knew one thing.

You where hunting for something.

Someone.

You couldn't pull who from the tangle mess in your brain, but you knew you'd know for certain when you found them your heart ached for them.Your feet walked with a mind of their own as you seemingly aimlessly wandered out of the graveyard to the ministry that stood tall the tip of it peeking through the trees. It called to you.

Copia found himself bored at the event, his thoughts wondering to his dreams. Even as patrons of the church came to engage in conversation with him, he couldn't focus on it. He was haunted by the dream all night. He nodded thoughtless as a sister of sin confessed something to him that he couldn't focus on when he noticed the lights flickering as new body step into the room.

You found a sense of relief and familiarity wash over you as you stepped into the ministry the ballroom alive and well with church patrons a sight you remembered well as you scanned the room finding a pile of offering laid in a neat pile across the room from where you stood above it a picture of you with a face you hadn't owned in years.

Your eyes scanned the room in awe, white nightgown making you glow in the sea of dark clothed parties goer. Copias eyes locked onto you. You were like a spirit that had wondered in. Your eyes finally landed on him, tilting your head in curiosity at him. He brushed off the girl talking to him, staring at you he felt drawn to you like his feet had a mind of their own.

A couple tried to escape the crowd, cut in front of him as they passed he realized you were gone from the spot where you were in. He spotted you again, ducking between people. Your eyes never seeming to leave his.

You were toying with him in a game of cat and mouse. He found him self giddy with anticipation spinning around the room trying to find you The two of you engaged in your own dance around eachother through the crowd as he tried to reach you only for you to be pulled away unexpectedly He stopped when you seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Do I look like your girlfriend?" You voice startling him from behind. A slight giggle present after he jumped.

"Eh no no...sorry! you just seem so familiar." He said embarrassed as you seemed to circle him his body following you, entranced by you.

"I don't look like a ghost, do I?" You asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "Si..." He said, shaking his head and realizing what he said. "I mean No!"

You laughed a low, cool tone. "Care to dance?" You extended a hand to him. His hand slid into yours without a second thought. Even through his gloves, he could feel how cold your hands were. You pulled him into the crowd of people. He was completely bewitched by you as you led the dance. "Who..are you again?..I feel as if we've met before."

"You don't know yet?" You tilted your head, your hand sliding from his shoulder to the nape of his neck playing with his hair. Your eyes slid up to meet his."After all this is my party." It was the first time he'd gotten a really good look at your eyes.

His eyes widened with realization.

"I've been dreaming of you.I feel like I've known you my whole life."

"In a sense you have, I've known you a very long time,.. I know you very well, copia...I've waited so long to get to you.." You said whispering so only he could hear as you reached up to brush some of his hair away. He felt his heart leap into his throat, and it began to pound loudly it was the only sound he could hear besides your voice.

"Are you really real?" He asked he still couldn't wrap his head around the stories being true and you still seemed like a ghost to him.

You nodded slowly. "I'm here for you, copia." You leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "See, I'm real." His lips tingled. It was like he was like he was floating as you pulled him from the noise filled room into the hall. "We have much to discuss my dear."

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

One of the more interesting aspects of Stayed Gone is the implication that, prior to his disappearance, Alastor must have been producing some quality programming.

Despite it's obvious importance in the modern world, TV apparently only started outcompeting radio in Hell after Alastor vanished. Seven whole years ago. And when Al returns, Vox's first response is to freak the fuck out about whether he's gonna keep his audience.

That's fucking crazy.

And we can be pretty sure that people weren't just listening in out of fear, either. Or because Alastor was making any major effort to crush all other forms of media.

If this was purely about which Overlord was the most powerful, then Vox's verses would surely have focused on emphasising his own strength. Instead, they're all about calling radio outdated. Vox is genuinely worried— apparently based on experience— that Alastor is going to outdo him in terms of sheer entertainment value.

Which raises the obvious question: what were Al's shows actually like? (Aside from those early broadcasts guest-starting the screams of the damned, obviously.)

We get kind of a taster in the song:

“Salutations! Good to be back on the air. Yes, I know it's been a while, since someone with style treated Hell to a broadcast— Sinners, rejoice!— instead of a clout-chasing mediocre video podcast. Is Vox insecure, pursuing allure? Fitting between this fad and that, is nothing working? Every day, he's got a new format! Is Vox as strong as he purports? Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vees! And here's the sugar on the cream: he asked me to join his team! I said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea!”

Obviously he's doing it to music, so there's going to be some difference in the cadence of his voice from that, but still, he's talking noticeably quicker than he does in person. And he gets right to the point.

Compare it to his commercial in episode 1. There's a big difference in terms of both how much respect he's showing his audience (“well hello there, you wayward sinner!” vs “good to be back on the air”), and how much relevant information he delivers.

Alastor is a great character to watch, but most people who interact with him directly seem to find the experience either annoying, awkward, terrifying or all three.

Mainly because Al seems to go out of his way to put people off even when he's actively trying to get them to trust him, by making condescending asides or constantly dropping references to his own power. On air, however, he greets everyone politely and even drops what is almost an apology for being gone so long (“I know it's been a while”), then immediately gets to the information that he knows they're really listening for.

Alastor may not respect Charlie, Adam or Lucifer, but he does respect his audience.

And the content he's producing makes it clear why people are still tuning in. Al has the gossip. Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench may not be unbiased exactly, but they're clearly trying to provide sources for their claims and maintain some veneer of professional news reporting.

Al, meanwhile, is quite happy to provide strong opinions and baseless speculation about public figures, content that is less fitting with the professional image that Vox seems so desperate to keep up, but that is likely to attract a bigger audience.

What gets me curious now, however, is wondering what else he used to provide.

Again, radio was apparently the medium for news and entertainment in Hell until Alastor left. Implying that a) radio was at the time fulfilling many of the function that TV now provides, and b) Alastor was involved enough in this that it collapsed/got overthrown the moment he left town.

Did Alastor have an empire similar to the Vees? Did he run a bunch of channels? Did he have DJs and sports commentators and presenters on his payroll?

Given that radio seems to have collapsed completely after he left— did they all go running to Vox when he was presumed dead? Was the Vees new empire in part built on the ruins of Alastor's old one?

Or did he do the whole thing solo and just run like, a bunch of different shows. (In which case, since radio's bread and butter has always been music, Helluva Boss fans can now have fun imagining him interviewing Verosika Mayday about ‘Vacay to Bonetown’.)

[diminuel]

So a lot of people HC that if Dragon and Crocodile were partners (by any definition) they probably fell put over Crocodile’s ruthlessness or transition

But ive speculated a third option:

I think it would make a lot of sense for someone like Dragon to not understand the emotional weight of a young pirate-idolizing upstart to get rejected and destroyed by White Beard.

Dragon is pro-equality so probably anti-hierarchy by default. Why should it matter if a strong or popular pirate dissuades you? He’s not the boss of you!

…which is NOT what you want to hear when your celebrity-pirate idol has just crushed all your sense of pride and confidence in this line of work.

I don't personally think that the transition was ever a problem. Dragon would be kinda boring if that was the issue.

What you suggest is interesting, but timeline wise it doesn't entirely fit (if you want to bring Luffy into it) as the defeat against Whitebeard would have happened a couple of years before Luffy's conception. But that aside, it's possible that he doesn't understand how difficult that is, because he managed his break away from the marine differently. What does it matter if Whitebeard crushed him? Just get back up, get stronger and try again.

I generally don't think there really was a falling out, but there was a separation out of necessity. I think the baby is often suggested as a cause for separation.

We can get back to Crocodile's ruthlessness. He got pregnant in the years were we know pretty much nothing about him. Only when Luffy was two or three, does Crocodile reappear on the scene as the Hero of Alabasta. So he probably didn't quite know what to do with himself after his defeat at WB's hands. Needed some time to figure out where to go next. He was still a Warlord but with no particular ambition of his own anymore. Maybe he did sort of believe in what Dragon's goal was, so the idea of building up a military force that could oppose the WG would appeal to him. And looking at ways to make the RA stronger would have led him to research Ancient Weapons maybe. But did he, at that point, have a reason to say "I do not want this baby, this baby gets in the way of my ambition" if he had not yet figured out that ambition or if the ambition alligned with Dragon's?

But if he had ambition it makes sense he would not have wanted to stay and take care of the baby. Or for anyone to know he has a child. But I'm not sure that would lead to a fall out between Dragon and Croc, just a parting of ways. And I'm not sure Dragon would have disagreed with Crocodile's choice.

Because Dragon is also facing an issue when presented with a child. Having a relationship with Crocodile is one thing. It's possibly dangerous, but ultimately the chance of them being found out and Crocodile being used against Dragon was rather slim and there are ways that Crocodile could talk himself out of it. (And it's possible Iva knows about how Crocodile feels about Dragon and that is the weakness Iva knows about.) But a baby? Dragon cannot afford a weakness - would he classify Crocodile as a weakness? Would Crocodile tolerate being seen that way? Him and the baby a liablity?

I like to imagine that they parted ways not because they disagreed with each other or didn't love ach other enough, but because of the baby. Because it was too dangerous to stay together and raise him. To protect him, they need to sacrifice being partners and parents. Maybe you can sprinkle in Crocodile not feeling ready to raise a child because of his ambitions. Maybe you can sprinkle in Dragon offending Crocodile by suggesting that he's a liability and chosing the revolution over his family.

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Not Ready Part 1/12

Part 2 and Part 3 are out on my Patreon for FREE!

This story is so beautiful, hopefully you'll think so too! 🥹

Readers sister dies in a tragic car accident, leaving reader and her boyfriend Ruben in the urgent custody of her niece and nephew. Readers life is suddenly flipped upside-down since having children hadn't been the plan for her and Ruben's life together. At least not now when his football career was reaching great new heights.

Enjoy! 💞

You could really get used to this life, because who else has an amazing girl boss who let's you off work in the honor of your birthday?

Well you did.

Instead of spending the last hours of the day sorting out paperwork, you were rushing off to see you your boyfriend who had surprise for you in the park.

"Oh my god, is he going to purpose?"

"I have no idea." You squealed, cellphone pressed to your ear. Your best friend Laleh was on the other end, helping you speculate why Ruben specifically wanted to spend the afternoon with you in the park.

"Do you think he had anything to do with you getting off work so early?"

"I really don't know. I would be surprised of he did."

"Yes, me too. If he did, what the hell was he thinking, leaving me to finish all this work by myself?"

You laughed. "I'm so sorry Laleh. I really owe you."

"Damn straight you do. Just make sure to send me a picture of the ring, okay?"

"I promise. Love you. Bye."

You hung up the phone and practically ran the last distance towards the park. Your heart pounded in your chest as you sighted it ahead. What if this was it? What if after three years together, Ruben, was finally ready to tie the knott. Lord knows that you were. Ruben was simply the man of your dreams.

"Y/N."

You spotted his tall figure amongst the trees. He stood with his hands in his pockets, hair stirring gently in the wind. The way your heart fluttered when you saw him could only mean one thing, no?

"Ruben, what is all this?"

He suprised you with a full on picknick. A blanket was laid out on the grass below. Beside it was a basket containing fruit, red wine and a fine collection of cheese.

"Happy birthday baby!" Ruben welcomed you to sit down.

"I can't believe you. Isn't today your rest day?"

Ruben lay down on the blanket, leaning forward to kiss you. "I can rest right here." He smiled.

You were perplexed. The amount of love you had for your boyfriend was simply too hard to grasp. He had gone so out of his way just for you. It made you giggle, how he cut you a slice of cheese with such caution, wanting it to be just the right amount to put on your cracker.

"Here you go."

"Well, thank you." You bowed with courtesy.

Ruben put down the cheese knife and licked the tip of his fingers. He licked them clean since his diet as a professional football player didn't allow him to have any dairy. Wine was also off limits. It was all just for you to enjoy.

"So..." He said, clasping his hands together as he rested on his side. "How does it feel to be twenty-five?"

"Old." You murmured through a mouth full of cheese and crackers.

"Old?" He frowned. "But I'm twenty-seven."

"Exactly my point. Twenty-seven is so old and now I'm getting closer to that age."

"Right." He snorted.

"Don't get me wrong baby. You look amazing for your age, but that's because you work out. I on the other hand...."

"If it's your fitness that you're worried about you can always come with me to the gym."

"Nah, I'm good." You chugged down the last of your cracker, dusting of the crumbs that had fallen into your lap. Ruben looked to you with admiration, the sun irritating his eyes.

"Did you know that my mom had my sister at twenty-one."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and me at twenty-seven."

"Interesting."

"Yeah and now my sister is trying to get pregnant again at thirty-one as if the two children she has isn't enough work already."

"How are they?"

"Emmy and Vale?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh, well they're great, I guess. Emmy has just started her forth year in primary school and Vale lost his first tooth the other day."

"Really?"

"Yeah. His dad forgot to slip him the money from the tooth fairy though. My sister totally freaked out."

"Tooth fairy?" Ruben tilted his head.

"Yes, the tooth fairy. Didn't you grow up with the concept of a wealthy winged midget sneaking into your bedroom at night, collecting all your teeth?"

"Erm...no. No, I didn't. " Ruben looked horried.

"Hmm.....I thought the culture in Portugal wasn't too different from the rest of the countries in Europe."

"It isn't." Ruben sat up. "But I guess my family wasn't into that kind of stuff."

"What stuff?"

"I dunno, make believe stuff. Fairytales etc."

"Oh."

"Yeah, my dad was the worst. When I first lost my tooth he made me stand in front of the bathroom mirror and pull the tooth out myself."

"Really? That's horrible."

"I still remember being hunched over the bathroom sink with blood pouring out of my mouth while hearing my dad flush my tooth down the toilet."

"Ruben, that's—"

"My dad for you." He smiled. It was obvioulsy a fond memory to him. A traumatic one to you.

"I just can't imagine myself raising children right now." You said, falling back onto the picknick blanket, a sense of peace washing over you. It was such a lovely afternoon. "If anything I'm still a child myself."

"How about a dog?"

You had gone to shut your eyes, but quickly reopened them. Ruben was standing up, hovering over you with a cardboard box in his hands.

You brought yourself to sit up. "Ruben, what is—"

Something shook the box. Followed by a low squeal. A frail attempt of a bark.

"Ruben....you did not."

His smile broadened. "I did." He lowered the box for you to see what lay within, and looking up at you with the most precious eyes was a brown sausage dog, less than four weeks old.

"Oh my god." You quickly reached for it and brought the puppy into your lap. "Ruben I can't believe you did this!"

"Happy birthday!"

You looked up at him, feeling how the dog nibbled at your fingertips. "What made you even want to do this?" It was such a commitment to get a dog. Ruben had never expressed the desire to get one before, although, you knew that he was good with them, seeing as his family had own several back home in Portugal.

"I guess I just thought it was time." He shrugged.

"Time for what?" You cried. Yes, actual tears were welling up in your eyes. Even more so when Ruben joined you on the blanket, petting the fluffy creature in your lap. He then looked to you with such a gentle gaze. "For us to start a family." He said.

"Oh, Ruben." You kissed him, apologizing for your wet cheeks. Ruben didn't mind, however, wiping them away with a stroke of his thumb. "I love you Y/N. I always will."

"I love you too."

It was the best birthday of your life, filled with wet kisses and a puppy. Hopefully it was the beginning of forever with Ruben. It's all you ever wanted

Part 2 and Part 3 are out on my Patreon for FREE!

[remidyal]

Outstanding antagonists after Junior Year

This post is as much for myself for fanfic purposes as it is for any speculation regarding a Senior Year that may never happen and even if it does would be I think at an absolute minimum three years and more likely 4-5 down the road, but I wanted to round up the known potential antagonists remaining out in the world, roughly ranked in order of known hostility:

Chungledown Bim. Certainly the MOST hostile of opponents, we know he's not dead post-Boy's Night (whenever Boy's Night is supposed to fit into the Quangle) because he's on Fabian's nemesis alert.

Arianwen Abernant. Evidently she has recovered her magic, probably while Cassandra was corrupted into a more Nightmare King-ish state. She was pretty pissed at Aelwyn and Adaine the last time we saw her over the whole death of Angwyn thing; I somehow don't think being chased around Sylvaire by the vand will have improved her mood.

Bobby Dawn. The full extent of his involvement in the Junior Year plot is uncertain, but he sure as hell wasn't helping things. Also some real potential hate between him and the party over the Sandra Lynn thing; while Fig might be gone in a Senior Year I'm going to ignore that for these rankings and in any case Sandra Lynn still lives with Kristen and Adaine regardless, so I think that conflict would be born out. I also think there's a strong case for a clash of pantheons style story going on in the background, and Bobby here would be front and center on the Sol-Helio-maybe Galicaea side.

Kalina. I don't necessarily think Kalina actually IS a traitor to Cassandra the way that Kristen thinks and Ankarna thinks; I almost believe that her turning up at the end of Junior Year was a reaction to them deciding to hunt her, in fact. That being said, while I think Kalina is fully team Cassandra, I also think (and even understand!) that she is most definitely NOT team Kristen, who did let Cassandra kind-of-die and now is splitting her attention. So what's Kalina's play now? I think she's going to try to push for Bobby Dawn to add Cassandra back to the Sol-Helio-Galicaea pantheon, which would be to her a much more stable foundation to keep Cassandra alive on than Kristen.

The Automatons that are going to be hunting Fig. Yes, these are self-evidently a way to excuse that Fig won't be around to help out if there's a senior year and Emily chooses to not play Fig. They're also kind of hilarious, especially since they open up all kinds of questions like 'wait did Sandra Lynn spend her first year of adventuring fighting off killer statues of Arthur Aguefort?' They'd be higher except they're only hostile to 1/6th of the Bad Kids.

Gertie Bladeshield. Also only hostile to 1/6th of the Bad Kids at present, though Cassandra knows if any of them speak up in Kristen's defense she'll probably swear a vow of emnity to them too. Could probably be made up with via a sincere apology, or at least by setting her up with someone.

The Court of Stars and Princess Nara. Now we're into the dubiously hostile territory, because this might not lead to actual conflict, but if there IS a clash of pantheons between the Sol one and the Ankarna-Cass one then the most obvious fight other than Cassandra is over where Galicaea ends up. The members of the Court of Stars we met this season seemed much more, um, I'll use the word chilled out than Angwyn and Kir of last year, but it still feels like a mercurial thing.

Arthur Aguefort. I've been saying for a very long time that the only boss fight that makes sense for a Senior Year IS to have to fight Arthur Aguefort himself; it doesn't even necessarily have to be a 'he's evil' sort of thing, but could just be a 'you're the best party we've had in centuries and I wanna throw down'. He dropped some hints at it in the finale, of course, too!

[thesperitz]

The True Identity of Lu Guang

A Link Click Theory

Ok guys, we all learn from the ending of s2 that Lu Guang is actually his future self from the ‘original’ timeline possessing the Lu Guang from the current timeline. But clearly, there’s more. Something else.

No known age or blood type? That’s a bit strange, isn’t it? I understand the age thing would have to do with the diving-back-in-time itself, but blood type?

And what’s with all the cat symbolism?

All three main characters do have animal counterparts, but Lu Guang is the only one with so much cat merch in the donghua. Qiao Ling has her bunny phone case, but that’s it. And Cheng Xiaoshi doesn’t own anything dog-related.

Lu Guang literally wears a cat pyjama set for most of season 2.

Ok, so why’s the cat motif important? This is where it gets interesting.

The one possessing Lu Guang is a cat.

Stick with me yall.

So remember Elizabeth, the cat Cheng Xiaoshi brought in the chibi episodes? Lu Guang refuses to take it in, and he gets super upset after the cat scratches him. 

Not only does his behaviour in this scene reflects catlike coping strategies, but his and Elizabeth’s behaviour in the two shorts reflect typical cat mating behaviour. 

Elizabeth seems to want Lu Guang’s constant attention and rubs against him.

She also rolls over on her back in a ‘seductive manner’, despite only knowing him for like, a day. 

These behaviours are more frequent in cats in heat (cats can reach sexual maturity as kittens). Elizabeth even begins to dislike Cheng Xiaoshi, possibly because she sees him as a threat in what should be a safe territory, or competition she just doesn’t want.

But cats do these around humans anyway, so how does it relate to Lu Guang being a cat?

Well, don’t forget he exhibits cat mating behaviours too.

While only female cats go in heat, male cats can respond to pheromones released from these females. These pheromones are powerful attractants that can travel through air, able to communicate their reproductive status and desires to potential mates. The males can detect these pheromones and engage in behaviours to pursue the female.

This response can include vocalisations + roaming to find the source of the pheromones, displays of physical prowess/aggression to fight off competition and impress the female, rubbing, following of females and unusually affectionate behaviour.

The presence of Elizabeth’s pheromones could have been what triggered Lu Guang’s sudden liking to her. 

Now we can’t say Lu Guang displayed all of these behaviours, but not all male cats do. We can say, however, that he was particularly attached to Elizabeth, quite unusually indeed.

Remember when I mentioned his unknown age and blood type? Well, if you add the context of a cat possessing him, then it makes sense. Obviously, cats age differently to humans - a 1 year old cat is just 15 in human age, while a 5 year old cat is well into their 30s. 

As for the blood type, cats have 3: Type A, B and AB. Compare this to the 8 human blood types, O+, O-, A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+ and AB-. It makes sense for these to be ‘unknown’ in Lu Guang’s character bio, to hide this twist.

All of this seems like far-fetched speculation based on observed behaviours and what-ifs. But how does a cat possessing Lu Guang fit into the narrative?

Okay. Imagine you’re a cat, just a street cat living your best life, and you somehow wake up to find you’re in a new place, with a new body, new feelings and new memories. You can also suddenly talk to humans, whom you’ve previously had a many dice rolls of experiences with. If you feared for your safety from these humans, wouldn’t you try to pretend nothing’s up?

The cat that found itself possessing Lu Guang sure did. It adopted Lu Guang’s entire identity. I believe the incident occurred some time before the events of the donghua. If you’ve ever read the Link Click manhua, you may have noticed that Lu Guang is written ever so slightly… nicer? Softer? 

If the manhua is set before the donghua, and if the cat started possessing Lu Guang between these times (perhaps in the ‘original’ timeline), Lu Guang’s colder personality in the donghua is explained.

It would be a major plot twist to find out the Lu Guang we know isn’t human at all. 

Some other details that point toward Lu Guang’s feline secret:

He likes sleeping, sunbathing and gourmet food. Obvious cat behaviour

His assigned flower is the forget-me-not, completely safe around cats, while Cheng Xiaoshi’s is the daisy and Qiao Ling’s is the hyacinth, which both happen to be toxic to cats. 

He can’t tolerate spice (please do not feed your cats spicy food)

if you look closely, sometimes his hair kinda looks like it has cat ears.

Hes just generally catlike, yknow?

Not to mention, HIS SLIT PUPILS IN EVERY. SINGLE. OFFICIAL. ART.

It’s more obvious if you compare it to other characters.

In conclusion, this whole time, Lu Guang has been possessed by a cat.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk. *mic drop*

[siren-nereide]

Speculative post on Lucifer's aspects

Lucifer, He has a mischievous side. In my experience, He does sure like medieval, circus imagery at times. Do not try to use this for any first contact, keep it professional, keep it respectful. Freak shows, in history, were always been deemed the "other" regardless of time period. A hub of individuality even for those they would reject as a heinous lifestyle, but so it persists. It's deemed an inversion to order for the nail that did not quite fit. I find it interesting though in my times before pop culture used Him for this archetype, I had a similar experience. I am divided about this but, I trust my own discernment.

Faustian stories, often evoke this mischievous character which is an inversion of light. Furthermore, the name Mephistopheles is a corrupted Greek compound. The Greek particle of negation (μή, mē) and the Greek word for "love" or "loving" (φίλος, philos). Three possible meanings have been proposed, and three different etymologies have been offered as"not loving light" (φῶς, phōs; the old form of the name being Mephostopheles), "not loving Faust", mephitic, pertaining to poisonous vapors arising from pools, caverns, and springs (Wikipedia). Faust appears as a servant to Lucifer, now the discussion if Mephisto is Lucifuge. I have speculated with others that Lucifuge's etymology could come from a name similar to "Lucifer Reficul" which is just Lucifer forwards and backwards. Think of it as peter pan and peter pan's shadow, same but different. In which, if we go back about a thousand years the Greeks & Romans had Esophosos/Hesperos which are in turn Lucifer/Vesper with some other names like "noctifer" mixed in. With some pondering I do believe Mephisto = Lucifuge but, as the evening star counterpart to Lucifer, I am not as sure. Lucifer's aspect as Vesper seems contemplative, introverted but an underlying mischievous aura to it. Now, I have thought about it for over six months. It could be Mephisto is a developed egregore that with enough energy became its own entity in which funnily enough seems like Luciferian archetype to me, but who knows right.

The medieval & circus connection can be answered as clowns & jesters and all who side with them must be servants of the devil. Some examples are, "Fools for Satan" – Some Christian theologians (like St. Augustine) argued that jesters, with their mocking humor, were agents of the Devil, tempting people into sin. Carnival of Fools – Medieval festivals (like the Feast of Fools) featured role reversals where jesters imitated clergy, which the Church condemned. Physical Deformity – Many jesters had dwarfism or disabilities, which superstition linked to demonic influence or curses. As society changed the role changed, it was not castles but, tents of all the same types of people whom would see it as "home". This aspect is one of most attractive to people in general due to its alluring quality of deals. Sometimes, if this is how you perceive this energy it would be one of first experiences with the spirit. In that case, Lucifuge could be Noctifer which is an aspect of Satan which in turn could be an aspect of Lucifer but its up to you to decide. The Temple of the Ascending Flame does discuss this.

Now, back to pop culture with Hazbin Hotel's Lucifer leaning into these motifs. I am neutral about this piece of media because as it's not perfect it has glaring issues, as a critical fan of her work. It did help me in the right direction back to my practice indirectly. I do believe the Lucifer in concept has some validity to it, characterization wise NO.

Jan Matejko (1838-1893) ~ Polish, Oil on Canvas

Anyway's Happy Venus day! ♡ Multum amor ♡

[homestuckreplay]

Week 1 Retrospective: Who Is John Egbert?

It’s official - Homestuck is one week old today! And while a week is not a long run for a comic, it’s already got more pages than the author’s earlier work Bard Quest, so maybe it’s something worth recognizing. So I wanted to mark a week of Homestuck by doing a deep dive on what we’ve learned about our protagonist John Egbert so far. It’s some fact collection, some wild speculation, and some ongoing questions. It’s over 3000 words, so it’s under a readmore for anyone who’s interested.

If that doesn’t sound like a fun time to you (or even if it does), you can take the John Egbert Big 5 Personality Test to see how you score on John’s five key personality traits. It’s 14 multiple choice questions, so a much quicker read.

We’re introduced to John on page 4, where we’re given five key interests of his: bad movies, programming computers, paranormal lore, amateur magic, and gaming. I’ll take these one by one and use them as a framework for John’s character so far.

“You have a passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES.”

John has eleven (11) movie posters on his walls. Of these, three star Matthew McConaughey and two star Nicolas Cage. More notably, six have a Rotten Tomatoes rating below 50%, and two of these are below 10%. I haven’t seen any of these movies, but as far as I can tell, here are the one sentence summaries [broad spoilers for all these movies].

Little Monsters: A boy befriends a monster and visits the monster world, where they try to convert him into a monster too.

Con Air: A paroled man disrupts a gang of prisoner’s escape from a prison transport plane.

Deep Impact: Earth tries to prepare for extinction after a comet is found on a collision course with Earth.

Ghostbusters II: After going out of business, the Ghostbusters reunite to combat a negative energy slime monster.

Mac and Me: A boy befriends a young alien who gets separated from his family and lost on Earth.

Contact: An Earth scientist successfully discovers alien life and travels to an alien world.

A Time to Kill: A father is acquitted in court for killing the perpetrators of racial hate crimes against his daughter.

Failure to Launch: A 35 year old man’s parents hire a woman to persuade him to finally move out of their home.

Face/Off: A terrorist and a FBI agent go through facial transplant surgery and temporarily swap identities.

Armageddon: A group of space workmen go on a mission to stop an asteroid from destroying Earth. 

Ghost Dad: A man temporarily dies but is able to interact with his children in ghost form.

From this we can see that John really likes science fiction movies related to aliens, ghosts and monsters, as well as action comedy. We also know from page 21: ‘Films about impending apocalypse fascinate you’. A Time to Kill and Failure to Launch are the only ones that don’t fit his taste. The implication here is that John really loved Matthew McConaughey in Contact and so watched his other movies even though they were things he wouldn’t usually watch.

I’m curious if these movies are intended as clues to John’s character, the future of the comic, or both. In terms of his character, they make me see him as someone who’s imaginative and goofy, young and carefree, not concerned with other people’s opinions, more interested in watching movies for their surface meanings and exciting stories, maybe wants to escape to a different world, might be a little bit gay. 

In terms of the future of the comic, it could be that we’re going to see literal aliens or monsters - they could even be already here, keeping John ‘homestuck’. Slime monsters are particularly highlighted, with Slimer from Ghostbusters appearing on John’s shirt and computer background, and his chumhandle, ectoBiologist, relating to slime. Slime invasion honestly feels too obvious, and anyway, several of John’s movies are about befriending a more benign supernatural force - could John’s Pesterchum friends be something other than human? Or maybe it’s a more metaphorical meaning, referring to John having a very different life to his friends? 

Two of these movies feature Earth extinctions by giant space rocks, but there’s absolutely no indication of this being a real world threat John is dealing with. Again, it could refer more generally to a sudden, life changing event that’s about to happen to disrupt John’s current state, something that would fit thematically with this being John’s 13th birthday, a milestone age.

There’s also a theme of crime and the legal system in several movies, including Con Air, the one that’s been most highlighted. The most obvious interpretation of John’s dad right now is that he’s a clown or performer, but there’s an outside chance he could be in law enforcement, or a criminal. It’s even possible that he’s currently in hiding or some kind of safe house. This would explain John being ‘homestuck’ and sick of spending time with his dad.

Speaking of John’s dad, I’m concerned for him based on the Ghost Dad summary - the comic keeps teasing his presence, but we haven’t actually seen him yet. Could he be a ghost? Or become one at some point? Alternatively, we know John has an already dead relative - could his nanna be a ghost? Did John dropping her ashes release her ghost? Family is a really common theme in movies, so I don’t know if a large number of these movies being about family (especially fathers) is relevant, but I’m noting it all the same.

“You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT.”

John claims he ‘likes to program’, but it actually seems to make him angry. We first learn ‘[y]ou were never all that great with data structures and you find the concept [of the stack modus] puzzling and mildly irritating.’ We then see three files on John’s desktop, two in ^CAKE - ‘pff.^CAKE’ and ‘FUCK FUCK FUCK.^CAKE’ and one in ~ATH - ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH.~ATH’. These tell a clear narrative of John trying to work on his programming and getting increasingly more frustrated with his attempts, until inevitably giving up. Both of the programming languages are puns, too. ^ is often called a carat (carrot cake) while ~ is a tilde (til death). 

I know this is wild speculation, but… John started off coding in a harmless programming language, was already struggling, then for some reason switched over to the most ominous possible sounding language, screwed it up even worse, and now… he’s constantly haunted by the ghost of failed programming attempts in the form of his sylladex, which he appears to be new to using (he had no prior understanding of it on page 7 - although this could be handwaved due to video game tutorial logic), and which operates similarly to a computer program and seems to cause John endless frustration. He���ll have to figure out how to exploit the inventory system in ways that help him, which involves actually figuring out some stuff about coding, in order to partake in some real life ghostbusting, or monster hunting, or dealing with whatever threat he’ll have to deal with by using inventory hacks.

“You have a fondness for PARANORMAL LORE,” (...)

By far the interest of John’s that we’ve seen the least of so far, John’s love of the paranormal is mostly inferred through his movie preferences, and we don’t see any direct evidence of an interest in lore. However, I can’t stop fixating on John’s chumhandle: ectoBiologist. The comic’s first act was to draw attention to giving John a name, and for many 2009 kids, the names they go by online are more meaningful and representative of them than their real world names. 

‘ecto-’ means ‘outer, outside, external’ according to dictionary.com, and it’s actually a common prefix in a variety of fields of biology, but there’s no such thing as ‘ectobiology’ as a field, or an ‘ectobiologist’ - neither term has any search results prior to Homestuck. I think it’s way more likely that this refers to ectoplasm, a term from both cell biology and spiritualism that was popularized by Ghostbusters to mean any substance secreted by a ghost, in practice often manifesting as green slime. Slimer, who we can guess is John’s favorite, is a benign ghost made of pure ectoplasm. I love the idea that John loves this dumb ghost so much that he’s memorized all the lore about them in their appearances throughout the franchise, and devised this username based on being an expert on these ghosts right down to their biology (or at least thinking he is). 

The only catch is, ‘fondness for paranormal lore’ is very passive and doesn’t even imply much knowledge, much less action, while ‘biologist’ implies that John has been doing actual experiments. The idea of John trying to create a real life Slimer the same way other kids make slime in their kitchens is really entertaining, if an off the wall theory. Does ‘homestuck’ just mean John is grounded for an unethical science project? 

(...) “and are an aspiring AMATEUR MAGICIAN.”

The magic chest is one of the biggest, most eye catching and most colorful objects in John’s room. We see its contents on page 8, which lean more into joke store items than things a magician might use, except for the trick handcuffs and perhaps the collapsible sword. The narration on this page states that John is neither a skilled magician nor a cunning prankster. I’m nitpicking definitions here, but everything John has done so far has been way more about pranks than about magic. 

John’s uses of the magic chest to date are…

various putting things into his inventory and removing them (funny, but unintentionally)

combining fake arms with cake (p.36) out of necessity, which ‘makes the cake at least 300% more hilarious’

merging hat with beagle puss to create a clever disguise (p.45) and wearing it for 25+ pages, which he acknowledges is a ‘shitty disguise’

attaching fake arms to harlequin doll (p.65), which makes it ‘AT LEAST a million percent funnier’

All of which are definitely not magic tricks, and honestly not even pranks. Arguably John’s best and most successful prank so far has been when he pretended not to have arms for the first six pages, before revealing his arms after the interface had gone to the trouble of moving the cake off his magic chest to get him some arms.

John keeps thinking about reading Colonel Sassacre’s Guide to Magical Frivolity and Practical Japery, but always finding some excuse not to. He can’t read it until he captchalogues it, but once he does that, it gets buried in his inventory. He assumes that the book can tell him the exact percentage increase of hilarity a prank leads to, but it’s too big for him to actually look anything up. 

An outside theory for this that I don’t think is likely simply because it’s so much darker than the comic has been so far, is that John loves this book, but since the incident where his nanna was killed by a copy (perhaps even this copy?) he hasn’t been able to bring himself to read it. A far more likely theory is that while John is an aspiring amateur magician, it’s more of a big idea, and he hasn’t actually done any magic yet. This also tracks with his weaksauce pranks above. And if that’s true, then it says a lot about John that he defines himself by a hobby he aspires to but doesn’t actually practice - he’s someone with big dreams and less motivation, just like his big dream of going to collect the mail from his father despite the lack of motivation that’s kept him messing around for 70 pages. 

“You also like to play GAMES sometimes.”

Potentially most important of all is Gamer John. We get a list of games John likes to play from inspecting his CD tower the same way we get a list of movies from looking at his posters. 

Bard Quest

The Caper Havers

Problem Sleuth

And It Don’t Stop

What Pumpkin?

Ghostbusters II MMORPG

Little Monsters (for Nintendo)

Harry Anderson: Call My Bluff!

The first five games all reference previous work by the author of Homestuck, and as such probably don’t need in depth analysis. However, the fact that within the world of Homestuck, these are all games (instead of comics) is one of several suggestions that we should think of Homestuck as a game, something that needs further analysis. 

The next two games are video game adaptations of movies we know John likes, and the last is a branded video game from Harry Anderson, whose book we’ve already seen in John’s magic chest. Notably, none of these are real video games in our world either. It says a lot that John plays game versions of things he already likes (he’s put ‘countless manhours’ into this assortment of quality titles). 

However, it’s undeniable that the most important game in John’s life right now is Sburb. The poster is behind his head in the first panel, placed centrally with one of the only two splashes of color in the panel. The beta release is the only thing marked on his calendar for April besides his birthday, and the Sburb logo is even the picture printed on the calendar - perhaps it’s a calendar themed around new game releases? There’s clear delight on John’s face when he thinks about getting the beta, and his quest to fetch it from the recently delivered mail is the closest thing to a story this comic has so far.

Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about Sburb, so we don’t know what it says about John that he wants to play it. It’s publicized as the Game of the Year, and according to GameBro, the game may be about houses and the player may not get to thrash anything, although these details are provided by someone who hasn’t played the game so I’m not taking them as expert opinion. It might be multiplayer - TT has been pestering TG all day about playing it with her. Maybe John just wants to share a game with his friends.

Speaking of GameBro, John can’t stand the magazine, although he for some reason has a copy on his desk. He describes the publication as ‘a joke’ to TG, and he makes the effort to take it downstairs to the fire and burn it, presumably releasing asbestos fibers into the house and causing serious lung damage to himself and his father. Does he read this because it’s the only games magazine that exists? Or did he like it just fine until now, when it trashed the game he’s excited about, and now he’s furious with it? Either way, it tracks with John’s overall fondness for critically panned media that he would be angry about contrarian critics. 

–

All of this has left me with a few questions about John as our main character. These are the things that I’m keeping an eye on and trying to answer as the story continues.

What is John good at?

We hear so much about what John is bad at. He’s explicitly stated to be bad at programming, pranks, and magic. He’s bad at using his sylladex. He’s clumsy and knocked over his nanna’s ashes. He’s got bad taste in media. He’s funny but only when he doesn’t try to be, and even then he’s sometimes the butt of the joke, where the joke is how not funny John’s joke is. He was tempted to squawk like an imbecile and shit on his desk. He has like six different prankster props and he doesn’t even use all of them. I’m saying all this with love and kindness because he also just seems like such a sweet kid, but so far he doesn’t have any defined strengths or skills. 

Is he going to turn out to be really good at gaming and kick ass at Sburb? Are we going to get a curveball where it turns out John is an amazing baker, and he hates the cakes in his room and the smell of Betty Crocker because he can do so much better than that packet mix? Or is he starting off from this low point so he can develop skills as time goes on?

What is John’s relationship with his dad really like?

John doesn’t want his dad to monopolize his time and feels trapped in his room, despite his dad baking cakes and leaving notes on gifts telling John he’s proud of him. John’s dad gets his son one great present that John’s really appreciative of, and one terrible present that John immediately hates. All of this feels very reasonable and normal for a teen feeling misunderstood by a parent who’s trying their best. 

And then there’s the clowns.

John can excuse magical frivolity and practical japery, but he draws the line at harlequins. He’s an aspiring magician, but his dad’s figurines are ‘fucking garbage’ and his dad ‘sure can be a real cornball’. John seems like somebody who gets angry at ultimately unimportant things, like bad reviews of games, too many cakes, and harlequin figurines, but because of the subject matter it reads like an intense rivalry between two highly specific subcultures that outsiders would group together. John is really making a huge deal of needing to disguise himself and mentally prepare himself to go down and face his dad, and I want to know if there’s any genuine reason behind John’s fear, or if it’s solely the overdramatics I’m starting to think are typical of him.

Is John ‘Homestuck’?

‘Sometimes you feel like you are trapped in this room. Stuck, if you will, in a sense which possibly borders on the titular.’ (p.30)

John clearly feels like he’s stuck at home, but is this the extent of the title’s meaning? His dad has recently returned from getting groceries, so leaving the house is in theory possible. Reasons why John might be homestuck include: he’s not allowed to leave the house (for example, he’s grounded, or his dad is very controlling), he can leave the house but there’s nowhere to go (he lives near major roads, bodies of water, farms, or other obstacles, and there’s no public transport to get anywhere), or he can leave the house but it’s not safe to do so (there’s some sort of external threat, either supernatural like a monster or alien invasion, or mundane like a criminal or bomb threat). Seeing out of John’s window and into his front yard does not provide any clues; it looks like an extremely average front yard with a tree, swing and mailbox, and we know the mail was recently delivered, so there can’t be anything too world-ending happening in the neighborhood. Right now John’s goal (the Sburb Beta disc) is inside the house, so this might not get answered right away - in fact, my running theory is that the game itself might hold the answers, as its logo is a house.

What’s the differentiation between John and the narrator?

My biggest question of all, and one that probably deserves its own essay. I’m fascinated by the lines ‘In a kid's yard, a tree without a tire swing is like a proper gentleman without a monocle.’ (p.27) and ‘In a home, a FIREPLACE needs a fire, because that's what FIREPLACE is for.’ (p.50). These lines carry so much opinion, but because the narrator is constantly addressing John with the second person ‘you’, I don’t think these are John’s opinions. The narrator does have a window into John’s thoughts, so the line between them can be blurred, but there's clearly a distinction somewhere, because there have been pushbacks and disagreements between the two of them. 

One theory is that John’s dad is the narrator - John’s at home a lot for whatever reason, and so the constant and overbearing presence of his dad means that he can’t get him out of his head even when he’s alone, the commands at the top of each page reflecting John’s dad’s level of control over his son’s life. But I think this question is open ended enough that I’m not willing to commit to one theory yet. After all, we ‘examine 3rd and 4th walls of [John’s] room’ which is a directly meta allusion to the comic’s audience that only really makes sense if the narrator isn’t a character in the comic itself. 

–

I think John Egbert has been really well characterized so far. He feels like a real kid, one who keeps getting off track and forgetting what he should be doing, but one who it’s enough fun to get to know that I don’t really notice. While the main character in media often doesn’t end up being the most interesting character, I do want to keep an eye on John because I think he has a lot going on to analyze. Above the style and the world and the mechanics, John as a character is the aspect of the comic I’m most interested in right now.

[yourfingeronmytriggers]

The "Ghoulcy" Songs of Fallout (3/4)

“We Three”

This one is the most overt of the four I deem “ghoulcy”.

I've seen different takes on whether the Ghoul/Lucy is "Me" vs "My Echo"; personally, I feel this song is also respective to the ghoul. It just makes the most sense to me.

My echo- Lucy is the echo of his former self, already resembling his current self in some ways due to the parallels in their circumstances

My Shadow- Dogmeat who follows him loyally now like his “shadow” ever since he healed her (so cute she seems to have bonded with him despite their rough beginnings! maybe like a certain Vaultie in the future, wink wink)

Me- this leaves the Ghoul himself 

And it’s crazy how well the song fits once again.

 We three, we're all alone

Living in a memory

My echo, my shadow, and me

… We three, we're not a crowd

We're not even company

My echo, my shadow, and me

They may not be much "company" to each other yet but I'm looking forward to the development between them as they travel together in season 2. Cannot wait to see how they play out the "reveal" of Lucy finding out who he is.

I walk with my shadow

I talk with my echo

But where is the one I love?

I think it’s interesting to note he asks Hanks where his “family” is, not just where his “daughter” is. However, I still am of the opinion his love for Barb died long ago and he may even be looking for revenge. This is only speculation but I would find it very anticlimactic for him to potentially find Barb and then try to get back with her after all this time. I just don't see that happening after 200 years of bitter betrayal fueling him. Which gives me brain worms on how he’ll handle that (and Lucy if she’s with him when he does).

If that time comes, I can see him conflicted on whether to pull the trigger on her for what she did and Lucy gently placing her hand on his arm, saying something like "She'll hate you if you do, Cooper. Trust me. You don't want that."

And she doesn't even have to explain what she means, because he knows. And he knows she of all people knows.

Maybe he'd say "She doesn't need to know." Or a similar sentiment. Then Lucy looks him dead in the eye and says:

"She'll find out."

Oh man, I am getting myself so hyped up over these two. So many possibilities for next season and I'm having so much fun teasing them all out in my brain. Either way, I think the only one who he currently regards as "his love" is Janey.

[soapppp]

CW: past homophobia and transphobia, 141 x soap, mentions of smut

Soap grew up with a loving family. They all acted for each other, all have love languages of words of affirmation and gift giving, something Soap thrived in doing for others. He was praised for his skills in the military and, while he never cared, they were happy to show all his medals on display inside their living room. When he first got sent home for an injury they pampered him to the point he had to make a lock for his room just to get some peace. He was sure he was going to get a permanent dent in his forehead from all the kisses his mother would give him.

They supported him in everyone way but one.

When Soap came out as gay they didn’t care, happy he was finally out of denial, but when he mentioned going to a queen club they warned him of drag queens and woman who ‘pretend’ to be men.

Soap had sobbed that night, cutting up the pink skirt he had bought for himself a few weeks back. He didn’t care for drag, but the outfits he adored. But that was the one thing his family wouldn’t support. So, soap just gave up on those dreams and forced himself to stop staring at the pretty dresses in shop windows. He was scared of being hated by his family, and more terrified when he learnt how some people only let men wear skirts because it was a kink or fetish of theirs.

He felt alone, trapped in his body with no way to express himself without hate or depravity taking over.

Then he meet his partners.

It was Gaz who figured it out first, seeing his best friend and new lover stare at girls in skirts and mannequins in thrills skirts and realising what his partner wanted. He didn’t pretend that it didn’t arouse him at first, but that quickly changed when he saw the longing in his partners eyes shift to a bitter self-hate. He talked to Ghost and Price, making sure to clarify he was only speculating, and together the three of them began to casually mention how they liked drag race and thought skirts would be more comfortable than pants in the heat. Natural things that didn’t fetishise or make the other think they knew something, but it was worth it when Soap eventually cracked after Price made the final push.

Soap had looked at his lover with awe, shocked and amazed as he saw Price wearing a long brown sun dress in his office as he spoke to Laswel like it was nothing. He didn’t make a fuss about it, didn’t ask for attention or anything, he just wore it. The long puffy sleeves half rolled up on his hairy arms made Soap feel so seen despite the fact he wasn’t even the one wearing it.

Price called the others in and the three of them held onto Soap as he sobbed about how he thought it was wrong and illegal but Price, captain and bear of the 141 was doing it.

Price admitted he wasn’t big on the dress, seeing it as just simple clothes and a bit too vulnerable for his paranoid mind, but that he would be happy to wear it again if it would make Soap feel safer.

Not long after they took Soap for his first ever shopping spree, buying him over twenty skirts and seventeen dresses for him to try, all different styles so he could mix and match till he found something fitting. They stayed by him the first time he tried one on and kisses away his tears as he cried in joy. They sat next to him when he first went to the mess hall with a green skirt on, that only just went to his knees, ready to fight of anyone for their lover and they held his hand tightly when a private gave him a big smile and said he was pretty so he wouldn’t burst into tears.

Most importantly, they waited for him to initiate sex while he was dolled up so he wouldn’t feel sexualised. It took a full year for him to feel ready for that and Ghost made sure it was the most attentive sex he had ever experienced.

[kidelder]

making this post as i am extremely upset and i don't think people, esp western players on international servers realize just how harmful and racist, or more specifically sinophobic it is with how they constantly try to assign any other nationalities to the lads LIs. this is blatant whitewashing that we're seeing right now. bear with me because this will be a long post but i need y'all to read everything and think.

so recently there have been so many posts that i mainly see on x/twitter that are speculating and analyzing the LIs' nationalities, with some users even uploading LIs pics onto those nationalities analyze websites and all that, just to prove that the LIs are not Chinese. and this is where the problem starts and i don't think there's enough people that are not chinese players now that realize why this is such a harmful and offensive thing to do because these posts and these analyzed results from the websites usually state the LIs are anything but Chinese. with some users even saying caleb xia yizhou are like korean-american, and how rafayel qi yu is more japanese than anything else. a very few posts that they only see zayne li shen as chinese bc he looks chinese. now, bonus question, why do you think they see zayne as chinese? you got it right, because he has rather narrowed eyes and black hair (though they did mention he doesn't look that chinese either because he has golden-green eyes and chinese ppl only have black/brown eyes). from here, so many posts start popping up as how they see the LIs actually are. "oh i see him as russian/persian" "he looks so korean and japanese to me!" "he's definitely a white!"

some of these posts are still acknowledging the LIs as east asian, but never chinese.

keep in mind that this is a chinese game, made by a chinese gaming development company, based in china. the game has made a handful of collaborations with official departments to promote and share about chinese's intangible cultural heritage and this is likely to continue. the game devs wished the players happy chinese new year continuously for three days. now before you go all "it's lunar new year!!", i beg you to look at this post first because it's always been chinese new year, and not lunar new year as it is the wrong term to use (not because only chinese celebrate chinese new year lol). some of the irl pics that appear in LIs' moments posts are taken near the company headquarter building in shanghai, china (like the black cat with white feet pic in zayne li's moment post one time). the game talks about hongbao (red packets), yuanxiao, qixi (chinese valentine's day) and so many more that i can't list all right now and all of these are chinese cultural elements that we still keep and celebrate until this very day!!

now i ask you, i'm begging you all to answer this question: is it now not offensive anymore to be assuming someone's ethnicity just by how they look? we're coming full circle back onto where we started. you see an east asian person on the street and you ask where they're from, they say they're from china and you're like "oh you're so pretty, you don't look chinese to me!" ??

like answer me this, are you sure you're not just being racist and sinophobic? it's almost like you can't admit anything good could come from china, be it a chinese game with attractive LIs.

now before you ask why do they all have colored eyes and colored hair and even english names (and other names that fit the other locales). first of all, the LIs are not even normal humans ? one of them is literally a sea god, and he has a tail like fucking mermaids. the other is a dragon. the other is a prince from another planet and dare i say, an alien. and you want to put hair color and eye color stereotypes to this ? china has 56 ethnic groups (only 1 of them is the dominant Han chinese) and you want to tell me not one 56 ethnic groups would have tall nose bridges ? have you actually looked at chinese people or do you only think all we have are just monolids ? for example, look at celebrities from xinjiang, china. to name one of the most iconic top stars in china right now: dilraba dilmurat. (EDIT: speaking of han chinese, here's a few other celebs with such strong and beautiful features that you may think they do not fit your han chinese stereotypes: zhang linghe, fan bingbing, gao weiguang and so many more, and this list is mainly to tell you that this is why your argument of the LIs look white / other ethnicities do not stand as chinese people's looks vary significantly.)

the game devs could have done better and just standardize with using chinese names through all servers. but how many of y'all have actually tried to pronounce chinese names correctly? so many chinese who live abroad got mocked because of these 'weird' names that are 'so hard to pronounce'. it's the same kind of people who want us to stay true to our heritage and culture and use our given chinese names, but also the same kind of people who mispronounce it every time. so we adopt english names for convenience, and now you're blaming us for not staying true to our culture and we shouldn't cater because this is what happens if we cater too much. so everything becomes our fault again.

with these posts that keep denying to acknowledge the very chinese aspects of these LIs, it's just extremely offensive to watch all of this unfold as a chinese myself, because it's like you're basically saying with all these fancy cultural things, or with their extremely good looks and attractive personalities, they can be anything but chinese. it's almost like you're denying that chinese people can be good, and you're denying that you just like a chinese game's chinese coded characters?

is this just not sinophobia?

[m-s-justice]

💫 Hi hi hello!!! Hello, hello!! I want to know what your favourite thing is about your favourite CODZ character, and I want all the juicy details too!! A full on yap session if you will!!

Also, I hope your cat is having a wonderful day!! And also you— But that goes without saying — !!✨

in my heart takeo is my favorite. he's so cool and awesome and based. I really enjoy his arc of growing out of his loyalty to an authoritarian leader. I wish it leaned a little more into loving himself and his team but y'know cod can't get as mushy as I'd like it to be. sometimes he feels very... Racist which makes me extremely depressed, but a lot of the time he feels just as campy as the world around him so it's less egregious and more like wacky. The Samurai as a caste was dissolved like 60ish years before ww1 so Takeo would have basically never been a samurai in any official capacity (though it is possible his family carried on a warrior tradition that stems from them). I'm not very well versed in Japanese history, let alone military history, but I apparently know more than the devs. then again, historical accuracy wasn't ever really considered in zombies, was it? I also just like him because he has a very unique temperament compared to the other three who... yell a lot and are huge freaks. Takeo at least can keep his freak in check and I like that. plus in every cutscene he's in he fucking styles on the zombies. he is also very cute with dempsey their relationship is so sweet. both versions lowkey.

but speaking of... alas. you all know who I am. I am The Dempsey Guy. In terms of picking apart with my mind, that stupid bitch takes it.

that being said, my preference for dempsey is a little more complex.

there is not a lot of substance to dempsey. even in the map supposed to be About Him, (DE) we don't learn much. this leads people to a lot of possibilities. Some don't like his lack of lore, so they flock to another character (typically Richtofen) who does. some like to try and fit the few pieces we do have and attempt to make a cohesive background for him, while taking liberties as one must do when speculating. I indulge in the latter occasionally but I am a big fan of meta. if you've read pretty much any of my long posting, you can see that. however dempsey in particular fills a niche I enjoy very much.

I've read Homestuck. I play deltarune and Undertale. I tried getting Spec Ops but steam removed it and I cried. I played Everhood, even though that one is talking about a few different things. I've played OFF (the original 2008 one)

I very much enjoy a story that is aware it's a story and that You are interacting with it, which is most effective in a video game format. While there is no metafictional commentary in codz, at least not any that's intentional, due to Dempsey's lack of substance and position as the 4th wall breaker, for lack of any other suitable lens, I have to examine him from the metafictional angle. He is the self insert, the pov character, the one who is aware (to a degree much higher than any other) that he's in a silly, campy side mode.

What I enjoy about this in particular is tearing it apart. Playing it straight. Dempsey is aware he's a fake person in a fake world, he references a script and being out of character. now what? while I do not talk about it much on both my blog nor my published fanfiction (though I do have one that tackles it to a degree), I do think about it often. because it is horrifying. because it is interesting, especially in the context of the mechanics of codz specifically.

you exist as a vessel for some other worldly power to enjoy themselves. you are placed in small, ship in a bottle worlds that are almost entirely stagnant in terms of time, and there are few endings. You die, the tactician that moves you on the board makes a misstep and you are torn apart. You reset, due to some arbitrary whim of the gamemaster that you don't fully understand and likely never will. You do the "objective", fulfill nonsensical steps towards plot progression and it ends there.

this however, is merely your chains. you exist in a dungeon. A plot. A linear narrative. your choices are irrelevant because they are premade, the conclusion already decided. even if you were resist, even if you had no chains, the chance of escape never existed.

yet, it goes further. There is a jailer, your authors. somehow you do break the narrative. somehow, you do slink outside and taste freedom. you then simply cease to exist, because that storyline never happened. in the case it does happen, it's never acknowledged and so might as well not exist. The audience will never know about it. Those characters you might have cared about will never know about it. and even then, what could possibly exist beyond the setting? there's nothing out there, because the author never needed to make anything there. Escape never existed because there is nowhere to escape to.

This is why dempsey is my favorite. He makes me insane. I want him to blow up. also I can take this in 50 billion directions in 50 billion other narratives.

Freedom in Obscurity, how if no one can observe you, you are effectively free to do as you please in terms of a story. "off screen mining, off screen development, off screen death".

How do you interact with others you know aren't real? that are just characters? jealous at their ignorance? total indifference? cruelty, since it's not hurting anybody Real?

How do you come to terms with the fact that you don't have free will, that you are fake, that even your own feelings are being dictated because both Treyarch and myself as the narrator are dictating them, deciding what he thinks and feels even if it's "ooc".

Dempsey has untold depths and I do not want to illuminate (flesh out, make sense, give relevance to) them, but to plumb them (measure the purpose, the placement inside, the reaction of)

that got a little esoteric and recondite but yeaaaah. I'm the dempsey guy. I love you Eldritch horror. I love being the Eldritch horror. I love you takeo please come back I miss you so much

[litnerdwrites]

Euphemia fic?

New Friend- Euphemia (Part 2)

I've had so much going on, I barely have time to write. It sucks. But, I want to try and answer as many asks as I can this week, and hopefully, they'll be a new chapter of clandestine affairs out next week, followed by the first chapter of my Nesta fic. Fingers crossed!

New Friend - Platonic!Gluttony x Niece!OC, Platonic!Wrath x DaughterOC, Platonic!Emilia x DaughterOC

WC:3712

TW: Nothing but fluff. Oh, and Wrath threatening his brother, and a baby Ice dragon. This has some very mild spoilers tos. Two characters that appear here are from the book, along with those characters interacting with Gluttony, but if you want to go into it 100% blind, then I advise you not to read.

Notes: I will be using Prince Gluttony's various names interchangeably throughout the fic. So, just to be clear for those who don't care about spoilers, Gabe, Gabriellis, Gabriel, and Gluttony, are all the same person.

Masterlist Kingdom of the Wicked Masterlist

Euphemia squealed when she saw the large feathers that were presented to her. The feathers were as white as freshly fallen snow, some even compared them to angel wings. Now that the little princess thought about it, the feathers did look somewhat like her Uncle’s feathers, and he was a fallen angel. But then, so was her daddy, and all her other Uncles, and they didn’t all have white wings. Daddy’s used to be silver and gold, according to her Mama, but now they were black. And Uncle Envy’s were green! So, really, the pretty plants in the greenhouse could be the color of an angel's wings, if there were angels who had green wings like Uncle Envy.

Although she wanted to ponder the matter of wings a bit more, and perhaps start voicing her millions of questions, certain that her parents had answers for her, her attention was quickly drawn back to her gift. She felt like she knew, surely, who had sent it, and the thought of it made her giddy, with anticipation, squirming on her throne as she became anxious to touch and play with them. 

The King and Queen, however, clearly did not share their daughter’s excitement. 

Emilia merely blinked at the sight, brows furrowed in concern, but Wrath immediately narrowed his eyes on Gluttony, who met his brother’s stare with a grin. 

“Care to explain, brother,” Wrath’s knuckles went white as he gripped the arms of his throne, despite Emilia’s attempts to sooth him, “what are these for?”

He was seething, Gluttony could tell that much. He only wished to contain his rage, for the sake of his daughter. That’s not to say the princess of House Wrath feared her father’s temper, or hadn’t seen it before, in fact, the issue had little to do with his brother’s sin at all. It had more to do with how young Euphemia still was and while it was several years ago at this point, the trauma surrounding her birth, and its immediate aftermath still weighed heavy on their family. 

His sister in law most of all, and not just because she was the one going through months of pregnancy and then many long, agonising hours of labour, followed by everything else that had happened (though that was certainly part of it). The realm would forever be left to speculate what occurred the night she was born, but Gabriellis, and his brothers, all knew that if things had turned for the worst, that night, the realm itself might have fallen apart, shortly after, if not at the hands of Emilia herself.

His eyes slid to The Queen, softening as he noted her white knuckled grip on her husband’s hand, and how the other subtly twitched towards her daughter. Wrath’s grip softened beneath his wife’s touch, and he realised that, for a moment, the three of them had tumbled down the same train of thought. 

A fit of giggles from beside him is what snapped him from his thoughts. At some point, the princess had run down the dais, to her gift, and was happily chatting with Anir, who kneeled by her side, smiling gently, and seemingly telling her about the different ways she can use the feathers. Though, he doesn’t miss the pain that flashes through his eyes the moment Euphemia turned away. So he was remembering it too, then. 

“They’re a gift, brother. For Euphemia to use as she wishes.” he answers with a grin. 

“From whom?” Wrath reiterates. “They seem a bit large to be yours, and I find it difficult to believe that any of the Ice Dragons would send them to her for the sake of friendliness.” 

“Believe it or not, but that’s exactly what this is.” 

“Really? From Sil?!” Euphemia calls from beside him. 

Gluttony turned, noticing that his niece had come up to his side, and was practically jumping up and down beside him.

“Yes, little demon. He won’t admit this, but he spent a long time trying to find the perfect gift for you.” Gluttony smiles, reaching down to ruffle her silver hair as she squealed in delight.

Before Wrath could question him more, Emilia stood. Wrath and Gluttony turned to her, but she didn’t spear them a glance as she glided down the dais, towards her daughter. Anir had since returned to his post at the foot of the dais. 

The Princess squealed as Emilia brought her into her arms, but The Queen remained patient as she wrapped one arm around her thighs and the other gently patting her hair. The princess wrapped her own arms around Emilia’s neck, and her head against her shoulders. 

“Mama?” Euphemia whispered, though her voice echoed across the silent throne room. 

Emilia kissed the side of her daughter’s head, then resumed stroking her hair. 

“Yes, my little magpie?” Emilia cooed. 

“Are you okay?”  

“Yes, baby. Mama’s okay.” She kissed Euphie's cheek, then turned to Wrath, holding their daughter close. “I’m going to get her lunch. Come and find us when you’re done.” is all she told him, before walking out with Euphemia. 

_______

“- and then he let me sit on his tail tuft! It was so soft and feathery!” 

Emilia smiled softly, reaching over with a napkin to wipe the crumbs from the side of her mouth, as her daughter rambles about her ice dragon friend. The idea of her daughter coming across such a creature, while left unattended, didn’t sit well with her, but the maids who were supposed to watch her had already been severely reprimanded, and her baby was okay, thanks to Gabe, so she chose to find more… productive methods of expressing her fury instead. Typically with her husband, who had similar inclinations. 

“Ice dragons are very dangerous, my magpie. Weren’t you scared? Or cold at the very least?” She asked, as Euphemia took a bite of another cannoli. 

“Hm? Not any more than usual, when I go outside with a cloak.” Her daughter hummed around a mouth full of Cannoli, her eyes set on a stuffed Hellhound Anir had gotten her for her birthday some months back. 

“What did we say about talking with our mouth full, baby?” Emilia admonished with a chuckle. 

“Sorry!” Euphie chirped, her mouth still full with Cannoli. 

Emilia just laughed again, right as Wrath and Gluttony entered the kitchen.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look! Mama made Cannolis for snack time!” 

“You had Cannolis, and didn’t think to share some with daddy?” he asked with mock anger, scooping Euphemia into his arm and holding her on his hip. “This means war.” 

She squealed in delight, as Wrath pinched her cheeks. 

“Nuh uh! Those were my Cannoli! Yours are over there!” She pushed his hand back, pointing to a tray on the counter. 

“So they are. I suppose you got lucky today, princess.” Wrath smiled, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

Emilia laughed softly at their antics as she offered Gluttony some Cannoli as well. The prince accepts them with a nod, but doesn’t miss the flash of pain in her eyes when she turns back to her husband and daughter. Gently, he reaches around and rubs her back. The Queen’s eyes darted to him, but he didn’t meet her gaze. Instead, he smiled at his niece, as she made faces at her father, who held her over his head. 

“I know how much you trust Silvanus,” she murmured to him, “But I just- After everything- She’s my baby.” 

Gluttony glanced towards Emilia, but she’d turn back to watch Euphemia and Wrath. Her eyes never strayed from his. 

“Silvanus won’t hurt her. I’d stake my throne on it.” He repeated what he told his brother. 

Emilia sighed, and dropped her gaze to her interlocked hands, resting on the table. 

“I can’t lose her.” She whispered. 

“I know.” 

“Uncle! Uncle!” 

Gluttony turned just in time to see Wrath stand, and Euphemia ran from where he was, over to him, with her Hellhound toy clutched to her chest. He crouched on one knee, and opened his arms for her, which she gladly ran into. 

“Yes, my little demon?” 

Euphemia looked up

“Uncle Lust was telling Uncle Sloth about a party you threw last week. He said that you and Aunt danced all night.” She looked up from his chest, her mouth hidden behind the head of her toy as she did. 

Gluttony cocked his head to the side. 

“We were. Why?” 

“Why wasn’t I invited?” She huffed. “I love dancing too! I wanna dance with you as well! And with Uncle Lust, and Uncle Sloth, and Uncle Pride! I wanna dance with all of you, and drink fizzy juice. Daddy doesn’t even let me go to the parties he hosts, and he just hogs mama all night.” Gluttony frowns at her, surprised at where the conversation was going. “And wanna know the worst part?” 

“What’s the worst part, little demon?” 

“You invited my friend, but you didn’t invite me.” 

Gluttony went still. 

Silvanus had been at the party, or rather, the tail end of it. He and Adriana had gone with him to check up on some of the new hatchlings after the ball had ended. Usually, he went with his hunters, but Adraina had wanted to see them, and Silvanus had insisted on going as well. ‘To protect the lady’ is what he’d said, before letting her climb onto his back. 

“Your friend?” he asked evenly. Gluttony wanted to be sure it was Silvanus she was referring to, although he was almost certain it was. 

Euphemia nodded. 

“I know you got upset last time, but I just don’t get it. Sil was so nice, and he tried to keep me warm, and let me pet his tail feathers. He even sounded like he was scolding me when I told him I snuck out, just like daddy does.” She hugged her toy close. “I just don’t understand why you have to take my friend away. He was the first one I ever had.” 

“You have Val. She’s your friend. So are Anir, Fauna, and Alexi. Blade agreed to be your friend too, remember?” he reminded gently, as he wrapped an arm around her legs, and stood, holding her to his hips.

“It’s not the same.” 

Gluttony frowned, knowing she was right. Being ‘friends’ with her adult family members, and the people who worked for them (regardless of how close they are) was very different from growing up with your own peers. Although, he wasn’t sure that being friends with an ice dragon was any better. 

“I-” 

“Euphie,” Emilia called. Gluttony turned to his brother and sister in law, his niece still in his arms. A servant stood beside her. From what he recalled, this woman was Euphemia’s head maid, Ana. “Go with Ana and get ready. We’re going outside to meet someone. Oh, and be sure to dress warm.” 

Euphemia grinned, squirming in her uncle’s arms until he let her down, then ran off, with Ana jogging after her. 

“If anything happens to my daughter, Gabrielis, I will wipe him, and his kind off the face of the realm.” Wrath’s voice was low, and laced with a promise of bloodshed. 

Gluttony turned to his brother, not at all perturbed by the icy promise in his voice, and nodded. 

Emilia stepped forward, and placed a hand on her husband’s arm.

“You’re certain he won’t hurt her?” 

“If I thought there was any chance Silvanus was a threat in any way, I wouldn’t allow him anywhere near Adriana.”  

Emilia pressed her lips together, and searched his eyes. Eventually, she nodded at him, then left the kitchen, rose gold gown trailing after her. 

_________

Wrath and Emilia remained vigilant, as the four of them headed out to meet with Silvanus. Gluttony didn’t need the ability to sense emotions to feel his brother and sister-in-law’s anxiety, but he chose not to comment. Instead, he glanced down at Euphemia, holding his hand and chatting happily with Gluttony, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere, as she skipped at his side. 

“-Aunt Addie said it’s really just like horse riding. Is it really?” 

“Do you even know how to ride a horse, little demon?” 

Euphemia turned to her uncle, meeting his raised brow with a grin, shut-eyed grin. 

“No. But I can learn.” 

“You’ll need a horse first, dear.” he mused, “And I don’t think there’s a hell horse in the realms on which your feet would reach the stirrups.” 

“They can too! I can borrow Death! Or Tanzi!” 

“I think Uncle Gabe is right, princess. Perhaps when you’re older.” Wrath interrupts. 

“But I-”

“Why bother with horses, when dragons are clearly the superior creatures.” 

Gluttony rolled his eyes, but kept a grip on Euphemia’s hand, even as she tried to tug it loose. They had Celestia cast the spell to allow him to communicate while the princess was being wrapped up in a warm, pink cloak, lined with white fur and held together by a gold serpent brooch. 

“Yet you're both just as likely to drop her.” Gluttony reminded him. “And don’t forget to mind your manners, Sil.” 

“Sil!” Euphemia shrieked happily, as she finally pulled herself free from her uncle, and ran towards the dragon. “You came to visit!” 

“Of course, little Princess.” The dragon tilted his head to the side, watching the princess. “Is it not normal for one friend to visit another?” 

Euphemia opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a happy bleating that sounded across the yard. 

Everyone froze.

A smaller head poked out from behind Sil’s paw. The baby Ice dragon wasted no time in taking in his surroundings. He bleated happily, running back and forth between Sil’s giant paws, trying to decide where to explore first. 

“You brought Vex?” Gluttony hissed, still staring at the little creature that, unlike Sil, hadn’t gotten permission to be here.  

Vex, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered by the tense atmosphere at all, and seemed content in its exploration of House Wrath. 

“Had I not, he’d be wreaking havoc in your palace, Prince. You named him Vexus for a reason.” Sil huffed. “Besides, he was intrigued by the concept of a ‘play date’.” 

Gluttony blinked at Sil, still processing his words. 

Play date. He brought Vex for a play date?

“This wasn’t part of the plan.” Wrath growled, eyes trained on Vex. 

“Unfortunately, Vexus derails plans as a hobby. I dare say his sense of adventure rivals my own.” 

“So I’ve heard. Adriana thinks he’s in the dragon version of terrible twos.” Emilia added, seeming tired at the very thought.

Wrath winced as he recalled how Euphemia was at that age, but his rage was forgotten for only a small moment, before he turned back to his brother.

“My daughter’s safety isn’t a joke. If he bites her-” 

An excited shriek pierced the air, followed by a thud, and the adults immediately whipped their heads to the source. Euphemia’s face lit up in a way Gluttony had never seen, as she sat in the snow, Vexus’s paws on either side of her, as he nuzzled against her. She giggled at the baby dragon, reaching up to pet the side of its head as she did. 

“You’re like my daddy’s puppies,” she smiled, Sil snorted.

Even Wrath had to snort at that one.

“I think Ice dragons are a bit more deadly than Hellhounds, lovely.” Emilia called, biting back her own chuckle. 

“Even your sister in law is wiser than you, prince.” Sil mused. 

It was only after becoming bored with the pets, that Vexus noticed Gluttony. The baby dragon’s eyes widened and it charged towards the prince. Gluttony staggered a bit when he caught him. Vex nudged his chest, and he rolled his eyes, before beginning to pet him.

“Oh, how sweet,” Emilia cooed, drawing the dragon’s attention. 

Vex cooed, and started nudging the air in her direction too. His sister-in-law giggled, and reached over to pet him, only for Wrath to grab her hand.

“Bite her, and I will mount your scaly head to my wall.” Wrath warned, then let go.

Emilia rolled her eyes and Gluttony scoffed. But the dragon paid him no mind, and cooed as Emilia began to pet it. Gently, Gluttony set Vex down, allowing him to keep nudging at Emilia’s gown, wanting more pets. He patted Wrath’s shoulder, but the demon of war remained vigilant, eyes glued to Sil, apparently having decided he was a bigger threat. 

“Is that your baby, Sil?” Euphemia asked, the older dragon that now sat with his scaly stomach pressed to the snow covered ground.

“Vexus is part of my pack, but he is not my spawn.” Silvanus explained, but gluttony can see something like sorrow flash through his iridescent eyes.

Euphemia caught it too. She raised her arms up, and made grabby hands towards him. Sil lowered his head, and allowed the princess to splay her arms across his muzzle.

“Oh, you are cold!” she squeaked. 

“Would you like me to warm the scales?” Silvanus asked, and Gluttony thought back to when the dragon asked Adriana the same question.

Euphemia shook her head. 

“Nuh uh. It’s perfect.” 

“Is it not too cold, though?” Sil asked, iridescent eyes, glued to the girl, still hugging him.

“All of Hell is cold. It’s just the climate of our home, and I still love it. If it wasn’t cold, would Ice dragons even exist? And if they did, would they be the same way they are now? Probably not. I think it’s all perfect, just as it is.”  

Silvanus let out a puff of icy air that sent a small flurry of snow towards the adults. Wrath scowled at him, keeping one hand on his dagger, the other around Emilia. 

“You are a wise child.” Sil hummed, “I’m sure you’ll grow to be a just princess.”

“That’s high praise coming from a dragon.” Euphemia giggled, then stepped back, but kept a hand on his muzzle. 

“Euphemia. What do we say when someone brings us a gift?” Emilia asked, now holding Vexus.

Silvanus’s iridescent eyes flicked between the Queen and princess.

“Oh, right.” She gasped, then took her hand back from the dragon, taking her skirt into her hand and dipping into a somewhat wobbly curtsy. “Thank you so much for your gift. I truly love it.” 

Silvanus raised his head, letting out a proud huff, accompanied by a puff of icy air. 

“I’m pleased that it’s to your liking. I took care to ensure the feathers shed were of the highest quality, fit for a princess.” 

Gluttony swore he heard Emilia giggle behind him, and even Wrath let out a huff of amusement. 

“Hey, Sil? When I’m all grown up, can I hunt with you like Uncle does?” 

Sil tilted his head.

“That is up to your family. However, should you wish to join the hunt one day, then I look forward to meeting you in battle. I’m certain you’ll be a worthy opponent.”

“Then I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations. Let’s make it a fun battle.” she grinned, happy to welcome the challenge. 

Gluttony grinned too. To those who had found Euphemia to be too timid, or sheltered, especially from her father’s rage, let her excitement for battle be proof that she was House Wrath, through and through.

___________

Emilia smiled from her spot on the blanket, and took another sip of her wine. She, Wrath and Gabriel had spent the last two and a half hours watching, as Sil lounged across the ground, allowing Euphemia and Vexus to use him as a climbing frame while they played. They hadn’t expected Silvanus’ visit to last this long. They thought their daughter would thank him, pet him, beg to go on a flight, only to be denied, and that would be that. Now, Emilia couldn’t help but want to coo over the scene.

Euphemia and Vexus were curled up in the crook of Sil’s tail, as it wrapped around the rest of his body. Gluttony had confirmed that Sil heated it enough for her to be comfortable, and Vex clearly didn’t mind, since he’d fallen asleep almost instantly. She sighed, passing her glass to Gabriel, and walked over to the dragons. 

“Thank you for looking after my daughter. And for today,” she whispered to the dragon.

“It’s been a pleasure, milady.” Sil nodded, then turned back to the freshly hunted Hell Deer that Wrath had someone bring out for him to eat. 

Though, Vex may have woken up a couple of times to steal a leg or two.

“The two of you are welcome to come back and see her, if you’d like.” 

“I should like that very much. As would Vexus. We have grown rather fond of the little demon.” 

Emilia nodded, walked over to Sil’s side. The dragon was happy to allow her up, to take Euphemia into her arms. Vexus shifted in his sleep, but settled quickly, after Emilia gave him a few gentle pets. Euphemia shifted in her mother’s arms, nuzzling her head into the crook of her neck as she gave Sil one last nod.

Wrath stood as she returned, and gently pet Euphemia’s head.

“Bed time?” He asked Emilia, who nodded.

“Thank you, Gabe. I was weary at first but this really made her day.” 

Gabriel nodded. 

“I only wish there was a more permanent fix.” Gluttony sighed, lifting the flue to his mouth. 

“There would be if you and the lady had one of your own.”

Gluttony choked on his wine, while Emilia and Wrath tried to hold back their laughter (just so they wouldn’t wake their daughter). Even Sil snorted at that.

“If you have no answer, I’ll ask the lady about it later.” Sil nodded.

“Don’t you dare!” Gluttony hissed.

“Perhaps you and Adriana should consider it, brother. I’m sure Euphemia would be excited.” Wrath added.

Gluttony groans, and Wrath grinned wider.

Emilia shook her head at the bickering, and instead turned to Euphemia. 

“I know you feel alone right now,” she whispered, “But Mama, and  daddy, and all your aunts and Uncles love you, so dearly, my little magpie.” Euphemia began to shift in her arms, so Emilia gently shushed her. “Just wait, my darling. Everything will work out. You’ll see.”