#I just think it’s hilarious that every game you wake up with amnesia

[kaviiinsky]

[aethon-recs]

30 Tomarrymort Recs for February 2023

I keep telling myself that I won't do month-by-month recs and that they're too much of a commitment, but then a month like February hits where there were so many knock-out Tomarrymort fics published that I couldn’t resist celebrating all the incredible works posted in the last month, including for two Tomarrymort-themed fests. Apologies that this is coming a bit late in the month — it took me quite some time to write up thoughts on each due to the huge influx of unforgettable fic in February!

Criteria for this list: one-shot, complete, published in February 2023, in alphabetical order by title. It’s quite an extensive list, but every single one of these is worth reading.

*

Tomarrymort Recs (February 2023)

A Lesson Learned Well by @ellionne (M, 2k)

A very creepy take on a captive Harry and how he slowly starts to lose his mind until Voldemort can get him to do anything. ‘Anything’ includes some pretty gruesome cannibalism and other horrors!

Amensalism by @cindle-writes (E, 6k)

Tentacle sex! Inspired by the Venom movie! Harry/Scarcrux based off Eddie/Venom! Need I say more?

Anchor the Moon by Xenjn (M, 8k)

A very cool spin on genderswapped Tom and Harry who attend Hogwarts together! No matter the setting or era, Harry is obsessed with stalking Tom and proving she’s up to no good.

Anniversary by @vdoshu (E, 4k)

The last place that Harry would want to have sex is back in his cupboard at 4 Privet Drive. Yet Voldemort still takes him there for their anniversary. The mind games in here are absolutely top-tier!

Because it is his by TheOnceandFutureQueenofTarts (E, 2k)

An experiment in polyjuice leads Harry to discover that Tom is extremely attracted to… Tom. A truly hilarious take on Tom Riddle’s unhinged and unparalleled levels of narcissism!

Cynosure by @wolfantlersinspace (E, 3k)

When Voldemort steps out of the cauldron, he is the hottest man in existence. We've all seen that scene in the 4th movie! Harry can’t help but feel the same way, despite how much he tries to resist it...

Eulogy by @meles-merrivale (E, 6k)

A brooding, pensive glimpse into a day in the life of Harry who’s been raised by Voldemort. How Harry yearns for him, yet never quite gets the emotional fulfillment he so craves is heartbreaking! I gasped at the ending!

Frigid by @mrviran (E, 3k)

I don’t know if the world is ready yet for Puritanical Voldemort, but if you think you might be, this fic does it BEST. The way Voldemort fixes Harry is so… chilling (pun intended — it'll all be clear once you read the fic!)

Honeyguide by @cannibalinc (E, 7k)

Tom, an unmatched Omega, is determined to have Harry as his Alpha, no matter the costs. The rut scene is so intense, with Harry completely losing control in a very sexy (and dangerous!) way.

Identity by @crowcrowcrowthing (E, 5k)

Harry and Tom go on a road trip together to celebrate their anniversary. The reveals in this fic were SO GOOD, I didn’t see any of them coming — crowthing skillfully delivers intricately layered tangled plots-within-plots in just 5k words.

In the library by @chiocchi (G, Art)

Harry and Tom studying in the library — with an adorable depiction of Tom letting his guard down around Harry. Both the scene and the coloring are so very soft!

Insatiate by @vdoshu (E, 2k)

A very bleak and dark take on an AU where Voldemort wins and Harry lives a very empty life, only to be filled by Voldemort’s cocks and some magical immortality juice.

it's kind of tripping me up babe, i've got it bad for you by @limonium-anemos (E, 3k)

Harry and Voldemort get isekai'ed into a cursed romance-novel AU. I love how all the long-standing love and trust between Harry and Voldemort shines through in this fic, as they make the best of their time in this very wacky erotica setting by fucking each other's brains out.

Keepsake by IceLynx (M, 5k)

Harry suffering from amnesia wakes up with Voldemort telling him that they're in a relationship. But when the pieces don’t quite add up, Harry discovers the horrifying truth. A very creative twist at the end!

アンバランスなKissをして by vash (E, 2k)

A show-stopping alternate ending to the Final Battle, with Harry asking for a final kiss from Voldemort. 

Matriphagy by @being-luminous (M, 2k)

This fic takes the whole “Voldemort hunting Harry because of a prophecy” origin story, and adds a vampire twist to it. The floaty and detached vibe is a really nice contrast to the visceral horrors of what’s happening on-page — very skillfully done!

Phalanx by @vdoshu (E, 4k)

There’s a reason why Voldemort doesn’t wear shoes, which Harry, to his horror (and our delight), finds out firsthand. The foot worship in here is magnificently over-the-top in very satisfying detail.

Quiet as the Moon by @itsevanffs (M, 2k)

A Beauty and the Beast AU that’s a sequel to @duplicitywrites’ Certain as the Sun. I thought what was a really nice touch is how we see the state of their (unhappy) relationship through flashbacks interspersing the main action — in just a few sentences, itsevanffs manages to paint a picture of a very wretched existence for Harry, before he takes matters into his own hands. 

Research and Development by @cannibalinc (E, 6k)

Voldemort captures Harry and proceeds to experiment on him. And by ‘experiment’, I mean, carve Harry up and fuck him with his hemipenes in delightfully gratuitous, violent and unrestrained, and gushingly hot fashion.

Right in Front of My Salad? by IceLynx (T, 2k)

Draco Malfoy dies right in the middle of Harry and Tom’s kitchen (rude). A hilarious sequence of misunderstandings ensues, which leave you with no doubt that Harry and Tom are absolutely perfect for each other.

Run Boy Run by @youknowmevj (E, 6k)

The ultimate chase & capture fic. The anticipation builds with every one of Harry’s steps as he's trying to run away, and we’re left with some delicious emotional manipulation and a very hot wall sex scene at the end. 

silk of midnight and dawn by @ilya-zzz (E, 3k)

Such a cool concept! Harry and Tom decide to become animagi, and when Tom transforms into his animagus form, his animal instincts kick in... and Harry is right there unable to defend himself...

Tantrums by @crowcrowcrowthing (E, 5k)

Featuring the brattiest Tom I’ve ever come across, and an incredibly impulsive Harry who can’t resist Tom’s allures. You'd think this combination would automatically spell destruction and disaster, but they actually work out really well together in a surprisingly compatible way!

Tearing me apart (like a new emotion) by @rudehellion (E, 2k)

As this fic progresses, the horror of what’s happening to Harry in his forced marriage to Voldemort continues to build and build. Not only is Harry getting taken part physically, he’s also getting taken apart mentally ("Every night, there’s a little more trust to break.") I loved what the ending implies for Voldemort’s favorite hobby.

That's Your Boyfriend by @solavonn (G, Art)

This artwork is so cute!! Depicting Harry who's overwhelmed by how hot his Quidditch boyfriend Tom is. Harry's not the only one — Solavonn's Tom Riddle art is always so good-looking that we all feel the same way, Harry!

The Green Herring by @duplicitywrites (G, 1k)

A hilarious cracky take on what exactly Tom Riddle thinks of his boyfriend Harry’s very special, very extraordinary, very memorable eye colour. 

The sweet burn of venom by @loneamaryllis (E, 4k)

SMOKIN’ HOT ABO! Harrie goes through her first heat, and Voldemort provides relief, but is he really there, or is it a (very hot) dream?

thrice-bound, twice-filled by @cindle-writes (E, 4k)

Voldemort. Hemipenes. Double-stuffing Harry. A perfect setup for a very hot pwp!

We're (Not) Together by @vdoshu (E, 3k)

This fic is the EPITOME of gaslighting and manipulation. An extremely controlling Tom refuses to accept that he and Harry aren’t still together… or are they?

you alone of all creatures by @duplicitywrites (E, 3k)

I love the concept of Tom having an illicit affair with his very sexy and married Professor Potter. All the sneaking around is SO HOT as he seduces Harry and cracks open his defenses bit-by-bit.

*

[randomfoggytiger]

😎

Thanks for dropping in! :DDDDD

The below might seem like I'm gassing you up or being overly sugary and sweet; but I cannot underestimate how much I mean every single word. Your fics were in my first round of xfiles fics ever; and they were cemented into my cracks before I ever got adventurous enough to feed the addiction and read 800+ authors.

This'll be long, so I included a cut.

(**Note**:Editing and proofreading my paragraphs? What is that?)

I begin, again, after 20 minutes of thorough combing

I spent 15-20 minutes grabbing link after link after link because... quite simply, your fics are grafted into my brain because of how many rereads I've done-- I can't separate them from each other, I can't pick favorites, I can't. I had to go by my tip top, cannot-pass-by-without-reading fics:

Whispered Words (Tumblr): Everything about this is perfection. Every time I read someone else's cancer fic, I immediately think of this one (and hunt it down for a reread.) Scully's symptoms, how and when Mulder notices; the blend of sickfic and angst and fluff together, no parts outrivaling the other... it's, again, perfection.

A New Day Has Come: It's such a cornerstone of my earliest cancer fics that this is how I always expect Mulder to react in other fics I read-- it's automatic programming at this point.

Every. Single. IVF fic you've written. I kid you not. To name a few (because it's not fun to just read "I liked it, lol" without some examples):  Name Calling/Archive is the pinnacle post IVF failure: the best, ohmyword. Unnamed post IVF treatment fic and Five Minutes - Chapter 1 are seared into my brain as a part one and two; but if it's a sheer numbers game? Five Minutes - Chapter 2 wins out. It's just... how do you hold a moonbeam in your hand, y'know? How can I describe something that IS me? I refer you to Scully's Memento Mori speech-- she says it more eloquently than I do. ;))))

Every. Single. AU Requiem fic and S8 fic and S9 fic and S11 fam fic. You do loving relationships so well: they talk, they breathe, they exist like real people. I treasure the S8 fics you wrote from my prompts and reread them frequently--though I forgot to label the second and need to find that link hmmmmmm. This is exactly how it appears in my docs: Here's a prompt (if you want): Scully goes into... (tumblr.com) THIS WAS MY PROMPT Ao3 By Your Side Is Where I Belong - Baroness_Blixen - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own] LOVE THIS

And for nonspecific genre fics that I adore and cannot live without:

#58 Mulder to Scully thanks! Ao3 Prompts & Drabbles - Chapter 3 - [Archive of Our Own] Scully gets hit in the head with a baseball bat and you nailed every. single. aspect of this fic and I can't read it enough (going to read it again right after this.)

Since you were looking for an angsty prompt for... (tumblr.com) Ao3 We Will Find Our Way Home - [Archive] Scully and Mulder on the ice and Scully makes Mulder go alone to the Snocat? YES PLEASE.

 I hope your muse comes back. I know she will soon!... Ao3 Things You Forget - Chapter 1  Mulder has amnesia and he and Scully have dinner with her mother and Bill while he remembers-- iconic.

A realization

...I'm staring at 20+ pages of your fic links (and 84 specifically marked ones that have LOVE THIS in bold and caps) and thinking that there is no way I can fit all of this into this ask. XDDDD

I'll close this by thinking of random moments in your fics that twirl around and around in my brain and put them down here:

Mulder waking Scully up by sneezing in her hair in Rain King.

Mulder and Scully crying after her recovery in Redux II.

Scully's annoyance and Mulder's complete stillness in the airport while waiting for their luggage in Five Minutes Chapter 2.

The hilarious way you wrote Mulder and Scully and Krycek and Doggett and Reyes in an Essence AU (Will is born in the car while they drive away from the FBI.)

Scully's head being squeezed like an orange in the baseball bat attack fic, and Mulder's irate panic from afar ("HE HIT HER")

Mulder's tie got stuck in a copier and Scully has to help him out (and Skinner doesn't even want to know.)

Maggie's not a fool when she catches Mulder and Scully a day or two after Chimera.

Scully gasses in the car and Mulder evens the playing field.

Mulder having amnesia after Millennium and only remembering his partnership with Diana (for a couple hours.)

Mulder delicately taking and holding and smiling over his scratchy list of baby names.

Scully feeling woozy in Three Words and Mulder helping her sit down.

Mulder panicking after Lamaze in Alone.

S8 Scully including Mulder in her late night snack and waltz session, as they discuss her neighbor's recently deceased husband.

Mulder swallowing the suddenly-too-sweet cake at Scully's baby shower (AU Essence~)

Mulder swapping places with Reyes in Essence-- it's he and Scully on the road, just like always.

Post Existence Mulder papa bear with little Will.

Revival baby girl being born on Mulder or Scully's birthdays (and the unique ways you changed the details of both versions.)

Mulder and baby Will showing up for Scully's "take your kid to work day" (and him rubbing Will in Colton's face, my word.)

(I'm not kidding when I mean every. single. one. of your IVF and S8 and family fics, so I'm not even going to BEGIN.)

All of your Millennium fics. All. But particularly the one where Scully is woken up by a grumpy Mulder who felt betrayed that she'd left and drove over, despite his injured arm, before calling her and asking for permission.

Mulder sobbing and holding Scully after the other agents tricked him into thinking she'd died in a car accident.

Diana locks Mulder and Scully up in the One Son fort for the night; and Scully's hurt and Mulder's hurt and their reconciliation and re-understanding is one of the fics I turn to when I need to sleep but also need a story to focus on. Makes my brain go wild.

TFWID Mulder having nightmares of his past lives with Scully. Another one of those stories that sets my brain on fire.

Revival Mulder's psychic powers comes back and he tells Scully in the restaurant (part I) and later senses their daughter's heartbeat (part II.)

An ending

And while I could go on and on and on, there's already a lot I put down. XDDDD Maybe I'll make a fic list with my top 85? fics that cannot be passed up-- although, I don't know if Tumblr will allow me that enough word space to fit them all in. Hmmmm.

Anyway, thanks for dropping in! :DDDDD And hope this was a good enough answer~. ;))))

[un-pearable]

🔊 + kon-el since you said you wanted to, buuuut im also curious about bart!

!! heck yeah tysm. i have far too many sonic songs i apply to young justice but kon in particular… mwa. dude you have so many identity issues on top of the artificial being angst it’s no wonder you’ve got shadow vibes. i think they’d tear each other apart but it’d be a hilarious dynamic. i also think bart would be THRILLED to introduce kon to the sonic games while very much ignoring his own parallels. literally nothing is funnier to me than bart arguing that his fight with thad was just like sa2 and then forcing all of yj to watch him play it to prove his point. anyway on the topic of music:

kon: unsurprisingly almost every shadow song works in some way. shth2005’s waking up is probably the most predictable but a) it slaps and b) while the lyrics are supposed to be about shadow’s amnesia, imo it works really well as an analogue to kon slowly learning more about himself, both him making decisions about his own identity and others revealing more of his past/origins. never turn back is also great. as a song and as a metaphor for how all over the place his characterization and growth across different series + the weight of expectations he shoulders to stay a hero. predictably i am all of me remains perfection but beyond just shth2005 songs i’m also a big fan of what i’m made of from heroes as a kon song and the day i finally write the kon identity assertion + revenge fic is the day i peak. this last one is partly me just loving the song and wishing it was more popular and mostly my high hopes for Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow but i’ve got my fingers crossed for so much more… from sonic & sega allstars to be as applicable as i’m imagining it, and while yjdc is frustrating me it is validating my view of kon rn as feeling out of place where he is rn and torn between falling back on his “cool” persona versus actually moving forward and forcing himself to get uncomfortable and explore himself before he can find a role that fits him again.

bart: the argument stands to be made for every sonic song imaginable and i would very much be the one to make it. any version of riders’ catch me if you can bc time travel fast boy + thawne heritage bc i can and will take this goofy song seriously. he also gets so much more… bc i love that song and grappling with who you are in a changing world is a very bart mood. cd’s sonic boom for funsies bc it gives me early, out of touch but super excited to get to do heroic things, bart vibes

[theredandwhitequeen]

Roswell New Mexico thoughts 3.02 Jumper cables Hydrated water bottles He crashed our spaceship and ruined our mothers lives Bringing up Noah, not nice Noah was bad, Jones is worse It’s him or it’s Max The Oasis planet Reckoning of sorts Adapt or run for the hills The engineer and the empath Louise and Nora Forged resistance  Built a ship by themselves Secret weapon of a dictator Max wakes up alone but she’s still there reading his book You’re legit good and it’s offensive  Heath is still there cooking her food eggs and ashes  I’m gonna need my shirt back, the one she’s wearing Rosa and Wyatt at the hospital with Kyle Retrograde amnesia, forgot last 10 years Trying to talk to Rosa, Kyle chases him out Alex, at crashdown, a card, numbers, I wasn’t expecting him in the episode  Clock was Jim’s Kyles mom is leaving town, 😭😭 Lost the election Maria got hurt by bad men, stole money, smashed booze,  Vision I think someone’s getting murdered Max was with her, he’s a sheriff again Lots had abilities, he was 7 If healed too much, get sick Tortured parents to make him comply Max Alex in fancy uniform Playing games, Alex is so smart Kyle, Maria, Max trying to figure things out, Maria to hospital  Clue at crashdown, on roof Liz at work, Heath Go home and figure things out Got samples from Libya You were the reason they want to kill us, the reason our moms are dead Trying to rescue Max Louise and Nora had Max chained up Young Max from last season Nora stole Jones DNA The dictator might have been immortal  Are you telling me you wouldn’t do anything to save the ones you love - to Michael Michael and Isobel fighting Michael angry and using his powers  Michael is heartbroken Alex trying to escape  The new character  Alex thinking and working things out Alex is brilliant and I love his mind There are no hornets in the Air Force  Dark Sky Figured it out Alex is very pretty in just a tee shirt Liz and Heath Heath giving Liz ideas Crashdown, Maria, Kyle, Max - trigger a vision by jumping off the roof Maria jumped, Maria has a lot of anger and upset due to the visions and robbed I’m guessing.  Michael saved her  That was weird Isobel and Jones  Could tell he was sick the moment he touched him  Kyle and Rosa talking about Wyatt Sober for a year What if I do fail? Keep trying Max and Michael at the crashdown  You’re about to die, there is no more time to be scared or stupid  I saw something, I thought Louise was setting me free He felt safe I don’t want to ruin the memories of your mother for a feeling Somebody made me and I want to know why. There is a reason I exist… Isobel and Jones Drinking alcohol  Can you heal him Gives him alcohol  I caught glimpses of a lot of things They underestimate you don’t they Talked about Louise Manipulative  Creeped out and upset, broke car a bit Rosa doing art outside the crashdown, hears noises and dogs barking Holding spray can and runs into Wyatt who bought her paint pens Do not make Wyatt good Alex exploring with the Eduardo Ramos Lockhart Machine Don’t know what it is 11:11pm, every 47 days it turns on Alex exploring it Deep Sky Michael and the old article,  The flames couldn’t touch him, so Michael put his hand in the fire and it was fine Do no harm banner Recent rise in racial crimes Anatsa is a reporter  Kyle and Maria and Isobel, memories Michael is the son of the dictator, Jesus He’s the heir oh my god Vision her eyes rolled back Max sees Liz outside crashdown Liz, Max

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. This episode was amazing and insane all at once. I love everything about it.

Especially Michael and his hand in the flames. Wow.

Alex is so smart and such a good man, he figured it out from context clues on a uniform he looked at for maybe a few minutes. I’m intrigued about the lockheart machine

Don’t make Wyatt a good guy, he’s not and nobody wants that. But using the drug to erase 10 years of Wyatt’s memories is kind of hilarious in a sad way.

Rosa and Kyle was so good

I need to rewatch Maria’s scenes to better understand what she was saying to Michael and to Kyle and Max.

I just really loved the episode

[thatgoddamnflipphone]

Steve/Tony Fic Rec List Part 1 - MCU Canonverse

Over 70 fic below the cut -- some in the middle still need summaries I will add over time.

These are listed in approximately the order I read them, so mostly random.

(MCU Verse. Comics Verses. Semi-Canon AUs. Full AUs. Post-IW. Still to come: a crapload of under 10k fic! To see the whole list as a Google Doc, go to tinyurl.com/streclist)

LAST EDIT: 8/30/19 - NEW FIC MARKED WITH ~

Guys and Bots by Scaramouche (@no-gorms). Follows the movies with the difference that they kiss at the end of AoU. Series with a hopeful ending (hey it’s CW it can’t be ALL happy). 32k https://archiveofourown.org/series/727023

Gained in Translation by Scaramouche (@no-gorms) . Short getting together fic between TWS & AoU. 11k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14020488

The Last Love Song of Anthony E. Stark by Jibrailis. Tony is infected with an Asgardian disease that causes slow memory loss. They travel to Asgard for a cure while he slowly forgets who and where he is. ANGST. 42k https://archiveofourown.org/works/349478

The Act of Creation Will Be Your Salvation by @scifigrl47. This is the first in a looooong series, the whole thing is pretty great but if you’re not into kidfic you can just read this first one, it’s self contained and phenomenal. Follows Tony from when he first creates Dummy through Avengers and beyond, focusing on his relationship with his bots (and then of course Steve). You WILL cry about robots. 85k https://archiveofourown.org/works/401961/chapters/662516

Four (Or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark by @scifigrl47. Also part of a long series, you can read the first two also but this is where it really picks up and she really gets a feel for the characters. Kidnapping! (Fairly mild) Torture! Tony being brilliant! Pining! Presumed dead! It’s tagged pre-slash but there is smooching so it’s really not. 78k https://archiveofourown.org/works/391599/chapters/642784

Sixpence In His Shoe by @scifigrl47. (Yes this is the same author again, get used to it I am a completionist and read everything.) This is one of the BEST accidental marriage fics I’ve read, omg. This ship is complicated by the fact that they are FAMOUS, so fake or accidental marriages have far reaching consequences that are fascinating to explore. This hits all my sweet spots. 103k https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443803/chapters/25647162

Lessons on how to be Worthwhile by @pensversusswords A beautiful Tony character study, hurt/comfort. 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/2306576/chapters/5075171

Truth Behind Masks by @scifigrl47 MCU/comics fusion where Tony takes Coulson up on the “bodyguard” alibi at the end of IM1. The team thinks Tony & Iron Man are sleeping together, while Steve, of course, is falling in love with “both” of them. I adore Sam in this, there’s a scene with him and Steve that makes me cry every time. 98k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1523327/chapters/3221816

Christmas Holiday by @scifigrl47 A proposal, wedding, honeymoon fic where literally everything goes wrong in hilarious ways. Cracky but amazing. 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/5474990

My Lost City by elise_509 42k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1008115/chapters/1999662

In the Stillness of Remembering by elise_509 A fandom classic. Just read it. 70k https://archiveofourown.org/works/557155/chapters/993923

As Sharp As Any Thorn by RurouniHime (@thegertie) Holy shit this fic. The angst is THROUGH the ROOF I had to stop reading a few times but damn it’s good (and happy ending!). Basically someone hacks Tony’s suit while he’s in it, causing him to attack the team and almost-fatally injure Steve. Steve spends a good bit of the fic in a coma and they don’t know if he’ll make it, while the public calls for Iron Man’s head, and Tony can’t get the memory of beating Steve out of his head. Damn. So good. 47k https://archiveofourown.org/works/725234 

With Words Other Than These by RurouniHime (@thegertie) Post-mission adrenaline fueled comfort sex. Yes please. 14k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1012230

When Our Day Comes by @thepartyresponsible Ok this is super short but HILARIOUS so if you need something to read after some of the above angst … 6k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14764490

Evening Comfort by ann2who (@stark-spangled-lovers)  Steve & Tony run into each other at a gay bar, decide to roll with it and pretend they are strangers. 21k https://archiveofourown.org/works/4734002/chapters/10819700

A New Way For Us by ann2who  (@stark-spangled-lovers) TIME TRAVEL SHENANIGANS Strange sends Tony back in time to try and fix things before Thanos, prevent Civil War, etc.  24k https://archiveofourown.org/works/9825590/chapters/22062992

Serenity Oasis by @festiveferret Omggggggg. So they wake up at a couples resort with amnesia. Are they undercover? Did they get married for real? We Just Don’t Know, and neither do they! 20k https://archiveofourown.org/works/13147377/chapters/30070665

(what is hate) but jilted love by LemonGrenade Post-Civil War Fix-it, Tony is injured and recovering away from it all in a cabin. Enter the Snowed In In A Canadian Shack trope! 27k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15344694

Flower Child by @itsallavengers Tony overcoming toxic programming from Howard, learning to be soft, oh and Steve punches Howard when he shows up in the future so. That’s really all I needed to love this. 24k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15399303

Lost Together by @festiveferret A fun take on the soulmate mark trope - Steve & Tony end up in an alternate universe with soulmate marks, and have to both hide that they don’t have them and pretend to be a couple because Reasons. Tropey goodness! 68k https://archiveofourown.org/works/12282594/chapters/27918672

More Than the Average Good by @royal-chandler Tony is the one to find Steve after Bucky pulls him out of the river in TWS. He convinces Steve to come back to the Tower with him, where they grow closer but eventually the truth about Tony’s parents needs to come out. 16k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15219425

Guessing Game by @itsallavengers Sort of an ambiguous universe but it’s close enough to MCU. Tony wakes up not remembering the last 24 hours, with a hole in his leg, and Steve carrying him through underground tunnels to escape a Skrull invasion. But is it really Steve? 21k https://archiveofourown.org/works/12746256

Butterfly Dreams by Teyke This fic is a mind fuck with a happy ending. Steve is switching between two universes every time he falls asleep - in one, it’s post-CW and Tony is missing. In the other, Steve & Tony are on their honeymoon. Each feels real - which one is? 38k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8677540

Semaphore by DevilDoll "I’m trying to like you, Tony. You’re just making it very hard." 40k https://archiveofourown.org/works/314102/chapters/503103

All the Time in the World by missbecky (@missbeckywrites) Post-TWS, Steve’s team needs a place to land and end up at the Tower. When Steve & Tony quickly grow close, a stalker gets very irate. 38k https://archiveofourown.org/works/2646503

To the Victor by @thegraytigress OH BOY. Steve “dies” on a mission. Tony is certain he’s still alive - is he in denial? Everyone else thinks so. Hmm. BRING ON THE ANGST. 242k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8162986/chapters/18705922

The Trial Run by scaramouche (@no-gorms) 14k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15027899

Fix You by @thegraytigress 74k https://archiveofourown.org/works/5900494/chapters/13602163

Shiver by @thegraytigress 54k https://archiveofourown.org/works/10868364

Equivalence by @thegraytigress 28k https://archiveofourown.org/works/7312558

Falling Into You by @sabrecmc Fuck buddies until Steve loses his memory (yay Loki), Tony doesn’t tell Steve about their “arrangement.” Then feelings happen. 53k https://archiveofourown.org/works/3731302/chapters/8269387

I wanted to fix this (but couldn't stop from tearing it down) by @missbeckywrites 51k https://archiveofourown.org/works/529127

Better Angels/Lesser Demons by @sabrecmc A CW fix-it where Peggy leaves some home videos for Steve in her will. 34k https://archiveofourown.org/series/891720

Good For You by @orbingarrow “Steve doesn't understand why Tony dates people who abuse him. Tony doesn't understand why Steve cares.The rest is bad choices, good choices, rehab, milkshakes, paintball, YouTube videos, couples therapy and learning to put the past in the past. Or: How Tony finds his happy ending.” 42k https://archiveofourown.org/works/6093591

Into Words by @dirigibleplumbing 32k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817710

I Am With You by @dirigibleplumbing Steve tries to adjust to life in the 21st century, with the help of his new team/family, and especially Tony. Great Steve character stuff. 25k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15166046

Never for the Dragon by @ladyshadowdrake (MCU/616 fusion) READ THE TAGS you will definitely cry. Like really seriously full on sobs. But it’s extremely worth it. 89k https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120420

Tensile Strength by sahiya 21k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779712

all warm-blooded creatures by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) “From a very early age, Steve Rogers was aware that he was going to die of cold.” 13k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196187

Hating Steve Rogers by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) I loooove fic where post-Avengers Tony goes from a lifetime of hate and resentment towards Captain America to falling in love with Steve Rogers. 16k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14813219

'Til Death Do Us Part by @itsallavengers Steve has to fake his death on a mission. SHIELD “forgets” to tell his husband. 15k https://archiveofourown.org/works/15905544

Home Is Where the Time Machine Is by @wordsplat There is NOT ENOUGH of this trope in this fandom! Steve & Tony’s daughter from the future shows up, tries not to spill the beans about them getting together. 23k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030540

Stay With Me (home is where your mind is.) by sara_holmes (@captn-sara-holmes) 67k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1246060

Bond Has It Covered by sara_holmes 66k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104870

Counterpart by sara_holmes 217k https://archiveofourown.org/works/1659452

when i run out of road, you bring me home by quidhitch 18k https://archiveofourown.org/works/16153091

Over Sea, Under Stars by vorkosigan 36k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635870

Unintended by sheron 37k https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446870

i found a way to let you in, but i never really had a doubt by quidhitch 16k https://archiveofourown.org/series/1191442

In Your Warmth I Forget How Cold It Can Be by izazov 29k https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137222

In Dreams (Everything Makes Sense) by msermesth 42k https://archiveofourown.org/works/9924365

Die Hard (But Only If No Other Options Are Readily Available) by JenTheSweetie 24k https://archiveofourown.org/works/4702037

Things We Learned at the End of the World by JenTheSweetie 13k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14867777

An Infinite Number Of Monkeys At Typewriters (Or, Steve and Tony Finally Get It Right) by JenTheSweetie 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8310553

More Than Gravity by JenTheSweetie 21k https://archiveofourown.org/works/5502959

Of Things Lost in Time by erde Post-IW Steve gets caught in an AoU groundhog day ahhhhh! 16k https://archiveofourown.org/works/17217959

Love's Such an Old-Fashioned Word by scaramouche 11k https://archiveofourown.org/works/17344631

Never Eye To Eye by vorkosigan 26k https://archiveofourown.org/works/8776729

Of Books and Memories and Snow by vorkosigan 22K https://archiveofourown.org/works/10876335

Lost in Transcription by Veldeia Cool science-based canonverse soulmate AU - science has recently discovered genetic markers for soulmates. Uh oh. 25k. https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982646 

And The Void Would Be Calling. by jadedoll 17k https://archiveofourown.org/works/387387

Sticky Business by OftheLilies 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/12976434

All These Half-Tones of the Soul by nostalgicatsea Angsty retelling of canon as a soulmate au. 23k https://archiveofourown.org/series/994596

Overhaul by Annie D (scaramouche) 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/17846375

Northwest to Nowhere by Veldeia 17k https://archiveofourown.org/works/5456477

Untapped Opportunities by Serinah The classic “they meet on a cybersex site but don’t know who they are talking to” with lots of fluff, angst, and porn. BDSM. 62k https://archiveofourown.org/works/16106627

the things we invent when we are scared by nanasekei 18k https://archiveofourown.org/works/17946077

Resistance by thegraytigress The worldbuilding and OCs are amazing in this, but mind the tags - loooots of torture and hurt/comfort. 426k (no that’s not a typo lol) https://archiveofourown.org/works/7469145/chapters/16973895

Symmetry Breaking by scaramouche (@no-gorms) I probably have this down with EG fics too, but it mostly belongs up here. Takes place in the branched 2012 timeline where Loki took the Tesseract. I want a million fics in this universe! 10k https://archiveofourown.org/works/18627655

The Butterfly Effect by @itsallavengers Same as above, 2012 branched timeline. YES MORE PLEASE! 20k https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617755

To Have My Time Again... by @wilmakins A post-CW rewrite of Infinity War, including accidentally dragging Howard forward in time, and addressing Steve choosing between the past and the future in a much more in-character way than EG did <cough>. 166k https://archiveofourown.org/works/16654939

Name Recognition by OscarTheSlouch Steve wants to take Tony’s last name. Tony has a bunch of hangups about it. Featuring sad baby Tony flashbacks! 14k https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690337

Even the Light is an Illusion by Mizzy This is technically MCU, but was written very early so borrows a lot of characters and canon from 616. Tony has to fake his death for reasons, angst ensues. 102k https://archiveofourown.org/works/507292

Though Your Face Is Lovely by @chibisquirt Noir!Tony ends up in MCU!verse. Cue jumping into bed with Steve and MCU!Tony extreme jealousy! MCU SteveTony is endgame. 14k https://archiveofourown.org/works/10930653

He Knows More Than You Do by ChibiSquirt Pretty much 35k of cracky porn with feelings. A lot of medical kink stuff, pay attention to tags. 35k https://archiveofourown.org/works/11683599

If the Words Are True by @msermesth Someone leaks old love letters from Steve to another man to the press. Tony helps deal with the aftermath. 10k https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249832

For the Wheel's Still in Spin by Arukou A retelling of early canon, Steve’s months after getting thawed and the Battle of NY, and how the Avengers slowly became a team. 57k https://archiveofourown.org/works/2680208

Binary System by scaramouche 13k https://archiveofourown.org/works/19077304

In a Different Light by marinarusalka 20k https://archiveofourown.org/works/542966

Here's Looking At You by mariana_oconnor I love post-Avengers Tony learning to see Steve for who he really is, and not just the hero from history. 12k https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349692

Fireside ‘verse by @gotthesilver A very real and human look at a post-Endgame world where Steve & Tony can’t quit each other, but Tony still has a family. Love is complicated and messy. 29k https://archiveofourown.org/series/1429378

we must love one another and die by @theappleppielifestyle Tony realizes Steve was frozen when Lord of the Rings came out, leading to mutual bonding, book club, and lots of Frodo-related Steve feels. Don’t miss this one, it’s phenomenal. 14k https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168623

~Playing the part (remix) by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) A fake marriage post-CW fix-it? Sign me the fuck up! 10k https://archiveofourown.org/works/20330893

~All the Love You Hold and Hide by Mireille Fuck-or-Die trope with feeeeeelings! 17k https://archiveofourown.org/works/14402436

[deltaengineering]

Summer Anime 2018 Part 1: Nurupo

I feel bad for calling last season weak now, since that turned out okay, what with Megalobox, Hinamatsuri and Rokuhoudou (the best show you didn’t watch). Maybe this is a lesson to not be so negative, but all the positivity in the world can’t make this season look good. To balance it out, I’ll be bringing along some hot opinions from people getting paid to see the bright side this time.

P.S. Part 2 is here.

Island

What: A very Frontwing version of When They Cry, apparently. Awesome McCooldude wakes up on an island full of pliant girls and/or dark secrets.

✅  looks alright

❌ story is tryhard mystery nonsense based on convenient amnesia, very unlikely to deliver

❌❌ an absolutely terrible cast of generic VN characters, enjoy your common route hijinks with them

❌❌ Frontwing being Frontwing, please see picture.

ANN sez: “This episode accomplishes the two things that it absolutely must for the series to have a chance of succeeding: it makes the main trio of girls endearing enough and layers on some intriguing mysteries.”

Hanebad!

What: Some girls take badminton very seriously. Somewhere between genocide and extinction level event seriously.

✅  well animated and directed

✅  there appears to be more to the characters than nothing at all, so the overbearing presence of the drama llama might actually pay off

❌ has a tendency to wallow in ostentatious KyoAni-style presentational kitsch

❌ speaking of which, making the cast of Euphonium look like a bunch of carefree slackers by comparison is not a good thing

ANN sez: “From the lush colors of their school's flowers to the alienating saturation and long shots of their gym hallways, every mood HANEBADO strives for is captured perfectly through its visual storytelling, and solidified through fundamentally sturdy dialogue and plotting.”

Senjuushi

What: Touken Ranbu with firearms.

❌ This is a cute boys doing cute things anime set against a backdrop of global thermonuclear war and combining the ultra seriousness of ufotable TR with the slice of life tone of Doga Kobo TR makes for a very, let’s say, “uneven” experience. 

❌  Unsurprisingly, it has the production values of neither of the above and looks like crap instead.

❌❌ The localized title is “The Thousand Musketeers” and given the reckless pace in which it introduces pointless characters, it might actually hit that number in 12 episodes.

❌❌ Mobile game character designs must be stopped, for fuck’s sake

ANN sez: “The story itself has some promise, especially if you're a fan of antique guns.“

Shichisei no Subaru

What: VRMMO light novel garbage about MMO newtypes.

❌ High tier light novel tropes like “u die in the game u die 4 real”, grade schooler magical girlfriends and demigod abilities

❌ Yes, the characters start as grade schoolers and then there’s a timeskip where they become high schoolers. They don’t change at all, which is either cutting commentary on arrested development or an indication of how good this show’s writing is.

❌ Ideas like permadeath in an MMO and giving good players a stake in the game company are hilariously stupid even by this genre’s standards.

❌ You’ve seen this exact cast of characters before, likely in better shows.

❌❌ There’s really no single egregiously bad aspect, but the stank of mediocrity is so overwhelming as to deserve a double minus all of its own.

ANN sez: “This episode banks heavily on the appeal of its mysteries, but those mysteries actually are pretty appealing, and I ultimately respect this episode's choice to introduce so much of its world and characters before getting to the real conceit.”

Banana Fish

What: A well regarded classic manga about New York’s seedy gang underbelly of drugs and violence. And BL.

✅ ✅   Looks good. Like actually, legitimately good. Animation, character design, directing, this show is quality.

❌ Updating the setting to contemporary times seems like a not so great idea since everything about this is deeply steeped in the mid-80s gang violence and drugs panic, no matter how many smartphones get used.

♎ The pacing is ultra fast. While I will admit that I’ll take that over a snoozefest (especially in a seasonal rundown), if this wants to be a legitimate high tier anime it needs to let the atmosphere breathe more. 24 episodes isn’t much for a 19-volume manga.

❌ I’ve praised MAPPA for promising first episodes before, and then I got the likes of Yuri on Ice and Virgin Soul out of it. This is not an anime original so it will be harder to fuck up, but life finds a way - especially given the need for condensing the story as noted above.

❌ Ultimately, just being a classy production with proven writing isn’t the be-all-end-all; quality aside, I still have to like what it does, and I’m not sure what amounts to a homoerotic 80s crime B-thriller is exactly in my wheelhouse.

✅ What else are you gonna watch this season?

ANN sez: “The one negative I can foresee is that one character is portrayed as a fairly stereotypical gay sexual predator, and this story pitches itself consistently as a seedier exploration of its boys' love subject matter, so it's reasonable to expect these kinds of details going forward.”

Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100-nin no Ouji-sama

What: Girls get their wish-fulfilment isekai nonsense too, it’s just a pretty pointless definition when you can just say “basic otome harem” instead. But sure, nondescript girl wakes up in fantasy dream universe where she has a magical trait that makes a large number of princes desire her. Call it what you like.

♎ Successfully avoids the most obnoxious otome harem and isekai tropes, but that just makes it even more bland

❌ lots of exposition about an universe that is hardly complicated and transparently an excuse anyway

❌ Main character is agreeable but exceptionally boring

❌ The princes are all generically princely and very little else

❌❌ combine that with sluggish pacing and this might be the most boring show so far, which is not an easy feat

ANN sez: “There were also some neat details here and there that I particularly appreciated, like the fact that our heroine is actually a working adult, as well as the idea that rather than being “trapped in a new world” she's in truth been returned to her home.”

Back Street Girls

What: A trio of yakuza thugs get a forced sex change because their boss wants to be an idol producer. It’s funny, laugh.

❌ This is not the warm, fuzzy trans acceptance anime you’ve been looking for, to put it mildly. I am not easily offended, but it would have to be pretty darn good to outrun this premise. Yeah, about that...

❌❌ runs its one joke (idols are not supposed to be thugs, like, at all!) into the ground before it exceeds a 3-minute short runtime; is actually 24 minutes long anyway. Hope you really like that joke.

❌❌ the execution of said joke is the pits of anime comedy, nothing but reaction faces and shouting

❌❌ production values are basically non-existent, at most you can say that they took the time to color in those manga panels

❌ learning that Chiaki Kon is directing this pile is just sad, put THAT in your auteur pipe and smoke it.

ANN sez: Nothing, since western licensors mysteriously chose to skip this one. Really a shame because I was looking forward to the outrage.

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu

What: It has “Isekai” and “Maou” in the title so what do you fucking think. What it doesn’t tell you is that it’s also about an MMO, for the full LN shitter nuclear triad.

❌❌ It’s about a loser otaku who gets trapped in his MMO wherein he has the mostest hax, complete with complementary slave pettan catgirl and slave oppai elf

❌❌ This is meant to be funny because he’s too much of a dweeb to put his penis where his mouth is.

❌ Technically better executed than Death March or Isekai Smartphone, so it gets one single minus for effort.

ANN sez: “The idea that Takuma is so insecure about talking to other people that he can only comfortably speak in the voice of his demon lord character is ingenious in a dramatic sense and endearing in a personal one, while Takuma's clear understanding of his personal failings makes him far more sympathetic than the genre's usual snarky protagonists.”

Satsuriku no Tenshi

What: Early teen girl checks herself into Silent Hill General Hospital for grief counselling.

✅  Atmosphere works reasonably well; it’s creepy where it needs to be, which is everywhere and all the time.

❌ The girl is a nonfactor blob and the tough guy she gets paired up with is an annoying chuuni edgelord (it is called 𝔄𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 after all), which is not promising for the long run

❌ So obviously based on a run-of-the-mill spoopy RPGmaker freeware game you can practically see the floor tiles.

❌❌ 24 solid minutes of Getting Cornered By A Rape Metaphor quickly goes from unsettling to incredibly tedious.

❌❌ There’s really nowhere for this to go, given how unoriginal everything is; at best it’s going to be “it was all a dream”, at worst “everyone was dead all along, please feel sad now”.

ANN sez: “The design of the facility is one of those fanciful every-level-is-a-different-setting worlds, but the artistic effort strongly pushes the creepiness factor with a design aesthetic that suggests age, decay, and neglect.“

Harukana Receive

What: Girls play beach volleyball in scenic Okinawa, some light sports drama seems to be on the horizon.

✅  Looks just good enough

✅  Girls are just cute and likeable enough

❌ the sports aspect is weak; maybe I’m just spoiled on Emiya-san’s incredible beach volleyball scene right now, but even when not compared to a top tier studio ostentatiously flaunting the budget of their fucking cooking short the match here isn’t very compelling.

♎ where Hanebad has a bad case of the cereals, this may have the opposite problem of being too cotton candy to be worth it

✅  “good enough” is not a ringing endorsement, but counts for something when being just okay will net you a third or possibly second place of the season.

ANN sez: “This is, of course, all just conjecture right now. ”

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

What: We took Nichijou and replaced the surrealism with video game references and the production values with donkey dung. Let’s see if delta notices!

❌❌ Production values are not optional when you want to be Nichijou; it being astoundingly over the top and imbued with impeccable timing is a (or even the) main part of Nichijou’s appeal. Without them you’re left with basic reactionface manzai over awkward situations, the king of comedy.

❌❌ Suffice it to say, this show is 100% trying to be funny, while also 100% not succeeding at being funny.

❌Asscreed is a more original tentpole to rotate your first episode around than the usual Dragon Quest, but not by much.

♎ neurotic nerd main character that is little more than a bundle of social anxieties will be #relatable to anime professionals, observe:

ANN sez: “Chio's overthinking in this situation is both hilarious and painfully true-to-life, with her furious strategizing coming across as both absurd and very familiar to anyone who's not comfortable in conversation.”

Planet With

Wat: Appears to be a tokusatsu/crypto-mecha show aimed at the younger set, with the gimmick being that our protagonist is (initially?) on the side of the villains(?).

✅  Pretty wacky, actually. It definitely doesn’t neatly fit in your square notions of what an anime is, man (unless you’ve watched FLCL).

❌ It seems very uncertain whether the wackiness is in service of anything. It might be To Be Heroine, or it might just be Heybot with fewer fart jokes.

♎ Furthermore, it wants to be intriguing and sort of is, but merely being intriguing is not that hard - you just make no sense and hope for the best. This has the not making sense part down, do you feel lucky?

❌ tries to build up characters by immediately going for the sad flashbacks, which I never like, especially if the rest of the show is eIDLIVE-level nonsense.

❌ Looks mostly fiiiiiine, but is also full of subpar CG

ANN sez: “So if the heroes are fighting against someone who just wants peace, then what does that make them? And more importantly, if they find out that the bears aren't evil, will they stop?”

Hataraku Saibou

What: A cutesy educational comedy about the workings of a human body.

✅  Well made, characters are cute, topic is interesting.

❌ Educational aspect can get in the way; I’m not suddenly giving heavy exposition a pass just because it’s trying to teach me something, especially if it’s things I basically already know.

♎ Will have to show if it can keep coming up with good scenarios. The lung infection in episode 1 was alright and so will probably be the skin cut in the preview, but beyond that I’m not sure what’s left for red and white blood cells to do. I’m not expecting a show with this tone to tackle things like retroviruses, if you know what I mean.

♎ An actual storyline seems like too much to expect, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but not a positive either.

✅  Doesn’t rock my socks off but is an easily watchable show with a fine idea and high production values, which again is hard to say no to right now.

ANN sez: “But since it culminates in one of my favorite scenes from the manga, visualizing sneezing as shooting a torpedo out your nose, I can forgive the random gendering of cells.”

Ongaku Shoujo

What: DEEN are getting in on the idol mobile game anime biz too.

✅  The main character’s gimmick is that apart from being A Honk, she can’t sing for shit; this is moderately funny.

❌ It might have counted for more if that hadn’t come out seconds before the episode ended. Even if it isn’t a momentous twist, it was more of a point of interest than the incredibly bland leadup to it had.

❌  Yeah, “Ongaku Shoujo” is an entirely indicative name of how generic this show is: Music + girls, indeed. I assume “Idols” was taken.

❌ I’m still not sure what the ideal cast size of a show like this is, but 12 idols is Idolmaster turf and as such too many. They have personalities? I think?

❌ a very small handful of cuts aside, woeful production quality; I know picking on DEEN is 2ez but this is not their finest work. Animation snobs can feel proud that there’s no CG dancing here, for the rest of us it’s an object lesson on why CG is the lesser of two evils.

✅  Tumbling SR cards in the ED (which is probably actually the OP) made me laugh; this show can’t even afford URs.

❌❌ Overall, just another idol show. Large cast plus presence of a P-san marks it as Im@s-type – but if you're in the market for an Idolmaster clone with bad looks, I would recommend Wake Up Girls instead because that’s at least pretty real at points.

ANN sez: They’re out for the weekend, ask again later. I suspect it’s nothing funny.

[hashtagflashandfood]

Summer to Nothing 🌑

(This is seriously my second time writing this, my first one was so much better but I’m tired to make it as good) This is basically a rant thing because everytime I bring this up to my friends I feel annoying so here we go heh

Let’s call him Bowl. I met Bowl in a tutoring place. He was popular since he was funny. I wasn’t really friends with him but I was friends with one of his friends. Let’s call him Calendar. Calendar was also popular for some reason, still to this day I don’t know why or how 💀 But he was popular and we automatically became friends or whatever. One of my friends, (let’s call her Mirror), liked Calendar. So one day I decided to make a group chat between me, Calendar, Mirror, another friend (let’s call her Shipping Friend, you’ll understand why later on) and Bowl. I still don’t know if I was the one who added Bowl or not but he was there for comfort I guess 💀 he didn’t even know she liked him but he was just there so Calendar wouldn’t feel alone. That group chat was always there, no one really texted on it until summer 2017, where we all started texting on it more often.

We all started to become closer during the summer of 2017. When we were at the tutoring place we just acknowledged each other’s existence but we didn’t care enough to say hello m. Girls spoke with girls and the guys spoke with the guys.

Let’s fast forward to summer 2018.

Summer 2018 was the closest thing to a summer fling I’ll ever get to tbh. In our group chat, Bowl, Shipping Friend and I called every single night during the summer. It was basically routine in the middle of July. Call during 11pm-1am and hang up during 4am-6am. Mirror had to go to another country and Calendar always fell asleep mad early 😡 so it was just us 3. Almost all the time during the calls it was me and Bowl roasting each other since we’re basically famous for that.

Shipping friend does what she is called. She ships people. Me and Bowl were unfortunately victims of the shipping. One day when Bowl wasn’t in the call since he fell asleep, me and her were in a call and she told me a visual scenario that I always remembered.

Let’s just say that the visual scenario changed my entire perspective of him. It was him with a girl at a party and my bitchass and my friends didn’t like the girl he was with and at the end of the night I was with a guy and we all slept over at a big hotel house thing. Me and the guy were talking about our problems and I was talking about my problems with Bowl and so on. The next day Bowl got mad ¿ LMAO IKR but then we went to the beach and did cute things ? I don’t remember it fully but it was something like that.

That entire scenario had me feeling something different and even after the call ended I kept on thinking about it until I fell asleep. I guess after that day I really started to like him. I told Shipping Friend that I liked him and took it back the next morning but in reality yeah I started to like him. Shipping friend continued to ship and ship and I continued to go along with it and so did he surprisingly.

We used to play a bunch of games. From smash or pass to rates, it was really 3/4s of my summer 💀 shipping friend had a bunch of fun with the games because she got to ask both of us a shitload of questions like for example: “BOWL WHO’D YOU RATHER DATE SAMIA OR ____” and the days where he picked me made me flutter man I can’t even deny that.

THERES SOME TEA SIS TOO !!! Let’s name her Clock. Clock and Bowl spoke in the summer for a few and girl startled feeling him. GIRRRLLL ONCE I FOUND THAT OUT LMFAOOOOOOO I was like bitch what. Shipping friend notified me since we exchange mad tea or whatever and once she told me I was tryna make it so obvious that I was bothered by sending the driest texts like “lol” “thats cool” “good for her :)” like who even does that 💀 my petty ass BRO OKAY so someone made a gc with clock and my group and another close friend and I’m like okay sis let’s jus bring out my friends fake and faker! Bro it was sorta awkward but it was okay because there was nothing wrong. Me and Bowl had our well known arguments and that day was tense lemme not get into it 👀💀I needa ask my shipping friend but what happened after that was like clock asked my shipping friend about me and Bowl but I don’t remember exactly what it was 😡😡😡 but I think she was type jealous hehehehheeh ok I need to stop skdkkdkd

One day, me and Mirror hung out with the guys and it was fun. When we went back to her place I was trying to make it so obvious that I liked him and YES SHE GOT IT! she was the first person that i officially ever told that I have feelings for Bowl. That night I called my Shipping Friend and told her. I was dying inside the entire time bro idkkfkskd

Well. All good things must come to an end of course. School started, more specifically high school. Me, Mirror and Calendar went to different schools while Shipping Friend and Bowl got into the same one.

Maybe he changed because of his new school? Maybe he became more of an asshole because of it? I don’t know what’s up with me but he always lingers in my mind, he’s like oxygen. He’s just ALWAYS THERE. That’s so corny i know but it’s true. As much as I try to move on, he’ll always be there. At times I start to wonder was it just a lie? If what we had was real, how could he be fine? I KNOW 5SOS LYRICS DJSKDK but they’re literally the most relatable thing ever I can’t. Apparently he may or may not like someone new which is like poking me everywhere. It shouldn’t bother me because I don’t even like him like that anymore. I’ve heard that she’s a bitch. I just wish we could’ve been something to be honest but it’s too late. He’s just so different now I miss who he used to be. An adorably hilarious insecure ass bitch. Now he’s a overly confident asshole that is still good looking. But whatever. I just want things to back. I just miss him to be honest it’s not like I lost him or anything I just want back that side of him I guess. Everyone said I’m the one who changed but I don��t think so. I’m back to the bottom of his list now.

I have a playlist for everything to be honest and I have one for him and this situation.

🌑

- I don’t wanna see you with her / Marie Mena

“I don't wanna see you moved on, I don't think that I'm that strong, It hasn't been that long, Since I was the one in your arms.”

- You belong with me / Taylor Swift

“But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, She's cheer captain, And I'm on the bleachers, Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find, That what you're looking for has been here the whole time. If you could see, That I'm the one, Who understands you.”

- Ruin my life / Zara Larsson

“You set fire to my world, couldn't handle the heat, Now I'm sleeping alone and I'm starting to freeze, Baby, come bring me help, Let it rain over me, Baby, come back to me, I want you to ruin my life”

- No one compares to you / Jack & Jack

“Every time I think I've found somebody, I just wish that somebody was you, There's no way that someone else could make me ever, Feel the same way that you do.”

- Worst of you / Maisie Peters

“I'd rather you walk all over me than walk away, Give me the worst of you, 'Cause I want you anyway.”

- Happier / Ed Sheeran

“Cause baby you look happier, you do, My friends told me one day I'll feel it too, And until then I'll smile to hide the truth, But I know I was happier with you.”

-Amnesia / 5SOS

“Sometimes I start to wonder, was it just a lie? If what we had was real, how could you be fine?”

🌑

Okay my rant is over ! Bye y’all 💗

[gammija]

The Hollow review/summary/rant/explanation of why i hate the ending I wasn’t sure whether I should post this, but I did enjoy reading others experiences watching this show, so here’s mine under the cut. Edited from a convo with a friend.

(Obviously, spoilers!)

Me: Okay so to properly express my disappointment i gotta take you through the major beats

The show starts with three teens waking up in an almost empty room, finding out they all have amnesia. They quickly solve a puzzle to escape the room, and just as quickly Adam and Mira realize they have superpowers (superstrength/agility and some weird 'speak to animals/know all languages' hybrid, respectively. also she can breathe underwater and swim really fast. its kind of vague)

Kai is already clearly a comic relief, discount Ron (from HP, the movies, no idea about the books) so me and sister correctly predict he'll get jealous of adam and miras relationship (even if there is none), gets pissy and jealous that he has no powers, but then finds out he has powers anyway he does, hes a fire bender. cant say im not bitter about that cause id put my money on invulnerability but eh its alright he has red hair after all hes still fun

Friend: Of course he is

I just feel bad is all aldjs

Me: adam gets a throwaway line of 'maybe were dead' and kai never lets it go

this food might be poisoned but im starving and hey were dead anyway! right, adam

Friend: I love him??

Me: i loved him as soon as he spoke his first dumb words also he puns but basically hes the only interesting char; adam and mira are just cookie cutter 'male lead 1' and 'female lead 1' i mean, he’s cookie cutter ‘jealous 3rd wheel’ but that has more going on than the first two still servicable though

anyway so the jokes are sometimes fun, and superpowers are always my jam. but the REAL reason to keep watching is just, whats going on? ARE they dead? or in some kind of weird gvnmt experiment? some weird magical vampire guide (dont ask) hints they wanted this themselves ooh, intrigue. and the world is very very quirky they start in a gravity falls-y woods and then get teleported to a desert with minotaurs and witches, then get invited for tea by the Grim Reaper and the rest of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse

tbh Grim is the best part of the show but thats neither here nor there

anyway they have a magic map that updates once theyve been somewhere, and it shows them that the hot dry desert and the swampy wood bunker are like right next to each other

so you start thinking, how are they gonna explain that? this is too weird to be handwaved away. theyve gotta be going somewhere

they visit some other exotic locals, like what appears to be the set of Alien (complete with alien) and an abandoned old fair and a floating island with japanese inspired evildoers on it

the weird magic guide keeps showing up and being vague, dropping hints that there are other kids there etc

at some point Mira says "This is no time for games!" Weirdy: "Thats where youd be wrong~" me and sister: Aha! videogame! that connects all the dots, and also makes the tropes clear: small world with all kinds of different areas, quests, fights, superpowers, an updating map, fast travel Adam, a few eps later: guis i think we might be in a videogame me and sister: [high five]

Anyway in the meantime also the second predictable Kai (discount Ron) plot happens: they meet three other kids (boy boy girl) and they act shady but the girl takes an immediate and obvious interest in Kai so obviously theyre gonna manipulate him and have him betray his friends but in the end he'll see through their facade and kick their ass that more or less happens. The other teens also confirm that this is a game, and theyre trying to win. winning is done by bringing the MacGuffin to a tree fights over macguffin ensue situations are dire but our characters persevere

(also Mira kisses Adam and he acts very weird about it, almost as if hes gay and the only reason they didnt make it canon is censors) (no lingering gaze, just him going 'hehe yeah no thanks, its not you, its me', but in a very... he doesnt seem to be saying it with shall we say burning desire in his soul. hes literally just like 'eh youre a good friend.' Cool move, cartoon that made the two main boys have arguments over nothing cause of course the two main guys have constant dick measuring matches)

this all is not the offensive part btw it was all fun and games, its just a flash cartoon i wasnt expecting Shakespeare

anyway so theyre in a videogame, and apparently thats the answer to all the weirdness. A bit of a cop-out, cause thats a very easy answer, but eh, it works. it wasnt immediately obvious.

also something i hadnt mentioned yet: thisd be ideal for making (self-insert) OCs. Unique powers for each person, there are clearly more characters than shown, the world is your playground

and maybe the video game thing could be interesting on its own in the last few eps the game seems to be glitching out a lot they say its breaking apart so they really gotta hurry now maybe they were beta testers for a vr game gone wrong maybe this is part of it but its like a huge experience that you tell all your friends about anyway there are ways it could be cool, could be expanded to a season 2 despite having solved the mystery

but. last episode. our heroes get the MacGuffin, go to a final stage, and fight the Boss Battle (its a dragon). they enter the Castle....

...and the screen zooms out, into a sudden live action stage, where we see the cartoon (literally what you were just watching) on screen. there are 6 chairs, 3 with our heroes, 3 with the other teens, presumably. theres a host and hes dressed exactly like the weird guy (and that was already kind of a clashy outfit in the cartoon). it was all just a game show. but. the worst part is the live action

you. dont. go. from. animated. to. live. action.

other way around? fine, can work. But now? WHY itd still be dumb and dissapointing but if itd been animated too itd at least have been.... nice to look at but the acting.. oh god they didnt even say anything and it was all wrong clearly theyd just picked the first random teens that vaguely looked like the chars and put them in there cause they had no lines so who needs acting?!

the enemy teams girl had, in the cartoon, pink hair. Purple with pink highlights instead of stylizing that into something more realistic or painting the actual hair, they gave some 30-year old woman a wig and called it a day

keep in mind i binged this show in one go

purposely stayed up late to watch the last ep with my sis even tho we shouldve gone to bed and were disobeying our dad cause we Had to Know

and theres more i said they had no lines but i was lying. Kai did have a line. well, his voice actor did they dubbed him also the line was about him having to pee which is already not the most hilarious in animated version but a live action kid whose supposed to be this character you spent 3 hours with but looks nothing like him saying that in a voice that doesnt belong to his throat, as he stands bashfully in front of a live audience, the only words spoken by your main characters in the last moments...

*its actual hell*

oh oh one more thing at the end the six kids stand in a line and kai is next to other girl they glance at each other and as the eyes of this teen and 30 year old in wig cross, her eye glitches for a moment

dun dun duuun

bUT i dont care anymore, The Hollow. You overestimated your own premise. this wont be forgiven. your most interesting part was the mystery, and the answer  to that was "just a normal game show" (which also doesnt make sense on another level smh) soo if you think that im interested in what these two-dimensional (ha) characters will do now about the glitch in the eye of a bitch then i have news for u

i dont

...if they get a second season ill probably check it out though as long as its animated

Friend: Gammi I'm getting the real sinking suspicious feeling that what you saw isn't the real end but bad on purpose because there's more to it

Me: the show didnt seem good enough to be bad on purpose

and yet im still not done, if youll still hear me out

i mean, im an animation fan so ill still watch but if theyd wanted to be bad on purpose they really shouldve done a better job fleshing out the characters thats what people come back for that was a bit of a sidetrack BUT so i said why the live action itself was just terrible in overal quality

but the resolution that 'oh it was all in a game show' doesnt work on multiple levels

first of all, they show a short flashback of "About 5 hours earlier". The kids stand on the stage and are instructed to take their seats in the vr-chairs, and pick their superpower

2 things i dislike about that

1) there goes all the self-insert/oc potential. they werent teens in over their heads, they werent gvnmt experiments, or just some kids who wanted to play a game -they were in it to win it, from the start. thats very specific and not the most appealing to all kinds of characters (goodbye, all the 'im just an average girl whod never step into the spotlight like that' characters).

Also, all the expansion on lore is gone. maybe there were other games simultaneously? eh, maybe, but theyd be all gameshows. Maybe someone ended uo trapped there for way longer? nah its just a gameshow theyre not gonna let anything actually bad happen. Maybe there are other worlds, other areas, other weird creatures? unlikely, they finished the map and familiarity seemed to be a thing for the audience. Now every new idea has to be put not through a 'whats interesting for a player' but a 'whats interesting for a viewer' lens, and whats a selfinsert if not a player in another universe

2) HOW IS THIS A SUCCESSFUL GAME SHOW

who the hell watches a game show for 5 consecutive hours, some of which mustve been just them walking. also, we zoom out of the screen were watching, so implication is that everything up until then has been what the audience has seen. but... we only followed the one team. there were two? why didnt the audience want to see what they were up to? ~reality tv usually thrives on showinf the worst assholes so realistically they wouldve been the focus~

There are also way too many times *both* teams couldve failed, from early on till late in the game. Not a single game i can think of thats played for an audience is set up like that, and especially not a televised one (okay tbf idk if this was televised, i dont remember if i saw cameras, but. it mustve. monetary reasons.)

What r u gonna do if they all 'died' from the monsters in the first ep? Call it a day? boring for the audience. let them restart from scratch? boring for the audience. the existence of an audience messes with everything

AND THEN ANOTHER THING what do you mean, "5 hours ago?" you never get a time stamp to show how long theyve been in there but there are some cuts, when they travel and such. The actual show is a lil over 3 hours runtime. You mean to tell me you sat through 2 hours of the characters just walking?

okay last thing. so. they were clearly second season teasing with the glitching eye thing. i already said this but. theres nowhere to go from here that isnt worse that the first season. your mystery is dead. you clearly know your live action teens cant act so youd have to go back into the game - but why would they do that? how would that be in any way interesting? you explored all there was to explore.

The other, more out there option, is that as you said the 'real world' was a fake-out and theyre still in a game. but. how would- how would you even make that remotely convincing? if youd just left the 'real world' gameshow as animated too this wouldnt have been a problem. but there is absolutely no conceivable reason to justify, in universe, why another meta-level up is 2D animation again unless they were in a game, in a game, in a game. and thats just dumb. yall aint inception

Friend: HONESTLY if they just kept the whole deal animated it'd probably be okay. Not good, but better,

Me: ye me and my sister came to the same conclusion

i couldve lived with that. at least, i couldve just acknowledged the finales existence but chose to ignore it. now however im full phantom planet levels of denial. in fact i dont even know how the show ended anymore, suddenly

Friend: what finale? what show?

Me: also at least now we know why its called The Hollow

it leaves you feeling empty inside

[sanderssidecanons]

The Heart of an Alchemist

Chapter 3: Friends

Words: 3748

Warnings: Mentions of kidnapping? I think that’s it?

Chapter 2

“Don’t forget what I told you Patton.” Logan’s son, currently holding Logan’s hand, smiled brightly. “Of course I won’t forget Logan! Don’t worry, I will behave!” Logan smiled at Patton, squeezing his hand slightly as he answered: “I know.” The two of them had stayed in bed for quite some time, it was almost noon now and Logan decided, that he would show Patton the town, so they can decorate Patton’s room a little bit, before Logan would give Patton a thorough tour through the house, so the sand-child would know every corner it needed to know.  They had almost reached town and Logan stopped the both of them and knelt down, judging a last time if Patton looked presentable.

He wore a simple blue shirt with long sleeves and white gloves to hide his sandy skin, a white scarf, also comfy black pants, blue shoes and a hat that would protect him from the sun and cast a shadow on his face to, once again, hide the skin-colour. “It’s warm…” Complained Patton, kicking a small pile of dirt on the ground as he pouted. Logan chuckled and loosened the scarf a bit, answering: “I know it is, but it is the only way. No one must find out who you are.” Patton nodded, brown eyes shining despite the shadow hiding them effectively. “I know! No one must no anything about me. The only information you and me are allowed to give is my name and that I am your son!”

“Very good Patton.” Logan smiled at his son who grinned proudly at him. “And what is the story we tell when someone asks?” Patton didn’t hesitate one moment: “I am a child from the mountains that ran away for some reason, why though we are both not sure, for I suffer currently from amnesia and you were kind enough to take me in, so wild beasts wouldn’t mawl me.” Logan nodded once more, adoration in his eyes as he took Patton’s head off, revealing his silky white hair and ruffled it, a bit of clay-dust escaping into the air, causing Logan to quickly put the hat back on. It was interesting. Patton’s skin was made of very clean and high-quality sand while his hair appeared to be made of clay. And his body seemed to get occasionally rid of clay and sand. Logan could maybe sell these materials to the townsfolk for a high price.

Clay and sand for glass were always needed and even though no one wanted any business with Logan, he knew that the townsfolk will practically eat up his materials, since his ware was always of the best quality. Hypocrits. But the alchemist decided that he and Patton were presentable and therefore entered the town with him. It really was nothing too special, houses made of wood, some made of stone, children playing in the street, people walking around, talking to each other, living their normals lives.

How boring. Patton gaped, his eyes as round as plates and his mouth formed into an ‘O’ shape, looking around in awe, occasionally stopping to look at some children that were playing a game or to observe a dog going it’s way. Like Logan expected was Patton really curious, asking many questions and gasping in awe at every answer he received from Logan. Patton was such a curious young thing. “Where are we going first?!” Asked Patton in excitement, skipping some of the stones on the plastered road as a little game while still trying to keep up with Logan. “We go to the tailor, to get you some clothes that aren’t just old pieces of mine and something you feel really comfortable with.” Patton tilted his head, a small sliver of light illuminating his brown eyes.

“But I feel comfortable in everything you give me dad!” Logan smiled down at Patton and squeezed his hand lightly, before explaining: “I’m certain that you want to believe that, but it is a fact that we are, indeed, not the same person and have therefore different preferences and different tastes in, well, everything. And this is a good thing, so don’t give me that look.” He remarked, smirking slightly as Patton’s lip began to quiver. “I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. You see, if we were indeed identical, my life would be just as boring as before, since I couldn’t teach you new things, already knew what you liked and disliked and already knew your reactions for everything. Do you follow me?”

“I follow you the whole time dad.”

“No, I mean, do you understand?” At that, Patton nodded with a grin.

“I do!”

“Excellent.” Remarked Logan with a smile before stopping, Patton almost tripping at the sudden lack of movement. “We are there.” declared Logan and Patton eyed the building in front of him. It had some differences to all the other houses. It was made of stone, a little wooden sign was hanging over the door and orange flowers littered the windowshill. “It looks comfortable.” Judged Patton, squinting slightly. “It does indeed. Come on, let’s enter.” There were two tailors in town, but Logan always visited this one, even though he was a little more expensive. But he didn’t ask question, or if he did he wasn’t judging, and he made sure he picked just the right clothes for his customers. Logan cherished his work. As they opened the wooden door a little bell dinged, announcing their arrival.

Patton gaped, the house looked so much smaller from the outside. Different types of fabric in all colours were littered over the ground, the walls were painted beige and a big lamp on the ceiling gave everything a comfortable atmosphere. Logan looked around, irritated at the chaos. He knew this man was messy, but this was his job. How did he get customers if he never cleaned up? Logan fully entered the building, Patton following close behind, picking up a piece of cloth in interest, dropping it as he spotted something more interesting, practically hopping around like a frog and picking different pieces of clothing up.

Logan rolled his eyes, a fond expression on his face as he observed his curious son strolling around. Now, where was his tailor? He finally spotted him on a red sofa, a patched up blanket covering the sleeping man. Logan had to roll his eyes once more, the affectionate expression not leaving his face as he inched closer and swiped the blanket from the man, who whined in protest and made an attempt to roll away, only to roll off the small sofa with a yelp. “It is not the best marketing strategy to sleep when customers are in the house.” Teased Logan, folding the blanket up, wrinkling his nose as he realized that the trusty blanket needed to be washed. Badly.

The tailor was disoriented at first, looking around, wondering why he was on the floor, confused as he saw a pair of black shoes and pants right next to him, before looking up, tired eyes lighting slightly up at the familiar face. “No way, is that you Logan? It’s been so long, dammit! Don’t disappear like that again!” Logan held out a hand which the man took gratefully, allowing him to get helped up. “It has been a long time Remy, indeed.” Remy yawned and stretched his arms and back, slowly returning to the waking world, giving Logan enough time to take a good look at him.

He was always the strongest fashion-statement in the whole village, wearing glasses with darkened lenses to not be blinded by the sun and not be read too easily, a black jacket he made out of this leather and an orange shirt underneath, the black slacks he was wearing have some slashes and have been patched up multiple times, but Remy refuses to wear other pants, because those were the ‘most comfortable’ as he claimed. He wore black boots, also made of leather. Logan remembered how Remy explained him, how he hated how boring everyone in town looked.

He coul only ever hang out with Logan and Emile since everyone else in town was just so boring and fake. He fell asleep once as he made a pathetic attempt to befriend the owner of the local animal-shelter. Logan still had to chuckle at that since it was pretty hilarious how Remy just collapsed on the ground and fell asleep. Remy would never get a pet on that store, that was pretty much confirmed. Remy yawned once more, before being his usually relaxed self and casually leaned against the all, asking: “Soooo, what brings you here, alchemist?” Logan arched an eyebrow, but didn’t react to the nickname, simply pointing at the boypicking up clothing, apparently attempting to tidy up the place. “I wanted to get some new clothing for my son.”

Remy choked on the air he was currently breathing in, coughing violently while looking at Logan with wide eyes. Logan clapped him on the back, multiple times, until Remy signaled him that he was fine, that it was fine now. Logan stopped and took a big step back, calling to Patton: “Please cover your ears for exactly 15 seconds Patton, can you do that?”

Patton looked up, smiling as he answered: “I sure can Dad!” Before he quickly placed his hands over his ears and began to quietly sing something to not hear the tirade of curse-words that rained upon Logan as Remy collected himself. 15 seconds later did he end his rant with the words: “Why didn’t you tell me that you had a son?!” Logan casted a side-glance towards Patton, who uncovered his ears in just the right moment and continued to pick the clothing up, asking in a curious voice: “What did he say, dad?” “Nothing of importance, but it simply wasn’t meant for your ears.” Patton thought for a moment: “Oh… Okay!” Bless this child, how did something like him exist with Logan’s soul? Remy stepped closer, grabbing Logan by the collar of his coat and pulling him towards himself, asking:

“When did you get laid?! And when resulted this in getting a son?!” Logan  huffed in annoyance and shoved Remy away, explaining: “You should probably know by now that no one would ever love me in that way. Patton isn’t my biological son.” Well, technically he is, but Remy didn’t need to know that. As accepting and friendly as he was, even he would probably not approve of an artificial son. Remy relaxed at these words and finally slipped back into his usual smooth behaviour.

“Good to know. Got yourself a nice little fella. Look at him.” Logan followed Remy’s glance and observed how Patton was currently carrying way too many different pieces of clothing, the pile in his hands getting so big that it fell down on top of him, burying him in clothes. “I know.” Answered Logan, a fond expression on his face as he walked towards the pile of clothing and removed some of them until he found Patton’s face, who giggled at him and declared: “You found me!” Logan chuckled as Patton practically jumped out of the clothing and threw his arms around Logan’s neck.

“I sure did.” Answered the alchemist, lifting the boy up, before placing him down again. “Now, if we could finally begin Remy?” The tailor made a playful bow, a smirk gracing his sharp features as he remarked: “Oh, of course, your alchemistry.” Logan arched an eyebrow at this name, thinking about it for a few more moments, before responding: “I will leave Patton with you for a little while. I need to go to Emile and exchange some herbs.” Remy rolled with his eyes: “Of course you leave me for the other nerd.”

Logan spread one of his arms for a hug, since he knew exactly when Remy wanted one, before waving Patton goodbye and exiting the building and walking down the street. It was strange. The moment Patton wasn’t with him anymore everyone looked at him like he was a piece of rotten meat. They looked scared, disgusted… maybe he was rotten meat. But he couldn’t be so bad if Patton resulted in him sacrificing a part of their soul, right? He was eyed like a demon, with sharp fangs and horns, like he didn’t belong… but he did belong, right? He was a human like everyone else. The children stopped playing to stare, the women stopped washing clothes to stare, even the dogs and cats stopped their activities to stare.

The flames of rumours became and inferno that devoured every common sense towards him. Logan focused on the road ahead of him, he wouldnt give them the satisfaction and allow their behaviour to get to him. He had enough time for that at home. It was strange… it was so quiet. He could hear his shoes hitting the pavement and the crunching of the stones, but apart from that… it seemed like everything just stopped. The wind gave a gentle rustling sound, but that was it. Nothing else was audible.

He was certainly not welcome here. Don’t worry you saints, this demon didn’t plan on returning and will soon be gone again. Hypocrits. Emile’s pharmacy looked really comfortable, even from the outside. The house was made of wood and herbs were already growing outside, covering the building in a bubble of pleasant scents. A little sign was standing outside which simply said ‘Pharmacy’, but it seemed like a child drew some silly drawings with paint on the sign. Logan stepped onto the porch and knocked gently before entering, a little bell once again announcing his arrival. “Emile! Are you home? I am in need of some herbs!” A loud crashing sound was audible from the back of the store and stomping feet came rapidly closer.

Logan quickly put the back down he had in his hand and knelt down, spreading his arms, just in time because a little ball of energy tackled into him, wrapping his arms around Logan’s neck and nuzzled into the alchemist. Logan smiled at that and gave the boy a pat on the back, greeting him: “Salutations Thomas.” The boy jumped back, pouting at the alchemist and asking: “Where were you the past months?!” Logan chuckled and straightened his back again, looking down at the child. Thomas was 13 years old and Emiles son. He assists his father in the pharmacy and has therefore an admirable amount of knowledge about herbs and diseases for his age. He is also friends with Logan and Remy, claiming stubbornly that they are his uncles, even going as far as bragging in front of other kids that his dad own a pharmacy, his one uncle is a tailor and he get’s all the clothes he wants and his other uncle is an alchemist and that he could turn all of them into rats if Thomas would say so. Thomas was just joking, which is why Logan never told him that he could actually do that.

It would be awkward for everyone who would be part of the conversation. “Logan?! Is that you?! It’s been so long!” Emile stumbled inside, his face a little scorched and hair all over the place, apparently something in his laboratory failed, but he still had the brightest smile on his face as he threw his arms around Logan and hugged him tightly, the alchemist wrinkling his nose at the burnt scent the pharacist emitted. “It is nice to see you Emile.” Emile Picani, the pharmacist was a walking ray of sunshine, even though he can easily become the most serious out of all of them.

He looks almost exactly like Thomas with mussed brown hair, round face and bright smile, the differences are just that Thomas has brown eyes, from his mother who disappeared a long time ago, while Emiles eyes were really, really green. It was a dark green, but it rivaled the pines and grass and shone brighter than the stars. Emile was also in need of glasses while Thomas was still glassless so far. “How have you been Logan?” Asked Emile, looking the alchemist up and down to check him for… whatever he was checking him for, Logan had no idea what Emile was actually doing.

“I have been satisfactory Emile. What about you?” The pharmacist waved the question off, continuing in a stressed voice: “The whole village is talking about you! Everyone thinks you kidnap children for experiments!” Logan could only stare. He knew there were some really bad rumors about him spreading, but he had no idea that they were that bad. “Really?” Was the only thing he could muster up, Thomas apparently noticing his distress and hugging him around the waist. “They actually blame all the missing children around the village on you…” Logan felt sick, seriously sick.

Everyone thought he was a kidnapping psychopath? Thomas looked up at him and pulled at his coat, quickly reassuring: “I don’t think you are doing this Logan! I always defend you in front of my friends.” Logan patted Thomas’ head and responded in a monotone voice: “That is great Thomas. Would you release me now please?” Thomas eyes widened at Logan’s voice, quickly letting go and stepping back, observing how Logan lifted the bag on the ground bag up and said: “I brought you some of the herbs you are always in need of.” before hurling the bag in Emiles direction, who caught it but fell on the ground after that. Logan retreated meanwhile to the back of the pharmacy, a dark room where Emile always mixed medication, creams and candy for colds. Logan always found this room to be very relaxing.

This time, however, couldn’t the calming scents calm his racing thoughts. He was mad, no, he was beyond mad. He was completely outraged. How dare they… He was aware of rumors, but he didn’t know that they made a complete monster out of him. Apparently… “Logan?” The alchemist looked up, the light of the entrange illuminating Emile but casting a shadow over his front, hiding his face. “Go away.” Growled Logan, turning around so Emile wasn’t able to see his face. And Emile stopped, thought, contemplated. He never saw Logan in this state. Normally he didn’t care about what the townsfolk said, but… he looked hurt. Had they struck a nerve?

Logan would never hurt a child, never, but Logan was always able to brush the rumors off… what got him so distressed? The little bell jingled once more and Emile turned around, surprised to find a boy in Thomas’ age, maybe a little bit older, entering the pharmacy. Thomas grinned and immediatly went to greet the boy: “Hello! Ohh, I haven’t seen you around here before! Are you new in town?! I’m Thomas! Nice to meet you! My dad own this pharmacy!” Thomas held out his hand to shake, who the boy took and shook. Emile noticed that he wore gloves, how strange and unusual for a child. “Hello! I am Patton! I am looking for my dad, uncle Remy told me he should be in here.” Emiles face dropped, realisation washing over him. That’s why Logan was so hurt by the rumors. That’s why he looked so heartbroken just then.

…Logan had a son. A son that talked and laughed with Thomas like they knew each other for a long time. It was like a bolt striked him down as he realized, that the two of them probably walked through the village together and everyone saw them. …And everyone probably thought he kidnapped and hurt this child, oh no. Emile hurried to the child, Patton was his name, and knelt down to be on eye-level with him, smiling as he said: “Hello Patton! My name is Emile Picani, but you can just call me uncle Emile, just like you call Remy your uncle Remy, alright?” Patton nodded, before looking around. “Where is my dad?” Emile pointed with his thumb towards the backroom.

“Back there. He is in need of you. He needs a hug from his favourtie son, but please don’t ask him what’s wrong.” Patton nodded frantically and practically sprinted away, towards the backroom, looking for his dad and running towards him the moment he spotted him. He ran into his back, causing Logan to yelp but quickly relax as he felt the silk of Pattons gloves and his covered arms wrapped around his waist. “I love you dad…” he heard the muffled voice of Patton who pressed his face in Logan’s back and the alchemist could only smile as he put his hands over Patton’s and answered:

“I love you too…” It took a few minutes and a lot of hugging, but Logan cooled eventually down, to which everyone was grateful. “Apologies I hurled the herbs at you like this.” Emile smiled, swatting the air as he responded: “Not a problem. I should probably get a bit fitter, so this doesnt happen again! I will see you again now?” Logan thought for some seconds, before responding: “Yes, I will come back.” “Very well! I shall await your arrival impatiently.” Thomas rushed forward and gave Patton a hug, quickly saying: “Please visit us again Patton! We could play together!” Patton’s face lit up like the sun: “Ohh! That would be great! Please dad?!”

Logan smiled as he grabbed the now empty back and stretched his hand out for Patton. “Maybe. I will think about it if you behave. We shall take our leave now.” Patton nodded, grabbing Logan’s hand and waving Thomas and Emile goodbye, exiting the Pharmacy. Logan wanted to get furniture too, but he couldn’t stay anymore. He now knew why everyone was staring at him like he was a demon. He felt like a monster, even though he knew the truth. But that was the problem… if enough people believe the lies… it becomes the truth eventually… apperently is this town in need of a villain. Maybe, just maybe, they will get one.

Tag-List: @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes @anxietystatement @lovinofelivargas @creepy-cupcakes @hellomusicalnerdhere @mysticnachophilosopher @romanasanders @ccecode @fandernerdforever @hamiltrash-kimliza @oxyphara  @memepool1 @vexation-virgil @madelynnaa

[disneydreamlights]

So, while most of the Norts in the MMO AU follow the rule of "personality traits through the filter of Xehanort", Terra-Xehanort would be different, due to Terra/Eraqus and Xehanort constantly struggling for control. That, combined with his amnesia, would result in Terranort developing a split personality. One is how Terra views Xehanort, which would later become Ansem, and the other how Xehanort views Terra, which would later become Xemnas. Extracting Terra's heart wouldn't fix this.

...Which would explain why neither Ansem SoD or Xemnas aren’t a lot like Xehanort at all. I’d imagine it must’ve driven Xigbar crazy though. (Good.)

So, what keeps the Dandelions from being total gamebreakers once they're freed is that they are, for the most part, pacifists. This means that they'd just serve the in-universe explanation for where the other players in Multiplayer come from, unless there is an in-universe explanation for them to be more involved in the plot. Additionally, I imagine most of them would hang up their Keyblades to live normal lives after being freed. And to be frank, I wouldn't blame them.

I wouldn’t either given all that the MMO AU puts them through.

As for the Keykids running the Ice Cream shop, they'd both be Dandelions due to being from different Unions and not wanting to have to fight each other. They would not wear their ice cream uniforms at the Dandelion meetings, since they're not on the job, and the ice cream is more of a hobby. They would both wield Sweetstack though, even when off the job. All the Sweetstack Materials would be Ice Cream ingredients. Strelitzia and Mog were their favorite customers.

As for how the fact that they're siblings would be revealed? After you ask them about Ven's whereabouts (which wouldn't be easy seeing as they change what World their located in every day), Black Hair would remark on how surprising it is that they get along despite being in different Unions, while White Hair would bring up that they're twins. Cue the flood of angsty oneshots about them fighting and killing eachother in the Keyblade War until they're revealed to be Dandelions.

As for why they're running an ice cream stand? It was the family business, and they both want to keep their family's legacy arrive. They open up the shop whenever they both fill their Daily Quotas. And I just now realized that I accidentally created two OCs with a cute yet angsty backstory while trying to come up with an excuse for Sweetstack to be in the MMO AU. Although I kinda wish I knew how to draw because I just realized my imagined uniforms for them aren't in the canon game.

Ice cream twins you’ve got me sold I am now invested in these characters.

As for where the Ice Cream Vendors would run their shops on what day? Dwarf Woodlands outside the mines on Monday, Wonderland by the White Rabbit's house on Tuesday, Agrabah's Bizarre on Wednesday, Olympus Coliseum by the stands on Thursday (In the Underworld near the entrance in October), Beast's Castle in the Courtyard on Friday, and Daybreak Town in the park on the Weekend. They'd sell ice cream to the spectators during your matches in Olympus Coliseum, just to give the tournament more flavor

Can we buy ice cream while we watch matches or is it just the NPCs and they’re just there to add more character to the Olympus Coliseum stands and as a cute Easter Egg.

You know, after COM put forth the idea that death was the best possible ending for Repliku and that beings like himself could never be happy because they're not real people, I'm REALLY glad that the future games that remember he existed treated his demise as something tragic and not some kind of "mercy kill". His death always made me so mad because it was ultimately POINTLESS to the plot and a great example of a WASTED character. There's a reason I NEVER go down the same route canon did with him

That’s because it wasn’t really a mercy kill. Repliku shouldn’t have existed, it’s true, but once he did he also didn’t really deserve to die. He deserved a better life than the one he got, and its why the fact that he had to face Riku and die all the more tragic.

You know what, can we just have an AU where Namine stops Riku and his Replica from fighting to the death so that Repliku has the chance to be his own person and go on a journey of self discovery? Although I feel like he'd be relieved if Riku got a Keyblade and he didn't just because that would be one difference between them both. He'd probably also style his hair differently from Riku as part of that "forging my own identity" thing. It would be difficult and painful, but at least he'd be alive.

So I don’t quite have that at my disposal, but:

How do you feel about a 500+ chapter AU in which we get to see Repliku saved on the brink of death and shoved into a completely new universe where he is the only Riku? Because I can supply that for you it’s basically the starting point of one of my favorite fics.

Okay so, in KH3, while Roxas would have grown alongside Sora, Ven would not have aged a day while he was in the Chamber of Waking. This means that Roxas would look older than Ven. Vanitas would also look younger than Sora, due to not aging while his Remnant survived through sheer force of hate. Poor Ven, he's ancient but looks younger than the 3 year old.

This is one of the most hilarious things I have ever heard rip Ven.

I imagine Back Cover would be where all the vitriol that was once directed at Brain would then be redirected at Lauriam. Because once you see a 14-15 year old flashback to how he lost his sight and friends just days after the fact, and witnessed someone murder their closest friend, it's kinda hard to not rethink things like that.

I mean all my hatred towards Blaine if I had any would be immediately redirected towards Lauriam once Strelitzia is dead so I don’t even think I’d need Back Cover to hate him, assuming she’s revealed before Back Cover releases at least.

Laurie would lie about Aced killing Strelitzia before 2.8 released. In Back Cover, the famous Case of Luxury scene would be shown when Ava asks Luxu if he's the traitor, and cut back with the implication that he told Ava what the Master told him. The fun-sized Chirithy Ava squeed over was totally Nightmare Chirithy. Invi and Ira would be fighting during Ava's confrontation we Luxu.

Hey Lauriam don’t blame my son for my daughter’s demise.

Anyways, I’d like that transition more. Tbh I kinda wish we did get to see the Keyblade War unfold. It’s one of the only things I don’t like about BC is that it doesn’t follow X to its conclusion.

Okay so, in the MORNING AU, I imagine that the Mango could continue past KH2 depending on why the Manga ends there. As such there would be a Manga Adaptation AND Novelization of KHX. The novelization would have the default male protagonist, while the Manga would have the default female protagonist, and have her be part of Anguis. They'd also be characterized differently, the novel protagonist being more timid and the Manga protagonist being more snarky.

So yeah, the protagonist of the Manga would have Lauriam and the Keyblade Wielders from the Neoshadow Arc as party members until the Neoshadow Trio become Darklings. She'd leave the party after Lauriam blames her for what happened to their three party members. The Novel protagonist MIGHT be an Ursus Wielder, not sure yet. Aced would terrify both of them, since neither could defeat Ava when she was holding back, and Aced would actually be trying to kill them.

SNARKY FEMALE MANGA PROTAGONIST I AM ALL FOR THIS SHIT.

If they’re part of Ursus, I doubt they’d be afraid of Ursus. If you ask me, I think novel protag should be a member of Leopardus though. Creates good contrast versus Ava, and could create a lot of interesting arcs.

Both would have Medals in the "Toon Medal" deal. The Manga protagonist would have a Power-type Medal while the Novel protagonist would have a Speed-type Medal. The first time we hear either say their names would be when Ephemer is introduced. Neither protagonist would talk much, though the Manga protagonist's thoughts would serve as narration. The first time the Manga protagonist speaks would be to tell off Lauriam at the end of the Neoshadow arc before leaving his Party.

So, the Novel and Manga protagonists would both have Medals in the "Toon Medals" deal. The Manga protagonist would have a Power Medal while the Novel Protagonist would have a Speed Medal (if in Ursus) or a Magic Medal (if in Leopardos), in accordance with the idea that all the Keykids are the type that their Foretellers are strong against. They'd be the closest thing we'd have to Medals based off the Player, though both would be treated as distinct characters.

I think there should be a KHUx Toon Medal deal later on actually, where you can get Player and the five Foretellers, since in Ux they’re dead and could be used as medals.

So, MMO AU 0.2 would be virtually unchanged, save for the more intense version of "The End of a World" cutscene that I'm already forming a new idea for in my head, but that's a story for another day. But there would be one other change. You'd actually be able to see what abilities Aqua has on the difficulty you're playing on. Aqua'd have Treasure Magnet on both Beginner and she and Mickey'd both have it on Critical. There still wouldn't be prize drops in Critical, it's only there to taunt you.

...Wow, that’s cruel. Good thing I don’t play Critical because I’d cry I think.

So, in the MMO AU, starting up Back Cover in 2.8 would play a "spinning heart scene" like in the game. Unlike the games, the little screens would depict moments from past Kingdom Hearts games instead of moments from Back Cover. The music that plays over the spinning heart would be "Ventus". The credits themes would be "Case of Foretellers" and "Cavern of Remembrance". I'd probably keep the cutesy recap opening, just without the annoyingly formatted text layover. That was just BAD.

Actually maybe "The Dream" would be more appropriate than "Ventus". Anyway as for how I'd change "The End of a World" from my original idea would be to have the Keyblade Graveyard get absorbed by Kingdom Hearts. THEN Kingdom Hearts explodes, vaporizing the entire universe save for Luxu who survives by hiding out in the Realm of Darkness before Kingdom Hearts can absorb him. I mean, escaping from that to fulfill his role would be kinda difficult.

Honestly please change the entire intro. Maybe keep some of it but that intro could’ve been done so much better than they actually did.

Wow, honestly poor Luxu. Hiding in the RoD to survive doesn’t sound like it’d be fun.

So, I've lost track of what all I've sent you over the past couple of weeks, but I did have one idea that could be cool: imagine if there had been a movie based off the fall of Radiant Garden. I imagine that Xehanort would start out as the main antagonist until he splits between Ansem and Xemnas, at which point one of them would take over the role. I don't actually have as many ideas here as I do for the MMO part of the MMO AU.

I don’t need as many ideas make it a full length movie collaboration between Disney and Squeenix and I’m sold.

So, Sora would be conspicuously absent during Strelitzia's solo game as well as during the Epilogue DLC is that for the final phase of the final battle against Xehanort, Sora would trap himself and Xehanort within Kingdom Hearts. While the final clash would only be about as long as the battle against Xemnas' final form, outside of Kingdom Hearts, an entire year would pass during that duel. Fortunately, Sora would escape as soon as Xehanort is defeated, unscathed save for losing his powers again.

Damn...Poor RIku and Kairi. THey’d probably be searching for ways to rescue Sora the entire time instead of doing anything involving the other characters.

I kinda can't help but notice something mildly amusing about the MMO version of Back Cover. Mickey Mouse (or rather, a holographic double of him) is basically a herald of the apocalypse. I mean, his appearance is what tells the Foretellers that the people in the Book of Prophecy's Holo Worlds can leak out into the real world, explaining where the Heartless came from. Lauriam and Ventus just confuse them, because they KNOW they're not holograms.

GUYS THE WORLD IS ENDING CAN’T YOU TELL IT’S BECAUSE OF MICKEY FREAKING MOUSE. XD

So yeah, Invi basically accuses each of the other 4 Foretellers of being the traitor throughout MMO!BC. First she accuses Aced when he tries to kill her for talking Gula out of their alliance. Then she assumes it's Gula upon learning that Ira thinks that's the case. Then she accuses Ava upon learning about the Dandelions. Then, upon learning of Aced's true role, decides that IRA must be the traitor. The fact that Ira intends to wipe out everyone who fights in the Keyblade War doesn't help.

Okay so, Invi is kinda like Aqua in her devotion to the MoM, save for the fact that she LITERALLY worships him. That's kind of why her last words implied she was okay with the World ending, she had pieced together that the MoM WANTED the apocalypse to happen, and who is she to defy his will? The MoM is, amused by her worship of him, and he probably could have told her his true goals without her lifting a finger to stop him. It's Ava he's worried about.

So yeah, the reason he's so uncharacteristically serious around Ava is because he needs her to get Ven and Lauriam into the Unchained State. He needs Xehanort's plans to end a specific way in order for his eye that he placed in his Keyblade to end up in Kingdom Hearts, while Xehanort needs to drop Ventus off at the Land of Departure to notice the darkness in Terra's heart. Ava and factors he knows he can't control (the Gazing Eye doesn't see everything), could make everything fall apart

You know given how Invi was meant to invoke appearances related to Aqua with color scheme the fact that she parallels Aqua is really fitting.

Him being super serious around Ava makes sense if she’s the biggest threat though. Taking her more seriously means she’s less likely to mess things up for him.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Zero escape: Zero Time Dilemma continues!

Not many people seemed to care about the last post, but I like logging what me and the gf were doing with these games..

So we chose to make Captain America (Carlos) try to kill Akane instead of himself this round. Sadly, he did manage to do so, but not before she cut his arm off at least. And was all like “SORRY I COULDN’T AVENGE YOU JUNPEI (well you avenged his severed arm at least) so Carlos realized she didn’t kill Junpei and he’d fucked upppp. This is not a death ending for us somehow, despite having no makeshift tourniquet or medical aid anywhere. 

We did a whole puzzle room with another team which consisted of this game series’ fave archetypes: a character with amnesia (this time a little kid with a weird face mask), a lady with her boobs hanging out and some douchebag guy (ok that last one wasn’t really an archetype). You play as amnesia kid.

anyway, you end that scenario in a face off where you’re all pointing deadly weapons at each other. THERE ARE A LOT OF OPTIONS YOU CAN CHOOSE. If you shoot Douchebag guy, Boob Lady (who is supposed to be his girlfriend) will finish the job by shooting him in the head. Then she’ll reveal she doesn’t feel emotions and she’s a serial killer who’s been carving out people’s hearts in an attempt to “touch them” and feel emotions (YES IT’S VERY WEIRD THERE’S NO WAY I CAN REALLY EXPLAIN IT). She tells us this while carving out his heart. Apparently it feels great!

If you try to kill boob lady, Douchebag guy will take the arrow for her. Then she’ll get mad at you because the arrow went in his heart and now it won’t be perfect if she carves it out. Plus you, y’know, tried to kill her. So she shoots you.

If you choose NOBODY and lower your weapon, Douchebag guy wiill THROW A GRENADE at you (A CHILD) and kill you. Boob lady will be disappointed in him for this, presumably because it means his heart is not “pure” like she wants? It shows them sleeping together an few days later after they escaped and he’s babbling about how happy he is, then you hear a stabbing sound and he’s cut off, presumably she killed him. GOOD JOB BOOB LADY.

We can’t kill ourselves until we unlock amnesia kid’s real name (THAT’S OUR REWARD ISN’T IT GREAT)

We went back to play with Captain America, Akane and Junpei in a route where Junpei was NOT decapitated. Their dynamic is actually pretty hilarious? Akane has zero patience for Junpei’s emo phase and she isn’t pretending to be sweet and helpless anymore so she just. fucking eviscerates him verbally every five seconds, it’s so great. She LITERALLY TOLD CARLOS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SAYING ABOUT HIM. This happened:

Akane: Carlos, ignore Junpei

Me: He’s like, going through a phase right now

Akane: He’s acting out right now but he’s not usually like this. He’ll get through it.

Me: fucking...she literally just said “it’s just his emo phase” omg

Junpei: I’M ACTING LIKE THIS NOW BECAUSE I’VE GROWN UP AND SEEN THE WORLD FOR WHAT IT IS

Me: Actually you seem a lot LESS grown up...

Akane: Actually, Junpei, you seem more childish than ever to me.

Me: AKANE STOP DOING THAT

so yeah apparently me and Akane think alike. KIND OF TERRIFYING!!!

And she doesn’t stop. it’s like “aw a switch. NOW IF ONLY WE HAD A SWITCH TO CHANGE JUNPEI’S SHITTY PERSONALITY RIGHT NOW” or ”aw a gas valve.  I can see Junpei leaving one of these on by accident and killing himself.”

and regardless of whatever went on between them, he pretty much needs to be kept in check the way he’s acting rn (he keeps saying gross things in a clear attempt to piss her off because he’s mad at her or whatever, but she is generally so done with him and just casually one-ups any insult or creepy comment. Example:

Akane: I couldn’t get through that vent.

Junpei: SOMEONE’S been eating too much cake 

Akane: Hey, I’ve got an idea! If we cut Junpei’s arm off, we can probably fit him through the vent!

I love Akane, guys. In all her arm-chopping-off glory

It’s also fun playing because I can just finish all of Junpei’s sentences with like, generic over-the-top goth talk and it really works “let’s pull this lever, i hope it blows up the earth, we’re all just floating in the meaningless void”

My gf had a good one when the characters were discussing potentially shocking themselves.- “JUNPEI’S READY TO DO IT. HE’S HOPING THE SHOCK WILL WAKE HIM UP INSIDE”.

so yes, Emo Junpei is, if nothing else, extremely fun to riff off of. AND SO THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES.