#all of my dreams that he's been in have been so wacky ._.

[le-velo-pour-dru]

I need to have a good dream about Dallon what do you MEAN I've been dreaming about him accidentally punching me in the shoulder and playing only covers of Disney songs at his concerts‼️ 😭

[pardonmybunion]

So this @laurenillustrated artwork and all the vintage-dream-casting at @hotvintagepoll got me thinking: if Scooby Doo were a thing in the 1890s, then a few years later it would be a NATURAL for silent Hollywood. So who do we cast in Hal Roach’s hit 1915-1919 series of Scooby Doo live-action comedy shorts?

Shaggy and Scoob are both easy, because look, here’s Charley Bowers! He always plays chaotic pottering-around-with-machinery types, which is exactly the vibe that 1890s Shaggy gives, and he does so with a surrealist slapstick edge that’s perfect for the material. On top of that, Bowers is a pioneering stop-motion special effects artist—so he can also be our lead animator, and the rapport between live-action Shaggy and his animated Scooby will be delightful.

Like Shaggy, Velma has to have a certain slapstick quality (“Where are my glasses? I can’t see without my glasses”), so it’s lucky we have Alice Howell—nicknamed “the female Charlie Chaplin” by the tiresome people who use that type of comparison. The point is, she can give Velma the bookish self-possession suggested in the 1890s look, AND also run through a gajillion doors in a wacky hallway chase culminating in a spectacular pratfall.

(Mabel Normand is another contender, but her acting style seems a couple notches too naturalistic for Scooby Doo. I definitely see her directing a bunch of the shorts though.)

Fred needs to be both a conventionally hot manly-hero type and a bit of an idiot, so hello Reginald Denny! This British actor emigrated to Hollywood in the early 1910s, became a comedy star, and played himbos so well that he was still playing them into the 1960s. He’s even in the Adam West Batman movie as the naval hero Commodore Schmidlapp, who’s so ditzy he doesn’t realize he’s been kidnapped by the Penguin.

Daphne is a fun one—let’s assume that by this point, Pearl White is tired of all those straight-up action serials like The Perils of Pauline, and wants to do a spoof for a change. With silent comedy shorts there’s always a chance the plot will wander away and leave the individual gags running the store, and White brings enough tension and gravitas to prevent that situation and keep things moving. At the same time, since she favors action roles, she can easily match the dynamism of Bowers, Howell, and Denny.

And that’s to say nothing of all the silent actors who could appear in bit parts on their way to fame. Maybe the gang tears the mask off the ghost, and discovers it’s an early-career Buster Keaton?

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

can we get soft angst hcs of caine comforting a reader who entered the circus but found solace in escaping their old life?

Dang it didn't take long for the requests to come in haha, but yessss I'm eager to write for TADC now!! (just note my hcs/interpretations of the characters will change as more episodes come out).

.......

When you first arrived to the circus not long after Pomni, Caine was worried that you were going to freak out over trying to find an exit (that definitely does NOT exist).

So he just cuts to the chase and states you're stuck here forever. There's no exit doors or hidden portals or secret keys, so you can just give up on returning to your old life altogether.

But you don't look scared in the slightest.

Confused? Yes. Certainly.

However once you've taken in all this information, you just stand there with a smile and a relaxed posture--a display that concerns Caine a lot.

"They seem happy, boss.." Bubble whispers. "Is that a good sign?"

"Not sure. Never seen anybody react this way. Maybe they're just holding it all in and pretending to be fine when they're really no--WOAH, stop the presses!!!" His eyes bulge out of his head/mouth(?) as he sees the tears running down your cheeks. "You're crying more than Gangle does on Tuesday! Is it true that you were masking your emotions????"

"..huh? What..oh no!" You laugh and wipe away the tears, before explaining to the ringmaster that you were indeed very happy.

You spoke of how sad and dull your life was outside of this game.

It was your escape, a comfort, and you've been a huge supporter of its development over the years.

Even in your sleep, you never stopped thinking about it--you always had dreams of being in this very circus, having loads of fun with the other characters and joining their wacky adventures.

So to learn that (somehow) you became a permanent part of the game is literally a dream come true!

Of course, you weren't expecting the presence of the Abstracted and Pomni's constant freakouts, but you couldn't be happier.

Caine was surprised that you remembered so much of your old life (whereas poor Pomni couldn't even recall her own name).

But he sees you're content with starting a new life here in the Digital Circus and grins, eager to plan some exciting fun and games for you to enjoy.

He will, however, make a point to pair you with Pomni so you could help her calm down and show her that being in this virtual world wasn't so bad.

It's probably not the best idea, though, as nothing you say comforts her.

"I mean, your old life could've been really bad and-"

"But what if it was good? What if I had tons of friends and a great family and a successful job and.....oh god..what if I had PETS?!!!" She wails. "Who's gonna take care of them?!!!"

Had she remembered at least one little bad detail from her old life....persuasion would come a lot easier.

But Caine encourages you to keep trying anyways.

[colourstreakgryffin]

you know why i'm here, love.

headcanons with Alastor and a Female Rarity-Like! Reader. I'M ON MY KNEES.

love ya :3

Letssss gooooo! Al and his drama queen! I’ve been thinking about this for so long. Love you too! Thank you soooo muccchh! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🥰😍🥹

Alastor- Crystal Heart

Alastor’s a man who’s big into fashion and appearing appealing so doesn’t it make sense his dream woman is a fashionista

Not even just a fashionista but a talented, original fashionista with her own lines of boutique stores and fancy designs. You’re not an Overlord but you may as well be. You’re the Queen of Fashion in the Pride Ring and most importantly, the Queen of Alastor’s heart

Most of the Hazbin Hotel staff find you unbearable, on the surface. You’re kinda loud, appearance-driven, almost too vain, very prissy and adamant on staying clean and perfect but Alastor loves these behaviours. He knows you’re more than a pretty face but he doesn’t mind you maintaining your poise and grace in your own way

Alastor finds your light blue telekinetic magic interesting. Your magic is the primary reason you can get out so much out under such little time. Your magical touch manipulates and smoothly moves around limitless amounts of items and whilst you work, diligent and determined, you can also bring Alastor over to give him his mandatory morning kiss

Alastor likes your accent. You have a Mid-Atlantic accent, it makes your lady flare glow even more and he likes that you and him both clash and mesh at the same time

Alastor joins you on your gemstone hunting anytime you need it, acting as your muscles to pull your wagon around effortlessly, this mf hella strong, so you don’t have to. You’re too sophisticated and classy to pull a carriage around. It may stain your gorgeous skin

If it’s not obvious, Al is kinda a simp for you but you’re a bigger simp for him

Alastor loves it that you design his coats. You make him look fashionable and he won’t ever go to any other tailor nor designer. Nobody matches your spark and he feels proud to be wearing an outfit you designed for him. He looks magnificent! Doesn’t he?

Alastor is that lovely, caring gentleman you’ve always dreamed about and when you’re around the man you like; you’re giddy, giggly and flustered. This is how you, the Pride Ring’s own lady of fashion, behaves around Alastor. Charmed, blushy and nervous about messing up, all whilst trying your damn best to not get too fangirly-like

Yeah… your romantic admiration devolves into full-blown fangirling and Alastor does not mind it at all. His girlfriend being his biggest cheerleader is all he could ask for

Alastor is the gentleman you’ve always wanted, you’re the lady Alastor has always wanted. It’s a win-win for both of you

Alastor absolutely loves the way you defend him like he’s a little deer. The way you loudly yelled you’d fight anybody for even touching him, despite the fact you’re such a lady and much prefer fashion. It makes his undead heart fly off to Heaven

Alastor knew the moment he saw you in the most wacky and unorganised mess of a dress he’s ever seen, pretty usually neatly styled and curled hair messed up and eyes twitching that you’re simply perfect and when you responded to Angel Dust asking about you with

“My emotions, darling! Stress couture!” He also knew right away that he is going to put a ring on your finger and make you his for good. You’re absolutely everything that both drives him crazy and makes him feel all the more appreciated

You’re the biggest drama queen in Hell, long outdoing Angel Dust, you whine and worry about the smallest things; you lost your diamond-encrusted ribbon? You’re laying on the velvet couch you summoned and is currently weeping for a man Alastor to save you. You’ve been unable to brush your hair more than hundred times before bed? You’re going to bed sobbing in disgust at your messy hair. You forgot to pack plates for the Hotel picnic? Where’s the dramatic fall chair?

Alastor loves your little sister, she is precious. A charming sweetie belle and he is happy to babysit for you if you need it but he notices how you’re able to balance caring for your little sister and your intense work spectacularly. It’s so impressive, it adds to the list of things Alastor loves about you

Alastor cannot look at you in any style of a beautiful dress without hiding in the corner and mentally dying. That’s how much he finds you attractive, seeing you in a gorgeous dress will send him to double Hell

Alastor is getting a hang of your pet cat, Opal. She isn’t the nicest, she is even irritable to you but he is going to keep trying to befriend your pet so you feel even more inclined to him. Look at him, he’s bonding with your feisty vicious Hell cat! Aren’t you proud of him?

Alastor isn’t use to people being so… well, generous to him. You’re so generous, even when it seems that you’re just shallow and egocentric. You care about your looks and proclaim being beautiful is your whole thing but you care immensely about everybody else, you’re a considerate, loving person with a big sister vibe to all and you’re a open, dedicated girlfriend to Alastor. You give up the most expensive and valuable items to opportunities, all for anybody else to enjoy, even if you wanted them so bad

You’re just that much of a sweetheart… it is one of the main things that drew Alastor to you. You’re innocent, you’re quite angelic for a Sinner demon

Of course, you’re in Hell because your pride, greed and vanity is so high but you’re barely a bad person. You’re more of a misguided lady of looks and Alastor, whilst being the worst person you could ever meet and date, will always protect you from Hell

Alastor gifts you all kinds of expensive gemstone jewellery to accessorises. That dark purple diamond-shaped gemstone golden-branded necklace of yours? That’s from Al. Those nice pair of shiny emerald stud earrings, yep, right from Alastor. The rose gold-detailed engagement ring now on your ring finger, delivered at your doorstep by Al himself

Alastor will help you with your work when he can, he’ll dress you in designs meant for you to wear and he’ll even help run a fashion show. He’s like your manager in an odd but cute way, he oversees your models and he announces the show himself, through his signature microphone. Many are surprised by Alastor ‘working’ for you but he isn’t ashamed to admit that his girlfriend made this fashion line and lead you out onto the stage after it’s over, so you can be admired by the crowd

You and Alastor throwing ‘darling’ at each other for fun go brrrrr~!

Alastor knows you don’t like getting dirty or wet or messy so he’ll pick you up, the moment you two encounter something gross. He’ll carry you over it. As a gentleman, he must keep you safe and since you’re specifically his lady, you let him do it. Giggling all lovestruck and like a cute happy teenage girl with her longtime crush, but situations like these always ends with Alastor happy you’re happy and you happy that you’re so close to your boyfriend like this

“Darling. Tell me all about the sports history exhibition with your friend? Was it fancy? Ooh. How about a great piece for fashion inspiration? Cough up every detail. Don’t fret, I’ll dress you for today, you just speak to me. Yes, today is business fancy for you, my dear”

[annymation]

Reimagining the characters in Wish

(Part 3- Star/Aster)

ITS THE MOMENT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

HERE COMES THE BOYYYYY!!!

Ahem… so yeah welcome to part 3

If you haven’t seen them yet, here’s the links for part 1 and part 2 where I talk about how I’d rewrite Asha and the villains respectively.

Star may be the most challenging character to reimagine since… All I have is the personality displayed on the Star we DID get, a song we all collectively headcanon as Asha x Star love song (At All Cost Demo), and my imagination… In a way that just makes things more fun too.

Now remember there’s no definitive version of this character, he never came true so there’s limitless ways we can interpret him.

Some may imagine him mute, some may imagine him as a wacky character like the genie, others may imagine him more soft spoken like the blue fairy, some may imagine him as Asha’s love interest while others may prefer them as just friends, or even have him look like her grandfather, there are no wrong answers.

So here’s how I imagine him to be like:

The Star 💫

What’s a Wishing Star?

- Before we start talking about our star boy, I think it’s important we establish what a wishing star even is, so let’s begin.

-Star is an entity from another plane of existence, a wishing star, a being whose only purpose is to listen to the wishes from mortals that can see him and other wishing stars through their night skies. They listen to the wishes from mortals and provide some guidance in subtle ways.

- A wishing star is born, or rather, gains consciousness, once someone looks to them and makes a wish from the bottom of their hearts, once the star receives their first ever wish they are no longer just a celestial body of gas, they become a new wishing star, they gain a purpose, and develop their minds just like how a human would.

- As the years pass the star becomes more wise, more equipped to help the person who wished upon them for the first time.

- For a wishing star to grow up it may take a while, that’s why most people wish upon bigger ones who are already fully developed and clever enough to know exactly how to help.

- It’s not a wishing star’s job to GRANT a wish immediately, in fact, they’re incapable of doing that, their magic can only go as far as the hope and perseverance that resides in their wishmaker’s heart.

- Things that the mortal would consider just luck could actually be the works of a wishing star putting them in the right path.

- If the person loses hope in their dream then there isn’t anything the star can do, but if they remain determined then the star can help them go far.

- So a wishing star job is to just… stay in the sky, look down upon their wishmakers, give some subtle magic intervention here and there…

-That is, when they’re wished upon at all, otherwise they just stay there doing nothing.

- However… In some rare occasions, wishing stars can do a lot more than just give a subtle magic intervention from the distance. Sometimes, when someone truly well intentioned makes a wish with all their heart… The wishing star gets the power to do some extraordinary things.

Personality

- Star, or Aster as I’ll be calling him in this rewrite, which is a non-binary name meaning “star”. I’ll be referring to them with (He/they) pronouns.

- Aster is a very young and inexperienced wishing star, in fact, counting with Asha’s wish, Star only got TWO wishes in their whole life. And he’s still working on granting that first wish he ever got 18 years ago.

(Haha I’m sure that’s not foreshadowing for something really sad)

- Because of that he’s often treated by the other stars as sort of a younger sibling or a little kid.

- I think I should just get this info out now: Aster is NOT the north star, that big, bright and iconic star we know from the Disney movies, nope, Aster is actually a small itty bitty little star that you can barely see, that kind of star you probably wouldn’t pick to wish upon, most choose the brightests and bigger ones.

- So who’s that big, bright and iconic star? Well, in the beginning of our story… That star doesn’t exist, like, it’s literally absent from the sky… After all, we're seeing that star's origin story :)

- We’ll get to that when we get to that, back to Aster tho.

- Aster is a lot different from the other wishing stars, while they’re these benevolent and wise entities, Aster is more of a naive and curious teen who’s fascinated with the world below them.

- No one wishes upon him EVER so he gets a lot of free time to just watch humans do human things and animals do animal things, and he loves it.

(He’s like Ariel and Quasimodo lmao)

- When he gets to earth he’s very excited to help Asha, showing appreciation for her wishing upon him through a lot of physical contact, often hugging her and holding her hand without him even noticing. (Asha at first is confused but she gets used to this behavior pretty quick)

- Although Aster is naive and overly excited they’re no fool, he can be very clever and creative when it’s necessary.

- He’s also not a fish out of water like Ariel when he’s on earth, they understands human customs and how things work, since he watched everything from the sky… Although nevertheless they’re delighted to see everything up close.

- He may be smart, but at first, they don’t really know how to guide Asha in the right path to make her wish come true, after all he’s a very inexperienced wishing star, and freeing a kingdom from an evil sorcerer king and queen is no easy task.

- But regardless he doesn’t let his own insecurities get to him, and remains optimistic they’ll figure it out, together.

His personality is reminiscent to Disney guys such as: Quasimodo, Peter Pan, Prince Philip (yes really, rewatch Sleeping Beauty, that boy has a lot of personality), Alladin and Hercules.

Main Traits:

- Optimistic and kind

- Naïve

- Protective

- Curious

- Energetic

- Secretly very insecure

Powers

I think it’s important to establish his abilities before we get to his backstory and all that jazz.

What he CAN’T do

Just like how Movie Asha did in her job interview, let’s get his weaknesses out of the way first.

- Sooo… don’t get mad but… Star won’t be a shapeshifter in my version. I don’t want him to feel too much like Maui or the genie. So he’ll stay in the shape of a princely looking boy the whole way through.

- He can’t teleport, would make things too easy, also there’s a plot reason I’ll explain later.

- Can’t materialize real things out of thin air, only things made of star dust so they don’t really have any utility other than to create fun visuals during music numbers or when he’s explaining stuff.

- Can’t hurt anyone, this one is VERY IMPORTANT for plot reasons I’ll talk about later on.

- Can’t make a wish come true with the snap of his fingers, he’s a star, not a genie.

Weakness: Dark Magic, hopelessness and Asha getting hurt.

What he CAN do

- Stretch and re-shape his body. He may not turn into animals but his body can regenerate and squash and stretch around (haha get it? Like the animation term), like he’s made of star dust. Have this piece of concept art as an example:

- He can Fly and make other people and objects fly too

- Unlock doors, may seem random now but I’ll explain in a minute.

- Bring plants to life, and make them grow bigger, and I mean like “make a flower the size of a house” bigger.

- Make animals talk, but the animals only keep talking IF they so desire, if that’s not something they wish for then the magic fades away with time.

- Tho he naturally understands animals and any other living thing in their own languages.

- He can feel other people’s wishes, not all the time tho, he has to make a conscious effort to see what’s that person’s deepest desire.

- His body is warm like a small sun, so he can give warm hugs… that’s a power, yes.

- Aster may not teleport, but they can move really REALLY fast

- Uncorrupt wish bubbles, I mentioned in part 2 that Magnifico twisted most the people's wishes, those wishes that are changed are called “Corrupted wishes”, Aster can change those wishes back to what they originally were.

- Create dreams, is that too much like the sandman from rise of the guardians?… Im still keeping it.

-Get inside drawings, This is just for a scene I imagine Aster shrinking and walking around inside Asha's sketch book, I think that's cute.

- Make a human disguise, I'll elaborate more on this when we get to talk about his design.

- He can grant wishes “but Anny you just said earlier he can’t—“ yes yes I know… he just grants them in his own unique way.

What gives him strength: Hopes and dreams

(Undertale reference? More likely than you think)

A wishing star purpose is to serve as a guide, that provides some magic intervention so that the wishmaker has the means to get to their goal.

As such, the stronger Asha’s hope, perseverance and passions are, the stronger and more limitless Star’s magic becomes. Like his magic abilities are charged up by Asha’s beliefs, the more she wants something, the more he can do for her.

Now, let’s talk about how Aster and other wishing stars that come to earth function, and to do that, we gotta go waaaaay back to another wish granting character in the Disney catalog.

The Blue Fairy- What can we learn from her?

- We all know the blue fairy from Pinocchio, she is in a way the closest thing we have in the Disney canon that resembles the concept of Star, so I’m considering them as both the same kind of entity, they’re both wishing stars.

(not the same character tho, and I’ll get to that soon don’t you worry)

- You would think a character we see so little about doesn’t provide a lot of context, but she actually gives us a pretty good idea about what wishing stars can and can’t do.

- First thing she says when arriving is:

“Good Geppetto, you have given so much happiness to others. You deserve to have your wish come true.”

- From that, we can interpret that wishing stars only assume a human form and help those who are truly pure of heart and have spread kindness to others. Like Asha.

- Geppetto wished for Pinocchio to be a real boy, a human boy, but the blue fairy couldn’t grant that wish, because the only one who could make himself a real boy was Pinocchio himself.

“To make Geppetto’s wish come true will be enterely up to you. Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy"

- So, am I saying that Aster will just fly up to Asha and say “it’s all up to you to save your people… GOOD LUCK! 😊” sparkle some magic on her and leave?

- Well no although that would be funny, he’s not gonna do that, in fact, Aster will act way differently compared to the Blue Fairy.

- Although Aster can’t immediately make the people of Rosas “Have something more than this” he will do everything in his power to help Asha with anything she needs, and stay by her side the whole way through… Not at all what the Blue Fairy did.

- Lets say the Blue Fairy did exactly what a wishing star is supposed to do.

-She didn’t let herself be seen by anyone except Pinocchio and Jimminy Cricket, she only gave Pinocchio a few instructions and then left it all up to him, and even then when she went a bit beyond that to inform him that Geppetto was inside a whale she did so by sending a note… Almost like she couldn’t go back again to tell him personally… Interesting huh?

(I know the reason is because the animators would lose their minds if they had to draw that sparkly effect on her dress a third time but let’s pretend there’s more to it okay?)

- So we have her being the best role model of a wishing star… and then we have Aster...

-Doesn’t even know where to begin with helping Asha, chooses to stay on earth more than a day instead of just giving cryptic advice and leaving, was seen by multiple people aside from just Asha and Valentino, and worse of all, falls in love with his wish maker… yeah dude broke several rule… And the other stars ain’t happy about that.

- You could say the scale of Geppetto’s wish and Asha’s wish are way different, one just wants a son and the other wants to defeat two evil monarchs.

-But the stars don’t see it that way, to them every wish should be treated equally and it’s not their purpose to mingle with humans and change the course of their history.

- So you see, while the Blue Fairy could go back to the sky and then reappear anywhere she wanted… Aster won’t have that privilege.

-If he goes back to the sky he’s not coming back down, because the other stars won’t allow it, not after he broke their rules.

- Aster knows all that, because he can hear them talking to him, warning him to stop and go back to the sky… Aster keeps that information a secret from Asha for as long as they can…

- He knows after he’s done helping Asha they’ll never see each other again, but that’s fine, he’s willing to break every rule to help her…

- Oh also there’s a scene in Pinocchio where the Blue Fairy opens a lock to free Pinocchio from a cage… that’s why I said Aster can unlock doors… okay moving on to our boy backstory.

Backstory

Yup, Aster has a backstory. And it all started in one fateful night:

An elderly man was taking a walk, carrying his granddaughter in his arms, she was just a few weeks old, but he couldn’t wait to show her how beautiful the stars looked that night.

He sat with her on a thick tree branch, and even though she couldn’t understand him, he was so happy telling her the names of each constellation.

In that moment, it seemed like everything was perfect.

But then that moment ended… He heard screams, and smelled smoke.

The elderly man ran back to his home, only to find it completely engulfed in a fire.

His granddaughter was now crying in his arms as he watched some neighbors trying to put down the fire, but to no avail.

His son and daughter-in-law were in there, he lost them both in an instant, the pain he felt in that moment was immeasurable.

In that moment of sorrow all he could do was look up, between the thick smoke he saw it… a small star.

With all his heart, Sabino wished upon it

“I wish my dear granddaughter, Asha, never feel such pain and sadness as I’m feeling in this moment”

A new wishing star was born.

Those words were the first thing Aster ever heard, it took a few years for him to even know what they meant, but as Asha and him grew older, he started to understand them.

He tried his best to make Asha as happy as she could be with the little that he was allowed to do.

Sometimes giving her inspiration for her drawings, other times sending her nice dreams after a bad day.

But he felt like he was failing her, no matter what he did, Asha would still go through sad times… Specially after her grandfather passed away.

Aster treasured every happy moment that he saw Asha experience, her making new friends, getting better with her drawings, dancing during wish ceremonies. Aster would shine brighter every time she was happy.

Point is: They were connected the whole time, and Aster already knew Asha even way before she wished upon him.

To be clear he wouldn’t just stay up there looking at Asha all day, he was also interested on everything else on earth in general.

But then, we have Asha’s 18th birthday, the day she had to give away her wish.

Aster knew what was really going on in Rosas, about what happened to most of the people’s wishes, and although that also saddened the other stars they all agreed they couldn't intervene unless someone from Rosas wished for their help.

So you can imagine how happy Aster was when Asha wished upon HIM, of all the stars, she looked at him and asked for his help! What are the chances?

If you could listen to them, you’d hear all the stars collectively whisper “oh…this might not end well…” as Aster flies down to earth going "YYYYYPIIIEEEEEEE!!!"

A Star Who Wishes To Be Human

- I’ve made it very clear that Aster is different from the other stars, for the reason that he’s so young and so fascinated with life on earth.

- But there’s more than that, see, I mentioned before Aster can’t hurt anyone, and that’s not because he’s some holier-than-thou pacifist, it’s because his magic literally CAN’T hurt living beings.

- Because his magic is made of ✨hopes✨ and ✨kindness✨ and ✨everything nice✨, so even if they literally make a sword with his star dust, all it’ll do is give Magnifico some tickles.

- And Aster hates that.

- He wishes he could be more useful to Asha… wait, “wishes”?

- That’s silly, a star is not supposed to “wish” for anything, to have wants, that’s a human thing... And yet here he is wanting to protect Asha in any way possible.

- This drive to protect Asha runs even deeper than just the wish he received from her grandfather or the wish she made, Aster feels as if it's a wish that comes within him.

- Aster would question why they feels this way, is it love? Can’t be that right? A star can’t fall in love…

- The same way a star can’t taste food, or smell the flowers, or feel temperature…

- But Aster wishes they could, Aster wishes he knew what food tasted like, what was the smell of the flowers and the morning dew, but most of all… Aster wished he could feel Asha’s warmth, the same way she feels when they embraced.

- This would be Aster internal conflict for most of the movie. They’d realize that they can’t be with Asha forever, but Aster wanted to at least confess his feelings before they went to enact their plan to defeat the king and queen, that’s when we’d get “At All Cost”.

- Soooo a bit of a spoiler to this rewrite, I’m basically telling a story all out of order at this point, but here goes, Aster does become human by the end, after the king and queen are defeated, the stars realize that punishing Aster for breaking their rules wouldn’t be fair after he did so much good, and also because some of them can’t stand him so they decide “hey, let’s leave him there” and just ask him to return his magic back to the sky.

- Once Aster accepts, his magic would be turned into a brand new star, that shines brighter than all the others, because it carries all the magic that Aster accumulated by helping Asha and all of Rosas. And thus we’d get an origin story for THE wishing star.

Design

Aster has brown skin, sparkly freckles and blond hair that shines and moves almost like a candle.

He dresses up as a prince, with the classic cape we see in classic princes like in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

They choose that form because he recalls that Asha used to read a lot about princes that would help princesses in need, so he thinks it's fitting to at least looks like one to help Asha

"But I'm not a princess"

"I know, you're just pretty like one!"

A itty bitty detail I didn't mention until now: Aster would be hand drawn animated, while everything else would be 3D, and his animation would change as the movie progressed.

By change I mean he'd start in a very sketchy looking animation, like it's being drawn very frantically to reflect how excited he is to help Asha, but as the movie progresses he'd be drawn with more detail and with more fluid movements.

This would serve to both represent his character development, showing him becoming more mature and learning what it means to be human, and also a reference to how Disney's animation evolved over the years.

He can make a human disguise, as I mentioned earlier, but that would require him to keep his magic hidden somewhere, in this case, a round stone that holds his cape together on his chest.

Once his magic was all kept inside this stone he'd turn into a 3D animated character, however his movements wouldn't feel... quite right, like he'd be animated in a different frame-rate compared to everyone else, so you could tell he was struggling to make himself move like a human, and people would be able to tell there was something off about him.

In the end when he turned into a human for real he'd become 3D animated with the right frame-rate, and his hair would no longer be blonde, but rather brown, like his eyebrows (Tangled reference? yup)

Final Thoughts

This was DEFINITELY the hardest one to translate my thoughts into words! My gosh this took so long to write.

Don't know if you could tell but I'm very passionate about this scrapped idea of a human looking star falling in love with our protagonist, and no it's not just for the ✨aesthetic✨.

I don't think it's wise to throw a romance when writing a story just because you feel like it, a romance needs to progress both the story and the characters involved, think of it like how Naveen learned with Tiana the importance of working hard, while in turn showing her that life can also be fun. They complete each other, and I want the same for Asha and Aster.

Asha needs to learn that she shouldn't feel guilty for wishing more for herself, she worries too much about others and what others may think of her that she forgets her own self worth, and Aster shows her that she not only can wish for things for herself, but she can also accomplish anything she sets her mind to. From becoming an amazing artist that can give movement to her drawings to the leader of a rebellion against two evil monarchs, she can do it all.

Meanwhile, Aster needs to learn that what Asha's grandfather wished upon him is an impossible task, for Asha to always be happy, that's impossible, because sadness is a part of life, its a part of being human, and that's what he learns, what it means to be human, to fail, get up and try again. As a wishing star Aster always knew that humans had to fail a bunch of times before having their wishes granted but he could never imagine how hard that actually was, and Asha's perseverance even with all odds against her is what makes him love her even more.

I talked a lot about why Aster loves Asha, so I should probably mention what Asha sees in him too. Asha get's a lot of laughs from Aster's innocent reactions to natural things on earth, like how dazzled he is seeing the sun rise for the first time, how he just stops and starts chatting with animals and plants like a damn disney princess, or how he randomly starts rambling about how some constellations don't look at all like the animals they're named after "Like, seriously, why did they name that one a lynx? That's obviously a snake hehehe"

But most importantly she loves how caring he is, how he's supportive and passionate about her interests just as much as she is, and how he makes her feel safe, and in turn she wants to protect him too.

I'm honestly debating with myself how I want Aster to go about the information he has known Asha all his life, like, I imagine he'd probably want to hide the fact because he didn't want to talk about the sad tragedy that led to her grandfather wishing upon him, yes Asha knows about the fire but he doesn't want to remind her and make her sad, because remember, at first he doesn't understand that sadness is just part of life.

But then like, would he pretend to not know her? Or would he be like a ghibli character and just nonchalantly say "Oh yeah, I’ve always known you" and never elaborate on that until the story demands it?

… Great, now I just had the idea of Aster functioning like Haku from Spirited Away, like they don't remember where he knows Asha from because he forgot what their previous wish was now that he’s granting a new one, let's say stars can only remember one wish at a time, then as he gets to know her better he starts to remember what his first wish was, and things start to make more sense.

I don’t know, like that’s cute but might be a bit too complicated, y’all tell me, I’m throwing ideas and seeing what makes sense, this whole thing is me asking for feedback after all.

Honestly I think the idea of Aster knowing Asha the whole time works because it not only gives a better explanation to why a star came down from the sky to help her, but also gives more sense to the lyrics “you still amaze me after all this time” in At All Cost.

Welp, I think that's all I got, thank you so much for following along with this series, and don't worry I'm not over yet, there are a few characters to talk about before I start sharing the actual script of this rewrite.

Thank You For Reading!

[copinghardasfvck]

dont prove ‘em right

ADRIAN CHASE X READER

summary: your relationship with that cute dorky waiter at fennel fields is relatively new but doubt is cast fairly early on in your relationship.

notes: fluff, the teensiest bit of angst, sex mentioned, not really identity reveal but close, inspired by please please please by sabrina carpenter, MINORS DNI 🫶

You bit your lip, not really trying to hide your bright smile or giggle as your boyfriend belted Gwen Stefani next to you. Part of you wanted to remind him to keep his eyes on the road. The more dominant part of you sang along with him and moved your hand from where it was previously resting, in the crook of his elbow, to lace through his free hand that wasn’t on the wheel.

Adrian had been… so perfect. Sure he was dorky but you liked dorky. Sure he was working full time as a busboy in a dingy little Italian restaurant but love is blind especially when it comes with free lifetime discounts on oily cheesy pasta and garlic bread.

Nothing mattered, not when he’s this cute. Not when he’s the sweetest guy you ever dated, unafraid of being corny. He’s his true authentic weird self, making inappropriate jokes left and right, eager to share his life and all his thoughts with you. You’ve never met a guy who was this enthusiastic about you or about pleasing you. And please you, he did.

Things have been going more than well so far.

“And then when he turned around, it was you, all along,” You said, wiggling your fingers in the air and deepening your voice a little mysteriously. A giggle escaped you when Adrian’s jaw dropped and he gasped. Sometimes you couldnt even tell if he was overplaying his reactions for comedic effect.

“That’s a craaazy dream, babe,” He awed, “No like I don’t know why my dreams dont have wacky plot twists like yours. Usually I’m either getting chased or we’re fucking. Not that I don’t like fucking you. But its better in person of course.”

You snorted, craning out of your seat to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m…” Adrian groaned, smacking the center console playfully frustrated. “Another one?”

You gave him another small kiss on the cheek, tongue darting out to lick his skin as you pulled back.

His head snapped to you, a finger lifting to scold you.

“Eyes on the road!!”

“You just licked me!”

“Baby, eyes on the road!” You started grabbing his chin to turn his face back forward.

“You’ll rue the day you—”

“Okay okay!! Baby please if we both die in a car crash you wont get make me to rue this day.”

He settled, focusing back on the road, right on time too, because he pulled into the parking lot of the bar you’d planned to go to tonight. And a few moments of peace were ruined when he poked your stomach, sending you yelping and you launched yourself toward the passenger side door.

“I’m sorry!” You snorted, grabbing the offending hand to stop him from poking you again.

Adrian pulled your hand toward his lips and kissed your fingers, luring you into another moment of false security before swiftly snaking his hand out of your grasp, going under your arm, and poking you in the side again.

You yelped again, swatting his hands away from you and he giggled, putting the car in park. You watched him cautiously, as he turned to face you. “Do I get payment for driving?”

“You’re gonna poke me again.” You said, pointing to his hands resting at his side.

“I wont. Pinky promise. I can’t break a pinky promise.” He held his pinky out for you.

“You cant. Or I’ll never trust a pinky promise again.”

“I’d never stain a pinky promise.”

“Your word would mean nothing if you were to break a pinky promise,” You warned, locking your pinky with his.

“I could never ruin pinky promises for you. They’re like.. sacred.”

“Truce,” You said, letting go of his hand and leaning yourself over the center console to give him a soft kiss on the lips.

Adrian smiled into your kiss, cupping your cheek with his hand. “Love you.” Your noses were still touching and when you opened your eyes, you saw his hooded ones staring back.

Some would say three months is too soon to say “I love you.” You counter with what do they know?

Smiling brightly at him, you repeated, “Love you too, honey.”

“I get so hard when you call me honey,” Adrian whined, puckering his lips to close the one centimeter distance between your faces.

You pulled away slightly with a smirk on your face, biting your tongue as you stared down at him. His eyes looked so big from this angle. You kissed him again, only giving enough time for him to kiss you back and for you to sneak a swipe of your tongue against his lips.

“You’re fucked up,” You muttered.

“Why?”

“‘Honey’ isn’t dirty. In any way. Its actually quite wholesome, most would agree”

“Everything’s dirty when you say it.”

You felt your stomach twist because of the way he said it, under his breath, leaning in for another kiss. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of you. He makes you dizzy… especially when he’s this close to you. Your heads not right. “We’re late,” It was half a reminder to yourself.

“So?? We can be later.”

“Says you, they’re your friends,” You laughed, unlocking the passenger door. Adrian pouted. “I need to make a good impression. And thats easier for me to do when your cum isnt dripping down my thighs.”

Adrian’s eyes were so fucking dark but the desperation hidden in them were what made you giggle and jog out into the parking lot. Adrian scrambled after you quickly. You turned when you heard the Sebring honk lightly to signal it was locked, just in time to see Adrian run up to you and grab your hand in his. Your arms pressed up together. Fuck you love this man. You’ve never been this lovesick in your life. And you can see how much he adores you back.

You were moving so fast but you couldnt even be sorry about it. Today was meet Adrians friends day, next weekend was Adrian meet your friends day and he’s already been talking about “How should I introduce myself to the mister and missus? Should I wear my work uniform so they know I’m employed?” He even joked (you think) about wifing you up several times — you blamed it on the fact that it usually came after he just came.

But god you really wanted this to go well. You really wanted this to work out. You love this nerd. You love him so much that every fucking song you hear on the radio is about him. You love him so much you get sad going out to have fun without him because you wish he were there. And then you still get excited because you cant wait to show him that cool experience .

When you entered the bar, you weren’t sure what you were expecting. To be honest you love and hate meeting new people. Loved new connections but hated the anxiety that comes with it.

It took a few seconds for Adrian to find his friends and colleagues once he did, you looked to see they were already gawking at the two of you, eyes wide, mouths agape. You looked at Adrian, a lopsided smile on your face, and back at them, wondering if he was going to introduce you first or if they were gonna go around saying their names.

“Guys! This is my girlfriend I was telling you about.”

None of them said anything, eyes flitting back and forth between you and your boyfriend. Admittedly you didnt get the memo for the night and overdressed a little, a cute minidress, but that was for the dinner you and Adrian had before the bar. Adrian picked you up right after some top secret business meeting at Fennel Fields (You dont know why a busboy would be involved in a corporate meeting but you didnt question it) so he was more dressed for the bar than the dinner. You hoped it wasnt a big deal that you stuck out from the rest of the group. You hope they dont think youre trying too hard.

You uttered a cheerful introduction before launching into the standard “It’s wonderful to meet you all. Adrian has told me so much. I asked him how he knows Peacemaker,” You turned to the tall blonde man, “actually, because like, of course I’ve seen you on the news before. But you know I think its cool that Evergreens hero is still a regular at small businesses like Fennel Fields. Even after the whole butterfly-aliens-saving the world situation. And Adrian told me he knows all of you through Mr Peacemaker and thats also really cool you know like I admire that all of you put yourselves in a position of danger to help us—” you gestured between Adrian and you, “feel safer in our homes. And I dont mean to sound dorky or like a fan, which of course I am and I respect you all but you dont have to worry that I’m gonna ask for a picture or anything like that— that’d be weird. And I’m gonna close my mouth now. Uhm— What are your names?”

Adrian smiled brightly at them, “Isn’t she great?”

You buried your face in Adrians arm to hide your embarrassed face.

“Its nice to meet you,” One girl chimed in, almost just as awkward as you, “I’m Leota.”

“Why are you with him?” A man sitting behind the rest blurted out loud, though you weren’t sure if he meant to.

That immediately put you off, completely caught off guard, you stumbled for words and Leota, thankfully, gave him a stern smack on the chest before telling you, “You don’t have to answer that.”

“No, no don’t worry um—” despite his aggressive tone, you figured you should extend some benefit of the doubt. If Adrian calls these people his friends, you’d hope they’re nice. The man could have been teasing, and maybe your ears were being a little extra sensitive, maybe you perceived more bite than he intended. “Adrian’s the sweetest guy I’ve dated. I’m used to assholes that give more than they take but he always matches my energy and isn’t shy about his feelings,” smiling, you looked at Adrian, hoping you answered well.

He kissed your cheek happily, and you drank it up, beaming.

The rest of the night went smoothly after you finished up introductions and started to drink a little more. You found that it was easy to get to know Leota, maybe it was the fact that she quietly defended Adrian when an insult was thrown at him, but you think that she just generally has an open kind of vibe to her. Emilia definitely doesn’t carry herself with the same friendliness but you decided relatively quickly that you like her too because of her authenticity.

You just hoped they came out of this feeling like you deserve Adrian.

You found out ten minutes before the bar’s closing that that you definitely had nothing to worry about in that regard.

—————

It was really a pleasant surprise how easy it was to fall into conversation with Emilia and Leota. They were pretty interested in you and of course you had a million questions for them— to which you received a million mind boggling stories of near death experiences they’ve gone through.

There was the occasional moment in which they would stutter but nothing set off an alarm to you. Lots of “A—… Vigilante” or “Ummmm… our other co-worker,” in the middle of a sentence. You didn’t question why they needed to protect an identity. Truly, it flew completely over your head — they work for the government! Of course they’d have secrets. You didn’t want to take it personally.

But they grew increasingly on edge as the night went on. And you wanted to ask if everything was alright… but it didn’t feel right to. As a civilian, you get that some things are just classified.

“Adrian can be a handful,” Leota laughed. And since you were picking up that general air of discomfort you took note that her eyes were widened, not really in a joking way but similar to the manner in which John, you knew his name now, made that initial comment. You’re not just being sensitive right?

“He’s silly sometimes,” You said, not really trying to agree with what she was trying to say, “He matches my silly,” You tried to make it better.

Leota nodded slowly, muttering short sounds that sounded like stalling and Emilia bit her lip, looking away, “Look…” Emilia started, and you tuned in. “You seem nice.”

Oh thats not scary at all…

You waited for the inevitable “We don’t think you’re a good match,” or “You’re trashy, you’re x, you’re y, you’re all these things that make us not like you or want to be around you.”

“Too nice.”

“What?” You couldn’t help it. You knew you were interrupting her but your heart is beating fast and your blood is kind of rushing to your head. You just… its hard for you to meet a good guy and you were already nervous for this little meet and greet and it seems like you were right to be. Everyones been tiptoeing around you like you could break into a million pieces.

“Its just that Adrian—”

“He’s not what he seems,” Leota said.

Dramatic. Ominous. Many words flashed through your head, all of the same nature. What the fuck they’re acting like hes gonna kill you or something. Like hes a criminal.

Then you thought about it.

All these people who work for the government. Friends with a busboy at Fennel Fields.

Your eyes alternated between the two of them and they looked as if they saw the gears turning in your head, sighing to themselves a sigh of relief that they dont have to say more than that to get you to understand what they were getting at.

“I’m sure you noticed the like… you know… late nights. Maybe a bruise and you didn’t know where it came from. Maybe he’s secretive about his phone…” Leota rambled and you didnt need her to continue. You do remember. Now that someone else points it out.

Its fucked that the first thought going through your head is maybe I should warn Adrian, because you dont know whats going on. Does Adrian know that they know what he did? What did he do? They dont seem like they’re really his friends. Are they in some deep cover operation where they all have to infiltrate his inner circle so that they can catch him or get a confession for something? You assume thats the case. The way they said it makes it seem like hes a criminal.

“What?” You asked again, breathier, shoulders kind of slumping in an exasperated way, your face twisting with desperation coating your features. You had been nervous going in to tonight. Their demeanor throughout the night made you more nervous. Now it seemed like you got the confirmation that your intuition was right but theres more questions circulating through your mind than answers.

And still you cant get it out of your head. Maybe I should warn Adrian. Adrian who might be a criminal, who might have ARGUS after him, who might have mid-high profile superheroes monitoring him for whatever reason— reasons that you dont know. You should block him, change your phone number, move apartments, get as far away from this as you can. But then you look at him from across the room, laughing and acting goofy with Peacemaker. You imagine the feeling of him kissing your forehead after a passionate night. Or imagine the way hed come to you and talk out a small fight you two had and hug you once you fixed things and you know you couldnt leave. But its only been a few months. Are you so ruled by your emotions?

“We cant say much. But you’re a nice girl. We just thought you know…” Leota shrugged all too casually, but you could sense the true empathy in her voice, she spoke so softly like a true friend, “It’d be a shame.”

“Thank you,” You said. A shame for what? What would happen to you? You know Adrian would never hurt you. You know that. Do you? You dont seem to know him. No, you know he would never hurt you, you dont need to know whatever this big secret is to know that.

Are you being delusional?

This doesn’t seem like a “Let me just talk to him and clear it up” kind of misunderstanding.

—————

“Yeah and they just said like ‘It’d be a shame,’”

“Girl.”

You asked Adrian to drop you off after the bar, making up some excuse that you were tired and had to go into work the next day and it’d be too out of the way for him to drive you to work. He pouted a little and tried to bargain but ultimately agreed. You immediately called your best friend upon entering your house.

“I know!” You yelled, cradling your head in your hands.

“A shame for what?!”

“I know!”

Their eyebrows were furrowed, mouth open, and you watched as the gears turned in their head the same way you probably looked when you were hearing this for the first time. “Get out of there… It sounds like way above my pay grade. I’m used to being your therapist, you know, a-a-and picking up the pieces of a broken little heart but I’m not about to pick your body up from the morgue.”

“Stop it! No, that’s not gonna happen.” You rolled your eyes.

“Hold on. Pause… Be. So. Fucking. For real with me you stupid bitch.”

Your sounds of protest were ignored.

“You’re not planning to stay with him are you?”

You searched for the words but none came. You were pulled out of your thoughts when another call started to come in, unknown number.

“No.”

“H-hold on, I’m getting a call. I’ll call you back.”

“Wait you’re finding out that your boyfriend is on a watchlist and you’re taking a fucking scam call instead of affirming to me that you’re gonna break up with him? Because you’re gonna break up with him right?”

“Bye! I’ll call you back I love you. I’m sorryimsorry.” You quickly answered before they could say anything more, “Hello?”

And all color drained from your face when Adrian, the boy who had just left your house with a quick and sweet kiss to your cheek not even thirty minutes, spoke from the other line.

“Hey um… I’m sorry for asking you instead of someone else. I um… I knew Peacemaker wouldnt answer because he left the bar with a girl. And I didnt memorize anyone else’s number. I really didnt wanna do this its just…”

“What happened?” You interrupted, standing up out of your chair.

“I was arrested. Can you pick me up?”

Your heart was gonna fucking jump out of your chest.

“Its the station right next to um… Oh!!” Cheerfulness filled his voice, a heavy contrast to the weight you felt on your shoulders. “The umm that one really nice cafe with the live music that we went to for our fourth date. You know that one right?”

You hung up and grabbed your keys without another word.

I should have warned him.

[bettyfrommars]

Death Becomes Us

vampire!Eddie x supernatural!Reader

Part 11: Strange Blood

masterlist playlist

18+only, smut, unprotected piv, oral, blood drinking, mind-bending moments, supernatural elements, vampires, fear of the unknown. Hopper and vampire!Joyce, werewolf!Steve, and a few others.

word count: 12.4k

Summary: All I can say is that this is another wild one, lmao. Not an action-packed rollercoaster like the previous chapter, but definitely some odd things going on. You know me, it gets a bit wacky. It's been my honor to be on this journey with you, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter. I love you, dear readers.

A/N: Hi everyone who has patiently waited for more of this story, Betty finally did it! I had a hard time coming back to this one only because I wasn't sure in which direction I wanted to take it. Oh, and also, I forgot how to write there for a while but anyway, the previous chapter was such chaos, and I wanted to take them in a different direction, so I did. Although this is the end of the series, there is still plenty I want to write for the True Blood universe, so this will not be the end.

------

this picks up right where part 10 left off

“I have dreams about you too, you know,” Eddie said softly from the edge of the bed. Shirtless and quickly healing after the bullets were removed, he used both hands to pull his hair into a ponytail, and then released it. 

Sweat bloomed on your scalp, and all you could do was swallow thickly, spinning on your heel to head for the hallway.

“I’m sorry if what I said was too much,” you babbled in a rush.  “We can just forget—”

Eddie hopped up to snatch your hand.  “Hey wait—don’t,” he heard the harsh desperation in his voice and then softened it to a whisper.  “Please.”

You stopped in your tracks and let him tug you backwards slowly, step by step.

Before he could put his arm around your waist, you turned on a dime, sliding fingers along the cool ripples of his ribs, watching his parted lips, the way his breath hitched in surprise.  It felt like there was no time and no distance in between his mouth and yours; suddenly they clashed together and your hand made a fist in his hair. 

He wasn’t expecting it, but neither were you, and it was a breathless, awkward meeting of teeth for a moment. Stumbling back so that his legs hit the back of the bed frame, Eddie toppled to the mattress, taking you with him.

You weren’t sure if it was the tension that had been building between the two of you, or the adrenaline from the recent vampire massacre that happened right outside your door, but you devoured each other like it was the last day of immortality.  

For as much of a prick as he could be out in the real world, Eddie was gentle and eager, taking your clothes off with trembling hands so that he didn’t rip them before he tasted you from face to hip, kissing down the jagged scar on your sternum while you clung to his head and writhed.

It was more than foreplay to him; his attention was a form of worship, the next best thing to running his mouth was filling it full of you.

You clawed at his belted black jeans and he smiled against your kiss.  “So, does this mean you like me?”

Your eyes locked while you helped to push his denim jeans down to his hips, your heart in your throat.  “You need me to say it?”

“You don’t have to, but I’ll say it,” he lifted up on his forearms, his hair tickling your cheeks from the way he hovered over you, one dimple popping up from his crooked smile.  “I really really dig you.”

“Show me,” you whispered, lifting to slide your nose along his, making a shiver run through him.  

“As you wish, m’lady,” he chuckled, pushing his jeans all the way off and kicking them to the side with such force that they hit the wall.  

He had no right to be so gorgeous, you thought, running hungry hands down the icy, tattooed flesh of his stomach where the bullet holes had already healed.  A single whisper of, “I wanted this for so long,” came out in a breathy whisper when he intertwined his fingers with yours.  

Being pressed up against your skin made him feel like he was standing too close to a raging bonfire, like maybe his body hairs would get singed.  He wanted to beg you to leave a mark on him; the branding iron of your touch to claim his animated corpse.  

He made you come with his mouth first, growling into you as you shook and fluttered on his tongue.  His skill level suggested that it was not his first rodeo by far, but you could tell he was listening and learning about the things that felt best to you, the right speed and pressure that made you cry out his name and claw at his skin. He wanted to please you—more than that, Christ—he wanted to be the only one.

Eddie fucked you into next week. Each of you were sweaty and depraved, but his saliva felt like melting ice, and you could almost hear it sizzle when it met your heat.  Tongues wrestling together, moaning sweet and filthy things until you were bouncing on top of him, hips snapping up to meet you, cumming so hard you thought you might explode into vapor.

His fangs latched onto the side of your throat after you begged for it, making everything messy and sticky.  You liked hearing the way he whined when the tang of your blood hit his tongue, the way he fed from your vein, sealing the wound with a few kitten licks.  At one point, with crimson dripping down either side of his chin, he was taking you from behind and his hips stuttered.

“Roll over,” he rumbled.  “I need to see you.”

And that was how he came, buried deep with his eyes locked on yours, spilling every drop until he was almost convulsing.  He sliced a cut on his chest with the fingernail of his thumb, and coaxed you up to drink from him, moaning at your insatiable hunger, the way you moaned into him.  

Eddie might’ve been lost in the heat of the moment, but he knew what he felt for you was more than just… “like”.  His head spun when you whimpered things like, “deeper Eddie, cum inside of me.”  

It’d been years since he’d slept with someone he cared about, but even then, it wasn’t like with you. He’d never seen anything as beautiful as the gentle kisses you planted on his palm before sucking his fingers while you rode him.

Yeah, he had it bad for you.  

Neither of you bothered to clean up once the pace began to slow down.  He rolled onto his side to make out with you with dried blood in the corner of his mouth, not ready to end what you just shared, for fear it would never happen again.  

No one who mattered ever stuck around.

He ran a tender thumb over the scar on your cheek that was also caked with a line of crimson.  “So, you were in a…car accident?” He asked in a whisper.  

“Apparently I died,” you laughed to soften the harsh truth of it.  “My father tried…” you trailed off, and Eddie was about to say you didn’t have to talk about it, but then you continued.  “I guess you could say he exchanged his life for mine.”

“I wish I could’ve met him,” he trailed off, tracing your eyebrow with his finger.  He interlocked his fingers with one of your hands and held it to his chest.  “Tell him how grateful I am.” 

“He would’ve liked you,” the thought of never being about to introduce Eddie to your father made tears swell.  Eddie scooped you closer, pulling your leg up by the crook of your knee to wrap your thigh over the sticky length of his cock.  

“This is nice,” he hummed, eyelids flickering shut to the feeling of your warm breath on his shoulder.  “Stay with me for a minute?”

The two of you dozed off, and you awoke to Eddie shooting upright into a seated position with a jolt.

“Shit, it’ll be dawn soon,” he hissed, head spinning to look at the digital alarm clock by your bed.  

You sat up too, looking at the big window with thin white curtains that could never block the potentially murderous rays of the sun.  

“I could cover it with…something else? A comforter?” You hurried to shuffle off the mattress, suddenly panicked at the thought of what would happen if he was exposed to daylight. 

He was up and yanking his jeans on.  “These windows are a death trap,” but then a thought made him smile to himself.  “I guess if my time comes, I’d want it to be with you.”

“Your time has NOT come, okay?” You hastily pulled a t-shirt on from one of your drawers.  “I refuse to let the best sex of my life go without a fight.”

He cocked his head with a blushing smirk and repeated his question from earlier.  “Does that mean you like me?”

“Stop it,” you playfully shoved him on your way by, scooting a pair of shorts up your hips.  “This is serious.”

“Oh it’s very serious,” and then he caught your hips with both hands before you could get too far away and pulled you back.

“Let’s get you to a safe place first,” you muttered against his lips. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

A loud thud banged on the roof like a good sized rock landed from the sky, and you both knew it was Bela returning from wherever she’d been for the past few hours to avoid the danger.  When You turned the light on in the living room, Dio stretched and yawned from her position curled up on the arm of the couch.

From where you stood at the mouth of the hallway near the kitchen, you could see the front of Eddie’s trailer through the courtyard facing window.  A few steps more and you could see half of it, somehow unscathed by the fire.  

Surely, your eyes were playing tricks on you.  

Maybe it was the backside that had been affected by the flames? Maybe it was still too dark to see, but the sun would be up soon enough—

“Eddie?” You motioned for him to follow you, to see what you were seeing, and then you stood side by side, dumfounded.

Surely, most of his house should’ve been nothing but a pile of charred wreckage.  

An eerie feeling of fear washed over you, making your eyes dart over to the television screen, waiting for a face to appear like Brenner’s had the night before.  

“Something’s wrong,” you whispered.  “How could your trailer survive the fire without a scratch?”

Eddie’s pinky hooked onto yours when he couldn’t find the words.

You let out a heavy sigh a beat later when you figured it out.  “This is another dream, isn’t it? Of course it is.”

“No, no way,” he shook his head, paying attention to the horizon that would soon light up with his demise.  “There’s no way we would be in the same dream like this. This is real.”

Seeing Bela sail in the front door and land clunkily on the top of the TV gave you a huge amount of relief.  You patted the top of her smooth head a few times, thankful to have her as a constant.

“Be right back,” Eddie said just before he did that vampire thing and zipped outside at the speed of light.  You watched him dart in and out of his trailer, and then he was back at your side again.  

“That’s my trailer, all right,” hands crossed over his chest, he gnawed his lower lip in contemplation.  “Nothing’s missing, nothing was burned.  Even my guitar is over there, when I know I brought her here.  Doesn’t make any fucking sense.”

“No it doesn’t,” you agreed softly.  You should’ve been grateful his trailer was untouched, but instead it filled you with dread.

Eddie turned, eyes narrowing on the deep orange creeping over the mountains.

“I need to get underground,” he started looking around, like maybe he could dig a quick hole in the floor.  Instead, he went over to the western style couch with wagon wheels and cowboys on the upholstery and inspected it.

“Have you ever checked behind here?” He asked.

“No,” you frowned.  “Why would I?”

In one effortless swoop, he moved the piece of furniture away from the wall and then stood back.

There was a door built into the carpeted floor near the wall, complete with a handle and lock.  At first you couldn't see it, because it was covered in orange shag to match the rest of the living room.  You rested your tongue between your teeth, dumbfounded.

“Yeah so that’s a Sunlight Safe Room,” he scratched his head.  “They were built into all of the trailers way back in the day.  I just never thought to check for yours until now.”

He pushed the couch to the middle with Dio still asleep on the armrest.  “Call me paranoid, but I don’t want to be too far from you,” he knelt to open it.  “I can stay out of the sun here, if that’s okay?”

You were tempted to “go to rest” with him just so he wouldn’t somehow disappear like the evidence of the fire had.  Inside the hatch were ten metal steps downward that opened to a modest concrete area with a twin mattress on the floor.  

It looked creepy as hell, like something you’d see in a horror movie like Silence of the Lambs.

“I’ll get you a pillow,” you turned, but he called your name.

“There’s no time,” he was halfway down the steps. “I’ll see you after dusk, okay?”

You didn’t know why you were so afraid to be without him, but you nodded.

“I’ll lock it from the inside,” he said as he pulled the door down and descended.  “Stay safe okay? I’ll still be able to feel you if you’re in danger.”

He wanted to say something else to you, words that were clenching on his heart, but then worried it might be too soon.

Bela threw her head back and screeched, stretching out her wings.  

“Okay.”  You gulped.  “I’ll miss you.”

He smiled generously at that, just as the neon light of morning blossomed over the trailer park and you heard the click of the lock on the inside of his…what would you call it? Tomb? No, it was a Vampire Safe Room.

You shifted the sofa back in place and crossed your arms over your chest to stand and stare out the window at the untouched gnome on Eddie’s front steps, still flipping you the bird.  

If only its impish mouth could talk.

—-------

After dozing off on the sofa above Eddie for a few hours, you snapped awake flooded with fear that everything had gone back to “normal”.  But the door in the floor was still there, and Eddie was still in it; you could hear him snort-snore every so often.  The sound made you feel a tidal wave of relief.  

If you’d somehow slipped into another dimension, at least you still had Eddie.  

You took Dio back over to Eddie’s untouched trailer, just in case Bela forgot her manners, and you asked your demobat companion to keep an eye on Eddie while you were gone.  She chirped a few times, swaying back and forth to let you know she understood while she munched on chopped up bananas.  She wasn’t very hungry, but the claws on her wings had a hint of blood on them, and you figured she found something to eat in the woods, but you didn’t want to know what.  

You hadn’t touched your Polaroid camera in a while, but you used it to snap a photo of Bela then, with her gnarly grin stuffed with banana mash, and then you clapped the land camera shut and put it in your bag.  

There was not a single thing amiss in the courtyard of the Crimson Terrace trailer park.  No blood in the dead grass, no tracks from all of the vehicles and the crowds, and your hearse did not have a single new scratch.  

You shot a glance over your shoulder where Bela perched in the window, wondering if it was a good idea to leave Eddie defenseless like that with how weird everything was.  You shivered and zipped up the rest of your hoodie.  

On your way around to unlock the driver’s door, your landlord Dolores spotted you from four trailers away and came out to wave you down.  She wore one of her signature muumuus with pink curlers in her short, auburn hair.  .

You flinched as you walked up her three steps to the small porch, thinking she’d interrogate you about all of the chaos, or have an issue with you spending time with your vampire neighbor.  

But it wasn’t a scolding she wanted to give you; it was a letter.

Adressed to you with no return address, the envelope was weathered yellow like it had traveled across the ocean by rowboat, and then the rest of the way by horse and buggy.  She’d found it on her doorstep that morning.

“Thanks,” you said absently, turning it over in your hand as you walked off.  You waited until you were safely behind the wheel and down the street before you opened it, trembling.  

The piece of parchment inside was wispy thin, but the date was somehow...exactly a year from the day you were in.

That had to be a mistake. The person just messed up the numbers, it happens.

You’re probably very co fused right  ow.

That was how the letter started.

You stared at the words with dry, unblinking eyes, noticing that the letter “n” was missing from the typeset.

You folded the paper over in your lap and checked to see if anyone was nearby watching.  You bit on the cuticle of your pinky finger for a few seconds before opening it again.  

You’re i  a slightly differe t timeli e  ow.  That’s all I ca  say without revealing too much. Ma y thi gs will be differe t, but some will be the same.

A laugh bubbled in your throat; one of those insane laughs appropriate for absolute absurd things. It had to be a joke, one that you did not find particularly amusing.

A different timeline? How was that even possible? You’d been introduced to many odd things you never previously believed existed, but this one was a little more difficult to wrap your brain around.  

Whe  the time is right, everything will be revealed. U til the , stay safe.

It wasn’t signed, and there was no hint as to who or where it had come from.

You turned the weathered, creased paper over as if there might be a photo of the author, and then you stared out the dirty windshield, letting it sink in.

The most bonkers thing about it was that it actually made sense.  It was the only possible explanation for there being no sign of any of the wreckage from the night before.

If it wasn’t a joke, then who was this messenger committed to giving you a heads up? 

Tucking the letter into your bag with a hard swallow, you cranked the radio up on the way into town, headed to Main Vein. The trees were bare, and the sky was heavy with clouds, hiding a dollop of egg yolk sun behind their veil. You’d drop in to get your new schedule from Bob, and perhaps see if the town of Hawkins had changed.  

You caught sight of Argyle’s VW beetle parked down a side street and smiled to yourself, knowing at least that was a constant.  Main Vein was still housed in the same building, but the red neon sign in the window said VEIN ON MAIN instead.  .

Robin’s bookstore appeared to have a quaint cafe attached to it. You were able to get a glimpse of her there, sitting at a small, round sidewalk table.  Her hair was longer, worn in a ponytail, and she held hands with the other woman across from her.  At their feet was the tan pit bull terrier who had helped you defeat the Klemps all of those months ago in the alley.  

At least it looked like the same dog.  

Would they remember you at Main Vein? Or…Vein on Main? 

You drove around the block and then parked at the curb, the same place you’d parked the hearse the day of your first interview with Bob Newby.

The Main Vein you remembered had floor to ceiling windows in front that were covered in dark velvet blackout curtains during the day, but this space had a red brick front with two small windows painted black and a red door.  The windows each had neon signs in them: one for Pabst Blue Ribbon, and one for the synthetic vampire blood called NuBlood.

The black door opened to a space the size of a generous closet facing another door.  There was a gumball machine, a stack of local newspapers, and a guy on a stool reading what appeared to be a paperback romance novel. One of those bodice ripping ones with the dramatic covers. He had one foot planted on the ground, while the booted heel of the other hooked onto a rung on the stool.

His honey brown hair looked like it had been styled with a blow dryer, and he wore a pair of sunglasses pushed up to his forehead, even though he had no use for them since it was fairly dark in that nook.  

He glanced up bored at first, but then straightened when he saw you.

“It’s you,” Steve beamed, folding the corner of a page in his book to save his spot.  “I didn’t think you were on the clock today?”

Your mind froze.  So, Steve was your coworker in this new timeline? You tried not to let your brain short-circuit over this new information.

At least you could be comforted by the fact that you still had employment.

“Wait, what is your job again?” You asked, looking around the space between the two doors.

He gave you a side-eye as if you were fucking with him.  “I’ve been the bouncer for a few weeks now.  Argyle got me the job, remember?”

“Oh right, oh sure,” you nodded wildly a few times.  

“Are you feeling okay?” His look was one of genuine concern.   

“I’m good, I promise.” You offered a flat smile that did not reach your eyes. “But is it okay if I ask you another potentially really stupid question?”

“Shoot.” He crossed his booted feet at the ankles in front of him, leaning back.

“Did we…did we ever…” you bit the inside of your cheek.  “Did we ever…go on a date? To see a movie?”

Steve scratched his stubbled chin.  “Well I wouldn’t call it a date-date, but I was a third wheel with you and Erica that night Robin bailed on me.”

“And you’re still…also a werewolf, right?” Now the absurd questions were just flying out.

He tilted his head, and his eyes glowed red for a second as an answer.  “Last I checked.”

“Okay, good.”

“You sure you’re alright?”

“Maybe not?” You shrugged.  “But I’ll be okay.  Is Bob here?”

“Think so,” he was about to say more, but just as your hand was on the door to go in, the outside door began to open, and he hopped up.  “Hold on, there,” he told the person outside, pulling the door shut again.  “Only one door can open at a time.”

“Now you can go,” he nodded, gesturing for you to enter.  You didn’t confirm it, but figured that it was a safety measure to keep sunlight off of the vampires that were possibly inside.

Inside Vein on Main looked like a casino with various shades of burgundy and neon red.  No natural light, but the mirrored bar was backlit, and there were stained glass lamp shades hanging down over the dark booths to your right. A synth-wave techno beat thumped from unseen speakers as curls of smoke from the end of cigarettes gathered into a gray cloud. At the far back was a pool table and a stage in the corner on a riser with a bunch of musical equipment set up.

You saw Erica behind the bar, and were about to go over to say hello to her, but a cold hand clamped down on your shoulder.  

“Just the one I wanted to see,” Jareth’s voice rumbled in your ear.  

He was the last one you expected to bump into in a human/vampire crossover bar.  He’d always been much too above such things.  His blonde hair was slicked back, his blue eyes burning with intensity.

“How did you get in here in the middle of the day?” 

“I have my ways,” he said cryptically.  Older vampires like Jareth didn’t need to sleep as much as the younger ones, so he had more time to get up to mischief.  

“No but really,” you looked him up and down, noting that he was still in the standard, fashionable Jareth attire, and then glanced around to the handful of other patrons.  “What are you doing here?”

He glared at you skeptically.  “Why wouldn’t I be here? This is my bar.”

“What about Sacrament?”

“It’s still there,” he crossed his arms over his chest, curious about this odd line of questioning but, he decided to indulge you. “There’s an underground tunnel that connects the two.”

The new information was all very…disorientating, to say the least. You felt like your head was spinning, like you might possibly throw up or something.

“And Bob? What did you do with him?” There was a hint of frustrated anger in your tone.  

“Bob and Maxine run the place.  I am more of what you would call…a silent partner.” He pushed into your space, towering over you as if he might lower his head for a kiss.  “But you know this already, don’t you, Dove?”

You turned away, snatching his elbow to pull him into a booth with you.  He stood fast at first, not wanting to follow, but then slowly obliged.

“Listen, this will probably sound crazy,” you started.

“Oh I have no doubt about that.” He laced his fingers together on the polished wood table top.

A long exhale and then you laced your fingers on the table.  “Have you ever heard of anyone, um, jumping timelines?”

He sat back, expressionless.  “Are you saying that’s what happened to you?”

“Maybe, yes, yeah,” you paused to wonder if you should tell him  “I’m pretty sure know that is what happened to me, but I didn’t think it was possible.”

You told him about the past 48 hours, and about the letter you received from some unknown person.  

He gave it some thought, spreading his hands out flat to tap his thumbs on the table.  

“I’ve heard stories,” he appraised you with his chin tilted down. “But I’ve never met a Jumper in person.”

“Well, nice to meet you.”

“I always knew there was something about you,” he smirked.  “I knew you weren’t exactly human, but could never put my finger on it.”

“Congratulations.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Jareth gave a micro shrug.  “If somehow you stepped into a nearby timeline, I wouldn’t know how to put you back.”

“I can’t believe how calm you are about this.”

The last time you saw Jareth, he was at your trailer park ripping Brenner and the rest to shreds with the help of a swarm of other vampires. You wanted to thank him, but then realized that was from another timeline he might not remember.

Jareth continued. “Maybe you were pulled into this timeline for a reason.  Maybe you weren’t meant to understand.”

You nodded absently, looking around at the new Vein on Main, feeling like you should wake up at any moment.  

“You said the letter you received was dated a year from now? Ever think you might’ve written it to yourself?”

Head spinning, might definitely puke.

“Maybe something worse happens in that other timeline and you jumped over to this one to avoid disaster.”

What if something bad happened to Eddie in that other timeline…

You couldn’t get over how chill about the whole mess Jareth was being.  Maybe all of the things he’d experienced in the 3,000 some years he’d been a vampire made it so nothing surprised him.

“One thing I have heard about Jumpers…” he waited to finish until a group of giggling humans walked by.  “...they eventually forget about the old timeline.  Somehow they assimilate to the current one and sync up with the memories.  It’s likely that one day, this one will be your new normal, and the other one will feel like a dream you had.”

You weren’t sure if that should comfort you or make you cry.

“Did I at least make a move on you in that other timeline?” Jareth wet his lips while he stared at you.  

“Absolutely not,” you responded with a slight roll of your eyes.  “Never going to happen in this one, either.”

“Never say never,” his grin was evil in the most charming way.

All you wanted to do at that point was go back to your trailer to sit on the floor and wait for Eddie to wake up.  

After a stop at the grocery store and gas station, that was exactly what  you did.  

—-------

The daylight seemed to last forever.  You reread the mysterious letter countless times, let Bela out for a few hours of flying, watched two episodes of Outer Limits with Dio curled up in your lap purring, and paced around the house, glancing at the horizon every so often. 

When the sun finally settled into a deep purple sea, you were kneeling at the front of the door when you heard the inside lock jiggle. 

“You’re here,” you exhaled a long-held breath, grinning so wide it felt like your cheeks might break while you braced the door open.  You also took that opportunity to snap a photo of him with your Polaroid camera, one of him with an expression caught between amusement and surprise.  It would end up being one of your most cherished photos of him.

“You sound surprised,” he chuckled.

He rubbed sleep from his eyes with the knuckle of one hand as he made his way up the steps with a yawn.  

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile that big before,” he remarked groggily. 

“I had this weird feeling you’d…disappear or something.”

“Nah,” he came up the final step and then crawled on top of you, making you go flat on the ground with a laugh, dropping the door down with a bang as you went.  “You’re stuck with me now, I’m afraid.”

You held his face with both hands, enjoying the weight of his body, the soft moaning and playful flicks of his tongue on yours.  

He lifted up to trace your mouth and chin with his finger.  “Did you have a good day while I was asleep?”

“I really missed you.” 

You tried to kiss him again, but he pulled further away, giving himself a double chin.  “Does that mean you like me?”

“I’m still deciding,” your eyes were full of stars as you searched his face. 

His hips rolled against you, giving away that his length was already hard, straining against his denim.  You reached down to feel him, popping open two of the buttons on his jeans while you were down there.

“Yeah?” He whispered, hooking two fingers inside the leg of your loose shorts to graze your panty line.  “You want this?”

“I want you,” his mouth was on yours before you could say another word, cradling his hand behind your head.

When he finally sank in with a moan, you grabbed onto his ass with both hands, urging him closer.

“I love those noises you make,” he mumbled, twitching inside of you.  

Your shirt was pushed up, and you’d probably have rugburns on your back later, but right then you didn’t care.  All you wanted was to be was as close to him as physically possible.

Eddie shivered when he was seated fully inside, practically purring at the way your nails scratched up his back.

“Bite me,” you gasped, offering the throbbing artery in your throat to him.

He paused, breathless, sliding his nose along your ear.  “I don’t want to take too much.  Last night was—-”

“Please.” You flexed and rippled around his cock, making him whine.  He’d cum in two seconds if you kept doing that.  “Just a quickie.”

“Just a quickie, she said,” he hummed. “Sweetheart you have no idea how true that is going to be if you keep squeezing me like that.”

The euphoria that rolled though you when he fed from your vein, coupled with the quickening of his hips when he was close made your eyes roll back in your head.  He slowed down, didn’t want to finish before you, but you clamped your legs around him.

He unlatched from your throat with a hiss, fangs stained and dripping. “The things you do to me, holy shit—-”

“Wait wait,” you pulled his face back up so that he would look at you.

He stilled with a frown. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, I just wanted…” you trailed off, heart wailing like a steam engine in your chest.

Still throbbing hard inside of you, he gave a hopeful smirk.  “Did you want to tell me that you like me?”

“No.” You said softly, hearing his throat click when he swallowed.  “But I think I might be in love with you.”

He froze, making sure he heard you correctly, thinking about maybe asking you to say it again just so he could hear it.  

He rocked further inside, smashing his mouth onto yours in a way that made you whimper, taking your hand to interlace his fingers.

“Holy shit I love you,” he panted.  “I’ve never felt this way before and I should’ve told you, I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that—-”

“Shhhh.”. 

The next few hours brought more of the same, with Eddie never tiring and you craving him in a way that was animalistic.  Against the wall, in the shower, on the countertop, and you were both finally able to say the words that had been bubbling up in your chest for a while. 

Eddie tucked you in when you fell asleep, and then went over to his place to change clothes and call Gary to see if there was any work available at the chop shop.  

For some reason, it didn’t occur to either of you to talk about why everything was different, or why his trailer wasn’t a charred wreck. He’d been shot the night before with silver bullets and almost died, but it never got brought up in conversation again.

You’d fully intended to show him the letter, to tell him about the conversation you’d had with Jareth, but then somehow it simply slipped your mind.  

Bela came swooping in the next morning, yapping away like she had a story to tell, and you wished you could speak her language.  You remembered the night you rescued her, on your way back from the Upside Down with Eddie.  

Why had you gone to Sacrament that night? A date maybe? No, Eddie needed to talk with Jareth, that’s what it was.  You were just tagging along.

While you were pondering that night, you had this sudden lightheaded feeling, stumbling over your feet before you thankfully caught yourself on the kitchen island.  Making your way down the hallway to the bathroom, you felt like you were on a funhouse floor that was shifting, so you leaned into the wall to catch your bearings.

Splashing water on your face would have to do.  You ran the water as cold as possible, and when you saw your reflection in the mirror, you had one of those moments when you didn’t recognize your own face.

Surely, it happens to everyone from time to time, but have your eyes always been two different colors? One was an icy blue, and the other was light green, almost hazel.  As if your eyeballs belonged to two completely different people.

The scars, they were familiar.  Down your chest, along your jaw, at your shoulders, at your knees and down to your right foot. 

After a few deep breaths, your legs no longer felt like jello.  

You found a strange typed letter in your bag, but it didn’t make any sense, so you figured it was garbage and threw it away.  

—---------

Hopper roused up from a nap shirtless, still wearing his work trousers, to the smell of brown sugar baked salmon coming from the kitchen, and he sat up with a smile on his face.  Scratching his head, he changed into something more comfortable; a navy tee with a front pocket and jeans.  

“Smells good,” he called from the bathroom where he used a boar bristle brush on his hair and put a little cologne on.  He paused to appreciate the way there were two toothbrushes in the ceramic holder by the sink.  

He couldn’t believe this was his life, didn’t know what he’d done to deserve it.  

He had to part a heavy floor to ceiling curtain to get to the other part of the house.  It was hours from sunset, but still there was not a drop of natural light to be seen.  He’d renovated half of the trailer to be daylight safe for vampires–one vampire in particular— including covering the windows with metal sheeting that could be lifted at night, if they desired.

“I hope I didn’t leave it in for too long,” Joyce fussed with the rooster print potholders, bending over to get the dish out of the oven.  

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he followed her over to set the dish on the table and kissed the top of her head just before she finished what she was doing to wrap her arms around him.

“What about you?” He tipped her chin up to gaze lovingly at her face.  “Hungry?”

They had a case of NuBlood Type B for when she was in a pinch, but he preferred for her to have the real thing, he didn’t much care for the idea of her sustaining on that synthetic crap.  So, he took his iron supplements and stayed healthy, and became her main source of food.  She was never greedy, she always knew just how much to take.  

But that night, he had a surprise for her.  

“One moment,” she watched with adoring eyes as he opened a cupboard above the stove that was much too high for her to reach.  He pulled down what looked like a bottle full of corked red wine and presented it to her with a proud grin.

“Ordered it from that vampire mixology show you like,” he let her take it so she could read the label, her mouth set in an O of fascinated awe.

“Plasma donated by a meditation guru who only ate tangerines for a week. They say it’s some tasty shit.”

“Hopper,” she clutched the bottle with the yellow label to her chest and tilted her head to beam up at him.  “You didn’t have to do that, it must’ve cost a fortune.”  

He stared at her, unable to gauge her reaction.  “You don’t like it?”

“No I love it!” She gushed, snuggling into his embrace again.  “Nothing could ever taste better than my man, though.”

He rested his chin on her head, grinning like a fool.  “One day I’ll kick the nicotine habit and it will taste even better.”

“Well, don’t do it for me, you’ve gotta quit for yourself.”  She scooted away to take a bean salad out of the fridge.  

She always got up early to start her day so that they could have a meal together before she left for her job as a night time stocker at the local grocery store.  Hopper would wake up before sunrise to be able to spend time with her before she went underground to the safe cubby he’d built.  More and more, he considered becoming a vampire himself, just to be able to spend more time with her, but that would be a talk for another day.  

The table was set with a bouquet of wild, pink poppies, and then a plate with silverware for him, and a glass for her.  She’d been sad to give up real food for those first couple months when she was first turned, but by then, almost a decade later, she was amazed at how much she didn’t crave it.

“I had the darndest dream just now,” he cracked open a cold Schlitz and it fizzed.  

“Oh yeah? What about?” 

He almost didn’t want to say it out loud.

“It was a nightmare really.  You were dating Bob.”

Joyce burst out in a bubble of a laugh.  “Bob Newby? Of all people.  I do like Bob, though, he’s a nice man.”

“You like him more than me?” He teased, frowning.

“Hopper, please.”

He took a sip of beer.  “I was addicted to V in the dream.  Lonely, and hated my life.”

“Addicted to V, huh? That’s a tough one.” Joyce searched his face with sincere concern.

Vampire blood, or V, was sold illegally to recreational users, and it was highly addicting.  

He leaned forward, sliding his big hand up her arm.  “I’m addicted to you.”

Before they kissed she hummed, “you’re insatiable,” and then took another sip of her imported treat.

After the sunset, they sat out on the porch for a while, looking up at the stars.  Joyce nestled between Hopper’s legs with her back against his stomach in one of the lounge chairs, fingers intertwined at her middle. They talked about the kids, how Joyce’s son Will, who was also a vampire, would be joining them for dinner/breakfast on Sunday, and Jonathan would be bringing his girlfriend home to visit for the holidays.  Hopper’s daughter Sarah was on a backpacking trip across Europe, and their fridge was covered in postcards from her travels.  She called Hopper collect from Greece that day and told him she’d found a job there and planned to stay a bit longer.  He said he was happy for her, but it made his heart hurt to know he wouldn’t see her again until next year.  

“I’m pretty happy with this little life of ours,” Joyce said softly.

Hopper planted his lips on the top of her head.  “There’s no other timeline I’d want to be in.”

—-----

Eddie rolled up to the chop shop in the white porsche he’d lifted from the parking garage of a fancy restaurant in town.  He tipped the valets well, and they never gave him the keys, but were fine with turning their backs so that he could do his work.

From the dark alleyway, metal sparks were flying in the open garage door, and the sound of an electric drill buzzed away from the several other employees working the night shift.  Gary handed him an envelope full of cash for the car, and the first thing that came to Eddie’s mind was buying you that rare Kurt Vonnegut copy you’d had your eye on at Robin’s bookstore. 

He made his way through the busy work area to the back entrance where he’d parked the GTO.  It was still primer gray and needed a lot of interior work, but he liked working on it with Wayne, it was a way for them to bond.  

The moon was not yet full.  Maybe a few more days and it would be.  He stopped to stare up at it for a few beats, wondering if you were battling insomnia again and possibly looking up at it too.

It was late winter, so the sun wasn’t up for a while, and he had plenty of time to get you an iced coffee and have it waiting in the fridge for when you woke up.  He used the spare key tied around his neck when he got to your trailer and tip-toed in, trying not to rustle the knob so he didn’t wake you up.

But you were there on the couch next to Bela watching television.  Bela stuck her whole face into the bowl of dry cereal before her and came up with colorful Fruity Pebbles stuck to her lips while she munched, making growing sounds.  

“How long have you been up?” He took his leather jacket and battle vest off to hook them on the back of the door, revealing a Warlock shirt with the collar ripped out.  

“Dad’s on the news again,” you said without answering his question, without taking your eyes off the TV.  “He called last night to tell me about it, but I almost slept in and forgot.”

He sat down on the other side of Bela and stretched his hand along the back of the couch to squeeze your shoulder.  

Your father, the brilliant surgeon turned funeral director turned “mad scientist” in the media, was doing a tour as a guest speaker for several well-known universities.  A lot of people were fascinated by his brilliance, and his research on reanimating dead tissue, but some thought his work was an abomination.  

You were still his best kept secret.  He worked hard to keep the details of your life and your whereabouts hidden, but eventually you wondered if someone would find you.  You were the only human proof that his methods worked, but bringing your story to light would only put you at risk.  You no longer went by your birth name and everyone called you Dove.  He referenced you in public as his niece, and no one seemed to be asking any questions, at least not that you were aware of. 

“He’s wearing that tie we picked out for him,” Eddie noted proudly.  

When Bela finished her cereal and flew off to her perch near the window, you scooted into the nook made by Eddie’s open arm, smooching him before resting your head on his shoulder.  He had his knees spread wide, taking your hand the second it was close enough.

“I missed you tonight,” he mumbled into the side of your head.

“I work at the bar until late tomorrow.” You snuggled closer, putting our leg over his.  “You could pick me up and we could go steal cars together. I’d like to watch you work.”

It’d been a month since the first time you were intimate, and diving into a relationship felt like second nature.  You’d talked to Bob about letting you have more night shifts instead of working during the day, and he was enthusiastically understanding, clapping his hands together to rub them back and forth conspiratorially.  “I smell a romance blossoming.” 

Eddie came in one time for a drink at the bar and Argyle said, “dude, it’s weird to see you not all grumpy and sulking.”  And then Eddie caught your eye from across the room and gave you a little wiggle of his fingers, unable to wipe the permanent smile off of his face.  

For the first time you really felt like you’d found a home somewhere.  But also, there were things happening that were truly…odd.

In the sock draw in your bedroom, you found a few polaroids you didn’t remember taking.  

One was of a hearse that was the same make/model as yours, but it was solid black instead of black with white pinstriping.  Another was of what looked like Vein on Main, with Bob waving at you from the doorway.  The neon in the floor to ceiling window said Main Vein.  Had it been remodeled before you came to work there? But if so, how had you been the one to snap the photo?

You also found a key on your keyring that did not look familiar.  It was smaller than the rest with blunt, jagged teeth.

You showed it to Eddie, thinking it might be to open a glove box or something car related.

He brought it up close for examination, going cross-eyed.  “It almost looks like one of those gas cap keys, but your hearse isn’t that old.  To a secret diary, maybe?”

“I never write in a diary.  You know that.”  

“Well,” he sniffed.  “Let me put my Columbo hat on and crack this case.”

You could see his mind racing as he took it around the trailer, trying it in any lock he could find, including the front door knob, which was silly, but he had to rule it out. 

“Babe, what are you doing down there?”  You asked when you walked into the bedroom to find him on his stomach, fishing around under the bed with a flashlight.

“Just ticking all the boxes, my love,” he responded with a grunt.  He crawled in more so that you could only see him from the waist down.  His butt looked so cute wiggling there, you wanted to pinch it.  

“Ah ha!” He exhaled triumphantly, dragging something with him as he scooted back out. “I knew I saw a box under here when I was looking for Dio the other day.  By the way, you should really vacuum under there.  I think I saw a dust bunny with teeth.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you mumbled, arms folded, waiting to see what he caught from the depths of the shadows.

“There,” he jerked a square gray case out by the handle, settling on his knees to wipe his bangs away from his eyes. “The one thing we haven’t checked.”

There were no markings on it, but you saw the tiny silver key hole lock right away, lowering yourself to the carpeted floor next to him.  Hard shell case with worn corners as if it had seen quite a few travels.  There was a texture to it, and if you closed your eyes, it felt like snakeskin.  

“Do you know what’s in it?” His gaze flicked to your profile. “It weighs a ton.”

You turned your head from side to side.  “I’ve never seen that case in my life,” and that realization prickled your flesh.  “But maybe it was left here by the last tennant?”

“Why would you have the key, though?”

You turned to stare at each other, unsure of what else to say.  

“Try it,” he offered you the key, clearing his throat.

“I’d rather you did it.”

“Certainly,” but he said in a voice that mimicked Curly from the Three Stooges.  

The key fit, and when he twisted it, the latch clicked, and you held your breath.

“Drumroll,” Eddie flipped the latch up.

“Please just open it.”

He pushed the lid back and the metal hinges creaked.

Jaws unhinged, you both stared at the smoke gray Royal typewriter for a few beats, cocking your heads to the side in tandem.  

“A vintage typewriter.” Eddie stated the obvious.

“My mom used to have one like that,” you whispered it under your breath, not even meaning to say it out loud.

“So it is yours?” he waited.

“Um,” you ran the tips of your fingers along the edge.  “It must be.”

But, surely you would have remembered lugging that thing around.  In your mind's eye, you could see your index finger doing chicken pecks over the keys, but yet couldn’t recall anything you’d written.

“Do you have any paper?” Eddie got to his feet.  “We could try it out.”

“In the bottom drawer over there, I think,” pointing to the desk against the wall with three drawers down one side.

He carried the heavy piece of equipment out into the kitchen island to test it, rolling the paper in manually and clicking the typebar until it dinged into place.  

Akfj giahkasras va auiwyrg is what he typed.  

“There’s a letter missing,” he noted, taking a better look at the metal teeth inside.  

“It’s the N,” you said before he could.  It was almost as if you knew which letter it would be with your eyes closed.  It was stuck, jammed in place. 

“I think I know a guy who could fix that,” your boyfriend said softly, wanting to be helpful.  “Wonder if some WD-40 would do the trick.”

After Eddie left for an interview at the body shop of a popular vampire car dealership, you stared up at the fan on the ceiling of your bedroom, unable to sleep.  Bela was on one of her nocturnal adventures, Dio was back on her window perch at Eddie’s place, and you vibrated there in the loud silence.  The night sounds were more menacing, the flap of the loose shingle on the roof suddenly sounded like someone walking around up there. 

You were just starting to fade when you heard the click clack of the typewriter keys.

clickityclackclackclickityclack…Whack…DING

Adrenaline surged through your body and your eyes shot open, freezing there while invisible spiders swarmed your flesh.

But then, everything went quiet.  A full, creeping silence that made your ears ring. 

You held your breath and an owl hooted out in the woods.  What if you’d dozed off more than you realized and the sound was part of a dream?

Your gaze shifted slowly to land on the entrance to the hallway, waiting to hear creaking footsteps followed by a figure standing there. Maybe a tall creature with long arms and clawed hands and red eyes that glowed in the dark. After several minutes of nothing, you pulled yourself together, recognized your own strength, and kicked your feet out of bed.

Hands balled into fists, skin buzzing, you padded softly to the mouth of the hallway, keeping to the shadows, out of view of anyone who happened to be standing in the kitchen.  Maybe some elves and faeries came to fix the stuck N key.

ClickclickClackclackclick

Slower that time, but someone was definitely out there messing with your shit.

You rolled your back flat against the wall, hiding, thinking of a weapon you could use.  The ballpoint pen in the bedside drawer was the only thing you could come up with, and you brandished it like a knife at your ear with the point out.  

“Eddie is that you?” Voice wavering, you hovered just beyond the door frame.

The silence only thickened.

You felt that surge of electricity crackle along your muscles and your breathing deepened.

Who needs a pen when you can shoot lightning bolts out of your fingers?

After a sharp intake of breath, you closed the distance between the bedroom and the hallway lightswitch, flicking it on.

You’d been prepared for the worst, possibly some hulking monster with vampire fangs and blood dripping off its claws. Something like your boyfriend but darker, older. Hungrier.

But you were alone in the trailer. 

Your heart pumped ice cold blood through your veins as you made sure to check behind the kitchen island.

Nothing.  No one.  

You lifted your hands up in front of your face to find that there were snaps of electricity idling there, building power in case you needed it.  Your eyes darted to each of the windows, thinking one was open or shattered, but everything appeared to be just how you left it before bed.  

“Hello?” One more time for good measure.  “Eddie, I hope you aren’t fucking with me.”

Still nothing, and you knew in your heart that he wouldn’t fuck with you like that.  Tease you and be a brat in other ways, sure, but he’d never make you think there was the threat of an intruder, not after everything.

The closer you inched into the room, the more it became clear that there was writing on the piece of paper rolled into the feed of the typewriter.

Right underneath Eddie’s Akfj giahkasras va auiwyrg was:

Hello Dove

I k ow you ca ’t wrap your head arou d this right  ow

But Eddie is i  da ger

Nostrils flaring as you read it, you spun around, expecting to find someone standing right behind you.

Nothing. No one.  

But then

The keys were moving again, depressed by invisible fingers.  

The two of you are  o lo ger safe i  Hawki s

A memory clicked in your head about the Remington rifle with the M84 scope hidden in the wall in your closet that was loaded with silver bullets.  Brass knuckles, hunting knives, and plastic flexi cuffs, among others.  You had an arsenal of things for capture and killing.  

O ce you have read this you must bur  it

A d the replace the paper and await further instructio s

Slowly, you tugged the single piece of paper out of the feeder in one swipe and only hesitated for a moment before aggressively crumpling it up into a ball.

You picked up the yellow lighter near the phone and lit the edge on fire before tossing  it into the ceramic sink and watched it turn to charcoal ash.

You’d killed before. Many times. Humans and monsters alike.

…but why did you feel like you were just now realizing that fact?

And now someone was after Eddie.

You fed a fresh sheet of paper in, but after an hour, no new words appeared.

You had no idea how it worked, but wondered if maybe it could function as a two-way conversation.

Your palms were sweating as you poised your fingers over the keys.

“Who are you?”  You typed, each letter falling like a brick, almost afraid to know the answer.

Clickclickclick the keys snapped as soon as you finished.

I am you

…….

a other versio  of you

but also we are the same

……

When Eddie got home, you’d been watching from the window and leapt into his arms before he could step all the way through the door.

“Fuck, finally,” you said in a slightly whiny tone, unable to help yourself.  You’d been sitting there bouncing your knee and letting your anxious thoughts run wild.  You’d called the garage, but Gary had no idea where he went and you really wished Eddie would get a beeper.  

He returned the embrace, grinning sappily into the side of your neck.  “Good to know you didn’t get another boyfriend while I was at work.”

You wouldn’t let him go, it felt too good to be able to touch him, to know he was okay.

“Hey, hey,” he said softly, pushing you far enough away so that he could see your face and the water at your lash line.  His cold, dead heart ached at the sight.  “What’s this all about? Did something happen?”

You let him take his leather off, and then you told him about the Twilight Zone typewriter.

Paper fed into the rubber roller, you both sat staring at it in silence and prickling anticipation.  Eddie fed Bela saltine crackers and she ate them messily, snorting every so often as she sucked them down.  

“What if we talk to it first,” Eddie suggested, knowing that you had succeeded at that earlier.  

“I have so many questions, I wouldn’t know where to start.”

He sat forward on the sofa,  his hands in the shape of claws, hovering over the letters.  “May I?”

You wet your lips nervously and scooted closer to him.  “Sure, be my guest.”

He blew a long breath out of tight lips before wetting them again, eyes darting over the machine.

…..

This is Eddie. Is there a other versio  of me there? I’d like to ask him some questio s.

…..

He pulled his hands back as if in a form of surrender, staring at the blank white space.

Nothing happened for what seemed like an hour but was really only 2 minutes and then—-

Eddie is ’t here

……

Your heart rate spiked, and you were about to speak, but then the ghost typing continued.

You  eed to fi d Jareth

…..

Eddie is in da ger

You shouted at the piece of machinery then.  “Why is Eddie in danger?  From who?  Enough with the cryptic shit.”

Eddie took the liberty of typing a few words in for you and waited, gnawing at the inside of his cheek..

Another 30 seconds that felt like a million

The Fellowship of the Su 

Eddie fell back stiffly on the couch at that, staring blankly at the words.

“What is that last word? Sun? What the hell is the Fellowship of the Sun?”

Even as  you asked, you could tell by the look on his face that it was bad.

“They’re a group of religious extremists who think vampires are an abomination and don’t support the new laws that give us rights and let us be a part of society.  They don’t think we should exist at all, actually.”  He took a deep breath.  “They’re pretty dangerous babe.”

“Well I’m pretty dangerous too,” you mumbled, cracking your neck. You ran your hands up and down your face a few times exhaling a ragged groan.

“Wasn’t Jesus a vampire?” You mused more to yourself, but Eddie was quick to shrug and agree that he always thought so.  

Your fingers hit heavy as you punched out the words.

Tell me what I  eed to do.

For a moment there, you felt utterly foolish and out of body.  Talking to some other secret version of you about vampire stealing Jesus freaks on a broken typewriter, of all things?  But you had to focus, you didn’t have the luxury of doubting whoever was at the other end of the words.

Other You considered switching you to another timeline again, but too much of that could mess irrevocably with a person’s head.  This was the only timeline when your dad lived to be an elderly man, the only timeline when Hopper and Joyce could find their happiness, and those things mattered to you. Both Other You and Current You.

It was also one of the only timelines that you knew of where they eventually discovered a cure for vampirism.  That meant Eddie could have the choice to live out a mortal life with you, if he wanted that.  A family and daywalking together would all be an option again.

 eed to fi d Jareth

Other You repeated, and then: He will k ow what to do

You asked a few more questions over the next hour but did not receive any further communication.  Eddie sank back on the couch while you remained hunched forward and he rubbed comforting circles on your back with the palm of his hand.  

After staring at one spot on the paper for another few seconds, you settled back against him with a huff, curling one leg over his and wrapping an arm around his chest while your head nestled at his shoulder.

“Do you think we should leave Hawkins?” Your words were the first ones spoken.  “Just hit the road and get as far away as we can? Dye our hair, change our names, I don’t care.”

“If you go, I go,” he mumbled into your temple.  “But I think the You on the other side of the typewriter has a point. Jareth could hide us in the Upside Down for a while.  The fellowship would have a hard time getting to us there. They’re petrified of that place.”

You closed your eyes.  “Why would they want to hurt you?”

He grabbed the crook of your knee to pull your leg closer.  “Because they hate vampires, baby.  They want us all to go Back in the Coffin, as they say.”

“If you go, I go,” you twisted closer, nuzzling the side of his throat.

“Speaking of going,” he groaned, not wanting to face reality.  “I need to get underground.  The sun will be up in like, ten minutes.”

Ugh, you hated being apart from him for such a long period during the day, especially now that he might be a target.  But at least you could put the couch over the door in the floor and always know he was safe as long as you or Bela were around.  

He took a few sips of plasma from your wrist while your mouth was on his cock.  It was a risk so close to sunrise, but you rolled your tongue around his shaft and flicked it at the tip in a way that had him shivering and moaning your name while you swallowed his cum after only a few minutes.

Breathless, he threw his head back.  “Holy shit jesus christ I fucking love you.”

You hopped to your feet, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.  “Okay now we need to get you to bed.  Quick quick.”

“That’s okay,” he sighed, unmoving.  “I’ll just perish right here.”

“Not on my watch,” you giggled, yanking him up while he fumbled to put his dick back into his jeans.

When he was at the bottom of the hidey hole, you got on your knees at the entrance and held the door, preparing to close it.  “I’m not going to work today, so I’ll be here.  Shout if you need me.”

“I will,” his eyes seemed to sparkle while he stared up at you, admiring. “I fucking love you.”

“Ditto,” the word put a catch in your throat.  Why did it feel like you were saying goodbye to him?

When the darkness finally took him and he sank back to where the mattress was, you shut the carpeted door and then put your hand on it, as if you could still feel his cool flesh through it.

Standing with a weary breath, you moved the couch and thought about the phone calls you needed to make.  Hopper, Argyle, and the rest of the vampires and their allies that you were friends with.  If Eddie was in danger, perhaps they all were.  

You had to call Vein on Main to find out where Jareth was, and they patched you through to Sacrament.  

When he picked up on the second ring, he said hello to you before you even said who was calling.  Caller ID perhaps?  You didn’t have time to wonder.

“I need your help. I think Eddie might be in danger,” you spoke quickly, bursting with urgency.

At the other end, Jareth was as calm as ever.  “And this should concern me, why?”

“Does the Fellowship of the Sun ring a bell?”

You could hear the ancient vampire go ridgid.  His voice changed, lowering to almost a whisper.  “How do you know about them?”

“It’s a long story,” to say the least.  “Someone told me I could trust you with this.  That you could help us.”

He was so quiet, you wondered if he’d disconnected, but then it sounded like he walked into another room and closed the door.  You could no longer hear the rapid techno beat of club music in the background.  

“What if getting rid of Eddie was all part of my plan?” He smirked into the phone.  “Then I could have you all to myself.”

“Please, Jareth. We don’t have time for this.”

He cleared his throat.  “I did hear that the Fellowship were closing in on Hawkins, but they are no match for—”

“I don’t think we should underestimate them,” you said softly.  “Could we meet up later tonight? After sunset? There is something I need to discuss with you, but not over the phone.”

You wondered if you should tell him about the magical typewriter and the version of you from a parallel life. 

What if there was a chance he already knew about it?

“Come after your shift, around 3,” he said.  “I’ll ask Maxine not to hassle you at the door, but no promises.”

After the phone call, you turned on the news to see the female President of the Vampire Coalition arguing with a man who was a pastor from the Fellowship of the Sun.

“You vermin don’t belong here in our streets indoctrinating our children with your bloodlust and fornicaiton!” The balding pastor barked.  “And we’re going to shine god's light on you and send you back to the hell you came from.”

Sophie Ann Bledsoe, the president of the coalition, had sea blue eyes, a brunette bob of hair, and muted wine lips.  She looked like a soccer mom, not a member of the dangerous undead.

“If you’d give me a chance to speak,” she said calmly, watching Pastor Daniels grow red in the face. “I will assure you that we are peaceful, productive members of society—-”

“I won’t listen to this devil!” The pastor turned away, toward the camera, and then a moderator intervened with a few diplomatic words before the broadcast went to a commercial.  

You could see rage in that pastor’s eyes: he wanted to wipe vampires off the planet.

But then, the television screen flickered to static and back again.

You swore you saw an image, nothing but an outline, but familiar all the same. 

Had there been a voice? Someone whispering your name over the political news broadcast?

You waited, but the flicker never happened again.  

Before you bent to click off the set, your head did a slow turn to glance over your shoulder at the typewriter squatting like doom on the coffee table.  

Maybe it wasn’t doom, maybe it was hope, and you considered that while the winter sun broke through the trees, blanketed by clouds.  

The next place your eyes landed was the hatch in the floor that had yet to be covered up by the wagon wheel sofa.  You had a few things to get done that day, but when the sun finally set, you knew you’d be kneeling there, waiting for Eddie to take your hand and be your partner in crime for the evening.

There was something like a memory itching at your brain, but a distant one that belonged to someone else, like an echo in a dark hallway.

A memory of you and Eddie in your trailer, but it was a dark, royal blue, raining with strange particles that looked like snow but danced on the air like fluff from a dandelion.  The trees and the grass were dead, and the sky was void of stars, like a bleak landscape painted from a nightmare. The ground split open in places like jagged knife wounds that never healed; they reminded you of your scars. 

The Upside Down.

Bela was perched on your shoulder in the vision, and Eddie had a rifle strapped to his back.  You needed food and supplies, but you didn’t want him to go alone.  The three of you had survived this long, and so together you would stay.  You knew the typewriter was hidden safely under the floorboards and you’d come back for it later.  

Eddie reached for your hand in the vision and you gave it, mirroring the look of adoration on his face.  The two of you were very much in love, but around you there was a sense of horror in the air, edged with a feral determination to survive.

Survive what, exactly?

But then you blinked and the sensory experience was gone.

There was the heavy thud of Bela landing on the roof above you, followed by fumbled rustling and a tiny growl of sorts that made you smile.  

You let her in and went over to make some tea, warmed by a sudden calm that everything would be okay and no harm would come to the people you loved.

You’d make sure of it.

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Life began to feel so boring. The days blended into one another and suddenly we’re in march. Staying up late catching up on your favorite show because there is nothing better to do right now. One piece was such a breathe of fresh air, full of adventure and characters that seem amazing to be around and explore the world with. You wished to be in the world where u can freely be who you wanted, the world where you weren’t shackled by the burdens of reality.

You’ve been around all the corners of the internet so you know of shifting and astral projection which is exactly what seems to be going on right now. Rewatching episodes leading up to the time skip around 4 in the morning till your eyes flutter shut. Suddenly the wafting scent of the ocean filled your nose. “ Is she a stowaway?” “ How have we just found her we haven’t been on land for over a week now”. You opened your eyes to the snout of a reindeer and other very familiar faces.

You sat up so fast knocking into the poor doctor. Panic set through you because the first assumption anyone would have is that they’re in a dream or— congrats you’ve finally lost your damn mind. “ Who are you people”.

“ We’ve got the same question for you”

“ well I asked first”

The blunt part of a sword was thrust into your face by a very angry green swordsman. Fear etched across your face you give him a once over. Zoro. To your left was Robin and chopper holding his snout on her lap. There should be absolutely no reason that you’re in this world with these wacky 15th century pirates from your goofy anime show. Your voice shakes as you try to convince the green haired man to stop threatening your life.

“ Listen this is surely a misunderstanding, I really don’t understand how I have gotten here and I’m not really too sure who you people are.”

Maybe if they think that I don’t know who they are I can figure out a way to get out of this mess without ruining the story.

“ What is your last memory before you woke up on our ship” a voice from behind spoke. Turning to the left at the top of the stairs was Nami with Sanji following behind her.

“ I was laying in my bed falling asleep and then I woke up here”

After that you were bombarded with questions, what’s your name, your age, if an 8ft skeleton can see your underwear and it nearly drained the life out of you. The sun was now beginning to set after such a long day of being interrogated by the crew you used to watch through a screen. The captain was sitting on the head of the Sunny watching the day fade away when he stretched his arm to you pulling you to sit with him.

It was quiet for a while and nerves began to set in. Does he see through me? I know a lot of people don’t give luffy the credit but he’s way more intelligent than you’d think. “ What is it like where you’re from y/n” he spoke as he turned to face you.

“ Very different.”

“ Tell me about it please”

The sun completely faded into night and the stars littered the sky while you told luffy about “ where you’re from” and he was absolutely entranced by the world he’s never been. You ended up telling Luffy the truth about your origins, somewhat about himself, there was just something so compelling and trusting about him you didn’t think nothing of it. You slept in the girls room next to Nami that night, thinking about the next step and getting home.

Was this really a dream or did your desire to escape mundane life make you shift into this world of unknown.

The next day you went to eat breakfast with the crew and luffy starts spouting all the things you told him the night before. With seemingly no thought behind his words as he swallowed everything on his plate, though his crew members all stopped to stare at you in confusion.

“ I thought you said you weren’t from here?”

“ You said you didn’t know how you got here”

“ Well I wasn’t exactly lying, I really don’t know how or why I’ve been transported into your world. I just didn’t want to scare you or make you think I’m crazy with all of this.”

Over the next few days you were beginning to settle with the crew, you spent hours getting to know everyone and having the most fun you’ve had in years. Nami and Robin were curious about your world and you were more than elated to tell them all the things you enjoyed. The boys liked when you played their silly games, Sanji was obsessed with everything about you and loved having you perched on the counter when he was cooking so you can serve as his taste tester.

Zoro only just began to acknowledge you after finding out you also had a love for drinking, it became really easy to bond with the man. You knew you had to go back but what’s the harm in spending time with such a loving group of people, it’s not everyday someone is given your experience don’t waste it being worried.

You were able to convince Nami to give you a blank sheet of paper where you wrote all the things you knew about shifting and astral projection. You’ve been with the crew over a week now spending every night trying to shift back to your world. Sometimes you feel close others are strangely disturbed by Robin and Nami whether they are sparking up a conversation with you or knocking things over which disturbs your concentration.

The next few days you began to see birds meaning you were finally reaching land, the sabody archipelago. You know the way this arch ends and you need to go home now before you spend two years on an unknown island doing who knows what because YOU aren’t a straw hat and you have no place where you can learn to polish your skills.

The bubbly island became visible and you’d be reaching it by midday, while you were sitting on the head of the Sunny with Luffy again he asked you his million dollar question.

“ Y/n join my crew” he smiled. Your cheeks burned and you had to turn away from the boy whose smile brightened all your days.

“ Luffy I would love to but—”

“ Great- EVERYONE Y/N” you clasped your hand over his mouth.

“ Luffy l can’t join your crew. I have to go home I don’t even belong in this world”

“ Why do you want to leave” sadness dripped from his voice.

“ Yeah, we’ve been having so much fun” the small doctor announced from the deck.

“ It has been very fun I’ll admit but I don’t belong here with you guys. I’ve got a whole life in my world— and a family and just so much to do.” You reasoned.

The rest of the day the crew seemed angry and distant, you simply couldn’t understand why. When they all found out where you really came from they said they would help you get home. During dinner that night you were seated between luffy and Zoro who barley uttered a word while hushed conversations were surrounding the rest of the table. It was insufferable and reminded you of elementary school when someone didn’t want to be your friend anymore and told everyone about it.

“ Luffy are you upset with me? I haven’t done anything wrong”

“ Why do you want to leave? You just joined the crew and were on a new island”

“ I never said I was joining your crew luffy”

“ you know the captain doesn’t take no for an answer y/n” Zoro chuckled.

With a huff you stood up everyone’s eyes landing on you. “ Are you all acting this way because you don’t want me to leave?”

“ Why would we want a crew member to leave us?” Nami’s voice wobbled as tears formed in her eyes. Are they serious? When did u ever agree or tell these people that you were a part of their crew.

“ Listen closely all of you. You have to understand I am not from here, I never joined the straw hats, and I don’t even have any powers I can’t protect myself.”

“ That’s why you have me Y/n-chwaaan”

“ ignore that idiot cook but you have Luffy and I, we wouldn’t let anything happen to you”

“ Who is an idiot you damn moss ball !”

A fight between the cook and the swordsman broke out and you would usually find everything hilarious but…

These people have convinced themselves you are one of them and they don’t want you to leave. You decided tonight will be the night where you will go home with or without their help especially because you already know what’s in store the next day. Laying next to Nami that night waiting for her breathing to even out so you can concentrate with no interruptions you hear soft sobbing.

“ Are you alright Nami..”

“ Y/n I know you want to go back but can you stay a little longer we all care about you and enjoy having you around. We really feel like you’re one of our crew mates”

“ Sure, I’m not missing anything important right now” lying is better than letting this girl cry all night. When her breathing finally evened out you were able to try again.

Eyes fluttering open you were finally in your own bedroom. It was just as you left it, your iPad paused on the intro to one piece and the sun was showing through your curtains.

I really did it.

Life began as usual but you had a newfound appreciation for all the little things that made life worth it. Friends and family found your new outlook pleasant and you finally felt like you turned on a new leaf. While you were getting ready for bed applying all of your creams and oils the Tv in the living room turned on.

Wealth, Fame, Power.

A chill ran through your spine, you haven’t watched the show in over a month in fear of being brought back into that world by some odd chance. Getting up to turn off the tv something in the hallway made a noise. The fear of someone or something being in your house had you clenching on the door knob for dear life.

Just open the door nothing is there you’re only scaring yourself.

Opening the door and walking down the dark hallway into the softly illuminated living room the episode of the strawhats finally meeting up after two years was playing.

“ My favorite arch I should rewatch soon”

“ Why don’t you live it instead?” A voice from behind hissed.

You felt your heart thumping in your ears as you slowly turned to be met with a very angry Captain.

——

Not proofread ! 🫶🏽

I was inspired by a similar stories I’ve seen down the tl hope you enjoyed. Pt 2 coming soon maybe

[inbarfink]

So when discussing the ending of ‘Over the Garden Wall’ and the nature of the Unknown in general, I think it is important to remember that it’s left deliberately up for interpretation. You know, it’s not a Quiz with one concrete answer we must uncover, but it’s more about our interpretations and personal feelings. Each and every one of us experiences that journey with Wirt and Greg into the Unknown in a slightly different way. 

So what I want to do here is not present a Correct Interpretation that will dispute all the others and prove them all wrong and prove myself right, I just want to share my own outlook on the nature of the Unknown. In the hopes that others will like it and it’ll inspire more cool readings and interpretations

So on some level I do agree with the popular theory that the Unknown is some sort of Afterlife - but I don’t see it as a regular Afterlife for human souls, I think it is an afterlife for Stories. This place is where fictional characters and stories end up once they’ve been totally forgotten by the living, ‘lost in the clouded annals of history’. and become.... unknown It is quite literally a place where ‘long forgotten stories are revealed to those who travel through the wood’.

That’s why the Unknown is a mishmash of different time periods and primarily visually and narratively influenced by stuff like fairy tales, ghost stories, children’s books and old cartoons - these stories have a high-tendency to be forgotten and thus get lost in the Unknown (whatever it’s because they rely on oral traditions or because they suffered from very poor preservation historically). 

And that is what the theme song, ‘Into the Unknown’ is talking about…

Where can we pretend that dreams do come true? In Stories.

And what are ‘the loveliest lies of all’? Now that would be Fiction. 

The entire concept of stories is a huge theme of this song, I think.

Beatrice and her family, Adelaide of the Pasture, Auntie Whispers and Lorna were all originally fairy tales. Maybe the same fairy tale, or maybe they were originally separated before being ‘melded’ together. (If, for example, the last child to Remember them before they were forgotten just assumed the Bad Witch in both the Auntie Whispers and Beatrice stories was Adelaide)

Pottsfield was an old urban legend about a haunted ghost town, Wirt and Greg basically played through its ‘plot’ directly. 

Miss Langtree, the schoolhouse and the other associated characters come from a long-forgotten and out-of-print children’s book. That’s why those characters tend to talk in comically-stilted expository dialogue. 

The Tavern was the setting for a series of 20’s animated cartoons.  (Although obviously set long before that era). The Tavern Keeper was created as a Betty Boop clone and was the main character. The Tavern setting was probably a mere framing device for all sort of musical animations. The reason why none of them can comprehend the idea of not having some sort of Title or Label is because that’s how they were written - all given job-related titles but not named.

Fred the Talking Horse was a main character from a forgotten tradition of humorous oral stories where he was sometimes a trickstery anti-hero and sometimes a straight-up comedic villain protagonist.

Quincy Endicott and Margueritte Grey were characters from a satiric limerick about the greedy rich and their wacky habits. (Quincy was at least inspired by a real-life person since his name appears on a tombstone in the real world)

Possibly the same limerick where the punchline was the status-quo at the beginning of their OTGW ep, that both rivals’ mansions have become connected and they assume the other is a ghost haunting their house. Or maybe they were each from different regional variations of the same limerick about a greedy rich weirdo being lost in their own house and going mad. 

Frogland and their little boat might be from a children’s book as well, but I also think that maybe… from the vignettes shown at the opening of the series…

That one might take place outside the Unknown, and shows the real inception of Frogland. Two brothers making up stories with their toy boat by the river. Since they never shared these stories with anyone else, when these two brothers died or maybe just grew up and forgot their boyhood misadventures by the stream - these stories also ended up in the Unknown. 

The Fishing Fish we see briefly in ‘Babes in the Woods’ might be a small comedic illustration from a children’s book, or another piece of limerick, or just someone’s random notebook doodle that gained a life of its own first in the creator’s mind and then in the Unknown. 

Cloud City, the North Wind and the Queen of the Clouds were also, much like the Tavern, from a very old cartoon.

The Beast was once just a mere Boogie Man to keep young children from wandering off into the woods. Ending up forgotten in the Unknown just ended up giving him a whole world of lost souls to harvest. 

Maybe the Woodsman and his daughter were always a part of the story of the Beast. But since it seems that the Woodsman being a lantern-bearer is a fairly recent development - they might have had their own separate story. Some sort of pastoral novel about a family moving near the woods? But their narrative has been ‘hijacked’ by the Beast. 

Wirt and Greg ended up lost within the Unknown cause had they actually died in the lake that night - they would have become a Story in their town. I mean we have a moody lonely teenager and his adorable little brother disappearing/dying - on the night of Halloween - after last being seen in a graveyard - with the older brother’s last act on this earth being to hand his crush a cassette of his love poetry. Can you imagine what sort of Urban Legenda you can grow from those seeds?

But as they were not yet dead, and not a Story yet… so they were technically an Unknown story. Between the borders of life and death from a human perspective because they were about to die, and from a Story perspective because they were just about to be born.

And the ending sequence, with the little vignettes showing where all the characters from all the episodes ended up. I think that’s almost like Wirt and Greg back in the world of the living and the real - being able to create happy endings for all of those stories they've met. That’s how the Woodsman’s daughter ended up being alive all along - it was less that the Woodsman's whole tragedy was a wacky misunderstanding all along. But it became so as a gift of thanks by their new storytellers - Wirt and Greg.

Because if dreams can't come true, than why not pretend?

[eustassslut]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Eustass Kid doesn't do love. He does one night stands, hookups and lust. He simply just does not do love, it isn't a word in his vocabulary. Sure he sings about it frequently but those aren't songs Kid has written himself; those are Heat's songs dedicated to whoever he's in love with that week.

Love is real, he knows that. He's seen it with his parents, Heat with his many lovers and felt it in its platonic form for his fellow band members. But love just isn't for him. He has no need for it in his life. He's always seen love as a distraction; something that seeps into your life, overtaking it and soiling your motivation like a bad addiction as it conquers you. Kid can't afford distractions in his career when he's worked so damn hard to reach the halls of fame. "Love will always be a fucking waste of my time and energy," he reminds Heat every time the bluenette tries to encourage him to trial the dating pool, "Why would I pursue some relationship with some pathetic loser and force myself to fall in love with someone when hookups exist?"

Kid knows his outlook on relationships and love is unusual, practically unheard of when taking his family (a bunch of gross sappy goth and punk couples) into consideration. Eustass Kid technically has all of the makings to be a true romantic but, unlike his sworn brother Killer, he just can't stand any of that shit.

At least that's what he thought, until he meets you.

Kid has know about you since he was young, fresh into his career and full of dreams to become a star. It's incredibly hard not to know who you are considering how long you've been supporting them. You're loyal, he'll give you that, a proud fan since they were a small cover band filming in Wire's garage with dreams for the stage. He has no idea what could possibly possess someone to have such blind faith in the weird metal band with wacky hairstyles and horrible videography. I mean, Wire's head was cut out frame for most of their covers and Kid was rocking an attempt at a emo haircut. Why had you stuck around so long to watch them grow into their careers? Why were you still so dedicated to giving them all your money? And why did he find himself caring so fucking much about what you wanted?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Happy belated fictober! There's been a lot of Kid Pirates as a rock band art lately so I have been very inspired to create a fic series based around them as a famous band, here is a sneak peak of Eustass Kid's fic.

[markerofthemidnight]

Why Is Alastor So Weirdly Protective Of Charlie (And/Or Why Does He Hate Lucifer So Much)?

So I’m sure we’ve all seen the newest episodes. Wow, am I right? A whole load to unpack there!

The main thing that really caught my attention, though, was Alastor. Specifically, his actions towards Charlie and especially Lucifer in episode 5.

Well… there’s not really much to say about why it’s weird, is there? So, without any further ado, here’s my thoughts.

In Dad Beat Dad, Alastor engages in a whole-ass musical number about how he’s better than Lucifer and, specifically, better at being Charlie’s dad than him. He seems to do this… solely to piss him off.

And, honestly, that makes sense. Because no matter how deadbeat a dad Lucifer was, Alastor is nowhere near better than him. This is the same dude who called Charlie’s dream wacky nonsense and continuously stressed that he was only there for the entertainment.

There’s no way in hell (ba-dum-tish) that that dude suddenly developed paternal instincts for her in what couldn’t have been more than a few months. So, clearly, it must be to piss him off. But why?

Well, one of the popular theories about Alastor is that the one who gave him his powers is Lilith. I shouldn’t have to explain why this makes sense: both gone for seven years, and of course the first time he’s seen since his disappearance is after Charlie’s voicemail to her mom.

And he must be very loyal to her, to assist her daughter in a dream that he explicitly states he thinks is bullshit.

It would also explain how pissed he is when Husk brings it up: maybe it wasn’t the fact that he brought up that he also made a deal, but that he implied that his relationship with said patron is less than healthy. You know, he don’t want people to speak about his girl like that. (guys don’t worry I know al is aroace it’s just a joke he’s her personal bodyguard)

So, it’s safe to say that Alastor is very loyal to and protective of Lilith, an attitude which must extend to Charlie, yes? Yes, but that doesn’t explain the general pettiness of his relationship with Lucifer.

Well, we just established that Alastor is loyal to and protective of Lilith, that would do practically anything for her. So do we know any character that Al has a similar relationship with?…

Oh, right.

His mother.

It’s been confirmed via Word of Vivienne that Alastor is totally a mama’s boy and adores her above all else. So, it’s not much of a stretch to say that he sees Lilith as a sort of second mother figure, right?

So, inversely, it’s not much of a stretch to say that he would associate Lucifer with his father.

Think about it. Have we ever heard his father be mentioned anywhere? No. And knowing that daddy issues are TOTALLY a long-running theme in Vivziepop stories by now (Blitz, Stolas, Moxxie, Octavia, technically Loona, Charlie, probably Angel to some extent), who’s to say Alastor can’t be the same?

Now, this is kind of a stretch, but I propose that Alastor’s first victim was his own father, whom he killed and cannibalised as revenge for years of abuse to him, and even more so, his mother.

That’s why he hates Lucifer so much. He doesn’t want to be anywhere near him, he doesn’t want him anywhere near Lilith, and it seems he especially doesn’t want him anywhere near Charlie.

Which makes sense, if we apply the logic from earlier to her. If he sees his mother in Lilith and his father in Lucifer, it’s possible he sees Charlie as a younger, more innocent version of himself: both theatrical dreamers, both never fully dressed without a smile, both incredibly emotional when it comes to the protection of those they care about.

It’s also safe to say that, no matter how egotistical he pretends to be, Alastor probably doesn’t have a very high opinion of himself, given how in the pilot he outright says that inside every demon (which INCLUDES himself, by the way) is a lost cause. Maybe it’s possible he sees her as himself before everything went wrong.

So, as it turns out, he’s actually less of a dad to Charlie and more of a big brother. And… I think that’s a lot more fitting for him.

TLDR: Alastor’s weird grudge against Lucifer is because he associates him with his abusive father. That and his loyalty to Lilith and Charlie are two things that, if I’m right, will probably prove to be very important to understanding Alastor as a character.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: Eddie's 'Vertigo'

This makes me stand by my "Buddie Crack Theory" even harder than before.

I've been posting for weeks about how off this season has been and the release of this poster leads me to believe my "Buddie Crack Theory" holds even more weight (for me at least) since TM the showrunner had to go to this extreme and post another late night cryptic message to Buddie Shippers. Please understand the GA doesn't follow social media in this manner to pick up his "Buddie clues" so he's doing this specifcally for those who 'ship Buddie.

ALSO, THERE'S NO MENTION OF BUCK’S CURRENT LI AND THAT'S F~CKING HILARIOUS! 🤪😜😁

BT bones incoming!

Now that I've had my LOL moment, I'll explain how I'm not going to get into the similarities between the original movie and TM's wacky depection of it since it's been done multiple times on 911blr, TikTok and other platforms. But I will say it's extremely suspicious that he's doing this now following everything that's happened since 7x7 aired.

Additionally, it's very interesting that he made a whole "movie" poster about this to help viewers understand what's in his mind🙄. He didn't do this for "Poseidon" or "Speed" or any of the other storylines he ripped off from blockbuster movies so there's that.

IMO, TM has been reading comments since Thursday (I think he's been doing it all season) about how much most veiwers f~cking hate this storyline for Eddie and he's trying to do something to corral Buddie shippers since a lot of them gave up on Buddie after the episode aired and they read the latest interviews.

If a storyline is this complicated then maybe TM should have reconsidered it. Based on the comments left on post mortem articles, not even the GA liked the cheating arc for Eddie so this is even more telling (something similar happened in season 5 with the introduction of Lucy D. after she kissed Buck in 5x11 and it's been speculated they cut her scenes in later episodes). Reminder, TM said it himself that he has to produce a show for everyone including the network executives and the GA not just Buddie shippers but he ships them too so... what's his motivation here? Apparently, he doesn't want Buddie shippers to give up but is he too late for those who already have? Possibly but only time will tell. Furthermore, IIRC, he's been wanting to include Devin K. back into the series since he killed off Shannon's character and now it appears he has his chance.

Finally, I'll say this... if you follow me you know that I've been posting since the season began that I believe Buck’s still in his coma dream. It's my "Buddie Crack Theory" and I haven't elaborated on it yet because I wanted to wait until the season progressed. But now I'm even more convinced it holds merit and I might elaborate on it with CANON proof now that TM has released this poster. Possibly later this week if I feel up to it.

[baldwinboy5ive]

I've been talking to several different folks about how nervous I am about where they're going to go with Hawk and Demetri at the end of the season... I eventually decided I might as well jot some of it down here to see if my feelings change when I see how it all ultimately plays out at the very end.

First, I have already gone ON AND ON at length about this with some friends and don't think this part needs to be expanded on here, but - I find it kind of astonishing that the writing for their fight right now is actually realistic. I think it's pretty good writing and I am actually really okay with it, and it MAKES SENSE to me.

That's... kind of the problem, haha. It makes sense. And it's realistic.

It's realistic for best friends - even REALLY REALLY CLOSE best friends - to go to different colleges and/or drift apart because of college.

But this is TV Land and I don't want that particular variety of realistic for these particular two characters. I just don't. I think I just want them to be together forever.

They could even write that and have it be kind of bittersweet and still be a happy ending where they stay friends or whatever but I'm not sure if I want that.

Honestly if I wanted to see a beautiful portrayal of a somewhat realistic in theme, if not in actual events, separation of friends because of high school graduation, and the melancholy acceptance of that separation knowing that your friendship will NEVER be the same after this no matter how much you wish it could be because people change so much in college, then goddammit I'd watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off, not Cobra Kai!!! Look, just let me have my stupid happy ending in Cobra Kai, because Ferris Bueller already did that perfectly and I don't want to see it in this hahaahahah I just want them to be unrealistically together forever and ever hahaha. Okay?!

See, Ferris Bueller was unrealistic in its wacky hijinks-ness... but it was PAINFULLY realistic in its presentation of the fears of individuality and growing up and growing apart from your friends and the inevitable big changes that happen in people's lives as they grow from childhood to adulthood...

Yeah, I'm just not sure I want that for them haha, I just want them together forever.

I have to credit @blinkasaurus though for GIVING me the Secret Third Option: by telling me that, because MIT and Harvard are not only affiliated but also incredibly physically close to each other, students at one can actually take certain classes at the other. I had no idea. I found out they're literally like two miles from each other. That's like, a brisk walk, or a short motorcycle ride, or, as she also pointed out to me, TWO SUBWAY STOPS.

I think that Demetri, being a west coast kid AND on top of that being so focused on only one dream school for his life, could easily just not know about these schools being so physically close. I mean, I knew they were in the same general area but not THAT close. And certainly not that thing about taking classes at the other.

So, hey, if this is how it works out, then it could really work for Eli because I think it's not the school, i think it's the fact that they both have changed so much since they made their "we're going to both go to MIT together" pact that he isn't sure he's that same person anymore and he has to figure out his individuality and how to be on his own. Maybe this way, he gets to strike it on his own, while still going to A Smart Person School (as @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends puts it hahah), possibly even The Smart Person School.

Demetri is dismayed to find out they’ll be going to different schools… but then not really! They’d literally be so close they could even just room with each other after their first year in the dorms or something. Which is exactly something I wrote about before this season aired.

I do kind of feel like it IS so different over there. Things are just so spread out in CA. I could absolutely see two friends going to, say, UCLA and USC and not being able to see each other frequently. But this would be different. They really could still be together.

It would practically still feel like them getting to go to the same school, with neither of them feeling abandoned by the other, while still feeling like they got to do what they wanted to do.

I don't know if I can cope with this being them.

This whole day was many things, about which many, many folks have written far better than I could, but one of them was the looming, impending knowledge that Ferris would eventually have to accept, that things were going to change. And maybe not for the better, because who knows? But that would be for another day.

I'm just not sure I really want or need Eli and Demetri to have to go through that!

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 95... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

We are FINALLY BACK BABY!! And this chapter was AN ABSOLUTELY FUN ONE!! 😆😆😆

It's been six weeks since the last chapter, so I feel a little rusty at doing this...!! 😅 But anyway, we are finally gonna see the End of Class Gala that was mentioned all the way back in Mission 36, so let's discuss Mission 95, shall we? 😁

Becky notices a guy asking a girl to go to the End of Class Gala with him, which reminds her that the Gala is coming up soon...!! Anya, being Anya, asks if there's gonna be cake, while Becky wants to ask Loid to go to the dance with her (only for Henderson to dash that dream immediately...!! 🤭) Emile then asks Damian if he's gonna invite someone to the dance, Anya over hears this and thinks that this is a great opportunity for Plan B to move forward, so...:

SHE ASKS HIM TO DANCE WITH HER AT THE PARTY AND OF COURSE DAMIAN REJECTS ANYA'S OFFER...!! 😌

Then, it's the day of the Gala and...:

BECKY LOOKS SOOO ADORABLE IN HER DRESS!! 😍

And though Martha was just gonna drop Becky off, Henderson asks her to volunteer and she agrees to do it...!! 😁 (I still REALLY want to know Martha and Henderson's history together...! 😄)

At the party, we find out from Henderson that the whole grade is here meet and greet with other before everyone has to switch classes (hopefully Anya, Becky, Damian, Emile and Ewen will still be in the same class together...!! 🤞) And then, we see Damian's fit for the pary...:

Damian is looking like a mini James Bond in that tux!! SUPER SUAVE MY BOY...!! 😎👍

Then, Anya arrives and...:

MY BABY GIRL LOOKS SO DARN PRECIOUS THAT MY HEART JUST CAN'T EVEN TAKE IT...!!! 💗😭💗

Moving on from me being an emotional for my baby girl, one of the teachers announces the first party activity and which ever class wins gets to stay in the imperial scholar's private lounge for the day...!! 😲 I thought that this might be another opportunity for Anya to run into Demetrius again, so I was hoping for Cecile Hall to win!! 😆 But after all the games, that hope of mine was dashed because Villiers Hall won the prize...!!

(Well, at least we got to know that Mr. Green's first name is Custos from this...! 😌)

Now it's time for the dance and every is looking for a dance partner!! 😁 And I probably should've already known this, but Twilight is here to help Anya out...!!:

Damian gets bombarded by a bunch of scummy brats that only want to get close and dance with him because of who his family is, while Anya on the other hand...

...seems to be getting some genuine offers from some boys to dance!! 😁 (Heck! Even the kid that ranked first in the Classical Language test, Arnold Crowley, asked Anya to dance with him...!! 😄) But since getting close to Damian is Anya's top priority, she declines the other boys' offers. And because Damian has so many girls that want to dance with him, Emile and Ewen step in to help their boss man!! 😎

But try as these other girls might...

...Anya (with Twilight's help) will be the one dancing with Damian tonight...!! 😤

And that was Mission 95 and it was a great chapter to come back from the hiatus with!! 😆 I am so glad to finally see this Gala happen after all time, but I'm still worried about where everyone in Cecile Hall is gonna end up... 😩 But besides that, I can't wait to see what kind of wacky things Anya (and Twilight) are gonna do to make sure that she gets to dance with Damian!! 😆

Anyway, I think that's pretty much all that I wanna say about this chapter...!! 😁 So until next Mission; take care, be safe out there, and be kind to one another...!! Later!! 👋😊

[yourstruly9489]

What is your OC passionate about?

I've seen stuff to help develop characters that's asking questions about them, eg. What do they want more than anything? What is their greatest fear? What are their dreams? etc. I've always had trouble with these for some reason. Possibly because they seem so impersonal to me, despite being directed at a person. But I discovered something the other day. I love crossover fics, and I sometimes imagine my own OCs going into a fandom I like. Because of this, and my recent interest in Ride The Cyclone, I found a way that works better for me.

Ride The Cyclone is a musical about six teens who died in a tragic roller coaster accident. A mystical fortune-telling robot, whose name is Karnak, somehow has the ability to bring one person back to life. He takes the six teens, Ocean, Constance, Ricky, Noel, Mischa, and Jane Doe, to a sort of purgatory. In this purgatory they are to decide which one of them comes back to life. Each character, excluding Karnak himself, sings a song about themselves so that they can judge amongst themselves who should be brought back to life. But they don't exactly sing about their actual lives, instead they sing about their passions. In the words of Karnak, "Tonight I wish to give them the chance to express not what they were perceived to be, but what they dreamt they were."

Ocean sings about what she's passionate about first: Wanting to be on top, first place, the best. She sings how she's better than everyone else. She sings how the world needs more of her, and less of others.

Noel is next. He sings about the art movement Romanticism, he is the most romantic boy in town after all. He sings about wanting to be a female hooker in post-war France. He sings how he wants to live a life of sin, to burn himself with cigarettes, to die in an alley. He wants to experience a tragic life, not just the good, but the bad.

The next to sing is Mischa. A boy from Ukraine who lost his mother to radiation poisoning. He starts by singing about his facade, a gangsta. He raps about how everything is awesome. How he's awesome. But then he breaks out of that character and sings about his true love. Of which is his fiance, Talia. He devotes himself to her wholly, singing with passion.

Next is Ricky. A boy who was mute and physically disabled his entire life. He was often avoided in life, with his parents and cats being the sole exceptions. He sings about an escapist fantasy. He sings about himself in a sci-fi world, sent to help the race of the cat people of Zolar. How he helps save their world from extinction, and becomes famous in history. He sings about being known and loved.

Then there's Jane Doe. The one unidentified victim of the Cyclone accident, she lost her head and no one knows who she was in life. She sings about how she doesn't understand. Why she couldn't remember her family, her friends, her name? Why can't anyone remember who she is. How she'll be eternally forgotten and how everything will eventually join her in death. She sings about not understanding why.

Finally is Constance. No one really knew her well, she was only known as nice. She sings how she used to think that her life sucked, and howit only got her down. Then she goes into how wonderful she realizes life is now that she's lost it. She sings about loving the life she used ashamed of.

All of them sing about their true passions. Without the fear of being judged, they're all dead anyways, no point in being self-conscious. Then imagining my own OCs in that situation, with no consequences for expressing themselves, really helps me deep-dive into their characters. Reframing the question "What are they passionate about?" Into what would they be like in this specific situation I'm familiar with?

So I think of my OCs and what they would sing about. For specifics, I have three OCs I've been working on recently.

Left to right they are: Henry Robinson, Victor Shelley, and Mary Robert. Their story is very much about wacky mad science and creating life where there was none. Definitely inspired by the idea/story of Frankenstein.

When I imagine what they would sing about in a situation with no consequences, just a chance to truly express themselves, I understand them far more than I would with just generic questions.

I imagine Henry would sing about his triumph in creating artificial life, he'd sing about how he's going to be known all across medical history as the man to prevent death. He'd sing about how betrayed he felt when Victor abandoned him. He'd sing about how he deserves more. Victor would sing about his grief. He would sing about how stricken he is at Henry's blatant ignorance of the laws of life and death. He'd sing mourning the lives lost in this pursuit of life. He'd sing about his care for others. Mary would sing about her lack of understanding. How she was brought into a world, not through love, but through science. How she woke up in a lab with only Henry there to help her, a man who is only using her for his own gain. How she doesn't understand why she couldn't have stayed resting in a grave. She'd sing about her confusion.

With just the question, "What are they passionate about?" I think that Henry's passionate about science, Victor's passionate about his disregard for Henry's actions, and I wouldn't even know about Mary. But with the question, "What would they do/sing about if there was no fear of consequences?" I come up with so much more.

And so, I ask you, dear reader. What would your character rant about, if only there were no fear of being judged?

(watch Ride The Cyclone, it's great)

[taviokapudding]

Simon Petrikov has always been a GILF and before the crown took over his mind, I think we can all agree long white haired - not ice king yet Simon was kinda hot before the madness set in

Now that I have your attention - hear me out AT fandom- what if Ice Prince in Fionna’s dreams is what Simon/Ice King thought he was throughout the original Adventure Time series?

I always thought Ice King having extremely high self confidence was just a gag or joke before we learned about who Simon was- but there’s tons of instances where he declares he’s hot & doesn’t mind showing off his body in the original. And with the canon 12 yr time skip, we know now everything about Fionna & Cake’s AU and Ice King’s actions to form the AU was based off the madness of the crown playing into Simon’s wish fulfillment, trauma, & life; but also a form of escapism from his reality as a lonely man in a world he cannot relate too.

In the original & first appearance of the AU Ice Queen is H O T {and I’m not just saying that as a pansexual} she is leagues more attractive than how Ice King was and I would argue looks more like what I think Betty would look like if she wore the crown. She’s wish fulfillment but being heavily crown coded explains why she’s no longer Simon’s mind/Fionna’s dreams.

But Ice Prince? That is way more Simon coded than crown & also doesn’t match any of the male background characters we do see in episode 1. What if that’s not just Simon wishing he could be more like Ice King but instead what he actually thought he looked like the whole time the crown controlled him for all those centuries? That would explain why Ice King was so shameless but also partially explain why Simon mentions in ep 2 of Fionna and Cake that he both misses but hates what Ice King looked like.

Yes it’s a Tuxedo Mask reference & an obvious sign Simon still has some magic powers, but you cannot deny that if Simon wanted to dress as Ice King he’d probably go a more Ice Prince style to line up with how he currently dresses. If the AU remained the AU that was all originally knew, Ice Queen would’ve been some evil Sailor Scout or Queen Beryl coded character to Fionna Campbell; Ice Prince wouldn’t be a thing if it was just an alternate universe. And that tall glass of frosty water is definitely what Simon wished he looked like {honestly me too, Ice Prince is so gender}

EDIT: Btw in ep 2 of Fionna and Cake, Ice Queen is seen as the icecream vendor and she looks nothing like Simon but way more like a cross between the Gunther penguins and crown. And yes I know Fionna “dates” Ice King in the original au - my point still stands that it’s still what Simon wanted/thought he looked like with the crown on. Fionna Campbell would be into a very blue robes & wacky eyebrows Ice Prince and Ice Queen wouldn’t be just an icecream vendor who’s nice to kids if the crown had influence still