#and by snippet i mean this is basically the only thing i have written for this fic

[sparklecur]

almer dialogue is a pain in the bee hind to get the hang of so just assume any of his dialogue will be rewritten at some point but alnyways heres a random fic snippet

[harstyle]

Fourteen Years

Summary: They became fast best friends at ten years old - fourteen years later, not much has changed. Now they're twenty four, spending a few weeks together in her Berlin apartment as he takes a well earned break from work. He's a world famous singer, she has an office job she hates. Their paths couldn‘t be more misaligned - but that's what makes them work. Everything falls into place when they're together, a quiet routine building in the shadows, easy and organic. They move around each other like life is the simplest thing in the world.

But what happens when a drunken conversation on a balcony threatens the livelihood of their friendship forever?

What happens when all bets are off and they're forced to be honest with each other?

Word-count: around 4k

Warnings: nothing really, mentions of alcohol, swearing

A/N: Hey there, it's been months! I haven't really written much except from this little thing because I’ve had a lot going on. I'm not a huge fan of this tbh, but something about it feels comforting, so I thought I'd post it. Get ready for the cheesiness of it all and hope you're having a good day!

By the way he calls her Tinkerbell in this lol (don’t ask).

Also, there‘s weird time jumps because I wanted to try out something new, but it basically just switches between the night the conversation went down (italics) and the morning after and her thoughts on the night (normal). Hope it‘s not too confusing!

—

“Because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known, Tink.”

That’s what he said last night. He was drunk, even though he insisted repeatedly he wasn’t, but she smelt the alcohol on his breath, a mix of beer and mint that was harmonious enough to smell good. His pupils were dilated, cheeks a shade of red they only are when he’s downright gone but trying to act like he isn’t.

She knows him like the back of her hand. Fourteen years together, every step of their lives since childhood. Elementary, secondary, early adulthood to now— all of it, she’s known him better than anyone. She’s seen all of his phases, however successful or downright devastating— she’s gotten to know all the cousins, all the girlfriends, all the enemies. They’re the it couple, the loves of each other‘s lives. In the most platonic way imaginable.

Last night he wasn‘t like himself. He spent most of the night keeping to himself despite the rare company of their friends, chucking drink after drink like alcohol isn’t the gateway drug it‘s known to be— so unlike the man who always paces himself so as to preserve his health. And then he spoke to her. And at first, it went like always.

“Tinkerbell!”

“What?” She breathes softly, turning to face him whilst pressing her back against the railing. She’s biting the inside of her cheek, having just thought of him as she looked over the scenery from her balcony thinking how nice it’d be for him to be by her side. “You okay, there, cowboy?”

“Never been better, Tink.”

And she remembers, even now, the smile that tugged at her face when she realized he was different. Because it wasn’t a bad different; it wasn’t like he became cold, or dismissive, or mean— no, he just seemed happy. Too happy, like there was nothing in the world that warranted enough importance to be worried about. A version of him she’s never fully gotten to know, but has seen snippets of. And it isn’t like he’s not a happy person— he is; never too worried, never too scared. But this was a different kind of happy.

He seemed lighter. Like the years of experience and maturity had washed away momentarily, leaving her with the eighteen year old Harry she once knew standing in front of her.

“Oh is that why you can’t walk straight?”

He shushes her, coming to lean his front against the railing. She inches closer to him, head falling comfortably against his shoulder. Then she says softly, “we haven’t spoken much today.”

“Yeah, we haven’t.”

She prompts her chin on his shoulder, staring hesitantly at the side of his face. There’s barely any lighting and she can barely make out the shapes, but it’s enough. She watches as his lashes flutter softly, as his facial muscles tighten a little. “And why is that?”

He looks ahead, breathing in and out gently, like he’s deep in thought.

He shakes his head. “I don’t know, Tink.”

“Okay,” she nods subtly. “Well if you want to talk about it…”

“…you’re here.” He finishes for her.

“Like I always am,” she emphasizes, the extra squeeze to his arm substituting for a thousand words she could be saying instead. But she doesn’t really need to. Never has.

Now she’s waiting. In the kitchen, back in the living room. Then in the kitchen again. She’s pacing, thinking, worrying about what Harry will say when he’s up. If he even remembers what he said, if he meant it the way she thinks he must have.

She never had to worry about losing him. Because she always knew, even at 12 years old, that risking it would mean losing it forever. It being the friendship; the bond with the kindest, most precious boy she had ever laid eyes on. So even though throughout the years sparks of feelings have crept up instantaneously, she’s never pursued that dream.

But it would be sucha dream, wouldn’t it? To be loved by the boy she grew up loving. To be loved by the boy who knows how to appreciate her without having to be taught. To be loved by the boy who always puts her first, treats her best, makes her feel whole.

It hurts sometimes to think she might never find someone like him again. It’s psychotic, really, the fact that she’s so frightened of losing him that she’s deprived herself of the best man on earth. Just so she can keep him a little longer. Even if it means walking down the aisle to him and not being the one wearing white.

For a lingering moment, all there is between them is silence. Dead silence, just the rhythm of Harry’s heartbeat exposed underneath her fingertips.

He breathes in deeply, almost as though preparing himself to say something earth shattering. But then he doesn’t. His fingers twitch, she sees it.

“What is it, H?”

He looks at her, eyes filled with something indescribable. But she speaks his language, so even though he doesn’t say it, she knows what he means to convey. Thankfulness. Gratitude. And she feels it too, any time she’s sad or conflicted, any time she’s in a place she doesn’t want to be in— a glance of his eyes and there it is. All the words. Never spoken out loud, but crafted together perfectly in the space between their bodies.  She always wonders how. She knows he’s wondering it right now too.

But it changes something in his face. It pushed him over the edge, the look of determination solidifying into something more serious.

“You get me, Tink.”

“I do,” she says lowly, making sure to tilt her lips into a smile. “And you, H, get me.”

“That’s crazy, isn’t it? How rare must a connection like ours be?”

“Pretty rare, probably,” she replies with an easy chuckle, eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly.

“Yeah, probably. I don’t even think it and you know. Y’know before I do, every time.”

Her breathing changes with his. It’s sporadic, slower, almost like otherwise she would be risking a solid ground to stand on. “Yeah, I… I guess so, H. Are you okay?”

“I’m always good when I’m with you. Which is—“ he laughs, almost like at himself, “which is kind of the point, you know. I—“ he looks away, running a shaky hand through his disheveled hair, “I’ve been thinking about how weird it is that we’re… I mean, I’ve never felt that way about…” he pauses again, taking a short leveled breath. “About anyone, really. Anyone but you.”

Her eyebrows pinch, pulling together to crease the center of her forehead.

She doesn’t know what to say. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything. Maybe then he’ll realize he shouldn’t be doing this right now, that he’s entering dangerous territory.

“And I saw you with… with that guy. Tim, you said?”

He nudges her when she remains quiet.

She clears her throat,”Tom, actually.”

He huffs a breath, “right, Tom. I see him, you know? I see what he could be, but it really doesn’t matter that he’s a good guy. It doesn’t matter that he picks up the bill, doesn’t matter that he opens your fucking door. I can’t shake this feeling that he could never be good enough. Because nobody is— not for you. Not even if he kisses the ground you walk on.”

And finally, it’s like she understands a little better what he’s trying to say. She snickers quietly to herself, but lenient worry spreads throughout her chest regardless. “well, that’s a little silly.”

“Is it?”

“If nobody’s gonna be good enough then might as well pick the next one in line, right?”

A pause. Then a cough. “Yeah, right,” he nods, but it looks and feels as though there’s something more to it.

Gently, she brushes a lone finger over his cold wrist. “Harry, what’s happening right now? I’m confused.”

He shakes his head, taking a breath to brace himself. “Is he the next in line?”

For some reason, her heart beats faster.  “What?”

And when he looks into her eyes again, they’re red. “Tom. Is he the next in line? The next best guy?”

For the first time, she allows her gaze to linger, to glide over his nose down to his mouth, then back up again. She swallows, the options of what to say made available to her in her head, yet both too risky to choose from. But she has to say something. “No, he’s not. You’re the best guy, you know that. But it’s different with you, with us.”

And he nods his head, taking in the answer with special consideration.

After a long pause, he takes a deep breath. “Would I be good enough?”

“Would you be good enough for what, H?”

“For you.”

And it was truly instinctual, her laugh. It was racked with nervousness, a sense of unease because she was left thoroughly confused. Looking back, it was probably demeaning of her to laugh— but then again, she still has no idea what happened last night. Where it came from.

She can picture it in her head now, the nervous look on his face as he asked her the question and probably the only time she’d ever recognized anything resembling insecurity in his voice. She’s pacing, a feeling of disgust overriding her stomach at the thought. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, to undermine him. But she didn’t know.

“Why are you laughing?”

She detaches herself from him, dismissal evident in her every step. Maybe it’s the kind of dismissal that needs to be expressed so that nothing moves and everything is left untouched— enough for him to just drop it. Because she’s terrified of it all falling apart. The first domino tile has been flicked; now it‘s only a matter of when will the rest fall in line? “Because you’re being ridiculous, Harry. Stop doing that, you’re freaking me out.”

But it’s not enough. He follows after her, struggling to walk a straight line.  “What’s ridiculous about me asking you a serious question?”

“I just— you know you’re good enough!”

“Do I?”

She glances at him shortly before continuing in stride. “Oh come on! Stop acting so oblivious and innocent.”

“What does that even mean, Y/N?”

“I can’t talk about this right now. Not when you’re this drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!”

“Yeah and the fucking pope isn’t catholic.”

He scoffs aloud. “Tinkerbell!”

“What?” She swivels around, her arms coming to hug around her middle. She looks at him as though repulsed, because frankly, she is. Things were fine before he had to go and get himself drunk and spurt things he couldn’t possibly mean.

He pauses, an expression of defeat on his worry-ridden face as he inches closer. And when he speaks again, it’s timid, not like anything she’s ever known him to be.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Tink.”

“What are you even talking about, Harry?”

“I don’t want to be the guy you regret, or hate, or hurt over. When we’re old, I want to be the guy you look back on with affection. And I— I didn’t really care about anything when we were younger, but I always cared about that. About you.”

He‘s terrified, she can hear it. With every breath he takes, every word he sounds out, there‘s an undertone of hesitation that keeps poking through the surface. It‘s like he‘s fighting with himself.

“Harry,” she warns, because this is all becoming too intense.

And that’s when he said it. Because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known, Tink. He said it with sincerity dripping from his words, a type of vulnerable that neither of them had ever demanded from one another. Who could’ve thought that he would ever reserve those words for her. Not for the women he’s dated, not for the woman he’ll marry. For her.

He must be kidding her.

“I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry.”

She walked away then, slamming the door behind her with considerable force. She was ready to leave this behind. Ready to sleep and wake up renewed, indifferent to last night’s shenanigans.

But she couldn’t sleep. She left bed at seven this morning and now she’s just sitting at the counter waiting for the air to shift. She wants the reassurance that things will continue to be the same.  

But deep down, she knows things can never again be the same, not even if they move past it graciously. It‘ll always live on in their subconscious, gnawing away at their minds until either of them caves and decides it isn‘t worth the hassle. Because it doesn‘t matter how much she wishes she could deny it; there‘s always been something there. And that something has gotten bigger and bigger, becoming too enormous to stay invisible to the human eye.

The clearing of his throat snaps her out of a trance. He’s standing in the doorway, sweatpants hanging low from his hips, shirtless. His arms are hugging loosely around his frame and something about about it causes her stomach to stir. Last night, of course, but also just him. Seeing him on a bright summer morning in all his glory, just how he is. There‘s a sense of domesticity that she supposes became normalized in their friendship but is now itching for a different kind of attention.  

She wonders how long he‘s been standing there.

“Hey,” she offers a warm smile, the relief at the sight of him enough to ease some of the tension in her body. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good. It’s just now that I’ve got a bit of a headache.”

“Oh! I actually thought you might so I— wait,” she rounds the island to her purse and fishes around for the pills, “I bought a new pack of advil yesterday—“

But the distraction doesn‘t work on him.

“Tink, I meant it.”

It’s abrupt. Even in his delivery, she can tell he’s been keeping it in, been aching to say it.

She freezes however, turning in her spot with a squint in her eye, “what?”

He releases a deep sigh. “I meant it. What I said about you last night. I know you’re hoping we can move past it but it’s been on my mind for a long time.”

“Oh,” she replies quietly, dumbfounded, “I’m sorry about how I reacted—“

“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it that way. Usually I’m good at keeping these things to myself but there was something about last night that— it just fucked with me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You should always tell me when something’s bothering you, I’m sorry I’ve made you feel like you have to keep things to yourself.”

He laughs. It’s subtle and soft, but it’s there, barely a release of breath. He pushes away from the doorway, coming to stand by the island next to her. “You don’t mean that, Tink.”

“Yes I do.”

“You didn’t even want to hear it last night.”

“I was just confused.”

He shakes his head. “And if I told you all of that now? Would you react any differently? Because however much you might hate it, I wouldn’t take anything back.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“But you’re confused.”

“I mean— out of fucking nowhere, you drop this bomb on me and it’s… fourteen years, Harry. That’s how long we’ve been friends.”

“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve never thought about it? Because if you can look me in the eyes and tell me that, I’ll drop it right this moment.”

And she can feel herself becoming increasingly more frustrated because she can’t really tell what exactly he’s trying to say. Communication has always been their strong suit, but this… whatever this has come to, it’s not like anything she’s ever experienced with him before. It‘s messy, slopey, unchartered territory. “Thought about what, Harry? I’m so lost right now and I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want you to be honest!” He exclaims wildly, running a hand through his hair whilst gesturing with the other. “There’s been so many times, Tink. The dance, prom, our graduation, fucking last week where there’s been this— this switch. And I feel like something is going to happen but you’re— it’s like you don’t want it to. So be honest with me.”

“Well I just— that’s not fair!”

“How is it not fair?”

“Because you always seemed too fucking good for me, Harry!” She cries out. “Everyone would say it, literally everyone— those fucking girls at school, people at home, the media. I mean, how could I ever think you would settle for someone like me?”

“Someone like what, Tink? Someone who loves unconditionally? Someone who has always put the happiness of others before her own? Someone who is so damn perfect and selfless and kind that I couldn’t imagine anyone being good enough for her? Someone like that, you mean?”

She shakes her head, the words describing her thoughts heavy on her tongue but too vulgar to be spoken aloud. How could she ever be honest with him if honesty means admitting to every feeling of insecurity she has ever harbored at the prospect of her best friend? How could she ever be honest with him when honesty means making him realize she’s not nearly as perfect, selfless or kind as he believes? “Nobody has ever loved me. I don’t think it takes a degree to figure out why, Harry.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, it isn’t?”

“Look around, will you? If nobody loves you why are all of these pictures of our friends hung up on the walls?”

A chuckle escapes past her lips, “man, you really don’t get it, do you?”

“What?”

“That’s not the kind of love I’m talking about.”

He scoffs, shaking his head to regain an inkling of composure and rid himself of annoyance - not of her, but her tendency to make herself the villain in every story, “you can’t possibly be blaming yourself for all of those failed relationships right now. Half of them fucking cheated on you.”

“Yeah, why? if I’m so perfect and lovable why would—”

“God, would you ever blame me if someone cheated on me? Why are you always treating yourself the way you would never treat anyone else, huh? Why are you always so harsh on yourself?”

“You’re perfect, Harry. I mean, perfect career, perfect family— there’s nothing wrong with you. You can’t possibly compare that to me, can you? I’m a fucking mess. I haven’t found my passion—“

He rolls his eyes. “We’re twenty four, for god’s sake—“

But she continues. “And I’m emotional. I get annoying and clingy, my family fucking hates every guy I’ve ever brought home— and even worse, they hate me. So I’m sorry if I’m a little pessimistic when it comes to relationships, but I can’t fucking afford to be all rainbows and sunshine about it.”

“I get it, Tink, I do—“

But she’s had enough of misunderstandings, enough of him pretending like it’s that easy to let go and trust. “No you don’t! And you don’t get to walk in and say all those nice things about me wasted off of your mind pretending like all along it’s you who’s been yearning! Ever since we were kids, Harry, it’s always fucking been you! All of it, everything. I was crushed when I met your first girlfriend, you know that? Fucking crushed!”

There’s fury in his eyes, a fire that keeps getting bigger and bigger, burning at the sight.  “Why didn’t you fucking tell me then?”

“What did you expect me to do? You had never even looked at me twice!”

“You must know nothing about me if you really believe that.”

And it gets to a point where all she sees is red. He’s blurry in her line of vision, spewing words she can’t possibly digest in this moment.

She begins to walk away from him, cursing to herself like he can’t hear her. But he can, and he follows her every step.

“Is this how it’s going to go from now on? You’re going to walk away and pretend like nothing happened?”

“I don’t know what you want me to do.”

Frustration anchors at his every word and she can tell, even though she’s only able to hear his speech, that his eyebrows are pinched deeply, his forehead creased with intensity. She knows that he’s hurting to some capacity, that his heart is going wild in his chest.

He wraps his fingers around her wrist, tugging her back into his front. “Tink, just fucking look at me.”

Their chests collide, hearts equally beating faster for one another.

She stares into his eyes, waiting for something to be said, anything. But as seconds pass, and words still remain unspoken, her shoulders start to lose their tension and her heart plummets to the pit of her stomach.

He’s dangerous because she could never stay mad at him. She could never hate him, no matter how badly she wishes she could.

She clears her throat, but fails to move. She doesn’t find herself wanting to. “Harry.”

His eyes trail southward toward her mouth and she wishes so badly he would just kiss it. “Does it really matter what happened back when we were kids? Does anything other than what I said matter at all?”

She swallows around a lump in her throat, staring into the green of his eyes that have always had the power of swaying her in every which way. And as he’s doing the same to hers, the air shifts in a more familiar direction.

“I’m scared.”

He nods, “I know.” Interlacing their fingers with one hand, he allows the other to rest comfortably against her neck.

But she can no longer look at him, not when he’s so close, expecting her to open up to her like a flower in spring. “I can’t lose you, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I messed this up. I’ve wanted it for so long, but I’m bad at being more than a friend. I’m bad at saying what I truly feel, I’m bad at being the girl guys want to bring home to their parents. I’m bad at time management. I’m bad at being vulnerable . You know all this about me, but it was always different before. With you it was easier. But if this were to happen… you’d get to know my ugly sides.”

His eyes are glassy, as are hers. From the outside they probably look like a mourning couple, one at the brink of heartbreak. And in a way, this feels similar to every heartbreak she’s been through, only this time the risk of loss is much greater. And so is the sense of hope.

“Y/N, when I asked you last night about Tom,” he nudges a finger underneath her chin, coaxing her to look at him, “I asked because for fourteen years, I’ve always felt like I wasn’t enough for you. At first I thought you would never be into me. You were too smart, too confident. It’s ridiculous, I know, but we were teenagers,” he smiles at the memory. “But then I joined the band and I didn’t want to expose you to a world I hadn’t fully understood myself. I didn’t want you to have to deal with all of that, so I tried to protect you. I hid you from the cameras, lied to people when they asked me about you. Clearly I didn’t do it very well because you just told me it still got to you—“

“That’s not-“

He squeezes her fingers, a silent appreciation of her reassurance, “but I tried my best, you know? I’ve always kept my distance because I didn’t want this — everything I do and everything I am — to become a burden to you. Because I’ve always loved you. I’ve always wanted to make you happy, to be the best guy for you. There were times I didn’t know it, sure, but deep down I’ve always known it’d be you, Tink. These last few years I just wasn’t sure I was enough. Because you deserve the best a person could get.”  

“Of course you’re enough, H.”

“I still think you deserve better than me, baby, so much better. But if you give me a chance, I promise I’ll try my best. I love you as you are; whatever you call your ugly side, that doesn’t exist to me. You’re you, Tink, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m done cowering away because I’m scared of fucking up and I’m begging you to do the same. Let go with me and explore this. Please.”  

She supposes this feeling in her chest is so indescribable because she’s never felt it so intensely before, but it resembles sheer and raw admiration. There’s a hint of fear brewing in the deep abyss, but hope surfaces at the top. And as she looks into the eyes of the love of her life, she sees safety. Love. A Future. Together.

Her face inches closer, “I’m so terrified of losing you.”

He nudges his nose against hers. “Won’t let it happen, I promise. You’re never getting rid of me.”

A smile breaks out on her face.

“Then kiss me, H.”

And so he does.

—

That‘s a wrap! Hope you liked it :)

[felassan]

Lucanis and Crows snippets, under a cut due to spoilers.

How would Viago and Teia react to a Crow Rook being romantically involved with Lucanis? "Teia is going to plan the wedding, and insist that Viago give Rook away at the ceremony. Viago will sigh dramatically, lecture Rook about it, and then spend a week picking out the right gloves to wear." [source]

If Illario wasn't locked away, how would he react? "Under any circumstances, Illario would be upset since it's a whole lot of attention that's STILL not on him. He would definitely get drunk at the reception and tell the same two most embarrassing stories about Lucanis over and over until Viago knocked him out and put him upstairs." [source]

With Rook romancing Lucanis, is it possible that Spite could become affection or benevolence? "Spite's basic aspect is defiance. He can be more or less difficult depending on influence (rebellion vs. vindictiveness, etc), but at his core he's always going to be a spirit of "NOPE"" [source]

Lucanis' mother was the heir apparent to House Dellamorte [source]

Does Spite have any kind of feeling about Rook? "Spite is fond of Rook in his own Spite-like way. He and Lucanis agree on the point of trusting Rook over and above other people or themselves. He does go to Rook for help with Lucanis, after all." [source]

For the Lion King reference in Murder of Crows, Mary Kirby went to the cinematic animators and described it as Illario's "Scar at Pride Rock" scene [source]

User: "I cut Lucanis' hair and shaved his beard and I almost feel like I should apologise to him" / Mary Kirby: "Now he can't tell himself from Illario, and you've given them both a complex." [source]

Teia and Viago were half-written by Mary Kirby and half-written by Luke Kristjanson [source]

Lucanis likes his coffee black [source]

Would he judge your coffee order? "As long as it's not boiled, or instant coffee, or whatever that stuff from a can is, he's fine with it. Or at least, he will only judge you silently for it." [source]

What kind of treats does Lucanis like? "Sweet, because it goes better with his coffee. Savory, if somehow he is NOT drinking coffee at that moment." [source]

Lucanis grew his beard and long hair while in the Ossuary. "He hasn't exactly had a haircut in a while." [source, two].

Would Lucanis make Powerpoint presentations about jobs or to talk? "No, he doesn't want to talk to anyone, let alone explain things and present them. That's 300% an Illario thing. That man has a powerpoint to introduce his powerpoint about why you should listen to his powerpoint." [source]

"Lucanis would never be on social media. He'd be on YouTube watching videos of people restoring rusty cutlery with no dialogue until four in the morning." [source] Could he tell when content is manufactured? "Yes. And he gets upset and finds Bellara or Neve (whichever is unluckier) to rant about it." [source]

Lucanis' favorite stove burner? Right front [source]

"Spite doesn't have any concept of physical appearances. It looks the way Lucanis sees himself. Lucanis is never relaxed, even in casual wear." [source]

Along with Lucanis Mary Kirby also wrote Spite [source]

Mary Kirby wrote Illario, Luke Kristjanson wrote the Crow faction quests [source]

Lucanis' perfect date night? "I'm gonna be honest: There is a non-zero chance it would involve assassinating somebody and getting coffee, and I'm not entirely certain which would come first." [source]

Lucanis "has so much [trauma] to sort through, and he could really use some help. Like, a Marie Kondo level of help with that." [source]

What sparks joy for Lucanis? "Coffee, paella, wyverns, knives, REDACTED, book club, REDACTED, revenge..." [source]

Lucanis is older than Illario by a few months [source]

How did Spite feel watching Lucanis fumble after the near-kiss moment with Rook? "Confused. Spite, like most demons, doesn't really get emotions outside its domain. Not doing something that someone clearly wants you to do should make you happy! I mean, honestly, what's better than that, except maybe revenge?" [source]

Did Spite interact much with Manfred? "We wrote a bunch of interactions between them, though I have no idea how many made it in." [source]

Update:

What are the names of Lucanis' parents? / "I didn't give them names, and in the event that Lucanis comes back in a later game, I don't want to hand out info that might just get contradicted by his next writer. (If I don't answer a lore question for him, this is probably why. I don't want to write checks someone else has to cash.)" [source]

What is Mary's take on Spite's possible involvement or lack thereof in Rook and Lucanis' relationship? / "Honestly, I don't know, and that's a question his next writer might explore? Where do your pent-up feelings of frustration go when you're happy? What does an emotion like defiance even understand about love? (I think that's fun to think about, but your mileage may vary.)" [source]

[jamiepaige]

Constant Companions Closeup #1: DYAD

(also on spotify!)

Hello everyone!! It's been a couple weeks and change since Constant Companions, my newest album, was released unto the world, and I've been genuinely blown away by the response. Genuinely, thank you to everyone who's been streaming, commenting, making mashups, changing their pfps and usernames - it means the world to me!

I wanted to give some of that love back with something people have been asking me a lot about - and, admittedly, something I love doing. Song explanations! Deep dives! Dropping the lore! Welcome... to the Constant Companions Closeups...

For the next eleven days, I'll be going into each track one by one and babbling about the process, inspiration, details, feelings, and thoughts behind each one! We're getting sappy. We're bearing our hearts. We're telling unfunny jokes. And we're starting with track one - DYAD (featuring unit.0)!

---

Naturally, since this is the first track, it also serves as a great point to talk about my intention with this album as a whole!

I'll elaborate more on this with future tracks, but to me, there are really two main things that define the sonic progression of this album versus my previous work - guitars and vocal synths. Obviously, these things have been present in my work since I first started calling myself Jamie Paige, but Constant Companions is intended to be my overwrought, sappy confession of love to these two things that time and time again have made me simply want to make music. I love rock and I love Hatsune Miku dammit!!!

I had originally written this song in February of 2023 for a game-jam-esque online festival hosted by my friend Loni called HAPPY PARTY TRI, and at that time, I had found myself at a major crossroads. I had put out People Posture Play Pretend and :women_wrestling: the previous year, and while the response was nice, I was feeling listless and lost.

I love singing. I like my voice well enough. I certainly love writing music with lyrics!! But... there was something uniquely electrifying about using vocal synths. Amidst a lot of insecurity and emotional turmoil surrounding the process of making art and putting myself out into the world, it was one of the few things that just made everything feel right. Suddenly, I was making the same kind of music that had touched my heart so many times over.

Would it alienate people, though? Would I lose longtime listeners? Yes, that weighed on my mind more than I'd like to admit, but even more than that... I was worried I'd lose some part of myself, as silly as it sounds. Maybe what I thought was a bridge would become a barrier, and the messages I wanted to send across the gap would never find their way.

Ultimately, I felt that Dyad was the only kind of opener I could've possibly given this album, and a perfect fit for the album's motif. A dialogue between myself, stricken with loneliness and a lack of inertia running in circles, and that synthesized voice (ANRI Arcane my darling), grabbing the outstretched hand and asking a question I already know the answer to -

"Baby, do you know what you wanna hear?"

Yes, it's a love song, but it's not just for a person - it's a love song for the creative impulse, and for the places I wanted it to take me.

im resisting the urge to be jokingly dismissive of myself to diffuse tension but i still need to signal that the emotionally bare part of this is over so pretend im doing a funny little dance Anyways let's talk more technical stuff

---

Like many of my songs, Dyad came together from a patchwork of different snippets and ideas I had laying around. The back half of the chorus - "dream together, we can dream together" - originally came from this idea I had jotted down something like 9 months prior, but ended up being a perfect fit for Dyad in basically every way. The verse snippet that I'd written to go with it got reused for a later song on Constant Companions as well! (I say without naming it, as if it isn't literally lifted wholesale from this demo and thus incredibly obvious)

I wasn't originally planning on brazenly quoting the bridge of a Tally Hall song when I set out to write this song, but while toying around with a bridge idea involving a shortened version of the pre-chorus melody, I realized I had inadvertently copied it anyways. I was going to scrap it... but at the request of my dear friend and certified Tally Hall lover Marcy Nabors, I made it an explicit reference. Which I'm fine with, personally! The first CD I ever owned was a copy of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum my sister bought me all the way back in 2006 - You can pry that sentimental attachment from my cold, dead hands, TikTok kiddies.

Lastly - not really behind the scenes so much as just a shoutout - thank you to unit.0 for the lovely lead guitar work on this song!! He's been a beloved collaborator of mine for many, many years now, and one of the people who ultimately convinced me this direction was the right one to go in, so it means a lot to share this song with him. Go listen to his music!!! Now!!!!!!

That's about it for this song! Not to sound like a fucking YouTuber, but genuinely, if there are any details you'd like to hear more about, let me know and I might made a bonus post at the end of all this. Otherwise, thank you for listening! Tomorrow: Not Quite There, featuring telebasher!

❤️💚

[magnuspanoptes]

Came across your blog and fell in love with your takes on arguably the most important dynamic in tma (like it made me miss them and actually start a relisten after like never finding the energy to after the finale years back). Do you happen to write any fics or have any fic recs?

RAHHH thank you!! this is exactly what i'm hoping to achieve every time i post yet another one of my delusional comparatives 🙂‍↕️

and i don't write fics but i do have recs!

I'd suffer all if you'd tell me, by RavenXavier is definitive S4 silence of the lambs / red dragon prison visit fic. to me.

Death Be Not Proud, by Startless - is another prison visit fic, but it's an AU where jon chose to die in his coma and woke up as an avatar of the end.

Pinned in vain desire, by statuscrows is about jon slowly developing compulsion which causes problems for elias :) they probably write the most in-character elias. he's not nice, but he's fond of jon. i recommend, like, every single one of their je fics. nobody writes beholding powers quite like them, almost every fic is based around an aspect of the beholding. Skeptic is an AU where jon finds gertrude's tape on the first day of the job. statuscrows always writes jon with his early seasons abrasiveness and mean streak intact, which is really all i want from jon's characterisation. i don't want nice jon, take that awayyy; Ritual misery is set immediately after 160 and is doing more interesting things with the web than all of S5 put together; From his prospect high - jonathan sims learns to See; Quenched in darkness you shall see - this is noncon and dead dove. read the tags! reccing this because ritual voyeurism to please the beholding is a real and true concept.

Perchance to Dream, by parva_dae and once upon a dream, by indelibleangel - are dream fics, inspired by MAG 120. first one is a snippet of elias poking around in jon's head and worsening his fear and paranoia. he would do that ^_^ and in the second one they talk. and kiss.

and lilies, by kototyph - i read two chapters while it was still ongoing but it's finished now and i haven't gotten around to it yet, but from what i remember this had, like, revolutionary elias characterisation. he's a disaster. a very well put together, beautiful disaster.

also these two one shots they wrote for jonelias week which i liked very much :3

something different crosses the threshold, by aguntoaknifefight - amnesia. classic.

a heavenly madness, by roundthedecay - this is one of the very few, proper gothic fics with these two. there's a cursed oil painting. jon's having his life ruined by said cursed painting. and jonah/elias gets a proper gothic villain treatment.

Worn to Shadows, by Ash_Rabbit, which somewhat satisfies my bluebeard itch, but it's an AU with no institute.

everything Candentia has ever written, basically. they write entity horror really well, and i think almost every one of their je fics are squarely in the horror genre, which i appreciate very much. i'm here for the horror. and you have to check out Beholding's Own if only for the jonah chapters. it doesn't have that older mentor shaping the younger in their own image dynamic because this an AU in which they're childhood friends. but it's so good. it's so good!! the georgian jonah chapters are exquisite. the tone, voice, word choice, atmosphere, general everything. also, some serious wuthering heights stuff happening between these two. like, they get it. they get it! they've also written a bluebeard (and cupid & psyche) adjacent fic - darkly, which is a fairy tale au. and Where Hope and Reason Part is tagged dead dove for the detailed descriptions of eye gore. which is my thing. we need more of that.

Professional Distance - takes place during the birthday tape, has an excellent elias voice. he's evil. and enamoured by jon. and evil.

a glass essay, by fairbanks is jonpeter and only tangentially lonelyeyes and jonelias, but it's one of the most gorgeously written fics i've had the pleasure of reading. excellent isolation narrative and has symbolism which pays off in an unexpectedly perfect way. and as a guy who does not care about peter lukas or any ships involving him in the slightest. well. this got to me.

Scenes from an Epicenter, by NeverwinterThistle which is set during S3 and the first je fic i recall reading. the bit where elias takes jon home after distortion helen drops him in his office is canon to me <3

Dark Square Bishop, by Blissymbolics, exactly what it says on the tin. homoerotic chess match at the end of the world.

[tessiete]

I am here because I just finished reading “The most certain way” for like the third time and tears were shed. Your writing is so inspiring and honestly just a masterclass in storytelling. I aspire to even reach one quarter of your skills, i’m honestly so shook and grateful I found your story. Anna is such an underdeveloped character it’s honestly comical how she was written off the show, so i’m just grateful you’ve taken the task to flesh her and Carter out, mostly what could have been. Even with all the odds stacked against them I hope they make it. Anna has such a great sense of pragmatism it makes her come off as cold and unfeeling but the warmth she has with Carter…the way you’ve given us a glimpse into her feelings and emotions, how even she can’t make sense of them sometimes, it’s just so beautiful. It’s prose.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for creating this wonderful piece of art!

I too, am on a deep rabbit hole of obsession with Noah Wyle, moving on (not quite) from The Pitt to ER. I’m so happy to have read your recent contributions. do you have any other projects cooking? Absolutely no pressure I’m honestly just curious and would want to make sure to keep my eyes peeled.

So, first, I want to let you know that this comment changed my whole day. I woke up to it, and I was so moved that I ended up setting aside real life things in order to sit and start the next chapter. Your kind comment directly impacted this fic, and absolutely inspired me to get into it with more enthusiasm and clarity than I'd felt in a while.

To be honest, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. The fic has gotten so long, and by virtue of its subject matter, feels so complex and sometimes convoluted that I was in danger of losing sight of where I was going and how to get there.

But I read your comment, and then I reread my fic trying to see what you saw, and realising that I knew where to go next.

Your kindness and generosity, in addition to the unspeakably wonderful and insightful support of @maisiec33 and @secretegret make this possible. And if you're looking for additional ER work, I would highly suggest you check them out on AO3. I can't express my love for them both with anything approaching adequacy.

Now, to your comment in particular, I am SO SO thrilled you're enjoying it so much. And I'm deeply, deviously glad to know I've made you cry.

I think your analysis of Anna is spot on, and her exit from the show is one of the things that truly *puts on tinfoil hat* think fundamentally altered the direction of things. It's so abrupt, and she was so involved in so many other characters that, to me, season five feels thematically and narratively aimless without her.

I love that you put your finger on the idea of her being pragmatic to the point of almost being cold. I hadn't really considered that, but I do spend a lot of time considering how her pragmatism and self-consciousness holds her back from being as effusive and expressive as she might truly feel. And "cold" is exactly how that would read to others. I love how precise she can be, and how compassionate, but also how impatient and demanding. One of the reasons I think she works really well with Carter is because she's basically the only relationship he has on the show that isn't compromised by some (big or small) social taboo or power imbalance. She holds him accountable without expecting perfection. She only demands he examine his own actions, not that he atone for anything. I love that.

And I think that, combined with her history with Max, would have made such a compelling conflict during Carter's addiction arc.

AND I'M SO GLAD YOU THINK I'M DOING HER JUSTICE.

As for things in the pipeline...nothing specific. I do owe @maisiec33 a whumpmay fic (I've not forgotten), and I've got several little pots simmering. Some more self-indulgent than others, but I do mean to get to them sooner rather than later! So sit tight!

In the meantime, here's a little snippet from the next chapter.

[silenzahra]

Hey there, my amazing spiritual twin!

Don't mind me, I just invited myself in to gush over your writing for a moment😁 You'd better get comfortable because this might be a bit lengthy. Here we go!

So that little snippet from your angsty Brothership wip you were kind enough to share with me in your answer to my ask? So good, I was basically reduced to a little happy dog, wagging my tail and all that jazz, because I'm just so excited to read, no, to DEVOUR the whole thing once it's ready! It's gonna be totally awesome, I already know it🔥

Your other ideas you shared with me in the past? Looking forward to those too! Take as much time as you need with them though, I'm happy to know I'll have so much Zahra Writing to read in the future, possibly and hopefully for years to come🥰

And "Without him", the story you wrote based on my art? Oh my goodness, even just thinking about it still makes me so emotional🥹 Not only is it inspired by my art and a wonderful birthday present for me (and that's not even the only one you gave me! The other one was a banger too!), but it was also an incredibly written masterpiece imho. I've been itching to reread it, and I think I'll do it soon!

And you've been writing shorter stories based on my art as well as others', too, and they also deserve love and appreciation! I'm so honored to be among the artists who inspire you🫶 I can only hope to continue to do so!

Now, I know that your Luaisy stories in particular mean a lot to you. I'm sorry that I'm not quite the target audience for those and can't match your level of enthusiasm for the couple😅 But you know that, at least to my knowledge, I've still read them all, just like the Mareach ones. They're all very nicely written, my super talented twin! I think you can write any kind of relationship well, and I would actually love to see more of father-daughter stuff from you about Luigi and your OC Violet🥰

I love how music, usually your favorite band Estopa's, can inspire your writing. I love how you write the Mario characters and especially the Mario Bros. and the relationship between them. I adore the way you portray emotions and thoughts of the characters making it very easy to connect with them. How you describe action, how you can build suspense and atmosphere. I admire and respect the fact that you write your stories in Spanish first and then translate to English, effectively doing both the typical writing + editing work AND translation on top of that. You are amazing, and I wish you'd believe it as much as I, as well as many others, do.

Also, in the light of my recently developed anxiety and problems with sleeping, the comfort aspect of your fics is appreciated more than ever... I remember when Biggest Fear was able to calm me down enough to help me fall asleep as you advised me to🥲

You are an incredible writer whose works I love to reread (as you know, and so does my phone's browser - remember?) and I'm very confident that what you write in the future will be glorious! Please, have faith in yourself, because you know I do❤️💚🫂

I hope you feel better soon! Now, it wouldn't be a complete Emotional Support Ask from your twin without some hug gifs, so:

I love you, okay? Please be kind to yourself☺️❤️

Mugi. My EXTREMELY BELOVED twin bro. I know you sent this ask a couple of nights ago and I couldn't answer it earlier, but as you know I screenshoted it and I've been rereading it over and over again... and it never fails to move me deeply 🥹🥹🥹

My inbox is your inbox, of course!! It ALWAYS makes me so happy and giddy to see I got a new ask from you 🥹🥹 And this time you sent a long one because you knew I'm struggling with my writing lately... Seriously, if I loved you more, my heart would BURST 😭😭🫂🫂

Okay, your words about my Brothership WIP have me wagging my tail like a happy dog 🥹🥹🥹 Oh, Mugi, it means the entire UNIVERSE to me that you enjoyed the snippet so much!! Dnsojgnsripsapkvsedlñ your words are seriously so motivating, holy cow 😭😭😭 I have to say, even if I haven't touched that fic in a while, I'm actually quite proud with how it was turning out. And... the climax of the story will be even MORE angsty than the snippet I shared 👀👀👀 I may or may not be feeling like going back to it TODAY thanks to your supportive and encouraging words, bro. I literally can't thank you enough for giving me the boost that I needed to resume that fic at last and focus entirely on it. You have this power over me and I just can't thank you enough 🫂❤️💚

I'm so glad that you remember all my ideas that I've shared with you!! 🥹🥹 I know I'm taking forever to bring them all to life, but awww I'm so MOVED that you want more Zahra Writing for the future 😭😭😭 Seriously, you loving my writing so much makes me wanna scream and kick my feet and warms my heart so much. I'm over the moon right now 🥹😭🫂 You shall have your wish granted, bro, even if I'll still take some time. But I'll do it for you 💚❤️

Oh my God, you still get emotional just by thinking of Without him??? 😭😭😭 I absolutely LOVED your reblog and I swear I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you being so touched, bro 🥹🥹🥹 I'm HONORED that my story could make you feel this way, Mugi. I kept you in my mind all the time while I was working on it and I wanted it to be as perfect as possible since it was meant for you. I LOVED bringing two of your amazing pieces together and gifting the story to you for your birthday, together with the rewrite of An electrical aura. I'm looking forward to writing more stories for you in the future, and I just couldn't be happier that you enjoyed this first fic that I wrote inspired by your art. I'm seriously about to cry that you consider it a masterpiece, like WHAT 😭😭😭 Thank you SO MUCH, my twin 🫂🫂🫂 I hope you'll enjoy rereading it just as much as the first time you read it 🥹💚❤️

Aww yes, I absolutely LOVE writing short stories for some specific pieces 🤩🤩 Thank you for acknowledging them too, bro!! I know I haven't done it too often but I've 100% enjoyed every single time that I did 🥰🥰 As you can see your art continues to be VERY inspiring for me, and I'm so glad you've enjoyed the short drabbles that I've written so far!! Again I'm looking forward to doing it more in the future, and of course I have my eye on your art 😁😁 I have no doubt you'll continue to inspire me, bro!! 🥰🥰

Oh please, Mugi, don't apologize for not sharing my Luaisy obsession with me 😭🫂 I totally get that you're not into it, and you know I deeply appreciate that you still went and read my two Luaisy fics as well as the Mareach ones. It touches me deeply that you wanna read everything that I write even when it's not your cup of tea 🥹🥹 You're one of my biggest supporters, reading even what you don't fully enjoy just so I can feel your love and support. Believe me: I do feel them 🫂🫂🫂 And I'm so grateful. One of the greatest lucks in my life is having you as my amazing twin brother. You make me feel so good about myself ❤️💚

Also! I DO wanna write more content with Luigi being my little Violet's dad and them bonding together and all that 🥹🥹 Actually, ever since I listened to a certain song that someone showed me a few days ago, I've felt the need to write them together again very soon... 🤭 And OMG thank you for saying that I can write any relationship, that's also such a great boost for my self-esteem as a writer 😭🫂

... Okay, your next paragraph has me ugly sobbing, my twin 🥲🥲🥲 You basically praised ALL aspects of my writing, like... What if I CRY 😭😭😭 Seriously, I feel like printing it and hanging it up in my wall so I can have a constant reminder of what makes my writing so good. And why my beloved bro loves it so much. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Just, you're helping me remember why I love writing so much. Every single thing that you listed... I love it all. I love doing it all. Even the translation thing as much as at times I struggle, especially with idioms. But I still enjoy it, just as much as everything else. I... I sincerely don't see myself as being amazing, but I'll believe it because you said so 👉👈 I'm so honored that you and so many others see me this way. I promise that I'm working on it, and your words truly are helpful and helpe me believe in myself. I shall listen to my beloved and awesome twin bro. Thank you 🫂💚❤️

Oh, Mugi 🥺🥺 Believe me, I'd do WHATEVER I could do to fully erase the anxiety from your life. It's not easy at all to live with it... so I'm deeply moved and relieved that my fics can comfort you, especially Biggest fear. Even if I can't be physically there for you, my words can, so in a way it's like I'm actually there by your side. And it warms my heart so much 🫂🫂

Guabiedmnglksd there you go again, making me cry once more 😭😭🫂🫂 I know that you love rereading my stuff and I still get so emotional whenever I remember it 🥹🥹 Your confidence in me really is contagious, my twin, because you really make me feel like I'm capable of doing anything. Your faith in me is deeply appreciated, and I shall cultivate mine so I can continue to share more stories in the future that will hopefully be able to bring you more comfort. Just like you've done with me through this amazing, encouraging, and very touching ask that means EVERYTHING to me 🫂❤️💚

I love you so much, my dear brother. Thank you for everything that you do for me 🫂💚❤️

[sofa-king-lame]

Buck and Eddie roadtrip in Texas 👀

Ok so I actually started writing this one MONTHS ago and then abandoned it, but now (after 8x08) I feel like I could pick it back up again with better added context.

Basically they go on a road trip (like maybe they fly to Austin for an event or something and decide to hire a car and drive back through El Paso to get Chris or something). Buck isn't sleeping bc insomnia is a bitch and Eddie researches the shit out of different techniques he can use to help Buck.

Here's a snippet:

--

“Have you tried jacking off right before you go to sleep?” Eddie asks as Buck leaves the bathroom and Buck walks right into the arm chair. 

“The fuck, Eddie,” he groans, bending over to rub his poor dead pinky toe. 

“Sorry, just checking. It’s an obvious one though, so...” Eddie trails off and looks at Buck pointedly. Buck wants to die. 

“Yes, Eddie, I’ve tried that. Didn’t help. Next tip, please.” 

“Counting sheep,” Eddie suggests. He’s sitting cross-legged on the bed in just sweatpants and Buck still wants to die. 

“Oh yeah that’s super fun until my brain can’t stop counting and suddenly it’s 4am and I’ve visualised seven fucking thousand sheep jump over a rickety wooden fence,” Buck snorts. He slumps into the armchair and rubs his eyes aggressively, listening to Eddie’s breathing. The room is (creepily) silent and Buck’s skin is prickling. 

“Visualise moving all the furniture in your room,” Eddie reads off his phone. 

“Great until hyper-fixation kicks in and I get up and actually start moving furniture. Remember three weeks ago when you came over for breakfast and I was passed out on my bed against the opposite wall?” Buck reminds Eddie pointedly. “I need new mental games.” 

“Hmm. Well according to this person on Reddit you shouldn’t think of them as mental games because it’s not meant to be fun,” Eddie snorts. 

“Yeah fuck that person. Going to sleep should be fun and if it helps me to think of mental exercises as games then that’s what I’ll do, random Reddit asshole,” Buck huffs. He’s way more annoyed than he should be about this but Eddie doesn’t say anything, just hums in agreement. Buck appreciates Eddie rolling with his spiralling and not telling him to ‘just sit the fuck down and relax’ like Tommy used to. Buck wants to die a little less now, but not by much. 

“Have you tried counting backwards?” Eddie asks, tilting his head to the left a little. The gel he’d put in his hair in the morning has lost its hold and his hair flops to the side, falling over his forehead. 

“Ah see that one I’ve actually had a little success with.” Buck stands up from the armchair – his pinky toe has miraculously not fallen off and he can, in fact, walk. He sits down opposite Eddie, close enough that their knees are almost touching (because it’s only a double bed, not because Buck just wants an excuse to be close to Eddie, nope). 

“But not so much recently?” 

“I count backwards by threes starting at nine hundred and ninety-nine,” Buck starts, and absolutely does not shift slightly so that his and Eddie’s knees are actually touching. 

“Oddly specific, do explain,” Eddie muses. He still looks sleepy, despite his four-hour nap in the car. Buck wants to hold his stupid hand. 

“Doing it that way hits every triple digit – eight eighty-eight, seven seventy-seven, blah blah blah,” Buck trails off, waving his hand dismissively. “Which is satisfying but is also a pattern that my brain latches on to and after a few nights it’s not engaging enough to keep my attention and I start tuning out the counting and get distracted by other things.” 

“That - I mean I can’t relate, I don’t know what that’s like but it sounds really fucking frustrating. I’m sorry,” Eddie murmurs warmly, placing a calloused hand on Buck’s knee and yep, Buck is going to die tonight. 

--

I've written 5.3k words of this one lol. I've just got so many WIPs/fics I want to start!

[severus-snaps]

so I’ve been rereading the books to get the tiny snippets of Snape that don't often get brought up

but so far I’ve only read up to Harry meeting Ron on the Hogwarts Express. Although Snape has yet to be introduced I keep thinking about how similar Snape and Harry were in a lot of ways - and how different - even at the early stages. 

so this is a mostly snape-centric ramble about Harry and Sev's similarities and differences, and what they might have meant for a young Sev during his time as a child, his family, his trip to Diagon Alley, his scene on the Hogwarts Express, and what all of that might mean for his experience of being in Slytherin in his early years

Pre Hogwarts

This started as a ramble, but I’ve decided to organise it slightly - this is difficult as Harry and Snape have slightly different circumstances that are similar in some ways but different in others, so I’ve just gone back to basics for each section here

Similarities

Both are young wizards about to go to Hogwarts 

Both come from unhappy homes

Both cannot wait to go to Hogwarts/escape their ‘family home’

Both have displayed unintentional magic as children

Both as children are in ill-fitting clothes, have poor haircuts (even if Harry's grows back; Sev’s apparently does not), and are scrawny and/or small. Sev is described as looking at odds with James ("conspicuously lacked" looking well-cared-for and adored, which I suspect would also apply to Harry, if the series wasn't half in Harry's POV). 

Depending on whether you take the mistreatment and neglect literally from PS or in a more Roald Dahl-eque way in which I suspect it was initially written, Harry did not have a happy home life until this point, and neither did Snape (a witch ‘cowering’ from a Muggle and Sev’s jacket despite the heat and the Pottermore article suggest and/or state physical abuse in addition to neglect)

As far as we’re aware, Snape is not used as a servant/slave within his own home

Differences

One of the main ways Harry and Sev differ would obviously be magical knowledge; Sev knows he is a wizard, knows a lot about the wizarding world - but Harry does not

Snape is not orphaned; he has both parents (for better or for worse), where Harry has none, unless you count the Dursleys

Both Harry and Sev are obviously neglected, but Harry is neglected intentionally

Harry is intentionally excluded, neglected and ignored - but Sev’s neglect seems less intentional and more… ‘the way of things’

Sev's family are so poor and/or neglectful that Sev doesn't have his own clothes (context clues like living in a dilapidated, small house in an old industrial area suggest they just don't have the option)

Sev’s family either has no inclination or ability to amend Tobias' clothes instead of Eileen's, and/or don’t have any family friends to borrow/take hand-me-down clothes from; they are his parents’ clothes. Harry is ‘fortunate’ in that he has Dudley to take clothes from. The obvious outcome being here that otherwise he’d be wearing Vernon’s old coat and Petunia’s blouse)

Harry is raised in a middle-class home with a reasonable enough income. He gets pocket money (probably paltry and inconsistent: “The Dursleys haven’t given me pocket money for about six years”, CoS) can sneak out and eat at night, get cake (however gross) from his neighbour as she tells him about her cats. He eats with the Dursleys, plays with Dudley's toys if he's left alone, and gets gifts (even if they are pathetic). Harry’s neglect is wilful - and malicious

I get the idea that the Snape family are so poor and so unhappy that their neglect isn't even intentional, it's just how their lives are. they're steeped in it, living in a dilapidated area, poor, in an unhappy and volatile marriage

Sev is described, even as an adult, as being skinny - so maybe that's just how he's wired - but maybe (almost certainly given the other context clues and the era) he's also underfed as a kid

If we reach into parallels with the other 'abandoned boy' (voldemort), sev's mum was possibly similar to merope gaunt - unhappy, and either unwilling or unable to use magic to defend herself or sev against tobias (this conjecture is all from hazy memory; obviously i haven't read that far yet).

Overall ideas:

Neither Sev nor Harry have warm family figures. Far from Molly's checking that her gaggle are in order on platform 9 3/4 the Dursleys leave Harry there alone - and Eileen doesn't seem that bothered when Sev is about to leave (nor does he seem that bothered that he's about to leave her - he's more interested in Lily). But Snape’s lack of familial closeness seems a consequence of their situation, rather than an intentional choice, as it was with the Dursleys and Harry.

Sev (unlike Harry) doesn't really know 'how the other half live' - as far as we can tell, he has no access to the average family dynamic of the Dursleys (and they do seem happy with one another, they love Dudley, and would be living their 'ordinary' dream life if Harry wasn't there to complicate it). To add to that, I get the idea that Sev genuinely doesn't really understand why Lily likes (or loves) Petunia; he has no concept of why a family member’s opinion might count. There's not much love to lose in his family, and like Harry, he can’t wait to leave - there’s nothing holding him back. 

Unlike Harry who doesn’t know anything yet, Snape knows he's a wizard and has known all his life. He knows a lot about the wizarding world, either from his mother or her books; he tells Lily about it. Sev loves (as Harry comes to love) magic, and what it represents: escape, freedom, control over his life - and a certain amount of positive attention and interest from Lily which he is so clearly lacking elsewhere. 

But (sort of like Harry), his house at Spinner's End doesn't seem like the sort of place where magic was used like The Burrow, for example, or Malfoy Manor where Draco already flies ("doesn't your dad like magic?"; he’s alone in his room shooting down flies). It’s also not apparently used for defence/retaliation by his mother, if the shouting scene with Sev's father is any indication.

But (un)intentionally, depending on how you interpret Sev's actions with Petunia and the branch, Sev has displayed magic when he was angry or afraid, much like most magical children - and much like Harry.

Harry's examples are ‘sweeter’ at that age, on the whole: he shrinks an ugly jumper, grows his hair back, and jumps/flies on a roof, and removes glass from a snake enclosure in a comical scene. Sev drops a branch on someone, and they are genuinely upset and leave. (Some of this might be to do with the lighter tone of the earlier books as well).

Seeing as Petunia was fine enough to run away after the event and Lily stays friends with him, it can't have been an enormous branch. Sev seems guilty, so I'm certain that whilst he did want to retaliate (and for something to happen to Petunia), I'm not certain that he actually intended it to (or perhaps he did; I wouldn't blame him. I also really enjoy the idea that he's in control of his magic enough to cause it on purpose; I get the idea he's quite powerful, because of his learning to fly unsupported later in his life, which is no mean feat by this universe's rules, and his skills in wandless magic like Legi/Occlumency, spell creation, etc). [side note: that then opens up a can of worms for me bc how powerful is Lily if she can float/fly at nine, Harry can either Apparate or float/fly in primary school, at presumably a similar age - but those were accidental, brief 'flights' I suppose compared to Voldemort and Snape showing sustained flight during the battle of seven potters and jumping out of a Hogwarts window and flying away - but i digress).

So, while Harry’s no doormat, Severus is possibly more spiteful and reactive at that age; he's defiant when he drops a branch on Petunia, he's shooting down flies when he gets his wand, he's making disparaging noises to James, he's accusing Petunia of spying, and all of the other things people say to suggest he's always been a terrible person. I think, given the glimpses into a stressful, poverty-stricken and loveless home, possibly also abusive, that's essentially all he knows when threatened. Harry seems overwhelmingly polite to Hagrid in early PS - but then Hagrid has always been kind and almost reverential, which in turn would affect how a person responds. We mainly see Sev respond to Petunia in a similar context, and he’s nice enough to Lily, if a bit awkward and lacking in Harry’s politeness. 

I can see Sev, with his more ‘prickly’ upbringing, being more like Tom here in the same situation of not knowing he was a wizard - and acting more like ‘I knew I was special’ than ‘no, sorry, you’ve got the wrong guy’. But again, that might be because of the intersection of his personality and his upbringing - Harry, too, was defiant and neglected, though I get the feeling Sev’s general situation was more violent somehow, so it could’ve gone either way.

Diagon Alley

The next place where Harry and Sev's differences would be readily apparent would be in Diagon Alley. This is less about their similarities vs differences and more of a series of general rambles and speculation. 

Would Snape have even gone to Diagon? By which I mean, would he wear his mother's old robes to school, or get new ones? Did he have her old books? Would she have saved them for 11+ years? (books, maybe; robes, possibly not).

Assuming Sev went to Diagon, as all/most young Wizards do, I imagine that despite Sev knowing about magical culture he's rarely actually seen it in action because of my point above about his father not liking magic/anything much and his mother not using magic to defend herself - so he’s definitely not seen it on that scale. He'd be every bit as blown away as Harry was by the wonders of Diagon Alley, the shops, the brooms, the pets, the books - because his dream is finally coming true! He's on his way to Hogwarts!  

…Until it came to the buying. Young Sev has no vault overflowing with gold. He has no option to realistically contemplate buying a solid gold cauldron like Harry does, even if he might like to. He probably doesn't get a pet as a lovely going away (or in Harry's case, birthday) gift from a parental figure, and there’s no mention of a pet when Sev’s on Platform 9 ¾. Eileen would have had to save, or keep some money back/hidden, for all of that, given the state of his home and Muggle clothes.

tangent: by the time they reach the train, and even in diagon itself, sev is more of a ron than a harry. but how poor is the weasley family really if they always get plenty to eat and a lovely large home and all of their school supplies and brooms at home for so many kids on a single income, even if most stuff is secondhand? maybe i'm just biased bc I grew up poor and it was just me and mum and stuff Just Was secondhand, it's not the end of the world even if ron's embarrassed by it.

it's suggested in later books that ron's never (or rarely) owned a galleon. seven galleons then (assuming the prices are similar in sev's generation) seems a lot then for a wand; 9 galleons for a new book (advanced potion making apparently cost that, HBP); possibly it was eileen's own old book, and I know the curriculum doesn't change much if harry's still using it and the book was printed in the 50s, but in CoS, with lockhart's book(s), and the weasleys talking, suggest they'd have to have bought at least a few new books each year, so we can assume sev would need to do the same and otherwise he’d be borrowing old books. not to mention the potions ingredients, the robes, etc. I assume Sev got his own wand but what if he used his mother's old one (especially if she didn’t use it much - which would be nice/interesting, as another parallel where he takes predominantly after/aligns more strongly with his mother/female figures which was discussed in several other metas).

The other thing that struck me was that Harry wanted to buy a book of curses and jinxes (Curses and Counter-Curses: Bewitch your friends and befuddle your enemies!) for use on Dudley, but Hagrid dissuaded him - much like how Sev was described as knowing "more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year" and maybe might want to curse his father and/or Petunia, but certainly learnt to curse the Marauders at a later stage.

The scene with Draco and Harry at Madam Malkin’s was also interesting to me when drawing conclusions for Sev. When comparing Harry’s experience on the Hogwarts Express to the robe shop, I’m curious how it would’ve differed or been the same. 

At Madam Malkin’s, Draco sees what he would’ve seen in Sev: a boy, small for his age, in hand-me-downs, with possibly weird hair - and Draco attempts to chat with him. 

Draco here, to an extent, represents any Malfoy (as we know, Lucius befriended Sev), and indeed any Pureblood, in the same situation - a boy raised in a wealthy magical family, with all of the experience of magic and privilege that comes with it. He wants a racing broom, he’s practically bored of magic, none of this is special. But it is special to Harry, and it’s special to Sev; it’s their lifeline and their escape. I’m not sure how much Sev would’ve appreciated or wanted to emulate that bored, over it attitude; on the one hand ‘no foolish wand-waving’ indicates that to an extent he’s not impressed with showy magic for the sake of it, on the other, he’s the Half Blood Prince. He’s done plenty of foolish wand-waving in his time, and finds it fascinating. 

Back to the conversation with Draco. Like Harry, Sev would not have played Quidditch (he can’t fly intuitively in the brief memory we see, being more akin to someone like Hermione or Neville in that regard); he would likely not have a broom already. He’s critical of ‘big Quidditch heroes’ - or is he jealous? He certainly enjoys Quidditch enough to have a rivalry with McGonagall, and that might be another part to why he ended up disliking James - maybe he really was jealous of James’ skill on the Quidditch pitch.

Then, Draco discusses houses. Here there’d be a slight difference between Sev and Harry - Harry has no idea, really, what house he’d be in - he doesn’t even know what the houses are. But Sev wants to be a Slytherin, he knows that already. Possibly because his mother was, furthering their similarities/alignment? It does seem to generally run in families, what with James “Gryffindor like my dad” Potter, Sirius “my whole family have been in Slytherin but maybe I’ll break the tradition” Black, and Draco “I know I’ll be in Slytherin because all of my family have been” Malfoy and, of course, the whole host of Weasleys). 

So, wanting to be in Slytherin would be a point in Sev’s favour, as far as the Malfoys were concerned, and wanting it (and possibly having a family member already in Slytherin) would be useful in that context, too, obviously.

But how would Sev react at this point to Draco’s personality? Harry is reminded of Dudley, and I’m not sure we have enough evidence to say whether Sev had someone similar in his life who bullied him (what his father did I would argue went far beyond bullying, and would be a much different dynamic). But Petunia would possibly have acted as a stand-in here, either as herself, or as a representation of the other Muggles in the area who knew ‘that Snape’ family from the poor address, for the reason of why Sev was otherwise friendless. I don’t think it’s a leap to imagine that Sev was unpopular with the other local kids.

Draco goes on to ask Harry whether his parents were “our kind” - to which Sev has a more ‘undesirable’ answer than Harry, because one of his parents was a Muggle. Draco talks of servants, and Sev probably wouldn’t have the same irritable reaction to that, as we don’t see any implication that he was treated in that way by his parents, unlike Harry. But also unlike Harry, Snape would be there with his witch mother (and not a “savage”), and knew about Hogwarts already. Unlike Harry, Snape might have been considered by Draco/the Malfoys/Purebloods as “the other sort” - the child of non-magical people. Draco asks for Harry’s surname, presumably to check whether he was of suitable stock (which Snape, with a Muggle surname, wouldn’t be).

Perhaps Sev would’ve similarly hated the snotty, biased, spoilt brat attitude.

Or perhaps, in this situation, he’d aspire to be like the Malfoys - to become the snotty, spoilt type. To be the bully, instead of the victim. Sev did eventually befriend the Malfoys, after all - but how much of that was an immediate friendship (unlikely, at that point, as Malfoy was older and what ~16yo wants to regularly hang out with an 11yo). We see that he’s possibly headed that way by 5th/6th year by aligning with Mulciber and Avery, but that was a new enough development that Lily commented on it at that point - but at this early stage, it’s made clear that Sev is ‘the victim’ of the bully, or the underdog, like Harry - and someone like Draco probably wouldn’t have thought much of him. (James and Sirius certainly didn’t, though not for these same exact reasons).

The Hogwarts Express

And finally, on the train. Harry has experienced celebrity in glimpses by now, at the Leaky Cauldron and at Ollivander’s - but it’s on the train and the platform where everyone from the Weasleys to Draco wants to gawk and/or befriend him.

I’ve said already that by the time they reach the train, and even in Diagon itself, Sev is more of a Ron than a Harry. Harry knows what it is to have hand-me-downs and not be able to afford anything, but that’s Sev’s continued existence unless his family suddenly won the lottery. And whilst Harry bought a heap of sweets and got a delightful new friend in Ron, Sev and Lily were (as discussed above) compelled to leave his cabin because of James and Sirius… just as Harry was interrupted by Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. But it’s James who overhears Sev and interrupts and then says, practically word-for-word, what Draco does in Madam Malkins’ (James’ “Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” vs Draco’s “Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”). Now, Sev does this too, to an extent, making a small disparaging noise at James too for wanting to be in Gryffindor like his dad (to me, another hint that Sev wants to be in Slytherin because of his mum). But that was after James had already interrupted Sev’s conversation with Lily; otherwise, Sev was content to keep to himself.

And Draco is hounding Harry for opposite reasons. Draco is attempting to ‘befriend’ Harry. Harry is a ‘desirable’ connection - he’s rich, famous, of a good wizarding name, and if adult Snape’s speech to Bellatrix is any indication, possibly considered a ‘powerful dark wizard’ around which Voldemort’s followers could rally. He’s ‘got it all’. By comparison, Snape is undesirable - he has all of Harry’s social setbacks - he looks poor, he is poor, he’s raised by Muggles and has immediate Muggle heritage, he probably wasn’t raised with extensive/overly frequent magic use, and is a bit weird looking in general - and he has none of Harry’s desirable traits like a good name, reputation, money, family, or connections. “Prince” is not a famous name by the time Harry is in school, and given wizard lifespans, they probably weren’t a big name a generation ago, either. All Sev has is knowledge of the wizarding world, which might fool or impress someone like Draco for a bit. But it’s implied that Draco believes there’s a fundamental difference in how Muggleborns/those with Muggle families are raised compared to ‘true’ wizarding families (and there really is). But Sev was raised in a Muggle area, likely not using magic or being an active part of the culture since he’s so starved for someone magical to talk to - and he’s shortly going to be in a wizarding school, where Sev’s second hand knowledge (from his mother) essentially becomes inconsequential anyway.

All in all, Draco simply wouldn’t bother, if this were a different universe. And Lucius (and others in Slytherin) probably asked all of the necessary vetting questions that Malfoy did over the course of the time in the robe shop and on the train, and reached the same conclusion: Snape wasn’t worth their time. That is, until he proved himself an adept wizard, some time later in school. (To be clear if I haven’t already: Draco is just a stand-in in this ramble for general Pureblood/Slytherin beliefs, asking the sorts of questions and acting in ways that reflect those values).

What that all means is that Snape continued to face the everyday challenges that were essentially eliminated from Harry’s life once he reached Hogwarts; challenges which would’ve had greater impact in a house like Slytherin which has a reputation for blood purity and wizarding supremacy, and many people in it who hail from rich, well-connected Pureblood families who probably are all, one way or another, related by blood or marriage anyway. Lucius was a Prefect by the time Sev got to Hogwarts, and I think Draco became one, and those sorts of attitudes were shared by Draco’s Slytherin peers and not outliers. 

Some more conjecture now: I think it’s safe to say that instead of the jocular vibe of the Gryffindor common room, an unofficial but unquestioned hierarchy would inevitably develop in Slytherin and its members would be expected to fall in line. Much like how Crabbe and Goyle followed Draco, and Pansy and Blaise etc followed Draco’s lead, I expect most of Sev’s peers would be expected to fall in line under Lucius and later authority figures as well - to keep the peace in their fancy aristocratic families, to keep the peace in their dorms, and in the real world, with a war going on and Voldemort practically recruiting from the Slytherin common room. It would’ve benefitted Sev to keep his head down in these conditions, to join in, to butter up - because unlike Harry, Sev would’ve had to work hard to make friends (being generally awkward and ‘undesirable’ as a friend by Draco/Slytherin standards). Nobody from Slytherin came to his aid in SWM, possibly because of those reasons and/or because he’d spent years being openly friends with Lily who was a Gryffindor and a Muggleborn (and thus also undesirable).

Anyway none of this is news and I have no conclusion, I just had thoughts 

[dargorian]

Figured I'd at least share a tiny update with my fics, and I say tiny but it's probably not.

This is my "everyone is a year older" Rayllum AU notes/ideas where I put down anything and everything I think of to do with that AU. I also expand on ideas, flesh out bits to include and recycle parts I've excluded, and I'm very quickly losing control of it following a conversation with a friend of mine.

I have six fics planned now instead of four (and so many potential titles for the AU that I really need to sit down and think over what to actually call it before I post my Sea Legs fic - which should be soon at the rate I'm roughing it out).

I'm trying to write them in order now (the previous post 7x09 sandwich fic I mentioned is now in the AU, following the same conversation with a friend of mine). All of the fics have titles too (two are tentative until I can get more plotted/written and then I'll have a definitive title for them).

What I can do though, is share the timeline for the AU and where the fics take place. Note that only the first fic has its title shared, otherwise it might spoil the plot of that fic if I just outright share the title.

"The Lavender Inn" (5x02 inn fic) - complete and on AO3

Aboard the Sea Legs (5x08 fic) - being plotted out thoroughly before I write it. A couple of scenes have been roughed but not enough to share snippets. This has a tentative title.

The Frozen Ship (6x03) - base plot for the most part done

The Starscraper (6x06) - basic plot roughed. Two scenes roughly written.

Aftermath of the S7 battle (7x09) - just notes rn, and the other tentative title.

Post 7x09 fic - spent a good few weeks roughing this out before I intergrated it into the AU. Several scenes are roughed out but also not enough to share snippets of.

And there might be more squeezed in here and there.

Feel free to guess and speculate.

.::Adding on that I saved this as a draft and went back to writing a few hours ago and I have since broken this file down into each story's notes instead so it's easier for me to keep on track with each story. I was bouncing between stories and adding things here and there that I kept having to step away to refocus. I should be able to focus more easily now and get stuff done quicker::.

Stating again that everyone is a year older in this AU. (And I mean everyone).

[yowlthinks]

What do we really know about the Metatron - part 1: Angel Belief System

This meta started out with the larest interview with Doon Mackichan, the little snippet we got on Michael in s3 (if you don't know and don't want the spoilers, don't worry, this meta doesn't mention much). I started thinking of what we know about what drives different characters. @crowleysgirl56 , @vidavalor and @komorezuki have written recently about Michael as well abd this in turn led to me thinking what we actually know about the other actors, mainly the Metatron and his motivations. I realised that it might be a good idea to map the motivations of all the other key characters side by side to see if I can figure something out from that picture. “Looking where the furniture isn’t” and all that. It quickly merged with my old half-formed idea of the colour-coding of the angel clothing having a meaning, and so by the end of my little excel escapade, I formed two theories that I would like to share:

Angel belief system visualised through colour coding

What makes one Supreme Archangel material, or what does the Metatron want

They are both too long to be shared in a single post, so while they can be read independently, I suggest to start with the colour coding and then proceed on with the general character.

Belief system through colour-coding

TL:DR of my theory is this:

Warm colours mean the character believes in their cause (whatever that may be), they believe they are doing the right thing.

Those with the colder grey tone clothes do not really believe in the cause but just pretend to fit in. They are basically “working with the situation” and are purely on the look out for themselves

Side note, that might or might not mean something: is stark white in Heaven/Hell a sign of an independent position (neither for Heaven, nor for Hell, but for their own thing)?

With that logic, it seems that the Metatron is acting with a strong conviction. Whatever his cause/idea may be, he believes in it and actively works to bring it to fruition.

Let me present the evidence (I would have loved this to be a table, but Tumblr doesn’t like those, so here we go in text form):

Aziraphale - Warm brown colours, but when he is showing without a body, he is dressed in pure white. He strongly believes in his cause, that is his own understanding of what being an angel is about. I am wondering if his "disembodied white" frack is an indicator of his independent status (not with heaven, not with hell)

Crowley - Crowley's Heaven outfit is very curious: it is a mix of warm beige and grey, but it is still a warm grey, sort of gold overlaid with grey. He is not wearing white at all, he is not wearing any cold colours at all. And we know that he strongly believes in his cause, his cause being achieving happiness with Aziraphale, ideally on Earth, with heaven and hell firmly out of the picture. I am wondering if this is also a reflection of his current view on his position before the fall, the whole “sauntered vaguely downwards” and “I only ever asked questions” of it all, indicating that in his heart of hearts he still stands by his convictions as an angel, he does not think his opinions and questions were wrong.

Michael - cold grey suit, cold white blouse, white shoes. Michael's white is stark bright and definitely stands out. In terms of beliefs, I am absolutely convinced Michael is just following the narrative, stopped believing some time ago. Can pristine white be the indicator of neutrality / their own side? Michael also seemed to pay more attention to Humans at the start (see Job minisode), but then that interest diminished (or has it really?) At the same time, she is also the one who nearly finds Gabriel, nearly notices Crowley, and just generally very perceptive (EXCEPT for recognising the Metatron). I wonder why!

Uriel - Cold grey suit, BUT warm beige blouse, warm beige shoes and overshoe flares. Uriel strives to fit in with the cool kids, so pretends to not believe, while potentially still believing in the cause deep in their heart. I think pride is clearly one of the driving forces behind both Uriel and Michael, but so is fear (see their interaction when action is needed and there is potential for mistake)

Gabriel – another curious case as we see him in S1 and S2. Cold, darker grey suit and cold purple tie while he is an Archangel. Once he becomes Jim, he gets Aziraphale's brown coat and trousers (believes in his own cause?) and white and rebellious colour sweater. On a side note, Beelzebub also has white undershirt at the end with Gabriel. It is also clear that Gabriel is just following the narrative, he stopped believing quite a long time ago. He is very checked out of the humanity's situation, although he does love the clothes and seems to have more experience with Earth then Muriel.

Muriel - Warm beige suit, but underneath white shirt and tartan tie and underskirt of colder and brighter colours (purple and turquoise). They believe in the cause (when we meet them, it is clearly the Heaven's declared cause), but internally is starting to doubt. Also, why purple, a very Supreme Archangel colour?

Sandalphon - very warm tones: light brown coat, brown tartan pants. We only see Sandalphon in s1, but we can see he strongly believes in the cause (Heaven's declared cause, and he seems to be focused on the vengeance part)

Saraquel - Warm cream white / beige outfit, with the colder blue and purple tartan cuffs and collar (same as Muriel, but more muted). She seems to generally still believe in the cause, but clearly starts to doubt (and more openly then Muriel). Open to a change of Plan. Also, note how cuffs and collar can be clearly seen, Saraquel is not really hiding.

Metatron - Very warm dark brown coat and tie, warm-ish white shirt (NOT as pristine white like Michael's). In my view, this indicates that he strongly believes in his cause. While we are focused on the darkness of his outfit as an angel, the warmth of the tone indicates strong conviction. We know too little about the Metatron's plans, actions and character overall. We only see him in full human form at the end, so this tonal indication is an important one

I also took the images of all of the above and ran it through a colour palette analyser, and while it is not perfect and the one image might not be fully representative of the true colours, I thought it interesting to use the same tool on these to see if I can spot something else.

Interesting how Aziraphale and Metatron’s palette are not that far from each other, but Metatron’s is far darker

You can see a clear difference in tone between Michael and Uriel’s palettes, Michael's is colder.

Crowley’s angel disguise is all over the place because this is apparently what the shimmering outfit renders as, but I liked how bright and happy it looked, perhaps it is indeed Crowley’s true colours, the ones he hides so much.

So in conclusion there we have it: it seems Michael doesn't believe in the Great Plan they are supposedly acting upon, they are just going with it, "working with the situation". But the Metatron, with his warm dark colours, very much does believe whatever he is doing to be right.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Koopa Krag

Debut: Mario Party DS

Get a load of this GEEZER. Most elderly Koopa in town! You can tell he is old because he has gray hair. And you can tell he has gray hair because they gave him big ol' eyebrows and a beard, so that he would have some hair to be gray!

They are really such impressive eyebrows. So long. So solid! They're like curtains! Or like a little dog's ears! These are eyebrows that would billow in the breeze.

They are a lot like those of Kroop from The Thousand Year Door! The 2000s was THE decade for elderly Koopas with massive eyebrows! I wonder if they were adhering to a style guide with these. A Mario Bible. Okay, three paragraphs about eyebrows is enough. It is time to talk about the turtle behind the eyebrows! And you will learn what he is holding in that first picture. Is it a glowing corn kernel? Let us find out...

Koopa Krag is the grandfather of a Koopa named Koopa, and he has been trapped inside of a book by Kamek. We never learn why. But isn't it obvious? They are clearly bitter ex-lovers. Such tension between two elderly turtle men can mean nothing else!

The second most likely reason is, Koopa Krag simply knew too much. He knows a lot of things, somehow. He's like the new Toadsworth! He knows what the Magic Jars in Kamek's library will contain even before they are opened, so I guess he has some kind of magical ability. Perhaps channeling energy through his brows...?

See that blue tower in the upper right corner of Bowser's Pinball Machine? It holds a secret... and Koopa Krag might know what it is! The game tells us this, and nothing else about it. I'm honestly charmed by how mundane that is. Yeah, this one guy might know a little tidbit about this other guy's custom pinball table. Or he might not. It's like the game's writer just hangs out around listening in on characters' conversations. Anyway, I think the tower probably contains a pinball, considering it's above the plunger, and also considering that this is a pinball table where no actual pinballs are visible.

Why would Koopa Krag know about Bowser's pinball machine? That's easy. Kamek would let him play it! Back before the divorce... :(

In the end, of course, Koopa Krag is freed through the act of a bunch of little guys running around and partaking in wacky minigames. He gives the heroes the treasure he has found, which is a Sky Crystal, which is really just the Thing The Characters Are Collecting. It is not actually a very interesting thing, but it puts basic plot on the table.

I think Koopa Krag is cool! He only appears in this one game, and is only relevant in two story mode cutscenes, but through flavor texts, they make him really feel relevant to this little snippet of the Mario world. He really does feel like he could be a Toadsworth. Toadsworth may be forbidden for unknown reasons these days, but if they ever need a Nice Wise Old Guy for future Mario games, I have just written a letter of recommendation for one!

[the-s1lly-corner]

Shut In (Eyeless Jack x reader oneshot!)

Basic plot: its really cold outside, and you urge Jack to stay in your home with you... he decides to stay despite knowing full well that he will be fine out in the freezing temperatures. You both decide to do things to pass the time and stay warm! Turns out Jack can make a mean cup of hot coco, too

Extra notes: I dont usually write fanfics, and the last one I've written was a personal one from late August... so to say I'm rusty and underexperienced is an understatement! I feel this one ended up a little.. weirdly paced imo but I think I'm still happy with the end result! Dialogue I feel I could have done better on but I'm going to be nice to myself since I mostly write hc posts so this is way out of my comfort zone.. Drafted on Tumblr then sent through google docs to pick up on some mistakes I missed, briefly reread no proper proof reading imo... lets hope this isnt a train wreck + it copied back to tumblr okay!! LMAO

Brief joke about pregnancy/making a pregnancy but its like one small snippet but I know that can make people uncomfortable + implies at least one of the characters is AFAB

Word Count: 2915

Extra Admin's note: I want to say again that I am so so happy about this blog hitting 1k followers, when I first started this blog I was originally going to use it to burn time and have something to do on the side, as well as having a place to put out my cringe ideas and hcs. I never thought this many people would be interested in my dumb thoughts, but here we are! I intend to keep writing this year, and perhaps even make more non-celebratory one shots this year? Maybe? I don't know I guess we'll see the reception on this fic!

It was the middle of the night, around the middle of January. Your boyfriend and you were holed up inside your apartment, you having locked the man up with you after seeing that it was below freezing out, as well as raining. You had to practically beg your boyfriend to stay with you for the night.

Your boyfriend, who also just so happened to be a man eating demon with tar dripping out of his hollowed out eye sockets. Your boyfriend, who was currently sitting still and staring forward, the only sound in the apartment coming from the dripping of your faucet. You had asked him to come visit you, it'd been a while... and he would never ever let you go to his cabin when it's this cold out. So here you both were now.

You pat the palms of your hands on your knees, sucking in one of your cheeks and working the flesh through your jaws for a moment. You were both technically stuck in the apartment now; you didn't want Jack to go out and risk getting sick, and Jack more than likely wouldn't want you to step out for the same reasons. So, you were both confined to what you already had within the space. You were about to open your mouth to speak but Jack broke the silence first. "You're shivering, do you want me to get some blankets?", blunt and almost robotic. He was never that expressive. "Or would you like to go to your room?" He added after a brief pause, his fangs poking just over his lip before he readjusted his mouth. You were both in the living room, sitting together on the couch; the front door to your left and a view of the kitchen to the right. You thought for a minute as your eyes lingered on the kitchen for a moment. You'd already eaten, before your partner arrived... but..

"That's fine, I'm probably going to make some hot coco," You pulled yourself up, stretching up. "Powdered stuff ooor..?" Jack mimicked you. You only shook your head, earning a disapproving look from him. "What?" You questioned, but he only dismissed you. "Why don't you get some blankets, I'll handle it," and he turned on his heel to make his way to the kitchen. "Maybe put on a movie, too, your choice." He added as his voice carried off. "Are you saying I can't cook?" You called back, following after him. No answer as he tugged out a pot. "I'll have you know-" you started once more

"Do you have half and half?" He was already opening your pantry to grab things.

"No, I don't,"

"Heavy cream? Whipping cream? Whatever it's called..." He mumbled as he placed various ingredients on the counter. Cocoa powder, vanilla, salt and sugar. You only nodded, and as he was about to begin working he paused. "Do you want anything else in it? Cinnamon? Nutmeg?" He paused and through gritted teeth, "Coffee?"

It was almost midnight, of course he would be opposed to you having caffeine so late.

"Cinnamon is fine," You watched him get to work. He measured everything out; even mixing the heavy cream with some milk to make a substitute for half and half.... was that really all it was? You weren't sure what you expected it to be, if it weren't..

He pulled his head up and stared at you. It was then that you noticed he had actually taken his mask off and set it at the end of the counter and out of the way. The black ooze dripping from his eyes was slow and posed little threat to dripping into your drink. He had a fistful of napkins on standby to dap his face dry should the flow quicken. "Aren't you going to get the blankets?"

You pat your hands on your thighs, pausing... watching him. His body had a warm glow on him from the old light bulb in the ceiling; it flickered every now and then. Under the yellowed light he almost looked healthy and alive, though there was no glint where his eyes should have been. His sharp nail tapping on the counter brought you back to the moment, blinking a few times. "Yeah.." you mumbled, defeated at the chance of making a drink for yourself stolen from you. But was that so bad?

You backed out of the kitchen, dragging your feet across the floor. Your apartment was.. a little on the smaller side so within a few steps you were in front of your bedroom door. You didn't really pay much attention to your surroundings as you shuffled through the blankets on the bed.. eventually you settled on just grabbing an arm full and waddling back to the living room, dumping everything you had grabbed onto the couch.

The house smelled of cinnamon and chocolate.. with a hint of vanilla.

Turning your gaze to the tv, your eyes scanned across the DVDs you had stacked messily. Nothing sounded good. "Is there anything you want specifically?" You called out as you settled yourself down criss cross in front of the tv and pulling all the cases onto the floor next to you. "Movie wise," You added as you pulled the first case into your hands. The DVD collection for Child's Play.. you had gotten it a few weeks ago, finding it on sale at your local store. You still hadn't popped it in to watch..

"I have.. Chucky, uhm..." You shuffled for the next case. "All the movies by the way.. I have that and.. most of the Friday the 13th movies," You called out. No answer, the only sound coming from the kitchen was the noise of a whisk gently being stirred. "I don't have Jason goes to hell... But!" You pulled out a third case with the Nightmare on Elm Street DVDs. "I DO have Freddy vs Jason," You mumbled and spread the three disks on the floor in front of you. Most of the disks you had, you noticed, were mostly older slasher movies. Still, Jack hadn't answered you. You pull yourself to your feet and trudge back into the kitchen. His back was to you, too preoccupied with the stove... He hadn't noticed you, not yet. An idea blossomed in your head, a smirk pulling itself across your lips. You steeled yourself, trying to force yourself to stop shivering.. Jack was always paying attention to his surroundings, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

You take a step forward and he still doesn't notice your approach.

Another step.

And another.

Jack wasn't the tallest, in fact if you wanted to you could rest your chin on his shoulder... and that's what you ended up doing, while wrapping your arms around his thick waist. You could feel his body seize up just a little bit against you, before relaxing. "You didn't answer, what sounds good?" You pulled your eyes down to look at the pot. Your drink was nearly finished. You view rocked as your boyfriend shrugged, still silent but the twitching of his pointed ears let you know he was listening.

"Anything's fine," Another shrug as he cuts the heat. "You're the one cooking for me, you get to pick the movie," You insisted. He paused mid-whisk, letting out a soft huff. Suddenly he spun around, his face just a few inches from yours. In the dimmed light his eye sockets seemed deeper, it's black ooze lazily dripping down his cheeks. You noticed the smudges on his face, from wiping the streaks. You briefly wondered what it was like to sleep with them, but your thoughts were cut short as he pulled a blackened and clawed hand to your hair; tucking a lock behind your ear. "How does...." He paused, sucking in his teeth. He looked almost embarrassed. "Bride of Chucky sound?"

"What? Want to study the characters again so we can dress up again this year for Halloween?" You tease. You had convinced him a few months ago to dress up with you. With him as Chucky, and you as Tiffany... It had taken some begging and convincing but you ultimately got him to agree. Although you didn't go out to get candy, you were both fine with staying inside watching movies together in costume. It was also that night you got him to watch the movies..

His ears darkened, before he scoffed. "No... actually this year I was thinking of..." He took a long pause, visibly scraping his brain for names of characters, before seemingly giving up. "Look I don't watch many movies I don't know any.. characters.." He grimaced, before gently pushing you off of him so he could turn his attention back to the hot cocoa. "We've still got nine months, more than enough time to come up with something..." You shrugged, then smirked. "Not enough time to make a Glen... or Glenda," You teased before turning on your heel. You held back a snicker as you heard Jack splutter, finally processing what you had just said to him.

"W-"

"I'm gonna go ahead and put in the disc, I'll leave it paused for you," You cut him off, still grinning to yourself as you kneeled down to do as you had said.

Soon enough Jack walked into the room with a mug, as well as a platter of cookies. "You didn't have to," You mumbled as you eyed the treats, but he only waved you off as he placed the plate and mug onto the coffee table. "You don't have to eat them, but I figured you might want a snack while watching the movie," He mumbled. You took the mug, and swirled the drink inside of it. "I hope I didn't put in too much cinnamon," Jack added as he watched you. He leaned over and started the movie.

You took a sip, smiling a little as the warmness crept in. "You did good, probably the best hot cocoa I've ever had." You offered a grin to him. "That has got to be the fakest compliment I've ever heard," Jack shot back, though you could see the corners of his mouth turning up just slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry! I believe this is the most decadent and satisfying beverage I've had ever been graced with in my life, and-" You began, only for Jack to hush you. "I'd rather you throw it on me, don't... say words like that again," He grumbled as readjusted himself into the couch. You took a sip and shrugged, "It's just absolutely immaculate," and he lightly smacked you on the arm. "I'm never making anything for you again," He snorted, before turning his attention to the movie.

You weren't going to lie, you felt a little bad treating yourself to the cookies, knowing Jack was unable to eat them without upsetting his stomach. Being a man-eating monster must really be hard. You purse your lips, and shoot a look at him from the corner of your eye. He must have been doing the same, because he turned his head to look at you. "Do you want to do something else?" He asked lightly, his grin from a few minutes ago already faded. "Do you ever miss eating.. food?" You asked before you could stop yourself. He didn't bother pausing the movie, instead he just fell silent and stared down, into the space between the two of you on the couch.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up, I know it's a touchy subject for you," You mumbled and put the mug on the table. You sucked in the air between your teeth, flicking your eyes up to the movie, before bringing them back down to your lap. It stayed like that for a minute before Jack broke the silence. "I mean... yeah, I do. But at least I don't have to eat every day like you do, means I can have more time to do what I want," He said. Clearly, he was still bothered, tip-toeing around the big.. thing about him. The air was still tense and thick, all of the previous joking gone now. It was nearly unbearable. Nearly.

"You know," Jack began after a few more seconds of silence when you didn't reply. "I've never tried cinnamon in hot cocoa, I didn't know that was a thing people did," He was changing the subject. "You haven't?" You asked, raising a brow. He eyed your mug, but you both knew there was no way he was going to take a sip.

"It's really good," You mumbled, and took the drink, "The combo, I mean," You added. He hummed, patting his knees lightly. You swirled the drink again, watching the... what was it called? Those lighter swirls in the drink.. Did that have a name?

"You've had hot cocoa before, right?" You asked. He hummed again, nodding his head. "Well.. the cinnamon makes it warm. Taste wise.. It makes it.." You took a sip and thought for a minute. "Richer, I guess? It's hard to explain," You muttered, then looked back at him. You tore your eyes back down when you saw he was looking right at you, totally hooked onto your words. "I hear nutmeg goes good in it, too.. but I've only tried nutmeg and chocolate together in baked goods," You shrugged. "You did really good with this, you know... not too much cinnamon.. not spicy, at least." You smiled. He nodded, before turning back to the movie.

"Woody, I hear people describe cinnamon like that," He leaned back into the couch, a dull pop came from his back.

"Woody," You repeated, then took a large sip of the hot cocoa. You put the mug down onto the table, and leaned into your boyfriend as the warmth crept and settled into your bones. You weren't even paying attention to the movie, your mind was now occupied with how tired you were. Your eyes slipped up to the clock on the wall, It was nearly one in the morning. Had it only been an hour since Jack walked himself into the kitchen?

You lean deeper into Jack, not caring about his body's natural chill. His clothing still smelled a little like the cocoa from earlier.. "Gotta invest in some cologne, you smell nice like this," You mumbled into his arm. "The cinnamon?" He asked, not looking down at you. "No.. the cocoa, I mean cinnamon would be a nice touch... but you don't seem like a sweet smelling guy, do you?" You muttered. "Are you already getting tired?" Jack asked, and he leaned over you to grab the remote, pausing the movie. You muttered, the heat of the hot cocoa doing way more than you expected on the tiredness you didn't notice you had. "A little," You shrugged, "But we can still try to finish the movie," You offered, but he shook his head. Of course he would, as much of a hard ass or party pooper he came off as, he was going to make sure you were going to get your rest.

You put your hand in his, the one that had the remote.. you unpaused the movie. He paused it, and you unpaused it again. It kind of kept up like this before Jack conceited and kept it playing, although he did lower the volume.. The subtitles were already on, though. "I win," You smirked up at him, before crawling into his lap. You placed your head on his chest, pausing when you felt him stiffen before relaxing against you. His heart beat for a moment before settling to its barely there rhythm. For a minute you thought about asking about his heart, as far as you knew he explained himself like he was becoming a walking corpse... how does that work?

You decided against it, you already asked about him earlier.. and besides, your mind was already beginning to blank as Jack reached to the side of the couch, and turned the lamp off.. It was dark now. It was still raining, you could more clearly hear the drops outside now that the movie was turned down. Plus, Jack was running his fingers through your hair, lightly massaging your scalp. It wouldn't be long until you finally gave in and fell asleep.

"Are you going to still be here in the morning?" You asked, melting into his chest as he hummed in response. "Plan on it, I still need to clean up the kitchen," He added as he curled your hair around his hand. "It'll still be cold in the morning," He added, "I need to make sure you bundle up before you go out for work," He added. "I'm not that dumb," You muttered and lightly slapped his arm. You swear, if he still had his eyes he would have rolled them.

"How do you see? I know you're not.. a normal person, but," You blurted out, lifting your head. He pushed your face back down, shushing you. "Sleep," He ordered, before loosening his hold on you a bit so you could get comfortable. It wasn't an order but it may as well have been with how your body started to loosen into him within the next few minutes, quickly snuffling out your curiosity and questions.

He'd still be here in the morning, you could pester him then. After all, it's what he signed up for when the two of you started to date one another..

[alatariel-gildaen]

i neeed to know about both of the last two wips you added on plspls

So, the Smutacular one is basically the original smut I'd written for One Way Ticket - it's from Gi-hun's pov, and it immediately followed their first kiss, but then as I was writing, and their first kiss happened differently to how I'd originally imagined it, it just completely changed the vibe of what I'd already written, and how I wanted it to go. So I just need to write a bit of a start and an ending for that one, and I'll have it as a PWP/PWF oneshot :)

Anyways, have a little snippet (and you'll see what I mean about the difference in tone 😅)

A quiet whimper slipped past his lips before he could swallow it down, and the sound seemed to undo something in In-ho. The kiss grew urgent and desperate. His hands tightened, pressing Gi-hun against him, as if afraid he might slip away. Gi-hun responded in kind, sliding his hands up In-ho’s chest, over the broad expanse of his shoulders, finally settling at the base of his neck, where he could feel the heat of his skin beneath his fingertips.

They parted only when their lungs burned for air, foreheads pressed together, breath mingling in the space between them. Gi-hun’s lips tingled, kiss-bruised and trembling, his entire body thrumming like a live wire. He opened his eyes slowly, pulse hammering, only to find In-ho already watching him. His gaze was dark, unreadable, but beneath it was something heavy, something that made Gi-hun’s stomach tighten with a heady mix of exhilaration and need.  

“Tell me to stop.”  

The words sent a shiver down Gi-hun’s spine. But he didn’t need to think. He shook his head before he even realized he was moving, fingers tightening against the back of In-ho’s neck, anchoring him there. His voice came out hoarse but certain.  

“I can’t.”  

The plaintive cry of why are you doing this to yourself is aimed entirely at myself, and has absolutely nothing to do with the story 😅

So that one.... yikes. How do I even begin. I *love* writing insane, far out AUs. The crazier, more insane, the better.

One of my all time favourite fandoms is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and after talking to @reingkings the other day, I found a fellow fan! Anyway, the basic premise of the book is about magic during the Napoleonic War - magic is a thing that has always existed, then it completely fell out of use and became almost a myth for hundreds of years, then in the early 1800s, these two English magicians restore it.

So I thought, what if those repurcussions were felt everywhere? Like say in 1820s Korea? Where they most likely won't have received the news of these two eccentric Englishmen dabbling in dangerous magic and summoning fairies, but whose spells have changed the world around them?

I've written a little bit, and given myself a bit of an outline for the first chapter. In-ho isn't going to be a villain so much in this one - the villain is Il-nam, and In-ho is a bit more pre-frontman (but still got his cynicism)

Here's a snippet with Gi-hun trying to escape from debt collectors (and I'm loving writing this Gi-hun so far - he's a wily little sod at the moment!)

Gi-hun’s breath came in ragged gasps as he ran, his legs burning with the effort. The packed streets of the marketplace blurred past him—flashes of colour, startled gasps from merchants, baskets of fruit toppling over as he shoved past. He heard the men behind him, their voices sharp with frustration, their footfalls gaining, but he was so close. Just a few more feet and he’d be safe…

His stomach lurched.

A fourth man stood at the entrance of the alley, his posture casual but his presence unmistakably threatening. The long sleeves of his robe hung loose, but Gi-hun didn’t miss the way his fingers flexed slightly, ready to strike the moment Gi-hun got too close.

His escape route was cut off.

Panic surged through him, but he shoved it down. Think, damn it!

The river.

If he could make it to the river, he could disappear among the fishing boats, dive into the water if he had to. Cursing under his breath, Gi-hun turned sharply on his heel, nearly losing his footing on the dusty street. No time to hesitate—he had to go back up to the roofs if he was to have a chance.

His hands caught the edge of a low wooden awning, and with a grunt of effort, he hoisted himself onto it. The fabric sagged beneath him, but he was already reaching for the ledge above, his fingers scrabbling against the rough wood. He pulled himself up, gritting his teeth as he climbed higher, scrambling onto the rooftops.

Shouts erupted below—his pursuers had seen him, but up here, he had the advantage.

Heart pounding, he sprinted across the slanted roofs, his feet barely touching down before he pushed off again. The tiles beneath him were uneven, shifting dangerously with every step, but he couldn’t stop now.

The river was so close. He could smell the brine in the air, hear the distant creak of boats swaying in their moorings. He just had to keep going—

A sharp crack split the air as the tile under his foot shattered.

Gi-hun barely had time to react before the world tilted beneath him. His stomach lurched as his foot plunged into empty space, his body pitching forward.

He barely had time to gasp before he was falling, the rooftops spinning past him in a blur. He braced for impact—bones cracking, pain exploding through him—

But there was nothing.

No hard stone, no sharp agony.

He hit the ground, but it was soft— too soft— like falling into a bed of feathers.

For a moment, he just lay there, stunned. He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t even hurt.

He scrambled to his feet, his hands brushing against solid earth as if to confirm it was real. His heart pounded wildly in his chest. What just happened?

The shouts from above jolted him back to reality. There was no time to question it. He ran. But as he did, something flickered at the edges of his vision—windows reflecting things that weren’t there.

At first, he thought it was the sun playing tricks on him. But then he saw them.

Ancient trees, gnarled and twisting, their roots breaking through stone, their branches stretching where rooftops should have been. Tall figures, faceless and unmoving, standing in the reflections of shop windows. They weren’t watching him. Not exactly. But they were there.

His breath hitched, but he forced himself to keep moving. He was exhausted, panicked, delirious from the heat—his mind was playing tricks on him.

It had to be.

Then, finally, the river was within reach.

The shimmering water lay ahead, its surface rippling strangely. The reflections didn’t dance like normal waves. Instead, they shifted, showing glimpses of shapes that shouldn’t exist, strange shadowy shapes that defied reason.

A strange sensation washed over him, a curious thought that he was in the midst of two different worlds, that one lay just out of sight behind the reality he could see and touch.

For the first time since the chase began, he hesitated, slowly stepping closer to the edge of the water.

Bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, he looked down into the water, and yelped with surprise and fear.

A reflection,not his own, loomed behind him—unnaturally tall, featureless, and  utterly still.

Panic surged through him. He spun around, heart hammering.

Nothing.

No one was there.

He turned back to the water, but the reflection was gone.

Before he could begin to comprehend what he saw, a crushing weight slammed into Gi-hun’s side.

So yeah, that's where I'm at! I'm not quite sure where I'm going with it, if there's going to be any interest at all in it, or if I'm biting off more than I can chew, but we'll see :) Thanks for the ask, lovely!

[maddieandangel]

Given the new Chapter 3/4 dialogue sneak peeks we got from the latest UTDR newsletter, I wanted to bring back this snippet of an old post from one of my other blogs:

Those lines REALLY give me hope that we'll actually be getting some sort of "Rouxls and Queen show up to Cause Problems On Purpose for the Fun Gang in the name of Comedy" scenario!! Or at least Rouxls and somebody, since Queen hasn't actually been confirmed to show up outside of Castle Town. I don't know what the E's mean at the start of each line (..."expression", maybe??), but Rouxls' "We're just hereth for the Snackse" and Lancer's "Oh-ho! You want some treats of the trade?" seem like they could be connected! They've both got that food theme, at least. So maybe Rouxls and Lancer team up for a silly fight? Father-son bonding in the form of being a mostly-harmless obstacle together asgsdgf <3. Or Lancer could help you fight Rouxls in some way possibly.

I'm more inclined to assume that this scene happens sometime in Chapter 3, rather than Chapter 4? Since both Rouxls and Lancer are still in Kris' inventory at the end of Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 will most likely begin with everyone already inside the new Dark World. So the two cards are basically guaranteed to make an appearance there! And also Toby seems to imply that, when the newsletter was being written, Chapter 4's localization process hadn't quite started yet. But there's nothing to say that they won't continue to stay in Kris' pocket for further Chapters despite the dangers of being statue-ified. I sure hope they'll be in every chapter, at least!

This scene happening in Castle Town might also be an option, though! And I've seen someone else speculate that Ralsei's "get ready for another fight" line might point to some sort of boss/enemy rush, which is a thing you can do in Castle Town's Dojo! So possibly Rouxls crashes a dojo challenge?

Though as I read through the dialogue again, (while also assuming that the E's are for whatever expression sprite is shown alongside the text, and not any sort of indicator for the order or time the lines are said), I'm inclined to say that the scene does actually take place inside the new Dark World, during the main story's events and not a post-Chapter side thing. Seeing as Ralsei only mentions Kris, maybe the party gets split again and Susie's not with them at the time? And after getting through some unrelated fights (some generic enemy encounters? Or dealing with the Dark World's actual antagonist(s)?), Ralsei and Kris finally find Rouxls, perhaps after he had once again run off to do his own thing at the start of the Chapter. He's also with at least one other person; possibly Lancer, possibly Queen (highly unlikely if it's Chapter 3 but as a Queenkaard Enjoyer I can have hope lmao), possibly someone new who he just met in this Chapter. And Ralsei immediately assumes that Rouxls is gonna start another fight, since that's what he did last time. But nope! Ralsei is wrong! Rouxls is just in the area for some snacks. He's not interested in a battle. Maybe he understands now that the Fun Gang is stronger than he initially thought, and that he won't be able to defeat them in a fight. Maybe he's even on their side permanently now and has no reason to oppose them---he does seem to still be trying to serve Queen even after Chapter 3, after all, as seen in Queen's room in that Chapter 3 preview/status update back in 2022. Regardless, that Lancer line is a separate image, so it's possible that it's from an entirely different scene. But again, it's got that same food/snack theming to it, so it could also be part of the scene and just a couple lines after the Ralsei and Rouxls exchange! Lesser Dad and son bonding moments? Please? Maybe Lancer followed Rouxls out of Kris' pocket this time around and they've just been hanging out in the new Dark World together <3 dgshshf

[very-tired-individual]

I have not read the novelisation book of the first season of Wednesday, i have however seen snippets here on Tumblr.

And they're so clearly gay from what I have seen and i am so mad about it. I hate the entire department of netflix responsible for this show, cause I personally and honestly all of us have seen how this fucking plays out before.

I mean why drop this goddamn book now almost two years after the show? I'll fucking tell you why.

We first drop the show and we give the main character not one but two 'official' love interests but then we go ahead and give the main character so much more chemistry with their same sex best friend to draw in queer people so they start shipping the two heavily, sounds good until now? Good.

But then we make a two year gap (it's usually much longer) which is just enough for a lot of the shippers to unfortunately face reality that this ship is probably not fucking happening. But then and only then we drop a book basically written by one of those hopeless shippers and set the whole fucking fandom ablaze and resuscitating the ship, but as i have told you we've been through this before and spoiler alert it doesn't end well for us.

This next part is my prediction which mark my words will sadly come true, nothing not a fucking thing will happen between them in the upcoming season and all of this is just to stirr the pot in preparation for the next season.

I'm so sick of queerbaiting and i'm so sick of big production companies like shitflex using and exploiting us for their fucking profit.

(no disrespect to the author, as i previously said i have not read the book or any of their works for that matter but if i am understanding this correctly the author themselves identify within the LGBTQIA+ community which if true, makes what i saw of this book make more sense if you looked at it as a wish or even sympathy for us)