#and then immediately abandoned because the Sims had other things to do

[victorluvsalice]

-->And the moment I arrived, THERE was the holiday overlay! Whew – so changing lots got the game to acknowledge the holiday. Still worrying, but at least my Sims could PARTICIPATE!

First things first, though – it was hot in Brindleton, so I had Smiler change into their hot weather wear (as Alice and Victor had already done so – vampires are immune to temperature, so they don’t automatically change, which can be a little annoying sometimes), then start looking around for a good spot for the food stand while Victor felt the love with Shadow and Alice signed up Surprise to be cured of her affliction. I finally got Smiler to put the stand in a good location as Alice and Surprise waited for the vet, made sure it was stocked, and prepared to start a food sale –

Only for the game to tell me it couldn’t have “two social events” going on at the same time. Hmmm. All right, I was game to wait until after Surprise was cured. I instead had Smiler entertain Kelly with a laser pointer to pass the time –

-->And decided, “you know what, Victor’s Pet Training skill is almost up to Level 4, meaning leveling it up would count toward New Skill Day – why not train Shadow to heel?” So that’s exactly what he did, getting the dog to follow him around outside the hospital. Shadow was – a BIT distracted by her own tail at first, but as time went on she got better at keeping pace with Victor. XD I then checked in on how things were going with Surprise’s examination...

Only to discover they weren’t. For some reason, midway through the exam, the vet just stopped what she was doing, and Surprise was let go without anyone even trying to diagnose what was wrong with her. >( Damn glitchy game...I instead decided to have Alice get Shock spayed instead and see what happened there – fortunately THAT worked, and it went a lot faster too. Maybe because both vets were awake and working this time, instead of one sleeping on the waiting room couch. XD (Seriously, that ALWAYS seems to happen when I first load into the lot for some reason...) Alice was starting to get twitchy from being around all those strangers, though, so I had Smiler sign Surprise up for examination number two and let her clear her head by running off to a far-away dig site to see what was inside. Ended up digging up a new fossil rock with a fossilized egg inside, nice. :) She then went and entertained poor coned Shock with some laser pointer in the vet’s back yard while Smiler chatted with Brant Hecking inside the vet (learning he was a Personal Sports Trainer for The Other Sports Team, apparently) –

And Victor got Pet Training 4 from working with Shadow! :D One person’s New Skill Day skill down – two to go!

-->But first – finally getting Surprise cured! Yes, this time Surprise got checked over by the OTHER vet, who successfully determined she had Winterfest Fever. Smiler paid the big bucks for the best treatment (as I say so often, my Sims can afford it), and the cat was given a shot that brought her back to normal. I was very pleased with this, both because hooray, the vet lot decided to work –

[statisticalcats2]

All the multi-verse chaos in NWH pulls Superior Iron Man!Tony into the MCU verse. He's wandering around, seeing murals of himself, figures out pretty quickly he's ended up in some parallel universe, is about to investigate more, when he's found by Spider-Man. He knows the Spider-Man in his own universe, knows he's Peter Parker, because he's Tony Stark and he knows everything, but there's not really any connection between them.

But this Spider-Man, this Peter, sees SIM!Tony and immediately pulls his mask off, revealing the most adoring, worshipful face SIM!Tony has ever seen, matched in tone by the sweetest voice softly calling in hopeful disbelief, "Mr. Stark? Tony?" And SIM!Tony has to stick around this guy for at least a little while now, this living example of the reverence he deserves.

So he sticks with Peter, who defends him from a suspicious Doctor Strange, and he stays with him as he actively goes against the wizard and sets off on some redemption quest for the gaggle of villains from other universes that have also ended up here. And he also gets to work on the side learning about his counterpart from this universe. It's already clear this world's Tony is dead and SIM!Tony is disappointed to learn it was some foolish sacrifice for the masses he should have ruled if he had been smarter.

But as he gets access to Tony's old systems and finds archives and archives documenting his private work and thoughts, SIM!Tony starts seeing a different picture. It had already been obvious that Peter adored this Tony but now SIM!Tony could see that Tony was obsessed with Peter in return. And he learns about Thanos and the Snap and the time travel plot and the Blip, and maybe this Tony never got around to reaching as high as he should have, but he's still Tony Stark, and SIM!Tony knows his mind, and it's clear to him that everything, everything, was for Peter. Not the trillions of other people and sapient lifeforms that had been Snapped. Only Peter. Tony wouldn't have done it at all if Peter hadn't been lost to him.

And Tony can make all the moral platitudes he wants, but no version of Tony Stark is stupid enough to think there would be any way to do what he did with absolutely no risk to the timeline or the present day. SIM!Tony knows that and he also knows Tony was still willing to risk it all just to get Peter back.

And now SIM!Tony's feeling an even stronger urge to stick around in this universe, with Peter, and see for himself what's so special about this boy that this world's Tony was willing to do, create, and destroy anything and everything for. Yeah, he's abandoning his own world, but this world's Tony clearly would have done the same thing. Peter must really be worth it.

[bakersimmer]

Hey! I love your Miller Legacy. The way you run it so amazingly and how many generations you've played is amazing. How do you not get lost in all of this? Do you keep a notebook or something? How do you plan everything? Do you have some kind of plan for the story of each character?Sorry for so many questions. But I'm just curious, because I never manage to get past even one generation. And I'm just curious how you didn't get bored with the game? Also, where did you get those WooHoo Frenzy tem

Hey! 👋🏻 Thanks 🤗 I'm sorry this answer is so long! 😅🙈

This is not my first attempt. I didn't even start this legacy with the idea that it would be something long-term. I just wanted to enjoy the game and renovate a house.

I followed the renovation challenge rules. I had so much fun. And then it hit me: I need specific goals to stay engaged. The mistake in my previous attempts was that my ONLY goal was to have kids and move on to the next generation. I kept doing the same thing over and over and over again.

I give each of my heirs a story, but only just enough to reveal what drives them. The more you flesh them out, the harder it becomes to let them go. So it's a delicate balance. Let's say you have to like them but not love them.

I use each new generation to discover something new about the game. (Or about a mod). I've had this game for years, but that doesn't mean I know or have done everything.

I don't have a separate notebook or anything. I just do what feels interesting. I try not to do the same thing twice in a row. It's boring, and boredom makes me want to abandon things. If I see that the goals I have set are unattainable, I replace them with new ones because frustration makes me want to give up. I can give you an example based on the last generation. The Lovestruck EP was released when I had already started with the new generation, but I wanted to explore new features that came with the EP. So, I adjusted this generation's goals and life. I had a plan, but I changed it.

I get bored (more like annoyed) when I force myself to do things that don't bring me joy. If I feel like I have to play to have something to share here, I immediately feel like I hate this game. When I'm tired and open the game, again, big no.

First of all, I think I have amazing mutuals, and I love their sims. But there's another reason why I ask for sims from other people. When someone takes time out of their day to create something for me, I feel it's only fair that they see the results of their effort. If I asked for a spouse and then abandoned the family, it would be like saying, "I don't value the time and effort you put into this." That's not something I ever want to do. It's a strange way to keep myself accountable, but it works for me.

I made that template.

Whoever made it to the end deserves a medal 🥇

[acethetically-bway]

hi again i’m back with a part 2 of gallaghers in the sims 4:

mickey and mandy are here!! gallavich took literally 5 seconds to set up, that's the least chaotic thing on this list surprisingly. lip/mandy is more of a slow burn though

i took frank fiona and lip out for a night of drinking and it honest to god felt like a rejected plotline from the show

fiona spent half the night unconscious on the bar floor, frank pissed himself on the sidewalk and then immediately passed out in his own piss, and lip went to school completely wasted because i didn’t realize it was a sunday night when i took them out (whoops)

separately, the fireplace caused a house fire that burnt the TV to a crisp and the insurance assholes only gave us $1000 to replace a $2600 TV, so we have not had TV for at least a week by now

a few days later, while i was having gallavich aggressively flirt with each other, THERE WAS A SECOND GODDAMN FIRE FROM THE SAME FIREPLACE??

fiona hooked up with a girl at a karaoke club and the girl invited fiona to a cafe date the next day. but she spent the entire time talking to other people and then had the fucking AUDACITY to tell fiona not to call her ever again, what a bitch 🙄

ian went to the ancient ruins with a club of teens, and his friend that invited him ended up abandoning him and falling asleep in a bush

monica is actually being a Good Parent to liam now?? like better than fiona or lip it's freaky

i found joints in lip and ian's inventories and i have no idea where they came from, we have no rolling papers and frank’s private stash of pot is a whole different strain so ig they're both just stoners now

carl almost died in fire #2, but at least he somehow has A’s in school even though he has not done his homework once

lip on the other hand is on the verge of dropping a letter grade (anti-canon fr)

debbie also almost died in fire #2, and she's been making friends with frank's clients (which means i've really gotta find her some friends her own age)

on the bright side, frank is making sales!! he’s getting super flirty with his clients though (even kissed a man to seal the deal) and it’s pissing monica tf off. honestly idc though we’re making bank now between this and fiona’s latest promotion/bonus

side note i am SO TEMPTED to make fiona buy either a restaurant or a strip club bc i need her to make more money than she’s making as a fast food worker. but historically i have not been a good business owner and money’s already super tight so i’m nervous

i should also put out there that in addition to basemental and wicked whims, i also have get to work, get together, city living, and dine out installed so if y’all have any ideas for things to do with these or other mod suggestions or anything like that please lmk :)

[banamine-bananime]

preface: i was writing a list of my headcanons for funsies and got completely derailed with angsty grimmons shit that needs to be scooped out of that post because it’s stupid long. so here

grif worked in honolulu a couple years after hs graduation until kai was old enough (17) he felt he could leave. did a year at university before realizing he’s smart enough to be admitted to cornell but not to get the scholarship he realistically needs to not be in crushing debt on graduation, and also there’s not nearly enough regimentation to college life to prevent him from rotting in bed paralyzed by “oh my god i don’t have Responsibilities That Need To Be Done Right Now for the first time in forever and idk what to do now” and executive dysfunction. went through basic and stationed on the doomed outpost. That Whole Thing (a polite way of saying “sneaking off for a nap on duty, sleeping through a massacre, and waking up to find literally everyone else dead”) was the nail in the coffin that pretty much shot his last shred of motivation and hope to shit, and based on his behaviour and psych eval afterwards (best summarized as “learned helplessness that everything is shit always and he’s useless and never gonna be able to help anyone so 👍 fuck everything fuck everyone just try to eke some hedonistic joy out of life before you die”) he was reassigned to the sim soldiers.

meanwhile simmons tried to do university several times and had to drop out for mental health reasons (a very polite way of putting “rapid spiral into absolute disaster every time”. it leaves room for giving him the benefit of the doubt that this was a proactive “ah i should take care of myself and this is not working for me :) #selfcare #therapy” decision. this is not benefit of the doubt that anyone who knows him would extend.).

I go back and forth on whether to roll with the “that one throwaway line with a suspiciously specific hypothetical of being in a unit that was stranded and had to eat their dog to survive” thing or just say he was assigned straight to sim troopers. on the one hand, i really love grif and simmons having a parallel immensely traumatic first assignment that made them both Worse in kinda similar kinda opposite ways in line with the ways they were each already fucked up

(grif “life is inherently a garbage fire. i am useless. all i can do is look out for myself and save my own hide by absolute never trusting any authority, refusing to get attached to the other fuckers around here (they’d hate me anyways so just let them hate me), and obsessively hoarding any access to food and shelter and comfort because Maslow said I can’t work on health or belonging or esteem until i do :/ yeah i know, sorry, i’ve got a doctor’s note from him right here.” vs simmons “my life is a garbage fire probably because everyone around me is an idiot fucking something up but also because i’m not trying hard enough. i’m sure if i keep Performing The Maladaptive Behaviours even harder they will work and i THEN will feel respected and powerful and loved. you see you just have to keep repressing every feeling so you can suck up to anyone you detect a whiff of Authority Figure on no matter how little you actually respect them, and follow EVERY RULE and work and work and work. and you had better abandon any compunctions about things like eating a dog you loved or backstabbing a friend for brownie points from the CO who hates him or Literally Murdering your CO for a promotion. and if you ever stop desperately trying, fighting dirty looking out just for yourself, and instead just sit still for a moment and enjoy sincere zero-ulterior-motives connections with people, you will probably definitely immediately die of starvation or exposure (it is a metaphor you see. of exposure to the elements while stranded without resources. for the agonizing exposure of allowing yourself to be known.)”)

on the other hand i’m like whoa now. this boy’s got enough problems we really don’t need to be giving him any more or we’re really never gonna pry him free of the woobiefication fics.

[just-a-carrot]

Not a question, but thought I’d write this out here ‘cause I didn’t know where else to put it. Did it anonymously because it’s kinda personal, but my writing style’s possibly unique enough that you’ll know who I am anyways sooo… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I started playing Our Wonderland around January/February of this year, at a time in my life where a lot of my real world friends had either gotten too busy or abandoned me for another clique. Senior year of high school, ya know?

Basically, mentally I was a bit wack, and even before that I had had the habit of turning to dating sims in order to get my fix of “attention.” I didn’t care how mentally fucked up the character ended up being, as long as he treated me nice, I was over the moon. One of the games I played was basically a gore fest with a small amount of romance moments if you “played your cards right”, and I ended up getting hugely attached to one of those characters. It became a favorite game of mine, and I probably could’ve missed stop lights with the level of rose-tinted glasses I was wearing.

So, when I saw a friend of mine on Discord playing a visual novel that had really gory death scenes and possible romance aspects, my ears immediately perked up. I thought it would be similar to that dating sim I had gotten so attached to, and since my mental health was still doing tHiNgS, I thought I’d give it a try.

WOW THAT TURNED OUT A LOT DIFFERENT THAN I EXPECTED. Not only did I end up reevaluating my whole psyche along the way, but I also view Our Wonderland as one of my favorite comfort games now! Ironic, I know, but it’s true. On those days where life just feels too difficult, I open the game and have Genzou tell me to get my shit together and all is okay. Because someone, somewhere cares about me as a person. (Yes he’s saying it to Iggy, BUT IM PLAYING IN THAT MAN’S SHOES OKAY-)

That was legitimately all I needed from someone, and the fact it was this absolute horror fest of a game that gave it to me was something I never could’ve expected.

Basically, I went from having the equivalent of “someone like Gidget would be okay (like Arcs 1-4 version) as long as they treated me nice sometimes” to actually having standards! Kinda. I still like the character from that game I mentioned prior, but I know what healthy standards are SUPPOSED to be now. Progress!

I’m in a better mental place now, I think, and I’m super excited to see whatever else you put out! Can’t wait for Arc 5.15!

(Also good job being added to the list of 48 dating sims I currently own lolol)

oh my gosh... my heart... 😭💕

this honestly nearly brought me to tears reading this. thank you so much for taking the time to write up so many of these (really personal) thoughts. and i'm genuinely both touched and honored that my game and chars could have this much impact on you?? sometimes it does just happen that we can find something to connect to at a time when we need it. i have certainly had many pieces of media throughout my life that have been the same. the things that have gotten me through rough patches. the times where i've just been a mess. the times i've been been barely able to function because of my anxiety. or things like huge life changes like moving countries. i feel like in every one of those moments in my life, i've had something there to ground me and keep me tethered and get me through it, and it's always been one of the things i was hyperfixated on at the time that formed that core rock (and sometimes also the people online that i met because of that hyperfixation)

right now for me getting through the rough patches in recent years it's been making this game itself LMAO so i'm glad it can also be there and provide a place of comfort for others.

i'm really glad you're in a better mental place now, though i'm sorry you've had such rough periods this year. i hope that your next year will prove much better and give you some peace 💕

[maybeimamuppet]

hi so i was reading your reblog tags about mummies and that you have a sim of cady which i think implies that you have like. a sims world? and i would like to know if there were any other misadventures or shenanigans going on in that possible world that you think are silly and would be willing to share.

hello i sure do

i can’t remember everything that’s happened bc i’ve been playing with them for like three years atp so i forget a lot but here’s what i do remember lol. i’ve also posted some things about them before if you’re in the mood to REALLY go digging through my blog lmao

ANYWAY here’s some mg sims nonsense

-cady is constantly getting injured. cursed, bitten by cobras, hit by lightning. she is the most accident prone baby ive ever had in every save file

-sims 3 janis would constantly roast garlic over a fire. as in entire heads of garlic. and eat that just off the skewer. and then get mad at me bc her breath smelled

-in my most recent play through cady rejected janis’ marriage proposal bc i forgot they hadn’t even like. kissed yet

-karen and aaron are CONSTANTLY pranking toilets and it’s fucking annoying

-i had to abandon one save file because, in the middle of winter, damian came to visit cadnis and went swimming in their backyard outside. i had the twins and was having cadnis put them to bed and damian FROZE TO DEATH. everyone is devastated. in the midst of grief and trying to figure out how to make ambrosia to bring him back, gretchen came over and did literally the exact same thing. so i had two urns and a shit load of depressed sims in my house and i just gave up.

-in my most recent play their christmas tree immediately exploded the first time i tried to use it

-i forgot to set their sexualities once and janis cheated on cady. with damian. so that was fun trying to sort out

-their cat causes so much hassle but i love her. stan elvira

-people will constantly come over to cadnis’ house and just watch tv or something. and not say a single word to them at all. which honestly is fitting i think

-janis got cursed by the same gnome about six times in an hour and almost died bc she got hit by lightning so many times

-the other five are constantly trying to fuck each other bc the sims doesn’t know how to handle polyamory. and they’re also always depressed bc they’re “cheating” on each other

-cady got stuck halfway up a staircase for a solid twelve hours and nearly died until i figured out how to cheat and move her

[icameisawifished]

My sim is having the worst life fr

so i started a new legacy bc i hadn't played in a while, and as I always do i rolled a random aspiration. and I got the werewolf cure seeker one. So I was like, okay! weird starting place but sure! and made a werewolf. During her time as a werewolf, trying to find a cure bc her rage was ruining her life, she falls in love and gets the "fated mate" relationship with a guy who picks a fight with her during a full moon and beats the shit out of her, ruining their relationship completely.

So she's out of love, he moves out bc they'd kill each other, but she still has this fated mate thing. But she wants a family so she keeps dating. But every time she flirts with someone she gets tense bc she's like "well, this isn't my soulmate" moodlet.

But her soulmate HATES her. So she's like. Well maybe when I'm cured? No. It doesn't go away.

But eventually she becomes close friends with someone who agrees to donate genetics to a science baby, and they're woohoo partners even if they're not romantic, and it seems like things are good for a little while. She adopts the Super parent aspiration. If nothing else she wants to be a good mother, yk?

And then the kid ages up to childhood. Roll for traits. Evil.

Kid immediately starts picking fights with her, mocking her, etc.

I'm legit like What the fuck am I meant to do with this. I think this might be the worst life any of my sims has ever had. I think she's going to die unhappy.

I'm torn between abandoning the save because it's depressing and riding it out because it's fucking juicy drama.

[geniusphilester]

i’ve seen a few gamingmas wishlists and, as i’ll probably wake up around when the first video goes up, i thought it’d be fun to share a few of my wishes and expectations and have them blown out of the water immediately lol

what we know

-we already know that charlie mcconnell is playing lethal company with dan and phil. lethal company’s a popular indie horror game in early access right now: the description on steam says “A co-op horror about scavenging at abandoned moons to sell scrap to the Company.” and i think pj is also jumping in on this one?

-i’m so confident about the sims being included here that i’m putting it in “know” instead of “guess”. it’s ongoing, the new house is built, dil and dalien were prominent on the promo poster…it's not a big swing. holiday devan wedding???

what we can guess

-since we had halloween baking for spooky week, christmas baking for christmas eve seems likely? i would say the day could be variable, but if baking happens, i’d put good money on it being the last video.

-i’m not convinced that the promo poster is accurate as to what will happen, but dan and phil did specifically request the details included. so here’s what i see:

tetrimos, so maybe tetris? i would enjoy tetris 99 or something

the golf hats, a bag of golf clubs, maybe floating golf balls? probably golf with friends, as anyone could guess

ddr pad??? ddr seems hard to bring back, but i discount nothing and i would love it. (including it is big nostalgia bait either way. they're so sentimental!!!)

we covered dil and dalien/the sims already, but i would feel weird not writing them down lol

the switch, which could have a lot of interesting console-exclusive possibilities: zelda, mario, animal crossing? ring fit adventure would be hilarious and a good dan vs. phil

huggy wuggy, so maybe more poppy playtime. i wouldn’t have thought that likely since we’re done with spooky week, but we have confirmation on another horror game, so why not? i know what the next chapter looks like and the puzzles could be fun. maybe dan would finally exit his chair from jumpscare

this isn’t expectations or guesses or anything, but shout out also to phil’s plushie and the announcement moose

-i feel like they have a mini roblox series now, so maybe something on there? my main pick would be bee swarm simulator; they usually have a holiday event, and it’s a really solid game

what i want

-all my favorite games, which would include: co-op stardew valley (which would be another good switch option), hades, unpacking. maybe unpacking most because they could do the whole thing this month pretty easily.

-skimming my steam to see some other games that i think would be interesting: disco elysium (probably not youtube friendly, but i can dream), another crack at dream daddy, alan wake 1/2 or control, phasmophobia, wobbledogs, oxenfree 1/2, gone home, arcade paradise, inscryption, the hitman series, iron lung, death stranding. out of these, i want wobbledogs (deeply silly) and gone home (gay) the most.

-i really want fan mario kart tournaments brought back. i suspect it won’t happen this month because they’ve got a lot on their plate, but i played them the last couple times they did them, and i would love to make it into their round just once. but even if i wouldn’t (as is likely), it would just be nice to play with fans again!

-i hope there’s a couple other random collabs and indie games i don’t know/haven’t thought of. i liked the surprises during spooky week!

-i’m gonna share some of my thoughts on this bingo card because it covers a lot of my wishes, too:

golf with friends (likely, as i said)

mario kart booster courses: with the booster levels, they could do an entire rainbow road dan vs. phil. tell me that doesn’t sound good

stardew valley (really want, as i said)

sims 4 (pretty much guaranteed)

deltarune: the unfinished sequel(ish?) to undertale. as someone who was a huge fan of their original undertale let’s play, YES PLEASE

baldur’s gate 3: majorly popular dnd franchise video game. i started playing it this week, and it's delightful, but it's a lot of game. it would be a great collab, though!

stray: cat game!!! i own this and i got stuck on a part before i could finish. if they played, that would give me the kick i need to get back into it.

cult of the lamb: popular indie game with the streaming set because it has great twitch integration. i would enjoy watching them play, but i would enjoy it more if they did twitch streams later and played it there

it takes two: popular two-player indie game where you play as a married couple, i believe? i would enjoy watching this, but i admit, some of what i’ve heard about the game doesn’t leave me too interested in watching it specifically

untitled goose game: CLASSIC. oh man. chaos puzzles as a goose in a small english village? you can do this one two-player, too. and it’s good on switch.

spider-man: interesting inclusion! i’ve heard the game is good, but if it’s a new-to-me let’s play, i prefer indie games.

a board game: i wouldn’t be surprised if heartthrob with celebrities or whatever shows up lol. but this would be another good collab opportunity

among us: yes yes yes. mostly because i could watch it with my nibling lol. definitely a collab game; i wonder what size of party they could put together

minecraft (redo): could be interesting! i find minecraft so boring, but it would definitely get them views, and they always make things good

festive baking (likely, as i said)

-here’s my biggest wish: another festive day in the life. i don’t think i need to elaborate on that.

[invisiblegarters]

Not-So-Micro BL Reviews

This is mostly me doing catch up on all the things that I have been watching/was watching and then abandoned when I found Midnight Museum and fell like a ton of bricks (this is still something that confuses me but what can you do, really?) It will be long - I missed or ignored a LOT for a while.

Catch Up Dramas:

All the Liquors - This one never did anything revolutionary, but I have to admit that I liked the awkwardness of Chef. I really liked BFF cutie though. He was seriously the highlight of the entire show for me. Cute, if mostly predictable and not really plot heavy. Very KBL kiss. 7.5/10

Our Dating Sim - This was just a little gem of a series. The chemistry was on point and the conflicts made sense from what we were given of the characters. For how short it was, the emotional arc was satisfying. It's a solid little drama, and I quite enjoyed it. Good kisses, too, and not just for a KBL. 8/10

A Shoulder to Cry On - I just don't think that this one was for me, and that's okay. Part of me feels like if I were younger it would have landed better - it's dealing with some pretty serious topics and yet something about it feels a little too OTT for me, like they're kids playacting at adult emotions rather than it being genuine. IDK. I wanted to like it more than I did. This is one of the ones where the time skip actually worked in its favor though. 6/10

The New Employee (I know, don't look at me) - you know, I don't know why I randomly stopped watching this. It's adorable, and it actually does manage to convey the business drama pretty well on top of the cute, which I didn't expect from such a short drama. They also made me really dislike Manager Park, so kudos to them for that. I do like that Jong Chan genuinely believes in Seung Hyun's ability, and that he encourages him in that capacity. Overall this show was just cute, okay? It was. 8/10.

Bed Friend - I had such high hopes for this one. High apple pie in the sky hopes, even. I love me a FWB that gets serious (even if King was clearly pining for more from like, day 1 I don't even care. I've been wanting that fix since Between Us (another one where at least one of the FWB was clearly ready for more almost immediately, but hey what can you do). And these two are very, very good at selling that they want each other so kudos for that (and they clearly still want each other after the feelings and do not turn into blushing maidens who apparently haven't heard of kissing before, Team)). But around the time the gross boss Krit decided to invite himself over for family dinner with worst mother and SA stepdaddy and worst mother was like "oh yes he's perfect for you, son" I tuned out and didn't bother tuning back in until recently. I feel like there's only so much misery you can pile on one character before I either stop caring or start finding it unintentionally hilarious. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a Westerner so I don't understand the family dynamics in these things, that's all. Honestly Uea's inability to cut his awful mother out of his life is just not something that I can resonate with. It does amuse me though how often parents in these dramas are either amazing or awful, with not a lot of in between, normal sort of hey, sometimes parents do dumb things too because they are fallible and human. I guess that doesn't make for good drama. King and Uea are very cute, though, and I do really like them when they get to just chill and be boyfriends with each other, although I have to admit the end got a little too saccharine for me. I swear I can be so picky, sigh. The show might not have fulfilled all my hopes, but once it got off the misery train it was fine. 8/10

Moonlight Chicken - I loved this drama. And the funny thing is that it was low on my radar - literally the only reason I was planning on watching at first was due to First and Khao. That was it. The plot wasn't even really my thing, I figured I'd just be waiting for those two to show up and that would be that. But nope, I loved it. This felt like just the kind of grown up drama I've been aching for, one that was ultimately less BL and more, well, life, with all of its complications and messes. It just so happened that the main characters were gay. More of this, please, Thailand. I promise you that there is an audience for it. I liked how messy it was, and in such a believable way. From Wen and Alan's extremely slow breakup to Jim's trauma becoming a sort of shield for him against opening up to people to Heart and Li Ming's wholehearted jump into a first relationship, the characters felt real and grounded and i loved it. No one was perfect (well, except Gaipa who is honestly a sweetheart too good for this world - I loved his huge crush on Jim even though I knew it wasn't gonna go anywhere, he was so sweet and unassuming about it, best unrequited love ever). Jim especially won my heart, because the way his walls worked was so relatable to me. I think that some people don't quite get how easy it is to shut yourself off, and how once you do it it is so much easier to just keep letting past trauma keep you from moving forward, not necessarily in ways that hinder your entire life, just parts of it. Jim's utter reluctance to let Wen in and his worry about Li Ming made so much sense to me. He'd been burned and burned hard, it's only natural that he'd want to protect his beloved nephew from the same pain, even though he went about it in the worst way possible most of the time. :D But that's not how it works for the young, and that's a good thing. Yeah, Li Ming might crash and burn, he and Heart might not be forever, but that's okay. I have heard people complaining that Earth is way too young to play Jim, but I honestly thought he suited the role, actually. It might be my favorite role of his yet. Final Verdict: 9.5/10. This was almost my perfect drama and if I could have more of this I would be delighted.

New (to me) Dramas

A Tale of a Thousand Stars - watched because of Our Skyy2. I wanted to be looking forward to more than just The Eclipse and Never Let Me Go, haha. It was fine. I really liked Tian, even when he was being a spoiled shit. There's something about Mix, I think, that makes him extremely watchable. I do not really feel that way about Earth and I was mostly annoyed by Phupha. *shrug* I wanted him to actually talk to Tian rather than making decisions for him - sure Tian was impulsive but so much of his problem was with his parents running his life, he didn't need that in a lover, too. Once Phupha pulled his head out of his ass it was better, but my goodness that took a while, didn't it? Also what is it with this pairing and these weird "does he love me or my sister/the woman who's heart I have" plots? Glad Moonlight Chicken moved away from that kind of plotline, even if I do actually really like Cupid's Last Wish (more than this one, actually - I get the sense that is unusual but I don't care, I love it). Overall though this wasn't bad, even if I felt like it dragged a bit in places. Am genuinely sad that they put Khaotung in a Earh/Mix vehicle and didn't have him gently pining over either of them. He did it so well in Moonlight Chicken, after all. Final Verdict: 8/10

Star and Sky - Star In My Mind & Sky in Your Heart - these were fine. I felt like there was a lot of drama over very little, but they're decent little slice of life kind of dramas. Easily consumed, easily forgotten. 6/10 for both.

Rewatches (because why the hell not right)

The Eclipse - I just love this drama. *shrug* It's so incredibly rewatchable. Plus, you know. I love Akk, he's exactly my kind of character. I honestly can't wait for the Our Skyy2 episodes but they look a little nuts. Honestly though I don't even care so long as we get some cute - I think that there were enough tears during the show proper. Yes both First and Khao cry well but still.

Cupid's Last Wish - You know, the first time I watched this I think that I said I was pleasantly surprised because I expected it to be a lot less obvious that Korn was so gone on Win that no one else even entered his big, dumb head. I was worried that it would be more of a "oh, I fell in love with you as a girl but it's still you" thing, and it...was very much not. I thought they also did a real good job walking the line between showing Win and showing Lin, and I have to give a lot of credit to Jan for her portrayal of Win as Lin. Pitch perfect, really. I say again, there's just something about Mix that is likeable - I've enjoyed him in ever single drama I've seen him in thus far, although Earth as Moonlight Chicken's Jim has my whole heart. He really shone in that role. My one quibble with this is how everyone just forgives the mom for being awful. I don't know, I guess I'm just a grudge holder. Anyway I originally rated this at a 7.5, but due to sheer rewatchability and how much fun I actually do find it, I'm moving it up to an 8.5/10. It's fun, I like it a lot, I will probably watch it again at some point.

Looking Forward To

I'm honestly kind of out of the loop with this! I don't really know what is coming up, so my list is very short:

Only Friends

Dangerous Romance

Both of them seem messy, messy, and i am ready for it. I also can't wait for the Utsukushii Kare movie but I'm going to have to, so.

I'm also excited for whatever comes up for the renewed drama shower slot for MBS. I wasn't a fan of all of them last year (I loved one of them beyond all reason, liked two, was meh on two and DNF one), but I love that I can look forward to at least one drama coming out of Japan for a while.

Whew! That wasn't so bad, was it?

[murfeelee]

CC Websites: Alignment Chart

I just saw this image posted on Simsecret: https://simsecret.livejournal.com/409795.html#cutid1

I had an immediate, visceral reaction against it, that I quickly needed address. So I made my own alignment chart, cuz hold on up.

Lawful Good (SimFileShare / ModTheSims): SimSileShare is as neutral as they come. You can’t tell them anything, and I freaking love it--they’re here to support the ENTIRE simming community, and don’t ask for an EFFING DIME. Mod the Sims is not neutral at all--they will ban people, and dole out warnings for the most contradictory things, cuz they used to go hog wild if you even mentioned “Base Game Compatible” CC & conversions. I’ve been warned by them several times in the 11 years since I’ve been a member, and had the hardest time getting my CC approved way back in the day, which is why I never upload anything over there--once bitten twice shy.  They play by the books.

Neutral Good (Patreon / Personal Website Direct Downloads): I don’t know which paywalling Patreon owner made that alignment chart, but they can eff right off. Neutral? HOW? Patreon is LITERALLY the most polarizing thing to have happened in the past 6 or so years of simming. Ever since TS4 came out it’s been one shenanigan after another, as the paywallers have come back full force, and normalized the predatory monetization of digital user generated custom content. It’s been sheer CHAOS since Patreon became “cool” in the gaming community. And “Good”?! WHERE? How is that a GOOD thing, except for the people who directly profit off of people’s FOMO and impulse spending? Capitalism is EVIL, and Patreon is rolling in it. Everyone likes money, but at least Personal Websites do people the courtesy of giving people CHOICES--there are donator buttons, PayPal links, Ko-Fi, and other ways to monetarily show support and be supported. They don’t hold CC hostage, demanding compensation for CC they made for NO ONE but themselves--no one’s forcing you to make CC; this isn’t a job! If you get money out of it, it’s because people were generous enough to give you something. But y’all mofos are out here acting like we’re OBLIGATED to accept CC monetization, as if you’re any better than the MILLIONS of other CC creators who make content in the gaming community as a whole. The nerve.

Chaotic Good (Personal Website DDL / Google Drive): Personal websites are indeed chaotic, cuz they’re here today and gone tomorrow. But the community is a GODSEND with filesharing, and a lot of it is actually happening on Google Drive/Docs most recently. When Mediafire was purging its abandoned accounts, and the anti-Patreon movement migrated to Reddit, Google Docs/Drive was where people congregated to share information. I’d even add Discord to this category.

Lawful Neutral (Mediafire): One of the few I agree with. I know in other countries some people can’t use Mediafre, so y’all have stuff like Yandex, Mega, Baidu (Chaotic Evil right there) and whatnot, but yeah. Whatever file host you use.

True Neutral (ModTheSims / SimFileShare): I already explained above why I think they should be swapped. Mod the Sims plays by the rules (albeit dumb ones) a lot of the time, whereas there’s just greater freedom at SFS.  

Chaotic Neutral (Google Drive / Simsdom): I have heard some WILD stories about Simsdom. But there’s only 3 slots for Evil, so....

Lawful Evil (The Sims Resource): This one’s easy. If you’ve been paying attention, you know about T$R. For a hot second it looked like they were turning over a new leaf, making all their formerly paywalled content free, and just doing paid VIP subscriptions to navigate the site and wait times better. But nope! That was just the eye of the storm. Lo and behold, they’ve all but reverted back to their old BS, cuz now all the Featured content is in Early Access, which is a type of paywall. Early Access is exactly how all of the monetized crap in the gaming community got started--thank you STEAM.

Neutral Evil (Simsdom / A*Fly): A*Fly is a piece of work. I have like 4 different addons installed just to get away from that crap, and all its derivatives, like Short*st & co. No way I want any viruses and popups and malware infecting my PC, just so some rando can make money off of digital Barbie Doll crap.

Chaotic Evil (A*fly / Patreon): The hypocrisy of it all. How TF is whoever made this chart cool with putting Patreon under Neutral Good, and A*fly under Neutral Evil? Like, how TONE DEAF do you have to be, to not get that monetization of user generated custom content is EVIL? Tumblr already banned A*fly users from using their platform to profit, and EA should’ve done the exact same thing, but no, they’re EFFING EA. We’ll have to wait and see if Tumblr does anything against Patreon users, or if they’ll fold like all the others.

[equalseleventhirds]

i said i wouldn't write it but i did

vaguely a sequel to this, but far in the future and focused on jon (annabelle features briefly tho. she's fine. annabelle will always be fine in my fics.) with ofc the presupposition that they've failed in one world but kept trying, bcos i think that would be fun*!

*(by which i mean heartbreaking, i'm so sorry)

There are rules, to the traveling, or at least there seem to be. There are certainly questions to be asked and points to be made, about how many instances count as a definitive rule rather than simply a pattern. But Jon likes to think of them as rules. He's always preferred concrete answers, even if it turns out they're less the truth and more just a convenient way of conceptualizing things.

So he has rules.

First: the Fears always come through on the same day. October 18, 2018. Or, given the impact history has on calendars, the equivalent of it; he'd once spent months trying to correlate the forty-third moon of cycle 1852 with his calendar just to prove his point, but the math had all worked out.

(Which does indicate, at least to Jon, that yes, the Fears probably did originate in his home world, Georgie. He'll take his petty wins where he can get them. For as long as he can remember the discussion, and the people, he's proving wrong.)

Second, it is still his tapes that the Fears follow. For every apocalypse there has been a new catalyst, but none of these new rituals supersede his. Maybe it's a testament to the strength of the Web's original plan, or maybe it's just something about Jon himself. He knows what he thinks, but... well, there isn't enough proof just yet.

Third, in spite of endless attempts to trap them and stop them, Jon is always able to travel with the Fears. Perhaps they simply can't stop him, as the original antichrist he apparently is; dozens of apocalypses in dozens of different universes, and Jon can always feel his rightful place as ruler of that terrible fearscape calling to him. He hasn't taken it yet, but it's there, and the Eye cannot abandon its true pupil without his permission.

Or perhaps they simply don't care. Every attempt so far has led to the exact same result, after all: another world left behind, another death by starvation averted, another new feast for the Fears to sink their teeth into.

Fourth, he always passes out upon entering a new world.

It's kind of annoying.

---

It is slightly unusual for him to wake up warm, comfortable, and covered in a blanket, but Jon's not about to complain. It's nice. He doesn't get a lot of comfort, and he likes sleeping in a bed, especially since he's always eldritch-nightmare-free in a new world. For a limited time only, of course.

He's fairly certain he's inside; aside from the softness underneath and around him, the air is still and temperate, the light through his eyelids is artificial, and all he can hear is the faint whirring of appliances and the whispers of two muted voices.

"—complete stranger, definitely dangerous, looks like he's from hell—"

"Okay, fine, but I wasn't going to leave him, and anyway haven't you noticed he's a bit—"

"A bit what? Scarred? Bloodstained? Glowing eyes, because I don't think I need to remind you, Martin, his eyes were absolutely glowing when you found him—"

Martin. Now there's a name. Not an uncommon one, but... he thinks he knows that voice.

Or. Well. He might know both of those voices, actually, which is even more interesting than waking up in a bed.

Jon opens his eyes.

He's met himself before, is the thing. Not in every world, and not always particularly recognizable, but he's met himself. He's met versions of Martin, too, and eventually stopped going completely useless with heartbreak every time. The merest handful of times, he's found both of them in the same world, sometimes something almost like friends, but usually not.

The fact that they have their arms around each other, casual, comfortable, close, is both entirely unexpected and perfectly, wonderfully, terribly familiar. Jon briefly considers crying about it, but there are more important things to be doing. For example.

"The glowing eyes aren't actually that sinister. I mean, they are, but not for the reasons you're probably thinking."

Jon—the other Jon—jumps at the sound of his voice, then leans forward. Curiosity, of course; that hardly ever seems to change. "You—the glowing—who are you?"

"Jon," this new version of Martin scolds, and for just a moment he's back home, with his Martin, with that exasperated tone—but no, this isn't his Martin, and he's also leaning forward now, his voice turning gentle. Concerned. Coaxing, like he's a spooked animal, and Jon doesn't think his Martin has ever talked to him that way. "How are you feeling? We found you unconscious in the street."

He can feel Martin's curiosity too, pushing forward under his concern, just as questioning as Jon but too polite to outright say it yet. He has to cut this off, or he really will cry.

"Mm... no," he says. "Well, yes. But also." Good lord, he's confusing them. Par for the course, but he should probably try to be somewhat comprehensible.

He holds up a hand, extending one finger. "I am... fine. More or less. Trust me, I'm used to this, and this isn't even the worst way it's happened." Another finger joins the first. "My name, as I believe Martin has guessed but then dismissed, is Jonathan Sims. I am not you from the future, nor am I lying, nor am I crazy, because—" a third finger "—interdimensional travel is not only possible, it has happened, is happening, because of and along with terrible monstrosities I am determined to stop, and I have explained this too many times to too many people to have much patience for anyone being shocked and disbelieving, much less a version of myself doing so, so you can either get over it and move on or I can go elsewhere and do something useful."

"Excuse—"

"And," he continues, pushing himself up so he can sit and lean forward even more intensely than his counterpart, "I would actually rather not do that just yet, because I have an extremely pressing question for the two of you."

"Um," Martin says, and "What," says the other Jon.

"How," Jon asks, deepening his voice to exude solemn, ominous, and eldritchly important, "did you two start dating?"

---

It was so... normal. Apparently. Two people, mutual friends, a chance encounter. A prickly exterior ("He hated me," both of them had claimed), but without the insecurity of being Head Archivist and the fear of dread powers beyond his comprehension, their friends had helped him open up and—eventually—apologise. A budding friendship, and then a romance, and then...

It isn't a version of them Jon has seen anywhere else, in any of the worlds he's traveled to. Normal as it is, it's a highly improbably scenario, and certainly not the same as his relationship with his Martin had been. But it was, in an infinite number of worlds, still a possibility.

Jon isn't quite sure how he feels about that, knowing that some version of them could have fallen in love without the trauma, but that they hadn't managed it.

His hands aren't shaking, as he lights his cigarette. At least there's that.

"I quit, you know," his counterpart says from behind him. "Years ago. I'd forgotten about those until you asked."

"Well then, thank you for indulging me." He gestures, meaning the cigarette, meaning the bed, meaning his claims about reality, meaning his intrusive, gossipy questioning. Meaning everything. He's not sure it gets across.

The other Jon laughs, quietly, and moves to stand next to him. "I am my worst enabler."

"Oh, that's hardly true."

"Mm." They're silent together for a while, but Jon is restless (both of him), and eventually this reality's version opens his mouth to ask. "Do you—do you know why I—I don't want to say believed you, I'm still not sure I do, b-but, didn't throw you out immediately?"

"My myriad charms?" They both laugh at that.

"Jonathan Sims," he says, as if that explains anything.

Jon takes a drag of his cigarette, considering. He could probably Know, but... indulging himself. "What about me?"

"No, not you, or. You know. You. But your name. Jonathan Sims. I decided you weren't, weren't a deliberate lie to trick me, or a future version of myself, or a mind-reading monster—"

"Well—"

"—when you said your name, because none of those things would have said that." He smiles then and holds up a hand, and—oh—his ring glints. "I've been Jonathan Blackwood for a while now."

They'd told him married eventually, but he hadn't even thought about his name. He's certainly thinking about it now. "Jonathan Blackwood," he says, soft, to himself. And to himself. "That... that sounds good."

"It does, doesn't it."

Whatever they might have said next is lost as an incredibly loud engine roars nearby and a sleek black motorcycle pulls up in front of them. Jon sighs and takes one last drag of his cigarette as the rider removes her helmet.

"Been off finding yourself, then, Jon?" Annabelle asks.

"Oh, extremely funny, yes. Did you steal that?"

"It was a gift."

"Of course it was."

The other Jon is staring at them both, his eyes repeatedly drifting back to the web-covered hole in Annabelle's head. "Who—what is—is that a—"

"She's a spider monster," Jon supplies helpfully. "She came with me, although apparently she did not pass out in the street this time."

"Two streets over, I think. Pity, I would've loved a nice nap in a proper bed, but I did get this motorcycle out of it. Come on, Jon, you can mope on the way."

"I have not been moping—"

"Haven't you? You're not the one who deals with how maudlin you get every time you meet yourself—"

"Yes, fine, thank you, we can go." He stubs out the cigarette and pauses, looking at himself. "Uh. Tell Martin—well, goodbye, I guess. I'd say I hope we meet again, but if you're lucky we won't need to?"

"...sure."

"And I'm—I hope you—that is, I'll do my best—well." He sighs. "Things are about to get... dicey, for the world in general. But just, look out for each other, and we'll try to handle the rest."

"Jon, we should be going."

"Yes, all right, all right." He gives himself one last, probably not very reassuring smile, and climbs on behind Annabelle.

They do have work to do, after all.

[luverofralts]

Post Arkhelios

She had put on a positive face for Abe, but internally Ulyssa was extremely conflicted about her feelings for Roman. She knew that he legitimately cared about Abe, but also knew how self absorbed Roman could be. It was the Bellamy way to act like they were above everyone else and Roman had learned a lot from his grandfather. It seemed like Abe was the only person able to cut through the Bellamy brainwashing and get Roman to feel. In the corner of her mind, Ulyssa wondered how Roman would have treated the situation if she had gotten pregnant from their brief affair or if he’d ever been able to seduce her idiot brother. Probably even worse than this, if she was being honest with herself.

Her feelings towards Roman were always in flux because of the huge wall that he put up between him and the world. She was never sure if she actually liked Roman or was attracted to him, or felt pity for him, or if she secretly enjoyed their little arguments. Maybe Abe could help bring that wall down permanently one day, or at the very least, keep Roman from pissing people off so frequently.

Ulyssa left an hour later, after making sure Abe was in an okay place about his boyfriend. If she wasn’t sure about her feelings about Roman, she at least was starting to see Abe and Lucy as friends because of all of this. In a place like Arkhelios, teen friendships seemed to be rare, and however this all ended, Ulyssa was glad that she had gotten to better know the Chuns. Between this secret, and their parents running off together, she knew that if she needed support, she could actually find some back in Arkhelios.

Abe had gone to bed immediately after Ulyssa left, if only to have some time for himself away from Lucy’s over protectiveness. His mind was swirling with thoughts and feelings that he needed to process by himself without her open anger at Roman. To be honest though, he was starting to feel influenced by her remarks. Maybe Roman wasn’t coming back after all. Maybe he would return to school, and only see his family over school breaks.

An even worse feeling came over him suddenly. What if he brought home someone else from Pleasantview? Even if it had been arranged by his grandfather without Roman’s input, Abe wasn’t sure that he could live in an Arkhelios where Roman was engaged to some rich sim and forgot about all about him. He knew Lucy thought about this possibility all the time, and it had been Roman’s mission to bring new people here by any means necessary....

Abe buried his head in his pillow and groaned. This was a line of thought for tomorrow, when he didn’t feel so hopeless.

His bedroom door squeaked open, and Abe figured that it was just Lucy checking on him again. He turned on his side and pretended to be asleep, so she wouldn’t stay to make even more pitying remarks about Roman’s intentions.

“Abe? Are you awake?”

Abe bolted up quickly in his bed. He’d know that voice anywhere!

“Roman! You’re here! I can’t believe it!”

Against all odds, Roman was actually standing in Abe’s bedroom. Unless this was some kind of magical hallucination or trick, Abe had been right about Roman’s feelings for him.

Roman looked awkwardly at his feet.

“....Hi. How are you?” Roman cursed himself internally for being so awkward. It was just Abe after all. Still, it felt weird to talk to him now without bringing up the elephant in the room.

“Lucy was convinced that you were half-way to Veronaville by now.”

Roman flushed furiously. Neither teen moved for fear of spooking the other one. Abe could feel the tension in the room like it was physically pressing on him.

“I just needed some time,” Roman said. “I shouldn’t have run...but I’m here now. I want to be there for you...if you still want me to be.”

The tension began to ease. Abe quickly crossed the distance between them and grabbed Roman’s hands, placing them on his ever expanding stomach.

“Of course I still want you here!” he said fiercely. “It’s all I’ve been wanting since I found out about this...situation.”

The two teens sat on the floor and looked at the ground. Neither one seemed to know what to say. Roman reached for Abe’s hand, which caused Abe to jump and Roman quickly withdrew his own hand. Touching each other was what had caused this situation in the first place, and Abe still had Lucy’s warnings ringing in his head. Maybe if Roman had come immediately things would have been fine, but Abe had been freaking out alone for days now, and there was still awkwardness between them. Roman cleared his throat.

“H-how have things been?”

“The morning sickness has gotten a lot better, thank god,” Abe replied, and Roman nodded sympathetically.

“That sounds rough.” He made and held eye contact with Abe. “I’m sorry that I took so long to get here. I...I’m sorry that I put you in this position to start with. I never intended for this to happen.”

Abe reached for his hand without hesitation this time.

“I know,” he said. “Neither did I. It’s been kind of a roller coaster of feelings the past few days.”

“My uncle Hunter is adopted,” Roman blurted out suddenly. “His dad was Launce Durant, and my grandparents adopted him.”

Abe realized where this conversation was heading, and he was glad that Roman brought it up first. He had heard the Durants talking about their long lost half-brother before, and everyone wondered who Hunter’s other parent had been. Abe’s mom used to date Launce, but everyone knew how Launce’s life had spiraled out of control when his brother Benvolio died. Any one could be Hunter’s mother or father. Elaine had certainly not commented on Hunter’s origins, and Abe figured that if he had a half-brother out there, she would have probably mentioned it by now.

“When I worked at the orphanage, the kids seemed pretty happy,” Roman continued, playing absentmindedly with his shoelaces. “Some of them got adopted really quickly. I don’t think anyone here would know if...if we went there.”

Tears were starting to well up for both teens. Abe nodded and wiped his eyes.

“Yeah, no one would know,” he repeated sadly. “Maybe that’s best. Hunter seems really happy, and Launce sees him all the time now.”

Abe crawled back into his bed, and Roman mindlessly followed. Abe wrapped himself around Roman and tried not to cry.

“Roman? I don’t want to be like Launce,” he whispered. “Stay with me? We can figure this out together. What’s the difference of our families finding out about us now instead of when we’re in college? It’s only a few years.”

Roman froze momentarily, remembering his grandfather’s anger at the idea of him even talking to the Chuns, and the disappointment of his grandmother for not heeding her warnings about him following his hormones. He thought of how intensely Elaine watched him while he was near Abe, and what Lucy and Ulyssa surely thought of him by now.

He pulled Abe in closer to him.

“Okay,” he vowed. “We’ll do this together. Who cares about who knows.”

Elaine left for work early in the morning, blissfully unaware of the teenage drama brewing in her house. Oriana had pressing business at the bank for Abraham’s estate, and hitched a ride downtown with her wife, leaving the house in Ironman’s control. He had been acting a little dodgy lately when she talked about the kids, but she chalked it up to him readjusting to having Elaine back in his life, and getting to know the kids he had never seen because of Elaine and Abraham’s fighting.

Ironman purposely started his house cleaning away from the noisy kitchen, where he could hear Lucy shouting. Better to have plausible deniability and not check into that, he decided. He wasn’t sure to what extent his programming would allow him to keep information from his partner, so knowing nothing was probably the safer route. He felt that Oriana and Elaine would have more compassion than Abraham had shown for Elaine all those years ago, but he didn’t want to risk history repeating itself.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lucy was shouting presumably at some one who didn’t normally live there, and was therefore a part of this messy situation. Ironman made himself scarce before he found out more.

Jorah had come over to walk to school with Lucy like he usually did, and was currently holding her back from attacking Roman.

“It’s romantic, he sighed dreamily. “Two people from fighting families falling in love and running off to start a life together....”

Finding Roman making pancakes for her brother was the last thing Lucy had expected to see that morning. The fact that they were acting so weirdly in love, and holding each other like they had planned this whole mess...It was impossible to stomach. Roman abandoned Abe for days and now here he was making a mess of the kitchen and spouting off syrupy declarations of love to her idiot brother.

“Jorah you can’t be buying this,” she groaned. “This is ridiculous! This isn’t a Veronaville soap opera, it’s real life and you two are about to ruin both of yours. Don’t let Roman drag you down like this Abe. He may have hit rock bottom, but you still have a future!”

“I haven’t hit rock bottom,” Roman corrected while flipping pancakes. “Dropping out of school means that I have time to be a dad now, and I can make breakfast for Abe every day.”

“Dropping out? You are being expelled,” Lucy corrected angrily. “And you have no money, no job and now no education. Where are you going to live? How are you going to pay for things like diapers and you know, basic things like food?”

Abe poked at his pancakes nervously.

“Well, Mom might let us stay,” he said. “Or the Bellamys. I’m sure they’d understand, and want to help raise their grandkid.”

“You think Mom is going to let Roman Bellamy live in our house? You think the Bellamys won’t just kick you to the curb? Look at how they’ve treated Adam his whole life. Look at how they’re treating him and Omar now!”

“But this would be different,” Abe protested. “Our families could come together now and be happy. Romeo and Juliet’s love always ends the fighting in the stories.”

Lucy just stared at her brother, unable to comprehend his line of thinking.

“No, you know what brings Romeo and Juliet’s families together? Death and lots of it.” She pointed at Abe with intensity. “If you decide to bring this idiot to Mom or walk into Salem Bellamy’s house with a baby, that’s all you will get too. If you are really serious about ruining your life, then go anywhere but here with Roman. Go to Pleasantview. Go live out your stupid fantasy in Veronaville. Just leave before you become yet another unsolved murder here.”

Lucy stood up dramatically, dragging an open mouthed Jorah with her.

“Some of us still have school to attend.”

[janekfan]

trying to think of a good prompt bc um. i love ur writing so much and looove some good angst/beating up jarchivist... do u have a take on the classic ‘i really loved you, you know’ possible misunderstanding (jon thinks martin doesn’t love him like that anymore, beats himself up about it & tries his hardest to respect what he perceives as martin’s boundaries/to not make him uncomfortable w the love he doesn’t think he wants from him anymore for reasons he can only guess at, tries to hide the toll everything is taking on him, martin thinks jon just saved him from the lonely bc he’s Jon, still thinks jon doesn’t feel that way about him, doesn’t let himself reach out for the comfort/contact he still needs & maybe has another scary brush with the lonely? cue self deprication mutual pining angst misunderstanding awkwardness distance maybe some tears! but then like. communication and realization and comfort and love love love?)???!

@transcendentalbf Thank you so much! It’s missing some detail but I hope it’s okay! 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26803027

He doesn’t want to see you.

Jon looked down at their hands, clasped tightly together in his lap as Martin slept against his bony shoulder. It couldn’t possibly be comfortable. It couldn’t. That was never a descriptor applied to Jonathan Sims. He worried at Martin’s fingers with his own, rubbing warmth back into them though he had none to spare. They were headed to Scotland. To a safe house, if anything could be called safe these days with eyes all around and everywhere and watching, watching, watching.

He doesn’t want to see you.

That’s alright. He wouldn’t have to. Jon would deliver him, protect him, do whatever he needed as long as it kept Martin here with him. He didn’t need anything more than that and while Jon was quite possibly the worst liar in the whole of the population, he would make sure he didn’t take anything more than that. Selfish and monstrous and Martin had to suffer his company. He couldn’t ask for more. He couldn’t ask for more because he was too late.

I really loved you, you know?

And he hadn’t, he really, really hadn’t. Not until it was too late. And now.

Loved.

Loved.

Loved

He'd taken too long, and maybe that foolish part of him always thought Martin would wait until--

Until when?

It was too late to love him because there wasn't much left of him to love. He wasn't worth it. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. Jon pressed a secret, trembling kiss to the top of his head. He’d committed so many crimes, what more harm could it cause to add one more to the list?

But he wouldn't abandon him again. Not for anything. And he would keep his own love a secret so Martin wasn't burdened with guilt. He could do so little for him, but he could do that.

“Up you come, Martin.” The train lurched to a stop.

“...Jon?” Exhausted and cold, wisps of fog clung to his hair, escaped his mouth with a sigh. It was like an infection, the Lonely. It would take time to recover. Lucky that. They didn’t have much more than time at the moment.

“Hm.” Jon hummed his assent, staggering under Martin’s taller, heavier bulk until he managed to get his feet under him. “Good, good. You’re doing so well.” The praise was clumsy, foriegn on his tongue and ill fitting in his mouth. Martin didn’t seem to notice, just shivered where they stood, and it was a relief. Cajoling, tugging, Jon got him off the train, bad leg beginning to buckle under their combined weight and he grit his teeth against the pain and pressure. “I know the way.” Voice light, Jon trudged forward, limp agonizing, slow, and they were a pair of ants scuttling up the hill under cover of darkness.

Finally, Martin was tucked up in bed, every spare blanket Jon could find piled on top of him, and he even got a glimpse of tired eyes before he lost him to sleep. Sinking to the floor, Jon tugged at his curls, distracting himself from the ache in his hip with a different sort of pain but with nothing else to focus on save for the slow inhale, exhale of Martin’s peaceful breathing, Jon couldn’t do much else other than endure. An exhausted sentinel trapped with his own spiraling thoughts.

He’d meant it. In that moment surrounded by fog and mist and menace, he meant it. He wanted more than to just survive. He'd known nothing but raw survival for what seemed like an eternity. He wanted so much more for the first time.

And he'd thrown away his chance.

Too hot, Martin shoved at the covers, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and staring up into unfamiliar rafters. The last thing he remembered was the smell of salt and the sound of the sea, wrapped up in a cloud’s soft, cloying embrace. It had been gentle there and he’d been there long enough that being so present, here and now, was overwhelming. There was an echo of a hand in his, smaller, fine boned and familiar. Pulling. Dragging. Leading. Him out of that place.

Jon.

Where was Jon?

Martin sat up, swinging his legs out of the bed and finding clean clothes laid out on the end of it. The scent of strong tea lingered in the pleasantly warm air and he followed it to the small kitchen, the familiar figure doing the washing up loosening the knot tied around his heart. He was here. He was safe. They were safe. At least for a little while.

“Jon.” The naked relief flooding through his veins was embarrassing, the little jump of surprise he’d caused endearing

“M’Martin!” Turning swiftly, Jon almost lost his footing, catching it quickly, mouth quirked in a half smile. “You, you look so much better.”

“I feel better.” Surprised when he found it was really true. A beat of silence passed between them, Jon growing more and more uncomfortable if the caginess about him said anything.

“Oh! Uh! Th’there’s tea. It, I’m sure it’s not as good as yours, it couldn’t possibly be.” He made room for Martin to pass by, jittery and shaking. “I’m sorry, I. Wasn’t sure what you’d want to eat but there’s some--”

“Jon.”

“--Nothing in the fridge of course but--”

“Jon.” With a little more force, punctuated by a step forward, and Martin heard his teeth click when his jaw snapped shut. “I’m sure whatever we have is fine.”

“Ah. Alright. Yes. Of course.” He wrung his scarred hands, something unidentifiable in his expression. “I’ll. I. Of course.” Jon practically fled the room, skirting Martin as if his touch might hurt him, and the ache it left in his wake was debilitating. But Martin had pulled away from him for a whole year; it was no wonder Jon didn’t want anything to do with him. He was altruistic. He saved people because that's what he did and he’d be the first to deny it.

So of course he’d saved Martin.

It wouldn’t do to attribute it to reciprocated feelings. Martin could barely remember what he’d said in the Lonely, what he’d said to Jon. But it felt like a confession. Was that the problem?

Did he Know his infatuation? Was he disgusted that someone like Martin dared love him?

Martin poured his tea, savoring it because of whose hands made it and found Jon in the sitting room, curled up with a book in an overstuffed chair.

“It’s good.” Jon chuffed, laughter like music.

“You’re too kind.” And the wry tone was so familiar and so Jon Martin chuckled along with him. They fell into a comfortable silence, at a comfortable distance.

And this was enough. Martin would make sure it was enough.

When Jon insisted on taking the couch because it wasn’t like he slept much anyway, that was enough too.

Days passed.

Jon withdrew.

Skittish and wan. A ghost skirting the edges of Martin’s periphery, and he wanted so badly to hold him close, ease his trembling, help him find even a measure of peace if there was any left to be found.

Jon thought he could do this. Thought he was strong enough to at least give Martin this one, small thing but the profound ache of what he’d lost without even knowing he’d had it in the first place carved him out and he hugged himself tighter lest his useless heart fall from the gaping wound that was his ribcage. Raw and empty, he wasn't strong enough to hold himself together against the sheer amount of love in him with nowhere to go and it was tearing him apart.

It’s only you. It’s only you. It’s only you.

When it overcame his childish sand castle walls, eating through them like the hungry surf in all directions, from all sides, Jon let the tears come. Quiet. Be quiet. Shh, shh, shh.

But I love him. I love him. I love him.

It wasn’t fair.

“Jon?” You idiot, he needs to rest and look what you’ve done. Selfish. Stupid. Please. “Please what, Jon? How can I help?”

“N’no, no. Go, go back to bed, y’y’you need to--” a sob choked him and he couldn’t finish speaking, could barely breathe, drowning in an unfamiliar want. Fingertips touched his jaw, applied pressure to lift his face and the look in Martin’s eyes stole the rest of the air in his lungs. “I love you.” He slammed his palms over his traitorous mouth, curling forward and inadvertently into Martin’s waiting arms and he was too weak to resist, instead babbling, crying, words night unintelligible. “I love you! And I, I know. I know y’you don't feel the same and I'm too late but. But I want in a way, in, it's frightening how much and I'm afraid I'll do s’something foolish when, when all I, I, I want to d’do is keep you safe.”

“Breathe, Jon. Breathe, it’s alright.”

“I've. I've t’tried to give you space. And. A’and not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I've. I shouldn't have said anything and I'm so, s’so sorry.”

“Hush now, hush and look at me. Look at me, Jon.” Demanding carefully, and Jon turned to him like a worn and weathered bloom seeking out the sun. Martin immediately, desperately wanted to fold him back up again, touch him softly, kindly, because no one has done that for him in so long. Gently, Martin swept his thumbs beneath red eyes wrung with dark shadows, brushing away tears even when they showed no sign of stopping. “It’s alright, shh. It’s alright.” It’s not. It wasn’t alright and Jon shook his head, stiffening in his arms when Martin pressed him into his shoulder.

“M’sorry, m’sorry, M’Martin.” Greedy, never content with what was offered, always had to take. To take and take and take and he took more now, leaning heavily into Martin, pressing as close as possible, winding his arms around his waist and clutching his jumper.

“Okay, okay. Why did you think I needed space?” Soothing, his broad palm weighed heavy on his back, up, down, repeated. “Why so sorry?”

“I. I--you. Loved me.” Saying it like this was torture, a knife twisting in his gut. he never wanted to hear it again. He could. He could pretend. If he never heard it again. “And I. I never knew. Not until it was too l’late.”

I really loved you, you know?

You know?

Jon was exhausted. Upset and aching. Completely limp in his arms and so confused. Why hadn’t he pushed him away? He wasn’t obligated to keep holding Jon together. Especially not after he’d fallen into so many pieces.

“Jon. I think.” Martin hummed, lips close to his ear, breath a slow warmth against the shell of it. “I need to make something clear.”

“You don’t need to do anything.” Jon closed his eyes, stray tears slipped between damp lashes. “I understand.”

“I’m not sure you do.” Sweetly, Martin cupped the back of his head, brushed a kiss to his pulsepoint. “Because I do love you.”

“You don’t, you don’t have to say that.” Shaky, small.

“I do.” Martin pushed him back by the shoulders only to press their foreheads together. “I do. I love you, Jon. In the Lonely, I. It’s not important. Not right now.” Martin leaned back, bringing Jon with him, tucking him under his chin. “I love you. I’m excited that you love me too.” Muffled in a tight throat still choked with too much emotion.

“I think I’ve loved you for a long time, Martin.” Chaste, gentle, he pressed a kiss to the corner of Jon’s mouth, smiling when his lips turned up beneath his own.

“And I’m so glad for it.”

[fortunesfavours]

Here’s my contribution to @starrynightdeancas 2k follower celebration, part one! The prompt was beach, which sparked the idea of Dean and Cas retiring to a beach cottage together. I built it in the sims, and provided a list of headcanons to go along with it. Hope you enjoy!

Dean and Cas buy a broken down, overgrown old house on the coast of Maine

They immediately set about fixing it up

They leave some of the ivy on the house because Cas thinks it’s pretty (Dean agrees)

After restoring the plumbing and electricity, they finally spend a day assembling their bed in the bedroom, surrounded by the few suitcases that hold their entire lives

The master bedroom is bigger than they thought from the pictures on the internet

So they fill it with their bed, their books, their mementos, and all the things they never thought they’d have a home for

There’s a little fireplace in the bedroom. Cas and Dean sit on a sofa at the end of their bed and listen to the sounds of the fire.

They have a chess table, on Cas’ insistence. He teaches Dean how to play, and Dean proves to be quite good.

The space around the base of the stairs is converted into an office and library for Cas who gets a job at the nearby town’s community college where he teaches a class on folklore and history

(The students have an abundance of theories about who he and his partner? husband? actually are. They’ve come closer than they’d expect.)

The bookshelves easily fill themselves with books Sam finds and sends to them for safekeeping and what they took from the bunker

His desk is cluttered and always stacked with books and his laptop, as well as a few abandoned coffee mugs

A map hangs on the wall, pinned with places they want to visit and rugs are scattered across the floor

Cas also takes over the porch, lining the side of the house with a row of mismatched pots for plants, a bee hive, and a gardening table and storage

(Dean gets a woodworking table just off the front steps)

They convert a downstairs bedroom into a bar for Dean, which he decorates with mementos from their family all over America and a big sign converted into a light that bathes the room in warm light

There’s a Stanford flag Sam sent him from where he had gotten a job, the bar is covered in flags and stickers from other hunters that stopped by, and a pride flag Cas proudly presented him after they got home from their first pride parade. A pile of paintings Jack made at school in his art class sit on display in the corner, and behind them, the wall is covered in photos of all the hunters they could find.

The barstools are mismatched but lovingly curated, collected from yard sales and thrift stores

Dean loves spending time in there, stealing kisses from Cas and practicing making drinks in his free time off from his mechanic job

The kitchen has dingy white cabinets with blue countertops that clash perfectly with the yellow paint. Cas adores it. Dean insists on repainting everything, but Cas makes him keep the colour scheme. The stove and fridge are the same blue as the countertops, which Dean chooses while Cas is at work as a surprise. Cas adores them too.

Sam buys them a fancy coffee maker when he gets a promotion. They fight over how to work it (and end up kissing against the counter)

Jack paints them a five-piece painting to match the blues in the kitchen. They display it proudly and always show it off to their guests

They buy the comfiest sofas they can find, and Dean builds an end table to match. He finds an old trunk and turns it into a tv table. Jack helps them pick out a TV and video game system. He invites his friends over whenever he can and they all adore visiting.

They have a big brick fireplace that’s perfect to curl up in front of when their old injuries are acting up. They play board games on rainy days and roast s’mores with Jack.

The entryway has hooks for Cas’ trenchcoat and gardening hat, across from an old globe that Cas likes to spin around as he tells stories about the places he’s seen

They keep two old rocking chairs there, where Dean and Cas sit on the harder nights, holding hands and simply being

The downstairs bathroom, Dean and Cas agree, is the superior bathroom. With its big tub (large enough for two) and its cheerful yellow curtain, they are rather fond of spending time there together. They have a bath mat shaped like a flower.

The upstairs bathroom is a bit more cramped and less colorful, but works beautifully. They keep the bathrobes Eileen bought them up there. Cas’ is the same colour as his trenchcoat.

The upstairs hallway is a perfect reading nook, from its comfy armchairs to the pile of cushions Jack likes to do his homework curled up on. Dean finds the armchair Cas chose extraordinarily ugly, but he looked so happy at the sight of it that he doesn’t say anything.

Jack’s easel is next to the bookshelf in the hallway. He loves to paint at strange times of the day and night - strange, ethereal images inspired by his life

Jack’s bedroom is cheerful, full of haphazardly pinned posters of his interests and soft blankets for when he gets overwhelmed. He has a gigantic stuffed dragon he hugs and talks to, and when his friends playfully tease him, he only grins and says “sometimes you’ve got to be a kid, you know?”

He has a pink and black gaming chair and a fancy desk setup for gaming with his friends. His desk lamp has planets on it, and it sits opposite the microphone.

He keeps makeup and nail polish on his dresser. No one dares tease him.

They’re happy. They’re really, truly, happy.

[misstrashchan]

So just as a heads up, this is a continuation of this post about which of Smirke's 14 Fears from the Magnus Archives team RWBY+Pyrrha would be aligned with and @im-the-king-of-the-ocean asking my thoughts on Winter, Ozpin and Oscar (sorry it took so long to get back to this! I've had it sitting in my drafts for a while)

Winter: The Slaughter

Winter as an Avatar of the Slaughter is something I hadn't thought of but it actually fits insanely well. The Slaughter does often bring up the question of whether anger and violence is just senseless and mindless, or following orders followed by rationalisation; or if we're entirely conscious of the choices we're making, and which is worse, which is something that Winter's arc has been dealing with A LOT. In how she follows Ironwood's orders and has to rationalise his actions to justify her own and her "choices", like how she explains to Weiss how she accepts her role as the Winter Maiden being her destiny, though it was something Ironwood groomed her into and how she tries to explain to Penny why they have to internalise however they might feel about abandoning Mantle and trust Ironwood.

There's the element of anger which you bring up, and Winter's relationship with anger is interesting to me to think about, because she seems very much afraid in indulging that emotion, or any emotion, and because of the military industrial complex and her abusive controlling upbringing, leads to a lot of emotional suppression and refusal to think on those feelings or deal with them in any healthy way. Which of course leads to everything boiling over, and there's this. Rage, an passionate fury that's boiling inside her. But I wouldn't say it's something she thinks she needs or enjoys right now, quite the opposite. (the idea of being afraid of being hurt, of needing to have control of her situation and to throw back her hurt of the world fits more with Cinder than Winter in my mind, and I think Melanie's relationship with anger and needing it reminds me a lot more of Yang. It justified her need for it and fed into it, and Melanie liked that, she wanted it, but for Winter her anger is something she's ashamed of, something to be locked away)

But I actually do think with where her arc is headed that thinks she will come to indulge in that feeling more. The one time we see her have an angry outburst expressing her true feelings is at Jaques at his dinner party, and she scolds and shames herself for allowing herself to get angry, that it was childish and immature. To which Penny disagrees, saying she thought she was just speaking from the heart. But Winter believes that to precisely be the problem. She cannot allow herself to think, or feel just for herself,  because that terrifies her. So she only allows herself to follow orders. Again, similar to a lot of the Slaughter statement givers who were soldiers in wars of some kind and become numb to the atrocities they are made to commit, the sensless violence of it all, but her choice to accept her lack of agency and self worth still makes her complicit and is still a conscious decision on her part. This sort of meandered and I'm not sure if it made any sense but yes, I hadn't thought of it but the Slaughter actually fits Winter really well for a lot of reasons. And I think we will see her Go Feral in the near future, the thing she's most afraid of, showing how she really feels, and oh boi all that confusion, emotional repression, the lingering bitterness and jealousy towards Penny being the Winter Maiden, and projected feelings of thinking of leaving or betraying Ironwood she's been having and her conflicted feelings pushed onto Weiss, who betrayed and left first, just a whole over boiling pot that's a mess of emotions manifesting as Big Feral Winter Feelings. 

Ozpin:

The Eye, Ceaseless Watcher, Beholding/The Vast, the Falling Titan, Awful Deep

Ohohohoho Ozpin. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to TMA 151 imagining Ozpin as Simon Fairchild or vice versa. Simon's VA was told that his character had to give off the impression that he might offer you a plate of cookies or fling you off a cliff and when I heard that my mind immediately jumped to Ozpin back in v1. And Ozpin's VA said that if he didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders, he'd be a lot more chaotic and fun. And that's the thing with Ozpin though, is that he wants to be Simon Fairchild, so so badly. I think he wants people to see him as that kind of person too. But in reality, he's stuck being Jonathan Sims. (The Ceaseless Watcher's/God of Light's Special Little Boy assdkjhkk) Oz is 100% an Eye Avatar. Fair warning, like with Ruby and the End, I have a lot of Big Feelings with this one. 

I see where you're coming from, but the thing with being an Avatar of the Vast is being so overwhelmed by the expanse and eternity of everything that you just accept your own insignificance as well as everyone else's, hence why they rarely form attachments or work with others. It's a very nihilistic perspective that it's Avatars tend to be very hedonistic as a result, we're all insignificant, nothing matters, let's just do whatever we want and try to have a good time, who cares what happens. And I do think Oz is Vast aligned, since he encourages the people around him, and tries himself, to enjoy the little things and have fun when he can, since he knows Salem is unstoppable and everything could go to shit at any given moment. And yknow. Him enjoying flinging students off of cliffs during initiation a bit too much.

 But Ozpin cares so much about humanity. He desperately wants to believe, and tries to, in humanity, and tries for them. He's been fighting so hard for so long, and believes humanity is worth fighting for (even if he has trouble actually having faith and believing in them). Everything matters to him. He agonises over every choice he makes and impact that has, takes on so much responsibility on himself, is so guilt ridden that he admits to making "more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet" that he practically paralyses himself with indecision and guilt. He’s also someone who has been shown to be paranoid, (his reluctance to fully trust the people around him out of constant wariness that he may be betrayed) and afraid of being perceived for who he truly is and having his secrets exposed, which are all very Eye related fears. Ozpin’s very much in this position in which he is the one who knows everything, who passively watches and waits and knows, from up high in his tower. “Oh please, your god is nothing! The Eye, Beholding, Ceaseless Watcher, whatever you call it, that’s all it does, it watches and knows, sitting bulbous and comfortable in the ignorance of infinite knowledge.” (TMA 89) In the Lost Fable, he believed he needed to be the one to know everything (think to how he only trusted himself to hold onto the relic of knowledge, believing it to be “his burden to bear” and was desperate to take it back from Ruby) and as shown in his past lives, sought after Jinn’s knowledge in the belief that knowledge would help him in his cause, only for the ultimatum of the answer in “Salem can’t be killed” to break him and make him lose all hope of doing anything more than maintaining a perpetual stalemate. In the words of his speech in vol1, in which is a very good example of Ozpin desperately needing to practice what he preaches; 

 “I'll...keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge--to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step”  (RWBY 1x03) 

There’s also like. A lot of Eye statements, particularly those relating to Jonathan, that relate heavily to Ozpin and his character, including this one:

“And at last, the Archivist looks up. At last, he looks into the eye that sees all, and knows all, and clutches at the secret terrors of your heart. The Ceaseless Watcher of all that is, and all that was; the voracious, infinite hunger that tears at his soul, invoking him to discover, to observe, to experience all, and everything, and forever. It stares into him, and it stares out of him, and he is falling into the devouring eternity of its pupil. He wants to cry out in horror, but he cannot. 

He. Is. Whole. 

And still he does not wake. Wandering his slim collection of gifted nightmares, passing the grey and lifeless remains of severed dreams he can no longer watch, he waits- but not for long- before they can all begin again”

Like if that doesn’t describe Oz’s endless reincarnation and merging, becoming “whole”, and living all these lives is discovering, observing and “experiencing all and forever” then I don’t know what does. And then there’s the last statement we had before the s5 break, also an Eye one, revolving around the “Minister” which also gives off major Oz vibes:

God, the children. They won’t stop looking, won’t stop following him with their piteous, desperate gaze that speaks so loudly his knees feel like they will buckle. ‘Help us.’He will. Of course he will. He wants to. He hasn’t lied to them, he really hasn’t. He used to be one of them, he remembers what it can be like. He is there to speak for them. And if necessary, he will join them again. The minister grips his black leather briefcase closely to his chest, bile rising in his throat at the sudden jolt of fear that races through his veins. Where did that come from? Is he afraid of it, returning, of that sharp stab of hunger, the shivering of a cold you can’t escape? Or is he afraid that should it come to that, they will see him as a deceiver?” 

“On his side of the arena the shouts should be sharper, more angry, but their tone and pitch are such as to merge seamlessly with the others. There are no golden stakes on this side pinning down his would-be comrades. But the minister must be careful not to look too closely, or else he might see how many of his allies are fused to their own chairs, on which they have sat comfortable for so long"

"His eyes drift away, through the walls to the crowd outside. Their baying cries for justice cannot be heard in here. If any whisper should make it through, it is utterly destroyed in the deafening shouting that surrounds him. But he cannot forget their eyes, watching him, piercing him with their wounded humanity.” 

Another thing is that one of Ozpin’s allusions aside from the Wizard of Oz is Odin, and Raven and Qrow are meant to be his Huginn and Muninn, two Ravens that act as his “eyes” spying and gathering information for him. If you look at Raven and Qrow’s emblem, they have a left and right bird’s eye respectively, with Oz’s gear emblem inside the eye. In v4, Salem, upon hearing that Tyrian poisoned Qrow, says “the last eye is blinded” as in,the belief that with Raven having left Oz and Qrow now dying, Oz would have no more eyes to “see” with. You also have Jonah Magnus, whose corpse is missing his eyes, but is able to watch through the eyes of the Archive employees. That and the whole body hopping host thing is a little similar in concept (and Peter Lukas mentions near the end of s4 that if Elias died, Jonah would have chosen Jon as his new host which is just. Terrifying). There's a lot of other little things too, like Oz in the first three volumes is usually shown watching events like the iniitiation, the fight at the docks, and the vytal festival through his cameras in his office, a passive observer rather than someone who is actively involved. And Yang at the end of v6, when Oscar tells them about Oz saving him, says "so he's just been watching is that whole time?" The underlying tone suggesting that he could've come back at any tike but chose to watch them instead, through Oscar, and everyone looking at him like that's pretty weird or creepy (except Ruby tho, because she's Ruby)

I feel like I could go on, but this is probably waaaaay too long, so, in summary, Oz serves the Eye, is basically a perfect candidate for the Archivist, and is also Vast aligned, and in different circumstances would have totally been a great Vast Avatar. 

Oscar: The Spider, the Web, Mother of Puppets

Oscar. Was. HARD.

This lil shit is part of the reason it took so long to make this post. Because see, with other characters the most obvious indicators would be their semblances (which are often manifestations of coping mechanisms for their personal fears or trauma) or songs (which delve deeper into their characters), or have very specific fears that I can focus in on as to how that factors into their arc. But Oscar? He doesn't have a semblance. His whole THING is that he's scared. All the time. His song is called Fear for Pete's sake. Now, he is Oz's reincarnation, and Oscar does also share a fair few things in common with the Archivist and his character arc, (Elias's plan and the whole plot of the first four seasons was that he was trying to align Jon by having him touched by ALL the fears, aka, to fill Jon with fear of everything, so that he became a walking living record of fear) he persistently calls out people's BS and takes issue with people withholding information, also similar to Yang (who I firmly believe is Eye aligned). So like. Eye, right? But that just... doesn't properly fit Oscar. He's not Ozpin. The Stranger, then, becoming a stranger to yourself, perhaps? That is something Oscar's afraid of, right?

"Everything changes when you see a stranger, feel proud or betrayed" (Fear)

But Oscar is growing more confident in his own identity and figuring out who he is. He’s not becoming Oz, he's becoming his own person. And even if he was becoming Oz, Oz is hardly a Stranger to Oscar. The merge, from how it's described in the show, seems more similar to how the Distortion functioned, except Oscar and Oz don't fit into most of the Distortion's themes.

I was sort of uncertain, and I wanted to wait and see till I was more certain of where Oscar's arc was headed this volume, since he's being pushed to his limits and wanted to see how he acted and what choices he made. At the start, because of how he was regretting all the choices he'd made previously, and was telling Oz how badly he didn't want the merge to happen, I was speculating about the possibility of him being manipulated by Salem and Grimm!Oscar happening, which might fall him into the Corruption, but no.

Oscar is the Web.

It fits with his fear of being controlled, of his will not being his own, and like Jonathan, who was marked and scared for life by his encounter with the Web as a child, it is his greatest fear. Only, where Jon was so afraid of the Web he sought the Eye as his refuge, believing it would keep him safe, Oscar realises that can be used to his advantage. (Which actually makes him more like Anabella Cane, which is. Hilarious) He's trying to do what Salem does, focus in on people's weaknesses and fears and dig at them, manipulate and push them, divide them, only like, steering them into the opposite direction than Salem. He's trying to use the fact that people see him as Oz to his advantage and trying to manipulate their impression of him. He's just got this very sneaky, cunning and pragmatic streak in him that people overlook because he's also incredibly kind and just. Good. But those qualities very much scream "Web" to me the more I've dwelled on it.