#fug I love this so much

[feluka]

You and your little friends are going to be the main targets of the mass reporting and the FBI t*rrorism tip line. I hope you enjoy this blog while it lasts

what really bugs me about the omegaverse isn't the freaky sex dynamics, it's that if you're choosing an animal to model your freaky sex dynamics after, wolves are objectively the most boring choice. this website boasts about "cannibalism as a metaphor for love" and "the eroticism of the wound" but then in their wildest imagination the freakiest thing that can happen is getting stuck inside your partner for a little bit. YAWN. so much for the monsterfucking website! it's so mind boggling when insects are RIGHT THERE. there's your average "biting the male's head off during the act", "killing the male after being unimpressed with his displays of affection", but if i may make a suggestion, i think bed bugs have the freakiest mating model of them all.

while traumatic insemination, or wound fucking, exists among several invertebrates, for bed bugs it is the ONLY option. to love is to kill and to love is to die. their little tiny systems are not so neatly separated as ours. blood and lymph circulate together in a mixture called hemolymph. if you can get to their hemolymph, you're just about everywhere inside them. everywhere! talk about an all-consuming love! now i know what you're thinking. "this all sounds heteronormative". i have good news!

that's righr. bed bugs can yaoi. they're yaoing on your filthy bed right now, cucking you as we speak you piece of bitch. rejoice, fujoshis! i'd say your wildest dreams have come true but your wildest dreams are so fucking boring. unlike bed fugs.

inseminated male beg fucks show characteristic "mating scars". scientists have found no benefit to this practice. they have conjectured that an inseminated male might be able to carry another male's sperm to a female when mating, depositing both of their sperm in her (talk about a love triangle!) but in practice this has shown to be near impossible. they simply do this because they love it. the absolute freaks. and what do YOU bring to the table. you should be ashamed of yourself.

[plague-of-nice]

I wanna fucking cry

They gave him so much drip

[imustbenuts]

theres a few ??? thing going on in trigun stampede that's explicitly japanese/sino-ish in culture but im entirely not sure what to make of it. 3 things.

Knives' birthname being settled as Kni/Nai,

JuLai's emblem symbolism,

and the Buddha Thread??? thing in ep 11 10

Knives' birthname is Kni and hm! ...無い?

this is specifically a stampede thing. nightow didnt give him this Kni name in his work, so i can only chalk this up to the stampede staff's deliberate decision. if you render it into japanese, it'd be Nai, and the immediate word i can think of is... 無い. meaning, Nothing, or Without.

it fits rather well considering stampede has officially placed an emphasis on his obsessive love towards his brother on his bio on their official site:

my TL:

Vash's twin brother. Possesses a cold and merciless personality. Filled with a hatred for humans, he masterminds an organization with a plan to massacre the entire human species. With abilities beyond human understanding, he has the power to destroy entire planets. He greatly loves his only younger twin brother, Vash to an obsessive degree.

interestingly, the word used for the obsessive love here specifically is 執着 shuuchaku, which has roots/association with the word Abhinivesha. from what i understand it is a mental state, a fear of death, and a desperation to cling onto life so much one becomes ignorant and causes their own suffering. and ignorance is another big core of what makes Knives' character tick.

so i feel like this has some pointers towards Knives, or even child Kni being nothing without his younger brother. (or it could just be a simpler play on the word naive lmao)

meanwhile for Vash there's not really anything japanese that jumps out at me, but some have pointed out his name sounds like the french word Vashe, used for female cattle. extremely passive and born for consumption and theres a lot to dissect in that direction but im not going there! his name is Knife and his brother is a cattle there's catholicism may your brain go brr.

theres more to the nothingness concept in buddhism that doesnt put it squarely in a negative category but lets talk about buddhism later. next:

JuLai's emblem

stared at this for a few seconds and yelled fuck me. this represents the twins, AND its the broken yin yang symbol:

:). hey look at that female thing popping up again--

Knives is evidently the light Yang, and Vash is the dark Yin. ngl this daoist thing is somewhat sexist but lets brush that over 2 thousand year old aspect aside for this post. for stampede's case we can clearly see what theming is going on especially for those in the know of the original work.

Knives is hella assertive to the point of echoing fascist eugenics nonsense, and Vash has that nurturing instinct that seems to pop in whenever there's a human child or people who needs help.

interestingly the planet No Man's Land has too much fugging sun and is too hostile for human life. to survive people have to live in the shade and turn to plants for counters to the harsh, hot celestial sun. so here if Knives is being the sun, hes also being hostile to human life, and meanwhile the feminine looking plants and Vash's personality plus actions are the only thing giving these people at chance at life. (also vash has the power of Dark Matter or something)

obviously, just like JuLai's broken symbol, the balance is completely and utterly out of whack. in daoism a broken balance is thought to cause a lot of suffering. in the finale, Vash doesnt have a single speck of white on him, and Knives doesn't have a single speck of black. this means there isn't a balance and they cant come to an agreement at all.

im gonna also point out here that vash's idea of co-existence even if accepted wouldnt be a permanent solution due to the dependents having limited lifespan. so through this lens, stampede seems to be saying that neither twin's ideas are really effective long term solution, tho Knives is completely unacceptable due to obvious genocidal reasons.

Buddha Thread

studio orange whaaat are you guys cooking over there... ok so. in ep 11, Knives drops Vash into the uhhh The Hell Pool, and Vash tries to get out of it with his wire and hangs for a bit. then we get a scene like this:

Knives proceeds to cut Vash's thread and he drops into The Hell Pool. and then the metaphorical SA scene happens.

i call it Buddha Thread but this can also be known as The Spider's Thread. there exists a story of The Spider's Thread that's very Japanese-Buddhist and well known over there.

the gist of this story is that Buddha lowers a single spider thread to a sinner in the deepest hell as a lifeline to get out, bc this heavy sinner had done a singular good deed of saving a spider he was about to crush with his foot. however, the thread is broken as a result of the sinner's selfishness yelling for the other sinners below him to let go, claiming this thread was his and his alone. the sinner having climbed halfway upwards the thread after great effort plunges back into the pits of hell. buddha having watched all of this reacts with sadness, and the days in paradise carry on as per usual.

and. digest that for a second. and then refer back to Knives and The Fall and this scene that plays later, when Vash's mind wipe begins proper:

fuck. me. knives is framed as a self proclaimed god in the loudest ways on multiple levels.

while these 3 aspect i just broke down explaining do not exist at least overtly in the original trigun, i thought it would be interesting to chew on in light of the overwhelming catholicism existing in the story.

there's some themes im also picking up from the original trigun that might be rooted in either buddhsim or japanese culture such as: the undeniable truth that yearning and hunger is part of the human living experience and to deny it is to deny living. but im not sure what to make of it bc A) not explicitly framed or explored as a buddhsim/japanese idea thing and B) catholicsm obv is the overwhelming theme of the entire work

idk what the heck studio orange is cooking exactly but. hm.

[star-dust-shark]

PJO characters as dumb things me and my friends ( bonus one with my parents ) have said part two

Will: what's your type?

Nico: you

Will:

Will: that's sweet but I meant blood type

-

Percy: oh fuck I'm blue now

Percy: but like actually blue

Percy: like a smurf

Percy: being sad's for idiots lmao

-

Leo: everyone hates me lol

Jason: what am I??? like???

-

Nico: and Axl Rose's real name wasn't Axl Rose

Percy: *crying* STOP

-

Will: easiest way to come out to people is tell them that you listen to coldplay

-

Nico: Im gonna fugging krill myself

Annabeth: krill????

Nico: isn't that like a fish or smth

-

Piper: *knocking on Leo's door* WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE

Leo: uh shit uh erm uh

Leo: *moans loudly*

-

Will: *joking* we should makeout

Nico: I really wanna

Will: what

Nico: ...

Nico: did I say that out loud

-

Piper: *sobbing* why are penises so ugly

-

Annabeth: math is weirdly calming to me sometimes ngl

Annabeth: *flips page over to read massive paragraphs of words*

Annabeth: *bursts into tears*

-

Will: I just had to help hatch a baby chick

Will:

Will: I'm waiting for applause it was so gross

-

Will: if you drink the water I'll give you a forehead smooch

Nico: *glances at water, thinking*

Nico: nah you wanna give me one anyway

Will: gods dammit

-

Rachel: *GASP* MY SKETCHBOOK

Rachel: MY BABY

Rachel: *kisses it*

-

Hazel: ugh I want someone to fuck me

Hazel: hahah jk that shit's nasty

-

Piper: yeah I've noticed after watching you for a bit that you smile whenever Nico messages

Will: aww that's so swee-

Will: wait why are you watching me

Piper: *stares into his soul*

-

Nico: I miss you

Nico: *replies an hour later* that was a moment of weakness fuck you

-

Will: what if I say "darling" in a seductive voice

Nico: no

Will: u sure?

Nico: I ahdiamdveip dnsjhbksahcblaiwcbjsd-

-

Will: like at first I wanted to be you but then I realized that there's a diffrence between wanting to "be you" and wanting to "be on you"

-

Percy: I'm depressed

Percy: ...

Percy: WAIT I HAVE COOKIES NVM

-

Will: wtf are hickeys??

Will: I'm an experimental learner btw

-

Leo: omg guys look the guitar strings made my finger darker

Leo: *looks at finger* do you like watermelon, sir?

Will: you are so close to being hit in the head

-

Frank: *points* haha you've been fingered

Hazel:

Hazel: love... no

-

Thalia: OMG IM GONNA BE BREATHING THE SAME AIR AS RYAN GULDEMOND

Reyna: technically you already are

Thalia: *passes out*

-

Octavian: ugh I'm so single

Nico: *sighs* me too

Nico:

Nico: WAIT I CANT SAY THAT ANYMORE

Nico: FUCK YEEEEEEEEAH *smashes table*

-

Annabeth: what's ur favourite animal I'm gonna buy you something

Percy: shark but don't waste your money

Annabeth: but my parents told me to spend it on something important

Percy:

Percy: *cries*

-

Will: I'm autism!!

Will: *turns to Nico, wiggle eyebrows* I could be in you

Nico: tism rizz????

-

Frank: I love these drama videos

Reyna: *massive bags under her eyes* why do you want more drama wtf

-

Jason: honestly scared to sit on the edges of chairs at my trans boyfriend's house

-

Percy: *over text* jason are you gay for me

Jason:

Jason:

Jason:

Jason: no gtg

Percy: he's hiding something

-

Piper: don't mean to be heterophobic but why is straight porn so gross

Nico: agreed gay porn is much better

Piper: IM SORRY WHAT

-

Percy: are there any not cool lesbians

Reyna: I mean they probably exsist

Annabeth: no

-

Leo: *sighs sadly* cock and ball torture

-

Will: guys I learnt how to play my favourite song on guitar *starts playing good lookin by dixon dallas*

-

Leo: *playing adopt me*

Leo: chat chat guess what I'm on acid

Percy: KARMA'S A BITCH

Percy: I SHOULDA KNOWN BETTER

Leo: wait since when do you play adopt me

Percy:

-

Reyna: yk those yummy smelling shampoos

Nico: yea

Reyna: well I went to walmart and thought I found some and started smelling it but this lady was giving me weird looks

Nico: oh?

Reyna: yeah

Reyna: so uh

Reyna: it was lube

-

Will: hey bbg *winks*

Nico: I will slam you down and makeout with you right now

-

Percy: hi

Jason: hi

*leaves swirl around them*

-

Leo: don't mind me just massaging my clit

-

Leo: NICO GET UR GYAT OVER HERE

Nico: WHAT????

Leo: *points* HOMOSEXUAL TENDANCIES

Nico: WHAT DID U SAY

Leo: HOMOSEXUAL TENDANCIES

Nico: OH

Nico: I HEARD SEXUAL TENDANCIES

-

Leo: *singing* coked up dick sucking hoe?

Jason: *walks in*

Jason:

Leo: oh haiiii

-

Leo: how does it feel to be Draco Malfoy

Jason: idk how does it feel to be tweek

Leo: idk pretty good

-

Reyna: you don't deserve it

Percy: yeah I do

Percy: I've been a good boy

Percy:

Percy: jesus I just turned myself on wtf

-

Leo: *in sad voice* I'm a cheeseburger

Jason: a sexy little cheeseburger

-

Will: *gets text from Nico*

Annabeth: SIMP

Will: ???

Annabeth: YOU SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPP *has siezure*

-

Will: darling

Nico: *throws phone, screams into pillow, face red* I hate that man

anyway part three will cum ( pun intended )

thanks to @crowwolf8 @justagremlinoncaffeine @localcosplaymushroom @secret-mewtwo and my om and dad for being inspiring an shit

[ylge]

Some scribbles of my KhunBam Witch Hat Atelier AU

And some rambles below

Khun and Bam are witch husbands who run a small atelier together

Thinking about Ran as one of their disciplines. He ran from Khun mansion and took shelter in his brother's atelier before becoming his student. Then there's Miseng, the youngest student. Bam brought her with him one day. Maybe I should add Verdi and Prince too,,

What if FUG is the brimhats,,,,, Bam was (almost) one of the brimhats before Jinsung told him to run away and find 'the Khun boy who you dreamed to build an atelier together'.

Khun and Bam met each other when they took the second witch test.

Bam was taught under Jinsung, a witch that secretly connected with FUG. He was ordered to taught and 'shape' Bam to be their savior.

FUG is still looking for Bam to this day when he's living a peaceful life with his husband.

He was named Viole by them. But now lives by 'Bam', a nickname Khun gave him (sorry Rachel) because he wears a dark blue-black cloak with golden glitter that looked like the night sky

Aguero was taught under the Khun family assembly/coven. Bored and unfitting to live among his many siblings, he ran away (according to his story to his students) and started to do his study by himself. But how could he take the witch tests without being anyone's disciple? Well, he had his way.

But anyway, other than teaching, Khun also do a research of magic items now. He's quite busy, so it's Bam who usually teaches their students by himself.

They are both strict, but Khun is much stricter and cruel (according to Prince). But their students love their teachers. Khun taught them a lot about interesting magic tricks and Bam's cooking is amazing. And he's strong too! (according to Miseng).

Maybe the Zahard Princesses are the members of Magic Security Council...

Oh right, one thing about Jinsung. He has a glyph tattooed to his arm (a sign that he's connected to FUG) that he hides by putting a bandage. No one, even the Magic Security Council knows about it. After running away, Bam never knows about Jinsung's whereabouts.

And by 'husbands', Khun and Bam actually never got married in traditional way. They just vowed to be together and 'seal' it in a pair of rings have half of a whole glyphs on it (like Olruggio's link rings). When put together, it form a beautiful magic that reminds them of their love and dreams (according to Bam's story to their students, Miseng is so invested in her teachers' love story)

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

Draco had just tipped the dregs of the punchbowl into Harry's champagne saucer to refresh him as they flowed out of Glimmerald Hall into the cobbled street of Diagon Alley on the heels of a scrum of laughing, shouting, dancing Weasleys. Ron and Hermione were setting off on their honeymoon, and there were bon voyage fireworks sending pink and gold stars across the cold November sky, but Draco's eyes were fixed on Harry. He was looking extraordinarily pretty in his dress robes, and it made Draco want to do things for him.

Harry's soft black curls were slipping out of their topknot, his eyes were bright, and the pink of the fireworks was reflected on his brown skin. He'd been smiling so hugely all day that Draco reckoned it was a wonder he hadn't given himself a headache. He looked otherworldly, and so beautiful and happy that it made Draco's stomach hurt.

Draco reached for Harry's hand, rested his head on Harry's broad, solid shoulder. Harry squeezed Draco's fingers, and it seemed almost like a secret message. Like an invitation. So it was only natural that Draco couldn't help himself.

"This is gorgeous," Draco's voice came out a hungry murmur, swathed in the fug of his hot breath on the cold night air.

Harry grinned at him, bounced an eyebrow, "Yeah, isn't it."

"I want this with you," Draco pressed Harry's hand. "I want this for us. I want to bottle this up and pour it in my bathwater every Sunday night."

Harry laughed, "You're drunk."

"I'm in love with you," Draco persisted. "I love you, and I want to do something beautiful about it."

"Something beautiful?" Harry looked up at the dazzling sky. "Haven't we already done that?"

Draco wet his lips, "Let's do it again."

Harry laughed again, "Sure, in the tub every Sunday night, yeah?"

"Forget the bit about the bathwater. I only mean. I want to make you an evening this lovely, with all our friends about. If. If you'd like it. If you want it."

"Well," Harry leaned into him. "When you say it like that, how could I not want it?"

___________________________________

Excerpt from my brand new fic, If the Fates Allow. I must admit I love this fic! I do quite a few things that are new to me in it, and I had such fun doing them. I hope you will all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 10.6K, rated E. Get the rest of the story on AO3!

[hellfireloserclub]

Better late than never. I got at least one in for the holiday season!

Day 31 of @steddieholidaydrabbles new-year/resolution

Rating: T warnings: fluff, post traumatic stress, apocalypse I guess?

Doomsday clock

“New year, new me.” Steve grimaced as the clock clicked closer to midnight. As far as he was concerned this party should have been over hours ago, more of a wake for the traumatic year that was 86 than a new year celebration- hold on no they were seeing out 87 now weren't they -The apocalypse really threw off the concept of time.

It wasn't even like he could drink in the new year like the others.

Both him and Eddie were stone cold sober, thanks Vecna, as if destroying their lives hadn't been bad enough. He had to go and take away the comfort of alcohol to numb the trauma. But hey he had some awesome scars, that totally made up for it, right?

The rest of the party were enjoying the party. But he saw it behind their eyes, the childhood that had been taken away, the lost time, the lost chances.

He had slipped away so Robin could finally shoot her shot with Nancy.

He knew it should feel something, regret? Lost opportunity? But he felt nothing. Just empty. His best friend deserved the world, she didn't have to get dragged into this disassociated state with him.

Let her find love.

He had felt Eddie's eyes on him as he excused himself from Joyce's front room, desperately in need of nicotine and to shake himself out of the depressing fug he had dragged himself into.

It didn't surprise him when Eddie followed.

They stood in silence leaning against the railing,watching through the glass as the others passed around drinks, laughed, and smiled as the alcohol did what it was supposed to. Even the kids had been allowed drinks under supervision.

What did it matter, Hawkins was a lawless town. Erased from maps and atlas, a mystery that would disappear in a few years never to be spoken of again.

It didn't exist.

But they did.

The ones who survived. The damned. The cursed and forgotten.

He hadn't meant to utter his words into the silence between him and Eddie, but it had happened anyway.

“New year, new you?” Eddie always made sure that Steve could see his lips when he spoke, not hiding behind the lengths of hair that had slowly begun to grow back to the lengths that Steve had grown to envy, back before.

Before the end of everything. Before and After. Everything divided straight down a burning red angry line that had ripped the world apart.

Eddie watched as Steve stubbed out his cigarette before turning his attention back fully to Steve's face. Steve's eyes traced the scar that ran across the other man's chin, it was quiet enough outside in the frosty air for him not to need to look at Eddie's mouth as he talked to follow the words. But addiction is a cruel mistress.

And, ever since Eddie army crawled back from Hell itself, Steve had been just that. Addicted.

Eddie had buried under his skin and become as much a part of his life as breathing.

Obviously, Steve hadn't told him that.

Couldn't bring himself to burden the man with the shallow empty shell of what he used to be. Scared, broken, deaf and all the other fun stuff that came with being the human shield, one concussion away from the bitter end. Human chew toy, a disfigured jumpy twitchy mess.

“Yeah, new-year resolutions, traditional shit. New year, new me” Eddie stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray between them. Still watching Steve, as Steve watched him.

“Shame. I like, this you.” Eddie shrugged, hovering just outside of Steve’s personal bubble. Even now unsure if he should or would be let into Steve’s space. “What if you have a personality transplant and you turn back into a douchebag jock? That would never do. I have standards sweetheart. I could never…”

“You could never, what?” Steve watched as Eddie chewed on his bottom lip, his face schooled into the picture of innocence. Without the sound cues Steve was lost to read his expression, but there was something akin to mischief in the other man's eyes.

“It’s not midnight yet, my new year's resolution might change in the-” he glanced at the clock through the large glass doors. “-next seven minutes. You know me Stevie, I’m unpredictable, I zig when I should zag. Plus a New You might severely derail my immediate future plans."

Many things had changed in the After. Eddie was different, less opinionated, no need to fight for the attention of his peers, here in the ashes of a failed civilization, everyone was created equal. Yet sometimes he still spoke like he was leading a campaign or like his words needed to be deciphered with a cryptograph or a cypher. Used as a shield and a way to deflect. He talked in riddles, and tonight the topic of his enigmatic words was evidently Steve himself.

“When have you ever done anything because of me? Mr free will.” Steve found himself stepping forward, letting Eddie into his safe space. The other man seemed to be gearing up to something. So Steve waited.

Eddie tapped his lips in thought and Steve let the movement draw him in.

“Well let's start with a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away when I decided to not stab a bottle through your vocal cords. Kind of a turning point in my life that has sent me hurtling down a path towards this new years resolution if I’m honest.” Eddie stepped closer, it was getting harder for Steve to focus on his lips now, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The way Eddie was looking at him now was almost animalistic, and Steve had never felt more like prey.

“I mean I chose to follow you out here at- “ he checked the clock again, “- five minutes to midnight and freeze my ass off- a commodity I have little to spare in the first place- to maybe, just maybe be in the right place at the right time for once. Each choice has brought me here. To you. So yeah, I’d say a lot of you, influences a lot of me. Especially your new year's resolution, if it means you’re going to go changing- ” he gestured wildly in Steve’s direction. “-Any of this.”

“Is that so?” Steve looked into the kitchen, his chosen family milling as they jostled to have a drink in their hand as the clock struck twelve. “So I have two minutes to change the world? Talk about a doomsday clock.”

“This isn’t about the world. It’s just about you and me. No doomsday clock needed.” Eddie stepped closer. “Just maybe a new watch battery, so I don’t run late for the date I was gearing up to ask you on. But you know that was the old Steve. Like I said, new Steve might be a douchebag.”

Eddie was stupidly close now.

“How about this?” Steve nudged Eddie's nose with his own, “I ask you out now? And neither of us make resolutions? They're kind of stupid anyway.”

Eddie's eyes studied his own. His pupils danced as he tried to focus on Steve who instinctively lent in.

“Hate to rush you Eds, but you have about thirty sec-” Eddie bit the end of his nose, causing Steve to jump back in shock.

“Don't you doomsday clock me Harrington.” Eddie warned a damn right dangerous look in his eye. Goddammit that shouldn’t do things to him but a blatant want was bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

“Twenty seconds.”

“I think I can just fit you into my busy schedule.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck resolutions then.”

[strawbrygashez]

Isaiah and a few Larsaiah headcanons :3 these r subject to change or whatever tho cuz the show is still going \(O_o)/

————————————————————————

Isaiah

•His parents are absent in every sense of the word. They don’t care about his health (his dental health for example), his mental health, his emotions, or anything. They rarely talk to him and he doesn’t go out of his way much to talk much to them either.

Not only do they don’t care about him, they don’t care enough to clean up the house and never really have so he’s just used to walking around and living in filth. He got so used to it he completely forgot it’s not really normal until Lars & Fug came over and didn’t wanna walk around barefoot.

•He’s a bit of a gamer! His absolute favorites are the Postal series, Hatred, Doom, and silent hill. He’s up to try any kinda horror/violent video game.

•His taste in movies is similar to his taste in games. Whatever seems ‘edgy’, he’ll give a try. He likes weird and disturbing generally unheard of movies but he’s also a sucker for the classic slashers like Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Freddy.

•Self h*rms and smokes every now and then. Steals a few of his mom or dads cigarettes since they never notice.

•Definitely is part of the t/c/c. I feel like it’s obvious what kinda cases he’s most interested in. He can talk about the cases he’s interested in for hours and likes learning all he can about them.

•Can get pretty smelly because his depression can make it hard for him to take care of himself at all. plus his parents don’t care enough to tell him to take better care of himself.

•He cries pretty often when he’s alone at home.. because he’s insanely lonely, gets trapped in his thoughts, and doesn’t get why he can’t get closer to Lars. He cries at school too but only in private.

When he’s crying at home, it’s not uncommon for his cat to find its way over to him to cuddle up :,) sometimes it really helps, sometimes it doesn’t.

•Speaking of his cat, I feel like he puts more care into them than himself. He’s not the best at yknow.. making the living spaces comfortable or clean but he tries. It might just take him a while to get around to it because he’s always so wrapped up in his own thoughts and negative feelings, he kinda forgets what’s going around him or what he needs to do.

•When he’s not writing out his feelings in his journals, he’s drawing whatever comes to mind. Which mostly ends up being logos of bands he likes, ships he has (Caldre for example), and just edgy things in general.

•He considers the day he found a trench coat (the one he wears now) at a thrift store, the second best day of his life. First is still Lars coming over to his house.

Larsaiah

•Isaiah loves showing Lars the usual t/c/c movies like Zero Day during sleepovers. Though he wishes Lars seemed more interested in the dynamics of the main relationships in those type of movies. Like hes wishing and praying Lars will say something about how Cal and Andres whole thing was so romantic but he’s just going on about how he thinks it’s cool it’s filmed like found footage 🤦‍♀️ He does think the movie was interesting and all but he won’t really ‘get it’ in the way Isaiah hopes him to.

•Isaiah can talk a mile a minute especially when he’s nervous or he’s worried he’s being awkward but Lars is always there to listen and doesn’t generally mind. He’ll only stop him when he can tell he’s getting way too worked up.

Aware of it or not, Lars is really good at keeping Isaiah grounded. Like when Isaiah is threatening to hurt people, Lars just has to say something like “.. uhm. But we couldn’t really see each other anymore if you did that.” and that will usually make him stop and think 💀 Isaiah realized pretty quickly after they got together, that he would rather have Lars be with him than getting his ‘revenge’ (not saying the feelings aren’t still there. But ultimately he cares about Lars more than anything else and is terrified of losing him.)

•Before they got together, he followed Lars home a few times. Sometimes he got caught but Lars didn’t make a big deal out of it. He just asks him if he’s heading to a certain store in the same direction or whatever and Isaiah quickly tells him yeah before sneaking off once Lars turns back around.

•Pre-getting together, Isaiah would write lots and LOTS of love notes and poems for Lars but would never give them to him. He always thought they weren’t good enough or Lars would think he’s even more of a weirdo for them. He knew Lars could never feel the same way he does so he’d just crumble them all up and toss them. (Wouldn’t it be sweet tho if Lars found a old crumbled up one about him one day while visiting and genuinely thinks it’s sweet :) even if maybe it’s a little creepy lol)

•Fug would be upset in the beginning when he finds out they are together because he knows that means less time for him and Lars to hang out but he’d eventually somehow learn to be happy for his friend & that Lars is still his best friend lol.

When Moe learns they are together, he clarifies he’s not homophobic before he begins to ‘roast them’ both like usual

[dre1mp1r1site]

⍜⋔☌ ⍜⋔☌ ⍜⋔☌ ⟟⌇ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⎎⍜⌰⌰⊬ ⍜⋔☌ ⍜⋔☌ ⟟ ⎎⎍☌☌⟟⋏☌ ⌰⍜⎐⟒ ⊬⍜⎍ ⌇⍜ ⋔⎍☊⊑ ⍜⋔☌ ⍜⋔☌ ⍜⋔☌ ⊬⍜⎍⍀⟒ ⋔⊬ ⎎⏃⎐⍜⍀⟟⏁⟒ ⋏⌿☊ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⊑⍜⌰⊬ ⋔⍜⌰⟒⊬ ⊬⍜⎍⍀⟒ ⎎⍜⌰⌰⊬ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⊑⍜⌰⊬ ☌⎍⏃☊⏃⋔⍜⌰⟒

"I'm afraid i do not understand your language."

Ooc: Translation: "Omg omg omg is that folly omg omg i fugging love you so much omg omg omg youre my favorite npc like holy moley youre folly like holy guacamole" < i dunno if thats actually correct....

[deiaiko]

#20.7 Reason

The day passed by slowly for Agni. Grace had left to show Bam around the ship, and Agni had already become bored after playing three rounds of a racing game with Gyetang. He excused to feed Velt and let her out of the lighthouse bowl, leaving Gyetang to play on his own. Then he went off to read.

Grace and Bam came back about an hour later, and they decided to make dessert together to pass the time. Agni couldn't help but watch them enjoy themselves; it was a nice view in contrast to what Agni had with his younger self. At least Grace was in a far better mood than he was an hour ago, so Agni was glad for him.

His thoughts stopped when Grace locked eyes with him. Grace smiled upon noticing his stare, which Agni returned after restarting his brain. A few moments later, Grace walked up to him, delivering a cup of chamomile tea and leaving a lingering touch on his shoulder before going back to the kitchen.

Agni took a sip to hide his blush. The sweet aroma and warmth soothed him, and the sweet taste with a hint of mint was pleasant on his mouth. After letting out some steam when playing games, relaxing when solving riddle books, and keeping his mind from wandering to unnecessary places, he realized that he was also feeling much better himself.

He stole glances now and then to the Grace brothers who were still in the kitchen across, now seemingly getting bothered by Velt. He felt a smile tugging on his lips from watching their antics. It was such an unusual yet nice view. To think of how much Grace had grown, to see the stark differences and the similarities with Bam, and to be the lucky person that Grace fell in love with… Agni quickly looked away when Grace met his eyes again, somehow feeling embarrassed at such a cheesy thought. He summoned his lighthouse and began working to keep his brain occupied.

Dan and Novick announced their return some time later, joining Grace and Bam in the kitchen to put groceries away. Agni focused his hearing to make out what they were saying.

"Hello! Are you Viole? Gyetang told us you're visiting." Dan extended his hand to Bam. "My name's Dan, and this is Novick. We've heard a thing or two about you."

Agni tuned out their conversation when the electric eels that Dan had brought along finally made themselves visible, hovering near Agni to demand attention and seek for food. So Agni got up and refilled their pellet bowl, then went to sit in the cafeteria to listen better to the conversation happening in the kitchen.

"So…other than Hyung and Mr. Agni, none of you are FUG?"

"Nope," Dan replied.

"And you're okay with it?"

'Living together with FUG members.' Agni supplied Bam's unspoken sentence in his mind.

"It was a shocking revelation when they told us," Novick commented. "Because Agni is clearly from the Khun family and Grace didn't seem like a guy who would join a criminal organization."

"Yes. Exactly." Dan emphasized the syllables to make his point. "Though they told us that they joined FUG so they could keep an eye on someone named Bam."

"Not 'keeping an eye', Dan. You make it sound like I'm keeping him on a leash." Grace immediately refuted. "I'm here to look out for him, to keep him company. And by the way, this is Bam."

"Huh." Agni imagined the gear on Dan's brain halted for a second before resuming. "Wait…so Viole and Bam are the same person?"

Right. Dan, Novick and Gyetang had heard the name Viole from Hwaryun or Jinsung when they came for a visit, and the team probably had known that Viole was FUG's newest slayer candidate. However, the name Bam was only used by him and Grace, and they never really talk much about him in public.

"Yes. Viole is the name that FUG gave him, while Bam is his name before that."

"Oh, then…should we…?"

"Viole is fine," Bam assured. "I don't mind either way."

It piqued Agni's interest, so he looked their way and saw Grace giving Bam a slightly surprised glance, but giving no further question.

Then they agreed to call him Viole, since they were already used to hearing that name.

"Wait!!" Dan flicked his fingers and pointed a finger gun to Grace, "It makes so much more sense now! So I assume Viole got kidnapped by FUG. If you can't get him out, then you're the one who went in, so that you can look out for your brother."

'They really do look like brothers now, don’t they?' Agni smiled at the thought. He wondered if Khun would one day consider him as one, too.

"Really, Hyung?" Bam gave Grace his puppy eyes.

"You didn't choose to be part of FUG. They gave you no choice." Grace patted Bam's back and squatted to check on the oven. "The least I can do is make it bearable."

Bam only stood there. "Why?" 

'Why are you doing this?' Was what Agni thought Bam wanted to ask.

"Why not?" Grace unlocked the oven and the delicious aroma of garlic bread filled the room. "I was you, once upon a time. You reminded me of myself, of the things that I've lost. All my regrets, it feels like I can fix them this time by helping you. So if you can live better than I have, it will make me feel more at ease."

Agni sipped his tea, finding the idea amusing. For him, he'd be more at ease knowing that their team had a better chance of survival, which also aligned with Grace's goal of keeping everyone alive. But in order to do that, they'd have to get through hellish training, and it had to be done if they wanted things to turn out differently. Which, in Agni's opinion, didn't count as living better. But Grace's definition of living better was different from his, knowing how much Grace treasured his friends. Working and training hard, coming back bruised black and blue and bloodied, sometimes close to passing out, was a small price to pay for him.

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[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading update: DECEMBER 2023

what's up gamers!!!! 2023 is over, and before I can make a post reflecting on every book I read I need to talk specifically about what I was reading in December. I was lucky enough to end the year coming out of a pretty dire depressive fug, and I celebrated by going buckwild reading as much as possible and placing so many holds at the local library that I will, probably, come to regret any day now. such is the price of being in love with life again, I guess!

let's talk about it!!!

what I read:

Buffalo is the New Buffalo (Chelsea Vowel, 2022) - a collection of Métis speculative fiction short stories. Vowel's stories didn't always quite land for me, feeling as if they would benefit from another round or two of revisions and a bit of elaboration, but even when they fell a little flat the concepts were promising. I especially adored the story "Michif Man," in which a mid-twentieth century Métis man is gored by a radioactive buffalo and develops strange powers that he uses to defend his community, told through the fascinating framing device of a 21st century scholar's speech making a case for Michif Man's existence. I also really liked the closing story, "Unsettled," which felt like really cool old school sci-fi: five clashing characters alone burdened with the responsibility of tending to the rest of humanity frozen in stasis, with each character serving as a mouthpiece for a vastly different perspective and set of values about their Indigenous identity. hit or miss collection for me, but the hits hit much harder than the misses missed.

The Bandit Queens (Parini Schroff, 2023) - this book was genuinely so so hard to put down!!! the story follows a group of women in a small Indian village as they decide to start solving problems by murdering their husbands, turning to Geeta - whose widely believed to have killed her own husband years ago - for advice. the only problem is that Geeta didn't kill him, he just walked out on her. and now she's caught in a RAPIDLY tangling web of murder, blackmail, and hidden motives among women she's never let herself get close to. it's a dark comedy, to be sure, but also surprisingly heartfelt, exploring the countless factors - gender, class, caste, religion, motherhood, beauty - that keep Geeta and the other women apart as well as the forces powerful enough to pull them together. it's a book about the power of friendship and also the power of going ape shit.

Small Game (Blair Braverman, 2022) - a VERY different book from Bandit Queens on every level, but equally hard to put down! Braverman is something of a professional wilderness survivor, and decided to write a story about a similarly experienced young woman, Mara, signing up for a survival-themed reality show where everything goes wrong. one day the camera crew simply fails to show up, and everything shifts when the contestants are forced to shift from surviving for show to actually fighting for their lives. a book that's gross and tender in equal amounts; Braverman is a very good storyteller and I'm strongly looking forward to anything else she puts out.

Are You My Mother? (Alison Bechdel, 2012) - a gorgeously drawn and terrifyingly vulnerable graphic memoir. a spectacularly brave endeavor; while I would never discount the tremendous artistry of Bechdel's more well-known Fun Home, I cannot imagine the terror of writing something like this about my mother when she's still alive to read it. absolutely ruinous if you yourself have any remotely complicated feelings about your mother, I will tell you that much!!!!

The Heart Principle (Helen Hoang, 2021) - Helen Hoang is so good that I didn't even count this as my romance novel of the month; this was just a book that I sincerely wanted to read. apparently quite a few reviewers on goodreads whined about how this shouldn't qualify as a romance novel because it's too sad, to which I say those people are fucking wieners. Heart Principle gets heavy, sure, with protagonist Anna navigating the sudden illness and death of her elderly father, but at the same time she's finding happiness and new ways to be herself and having the best sex of her life with resident hottie Quan, who's been a gem of a supporting character in this series since Kiss Quotient. it gets sad as hell, for sure, but it's also a mature, touching, and sexy story of two people developing a bond that encourages them both to embrace life and grow together. also, hi, Anna finding out she's autistic is SUCH a source of joy and eventual self confidence for her and it's SO nice to read.

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (ed. Jordan Peele, 2023) - listen. it's a very good short story collection, filled to the bursting with some of the best writers in the game. there are very few stinkers in the bunch, which is really impressive for a collection with so many stories. but. it very seldom felt properly... scary? spooky, creepy, mysterious, supernatural, sure. but I want to be scared!!!! fuck me up!!! Us got under my skin and scared me in a way that I still think about years later, and I was expecting something similar from an anthology edited by Jordan Peele. so on that note I would actually really strongly recommend this is you like being a little spooked but not terrified!

Kiss Her Once for Me (Alison Cochrun, 2022) - this one was the romance novel of the month, voted on by my patrons, and incidentally my patrons should go to prison. listen. this book sucks shit. god, this protagonist sucks. I know the point of this kind of story is for characters to start in a place where they're flawed and you want to see them improve as people, but Ellie is just so endlessly whiny that I don't want to see her improve, I want her to shut the fuck up and stop using her anxiety as an excuse to be wildly unpleasant to everyone else. the chemistry between the main characters was what I call the "because I said so" variety, by which I mean there was no chemistry despite the narrative insisting repeatedly that there definitely was. (incidentally, Ellie had way better chemistry with the man she was fake engaged to, meaning I was actually really rooting for the hetero option for once.) also Cochrun is apparently a huge swiftie and referenced Taylor Swift a truly unwell amount of times in this book. dismal all around.

Mammoths at the Gates (Nghi Vo, 2023) - Nghi Vo can do absolutely no wrong and is one of the authors whose new releases I will ALWAYS be showing up for. Mammoths at the Gates is the latest in the Singing Hills Cycle of novellas, and sees the cleric Chih leaving their quest for stories in order to return home to Singing Hills Abbey after years on the road. they're excited to be home, but nothing is as peaceful as they'd have hoped: an old friend has been promoted, straining their relationship, and a beloved mentor has died, creating a complication when their family come to lay claim to the body. it's a book about death in the best way, by which I mean it's very much a book about life, and I read it all in one delightful morning racing to the gentle shock of the ending.

what am I reading now?

God: A Biography (Jack Miles, 1995) - this is a book rec I scooped from Oh No Ross and Carrie and it is. such a weird reading experience, but I'm enjoying it! this God dude is nuts!

Masters of Death (Olivie Blake, 2018) - I'm not very far into this book yet, and I can't decide if the prose is fun or annoying. maybe both!

what's next: a list of books I have on hold

Patternmaster (Octavia Butler)

Laziness Does Not Exist (Devon Price)

Piñata (Leopoldo Gout)

[nyarlathesleeper]

Follow-up tiem baybeeeeeee

Detective Heart of America: The Final Freedom is an independent film made by Jason Steele AKA Filmcow. It acts as a follow-up to a series of two shorts he filmed about the titular character and his attempts to save America from absurd criminals. I'll revisit these shorts eventually, but I'll mostly be focusing on the film itself. I love this film to no end. It's a ridiculous, fairly stupid story, but it's genuinely very funny and full of meaning. Assuming my internal ramblings are accurate. Spoilers for the whole franchise, of course.

At first, the movie is fairly similar to the shorts, Heart of America is given a job to save America from someone buying its debt from China using Bitcoin. A normal Filmcow plot if I've ever heard one. He chases various leads, encountering characters from the shorts, until he comes face-to-face with the mastermind behind the whole plot: The time-traveling, reality-warping robot Ouya. Ouya erases America from existence, replacing it with the infinitely worse country of Fug. We all hate Fug. Heart of America tries to bring America back to existence, going through what America used to be, what it stood for, even how it came into existence. He learned from the Native Fugmericans, about their knots, their bugs, and their carrots. Then the aliens invade, and after the resistance group he joins is attacked, he and Ouya make their way to the alien's base of operations: The local JW Marriott. After locating the source of the aliens' power, the two discuss what must be done with it, Heart of America electing to make the entire world America, forever. This includes making Africa the US, but larger. The Eiffel Tower was replaced by The Statue of Liberty (funny, given the statue was created by the French government). And even the Moon, our dear sweet Io, was made into the US. Thus America was saved forever.

Okay the plot is batshit insane, so why do I love it so much? There's obviously the overwhelming amount of Jason Steele charm. Awkward conversations between characters, funny voices, random bullshit that occasionally stuns the characters as much as the audience, and a healthy amount of frankly juvenile jokes about Nazi boner germs and the like. There is also, for me and many, the notable political angle.

Jason Steele has always (kinda) been one for political commentary. Some of his oldest videos are about mocking Barack Obama for loving Mr. Mime, or John McCain for being kinda crazy and talking to vegetables and such. His video about the 2012 presidential debate is awfully apt, given recent events. Recently, his finale to Charlie the Unicorn has been pretty thoroughly taken to be a criticism of capitalism and its lack of desire to actually do anything about changing the world in any way that would prevent us from dying horribly. And I think its fair to say that a movie about trying to save America from being erased has some notable things to say as well.

There's of course the Native Fugmerican culture segment, which serves to mock people who appropriate native cultures without understanding them. The beginning and ending of that segment touches on how America, as well as all the other countries that Ouya has created and destroyed, began with the genocide of native peoples.

Most of the political commentary, however, comes into play near the end of the film. In the last 10 minutes or so, we're given a bit more detail as to what Ouya is and what its goals are. To keep it brief, Ouya is a device from the far future who can manipulate reality at will. It has repeatedly created and destroyed country after country in order to draw out the future overlords of Earth, the "aliens" from earlier, who have a similar device of their own. The aliens' device is different, though. It makes permanent changes, and Ouya aims to use it so that devices like it and Ouya can never work in the first place. Otherwise, the universe will be ruled by a tyrannical government whose reach and scale of oppression is so overwhelmingly monstrous, that the people who created Ouya deemed it an infinitely worse alternative to what they recognize as repeated genocides. What this means is that Heart of America, in making the entire world America and preventing Ouya from completing its mission, has doomed the world to being eternally dominated by tyranny.

This raises a few points of commentary that I think are worth examining. First and foremost, Heart of America is the bad guy. Jason Steele is no stranger to writing protagonists who are world ending monsters (see Llamas With Hats for another example), but Heart of America is interesting because he truly believes that what he is doing is right. Something I've neglected to state in this post is that Heart of America is portrayed by a statue of a Bald Eagle, one of the most potent American symbols, and a fitting choice for someone literally named "Heart of America." HoA (not a home owners association) is meant to represent the classic American patriot who really doesn't know anything about America, but believes in the liberty and freedom crap wholeheartedly. When trying to list all of the states, he's only able to put down Florida, Texas, California, Wyoming, New York City, and Vermont. He's generally uninterested in the other countries that Ouya destroyed, as well as the natives that died because of American colonists. All he truly cares about is the idea of America and American freedom. This is highlighted most directly by Ouya in the climax when it states, "No. But if you care about freedom, true freedom, this is the only way." This is responding to HoA asking whether preventing these devices from working will bring America back. And in response, HoA makes the entire world America. This is very clearly the worst possible outcome, and Ouya reacts as such. America is doomed to become the very oppressors that Ouya was trying so desperately to stop. This is supported by the credits, of all things, which shows the American flag changing, as it presumably adds more and more worlds to its intergalactic empire. It bares a striking resemblance to the masks the aliens have.

Not a one-to-one, but close. Enough to evoke the idea that what America inevitably becomes is exactly what Ouya feared most.

The idea that America isn't exactly the most freedom loving nation shouldn't be a controversial take to those within the proper circles. Enforcing our will on others for the sake of material and political gains is a common trend in American history. From our numerous wars with Mexico, to Vietnam, to leveraging our business relations for pressuring other countries into economic servitude, America has its fingers in almost every pie on the global stage, and it's usually to the detriment of the pie. Heart of America, then, is the blind fool, who believes America to be a nation without fault. Well, mostly, he does acknowledge that subprime lending is a problem. The point is that Heart of America is the kind of person (bird?) who goes to bat for America at nearly every turn, maybe acknowledging the odd thing here or there as bad, but never in a way that challenges the systems America is built upon. He's the perfect American exceptionalist, believing that being more like America will be the solution to every problem facing the world. Very literally, he makes everything America and just considers his work done. He blatantly ignores the idea that Ouya's warning might have any actual weight, charging ahead anyway, creating the world that Ouya came from to begin with. It's with this in mind that the HoA line, "I know you come from a place without America, which is the saddest thing I can think of, but that won't be a problem for anyone ever again!" becomes so much more ironic. Ouya did come from America. America was the only thing it ever knew. And Heart of America is the progenitor of all that pain and suffering. Another detail sticks out to me, that being the aliens' reality writing device. Ouya notes that it was designed by slaves, and that its appearance was, "... a small, final act of defiance" that was not understood by their oppressors.

This is the device. It is shaped like a heart. Assuming that Ouya is from America, that would make this the heart of America. The device responsible for endless tyranny, endless oppression, endless suffering, is Heart of America. Poetry.

Detective Heart of America: The Final Freedom is a movie about a lot of things. Sunny D, Shark Councils and Shark Powers, Merman Jesus, a German space elevator, and a 5th Dimensional Demigod. But it's also about the brutality that good intentions can create. How if you live life without questioning the system, even if you like that system, you could cause unimaginable pain. How the most devoted to an idea may be the ones to betray it most brutally. And how we, as Americans, owe it to ourselves and the world to ensure that we don't contribute to a regime that can and will destroy everything so that the ones in control can live unopposed. Freedom is non-negotiable.

I have other thoughts about this movie that I might share later. Some act as counters to my main mindset surrounding this movie, but are other potential takeaways that I haven't fully thought through. I should probably sleep for now tho, lol.

[katyawriteswhump]

the power of love, part 13 (steddie, stobin, steve whump fic)

Alternate ending S4: Steve has a habit of surviving near death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 14

(also on AO3 here and as part of my steve whump fic series)

Steve POV

When Steve’s finished slumping forward and retching, he’s so through with everything.

“You did good with the lightning, kid.” Hopper scrapes Steve’s hair from his face. He’s still got an arm about him, pretty much all that’s stopping Steve collapsing onto the dirt. “Let’s hope we don’t need it again, huh?”

Steve sniffs, takes the kleenex Hopper offers and dabs his lips. As his super-fast breaths finally slow, his brain kicks off: 

I got superpowers! Henderson’s gonna flip! Shame about the glitches, what with the blacking out and puking my guts out. The sound of a rushing river distracts him. He’s been hearing it, on and off, for hours. 

He kneels a little more upright. Hopper gives him some space, passes him some water. “How far exactly have you travelled from Hawkins since the accident at Lover’s Lake?”

The accident? Oh yeah. I died. Twice. 

Steve hasn’t told anyone about his second joyride into the afterlife in the Soviet base. Somehow, being an idiot as a kid is way easier to share. A damp breeze rattles through the trees, slapping him back to the present.

“Steve?” prompts Hopper. 

“I… uh, I played basketball all over the state.” Even after drinking, his voice is a croaky mess. “Swim meets, too. Been a few times to Indianapolis. I was okay.”

Hopper scratches his stubbly jaw, looking almost as bushed as Steve feels. “How okay?”

“To be honest, I was kicked off the starting squad after a couple of the more distant games. Crappy performances, and I got humiliatingly sick on the bus.” It all makes sense now. “I survived.”

“Fine. You’re a tough guy. You’re gonna have to tough your way through this journey. I can’t leave you behind.”

“Eleven survived in the woods for—”

“At that stage, she didn’t have half the US army on her back.” He pats Steve, powerful enough to rock him. “She’d gotten experience with her powers, too.”

Steve can’t fathom if he’s feeling slightly patronised or dead relieved. All he really wants is to lie somewhere quiet and sleep for a year. Instead, he must drag himself to his feet—or, in the event, he lets Hopper do the dragging. He can’t help asking, though: 

“Chief, can you hear running water? Like, loud.”

And getting louder. Niagara loud, in fact.

“No. Why? Can you?”

“Oh… um, maybe not.”

Okay. It’s totally in my head. Why aren’t I panicking harder?

When they reach the Humvee, Robin and Eddie are no longer at each other’s throats. On the contrary, they’re huddled in some deep and meaningful chat. As one, they slam Steve with stricken bunny-rabbit stares, which make him want to laugh so goddamn loud.

During the torturous drive, he sleeps, and his mind drifts back to the Soviet base. He’s caught in that furious red tide, which roars through his aching head. It’s echoed by a caressing whisper: You’ll know when it’s time to go home.

“Yeah, I got it. Shut the fuck up.”

“Rude! Wasn’t saying anything.”

“Huh?” He lifts his cheek from Robin’s shoulder. Her worried, tear-stained eyes overshadow the amusement ruffling her lips. Jesus, I’m breaking my friends! “Dreaming. Sorry.”

He gingerly rolls his shoulders. The side in the sling twinges miserably, and yet… Now he knows he’s gotta ditch the whole bunch of them, the fug of sickness is clearing. He feels better. Much better, in fact.

He keeps the news tight. 

If he plays poorly, they won’t expect him to sneak away, right? Though, the plan pitches him another problem—when he does escape, how can he stop Robin and Eddie coming after him? Eddie, particularly, would be in beyond deep shit if he got taken.

Inevitably, the Humvee gets stuck again. When Hopper asks Steve to take the wheel, Steve grabs up a green army notebook he’d spotted in the footwell, a stubby pencil also. He scribbles fast, between revving the engine.

“Eddie, I love you. Please don’t follow me. Steve x”

I love you. 

Wtf? 

When he’d blundered down that path with Nance, he’d been licking the scars two-and-a-half years’ later. With Robin, of course, things turned out different.

Then Eddie Munson happened. 

To be fair, knowing Eddie as he did now, he doesn’t actually believe Eddie would vomit on the note. Maybe only cackle a while. Either way, Steve would no way in hell obey a love letter, telling him not to follow, from anybody he cared about.

Given recent form, he doesn’t think Eddie would either.

He scrunches the note into his pocket then scribbles furiously at ‘take two’: 

“Eddie, DON’T FOLLOW ME. You make me sick. Steve.”

Jesus, that’s hopeless. You make me sick? He doesn’t mean that, apart from… It’s sorta true. Steve detests it, however, longs to try again. He’s out of time.

He stuffs the second note into Eddie’s pack, as Hopper opens the door. “We’re gonna have to walk from here. Think you can make it?”

“Dunno,” says Steve. For purely tactical reasons. Likewise, he doesn’t volunteer to carry many supplies.

As they trudge their way through the trees, his chances to run aren’t happening. Everybody’s way quieter than usual—edgy, like during that drive in the RV before they faced down Vecna. When he tries subtly falling behind, they all jump to help him. Even worse, they reach the liaison spot way sooner than he expects. Thankfully, for Steve, the car isn’t there.

“Where the hell are they?” Hopper gets out a compass to check they’re in the right spot.

“Because compasses are so accurate near Hawkins,” gripes Steve, his pulse thudding madly. It really is now or never, and why the hell hasn’t he got a better plan?

“We’re far enough out that the gates shouldn’t make a difference, right?” Eddie says.

How do we know? How do we know that Vecna hasn’t swallowed Hawkins whole, while we’re running away pissing ourselves yellow?

Steve bites this back. It’s not like he wants them coming with him. He sits down on the verge, presses his face to his bent knees. Soon as he dares, he gets up again.

“Where you going?” asks Robin, clambering up also.

“I need to pee,” says Steve. Eddie’s on his feet too. Steve can’t look him in the eye, and the words nearly choke him. “I don’t need a babysitter. Shoo!”

He walks back into the forest, upping his pace as soon as the trees obscure him. It’s gonna be a long trek, he’s hardly got any supplies, and he’s got a weird sense that, no, he isn’t gonna get through this time. He follows the sound of the water, because it seems obvious that he should.  

And he feels more torn apart than ever. 

The tug back to Hawkins is overwhelming, but the tug back toward Robin and Eddie? It’s like somebody has wound a thread around his heart, attached it to the pair of them. As he strides farther away, the thread snares tight, like that rope around his wrist did.

He’s annoyed—if not exactly surprised—to hear somebody thrashing through the forest behind him. Robin yells, “Steve! Steeeeeve!” 

He finally locates a small stream, which seems to be the source of the supernaturally loud torrent. He skids down the bank, landing in about three inches of water, and crouches low. 

Go by, Robin. Dammit, turn back.

She tumbles into the stream a yard off, landing on her ass with a loud splash and a louder squeak.

“Uuuuugh!” She takes the hand he offers, and they scramble to their feet together. “Steve, what the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

She flicks pond scum from her legs and grimaces spectacularly. “Stopping you being an IDIOT! And since when were you not sick? God, I was so worried! Were you faking?”

“You know I wasn’t. I got… fixed.”

“Fixed? Like, HOW?”

He urgently presses a finger to his lips. “Sssssh! Keep your voice down! Look, I don’t know exactly, and I can’t go back. Hopper will make me get in that car.”

“He can’t force you.” Her glare is louder than her voice was.

“Whatever. He and El need to go. You and Eddie need to go.”

“You heard what Hopper said. They’ll torture you for information—they could kill you.”

“Been there, done that, Robin.”

“This isn't funny.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Steve sighs hard, belatedly noticing the stream has breached his sneakers. “All I do know is that I feel more myself already, turning around.” Following the water. “Also, Hop’s right—El can’t defeat Vecna with the military gunning for her. I don’t know exactly what I can do yet, but I have to try, whatever it is. So, please, Robin. Go back. Tell the others you couldn’t find me.”

“Eddie won’t leave without—”

“Which is why I gotta move! Take care, all right?”

He wants to hug her so bad. Instead, he sloshes away.

“Ugh, slow down!”

“Seriously?” He turns about suddenly. She nearly smashes into him and takes the opportunity to get right in his face.

“I am so mad with you! You made me run after you, my butt is drenched, and now you’re making me walk along a horrible ditch, all the way back to Hawkins?”

“It’s the quickest route.” He doesn’t know how he knows, only that he does. He turns around, wades onwards. The damp never bothered me anyway…

“Then why don’t we follow the bank, Steve?”

She has a point. “Oh. Okay.” They clamber up the sides, start following the stream from above. It’s as slippery as the riverbed and overgrown with treacherously tangly weeds.

“Eeeeeew! When this is over,” says Robin, “I am never, ever venturing into the totally-not-great outdoors again.” 

“You don’t have to do any of this, Robin.”

Her latest scowl is more jokey—and fond—than he figures he deserves. “Shut up, Dingus. You know I do.”

Part 14

tags: @estrellami-1 @kal-ology @finntheehumaneater (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far :)

(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 14

[tervaneula]

Okay i got an emil notification about your NQK update before your tumblr post?! Now that surprised me!

It's like 1 AM and i don't think leo is the only one with Insomnia - ngl i felt that am getting called out 😂 - So we start and i think because it's been a long time friend the previous NQK chapter i really forgot that F!Donnie is now " Donatello " whil F!Mikey js "Michaelangelo" and brain was flipping between "huh? Is that the youngest or the eldest?!"

So we start right off with with F!Dee getting jealous and boy oh boy i believe little ol' Donnie will find this exciting and more of a "parent figure approval" 😂

The talk goes to the bandana and i kid you not i remembered previous fics where some F!Leo/s had either put the other masks as a nice accessory ir put it on his sword and just hung it there as a memory (forgot the fic).

So this makes me think of "How F!Leo would make of the bandanas AFTER he make peace with decades of war?" It really makes me excited thinking about it 🤩

Also it made me think - don't know if i asked before but - does F!Leo still can open his portals and travel? (I know in other fic he can but what about the Canon fic NQK?).

It's kinda sad how Leo's still holding on to the masks but still understandable because well... It's been decades of WAR! That can't be just brushed under the rug with a nice few months in the lair. So until F!Leo finally decided when he can " move on " he deserves to keep the masks with him...

F!Leo hugging ghost!F!Dee was so sad and somewhat... Bittersweet? Because he's glad he can see/talk and almost hug his twin but that's about it, he wants to be greedy and have the two of them, april, his dad back home but that would be too much (And am sure he would be worried about 'Don't push your luck' type of quote or he may lose everything).

But AHHHHHHHHH AM SCREAMING FOR THE ART PIECE YOU MADE! SURE IT'S SAD BUT THE COLORS AND ART STYLE IS REALLY WARMING ME UP AS IF IT'S - again - A BLANKET!! I LOVE THIS FEELING 🩷🩷🩷🩷

Then que F!Mikey entering the chat (lmao ngl thought that was little mikey) and took a pic lol!! I don't know if he can take picture of ghosts but imagine if you can use mystic power or ninpo to see ghosts in the picture?! That would be awesome, F!Dee & F!Raph would mess with so many people.

And then here comes Dracum entering the chat 🐐😂 MF i can imagine him entering the room with sandal in hand ready to beat F!Mikey up especially after hearing "I used it to lift a blanket up" 😂😂😂

But it was so surprising to me when be gave him a "therapist" card, from the color purple i thought it was from either Donnie or 🤢 Big mama 🤢

But god i love a soft carrying dad draxum like my next door neighbour! Always welcomed 🩷

That's all for my review for the chapter! It was such a great treat since it's been a while! Am still gonna keep my eyes - and phone - open for any updates because LORD I LOVE NQK🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

LMAO YEAH that's because I really wanted to publish the chapter that day but was already crashing when I posted it, so couldn't make a Tumblr post until the next day 😂

Hehe we'll see what Leonardo will do with the masks! First of all, wash them, probably :D He has a weird relationship with all of his keepsakes, re: the Raph-like prosthetic arm. He doesn't want to get rid of them but seeing them also still hurts, despite everything :')

Yes NQK Leonardo can use his portals!! He just hasn't had a reason to do that in the main fic (yet 😎)

God. Fug. Dang dude. "Don't push your luck or you may lose everything" legitimately made me tear up. That whole paragraph contributed, actually. "HE WANTS TO BE GREEDY" like ajkhjdsfhj how dare you (/aff) hit me with an emotional bomb like this all of a sudden. He does. He wants all of his family, he doesn't think it's fair that only three of them survived, and this brings us back to the enormous guilt he feels for not being able to save everyone.

Donatello is there with him, not in flesh but literally in spirit, he can be hugged and talked to, but Leonardo wants him to live. It's so freaking heartbreaking. I as the author have the power to bring him his family back, in flesh and blood and bone, but like I said ages ago, that's not what NQK is about. It's about accepting loss and healing and finding happiness, and about family and love. They can't change the past any more than what they've already been graciously given, the only way is forward. ;_;

BUT THANK YOUUU for liking the drawing, it makes me go 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 so bad jdfhj (and to make it worse, I made a different version which I'll post here later)

Ninpo ghosts show up in photos normally!! At least in NQK universe they do 😂 Too bad for Donatello, can't do all the crime if he can be caught in 4K

Soft caring dad Draxum ftw<333

THE THERAPIST CARD. Oh my gosh Draxum does NOT trust Big Mama one bit, rest assured, and Donnie has no such connections. No, the light purple colour is actually referencing... drum roll... THIS GUY

Yes Tev is now a yokai and a part of NQK universe but no, she won't show up in the fic so no worries about me actually bringing in non-canon characters. "Leonardo Goes To Therapy" is not a chapter I want to write, nor sprinkle in the appointments in detail, so it all happens off-screen 😂

Thank you SO SO SO MUCH again for reading and spending your precious time writing this comment!!!! It made me so happy but I'm a little sorry that this reply got so long and rambly XD ANYWAY ILYSM

[deltastra]

My Thoughts on Tower of God Season 2 Episode 4

HELLO I AM BACK!!! THIS EPISODE WILL FINALLY END THE TRUSTWORTHY ROOM TEST! I'll admit so far I have not been appreciating the changes or cut content, in addition, the animation has been lacklustre. But I still look forward to ToG content every week!

WEBTOON SPOILERS WAS TEASED BUT NOT OUTRIGHT STATED

Rating: 6/10

Summary: They...they skipped some very important scenes. Overall the pacing was not good. At least this arc is over.

Oh man. Love vs Viole wasn't the best and I feel like a lot was cut that really made the fight stood out. But it's whatever.

Oh, they changed this scene too. Ehhh I can see why given the source material but this made Yihwa look very incompetent. Gives off the wrong impression to anime-onlies in my opinion.

Oh no...

I love how compared to Rachel's betrayal. Wangnan's one was heartbreaking for BOTH parties. Nia genuinely didn't want to do this but he just wanted to protect the woman who took him in. Just like Wangnan, Nia NEEDS to climb the Tower no matter what. And sadly, in the Tower, you never know who you have to step on in order to rise to the top, that's the cruel culture within it. I believe the anime did a good job in showing the genuine heartbreak and regret Nia has in betraying Wangnan, but also showing that he would do it again if it meant protecting the lady that helped him.

THIS IS WHY I LOVE WANGNAN. HE IS JUST GENUINELY A GOOD PERSON LIKE BAM. HE UNDERSTANDS NIA AND WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID. It's sad that Wangnan got betrayed but the fact that Nia did it to protect someone he cared about, there's no way Wangnan would be upset about it.

They nailed the tone of this scene. While they didn't show us his death on screen, I did appreciate the way they clearly conveyed what happened to him and Wangnan's anger.

I ALWAYS LOVED THIS QUOTE FROM HORYANG. AND I LOVED HOW VIOLE WAS SEEKED OUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY BY WANGNAN. Viole is their ultimate evil to them as he is FUG Slayer Candidate. Lurker is a POS and needs to be punished. A clear difference between the two. Wangnan knows he is not strong enough to do it and as usual, he needs others to help him, but that does not make him weak.

They should've added in Love's genuine disbelief over Viole copying moves. Because he did say it took him a long time to come up with and master his abilities, yet Viole copied them in one fight. It could've showed how much of a big deal this was.

Uhhh I think they glossed over how Wangnan got that remote, I swear it was way cooler in the WEBTOON.

I always loved this quote from Wangnan. As for the whole scene, it felt...rushed...the pacing felt off

If this was meant to show a POV of Horyang rushing....it was slow man... If anything, it felt awkward.

Damn that was good animation. I think they love animating Horyang. Fair enough. My boy deserves some love. ALSO KEVIN PENKIN GO OFF KING I LOVE THIS OST.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THIS SCENE LOOKS SO GOOFY IN THE ANIME I LOVE IT.

And our first glimpse over Prince genuinely having what it takes to survive in the Tower and not relying on his privileges.

OH THAT ANIMATION FOR HIS RIGHT ARM LOOKS SO GOOD.

ANDDDD HORYANG GAINED A FANBOY LETS GOOOOO. Love the soundtrack here too!

I love this scene so much because it shows how complicated people are when it comes to climbing the Tower. The same people that betrayed you for their own goals, have something they want to protect. On the other hand, the "scumbags" in the Tower, like Lurker, were also victims once. I don't feel sympathy for Lurker, but I understand how he ended up like this. His mindset is also very interesting. Don't hate or resent anyone. Just climb.

It's annoying how people find this scene stupid. "WHY DID WANGNAN FORGIVE HIM?! HE IS SO DUMB"

Wangnan forgiving Lurker is a middle finger to Lurker's whole philosophy. He will change the Tower's culture, and he will do so with friends. If theres no need to resent or hate anyone, whats stopping you from from caring about people and forgiving them too? There's no way Wangnan is legit forgiving Lurker, it's moreso to show him, "I am different from you." Which Lurker would hate even more. Contrary to popular belief, needlessly getting revenge won't fill any hole in your heart. It's a shame that Viole is getting the "sigma MC will get revenge" treatment from the fandom right now...

(Also insert my usual "Kevin Penkin cooked" comment here thanks.)

HAHAHAHAHAAH MAN THESE TWO.

NOO THEY SHOULDVE ADDED THE SCENE WHERE HE TRIED TO GET FRIED CHICKEN BUT WANGNAN AND MISENG ASKED FOR SWEET AND SOUR PORK INSTEADDD.

And there it is! I always loved his ideology! BUT ALSO THEY DIDNT EVEN EXPLAIN HOW THE TEAM WON. HELLO THTS LIKE KEY INFORMATION???

WHY DID THEY NOT GIVE HIM HIS SCOUT UNIFORM HELLOOOOOOO

Alright...I'll be honest here. Did NOT like the changes in this test. I was okay with them removing the small scenes of sweet and sour which were mostly comedic. But some changes made no sense, like...why? Anyway, I hope after this, the pacing and animation gets better. Time will tell!

[kchasm]

Ryu Number: Xerxes I

Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire from 486 BCE until his assassination in 465 BCE. At the time of his ascension to the throne, the Achaemenid Empire ran from the eastern end what's now Pakistan to the west end of what's now Turkey. You might notice that that's about the same amount of empire in about the same location as Alexander the Great had—that's because Alexander the Great was the guy who took over the Achaemenid Empire and made it not-so-Achaemenid anymore.

It was awful big, is what I'm saying.

But let's be honest: You probably know Xerxes I better as the Bad Guy with the nose ring in that one weird Spartan hagiography Gerald Butler was in. Fugging Miller.

Anyway, Xerxes I almost certainly has a Ryu Number of 2, and definitely not a Ryu Number more than 3, but there's some stuff.

The problem with finding a Ryu Number of Xerxes I is that 5th-century-BCE Persian monarchs don't show up in video games that often, for some reason. He makes a historical appearance in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC Legacy of the First Blade...

...but unfortunately, Odyssey takes place too far after the times of myth and legend for anyone big enough to be a Minecraft skin in Greek-mythology-inspired DLC to show up.

It doesn't help, either, that in Assassin's Creed lore, all the "gods" were just members of a Precursor Race pretending to be gods, a la Stargate. No, that's not "Hera," that's a jerk Precursor Person who's taken on the identity of "Hera," all the better to lead mankind around like a clowder of schmucks. She's pretending to be Norse elsewhere. Don't fall for it.

(There's also A Minotaur, which feels like it ought to connect via that Minecraft skin pack, but if I'm understanding the Odyssey lore correctly—and I very well might not be; holler at me—the minotaur the player encounters isn't actually the Minotaur from the myth we know and love, but some random other guy who subsequently got his hands on the Precursor Technology that turns you into a minotaur. Yeah, everything is Precursor People in Assassin's Creed. It's kind of disappointing.)

Of course, you can still get to Xerxes through Odyssey if you want to—a handful of historical characters who don't have Minecraft skins show up—but you'll need an extra step. And if we're going to have an extra step anyway, I'm going to go for the route that doesn't need Assassin's Creed, partially because I haven't played the games yet but mostly because I'm still really disappointed about the Precursor People thing.

Which means, unfortunately, it's back to Miller.

I'll say this: For all that 300: March to Glory is Not A Very Good Video Game, it left me the impression that someone behind the scenes actually did the bare minimum research into the Greco-Persian Wars. Persian commanders Hydarnes and Mardonius make appearances (if only to provide something unique to hit), and Mardonius even survives the movie-equivalent events of the game until an epilogic, post-movie level that takes place during the Battle of Plataea—which is, indeed, where the historical Mardonius bit it. It's not much, but I had to watch the whole dang thing, so I'll take what I can get. Gets me more names for The Chart, besides.

As for connecting this game to Ryu, you can, of course, count on the Ol' Dependable of Games With Historical Figures:

...Or maybe you're not a fan of Anime And Things That Look Like Anime, in which case, try this, instead:

I'm not sure I can explain how weird Spartan: Total Warrior is—by which I'm referring to its existence more than anything in the game itself, though the content's pretty weird, too. For context, Total War is a series of strategy games featuring a combination of turn-based strategy, resource management, and real-time tactical control (so sayeth Wikipedia). There are a coupla Warhammer entries in the franchise, sure, but the vast majority of the games focus on real, historical campaigns and factions.

Spartan: Total Warrior, on the other hand, is a hack-and-slash that took one look at a history book and immediately took a pair of shears to it. The story starts in 300 BCE: The Roman Empire, led by Emperor Tiberius, has conquered almost the whole of Greece, with only Sparta remaining, and Leonidas leads his men into battle to oppose him. Later, the Romans reveal a superweapon powered by the imprisoned Medusa. Sejanus, Tiberius' right-hand man, is a powerful necromancer who kills and resurrects Castor's brother Pollux. One mission involves protecting Archimedes, leader of the Athenian resistance, from assassination.

To quote someone on Discord, this is a game supposedly set circa 300 BCE that "has one side led by a king who died 200 years before, and the other by an emperor who reigned 300 years after (never mind the fact that Rome was still a senatorial republic)." If you forced a too-serious historian to play this game they'd end up on the floor in a frothing heap of rage and/or despair (actually, someone should totally do that; I want to see the Greco-Roman history version of Jonathan Ferguson having to analyze the firearms of Team Fortress 2).

Oh yeah and Beowulf is there.

At some point you've got to appreciate—no, admire, even—the Xena:-Warrior-Princess-level decision to just Don't Worry About It.

And now that we have finished with the indisputable, let us proceed with the first of the hinky. Which is to say: Let's look at God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Chains of Olympus begins with an attack by the Persian navy on the Greek Attic peninsula (where Athens is, incidentally). The opening sequence features (among a whole lot of faceless Persian mooks) this prone-ish fella, who doesn't quite get to operating a ballista, irresponsibly leaving the work for Kratos instead.

(Credit: Migeman)

Inspecting the body after all the local ruckus is over identifies him as "Eurybiades," the "leader of the Athenian army."

Eurybiades was—according to historical record—a real person, though God of War doesn't exactly nail it on the head. Herodotus (who historians depend on more due to him being one of a Very Small Number of sources rather than anything to do with actual reliability) names Eurybiades as a Spartan who, during the second Persian invasion of Greece, was given command of the Greek navy due to some political whatuppery (the Spartans said that if a Spartan didn't lead it they'd be Awfully Uncooperative).

Following this bit, Kratos confronts the King of Persia (identity unspecified), who is apparently personally leading the invasion himself, which seems dumb but was apparently the norm back in those days. I bet we'd have a lot less wars if we made our Presidents actually serve on the front lines whenever they started feeling belligerent.

(Credit: Ibid.)

Anyway, Kratos kills the King of Persia, because if the King of Persia killed Kratos the game would be a lot shorter. Now, there's no watertight confirmation that this is the second Persian invasion—the first one also featured attempted Persian inroads into Attica, and was recent enough that it's not inconceivable for Eurybiades to have shown up, there, too—but if this is the second Persian invasion, and that is the King of Persia that was King of Persia during the second Persian invasion, then that King of Persia is Xerxes I.

And now, I think, you peer up at me, gaze beseeching. "But KC," you say, anxious and afraid, "Xerxes I didn't die during his invasion of Greece! After Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis, Persian forces were forced to withdraw from Attica, including Xerxes I himself, after which he focused on lavish construction projects until he was assassinated fifteen years later for unrelated reasons! He didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars at all!"

To which I say: You know who else didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars? Eurybiades. And you know who definitely didn't die in a fit of paranoid, obsessive overwork in the heart of a monumental statue of Apollo on the isle of Delos?

What I'm saying here is that God of War's relationship with historicality is fleeting at best, so maybe Don't Worry About It here, too.

(Incidentally, if it's the first Persian invasion of Greece that Kratos is mucking around in, then that king is actually Darius the Great, who also didn't die in Greece in real life. Darius is in Civilization V, though, so getting his Ryu Number is a lot easier.)

And speaking of Civilization, I've finally come to the shortest route I've found that, for all its likeliness, isn't as definite as I'd like, which is why I've saved it for last. You know how Civilization works, I think—you play a historical civilization (with a historical leader to match), and go up against other historical civilizations with their leaders. Like Darius, just now—he's your leader if you decide to play as the Persians.

Civilization III is like that...but unfortunately not as much like that as a fellow'd prefer. Sure, it's got its civilizations and leaders...

...But there's the occasional glaring unspecificity that's apparently there to make life difficult for me in particular. Yeah, sure, Montezuma here is most likely the second one—the one everyone knows, the one that had the real bad experience with Spain—but are you sure he isn't the first one instead? Like, absolutely sure? The instruction manual doesn't say, you know. How sure are you? Sure enough to bet a dollar? Two dollars? Fifty dollars? Your firstborn child? Why would I want your firstborn child, anyway? I don't want to look after a child; that's literally more work for me.

The Persian civilization exhibits the same problem here. Yeah, of course that's Xerxes I! If the team behind the game is picking out a historical figure named Xerxes to represent the Persians, it's got to be Xerxes I. But at the same time, there's technically nothing saying this isn't Xerxes II, a separate 5th-century-BCE Persian ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. I mean, it's terribly unlikely, seeing as Xerxes II ruled for 45 days before being killed by his half-brother, who ruled for six months before being killed by his half-brother, making him Not Exactly The Sort Of Individual You'd Put The Spotlight On, but Mahatma Gandhi and Joan of Arc are the leaders of Indian and French civilizations in this game, and that's weird, too. Gandhi was never the Prime Minister of India or anything like that, and Joan of Arc was a military leader, not a monarch.

Still, if you're willing to follow the reasonable assumption that the Xerxes here is Xerxes I, then the path that results is pretty dang optimal:

...If this is how you found out that Mahatma Gandhi is in Minecraft DLC, I'm sorry.