#like that's the assumption i've been running off from the beginning

[boy-above]

ppl acting like any traveler ship could become canon in genshin are insane

[missxwrites]

new beginnings - tom kazansky

tom 'iceman' kazansky x reader

Summary: Tom finds his pregnant wife in the heart of their shared home, the sight of her simply takes his breath away. Word count: 1,120+ Warnings: fluuuufffff, SERIOUSLY FLUFFY SOFT TOM, pregnancy, afab!reader (still working on gender neutral tone as best I can), assumptions about size (I play into the plus size side of things because I am plus size, but there's no direct mention), no use of y/n (just she/her pronouns) A/N: This is only rough edited by myself, I'm so sorry for any mistakes. (Im rusty as f*ck at fic writing) I've had this fic in my back pocket for months, please enjoy all the fluff. I'm head over heels for val kilmer as a person, and I'm well aware that the gif is not from Top Gun... this is however an aged up version of Commander Kazansky (;

Tom wasn't typically a man of many words, even after Top Gun and becoming a commander... He was still on track to becoming an admiral in a couple years and his stoic ice-cold exterior has carried him far in the Navy. No, there wasn't much that could get in his way now. 

Except for her.

She melted his every icy edge. Especially now that she's 7 months pregnant with his baby. The way she waddled around the sizable estate that he purchased the year they got married. It'd been nearly 7 years since that beautiful day, but Tom and his wife decided to focus on their separate careers before committing to living with little ones under foot. He was nearing his mid-to-late 30's now and with his career excelling, his mind constantly settled on imagining what her beautiful features would be like mixed with his. 

Would they get his ice-like stare or her warm bright irises that see right through to his soul? Would they get his pin straight hair that stuck up in all the wrong places or her beautiful, textured hair that fell beautifully in every light? 

His mind would run rampant every time he looked at her, his eyes never failing to trail up and down her whole figure. He would linger on her face, taking in how absolutely mesmerizing she was in the pregnancy glow before darting down to her ever-changing belly. It was very noticeable now, and the way she braced the underside of the bump softened his stare every time. Even through the literal growing pains of making a human, she looked ethereal. He subconsciously pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. Tom was fully convinced that she could never be more beautiful than she was in this exact moment. 

With a warm but soft chuckle under his breath, he stood slowly and made his way over to her. The book she'd been perusing at the kitchen counter happened to be a cookbook he got her for Christmas in the early years of their relationship. He'd assumed she must be craving something specific by the way she quickly flipped through the pages. He placed his hands over the tops of her shoulders, giving a gentle rub to the tense muscles in her shoulder blades and leaned in to kiss her neck. The smell of her conditioner and body wash from her shower this morning is almost intoxicating. His body was warm, causing her to lean back on his chest.

"You're absolutely radiant dear," Tom stated, a smile forming across his lips. "And absolutely distracting..." He hasn't been able to take his eyes off her since she entered the kitchen adjacent to the doors of his office. He'd been trying to get through some paperwork before finding her to ask what you might want for lunch as she graced her way into the heart of their shared home.

She was one of the only women that could ever truly take his breath away, though many tried. Even in a moment like this... with his wedding band heavy on her finger and growing the fruit of his love for her in her tummy, he still had to remind himself to breathe.

His large arms made their way down her body until they gently embraced her and her bump. He supported her belly gently, the same way the two had learned in the parenting classes Tom insisted on attending once she confirmed her pregnancy. The soft hum that escaped her throat told him that she needed this. Her eyes fluttered closed as he stood there, swaying gently with her in his arms.

“Blueberry.” Was the only thing that snapped the quiet of the moment between the two of them. Her words were soft in his ears. Tom raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he leaned forward to place his chin on her shoulder. The pages of the cookbook landed on a muffin recipe that had been dog-eared and made enough times to sport the stains of baking chaos. 

Another low chuckle reverberated through his chest. “Cravings?” Tom placed another gentle kiss on her neck as he slowly released his childbearing wife to turn to the refrigerator behind him. This recipe was one he was familiar with, having made it several times over the years. He grabbed out the bowl of blueberries, buttermilk, butter and eggs while his wife gathered the remaining dry ingredients. 

A quiet melodic sound filled the kitchen as Tom watched his wife pull up the large glass bowl from the cabinet. The smile spread across his face as he recognized their wedding song falling from her lips. “I wanna know what love is…”

Tom set the cold ingredients out on the counter, crossing the kitchen swiftly to pull her back into his arms. “I want you to show me…” He whispered to her, a hum parting his lips as he twirled her around slowly in the afternoon light of their kitchen. He mirrored her radiant smile as they slowly swayed together, her baby bump separating them a little more than usual but neither of them cared. 

After enjoying the embrace of her husband, Tom’s wife pushed him away gently as she resumed making the muffins lil’ kazansky was craving so badly. The blonde commander only laughed as he kissed her hand before parting their embrace. He too busied himself making muffins again wordlessly as he reached into the bottom drawer of the oven. Grabbing out the old muffin tin, he paused to preheat the oven as he lingered there for a moment.

Tom’s hand immediately found his wife’s lower back as he brought the tin over to the island countertop, using the other to place the white liners in each cup. A devious giggle caught his attention and before he could even blink, she’d managed to touch his nose with a flour-covered hand. His steely eyes closed suddenly as she swiped at his face, unable to hide the slow grin that parted his lips as he dipped his own hand into the bowl of flour. 

He laughed as he pulled her back from the counter slightly, his flour covered hand landing gently over the top of her baby bump. The white handprint was stark on her dark dress. The gasp that escaped from the woman in his arms only made him laugh harder as she rolled her eyes and shook her head at her husband’s antics. 

"What am I going to do with you, Thomas Kazansky? ” She said exasperatedly despite a smile growing on her face.

“Love me.” He said simply, his eyes gazing deeply into hers as he pulled her in close again. “And make muffins with me forever.” She laughed, her heart full, as she accepted his proposal.

[eyesthatroll]

how many drinks? | luke hughes

pairing; lh43 x fem!reader

warnings(s); none really, fluff? lowercase intended, not edited. also written in like 15 minutes so kinda bad (might rewrite/re-edit it at a later date idk)

word count; 0.6k (blurb!)

summary; luke approaches reader at wedding reception

"do you want to dance?" you lift your gaze from the game of candy crush that you were currently enthralled in.

a tall brunette is staring back at you. he looks down at you expectantly, rolling on the heels of his feet. "do i know you?"

the boys cheeks tinge pink, and he runs a hand through his slightly curly hair before speaking again. "n-no, i just, i don't know. you look bored."

his awkwardness brings a smile to your face. you ponder his offer for a moment, the song 'skin' by dijon playing through the speakers.

the dance floor had a few couples on it, the other guests scattered around the room, eating cake or loitering near the bar.

you flip your phone screen side down, and chug the rest of your drink. "sure pretty boy, let's dance."

you lift your hand up, and he take it in his, easily pulling you out of your chair. he leads you to a small corner of the dance floor.

your arms rest on his shoulders, hands crossed behind his neck. his hands finding home on the small of your back.

"i never got your name." you state, the two of you swaying softly.

"luke." he answers sheepishly, seemingly embarrassed that he hadn't already told you his name.

"so, which side are you here for, luke?" you asked, your fingers beginning to absentmindedly play with the hair that coiled at the nape of his neck.

"oh, um, the groom. he's on my team."

you brows raised in confusion. "i didn't know you were a player for the devils, not sure i've seen you on the ice. though, i've only watched maybe a few games so i could be completely wrong"

"i haven't-well not yet, at least. i just signed my contract a few weeks ago." he says.

"that's exciting," you begin. "leaving college, i presume?" you're not sure if your questions are too personal, but luke makes no moves to ward them off.

luke gives you a bittersweet, close lipped smile. "yeah."

"that's got to be hard, leaving your friends?"

he tilts his head, thinking a moment. "i mean, yeah, but i'll still see them. plus, i have jacky, and the rest of team-they've been pretty nice and welcoming."

you nod in understanding. "so jacky, she your girlfriend?"

" oh god no!" luke sputters, his cheeks painted crimson again. "that's my brother-jack. he plays for the devils, too."

your eyes widen, and you kick yourself internally for your assumption. why would he of asked you to dance if he was in a relationship?

" 'm sorry, i shouldn't have assumed." you apologize, shaking your head slightly to yourself.

"no, it's all good! i'm single, by the way."

"professional hockey player gets no bitches?" you tease, feeling more comfortable with him by the moment.

he lets out a breathy laugh, his hands tightening around your waist. "i think i do okay with..the ladies." he trails off.

you mouth an 'okay', and dramatically nod your head.

"just looking for the right girl, i guess." he finishes.

"that's understandable." you agree.

"and you?"

"looking for the right girl?"

you laugh at your own joke.

"no-no, i mean, beautiful girl like yourself must have..suitors."

luke's face contorts into one reminiscent of pain.

you followed suit, cringing at his choice of words. "suitors?"

you laugh at him shamelessly, a big bellied laugh that draws attention to the two of you on the floor, not that either of you noticed, too engrossed in your own world.

luke pulls you closer to him, burying his head in your shoulder. "stop laughing."

—

mari speaks! again, like mentioned in the preface, wrote this super quickly so not edited/kinda bad but i might re-do it or make a part 2 idk. also, luke’s playing in his first playoff game tmro so make sure to wish babyboy some luck <3

[dysfunctionalupsidedown]

An Analysis Of "STurn": My Turn

Hello, everyone! This is my first real post/analysis of anything Stranger Things related, so please keep that in mind while reading. I'm sure there are quite a few analyses about this playlist already (I'm definitely late to the party,) but I still wanted to add my two cents.

Feel free to let me know if any information I've provided is incorrect. My main source is Genius.com, which isn't at all the most reliable; even still, it'll help to give a clearer picture of each track's meaning and how the general public (which includes Finn) interprets them. I'm attempting to go by what I think Finn's intentions were.

Also, don't forget that this analysis was done under the assumption that the "STurn" playlist is a somewhat play-by-play outline of how specifically Mike Wheeler's S5 arcs might happen. The playlist could be entirely unrelated to ST5. It could be related to all the characters and arcs in ST5. It could be out of order, or based on vibes -- We really have no way of knowing until the full season comes out.

Finally, I tried my best to keep the analysis somewhat objective and reasonable, and I hope I've at least partly succeeded. This is all in good fun, in the end. Now that I've finished housekeeping, please enjoy my thoughts and feel free to chime in with your ideas in the comments! I'm always open to changing my perspective.

1. Ballad of the Texas King

Let's begin! This song starts with the lyrics, "No one saw / Nothing at all, no law was there to fight / All dressed down / Walkin' out in the California night". I believe this is a more surface-level vibe-setting song, considering where Mike ended in S4. It may also imply that the start of S5 begins where S4 left off. A lot of car imagery is also present throughout, which was a big part of Mike's S4 journey.

There are ideas of being separated as well, with lyrics like "My heart won't beat / 'Til we meet again together". This may allude to Mike's feelings towards the end of S4, having been separated from Hawkins/his family.

2. What You're Doing - Remastered 2009

Genius.com claims this song was written about Paul McCartney's then-rocky relationship at the time. The lyrics make this very clear, so there's really no alternate angle from which I can read. Let me know in the comments if you interpreted it differently.

In specific, the lyrics "You got me running / And there's no fun in it / Why should it be so much to ask of you / What you're doing to me?", "Please stop your lying / You got me crying, girl", and "I've been waiting here for you / Wondering what you're gonna do / And should you need a love that's true / It's me" really intrigue me. This could refer to Mike's relationship.

The song suggests that the partner may be withdrawing in multiple ways, with the singer grieving over it and attempting to prove their love. El may be starting to distance herself, and Mike could be struggling with it. At the end of S4, El was understandably focused on her failure, to the point where she hadn't really spoken to Mike in the days following it.

I don't think it would be surprising if everything was too much and she ends up pushing herself away from him. I wouldn't say it's implying a break-up, but maybe distancing issues.

3. After The Earthquake

Again, it's pretty surface-level in the beginning. There was a devastating earthquake in-universe, which supports the theory that "STurn" connects to ST5 in some way. The song tells a story, though, and I recommend looking up it's inspiration.

Despite the choice seeming surface-level at first, After The Earthquake may be implying more for Mike in ST5. Genius.com's contributors interpret the song's narrative as, "[Molly Rankin applying the] concept of post-catastrophe clarity to a couple that got into a major disagreement before one of them falls into a coma from a car crash... In a metaphorical sense, [the song] could describe a more mild situation in which Rankin must put their conflict on hold because something more important turns up." I don't think it's too far-fetched to say that Finn picked up on this. The idea of a disagreeing couple and coma is also prevalent in ST, but like I said in the beginning, I'm going to try to connect these songs to Mike Wheeler specifically.

Although this may be me reading too deeply into it, the metaphorical meaning of the track pairs pretty well with the implications of What You're Doing. It also fits in well narratively, considering that more important things are happening aside from the drama -- the earthquake being one of them. Mike could be putting all of his current issues (internal-conflict-related, relationship, or otherwise) on hold for the moment. He continues to struggle with suppressing his problems later on in the playlist, as well.

4. Promises I've Made

This song is about mourning a lost or ex-lover. The opening lyrics, "Ever since you have gone, the days don't seem so bright / And I wish I could forget you but I can't / Ever since you have gone, I haven't felt quite right / And I promised I'd forget all that you meant" address this quite directly.

At this point, it's possible that Mike has either been broken up with or the pair have gone their separate ways for some reason. It wouldn't be too crazy to say something like that will occur and he'll grieve it, keeping in mind that one of Mike's main fears is losing El. I just don't know why they'd continue to make it the subject of conflict in S5 (unless it hasn't been fully resolved yet.)

Physical distance between the two also makes sense when considering that Mike is, supposedly, teaming up with other characters next season. Personally, I'm leaning slightly more towards a break-up because of what the previous songs have set up, but, ultimately, it's up to interpretation. It's possible they've just been physically distanced while in a bad spot.

5. Angst In My Pants

This song is about a person attempting to be someone they're not, suppressing who they really are, and it ultimately leading to dissatisfaction. The lyrics, "You can dress nautical / Learn to tie knots / Take lots of Dramamine / Out on your yacht" describe a faux lifestyle one lives that only serves to hurt them in the end: The idea of putting on a self-harming persona. This could be what Mike is going through in S5, and his teased wardrobe change from S4 supports this.

The lyrics, "I hope it doesn't show / It'll go away / It's just a passing phase / It'll go away" and, "I hope it doesn't show / It'll go 'way / Give it a hundred years / It won't go 'way" are particularly fascinating and can have multiple interpretations.

For one, it could be Mike trying to hide his real personality following Eddie's death and the collective panic by acting out a more "normal" and "idealized" life -- painfully repressing his true self in the process. This is supported by the lyrics I first discussed. Hiding and embracing differences is a theme in Stranger Things, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is where they take Mike in S5.

Another interpretation involves the previous lyrics, as well as, "But when you think you made it disappear / It comes again, 'Hello, I'm here'". This sounds more like someone trying and failing to suppress a thought. Coupled with "It's just a passing phase", it appears to be a feeling or belief instead of someone's true personality, although I do believe that's a big part of it, too.

Whatever it may be, Mike is definitely struggling with something at this point. He's pushing it down, hiding it, and hoping "..it doesn't show" and that "It'll go away".

6. The Better Side - Audiotree Live Version

Half way through! This one gave me more of a challenge because there aren't any written lyrics to analyze. From what I can gather, the track is about a person yearning for someone who is a better fit(?) The lyrics that best support this interpretation are, "You're on the better side / You're always the better one for me" and "Don't make me do the falling when I'm drinking of you". Again, if you have any alternate interpretations, please let me know. I'd like to take all ideas into account.

The final lyrics are interesting, "And you're all that I need / I'm not gonna miss you anymore". This can be read as the narrator longing to accept a person into their life and bring them closer. I'm especially interested in the final line because it implies there was something to miss, as if an emotional rift or gap was there.

Mike has come to a realization about something, as shown in Angst In My Pants, and it might partly be about a new thought he's trying to push down, "It'll go away". It's possible the "thought" is about newly developing feelings he isn't ready to accept(?) I don't want to say for certain, though. Nonetheless, it seems like he recognizes this person's importance and "better fit" for him, despite trying to repress it. A fairly surface-level read, but it's the only conclusion I'm able to come to.

Alternatively, it might be about El. The distance apart could be what gets him to solidify how he feels about her. However, Angst In My Pants and multiple songs establishing a separation precede The Better Side. The track is about a better option, as well. Those facts alone make me think of this interpretation as unlikely, so it's not one I personally hold.

7. Don't Ask Me to Explain

Don't Ask Me to Explain is about two people who are afraid to confess their true feelings to one another, so instead they hide them; with one of the two seemingly more uncertain. It's also, from what I've researched, supposedly about two people of the same gender. There's a possibility that this is irrelevant to the track's purpose in the playlist, but I kept it in mind considering the other songs and my personal interpretation. It's also important to note that these "true feelings" could be about a multitude of things.

The lyrics, "How will I ever know you enough to love you / If you're hiding who you are?", "How am I supposed to let it show / When I don't even know?", and, "Besides, I don't want to be the one who's coming out first / I'd really like to but I'm just too shy" support this reading.

I interpreted the last line, "It's so easy to laugh to myself / And pretend that I could love you but I can't" in two different ways. Either it's the narrator doubting their feelings for someone else, or it's the narrator recognizing that they can't let themselves embrace their love for someone, for one reason or another.

As for Mike, his progression makes the most sense to me in the following interpretation. There are multiple and, again, please let me know your ideas in the comments. I narrowed it down to just the one so I don't start nit-picking.

Mike went from a realization, "It's just a passing phase / It'll go away" (Angst In My Pants) to a sort of acceptance, "You're always the better one for me" (The Better Side) to struggling to admit it out loud, "How am I supposed to let it show / When I don't even know?"

An LGBTQ+ or "new love interest" interpretation is what I'm able to gather from this. It could describe Mike falling for 'someone' and not knowing how to be open about it due to fear and doubt; with the other person feeling the same way. It may be a surface-level reading, and I'm sure there are several other ways to interpret the track, but that's what I've been able to conclude thus far.

8. What Do You Want Me To Do?

This one might be the most difficult for me to figure out, but I'm going to try.

The song and the lyrics, "You walked out, took your chance / You turned your back on our romance / You said you found somebody new / You said the change'd do you good" and "You never even gave me a thought / You figured that would be all right / I nevеr had a chance to persuade you / You nеver let me put up a fight" remind me a lot of What You're Doing.

One way to look at it is that it might have the same purpose as What You're Doing -- adding a sort of angsty frustration vibe. I don't know if it would be used to set up a "come crawling back" moment because I don't think that would make sense (especially in Stranger Things), but it's a random possibility I'm throwing out there.

Alternatively, the 'person' that Mike has feelings for could have rejected him for someone else(?) Again, I don't think this would make much narrative sense in Stranger Things, but we don't know what the next season's going to look like.

I'm personally reading it as the former because there are other songs in the playlist used to set the tone. Keeping What You're Doing and Promises I've Made in mind, an additional break-up song is on theme. There's still the possibility of another conflict, though. If anyone else has different thoughts on what the song could be implying, I'd appreciate the input.

9. Substitute - Live

This track is about an idealized version of someone being put in place of their true self. The narrator describes a scenario in which their partner sees a version of them, "I'm a substitute for another guy / I look pretty tall but my heels are high / The simple things you see are all complicated / I look bloody young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah", that is unrealistic and put on, as seen in the lyrics "Substitute your lies for fact / I see right through your plastic mac / I look all white, but my dad was black / My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack" The couple also seem to be having issues with this, or in general, that they're not addressing, "It's a genuine problem, you won't try / To work it out at all, just pass it by, pass it by"

The concept of a guise applies well to Mike, as referenced in Angst In My Pants. A recurring theme of hiding oneself really makes me think Mike is going to completely abandon his interests for a different lifestyle. I believe Finn has also mentioned that Mike wants to be as "normal" as possible, so I can't wait to see where they take that idea. It could also be him realizing how he's been acting, and admitting that this "romanticized" version isn't true to him. I have hope that Mike will eventually learn to embrace his differences and what he enjoys.

While this part is a bit nit-picky, I feel it's fun to mention that the song was inspired by a lyric in The Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson; the lyric being, "Although she may be cute / She's just a substitute". The line following this (which is also referenced in Substitute's Genius.com entry) is, "Because you're the permanent one". Funnily enough, these lyrics also fit into the narrative the playlist is laying out. They remind me a lot of what The Better Side represents.

Out of context, the lines from The Tracks of My Tears may imply that someone is either using another person as a substitute for an ex, or that someone is realizing they've been using their previous partner as a substitute for someone better. Both routes have the potential to happen in ST5. Although, I don't know if the idea of a literal substitute fits with what The Who was going for. The Tracks of My Tears is also not on "STurn", so take this part as a fun fact with a grain of salt on the side.

At the end of the day, we don't know Finn's motivation for adding Substitute, so this is what we'll have to go off of for now. I feel as though the former interpretation, a less literal "substitute," holds the most merit considering the theme of personas.

10. The Rebel Kind

Like The Better Side, I couldn't find any lyrics, so I'm doing it by ear. Though, I'm happy to say that this song is about a desire to embrace differences and rebellion. "We'll be free to run with the rebel kind" and "It's not easy, but I don't mind / I just want to run with the rebel kind" establish that. The track appears to tie into Mike's insecurity struggles throughout the playlist.

The lyric "They call us the rebel kind" hints to the panic brewing at the end of S4. Mike might start to embrace and stand behind his true self at whatever point this is in the season. The line following, "But they don't understand / The things a man must do to prove that he's a man", can be taken in different ways depending on how the lyrics are read.

It could be the narrator's struggle to keep up with societal norms before finally giving in to their truth instead of trying to conform, read as "they call us rebels but don't get how hard it is to for us to keep up." On the other hand, it could be the narrator commenting on how society doesn't understand people like them, and, by embracing their true self, it proves more about who they are than conforming ever would; read as, "you think we're the rebellious ones, but you don't understand that we're more self-secure and strong than you'll ever be."

I can see both of these interpretations working for Mike and his connection to the Party. The progression of insecurity in Angst In My Pants and potential realization of this guise in Substitute is wrapped up by Mike's self-acceptance here. I really hope this is how it plays out in S5.

11. Block Rockin' Beats

There's not much to analyze because this track has one repeated line of lyrics, but it's definitely here to set a tone. The song may have a similar vibe-setting purpose as What Do You Want Me To Do? and Ballad of the Texas King. That's just my theory, though. (A ST5 theoryyy!)

Perhaps this is a climax of sorts where the cast fight the "big bad." The music's tone is intense and sort of aggressive. It's definitely a fun addition to the playlist, whatever the song's purpose in it may be.

12. Just What I Needed

Finally, we have Just What I Needed. I read this song in two different ways.

The first way I interpreted it was as a love song about the narrator not caring about who this person is, and realizing they need them in spite of it all. The lyrics, "It's not the perfume that you wear / It's not the ribbons in your hair / And I don't mind you comin' here / And wastin' all my time", "Cause when you're standin' oh so near / I kinda lose my mind, yeah", and "I needed someone to bleed / Yeah, yeah, so bleed me" support this.

The second possible reading is that the narrator realizes they were/are in a codependent relationship and they still love the person. The lyrics, "I guess you're just what I needed / I needed someone to feed / I guess you're just what I needed / I needed someone to bleed" and "I don't mind you hangin' out / And talkin' in your sleep / It doesn't matter where you've been / As long as it was deep, yeah", could be read as more of a "you're what I needed at the time, but I still love you and want you in my life." With this reading, it's unclear whether or not the love is romantic or platonic. Maybe I'm looking too far into it, but this is what some Genius.com contributors brought up, and it would feel wrong to not include this understanding of the song.

I'm just assuming, since The Rebel Kind seemed to tie up Mike's self-security problem, that this track is supposed to imply a resolution with his romantic issues. Under that impression, there are a few ways we can look at it.

It could be an acceptance for who he has feelings for. He went from mourning a loss in Promises I've Made, noticing something and hoping it goes away in Angst In My Pants, potentially coming to terms with the fact that this person is his "better" choice in The Better Side, wanting to admit a truth but feeling doubtful in Don't Ask Me to Explain, comprehending that he's able to embrace his authentic self in The Rebel Kind, to now admitting, possibly out loud, that this person was "just what [he] needed". That could be far-fetched, but it's just what I picked up on throughout the playlist.

However, it may also pertain to his self-identity struggle that's hinted at throughout (can you tell that I love this part of Mike?) while also tying into his romance issues. He went through a difficult separation with someone in What You're Doing and Promises I've Made, put on a persona and suppressed his true self in Angst In My Pants, realized he couldn't keep it going and needed to address it in Substitute, embraced himself in The Rebel Kind, and now recognizes that the relationship may have been codependent and holding him back from fully dropping the facade: "I guess you're just what I needed" -- in the moment. I don't know if that's too in-depth of a read, but it's a possibility.

While not relevant to the playlist in it's context, it's fun to bring up the fact that Just What I Needed was apparently also the final track listed on the 'official' "Will's Castle Byers Classics" playlist created by Spotify. It's not available anymore, so I can't really say it as a fact. Although, recreations of the playlist have been made long before "STurn" was a thing, and the song was added as the last track as far back as 2018. I suppose that's proof enough that it was at least on the playlist.

Finn listing it as the final track may be a reference to "Will's Castle Byers Classics", but it's also likely that there's no association. That's why I gave the song an equal amount of analysis instead of writing it off as a reference. As to how canon those playlists are, I don't think it particularly matters. It's true that Finn could've seen Just What I Needed in the Will playlist and put it on "STurn", thinking of it as a fun easter egg. There could or could not be implications for that and I'd be remiss to ignore it. I don't know if this rings true for any of the other songs on "STurn" as well -- if they're connected to any other character playlists. Feel free to let me know if they are!

TL;DR

This was really hefty post, and I apologize for that, so here's a summary/recap of what I think S5 may have in store for Mike Wheeler.

Summary:

The season likely starts off at the end of S4, with us seeing Mike react to everything that's happened in Hawkins and reuniting with his family. Tension or unresolved conflicts may be arising in his relationship(s) as well, but he puts it aside to focus on the more important tasks at hand. Either his relationship is put aside with this, or there's an eventual separation that occurs, and he mourns it. After, he tries to maintain normalcy and puts on a guise to appease others. During this time, he may start to have a realization about something that he attempts to repress. He eventually comes to terms with it, though, recognizing that there's someone (maybe something?) better for him. He wants to admit to these true feelings, but he'll struggle with hiding, doubting, and fearing them; thinking he can't allow himself to fully love this person or, at least, admit to whatever feelings or "truth" he possesses. Mike will most likely continue to struggle with mixed feelings and hiding his true personality after this, eventually admitting to not being fully authentic. He'll then accept his true self for what it is. This will lead into a climax, where the main conflict of the show will be resolved. Finally, he'll accept and admit his true feelings, realizing that all he needed to do in the end was be entirely honest with (and about) himself.

In Conclusion

I really want this to be where they take Mike in ST5. It would be such a satisfying thing to watch, especially with how he's acted the past two seasons. I think he deserves to have a self-love/acceptance arc because the show has made it clear he's insecure and inauthentic.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know your thoughts and interpretations in the comments, as well as if there's anything you think I should add/fix. I'd love to hear what others have to say about "STurn" and it's connections to ST :)!

[ineffablyruined]

A Game of Spy vs Spy

(Or is it more Mr. & Mrs. Smith?)

Buckle up, because this one's about to get a little.. out there? Maybe. You decide for yourselves. I had this thought at 3am and I couldn't get it out of my head.

This following is based on two assumptions:

1. Aziraphale has a Plan (capital letter included) - see my explanation of why I believe that's the case in this post.

2. Crowley has been working on his own Plan since he dawned there Tactical Turtleneck - see this brilliant post by @justhereforthemeta .

Putting the rest under a Read More because it's a little lengthy.

To summarize both in case you don't have time to read both posts:

1. I believe Aziraphale's scary smile in the elevator is a smile he learned from spending so much time around Crowley and that it's reflective of him coming up with a plan to avert the Second Coming that he thinks is so clever that Crowley would absolutely approve.

The fact that Crowley is seen wearing his Super Secret Spy Gear multiple times throughout the series means he's actively working on his heist. He's plotting, he's planning. He disappears on Aziraphale when the angel is remembering Job. Disappearing on Aziraphale? That's not like Crowley at all.

2. Crowley is so enamored with the spy life (bullet hole decals anyone?) that he begins plotting a heist as soon as he finds out the Book of Life is a threat to Aziraphale. And the turtleneck is his spywear.

Crowley saves Aziraphale. It's his thing. He's done it over and over, countless times throughout history.

But listen to what Aziraphale says. Rescuing me makes him so happy. Rescuing me.

And the times Crowley asked Aziraphale to run away with him? Well, those times, it wasn't Aziraphale's life that was threatened. It was Crowley's. Hell found out he screwed up the baby switch? They were coming for him, not Aziraphale. Armageddon't? Isn't it demons that burn in a fiery pit for eternity when the world ends, not angels?

My point is.. M' point is..

Crowley isn't asking Aziraphale to run away with him at the end of Episode 6 only to chance The Metatron erasing Aziraphale from the Book of Life when they get there.

Crowley already has the Book of Life.

My bet? He had a little side project up in Heaven with Muriel off-camera. He was wearing the beige turtleneck after all.

And when we leave Heaven?

Turtleneck gone. Mission accomplished.

But let's not stop there!

Because Aziraphale has a Plan of his own now that he's returned from Heaven. And I'm betting at least part of it involves the Book of Life. And when he goes to look for it? GONE! And when he checks the files? Sure enough, there's Crowley sneaking it into his pocket. (And if we get an "Oh Good Lord" repeat at seeing Crowley's Heaven outfit, I'm not going to complain).

Alternatively, Heaven is going to find it missing, and they're going to know it was Crowley who took it and Aziraphale has to get it back to try to save Crowley.

Either way, he's going to have to get it.

And I'm betting Mr. BackOnHisOwnSide Crowley isn't going to be too forthcoming when the Supreme Archangel asks for it back.

And let the Spy vs Spy hijinks commence.

..................

Below is one conversation I've dreamed up in my head about all this, if you're into that kind of thing. Enjoy:

Crowley: If only I had access to a place with a truly ridiculous number of old books where one new addition would go completely unnoticed.

Aziraphale: Well, it's a good thing I know this bookshop better than anyone then, isn't it?

Crowley (bearing his teeth): I've reorganized.

Aziraphale: *gasp*

[gardenletter]

Yandere orc x reader ❤️🔥🥀🔪💚 part 3

This is going to be more of ✨WHAT ITS LIKE LIVING WITH XURL✨

Xurl was...always with you. He would often sleep at the side of your bed (when you fall asleep he would sneak into the covers).He would often nuzzle you with his tusks. It was strange to say the least but you weren't complaining you needed the company and being in the forest all alone wasn't the safest as we learned earlier,so having an orc roommate wasn't bad ... especially one so*cough cough*.

You weren't completely in the dark about orc culture...you lived with them for quite a few years ,but you were far from an expert.Xurl's behavior was unusual but you assumed pre and post puberty would change behavior and even what was expected culturally and you didn't see orcs interact with each other in there own homes.Maybe there a more touchy species .So it means Xurl likes you (there not lol he just obsessed with you *cough cough*)

Xurl would often hunt and gather food for you.You have fun running around the woods with him finding food and even Herbs for your little shop

One time you accidentally stumbled upon Xurl taking a bath in a nearby river and you saw everything from his torso up.It was a sight.He saw you and even invited you in but you were too much of a blushing mess

With Xurl being your new roommate you made more space and got rid of low hanging lights so he can walk around more freely(still small lol)

He would often try to follow you into town when you go to work,but you have to always stop him.Times have changed but not everyone has changed their mind set.Your town is relatively inclusive and safe, with a Neko family and Mr Pine being of elf blood.But an orc as you realize is much different than a cute Neko especially when the town is made up of mainly humans. So you do it for his own good.

It does break your heart each day when you see his sad lonely face 😭(but you always promise you'll return)

(he totally stalks you by the forest line to make sure you're safe....yeah)

He LOVES small animals just loves them

I've been living with Xurl for a few months now and he was definitely entertaining and nice to have around. We've been trying to get to know each other again, but funnily Xurl didn't change much...well personality wise anyway.But Xurl has been acting strange as of late. Fidgeting more, stumbling over his words he was nervous and anxiety ridden. I decided I'd bring it up to him. He's beginning to worry me and the moment I decide to open my mouth he shoves one of his tusk rings into my face.The gold piece of jewelry was reflecting the sun beautifully and beyond the ring and his large hands.

I see his eyes

They were practically looking through me.A blush crawls from my neck to my cheeks as I register what this means.As a child I would often see orc couples share matching rings on their tusks similar to the human tradition of wedding rings.I stutter and look around "T-This is lovely X-xurl b-but"I couldn't even finish my sentence before I saw the hurt in his eyes and he lowered the ring."O-Oh I...I'm sorry"I could hear his voice quiver a little and my heart started to swell and I started to choke up.

"Xurl...I'm really flattered..but-" I was cut off again "I thought we had started courting...I should have know...I'm sorry y/n i will go" his head was hanging low to hide the tears in his eyes as he walked to the door I felt annoyed by his fast assumption and interrupting me like THAT SHIT HEAD... "MY GOODNESS XURL CANT YOU LET ME Finish A SENTENCE" and I quickly grabbed his hand stopping him from moving towards the door.He looked at me with a mix of confusion and relief as his hand clasped over mine ."I was going to say I'm flattered and I should have known what some of the stuff I did for you implied in orc culture.I've gotten rusty in the department"his eyes raised from the floor but still held a sad look.

My face flushed as I thought of my next words "Xurl I don't want you to leave...I like you a lot...........Like in a romantic way but I didn't think we were counting originally so the ring was a surprise".He shot straight up making him reach his full height and his eyes filled with hope "Xurl...I...lov-" but before I could finish my word strong arms were around my waist and lips on mine.I relaxed in his touch.

"I'm sorry"....

"I'm sorry too"

A smile danced on our lips as he looked at me and his grip on me tightens slitly"I know the tusk ring is more of an engagement thing but will you still expect it.I want others to know your mine"heat was in my cheeks at his words and I felt my legs fall under me but with Xurls arms still around me I stayed standing"y-yes...I would love too....as long as you stop interrupting me " he chuckled at my comment "sorry love I was just nervous"and his lips envelope mine once more as he slipped the "ring" on to my wrist.

Your all mine

I hope you liked part 3 of my orc oc lol.if people still show interest in Xurl I will make more stuff on him and hopefully my other ocs.So show some love and I hope you guys are doing well

Love gardenletter 💕

[slowburningechoes]

let me take care of you

Summary: After an exceptionally difficult case, Spencer comes back home tense and stressed. You decide to help him release some of the pressure the best way you know how. It's situations like these where Spencer needs to sit back and get the treatment he deserves.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Content Warning: 18+ content (NSFW/NSFM) | stressed Spencer, oral (m receiving), breeding kink, switch!Spencer, unprotected sex, penetrative sex, etc. // this is my first fic in 3 years so pls be nice

Word Count: 2.7k

please feel free to request, I always need ideas!

Spencer had just returned from a nearly week long case across the country, and from the sound of him carelessly dropping his bags by the door you could tell it had been one that required a lot from him.

"I missed you," you say, entering the living room and walking to him with open arms.

He wrapped his arms around you tighter than you could ever recall he had before, and then he leaned down to bury his face in the nook between your shoulder and your neck.

"You have no idea how much I've needed this, y/n," Spencer sighs, bringing his face to yours in a soft kiss.

When he pulls away, you look up at him with concern, "Tough case?"

He begins to pull off his coat as he nods to confirm your assumption. "Quite. I usually have no problem with the copious amount of reading that comes with any case, but there was something about the brutality and senselessness of these murders that really got to me."

"Was it children?" You ask as you place your hand on the side of his face, brushing your thumb over his cheek.

Spencer presses his lips together flatly before responding, "Yes. Most of them were Henry's age, but - I don't really want to talk about it. I'm going to grab a shower, okay?"

"I can run you a bath, it might relax you more," you offer.

He abruptly cuts you off, something very out of the ordinary for his usual behavior. "No, no... but thank you. I, uhm, I think I need to have the hot water my skin and just... just get it out of my head, okay?"

Spencer begins unbuttoning his shirt on the way towards our master bathroom, muttering something inaudible to himself. You hear the water turn on and yet you are still frozen by the front door. This was probably the most tense you had seen him after a case, and to a certain degree you felt helpless. He had rejected your offer of a bath and you're sure that he won't have an appetite afterwards either. You begin considering all the possibilities of what you could do to help him relieve some stress and what he might be up for. Suddenly, the perfect idea of how to take care of him hits you, so you begin the set up.

Thankfully, Spencer spends an extensive amount of time in the shower, giving you plenty of time to gather the supplies you need and place it all perfectly before you hear the water shut off. You utilize the last few minutes by rushing to change into something more appealing than the sweats you had worn all day, and plop on the end of the bed, crossing your ankles.

Spencer opens up the bathroom door wearing nothing but a light purple towel wrapped around his waist. He had his eyes closed as he ran his fingers through his wet curls, dripping more water droplets down his strong shoulders and exposed chest. When he eventually opened his eyes, they became wide with surprise.

He scanned the room, observing the various white candles lit throughout and the two glasses of wine on the bedside table. Soon enough, his eyes reached where you were perched on the bed wearing his favorite deep wine satin cami. Spencer's mouth parted slightly and his teeth grazed against his bottom lip.

"What is all this, y/n?" He asks, coming to stand in front of you. His gaze locked on you from above and a sudden rush of heat flooded your cheeks.

You responded to his question with a suggestive smile, "You're so on edge, Spence. I figured I could do something to help. Did the shower work?" You stand up to hand him a glass of the aged cabernet sauvignon you had poured, before and pressing your palms against his bare chest.

"N-no," he shook his head. "I mean - a little, but not as much as whatever you have planned." He sipped quietly on his beverage before placing it on the top of the vanity.

"First thing's first, take a seat," you gesture to the vintage velvet lounge chair across from you.

Spencer moves to sit without question and you follow to stand behind him. Placing a small amount of massage oil on your hands, you begin to massage out the tension. You work your way from his shoulder blades up to the nape of his neck, proceeding to press small kisses along his neck and jaw as you progressed. His body was already radiating with heat from his warm shower, but the strategic working of your fingers was what made him melt under your touch.

"I'm sorry that the case was so demanding, baby," you whisper in his ear. "Let me take care of you."

A small moan of agreement slips from his mouth as his eyes flutter to close.

You proceed to work out the knots you find buried in the muscles of his upper back with care and move to massage his scalp to help alleviate the headache you were certain he had developed through his hard work.

As you massaged, you whispered every little thing you appreciated about him: how hard he worked, how he always made sure you were taken care of, how he motivated you to be a better person, how safe you felt in his arms, and a couple dozen more you could think of off the top of your head.

As the tightness of his body began to subside and his eyes were still closed with relaxation, you took the opportunity sneak to drop to your knees in front of where he was seated. The abandonment of your touch startled him, but you could tell from the dumbstruck look on his face that he wasn't disappointed in the adjustment of your position.

"Baby, please -," Spencer begins as you lean over to press your index finger to his lips.

"Shhh, I know," you respond, leaning over to kiss the trail leading down the the top of the towel, causing the outline of his bulge to twitch. "Like I said, I'm going to take care of you... in every. single. way. Just like you deserve."

You slowly pull the tucked edge of the towel from his waist, pulling it out from underneath him and tossing it beside the chair. The cold air hitting his thighs caused his erection to slap up onto his stomach, quite possibly the hardest you had ever seen it. A strong vein pulsed along the underside of his shaft and Spencer let out a low groan as you licked a stripe along it. You wrapped your lips around the head and slowly rotated your tongue in circles, occasionally gliding your tongue along the slit. Spencer completely fell apart beneath you, taking breaths so deep and shaky that his finger nails were leaving contrast streaks in the velvet arms of the chair.

"God," he breathed out, bringing one hand to thread through your hair as you pushed him further into your mouth. "I - I love you so much."

You came up for air, looking up at him with wide eyes and glistening lips, "I love you, too, Spence. Just relax and enjoy yourself, okay?"

"Oh - okay," he responded, throwing his head back in pleasure as you began to establish the rhythm you knew he liked most.

You tried your best to look up while you took him down your throat, even with watery eyes. Nothing compared to the faces Spencer made when he completely surrendered himself to you. Especially now, with damp curls framing his face and his bottom lip red and swollen from biting down on it so firmly. His brow was furrowed similar to how it was when the wheels of his genius mind were turning. He looked nothing sort of a Greek god absorbed in the ecstasy of his favorite vice. The noises were an entire other obsession of yours, the usually expansive vocabulary of the boy genius suddenly became limited to foul language and subconscious slips of pitiful moans and whines. It was becoming increasingly rare for you to take over, so you decided to savor ever minute.

After continuing to utilize both your hands and mouth at the pace Spencer preferred, you felt the stiffness in his shaft grow up towards the head which you knew was a sure sign that he was about to come undone. As you felt him near his climax, you quickly let off of him with a pop. The sudden decrease in stimulation made Spencer whimper and he reached out his hand to your face with his big golden brown eyes begging you to continue.

"I was so - so close, baby," Spencer mumbled, barely to gather words.

You bring yourself to lean over him, shrugging off one of the straps of your negligee. You bring your lips to his and kiss him softly. "I know, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to finish in my mouth, you know how much better you feel when you fill me up."

A guttural groan pushed passed his lips as those final words came out of your mouth. Spencer leaned forward and pressed a trail of passionate kisses from your neck down to your exposed shoulder, bringing one hand to cup under your backside and the other to slip the strap from your opposite shoulder. The lack of support from the straps caused the slinky dress to shift down and reveal your bare breasts. As soon as he saw them, Spencer drew his mouth to the hard and sensitive nipple of one and twirled the other in between his fingertips. You couldn't help but cry out, gripping onto his thick waves as a pool of warmth began to settle in between your legs. Sometimes you genuinely believe that Spencer must be able to read minds (and this was one of those moments), as he dropped his previously occupied hand down to your navel, slowly gliding down to where your wetness grew.

When his fingertips felt the nakedness of you, a feral look glazed over Spencer's eyes. "No panties?"

"No," You shook your head, your face plastered with a mischievous grin. "I figured this would be one of those nights where you'd like easy access."

"You couldn't be more right, sweetheart," he responded, moving to move his fingers in figure-eights on your clit.

As your arousal began to grow stronger, you felt your clit begin to throb from all the stimulation. You wanted him inside you - now. You reach under you and begin to position the head of his sex at your entrance. As he continues to work his magic with his fingers, you sink down onto him slowly causing both of you to cry out in satisfaction. Both of his hands move back to cradle your ass and support you gliding up and down painstakingly slow on him.

"You're so big," you manage to mumble. "I've taken you hundreds of times, but I just - you always manage to stretch me out more."

Spencer pushes you down to sit with all of him inside of you, causing you to yelp due to the sudden pressure. "God, I swear... this pussy was made for me. You were made for me."

There's something about how he says it that makes you want to pick up the pace, bracing your hands against his chest and moving in a way that causes the type of friction that makes it dangerously easy to let go too quickly.

Spencer's large hands begin to roam along the curves of your body, attempting to admire every detail in between his eyes rolling back in his head from the work you were putting in. He firmly gripped your hip with one hand and began fucking himself up into you uncontrollably.

"How did I get so lucky?" Spencer inquired, sitting up to wrap his other arm around your waist and bury his face in between your breasts. "You're so perfect."

After a few more thrusts, you find yourself being picked up while still placed on his cock, Spencer lifting you in motion as he thrusts himself up into you. He places your back against the wall, something that only happened when he truly let himself lose control. He used to wall as leverage to drive himself into you so deep that you moans became reverberating cries of pleasure. As one particularly sharp cry bellowed out, Spencer crashed his lips to yours, almost automatically slipping his tongue inside to taste you. As he picked up the pace, he pulled away slightly, his lips still grazing yours as his cock pushed further up into your cervix.

The moans exchanged while you were still nose-to-nose was the most intimate and untamed experience you had ever felt. The sweet mint scent of his breath and the permeating smell of sex mixed together with increasingly sloppy thrusts up into you pushed you further to the edge.

He must've noticed your thighs begin to quiver because he dropped two fingers to motion once again on your deprived and desperate clit. "Let go, baby. Cum on my dick - god, please cum on my cock."

Spencer's encouragement alone was more than enough to push you over the edge, but the thrust he gave at the end was so desperate and forceful that it sent waves of pleasure crashing through you. He continued to fuck himself up into you with unhindered rhythm thanks to your arousal soaking down onto him.

The feeling of your walls contracting around him and your wetness soaking down to the base of him made Spencer have to work hard to maintain his sanity. His legs were becoming increasingly wobbly and he could tell that he was so close to finishing.

"Y-y/n, I'm about to -," Spencer croaked out, his eyes desperate for reassurance.

"Cum for me, baby... fill me up. I want to be so full of you that you can watch it slowly seep out," you encourage him.

He throws his head back and pushes so deep inside you that you feel like you could split in half. You feel his cock twitch nearly up inside your stomach as hot ropes of cum are released in side of you. Even as his finishes, he can't help but keep thrusting into you, saying a variety of cuss words and nearly incoherent bits of sentences. "Oh, fuck, y/n. N-no we're not going to l-let a single drop of this go to waste. I want y-you to go into work in the morning knowing that my f-fucking cum is buried inside you."

"Mmm, would that make you feel so much better?" You tease, feeling his length become less rigid inside you.

Spencer leaned forward to press an open-mouth kiss on your collarbone before slowly removing himself from you. "Yes. Fuck, baby, even when you're the one in control you make me feel so safe and confident. I seriously d-don't know how I got so lucky to have you. There's something about knowing that you have my cum inside of you all day would make me feel so secure... and it really takes my mind off of some parts of the hard stuff."

"Glad to be of service," you smirk, going up on your tippy toes to kiss his soft lips firmly. "I'm more than glad to be your distraction, both when you're here and when you're away."

"You're the only distraction I'll ever need," Spencer grins, smacking your ass softly. You begin to walk to the restroom when you feel him grab your wrist. "Seriously, y/n. You keep me sane. Thank you for always being here for me."

"I'll always be here, baby. For the deep conversations when you want to talk or when the best way for you to cope is physically, I'm here. Just like you are for me," you say, rubbing your palm against his chest.

"I love you," Spencer responds, picking your hand up to kiss it.

A blushing smile floods your cheeks. "I love you, too, Spence. How about I go clean up and then we finish that wine, huh?"

"That sounds like a plan... and how about I read some of my new poetry book to you?" he asks, a clear sign that he finally had the case completely off his mind.

"Perfect. I love to when you read to me. I'll be right out, Spence."

Your plan of relaxation and distraction had worked, and you had to admit - it was one of your favorite responsibilities as Spencer's girlfriend... for obvious reasons.

[depresseddepot]

watched alien: romulus. so many fucking good cinematic moments. actual "review" (NOT spoiler free) under the read more

Firstly the good: I think they accomplished their supposed goal of matching the vibes of the first movie. I think the callbacks/references/quotes were a LITTLE on the nose, but each of them made me kick my feet in the theater, so they still got me lmao. The soundtrack gave me chills. The fucking part where the oxygen is sucked out and she's dangling being COMPLETE SILENCE was soo cool. The part when Andy realizes he needs to kill one of the crew members (whose name I don't know, which I'll get to later) and he says his "you finally won't think of me as a child anymore" line and then sprints to hunt one of them down was so up my alley i had to physically restrain myself from laughing and clapping during the movie.

Next, the bad, or more the not so good: it was so fucking dark. The darkness in the beginning on the colony was cool because it felt appropriate, but the darkness later was REALLY frustrating. I was watching it in a local theater with not so great image and light quality, so maybe the darkness was actually an issue with the theater, but I can't know for sure until I rewatch it on DVD. Which I will almost certainly be doing, because I COULDNT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING HALF OF THE TIME. This is probably a me thing, but I feel as if so many of the characters slurred or murmured their words, and without subtitles that is just impossible for me to understand. The only characters names that I know is Andy and Rain and that is ONLY because I read them in an article before. I think one was named Kyle? The CGI was actually frighteningly good in every aspect EXCEPT the android on the station (which....that was SUPPOSED to be ash, right?) I had misunderstood that article I read, because I thought Andy and Rain were BOTH androids, but it turns out my assumption of two androids was accidentally correct.

I could nitpick for hours, but god I love these fucking movies. I was so so SO worried they would take it away from the androids, but they didn't. The part with Andy restarting in the red water room was so fucked up and so so so cool. I LOVE the way they were riding the line between androids being evil/fucked up/uncanny valley while also being good and, most importantly, worth going back for. It displays the situation of androids just as complex as it is. It makes me hopeful for future alien movies to see how they'll tackle those issues, because I was a little worried they would fall back into the "androids evil humans good" thing. My pipe dream is an official alien franchise live action movie with an android/human relationship, so that maybe it will kick the scene into high gear a bit and we'll get all sorts of new media with those themes.

Andy has joined the ranks with some of the best fictional androids I've ever read/watched/seen. That scene of him running and then standing motionless in the airlock made me feel like I was fucking ascending, like I was forgetting to breathe and getting lightheaded because I was so excited. The movie delivered both HAL and Bishop (for lack of a better comparison) in one person and fucking christ the actor did just a good job. The twitching while he restarted. Christ.

I won't sleep very well tonight but not because I'm scared who said that

I also really enjoyed the lore about the world these movies are set in. The mining colony was cool as fuck to see and I LOOVVVEEEE janky ass homemade spaceships that run like a square bicycle wheel. I did feel as if Rain didn't have enough information to be making the calls that she did (ie, not trusting the serum? Why not? Obv WE know not to, but how did she? If she been in a scene where she had CLEARLY seen the cage with the rat, this example would've been fine, but there were other little things like that that felt off. This was her first time in space, first time (presumably) in anti-grav situations, and she somehow managed extremely well, as if she was trained for it)

Anyway. Thats all ive got. I am emotionally spent and I cannot wait to get my grubby hands on a DVD. I heard rumors of another movie (Alien: Earth?) but that was on twitter which I quickly bailed on to avoid spoilers.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

I have to ask, why are you so deadset not to write for Twilight? I tried to see if you already gave an explanation, but I couldn't find anything. Especially when you have so many requests for it. Don't you like Twilight anymore? I have to say it's a little odd 😕🧐

Ooft that explanation is about 2-3 years back now.

I'll explain again from what I remember after 2-3 years. I should start by saying at just point I had been writing for twilight for about...6 years maybe?

I was slowing down and getting into a writers block and then drama happened.

Long story short the final nail in the coffin was being accused of being racist because I preferred the Romanian coven over the Egyptian coven and it made me sick to think people could going through my writing at the time and tearing it apart looking for any kind of evidence to prove it. So with the drama and all that I said "fuck this. I had a good run. See ya later. I'm not sticking around for this shit."

And it put me off of twilight completely. I stopped reading fanfic. I deleted all of my old WIPs for twilight and focused on me, my mental health -and Jonathan Crane and Edward Nygma but shhhh 🤫-

My experience with this blog back then is the more followers came more attention which led to more of the bullshit. As I have seen with all platforms. On tumblr, I saw other blogs being called out left right and centre for one thing or another. Some valid, some not valid, and now it was my turn... again...for something else because the other ones didn't stick. However, 3 years later and being in other fandoms, I realised something.

In the twilight random, I've been accused of being a body shamer, a manipulator because of my follower number, racist, pretty sure sexist a very long time ago, and the list goes on. All from the twilight fandom. No other fandom, and I've noticed those accusations stayed in the twilight fandom. And every single one made me wonder wtf was going on. And you'd think I'd forget these accusations. The people who point the fingers seem to forget. I don't forget. I remember the feelings of confusion and terror when I got accused for every single one. So i wasn't very pleased when the reason given for my 'racism' was an assumption that I preferred the Romanians over the egyptian coven was because of their races and it must be my deep rooted racism that makes me prefer one fucked shit over the other. Both covens did fucked shit. I just had more curiosity and interest of the Romanians over the Egyptians and that got twisted into what was then called my inherent racism. I'm a sucker for villains if we haven't noticed. 🤷‍♀️

Now, 2 or 3 years later, I'm not completely against twilight. I'm over the drama. However, it does make me want to stay in my own lane, really. I'm kinda done trying to be friends with everyone because I know not everyone is on here to be friendly. There are people on here who haven't said shit to me and don't like me because X,Y and Z. So now older I realise I came in with the wrong mindset. People come online for entertainment, and entertainment comes in all shapes and sizes and there's nothing more entertaining than coming after someone in the name morality. Of course someone is gonna jump on, see the writing and make assumptions.

Its why I made the rules in the pinned comment. I'm not gonna share my political views or anything like that and fiction stays fiction over here. I have no patience for the argument that my writing gives insight to my very soul anymore. In this blog, we're here to have a good time, let the imagination pop off and have a good giggle. That's all.

So twilight was the beginning and taught me a really hard lesson, probably a necessary one too. Some people are just here for a fight on the Internet. I'm not the first or the last to be accused but I'll say one thing. It's been nice not having to look over my shoulder on every post I made for the last 3 years incase someone assumes the worst.

Would I come back? I've honestly been considering it. As much as there was bad there was twice as much good. I got a lot of love and support. I've met wonderful people from that community and a bunch of them have stuck around and had my back. Something I can't begin to thank them for. I'm very grateful to them and have no regrets. I'm not thoroughly put off of twilight anymore and I'm pretty much done trying to be understanding and civil to people who don't have the same intention.

Btws the irony isn't lost on me that I've said I'm over it but put out this massive thing but I figured my stance is still the same and so since people have the guts to accuse me of fucked shit then I shouldn't have to be quiet on their account later on. :)

[bunnyreaper]

oh my god i,,, 🥺 i know i was JUST here but i am once agin. sliding into your asks to propose more father things--

the teenage/older child brings home their first partner, how would gabo handle it, and what do you think would be able to win him over? 👀

notes: angel hi!! im ngl this took me a while bcs i was half convinced this ask only happened in my dreams sksksk, i also struggled so if it's bad im so sorry, i went for a lil fic rather than hc's???

warnings: f!reader, slight overprotective gabe.

The second Gabriel lays eyes on the young man, you know he doesn't like what he sees. 

Josh, as he introduced himself, holds himself with far too much confidence for an awkward 17-year-old, yet he tries to pull it off all the same. 

When he smiles as he shakes Gabriel's hand, you begin to worry.

Your own greetings are much more friendly than your husband's, as you're intrigued to see your daughter's choice of guys. Seemingly a little different from your own at that age. 

Motherly instincts take over, and you pull everyone to the kitchen, so you can get Josh a drink and see if he's hungry. 

"Mama, he doesn't need feeding." Your daughter sighs, seemingly embarrassed by your maternal display.

Gabriel stands quietly, watching Josh from the corner of his eye as he makes himself at home at your kitchen island. You quietly watch Gabriel, ready to mediate at any moment. 

"So Josh, I hear you're on the football team?" You mention, hoping to start the process of getting to know him somehow. Your daughter has been very tight-lipped about her boyfriend, even with you.

You can practically feel Gabriel's eye twitching as his brain makes all sorts of assumptions.

"Yes, Mrs. Reyes." He responds politely. "I'm a running back. Did you play football, Mr. Reyes?" He turns his attention to Gabriel. While you sense Josh is a well-mannered boy, you can see he's desperate to win Gabriel over. 

"Basketball, mostly, but a little bit of football too." Gabriel offers a forced smile, and you can tell he's really trying to adjust to the newness of this scenario while fighting all his papa bear instincts. 

"And please call me (Y/N)." You chime in, approaching your husband for a moment as you stroke his arm. 

"I'd be scared to see you on the other team for sure." Josh laughs good-naturedly. 

"He didn't always look that mean and scary, he was a lot dorkier in high school." Your daughter interjects, ignoring her father's scowl. "What? I've seen the pictures! Definitely not as big and burly as he is now." 

Gabriel crosses his arms over his chest, sending your daughter a playful glare. "Well, a life in the military builds you up." 

She rolls her eyes in the way she usually does. "Mom doesn't look like a tank." 

"I know I've let myself go a little, but I'm not that out of shape!" You gasp, pretending to be offended by your daughter's comments. 

"You're perfect, mi vida." Gabriel whispers, softening for a moment.

"Gross." She declares, her nose crinkling in disgust. "I'm gonna go change, okay?" Your daughter sends you a pleading look that begs you to keep things calm while she's gone.

She leaves the kitchen, and the room falls quiet before Gabriel fills the silence. 

"So what are your intentions with my daughter?" 

"Gabe!" You gasp, smacking him playfully. The poor boy was going to be traumatized. 

"Uh, I just really like her, I swear." Josh's smile is soft and genuine. "She's sweet, she's been tutoring in Spanish because I've been struggling, and I help her with physics." 

"She hates physics." You comment, knowing that the help would really be doing a lot for her. 

Josh looks somewhat nervous, though entirely truthful. "We just realized we have a lot of fun together." 

Gabriel simply nods. 

"Happy?" You ask, brow raised. Time would tell what was to become of Josh, and what his intentions were--he really didn't need the interrogation. 

"I understand." Josh offers. "My mom gave her a grilling too. She handled it really well, though." 

You chuckle, though your chest flares with your own protective streak. 

"As parents, we can't help but be overprotective." Gabriel adds. 

"Some of us are better at keeping it to ourselves, but my husband is a barbarian." You nudge him with your hips teasingly. "I'm not going to pretend to understand you men." 

"He's hardly a man." Gabriel comments and then is fixed with a sharp look from you. "No offense, kid." 

"It's okay. When I heard her last name, I knew that if I hurt her, I'd probably end up in a ditch... sorry." Josh cringes, realizing that's probably a little too blunt.

"I wouldn't put you in a ditch. Too easy to find your body." 

"Gabe!" You chastise, but the two are sharing a laugh regardless.

Gabriel is warming up to him, even if it's just a little bit. You know it'll take some time for him to truly trust Josh with your daughter's heart, but for now, it's a step in the right direction. 

"Uh, Mr. Reyes," Josh begins the conversation again. "I was actually wondering, would you have any advice for someone looking to join the military?"

"Don't." Your husband replies without missing a beat.

"Hey now, if we both hadn't ended up in Overwatch, we never would've met." You add.

"I suppose." He says, before taking a moment to think of some actual advice. You can almost see him slip into Commander mode. "Whatever ego and pride you have going in won't get you anywhere. Leave it for your civilian life. And get a therapist sooner rather than later. 

"Right, sounds good." Josh nods, a little taken aback. 

"You know, if you're still together through your training, it's going to make things really difficult. Being with someone in the service isn't easy, and my daughter doesn't deserve to be hanging onto some guy who just comes and goes." 

You cringe at Gabriel's harsh words, even if you're right there in believing your daughter deserves the best. "That seems slightly hypocritical of us to say." 

Gabriel raises a brow at you. "It's not the same, you were right there with me."

"Don't go giving them ideas." You mutter. "But, it was still hard, as all relationships are. You can figure that one out for yourselves, though, I'm sure." 

Josh seems to be absorbing the information. "Yeah. Thank you both for your honesty, though." 

"Are you sure you don't want something to eat?" You ask, practically desperate to offer more hospitality. 

"No, I'm okay, thank you." 

"Piece of advice, if you're going to be sticking around." Gabriel begins, his voice not brash or challenging. "Accept the woman's cooking. She'll feed you one way or another." The words serve as a small olive branch.

"Yes sir." Josh nods, and you and Gabriel share a look. 

"Everything okay?" Your daughter asks, returning to the kitchen with a skeptical look. 

"Everything's fine." Her father replies, yet she looks to you for confirmation. 

"It's good. I'm putting a pizza in the oven." You add. 

"Of course you are, we're gonna go watch movies." She says, tugging Josh off of the stool.

"Not in your room, you're not." Gabe adds, ready to follow them both. 

"Dad!" She cries. 

"... I just wanted to spend some time getting to know the kid. Cálmate, chica." He smirks. "Besides, if we're all on the couch, you can cuddle up between your two favorite guys." Gabriel pulls your daughter into him, embarrassing her with kisses smothered all over her face. 

She squirms, pretending to hate the attention. "Cállate la boca, papa!" 

[mrvelocipede]

I spent some time this afternoon in a slightly cold-ish haze, applying stain samples to pieces of wood. Some of the resulting colors may end up on the floorboards, eventually. The weird blue-greens are in there because I want to mix small amounts of them in with some of the browns, to make better shades of brown.

It's absolutely mind-boggling how many different individual components go into building a house. There are obvious materials, like framing lumber and drywall and bricks. (There are so many different kinds of bricks. We got to go to a neat warehouse and look at hundreds of samples of bricks, in many shades of red and orange and brown and yellow and off-white, with and without speckles, spots, textures, kiln-firing marks, and so on and so forth.) But then basically every single visible surface and fixture has to be chosen, and they all have to work together and look reasonably harmonious.

Floorboards. Tile. Faucets. Cabinet doors. Room doors. Doorknobs. Cabinet handles. Sconces and various light fixtures. Window trim moldings. Stair railings. Roof material. Countertop material.

I've learned that kitchen countertops can be made of laminate, like old-school Formica, or else slabs of stone or stone-like materials, and there's very little middle ground in terms of aesthetics or cost. It's either way low-end or way high-end. I mean, there are cheaper and more expensive kinds of stone slabs, but it's all stone, with significant fabrication costs on top of the base material price.

For most of these things, you have to go to showrooms and deal with sales people. And at that point, I begin to run into difficulties.

See, on the internet I get to be the fascinating and mysterious Mr. Velocipede, and talk about whatever projects I've been working on, and post pictures of things I've made. People are willing to think of me as competent, or in some categories an actual expert to some degree, and it's a fairly comfortable persona to inhabit. It's very easy to forget that in the offline world, I'm a very ordinary-looking middle-aged housewife kind of thing. It's not how I think of myself, but it's definitely what I look like to any outside observer.

During the house-building project, I've been constantly, incessantly reminded of why I became Mr. Velocipede in the first place: being a girl in this culture sucks.

I don't actually mind being female (although I often feel like I'm kind of crap at it), but the kinds of assumptions made about you are so fucking insultingly stupid that I've never really figured out how to respond to them. You're supposed to use Pinterest boards and read magazines full of fairy-tale cottages and have a "dream kitchen" that you've been fantasizing about since you got married and stopped fantasizing about your dream wedding.

You're supposed to want to hide all your appliances neatly in tasteful cupboards, so as not to offend guests with your unsightly refrigerator or microwave or washing machine. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to explain to people that I don't want a special board that attaches to my cabinets, to hide the side of the refrigerator. "But you'll see the side of the refrigerator!" they admonish me. "It's not finished the same as the front! It doesn't match the cabinets!"

Yeah, okay, but what if I like having a magnetic surface to stick things on? What if I don't want to spend money on a random unnecessary board that basically dangles from the upper cabinet?

And there is always, always the assumption that you cannot possibly know anything at all about materials and how they work. I got to listen to quite a long speech about how window screens actually block a certain percentage of the light. Did I know that? Well, yes, as a matter of fact I did. That was why I was asking about getting half-screens, instead of ones that cover the entire window.

It turns out that color is a very stressful subject for a lot of people, which I guess I sort of knew, but am now having to cope with more directly. Our architect is all stressed out because I haven't chosen a stain color yet, and I scared him by buying a bunch of sample bottles of weird bright colors of stain. I've been trying to reassure him that I'm very happy to figure out how to mix a custom stain color myself, out of whatever stock colors exist, but this is apparently unheard of.

But I am flat-out refusing to just pick one of the existing stock colors, because they are all too jarringly harsh and simple, and not at all the effect I want. And I can't figure out how to convey the idea that I know how to work with color, I understand that it's going to look different on different kinds of wood, I know what I'm doing, and I'm not going to burst into tears if it doesn't look like some reference photo in a brochure. Those brochures all look awful, and I know I can do better, if only people will stop calling me "little lady" and let me fucking get on with it.

[theanticool]

what should we make of the class action lawsuit against the UFC? I remember hearing this was dead in the water like, years ago... but now it's back and going ahead?

It's never really been dead in the water. It's been drawn out to hell and back by the UFC's legal team because there's so much money and a lot of precedent being set by it. And paying off the estimated damages (like $800 million to $2.4 Billion last time I read up on it) would be way worse than paying for lawyers to stall it out for the UFC/Endeavor. Basically the class action means anyone who fought in the UFC from 2010-2017 can now add themselves into the case.

For clarification, it's been like a decade and the trial hasn't started yet. If it DOES go to trial, my assumption is the UFC and fighters settle for way less than the numbers above and that's just how these things tend to go in American court. I don't know what type of actionable changes that settlement would make for the current UFC and how they do business. Not a legal or business expert.

We have some ideas though. We have seen the UFC change some things because of the lawsuit. One of the reasons Francis Ngannou was able to get out of his UFC contract was because of this lawsuit. The UFC hastily changed their contracts to not be in perpetuity and instead opted for like a 5 year clause. They've let a lot of talent walk out the door since the beginning of all of this trying to claim they don't have a monopoly on the sport. I've heard that they've made other changes to be a bit sneakier about how they lock down talent, but can't find sources on it at the moment.

This is a theory on my part, but I also think this is part of the reason they were not in the running to buy Bellator but PFL was. We know they're not above buying competitors. But it'd look really bad before the judge.

John Nash of Bloodyelbow has been the best journalist in the sport for a hot minute now and everything we know (and that gets spread by bigger journalists like Helwani and Luke Thomas) comes from his (and Paul Gift's) work on covering the case.

Combat Sports Law has also done an enviable job of covering the lawsuit.

[beyondthisdarkhouse]

So is there, like, a limit to what *kind* of stitches you can take out with a seam ripper? When I try to mend something, usually one of two things happens--either I try to yank a big snarl through the fabric, tear it, and have a new place to fix, which I usually do by just sewing the edges of the hole *to* the snarl since it's already there; OR if I'm being especially painstaking I will manage to catch the huge snarls *before* pulling them through, and then I pass the next few stitches through the snarl to hold it together and down and keep all the loops from unraveling. In either case, while I can usually manage to keep the outside of the garment looking reasonably clean the inside doesn't so much have seams as it has keloids--basically a big running knot of stitches looped back on each other, that I just keep doubling back on and stabbing until the needle won't go through it anymore because that's the only way I know to secure it.

Am I just stuck with them? Or if I ever learned to sew properly, would I be able to unpick those mends and redo them? (Or, more likely, get an actual seamstress to redo them?)

(If it matters--most of the garments I've tried to mend by actually sewing are jersey knit; woven fabrics I usually just use those iron-on patches on the inside.)

Oh boy JERSEY. It's a lovely spoilt brat devil of a fabric. I love it so but it's very prone to problems. I myself have absolutely done the overlapping row-on-row of raddled fabric bunched into a seam. I'm going to go backwards, starting with the assumption that holes will happen, before talking about unpicking methods that might prevent the formation of holes to begin with.

Because I mean, sometimes it is all such a pain in the ass that I just sew a new seam further into the fabric and cut the old seam off with scissors, if that won't mess up the thing I'm repairing. Alas, it often will mess it up, and then getting fancy is required.

The simplest answer is to get a stretchy fusible interfacing that will work like an iron-on patch. Your search terms here are "knit fusible interfacing" and "weft fusible interfacing"; you can buy it off the bolt at fabric stores. I use it when my t-shirts get random little holes in the fabric and I want to prevent them from getting any larger--I just cut a little circle of interfacing and iron it onto the back of the fabric. You could cut pieces big enough to cover your keloid areas, iron them down, and then sew through the interfacing with more confidence.

It is possible to darn knit garments, using thread to catch the loops that have been dropped and create a bridge of new stitches that hold it all together. People absolutely do darn T-shirts and fine fabrics like jersey; I personally only do it for knitted items that are extremely precious to me and have large yarn and a big gauge, because I find it a pain in the ass. There's traditional darning where you catch the loops at the perimeter of the hole, then create a woven web of threads over the gap, and Swiss darning, where you duplicate the knitted structure.

A lot of the problems with knit fabric originate with the needles used to sew them. Ordinary sharp needles have the unfortunate habit of piercing and breaking the threads of the fabric they're sewing, and those broken threads can begin to unravel and create holes. If the thing you're unpicking was originally sewn with sharp needles, you might be SOL and have to accept the holes as inevitable. Avoiding this problem requires ball point needles, whose tips have been carefully blunted so they merely push threads aside as they move through fabric. This is way more likely to be a problem with sewing machines, since they punch down with more force than handsewists generally use to push the needle through the fabric, but, you might benefit by doing your hand-mending with ballpoints.

So, with unpicking, one major secret is serger or overlock stitches. These are made by machines that use three or four threads all at once to completely encase the seam in thread. They're used a lot in modern sewing because they're quick, easy, and make garments machine-washable. Hoowever, if you want to unpick the seam, you might find yourself thinking, "Where do I start?"

There is a secret to it. Here's a tutorial on the process, and here's another. Once you know which threads to focus on, the whole process gets much easier.

Which finally brings us around to unpicking seams, full stop.

The biggest problem with unpicking seams in knit fabrics is the extreme likelihood that you will not just catch the thread of the seam, but the thread of the fabric itself. In that case, your best bet is actually to turn the item out to its "good" or "right" side, pull the seam gently apart until the stitches are visible, and carefully pick them out from there. Here's a tutorial. This works with seams made by serger, sewing machine, or by hand. You just have to be wary of cutting the fabric itself when you're coming in to cut the stitch.

Whew! I don't know about you, but now I don't feel like sewing again for a week. (Lies. I will sew again after lunch.) This is as much as I think is useful. If you have more specific questions, I think I'd need to see photographs of the thing to give any more helpful answers.

[dani-luminae]

Part 2 of At All Costs! [Part 1 here!]

~~~

"I'VE FIGURED IT OUT!"

Seeing Merlin, the wise and honorable leader of the Guardians, sprinting around the room like an excited little kid was not what Rose had expected to see when they'd come here. What they had expected when they'd been called to Merlin's tower, the highest in the castle, was maybe a new lesson on magic, or a stern lecture if he'd figured out that the latest catastrophe in the kitchen had been Rose's doing. This was neither of those things.

Anselm and Hop Low were just as confused as Rose.

"Uh. What did you figure out?" Rose asked him.

The grand sorcerer paused by a bookcase with a whirl of his black-and-gold robes, and took down a book. "Your home!"

"My home?" They repeated.

"Yes! The realm you come from!" Merlin confirmed.

Rose wished they had a snappy response for that, but all they could offer was stunned silence. What were they supposed to say to that? They’d decided a long time ago that if their home realm was sealed off then there was no use in dwelling on it. Though right now they were realizing they’d never said as much to Merlin.

They began, “You really didn’t have to go through the trouble…”

“Trouble? What trouble?” He smiled widely. “All the other Guardians know the realms they come from. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t as well. Look at this!” He unfurled a map on the table to show them.

“You borrowed Alberta’s map for this?” Rose said in surprise. Alberta rarely let anyone else touch her grandfather’s scroll; an item like the Falls Map was incredibly rare, after all.

“Only way we could possibly find out what it looks like,” Merlin said. “I couldn’t find any maps of it… recent maps, at least.”

Hop Low hopped down onto the table and peered at the map. Rose and Anselm joined as the map began to shine slightly, a familiar sight. But when usually, lines of ink would begin to bleed into the surface of the vellum, instead the magic just… went away, and the map stayed blank.

Merlin looked puzzled. “What? That’s not right,” he muttered, and waved his hand over the map. It shone again, but still, no map appeared. They’d never seen the Falls Map fail before; it could form a perfect map of any place they asked. “This can’t be – something’s wrong.”

“So I can tell,” Rose said. They reached into their back and brought out a leather-bound book with polished clasps… but what they intended to do with it, they didn’t know. The enchanted atlas couldn’t take them anywhere if they didn���t know the place they wanted to go. “Is something locking us out? I… always thought that was the case.”

Merlin glanced up at them. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve tried to go… home,” Rose said. “Tried the door from Storybrooke that Papa told me about. Tried every Grandfather Clock Door in the palace of Fantasia. When Regina tried to send me home, she couldn’t, and I simply ended up in the Enchanted Forest with everyone else when Storybrooke was destroyed. It just seems that… something’s keeping me from going home. Or that the realm is locked shut.”

“We’re running with a lot of assumptions,” Anselm interjected. “Merlin, what realm are we talking about?”

“A sister-realm of the Enchanted Forest,” Merlin explained. “So close you might think they were the same, but they’re not. It was once called the Mistlands – a collection of kingdoms. Now they’ve all united under one crown, as the United States of Auradon.”

“United States of Auradon,” Rose echoed, and something familiar about that name lasted in her mind. Yes. She thought it was right. It felt right.

“A bunch of kingdoms all united under a crown,” Anselm repeated, looking serious. His dark eyes looked stormy.

“United through diplomacy,” Merlin assured him, knowing exactly what Anselm thought. “Through choice and peace as they saw how it could benefit them all. Not conflict or warfare. And this is how Rose’s family became the rulers.”

“The rulers?” Rose said. “Rulers of what? The whole land?”

Merlin nodded. “Yes.”

Rose looked down at the blank map.

“This is all that I was able to discover thus far,” Merlin continued, as Anselm put an arm around Rose. “I was hoping we’d learn more when we got there… but as you’ve explained, it may very well be that the realm is locked for some reason, if even the Falls Map cannot find it.”

Hop Low walked across the blank vellum like he thought he could help. Accustomed to his antics, Rose scooped up the little mushroom fairy and set him back on their shoulder, where he belonged. They didn’t know what to think about this world, Auradon, where their family apparently ruled. And why was it sealed off? Why couldn’t they go back? Had it been a choice made by their family? Why?

All these questions continued to whirl around their mind as they left Merlin’s tower. The sorcerer had more to study, and for now, Rose didn’t want to badger him with more questions. In fact, they rather wanted to be alone. They gave Hop Low to Anselm and said they would find him later, and headed for the library.

The library was its own wing of the citadel, a labyrinth of rooms and shelves stuffed with tomes, tablets, scrolls, codices, statues, manuscripts – any and all manner of knowledge from almost every realm. Walking through the doors, Rose didn’t realize immediately that they weren’t alone, until someone unfamiliar spoke.

“So. This is the elusive Stronghold of the Guardians, huh?”

Rose looked up in shock, ready to fight immediately as their wand flashed into their hand. They found themselves facing a man they didn’t know, wearing long white and beige robes with blue diamonds on his cape, greying hair, and a confident smile.

“Who are you?” Rose said warily.

The intruder didn’t seem all that concerned about the wand pointed right at him. He continued to peruse a scroll as he leaned against an ornate old writing desk. “Well, you might call me a guardian, myself,” he said without much more than a glance at them. “You see, people trust me with their wishes, because I can grant them. Bet you don’t have a Guardian who can do that, huh?”

“What’s your name?” Rose demanded.

“Oh, how silly of me!” He tossed aside the scroll, stood up straight, and bowed to her with a flourish of his cape. “I am the incredible Magnifico of Rosas. At your service, Princess.”

Rose frowned. “Princess?”

“Isn’t that right?” Magnifico replied as he straightened again. “Daughter of the rulers of Auradon? Or, well, big sister now, since your brother’s on the throne…”

The names caught them off-guard. “You know about Auradon?”

Magnifico scoffed, like it was silly of them to ask as such. “Of course I do. Auradon was once the Mistlands, and the Mistlands were created by Rosas. My home.” He picked up the scroll again, unfurled it and added, “Of course, it’s been a really long time, what with some magical imprisonment, and then some not-so-magical imprisonment, courtesy of your dear old dad, but hey! What’s past is past, after all.” He gave her a sideways glance and a taunting smile. “I still protect his wish as I would protect anyone’s.”

Rose faltered. This random guy was throwing a lot of information at them, but one detail stood out from the rest. “You-you have… my dad’s wish?”

Magnifico cocked his head. “Well, it’s not like I lose them when they’re given to me,” he said arrogantly. “What kind of a Guardian does that?”

A very terrible Guardian, Rose admitted. But they couldn’t help their own burning curiosity. Could this really be true? It felt too… too coincidental. Things were never this easy or simple. Still, they found themselves asking, “What did he wish for?”

Something glinted in Magnifico’s eyes. “Would you like to see?” He lifted his cape like a magician and then whirled it back, revealing a pearlescent, shining blue orb, which floated towards Rose with a simple flick of his wrist.

Rose stared at it. They’d never seen anything like it. As it approached, they reached out a hand. A moment before the glassy surface might have brushed their fingertips, the deep bluish haze became a shining golden hue.

Magnifico saw. “Uh-uh. Mustn’t touch,” he chided, pulling the wish away from their hand with another simple gesture. “They’re very fragile.”

Slightly annoyed, Rose lowered their hand. They wanted to ask what that golden glow was, before something shimmered inside the orb, and they saw someone.

There was a man, a man with dark, neat hair, and bold-framed glasses. He wore a suit and vest, all the same royal-blue color. He was frowning, looking into the distance like he was searching for something, and then a moment later, someone else appeared: a teenager, who hurtled into his open arms, embraced tightly, as the man smiled.

Rose only needed a glimpse of that teenager to recognize them.

As if they had to be told, Magnifico said softly, “You see? He wished for you.”

Rose stared at the image of the wish, father and child reunited. A moment ago the man had looked lost, but now his eyes danced with joy, as if nothing in the world could mean so much to him as his child did. “He wished for me?”

“For you to come back to him,” Magnifico said, as the wish faded back into mist.

To come back. Rose’s heart sank. “I can’t,” they said. There’s no way to get back to my realm, I mean… I’ve tried.”

Magnifico raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t tried every way, clearly. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” he said, as the orb floated back to him and landed gently in his hands. He looked down at it, the blue glow reflecting in his eyes. “‘Cause you see, I can’t grant this wish. Only you can.” He looked up. “Will you?”

Rose stared at the wish. It was all cloudy now. What did that mean? It took them a moment to understand what Magnifico had said. “I can’t just run off and leave the Guardians immediately,” they argued. “I have to… at least, tell them I’m going somewhere. Disappearing without a trace is a recipe for trouble, they’d follow me and assume I was in danger…”

For a second, Magnifico looked annoyed, or at least, deeply unamused. Then he was smiling again. “Well, at least you think of them,” he said. “There’s no reason we have to leave now. Come find me when you’re ready. But try not to take too long, huh? Your dad is waiting.”

With that, he disappeared in a whirl of shimmering bluish smoke, taking their father’s wish with him.

[skaruresonic]

To be fair, ST does do stuff with Shadow that I don't always agree with. One issue that I've always somewhat frowned on and find hard to reconcile even to this day is giving Shadow a gun. ST only gave him a gun because the kids at the time were all into "Call of Duty: Shoot a Man," and instead of giving Sonic one like they wanted, ST decided it would be more germane to give Shadow one. And then people kinda made ad hoc explanations to justify it after the fact, despite the fact that Shadow went through three previous games just fine without them.

I tend to compartmentalize my feelings into two categories: Shadow using guns from a narrative/character perspective and Shadow using guns as a gameplay mechanic. I don't really have a problem with the latter as much as the former. It's clear ST designed ShTH around the assumption that you'll make use of the weaponry. And it's not just that the weapons themselves are meme-y fun, though that is a factor; the game is too much of a slog without them. They're a core part of the game's design and are meant to be used. Unlike SA2 which emphasizes speed over combat and hence why you shred through enemies like tissue paper, ShTH's enemies need at least two hits to die.

However, from a character standpoint... I get kinda "ehhhh :L" about it, even now, 22 years later. And I don't even necessarily mean to frame my aversion in a way that turns Shadow into Batman, as though he'd swear off guns because muh guns killed muh Maria or something like that. It's more along the lines of questioning the premise of the argument: "Well, does Shadow always do what's most pragmatic in combat?" Because... this is the same game where you can flip a bus to squash some grubs in Westopolis. Pragmatism, though a general driving rule, is not always and forever Shadow's MO in an iron-clad sense. In addition, I tend to question whether a gun is the most pragmatic option in certain situations. SA1 showed us quite clearly that bullets do not always guarantee a monster's defeat. So what's the more pragmatic option there? Beating it to death with your fists? Then that kind of defeats the purpose of picking up the gun to begin with, eh?

Besides, I don't think I can fully buy the "Shadow uses a gun because it's the most pragmatic option" explanation anyway because it almost risks veering into "portraying Shadow as The Terminator" territory for me.

While he is willing to make use of the resources around him, at the same time, it's not like he's a robot running protocols to execute the most efficient way of killing someone. He killed Eggman with a karate chop in certain endings, and that was where he was confirmed to be an android and thus in a situation where a more pragmatic execution would have been justifiable.

[all-lars-bars]

Notes for Submas in Rapture so I can empty my brain

Ingo and Emmet with their passion for trains went down to Rapture with their employer Prentice Mill. They both helped blueprint, engineer, and manage the Atlantic Express trains and railways.

When the Express was sold off, the twins went with it, and despite their attempts at contacting their now former employer to convince him otherwise, they never hear from Mill again.

Around the same time Johnny Topside was hoppin around Rapture, the twins, namely Ingo are put under some scrutiny and allegations, I don't really know what but something bad enough that Ingo got sent to Persephone. Because someone's gotta suffer, right.

Anyway, in his brother's absence, Emmet does his damndest to keep the Atlantic Express running in spite of all the splicers and the literal Civil War going on. But eventually he's chased away

Maybe he joins Atlas's revolution bc hey, what does he have to lose at this point, but eh, it doesn't sit right with me. Then again, that could be how Emmet feels about it too. It just generally doesn't settle well with him, but if there's a way to stick it to Andrew Ryam he'll take it.

Back to Ingo, I imagine he meets a similar fate to Topside, Plasmid Test Dummy turned Alpha Series and bonded to a single Little Sister

And that Little Sister is Akari in my mind. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am a sucker for Pokemon Legends Arceus. And also a sucker for Uncle/Papa Ingo dynamics

I have this scene in my mind where Ingo and Akari are out harvesting ADAM when Emmet sees them and watches them for a bit before realizing this Big Daddy has his brother's mannerisms. It even sounds like a train instead of a whale like the rest (which is also 'cause Ingo's too loud for the BD voicebox so he fucked that up).

Anyways, Emmet immediately makes an assumption and tries to go to Ingo. However, he's still a Big Daddy, one bonded to this little girl.

In my mind, Akari is a special case as a Little Sis, as she's full of curiousity which in the ADAM tainted state of mind means she doesn't see a threat until it hits her and Ingo doesn't hurt anything unless Akari tells him to. Neither of them like it when people get too close though, even if they don't see it as a threat

That is to say Emmet gets pretty damn close before he's pulled away by some of his braver allies. All the while begging for his brother.

Neither Akari or Ingo really hear him, not in their states of mind. But they can see his emotion.

"Who was that, Papa?" Ingo lets out a low whistle. "He looked lonely." Another, higher whistle in agreement. "Maybe the next time we see him, we should say hi! I think he'd like that!" He sighs so softly.

I'd like that too

Back to the storyline, I like to think that Ingo and Akari find Jack after he fell through the vents in an escape from Fontaine, helping Tenenbaum and the other little girls bring him to the Sanctuary

Ingo, seeing all the little girls just being little girls has a moment of clarity, some light through the fog of his mind.

He doesn't want Akari to spend the rest of her life in Rapture.

So he leaves her with Tenenbaum and leaves, both the cure and separation causing him to go into a coma.

The last thing he gives Akari is a hat they had found on their travels that she had him try on. It's a bit big on her head, but she'll grow into it.

Then his little girl is cured and rescued.

Until more little girls go missing around the world and Tenenbaum goes back down to rapture.

Over the eight years of surface life, Akari has been raised by her Uncle Jack and Aunt Brigid, always remembering her dear Papa. She shows interest in the scientific field, so when she's old enough she begins working as an apprentice under her Aunt, learning everything the good doctor does and doesn't teach her

Thanks to her "pursuit of science" mindset she can handle large amounts of grotesque scenery and gore. She has even thought about specializing in Forensic Sciences when she gets the chance

Back to the return, although Tenenbaum insists Akari stays behind, the young girl manages to sneak onto the submersible and didn't get caught until they both had to flee from Splicers

After some reprimanding, Akari stayed with Tenenbaum and their rescued little sisters until Eleanor and Delta come along

Watching her Aunt bring an Alpha Series back to life, it gave the girl hope for her dad

So through more mischief and stubborness, she ends up tagging along with Delta and Sinclair (she calls him Gus, much to his disdain) to head to Persephone. Or in her case, simply to Fontaine Futuristics. If there's anywhere a comatose Alpha Series could be, it's there

At some point, they find Emmet, tug him along, ya know. 'Course, Akari hasn't told him who she is, but she doesn't think that's the best thing to share at the moment

Soon enough they get abducted by Lamb, escape, rescue Ingo and Gus, get outta Rapture via lifeboat and dozens of children, and all live happy on the surface