#maybe I’m just misremembering though it’s been a long while

[makotonaegiunderstander]

sorry I’m just kind of live-blogging my replay of DR at this point but I gotta say I am very impressed with Makoto for getting straight to investigating the bodies in the third investigation without being told to. He didn’t touch them or anything, but he did at least resolve to look over them with evidence in mind. It’s a little sad that he was able to do so bc he’s growing used to the situation, but it’s still better than many of the others that were around and missed that same chance.

also gotta love how Kyoko gets meaner and colder the more the game progresses lmao. Not like she wasn’t distant before, but she gets more and more blunt about her refusal to get close to anyone the longer things go on. She drags poor confused Makoto around with her not unlike the way Togami did one chapter before, just going “you don’t have anything else to do so get to it. and ur not getting anything out of me after this either just do what I need and I’m done with you”. Makoto totally misunderstood her personality before the third chapter where she starts getting a better grasp on herself again lmfao

[wayfayrr]

Hello! If I may, I’d like to make a request.

When I was little (between 4 and 8), my brother and I played Ocarina of Time constantly. It was our go-to game when hanging out. We replayed it and found all secrets and stuff. I was wondering if you could do a platonic self aware OOT!Link one shot? One where Link considers the player to be like a sibling to him since they grew up together in a way?

Thank you so much! I really enjoy your work ❤️

you're very welcome anon! this was such a sweet request to write!! I went with the post timeskip link for this seeing as I've already written one for Majora's mask link and I thought it would be more interesting to have that difference between the two pieces <3 I hope you'll enjoy this

[masterlist]

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… do you still have that old copy of Ocarina of time we used to play together? I’ve been kinda wanting to replay it. It’s a bit of a pain to get a new one or an emulator though so…”

“Uh? I think so, I can check in my attic later and drop it around your place tomorrow if I can?”

“That sounds perfect, thanks for the favour man.”

That was a fairly productive phone call, now I hopefully won’t have to mess about with an emulator or shell out for the subscription to play it again. Seeing as Nintendo doesn’t want to make their old catalogue accessible. All I need to do on my end is to wait and possibly google how to set up an N64 in the meantime.

Turns out that we did still have the old thing, and that it isn’t all that hard to set up either so it’s not like it takes too long for me to hear the calmingly melancholic tones of the game’s opening theme. Our old save file is still there too, although some of the stats on the file seem to have gotten a little bit corrupted because I’m convinced we completed it fully. Although it’s been what like 10 years or more since I would’ve last played, it makes sense that I might just be misremembering things. No harm in seeing where we left off though is there?

Well even though the file says otherwise, looking through Link’s inventory really wants to disprove that - there’s something with the same sprite as Zelda’s letter where it should just be an empty slot. It’s not got a name, if I hover over it it simply brings up a missing value error and the button prompt me to read it. It’s not like there’s any issue if I did open it, it’s an old save file so even if it does corrupt I won’t lose anything. 

Nothing happened, just a fade to blank before it glitched out and the inventory screen popped back up so that I could close it and have a look around…

How did Link turn around as I was paused in the inventory and how did his face get so close to the screen?

“[Name]? I knew you’d be back at some point! I knew you wouldn’t just leave your older brother for good… you wouldn’t would you?”

“...How do you know my name..?”

I know that Ai has gotten incredibly good recently but this is an N64, an unmodded one at that, so whatever the hell is happening right now can’t be due to that. This feels like it could be the start to a creepypasta though with everything going on right now - is this like a real life ben drowned - no it can’t be, he’d be crying blood if it were the case and he wouldn’t be as friendly either. 

“Because you told me it all those years ago when you first played through the game? You always spoke to me like I was a real person, like you saw me as your older brother, so it’s only natural that I started to see you like a little sibling right? Then when you disappeared I got so worried, It’s been so long but you’ve gotten so much older! Did you pull the mastersword yourself, because this much time can’t have really passed can it?... Can it?”

He looks almost like he’s about to cry, I should be caref- why am I so worried about hurting the feelings of a fictional character? Is it cause he sees me like a sibling, a younger one; because he knows me from when I was younger; or because he seems so attached to me already? Maybe I should just… turn it off so I don’t have to deal with it.

“I don’t remember how long it’s been, a good few years at least, Since I’ve played it. I wasn’t exactly planning to-”

“Is that what you used to control me!? I’ve never been able to get a good look at it before. Would you mind bringing it closer?”

“...Yeah I can bring it closer.”

The way he interrupted me was so so sad, he’s forcing himself to be cheery when he looks like he’s about to break down, like how an older brother would act. He really sees himself as my older brother doesn’t he? I have to admit that the way he’s leaning against the screen like an excited kid is also pretty cute I won’t lie to myself, if it weren’t for how insane the situation is I don’t think I’d mind him being my younger brother. He’s younger than me now anyway so that makes far more sense. 

Is the screen cracking beneath him? 

It’s definitely cracking under his weight, there are seconds left before it shatters.

“It’s so simple and yet it was the reason that you were able to-”

Glass can only last so long. And now he’s out, lying on my floor in a shocked heap with glass shards surrounding and covering him. After a couple of seconds of neither of us knowing what to do, we both snap into action at the same time, while I try to help him up and check for any serious wounds… he’s just laughing with the widest goofiest smile on his face, grabbing at my arms like I’m nothing but a wisp of a dream. 

“I - wow I - I could never have imagined that I could - that this - that this was even an option for me…”

“But I can be your brother in person now can’t I?”

[bucketsofmonsters]

The Shapeshifting Detective - Part 8

cw: parental death, grief, referenced murder, police brutality, slow burn, more tags will be added as the story continues

male shapeshifter x fem character

word count: 3k

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 (Final Part)

Kate had no idea how long she’d been in here or if the others had been taken into custody. She’d been waiting for hours, locked away in a room with no windows, no clock, no way of telling the time at all. 

Her wrists were sore. Her brain kept circling back to it over and over again. They were unbearably sore, both of them shackled to the table to prevent her from running off. They were irritating at first but after a while, she came to appreciate them, their unyielding weight helping to keep her present. 

She didn’t know what was happening or how long it had been or what would come of her but she knew her wrists were sore. 

Eventually, even they were not enough. She’d been able to stomach a lot in the last days, but sitting still and alone was not one of them. 

She had nothing to throw herself at, no justice to find. She was just here. Alone, in a room, waiting for the dust to settle. Waiting to see how she would come out of this. If she would come out of this. 

The creak of the door pulled her back to herself and her head jerked up to find whoever had come to break the infernal silence. 

When he entered the room she felt like she could breathe again. Her detective walked up to the table she was chained to and suddenly everything was going to be alright. 

“Harvey,” she said, a swell of relief filling her chest. 

When their eyes met she realized her mistake. “A bit familiar, don’t you think miss? Wonder where you picked up that habit?”

It wasn’t her detective at all. 

His dishevelment told a different story than the one she was used to. Gone was the man who just didn’t quite fit his clothes despite having shaped himself to belong in them, always sitting slightly askew with his wild hair and off-center tie. 

No, this man looked like he’d walked through hell, eyes bloodshot and his stubble growing unruly. 

She had no idea how much he knew about the situation, how much he’d been told about his mysterious doppelganger. The vitriol present on his face said he probably knew more than was good for her. 

He leaned over the table, looming over her, and Kate did her best to pull away with her hands chained, tethering her down. 

“I don’t know you,” she spat out, incapable of feigning demure answers despite knowing it was undeniably in her best interest. 

“Really? That’s odd, some people at the station say we’ve gotten quite close. Congratulated me on latching onto the killer so fast. Wasn’t that clever of me? How did I find you out so quickly, I wonder?”

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Then why did you confess to it.”

Of course he believed her mother. She certainly hadn’t done much to earn any trust with him. It stung anyway. “I didn’t. She’s lying.”

“Now now. Your mother is an upstanding woman, I don’t think she would lie to me. And you…” He grabbed her chin and tilted her head to the side, as if to inspect her. She reeled back, pulling herself from his grip, a movement he seemed to find amusing. “Well, I suppose what I think about you depends on how well we know each other. What do you say, Katherine, do we know each other or not?”

He spat her name at her like it was poison. It might as well have been. 

“You’ve questioned me a few times, that’s all.”

“Oh, just a few. I only remember us speaking once but perhaps I’m misremembering. Maybe I wrote it down somewhere. I did find some very interesting notes about you in my office. They were very complimentary, seemed like we’d spoken quite a lot. Can you remind me if that’s true?”

“It was a couple times. That’s all.”

“Consistent. Smart, you shouldn’t be changing your story.”

“You can’t do this,” she insisted. She knew he could, though. That was the problem, wasn’t it? He could do whatever he liked. Who would stop him?

“I promise you I can. You know what I find odd? The way you looked at me when I walked in here. You didn’t look at me like the prime suspect in a murder case who’d only spoken to me a few times. Who were those big, hopeful eyes for? Because I know one thing for damn sure, they weren’t meant for me.”

“You’re insane,” she hissed at him.

His hand snapped up faster than she could track and then her head was being slammed forward into the table in front of her, the world spinning as she pulled back. 

“I’m going to get the truth out of you one way or another,” he snarled. 

“I didn’t do anything,” she sobbed out.

“Maybe you didn’t. At this point, I don’t really give a shit. What was that thing? Are you one of them?”

“I don’t know anything,” she said through gritted teeth. There was no getting out of this, she could see that now. 

“Yes, you do. You’re on its side, the only thing I don’t know is if you’re a piece of shit turncoat human or one of those monsters.”

The door opened and a man you didn’t recognize walked in. Harvey snapped to look at him, snarling out an impatient, “What do you want?”

The newcomer was some other police officer, his hat not quite facing forwards properly and his jacket buttoned up just one button off. 

“Someone wants to see you,” the newcomer said.

“I’m a little fucking busy, actually.”

“I’m sure you are,” he said, and faster than either of them could react, he slammed Harvey forward, throwing everything he had into banging his head into the table. 

It knocked him out cold, his body sliding unceremoniously to the floor as Vincent rushed over to her side, a frantic look in his eyes. 

“Evelyn is in the other room,” he said, speaking as fast as he could get the words out. “They started poking around and we couldn’t make them leave. They were gonna find them either way.” He gestured down at the unconscious man below him. “I just untied them and told them no one would believe them, seemed like the best option at the time.”

She tried to move forward, into his space, the shackles stopping her unbecoming display of desperate affection before it could even really begin. 

He seemed unaffected by Kate coming to her senses about the action, wrapping an arm around her and holding her tight to his side. “Let’s get you out of here,” he muttered, and she could feel his chest moving as he spoke. “I don’t want to- Oh my god, are you bleeding?”

He reached for her instantly, his hand cradling her cheek as the other rose to wipe at a drop of blood she hadn’t even noticed, the viscous liquid spreading across her skin. 

He immediately reached for his pockets, muttering angrily under his breath. 

Upon finding nothing he began rooting around in Harvey’s pockets, pulling out both a handkerchief and a key ring victoriously. 

“I’m going to get you out of here,” he promised, pressing the handkerchief gently to her wound, cleaning it as best he could before beginning to try the first of many keys. “Just hold on a minute.”

“What are we going to tell them?” she asked as he tried key after key, looking warily out towards the rest of the station. 

“You’ll see. I just have to wait for…”

Before he could finish his sentence, all hell broke loose, the sounds of yelling and rushing about filtering through the door. 

“What is that?”

“Our cue.” He said, trying keys as quickly as he could, a slight shake to his hands as he did. Finally, one clicked into place and the cuffs snapped open. 

Kate stood, rubbing her wrists and Vincent gave her a nervous look. “You may want to turn around.”

The words echoed in her ears and before she could really register them, he was changing. The horrible snapping of his bones accompanied itself with the creation of new angles where they shouldn’t be. 

The cracking and shifting noises were drowned out by the noises of chaos that were slowly filling the building, but it did nothing to stop them from reaching her ears. 

She wondered why he had to shift like this. Surely there were more efficient ways to travel from one body to another. Human bodies weren’t that different, seemingly creating a new set of bones and tissues for every one seemed horribly inefficient. 

She thought, perhaps belatedly, that she should be scared. Or at the very least, horrified. And yet she couldn’t quite bring herself to be. 

It hadn’t even really occurred to her, to be honest. Perhaps some of it was due to her current, exhausted, sluggish state. She just hadn’t thought of it, hadn’t considered being afraid. 

Why would she be, asked a little voice in the back of her head. It was just Vincent. 

Instead, bubbling up, slower than they should have, were other feelings. Relief, gratitude, but nothing resembling the revulsion she was sure should be present. 

As he transformed, she was lost in thought completely, busier mulling over the situation than actually watching the seemingly possible transformation. 

He winced at her as soon as he had enough of a face to wince with. “Sorry, you shouldn’t have had to see that.”

Vincent looked more scared than she did, staring at her as if at any moment she might scream and run, never to be seen again. 

She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. It didn’t feel like one, like anything close to being either reassuring or a smile, but he seemed to understand the meaning, giving her a quiet, sweet smile back. 

And then he held out his hand, as if to escort her out of the room. She took it and he led her into the chaos. 

Evelyn seemed to be at the epicenter of it all, shouting and throwing things around the station. No one really seemed to know what to do with themselves, trying to calm her while simultaneously acting like if they got too close they might spontaneously combust. 

As she watched the chaos unfold, the comfortable weight at her side disappeared and suddenly she felt very exposed. 

She glanced around nervously and saw Daniel sitting in the corner, a distant look in his eyes. He seemed like he’d be less of a problem than Harvey had been. 

Evelyn drifted over to her and pulled Kate towards her. She went with little protest, leaning into the woman as she was guided to her side. She was the only other person left who didn’t want her locked up, now that Vincent had made himself scarce. There were worse people’s arms to be clinging to. 

As Evelyn argued and Kate stood, unlistening, at her side, she saw Vincent dart back into the interrogation room and she did her best to avoid looking at the door again, keeping as much attention away from there as much as possible. 

She heard the door creak once more but kept her eyes adamantly forward, tensing up even more at the noise. She imagined no one could tell, it was hard to look more tense than she’d already been. 

She heard Evelyn slam her hand down on the table beside her, hard, and guessed someone’s attention had drifted a little too far. 

Kate should be paying more attention, should be helping more with this plan she wasn’t privy to. She just couldn’t draw herself back into the present. It had been too much, she was too tired. 

And then, storming through the doors of the police station with a bang, was her mother. 

Now she was aware of everything, pulling away from her and further back toward Evelyn. 

An arm snaked around her waist and she was grateful for it, grateful for the reminder that at least someone here was on her side, even if it was more for Vincent’s sake than for hers. 

“Why is she free?” her mother asked, looking around frantically, looking more confused than angry, despite the way she’d entered. 

The policemen around her seemed just as confused as to why Kate was standing amongst them, looking around for someone with an explanation and finding no one. You hoped Vincent would be back soon. You had a feeling you’d be thrown right back into the interrogation room if he wasn’t. 

“She killed him,” Kate insisted quietly, sounding unconvincing even to herself. 

Her mother took a step forward and she couldn’t help but flinch. At that, her mother paused, shifting back once more and keeping her distance. 

“You can’t fool them. They know the truth, they believe me.” Her voice sounded strained and distant and Kate couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was just her mind going. Nothing seemed to quite make sense anymore. 

“They do,” she said, slumping further into Evelyn’s side. The woman took her weight without protest, giving her side a little squeeze that she couldn't make sense of. 

“Of course they do! I am a well-respected woman. And who are you? Unmarried, unsociable, why would they believe you?” The words were careful, intentional, but not how they normally were. There was no tact behind them, not really. 

As she yelled at Kate, restrained and unnoticing of the people watching, it occurred to her that this was not, in fact, her mother. Her mother would never make a scene like this and if she did, if she really snapped like she was supposedly doing right now, she would not keep her distance and try her best to avoid frightening Kate. 

Because that’s what she was doing, stepping away, keeping from shouting too loud, keeping the blame from Kate's shoulders as best she could. It was a show, one calculated to harm her as little as possible while revealing the truth to some closed-minded police officers. 

But Vincent was struggling, struggling to make it natural and believable, so she threw him a bone. 

“You can’t fool me,” Kate said loudly, having no problem making it believable. Maybe she should give Vincent some lessons when this was all over. “They’ll see it soon too. I know you killed him.”

“And I would’ve killed you too if I knew how much trouble you’d cause me,” she said with a scoff. 

And then her eyes widened, looking around at where she was, her breath catching in her chest before she turned tail and ran. 

Everyone was too shocked to stop her, quick orders to chase her down being shouted amidst the chaos. 

Most of the officers left, starting the search efforts. Those who remained didn’t seem to know what else to do with Kate, milling around her awkwardly. 

“What are you doing?” Evelyn snapped. “You heard the woman, she’s innocent, don’t you have better things to be doing than terrorizing this poor girl any further.”

They didn’t seem fully convinced but they seemed more frightened of Evelyn than they were wary of Kate. 

She wondered what it would take for them to fully be done with her, be entirely convinced of her innocence. She imagined there was very little at this point. She’d already messed up too badly, broken too many rules. That crime she was guilty of and so they were convinced that something must be wrong. 

She couldn’t bring herself to care any longer. There was no anger left in her. 

Evelyn began to pull her towards the door and she followed like a well-drilled pup. 

Harvey passed them as they attempted to flee and she knew instantly that it was her detective. She was so much better at seeing it now, at recognizing it, even as distant as she felt. 

He smiled at her and then turned towards the rest of the precinct. 

“And that concludes this case. My apologies for keeping this from you, but I felt the ruse was necessary to find the truth. The lovely Miss Katherine here was willing to help, once she heard my plan. Her intention, of course, was to clear her mother of any suspicion. When we cornered her, she told a different tale. I just needed time to settle the case. Fortunately, she seemed set on doing it for me,” he finished with a put-on laugh.

She heard Evelyn sigh beside her and mutter under her breath, just barely loud enough for Kate to hear, “He really is too much.”

Confused murmurs filled the precinct but Vincent did not seem like he wanted to stick around to clear anything up. 

That felt like it was best. She had no idea where the real Harvey had ended up in the chaos or how long they had until he returned. 

She let Vincent lead her off, Evelyn shifting Kate over to him, shouldering most of her weight as they walked. 

She stayed tucked carefully into his side. It felt safe there, secure in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“Why didn’t you do that before freeing me?” she asked, much later than she should have, but at least she still had the sense to ask at all. 

He looked away, a sheepish air taking over him. “I didn’t want to keep you locked in there any longer than I had to. The plan was just to incapacitate Harvey but… it wasn’t right.”

“You’re an idiot.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I got the job done though.”

“Hmm.” And then, perfectly patient, holding out just long enough to not inconvenience them too badly, she collapsed. 

[curio-queries]

I’m loving your production breakdown posts, they are so interesting and insightful.

I think you mentioned it maybe in the first ep breakdown but it was about expenses. I just thought it was interesting in ep4 when JK mentioned at the chicken place, paying in cash, and he solely has this conversation with Tae, not Jimin. Would there be an arrangement do you think? Or was that scene cut and he’d have asked Jimin too? I’ve noticed in comparison to Bv where they were usually only allowed a certain amount of money between them, with one usually being in control, or a sum for a task, in AYS, Jimin and JK have been whipping out their cards, be it their own or a company card, in Big Dicks store, in Walmart etc.

I just found it interesting

Hi anon,

The finance bits are interesting in the most boring corporate sense if that makes any sense. 😅 Trust me on this. Let's dive in:

In my opinion, it really boils down to two concerns: taxes and sponsorships. Taxes to insure the company receives every possible benefit for every dollar they spend. Sponsorships because some brands can have fussy rules about how individuals interact with their product and especially any competitor's products while they have an active agreement.

Obviously I have no actual insight onto how the finances and budget were managed for any of these specific shows and I know absolutely nothing of the intricacies of taxes in South Korea but in the US, there are many regulations when it comes to how companies can claim expenditures for tax breaks.

Every company that has had me travel for work has gone to a lot of trouble to insure that I was aware of exactly all of the requirements on my part regarding expenditures. I'm 100% sure all of the BTS members are aware of their requirements as well so I don't particularly think there's any motive other than as a cute convo for the moment between JK and V. Imo, the only reason it made it to the final cut was JKs endearing tone in his response.

Let's go through some examples though:

Receipts: in both AYS and Bon Voyage, we see the members be very specific in getting Receipts. JM and JK talk about it as they're leaving Walmart. In BV, it's all of the shenanigans with the money pouch they acquired in Malta and continued using in New Zealand. This is usually documentation required for any operation that's going to be claimed as a business expense for tax purposes.

Personal Spending: off the top of my head I can think of several clear instances where we know that the members are using their own money for purchases we see them make on the shows. In Run BTS ep.70 in Toronto, JK pays for the member's clothing purchases himself. In BV4, JM pays for the member's clothing himself a couple of times (remember the drama of his lost wallet? 😅)

Budget as Content: BV 1 & 2 mostly only include finances as part of the game-ification of the show. The members had to earn money as an allowance for the activities and determine the best ways to spend it. (I do vaguely remember some members wanting to negotiate for more when buying souvenirs? Was that just in the extra scenes? It's been so long, I've been holding off on rewatching until I'm done with my Run series).

Thankfully, the success of BTS has basically nixed the budget games. I think the last time we saw something like this were the Run episodes of a hotel staycation? But the prices were ficticious and not necessarily about real-world spending but rather determining the secret number to not exceed. (If I'm misremembering and there are more recent examples, please share!) Imo, it would just be too tone-deaf to continue portraying the members in that context. I know we all joke about them being broke millionaires, but there's a reason why celebrity game shows always make it clear that the money involved is for charity.

Anyway, back to AYS, the interesting bit to me is wondering about the inclusion of Taehyung from a budget standpoint. How was that reconciled? None of us can possibly know the answer, but it's interesting to think about. Some costs wouldn't have changed at all with one extra participant, like the house rental, or booking the climbing gym or yacht tour. But there were a few extra concessions, getting the extra mattress likely was more a logistics headache on short notice rather than an impact to the budget. And most Korean meals are served family-style so there honestly isn't a huge difference cost-wise. Except maybe the omakase. That I can imagine was noticeably more expensive with an added individual.

But really, the most expensive item per person would likely have been travel. Did someone say Tae was already in Jeju prior to filming? If he wasn't, did the show cover his flights like they would have JK, JM, and the crew? Or is the budget on these shows big enough that it was just another drop in a bucket? Also, the intent likely was for JK to zip around on the motorbike and JM to be on the scooter. I'm curious if they weren't logistically able to get another such vehicle with the short notice or if the budget/sponsorship constraint didn't allow for a third one the day. Or it could be that the scooter exists because of the 3 member count and production thought one of them could be JKs backpack. That bike has the space for it. But perhaps the difficulty to get coverage and/or converse wasn't appealing. Or maybe there just wasn't a third radio-enabled helmet prepared?

I know the various shippers are using this in their arguments. I'd like to firmly state that I am not building a case for either side here. Go do that on your own and leave me out of it. Lol.

There are so many questions and it's interesting to theorize how the finances could have impacted the development of the show. Maybe we'll get some more insight with the remaining episodes and bonus footage but I doubt it. Finances don't usually make for engaging content.

Thanks again for the ask! It's one of the points I want to discuss when I start doing my BV and ITS posts but who knows when that will be!

[jellieland]

“If you don’t get your act together soon you’re going to make me a liar, Martyn,” says Scott, by way of greeting.

Martyn looks up from the chest he was searching through and raises an eyebrow. “Well hello to you too!” He glances around at the fairly empty interior of his and Jimmy’s house. “Wasn’t expecting guests. I would’ve made the place a bit more presentable.”

Scott smirks knowingly. “Oh, would you now?”

“Nah, but it’s a good excuse, innit?” He shrugs. “Anyway, what were you saying? I’m going to make you a liar? That’s a new one.”

“Oh, yes. The other day I said you knew what you were doing,” says Scott.

Martyn snorts. “Ouch. I see. Bold thing to say to a red name.”

“It’s not my fault you keep getting yourself killed!” says Scott, cheerfully. “I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose.”

“On purpose?” says Martyn. “I mean, not sure why you think that, but I think I’m going to take it as a compliment.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you!” says Scott. “You know, trying to go out first after you won, just for the drama. Trying to best Jimmy’s curse.”

“No,” says Martyn flatly. “I wouldn’t do that, and you know it. That’s more your style, actually.” He sounds oddly defensive.

“Alright.” Scott holds his hands up in capitulation, expression softening. “Just wanted to make sure.”

Martyn stares at him for a long moment, as though judging his sincerity.

Scott looks back, open.

“Good.” Martyn brushes past him and out the door to stand on the cliff edge, looking towards Scar’s courthouse.

Scott follows.

The sun is setting.

He looks over at Martyn. He’s staring out over the server, but his expression is far away. It doesn’t take long, though, for him to sense eyes on him.

He turns his head abruptly to Scott, grins, and gestures over the landscape, drenched in red-orange light. “Everything the light touches…” he says dramatically, “is my kingdom.”

Scott snorts, and opens his mouth, but Martyn keeps going.

“A king’s time as ruler,” he says, mock-solemn, measured, “rises and falls, like the sun.”

“Uh huh.” Scott gives him a look as amused as it is fond, as Martyn keeps quoting The Lion King at him. “Scar would be loving this, you know.”

“One day, Scott,” continues Martyn, and hesitates.

Scott can see in his eyes the moment he fully commits to the bit. He’s never been one to do these things halfway, after all.

“One day,” Martyn says softly, “the sun will set on my time here.” He places a hand on his heart, and gazes at Scott with something that looks so close to sincerity as to be indistinguishable. The light behind him makes it hard to see his eyes.

“And?” asks Scott.

“And what?” asks Martyn.

“I might be misremembering, but I think it’s supposed to rise with me as the new king,” says Scott.

“Nah,” says Martyn. “That’s not how it works. You already had a go, leave some for everyone else.”

Scott laughs slightly. “If you say so. I do think it’s our kingdom, though.”

Martyn frowns. “What?” He looks taken aback. Almost upset, even.

Scott raises an eyebrow. “In the film? It’s our kingdom, I think, in that quote. Not my kingdom.”

Martyn blinks at him. “Oh. Right.” He recovers quickly. “And that dark place over there.” He points. “That’s Bigb’s hole. You must never go there.”

Scott snorts. “Low hanging fruit, Martyn.”

“Hey, I’ll take what I can get,” says Martyn.

“You should’ve heard Jimmy earlier. Cleo and I may have been bullying him a bit.” He looks around. “Speaking of which, where is Jimmy?”

Martyn looks at him for a moment, wary. “Why?”

“I wanted to talk to him,” says Scott mildly.

“…Right. Right, of course.” He sighs. “Not sure, over by the Secret Keeper maybe? Wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to yell at it for a while.”

“Thank you, Martyn,” says Scott.

He considers leaving.

Martyn is staring out across the server again.

“How was dying in the void?” asks Scott.

Martyn pauses for an unusually long time, before he answers. “…Slow,” he says flatly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Started out at thirty hearts, so I was falling for… a while.” He looks away for moment. “There was nothing I could do. I was already dead. Just had to fall through the darkness and feel my time run out.” He sighs. “Wasted a golden apple and everything.”

“What, you ate it? Why?”

“Guess I panicked.” Martyn shrugs. “I mean, I had to do something other than just wait to die. Wish I’d chosen something else though.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” says Scott. “If it made you feel better, it doesn’t really matter.”

“No,” says Martyn heavily. “It doesn’t.”

Scott frowns.

“How-” says Martyn, and pauses. He gives Scott a calculating look. “How would you do it?”

“Do what?” asks Scott.

“I died,” says Martyn. “It was pointless. It was stupid. It didn’t matter.” He stares at Scott as though trying to look into his soul. “How do you- how would you make it matter?”

He is, Scott decides, being a bit too obvious to let it slide. “How do you make anything matter, Martyn?”

There is a flash of betrayal in Martyn’s eyes, barely there before it’s gone. “I- I don’t know. Stakes, maybe?”

“Maybe,” says Scott. “But there’s a difference between finding something to care about, and daring the universe to kill you.”

Martyn glares at him, for several long seconds.

Scott looks back.

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” says Martyn, eventually. His voice sounds tight. “I’m not.”

“Why did you go into the dragon fight on yellow, Martyn?” asks Scott, pointedly.

“I wouldn’t have been on yellow if we healed like normal,” says Martyn.

Scott gives him an unimpressed look. He's not entirely sure that's even true.

“Jimmy did it too,” snaps Martyn. “Why aren’t you interrogating him?”

“Maybe I will,” says Scott. “Why won’t you answer my question?”

Martyn opens his mouth, and pauses as though hoping he’ll be let off the hook.

Scott looks back at him.

“…I can’t stop now.” Martyn looks at him, as though pleading with him to understand.

There is an edge of desperation to his voice.

“I can’t stop now,” he says softly. “Nothing else will.”

Scott sighs.

“Haven’t you heard?” says Martyn. “Red names don’t get free time. We just have to keep going until we die.”

“Everyone has to do that, Martyn,” says Scott, tiredly.

“You don’t understand!” snaps Martyn. “I had something to care about, I found something to care about, and that was winning. But now- but- but now…”

Scott takes a step back, and looks at Martyn. Something about him puts Scott in mind of a dog, left behind, alone, in an empty house, and throwing itself at the locked front door, over and over again. Barking and clawing and fighting, to the point of exhaustion.

There’s no point in arguing with him on this.

There’s nothing to be gained in pointing out that “caring” is very broad term. That Scott isn’t convinced Martyn ever actually did care about winning, and not just the idea of it.

Scott sighs again.

“How come, after everything, you still get to be good?” says Martyn. His hands are clenched into fists. “That’s not fair.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, Martyn,” says Scott. “But it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

Martyn exhales slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.” Very deliberately, he relaxes, putting a casual hand on the hilt of his sword. “I know. Forget I said anything.”

“I won’t!” says Scott brightly.

Martyn gives him a look.

“Ok, ok, sorry,” says Scott. He pauses for a moment, considering his words carefully. “You just have to find another thing to care about. And then another, and then another. And so on.”

“That sounds exhausting,” says Martyn. That sounds impossible, say his eyes.

“Less than the alternative, I think,” says Scott. They stand in silence for a little longer, before he smirks. “Besides, if that wasn’t my philosophy then I never would’ve let you win, now would I?”

“Let me- excuse me?!” says Martyn indignantly.

Scott laughs. “It’s a joke, don’t worry,” he says, to soften all the ways that it isn’t a joke, really. “You know me, I would never bend the rules!”

Martyn looks at him, and then his eyes dart away to look across the server, and then he looks back. “I really don’t know how you do it,” he says, voice light enough that anyone else listening would think he didn’t mean it.

“It’s not easy, but I manage!” says Scott, as though he doesn’t mean it, either.

“Yeah, well, that’s sort of the only option, isn’t it?” says Martyn. He looks up at the darkening sky. “You know, you should probably head back before the skeletons start showing up.”

Scott nods. “What would I do if I didn’t have you looking out for me?” he asks sarcastically, eyes soft.

“You know, somehow I think you would live,” says Martyn. He voice is just as sarcastic. His eyes are distant again. “If I see Jimmy, I’ll tell him you were here.”

“Right. Thank you, Martyn,” says Scott.

“No problem,” says Martyn, and turns away to stare, once more, out across the server.

Scott leaves.

He gets back home before night falls, because he knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t take risks by accident.

He doesn't see anyone.

He hopes Jimmy wasn't caught out in the night. He hopes he was right about Martyn, as unlikely as that’s starting to look. He hopes he isn’t made a liar.

He’s not sure he can take caring for another canary.

[avatarmerida]

Um idk what to say about this except Hunter deserves to receive more compliments and Amity has never known how to process Willow’s taste in men

-

“Okay guys, just gimme like 10 minutes, okay?” Willow said, running eagerly ahead. “I just wanna check on my plants real quick. I’m sure they’re okay but I just wanna be totally sure because I-.”

“Go on, we’ll be fine!” Said Amity, seeing Willow was slowing herself down for their sake but desperately wanted to run ahead. Willow didn’t need to be told twice as she darted full speed up the stairs to her room. From the sound of it, her plants were just fine and delighted to see her. As they headed back to the Owl House, Willow’s house was on the way and when she had asked if they could make a quick pit stop Camila saw nothing wrong so long as they were quick and stayed together.

Hunter smiled at the distant sound of Willow happily greeting her plants as he looked around the living room, suddenly aware that it looked stuck in time. A few months ago it was brimming with life and light, and now it was dark and cold without Willow and her dads gracing the rooms with their love and laughter.

“Hey, what are these?” Hunter asked, turning to the dining room table which was covered in glossy brightly colored books.

“Oh, those are just some silly magazines Willow and I used to read when we’d do our homework,” said Amity as she walked in from the kitchen, the vibrant colors reminding her of a less chaotic time. “We would fill out the quizzes inside and gush about these bard coven bands and argue over who our favorite was.”

“Really? Heh.” Hunter flipped through the pages with a quizzical smirk, remembering Willow had once mentioned listening to a band once while they were messaging on penstagram back when they had first met. “Who was Willow’s favorite?”

“Take a guess.”

“Probably the most handsome one, right?” He said pointing to the obvious front man whose face was featured much more than the other members in the collection of mini posters that occupied the series of pages.

“Uh, not exactly,” said Amity, pointing to the corner to the “mysterious loner” of the group. His smile was more reserved than the others and his overall demeanor carried something... familiar.

“Him? Really?” Hunter chuckled, swearing he saw imprints of faded green lipstick stains near his photo. He wondered just how long they had been fading.

“I dunno, Willow has... unique taste.” Amity said with a shrug and slightly soured look. “We very rarely agree on things like that. I mean, she does not get Azura like at all, which just doesn’t make sense if I’m being honest, because I think...”

As Amity continued ranting, Hunter flipped through the pages and read the silly answers written in Willow’s bubbly handwriting, each ‘I’ dotted with a flower and the words twirling at the end as though they were carefully arranged vines. He treated her circled answers like a treasured artifact, admiring the little hearts and daisies she doodled in the corner of the pages. He also couldn’t help but want to take the silly quiz himself and see if their answers matched.

“...but I guess disagreeing can inspire debates. I mean, like the other day I was telling her how when I first met you I called you scrawny and that practically set her off because when she first met you she thought you were sooo cute, so obviously we don’t-.”

“She thought I was cute?” Hunter repeated, tuning back into Amity's rambling.

“Huh? Oh.” Amity’s hand sprang to her mouth, quickly realizing she should not have said that. “Uh maybe? Ya know, ha, it was so long ago, I might be misremembering. Actually, she might have been talking about a wet cat she saw on her way to school so actually-.”

“You just said you were talking about it yesterday.”

“Did I say that? You know, it was so long ago who can really remember what I said, we should-.”

“Amity, if you’re gonna make fun of me could you at least not use Willow? I don’t know why you’d think-.”

“I’m not making fun of you! I just, uh...” Amity insisted, quickly looking back at the staircase to make sure Willow wasn’t coming back yet. She changed her voice to a harsh whisper. “Ugh, okay listen, Willow would kill me if she knew I told you this but... do you remember before Halloween when I told you to change out of your costume?”

“Yeah?”

“She was actually really upset that I said that because she thought that you looked... handsome.”

Now THAT is a look

“Me?” Hunter asked as though there was someone else she could’ve been referring to.

DON’T listen to her.

“Yeah?” Amity replied, still unable to give a reason. “I mean, she was so mad at me for telling you to change, she threatened to summon a cactus to my bus seat before I sat down.” Amity laughed at the memory, knowing Willow was only a little serious about following through. “And she stared at the photo she took of you like the entire ride, like you were a magazine model or something.”

“She thought I looked... handsome? In my costume? Like the costume I’m wearing right now?”

“Shh! Yes, but you can’t tell her I told you,” said Amity, looking around paranoid. “I wouldn’t lie about that though, I promise.”

Hunter made his way into the living room, finding his reflection for the first time in a hall mirror. It was dusty but still he could see the difference from the last time he had seen his own face. There was a lot to process. Days ago he looked completely different and now it was though he had suddenly aged, he was tired and dirty and covered with scars.

“Do you think... she still thinks I look handsome in it?” He said, his hand tracing his newest scar.  “Ya know, with how... different I look?”

“Well,” Amity started, knowing there was more within the inquiry. “She also talked about how much she liked you, ya know? The way you talk, what you talk about-

“She never mentioned my voice being... annoying?”

“No, actually,” Amity said, realizing Willow was probably the only person she had never heard refer to it in such a way, even as a joke. “Which is saying something because she used to always say that having bad eyesight made her hearing better,” Amity recalled. “I don’t know if that’s true or not but Even when you wore those hideous shoes with the holes all over them she still thought you were so cool... for some reason.”

Handsome AND cool? It seemed too good to be true.

“Does she... talk about me a lot?”

“Ya know, if you really wanna know what Willow thinks about you then you should ask her,” said Amity softly, putting her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “But don’t tell her you talked to me, otherwise she’ll get suspicious.”

“But has she said anything about... the way I look now?”

“Oh no, you’re not getting any more information from me!” said Amity dramatically, walking back to the kitchen table. “I’ve said too much already, if she ever found out that I said any of this I’d have more than a cactus to worry about.”

“But why wouldn’t she want me to know? Is she embarrassed?”

“Well I dunno, do you tell Willow you think she looks nice every time you think she looks nice?”

Hunter opened his mouth to offer a smug response before he realized that while he did in fact let Willow know she looked nice it was usually agreeing with someone. She would walk down to the basement to show off a new dress she had found while thrift shopping with Vee and wanted to show how nicely it complimented the cardigan Hunter had repaired for her and Hunter would be in awe of how she always managed to pick colors that brought out her eyes. He would think how lovely, how stunning, how utterly beautiful she looked but he never said these words.

Instead, Gus would usually deliver the compliment. He’d say “Wow, Willow you look great!” and then nudge Hunter in the ribs with his elbow as he’d raise an eyebrow and say “Doesn’t she Hunter?” Willow would look at him with anticipating eyes for his thoughts, but the sparkle that found her eyes with her expectations only increased the things to say, and Hunter would end up only being able to nod in agreement or mumble a simple “yes.”

Is that how he made Willow feel? How could he ever...?

“Fair point,” He cleared his throat and tried not to convey the journey his mind was on and hoping he seemed like he was totally normal about the question. “Thank you for your clarification, I shall keep the matter between us.”

“You’re not gonna act... weird about this are you?” Amity asked, fairly certain she already knew the answer.

“Me? Weird? No! W-w-why would I be weird about this?” Hunter sputtered nervously.

Oh, she definitely already knew the answer.

“Okay, well I hear her coming back so zip it,” ordered Amity. “If I wake up with a cactus in my sleeping bag, I’m taking you down with me, spaceman.”

Hunter wouldn't know how to bring it up even if he wanted to.

“Sorry it took so long,” said Willow, entering the room on a vine. “But they’re doing great, luckily the automatic water system I instilled has been working perfectly.”

“That’s great, Willow.” said Amity with a smile.

“Yeah that’s totally great!” agreed Hunter, his voice sounding panicked for no apparent reason. “Awesome! Cool! Yeah...”

“Yeah,” agreed Willow, confused by the room’s vibe. “But uh, we should probably get back to the others. I don’t want Camila to worry.”

“Oh yeah, good idea,” agreed Hunter.

“Oh, before I forget,” said Willow, pulling something off her wrist. “I found this yellow scrunchie in my room and I thought since your hair is longer again, you could use it to keep your hair out of your eyes.”

“Really?” he said, as she slipped the hair tie onto his wrist. “Thanks, Willow.”

“’Course,” she said with a smile. “It’s your color, after all. Plus we gotta make sure we can see that pretty face of yours.” She added with a wink.

“Haha yeah o-o-okay,” he said with a gulp. “I should uh, g-g-go check if the coast is clear.”

He ran ahead as Willow chucked to herself, clearly pleased with his reaction. She watched as he ran to the doorway and pulled his hair back into a ponytail and secured it with Willow’s scrunchie.

“Woah, did it just get hotter in here?” Willow whispered to Amity, a faint crimson gracing her cheeks as she watched fondly as he scanned the outside area, his pulled back hair making it easier for her to see his defined jawline. Before Amity could offer her comment on the change in temperature, Willow cut her off as she continued in a dreamy tone. “Never mind, I think it’s just Hunter. If ya know what I mean.” she added playfully, bumping Amity’s arm with her elbow.

“I really, reeeally don't,” groaned Amity as though she was in physical pain, having endured this talk for months in the human realm and now realizing that there was no end in sight. “You have got to stop saying things that to me I am begging you!” Amity pleaded.

“I’ll stop when he stops,” said Willow with a shrug, fanning herself with her hand for emphasis (half to upset Amity further and half because she was truly grateful she had found that scrunchie).

[our-transmasculine-experience]

It's been on and off for what feels like the last couple months but I think I might be trans. I kinda remember wanting to be a boy when I was a little kid and I remember I used to try to intentionally make my voice sound deeper when I was like 15(? or maybe 14, something around those ages?) because I hated how my voice sounded but I stopped because my sister and mum took the piss out of me for doing it one time. I want to try presenting more masculine than I already try to do but my parents feel like a massive fucking roadblock to this. There's nowhere I know of that sells binders in person and I don't want to deal with the issues that could come from ordering them online(mainly my parents asking me what I ordered and stuff like that), my mum doesn't want me to cut my hair shorter because she thinks it'll be a shock to me or w/e. I hate having boobs so fucking much(they feel horrible and sweaty and I want them gone so badly but a part of me feels like that specific part might just be sensory issues) and there's no fucking way my parents are gonna let me get rid of my tits and also I remember during a car ride with my mum, sister and grandmother my grandma went on a rant about people asking for pronouns or w/e and while I don't think it got explicitly transphobic(or maybe it did, I don't remember too well) I ultimately remember coming out of it thinking "I will only come out once I'm able to move out of my house and be financially independent :)". But my parents don't even fucking let me try to get a job and I feel like I can barely even get any form of independence and I just feel so goddamn pathetic and with all the shit going on in the UK about trans rights I don't think I'll ever be able to come out even if I am able to eventually move out and the fact that I have an autism diagnosis(which I also fucking hate having so much and I sometimes wish I was never diagnosed) is just a whole other can of worms that I know will also be a massive fucking roadblock to coming out and actually transitioning. I don't want to say that my parents are transphobic(my dad at least seems like the safest person to come out to out of everyone) but my mum still sometimes accidentally misgenders a childhood friend of mine even though she's kinda known him long after he came out as trans and for some reason, I don't know if I'm misremembering what she's said but when she told me that my friend came out as trans I remember her saying something along the lines of "Just because [ ] is a boy doesn't mean you are too"(he wasn't there for this when she said that fyi) so I guess there's a decent chance she's just not gonna accept me as trans and I'm also scared that both of my parents will just think it's a stage at best and decide that they've had enough of me and kick me out at worst and I just fucking hate that I'm like this though I could be massively overthinking all of this and I just feel like shit about it, I just fucking wish I was born a guy or even some genderless blob so that I'd never have to think about this shit ever again. It's all just so suffocating and I hate being like this.

Sorry for the wall of text I just needed to get this off my chest at the very least.

i’m so, so, sorry that you have to deal with that. that sounds absolutely awful, and if you ever need to vent again or ask for advice, my ask box is open! (most of the times)

[michelleelizabethtanner]

Do you think Beth really believed Rio was coming after them after the truck thing in 1.09? I always just assumed she was jumping to conclusions and was so far out of her depth ("He looked at me funny"), but was there something else to it? Did she really want to take him down deep down?

Hi Anon! Thank you for the ask! Idk if I have a super good answer though. I’ve always considered this scene more based on the mistakes Rio made in underestimating Beth’s reaction. IDK why I haven’t thought more in-depth about why she behaved the way she did.

Unless I’m misremembering, everything in that episode showed her anger, and none of her actions around Rio signified fear. I don’t think she was even jumping to conclusions about what he might do to them. I think she was just mad. Yet another man putting her in her place, taking away her power and her financial “security” because he decided her life for her. So she retaliated. Her “we’re good people” excuse was just a cover to get her girls on board. It’s the line she uses all the time to manipulate people (including Rio.) “I’m a good person. I’m a mother. I eat at P. F. Chang’s.”

The fact that this woman can never think through the consequences of her choices surrounding Rio truly astounds me. She cannot be so stupid to blindly lash out and expect nothing to happen to her. I’ve been kind of thinking about this irritating aspect of her behavior. The ways in which she hurts Rio over and over, even once she sees the actual hurt on him, she doesn’t stop. Contrast that with how she enables Dean over and over, who has a proven track record of lying to her and actively harming her. So it makes so little sense why she would lash out, even contrary to her own wellbeing, in this particular situation. She couldn’t have expected that he would be imprisoned forever just because she gave up some laundering details. So what then? Was it a cry for his attention? A cry to be seen? It’s gotta be. Her nihilistic tendencies come through so strong around Rio. He brings it out in her. So it’s like she doesn’t even care what happens to her, as long as he keeps looking at her, as long as she’s feeling that power he makes her feel.

Which brings us back to what was so polarizing about Beth to so many viewers — she’s selfish af. She doesn’t want to be. She’s torn. She keeps thinking if she just does one more shitty thing to Rio, she will prove her goodness to the universe. Prove that she’s worthy of having a husband who’s faithful, and children who don’t struggle with emotional disorders, and friends who choose her even over their own husbands. This woman has been abandoned and scarred so deeply in her formative years that she’s absolutely desperate to matter and to be chosen. (Kinda like someone else we know.) But Rio seems to be her one “safe space” to be herself. “Just being myself.” And while that may sound romantic (and it IS), it’s also toxic af because for her to be “herself” she has to all the time behave abusively (ugh, I hate that word because it isn’t quite accurate to their dynamic but idk what other thing to call it… maybe retaliatory?) toward Rio. He feeds the monster that she hides from others. He isn’t a “good person” so it’s fine for her to take her trauma out on him. And he keeps coming back for more. And he keeps wanting her despite it. It’s that good old cycle of abuse, continually perpetuated. They find so much warped validation in each other they can’t quit.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent. Sorry about that! These asks are so helpful in getting me back into a Brio state of mind. Reminds me how I love analyzing them. 😊 Makes me wanna not work and write Brio stories (that I’ve been stagnant on for like 2 months now 😩)

[halfgood-halfbad-badboy]

First Date

Another fic based off the Hero and Villain rp I am in :3 once again my bud on discord helped me write Virgil's dialogue.

(Ao3 version of story: Linked here)

Tw. Mention of vomit and concussion mention

Ships: Roman/Virgil

Summary: Roman is extremely nervous for his first ever date. He also doesn't quite understand why the mysterious new hero would ask HIM on a date.

(not beta read)

Roman didn’t understand how he got here. Well that’s not entirely true. He knew he picked up his rental suit at the nearby college then walked across the city to some way too nice restaurant he couldn’t pronounce the name of. No, the part he didn’t understand is how he managed to get invited by the Virgil Storm to go to dinner with him. 

To him, Virgil always seemed like the cool quiet guy that kept to herself, not the type of guy to randomly ask someone on a date. They’ve only talked like 3 times! One of which Roman threw up on his shoes and had to be dragged back to base. This whole situation felt like some fever induced dream. 

Roman kept replaying Virgil's question in his head. “ Do you want to get dinner? At 7?” It felt so random. Not that Roman was complaining or anything! He was more than happy to be asked to dinner by his first and only crush. It just felt odd how sudden and seemingly unprompted all of this is. Though he didn’t let himself think about that for too long. 

Nervousness filled Romans empty stomach. He’s never been on a date before! Hell he’s never even held someone’s hand! Virgil seems so nice and handsome, they’ve probably had tons of partners in their life! Roman couldn’t possibly meet whatever Virgil's expectations were. Maybe it would be best to turn around and find a villain to fight so he could have an excuse to cancel. 

While contemplating whether or not he should escape he turned the corner and saw him. Virgil stood outside the restaurant in line with other customers. He checked his watch and tapped his foot against the pavement.

‘Fuck’

It was too late for Roman to back out now. He sighed, straightened his posture and walked up to him. He could not afford to mess this up.

——

“Wait what do you mean I asked you out!?” Roman looked at Virgil in surprise.

Virgil responded with a laugh. “Ok ok so do you remember when you chased that speedster Villain out of town and I had to come get you?”

Roman blushed with embarrassment from the memories. “I- yes- unfortunately.”

“Do you remember anything after you threw up on me?”

Roman covered his face with his hands, extremely embarrassed. “You didn’t need to bring it up again! I apologized a million times! But no, I don’t remember anything after.”

“Well as I was getting you back to base you asked me on a date here.”

“I did!?” Roman felt like he was going to combust. God why was delusional him so confident. “Wait and you said yes!?”

Virgil smiled at him, nervously fiddling with the table cloth. “Well actually I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until you almost lost your arm like two weeks later and I was taking care of you I said yes.”

Roman has been through a lot of horrible experiences in his life. Some that still to this day keep him up at night, but this was far worse than any of that. 

“Then why did you say ‘do you wanna get dinner’?”

“I said do you *still* want to get dinner. I wanted to make sure you still wanted to go on this date.”

Roman mentally kicked himself for forgetting and misremembering so much. Maybe getting concussions every other month was affecting him more than he thought.

“I am so sorry I don’t remember any of that. I mean- I’m very happy we’re on this date and I’m talking to you now but- I don’t know why I said all that stuff.”

Virgil looked down feeling more nervous than before. “Oh. Well. We can call this off if you want. I understand if this was all just a mistake.”

Roman quickly reached over the table to grab Virgil's hand and look her in the eyes. “No! No this is not a mistake at all! I’m more than happy to be here right now!”

Virgil was surprised, but her smile slowly crept back onto his face. “Then let’s start over.” Virgil straightened his posture and looked Roman in the eyes. “I’m so glad you asked me on this date. What do you think we should order?”

Roman now knew he was in hell. “I… I can’t read most of the menu.”

[f0xgl0v3]

Bryce Lawerence

Okay! Okay, I’m actually writing this. I spent my time walking to school about how much HoO doesn’t really use this character that I think would be great, but let’s start,

(P.S VARUS WILL GET HIS OWN POST)

Bryce Lawerence

If anyone needs the reminder; Bryce Lawerence is a character from BoO that tracks Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge down. He’s the one that like Nico turns into a ghost and drags to the underworld.

Bryce is canonically a legacy of Orcus with very potent powers- or like, he is very explicitly shown to be able to use many (not something that we see with many other Romans in HoO that aren’t the POVs)

We are told that he comes from a very high up family from New Rome (the only reason Reyna says he wasn’t executed was because his parents like paid off the senate or jury or whatever-)

And Bryce is shown to be sadistic, we are told that he tortured cats, caused chaos in the forum and supposedly killed his Centurion- despite the… dubious representation on possible mental disorders/ illnesses that could be placed on him. Rick wanted to imply that he was ‘psycho killer’ despite the stereotypes used to portray him as such.

Anyway Bryce is one of my favorite characters to emerge from HoO, which is a shame because literally like 3 other people care about him and everyone else only talks about him when in relation to Nico. But I personally think that -like many of the other members of Camp Jupiter/Romans- there was a big ball just dropped on how potentially interesting he may be! And I have concepts/headcanons/ whatever that I want to share on him :]

But Bryce Lawerence, i have to concepts for him. Personally I like the concept that (in my Re-imagining) he is the legionnaire that caused Gwen’s almost death. Though everyone decides to assume it was Octavian because apparently the POVs just want to hate him- I think it would be more interesting if it’s Bryce. Maybe before this give one of the POVs some interaction with him, or a passing thought/comment that ‘you don’t wanna hang around him Percy’ or whatever. Because that could lead to good setup to make Bryce a re-occurring problem/threat or at least give the readers a ‘OH THAT GUY!’ moment when he shows up in BoO. If we align it with how Id want a Camp Jupiter POV; like actually in CJ, love Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and not really Jason but kinda Jason but an actual character in Camp Jupiter that could give a show into what’s going on there, whether that be camera behavior OR to have actual Character; expand and help the overall characterization of CJ and it’s legionnaires, while possibly making Bryce more of a threat (Idk if that whole thing made sense)

Quick sort of related to the whole ‘when does Bryce murder his centurion’ If I remember it correctly; the book (BoO) seems to imply that it was Reyna having to deal with the trial all by herself because Jason was gone- I don’t know if I’m Misremembering but that places the fact that Bryce has (in the canon timeline) around like what, eight months to murder his centurion, get tried, and exiled before SoN? Unless we assume that he was still there while Percy was at CJ and he simply wasn’t mentioned- if so that would feel a little like a missed opportunity, and puts a remarkably short time to when he’d have to get exiled between MoA and HoH, when Reyna implies that he’s been gone for a looong time.

Which of course leads to the second concept and the probably more Canon idea. Bryce killed his centurion sometime during the second Titanomachy (Second Titan war? I don’t know what terminology we’re using at this point in time) but; this is a good way to both make it believable that the Jury, senate, whatever, would let him off with an Exile for the murder of a officer or whatever. BUT it also maps onto the implication Reyna has that its been a long time since she’s seen Bryce. Along with that what I was talking about at the beginning of this bullet point; I think they say that his Centurion was murdered during the war games but I’m not 100% on that info- but he could’ve easily had planned this to murder them during the Siege on Mt.Tam, or whatever battles there was on the Roman side. It means they’d have to rely on much more circumstantial evidence (that we’re told was already the heap of their information for the canon trial) and it could easily be taken in tandem with his family influencing his sentencing to be a exiling(?) and I think the idea makes more sense- and if we place the trial happening during TLH, it still has Reyna as the only Praetor to like do the thing.

I like giving Bryce traits like being overprotective, awkward, he attaches to people quickly, a hot-head, etc, etc. I just like giving him character traits that help give him depth- or something of the sort, in what I’m imagining it would add more of a sense of worry and dread when Bruce is friendly and seems genuinely okay, a little weird and awkward, but okay. And then a colder calculating, sadistic side. He always is sadistic I’m not saying this is like a ‘oh he snaps’ type of moment, but more of a- there are occasions when the facade slips, or times when he just does. I add poor impulse control onto lists of things that I characterize him with- either that’s out of the blue buying a new sword, or full force slamming someone into the wall.

I also consider the Lawerence family to be currently on their third generation of Demigods- or legacies? God-related. And Bryce has a younger sister. It’s not very relevant because I haven’t expanded on the concept a lot but he has a little sister that’s like 6 and they have a surprisingly good relationship.

Okay I currently feel like a sickly Victorian child on my last legs- so I’m going to wrap this post up quick, let’s hope I work of the Varus one.

[the1975attheirverybest]

Breakup with Gabby or Twigs?

Gabby. So this is a while back I BELIEVE that he talked about that partially inspiring the lyrics of “the birthday party” (again, think about, “I depend on my friends to stay clean, as sad as it seems). Though maybe he mentioned it in relation to a different notes song? I could be misremembering cuz I’m fuckin obsessed with the birthday party but definitely said that it all happened during the making of notes.

He’s come a long way since. Definitely. And we’re all very very happy for and proud of him. Still it just breaks my heart. Especially with the way the media treats him like he’s not a person with feelings and all. Like I just have this weird urge to remind the world that this boy has been through so shit and like I wish that we as fans could shake him by the shoulders and be like “WHO CARES WHAT PEOPLE SAY BUT DONT YOU EVER FORGET HOW WONDERFUL YOU ARE 🤬🤬🤬” ooo….I’m getting sappy again. Someone stop me. Matty, you’re a loser you suck you won’t put Playing On My Mind on the setlist fuck off I hate you.

[alaffy]

Gossip Girl, Ep.2x02 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Spoilers)

Forget Gossip Girl, can we just have a series about Shan's family? Because I really want to know more about them.

In all seriousness though, I think this is what I was kind of expecting from the first season of the reboot. And the reason why I kind of got annoyed with the show after a while. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy having some social consciousness to it.  But it is one of those dramas like the original Gossip Girl or Dynasty (either version); there has to be a sense of…unreality to it. They have to be crazy.  You got to have that villain you love to hate. You got to have that fight in a pool.  It’s chaos and it’s fun.  I think that was what was kind of missing from the first season.  

But that being said, I don’t mind that there’s a little bit of positive influence.  For instance, with Kate and the teachers, they had so much power and there really wasn’t any pushback to them.  There wasn’t anyone who was their opposite.  In this season, they have introduced a new teacher (who’s name I keep missing).  Like Kate, he firmly believes that the system is out of control and he’s willing to break some rules in order to find a way to fight the system (like finding an excuse to get into the headmistress’s home, so he could snoop around). However, unlike Kate, he seems to have a moral center.  When the headmistress breaks down and tells Kate and the other teacher about how she was in this weird cycle of being bribed and blackmailed by the parents; Kate wanted to immediately send it to Gossip Girl; whereas the teacher points out that all they’d be doing would be ruining a woman’s career, without implicating the bigger culprits in the crime.  And, while I don’t feel sorry for the headmistress, the teacher has a point that getting rid of her isn’t going change anything either.  In fact, it might be better to have someone who feels guilty in that position, instead of someone who’s perfectly fine with it.

Opie’s back.  Let’s be honest, would anybody have really been upset if Obie had been written out?  I must admit, though, his girlfriend has grown on me a bit.  Although I got to ask, is that the same actress?  Because the character seems different.  But it has been awhile since seeing the one episode she was in, so maybe I’m just misremembering things.  I did like how she’s just trying to fit in with Opie’s friends and that leads, long story short, to a night where Max’s dads are having a dinner for a very bigoted woman because one of the dad’s wanted to be the one to redesign this park.  Meanwhile, Max is trying to make Aki and Audrey happy by faking these casual sex moments in order to get Gossip Girl off their backs (although, guys, you don’t ask Max to do that.  Not ok.) Anyway, it all leads to this moment where you have Obie, the girlfriend, Max, Audrey, Aki, the two dads, and Audrey’s mom confronting this horrible woman and pointing out that, what they actually have is this beautiful, supportive group/family who are just trying to do the best for each other because they all care for each other.  It’s also this moment that makes Audrey and Aki realize that they don’t want to hide their relationship from anyone anymore.

Then there’s Shan’s family.  Like I said, I’d like to know more about them.  It’s mentioned that the family is rich, but they are very down to earth.  At the very least, they seem to understand where Nick is coming from.  And while I appreciate the mother pointing out that the dinner didn’t go well because they didn’t consider that Nick might have felt like they were looking down on him by not doing their usual routine (it’s always good to consider how your actions can influence outcomes); I will say that….Nick came in with an attitude. It didn’t matter what they did, he was going to find fault because he wanted to find fault.  And, really, Nick needs to consider why his daughter wants to spend more time with them then him.  Especially when it becomes clear that they know more about her interests then he does.  

But we can’t end this without discussing Julien and Monet.  It’s great that Monet knows Julien so well that she knew exactly what to do to get Julian to respond. But I love the fact that we find out that Monet knows Julien so well that she knew exactly what Julien would do to teach her a lesson and then circumvent that to make it look like Julien was doing it to get back at Monet.  And then, when Julien tries to take the high ground and walk away, Monet stages it so that it looks like Julien pushed her into the pool.  Monet being the villain is exactly what we need in this show.  

[27vampyresinhermind]

well first we have to understand that zo doesn't like being tricked or manipulated especially given his past experiences (that whole thing w puen- the guy at the carousel). also joke and nita fake dating, why would zo be upset at that? that's a good thing joke did bc it kept nita safe, i don't understand why you think zo would be upset over that. also it's one thing to get tips and a little help in order to pursue but the extend to which joke used pat (and pat willingly gave)? it's kinda weird. joke found out about the solo trip zo was taking and where he lived from pat. this is NOT how you should ever pursue someone? IN MY OPINION this is bordering on creepy. like maybe im misremembering but that is very different to the way joke helped zo (they spent most of this "training" together and away from nita). i guess it just comes to different perspectives cuz i definitely understand where zo came from in this recent episode.

The entire premise of the show is basically “is it okay to have a hidden agenda?” And the show has already essentially answered that by saying that as long as the intention behind the hidden agenda isn’t to cause harm, it’s not that bad.

And yes, while Zo does say that he personally doesn’t want to be lied to, even if the intention is “good”, there was never going to be an instance in which Joke wasn’t hiding something from him from the very start.

Also, I’m not saying that Zo should have been mad that Joke helped Nita. The whole reason that Zo agreed to Joke’s “help” in pursuing Nita was because he was under the impression that Joke and Nita had dated and thus Joke would have that “inside information” on what Nita liked in a boyfriend. As soon as we find out that they were never in a relationship in the first place, that goes out the window. Joke would have never had any info to impart. That’s just as much of a lie as Joke getting info from Pat in order to pursue Zo.

I’m not saying that Joke did nothing wrong. The entire premise of the show is that he was dishonest in his intentions in order to pursue Zo. I’m just saying I don’t understand why one lie is a bigger deal than the other when they feel pretty comparable to me. How is Joke using information from one of Zo’s best friends to better pursue Zo that much different from Zo using information from who he thinks is Nita’s ex in order to better pursue Nita?

Is it weird and maybe even creepy the type and amount of information that Pat willingly gave Joke on his friend? Definitely. But, at least to me, it still seems as though the anger is a little overblown considering Zo finds out after they’ve become official and they have genuine affection for each other.

Thank you for your perspective on things Anon!!

[cmdr-prio]

05/07/3309

02:32 UTC

So first up, Heck Yeah I can fly again! I ran back to Sagittarius A* to grab a photo, hopefully it came out okay and I can attach it here. If there’s nothing attached here then it didn’t come out okay.

As it turns out, I misremembered/misread what I’d read before regarding a landable planet in the system. It’s a neighbouring system, Stuemeae KM-W c1-342. One of the moons was used as a camp during an expedition in 3302. Allegedly the black hole at SagA* is visible in the sky from here, but I’m not seeing it.

I mean I can target it in the nav computer, it’s definitely up there, I just can’t make it out among all the other junk in the ‘verse.

On the other hand, views like this never get old.

A quick rest here, then on to Altum Sagittarii.

Oh, right - I found more spiky things on the way here. Also some bulbous things. Hopefully this photo comes out better than the last one.

Side note: When I try to boost, I get an alert saying I can’t. Not enough energy in the capacitor or something? What did I break? I guess it’s a power consumption thing, right? It’s not too important right now while I don’t need to boost, but given I never got a warning like “Hey, you won’t be able to boost if you do this” when I did whatever the frell I did to make it this way, it’ll be nice to know for future reference what to avoid.

♫ Currently listening to: Various Artists - Brandywine ♫

03:43 UTC

Currently on my way to Nyuena JS-B d342, stopped off on some rock for a brief pit stop because my tummy has the rumblies. I could just eat while I fly, but let’s at least pretend I’m a responsible pilot.

This one time, back in the day.. I can’t remember what I was doing, maybe shipping cargo? Or maybe it was on the long ride over to Hutton Orbital. Or both, I guess. Either way, I had an autocruise assist module on that ship, so while that dealt with the actual flying, I was sat back, feet up on the dash, eating fried chicken without a care in the world. So of course it was at that moment that someone tried to interdict me. I feel like I escaped with my cargo, and chicken, intact, but that could just be my ego talking.

Of course, I’d be kind of impressed if I ran into any pirates out here. Impressed, but annoyed all the same. Pirates can be a nuisance. I got no issue with dudes who wanna cause some trouble for the feds or the empire or whoever, but I’m just some guy, go after the bigger fish.

♫ Currently listening to: Diana Gallagher - Cosmic Concepts More Complete ♫

05:40 UTC

I’ve made it to Altum Sagittarii. Turns out the fellas from that expedition I mentioned before, also stopped off here. I guess that’s why it was marked for historical interest. I’m currently parked on the same rock they made their basecamp, though I’m nowhere near where they actually were. Navigating latitudes and longitudes aren’t for me. I can land you on a planet, but if you wanna be somewhere specific on there, we may have a problem.

But all that aside, I’m pretty much at the top of the galaxy! I mean, will ya just look at it!

All my friends are in this picture!

From here it’s on to Nyuena RO-Z d184. Nyuena Prime. I hear it’s the highest point anyone’s ever managed to get to. I’ll plot a route to see how far it is. Not sure if I’ll be able to get there today, repairing the stick took longer than I wanted it to. If it’s too far, I’ll just camp here and take a nap.

06:44 UTC

So I guess this is the actual top of the galaxy. There was a tourist beacon here, because of course there was. It said you can make out the galaxy’s spiral arms from here, but I dunno, I couldn’t see ‘em. But I am long overdue to get my eyes checked.

I also saw more spiky things. I guess they come in many colours. At the spot with the red ones, my sensors started picking up.. Something? Off in the distance? Well, two things. Too far away for me to just eyeball whatever they were. But on the sensors, they would sort of.. Flicker in and out?

I guess they could’ve been some kind of reflection or interference from all the spiky bois. But I just. Sat there in the silence, just the idea of some mystery ship, or worse, just beyond the darkness. I started to feel really uncomfortable. I hightailed it out of there pretty quickly.

(Note while editing this back, the same thing was going on at the spiky cluster way back in the fourth image. But I was too preoccupied with the discovery that some of my ship controls had become remapped somehow to notice.)

My next destination will be the Black in Green. Not sure if I’ll be able to make it there before the sleepy takes me, but we’ll see.

Ah. Looks like this is a multi-waypoint journey. Definitely not getting all the way there before the sleepy takes me. But I can make a start.

♫ Currently listening to: The Orion Experience - Children Of The Stars ♫

09:31 UTC

Two waypoints down. Or is it three? My brain is jelly.

I’m currently in Theema RO-I d9-1963. The usual drill when I reach a waypoint. Did a scan. Picked a rock to land on. But I thought I saw something on the horizon so I drove the SRV around a little.

This rock has  weeds on it.

Feels good to be flying again. But I gotta put food in me then hit the hay.

[15ktherapy]

i do get that karl’s been friends with q for a long time and that he’s clearly friends with snf at the very least, but the complete silence on anything dream online is so weird to me? trying to distance yourself while still getting clout from them is kinda crazy… also tina is kind of the same but i feel like talking about her will 90% turn into people enabling misogyny and i don’t want to do that

okay I agree with the whole thing with karl but not Tina. Tina’s always kinda been moreso friends with foosh, and maybe I’m misremembering but mostly when she hung out with dream it was bc he was bored and would hop in streams she happened to be in too, which is just something he doesn’t do anymore bc he’s a busy bee! karl like. specifically avoiding posting about dream and refusing to reply to his tweets sure is Interesting though.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

Xmen Unlimited Infinity Comics #62-#67 “A World Without X” (aka Age of Apocalypse island of stupid edition)

heyhey, look who found a way to finally read this! so when this was announced, i was intrigued; AoA is my favorite Xmen story/setting, and to be fair the House of Stupid 90s edition wasn’t *that* terrible and it was fun to see how they could creatively mimic the island of stupid using only the 90s animated stock. so can the same be said for AoA?

this is long because i’m covering the whole story, so lets save some dash space with a cut huh

#62

so...Chuckie boy is annoyed that he’s over worked...or that no one cares about him/are too busy to care about him...idk, i have no sympathy for him to start with so i probably am missing the point. Logan tells him to suck it up while beating him up in a sparring match, so that’s nice. then him and Rachel are on the Astral Plane building something?? (why is the Astral PLANE now a physical dimension??) and Nightmare shows up to throw Chuck into AoA. 

so ok, this isn’t “what if Xavier had been killed off and Apocalypse rose to power” but “What a Wonderful Life”. i guess that can work, plus this is a short format so yeah that’s fine.

#63

Sinister just had Xavier clones...mk, and is surprised that this one’s awake because that’s the body Nightmare shoved Chuck into. ok, cool, that works. this Sinister is the more jokey one of the island though and not the AoA one, but alright... Chuck tries to call for Logan but...

uh yeah...Laura wasn’t in AoA. “but KP she didn’t exist when AoA came out so of course blahblahblah” haha i know that, but in the 2000s after she was created, there was an X-23 counterpart introduced in the anniversary stories, and she was not Laura. again, again, semantics i know, but like i said i like AoA. and again, this is the island of stupid doing AoA so they’ll use what pieces they have. plus...

i like how she looks very much like Kyle here

Havok shows up...i could’ve sworn Cannonball was on Gen-Next but maybe i’m misremembering (that was my least favorite part of the story after all)

yay Kyle!

even more yay at this panel!! Kyle, Laura, AND Victor! this was made for me ^^

hurray! it’s the correct AoA and not the terrible Battleworld one! this has just gotten SUPER good ^^

#64

i was going to make a joke about him eyeballing due to you not wearing a shirt, but then the rest of this dialog just slammed me in the feels. it’s official, i love this. also adorable to watch Kyle and Laura go play in the yard.

ok, so our X-team here is Rogue, iceman, and Sunspot as usual, so that’s good. Cypher and Proteus i can give them, because they’re island folks. idk who Tempus is, i thought that was Moira but...

Moira is Magneto???

so the explanation is a little weird but it works well enough i guess; plus it gives the baby Charles vibe without having it be Magneto and Rogue’s kid. anyways, Tempus is part of the Five i guess? and i just now realize that Chuck is Bishop in this, the guy that knows  the timeline is wrong and how to fix it. the good guys are then like “cool lets do the island of stupid here to fix everything” however...

Sinister says the same to Apocalypse with the added caveat of “hey let’s make a clone army to invade the multiverse”.

so the good guys are going to raid the pens for the missing Five members, the bad guys are planning to capture their members...

you are leaving Victor and Kyle out of this assault??? (Laura is on the Next panel and got cut off whoops). boo on you. you just lost your SUPER status. also where’s Blink???

#65

so fight time. Darkchylde (who i don’t believe was in the original, but island so hey) summons magic zombies of dead Xmen? fight time. Xavier waxing about being a teacher and how his Xmen are so much better because he taught them. blahblahblah

oh Victor and Kyle are here. good. the Pack is sticking together i guess

Moira gets a good line about not focusing on fixing the past or over thinking the future, just living in the now. so that’s a nice contrast to her murderbot normal self. i say they AoAed her well then.

Laura and Kyle take on Scott! yay!

lookit Victor being so proud of his pups with very fitting caption boxes across TWO panels! (have i finally found the person at marvel who follows me???)

so Chuck decides to take the fight to Apocalypse...and by fight i mean kaiju fight as they super-grow Krakoa into a big boy.

#66

kaiju smash! lol. has Holocaust been Nemesis for a while? or was that just changed for this? i’m not sure if that feels correct or not...

Chuck melts Sinister’s brain after Sinister beats him up. Apocalypse says he’s too smart for that...so Chuck manifests his wife and...blah. why is Genesis such a huge deal? if it was this easy to defeat Apocalypse all these decades, just gotta talk about his wife, why has he been so hard to stop. i know the answer is “magic of retcons” but still.

Chuck complains how mind wiping is totally a bad thing to do...despite the fact that he does that on the regular...the day is saved? Chuck seems to die (in a cliché La Pieta pose), so...happy ending?

#67

ah boo, there’s more. so Nightmare goes “haha that was round one of torture, lookit how evil and cool i am” and Chuck is all “nuuh looser i’m winning”

ok, i’ll give you that part of his argument, even though Moira seemed to have more lines, Victor kinda had more of the emotion even if it wasn’t the focus.

so blahblahblah, Nightmare trips an alarm and all the Grey-Summers ladies come in to save Chuck. Chuck talks about how the Xmen are an idea and will never die, because hope eternal even if he’s not there, blahblahblah.

so Logan takes him hot tubbing to unwind. ok...didn’t see this turning into a gay porno...

is that a nod to the AoA-esque 90s episode “One Man’s Worth”? because Logan was a main character of that

oh, oh great, he’s gonna try to invade other realities and convert them to his hivemind of terribleness. that, that’s just brilliant -.-

so we jump back to the AoA, which i guess is real and not just a vision created by Nightmare, cause their gang sets up an island seed? and is all “welp let’s wait for the real world to find us”. and Victor still refuses to wear a shirt XD

SO how did this stack up overall? you know, actually pretty good. it’s a super short read, and it’s own little pocket world, so it doesn’t affect anything in the grand scheme. it’s the stock Wonderful Life plot, and if it wasn’t done to rise up a character who’s so terrible, it’d’ve hit all the correct notes i’m sure. but it hit enough of the good ones. and it did a good job mimicking it’s inspiration using different pieces. if this story makes it to print like some of the other Xmen Unlimited ones have, i’d be willing to grab it. the art was good (turns out it was the same art team as the House of Stupid 90s edition, which i also really enjoyed the art on too), the writing was good. a very nice and quick one and done.