#some stuff happened that i needed some time to deal with

[sevensoulmates]

Buddie 7x07 "Ghost of a Second Chance" Meta

So sorry for the delay! This one took me a minute due to life/work stuff happening, but here it is! A doozy! This episode had a lot of parallels with the other characters storylines happening so bear with me here! This is mostly going to be about Eddie.

This episode deals a lot with past trauma, specifically bringing up stuff that some of the characters haven't dealt with in a while or seemingly had already dealt with in the past. Maddie with Doug's abduction, Bobby and the apartment fire, Eddie and Shannon. All of these are re-introduced in this episode, but it's important to note that they are NOT resolved, mostly Bobby and Eddie, and will likely continue into the rest of the season. Maddie reacts the most noticeably to her trauma being triggered, and of the three, she's the only one who has actually managed to work through that trauma from the past, so while it does affect her, it does not cause her to self-destruct like Eddie and most likely Bobby will.

As many of us predicted, we theorized that it was going to get much worse for Eddie before it would get better. And this episode has put Eddie on that path that will likely take him towards rock bottom if Ryan and Tim's interviews and teasers for his 7b arc are to be believed.

The first big parallel to Eddie's storyline is the woman and her baby being abducted by a man with mental health problems who allowed a past trauma with his ex-wife/child to reach a dangerous point. While Eddie's actions in this episode are not placing a woman's life in danger, it does parallel how in pursuit of soothing his own pain, Eddie and this man, are prioritizing their own feelings, over the feelings of a woman stranger (Kim) and an innocent kid.

I was already anticipating many many Shannon call-backs in this episode, but the writers dive in immediately by having Chimney intubate Catherine. This is the same heavy choice Chimeny had to make when Shannon was hit by a car, and Chimney was interim Captain. He had to make a choice to either intubate Shannon, effectively taking away her last chance to say dying words or to not intubate and allow Eddie and Shannon to exchange final words. With Shannon, Chimney does not intubate, but with Catherine, he does. This could possibly indicate the need for Eddie to make different decisions this time around if he wants to survive this new catastrophic plotline.

This was an interesting way for the writers to give us a kind of "speedrun" of introducing us to Marisol a bit more. I know that the ENTIRE fandom has been bugging over the fact that we "hardly know anything about Marisol other than DIY and Nunnery", and now they're giving us more information, but notably it's all very surface-level information. It makes the scene feel like Eddie's trying to get to know her for the first time instead of this being a woman he's been seeing for about six months at this point.

While 7x05 did indicate to us that Eddie is trying to get to know her all over again, it really does drive home how little effort Eddie has put into trying to build a relationship with her, which is then further proved by the rest of the episode. All of this demonstrated very clearly just how little investment Eddie has had in ANY of his relationships after Shannon's death. It's probably supposed to make us think "Oh, that's because he only ever truly loved Shannon!" but in reality, the Eddie-Shannon onscreen relationship was very tumultuous, and they spent most of their relationship (even during their time pre-military) away from each other. All in all, the topic of how well Eddie knows the women he's with, and how much effort/investment he puts into his relationships (including Shannon) are being pulled into question here. And I think it's being done to show the audience that Eddie has only ever dated and married women as a duty and not something he actually does because he wants to be with the women as people. Once again, this includes Shannon.

Before Marisol can even finish her two truths and a lie, Eddie interrupts, starting to dictate the conversation again, and Chris is the one who has to step in, reminding Eddie that this moment is about Marisol. Eddie has been the one to lead his relationships with both Ana and Marisol, almost to the point of steamrolling over them. A similar thing happened in his relationship with Shannon, where Shannon notes that Eddie is always making decisions for them without consulting her, including going to the military, or moving Chris to a new school, etc. and how that was always a giant issue in their relationship. While this moment is not Eddie purposely steamrolling over Marisol, it does show that again, Eddie has a myopic view of relationships with women, where he's constantly trying to steer them towards something that he wants without really letting the woman have any agency. Shannon had to physically leave him in order to get any agency of her own.

Additionally, the choice to have the get to know you game be "two truths and a lie", inherently implies dishonesty, or at least makes us think of lying. And considering that becomes a theme for Eddie this episode and likely in upcoming episodes, it's also indicative of the general theme of not knowing someone and not being honest with them. It could've been "twenty questions" or something not involving purposely lying, but instead it's two truths and lie, and Eddie is now about to be involved in a whole bunch of lies.

I've seen others point out that this line is clearly meant to compare Marisol and Shannon. Shannon, Chris and Eddie had a tradition involving smores, one that Chris and Eddie were trying to keep alive only last season when they visited Shannon's grave. This line is meant to show us that Marisol is not Shannon, and as Eddie actually gets to know her, this is more and more evident. It's no fault of Marisol's, but it's likely what is sticking in Eddie's head, right before he ends up meeting Kim. Eddie, once again dictating what he wants Marisol to be rather than accepting the truth of who Marisol is, exclaims that obviously Marisol has had smores because Shannon loved smores. But Marisol is not Shannon, and Eddie is always comparing his partners to Shannon in unhealthy ways.

While this line is clearly a joke, nothing is done without purpose in TVland, and this is another one of those times where even though Eddie's joking, it's actually telling of how he actually feels. He's already had one foot out the door with Marisol for the last 3-4 episodes, and now it's the smores that makes him say "we can still leave her" because who Marisol is, does not align with who Shannon was. But the thing is, I have a hard time believing that Shannon was even who Eddie truly wanted, at least not without expectation or pressure. Shannon is an Ideal, and no one, not even Shannon herself, can live up to it. No woman is supposed to or can reach this Ideal, because (in my opinion) a woman is not really what Eddie wants deep down in his most hidden of unconscious desires.

"You two aren't going anywhere". Oh, the dramatic irony is killing me here. Because not even a couple of minutes later, Marisol has lost Eddie for good when he sees Kim. The death bells have already been ringing from the very beginning, but this is the final death knell that has been rung. Even if Eddie stays with Marisol through most of this arc, their relationship will end, as will his relationship with Kim.

Eddie and Kim lock eyes and he's reminded of Shannon instantly. Because of that, this relationship is dead before it even begins. A moment later, Christopher calls out "Dad!" just like he did when Shannon and Eddie were on the beach, interrupting Eddie's thoughts.

Marisol notices Eddie acting weird, asks if he's alright, he says he's fine, and she calls him out, asking "is that the truth or a lie?" He promises he's fine, but we as an audience know that's a big ole lie. This has been the case for years, and it's interesting that it's coming at this point in the season. The early half of the season we saw Eddie the "happiest" he's ever been. And I can't help but wonder how much of that was true happiness, and how much of that was just putting off thinking about it. It's easier to lie and say he's fine, that his relationships are fine, that his relationship with Shannon was fine. It's harder to admit the truth, that he's not okay, that his relationships with Marisol and Ana were unhealthy and his relationship with Shannon was the unhealthiest of all. It's easier to place the blame on his unhappiness on missing Shannon, instead of admitting that it's his own choices that are making him unhappy.

Another theme of this episode is internalized biases and misunderstanding the current situation due to being blinded by the past. Maddie misses crucial details of her call with Catherine because she was looking at it with too much bias about her own situation with Doug. Eddie also misremembers his past with Shannon, but instead of recognizing his mistake like Maddie, and trying to look at it objectively, Eddie lets that bias from the past effect his current decisions, which is already resulting in a mistake by cheating with Kim and will likely result in more mistakes the rest of this season.

Maddie heard what she expected to hear. Eddie is seeing in Kim what he expects to see from Shannon. Both lead to really bad outcomes.

Eddie goes back to find Kim/Shannon, and they meet. She looks similar but not really the same (btw, kudos to the makeup team, wow). She has similar facial expressions (nose scrunches, giggles, etc.) and she asks him if he's looking for something specific. And the answer is yes, he's looking for Shannon in Kim, just as he was looking for Shannon in Marisol and Ana.

This is very obviously a sexual innuendo, which is interesting because their first real interaction is showing more of a "sexual" chemistry, than anything really romantic, or soul-connecting. It's a clear harkening back to how Eddie would use sex as a way to stop fights between himself and Shannon. It's also one of Eddie's biggest distancing tools. He used sex to distance himself from Shannon and from Marisol, as an excuse to not address problems, or just simply to not get to know them. And given that Eddie was having sexual dysfunction issues in his last major episode, this is meant to provide a juxtaposition to that. Sort of a "Hey look Eddie couldn't get it up for Marisol the Nun but he can get it up for the Shannon look-alike". On the surface, this might be to show us that Eddie really only has sexual chemistry with Shannon, but if you look below the surface even a little bit, you'll realize that his sexual relationship with Shannon was also deeply dysfunctional, but in its own way.

The answer is no. Eddie does not trust Kim because she's a stranger, but this line is meant to remind us that Eddie very much DID NOT trust Shannon for most of her arc in season 2 and even up until her death. It's a callback to the line in season 2 Merry Ex-Mas where Eddie says he "forgives Shannon but doesn't trust her" and Shannon says something along the lines of "Eddie trusting her enough to have sex with her, but not enough to let her see her own son". Kim is hitting all the lines that are meant to remind Eddie of rose colored "Good times" but are meant to remind us, the audience, of all the issues he had with Shannon.

This moment of Eddie and Shannon on the beach is meant to represent Eddie's "happiest" moment on-screen with Shannon when she was alive. Eddie remembers it that way, as kissing Shannon and finally having his family back together. But in actuality, it was the start of the end for them. Shannon thought she was pregnant, paralleling the time when they accidentally got pregnant as teens and both of them had to put their lives on hold and commit to a marriage that might not have been the ultimate right choice for them. If any of you remember, this is also the moment where Eddie and "signs" and the "universe" are connected for the first time. Eddie asks for a sign, and Shannon says she's pregnant. In my personal opinion, this was supposed to be a sign for Eddie to not get back together with her, given how traumatic it was the first time around, but he ignores it and tries to push down his feelings. "Life is like a vat of chocolate, it pulls you down but it's comfortable". And when Shannon very clearly stated she wanted a divorce, Eddie did not really seem to accept it...and the universe took Shannon away permanently. (Again, I want to reiterate this is all about fiction I'm talking about here not irl, okay? This does not apply to real life) The universe tried to warn Eddie, to bring him a sign, and when he ignored it, as he always does, the universe decided it needed to take Shannon away permanently.

And now here we are again, 6 years later, with Eddie ignoring ALL the signs over and over and over, and setting about down this path with Marisol that literally everyone knows will not make Eddie happy, and what does the universe do? It throws him the biggest wrench it could by bringing someone who looks/acts like Shannon back into his life. Kim was brought in by the universe (the writers) to show Eddie that his relationship with Shannon was not as wonderful and amazing as he remembers it....and he ignores all of the signs yet a-fucking-gain. I get the feeling that this arc with Kim is going to end VERY. VERY. badly for Eddie. I think we should all be preparing ourselves for that.

Eddie is making active duplicitous choices here. He's lying about being in a relationship with someone else, lying about being a single dad. And it's not the first time he's said something like this (see the "taken for now" line in 7x04), further demonstrating how he's always had one foot out the door with Marisol.

I also want to point out that Eddie lying and deceiving Kim and cheating on Marisol is not meant to be the show saying "this is good! this is who Eddie's supposed to end up with!" The writers know how most people feel about cheating. Most people are 100% aware that cheating is morally wrong, and by Eddie making these decisions, they're not supposed to show that Eddie is inherently a cheater or a bad guy. He's acting OOC on purpose. The writers want us to see Eddie lying and cheating and want us to clock that Something is Very Very Very Wrong and that has to do with Eddie's romantic relationships, Shannon, his perception of Shannon, his perception of his past marriage, and his expectations of himself.

We, as an audience, are not supposed to be enjoying this. We're meant to be uncomfortable.

911 is doing something really interesting lately with their pointed use of Full First Names vs. Nicknames. When I heard this my first thought was actually of Ana and how cringe it was to hear her calling Eddie Edmundo all the time. Shannon actually never once called Eddie by his full name. If anything, Eddie calling himself Edmundo here, introducing himself by it, is once again supposed to trigger the audience's "Something Is Wrong Here" mode. I was also going to mention how this is also something a lot of people have felt with Tommy's constant use of "Evan" instead of Buck. Some people like it, some people don't, but everyone can acknowledge that it's odd and unusual.

Even as he's flirting with Kim, talking more about "stimulation", Eddie is holding an "S" for Shannon. I think when Kim told Eddie her name, a sharp K, very far away from the soft S of Shannon, it was a slight shock to him. If her name was something similar like Sherri or Sheila or something, Eddie could've lived in the fantasy more. Her name being Kim momentarily broke the illusion, hence him looking down at the S for Shannon.

Eddie is remembering the first time he slept with Shannon after she came back into his life while he's sitting at the table with Marisol, completely ignoring her. But not only that, as many people have pointed out, he's misremembering. The walls in the background are recent, with the new teal color and his new bed. Shannon's hair is a cross between dark and light, almost like a mix of Kim and Shannon, and--and this one rocked my world--they had sex right side up.

Many have pointed out how it's odd that Eddie and Marisol's sex scene harkened so similarly back to his one sex scene with Shannon, where they both ended up at the tail end of the bed, upside down. People have often discussed Eddie and his upside-down sex as a metaphor for unhealthy sexual connection, for misconnection, and right side up sex to be healthy sex. To find that he is thinking of him and Shannon in his memory of being right side up has been pointed out by others to be yet another example of Eddie's rose-colored memories of his past with Shannon. In his memory, he views his relationship and sexual relationship with Shannon as this Amazing and One of a Kind thing, hence the right-side-up sex, but in reality, it was upside down, it wasn't healthy.

He's looking at his relationship with Shannon through a veil of the present, chock full of regrets, would've/could've/should've's, and two almost-failed relationships. Not to mention that he literally was just having extreme sexual dysfunction with Marisol not even two episodes ago it's very likely that his remembering this passionate, voracious, unquenchable thirst for Shannon is also brought on by the fact that he's having sexual issues with Marisol. It might also be him wanting to remember that he does and did have desire for sex with women...as long as they're Shannon or reminding him of Shannon. This is not at all supposed to be something that is represented as healthy for Eddie, and I don't believe the show is trying to put across that message.

Eddie remembers his sex with Shannon, and when he decided to "bring Shannon home for Christmas". Even in this scene, the focus is not on the two of them as a couple. He doesn't talk about how much he missed her, or how it feels good to be close to her again. He talks about how he wants to reunite her and Christopher. "Santa" in this present day and age is bringing "Shannon" home for Christmas, by bringing Kim into Eddie's life.

Bringing it back to Maddie's storyline, with the Big Bad Kidnapper of this episode. He was encouraged by his sister to move across the country for a fresh start after his wife and baby left him due to his own abusive actions (assumed, but the sister did say they were "afraid of him"). We don't know too much of the details of this man's story, but it does show a clear parallel to Eddie too, with his wife leaving him to move across the country too (though she left their son with Eddie because obviously, Eddie's not abusive like this man). But the man's sister was hoping that this move would mean he would "stop looking for them". Eddie ends up doing the same thing with Shannon metaphorically. He never stops looking for her in all of his romantic relationships, hurting other women like Ana and Marisol, in the process.

The man is so clearly a parallel to Eddie but in the worst most devolved way. Eddie has been seeking out a Mom for Chris for years, even when Shannon was alive. It was never about Shannon, wanting her, loving her, needing her because he's so deeply in love with her. No, it was, and still is, always about the mother she could be for Chris. It's the same thing he did with Ana, and with Marisol. I'm not sure if this thing he's doing with Kim will eventually lead there too, or if it won't make it that far before it gets blown up in his face. But Kim cannot be a new mother for Chris, even if she wants to be. Christopher would clock that she looks like Shannon, and might feel betrayed, like Eddie is actively trying to replace Shannon, which I doubt Christopher would take well. So what is Eddie's endgame here? In my honest opinion, I don't think he has one. I think he's acting on pure emotional hurt, and desperately seeking out a balm, and not considering the consequences of his actions.

Just like that man was hit dead on with the literal consequences with the police, I think Eddie's gonna be hit HARD as a result of these mistakes. I feel like it might be something really bad, possibly involving Christopher. If "isolation" is going to become the thing he might have to contend with Christopher being really really angry with him in whatever way that takes form, and the rest of the firefam not being happy with him either. I think Eddie's going to be going through another arc similar to where he was emotionally in season 3a with the streetfighting arc.

Just how like the man who abducted her was a parallel to Eddie, Catherine herself is also a parallel to Eddie. She's clearly in pain, but she refuses drugs that will make her feel better. She feels she has to stay awake and endure the pain as a comeuppance, similar to how Eddie felt he had to endure his pain like a man because he deserved it. She feels her husband will hate her, just like how Eddie feared Shannon would hate him for what he did. He fears Shannon would never forgive him, but just like Catherine, even worse is the fact that Eddie has yet to ever forgive himself. No matter how many times people tell her it's not her fault, no matter how many times people tell Eddie he's a good father or a good person, they will never believe it. That guilt still rocks them, and for Eddie, it's been the monkey on his back every day LOONNGGG before Shannon even passed. Likely he's been dealing with it from the second he found out he got her pregnant. Even though Catherine's daughter was returned to her, she will still likely feel guilty, just as Eddie's guilt has lingered and festered and turned to rot the longer it's gone unchecked.

It'll only be once Eddie can let go of that guilt, let go of Shannon, and forgive himself, will he ever be able to actually start healing, and making the right choices for himself.

Many people have pointed out how this parallels the scene in 3x03 with Christopher and Eddie coming to Buck's house after the tsunami. That was a moment where Buck was feeling "lost at sea" and Eddie and Chris came in to be his "life raft that gets you home." And now Eddie's the one lost at sea. He thinks he has to find Shannon when really all he really needs is here with Buck and Chris. Eddie and Chris are "late", but eventually, they will find their way home to Buck.

Have y'all ever heard the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire"? It means that if there's a rumor or something being said about a topic, there must be some back story/truth in it. It's what I point out every time the show "jokes" about Eddie's sexuality or lack thereof to women, Eddie ready to leave Marisol, etc. They're in the script because there's a kernel of truth to them, even if it's still nebulous (or smoky) at the moment.

Additionally, Buck is making a new lasagna recipe (a metaphor for his new found bisexuality and MM relationship with Tommy) and something about it is not working. In the same way that I've been theorizing that there is misalingment in his relationship with Tommy, we're now seeing that lasagna (like in 6x01 where the couch theory was introduced) is yet another metaphor for Buck's relationships. He had 3 at that point in time (as well as 3 failed attempts at lasagna) and now he's here in a new relationship, and something about it isn't working, he just doesn't know what. I'll reiterate, it's not the bisexuality, but rather the person he's in a relationship with. This being told once again to Eddie, in Buck's kitchen, with Chris present, is driving home the point once again.

Eddie, on the other hand, is aligned with Buck. He knew ahead of time to order a pizza for them. This isn't usual, given that Buck's a good cook, and has cooked for Chris and Eddie many times. Eddie being attuned to Buck right now is meant to show that he can sense these things about Buck, even when it's not conscious.

"To be seen… to be found… isn't that what we're all searching for?"

Buck assumes Eddie's meeting with Marisol, and Eddie does not correct him. I've seen other people mention how this feels like Eddie is cheating on Buck, and not really on Marisol, and in my opinion, that all comes down to who is Eddie more emotionally intimate with. He already feels super disconnected to Marisol, even more so in this episode, but we've spent the first half of this season establishing how Buck and Eddie are closer than ever. So Eddie lying to Buck feels like the real cheating here, because Eddie has only ever given himself fully to Buck, in all his messed up glory. He's never given that to Marisol, or Ana. And he most definitely never gave that to Shannon.

Side note, I loved the cologne line because it implies that Buck knows how Eddie smells, and that smelling him now is something Buck is enjoying. Him saying they won't wait up for Eddie further cements the domesticity of the scene. Buck has a full relationship with Chris outside of Eddie, but they also have a strongly established bond all three of them. In an episode where Eddie assumes Marisol must love smores despite her never having tried one, Eddie inherently knows that Buck's struggling with lasagna and needs to order a pizza.

Eddie and Buck's flirting--because that's what it is-- feels natural. More so than the flirting with Marisol in the beginning of the episode, and more so than with Kim-Not-Shannon that was moored down by the reality that Eddie is severely projecting all of his major issues onto her. Buck and Eddie have an easy rapport filled with mutual support, inside jokes, gentle ribbing, synchronicity and above all, friendship and trust. THAT is why the betrayal of Eddie with Kim only a few moments later feels so stark and like a huge blow to the audience.

Eddie sees Kim, and all he sees is Shannon's face, but I have to give MASSIVE kudos to the hair, costume, and makeup department here because they couldn't make Kim look ANY more starkly different from Shannon. In the scenes at the store, Kim is dressed more professionally, in lighter more inviting colors. And then here, when Kim can take off the customer service mask, and be fully herself, we see that she dresses in darker clothing, pants, and jackets with her hair up in almost an alternative-punk style. It's a MASSIVE contrast to Shannon who was almost always dressed in lighter, warmer colors, in shades of orange, yellow, and warm pinks, with minimal makeup and long flowy dresses or soft sweaters. Shannon's hair was almost always down and flowing around her face with her bangs. Kim's hair is completely up, totally out of her face in a severe bun look, without any bangs. She could not look father from Shannon if she tried. And yet, Eddie is not seeing Kim, he's not seeing the individual woman who's probably really lovely, the woman he's inherently hurting by using her to be reminded of his dead wife. No, all he sees is Shannon, and he's 100% willing to tank his whole life just to get a bit of that feeling back.

Eddie is on his way towards rock bottom, and this episode is only getting started. The glass is going to shatter extremely hard, and I worry for what the consequences will be for Eddie for all this, because there's no way he's escaping this without deep cuts. He will likely lose Marisol and Kim in one fell swoop. As for Buck, Chris and the rest of the 118, that's yet to be seen. But we know Eddie's parents show back up later on, so they could be coming in with the steel chair, likely to hit Eddie harder when he's already down. After all, the originator of "Don't drag him down with you, Eddie" is none other than Helena Diaz. This season is giving very strong season 3/4 vibes, and if that's the case, it's possible Helena and Ramon are going to pose a problem by the end of the season like they might've done in season 4 if things had gone as originally planned.

I'm worried, scared and excited to see how this ends up for Eddie. But I'm also hopeful. I see a light at the end of this tunnel. After all, it's always darkest just before dawn.

Thanks for reading my meta!

[arsnof]

ArsCo Presents the Inaugural Arsnof's Great American Yard Sard Comics and Sundry Sale 2024!

Hello there! I'm Arsnof. You may remember me from content such as "Canadian Illustrator", "Dungeon Mentat", or even "Transformers Meme". I'm here today to host a celebration of buying things, thinking they're so super cool, and then putting them away and never looking at them again. Comics, books, toys, anime, manga, CCGs, rare webcomic goodies, tiny figurines of yokai, a Little Golden Book adaptation of Gremlins that ends before midnight, Chuck Norris's Karate Kommandos, can you read Japanese because I can't, official Soul Coughing stickers, a hoard of well read Wizards and Toyfares, Funko Pops, feet pics (you can get off, but only if you can correctly diagnose what's wrong first), Transformers...

I could go on forever, but I got it, you want it, we can make a deal (no tongue).

Why is this happening? I'm shit broke and getting shitter. Going down like a Trump Casino. Guy paying his bills on time? I haven't heard that name in forever.

I've been taking care of my ailing father (tried to die on us three times so far this year) and the rest of my family (I don't owe you an explanation, cop) and then someone just up and decided to make my automobile a notomobile.

They didn't have insurance, but that's okay because we have full cov-*hand to ear*-what? We don't? Only comprehensive? Since when? FUCKING shit... Okay, but we still have uninsured motorist, so-four thousand? Four thousand. Dollars. $4,000. To replace an entire ass truck.

We are in desperate need of a car. I've got a lifetime of memories. You, on average, have some change sitting around. Can I have some? I'll trade you stuff.

I'm starting with my comics because they're easiest to catalogue. See something you like? HMU, as the kids say (please God don't let that be a sex thing) and I'll see what I can do. I'm giving the comic shop at which I used to work a vague preference, but I can be swayed.

Next up will be the trades and manga, DVDs of varied origin, toys, and so on.

Criminitly.

If life can stop kicking us in the gender neutral pain zone for five fucking minutes, @paulyollyoxxenfree and I will get back to handicrafts. They're getting back into the amiguroove and I'm going to hit the pad - finish and print Kitty, start Dr. Doctor. Stickers and stuff. I'm not shaving for a while to put me in mall Santa shape by Thanksgiving.

But what if you've got too much money and you're sick of it, but you hate being given things? I take donations. If you put a special request in the memo, I won't even give you the thanks. I'll just spit. I take requests.

Papal

Cache

Fuck, I don't know, antelope? My email - arsnof@gmail.com

I might make one of those kofi things.

Oh and, heheh, one more thing...

Launching in the fourth quarter 2024, ArsCo is proud to announce Alone With Arsnof, the happening new app that gives you the power to have some one-on-one time *gunshot* wit- *sudden fade to red-tinted black, gunshot echo. Sirens fade in. HE'S DOWN! OVER THERE! THE ROOF? A high-pitched whine. Bright light. The late afternoon sky comes into focus. Fireballs? The sun is so bright. Automatic gunfire. No, jets. Falling. Screams. Recognizable screams. Unrecognizable screams? Inhuman? The sun blinks*

[buddiebeginz]

Reminder guys that just because Ryan calls Eddie straight in his current interviews doesn’t mean he is. In the first place Ryan can’t just give away stuff that hasn’t happened yet and as far as canon goes right now Eddie is straight. Let’s not forget that Buck was perceived as straight by the media and most of the general audience before he came out.

The fact that they are allowing Ryan and Oliver to continue to answer questions about Buddie at all is huge because they don’t have to. I don’t know if some of you were around in fandom years ago but we never got this much talk about Buddie and if we did it wasn’t always these continued answers of like “it needs to be a natural progression for them to get there”. It was more like “we appreciate the fans and we’re open to it”. Buddie is clearly in the works and they’re trying not give it away.

Also listen to how Ryan talks when asked about Buddie, he said he lives moment to moment with Eddie right now another clear indication that in this moment this is what’s going on with Eddie. Aka he’s straight and he’s dealing with all the Kim/Marisol stuff but by next season Eddie could be realizing he’s not as straight as he initially thought.

Most importantly remember that the actors don’t write the scripts. All that matters is that Ryan, Oliver, Tim, and ABC are all supportive of Buddie and are open to it happening and they’ve all expressed that they are.

It would just be really stupid for the show to not take advantage of a couple they know could garner them so much more attention and ratings. Not to mention the more important fact of just how groundbreaking a slow burn queer couple like Buddie coming together will be. I think everyone involved understands the gravity of all of it. They’re just trying to take their time with Buddie’s story and tell it right because they only have one chance to do that.

Also don’t pay any attention to what B/T shippers say about this interview because no doubt they’ll use what Ryan said as a way to try and prove Buddie is never happening and their ship is endgame. Trust and believe even if T*mmy sticks around until s8 Buck’s forever love is not going to be him. Buck is almost like the central character on this show, Tim is for sure going to give him an epic love story and was already trying to put Buddie in the works back in season 4. Buck might be dating T*mmy right now but it’s clear that his heart has always been with Eddie (and Chris).

[alphajocklover]

Hi! How about if a nerd, or maybe a science teacher gets a bush by the jock of the school and he realizes a bit too late that his body is changing. It hits him that the sport teams didn’t have a coach for a while now, but that couldn’t be what’s happening, right?

Ned Stanson had hated highschool. The entire 4 years were absolute hell. He, having been an incredibly nerdy chemistry prodigy who everyone could easily tell wasn’t entirely straight, was constantly harassed by the popular jocks. They’d mock him, push him down, stuff him in his locker and perform incredibly cruel pranks. The jocks at his school weren’t smart or clever, but they were thorough. It was constant. He never felt safe, not for a moment, even outside of school. He didn't relax a moment until he was off to Harvard, and even then he was way too busy getting his double major in chemistry and education to really do anything except study. So why, after the years of torment that Ned had been through, that he still hadn’t gotten over, did he ever think it was a good idea to go back to his old highschool?

Ned put it down to desperation. A college degree, even with a double major, didn’t go as far as it used to, and he had no prior experience. He needed a job, badly, and his old highschool, Luther High, was eager to have him back. He expected it was because it made for good publicity more than anything else. The famous chemistry prodigy who went to Harvard, coming back to his old high school to teach a new generation. That, plus the general prestige of having a Harvard graduate working at your school, would do wonders for the small town highschool. So, drawn in by the surprisingly large salary, Ned forced himself to go back to his old school. He tried to tell himself it wouldn’t be the same, that as a teacher he would have all the power. He wouldn’t have to be afraid of jocks and athletes anymore. He could even help a few nerds the way he had once wished his teachers would help him. Things would be different.

He was right. Things were different. Maybe too different. Ned had found that teaching high school level chemistry was actually quite nice. He had always enjoyed teaching, it was just that he had pictured himself teaching college students, going over more advanced material. But something about going over the basics, introducing young minds to the world of chemistry, was thrilling. He felt amazing. Powerful even. Maybe a little too powerful. He wasn’t doing it consciously, and he felt like crap whenever he noticed it but… he found himself being especially hard on the jocks. They hadn’t done anything to him. He hadn’t even seen any of them bullying nerds like the jocks did back in his day. But some sadistic little part of Ned couldn’t help but pick on them. He’d give them harder questions, offer less help, and he even found himself being downright cruel and mocking them.

He knew he should stop but it felt so… cathartic. It was like he was getting his revenge, after all these years. Maybe that was why the kid he targeted most was Dylan Cooper, the little brother of his worst tormenter growing up. Ned knew it was wrong. A teacher bullying a student was way worse than a student bullying another student, no matter how bad the harassment he went though had been. But every time an opportunity to humiliate the legacy jock came up, he found he just couldn’t resist. After a few weeks of this he knew it couldn’t continue. He asked Dylan to stay after class so that he could explain himself and ask forgiveness. He knew he might be reported to the school board and fired, but… he couldn’t deal with the guilt anymore. As he sat at his desk, Dylan across from him, he tried to find the right words. Dylan spoke before he could, his voice cocky and confident.

“I know what you’re gonna say teach. You’ve been treating me like crap because my big bro used to beat your nerdy ass when you went to school together.” Dylan said with a slight smirk, shocking Ned. How did Dylan know about that? Did his father tell him? Dylan continued, a strange look on his face

“… look, what my bro did to you was shitty. I used to be a bit of a bastard myself till my old football coach set me straight. But you know taking out old grudges on students is fucked up. I can tell you do. You get this guilty look on your face whenever you talk to me.” Dylan said, shocking Ned further. Ned remembered hearing about the football coach. He had been let go shortly before Ned was hired. Everyone said good things about him, and Ned had kind of wished he had met the guy. Finally he spoke, a slight tremor in his voice.

“Dylan, I am… I am so sorry. You’re completely right. I’ve acted completely unprofessionally. If you want… I’ll resign.” Ned offered. Dylan smiled slightly

“No need for that teach. I’ll forgive and forget everything. But you have to do something for me.” Dylan said. He took out what looked to a plastic whistle on a chain “The football team needs a new coach. I’m not asking you to say yes. Just… try on the whistle. See how it feels. Then tell me.” Dylan said. Ned hesitated. Something about this felt wrong… but Dylan was being so forgiving. How could he say no? He took the whistle and slowly slid the chain around his neck. Suddenly the world spun around Ned, his vision blurring. He felt like his entire body was stretching as his mind burned. He ended up blacking out, only for Dylan’s familiar voice to cut through the darkness.

“Coach… Coach… Coach!” Ned sat up with a start, looking around. What… What had happened? He looked over at Dylan, confused.

“What happened kid?” Ned asked, his throat feeling strangely rough. He stood up and stretched his arms, his incredibly large muscles flexing slightly as he tried to recall what had just happened. Dylan replied before he could truly get his bearings.

“We were talking about the team and suddenly got weirdly dizzy. Are you not drinking enough water? You’re the one always telling us to drink a bunch after every workout.” Dylan said with a slight teasing smirk. Ned grinned back at Dylan confidently. Dylan was a cheeky kid, he had been even back when Ned first met him. Ned was an incredibly athletic and popular teen, the classic jock, and had been best friends with Dylan’s older brother all through highschool. Because of that Dylan was almost like a little brother to him too, and getting the chance to teach Dylan was one of the reasons Ned was so eager to accept his new job as gym teacher and football coach. He playfully slapped Dylan on the arm and smirked confidently

“I’m alright kiddo. Just lost my concentration for a moment. You should worry about yourself lil bro. I’m gonna push you hard at practice today.” Ned said with a smirk. As the studly coach and quarterback strut out towards the field, Ned grinned widely. He had loved highschool, and now he got to work here and inspire a whole new generation of manly jock bros. It fucking ruled.

[hgejfmw-hgejhsf]

Whump Wednesday

So as most of you know, words have...not been coming easily for me lately. In fact, words have not been coming at all lately. There's some stuff I've been dealing with offline that has contributed to my muse's disappearance, and truth be told, I've been a bit afraid of writing, thinking that perhaps my muse has up and gone forever and I just simply will never write again.

But then @thinkof-england shared with me her idea of taking on Whump Wednesday via a virtual spinning wheel, and she encouraged me to give it a shot with her, as perhaps just an exercise in getting back to writing again. So tonight, for the first time, we allowed the wheel to guide us...and the prompt we received was TW: amputation. What the hell was I meant to do with that, as my FIRST WHUMP PROMPT out of the gate?!

I said, "I'm going to try to just do a drabble. Just 100 words, that's all, no big thing. Surely the muse can make that happen." And then once the idea came, she managed a staggering 500 words. I have NO idea if these words are good or not, but they are mine, and they're 500 words more than I had when I woke up this morning. So behind the cut you'll find a small pentadrabble zombie FirstPrince AU featuring TW: blood, pain, mention of zombies, and implied amputation without anesthesia or proper medical care.

Please be kind. If this doesn't sound like your thing, please keep scrolling right on by. It won't hurt me in the slightest. What will hurt me are unkind words.

A strangled cry rips itself free of Henry’s lungs as Cash carries him inside the farmhouse and places him gently on the couch. Despite the proof of his immense pain dripping from his golden hair and written in every tense, taut line of his face, he buries the sleeve of his shirt into his mouth to stifle the sound. Ever their protector.

Alex produces a knife and cuts away the blood-soaked denim concealing his twisted and torn skin. Jagged holes from the rotting teeth of the undead fucker that attacked his husband continue to pour blood, already beginning to soak the floral fabric on the couch where he and Henry had once made love, long after everyone else had fallen asleep upstairs. Alex can still hear the soft laughter ringing out in the dead of night from Henry’s parted pink lips when he teasingly asked if they needed to seek out one of those ancient plastic covers. He blanches at the thought now.

But it’s the draining of blood from beneath Henry’s already pale skin that comes back into sharp focus as the hulking shadow that can only be Cash reappears over his shoulder. Alex, having no idea he’d left at all, turns to find a handsaw, a belt, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol bundled in Cash’s arms. His lips are a thin line as he kneels by the couch and rolls up his sleeves, until Alex stills his motions with a hand over his.

“I’ll do it,” Alex says softly, his voice a weak croak of a sound. He coughs, as if something as simple as the pollen count could be responsible for the paralysis of his vocal cords. He turns to Henry, then, whose blue eyes are bright with fear and pain and knowing, always just a step ahead of Alex despite his perpetual attempts at running as far ahead as he can into the future, to prepare a way for them. Henry’s never had to run. He’s always simply gazed up at the night sky in silence, as if the great hunter in the heavens is whispering and he’s the only one who can hear. Or perhaps it isn’t Orion at all, but a guardian angel.

Why then, Alex wonders, if Henry’s gift is knowledge, and if there’s some all-knowing being keeping watch over him from just beyond the stars, could something like this be happening to him?

“I trust you,” Henry says, his teeth clenched tight as he places a blood-soaked hand over Alex’s to still a trembling he hadn’t yet noticed. Henry’s golden wedding band glimmers in the dusk of another dying day, surprisingly free of the scarlet liquid still flowing freely from his wounded leg.

Alex’s lungs refuse to inflate when he draws air into them, and the minute contents of his stomach churn with the task he’s about to face, but he secures the belt tightly just above the wound, rests one hand on Henry’s knee for stability and support, and begins.

[balkanradfem]

How to make gardening easy

If you've grown up watching people garden, it's likely you've seen them working around with a big hoe, digging the soil, tilling it, constantly at the war with the weeds. This is traditionally how people garden, because of simple fact that no matter where you plant something, there's going to be native wild plants growing around it, likely suffocating it, unless you do something about it. So people traditionally, have had to fight a lot of weeds, so their garden plants could have all of the space, nutrients, water and sunlight to grow.

Due to this natural issue, that makes the planet a living space for us, the first problem you hit when you're starting a new garden, is a bed of weeds that need to be dealt with. There's grass, there's dandelions, maybe some tall native plants, and you're standing there sighing, thinking of how to convert this into a garden-friendly space. And the first human instinct is to get the space tilled and leveled. But that's difficult. Here's how you can do it without as much effort, by being super smart.

The smart thing is to start early. If you look at your intended garden space 4-6 months early, and you know you're going to have to deal with all these native plants, you can instead, prevent them from growing, by blocking the sunlight from them, and then letting the time take care of it. This is done by several different ways, but all of the include covering the ground with something that won't let sunlight get trough. The most common way is to get a bunch of cardboard (ideally without print), lay them out over your gardening space, put some rocks or weighty stuff over them, so they don't get blown away, and then you can walk away, get back in 4-6 months, remove them, and fresh and ready soil will be waiting for you. All that plant matter will die without sunlight, some of it will get eaten by bugs and turned into fertilizer for you, and you did maybe 1/20 of the work and invested some old cardboard.

If you don't have/like cardboard, this can also be done with a big tarp! A third way to do this, maybe not 100% efficient, is to cover the ground with mulch instead. This is what I do. I bring bags of dried leaves to the garden, spread them across the beds and cover them this way. It doesn't need to be leaves, you can cover the ground with straw, hay, dried grass, wood chips, pine needles, any organic matter. It's not completely efficient, because this organic matter will fall apart and turn into soil itself, so it might not give you a perfect coverage, and some plants might just grow in that instead, but! This method also makes sure your soil is already somewhat fertilized, and your plants will absolutely love all of the degraded organic matter; it will bring in bugs, it will bring in worms, it will bring life to the soil, your garden will be rich in life.

Now, let's say you've done it, you've gotten your empty garden bed, and you're about to plant in It, do you need to work the soil still? I would say no. Gardeners love to work the soil until it's in tiny little pieces, so the new plants have an easier time pushing the roots trough it, so it's easier to work with. And yeah the worked soil is lighter, fluffier, more filled with air pockets, which new plants do like! But what happens next is, the rain falls, the soil absorbs a lot of moisture, and then condenses and turns into that same hard airless dense matter that it was in the start. Digging the soil can only make it lighter and more filled with air, temporarily. That's why gardeners need to do it often!

Worked soil, especially rich in clay, will also get a very dry top surface, which can get rough and fill with cracks, making it look desert-like. Plants do not love this, and gardeners often have to work the soil just to break that cracked surface and get their plants some air. Soil that is dry and dense will also struggle to absorb a decent amount of water, so rainfall won't give it as much goodness as it could. So, what can you do instead, to make the soil palatable to your plants, and not susceptible to being dried  up and dense and difficult for your plants? You can again, add organic matter on top.

If you're sowing your seeds directly, it's good to wait for your plants to grow a little, so they don't have to fight the mulch, but as soon as your plants are taller than a few inches, you are encouraged to cover the ground around them with any organic matter. What this will do is 1. Stop the surface of the soil from drying out, keep it very pleasant, soft and damp for the plant 2. Stop additional weeds from growing, save you from tons of weeding, 3. Protect your soil from erosion and 4. Fertilize your plants.

Soil erosion is a common problem in agriculture, where dried-up top of the soil is eroded by the wind, and ultimately turned into sand, which in a monocrop situation, can turn the entire area into a desert unless there's frequent rain. Now I'm not suggesting you could ever, by growing your little garden, create a desert area – you will not. But keeping your soil safe from both sun and wind will make sure it doesn't lose nutrients, water, and it's own structure, you're keeping it safe! And adding even more richness to it by letting the mulch slowly fall apart on top of it. Whenever it rains, the rainwater will fall into your mulch, take in nutrients from the parts that have composted, and then carry it down to your plant's roots. Your plants will get to eat new food every time it rains.

Generally once my plants outgrow all possible weeds and are not longer in the danger of being suffocated, I forget about weeds and just let them grow, they're not threat to me anymore, and having lots of greenery in times of drought is good for both the plants, and the little critters in your garden. Oh I forgot to tell you about the critters! One thing your garden needs is airy soil, filled with little holes and passages, that gardeners usually make manually with their tools. But what you're doing is luring thousands of little worms, bugs, critters and underground creatures, by all that rich mulch they love eating, so they dig the ground for you. They make holes and passages and air flows through them, making the soil light and fluffy. I've found that keeping the ground covered with mulch during the winter creates the entire different quality of soil than the one that isn't covered; the soil that was covered is so light and easy to work with, you can plant using just your fingers.

Having the quality of your soil improve to the point where you can work it with fingers, will usually happen after 3 years of gardening like this! In the meantime, you might need some tool just to get the seeds underground; I've been using a single spoon to plant everything in the garden. It's the smallest, and thus least-disruptive to the soil type of tool. We want all of the creatures in there to feel safe and undisturbed.

Even though I wrote all this pretending like I can totally garden like a smart person, in the reality I absolutely will completely ignore some parts of my garden all winter, check on it in the spring when it's super weedy, pull the weeds out by hand, and only then mulch and plant, laughing at myself for letting the soil quality go bad – but it still works. As long as I add mulch at some point in time, the garden succeeds. So if you're right now, in the height of spring, considering planting some beans – but you haven't done the whole '6 months earlier' procedure, no worry. I didn't either. I pulled out some weeds and planted beans today with a spoon, I'm gonna add mulch when they come out, and I'm still 100% certain they'll be fine, as long as there's rain. So many of our efforts cannot compare to even one single rainfall.

[calmoose415]

The Movie Star Speech

Tails sighed.

He folded his elbows over his desk. With another heavy exhalation, he rested his chin on his wrists while his namesakes swished in mild aggitation.

It was supposed to be so simple.

Another day, another raid on one of Eggman's bases. Jewel had sent him, Sonic, and Amy on a mission to scope it out and see if there were any supplies they could grab from there.

And while they had managed to grab some useful stuff, they ended up accidentally tripping some of the bases old security protocols.

Thankfully, with his trusty Miles Electric on hand, he could shut down those protocols with ease.

Keyword: could.

But no. Instead a stray blast from one of his defenses hit the device before he could finish hacking the system.

It took some time, but eventually, he, Sonic, and Amy were able to successfully escape.

But Tails still didn't feel better, especially while carrying the remains of his device back.

To make things worse, when they filed the report upon getting back to Restoration, he could practically feel the eyes on him.

While most people at Restoration were generally fond of him, some even idolizing him, he still had his handful of doubters.

"What is he even doing here?" He could hear some of them saying "He's just a kid, he doesn't belong here."

"What does Sonic see in that kid, anyway? It's not like he does anything that important."

"I heard Sonic only took him in because of his skills. It's not like their actually friends."

No matter how many times he heard it, well-meaning or not, their words always cut worse than any badnik.

These feelings continued to persist even after they got home.

Of course, whenever he was feeling down, Tails always fell back on his hobbies to distract himself. And since the Miles Electric needed repairing, this would be the perfect oportunity.

However, no matter how hard he worked, the thoughts still lingered in the back of his mind.

His head began to hurt as he desperately blinked away the tears building in his eyes.

He was eight years old with a 300 IQ; he shouldn't be crying like a little baby!

Suddenly, the door to his workshop creaked open, startling him out of his thoughts. He spun around, picking up a stray wrench on his desk and instinctively throwing it at this supposed intruder.

Instead, he was greeted with the sight of his big brother standing in the doorway, catching the wrench with ease.

"Woah, bud!" Sonic exclaimed a light chuckle in his voice. "Could've given me a concussion with this!"

Tails' shoulders relaxed. "Sorry." He mumbled. "Didn't know it was you."

"Hey, no harm, no foul." Sonic shrugged.

The teen casually strolled over to Tails' desk, placing the wrench down gently.

Tails hung his head, rubbing his eye tiredly. It was dark outside the windows of the workshop, the sun having set over the horizon a couple hours ago. And it was beginning to affect him.

"You doing okay, bud?"

Tails looked up at his brother, his heart clenching at the concern in his voice.

"I-I'm fine."

Sonic tilted his head before donning a soft smile. He knelt down in front of the kit, placing his hand behind the cub's ear and gently scratching.

"Is this about what happened today?" He asked.

Tails wilted, refusing to meet his brother's eyes, picking at one of his namesakes curled in his lap.

That all but confirmed it for Sonic.

"Hey, bud. It's not that big a deal..." Sonic started.

"It is a big deal!" Tails suddenly snapped, cutting his brother off.

Sonic recoiled a bit at the boy's outburst.

"I couldn't stop Eggman's security protocols fast enough because I was an idiot and didn't see that stray shot coming for me!" A few angry tears leaked down his cheeks.

"Bud, that wasn't your fault. None of us saw that coming." Sonic smiled comfortingly.

"You would have." Tails murmured quietly, looking back down at the ground. "I'm supposed to be smarter than this. But every time we're put in a life-threatening situation, I never pull through."

"Hey," Sonic voiced sternly. "You know that's not true, right?"

Tails, a bit startled, remained silent.

Sonic sighed tiredly. "Hey," He gently took Tails' hands into his own, giving them a light squeeze. "Do you need the Movie Star Speech?"

Tails glanced up his brother before he hesitantly nodded.

"Okay." Sonic smiled. "Tails, you are the star of this movie."

Tails glanced down at his idol's hands, grasping them tightly in his own.

"And this is the part of the movie where you get your heart broken. Where the world tests you, and people treat you like shit."

Tails flinched a bit, some of those peoples' words from earlier that day coming back.

"But it has to happen this way. Otherwise, the end of the movie, where you get everything you want, won't feel as rewarding. There are assholes out there. But in the end, they don't matter."

Tails found himself gazing up into his brother's emerald eyes, a soft smile adorned on the blue hedgehog's face.

"Because this movie's not about them. It's never been about them." Sonic's voice was warm, like a soft blanket draping over him.

"All this time... the movie's been about you."

Tails felt the edge of his lips quirking up into a smile. His eyes began to feel watery again. "Thanks, Sonic."

Sonic smiled back. "No problem, little bro." He gently ruffled the fox's bangs.

Tails giggled happily at his brother's touch before he yawned sleepily.

Still smiling, Sonic wrapping his arms around Tails' waist and lifted him up onto his hip.

"C'mon, bud. Time for bed."

Tails snuggled into his brother's soft fur, bunting his head under his chin and nuzzling him lovingly.

Sonic couldn't smile any wider than he already was as he carried his baby brother out of the workshop and up the stairs towards his room.

Gently laying him down on the mattress, Sonic carefully removed Tails shoes before draping the covers over him.

"Goodnight, Tails." He whispered. He then leaned in and softly kissed the fox cub on the forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too... big bro..." Tails murmured in his sleep.

Sonic chuckled as he stood up and walked over to the door, taking one last glance over his should at his sleeping kid before leaving the room.

[irlrikomoriyama]

can i ask about how many ways can a raven break (if thats one of the thing u can ask was a bit confused)

its one we really hope to turn into a fic we have a friend who is very excited for it (and is also our sensitivity reader) riko joins foxes and as part of his therapy with abby he keeps a journal where he writes long thought spirals any time he is anxious so that then he can consider whatever or not he wants to show it to Abby or not, the journal is here to help him keep his thoughts a bit more organized. At some point Riko notices new notes in the journal notes in German (his notes are always in Japanese) as well as doodles and drawings. this agitates him. he is aware that andrew is the only person reading his journal which he passively allows but after the notes started appearing he started hiding the journal. this leads to andrew growing suspicious, when few days later riko catches him going through journal he had hidden they get in a fightt (riko punches him all of sudden something that somehow never happened before). one thing leads to another and over course of following therapy with new therapist as bee was not qualified enough to diagnose him Riko is diagnosed with dissociative personality disorder (all parts of system refer to themselves as Riko but they do have nicknames they use as well) There is "Fox" (you can think about him as all my cute fox riko headcannosn and arts very energetic and full of life very fannon kind of riko)- Riko after joining the foxes, he is much more open in showing his emotions he is actually based on the rp "quarterhouse/roadkill" he dates renee aaron and kevin , genuinely loves life and is very unhappy when he finds out details of his condition - he feels extremally possessive of the body and time he has which leads to frustration towards other alters and fear that their actions might fuck up his already complicated life "Raven" (much closer to canon riko or even fandom riko - evil brody mad bad) - Raven was the first fronter and keeps most of memories from nest, this is why fox himself did not remember much form before joining foxes, raven hates fronting now, he misses nest he hates fox tower hates the foxes , his pride is still not healed, he does snot feel safe or accepted around them, he is nyctophile and still gets triggered into fronting any time its perfectly dark (when foxes figure that out there is some teasing happening about it which he despises) as well as when it rains. Raven loves kevin and feels posessive over jean and does not see reason why renee and aaron should be part of that. is the one who broke jean "captain" possibly riko's first split - captain is on the court and takes care of all things exy, he will become good friends with neil who will be the only reason captain starts fronting outside of games- just to chat about exy. captain is also not convinced about need for relationship with renee and aaron as he sees both to be mediocre players and he is straight (all of this plays a lot into aarons relationship insecurities and makes fox miserable and resentful of his alters). captain is very frustrated to find out he is not a captain any more and is pretty damn hurt over not being a captain anymore it is bit of crisis for him considering the title was core of his personality as far as he rememberer. later on riko get title of co captain <3 is very confused as to why jean can not play "King" - trauma holder, specifically physical abuse , hates fronting because feels phantom pains constantly "Princes" - a split made to help King cope with the psychological part of the abuse, princess is regressed little girl who just wants to be loved and cared for, jean is her knight and she can NOT find out who hurt him , it would break her

there is also danny who is split from one of riko's most constant abusers he does not front just provides bad vibes and keeps them on edge psyhologically fun stuff i love about it: Kevin absolutely can not deal with the fact that he is not the favourite person of all rikos fox woudl prefer not to choose but renee was his girlfriend before kevin became his boyfriend again raven sees kevin as his everything so this checks out captain also likes kevin but he end sup pretty taken by neils approach to the game over time princess loves jean and renee and idk she doe snot give a fuck about exy so can kevin shut up about it? (jean is delighted) king does not like anyone i don't think kevin should want to be dannys fave luckily nobody other than riko knows about danny anyway there's actually .. a lot of lore for this technically the ship is riko/renee/aaron/jean/kevin the same way like in quarterhouse but fox unlike raven feels embarrassment and shame for pact actions and doe snot feel even allowed to look at the man

[gracejh08]

Breaking the media

Chapter 2 -breaking the news

Surprisingly, the transfer between arsenal and Barcelona had been relatively fast arsenal were quite happy to send you to Barcelona due to the opportunitys it was going to give you. Now here came the part you had forgotten about you had to say goodbye to the people who have made you the player you are now and how well they have took care of you. The group had decided to have a get together in the holidays and you knew this was the only time you could tell them otherwise they will find out about the transfer pretty quickly due to social media. There was definitely some speculation of you moving as you saw the rumor posts on your Instagram feed which made you giggle to yourself knowing they were right but you can't interact with them otherwise your cover is blown.

It was they day of the event and now the nerves had really hit you, you had managed to convince beth and viv to take you because you knew you couldn't face your 'parents' yet. They picked you up and you hopped into the back seat of the car "you all good there y/n " beth asked with an unreadable expression one of worry yet it not slipping over her smiling face. "Yeah im good just jealous that all of yous got a nice tan and ive been stuck here" you remarked half sarcastically but also with a tone of seriousness you were a bit jealous that you couldn't go on holiday. "Yeah yeah well in two years we will bring you with us" viv chimed in smiling at you. The pwang of guilt hit you hard they didn't know you were about to tell them you were leaving the club and now it felt like you couldn't bare the news. "Yeahh that would be nice but i don't wanna be pain on your holidays" you say back "no no you'd never be a pain" beth responded. Yous continued to chat in the car and as every minute past the pit in your stomach grew deeper and was a lot more noticeable.

You walked into the venue to find it nicely decorated and privately booked. Thank god you thought to yourself just incase the tears came along with the news. The night was going well until leah came and sat next to you "hey y/n you've been awfully quiet tonight" she said "yeah im all good just got stuff going on at the moment" you replied not even trying to hide your emotions with leah "what stuff?, better not be you leaving us for barca like the rumors" she said jokingly not understanding that was exactly what was happening. That comment had sent you in a spiral though you couldn't cancel the deal now but your team mates will be so disappointed in you and disgusted that you left them.

You were lost deep in thought until you felt tears on the verge of your eyes "im going to the bathroom" you said standing up dismissing leahs comment. The speed you walked away at was fast but wasn't fast enough to contain your tears to the bathroom you hands wiped across your face as you made your way to the bathroom. You slammed the bathroom stall door with some force and then you let the emotions hit you your legs gave in as you slid to the cold tiled floor and it felt like the walls were caving in and you couldn't breath everything was overwhelming.

Meanwhile leah was sat in confusion and also a hint of panic and she got up shortly after you hadn't returned from the bathroom after a couple of minutes. She hadn't made it into the main area of the bathroom when she heard your sobs through the wall it was heart breaking to hear and yet she didn't know what to do. She knew she couldn't deal with this it had to be beth and viv they had been the people to take you under there wing and look after you. Leah almost legged it to beth and viv who were stood next to eachother in the busy part of the room "beth viv i need your help" leah said so quick that it seemed like she needed the help "whats up leah" beth asked worry knitted through her eyebrows "its y/n she.. i dont know what happened.. i said one thing and she was fine the next minute she stormed off to the bathroom.. and then.. i" leah was rambling her head full of panic and it was viv who took charge of leah. " leah i need you to calm down for me and i will get kim to sit with you but i have to go deal with y/n" she said dragging her to a couch in the bar. She got kim to sit next to her and left them be while her and beth charged to the bathroom.

As the door opened you still hadn't got any better from when leah had checked on you infact it had gotten worse. You suffered from anxiety but it was never this bad well not for the past while it hasnt been this bad. You were so trapped in your own head you had forgot to lock the door properly so here it was beth and viv stood above you staring down at your body crumpled into a ball hyperventilating with your hands over your ears and your eyes clenched. It was a sight neither the older girls had expected to see but both knew what they had to do to hopefully fix it and know what was the reason for it. It was viv who had taken charge of the operation and she sat next to you on the cold tile floor beth followed quickly after. "Hey y/n love its viv, can i touch you" she asked gently after no response viv knew it was worse than she thought and she's going to have to do what she thinks is best.

She reaches for your hand which you grab as if it was your lifeline and this begins to draw you out of your mind "hey hey love look at me" beth said looking at you with the most empathetic look in her eyes her face knitted with worry. You look up at her your face puffy and red from the tears that still poured down your face "oh love its okay" she said as you basically threw yourself at her sobbing into her shoulder drenching her jumper in tears "im sorry, im so sorry" is the only thing you could muster up into beths shoulder "you have nothing to be sorry for love" viv said rubbing circles on your back with her hands "yes i do you're all gonna hate me and its my fault i should have been more responsible" you said this time sniffing the final tears away. "We wont hate you love but you need to tell us whats going on" viv said this time a lot more serious in her tone. You took a deep breath "im.. im going to Barcelona" you said waiting for the wrath of the two of them to tell you that they hate you "omg y/n that amazing, we're so proud of you" beth said pulling you in tighter.

You were shocked they were proud of you, they shouldn't be they should hate you "you're proud of me?" You questioned them looking up with glassy eyes "yes of course we are but we need to tell the rest of the team to celebrate" viv said standing up and dragging you up to your feet. You slowly crept out the bathroom where beth and viv sat you on the nearest seat away from the rest of the team. You had essentially begged the two of them to tell everyone else as you couldn't do it especially after having a panic attack in front of beth and viv. Luckily they agreed but you had to be in the room with them you trundled behind the couple like a lost puppy when they made you sit on chair next to them the suitation almost felt like an intervention "right so y/n has so big news to tell you all but she has asked us to do it for her" beth began to start "so for next season y/n is moving to Barcelona" she said with a smile on her face "omg you're joking y/n thats amazing" russo said to you "well in y/n" said katie following.

You felt positive about moving to Barcelona now and you had plenty people who backed you from a few thousand miles away you felt like this was the right move.

Your life was at peace until it hit the media...

[evolutionsvoid]

The image of the sea can take on many forms, and its moods are ever changing. From many harrowing tales, you know that it can be a thing of rage and chaos, tempests blowing and waves crashing upon rocks and ship. Yet, some days it can be peaceful and calm, the undulations of the water like gentle rocking that can lull one to sleep. Just the sound of the ocean breeze and the distant calls of seabirds. Add warm rays of sunlight, and you got a very relaxing time! However, such tranquility does not last long, as inevitably the weather will go sour and the winds and waves will grow nasty. Or in other cases, some local marine life may decide that they have had enough of this boring ol "peace" and "quiet," and mix up the scene by blowing things up.

If there is ever chaos, carnage and lots of loud booms coming from the ocean, it could be a violent storm, or perhaps a pod of explosive troublemakers passing through. The species I am talking about is known as the Bombardier Whale, which should give you a clue about their whole deal. Well, a bit of the lie there, actually. Forgive me for being me, but I have to point out the wrongness in their name, because Bombardier Whales are not whales! They're dolphins! And I already know people are like "what's the difference?" as if I am being unreasonable here, but there is a difference! I mean, just look at them! Isn't it obvious?! Oh I would gladly go into it, but I already know Eucella is readying her quill at this hint of a rambling tangent, so I shall abstain for now. Lets just say, the Bombardier Whale is actually a dolphin, pretend its a fun fact and move on.

So a Bombardier Whale has your basic dolphin anatomy, where if you picture the typical dolphin in your mind, you are almost there in imagining a Bombardier. The major changes to them is, first, their humped backs. A big mound of blubber and muscle that sits upon their back, from which a comically small dorsal fin sticks out from. Then there is the "armor plating," which is actually hardened hide and fat. These dense chunks may not be armor that can deflect a blade, but it can eat a whole lot of damage while keeping all the vital stuff underneath free of harm. These plates are found on their head, running down their backs and on their bellies as well. Once you got those two features added to your mental dolphin, all you got to do is paint it blue, add a ludicrous amount of scars to it and TA-DA! A Bombardier Whale!

With a body so packed with muscle and blubber, combined with toughened hide, you imagine this species is quite the brawler! All this mass is surely for vicious battles and taking foes head on! Of course, you would only be saying that if you didn't know their name, because in truth, all this is to help them survive their own signature weaponry! While other cetaceans may use more basic forms of hunting prey, like filter feeding or simply chasing them down, the Bombardier Whale instead relies on something a lot more flashy and explosive! In their head, the Bombardier Whale creates a potent chemical that is stored in sacs connected to their blow hole. This secretion is currently stable in this form, with no worries of any accidents! That is because it requires a couple more components to reach its deadly potential! You see, the lining of the tubes that connect these sacs to their blowholes have a special sticky mucus that acts as a catalyst, which begins the process of making its chemical weapon more volatile. When needed, muscles squeeze these glands and force the chemical through the tubing to start the catalyzation, causing this load of fluid to become more unstable and gaseous with each passing moment. While this is happening, the mixture is pushed into their specially designed blow hole, which releases air in sync with this changing fluid to trap pockets of its volatile gas in bubbles. With a final effort, the armed bubble is released from its blow hole and floats out into the ocean. In this brief state, you can see an orangish gas swirling within the bubble, the only warning you get before it pops. And when it does, a lot of other things go POP!

With this system, the Bombardier Whale is able to essentially make bomb bubbles, which it uses for hunting and self defense. Their control over how much gas is released and how many bubbles are formed is insanely good, allowing them to fit their weapon to the current situation. When it comes to getting food, the Bombardier Whale works in pods to drive schools of fish into a single condensed ball. They do so using their bodies and brief sprays of lightly armed bubbles that more so pop and sizzle than do any real damage. Once the fish are trapped in a small area, a few members of the pod will swim below and release big bomb bubbles to float up into the school and detonate. The resulting explosion turns the prey into chunks and chum, and the whole pod rushes in to feed. While this may seem like overkill for catching a few small fry, using these explosives does have its advantages. For one, having prey getting blasted into pieces means they can go after bigger fish than other dolphins could normally handle. No worry about it fitting down the ol gullet, as it will be blown into perfect morsels for swallowing! The other advantage is that this hunting method keeps a lot of freeloaders and thieves away from their reward. Normally, lots of sea birds and fish try to swoop in to steal what food they can from the hunter's hard work, but when you add in the possibility of getting blown to bits from an ill-timed dive, then many species keep their distance!

This weapon is helpful in both pods and when on your own, as single Bombardier Whales can still get a meal without all that "teamwork" stuff. They simply swim below their prey and release bubbles to either catch it in an explosion, or use distracting popping sprays to force them into a specific direction where the dolphin can lunge forth and grab them. This species can even time their explosions by popping the bubbles prematurely using their calls. One member can make one real big stable bubble that slowly floats upward, while another waits on the side for it to reach the right level. Once the bubble is in the perfect spot, they release a sonar click that disrupts it and pops it, causing gas to meet water and BOOM!

No doubt this same tool is great for keeping away predators, as it is very powerful and dangerous! So dangerous, that Bombardier Whales have developed this hide padding and dense layers of blubber to help absorb the blow of any explosion that goes off too close. Their huge hump is believed to be a shock absorber, taking the punishment of failed bubbles and attacks to keep the organs and vital bits safe. In fact, you can often see the results of "bad days" painted all over their bodies, as they tend to be coated in scars. Some are from bomb bubbles, others are from predators and fights with other Bombardiers. It turns out, this species can be a bit testy and vicious, confident in their weaponry. They pick a lot of fights, and their tough hide and blubber allows them to swim away with only shallow wounds. Many predators and attackers break off combat pretty quick once the explosive bubbles show up, as not many creatures are willing to have a hole blown in them!

While this species is absolutely fascinating with their unique weaponry and method of hunting, there is certainly some issues that can arise with them hanging around coastal villages. Fishermen, sailors and general residents are not fans of these dolphins, due to the destructive nature of their bubbles and the sheer noise they make. Plenty of fishing boats have had their hulls obliterated by a hunting pod who have released their bubbles right below them. Nets and entire catches can be ruined when these dolphins see an opportunity to feed, turning a valuable haul into a bloody spray of sea water and fish chunks. Some are accidental, others intentional. Cetaceans are smart creatures, and the Bombardier Whale is no exception! They know how to coordinate attacks, adapt to various prey and counter predator tactics. They also know the sign of a free meal and the image of a competitor. Fishing vessels can steal their food, and they don't like it, so they will totally target them for destruction. And then people with harpoons come out to get rid of these detonating dolphins, which they don't like even more! What can result is an entire pod of Bombardier Whales who are very anti-boat, and they will make it a nightmare for any vessel that crosses their path. They will swim circles around the ship, diving below to deposit explosive bubbles underneath until the hull is breached. Needless to say, plenty of boats are lost to these antics, and thus a hatred for these dolphins develop. Hunting and killing of this species has dropped their populations in coastal waters where villages and ports are a plenty. Thankfully, pods further out in the sea or in uninhabited waters still exist in peace, and ensure this species still has healthy numbers. Just be wary when you discover an untouched coastline and pristine waters filled with fish, because there is a high chance someone else has already laid claim to these waters.

In some regions, Bombardier Whales can be hunted for food, as their meat and blubber is considered a delicacy. The reason why it is a rare treat is the same reason other regions don't bother hunting them in the first place: one wrong harpoon shot or cut with the knife can cause the entire deck to blow sky high. Yes, their explosive fluid is stable when in storage, but all it needs is to touch mucus and saltwater to become volatile. When they are dead, muscles loosen and sacs can leak. A wet carcass hauled onto a ship can be a ticking time bomb depending on how their fluid stores act and how fate rolls their dice. These dangerous pieces can be carved out and thrown away to render the rest of the meat safe, but it takes a skilled and precise butcher to do so. One wrong cut, and you could be reduced to jelly. In some places, when a Bombardier Whale is killed, they saw off the head as fast as possible and just chuck the whole thing into the sea. All this is also the reason why you never approach a beached one or a dead one washed up on shore. One second you are investigating a seemingly harmless heap of blubber, the next you are in the afterlife wondering what that noise was.

Oh, and final note: Folks find dolphins and small porpoises fun to play with and swim around with (I wouldn't be part of that, what with me being a plant that hates salt water). There are plenty of tourist packages and promises of "swimming with dolphins" that people eat up. Folks find certain cetaceans playful, cute and fun! This species is not one of those. Do not get in the water with them. In fact, don't even be ON the water with them. You have been warned.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

-------------------------------------------

"Bombardier Whale"

How about a bubble bomb blowing dolphin? Surely that can't go wrong!

[ask-mossy]

What is your opinion on mosscreeps?

[naamahdarling]

.

[keeps-ache]

there are a couple changes i would make to the keyboard if i could:

wiggly exclamation mark

bleeding heart emoji

varying snake emojis (more poses would be fun)

question mark with a little heart for the dot bc, well,

more explosions

and that is all thank you

[puhpandas]

I keep thinking about how on earth they would canonize ggy bc like. at this point if they have to sacrifice Gregory screentime of just him to make something we already know actually canon, I would rather just take the screentime, but on the other hand they have to canonize it if they want to do anything at all with that plotline, and that makes me wonder if theyll stick with it as canon in the games at all or just leave it as background knowledge if u read the book 😭

[inkmaze]

being normal [lying] being normal [lying] being normal [lying]

[cannedf0wer]

Ocs

⚠️blood,killing,violence ,weird words