#stopped writing and posted it to drafts

[boy-subtraction]

wait like actually literally what is the point. why am i a vegetarian and why don't i drink or smoke weed anymore. THERE IS NO REA

[ricketycr1cks]

And if I say Mac grew up equating love to cigarette burns and absent fathers and getting told to toughen up, that Mac doesn’t understand love that isn’t conditional, love without equal parts hate or distaste, that never in his life has Mac understood earnest love, that even though Dennis isn’t trying to, he often ends up re-confirming this idea in Macs head, that love is hatred, that-

[witless-winion1]

Do you think when Ody comes back, he is so immensely touch starved, like he is constantly walking around the palace fully wrapped around his family, climbing them, just fully around the palace staying as close as possible to them, asking Telecommunications to move back into the room w/ his wife and him so he can hold them both oh so tight so he can believe in his touch that they aren't going to be ripped from his arms, and he's back on a lil raft, alone, maybe even prays to hope like Hermes and Athena come over more often so he can hug them in thanks and like w/ how many friends lost, drags them into a cuddle pile on a surface of some sort (floor? Bed? IDK) so he can trust he isn't alone and those who helped him and those he loves are still there, passing out, and all they can hear is screams (begging for them to not leave please pleASE PLEASE) (I'm coming back for more once I have more ideas, but yeah)

why the hell did this take me so long to answer. Why have I been letting one of my precious few asks rot in the box. I am so sorry my fren, my brain saw the wall of text and activated both the EXCITEMENT and OVERWHELM buttons at the same time. But anyway. Yes.

Odysseus Absolutely clings to Penelope every chance he gets (and she does the same). Remember that comic with his empty throne while he just snuggles up with Penelope on her lap on her throne? I’m a big supporter of that. It’s canon.

He’s a bit more nervous about touching Telemachus, because he doesn’t know his son’s boundaries as well as he knows Penelope’s, but he learns pretty quickly that while is son is mostly unused to constant physical affection, he is very open to it.

In my mind, Telemachus doesn’t sleep with his parents unless it was a bad night for one of them (Tele and Pen suitor trauma, Ody…everything trauma), but they do frequently have cuddle piles in the evening, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they constantly fell asleep like that.

Also now that I’m considering it, I do think Telemachus moved his bedroom to directly down the hall from Penelope when he was a teenager to protect her, just in case. So he stays close even on regular nights. Though he does have to invest in earplugs.

Also, I LOVE the idea of him summoning Hermes and Athena purely to spend time with them.

When he prays to Athena, she’s there in a snap, and is initially rather confused. She’s not very used to physical affection or ‘cuddles’ (a term she does not use), but she finds she enjoys it more in her owl form. Although she refuses to participate in the “physical closeness sessions” when Hermes is there after the first time. She didn’t want him spilling to the rest of Olympus about how, in a sleepier owl form, she started arranging the blankets and pillows of the wedding bed into a nest around the edges of the bed. You know, to keep the chick (Telemachus) from falling off.

Hermes just laughs and dives into the bed, remarking that it’s somehow almost as soft as the ones on Mount Olympus! and playfully sits on Telemachus’ legs and says stuff to get Penelope to whack him with a pillow (or olive tree branch, depending on how bad it was). He also occasionally offers them moly. Odysseus always declines, but Penelope and Telemachus both tried it once out of curiosity.

Penelope then sat down and weaved a tapestry (magnificent enough to make Athena notice and ask about it later, leading to a very fun and intelligent conversation). She then fell asleep (passed out) at the loom when it was done. Odysseus carried her to bed, and she had no recollection of the night before or of weaving the tapestry.

When Telemachus tried moly, he just started mumbling about how he missed Argos. And then he stood up and started rambling about the legends Penelope had told him about Odysseus when he was a young boy. Odysseus nearly cries from both sentimentality and laughter at his son’s clumsy recollections.

But after a while, after some speculation with an old healer in the palace, Odysseus tried microdosing (am I using that word right?) moly in hope of helping with his nightmares, because of every night’s a repeat of “captain”, “but we’ll die”, “this life is amazing,” “waiting,” “get in the water,” “thunder bringer”, etc. He finds his dreams to be more chaotic, but less intense and traumatizing…? Like fever dreams? He decides to only use it on the worst nights, because he’d rather not see Polites and Eurylochus dressed up in winion and lotus-themed drag every night.

[ichxraaa]

the little things ft. nanase haruka

⤷ sometimes haru can´t help but wonder if you wud be better with someone else, someone... less boring.

⊱♥︎ is the free! fandom as dead as a ghost town? probably, do i care? not at all, i have been watching the last season and this little thing came up, i have many feelings about haruka nanase.

Haruka wouldn’t necessarily call himself boring, but if put side by side with his friends he could. He doesn’t have Asahi’s boldness, or Nagisa’s bubbliness, or Kisumi’s way of making anyone feel welcome, much less Rin’s ease to break the ice stating that even while having a girl’s name he is a boy, and of course he is far from having Makoto’s wit to start a conversation with any topic. 

And after the first awkward stage of your relationship breaks, the one from the first 3 months give or take he begins to worry about it in a way he simply didn’t care about before. 

He finds it odd, new. The past year he has been so confused and then hesitant to take your friendship from just that to a relationship that he never really thought how things would be once you were together. 

And it’s been bothering ever since he accidentally heard a conversation you had with a friend last week when he went to pick you up from the library. 

“…But seriously, what do you two even talk about?” She laughs, and you laugh with her. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say more than three words together”.

“You just haven’t been lucky then, but don’t worry about me, Haru is plenty interesting even when he is quiet”.

And your answer eases him, and yet he can’t help but be bugged about it in an intrusive way that shows up even when he is trying to eat. 

Right now you’re lying next to him. Your feet are on his lap and his are next to your hips. Sitting on opposing sides of the couch you’re both reading. He can see you’re really focused by the way your brows have furrowed. 

Is this really what you’d like to be doing right now? It is Friday night and even if he has practice tomorrow morning, you don’t. 

“Do you wanna do something else tonight?”

“Mmm?” Your eyes lift from the page with a curious look headed his way. There’s always something in the way you look at him, so openly and intensely yet kind and soft that has him nearly blushing.

“I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go out or something…”

You smile, hand reaching for his calves and softly massaging the hard muscle. “Not really, do you want to go out?”.

“Not really”.

You laugh and put your book down on the floor while snuggling into the armrest. He inadvertently moves to give you room to accommodate yourself.

“Do you wanna watch a bad movie and order take out?” You ask.

Haru smiles, softly and  nearly missable from the untrained eye. 

Sometimes Haru worries you’re gonna get bored of him, he frequently quotes his grandma as a source of wisdom, he eats nearly the same stuff every day and he is obsessed with water. 

If only he knew those same particularities are such a big part of why you fell in love so quickly, why you went to bed dreaming of the day where you would be bold enough to tell him how you felt. Except he had beat you to it.

Sometimes he worries you’re gonna get bored of him, but fortunately right now his biggest concern is what kind of mackerel dish he’s gonna get for dinner.

[stump-not-found]

.

what's happened to me that a 10k word chapter now feels short

[kaiserouo]

sometimes its weird to think of ordis as ordan karris

[stanpinesdykewife]

"i wish there were more fics with—" WRITE THEM! YOU HAVE TO WRITE THEM!! YOU NEED TO WRITE THEM!!!

[frobby]

I think it would be really funny if rin was the more helpful one around his house. Like u would think rin would be the disrespectful one who always bails on housework or mass but its actually yukio who would always have an excuse not to go or forget about chores to the point that rin just does them instinctively now

[koyacyi-vode]

“What are you doing out here, cadet?” Fox hadn't heard Alpha-17 approach; the wind was too strong, and Alpha could move silently if he wanted to. It was only a matter of time before someone had found him. Of course it was Alpha. or Alpha-17 talks Fox down from the ledge.

Cadet Fox fic following his reaction after the death of a batchmate and an intervention from Alpha-17. [6k, Gen, Canon Compliant, content warning for suicide attempt]

---

I am dropping this here and washing my hands of fiddling with it lol. I love writing Fox angst and haven't written anything for him as a cadet so, here we go. Kinda based on a line from Jareor but you don't have to connect them.

[spacedlexi]

girlies post incoming!!! 💜🍊

the way these two had no idea what they were doing (clem raising aj. violet leading the school) yet now they support each other and as a team are trying to help each other figure it out together. theyre making it up as they go but they at least know they have each other to rely on for whatever happens next

clem never had all the answers but she was trying her best to not let that show. violet becomes someone clem knows she can rely on no matter what (standing up for her and aj and their place at the school, "when i heard you call for help i didnt even think"), and clem becomes someone violet can rely on in turn (using her experience to help violet lead and protect the school and helping her take care of all these kids). theyre each others ROCKS!!!!!!! THEYRE A TEAM!!!!!!!!!!

honestly one of the reasons letting vi get taken hurts so much is that no matter what she WAS the leader of ericson!! vi (the wallflower that she was) steps up as soon as aj is in trouble to protect him And clem, then continues to fall into that leadership position because its not like anyone else is trying to keep everyone together. and even though she has no idea what shes doing or going to do about the army coming to take them all away, shes still trying her best, and clem helps her figure it out as they begin to lead together as a TEAM!! neither of them would be where they are without the influence of the other (vi stepping up as leader, clem being allowed back in). and you can just..... let her be taken in spite of all that.......... no wonder she was so heartbroken in that cell how could she not be

but if you save her it just solidifies their building relationship. that theyll always have the others back no matter what. and vi solidifies this even further by shooting minnie to save clem. all the little reassuring smiles they give each other.. making sure the other is holding up ok in moments of stress... im gonna go cry now

[mishy-mashy]

Lucky timing for me that I get back into Black Clover (specifically over Nacht, Morgen, and the Grey Deer), right before the manga updated with 3 chapters around Nacht, Morgen, and Yami

Was working on an old fic to do with the Grey Deer, but anyway, things to note that are canon:

Nacht seems to suck at magic sensing

He's got a record of not sensing something or someone is there unless it's right in his face and he can see it himself.

When we first see him in the manga, investigating in Dante's room, Nacht didn't notice the Dark Disciple behind him until they said something.

(Ch. 246)

He wouldn't just let someone see him and think 'Oh, nothing will happen here' as he senses them. Nacht couldn't let anyone see him do this. He actually mentions he acted "audaciously" here, but I don't think being caught was ever on purpose.

This was someone directly behind him. Nacht is supposed to be undercover and on high-alert for himself, but couldn't recognize a guy was behind him until they spoke up. This guy wasn't trying to sneak up on Nacht, either; they noticed him, asked what he was doing, and immediately picked a fight

Maybe Nacht was just focusing on reading the papers before dealing with that guy? But he didn't react until the guy spoke up. He could've just dealt with the guy and continued reading his papers. No one noticed the blatant scream either.

(Ch. 246)

Look at that. "Husssh". It was immediate silence right after Nacht dragged him.

And it's not like his reaction was only after the verbal threat. The Disciple already had his grimoire out. And grimoires are an important magic item that boosts magic capability and such, so it's not like the grimoire has no presence.

(Also the Spade warriors are quick to fight and all, but eh)

It's not just the instance with the Dark Disciple, either. Nacht couldn't sense powerful demons just a few paces away from him (Lucifero and Adramelech).

(Ch. 317)

Did everyone just have a slip in mana sensing? Did they not notice the whirling storm right above them?

Nacht was with the Black Bulls, turned his head away, and happened to see Adramelech (the devil sitting on a rock). That's when he noticed the guy; the others had Adramelech speak up before they noticed, at which point Lucifero showed up and flattened them.

Nacht just saw them. He didn't sense them. He just happened to turn and walk that way, probably intending to have gone to Yuno to bring him to Loyce for a reunion.

And when Dante was still kicking and using his Body Magic to regenerate himself, Nacht watched the guy go down and went, 'Alright, he's done now'.

(Ch. 294)

Nacht didn't sense the fact his mana was working to regenerate himself? (Luck didn't either, but it's Nacht I'm focusing on here)

Nacht has a history of being bad with sensing magic. There are instances it could've blown his cover or cost his life, but he was lucky each time

Being a sensor for magic is uncommon, but Nacht missed a soldier right behind him. Said soldier belongs to a Kingdom that believes in absolute strength.

(On the point that the others didn't sense the devils or Dante either—I'm going to consider it being for the sake of the Plot™. But I still think Nacht is bad at magic sensing, even if it can only exist as an HC later on)

Morgen and Nacht are twins, with different birthdays

Nacht is older, born during the nighttime of April 30th.

Morgen is younger, born during the morning of May 1st.

Morgen and Nacht look like their mother

(Ch. 286)

That smile they both have? Genetic.

It's hard to see because her eyes are shaded, but it's the same closed-eye curve smile. Their dad's eyes are a bit droopy / flat, but Nacht and Morgen both have narrow, slanted eyes.

They got their mother's facial features, smile, and probably hair too, since their hair is silky and long. Look at their long hair, and how their mother puts it in a bun; the twins' hair grows fast, and has always been longer than others'.

(Ch. 286)

Not as cohesive of a panel, but look at them.

The twins got their mother's smile, her eyes and long lashes. Even the nose and chin, and her face shape and jawline.

Nacht and Morgen are girly in appearance, and they look just like their mother.

(Volume extra)

Nacht is a damn troll.

I know we get a few examples of this already. He might look like Morgen and try being a good guy, but this is still someone who got on like a room on fire with Yami, and still does at 29 years old.

His shared spell with Yami is called Children's Playground.

When he brought Asta to fight and subdue Liebe, he waited until Asta stepped onto the summoning circle and just sprung it on him, knowing all he had to do was say "Summon".

(Ch. 266)

When he came back from near-death, the first thing he did was trade remarks with Yami like children, going "No u" "No, YOU".

When Asta commented on Nacht's similarities to Yami (something that Nacht KNOWS and acknowledges himself when Yami saves him), Nacht gets a shaded smile and strings up Asta with his magic

When facing off against a devil with Yami, there's a parallel shown of them when they were kids, cutting to near-30-year old adults. And they just say, "Shall we play with him?!"

Y'know, one of many examples of Nacht actually just being a big kid that still likes causing trouble.

(Kind of?) Black Bull robes seem to have changed after Nacht became frequent in the squad

I could be wrong since I haven't looked at their robes in a while, and don't want to go back and forth to check at this point (tacking this point on after it's already queued), but weren't the robes shorter before?

After Nacht becomes a common part of the Black Bulls as their vice-captain, the squad robes got longer, right? Nacht made his own Black Bulls robe a lot like the one he wore at his debut, but it's darker, covers the body more, and has the logo blatantly on it.

I'm at the image limit, but when Nacht agrees with the Black Bulls that they're going to look for Asta, some of their robes look upgraded to the longer cape look? I could be remembering wrong, but if the robes are different, I'm betting Nacht had a say in it. The new robe is literally a version of what he wears everyday

[thevioletcaptain]

is harry chapin's cat's in the cradle extremely overused when it comes to talking about father-son relationships in media and in general? look, probably!!

but regardless of any real or perceived banality of the reference i'm still sitting here on a tuesday evening thinking about dean and jack and how much jack models himself on dean, and dean's deep, crushing guilt over that, and the song's final lamentation that he'd grown up just like me, my boy was just like me, and--

it's a lot, man. it's just a lot.

[worthyprnce]

i saw this post and I had an idea (for a fic maybe?) but I don't have the time for it right now, so I'll try to summarize it. I also don't even know if this will make sense or if anyone else will see my vision, but anyway... (I'm also going to ignore the premise of stopping a wedding because it's the love of you life's wedding, I'm going to give merlin another reason)

arthur is about to marry a random princess. uther continues to insist on bringing princesses from allied kingdoms for his son to marry, to form powerful alliances and ensure heirs. and, after so many discussions, uther managed to convince his son to a marriage of convenience, which broke the hearts of both arthur and gwen, the true love of the prince's life.

merlin knows that this marriage shouldn't happen, it simply can't happen, and he was determined to stop it, even if he had to take drastic measures. not only because he's the number one arwen shipper we have in the show, but because he and gaius discovered that it was just another plan by the princess's father to overtake the throne of camelot. so he runs, desperate, to the church where the wedding would take place, his eyes wide, his lungs pulsing against his chest, heavy and tired.

his magic was agitated because his body,mind, soul and heart were agitated, so when he opened the doors of the cathedral and shouted with all his strength "I OBJECT!", the last thing he expected to see was a collection of pairs of unknown eyes and a decorated coffin in the middle of the people instead of arthur and his future wife. in fact, the last thing he was really expecting was to see the deceased slowly rise from his coffin, dazed like a hangover, scratch his eyes and look around, confused.

some women screamed, but it didn't seem to be out of fear, it seemed more like irritation, as if they had been caught in an old prank once again. but what really made the deceased come to his senses, were the angry cries of "you scoundrel! there's no use playing dead, gwaine, you'll pay my money!"

that was what made the deceased, gwaine it seemed, get up, his energy renewed, and run away, tripping over flowers and candles while merlin remained standing in front of the door without understanding what had really happened, stunned and lost.

gwaine ran out, passing merlin like lightning, and merlin had to run after him, because now the resurrected man's collectors were thinking that merlin was part of his plot. which wasn't true, but merlin needed to understand what had happened. there was no way merlin could have unintentionally used his magic to bring someone back to life, right? there was no way, he would know if he could do it. but he needed to get this straight.

the two ran to a hidden alley, where they caught their breath.

"what the fuck was that?" merlin asked.

"and do I know? one minute I had a knife in my heart, the next I was at peace and then I saw you like in a dream and now I'm here." gwaine replied. "I think I really should stop drinking, for a minute I thought I was dead and you brought me back. like an angel or something. you sure do look like one."

merlin didn't know what to say, so he stared at gwaine for a few seconds while the latter's mind calculated the events.

"I died. I died, I'm sure I died, I was cold and weak and when I woke up we were in a church, I was in a coffin." gwaine said, finally merlin was afraid that he would need to find some quick and plausible excuse in case gwaine threatened him. he didn't know that man and didn't know what his reaction would be to someone using magic, even if it was to bring him back to life.

that's why merlin was very surprised when gwaine hugged him tightly.

"man, you literally brought me back from death! ha! I can't believe that really happened, I owe you a huge debt now. let's have a drink, we can get to know each other better and you can tell me about these jesus-like acts of yours."

merlin's mind was racing, he almost didn't notice the sound of the church bell, the right church to stop arthur's wedding.

"listen. if you want to repay me for something, give me your word that you won't tell anyone. I brought you back to life, I can kill you again, I know your name and I for sure can find you anywhere" merlin said, pointing his finger at gwaine and trying to sound intimidating. gwaine smirked and raised his hands.

"oh, I wouldn't be that stupid," he replied.

"apparently you're only stupid enough to get yourself into too much debt."

"it's a complicated life, you know how it goes." gwaine's smile was too wide and playful for someone who had only been dead for a few minutes, but it was a beautiful smile, and merlin couldn't help but notice it.

"yeah, sure… uh..." merlin shook his head, as if that would put his thoughts in place "okay then, it was nice meeting you, but I need to run now."

"wait!" gwaine grabbed merlin by the wrist before he could even take a step "I don't even know your name, and that can't be all that you need from me. I don't have much, as it's already obvious... but I can be useful. I'll do anything, you literally gave me my life back. please, let me repay you somehow. I'm serious." merlin thought for a few seconds, the church bell ringing in his ears, the weight of a wedding that wasn't even his on his shoulders, his best friend's broken heart, the fate of an entire kingdom. merlin sighed. "whatever, what else do I have to lose?" he thought to himself

"I'm merlin, and I need your help to stop a wedding."

[yeonban]

Guy who was told to "apply for several internship places because the majority of students aren't accepted at the first option and we have no time to wait long before you have to do your internship report" and who, therefore, applied for two internship places; now has to do TWO internships at once because both places accepted him and he wants one of them for the CV perks & the other for the potential job he might gain from it postgrad. On top of attending his current classes and doing the tons of dissertation research + writing required for him to finish that damn paper in time for its defense

[purplepeptobismol]

Me reading the latest chapter: I love this, ANOTHER

Everyone’s always like: “when’s the next chapter”, “give me the next chapter.”

But never: “How are you doing today, next chapter?” 😔, “did you take your meds, next chapter?”

[the-voldsoy]

I am soooo normal about Remnants (<-lying) and I listened to the final without jumping up and down (<-lying even more)

Anyways. I am having so many thoughts and so many things are clicking neatly into place so let's do another debrief! As always I could absolutely be wrong on any counts so take everything with a grain of salt. Spoilers ahead!

To make it easier to understand, I will refer to Edward/Teddy/Perry/etc as "Edwin". The First and Last Place will be shortened to “TFALP”.

First let's start with the easy things with "simple" answers: the codes!

The morse code at the end of the episodes reads in it's entirety (and attempted punctiation)(I did not decipher this one, credit to Judas on discord):

Reshelve or discard? The question is not what it may first appear to be, if indeed it appears to be anything at all. After all, what can such judgements show beyond a reflection of those who judge, and in that dark mirror what of ourselves do we see reflected back in the eyes of this thing beholding us?

Discard means to burn the remnant, so that it crumbles quicker and the soul is returned to the cycle of life and reborn quicker. Reshelve means that an object is kept for longer in the First and Last Place -- maybe specifically in the Apprentice's "room", maybe not. But eventually the reshelved items crumble to dust just the same, and the souls in them are reborn too. Ultimately, it is a pointless question. Everything meets the same fate in the end. It is just for the sake of sentimentality.

The question was posed as a way for Sir to better understand A, too. In turn, A began to learn more about himself by seeing Sir's reactions to him (and also in other remnants talking about him).

Now the capitalised letters in the descriptions! The first half, when separated, read:

He more or less has totally gone to dust / I am still in here

I believe this is referring first to A, leaving "dust" everywhere he goes; the second is A -- or Edwin? -- speaking, showing that he is still there, despite the multiple iterations and memory wipes. Or maybe that he is still inside TFALP, trapped by Sir. This code being intertwined in this way could speak to the two of them being interconnected deeper than either of them realise.

And the second half when put through a Vigenère cipher, reads:

Is this how you break down a soul, or is this how you build a god?

Turns out it was both.

Now, just general information. I think the easiest way I can think to do this is if I go through my theories from last time and correct some, and try to go from there :) 

The Apprentice has a remnant, and is slowly crumbling like one.

The Apprentice is being kept by Sir because Sir did not know how to judge A. Sir does not know why it is A, and thinks it a mistake. A is empty, in a way. Sir does seem to want A there, though, but doesn't know exactly how to keep him. Like holding sand in cupped hands. Or dust, I suppose.

"It frightened you to be known, so you made sure you never were."

Sir also does not really know why he is there or how he got there or what he is. This makes me think that this cycle of reincarnation has happened so many times before that maybe they did know how they both got there, once upon a time, but they've since forgotten

There might be an external force that put both of them there, though. It's too early to tell :)

Sir and A have effectively switched places; as Sir became more whole and human and feeling, A became more hollow, losing pieces of himself

This is a story about cycles. Reincarnation, trauma, families. Even the clue on the website, "It is always a day away". I am soooo normal about this

The dust is made of A and other remnants. All remnants crumble to dust eventually, discarding just speeds it up. A attempted to forcefully discard himself when he threw himself into the fire in e15 (?).

What is the 'veil'? Is that the gap between life and TFALP?

All of the remnants that A reads are now confirmed to be specifically about him.

Sir was TFALP.

Perhaps Sir was a God. Who’s to say? Certainly not him.

It is interesting how Sir talked about the two of them and TFALP. They are metaphysical, I suppose. But everything they – or Apprentice, at least – see is a conjuration of their mind, made of what they expect to see there. I’m not sure what to do with that information yet.

I honestly forgot the tagline of the show was “A man of many faces, a story of many fates”. Oh boy it certainly is

“The Apprentice soon discovers that when we judge others, we often expose truths about ourselves.” - quote from the RQ site. ← more evidence for the morse code and reshelve/discard thing

I do wonder if the heart-shaped rock will ever come up again. It crumbled to dust when Apprentice touched it, suggesting that it was very old, so probably not. 

I do wonder to what extent the dust is sentient. Is it moving because it still has a “soul” or mind of its own, or because A is willing it to do these things? Or is it only the dust that came from A, and it is still connected to him in some way?

Edwin Peterson. He goes by many names (which ones and in what episodes can be found in my handy-dandy spreadsheet. It’s even colour-coded!) But now we know what is him and what is not, at least. He is the Apprentice, first and foremost.

-> We also know why his eyes are different colours sometimes now! He wore contacts, and every new identity was something he made up to remain unknown.

I cannot get into the rest of the remnants’ storyline right now though because it is not something that can be described fully in one sitting. Eventually I will maybeee make a timeline, but that is a job for another day. 

This little remnant still bugs me. What does “the mark” mean !!