#the contradictory details and dates and things

[sgiandubh]

Hi there. I enjoyed your post about Sam’s brand and it got me thinking. I feel like he’s stuck between trying to do what other people tell him he should to “make it” and trying to do it himself. Other people: you’re hot, show it off, do action movies, date blonde floozies. Himself: I want to be a good person and a decent actor, but what if I’m not? Guess I should work a lot, build a non-acting brand just in case I get fired, but try not to pay too many people to market it, I can do that myself; the liquor has the added benefit of getting his name out there and hopefully giving him another income stream if acting goes to shit. Where this all becomes problematic is that he’s not the person others tell him to be, so he comes off as fake, inconsistent, disingenuous, contradictory. I worry though that he can’t break away from these “advisors” because of whatever hole he and caitriona have themselves in with Starz and their bosses. We may not all agree on what happened in 2016 or why, but it’s obvious something did. The difference between them both since then is stark. The light has dimmed. They’ve aged exponentially. They’re guarded. They’re not the effervescent dynamos they started out as. She looks pissed all the time, like she’ll trot Tony out if necessary, but she won’t look like she enjoys it. She’ll go to awards ceremonies, but she won’t look as gorgeous as she easily could. She won’t be their ingenue. I don’t know, I think they’re stuck and are limited in what they can actually do for themselves, as much as they might like to. I can only hope there is an end in sight for them and they can persevere until then!

PS, I watched She Said last night. Highly recommend for anyone who doesn’t think a network executive could or would force their tent pole stars to deny a relationship.

Dear She Said Anon,

I liked your submission so much, I have read it three times in a row (and damn the late hour!). I have very few things to add to your excellent assessment of what I think is a very complicated situation. The proverbial Scottish parsimony could explain the choice of a minimally budgeted, all hands on deck sales and advertising approach. But we are quickly passing this stage and he should seriously think of hiring true professionals, if he really wants to make a financial lifebelt out of SS.

Yes. There's a price to be paid for all the games they are being served to play (and yes, something terrible happened in January 2016, of which we will probably never have the full details). Both of them are now striving to show us they can (scantily, painfully) exist without the magical Other. She, with that colorless, wrist-grabbing, fist-clenching literally dumb person (strictly meaning that we never hear him). He, with that (forgive me, Father, for I am about to sin) questionable, loud and tacky Oriental consigliere (it is high time I should write that paper on the Persia I know and love, lest you or other Anon think I am racist, or something). You can't figure out more opposite add-ons to Those Two, both serving, I believe, the same purpose: to deflect, at all costs, any attention given to the real state of play.

I haven't watched She Said yet and I welcome and thank you for the suggestion. On a lighter note, I trade for it Call My Agent (I have already mentioned this very, very witty French series, dealing with the life in a Parisian talent agency) - it shouldn't be a problem to find it on Netflix.

Good night, Anon. This one below is me thanking you for your trouble and time writing this wonderful post. Just look at Mitsuko Uchida's genuine Joy while playing Beethoven - same energy as Two People We Know, back in 2014, right?

[girl4music]

The idea or take that romance isn’t as important as friendship when friendship can evolve into romance is an odd one for me and I think it’s because I don’t think romance can be a romance without a deep friendship.

I’m partial to the “love is friendship on fire” adage and fictional ships or couple romances or love stories that begin from friendship. I favour friends-to-lovers and slow burn platonic-to-romantic relationships in art/entertainment because the depth of the connection is not only depicted but also drawn out and developed.

You get the whole journey so there’s never any rush to get to one development to another. There’s no time-skipping. And there’s no push for something more to happen because what you see happening is part of why you want it to be something more. You appreciate all of it. Even the negatives like the fights and conflicts because that also helps to evolve the relationship into higher degrees of love and devotion than ever before if you’re able to get the whole journey of what you want.

And I think this is why I am fundamentally bored with romantic WLW ships of today in TV art/entertainment.

Because you don’t get the whole journey of the ship.

You don’t really get a love story.

You barely get a pamphlet. 😒

But shows like ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and ‘Wynonna Earp’ give you WLW ships where you get everything in the ships because the journey is the whole point to it.

And for me - that feels significantly more romantic than something that’s explicitly made to be romantic.

I’ve come to realize that that’s probably because they both begin as friends and that that never changes. All that happens is the friendship evolves into romance. And I feel like a lot of TV show WLW ships get it very wrong when they change the friendship side of things. That’s if it even starts as a friendship first. I am often surprised by how many WLW ships I’ve seen in TV art/entertainment that do not. That immediately go into romance. That’s usually just because those shows are just too damn short and linear and they have no time to show you the journey. Thank fuck for fanfic then because in fanfic you can rewrite the beginnings and endings and also explore all the detail in the middle.

What can I say? TV show storytelling just isn’t a good medium for WLW representation not because they don’t want to give you the whole journey… but because they’re prevented from being able to do so.

And I’ve had enough now. I’ve had enough of being made a side storyline or liner notes in a straight person’s show or being killed off or cancelled or tragically broken up and separated when it’s not.

I either want to be a main narrative or not there at all.

I don’t want to have to settle for a half-way state and position of existence just because I’m not male and not straight. I don’t want to have to just make do and I think anybody that believes that they should seriously need to watch something more “dated” where the censorship might be rampant throughout, but… least you still get to see the whole damn journey of what is. Least there is development for those characters and even a conclusion and closure to their relationships…

Least you actually get to see yourself be … someone.

And none of it has absolutely anything to do with your sexuality or gender identity in the way where you have to feel like you’re apologizing for it or sacrificing for it… but rather… this is what is happening and it’s fine.

People really think it’s contradictory that why I love Xena and Gabrielle so much is because their sexuality or the nature of their relationship is never made an issue. They see that as an erasure of who they are.

When no, that’s not it at all.

It’s just not all they are.

It’s not all they do.

There’s so much more about them that’s detailed instead over that and it still never takes away from it.

And that’s what you want. That’s the kind of format to a love story you want to be watching or reading about because it’s normal, it’s natural and it’s just how it is.

They’re lead female characters with many main narratives across the span of 6 whole ass seasons.

And oh yeah, they just happen to be queer and in love.

The journey of the relationship as a friendship is always put first and made the focus with Xena and Gabrielle but it’s always up to you what else they are. It’s just for me - the friendship is what IS so romantic. I can’t really separate one from the other because to me… the reason why they’re the greatest love story that I’ve ever seen in TV of all-time is because they begin as friends and they never neglect this aspect.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

in gallifreyan, whichever scripts, how do they write coordinates, be it time or displacement? Or planet relative calendar dates.

How do Time Lords write coordinates?

There's a bit of contradictory information and things that don’t make much sense when it comes to space-time coordinates and Gallifreyans, but here’s an answer I hope will sate your curiosity, with plenty of background:

🔑Key Parts of the Coordinate System

Spatial Coordinates: These specify locations in three-dimensional space relative to Galactic Zero Centre (Gallifrey’s Eye of Harmony, basically, or at least somewhere near it). They usually consist of Vector and Quadrant particles.

Temporal Coordinate: This indicates time, relative to Gallifrey’s present (whatever that’s supposed to mean! I would probably assume that while Gallifrey went walkies, the Doctor's TARDIS either used temporal coordinates relative to Event One (the creation of the universe), or otherwise fixed it at a certain Gallifreyan date. There are also specialised TARDIS instruments which can be calibrated help skip the temporal coordinate stuff and make the input relative to the planet).

Universal Coordinate: This designates the specific universe required.

Epsilon Coordinates: Calculated paths through the Space-Time Vortex, usually handled by a TARDIS automatically.

Flight Data: Details about departure and destination points.

🚀Space-Time Coordinates Format

Space-time coordinates consist of fifteen digits. Using these two combined below will get you to the right star system:

Vector (2 digits): Indicates the broad direction.

Quadrant (2 digits): Specifies the quadrant within the galaxy.

Using these two below in addition will get you a more precise location, and a time:

Exact Spatial Location (7 digits): Detailed coordinates within the quadrant.

Temporal Location (4 digits): Relative to Gallifrey’s present (you'll obviously need to be longer to be more precise).

🌍Example

Let's have a crack with Earth’s galactic coordinates. We know the Earth’s Galactic Coordinates are 5804 4684884:

Vector: 58, Quadrant: 04 (solely on these you’ll reach Mutter’s Spiral)

Exact Spatial Location: 4684884 (add this and you’ll reach Earth)

Temporal Location: 9182 (+9182 time units from Gallifrey’s present)

The Flight Data Monitor will simplify this. Assuming a journey from Earth to fictional Zargon 3, your TARDIS monitor will display something like this:

Departure Planet: Sol 3 (Earth) [Dimension 01] Location: London, England Local Dateline: 2024 Earth Year, 10th Era of Gallifrey Destination Planet: Zargon 3 [Dimension 04] Location: Zargon City, Zargonville Local Dateline: 156 Zargon Year, 11th Era of Gallifrey

Complete Coordinates:

01 5804 4684884 9182 -> 04 0316 0316500 3050

🏛️Integration with Landmark Worlds

Additionally, a TARDIS’s Galactic Positioning System can be fine-tuned using the relative locations of several Landmark Worlds. These landmark worlds include Gallifrey, Dagusa, Caresh, Erekan, Gau-Usu, and Cern. This way, the TARDIS can get more precise navigation by periodically materialising in space to recalibrate bearings as it's flying.

🔢Epsilon Coordinates

Then there are Epsilon Coordinates. These serve as a roadmap through the Space-Time Vortex, and need to be calculated before a flight. A Time Lord could do it mentally if they wanted, but the TARDIS usually automatically calculates these – it’s hugely complex maths, even for a Time Lord.

🖊️Writing the Coordinates

This really depends on the script you'd prefer to use, you can use modern Gallifreyan, which is probably the most lore-friendly, or Sherman's, or circular, or just bog standard Latin script numbers.

For GIL's Sollifreyan conlang shorthand script, you can use the 0-9 base with hyphens in-between, where the spaces would go.

Related:

How do Time Lords write dimensional coordinates?: How dimensional coordinates get written and work in TARDISes.

Do we have any info on TARDIS biology?: Overview of TARDIS biological aspects.

Phew, hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[otakusheep15]

Obey Me Flufftober Day 3

Prompt: Sightseeing

Pairing: Leviathan x reader (gender neutral)

Word count: 914

A/n: It's time for my best boy Levi!! When I initially got this prompt for him, I found it funny since it seems so contradictory, but I still think it's cute. I did a poll on whether MC is showing Levi around the human world or if Levi is showing MC around the Devildom, and Levi in the human world won!

Levi had always been fascinated by the human world. Not in the same way Belphie was, however. While Belphie liked the people, Levi liked the things people created. The human world was full of anime, manga, and games that the Devildom could never create, and these all fascinated him indeed. While he'd been to the human world several times in his life, it had never been for fun. Usually, it was for some form of business, so he rarely had time to explore.

That's why he was so excited when you offered to go sightseeing in the human world with him. While he would never go sightseeing on his own, going with you sounded like a dream come true.

After much deliberation, you decided on going to your hometown. It's a small town with not a lot to do, but Levi was surprisingly insistent on this location. At first, you were confused on why he didn't want to go somewhere more interesting, but he explained that he wanted to see your home. In his mind, it's only fair since you've seen so much of his home and yet he's hardly seen any of yours.

So, it was settled. You would take him to your small town for some sightseeing. It was exciting for him, but completely nerve-wracking for you. Your town is so boring in comparison to the Devildom, and the last thing you wanted to do was bore him. However, Levi was quick to reassure you that he wanted to see your hometown more than anything, and it would not bore him at all.

On the day of your departure, your anxieties still haven't fully left your mind. However, you were willing to push them aside for now in the hopes that they would go away.

When you arrived home, Levi was immediately wanting to look around your house. It was just the two of you, so you allowed him the chance to look as he pleased. The house wasn't big, but it was home, and it did ease your nerves when you saw his positive reaction. Once he was done looking around and pointing out any little detail he could, you decided to start showing him around the rest of your town.

There were a couple of restaurants that were decent enough but nothing fancy, a library that, much to Levi's excitement, did hold some manga, a few regular stores, a movie theater, and a few other places to hangout. However, you decided to take Levi to your favorite spot in the whole town.

Well, technically, it wasn't fully in the town. On the outskirts, there was this beautiful sunflower field that you thought would be perfect for a little picnic date. It was quiet, and not many people came out here, so you knew Levi would enjoy it. You walked him around the field for a bit, explaining that you'd been exploring it since you were little, and it's a very special spot for you. Levi was touched that you'd let him into your space, and he told you as much. The picnic was relaxing and fun, and it was decided that you'd visit the library once you finished.

The library was Levi's dream. There were a surprising amount of books considering the building itself wasn't that big, but that didn't bother him in the slightest. He was quick to move away from your side in favor for exploring the shelves, and you laughed at how cute he could be. Eventually, he found the manga section, and you knew you weren't getting him back anytime soon. Seeing him so excited about such a simple manga section in a library is easily the most adorable thing you've ever witnessed, and you thought it a good idea to leave him be while be browsed. In the meantime, you explored your own favorite sections while you waited for him, but you didn't actually pick out any books since you knew you'd only be there for a day.

Eventually, Levi was done looking, though it almost seemed like he wished to stay for longer. As a final activity, you agreed to go see a movie. Levi was fairly interested in human world movies, so you thought this was a good opportunity to show him a new release. It was fun being able to see a human world movie in a human world theater with your demon boyfriend. Honestly, it wasn't all that different from seeing a movie in the Devildom, but it was still nice to think about.

Being here with Levi, showing him around your hometown, letting him in to your space, was a huge deal for you. By the end of the day, you couldn't even remember why you felt any doubts about bringing him here. Sure, you could have easily brought him to some big city with all the stores and restaurants you could ask for, but this was special. This was intimate and personal, and it made both you and Levi so unbelievably happy. You had let him see a new side of you today, and he was so grateful that you willingly let him in like this. He made sure to tell you as much when you returned to the Devildom. It was a sweet way to end your date, having him be so open about his feelings like this. Regardless of what your past self may have thought, present you considered this to have been the perfect sightseeing date.

[this-daydream-is-dangerous-13]

May 20th - date of significance? Yes.

Harry released Harry’s House on May 20, 2022. After waiting many months to release Fine Line on Blondie’s 30th birthday, and after writing the bulk of this album in mid 2020, we can assume he chose this date for a reason. Here’s my proposed reason why.

But first - this requires acknowledging that the official, public Haylor origin story of 2012 is incomplete. Yes, they met in late March, eventually took a break, and picked up again in the fall. But based on Harry’s random flights, their mutual habit of vanishing simultaneously (no photos, fan or otherwise) and the lyrical information they’ve disclosed over the years - there is way more to the story.

Let’s call May, June, and very July of that year the Cruel Summer of 2012.

A bunch of stuff likely seemed to have happened in early May (that’ll be a future post about how the Sweeran origin story is also contradictory). But here we are, mid May.

Taylor is living in LA and mostly in the studio. There’s a stretch mid-month where she seems to disappear. Recall - this is the summer where she rents the house in Hyannis Port for many months.

On May 20th, 5 boys and their crew are spotted at the airport in London, flying to Boston Logan to embark on a couple months touring/doing promo in North America. Take a look at young H:

He is CARRYING ON an acoustic guitar, which he can barely play, rather than sending it ahead with all their other instruments and luggage.

The band lands in Boston; 4 guys head to the Mohegan Sun in CT (where they will play a concert soon) and are photographed by fans. And this guy? Vanishes.

Recall the secret message for Everything Has Changed, which Taylor brought to Ed almost totally done for recording on May 27, 2012:

This song, if you’ll recall, talks of a green-eyed smiling man whose eyes “look like coming home”.

Red was finalized at the very beginning of June; Taylor met the Kennedy grandsons on July 4th weekend. The timing does not work, especially since it was recorded in late May (with pap photos of Taylor and Ed outside the Santa Monica studio that day).

But MORE that that, something else occurs that day. It’s described in a 2014 song by Alex and Sierra written by Harry, and outlined in greater detail by Taylor on folklore. It’s a day described in august:

And…ah…perhaps this was also the date for some of the other events described in august?

And lest you think the whole thing wasn’t significant to Harry…by May 27 or 28, the boy gets his second tattoo. It’s a small capital A on the inside of his left elbow, seen for the first time here:

In an interview given by the boys in early July, Harry is asked about the tattoo (which had been drawn by Zayn, our OG Haylor). I cannot link directly to the interview - search for One Direction Granada TV interview on YT. And at 2:30, Harry is asked the significance of the tattoo.

Harry: oh, it’s for my….ah…ah..it’s for me mum.

Boys: laugh heartily at him

Louis: No it’s not! No, it’s not! It’s for a mystery blond!!

Reader, recall that Blondie publishes all of her songs as Taylor A. Swift.

Ten years later, on May 20, 2022, Harry’s House is released.

And on May 20, 2023, during a rain show at Boston’s Gillette stadium, Taylor Swift tells the crowd “I’ve never been so happy in my life in all aspects of my life…my life finally feels like it makes sense.” And that she will play them “this song, which brings me a lot of happy memories”: Question…?

ETA: Want to know what his next two tattoos are? He has them in this late June photo

- the word “Hi” (“all I know is we said hello, and your eyes looks like coming home)

- the (misquoted) lyrics from Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition, which happen to be the line which follows *the secret message for Treacherous*. Which he starts kissing while singing love songs starting the day after he gets the tattoo.

[aemiron-main]

the weird creel timelines- an initial post (if you’re wondering what all the timeline talk is about lately, read this)

Alright, so, I started this post a few weeks ago but didn’t finish it until now, and it was originally a reblog on this post from @bylerschmyler​ and basically this is where all the timeline stuff with the Creels that I’ve been talking about lately originated from (and what @henrysglock​ and I have been ranting about.)

This is not the full Creel timeline analysis, just the initial post, and because it’s fairly old at this point, there’s more I’ve come up with that adds to it. I’m currently working on putting together the full timeline analysis. But, for now, let’s get into that intial post: 

So, part of this depends on whether or not you believe in the 8flix scripts (personally I think they’re completely real and that there’s firm evidence to back this up), but I still have the scripts in my email, so I went and took a look at the “Dear Billy,” script. And I found some weird things. And then I went and looked at the newspaper articles again- and I found even more weird things.

First of all, it’s weird that the Creels are said to be moving into the house in March of 1959- the exact same year and month that the Creel murders are said to have occurred in the show/in the newspaper, which makes it seem like they only lived there for a month. 

Second of all, in the script, Alice and Virginia are briefly swapped. We'll come back to this later. Victor puts his arm around “Alice,” rather than Virginia. 

As well, as mentioned earlier, the murders are listed as occurring on March 25th 1959, but as I mentioned in this post, that’s extremely different than what the Indianapolis Gazette says. 

March 25th 1959 was a Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the Indianapolis Gazette, the Creel murders are said to have happened on Saturday, March 21st and the bodies were discovered on Sunday, March 22nd when Victor was found wandering along the side of the road and escorted back home by Hawkins Police officers.

So, the dates listed here are directly contradictory to some of the newspaper articles in the show, something I'm going to really dive into here in a bit.

I talked in another post about the fact that it’s extremely likely that the lab altered Victor’s memories- and now Victor’s “one month of peace,” comment is looking even more suspicious because according to the script, the Creels moved into the house in March of 1959, but then the murders, according to the script, occurred on March 25th 1959, and Victor was in prison in early April of 1959.

I think that Victor, as of 1986, might legitimately believe that they only lived there for a month. This would track with the lab having messed with his memories, and it would explain why SO many details that are in the newspapers (such as Victor calling an exorcist) are absent from his retelling. However, like I’m going to dig into, I also think that there’s timeline weirdness at play here, and I think that “timeline weirdness” and “Victor’s memories have been messed with can coexist, especially since (and this is going to make no sense rn but will later in this analysis), it Might imply that the “Dear Billy” script timeline and the Weekly Watcher timeline are the same timeline, but the Dear Billy timeline is warped by Victor’s messy memories. However, this is something I’m still not certain of, so take it with a grain of salt. 

And regarding the newspapers vs the scripts, I know there’s been lots of talk of Henry’s age and Alice’s age, but what about Victor’s age?

The “Dear Billy,” script puts his age being 40 in 1959 and 67 in 1986. 

Now, look at this newspaper clipping from the Indianapolis Gazette:

Victor is listed as being 35 years old as of 1959.

“The bodies of 3 persons have been found inside the home of a 35-year-old Town of Hawkins Roane County family man.”

This same paper also talks about Victor serving two tours in WW2.

“A veteran from the second world war, Victor Creel served two tours of duty in Europe and returned home a hero.”

It’s also the same paper that talks about the Creels living in Hawkins for two years.

"Here is the house in which the Creels lived for the last two years where-"

It’s ALSO  the SAME paper that mentions “Edward Creel,” and names Alice as Victor’s wife and Virginia as his daughter.

“-authorities found the remains of Alice, Edward, and Virginia Creel- Victor Creel’s wife, son, and daughter.”

Virginia is also listed as one of the children earlier in the article, and there’s no Henry in this article, only Edward.

"The mangled and eyeless bodies of the two young children- Virginia and Edward- laid deflated and bent on the floor of the foyer."

And this is ALSO the same paper that claims that Alice, Henry (named as Edward in this article, the name ‘Henry,’ does not appear in this article at ALL), AND Virginia were all found dead in the foyer- Virginia wasn’t at the table, according to this article.

"Law enforcement officers searching Sunday Morning for signs of foul play found the bodies of Virginia Creel, Edward Creel, and Alice Creel strewn about the foyers of the house, six miles from downtown Hawkins."

However,  possibly contrary to the above, the same article lists only Henry/Edward and Virginia (who is listed as Victor's daughter) as being in the foyer, and makes no mention of where "Mrs Creel's" body was found, and instead, just talks about her body being butchered like a deer.

“The eyeless, mutilated dead body of Ms Creel “butchered like you would clean a deer,” (???) to one law enforcement (???)”

So, let’s regroup- how many possible timelines do we have based on the show, the scripts, and the newspapers?  First, let's look at some key information/our sources.

Looking At Individual Sources

The Indianapolis Gazette

According to the Indiapolis Gazette:

Victor was 35 in 1959. This would make him born in 1921.

The murders occured Saturday night on March 21st 1959

The Creels lived in Hawkins for two years/moved to Hawkins two years prior to 1959, putting their move-in date as 1957.

There is nobody named "Henry Creel" in this article. Only "Edward Creel."

No ages are listed for Alice, Henry/Edward, or Virginia.

Alice is listed as Victor's wife repeatedly, and Virginia is listed as his daughter repeatedly. Edward is listed as Victor's son. Henry does not exist.

Victor did two tours in Europe during the war and was a war hero. I'm not 100% sure how long a tour is, but doing a quick bit of research, a tour in WW2 seems to have been 365 days/a year, meaning that Victor was at war for 2 years. There is no return from war date listed for Victor, nor is it listed when he was at war, simply that he was at war for two years.

This newspaper is listed as being published on Thursday, March 26th, 1959.

The Weekly Watcher

According to the Weekly Watcher:

Victor is listed as being 40 in 1959. This would make him born in 1919.

The Weekly Watcher makes no clear note of what date the murders happened on.

The Weekly Watcher makes no clear note of how long the Creels lived in Hawkins, and also does not make any clear note of when they moved to Hawkins. However, there's details such as the groundsperson and the gardener working at the Creel house that seem to indicate that they lived there for a fair while.

Henry is present in this article. There is no "Edward Creel" in this article.

Alice is listed as being 15 in 1959, Henry is listed as being 12 in 1959, and Virginia is listed as being 36 in 1959.

Virginia is listed as Victor's wife, and Henry and Alice are listed as Victor's two children.

There is no mention of how long Victor was in the war, nor is it mentioned when he was in the war nor is a return from war date mentioned for Victor.

This newspaper is listed as being published on March 26th, 1959.

8flix Dear Billy Script

According to the Dear Billy script:

Victor is listed as being 40 in 1959 and 67 in 1986. This would make him born in 1919.

The murders occured on March 25th, 1959.

The Creels lived in Hawkins for under a month and moved into the house in March of 1959. Although there's an exact day for the murders, the exact day for the move-in is suspiciously absent.

Henry is present in the script. There is no "Edward Creel," in this script.

Alice is listed as being 15 in 1959, Henry is listed as being 12 in 1959, and Virginia is listed as being 36 in 1959.

Virginia is listed as Victor's wife and Henry and Alice are listed as Victor's two children. However, this is later contradicted when Alice is swapped for Virginia during scenes/lines during the moving in segment, but they are not swapped for the entire script.

Victor was in France in 1944 but had also been back from the war for 14 years as of 1959. This would put him as returning from the war in 1945. However, it does not mention how long Victor was at war.

This is a script and doesn't have a publication date like the newspapers do.

Comparing Sources 

So, what information can we pull from all this? Let's compare all of our sources and see 

 A.) what information do they have in common?

B.) what information is different?

C.) what information is missing entirely?

Let's start with A.)

A.) What Do All of These Sources Have in Common?

Weekly Watcher and Indianapolis Gazette Similarities

 The Weekly Watcher does not mention a return from war date for Victor. The Indianapolis Gazette also does not mention a return from war date for Victor.

Weekly Watcher and Dear Billy Script Similarities

The Weekly Watcher lists Victor as 40 years old in 1959. The Dear Billy script lists Victor as 40 years old in 1959. Both of these would make Victor born in 1919.

The Weekly Watcher does not mention Edward Creel and does mention Henry Creel. The Dear Billy script does not mention Edward Creel and does mention Henry Creel.

The Weekly Watcher lists Alice is as being 15 in 1959, Henry is listed as being 12 in 1959, and Virginia is listed as being 36 in 1959. The Dear Billy script lists Alice as being 15 in 1959, Henry is listed as being 12 in 1959, and Virginia is listed as being 36 in 1959.

The Weekly Watcher lists Virginia as Victor's wife, and Henry and Alice are listed as Victor's two children. The Dear Billy script lists Virginia as Victor's wife and Henry and Alice are listed as Victor's two children. HOWEVER, this is ALSO a difference because the Dear Billy script ALSO briefly swaps Alice and Virginia. 

The Weekly Watcher does not list how long Victor was at war for. The Dear Billy script also does not list how long Victor was at war for.

Indianapolis Gazette and Dear Billy Script Similarities

 The Indianapolis Gazette lists Alice as Victor's wife and Virginia as Victor's daughter, swapping them. The Dear Billy script also briefly swaps them, although it ALSO lists them properly/Alice as the daughter and Virginia as the wife.

Similarities Between All Three Sources

Based on the list of criteria I've been using throughout, there are no similarities that are the same between all three sources except for the murders happening in 1959, which is a given and isn't part of the criteria.

B.) What Is Different Between All These Sources? 

Weekly Watcher and Indianapolis Gazette Differences 

The Weekly Watcher lists Victor as 40 years old in 1959, whereas the Indianapolis Gazette lists Victor as 35 years old in 1959. 

The Weekly Watcher mentions Henry Creel, whereas the Indianapolis Gazette mentions Edward Creel 

The Weekly Watcher lists Henry as 12 in 1959, Alice’s age as 15 in 1959. and Virginia’s age as 36 in 1959. The Indianapolis Gazette does not list the ages of Edward, Alice or Virginia. 

In the Weekly Watcher, the date of the Creel murders is not listed, at least not from what’s visible in this article. In the Indianapolis Gazette,  the date of the Creel murders is Saturday, March 21st, 1959.

 In the Weekly Watcher, the length of time that the Creels lived in Hawkins is not listed from what we can see in this article, however, information regarding the exorcism and the groundskeeper and gardener seems to imply that the Creels lived in Hawkins for at least some sizeable length of time. In the Indianapolis Gazette, the Creels lived in Hawkins for two years prior to 1959.

In the Weekly Watcher, the Creels’ move-in date is not listed, at least not from what’s visible in this article.  IIn the Indianapolis Gazette, no move-in month or day is listed, but they moved to Hawkins in 1957. 

In the Weekly Watcher, Alice is Victor’s daughter and Virginia is Victor’s wife. In the Indianapolis Gazette, Alice is Victor’s wife, and Virginia is Victor’s daughter. 

In the Weekly Watcher, the length of time that Victor was at war is not mentioned. In the Indianapolis Gzette, Victor was at war for two tours, seemingly two years.

Weekly Watcher and Dear Billy Script Differences 

The Weekly Watcher does not list the date of the Creel murders, whereas the Dear Billy script lists their date as March 25th, 1959. 

The Weekly Watcher does not list the Creel’s move-in date, at least not from what’s visible in this article. In the Dear Billy script, the Creels moved to Hawkins in March of 1959. The exact day is not listed. 

In the Weekly Watcher, the length of time that the Creels lived in Hawkins is not listed from what we can see in this article, however, information regarding the exorcism and the groundskeeper and gardener seems to imply that the Creels lived in Hawkins for at least some sizeable length of time. In the Dear Billy script, the Creels lived in Hawkins for under a month, moving to Hawkins in March of 1959 and the murders also occurring in March of 1959. 

In the Weekly Watcher, it is unknown when Victor went to war. In the Dear Billy script,  Victor was at war during 1944.

In the Weekly Watcher, it is unknown when Victor returned from war. In the Dear Billy script,  Victor seems to have returned from war in 1945, as in the script in 1959, he mentions being home from the war for 14 years.

Indianapolis Gazette and Dear Billy Script Differences 

The Indianapolis Gazette lists Victor as 35 years old in 1959, wheraas the Dear Billy script has him as 40 years old in 1959. 

The Indianapolis Gazette mentions Edward Creel, whereas the Dear Billy script mentions Henry Creel. 

The Indianapolis Gazette does not list the ages of Edward, Alice or Virginia. The Dear Billy script presents that Henry is 12 as of 1959, Alice is 15 as of 1959, and Virginia is 36 as of 1959.

The Indianapolis Gazette says that the Creels moved to Hawkins in 1957, whereas the Dear Billy script has them moving to Hawkins in March of 1959.

The Indianapolis Gazette says that the Creels lived in Hawkins for two years. The Dear Billy script says that the Creels lived in Hawkins for under a month, moving to Hawkins in March of 1959 and the murders also occurring in March of 1959.    

In the Indianapolis Gazette, Alice is Victor’s wife, and Virginia is his daughter. In the Dear Billy script, Alice is Victor’s daughter, and Virginia is his wife, HOWEVER, they DO swap places briefly in the Dear Billy script. 

In the Indianapolis Gazette, Victor was at war for two turns. The Dear Billy script does not list how long Victor was at war for. 

The Indianapolis Gazette does not say when Victor was at war. The Dear Billy script says that he was at Normandy in 1944 

The Indianapolis Gazette does not say when Victor returned home from war. The Dear Billy script says that Victor seems to have returned from war in 1945, as in the script in 1959, he mentions being home from the war for 14 years.

C.) What Information is Missing?

What's Missing from the Weekly Watcher?

The date of the murders

The date that the Creels moved to Hawkins and exactly how long they liived in Hawkins. 

How long Victor was in the war

When Victor was in the war 

When Victor returned from war

 What's Missing from the Indianapolis Gazette? 

Alice’s age, Virginia’s age, and Henry/Edward’s age 

When Victor was in the war.

When Victor returned from war. 

 What's Missing from the Dear Billy Script?

The exact day that the Creel family moved to Hawkins.

How long Victor was at war.

Summarizing The Similarities and Differences And Doing A Category-By-Category Comparison 

To summarize the similarties and differences between the sources and the missing info, let’s go category-by-category rather than source-by-source to make it clearer: 

Category 1: Victor’s Age and Birth Year

Indianapolis Gazette: As of 1959, Victor’s age is 35, making his birth year 1924.

Weekly Watcher: As of 1959, Victor’s Age is 40,  making his birth year 1919.

Dear Billy Script: As of 1959, Victor’s age is 40, making his birth year 1919. 

TLDR: Victor’s age is the same between the Weekly Watcher and Dear Billy but confirmed to be different in the Gazette. 

Category 2: Date of the Creel Murders

Indianapolis Gazette: The date of the Creel murders is Saturday, March 21st, 1959. 

Weekly Watcher: The date of the Creel murders is not listed, at least not from what’s visible in this article. 

Dear Billy Script: The date of the Creel Murders is Wednesday, March 25th, 1959. 

This isn’t technically the same between all of them, but it’s also not different between all of them because the Weekly Watcher is simply unknown, not confirmed as a separate third date. 

TLDR: The date of the Creel Murders is different between the Indianapolis Gazette and Dear Billy script, and unconfirmed in the Weekly Watcher. 

Category 3: Creel Move-In Date

Indianapolis Gazette: The Creels moved to Hawkins in 1957, day and month unknown. 

Weekly Watcher: The Creels’ move-in date is not listed, at least not from what’s visible in this article. 

Dear Billy Script: The Creels moved to Hawkins in March of 1959. The exact day is not listed. 

Just like the murder date, this isn’t the same between all of them, but it’s also not technically completely different between all of them because the Weekly Watcher’s date is simply unknown, not confirmed as a separate third date.  None of the sources give an exact move-in day, and only Dear Billy gives a move-in month. 

TLDR: The Creels’ move-in date is different between the Indianapolis Gazette and the Dear Billy script, and unconfirmed in the Weekly Watcher.

Category 4: How Long the Creels Lived in Hawkins

Indianapolis Gazette: The Creels lived in Hawkins for two years prior to 1959. 

Weekly Watcher: The length of time that the Creels lived in Hawkins is not listed from what we can see in this article, however, information regarding the exorcism and the groundskeeper and gardener seems to imply that the Creels lived in Hawkins for at least some sizeable length of time. 

Dear Billy Script: The Creels lived in Hawkins for under a month, moving to Hawkins in March of 1959 and the murders also occurring in March of 1959. 

Just like the murder date and move-in date, this isn’t the same between all of them, but it’s also not technically completely different between all of them because the Weekly Watcher’s length of time is simply unknown, not confirmed as a separate third option.

 TLDR: The length of time that the Creels lived in Hawkins is different between the Indianapolis Gazette and Dear Billy script, but unconfirmed in the Weekly Watcher.

Category 5: Is Henry or Edward present

Indianapolis Gazette: Edward is mentioned. Henry is not mentioned. 

Weekly Watcher: Henry is mentioned. Edward is not mentioned. 

 Dear Billy Script: Henry is mentioned. Edward is not mentioned. 

TLDR: The presence of Henry is the same between the Weekly Watcher and the Dear Billy script. but confirmed to be different in the Indianapolis Gazette 

Category 6: Edward/Henry’s age and Virginia and Alice’s ages

Indianapolis Gazette: Henry’s age is not listed. Virginia’s age is not listed. Alice’s age is not listed. 

Weekly Watcher: Henry is 12 as of 1959. Alice is 15 as of 1959. Virginia is 36 as of 1959. 

Dear Billy Script: Henry is 12 as of 1959. Alice is 15 as of 1959. Virginia is 36 as of 1959. 

  This is the same between the Weekly Watcher and Dear Billy. However, because we don’t know the Weekly Watcher version of the Creels’ move-in date, specifically because we don’t know the year, we don’t know if the move-in date ages are different in the Weekly Watcher vs the Dear Billy script, as the Dear Billy script has Henry moving to Hawkins in 1959 and being 12 at the time, whereas the Indianapolis Gazette has the Creels and Edward moving to Hawkins in 1957 but lists no ages.  So, the ages as of 1959 are the same in the Weekly Watcher and Dear Billy, but the ages may not be the same for the move-in date. 

TLDR: The ages of Henry, Virginia, and Alice are the same between the Weekly Watcher and Dear BIlly but unconfirmed in the Indianapolis Gazette. Edward’s age is never mentioned. Mom-Alice’s age is never mentioned. Sister-Virginia’s age is never mentioned. 

Category 7:  Who is Listed as Victor’s Wife vs Victor’s Daughter

Indianapolis Gazette: Alice is Victor’s wife and Virginia is Victor’s daughter.  

Weekly Watcher: Alice is Victor’s daughter and Virginia is Victor’s wife. 

Dear Billy Script: Alice is Victor’s daughter and Virginia is Victor’s wife. 

TLDR: Victor’s wife and daughter are same between the Weekly Watcher and the Dear Billy script and confirmed to be different in the Indianapolis Gazette. HOWEVER, as mentioned earlier, the Dear Billy script also briefly swaps Virginia and Alice. 

Category 8: How Long Was Victor At War?

Indianapolis Gazette: Victor was at war for two tours, seemingly two years.

 Weekly Watcher: The length of time that Victor was at war is not mentioned

Dear Billy Script: The length of time that Victor was at war is not mentioned.

TLDR: This is unconfirmed in the Weekly Watcher and the Dear Billy script.

Category 9: When Was Victor At War? 

Indianapolis Gazette: A date for Victor being at war is not outright confirmed AND Victor’s “I had been back from the war for 14 years” line is not present here (because it’s a newspaper), so, IF we apply that line here, he would’ve been at war in 1943 because in the Gazette timeline, the Creels moved to Hawkins in 1957, and 14 years prior to that would be 1943. However, because that line is not present in this source, we don’t know for sure if Victor had been home from the war for 14 years when moving to Hawkins in this timeline. 

Weekly Watcher: There is no listed date for when Victor was at war. 

Dear Billy Script: Victor was at war during 1944. 

This is the same between the Indianapolis Gazette and the Weekly Watcher in the sense that neither has a confirmed date for when Victor was in the war, but the Gazette offers more insight than the Watcher does IF we apply info from other sources (Victor’s “14 years” line), because the Gazette gives us a move-in date whereas the Weekly Watcher does not. 

However, both the Gazette and the Watcher technically don’t have confirmed dates for when Victor was in the war. 

TLDR: When Victor was at war is unconfirmed in the Indianapolis Gazette and the Weekly Watcher and is confirmed in the Dear Billy script. 

Category 10: When Did Victor Return From War? 

Indianapolis Gazette: When Victor returned from the war is much like “when was Victor at war” when it comes to this source, because  a date for Victor returning from war is not outright confirmed in the Gazette AND Victor’s “I had been back from the war for 14 years” line is not present here (because it’s a newspaper), so, IF we apply that line here, he would’ve returned from war in 1943 because in the Gazette timeline, the Creels moved to Hawkins in 1957, and 14 years prior to that would be 1943. However, because that line is not present in this source, we don’t know for sure if Victor had been home from the war for 14 years when moving to Hawkins in this timeline.

Weekly Watcher: There is no date for when Victor returned from the war. 

Dear Billy Script: Victor seems to have returned from war in 1945, as in the script in 1959, he mentions being home from the war for 14 years. 

This is the same between the Indianapolis Gazette and the Weekly Watcher in the sense that neither has a confirmed date for when Victor returned from the war war, but the Gazette offers more insight than the Watcher does IF we apply info from other sources (Victor’s “14 years” line), because the Gazette gives us a move-in date whereas the Weekly Watcher does not.

However, both the Gazette and the Watcher technically don’t have confirmed dates for when Victor returned from the war.

TLDR: When Victor returned from the war is unconfirmed in the Indianapolis Gazette and the Weekly Watcher but is confirmed in the Dear Billy script. 

List of Current Possible Timelines

So, finally, here's a list of the initial possible timelines, based on what we know for certain from each source (again this is going to change and expand when I finish the main timeline analysis):

1.) The Dear Billy Script Timeline

Victor was 40 in 1959 and 40 when they moved to Hawkins. 

The Creels lived in Hawkins for a month and moved there in March of 1959.

The murders occurred on Wednesday March 25th, 1959.

Alice was 15 in 1959 and 15 when they moved to Hawkins.

Henry was 12 in 1959 and 12 when they moved to Hawkins.

Virginia was 36 in 1959 and 36 when they moved to Hawkins. 

There is no mention of Edward.

Victor got home from the war in 1945.

Victor was in Normandy/at war in 1944. 

We don’t know how long Victor was at war/how long he served. 

Victor messed up in France/Normandy and made the mistake of bombing civillians. 

Virginia is Victor’s wife and Alice is Victor’s daughter, although this briefly swaps for one scene in the script.

Alice, being 15 in 1959,  was born in 1944, a year before Victor even got home from the war. However, if Victor went to war in 1943, then Alice could’ve been conceived before he left, depending on when Victor went to war and what exact day Alice’s birthday was. However, in this source, we don’t know when Victor went to war. 

Henry, being 12 in 1959, was born in 1947, two years after Victor got home from the war. 

2.) The Indianapolis Gazette Timeline

Victor was 35 in 1959

The Creels lived in Hawkins for two years and moved there in 1957.

The murders occurred on on Saturday, March 21st 1959.

We don’t know how old Alice was in 1959, nor how old she was when they moved to Hawkins because even though we know when they moved to Hawkins, we don’t know how old Alice was in 1959 in this source. 

We don’t know how old Virginia was in 1959, nor how old she was when they moved to Hawkins because even though we know when they moved to Hawkins, we don’t know how old Virginia was in 1959 in this source.

We don’t know how old Henry/Edward was in 1959, nor how old he was when they moved to Hawkins because even though we know when they moved to Hawkins, we don’t know how old Henry/Edward was in 1959 in this source.

Henry is not mentioned at ALL in this source.

We don’t know when Victor got home from the war. 

We don’t know when Victor was at war/if he was in Normandy. 

Victor was at war for “two tours”/served two tours. 

Victor, interestingly enough, is listed as returning home as a war hero in the Gazette, which almost seems like it may contradict his massive blunder (the farmhouse and burning baby) that’s in the Dear Billy script. 

Virginia is Victor’s daughter and Alice is Victor’s wife

Because we don’t know when Edward and Daughter-Virginia/”Alice” were born, AND because we don’t know when Victor was at war or when he returned home, we can’t compare their birth years to when Victor was at war. 

3.) Weekly Watcher Timeline 

Victor was 40 in 1959. We don’t know how old he was when they moved to Hawkins because we don’t know when they moved to Hawkins/how long they lived there. 

We don’t know how long the Creels lived in Hawkins, nor do we know when they moved to Hawkins. 

Alice was 15 in 1959, but we don’t know how old she was when they moved to Hawkins because we don’t know when they moved to Hawkins/how long they lived there. 

Henry was 12 in 1959,  but we don’t know how old he was when they moved to Hawkins because we don’t know when they moved to Hawkins/how long they lived there.

Virginia was 36 in 1959, but we don’t know how old she was when they moved to Hawkins because we don’t know when they moved to Hawkins/how long they lived there.

Edward is not mentioned at all. 

We don’t know when Victor got home from the war. 

We don’t know when Victor was at war/if he was in Normandy.

We don’t know when Victor returned from war. 

Victor is not listed as a war hero, but his blunder in Normandy with the farmhouse/burning baby is also not mentioned. In fact, from what we can see of this article, Victor’s time in the war is simply not mentioned at all (granted there are two intro paragraphs that are too blurry to read).

Virginia is Victor’s wife and Alice is Victor’s daughter. 

We know that Alice would’ve been born in 1944 in this timeline (as she was 15 in 1959) and that Henry would’ve been born in 1947 (as he was 12 in 1959), but we can’t compare that to when Victor was at war because we don’t know when Victor was at war, how long he was at war, OR when he returned home. 

Normandy

This is where it ties into what bylerschmyler said in the post I linked in the very beginning, because if Victor came home from the war in 1943, how the hell was he in Normandy? 

Like, Victor returning from the war in 1943 is reasonable enough on its own, as WW2 started in 1939, and so even when considering that Victor served “two tours,”/possibly two years in the war in the Indianapolis Gazette timeline, he could easily have returned home in 1943 if he went off to war in 1941.  But that doesn’t solve the Normandy problem, because a.) in the Dear Billy script, Victor’s time in Normandy is listed as 1944 and b.) that sort of conflict, as far as I can tell, wasn’t happening in Normandy with the USA in 1943.  But what if we take the idea of “Victor being at war in 1943,” and combine that with the fact that the Weekly Watcher makes no mention of Victor as a war hero, but also doesn’t mention his mistake in Normandy?  Almost like Victor wasn’t in Normandy at all, which solves the problem of Normandy and 1943.  However, it’s also worth keeping in mind that Victor’s time in the war, as far as I can tell, doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the Weekly Watcher at ALL.  So, what if there’s one timeline where Victor returned home disgraced (Dear Billy script), one where he was a war hero (Indianapolis Gazette), and one where he was never at war (Weekly Watcher)?  This would also track with the fact that the Indianapolis Gazette timeline doesn’t tell us when Victor was at war (just that he served two tours at some point)- meaning that he may not have been in Normandy in 1944, at all, meaning that his mistake with the farmhouse may not have happened, allowing him to return home a hero.  Which, that’s interesting to me, because Victor’s war trauma/mistake is implied to be something that Henry seemed rather upset about (assuming that Henry was even the one showing Victor the vision during the cradle scene, and assuming that the thing that made Victor Not a “good, normal person,” was his war mistake), so I wonder if it’s the sort of thing he’d try to erase by turning back time? By either making his father a hero or not making him go to war at all? 

The Massacre at Hawkins Lab Script

Also, all of this gets even WEIRDER when we look at the “Massacre at Hawkins Lab,” script, which is NOT from 8flix and was released by ST production. It gets even weirder because there’s not a single date to be found when it comes to the Creel murders. At all. None.

There’s no move-in date.

There’s no date for the murders.

Nothing.

What the hell is going on here? IMO, this has Hawkins Lab and memory fuckery written all over it AND timeline fuckery most of all, especially since we still don’t know what Young Henry was doing with that clock. 

And speaking of that clock scene- remember how I mentioned earlier that Alice and Virginia got swapped during part of the move-in scene in the Dear Billy script (and are also swapped in the Indianapolis Gazette article)? Well, they're not the only ones who got swapped in the script:

"Young Victor" walks over to the grandfather clock in the script, despite the fact that we see Young Henry walk over to it in the show. If it was just this error,  I would dismiss it as an unintentional typo, but considering how Alice and Virginia swap places not only in the script, but also in the Indianapolis Gazette article, and how Henry isn't even present in that article, I'm not so sure about dismissing it as a simple error anymore.

 Especially considering the theme of swapping places in ST with "Running Up That Hill," and also the fact that the scene of Henry staring at the clock has a really interesting shot setup. It's interesting because we never see through Nancy's eyes in this scene. They've put Nancy into this scene to give us an extra POV, and yet, we don't see through her eyes at all in this part. Was she even seeing Henry? Or was she seeing somebody else? Victor, perhaps?

I don’t think it was particularly likely that she was actually seeing Victor, but it’s definitely suspicious to me that they’ve kept Nancy’s POV from us during the same scene where, in the script, Victor and Henry are swapped. We see Nancy herself in this scene, but we don’t see through her eyes. We do see through Young Henry’s eyes in this scene, but interestingly enough, we don’t see Nancy at all when we see through Young Henry’s eyes (which would make sense because she’s a ghost in these flashbacks, but also presents the idea of whether or not we’re seeing a different scene entirely when we look through Young Henry’s eyes.)  Like, look at the shot where the clock starts spinning- that’s technically not through Nancy’s eyes. That’s through Henry’s eyes. We don’t ever see the clock spinning in the same shot as Nancy. 

We don’t know if Nancy saw the clock spinning- so I’m not saying that Victor has powers and was spinning the clock, I’m saying that I wonder if the audience got to see the scene of Henry spinning the clock backwards, whereas Nancy was seeing something totally different (perhaps, Victor, wondering why the hell is his clock’s been turned backwards). Victor, who may have been angered that the “demon,” in his house was continuing to mess with his family by messing with the clock.

Admittedly, this last bit is more speculation than anything, but at the very least, the “Henry and Victor swapping places in the Massacre at Hawkins Lab script,” part of it is interesting considering that Alice and Virginia swapped places in the Dear Billy script, AND that Alice and Virginia swapped roles/places in the Indianapolis Gazette article.  And even though we have that Henry 1979 voiceover, it’s worth keeping in mind that the voiceover actually reinforces the idea that Nancy may be seeing something different- because the voiceover is happening in 1979 and Nancy isn’t hearing it, only the audience is, so it’s being used to manipulate the audience (likely manipulate them into believing that Nancy’s seeing what we’re seeing, despite the fact that the use of Nancy POV shots vs Nancy face shots contradicts that idea, like I talked about in this post and this post).  And there’s also the fact that there’s certain scenes and flashbacks that play during the Massacre at Hawkins Lab sequence that aren’t seeing by Nancy.  Scenes like this one (No Nancy visible And doesn’t seem to be through her eyes, And she was supposedly downstairs seeing Henry at the dinner table when this scene played):

And scenes like this one, that are possibly flashbacks from Henry’s own mind/what would’ve been flashing through his mind in 1979 (this scene just shows up on screen when 1979 lab Henry is ranting about “they presented themselves as good, normal, people”:

So, I wonder if some of the clock shots are the same, especially ones that are through Henry’s eyes- shots that Nancy didn’t see because they’re only being shown to the audience/possibly as part of Henry 1979 actual flashbacks that he would’ve been having in 1979 while monologuing.  And the Victor-Henry swap in the Massacre at Hawkins Lab script just generally haunts me because we also have a Alice-Virginia swap in the Indianapolis Gazette *and* in the Dear Billy script, and I’m wondering if Victor swapped with Henry, or if he swapped with Edward, and the script swap is a nod to Victor and Edward swapping places in their family dynamic like Alice and Virginia did in the Edward timeline. 

[hyperfixated-homo]

The Disney Trivia

Ao3 Link (leave a comment if you wanna! it would make my day <3)

Summary:

It's been months now since the side's have made up, and started actually treating each other like family. Now, with everything back together, they have the brilliant idea to play a game of trivia!

In which, Virgil and Roman are the hosts (who knows more about Disney than those two?) and also may be dating, we'll get back to you on that one.

Patton and Janus are flirting the whole time.

And Remus just thinks Logan is neat.

A/N: Holy god that is the most I have ever written in a single session ever. I don't regret it at all, this was amazing asodijowajd. I missed a lot! But it was kinda necessary because the fic would have been hella long otherwise and some of it was contradictory. I hope you guys like it :)

Word Count: 5117

Ships: Mociet, Prinxiety, Intrulogical

Warnings: Mentions of Remus' heart squishing? I don't think there's anything to be really concerned about lmao

“Why are we doing this again?”

“Because DISNEY Logan!”

“That’s not exactly a sufficient answer, Roman.”

Patton smiled at the two of them as they started bickering. Even now, months after their little family sorted through their drama and everyone started getting along, it seemed like some things would never change.

The sides sat together in a large debate hall, apparently a dreamspace Logan had created a while back for a video with Virgil. Back then it had been the two of them arguing over Thomas’ negative thinking, but now it was being used for something much more fun. The side’s first ever proper group trivia!

It was an idea Roman had a couple weeks ago, during their family game nights (which mainly consisted of uncontrollable chaos). He had thrown it out there randomly during a game of Kahoot, but forgot about it shortly after.

It wasn’t until earlier that week that it was brought up again.

Virgil had come up to him shyly asking if he still felt down to do a proper game of trivia, and had suggested the first theme: Disney!

Roman had agreed instantly, and the two of them spent a couple days planning and researching for the game.

The two of them would be running the game as hosts, while the other sides were split into groups of two. Janus and Patton had been dubbed team Mociet, while Logan and Remus were in team Intrulogical.

Patton was more than a little confused when Remus started giggling at the names, but shrugged it off.

The room had been decorated more interestingly for the fun occasion. Roman and Virgil had stated that they wanted to go all out for this trivia, even if it’s more of a joke than anything else.

The curtains behind were closed, colored black as they were before, but now had added detailing that made it a less monotone background. They had strung up simple banners on the wall, and there were more than a couple new lights in the room that they wanted to use for aesthetic purposes. The floor had been changed to carpeting that had a full rainbow gradient from one corner of the room to the other.

But most importantly was the art.

Hundreds of paintings of Disney characters lined the walls. Different, stylised versions of every princess, prince and villain imaginable had been drawn on them in bright, vibrant colors.

Logan was very confused when he saw them, noting that they wouldn’t be seen much anyways since the attention would be on the judges and the stage, so he didn’t understand why they would put so much effort into it.

Roman said that it didn’t matter.

(The amount of fun that he and Remus had painting them together more than made up for it.)

It was a very neat set up! And according to the boys, there were a couple other things too that they hadn't even shown yet, because they wanted it to be a surprise for when the game actually started.

“Wow, they’re still going?”

Janus’ voice cut through Patton’s thoughts, snapping his attention to the snakey side on his left.

“Huh? Oh- they stopped arguing about the scoreboard ten minutes ago. This is a new argument.”

Janus looked at him with a deadpan expression that Patton couldn’t help but smile at.

“It’s not that bad. We just need to wait for Virgil to get the cards! He’s not going to take that long.”

Janus’ eyes softened quickly, and he turned to look back at Logan and Roman. “Yes… I suppose so. We’ll just have to wait.”

Then he turned back around, suddenly seeming a lot more competitive. “What’s our game plan?”

Patton blinked. He had absolutely no clue what Janus was talking about.

“The what now?”

Janus sighed, fondly exasperated.

“How are we going to win this Patton? You probably know at least a little bit about disney. I’m going to be fully honest, I know virtually nothing. I would say that the teams are fair in that sense except Logan’s a massive Marvel nerd and Remus knows almost as much about Disney in general as Roman, so it really isn’t. We’re at a massive disadvantage here.”

Patton blinked, again.

And Janus sighed, again.

“Do we not- is there no game plan?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Patton looked between him and Roman. “…be nice and hope for the best?”

Janus looked at him for a moment, then once again turned away, mumbling something about how hard it would be to gaslight Virgil into giving them points. Patton was about to make a concerned remark when the door slammed open and the anxious side himself walked into the room.

“Alright losers, stop the fighting. It’s game time.”

Roman audibly squealed, immediately stumbling over to his stand.

“Okay everybody stand in your area. Go stand- you too remus, you stand normally by your podium. We’re starting! Play the music! Why isn’t- LOGAN, THIS IS YOUR DREAMSCAPE, PLAY THE MUSIC!”

Logan rolled his eyes, but complied with the prince’s request, snapping his fingers. The Disney theme started playing, and suddenly the lights shut off.

As the music swelled, new, brighter spotlights slammed on, and the four contestants were surprised to see that they’d been changed into stunning suits and corsets, similar to their outfits at the courtroom but clearly glamorized by Roman. Their podiums had changed as well, the old wooden stands being covered fabric of their own colors with their symbols at the bottom.

Before they had time to even mention the change, another bright spotlight illuminated their hosts. Virgil and Roman were also wearing new clothes, much more layered outfits with more designs sewn into them. Virgil was sat down behind a tilted table that no doubt hid the question cards, while Roman stood in front of them.

The short intro theme faded into a bright show theme, something Patton vaguely recognised.

Roman jumped forwards, welcoming them to the show and going over a prepared speech that played in time with the music.

“Welcome everyone to the first ever Sanders Sides Trivia! Not about us, but being played by us! Today we have a very special theme, suggested by my darling emo nightmare behind me,” Virgil blushed and gave a little wave “DISNEY!”

Patton cheered. Remus joined in, and then all four of them were clapping for Roman.

His eyes were alight as he walked in front of them, posture bubbly in a way that it only ever was when he got the chance to be on stage.

“Thank you! Thank you all!” He took a mock bow.

“Today on the stage we have our two wonderful teams! First up, Team Mociet! Featuring everyone’s favorite father figure, Patton, and the slithery snake himself, Janus!”

Remus whooped from beside them, and Logan and Virgil clapped for them loudly.

Janus loudly said “Totally hate being here today, how dare you invite me.”

Patton waved at everyone, unable to stop himself from giggling.

“And as their competitors today, we’ve got our brilliant book nerd, Logan, and his partner in crime (who may or may not have actually committed some crimes), Remus!”

He and Janus cheered for them, and Remus laughed maniacally while the two of them waved as well.

“I am, of course, Roman Sanders, and this is Virgil! We will be your hosts today everybody!” he continued. The four of them together gave them a round of applause, Patton and Remus yelling out compliments over the loud noise.

“Thank you, thank you. And thank you all for coming! We’re going to go over some ground rules first, before the game can officially start, so we can just jump straight into it!”

He made his way behind the table, as he said that, sitting down. The next part was apparently Virgil’s job to present.

“We’re playing by a point system. You are given points for getting questions right, giving us a good argument or just being cool in general. We’d set better requirements but honestly, I’m sure that all of you guys would find a loophole no matter what rules we set. So we’re not doing that. Points are given based entirely on how me and Roman feel about your answers.” He leaned forwards in his chair, and rested his head in his hands, elbows on the table.

“We can also add points at any time in the game!” Roman chimed in quickly “Not just during question times! For example, padre, I’m loving the attitude right now. Plus ten points!”

There was a loud ring, and then the curtains opened behind them to show a big board, with the two teams' scores on it. Team Mociet had ten points.

Virgil continued. “We can and will take away points, too. Not for getting questions wrong, but for other things. Arguments we don’t like, trying to cheat, sabotage, all that good stuff. Like, say, that stupid hat Janus is still wearing. Minus ten points. Bad hat.”

There was a sort of power down sound, and they watched the points be erased and go down to zero.

Janus didn’t say anything. He just looked at Virgil with the most “are you serious right now” face he could muster. Patton tried his absolute hardest to not laugh next to him. He mostly succeeded.

Virgil was not phased.

“Also, fun fact, even though we can’t actually participate or win, me and Roman can also get points. Because we’re just superior to you guys in every way. We have pretty general rules here, no changing the answer, no physical fighting, no attempted murder, the usual things. Basically just don’t break our monopoly rules and we’ll probably be fine.”

“We’re also not going to win anything.” Patton wondered how long Virgil and Roman had rehearsed this for them to be this in sync. “This is obviously just for fun. No need to get too competitive. I’m looking at you Logan.”

“That’s bold coming from the guy who played checkers with Janus for five hours because he refused to stop until he won a game.” Remus called out.

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now.” Roman replied “And honestly, you would have too if you saw how close I was. There were so many times I almost won. We tied at least-”

“ANYWAYS!” Virgil interrupted him. If Roman started rambling now they would never actually play. “That’s all we have to say. We might add or change some rules later on if things are too chaotic.”

“Right, right. Okay! With that all out of the way, let the games begin!”

A happy little tune that sounded somewhat similar to the ending of a looney toons episode played, and the lights flickered on again.

There was silence for a moment in the debate room, and then Virgil spoke quietly.

“So… how was that?”

“Guys that was amazing!! Oh my goodness I loved it!!” Patton was practically vibrating on the spot from pure excitement over the performance that the two of them just gave.

“Oh I absolutely despised the personal nicknames. Horribly kind of you.” Janus couldn’t seem to keep a smile off his face, clearly also very hyped up.

“I was not expecting the lightshow, I will admit. It was a brilliant choice to use that blackout period to change the scenery, we were all invested quite quickly.” Logan commented.

“Very good idea. We all look hotter than a hooker on a Friday evening in these clothes!” Was Remus’ response. An interesting complement, but a complement nonetheless.

Their judges were clearly happy with the positive reception, Roman hardly able to keep still in his chair and Virgil’s eyeshadow glowing a bright, glittery purple.

“Then let us not waste any more time! Onwards, to the competition!”

Patton let himself relax into a more comfortable standing position, as the category of the first questions were announced.

They would have an absolute blast playing this, he was sure. He just wondered if it would get as chaotic as their previous family times.

———

Everything instantly fell apart.

Well, instantly was a bit of a stretch. Everyone behaved for at least five minutes, usually the game nights spiral downhill as soon as it starts!

Patton just needs to keep looking at the positives. If not, he might literally explode.

“THUMBS both ARE and ARE NOT FINGERS, ROMAN. Some people, especially those in the medical field, do refer to them as such for simplicity's sake, but the truth is that the answer to that question is SUBJECTIVE. They have a DIFFERENT ANATOMY, ROMAN. I DID NOT ANSWER INCORRECTLY.”

“LOGAN THE QUESTION WAS HOW MANY FINGERS MICKEY MOUSE HAS. IT ISN’T THAT COMPLICATED.”

“DEFINE A FINGER FOR ME ROMAN. DEFINE IT. TELL ME WHAT A FINGER IS. IS A THUMB A FINGER TO YOU? IS IT? DOES EVERYONE HERE CONSIDER A THUMB A FINGER?”

Remus raised his hand lazily, pretending to not find this entire situation hilarious. “I don’t think a thumb is a finger. It’s a digit.”

“REMUS STOP SUCKING UP TO LOGAN LIKE THAT FOR MORE POINTS-”

It was honestly sort of amazing that they’d managed to start screaming at each other so quickly. They hadn't even gotten to the actual “debate for points” questions. These were just regular trivia. And yet they somehow managed to start a debate. About fingers.

When Virgil said that they could gain points by “giving a good argument”, Patton didn’t think he considered how far Logan and Janus were willing to go to convince the others that they were correct. Maybe he forgot that one debated for fun and the other liked to pretend to be a lawyer. This was bound to happen eventually.

Although, Patton wasn’t really focusing on that right now, but rather the fact that Janus was trying to change the points on the scoreboard behind them again.

“Jan! Stop that!” He whisper shouted.

“Stop what? I’m not doing anything.” He lied. Like a liar.

“Stop trying to give us points, we’re tied already, it doesn’t matter!”

Indeed, the two teams were tied at 30 points each, after seven questions. So far, they had been pretty simple, and the reason that their team didn’t have more points was because Virgil had randomly decided to subtract five from them, because he “felt like Janus was up to something. Nothing in particular but… something.”

He was right, obviously. Janus was trying to steal the question cards from the host table with one of his spare hands. But Virgil didn’t know that.

“No, you're right. I’m sorry sweetheart. There’s no point in cheating this early in the game, it’ll just make the others suspicious and make it harder to do so later on. I’ll save that one for later” Janus winked.

“That is not what I meant and you know it mister.” Patton crossed his arms, as if that would make Janus take him more seriously.

“Do I?” His mischievous smirk only seemed to grow.

“Yes! You do!”

“Sorry about that darling. I’ll get it eventually, promise.” Even if Patton wasn’t literally face to face with him right now, he would be able to hear the smirk in Janus’ voice.

“That’s-”

“FINE. YOU GUYS CAN GET TWO POINTS. IS THAT OKAY?”

“FINE.”

“FINE.”

Roman threw his hand up and the scoreboard behind them changed to show the numbers 30 - 32.

All four of the other sides just stared at the two of them.

“Okay, Virgil, what’s the next question?”

He looked Roman up and down, squinted, and then looked away.

“Uh… when did snow white come out.”

“Alright. JANUS.” The deceitful side jumped slightly, then turned to Roman, smoothing out his outfit as if it never happened.

“Right. What’s the question?”

“Minus five points for not paying attention.”

“Wha- excuse me?” Janus stared at Virgil in shock. “That’s not fair-”

“Shoulda been listening dude. You keep forgetting that we can do that. Pay attention.” Virgil smirked at Janus’ barely concealed rage. “The question is what year Snow White came out.”

Janus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Pfft, easy. 1957”

Roman stood up quickly, and in a dramatic gesture moved to point at Janus “HAH, WRONG! It was-”

“No, it’s not! It’s totally 1947! Are you just making stuff up to make me lose?”

Roman stared at him, immediately stumped. He spluttered out a “What? No! I promise it’s-”

But Janus was quick, and also an expert gaslighter. “Then did someone change the date on the flash card? Because it was definitely 1937! How could you get such an easy question wrong!?”

Roman’s mouth opened and closed a couple times, as if he was trying to refute the statement but couldn’t find the words.

“When did it come out then?”

Virgil rolled his eyes in response. “1937. Dude you were off by like twenty years.”

“No he wasn’t.” Remus’ voice. Yet again speaking purely to add on to this meaningless argument, adding flame to the fire. “He said 1937.”

Virgil looked at him like he’d grown four heads. “N- dude did you miss that entire conversation? He said 1957.”

“He did also say 1937, though.” Said Logan, as if he was helping them in literally any way. “Are we still counting it if he changes his answer before the actual answer is revealed? His final date was 1937.”

Roman just stood there, trying and failing to process their questions. Virgil answered for him.

“We. We’re not accepting that. Final decision. We’re the hosts here, and he’s not getting any points.” Then he turned to glare at Janus again. “Matter of fact, minus five points for trying to trick us.”

Now it was Janus’ turn to splutter, exclaiming various forms of “what the hell, Virgil?” and “why??? Just why???”

Patton sighed, leaning down to lay his head on his stand.

“Patton! This next question is for you!”

He snapped his head up to look at them, smiling on instinct. “Yeah! I got this!”

“I thought it was one question per team-” Logan tried to interject but Roman steamrolled over him.

“How many years was Genie from Aladdin trapped in the magic lamp?”

“Oh! Uhh… like a hundred thousand years right? It was a really long time!”

Roman looked at his card, then at Virgil. He just shrugged. “Close enough.”

The princely side turned back to Patton, a beaming smile on his face. “Great job popstar, 10 points for you! You’re doing fantastic!”

“Ten poi- he didn’t even get it right?!”

“Shush up Logan, he deserves it. Anyways, Remus!”

Patton found himself smiling as well. The fact that his kiddos would give him points even when he got it wrong, ah he loved them so much!

He looked over to see what Janus thought, only to see him quickly turn away to look at their friends. He caught a glimpse of a smile on his face though, a moment of fondness in his expression.

And then Patton found himself smiling a whole lot more.

It was nice. This was nice. Maybe a little bit chaotic, but when were they not?

Besides, it wasn’t that bad.

———

At some point during the trivia, Virgil and Roman had started to give themselves points. Which was fine, they had mentioned that they would do so at the start after all!

But then they started doing so increasingly often.

Like, every couple minutes often.

For things like how cute the other looked, or how smart they were, or how well they worked together.

And they gave each other a lot of points. Like, hundreds of points. Way too many points, considering the fact that it was over double the amount of points the two teams had combined.

So Remus and Logan, the competitive bastards that they were, of course immediately decided to comment on it and start a debate on whether it was appropriate to give each other points for things like “the color of their eyes” (Roman you can’t give your team points every time you look at Virgil because you think he’s pretty. If we could all do that then what is even the point of the point system in the first place?)

And the hosts immediately took offense, justifying it by saying that they were the ones in charge here, so obviously they got to decide what was and wasn’t a good reason to give someone points.

Which prompted Janus to start another debate about how unjust it was that the two of them were in complete control in this situation even though it was not through democratic election, thus making them the unofficial rulers of a self proclaimed biarchy.

To which they responded that since it’s not a government system, it doesn’t work like that.

And now they were talking about kingdom hierarchy, in the middle of a disney debate.

And yet again, Patton could not find reason to care, because Janus was once again attempting to change the scores in their favor.

“Jay! We said that you couldn’t do this!”

“We said? I think you mean you said, my dear. I never agreed to anything.”

Patton threw his head back tiredly. “Janus, that’s cheating. It’s not fair to the others! We aren’t even winning anything, there’s no need to keep trying to find ways to win!”

“Oh but Patton, I need to do something to assist you! After all, you’ve almost been carrying me this whole game!”

That was true. Virgil and Roman had tried their absolute hardest to find ways to discredit Janus’ every answer, and take away points from him at any chance they got. In direct juxtaposition, they gave Patton as many points as they possibly could, even for completely incorrect answers.

(Patton didn’t really know how to explain that the points didn’t really mean anything to him, and by now was answering wrong just to see how Janus would react when they gave him the points. The fact that they were somehow still above negative points was honestly just a bonus.)

“C’mon sugar, let me do this? Please?”

Well. If Janus was going to play it like that, then Patton was going to have to bring out the big guns as well.

He turned to him, opened his eyes, and gave him is best pouty face.

He saw the exact moment Janus’ face went from “smug flirting” to “oh no he’s cute”.

He had to fight to not blush at the way the snake looked at him.

(Janus couldn’t stop looking at his eyes, his lips, the soft curves of his face as he tried to win him over. Patton looked every bit like the sweetheart Janus kept calling him.)

He sighed, closing his eyes, and pretending that he wasn’t completely melting on the inside. “…I suppose it doesn’t matter that much. If it really upsets you, I’ll stop.”

Patton’s face split and without really thinking about it, he launched himself forwards to crush Janus in a hug.

Arms wrapped around him by instinct (too many arms for a normal person, probably, but Patton had always thought that more arms meant more comfort). He laughed out a small thank you, burying his face into Janus’ suit.

“Yes, yes, I’m amazing, I know. Go back to your stand, you’re making me look soft.”

Patton laughed at the comment, but did indeed stand up and go back to his podium (he didn’t mention the fact that despite the complaints, Janus didn’t try to separate himself from him until Patton did).

The others had been arguing for far too long now anyways.

“I’m just saying, we should definitely have guillotined more rulers! It would have fixed so many problems!”

Wait, what?

“Remus, that would be RIDICULOUS. They didn’t have the concept of free will, or rights back then. They just would have elected another bad ruler!”

“Guys what the hell are we talking about.”

The conversation died instantly. The four of them looked at each other, and then at Janus, and then back at each other.

“I uh… I have no clue.” Was Virgil’s reply.

Which was typical. And also understandable. But maybe not what they should be doing right now.

“…okay. Can we get back to trivia now. That’s… that’s like the only reason we’re here in this stupidly fancy room, still standing up, still killing my legs. Can we wrap this up please.”

Roman snapped into action, getting the cards and moving swiftly on to the next question.

“Right! Yeah! Y'know what, we’re going to do a couple flash rounds. Me and Virge will just call out some questions and whoever answers first and most accurately gets points. Good?”

They nodded.

The game continued.

———

“Order!” Roman called out in the loud room. “Order in the court! This is the FINAL question! Up for debate here my guys, gals and nonbinary pals. Completely subjective, alright?”

Everyone hushed up, ready to answer the final question.

“Who is the best Disney prince?”

“Flynn Rider.” Four voices called out simultaneously.

The hosts paused for a moment, before looking at each other, and then back at their contestants.

“Correct. Five hundred points for everyone. Good game!”

“Well, this was a miserable experience. I despised every part of it.” he smiled at Virgil and Roman, not out of mischief or irritation but of pure, unfiltered care. “Thank you for organizing this. It was wonderful.”

Patton nodded aggressively next to him. “Yeah!! We got super side tracked but by golly was it fun!”

Roman laughed, and Virgil’s eyeshadow seemed to brighten a few shades to match the pink growing on his cheeks.

“Yeah it was… it was fun or whatever.”

“It was enjoyable.” Said Logan from beside them. His voice was low, a little raw from how much yelling he did in the two hours they spent doing the trivia. “Even though it devolved quickly into something that was most definitely not trivia.”

“Maybe next time we should have another group host it.” Remus said. “Y’know, like the winners of this game get to choose a theme for the next time.”

All of them seemed to perk up a little at that idea.

“Who won?” asked Janus.

“Not you guys.” was Virgil’s immediate response.

Janus hissed at him. Virgil hissed back.

“Did we even count the points?” Roman squinted at the board behind them, as if closing his eyes would make the massive numbers on them make more sense.

“I believe you stopped trying to actually calculate it when you started adding thousands onto the board. Much less the millions.

Roman shrugged. “Eh. That’s fair. We don’t really know who won then. Maybe we can hold a vote or something.”

Logan hummed. “That would be appropriate.”

Patton felt a hand rest on his, atop his podium.

He smiled, and closed his eyes.

For a moment there was peace. The group was tired out, energy completely depleted after that rollercoaster of emotions.

“…Maybe Janus should be disqualified though. I would consider changing the question cards and the scoreboards quite an easy disqualifier.”

“He did WHAT.”

———

Maybe it was a little bit mean for Remus to tell Logan that Janus had cheated right at the end there. Everyone was tired after all, so there was no point in wasting any of their remaining energy on questioning how he did it.

But Remus was petty.

And Janus did try to mess with his score.

All is fair in love and war.

Besides, who would he even be if he didn’t try to cause a little chaos right at the end?

He looked over at the other sides from his spot in between his and Logan’s podiums, bent in a position that would probably be impossible, if he weren’t an imaginary person who could make his spine disappear if he wanted to.

Janus was trying to justify himself to a group of three angry light sides, although it was clear that most of that effort went into trying to explain his methods to Patton. Said moral side was making an attempt to scold him that would probably be more effective if he looked in any way mad, and not just like his kitty had clawed up his favorite couch cushion. Roman and Virgil were leaning together in their seats, heads leaning on each other and holding hands.

He turned to look at his teammate. Logan stood resting his elbows on the podium in a rare moment of relaxation. He was observing the “fight” just as Remus was before, but usual cold expression was replaced with a soft, happy smile.

Something about it made Remus’ heart squish strangely. Maybe he was having heart palpitations.

He untangled himself enough to poke Logan's leg with his foot.

“Psst.”

Logan turned to look down. The fondness remained on his face, albeit with a little bit of added confusion.

He looked really hot from down here, damn.

“What is it you need, Remus?”

“If you could see any marvel scene in real life right now, to study, what scene would it be.”

Logan furrowed his brow and tilted his head. “…Comic book or movie scene?”

Remus shimmied, moving around so that he could stand up.

“Either.”

Logan took a moment to think, looking away from him in concentration. “Hm… there’s a fascinating scene in the marvel comics where the Scarlet Witch removes the abilities of all mutants from planet earth, almost by accident, because she doesn’t want them and the humans to keep fighting. Although, I suppose that’s not exactly a visitable scene, since her powers are never really thought to be observable in that sense.” He looked at Remus again, who was now standing up. “I would want to see what Tony Stark’s lab looks like. I know most of the science there isn’t real by any means, but it would still be fascinating to see how he would theoretically create his suits and weaponry.”

That sounded really smart. And complicated. And like it would take a lot of effort.

Remus reached out and grabbed him by the hand.

And suddenly, they weren’t in Logan’s dreamscape anymore, but Remus’.

Although it didn’t look like what his dreamscape usually looked like.

There were tables and tables of tech all around them. Holograms and metal scraps and projects were laid out that looked incredibly similar to the ones in the original Marvel movies. There were some odd choices of weapons, for sure, some of them seemingly old fashioned and not at all what would actually be in Ironman’s lab.

It didn’t matter.

And it didn’t matter how much energy it took Remus to make the room. Or how much his head hurt trying to remember basic mechanics so that he could make anything here believable.

None of it mattered.

It was all worth it, for the way Logan screamed in happiness.

[sugoi-and-spice]

Phew do I have lots of questions (feel free to not answer some)

1. Back when AFO tried to set up Tomura with a prostitute, Tomura disagreed about sex being nothing more than physical pleasure and how he never took his call girls. What was so different about blackmailing MC into sex though? I mean he never got to really know her before hand and it definitely didn’t happen because they both wanted it. In his mind did he believe it was something more? Did he agree because it was specifically MC? or will this be answered in later chapters?

2. Would Tomura have gone along with the plan if MC wasn’t in the pile?

3. From him knowing about MC being with Mirio, to him staring at her in the nurses office, knowing that she swims, and his darkest fantasies being about her, will their past be revealed more? Like when did Tomura start eyeing her? Were there any other moments like the nurses office? Why her of all people? Was there any other girl that occupied his fantasies as much as MC?

Im aware alot of this may not be answered or if any at all, but if anything can be answered or will be confirmed to be answered in later chapters id love to know!

Ooooh, all good questions! Okay, let’s go!

1. So, to clear something up to start, All for One didn’t force Shigaraki to have sex. Shigaraki was the one that wanted sex at the beginning of the story, he just didn’t want it to be with someone that AFO picked out for him – whether that’s because they were a prostitute or a date AFO set up for him. It was an autonomy and personal agency thing for him. He wanted to choose who he had sex with. It wasn’t because he specifically wanted it to be with someone he had a personal connection with. He actually didn’t disagree with AFO that sex is just about pleasure… At first.

And that’s because Tomura’s relationship and opinions on sex are very complex and contradictory in Play Nice, especially at the beginning when he doesn’t understand them himself. He definitely wanted to have sex, but there are two underlying factors as to why that he’d never admit to.

The first factor was that what he actually wanted was intimacy – he just didn’t realize that that’s the part of sex he was seeking out because obviously, AFO has taught him his whole life that intimacy is bad.

The second factor was that he wanted power. He was very angry at the world (especially the world of “perfect” popular people like MC that would reject him) and at his own feelings and weakness. Specifically, the feelings of loneliness and emptiness in his life. It made him feel completely powerless. So being able to have sex with a girl he chose, even better a girl he hated everything she stood for, that was basically a way of regaining that power.

That is what sexual assault is about at the end of the day. Power, not sex.

Of course, once he actually got in the bedroom with MC, and got a bit of a taste of actual intimacy (or at least what he perceived as actual intimacy), that’s what he ended up latching on to, since at the end of the day it’s what he actually needed.

2. Yup. He just would’ve picked a different pretty, popular girl that he held a grudge against. There are a lot of them.

3. Yeah! I have a couple more details of their past together in mind that I’d like to reveal in the story proper. : )

He noticed her for the first time during middle school. It was before the nurse’s office, but not necessarily because they had another specific moment together before then, he noticed her because she was popular, so he was as aware of her as anyone else at their school. That’s also why he knew that she swam and was dating Mirio – it was just common knowledge about her.

That being said, she did get a bit more of his attention during the nurse’s office incident because he realized that she was “faking” a lot of her personality and kindness for the sake of being popular. That’s how he interpreted it anyway. As we know, MC isn’t a complete fraud with her friends or anything, but she does adjust and embellish herself to appease those around her.

So, because of that, he ended up hating her more than a “normal” popular kid. He hated her more than Mirio or Nejire for example, who yes, are popular, but also are completely authentically themselves. He can respect that at least.

And yeah, I’m sure there were other popular “fakers” that he hated just the same. No named characters or specific examples I’m currently planning on mentioning though. But MC was definitely one of the ones that topped out the list of his ire. He didn’t have his eye on MC as a crush or romantic partner, it was more that he fantasized about being able to take her down a peg. “Put her in her place” as it was.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

⭐ 💧 🍏 📀 🍒

A few for the ask game!

Heyyy thanks for the ask! Sorry getting to this a little late. (From this jumbo ask game)

I choose Noelle

⭐ What is your OC afraid of? Any crippling phobias or some such? How do they act when scared and what helps them calm down? Does anyone ever find your OC scary? Why?

Noelle is afraid of a few things. One is her privacy. She doesn't make her thoughts known - most opinions she expresses come from her mom - but she especially doesn't like showing deeper emotions or insecurities. Her mom is respectful of her privacy, therefore there is no reason to lose it.

The second is the unknown. Noelle likes staying in her comfort zone. Anything out of it is, well, uncomfortable. She hates the idea of improv.

The third is losing her mom's approval. She's not insecure about this per se, but she deeply sees this as a nightmare.

Noelle usually does not back down when afraid, though she will if she has a reason to do it.

To get over fear, Noelle will usually need alone time, followed by a one-on-one assurance of the tangible facts. If she breaks something into smaller chunks, she can focus more. Maybe cooking afterward to let out the stress.

Plenty of people find Noelle scary. The first to notice was Akash during a training exercise. Her telekinesis grows rapidly in a very short time. Noelle doesn't see an issue, and that's what makes her more scary. She just gets in a zone with it.

💧 What is the earliest memory your OC can recall? Do they know what their first words were or remember where they took their first steps? Do they have any mementos of their childhood they’ve kept such as a stuffed toy or tiny baby clothes?

Noelle's earliest memory is her mom teaching her to make a PB&J sandwich.

Her first words definitely "mama" and first steps at home.

I feel like Noelle still has a tiny baby blanket with her name stitched into it.

🍏 Does your OC have any triggers? What is the history behind these triggers and are they related to any disorders or mental illnesses? In what ways does your OC react to being triggered?

Noelle's biggest triggers are when someone says something contradictory. If something doesn't make any sense, she kinda freaks out. Noelle is definitely some type of neurodivergent but I'm not sure what yet.

Noelle tends to overfocus on specific facts, might get a little extreme, and become more aware of nitty gritty details than usual. In the worst cases she may withdraw, become overwhelmed, and run mainly on anger.

📀 How easy is it to shock your OC? To confuse them? To lie to them, to manipulate them? How are they with feelings of trust? Can your OC be trusted?

Noelle gets shocked when dealing with anything out of her comfort zone. If it makes logistical sense in Noelle World, she's not shocked.

Unfortunately lying and manipulating and trust might come easy to someone tricking Noelle if you know where to get her. Play to her biased and all.

Noelle can be trusted with the objective, hard facts. Anything else, her judgement is clouded even if she's not a liar.

🍒 What kind of things do they expect from their relationships? Does this differ between platonic relationships and romantic ones? Is your OC “demanding” or a door mat? What kinds of things do people expect from them in a relationship?

Noelle is more reserved with dating. She expects traditional roles and predictability.

Similar things to friendships: more reserved. More based on respect than understanding. But that's the main difference - she's more particular about compatibility in a romantic relationship.

I'd say Noelle is more demanding. People can expect her to be logical, dependable, and loyal.

Thanks for the ask!

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

[mcalhenwrites]

Just some random details about The Dragons' Cosmos, which is part of my dragon universe. Noah and Roscoe grow up in the dragon Afensi's region, which is a wetland. They live around dragonflies and frogs and cattails. Noah and Roscoe bond as soon as Noah moves into his grandmother's house with the rest of his family. They don't date immediately, but they click immediately as friends that develops pretty quickly into something else. By the time they're seventeen, they still haven't kissed, and they fumble through holding hands, but they care a lot about one another. Roscoe lives with his abusive father, Wayne. As far as character the most like my own father... Wayne fits it. Maybe hits a little too close to home, but there are traumas I haven't written about, things that I have trouble explaining to people. (They don't believe me that someone can be that contradictory just to set you up for an argument and then have an excuse to hurt you.) There are neat little references to the previous main stories. (Dragon universe has four main stories so far, two spinoffs.) Roscoe eventually leaves the planet, because he is escaping his father when he sees the chance. I reference previous dragons. Some make a return, because their original planets are dead or they handed over their regions to a different one. Bircha is from The Hostile Credence, but I get to use him in TDC!

Afensi and Bircha, btw:

A lot of dragon names are references to their region. (Though it might not be obvious at first, especially with language barriers. One of my friends was like "Bircha reminds me of--" and sent me photos of birch trees, but she knows them by a different name due to English being a secondary language for her. :D This isn't always the case, since The Hostile Credence has Tessa, whose name is just... nice. It's also not her dragon name. That story mentions that humans often came up with names for the dragons, because human tongues just cannot produce some of the sounds dragons make. In TDC, they actually travel through the remains of a destroyed planet where a previous story took place... ;A; (I rewrite space rules. Geography rules. I love it. It's a lot of fun having dragons as the architects of the worlds~)

[hollygl125]

yo umm i was wondering and couldn't find on google so i think you could help me

the shifts in csi (like day shift, graveyard shift etc) are around which times?

Hello, lovely anon,

First of all, my sincere apologies for not having responded to your query in a timely (or, you know, remotely helpful) manner. Not as an excuse, but as an attempt at an explanation, I will tell you that I have been kind of a disaster person lately (much more so than indicated in the linked post, and even much more so this past fall than now) and don’t always have a ton of control over where my mind chooses to focus.

I should also acknowledge that, while I carried out my fall 2021 CSI rewatch (when I didn’t realize I was subsequently going to care about any of these details) with sort of rapt attention, in my (yes, many) subsequent rewatches I have often skipped scenes or storylines that don’t really interest me (e.g., where neither Sara Sidle nor Gil Grissom is anywhere to be found), and I am almost always doing two or three things at once while watching. So it’s certainly more than possible I have missed some non-GSR details in there.

In response to your question, the two things I can tell you with certainty are these:

The CSIs of CSI have three shifts: day shift, swing shift, and night/graveyard shift (this last being what the lead characters of CSI are generally working). Logic would dictate that, with three shifts and 24 hours in a day, the shifts most likely start (and end) eight hours apart. (I will not, however, state that logic necessarily dictates that the shifts each be eight hours, and I will discuss that more below.)

At the end of “Mea Culpa” (05x09), after Warrick, Nick, and Catherine are transferred from night/graveyard shift to swing shift, Warrick tells Grissom, “Well, I got to get some rest. Swing shift starts at four in the afternoon. That’s a big change.”

Based on the above (and what I will discuss below), the best answer I can give is that the shifts should start at the following times (and end approximately, though not necessarily exactly, eight hours later):

Day shift: 8:00 a.m.

Swing shift: 4:00 p.m.

Night/graveyard shift: 12:00 a.m. (midnight).

(I will also note some contradictory information below the cut, although I don’t know the source of that information.)

But the other thing I will note (and for which I will give some possibly excessive examples below the cut) is that CSI does a pretty terrible job of keeping track of these kind of workplace logistics. You might have thought the writers and showrunners of what was for a time the most popular scripted TV show in the world (or something like that) would have added a few notes to their show bible about workplace logistics (shift times, scheduling, etc.) but . . . nope, not in any way that is apparent to me! (I find wanting to write a story that is compatible with the internal logic of the show and finding there really is no internal logic of the show to be terribly frustrating.)

Shift times:

Okay, to be honest, the first place I looked for an answer to your query was in @addictedtostorytelling’s wonderful meta, both because she is an expert in (among many other things!) these finer details (e.g., dates on documents shown in the show) and because I was pretty sure I had seen a post from her that addressed shift times.

The only post I could find on the topic was this one, in which the asker states that “we know there are 3 csi shifts: day (7am to 3pm), swing (3pm to 11pm) and night (11pm to 7am).” I don’t know the source of information for that statement. (If anyone else knows, I’d be most grateful if you shared in the comments, so I can update this post!) Honestly, it’s more than possible that CSI has given contradictory information on this subject. But the one place I personally know of a shift start time being given in the show is in Warrick’s statement quoted above.

I also did a general google search on shift times (not specific to CSI or even real-world CSI-type employees). The most common answers I saw were days = 8:00 (or 7:00) a.m. to 4:00 (or 3:00) p.m., swing = 4:00 (or 3:00) p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (or 11:00 p.m.), night/graveyard = 12:00 a.m. (or 11:00 p.m.) to 8:00 (or 7:00) a.m.

In this post on Talk CSI, you can see people trying to answer your question way back in 2006, when the show was airing. One board member there noted that their (forensic, as I understand it) agency had three ten-hour shifts (with two hours of overlap at each end). Another noted that, where they worked (also apparently in the forensic context), the shifts were “12:30 to 8:30, 8:30 to 4:30 and 4:30 to 12:30 working 8 hour shifts.” @figsr kindly advised me that in her (non-forensic) experience shifts would have a half-hour overlap for handover.

I have no personal experience with this, but to me also just logically it would make sense for these shifts to have some sort of overlap for handover—so that, e.g., one team can be dealing with their beginning of shift housekeeping (shifts, assignments, memos from upper management, etc.) while the other is still primarily responsible for calls to the field.

Anyway, based on the above, I can’t give a conclusion on exactly how long the shifts are/when they end. But, as for when the shifts start, my best answer is as given at the top.

The other thing I should probably note here is that the CSIs of CSI do not stop working just because their shifts have ended; when they are in the middle of something that needs to be addressed in a timely manner, they tend to keep going, and they seem to work a lot of double shifts. They also apparently help out other shifts sometimes when necessary. (You’ll note that we see them working during the day a lot, but I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to the issue I discuss below.)

Shift times + scheduling + lack of internal logic (i.e., WTF, CSI?!):

As @addictedtostorytelling discusses in the meta I linked above (which I highly recommend reading, if you’re interested in this topic!), CSI doesn’t make much effort to depict the characters’ work schedules in any sort of realistic way, and drawing inferences about the logistics of the their work schedules is kind of a crapshoot.

Here are a few examples of CSI seeming to ignore its own shift times:

In 01x10, Sara’s asleep with her head on the table in the break room. It’s daylight (looks like morning). She wakes up as the kettle starts whistling. Grissom asks, “Did you sleep here?” Sara responds, “I was working till 4:00 a.m.” —> 4:00 a.m. should be their lunch time. None of this makes any sense.

In 07x08, Sara spends her day waiting to testify in court; they never get to her. Afterwards she goes to talk to Grissom in his office; based on the foregoing it must be late afternoon (maybe around 4:30-5:00 p.m.). Grissom has been working on that episode’s case and must have been on shift since at least the night before. He’s now sitting there reading Thoreau, and she tells him, “I won’t wait up.” —> I know he’s traditionally been a workaholic, and maybe they both have the night off, but it always strikes me as odd (and maybe a bit irresponsible?) that he’s still not heading home, given how long he must have been up and the fact that their usual shift time is in probably close to seven hours (and I always imagine him, as supervisor, arriving early).

At the end of 07x18, the TV reporter says that the suspect confessed earlier that day to the murders of the six showgirls. (The TV newscast is supposedly live, and it’s dark outside where the reporter is. He also states, “The families have organized a candlelight vigil that will begin here tonight.”) Grissom brushes a tear off Sara’s cheek then walks her out of the lab with his arm around her/hand on her back. The hallway has dim lighting and is empty aside from someone (not Natalie Davis!) mopping the floors. It’s giving very “end of the day so the lab’s deserted” vibes. —> But it’s literally never the end of the day there! They work the night shift, and the lab is always humming!

Similarly, in CSIV 1x05, Sara and then Grissom as well (“the matched set”) run into their suspect (Martin Kline) while leaving what is very specifically (i.e., with several establishing shots) shown to be a dark and empty lab. (Like, it’s clearly supposed to feel creepy when Kline first confronts Sara and she’s all alone.) —> But, again, the original CSI showed us that place was never dark and empty! It was always humming!

In 08x01, the security guard at the parking lot from which Sara was abducted says that Sara “eats at the veggie place downstairs a couple times a week.” When Catherine asks when she was there that night, he says, “I don’t know, like 7:30, maybe. That’s when she usually comes.” —> Sara eating at 7:30 p.m. is like someone who works a 9-5 job eating at about 4:30 a.m. (I also feel like their working hours are so erratic that, if she were able to pull off anything regular a couple times per week, it would be something regular she could do with Grissom—like maybe sitting down to a nice relaxed home-cooked rather than take-out meal twice per week.)

Shift times aren’t the only issue, though.

In 02x15, for example, Sara’s “Request for Leave of Absence” form states that her work week is “Tue - Sat grave.” Now, I don’t pay much heed to the CSI props department. (They did give us these nonsensical ID cards, after all.) But this would make a lot of sense to me—the CSIs all having a staggered work week, with two regular, consecutive scheduled days off each. Only . . . we don’t ever really see anything like that?

At the end of 03x22, Sara notes that the schedule says Grissom has the night off, and, when he confirms, she then adds, “Me, too.” It certainly doesn’t sound like this is a regular (weekly) occurrence. But in truth I can’t remember ever actually seeing two of our CSIs have the night off together. We almost never see them having a night off at all. Even in 03x03, when we are told Sara had the night off, it’s in the context of Grissom having called her in to work.

(I think there are a very small number of examples of one of the CSIs actually having a night off—e.g., in 03x09, Catherine has a couple days off but stops by the lab to pick something up for Lindsey’s birthday.)

Admittedly, I get this one, because of course the showrunners want for the most part for the whole cast (especially its major players, the CSIs) to be onscreen throughout every episode. So the subject of days off would have to be fudged. But it strikes me as funny that, in 04x12, when Nick is absent for the entire episode, they don’t take the opportunity to show someone having their regular days off; instead, Sara tells us he’s at the “American Academy of Forensic Science convention” (even though it’s about a month early for the AAFS conference).

Another matter that makes no logistical sense to me is the staffing changes that go on during and immediately after season 05.

In the pilot, the graveyard shift is five CSIs (including Holly Gribbs) plus Brass, who presumably does a lot of paperwork. Then Sara takes Holly’s spot and Brass is transferred out, so it’s just five very qualified CSIs (and no wonder Grissom is always behind on his paperwork, with Brass gone).

By season 5, graveyard shift is up to five and a half CSIs, basically, with Greg’s inclusion as a CSI-in-training. Then Ecklie decides to mix things up (i.e., punish Grissom and his pals), and he splits them into two shifts, adding only Sofia (to the graveyard shift). So then graveyard has three and a half CSIs (four once Greg makes CSI I), and swing shift has three CSIs. In 05x11, Ecklie acknowledges swing shift is short a couple bodies and blames budget constraints. But, if swing shift is short a couple bodies, graveyard shift must be short a body, too, even once Greg makes CSI I. How can budget constraints suddenly necessitate them being down that many bodies—especially when by season six Ecklie can somehow justify letting them now have six full CSIs on graveyard shift? Also, we know the swing shift supervisor was transferred to days to replace Ecklie, but what happened to the rest of the previous swing shift?

Now, my petty headcanon would be that the entire day shift save for Sofia quits when Ecklie gets promoted because the thought of him as assistant lab director is unbearable to them, as a result of which he moves the entire swing shift to days and pretends the staff shortages are due to budget cuts. But I find it kind of funny (again!) that, during the fifth season, when CSI really was on top of the world (e.g., ratings, cast winning the SAG award, Tarantino directing “Grave Danger”), the showrunners couldn’t at least have found a couple warm bodies to show up occasionally to round out the swing shift (even if Ecklie was punishing Grissom and his shift by leaving the graveyard shift understaffed). (In 05x16, Catherine is shown talking to three randoms in “forensics” coveralls, one of whom calls her “boss,” but no explanation is given as to who they are, and I think that’s the most we ever see in that regard.)

Anyway, thank you so much for your question, and my apologies for rambling with some of my CSI logistics grievances. My best answer to your question is as given at the top. If you should have another question, please feel free to send it my way—barring any acts of God, etc. (unforeseeable future events), I will most almost certainly be able to manage a more prompt response!

[kafkaoftherubble]

Here's a detailed ask about each playable character! Not covering Ira or Ædith because you know them. I unfortunately do not know what weapon each character would have yet, I'm still trying figure that out 💔

Zoltan

Ædith's dear little brother. He's kind of a piece of shit (think Messar or Sylvain) but he gets his act together when Ædith is arrested and helps her break out prison. He's playable from chapter 2-14, then he leaves the army and helps out Gail (his and Ædith's older sister) and works as a spy for Ædith.

Stella, Volkaire's assistant!

Stella is actually fairly similar to Ira in that she could end up going either way with the war, but ends up siding with Volkaire in the end. She's playable from chapter 2-14

Brandi!

You know her too! Lovely baker lady who joins the arm in chapter 6 and immediately captures Lewis' heart. Outside of supports, he'd flirt with her but it's only in their support line that they start dating and the issue of the marriage permit is brought up.

Lewis

Soldier in the Odedan army and he's playable from chapter 2 to the very end! He's very polite but nervous, hardly even having the confidence to ask out Brandi until he gets encouragement from friends in the support line with Brandi. He's not as overtly ableist as in earlier versions, it's all just cause he doesn't know any better and he's incredibly supportive of Brandi when she tells him about her intrusive thoughts and anxiety.

Sigmund!!! My guy!!!

Guy in his 60s who is the commander of the Odedan army because he was born into the house that takes leadership of the military. He somewhat dislikes Volkaire and is very open minded, becoming a republican around the same time as Ira.

Flynn!

A young man from Odeda, but his family is Habadan. You didn't answer the Habad ask so I'll just summarize here. His grandmother is Jasmin, former teacher of Maurice. When she was arrested for treason, she escaped and returned to Habad while her family was forced into slavery. Flynn has been working on dragon farms since he was 6 and he resents Habad and blames his family for his suffering. He's Habadan by blood but culturally very Odedan.

I sent an ask about Rurik already so I'm not sending another. Even though Maurice isn't playable, they'd still have interactions together.

Helena!!!!!!!!!!

So Odeda lives in the Odedan/Pylarkian desert but lives there in her human form where she uses the alias Josie. Odeda adopted Helena, a young girl without a family and took care of her. Helena and Ira were kind of friends as kids, so Ira is thrilled to see her again when she joins the party near the end of the story. Helena is aware that Josie is Odeda, but never says anything because it's not it's a bad thing and she's grateful to have such a loving guardian.

And last but not least, my beloved Yagaan!

Yagaan is a soldier from Nini who has very bad anxiety. She went through various traumatic events as a kid and she's doing better as an adult. She studied in Odeda alongside Sigmund's niece so she often visits Sigmund's house to see his niece. Cause of this, she's also acquainted with Sigmund and more than happy to fight alongside him when he and Ædith request Ninese forces to take down Volkaire

Yo I'm just picking random letter to respond to first now, ahhahaaha!

Not knowing which weapon to get them yet? Ha! Lemme haphazardly suggest some as I comment about each!

Zoltan

O-ho, the unreliable lil' bro who stepped up, aye? I think this sounds like an axe user. It goes against the usual weapons nobles prefer, right? Lances and swords? I also think he could use knives, too. Generally something that goes against his noble backdrop.

Stella

Volkaire's assistant? So like what, his strategist, secretary, or loyal underling? Either way, I think nothing spells loyalty and steadfast better than a cleric/healer. It will be quite surprising, right? That someone as soft as a cleric could actually be so sucked in by propaganda to take a stance contradictory to the power of healing.

Brandi

Brandi, the first mate who lured me down this rabbithole! I think she could be a healer! Or a dancer/bard/ya know those morale-boosting class.

Lewis

Ooh, so is he no longer a spy in the game? I thought I would suggest knives for him, but judging from his attitude, he could probably be an archer. Nervous but polite archers are pretty interesting combo, since it seems like they are too nervous to kill someone right in the latter's face, and yet possess the ability to critically wound or take enemies out anyway.

Sigmund

Ha! So here's your old man with experience! It's so cliche to place him as a Paladin or a Great Knight with a lance, sword, and axe, huh? Well, you could always make him a tank. So... a general? I still think him being able to use all three melee weapons are pretty fitting for his background.

Flynn

OH SHIT, I MISSED OUT ON YET ANOTHER LORE LETTER? Goddamn, how did this other thing evade me?! I gotta find it later.

If he's culturally Odedan and works on a dragon farm, I kinda think he will do well with a sword, which I assume is the weapon of choice for Odeda and a bow, because honestly, the weapon that makes the most sense when you're riding a wyvern is ranged. Maybe he's good with a boomerang when he's on foot.

Helena

This one is a mage who can use a sword. Yea. What can be better than being taught magic by a god?

Yagaan

Okay, I mean, I was eyeing her because "noble who got her position through nepotism but is actually rather competent and very diligent" sounds like a character I will very likely stan, but traumatic events? I did not expect that. At all. I think she can be a good mage, with an additional twist: she's actually even more competent in dark magic than normal/anima magic, but it will require her to be bold and confident, and overcome/process her traumas better. Dark is not evil; one who has been hurt does not necessarily hurt others!

[bbygirl-aemond]

i want to write an hotd fanfic so bad… i’m watching the early GOT show too as well to try and wrap my head around the lore but i fear that my fic will still be very amateur and show that i don’t really have that big of a grasp on the lore and worldbuilding and language around me.. can you give any advice onto how to tackle this? any specific ways i should research or how to remember every little thing to make the story as accurate and correct as possible?

hi and welcome! don't worry, i have been through this exact process within this fandom haha. i was the queen of sparknoting my way through my lit classes in college when i didn't have other time, so i think i've kind of perfected the art of making it seem like you've deeply read something, even if you haven't.

let me give my usual disclaimer that i don't recommend reading fanfic to get a sense of characters or worldbuilding in a new fandom. that's because to a fresh eye, it's impossible to tell what is the author's invention/headcanon (which may be incorrect/ooc) and what is actual canon. fanfic writing should be about indulging yourself and your creativity, not about trying to cater to the most popular opinions even if you don't agree with them. so i really do recommend sticking to canon as much as possible, and being very deliberate about where and when you use fanon as a reference.

i create a tumblr blog for every fandom that i'm planning to write in to serve as a repository for my research and notes. this blog is unusual in that i forgot to make it private and then had too much fun engaging with y'all to go back. but my first posts were all specifically for stormbreak purposes. if you're nervous about putting things out there, you can password-lock your blog, so you're the only one with access. being able to sort with tags for characters, houses, etc. will be super helpful. another good idea is to take notes in google drive, since you can also search for things there and use the outline feature to navigate. the goal is to have one or two places where you compile all of your work that are easily navigable.

a really good starting place for research is this particular asoiaf wiki. i do not recommend any of the others, especially the ones based on individual shows, because those often do not include details that are in the books. i genuinely cannot tell you how many hours i've spent on this wiki. start your research here- look for dates, places, events, houses, relationships, appearances, etc.

meta analysis is also a really good idea to gain knowledge. tumblr or reddit are the places to go for this. it's really important to seek out posts that are both sympathetic and unsympathetic towards characters or houses. the goal is to get a sense of the different opinions within fandom, and decide which ones make sense to you. on tumblr, you can search a term, select for text posts, and scroll until you find big walls of text. (as an aside: if you're doing this, blocking tags related to fanfiction, imagines, xreader, etc. will help streamline your search and filter out headcanons in favor of meta)

lastly, and be careful with this one since it is fanon but not canon: memes! twitter and tiktok are great for these. they're great for getting a sense of vibes, but not for actual canon facts about a character. remember, fanon can sometimes be very distant from or even contradictory with canon, so take these with a grain of salt. i do still find them useful for forming opinions about personalities, mannerisms, and attitudes of different characters.

if you want more info about how i actually planned out stormbreak, i've answered an ask about it here!

[peppermintquartz]

Eames is an enigma.

Arthur, ever since he was a kid, likes solving puzzles. He likes thinking through problems and finding the steps to the answer. Languages were not his strong suit, back when he was in school, until he realized that a word could be a key to understanding the mystery of a person.

Eames, though... Eames is nearly inscrutable.

Eames is only a few years older, but by the time Arthur met him, he's lived several lives in several skins. The easy grin and ugly shirts hide the incisive mind and incredible adaptability of the forger. Have one meal with him and he can ferret out everything about you, and you will know only his entrée and his drink for that evening.

Arthur envies Eames' ability to conduct small talk to gather information. It's one thing to read medical records and job interviews and psychiatrists' notes to know that a mark is paranoid and resentful of authority, quite another to chat with him over a water cooler to work out that he used to be locked up in the garden shed until midnight by his grandpa for not finishing his dinner.

The puzzles Eames solves are people. Arthur struggles to figure them out and has to rely on secondhand data, because he can't act, he doesn't know how to appear non-threatening or casual, he just can't. It is a useful trait because it keeps people from underestimating him for his youthful appearance, but it also keeps people from being open with him.

But Eames - that maddeningly opaque man - is always willing to answer Arthur's questions. Sometimes the answers are obvious lies, said with a leer and a wink to get a rise out of Arthur, but sometimes... Sometimes, when it's the two of them in a makeshift office or down in a dream, Eames is startlingly honest.

Arthur doesn't abuse the privilege. Eames' trust came slowly, like drops of water wearing a hole through a pebble; they'd worked together on at least a dozen jobs and Arthur's proven himself thrice over that he will watch Eames' back that the latter tells Arthur what he really likes to eat.

Bits and pieces of his life Eames shares with Arthur, some contradictory, some complementary. Poker games as a means of keeping his observation skills sharp. His preferred bourbon. How he likes his eggs at breakfast, wink wink. Black coffee or tea with two sugars or a mug of Ovaltine, depending on when Arthur asks.

But Eames is infuriating too. He ruins some of Arthur's jobs for nothing more than a lark, or sets up false leads that distract Arthur from the task at hand, or sends Arthur tickets to Greek islands that have nothing in the way of amenities.

Arthur is aware that Eames likes him in a more-than-platonic way. Eames knows that Arthur knows. There is no other way to interpret the looks Eames gives him, how the older man brushes his hand over Arthur's arm, the way he snarls at anyone who even dares to challenge Arthur's role as point man. Make fun of Arthur's stuffiness, sure. Provoke him about the smallest details? Why not. Make him the butt of jokes and pranks? Eames will be the first to suggest some tricks.

But suggest that Arthur be replaced? No. Where Arthur goes, so goes Eames' kingdom, if they are on the same project.

It's less a date and more a dare when Arthur invites Eames to dinner. Eames accepts. And over dinner, Arthur learns a little more about how to make sense of the puzzle that is Eames.

For one thing, Eames doesn't like eggs at breakfast.

[margaretxalexander]

[cis-female, she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [MARGARET "MAGGIE" ALEXANDER]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [RACHEL WEISZ]. You must be the [FIFTY] year old [PSYCHOLOGIST]. Word is you’re [WITTY] but can also be a bit [INCONSISTENT] and your favorite song is [BAD REPUTATION BY JOAN JETT]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! || @aurorabayaesthetic

Name: margaret presley alexander Nickname(s): maggie. mags. Gender: cis-female Pronouns: she/her Age: fifty Birthdate: june 16th ( gemini sun. taurus moon.) Sexual Orientation: bisexual Romantic Orientation: homoromantic Profession: psychologist. Positive Traits: adaptable. communicative. witty. inquisitive Negative Traits: reasonably unreasonable. overindulging. inconsistent. petty.

Details:

an AB native born to samantha and wade pritchett, she's one of three girls. margaret is the baby and it shows.

her formative of years were filled with drama and chaos. all of which she enjoyed quite a bit. that is until one particular chaotic night left her knocked up.

it was a very sobering experience, getting pregnant at 18. but some how she managed and blossomed into the hot mess she is today.

ok, it’s not that bad. it took her some time to get her shit together, but she's mostly tame now.

she did what she thought she was supposed to. graduate, get married. did she want to? not particularly but that's just...what you did, right?

she wanted to give her kid a chance, to be the type of parent society said she should be. and she tried. for a while at least.

she and matthew hadn't been together long when it all happened. actually they weren't even dating really. but they both stepped up when their daughter, "Sadie" was born. Maggie settled down into the box her family had always wanted for her. As did Matthew. And surprisingly they got along well. he was fun and goofy and sweet despite being rough around the edges. they became the best of friends, two sides of the same coin and then somehow more.

she loved him, really she did. but within a few years, Maggie became restless. being a housewife just-- it wasn't for her. it was hard for her to be a mom. she wasn’t ready and all the advice– it was so contradictory. and she was so fucking terrified of doing it 'wrong’ and fucking sadie up.

matthew wasn’t the best at that time. he was a kid too and was kinda a shit head. he couldn't quite hold down a job.

her solution? distract. she needed to work or go to school, something. she went to school for teaching at twenty. graduated and got a job some four years later. but not before getting pregnant again, this time with a son, miles.

it was hard, juggling kids and school. luckily in that time matthew was settling into himself, finding a job he stuck with, making more money. by the time she got her first teaching gig? he was making good money and surprise, she was pregnant again.

she taught. took care of the kids. lived a 'charmed' small town life. but it all just felt like another shell she’d outgrown. she loved her kids and matthew and teaching…but she was so miserable. and her miserable made everyone miserable. there were ups and downs.

she and matthew got a divorce not long after their last child, juniper, turned four. it was hard, but they finally admitted they weren’t happy. they hadn’t been for a long time. they’ve been co-parenting since. and may have slept together a few times after but nothing major.

she began exploring life fully after that. she went back to school for a job she actually found interesting. not that teaching wasn't it just...wasn't her calling. psychology had always been interesting, she'd minored in it and decided to pursue that instead. it helped her embrace herself more and the fact she never was or would be whatever it was her family or society wanted her to be. and that was more than ok.

the first few years of this was rocky. she had to find ways to balance her school again, co-parenting and doing things she'd always wanted to. she was...kinda a mess. ok. a lot of one. and there was a span of time the kids mostly lived with Matthew while Maggie 'figured things out'.

all three of her kids had different versions of who their mother was. it wasn't always pleasant. they definitely weren't always in a good place. she knows she fucked up a lot and she's tried to work at it.

the time between starting her master's and earning her doctorate was hell and euphoria all rolled into one. but she'd never been so happy or fulfilled even through all the chaos of it.

40. That was the magic number. Maggie's life stabilized. She began working as a licensed psychologist at a private practice and yeah there was still things she had to work on with her kids and over all personal life but she was finally just-- content.

well. as content as she ever could be. the kids are grown and for the most part, dont hate her? maybe? and about a year ago she branched off to develop her own practice. she's doing pretty well for herself and only sees more good on the horizon.

Connections:

"matthew" - ex-husband

"sadie" - 32 yr old daughter

"miles" - 28 yr old son

"juniper" - 25 yr old daughter

Wanted Connections:

I don't have anything too specific for this yet. But I'll be updating this once I do.

[brundleflyforawhiteguy]

Now that I'm finally able to say I wrote the Toulon Journals for Puppet Master: The Game, here's a little glimpse into the attention to detail I put into it. (Without giving anything away) It's no secret that the Puppet Master series plays it fast and loose and outright contradictory with dates, but also, a lot of things happen fairly close together and timing is tricky. In Puppet Master 4, however, Rick reads an entry from the journal that is set right at the end of Puppet Master III and has a date on it. I used that single date to determine the timing of everything else before and after it.