#which is great! there's space here for everyone to tell and find their stories!

[kindahoping4forever]

I completely agree a lot of the virgin fics around can come across weird, I’d love to see your take on it!! I love your writing so much 🥹

Thank you for the vote of confidence! Again, I want to stress I'm not dragging the trope itself or any particular fics, I just think there's a lot of unexplored territory within that space. I feel like I see a lot of virgin characters portrayed as virginal - blushing, uninformed and corruptible. I don't find that realistic, I think there can and should be a distinction between inexperience and purity and that could make for an interesting story. Virgin characters can be knowledgeable about sex, be horny, be confident in their sexuality. To me, "can we try this" is just as interesting -and hot- as "let me teach you" ("teach me" fic is great, don't get me wrong! But there's so much more that can be done!)

I think my thesis here is that my virgin character would be just as slutty as my other characters lmao. Virginity can be a plot point without necessarily being their main character trait.

[crljhnn]

The older Jefferson

Pairing: Rodrick Heffley x fem!Reader

Summary: After Rowley announces that his older (half-)sister, who lives quite far away and has never met the Heffleys, is going to visit him over the break Susan invites his family over for dinner. Her not being what Rodrick expects, he starts crushing, which results in him trying to impress her - failing horribly.

No physical description; No use of y/n

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: None

A/N: Hi, just a quick warning that English isn’t my first language and that this is also the first time I’ve ever written a longer text in English that isn’t a school assignment. I also don’t fully understand Tumblr yet, which makes me honestly a bit anxious to post.

[This and a gender-neutral version are also posted on AO3]

“Why haven't you ever mentioned that you have an older Sister?” Rowley and Greg were sitting on the Heffleys living room floor - Rodrick occupying the whole space on the couch - playing a video game. Well, Greg was. It was a single-player. He promised they would take turns, but by now Rowley had been over for about two and a half hours and hadn’t even had the chance to touch the controller yet. He gave up on asking and settled on just watching about 45 minutes in.

“I talked about her before. Multiple times actually.” That is true. Rowley looks up to his sister a lot “Also, she is technically my Half-Sister. She’s been living with her Dad for longer than I remember. Normally we are the ones flying over to visit during summer break, but she hasn’t visited since she was a little Kid, and after her school schedule finally allowed it, we thought it would be a good idea if she, for a change, came here instead.”

“It sounds like you two get along great!” Mrs. Heffley walked in, holding a laundry basket under one arm while carrying Manny with the other.

“We do! I can’t wait to show her my room and have her around for the entire break! I have so much planned out already, it's gonna be so much fun! Best summer ever!”

“That sounds lovely Rowley, I wish Greg was so excited to hang out with Rodrick, but they just won't get along.” Susan sighed, throwing a pitiful glance at her two oldest, who simultaneously let out a laugh hearing this.”

“Yeah, never gonna happen.” Greg says, “I would rather spend the whole summer in school than voluntarily hang out with this idiot.”

“My Sister is actually around the same age as Rodrick.” Rowley buts in. Greg doesn’t understand how this is relevant, but it probably adds to his mother's yearning for her two oldest sons to get along. Rodrick lets out a laugh hearing that.

“I can’t wait to meet them. Just imagine an older, female version of Rowley. That’s actually fucking hilarious!”.

“Watch your language! Also, I'm sure she is wonderful.” Gregs Mom loosens her lecturing stance, turns around, and smiles at Rowley “I would love to have you and your family over for dinner sometime. It has been a while since I’ve seen your parents and I would love to meet your sister.”

“That sounds great Mrs. Heffley. I will ask my parents as soon as I get home!”

That brings us to about a week later, when the Jefferson family, including their oldest daughter, is standing in front of the Heffleys House, ringing their doorbell.

Rowley has been telling you all about his best friend Greg for years, which made you somewhat excited about finally meeting him. However, you can’t say that the picture your brother painted is entirely positive, finding him rather irritating in many of the stories you were told over time. You aren't too mad though, assuming it is normal for young, teenage boys to act like jerks every once in a while. Not everyone can be such a sweetheart as Rowley. Overall you're glad your brother managed to maintain such a long-lasting friendship.

And then there was Rodrick. You've heard rather interesting stories about him as well. In the beginning, you found those quite amusing, that was until you realized that Rowley was genuinely terrified of him. Not the best first impression someone could make on you. Influenced by seeing your younger sibling grow up to be such a sweet and genuine person you tend to be a bit protective from time to time.

You hear some hushed voices from inside, and you can identify one of them as female, reminding someone to behave. Then the door opens and a woman, who you assume to be Mrs. Heffley, kindly smiles at you. Your suspicion is confirmed a second later when she introduces herself and shoos you into the house, before continuing to greet the rest of your family.

Crossing the threshold you can now see a man standing slightly behind Greg's mother. He introduces himself as Frank, making quite a kind impression on you. Then he leads you into the living room to meet his sons.

The two older ones hardly even notice you at first, too occupied with arguing and rowing with each other.

“Boys!”, their father speaks up, successfully catching their attention. Rather comically their gazes fall from their father to you, their eyes widening and their mouths dropping open. You were not what they expected. While Greg looks just shocked, you would describe Rodricks state as mesmerized.

He recovers fast, pushes Greg off of him, stands up, and puts on what he hopes is a charming smile. Extending his hand he starts to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m-”

At least he tries to.

“Rodrick. I know. My brother has told me one or two rather interesting stories about you”, your smile is sharp. He gulps, his confident smile turning sheepish, cursing Rowley in his head. You are not what he expected and you are definitely not anywhere close to being a female carbon copy of your, in his eyes, embarrassing younger brother.

He normally wouldn’t consider himself the kind of person who has a type, but from now on, if someone asked, he would probably revert to describing you. You were just ethereal, everything about you was attractive to him. The way you walked, talked, and carried yourself, but also your clothing and hairstyle. Your pretty face just rounds up your whole appearance, making you all the more alluring.

He had to get on your good side. While a family dinner, especially with Greg present, may not be the best opportunity, he could ask Rowley to put in a few good words for him. That kid was easily influenced (or intimidated). Still, making the best possible impression over dinner wouldn’t cause any harm either.

You turn to the other boy who has been silently watching the exchange. Now that your attention is on him he starts feeling nervous as well. Your expression, however, turns a bit more friendly.

“And you must be Greg.” he nods. You introduce yourself and lastly say hello to Manny who is sitting on the floor playing with some figurines. By now the others have entered the room, causing Susan to start leading you all to the dining table.

You’re seated between Rowley and Greg, across from Rodrick, which results in quite frequent eye contact. On one side you really want to intimidate him a bit. This could maybe make your brother's life a bit easier, at least for the time being. On the other side, you do want to make some conversation, maybe throw in a bit of (family dinner appropriate) flirting or at least find out if he’s single.

It’s really hard to hold a grudge against someone who is entirely your type.

While you’re conflicted, Rodrick, on the other hand, is sweating. Nervously fidgeting in his seat. You didn’t seem as irritated with him anymore, if the eye contact was anything to go by. Was this his chance to redeem his shitty first impression? He cursed his brain for failing to come up with something cool to say.

Since when is it so hard to talk to girls? Is it getting hotter in here? What impresses girls? What does he normally brag about? His band! That’s it. Now he just has to bring it up somehow. Maybe he can bribe Greg to ask him about it. No, that’s too risky, he can’t count on Greg to not fuck this up. He is just going to casually bring it up ‘I’m in a band by the way, pretty sick huh?’ ‘Do you like music? Cause I’m in a band’ No that’s stupid everyone likes music… ‘Which kind of music do you listen to?’ That’s good, he should bring up the topic of music first, that’s a normal conversation topic. After that step two is to bring up the band. That’s easy, he got this.

Now he just needs to wait till your attention is on him again and then he can smoothly lead the conversation in the desired direction. He has to calm down, he can do it.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Your eyes meet again.

“I’m in a band!” He speaks way louder than intended, his voice is squeaky, and in the middle of the sentence he has the most embarrassing voice crack imaginable.

Silence.

The sole attention is now on him. All he hears is Greg's snickering which causes him to kick him under the table.

“Ow!” That was not Greg's leg. He looks up to see you looking at him with a questioning expression.

That’s it. He fucked up. His chances were already low, but he still managed to shrink them even more, making them most likely completely vanish. Great. His ears were ringing, all he can hear is Greg's quiet laughter in the background.

“I'm sorry I didn’t mean to kick you, I-” he starts his apology but loses track of what he is trying to say when he sees your expression change. You're clearly trying to suppress a smile, but it's not working at all.

“You’re adorable.” Rowley chokes on his food, and Greg's laughter abruptly stops

“Rodrick? Adorable?” That’s it. Greg gives up on ever trying to understand girls. How can his stupid older brother embarrass himself like that, then kick the poor girl under the table and still be perceived as adorable by her, especially since she is so much out of his league?

Rodrick however, was still not functioning properly.

“So that band, is its name by any chance Löded Diaper?”

“Yeah.” He is proud of himself for speaking at an appropriate volume without stuttering. “How do yo-”

“I saw your creepy white Van in front of the house. What’s up with that, kidnapping little kids as a side hustle?” You are still smiling, and with your stupid joke you somehow manage to relax the atmosphere a bit, the adults going back to their conversation.

Rodrick too is now smiling, looking at you with an expression you could only describe as lovestruck, even though you just insulted him.

He is contemplating making a joke about how the space in the back could be quite useful for more than just trapping kids but decides against it, fearing to make it awkward again. Getting nervous about taking too much time to come up with an answer he instead lands on “No only kidnapping pretty girls like you.”. As soon as the words leave his mouth he regrets it, realizing it's in fact not a funny and flirty thing to say, but honestly rather creepy.

At the end of the evening, Rodrick has messed up flirting with you multiple times, however, it’s his luck that you find his desperate attempts to look cool to impress you weirdly endearing. Not that he realizes that. Calling Rodrick confused, questioning why you were still talking to him, would be an understatement.

He certainly doesn’t know how he can have messed up so many times and still end up finding a little note with your number on it in his pullover hood after you left.

[dirtylittleheart333]

REMEDY You and Matt are suck in a house full of people during a relentless summer heat wave. With frustrations running high from the heat and lack of sex, you find a way to help and remedy that.

Paring: Matt x fem! reader Warning: 18+ Smut. Semi public. Creampie Type: One-shot

The heat was unbearable. The Sturniolo family went to The Cape for the summer, with girlfriends and significant others tagging along. The house wasn’t huge and some of us had to share sleeping spaces and set-up camp in the living room. We were tight knit and we all got along like a house on fire, so it wasn’t a problem but lack of sleep on the hot, sweltering nights was another story. With severe heatwaves come some complications like; power outages and malfunctioning air conditioners. It was the kind of heat that pressed against one’s skin. Where you wanted to fan yourself down, but all that seemed to do was move the hot air around. The hot, humid breeze did nothing but tease with the promise of relief.

‘’The fucking weather!’’ Matt groaned, ‘’This was supposed to be a great trip for us…for you,’’ he said looking disappointed

‘’Well,’’ I said, and leaned forward then gave him a kiss, ‘’if it’s any conciliation, I’m having a great time.’’

‘’You would in this heat,’’ Matt said through a laugh, ‘’you’re the only one here that will get through this unscathed. You’re the only one here that actually enjoys the heat, which makes me wonder what the fuck is wrong with you. How come you’re so perfect and not even the heat will get you?’’

I laughed, ‘’so…I’ve meant to tell you a long time ago, but there was never really a perfect time to do so, but I’m from this little planet called -’’ I was saying when Matt let out a laugh cutting me off

‘’Shut up,’’ he said and pushed his lips to mine. Just a few days ago, I accidentally overheard Matt talking to Nick and Chris and found out a few things that didn’t know, and that had me feeling like I was the luckiest and most blessed person to walk the earth. Mind you, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I sure am glad I stopped in my tracks when I walked past the kitchen and heard my name. They say you never hear anything go about yourself when you eavesdrop but I’m a testament to that being complete bullshit. He had said to them that he knew without a doubt that I was the one he wanted to marry, have kids with, and spend the rest of his life with. That he loved that I loved his family as much as they loved me and that I was always willing to help out… and most of all he loved that I was definitely up for anything. The biggest smile crossed my face when he said he loves how I make everything fun and exciting in his eyes. He also said he loved that I came across as a little saint to everyone else, but I was definitely a little devil when it came to fucking. At that point I walked away – I was happy and it was all I ever needed to hear.

Matt sighed next to me as we lay on the blow-up mattress. The heat really was relentless and stifling. Every time we moved, it felt as if the sheets were clinging to us. A fan was blowing cool air but it was as helpful and equivalent to puckering one’s lips up and blowing air out of them. It was so hot, we were all struggling to sleep. I sensed that Matt was not only frustrated by the heat but also that with so many people in a house sharing, we couldn’t do much in the sex department, though we certainly found ways. Matt and I said that we would sleep in the living room on a blow-up mattress while Chris and his girlfriend shared the couch.

‘’Are you okay?’’ I whispered when Matt once again let out a groan

‘’It’s like we’re in a desert or something,’’ Matt mumbled and sat up. He reached for a glass of water on a nearby side table and made some kind of sound then he looked at me with horror. ‘’The fucking ice has melted in the glass already,’’ he said, his voice laced with disbelief. It concerned me because Matt was generally calm but he was definitely agitated by the heat.

I lay for a moment, staring at the ceiling wondering how I could help him. My eyes swung from one end of the ceiling to the other, then back again. I suddenly sat up, finding the remedy to maybe both the heat and lack of sex problem…even if it was only a short reprieve. I slid off the mattress and then padded to his side, and put my hand out, palms up.

‘’Come on,’’ I whispered

‘’You two might as well just talk, and not whisper,’’ Chris said

‘’Shut up,’’ Matt said loudly through a laugh

‘’Fuck off,’’ Chris replied with a chuckle

‘’Sorry, Chris,’’ I said with a giggle. They never ceased to make me laugh with their friendly banter

‘’Nah (y/n), I mean it’s so hot, we can’t sleep anyway,’’ Chris said, his girlfriend giving a ‘’mhm’’ in agreement.

Matt put his hand in mine and I pulled him up. ‘’Where are we going?’’ he asked, his movements were slower than mine in the heat.

‘’A walk,’’ I said softly as I lead him to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of ice cold water and handed it to Matt as he looked at the time on the microwave, it’s glowing green telling him it was two in the morning. He sighed thinking it was a long way from morning but still the weather on the news had said it would be an equally hot day, if not hotter. I hesitated closing the door because the cool air felt so good on my hot skin. I had on what I can only describe as a t-shirt that I had taken a pair of scissors to. Matt had given me one of his old t-shirts and we cut the sleeves off, along with the neck line, widening it to help with the heat. I really didn’t mind the heat, but this? This was something else. I felt for everyone else because if I was feeling it, they must have been suffering. I closed the door and smiled at Matt, who gave me a weak smile back.

We slipped out the door, quietly into the night, ‘’Should I put a t shirt on?’’ Matt asked

‘’Show me one man who has a shirt on in this weather and I’ll give him a thousand dollars,’’ I said

‘’Does that include me and does it still stand until we get back?’’ Matt asked

I giggled and smacked his tight ass, ‘’always,’’ I replied

‘’Where are we going?’’ Matt asked and slipped his hand into mine. Our fingers intertwined and he lifted our hands and then he gave my hand a kiss. ‘’Thanks for this, it is slightly better out here.’’

I smiled at Matt, ‘’the park,’’ I said simply

The moon was full and illuminated the way for us. It was quiet but for the water lapping to the shore. The roads were dead and the park deserted. People had either passed out from the heat or were sitting in front of fans hoping to cool down. The park was relatively close to the house, but hidden and nestled amongst trees. I led Matt to the swings and Matt sat on one while I sat on the other, right next to him. I started swinging softly while Matt only moved back and forth slightly on the swing, keeping his feet on the ground. He took a sip of water, and offered me some, but I shook my head with a warm smile.

‘’Matt? Remember that park we went to at Evan’s house?’’ I asked and stopped the swing, then got off, ‘’you know, when he had that party?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Matt said as he put the bottled water on the ground, and then it hit him. His eyes went big and his award-winning smile formed on his face. How could he have forgotten that?

‘’Yeah?’’ I asked and bit my bottom lip seductively

‘’Fuck yes! Hop on,’’ Matt said and I squealed softly with excitement as I grabbed the chains and lifted myself onto Matt’s lap, sliding my legs over his as I sat down, my legs handing over his on their side of the swing. Matt smiled, because the last time we both had fumbled a lot trying to work out how to do it but now we seemed to have mastered it. Well…we were going to find out.

‘’How did I get so lucky?’’ Matt asked me softly

I smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek and tilted his face up a fraction, ‘’I’m the lucky one,’’ I whispered and lightly brushed my lips against his.

My hand slid down his neck, and his chest, and then my fingers danced above his shorts elastic, as Matt deepened the kiss. It was never pedestrian. His kisses always made me feel desired, and wanted. I got drunk on our kisses. Matt moaned into the kiss and I felt his hands by mine. I knew he was getting impatient so I moved my hand and brought it to my pussy and moved my panties to the side while he pushed his shorts down as much as he could. The small piece of material was wet already and I felt Matt’s cock, now free of his shorts, as hard as a rock, between us. That alone sent every nerve in my body tingling.

His hands found the straps of my shirt and he pushed them down, over my shoulders. I smiled into the kiss and pulled my arms out the straps, letting the material fall softly. Matt broke the kiss, eager to get a nipple into his hungry mouth. I moaned, dropping my head back and arched my back, pushing my titties forward so Matt could take in more. He was a genius with his tongue no matter where it was on my body. I bit my bottom lip and slid my hand between us and closed my hand around Matt’s thick shaft. He was rock solid hard and I smiled wickedly because his pre-cum had run down his shaft, leaving him slick. He sucked in a sharp breath from the touch on his painfully erect dick but it felt so fucking good. I lifted myself, aimed his dick at my little tight entrance, then I slid onto his dick agonizingly slowly, savouring every inch going in. We both groaned loudly with simultaneous pleasure.

‘’Oh god (y/n),’’ Matt moaned, ‘’you have no idea how good that feels.’’

‘’Oh, but I do,’’ I said with a grin and licked my hand of the pre-cum, making Matt swear under his breath. ‘’Start swinging. We don’t want to be caught,’’ I purred.

‘’I’ve been wanting to fuck you all day’’ Matt said curling his hands around the chains,’’this won’t take long.’’

I smiled, as I also curled my hands around the chains, the cool metal making me even more aroused, ‘’me too.''

Matt laughed and pushed back with his legs and then let us fall forward on the swing as he tucked his legs back. He sure was going to have one hell of a workout keeping the swing in motion. I knew without a doubt he could handle it though. We were soon gliding through the air, back and forth. Every time we went back, I would slide down his dick and when we got to the furthest point, having to go back down, I would push down on him as forces of nature worked. We moaned loudly with sheer pleasure every time that happened and Matt groaned feeling himself deep inside of my tight, wet pussy. When we went back down, I was lifted up, his dick sliding halfway out, exposing him to the cooler air, then he would slip back into my hot pussy.. The contrast of heat and cool air in motion sent a pleasant shiver up his spine, never feeling anything like it.

Matt loved everything – the way we had to be so close, the way we molded into each other, the fact that we had to rely upon and trust each other. The tightness around his hard throbbing cock, the way my hair flew out and fanned behind me when we went up, and then around me when we went back down, and…. he loved the look on my face with my breasts firmly in front of him. He wanted to touch them, grab them but he couldn’t. Fuck! It was the most blissful torture ever. The deep penetration on the up was something different than normal penetration. It was a force that could only be achieved in their current position and situation.

Matt could tell I was close as my pussy started fluttering around his cock, my body got tense and I dropped my head.

‘’Ooh, Matt…shit, Matt…’’ I said with urgency as I felt my muscles tightening, the rush coursing through me and pure ecstasy shoot over my body. I let one hand go from the chains and put it around Matt’s shoulders, looking for more purchase. I pushed my face into the side of his neck as my walls clasped around Matt like a vice grip. The sheer strength around him set him on the very edge. My loud screams and moans were muffled as I buried my face into his neck and shoulder. I let go of the chains with my other hand to grip him tighter as Matt brought us to a stop. My fingers dug into his muscles and my body shook against him. Once we were stationary Matt grabbed my ass and lifted me, and then pushed me back down on his cock.

‘’FUCK YES, (y/n),’’ Matt moaned as he felt a splash. The sound of my moans, the feel of my skin, and my smell were so intoxicating to Matt as he slammed me down on him again and let out a growl as he felt his orgasm shoot out from the base of his balls and run through him. I lifted my face and we locked eyes for a second before my eyes went big as I sucked in a breath.

‘’Kiss me,’’ Matt said through clenched teeth knowing I was coming yet again. Matt wanted to scream too, because it was so incredible but he knew he couldn’t as my walls locked around him again. He shot a massive load into me, rope after rope, after rope. After holding it in all day, wanting me all day…it built up. I pushed my lips to his, our tongues immediately meeting. The kiss muffled most of my screams and moans but a few escaped into the quiet night. Neither of us cared at the very moment. Matt’s dick twitched at the last spray into my pussy, and I still lifted and rammed myself down on him two more times before I slumped onto him, breaking the kiss. Matt slid his arms around me and sat like that for five minutes, panting, trying to catch our breath. In the distance, we heard laughter, and Matt slowly slid his hands back down my back as I sat up straight again. He found the straps of my shirt and then pulled them up. I then pushed my arms into them and he let the straps rest on my shoulders. He pulled his still-hard dick out of my warm, wet, overflowing pussy, a low moan escaping him, not wanting to but having to pull out.

Matt looked over my shoulder and I turned my head as we heard low talking in the distance. A couple were walking on the side walk but I knew the couple couldn’t see us, and that we had the vantage point.. Clearly two lovers where out on a walk also trying to escape the heat. They were in the distance, but I could tell they were holding hands and very much into each other. I watched them disappear into a thick of trees and I turned back to Matt.

Matt smiled and gave me a half nod, ‘’they should try the swings,’’ he said and I burst out laughing. I pushed a hand between ourselves and pulled my panties back into place and then grabbed the chains and weakly pulled myself up and climbed off of Matt. As my feet hit the ground, I tried to stand, but my legs buckled and Matt grabbed me to stop me from falling.

‘’I’m fucking spent,’’ I said with laugh

‘’That was…something else. Fucking amazing,’’ Matt said through his own laugh

‘’You’re a mess,’’ I said

‘’So are you,’’ Matt said with a laugh. We were both covered in sweat with our combination of cum and juices sticking to our skin, our hair matted but looking so satisfied and elated.

I looked down and saw some of Matt’ cum running down my leg. I smiled and took my index finger and ran it up the zigzag line it had formed, collecting it. I then lifted my finger to my mouth and licked it off.

Matt smiled, ‘’you're so fucking hot,’’ he said, noting I didn’t do that for him, I did it for myself. I wanted to taste him, savor him.

I let my eyes fall back on Matt as I swallowed and smiled. ‘’I can clean you up,’’ I said

‘’Not this time. You can hardly stand... we’ll take a quick shower when we get home,’’ Matt said and somewhere along the line, Matt had put his dick away and fixed his shorts because he pulled me down onto his lap.

‘’Do you feel better?’’ I asked Matt softly

‘’You have no idea. Thank you, baby. I love you so much,’’ Matt said and gave me a kiss.

‘’Good,’’ I said and ran my fingertips along his stubbly jaw, ‘’I love you too.’’

‘’I’ll piggy back you home,’’ Matt said and smiled to himself because he had the best little vixen saint and I was the remedy he needed. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! You are very much appreciated. <3

[magics-neptunes-things]

Collide (2)

Hello everyone!

Here is the rest of Collide, you can find the first part here, I obviously advise you to read it if you come across this part first… Otherwise you will surely not understand much!

A big thank you for your support, this story is longer and more thoughtful than the ones I have written so far, so it takes me much more time.

I really hope that all of you are having or will have a wonderfull Christmas. Take care of yourself and your loved ones ❤️

I hope you'll enjoy this part :)

TW : Alcohol, Angst and I think it’s ok like that!

World : 5.4K

PART 1 I PART 3 I PART 4 I PART 5 I PART 6 | PART 7

______________________________________________________________

Time has gone by nicely since you arrived in London and your integration into the Arsenal team is no longer in doubt. You get along well with everyone, you participate willingly in the parties organized by your teammates and you even managed to make yourself appreciated quickly by the fans. Which is not a difficult thing as long as you play well. And without wanting to throw yourself flowers or play the presumptuous, you are more than satisfied with your performance on the field right now.

Alessia has become a very close friend and the fact that she’s your neighbor probably helps a lot too. You often go to the training ground together and it happens regularly that one finishes at the other apartment in the evening. You have become a bit of an essential element of each other’s apartment decor. You are also close to Manuela, your goalkeeper, and Viv makes you die laughing. You also enjoy spending time with Lia, even if she is very close to Leah who continues to torment your thoughts. Katie and Caitlin are great mates too.

After some time of tension between Leah and you following your defection during your kiss, you managed to find a cordial relationship. You can’t help but look at her when she doesn’t see you, you still feel very attracted to her. And it’s not just about physics, you find her funny, interesting and you have the impression that your souls are made to get along. But you’ve never been alone with her since the party. And you feel like it suits Leah like that.

You were getting ready for practice when your phone rings, somewhere in your apartment. After a few long seconds of research, you end up finding it under a cushion of your sofa and answers without taking the time to look who may try to contact you.

"Y/N, hi!" makes a joyful voice.

"Wally, what’s going on?" you ask, sitting on your couch.

You hear from the noise around her that she’s definitely driving somewhere noisy.

"I had to pick up Leah to take her to practice but I’m stuck in traffic and I don’t think I’ll be on time myself. Could you go get her, please?"

No? Out of question to find myself with my crush in the same space clot for twenty minutes without interruption miss Wälti, I am not sure to survive. Have you see this girl? The way her face light up when she smile make me want to...

"Oh, yes, of course" you answer, pinching your nose. "You’re telling her I’m coming?"

"Yeah, yeah, no worries. Thank you very much Y/N, see you later."

"Drive carefully. See you"

Your voice is just a mumble at the end of your sentence and you hang up before Lia has time to say something else. You always go early when you drive alone like today, Alessia having an appointment before training. You have plenty of time to get Leah, but you’re still very worried.

So you nervously take the wheel, driving to the blonde's house where you’ve already been to for one of your evenings. Before the kiss. When you park in front of her house, you take a few seconds to take a big breath before getting out of the car.

You press the doorbell a first time before sliding your hands in the pockets of your sweatshirt and you press a second time after a few minutes, when you realize that no one comes to open. You know Leah lives alone so maybe she just didn’t hear the doorbell the first time.

But your ear is drawn to a piano melody that makes you frown. Since when has Leah been playing the piano? You don’t have time to question yourself any longer, though, since your captain’s voice ends up in your ears.

"Come on in Wally, it’s open!" Leah screams

Ouch. So either she didn’t get Lia’s messages, or Lia just forgot to warn her. Whatever it is, you’re hoping Leah won’t take your presence at her place badly. You end up slowly entering inside, carefully closing the door behind you. Leah’s home is different in the daylight and you mechanically follow the melody of the piano that resounds in the house.

You end up finding Leah in a room that probably serves as her office, actually installed behind a piano. This woman is full of surprises. You don’t dare interrupt her, so you cross your arms and lean on the door frame until she’s done. You recognize a song by Shania Twain, but you can't remember the title of it.

When she’s done, Leah turns in your direction with a satisfied little smile. That quickly turns into a surprised frown when she sees you there. "Hi" you say before clearing your throat. "Lia is stuck somewhere in London with her car and asked if I could pick you up. She was supposed to warn you. Sorry, I guess she forgot to" "Oh, okay" Leah replies, getting up "It’s been a while since I looked at my phone, I may not have seen her message" You nod thoughtfully, tightening your arms around yourself mechanically while waiting for Leah to check her phone. You see a new smile lightening her face and you imagine that it is by seeing the message of the Swiss woman. You’re kind of jealous about the ease of their relationship, to have a friendship as strong as they both have... No, actually, it’s not a friendship you’d like to have with Leah. But you have to stay wise. Anyway, you doubt it’s what the blonde wants on her side. She’s not one to be in a long relationship. "Shall we go?" Leah’s voice cuts you off in your thoughts and you simply nod, taking off against the wood you were always leaning on. You pick up Leah’s bag mechanically as you pass the front door, which seems to both surprise and amuse her. "I can carry my bag, you know?" "Oh... I just thought with your leg... sorry" Leah does not answer, content to laugh gently closing the door of her home with a key. You mask your red cheeks by storing her bag in the trunk of your car and you hope to have found a casual face when you sit next to her. "I didn’t know you played the piano" you say after a few minutes of silence. Leah looks at you briefly and you feel like she’s holding back from saying "There’s a lot you don’t know about me," which is probably true. "I started it during the lockdown. I’m not really good, but I like it."

"What I heard was very good" you countered, looking at it in the corner of your eyes.

"Well thanks" Leah laughs and you feel your belly make a somersault "But I’ve been repeating this song for a long time. I have no right to tell you why for the moment"

"It’s a piece by Shania Twain, isn’t it?"

"Yes. You’re still the one"

This time, you see her turning in your direction to be able to better observe you. Is it done voluntarily or not, you do not know. What you do know is that you’re happy to have started a conversation that allows you to exchange without having disturbing silence in the car.

"Do you like country music?" asks the blonde

"Not really. All I know about country is that Miley Cyrus has a father who does. Does it count?" you ask with a laugh.

"I could hit you right now"

Leah has a smile when she says that, and it makes you laugh again. A new silence comes between you, but this one is nice. You are finally relaxed with each other since your party and you feel you can breathe more easily.

"We’re going to a Luke Combs concert next weekend. You could come with us, it would open you up to the country world?"

You bite your lip thoughtfully. You know many of them are going. Leah, Lia, Alessia, and so on.

"Less offered it to me a few days ago but I refused saying that I didn’t like to go to concerts if I could not sing the lyrics" you admit thoughtfully.

Your gaze clinging to the dense traffic in London doesn’t allow you to see the disappointment read for a few seconds on Leah’s face.

"I guess I’ll have to revise quickly"

To be honest, what also made you turn down that offer was not to make Leah’s evening unpleasant. You quickly understood how she can’t stand being away from others on the field and how these shared moments with your teammates are important to her. But that she still wants you to come also makes you exceedingly happy.

During the rest of the trip, Leah asks you about your own musical preferences and you tell her that you got stuck with the old rock and pop-rock bands you used to listen to when you were a teenager. A little Norwegian variety also thanks to your parents, whom she has never heard of but that doesn’t surprise you particularly.

********

"Looks good, your integration into Arsenal" Leila’s voice says from your phone as you cook yourself something for dinner.

"Frankly, I have nothing to complain about. They are all adorable" you answer sincerely.

"Adorable is not a term I would use for Katie McCabe"

You laugh softly and shake your head. You know perfectly well the reputation that Katie has outside the field, you have heard about it since your arrival in the English champion.

"She’s like a bulldozer on the ground, but outside she’s really nice. A hell of a character maybe, but I’ve never seen someone as loyal as her"

"Look at her, completely on the enemy’s side"

Leila laughs and you smile, rolling your eyes. Sometimes keeping friendships isn’t easy when you’re away or playing on opposing teams, but you’re glad to see that you seem to be keeping your bond with Leila for now. You obviously hope it lasts.

Two shots are taking at your front door before Alessia comes inside to drop on your couch. It’s become such a habit between you that you don’t even react to her presence.

"How was the concert?" asks Leila.

"It was good, sincerely. It’s not the music I used to listen to, but I liked it."

That’s the truth. You honestly didn’t expect to have such a great time. The good relationship between Arsenal players also exists outside the field and this spirit makes you feel like part of a family. From someone so far from yours like you, it’s more than pleasant. And that night you spent gave you an opportunity to spend some time with Leah too. Like a child who tests his own limits, you try to determine where the line is that you must not exceed. As if she were reading your thoughts, Leila resumes speaking as you mix what you cook in your pan. "What about Williamson?" "What about Leah?" You ask, taking a quick look at Alessia to see if she’s listening to what you’re saying. "Huh? Since you kissed, is..." You don’t hear the end of the sentence, jumping on your phone to cut the microphone. But it’s too late and you see Alessia’s face turning into a surprise. The amazement, rather. "I call you back Lei" you mumble to your friend before hanging up. "You kissed Leah?" Wide-eyed, Alessia has made her way to you. A big smile appeared on his face, but you startled when you heard him scream half. "Shh!" you tell her, as if you were afraid someone else would listen to you. "Why didn’t you tell me? When was that?" Alessia put her two hands on your shoulders and she shakes you gently, apparently more than willing to have answers to her questions. "At my moving-in party" you end up sighing. "And she kissed me." Well, you didn’t reject it to be honest. Well, at the beginning anyway. The rest, no need to remind. "Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your place?" laughs Alessia. "Why does it look like you killed someone when you talk about it?" "Because nothing has happened since then, we are probably not looking for the same thing. Not many people know, Lessi, you have to keep it to yourself please"

"Of course I will. But maybe Lia knows too, Leah say her everything."

"Maybe" you shrug.

"But still. You kissed Leah Williamson"

********

The break for international competitions arrive at à great time. You were able to see your family again, especially your parents and seeing your friends from the national team also make you happy. Your reunion with Ingrid was filmed and posted on social media, your embrace being visible to everyone. You don’t know what makes people not think there’s something going on between you, but you’re grateful that it’s going on like this. You like Ingrid as a friend and you don’t want to have to think about how to behave with her so you don’t hurt her girlfriend.

The results of your national team didn’t live up to your expectations however, despite the goals you were able to score. The disappointment must have been visible in the message that you tried to shoot positively on Instagram. You got some messages of encouragement from your friends, from Arsenal or not. You also received a message from Leah, the first one she addresses you directly on a Whatsapp band.

If you were sad to have to say goodbye to your best friend again, finding your Arsenal teammates is a pleasure. This feeling of being at home warms your heart.

"Hi Frozen" tease Katie at you when you see her for the first time, making you roll your eyes with fun.

This time again, the hug that you exchange with Leah lasts a little longer than the others and you smile at her when she pinches you affectionately the cheek. Maybe you missed her too much.

In the next game, against Aston Villa, you feel like Leah’s mind is somewhere else, but yours too. This is the first time in a long time that you will find yourself facing your ex and you know that Leah will also have to live with the fact that Jordan will be around.

Even though the blonde is still not playing, Leah participates in the briefings and is always around when you play at home.

No wonder, her love for the team and the club is now known to everyone. You haven’t been thinking particularly about Alina lately, Leah taking a lot of time in your thoughts. But you have to admit that to see her again, even from the back, training with her teammates, it does you something. You no longer have the slightest feeling of love for her, of course. Everything magically disappeared the day you learned about her infidelities. But you still have trouble swallowing betrayal.

"Are you okay here?"

You recognize Leah’s voice easily, but the hand on your shoulder makes you jump. Crossing her eyes, you quickly understand that she understood and you just shrug your shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. Come on, let’s go."

Leah’s hand slips on your back as she takes you to the small group forming by Alessia, Katie and Kyra. You find yourself regretting the feeling of her hand in your back when Alessia puts her arm around your shoulders in a comforting embrace. You nevertheless let yourself go against her, looking over Leah’s shoulder. From a distance, you have the impression that Jordan Nobbs was looking in your direction.

The game was hard, Aston Villa scored first and your team have trouble to find the back of the net. It last almost until the end of the game, until you caught Leah’s eye in the bleachers. From there to say that it’s her who gave you the impulse to go and score the goal, there is a world. But still, it’s only a few seconds later that you score. And a few minutes later, Alessia scored the winning goal, allowing Arsenal to win the match.

It’s probably cruel for the other team, but honestly you don’t care. You don’t get asked to show your joy, celebrating with Wally, Kyra and Alessia. You watch while a smiling Leah jumping into Alessia’s arms just before Katie comes to offer you a hug in her own way, passing an arm around your neck while strocking your hair with the other hand.

"Manu’s organising a party for tonight, are you coming?" says you a happy Katie.

When she gets your positive answer she releases you, literally pounding up to Caitlin. It’s by following her with your eyes that your eyes cling to a silhouette that you know very well despite yourself. Alina, standing in the middle of the field with her hands on her hips, looking disgusted. As you said, seen from the other side, the defeat must be bitter.

When she looks at you too, you hurry to turn your heels, only to rush straight into Jordan Nobbs.

"Oh… sorry mate" you mumble by rushing to run away.

You are relieved to see that the person who pulls you by the arm right after is Alessia, carrying you away from this situation. An amused smile is visible on her face, and you feel that she restrains herself from saying something.

"Don’t"

Alessia laughs and can only smile when hearing it, gently shaking your head. The fans in front of which Alessia trains you claiming photos and autographs, that make you forget easily what has just happened.

********

A few hours later, you’re in a nightclub with almost the entire team. Although we have to admit that everyone was a little scattered throughout the nightclub. Maybe you drank too much, too. Leah is here, of course. When she came to sit next to you with her big smile and her sexy outfit, you almost fainted. You feel like she’s doing it on purpose. But it’s nothing compared to the wave of chills that runs through you when she looks at you to say "Pretty goal, superstar". The ambient music forces her to have this behavior, but still.

It’s not the ambient music that will make her invite you to dance with her. If you refused at first, claiming not to know how to dance, you couldn’t resist her any longer. And you also noticed that others girls don’t seem against keeping Leah company. Of course, you have absolutely no right to be jealous, but that definitely tilts the scales.

You’ve been dancing with Leah for a long time now, to be honest, you’ve completely lost track of time. Your teammates are far too drunk around you to pay attention to you and none seem to have realized how your body seems unable to detach from Leah’s. Your body is attracted with the strength of a magnet by hers and as long as you had your back against her, you managed to fight against yourself and keep an almost clear mind. But when the last song changed, you stupidly turned around and you were hypnotized by the captain’s gaze. Your heart rate is faster, your breathing is more complicated and you have to fight with all your strength not to lean in her direction a few centimeters more to be able to kiss her. Her hands on your hip and in the hollow of your back hold you all against her and the arms you tied around her neck may not help either. It’s as if your mind and your body wanted two things and you were pulled from two sides at the same time. You’ve obviously noticed Leah’s eyes slipping regularly on your lips, seemingly wishing nothing but to kiss you. The message is very clear, it would be for anyone. But when Leah tries an approach and touches your lips with hers, you step back. You obviously realized that Leah didn’t even look at a girl other than you tonight, but the fear of getting screwed again is stronger than the rest. You only stepped back a few inches so you could look into Leah’s. If you haven't saw Alina today, maybe you would have kiss her. You certainly read a part of disappointment, perhaps even a little rejection, but also uncertainty. Does she think that she misinterpreted the signals you send her? That is not the case, of course. You are undeniably attracted to her, you don't want to lie to her either. Or worse, let her start thinking that you’re the one playing with her feelings.

"I’m sorry. I don’t want to be an extra number on your hunting board, Leah."

By your position, you feel Leah’s breath against your lips and it makes you half crazy. When you gently detach you from her, she lets you. You can see her jaw is tight, but you don’t feel like it’s anger. You can’t take the time to figure out what it is, before you decide to get out of there. You pick up your jacket and bag and go out, even unintentionally bumping into someone who hasn’t asked for anything on your way.

"Are you alright?"

A voice next to you makes you jump and you raise your eyes on a couple that was probably out smoking. The girl looks at you with special attention and you realize at this moment that your hands are shaking.

"Yes, yes, it’s okay" you mumble taking a deep breath.

"Sure?"

You nod again, both surprised and touched by so much soliscitude. Maybe there is still some hope in the human being?

"Do you know where I can get a cab?"

The one you imagine being her boyfriend points at you the end of the street. You thank and greet them, walking quickly going in the right direction. It only take you twenty minutes to return home, your mind haunted by the image of Leah, the sensations felt when your face was only a few inches from you. Regrets mix with relief and you still don’t know if you made the right decision.

You don’t even take the time to remove your makeup before hiding under your duvet. You want to call Leah, but this is the second time you’ve pushed her away in a short time. You will never dare to return to the training ground without having a terrible fear of running into her. You were wondering if you are going to contact your agent to ask him to propose you for a loan with another team when you hear someone knocking on the door of your apartment. "Y/N?" It’s Alessia’s voice and you realize no one saw you leave, except maybe Leah. You hiss when you feel the cold ground under your bare feet when you answer, finding yourself facing an Alessia who seems both relieved and annoyed. Her phone in hand, she seems to finish reading a message when she reports her attention to you. "Why didn’t you say you were going home?" Her tone is accusing and you pout, feeling like you’re being scolded by your older sister. But you can understand the worry. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you." Alessia still looks at you for a few seconds while squinting before sighing and slipping into your apartment. She hugs you before she lets you go. "You and Leah were missing, we were worried" she explains before going for a glass of water. "Leah too?" In spite of yourself, you feel the anxiety rise suddenly. If something happened to her because of your behavior, you will never forgive yourself. Worry is easily detectable in your voice, as Less hurries to comfort you. "Yes, but she’s home. Lia found her there. What happened?" "What do you mean?" You mumble looking at your feet. "Well you both disappear, you’re closer than you’ve ever been... But you don’t have the face of someone who had a nice evening"

"I screwed up" you sigh softly as you cross your arms on your chest.

Your gaze is always fixed on your feet and you frown, trying to remember the meaning of your memories and thoughts. Alessia knows what happened with Alina, the deception and everything, it’s not for nothing that she remained close to you physically speaking today. In the field, at least.

Alessia doesn’t answer anything, waiting patiently to see if you want to continue to explain yourself or not.

'I panicked. There’s this kind of attraction I’ve had for her from the beginning and the more I try to fight it, the bigger it gets. It’s like every thing she did or said is what I expect her to do, without me even knowing it."

You looked up at the blonde this time and she watches you talking, holding her half-empty glass of water in her hand. Her eyebrows are ruffled, but she looks more pensive than upset this time.

"We managed to catch up with the bond we had after I pushed her back. But tonight… I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about what happened with Alina all day and… I panicked. I don’t want to be heartbroken again."

This time it’s a compassionate smile that appears on Alessia’s face, which is content to extend your arms as the very first answer. You accepted and snuggled up against her, sighing softly. She didn’t steal her nickname of Lessi Bear.

"I think you should talk to Leah" Alessia says after a few seconds.

"I doubt she’ll want to talk to me again"

********

You were right. You don’t know if it’s voluntary or not on Leah’s part, but you haven’t seen her since the nightclub. She seems to have changed her physiotherapy and training schedules so she won’t run into you again. And you have to admit that it hurt your heart. But again this reaction is probably very selfish, if you are both there it is only your fault.

Your mood has deteriorated throught the days when you feel someone sitting next to you in the locker room. You look up expecting to find yourself in front of Caitlin who has her locker next to yours, but instead it’s Lia who addresses you one of her famous smiles.

"Are you okay?" she asks and you ask yourself in the first place if she’s not making fun of you.

But it would mean not knowing Lia at all.

"Good. What about you?"

Lia nods, still armed with her smile, while you finish putting on your sneakers. The training session has just ended, you are showered and changed and ready to go home.

"I was wondering if we could talk together?"

"Of course."

You get up and follow her, wondering what it is. Lia trains you with her in the cafeteria of the team, currently completely deserted. After having caught yourself drinking and sitting at a table, you look at her with an undisguised curiosity. If you really like the Swiss woman, you’ve never really exchanged one-on-one.

"Is everything okay?" You can’t help but ask her, afraid she’s in trouble.

"Oh, yes. It’s not me I wanted to talk to you about, it’s Leah."

You make a slight grimace but nods gently, your look staying on the cup of coffee you ordered yourself.

"I’m sorry if I intervene in a way that is not my business and you will have the right to scold me later, but I think it’s time someone did"

You look at her again a little surprised. Faithful to her country of origin, Lia is far from wanting to conflict with anyone. However, the fact that she wants to take the risk of doing so is a testament to the importance of what she will say.

"Leah told me what happened between you two"

Lia gives you an apology smile, but you told Alessia and Ingrid about it so you just nod. It would be rather inappropriate for you to resent Leah for needing to confide to someone.

"I don’t know who told you things about her, but what I do know is that Leah has been my friend since I came to Arsenal. She was always loyal and honest with me. When my ex and I broke up and I was lower than earth, she came home every night to try to cheer me up. She is sincere, kind and much sweeter and more tender than what people want her to be."

You know, you’re uncomfortable. You are one of those people who preferred to listen to what people was saying about Leah at the worst time, when she showed you during all these weeks that she is the girl that Lia has just described to you.

"I don’t know your past Y/N and I’m not judging you. But I really believe that Leah is genuinely interested in you. If it were just for one night, she would have moved on for a long time especially after you told her you don’t want a one time thing"

You remain silent for a few seconds, during which you assimilate what Lia has just told you. Passing a hand through your hair, you end up looking up at her.

"Anyway, it’s too late now. She must hate me, right?"

"I think you should talk to her about all this"

You bite your lip, realizing this is the second time you’ve been advised to do this in a few days. Unfortunately, this could be complicated.

"How? She doesn’t even want to see me here anymore"

Your desperate look seems to amuse Lia, or at least she smiles while rolling her eyes.

"By extraordinary luck we’re in the 21st century. You can either contact her via your phone or go to her house to talk to her"

Lia’s amused tone makes you smile slightly. She’s right, but it’s not so much your style to impose your presence somewhere. Your interlocutor must understand your reticence, since she puts her hand on your arm, making you look at her again.

"I will not speak for her, but she also suffered in her past. The only thing holding you both back is a lack of communication. I’m sure it can be fixed."

********

Right in front of Leah’s house, you don’t remember being so nervous for a long time. After thinking long and hard about the conversation you had with Lia, you then had to think about how to approach Leah. The blond continues to flee you like the plague and even if contacting her by message would probably be easier, you are not sure if she answers you. If the blonde has many qualities that have made you fall under her spell, she is still atrociously stubborn and resentful.

You turned in your head several scenarios, again and again until you became half crazy. Then you had enough. Sitting on Alessia’s couch in front of a particularly lame reality TV, you suddenly got up. Alessia gave you a worried look but you just threw at her while leaving her apartment

“I’m going to see Leah”

Your voice was clear and determined, making her understand that your decision was made. After shrugging her shoulders, Alessia lay down again in front of the television.

“Okay. But maybe change your pajamas first.”

Interrupted in your way, your hand freezes on the doorknob of the stricker’s apartment. Your eyes slide on your polar pajama bottoms with avocados drawn on them.

A grommet escapes from your lips as you open the door, triggering Alessia’s laughter behind you.

_____________________________________________________________

Merry Christmas you all 🎄❤️

[yuri-is-online]

Love and Deepspace Timeline: Xavier

This is all speculation and should not be taken as fact, I have made a previous post about Zayne, but as stated there I do not have the necessary cards to make one for Rafayel and will direct you to this post by u/joonmin on the love and deepspace subreddit. This post is being made before I have managed to complete the Myths date (as soon as I hit level 55 it is over for you hos) and will be updated at some point once I have finished it, but I think I have enough information to explain Xav's overall timeline and hopefully clear up a few things for people missing his cards.

I have included a TL;DR at the end of the post for people who don't want to get lost in the weeds of theorizing.

Some information from that post about Zayne will be re-hashed here to help provide context about the game's setting. SPOILERS FOR ALL IN GAME CONTENT UP TO CHAPTER 8, VARIOUS MOMENTS, AND ANECDOTES, PROCEED WITH CARE.

Current Timeline

The current timeline where the main story of LAD takes place is set in the year 2048 in a place called Linkon City. We are told that the Deepspace Tunnel opened 14 years prior and that is when wanderers started invading earth. There is a lack of understanding about why this has happened, and it has sparked an interest in space exploration in the hopes of finding a solution.

The Hunters Association is sort of like an adventurers guild? It's supervised by the government, and is sort of split between Hunters like MC and researchers attempting to understand what makes the wanderers tick.

This includes researching protocores, currently the only thing the hunter's association knows for sure is that they contain a great deal of energy, and that they can cause disease in humans based off of which category the protocore falls into. This is confirmed the be what is wrong with MC, and appears to be a problem all versions of her share.

The events immediately following the opening of the Deepspace Tunnel are referred to as the Catastrophe due to the amount of destruction caused by the influx of wanderers. This is what birthed the N109 Zone. According to the in game Spacepedia, it is surrounded by various other "no-hunt" zones, which it further clarifies as being places with "a chaotic Protofield and frequent Wanderer appearances," i.e. really dangerous places for people to live let alone go to. Civilians are outright banned and hunters need special permission to enter because of just how dangerous these places are considered to be.

Unlike Zayne and Rafayel, Xavier does not have an alternate self yet. The versions of him in his myths card and all of his anecdotes are all the same person, just at various points in his long life. The technicality of this is addressed in one of the shareable posts: Immortality No Longer A Dream! The article goes into detail about how a new biotech company using protocores to regenerate the heart. You can share this article with each of the three boys, who have different types of reactions, but Xavier's is not one of surprise or skepticism, but of acceptance. The article itself talks about immortality as something everyone will one day be able to accomplish, but Xavier disagrees.

Xavier's first two anecdotes, A Special Vacation and Passing By, both establish how exactly he has been living his life on earth since his arrival. We learn that he has been doing his best to keep a low profile by moving between various jobs and tries to avoid making friends. As mentioned by @exactlycleverpirate in the replies of this post (who has made their own timeline you can check out here) "Xavier says he has been on Earth for 214 years, and that this will be his last. That means he arrived in 1834. We also see in one of his Tender Moments, that he rented a book from the library 30 years ago. So he has definitely been on Earth longer than the Deepspace tunnel has been around." Chapter 8 ends tells us that soon Earth and Philos will be in alignment for the first time in billions of years, which is likely why Xavier says this year will be his last, but I am unclear about what exactly that will cause.

We learn that there are other immortals from the same place as Xavier living in Linkon City, and that some of the see him as a traitor. We can assume that many of these immortals are involved with Onychinus due to Xavier's knowledge of and interest in their organization.

It's not clear how or when Xavier chose to start working as a Deepspace Hunter, but the other jobs he's taken all seem to be related to the military/evol combat. He is also very keen on fighting wanderers, so being a hunter is a good way for him to hide in plain sight. Which is what he has been trying to do.

His Precious Bonfire date suggests he has been a hunter longer than MC and has a reputation of not participating in team events. He has the highest level of access to the Hunters Association database and seems to have a good working relationship with Jenna, who seems content to let him do his own thing. She also attempted to assign MC as his partner, in part seemingly because she wants to protect MC's evol.

There is of course also the concept of Lumiere, a legendary hunter who appears during the catastrophe caused by the Deepspace Tunnel and wreaked any wanderer he came across. He has a light evol, a giant bounty on his head, and looks exactly like Xavier when we see his wanted poster in Chapter 8. While MC might have her doubts, since we the reader know Xavier is immortal, it's not much of a jump to say these two hunters are the same person.

Chapter 8 gives us more detailed look at the exact dynamics these immortals have with each other, but I think it makes sense to talk about Xavier's origins first so we know where he is coming from.

Philos Timeline

As I said on my other post, all of the Myths cards take place on the planet of Philos. In the present timeline, Philos is no longer a planet, just a lonely core floating in deepspace at the other end of the deepspace tunnel. In Xavier's third anecdote, When Shooting Stars Fall, we finally learn what Philos is: it's Earth. An Earth that has been reborn by substituting the planet's old core with an artificial one and with a different name.

Now this anecdote takes place in the year 214, which is explained to us as meaning 214 years has passed since Earth was destroyed and reborn as Philos. How does that make sense if we are currently on a very much alive earth with a very dead Philos on the other end of the Deepspace Tunnel? No clue, but I think that's going to be one of the main focuses of the story. Something had to happen to Earth to make it become Philos, and then something happened to Philos to make it uninhabitable. Given what we know, both are likely related to wanderers.

I also want to briefly mention that in Rafayel's myths card, it is mentioned that the sea is missing so the Lemurians have no home. Based off of MC's description of the weather and how "fragmented landmasses" are being held together, I wonder if the re-birth of Earth as Philos is what caused the seas to dry up? And if so what role did MC have in the creation of Philos if any?

This anecdote is from the pov of MC who is studying at a school she simply refers to as "The Academy." It is unclear if this is the same school as she and Xavier are attending in his Lightseeker cards, but based off the uniform he wears and the sword he carries I think this is likely meant to be a highschool of some sort, and the Astria Knyght Academy is a form of military school equivalent to a college.

Xavier's words about immortality being a privilege come into play here as we learn something about MC: she always seems to have heart problems, specifically she always seems to have Protocore Syndrome, the exact same disease she currently has. In this anecdote she explains it as being a birth defect that has only one cure, a special protocore. One that supposedly can cure any illness.

Protocore disease prevents the patient from living forever, something Xavier finds very hard to accept. He abandons MC for a month without telling her where he is going to try and find this Protocore that she needs to live, but comes back too late. By the time he finds her, the core can't save her and he holds her as she dies. She asks if he thinks they will meet in her next life and he promises to always wait for her.

We know current timeline MC has shards of an Aether core in her heart, and that her heart is currently stable. While the anecdote does not outright say that the cure to Protocore Syndrome is an Aether core, Xavier's knowledge of them and his emotions when MC brings them up to him makes me think it probably is. Currently we do not know how an Aether core can be obtained, other than (assuming that is what he brought MC) Xavier was injured getting one. The MC here says she is unable to live for more that a century, something that has changed in her next re-incarnation but we don't know why.

When MC re-incarnates she is brought under the tutelage of the Grandis Knight, the personal knight and retainer to the King of Philos. Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, and is also studying under swordplay under the Grandis Knight. She has no memories of Xaveir, who does not tell her about their shared past despite holding on to the gift she made for him: a star sword tassel. This doesn't seem to bother him as much as you might expect, he mostly just seems happy to have her alive again.

She is stupid jealous of that tassel because Xavier openly admits to being in love with the girl who gave it to him. But he also speaks about her and the MC in the same sentence if that makes any sense? He sees both versions of her as her, and just as he promised he intends to wait for her so they can be together.

Xavier is an interesting character (to me anyway) because he has a pretty clear arc to his attitude towards his relationship with MC as he ages. He starts off as being shy in the third anecdote, then he moves to being openly teasing and affectionate (outright asking to elope and saying things that make it sounds like they might have been betrothed) in his lightseeker cards, to how he is at the end of his myths date and currently with MC: restrained in his interactions with her but unable to completely keep himself away. Why he has become restrained, why he thinks he needs to distance himself from MC is unclear. What is clear is that he has no interest in taking the throne from his father, a man he actively hates and does not seem to see eye to eye with. While their relationship seems to have always been tense, the breaking point is during Xavier's Gladius Ceremony.

The Gladius Ceremony is a sort of coming of age ceremony where the heir proves their ability to ascend the throne by killing a wanderer with nothing but their lightblade. Something happened during that trial that Xavier does not want to talk about and MC mentions he has "changed" since then. Like he left part of himself behind????

As an interesting note this trial takes place in a forest, a sentient forest much like No-Hunt Zone 7 in chapter three.

Xavier says he cannot be the man his father wants. What his father wants is not clear, but I personally think it has something to do with what wanderers are as Xavier seems to have a degree of sympathy towards them if they show a degree of sentience. It also might have something to do with how Philos was made, as both MC and Xavier acknowledge that the planet is dying.

The MC mentions that Xavier leaves her a lot but always comes back within a specified time frame. He goes on expeditions into Deepspace, but never tells MC what he is looking for and we as a reader do not learn. He does, however, mention finding a newborn planet filled with flowers and offers to take MC there if she will give up on being a knight. She is confused, as her entire life's purpose has been to be his knight, and doesn't fully comprehend a world where Xavier isn't going to be king.

But the card story starts with MC being crowned Queen, with Xavier as her Grandis knight, so we know that's what will happen. So neither of them got what they wanted in the end.

The "Lightseeker" title of Xavier's card refers to a unit of knights that are commanded by the Crown Prince and answer only to the royal family. Their duty is to keep Philos safe from Wanderers, much like the modern day Hunter's Association. Both the MC and Xavier are training to become Lightseekers, and have a sort of rivalry for the spot. MC keeps beating Xavier when they spar but he seems to have the stronger Evol so they're quite equally matched. It's stupid cute how everyone but Jeremiah thinks they hate each other, speaking of which:

Jeremiah is a friend of MC's in the same class as her. He's also her wingman who keeps trying to help set her and Xavier up, something Xav doesn't seem fully aware of. He's stupid jealous of their friendship which Jeremiah seems to find really funny (he's the only one who knows how delulu they are for each other and seems to find a lot of enjoyment in teasing them.)

Jeremiah also ends up being a knight under MC's command after they graduate the academy. Xavier however... goes missing after a meeting with his father and does not reappear even after he dies. He is missing for a period of 200 years until MC finds him again in the same forest that his Galdius Ceremony took place in. He saves her from... something. An illusion? A cosmic vortex? Whatever it was Xavier has discovered something that affects the health of people's hearts. And he seems determined to not get close to MC or let MC get close to him because of it.

I think it might just be because she is about to die from her disease, which she doesn't seem aware she has but always does, and Xavier doesn't want to have to watch her die again. But I haven't finished the card yet so I don't know.

He also seems to be under the impression the whole world is going to end now, and not just Philos.

The last thing we need to take from all of this information about Philos is the existence of a group called the Backtrackers. Xavier was with them once, but he isn't anymore. MC was seemingly under their care and, according to his Passing By anecdote, traveled through the Deepspace Tunnel with them but was lost. I'll explain more about what I think about them now that we're ready to return to the present timeline, but just know that the Backtrackers are A) from the Philos timeline and B) likely immortal just like Xavier is.

Back to the Present

In Chapter 8 you are either introduced or re-introduced to Jeremiah, who now owns a flower shop called Philo, likely named after his home planet of Philos. He is a friend of Xavier's and they both share the same current goals, which includes protecting the MC. Jer's job in this chapter is to provide MC with a fake identity to use in the N109 zone, but he does provide us with some information to try and tie up some loose ends with Xavier's timeline.

While the Nonintervention principal he refers to probably does have something to do with MC, it also likely just refers the fact that since both Xavier and Jeremiah are from Philos and therefore the future they are trying not to interfere with the timeline too much. Something that whoever blew up MC's house does not care about anymore, implying that if that was indeed Onychinus then we can assume they likely are also immortals from Philos who want MC and her Aether core for something.

When MC finds Xavier again after his 200 year disappearing act he is leading a squad of Lightseekers from various units. I think these are probably the Backtrackers, and that there was a split in the group after the MC and the Aether core went missing during their journey into the Deepspace Tunnel. We know that at least Xavier has been here longer than the Deepspace Tunnel has been, but there is room for speculation around Jeremiah and the others. As Pirate again pointed out in the comments, whatever disaster during the travel the Backtrackers took into the Deepspace Tunnel likely caused them to arrive at a bunch of different points in time.

While this confirms that Xavier and Jeremiah are not from this timeline it raises a lot of questions about MC. Her memory is constantly spotty, and I had wondered if that had something to do with the Aether core... but now.

With the way Xavier tries to limit his interactions with her and says he's the last person who should be trying to get close to her I wonder if Xavier is worried MC is being erased from time? Or if she belongs to this timeline so while he loves her, while he wants to be the one she chooses, he subconsciously knows he's from a doomed timeline and therefore unable to stay with her. This also raises questions about the other two love interests; we know MC has forgotten things about Rafayel and I theorized she has forgotten something about Zayne. Is this because they also don't belong? Does MC not belong? Or is it something related to the trauma MC experienced from being experimented on?

TL;DR

This was all pretty complicated so I thought I would sum up the basic points because I felt a bit incoherent.

Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, a future version of Earth that was created by replacing Earth's core with a fake one.

This fake core allowed the citizens of Philos to live forever unless they had the rare heart condition know as Protocore Syndrome, something the MC always has no matter how many times she is reborn.

The cure to Protocore Syndrome is a rare Protocore that Xavier tries to get for her but gets back with too late. He watches her die and while he was already shown dislike seeing her injured, this seems to turn it into a genuine trauma of his. He is shown to be deeply distraught seeing her gravely injured or sick in multiple moments/dates and is determined to take care of her. In a rare decision by the writers, this does not appear to manifest itself as a desire to not see her engage in combat as he trusts her ability to take care of herself, just maybe not her willingness.

MC is reborn and begins military training with Xavier intending to become his knight, but Xavier refuses to take the throne of Philos for reasons he does not share with MC. He also begins disappearing for long periods of time on journeys into space. On one of these journeys he finds a young planet filled with flowers and attempts to convince MC to elope with him and abandon her dreams of being a knight. He seems uncertain if MC's desire to be with him is just because she has been told she is to be his knight or if it is because she genuinely loves him; Xavier knows which one he wants it to be though.

After talking with his father he disappears for 200 years and founds a group of knights investigating a forest with an unstable Protofeild where killed Wanderers simply don't stay dead. It is my theory that these are the Backtrackers mentioned by past MC, Jeremiah, and Xavier.

Xavier arrives in this current timeline in year 1834. Other immortals from Philos begin to arrive in the current timeline at different points and agree upon something they call the Nonintervention Principal, likely to keep from destroying the spacetime continuum too much. What they are refusing to intervene in is unclear.

The Backtrackers made a journey through the Deepspace Tunnel with future past MC and an Aether core, but something goes wrong and she disappears. Xavier has been waiting to see her again ever since he got here, and intends to wait forever.

There are more immortals than just Xavier and Jeremiah living in Current Timeline Linkon City, some of which are very likely allied with Onychinus and searching for the MC. Why is related to the Aether core in her heart, but might also have something to do with her Evol.

It is my personal belief that many of these citizens of Philos used to be in the Backtrackers, but even if they didn't they see Xavier as a traitor to his people and more importantly to them. Why is unclear, but I imagine it might be because of their goals for the MC and her Aether core. In a broader sense it might be because they intend to do something to current earth to save their home, and Xavier disagrees with that but the two things do not seem mutually exclusive.

Earth and Philos are about to be in very close alignment, and both Xavier and Jeremiah expect something bad to happen around that time.

Final Thoughts

I would be interested in knowing the direct Chinese translation of these particular lines from precious bonfire to see if there is any difference to them... but honestly this is one of the things that sold me on him. She dies and he follows the traces of her light until he finds her again, and he tries to keep her alive but he fails and so he follows her again.

I saw at least one post wondering of Xavier will betray MC and rip the Aether core out of her heart, and I want to clear that up here. I understand why people might think this if they haven't read any of his anecdotes but no, that's not going to happen unless it's the only way to save MC's life. Xavier very much wants to keep MC alive, his efforts to distance himself and withhold information from her are always done to serve that goal.

Rafayel is the one who has a pretty good reason to want to cut out MC's heart, not Xavier. And I do mean good reason I don't really hate him for it and am not trying to imply he's a bad character or a bad romance option for it.

One of Xavier's immortal friends is name Noah. There is always a chance that this is a coincidence, but there's a part of me that wonders if he shares the same name as Dr Noah because they are the same person. The anecdote he appears in involves Xavier getting him a new identity so I don't think they're likely to be related.

I actually really like MC , Xavier, and Jeremiah's friendship and sort of hope it gets some focus in some small way in the future. Jer and Xav had to have bonded over losing MC, not to mention Jeremiah spent 200 years fighting Wanderers with MC under her command. She talks about him as being her best friend!!! I want to see more of him!!! (if he doesn't have a partner and if I can't have Tara x Jenna I should be allowed Tara x Jeremiah)

I'm worried there might be a plot point that involves Xavier dying in the future and then maybe we get to meet a different timeline version of him and end up on the opposite side of the "can't tell this ghost wearing your face how I really feel" spectrum.

Speaking of which I like how Xav seems to respect MC's current life and doesn't expect her to be a carbon copy of her past selves. It's nice (stares at critically acclaimed mmorpg villain Emet Selch)

Anyway that's it. I'll update the post when I finish the Myths card, which I fully expect to make me cry like a baby. If anything confused you my askbox is open, just because I write for twst doesn't mean I am not open to talking about this if I made mistakes or if you feel like any of this was unclear.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#30: The Story of the Brave Man (1.04)

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

While Rick’s kids were telling stories of their dad’s brave acts, Rick was, unfortunately, being fed a story of what he needed to give his life to by Okafor. And that really complicates things in these following moments between Rick and Michonne... 

After they fade to black from Richonne's compelling marital fight, they cut back to the thermostat system's voice chiming in with another fitting assessment of Richonne’s situation as it says, “Temperature control malfunction.” And again, Rick refusing to go home is most definitely an indicator of a malfunction. 

Michonne looks out the window while Rick can be seen in the reflection facing away from her. And I like the way it’s filmed where we’re seeing Richonne from the outside looking in. It hammers home some of the distance they feel between them as we too watch them from a distance.

gif cred: @perryabbott

Michonne speaks and is clearly in a very reflective space as she quotes Nat and says, “'I know how it ends.'” Then it feels like a punch in my stomach every time I hear her say, “You know your son - the one you haven’t asked anything about - he calls you the Brave Man.” 🥺

That ‘the one you haven’t asked anything about’ hurts to hear every time. The first time I watched it I was still in shock that Rick hadn’t more directly addressed or asked questions regarding his son and so it was sorta surreal to hear Michonne even have to say this.

And I get Rick has a whole lot of PTSD making him scared to address it but I was still like 'Rick, I need you to stop breaking your wife’s heart ASAP.' You know that has to be so hurtful that she finally got to tell Rick about the baby they had and he hasn’t asked anything about him.

gif cred: @nat111love

That line always makes me think about one of the few things I remember from season 10 which is that beach day scene with Michonne, Judith, and RJ when RJ is asking questions about the Brave Man.

When Michonne says she’d do anything for them RJ is so adorably like “and for my dad?” Without even knowing Rick, RJ made sure his dad was still included and acknowledged, and so I was like -Rick, we can't have RJ asking more questions about you than you ask about him. 🥺

Rick does at least turn around when he hears Michonne say that their son calls him The Brave Man and it’s great finally getting to see him learn this.

Michonne has this sort of weary smile as she shares, “He and Judith tell each other the story of what you did.” And in this moment I really see a mother who loves and misses her kids and who is exhausted. 😢

She’s been through so much for her family for years but especially in the last year and now she’s going through so much since reuniting with Rick too. Like my girl is tired from trying to be strong for everyone, including Rick who is insistent on this story ending with her going home without him after fighting like hell to find him.

I think Michonne's tone here has a lot to do with the fact that she’s finally getting to tell Rick these things about their kids but she never thought it would be under these circumstances with Rick in the room but still so far away and still refusing to go home. 

Then I absolutely adore the moment Michonne turns away from the window and says, “He started calling himself 'Little Brave Man'… I loved that.” It’s the cutest thing to see her have a moment of joy recalling her baby boy and the adorable nickname RJ gave himself during the last time she talked to him. 🥰

gif cred: @nat111love

And we get a quick flash of Real Rick when he has a subtle genuine smile hearing this. I love it. 🥹 It's a layered smile, both touched and pained because the news of their son is bittersweet. Their baby is such a gift and also a reminder of how much he's missed.

I feel like in this moment, despite all the walls he has up rn, hearing both that his son has this nickname that shows he wants to be like his dad and most of all seeing Michonne as a mom smile about their son actually hits Rick and makes him happy for a second.

There’s gotta be something comforting knowing that all this time Michonne really wasn’t entirely without Rick because she was out there raising his mini-me and his daughter.

I love how it feels like seeing the mother of his child smile about that and share something she loves about their son is what makes Rick not be able to help but smile about it too. And every time Rick smiles like this it reminds me of RJ. 🥹

gif cred: @nat111love

And that little smile moment was very needed...because Real Rick disappears for the rest of this conversation. 😑

So Rick sits down and it’s definitely symbolic that he has yet to change out of his CRM gear. It still has a hold on him.

Michonne again quotes Nat saying, “'I know how it ends.' Nat my friend who your people killed…” And Rick interjects to say “They’re not my damn people.” Lol. I love that. 😋

Especially cuz when I first watched I didn’t even catch how Michonne’s wording could be subtle shade but of course, as her husband, Rick immediately caught it and had to clarify. Like...

When Rick says they aren't his damn people, Michonne is like tell your actions that babe because you sure are trying to stay with those people…or at least that’s what I was thinking lol. 🙂 She brushes right past Rick’s comment and continues saying, “He said that to me once when I said I had to keep looking for you.”

Once again I was hoping this line would be something that opens Rick's eyes to the fact that Michonne was fighting to get back to him just like he was trying to get back to her. Like anything that helps him see they are equally valued in this relationship which is why asking her to leave him behind isn’t right because with the roles reversed he’d never leave her like this. 

Continuing to speak on Nat, Michonne says, “He knew how it ended but he still had my back” And the way Nat supported Michonne is a big reason why we celebrate Nat always and forever over here.😇 One of the franchise’s truest friends. 👌🏽

Michonne says, “I was so sure he was wrong. But he wasn’t.” It’s interesting she’s reflecting on Nat right now and the way he thought this would end. I think this is coming up for her at this moment because she knows if she can’t convince Rick to leave with her then she’s gonna have to know when to go because, no matter what, she has to make it home to her babies either with him or devastatingly without him.

gif cred: @richardgrimes

So I think she’s just really confronted with how likely that ‘without him’ scenario could be despite previously so badly wanting to believe that now that she’s 'found' Rick going home together would be inevitable. 

Then it’s another gut punch when Michonne says, “Cuz here I am. I found you. But I didn’t.” It’s really the best way to put it and heartbreaking to hear. 💔

And it’s interesting seeing Rick be silent hearing this. It’s sad because the very first thing Michonne said when reuniting with Rick was a joyous “I found you” in episode 1, but it’s been hitting her just how much her Rick is still buried under all the things he’s been through so she hasn’t found him yet.

Like I think every time they kiss she finds him for a fleeting moment but then the fear goes right back to consuming him and taking her Rick away. 

gif cred: @richardgrimes

Michonne says, “This is not what I had in my head at all.” And me either because again when I tell you I imagined 1000 scenarios of the RJ reveal and none of them went this way. It had me all the way shook. 🫢 But this is why Danai is the best because she knew the perfect conflict-driven way for this to all play out. 👏🏽

Michonne then collects herself and tries to get some understanding of Rick���s dodgy logic when she says, “OK so just - just to get this straight - we just got a way out. They think we’re dead and you want to stay…stay with an army that kept you against your will for years?”

I was right there with Michonne because I was looking at Rick like...

I like how throughout this episode Michonne knows the importance of spelling things out in words. It’s helpful to hear things out loud, especially when you can hear how crazy something sounds like Rick's explanation for not going home. 

Rick responds saying, “I have to make sure you’re protected.” And it is nice to hear him be so adamant about protecting her even tho of course there’s more to the story.

And Michonne knows there’s more and something else keeping him stuck when she says, “Oh that’s not it.” Rick really had me and Michonne listening to his words like...

Rick has to realize he might have been able to put on a mask with other people but Michonne knows who he is inside and out so she can fully tell that there’s so much more behind his reasoning that he's not saying. Michonne knows Rick is a protector but she also knows that he would never pass up the chance to be with his family unless something was very wrong inside.

And I really think another part of the issue is Rick has been in ‘protect them’ mode for literal years since he’s been away and so it’s like all he knows is protect and sacrifice and he’s out of practice when it comes to remembering there’s a lot more to a relationship. Like your wife and kids need you with them, not just fighting for them from afar. 

Rick says, “I have to keep them from coming for our home.” And Michonne says, “They’re coming for it? You know that?” Rick replies, “They could. One day?” And Michonne is sorta flabbergasted that Rick is indefinitely refusing to come home over something that could hypothetically happen so she repeats, “One day?” 🙃

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

And then Rick tries to double down saying, “I’ve been looking the other way. And you said it, they kill innocent people. Isn’t that what you wanted? I’m in. I stay and make sure Judith and our son are protected from them.” Not Rick trying to spin this like this was somehow Michonne’s idea too. 🤔🙃

But I do love hearing him say 'Judith and our son.' I’m telling you the second he learned of RJ he became every bit a part of the family Rick fights for. 💯

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

I love the way Michonne responds truly like Rick’s wife and best friend who knows him too well when she calls BS about that. And she knows it’s BS because in what world would Rick be cool with just never seeing his kids? 

You can feel how Rick lying to Michonne is hurtful to her because they are interconnected in every way. And while they normally get access to every part of each other, Rick is now trying to shut her out of what’s really going on with him all the while she can literally feel his pain because they're one.

She might not know exactly what is causing the pain yet but whatever deep pain Rick is in, which we learn is rooted in the devastation of losing his son’s memory, is pain she can see, sense, and most of all feel. So to see him give all these other reasons for his actions when she knows and can feel there’s something deeper is frustrating for her.

Also, this got me thinking about how Mike failed to protect Michonne and Andre, and he ended up almost protecting her more when he was dead as a walker shielding her from other walkers. And now, Rick too is convinced he can better protect Michonne while being 'dead.'

Rick has convinced himself that this dead version of him pushing her away is what will keep her safe, when really Michonne needs him alive and with her so much more.

Rick says, “Listen to me. The first man you and Nat killed his name was Okafor, and he’s who saved my life.” That line is always another indicator to me that Rick has changed a lot since TOWL ep 1 because before he didn’t want to give anybody in the CRM credit for saving his life but now he’s been led to believe (or more trying to force himself to believe) that Okafor showed him the light or something.

Rick goes on to say, “He wanted me to become part of the CRM, move up, help him change it. I didn’t have anything left so I gave myself to his mission.” And y’all, the way Michonne is looking at him and trying to understand how the heck this explains why he won’t go home. 🤭 And I get it, cuz I too was looking at Rick like...

Whenever I see Michonne looking at him here, I’m like Rick, buddy, Michonne loves you a lot because if anyone else was presenting their iffy points like this she might be a lot less inclined to try to make things work. 

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Michonne reminds Rick that all that stuff he gave himself to was Okafor’s mission not his own and then she asks some questions I was wondering about too because she says, “Do you remember the life we built? What we had?” I love that she says this and the way she says it. You can tell Michonne loved the life they were building and it makes sense cuz they were in such a beautiful place in season 9. 😢

Also, the wording stands out because Rick tried to say everything they had is broken but here Michonne’s trying to remind Rick of just how good and unbreakable what they had was. 

She approaches him and says, “What we were building - it’s kept people alive.” And y’all already know I adore the way she gently puts her hand on his face and lifts up his head. 😍 She’s so tender with him even after he’s been so hot and cold with her.

gif cred: @perryabbott

And Rick’s elevator eyes make another appearance because the way he’s looking at her as she gets close to him...Michonne almost had to lift up his face or the man was gonna get distracted lol. Also, it's sad to remember this type of tenderness has been nonexistent in Rick’s life for years. 😢

Then Michonne shares how she was observing Rick at the CRM saying, “I saw you, standing there behind her. A solider at attention for this army and I thought…‘He’s a prisoner here and we have to break out.’”

Ok first of all; I love the soft tone she’s using saying this. Like as upset as she is she’s still so empathetic. And I also love the wording of this because she saw him being a prisoner which you know hurt her heart but then she says ‘We have to break out.’ Once again she’s never thinking Rick has to do anything alone and so even seeing he’s a prisoner, her thought was what will we do about it together.

Then I always love the irony of this next line when Michonne says, “You don’t choose to stay in prison. When the doors open you leave.” She’s absolutely right and in this context, it makes perfect sense. But the irony I love comes from the fact that Rick and Michonne literally met at a prison and called it home for a long while. 😊

And even when Michonne could have ditched the prison after Merle nearly gave her to the Governor she chose to come right back to the prison because deep down she knew she belonged with these people and specifically the Grimes (and cuz magnets. I gotta mention that every time. 👌🏽😋🧲)

Rick says, “We’ve been crawling around in the dirt so long, Michonne. Losing people we love. This felt like a way or a chance to stop that.” I remember first hearing that and being like crawling around in the dirt?? I get ASZ isn’t as evolved as the CRM but team family’s crawling-around-in-the-dirt days were like season 4B-5B territory. They’ve come a long way since then.

Rick goes on to say this felt like a chance to fight for everyone instead of surrender, which is interesting because in ep 1 when Okafor said everyone is Rick’s people he was not trying to hear all that and was adamant this isn’t his city or his people. But now with Michonne, he’s trying to spew the same Okafor rhetoric that he has to sacrifice himself for everyone. - But he knows and she knows and we know that none of this is the real reason why he won’t go home.

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

And then Michonne gives Rick a much-needed reminder when she passionately says, “That place is not your responsibility. You have a family.” Exactly. 👏🏽 Like the fact that she even had to tell Rick that makes me upset. ☹️ But I love that she says it in plain letters because no matter how long it’s been she’s like we are still your family.

I wanted to shake Rick tbh and be like you have a wife and kids and they need you so please for all that is good and holy snap out of it. 🙏🏽 

But Rick is stuck on his CRM defense mechanisms as he says, “Okafor’s gone. Thorne’s one of them now. I’m the only one left.” Stopping the CRM’s crimes against humanity is a noble cause but I have to admit when I heard Rick say this I was like...this all sounds more like reasons why he can drop Okafor’s plan and go home now. 😅 

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Michonne is trying her hardest to be nice and understanding despite thinking this is all ridiculous when she says, “So you’re trying to keep us safe by *maybe* changing the CRM one day, who *might* come after our home and put it in danger. That’s it?” I love how she spells the whole thing out again and I know she wants to be like sir are you hearing yourself because this sounds crazy.

And Rick looks like he kinda knows it sounds crazy so he just has this silent nod like yeah...

Then Michonne again makes my heart hurt when she says, “You won’t come home with me, to your life? Your kids?” The emotional emphasis on kids gets me. 🥺 I know that really makes her feel like she’s not talking to her Rick because the man she knew would never refuse to come home to her and their children.

I also really like that she says come home to 'your life' because she’s again reminding him that his life is not here but with her and their family like it’s always been.

And once again I gotta applaud the wording. Because what does Michonne say he won’t come home to? His wife, his kids, his life. And what did Rick say was his choice in episode 1? His wife, his kid, his life.

And they’re still his choice now but he’s choosing the wrong thing for them and him. It just goes to show how much being the walking dead has affected him that now he won’t come home to the very people he loves most and is most devoted to. 

Defeated but stubborn, Rick looks at Michonne and says, “I don’t want to do this. I have to.” And while on first watch you’re meant to think he has to because he thinks it’s for the greater good, I love how we later learn he thinks he has to because if he goes home and loses Michonne he’s terrified of not knowing how to die again. 🥺 But I’m getting ahead of myself again lol.

Rick concludes by saying, “So no” and y’all something about the way he says those two words makes me so mad lol. I feel for him, and it's clear this destroys him inside, but he’s also played in Michonne’s face one too many times in the last few hours.

And the way he’s saying it trying to sound so ‘resolved’ as if this is just the final verdict. And something about the tone, it's like a tone one would use when saying 'no I won’t run that errand' when really he’s saying 'so no I won’t come home and be a father to our kids.' 😑 Idk, I just stay wanting to fight when I see this moment. 😅

When I first watched I was like alright Michonne we love him but let’s pack it up it’s time to go. And after trying her best to reason with him and him telling her over and over this is the way it’s gonna be, she sadly knows it’s time to head out as well.

She raises a finger and says, “That’s not it. You’re lying.” And I just love that whole motion. And Rick is lucky once again that Michonne knows him so well that even still after he continues with this disappointing stance she knows that’s not really the reason for his choices. Rick, this is your other half so you really think she can’t tell when you’re lying? Michonne has a good read on everybody she comes across but especially Rick Grimes. She always has, but he must’ve forgotten. 

We’re really watching two halves of one soul, so while Rick and Michonne are at odds rn, there’s still no denying their oneness. They know each other so well that they simply can’t successfully lie to each other about what’s really going on. It's like Rick has forgot what it feels like to be so seen and so he doesn’t realize all this hiding and lying won’t work on Michonne.

Rick lying in this convo is a lie too many for Michonne so she says, “But you know what? Your wish is granted. I’m out.” Lol I love that she says 'your wish is granted.' Our little genie. 🧞‍♀️😋 Despite Rick continually trying to reiterate he doesn’t want this, Michonne is like you sure are acting as though this is your wish so no magic lamps needed, she’s out.✌🏽

Michonne heading out was a tough decision that I’m glad she got to make. And this is when Rick realizes he's not just in this apartment with Michonne Grimes the wife but Michonne Grimes the mother.

Getting back to her kids was always a vital part of this mission. Like finding Rick was the crucial part one of the mission. Going home to their kids was the crucial part two and Michonne was never going to feel like she fully succeeded at this Find Rick operation if it didn’t end with her kids back in their arms. (That’s why I was so confident there would be a reunion with their children because that was always a huge part of this mission she was on)

And then, despite repeatedly acting like Michonne leaving is the only way, Rick sure does look shook when she actually starts leaving. The way that man springs up from the couch immediately with Pikachu-shock etched on his face. Makes me giggle every time. 🤭

Same energy.

Michonne walks away saying, “Back to my kids. Who I left to find you.” And I always note when she uses the terms 'my kids,' 'your kids,' or 'our kids' in their talks. And naturally, at this moment she uses 'my kids' because at this rate Rick is refusing to come home to these kids so she has to go home to her kids.

Michonne is kind enough to give Rick and us a recap of everything she’s done thus far to try and get this man to come home when she says “Well I found you. I fought for you. I tried to reason with you. I pleaded with you. And now I have to go.” She ain’t wrong.

And I like the movement that coincides with this as Michonne packs things up and grabs the book for her daughter because even upset she’s still a thoughtful mother. She also grabs a large kitchen knife cuz that’s all she really needs to take down whatever comes her way out there.

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

Also, I always note the way she says 'pleaded with you' because I know in that moment she knows that is not even like her. Like Michonne very rarely pleads with people. But Rick has her being someone she doesn’t recognize because she had been so willing to try everything to reach him. 

She did her best but now she’s got to go even tho it breaks her heart. Again, I’m glad that Danai wrote this where Michonne makes a decision that’s not just rooted in aiding Rick along his journey of trauma but rather knowing she can’t just put up with his back and forth forever because it’s unfair to her and it’s keeping her from her kids. So she basically stops Rick’s back-and-forth games right in their tracks.

Also, I love how quickly Michonne turns this swanky apartment into survival resources as she breaks the lamp for another weapon. It shows she may have been a city girl before but Michonne's also a seasoned apocalyptic survivor now.

And since I said I was gonna talk about every detail that I notice even if it's just minuscule, I have to say I always like - what I’m sure is unintentional - but how Michonne stomps on that one lamp leg only to grab a different one that was already detached. Seeing that, I was like those cute little stomps were just to let out some frustration lol. 😋

gif cred: @taiturner

Michonne reiterates that she knows Rick isn’t being honest with her when she points the lamp stick at him and says, “You’re lying, and you’ll see it and it’ll be too late.” Imagine if that was the last thing they ever said to each other. 😥 Rick would be distraught and done in.

Rick stands there staring at her silent and likely knowing she’s right deep down. It’s interesting how often Rick is just rendered speechless in these moments. It’s almost like so much is going through his head and yet so few of it can make it out into audible words.

Michonne gives one last quick look before swiftly walking out of the apartment and leaving. And now you know I always hate to see my magnetic babies part ways. 😢 But at the same time, I was honestly really proud of Michonne for not putting up with this hurtful treatment any longer.

Idk who Rick thought his wife was but she is not the one to just sit there and be tried time and time again. Especially when it means more time away from her children. But while to Rick she hasn’t yet shown how deeply this all tears her up inside, the second she leaves the apartment those tears start coming and we soon see just how much pain they’re both in over this. 🥺👌🏽

[kyomaakuma7]

After a very long break I’ve come to finally say my share. For those who want to know in more depth how I feel about the full situation I am writing it down below.

Thank you for everyone who sent kind messages and comforting words and thank you most to my good friend @thisanimatedphantom and Kou who supported me through these hard times.

My statement on the Situation

When I started in Inky Mystery, I never thought that it would  get me to where I am today with the friends that I have now.  When I was first introduced to it, and reading it I was immediately entranced into the story and wanted nothing more but to illustrate it since I had already planned to remake the original. Seeing such a well-crafted story I knew that this would be the story that I would illustrate. (And TAP knows how much work and behind the scene illustrating I’ve been doing from character turnarounds, layout design, alphabet style, and etc.)

Soon I made the first blog and received overwhelming support which I had not originally imagined would come with making my first post, and to that I am grateful. Soon I befriended the author of InkyMystery as our friendship grew, so did the attention that I received with the comics that I was illustrating for them. Unfortunately deleted against my wishes, and after trying to get it back to no avail I created a new blog where I had to restart from the beginning. This process was not easy and for those who know me, I was completely devastated by the fact that I had lost that account. After making my new account with the support of TAP I started my journey again.

Unfortunately with the positive attention comes negative attention. Soon the posts started to gain traction again, and people started to come under the assumption that I was TheGreatRouge making their come back.  What people failed to acknowledge and do was to do further research on was whether or not I actually was. As you can assume I am not them. In fact, I do not like TheGreatRouge. Their content was some thing that I consumed in great mass when I was younger, but soon realized that a lot of the things that they made were toxic and I distanced myself from that. Since then, I have gained certain opinions from on this creator. Nonetheless, I do not find it acceptable that people are taking this approach, even if they do think that I am them.

The words that were said to me in my inbox, comments, and direct messages are not things that I will repeat here. What you should know is that a lot of these things were pertaining to me being a disgusting vile human who should take my own life. As someone who struggles with depression, this was a personal hit to home and it cause my mental health to decline drastically. And I spent days going through and deleting these.

At first, I did not speak out on the issue and distance myself from my friends until eventually I came back and told them what was happening. TAP felt for me and as you may know when they made a post about it which I appreciate greatly along with comforting me and encouraging my break.

I took a long break from working on the comic, along with interacting with the community which worried a lot of people, but it was necessary for me to do since it was harming me so much. I am officially coming back and I will be more active on this account since I don’t have to follow it as a mainly Inky Mystery account.

My final statement on the situation is that even though I am not TheGreatRouge under no circumstances is it acceptable to tell somebody to take their own life or attack somebody on social media just because your beliefs do not align with theirs. No matter how wrong it is, it is not acceptable. If you think that doing those things are OK then you’re not welcome in my space. Please leave.

Thank you and I hope to continue doing this since I love it so much <3

-Sincerely, KyomaAkuma

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 20 thoughts

dare i say it, once again… new favorite episode??

okay, my previous favorite episode was an ENTIRELY different direction from this one, but i’d say there should be one best episode for serious stuff and one best episode for the silly!!! and this takes the silly crown!! and tbh i can't make an actual hard and fast rating anyway because there are so many great things to choose from- but this is amongst them, for me, in terms of legendary episodes!

please, join me on this ride, which i enjoyed each second of, and will need to someday rewatch without pausing every 0.5 seconds to jot something i noticed down. the live experience begins beneath the cut.

it’s been 84 years…. (3 days since i’ve seen an episode)

ooo, this sounds interesting! is scully going to work with an author?? are we gonna learn more about the things that she reads?? this is prime content to a person like me

stars…. space ship….. filled with tubes and wires and other such things…… just kidding!!! it’s a guy working on some electrical stuff. whilst two people drive by!! i thought they were mulder and scully at first but they are not

“um, i don’t want to scare you, but i think i’m madly in love with you” says this guy who is not mulder but actually named harold to this girl who is not scully but is actually named chrissy. OH! and this is the first date. so that was a weird thing to say. i thought it was quite sweet at first but that changes things for sure.

GASP! UFO be upon them. creatures are coming out to get them. she asks what they are and he says “how the hell should i know?” ooo ooo i know! they are aliens 👽 and then the two fall on top of each other like they are knocked out… and the aliens drag them away???? 

until a king kong looking fellow rolls up. very puppet-y. and the aliens don’t know what this creature is either!!! and also ask what that thing is and the response is “how the hell should i know?” haha i see what you did there... out aliening the alien

bum bum bum bum…. (<- my attempt at recreating the noise of the intro)

now, what was that? i'm stuck on the king kong and godzilla love child puppet….

scan up on mulder’s iconic poster!!! and a guy is here who is yet again not mulder. his name is mr. chung and mulder will NOT talk to him… oooh, what is their beef…?

mr. chung is saying he always felt alienated on this planet, who can even imagine actual aliens! and he has a point there.

oh! scully is a big fan of this fellow, which is why she agreed to talk to this guy!!! he calls her beautiful, which is true, but time and place 

so he isn’t even interested in aliens, but his publisher said he should write a book on the matter. he is going to create a NEW genre: non fiction science fiction, a gimmick that will give him money. this seems somewhat disappointing to scully, who must be a believer in artistic integrity, but i find his honesty refreshing.

she wants him to tell the truth, but apparently he spent 3 months in kass county where all this stuff went down, and NO ONE could tell him what actually happened. the truth is just as subjective as reality. which sounds like something i learned in history class. and, it helps explain why everyone with an alien story starts with some variation of, "i know this sounds crazy, but"...

so he wants HER version of hearing of the case. also he touches her arm and... let's slow down a little there, mr. chung.

OHHH we are seeing a story told in flashbacks!!!! narrated by scully!! how wonderful!!!

this girl is suffering from “missing time”, a phenomenon we have come to know well here on this blog. also her clothes are inside out and she has signs of abuse. not looking great for her.

apparently mulder prefers the term “abductee” to “experiencer”, which mr. chung has valid disagreements with. we go on, however.

this poor girl is seeing aliens that are not there and her nose is bleeding. WAIT! it’s the guy from before! harold and chrissy! he comes to her window to say he did everything he could but she rejects him, thinking he had drugged and assaulted her. yikes.

harold is testifying that he was abducted by aliens, but no one believes him. he stuck to his story UNTIL our agents arrived!

(MULDER SAYS SOMETHING VERY OUT OF POCKET HERE ABOUT GOING TO PRISON BUT LET'S KEEP MOVING)

despite this announcement of presumed prison time, mulder brings chrissy in for questioning. asking her if she has all the symptoms of “post abduction disorder”, which she confirms, while scully rolls her eyes with great force in the background. and he talks the girl’s parents into letting her do hypnosis.

“what is your opinion of hypnosis?”, mr. chung asks scully, which is something i also have been dying to know! i mean, we saw her do a little bit before, but it didn’t seem to be a positive experience. she says it has therapeutic value, but has never been proven to enhance memory; it even makes memory worse. a very balanced and doctor-ly answer! 

LMAO scully is so cute… mr. chung mentions another book he wrote and she proclaims it “one of the greatest thrillers ever written” <- STOP I LOVE HER SHE IS SUCH A NERRRRD 😭😭

mr. chung said the FBI knew nothing about how hypnosis worked back during the MK ULTRA days… and he is fascinated by the idea of a person’s consciousness being transformed by listening to words. admittedly very fascinating! you could probably say the same about meditation, no?

(but he speaks to the power of storytelling, i realize now in hindsight! how we find ourselves wrapped up in the tales of things that never happened, how it fills us with sorrow or joy! how fascinating! i see what you did there, writers!)

cutscene to hypnotizing chrissy. who is seeing aliens. she is on a space ship wearing a fit that looks very similar to a lady gaga chromatica era performance, but it has tubes attached to her. harold is in a very similar contraption!!!!

she says the aliens are arguing without moving their mouths and she hears the lead alien in her head saying it’s for the good of her planet. and he is stealing her memories? um. for what purpose...

scully is serving looks in the corner while this goes down, looking mad as hell and very good. she says chrissy's abduction story seems a little TOO typical… and i have to agree! but mulder says no, there are TWO people with the same story! they can't both be lying, surely!

LMAOOOO they play with censoring the dude who comes in and yells at them… “well, of course he didn’t actually say ‘bleeped’” 

(BAHAHA i’m loving this insight into how scully’s memories operate. so this angry man is named detective manners)

“you still gonna hold the boy?” “oh, you bet your blankety-blank bleep i am” <- i am a simple woman, and an actor delivering these lines with a straight face whilst surrounded by other actors keeping a very straight face is going to make me cackle. look at her looking so bored while he says that. i’m howling!!!!

anyway, harold has a very different story on what went down that night, that did not seem to involve gaga-inspired fits, but instead they were both placed in electrified cages. while another alien in a nearby cage smokes a cigarette. he seems to be what i would call “an unbothered king”

in this story, harold claims that he will protect chrissy and never let anything happen to her, and of course something immediately happens to her while he hides in the corner like a baby. lmao.

and this alien is talking in english! not telepathically! he keeps repeating “this is not happening” until harold ALSO gets taken by the thing that took chrissy. 

mulder is trying to figure out what is going on, but his predictions aren’t lining up with what happened to harold. scully is pacing and looking pissed, and again, very pretty.

“you know when you’re a kid, and you tore the legs off a bug for no reason?”, asks harold (cutscene to mulder’s face with visible confusion) LMAOOOOOOO

scully getting to business: did you engage in consensual sexual intercourse that night? she is not messing around! she's had it up to here with the shenanigans of harold and chrissy!

harold is very very quiet until he says that her father will kill him if he finds out!!! gasp!!! confirmation!!!

so is this whole story just… a cover up??? for fornication???

scully vs mulder time. “so what if they’re having sex?” he asks, which is funny coming from him; and anyway, he claims it happened BEFORE the alien stuff went down. but she thinks they’re traumatized, and that is more likely than alien abduction. 

until detective manners bursts in and claims he has an eyewitness to what went down! he used more blanks and bleeps and again the straight faces killllll me

and ALL OF THEM telling their stories start with “i know how crazy this all sounds” just as mr. chung had described LMAOOO. now who tf is this dude who says he was an eyewitness?

(i’m taking soooo many notes because i keep laughing and noting things. which is a good problem to have!)

this dude, named roky, spent 48 hours straight writing down what he saw, and said that by looking at this, they are putting their lives in danger. so okay. better be juicy.

he says his garage door opened up, a car pulled in, and a man told him some facts about venus. he says they put him in a trance! and that they were in all black……

mr. chung says that myths of men in black garments are nothing new!!! so take THAT, men in black legends, you are one of many.

back at roky's place, the other dude in black says jimmy carter thought he saw a UFO once, but it was just venus. roky is scandalized, grabs his paper, and states that he is a REPUBLICAN.

(omg jimmy carter is going to be 100 in a few months god willing…..)

this man in black is saying that roky saw VENUS and nothing else, just VENUS. and not to tell anyone he saw anything but VENUS or he will die. and then the car drives away. 

so after that build up, he gives mulder the manuscript, and says he is packing up and leaving. bye bye roky. hope you find some peace.

mulder is reading this story to scully who is sprawled on the bed, looking, again, angry and hot. it seems he is describing that earlier puppet-y action.

oh! roky was the electrical guy from the very beginning!!! he hides in his truck but the king kong looking fellow says “be not afraid” and that he is needed for the good of the earth? what is with the good of the earth here.

cutscene to a very baffled looking scully laying in bed as mulder continues to read LMAOOOOOO

AND ROKY’S STORY SAYS HE WENT NOT TO OUTER SPACE, BUT INNER SPACE HELPPP!!!! now, inner space is towards the core, if you, like me, were unaware. also, king kong godzilla dude’s name is Lord Kinbote, so jot that down.

mr. chung says he has a copy of roky’s manifesto- which was sent to his publisher? and LMAOOO the story is disturbing both for its soul orgy scenes and the fact that it is written as a screenplay 

well, surely your partner didn’t believe any of it, mr. chung states! “mulder’s had his share of peculiar notions” is scully's carefully worded reply... LMAOOO 

cutscene to her sitting up from the bed and calling him nuts <- LMAOOOOO but HE says that whatever roky saw may have triggered some delusions, and that the only story that doesn’t add up is chrissy’s, so he is calling to get her re-hypnotized, much to scully’s indignation!

so back to the hypnosis. and chrissy is now mirroring harold's story exactly. oh! she says the people who took them are from the air force?? so where did the gaga slay outfits go... 

the air force men are arguing in front of her. and then they say to “rinse her out”. saying it is for the good of her country. and stealing her memories!

so WHO is doing the real memory stealing here….. the aliens or the government?? an age old question!!! one that is at the heart of this series.

scully and mulder fight over what is going on, and he thinks that this might have nothing to do with aliens, until detective manners shows up with news that a crazy blankety blank claims to have an ALIEN BODY!!

(what if it’s a raccoon with mange…)

again, the man recounting this story begins with “i know how crazy this is going to sound”, but then says he wants to be abducted by aliens. well! i’m sure that’s a sexual thing i don’t care to unpack.

cutscene to mr. chung interviewing this same man, who wishes to go where finding a job is not a requirement. he was looking in a field for UFOs. and when he called the authorities upon spotting one, the agents show up!!

he says that scully was a man dressed as a woman but not pulling it off??? RUDE AS HELL! jail for 10,000 years. "HER HAIR WAS A LITTLE TOO RED, YOU KNOW?" LMAOOOOO and mulder was the “tall, lanky one” with a blank expression. well yeah that is an accurate depiction.

AND ACCORDING TO THIS GUY'S ACCOUNT, WHEN MULDER SEES THE BODY, HE SHRIEKS LIKE A STARTLED SQUIRREL I’M CRYINGGGG. so scully says to wrap this body up!

BUT THEN SHE GRABS HIM AND SAYS TO NEVER TELL ANYONE HE SAW THIS I’M CRYINGGGG... that had to be such a silly scene to film 

okay, seeing the part about subjective truths now. this is so funny... why is this loser making scully a hater in his version!!!

she’s PISSED to hear he claims she said this LMAOOO and that is ridiculous!! they even let him view the autopsy!!

so mulder takes this weirdo’s camera and records the autopsy?? scully cuts his brain open. and the tape ends up on late night television LMAOOOO

SCULLY IS SO EMBARRASSED THAT SHE IS ON THIS ALIEN HOAX AUTOPSY TAPE... I’M CRYING SOMEONE SAVE HER!!! and the host of whatever show they end upon is STUPENDOUS YAPPI FROM THE CLYDE BRUCKMAN EPISODE!!!! i'm howlingggg

she’s mad that whoever got the film edited out all the important scientific findings!!! like the two layers of skin!!!

wait. it’s a zipper. this is a dead guy in an alien suit. LMAOOOOOOOOO

the weird UFO cameraman kid is ill after realizing it was an ordinary dead guy, and scully looks deeply pained as he runs away to get sick LMAOOO

so: who is this dead guy? he was in the air force! and his name is robert. but who arrives but more people from the air force!! are they here to bury him?? or question the agents…

the folks from the air force want robert back, so she has to break the news that he is dead, and being kept for investigation into kidnapping. can they see him? scully is like yeah sure but mulder says no!!! but you CAN talk to the other AWOL guy we brought in. GASP!! a bluff!!! and it works!! from this they learn there is another missing guy!

LMAOOOO except it doesn’t go as smoothly as intended, and mulder is all “hmm he was here a few minutes ago… guess he’s still AWOL… anyway wanna see the body?” I’M CRYING THIS MANNNN IS SO RIDICULOUS 

but bad news: the body is gone. 

cameraman UFO guy is sitting on his floor watching the autopsy tape. when in bursts… the men in black from the earlier garage scene!!!! they knock him out. 

he claims mulder slapped him back to reality. and that he ALSO threatened him... me when i lie.

so mulder doesn’t have the tape. but when he drives home a fully naked man is walking about in the woods. it’s the other missing lieutenant, jack!! he is repeating “this is not happening” in the same voice as the alien as before!!!!! HUH WHAT IS GOING ON?

mulder takes jack to eat. he claims to have piloted the "UFO", and that all the abductions are military stuff, and at the base the abductees are messed with mentally, until they come out convinced they were probed by aliens. 

well okay, if its all the government, than what abducted YOU, jack? he isn’t sure about anything at all anymore, even if he exists. until who walks in... but the military!!

wait, mulder points out, it can’t all be fake- who was the third alien? jack seems to know him by name- lord kinbote. HUH?

and mr. chung heard a story about that same night from the cook at the restaurant! apparently mulder ordered sweet potato pie? huh, that’s interesting. and he kept ordering more and more pies with each question he asked the chef. LMAOOOO I just KNOW that scene was hard to film!!!! scenes where people eat always make me wonder how many times they had to have that damn bite of pie. 

but he claims there was no jack, nor any air force personnel at all. just a hungry mulder. again, so what is the truth...

mr. chung points out that scully doesn’t seem too phased to learn about all the contradictions in this story, and she says well no, not after what happened next. because when he got back to the motel, the men in black were in her room, going through her stuff! they claim she went to get some ice. he’s got 'em at gunpoint, screaming WHERE IS SHE!!! all protective, okay i see you. but she really did go to get some ice???

okay… man in black says that some alien encounters are engineered by the government and then exposed to discredit truth seekers. and mulder counters, well, people say the men in black also do purposefully strange things, so that anyone describing them sounds crazy! they proceed to… try and hypnotize him?

BUT IT’S ALEX TREBEK WHO IS DOING THE HYPNOTIZING???? LMAOOOOO HAS HE BEEN THE QUIET MAN IN BLACK THIS WHOLE TIME??

mr. chung is GAGGED, and wants to know if it WAS alex trebek, but sadly scully cannot confirm, for has no memory of this!! 

she woke up the next morning to mulder in her room….? and mr. chung is also gagged to hear this. me too tbh like did he just sleep on the couch? well we know that is how he sleeps at home so i guess i'm not shocked.

mulder’s trying to explain that she didn’t just "let him in" last night, but detective manners calls and says they found a bleeping UFO.

and what is it but…. a plane!! a secret plane!! and who are they carrying away on stretcher but the missing airmen, jack and robert???? SO HOW DID THEY DIE!

mr. chung puts his pen down, baffled, and scully points out that this story may not have a lot of closure, but it’s more than some of their other cases, which is funny because it is true. and she’s playing with her earrings and it’s so cute.

cutscene to mr. chung typing at his place. until a shadow approaches and he holds a tiny gun!!!! he is ready for a showdown but it’s… mulder at the door?

WAIT how does chung recognize him… did scully show him pictures i'm crying

mulder is in chung's apartment, asking him to not write the book, because it will do a disservice to a field that has always struggled to maintain credibility. we can’t understand these alternate realities yet!!! well. compelling argument... but mr. chung needs a paycheck. 

OH! and mulder suspects that the book is a “covert agenda” of the military industrial complex. always theories upon theories with this guy...

mr. chung says the book WILL be written, but he needs an explanation from mulder: what really happened to those kids on that night?

his answer: how the hell should i know?

(it was so perfect, i thought the episode would end right here)

mr. chung says he has deadlines, and mulder looks very sad, very previously neglected shelter dog rizz, and walks out. back to mr. chung’s furious typing. 

okay, so the cameraman now works for the electrical company roky worked for. because roky moved to california, preaching on purification and the inner earth and core enlightenment. right right right makes sense.

cutscene to scully reading the finished book by mr. chung!!! she is fictionalized as “diane” who is “noble of spirit and pure of heart” but “nevertheless a federal employee” LMAOOOO

and mulder is “renard muldrake” LMAOOOOO that is such a funny name... he's watching something in bed shirtless as his fictionalized self is being described- “a ticking time bomb of insanity” AND HE’S WATCHING THE BIGFOOT TAPES BAHAHAHAHA

chrissy now is an environmental advocate and harold still loves her but it isn’t required. aww harold :(

mr. chung ends by saying that we are not alone in this universe, but in our own way, we are all alone.

NEW BEST EPISODE CONTENDER???

this feels like one of those posts where people make up a bunch of information and then it all gets proven wrong so it is described as a "net zero information gain" bahaha

but don't get me wrong, i don't fully understand what happened, but i loved it. i was laughing, i was enjoying seeing the subjectivity of one story to the next, i was enjoying scully and chung time, and despite all the silly, we still got clues on the whole "is it aliens or the government" thing. and sure, maybe it doesn't make immediate sense, but you have to ponder these matters to learn what is at their heart!

so what DID we learn? well, some alien cases might be the government! but i guess that is still a "might", so maybe we can't truthfully say we LEARNED it. we learned that scully is a big fan of mr. chung!!! we learned that mulder is fiercely protective of his line of work from all his years of being ridiculed! and that he watches the famous bigfoot tape for fun and also maybe like sweet potato pie? it was unconfirmed.

i really enjoyed the playing with perspective, seeing how one character saw things, and then another. and seeing mulder and scully threaten that dweeb was so funny because it was so out of character and had to be silly to shoot.

and i thought it was impressive how it managed to tie back to the big alien and government mystery while still making me laugh so hard. how many past episodes can be analyzed through the lens of certain things being faked for exposure? and what REALLY happened to those airmen? we still don't know if mulder's convo with jack even happened! and we never will!

i came to appreciate the company of mr. chung immensely, even though i thought he was gonna be creepy after calling scully beautiful and touching her arm, but i suppose that he was just a genuinely sweet fellow. you can't blame me for being suspicious after some of the things she gets put through, but i'm sure that if i picked one of his books off the shelf, i, like scully, would be a fan.

overall, i am deeply pleased, and would love to give this a rewatch sometime when i am not taking notes so i could appreciate the pacing in more detail. man, season 3 has really been killing it, huh? and i'm nearing the end!!

[silverliing]

Mike’s wall art

I love seeing analysis about ST set design because it really spells out so much of the story without verbally telling you, and ive seen much discussion abt the details of mike’s room in s4 (that one way sign haunts me btw). buuut there are two pieces of visible wall art that I don’t really see get talked about on here (that i’ve read) and I just have a few things to say about them and what i think they might be telling us about Mike’s character and upcoming journey (hint: going into the UD)(hint: making plans and leading the party)(hint: byler)

so idk if this has been pointed out or if it’s common knowledge atp but the two pieces circled above are lithographs by artist MC Escher; Hand with Reflective Sphere (left)

and Relativity (right)

(a lil hard to see in this screenshot i’m sorry😢)

The artwork is beautiful as you can see (canon Mike Wheeler has great taste in art). Escher was most known for his intricate “impossible constructions” which are optical illusions of paradoxical space, he was also the inventor of the impossible cube:

this is some pretty cool nerdy, mathy stuff that I’d expect mike would be into, but looking at it from the context of his character and the direction of where the story is headed, there were 3 immediate possible readings that popped into my head which point toward 3 different (yet coexisting) directions:

He likes the art — It’s true, this art taps into Mike’s interests. Valid but boring. zzzz. snooze. You could argue that these posters should be taken at face value, but I just feel like in a show like ST —where the main cast knows of and is in various ways affected by an evil alternate dimension— having a character with wall art that references perspective/dimensional anomalies doesn’t really tell us much about his specific character or story. We’ve known that the ST set designers use a character’s space to show us who they are as people, these two artworks need to tell us something about Mike and his journey. And maybe Mike’s sensibilities about the world at large are shifting into nihilism with everything that’s happened in hawkins and the art reflects an absurdist outlook of future (teenage stuff, growing up, etc. etc.)

It foreshadows Mike’s s5 arc — I love this one. Mike is one of the few in the main cast who haven’t been in the upside down proper, so this art could reference not only that he’ll go into the UD in s5 but also that there could be dimensional anomalies involved in his travel or journey there. Perhaps this is how they’ll be able to find Max— by bending the laws of physics and using the mechanics of dimensional travel against itself, perhaps to open new doors or travel in different directions (hint: time travel 😏). And i think the reason this art is in Mike’s wall is bc it will be Mike who formulates the plan to find Max and retrieve her with the help of El and Will’s new powers 😏 (g*d knows i want to see leader Mike make a come back)(and Will with powers).

Will Byers — we know Mike and Will are tied together by the narrative and so I think these artworks could be directly pointing to Will with big red arrows. This point is corroborated by simply analyzing the formal qualities of the artwork, both individually and as a set. Hand with Reflective Sphere is about optics and perspective, about seeing, but also about the flattening of space. Relativity is about space, dimension, and paradox, but also about impossible perspective/vantage point. When read together the objective reading of them is about sight and space and paradox, about how the flattening of space helps us see something new and impossible. While Mike hasn’t experienced the dimensional travel into the UD proper, many of those closest to him atp had; El, Will, Nancy… but the reason i think these two posters remind him of Will specifically is because out of everyone else who has been in the UD, only Will experiences the feeling of being stuck there and of seeing into both dimensions at once; the stuck view-master, true sight. Mike associates these things combined (dimensional travel and dimensional sight/perception) with Will.

Also, Mike is a nerdy guy, he seems interested in this kind of stuff for the fun of it so he could’ve had sciency charts that reference the subject of visible light and paradoxes the way Suzie does, but instead he has not one but two fine-art pieces by a pretty big graphic artist that reference the subject of sight and space. Also, Idk what it is about the fact that it’s fine-art and not movie/game/dnd art that makes me also associate it with Will— the self-proclaimed visual artist of the show. The words are all jumbled up in my head rn but; artist. sight. all-encompassing. dimension. paradox. new perspective. -> -> -> -> Will Byers (is this a hint to wills powers??) etc. etc. etc. you get it

Secret 4th option (ties into #2)

Mike gets Vecnaed and this forces him into extensive self-reflection and the labyrinthian trials of finding himself and mastering his fears(maybe he’s already begun his self-searching and that’s why we see this art at the beginning of s4). cue cool musical montage of Mike navigating his own memories and mind-scape to find the answer that will make everything make sense while also hiding from vecna and buying the party time to find a way to end him.

[ol-files]

The full story of Island of Wakfu

The introduction sequence shows an egg-like planet, the color of Stasis, from which a large meteor is seen shooting through space, hurtling toward the Eliatropes' planet.

A Thousand Mysteries

"The joy of a sweet summer afternoon for our Mysteries. rejoice, Eliatropes! The day has finally come!" - Pulva

These sacred rites, bathed"s with solar flares, complete our work in honor of your glory, Goddess." - Mina

Chapter 1: The Sanctuary

Stook

Sent to look for Waki Wa on the sacred Goddess island, Nora and Efrim meet Stook on the way, a "former Eliacube" who tells them that Master Qilby has disappeared and that something is going on between him and the king (Yugo). They then meet Glip for their Wakfung trial, after which he sends them on their way to the Goddess Shrine.

At the shrine, Mina announces that the Goddess has called them. The statue of Eliatrope beseeches them to pass her three Veils in order to meet her in her abode. To begin, she requests an offering for her face – a feather from a blue Tofu –, one for her tears – a cup, made of the bark of a singing tree – and one for her hair – a comb made of a silver scale from an Oracle fish.

They gather the first two items without difficulty, then meet the Oracle fish at the pond:

«  I need to show you something; in a distant place, across dimensions... On an island in time, your fate hangs in the balance. I need you to understand how to change it. — Oracle »

He warns them that everyone's Wakfu will be eaten by an unknown force, that they are their last defense, and gives them "the dream power to fight." To hand them a scale, he introduces them to the mighty Platypus, who will assist them later.

Having collected all three offerings, they present them to the shrine. The Goddess warns them that doom is already upon them. They must pass the three Veils and are sent to the forest to learn teleportation with Glip.

Chapter 2: The Forest

« Learning is a game. When you play a game, you learn the rules and logic, while trying to be the most creative and free under its constraints. This, my children, is the true way to learn ». - Baltazar

« We are not the only inhabitants of this world. The Goddess is at the origin of everything. We are all brothers and sisters, but we must not stagnate. for Wakfu is movement, and stagnation sin. » - Chibi

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Glip teaches Nora the basics of teleportation, but as they progress through the forest, they find Prespics. This link will take you to our sister Wikia, Dofus Wiki made aggressive by the Stasis that has fallen in the forest. Nora and Efrim fight their way through and rejoin with Glip deeper into the forest, near a Stasis meteorite. Glip explains that Stasis was forbidden by Chibi the prophet, but that this rock is somehow different. For now, he will only tell them that Stasis is "anti-Wakfu." A little further, they find Chibi's Great Hall, a sanctuary where Stasis is forbidden.

« Chibi was the first to cross the third Veil. This is where he died. His body is here, a tiny spark of Wakfu still trapped in his bones. » — Glip

Inside, a skeleton rests on a rocking chair. Nora's Eliacube comments:

« Stiff, smelly... Yep, seems like a corpse, all right... Look closely. Is it real? I wonder how the prophet REALLY died... And aren't Eliatropes supposed to be immortal? Chibi was our Prophet, but he was also a great poet. He left many poems, known as Mysteries, behind in this world. This Iwak is a plug-in allowing me to decode Chibi's Mysteries. » — Nora's Eliacube

A tooltip adds that "Mysteries are pages from Chibi's secret Herbarium. Each mystery tells a long-lost tale."

Chapter 3: The Meadow

« These flowers that we call Manolia, each of them is an individual, a singular being. Their roots feed on the core of Wakfu: the heart of our, a whirling vortex, breaking its waves on our shores. » - Mina

« All Manolias are linked to a network called Wik-Fi, a precious gift. We, Eliatropes, use it to connect our Eliacubes and communicate. And so we talk with flowers, and through flowers. » - Chibi

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"He has no time for the dark roots at his fingertips; the buds on the roots, their promise, not time. It is the most beautiful flower of the field he desires." - Shinonome

Back in the meadow, Mina shows Nora and Efrim how to interact with Wakfu creatures and flowers using Wakfu and Stasis. She then sends them on their way to Vili Summit for the ritual of Chibi's rebirth. The ritual is a symbolic representation of Chibi's resurrection in his Holy Egg. There is a legend that says maybe, one day, the Prophet will be reborn... and this may be the day. There is a large egg and a Dragoturkey This link will take you to our sister Wikia, Dofus Wiki, which according to Mina is too weak to crack the egg. Efrim forces the egg open, but "as always," the Prophet is not reborn. They proceed higher up the mountain to find Tina, their "most precious flower."

« It is Chibi's soul, his gift, an heirloom for us to tend. We must see Tina bloom. Then, perhaps, Chibi will come. «  — Mina

Efrim breathes on Tina to make her bloom, to no avail, and Grougaloragran calls out to Mina, saying he must speak to the initiates at once. Mina opens an Eliatrope path (similar to a trail of successive portals) to the lake for them.

« Something has happened to the King's Palace. Qilby has betrayed his people! We're at war with invaders from the sky. Soon the threat will be upon this Sanctuary. The King is dead... but all hope is not lost. He will be reborn in his Royal Egg, his Dofus, along with his Dragon, Adamai. The King's Dofus is in the forest, in the hands of our ancestors. » — Grougaloragran

Badly injured, the Dragon sends them to retrieve Yugo and Adamai's Dofus. Before they can leave, a rain of Stasis stones falls from the sky and Mina takes the other children to the temple. From the craters, Rozens sprout, Stasis-charged flowers that corrupt their surroundings and damage characters who get too close. The Goddess speaks to Nora and Efrim:

« An ancient galactic threat coming back to haunt us. They want our Wakfu. They will drink it all. The threads of this world unravel, revealing the truth of our Origins. My children are doomed by mistakes of the past. I am sorry. I am so sorry. Something... draining my soul... My voice... fading out... » — Eliatrope

Fighting through the Rozens, spiders and Prespics, they make their way through the forest and defeat a large, corrupted Prespic. Grougaloragran contacts them through a Drake Stone, beseeching them to secure the king's Dofus right away. The twins take down the protective field around the Dofus, and thus pass the first Veil.

Stasis Rising

« A secret Lab ? What kind of accusation is that ? How can I keep a secret from the King ? I am honest and truthful ! I would never, never, ever do something behind your back, your Majesty. » - Qilby

« The smell of the dark Rozen de Stasis is a breath of tartar, do not be seduced by its beauty. - Grougaloragran

Chapter 4: The Crater

As more meteors hit the planet, Orgonax is seen walking in the distance. The Goddess speaks once again:

« Our people were cursed, long ago, in another world. We escaped a terrible doom, and we built a new world. Who amongst our people betrayed us and awakened the past? My... voice... is running out... Help me, I'm disappearing... But not fast enough... Pain... » — Eliatrope

Nora and Efrim rush back to the Sanctuary, but passing through Chibi's Great Hall they find the skeleton has fallen off the chair and down the stairs, and the room is dotted with Stasis. Nora's Eliacube makes an intriguing comment:

« Well, look at that... It actually doesn't look like a real skeleton. Why would someone place a fake Chibi here? Why would they lie to us? «  — Nora's Eliacube

They find a trap door on the floor and head down, while the Eliacube warns them that this place is sacred and forbidden. They find an underground laboratory, with a replica of Mount Zinit in the center. The Eliacube recounts that Chibi heard the Goddess's voice when he was napping on the summit and that the Council has forbidden access to the mountain ever since. On the replica, Nora finds a way to activate a hologram of Qilby:

« Qilby speaking. I'm afraid time has already run out. I can't stand it anymore. Someone has to unveil the secrets, the taboos. The King doesn't want to listen to me, the fool. All he wants is a false heaven. I want to go back. I want to avenge our fathers and our sons. Nothing can stop me now! I leave this message for history. I will climb Mount Zinit, into the forbidden zone. I will open the gates of Wakanu. I will expose the parody that is our Eliatrope Goddess. I will save us all. I will make us true warriors again. «  — Qilby

Coming out of the lab, they find more craters and the tracks left by Orgonax. Reaching the lake, they see Lu-Fu invaders tearing down the Goddess's statue while she calls for help. By the time they get to it, the statue is already in shambles, but the Goddess leaves them musical notes to invoke her beyond the Veils. A tooltip describes the Goddess Song as "a devastating Hymn from the First Veil. None but Eliatropes can hear it without instantly being consumed." She begs Nora to use the Song against her (the statue), as she can take the pain no more. As the initiate complies, she thanks her and tells them that this soul, this voice, are gone only for now, and to find her in Intiwakana, her abode.

Chapter 5: The Temple

« Qilby? Ah, the poor fellow... if only he’d listened to me doing what he did. What was it? Uh... Look... You’re so young. You might one day understand. » - Glip

« Yes, yes, yes, I passed away a long time ago, by Chibi himself, when he created our technology here in this earthly paradise. According to Chibi, his inspirations were divine, the Goddess had helped him create his wonders. If that’s true, and I’m convinced of it, then I’m of divine origin. So that’s not cool? » - Stook

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In the nearby forest, the Treechnid This link will take you to our sister Wikia, Dofus Wiki Amalami's voice and song are being corrupted by "the song from space," sung by Rozens. He becomes Amalama:

« GIVE ME YOUR SONG! LET ME TAKE YOUR TONGUE! I WILL FREE YOU FROM YOUR ABSURD GOD! I AM THE TRUE MAESTRO! I AM THE PRIMO UOMO! ELIATROPES ARE LIARS! DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH? YOUR GODDESS DOES NOT EXIST! HAIL, ORGONAX! » — Amalama

Unfortunately, defeating the corrupted tree also kills Amalami.

Nora and Efrim reach the temple and find the Wakfu Fountain encroached by Stasis flowers, draining its energy. They destroy the flowers and find Stook hiding underground. He gives Efrim a power-up and as they return outside, Baltazar calls for them and asks for immediate help. They head to his rescue but are caught in the middle of rampaging beasts running away from some unseen threat. They escape and fight more Lu-Fu with the young Redmo, who is killed by troopers. They then come upon Glip facing off against their leader Odo, but he is quickly struck down. Odo thirsts for Wakfu and orders his troops to set up the "Extractor" to take samples from this world. He then returns to his Frigate, letting them handle the busy work. Before passing away, Glip begs the twins to save the children hidden in the temple.

Chapter 6: Vili Valley

« Our library is the memory of our people. Everything we have done is here. Books are precious, they are life, and our memories. We need them, without them we could not survive with abstract information. We need to give them substance. » - Chibi

« As the invader approaches, our way of life is threatened. This paradise we called home is gone. The king is dead, his palace on fire. Everything seems lost. We were betrayed, but we could have done something. It’s my fault... it’s... » - Glip

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Nora and Efrim fight more Lu-Fu in the temple and rescue the young Kiri. They find an Eliatrope path to the upper levels and come across Chibi's testament.

« Chibi left his belongings to his lover, Mina. And he crowned Yugo our King. Oh boy... Master Qilby must have been so angry. » — Nora's Eliacube

Trivia: One of the children to be rescued is Zora from Wakfu: Les Gardiens, and freeing her unlocks the achievement Guardian.

Once all the children are rescued, Baltazar calls for a meeting in the Dragon Hall. Since the children cannot yet teleport by themselves, he takes them "to a place where [they]'ll be safe forever" – the timeless dimension Emrub. He leaves after imparting another power-up to Efrim, after which the Eliacube comments:

« Those kids you saved... Baltazar's children, we call them... They are younger than anyone else, but no one remembers their births. Where did they come from? » — Nora's Eliacube

It is likely that they were the children sent to another dimension during the first Mechasm attack on the Eliatropes' original planet, but it is curious that no one else seems to be aware of it.

Later, Mina says she must make a sacrifice, now that Qilby has betrayed them. She must find the Pow Wow, their most secret place of ritual, and needs their help. They must go to the Zaap portal outside the library. But before they can follow Mina, Orgonax appears and destroys the portal, forcing the duo to head to the beach and find the backup Zaap suggested by the Eliacube.

On the Beach

« You talk about education. Well, I think education is the responsibility. We cannot drown our children in the news. They have to use them to get to where they can. We’re just watching them, so they don’t get hurt. » - Mama Conch

« Time will be born from the hourglass, a grain of sand after another. Cause and consequence, brothers jumaux from the will to change the world. » - Goddess

Chapter 7: Pliyi di Bili

Nora and Efrim reach the beach and see Prissy the Conch being attacked by crab-like creatures she calls bad krabbies. They rescue her and she asks for their help finding her sisters – Ellie, Evvy, Kelly, Marcy and Mary –, who were affected by "red fumes" that made them say bad words and terrible things. Near the beach, they find another of Qilby's holograms:

« Ah... If only the Council were honest people, I wouldn't have to do this... The truth? So simple: The Eliatropes are not what they seem to be. This society is not our first. This planet is not our home world. A long time ago, we escaped. Now, we must pay the price. I will be the redeemer. I will make things right once again... Because I'm the only one who can understand Chibi. » — Qilby

After all the Conch sisters have been found, Lu-Fu arrive on a ship and storm the beach. Nora and Efrim dispatch them, then pay a visit to Mama Conch in a nearby cave. Pleased that her girls are safe and did not pick up any bad words, she gives Nora one of her pearls, which will allow her to reflect projectiles.

Chapter 8: Club Platypus

“Many Eliatropes were disappointed by the Goddess. They joined cults to forget her. She and her Veils. It is a tragedy, because if no one believes in Her, then she will leave this plane of existence. It is a fact." - Baltazar

“I don’t understand. Why walk away from the Goddess? She is gentle and caring. What reasons can justify such an affront?” -Glip

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A little farther on the beach, they meet Yama, who says a giant flower (a Queen Rozen) is sucking the light away and driving everyone mad in the nearby village. Nora and Efrim immediately provide assistance but are stunned by the cry of the dying flower. They awaken in Yama's hut, where he tells them that his leader probably won't be happy even though the flower has been taken care of, and will probably still sacrifice his sister Zoe to his "stupid Egg."

In the village, they see the Shamipus, local leader, proclaiming that the sacrifices are working since the light has returned. To continue to receive protection from the Platypus Egg, he commands more sacrifices, as expected.

Attached to a totem surrounded by dancers, they see a Dofus protected by a force field and start looking for a way to deactivate it. Sneaking into the Shamipus's hut, they deactivate the force field and Nora dresses herself as another Shamipus. The villagers are confused and Efrim uses the distraction to cause the egg to hatch, freeing the Platypus. All the villagers immediately rally to him and therefore to Efrim and Nora. The Shamipus teleports away, promising to have his revenge. Immediately after, more Lu-Fu arrive and destroy the gate to come after the Eliatrope and Dragon. They drive them back and Yama thanks them for saving his sister and the village, then reveals the location of the secret Zaap on the beach.

Ancient Questions

« Wait a minute! There’s nothing logical about it!" - Stock

"Pow Wow is a special place. An ancient place where Chibi came when he was old. He went there to die, it was his choice; offer his soul to the Goddess." - Glip

Chapter 9: Pow Wow

Mina warns Nora that the Stasis is disrupting the Wik-Fi and making teleportation unstable. Because of this, Nora must reach the Pow Wow through a secret path below the canyon. Finding the place by herself will be her last initiation rite. Mina also says that she has a very hard decision to make, but not to judge her, as it is their only hope.

Islands of Wakfu - Mina's sacrifice

Mina's sacrifice

Finding their way through a bamboo forest, they find a Lu-Fu excavation site. They kill the invaders and find an Eliatrope path to the Pow Wow. Mina tells them that she needed privacy for the hardest decision of her life: she offered her Wakfu in this holy place in order to create a bridge to Chibi's soul. That was the only way for Nora to pass the second Veil. Activating a Zaap, Nora and Efrim reach the heart of the Pow Wow and find Mina dying. She tells them that Qilby has betrayed them and brought back Stasis. Her Wakfu has gone into a flower that Nora must plant in the temple of Wakanu, atop Mount Zinit, in order to find Chibi's island and save the Dofus.

Making their way to Mount Zinit, they find another excavation site where the Lu-Fu are forcing moles to do their labor. After fighting numerous foes, they are told by a mole that the entire mountain is collapsing, but they head into the mines, driven by necessity.

Chapter 10: Rizi

"The heart of our world is a heart of Wakfu, blue as the yolk of a timeless egg, before the cosmic omelette occurs." - Glip

"Beebee loves wakfu. Mmmm, you love wakfu..." - Beebee

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They quickly come out of the mines and fight their way up through more ranks of Lu-Fu, all the while feeding their new companion Beebee the bee with Wakfu to make her glow. With her help, they navigate through dark caverns and continue to make their way up. They find a Wakfu-extracting machine, pumping tirelessly to feed Odo's insatiable appetite. They destroy the machine and face Odo's general in battle.

On Top of the World

Chapter 11: Mount Zinit

« Why all these secrets? Something is wrong. Would the council have lied to us? Does the Goddess really exist? What would be the point of inventing such a story?" - Eliacube

"O ancient mountain, venerable spirit presiding over the material plane, you will not weep. Like insects, we cling to your sides. We dare not look upon your summit. Our eyes fall when we cross the path of your deep caves, and the intimate and dark secret of your origins." - Qilby

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Climbing ever higher, they make their way to Wakanu as Orgonax climbs Mount Zinit. On the way, they find a new hologram from Qilby:

« Mount Zinit is a place of corridors, of dark corners. Here lie the secrets of our kind. Halfway through my journey, I rest in this tomb to contemplate my choices. I may doom our way of life, our dreams, but I cannot endure the lies we tell ourselves. Eliatropes were born of the Stars, and we came here to escape our Fall. We need to confront ourselves with the truth. We need to avenge our people. The King is a liar and a coward. I will not stay silent. Not anymore. May you who find these words forgive me. » — Qilby

In the same room, they find schematics and drawings that resemble Orgonax, and the Eliacube comments that he is big enough to walk inside, and that there seems to be a hollow spot in his right hand.

Chapter 12: Wakanu

"Why did I do this? Because the king did not want to do anything! He wanted to stay here with his lies. We are supposed to move forward! We are supposed to feed on other systems to progress to the end of time. That is the real reason for Wakfu." - Qilby

"It seems unreal. Like we’re in the bowels of a whale perched on top of a mountain, like an ark from a distant past." - Eliacube

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Nora and Efrim undo the seal to the temple Wakanu and find Lu-Fu already inside. The temple is a maze designed by Chibi, and the Eliacube suspects that he may have a flower nearby, since according to Mina he performed the Pow Wow ritual. Inside a strange machine, they find the Oracle of Waki Wa. They wake him up and he tells them that he is not real, not really there. He used to be Chibi's personal assistant, but he is only a projection reactivated by Qilby when he was last here. Nevertheless, he has the power to activate a Zaap leading further inside the temple.

There, they find Lu-Fu that have drilled their way into the mountain, as well as Stasis deposits. They dispatch the creatures and reach the first chamber, first part of Chibi's puzzle. They are met there by Modo and Podo, Lu-Fu leaders looking for Stasis for Odo, who has gone to the top of the mountain to meet Orgonax. The Lu-Fu attack the characters, hoping to use them to force their way inside the Inner Sanctum, but they are no match for Nora and Efrim.

The next puzzle is a large room filled with tubes carrying Wakfu. Using the Platypus, they deactivate the force field that blocks the exit and proceed to the next room after collecting the original Eliacube. The last chamber contains statues of the Eliatrope Council, and strangely, a Rozen grows in front of Qilby's. They find Chibi's flower in front of his statue, proving that he sacrificed his Wakfu at the Pow Wow, and plant Mina's flower before her statue as she asked. Solving the last puzzle, they find an Eliatrope path to Mina's island.

Chapter 13: The Islands

"Chibi, my love, I am by your side now. I can see your face beyond the waves, like a lighthouse, which attracts me. We will be reunited in this world where souls are connected. I will be the bridge that joins you." - Mina

"Islands? You mean paradise? You really think there’s something after death? Do you think what we are looking for is a holiday? The islands are a lie, the Goddess is a scam. The Platypus is the one and only god." - Chamipus

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On Mina's island, they meet with the Oracle, who explains that her soul came here when she sacrificed her Wakfu. Since the Wakfu of Council Eliatropes and Dragons return to their Dofus upon death until their reincarnation, it may be that these islands are small planes of existence contained in those Dofus, where their souls remain conscious.

According to the Oracle, "to get to Chibi's island, you must uncover Mina's secret love for him." They find fragments of her soul, and open the way to Chibi's island. Grougaloragran meets them there for the Ritual of Ages, and to take the king's Dofus to another dimension where it will be safe. He instructs them to find the Goddess Beacon atop Mount Zinit.

« Pray for her to take you with her. In her womb, children, you'll live forever. Your soul, protected. » — Grougaloragran

*The Eliacube picked up in Chibi's maze appears on a pedestal while Grougaloragran takes the Dofus from Nora, but no mention is made of it and it simply disappears after the scene. In the animated series, Grougaloragran does however mention that Nora entrusted him with both the Dofus and the Eliacube.

Odo's Frigate appears in the sky, and as the Oracle instructs her that letting go will be the quickest way to reach Intiwakana, she lets the Lu-Fu take her aboard without resistance. There, Odo demands the king's Dofus, but Nora and Efrim attack him and his crew and gain the upper hand. Before it is too late, Odo drinks a full jar of Wakfu and becomes an even more powerful beast with the ability to teleport around the ship. But ultimately, he is still defeated, along with the rest of his crew.

Chapter 14: Intiwakana

"It’s not a lie if you believe it." - Glip

"Well, it’s time to go home now!" - Stook

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The Frigate crashes near the top of the mountain, where Nora and Efrim must face a Crackler guardian appointed by Chibi, who decreed that no one was allowed to pass. They then make their way to a small cave where they consult the Oracle one last time:

« You have saved the last Eliatrope, now this world is coming to an end. These invaders you've fought were once like you, innocent. They were seized, enslaved, brought to despair. Behold, this is their world, still alive in their dreams. » — Oracle

He shows them a vision of the Lu-Fu's world, of their Imperatrix giving up the fight after so many of her people have been taken away. In their last hour, they send a warning in dreams:

« Don't fear the loss of the material world, but embrace the pure bliss of dreams. In dreams, invisible waves become vessels. To believe is to feel. Sailing an endless ocean... to surf, but never to sink. Believe in the invisible. As it believes in you. »

— Lu-Fu Imperatrix

« This world is doomed. Mount Zinit is waking up. If you reach the top of the mountain, the Goddess may take you with her. Close your eyes, let yourself go. »

— Oracle

As they reach ever higher, Orgonax catches up with them and they are forced to fight him off to buy some time. They find a weak spot in his right hand and blow it open, creating an opening for the Platypus. Inside, he uses drops of Wakfu to tinker with the giant's internal mechanisms, making him lose his grip on the rock face. They quickly reach the top of the mountain and find a large flower that speaks with the voice of the Goddess (her last words are not transcribed for the player). Nora communes with it while Orgonax resumes his ascent. Channeling the Goddess's power, Nora launches a devastating attack against Orgonax, an explosion seen from space that wipes all life from the planet for millenia.

*The final attack against Orgonax had cataclysmic proportions and destroyed all life on the planet, and several millenia later, when the gods of the World of Twelve discovered the barren planet and recreated life on it, the process also involved highly destructive forces. Yet, mentions of Eliatrope artifacts abound in the world, such as Zaap portals, Eliatrope ruins and the book found by Karibd and Silar (mention in Dofus mmo and Dofus manga.

Source :

* https://krosmoz.fandom.com/wiki/Islands_of_Wakfu

* https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe_N8_H2VbTULBoBL65OY7VYRIUbC-fU7&feature=shared

[starry-teacup]

Because of some cool art you made I want to dip my toe into the Mechanisms.

where do I find the story?

So I don't know how much you know about them, but the basics are:

The Mechanisms is a band in which each member has a persona. They are a crew of immortal space pirates, roaming the galaxy in search of violence, fun, and stories to tell. Each persona character can be referred to as a mechanism, as in a member of the crew, but they each also have a mechanism, a clockwork prosthetic of some sort that was installed after they each had their own tragic story and made them immortal.

When they find a good, long, juicy tragedy, they turn it into an album. They also have two anthology albums, with some songs connecting to the wider stories and some completely independent of them, and a couple containing mechanisms lore. Their last album is from the live show of their final performance.

All of these albums stand on their own, and there is no particular order you need to listen to them in. They each contain characters and places from classic stories, putting unique sci-fi spins on them all and following queer narratives. I'd say bury your gays, but honestly, it's more like bury your gays and the entire planet they lived on, along with everything they ever held dear.

here's a summary of each, stolen from the mechs blurbs themselves:

Once Upon a Time (In Space)-

This tale tells of those embroiled in the rebellion against the tyrant of New Constantinople, Old King Cole. It tells of the love of Cinders for her captured Rose, of the treatment of Rose at the hands of Cole's genetic scientists, and of the bold but savage leadership of the rebel General Snow. And it tells of the final fates of all of these.

fairy tale but make it a rebellion. their first album, contains many of their most popular songs. solid. not personally one of my favorites, but the one I'm most likely to be listening to a song from on any given day. our boy jack and pump shanty are excellent.

High Noon Over Camelot-

A tale of hope and despair aboard the Fort Galfridian, long lost to the outside world, where the chaos of centuries of solitude has been brought in check at last by the guns of the Pendragon Gang. But the visions of the mad prophet Galahad, and the schemes of the Pendragons' lieutenants Mordred and Gawain, threaten to cast the station back into anarchy. And all the while, the Sun grows hotter...

arthurian legend has just become a space westerner in which everyone rides motorcycles and a fiery death threatens them all. haven't listened to it yet, but I've heard great things. Blood and Whiskey is a banger, and Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere are in a polycule, something I didn't know I needed until I heard it suggested.

Ulysses Dies At Dawn-

Ulysses Dies at Dawn. That's the word on the street, at any rate, if you talk to anyone who saw what went down at Calypso's Bar the other night. Who is behind the thuggish band known as the Suits - Heracles, Ariadne and the others? What is Ulysses's secret? And what is hidden within the security of the Vault?

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I think this is no-contest their best album. It's greek mythology in noir film style, with heavy usage of blues and rock. I don't even like blues, but I love each and every song. This one is also a little easier to follow than the others. I'd recommend starting here.

The Bifrost Incident-

The Bifrost Incident. Any schoolchild could tell you about it. The fall of the old order; two hundred years of Asgardian hubris come together in a single epoch-defining event. The maiden voyage of a train through the stars, vanished without a trace...

Remember how I think the last one was the best one? Well, this is still my favorite. Norse mythology framed as a mystery on a train, with a twist completely out of left field that leaves you reeling. Thus, it is probably the most difficult to follow, or at least, it was for me. The art you liked-which wasn't mine, unfortunately, credit to the artists is on the post if you want to check those blogs out-featured variations of the narrator from this album. let's just say I'm. not so normal about them.

well. ANYWAYS. this was...probably longer than what you wanted. Or than what I should have given. I don't get asks a lot and an excuse to talk about the mechanisms is always something I am willing to abuse.

If you do end up listening to any of their music, please tell me what you think! I'd love to hear it, and it's always nice to talk about them with someone else :)

[memyselfandmya]

JWCT PROMPT COUNTDOWN

Jwct countdown May 12-13 -> favorite friendship/duo:

I couldn't choose between Sammy & Kenji and Ben & Yaz so here's both of them in another excerpt from the fanfiction I'm in the process of writing. Again, this is mostly unedited. For context, they're at the water park in JW.

Sammy noticed Kenji standing off to the side with a disappointed look on his face. 

“Hey, Kenji! Did you wanna’ go–” 

He flipped his sunglasses to shade his eyes. “Sammy, let me stop you there. I know it’s hard to resist all this,” —he ran his hands across his shirtless chest, which Sammy hadn’t even been paying attention to— “but I’ve got a girl back home. And let me tell you, she is incredibly–”

She stared at him, head tilting a bit. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all. “Uh, Kenji. I don’t want to date you,” Sammy said. “Like, at all. I’m happy you have a girlfriend, though. I was just seeing if you wanted to hang out.” 

“Psh… Obviously. I was just kidding.” He cleared his throat. “About you asking me out. Not about my girlfriend... obviously,” he added on.

Sammy nodded her head slowly. “Right…well do you want to go on one of the rides?”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

“So tell me about this girlfriend of yours,” Sammy said as they began walking through the park.  

“Oh, uh–well you know. She’s really pretty. She’s got blonde hair…blue eyes? She’s, uh, really into art too.”

Sammy arched her eyebrow. It was obvious that Kenji was lying about his so-called girlfriend. Why he was, Sammy couldn’t be sure. Not that it really mattered to her. She wasn’t at all interested in Kenji—or boys for that matter. “She sure sounds like a great catch.”

Although to be honest, Kenji’s imaginary girlfriend didn’t seem like her type, at least not the blonde hair and blue eyes. Sounded more like her sister’s type in guys if anything.

Suddenly, her eyes caught on a huge slide with a line of people carrying bright yellow and green intertubes trailing from the base of its stairs all the way to the top which stood at about maybe 2 stories tall. 

“Last one to that slide has to carry the tube up!” Sammy shouted, pointing at said ride and dashing off before Kenji could get a word in. 

She could hear the sound of Kenji’s flip-flops smacking against the concrete as they ran for the line, ignoring the shrill whistle of a nearby lifeguard. 

—

Yasmina was still bristling from her encounter with Brooklyn. The nerve of that girl! Did she even understand personal boundaries? She just flitted around sticking her phone in everyone’s faces. It wasn’t fair that Brooklyn got to keep it just to be nosy. All Yasmina wanted was to plug her headphones in and listen to music.

It would’ve especially been helpful in that moment. Hundreds of kids were milling around screaming their fucking heads off and life guards blowing whistles at them and it was like shoving a bunch of forks in her ears. She just wished she could tune everything out. 

“Oh, look,” A familiar voice said. “There’s Yasmina!”

Kill me now, she thought, dread settling in her stomach. She sat up in her chair, to find Ben and Darius approaching her. Ben wasn’t so bad but Darius had just as much energy as Brooklynn or, dare she say it, Sammy. “What do you want?” She asked. 

Darius shrugged. “Nothing, really… Just chilling.”

Ben took a seat next to Yasmina, occupying not even an inch of the space and even that looked like it agonized him. 

“Have you done anything fun?” Darius asked, his eyes cutting to Ben.

Yasmina narrowed her eyes at him. What was he up to? “Nope. I’ve been here the entire time. Why?”

“Just asking,” he said. “Ben, I might go on the [Insert ride]. Are you good to stay here?”

So that's what he wanted. Not much of a surprise there.

She looked at Ben who shrugged. “Sure.” 

“Awesome! See you,” he said, not wasting a second to go run off towards the slide line. 

“Did he just dump you onto me?” She asked Ben. 

“Yeah, he did.” There was a hint of pain in his voice and Yasmina wondered how it must have felt to be abandoned like that. 

“Sorry.”

He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

Well that’s depressing. Then Yasmina noticed how Ben hadn’t moved any and still balanced precariously on the edge of the bench like he didn’t want to touch it all. 

“Here,” she said, tossing him the towel she’d been using to shade her face. 

Ben fumbled but caught it in his hands before spreading it out over the chair. Finally, he sat his full body on it and curled into himself. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Don’t mention it.”

To be fair, out of all the campers, she was glad it was Ben and not one of the others. Ben was quiet and calm and he kept to himself instead of sticking his nose into her business. He was kind of like her, in a way. 

After a moment of silence between them, Yaz could hear sniffling. She sighed, wondering if this was something worth getting into. And then: “Are you okay?”

—

Ben hated it there. Nobody understood. He could tell he was upsetting Darius by not wanting to go on any of the attractions but Ben just couldn’t. The mere thought of touching the tubes or sliding down slides that so many others had gone down made his skin crawl. If he wasn’t wearing long sleeves he’d probably be scratching at his arms or lathering hand sanitizer on his skin. There wasn’t enough hand sanitizer in the world that could convince him to go on one of those rides, though. The only comforting thing about the wade pool or the lazy river was the heavy amount of chlorine in the water but Ben knew there was only so much he could handle that day. Ben hadn’t even noticed his nails digging into his skin or the salty tear leaking from his eye.

“Are you okay?” Yasmina’s question only seemed to draw more tears from him. 

“No,” he said, swiping at his face. “I want to go home.”

Yasmina was silent for a moment, and in that time he had begun to think that she too fell into the Ben hate club. Until, “Me too.” 

Ben and Yasmina's friendship is so precious to me, especially in s5 of CC and I really wanted to bring that up in the earlier parts of the fanfic I'm writing too.

[berenwrites]

Late Again? - Stranger Things - Steddie - PG

Rating: PG | cw: mentions of sex | tags: fluff, rich Steve, post Vecna

Prompt: Love is being late to work because you can’t ever say goodbye in a reasonable amount of time (@sharpbutsoft)

A/N: Written for @steddielovemonth day 14. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Hope you are having a great day full of love be it platonic or romantic.

Also on AO3 soon | All My Other Stranger Things Fic

Late Again?: Love Is Too Compelling!

“You should just quit,” Eddie said, doing his very best to drag Steve back to bed.

“And leave Robin alone?” he replied, slipping out of his boyfriend’s grip. “I couldn’t. She took a year out so she could earn some money for college, and I won’t leave to her deal with Keith on her own.”

“Let me guess, you offered to give her the money and she said no,” Eddie said, flopping back onto the pillows.

“Yep,” he said, searching around for his work vest. “She’s being stubborn, wants to earn her own way. I’ve tried explaining that since my Grandpa died I have more money than I know what to do with, but she keeps telling me I might need it in the future. It was hard enough to get her to let me pay for some proper driving lessons. Her dad is great, but good at teaching driving he is not.”

“I’ve seen her dad drive,” Eddie agreed, “he’s almost as erratic as his daughter.”

“They do take after one another sometimes,” Steve said, holding his prize aloft when he finally found his vest down the back of the nightstand.

They might have been somewhat enthusiastic the previous evening given how their clothes seemed to be in very random places. Not that Steve would ever complain. His sex life with Eddie was amazing, which went right along with how much he had fallen in love with his metalhead boyfriend.

“Please come back,” Eddie whined. “Just for five minutes.”

“You mean like yesterday’s five minutes?” he responded. “If I am late again, Robin might actually tell Keith, and I’ll have to sit through another one of his lectures about company loyalty and responsibility.”

He was very glad to find he still had plenty of clean underwear in the drawer when he pulled it open. Laundry day was a way off yet, thank heavens.

“Am I not worth it?” was Eddie’s next gamble in the dragging him back to bed game.

“Of course you’re worth it,” he said, leaning down for a quick kiss on the way to the bathroom, “but I happen to have the keys today.”

“I shall lay here and pine away thinking of how I have been abandoned,” Eddie added with huge drama.

“Write me a new song,” Steve shot back, sticking his head back into the bedroom after grabbing his toothbrush. “You know how hot I think that is.”

“I feel like an old-timey bard with a rich benefactor,” Eddie replied.

“Yeah, well when you and the band are rich and famous, I’ll be your kept man, okay?” he said with a laugh.

Eddie had tried to find a job in town after he had been begrudgingly allowed to graduate, but no one would hire him. Even though he had been completely exonerated and even made into a bit of a hero by Owens’ carefully created cover story, Hawkins was slow to believe. After Steve’s grandfather had died and he’d inherited a ridiculously large amount of money and the house in Hawkins, which it turned out his parents had never owned, Steve had offered to give Eddie the time and space to chase his dream.

It had taken some persuading, but neither of them planned to go anywhere until the kids were graduated, just in case it wasn’t as over as everyone said, so Eddie had finally acquiesced. Eddie had a set up in the basement where the band could also practice and, these days, he’d just about moved in permanently too. Technically he and Wayne had a house thanks to government hush money, but Eddie spent most of his time at Steve’s, and they had Wayne over whenever Wayne was free.

“Stevie,” Eddie called from the other room as Steve started the shower.

“Yeah?” he called back.

“Have you ever actually told Robin how much you inherited?” Eddie asked.

“Um,” he said as he thought about that. “No,” he realised, “but I did tell her I had so much I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Throwing around numbers had felt kind of wrong.

“You do realise you don’t exactly live an extravagant lifestyle these days, right?” Eddie said and Steve turned to find his boyfriend now standing in the doorway.

He shrugged.

“Guess I got used to budgeting,” he replied.

“Which is very noble, gracious knight,” Eddie said with a grin, “but are you sure she gets just how filthy rich you are now? I didn’t until you showed me the numbers.”

Steve had never thought of it like that. Throwing some of the paperwork he’d been given by the lawyers at Eddie had been part of his last-ditch attempt to convince his boyfriend to take him up on his offer.

“Ah, maybe not,” he had to admit.

“Then I shall return to bed and mourn your parting quietly today,” Eddie said, back to his dramatic flair, “but give Robin the numbers and invite her to be your live-in lesbian of leisure.”

“Our,” Steve corrected as he laughed at Eddie’s choice of words.

This was why he was sure Eddie had more than enough talent to eventually go global. One day Eddie’s words and music would be famous, he had no doubt. Using the money he had never expected to receive to give Eddie the time and space to realise his dream, seemed like the perfect plan.

“I still don’t know if she’ll say yes,” he said, pulling back the shower curtain to climb in, “but I will tell her. Now shoo before I’m tempted to be late again, because if she’s mad at me she won’t even give me the chance to talk.”

“As my liege orders,” Eddie said and bowed, which was hilarious given he was naked.

Steve gave himself a stiff mental talking to and refused to look too long. After all, he only had so much will power.

All My Other Stranger Things Fic

[dotthings]

“We’ve all fought enough battles for one lifetime. Now we get to choose who we want to be”

“Like what?”

“Whatever we want, kid. Whatever we want”

Those hints threaded throughout the series, the theme most particularly for Hunter, of thinking about what else is out there besides being a soldier—for someone who was created to be a soldier and never got a chance to explore another life. The touchstones more than once on Hunter’s interest in or curiosity or wistfulness about what more he might be, what other paths there could be, but he thinks he can’t have that--reached beautiful fruition.

A battle-weary character with a huge heart who is great with kids and acts as a father figure, who is a big (little) brother and is so very loving. After all he’s been through. That there are endings possible for characters like this who have suffered a great deal that are other than tragedy, someone who has devoted themselves to the good fight, doesn’t mean that’s all they are or all they can or should ever have.

This kind of ending on a show about embattled characters with dangerous jobs also not falling back on the trope that because it’s a show about (insert whatever other topic here) it can’t possibly end any other way but miserable tragedy being dumped on its head and given the subversion it deserves!!! While being gently open-ended, which is good. Because hard binary choices are not always how life works. People don’t have to full on quit something they’re good at but might need to make changes and take a break and have space to pursue other things too.

Hunter can do that now. He can rest how he needs to, when he needs to, instead of a life of perpetual combat. It's not saying he absolutely never goes adventuring or into battle again. ( This series finale opened up a whole timeline of missing years and stories to tell. Pabu's protectors could certainly be a thing). But it’s his choice and he doesn't wind up worn down into thinking he can't have anything else and he gets to grow old and he gets to rest the way he needs to, when he needs to, and he doesn’t have to lose almost everyone he loves to find some peace.

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 31 - Your Song

Summary: Nothing like a bit of music to get the creative juices flowing on a hot summer night.

Word Count: 855

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Meta, Metafiction, An Illustration of My Mind Space, not quite about a romantic pairing but still a love letter of sorts, 1st Person POV, references to some of my old writing that you'll never find

Note: Thank you to @thisapplepielife for being an excellent host. Any event like this is huge and tedious to organize, and I truly am in awe of how you pulled it off and the tools you put together for everyone to be successful. Thank you!!!

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! And ALL of the wonderful works that have been created for CCFest. (If we do it again next year, you’ll know where to find me.)

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

It’s a humid July night.

I’m on the third floor in a tiny bedroom that used to be for a guest but is now an office full of my shit.

The bed is still there though. Uncomfortable and laden with pillows and stuffed animals.

“Man it’s fucking hot in here,” he says as he flops onto the bed. I’m at the desk, ignoring him as I queue up a song to write this. He’s dressed in his S4E1 best, hair haloing his head. I could be kind to him and change his clothes. But I don’t.

I’m not a merciful god.

“Thanks, oh great and powerful sweetheart,” he deadpans.

“I need you in that outfit,” I tell him as Keane starts ringing through the speakers.

Beeps and boobs of the early 2000s. He groans.

“This song again? How about some real music?”

“This. Is. Music!” I mock him and he pouts prettily. “Come on, this is your song.”

“Uh huh.”

“Its about being stuck, about everyone getting older and changing, and leaving the singer behind.”

He hums and then shifts onto his side, precariously dangling over the edge of the twin bed; he reaches underneath to pull a scrunchie from the bin I shoved under there some time ago.

“Does that sound familiar?” I prompt him a bit more, but he’s too busy futzing with his hair, trying to put it up. He makes a bun about as skillfully as I can, which isn’t great, but he still looks good. Of course he does. “Hello? Asshole? Are you ignoring me or avoiding the truth here?”

I snap my fingers twice in his direction.

“…you can keep playing the song,” he agrees without so much as a glance my way.

So I hit repeat and he nods along to it this time, humming as it goes.

I can’t argue. It’s the closest I’m gonna get to him accepting that it hits home.

And it hits home for him because it hits home for me. We are one in the same, in one way or another. Some things quite literally, taken from source material. Others by my hand—such is the way when you pick a blorbo, you impart yourself onto them.

“Oh here we go,” he groans. “Waxing poetic about fanfiction and fanspaces.”

“You are just as bad you nerd,” I growl at him through gritted teeth. “You play DND! You quote Tolkien and Star Wars!”

The bickering goes on for a minute. Until I decide it needs to stop. He needs to behave if I’m gonna get this done and let him move onto real adventures.

“Maybe you’re the one who’s making me stuck,” he suggests. “What’s that verse? You’re gone from here, soon you will disappear, fading into beautiful light…that should be me.”

I grumble something about another story to him "if I can just finish this!" I need to get the thoughts out of my mind while they're fresh.

What he doesn't know, or maybe what he does because he's imaginary and does indeed live in my head, is that he's always up there. In there in some way, shape or form.

He's lucky to get the real estate, and there's such a vast amount of it, because the Kingly figure that used to occupy all of my thoughts is currently retired. Has been ever since June of 2022.

Eddie Munson is stuck.

Everybody changes and he just stays the same.

But he doesn't, actually.

In the worlds I make for him, he grows up, he travels the world...he actually does get stuck in a few of them and I will apologize to him profusely before I give him everything he ever wants.

That is my promise to him, my dedication to him, to give him every future that he deserves but will never get in canon--or might never get; whose to say, the damn show isn't done yet even though his asshole actor seems to be done with him--until I can't anymore. Because that is my lot in life as a fanfiction writer. That is all of our lots in life, to continue where the ones who created him left off.

Not because I wish I had him, even though I wish I did, but because it's what he deserves.

I let Thorin win the crown of Erebor. Let him grow old in the Shire with Bilbo. And I could have let him have forever with Lukhudin, had Eddie not walked into our lives.

But because he's here now, I will give Eddie everything. A thousand lifetimes. He'll never be stuck again.

"If you could just," I turn to him, "cooperate for me please?"

He purses his lips, furrows his brow, and then waves a hand dismissively.

I try to turn back to the computer, try to finish this entry.

But he stops me.

"Tomorrow..." he pauses and I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. "Tomorrow can I try that Mountain Dew Code Red you were thinking about the other day?"

And I can't help but laugh.

"Of course you can Eddie," I tell him. "Of course you can."

[headkiss]

Hi there!! would I be able to request an Eddie x female reader story?? :) basically just high amounts of fluff where he comments on not only how timid/shy she is, but how short she is as well cause I’m a sucker for that! I’m also super short and I like to imagine that Eddie would find that adorable lol

Like “Oh you’re so little!”, “What’s up short stuff?”, and even “Jesus H Christ I wanna shrink ya down and put you in my pocket- ”😂😂

hiii i hope u like it!! thank u for the request :D | 0.5k words, short!reader fluff

Eddie’s surprised to see you at the party.

Though you’re his friend, not once has he encountered you somewhere outside of small gatherings or when you go over to his trailer to pick up some weed. It helps me sleep, you always tell him, like you need to justify yourself. To him of all people.

You’re standing in the kitchen when he finds you, tucked in the corner by the fridge and a red cup held in your hand. You move out of the way every time someone walks by, he notices. Every time they come close, even.

It’s hard for him to watch you make yourself small like that. He knows you’re shy, and you’re short by nature but he hates to see you trying to take up so little space when he thinks you can take up the entire room just by being there. He walks over.

“Hey short stuff,” he says, leaning on the side of the fridge behind you. You turn to lean your back against it, looking up at him.

“Hi, Eddie.”

You give him that smile of yours, small, hesitant, but he loves it all the same. He wants to kiss you then and there. He taps your nose instead, watching it scrunch up in response.

“Whatcha doing here?”

“By the fridge?”

“At the party, I mean.”

You look down, sheepish.

“I dunno. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about, I guess.”

“Clearly not great if you’re hiding out all by yourself, huh?” He teases.

If he’s honest, he doesn’t like parties all too well, either. He usually only shows to make some money selling and get free drinks if he feels like it. Actually, he was getting ready to leave when he spotted you. He changed his mind pretty quickly.

“No, no. It’s fine. Just not for me.”

“You can be honest, babe. I’m not gonna tell,” he smiles at you, close-mouthed and pretending to zip it up. Your secret's safe with me.

“What are you doing here anyways?” You change the subject, “I thought you hated everyone.”

“Not everyone,” he says. He’s looking straight at you when he does. “I’m just here for business, that’s all.”

You let out a small laugh and shake your head. Such an Eddie thing to say.

He’s one of the only people you find yourself feeling comfortable with, which is surprising considering how so many other people look at him. He’s kind, soft and sweet. A major juxtaposition to how he looks, though he’s very, very pretty.

“Is business good, then?”

“I was gonna ditch until I saw you, actually,” he admits.

You look away when he says that, bashful under his attention, warm from it, too. You never let yourself imagine what it would be like to truly be with him, but you don’t think you can stop yourself now,

You think he’d be mostly the same. He’d make you smile, distract you when you need it without having to ask. Only, maybe he’d kiss you, too. That would be nice.

“You don’t have to stay for me, Eddie.”

“How about I just take you with me, then?” He asks, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Can go get some food, anything.”

“That would be really, really nice.”

“Let’s go, short stuff. I’ll even give you a boost into the van!” He grins at you.

Despite his teasing, you grin back.