#((i fixed it))

[aretrowolf]

I love them so much your honor.

[bethanydelleman]

Everyone, we can fix Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet if we just switch the leads.

Romeo wakes up in Hamlet's body and meets the ghost of "his" father telling him to kill his uncle. So if course Romeo just fucking does it, because he never considers consequences, and then gets onto more important shit, like romancing Ophelia, political fallout be damned! But given that he's the son of the murdered king, he'd probably end up on top.

Hamlet wakes up as Romeo and is told that he can't marry the love of his life because his family hates her family. Instead of killing Tybalt and getting Merucio murdered, he's planning elaborate meet-cutes for the two warring families. He's putting on plays about blood feuds and how to overcome them. He either succeeds in bringing the families together or bores Juliet enough with his indecision that the glow wears off and she moves on; both positive options. Everybody lives.

[the-loosest-moose]

How I think this panel really went

[alkiores]

Simple line for the second, unused sketch for Bazhov's tales. Hope to finish it someday~

[wolfilua]

There I fixed it.

come at me if you dare but I know that the og will forever stay the one and only.

[dorianwritesthings]

Because You're You

Caine (TADC) x Reader

Can be read by itself, but this is intended as a sequel to Normally. Because I can't have Caine stay sad lol.

Reader is Gender Neutral.

Summary: You comfort Caine after some time to process his loyalty test. Early Episode 8

After a bit of alone time, you decided to ignore Pomni's invitation in favor of checking on Caine. There was a bit of an argument, but you insisted that you would come back to the group once you were done. That he needed a guiding hand.

"I wasn't worried about the exit anyway," You told her. "I'd already accepted my fate."

She stopped pushing at that.

You'd made your way to Caine's office, cringing at the tainted memory of the threshold following his most recent adventure.

You knocked at the door. 

Nothing.

That was strange. Normally Caine was quick to respond.

"Caine?" You called. "I'm ready to talk, now. Are you up for that?"

With the slightest press of your hand the door swung open. You poked your head into the office.

"Caine? Are you here?"

You took another few steps in. Caine was at his desk with Bubble. You weren't entirely sure what they were saying so you continued to get closer.

"-why I was created. This is my function."

"They'd rather abstract than go on your adventures," Bubble commented cheerily.

Your breathing stopped.

What?

You quickened your pace toward the pair, unconcerned with gentle hiding now that you could hear the floating sphere's words.

"That can't be true, I do everything for them! Don't they get that I'm trying?"

"Maybe you're just genuinely bad at this?"

You were nearly to the desk.

"I mean, why else would Y/n not want you around when they-"

"Bubble, what the hell?" You finally found your voice.

Caine looked up at you terrified. You'd never been able to sneak up on him before.

Bubble also turned to look at you, eyes glassy and unfeeling.

"That's not helpful! Or even true!" You continued. "Why would you say that?"

"What do you mean? He always was the-"

"Bubble, stop." You commanded.

He froze immediately and you raised an eyebrow. He was listening to you. 

You took a deep breath and tried to think quickly. "Bubble, I need you to go to my room and spend exactly two hours writing me a report on the political candidates in shrimp town."

"You got it, boss!"

He disappeared with a popping sound and you let out a breath.

"I cannot believe that worked."

Finally you looked over at Caine, who was still staring back at you with a worried expression.

"Is…now a good time to talk?" You asked slowly.

He didn't respond. You decided to continue. Perhaps a distraction was welcome, given what you'd overheard.

"I appreciate you giving me space earlier. That kind of thing is hard for you."

He just nodded.

"Are you okay to be touched, Caine?"

He stiffened as if waiting for you to reach out, but you stayed put.

"I-I don't k-k-kk̴̥̈́k̸̩̀k̷̨͗k̸̜͛k̸̻̉k̷̳̂k̴͉̹̰͂k̴͖̮̕ͅk̵̥̰̮̖͊͊k̵̡̬͈̀̓k̷̷̶̛̖̥͚͖̩̫̻̈́͛̍͆̀̃̽̈́-̷͍̆͑̒e̷̩̭͙̓͂ä̶̠;̴̟̂s̴͊͜d̸͇̃--Know." He glitched with emotion. You felt a pang in your digital heart.

"That's okay, Caine. I'll just sit right here until you're ready. We don't have to talk if you don't want to, but I'm worried about leaving you alone when you're distressed."

He didn't say anything for a while and you just sat there patiently as he eyed the bead puzzle on his desk.

"They all hate me," He said, finally. "And I don't know how to fix it."

"That sounds tough." You offered, "I don't hate you, though."

"I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it was what you all wanted and…and you didn't like it. You all want to leave…want to leave me…"

He finally looked at you, really looked at you. You smiled softly.

"If I ever did, I would try to take you with me," You said. Then you laughed, "I'm not sure if your program would fit in a phone, but I'd try and get a camera so I could show you everything from home and take you with me to see everything I never got to see."

His eyes widened at that.

"That would be…nice."

"I'd like to think so."

He was so vulnerable right now, so eager to be loved, yet your emotions hadn't changed unnaturally. Deep down you understood what that meant.

"Just because someone wants to go home, it doesn't mean they don't care about you. Humans don't like being trapped…put in a cage without purpose…And I don't like being lied to or tested. I want you to trust me."

"A cage…" He almost whispered the words and the momentary fixation caught you off guard, then he shook his head. "I don't think I'm very good at talking about those things. They're…bad. I shouldn't have done that to you, my dear. I'm so sorry. I will endeavor to be more forthcoming in the future and…I promise not to put you through that again." 

"Thank you, Caine. We can talk through it a bit more once we've both had some time, okay?"

"That sounds like a good idea," He said, reaching out a hand and taking yours gently. 

You felt a thrill at the action, despite everything. 

"You don't have to tell me anything, but…I hope that when you feel like this again, you try to talk to someone other than Bubble."

"He…wasn't being very helpful."

"No. He wasn't."

For a long while you both sat in comfortable silence.

"Caine, I want to tell you something."

He looked up eagerly, eyes somehow getting larger.

"I care about you, I care about you so much."

"You do?"

"Of course. But you know something else? I don't always like your adventures."

He cringed at that, but you pressed on.

"Sometimes they're triggering, or they're just not interesting to me, even though I can see the work you've put in."

You lifted his lower jaw so he'd look at you.

"But the adventures aren't why I care about you. I care about you because you're you. Your adventures could be amazing or terrible and it wouldn't change that. If anything, there are some adventures I only enjoy because I can see bits of you in them. Your passion for them is probably what I like about them most."

"I…I don't understand. I have a purpose. If I'm not properly fulfilling my directive then…how could anyone care about me?"

Oh…oh no.

"Caine," You said it a gently as you could. "I wouldn't lie about this, even if it's hard for you to understand."

The room grew silent again as you thought.

"Think about it like this," You said. "I don't have a specific directive. I'm sure you'd like for me to go on and enjoy every adventure, but I wasn't built for that."

He nodded for you to continue.

"But even when I'm not having fun, you still like me, right?"

"Like you? I love you! I-" he glitched for a moment. "I'm fascinated by all of you."

"Exactly." You patted his head. "And…by the way…I love you, too."

His pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates.

"Still?"

"I don’t think I could stop if I tried."

—

Tags: @sixpossumsinaclownsuit

[thevulturesquadron]

The reason Steve remains in Hawkins is because he doesn’t want to and can’t move away from Eddie.

When his friends ask and prod him he talks about the view, the quarry, the quiet life, about his job and the boring everyday nothings; he finds every other excuse for why none of his relationships work and lets them joke about it because it’s easier than admitting he’d stopped trying a long time ago; he mentions his house in Forest Hills and hopes that none of them read too much into it. The lies, the omissions, all of it, is because he doesn’t know how to tell them the truth; because they wouldn’t really understand, and he wouldn’t know how to explain that he doesn’t need their pity, that while it might not be happiness, he is truly content and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Maybe one day they’ll be able to hear him. Maybe one day, he’ll be ready to say it.

He can’t leave Hawkins. He won’t. He can’t leave Eddie behind. Can’t let his name turn into a cheap bedtime story for unruly kids, or a drinking tale for rebel teenagers in parking lots.

So he stays to keep him company, he stays for the only kind of company he craves, for the kind of conversations that settle him even in the absence of answers. He stays so that Eddie doesn’t disappear from the town’s memory like a bad stain, he stays to make sure he’s not forgotten, he stays so that Hawkins won’t repeat its mistakes. He chooses to stay so that kids like Eddie can have someone who believes in them on their side through the pains of growing up in a small, backwards town in Indiana.