#two steps back

[guessimdumb]

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The Fall - Two Steps Back (1979)

Maybe I'm getting a bit predictable - here's a knuckle ball.

Wait for the ice cream to come around

[bobauthorman]

I like how on top of things Sun is when it counts. I know he's mostly used as comic relief in more domestic settings, but when the action is going, so does he. In "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back", he quickly assesses that Ilia's scroll is important and directs both himself and Blake into getting it. He's a bit clumsy, but the only thing that really gets him (Before Ilia's whip) is the shock that the White Fang agent he and Blake are fighting is apparently a human.

[anglefan]

[steppingstonesuniverseguide]

Two Steps Back: Chapter 12 (There Is a Time for Many Words, and There is Also a Time for Sleep)

Summary:

Technoblade was a 20-year-old man who had been helping lead a rebel force against a corrupt government with Phil. Now he’s 6!

Wilbur was a ghost haunting his father and was on the track to developing omnipotence. Now his mind’s been shoved back into an 8-year-old’s brain!

Phil had spent 14 years of his life coming to terms with his son’s death in order to make new connections and try his best to save the world. Now his son’s alive again and his war buddy won’t eat anything green!

Technoblade, with his power to reverse time, has sent himself, his best friend and mentor, and (unknowingly) that best friend and mentor’s son back in time 14 years to before the war that ended Phil’s life began. But now what?

(Also known as Technoblade and the mortifying ordeal of 3rd grade.)

This is a sequel to One Step Forward and Like Footprints on the Seashore. It is a prequel to One More Step Out of the Pit. It is not a stand alone. Though you could read One Step Forward, Like Footprints on the Seashore, and this without reading One More Step Out of the Pit.

Look at AO3 for warnings.

“Reading is stupid,” Techno groused, for the 32nd time that day. His tutor had given him a book to read over the weekend, and not only did he hate the grueling process of reading it, he hated it after he’d read it.

“Still struggling with it?” Wilbur asked, sounding sympathetic. He himself was reading a book (of his own free will for some reason). Unlike Techno who was seated at his desk to try to concentrate, Wilbur had made himself a blanket pile on the floor of Techno’s room and was laying on his stomach with a much larger book open in front of him. Reading was one of the few activities he could do quietly, and he had chosen to do so to keep Techno company without disrupting him.

“No,” Techno said, tossing the book onto the floor. It skirted the edges of Wilbur’s blanket pile. “I finished reading it. It’s still stupid.”

It had taken him an hour to get through the small book, and at the end of it, the story was stupid anyway. It was about the moon being bullied by a bunch of people in a village. Which, either the moon was just a rock or it was a god, so Techno wasn’t sure why the hell they’d be bullying it. Then the moon ran away, and the townspeople regretted it because they couldn’t see at night. Techno thought it would make a better (and more accurate) story if they all regretted it because the moon disappearing would probably absolutely screw up the entire ecosystem of their seafront town if not flood it completely causing many, many deaths. Instead, they just said sorry to the moon and it returned without any bloodshed or drownings. A horrible story.

Wilbur hummed and grabbed the book, thumbing through it, eyes quickly scanning the pages. He managed to read the whole thing in less than a minute. “Hmm, yeah, I think I see the problem,” he said. “This book isn’t any good for you.”

“It’s the one my tutor gave me,” Techno said.

“Yeah, but,” Wilbur said. “I don’t think it’s… something interesting for you. It’s not a bad book. Just, uh, a bit for babies.”

That was probably a pretty good assessment. The book was for 6-year-olds. “I just don’t get the point,” Techno said, rubbing his eyes from where a slight headache had formed. “Why do I even need to know how to read? I survived…” over two decades, “6 years without it.”

“Hmm,” Wilbur contemplated. “Reading’s pretty important.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know,” Wilbur said. “Stuff like taxes and buying a house.”

“Well, I’ll just never do taxes or buy a house then.”

“It can also be fun,” Wilbur insisted while smiling.

“My experiences so far beg to differ,” Techno said with a scowl.

“Well, that’s probably because all the books you have read so far are silly kids books,” Wilbur said. “I’m sure there are books you’d like.”

“I doubt it,” Techno said.

“I think you’d like this book,” Wilbur said, pointing at the book open in front of him.

“The librarian literally asked ‘Are you sure you want that book?’ when you went to check it out,” Techno said dryly.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t because it’s boring,” Wilbur said.

“That’s what it sounded like to me,” Techno said. He’d also heard big books were the boring ones, and that was a big book.

Wilbur just smiled at him. “I just bet you’d love it,” he insisted.

“And I bet I wouldn’t.”

“Hmm,” Wilbur said. “How about I read you 10 pages of this book a day for two weeks, and then you decide if you think reading is stupid or not.”

Techno scoffed. “No. I’m not wasting my time.”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes. “I’ll get you a McDonald’s coffee of your choice if you listen for the full two weeks,” he tempted.

“How exactly will you do that?” Techno asked doubtfully.

“I have my ways,” Wilbur said with that secret smile of his that spelled nothing but trouble.

That sounded worrying... like something Techno as a responsible adult should tell Phil about. And yet… Phil would not buy him a frappe even if he did tell.

“No more than 10 pages a day,” Techno insisted.

Wilbur smiled at him with an amused sparkle in his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s no way I’m reading you more than 10 pages of this a day.”

“Deal,” Techno said. Wilbur patted the blankets beside him and, with a sigh, Techno slipped onto the floor to lay next to him. Wilbur scooted the book over so it’s spine was lined up with the space between them and Techno could see both pages easily. He pointed to the words as he read and Techno pretended to be trying to follow along.

“Tell me, O Muse,” Wilbur began, “of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.”

*5 Days Later*

“Phil,” Techno said calmly. “I need you to invoke your rights as a parent.”

“Huh?” Phil asked. He half sat up in bed and squinted at Techno, his face illuminated by the light from the hallway. “Wha?”

“You son,” Techno said. “He needs to read me more of the book.”

“Book?” Phil asked. “What book? Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Don’t listen to him!” Wilbur yelled running at him full force from down the hallway. Techno slipped into Phil’s room and rounded the bed, so he’d have a barrier between himself and the creature. Wilbur pointed at him accusingly from Phil’s doorway. “We had a deal!”

“What are you two doing?” Phil asked.

“He won’t read me more of the book!”

“I told Techno I would read him 10 pages exactly of a book every day. If he wants to know more, he’s going to have to learn to read himself.” Wilbur made a face at him. Techno glared back.

Phil looked between them, still seeming to be trying to process what was going on. Eventually, he seemed to understand enough to come to a conclusion. “You… do need to learn how to read, Techno.”

“Phil!”

“Exactly!”

“I am willing to get you a dictionary,” Phil offered. “In the morning.”

“Ugh,” Techno groaned. Even Phil had betrayed him. “This is not fair.”

“This is the most fair thing to ever happen,” Wilbur insisted.

“You will pay dearly for this, child.”

“Blah, blah blah, blah, blah blah blah,” Wilbur said in response. So very dearly would he pay.

“Stop,” Phil said. “Go to bed. Argue in the morning. You have school,” he said to Wilbur and then looked at Techno, “and you have tutoring tomorrow. Seeing as you actually want to learn to read now, you should probably get some sleep.”

“But I need to know what will happen in the book next,” Techno insisted.

“And the only way to do that is to learn how to read, Technoblade,” Phil said. He was just as bad as his demon child.

Said demon child was grinning at him as he stomped out of the room. “Watch your back,” Techno said as he elbowed passed him.

“Oh so scary,” Wilbur mocked from behind him. “Goodnight!”

Technoblade hated everyone.

For a bit more on this subject, check out Part 3 of 101 Steps to Dropping Out of High School Without Your Diploma.

Summary: This is just a silly-goofy collection of drabbles related to my fic Two Steps Back in the Stepping Stones Universe. We don’t see al

[carmenized-onions]

HEY LOVELY!!!! Now this, THIS, was worth every day i waited. IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING. Everything i dreamed it to be and more.

Tony and Mikey scenes? HEARTBREAKING. Every moment they have together, no matter sad or happy, is slowly chipping away at my soul.

Carmen getting a therapist? Genius. Don't know why the writers haven't given him one, boy does he need it.

Syd and Richie making sure Tony is taken care of by sorting Carmen out before he see's her again? Everything. I need them as friends, right now. NOW.

(still pissed at Carmen, though.)

The way you write characters reactions to grief is, like, stunning. STUNNING.

ALSO, as someone with a brother who struggles with drugs, seeing Mikey being portrayed as a nice person with loving friendships is really amazing to see. (the fact i have another brother called Mikey too, freaky? probably not. BUT IM A DRAMATIC PERSON OKAY?)

Anyway, i am genuinely in love with this series. You should be so incredibly proud of your self. Would i be able to get onto the tag list?

He congratulates you.

the absolutely shattered render quality of this image really fucking makes it. packing update: I've just got the desk and closet left! and also my billion plants.... i really don't want to think about the plants...

SO GLAD it was worth the wait, I hope chapter 14 also is. I'm not the most happy with the ending scenes right now... Happier than I was yesterday... but maybe I just need to stop looking at it, honestly. I'm transforming into S3 Carmen changing that menu every 5 fucking minutes AH.

CHIPPING away you say? not funny. I'd had these scenes in my head for a minute, but I was so worried about being off-base with Mikey's character because all I had to go off of was Fishes, so thank you God for Napkins I would've been so fucked.

SPEAKING OF S3, I know,,, it makes sense that he doesn't have one I mean he hesitated so much to just go to al-anon but even fucking al-anon in S3 he's reverted to just not fuckin' talking which SUCKS !! DON'T SUBTRACT !! PLEASE STOP SUBTRACTING IM BEGGIN YOU!!

I love Syd and Richie and the way they combine forces when it comes to their Shared Work Wife. I think what's so fun about it is that without this being for Chip, Syd wouldn't be so direct, and Richie would be so much fucking meaner, but because it's for her, they actually make an effort to sort Carmen the fuck out. And also beat his ass. two things can be true.

And THANK YOU I write a fuck ton of grief poetry and I think I just went to like. a lot of funerals as a kid. an unexpected consequence of having a kid a lot later than everyone else. It's in my bones. but like in a fun way.

Also, when I read this for the first time, I remember being SO confused because I was like. "There was another option?" And forgot that people fucking suck and see people struggling or in recovery as something that is other. Fucking ew. I never had any intention of portraying Mikey other than the really fucking good brother he is, who also just so happens to be struggling. Don't applaud a fish for swimming! People are people and they should be written as fuckin' people!!!! But I am glad my portrayal was appreciated none the less. YOU'RE NOT DRAMATIC!!

Of COURSE you can be added!! Though I will say, sometimes it doesn't always work when I tag people. So I am. sorry. I think it's something in tumblr settings? Gotta set your shit public or taggable or something? regardless. i'll fuckin put your name in there for sure!! thank you for your thoughts m'love!!

back to packing.... desk or closet desk or closet.... flipped a coin i got desk mannnn... wish me luck!! do i have anything from chapter 14 i can give you?

is this spoilery? c'est la vie, take it. kisses kisses see you in ideally less than an hour when i finish desk packing.

[xenosaurus]

I’m going to work on my ‘vampires trying to feel human’ story and I’m naming it “Two Steps Back”, as in ‘one step forward, two steps back’

[sanjuno]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Finally got around to doing a bit of editing. *proceeds to flounce off once again*

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

NCIS (TV Series) - S15/E22 ’Two Steps Back’ (2018) Peter Jason as SGM Robert King

I get such a strong gay/bi vibe from Peter. 

[photoset #2 of 2]