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new fic!!
https://archiveofourown.org/works/64863049
here are the memes~
r/relationship_advice
u/smashedcucumbers
My (26M) Roommate (28M) kissed me and I don't know what to do now.
So, for context, my roommate (28M) and I (26M) are both straight men. For privacy, I will call him RM, for roommate. Onto the background.
So, RM is an author — or, attempts to be one. He has a lot of potential but squanders it all on writing shitty porn for money. I have read, and still do read, his work. The skill is present, but he doesn't lean into it.
I am very rich. I don't understand what it's like to not have money or worry where my next meal will come from, and after a lot of introspection and discussion with him, I acknowledge this privilege. Monetarily, and familially, I am very lucky. This isn't to brag, or to say I have no struggles of my own (believe me, I do), but purely to add context.
I offered to pay his bills, etc., so he could write what he wanted but he refused most help because he didn't want to be "just some sugar baby" (???) — in the end, he only moved into my apartment and let me cover the rent.
We have been living together for 2.5 years now.
With the background out of the way, I'll get into why I actually made this post, now.
Last night, RM and I were having another argument over his writing. Since moving in, he has let me begun editing & beta reading his work. I have a formal degree in literature and editing, but don't do it for work. Needless to say, I know what I'm doing.
We argue a lot over his writing. Something about last night's fight was different, though. It was more tense than usual. Ever since the power went out last week — during which we had to share my bed for warmth — there has been a strange energy between us, and I guess it all bubbled over during this fight.
I don't even really remember the details. It was about a scene in which the tension between the protag of his novel and his latest love interest snapped and they fell into a passionate night. I expressed how unnatural it felt in context with the rest of the chapter, and how sudden, and that there needed to be more proper build-up. RM disagreed. I then pointed out the kissing itself and how unrealistic it was. We went back and forth like this a bit, egging each other on and arguing.
At one point, he said something along the lines of, "like you could do better," and I snapped back that maybe I could. He laughed and said he'd like to see my try and, without thinking — in the heat of the moment — said fine, go ahead. The silence was...deafening I tried to backpedal immediately when I realized what I said — again we are both straight men. I don't even know why my head went there, let alone why I said it.
After that, it gets fuzzy. All I remember is one second I was stumbling over my words trying to backpedal, the next we were on the couch and I was in his lap. I came back to my senses when he tried to take my shirt off and, as ashamed as I am to admit it, I've been hiding at my older brother's house since.
I don't want to go back home while my head is still such a mess, but I think my brother & his husband are starting to get sick of my intrusion.
Reddit, what do I do? He hasn't tried to contact me all day, or at all since I fled last night. I've never questioned my sexuality before, but now I don't know what to think. I'm straight, but...I didn't hate it?
I'm really at a loss.
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🔰 AutoModerator MOD • 7 hrs • Welcome to r/relationshi...
u/streetcat 6hrs
Ever since the power went out last week — during which we had to share my bed for warmth — there has been a strange energy between us
bro...you cannot be serious.
••• ⤶ ⬆ 1.2k ⇩
u/helpful-idiot 6hrs 🎂
Plain and simple, you need to talk to him. This isn't something that will just go away if you hide long enough. This needs real communication.
••• ⤶ ⬆ 3.2k ⇩
u/endoftheline 6 hrs
we are both straight men
Are you sure about that? Genuinely. Has he ever told you he's straight? Brought home girls? Anything concrete?
he hasn't tried to contact me
It's likely he's just as panicked as you are, OP. You seem like close friends and, sexuality aside, this complicates that friendship.
what do I do?
1. Breathe.
2. Thank your brother and BIL for their hospitality.
3. Go home and talk to your friend.
Regardless of the outcome, you both deserve an honest conversation with all your cards on the table. Especially if he's having an identity crisis of his own. Have some faith in your friendship and work through this together.
edit: spelling
••• ⤶ ⬆ 6.7k ⇩
u/smashedcucumbers OP • 5hrs
Thank you.
••• ⤶ ⬆ 346 ⇩
u/smashedcucumbers OP • 4hrs
I'm going to talk to him. I might update properly later. Thank you all for the responses.
••• ⤶ ⬆ 3.9k ⇩
I’ve had this saved in my wips since October of last year _(:3 」∠)_
My sibling used their birthday rights to make me watch the first 3 eps of Mob Psycho 100. If it were up to me, I would have binged the rest in like. 3 days or less. But I'm not allowed to watch it without them and they want me to 'marinate', so we only recently finished season 2 (no spoilers pls).
Anyway, I couldn't go any longer without drawing my new specialest boy. He has no chill whatsoever and i love him
i love how ppl keep assuming booth and brennan r together. theyre in love and everyone knows it except them
I keep thinking abt tipsy Angela in 1x09 saying she might kiss Brennan at the Christmas party and then immediately bi-panicking and covering it up saying “in a festive non-lesbian manner” girl could you be any more obvious…..
forgot to say this when i was posting a couple days ago but sweets and daisy getting engaged is so?? dude im so happy for them :<
Another shapeshifter au but it's gunwoo, and the people in his neighborhood keep asking him to babysit their odd pets?!?
(An au set where he's around 30 and moves to a rural area and likes his job and starts up photography again.)
There's a cheeky red haired cat that follows him around a lot, and likes to sit in his lap and on his shoulders. (There was one time he was walking home late and a cat leaped from the wall onto his back, almost knocking him over and giving him a heart attack. He didn't get down until he was bribed with food, and it was quickly apparent that food bribery was a mistake~)
For some reason unknown to gunwoo this has led to him being asked by various neighbours to look after their pets, including: a piano-playing rabbit (yes, that rabbit from the internet), a very shy deer (apparently not a pet but it lives in their back yard? Which is also apparently a full on forest??) (though gunwoo has never experienced anything like it when the deer finally approached him); an actual bird of prey (which was strangely polite), a hamster (which apparently likes watching YouTube), and then there was that one time he played Go with a bear (an actual bear).
yes, just yes
It's a Fenton thing
A lot of Dead on Main fics have Danny and Jason get together over some form of violence and have it be how ghost courtship works.
Sometimes it's kicking someone's ass. Sometimes it's kicking ass on their behalf. Sometimes it's about making a point of showing off your ass-kicking skills in front of them.
It's all fun. It's all valid.
But what if, hear me out, it was not a ghost courtship thing but was a Fenton courtship thing.
How many times has Jack Fenton said "Man that's hot" in response to Maddie kicking ass?
Do you see my vision?
Jason going on a rampage when his enemies kidnap Danny. Danny swooning so hard it takes him a minute to remember how to phase the restraints off. Then he bounds over to fight by his boyfriend's side with a big, lovestruck grin with just a hint of viciousness.
Both of them showing off their combat skills for the other to admire.
At some point, someone asks if it's a ghost thing, and One of the Fentons replies "no, that's just how hotness works," at the same that a ghost replies "no, they're just like that."
Imagine a universe where Jazz's first crush was on the one other kid in her karate class who could best her as often as she beat them.
Imagine the Fentons having a colorful history of falling in love on battlefields and in underground fighting rings.
Oh no Definitely Don’t click the link
Ever wanted to read the Trollhunters books but you can't even buy them because they've apparently been taken off the market and practically from existence? Spent weeks searching for online versions before eventually giving up?
Well don't click this link!
It has all of the trollhunters side adventure books as well as the two comics in easily accessible pdf form, so we wouldn't want that to spread! Definitely do not share with your friends!
These books have a lot of really interesting characters that don't appear in the series, and we absolutely don't want more people to know about them! A single person in the whole entire fandom making occasional fanart of them is enough!
I'm doing a few comics based on my gameplay because i'm low on ideas and time
Antares
The first thing Nightwing hears upon regaining consciousness is ominous chanting. A man’s voice rings out over the rest, ranting about an Eternal King, infinite power, and – oh boy – sacrifices. He tunes it out to assess the situation.
He’s in an old warehouse. Robin’s here too, looking even more annoyed than Nightwing feels, and both of them have their hands and ankles bound in rope. His comm is on silent, just as he left it, like an idiot. The ranting man and his followers in matching robes are gathered around a ritual circle in the middle of the floor. Yeah, that tells him all he needs to know. They need to get out, now.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly when the leader finishes his speech and turns to them.
“So,” the man asks with a cruel smile. “Which of you ‘heroes’ will have the honor of bringing our Lord to this plane?”
“I will.” Robin’s voice is sharp, unyielding.
The man is obviously surprised to receive an actual answer to his taunt, but obliges. He pulls Robin away without another word.
“What?! No! Robin, you can’t–” Nightwing’s protest is cut off with a punch to the stomach from one of the robed lackeys.
“I have my reasons, Nightwing; it must be me.” Robin’s face reveals nothing, but he gives a subtle hand signal: I have a plan.
Nightwing forces himself to calm down. They’ll get out of this. He just has to trust his Robin. While everyone’s eyes are off him, he quietly works at the amateur knots.
The leader drags Robin into the circle without a fight. He raises a jeweled dagger, intentions clear…
But Robin is faster. He bites his own wrist, hard, and spits his blood into the circle. The runes light up in terrible Lazarus green, and Robin pushes himself upright with a malicious grin.
The lead cultist scrambles back from the circle and into a deep bow. The chanting stops as his minions follow suit. Robin continues to look far too smug for his situation. Nightwing feels a headache coming on somewhere under his renewed panic.
This is his plan?!
There’s a blinding flash of light. When the spots clear from Nightwing’s vision, the Eternal King is floating in the circle, mere feet from the bound Robin.
The Eternal King isn’t quite the grotesque horror he expected. Their body is a glittering black void, a sleek humanoid shadow with misty white hair and bright, bright eyes of toxic green. A cold fog rolls off of their body in waves.
“Antares,” the shadow rumbles, and Nightwing feels static thrum in his bones with the sound. The room is painfully cold, but the King doesn’t seem aggressive yet. Maybe they really can bargain their way out of this mess.
Robin doesn’t flinch. He looks the Eternal King right in the eyes, utterly fearless, and smirks. “Hello, Beloved.”
What?
The King stares silently, floating closer. For a long moment, no one moves. No one speaks.
“My lord, does the sacrifice please you?” The ringleader cuts in, standing up with a greedy gleam in his eyes.
Something in the air changes as the King turns toward the man. Something cold, electric, heavy under the skin. Nightwing suppresses a shiver as he works through the last of the rope.
“You d̵̢̛a̵̼̽ṙ̴͎e̵͙̐.”
The leader pales and falls to his knees. “My Lord, if this offering is insufficient, we have another–”
The King s̴̱̖̺̺̓͊̕̕ć̵͇͇͔̈r̴̥͐e̸̥̬͌̂̌̊a̴̭̔̓̀̔͘m̵̯͑̋͌͠s̵̗̤̻̭̍̿, a furious howl that blurs Nightwing’s vision and claws his ears. The sound is everywhere, driving him to his knees. Growing shadows seem to absorb his little brother just as Nightwing realizes he’s blacking out.
They’re falling, they’re falling someone help they’re screaming he’s screaming make it stop dead on impact blood and bones make it stop make it STOP–
When he comes back to himself, it’s quiet. Nightwing blinks tears from his eyes, gasping for frigid air that pierces his lungs like knives. The floor outside the circle is covered in blood splatter. The cultists have all been struck down, and many aren’t moving.
But he’s not looking at them.
Because the monster is coiled around Robin like a snake, eyes burning as it surveys the room. Robin seems unharmed for now, but he has to get his baby brother away from that thing.
He steps forward, and those endless green eyes lock onto him. It snarls at his approach, revealing multiple rows of teeth. Claws subtly tighten on Robin’s shoulders. Nightwing sinks into a combat stance, and the creature braces itself to leap.
Pure, animal instinct screams that Nightwing won’t survive this fight.. It doesn’t matter. He’ll give his all like he always has, and Robin can escape. The others will find a way to take it down. He just has to buy time.
“Dove, it’s alright.”
To Nightwing’s amazement, the creature freezes. It turns to look at Robin, warbling in apparent confusion before turning back to Nightwing with a hiss.
Robin grabs its face in both hands and forces it to look at him. “No. That’s Nightwing, remember? He will not harm us. I am safe. We are safe.” His voice is steady, soothing as he gently presses their foreheads together. A spark of awareness slowly returns to ‘Dove’s’ eyes.
“Come back to me.”
The monster sags in Robin’s grip, slowly folding in on itself until a nearly-human teen with snowy white hair is left floating gently in its place.
Robin smiles, gentle and shockingly warm. “There you are.”
‘Dove’ is shaking. Their eyes are locked on Robin, as though he’s the only thing in their universe. “Antares,” they breathe, before wrapping Robin in a tight hug.
Robin briefly looks to Dick, gesturing toward the cultists. He then returns his attention to the distraught being, resting his chin on their head and both hands on their back. The obvious dismissal makes Nightwing uneasy, but the kid has a point. They’ll just have to check him for hypnosis or mind control back at the Cave.
Now that Nightwing is actually looking at the cultists, their injuries are horrific. Deep lacerations, stab wounds, frostbite, severed limbs…none of them seem likely to die with medical treatment, but every last one is maimed.
The ringleader is worst of all. His eyes are gouged out, and his hands ripped off and cauterized by the same unearthly frost that burns scattered marks into his skin. An unfamiliar symbol has been clawed into his chest.
Nightwing looks back to the circle, where Dove is quietly sobbing. Their face is tucked securely into Robin’s neck, and Nightwing hears whispers of I was scared and can’t lose you too.
This is the same person?
By the time the cultists are all secured and the police have been called, Dove seems to have calmed down. Time to play the diplomat. Again.
Damn, maybe Steph has a point about Eldest Daughter Syndrome.
“I, uh, hate to interrupt, but we should probably get out of here, yeah? GCPD will be here in a couple minutes,” he proposes with a friendly smile.
Dove wipes their eyes. “Right.” Then they look around the room and wince. “Uhm, sorry you? Had to see that? I…panicked. You’re okay though, right? Not hurt or anything?” The question is disarmingly earnest, and there’s nothing but concern in their eyes. Hm.
“Nah, not a scratch,” Nightwing dismisses. Then he remembers he’s apparently talking to a king. “Thank you for saving Robin, Your Highness,” he adds with a bow of his head.
“Nuh-uh, no titles. Gross.” The King makes a face, then smiles with renewed cheer. “Call me Phantom. He/him, ghost, and general pain in the ass, at your service!” He floats higher and punctuates his announcement with a midair flip. “You might as well know, since we’re gonna be seeing each other a lot now.”
Crap. “I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Nightwing ventures.
‘Phantom’ exchanges a meaningful look with Robin. Nightwing barely has time to register the mischief on both their faces before Robin pulls the being down into a kiss.
A deep kiss now. Really deep. Yeah, they’ve definitely forgotten he’s here.
When they finally separate, Robin looks quite satisfied. Phantom, however, sticks out a forked tongue and scrunches his face. “Blech, blood. What did you…” His eyes land on Robin’s still-bloody wrist, then the droplets still in the circle.
“You didn’t.” A grin creeps across his face. “You have me on soul speed dial and you still hijacked a whole-ass summoning!”
“Tt. I was making a point.” Robin crosses his arms.
Phantom cackles. “You are literally the most dramatic person I’ve ever met!” he crows.
Robin raises an eyebrow and gestures to the warehouse full of mangled cultists. Phantom opens his mouth to retort, but it’s at this point that Nightwing finally manages to pull his jaw off the floor and speak.
“Robin,” he says with deliberate calm. “What the fuck.”
And then they hear police sirens. Fantastic.
“Crap. Don’t worry, I got it!” Phantom declares as he rips a green hole in existence. Robin is unfazed, which is rapidly getting less and less surprising.
A woman in the corner stirs. Phantom makes a ‘one moment’ gesture before he stalks over and yanks her forward with a growl. “You’ve kept your tongue for a reason. Spread the word: Robin is mine.” (Robin stands taller, obviously pleased by that extremely concerning statement.) The woman nods frantically, and Phantom drops her to the ground.
Without further preamble, Phantom zips back over and shoves both vigilantes through the rip.
Just like that, they’re all in Damian’s bedroom. The two boys immediately sit together on the edge of the bed, while Dick remains standing. Dick doesn’t even know where to begin, so he can only give a helpless ‘why’ sort of gesture. Thankfully, Damian seems to take pity on him.
“Richard, this insufferable fool is my Beloved. His name is Danny, and he is seventeen.” Then he smirks. “You may refer to him as High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms; The Tyrant’s Bane, True Balance, Son Of Stars, Pride of Time, Death’s Chosen–”
The ghost groans dramatically, flopping across Damian’s lap like a wet noodle. “Oh my gawd, Dames, why would you tell him that?”
“It is very important that Richard recognizes your position and authority.” Damian says, not even trying to sound convincing.
Danny reaches up and pushes at Damian’s face. It brings to mind a pair of cats, especially with Damian doing his best to look annoyed instead of fond. “Betrayal! I want a divorce!”
That’s the last straw. Dick chokes on his own spit and has to thump his chest a few times to breathe right again. With monumental effort, he manages to wheeze out a strangled “Are you MaRriEd?!”
Danny tries to sputter out a reply, but Dick is distracted by Damian laughing. It’s a low, light sound, with no attempt made to disguise it.
“Of course not,” Damian says. He cards a hand through Danny’s hair, the other boy sighing contently and looking up at him with adoring neon eyes. “We’ve only courted for seven months now. It will be another three years before we wed.”
Dick is just. Gonna ignore that last bit. For his own sanity. “Wait, how did you keep a whole boyfriend secret for seven months? In this family?”
“Bribery.” “Threats.”
Yeah, that sounds about right. Babs and Duke probably know then.
“Cool, good to know. One more question.” Well, more like a billion, but he may as well start with an icebreaker before the inevitable interrogation. Besides, it’s a big brother’s duty to embarrass his siblings. “Why Dove?”
Damian says nothing, but his deep blush is almost audible.
“Because I’m cute and fluffy!” Danny chirps.
“Hardly,” Damian scoffs. “It’s because you are raucously annoying and constantly crash into windows.”
Literally everything about this situation is baffling, but Danny looks so offended that Dick can’t help but laugh.
“You lying asshole!” Danny screeches.
Damian turns to Dick. “He attempted to use a grapple three times and broke eleven windows; four of them with his face. I have videos.” Danny gasps, the two start bickering, and Dick is left to his thoughts once more.
Even as the pair separate to point fingers and trade increasingly creative insults, their body language is completely relaxed. As much as Dick is panicking about a powerful undead monarch around their family, Damian is happy. He has been for months, now that Dick thinks about it. He’s been loosening up a little, leaving the manor more, and even mentioning a few new friends (though he refuses to use the word.)
Whoever or whatever Danny is, he’s been good for him.
“Well,” Dick cuts in, interrupting an inventive declaration about overripe cheese. “We’ll obviously need to talk about this. But for what it’s worth,” he smiles. “I’m happy for you, Baby Bat.”
With that said, Dick walks out of the bedroom. Danny gives him a grateful smile, and a quiet thank you, Richard can be heard as he closes the door behind him.
Dick walks away at a leisurely pace until he reaches the end of the hallway, where he promptly breaks into a sprint toward the Cave. Checking the Batcomputer to make sure Damian hasn’t noticed the planted bug yet, he turns on his comms. Unsurprisingly, the entire family is yelling and demanding answers.
Well, at least he won’t be the only one having a heart attack tonight.
it’s weird how much lighter my life feels now. not that i don’t have any issues (because there are many in my life, as i am sure there are in yours), but they’re just so much more manageable than they were a year ago.
what’s more; i love myself now. i may not be perfect. but i am trying my best, and i can tell that i am! i see myself in the mirror, and sometimes i just examine myself, and my features, and i smile. i feel so much more authentic when talking to people, not worrying about how they view me, because i don’t have to anymore. i wish i could’ve told 15-year old me just how good it’s gotten so far, i know that he would’ve loved hearing about the shitty sideburns we’re growing out right now :’)
yeesssss ma'am 🫡🫡🫡
𝓘𝓷 𝓪 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓯𝓾𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮
*patience
obvious x oblivious trope
GOOD AFTERNOON.
Good afternoon!
I looked at the canon Pariah Dark and realized that something was wrong. The most stereotypical villain? Well, noooo.
(In any case, ghosts are made up of ectoplasm. They can probably change how they want. It's not a genderswap, it's just thin. And long. Like super-tall, haha. Inhumanly tall. Anything about how the Crown drained most of his powers, he deflated, and now he's stuck in the human world with his heir looking after him? Heh.)
It's just the perfect material to cause an aneurysm in a family of bats.
So, the tired Bitburger worker who served them decided that it was probably time for her to quit after all
Teenage Dad Tim
An idea I am having right before my flight back home starts... I will expand on it more once I am home tho but for now hear me out please.
Teenage Dad Tim. We got Bruce, Dick and Jason taking in Danny but do we have Tim taking him in?
Like deaged Danny (reduced to a toddler because of his Ghost age) suddenly appearing before Tim with white hair and Lazarus green eyes, clearly a meta kid too in Tim's eyes. And Tim just goes... yep that's a toddler with pit madness, let me just forge some papers real quick and then I can investigate my new kid.
No B, you can't have him. Danny is mine now. See the papers. He is illegally mine now.
kind of embarrassing to play a game that your friend recommended it’s like. ohh i’m pregnant with your game. i’m playing and it’s yours
Silly mood to draw my faves 🤭
volo edit under the cut ↷
I just really thought this was necessary 😭
don't really care if the otp is romantic or platonic or erotic or whatnot. i care simply about the essentials (they are toxically codependent)
In Two Years, He will be the same age as when they started to scrutinize Biden's age being not competent enough anymore to hold the house. Hold that over his head.
my little cringe baby
RAHHHHH THIS IS SO UP MY ALLEY LOOK AT HER
Incredible bug woman I'm flourishing
Scolopendra Miku
Some more older art from around March. I was experimenting with my style here for a bigger project. These are not my favorite drawings that I have made, but they're fun.
Also an unfinished sketch of a comic concept that I did for Chicken around the same time. Chicken hunts magical beasts btw. :)) They're like a ranger and a mercenary that collects magical ingredients for people. I found this in my files on procreate yesterday, so I slapped my watermark on it for some reason lol.
TW: slight blood
Oc time. Quick explanation:
I've had this character, Chicken, for a few years now. 6 or 7 now? They were just an oc that I would draw in cute outfits and nothing more, until around Feb this year, where I kind of settled on a proper aesthetic and general outfit for them. I normally only doodle them in my sketchbook.
AND NOW, recently, I've started working on a short little story for them. It is very fable/storybook-esque in nature. I'm not sure I'll share much of it but I wanted to share Chicken since I don't have many current drawings right now. This is an older drawing of Chicken's ref. Everything still fits, but I've darkened Chicken's color palette in this newer drawing, so that is the only thing that doesn't apply now.
This is from Feb 27, with no real watermark because I never intended to share these. Please ignore my terrible attempts at drawing Chicken using ASL. I promise I've gotten better at executing that. I'm still learning, thank you.
*Slowly adds drawtectives to my Pixar Youtube theory™️ because I think it would be funny*
Blorbos from my YouTube shows
This art is incredibly self indulgent
Might make this my new header image, since it shows my three biggest fandoms rn: Sanders Sides, Drawfee/Drawtectives and Genloss (and QSMP and generally Slimecicle)
When I saw the crystal thing, my eyes bulged out of my head like a cartoon wolf looking at a pretty lady, I was in shock! But yeah, thought it was interesting so I decided to post about it :)
The Pixar Youtube theory, Part 1: Escape with Markiplier
Hello! The first two I would like to tackle are the With Markiplier series and Escape the Night, and hopefully, next, I can tackle Iris and Sander's sides, talk about Dad Feels and Genloss, try and cross the talking points between them, and at the end I’ll make a post on how they’re all connected and what I think the timeline would be.
Note: I don’t know everything, this is just a theory, tell me if I’m wrong or if you like it!
Let's start with something big;
The houses. In Escape the Night season One, Two, and (arguably) Four are set in houses. In the first season, they contained the evil, trapped in the 1920s, but it sunk its way into Joey. In the second season, they broke a seal to allow them to leave the house, stuck in the Victorian era, and Joey dies and is revived by the crown of oblivion. And the fourth season is the afterlife. Or, I guess, an afterlife, set in a museum, where Joey decides to open Pandora’s box and gets trapped inside.
Now let's look at Markiplier Manor. It is Mark’s estate that he grew up in that has spirits and evil living in the house. Every time he dies, he comes back and gets closer to the entity. The entity then helps him come up with a plan to kill all his friends because the entity wants to leave the house.
Right off the bat, just looking at these two series, we see some obvious similarities. House is evil, has weird spirits roaming inside of it, and makes the people who own it murder their friends. And nobody leaves the house the same. They are still affected by this magic when they leave whether they’d like to admit it or not. Remember this, I’ll come back to it.
Every single time someone new is invited to the chaos, it always comes in a little invitation. Whether written by him or by someone pretending to be him, it always comes in a letter. And what do we get before ‘Who Killed Markiplier’ came out?
Exactly.
Evil house, invitation, good people turning into bad people, and death. In Joey's, there is a lot more beating around the bush, but it gives us a lot of information on how the world works. This leads me to my next point.
The idea of time not being linear, hoping through universes, and getting stuck in loops over and over again. Their dimension-hopping and teleporting back and forth between time all comes... from stones. In Mark’s Space series, you, as the player, replay events, restart over and over again, teleport to different times, and teleport to different universes. And it's all thanks to the warp crystal, this little, blue, glowing crystal tower. It was also used to power the warp core, which caused time loops and paradoxes, and the warp device, which allowed teleportation to different universes.
And now let's look at Escape the Night. Specifically, at the very end of season four, where Bretman and Colleen used ‘The cosmic sphere’ to open a portal and escape purgatory. And what is in the center of this device?
A little blue crystal tower.
This. This one little detail is huge! They look the exact same, they do the exact same things, and they both need to be attached to something to be used properly. And, when attached to something different, it does something different. When attached to the box in Heist, it gives you whatever item you want or need, assuming it takes it from a different time or universe. When attached to the warp core, it's supposed to cause the ship to warp to where it needs to go but caused a time loop in the process. When attached to the warp device, it teleports you to random points across the multiverse. All of the devices work, but it acts erratically and unreliably. But when attached to the cosmic sphere, it projects a portal that you can then walk through. No weirdness, no unpredictability, just exactly where they needed to go.
(My working theory is that the warp crystal needs to be in the cosmic sphere to work properly. If it isn’t, it will be unpredictable.)
The crystal was taken from the afterlife, purgatory. A place completely identical to this one, but slightly different. Darker, scarier, a place filled with spirits and evil, Dark entities.
Kinda sounds like Mark’s upside-down, don’t you think?
But the real question is which one comes first? Well, let's look at what time period each ETN season came from. The events of what happened in the show are linear to how they come out, but the dates of what happens change the timeline completely. Season 2 was the Victorian era, which was between 1837 to 1901. Season 1 was in the 1920s, very cut and dry. And season four was mainly set in the 1940s, but can go completely across time. We know this from the things collected from the different time periods. (Irrelevant for this post, but season three is set in the 1970s.)
And Who Killed Markiplier, according to Google, is set somewhere between the 1920s and the 1950s, meaning the order of events would’ve been S2, S1, WKM, S4, S3. God damn time fuckery, making my job hard.
In season one, the original manor, they ‘contained’ the evil, meaning it couldn’t leave the house. Or we thought it couldn’t leave the house until we see Joey leave the house being corrupted by this evil. Meaning that the evil needs to inhabit someone so it can bring others in. The longer in the house, the worse the effects get. The same thing with Mark’s manor. Two, unnamed, evil entities leave the house through both Celine’s body and your body.
What I’m trying to imply is that, maybe, Mark’s manor is the same house in ETN season 1. “But Devon,” I hear you asking, “How does that make sense? Mark would have to have owned the house at the same time as Joey for that to make sense, considering Mark grew up in the house and Joey ‘inherits’ it at the very beginning.” And to that, I say, “Consider the pockets of time.”
If Joey exists in this pocket of time and then leaves to go back to the modern world, that means the person that owns the house no longer exists. At least, not at that time. Mark was 28 when he made ‘Who Killed Markiplier,’ Meaning he lived in his own place for a while. Since Mark grew up in that time and that house, and since Joey abandoned that house in the 1920s, that means the exact events that happened in that house happened around 1948 at least, which puts us squarely in our timeline.
If Mark’s Manor and Joey’s estate are the same, then that means that the evil and the entities are the same beings. Just like how the warp crystal and the cosmic sphere are the same stone. However, I would like to add one last thing.
Cc! Mark has said that the entities not only trick C! Mark into doing their bidding but also convince Mark that it was his idea the whole time. That idea was to have Wilford kill him in a game of Russian Roulette, have everyone turn on him and kill him as well, and then him and the entity could take his body and get out of there. And I’ve noticed that death description fits two deaths in escape the night season one.
The death of Timmothy DeLaGetto, also known as ‘The Mobster.’
And the death of Arthur.
For those who don’t know, Arthur’s entire role was to manipulate the evil to do what he wants. He was ‘The butler’ of the house, convincing all of the other past owners to feed into the evil so he can do what he wants. It feels like he’s not just working as a butler for the owner, but a butler for the evil. He gets found out, the remaining guests free his brother, the brother then shoots the other two residents of the house along with Arthur.
If I were to guess, Arthur doesn’t like being dead. So after Joey leaves, the bodies get cleaned up, Mark and his family move in, and Arthur is forced to watch Mark, Damien, and William grow up in front of him. Arthur gets replaced with Benjamin, Mark falls in love with Celine, Celine after realizing the house is evil (Because she’s a seer) leaves the house and runs away with William, Damien becomes Mayor, Mark feels worthless and alone and kills himself.
Arthur talks to Mark, Arthur convinces the evil to bring him back, Mark comes back, Mark kills himself, so on and so forth. The entity that works with Mark being Arthur makes sense. He would know that killing Wilford like that would work because he’s seen it work. Once with the mobster and once with him. All he did was combine the two and convince Mark he came up with it.
When Celine comes into the picture, he’s ecstatic because he gets the chance to not just get his own body, but a more powerful body. A body that could do what his and Wilford’s couldn’t. Talk to the beyond and commune with other entities. So he changed the plan and had Mark kick out Celine and Damien from their bodies, forcing them to take yours when they die. But not without taking some evil on their way out.
But, of course, this is just the beginning. This isn’t the last time we see the evil. The evil spreads, and my god does it spread.
(Author’s Note: Joey needs better friends both in and out of canon.)