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soundcrusher · 1 year

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Making amends

Part 5 of the Spinoff set in the normal sentient Lost Light au from @cuppajj is finished, and I slightly feel like crying.

Also, if you wanna know which lullaby I specifically thought of when writing that part. It's this one.

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Nearly four weeks have passed and there was no sign of a way home. Brainstorm and Perceptor have been working hard on repairing the machine that got him and Rodimus stuck in this universe, but whatever made it go ‘boom!’ seems to have ruined it for good. Or, at least that’s what Perceptor said, Brainstorm said that he was able to fix it. A statement Snow had believed at first, but now, he was slowly doubting the strange mech.

At least they weren’t stuck on a hostile ship. After this universe’s Rodimus had introduced him as ‘Snow’ and his Rodimus as ‘Convoy’, everyone seemed to welcome them with open arms, or, at least he thought they were. Of course, there were some who were wary, but Snow couldn’t blame them. Two mechs who looked like their captain and the one Decepticon youngling respectively must have been strange to see. But those crewmembers mostly left them alone, especially when they saw Convoy glaring at them while breathing a small flame out. Then they usually scattered.

And then there was that weird mech with the yellow mouthguard named Getaway. He was nice, most of the time, but his compliments always had a certain edge. As if he was trying to butter someone up, before making them do things for him. Kinda like Second Fiddle, and Snow learned to stay away from mechs like Second Fiddle.

Either way, right now, the white and blue youngling was walking down the halls of the Lost Light. There were some data-pads that needed to be delivered to Ultra Magnus’ office and no-one seemed to want to do it. So, Snow offered to do it and was promptly handed the data-pads before getting shoved out of the room and towards Magnus’ office. Although, even if he didn’t want to admit it, Snow got a little bit lost. Mostly because, while this Lost Light was similar to his, it was still different. And seeing how bright the halls were, it was a little bit overwhelming. So, Phoenix decided to ask for help. And help he got in the form of a big purple mech with horns that made him look like a bunny. He didn’t say much, which the youngling didn’t mind, but he was kind enough to show him where the office was. He even helped him get there, although he was gone as soon as Snow stepped out of the office.

“He probably had something better to do…” Muttered the youngling, as he made his way down the hall and to the bridge. His Rodimus should be there together with the other Rodimus. Snow didn’t know what they were doing, but he was sure that his brother was giving the other prime a lecture of how important it was to do reports and such. Especially when someone was taking care of a crew as big as the Lost Light’s. And despite what this universe’s rodimus said, Snow knew why his Roddy was giving those small speeches. He didn’t want Rodimus to lose his crew like he did. His brother might not always talk about his crew, but Snow could tell how Roddy blamed himself for what happened to them.

“Maybe that blame manifests itself in a need to make sure something like that won’t happen again? I really wish Dominus was here. He would probably know what to say…” Muttered the youngling, as his mind wandered to those left behind in his own universe. By now, Fungus and Softstreet surely must have contacted the DJD to see if he and Roddy have come to visit Dominus, only for them to tell his guardians that, no, they weren’t with them. And then they would probably contact Pharma, only for the medic to also tell them no. And then? There wasn’t really anyone else he called his family… Ah! Maybe they would ask Ghostrider and Big John too. Those two beastformers have become his bestest friends after all.

Yea, working on Fungus’ and Stofstreet’s farm had some perks. Especially when you consider how easy it was to make friends when you worked with others together.

Snow was rather deep in his thoughts, so deep that he didn’t notice bumping into something. Or rather, into someone. And who was that someone? No-one else but this universe’s Rodimus, who seemed like he was sneaking off to somewhere else. “A-ah! I am sorry!” Squeaked Snow, as he looked around, before averting his gaze to the ground. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… I was thinking and I didn’t look where I was going…”

“Hey, it’s okay. No harm done, right?” Asked the prime with a grin, before making his way down the hall, and with Snow not having anything better to do, he followed him. “W-where are you going, M-mister captain, sir?” Asked the youngling, to which Rodimus fixed him with an amused glint in his optics, before he reached over to pat his head. “Oh, you know, just doing captain things and sneaking away from my doppelgänger, because he’s been trying to show me how to do my reports correctly, only to end up doing them for me. So, I got some free time and decided to see if I could go meteor surfing. Also, you can just call me Rodimus. I know that it’s probably weird for you, but imagen how weird it is to me to hear my brother’s doppelgänger calling me ‘Mister captain, sir’. I’m not that old.”

“W-well, you’re clearly older than me and in a higher position. So, shouldn’t I be respectful towards you? Fools Shot and Second Fiddle sure wanted to be addressed like that.” Said Snow, which got the prime’s attention. His Phoenix hardly talked about his past crew, let alone dropped their names, but here was his doppelgänger who seemed to have been through the same as his Phoenix has. So, Rodimus decided to do a change of plans and invited Snow to a small tour on the ship. Showing him the best spots to either wind down or hide from Ultra Magnus and Megatron, while having a small conversation with the young flier. And Rodimus would be lying, if he didn’t get some new insight into some of his brother’s ticks. Especially the ones concerning his quick retreats whenever there was tension in the crew.

“So… your crew has been hunting you down whenever you weren’t doing something important?” Asked the prime.

“Mhm.” Snow nodded. “Or when they felt like they needed to remind me of where my place among them was… Which was right at the bottom. I might have been on the ship to study and learn how a medical bay worked on, well, a ship, but they didn’t even let me near it. And most of the time, I was more of a punching bag. Verbally more often than physically. They didn’t want to anger Old Man.” He said, before reaching towards his back with one of his servos, while the other one moved his wing slightly to the side. Showing Rodimus a small scar, clearly made by a precise cut, right where his wing connected with his back. Only a few inches away from an important cable. “See that one? I got that one from one of the medics of my old crew. I never really knew it was there, until Pharma pointed it out. I think not even Lightlost knew about it…”

“You say that so casually…” Said the prime, after taking a look at the scar and making a mental note to see if his Phoenix had the same scar, while also making an appointment in the medical bay for both younglings. “Wait, you said one of the medics did this. Why would they do that?”

“Because a flying prime is a dangerous one…” Was all Snow said, before shaking his head while his wings shot up. “But I don’t care about my scar, nor what those cranky old medics said! Because I don’t see them as something hurtful, but rather a reminder. A reminder to become a better medic than them! One that would never stop helping, no matter what, because everyone deserves medical treatment if they need it!” Declared the youngling proudly, before looking up at this universe’s prime with such determination, that Rodimus couldn’t help himself but pat the youngling on his head while laughing.

“I’m sure you’re going to be an amazing medic, kid.” Rodimus said, before continuing their tour. With him telling Snow all about his Lost Light. And as the youngling asked him about Lightlost, Rodimus told him every positive thing he could think of. Because he knew what the other Lightlost did to him. So, he tried to mediate a little bit and show the kid that this one isn’t as bad as he thought. And it seemed like it did work, even if it was only a little bit.

However, they had to stop their tour after Rodimus got a message from Megatron requesting him to come to the bridge. Saying a quick goodbye, taking the long route to the bridge and leaving Snow to wander the halls alone. Although, the yungling was quick to make up his mind and go on a small search for Lightlost. Hearing about them being kind is one thing, and the last interaction he had with them was weeks ago, but having a talk with them himself was something else. So, Snow made sure to look everywhere for them. Asking some of the crew he came across if they have seen Lightlost, only to be met with the shakes of their heads, or a small ‘haven’t seen them’. And after searching for a while, Snow gave up and walked back to his hab-suit. Getting out Mister Sharky and sitting down on the berth, before there was a knock.

“Come in?” Said the youngling.

“I heard you were looking for me?”Asked Lightlost, as the door opened and they just kept on standing there. Unsure if it was okay for them to enter the room, when Snow was alone and might feel uncomfortable with being alone with them. But that concern soon enough turned into surprise as the youngling jumped up from his berth and came over. Causing Lightlost to take one step back, just in case. Although, despite the unsureness in Snow’s optics, they still felt smaller servos grab theirs and pull them into the room. And then, Lightlost found themself sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, while Snow was sitting on his berth. Clutching his plush shark toy, while keeping his optics on them.

Waiting, as if he was making sure that they wouldn’t do anything, before opening his mouth. “How do you see your crew?”

“E-excuse me?” Was all Lightlost could ask, because of every possible question or conversation starter, this wasn’t one they imagined. “I am sorry, but I don’t think I understand your question, little one.”

“What is there not to understand?” Asked Snow in return, before hugging his shark tighter. And Lightlost could see how he was using the toy like a shield, while his body tensed up even more. “I asked you about how you see your crew. Do you care about all of them? Are they unimportant to you? Do you only care for your Rodimus? Are you going to kill everyone? Are you going to… to… Are you going to keep your Phoenix alive, only to slowly take him apart? Ripp off his wings and keep him with you? A-are you…you…”

“NO!” Lightlost didn’t mean to scream, especially with how it made the youngling flinch and scoot to the end of the berth, but alone the thought of harming their crew was something terrible. “No, I would never harm them. They’re my crew, the thought alone of them dying because of me… it makes me sick. I… I can understand why you would ask me this, but believe me, I would never hurt anyone of my crew, nor would I ever hurt you or your brother.” They said, before getting up. Taking one experimental step towards the berth, while placing one servo over where their spark would be, if this wasn’t a holoform. “I know what my other version did to you and your Rodimus. I know that what they did left its scars in both of our minds and sparks, but believe me, I would never stoop so low as to force anyone to stay if they don’t want to, let alone hurt them.”

Lightlost’s spark broke as they saw the from fear shaking youngling look at them with wide fearful optics. And they felt the urge to reach forward and engulf this young spark into their arms to show him that they mean what they said. But they refrained in fear that it would only worsen everything for the already frightened youngling.

So, they took a step back and sat down on the chair again. Giving Snow enough time to take in their words and make up his own mind, because they knew that their counterpart probably didn’t give him the option to think. To choose his own words, without fearing the silent wrath of a titan in disguise.

And that’s how the two stayed for a while. With Snow looking down at his shark, while Lightlost looked at him with worry and concern being the main emotion reflected in their optics. Although, they were yet again surprised as the youngling got up and silently made his way over to them. Sitting down on their lap, before hugging them. Burying his face in the crook of their neck, as tears started to roll down the younglings cheeks, accompanied with small whimpers and sobs. And Lightlost carefully wrapped their arms around the weeping youngling. Hugging him tightly in their warm and comforting embrace, as they gave Snow enough time to let it all out.

Singing a soft lullaby and running a servo over his head, as they rocked their body back and forth.

That’s how it was for a while, with Snow seeking comfort in the cartographer's arms, while they gently reassured him that everything was fine. That he was safe, and that no-one would hurt him, before telling him how brave and strong he was for enduring all the things their counterpart did to him. “I… Might not be them, Phoenix, but if there is anything I could do, to make it up to you, I would.”

“You… you can’t make it up. You’re not my Lightlost.” Whispered Snow, as he looked up at the holoform with pained optics. Causing their spark to ache even more for this broken youngling. “You haven’t hurt me like they did. You didn’t take my wings, nor have you… have you…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, not when another sob wrecked his body and caused him to take in a sharp inhale, before calming down again. “You can’t make it right… You can’t make the nightmares go away… or make ‘Them’ go away from… from in there…” Muttered Snow, as he pointed to his head, before burying his face back into Lightlost’s shoulder.

Lightlost was saddened by what Snow said, but they understood. Maybe they even understood better than most Cybertronians on this ship, but that didn’t stop them from promising that they would do anything they could to help him overcome those nightmares.

“W-would… Would you help me even now? I’m… I’m tired and… and I don’t want to sleep with the lights off. It reminds me too much of… of how it was with them… Can you… Can you dim them? The lights?” He asked, and Lightlost nodded with a solemn smile and carried the youngling over to the berth. Making sure he was tugged in nice and tight, before searching for this room's lightswitch. Although, a soft chuckle coming from the sleeping youngspark stopped them. “Why are you looking for a lightswitch, when you could do it yourself? Aren’t you the ship?”

Hearing this question caused Lightlost to turn around and look at Snow with a surprised, maybe even shocked expression, but the laughter coming from the youngling, after he’s seen their expression, turned their solemn smile into a relieved one. They made him laugh, accidentally, yes, but still. They managed to, for a small moment, make Phoenix happy, and that’s all that mattered.

“Of course.” They said as they dimmed the lights, while sitting down at the edge of the berth. Holding the youngling's servo and singing their lullaby again, until they were sure he was asleep. Only then did they let their holoform slowly disappear, as their voice slowly faded out at the last note.

#sentient lost light au #sentient sg/lost light au #sentient lost light/lightlost #rodimus #sg/rodimus #sg/phoenix #hurt/comfort #-> I can write than one in the tags; right?#spinoff #oh boy... the ending man...#I almost made myself cry...#OR SWEET BABY IS GETTING HIS DESERVED HUGS AND COMFORT!#LIKE; AAAHHHHH!

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werewolfwriter323 · 7 months

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Hello! I don't usually post any of my shit online, but I am tired of all my writing and drawings just sitting on my computer, so I figured I'd just dump it on here.

I'll start with my TMA AUs, just cause I've got a lot of those, lolz.

(Also please note that none of these are finished writing, just the ideas that I had at the time.)

WerewolfWriter323's The Magnus Archives AUS

Mashups with other media

The Magnus Archives X Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

This is going to be a Mashup of the two worlds, and it will follow a similar storyline with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

The Fullmetal Archivist?

Fears and Their Avatars/Alchemists

Envy- The Stranger

Lust- The Web

Gluttony- The Flesh

Wrath-The Hunt

Greed- The Corruption

Sloth-The Buried

Pride-The Dark

The Slaughter- Kimblee

The Eye-Father (Also Hohenheim and later Edward)

The Desolation- Roy

The Vast- Mei

The Spiral- Olivier Mira Armstrong

The Lonely- Alphonse

The End- Scar

The basic plot follows Edward as the head archivist of the Archives in the basement of central command. I will post a more detailed layout and stuff in a separate post.

Mother May I (An AU inspired by Ella Enchanted)

So in this AU Martin is the one cursed to obey.

The story goes as follows, one day when he was a preteen. Martin was taking care of his mother and happened across a Spider that was an agent of the Web. While taking it outside, he wished to himself that he could just do better and actually obey what she tells him to do. The Web grants his wish, and now Martin is Marked and bound by the web. He now has to follow any direct command that someone gives him, he can try to disobey, but if he does, webs will appear and start to tear into him, until he does what he was commanded.

The story then skips to him as an archival assistant, we learn that Martin is still bound by the web, but he had seemingly been learning to live with it. Also a side note, we learn that Martin has the free will to tell others about being "cursed" by the web, but he chooses not to, fearing that someone might either use it against him or not believe him.

182 Days Later (A 28 Days Later AU)

So this is an AU set after Jon wakes up from his 6 month coma. Before he woke up a ritual was attempted by the Slaughter and The Corruption at the same time, and while it technically failed, it released a blood borne virus that causes people to infect others with the slaughter, this allowed it to start quickly becoming widespread all over the UK. When he is woken up by Oliver Banks, the virus is in full swing, and he now has to try and survive and find Martin, who left him a note that gave him very little information about where to go, or what was happening.

Jon tries to Know where he is, along with Georgie. But because Martin is heavily marked by the lonely at this point, and Georgie not having any fear, he isn’t able to see either of them. He also tries to Know more about what’s going on outside, but when he Sees, it’s all chaos and rampant infection killing each other in a rage. It quickly becomes overwhelming, and Jon decides to just go out and look for himself. After he goes outside, he ends up getting attacked by a few rage-infected people, as he is running away he gets saved by Georgie. She has the admiral with her and she is trying to find Meline.

The plot would then follow Jon and Georgie as they try to find Martin and the rest of the Archival crew.

Branching from the original universe.

TMA Private I/Eye AU

The basic idea that I had for this AU is that Jon still manages to get beholding powers, but has started his own Private Investigator agency, and uses his beholding powers to solve crimes and the like. Sasha is the head archivist at the Magnus Institute, and her two assistants are Tim and Gerry. She occasionally goes to Jon for help if she wants to actually do something more with the statements, then just organize them.

Martin becomes Jon's assistant/secretary after he comes upon his hiring sign on his way home from grocery shopping.

Furry/Anthropomorphic AU

Archivist +Archival Assistants

Jon-Havana Brown Cat

Martin-Highland Cow

Tim-Golden Retriever

Sasha-Roe Deer

Melanie- Egyptian Goose

Brashira-Though/draft breed horse

Daisy-German Shepherd

Avatars

Elias- Short Eared Owl

Jane Prentiss-Sheep

Peter Lukas-Ringed Seal

Not-Sasha-Baboon

Micheal Shelly-Blue Ring Octopus

Helen Richardson-Platypus

Jude Perry-Camael

Julia Montauk- Beagle

Trevor Herbert-English Foxhound

Nikolia Orisinov- Chimp

Oliver Banks-Crow

Simon Fairchild- White-throated Needletail

Mike Crew-Buzzard

Annabelle Cane-Pipistrelles Bat

Statement Players

Gertrude-Red Fox

Jurgen Litner-Mountain Hare

Gerry Keay-European Polecat

Breekon & Hope- Siberian Huskies or Altai Horses

Agnes Montague- Common European Adder

Others

Georgie-Borzoi (Black furred)

So that's the basics of them for now. I am going to be posting more about them soon, and I'll individualize and tag the posts accordingly.

Please feel free to ask any questions or anything about my thought process and stuff.

#the magnus archives #tma #tma au #tma aus #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood

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bluekat12345 · 2 years

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Humanformers Characters

I mentioned in the first Humanformers post that the humans’ cybertrionian forms had their own lives before their abilities were transferred to the new team. So I thought it would be fun to share more about their character and their backgrounds in this AU. If the original team are nothing like they are in the show, that’s the point, those personalities go to the new team.

TFA AU Humanformers

Humanformers Characters 2

The Original Team

Optimus Prime: He was Second-In-Command of the Autobot army and a close confidant of Ultra Magnus himself. He was regarded as a great leader and many thought he would be come the next magnus. He was seen as stoic, brave, wise, and always knew what to do. But you don’t get to a position as high as him without having to make a few sacrifices, but he would try not to dwell on those sacrifices for too long, because it was all for the greater good as the needs of many outweigh the needs of a few, and besides, what’s done and is done, he can’t go back, even if he wants to. He wouldn’t share these feelings with anyone, not even Ultra Magnus.

Ratchet: Considered the best medic in the Autobot army, Ratchet was also a close friend to Ultra Magnus. Despite his gruff exterior, he was seen as the best of the best, there was no injury he couldn’t fix, and he had been able to pass his skills and knowledge down to others, such Red Alert. But in a way, he was placed on a pedestal, so when there were patients that he couldn’t help, it hit him hard. And physically, he could fix people, but psychological/mental/emotional was another story. And he wasn’t good at taking care of himself, emotionally, so he would often pour himself into his work to distract himself.

Prowl: A talented Cyberninja, trained by the best, Yoketron himself. He is seen as the kind of Cyberninja all others should aspire to be. He was a master of stealth, a skilled fighter, and something of a spy master. But despite his great skill, he isn’t without his own secrets. He technically didn’t finish his training because his master died before he could master Processor Over Matter, and his reasons of joining the War are not as noble as others think. He primarily joined to find the bot that killed Yoketron and get his revenge. Naturally, he wouldn’t tell anyone this and while he would serve the the Autobots army loyally, his number one concern is killing the bot that killed his master.

Bulkhead: He was a fierce wrecker, admired by Autobots for his strength and even feared by both Decepticons and Autobots. He is one of the toughest wreckers the Autobots have known and is said to be proud of his strength and have a fierce temper, wanting to hit first and ask questions later. But the truth is he was much smarter and softer than others thought he was. He was knowledgeable on space bridges and didn’t really have such a bad temper, in fact, he was quite sensitive. But in a time of War, being soft would be seen as weak, and no one would ever believe he was anything more than a dumb brute, so at that point, he let others think whatever they thought, he didn’t bother trying to convince them otherwise, no matter how much he hated it.

Bumblebee: Although he was just a scout at the time, he was still someone to be respected. He managed to climb ranks very quickly despite his young age. He was a bot of few words, but took his job seriously and was ready to fight with his speed and agility. But he was still young, almost a child, so having to fight in a war at a young age can take a toll on you. So despite the praise and respect he would get from fellow soldiers and superiors, it wasn’t enough to help him handle all the horrific things the War makes him see, but keeps these feelings to himself so he doesn’t seem like a scared child and lose respect he worked hard to earn.

The New Crew

Orion Fanzone: The only son and child of Captain Fanzone, Orion is something of a boyscout. He’s polite, smart, and with a good sense of right and wrong. Though he would be insecure and a bit shy, and being the Captain son may have part in this. Growing up he was either pressured to follow his father’s footsteps or teased for being a cop’s kid, with jerks thinking that he didn’t need to have any actual skill, his dad would help him get whatever job he wants. While he did want to join law enforcement, he ultimately decides not to because he fears the bullying could true, that being the captain’s son would risk special treatment and he wouldn’t actually have the skills needed. He never tells his father these fears and simply goes study engineering at college, thinking it was a safe enough job where he could help others.. Despite his insecurities, he has genuine potential to be a great leader and hero, and becoming a giant robot will help him realize that, even with some hiccups along the way.

Rowen O’Donnell: He’s a veteran medic and a doctor for the local hospital, though at this point, he’s more of a medical consultant, but hasn’t lost his skill. And as mentioned, he’s a family friend to the Fanzones, having known Orion since he was a kid, as he was their family doctor. He’s grumpy old man and very serious, but he cares deeply for his loved ones, knows the importance of making sure your health, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a robot, he does the least amount of fighting, but as he served in the military, he would provide fighting tips to his teammates and is willing to lend and ear if any of them need someone to talk to and encourages them speak about what’s bothering them, knowing firsthand keeping it to yourself isn’t good.

Pierce Roberts: A lone park ranger, he’s a man who takes his job very seriously and does it well. He is, of course, a loner preferring the company of animals and plants over the company of humans. He chose to become a park ranger to preserve what little nature was left in Detroit, and to keep it from be destroyed by more machines. He would actually share Fanzone’s resentment towards machines. When he isn't doing superhero stuff, he would actually use his new powers to protect as much of nature as he can, and yes, he is aware of the irony of the situation. After hanging out with the rest of the crew, he would learn to tolerate other people better. He may be stoic and even grumpy, but get close to him, and his a compassionate and loyal friend.

Benjamin ‘Ben’ Hudson: He is a college freshman who is majoring in art. He may come off as a big brute, but he is much softer and smarter than people give him credit for, and he makes sure others know it too. He’s sweet, sensitive, and harbors an artistic soul. Despite not liking people’s first impression of him, he tries not to let it bother him too much, as long he knows and people close to him know who really is. As a robot, he would be frustrated at the accidental destruction he causes and hates that he’s basically being the dumb brute people think he is. But with the help of his friends, he would get better at managing his strength and would find constructive and creative uses of his abilities, primarily for his art.

Barry Baker: The youngest of his team, Barry is only a high school senior by the time he joins the team. So he is rather childish, impulsive, reckless, and immature. But he’s also brave, a good friend, knows how to stay positive and hopeful even in bad situations, and really does want to do what’s right, which is a big reason why he chose to become a hero. He would honestly be the only one to really like his new powers and would find many ways to use and abuse his new abilities, which naturally get him into trouble. But he’ll learn to stop treating the situation like its a game and take things more seriously, while not losing his sense of excitement and fun.

Others

Megatron: Still the Leader of the Decepticons and would be the first Cybertronian to know that the New Crew isn’t the same team he fought years ago, so he wouldn't consider them a threat at first. After his revival, he would often taunt the new crew at how they are nothing compared to their predecessors and Megatron, knowing their identities, would threaten to go after their loved ones and even threaten to expose their identities to the world. He is much more manipulative and sadistic to the Crew. But as they continue to foil his plans, he kind of snaps, begins to think that they truly are the bots he fought all those years ago, somehow managed to come back just to infuriate him.

Sari: The first human to learn the identity of the new superhero group and would be their ally and friend. She actually would’ve been the one who suggests they become superheroes, and tries to be part of the action, even when they want her to stay away and safe. She would pretty much be the same as she was in the show. When she’s forced out of her home after her Dad goes missing, she’s temporarily adopted by Orion, and while there would difficulty adjusting, they would manage. She would see Orion as a second dad, Rowen and even Captain Fanzone as grandpas, Pierce as an uncle-figure, and Ben and Barry as older brothers.

Prof. Sumdac: When he first sees the team, remembering how he found the body of Megatron years ago. he would admittedly think their aliens, which isn’t entirely wrong, but to keep their secrets, the new team wouldn’t correct him. He knows Sari likes them, and has seen her with them, he doesn’t the full extent of her relationship with them. When Megatron awakens, he assumes he’s friends with the others and asks questions. Megatron knows this an manipulates Profs. Sumdac to makes things more difficult for the new team, such as telling false things about them to the Professor and watch as they struggle to maintain their cover. When he learns the truth, he’s horrified at what he’s done and only learns who the new heroes really are afterward.

Captain Fanzone: The Captain of the Police Department and the father of Orion. He would still be annoyed with machines and he would not be fond of the new robot heroes at first. He would very much love his son, but wishes he would be more confident. He may be a tough parent, but he would only be like that because he knows Orion is capable of more. He would always be ready to give his son advice and support whenever he needs it and the two have a pretty good relationship. When Orion starts keeping secrets from him, he can’t resist sneaking around to figure out what’s going on with his kid. When he finally does, he is furious, that not only his son is one of those giant robots, but that Orion has been endangering himself time and after time and didn’t even tell him, his own father. He would at first, be against it, but eventually begrudgingly accepts it.

This isn’t all the characters in this AU or in the whole TFA universe, just the key characters of this AU. I plan to make a post about the Elite Guard and more of the Decepticons in the future. Maybe a few other characters as well, but I’m not entirely sure.

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my-writings-and-musings · 3 years

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Not sure if you still want to write for old prompts but if so; May I request Rodimus, Brainstorm, and a bot of your choice for the kidnapped s/o defending their bot and giving the kidnapper a tongue lashing? Your writing is so good it seriously brightens my day reading through it all! :D

I never tire of my prompts, lovely anon! Thanks a million and here's the good boys! I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to do for the third bot but I poured my heart and soul into these two, I hope you like them!

Rodimus

·Your panic had never really gone beyond some light anxiety about when you'd get to eat next, but you credited that to the rescue party you knew was coming. Rodimus had bested bad guys far more competent than this loser, so you had few worries about getting out. Truthfully your greatest concern was how unfathomably annoying your captor was proving to be. Between their grandiose personality and their constant taunting over the communication line, you feel as if you're going to go mad. Unfortunately, when the mocking starts to be aimed directly at Rodimus without end, you quickly build to your limit. The gloves come off when your captor crosses the final line and calls your partner "Hot Rod" in an unacceptable jab.

·"Oh for God's sake! It's Rodimus you dolt, not Hot Rod! I know the extra syllable is a little difficult for you, but try to keep up!" Your shout echoes so loudly in the tiny cave that a bit of dust falls from the ceiling. Your captor is quick to try and shut you up, but that doesn't stop you in the slightest, as yelling feels far better than taking any more of their trash. For pete's sake, they stole you for ransom and they're expecting good behavior? Entitlement falls way short of describing what a jerk this bot is, and you let them know it, channeling the insults you know your partner would unleash if they could.

·"You think you scare me? You think you scare anyone?! You're dumb enough to piss off the captain of the Lost Light buddy, you should be afraid! Rodimus sees guys like you as footnotes compared to what he usually deals with!" Quite accustomed to your beloved captain charging in to save the day, you let loose a long list of his accomplishments, proudly defending and boasting at the same time. Your captor can't even get a word in edgewise. With a devilish smirk, you start to go on about all the less public ways Rodimus rules as a partner. His impeccable charm, his smooth wit, and his capacity to perform as a Prime where it really counts... That last bit is kept from vulgarity only due to a none too distant explosion cutting you off.

·Before anything can move, the door quite literally melts before imploding inward as molten metal, revealing Rodimus covered in flame. He moves in a fiery blur, his fist more akin to a meteorite as it collides with your captor to knock them out in a single punch. At your cheering of his name, he comes to your side in a flash, fire dissipating completely after he frees you of your bonds. Moments later the remainder of the crew is pouring in with Magnus scolding Rodimus for rushing ahead. He ignored him completely as he takes you into his arms, optics shining as if he's beholding something more precious than the Matrix could ever be. Though his words are flirty, his tone is tender and brimming with affection as he takes you back to the ship. His lovestruck expression doesn't seem to go away even when he throws a massive party to celebrate your rescue.

·In an incredibly rare moment where his responsibilities pull him away from you, a bot close to him tells you something they think you should know. Rodimus was initially devastated by your kidnapping. Though the entire ship had rallied for your rescue, he'd barely held it together enough to take charge, and hearing the bot mock him had nearly sent him over the edge. Your outburst had, as if by a miracle, revitalized him. Hearing you stick up for him, including your grand list of what you adored about him, had so inspired him that controlling his fire had become easy. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. You believing in him had put into perspective what he was capable of, to the point it lit a fire in the most literal sense of the phrase.

Brainstorm

·Dating a bot brilliant enough to rend time had made you quite accustomed to shenanigans of all kinds. Thus, you were calm when kidnapped, both due to the aforementioned reason as well as your certainty of rescue. However, that calm had proved short lived when your captor proved to be an annoying jerk with a massive inferiority complex. Their ceaseless mockery through the communication channel was like torture the DJD would have found too cruel to condone. You'd been able to stay cool for some time, focusing on keeping the situation calm and looking for weak points your rescuers might exploit, but inevitably you'd been pushed to your limit. The final straw had been your captor having the audacity to mock your partner for being a hopeless inventor who only managed to make things no one needed, and that sent you over the edge.

·"Hopeless?! You call inventing time travel and creating the multiverse hopeless?! This coming from a loser in a cave with the most backwards security system on this side of the galaxy?!" Your outburst had come with a rattling of your chains to emphasize your point, and between your voice and the clanking metal you'd immediately had the full attention of the bad bot. Still enraged, you made a point of detailing every single categorical failure they'd displayed, having learned plenty about judging the quality of technology in Brainstorm's lab. There's more than enough material for you to throw at them with the nightmare of poor maintenance surrounding you. "When was the last time you bothered patching up these turrets anyway?! Hope you're not planning on using these for defense, Brainstorm will have them short circuiting before he's done hacking that door!"

·There's something resembling an attempt at a comeback, but you're a mile ahead before it's even halfway out. To say your beloved bot eclipses this loser's intellect would imply they'd actually register on the same level, and you have to laugh at the absurdity of someone so incompetent daring to come after one of the most brilliant bots in the galaxy, something you let them know in no uncertain terms. The litany of reality warping ways you might be rescued is as long as it is ridiculously plausible. You begin going off on the countless other ways Brainstorm might get around this captive situation, extolling his many talents in weapon design and paying special attention to how brilliantly he thinks outside the box. You're about to get into the details of other areas he's creative in when the lights go out and everything plunges in to darkness.

·Flashes of biolights, small explosions, and shouts of action are all you have to discern some incredible rush of activity. Before you can really figure out what's happening a beautiful pair of yellow optics light up the darkness, and in a split second your chains are broken and you're being lovingly cupped by a pair of careful hands. At the flip of a small device the lights flicker on to reveal a beaten but otherwise fine captor being cuffed, but you ignore that entirely when Brainstorm removes his mask to speak to you. Playfully fussing over your condition, he uncharacteristically kisses your little head in full view of everyone, something he's never done before. In fact, the next few days he's nothing but openly loving and outright showy in his affections, publicly presenting you with a series of fantastic gifts invented to profess his love.

·In a rare moment of solitude, you're unexpectedly taken aside by a bot who says they need to let you know something important. Brainstorm was almost dangerous. He'd already lost one love, and he'd been so intent on not losing another he'd been forced from his lab to prevent him from tearing reality asunder to get to you. He'd been nearly impossible to console or restrain until your voice came through the comm. Hearing you defend him so passionately had calmed and invigorated him all at once, grounding him in reality and giving him the clarity he needed to assist in rescuing you. The device he'd created to extinguish enemy defenses had been put together at a speed that impressed Perceptor. It was thanks to you that he remembered to go slow and take things one step at a time, because just as much as you were worth fighting for, you were worth living for.

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petitelepus · 3 years

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Yo, LL manages to save their liason from the SG universe, what's the (rescue +) aftermath like? I want to see some angst with the bots as their liason is completely broken and traumatized and quite possibly a little bit insane and won't trust anything anymore.

WARNING: ABUSE, STOCKHOLMS SYNDROME.

"How's it going Brainstorm, Perceptor?" Rodimus asked as the two scientists worked their afts off in an attempt to save you from their evil counterparts.

"Just about done captain!" Brainstorm said while inputting codes into the supercomputer they had prepared for the occasion. The bright orange mech nodded, before looking and scowling at your counter version who had been tied in the strictest straitjacket after their attempt to sabotage the rescue.

"You're all wasting your time!" They shouted before cackling like a fucking drunk hyena. "There is no doubt that Rodimus, my Rodimus threw your little liaison to others to play with. You'll be lucky if liaison will be even able to talk after what others have done to them!"

"Shut up!" Rodimus was having trouble keeping his anger in check. Your evil version had been living with them who knows how long and honestly, every mech and femme in Lost Light felt fooled by your evil side's fake facade that they used to trick the crew.

The only one who saw through them was Whirl and no one believed him because it was Whirl. It took a long conversation with Cyclonus who appeared to be the only one who believed the empurata survivor and together they had tricked your evil side to show their true dark colors.

"Alright, I think we are done!" Brainstorm finally exclaimed and he joined Rodimus and Perceptor at the base of their universal portal gun.

"Are you sure it works?"

"Absolutely. Two of the greatest scientist made it after all." Perceptor nodded and Brainstorm beamed at being called genius but the situation demanded everyone's full attention. Rodimus nodded as he called everyone to come where he was. It didn't take long for the rescue party to get there.

Whirl and Cyclonus had been among the first ones who wanted to save you, followed by Megatron as he felt it was his fault that you had ended into this whole mess. If you hadn't become his guardian then you would never have ended in such a mess back on Earth. Drift was there also since you had been abducted while he was watching after you. He had to come. Ultra Magnus wanted to come, but someone had to look after the spaceship and he was honestly best suited for it at the moment.

Taking in all the mechs ready rescue you, Rodimus picked up your evil twin and nodded to Brainstorm and Perceptor. "Start it up."

The two scientists entered coordinates and the huge machine rumbled as it collected electricity all around itself until it reached its peak and shot out a beam that tore the line between the two universes apart. The Autobots looked at each other and lead by Rodimus they entered one by one into the other evil universe.

"Find them quickly, the longer the portal is open the more it might twist our realms!" Perceptor shouted. Rodimus looked at Megatron and Cyclonus. "You two stay here and watch that no one comes or crosses the universe!"

The two former Decepticons nodded and took their spots around the tear, protecting it the best way they could. Rodimus glanced at Drift and Whirl. "We will stay together since we don't know what we are against here."

"I tell you! Murderers, manipulators, and assholes, but mainly murderers!" The other you yelled and Whirl squinted his only optic at the evil human. "If it was left to me, you would be dead fleshie!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared! Don't you think my Whirl hasn't tried that before?" Other you grinned wickedly. "I can't wait to see what he has done to my better half."

"You little-!"

"Calm yourself Whirl!" Drift placed a hand on the blue mech's shoulder. "We must work together now. Don't let them get under your armor. Don't give them the upper hand."

The flyer glared at other you, but nodded and pulled back as the three of them ventured into the other Lost Light. Everything looked the same except for some occasional dent on the wall or suspicious-looking splat of energon. They had no idea where you could have been.

"Hey?" Drift said your other self and they shot a glare at the swordmech. "What?"

"You can make this easier and tell us where our liaison could be."

Your other half grinned maliciously. "Oh, there are way too many places! They could be a wet splatter of blood on a firing range where Deadlock likes to shoot anything that moves and has a heartbeat."

"Rung could have taken a liking to them, but where there is Rung there is Whirl close by. If not, he might have taken doctor's privileges to practice some lobotomy perhaps?"

"The best thing to them maybe if Tailgate got his hands on them first. He likes humans, has had a TON of them as pets. You know when you see something so cute you wanna squeeze the life out of it? Petite things we humans are, aren't we?"

"Fragger is enjoying this!" Whirl shouted in fury, but then they all heard something. Clapping. The three Autobots quickly looked at the source of the noise and saw a dark blue mech at the end of the hall, clapping his hands together as he emerged from the darkness.

"My, I see that you got yourself a nasty case of a disobeying human there."

"Rung?"

"Eyebrows?"

"No one has called me that and made the same mistake twice." The other Rung smiled and looked at the other you.

"Liason." He smiled, "My how I have dreamed of seeing you tied like that."

"Psych," Your evil version nodded towards evil Rung, but they didn't stop there. "And psycho."

Suddenly another mech emerged from the darkness, this one red and-! Empurata survivor. Whirl's only optic widened as he took in his counterpart. The red mech glared back at his blue version and tension rose. Rodimus cleared his intake to get the bad guys' attention and he lifted other you for them to see.

"Listen, we just want our liaison back and you can have yours back." The orange Autobot said and the blue Rung tilted his head. "Really now? Give us a reason to switch."

"Well... This one is yours and you have ours?"

"Ah, you sound so juvenile captain Rodimus. Much like ours."

"Enough, where is our friend?" Drift stepped up and Rung smiled as he took a step aside and let red Whirld open his cockpit. The three good Autobots were shocked to see you there, sitting inside the evil mech's chest, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. There was a click and Whirl suddenly pulled his gun out before anyone could stop him and pointed them at the evil Rung and Whirl.

"Hand them over or I'll paint the walls with your energon!" The flyer shouted. Rung chuckled and gently picked your unconscious body from his partner's cockpit. "You wouldn't shoot us when we have your precious human on my arms?"

"Try me."

"Whirl, no!" Rodimus and Drift shouted and your evil twin laughed, "Yes, shoot them!"

The blue Autobot growled but in the end, he lowered his weapons. "Just... Give them back."

"Hah! You're just as stupid as you look!" The evil you laughed wickedly, "Like Hell these bastards would-!"

"You have a deal." Rung suddenly said and everyone froze as he picked you up. Your evil counterpart turned their wide gaze into their Rung. "What the fuck!? You're going to give up so easily!?"

The mechs ignored you as Rung approached the good Autobots and held you for them. "Take them. We want what's ours."

"You can't be serious!" Evil you shouted as they were handed to their own Rung. They glared at the psychiatrist and grinned viciously. "You will never break me...!"

The blue bot smiled maliciously right back at them. "Darling, you should know that I enjoy challenges." He glanced at your rescue party and smiled. "It was a pleasure working with you. Give my best regards to my counterpart. I'm sure he will enjoy his time with your liaison."

And just like that, the evil Autobots turned and took their leave, while your counterpart kept insults coming on everyone. Rodimus looked at you in his hands. You looked so weak and vulnerable, his spark ached. Whirl felt the same way, but he would never tell that.

"Roddy, we have to go now!" Drift pulled both bots out of their pity party and they all quickly returned to the portal, only to be surprised by the number of unconscious mechs lying around in Megatron's and Cyclonus' pedes.

"We got company so we took care of them," Megatron said and it was enough for them all. They all went through the portal back to your universe and as soon as they made it out, Perceptor shut the gap between your worlds. As soon as they were safe, Rodimus transformed and drove as fast as he could to the medbay where Ratchet was waiting for them.

"Please, heal them!" The captain cried and Ratchet took your body into his hands and laid you on the surgeon's table. He carefully took in your vitals and came to the conclusion that you were perfectly healthy. Some bumps and bruises, but no broken bones or serious like that. At least with your body.

"I don't see anything wrong with them. No matter what happened, they kept our human in good shape." Ratchet said and Rodimus sighed in relief. The sensation was short-lived as you started to come by. Rodimus was beaming happily as he watched your pretty eyes flutter open and take in the surroundings.

"Wh- where...?" You stuttered weakly as your eyes fluttered open and you looked around but when your eyes fell on Ratchet and you suddenly screamed bloody murder.

"I'm sorry Ratchet, I'm sorry!" You cried in horror and quickly twisted your body so you were kneeling before the medic and to everyone's horror you started to bang your forehead against the hard solid metal bed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't know what came to me! I didn't mean to offend you!"

"H- hey, stop!" Rodimus shouted grabbing you before you could do any damage but you had managed to cut your forehead as blood dripped down your face. The moment your eyes landed on Rodimus and registered what you were sawing it was like a switch was clicked in your head.

"R- Rodimus!" You cried out before you suddenly hiccupped and your body went limp before suddenly jolting up like you had gotten an electric shock. "P- please captain...! Let me go...!" You whimpered like you were afraid for your life. Speechless Rodimus glanced at the medic and Ratchet nodded, already comming to Rung to quickly come to medbay.

"I'm here!" The orange mech exclaimed as he stepped inside the medbay and your eyes locked together. Rung's optics widened behind his glasses and you smiled coyly at him.

"Rung...! My beloved, where were you hiding all this time? Why did you leave me alone?" You looked at Rung like he was your own personal universe and this sent alarm bells ringing in the mech's head. You were friends but you never talked like that to anyone. You attempted to jump to him but Rodimus quickly caught you before you could break anything.

"How long have they acted like this?" The psychiatrist asked and Rodimus placed you into Rung's hands. "It was like they were a completely different person!"

The orange mech blinked at you as you winked at him. "Will we have fun with Whirl again, master Rung?"

Rung swallowed hard as he looked at you and smiled lightly. "It's okay, I'll take you to our room and change a couple of words with captains." He said and just like the switch was turned in you, you suddenly turned fearfully of everyone surrounding you. "Pl- please no! R- Rung, no, please, don't leave me alone!"

The psychiatrist tried to give you to someone else even for a second but the moment he tried that, you turned defensive, kicking and sending everything else flying instead of letting them touch you.

Not seeing any better way out of their situations, you were locked into your old habsuite while Rodius, Megatron, and Ultra Magnus went to Rung's private meeting.

"You won't like what I have to tell you." The orange mech warned and Rodimus scowled. "So just tell us! That's wrong in them!?"

"Well, captain... The liaison was exposed to extreme situations that their mind simply couldn't handle on their own so they resorted to finding shelter from my and Whirl's alternative universe versions. By the way she reacted, I think she was manipulated to believe those two sought only their best interest, making them ignore all the red flags and learning to appeal to other Rung's and Whirl's liking."

"So...? They fell for your twins?" Rodimus asked.

"It's called Stockholm Syndrome back in Earth. It means that the victim developed feelings like loyalty, sympathy or even love towards their captor." Rung explained and Megatron groaned. "I'm familiar with those cases."

"You had someone fall for you?!" Rodimus gasped and the grey mech gave them a small nod. "Not for me per se, but some war prisoners would switch after learning the truth of the Decepticon cause."

"How do we treat them Rung?" Ultra Magnus asked, "You're the only one with so much knowledge of this."

"I'm afraid there isn't some miracle pill that could heal them." Rung shook his head and corrected his glasses. "Therapy sessions as much as I can offer and light medication incase they developed a depression or anxiety. I also must treat them for post-traumatic stress disorder that they probably suffered from other evil counterparts' treatment."

The captains and Magnus shared a look and they all nodded, agreeing with their decision. Megatron looked at Rung and nodded. "Do whatever you can Rung."

#transformers #mtmte #transformers mtmte #rodimus prime #megatron #rung #whirl #ultra magnus #cyclonus #drift #abuse #stockholm syndrome #anon #request #shattered glass

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rickriordanfandam · 3 years

Text

opinions on riordanverse ; my edition

a lot of people have been doing this so i decided why not right. probably gna lose some followers or smth but anyways. pls respect my opinions! if u disagree, thats fine, but please be polite. unless any of my opinions strikes u as morally wrong then pls point it out to me respectfully. thanks!

- i actually liked drew. im so sorry to everyone who hates her but full offence, why. think about it this way ok, first of all drew became hc because silena died. silena was the traitor, the one who betrayed chb, yet after she died campers celebrated her as a hero? and then drew suddenly has to replace her and live up to idk that legacy she left behind,, when all of a sudden this girl named piper swoops in and takes her place. idk abt u but i wld be salty abt that too. not only that, but as an asian, the chances of drew having faced racism/bullying as a child is pretty high (she studies at brooklyn academy). which means that when she finds out shes a demigod, and arrives at chb where most of the campers are white (this is an assumption btw), she’d obviously be scared of being bullied for her skin color right?? so the first thing she wld do before the campers get to bully her is to bully them before they can do so. (sentence structure here is wack i apologize) ofc this might not even have happened, drew could have had a perfect childhood && was a b1tch for no reason, BUT EVEN THEN HER ROLE AS A BULLY WAS PRETTY VITAL BECAUSE THAT FURTHER SHOWED THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HER AND PIPER,, HIGHLIGHTING PIPER AS A HERO//GOOD CHARACTER,, AND THEREFORE MAKING READERS LIKE PIPER MORE. anyway stop hating on drew please. ALSO WHY IS THIS SO LONGA SDFJHG

- jason isnt bland, the fandom just kinda erased his backstory (thanks to @pjohoo-memes for the phrasing lol)

- reynabeth wouldnt have lasted/would have broken up several times. idk i just see them as two extremely powerful characters who have firm opinions and will definitely clash at some point. in a platonic relationship,, i can see them as really good friends but as lovers? idk i just think theyll break up

- PIPABETH

- i dont really like jercy,, i see them as better friends than lovers. also idt jason and percy were that close..?

- the dam and not my type jokes are srsly cringey and were never funny. ik that seems hypocritical since my username literally makes use of the dam joke but honestly i dont actually like the joke. its not funny to me and has never been funny

- the seven were not best friends. they definitely argued,, and honestly probably werent as close as the fandom makes them seem. like ure dumped with 6 other people, out of which u only know a few. my introverted ass would have jumped off the argo 2 quicker than leo valdez could bomb camp jupiter up. also leo was a dick to frank. so what if frank is bigger sized?? thats not a valid reason to tease him

- the fandom needs to stop hating on octavian while worshipping luke. if u hate luke and u say u hate octavian too, then okay. but if u tell me ure a luke stan but u despise octavian?? imma disagree w u. luke was worse than octavian im sorry. first of all, octavian being a dick was kinda justified. hes been after the praetor position for so long, and everyone keeps saying to “wait for jason” when suddenly this dude, whos a son of NEPTUNE (neptune wasnt liked much by romans), and the camp decides to make him praetor?? dude i would be pissed off big time. and then afterwards, he finds out that greek demigods are real and the dude they made praetor is greek. AND THEN GREEK DEMIGODS COME TO CJ AND ONE OF THEM BOMB IT UP?? octavian has been told all his life that greeks are scum and this dude called leo valdez attacks cj. sure it was an accident, but did octavian know that? no. so it was honestly justified that he was such a salty prick im just saying. also some of yall be hating on octavian for cutting a teddy bear open and thats the funniest shit ive ever heard i swear

- luke didnt go to elysium

- travis and connor stoll r way too underrated. the two have been head counselors of the hermes cabin since luke was revealed as a traitor, can u imagine the stress? luke, the person they probably looked up to as a brother, betrayed them. and they didnt even have time to process this when they were thrown the roles of being hcs. that would have been so stressful and i would probably have broken down if i were them. the stoll brothers taking turns to wake up at ungodly hours because a new camper is crying and homesick and terrified, the stoll brothers having to comfort and take care of new campers, having to deal with the amount of people in that cramped space because not enough campers are being claimed fast enough. having to resolve issues between campers in the hermes cabin all the time. the stolls arent just comedic relief, and we need to stop treating them as such

- tratie shldve been canon idc idc

- demigods of the demeter cabin arent talked about enough and i love the fact that meg was demeters kid. like she isnt the child of one of the big three yet shes so powerful.

- we need to hype clarisse up more her character arc was phucking amazing

- rachel is overhated. sis found out greek gods exist and regularly come down to earth to fuck around and went “ok cool”. queen shit behavior methinks

- the floor 19 crew of mcga is srsly underrated. like do u even remember halfborn gunderson, mallory keen, tj, etc??? bc i feel like we only remember samirah, magnus, alex, and sometimes blitz and hearthstone

- sadie (tkc) was kinda annoying at first. i like her more now tho but i rmb not liking her for a phat while

- tkc and mcga need more love

- carter kane and jason grace arent boring. theyre just really sweet boys who are too good for this world and yes yes yes

- hazel and frank (especially frank) need to be hyped up more. i hardly ever see anything about them. also yall seem to forget that frank was literally made praetor and that even hecate admired hazel and was willing to fight beside her because of how powerful she was

- frazels age gap is kinda sketch but i still think theyre really cute

- nico definitely had trauma from going to tartarus on his own

- GROVER IS PERCYS BEST FRIEND

- annabeth isnt smarter than leo but neither is leo smarter than annabeth. ive seen a lot of discussions about who is smarter and heres my hot take on it: neither. theyre equally smart, just in different ways. leos a genius mathematically speaking. he has no issues solving math problems meant for people much, much older than him. annabeth on the otherhand, is great at strategies etc. she can make an army of 1000 more powerful than the enemy, even if theyre outnumbered. so in my opinion, both are equally as smart//u cant compare their intelligence, because their talents lie in two different areas.

- while i do agree rick riordan isnt a god and that hes bound to make mistakes,, AND that hes given us a lot of representation,, if the representation offends the people its sposed to represent, then theres a problem. im talking about piper as a poc and wearing feathers in her hair. im not a poc, so i cant speak for them on whether or not its wrong, because i dont know either. HOWEVER, i have seen multiple posts BY pocs talking about how they didnt really like rick’s representation of piper, and thats an issue. pocs have been and are still oppressed and discriminated against by many. as a white cis man, we cant really blame him for not knowing (tho he could have done a research,, asked some pocs,, idk), but by representing pocs in that manner, hes influencing impressionable kids/teens into thinking “oh pocs wear feathers in their hair all the time” etc, which isnt true. the pjo/hoo series is extremely successful, and kids who read the books will probably start forming inaccurate opinions on pocs. the amount of fan art that depicts piper with feathers in her hair dont help either. “but rick said so in the books, so its canon” yeah well rick isnt a god and he can get some things wrong at times. im not saying we should cancel him, im saying we should start educating ourselves and not spread false info like pocs wearing feathers in their hair all the time. also that snake song shit where she sang Summertime was just- yeah. bc heres the thing you can be racist, and still include minorities, but portray them in a racist way. And even then, ignorance isn't a thing to admire. Getting those facts wrong still has a major impact. It continues to perpetuate racist stereotypes.

“ With the feather thing, I looked it up myself; it takes less than five minutes to figure out that Cherokees don't braid feathers into their hair. I didn't grow up in the country where my parents are from. I have many other first/second generation American friends who have also been through that, with a bit of a disconnect from their culture. But something that most of us have in common is that when we didn't know something, and when our parents weren't that big of a help, we looked it up. We sought out resources online and through other people from our culture to be able to connect more with where we came from. Some of that took a Google search. So I find it hard to believe that Piper, a girl who Rick's trying to portray as someone who is attempting to connect with her culture and is totally against racist stereotypes, wouldn't know that eagle feathers aren't supposed to be braided into your hair casually. She may be disconnected from her culture, but she's also shown to want to connect back to it. Piper wouldn't be casually braiding feathers into her hair while also telling off people for being racist. It makes no sense.” - reddit thread (down below)

for those of yall who wanna know more please please read this, it has a lot of things i wanna add in here : https://www.reddit.com/r/camphalfblood/comments/gy3gl2/piper_mcleans_portrayal_is_innacurate/

as well as https://finding-my-culture.tumblr.com/post/189422373260/maxie-ratties-and-cattie-finding-my-culture

i will be posting screenshots of these in future posts so if ure viewing this on ig and u dont have tumblr,, dont worry

- the fact that most of the strong female characters in the series refuse to be “girly”, and ngl i dont really like that. just because ure girly doesnt mean u cant be strong.

- piper would have been a great way for him to start making the strong characters act girlier, but instead he went with the “I’m not like other girls” trope which is quite obnoxious to hear constantly, and I don’t think it’s necessarily great for younger girls to read that idea growing up. the closest we've ever had to a strong female character who was also into "girly" things was Silena. when I was younger I admired Piper's "I'm not like other girls" thing, but then I got older and realized that the whole mentality of "not like other girls" is super obnoxious, and a little bit toxic

i have a heck load more that i cant rmb rn but yeah feel free to add more

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askmathiaskohler · 3 years

Note

What were your viking days like dude? I've heard all about your counterparts and whatever but not you! You should tell us!!

Mathias: AHA! Now that is quite the loaded question! Not that I mind, of course. I love talking about myself and my history! I hope you are ready for me to talk your ear off, ven.

[ / He pauses for a moment, scratching his chin in thought as he ponders over something. ]

Mathias: Or would it be ears? Would I just be talking one off, or both? I guess that ears would be more accurate, since there are quite a few of you tuned in... AGH! That’s off topic, haha! forgive me.

[ / He shakes his head, as if to try and shake off the distractions, before he once again focuses on the camera. Repositioning himself in his chair, so that he can be more comfortable, he continues. ]

Mathias: Now historians have put specific time stamps on things that I wouldn’t consider very accurate, so I’m not a hundred percent on what span of time you’re referring to. The beginning? The middle? The tail end? Whatever, I’m going to answer it all just to play it safe! Forgive me, though. The history people have timestamped me as an old man, so I may not remember everything.

Mathias: I wouldn’t have considered myself a víkingr until... I believe the late stone age. A drengr, most definitely, but the most I ever explored was the woods of my home. I think I crossed into my grandfathers territory more then once, but I can’t remember for certain... Mathias: The culture that would eventually become so broadly defined as “vikings...” [ / He holds his hands up to emote air quotations when he says that, before his hands drop to his sides once more; out of frame. ] Mathias: ... Began to truly stir shortly before my far disappeared. The battle, the exploration, the glory! Do not get me wrong, we had always been a warmonger group of peoples who settled our issues with the sharp end of an axe, but the adventures cross the seas and through the river channels did not start until... Well, very shortly after I found my lillebror. Mathias: I cannot remember the date, or the year, or anything. You will have to forgive me, we were not exactly keeping calendars and writing down occasions! But I believe the stamp on them is... 4000? [ / There’s an exclamation of a correction that can be heard in the background from Mathias’ guest, Wilhelm. “5000!” And with this, Mathias lets out a hearty laugh; shaking his head nonchalantly. ] Mathias: 5000, my mistake. I suppose Wilhelm can’t take a compliment that he looks much younger then he is!

[ / There is a bark of laughter heard from a few rooms over, though Mathias does return his attention to the camera so that he can continue to answer the question. ] Mathias: But I would say that me taking a boat to the sea to find my bror could serve as my “víkingr badge.” And let me tell you, raising a child was way more challenging then anything else that was thrown my way. Regardless, young Eluf-

[ / His eyes widen for a second, puffing out his cheeks as he blows out an awkward breath, before he laughs and corrects himself. ]

Mathias: Berwald turned out well. Mathias: He and I were very different, though. He was much more... I can’t remember the English word. It starts with an F? He was very.. financial. Ja, that works. He was much more interested in the idea of trade, while I was more interested in swinging an axe and earning my fruit that way! I was dubbed a berserkr shortly before my boat hit the coastline of Norway because of how much I liked to get high and raid! Ah.. Simpler times. Mathias: I guess that is why people tried to worship me as Þórr... Þórr! I mean, I guess I can see the comparison... Liking to fight, liking to drink, handsome... Not to mention my far oh so creatively named me Tore. But that surely wasn’t great for my ego, HA!

[ / His face lights up, as he thinks of yet another point to divulge into. He lifts his hand with his pointer finger up, and a bright smile lights up his face. It’s clear that this one-sided discussion is pleasing to him. ]

Mathias: OH! Speaking of Norway, that was when I met Lukas! Flíri was his name at the time, and he was so entrancing that I made a complete fool of myself trying to get his attention! Mathias: I mean... It made an impression, obviously. I’m guessing me covered in deer piss and blood did something for him! It was an impressive hunt, though, I get that. But I mistook him for a woman! Seriously! I thought he was just a flat chested woman with a deep voice. I think that’s what I said to him actually. “I thought you were a flat chested woman!”

[ / A guffaw resonates from him as throws his head back. After a few seconds, he manages to wind down and once again looks at the camera; His arms now crossed over his chest, to give his fidgeting hands something to do. ]

Mathias: Somehow- some way- he came back to my encampment with me. Hey, if it works it works! And I’m very good at being foolish. Mathias: For a while, the three of us- Eluf, Flíri and me- lived under the roof of...

[ / He pauses, letting out an “ugh” sound as he rolls his eyes. His fingers begin to tap his brachium, a tick, before he resumes. ]

Mathias: Magnus... And Sindri, I guess. Things were much, much different back then and I considered them both friend and family. I was blind to them and their... Whatever, moving on. Mathias: It was a nice settlement. Stable, close enough to the water for resources but not close enough to be often raided, plentiful greens and wild life... It was a good place to raise Emil! Though his given name was Tait. A place where I could teach him how to use a sword without worrying about someone trying to use one against him. Mathias: Ja, I would say that Lukas and I threw our towels in whenever we found out about the kids. Not to say we never raided again, that’s laughable! But it wasn’t often that we boarded a long ship together to go pick on some monks. If anything, it was usually one of us while the other stayed to watch him. And usually, I was the one on the long ship and he was the one who stayed. Mathias: It wasn’t like I raided alone, though. I had people who always had a place in my crew if they were around! Wilhelm, Bjorn... Sindri... Eluf, obviously. On the few occasions that Magnus would leave his jarl chair to come with us, he was also on the ship.

[ / He looks up, trying to recall everyone, while he counted them out on his fingers. ]

Mathias: Ingrid, Eira... If she wasn’t frothing. Olga! Olga more so. It was like she had an addiction to carnage! She was there almost every raid season! Mathias: Those are the people you’ll know, anyways. The one’s still around! Humans had an even shorter life span back then, so it’s understandable to expect that none of them were immortal. I can’t even remember many of their names... Mathias: That was around the time that it began to tank, though. With the spreading of Christianity and us not being able to keep a foothold...

[ / He lets out a hollow sounding laugh, and for a moment he looks a little sad. But, he’s quick to don a tight lipped smile. ]

Mathias: It’s weird how quickly things changed, and sometimes I wonder about how things would be if they hadn’t. But everyone is constantly evolving, and if that was meant to be the end... then that was meant to be the end.

#aph denmark #hws denmark #mathias #ic: answered #long post

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jelloopy · 4 years

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Moonlighting Notes

Previous: Character Creation, HtbG

Moonlighting Ch 1

Boys are dizzy upon entering moon base (Why exactly was this a thing? Like was it because Lucretia made it so the bureau couldn’t be remembered/ comprehended by anyone not inoculated?)

AAVVIIIIIIII!!!!! He is from Brandybuck and gives them some brandy to ease the dizziness (Team player, I want someone like Avi in my crew.)

JOHAAANNNNNN!!!! Half elf! v v sad boy. So talented!!! (I kinda forgot how mopey he was since I’ve been catching up with the rest of TAZ )

Magnus why you tickling a grown-ass man? (This is so funny and weird considering how their relationship grows later on?)

Best god damn musician that ever existed. Plays violin like a mad man (He plays the Violin… I feel like Lup would have challenged him so god damn fast. But still, is he the legit best Violinist in Faerune?)

Magnus drinks the Ichor first. Remembers everything that was static before now being clear as day. Months and years ago there was a war that ruined and killed entire towns, loved ones, and people he knew. (Juliaaaaaa! God that sucks realizing that tbh. But also later on Travis says that Magnus was the leader of a Militia going against Governor Kalen. So what was that about exactly? They might actually explain that later on so I gonna wait and see.)

”You have never seen anything like this”~griffin about Fisher (Oh, how incorrect that statement is. Especially for it to be Magnus he’s talking about.)

Taako drinks next then Merle (Ahh, Taako the trust issues are showinggggg! But I don’t blame you it’s okay you have full right to be sus)

Taako has a memory of working on his grandpa’s farm where he leaves the milk out too long and remembers sour cream (he was 65yrs old) (God, does that mean Lup was there too? )

Johann came up with the name “voidfish”? (To be fair the IPRE gang only called him Fisher so it actually is pretty neat if Johann really was the guy to come up with the name.)

Magic Brian was 121yrs old and a drow elf (A young man just looking for mischief)

Magnus tries to tickle Johann again bit he smacks his hand away (YES JOHANN Stand up for your self!!!!! What a king.)

Johann is in the “gamekeeping” department? (I mean he is the guy that feeds and takes care of Fisher by means of feeding him information that needs getting rid of. So it kinda makes sense.)

Moonlighting Ch 2

They meet Lucretia! (I want to punch her so bad. I’m sorry if yall like Lucretia but she infuriates me. She actually is a really cool character with a complex personality that I can actually appreciate but I still hate what she did and I will go much deeper into it later on.)

Griffin makes a joke about having to “create a new monster that takes away memories” so that he can get Taako to unlearn some of the components to making a taco (Good god. That came back to bite us in the ass didn’t it? Huh, JUNIOR. Didn’t it? That hurts a lot too.)

Lucretia doesn’t know” what the umbrastaff is (I saw a post with some Lucretia angst which I can appreciate because she could have been “in denial” about it being Lup’s umbrastaff but I got angry nonetheless.)

She believes that they are much more capable than they believe that they are (YEAH HUH? Its almost like they have less faith in themselves because someone took away their memories and the knowledge of their powers or something and they had to start all over. Wild.)

The Bureau of Balance has only been in operation for less than a year and they were not able to do anything until they discovered the Voidfish (More like Lucretia had only then figured out the logistics of her organization enough to introduce Fisher to everyone. Which in retrospect is very smart and it’s the same thing I would do at that point in time but anyway.)

Magic Brian was a wayward seeker who worked for the bureau of balance (aHA! So technically in the Graphic Novel, he should have had a bracer on unless he used a spell to conceal it which is reasonable (I won’t hate on Carey I just remembered it and noticed he didn’t have a bracer on. it’s nothing wild))

CUE TRIAL OF INITIATION! (Ngl I forgot this was a thing because of how little attention I was paying at the beginning.)

Magnus is the strongest, Merle is the smartest, and Taako is the bravest. (In all aspects, I would have switched Taako and Merle but considering at this point Taako really was a dullard I can agree with their placements.)

The smallest ogre is blue the middle ogre is green and the big ogre is red (Awe I think Griffin used all of their fave colors to Mirror the three of em. <3)

Magnus’ first blood with ripping arms off (And so it begins. God, I love that Lil character detail in Magnus. It’s so frickin funny.)

”I thought I knew him! he’s an animal!” ~Taako (I mean in The Stolen Century he waaaas taught by a bear so… not far off there bud.)

Taako falls back and breaks his wand and in return, the umbrastaff begins to shift and wiggle in his bag until he gets it out. (It never clicked that this was the time that Griffin listed in Lup’s return in the finale. Until now… That’s so cute and so sadddddd)

Moonlighting Ch 3

Magnus got to keep the robot arm(s?) (Yay! Sadly he will give them up later on :( but it is for good reason so :) )

Lucretia came up with the name “Bureau of Balance” (Why? Like why Balance. I would name it Justice or Equity or something else but Balance doesn’t seem right in line with what they are doing.)

Lucretia treats davenport as her charge or ward (Rude. For one. It also hurts a lot more when you realize he is her superior. I hate it so much.)

”We very quickly cut your hand off take the bracer then reattach the hand so its no big deal” in reference to how they’ll get the bracers off after they find all the relics. (1- I forget how they get the bracers off in the end but did Lucretia really not plan for that?) (2- heheh *cut to Merle in three Arcs*)

The seventh relic is love “after we find the sixth item we’ll come back here” (She has the 7th in her hand actually so yeah you’re only gonna need to find six. But also it kinda was Love. The bonds they all had together helped Lucretia do what she needed in the end with the help of Taako’s idea and together they ended the Hunger’s reign over Faerune.)

”who called themselves the Red Robes- are all gone- most of them killed in the hunt for their relics- bring them back here if you find one” (Uh. Lucretia really named her family the “Red Robes” and made them sound evil because they did what they could at the time. Also they aren't “all gone” the only one(s) you don’t know their whereabouts of yet are Barry and Lup. AND YOU PUT ANTI- LICH WARDS ON THE DAMN MOON DUDE. If you really wanted to find Barry to talk then you would have not done that.)

Leon the artificer! (He is trying his best and I love him)

The umbrastaff is a magical umbrella created by the Umbrawizards “very few” of them exist (Boy HUH? Did Lup like… start a gang of wizards? Or did Lucretia feed Leon false Information?)

Taako being inept at the gashapon (My favorite thing. He is played as stupid at the time but if we consider his character, in general, knowing everything we do he is just fucking with Leon and I love him for that.)

RAILSPLITTER!!!! Phantom fist!!! Wand of switcheroo!! The X-treem teen bible and SCUTTLEBUDDY!!!! (Pay close attention! These Mousekatools will be useful later on!)

Awe Magnus got everyone the stones of far speech

They are moving to Level 4!!!

Next: MotRPL, Lunar Interlude I,

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balancemelting · 3 years

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Candlenights Exchange

Happy Candlenights to @alf-art and @thecandlenightszone

Davenport/Lucretia was requested so I did some light fluff. I hope you like it!

This cycle was peaceful, they managed to find the Light within days of it falling. With the survival of this world secure, they were able to freely explore and enjoy this world to its full extent. Lucretia had just ended a day in the city nearest to where the Starblaster was posted, she entered the ship and pulled out her journal. Not even at a table yet and already excited to write all that she experienced. Everyone else had gone out to explore the city and she was usually the first to head in so she was fully expecting to be alone on the ship. Since it was such a beautiful night, she decided it would be nice to do her writing on the deck. As she approached, she was shocked to find that someone else had gotten to the ship before her. Davenport was standing at the helm, holding the wheel in his hand. Lucretia could tell right away that something was wrong. Over seventy years with someone makes you intimately familiar with all of their subtle cues and little quirks. Davenport was their captain, their pilot, and he looked at home holding the wheel of the Starblaster. Even when making evasive maneuvers during dangerous situations, there was still that spark of excitement. The only time she saw that comfort gone was when they were all running from the Hunger, wondering if this would be the last cycle. Here he was standing with his back too straight and his knuckles white with how tightly he was gripping the wheel. He didn’t seem to notice Lucretia’s arrival, he was focused on muttering something under his breath. She approached him cautiously, glancing around to see any sign of a threat. As she got closer, she was able to make out some of his words. Lucretia had read every book on the Starblaster and had even memorized some of the ones that had been here for long enough, so she recognized that Davenport was repeating the steps listed in the instruction booklet on how to fly the Starblsater. He had been insisting that the rest of the IPRE should learn how to fly the ship, ever since the first time he died. Lucretia wasn’t sure what to do, she had seen Barry do something similar before, but he usually needed someone to work through his thoughts with. Something told her that helping Davenport go over the flight instructions wouldn’t help whatever this was. Then he shifted, his shoulders slumped and gave one gentle shake and she realized that he was trying not to cry. After they had first realized that their short mission was going to be extended into the unforeseeable future, certain formalities were dropped. One of the first ones being that they started taking their meetings in the kitchen while the twins danced around each other to cook. Other formalities remained, such as they all still looked to Davenport as their captain, still followed his orders to a degree. She had seen each member of the crew cry at one point, with all that they have gone through it was understandable. She had even cried, messily in front of the entire crew after a particularly stressful cycle. She realized that she had never seen Davenport cry, she had never even heard the other members mention seeing him cry, or yell, or anything. He was always their strong and calm captain. Lucretia felt as if she were intruding on an intimate moment and it was rude to not let her presence be known so she cleared her throat gently. As expected, he had clearly not known she was there and jumped before wiping his eyes quickly and spinning on his heel to face her, “Lucretia, you’re back early.” His voice was clear and strong and she would have thought that everything was fine if she had not seen him just moments before. “Yes, I wanted to write down some of the things I saw today. I was actually going to go to the kitchen and make some hot chocolate while I worked. Would you like some?” They both knew that she had seen him earlier, it was clear that she was willing to not bring it up. She was also offering him comfort if he would like it. Davenport’s shoulders relaxed and he even let out a little sigh as if he was releasing the stress from before, “You know, I think I would love that.” He released the wheel and moved to Lucretia’s side to head back towards the kitchen, “Do we even have the ingredients for hot chocolate?” She turned to smile at him, “Taako found some in the city yesterday. He got enough to get us through the next three cycles.” Her captain laughed, “Well then he won’t notice if two servings are missing.” The kitchen was dark and Lucretia cast a quick spell to light the place before searching for the special hot chocolate. Taako tended to stash supplies when he thought they were good enough, but Lucretia had learned long ago where he hid them. She pulled out the powder and began prepping. Davenport sat in his usual spot at the table and watched her silently work. “Do you remember Cycle 27?” The question was sudden and Lucretia jumped a little at her captain’s voice. “The one with the feral grass?” She remembered that one, Magnus took it as a challenge and rushed into the tall grass every morning while Merle begged him to go easy on them. Davenport laughed, “Alright, it wasn’t the nicest cycle, but do you remember the meteor showers?” How could she forget? She had watched her fair share of meteor showers in the past, watched the white lights streak across the sky and sparkle in a way that was always breathtaking. In Cycle 27, there were lights of every color and instead of just shooting a straight line through the sky, they twisted and twirled around each other like they were dancing. It had been so beautiful she found tears rising to her eyes the first time she saw it. Her sketches never did it justice. “Yes, I remember them.” She practically whispered and moved to sit next to him while the hot chocolate heated. He leaned in with a conspiratorial smile on his face, “Did you know they actually fell?” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a deep blue gem the size of his fist. It practically sparkled even in the dim light in the kitchen, almost as if it was giving off a little light of its own. “They aren’t rare or worth anything, just colored glass, but I loved how they looked and what it reminded me of so I collected as many as I could find. I’ve got every color you could imagine, but this is my favorite.” His voice softened, “Deep blue, reminds me of calmness, coolness, comfort.” Davenport moved to meet Lucretia’s eyes, “Reminds me of you.” She felt her face heat up and couldn’t bring herself to look away from the intensity in his eyes. It only lasted a moment before he broke into a playful smile and bumped his shoulder with hers. “Don’t tell the others, they would probably get sour. You all are my family, I would lie down my life any day to protect you all. It’s just nice to not be the captain sometimes and there’s something soothing about being in your presence.” Her face didn’t cool, but she smiled back at him and stood to tend to the hot chocolate. “Well, feel free to come to me at any time. I would be honored to bring you comfort, whether that means giving you a hug, a cup of hot chocolate, or just to lend an ear.” She poured two cups and made up his just how he liked it, two marshmallows exactly. He took a long sip and hummed in contentment, “You know, I think I might take you up on that.” Placing the cup down, he turned in his seat to face her, “Could I cash in on that hug right now?” It seemed Lucretia’s face was going to be warm for the rest of the cycle. “Of course, yes, anytime.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged back and she could feel the strength in his arms as he clung to her. She buried her face in his shoulder and whispered, “We will all get through this. I can feel it, we are almost there.” She had a plan she had been working on for a few cycles now, something that could get them out of this rut once and for all. She wasn’t going to give up on stopping the Hunger, wasn’t going to give up on a life with her family. His grip tightened just a hair, “Y’know? I think I believe you.”

#taz #taz balance #balance #candlenights #candlenights exchange #alf-art #candlenightszone #Davenport #Lucretia #davcretia #my writing #I really tried my best here #this was fun

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celsidebottom · 3 years

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AO3 Year In Review - 2020

I’ve seen a few of these going around so I decided to do my own!

Total fics posted: 44

Total words: 83,304

Top fandom: Rusty Quill Gaming with 29 fics! (The Magnus Archives is in second place, with 13, and Stellar Firma and Inn Between both only had 1)

First fic posted this year: A Night Off, a Basira/Daisy/Melanie fic where they take a well-deserved break from the nonsense of the Archives. Posted January 1, 2020, as part of a tma femslash event

Top oneshot: Accidental Confessions, where Jon is an adorable nerd who keeps casually saying “I love you” to Martin when he doesn’t intend to. It was inspired by this amazing comic and of course the desire for more safehouse shenanigans

Top multi-chapter fic: Keeping Up with the Kobolds. Wilde suddenly becomes responsible for a horde of kobolds who have taken up residence in the inn. At first he hates them, but, naturally, they grow into an adorable little family. I just love the kobolds, y’all. Of all the fics I’ve written, this is one of my favorites. It’s just so sweet and adorable, with cuddles and love, while still addressing the terrors that both the kobolds and Wilde have faced, but they face them together as a family.

Fic I’m most proud of: Hope on the Horizon, which was written for this year’s Rusty Quill Big Bang! Zolf captains a privateer vessel in service to the Meritocrats with Sasha, Cel, Azu, Grizzop, Hamid, and Skraak on his crew. They are tasked with tracking down the krakens and Shoin, saving the world and forming their own family as they go. When I first planned this fic, I almost didn’t expect it to break the 10k word minimum, and then it clocked in at nearly 25k. I am so proud of myself for having put all of this together, and the way it turned out is more amazing than I could have anticipated. It’s about the drama and the found family and bringing everyone together (minus Bertie of course).

Fic I wish got more attention: Something Like Hope. It’s a fairytale retelling with Basira and Daisy, where Daisy is the princess trapped in a tower to protect the people from the beast she turns into at night. Only true love can break the curse, but she is aromantic. Basira, a knight, rescues Daisy from the tower regardless and they make their own bond and find their own love that magic can’t deny. I Can and Will make every ship a queerplatonic relationship and I am So here for qp Dasira. QPRs need more representation! And it’s a twist on a fairytale so, I mean, c’mon

Favorite Quote/Passage: I have to do two, one serious and one silly, because that’s who I am as a person.

Holding Hamid in her arms feels as natural as anything at this point. Even with bars around them, some strange figure watching them from afar, and Hamid asleep, Azu pulls him into her embrace and holds him tight. She may not be able to get them out of this unknown quarantine, but she can protect him.

She can hold him when he’s bleeding from a fight, shaking and scared, skin covered in the faintest trace of scales. The light of Aphrodite flows through her and into his flesh, knitting the wounds. Though Aphrodite’s touch does nothing for Hamid’s fear, Azu’s embrace helps to wipe it away.

She can hold him when he’s drunk and exhausted from partying with goblins and orcs in the middle of Damascus. Azu scoops Hamid up into her arms to carry him away and back to their quest, and he nestles against her, still singing along to the music in the city as he dozes off.

She can hold him when they realize they’re all that’s left now. Sasha and Grizzop are gone. They have their blood relations, safe and sound, but there’s another part of their family that is missing in the void, and they have no way of knowing if they’re safe, no way of finding them and rescuing them. Azu holds Hamid tighter than ever before; she will not lose the rest of this family she’s made.

And as quarantine stretches on for a week, waiting in a dark, dingy cell, Azu holds Hamid again. They don’t know what’s happening or what comes next, but a little hug never hurt.

From A Little Hug Never Hurt, written for Azu Week 2020

“Wait – Bathin, Bathin?”

“Yes, David, how many people have you heard of with such a stupid name?”

“He’s going to be here?” David squeaked. “In that room? And we’re going to get to… talk to him?”

“Unfortunately, yes. His smug, hideous face is going to be here and, apparently, I’m not allowed to punch clients – which was not in what I remember of the sales handbook, but they have informed me of it several times,” Trexel pondered. “Normally, a salesperson can recuse themselves from a brief for reasons such as overwhelming hatred of the client, but! David! We are brave! We are dutiful! We will sell Bathin the best darn planet he has ever seen! Because we are the best sales to ever sales. David, are you listening to me?”

David broke out of his daydreaming. The angelic face of Bathin was replaced by the sweaty face of Trexel, shouting at him and frowning. Only a few more minutes until he would actually meet Bathin. After so many hours of dreaming of it, it was going to happen! With… Trexel there. Yelling. And being… Trexel.

From The Stuff of Daydreams, aka Give David 7 a Boyfriend 2020

Alright! I can’t believe I wrote that many words for AO3 alone, since I post a lot of fics on my writing blog too that don’t make it there. I didn’t complete some of the projects I wanted to this year, but I still wrote a lot more than I thought I did, and I’m proud of that at least! 2020 was a mess, but I hope that my fics might have made someone smile, because I know they kept me going during all of this.

#combat skirt out #my writing #my fic #I might do one of these for my writing blog too #but that's a bit more difficult #since I reblog things and have other stuff there #I'm curious now though

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tfw-no-tennis · 3 years

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mtmte liveblog issue 22

oooh man, its time to feel some EMOTIONS!

I'm BACK after a hiatus, which was due in part to me getting my 1st dose of the covid vaccine! woohoo!

anyways, starting here w/issue 22....we have a great cover w/thunderclash, the legend himself

oof. the covers made me forget how much I don't like the art this issue...I hate to be mean to the artists but this art style just isn't doin it for me chief

god I love this issue though. the framing device of rewind’s movie is so so fantastic

tailgate listing off all his fake awards/accomplishments....ily

rodimus my boy, you're a prime in my heart

the ‘not a decepticon’ label for cyclonus is so much hvbhkjfbskjf

I literally wanna comment on every single panel bc I love all the characters so much but then id be here forever...that being said whirl ily sm

hvbjdfbhsfjhdfshja BRAINSTORM ‘according to perceptor - ships genius’ hvhdkjhbfhjs ily dumb gay idiot

and then the cut to perceptor after brainstorm like, blew up his lab vjbkdsfnbksjf dude

GODDDDDD drift ‘your name...defines you. it’s your soul expressed in syllables. hm? oh, yes, sorry. it’s drift.’ GOD he’s so fucking funny. I love early story hippy drift

god I cant stop thinking about how good this whole issue would be as an animated show...like, specifically rewinds film, it would be SO FUCKING GOOOOOOD mtmte show WHEN

rewiiiiind ;_; I fuckgin love rewind god. fellow video editing enthusiast....

ohhhh rodimus being embarrassed about his big speech at the beginning of mtmte....my boy I love u so much

gjhnbgehjsrkfbjksf magnus being suspicious of rewind oh my god. magnus ily but please, look at the lil guy, he’s a good boy, most of the time

the fuckgin footage that magnus removed hbvhakjbfhskf god. wasn't that intended to be footage of magnus dancing? I love him

minibot squad.....

and here it begins, the mystery stick rung question...

poor rung oh my god he’s just trying to polish his lil spaceship and people r throwing shit at him. taking Ls as per usual it seems

hand grenade tag hvbfjksdnfbkjdf love that callback

noooo rungs ship :(

magnus’s censorship vhbhadkjfhdbhjsakjhfn

oh man I forgot about how they met that race of Transformers But More

the one-upsmanship hbvkajsbehfjks

whirrrrrl lmao I love whirl sm

goddddd whirl just killing that other alien and ending the 16 million yr long civil war bvkjsdbfhjjkafs so fucking much

oh god oh god the ‘are you happy’ page, I'm not emotionally equipped to handle this like, ever

but I will say I feel like it would be EVEN MORE oof if it were milne or someone drawing it bc I feel like this art style takes away from some of the impact bc the expressions aren't really that...expressive? idk how to put it

anyways. every single answer destroys me!!! like even the happy ones, like chromedome and rewind and tailgate - well, in present time, none of those three are doing so hot, so that makes this just hurt

and rung....that is so fucking depressing. jesus. this guy is so fuckng sad, somebody get him a friend stat

and swerve...ouch. this readthru I've really noticed how much early-mtmte swerve is not-so-subtly like, crying out for help bc he’s so alone and shit. jesus

also brainstorms response is just plain ole sad w/context, but at this point in the story without context, it just seems very foreboding lmao. I'm realizing this readthru that brainstorm is very sketchy and ominous in a particular ‘is he evil?’ mad scientist sorta way in early mtmte

and then everyone else is also just so OOF in their own unique sad ways, but I think the worst out of everyone is drift....GODDDDDD. especially considering that at this point in the story, drift is this kinda goofy hippy guy, so seeing him just sit there with his face in his hand, not even answering the question...AND knowing that shortly after this he’ll end up banished...IT FUCKING HURTS M8!

meanwhile, the more upbeat ‘quest to see rungs alt mode’ continues...with an ‘alt mode party’ vhbadkjsdfnabskjf it looks so silly with a bunch of cars just sitting around a table lmao

I cant even tell who everyone is bc they so rarely turn into cars n shit lmaoooooo

rodimus with the bucket on his head hbvhakjbfskjf I CANT

everyone’s reactions to thunderclash...i fucking love it

the fact that TAILGATE doesn't hate him, even though we’ve seen that tailgate tends to dislike people who are universally liked/who have achieved a lot of impressive things

rodimus you petty thot vbdkjbfdjhsakjdf ily

RODIMUS IS SO FUNNYYYYYY ‘I'm not making all these sacrifices and leading these guys into battle and being inspirational - I'm not doing that because it makes me look good’ RODIMUS VBHSKJDFNBKSJF

thunderclash talking about magnus’s article on typefaces....hdbksjfsdbkjgfb bro

AND THEN MAGNUS HUGS HIM....HGBSKJFDSHFKD I CANT

POOR DRIFT bvhajkdfbhjkjsfd rodimus saying he ‘rehabilitated him’ oh my god

the whole spectralism thing...im sorry I cant get over how funny all this is vbakdjfbksjf thunderclash rlly b out here charming rodimus’s entire crew

and then ratchet comes in, calling tc ‘thunders,’ and tc immediately notices ratchets new hands (somehow) hvbkjfhbskjf truly amazing

it cracks me up that rodimus is all 😒😒 at thunderclash, even though as we come to find out, tc really IS That Perfect, and him complimenting rodimus isn't sarcasm at all lmao

AND THEYRE LOOKING FOR THE KNIGHTS OF CYBERTRON TOO HVSDHFJBSHKHDFJS OF COURSE

the vis vitalis being a life support machine spaceship is a really cool concept tho

‘rescuing some orphans from an exploding sun’ I fucking cant

evil guy: [holds a gun to thunderclash’s head]

rodimus: :D finally something doesn't go his way!

he’s so petty I’m..........dkdjhfdabhduifadijgl

and its the aliens from earlier! oooh

GODDD I forgot that swerve used rung in mystery stick mode to SCHWACK the guy

rung casually dropping the fact that the functionists like, experimented on him...there's a lot of implications there, and that'll certainly be explored more later...

the fact that his ID card says ‘rong’ hvbhjakhdsbfakhsjfn

oughufadkfujbsfk the circle of light throwing wrenches n shit at skids...guys cmon vbhsdjkfnslfd

the circle of light is like ‘wtf you all have trauma and a bunch of weird unhealthy coping mechanisms this is wack byeeeee’ lmao

skids calling the lost light his home is rlly sweet tho

cant believe the religious space hippy cult is being so rude about a film made by a guy who died like a week ago. unreal

cd finally figured out how to make the pffft sound, good for him

AUGHHHHH the fact that rewind used ‘little victories’ as the title of the film and that's something that chromedome said in the video ;_; I'm fucking inconsolable

rodimus, despite his obvious posturing for the camera during the whole issue, comes off as surprisingly genuine when he says that he hasn't thought about his own future much, but wants the crew to have a happy ending....im gonna cry

‘who knows what's around the corner?’ tailgate, PLEASE don't say that, oh my god,

OUGHHHH GROUP SHOT

OHHH mannnnNNNNN i love this issue SO MUCH. what a good fun emotional rollercoaster wrap-up to mtmte s1. god.

like, this issue has it all - humor, drama, crippling sadness, intrigue, worldbuilding...it’s so excellent

and getting to see rewind again hurts so bad but also I love him

ok quick mtmte s1 retrospective...god s1 is so fucking good. I'm gonna have to read more to say which chunk of mtmte I liked best but s1 is so fucking excellent that it might be my favorite. though its hard to pick bc there's so much good stuff later on too...whatever, the point is s1 is so so good

the plotlines and characters are fucking stellar. like I cant even believe how well Everything works, its very impressive. I cant really think of anything major that made me go ‘yeah could've done without that plotline/character’

I love how dedicated jro is to connecting everything. I've mentioned it before but basically every single moment in the series has payoff - what you initially think is just a funny moment, or a fluffy character establishment bit, ends up ALSO being an important plot point later, in some way

an example would be here w/rung and his alt mode - it just seems like a fun little B-plot for this issue, and seems to pretty neatly conclude with the reveal that rung was eventually classified as an ‘ornament’ (lmao)...but we later on get to see a lot more about this, both here and in the functionist universe

and like, stuff like tailgate’s autobot lessons w/magnus - at first that can be seen as purely character establishment stuff, showing that magnus is a strict rule-lover and tg is a loveable try-hard good boy - but that becomes plot relevant in remain in light, with tailgate saving the day due to his knowledge of the autobot code (and its also character relevant, with magnus’s arc in remain in light).

and I know this is like. a normal regular thing in writing, but I'm just very impressed about how cleanly jro pulls it off, and how many things he’s juggling at once, especially in early mtmte - it’s very ambitious!

and we gotta remember, this is a comic book. I've read a lot of comic books, and the quality is all over the place. a lot of writers bite off more than they can chew, and the story ends up kinda scattered as a result.

another thing I see a lot in franchise writing like this is a lack of strong early character establishing due to the author assuming the readers are at least somewhat familiar with the characters already - which can be totally fair depending on where it is in the continuity, but other times it can come off as lazy

in mtmte, the cast is extremely well fleshed out, and not only that, the cast itself is unique in that there are a lot of relative unknowns (franchise-wise) - which I think was an absolutely brilliant move, because then jro was able to essentially create The Definitive Version of these characters - characters like swerve, brainstorm, chromedome, rewind, tailgate...mtmte is their baseline characterization, because they haven't really appeared in much else

this also allows for deviation from the franchise norms - again, a comic book classic is good writing being stifled by a need to stick to a certain status quo regard the characters, the world, the powers, relationships, etc

(I've mostly read DC comics, and some marvel, so I'm thinking superheroes w/all these comic comparisons)

so mtmte had a good recipe for genuine creativity in that the characters were relative unknowns, the plot was basically ‘space road trip,’ the status quo of ‘autobot vs decepticon war’ had been demolished throughout the entire franchise...so jro was able to take all that and run, and it turned out so fantastic

and luckily it isn't over yet! so many comics suffer from premature cancellation...and sadly mtmte/ll isn't exempt from this, as we’ll see later, but I've seen some awful ones, where comics are forced to wrap up in like 2 issues while in the middle of an arc. yikes.

but another comic staple...one of my least favorite things about comics books in general...something that was basically responsible for driving me away from comics after reading a bunch...the dreaded crossover event

yep, even mtmte isn't immune to this unfortunate plague on the comic industry. crossover events are the absolute worst, and I'm saying this as somebody who adores crossovers (in concept more than execution usually). they SHOULD be my favorite, but unfortunately they p much always completely suck

they're essentially a ploy to get you to read the other ongoing titles, but they usually only serve to bog down whatever story you're reading to the point where you don't even wanna read that one anymore, let alone read all the other ongoings. at least, that’s been my experience

it doesn't help that reading orders tend to be hard to find/keep track of, and that you need to go read the other series to know what's going on. I just hate it, like, I came here to read THIS series, I don't want a bunch of other series showing up too - even if I was reading two series, I wouldn't want them crossed over, because they're separate stories! augh!

I'm totally losing my focus here but my point is...crossover events suck, and mtmte unfortunately is involved in one. I have not read dark cybertron, and I'm not about to. I've heard nothing but bad things so I have no desire to inflict that upon myself

soooo ill be reading through the tfwiki articles for those issues to give myself a better understanding of what went on - which is more than I've ever done in the past - and maybe ill even make a single post summarizing my thoughts on what I read in the wiki, lmao

but yea ill be skipping to the mtmte s2 stuff next

phew ok I'm super tired, my vision keeps blurring out and stuff lmao. its time for bed, I probably have more thoughts but ill save them for later. for now...peace out!

#lj rereads mtmte

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andersunmenschlich · 4 years

Text

Episode 17: The Boneturner’s Tale

Ah, finally. It’s about time I got another episode listened to. Amazing how long that takes; so much to do. And still I have no bookcases. Oh well. This one’s the statement of a Sebastian Adekoya, and apparently it has something to do with books. I am pleased.

...Oh, I am very pleased.

It seems to me that Sebastian Adekoya understands books very well. I’ve said before (and will doubtless say again) that all books are books of magic. Just as this episode’s statement-giver says, opening a book allows you to enter the mind of someone who may well be long dead. In such cases, reading is a form of necromancy.

To read a book is to change your mind: to place thoughts there that are not your own, to see things you’ve never seen, walk through worlds you’ve never been to, that no longer exist or don’t exist yet, or that never will.

To write is to preserve a fraction of your own mind, freezing it in symbols which wait to be decoded by the incautious.

You don’t know what thoughts you’re inviting to live inside your mind when you settle down to decipher a lexical set. You can’t know what they’ll do to you, nor you to them (nor what they, changed, may do to you again). The promises in the titles, in the genres and the labels, can only tell you so much. What does this set of words contain? Have you even understood what is meant by the description—are you sure you know what it means when an old story is called a “romance,” or when a newer one is labeled “wuxia”?

Some thoughts won’t be able to live in your mind. Some you’ll never be able to get rid of. Personalities and people, scenes and scenarios, images and ideas... foreign things birthed in the minds of others; decode the twisting lines on the page before you, and they’ll spring to life in your mind as powerful as the day they were written.

Words can be wonderful—and dangerous.

Books are beautiful—and bewitching.

You should never read unwarily, because when you read you’re bringing alien thoughts to life in your mind, and you may not want them to make a home there....

Sebastian Adekoya says he used to work at Chiswick Library. As he describes it, it’s a local library very like the one I grew up with: cheaply furnished, full of battered paperbacks, open-feeling, and frequented by friendly, quietly chatting patrons. Probably the occasional Children’s Corner with a librarian who reads aloud well and a much-loved copy of, say, Matilda or Owl at Home, depending on the audience.

Our statement-giver says it was 1996 when the thing happened.

He’d been working for the library about a year at that point, and knew that the library bought its books new, when it bought them (though he didn’t know where they bought them from).

A patron returned five books at the front desk. One of them, he’d never seen before. It was not, however, new. “The barcode and ISBN,” Sebastian says, “both registered as being that of Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, but the book itself was an almost featureless black paperback, with a title on the front in faded white serif font: The Bone Turner’s Tale.”

Confused, he calls the librarian (Ruth Weaver) over to look at it.

She also didn’t remember ever seeing it before, but it had the appropriate markings for a book from Chiswick Library, and the stamps on the lending label indicated it’d been in their collection for several years.

Weaver shrugs and says not to worry about it: they’ll get it put on the system properly. Sebastian, however, is bothered. So he does a bit of quick research.

The man who brought the book in, one Michael Crew, apparently only checked out four books, not five. Our statement-giver thinks maybe he’s a self-published author trying to get his book into the local library, and suggests this possibility to the librarian, who laughs and says that’s probably it—though why anyone would bother trying to get a book onto the shelves of this particular local library was beyond her.

Sebastian Adekoya notes that the book looked worn, “like it had seen decades of being read, with a line creased down the spine and one half of the cover faded from the sun. Nor, from what I could see, did it list any author at all.”

At this point, our fascinating book story is interrupted by the arrival of another character.

According to our statement-giver, this Jared Hopworth is, “not to put too fine a point on it, thick as mud.” He was also Sebastian’s best friend when the two of them were kids: inseparable. Hm. I must admit, I never had (nor wanted) anyone like that in my life. I suppose there was that other preacher’s oldest kid, from the church in the next church region over (it’s not called a diocese when you’re Protestant, but the effect’s much the same...). We were mostly friends in name, though, and never spent much time together.

In any case, Sebastian went to college and Jared hit the back alleys. For some reason, it seems, Jared Hopworth saw this as Sebastian Adekoya betraying him by being too smart, not him betraying Sebastian via being an idiot too stupid for college.

I do have to wonder how intelligent our statement-giver actually is, however, given that he apparently decided to just put up with what he describes as “a campaign of petty terror” for the sake of a memory of childhood friendship. Oh, sure, “he was always very careful to stop before he did anything that might get the police involved—but let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we?

You should only brush off malicious behavior from others if you’re enjoying it, and want to encourage them to do more.

...And now we get an even larger interruption. Excellent.

I do believe this is the very first time another character has actually broken into the middle of a recording. I don’t like it. Who is this Miss Herne, and why is her complaint so important that my story has to be disrupted?

I don’t even remember ever hearing her name before. I don’t know her, I don’t care about her—weren’t we in the middle of something?

...Oh, no, wait... I do remember her.

Naomi Herne, the annoying woman who doesn’t know how to appreciate a misty moonlit graveyard meadow. The one with the unusual attachment to that large piece of headstone. What’s she complaining about? I don’t remember that she had anything to complain about besides her own unfortunate lack of, as the children say, “chill.”

Well, whatever the case, it seems Jonathan Sims considers Naomi Herne’s statement a waste of time. It wasn’t, it was beautiful—but never mind. The interrupting messenger, someone named Elias (which rings a faint bell), tells the head archivist that the Lucas family gives the Magnus Institute financial support, so he shouldn’t annoy anyone connected with them if he can help it. Does Naomi Herne count as “connected to the Lucas family”? Her Lucas husband’s dead. She doesn’t even have the name. No children that I’ve heard of. No reason she should be connected that I can see. And they didn’t seem terribly interested in a connection at the funeral, did they? I think Mr. Sims can antagonize her all he wants without damaging future Lucas donations, frankly.

Our interrupter is also looking for Martin (the supposedly-but-not-apparently incompetent archival assistant). Mr. Sims says Martin is off sick with stomach problems this week, and Elias leaves.

...Wait.

Elias Bouchard? Jonathan Sims’ boss? Why is he running messages down to the archives? This makes even less sense than Rosie the receptionist being in charge of upkeep on recording equipment. Just how much disbelief is supposed to be suspended here? I’m asking seriously, because the Magnus Institute seems like a very badly put together organization if you think about it too much. Or at all.

Well. Elias Bouchard leaves, Mr. Sims expresses “blessed relief” at the fact of Martin’s being sick and thus not at work, and we return to the statement.

...Our main character really dislikes this particular assistant, and for (it would seem) no good reason. Is there history there? Did Martin do something especially bad to Mr. Sims at some point in the past?

Or is it just some kind of negative bias, like thinking a man will be no good with children because he’s a man, or that a woman will suck at math, or that a Hispanic cleaner will steal your jewelry because they’re Hispanic (you dropped your necklace down the back of the dresser, Grandma—I am never going to forget that unjust accusation, nor how plain you made it that your suspicion was based entirely on race).

In any case: back to the library.

Sebastian Adekoya notes that it’s typically a bad thing when Jared Hopworth turns up at the library, because it means Jared’s “bored enough to seek me out for harassment.”

This is apparently exactly what Mr. Hopworth has in mind, because he waits for Weaver to go back to her office and close the door, then knocks the returns cart over, spilling books everywhere. Which is a horrible thing to do. I can’t stand seeing books mistreated this way, I’d rather watch someone bash innocent children around (which, I realize, isn’t saying much given I’m the one talking—but still).

Despite obviously having done it on purpose, he smiles and apologizes.

I’m familiar with this particular method of annoying people. Deliberately doing something terrible, then acting as though it was accidental? Yes, indeed.

People have trouble dealing with this. You did a bad thing. You clearly meant to do the bad thing. This should give them the right to demand retribution. But then, instead of continuing in the “person who does bad things deliberately” role, you switch to “friendly mistake-maker,” and it throws them.

Really they shouldn’t give you the benefit of the doubt.

There’s no doubt!

Sebastian Adekoya bends down to pick the books up, and as anyone with a capacity for noticing patterns of behavior could have predicted, Jared Hopworth hits him in the back of the head with a book.

Which is, again, a terrible thing to do to a book. Human skulls are, on average, much sturdier than the covers of books.

This book, however, may be capable of taking care of itself.

“Behind me, Jared stood holding the book I had put aside—The Bone Turner’s Tale—and had apparently picked it up to hit me with. But rather than offering me a fake apology, or further violence, instead his eyes were locked on the book. We stood there in silence for a few seconds, until he said something about needing something new to read, turned around, and walked off.”

According to our statement-giver, Jared Hopworth isn’t much of a reader, “and the look in his eyes when he left had something in it not entirely unlike fear.”

Yes, I think this work might be able to handle that book-abusing felon just fine.

On his way home after leaving the library that night, Mr. Adekoya passes Mr. Hopworth’s house. Apparently they’re both living in the same houses they occupied as children, which is rather unfortunate for Sebastian, don’t you think? It’s late September, which is a nicely spooky time of year, and something’s moving in the pool of orange light under a streetlamp.

It’s a rat. A large white rat that looks as though it was once a pet. Something’s wrong with the back half of it, and its head seems to be turned around farther than it should be as it drags itself along by its front paws.

Which is also deliciously spooky.

Sebastian Adekoya stares at it until it drags itself off into the darkness and disappears from sight.

He notes that the lights were off in Jared Hopworth’s house. As someone who sleeps days, works nights, and routinely doesn’t turn the lights on as I go about my nightly affairs, I don’t find this particularly indicative of a lack of activity—but that’s me. I suppose most people, when their lights are shut off, don’t make and eat food, read books, do jigsaw puzzles, etc. Ah, how limiting it must be to have such weak senses.

Jared Hopworth more or less vanishes from the scene for a while. Weeks go by without him turning up to torment Sebastian Adekoya, who begins to feel worried. Almost a month with no torment? Surely something must be wrong!

...Hmm. Do you suppose our statement-giver might be just mildly masochistic?

Whatever the case, he’s not eager enough for unpleasantness to actually go to Mr. Hopworth’s house and check on him, so the Jaredless time rolls by until late October, when Jared’s mother turns up at the library with her arm in a sling, wearing an unnecessarily bulky coat and a hateful expression, carrying a familiar black-bound paperback book, which she flings onto the floor at our statement-giver’s feet before turning to leave.

Sebastian Adekoya asks after the health of her son, which arrests her departure and provokes a bit of an outburst: “She spun back and started to swear violently at me, told me I had no business with her son and that I—and my books—were to stay away from him.” This outburst also gives Sebastian a bit more time to inspect the arm... which reminds me markedly of the rat.

“As she spoke, I couldn’t look away from her arm and the odd ways it twisted as she gestured. How her fingers seemed to bend the wrong way.”

Well, well, well.

Before leaving, Mrs. Hopworth spits at Mr. Adekoya—and I find it interesting that, while she clearly has no problem throwing the book onto the floor like it’s a live animal and she wants to smash its skull, she avoids spitting on it.

Despite the absence of spittle, our statement-giver decides to employ paper handkerchieves in picking the book up, rather than touch it with his bare hands.

He sticks it in the book returns cart, locks up the library, and goes home.

It rains heavily that night and Sebastian Adekoya, in his converted attic bedroom, can’t sleep. He’s worrying about the book. He’s worrying that perhaps he shouldn’t have just left it there, unsupervised, as it were. “What if Ruth came in earlier than I did tomorrow and took it? What would happen to her?”

Frankly, that strikes me as an interesting experiment. What would happen to Weaver? Come to that, what happened to Hopworth? Was the idiot eaten by the bone book? Twisted beyond telling? Possessed, perhaps?

I’d quite like to know.

“Should I have destroyed it?” Sebastian Adekoya asks himself.

I’m not sure this question would even occur to me. “Should,” after all, presupposes some kind of ideal state for things to be in.

Should you do thus-and-such a thing? It’s an incomplete sentence. You’ve left off your goal. “In order to [X], should I [Y]?” That is a complete sentence. So—should Sebastian Adekoya destroy The Bone Turner’s Tale? It depends on what his goal is. If he wants to study it, then no: he definitely shouldn’t. If he wants to stop it from doing what it seems to be doing, then yes: he probably should.

Completely failing to define his goal for an ideal state of things RE: The Bone Turner’s Tale, Sebastian discards the idea of destruction on the grounds that he wasn’t sure he had it in him to destroy a book—”even one with such a strangeness to it.”

Well now. Thank you, Mr. Adekoya, for letting us know that you consider strangeness a helpful push towards destruction.

...Oh, I’m not really surprised. I do have a passing acquaintance with humanity, after all.

Sebastian Adekoya lies awake in bed until sometime around two in the morning, when he finally gives up and goes to get the book. He gets out of bed, dresses, grabs his gloves and a jacket, and walks twenty minutes to the library in the rain, where he unlocks the door, goes in, deactivates the alarm, and begins turning on as many lights as possible without making it too obvious that there’s someone in the building.

He tells us that part of him wanted to keep the library in its nearly pitch-black state, but he turned on lights anyway. I’m guessing this is due to his weak eyes, since he says “I had to half-feel my way through the foyer and into the library proper.” [with a complete lack of sympathy] Must be rough.

He also uses a flashlight—but not before he puts his bare hand on the book returns cart, catching his balance, and his fingers come away wet.

The books, it would seem, are all bleeding.

...That is very annoying. I think I would be very nearly angry. Blood-soaked books!? Have you any idea how difficult that is to clean? Frankly, it’s impossible! This had better be the type of supernatural blood that vanishes without a trace.

The Bone Turner’s Tale, meanwhile, is as dry as... well... a bone.

Sebastian Adekoya puts his gloves back on (which means, unless he washed his hands without telling us or this is the type of supernatural blood that vanishes without a trace, that the inside of at least one of those thick gloves is going to need some rather tricky cleaning done), and picks up The Bone Turner’s Tale. He puts it on the desk and—clumsily, because of the thick gloves—begins reading.

He doesn’t begin at the beginning, just opens it randomly, which I suppose is understandable given the current unwieldiness of his fingers, but still. I can’t really approve.

“It was written in prose, and certainly seemed to be a story of some kind. The part I read dealt with an unnamed man, at various points referred to as the Boneturner, the Bonesmith or just the Turner, watching an assembled group of people as they made their way into a small village.

“It’s unclear from what I read whether he is traveling with them, or simply following them, but I remember being unsettled by the details he observed in them: the way the parson would move his hand over his mouth whenever he stared too long at the nuns or how the cook looked at the meat he prepared with the same eyes that looked at the pardoner. It was only at that point that I realized the book was describing the pilgrims from The Canterbury Tales.”

You know, I’ve never read The Canterbury Tales.

“Now, this certainly wasn’t some lost section of a Chaucer classic,” our statement-giver tells us. “It was written in modern English, with none of the archaic spelling or pronunciation of the original, and besides that the writing itself was of questionable quality. There was something compelling about it, though.”

“I flicked ahead a few pages, and found the Bonesmith had apparently crept up to the miller while he slept. It described him silently reaching inside him, and… it’s a bit hazy. All I remember clearly is the line ‘and from his rib a flute to play that merry tune of marrow took’. And as for the rest, I don’t recall in detail, but I know that I almost threw up, and that the miller did not survive. This was on page sixteen, and it was a thick book.”

Funny, since he described it as a small paperback earlier. Hmm. Something like my paperback copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, maybe? 6.75″ x 4.25″, over 1000 pages long—a veritable brick of a book. Hmm. Could be.

It also gives a bit of a hint as to what might have happened to the rat (and the mother... and possibly the son).

I like it.

Our statement-giver is notably less pleased, and turns to the frontispiece to see if he can figure out where this book came from. Apparently he’s given up on the idea that Michael Crew wrote and self-published it? I don’t see that that’s entirely out of the question at this point. I mean—what, after all, do we really know about Michael Crew?

Peeling off the Chiswick Library label, Sebastian Adekoya discovers another library label beneath.

This label is not in excellent shape. According to our statement-giver, it says something like “Library of Gergensburg” (or “Jürgenleit,” or “Jurgenlicht”), which suggests that the last library wasn’t in Britain.

I wonder whether it was still written in English there?

Giving credence to my tentative hypothesis regarding masochism, Sebastian Adekoya prepares to return to reading the book that nearly made him throw up.

At this point, however, Jared Hopworth breaks in. Literally. Through a window. Sebastian Adekoya recognizes Jared via voice, which is one of the only ways I ever manage to recognize anyone. (Why, yes: I am indeed borderline prosopagnosic. I blame humanity’s insistence on all looking basically identical. Two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth—and all in the same arrangement, at that. How, I ask you, is anyone supposed to tell any of you apart?)

As far as visuals go: Jared has apparently decided to dress himself in baggy pants and a thick coat with a face-concealing hood. This strikes me as a very reasonable way to dress, particularly if both coat and pants come well-supplied with those deep and useful pockets I take so much for granted in my clothing.

Sebastian says that Jared is now “longer” than he used to be, whatever that means.

If he meant “taller,” I’d expect him to say “taller.” But “longer”? I’m not entirely certain.... Does he mean to say that Jared has, perhaps, been a bit stretched? That would seem to fit with the pointyness of his fingers.

His bones, I’d say, are longer than they once were.

Jared Hopworth is also “standing at a strange angle, as though his legs were too stiff to use.” That’s interesting.

If I were to guess (which I’m about to), I’d say that reading this book gives people the ability to manipulate bone inside living bodies. Now, I might hypothesize that the book simply warps things all on its own... but that rat really did look like an experiment, and Jared coming for the book strikes me as an “I haven’t mastered this skill yet, I need more practice, give me the manual” type of thing.

Sebastian Adekoya, declining to give Jared Hopworth the book despite the obvious tidiness of giving a strange thing to a strange thing, decides to punch Jared Hopworth right in the solar plexus.

Whereupon Jared bites Sebastian with, not his teeth, but his ribcage.

“...I felt his flesh give way and almost retract, drawing me in close. And then I felt his ribs shift, shut tight around my hand, as though his ribcage were trying to bite me. They were sharper than I would have thought possible, and at last, this was what actually started me screaming.”

Now, if that isn’t just perfect for late October, I don’t know what is.

Sebastian drops The Bone Turner’s Tale. Jared grabs it and runs off. Sebastian starts chasing him, but....

“I started to chase after him, until I saw how he was moving. How many limbs he had. He had… added some extras. That was the moment it finally all got too much for me; I stopped running. It wasn’t my book, it wasn’t my responsibility and I had no idea what I was dealing with, so I didn’t. I just stood there in a daze and watched the thing that was once Jared disappear out into the rain. I never saw him again.”

Uh.

Well, that’s probably all for the best so far as Sebastian Adekoya’s concerned, but does he really think things are going to stay that way? Jared Hopworth likes bullying him; I somehow doubt that gaining new powers will have changed that.

Our statement-giver, I think, is just as doomed as... huh. As pretty much all of the others seem to have been, come to think of it.

Somebody heard Mr. Adekoya screaming, it seems, and called the police. They turn up to receive the best lie Sebastian Adekoya can come up with on the spur of the moment, which involves falling asleep at his desk and being awoken by an attempted robbery. He can’t remember how he explained the bloody books, which seems to me like a thing that would take some explaining.

Hmm. I wonder how many strange things the police see in the Magnus Archives universe. Maybe Sebastian didn’t explain the books at all—perhaps there are some things the police in this universe just... leave alone.

The blood, apparently, was not the disappearing type. Mr. Adekoya says “it took weeks to get out,” and I assume he means to imply “out of the carpet,” because let’s face it: blood-soaked books don’t clean. Those books had to be thrown away and we all know it.

...I wonder what the blood type was.

Jonathan Sims describes himself as “deeply unhappy” about this statement.

“I’ve barely scratched the surface of the archives, and have already uncovered evidence of two separate surviving books from Jürgen Leitner’s library. Until he mentioned that, I was tempted to dismiss much of it out of hand, but as it stands now I believe every word.”

So interesting, the things he believes and doesn’t believe. I’m becoming more and more convinced that he stubbornly denies things until evidence actually forces him to believe—which might seem like a good way to remain sane in a universe like this one, but consider: is the denial of reality sanity? I don’t see that it’s even safety, since not knowing about a thing (germs, say) has never prevented the thing from killing you.

An interesting side note: Mr. Sims’ boss, Elias Bouchard, apparently has a very hands-off attitude when it comes to the supernatural.

“Record and study, not interfere or contain.”

Personally, I think that study and interference aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive... but that’s me. In any case, I do think Sebastian Adekoya’s either very dense, or that library label was very oddly written. Two separate words with two separate capitals (Jürgen Leitner) seem difficult to confuse for a single word! “Jürgenleit”? Really? Come, now.

Tim and Sasha, two of the three amazingly competent archival assistants, have done research which proves that yes, Jared Hopworth had a warrant out for breaking and entering and assault, but no, nobody found him and the case was dropped.

And aha!

About seven years after giving this statement, Sebastian Adekoya was found dead in the middle of the road, body so messed up they figured it had to be a hit-and-run.

Even though there were no signs of crushing or trauma marks.

That’s lovely.

I’d like a Leitner.

#The Magnus Archives #episode 17 #commentary #late to the party

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hibibun · 4 years

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A Series of Wagers (2/3)

Series: The Magnus Archives Pairing: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas Summary: "An interesting gamble for one who consorts with The One Alone… up to something are we?”

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He throws back, face contorting into a facsimile smile that rings hollow despite the amusement that has to be there ghosting his lips.

Peter was right though. He did want to know. He always did. And if it weren’t for the mirage now obscuring that information from him, it wouldn’t be necessary at all. Frankly, it was interesting enough on its own that he was finding himself getting the attention now when this was hardly the first time they had met. It’s been a good night overall though, and he isn’t complaining about the game. There’s something surprisingly lively in the pale sea weathered man across the table he hasn’t seen from any of his family in a long time.

"And if I win?" Elias asks, even though he is already picking his cards from the deck.

Notes/Warnings: Canon Compliant, Time Skips, Mind Games, Canon-Typical Behavior, Blindfolds, Mentioned Past Barnabas Bennett/Jonah Magnus, Bondage, Unhealthy Relationship AO3 CH1 - CH2 - CH3

Chapter 2: 2002 - 2011

DECEMBER 2002

While normally Elias has no issues in, and even to a degree, enjoys planning events it came as a relief to not be in charge of it this year. The end of the year is always a busy time between responsibilities to the Institute, its employees, planning the usual office party, and making sure every loose end was knotted off—nothing left lingering on his check list.

So it’s a bit of a reward when all is said and done. And despite their disposition, the Lukas family threw a good party. The venue contained plenty of spots to hide away, and after giving the necessary greetings to donors also attending, he’s able to find a nice view point from one of the tables at the top of the staircase, and comfortably watch the night unfold.

With the amount of catching up between those attending, it’s easy to glean a succinct summary of how everyone else spent the year. The things they admit, the things they think they should keep as a card up their sleeves. The tentative boundaries they draw around each other and where those alliances overlap or remain prickly as ever. Elias sits and watches them all, sipping at a flute of champagne.

It’s no surprise when Peter finds him, as usual not caring to properly announce his presence.

“Being a nosy voyeur again?”

“I believe I am allowed to enjoy a party in my preferred method. I don’t see you out there mingling either, dear,” Elias retorts, turning his gaze away from the crowds flittering down below to watch his partner steal a swig of his drink.

“That’s Nate’s job. Company head and all that—I’d rather be out on the water again, but…” He does a shrugging motion both in reference to statement’s obviousness, as well as a vague indication he was supposed to be here doing… something. Given his family was hosting, putting in an appearance that he promptly turned away from most likely.

Elias is already accustomed to this and only makes a mild noise of understanding without vocalizing that the concept didn’t seem so bad at the moment. He was feeling rather weary and in desperate need of a vacation himself, though with the length that the captain preferred to be out on the water, he doesn’t think that would be enjoyable. A weekend sounded nice though.

“I take that it was another year spent well isolated then? Certainly sounded like you had little to report.” There’s a thread of humor unsaid in how quite a few of his calls went unanswered, which spoke for itself well enough.

“Oh, nothing too strenuous, no. Did some spring cleaning of the crew; spent a couple months in València,” Peter looks wistful as he recalls it. As if by imagining it, he’ll be back in that Spanish seaside losing himself in crowds and drawing others to become just as lost. Not that Elias was peeking, much.

“Ah yes, I received your ‘care package’. Can’t say I’m too fond of potentially disease causing artifacts, but the Cuva Vella was nice to see.”

“I don’t have the same skill sets as your lot, so there’s no knowing if it’s really from the hospital they claimed, but it looked like a nice vase either way.”

“Well it’s in Artifacts now so…” Elias responds hiding how distrusting he feels in regards to the man’s true intentions, knowing for a fact it did have something attached to it. He, of course, is going to continue to feign disinterest—something he’s seemed to pick up as a reflexive instinct to match Peter.

“And here I was going to get you flowers,” The captain laments, though the sincerity of it is muddled behind a grin which appears to contradict his words. Elias doesn’t care to look to clarify for himself, and only answers him with an eye roll.

They stay the remainder of the party, out of sight and catching up themselves. Elias shares what gossip he feels like discussing, despite knowing Peter likely only cared to the extent of using the information to avoid as many extra conversations or meetings of his own. At some point, he must get sick of hearing about it though, and abruptly raises his head from the perch of his palm and suggests they leave.

It’s the free time Elias has to spare, he tells himself, beckoning him to follow Peter out into the night, leaving his own car to be picked up in the morning. The venue is closer to Kent and he knows they aren’t too far from the Moorland House, but isn’t surprised when it’s that same building Peter sometimes calls a home they arrive at instead.

They exchange coats and a chill settling in the room, an imitation of the past times they’ve been here—along with it, there’s an underlying hunger, once more waiting to spring free. He hadn’t been looking or expecting a longing to be there, and yet, after so many, many months apart, why wouldn’t it be?

They follow similar, yet different steps this time. Elias is more familiar with this place now despite only having been in it a handful of times before physically. He is a detail-oriented man. The model ships and carved wooden birds are still tucked away in corners meant to be dismissed. No new paintings aside from the empty coastlines he’s already seen—no doubt a gift from Simon if he detects something else alongside the strokes of that vast ocean captured in the frame.

It’s pleasant, the way Peter stares at him. Equally ravenous for what they no doubt came here for and for attention he doesn’t want to admit, all wrapped up with a lovely sheen of genuine discomfort at how deeply Elias is seeking out the person hiding behind this farce of a home. This room is nothing like the cabin he has never actually set foot into on the Tundra, and it is a place he doubts he will ever be allowed to visit.

No, this place is nothing to Peter. Merely, a place to sleep when he’s forced to anchor. A reluctant tie to society and its dregs, which Elias has happily helped wrap around his legs.

Something in his expression must have changed for Peter reaches out to him, a cold embrace at his back and an even colder kiss at his nape. He doesn’t turn to face him right away, enjoying the strange pleasantry. If he gets his way tonight, giving Peter this now is only fair.

“For a moment, I thought you were taking us back to the Moorland. Though, we are still a little ways off from an actual holiday aren’t we? You will take me there sometime, won’t you?” Elias asks, placing a hand over the one holding his side. They both know he isn’t talking about the house itself. Peter may not know it, but he remembers visiting Mordechai there—truly, it had more to do with that basement and what Peter felt about it than anything else.

“That eager to see? I keep telling you, if you accept my proposal—” He breathes, by his ear, amused until Elias twists around and cuts him off.

“And when exactly would we fit in this ‘wedding’? You’re hardly moored for long and I have an Institute to run. You always struck me as the type to remain engaged for as long as you could, so I would think this arrangement is far better than the alternative.”

Peter’s eyes darken, and it strikes Elias for the first time how deep those still waters really run.

“You… actually like the thought of it. You’d like to call me your husband,” He moves his hands up to cup the man’s cheeks, before delicately moving them down along Peter’s beard to play along his neck. His fingers trace down his pulse enjoying the rapid thoughts accompanying it.

“A connection of your own definition, but one none the less… Are you that worried I’ll leave you behind? Bit hypocritical don’t you think?” The smile he directs isn’t necessarily meant to be cold, but it is piercing in a way he knows is uncomfortable.

“Not really. I’m aware it wasn’t as common in your day, but anyone can get a divorce rather easily now. Marriage isn’t the contract you’re imagining it to be.”

“No, maybe not, but that’s all the more reason for me to wonder what it is you imagine it to be. You can ignore it all you want later, but right now you will look at me and tell me,” Elias starts, stilling his hand to hold at the back of Peter’s neck, keeping him in place to meet his eyes. He doesn’t have an Archivist’s compulsion, but he has intimidation and the invasive, burning reminder gripping tight into the pale man beside him that he cannot run right now.

“Peter Lukas, do you really want to marry me?”

For a man capable of having almost anything he could desire, arranging his life to be as self-indulgent as possible, it’s uncommon those desires ever actualize in the form of wanting another person. Someone so used to the world around him rejecting his existence that he’s learned to soak in it, and pretend he loves it, wearing it as a second skin. And maybe, to a degree he does actually love it. The utter and unabashed way you can love yourself when there isn’t a need to think about another soul in the world.

And that is why at the root of it someone like Elias is both perfect and terrible for him. Because he’s so afraid of being seen, it’s only natural the Eye would show interest. And Elias wishes to know him so intimately exactly because he hides. All the while, he can know with certainty that such a fascination is surface level, having very little to do with the fact it is Peter specifically he is showing interest towards.

It is why Peter spells all the justifications in the world for their relationship. It is why he can indulge in the easy nature of being seen, but not being cared for, until sometimes, it feels like he is wanted—like he wants and wants and will be denied. Abandoned once he’s been found because he knows Elias doesn’t hold on to anything for long. Besides bones that is.

“Yes,” is all Peter will admit to, impossibly small, but it reaches Elias and warms him in a way that he knows is more than just affection. He rewards the admission, stroking his cheek before learning up to kiss him properly. It doesn’t even occur to him immediately the words were never actually spoken, but plucked from the captain’s head.

There will be many nights where this doesn’t mean anything, but for tonight, there is a vulnerability Elias doesn’t know when or if he’ll have the pleasure of seeing again. In truth, there isn’t really a way they could right now, and he had never imagined himself a married man. Defining what they have would be too much for both of them, but making it a comfortable illusion confined to a ring that he doesn’t have to think about if he doesn’t want to is a preferable solution.

The kiss is chaste, and this time, it is him breaking away and walking to the bedroom, removing his clothes with a practiced patience, expecting Peter to follow suit. Peter flips from fidgety to irritated, finally catching onto what was just discussed, and Elias soaks in the emotions radiating off him hidden in the rustle of clothing. Without a word, he retrieves some coils of rope and lubricant from the bedside drawer, and simply waits and watches.

Peter’s second guessing why he brought him here and Elias is patient—the captain will come to his own conclusions in the end. Either way, Elias knows he will play into the game set up tonight and he only smiles when Peter finally lies on the bed. After a beat, he resigns and raises his arms to the headboard.

Methodically, Elias twines the rope around those presented wrists, and prompts Peter to test the tightness.

“Comfortable?” He asks, looking down. It’s just the ropes he is referring to here, and the flicker of a scowl he receives is indicative that at least Peter has accepted how things will go.

“They’re fine,” He answers him, muted and tense. It pleases him to see him restricted like that, such an easygoing man who usually was so fond of startling others looking instead so impossibly small for someone of his stature.

“Excellent,” Elias murmurs, tone light and notably excited. He stays on top of him, and resumes the languid kisses he’d intended to give before their conversation began. While Peter had been annoyed minutes prior, he can feel the interest in his prick as it hardens, bumping into his backside. He bites the pale man’s lower lip, feeling all at once a rush of cold air exhaled with a moan.

Elias begins to trail those kisses south. Unlike his partner, he prefers to not only take his time, but leave a lasting imprint. There isn’t any doubt who he’s with when it comes to Peter, no, but the man is so obsessed with giving just enough to make a person want more. A lingering note of dissatisfaction, enough to draw in that hungry voracious need for contact he feeds on.

For Beholding though, it is about the experience. About learning and cataloguing all those little things, people don’t even know about themselves necessarily until they’re in the act. Especially the things they don’t know—don’t want to show.

It’s unavoidable like this for Elias not to look. Once the captain is drawn in, feeling really comfortable, he opens that eye and takes a gander at just what marriage means for a Lukas like him.

When he looks, he sees shadows of people. More like impressions or ghosts really, and yet, all come together to welcome a new member. The Moorland House from the outside is about the same as he remembers it. A foggy almost forgotten place that only served as a temple and a tomb.

He sees dances where there is no feeling, stilted haunting music, and tables so far apart from one another that you’d think the room was empty even with the party clearly going on around them. Even the couple in question, once their vows and first dance finished are far apart from each other. As if they were strangers on separate sides of a dance hall—which perhaps, they were.

And that was the problem though wasn’t it? Elias isn’t meant for the Lonely—isn’t willing to truly join that family. Peter knows this. He knew it from the beginning and knew what he was getting into when approaching Elias with even the semi-serious notion of a date, but he’s comfortable with it. With maintaining the distance they already have, only with the facsimile promise of belonging that he could and would never truly have.

Truly what a heartbreaking notion that is so very pitiful and suiting of the situation. Something finally that Elias understands.

As he comes away from that, it’s written across Peter’s face with trails of unwanted salty tears, and etched into his heart. All Elias is doing is plucking away at scabs, poking at a raw gaping sore he never had any intention of soothing.

“Oh Peter,” Elias says softly, no real sense of comfort in his voice. He’s enjoying how far he can stretch this, and it’s with a reluctant, rare mercy he withdraws from the other place he wanted to see in that house. If he tries to look anymore, well, there won’t be anything left—and that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

DECEMBER 2005

They never do marry. Even when a legal approximation could be considered, there are too many things, and good reasons, that stop it from ever happening. Still, in the end, Elias goes far enough to accept an engagement ring and they make believe it is real, knowing it isn’t just him who often removes it. Honestly, he’s more surprised Peter didn’t take this as a proper sign to simply end the game, not that he’s seen him for longer than necessary the past couple years. Whether that’s his attempt to instill that loneliness he’s so craving or… something else, Elias is too busy to care.

How do you love a man who has no ability to perceive it? Who, in fact, reflexively rejects every attempt at genuine affection?

Elias even hesitates to necessarily ascribe that much feeling to whatever it is their relationship has become. It has enough characteristics for the applicable term of lovers, but there is a history Jonah holds with that word, which has always had an underlying cruelty he can never seem to shake. The both of them do really.

He’s had lovers in the past. Strings of men who’d sing his praises until they saw the depths of him and either were in too deep to get away, or ran as far as they could. Peter was neither of these types of men. They were similar in such a way that it was both a relief and irritating. Men of their nature can attribute as many pretty words and intentions as they want to the way they treat each other, and he knows for as much as Peter can feel for him, what they share is mutual. Perhaps, it’d be better to say they tolerate each other.

Even if there are times that Elias wants to bridge that narrowing gap and see what else is lurking under the surface, he knows such a reality would never exist. And further that he cannot describe the feeling which draws him into wanting that as anything but the endless need to unravel that which does not want to be seen. An itch caused by mere fascination that could and would only end in painful tragedy. If he were a kinder man, maybe he could see himself comforting what he found behind that empty smile, but he knows himself too well. If he had his way, he would utterly destroy Peter and maybe regret it, but he knows he would still do so.

That is why he does not entirely begrudge the man his fleeing and disguises. The way he will run hot and cold and pretend so frequently that he could drift away at any moment, leaving Elias a forgotten memory. It’s his own way of dealing with it, and it’s fitting payback to only scratch at wounds Elias himself pretends don’t exist.

They don’t love each other so much as the idea of what it would be like to be with each other. A thing that in practice never quite turns out the way it’s played out in the imagination. A momentary lapse where it’s easy to pretend that affection is real, a relationship forged on understanding unperceivable to anyone else around them.

Someday, it’s going to destroy one of them—and Elias does not plan on it being him.

MARCH 2006

“Yes, Peter? I do believe this is the first time that you’ve actually been early to an appointment,” Elias addresses the now sudden form of his partner in the chair across his desk. He doesn’t look up from the stacks of department expenses he’s trying to catalogue and update to a budget’s spreadsheet, also laid out on the desk.

“I’m here to cash in a favor.”

“Right, my unfortunate guess regarding Mr. Rayner last year,” he starts, waiting on the captain to prod the conversation along.

“I’m not asking for much, just to give a little back you could say for a project of mine. Requires some specific construction, placing and people in mind, which that eye of yours would be just great for,” Peter explains, laughing at his own joke.

“Your project, yet my work, I see. I wasn’t aware you were looking for a secretary,” He muses, reading over the budget expenses from the research department as he listens. He had hoped to have this aspect of his day squared away before dealing with whatever it was his ‘husband’ wanted to talk about.

“Real estate agents and contractors are so annoying. You love talking to people though, so you’ll probably have a blast. And it’s not like I won’t be there—I have it all planned out, I just need to find the right people to do it. So all I’m asking is for you to do a little research, which is something this place does, is it not?”

“And will I be privy to this project, or will that be a secret for me to figure out?”

“Haven’t got a name for it yet, so no. It’ll be fun—certainly more so than the little experiment Fairchild’s gotten my family sucked into,” He sounds bored, maybe even a bit bitter at that.

“Oh? Right, I heard about that. Do wish I could see how well that will work, but with Mr. Rayner involved, it’s doubtful. Although, if they make it out, maybe I’ll see about them giving a statement.”

Peter shoots him a withering look over his priorities, but Elias ignores it. Luckily, the whole thing has nothing to do with him.

“It just seems like a waste overall.”

“Sometimes it’s about the quality, not the quantity.”

“Say that when you can fund your own Institute,” Peter quips back. There’s no arguing with that necessarily, but it is funny enough that Elias gives him a bemused smile not deeming it with a response.

“Well, I’ll let you know how thoroughly afraid whoever gets stuck up there is and we’ll decide on it later. Now, is there any sort of time table for this other juncture of yours?”

Peter hums, deciding finally to give Elias just a few more pieces to work with.

“Soon as possible, I’ll send over what I have in mind. I’m sure you’ve already heard the rumors, but a supposed extinction might be coming, so the sooner the better. While I’m at it, I’m also including that you won’t interfere when things kick off, but that’s to be assumed, of course.”

For all the rituals attempted over the years that Elias has witnessed, none of them—including his own first attempt—completely worked, so he really doesn’t have any intention of trying to ruin things. However, he also has been paying a little attention to what his current Archivist has been up to and knows that there’s always the chance she will do something. In that regard, perhaps it would be kind of him to give Peter a warning, but he doesn’t control and can’t consistently predict the things Gertrude Robinson deems necessary to handle. She appears to have her hands quite full with stopping other rituals, so for all he knows it will slip under the radar.

“Well, if it comes, it comes. You know I’d much rather watch and see what happens than make any effort to stop either you or any new power emerging. I’m simply curious as to whether it’ll be enough to do anything.”

“Right. Of course, you would say that.” Peter says, and it should bother him that he can’t quite tell what he means by it. Though, from the stare Elias is receiving that feeling is mutual. He has his own pieces being moved along right now and the coming of another power matters very little in regards to what he’s attempting to do. He, unfortunately, also just hasn’t found the right person for it, yet.

SEPTEMBER 2007

Time and technology has diluted it, but there is nothing quite like starlight on an open deck far, far away from any overpopulated, glaringly bright city. Such a sight almost makes Peter understand what it is that Simon sees, but it isn’t the Vast, which is capturing him right now.

It has been a rather bad year for Peter Lukas.

While he hadn’t done much more than provide resources and keep an ear out, the Daedalus experiment had eaten up a chunk of time and money that he couldn’t even feel arrogant about. His bet with Elias on that may have been won, but the man had seemed oh so indifferent to his other little project being ruined. They’ve spoken before about Gertrude and the type of woman she is—still the thought of having all his work tossed away over a newspaper article is infuriating and humiliating.

The waves of the Atlantic can never disappoint him, and for Peter that is a relief beyond measure right now.

There was no need to ask Elias if he knew. If Gertrude was set on it, she would have done it just based on the rumors being passed around, and of the indistinct and few impressions he’d garnered, even he likely couldn’t have done anything. No, what Peter really didn’t want to see was the absence of interest—a blank gaze, perhaps with a hint of that smile he always held, which further spelled dubiousness. He isn’t even sure why it feels vaguely like a betrayal on Elias’s part when technically he hadn’t done anything. When did that start to bother him though? It should be a comfort, a reminder.

Peter watches the waves idly lap at the side of the Tundra and wonders what changed. Moonlight faintly glints off the ring on his finger, and he imagines throwing it into the ocean.

Alone, he can gaze at the stars and the moon and feel at peace knowing there is no one else to share this sight with. No one else he would want to share this sight with. He sailed over eight thousand kilometers away from the one person who he might have considered wanting to share it with, and he’s not entirely sure just when it will be that he returns.

JULY 2011

Vardø, Norway

Peter stares at the phone buzzing on the hotel’s nightstand, wondering once again what possessed him into getting one, let alone keeping it on his person. Convenience in this era often requires time specific urgency, he supposes, but it still didn’t have to be something he liked, let alone abided. As such, when he sees the caller ID as none other than Elias Bouchard, he has half a mind to ignore it. It wouldn’t be the first time, and whatever it was he wanted to talk about could easily be contained to a voice mail.

So he lets it ring. He turns another page in his book, but instead of the notification of a waiting voicemail, the phone lights up once more. Elias is still calling and that is new.

With a sigh, he picks up. Unsurprisingly, the man doesn’t start with any pleasantries. He must know that since Peter has actually decided to answer, he doesn’t have long.

“You’ll still be in Vardø for a few more days correct? I need a favor.”

“Maybe. Depends on exactly what you’re asking for?” Peter complains, shuffling the phone to better squeeze between his ear and shoulder. If he can tune his sometimes husband out well enough, maybe he can still focus on his book. He’d long stopped bothering to chide the other man for keeping an eye on where he is, so he wasn’t planning to even ask how he knew.

“I need you to pick up Ms. Robinson and one of her assistants in Dikson. They need a lift to Zemlya Sannikova, and I figured you would be in the area and have a working vessel.”

He barks a laugh because while he understands, the request is ridiculous.

“Oh you are something else, Elias. Exactly why should I do this favor for you, let alone her? You’ve already racked up quite a debt with me already.”

“Because dearest, you might also want to ensure that the Distortion doesn’t get its way. Of course, if you’d like to exist in that kind of world, who am I to stop you? I’m sure knowing her, there’s another plan up her sleeve, but I figured why pay the extra expenses for a ship when I have you.”

He frowns reflexively at that wording. It isn’t necessarily that he doesn’t like the notion—the implicit possession they both hold of each other and the ease with which that label doesn’t have to mean anything. Peter himself was a firm believer of absence making the heart grow fonder and steadfastly pushes that to its brink, finding the delightful way Elias tries to pretend like he didn’t miss him at all when they next meet. He also ignores the fact that sometimes it was actually true.

“Hm, so you won’t be paying for the fuel needed to get there and back? What payment should I expect then?” Peter’s voice dips at that, finally finding some ground in this conversation that feels comfortable.

There’s a shift of clothing barely audible on the other side of the phone. A pause and he can almost see the calculating and playful smile on Elias’s face.

“Hurry back and you’ll find out.”

The phone call ends before he can answer, and it’s a strange, vaguely defeated sensation caving into his chest at the prospect of returning. Of seeing whether Elias felt anything by his absence and if that will sustain him or preparing for Elias to try and take something else from him.

Doing what he does best, Peter simply shuts the phone off entirely and returns to his novel.

Dikson, Russia – Arctic Sea

A few days later, he finds himself docking at the port town Dikson. Gertrude is waiting with someone who must be the assistant Elias mentioned, flitting and looming around her as if he can keep the blustering winds from reaching her. What really gets Peter about the sight is that he is the one who looks like he could be flattened at any moment, wild blonde hair lashing about almost as bad as his fretting. He doesn’t make an effort to greet either of them though, and merely goes as far as indicating the Tundra is here and ready. He leaves the settling of their new cargo to his crew and returns to his cabin.

Gertrude surely knew where they were heading as that had been another aspect to the fun chat he’d had with Elias, which hadn’t come up. Zemlya Sannikova doesn’t actually exist.

It isn’t until they’re further out to sea, still at least another day away from nearing their supposed destination, does he take to checking in. Night has fallen and everyone is either where they’re supposed to be or trying to fade into the background as best they can. Neither of these things concern Peter as he walks the deck of his ship. The ends of his navy scarf are trying to whip away from him and absentmindedly, he considers replacing it soon. Another gift from Elias that he didn’t actually dislike, but it was getting old.

The cold of the Arctic is familiar, albeit bordering the edge of just too much. Certainly, too much for anyone else on board, which makes it regretful he can’t stay there himself. He doesn’t remain above deck as long as he might if they were anywhere else, and instead hides himself back below.

Despite all the maps stored in Peter’s cabin, sure enough when they reach the spot Gertrude directed them to, there is an impossible island in front of them. He idly watches the pair bundle up twice as much, her assistant fails in trying to take the backpack’s weight for Gertrude and Gertrude… she simply looks at him with those eyes again. They’re worse than Elias’s stare, he decides.

“We won’t be long,” she assures, voice hard. And soon enough, he can’t see either of them anymore.

The perverse urge to abandon her here hits him, but he had already agreed to the favor and heads back to his cabin to wait out however long her business will last. One or two of his crew express interest in looking for themselves and he has to send them off to do something else, wondering if he misread them that badly. No one aboard should care about what’s happening on that island that cannot and yet does exist.

He waits in his cabin and scratches down on one of the maps about where they must be. It isn’t really with any intention of returning—he has no interest in the Spiral.

Eventually, Peter directs his gaze to the necklace he’d received almost a decade ago, hanging on his cabin's wall and left uncovered for their little trip. He assumes Elias would want to watch—be there in his own way. Yet, as he always knows, the captain remains alone. He is intimately aware of how Elias's eyes feel when weighing upon him, and as such hates that he is relieved and disappointed when it is missing.

London, United Kingdom

Elias is distracted. He had every intention of watching while going through the motions of interviewing new employees, but he is floored by the young man taking the seat across his desk. It is not so much that he finds himself incapable of multitasking like he usually would, but oddly that he doesn’t want to.

A gift dropped right in his office is very hard to ignore. And he is a gentleman first and foremost, knowing that the Mother takes priority over his passing fancy and wayward Archivist. Someone already marked by the Web and yet still just as painfully curious despite the event. He observes it all and hopes this one works out. That he has finally found his Archivist.

“I think you’ll fit in quite well here at the Institute, Jon.”

By the time he looks back to the Tundra, it’s over. Gertrude has returned to the ship leaving another assistant to an unfortunate end, and Peter is engrossed in a book, looking utterly indifferent even with the eyes he must feel directed on him now.

Reluctant as the captain was initially, the favor is done. And after Gertrude is dropped off back in England, their meeting is brief. He doesn’t join him this time or take Elias up on what he’d had in mind, however vulgar he had implied it over the phone. Truly, Peter doesn’t really want to be there at all. There’s a hollow smile in the way he says perhaps next time, and leaves again. The lingering chill eats away at him more than he expects, but at the same time, it feels different.

He wonders if his husband will ask why he wasn’t watching earlier, or if he even noticed. He wonders with all that heavy, cold nothingness expanding ever so slowly between them, if Peter has taken his ring off.

He wonders why he doesn’t check. END NOTE: entirely want to give inspiration credit to the imagery of the wedding scene and the moorland house in particular to a Very lovely fic a glass essay which made me realize how much i actually like peter? if you are reading this and have not read it i Highly recommend it, the characterization and atmosphere are absolutely incredible.

#writing #writing: tma #pairing: lonelyeyes #character: elias bouchard #character: jonah magnus #character: peter lukas #jonah magnus #elias bouchard #peter lukas #lonelyeyes #peterelias #pt 3 will come sometime soon!!! busy w some other projects but \ o /

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