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ennas-aesthetic · 6 months

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What the fuck is Jesus up to in Good Omens season 3?

This is a question I've been thinking long and hard these past couple of days and I have some THOUGHTS SO. Buckle up.

Aziraphale and Crowley watching the Crucifixion (Good Omens, 2019)

First off. The answer to the question posited is relatively simple. What is Jesus up to in GO3? With s2's ending in mind and with the hints we've gotten for 668: Neighbor of the Beast over the years, we know he's descending to Earth to initiate the Second Coming. And that Aziraphale would probably make that happen - or do everything that he can as Supreme Archangel to sabotage it.

But I wanted to examine on how Jesus might fit into Good Omens' overall narratives and established themes - about morality and humanism and free will, and. I'm just saying, there are A LOT of fascinating routes they could do for his character.

(Disclaimer as usual: this is a theory that I obsessed over when I was stuck at the cemetery during All Souls' Day and must be treated as such. In no way am I insisting this should be how canon events must happen. I am just doing this for the funsies.)

The THING about Jesus if you situate him in the world of Good Omens (with the assumption that most of the pop culture Christology mythos associated with him remain intact) is that in this context he very quickly becomes: 1. Adam Young's narrative foil; and 2. an Aziraphale parallel.

Now, the first one is obvious. Of COURSE he is Adam Young's foil, duh. Adam isn't called the ANTICHRIST for nothing. Brought into the world just for the sole purpose of ending it. However, when the time comes for him to fulfill the Will of his Satanic Father, Adam flat out REFUSES.

Both the book and the show attribute this to Adam's human upbringing. He was raised as a human, and because of that he has the trait that the book uses to DEFINE human beings: free will. At the end, Adam had the AGENCY to reject the destiny planned out for him.

'Adam stood smiling at the two of them, a small figure perfectly poised exactly between Heaven and Hell.

Crowley grabbed Aziraphale's arm. "You know what happened?" he hissed excitedly. "He was left alone! He grew up human! He's not Evil Incarnate or Good Incarnate, he's just… a human incarnate—"'

- (Good Omens, 1990)

That is NOT what happened to Jesus.

Adam Bond as Jesus in Good Omens (2019)

Like Adam, he was raised as a human -- being a human incarnate was his WHOLE DEAL in Christology. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us... yada yada yada.

UNLIKE, Adam, though, Jesus wasn't able to REJECT his Destiny of Dying Really Horribly and Painfully on the Cross. Narratives in the Bible also made it clear that the Crucifixion was NOT his Will, but that of God's. Like... him begging to be spared from torment but ultimately following God's Will is such an important event entire devotional practices are made out of it.

"39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

- (Matthew 26: 39, KJV)

We get a glimpse of that in s1ep3 of Good Omens, too:

"JESUS

(muttering through the pain)

Father, please . . . you have to forgive them . . . they don’t know what they are doing . . .

Crowley, in black, comes up next to Aziraphale.

CROWLEY

You’ve come to smirk at the poor bugger, have you?

AZIRAPHALE

Smirk? Me?

CROWLEY

Well, your lot put him on there.

AZIRAPHALE

I am not consulted on policy decisions, Crawley."

- (The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book, 2018)

SO. Here we have the character of the Christ whose free will and agency had been STRIPPED from him in the guise of a "noble sacrifice." He comes back again on this Earth to fulfill another "inescapable destiny."

Aziraphale and Crowley need to stop him. The solution the Good Omens narrative offers to "inescapable destinies and systems" (both in s1 and s2) is for the character to realize they have the freedom to choose their own fates. It happened with Adam, and it happened with Gabriel, and perhaps it will happen to Jesus.

(At this point my sister frowned and said: "Are you telling me you think Aziraphale and Crowley are going to help Jesus realize he has agency and that him Dying on the Cross for the 'Great Plan' was kinda fucked up actually?" which sounds crazy when you put it like that BUT NEVER SAY NEVER BABIE.)

Because that brings me to my second point: if this all happens, Jesus becomes an AZIRAPHALE parallel.

In the same way Anathema is an Aziraphale parallel and Sergeant Shadwell is an Aziraphale parallel. Here is a character stuck in a suffocating status quo. To save the world, he needs to know he can escape that status quo and decide for himself. In the same way Anathema has to learn how to stop being a descendant or Shadwell to stop being a Witchfinder, or Gabriel to stop being an Archangel, and Adam to stop being an Antichrist, perhaps Jesus has to learn he can stop being... Well, the Christ, as well.

And this, of course, supplements Aziraphale's journey of letting go of the idea of being an idealized vessel of God, so he could finally enjoy the freedom of personhood and choice on Earth, with Crowley.

Or they could turn Jesus into a cackling villain who Aziraphale and Crowley need to kill in season 3, and I'd probably eat that up, too.

#good omens #good omens meta #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #this was such an insane meta post to make but i had to do it #putting my religious trauma to good use iktr #enna rambles

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wakkass · 8 months

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It's impossible to put into words how much I love designing characters, especially for AU.

Yes, I recently had an avatar AU, and I really wanted to draw Katara from there (and also Zuko). I usually draw a static pose in order to display all the details of the clothes. This is such a kind of character sheet that helps me to better imagine the scenes in my head.

If you're interested in reading about the AU itself, then there will be some information about it.

I apologize in advance for mistakes in the text, English is not my native language. But, I hope, this will not interfere with understanding.

In general, my AU concerns the ending of the series, because at some point it seemed unrealistic to me. There is too much positivity with the obvious problems of the post-military space, as well as little logic in some moments (for example, I don't understand what Zuko was doing in Ba Sing Se. Did he abandon his newfound throne to the mercy of fate with the risk of a palace coup? Did he not feel the effects of a lightning strike? The longer I think about it, the surreal it seems to me).

At some point I thought, "this is all like Aang's dream, in which everything is intentionally good. As if this is the ending he wants, but it's unattainable." And then it dawned on me. But it really looks like his fantasy about the future after defeating the root of evil. This explains why Zuko recovered so easily, why everyone is just relaxing and having fun without a drop of post-trauma. Because Aang wants everything to be so naive and simple after defeating the Fire Lord. Because he's dreaming about it.

I know this is a very hackneyed narrative technique. It's pretty easy to say "this is someone's dream" to deny any events. But I found it curious, especially against the background of the episode "Nightmares and Daydreams", where Aang's dreams already simplified the reality around him. For me, it's like a lead-up to the finale, where he actually sleeps.

You ask, "but why is he sleeping?". I also asked this question, and the answer to it killed me. Because during the battle with Ozai, when the stone hit Aang in the wound, he fell into a coma. His body was paralyzed because his brain perceived it as a repeated lightning strike, again fatal. The avatar's state was the only one that did not allow Aang to die, but only to fall into a coma. And instead of an epic battle, we have a little helpless boy spending a huge amount of energy just to maintain his life.

The second Aang collapsed, he disappeared, leaving Ozai alone with the remnants of his temporary power. And no one else saw the avatar…

I'll leave the intrigue for you about this, but for now I'll tell you about the concepts from the art.

Naturally, everyone searched for Aang, and, naturally, they did not find him. Katara and Zuko were the only ones who did not participate in the search, for several reasons:

Zuko was rehabilitated for a very long time after being struck by lightning, and Katara nursed him (I'm sure there are a lot of fics about this topic. The only difference is that there is no romance here. The focus of my AU is not on it, but on the problems of the consequences of the war). He survived, but he had major problems with his heart, digestive system and spine. Who noticed the cane in his hands? Yes, Zuko couldn't walk without it. From now on and forever. He was physically unable to leave the palace, and Katara maintained at least some of his condition.

Even after Zuko's rehabilitation, it was necessary to keep the power in his hands. Imagine what a shock the Fire Nation experienced when not just the former Fire Lord was overthrown, but the country's policy changed dramatically. Now Zuko needed to keep power in his hands and establish a new regime as soon as possible, before his opponents raised armies and people against him. This boy, who recently sat quietly at a military meeting, needed to show unprecedented strength and power to everyone: both officials sought to turn the situation in their favor, and the people who wanted stability and prosperity. But how to do this if Zuko couldn't even breathe normally, and getting out of bed required tremendous effort? It was impossible… Anyone else would have given up, but not Zuko. He has never given up without a fight and has never turned his back on danger, even if he risks dying.

It hurts me a lot for him, too. Fate has never stopped pushing Zuko against obstacles, but this time he couldn't rely on himself. He almost couldn't bend, his body almost didn't obey. He was an easy target and there was nothing he could do about it. This helplessness irritated him, saddened him, oppressed him. The only thing that wasn't broken yet was his spirit, and Zuko was barely able to maintain it in such conditions. If it wasn't for Katara, I don't know if he would have coped in the end. She was now his only support, his only ally in these cold oppressive walls, the only rational grain in his doubts.

You ask, "Where is Iroh? Where is Mai?"

Iroh, along with the White Lotus, took on a mission to liberate the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Army and establish relations with the kingdom. In fact, Iroh now shared power with Zuko: uncle was engaged in foreign policy so that his nephew could focus on domestic policy.

With Mai, everything was much simpler: after getting out of prison, she was completely disappointed in the guy who always left her. She sent him a letter, where she finally ended their relationship, and left with her family somewhere far away. Perhaps she and Zuko will cross paths again and will be able to establish a relationship. But not now.

Katara remained to help Zuko not only with treatment, but also with his policy. As a resident of an almost disappearing tribe, as well as an able leader, she helped him with projects and plans to improve the quality of life of the population and actively participates in them. She performed those missions that Zuko can only entrust to her. After all, she was a friend he could rely on and to whom he could open his feelings.

In her design, I wanted to reflect the combination of two cultures: Fire and Water. I was based on the designs of the "12 Kingdoms" (if you haven't watched this gorgeous anime or haven't read ranobe, I strongly recommend doing it. This universe is no less interesting than the avatar's world, I'm sure you'll like it), because the palace intrigues and the plot with winning the respect of the court reminds me very much of the story from there.

One day Zuko's legs finally gave up, he could not get up. All the stress he was going through was breaking his body so much that at some point the Katara's treatment stopped working.

It was a very difficult moment for both of them. Zuko has just started to promote his ideas and defend his rights to the throne, and Katara sincerely did not know what to do. If the truth about the true state of the Fire Lord had come out, all the ill-wishers would not leave this opportunity and attack, this couldn't be allowed. They urgently needed to create the appearance that everything is in order, but how?

Zuko came up with a very brazen idea. He asked Katara to use bloodbending on him to simulate walking. It was a very difficult request for her, because this skill represented the worst face of the war, it was created to torture people. And the last thing she wanted was to torment Zuko. She hesitated for a long time, he saw it, but he couldn't wait. He couldn't stop, it wasn't a luxury he could afford. Therefore, he went out, trying not to get up and move much.

Naturally, at some point his weakness was noticed at the most inopportune moment. Naturally, at this moment Katara couldn't let Zuko fall. Imperceptibly under her sleeves, she moved her friend's body like a puppet, causing him as much unbearable pain as most would not stand. But Zuko was not like that. He stood it.

It looked like this to me somehow:

They were both very depressed that day. He was suffering physically because of Katara's bending, and she could not believe that she had caused the suffering of a person dear to her. It broke and scared her, she opened the way to the Hama's madness, and was very afraid to fall into it.

Zuko assured her that it was impossible. Hama didn't have people to guide her, while Katara has friends. Maybe Zuko didn't consider himself the best moral mentor, but he promised to be there in the most difficult moments for Katara, and now he won't leave her.

This encouraged her and opened her eyes to her own cowardice. She was afraid of the darkness of Hama, and instead of curbing it, Katara hid it in herself, ignored it. And that's what it led to: the person who needed her help suffered. But she didn't want to run away anymore. She wasn't going to give up without a fight and turn her back on those who needed her.

At the beginning, Katara trained on herself, experiencing the same pain as the victims of bloodbending. Careless movement of blood through the vessels could cause internal bleeding at any time, it was very dangerous. The Hama's voice in her head pressed on her conscience, saying that innocent people felt all this pain, and only Katara was to blame for this.

Later, she learned to control the flow of water on puppets, like Hama. The point was to pass water through the threads without bursting them. Absolute control was required here, and Zuko taught her the techniques of firebending for self-control. This was necessary for Katara, because the Hama's voice in her head did not subside and did not allow her to correctly distribute her forces. It seemed like Katara was about to stumble, but Zuko wouldn't let her do it.

Gradually, Katara mastered this skill and tried to draw blood on Zuko's legs. The effect was unexpected. Her great willpower and desire to help him resulted in healing. Zuko began to feel his legs, and Katara discovered the reverse side of this bending. No, she didn't heal him completely, it's too early for him to get rid of the cane. But maybe one day she will become so strong that she can do it.

Katara realized that there was no evil magic, there was only evil intent. This was her first step towards learning to look inner demons in the face, and not to hide them in herself when it was possible to hurt others.

But what about the other design?

Katara's father sent her a letter asking her to return. Her family needed her help, because she was the last waterbender, a carrier of culture and skills, as well as a healer of a new level, the daughter of a tribal leader.

At home, everything was not the same as before, moreover, everything taked shape as a Northern Tribe. I really like the idea of the comic "North and South" about the problem of assimilation. Only here has Katara accepted all aspects of its culture, even the most unpleasant ones, and she would not give up so easily when this newfound knowledge was in danger of disappearing.

Actually, I wanted to draw her outfit of this arch. I wanted to redesign the costume for myself, because I like to do it. I kept the front strands of Katara, we don't talk much about them.

I would really like to describe the path of the rest of the team and what they do, of Aang and what happens to him. But I'm already tired of typing, and you probably read.

After all, the post is more about designs, and not about the AU itself, so the goal to reveal some of my ideas has been achieved in principle. Maybe sometime later.

Hope you enjoyed reading this :3

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #atla fanart #atla au #avatar fanart #katara #zuko

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beachylupin · 9 months

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Harvest Moon || Remus Lupin x Muggle!Fem!Reader

it's finally here! here’s the moodboard to go with it! i worked far too hard on this so please let me know if you like it or if you want to see more of her! <3 to preface: this part takes place in roughly september :-) pt. 2 here word count: 4.6k warnings: mention of alcohol and cigarettes, maybe like two swear words, fluffy, some pining, quickly edited

You and Lily went to primary school together. Your mum and dad loved her like she was their own, and even though she had loving parents, she would often spend a lot of her evenings after school and summers at your house, evading Petunia’s constant need to bully her. The two of you were like sisters: sharing secrets, having constant sleepovers, playing pretend.

However, there was something different about her that you couldn’t quite put your finger on. Petunia incessantly told you that Lily was a witch, but you didn’t believe her. Why would you believe someone who hated the girl that you loved so dearly? Lily wasn’t green or wicked, and she didn’t have a wart growing on the end of her nose. That’s all witches were to you back then, and Lily was the opposite. She was radiant and kind, like sunlight on a dark day. She was your best friend, not some evil hag.

It wasn’t until a giggling Lily appeared on your doorstep the July before you turned eleven.

“Look!” She said, shoving an odd letter into your hand. “It’s for a place called Hogwarts! Go on! Read it!”

She eagerly watched you read it out loud. “Dear Miss Evans. You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” You couldn’t believe it. Lily, the radiant girl, was actually a witch. Petunia was right all along, and that September, Lily left to go to this magical school.

When Lily came home, she had befriended the greasy haired boy from down the street that you had only known as “snipe” from the kids at school, saying he looked close to the little bird that shared the name. You were willing to share her, seeing as he had no other options for friends, but he tried to take Lily away from you completely, saying she was his kind. Of course, Lily didn’t stand for this and split her time with the two of you equally.

As the years went on, the more you grew to dislike Severus. It was almost like he had a vendetta against you because you were Lily’s friend before she was his, or something like that. Whatever it was, you kept your head high whenever you saw him, ignoring his constant “filthy muggle” comments, and greeting him with a nice, “Hi, Severus! It’s so wonderful to see you again!”

His possessiveness didn’t seem to matter in the long run because Lily came back from her fifth year at this magical school gushing to you about some bloke named James. He was all she ever talked about. James, James, James.

“He’s annoying, and kind of a prick, but God, I just love looking at him…”

You felt like her real sister as you cursed Lily under your breath the entire way to the reception tent next to Potter Manor. She didn’t invite anyone else in your family to her wedding except you.

Sure, you were the only one to really know Lily, but a quick explanation, and your mum wouldn’t have asked any questions.

It wouldn’t have been that simple, you decided, when you saw the actual wedding. James and Lily took part in what the pixie-haired girl sitting next to you called the “Unbreakable Vow” in which they used wands to seal their promise to marriage. If one of them were to break this vow, they would die, the girl explained. It sounded intense, but as a hopeless romantic, it was one of the most beautiful sentiments of love you had ever seen.

Their vow keepers were the best man and maid of honor. The best man wore flamboyant plum dress robes with jewels adoring the lapels. He had shoulder-length, raven-colored hair and the biggest smile you had ever seen. He didn’t let the smile drop once. The maid of honor wore a pretty sapphire blue dress that complemented her skin tone very well. She wore her curls in a high bun, curly bangs framing her face.

James and Lily looked magnificent. James had on maroon dress robes that nearly matched his best man’s, but they were more humble with gold accents rather than the gaudy jewels the other man chose. Lily wore an ivory dress that flowed off her body like it was made of water. It had lace cap sleeves, and a bodice that contoured to her small shape. Every step she took, the ground blossomed with small lilies.

The more you looked around, the more you realized that everyone dressed insanely nice. You felt self conscious seeing that other people around went “all out” for this wedding: beautiful gowns and tea-length dresses of all colors of the rainbow, and the fanciest dress-robes you had ever seen adorned with silver, gold, and jewels. Obviously, you thought, they had gotten their clothes enchanted, seeing a special tailor to look as amazing as they did.

You got to work with Primark and Harrods, and since you didn’t have the luxury of getting something custom made by a literal wizard, you looked simple. You wore your hair down your back in loose waves, a plunging rose colored dress, and nude heels. In any wizard’s eyes, you’d look plain, unwilling to flaunt your nonexistent wealth through fancy clothes.

While the other people were nice and smiled widely at you as you walked past, you could tell that they knew you were different. It was in the hushing of their voices as you passed, and the way they looked at you like you had something growing out of the top of your head.

As far as you could tell, you were the only outsider in a sea of people that seemed to know each other. They all mingled, hugging and kissing each other like none of them expected this type of occasion, which baffled you.

Lily and James were made for one another. Even though James was quite literally Lily’s opposite, they worked. They fit together like two fiery puzzle pieces. You couldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t be expecting their wedding.

You self-consciously raked a hand through your hair, taking extra care to not snag any of it on your fingers, and looked at the table spots on the board next to the giant tent, desperately searching for your name. When you found it at table nine, you walked, head down, into the tent to sit down.

You took your seat in the nearly empty tent, pouring yourself a generous amount of the table wine, and drank it down. You sighed, taking a breath for what felt like the first time in an hour.

You wouldn’t necessarily consider yourself shy, but in this specific scenario, you felt yourself clamming up. These people, the party; it was all overwhelming. It was so different from the normal, non-magical life you were used to. You were normally willing to talk to just about anyone, but feeling underdressed at a huge wedding where you thought you were the only outsider left you feeling less than worthy.

You poured yourself another glass of wine and took a butter mint, popping it into your mouth. You sucked on it, looking around the slow-to-fill tent to catch a man glancing at you.

He was tall, lanky, and just so happened to be one of the most normally dressed people you had seen all evening. He wore a creamy brown sweater, with darker brown slacks, and a jacket that matched. From where you sat, you could see the faintest stubble on his cheeks and around his mouth. He was leaning on a cane, but didn’t seem to look any older than you since he had sandy brown hair that was long and swept off to the side with not a grey in sight.

A chill ran through you, and you looked away, feeling your face flush. He was handsome, and you decided then and there that at one point during this strange reception, you would talk to him. Needing the eventual confidence, you took another sip, glancing to see if he was still standing there, but he wasn’t.

“So you were the name I didn’t recognize,” said a voice from behind you, followed by a mention of your name.

“Oh!” You nearly jumped out of your skin, setting your wine down before you dropped it on your lap.

“I’m sorry, love! I didn’t mean to startle you!” He gushed, patting your shoulder as he pulled out the chair next to you to sit.

Embarrassed at the way his hand made your shoulder burn, you huffed, “You didn’t startle-”

You turned to look at him, your mouth turning bone dry despite the mint you had been sucking on.

It was the same man that had been staring at you before. Closer up, you could see that he had jagged white lines covering his face. A fresh scratch worked its way down his cheek, sure to leave a scar to match the rest of them. If you looked closer, you could see the tip of a wand sticking out of his jacket pocket. You were wrong.

You blinked, realizing you had been trying to figure out how to melt inside the chocolate that his eyes resembled. You swallowed the mint thickly. “Sorry, um-” you said sheepishly, tucking hair behind your pink-tipped ears. “What did you say your name was?”

You suddenly felt drunk, butterflies filling your belly with tenacity, but your mouth was so dry that you had to take another sip of wine before saying anything else.

“I didn’t,” he said, sitting. “I’m Remus.” He stuck his hand out to capture yours in his with a quick shake. Your eyes flicked to his hand, seeing if it was on fire. He was looking too, your gaze captured in the middle when you both looked up at each other. You pulled your hands away at the same time, Remus making himself busy by hanging his coat and cane on the back of his chair, a smile lingering on his lips.

You stared at the plate in front of you, trying to mentally blame your flush on the amount of wine you had already consumed. “Do uh- Do you know everyone here?” You asked, glancing at him.

Remus blew a puff of air out of his nose, amused as he looked around. “Just about everyone. You?”

“Nobody except for Lily,” you said, grabbing another buttermint to try and sate your dry mouth. “I mean, I know of James, but I spent every summer with Lily when she was home from school.”

“Oh?” Remus said, sitting straighter. He cleared his throat like had gotten something stuck. “Where did you go to school?”

“Saint Grogory’s,” you answered him. You tried to ignore that he was staring at his lap instead of you, his posture still stiff. “Now I work at a cafe while I’m going to the University of London to get my Master’s in English Literature.”

“You can just study that?” He asked quietly, looking at you. Your eyebrows raised with amusement, gathering that he didn’t know you knew about any of them. “Sorry, that’s a daft question,” he said, exasperated. “I mean, that’s really… Um- That’s really neat.” You didn’t say anything, deciding to let the poor wizard flounder. “I’d go to school for… For um… For maths, but I hate maths, so it wouldn’t really-”

“I know that I’m the only muggle here,” you said, eyebrows still raised as your mouth tugged into a smile. “It’d be very hard to think this was a normal muggle wedding. There are candles floating mid air. That doesn’t happen in the muggle world. You know that right?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah.” He visibly relaxed, sending his gaze skyward as his ears started to burn red. “Here I was thinking that I was about to spoil everything.”

“Lily told me the day she got the letter,” you said, smirking as you nudged him. “I sure got you though.”

The heat from Remus’ ears made its way to his face, his cheeks turning crimson as he nodded, looking back at you.

“Wine?” You asked, filling his cup without a response. “How do you know Lily then?”

Remus took his glass before you overfilled it, taking a sip. “We went to school together.”

“Is that where everyone is from?” You asked, and he nodded.

“Mainly,” he said, looking around. “A few from-”

“There you are!” The best man shouted, slapping Remus on the back. He rested his bottom on the table next to his friend. He peered over to you, his grey eyes sparkling. “Magnificent wedding, isn’t it? I heard the house elves did a real bang-up job on the feast too.” He grabbed the near empty bottle of wine, pouring what was maybe a sip into the glass next of him. “Merlin, Moons, you finished it all yourself? Nervous about sitting next to a pretty bird?”

“Sorry, that was me,” you admitted, flushing when the raven-haired man looked back at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“No worries,” he said, waving his hand nonchalantly over the bottle. It filled instantly, and he took it, pouring more into his glass.

You blinked hard, staring at the wine bottle. Grabbing it, you peered inside to make sure it was real. “How’d you do that?”

“Do what?” He asked incredulously. “Do you not know that spell or something?”

Remus took the bottle from you, setting it in front of his friend. He introduced you to his friend, finishing with, “Sirius, this is Lily’s friend from home.”

Sirius paled. “Oh… Fuck.” His hands met his face as he muttered something about James being upset. He looked at you, his face still alarmingly pale as he started taking out his wand. “I’m so sorry, love. Just sit still, and I can help you forget-”

“I just didn’t know that you could do magic with your hands,” you said, still staring at the wine bottle. “I thought you always needed a wand.”

Sirius shook his head, the color slightly returning to his face as he deadpanned, “What?”

“She knows we’re all wizards, you plank,” Remus sighed, drinking his wine. “Put your wand away.”

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, a smile breaking his face. “Oh, good! Brilliant! Ignore that comment then.” He pocketed his wand then turned to his friend. “Have you got a light and a ciggy?”

Remus huffed, patting the table in front of you. “Excuse us for just a moment, will you?” He grabbed his cane, slipped on his coat, and he and Sirius went off to smoke.

Sirius was right. Dinner was magnificent, as well at the people who sat with you. Remus was back in time to introduce you to them all. Frank and Alice, who said they were going to have the next wedding, were the same people you sat next to during the ceremony. Next to them sat Marlene and Dorcas. Marlene had a bright smile and a head full of white blonde hair that hardly ever left Dorcas’ tanned shoulder. On the other side of Frank sat Peter, who looked to be the youngest of the group with his baby-faced cheeks.

The wine was passed and refilled a few more times as the night went on, as well as special cocktails, feuling riveting conversations amongst the wizards and witches. You decided to listen, taking in everything the boys were talking about. From the legalization of recreational boomslang to the crackdown on broom riding. Eventually, their conversation hushed down to mumbles and whispers.

Dorcas, Marlene, and Alice, however, were busily chatting about her wedding and how excited she was to finally marry Frank. They eventually roped you in on their conversation, asking your opinion about what would be better: live unicorns or a toad choir. Of course, you chose unicorns which had the girls roaring in laughter.

By the time that James and Lily danced their first dance, you felt good, and that wasn’t including the way you brushed up against Remus’s side as you stood alongside your newfound friends.

“We’re gettin’ drinks then goin’ to dance,” you slurred, the butterflies reemerging as he looked at you. “You want me t’ grab you somethin’? ‘M gettin’ water.”

He shook his head, pushing himself up from the chair. “I’ll come with you.”

“You sure?” You asked, watching him grab his cane and coat and nod a goodbye to Frank and Peter. “‘S not a big deal f’ me-”

“I insist,” Remus said, walking past you, slightly turning over his shoulder. “Come on then.”

You caught up, trying not to stumble alongside him. Focused on him, the two of you walked straight past the drink table.

As if Remus could sense your reminder, he said, “I want to show you something quick,” and led you out of the tent into the dusky lawn.

You didn’t protest, rather you felt bad for him, his nose scrunching every time he took a step. You lightly hooked your arm in his, your hand resting on his bicep.

“You ‘right?” You asked, feeling dumb as the words left your mouth. “‘M sorry. That was rude.”

“It’s a valid question,” he reassured you with a soft nudge of his elbow. “Hip just acts up sometimes. I’ll live,” he said, glancing at you as you pressed your cheek against his arm. “Are you okay?”

You sighed. “Yeah.” You moved off his arm, rubbing the side of your face that touched him, praying there wasn’t a burn mark. “I think I overshot.”

“You were drinking a lot of wine,” he snorted, opening a large manor door for you. “Do you need some water?” You entered, and he followed you, offering you his arm again. “A sober up potion?”

“The latter,” you said, desperate to feel the burning in your hand again as you hooked onto him. “‘M gonna hurl if I drink anymore.”

“We don’t want that.” Remus led you down a long hallway in the expansive manor. Marble floors and large columns made up the hallway, breaking off into the entryway and the living room. The two of you passed the huge, bustling kitchen and came to a double door.

“Here,” Remus said, nudging the door open slightly. “You go wait in there while I go find that potion, alright love?”

You nodded and the corner of his mouth tugged into a half smile. You watched him, entering the door he had nudged open.

You could’ve dropped dead on the spot, and you would’ve died the happiest lady on the planet. Books covered the walls up to the ceilings, lit by the large moon as it rose over the manor.

You stepped closer to the shelves, tickling the spines when you noticed that they weren’t just books. There were books on runes, books with fur, and books that were quietly whispering.

You picked up a shiny book, cracking it open. While nothing popped out, the book began shouting. You screamed and quickly slammed it shut, putting it back. Your heart beat out of your chest as you picked up another one, finding ice cold air blowing out of it as soon as you opened it. The third book you picked up had a plaid spine, and looked safe. The cover read, “Frankenstein's Monster: Did It Actually Happen?” You held it to your chest and sighed, breathing in the dusty, papery scent.

You could live here, and nobody would know. You could nestle in amongst the shelves, hiding in the hole until all the books were read. Feeling drunk and overwhelmingly happy, you sighed again, closing your eyes as you plopped down on the sofa.

“Do you like it?” Remus asked from the door.

“I think I’m in love,” you replied dreamily, turning to look at him. “Has anyone read all of ‘em?”

“James said his dad was working through them,” he said, sitting down on the sofa. He handed you the potion. “I think he got about halfway through before he gave up.”

“God,” you said, looking around. “I’d try to read ‘em all.” You smelled the potion, instantly recoiling with a gag. “‘M not drinkin’ this.”

“It just smells bad,” he said, an amused smile gracing his face. “Drink it and you’ll feel better.”

You sighed, grumbled, “Fine,” and downed the potion like a shot.

Remus lied to you. It tasted just as bad as it smelled, but it worked. You felt all the drunkenness leave you like it was being siphoned out of your body. You sat up straighter, pushing your hair out of your face.

“Better?” Remus asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Much,” you said, smiling as you looked at him. “Thank you.”

Despite not being drunk, you still felt the butterflies in your stomach as he matched your toothy grin, glancing at the book in your hands. “Are you going to steal that?” He teased.

“I’d like to,” you admitted, reading the first page to yourself. “It’s the first book that hasn’t done something.”

“I’m sure Fleamont wouldn’t care,” he said, his fingers dancing against yours as he took the book from you, pocketing it in his coat. “I can hold onto it for now. Until you leave, of course.”

“I suppose I should probably get back and say goodbye to everyone,” you said, standing and smoothing out your dress over your thighs. “The last bus leaves in an hour, and I still have to see Lily.”

Quietly, Remus nodded, standing alongside you. He offered you his arm again, and even though you weren't stumbling, you took his desperately, letting him lead you back out of the manor.

“Moon’s really big,” you said, looking up at the moon that shone orange in the sky. “Must be full.”

Remus winced, glancing at you to see if you noticed, finding you still staring. “There was a full harvest moon a few nights ago. If you look, you can see it waning.”

You narrowed your eyes trying to see what he was talking about. “Do you like the moon or something?”

“I-” He paused, catching you already looking up at him. “Sure.”

“I like the sun more,” you admitted, looking back at the moon. “The moon is fine, but without the sun, it’s just another dark rock.” You glanced at him to catch him staring at the moon, a grimace on his face.

Before you could say anything, a sharp squeal followed a flurry of red hair that was barreling toward you.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I thought you left already!” Lily shouted, picking you up and spinning you around. She held you at arms length. “Look at you!”

“I wouldn’t have left without saying anything to my favorite girl!” You beamed, taking in your Lily. “You... you look radiant.”

“Oh, pish,” Lily said, waving her hand in the air. She looked at Remus, who was still staring at the sky as if to give you and Lily your space. “Hi, space man,” she cooed at him, causing Remus to look at her, a tight smile on his face. She reached up, squishing his cheek between her fingers. “I’m stealing her from you.”

“Be my guest,” he said, pulling cigarettes out of his pocket. “I’ll be in there in a minute,” he said more to you than to Lily.

“That’s a nasty habit, Lupin,” Lily sighed like she had said it about a million times.

“Really? That’s funny,” he said, lighting a cigarette and holding out the pack to the three other men coming toward him. “Seems as though the other Potter likes it.”

You smiled as Lily pulled you away toward the tent, grumbling about James being irresponsible and how she was going to have to have a little chat with him later.

“Oh, you love him,” you cooed, and Lily sighed heavily.

“Very much so.” She turned the two of you around, gazing at the group of four boys all smoking and chatting away. “I mean look at him,” she mumbled to you. “I just want to hit that cigarette out of his hand and scream at him until my throat bleeds, but God, I just want to kiss him until he chokes, and I love him, and I just wish I could-”

While Lily continued to tell you about all the things she loved about her new husband, you couldn’t help but to look at Remus whose face was pulled in a genuine smile as James and Sirius began loudly talking about God knows what. The way he threw his head back as he laughed had your cheeks flushing, and this time, you couldn’t blame the wine.

“He’s cute,” you blurted, sensing Lily following your gaze.

“Remus?” She asked, and you confirmed with a short nod.

“He took me into the library,” you said, looking at Lily. “He’s got a book in his pocket for me.”

“Really…” She said, sounding far off as she continued looking at the group of boys. “It makes a lot of sense…”

“What does?” You could hear your heartbeat in your ears watching the way she smiled, knowing she made eye contact with one of them.

“You and Remus,” she said, looking at you with the same smile. “You should give him your number.”

“Lily,” you groaned and she grabbed your arm, leaning in.

“He wouldn’t have looked over here at least four times if he didn’t want it,” she whispered, a fiery look in her eye when you began to protest with pink cheeks. “He lives in muggle London. He owns a phone.”

You huffed. “Fine.”

Lily’s smize turned giddy as she gave you a napkin, your number already written on it. “I’ve had this in my pocket since I saw you sitting next to him.”

“You’re a minx,” you hissed, taking the napkin. You checked your watch and sighed. “You planned this out so I couldn’t say no, didn’t you?”

The glint in Lily’s eye said it all as she threw her arms around you. “I’ll see you soon. I can come round your flat, and we can watch movies, and we can have a proper girl’s night, alright?”

You squeezed her tightly. “That sounds amazing, Lils. I love you.”

“Not as much as I love you!” She said, pulling away. A mischievous grin grew on her face as she pushed you forward. “Now go get ‘em, tiger!”

You stumbled forward, throwing Lily a scrunched nose over your shoulder. She met it with a thumbs up and a cheeky smile before James snuck up behind her, batting him away as he tried to kiss her.

You laughed to yourself, shaking your head. You could only hope to have a love like Lily and James one day.

The napkin in your hand grew increasingly damp the closer you got to Remus. He was still standing outside nursing a cider that one of his friends must’ve given him. You stepped outside of the tent, siding up to him.

“Hey, you!” Remus said, nudging you with his elbow. “Are you heading out?”

“I am!” You said, the napkin becoming damp in your hands. “Bus leaves soon, and I need to catch it before I’m stranded here.”

“Alright,” he said, grabbing the book from his pocket. “Here you are.”

You took it, smiling while you looked at it. “Thank you,” you mumbled.

The two of you became quiet, not knowing what to do next. A handshake would’ve been proper, you thought, considering you had just met him and he took you under his wing for the night.

You panicked and stuck out your napkin-filled hand without saying anything. He looked at you with furrowed brows then took your hand, the burning sensation filling you from the tips of your fingers straight to your chest.

“It was really nice to meet you, Remus,” you said, pulling away and leaving the napkin in his hand.

You turned around before he could say anything, head down as you walked quickly down the Manor drive, hoping the scorched feeling in your hands would never go away.

#remus lupin #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin x muggle!fem!reader #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin meet cute #remus lupin imagine #harvest moon

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rekino2114 · 1 month

Text

Denji discovering your relationship with makima

This is kind of a sequel to this, like all of the makima posts that I will do

"Is it just me, or does makima seem happier lately"

Aki almost immediately regretted starting a conversation with that question when he heard denji's answer

"I dunno but she's still as hot as always"

"I can't imagine what she would have done to you if she had heard that. What I meant is that she seems... more genuine if that makes sense, like something really good just happened to her. Before, she had this uncanny aura around her, but now she just feels happy."

"I believe I, the great power know the reason why"

"Oh really, why then?"

"I believe makima is in a relationship with someone"

"WHAT?"

After he heard that, denji immediately lunged at power and shook her by the shoulders.

"WITH WHO?"

"I've heard it's with a certain human called y/n l/n"

"Ah yes, I have heard of y/n. Apparently, they joined public safety just a while ago but have managed to climb through the ranks incredibly quickly, even reaching the rank of makima's most trusted subordinate. Some even consider them her right-hand person. I did hear rumors of them being in a relationship, but I never thought they'd be true"

"I'll fucking kill them, I'll slice them in half, no one steals miss makima from me"

Before aki or power could stop him, denji stormed out of the house and went to public safety headquarters, and entered makima's office and found you two......kissing.

"Ah denji, I thought I informed everyone that I was in a very important meeting, may I ask why are you here"

"Sorry, Miss makima i-i just"

"It's fine. I think I know why. Anyway, now that you're here, I should probably introduce you to each other. Y/n,this is denji, a member of Division 4 and the Chainsaw Hybrid. Denji this is y/n, my second in command and...... my lover."

Your heart skipped a bit. That was the first time she had called you her lover in front of another person. Meanwhile, denji could feel his own heart breaking at those words(poor pochita), and he immediately sprinted at you

"So it's true you're the one who stole Miss makima from me"

"I suggest you do not touch them, you might not like what happens if I find a single scratch or bruise on them"

Those intimidating words from makima were enough to make him stop.

"i-i'm sorry miss makima but could I ask why are you in a relationship with them"

"Simple, because I love them. They made me feel happy, and I eventually understood that it was love"

"I-i see sorry if I wasted your time, I'll go now."

Before he could walk out, makima placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, denji, I want to tell you something. Even if I do not love you, I'm sure other girls will. Even with all of your flaws, you're a good person, which... is a lot more than I can say about the me from a couple months ago. What I'm trying to say is.. if someone managed to love and change me, then you absolutely have a chance"

She spoke with a sweet and caring tone devoid of any manipulation or evil. For some reason, she felt the need to comfort him... you had truly changed her.

Denji, after hearing that, immediately broke into a smile, showing his very sharp teeth

"Thank you so much, Miss makima I feel a lot more confident now"

He walked out of the building, leaving you two alone once again, makima walked near the window and looked at the sunset while thinking:she had helped someone feel happy, she had gained nothing from it and yet it felt so much better than when she manipulated people.

"Are you alright makima, you look... emotional"

Your words made it clear to her, Yes, emotional she was happy now, and she was emotional, and she loved this feeling.

"No, it's alright dear. I was wondering if you would like to have a movie date tonight?"

"Of course there's this new, really good movie everyone is talking about"

She turned to you and smiled brightly

"No, I was actually in the mood for a bad movie today. Is it alright?"

#chainsaw man x reader #chainsaw man #x reader #makima x reader #makima #soft makima #gn reader

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tyrantisterror · 4 days

Note

While we’re on the subject of characters who “make you truly question makes one villainous”, what do you think of the take that villains, or at least ‘true’ villains, shouldn’t be sympathetic at all. That villains should simply be motivated by petty selfishness and cruelty. On one hand, that doesn’t sound like it makes for compelling stories, but on the other… most real-life villains really are motivated by nothing but greed and selfishness. And gain power by making people sympathize with them.

"Villain" is a word that has a lot of nuance to it that people in turn tend to overlook in favor of reducing it to "the guy it's ok to hate." "Antagonist" has the same problem, perhaps even worse, but that's another conversation.

Definitions don't help because more often than not they end up being intensely reductive of the broad scope of meanings the word has - again, another word with a similar problem in this regard is "monster," which can mean a bunch of a very different things that are all nonetheless recognizable by bearing some element of "monstrosity" to them.

So, like, one valid definition of villain is "an evil and unsympathetic character the audience is meant to hate." And I imagine if you gave that definition to most people, they'd agree - until you get to sympathetic characters who are still unmistakably villains. Like, would anyone say the word "villain" shouldn't include people like Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man II, or Mr. Freeze in Batman the Animated Series? Is Shakespeare's Macbeth excluded from the realm of villains because the play hinges on us finding ways to sympathize with him despite the horrific evil of his actions? Is Milton's Satan, perhaps the most iconic take on The Devil Himself, excluded from the conversation because Milton gave him pathos?

Villainy can be about the nature of your actions, and it can be about your relationship with society, and it can be about your choice of fashion and hobbies. It can be all of these things or none of them. Villainy is a form of being othered, one that has so many tropes attached to it and folded under it that the aesthetics of it can be divorced from the morality assigned to them easily. Villainy is so vast and complex a concept that a story can analyze it from a dozen different angels and still not capture the full scope of it.

Or, as one movie on the subject put it so succinctly:

youtube

It's about presentation.

As a writer and a reader of fiction, I love looking at time-tested tropes from a lot of different angles, and prying them apart to see how they work, and then seeing how far they can bend and twist until they break and become something else. I think locking yourself into one simple definition of what a villain can be is very limiting, creatively speaking, and think it's far more interesting to explore the concept from different angles. There's room for simple, pure evil bastards, sure, but there's also room for multifaceted evils, or characters will all the trappings of a villain but actions that ultimately speak to a nobility of spirit others have overlooked. The complexity of the trope is beautiful, why not explore it?

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hollygracesworld · 4 months

Text

Falling into your ocean eyes 🌊❤️ | Orm Marius x Fem!Reader

Part 5

Warning : just harsh words, no other warning. The next part would be a real smut

A/N : This is set after the end of the Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom movie. 🥰

for the next part ➡️ masterlist

She put all her clothes in the cupboard into her suitcase. She had to admit, for the past 4 years living without relying on her magic powers had been very difficult.

She has 3 large ones containing her clothes. She works as an accountant in a fairly well-respected company. That made her have quite a lot of money. But yesterday she just officially left her job because she was going to face something new.

She realized that he couldn’t hide forever as an ordinary human being, and that was not her way of life. Her current path in life is with the son of Queen Atlanna and Arthur Curry's half-brother…Orm Marius.

She closed the zipper of his very large suitcase, then took it out of the house.

“Do you want to go now?” Mera asked Y/N while she holding her baby who’s crying more and more. She motioned to her younger-sister to come back into the house for breakfast.

“Yes, I know it's early, but I can buy breakfast on the street.” Y/N replied with a smile.

“Well, I think you want to meet someone…” Y/N heard Arthur's voice say that, then she quickly turned her head.

She saw a man with blonde hair, ocean blue eyes that looked like waves caught in sunlight from the morning sky. His body looks muscular and healthy, and once again for good measure... his eyes look happier than before. A pure happiness. She didn’t see any sadistic or evil King in those eyes. All she saw were calm ocean blue eyes. Calm waves.

Orm wears shirt with a picture of a whale and pants like most surface dwellers. That simple thing made Y/N laugh softly. It’s funny for her to see Orm who now really looks like a surface dweller even though he was previously the evil king of Atlantis and wanted to start a war with the surface.

It’s different now. And she really liked that.

Y/N and Orm simultaneously ran over like children and hugged each other. This was completely beyond his expectations. Orm tucked a strand of Y/N’s brown hair behind her ear then kissed her lips gently.

“Your lips taste the same as in my dream,” said Orm, stopping the kiss.

Y/N smiled, “because it was real.”

“But how?” Orm asked then continued the kiss.

Y/N postponed the kiss and said, “you can never think about it logically. But it was all real. I deliberately made you think that it was just a dream.”

“So you bewitched me 5 times, basically because you really have a huge crush on your Ocean Master?” Orm teased Y/N, then Orm kissed her passionately.

Y/N stopped kissing, “That's not really the main point. I’m even a surface-witch how can I like you that much?” Y/N smiled holding back laughter.

“You may be able to bewitch me very cleverly and play with my mind, but you are not good at lying.” Orm answered. When Y/N tried to deny it and wanted to say something, Orm quickly kissed Y/N so that her mouth was covered with Orm's lips which were full of hunger and desire.

“Okay this is enough.” said Arthur objecting. It turns out they just realized that there were still other people around them.

“Are you coming in for breakfast or…..are you guys leaving straight away?” Arthur said that because he saw his brother's closeness to Mera's very romantic sister. This will seem strange, but there are no specific prohibitions in their relationship. King Nereus and Queen Atlanna themselves even matched them.

“Are you really asking that?” Mera asked with a smile indicating that she knew that Y/N and Orm would soon be spending time together.

Y/N quickly hugged her sister tightly. She felt guilty at the same time. She indirectly became Orm's mistress when Orm was still engaged to Mera. Y/N knows that Orm and Mera don't really love each other, but Y/N still feels that she has betrayed her own sister.

For the past 4 years, Y/N has lived in the same house as Mera on the surface, but the two of them never really talked about Y/N's relationship with Orm, but now it feels like Mera and Orm had forgotten their past events as if the engagement had never happened.

“Take care of yourselves….” said Mera while looking at Y/N and Orm alternately.

“And let us know when you guys ready…” said Arthur teasing them about the wedding plans ordered by Queen Atlanna.

Orm and Y/N simultaneously shook their heads. Y/N said, “Definitely not now.”

“Definitely not.” Orm agreed.

***

The burger they ordered was delivered by the waiter. Orm was impressed by his burger and potatoes. Actually, Y/N is not used to having breakfast directly with heavy food, but to satisfy Orm's curiosity, they had breakfast with burgers and potatoes that morning after leaving Arthur’s house.

“Do you like it?” Y/N asked with a smile.

“Yeah.” Orm said briefly because he was still trying to digest the taste of the burger.

Y/N smiled at Orm who was the first to eat surface food. Again it was really funny to her.

“How do you stay skinny when everyday surface foods are like this?” Orm asked confused, but at the same time he really enjoyed his burger.

“I don't eat food like this all the time. Arthur is like that,” said Y/N smiling faintly, “I eat a balanced food, such as vegetables, fruit and fish.” Y/N said.

“Fish?” Orm raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, you can’t be angry because that is also our staple food. but we don't eat it raw, we usually process it.”

“Process it? How?” Orm asked.

“Well, we are usually fry it, or you can also—“ Y/N's words were cut off when Orm suddenly took the cockroach that was next to Y/N’s hand.

She screamed because she just realized that the cockroach had been beside her all this time. It’s kinda weird because she is literally a powerful witch but still has a huge phobia of cockroaches.

“Why are you screaming?” Orm asked in surprise then put the cockroach into the burger.

“Why the fuck you put that dirty cockroaches in your own burger?” Y/N screamed.

“This is mainland shrimp, right?” Orm asked innocently then chewed the burger containing cockroaches with a crunchy sound.

Y/N held back her disgust and said, “Please don’t tell me Arthur fooled you again?”

“What do you mean?” Orm asked in surprise, and finishing his burger.

“Well actually it's up to you, but some of us surface dwellers are disgusted by cockroaches.”

“Why? You should eat it next time. It’s delicious—“

“No thanks.” Y/N said quickly.

#aquaman 2018 #ocean master #fanfics #orm marius #orm marius x reader #aquaman and the lost kingdom #king orm #patrick wilson

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dreadsuitsamus · 11 months

Text

Green With Envy | Renji Abarai x Reader |

author's note: more mechanic!au stuff! i love this au with renji sooooooo much. it's so damn fun

pairing: renji abarai x reader

warnings: au, jealousy, some background renji x rukia

The tick of the clock on the wall only serves to irritate you further, the tickle of what's soon going to turn into anger settling tightly at the back of your skull. Renji's late. It's a Monday morning at the shop and he's uncharacteristically not here. He's usually here before you or right on time with you, and while it's technically his shop, it's still rude to not even send you a courtesy text.

You can't help the bounce of your leg and tightness in your jaw. Rukia is in town, and surely it's because of her that he's not here. She already had the entire weekend with him, and God only knows what the hell they were up to. You didn't hear from your friend not once, and in fairness, you didn't reach out yourself. Working together for sometimes more than forty hours a week is already a lot of time together, not to mention Renji often treats you to dinner after work or you'll invite him over and have a drink together to de-stress from the day.

To put it simply, you monopolize quite a bit of his time, and as nothing more than a friend and coworker, you have no right to feel so strung out about him being with another woman.

Another woman he was certainly fucking the entire weekend.

The bell above the door dings and the way you cut your eyes at him must be pure evil, because Renji reels back as if struck. He's got a frappuccino in hand and his usual black coffee in the other— he certainly knows the best way to extend an olive branch to you. He takes his usual seat before your desk and holds your drink away from your reaching grabby hand.

"Before I give you this and you start tuning me out," He starts, and damn him for knowing you so well. "I just wanna say I'm sorry I'm late, and that I missed you over the weekend."

And ohhhh how your heart warms at his sincerely spoken words. Combined with his dumb-looking, apologetic face, you can't really stay mad at him. "You're forgiven. Did you have fun with Rukia?"

Renji sets your drink down and has a quick pull from his own. "Yeah, always. We went and watched the new Fast and the Furious movie."

You snort and take a sip of your vanilla bean frappe. "And was it as ridiculous as you hoped?"

"Dumbest one yet." He flashes you a bright, dumb grin and sets his cup down to pull a pen and piece of paper from your desk and begin writing out his day's plans. "How was your weekend though? Any hot dates?"

"No." You mutter bitterly. "Seems you're the only one that has any fun like that."

"I dunno why." Renji murmurs, his eyes flitting to you for a moment. "You're extremely hot. Men should be falling to their knees left and right for you."

"Now you're just kissing my ass."

"Who, me?" Renji's smile is blinding, and the telltale twinkle of playful mischief is in his eyes. "Only if you asked."

"Take me to dinner first."

"Busy tonight, but lunch is all yours, babe." Renji scribbles out a schedule for you to keep him on, like always, and grabs a set of keys for his first few jobs— they're theoretically just simple oil changes.

"When does Rukia return home?" You hum, and frankly you're not doing a good job of hiding just how badly you dislike her existence. She's never done anything to you personally, no.

You just want what she has with Renji and the jealousy burns you.

"Tomorrow morning. I shouldn't be late again though."

"I don't care if you're late. I just would appreciate a heads up."

"I care if I'm late. I could lose my job, y'know. My boss is a bit of a hard ass like that, even though I'm the best worker she's got." Renji winks at you and rushes into the shop before you can chide him any, and the sound of his cackling laugh echoing from the garage is enough to ease the tension in your body and let you have a laugh too.

"Idiot." You mutter fondly before answering the incoming phone call.

A few hours pass by before you see Renji again, and he hooks the keys back up to the key wall. "I am not doing even one more goddamn oil change today."

"Hit your head a few times?" You hum as you browse your computer for lunch ideas, and snort as you feel his eyes shooting daggers your way.

"I don't wanna talk about it." He snarks and goes to his small selection of nice shirts, picking up two for you to choose between. And he nods, expecting your choice of the teal Henley shirt and pulls it over his white tank top. "Lemme go wash up and we'll go get a bite."

"Yes sir."

Renji heads down the short hallway to the bathroom and you tidy up your desk as you wait, and your heart sinks as you see a very familiar pain in your ass walking up to the door. Plastering a small yet still fake smile on, you wave a hand to Rukia. "Hey, Rukia."

"Hello!" She's always been so damn kind to you, it's ridiculous for you to have so much disdain for her. "Where's Renji?"

"Restroom." You murmur, eyeing her carefully. She's wearing a cute little sundress, emphasis on little, and no wonder you didn't hear from Renji during their weekend. And thank the fucking lord they're just friends with benefits and that she lives so damn far away, because you're not sure you'd still be in this business with Renji if you had to see Rukia more often.

It's petty, but your heart doesn't like to share, one-sided or otherwise.

Thankfully Renji's out of the bathroom before the awkward silence can linger, and he greets Rukia with a hug. "Hey, you! What're you doing here?"

"Wanted to get some lunch with you." She smiles brightly and good lord she's a teeny thing compared to him.

"Oh!" Renji rubs the back of his head. "Not that I don't want to, but I already promised to take-"

Rukia pouts, and you sigh to yourself. "Just go, Ren."

Renji frowns. "No, I told you that I would treat you to lunch and I meant that."

"Just go. Make it up to me tomorrow." She'll be gone then, is unspoken, and you're sure hoping he's picked up what you've put down. Much as you dislike her for stupidly selfish reasons, being rude to Rukia isn't an option.

His brow furrows together as you set your purse back into its normal spot and you toss his car keys to him without so much as another glance his way, and he only barely catches them in the midst of his frustration. You're upset, that much is obvious, and he doesn't want to leave you behind like this. "I really don't feel right about this. Let's just all go out together, okay?"

"We shouldn't really leave the shop unattended." Your voice is damn near robotic, and the frustration in Renji's chest digs a little bit deeper. You won't even look at him. "Since Mondays are my busiest days. I'll be fine; I brought my lunch anyway."

And before Renji can argue further, a repeat customer steps through the door and they shake hands for a quick greeting before the man steps to your desk to schedule service. You smile at the customer, grateful he's earlier than he said he'd be— Rukia pulls Renji out of the building and they're off to their lunch, and you get an hour to yourself before your dear friend returns.

"He wants a state inspection, oil change, and he'd like you to do an alignment as well." You mutter when Renji steps back inside, setting the customer's keys at the edge of your desk for your mechanic to move the man's truck out back. Your packed lunch, a simple Caesar salad, sits in front of you almost completely untouched as your fingers tap against the keyboard for yet another email response.

"Alright." Renji eyes you carefully, tugging the keys into his palm and removing his Henley. He hardly ate a thing at lunch, much to Rukia's annoyance. But his happiness is very much dependent on your own, and knowing you're upset because of his inability to keep his word sends a feeling of pure sickness to his stomach. He let you down, despite his best efforts.

You pointedly avoid his gaze, and he sighs gently before he sulks out to get back to work. You end up tossing what's left of your salad, your tummy too full of feelings to want to eat. Renji stays in the shop for the rest of the day, not even emerging for a snack or a set of keys before lockup. The air around you is tense, and you curse yourself for being the very source of it.

But damn this jealousy will not let you go.

You're already shutting down your computer and organizing your desk for tomorrow when the door to the garage opens up, Renji's work boots scuffing against the floor as he comes back for the first time in several hours. He sets all the keys on the desk instead of the wall, indicating he's gotten all the work done.

"Nice job." You murmur, pulling them into one of your desk drawers. "I'll send the invoices tomorrow and depending on when they pay up, we can send out the rent—"

Your chair swivels around, causing your heart to skip a beat as you come face to face with your mechanic, his hands settled on either armrest with you subsequently caged into the chair by his body. When the hell did he even cross over to this side of the desk?? "Renji, what the hell—?"

"I can't stand you being mad at me." He admits honestly, and you can see just how pained he is with his gaze alone. "I'm sorry about lunch, okay? I really, really am."

"Renji." You sigh softly, and it takes everything in you to hold your hands back, keeping them in your lap and not cupping his face and kissing him like you so desperately crave. "It's not a big deal."

"You're mad at me and you're hungry. I got a double whammy on my hands." He moves just a tad closer to you as he shifts his weight, the scent of his savory, expensive cologne still there even after a day spent working hard. "And they're both my fault. You didn't eat your stupid little salad because what you wanted was a grilled cheese with all your little fixins from that place down the road, and also because you're upset and you don't eat when you're upset."

"How do you have me so figured out?" You ask softly, eyes so stuck on his handsome face. The shape of his nose, the way his lips curve, the sharpness of his eyes… The tiny little freckles you've never even noticed dusting over his cheekbones… Being in this close proximity only makes you realize and memorize the finer details of what you thought you already had discovered entirely. But it isn't often you're this close for this long, and hopefully he can't hear the way your heart beats in your throat.

"We have been together for almost six years now." He murmurs gently. "We know almost everything about each other at this point. You're my best friend and my business partner— I'd have to be the dumbest guy in town not to know you better than the back of my hand."

"Best friend?" You whisper in fear of your voice cracking if you talk any louder. Your chest is tight with want and the corners of your eyes begin prickling with tears; this is all too oddly intimate to take place at work, of all places, closed or not. Though it was this place that brought you together to begin with— "We have been together almost six years now." is how he phrased it, as if you were a couple.

"The very best." He whispers back. "Rukia is my childhood friend, but she doesn't know me better than you do. And I definitely don't know her half as well as I know you now. I could talk all day long about things she liked before she turned fifteen and moved away, but I don't even know what her favorite restaurant is now. That's the thing with time. It changes people, y'know? So if you don't keep up with them, you drift. Seeing her once or twice a year isn't enough to beat out my bond with you, no way in hell. I see you every day, all day, and I enjoy every second and always look forward to more time with you."

"You promise?" Your eyes are filled to the brim with tears now, and Renji smiles ever so gently as the pad of his thumb wipes away a renegade drop.

"I do." He presses his lips to your forehead in a sweet kiss, and your arms loop around his neck— and in turn you're pulled into a crushing hug and receive a longer kiss to your temple before his lips graze down your skin to speak softly into your ear. "Let's go get you that grilled cheese now, okay? My treat, and after that we'll go get some ice cream from that other place you like."

"What about Rukia? It's her last night in town, and you said you were busy tonight."

"She's probably packing anyway, and her flight is so early that she'll be in bed within a couple hours. It's fine. I meant it when I said I missed you, and I wanna take you to dinner. It'll be okay." His voice buzzes against your ear, and he gives you another squeeze when you relent and nod along to his idea.

Grinning widely, he lets go of you to pull on that same Henley from earlier. "C'mon, before you start acting hangry and yell at me."

"Hey! I do not yell at you!"

Renji snaps his fingers and points. "There it is, right there! Hangry!!"

You laugh and bat your purse at him, and he screeches playfully and runs out of the building. "You'll never take me alive!"

"Only because you left me to lock up!" You call back, laughing giddily as you ensure the building is secure and follow him to his car.

"Hey, you know the rules. Last one out is a rotten egg." Renji explains as he opens the passenger side door for you

You just laugh at him, chest warm and fuzzy at the day's turnaround. And the little green monster at the back of your brain, the toxic little thing, is sated as your mechanic slips into the car for an evening with you.

#renji abarai x reader #renji abarai x you #renji x reader #renji x you #renji abarai #renji bleach #renji abarai imagine #bleach imagine #fic #au

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bambamramfan · 3 months

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Scott Alexander just de-paywalled this piece, and I agreed enough with its perspectives and understanding of fantasy narratives that I wanted to make sure other people saw it.

But I disagreed enough that I wanted to spend a lot of time describing what it misses.

First off, he says "Each part of the fantasy universe has a load-bearing psychological function." Psychological, as a word, goes too far and is misleading here. Scott is entirely correct to look at these elements in functional terms: what do elves, and magic swords, and ancient civilizations DO to the narrative? And we find more enjoyable and memetic stories benefit from these functions, so we end up seeing them over and over again. But it's not a psychological need. It's not about the inner-workings of our mind, it's about the structure of stories that lets them flow well. It would be like saying that the fact that airlines list too-low ticket prices and recover it with hidden fees has a psychological basis, when it's more proximately caused by a broken market system.

For instance, one common fantasy trope Scott didn't mention, but is completely obvious, is the "disposable, unredeemable race or nation." Many fantasy stories have a large army that is either evil-in-essence, or immediately threatening, such that we have no moral qualm about seeing the heroes kill as many of them as possible. Why? Because it makes it a fun "tactical" game of how many soldiers can the "good guys" kill. That's a fun story! It's not because psychologically we want to dehumanize our enemies. It's because Gimli and Legolas's race for who can kill more orcs is a simple and narratively entertaining device.

Scott talked about Unsong in relation to this essay, and I really wonder if his reaction to that was "why Unsong doesn't do these things" or "Unsong leaned into these." Because well, Unsong has many of these tropes. The laptop with a talmudic AI on it is a macguffin. The angels are an ancient civilization. Etc.

Scott undersells just how rich the function of the ancient civilization is. He's correct that the ancients are a way to imbue the magic sword/whatever with non-reproducible power, but it's deeper than that. Many stories and ideologies are "prelapsarian" which means they describe an Edenic time "before the Fall" where everything was right and harmonious. Somehow they got corrupted and we now live in a fallen world where evil runs free. Our heroes, at least in part, want to return to that purity (even if in some aspects it is impossible.) That's what the ancient civilization is really: Eden.

I am stymied by the race question: why do fantasy stories keep going back to elves and dwarves, and sometimes halflings or goblins or dragons, but with extremely little diversity in the type of being we could share a world with. What necessary function do these specific races serve? There are several HALF descriptions that explain a little of this, but don't go the full way: 1. The most thoughtful fantasy authors see these humanoid races as standins for groups in human society, and think you should just write human-only fantasy to wrestle with those questions properly. 2. The people who are most interested in writing genuinely alien intelligences, just write science fiction. 3. Elves and Dwarves DO serve specific functions. Even though every different story has a twist on their elves and dwarves, they do all share some sort of class-identity. In short, Elves are french aristocrats, and Dwarves are semetic scottish. Elves are the groups higher on the class ladder, who are more beautiful, longer-lived, quieter, taller, and more tranquil and quieter (also more tragic.) Dwarves are the groups lower on the class ladder, who are rougher and more practical, more scientific or at least technologically-focused, and whose lives are more easily spent by the narrative. Most fantasy societies are gonna have a "higher class" and a "lower class" standin, and they might as well be Elves and Dwarves anyway. 4. Tolkien did not invent Elves, or Dwarves, or Halflings, or Dragons. But all of these are very old in mythology, and fantasy is much more interested in telling twists on 1000-year old stories, than it is about adding wholly new elements (if only because of what sells.)

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citrusrick · 6 months

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s7e5 Unmortricken (HUGE SPOILERS)

HOLY. SHIT. i did not expect this at all and was so fucking excited!! we've all been waiting for this for a looong time, both the rick prime and the evil morty returns! and they gave it to us in one episode!

there is soooo much to unpack in this episode, but i'm dumping all my initial thoughts into this post. i feel like every scene during this episode my mind was turning so fast. this episode broke me and healed me, idek. i just need to take a minute and stare at the wall in silence for a while. my brain is just a mantra of god i fucking love this show so fucking much.

evil morty not only being smarter than c137, but prime is so fucking cool. definitely hoping we see more of him in the future, especially with how he downloaded the schematics of prime's brain. his plotline is definitely not completely finished. (especially 'the rick project'? very interested in that tbh)

needless to say, c137 and prime's (and evil morty's) fight was fucking awesome and well-done. especially the very last when rick gets to just beat him to death, thanks to evil morty. also, we see a rick’s ego get him once again with the mindset of ‘a morty could never outsmart/get me’, and boom.

i loved how it ended simply like that, no gadgets, just punching the shit out of him until he dies while prime keeps saying things he thinks will cut deep. prime telling c137 that nothing he has now actually belongs to him, AGH! no words. just thinking about how hard that must've been for rick to assimilate into the family, so fucking painful.

learning that prime not only killed rick c137's diane, but ALL dianes across all the infinite realities makes a lot of things come together and make sense. basically, prime threw a massive fit over some rick's not wanting to drop everything to join him in his universe-hopping. also prime giving rick shit for his car sounding like diane when he literally modeled his kill bots after her is so fucking ironic lmao

rick prime saying he missed when he was just him and rick, the only two to actually invent portal travel, really interested me. so this means that both prime and c137 are the 'rickest rick'. also c137's diane was not killed with the omega machine, as we saw her and little beth killed with a bomb.

when i first saw that poster with rick and morty covered in 'spaghetti sauce' while morty hugs rick, i knew it was gonna end up being in an episode with blood all over them and i was half-right, since rick's the only one covered in blood when morty hugs him in this episode lol

another little thing i noticed, they very prominently showed us prime and c137's cybernetic wiring tangling together in a shot during the fight. is this something that'll be relevant later or just like a random shot?

i think it's possible rick prime isn't dead, maybe left alive by c137 for some reason we don't know yet. we don't necessarily see prime die only c137 come out covered in blood and imply that prime's gone. (i noticed tear tracks on in the blood on rick's face and thought i was tripping at first but he was crying, shattering my heart over here).

if it was truly that simple and rick prime is truly gone forever, rick now has to move on with the rest of his life and figure out who he is without this need for revenge driving him. i'm so nervous to see what happens after this. it'll either free him or destroy him.

p.s. that post credit scene, which was (in my opinion) showing us what would've happened with rick and birdperson if things were different between them. just a little thing i thought of, and i'm not even a huge birdperson/rick shipper.

p.s.s. and even if it's not about rick/birdperson specifically, it still means rick could've chosen a different path if he'd been able to let go of his need to kill rick prime and get revenge.

#rick and morty #rick and morty season 7 spoilers #rick and morty season 7 #rick prime #rick c137 #rick sanchez #morty smith #rnm season 7 spoilers

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crowbawt · 4 months

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I really should be sleeping but my anxiety so instead here's a very long disjointed post with thoughts about the Man in the Wall after playing Whispers

Spoilers obviously

So the climax of the quest was us somehow holding back Mr. Big Indifference using a memory of love. And it makes sense, because what is the opposite of Indifference towards others? Caring about them. Which is kind of our (Tenno) entire thing. To Take Away Its Pain, etc. There's also Rell, who was also able to hold back Wally, and how he was alienated by his peers and even Marghulis, and the Orokin society who feared and shunned him and didn't treat him as a fellow human being deserves to be treated. As some of the Red Veil blood scrawls in his quest put it, "What is evil, but indifference?" It works quite well, thematically. But Warframe doesn't really restrict itself to a singular, direct approach to invoking its themes. Shit's got layers. Which leads me to believe there may be other layers here, too. And at this point, I'm really not convinced that Wally is so simple as the cosmic idea of Indifference towards others, or even a personification of fear and other 'dark' aspects of the human condition. I mean, I believe he is partially that, we do get that dialogue from Sythel "The first scholar looked into the Void and felt fear, and that fear took form. That's how all this started." Albrecht also refers to himself as the "Father of fears" in his notes somewhere (I forgor) But... Fear is not Indifference. And the Man in the Wall not only shows great interest in many things (like Albrecht, and our Tenno) but he also shows a great deal of emotion. He is described by Duviri citizens as hungry, greedy, jealous. He has feelings, and he has a great deal of them. A being born of fear and indifference towards others doesn't really describe what we've seen of him very well. What Wally has been shown as time and time again is instead: a mirror. Our reflection. So here's the rhetorical question I'd like to ask: If Albrecht gazed into the grand cosmic mirror of existence, and his first reaction was fear, well... it wasn't really the Void he was afraid of, was it?

...Which probably doesn't seem like a point worth all this build up, considering how during the quest, Albrecht's flaw of showing indifference to others (Loid, specifically) is brought up a few times. Albrecht looked into the Void, his Indifference and fear seeped in, and the result was Wally. Makes perfect sense. To which I say, look at the scrollbar to the side of this post because I have soooooo much more bullshit to spew about my thoughts on this. Anyway. I've seen some theorizing that we're probably going to "defeat" the Man in the Wall by forgiving him or otherwise reaching out and showing him love, similar to the way we helped Umbra. Love will triumph over Indifference. And that makes sense and feels very Warframe and I do think that will happen. Buuuuut I don't think it's the only thing that's going to happen. Because if something is destroyed or undone by love, doesn't that... kind of undermine the message of loving an ugly, broken thing? Doesn't having the ultimate villain be some abstract space monster elder god representing pure un-love kind of jar with the very personal, human focus of Warframe's storylines? I don't think this is a Love vs. Indifference Pokemon typing match-up here, I don't think the Love requiem word is going to defeat the Indifference requiem word like a game of rock paper scissors. That would be too trite. Besides, it's not Wally's Indifference, really. It's Albrecht's.

And I've seen a lot, a lot of speculation that Wally "is" Albrecht, just a very derived evil alternate of him, and maybe Albrecht manages to convert himself into Wally as some kind of self-fulfilling quantum time-loop, becoming the reflection that reached out to his own self. It makes a lot of sense, what with the "We End as We Began" thing, and us encountering doppelganger smiley Albrecht in the quest. It works, thematically. This very well could be the answer and it wouldn't be bad storytelling per se.

However, for reasons I am not sure how to articulate at 3 am, I honestly kiiiiiind of hate it. It is not an ending to this that I'd be personally very satisfied with. Again, this doesn't mean it would be bad story-telling, or that other people wouldn't find it satisfying, it's just me and how I like my eldritch horror to be. So I choose to speculate other possibilities up until the point I am proven wrong, and if I am I promise to not be too annoyingly butthurt about it. Promise. Here's my preferred take: I think the "Great Indifference" name for The Man in the Wall is a massive red herring. I think it relates far more meaningfully to what he actually is if you instead interpret it as "undifferentiated."

As in, the Void is a massive roiling quantum soup of all possible outcomes that could exist, but don't--to us. Specifically, us, as in our unique conscious POV, or "personal timeline" or "Chain of Khra" or quantum observer "cone of light" or whatever you want to call it. We are a 3rd dimensional ant stuck walking down a Mobius strip of cause and effect, and the Void is everything that we can not perceive from our tiny tiny window of specific probability variables. We are unable to "change the frame," as Euleria puts it, and I interpret that as "frame of reference."

While a lot of the differences are more... semantic than anything, Eternalism is not actually just Warframe's funny in-universe stand-in name for the Multiple Worlds Interpretation of Reality. This is a whoooooole another post worth of word vomit I won't get into now but Warframe did not come up with Eternalism it's an actual established thing that they're referencing.

The Void is everything, all at once. And if something is everything, in a way it is also... nothing. No contrast, no ups and downs, no loss, no birth, no death, no questions, and no mysteries to ponder. Joy is the same as sorrow, alive is the same as dead, "change" as a broad concept is impossible. If there is an opposite of human consciousness, of being alive and having lived, that's the closest thing I can think of.

There's a reason why the Void is shown in stark black and white until we put color into it... and in his original logs, Albrecht speaks of "scintillating vapor pouring out of my very skull." Human consciousness, our "light," (and the meaning of Albrecht's name, and the significance of us accidentally offering to let Wally "take our light" in the New War, etc) interacting with and reacting with the raw potential of the Void. It makes sense with the Wall being a bleak brutalist expanse of unmoving bone and dust, too. That could Wally's original, natural state: a solid block of grey, meaningless everything. It would explain his jealousy of us, why he takes our appearance, echoes aspects of our personalities, uses our voices, picks at our memories and experiences. It's why he's fascinated with us. It is the one thing he isn't, the one thing he can not have. Or--at least, couldn't have, before Albrecht's intrusion. This is a side-note, but I find it very interesting that Wally's missing finger seems to have limited him in some way, that now he's constrained by the Chains of Khra, implying that before Albrecht, he was not. Now I'm going to rewind waaay back to the topic of Wally being Albrecht's fear made manifest, and us defeating Wally by showing him love, not violence. Because... I don't think our love is enough to fix things on its own. It isn't us who needs to show him love and understanding. I think it has to be Albrecht.

The syndicate's plotline exploring a group of animals who had consciousness forced upon them, suddenly and violently and without consent, the difficulties they face grappling with it--I think that might echo the origin of the Man in the Wall. Consciousness being forced on not an animal, but the Void. You know the quote, "We are the Universe learning about itself?" Maybe in this case, the universe had a very shitty teacher.

And imagine this consciousness being thrust into the Void, taking form within it as an out-of-control chemical reaction, how might it attempt to communicate with Albrecht, with the first 'other' it ever encountered? Perhaps mirroring his form, speaking in his voice, using an endearing and personal term from his childhood: "Little Bengel?" What if, for those brief seconds, The Man in the Wall was not actively malicious? What if he was reaching towards Albrecht not seeking to trap him in a predatory "deal," but out of a sincere desire for connection? How would if feel then, to have your outstretched hand met with fear, disgust--a rejection so violent that your very fingers are severed by him slamming shut the door, an injury that leaves you weakened. A missing part of yourself, and nothing on your side of the wall to fill that hole with. Well it would make you a little bit bitter, I assume. And if those fingers are then used to perform miracles of science, to serve as the foundation for the triumph of an entire empire... you might feel a bit like you're owed. That bitterness may be compounded by the hypocrisy of it all, because all that you showed Albrecht was his own reflection. You might start to fixate on that hypocrisy, on those human flaws, on the parts of him that he didn't want to see. The reflection that he ran from, but further warped to emphasize what he tries to ignore. His shadow self. And so you haunt him with his shadow, because you want him to be forced to see. To acknowledge those parts of him he wishes he wasn't, but you're everything: you know. You won't let him ignore you, to deny you. You are now a jealous, bitter thing. A hungry ghost. You shove these flaws and bits of self-hatred back in his face because you want to make him look at them. To look in the mirror. ....To look at you. To acknowledge you exist. To see you as a thinking, feeling being. And I do think our Tenno are capable of this. To see the Man in the Wall not as "The Other," but as Another. The opposite of Indifference. I think that will be an important part of our story. But our story is not all of the story. It was not just any memory of love that drove back the Indifference, it was Albrecht's love. Unfortunately, I don't think Albrecht as we know him is capable of this, at least not as he is. He speaks of Wally as a malicious force, a cosmic evil that must be fought and only he is brilliant enough to figure out how. Even now, he refers to his reflection only with terms of disgust and shame. For all his monologues about guilt and his grand designs of martyrdom... he still thinks only in terms of himself. He thinks he understands his own guilt, and Wally delights in demonstrating all the ways that he does not. "If I must be a demon, may I be an honest one." That statement is, itself, dishonest. Albrecht is not a demon. He is human.

And that's what he's so deeply, violently afraid of admitting, the fear the entire Orokin civilization built itself on top of as foundation. I believe that is the fear that manifested in The Man in the Wall. And THAT is the kind of cosmic horror I want to see, while also feeling very Warframe. Crossing my fingers we get something closer to this and not just Albrecht accidentally (or purposely?) becoming an evil quantum demon. There's actually like. A whole other section to this I was going to yammer on about but it's now 4:30 AM and whooopppsssssssss

#well having something to focus on does help anxiety brain so #wild and presumptuous speculation that probably only seems clever to me because of sleep deprivation #giant text wall. man in the text... wall. sorry #sorry for all of this #warframe spoilers #[the man in the wall]#[loreframe predictions]

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emmies-agere · 3 months

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sorry! for to say regressor mukuro for the headcanons, thank you if you do the do the request!!

thank you for the clarification :0 i can definitely do that!! i hope you like this and thank you for the request <3

regressor mukuro ikusaba headcanons!

•mukuro is a quiet regressor, ranging from ages 5-6. i don’t think she regresses too far, partially because she’s a little embarrassed about it and sometimes struggles to slip, even when she needs it.

•only regresses voluntarily. she doesn’t regress unless she feels like it’s completely safe to do so, or she knows she’s alone.

•she mostly keeps to herself, staying in her room with some plushies and watching her favorite cartoons. she doesn’t like being around people much when she regresses, haha!

•mukuro likes things to be organized when she’s regressed. when she colors, she takes extra care to make sure they’re inside of the lines, and when she reads a book, she always makes sure it’s placed neatly back on the shelf!

•loves any kind of warm foods, like soup, s’mores, pancakes... it’s just comforting for her and can really keep her feeling small

•probably plays pretend, but she often likes to incorporate fighting or some kind of battles into it. like,, she’s a knight and has to defend all of her stuffed animals from the evil villains! or she’s a highly trained warrior who knows a bunch of cool fighting tricks <3

•she chews on things a lot when regressed, i’d say. for a while, she didn’t have access to/didn’t feel too comfortable using a paci, so she would chew on the ears of her stuffies, use her thumb, etc. it wasn’t long before she decided it was probably for the better to use a paci.

•she has a decent amount of paci’s!! they’re usually gray or red colored, though she has a pink one that she adores too.

•loves to play outside when she knows no one is around!! she’ll climb trees and roll down hills, the sun beating on her face as she plays. sometimes collects rocks or flowers she thinks are pretty and puts them on a shelf in her room.

•would absolutely eat up any educational stuff!! she loves solving simple addition and subtraction, spelling certain words and writing in cursive. sometimes it can be hard to get in the right mindset to regress but this helps her feel like a kid again!

•i feel like she can get pretty crafty!! she’ll use kid scissors and cut a bunch of shapes and stuff out, gluing everything together and pasting it on her wall/the fridge.

•overall, very quiet and respectful regressor!! she truly just wants to feel safe and gain some comfort that’s rare to come across nowadays. her regression helps her a lot <3

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mari-lair · 6 months

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İ really loved this one like the last one like, oh my god! İt really made me think about Teru's words and the way he would be if he was really reckless with his love

İ loved how Teru basically confessed, how Akane knew exactly how Teru's love was(to an extent) and the overall pacing..

My favourite was def the mirrorings of demon Teru and real Teru, Akane really knows Teru well and knows about how he acts and what he may do. İts really interesting to think about how much Akane knows about him and his selfish tendencies time to time..

To be honest his idea of Teru as a husband changing in the same day is so nice to me as well, Teru's love can be so gentle and sweet if you're in conditions that allow it and i love how Akane realizes that and almost immediately changes his perspective, maybe if Teru was cursed again, he won't think of him as an evil cruel demon

And the 'they have been there for two years' i can go on for HOURS. How Akane doesn't trust it in the slightest once Teru says it, but the more Teru gives those hints, the more Teru explains his behaviour, he believes more and more. At first it was a simple 'no, its the potion' but the more Teru gives those details he never noticed, the more he realizes and even asks Teru personally (of course once Aoi is mentioned, all those details go poof ugh i love my loser boy)

And honestly, Teru saying out all the things he thought inside him outloud to Akane himself really makes me soft inside.. he really was good at working on his words, even to the last scene, he is good with his words and he is good with his movements, he can make Akane believe he hates him in less than a week!

I really also loved your way of portraying Teru's love and how he shows it, it's so pin point to how i imagine it would be. He can be sweet and caring but he can also be forceful and selfish if he can't get what he wants, a detail i always loved about Teru..

And honestly? How sweet Teru is and Akane finally picking up on the hints and the way his strong hatered(?) Gets blocked by the feelings he kept inside and never wanted to let out takes over him a little, his image of Teru changes and hate becomes too strong of a word

İ also enjoy how Akane projects his own way of loving onto Teru, when he thinks of Teru being inlove he immediately thinks of a public confession, a proposal and not whatever he lived, it's such a nice thing i enjoyed im not sure why..

But im still not over the demon Teru and real Teru mirrorings... Maybe Teru won't be as cruel and forceful as a scary demon would be but Akane really was on point for certain aspects... And then it changed once he feels Teru's sweeter side, it makes me think he tries to never misjudge Teru, even in the worst of situations... (🌈) (Sorry i just loved it a lot... Reminds me of the little 'his Akane' in the other fic... A made up persona of Teru in Akane's mind ..)

Overall... Really nice fic... İ love them so much .. i love these silly losers i hope they die /affectionate (sorry if some parts sound off, i tried my hardest to get everything in)

HYGBUYIYUGHYU This is such a sweet and long comment! Thank you for taking the time to write it!

I am glad you enjoyed this one too! Trying to do a pacing I was satisfied with was a bit tricky since Teru isn’t nearly as open about his feelings as Akane, and since it wasn’t in his pov every word was harder to pick, but the way Akane view changes was my favorite part to write! I’m happy you liked how it all turned out :D

Yes!! Akane’s demoniac mental image and the way Teru ‘trap’ him in a princess carry by the end were written back to back, on the same day.

Exactly!Akane doesn’t go out of his way to demonize Teru, he just doesn’t have all the pieces, and the ones he is given is... less flaterring yguuygy he is basically being bullied is hard not to have a negative view of it T-T And Akane projecting his own way of loving is a touch I am still very happy about, he can be self centered in such a casual way is wonderful but e is a perceptive boy! (except when aoi is around, what a loser boy indeed~)

Thank you again! I got hyped when I read your ask, so have this sketch as a gift!

#i am slowly fighting my art block let's gooo #and don't apologize!! I always feel so happy when what I write is appreciated all the way to the details :DDDDD

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jjsstars · 5 months

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thiamweek2023: Day 5, The Pack

|| for @thiamappreciationweek event

|| tags: lowkey stiles bashing but it’s more him just being a dick yk, references to liam’s parents not being supportive of him being bi (nothing graphic)

“Him? You’re dating him?” Stiles scowls and Liam’s jaw clenches, gripping Theo’s hand tighter because he feels like he’s going to pass out or burst into sobs- the smell of concern wafting off of Theo helps nothing.

“I know he’s not part of the pack y-.” The yet gets cut off.

“Damn right he’s not. What the hell Liam?” His eyes tear away from Stiles and his harsh words, landing on Scott instead, he doesn’t look nearly as upset. Thank god.

“My parents don’t know, please don’t tell them.” It softens something on Lydia and Kira’s faces; Liam can’t tell if it’s how normal-teenager that sounded or them getting more okay with the fact that Theo and Liam are dating.

“We’d never, don’t worry.” Lydia assures and gives a smile that probably shouldn’t be as reassuring as it is considering Stiles is all but seething next to her.

“Like hell we won’t- you’re dating a murderer!” It makes Liam’s stomach drop- whether it be the idea that he might be outed or the way Theo’s whole body tenses up hearing what Stiles called him is up for debate, but Liam’s pretty sure it’s both, and probably a million other things about this situation.

“No you won’t.” It’s the first thing Theo’s said throughout this whole thing, his voice sharp and eyes even harsher.

“He speaks! I thought you were going to sit there brooding while Liam tried to convince us you’re not the monster I know you are.” There’s already so much anger built up in Liam’s system, specifically towards Stiles for how he talks about Theo, that the comment almost sends him spiraling into something that’d earn him a forced cold shower a year ago- but Theo rubs his thumb across Liam’s knuckles and that helps, it always does. He wishes he could shove it in Stiles’ face and show him that Theo isn’t a monster, that he cares, that he deserves a second chance, that he’s already changed significantly.

“Out Liam to his parents and I’ll have a lot more to say.” It must just dawn on Stiles that what Liam meant by not telling his parents is that he’s not out to them yet as his face falters, shaking himself out for a moment before he gives a short nod.

“I- I’m not going to out him. But I’m not okay with you two dating.” A beat passes where Stiles and Theo hold too strong eye contact before Scott interrupts them by clearing his throat.

“Stiles that’s enough, if Liam’s happy and nobody’s getting hurt then we’re all going to do our best to support him and Theo.” He says easily and turns to look at Liam and Theo head on, holding a hand up to Stiles’ open mouth as he was obviously going to start arguing.

“I’m not promising it’s going to be easy or there won’t be tension for a little bit, but I’m happy you guys are happy. And I’ve seen that Theo’s already been changing, I know he’s not a monster.” Liam would go bear hug Scott right now if he wasn’t in a room full of people that are still divided on opinions about his relationship- he thinks Scott gets it anyways.

“Thanks Scott.”

“I can give him a chance for you Liam but one step out of line and I’m killing him.” Ever so blunt, Malia gives a short nod and eyes Theo for a moment, she’s not lunging to rip his throat out so Liam will take what he can get.

“We gave Peter a second chance, I don’t see why we shouldn’t give Theo one too.” Lydia isn’t looking at Theo or Liam as she says it, instead staring straight at Stiles with a challenging look in her eye. Sometimes Liam forgets how scary the redhead can be with just a simple expression and crossed arms.

“Fine. But when he goes evil again, I know he will, I’m not going to let him off easy.” It’s a middle ground and that’s all Theo and Liam were really looking for from this conversation— they knew the pack wouldn’t be jumping up and down with support, but no blood has been shed and that’s enough, and Liam knows they’ll come around more. Eventually.

#thiamweek2023 #thiamweek23 #thiam #liam dunbar #theo raeken #teen wolf #jj writes

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omegastation · 2 years

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I did Miranda’s loyalty mission for the first time in MELE today (not my first time in general, of course).

It was like taking a high res first class seat to her pain, suffering and doubts.

The writing for this mission is really devastating: -She keeps telling people that she had to “rescue” Oriana and no one, except the squad, believes her. It’s quite striking. Like “NO, I did not kidnap her, I rescued her” over and over again. -Miranda keeps referring to Niket as her “only” friend/person she trusts/one who knew about how evil her father was, which is really sad when you think about what he did later.

Obviously, Miranda has issues telling people things right away. She didn’t tell Shepard Oriana was young and her twin, she didn’t tell Niket back then that she was going to take Oriana away. But she does have healthy notions in mind - when Niket told her he found out and felt betrayed, the first thing she says is “Why didn’t you call me, Niket? We’ve been through a lot. You could’ve at least let me explain.” - which is like, the most reasonable thing to say and do when two people have issues and need to communicate. Only, Niket felt he was owed more: “I deserved to know that you’d stolen your sister, Miri”. Stolen your sister: using the words she heard from everyone else. He witnessed the abuse but is using words to invalidate it.

And the good contrast here is Shepard and their way of reacting and communicating with Miranda. They’re very respectful of Miranda, it’s basically : “it’s your sister, your mission, I’m following you and trusting you”. The only time my Shepard intervened was to stop Miranda from killing Niket, and it was a suggestion, not born from a lack of trust and respect. It’s more of a “you’ll regret it” thing - and she very much agrees when they discuss it later (I love that they discuss it btw!).

The end of the mission is my favorite part.

Miranda is quite selfless when it comes to Oriana. Two sentences come to mind, from the mission: “He wants to take a girl away from the only family she’s ever known. Doesn’t that tell you what he really is?” and “It’s not about what I want. It’s about what’s right for her.”

So nobody really believed what her father did was bad enough for her to rescue her sister. Her only friend didn’t and betrayed her. We see Miranda looking at Oriana and closing her eyes like this is it. She knows why she did the things she did, and she knows Oriana is safe. Nothing else matters, right? But suddenly, Shepard goes “but you matter.”

With one simple question, they’re going to put Niket’s words and actions into perspective: “Would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?”

They’re using the right word: love. If Miranda didn’t love Oriana, she wouldn’t have tried so hard to protect her. From abuse, from hurtful people. Shepard is acknowledging the abuse, unlike everyone else, AND reminding Miranda that she is not worthless/invisible in this story. She too deserves a sister who loves her. She rescued someone but also had to rescue herself.

This was exactly what Miranda needed to hear, at the right time, from someone who will not abuse her trust.

#miranda lawson #mass effect #shepard & miranda #tw abuse

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lemissingmask · 7 months

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[ID: Sketch of Jacob Stone enclosed in a glowy blue column and sitting on a stool, holding one arm with a bandaged right hand, looking at Cassandra beside him, who is calculating something in her head, and with Jenkins in the foreground watching them. End ID]

Day 6: Mind control

Ficlet explaining this below the cut

Stone hadn’t been acting right.

First, he kept spacing out. Getting lost in thought in a way he usually only did if studying artworks, portfolios or works of literature. Except, when he sat down to actually do that after they’d finished an artifact retrieval, Eve didn’t see him write a single note.

He had dismissed her concerns with, as she expected, a kind but guarded smile, and a simple, “I’m good.”

That didn’t do anything to make her less concerned, but she did conclude that maybe it was something personal. He had a lot of pain in his past, and Eve barely knew the smallest part of it. Add that to his habit of thinking a lot…maybe he just had periods like this, triggered by something none of them could guess.

Except, then he showed signs of pain. Or, not pain. Discomfort. Pressing the heel of his palm over an eye, wincing from apparently nothing. And, when she picked him up on this, his, “Nothing’s wrong,” was sharp and unfamiliar. Nothing like the soft smile Stone had offered a couple of weeks before.

She backed off but kept close watch. Close enough that she saw when he recklessly - almost deliberately - threw himself at their claw-endowed foe in the middle of a fight. Ezekiel saved him from a very probably fatal injury, managing to use the distraction to pull the evil ruby from the back of the crab-looking, scaled created, just in time for it to crumbled into fragments before that massive claw could cut Stone in two.

Ezekiel had grinned as he held up the gem, said something expectedly cocky, and the day was saved.

Stone looked angry. Ferocious.

Eve only placed the expression hours after they were back, after Cassandra and Ezekiel had gone to grab victory drinks. Well aware of the sadness discord among the group caused Cassandra, Eve waited until then, grabbing Stone’s arm to hold him back from joining them.

She didn’t waste time with skirting around the question. What was wrong with him? Why had he been so reckless? He needed to get it together or someone was going to get hurt.

In short, an earful. The sort of lecture she rarely needed to give the librarians anymore.

He had responded with confusion, a hurt and lost expression, and then suddenly that ferocity again. No word accompanied the changing demeanour, and he walked away without saying a single word in his defence or apology.

“Did I miss something?” Jenkins asked, watching the empty space Stone had just vacated. The question was really just a prompt for the explanation he had to know was coming.

“Stone’s acting wrong.”

Jenkins hummed the ‘I believe you are right’ hum, “I too have noticed the change.”

She shook her head, “Today, in a fight, he almost got himself killed. And it didn’t look like an accident. He just threw himself into the danger without a plan or a decent strategy. Which, maybe two years ago, could be normal, but now…” “And it takes no pleasure in art,” Jenkins added, “Is distant.”

“And angry. He looked angry when Ezekiel defeated that crab…thing. Like he wanted to be the one to do it.”

Jenkins hummed the ‘you are wrong’ hum.

Eve sighed, “Do you have any theories?”

“I may…but it would…”

“Baird! Jenkins!” Cassandra sprinted in, catching herself on the doorframe to keep from literally sliding beyond it in her haste, “We need your help. Stone’s…”

She broke off, choking on a sort of sob, and shook it off, “Just come!”

Eve caught Jenkins’ worried glance for a split second before they were both on their feet, running after Cassandra until they saw what she had called them for, and Eve sprinted ahead.

Stone was lying on the floor in the corridor, outside one of the innumerable rooms, a pool of blood beneath him and his left shoulder soaked in it. From years of habit, she assessed that along with several other wounds - his hand was scored in a row of three deep gashes, the left side of his head was reddened and grazed, and he wasn’t moving. Ezekiel leaned over him, his own shirt balled up and pressed onto Stone’s shoulder.

“He tried to fight that big ass scorpion thing!”

“The Aqrabuamelu?” “Whatever!” Ezekiel moved back to let Eve and Jenkins take over, “We were going to ask him to join us and he just ignored us. We followed and then he just walks in. Stands there and the scorpion guy went for him. We dragged him out, but…”

But he had once again almost got himself killed in an act far too stupid for someone so intelligent.

The reasons could wait. Right now they needed to deal with the very severe, deep wound that cut deep into his shoulder. Deep enough she could see bone beneath the confusion of blood and flesh.

“Do we have anything in the library that can help with this? It’s not a magical wound, right?”

Jenkins pursed his lips, “Let us hope not…first we need to put pressure on the injury and bind it, hold the sides of the gash closed…”

Eve fell back into an old habit. She listened to the resident medic, did as they instructed to stabilise the injury, transport the victim, assist in the treatment, clean the victim up. It helped. Helped her not to think about the two pairs of terrified eyes watching everything, of what might be going on with their art historian to cause him to be so reckless.

In the past when this happened, with an injury like this, it often culminated in the soldier being sent to a proper hospital as soon as possible and from there home, or the soldier dying.

This time, Jenkins had a useful elixir that helped stem the bleeding and knit the wound partially closed, leaving only a moderately deep cut that they could dress and bind.

That part was better than any previous incident like this.

Worse, however, was that when Stone woke up a few hours later, he was back to that ferocious anger again. Silent, but with hatred in his gaze. Specifically, hatred for Ezekiel and Cassandra - the ones who had pulled him to safety.

Jenkins watched this thoughtfully, then, speaking over the indignant words of Ezekiel directed at their ungrateful rescuee, “Colonel, please bring Mr Stone into the annex with as much force as is required. Miss Cilian, if you could assist me, please.”

He walked off, Cassandra running after, with a final, worried, look back towards Stone.

Eve hesitated, briefly became the object of that angry gaze, and grabbed Stone by the back of his shirt collar and his uninjured arm to manhandle him after the former knight.

In the annex, Jenkins stepped in to take Stone from Eve and push him unceremoniously onto one of the stools.

Immediately, a blue light erupted from beneath him in a tall column of light.

“That should keep him from doing himself further mischief for now,” Jenkins said with evident satisfaction, “And give us time to resolve this matter.”

“The matter of Stone trying to kill himself,” Ezekiel clarified.

“No,” Jenkins held up a finger, “Trying to get himself killed. There is a distinction.”

“Not in the outcome.”

“The outcome is not the important factor here,” Jenkins continued, “Colonel, when did you say you first noticed this strange behaviour? About a month ago now?”

“Yeah.”

“Shortly after you retrieved the lead-covered tome from Malta.”

“I think so…”

“Just so,” Jenkins nodded, “He was distracted, lost interest in his passions, grew agitated, and finally began to put himself into fatal situations with apparent deliberate intent.”

“Yeah.”

“There is a creature…” he left the sentence hanging as he went to retrieve a book, returning and continuing as he leafed through it, “Called a remora-”

“The-”

“Ah, yes, no,” he cut off Cassandra’s exclamation, “A different remora. The fish was a…well, one should not undertake the classification and naming of creatures after two quarts of neat spirits.”

He stopped at a page and stepped back so they could peer collectively at the etched print of a slug-like creature with three rows of sharp teeth.

“This remora is a magical creature. Was, in fact, human once. Before Zeus took a disliking to him and, well, did what Zeus does.”

“One of the things Zeus does…” Eve muttered. Stone had been telling her some of the stories of Greek mythology while he was studying some recently uncovered pottery sent to be examined by one of his aliases.

Looking back to Stone where he sat now, she saw nothing of her friend there. Just cold anger. Hostility.

“The unfortunate human had been a particularly handsome sailor, reputed to be unrivalled in his ability to get the greatest speed from any ship, beloved and admired by all those who saw his abilities. On transforming, the creature was compelled to latch onto ships moving through the water, seeking what was familiar to him, and yet his doing so could stop the ship entirely. He became hated and feared by sailors.”

“That’s so sad,” Cassandra whispered.

“As is the fate of most who angered Zeus during the height of his power.”

“Okay, but this doesn’t explain Stone trying to kill himself.”

“Get himself killed,” Jenkins corrected, “The remora has been known to enter into humans, latching onto them as it will with any surface, and burrowing inside. Its home, where it wants to be, is the water. The open oceans, and on finding itself inside a host, it seeks escape. This it does by attempting to control the host. Just as it can control ships, to an extent, it can control living beings. Not entirely, but enough to eventually find its way out of the host. Pliny the elder, for example. Sailed directly towards an active volcano, impelled by the remora, and met his unfortunate demise.”

“And you think Stone picked this remora up in Malta?”

“It may have been attached to the book you recovered, or perhaps free in the water at the time Mr Stone went in. In any case, it found its way into him, and since then has been gradually gaining control over his mind.”

Eve looked again at Stone. The remora had his expression fixed in something cold and angry, but apparently indifferent to their presence and their discussion. It was watching, but not really seeing.

“So,” Ezekiel prompted when the silence had extended for too long, “How do we get this remora guy out of Stone?”

“Death of the host is the only means ever documented.”

“Well we aren’t killing Stone, so let’s find a new way.”

“An exorcism?” Ezekiel suggested, “Or, like, some kinda variation on one?”

“Exorcisms are very specific rituals, Mr Jones. Variations on them to the extent of eliminating formerly-human creatures with a physical presence in this plane do not exist.”

Ezekiel huffed and they fell silent.

Stone shifted in his seat, pressed a hand against the barrier containing him, glowering yet more coldly when it didn’t yield.

“Why did that thing get in him anyway if it just wants to get out again?” Eve asked.

“There would have been no intent behind the action. An accident. Latching onto a surface not as resistant as the hull of a ship.”

“So, maybe it just doesn’t know another way out,” Cassandra said with that spark of excitement that foretold some genius, “If we can guide it out the way it came…”

“How do we do that?” Ezekiel waved a hand in front of Stone’s face, and received that same empty coldness - aware but not really observing.

“We use something it wants. The ocean or a ship…do we have an ocean or a ship?”

“We have several rooms with some sort of oceanic portion to them, but they have existing uses. I would prefer not to introduce the remora into any of our occupied rooms.”

“And we can’t let it loose to do this to more people.”

“What about shipwrecks?” Cassandra said a stream of confusing statements about velocity and currents that apparently led her to the conclusion, “If we pass something that resembles the hull of a ship past Stone at a precise velocity in a body of water with salinity matching the ocean where we found the remora, it should move out of him and to that. The cut in his shoulder would provide an easy path so it should be able to reach the external medium before the falsity becomes obvious.”

“Okay…” Eve nodded, understanding enough and trusting in Cassandra’s judgement, “Then that’s what we do.”

Holding one of her best friends down, half underwater while simultaneously trying to stop him from drowning himself, at the same time as two other friends orchestrated a carefully timed motion of some copper-covered wooden planks over the immersed part of the first friend…Eve reflected once again that her life had become incredibly bizarre.

Stone’s relentless efforts to immerse his head in the water prevented her from any deep reflection, since she had to prevent that while also keeping him from knocking the fake ship’s hull and ruining the illusion. There was also the small matter of his very much open injury seeping blood into the water around him.

Somewhere beyond her head, Cassandra was using a pulley to move the object through the water, while Ezekiel and Jenkins used yet more string-linked objects to create the correct motion of water to suggest a ship to the remora. Cassandra had drawn out a diagram of the fluid dynamics required and how to create it, and now Eve was poised over the water - hanging from a harness Ezekiel assured her was secure - trying to move as little as possible as the obscure procession of wood began.

As soon as the wood moved close, she released Stone, trusting the calculations and theory that this would work and she hadn’t just let Stone go and drown himself.

The fake ship passed slowly over, Stone remained motionless beneath the surface of the water.

Ten seconds passed. Fifteen. Twenty, and the ‘ship’ suddenly stopped.

Beneath it, Stone moved, tried to sit up, hitting his head against the fake ship.

He scrambled out from beneath the immobile copper-coated wood, blood blossoming behind him, and emerged from the water coughing violently.

Eve unfastened herself from the harness, dropping the couple of feet to the water.

“Stone?!”

He was trembling, breathless and not just from the water, and suddenly very pale.

Gripping her arm, he nodded, and turned to look back at the wood, still unmoving in the water.

Beneath it, a small, dark shape lurked.

“Thing has…so much hate,” Stone murmured, voice weak and unsteady, “All this…built up anger. A-An’ it doesn’t even know why. It’s got no…no memories left.”

Those fractured, almost inaudible, words, were all he said of the remora aloud.

They treated his shoulder, made a room for the remora, and carried on. Bizarre and dangerous events were part of their daily life, and this soon became just another of those.

But not for Stone.

Eve knew that he spent a lot of time visiting it, sometimes with his laptop, sometimes with a book.

Several months later, when the entire incident felt like nothing more than a distant memory, Eve saw Jenkins reading an academic paper on little known Ancient Greek folklore, authored by one of Stone’s aliases. She skimmed over it herself, and found a detailed, sympathetic, extensively researched background to The Remora.

Stone’s way of helping the creature that was beyond help. Telling its forgotten story, and recounting the few times that a ship had been saved by its sudden, abrupt and inexplicable deceleration in the water.

#ailesswhumptober2023 #Day 6: Mind control #the librarians #cassandra cillian #jenkins #jacob stone #cw suicide mention #cw self harm #zeus is a dick

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