#also I’m no longer tagging dr spoilers

[ageless-aislynn]

Title: “15 Minutes” (10/15) Author:  @ageless-aislynn​ Characters/fandom: Master Chief John-117/Reader, Halo the series Summary: As you heal, you're not alone. Series: How to date a Spartan (without even trying) Rating:  T (PG13) Length: 2,604 (this chapter, 24,863 total so far) Spoilers: Set in the Silver Timeline of Halo the series, not the games or novels. Though we began with the events of Halo 1x06, there will be no more show spoilers. We are still firmly seated in the AU Warthog, merrily driving out to places where there’s only a passing nod to canon. 😉 Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! 😉 A/N:  Text is both here in this post or available at AO3, however you like to read. Apologies for the break we took for a few weeks here. 😳This chapter turned out a little longer than I expected, (please enter "that's what she said" joke of your choice here), so I hope that makes up a bit for the delay. If you read, I hope you enjoy! ⭐💖⭐

Taglist: @pinheadbanger​ @mysardencut​ @laurenstacy610​ @sporadicbelievernightmare​ @ultrablackwidower​ @bxmxtx​ @jellotherelol @mirandastuckinthe80s

If you would like to be tagged in my John/Reader fics, just let me know! I also write John/Kai, John/Cortana and Kai/male Reader, so I’m glad to tag you for whatever you’d like. If you would like to be removed from the taglist, also feel free to let me know, no harm, no foul. 😉 💖

Halo fic masterlist ⭐

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9

Pressure on your chest brought you startling awake, flinging your left arm up as if to try and break free of a restraint. White hot pain burst from your shoulder down your bicep like a cord of fire trying to amputate your arm. You gave a strangled cry, managing to sit up and clutch at the various points of hurt as the agony gradually faded.

Out of the darkness, a now-familiar woman's voice said your rank and last name. "Are you all right? Do you need me to dispatch medical assistance?"

"No," you quickly said, automatically straightening your sleep-rumpled shirt. "I moved my arm wrong. Thanks, though."

"Of course," she returned, her tone kind.

"Are you, um, monitoring me?"

"Just for sounds of distress or pain. John was adamant that your privacy be respected as much as possible."

That made you smile slightly under the cover of the lack of light. "I hope they've given you something else to do other than to listen for me to say ouch."

"Not to worry, I keep busy."

You nodded even though she couldn't see it. Or maybe she could? Was she holed up in some ONI office, watching you with thermal signatures or some other sort of tech? "I appreciate it, Ms. Classified. Though I believe you gave me your name, didn't you? I'm sorry, I can't remember what it was."

"You were a little busy at the time," she demurred. "It's Cortana but I rather like 'Ms. Classified,' I have to say. It's like a nickname between friends, isn't it?"

"It is," you said. "And please feel free to use my first name. No need for friends to stand on formality."

"Thank you," she said and, after a slight pause, added your name as if it were an honor to do so.

Was she a Spartan, perhaps? Something about her careful manner reminded you of how John sometimes reacted to interpersonal things as if he hadn't ever dealt with them before and wanted desperately to be right in his response.

You wasn't sure if you should ask and while you were still wondering, she said goodbye with a sound like pixels vanishing, though there had been no hologram of her to see this time.

Your day was a lot more mundane after that. PT came by as Dr. Savannah had said they would, and you dutifully did the exercises with minimal grumbling and complaining. The ancient saying about medics being terrible patients was still said for a reason, after all, but you didn't want to be One Of Those if you could help it.

The therapist had brought you breakfast from the mess for after your session: the cold cereal MRE, typically called mush rarely edible, along with plain black coffee. She also told you that the next session would be tomorrow instead of later today, due to a scheduling conflict.

So that left you with a whole lot of day and very little to fill it.

You were scrolling through your padd, looking through old documents and messages, intending to clean up and organize things but, more often than not, ended up reminiscing on the past, on friends once part of your every day life now long gone, either transferred away or worse.

You discovered a folder full of sketches of various Mjolnir designs you'd done back before you'd decided for certain to begin training to be a Brokkr tech. Your interest in the Spartans and their armor had been a mere hobby, then.

You were far from a gifted artist but trying to capture the different iterations, the bulkier but classic shapes of the Mark V, the more streamlined Mark VI, had made for fun practice. You'd also tried out a few ideas of your own, such as "floating" pieces of armor to try and better protect the Spartans' joints without sacrificing mobility. The final image, though, had been a purely fanciful one: a fusion of Mjolnir and medieval, a literal Spartan in shining armor.

You couldn't help but chuckle. There was no number on the chest plate but it was clearly Master Chief to anybody who was familiar with his armor configuration. The patterning on his visor had a texture reminiscent of a knight's helm and the flare of his shield had a shape like the plume of a feather at the crest of his head. One arm was extended but incomplete: you hadn't decided whether to give him a BR or DMR or go for something like a broadsword or lance. Then you'd simply never come back to finish it and it had been forgotten in your drafts for all this time.

Tapping a fingertip contemplatively against your lip, you thought for a moment, then impulsively picked up your stylus and began to draw.

Gentle fingertips brushed against your hair and you woke to find John next to the bed.

"Sorry to bother you," he murmured, "but you looked uncomfortable."

The moment he said that, your neck began protesting the odd angle your head had slumped into.

"Well, that was a bad idea," you said plaintively, straightening up very slowly. Your entire body ached like you'd been moonlighting as a punching bag. Your padd slipped off your lap to the mattress, then bounced towards the edge, and John easily caught it on the fly.

You suddenly remembered what had been on it. The screen was dark but all it would take was a brush of a finger to activate it again and he'd see--

"What's this?" he said, orientating the padd right side up.

"That's... my poor attempt at artistry," you said, feeling heat blooming up your neck. You resisted the urge to snatch it from his hand and throw it to the floor yourself.

"It's not poor," he countered, studying it even more intently. "Not at all. I like it a lot, especially the detail here."

He tapped the image and the SPNKr rocket launcher you'd placed casually in the Spartan's hand, resting on the armored shoulder, expanded to better reveal the intricate filigree you'd spent a considerable amount of time adding to the large missile chamber.

"I mean, it's not practical, of course," you mumbled but his sincere appreciation lessened your embarrassment. "I wanted a medieval feel to a modern weapon."

"Do you have others?" he asked, handing the padd back to you.

You appreciated that he didn't just start flipping through the images. You swiped back to show him your other Mjolnir studies.

The very corner of his mouth twitched. "These are all mine, aren't they?"

"Hm, I suppose they are," you said in mock surprise. "It looks like I've had a favorite Spartan for a while now."

"Good," he said decisively, then glanced at you with a soft smile. "Could I send a copy of this to R&D?"

"Which one?" you asked, alarmed.

"The floating armor," he said, the smile growing a bit.

"Yeah, if you want," you said and forwarded the study to him. "I doubt I've thought of anything they haven't by now but I guess you never know."

"And could I have a copy of the other one, just for me?"

"Really?"

"Really," he confirmed.

You switched back to the medieval drawing, adding your signature with a flourish in the corner before forwarding that one as well.

The door chimed and he went to open it as if it were expected.

"Master Chief, sir!" the young private said, making a motion no doubt intended to be a salute that he couldn't complete because of the large and apparently heavy covered tray he was carrying.

"At ease," he said, taking the tray from him.

The private snapped a salute as crisp as if he were in the presence of Lord Hood himself, then kept standing in the open doorway, staring rather starstruck.

"Thank you, you're dismissed," John told him.

"If you or the Hero of the Pit need anything, let me know, sir," the marine said earnestly before backing away.

Once the door closed, you said, "That really is a terrible nickname."

"The Covenant call me 'Demon,'" John said, bringing the tray to the bed and setting it on the foot.

"'Demon' is badass," you countered. "Mine sounds like I fell in a hole and somehow managed to crawl back out."

"Crawling out of that hole wasn't a given," he said, "and you made sure nobody else was in there with you."

He lifted the cover on the tray, revealing two sizzling plates of food. The smell that hit you was divine.

Your voice dropped an entire octave. "Is that eggplant parmigiana?"

"I... think so? It's whatever was being served in the Spartan mess for lunch." His expression darkened. "You were supposed to get breakfast from there, too, but there was apparently some sort of mix-up. It's been dealt with."

You felt momentarily sorry for whoever had been on the receiving end of being dealt with. "I can't eat Spartan portions."

"You actually can because it so happens that I can calculate how many calories a Brokkr mechanic-slash-medic needs in order to heal properly." He held that with a serious expression for a moment, then winked. "And I also asked Dr. Savannah about it. She said, and I quote, 'Tell her it's fine to live a little.'"

"Oh, well, if it's doctor's orders..." you trailed off with a grin.

He left to get a small table and chair for himself since there was only the one lap tray and you took the opportunity to hit the head, thinking you'd be settled back in before he returned. As it turned out, you either greatly underestimated how far he had to go to find what he was looking for or, more likely, had greatly overestimated how quickly you could move.

Your left arm wanted to draw up to your torso from the way your damaged shoulder muscle was currently being foreshortened. Raising it even close to 45 degrees made it feel like it was being ripped off of your body. You took a couple of deep breaths, forcing it straight down to your side, and gritted your teeth though the pain as you returned to the main room.

John had already finished setting up the portable table and turned, his expression going almost comically aghast. "Should I call somebody? What can I do? I can carry you or--"

"No, it's fine," you told him. "I just have to work through it."

He hovered next to you as you made the few, torturous step back to the bed, his worry a palpable thing. Your bad knee buckled and he caught your arm -- fortunately, the right one -- to keep you from going down. His fingers hit a bruise hidden under your sleeve but you managed to not react.

The stricken look he gave you meant he'd seen the reaction anyway.

"There we go," you said, trying to sound breezy but the result was more winded than anything as you propped up against the headboard. "I'm ready for lunch. Are you? Lunch sounds great right about now."

He seemed at a loss as to what to do. You gingerly reached out and wrapped your fingers around his.

"I'm okay," you said softly. "I'm healing on schedule and it could've been much worse."

He nodded shortly, very, very carefully folding his other hand over yours. With a brief glance away, he nodded a final time as if agreeing to something you couldn't hear and then exhaled purposefully, affecting a lighter tone. "Well, let's see how that eggplant parmigiana is, then, hm?"

Even though physical therapy wasn't scheduled again until tomorrow, you went ahead and did the exercises anyway. Not only did it give you something to do after John left, but you were even more inspired to try to regain your strength as soon as possible.

Since you were alone, you felt free to swear your way more and more creatively through the entire session and only after the fact did you worry that maybe you had accidentally taught Cortana some new words and phrases.

Nah, you thought. Surely, she's not stuck sitting at some console all day and night, listening for me to need something, right?

You almost asked it out loud, just to see if she was listening, but decided against it. You didn't want to imagine she'd been instructed to keep her earpiece in to monitor you even when she took a meal or bathroom break. Or that maybe she never even actually got to go off-duty at all. It hadn't escaped your attention that John apparently didn't trust anybody else to provide your erstwhile overwatch.

You ate your dinner when it arrived, a very delicious chicken gumbo, then turned in early, since sleep was also an important factor in healing.

But your sleep was restless, the aches in your body keeping you from getting comfortable, and then when you did doze off, your mind kept taking you back to those moments when you were trapped. A couple of times, you found yourself jolting awake, John's name on your lips. You wondered if he was on base, asleep in the Spartan quarters. You'd assumed he would come back if he were here but you hadn't actually asked him to. It was his room, though, so wouldn't he...?

Try to get some sleep, that's the best thing right now. You'll feel stronger tomorrow, you silently instructed yourself, trying to find a comfortable position.

The next time you woke, your heart was thundering in your ears and you made a small panicked noise.

The lights abruptly came up to a quarter and you looked around wildly.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

John sat up from where he was stretched out over on the couch and you instinctively reached for him. He was there almost as if appearing by magic, letting you grip his hand as he leaned over you.

You were tangled in the covers and struggled to free yourself. He carefully extricated you with his free hand.

"Were you having a nightmare?" he asked and you nodded.

"I- I didn't know you were here," you said, stumbling over the words. "Why are you on the couch? You could share. I'd- I'd like you to."

He got that slightly stricken look again. "I'm heavy. I'll hurt you by moving around. I can't... I can't cause you more pain. I'm right here, though."

You understood what he meant but it still stung a bit like rejection. You normally would've let him go, would've tried to accept it gracefully, but the phantom weight on your chest changed the words on your tongue.

Your voice emerged small and compressed. "I need you, John."

The words clearly hit him like a plasma bolt to the chest and his fingers closed gently around yours.

"All right," he finally said. "I'll be careful."

It took a few minutes but eventually you were in his arms, turned on your right side with your injured left arm resting on his chest, your head tucked into the curve of his neck. All of the movement did hurt but you absolutely didn't care; all that was important was that he was here, you could hear his heart beneath your ear, could feel his warmth seeping into all of your pains and soothing them.

"Thank you," you murmured into the softness of his shirt.

"You don't have to thank me," he said, kissing the top of your head and lightly brushing his fingers across the hand you had on his sternum.

You were almost asleep when you thought, but weren't completely sure, that he also quietly said, "I need you, too."

#halo #halo the series #halo paramount+ #master chief x reader #x reader #john-117 x reader #aislynn's fics #aislynn's fic #ageless aislynn #fic: 15 minutes #series: how to date a spartan without even trying

[fluffypotatey]

T V Z U O

Hey babe 💕💕💕 thanks for the asks

T - Any fandom trope you can’t stand?

when they make one of the guys in an mlm effeminate. this goes for specifically towards mpreg and abo. this is no hate towards effeminate men. i’m talking about how in order to make sense of an mlm dynamic, there are fic writers who will choose one from the pair to be more “girl-like” and it’s typically the leaner one. 

V - If you could write the sequel (or prequel) of any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

hmmmmm idk

maybe a prequel to You Only Live Once written by @storiesforsomeone bc i love that fic so much and i think it’d be fun to maybe see more of tiny Merlin when he worked for the Dragon

but tbh i wouldn’t touch them. idk if i’d do them justice

Z - Major Character Death-do you ever write/read it? is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

oh dear, uh, me and mcd have a complicated relationship. love her, but also despise her. 

idk if i can write character death in my fics. i would be more upset bc they’re my little babies that i’ve latched on to since i saw them on screen. i would write character deaths for OCs tho lol they’re free game

i will read one-shots with mcd. will not read mcd if it’s a multi-chapter fic bc i will get attached and i will be inconsolable later. however, if i am assured that one of my favorite characters or ships won’t die, i’ll read. even the temporary character death tag will have me reading the most gut-wrenching and heartbreaking pics if i know my babes will come out of it alive (maybe not ok but alive).

basically, i need that reassurance that the ending will be a positive one

for characters i can’t tolerate dying? well, wish i could say arthur but the show beat us to it lol, so every christmas all i get is gifs upon gifs of him dying (spoilers, i guess?). does wonders to the heart. 

anyway, we have Merlin, Gwaine, Gwen, Hunith, Liam, Theo, Jenna, Dr Geyer, Tara (in the college/human AUs), MK, Sun Wukong, Mei, Tang, Pigsy, Sandy, Macaque (once was enough), Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth *stares at DC*, basically the whole bafam tbh

U - Share 3 of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much

well, be happy you said 3 bc this would have been a longer list

@eneiryu literally everything they write is just *chef’s kiss* i am in love with their characterizations of Theo and Liam. sobbed like a baby when i read ‘built a ship in the morning but the hull’s worn through’ ended bc i loved it so much. reread that 3 times

@theoceanismyinkwell always a slay. saved so many of his fics. doing a reread of regression to the mean and OH MY GOD T^T just as beautiful as the 1st read

@yikeshereiam have not recovered from you top gun au, babe (everybody should read it btw) really love how you write these idiots so well and the frustration from poor communication is beautiful.

O - How do you begin a story? with the plot or the characters?

mostly characters i think

with my dr geyer fic that began bc i wanted to explore characters. the plot was already given to me, i just expanded on dynamics that jeffy man ignored. and tbh my merlin fic, i just wanted to give Merlin a magic friend. someone who wouldn’t die after 1 episode or leave when they both realize they have opposing views or whatever. i wanted to give Merlin a friend and, damnit! a friend he shall have!

however with my og wip, that’s neither plot nor character. i began with the world. then characters then themes then plot.

#asks #thanks for ask bean <3 #long post #I def have more fic writers I love #tbh the fact that i’ve become mutuals with y’all astounds me bc i admire all of y’all so much 🥺 #anyway #love ya babes #fanfic ask game

[littleholmes]

Hi, I'm Monique 🌸 I do a lot of writing and rambling about manga and anime! To make it easy to find my posts, I've included links to my analysis posts, writings, and my AO3 below!

Note: This blog and these posts are not spoiler-free. Please do not repost or post on other websites, tiktok, etc. Also just be sure to please remove my tags first, or write ‘prev tags’ if you agree with my tags, before rbing (this includes specialty sorting tags)

-> weekly/monthly manga & manhua I read: Jujutsu Kaisen, Bungou Stray Dogs, Spy x Family, 19 Days, My Hero Academia, Chainsaw Man, Dr. Stone (ended/complete), Tokyo Revengers (main ended) || Ended series currently catching up: MHA: Vigilantes, Haikyuu!!

I keep this navigation post and all lists regularly updated so check in weekly! This post is retired (26 Aug 2023) and the New navigation list is here -> X

🌸 My Analysis/Ramblings Main Tags

weekly manga thoughts tags (newest!-> 22 Aug 2023): bnha thoughts* || jjk thoughts* || sxf thoughts* || 19 days thoughts* || bungo stray thoughts* || csm thoughts* || dcst thoughts* long analysis/ramblings main tag: idk I’m rambling*|| monique answers things* || see each series list below for more tags!

🌸 My Analysis by Series

I've organized all of my thoughts and longer analysis posts in lists for each series below, and I also update each series link regularly! Also, reblogging my posts helps more fans find them, so consider rbing if you enjoy!

• Jujutsu Kaisen analysis posts (newest!-> 20 Aug/Ch 232) thoughts + analysis about Yuji, Megumi, Toji, Nanamin, Gojo, the current manga arcs, & more • Bungou Stray Dogs analysis posts (new!-> 3 Aug/ Ch 109) thoughts + analysis about Chuuya's corruption, Dazai, the aftermath of Odasaku, Akutagawa's health, the current manga arcs, & more • BNHA analysis posts (newest!-> 20 Aug/ Ch 397) thoughts + analysis posts including recent arcs, villains, the Todoroki fam, & more Tokyo Revengers analysis posts || Dr. Stone analysis posts || Sk8 the Infinity posts || Yuri!!! on Ice analysis

🌸 More Thoughts/Ramblings by Series

Link Click/Shiguang Daili Ren posts*(<-newest! 25 Aug) || Blue Lock || Buddy Daddies || Food Wars + some Toonami || Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan || Haikyuu!!

🌸 Gifs I made x || Rather read a fic? My AO3

#jjk #bnha #sxf #19 days #bsd #csm #bllk #tokrev #dcst #sgdlr #bungou stray dogs #link click #haikyuu!! #blue lock #idk i'm rambling #bungo stray dogs #jujutsu kaisen #my hero academia #spy x family #hq!! #hq!! thoughts #shi guang dai li ren #jjk thoughts #shiguang daili ren #sxf thoughts #csm thoughts #19 days thoughts #bungo stray thoughts #dcst thoughts #bnha thoughts

[lesbiradshaw]

Hello! Literally just started following you and I'm aready in love. It's so refreshing to see someone in the stevebucky fandom who doesn't worship (or even like really) the actors and is able to separate them, not to mention the army of peggy stans who are on the rise, who diminish the importance of comic steve and mcu sam. I can't help but agree with every word you say, as former mcu stan and current mcu hater who still loves the cap quartet dearly. Do not get me started on the performative white feminism on pushing Cap Peggy down our throats (and in MoM where they introduce openly queer woc. I did't see Mom bc I refuse to support Mcu any longer but I doubt her being a raging lesbian is even mentioned, and she's a literal child so it's not like we'll see her happily flirt with every female character like she does in the comics. It's very obvious that the new wave of mcu stans are mostly just the Rat's fans and never even touched the comics which are, while also sometimes problematic, much more diverse and deep dive into their characters instead of cheaping them down so they can appease to your average yt us straight viewer

NOT TO MENTION I always thought America Chavez was... afro latina? And as a person of romani heritage, I take great offense to Wanda and Elizabeth Olsen, but that's another topic of its own. anyways, thank you for your posts!

(mashing both your asks into one bc your points were all so good <3 also MoM spoilers ahead for anyone who didn’t see that tag)

before MoM even came out there was a tweet from film updates on twitter talking about how the movie had been banned in a few countries for including a queer relationship on screen (america’s mothers) and a prominent queer character (america whose sexuality was only alluded to by the little pride pin on her jacket) and almost all of the quotes and replies were people joking about dr. strange being gay for ironman or wanda being a gay icon and maybe it’s just because i’m a hater but i got so fucking irritated that no one was acknowledging the actual lesbian of color who was in the movie .. even if it was just for the jokes (which were all about white characters being gay because they hate acknowledging poc can be queer) and having seen MoM (with my friend’s free ticket because i would not have paid for it otherwise) most of the people are ignoring america completely, or blaming her for ‘contributing to wanda’s suffering’ as if wanda doesn’t spend the entire movie trying to kill her. like what ? AMERICA IS A CHILD 😭 but yeah, in MoM they also have this entire bit where it’s revealed the the multiverse worlds have numbers and guess what number the mcu is …. 616. it’s such a fucking joke considering the fact that the mcu is nothing like half of their supposed comic sources, and especially fucked up because this movie prominently revolves around mcu wanda who we all know is VERY VERY VERY VERY UNLIKE HER COMIC COUNTERPART aka one of the most whitewashed characters with erased heritage in the mcu and that’s saying something because the mcu loves changing characters that way. even when cast poc for poc roles they choose lighter skinned people most of the time. very odd of them … i also find it very odd that a lot of #stuckies are now championing mcu wanda as their queen (after saying they didn’t like her being whitewashed) just for slicing captain carter and are also pretending to be outraged on sam’s behalf because of her live action inclusion when i have seen half of them shit on sam before for the benefit of bucky. it’s like their hate for peggy is so strong they think about her more than they do the characters they actually like/love using other characters as a tool to fuel their hatred of her and TRUST ME i don’t like that woman either but 😭 the irony of being enraged that sam is being put to the side in favor of the white woman while also only caring about sam when the white woman is involved … mcu stans have no brains i SWEAR and that is why i only care about what happens to a very select few characters at this point. thank you for your kind words and making me feel sane 🫂 america chavez and comic amerikate i will avenge you ….

#multiverse of madness spoilers #anti mcu #anti mcu wanda #anti captain carter #a lot of anti tags here wow #the way ik they will never call america a lesbian on screen #and im skeptical i’ll get lesbian ayo or ayo/aneka at all (CRIMINALLY UNDERATED CANON SAPPHIC SHIP IN THE COMICS) #people are so hot for mcu yelena/kate as a queer ship rn and i just ? 😭 ofc they want the skinny white women together #isnt mcu yelena like almost 40 .. mcu kate is my age #and comic yelena is aroace i think ? there are better mcu sapphic ships than them too like carolmaria is RIGHT THERE #even im2 pepper/nat is better than them sorry i have to say it #mcu stans are so odd and as someone who doesnt gaf about the actors seeing how the actors personalities are just pushed onto the character 😭 #steve is not cevans everyone i promise nor is bucky sebstan #proof: sebstan went to college in new jersey and bucky canonically HATES new jersey!

[lebowskismoney]

Welcome to lebowskismoney!

Hi!! I’m Moni Lebowski, but I go by Moni or Ski!

22 | Queer | She/They

Novice bard, mspaint enthusiast. I draw cute characters and yap about numerous subjects. Joined in 2019 but lurked for longer. Former chaotic-academia blog, now amalgam of stuff I like.

Art Blog: tarta.png

Comms are CLOSED!! ko-fi link here!

✨🍓Fandom & Tag List below the cut 🍓✨

FANDOMS I POST ABOUT SOMETIMES ovo

Games: Legend of Zelda* (SkSw mostly), Fire Emblem, Genshin Impact*, TWST*, Obey Me!, and old Nintendo DS games!

Manga/Books: Witch Hat Atelier, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Inheritance Cycle*

Anime/TV/Movies: Dr. Strange, Stranger Things, Sonic the Hedgehog, Queen’s Gambit, Hibike! Euphonium

Other things: Hello Kitty/Sanrio, Linked Universe, Jerma985, jschlatt, Sonic Fandubs

Asks are open!! Send art req's, or even a hello ovo

Below the cut is a list of the tags I use.

*I'm starting Eldest and playing thru TWST, TOTK, and Genshin blind. PLEASE don't spoil it for me, I want to fully enjoy stories without getting spoilers ✨

TAG LIST FOR REFERENCE uwu

AKA all the tags i use for this blog, in case you don’t wanna see a specific thing.

monireblogski (reblogs)

moniletagski (tags)

monilebaski (asks, mine or others I partake in)

monilebartski (art!! i draw stuff on mspaint and krita!)

monilebardski (music!! i like tunes, and am learning to play on my own!)

monilerambleski (rambles about random things)

monicaughtsimping (self explanatory lolol)

monilememeski (memes)

monideleteski (ooo this one’s rare! late night posts i vent in sometimes)

moniafterdark (i say a lot of dumb stuff at night)

This list can expand with time, and will change if i pick anything else up.

funny little tidbit: I used to go by moni, but pals started referring to me as ski, and reading skiskiski cheers me up a lot bc it sounds like the pspspsps sound you make when calling to a cat, so I'm also ski owo.

#lebowskismoney #blog intro #welcome to tilted towers #i'm memphis tennessee #commissions open

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Season 4 (Vol 1) Review and Thoughts.

Apologies for this coming a little later than I thought. I ended up rewatching  season 4 twice. The first time was for the experience, and the second time was to take notes and pick up on details I missed initially.  Needless to say, it’s still playing through my head as I’m writing this.

For the sake of people who haven’t seen this season yet, I will be tagging this as SPOILERS.

Here’s the basic breakdown:

1.) I appreciated how the show took on a darker and more mature tone in season 4, especially in comparison to the last season. There were some extremely creepy moments that kept me on edge, and times where I didn’t know where the story was going. I love feeling like this when I’m watching a movie/TV show because it means the writers are doing a good job keeping me immersed. I was also engaged in all 4 story arcs (Vecna’s attack on Hawkins, El’s journey into the past, Mike and his friends trying to find El, Joyce’s trip to save Hopper) and never got bored with any of them. I also disagree with anyone who claims the episodes were overstuffed. If anything, I appreciated the longer running time in order for the Duffer Brothers to tell the story they wanted to, and I love how this season expanded on its mythology.

2.) The opening scene in the first episode hits hard with the recent shootings that have happened in the United States. I get why they put the Warning Label at the beginning of the episode.

3.) Eddie quickly became a favorite character for me, and I felt bad for everything he gets put through. I also liked his brief but friendly interactions with Chrissy at the beginning of the episode.

4.) I know that this gets El in trouble, and it’s something that’s not advisable to do in real life, but watching El smash in Angela’s face with the roller skates after she cruelly bullied her like that was darkly satisfying to watch. I have no sympathy for Angela, and there are people out there who would have been less kind to her than El was.

5.) It feels like they’re not-so-subtly hinting that Will has a crush on Mike and is going to come out as gay. I’m basing this on what I’ve seen so far: The painting he draws and takes with him but is reluctant to show Mike, his comment about being a “third wheel” in Mike and El’s relationship, what he tells Mike about how scary it is to open up to the people you care about the most.......................they had Robin come out as lesbian last season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they go this direction with Will as well.

6.) Speaking of Robin, she was a delight this season! ☺️ Her quirky and socially awkward nature provided some great moments when she was interacting with Steve and Nancy. I’m hoping they give her a good resolution when it comes to which girl she wants to be in a relationship with.

7.) I was both disappointed and disgusted with Dr. Owens’s betrayal of El. I know they try to make him look sympathetic and explain his reasons for doing what he did, but that was still unforgivable. I also don’t really understand his reasons for trusting Brenner at this point, especially when Brenner is the one who caused this most of this mess in the first place, and probably has his own agenda.

8.) Speaking of Dr. Brenner..........................CALLED IT!  I speculated he was alive long before season 4 happened. Poor El really can’t catch a break. 😥 

9.) I don’t know how people feel about this scene........................but I was okay with the way they handled Max’s grief over Billy’s death. As much as I despise Billy as a character, I don’t think it was OOC for Max to mourn him and regret the way their relationship was. I appreciated how the show dealt with the complexities of an abuse survivor dealing with the death of the person who abused them. I was worried for a while that they were going to use this story to absolve Billy for his abusive behavior in the previous seasons (as well as to pretend he was a good brother to Max when he wasn’t), and I was relieved they didn’t go that route. The scene where Max is at Billy’s grave and reads her letter to him was emotionally touching, and Sadie Sink did a fantastic job!

10.) It’s a small moment, but it’s telling that Max went out of her way to write a letter to Steve when she thought she was going to die. The few interactions the two of them have gave the impression that Max has started to see Steve as both a friend and a protective older brother-figure. Aww! 🥰 

11.) I love Steve and Nancy individually as characters, but for the love of God............PLEASE DON”T HAVE THEM GET BACK TOGETHER IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP!!!!!!!! I do NOT want to see Nancy cheat on Jonathan, and I don’t want a love triangle where Nancy, Steve, or Jonathan come out looking like assholes. We already went through this in the first 2 seasons, and I am not interested in seeing this story get rehashed. Why can’t Nancy and Steve just be friends?

12.) Speaking of Jonathan.............am I the only one who feels like they’ve run out of ideas for where to take his character? 😒 His friendship with Argyle is okay, and Jonathan smoking weed was funny on occasion, but it’s starting to feel like the writers don’t know what to do with his character anymore.

13.) I’m reserving judgment on Lucas’s story right now because I’m not sure it’s completely finished yet. I’m theorizing that Lucas might be instrumental in stopping Jason and his gang.

14.) Speaking of Jason, am I the only one who was reminded of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast? Whipping the town into a mad frenzy to hunt down Eddie and the other members of the Hellfire Club, and to hell if innocent people get hurt or ostracized because of his actions. That town hall meeting was one of the most horrifying moments in the show. And that’s saying something considering how this show is chalk full or horrifying moments.

15.) The scene where Hopper and the other Russian prisoners try to fight the Demogorgon reminded me strongly of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Duffer Brothers used that as inspiration for this season.

16.) Murray and Erica have started to grow on me. Erica’s sass was funny, and I like how she stood up for the Hellfire Club when Jason was painting them as a Satanic Cult. She was braver than anyone else in that room for speaking out against him. Likewise, I loved Murray’s fight with Yuri and his “black belt” karate skills! 😂 

17.) They finally managed to get Steve’s shirt off and objectify him! 🤣 

18.) Mike and Hopper were much more likable this season compared to season 3.

19.) I know Hopper is tough, but I still question his ability to ride on a snowmobile barefoot in the middle of wintry Russia at subzero temperatures, and not get frostbite on his feet.

20.) Minor question with Dr. Owens lab: Where do all the scientists and guards go once the day is over? Do they just live in that silo now? Do they have cars? If so, where are they parked, especially since they’re in the middle of a desert that they’re trying to keep off the grid? How do they get supplies delivered to them? I know these are minor questions, but they’ve been in the back of my mind since rewatching.

21.) More Nancy and Robin scenes please! 😀 

22.) Vecna was the right amount of disgusting and scary for a villain. I didn’t see the twist coming about him being Number 1, or even being Victor Creel’s son, and Jamie Campell Bower did a great job portraying him as a nihilistic sociopath. I also like the twist that it was Number 1 who massacred everyone at Hawkins Lab and not El. It seems like El finally has an adversary who’s equal in power to her.

23.) Soooo....................anyone think it’s possible that Mike, Dustin, and Lucas’s parents are going to find out about the Upside Down this season?

24.) Love the comparison between Vecna and Freddy Krueger! Lol! :)

I’ll come back and edit this if I have any more thoughts. Overall, I enjoyed this season and look forward to Volume 2 in July!

#st4 spoilers #stranger things season 4 spoilers #tgh opinions #stranger things 4 #stranger things spoilers #stranger things #steve harrington #sam owens #el hopper #vecna #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #eddie munson #will byers #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #jim hopper #joyce byers #murray bauman #erica sinclair #martin brenner #max mayfield

[izolyn]

hokay i finished totk last night (”finished” being having done the major stuff and finished the actual plot, not like 100% completion) so now seems a good time to sum up my thoughts on it

Should be minimal spoilers but it is rather long

tl;dr I’d sum it up as basically “Breath of the Wild but worse.” It’s got cool stuff and theoretically hits a higher ceiling but that’s all overshadowed by a lot of basic things being either incredibly inconvenient or just not good, and a lot of the things that are good are just...things from BotW. The end result is still a solid game but I don’t think it justifies the US$70 price tag when BotW has existed for six years.

So to start with: This is a game where a lot of your power, as the player, is based on what resources you have available. The first problem with this is that, obviously, you start with no resources, and this means that the first part of the game is also by far the worst. You have to slog through The Part Where It Sucks to get to The Part That Does Not Suck. BotW also had this, but in TotK I feel like getting sufficient resources to reach the Does Not Suck portion takes a lot longer (e.g. equipment in TotK is either exorbitantly expensive or is hidden about the world such that it basically requires an entire quest for any given armor piece), and therefore the Part Where It Sucks lasts a lot longer.

Zonai devices in particular are notable in that they’re probably the biggest thing TotK has over BotW, but they’renot super-useful until fairly late on account of their limited battery life (and you have to get pretty far in before you can really ramp up getting upgrades for it), especially if you want to do anything more complex than slapping together two fans and a steering stick for a flying device. (Don’t bother with the wings, because for some ungodly reason they have a limited use-time before randomly breaking.) Personally I’ve had no motivation for building complex devices at all because A) the interface for it isn’t that great and B) you have no complex controls so any function beyond controlling where it goes is by necessity going to be automatic. Watching an attack drone explode an enemy camp can be amusing but it’s not fun.

That thing about the wings also brings up something that I feel was very noticeable in TotK, which is that the game really doesn’t like giving you Good Things that aren’t Very Temporary (or Otherwise Limited). This is admittedly a holdover from BotW but it’s kind of egregious when TotK gives you armor with an effect clearly for use in extreme temperatures (e.g. an attack buff specifically in cold weather) but which offers no actual protection from those extreme temperatures, particularly since you can only have one food effect active on top of your armor effects.

With regards to things being incredibly inconvenient, weapons are the standout example on account of how constant it is. The breakable weapons gimmick was never good, but TotK doubles down on it by making every weapon a complete piece of shit until you fuse something onto it, which not only makes getting new weapons twice as much hassle but also makes picking up new weapons on the fly just kind of...not work. Like, it’s great that this Bokoblin dropped a high-tier weapon for me, but if I’m in the middle of a melee I can’t just pick it up and go because a high-tier weapon still only has like 12 base damage. Bonus: getting truly good weapons requires regularly hunting down the toughest enemies because those are the ones with the best weapon-fusion materials. Bonus #2: This also means that most weapon-based Shenanigans are mutually exclusive with Actually Having Good Weapons, which means there’s not much incentive to do Shenanigans instead of just Hit Monster Good.

Arrows are even worse, because in lieu of actually having different arrow types you instead produce any given special arrow by fusing a material onto it, which you have to do for every arrow individually as you fire it. Also, because you can theoretically fuse any given material to it, this means you have to scroll through your entire fucking inventory every time you need to find something new. The sole saving grace is that one of your sorting options is “most used,” so once you’ve used a given material a few times it should be near the top. Bonus: this means only one special effect at a time. No homing bomb arrows.

Weapons and arrows being some of the things you use the most often, the fusion system being so gimmicky and inconvenient is probably my least favorite thing about the game, because it means there’s a near-constant low-level annoyance going on that makes it hard to appreciate the things the game does well, while also leaving it no further room for error if anything else isn’t good. Like the controls for using Sage powers: each Sage is an entire Summonable Dude that follows you around and assists you in battle, but using their special abilities requires actively going up to them, activating them, and then actually aiming and activating the power. Very inconvenient, regularly conflicts with other things that use the Interact button, and it fundamentally doesn’t work in any space too small to Summon Dudes.

The world as a whole is sort of expanded compared to BotW (two new maps in the form of the Sky and the Depths, plus a bunch of new caves on the Surface), but I don’t feel like it adds all that much more to substantively do. The Sky map is pretty small and basic with a lot of what it does have being hard to access until you have long-lasting flight capabilities, while the Depths is a gimmick zone that lacks any Shrines or reasonable equivalent in terms of Actually Having a Thing to Do While Exploring. Mostly I think they just used it to dump Designated Fight Zones into in the form of coliseums and a bunch of boss rematches.

There’s new enemy types for a bit more variety but several of the new enemies are gimmicks and that makes them pretty hit-or-miss because you need to approach them in specific ways. Most of the basic enemies you encounter are still just Bokoblins, Lizalfos, and Moblins. Lynels seem a lot rarer which is annoying because some equipment needs Lynel bits to upgrade along with high-tier Lynels having the best fusion materials, and the only place I’ve found high-tier Lynels is the designated Lynel Fight Club Coliseum.

With regards to the new set of powers, I understand why they replaced the old ones (it means they have a full new set of tools to make new puzzles with instead of just endlessly rehashing BotW’s puzzles) but not having the Remote Bombs in particular sucks. Ultrahand is just Magnesis++ so you don’t miss that, Cryonis was situational enough you don’t miss that either, Stasis had some shenanigans but so does Recall and on balance I think I prefer Recall’s for ease of use, but lacking a basic Explode Things option that doesn’t consume resources hurts. Likewise, for the Champion Abilities, lacking Revali’s Gale for an unconditional on-demand Go Up/Get Airborne option is annoying.

#izo gripes about things #didn't expect it to be quite this long but that's what i get for trying to explain in detail why I think This Part is Bad

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

Stranger Things has been watched...

And I have so many FEELS.

I will put my spoilers below the cut (and tag them), but all I will say before that is that if you’ve been liking the season so far you will love the last two episodes.

First, I cried at least four times during the past four hours.  

Will made me cry two of those times...holy shit, Noah Schnapp is such a good actor...that scene in the van between him and Mike?  And him turning away to cry?  And then later when he and Jonathan are talking in the kitchen?  SO MANY FEELS.

Then of course...Max.  Again, such a good performance from Sadie Sink...really all the actors are on point...how they got so lucky with child actors, I’ll never know...but, damn.  When we thought she was gone and Lucas is holding her?  Her saying that she could see or feel anything and not wanting to do started pushing me over the edge.

But what opened the floodgates entirely?  

Hopper.

Hopper and El.  

I was sitting on my living room floor, full-on sobbing...there were too many emotions to process at once, but there I was on my floor, trying to process them while also trying see the screen through my tears.

OK.  Let’s move on from the crying for now...

I really liked that massive action set piece in the finale.  Cutting between Hopper fighting the Demodog, Lucas and Jason fighting in the attic, El and One, Eddie and those bat creatures...I was curled up in a ball, seriously worried that we were going to lose so many of these characters.  

Speaking of...RIP Eddie.  He was such a cool character, and I wish he could have been around longer.  But I guess at least one of them had to go, and he drew the short straw.  But I liked how he chose to go back, because of how ashamed he was at running away from Chrissy.  And his death scene was rough...

So...El has healing powers, now?  That’s an interesting curveball, or did I miss something?  It seemed like she did something to at least bring her back...but it seems like Max is lost somewhere in her own mind, if El can’t find her.  Do I think Max will stay gone?  Probably not.  Since she’s not dead, I feel like her comatose state will come into play in season five.  And side note: I thought it was really sweet how Erica stayed with Lucas at the hospital.  It was such a nice show of support for him, and she didn’t even need to say anything.

I do wonder what happened to Dr. Owens.  Since we didn’t see him die, I’m assuming he’ll be back at some point next season.

I love that Vecna was mostly a practical effect...that the actor was covered in makeup, and they just enhanced it with CGI.  He is so creepy, I’m sure it was not difficult at all for actors to be scared of him.

YES to Hopper and Joyce getting a make out session!

So...it seems like the Upside Down is starting to bleed into the real world...that can’t be good.  I hope that Will gets a bit more to do in terms of the fight...he has that connection with the Mind Flayer/Vecna...I hope that they do more with that then him just being the one to sound the alarm.

Ok...I think that’s it...

We only have to wait two years for season five... :(

#stranger things #stranger things spoilers

[cutter-kirby]

posts that are incomprehensible to anyone not into ut/dr

(Edit: half the notes I get on this post are “wait what’s that one?” so here’s an explanation.

Salt: tumblr user beabigshot had a dream where finding salt particles around cyber world led to spamton joining your party, starting a snowgrave-esque run where you use spamton to kill residents of the city.

Eyeball: tumblr user tammycat (they have a different user now i think? check the notes if you want it) had a dream where papyrus was replaced by a giant floating eyeball named prunsel. since prunsel is mostly used in a comedic way [and I love him], I put him in the comedy genre.)

#undertale #deltarune #salt route #prunsel #hope no ones made this yet #scopophobia #also I’m no longer tagging dr spoilers #oh boy #1k #2k #3k #4k #5k #6k #7k #8k #!?!???! #9k #10k #holy cannoli #!!! #11k

[multi-lefaiye]

vultures are holy creatures - The Roach Ramble™ (part one)

OKAY so I’ve decided to split the Roach Ramble into multiple parts, because it’s getting so long I’m genuinely worried about hitting some kind of character limit. And also because I’d feel weird tagging people in something That Big™.

So, here’s part one! How many parts will there be? I’m hoping two at most, but the max will be three. I’m so sorry this was supposed to be a short ramble but it’s getting out of hand so fast-

Alright, so this first bit covers their early life up until just before they meet a character named Vulture, who inspired the title for this... thing... yeah. As a note, because Roach didn’t start going by the name Roach until AFTER they met Vulture, and their legal name is a spoiler and I’ll never establish a deadname for them, I avoid using a name for them up until that point. Sorry if it gets confusing!

Content Warnings (please take these seriously): Cancer (specifically breast cancer), descriptions of side effects relating to chemotherapy/medical talk in general, implied/referenced transphobia, misgendering, fat-shaming (minor but it’s still there), in general lots of mentions of premature death.

Taglist (if you want to be added or removed please let me know!): @albatris @wherearetheplants @chaotic-queer-disaster @emotionalsupportpuma @dr-runs-with-scissors

--

There are a few principles that Roach has lived their entire life by.

Of those principles, the most important one is simple: Roach's life is dedicated to pure, unadulterated spite.

Even before they adopted the name Roach, they lived a life of spite above all other things. The world wanted them to stay down, to roll over and die, so time and time again they did the opposite.

Because fuck what the world wanted.

--

When they were seven years old, they met their grandmother, Miss Marjorie Wallace, for the first time. She was never Grandma to them or their sister Marina—she always made it clear she wanted to be called Miss Marjorie. Supposedly, it made her feel young again. They didn’t know why their mom didn’t like talking to her family, but it had taken seven years for Miss Marjorie to acknowledge her grandchildren.

Miss Marjorie was surprisingly youthful in appearance, the only signs of her age being the telltale streaks of grey in her blonde hair and the lines in her face like cracks in the foundation of an ivory tower. She wore a ruffled dress made of so many brightly-colored fabrics that it almost hurt Roach’s eyes to look at.

When Miss Marjorie met them, she gasped dramatically and placed a hand over her heart.

“Oh, what a lovely girl!” she enthused. They tried to introduce themself politely, as their parents had taught them to do, but before they could, she ducked down and pulled them into a tight, uncomfortable hug.

Instantly, they stiffened and bristled. They didn’t like it when strangers—and that’s what Miss Marjorie was, no matter how she was related to them—touched them without their permission. The hug didn’t last long, thankfully, but it had them on edge even as she pulled away and patted their bony shoulders.

Things didn’t get better from there.

Miss Marjorie wouldn't stop touching them as she showed them and Marina around her house. She would casually rest her hands on their shoulders, guiding them around; she would pinch their round cheeks and blunt nose, commenting that their parents must be feeding them a little too much; and she would ruffle their short hair, remarking that they would be so much prettier if it was longer, that little girls shouldn't cut their hair like boys.

At that point, they had just been fitted with their first hearing aids, and they were still getting used to them. As much as they enjoyed being able to hear the world around them, they didn’t like the insults that fell from Miss Marjorie’s tongue like drops of snake venom. They wanted to turn them off, but they knew that would be impolite. Besides, at that point, they didn’t know how to do that just yet.

By the time their parents came to pick them up a few hours later, they had decided that they disliked Miss Marjorie. They told their parents as such as they were buckled into the car, but their parents didn’t seem to understand their frustrations.

“She’s just an eccentric old woman,” their mother told them, patting their knee to comfort them. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean anything by it. She might not seem like it, but she’s very smart.”

They weren’t so sure about that.

The next time they saw Miss Marjorie, though, was when they decided they never wanted to see her again. She’d come to visit their family at their little townhouse this time, and she brought with her a deck of cards. Their mother seemed unsure of the cards, but she didn’t object as Miss Marjorie set them up on the dining room table and directed the children to sit across from her.

“I’d like to read the children’s futures,” she said with a pearly white grin. “See what kind of lovely young women they will grow into.”

Marina’s future was bright, according to Miss Marjorie. She would become very successful, marry a man with a great fortune, and have several children to carry on the family name. As she read from the cards, Miss Marjorie couldn’t stop smiling, and even Marina seemed delighted, despite being too young to know exactly what was happening.

Their future, however, was less bright.

As Miss Marjorie read the cards, her face paled and she looked at them with an expression somewhere between horror and sympathy.

“Oh, dear child,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Before they could ask her what she meant, she stood abruptly and pulled their parents aside to speak to them. They couldn’t discern the exact words Miss Marjorie said at first, but they could tell that it was urgent, somehow.

Finally, however, they heard Miss Marjorie say the words that would haunt them for many years to come.

“The poor child! She won’t live to see her thirtieth birthday.”

--

From that day on, their parents treated them as though they were made of glass, as though they could break at any moment. They weren’t allowed to do anything too dangerous, to go where their parents couldn’t see, to play with the other kids in their neighborhood. Even Marina began to look at them differently, and as she grew she stopped asking them to play with her.

They thought the whole thing was ridiculous. There was no way Miss Marjorie could see the future, let alone know that theirs was so grim or Marina’s was so bright.

Despite that, though, the fact that they were going to die young was treated as a fact, and it haunted them throughout their childhood and into their early adulthood. As time went on, they started to wonder if there was some truth to this after all.

No matter what they did, they were going to die someday. There was no way to prove Miss Marjorie knew the details, but everyone seemed so sure of it. Subconsciously, they started to wonder if, any day now, their death would come for them.

Three days after their fifteenth birthday, these fears were confirmed.

--

After their fifteenth birthday, a routine appointment with their doctor took an abrupt turn when they told their doctor about pains they were feeling in their chest. After what felt like dozens of tests and screenings, they received confirmation on what was happening to them.

They had breast cancer.

Thankfully, it was early enough that there was still something to be done, but as the doctor told them, all they could think about was the words Miss Marjorie had said all those years ago.

The poor child! She won’t live to see her thirtieth birthday.

Evidently, their parents felt the same way, as later that night, they could hear them arguing in the hallway just outside their bedroom. It was clear their parents were trying to be quiet, but even without their hearing aids they could hear the words echoing in the dark house.

“She’s dying, Grant,” their mother sobbed. “My mom was right—she was fucking right!”

“We don’t know that,” their father said, his voice thick with tears as well. “She’ll be okay. She has to be.” Even then, they could tell he didn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

For their part, as they lay there in their bed, they wondered with a strangely hollow feeling in their stomach if this was really their destiny. Were they really meant to die? Their life hadn’t even really begun, and already it was coming to an end.

That night, they cried themself to sleep, using a pillow to muffle their weak sobs.

--

Soon after their diagnosis, they began to undergo treatment. It started with chemotherapy, which helped almost as much as it hurt. They felt weaker than they ever had before, nauseous and thin, barely able to hold themself upright or even get out of bed. As the treatment progressed, they struggled to go on, and each day Miss Marjorie’s words echoed in their mind.

Miss Marjorie herself only visited once while they were sick, a few weeks into their treatment. They don’t remember it very well, but they remember the way she clicked her tongue in disappointment and sighed in resignation, as if they had somehow failed in exactly the way she thought they would. It made them sick in a way that had nothing to do with the cancer ravaging their body.

Deep in their stomach, an angry bitterness was beginning to form, a coiled snake waiting to strike. They were getting pretty fucking tired of everyone looking at them as if waiting for them to die. Even their sister started treating them like they were made of glass, like they couldn’t do anything for themself.

More than once, they lashed out at Marina, at their parents, at the doctors, at everyone who acted like they were a lost fucking cause. They wanted to scream, to cry, to break something, to throw stupid fucking Miss Marjorie’s words back in her face.

Three months into their treatment, a fire ignited in their belly, fueled by furious spite for everyone who seemed so ready to give up on them. They still felt weak, tired, and sick in a way they never had before, but if no one else was going to believe in them, then they’d have to do it.

A month later, four months after treatment began, they received nearly miraculous news. Their cancer had gone into remission—it wasn’t gone, not completely, but they were getting better. The treatments had, at least for the moment, worked.

They were going to survive.

Their parents cried when they heard the news, pulling them into a hug so tight it made their brittle bones crack. Marina smiled at them for the first time in months, and she told them that she’d always known they’d survive. They were strong, she said, and it made sense.

Bull-fucking-shit, they thought, though they didn’t say that part out loud.

Miss Marjorie came by to visit the week after they officially went into remission, dressed extravagantly and grinning with delight. She told them they looked great now that they’d lost a little weight, as though that was something they should’ve been worried about while they were dying. They wanted to sneer at her, but they restrained themself. Because they had won.

They were lucky to be alive, a miracle in every way. The knowledge was enough to light a fire of a different kind inside them.

The world wanted them to die, and they had survived. Despite it all, they fucking survived. It was an exhilarating realization, and it had them breathless with delight even as Miss Marjorie delivered her backhanded compliments. The feeling of survival was addictive, much more so than any drug.

Fuck you, world! they wanted to scream. Fuck you! I survived! Try and kill me now, motherfucker!

It was the best they’d felt in a long, long time.

#Multi's Writing #a modern ghost story #roach my beloved #i am. very nervous to be sharing this #then again i'm always nervous to share my writing #there's a lot of things this little. thing. series. won't go into #but those things mainly relate to vulture #once we get to him #he's important <3 #also i am glossing a little over the details of roach's hearing here but that's b/c i want to do more research before i write in detail #about that. it's important to them as a character and i don't want to minimize it but i want to do it justice #so i am going to Research #anyway yeah <3 #please heed the content warnings btw #if this seems too much for you or anything please do what is best for you!!!

[discotreque]

Disco 4.06: Stormy Weather

TL;DR: I loved the crap out of this episode. As far as I’m concerned, Disco’s upward trajectory only continues.

EL;OR;CS (even longer; optional read; contains spoilers)—

THAT’S MY DAD!!!

So I hate to nitpick (lol, no I don’t), but... *pushes glasses up nose* traditionally on Star Trek, the level of a computer diagnostic goes down the more intensive it is. They should have been running Level 1 diagnostics on Zora (or maybe Level 2 if they couldn’t power her down entirely)—a Level 10 would, by TNG standards at least, be automated and take no more than a few microseconds. What a blunder! 🤓️

We’re checking a BIG box off my Star Trek wishlist this week—and not the Disco-specific list that’s been getting an almost awkward amount of attention in Season 4, I mean the list of things I’ve wanted from Star Trek since I was a literal child: the ship’s computer gaining not only awareness, but a whole personality. The TNG episode “Emergence” flirted with this idea, and then completely fucking whiffed it, and I’ve been waiting since 1994 for Trek to do it again, and do it right. (The Doctor on Voyager, whomst I love, doesn’t count for this because he was more or less sandboxed from the main computer.)

“Develop emotions? Build relationships with the crew? Nah, I’m gonna bounce.”

Anyway, I have this whole thing in my head about Zora, and the sphere data, and “Calypso,” and how I think/hope they all tie together, and I might try to turn it into a fanfic over the mid-season break so my wild theories have at least a few weeks to not be completely obliterated by canon 😂️

Since Book is going around making friends with pretty much everybody, he and Gray should bond over being the non-Starfleet boyfriend who’s just sort of tagging along for the ride.

I loved the anomaly. It was fuckin’ SPOOKY. That long, long pull back from the ship (with just a hint of the ol’ Frakes shaky-cam) gave me real chills.

Also, I didn’t notice until my rewatch, but the ship’s usual background hum (the kind of thing you fall asleep to a 10-hour loop of on YouTube) gets like 80% quieter once they’re inside, and stays that way until they’re out, making the void feel even more empty and silent and adding a real sense of subliminal discomfort to the episode for me, even before I realized.

Detmer doing velocity calculations in her head just off the cuff was uhhhhhh extremely sexy?

I TOLD YOU THE SHIP NEEDED A THERAPIST!!!! And Gray is kind of uniquely perfect for the role: he’s trained to help newly joined Trill integrate their consciousnesses with new bodies and circumstances, and that’s basically what Zora’s going through, give or take a few isolinear chips; he’s trans, so he has that perspective on determining one’s own identity; and he’s technically part–artificial lifeform himself! I’d started wondering if he was going to leave the ship for Guardian grad school or whatever, and this is a great way to keep Ian on the show doing interesting things, even if it’s talking to himself in an empty room. (What a trooper, btw <3)

Loved Michael making the non-reckless decision for once and deciding to abort the mission, but here on the other side of the fourth wall, we knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. Has she never seen an episode of Star Trek? Come on.

The spore jump going wrong brought to mind the gruesome fate of the USS Glenn in Season 1. Remember when this show was all about body horror and war trauma instead of a found family of queer nerds getting therapy together? I do not miss it!

“Oh my god, he can’t hear us, he has HeadPods in…”

I found Book’s storyline a little repetitive (he was already a helpless victim who had useful information passively extracted from his head once this season, ok) but also deeply relatable, as I too have a copy of my shitty dad that lives rent-free in my head and makes shitty comments about all my decisions. 😬️

(Also, those visions reminded me of what the Enterprise-D crew saw when they went outside the galaxy in “Where No One Has Gone Before,” and I can’t help but wonder just how much previously established lore is going to end up surrounding this “Species 10-C”…)

Also also, Book’s birth name was established as “Tareckx” last season, and that’s also how his father is credited here—Tareckx Sr., I presume?—and even though I watch with SDH, I can never not mentally spell it “T’Rex,” like he’s a Vulcan dinosaur 😂️

Also also also: when Book’s head-dad accuses him of foregoing revenge and basically just sitting on his ass about the destruction of Kweijan because of Michael—sneering “because you love her?” like that’s a bad reason—David Ajala’s face when he just replies “yeah,” that angry/proud/defiant teeth-baring fuck-you smile—I know that feeling. It’s a powerful feeling, and he communicated the hell out of it. What a phenomenal actor.

Gray saying he chose his name just because he liked it was another relatable moment for me, and not even in a trans way: I have a bunch of tattoos, all purely for aesthetic reasons, and I’m always surprised how many people are legit disappointed to learn there’s no profound meaning behind them. Sorry! They just look cool!

It was a bit of a head-slapper that they couldn’t beam Ensign Cortez to safety nor explain why they couldn’t, but I was less annoyed by that than I was impressed by the overall restraint. In a season that set the opening stakes to “randomly-roaming planet-buster,” poor Cortez was the only fatality this episode, and it felt like it mattered in a way most redshirts’ deaths never do. Everyone we know, from Captain Burnham on down, is visibly shaken by his loss, and both Owo and Zora have full-on freakouts because of it. Another long-standing complaint I’ve had about this show is that it can treat life—individual lives—cheaply, for the sake of spectacle or lazy drama. It doesn’t necessarily bother me when characters die, but it bothers me a lot if there isn’t weight behind it.

(For all the Bury Your Gays–themed outcry over Culber’s death in Season 1, I feel like it would have gone over at least a little better if he’d died heroically, or if it advanced the story in a more meaningful way than raising stakes that were already high enough.)

Anyway, speaking of that part, it’s hard to convey in a screenshot but I’m obsessed with the refracting-glass forcefield effect:

All season I’ve been wondering what this thing in the opening credits would represent…

Turns out it’s Zora! 😍

I have a lot of feelings about Michael’s role in Zora’s storyline. When you’ve learned something useful through bitter, traumatic experience, and you pass it on to help someone you care about when they’re struggling, it can feel like maybe those awful experiences that fucked you up so badly weren’t for nothing. It can be shockingly empowering. It can even soothe, and sometimes partly heal, that original trauma. And I’m speaking entirely from my own life here. So when Michael shared her hard-earned wisdom about fear, and guilt, and loss, and sitting with her overwhelm to overcome it… I was so happy for her? And so proud of her. And even, corny as it sounds, a little bit inspired.

“You’re talking about logic. I’m talking about feelings.” When I heard Captain Michael Burnham Jr. say that, I almost went feral. And the fact that it was exactly what Zora needed to hear… oh friends, I was ugly-crying for real. (It’s too bad the only other person in the room is Gray, who barely knows Michael—I would have loved to see a reaction shot from Saru or Tilly when she said that.)

…aaaand I ran out of steam to expand on the rest of my notes, so bullet points it is:

Once again, we had a member of the bridge crew interject with extremely specific knowledge that happens to be the perfect metaphor for the techno-solution of the week, and frantic action screeching to a halt so a member of the bridge crew can deliver some emotional backstory about themselves—only this week it was two different people! Nice teamwork, Bryce and Owo.

Captain Burnham on the bridge in an EV suit while the ship’s outer hull gets peeled off—and the episode ending with Disco getting repaired in drydock—reminded me of the finale of Lower Decks S2, and man oh man do I ever miss that show.

I forget the proper name for the little glowing marshmallows they use to do practical spark effects, but it felt like there was an entire season’s worth of them in this episode.

The soundtrack album for this season should definitely include a full version of “Stormy Weather” as performed by Annabelle Wallis, in the same way the Picard S1 soundtrack had Isa Briones’s “Blue Skies.”

I’m glad we didn’t see Michael until after she was all patched up in sickbay, because I have to assume she looked like Freddy Krueger when they first got that suit off her, yikes.

The conversation between Book and Saru about anger was another really powerful and poignant one, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since—just not enough to have anything coherent to say about it, alas.

ZORA MADE A TREE OF THE CREW 😭😭😭😭😭

Notably absent from Michael’s lalogi tree: Ash Tyler. Ahem.

If you want a wholesome good time, go watch this week’s Ready Room interview with Jonathan Frakes: he talks about directing Sonequa in those climactic scenes on the bridge, and he just raves about how talented she is, and how much he loves working with her, and it warmed my grinchy little heart.

Next week, it’s—wait, it’s the mid-season what? Until February? What the fuck, CBS.

#star trek #star trek discovery #star trek discovery spoilers #disco spoilers #amy's episode notes

[writingtoforgetreality]

Speak Of The Devil (Malcolm Bright x Winchester!Reader) | Prodigal Son/Supernatural Crossover

[Prodigal Son-Masterlist], [Supernatural-Masterlist]

Summary: What started as a normal case for the NYPD ended in you needing help from your family. Malcolm had never met your brothers & they had no idea you were dating. Things were bound to get complicated, it was inevitable. Still, you had to focus on this case before another person got killed.

Words: 5,557

Warnings: spoilers for 2x02 (doesn’t follow the actual plot obviously), murder, demons, language, confused Malcolm, lil hint at Destiel (barely there, could be missed if you don’t pay attention - sorry, I couldn’t help myself), I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun while writing something

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

The NYPD was assigned to solve a “creepy ass case”, as JT so lovingly put it. As Malcolm & you got to the crime scene, you understood what your fellow coworker had warned you about. Ugh, you hated churches with your guts. Well, that was not entirely true. But whenever a murder happened on a holy ground, nothing good ever came out of it. That was what you experienced before you started working for the police. Before that…you also worked for the police somehow? Just, they were not aware of that & you might have done some criminal things. For the greater good, though! Your brothers & you had saved thousands of people. They still did. You just needed to get out of this life & see if there was more for you to achieve. And there was. Not only did you find a great family who was also your team, at the same time you found Malcolm, your boyfriend.

Back to the case. Walking into a crime scene had always been bizarre to you. It showed you how close you still were to murder, even though you promised your brothers to distance yourself from it entirely. Technically, you did. This was different, though. At least you told yourself so. Gil, JT, Dani & Edrisa were already inspecting the scene when you two walked in. Oh no. This could not be good. The image in front of you seemed familiar & if it were not inappropriate to roll your eyes at a dead person, you would do it. Gil briefly explained the situation to you. Apparently the victim had been a member of the church for 30 years. The Lieutenant & Malcolm interrogated Sister Agnes. She was the one who found the body. There was another thing bothering you, so you did not really pay attention to whatever she was saying. Your focus was solely on JT, who had been through way too much to stand here & act as if everything was fine. A slight touch on his shoulder made him turn his head in your direction.

“Hey, you okay?” of course you were concerned about him. He was family, after all.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” he brushed you off as if he did not know what point you were trying to get across.

“Really? Because usually when Malcolm says he’s fine…well, he’s everything but.” a chuckle lightened the mood a little. You had to keep a closer eye on JT for the time being. Just in case.

“Our victim here performed an exorcism.” Malcolm’s statement let your eyes snap back to where he was standing. Edrisa smiled excitedly at him. This woman…She was the sweetest soul. Could be annoying, too. But in a sweet & loving way. Maybe she should turn down her excitement for murder. Who were you kidding? Your boyfriend was probably worse when it came to that. Wanting to have a closer look at the book Malcolm was referring to, you put your gloves on & carefully walked over to him. Trying not to mess up any possible clues left behind by the killer.

“Can I have a look?” you gestured to the small book & Malcolm handed it over to you. Shit. If you remembered correctly, there was a similar one back at the bunker. A look inside the pages confirmed your assumption. No need to freak out right away. There were tons of crazy people out there. Just because of this murder in this church & this book did not mean that there was anything supernatural involved. You just hoped it would stay that way. For everyone’s sake.

Your face fell when Edrisa said that there was a note left behind, written in blood. To the others, it looked like a sign without meaning. It looked familiar to you but you could not quite pinpoint where you remembered it from. Sister Agnes’ words made you stop in your tracks.

“Abaddon.” she breathed out. Sure, why the hell not? Okay, maybe this case was something for your brothers. But wait a damn minute…last time you checked, Abaddon was stabbed with the First Blade. She could not possibly be back, could she?

“Now we know our killer’s name.” Malcolm’s words gained the attention of the entire team. There was no way he had everything figured out already. You knew he was a great profiler but even that would have been too fast for him.

“Oh? Who is it?” Gil asked intrigued.

“You know.” Malcolm paused for a few moments. Probably for dramatic effect but what did you know? “The devil.” you could not help but laugh at his words. Great, now everyone was looking at you weirdly. Oh, he made a joke. Of course he did. Sometimes you forgot that you were not an active part of the hunting life anymore. A few coughs from you stopped the awkward tension in the room. At least a bit.

In no way did you want to defend Lucifer. He had made your life literal hell one too many times. But even he would not go as far & do something as cruel as this. Again, last time you checked, he was dead. But death did not agree with Lucifer. How many times had he died? You probably should not be the one to judge. You were not better by any means.

Excusing yourself to get some fresh air, you grabbed your phone out of your pocket. Hopefully he would pick up. It had been a while since you last talked. The phone rang & rang & slowly you lost hope. Maybe he really was mad at you for being radio silent for so long.

“(Y/N)?” his voice startled you slightly.

“Sam! Uh, hi.” suddenly you turned shy.

“It’s so good to hear from you! How are you?” he was happy that you decided to call after so long.

“I’m good, thanks. Actually, I need to ask you for a favor…” you started.

“What is it? Everything alright?” Sam was growing concerned. Back then, you hated relying on another person, too stubborn to ask for help, because you wanted to do everything on your own.

“There’s a case here in New York…I believe it’s your kind. And I genuinely don’t think I can deal with this on my own.”

“But you’re safe, right?”

“I am, as safe as one can be.” you chuckled. Working for the police & all that. Not that you would tell Sam on the phone. If they were to come by, he would find out sooner or later. “I’ll send you the details, alright? Be here as fast as you can.”

“Okay, no problem. Take care, okay?”

“You too. See you soon.” wow, you were about to see your brothers again. Hopefully everything would be fine & nobody would rip your head off.

“See you, (Y/N).” Sam ended the call & you let out a breath you did not know you were holding.

The phone call should stay a secret for the time being. People breaking out in panic was everything but convenient. Besides, you did not need your team looking at you like you were a lunatic. Malcolm explained possession trance disorder when you joined everyone again. How could one human being know so much about so many unimportant things? Like, this man was a human dictionary. Looking over at Gil, you had to grin by how hard he was trying to make sense of what Malcolm was saying. Gil noticed you staring at him & gave you a look. The one that made you not want to mess with him. Still, you laughed shortly, you could not keep it in any longer. Malcolm gave you a questioning look but you simply shrugged him off by a wave of your hand.

The last interrogation of the day was with the guy who was currently doing the painting job inside the church. Unfortunately, you did not get any more information. Everything he told you, you had already heard from the others. Basically, after interrogating everyone, you were certain that this was not a common case for the NYPD. And you were more than happy that your brothers were on their way to come over. How would you explain any of this to Malcolm? He knew you had two brothers but you had also told him that you were not necessarily talking, only when it came to emergencies. Great, Malcolm would freak out. Even more so than normal, probably.

“Why do we have to visit your father again?” you shot the question at Malcolm as you were walking over the psychiatric yard, looking for Martin. He rolled his eyes at you, exhausted by your constant questioning.

“I’ve explained it a thousand times, (Y/N).”

“Well, I don’t see how any of this is connected to him.” you argued. Whenever Malcolm had the great idea to visit his father, you tagged along. Simply because you knew it was always hard for him & you wanted to support him wherever you could. Right now, though, you were losing your patience. After all, you knew the cause of this case. But your brothers had yet to arrive so you should play along for now.

“Malcolm, my boy. (Y/N)! Always nice to see you.” Martin started, excited to see his son accompanied by you. The first time you visited Martin, he took an immediate liking to you. Probably because he could see that you were good for Malcolm & his son meant the world to him. Still, he was a narcissistic psychopath. Remembering clearly how he had told you that everyone had flaws during your first meeting. Ah, good times.

“I wish I could say the same, Dr. Whitly.” a sarcastic smile plastered on your face. From then on, you let Malcolm do the talking, not really paying attention to what he was saying. Your thoughts were with your brothers, hoping they would get their asses here quickly before you had to endure more of this bullshit. It was frustrating when you knew how to solve this case but there was nobody you could talk to, not about this. Malcolm desperately tried searching for a non-supernatural explanation. Of course he did. And you just stood by, not being helpful at all. Malcolm did notice your quietness but did not comment on it. Not when you were with his father. He would ask you later today, when you were back at home.

Sam sent you a message earlier today, asking for your address to meet up. This meant that they would not take much longer. The knock on the door was confirmation enough. Malcolm walked over, ready to open it & you did not have enough time to warn him. Oh, this was bound to be fun.

“Uh…Hello?” Malcolm, everyone. Great first impression.

“You’re not (Y/N).” you could make out Dean’s voice. Walking up to where Malcolm was standing in the doorway, you looked over his shoulder & smiled at your brothers. They really were here, it had been too long. Softly pushing Malcolm out of the way, you pulled both of them in a long overdue hug. It was only then when you realized how much you had missed them. Malcolm observed the interaction from afar, confusion obviously shown on his face. Right now, you could only focus on the men in front of you, though.

“It’s good to see you guys again.” smiling widely at them. Sam nodded at you & even Dean could not hide the small smile that was forming on his face.

“I’m sorry…Can I help you guys?” Malcolm spoke up, waiting for answers from either you or the strangers that now entered his apartment.

“No, but we’ll help you.” Dean walked over to Malcolm & patted his shoulder.

“Sam, Dean. This is Malcolm. Malcolm. These are my brothers.” you awkwardly introduced them to each other. Malcolm’s mouth hang open & he could not form a coherent sentence.

“Nice to meet you.” Sam held out his hand & it took Malcolm a second to shake it.

“Your brothers?” Malcolm whisper-yelled.

“Yeah?”

“And what are they doing here?” it was not his intention to sound rude, you knew that. Yet, he seemed rather frustrated because you clearly knew they were coming over but decided against telling your boyfriend.

“Remember when I told you that they had a similar job to ours?” Malcolm nodded at you. “This case we’re working on…that’s one of their kind. We wouldn’t be able to solve it without their help.” you tried explaining.

“We have the best working team out there! Of course we could’ve solved it alone!” but you simply shook your head at him. He would understand sooner or later.

Sam & Dean sat down on the expensive couch, Dean putting his feet on the coffee table. Good thing Malcolm did not care too much about his furniture. Malcolm & you brought drinks from the kitchen & sat across from them. Dean only eyed Malcolm, though. The inevitable was about to happen, you just hoped Malcolm would deliver accordingly.

“Who the hell are you?” he was judging Malcolm & neither Sam’s elbow nudging him nor your dirty look changed the way he looked at him. What could you say? Dean was very protective of you, even after ages of not talking.

“Malcolm Bright, profiler for the NYPD.” that made the brothers’ eyebrows raise. Thank God he did not let slip that he was the son of a serial killer.

“You’re working for the police?” Sam eyed Malcolm, now being confused as to why you would get them involved with the police even though you were aware of what they had been through.

“Well, yeah. I mean, (Y/N) & I met there.” Malcolm reasoned. Great, the cat was out of the bag now.

“Seriously (Y/N)?” Dean looked…disappointed?

“Okay, wait a minute. Let me explain!” Sam & Dean nodded at you to continue. “When I left you guys, I really tried to leave this life behind. I did. But I still wanted to help people. So…one thing came to another & then I was part of the NYPD &-“ you were interrupted by Dean, of course.

“And slept around with this guy?” Dean looked Malcolm over & you rolled your eyes at him. Malcolm looked offended but stayed silent.

“This guy is my boyfriend. And his name is Malcolm.” you defended him. “And I asked you to help me with this case, not with my dating life.” looking at Dean sternly, he nodded at you & apologized. He could get caught up in the heat of the moment but you had more important things to focus on.

Throughout your talk, Malcolm sent you questioning looks every now & then. You brushed him off, telling him you would explain it later. Sam & Dean got the message & tried keeping the talk casual. Clearly, your boyfriend did not know about the supernatural & it would be better if it stayed that way.

“Okay, so tomorrow, we’ll talk to Norman & see what we can find out.” Malcolm concluded after some long confusing hours.

“Sammy & I need some sleep after that long ass drive anyway. We’ll be meeting at his house first thing in the morning. Don’t be late.” when he said that, he stared at Malcolm. Rolling your eyes at his childish antics, you slapped him lightly on the chest.

“Do you wanna stay here for the night?” you asked when they were walking to the front door.

“Um, no. We’re checked in at the motel a few blocks down. Besides…” Dean gestured wildly with his hands. “This entire apartment looks too luxurious for us. How did you get so much money anyway?” Dean asked, again motioning at the expensive looking apartment.

“It’s actually Malcolm’s…I moved in not too long ago.” explaining to both of them. Sam nodded, looking satisfied with your current living situation. Dean, of course, had another thing to comment on.

“Oh wow, (Y/N)…Good catch.” winking at you, you shoved him out of the apartment, shaking your head.

“Good night!” you said before closing the door behind them, letting out a long sigh.

“Your brothers are…nice.” Malcolm started. You winced at his choice of words. In your head, it all worked out way better.

“I’m sorry, Mal…They can be quite protective.”

“No, it’s fine, I get it. They’re, uh, very into this religious thing, huh?”

“Oh, you have noooo idea.” you chuckled.

“Why didn’t you tell me they were coming by?”

“I don’t know…I guess I didn’t want you to think that you’re not good enough for this case.”

“But?”

“But I need you to trust me when I tell you that Sam & Dean are the ones who should handle this one.”

“I trust you, you know that, (Y/N). But you have to give me permission to say “I told you so.” when we solve this case without their help.” Malcolm held out his hand for you to shake.

“Deal.” you smiled at him. Your brothers & boyfriend might not become best friends but you did not expect them to. All you wanted was to get rid of whatever killed that priest. And you knew that the supernatural feared Sam & Dean. This would be over soon.

“You sure these are the same guys who were at our apartment yesterday?” Malcolm whispered to you when you were approaching two men in suits. Not their usual flannel attire, they were working a job after all.

“Just play along, alright?” Malcolm nodded at you. He promised to trust you on this & you seemed like you knew what you were doing.

“Detectives.” Dean greeted you.

“Shut up.” you threw back almost immediately. Sam & Dean laughed at your comment.

“I missed you, lil sis.” Dean said with a genuine tone, one that made you smile wildly.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Sam knocked on the door, waiting for it to open. They introduced themselves as FBI & showed the woman in the doorway their badges. Shooting Malcolm a look as if to say “Don’t ask.” & he just acted as if he had not seen this. The woman led you upstairs to a room. She warned you to not cross the salt lines. All of you nodded. Well, all but Malcolm. The poor man could not understand a thing. Sometimes you wished you were this innocent when it came to cases like this. If it were not for Malcolm, this would have felt like the good old days when you spent your time solving case after case with your brothers. Yeah, it had been dangerous & exhausting but you still liked being a hunter. Also, the three of you were one hell of a team.

The door opened & you were met with countless geometrical lines made out of salt. Because a simple circle would not do the job or what? Fucking show-off. Careful not to mess with the salt, the four of you stepped inside the dark room. Norman’s back was facing you. While Sam & Dean simply took in the room to check for any indicators of anything supernatural, Malcolm started interrogating Norman. You signaled the boys to let him do his job.

“The salt keeps him out.” suddenly, Norman’s voice was way deeper than when he first started talking. Weird guy. Still, you did not think it was him.

“Who?” Malcolm asked in a calm voice. He was good at this. Even though he almost always got himself killed.

“The demon.” Norman said. What the hell was wrong with him? Malcolm turned around to you & found the three of you rolling your eyes. Really desperate if a person wanted to be a demon.

“He’s clearly mentally ill.” Malcolm stated quietly.

“Oh, really?” you sarcastically shot back. Who would have thought? Malcolm started lifting one of his foot, meaning to cross the line.

“Mal, wait. Don’t.” you warned him but when did Malcolm ever listen? You were not sure how Norman even noticed Malcolm crossing the line, his back was still facing you after all, but all of a sudden things escalated. Apparently, Norman thought Malcolm was a demon. He was everything but, really. He just had some demons to fight but he was not one. Norman was grabbing a lamp, wanting to attack Malcolm with it but you got everything sorted before anything bad could happen. Norman was on his way in the hospital & you were just glad that everyone was fine.

When all of you were outside the house again, Sam & Dean looked annoyed.

“Dude, we wasted time with this madman.” Dean started. “That’s bullshit.”

“Dean, stop.” you cut him off before the situation got too intense. “He was the only suspect we had. We couldn’t have known he was mentally ill.”

“We should check out the church tonight.” Sam suggested.

“Why at night?” Malcolm asked curiously.

“Oh, look how precious he is.” Dean mocked. If he kept acting that way you might as well salt & burn his bones next. Turning to Malcolm, you tried reasoning with him.

“Because we can’t risk people watching us. Not when we’re doing this.” Malcolm understood but he also planned a lot of questions for when you were back home.

“Alright, we’ll meet there later. Dean & I will take care of everything we might need.” Sam said before walking off to Baby.

“I see you took great care of her.” nudging Dean, motioning at the beautiful ’67 Chevy Impala. Another thing you had missed dearly. Countless nights had been spent in the backseat, you associated this car with a lot of happy memories.

“Always.” Dean smiled at you. “Baby misses you, too, you know?”

“I’m sure she does. After all, I had the brains. Of course she misses my smartness.” Dean shook his head at you, rolling his eyes at the same time. Saying goodbye & turning around, Malcolm gave you a look.

“What?”

“Baby? Her? You sure you were talking about the car?” oh, that was bothering him. Now you understood.

“It’s a long story.” you laughed & gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking past him. He let out a short laugh & smiled at your actions.

“(Y/N)? I think we should talk.” Malcolm started shortly after you entered your shared apartment.

“Oh no…that’s never a good sign.”

“What’s going on here?” you could tell he was serious. Fuck, you hated lying to him. One of the reasons why you had barely mentioned your brothers was to avoid questions you did not want to answer. It was now or never. Telling Malcolm to sit down, you were about to start at the very beginning. There were still a few hours left before you had to be at the church, might as well use it appropriately. Hopefully, Malcolm did not decide to leave you after opening up to him.

“So…you’re telling me that monsters are real, your brothers hunt them down & you used to help them before you left.” you nodded when Malcolm tried processing what you had just told him. “And my girlfriend saved the world more than once.” he concluded.

“Pretty much, yeah.” he was silent for a few seconds. That would be the moment he would ask you to leave.

“My girlfriend is a badass.” Malcolm mumbled & started laughing then. You joined in.

“Really? That’s all you have to say?” you questioned, not really believing that he dealt with it so casually.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m freaking out.” he confessed. “You know, makes me think of all the cases we couldn’t solve. Maybe we weren’t successful because of…supernatural beings playing a part. But honestly, it’s just another thing that got added to my plate. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Mal…”

“No, really. I mean it. Besides, now I know that if I ever meet a monster, you’re here to fight it off. Or your brothers. If I were a monster, I’d be scared as shit of them.” Malcolm finished & you laughed, throwing your entire body back on the couch. That actually went quite well? At least something positive.

Churches were creepy in general. But churches at night? That was a whole other level of madness. You met Sam & Dean at the Impala, Dean’s face buried in the trunk, looking for suitable weapons. Malcolm had promised not to question your actions & you were thankful for it. Because you had other things to focus on. Dean handed out weapons which you gladly accepted.

“Mal? You gotta promise me to stay behind.” concerning eyes met his & he knew better than to argue with you. Malcolm gulped but nodded anyway.

“You ready to do this?” Sam asked.

“I am but I think (Y/N)’s a little rusty.” Dean commented.

“Just...let’s get this over with…” rolling your eyes at Dean, you hated to admit that he was most likely right. You had not been on a hunt in a very long time but you knew you could fight when push came to shove.

The four of you entered the church silently, weapons at ready. After walking around for a while, Dean lifted his hand to stop you all. Trying to get a better look at what made him freeze, you were shocked when you saw Jonah, the painter, pacing these holy grounds. Why did you not think of him? It was quite obvious, really. Maybe you were getting rusty.

“Well, he is a demon, no doubts, but he isn’t Abaddon.” Dean spoke, quietly enough as to not get caught. “So if you guys distract this son of a bitch, I can catch him off guard from behind & stab him.”

“No, wait. You can’t kill him, Dean.” you argued. There was still a possibility of a human being somewhere inside.

“What? Why?” Dean turned towards you & tilted his head in confusion. Sighing out, you tried to talk some sense into him.

“Let Sam do an exorcism. We don’t know if Jonah’s still in there.” Dean thought about this for a few seconds but nodded afterwards. Sam grabbed an old lore book with the exorcism inside. He remembered the words by heart but better safe than sorry, right? Your plan was to stay hidden, the church was dark enough to do that without getting caught.

The demon was confused when he heard the first words of the exorcism, already struggling to stay inside Jonah. Good, he was not a strong one. Malcolm stayed close with you. Sam & Dean each took one side of the church, just in case something went wrong. Sam continued with the latin words & the demon was unable to move anymore. He was trapped in one place. That was when all of you made yourself shown to him. Hopefully, Jonah was still alive in there. If not, you had a lot of explaining to do. You already had but another dead person would make everything even more complicated.

“I AM ABADDON!” the demon screamed & you noticed that he barely had enough strength to stay in Jonah’s body anymore. Malcolm stayed in the background, simply observing & letting you do your job.

“I’m sure you wanna be, pal.” Dean got closer to the demon but not too close for it to be dangerous. “But we got rid of her a long time ago.” and it was true. Abaddon’s death was years ago. Why this demon thought to be her? You were not sure. But you also did not care. You just wanted this to be over. Sam finished the ritual & black smoke came out of Jonah’s mouth. After that, he fell to the floor & all of you ran over to him. Malcolm checked for a pulse & nodded when he felt it. Letting out a breath, you were glad that you could save him. Grabbing your phone out of your pocket, you dialed 911 & called Gil right after.

In no time, cars were surrounding the church. Sam, Dean, Malcom & you were standing in a small circle outside. Gil approached you.

“What the hell happened? And who the hell are you guys?” the second question was directed at your brothers who coughed a little, not knowing how to answer. Time to sell a little fake story.

“Gil, these are Sam & Dean, my brothers.” Gil shook both men’s hands.

“Didn’t know you had brothers.” he noted.

“Long story…Anyway, they came to visit & stayed at our apartment. They kinda overheard Malcolm & I talking about the case. Sam, here, has the brains-“

“Hey!” Dean feigned hurt at your words.

“And he pieced everything together. We didn’t wanna waste time & before I even had the chance to call you, we had already caught him.” as soon as you finished, Malcolm joined in to help with your little white lie.

“Jonah was poisoned by the lead in the paint he was using. It can cause dissociative behavior that can be mistaken for possession.” thank God for Malcolm “Human Dictionary” Bright. Gil could not argue with this so he simply went back over to the rest of the team. Nice job.

“Thanks guys.” addressing Sam & Dean.

“So that’s it, huh?” Sam asked, sad that he knew he had to let you go again. Yet, he supported your decision.

“Hey, Malcolm?” Dean looked at him. “I wanna show you something, come on.” Malcolm followed Dean to the black car which left you alone with Sam.

“He’s gonna kill him, isn’t he?” Sam laughed at your words.

“Possibly.” then he turned serious again. “I miss you.” Sam confessed, his jaw clenching.

“I miss you, too, Sammy.” looking up at him, you continued. “And I’m sorry for disappearing off the radar. It’s just…when I left, this entire starting new thing took more time than I thought it would.”

“I get it & I’m not asking you to come back with us. I can see that you like it here. You’ve finally found your happiness & by the way Malcolm looks at you? He’s utterly in love with you, (Y/N). Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will, I promise. You, too. Call me when you’re starting the next apocalypse.” you joked with him. He then pulled you into a big hug, one that you had missed so much. Sam always gave the best hugs.

“What is it?” Malcolm asked Dean, nervous as to why he wanted to talk to him alone.

“Look, man, (Y/N)’s my little sister & I’d do anything for her. So if you ever hurt her…know that I’ll beat the crap outta you.” Malcolm gulped but found enough courage to answer him.

“I love (Y/N). I’d never to do anything to hurt her. I get why you worry, I do. But she’s safe here. I promise.”

“Hey Dean, go easy on him.” their heads snapped in the direction your voice was coming from. By the smile on your face, he knew you were joking. Sam & you reached the car.

“I’ll miss you.” approaching Dean, you were more than satisfied when he opened his arms for you to pull you into a hug. He pressed a soft kiss on top of your head before releasing you again.

“Malcolm promised me to keep you safe.”

“Did he now?” turning around, eyeing your boyfriend with a smirk.

“Check in with us, okay?” Dean grew serious.

“I will, I promise. You guys take care of yourselves, okay?” both men nodded. “Tell Cas I said hi. How are you two doing anyway?” you stopped briefly to wink at him which made Sam chuckle quietly. “And bring him next time.”

“Alright, goodbye.” Dean said, laughing at you, Sam joining him.

“Bye, guys.” you waved at them when they got into the car.

Leaning into Malcolm’s side, you could feel his arm sneaking around your waist to keep your close. For a few moments, you stood there in silence, watching the Impala slowly disappear out of your view.

“Do I need to be jealous of this Cas guy?” Malcolm asked all of a sudden & you broke out into laughter. His confused face was hilarious.

“Trust me, Mal. If you meet him, you’ll know that there’s no need to be jealous.” tears were threatening to escape your eyes. The simple image of you & Cas together made you laugh out loud.

“I guess I need to trust you on that.”

“Hey, remember what you said when you thought we wouldn’t need help solving this case?” you asked him, changing the topic entirely. His face showed you that he did, in fact, not remember.

“I told you so.” you smirked at him, enjoying how his smile slowly faltered. Rolling his eyes at you, he wanted to say a witty remark. You knew what he was trying to do but before he had the chance, you silenced him with a long, soft kiss. That always managed to do the job. Pulling away after a few seconds, you lovingly stared into his eyes. This moment could have been overly romantic. If it were not for you putting salt into his wound.

“I told you so.” repeating your previous words, you walked away from him, sarcastically smiling as you did so. You were right about this & Malcolm prepared himself to hear the same words over & over from now on.

Published (04/15/2021) by Cathy

Tags: @thefictionalgemini, @prodigalsonlovingbisexual, @octopus5555, @claudiaparker30, @the-unknown-fan-girl, @popcornanon, @jasminetea-andpaisho, @anatanotegami, @blackandwhitejoker (thanks for your support <3)

#malcolm bright x reader #malcolm bright #tom payne #prodigal son #prodigal son imagine #Prodigies #prodigal son x reader #reader insert #reader imagine #fanfiction #imagine #gil arroyo #dani powell #jt tarmel #edrisa tanaka #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #destiel #SPN #SPNFamily #supernatural #supernatural family #supernatural imagine #dean winchester x sister!reader #sam winchester x sister!reader #winchester!reader #winchester!sister #crossover #supernatural crossover

[into-september]

to cross your DNA with something reptile

With the answer set to be given within the next couple of days (to what extent it even was a quesetion any more), I guess now’s the time for me to pull together the the threads from some three or four different drafts of blergh and explain why no amount of desperate positive takes has made me excited about the sentiadrien narrative. 

I’m putting this under cut because god knows I am myself tired of seeing this disc horse on my dash; I just need to get it out before whatever meltdown tomorrow will bring and because I’ll probably be AFK for most of it because Christmas is all around us (as evident in how I’m posting this between batches of Christmas sweets made with my sisters, thirty minutes before Kuro Neko drops. See you on the other side and DM me when the subs are out; spoiler tags shall be ON after this) (welp). I also want to stress that this is in no way meant as salt; I’m writing this from a place of profound love of this show, and I’m fully aware that it’s not that deep, sis. I’m not taking this terribly seriously because the show isn’t going to either, but. 

Well. 

Loving something for what it is does not mean that I have to deny its genre and target audience and they way they’ve previously dealt with anything demanding the audience to question the story. TL;DR, the inclusion of heavy existential themes into a story without the backbone to carry them is a substantial part of why my feelings about this are pretty much

The title of this post isn’t completely random, and the lord only knows that my predictions about MLB are usually proven wrong. The show has done some legit clever storytelling before and I don’t doubt there’ll be more of it to come. Maybe they’ll pull this storyline and make something truly fantastic out of it, and that’s the hope. 

And that’s all I have.

I. The dubious narrative precedent

Miraculous Ladybug is this absolutely bonkers, absolutely adorable series of twenty-three minute episodes about two teenage superheroes who fight dinosaurse and weaponied pidegons and don’t know that they sit next to each other in class and are desperately in love. Yeah yeah there’s a magical terrorist posessing innocent citizens and sending them out on murder sprees weekly, but his presence is merely the excuse for having our two heroes look cool and be cute at each other. Miraculous Ladybug is very, very good at being that show. 

The introduction of season-spanning plot developments creates two issues. First, of course, is that breaking away from the formula means that Miraculous Ladybug no longer is that very thing I love. This has of course been what many fans have been crying for since like season two, so... good for you?

But that makes the second problem all the more urgent: The few previous times the show has batted its kitty-paws at more meaningful storylines, the results have been mixed. And by "mixed”, I mean “mostly not particularly good”. 

Succumbing to pessimism is an individual’s choice, and honestly: I can’t say I entirely have, because observe the prime example of my very objection - the fact that Season 4 includes a number of plot elements that by all accounts should have turned the story from the episodic nonsense to something at least somewhat more grave and comtemplative. Instead, the writers opted to let the characters almost uniformly ignore huge changes that should upset any status quo. In theory, it’s not terribly good writing to refuse to let universe-changing events have narrative consequences. In practice, it’s letting me continue to watch the same delighfully dumb show, so I’m not actually complaining. 

This is of course not to say that they won’t suddenly start being as good at writing long plots as they are at writing singular episodes, but the way S4 has gone about the other changes is not promising. And let’s be real: For all the good times they’ve given us, the writers of the show are not above being blatantly lazy.

The resident mean girl having a super sweet and super stylish and super sad sister who was introduced to the story completely out of the blue to instantly befriend the established cast, discover her silly stepfather’s abandoned dreams, and being given her undeserving sister’s miraculous the episode after she met Ladybug - that was a thing that happened. 

II. The thematic collapse

Either sentimonsters are merely objects to be used and discarded, or Gabriel and Nathalie are serial murderers. TPTB on are bending over backwards on twitter to deny the first and I sincerely struggle to see the show confirm the second, and that’s not indicative of a lot of thought having been put into this. 

III. The philosophical pretension

I don’t give a rat’s back end about the question of whether or not non-human intelligence should have their human rights recognised. IRL, it’s a hypothetical. In fiction, it is usually brought up to justify the existence of already beloved "artificial” characters. It’s not a question that merits discussion, unless it’s an allegory for recognising the humanity of real people who would somehow be dehumanised. And when we’re at that point, in a liberal western work in the twenty-first century, that would raise the question of who. Who are these people whose humanity is not recognised in our society? 

Not queer people or racial minorities - both groups are visibly present on the show and portrayed as no less included and accepted than the straight whites. A less usual suspect would be disabled people, particularly pertinent given that Adrien’s original character conception used a walking aid, but the prejudices they are met with are usually of a different breed entirely. The similar absence of lower class people and visible religious minorities is a flaw in the show, not society. 

Of course, I’m just being difficult. The question of does non-human intelligence deserve recognition on par with biological humans has been posed twice already and answered as the banality it is both times. Even without the pocket-sized alien gods making up the story’s entire premise and their recognition as individuals, Markov is human enough to be targeted for akumatisation at least twice, and Aeon’s death was so traumatic that it effectively ended Paris’ superhero duo until she personally put it together again. 

Unless there is something substantially more lore to sentimonsters than what we know at this point, sentiadrien can’t be included for the purpose of inciting any profound reflections about the human condition. Discount the existential horror that is every sentimonster’s fate, and we’re left with the magical equivalent of “found out I was adopted”. 

IV. The thematic collapse, part two

Unless Duusuu’s powers are permanently and fundamentally changed, ~senti representation~ is not something for which the show should strive, because real people living under that condition is, uh. 

Screwed up, to put it mildly. To recap: 

1. The point of Duusuu’s power is that whoever has the amok has control over the sentimonster, fully able to overide any free will it has and effectively render it a puppet at their command. The only known way a sentimonster can escape this fate is to have the amok item somehow embedded inside their bodies so that it can neither be lost nor reached by anyone else. 

2. When Duusuu’s powers are being used, the wielder can remove the amok as easily as plucking a hair from their head; they are figuratively holding the sentimonster’s beating heart in the palm of their hand. Even without the slavery to the amok, they are living under the threat of instant death at the hands of the peacock wielder. As the number of lost and found miraculouses on this show well proves, a sympathetic and trustworthy peacock wielder can never be taken for granted. As was demonstrated by Feast, eating your amok is no path to liberation from this master. The only known way a sentimonster can escape this fate is if Duusuu’s miraculous is cast into the fires of Mount Doom. 

V. (and you want to bridge the schism, a built-in mechanism to protect you) 

(the entire problem, the only problem, is that Duusuu’s power is to create life for the purpose of unconditional servitude. This is morally questionable if said life is clearly non-human and with limited degrees of intelligence [hence the name and the “goes ape crazy if amok is no longer in charge]. It comes a horror show of entirely different dimensions when it is used for creating life that for all intents and purposes is human and capable of participating in human society like any other person. Banana Boom Boom probably wouldn’t spend time mulling over his slavery to Queen Banana, but it is a crisis that could explain a lot of Felix’ allegedly uncharacteristically rotten attitude in his intro episode.)

(the question, then, is this: will Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir ever acknowledge that Duusuu’s power is so ripe for abuse that it should come with an ethical charter?)

(because lol, wasn’t it funny that Plagg sunkt the Atlantis. Isn’t it hilarious how Sabrina does Chloé’s homework in her closet. Wasn’t it just any akuma attack like usual that time a teenage girl disappointed in love drowned every person in western Europe except for a handful of middle schoolers)

(through real world lenses, Su-Han’s rage at finding the miraculous box in the hands of a fourteen year old girl is entirely justified. Per the established reality of canon, of course, he’s just a boomer)

(it’ll be fine as long as the person with the miraculous is noble and well-intended. And that’s easy, since there are only two kinds of people: Nice People, or Bad People. Sometimes Nice People do bad things under the influence of Bad People. That’s okay; they’ll come around. How lucky that Marinette always knows to which group a person belongs. This is a show for primary schoolers, it’s not that deep, sis)

(will Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir ever acknowledge that Duusuu’s power is so ripe for abuse that it should come with an ethical charter)

VI. And now for something completely different

Yeah yeah, I probably won’t be done with this anytime soon, because the narrative parallell between Gabriel’s “super strict parenting” and Adrien being a sentimonster whose amok is in posession of his father who also has the peacock miraculous cannot be an accident. One reflects in the other, and the yikes is twofold. 

First: We’ve by now got confirmation that the show isn’t out to thematise emotional abuse, since the head honcho denies that Audrey’s treatment of Chloé is causing harm, nevermind that the show clearly shows that it is. Of course, Thomas Astruc’s understanding of the semantics is one thing; another entirely is that it is in fact debatable to what extent Adrien is a victim of parental abuse. Not because Gabriel’s actions and attitude aren’t abusive, but because Adrien’s bottomless optimism lets him excuse it as the results of his father’s grief. Even though the neglect hurts him, he has yet to question whether he is worthy of his father’s love and attention. Dad’ll come around once he moves on, and Adrien’s self-worth remains solid. 

The audience, of course, knows that this is technically true but not for the reason Adrien thinks. The message, at any rate, remains the same: Gabriel isn’t treating Adrien badly because sometimes adults intentionally hurt their children. Gabriel is treating Adrien badly because he’s a supervillain, and if Adrien isn’t harmed then it’s not that bad, anyway. Certainly not next to the willingness to use the amok to force Adrien into hurting people he loves. 

(yes, I’m like 70% certain that a sentiadrien storyline will be part of a Gabriel redemption storyline, and I hate it here)

The other “hoe don’t” is the - mildly put - unfortunate implications in how sentiadrien has been affected by his father’s non-magical mistreatment. Namely, that the reason he "just puts up with it" is because the core of his existence is that his father literally can control his mind and his every action. 

Not because so many children will accept and internalise their parents’ abuse in the horrible misunderstanding that this is how we care for them. Not because abuse will tear down your self-worth until you truly believe that you are unlovable, that your feelings and opinions are irrelevant, and that you deserve being treated like a nothing. 

Adrien's tacit acceptance and steadfast defending and excusing his father's treatment of him is a realistic response in abused children. One very obvious reading of the sentiadrien narrative is that he is like that because he is a puppet at his father's command - that he would rebel if he could, because his submission has nothing to do with his father’s attitude. 

That victims of "real" abuse would take a stand, would talk back, would make accusations, would know that this is wrong. If you're a passive victim like Adrien, then clearly the things destroying you is all in your head, sticks and stones, because it's not his father's treatment of him that makes Adrien Like That, it's his father being a supervillain.

VII. and then what’s the point

With how easy come, easy go Marinette and Gabriel’s power upgrades have been this season, the show has paved the path for sentiadrien to release himself from his slavery by just really really wanting to. Amoks are visually equated to akumas, and the lord only knows Alya and Nino needed little else than a friend telling them to get it together. Why should it be any more difficult for sentiadrien? “Using their imagination”, after all, was all it took for Ladybug and Shadow Moth. 

And at that point, then what was the point, except giving the audience one more horror to wait for him to discover, and giving him an episode or two of misery, and possibly pursuing some insipid ruminations on a topic whose truth the story has been long since established. 

If they’re going to re-define the entire existence of one of their main characters, then it has better be for something more than cheap angst. 

#miraculous ladybug #mlb meta #blah

[ratonnhhaketon]

Still Breathing

Read on Ao3 | Next Chapter

Summary: Six months after the defeat of Thanos, the world is still in chaos. The threat of the Flag Smashers combined with the new headstrong Captain America means it's time for Valencia Zicari to help save the world one more time. But, in doing so, she also has to pick up the pieces of a broken relationship.

Warnings: Major TFATWS spoilers, Swearing, Angst, Fluff, Slow-Burn, John Walker (just in general)

A/N: HHH, new fic time! TFATWS has been consuming my brain these past few weeks and it was only a matter of time before I made another oc and wrote for Bucky. I’ve had this in the works since the first episode but I’m super excited to finally be ready to start posting! This fic will be relatively short but I do also plan on doing a prequel fic eventually to further flush out my marvel oc, Valencia Zicari. I apologize that this starts off kinda slow, with just two phone calls at the beginning, but it will pick up a lot in the upcoming chapters. In the meantime if you have any questions or comments about the fic or Val’s story, don’t hesitate to send them my way! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Your Number On Speed Dial

Bucky’s eyes shot open, his throat closing and lungs gasping for air. He felt the sweat covering his body, the thin blanket tangled between his legs. The cool metal of his dog tags swung against his chest as he sat up, chest heaving as he sucked in breaths and tried to regain his breathing. He looked around his surroundings, slowly calming down as he noticed he was in his apartment. 

Another goddamn nightmare. 

Realizing he was alone, Bucky instinctively reached up onto the chair next to him for his cellphone. He flipped open the phone, eyes squinting to adjust to the light of the small screen in front of him. He noticed the time, 3:08 am. While he knew that she would more than likely still be up and wouldn’t mind talking, he felt guilty for instinctively reaching out for her this late. Still, he let his hand press accept and after only two rings he heard her familiar voice pick up. 

“Hi Buck,” she said with a smile, exhaustion evident in her voice.

“Hi,” he replied with a hoarse voice, sleep still clinging to his vocal chords. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” 

“I could ask you the same question,” she said with a small laugh. “But, yeah. Probably. I’ve been working my ass off trying to get in contact with Fury and nothing is working.”

“Not even through the SHIELD lines?”

She sighed, a hand coming up to rub at her temples. “I’ve tried, but he’s ‘on vacation’ and is only taking messages if they’re life or death.” 

“I mean, shouldn’t he be able to make an exception for you? Given, y’know..”

“Unfortunately I lost the ‘you’re my adoptive daughter’ privilege when I decided to grow up and join the Avengers.” Bucky chuckled in response, his nightmare finally starting to fade from the back of his mind. “I’m just.. worried about Wanda. The whole situation still isn’t sitting right with me, especially since any information has been classified and no one at all can access it.”

“Val,” Bucky said quietly, his metal hand coming up to rub against the chain hanging around his neck. “When was the last time you took a break?” 

He heard an audible sigh over the phone and a pause before she spoke up. “Not since half of the world disappeared.” 

“Well, how about this. Thursday, you finally put all of that aside for a few hours and we can grab lunch. I’ll buy.” 

She thought it over for a moment, Bucky’s breath hitching in his throat in the few seconds it took before she spoke up. “Yeah, that sounds nice. We can go to that sushi place you used to take me to.” 

“Sounds perfect, doll. I’ll see you then. Now go get some rest.” 

“You too, old man.” 

~~~~~

Valencia stood in the common room of the compound, a scowl present on her face as she watched the tv. John Walker’s Good Morning America interview was playing at a low volume. She hadn’t even met the man yet and already hated him. Partly because of how he talked about Steve without knowing the first thing about him, and partly because every journalist in the state of New York had been contacting her in an attempt to interview her about the new Captain America. Pulling her eyes away from the screen, she noticed her phone vibrating to announce an incoming call. She answered, a smile tugging at her lips for the first time in the past day. “Hey Bucky.”

“Hi,” he said shortly. She could feel the anger in his voice. “Have you seen the news?”

“Absolutely,” she replied, her scowl returning to her face. “Everyone has been bothering me about it for the past day. I had to tell Pepper that if one more reporter asked to take a statement from me I’d throw someone out of a window.”

“Jeez. Little harsh, don’t ya think?” 

“Probably,” she said with a small laugh. 

“Hey, have you talked to Sam recently?”

“Yeah, I was just talking to him earlier before you called. He was telling me about having to go to Munich today, something about the Flag Smashers? I don’t know, he didn’t really give me a lot of information.” 

“No, that's great. Thanks, doll. See you Thursday.” 

“Alright, Buck. See you then.” 

~~~~~

Any normal person would be astonished by the amount of trouble one person could get into in the span of 18 hours. But, in terms of being an Avenger, it’s just a normal Wednesday. Especially when it’s Sam and Bucky’s fault. But, Valencia still found a way to be freaking out when Pepper rushed into her room, shoving a phone into her face to announce that Bucky had a warrant out for his arrest. And had subsequently ended up in a Baltimore jail. 

In under an hour she had flown down to the city and found the facility Bucky was being held in. She pulled open the door to the jail, eyes quickly scanning the crowd of people before landing on Bucky’s literal partner in crime. 

She made a beeline straight for the dark haired man. “You want to explain to me what’s going on here, Sam Wilson?” Eyes narrowed, lips pulled into a tight line.

Upon seeing her he pushed himself out of his chair. “Val! How ya’ been? You been doing okay?”

“Oh cut the shit, Sam. You better have a good explanation for why I found out that Bucky not only had a warrant out for his arrest, but then ended up in a Baltimore jail leaving me to haul ass down here to figure out what in the hell is happening.” 

“First, I need you to calm down. Promise me you won’t freak out?” 

She glared at him. “Are you-” 

“Val,” he said in a stern tone. 

She let out a huff before nodding. “Alright, fine. I’m calm.”

“He helped me with that mission in Munich I told you about and then wanted to introduce me to someone in Baltimore. And he may have missed his therapy appointment in the process.”

“He missed-!” Val immediately yelled out, voice louder than anticipated, which drew the attention of the people around them. Sam put an arm around her shoulder and led the two of them over towards an unoccupied side of the room. “Sam, are you serious? He’s been doing so well! He put in so much effort to make sure he made the appointments and you let him go with you?”

“First of all, I told him repeatedly that I didn’t want him coming, but you know how stubborn he is.”

She let out a defeated sigh and dropped her hands to her sides. “So what do we do now?” 

“Well lucky for you they’re actually releasing him.” 

Before Val could reply she was cut off by the sound of heels clicking before a familiar voice spoke near them. “Sam. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist. It’s good to see you again, Valencia.” 

Val gave her a smile. “Good to see you too, doc.”

“So nice to meet you. You two already know each other?”

“I took Bucky to the first few of his appointments to make sure that he would, y’know, actually go. But that was before..” she waved a hand in the air, “everything.” 

Sam nodded. “Well thank you, Dr. Raynor, for getting him out.”

“Oh, that wasn’t me.” 

From across the room a booming voice spoke up, instantly grabbing their attention. “Christina!” The three of them all turned in unison and were met with none other than the new Captain America himself, taking pictures with a bunch of fans. “It’s great to see you again.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You know him?” Sam spoke up with a frustrated sigh. 

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.” 

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in.” Val watched as he approached the group, her arms instinctively crossing over her chest. “Miss Zicari, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been trying to reach out for a formal introduction for several days now.”

“It’s Agent, actually. And unlike you I’ve had a lot of other pressing matters that required my attention.” 

“Right. Well, anyway. Bucky’s not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer.”

“What?”

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?”

“Um,” John used both hands to gesture up towards himself. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have tied up.” 

Val’s attention went from John to the sound of a metal door closing behind her. Her head turned towards the sound and she was met with none other than a familiar set of blue eyes side-eyeing the blonde man in front of her. She felt the corner of her mouth turn up in a half-smile as his head turned and saw hers. Almost instantly the token frown he wore at all times faded and turned into his own partial smile. She walked over to him, her arms finding their way around his neck subconsciously. “Hey, Buck,” she breathed as his arms wove around her middle, pulling their bodies flush together. 

“Hey to you too,” he said with a small laugh. “Pepper finally let you leave the compound?” 

She pulled away to look at him. “Less her letting me leave and more so her immediately getting me a flight and shoving me out the door when she found out you got arrested.”

“Alright lovebirds, break it up.” Dr. Raynor said from behind them. Val’s arms dropped to her side and before she had the chance to correct her, the woman spoke up again. “James, condition of your release, session now.” Bucky let out an audible groan, rolling his eyes slightly, to which Val couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “You too, Sam.”

“That’s okay, I’ll be out here with Val.”

“That wasn’t a request.” 

She pulled her phone from the pocket of her leather jacket and noticed an incoming call. “Just go, I’ll be outside. I gotta take this anyway.” Val walked outside of the jailhouse, sliding a thumb across the screen to answer the call in the process. She partially paid attention to what Pepper was telling her as the new Captain America walked past her, obviously checking her out with a side-eye as she leaned against the chipped bricks. Her eyes narrowed at him as he turned to steal another glance her way before turning her eyes away and down the opposite side of the road. 

“Yeah, he’s okay… no, I don’t know the specifics of how it works out with the pardon... I’ll keep you updated, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be back any time soon. I kinda feel like I’ll be joining the idiots on whatever they plan on doing next… Alright, I will. Keep me updated on the whole Westview situation and tell Morgan to stop stealing the snacks from my room. Oh, haha. Take care, Pepper.”  

As she hung up the phone she saw the door next to her swing open with a visibly angry Sam walking out of it. Bucky trudged out a few seconds later, looking angry but more upset than the man in front of him. As the door started to close behind him he saw Val and walked over to her.

“Do you think Steve was wrong about me?” She could tell he was fighting back tears by the way his voice cracked at the end.

Her hands cupped his face. “Bucky, no, absolutely not. Why would you say that?”

He looked away, not able to look her in the eye. After all the nights they spent together, her talking him down from a nightmare, reassuring him and chasing the negative thoughts away, he couldn’t admit that part of him still felt that same way. “It.. doesn’t matter.”

“If it’s making you this upset, then yes it does.” 

He let out a huff as her thumb began to lightly rub against the stubble on his cheek. “Sam shouldn’t have given up the shield.” 

“I know, Buck, I know. But there’s nothing we can do now, so let’s just try to figure out what’s happening with..” she lifted a hand from his face and used it to make vague gestures around them. “Everything right now.” 

The loud siren from a police cruiser halted their conversation, the sound making Val physically jump. She looked towards the source of the sound and scowled. This asshole again. “Gentlemen,” John’s eyes scanned Val’s figure quickly before adding, “and lady. Good to see you again.” Begrudgingly, she followed Sam and Bucky’s lead and walked towards the blonde haired man and his sidekick. “Look, if we divide ourselves we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.” 

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “So what do you got?”

“Should she be hearing this?” John gestured to Val. 

She scoffed. “I’m on board now, so out with it.” 

“Alright. Well the leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau. We’ve been targeting civilians that have been helping Karli move from place to place. They geotagged a location, then scrambled the signal. But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe. We think that she's taking the medicine she just stole to one of these camps.”

“Well there’s been hundreds of those put up across the planet since The Blip,” Valencia interjected. “So I guess you’ll have to look real hard.”

“Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?” John shot back, annoyance prevalent in his voice.

“Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?” Bucky spoke up, patience quickly being stretched thin.

“No, we don’t know, Bucky,” Walker’s voice rose dramatically. “It’s only a matter of time before we find out.” 

Bucky cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing at the man in front of him. “Things are really tense for you, aren’t they Walker?” Val rested a gentle hand against Bucky’s chest, holding him back as a reminder not to do anything irrational- although she definitely wanted him to. 

Sam approached the super soldier, putting a hand in the air to further make him back off. “Take it easy. Look, Walker’s right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them. But you guys have rules of engagement and all kinds of authorizations you have to get. We're free agents. We're more.. flexible. So it wouldn't make sense for us to work with you.” 

The trio started to walk off before Walker stood up from the cruiser and spoke. “A word of advice, then.” The three of them turned to look at him once again. “Stay the hell out of my way.” 

Knowing that it wasn’t worth it to get a final word in, Sam put a hand on either of their shoulders and pushed them to keep walking away. Once they were a reasonable distance down the street, Val turned to Bucky and noticed he was deep in thought. “What’s on your mind, Buck?” she asked with a hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. 

“Well, I know what we have to do. When Isaiah said “my people”...” he trailed off, still staring ahead. 

“Oh, don’t take that to heart. That’s not what he meant-” Sam tried to correct him before Bucky cut him off. 

“No, he meant HYDRA.” He paused for a moment, feet coming to a stop as he looked between the pair next to him. “HYDRA used to be my people.” 

“Bucky,” Val spoke up cautiously.”

Sam scoffed. “Not a chance.” 

“Walker doesn’t have any leads.” 

“I know where you’re going with this, no.”

“He knows all of HYDRA’s secrets. Don’t you remember Siberia.” 

“Oh, you cannot be serious,” Val said as she dragged a tired hand over her face. 

“So you’re just gonna sit in a room with this guy?” 

Bucky hesitated for a moment, obviously not thinking about his idea that much ahead of time. “Y-yes.” 

Val sighed, shaking her head slightly. “Out of all your ideas, this has got to be the dumbest.” She looked at Sam, who shrugged his shoulders and nodded. “Fine. Let’s go see Zemo.”

#my posts #myworks #writing #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #the falcon and the winter solider spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #bucky barnes x oc #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky x y/n #bucky x oc #bucky barnes x avenger!reader #bucky barnes x avenger!oc #stillbreathing #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x female avengers!oc #bucky barnes x female oc #bucky x female reader #bucky x avenger!oc #bucky x avenger!reader

[empress-of-snark]

FINALLY sat down and watched ‘Psych 3: This is Gus’ (yes I know I’m months late but I kept forgetting it happened). Minor spoilers below!

Overall opinion: possibly the best of the series so far! Very solid plot, great balance of humor and emotion, and it still feels like the cast is just having the very best time making these. Selene fits in so well with the ensemble cast that it almost feels like she’s been there from the start.

I will say that some plot points didn’t get wrapped up quite as much as I’d have liked. There’s the ongoing tension between Chief Vick and her family about her working too much, which ends with her… working more? Her family doesn’t get mentioned again and we don’t hear anything about a reconciliation or a decision to spend more time together.

Then it gets mentioned multiple times that Shawn and Juliet aren’t planning on having kids, but they both seem like they’re not entirely committed to the decision (especially Juliet), and we never get a final answer on that. There was definitely room for another conversation between them during/after the final scene, even if it was just a set up to a longer, off-screen conversation later.

Honestly though, these are minor issues. The movie is still very good! Loved loved loved seeing Lassiter again (his beard is amazing), even if he didn’t get as much screen time as I would’ve liked. Loved the guest appearances from Curt Smith and Father Westley. And all the Shules interactions were very cute, especially their first scene together.

Anyway, just thought I’d make a general review post, seeing as that’s been my trend for the Psych movies, lol. Sorry for the extreme delay! I’m a little salty that I had to upgrade to Peacock premium in order to watch it but suffice to say, I’m only keeping it long enough to finish ‘Dr. Death,’ then it’s back to the free version (unless the next Psych movie is also premium-locked, in which case I’ll do a brief, non-permanent upgrade again).

Oh, and I almost forgot, my last two issues with the movie: still no Emilio Estevez or Tony Shalhoub. The breakfast club is still incomplete, and it’s been seven years since they confirmed that Psych and Monk take place in the same universe and I’d appreciate some proof.

@kateschechterxthorwasmyfirstotp you’re my Psych buddy here so I’m tagging you!

#psych #psych 3: this is gus #I am also patiently waiting for the day we actually get to meet vick’s husband #I want him to be played by phil collins and I’m not budging on that

[captainkirbypunch]

My love has left tumblr once again.

As many of you may know, the account under the name MDZADR, has left tumblr. They felt unsafe in their fandom, and as such have deleted their tumblr and AO3 account due to the bad memories linked to them.

As a part of their departure, they have asked me to post something in their name, as follows.

If you want more details about how I came to this realization, continue to read. If not, here is your summary:

TL;DR: For the safety and health of this fandom, I wanted to spread the word that Mooping-10 is filled with people who absolutely cannot be trusted, creating a very hazardous environment for the zadr community, and MelodyoftheVoid is connected to all of those people, living a double life amongst those of us that don’t “ship zadr correctly.” She has plenty of friends her inner circle knows nothing about, and nobody on either side knows who she really is. 

Full story below.

I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye. Nobody did anything to me today, but this just wasn’t worth it.

My AO3 and tumblr are both gone. I didn’t say goodbye because I didn’t want to look like an attention seeker.

Here’s the thing. I wasn’t going to name drop, but you guys need to know the truth. I’m instructing my boyfriend (hi y’all) to turn asks off for his own safety after this because this is going to be a nightmare, but... allow me to tell you the full story. I’ll try to break up the text so it’s less difficult to read, but this is important. I’m sorry to air discourse so publicly, but please... I need you to listen to me.

I’ll start from the beginning, without being vague anymore about who “she” is. I request that you please read the whole thing and not skip parts of it. The whole story matters.

I finally returned to the fandom about two months or so ago. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t do well in my thoughts while left alone too long, so I posted saying I would stop messaging people I knew because I didn’t want to bother them. There were only two people I was talking to at the time, but one of them is famous so I didn’t want to message her directly saying that. Doing so would have put her in a position of feeling obligated to say “you’re not bothering me” rather than just simply being able to sigh with relief from no longer being contacted. 

But the first person to contact me was the famous person, and she asked if I was okay, and told me she liked talking to me.

God, I actually cried.

But, that’s just her. Melodyofthevoid is the type of person to talk to people in the fandom, totally unaware of her demigod status. She comments on stories, interacts on posts, messages first... a pillar of kindness, so it seemed.

But let the story continue.

Over time, we were talking more often. 

Mostly sending memes (cause everyone I knew, myself included, aren’t exactly great at holding conversations. No shade. Memes are a love language). I was still in the hero worship stage of our relationship, so my view of her was that that was perfect.

Now, let me bridge a connection with a new story idea I got around December 28th or so, and my thinking she was perfect.

I had recently finished watching Madoka and questioned “If I had magical powers, what would they be?” It then turned into its own story idea, basing creators’ powers around the strengths and weaknesses in creations. I actually realized “oh fuck. My stuff is incoherent. My friends’ works aren’t too different...”

Thus spawned the name “Incoherent” for the project.

What does that have to do with this? Well, here’s the thing that really fucked everything up quickly. 

This was not on purpose, because originally the project (which I had told nobody of yet at the time) was all about improving your works, making platonic friends, dressing our personas in cute outfits, and writing fun magic.

While listening to music and thinking of the story one day, my brain accidentally shipped my persona with hers, and I couldn’t unsee it. And I’m lousy at keeping my own secrets (other’s are different) so she found out on probably day one or two about my weird crush because of an ask meme of all things. 

She didn’t try to put me off any, which was another problem for future things to come, and so I decided that since Incoherent was finally making me feel alive again and feeling the euphoric feelings of love wouldn’t hurt anything (I figured they’d mellow out on their own eventually because that’s how infatuation works) since they helped fuel my inspiration, and then we would just continue from friends to better friends one day and this part of our lives would be over.

Besides, the forbidden is attractive somehow, and makes stories more entertaining. She’s aro/ace, so I had no chance anyway. Someone safe to crush on, in her own way.

This isn’t a story of a love betrayal however. There was no such thing. But it’s important to the story because Incoherent is where my mistakes were made, and hers brought to light.

By this time, I had a handful of people I was talking to, and I created a discord server for the project. Only my boyfriend (hi!) and I were in it at the time. I was not-so-subtly asking my friends what they’d look like if they were a magical person, what their names would be... I thought I would have had to lure Melody in to make her want to join us, but I managed to get her in very easily. Everyone was happy and excited! It was a no obligation, no time limit thing for us to enjoy, a little sandbox to play around in. 

Sure there were plans to make it bigger and I was working on art to the best of my ability, but it was gonna be a fun thing mostly. No pressure on anyone.

And how things started becoming a problem was that the rest of us posted publicly about the project and interacted with each other’s posts relating to the story, but she had started to interact publicly less and less with our things, and everyone noticed it.

It wasn’t because we were greedy and wanted the popular girl to reblog our things. It’s because we had a feeling she was ashamed of being seen publicly with us. The reason we were worried before then and started making that connection was because I mentioned I was going to ask another user if they were interested in joining Incoherent. Melody was the only one that seemed uncomfortable, and I messaged her asking about it. We agreed I wouldn’t invite that person but I knew things were off about it.

That person is like me. How long until Melody didn’t want to talk to me anymore? A few days ago, the other shoe finally dropped. A member of our little group and I were talking and (let’s call them Friend for simplicity. They asked to not be name dropped here) Friend was worried they had made Melody upset by tagging her in a meme picture they drew of her persona, and the two had agreed that Friend remove the tag. This spawned an anxiety-filled conversation where Friend and I expressed our concerns about Melody not interacting with the project, or us.

So since I wanted reassurance that that wasn’t the case, I messaged Melody with my concerns. I told her I had the feeling she was ashamed of being seen in public with us because of her friends, and she didn’t refute me. She simply told me to go get some rest. I messaged back with “I’m right.”

I deleted Discord off my phone for hours and nearly deleted my Tumblr, AO3, and the server after my boyfriend helped pass messages between us. Melody confessed that was the case because her friends expressed discomfort with my works, and she was playing both sides.

Her words, not mine.

Melody told me she would be withdrawing from the Incoherent project because it wasn’t fair to us if her heart wasn’t in it.

She didn’t stand up on my behalf when they said things about me. Her friends are the type who talk behind creators’ backs for shipping zadr “incorrectly.” Worse than antis because they actually participate in the “pro-shipping” side of the fandom. I broke that day and messaged her at 3 am.

We finally spoke at 3pm. We both missed each other. I tried to understand more. I wanted it to be more like a conversation rather than an interrogation. It was only one-sided however, and she never opened up further. And I made some mistakes and poor choices of words, and we ended up parting ways permanently right there. 

I nearly deleted everything, but much like a coma patient attached to many machines on a hospital bed, my blog was kept alive a little longer by people sending kind words in droves. I was briefly fuelled by spite, wishing to watch the world burn by making everyone on the "correct" side of the fandom upset by posting the worst, most vile content this fandom has ever seen.

I was also welcomed with open arms by a very kind server with fellow degenerates, all of them screaming and crying and partying when they managed to get me in their server. It was so heartwarming...

But as I spoke to others about my situation, I realized something. A disturbing pattern.

People telling me horror stories about how Mooping-10 was cult-like. How the people running it were antis. I was even told once that they have a secondary server where they go to have their talks and do their work, likely the place where the real bashing is held.

The server itself has rules against such behavior, but I suppose it's different when they do it.

One person (and this is the most unnerving part for me, personally) told me Melody actually set off alarm bells in their head without having even done anything yet, and the most disturbing part of the story was that one of the moderators was afraid and upset because they got Covid, and received basically no moral support at all. Only getting told "spoiler that. Sorry you got Covid".

I was horrified. That server has 100 people in it. How many of them are the same? They act like popular kids in school who picked up an unpopular main character and then bash others, and the main character joined in because they don't want to be left behind by their new "friends".

To put it short, back to my point:

TL;DR: I simply only wanted to spread the word that: Mooping-10 is filled with people who absolutely cannot be trusted, creating a very hazardous environment for the zadr community, and Melodyofthevoid is connected to all of those people, living a double life amongst those of us that don't "ship zadr correctly". She has plenty of friends her inner circle knows nothing about, and nobody on either side knows who she really is.

#Invader Zim #zadr #tagr #rapr #zagr #mdzadr #MelodyoftheVoid