#also feel a bit too called out with the 'i DISCOVERED in an archive'

[beauty-and-passion]

TMA - Chapters 41-50: Everyone is Michael

Hello people, welcome back to the beginning of TMA season 2! Ten more chapters are waiting and I am ready to find out if this season is gonna start with a bang or not.

I have high expectations.

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MAG 40.1 - Season 2 Trailer

Oh, a trailer! And it was… absolutely incomprehensible and cryptic af. All I got is that a trapdoor should’ve been locked, which translated from author-to-reader means: “The trapdoor is open and some weird supernatural shit will come out of it during the season”.

Well played, Mr. Sims. Now I really want to know more.

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MAG 41 - Too Deep

Ooooh, statement of Jonathan Sims? And it’s about the recently discovered tunnels! I love that we start season 2 directly from where we left in season 1: Jon is recovering, Jane Prentiss is recently dead (I suppose they burned her, considering the ashes) and there are a shit ton of tunnels to explore.

Also, Jon is now paranoid. Great, that’s exactly what he needed.

Jokes aside, this is an amazing choice from a writing perspective, because it’s perfectly justifiable. Jon got assaulted by Jane Prentiss and her worms on July 29th, now it’s September 2nd. It’s been a little more than one month, of course he’s still haunted by the idea that Jane (or other things) might be alive and spying on him.

Even if the feeling of being watched is not just paranoia. I bet everything that it’s Big Brother’s fault for that.

And just to confirm my words, it seems that the Archives have been built on part of this ex Millbank prison, which was built by following the idea of the Panopticon. You know, the prison centered around the idea of making the prisoners feel like they’re always watched, thanks to the central tower.

I love the idea of the Panopticon: it’s extremely cool and I’m very happy to see it here too… but it also proves I am right and Big Brother is some supernatural shit who watches everyone and has something like one million eyes or whatever.

The goddamn weird tunnels. And what about that incorporeal voice telling Jon to leave, right after inviting him to go down? I am extremely curious now, I want to know more! Who was it? Big Brother? Another supernatural shit?

Ah, so Jon will now add supplements to the statements, hide them from his staff just like he hid the existence of the second tape recorder and will put these parts away with precise instructions for his replacement, in case he dies. Great, so he’s this paranoid. Basically one step away from being pathological.

Fine, from one side, I can understand him because he faced some heavy shit not too long ago and he cannot trust anyone. So his sentence “Trust can get you killed” is understandable.

But I also watched Gravity Falls and I’ve learned that “trust no one” doesn’t help, especially if there is a demon watching/haunting you. So please, Jon: please. Be safe. Don’t pull a Dipper Pines on us. Don’t force me to start calling you Jon Dipper. Or Jipper.

And trust someone before some bad shit happens. You’re trying to find Gertrude Robinson’s killer and we all know it was Elias (don’t “first suspect” me and yourself, we both know it was him). So, since Elias already killed one person and he’s in cahoots with the Lukas family, you REALLY need as many allies as possible.

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MAG 42 - Grifter’s Bone

Here we are, back with simple, meh statements. This time, it’s “weird supernatural band kills with their weird supernatural music”. It’s a shame we don’t see how they do it, I would’ve loved to see the whole process. But I also understand that leaving this to the reader’s imagination is a good choice to make something scary.

Also, Alfred Grifter looking up after the massacre and asking “Encore?” is probably the most badass move of the series until now. He might be some minor supernatural shit, but that was a real power move. I respect him a little bit after this.

Glad to notice Jon’s skepticism is back too, but after the end of season 1, now I know why he does it and I understand. Also, his skepticism doesn’t seem as “stubborn” as before and that’s another great writing choice because it shows how all these supernatural shits are affecting him.

Also, since Jon is in Paranoia Land now, I suppose that emphasizing skepticism helps him hide his true intentions, which are… sigh, controlling Martin. Seriously, can this poor guy take a vacation? First the worms, then Jane Prentiss, now Jipper. Martin can’t even be competent, that his boss will question it - all while insulting his poetic skills. The paranoia made Jon even more of an asshole than before.

What? Martin is worried about the others finding out he’s been lying? Lying about what? Jane Prentiss? His supposed incompetence? His poetic skills? His need to go on vacation? In any of these cases, don’t worry, Martin: just take your stuff and go as far away from this Institute as possible.

I still dream something like this for Martin.

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MAG 43 - Section 31

I feel Basira will be a recurring character from now on. I mean, she is currently working on Gertrude’s case and she is a Section 31 - i.e. she dealt with supernatural shits before. But she’s not the only one: we also have Alice “Daisy” Tonner, who came in contact with “spider husks” and, for me, that means one thing only: “Spider Mom & gang”. So I bet these two women will probably be involved again with any other supernatural shit happening in this Institute.

It was also very cool to find out the name of the guy from MAG 12: Diego Molina. And I remember that, when he and Gerard were brought to the hospital, Gerard asked if Diego had “a small book bound in red leather and a brass pendant with an eye design”. The eye pendant is probably related to Big Brother, while the red book basically confirmed it was one of Leitner’s chaos books. I already suspected this considering Gerard was after that, but glad to see an implicit confirmation.

Speaking of the supplement, Jon gained access to the tapes in Gertrude’s room and I’m glad about that because we will surely find something cool and scary. But I’m also sure that’s the easiest way for Jon to get himself killed, so I’m a bit scared for his life.

Also, how weirdly cute is this part?

“I only ever spoke to Gertrude once or twice during her time as archivist. I-I was very new. I don’t remember what her voice sounded like.”

Jon sounds so young, here. Almost like a child. I mean, I imagined he was in his thirties or something, but I actually have no idea how old is he. Is he younger? How old is he?

Also, it’s just nice to see this little moment of him being so… soft and human, with his predecessor. He barely knew her, he barely spoke to her, he probably looked at her and saw just an older, stern figure. But now, he’s in the same position. They became a lot closer than they ever were. It’s fascinating - and there’s a lot of potential for angst too, so I’ll brace myself for it.

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MAG 44 - Tightrope

A statement recorded by Gertrude! it was such a pleasant surprise to finally hear her voice! And she sounds amazing <3

As soon as I heard it was a statement from a guy in Algasovo, I felt it was connected to something I already knew. I remembered there was a circus mentioned in season 1 and, after a little bit of research, I found it: MAG 24, Цирк другого: the Circus of the Other. Ringmaster Gregor Osinov and organist Nikolai Denikin - whose granddaughter recorded the abovementioned statement.

Sure, here it’s called Другой Цирк, which is correctly translated as “Another Circus”. So my question is: which is correct? Did the circus change its name? MAG 44 is from the 70s, while the photo mentioned in MAG 24 was from 1948. Maybe the circus was called Цирк другого, then it changed its name after Denikin left and became Другой Цирк. Anyway, it was very interesting to read and I was so sure it was the smae circus mentioned before (despite the different names). So when Jon mentioned Gregor Osinov, my smile grew bigger than ever :D

Speaking of Jon, he asks some very interesting questions: Gertrude knows a lot more than it seems. And she didn’t finish recording everything in the archive. Why? Was that her way to oppose Big Brother/the Lukas family/the “crimson curse”? Maybe Big Brother can “eat” these statements, so by stopping her recordings, Gertrude was voluntarily leaving it hungry, as a sort of “fuck you, I won’t get eaten by you” kind of thing.

Or maybe she just wanted to not do her job anymore, thus provoking the Lukas family to fire her for not doing anything. Or maybe she was just too busy trying to find a way to escape, to record statements like an insane you-know-who who keeps recording stuff because he wants to find out the truth even if the truth can get him killed.

Did someone find Jon’s tapes? Or is he in full Jipper mode and maybe the drawer wasn’t even ajar? In any case, now he’s hiding them too, which reminds me of Gertrude and her secret hidden library and I don’t like the parallel at all. I don’t want to see Jon dead on a chair, in a room, surrounded by his secret library.

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MAG 45 - Blood Bag

Another meh statement, even if this time I’m quite perplexed by the weird turn of events.

I mean, once Dr. Thompson sold his syringe, there was a sudden spike in heat, the ‘haemoglobish’ became real blood and the mosquitoes decided to wait for their moment to kill the doctor. They’re a lot of weird consequences and they don’t seem too connected either - especially the heat. Why is there always some heat involved?

While speaking of the mosquitoes planning revenge… yes, this is the most plausible thing. These little bitches always plan revenge on everyone.

So, the doctor’s buyer is “Indonesian, I think, or Samoan”. It’s Salesa, isn’t it? Yep, Jon confirms it. Well, I suppose he will be another recurring character. And if Gerard can smell Leitner’s book, Salesa can smell any supernatural shit and make a profit from it. In this case, I suppose the syringe was a real lucky charm or whatever, considering how everything degenerated once the doctor got rid of it.

“Can’t stand mosquitoes. Horrible things.”

You and me, Jon. You and me. Glad to know that, even if he’s in full Jipper mode, he can still be very relatable.

I know Jon was super paranoid with Martin, but he might have a point about Tim. I mean, a guy with this resume decides to work in a place that isn’t so appreciated by normal people? And he doesn’t seem too interested in the supernatural either. Why is he here, to bribe people to get info and do whatever the fuck he wants? If that’s the reason… honestly, mood. I loved him before, I would just appreciate him even more for the power move.

Jonathan Sims, Master at Hiding Things, gets caught by Martin in 0.2 seconds because he’s so clever to record his paranoid thoughts in the middle of a working day, in a place where everyone can enter. A genius.

But now I’m curious to know where he will go to record these statements. I can almost see him, all crammed up into a closet, while Martin searches for him with a cup of tea in his hand.

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MAG 46 - Literary Heights

Oh gosh, I LOVE this chapter.

First of all, as soon as Michael Crew was mentioned, I immediately checked the previous chapters and here he was: MAG 17, the Boneturner’s Tale. Also, if my last theory is correct, Michael Crew and Supernatural Micheal are the same thing. And you know what? I think this statement confirmed it. But one thing at a time.

Second: my man Leitner! Ex Altiora my beloved! We finally know where it was and what it is! It’s a poem and I ADORE the plot. It’s such a perfect mix of weird, suspense and desperation… uuuurgh, I’m so mad I can’t read it, because this plot can be developed into a fantastic story.

And now, let’s put together all the pieces we have:

Michael Crew is interested in the Leitner.

Michael Crew has “a branching pattern of white scar tissue” on himself.

Jon reminds us that, in MAG 4, Mr. Swain said there was a “woodcut of the dark night sky, with the branching, arching design of the Lichtenberg figure” inside Ex Altiora.

This drawing isn’t mentioned by Mr. Knox here.

Lichtenberg figures have a branched shape, similar to the shape of lightning discharges, and appear on the surface/inside insulating materials during dielectric rupture. But they can also appear on lightning victims.

They are also “natural phenomena which exhibit fractal properties”.

In MAG 4, Mr. Swain says Michael Crew got struck by lightning when they were kids.

Michael Crew is surrounded by smells associated with lightning and electric discharges.

Michael Crew has been followed by a tall, thin figure, “its limbs angular and branching”.

Supernatural Michael has angular and branching limbs.

Supernatural Michael Is associated with fractals too.

The figure also “crackled and fizzed, lit by a strobing white light, as though the lightning was within the room itself”.

When Michael Crew reaches the bell tower, the prays something with the words “altiora,” “vertigo,” and “the vast”. then he says “I’m yours”, leaps through the open window and disappears.

Now, here’s my explanation:

Micheal Crew was followed by a supernatural shit. This supernatural shit was the same immense figure mentioned in the poem of Ex Altiora.

Micheal probably came into contact with it when he was a child and got struck by the lightning. Since then, he started to resonate with Vertigo/the Vast just like Jane Prentiss started to resonate with the Hive.

(Also, since Jane Prentiss’ supernatural shit was “the hive”, I think I’ll call this one “the vast” because it was a bit odd that he specifically said “the vast” with a definite article)

So, since Michael Crew came into contact with the Vast and started to resonate with it, he was accompanied by smells associated with lightning/electric discharges and he started to search for all kinds of magic books, trying to find a way to properly connect with it/being consumed by it, just like Jane Prentiss did with the Hive.

In Prentiss’ case, she connected through the wasps’ nest and got “consumed” by the Hive. Michael Crew tried to do the same by using different methods mentioned in the books, but failed. He had to find something stronger to connect to the Vast. And that something turned out to be a tale featuring the Vast itself, told by my man Leitner.

So Michael got it and waited for a storm. And as soon as the storm came, he ran towards it, calling for the Vast. And when the Vast appeared, it looked like that figure similar to an actual lightning.

Michael sang/prayed for it (please notice how Mr. Knows refers to his words like a chant first and a prayer later, just like Jane Prentiss talked about the song of the Hive. These little shits truly talk through songs) and closed his invocation, by saying “I’m yours”, which can be also read as “I give my body to you”.

And so, he jumped. And by doing that, he gave his body to the Vast and the Vast became him. And that turned him into Michael the Supernatural Shit, also known as Best Boyo of this series.

If all of this is true, then:

it’s very cool

his name isn’t Mr. Distortion, but Mr. Vast. Still cool, but Best Boyo is better :P

And if this is true, that also means my previous Leitner theory was completely wrong. His books don’t turn you into the protagonist: his books are about the real, actual supernatural shits living in this world and by getting the right one, it’s easier to connect to the supernatural shit in question. They’re like… facilitators, in a way.

That also puts into question Gerard’s work. What is he actually doing, by searching and destroying all Leitner’s books? Maybe he’s saving the world, because without books it’s more difficult to connect to these supernatural shits. But destroying the books doesn’t mean getting rid of the supernatural shits themselves and these books might actually be useful to recognize all supernatural shits and “catalog” them. I don’t know, I need more info about these two guys and what they’re actually doing.

And yes, there’s also Spider Mom taking possession of the hidden tunnels of the institute and she’s probably the one who opens the door and maybe she even walks around in her human form and that’s very cool too. Just… how fricking cool is this statement?! I think it’s among my top favorites, along with MAG 2, MAG 5, MAG 20, MAG 26 and MAG 39.

(Now that I think about it, I should probably do a top of my favorite statements once I finish the whole series. It would be fun.)

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MAG 47 - The New Door

Holy shit. Just holy shit.

I thought this was just a simple statement. A statement featuring a tall blonde guy. And yes, I was 200% sure it was Michael. But I just though he appeared and did some weird supernatural shit.

For a while, he did it: he made a door in that house, Mrs. Richardson got lost inside it for three days and escaped just because one of the mirrors was “empty” and didn’t reflect Michael. So she did what everyone who met a supernatural shit did: she went to the Institute. My theory about “hiding behind a bigger predator” seems even more convincing.

I loved the little moment when Mrs. Richardson asked Jon if he believed her and Jon admitted that yes, he believes her. It’s a tiny exchange of words, but it’s enough to show the massive change in Jon from season 1. Before, he would’ve been more stern and showed more skepticism (fake or real whatsoever). But now, after all he went through, he’s showing a softer, more empathetic side. Jon is truly evolving as a character.

And speaking of characters, time to talk about the real shit and time to overanalyze everything:

*

Michael’s voice is perfect

First of all, I ADORE Michael. Sorry Tim, you deserve the world, but Michael’s soft laughs and the way he gently mocks Jon because he’s this powerful supernatural shit while Jon is just a mere human it’s just too adorable. His voice is too adorable. And the distortion effect makes him very creepy - but still extremely adorable. I love him so much.

*

Domains?

This part about domains is very fascinating and, in a way, it confirms my theory about the supernatural shits having territories like mafia bosses.

But it seems like they don’t simply take a place and own it. It’s a bit like they are these places. As if these domains are an appendix of them. So I suppose Michael doesn’t simply “make doors pop up”: he is the doors and the corridors. such a cool concept, it makes these supernatural shits look even more eldritch and… well, supernatural. Love it.

But also: if my theory about Big Brother is correct, does that mean Big Brother isn’t just hidden in the Magnus Institute, but is the Institute? Mmmh, I need more details.

It’s also very interesting how Michael refers to Mrs. Richardson as “the Wanderer”. Since it doesn’t seem like Mrs. Richardson is a supernatural shit, I suppose that “the Wanderer” is a name to identify the people who enter the domain of a supernatural shit and become food. But since calling them “food” isn’t nice, Michael (and maybe other supernatural shits) opted for a more sophisticated name, like “the Wanderer”.

Also, Michael reconfirms he’s a poet and I love him so much.

*

The concept of identity (and maybe my theory already failed?)

That’s another interesting part. Michael considers itself a “what”, because “it requires a degree of identity I can’t ever retain”. And this connects to its domain: since it’s so huge and can “overlap” reality by creating new spaces inside it (inanimate spaces), it was probably easier for Michael to identify itself as a “what” rather than a “who”.

But this distorted appearance made me think: wait, probably my brand new theory about Michael as Mr. Vast is completely wrong.

If Michael’s power is being distorted and making weirdly long, distorted corridors (that confirms Michael was probably the voice who told Jon to leave, when he explored the tunnels in MAG 41), that doesn’t line up with the previous statement, where the Vast’s power was related to lightning and to being this colossal figure.

At the same time, Michael laughs with a weird, distorted effect as if it’s more people in one figure and this detail seems coherent with my theory.

So I think there are two possible solutions now:

my theory is correct and Michael can both be hugely vast and very distorted

my theory is wrong and Michael Crew just offered himself to another supernatural shit

Or maybe the correct option is:

3. Mr. Sims is the biggest troll of all mankind and he made a series in which every supernatural shit is named Michael and this explains why everyone is named Michael and why Michael is such a familiar name. If this is true I would respect him even more.

Jokes aside, I really need more information now. Especially I need Michael (this one at least) to talk about itself and its powers. And maybe all other Michaels should talk a bit about themselves too. At least enough to confirm if my theory is right or wrong.

*

A war?!

No, wait, you cannot drop this bomb, tease us like this, then leave. Stay here and explain!

Okay, so the Institute is important. It should stay where it is, because losing it would bring imbalance in the hidden war that’s going on - between supernatural shits, I suppose.

In MAG 41, Jon said the Archives stand on an ex-prison, built around the concept of the Panopticon. This could explain why this place is needed: a place from where you can spy on everything and everyone is a great leverage in a war.

My question is: what are the sides of this war? I suppose that one side is Big Brother and maybe the weird supernatural fog of the Lukas family, but the other? The supernatural meat? And the spider gang? On which side was Jane Prentiss with the Hive?

And what are they all fighting for? To take over the world? To eat as many humans as possible? Or maybe the “All Michael theory” is correct and since all these shits are named Michael, they decided that the last one standing will officially take the name Michael and all others will have to choose another name? All while Best Boyo Michael decided “fuck this shit, I’ll keep this name anyway because it’s just a name and my identity is more than this”?

You know what? I love the All Michael Theory. It’s stupid and yet it somehow works. If it’s true, it would immediately turn the whole series from dramatic to comic, but I love it.

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MAG 48 - Lost in the Crowd

Oooh, a statement settled in Italy! Never visited Genoa, but now it deserves a visit. After all, I already think about this goddamn series every time I see a spider and have to kill it, so why not going to Genoa and fearing weird supernatural shits? Apparently, they love to go anywhere. Was this one taking a vacation?

Speaking of vacations: honestly, I never expected to see my man Gerard, rebel punk and goth, chilling in Italy with a bright shirt on. I hope you’re also wearing some nice shorts, Gerard. And no combat boots. Or sandals with socks. The Italian fashion police can be way worse than any supernatural shits.

So, my man went to Mrs. Nunis, told her she was “marked” and told her to think about her mother. To remember her. To, you know, feel less alone. I immediately thought about Naomi and how she too felt alone, when the mysterious fog tried to “eat” her in MAG 13.

But this time there wasn’t really a fog: the sunny day simply became overcast. So maybe the fog isn’t supernatural but… the clouds are? But then, what about the weird fog from MAG 33? Or maybe, the fog simply hides the real supernatural shit, which is this weird faceless crowd. And this time the fog was on vacation too.

Or maybe Italy’s weather is too warm for the thick UK fog, so the fog dispersed and left only the crowd. I’ll admit it, it would be hilariously funny if a supernatural shit is simply an atmospheric element end you can get rid of it by traveling far enough or by using, idk, an electric fan.

So one question remains: what was Gerard doing in Italy? Was he truly searching for a Leitner? Or maybe he was really taking a vacation? I like to think it’s the second one: unlike Jon “Trust No One” Sims and Martin “Self-preservation is overrated” Blackwood, my man Gerard knows when it’s time to get the fuck out and take a vacation. So he left all the supernatural shits and books to chill on a beach, take a cafè and eat some real food.

Great choice, Gerard, Genoa is a beautiful place.

Speaking of the supplement, Jon realized Michael was warning him about Sasha! But unfortunately, thanks to Not!Sasha’s evil powers, Jon cannot understand what the problem with her is. Damn you, evil imposter! Give Sasha back!

Jon “Jipper” Sims, Master of Secrecy, after being caught by Martin in 0.2 seconds, got caught both by Martin and Tim again and they both immediately realized Jon was spying on them. So they reported him to Elias.

See? See where “trust no one” brings you, Jon? Please, stop spying on them like a creep. why don’t you start spying Elias, instead? He’s the most suspicious guy that ever walked on this planet, why the fuck are you wasting time with your team when you have him?

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MAG 49 - The Butcher’s Window

I read the title and I immediately was: “The meat is back, isn’t it?”

But it’s not just the meat, it’s our old friend Jared! And he does incredibly weird creepy things! And I like them, because they’re creepy without being gorey. You know, it’s just too easy to use gore: scaring without gore is harder and I appreciate it.

Also, what the fuck is the weird… underground superleech he’s feeding? Is that the boneturner? Is this the name of this supernatural shit? After all, every supernatural shit seems to have a name that starts with the definite article: the hive, the vast, the boneturner.

And if we add up all the things we discovered until now, that means that Jared became the Boneturner/the body of the Boneturner thanks to the Leitner’s book that “facilitated” the connection and, since he became that thing, that thing also became him. So the underground creepy superleech is still part of him and by feeding it, he’s feeding himself too.

You know, the whole process of feeding it was creepy, fine, but it made me smile too because… come on, it looks like a guy throwing snacks at his dog. That’s funny.

But not as funny as the mental image of this weird superleech I got, that resembles something like this:

This is a sea lamprey. It’s not a leech, but it’s the closest animal to represent what I imagined. And yes, this is a real living creature on this planet. You’re welcome, glad to know this will haunt your dreams too.

A-ah! We finally got more info about Elias! I knew it was weird that he managed to go from filing clerk to head of the Institute, but I had no idea he became head of the Institute just in five goddamn years. What did he do, did he kill everyone else? Did he kill James Wright too? Did this man also “die on the job” as Gertrude?

Also, how absolutely, insanely funny is it to think that Elias was a pothead? I read it and I was like… what? This guy?! I always imagined him like a posh guy and now you tell me he was smoking crack or whatever? That’s too funny, I love that and it would be hilarious if that’s the reason why he killed everyone else: not because of the Lukas family, not because of the supernatural shits: just because he wants to hide his past.

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MAG 50 - Foundations

Oooh, another old statement addressed to Jonah Magnus! I suppose that’s how the Institute started: with this guy walking back and forth inside his house, surrounded by creepy stories. A bit like Jon now. And nope, I don’t like this parallel.

The story itself is very meh. It’s not really creepy nor scary, just “mysterious guy appears outside an office” and “fingers on a stone uuuh”.

This statement probably served to remind us about Robert Smirke’s existence. Jon probably forgot, but I remember that in season 1, he said Tim mentioned him an architect he was obsessed with and this architect was Robert Smirke. So I suppose this guy is important.

We also have Sir George Gilbert Scott now. When Mr. Kempthorne said Scott’s projects had odd symmetries and seemed claustrophobic, they reminded me of the underground tunnels of the Institute. Is it possible that one of these guys is responsible for the construction of the ex Millbank prison? I suppose only time will tell.

I died laughing when Tim thought Jon was hitting on Basira. How he went from “That woman is weird” to “Good job boss, get her”. He’s the best, I love him.

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In conclusion

Oh my, what a start for season 2! We have more Michaels than ever, too many theories and lots of mysteries I still can’t grasp.

I want more. I want to know more about Michael, I want to find out which theory is correct. Is Michael Crew one of the many identities of Best Boyo Michael? Is Michael vast and distorted or they’re two different Michaels? Is every supernatural shit named Michael? Is Elias just a pothead trying to survive in a world full of supernatural shits? Is Gerard still on holiday?

We’ll meet back soon with ten more chapters.

>> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

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[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 5, MAG 5 Thrown Away

Trash apple teeth! Is this anything

Spoilers ahead!

Facts: Statement of Kieran Woodward, regarding items discovered in the refuse of 93 Lancaster Road, Walthamstow. Given February 23rd, 2009.

Statement Notes: There are so many posts out there comparing The Magnus Archives to the Twilight Zone because of Jon's narration and the serial creepy story format, but this episode really stands out in mind as Twilight Zone-esque. Like the Twilight Zone, some Magnus Archive episodes deal with things like childhood guilt and cult-behavior, like MAG 4. But other episodes just kind of say "Damn, isn't that fucked up? Anyway," like this one.

I do love Kieran as a character. He's just so weirdly chill and realistic about everything. There's are some statement givers who are still being tormented by the fears, some who cause fear, some who are reporting on things that happened to people they know, but there's also this interesting category of people who survived because they played the game right. When the audience says "don't go in the basement" or "call the cops," they listen. Woodward gets through this statement unscathed because he moves on from the creepy dolls heads and reports the teeth, then destroys the "gift" left for him and tries to move on. Alan can't let go, Alan doesn't know the rules of the genre, that's why he doesn't make it out.

My two new favorite characters in the series are "Matt, who was raised Catholic and never shut up about it," because he is me, and David who "broke the silence by vomiting loudly into a nearby drain," because he is the most realistic horror character of all time.

Entity Alignment: Whenever I think of this episode, I think of it as the "teeth in a bag" episode. I actually 100% forgot about the metal heart. Now, when you think of those things, it kind of sounds like a Flesh episode.

But, let's all remember our favorite bio majors and their special gift to their professor. The Stranger has a history with teeth. The description of the dolls heads is very "uncanny valley," which is the Stranger's real niche. The thing that really sells me though is Jon's last line in the statement, "All two thousand seven hundred and eighty of them were the exact same tooth." The exact same tooth, apparently from the exact same person, repeated over and over again to the point that the examiner can date them because of their differing stages of decay. You know what that sounds like to me? Someone has been practicing.

The metal heart also says Stranger to me. I know it has a little Flesh energy, but it really reminded me of the hospital episode from season 5. The way the character describes feeling like her body was not her own, that parts of her had been replaced, substituted. The metal heart as the only remanent of Alan feels like that same kind of fear. It's not his, it's not him, but it's all he's got.

Speaking of Alan, does his obsession with watching the house to the point he goes without sleep for days, isolates his friends, and is presumed dead remind you of anyone? He must be influenced by the Eye at least a little bit.

But ignoring entity alignment for a second, Jonny does consistently uses obsessive characters really well. There's a lot of horror media where, in real life, it would make more sense for the characters to give up on their investigations of the supernatural or to ignore it in entirely in the first place. The audience is usually (and rightfully) able to suspend reality for the sake of the story in these situations. But what's so interesting about Jonny's writing is that he explicitly states characters like Alan, like Amy Patel, like Jon, can't stop themselves. It's obsession, it's all consuming, they know it's bad for them, but they just can't stop. It really adds to the audience fear because you're not the only one telling them turn back, their mind is screaming it too, but they still won't listen.

Character Notes: The post-statement in this episode is just 90% Martin hate. Absolutely unhinged behavior. What if you worked at a restaurant at the end of receipts your boss just wrote "This waiter is a goddamn loser and I hate him." Wild man Jonathan Sims everybody.

#podcasts #rusty quill #jonny sims #the magnus archives relisten #tma #tma relisten #audio drama #media analysis #jonathan sims #analysis #the magnus archives #horror #horror podcasts #martin blackwood #the flesh #tma fears #the stranger #the eye #the twilight zone #mag 5 #Thrown Away #bone apple teeth #the anatomy students #anatomy students #magnus archives

[piecesofeden11]

Prompt Ficlet - Ahsoka realizes something

Another prompt by the lovely @wibzenadarksiderwithasoftheart, by ask this time <3 The prompt was: How about when Ahsoka realises/discovers that her masters are more than... I went a bit more comedic this time around, maybe to counter all the pain of the last few Ficlets :D As always, I hope you like it! <3

Note: Twiwi is @cal-tastrophe's Jedi OC and I love her dearly! :D

Ahsoka jogs along the walkway that crosses the great entrance hall of the Jedi Temple, glancing at the chrono on her wrist. Kriff, I'm late. Skyguy will give me an earful again.

She scoffs a bit at the thought, given that her Master's track record of being on time was not exactly stellar either, but still hastens her steps. No need to push her luck, after all.

As usual, she feels a weird mix of annoyance and gratitude at the fact that Anakin chose to schedule their saber training for relatively late in the day. It keeps her from being able to join Barris and the others for holonet night's most of the time, but it also means that the salles are nice and empty, especially compared to the mornings, when the Younglings are let loose.

She makes use of the empty hallway to warm up, sprinting and jumping and somersaulting in small bursts, which would have earned her more than one stern warning from superiors if done during the day.

Feeling nice and lose by the time she arrives at the salle, she wastes no time knocking, bursting into the room with a cheerful "Good evening, Master!".

She is more than surprised to find Master Kenobi present tonight. While it is not exactly unusual for him to be close to where her own Master usually is (those two were, after all, former Master and Padawan AND what the Holonet had dubbed the Team, the most famous Jedi Duo in the galaxy). However, Master Kenobi usually spend the evenings during his leave at the archives, getting his, and probably Anakin's, paperwork done.

Ahsoka slips into a more formal demeanor, bowing slightly to the other Master.

"Good evening to you, too, Master Kenobi. I did not expect you to join us today."

Master Kenobi coughs once, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, Padawan. I'm afraid I won't be. I was just..."

He hesitates, glances back at Anakin, then smiles at Ahsoka.

"Anakin had to fill me in on a few details of our last mission. I shall leave you to your training. Good evening, Ahsoka. Anakin, find me at my quarters later for the rest of the... report."

Ahsoka catches the end of a wink as Master Kenobi turns to leave, but she dismisses the detail in favor of giving her own Master a proper greeting and a closer look.

"Are you well, Skyguy?"

Now that they are alone, she slips back into the informal tone she and him have agreed upon. The concern in her voice is genuine, because he looks flushed, his hair slightly messed up and a bit sweaty. His tunic, she also notices, is rumpled and one of his tabbarts hangs off his shoulders.

"Should we rather cancel training...?"

"Don't be silly, Snips. I'm fine, all fine. Let's go, common! Form I, defending. Begin!"

He was distracting her, she could tell immediately, but she complies and goes into position, easily flowing through the form.

"Good, now Form II", he calls, sounding absent. When she glances over, she finds him fiddling with the com on his arm. Frowning, she goes through the second form, sloppy but still correctly.

"Excellent", he calls out and, predictably, adds: "Now Form III, go."

This time, Ahsoka deliberately botches the form, messing it up to the point where she feels herself almost recoil from the errors.

Landing close to him, she shuts her saber off and waits in silence for a moment, until Anakin looks at her. He smiles, nods and says: "Well done Padawan."

Ahsoka clips her saber to her belt and crosses her arms.

"You know, you could at least tell me if you're not in a mood. I can do drills on my own, or find something else to do for the evening."

She expects him to argue and is surprised when he simply sighs and hangs his head a bit.

"Sorry, Snips. You're right. I am distracted and that wasn't fair to you. I'll give you the evening off and I promise to be less absent tomorrow, okay? Feel free to train on your own but you have my permission to go out, if you need it!"

She narrows her eyes, giving him another onceover. Something is off about him.

Nevertheless, she bows and then smiles softly.

"Thank you, and please, get some sleep. You do look pretty winded and you have a rash coming up, too!"

She points at her own neck to imply the same on his and his hand creeps up to the spot, covering it with widening eyes.

"Oh, uhm, yeah. I'll have Kix have a look! See you in the morning, Snips!"

They part ways and Ahsoka makes it back to the Padawan quarters just in time for the newest episode of Attachment in the Airlock, their favorite Holo-Drama about two Jedi Generals secretly in love, hiding in supply closets and behind crates to live out their secret romance. It is hilariously bad and the Padawans have a great time tearing it apart for inaccuracies and hyperbole.

"I think my Master is coming down with a fever", Ahsoka says during a commercial break, causing several heads to swivel her ways.

"Oh no", says Twiwi Aanta in her distinct nasal voice, the small-ish Rodian girl perpetually afraid of germs.

"What makes you say that?", Barris adds, returning from the kitchen with a new bowl of fluffkernels.

"Well, when I arrived for training today, he was all red and flushed, kinda sweaty too. He also has this rash on his neck." Ahsoka points at the spot again. The others crinkle their noses in disgust and she nods in agreement. "Yeah, I hope it's nothing serious. But Master Kenobi was there already when I got there, I'm sure he will check up on Skyguy."

There is a beat of silence, before several of the Padawans begin to laugh and even Barris hides her mouth behind a hand. Ahsoka blinks, staring at them all in confusion.

"What? What's so funny? My Master might be sick!"

"Ahsoka...", Barris says between chuckles.

"I think you Master might be playing Attachment in the Airlock with Master Kenobi."

The laughter in the room gets louder, while Ahsoka ponders that thought. Her eyes widened, several other instances flashing in her mind of situations between her Master and his own.

"You mean..."

"Pretty sure, yeah." "Stars.", says Ahsoka. "Oh no", says Twiwi.

"I mean, they do look very good together", says Barris and hands Ahsoka the snack bowl.

#eden rambles #my writing #prompt ficlet #star wars #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #obikin #ahsoka tano

[theother9tenths]

The well had been an odd place to put a study to be sure.

When she’d approached Link about it, they’d gone through several iterations of the idea: building an additional loft wouldn’t have left enough space on the main floor, converting the storage shed would have given them no place to store their food, and building a whole additional level just seemed silly.

Link had been the one to discover the space underneath the well: while digging to see if the thing was still usable, he’d broken through and discovered the small underground chamber. Not ideal for gathering water without the installation of a ladder to reach the small pool, but the space had flooded her mind with possibilities.

Hudson’s crew had graciously built it free of charge. Of course, she’d protested, but they insisted that it was the least they could do after she’d given them so much business by having them helm the restoration effort.

And she has to admit, she loves this little well.

Her life is much quieter than it has ever been, but Hateno village is bustling, and to be alone in the quiet with nothing but her books is heaven.

Currently, she sits amongst multiple stacks of said books, most of which she’s recovered from their expeditions to the castle, but a few gifted to her from the Gerudo and the Rito (the Zora and Gorons had also given her similar gifts, but societies of Fire and Water are not exactly ideal locations for paper books, so the small stone slabs sit in storage upstairs, a bit too heavy to bother lugging down here).

She knows she’s been at it for a few hours, but her most recent research hyperfocus rings in her head as The Most Important Thing Right Now and though she can tell her eyes are beginning to strain, she does not want to stop reading. With a sigh, she crosses out another line of notes as her logic about the technology she is studying reaches a dead end, and she wipes at her eyes, willing them not to lose focus.

A sudden tick makes her jump. With a gasp, she whirls around, eyes immediately finding the pebble hitting the floor with another tick as it bounces before losing momentum and rolling toward her.

She stares for a moment at the intrusion, brow furrowing. Before an explanation can begin to weave itself in her brain, another noise from above her head grabs her attention and she looks up in time to witness a woven basket, hanging by a rope, being lowered down the well.

She feels a smile pull at the corner of her mouth as she sets down her stylus, standing from her chair and feeling the grateful shout of her muscles’ movement, pained from spending so long in one position.

The basket descends gently to the floor and she kneels down to remove the hook on which it had been suspended, watching as it ascends back up to the top of the well.

The smile now fully breaks onto her face as she looks at the basket’s contents: two carefully wrapped rice balls and an apple.

“Was I down here for too long again?” she calls up to the top of the well. From the opening, she sees a silhouette of messy hair peak over the lip of the well.

“It’s gotten dark,” Link replies.

#my writing #zelink #legend of Zelda #botw #totk

[nobodysdaydreams]

Sticky is an underaded character and he dosent get enough development or personal time in fanfiction

Thank you Anon, because not only do I agree, but I come with a few fic recommendations.

So, I actually will rant a little about this because while I do like the way Sticky was portrayed in the show, there were two things they changed about his character that I initially didn't like. The first was that they made him the one getting sucked in by the Whisperer, whereas in the books, I remember reading about Reynie being just as tempted, and it seemed like they were trying to say that Reynie was strong enough to resist it and that Sticky was the one that gave in easy. However, I did come around on this one, because I do think they used their choice well to establish parallels between Reynie and Sticky and the Benedict twins as well as demonstrate that Sticky's anxiety makes him more vulnerable to the Whisperer, both to the negative fear of the Emergency and to the good feelings offered during the sessions. And in season 2, Reynie was the one who was insecure about the letters while Sticky resisted Curtain's happiness. The show really showed Sticky not necessarily overcoming his anxiety (through force of will), but learning to manage it and use his talents to his advantage and I really like that they did that. It was a good arc for him. And it's sad that he's not a character that's focused on as much in fan fic, because I think there's a lot to work with there.

But the second thing that I didn't like about the show's change that I still don't like is that they took away the book's big scene of him realizing his parents still loved him and spent all their money trying to find him and replaced it with an off screen conversation with his aunt. The other kids got nice family reunion scenes, Sticky deserved his too! And I'm still don't like that they did that. I do understand why they did it though. The show includes more of the adults and their plotlines and perspectives, but the show also needs to balance that out with the kid's stories. Adding Miss. Perumal to the group is one thing, but adding the Washingtons as well would have been a lot of adult characters to find screen time and story lines for. So I get why they made the change, but I still think they could have done a little bit better with it.

Now onto my recommendations (I apologize in advance if you've already read this, but please, if anyone else has any to add, please drop them below):

The first, and probably the best Sticky fic I can recommend is "I don't wanna know I'm not capable" by @sophieswundergarten. It has one of the best portrayals of OCD and anxiety I've ever read in fic, and it's a perfect Sticky centric fic. If you haven't read it yet, trust me, this is the one.

Now, if you're in the mood for a Sticky centered fic that is a bit lighter and has him interacting with the other kids, I wrote one called "A Joy to Obey". The premise is that the other children discover that Curtain did something to Sticky and try to help him out of it. I'm being vague to avoid spoilers.

Finally, if you are still as upset about Sticky not getting a proper on screen emotionally intense reunion with his aunt as I am, I've written about that too in my SOS fic. It's a 200k+ word WIP that's consistent with canon and explores the possible backstory of what happened to SQ's birth parents and how Milligan and Garrison ended up working for Curtain. But don't worry, you don't have to read the whole thing. I've included the relevant portion under the "Keep Reading" (for more context, this snippet comes from chapter 16 of SOS if you want more context, but hopefully this shall suffice).

Thank you for sending in this ask. Sorry if my response was overwhelming, but please know I agree 100%, and hope you have a lovely day! 🥰

My SOS Chapter 16 Snippet:

“Sticky” said Nicholas ducking his head into the room, “Could I speak to you in my office for a moment?”

“Uh, sure Mr. Benedict,” said Sticky, getting up and walking across the hall to Mr. Benedict’s office.

Once they were comfortably seated, Nicholas sighed and began to speak.

“You’ve been very brave Sticky,” complimented Nicholas, “and I am immensely proud of you. And I want you to know that I believe that after what you and the others have accomplished that you deserve to return to lives where you are loved, respected, and valued.”

“Um, thank you Mr. Benedict,” said Sticky, “So um…what exactly did you have in mind?”

“Your aunt is here,” Nicholas explained awkwardly, “in the next room.”

“Oh,” said Sticky after a pause.

“Yes,” said Nicholas, “And I understand that the two of you have a complicated relationship.”

Sticky nodded silently.

“And…your uncle is here too,” added Nicholas carefully, “though he and your aunt thought it best if he waited outside in the hall. So that you and your aunt could speak privately if that’s what you want.”

“If…if that’s what I want?” asked Sticky, “So… you’re not going to make me go back to my aunt? Or even talk to her?”

“No,” Nicholas answered. “I know what it's like to have difficult family relationships. And if you don’t want to speak to her, then I certainly won’t force you.”

“Oh,” said Sticky, who was beginning to feel a bit confused. “But…wouldn’t that be why you invited my aunt here? So that she could take me back?”

“We didn’t invite her,” Nicholas replied, “She found us. Or rather the private investigators she hired to look for you found us.”

“She…hired people to look for me?” repeated Sticky in shock, “But, she and my uncle, they only wanted me for money, they didn’t really like having to take care of me. It was just a responsibility they got saddled with after my parents died. Once I stopped making money for them, they had no reason to keep me around. I heard them say so myself; they wouldn’t spend any money to look for me!”

Nicholas sighed and looked sadly at Sticky, this poor boy, whose family had already been so damaged by parent’s deaths. He didn’t deserve to be treated the way he had, and it was hard for Nicholas, despite knowing it was irrational to blame himself, to not feel some of the responsibility for his role in creating the Sender.

“Ah yes,” said Mr. Benedict, “You see, Sticky, I’m afraid that my brother’s Emergency had many devasting and anxiety inducing effects. Ones that I suspect to have had great influence over your aunt and uncle. My brother’s messages were very specifically designed to increase anxieties. In children, this usually presented as generalized anxiety, social anxiety, or even irritability, but in many adults, it manifested in financial anxiety. Concerns about layoffs and the ability to make ends meet. To put food on the table.”

“Oh…” said Sticky, processing what Mr. Benedict was saying. “So…when she kept making me do those games shows…she wasn’t being greedy, she was motivated by fear? But I made so much, surely, we had more than enough money.”

“It was an irrational fear,” Nicholas acknowledged, “and I’m afraid that your aunt and your uncle’s decision not to look for you was also heavily influenced by my brother’s messages. He wanted to make sure that no one came looking for anyone he had brain swept, and in order to do that, he needed to make sure that while he increased people’s general feelings of anxiety, that he also made them uncharacteristically calm and complacent about the disappearance of their loved ones. I believe Reynie mentioned that the two of you were instructed to deliver those messages?”

“…the missing aren’t missing…they’re only departed…” confirmed Sticky with a nod, remembering the words that he himself had spoken into the Whisperer.

“Yes,” said Nicholas, “and once the effects of the Emergency were removed a few weeks ago, thanks to the bravery of you children, your aunt and uncle immediately set out to look for you. I must say, I’m quite impressed with their ability to track us down, we’re still taking several measures to stay as hidden as possible, so they must have spent quite a bit to hire some skilled professionals. But Sticky, I want you to know that I don’t believe that the role that the Emergency plays in your aunt and uncle’s behavior in any way excuses it or absolves them of any wrongdoing. And from what she’s told me, neither does your aunt.”

“You spoke to her?” asked Sticky.

“I did,” Mr. Benedict confirmed, “and we agreed that we both want the decision of your future to be left up to you. If you decided that you never wanted to speak to your aunt or uncle again, they would respect and honor that decision. As would I. However,” added Nicholas with a pause, “as someone who has some personal experience in this area, the decision to cut contact and ties with family, especially one’s only living biological family, is a very big one. One that should not be taken lightly, and one that should be carefully thought about and examined, with all factors considered.  Which I why while I don’t believe the Emergency’s influence excuses your family’s behavior, I still thought it was something that you might like to be aware of before you make any final decisions.”

“Thank you,” said Sticky, who was still taking everything in, “I’m glad you told me about all that. It’s good to know.”

“You’re very welcome,” answered Mr. Benedict.

“Can I…” said Sticky with some hesitation, “Can I see her? I have some things I think I might like to say.”

“Of course,” said Nicholas, pointing Sticky towards the room where his aunt was waiting for him. “But as I said, the decision of whether you want to say those things is up to you. If at any point you want to leave, we will respect that.”

Sticky nodded and stood in front of the door before turning back to Mr. Benedict.

“And um…Mr. Benedict?” he asked.

“Yes Sticky?” Nicholas replied.

“I’m glad I got to talk to you about this,” said Sticky hesitantly, “because I know you understand. Family is important, and I’m um… I’m sorry about yours. I know it hurts. But what happened between you and your brother… and the Emergency…it isn’t your fault. He made his own choices. Just like my aunt. Even if there were other factors.”

Nicholas nodded.

“I know,” he assured him, “thank you Sticky.”

Mr. Benedict didn’t entirely look like he believed what he was saying, but Sticky didn’t have the time to press the issue.

Nicholas walked down the hall to rejoin the others, giving Sticky the privacy to make his choice.

Sticky took a deep breath and opened the door.

His aunt looked up the moment she heard the door open and let out a loud relieved gasp.

Sticky hadn’t been sure what exactly he was to expect when he opened the door, but seeing his aunt looking the way that she did was certainly shocking.

Of course, once the Emergency ended, Sticky immediately noticed the changes in the people of Stonetown. They were nicer, friendlier, and they weren’t as despairing or irritable anymore. But seeing those changes in the general public was one thing, seeing them in someone he knew…that was another. Sticky couldn’t recall ever seeing his aunt act this way before. She seemed to really be looking at him, not as a tool or as a burden, but as a person, and even someone she might actually care about. In fact, were a stranger to walk in, they would probably believe that Sticky’s aunt was a concerned and relieved parent. She looked like she’d been worried sick and was almost on the verge of tears.

“Sticky,” she whispered, “Are you alright? Are you hurt? They…they told me that you went to that island to stop the Emergency and that horrible man made you sit in a room where he... hurt you somehow and I…”

Sticky’s aunt was really shaking now, and Sticky was still so shocked to see her acting this way that he instinctively walked forward and gave her a tentative hug, not knowing what else to do.

“It’s okay,” he comforted, “I’m fine. I promise.”

“Oh,” she gasped, before lowering her head.

“Sticky…I’m sorry,” she choked out, “I shouldn’t have used you like that; I don’t know what came over me. If your mother could see me now, she’d probably think I was a monster. And she’d be right. But I want you to know that I’m sorry, and that I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to make up for what I did to you. That is if you still want me in your life.”

Sticky was surprised. He could vaguely recall his mother saying that she and his aunt were sisters and best friends growing up, but his aunt had never mentioned either of Sticky’s parents since their funeral. And she never apologized. It was so unlike her.

Or, Sticky thought, remembering that he had never really known his aunt before the Emergency began, maybe this was like her.

Sticky remembered his time at the Institute. The hold that Dr. Curtain and the Whisperer had on him, how hard it was to break out of it, and the way it made him act. He’d snapped at Constance, he’d said such awful things to Reynie, and he hadn’t even been worried about Kate when she ran off on her own and fell off a cliff. If someone had only known him during that time of his life, they’d probably think he was terrible. And while Sticky knew he was responsible for all of those things he said and did, he still was grateful that his friends had been understanding. And that they’d held out for the real Sticky to return.

He supposed he could try to show his aunt the same courtesy.

“I do want you in my life,” Sticky answered.

His aunt looked up at him, surprised, but grateful.

“Oh Sticky,” she whispered.

“But I’m still really hurt. And it’s gonna take some time,” Sticky cautioned.

“Oh of course, of course,” his aunt nodded, “I understand.”

“And I don’t want to do game shows anymore,” Sticky continued, “I know I made a lot of money off of them, and I know I was good at them, but we have more than enough money now. And I want to do more with my gift than win silly competitions. I want to make a difference. I want to help people.”

“Sticky,” his aunt answered, “I want you to do what you want, you deserve that, but these dangerous missions, I can’t let you put your life in danger again, I’d never forgive myself-”

“I wouldn’t be going on anymore missions,” Sticky assured her, “The Emergency is over, and Mr. Benedict doesn’t want us in danger any more than you do. I want to go to the Boatwright Academy. It’s a boarding school that’s designed for kids like me. It’ll give me the opportunity to use my gift for something more.”

Sticky handed his aunt the brochure.

“So far away from home,” his aunt noted, “Is this really what you want to do?”

“It is,” Sticky confirmed.

“I see,” said his aunt, “well, your uncle and I will have to talk about this. He’s just outside, we didn’t want to overwhelm you, but…I think that would be fine. But you have to promise me that you’ll call home every week. And no more dangerous missions or adventures of any kind.”

“I promise,” confirmed Sticky, turning to let his uncle in.

“And Sticky,” his aunt added weakly.

“Yes?” asked Sticky.

“I really am sorry,” she repeated sadly, “For everything. And I’m sorry if I keep saying it for a while.”

Sticky nodded.

“It’s okay,” he replied as his uncle entered the room.

Sticky knew that he shouldn’t be surprised to see that his uncle looked about as changed as his aunt, but he was surprised all the same. His uncle had never taken much of an interest in him at all (beyond his aunt’s desire to drag him onto game shows), but now his uncle seemed to be attentively listening to Sticky’s explanation of what he wanted to do with his life and seemed to agree with what Sticky wanted.

At the end of the conversation, Sticky left the room feeling happier and lighter. It was going to take some time to repair his relationship with his aunt and uncle, and he might never really be able to forget what they did to him, but still, his aunt was his mom’s sister. The last living relative Sticky had. And Sticky was glad that their relationship seemed to be moving towards a better place.

--

As soon as Sticky left the room, his uncle put his hand gently on his aunt’s shoulder.

“I’m proud of you,” he assured her.

“I’m not,” she muttered, “We hurt him enough already. Now we’re letting him go to a school so far away. Suppose that man who caused the Emergency decides that he wants revenge? And we’re not there?”

“Then the authorities will handle it,” Sticky’s uncle comforted, “I’m sure the school is perfectly safe. And it’s the perfect place for a boy with his talents. He wouldn’t be satisfied doing those game shows forever, even if it did bring in a lot of money.”

“It was never just about the money,” Sticky’s aunt sighed.

Her husband nodded.

“I know,” he confirmed, sitting down next to her.

“It’s just…game shows are safe,” she protested, “They could make him enough money to live comfortably with no risk involved.”

“But that’s not a life he’d be satisfied with,” Sticky’s uncle repeated. 

Sticky’s aunt sighed again and look towards the door where her nephew had exited.

“He sounds just like her sometimes,” she noted sadly, “To the world she was my brilliant big sister, but to me she was the kindest person in the world. She could have been arrogant about how much smarter she was than everyone else. She could have made me feel as small as I felt when I stood next to her. But she never did. All she’d talk about was how much she wanted to make a difference and help people, just like Sticky.”

Her husband nodded emphatically. He’d heard this before and knew just how hard this was going to be for his wife.

“And look where that got her,” Sticky’s aunt continued. “I suppose I’m partly to blame. I should have been more insistent. I told her doing those kinds of jobs was dangerous. That there were so many other things her intelligence could be used for. But she never listened. “Good people need to be brave enough to stand up and do the right thing” she’d say. I thought that once she was in that chair, since her illness had gotten so bad, that maybe she would stop…”

Sticky’s aunt paused to choke back tears as her husband carefully put his arms around her.

“…but she didn’t. And I told her it was a bad idea, but she insisted she’d be fine, that it was just desk work. I think that might have been the only time that I was right, and my brilliant older sister was wrong. Growing up, sometimes I’d think it was insufferable how she was always right about everything and sometimes I’d wish that she would be wrong about something just once, but I…I just wish she could have picked any another time to be wrong. She was stronger than I ever was. She would have fought through those messages. She would have stopped at nothing to find Sticky, while I…I…”

Sticky’s aunt really was sobbing now.

“Hey,” her husband said, hugging her to his chest, “You can’t punish yourself forever. And you can’t blame yourself for what happened to your sister. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it is if I let her son walk down the same path she did!” Sticky’s aunt protested.

“You’re not letting him do anything,” Sticky’s uncle objected, “This is his choice. Whether we agree with it or not, the boy is growing up. He has a right to start making his own decisions about his future.”

Sticky’s aunt looked up at him.

“And” her husband added carefully, “he has a right to know what happened to his parents.”

Sticky’s aunt shook her head.

“We can’t talk to a child about things like that,” she protested.

“He won’t be a child for much longer,” Sticky’s uncle pointed out, “and after all he’s been through, he deserves the truth. Ugly as it might be.”

Sticky’s aunt thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and nodded reluctantly.

“Maybe after we let him get used to his new school, make some friends, get our relationship with him in a better place, and figure out our new normal, we can sit down with him and try to find a way to talk about things,” she suggested.

Her husband smiled comfortingly and hugged her.

“I know it’s hard,” he admitted, “but I’m proud of you. You’re doing the right thing. And I’m here for you. And for him. No matter what happens.”

Sticky’s aunt returned the hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered before drying her tears and doing her best to look presentable.

The last thing she needed to do was draw unnecessary attention to herself.

She’d hurt her nephew enough already.

#long post #I hope you like this snippet! #sticky washington #Bods Answers #mbs fanfic #tmbs fanfic #the mysterious benedict society #mysterious benedict society #tmbs

[emeraldcitynerdfighter]

Carson wandered over to across the street to the comic shop. From what she could tell, the store was empty. Figured, as it was in the middle of a weekday. Carson relaxed, knowing, for a few moments, she wouldn't need to navigate socializing. She could let her body and mind drift. The calm and quiet meandering brought her back to her childhood in Lake Valley, to summer days spent in the library, of interactions with the kind woman at the check-out desk who reminded her of Miss Honey from the Matilda movie. She always had a reverence for books, for stories, for the process of discovering them.

Clance Morgan maintained a steady inventory of comics and graphic novels and companion books to various science fiction and fantasy novels and universes. She also had a shelf that showcased locally published authors and artists; her own series -- The Adventures of Lieutenant Victory -- was a local favorite.

She stopped and perused the section of books for young readers, spending more than a few moments scanning a shelf of board books featuring well-known super heroes. She picked one up, flipping through the stiff pages, wondering if it was too early to --

"Carson, that you?" A familiar, jovial voice called over the stacks.

Despite still being out of Clance's line of sight, Carson bit back a grin, feeling like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She put the board book back on the shelf, and wandered to the back of the store.

Clance sat perched on a stool behind the counter, sketchbook out in front of her, pencil scratching away. She looked up as Carson approached. Carson gave a weak wave in greeting, and Clance slammed her pencil down.

"Can you believe what happened?" Clance cried in indignation. She clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Bunch of miscreants with too much time on their hands. Probably did it on a dare or as one of those internet challenges," Clance shook her head. "If my daughter even thought of doing something that idiotic--"

"Mama!" On cue, a small child -- no more than four, if Carson could remember correctly -- came running out of the back storage room, beaded braids bouncing behind her. She appeared at Clance's side, holding up a piece of paper. "Look what I drawed!"

//

New 'sobe' chapter also went up this week!! There are a few moments in this chapter that have been waiting in the wings for a while, and I'm excited to finally release them into the wild.

Enjoy, All-Star Fruits! Let me know what you think :)

#a league of their own #aloto #save aloto #aloto fic #my writing #gretson #gretson fic

[bloodsbane]

Hello, Happy (late? Its 1 am so I think technically late) birthday :) I just saw in yer tags that you decided to play Slay the Princess on your birthday, and I wanted to ask what you thought of the game :)

thank you~ ^^ i'm more than happy to talk about it!

short answer is that yes, i did play, and i had a really good time! I did one "full run" of it. for those curious, i got these in order: the Fury, the Razor, the Damsel, the Prisoner, and the Adversary.

it's a game i'd definitely recommend to anyone who's at least slightly interested in it! and that it's absolutely one that's the most fun going into as blind as possible, BUT by its nature, you'd still have a lot to discover on your own even if you watched someone play part of most of a run ;)

(more concrete commentary and vague spoilers below)

(and of the routes i got, I think Fury and Adversary are my favorites, though I did the Godkiller branch of Fury so I'm really curious to get that again and try going with the Broken's suggestions heh)

I ended up getting what I think could be called a 'middling/Neutral' ending, which was fine, I was playing to explore and pick what felt right in each moment rather than get something more definitive. I think I got a lot of insights by the end of my route so I'm eager to get back into it and play the game at least like 2 more times.

I REALLY enjoy the game, I think the ideas behind it are so cool and I love how it has so much replay-ability. like, I watched Joseph Anderson's playthrough of it (which was super funny, though I didn't finish watching the end of it bc he got a different Ending than I did and I didn't wanna see every detail of that), and it was really interesting to see not only what other routes he discovered, but how when he encountered routes that I'd also run into (Razor, Damsel), he managed to get slightly-to-moderately different versions of them! Like, his version of the Princess at the end of his Damsel route was totally different from mine!

The presentation is perfect, too. I'm already quite familiar with Jonathan Sims' voice talents of course, since I've been a huge fan of The Magnus Archives for the last ~5 years, and he wrote/voiced in that podcast. He does a phenomenal job acting out all the Voices in STP, and it was really nice to hear him performing again (even as I'm keeping up with the TMA sequel podcast, where he also voices, just not as predominantly!)

The voice acting for the Princess was amazing too, I LOVED hearing all the different variations of her vocal presentation. I thought it was such an immediately cool detail... especially since I chose to take the knife down with me on my very first go at it, so my first impression of her was the much more dangerous and stern delivery, which I wasn't expecting - I anticipated the writing to have her play innocent at first, but of course I know now why that wasn't the case, hehehe.

and of course the artwork is amazing. i LOVE how it's kept to a more sketchy, work-in-progress feeling style, i think it conveys the fragility and impermanence and transformative nature of the game and where it takes place. and of course all the ways the princess is stylized, both more subtly and obviously, in each route, is one of the most fun elements of discovering new versions of her. a lot of the compositions are great and i love her expressions a ton!! uhg just really great artwork all around

and speaking of art, the ost is fantastic, really perfect ambiance as well as tracks that convey the feel of each route, like, i'd call them each uniquely textured in a way perfectly suited to each. i'll probably throw the ost on by itself at some point to try appreciating the music on its own a bit more

overall great game!! im excited to play it again and im curious just how many variations of paths and endings there are!

#baneanswers

[sprog-writes]

Summary:

After getting accepted into the Justice League, Billy just had one thing to do. Getting over their fear of their heroes' rejection was the easy part.

Witnessing Batman's reaction was harder.

Finally publishing something!!

Fic under the cut

“Holy moly,” Billy couldn't believe what was happening. They were in the Watchtower! With the Justice League! That Batman just asked them to join! “This is a dream come true!” They turned to look at the big window made of the wall on his left, “I can't believe I'm in space! This is fantastic!” They couldn't help but start floating in place a bit, face close to the glass, unable to contain their enthusiasm.

“Welcome to the Watchtower, Captain,” Superman emerged from the room on Billy’s left –the kitchen, judging from what they could see of it– and floated his way towards the other hero, resting a hand on their shoulder, “you do a lot of good in Fawcett. I’m honored to have such a brilliant hero on our side,” he was smiling, infected by the Captain’s own.

“I won’t disappoint you, sir!” Billy mock-saluted Superman, making the man blush a little.

“No need for that. We’re colleagues,” they made their way back on the floor together, as Billy giggled for having flustered Superman, “also, between you and me, Batman is more the captain of this ship than I ever will be,” he stage-whispered, knowing the dark knight would no doubt hear his taunting, making Billy giggle even more.

There was something about the Captain that made Superman feel lighter. Like he didn't hold the weight of the world on his shoulder for the first time since – gosh he didn't even know when the last time he felt so… at ease was.

They made their way towards the kitchen where, as Billy discovered, some of the other Justice League members were preparing to eat dinner all together.

“Oh-” Billy felt their eyebrows raise and mouth fall slack, “I can come back tomorrow or something if you already have plans”

"Nonsense!" The Flash ran quickly – ‘of course he’s quick! He’s the Flash!’ Billy really couldn’t believe it was really happening– to their side, enveloping them in a side hug, “We were actually waiting for you to get to the Tower. We were hoping you’d join us?”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Billy smiled as they side-eyed the enormous amount of food the team had laid on the big table at the center of the room, as well as the big cake on the counter near the fridge. Their restraint has always been strong, but the call of free food was too tempting to pass up. Self-restraint was not, unfortunately, part of their gods-given power set, “but if you insist, I won’t say no to free food,” Flash and they chuckled at their admission.

It was weird seeing all these superheroes in relatively normal clothing –sure the ones that like to hold their secret identity close to their chest were wearing masks or something of the same caliber, but there was no costume in sight– and Billy started feeling a bit self-conscious about their own, but they decided not to bring attention to it themself unless one of the others decided to point it out.

“So, Captain -can I call you ‘Captain’?,” Billy nodded, "Captain, I gotta say. It’s so refreshing to have another guy here that’s not as uptight as those other schmucks,” Flash sped up to them and sat down in front of them with a plate full of a little bit of every dish the leaguers offered.

Billy laughed, as they picked up knife and fork, hiding the bit of discomfort caused by Flash’s choice of words, “Thank you, I’m really excited to be here. This is… Well it’s sort of a dream come true, I guess,” they fidgeted with their food, feeling that the rest of the heroes were more interested in learning about their new teammate than they were in the food laid out in front of them, “I think many heroes would want to be in my place. Being part of the League means you all have my back, and it’s an honor to know that you put your trust in me to do the same,” they flashed a smile and got several in return.

“You’re a good man, Captain,” Batman spoke up for the first time since their arrival, “you earned your place in the team,” he leaned against one of the walls, arms crossed and ever-neutral expression fixed on his face.

Billy stopped mid-chew and promptly swallowed, setting down their utensils, “Not that I don’t appreciate the praise, Mr. Batman, but I’m… I’m not a man,” they smiled, fidgeting with their fingers under the table, slightly trying to avoid the other heroes’ eyes.

“...What,” the Flash broke the silence, receiving a kick under the table from Green Arrow, which didn’t go as unnoticed as the other hero hoped for it to be.

“Ah, well, I mean- I guess sometimes- I mean, I-” Billy’s cheeks started getting redder, their hands sweatier and mouth drier the longer they had to explain, to their heroes, someone they looked up to –‘this was much easier to tell Freddy’– “like a bandaid,” they whispered, “I think the word is genderfluid?”

“Oh,” Superman exclaimed calmly. The confusion in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by Billy, but they were glad he didn’t give in and start berating them with questions.

What Billy didn’t expect was to see Batman turn around and exit the room without a word.

“Oh…” though not the only one confused by the Bat’s reaction, the Flash was the only one to express his confusion vocally. Everyone looked at where Batman once stood, Superman had his eyebrows furrowed.

“That’s not like him,” he said.

“Hey, Cap, I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation–” 

Billy interrupted the Green Lantern, “It’s fine– I mean, it’s not really fine, but I’ve had worst reactions,” they admitted, ‘though it does sting to have such a reaction from someone I look up to’.

Superman opened his mouth again, but he didn’t manage to get out what he wanted to say before Batman came back fully suited and with papers in his hands.

He walked up to Billy and posed something in front of their plate, “pronoun pins. Robin designed them, Nightwing helped him make them,” he said, not even looking up from his papers, “let me know if you need more,” the Bat finally looked up towards the heroes, “suit up everyone. We got an alert from Cyborg about some robot-controlling meta near Metropolis”

Billy scooped up Batman’s gift when Flash put his hand on their shoulder.

“I’m not tearing up!”

Flash chuckled, “Told you there was something else going on, Cap!”

“That was me, actually”

“Oh, c’mon GL–”

As the two argued, Billy picked the pin with ‘they/them’ written on it before putting it on and opening a small portal to stash the rest in his little personal pocket dimension.

They followed Batman toward the Zeta tubes, waiting for the other heroes to get ready, and got the knight’s attention, “Ehm, sir?”

“No need for that, Captain. Just Batman is fine,” he responded, “what is it?”

“I was wondering if Robin would like to make more of those pins– not for me! The ones you gave me are great!” Billy raised their hands in defense, “It’s just that– I spend quite some time helping the homeless population of Fawcett and I know some kids who would be very excited to receive something like this from someone like Robin,” they waited for a response, but Batman’s silence made them extremely nervous, “they tend to like younger heroes more and distrust –well any kind of adult actually. It took me quite a lot to earn their trust,” ‘at least as Captain. But to be fair, stroking my own ego as Billy helped,’ “it would really make their day,”

It was hard to figure out what the other man thought from behind his cawl –though Billy would bet Batman had the ability to keep a neutral expression in any and all situations. Completely unreadable– so they waited for his response with bathed breath.

“I’ll talk to Robin,” he said, finally, “but I can’t guarantee he’ll accept. He… tries, but he has trouble connecting with people his own age”

“Oh- that’s understandable!”

Their conversation was cut short as Superman arrived, adjusting the cape on his shoulders –and Billy maybe drooled just a bit. Though he was shamelessly staring in awe– and clapped his hands in front of them, “Let’s go, g- I mean, everyone,” Billy smiled at his correction, silently thanking him for his consideration, and followed suit.

#shazam #captain marvel #dc captain marvel #billy batson #justice league #fanfiction #this was entirely self indulgent lmao

[rgr-pop]

i think a lot about the difference between getting paid time off and taking days off--in my position, i feel like i take fewer days off than i would if my schedule and pto weren't so regimented. also, i just restrict my time off kind of pathologically because of the austerity of it all. puts you in a head space! my hours are really capped, so i can't make more subbing or something like i could at the public library. but at four days (esp. while in school) i don't really feel like i can get a second (regular) job (although i'm entering gig archives career period lol so that'll be happening next year). i mean i personally can't really work over 35 hours health and transportwise but i just mean even hypothetically. i couldn't really get second regular part time library job, office job, or retail job because of the hour demands of this one (although i do really look for local weekend-only library jobs, they never go up, and many of the sub jobs are overt scabbing [please watch out for this in libraries]). eta: i guess i should say, when i worked in public libraries, and i don't know if it's still like this, the part time clerk condition was thought of in 20-25 hour blocks and was a bit more.. modular. a lot of us may work 20 hours here, 20 hours at another library, 10 or 15 hours as a page. but because of the fake-professional nature of ts/circ at the academic library it doesn't feel designed to do that (but doesn't compensate enough to make itself livable on its own.) (also i should say, back in the day at least, as i started in clerkship really at peak post-recession library industry austerity, librarians lived like that too.) anyway we talk a lot in society about how many days we 'get' off but i want to know more about how many days we 'take' off regardless of if they're paid, and also this is fundamentally a different thing than how many hours someone works.

another thing that i'm kind of pilled on, and i don't mean this to sound haterish but. i was really shocked to discover that the chain food service workers i organize with, their companies are calling them "full time" when they are not full time. i guess i knew that this was happening but the legality escapes me. when i was a barista at not-really a chain, the practice of scheduling someone less than 40 hours to deny them benefits was hugely agitating to my coworkers. (an interesting dynamic was that we viewed it as what they did to the service workers--shop and cafe--in the museum, when the professionals got a better deal.) so it would make sense that starbucks in particular would have a rhetorical strategy to anticipate that, and (as i understand) extend their so-called benefits to less-than forties. in all the cases i'm referring to, workers say (and this makes perfect sense) is that they are called "full time" because they are allowed to work up to 40 hours, but never more, and their managers basically schedule them so that they can last-minute schedule them more hours. so they'll be on the schedule at 28-30 hours but may last minute work 38. and everywhere that's unionizing right now, especially starbucks, is using underscheduling as a tactic.

QUICK pitch for a union. if you go to a job every day in order to collect a wage from somebody, the "somebody" you collect wages from has every particular of their dumb ass little business or service provision enterprise planned out for decades. this is the economy. there is NO reason, unless you're saving lives, or choosing to be a freelance little art dork working on your own time, or whatever, and even then tbh but setting that aside, there is no reason why you should not have a guarantee about how many hours you will work on this pay period, and how many dollars will be on your next paycheck. perhaps even your next few! any deviation from that expectation should only really be determined by your personal decision (or perhaps negotiation with a coworker) to work more or less than than that. there is no reason you should be working at a god damn drive through coffee business in a shopping center and not know whether you're going to work 56 or 80 hours this month. absolutely none and this one thing is what a union is for, in my opinion. almost everybody in a union can say with some certainty exactly what they will be working (or exchanging pto for) and receiving for the next, say, 30-90 days. that itself is what it's worth.

anyway here's what's driving me crazy, and i can't decide how i feel about it. all of these people who work 28-35 hour weeks call themselves "full time" because that's what their boss says they are. i am curious if there is a potential strategy in doing this, but i'm haterish because i ROUTINELY get told i work less than the service workers when they work fewer or the same amount of hours. not naming names but a certain someone has often been working 25 hour weeks but saying they're full time and i'm part time :|.

i personally choose to organize around "part time work" because of a political strategy and identification i see within it, right, especially in my fields (libraries and higher ed.) my impulse is that these heaux have false consciousness... girl you are a part timer. part time work is queer you should lean into it

[whatthisfemsheplikes]

GUESS WHO’S BACK

I HAVE AWOKEN FROM MY *checks calendar* TWO YEAR SLUMBER! MAY THE G/T ANGST RAIN DOWN UPON THIS PAGE ONCE MORE!

In all seriousness though, hi! I’ve got some news!

I don’t know if anyone will still remember this, but I used to have a sideblog a few years ago where I posted my g/t story called See Me. Unfortunately, I decided to delete that sideblog for a number of reasons, but eventually I came back to my main and said I’d put See Me somewhere else, potentially on AO3. Right after I said that, I asked for an invitation to AO3, did a little bit of waiting and then... totally forgot about it.

What can I say? We were in the heat of Covid times, my mental health was at an ATL, I was moving, and lots of other adult stuff happened. Since then, I just felt kind of bad about returning to this page with no new content of my own to put out. I used to write a lot and enjoy it, but lots of stuff in my life has been going on the past two years that hasn’t really motivated me to do any writing or creating of any kind. I know that I could still be liking and reblogging stuff, but coming back here just made me miss what I used to create, so I stopped for a little while. 

BUT NOT FOR LONG! While it may not sound great, through a lot of self-reflection and therapy, I’ve kind of discovered that nowadays, I turn to g/t content when I’m going through a hard time. And, not gonna lie, I’m DEEP in the trenches from fucked up life events right now, so naturally, I found myself back on tumblr to connect with the g/t community again. But not on this page. That’s right! I made a new page and I’ve been LURKIN’ out here! And no, I will not reveal what that page is, but feel free to tell me if you think you’ve figured it out and I’ll be more than happy to tell you if that page is me or not. 

Anyway, since I’ve been lurking and consuming as much g/t content as I can get my hands on, I’ve also gone back to my own archives and read through See Me about a billion more times. Not only did I polish it up a lot while keeping everything pretty much the same (mostly fixing spelling and grammar) but I also just told myself “you know what, I still really like this story.” And reading so many other amazing stories from other g/t writers on here really inspired me to finally get out there and put See Me back into the universe, while also writing a few new stories and AUs in the process that will hopefully see the light of day at some point. 

ALL OF THAT TO SAY... I did it. See Me is finally up on AO3 right now! At least, MOST of it is. I really had to take a hard look at my word doc and think “why did I do this to myself” when I counted 39 chapters with almost 400 pages that I wanted to reread, edit again, and possibly add some polish on, chapter by chapter before putting it on AO3. As of writing this, I started uploading chapters last night and am currently done uploading chapter 19. So... about halfway done! I’m still going to keep uploading as I had the time to do so (I do have work tomorrow so... not as much time as the weekend but I’m going to post more) and eventually all 39 chapters will be available just as you remember them (or are reading for the first time if you never got to read See Me before). 

I’ll also be uploading any of the prompt stories and other short stories I made to AO3, and any prompts that I get and write here in the future will be available there as well. Like I said, I have some new ideas too, some AUs and some completely new universes with new OCs that have also been sitting in my hard drive since I first started writing g/t stuff years ago. I’m hoping to keep up this motivation and to eventually write and put out those stories on AO3 too, so stick around for that if you’re interested! 

To anyone that is still following this page and has maybe even been waiting for See Me to come back, thank you for your patience and support. I hope you still enjoy what I put out there, and I hope to keep up this motivation to create, even after things hopefully get better in my personal life. 

As a little aside, some of the big motivators in my comeback, even though they wouldn’t know it, are @not-a-space-alien with their story Watch Your Step, @marydublinauthor and @bittykimmy13 with all their wonderful Shot In The Dark and Print/Trinket stories (please go buy their books, they are absolutely amazing), and @ratcatcher0325​ with their stories A Fraction of Justice and Nobody’s Fool. I know that these tags might come out of nowhere for all of you, as I don’t think I’ve interacted with any of you personally on this account, but your stories inspire me so much that it really pushed me to put my work back out there again, especially if my work could make someone as happy as all your stories make me. So thank you! I look forward to reading all that you create in the future! And in case you’re thinking “but you only just started following me today/recently,” well, like I said, I’ve been lurking on another account, so I’m sure you might’ve seen me there and just not known it. Anyway, keep up the amazing work, and everyone else please go read their stuff! It’s awesome and full of g/t goodness!

Well, I think that’s everything I had to say. I’m going to try and be more active on here and not just update about my AO3, because I don’t think that would be very fun. I’ll still get on here and like and reblog things that I like so feel free to stick around and interact. And if you want to interact with my work, please visit my AO3 page right here, or search for whatthisfemsheplikes on AO3! I’d love to see you there! Here’s to the future and I hope you all have some happy holidays coming up!

- Mo-Mo

TLDR; Life sucks but I’ve posted See Me, my g/t story, on AO3 so it’s back on the internet. You can read that and anything else I write on my page right here, or find me under the same username whatthisfemsheplikes on AO3! 

#whatthisfemshepthinks #whatthisfemshepwrites #g/t #g/t stories #g/t writing #see me #Tori and Wesley #there is a hint about my second account on this post

[bookpersonmaryj]

Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

1.ooof okay so I have A Lot of current projects, but the one that I've been working on the most over the last week is probably the tma chatfic (working title, I'll have to come up with something better at some point).

it's, well, a chatfic, which you can probably guess from the title, but more specifically: (spoiler warning for the magnus archives here!!!) basically, all the avatars have a groupchat and Annabelle Cane adds Jon at some point after he gets promoted, because they all think he's Aware of serving an eldritch fear entity and are Surprised when he is clueless as to what the hell they're all talking about

i've been writing on it for over at least... two years i think? and a few days ago edited the bits i wrote separately to fit into the bit that's more story-like, at which point i discovered that i'm at 95 pages??? somehow??? so yea there's progress, despite there being literally no plot besides Jon Finds Out About The Entities And Has A Few Breakdowns.

what i love about it: Everyone Is Queer (because i was figuring out my gender at the time and thought i was just being supportive to trans/nb people and not relating that stuff to myself) and There Is No Angst (okay that's a lie, there's a bit angst, but mostly it's really entertaining and not angsty) and I have so much fun writing the characters???

pretty sure a lot of the characters are OOC but I don't really care, it's far too funny to have the avatars bully Jon for having a crush on Martin (yes this fic is also jonmartin with jon getting over his denial Very Quickly during what constitutes as s1)

honorable mentions here to the other fics i'm working on right now: the doctor who bodyswap au we all needed after potd where they Actually Bodyswap, the doctor who fic where some evil scientist tries to use regeneration energy for their own gain (it is as angsty as it sounds, yes), the tua fanfic where klaus refuses to let luther lock up viktor in that creepy basement in s1 (with added nb klaus and trans viktor because yes!), the sandman fanfic where dream loses the ability to speak after being locked up in a glass bowl for centuries (called 'cat got your tongue' because I Am Hilarious), and the ouat fanfic that's purely self-indulgent because i have a I Could Fix Her mentality when it comes to Regina (not just because of that but it's definitely part of it...)

4. mhhhh let's see!

There’s something going wrong in her mind, something is wrong with this whole regeneration, of course it is, forced regenerations aren't ever simple, but this is more than that, because she just let the Master leave with Yaz, with her TARDIS, and that’s not what the Doctor does, that’s not-

Is that still who she is? Is she still the Doctor now?

Yaz didn’t notice. The Master didn’t say anything, didn’t even gloat, didn’t even- And she’s not acting like the Doctor should, so what-?

She curls around herself, feeling unmoored when it’s different than before, the Master’s body – hers now – new and ill-fitting like putting on a glove that’s too small, or maybe it’s too big, or possibly both, somehow.

this is from my doctor who bodyswap fic, and i really liked this bit, because thirteen is questioning her own sense of self, after gallifrey, after techteun, after getting swapped into a body that isn't hers, and i just think that's a really neat concept to explore

actually, have some more of that fic, cause there are several lines i really like:

“Wait wait wait, can’t we talk about this?” she yelps, ducking behind machinery and twisting out of the way of more shots.

“The Cyberium is destroyed. You have destroyed the Cyberium. You will be deleted.”

They’re advancing on her, and she doesn’t have her sonic on her, it’s in her coat pocket, stupid Doctor, stupid Master, means she’s defenceless, means-

Except, she reaches into her pockets out of instinct, and there’s something in there.

“I don’t-” The words get stuck in her throat because they’re so untrue, doesn’t she want to do this, and it’s different now, this is a step she’s not been prepared to take, is she really going to do this?

“Stand down. You will be deleted.”

Yeah, right.

Them or her. Them or Earth.

The decision, in the end, is far too easy.

And then the Doctor stares at the tiny Cybermen, the Master’s TCE still raised, and something in her mind is spinning wildly out of reach, something has changed and she doesn’t quite know what it is, or if it can be reversed.

thirteen making master decisions instead of doctor decisions! love to see her make Bad choices

“I see you had time to change.”

The words spark memory, and the Doctor raises a brow at him, lifts her arms in a mockery of presenting the new clothes, and replies: “I always dress for the occasion.”

Is that amusement in his eyes or is she imagining it?

She lets her arms drop, crosses them over her chest again, considers him. It’s strange to stare at her own face and have it look back, except those eyes aren't hers, those eyes have always been his, she’d know them anywhere.

what's more 'master' than changing your outfit for the Drama of it?

yeah, I don't know where this story is going, but the second i've finished it i'll upload it! ^-^

EDIT: just found the Actual scene i wanted to share but got distracted from looking for, this is from my other dw fanfic where someone wants to take regeneration energy

All his attention is on the Doctor, beautifully bathed in gold, brimming with light and life, the force of a nuclear explosion coiling inside her, infecting her surroundings, leaking into the air and causing everything in her path to self-destruct.

i adore writing thirteen as incredibly destructive force of nature ^-^

that's all, carry on!

6. good question... I have a lot of fun writing the thirteenth doctor, but honestly? it's Klaus Hargreeves from the umbrella academy. i just can't seem to stop writing Klaus, especially nonbinary he/they Klaus who figures out their powers and chills with Benny while his siblings are ignoring the both of them. (this probably says Something about me but I Do Not See)

(honorable mention to my ouat self-insert which i Cannot write anymore because i started writing her before i figured out that i am not, in fact, cis, and now i'm having trouble identifying with the person that used to be me)

8. mhhh... in terms of Queer things yes, i read and write both of those things.

i do think i Write far more angst than i Read angst.

also, this question depends entirely on whether it's meant as reading books or reading fanfiction, because obviously i read the sort of fanfictions that i also write, and i guess yeah, i do also read the books that are sort of close to the sort of fanfiction vibes i like to read / write

13. yes i do! mostly just fanfictions, nothing 'original' just yet (i am working on it though!).

the ao3 link to my published fics is here, and there's also a German self-insert ouat fanfic on a German fanfic site, but uhhh that's sort of Very Unfinished and was started when i was still in school sooo... (i am planning on rewriting it at some point, and will try to finish it as well...).

as to the rest: there are... several projects that i've kept to myself, yes. i've taken my three (?) finished harry potter fics off the internet for now because i don't feel comfortable having them up with the way jk is behaving, and i won't post any of the ones i'm still writing on (i'm mostly just writing on them because if i have an idea i need it Out).

i also have A LOT of fanfics that are simply not finished yet, and because i know that i will not be able to stick to a posting/writing schedule i'd rather finish them before posting them, they'll stay on my laptop for now.

I am also working on a superhero book, but I've had to change a few of the original ideas i had because they don't really fit with the rest of the vibe of the book anymore, so i don't know when that's gonna be finished, if at all...

25. tough question... I have a lot of fun writing something with a twist, like, I as the writer am aware of a piece of information about the story/character I am writing that the reader is Not aware of but i am layering little hints into the story, and at some point i have a Reveal of the thing. i wasn't aware that this was something i did for a bit, until someone (you, dimitri, very specifically you) pointed it out in one of my fics and i realized that i Liked doing things like that actually, so yea!

also uhh i guess i really like how i can sort of work through some of my problems by projecting them onto characters? it helps sometimes...

i also enjoy writing something, and then having an idea, and suddenly the story is going in a wildly different direction as before, and i didn't anticipate it but i actually like this new direction, so i just roll with it. it's nice that writing is... alive, in a way.

wow, i wrote far more than i expected. thank you for asking these questions @rearranging-deck-chairs I had a lot of fun answering!

#writing stuff #asks #answering questions about my writing #doctor who

[an-asuryampasya]

scream

termites are, in fact, the fucking worst.

They make me feel so useless.

We have- had, now- this Telugu-English dictionary. Always called it the 'Brown dictionary' at home, because it was by Charles Philip Brown and it had to distinguished from the host of other dictionaries dotting the shelves (my grandfather has an extensive collection of books and that includes multiple Telugu-English dictionaries, as well as English-Telugu, Sanskrit-Telugu, Hindi-English, English-Hindi, and probably a bunch of others my kid-self couldn't be bothered about. Well now I very much can be bothered and I'll go check on them in a bit, but first, back to me moping about a dictionary. Also yes, my grandfather really likes collecting stuff. It's a goldmine that I'm only now beginning to appreciate as my interest in archives, conservation, and history grows. Also if you're new here (and my url doesn't make sense to you), hi, I'm Very Telugu on main sometimes and ramble about languages occassionally. Right, back to moping).

I'm stupidly fond of that dictionary. I rarely use it of course - probably why this even happened, it never seeing any sunlight - because I google shit like any other person. But just, growing up and having a rare moment of seeing my dad stumped by a word and us pulling out the Brown dictionary to look it up made me oddly excited? It's a nice memory (-I say, ignoring all the times when I'd have been groaning as he sent me to hunt it down because I'm certain those times happened too). Mostly though, the dictionary amuses me for a different reason. That book is wayyyy older than me, and I've been aware of it right since a time when I read books, but was young enough that I didn't really understand the need for author names. I mean, if I like a book and need to identify it, I need the title of the book itself. What do you mean it's possible to like an author and seek out more of their stuff? What good does knowing the author do? What do you MEAN dictionaries have authors??? The Oxford dictionary is just the Oxford dictionary??? And yeah, dad calls this one the brown dictionary, but that's because the cover of the book is brown, see? [Note: it was not, in fact, brown. The cover was orange and white. It was the other Telugu-English dictionary that was brown in colour, but I couldn't care less about that one at the time.]

[I eventually learned why it was called the Brown dictionary when my dad once asked for it and I grabbed the brown coloured dictionary and my dad was all ???]

So y'know, the title of that dictionary always makes me laugh when I remember why it's called that, and yeah I'm kinda emotionally attached to it now. Except today I decided it's time I look up my url on there because sure, I know what it means, but it's the brown dictionary. For old times' sake and all.

[side note: if you're wondering, my url means "she who never beholds the sun" (as my ideal state is me being holed up in my room). It's a Sanskrit word too, but Sanskrit dictionaries tend to carry only the figurative meaning of "part of a king's harem", so I'm particular about clarifying that I mean the more literal Telugu meaning when I use it. Bonus fact! I was delighted to learn of this word for the first time when my brother's ENT called him an asuryampasya. xD Great doc, that one.]

And well. That's when we discovered that the termites had attacked. They got some of the other stuff too, including somthing my mum is inordinately fond of and aaaaaaaah. I tried looking up online to see if we could buy another copy of the dictionary at least, but a used copy is priced at some forty fucking thousand (INR, that is. But still too expensive to buy just for old times' sake when technically I can just google the words I want.)

So that's it, then. The book is not so badly damaged that it's entirely useless so I can't even throw it out without feeling guilty, but large swathes of it are too messed up to use (the entry of asuryampasya is half eaten, with what's remaining reading 'she beholds the sun'). And I just. Feel so helpless. I read up on conservation practices and study the theory of how light ruins books and what chemical treatments are done and stuff but what is the point of me hoarding all that theoretical knowledge when the ONE book from my grandfather's collection I'm actually fond of got chewed up right in front of me, and I did nothing. Just. Scream. I feel very sad and useless. I should go check on the other books and stuff but I'm too upset to do it right now.

I'll get to it eventually, but until then it's moping (and making that the internet's problem like this) I guess. :(

#placeholder tag

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Safe and Sound

Fandom: Stranger Things Summary: Will has been through a lot, as has his pack. The Party makes sure to take of him and each other once they get the chance. Warnings: A/B/O dynamics, mentions of sickness, mentions of death, PTSD, trauma, and mentions of kidnapping/imprisonment Word Count: 2,103 Ship(s): Will Byers & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler & Dustin Henderson

Archive link!

A/N: So this is the first Stranger Things fanfiction I have ever written. I actually got back into Stranger Things completely by accident because I stumbled across an "I didn't know I was pregnant" style fanfic while looking for something in a completely different fandom. I didn't even know that it was being renewed for another season, lol. I thought that I would move this up on my upload schedule because of the fourth season, though. I'm not super happy with this fic since it's a bit of a character study and less of a sweet fluff scene like I wanted it to be. I hope that it still reads well and that you all enjoy it. Thank you all for even checking this out! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Everyone that saw them always said that they were too young to really be in a pack, but their families were well aware that they were. In the eyes of the law and the general public, they were still pups that would be members of their parents’ packs until they finished going through puberty. Despite that, they were still as close as a pack and had already developed a hierarchy. Mike was the pack leader, with Lucas and Dustin almost always snapping at each other to try and figure out who was the second. Will was happy with being the bottom of the pack because he was able to get affection from the rest of the pack without having to do all the work of keeping them from arguing. The Party spent a lot of time together already as they played DnD and did basically everything else with each other, so it wasn't uncommon to find them curled up in a big nest in the basement after a campaign. When asked, they said that they did it so that they could make up for hurt feelings and get some much needed sleep.

The past couple days had been rather tumultuous to say the least. Thinking that the heart of their pack, their only omega member, had died was absolutely devastating. It was made worse by the fact that they hadn't had their regular pack time to cuddle in the nest because they had to play for so long, and the new sort-of addition to their pack in the form of El. Adding a new member to a pack was always awkward and difficult, but for them it was multiplied based purely on the fact that she was also an alpha in a pack with two other alphas. There had been a moment of relief when they discovered that the heart of their pack was still alive, but it was diminished when they realized that he was suffering. The fighting and scrabbling to get him back that ensued just served to distress them more. After that, they had to deal with their parents desperately wanting them to stay at home where they could be safe while each of them fought to get to sit in the waiting room so they could be there for Will when he woke up.

It was almost two weeks after they had found him in the Upside Down before Joyce felt comfortable letting her son out of her sight. Mrs. Wheeler had to promise a thousand times over that she could keep a close eye on the pack while they were over there, and eventually the omega conceded because she could see how much her son needed it. The Party didn't even bother trying to play a campaign, not that Mike had set one up in the first place. Will was the last to arrive and head down into the basement, since everyone else's parents weren't aware of what really transpired that night.

"Guys?" the omega called out as he took the stairs one at a time to descend into the basement.

"Will!" Mike beamed as he turned to face the omega. "C'mere, we've got some things ready."

The youngest member of their pack hurried down the rest of the way so that he was standing in the frigid air of the basement. "Are we nesting?"

"Do you want to nest? You're the best at it," Dustin said. Betas only naturally got the urge to nest when they were pregnant, and alphas only got the urge to nest when they were the sole caregivers of pups. Omegas nested every time they went into heat, when they were pregnant, and when they or their pack was in need of comfort.

"Yeah!" Will hurried over to them. He picked up the blanket that was on the top of the messy stack. He brought it up to his nose and smiled as he could pick out each of his three other packmates. He missed them so much that he couldn't describe it. They may not have officially been a pack (their pack glands were completely unbroken), but they were bonded to each other in a way that none of the other kids their age were. "Do any of you want to help me?"

"If you want us to help then we will. You’re the best at this so you’re the boss," Mike shrugged. Lucas nodded in agreement next to him. None of them could stop their smiles as the omega began to work on preparing their pack nest. 

He started with some of the huge thick blankets that were specifically used just for the base of a nest. Once he had them in a vague circle, getting Dustin to help him weave the two massive, heavy blankets together so that it was large enough to fit all four of them, he began to layer other blankets over the top. He made sure that every bit of the rough base was completely covered. Will carefully chose the blankets that he used for the covering, pausing to feel each one against his pack gland and a few on his more sensitive mating gland. After he had covered the base blankets, he began to spread the pillows around the ground since they weren't on a mattress or anything remotely soft underneath the nest. After that, he began to pile the softer blankets around so that everything was perfect and smelled exactly like their pack. 

Will then turned around so that he was looking at their pack leader. "I know we don't have anything that really smells like El since your mom washed the fort, but I hope this is still good," he fidgeted nervously as he spoke.

"Will, I know that you didn't meet her. She couldn't even really be a part of our pack without all of us being here and figuring out the dynamic and stuff," Mike soothed as he reached out and touched the omega's shoulder reassuringly. "Why don't we get into the nest and really relax?"

The omega calmed a little bit. He climbed over the edge of the nest and then reached for Dustin to climb in as well. The beta went quickly, laying down so that he was in the middle of the nest. Will laughed before he turned around so that his head was resting on Dustin's shoulder. Mike got in and laid down on the other side of Dustin so that his legs were bent over the edge of the nest and his head was resting on the beta's stomach. Lucas was the last person to get into the nest and it took him a moment to settle down with his left side pressed with Will's right.

"I missed this," Mike sighed. "I'm glad that we can do it again."

"I promise I'll never go missing again," Will joked. He let out a small frown as the pack went quiet instead of laughing like he was expecting him to. They moved slightly so that they were pressed tighter to him like someone was going to steal him away if they didn't. "Sorry," he whispered.

Lucas placed his forehead on the back of the younger boy's head. "It's not your fault. We just really want to make sure that you never have to go through something like that again. We're a pack, and we have to stick together."

Dustin and Mike let out small noises of affirmation. After a little while they were able to calm down so that they were cuddling like they had been before everything had gone down. There were a couple of arguments about people's arms being in the wrong spot or a blanket that someone wanted over another, but nothing that meant they got out of the nest. Despite the fight that Mike and Lucas had, despite everything Will had gone through, despite the fifth member that was almost added to their pack, it was almost like the before. They were able to fall into their old patters in such a way that Will felt well and truly safe.

It had been about two hours when Mike spoke up, "Do you guys want something to eat? My mom left some french toast from the morning in the fridge that I could bring down."

Will opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by his stomach growling loudly for him. The rest of the Party laughed while their leader got up and carefully exited the nest. Dustin and Lucas shifted a little bit so that they could keep their omega warm without the other member of their pack. Will had been so cold for so long when he was in the Upside Down that he couldn't stand it now.

Mike walked up the stairs as quickly as he could. He had kind of made up the offer to go get something so that he could get a break from his pack. He loved them all to death, so much that he would do incredibly stupid things for each of them, but he was struggling with some emotions that he couldn't quite place. He opened the fridge and began to dig around to find the food he had offered to get.

"Hey dork," Nancy said, knocking her foot against the doorframe into the kitchen so that he knew she was there. The older alpha peaked into the fridge and then took out the plastic bag containing the french toast out. "This what you looking for?"

"Yeah, thanks Nancy," he smiled. They hadn't gotten along well before the incident because they were both alphas and he was beginning to come into his instincts as puberty began. Nancy had also been fighting with her nuclear family pack while she tried to find people to fill her own. After realizing that they both could have died, they had gotten a lot closer and not fought with each other the normal amount for siblings. Mike paused, opening his mouth to say something before he let it close. Nancy grabbed a drink from the fridge before she let it shut and made a move to leave the kitchen. "Nancy?"

"Yeah?" she asked as she turned to look at him.

"Am I a bad pack leader?" he looked up from the bag in his hands.

"Oh, Mike," she whispered. She set the soda down on the counter and then gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "You're an amazing pack leader and you guys haven't even pack bonded yet. Why would you think that you aren't?"

"Because I let Will get stolen. Lucas and I got into a fight and even though I know the rules of the party and he knows the rules of the hierarchy we still refused to make up with each other. And then El got… I don't know. She's gone too. I didn't even really get to bring her into my pack and I promised that I would protect her and make sure that she was okay. I wasn't able to," he scowled.

"Sometimes you just can't," Nancy shrugged. "You did your best to make sure that you got Will back, and you did all that work to find his favorite nesting blankets today. You're even getting them food. You're a wonderful pack leader and you take good care of your pack."

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Thanks," he wrapped his arms around her in a brief hug.

"Of course, dork. Now go enjoy your pack," she shoved him towards the basement. 

He let out a small laugh before he hurried down. Mike was unable to stop the smile that formed on his face when he smelled them. He was met by cheers once they were finally able to see him coming down into the basement. They all moved around so that they were able to fit him while they doled out their snack. He may have not felt completely confident about his abilities to lead the pack and keep them all safe, but he felt a bit more confident than he had before he spoke with his sister.

"I wish that we could just stay together forever," Will yawned.

"You have a nest at home, don't you?" Lucas asked, his mouth full.

The omega whined and leaned into Dustin's side while he tried not to fall asleep. "It's not the same. This one is better because it has you guys. I like spending time with you guys."

Mike felt his heart swell in his chest and a proud scent leaked from him immediately. He had made his pack happy and comfortable.

#writing #fanfiction #fanfic #archive of our own #ao3 #oneshot #short #fluff #angst #fluff and angst #stranger things #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #nancy wheeler #mike wheeler #joyce byers #will byers #season 01 #stranger things s1 #pack dynamics #omega will #alpha mike #alpha lucas #alpha el #alpha jane #eleven #alpha eleven #el #jane hopper #beta dustin henderson

[voidselfshipp]

Love comes in all shapes and sizes

Cw: ask to tag. Long post Ig? Ill add a read more soon (im in Mobile and the Read more doesnt work!). Sorry for the inconvenience

-> only mutuals allowed to reblog.

-> WARNING: this story contains a lot of oc things, including magic, so it deviates from the cannon a lot, still,hope you like it!

Summary: Donald is in love with his Co-Worker jerico, unbeknownst to him, jerico also feels things for him, and with the help of Reddington, he tries to court her, and Will soon discover things about her that May not make sense at first glance.

Lovely Taglist: @tex-treasures

A/n: LOOK!!! AT THAT!! SMIIIILE!!!!! **fangirl scream**

--Okay,what is it-- reddington asked leaning in besides jerico.

--No clue what youre talkin' about-- she replied playing with her lockett.

--c'mon, youre giving Mr. Straight white male over there the lovey dovey eyes

--Dont judge me-- jeri said, though it sounded slightly strained.

--not planning on it

--I think hes cute

--Knew it-- the Man said unimpressed.

--Emotionally unavailable men, they are my thing-- the woman replied hiding her face between her hands and screaming.

--Okay, let me help you out-- reddington said patting her back.

--no need to-

--he likes his coffee black, hes always working himself to the bone, you can worm your way into his heart by taking care of him, bring him a coffee tonight

--Red!--jerico exclaimed exhasperatedly-- you know what im not even going to ask-- she stood up from the park bench they were sitting, and Walked away.

--Kiddo?-- The Man called out--

She Turned around-- Yeah?

Then he said something in a language that sounded like nothing but mismatched noises to others, but jerico chuckled, rolled her eyes and Walked away.

--What were you two giggling about?--Elizabeth asked.

--Nothing that matters to the investigation-- she replied-- I think we are done here

--Good, lets go then

Some hours later, when the sun had set and night reached its late hours, jerico quietly Walked with a mug of black coffee to Ressler's Office.

--Come in-- the FBI agent said monotonely.

--Hey Ressler-- jeri said gently, in a quick moment, the Man looks up from his papers-- brought you coffee

--Thank you-- Donald thanked -- its late, you shouldnt be here

--Look whose talkin'-- she bit Back, setting the mug on the desk.

--How did you--

--I saw you make your coffee countless of time-- she lied, she was too distracted looking at him to care or notice his coffee.

But in Ressler's mind it made sense, so he drank from his coffee without much thought-- go rest --He ordered.

--You should go rest too-- jerico commented, crossing her arms.

--got paperwork to do-- and as if he needed to accentuate his point he lifted one of the paper sheets up.

--Thought you didnt like archiving stuff-- she teased raising a brow.

--Not for me, I wouldnt be doing this but orders are orders

She sighed loudly,looking away-- Just get at least six hours of sleep-- her hand patted his back and she offered him a big smile-- good night, Donald

And she Walked away.

Donald swallows hard, and looks away from the door, taking a sip from his coffee, cursing under his breath.

Next Day arrived in matter of hours, reddingon was casually talking with Ressler (one time the later was at the first one's throat)

--Shes not your type-- Raymond commented.

--Dont know what youre talking about-- the FBI agent replied,playing dumb

--Shes not your type-- he repeated-- fun, loves to read and excersice her mind, loves to dance, have a social life

--Im not into jerico

--Yet with few adjectives you recognized her-- Reddington bit back-- if you still want to pursue her,start small, she likes her tea with two sugar and a lemon peel, her favorite types of baked goods are croissants and she has a habit of stressing over details

--What are your Intentions?-- Donald asked turning to face the Man, slightly annoyed.

--Well im part of the people who are tired of your obvious stares at her, do something before intell her myself

--As if she would trust you

--She can tell when people are lying remember?-- Raymond pushed with his tone being more threatening than playfull-- shes not from here

--Where is she from, then?-- The other Man asked.

--She is not from here-- Reddington replied matter-if-factly.

Ressler sighs in exhasperation and walks closer to the evidence board.

That night, jerico was typing away when she hears a gentle knock on the door-- pase!-- (come in)she said cheerfully.

--uh, good evening-- Donald said entering the room with some tea and a paper bag of croissants-- you seem busy

--I am, but what do you-- she looks up from her computer-- oh Ressler you didnt need to-

--You brought me coffee last night, im returning the favor

Jerico giggled, and his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful...

--Thank you-- she replied giving him a warm smile that made him forget his own name.

--N-no problem-- he stuttered Back-- uh-uhm have a good night, do-dont...dont stay up late, get back home at a reasonable hour..

--You too!--She said back, though Donald had sped out of the room while trying to not so subtly cover his face.

The Next day, jerico is walking with reddington through a park, supposedly to talk about their Next target, but really they are catching up.

--Did he like the coffee?--He asked.

--Yeah, yeah he did-- she replied looking at the birds resting on the tree branches.

--You seem distracted today--Raymond pointed out.

--Im homesick thats all-- jerico admitted.

--Well, i know your people are known to not like being away from family for a long time-- raymond said, patting her back.

--Yeah, i miss my mom's sun buns a lot, actually, I think I also miss how calm Terr-- she makes a pause-- my home is, never ending fields, beaches in every extreme of the continent, I mean you've been there

--Yes, your home is quite beautiful-- Raymond agreed-- how are your parents?

--Ozóz (mom) is alright, a lot of work in her hands, and she has four of 'em-- both shared a laugh) Kazkáz (dad) is okay actually, hes betting over what Soccer team is going to win Next match

--And who do you think Will win?-- Reddington asked.

--The sun lions for sure, they've been training for weeks,Aajab is going to be so dissapointed, Him and dad always make bets over it

--And agent Ressler?

Jeri made a pause, her cheeks warming up-- Well...,Hes alright, looks very stressed, and I really dont know how to talk with him

Reddington started thinking, looking at the woman besides him-- Well, im sure you'll figure it out..

She only pressed her head against his shoulder, and sighed loudly-- I dont have the best of luck with...getting partners y'know? Its been very hard lately

--Im sure its been hard-- Raymond agreed putting his arm around her shoulder-- whatever your brain has been saying, its not true

--Thanks Ray...

--Of course, kiddo

Between all the work on the New case, countless hours of probably not payed overtime, and a lot, a lot, of paperwork,Reddington and Jerico didnt have time to talk to eachother.

Now, she sat on her Office, face against her desk, her body felt sore from running around like a headless chicken, her head felt like she was going to explode.

--You dont look good-- Ressler said, entering her Office with a stack of paperwork.

--yeah no shit Sherlock-- jeri looks up-- oh no, no more paperwork

The Man chuckled, Setting the paperwork on a spare chair-- you should clock out, I already did, maybe...-- he cleared his throat trying to ignore the creeping warmth on his cheeks-- maybe you should come with

--I dont wanna bother--

--its not a bother if its you, c'mon-- Donald didnt think much about what he said, but he didnt complain when jerico followed him out of their workspace.

--Need a ride? Heard your car broke down-- the Man said opening the passenger's Seat.

--Look at you, being a gentleman-- jeri teased, entering the car.

--I try my best..-- he closed the door and quickly Walked towards the driver's Seat-- I know a café we can stop by, then I can drop you off at your house?

--Yeah, I could use something warm to drink-- she admitted, looking out the Window.

Now, Donald didnt want to get distracted while Driving,so he tried his best to look at the road.

--Mind if I turn on the radio?--She asked.

--Not at all..

Soon soft music invaded the car, and as he stopped for a red light, his eyes dart towards his companion.

Jerico looked peacefull, he could see the dark bags under her eyes, when did she let her hair down? It made her face look softer, she lets out a yawn, and makes herself comfortable in the Seat.

Then, the song changed.

"Heaven, I'm in heaven

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak

And I seem to find the happiness I seek

When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek"

Her eyes lit up as she recognized the song, and she smiled, she looked so beautiful when she smiled.

Donald had to swallow hard and force himself to look at the road.

But then, she started singing.

--Yes, heaven, I'm in heaven

And the cares that hung around me through the week

Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak

When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek-- Her voice, so nice to the ear, right on the timing of the song and all.

And then, he found himself drumming his hands against the steering wheel to the rythm of the song.

--Actually, why dont you stay at my place?-- Jeri asks-- its late, its getting cold, and its safer

--Are-- are you sure? I do-dont want to bother..

--Its never a bother if its you...--She replied, and he had to grip the wheel to try and calm himself down, his heart was beating hard against his chest.

--Alright, thank you..

--Of course!

Once they arrived at her home, he parked on the empty parking spot inside of her yard and Walked inside.

Her livingroom was cozy, he could see a set of stairs that Led to the second floor, the kitchen was some feet away from him,instead of a door there was an arch way, and one of the Windows in the kitchen showed the back yard.

--Make yourself comfortable-- jerico commented-- coffee or tea?

--Coffee, black, do you uh...have anything to eat?--He asked taking off his coat and hanging it on the coathanger.

--Yep, anything in particular?

--Not really, just hungry-- He admitted.

--Okay, be right back then-- she took off her own dark green coat and threw it on the sofa's Back rest, walking towards the kitchen

Now alone, Donald looked around, the walls were a warm shade of beige, there were hanging plants, paintings of nature, and photos.

What caught his attention was a photo on the coffee table, he sat on the brown sofá and grabbed the picture frame.

There he could see a black woman with a big afro, round glasses and a white dress with flowers, holding up a teenager, short brown hair, eyes closed while smiling, she was wearing a yellow shirt, a light blue shorts and sandals.

Besides them was a Man, Tawny colored skin, Brown eyes and black hair thrown back into a ponytail, the sides of his head shaved, he had freckles and was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts.

He Turned the picture frame around and saw an inscription "Mamá y Papá".

" is she adopted?" He asked himself, settling the picture on the table.

Soon jeri came by with two cups.

--thank you-- he said as he grabbed the cup with coffee.

--Of course-- she sat down besides him.

He looked at the picture frame and then back at her-- Those are your parents?

--Yep, they are-- jerico said with nostalgia on her voice, grabbing the picture-- shes Eryz-- she pointed at the woman-- thats my mom, and hes Ray, My dad -- she looked at him and snorted-- we look nothing alike, I know

--Well, you do look happy-- Donald complimented.

--Yeah, that was my fifteenth birthday, it was very fun, my Friends and I had so much fun..., Man I miss my parents

--Where are they now?-- He asked drinking from his coffee.

--Back home, but I havent had the chance to spend time with them -- Jeri replied

--Hopefully youll get some soon

--Yeah, hopefully

And then silence fell between both of them, he looks at the picture on her hands.

"Shes not from here" Reddington had said.

"What does he meant by that?" He asks himself. He knew jeri was slightly odd, she barely got hurt during altercations, she always knew when someone was lying, and always seemed to know everybodies intentions.

One time he swore he could see flower buds blooming on her head when she felt strong emotions.

He had to ask, she looked human, but he also didnt want to loose her. He just couldnt, he was in love with her.

Since the first time he saw her, their first mission togheter.

Hes been pinning for her for years, And reddington was right, she didnt look like his type.

But she was so fun to be around, shes sunshine incarnate, she was always walking around helping people, comforting them, she was a great woman.

But he didnt know if he was worthy of her, how could he? He was her opposite.

She pulled him like a magnet, and he couldnt get enough.

--Don? Everything okay? --Jerico asked snapping him out of his trance.

--uh- uhm yeah, i zoned out-- Donald replied looking away.

--Hmm-- she mused, not really convinced.

Theres an awkward silence,neither of them look at eachother.

--Remember when we were undercover at a party, and you were wearing that beautiful golden dress?-- He asked, not caring if he was being obvious-- we had to dance...

--Yeah, I remember-- Jeri replied, trying to fight back the smile that was tugging at her lips, she had danced with her face on his chest, shes never felt more safe-- you were wearing that suit that looked great on you

Donald chuckled, his face turning pink-- that night was fun, we even catched the bad guy

--heh, we did, that was a good night

There was a short silence, Donald looked at the gramophone that was sitting besides the bed-- that thing works?

--The gramophone? Yeah, its a family heriloom, why?

--I never finished learning how to slowdance, and we have nothing better to do

--Dont you have to go to work tomorrow?-- She asked.

--Well, its pouring outside-- he pointed out the Window. How didnt she notice it was raining-- cant go to my car with this rain, can I?

She chuckled and nodded-- I only have old jazz songs

--itll do

Soon she grabbed the vynil on the gramophone, and music started playing.

--Will you Grant me this dance?-- Donald asked with a smirk, offering his hand.

--Of course-- She took his hand and both started to slow dance.

They moved slowly back and forth through the room, both never taking their eyes off of eachother.

Donald spun jerico around and the smile she gave him was enough to make him decide that tonight was the night he was going to tell her.

He Gently pulled her closer, their slow dance now only consisted in barely moving, her face was against his chest, and jeri felt like she could spend the rest of her life like that, the smell of his cologne soothing her.

Ressler lifted jericos face up by the chin,-- Theres something I've wanted to tell you... for a while now...--He took a deep breath-- I.. I have feelings for you..-- he braced for the worst, but it never came.

He felt her caress his cheek, and saw her warm smile-- I have feelings for you too...

Donald chuckled happily, pressing his forehead against hers-- Permission to kiss you?

--Permission granted, Agent -- she answered playfully.

He kissed her, and his body felt lighter, he pulled her closer by the waist,and her hands gripped his dress shirt, to then slowly wrap her arms around his waist.

As they parted lips, their eyes Open to look at eachother-- Stay the night?

--Of course..

She rested her head on his chest and both stayed in silence, the rain hitting against the Windows making the house feel cozy.

They dont know at what time they went to sleep, and they didnt care.

Donald hugged jerico from behind, laying in bed, protectively wrapping his arms around her.

His face buried in her hair, it smelled like green Apple shampoo.

Donald had finally told jeri how he felt, he was incredibly happy that she felt the same, and he vowed to Keep her safe.

The Next day, as they worked on the evidence board, Raymond came behind them and say-- congratulations

Both jumped back and looked at him-- What?!

His eyes looked down at how both were holding hands, And gave them a smug smile.

Donald told him to fuck off and he left them alone

Jeri pressed her face on his bicep and started laughing under her breath.

--Its not funny-- Ressler said with his cheeks flushing red.

--I think it is-- Jeri replied kissing his bicep.

--'s not...

At some point during the day, jericó went outside to take a breather, shes looking at the Sky, appreciating that there werent Many clouds, when a voice snapped her out of her trance.

--You should thank your cousin for the rain last night -- Reddington said, standing besides her.

--Xyxy always knows what shes doing

--She is the writer of destiny isnt she? And the goddess of the Sky and weather

--Yeah she is, a powerfull combo if you think about it

The Man besides her chuckles and leans on the handrail she was leaning on-- Will you tell him? Who you are, what you are?

--hes going to find out sooner or later -- Jeri said.

--You dont sound too enthusuastic about it

--Its just...-- what if he starts treating me differently? I dont want him to idolize me!

--Hes not going to, he knows you, and your past wont change that-- Raymond assured her patting her back.

--I hope youre right, if not I think ill cry for weeks

--I am right, and you wont need to cry for weeks, he loves you either way-- he hugged her tightly, and she could only hug back, body relaxing--Funny I share your dads name..

--Maybe he sent you to take care of me

--Maybe, if not its going to be a big coincidence

--Coincidences arent a thing where im from

--Hmm, I guess youre right...they arent , but I think ill know if I ever spoke to the literal god of war

--Ex god of war, thank you, and ex god of Providence-- She corrected.

--Well I think I'd know if I ever spoke to the ex god of war and Providence

She snorts-- ill head back inside

He nodded and let her go.

Some months passed by, and things only went uphill for Jerico and Donald.

But something kept tugging at her, he deserved to know.

So, she took him to a museum, the only museum that had Real relics of her home.

--This is called a wall of legacy-- jerico said-- it tells the story of the family tree of ancient gods

--The plaque reads Terran Gods, Terran? Never heard of them before

-- Some things are best kept hidden-- Jeri added, a bit too sure--At any rate, this is the main family of gods, the Von Terra, hence "Terran gods", that is Elementus Von Terra, creator of the world, that is Karuma Von Terra, god of war and providence -- she pointed at a Man, that had freckles that formed a constelation, and Ressler noticed he looked like his father in law.

--You share a last name with a family of old gods? -- he teased.

--Apparently yeah-- she said mildly nervously-- Thats Elementus' daughter, Valkiria Von Terra, Warrior goddess, Fire elemental, and that one-- she pointed at the drawing of a woman, short hair with dragon hirns growing from her forehead, heart shaped face and the fading paint in her eyes made it look like they were green-- and that is Draco Von Terra, goddes of hunting, earth elemental and its said she could controll a rare type if magic, a mix of all kinds of magic, Some even say its the very life force of this world. Anima magic, Anima means soul, so soul magic

--You sound so sure about it-- Donald pointed out-- whose draco's mother?

--Eryz, Goddess of life and mothers-- She almost sounded...sheepish?

--your mother shares Names with a goddess? --He made a pause-- why do you sound so sure about this?

He didnt notice how people around them left, or how the cameras in the museum looked away from them.

She looked away unsure of what to say.

--look, im going to be blunt. once, Reddington told me you "werent from here" and didnt want to specify where you are from exactly-- he said-- and then I started to remember weird things that ive seen you do, you always leave almost unscathed of any altercations, you always know when someone is lying, and I swear, and dont think im crazy, I swear Ive seen Rose buds Bloom on your hair when I make you blush

--I dont think youre crazy-- Jeri assured-- you are right, of all your suspicions about me, and Reddington is right, im not from here.., Von Terra means "of earth", or "of terra", as weird as it sounds, thats my family on the wall of legacy, and draco is what im supposed to look like

Donald stares at her, making sure she isnt lying, she would lie about something like this. Right?.

--Prove it -- he simply says.

She snorts, and extends her hands, a Rose Blooms from it, and puts it behind his ear--Gev zom or homon Keimon Komi lom wevlom zalhem

--What does that mean?-- He asked.

--i love you, my Sun, im sorry I didnt tell you sooner

He looks at her hands and then at her,-- after everything ive seen on the job, this is a nice change of pace-- he smiled-- im dating a goddess,then?

--Half, I was reborn as a human because I wanted to live like one, that picture you saw the night you confessed was this life's sweet fifteen, I was re born in an Argentine family, hence why I look so different from my parents, though I have to say I looked exactly the same in my past life, gods can shape shift, so our human looks arent exactly the same every day

--And you cant shape shift?-- he never thought he would be asking that. But then again, hes working with a famous criminal, so he has done weirder things.

Jerico shook her head-- Since I was born human, I cant use shapeshifting magic, but I dont want to, im happy with the way I look

--And your...original form?

--I can still transform into what im supposed to look like-- she pointed at the relic besides them-- but it takes a lot of work

He nodded and looked at the floor, still trying to wrap his head around this New Information-- regardless of who or what you are, I still love you, and you should know that-- He looked at her and hugged her-- it only makes you much more special, and it only makes me even more lucky to be with you

Jeri chuckles and hugs back tightly-- thank you..

--Ill always love you-- he said loud enough for only her to hear-- thank you for trusting me with this, now, should I give you an offering in the shape of inviting you lunch, my goddess?

--Shut up Donald!-- jeri pushed him playfully while hiding her face in her hands, roses blooming from her hair.

He laughed loudly, hugging her again, one hand Gently plucking the roses out of her hair-- you dont feel this?

--I dont-- she assured Him.

He tries his best to make a flower crown and Gently places it on her head-- jokes aside, let me treat you to lunch yeah?

She nodded-- Thank you, baby

--Of course-- Donald took her hand-- c'mon love

They walk out of the museum towards a nice place to eat lunch, And though Donald was a long way from understanding who or what his lover was, he Will make sure to understand as much as he could, he loved her regardless.

Ressler kissed jerico Gently while they waited for the cars to let them cross the street, just so she knew he meant what he said.

For Him, she still was the love of his life, his little Ray of sunshine, nothing would change that.

#ressler tag pending #🕵️‍♀️🌻🐉 everything is not what It seems|the///blacklist self insert🐉🌻🕵️‍♀️ #👮‍♂️🗂⚖if my journey on this path could ever lead to losing you i know which path is not my path|ressler⚖🗂👮‍♂️

[nitnendoswinch]

TIM REREADS HOMESTUCK PART 1: PAGES 0-21

In which John messes around in his room for a bit, and I discover maybe the only reason for me to regret switching to a more privacy-focused web browser.

Liveblog Archive

First, while I wait for the Unofficial Homestuck Collection’s asset pack to finish downloading, some housekeeping to get out of the way:

First off, this is my fourth time reading Homestuck. Wait. Actually. Hang on. Is it my fifth? I’m writing this paragraph as I think this over, this isn’t a bit, I’m genuinely not sure. I guess I’m gonna have to go over it one reading at a time:

I was a serial reader, first catching up close to the end of Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 2 in 2013.

I read it all the way through for the first time in 2016, a couple months after it ended.

THIS is the one I wasn’t sure about. I feel like I remember rereading it in 2018? But I’m not really sure. I was thinking of looking way back in my browser history to check but I recently switched from Chrome to Firefox and can’t conveniently check on my desktop and mobile chrome doesn’t let you filter your history by date.

Another reread in 2020 because I was feeling nostalgic for it during initial covid lockdowns, appropriately I started on 4/13 this time around.

So there you have it, this is at least my fourth read-through of Homestuck.

Next up, the structure of this series of posts. My intent here is for this to eventually be a dialog of sorts with the podcast I’ve been listening to, Homestuck Made This World (I’ll just be referring to it as “the podcast“ from here on to keep things from getting too bloated). So first, I’ll be catching up to the point in the comic they’re covering (currently in the early parts of Act 6, about halfway through the comic). I’ll be publishing posts like this one as I go every couple days, whenever I feel like I’ve written enough. After I’ve caught up to the podcast, I’ll publish one post covering the same material that’ll be covered in the next episode, unless that makes the posts too long, in which case I’ll split it up into multiple posts. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’ll be tagging each post “#tim rereads homestuck” for convenient searching (or blacklisting) and will be keeping an archive post updated to make it easy to jump from one post to another.

As I alluded to above, since Flash is dead I’ll be using the Unofficial Homestuck Collection. This is essentially an app that lets you read the whole comic in a sort of offline browser of sorts, making Flash and other elements that may be unsupported in modern browsers work as intended. It has some features to make the experience even better than reading on homestuck.com would be, like inline music credits with links to the official bandcamp, a “spoiler free mode” to hide things that might spoil future events for archival readers, and even mod support to add things like author commentary and replace some of the slurs in the early parts of the comic. I’ll personally be running mods to add author commentary and news posts, as well as mods to translate things like that one morse code segment and Damara’s dialog in A6I3. This is my first time using the collection, so while this isn’t my first reread I do hope it’s my best!

Without further ado, let’s dive in:

The first thing you see when booting up the collection for the first time, after a brief intro page, is a list of content warnings. For whatever reason, Tumblr’s post editor won’t let me add text to a post after copy-pasting these, so I can’t show the full list. If I explicitly comment on anything that warrants a warning I’ll include it at the top of future posts. After that, there are some prompts to configure spoilers, locate the asset pack, and we’re off to the races!

I’m not gonna screencap every page but I can’t not include the first one. It’s so iconic at this point!

Also, I learned listening to the podcast that the name “Zoosmell Pooplord” is a reference to an old AH webcomic called “Zoosmells”, which I’m... probably not gonna read as a part of this project.

Another comment relating to the podcast, one of the hosts says at one point that “Andrew Hussie is really good at describing a type of guy.” The description of a new character’s interests are always some of my favorite bits to read. They start to get a little silly after Act 5 but the early ones are great. I feel like a 13 year old with this exact set of interests probably existed somewhere lol

I didn’t react much to the fake arms bit as I obviously knew it was coming, but it was pretty funny the first time around, taking what you think is a joke about the art style and using it to mess with you and all that. I know now that this is a running gag of sorts in MSPA - I wonder how many of those I still don’t pick up on considering I haven’t read Problem Sleuth or the other adventures (Maybe I will at least read PS this time around but no promises).

Another quick note: I don’t have a whole lot of programming knowledge other than a little bit of Python from college - Homestuck basically is all I know about What Data Structures Are.

And a few pages later, we get the first perk of the collection: instead of linking to Youtube, the Con Air clips linked when John examines his poster are archived within the collection itself! I gotta say this is pretty terrific, I wonder how many jokes I forgot the punchline of because they depended on a dead link?

And with that, oh shit I have work in the morning and this post has gotten pretty long anyways. I’ll probably keep the next one in my drafts til I’ve read a somewhat decent chunk, but it shouldn’t be more than a couple days. Thanks for reading!

#tim rereads homestuck

[mehnls]

Cruel Affections - Levi Ackerman x Reader

Summary: After what transpired between you two, things are awkward as you try to come to terms with your decisions. However, your resolve dwindles when you make contact with him again.

Warnings: smut, corruption, abuse of power, degradation, angst, hurt, domsub, comfort

Notes: Hello! Here is chapter 3. I would recommend going to either ao3 or wattpad to read this story as I am still new to tumblr and it’s format lol. I am also up to chapter 8 there :))

Link to Chapters 1 and 2:

Links to ao3 and wattpad:

Chapter 3.

A week has passed since the incident, and somehow, you've avoided making contact with Levi efficiently. You quietly sped down the hall whenever you were near his office, finished your usual tasks before he could even tell you to, and ran out of the dining hall upon seeing him, like you were about to do now.

The moment Levi stepped into the room behind Commander Erwin and Hange, you were already rising from your seat. You hastily grabbed your finished plate and tried to figure out how to leave without everyone becoming too suspicious.

What would be a good excuse? You were pretty good at steering clear from him up until now; But out of all times, they decided they wanted to eat dinner an hour earlier tonight.

"Hey, (Y/N)! Where are you going? What's the rush?" Jean asked, confused at your sudden jumpy behavior. They all looked at you with concern. Your face suddenly felt hot as you scanned the room, following where Captain Levi sat.

"Huh? Oh, nowhere I was just- uh, the bathroom." Your voice shook; you were even more self-conscious, knowing that they knew something was off. Armin's eyes followed yours as they fell in Levi's direction.

"Is it Captain Levi? What'd he do now?" Armin questioned, frowning with pity for you. What could you possibly say? It’s nothing, we fucked the other day, and now I don't want to be around him.

This was beyond frustrating.

"Yeah, you know how he is; he put me on night duty again." A lie. You cleared your throat, trying to appear less worried. Their eyebrows furrowed, seemingly picking up on how you weren't telling them the whole story.

"It's fine, really. I'll be right back!" You said, briskly dropping your plate off in a nearby basin and getting the hell out of there before they can interrogate you even more.

Once out of the room, you groaned, headache pain twinged at the sides of your temple. You couldn't help but feel like you were getting worked up over nothing. If no one knew anything before, they would surely discover something soon because of how weird you were acting.

You might've been exaggerating a bit, but you've never felt so ashamed in your life. You wished that Levi didn't have such an effect on you. Last time, all of your hatred for him dissipated as soon as he touched you.

A touch that intended to hurt you at first, and that said a lot about your character. The fact that you were turned on by the way he pinned you down, slapped you, and choked you like some wild animal was disturbing.

If anything, this only proved how depraved you were, and you were incredibly disappointed in yourself. Were you that desperate for attention that you'd seek it from someone so vile? You didn't want to accept that as true; you made a careless mistake.

You let your guard down and allowed this man to see you in such a vulnerable state, which was the last thing you wanted. He didn't deserve to embrace you like that, to hear you calling his name, to feel you. And in the moment, you loved it, you basked in it, craved it even. It made you feel so good and appreciated for once.

It made you feel wanted , and that disgusted you.

You couldn't believe it. So many mixed emotions over such a terrible and worthless man. What were you, some moody teenager? No. You were better than that. So much better, in fact, that you could admit your faults.

Yes, you made a terrible decision, but what was there to do about it now? Nothing else could've changed things besides taking responsibility for your actions and moving forward.

So that's what you did. You went about your night, as usual, satisfied with the fact that it wouldn't happen again. It couldn't happen again. You imagined that he was going through the same thought process.

Levi had to have known he crossed a line; as soon as he put his hands on you, he made a violation. Then, he proceeded to sex you up like his life depended on it, which didn't necessarily help his case.

This mess had to have bothered him like it was doing to you. He was most likely avoiding you, too, wanting nothing more than to rewind time and go about his business instead of pursuing you that night.

You haven't heard from him since, after all. His reputation was on the line. He was a captain, a vital accessory to the Survey Corps at that; What would everyone think of him if they knew he fucked one of his cadets, soiling that honor?

To be fair, this wasn't all Levi's doing. Although you hated to admit it, you knew you were a willing participant. If you weren't mistaken, you quite literally begged him for it.

Before Levi, the last couple of times you had sex never included such an act on your part. You would rather die than have begged someone to touch you, let alone cum inside you.

You couldn't even remember the last time you gave someone the opportunity of finishing that way. Wait, was this the first?

Your heart sank at the realization. This couldn't be; you must've been under some wicked spell with how you acted that night. You weren't yourself; there was simply no way you'd ever allow a man like Levi Ackerman to have that kind of power over you.

Grabbing a towel and rag from your bedroom, you shook your head as you made your way to the washroom. A quick shower would be just the thing to calm your nerves.

It was only around the corner from the side of the women's quarters which made it convenient, especially at night like this. The showers weren't too spacious, but it was enough to get in, clean yourself, and get out, so it was better to get there early and beat the crowd.

It was only when the warm water hit you that you felt able to take a deep breath and finally relax. You were so grateful for moments like these as there weren't many ways to relieve stress in this line of work.

You exhaled, instantly feeling a bit better now that you could wash up. Soaping up your washrag, you scrubbed your skin gently. From your shoulders to your feet, you rubbed at the skin, careful not to irritate it too much.

With a sigh, you rinsed the suds off of your body and turned the water off. Stepping out of the shower, you wrapped your body in the towel and headed back to your room.

You felt much better, and you even had a bit more pep in your step. Once back in your room, you quickly dried off and pulled on your thin, almost sheer nightshirt paired with shorts. You slipped on some socks before stepping out into the hall and going downstairs.

You headed for the library. It was one of the common rooms at the base. A place you and your friends would frequent as there were many great books stored there.

A good read would keep your troublesome thoughts at bay; it was something to pass the time. You smiled to yourself at the slightest feeling of normalcy.

These were the things that kept you sane. You were nearing the front of the doors when Marco turned the corner and approached you.

"Hey, (Y/N). Sorry to bother you, but Captain Levi sent me to hand you these papers. He asked that you drop them off at his office; I think they're registration forms for the newer recruits." Marco could see how your face dropped and immediately regretted being the bearer of bad news.

Everyone knew you and Captain Levi didn't have the best relationship, and they tried to cut you some slack by covering for you, but unfortunately, there were times where Levi made requests, only for you to do.

The others figured these were times when he would want to meet with you and discuss your bad habits, so they didn't question him when he sought you specifically.

You gave him a meek smile, trying to mask your disappointment as it wasn't his fault. This was just another way Levi liked to punish you. "Oh, it's no problem; I'll drop them off now. Thanks, Marco." You said as you grabbed the stack of forms. He nodded and continued walking down the hall.

The smile on your face immediately dropped when he left, turning into a scowl as you headed to Levi's office. This was ridiculous; he was bothering you on purpose. He was the one desperate for attention, not you.

Upon reaching the door, you made no move to knock. If he wanted to be petty, you would do the same. Instead, you bent down and stuffed the papers under the door, sliding them forward until they reached inside the room.

But before you could step away, the door to his office swung open, and an arm grabbed your wrist, quickly snatching you inside.

"What the- what are you doing?" You half-yelled at the sight of Levi's face and his firm grip on your wrist.

"What does it look like I'm doing, cadet? You've spent so much time hiding from me, and I figured I should address it. I don't like being ignored, you see." He said, releasing you and crossing his arms.

"Address what? I don't have anything to say to you. What happened that night is one of my worst mistakes really-" You started to say.

"Yeah. Did you miss me?" He cut you off, tilting his head; a slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Miss you? Wow, Captain, I didn't know you were capable of making jokes." You scoffed, entertained by his assumptions. You couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his eyebrows furrowing. It was so easy to get under his skin.

"Of course, that mouth of yours remains to be the problem here. But don't worry, you won't be laughing for long when my cock is stuffed down your throat." He smirked, stepping closer to you. Your heart fluttered at the threat, one you knew wasn't empty at all.

You backed away when he approached you, putting your hands up. "Look, I didn't come here for this. It was a stupid mistake and I don't want anything more to do with you if I can help it." You said, as civil as you could, hoping that a straightforward reaction would be the best way to go about this.

"Is that right? If you felt this way all along, why did you want me so badly? Why did you beg for it?" He looked at you expectantly, waiting for the truth. Your heart skipped a beat at how easily he read you.

No, you couldn't let him be right again. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Levi. You think you're so special. Who's to say I wanted you so badly, hm? The opportunity was there, and I took it. You're nothing more than a quick lay, just another name I can cross off my list." You retorted, shrugging your shoulders to emphasize how little you cared.

He chuckled, seemingly offended at your notion that what transpired that night was casual and that it didn't matter to you as much as it did to him. He tried to mask his disappointment. He thought you both came to an understanding; Was he wrong?

"You really expect me to believe that, cadet? Do you think I'm blind? I've never missed the way you've looked at me, how nervous you get in my presence. Hell, you practically flew out of the dining hall earlier when you saw me. Or the way you bite your lip when talking back, and how your legs even shift a bit while I'm speaking to you, like they are now." Levi said as he stepped closer to you until your back reached the wall. His hand reached out to lightly trace the top of your thighs where your shorts were now riding up.

A familiar heat in your core began to rise, but you ignored it. You wanted to knock him off of his high horse, wanted to see the cocky smile on his face falter.

"You have such a wild imagination; none of those things; are even remotely true. Apparently, you are blind Levi, and out of touch too. Honestly, I was so disappointed that night when I had to fake it. I expected more from you but you let me down. Luckily Armin came to my room like usual, though, eager to finish the job." You laughed, licking your lips mischievously at the false memory. You were happy to see his smirk fade, obviously stunned at your words as he processed them; that is until his eyes widened, enraged.

Levi grabbed your hips and spun you around. He forcibly pushed you up against the wall, hands twisting yours behind your back, hard.

You screamed, getting swamped by whiplash when he pulled your head back only to shove it into the wall. "Shut up. Just shut your filthy fucking mouth, you lying bitch." He seethed, pressing his pelvis into your ass, and your knees almost buckled at the slight friction.

"Ah! You're such a dick." You groaned in pain, leaning the side of your face on the wall to avoid getting slammed into it again.

"I don't regret any of the choices I've made (Y/N), and neither should you. You're not fooling anybody. No one else has touched you…not like this." His palm roughly slid down the side of your hips on the emphasis of the word, breath fanning your ear as he leaned into your neck.

He was doing it again, tempting you to give in. Your chest was pushed further into the wall as he practically grounded himself into you.

He let go of your hands behind your back to place them on the wall. His hands now grabbed your ass, spreading your cheeks as he snaked an arm around your waist and slowly rubbed alongside your clothed slit.

You gasped at the sudden contact, your body was betraying you, and there wasn't a thing you could do about it. "Fuck— Captain Levi, I can't. We can't do this again." Your breath shook, head already starting to swim at his ministrations. He ignored you, moving his hand to steadily rub your clit from outside your shorts.

"This is wrong; we should've never-" You started to say, but Levi wasn't having it. He shoved his fingers into your mouth, shutting you up.

"Shh, I'm perfectly aware. What's the fun in that, though? Especially when you've already shown me what a little painslut you can be. One more time surely wouldn't hurt, hm?" He said, smirking when you began to close your legs around his hand, a failed attempt at hiding your arousal.

"Keep them open." He ordered, smacking your ass hard. You yelped, bucking away from him as you reluctantly obliged, spreading your legs further.

He moved his fingers inside your mouth, coating them in your saliva for what he was going to do next. You bit down on them, mustering up a sliver of courage to deny him.

Levi groaned but didn't pull away; instead, he quickly dug his teeth into your shoulder in retaliation. You gasped, writhing in his hold as he maintained the pressure on your sensitive nub.

"See? You like it when I hurt you, don't you?" He whispered, suckling on the bite indent he made on your skin; you whimpered in response, not being able to control the way your pelvis grounded into his hand.

It was delicious, this high, you wanted to chase it; you couldn't get enough. Your eyes started rolling back when he removed his wet fingers from your mouth, quickly diving under your shorts and underwear, and pressed them onto your clit directly.

"It's okay. It's just you and I here; I've got you." He mumbled into your shoulder before sliding his fingers into your wet cunt.

"Ngh!--Levi." You whimpered as his free hand slid up your shirt and under your bra, squeezing your tits before pinching your nipples. He breathed out, relishing in the way your soft walls clenched around his fingers, pulling him in as he dragged them out.

Your head lolled to the side as you moaned. "Open up for me, there you go. There's my good girl." He cooed at your ear, flashing a wicked grin. As he kissed up your neck and the side of your face, you became putty in his hands, yet again.

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