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teenwolfmarvel-obsessor · 10 months

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The Great War

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Summary: You and Isaac have been together for two years. You had your fair share of ups and downs, but lately, it seemed that these little 'ups and downs' repeated themselves no matter the apologies. You tried to convince yourself that nothing was happening, but part of you knew that that wasn't the case. With the help of your older brother, it took just one discussion to understand what was going on between you and Isaac Lahey.

A/N: I don't know if I like this one very much. I had a bit of a hard time trying to write this one, so I'm hoping it's not confusing. Enjoy!!

Notes:

Y/N/N: Your Nick Name

Derek Hale -> Your Older Brother

Warnings:

Angst

Language

Isaac Lahey x-reader

"You can't just admit that you were wrong, huh?" Isaac said, his arms crossed. After seeing a movie with Scott and Kira, an argument had spurred involving something pretty stupid. My boyfriend's motorcycle was almost out of gas. I recommended going to a gas station near the theater so we could just head to my house after.

My knuckles were bruised like violets Sucker-punching walls, cursed you as I sleep-talked Spineless in my tomb of silence Tore your banners down, took the battle underground And maybe it was ego swinging Maybe it was her Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur

Isaac insisted on going to the gas station a little bit a ways. That caused us to be stranded on the side of the road. "None of this is my fault. If we had just stopped at the gas station like I said, we wouldn't be stuck on this street," I said. He rolled his eyes when I gestured to the road.

A few cars passed, not bothering to ask if we needed help. I grabbed my phone to call Derek. Neither of us felt like involving a tow truck. "What're you doing?" Isaac asked. "Calling Derek," I clicked on my brother's contact. It rang for a few seconds before my brother picked up on the other end.

"You two were supposed to be home ten minutes ago," Derek said. I could tell that he was aggravated. Before leaving for the double date, my brother offered to stay up until we got home. I insisted that that wasn't necessary, of course, he did it anyway.

Isaac leaned against his bike with his arms crossed. He set his hands into his leather jacket, looking both ways on the street. "We're stuck on Martin Street," I said. Derek stopped what he was doing. I heard a pan hit the corner of the kitchen island. "What?" he said.

"Somebody decided not to get gas," I remarked, glaring at Isaac. Isaac scoffed and shook his head. Derek sighed on the other end of the line. "I'm on my way. Hang tight," he said. He hung up the phone. I dropped my cell phone into my purse, going back to hug my arms from the cold.

I stood beside him. His eyes were focused on the damp grass. He watched a few of the drops fall to the side of the green blades. I looked up at Isaac's expression. His brows were furrowed, small creases forming at the top of his forehead.

The two of us had been arguing more than usual. It seemed like we could never settle on something. Just last week, we had an argument about who should help Scott with something. Isaac wanted me to stay with him whereas I wanted to help Scott. Then, an argument sparked.

We haven't talked about that since last Thursday. The more days that passed, the more I worried our two-year-long relationship was ending. Peter liked to call arguments in relationships 'the great war.' I never really understood it.

All that bloodshed, crimson clover Uh-huh, the sweet dream was over My hand was the one you reached for All throughout the Great War

Isaac's hands gripped the bike's seat. I debated on setting a hand on top of his, wanting to reassure him that everything would be okay. "Why didn't we just call a tow company?" Issac spoke. He took his hands off the bike so I couldn't hold him. "We'd probably have to pay a fee or something," I said. Isaac nodded.

He looked like he wanted to debate my statement but decided against it. I opened my mouth to speak but was stopped by headlights heading in our direction. I turned to the left and saw Derek's truck. He got out of the truck.

"I've got some gas at the loft. Isaac, we can fill it up when we get there," Derek said. Isaac nodded. The two grabbed Isaac's bike and put it into the bed of the truck. Derek must've noticed the tension between me and Isaac. I went to step into the front seat but was stopped when Derek wrapped his hand around my wrist.

Always remember Uh-huh, tears on the letter I vowed not to cry anymore If we survived the Great War

He looked at me with raised brows, expecting an answer. "It's fine," I said. "Doesn't look fine," Derek let go. I fixed my purse and glanced at Isaac. Isaac sat in the back seat with his arms crossed, his head resting against the window. "It's nothing," I insisted.

Derek dropped it. I got into the front seat and he began driving home. It was quiet during the car ride. Derek occasionally changed the radio until he decided he got tired of listening to music. Though, I'd much rather listen to the radio than sit in silence. I was so happy to see the loft come into view.

After a few minutes, Isaac's bike was filled up with gas. Isaac decided to stay the night since it was already so late. Derek said his goodnight and went to his room. I laid awake with Isaac beside me, his back facing me. Isaac hadn't spoken to me since we got home. I watched his shoulders rise up and down as he breathed.

My mind kept returning to our past arguments. I ran a hand over my face, trying to push the images away. "Isaac, are you asleep?" I whispered. "Trying to," he replied, his voice muffled from the pillow. He flipped so his back was against the mattress. I rested my hands underneath my head, propping me up slightly.

"Are we breaking?" I asked. Isaac's brows furrowed at my question. He sat up, now leaning up against the headboard. "Because I feel like we are," I claimed. Isaac ran a hand through his hair before lowering his hand. He took my hand into his. "Isaac, I can't help but think that these past arguments are catching up to us," I said.

You drew up some good-faith treaties I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone You said I have to trust more freely But diesel is desire, you were playin' with fire

Six months ago, Isaac and I had disagreed with something, causing us to shout out accusations. I pulled away, afraid that it might happen again. I guess that should've been a clue that it might. His face softened. Isaac shook his head, letting my hand go. Maybe he didn't want to think about it? Or, maybe he just didn't want to admit it?

And maybe it's the past that's talkin' Screamin' from the crypt Tellin' me to punish you for things you never did So I justified it

"We're not breaking," he shook his head again, "If we were, I wouldn't be laying in bed with you. And I wouldn't have stuck with you for this long." He grabbed my hand, kissing my knuckles. Isaac looked at the chipped nail polish on my fingers. I sat up in the bed, my shoulder brushing against the pillow and headboard.

Isaac looked at every spot on my face, settling on a small scar on my cheek. He ran a finger over the scar, leaving his hand on the side of my face. I leaned into his touch. "I don't want to be a survivor of this great war," I said, "I don't want these arguments to continue. I want to fix this, I want to fix us." Isaac kissed my forehead.

He put his arms around me, bringing me into his chest. Isaac laid back down with me beside him. "There's no fixing us. We're okay, love, we're okay," Isaac mumbled. I knew I should believe him, I know I should, but there's a little voice inside my head that says I shouldn't.

_________

(Three Days Later - In the School Parking Lot)

Isaac followed me to my car, yelling. I brought out my keys. "Holy shit, Isaac. It wasn't that deep," I argued. I threw my backpack into the backseat. I opened the driver-side door, setting my water bottle and keys into the cup holder. I looked at him over my shoulder. "Oh don't give me that fucking look Y/N," he spat.

All that bloodshed, crimson clover Uh-huh, the bombs were close and My hand was the one you reached for All throughout the Great War

I was taken aback by his choice of words. My expression changed immediately. "I didn't do anything wrong," I said, "I was talking to Aiden, there was nothing there." Isaac scoffed, following me with his eyes. He grabbed my wrist but I yanked my arm out of his grasp. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you trust me?" I said.

He nodded in response. Isaac shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Do you? Because lately, it doesn't feel like that," I replied, "Y/N do this, Y/N don't do that. Y/N you shouldn't talk to him, you shouldn't talk to anyone other than me. Y/N, stop telling me what to do." I felt people's eyes on us, but I didn't pay any attention to them.

Isaac noticed small tears begin to form. "It's like you don't trust me anymore," I said, "It's like you've fallen out of love, and I have no idea why." He thought to himself for a second, not knowing what or how to say it. I waited for what felt like forever before getting into my car.

"Wait, Y/N/N," Isaac held the car door. I tried ripping his hand off the frame, but he was stronger than me. "I haven't fallen out of love for you," Isaac said. "Then, what is it?" I asked. His mouth opened, but no words came out. "Nothing? Absolutely nothing?" I continued, "Not one word?"

His eyes dropped to the concrete. I wiped a tear and got into my car. I was able to shut the door just as Isaac let go of it. He watched me pull out of the lot.

________

(Later That Night)

The TV played one of Derek's favorite reality shows. I yawned with my head against the couch cushion. Derek had gotten back from god knows what. All I knew was that he brought home groceries. He sat beside me, eating some mac n' cheese Peter surprisingly made.

Derek nudged my shoulder, noticing that I had been quiet all evening. "What's wrong?" he inquired. "Nothing," I replied, not taking my focus away from the show. Derek paused the show and set the remote on the armrest.

"Y/N, I think you forget that I'm a werewolf," Derek said, resting an arm on the back of the couch. "Isaac and I are arguing. Like, nonstop," I informed. Derek's brows narrowed in confusion. He always thought that me and Isaac were okay.

But I guess looks can be deceiving. He motioned for me to continue. "I honestly don't even know why," I shrugged, "One month, we just started disagreeing on every single thing. And, I've searched my mind for any damn reason, but nothing speaks out. I have tried desperately to think what Isaac might be thinking. When I ask, I get the same answer."

Derek nodded as I spoke. I wiped a stray tear away. I hated crying in front of people, especially in front of the person who would quite literally kill anyone who got in my way.

It turned into something bigger Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed Your finger on my hairpin triggers Soldier down on that icy ground Looked up at me with honor and truth

"Derek, it's changed," I looked at him. His face fell at the state of my eyes. "I feel like I should break up with him," I added, "Because I can't continue thinking that everything is going to end right then and there. I can't continue arguing with him, it just breaks me and Isaac."

Broken and blue, so I called off the troops That was the night I nearly lost you I really thought I had lost you

Derek nodded again. He opened his arms, gesturing for me to hug him. He gave me a reassuring squeeze. Derek let go of me, his hands resting on my shoulders. "You can try to piece everything together, maybe say a little prayer, even," Derek said, "But there's no victory in this. Just like you said."

He paused and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Derek fixed my t-shirt before continuing. "It's not fair to either of you. Those terrible moments that the two of you have are embedded in your relationship. You can't go back, neither of you can. You've said things that can't be returned," Derek finished.

Derek kissed my forehead and gave me a much-needed hug. For the rest of the night, we talked about my situation and watched the rest of his show.

________

(The Next Day, at the loft)

After last night's talk with Derek, I decided to call Isaac over. He was happy that I called him since we hadn't talked since yesterday. Isaac sat in front of me with his hands sitting in his lap. He stared at me (GIF Above) as I played with my fingers, chipping off the polish.

Isaac reached an arm out and took my hands. I looked up at his eyes, feeling like there was some part of him that knew what was coming. And then, I began to regret what I was about to do. I still loved him, and he still loved me.

"Isaac," I cleared my throat, "I've thought this over and over again, but I can't think of a better way to tell you this." I let go of his hand, going back to picking at the chipped nail polish. Isaac nodded and sat up in his spot.

To that bloodshed, crimson clover Uh-huh, the worst was over My hand was the one you reached for All throughout the Great War

Isaac let out a heavy sigh, nodding his head. "I know," he said, "I know what you're about to say, Y/N. You don't have to say it." I looked away from the ground, feeling his eyes land on me. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, but it slowly faded. "You shouldn't regret it," Isaac said.

Uh-huh, we're burned for better I vowed I would always be yours 'Cause we survived the Great War

"I'm sorry," I said. "Why're you sorry?" he replied. Isaac's voice was soft and gentle as he spoke. "Because I hurt you," I croaked, swallowing the lump in my throat. Isaac shook his head and hugged me tightly.

"We hurt each other," he clarified, "But I'll always love you, Y/N. I hope you know that." I nodded with my head against his chest. He set one last kiss on my head.

I would always be yours 'Cause we survived the Great War Uh-huh I vowed I would always be yours

#teen wolf #teen wolf season one #teen wolf season two #teen wolf season three #teen wolf season four #teen wolf season five #teen wolf season six #teen wolf movie #teen wolf paramount #daniel sharmen #isaac lahey #isaac lahey x-reader #isaac lahey imagines #isaac lahey fluff #Spotify

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ineffableigh · 7 months

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Timeline of Suspicious Events Brain Dump - PART 2

Ran out of characters. See previous post here! [linky]

We resume during Muriel's initial visit to the bookstore. They're having a nice look at a cupperty.

Crowley arrives in a bluster with all his plants - we've only seen him angrily say No about the Bentley and yet he seems to be going along with it anyway. He asks the important question: why not take the train? Why go by car? It's an eight hour drive each way! Train or even plane is WAY FASTER!

Crowley's the one that does the 'humans are weird/a few days' line for some bloody reason. Crowley what are you doin' man lol pick a better lie!

It feels Important that we see so many one on one moments with Nina, but not Maggie. Like we're building Nina as a character, but not really Maggie, y'know?

The show also really wants us to see how uncomfortable Nina is with discussing her love life at all, but everyone in the story just kind of blows past it.

"Dance Macabre" in the Bentley eh? A tone poem about Death calling the dead from their graves to dance for him? Like, I dunno, Gabriel says later in his Tempest line? A piece that quotes Dies Irae?

I love the musical conflict going on in the background once Crowley takes control of the Bentley's Vibes back lol.

Interesting that we have an entire moment to see that Beez is unhappy with the status quo in Hell, and the lack of recognition for all the work they seem to constantly have to do down there. Especially since we hear later they're very 'short staffed'.

Crowley moving seemingly random books from upstairs to downstairs, cosplaying a bookseller (ostensibly). Seems very chill about chatting gravity with Jimbriel, and we get our first Direct Fly Callout. Might be the second, not sure re: 'flyswats' when the archangels visited.

Pub imagery: Jesus raising Lazarus on one side, and the 'butcher' Dalrymple on the other side. Hmmm two sides of Heaven anyone?

It has to involve Aziraphale somehow because the Production Designer had that painting of Jesus done with the tomb opening being exactly like the 'eastern gate' of Eden in s01. Seems like a big effort to go to if not to draw parallels!

I find it interesting that Aziraphale a) seems super excited to hear about the 'Masons' b) there's a lodge next door to the pub, but c) we don't investigate that OR the person Gabriel was with. Y'know, the little shaggy haired demon with a bowler hat covered in flies? Normally would be quite conspicuous, yes? We know that Azi knows what Beez looks like from the end of S01.

Post-minisode we cut DIRECTLY to Aziraphale at the graveyard. What did he do between the pub and then? Did he walk there, drive there? Another huge gap to account for that's just swept under the rug.

Convenient that No Regerts and Friend are there, both being comically intense tough guys openly talking about Grindr lol. Just hanging out in the fog with no phone minutes left like ya do. Very convenient they were there, though I'm not sure what the advantage of that phone call even was. It's so strange a scene across the board that it feels like something is missing.

Back in town, Maggie is chasing Nina to talk about getting stuck in the cafe. I don't know what it is about their talks but to me they feel strange, or at least Maggie's side does. Might just be a by-product of us not seeing Nina 'acting like it's Maggie's fault' but it all feels very out of the blue, y'know? Always when Nina's busy working and can't really escape.

"I'm not your type." "You have no idea." Maggie SHE HAS A PARTNER AND SHE JUST SAID THE PARTNER SUSPECTS CHEATING, NOW IS NOT THE TIME LOL. See what I mean about Weird Vibes though?

Sudden Tempest Prediction from Gabriel. Very weird that he has these moments, either by forcing himself or these triggers. Do you have to be Empty to channel God?

Multitude of Shax Visions - this sequence seems odd to me. We've seen Shax impersonate a human once, yes, but this back to back thing seems unusually competent for her. I do wonder if we're getting a Crowley's Very Stressed Perspective thing going on here. Poor lad sure is stressed.

I was wondering how Shax figured out where Aziraphale was, but I bet she probably just tried to teleport to the Bentley like most demons seem to when Crowley was in it, but probably got punted outside by the Invitation Only magic. Or something.

The interaction with Shax here is really weird, though. It seems purely designed to freak Aziraphale out rather than actually get information. She says now she knows Gabriel is in the bookshop, but nothing about the discussion actually pointed to it any more than she would have known beforehand.

Shax then goes on to tell Beez that Gabriel is in the bookshop. Why she's so confident, I still don't really know, like I said above. All she knows is both the Husbands are being obfuscating dorks, but maybe that's enough.

Also like, Beez, you maybe should have just. Gone to the bookshop? Instead of attacking it? When you know Hell is short staffed? This is a Weird Plot Point too, if Beez just wants Gabriel. Why go straight to war?

As they're bringing Crowley's plants back to the car I hear glass shattering??? What's up with that??

Azi you dingle why are you hiding the Shax visit from Crowley. They really DON'T talk and for no good reason.

Next Instalment: [Linky]

#good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #good omens meta

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racefortheironthrone · 10 months

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Hey there,

So I read the Locked Tomb series a few months ago and one thing that occurred to me after reading Nona the Ninth was that the John Gauis’s account of the end of the world could not be fundamentally trusted. While I believe that Tamsyn Muir intended for these passages to be “true” or “Accurate” to what happened I found unable to accept the chapters due to the number and severity of lies told by John. It also led to me notice any inconsistency, irregularity, or any implausible scenario and to see it as evidence of another lie by John.

My question I suppose is if an author uses an unreliable narrator when (or if) should the audience trust said narrator again.

In part my extreme skepticism started when John mentioned the oxygen crisis, that such a scenario would be so sever and immediate that there would be little time for John’s necromantic schemes. It was further stoked by John’s impractical cryogenic plan (why would you send frozen people to the Kuiper Belt), and later on John’s mis-remembering when and how original-Gideon died and that he was telling this story to Harrow hark trying to convinced her to join him.

I am quite certain that my extreme distrust is unwarranted and that Muir intended for us to believe John’s tale but I cannot help but notice the inconsistencies and find John utterly dishonest and unbelievable.

I'm glad you asked this question, because it allows me to talk about how to apply historiographical methodology to literary analysis.

One of the terms that I was exposed to during my training as a historian is the "hermeneutics of suspicion" - the practice of reading texts such that the on-its-face meaning of the text is false and that you have to read the text solely for its deeper, hidden meanings. The problem with the hermeneutics of suspicion is that, taken to a logical conclusion, all texts and meanings become false, and for lack of evidence, all academic inquiry shuts down and we wind up sitting on the floor with our hands over our mouths.

Now, this doesn't mean that you have to take texts as 100% valid either, but rather that good methodological practice requires a careful weighing and balancing of bias, rather than simplistic binaries.

So in the case of John's narrative in Nona the Ninth, is John meant to be an unreliable narrator? Yes. However, because Tamsyn Muir does actually play fair with the readers, she makes it quite clear when John is lying to Harrow/Alecto:

"I said I made a mistake. She let it go eventually because the others were telling her to lay off. Just said Guys as careful as you shouldn't have accidents. If you've got a gun learn how to aim it. This is too big for fuckups now... "Did you ever find out what happened? With your accident?" He turned to her and he smiled a funny little smile. It only used one half of his mouth. In the dream his new eyes did not show happiness or unhappiness. And he said, "Come on, love. Guys as careful as me don't have accidents."

And here again:

"I did need to do it, Harrow. There was no other way. Once those bombs were going off, there was no hope for Melbourne anyway-- G- was dead meat." She said-- "You said that G-'s bomb went off first." "Yeah, it did," he said impatiently. "Of course it did...Look-what does it matter? In the end, why the hell does it matter?"

Unfortunately for John Gaius, Harrowhark Nonagesimus is smarter than he is when she's in her right mind and she catches the discrepancies in his story - just as we are meant to do.

So what I would say is that, unless it's something where Tamsyn Muir gives us clues like this where other characters are calling John out on his bullshit, you should treat worldbuilding issues like the population of Earth, or the logistics of cryocans, or the speed of shuttle transports in the Nine Houses, etc. as either mistakes on the part of the author (when they actually are mistakes) or just part of the overall willing suspension of disbelief that comes with speculative fiction.

#the locked tomb #tlt #john gaius #nona the ninth #ntn #historiography #hermeneutics of suspicion #world building #sci fi #science fiction

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antstarion · 2 years

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Headcanons wise, what kinds of books or movies do you think each of the boys and Layla if u feel like it would be into? Like genre wise, tropes, era, whatever!

ahhh thank u for this question, it sparked something within me and I let it get a little bit away from me but we move. I actually had a wip about what books I think the boys would like so i merged that into this. I'm no book or movie expect so pls don't rinse me for what I think are classics or what films belong in what genres.

Marc:

Marc's favourite trope is enemies to lovers. He likes it because of the vibe that someone can see the worst parts of you but then love you anyway. That sort of redemption. He'd probably relate a lot to people in stories including this trope because marc is pretty disconnected from his emotions and I think at first he wouldn't know how to open up and show that he loves someone, so he could come across cold and distant, like a lot of people in this trope do.

Marc is an 80s movie man, and he's into dude-bro movies like fight club. He's just a guy, he doesn't watch many films so he's only seen the popular stuff and a couple cult classics. In the mix there are also movies he's seen at the cinema with Layla so she influences his taste a little bit.

Maybe he watches films that give tomb buster vibes, like the mummy (he and steven could watch it together) and Indiana Jones.

Marc's a simple movie enjoyer, would go crazy for that moment in an action film where the main character walks away from an explosion.

I think marc is a comic guy, if we're talking marc from the comics you can see from his room that he liked star wars as a kid so we know he's a bit of a nerd. Maybe comics are a thing he'd reconnect to during his adult life and allow himself to indulge in to relive the better parts of his childhood. Maybe he walks past a comic book shop or something and wanders in just to check it out. He'll pick up a few of the recent issues of the stuff he used to read (I won't say any examples of heroes since we're talking marvel so idk how that would work). Although marc wouldn't call himself a superhero I still think he'd find it funny to see how being a hero is sort of romanticized in some comics, since he knows what it's like.

Reading them wouldn't have the same enjoyment as it used to but it would allow him to reconnect with his inner child and his nerdier side. He'd hide it from layla though, only keeping physical copies of his favourites and mostly reading online and at night so it's more inconspicuous.

Maybe he'd pick up a few poetry books to try and connect with Layla's interests, but he isn't into them or reading really.

Also, I think marc vibes with pop science books, you guys are probably sick of me and my marc loves space headcanon (I'm not projecting😔). he'd mainly be into the fun physics book like What if? by Randall Munroe, nothing too heavily complicated or mathematical. just books that are a little bit thought-provoking for when he has the energy.

More specifically I think marc would enjoy The Outsider by Albert campus. I don't know, I think marc could be interested in philosophy, or some of the ideas included in this book. He certainly thinks about morality a lot because of his work with knonshu and I think he'd have some interesting takes to bring to a discussion.

Steven:

Unrequited love is his favourite trope, he's a sad romance kinda guy

Prefers documentaries to fictional movies, he likes to learn and will put on a documentary when he's too tired to read. Not just history though, he's big on nature documentaries too. Stuff like the blue planet, maybe Blackfish. Occasionally he'll watch a true crime documentary too, but he prefers ones about crime in america because the british ones feel too close to home.

You didn't ask but I also think he's big into podcasts to help him stay awake. Casefile is his jam.

But also Dr Who and British reality tv shows (GBBO, love island, gogglebox).

I feel like the 2000s is his era. Like lord of the rings, finding nemo, maybe shaun of the dead.

I feel like steven would be into international films too. He strikes me as a big language learner so he'd love watching films in different languages and trying to pick up a few new words from the subtitles.

You all already know steven loves his egyptology and history books so I won't talk about non-fiction. But I feel like he'd be big on fiction too for the escapism.

I think steven would like classics, books like The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I think he likes searching a book for the messages and rereading to notice little details. Steven thinks a lot about the message a book is trying to tell and how it applies to the world outside of the book.

Stay with me here, I'm gonna talk a lot about this one book but trust me, it screams steven. Its The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Like the beginning of moon knight, we discover the story of the book as the main character does and all the pieces come together as the mystery involves.

"For those who feel homesick for a place they’ve never been to. Those who seek even if they do not know what (or where) it is that they are seeking. Those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them"

This quote is what first made me think of steven. In the way that he says he's been feeling like he's been waiting for the adventure his whole life. This relates to steven being a fictive too. From what I understand fictives in systems can have memories from their source materials. Maybe steven gets flashes of his adventures from tomb buster sometimes and that's why he yearns for it. Or maybe his desire for adventure is just from his interest in Egyptology. Either way, both the main character of this book and steven go on a journey, learn about themselves and get the adventure they've always wanted and I think that's cool.

Jake:

I don't think he's into romance stuff, so I won't give him a favourite romance trope.

Doesn't have much time to watch movies or shows so I think he'd rewatch the same things over and over. He doesn't want to take the risk of watching something new only to waste his time and not enjoy it.

Jake's a big comfort movie guy. His comfort movies are mostly movies that people close to him have recommended to him or that he's watched with friends, so they have good memories connected to them.

Again he doesn't have much time for books but I feel like he'd read more since he could carry books around in his taxi. On missons I can see jake reading to pass the time.

Because he can't really have possessions jake had a library card, he goes to the library so much all the librarians know him by name.

His favourite genre would be thrillers and maybe crime novels or mysteries. Simple and shorter books that he doesn't have to think too much about. He likes books with main characters with a darker vibe, maybe morally questionable like the detective gone off the rails vibe. If jake can't get into the mind of the character he struggles to get into the book so he will drop a book without a compelling protagonist.

I don't read this type of book so I won't try and give any recommendations. Although if we're talking true crime I do think jake would enjoy In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

Other than that jake just reads books for research, maybe picking up books on places knonshu is sending him if he has time. He likes to get to know a location before he arrives and studies in the local libraries when he has time. Maybe he looks at the tourist attractions for each place, fantasizing about going there and wishing he was visiting the city for a different reason.

He also reads cook books to find new recipies to try. He'd look for a simple vegan cookbook to send to steven from his "mum" to try and get him to eat some proper food.

Layla:

I think layla would like the fake relationship trope. I can see that being how she and marc got together. Like they act as a couple for a mission and they both slowly realize there's something actually there.

She likes simple romance films, with how complex her and marcs relationship is, I think when she sits down to watch something with romance she wants to get away from that.

She likes romcoms, her and jake could watch mamma mia together,

She likes documentaries too, because of her adventures and "liberating" artifacts I think she likes to watch history documentaries and wonder where the items have ended up.

Layla likes movies that are so bad theyre good, or like movies you know are bad but you can't help watching them anyways. a bit like tall girl. like not a cult classic, you know it's shit but you watch it anyways because it's easy to watch. basically just bad Netflix movies.

Obviously, layla likes her poetry, I know absolutely nothing about poetry but I think it was french in the show, I feel like she uses it to connect with her emotions and find the words to describe how she's feeling, she and steven could share their favourite poems together almost gift giving like a love language.

I think layla would be into classical books too, maybe her dad introduced her to reading through the classics. She seems to be influenced by her dad a lot and I think it's nice to imagine them reading together.

Books I think layla would like: The Secret History by Donna Tartt, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Sort of that dark academia vibe.

#guys look normal content im okay im normal #moon knight headcanon #moon knight #marc spector headcanon #steven grant headcanon #jake lockley headcanon #layla el faouly headcanon

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youkaigakkou-tl · 2 years

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The Haruaki Student Arc Post

In other words: “Haruaki has a weird dream and I read way too much into it”

It’s only 2 chapters, pretty short to be called an arc, but I call it an arc anyway since it’s got enough material I thought about and wrote all of this.

Also I’ve been reading up on stuff to make the Kyoto arc post and it's kinda driving me insane so this is like a brain cleanser.

All opinions, theories etc are my own, if it’s not explicitly shown in the manga it’s my own extrapolation.

This is over 3800 words, and more coherently written than the Renren arc post, so buckle in.

Spoilers for chapter 79 and 80, I recommend you pull up those two chapters on wherever you read manga for the full experience, and also pull up whatever other chapters I mention.

OP talks about Monogatari series for a minute

My first impression of these two chapters was that it’s very similar to Zoku Owarimonogatari, in that both are “MC is the same, but trapped in a world where everyone else behaves differently”. Of course, it’s very different once you actually get into it, in Zoku Owari it’s that everyone else’s hidden parts are on full display, whereas here it’s just a slight dynamic change due to Haruaki being aged down a few years. Despite that, I think both of these serve similar purposes in the narrative, as a reflection on the MC through the lens of the other characters, and also a reaffirming of who they are as people.

(If you haven’t seen Monogatari series, it’s really good, or maybe it’s just because I like ahoge idiots?)

Anyway, the chapter, huh

Interestingly, or rather obviously, it starts in almost the exact same way as chapter 33, with the students going to play somewhere and Haruaki feeling left out. In some sense, this arc is a “Prying into Haruaki’s Problem” part 2, tackling the problem from the students’ angle instead of the teachers’ angle.

This arc gives me so many emotions, he’s still hung up about this even after all this time (crying punching walls etc I care him so much)

Notably though, he’s been through a lot more at this point compared to chapter 33, namely the events of ch33 itself, Miki arc, Ebisu’s introduction, also the whole Renren arc.

You can really see this in how much better he takes stuff in the first pages of ch79 than in ch33, how much more open he and Miki and Hatanaka are. Reading back ch33 now, it’s really become clear how Miki and Hatanaka were tiptoeing around Haruaki in their own way. (Well, also because this is before Miki ironed out his own feelings about this whole thing)

It’s also fascinating that he says this in ch33, because the fact this arc happens shows that he clearly has not come to terms with this as much as he thinks he has. Haruaki’s such an interesting character to me for this reason, he’s clearly a smart guy, but even knowing about your own feelings objectively, you can’t do anything about it.

“Haruaki!!”

Clearly, the first sign that it’s not the real Sano would be this.

I translate from the Chinese version, so it wasn’t immediately obvious this happened, since Chinese doesn’t have furigana and doesn’t differentiate “Haruaki” and “Seimei”. In early chapters they used “清明” (as opposed to “晴明”, they have slightly different readings) for “Seimei” but ultimately they dropped that. Actually, “清明” is the word for qingming festival, or tomb sweeping day, so that’s kinda cute.

Anyway, I bring this up because I only looked at the JP raws after fully reading the chapters in CN, and for a moment I was exhilarated that Sano called him “Haruaki”, and then I remembered it’s a fake Sano.

This first scene in the dream is also a clue, because in the real world Sano and Mame are rooming, and neither of them would have it any other way.

I wonder if one of Haruaki’s grievances is also his loneliness in university, since Amaaki went to a different uni to study shrine stuff, Haru probably roomed alone. (This is in a twitter comic I haven’t translated yet)

Hijita talking to Haruaki

This is a very minor thing, but if you’ll recall, Hijita is introduced as hating humans because his sister’s husband has his shit together. He ends up changing his mind and being okay with Haruaki because he’s such a pathetic meow meow.

(If you look at early chapters, you can really see which details were put in later, like how Hijita says the only humans he knows are his sister’s husband and his family, but Beniko has 3 human dads)

(Also, the detail that Haruaki “didn’t know youkai existed before now”, but he’s seen mandragoras before, also small Miki, also the creepy lady dragging Ame away, also Ame says he “fibs about seeing strange creatures all the time”. Crack answer would be he’s an airhead who doesn’t connect any dots, crack taken seriously would be he has some kind of mental issues or coping mechanism either from being Abe no Seimei’s reincarnation or not being taken seriously all the time and possible bullying, the essay for which I’ll never write because I’m not good at understanding people/characters.)

Anyway, it’s really probably just a throwaway line, if we really take it seriously probably something similar happened in this fake universe.

Mame is the MVP of this manga

Have I mentioned Mame is the MVP of this manga? No because I just realised it writing this essay. This manga straight up would not exist without Mame. First of all, I’m pretty sure he’s the student who talks to Haruaki the most, as much as or even more than Sano. If they’re in the same scene, Mame’s probably saying something to Haruaki.

(All these are just from flipping through chapters for a minute, mostly volume 1)

The second line he ever says, 4 pages into chapter 1, is asking Sano if he’s going to help Haruaki when they see him getting harassed.

In chapter 1, Sano did go up to reassure Haruaki of his own volition, but I’m sure the entire reason he decided to do that and isn’t more of a brooding emo teen is because he’s been friends with Mame.

(There's an interesting throughline here, the parallel between Mame and Sano befriending Haruaki, and Hatanaka and Miki befriending him. The “emo loner with trauma” and “extrovert animal youkai bff”)

Mame also started the biology club, which = mandragoras.

Also, Hatanaka and by extension Miki only became teachers because of Mame.

In other words, Mame really is the mascot character.

Dodgeball

This part’s a callback to chapter 5, where Sano and Haruaki do basketball combat, it even reuses the same sailor uniform joke!

Again, Mame’s on Haruaki’s side instead of Sano’s, a clear but super missable clue.

I do wonder how exactly the makuragaeshi’s fake Sano works, is it just the makuragaeshi wearing Sano’s appearance, or was a Sano of this AU created, that the makuragaeshi is just piloting? Most of this Sano’s behavior is too Sano™ for someone who doesn’t even know what name he calls Haruaki, methinks.

(Or he just called him “Haruaki” to flatter him? Sure got to me for a moment.)

This page

What can I even say? This page just destroys me. This manga is a masterpiece

Izuna-kun and Rintarou-kun

Right, now we get into the detective part of this essay. I have to respect the makuragaeshi for this (and also Tanamai-sensei) that it’s not just “dream world where Haruaki gets everything he wants”.

(Imagine I’m like this)

The entire reason I’m taking these 2 chapters seriously is that the makuragaeshi seemed surprised at all the changes ageing down Haruaki caused, so there’s more to it than “haha wacky dream world”.

I can’t help but wonder if Hatanaka in this universe is way harsher than in the real world, and if there’s a reason why.

Compare this to him being all buddy buddy with Mame and Tamao in Yoseito, as well as him being one of the first ones to warm up to Haruaki in the earliest chapters.

This is a fascinating thing to consider as well, because I reckon the reason Hatanaka gave Haruaki a chance was that Miki gave Haruaki a chance, but Miki had ulterior motives. I’d even hazard that Miki arc was planned to happen from the very beginning.

Biggest thing in this chapter about Hatanaka, that’s pointed out twice, is that he’s not married to Ibara. (He doesn’t have the scarf and doesn’t have a ring) Which also means he doesn’t have kids. I bet having a wife and kids would mellow him out some and make him tolerate students more.

Miki is also extra prickly, which is understandable, but in ch53 we see him react to Ebisu knowing about his family matters, and he doesn’t explode like he does in this chapter. Of course, there’s different parts to the equation, Miki would be more careful about what he does in front of a god than a human, but I think it’s interesting to consider.

If Haruaki was aged down, Hatanaka and Miki would not have met him on their 2nd year school trip, but it’s not like that was a formative experience for the 3 of them anyway. Maybe it was for Sano, but Sano’s totally out of the equation for this analysis, obviously.

On the topic of Sano, Ebisu doesn’t show up at all this arc. In the real world, Ebisu spies on Hyakki primarily for Sano, and Haruaki is only secondary. The reason he’s even aware of Haruaki is the TV program he did in ch17, and also meeting him in Tokyo when he got lost in ch36 to ch38, which is kinda connected to meeting him 9 years prior when little Sano gave Haruaki the talisman.

All of this would not have happened if Haruaki was aged down. He still might have gotten lost on that field trip and ended up in Kyoto, but the timing would not have lined up with Hatanaka and Miki’s school trip.

Intermission

I’m realising this Just Now, but the dream doesn’t happen at the same time of year as the real world.

They’re wearing the winter uniform in the dream (gakuran for the boys, long sleeves for the girls) which would be for October until the end of May.

Whereas the students are still in their summer uniforms in the real world (blue button up for boys, short sleeves for girls). Even for the Kyoto arc after this which definitely happens in October, they’re still not in winter uniforms, just sweater vests over the summer uniform.

This is also why the last time we see students in gakuran in the manga proper is chapter 7, even though the unbuttoned gakuran is such a delinquent look.

If I had to guess, I’d say the dream is set super early in the school year rather than after October.

In that case, this would have been before the field trip to Tokyo happened anyway, timeline-wise.

Intermission over

Miki’s situation is interesting to consider, because Haruaki was a lot more involved with him.

First of all, his mom is still sealed, so it can be assumed not much has changed about Abe no Seimei 1000 years ago.

With Haruaki aged down, he wouldn’t have met Miki when they were 10, because Haruaki would have been like, 1 year old, not at the age he would go jaunting around to the next prefecture over.

This means Miki wouldn’t have had to see Haruaki get totally murdered! Hooray!

A slight tangent. The chapter title for Miki arc is “Abe no Seimei, Haruaki Abe and Shutendouji”. Have you ever wondered how it was written in the original? No? Come on, have some curiosity.

It uses the same kanji for Abe no Seimei and Haruaki Abe, but it has 2 lines of furigana. How many other mangas get to do this? Man.

That aside, this still doesn’t explain anything, in fact the Miki in this universe is even more prickly than the real Miki. This Miki actually reminds me of the real Miki when he learned his mom was going to be unsealed.

Actually, now that I think about it, even without the trauma of seeing his new friend get eaten, he would have been an outcast at school either way for being the shutendouji’s kid.

The thing I’m hung up on mostly is Ibara. Given that “the true nature of people haven’t changed” and all, if Hatanaka and Ibara both exist, pretty good chance they would have gotten married. So, indulge me on these 2 crack theories! Don’t take anything too seriously, I’m not taking anything seriously.

Crack theory 1: Time travel real

EDIT Feb 2023: wrote a post about hatanaka time travel, go read that.

This has to do with the whole subplot in Yoseito where Yamazaki recognised Hatanaka from 100 years ago, and also Ibara recognised him. My pet theory, because it’s the easiest and most obvious one, is that there’s time travel shenanigans involved, basically the Hatanaka from a future point in the main story ended up in the past. Now, because this is a reality where Haruaki is the same age as Hatanaka and a teacher, and he’s also the number 1 causer of shenanigans, it probably has something to do with him.

Conversely, if Haruaki isn’t the same age as Hatanaka and causing shenanigans, the events from 100 years ago might be different, and Ibara wouldn’t be as inclined to notice Hatanaka and get married eventually.

That said, this is a crack theory based off another crack theory, so nothing holds water here really.

Crack theory 2: Ibara is dead

This was actually the first conclusion I came to, because my default thought process is “but what if dead?”.

This might sound insane, but I have reasons. (I think.)

It all comes back to the “their true natures haven’t changed” thing, that if Hatanaka and Ibara both exist, they would have gotten together.

It’s not a world where Ibara never existed in the first place, because Miki is a teacher after all. Mame pushed Hatanaka to become a teacher, but he might have let Miki convince him not to if Ibara wasn’t there to convince Miki as well.

So if Ibara died at some point, it would be within the 8 years between Miki’s high school years and present day.

We know that Miki’s mom has been eating his spirit energy. I also wonder if eating Haruaki/Seimei’s soul had some averse effects on Mikimom, like delaying her seal getting nearly broken by a couple years.

While Ibara is the strongest of the Miki siblings, Mikimom is still considerably stronger. She also seems to be the most willing to put herself on the line for Miki.

I guess, what I’m getting at is, something happened with Miki and their mom, and Ibara ended up dead because of it, also explaining why he’s so much more prickly at his mom being mentioned.

So anyway

Fun thought experiment, right? Like I said, it’s stupid crack theories, don’t take either of them too seriously.

Most of this mystery comes from not knowing the details of how Hatanaka and Ibara got together exactly, as well as not enough details about Ibara herself, so I imagine this will get cleared up at some point. Hatanaka being maidenless was such a big detail that it was specifically pointed out and highlighted, so I wanted to explore it for a bit.

That was a lot of words about the teachers, so I want to go back and look at the students for a bit.

Some of the obvious changes would be Beniko being a shut-in, since in the real world Haruaki directly caused her to come back to school. Straightforward.

Fuji and Ogoso aren’t friends since ch35 didn’t happen.

From that panel in the classroom we actually learn the seating arrangement of the Ogata twins (previously, both seats were just labelled “Ogata” in the tweet with the seating arrangement), Rin (black hair) sits behind Kou.

Also from that classroom panel, Haruaki is sitting in Hijita’s seat, probably not for any reason other than it’s a nice central location. The person behind him whose hair you can barely see is probably Maeda, Satsuki either isn’t in class yet or at all.

Though on the next page it seems like he’s actually in the front row seat, where Nyuudou normally sits.

Where is Dr. Takahashi

The burning question. WHERE IS HE. WHERE IS MY MALEWHORE- I mean uh doctor!!

This also entirely has to do with Utagawa and Nyuudou, which is brought up in the chapter itself, but it goes even deeper than purely “Takahashi made Utagawa’s human form”.

The only thing that’s confirmed is that “Takahashi is not a doctor”, whether this means Takahashi doesn’t exist at all or simply has a different job, I’m not sure. I actually thought the policeman near the end of ch80 is Takahashi, since Tanamai sensei has drawn Takahashi and Yamazaki clothes swap before, but it’s not certain.

If Takahashi isn’t a doctor, Nyuudou’s parents wouldn’t have had that conversation with him about human mothers and youkai children, and he wouldn’t have made that remark about youkai and human laws, which means Nyuudou’s dad wouldn’t have been pushed to get involved in politics.

“Whether they exist was changed” is coupled with Saitou Manuel becoming minister of the ministry of youkai, so I’m not sure if this is trying to imply that Nyuudou doesn’t exist or his dad doesn’t exist.

Well… either case then, Nyuudou doesn’t exist, and Utagawa Ruri wouldn’t have met him. Even if she died then, she wouldn’t have the regrets that caused her to turn into a gashadokuro. Or maybe she’s still alive as a human in this universe! It’s only stated that her “birth condition left her frail”, so there’s a chance she wouldn’t have died.

There’s also the chance that Nyuudou does exist, just that Renka ended up in a different hospital than Ruri. Takahashi had connections with the director of the hospital Renka stayed at, and had his nurses placed there, so there’s a good chance he pulled strings to have Renka there to better keep an eye on her condition.

Still, that doesn’t explain why Nyuudou isn’t in class 2-3, so I’m inclined to believe he doesn’t exist in this universe. Maybe they went to a different doctor who convinced Renka to abort.

Or maybe Hajime and Renka didn’t get married at all, for some reason? idk

The principal mentions the youkai ministry’s push for coexistence, but the reason for that in the real world is Hajime wanting a better world for his son, so what would be the reason in this universe?

See, even after, or perhaps because of, Renren’s arc, there’s still so many mysteries.

None of this answers why Takahashi has a different job/doesn’t exist either, Takahashi not being a doctor is just the catalyst for the whole Nyuudou family mystery.

If Takahashi doesn’t exist for some reason, it would explain why Yamazaki isn’t a policeman, considering the reason he got an upbringing at all was that he was basically adopted by the Takahashi family.

Still. This is like THE biggest mystery. This has haunted me ever since I first saw this arc.

Principal and Ranmaru

Just kidding this is the biggest mystery.

In the real world, the principal is actually super open about Haruaki’s powers and why he wants him here. However, in this universe he seems especially ticked off by Haruaki mentioning it, something Ranmaru points out specifically.

And Ranmaru as well, in the real world he wasn’t even aware Haruaki existed until physically meeting him in ch21, so nothing should have been able to change him creating the karasu tengu troupe.

Granted, the troupe seems to have been a recent thing he came up with, and not hundreds of years old. Still, in this universe, the principal trusted him enough to hire him?

I just… don’t know what to make of this at all? We still know so little about the principal and Ranmaru, even now. Maybe when Kyoto arc is over I’ll return to this with answers.

Anyway, Ranmaru is the homeroom teacher of 2-5 here, which is interesting because 2-5 is the only class whose homeroom teacher we don’t actually know. (obviously it’s not Ranmaru in the real world, but y’know)

Class 1 is Hatanaka, 2 is Miki, 3 is Haruaki, 4 is Mouse-sensei, and 6 is Awayama (the centaur). 5 is probably the nurikabe teacher, considering we see him hanging out with the other second year teachers.

Ranmaru’s probably 2-5 just so he wouldn’t replace a character we know and raise more questions.

Woe, this diagram be upon ye. I made this back when I translated the chapters, so it’s not an exact 1-to-1 of this post, but the rough ideas are there. Now that I look at it, what the hell are some of these points? Just consider this a peek into my brain, I guess.

Fake Sano-kun

(Harusano handholding...)

This just FEELS like a callback to camp, combining both Sano catching Haruaki and Tamao exposing Yamazaki’s Nyuudou. Although the makuragaeshi’s fake Sano is actually a lot more convincing than Yamazaki’s Nyuudou. Every other sentence Yamazaki said was out of character for Nyuudou, from leaving Tamao behind to loredropping about youkai and ghosts.

The makuragaeshi’s Sano was a lot more convincing in contrast, the only things giving him away were insulting Mame at the end and also Mame himself. Granted, he said a lot less than Yamazaki, so that’s the secret to a good impersonation really. Funny, since the impersonation that was pulled off the best was Amaaki in the Renren arc, the combination of Amaaki knowing Haruaki well, as well as not talking that much, and also Kurai’s hubris. And also Haruaki coming up with that genius double impersonator plan, because nobody expects 2 impersonators.

To you, who became a teacher

I can only DREAM that I managed to convey these two pages as eloquently as the original (and the Chinese version) did, and I’m looking forward to the official translation so I can bawl my eyes out over these two pages all over again.

(I wrote these messages while translating these two pages)

I love the way this manga just answers philosophical dilemmas so straightforwardly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Of course, the only reason he was able to say all this is because of all the work he put in, all the work he saw his students put in, and isn’t that what living means? Are you not just the sum total of your experiences, of all your hard work? Isn’t it worth it to live in the real world for the sole reason that you crafted it with your own hands?

I just think these 2 chapters are Phenomenal, Amazing, Life Changing, this is up there in my favorite chapters along with ch33. I love that even though the premise is a dream, it follows set rules and opens up interesting ideas and questions. It’s also such an important arc to reaffirm who Haruaki is as a person, and a prelude/setup to the Kyoto arc.

Thank you for reading all this, and I hope it made sense, as well as made you love these two chapters as much as me. Let me leave you with the inner color page of volume 12.

See you in the Kyoto arc post, I guess? I imagine that one will be a lot less narrative-focused than this one, and more focused on the history of Kyoto as well as Japanese mythology in general.

Also check my rambles tag for more stuff like this

#youkai gakkou no sensei hajimemashita #rambles

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ava-does-dumbassery · 11 months

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So, I watched The Mummy (1999) last night, and I thought it was a good movie (inaccurate to ancient Egypt and Egyptology, but still a good movie). But it did remind me of this one story from Greek period ancient Egypt, that’s actually kind of similar to the plot of the movie? So I’m gonna ramble about that for a while now.

This story is called Setne and Naneferkaptah, and it also has a Person Who Is An Expert In Fields Related To The Mummies and Curses™ looking for a magic book that’s protected by curses, and a dead guy from an older time and his girlfriend (wife, in this story) who want to stop them from doing that. The Expert™ in this story is Prince Setne (he’s a magician), who was an actual real guy who existed, he was the son of Ramesses II, and he was used in ancient Egyptian fiction as the protagonist of a few stories, not just this one. The magic book is called the Book of Thoth, it was made by the god Thoth, and there two spells in it that will give you a bunch of cool powers, including being able to talk to animals. The dead guy who’s tomb Setne breaks into is called Naneferkaptah, and he stole the book of Thoth from the original place where it was, but then him, his wife Ahwere, and his son all got killed by the gods because of that, so now the Book of Thoth is in his tomb.

Anyway, the story (well, the surviving parts of it that we have) starts with Setne in the the tomb of Naneferkaptah, with Ahwere telling him the story of how she and Naneferkaptah got married and were really happy, but were then killed after Naneferkaptah stole the Book of Thoth. The place Naneferkaptah steals the Book of Thoth from originally isn’t a tomb, it’s a multilayered box at the bottom of a huge body of water. I guess there are what you could call “traps” around it? There’s just a bunch of bugs. And snakes. Six miles of scorpions and snakes and other reptiles all around the box. Naneferkaptah uses a spell to get past all the bugs and snakes, and then he fights the guardian of the book, which is another snake. He fights it thee times, the first two times it comes back to life, but the third time he cuts it in half and it stays dead.

Setne demands they give him the book after Ahwere finishes telling him that story, and Naneferkaptah is like, “Dude, my wife just told you how taking this book is a super bad idea, why do you still want it?” But Setne is doing that protagonist thing where just hearing the story within a story isn’t enough to get him to learn the moral, and bad things have to happen to him in order for him to learn it, so he plays board games with Naneferkaptah to try and win the book from him. Setne keeps losing, and every time he loses Naneferkaptah hits him the head with the board they’re using, which makes him sink deeper and deeper into the sand he’s standing on. This keeps happening until Setne is about to suffocate in the sand, at which point he just cheats and steals the book from Naneferkaptah with magic.

Then there’s this fakeout sequence, where Setne gets so horny for a woman that he’s willing to orders all his children to be killed in order to sleep with her, but at the last moment it turns out the woman wasn’t real, Setne’s kids are fine, it didn’t actually happen and Setne’s just naked and embarrassed now. Having learned an important lesson about the destructive nature of greed, Setne returns the book to Naneferkaptah. Setne also finds the bodies of Ahwere and her son (they were buried in a seperate tomb) and moves them to Naneferkaptah‘s tomb, so they can be dead and in love together for the rest of time.

So anyway, if you ever wondered about what ancient Egyptian stories about tomb robbing cursed texts were like, now you know.

#Ancient egypt #the mummy #the mummy 1999 #Setne and Naneferkaptah #I think I like Setne and Naneferkaptah a little better honestly #Just cause I really like that the two dead in love people get to be happy together and the end of it #Also hot take but The Mummy would be a better movie if instead of stealing organs the mummy hit people on the head with board games /j #I think it’s pretty cool how old some of these tropes are #Like the themes about greed and desire being destructive are in this type of story in the Ptolemiac period and they’re in it in 1999 too #Also I like that in both ancient times and 1999 people asked the question ‘what unpleasant things would there be around some cursed books?’#And both times we answered that questions with ‘Bugs. There would be so many goddamn bugs.’#ava has thoughts #ancient egypt stuff

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thatfragilecapricorn30 · 2 years

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Diversion

Ever since the disastrous night in Philly with Ed Jerse, there had been an uneasy truce between Mulder and Scully, where they unspokenly agreed to not to discuss the ordeal. Scully was all too happy with that arrangement because during their last conversation, Mulder was a complete dick about the tattoo and the desk and her life choices and how they somehow affected him (which was baffling to Scully). A few days after she was back from her mandated sick leave, Skinner had another out-of-town case for them. Scully was relieved that she and Mulder wouldn’t be stuck in their basement office, which had been silent as a tomb these past three days, but she didn’t relish the close quarters they would spend together on the plane and in the rental car.

At least with a case, they could investigate their own avenues and stay out of each other’s way. Once they arrived in Branson, Missouri, Scully performed the autopsies alone and spent as much time as possible in the lab, testing compounds that were found at the scene of the crime. The quiet was nice, for once, but she couldn’t help but notice Mulder’s absence; his color commentary always provided some entertainment that was now missed.

They definitely hadn’t spoken about Ed Jerse at all, except for one brief phone conversation the night before they were set to leave DC. Scully’s phone rang around 11 pm, when she was getting ready for bed.

“Scully,” she answered, even though she already knew who would be calling her this late.

“Scully,” she heard repeated back. Mulder’s voice was slightly slurred. Had he been drinking? she wondered.

There was a long pause and Scully was ready to hang up the phone when Mulder finally asked, “I just want to know why?”

Why what? She wanted to spit back. Why do I want my own desk? Why do I want a life outside of the X-Files? Or, the one thing she wanted to say but wouldn’t even let herself think: why wasn’t it you?

But since she couldn’t - wouldn’t - say any of those things, Scully simply sighed, “Mulder.”

“You didn’t have to - I mean, you could have…” he thankfully cut himself off without elaborating.

This was a conversation she didn’t want to have right now, especially if Mulder had been drinking.

“It’s late, Mulder. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she stated and ended the call before he could respond.

The next day, Mulder didn’t mention their phone discussion at all and Scully figured he really was drunk and didn’t remember. It was better that way, anyway.

However, throughout the case, during her many hours spent alone in the lab and the morgue, she couldn’t help turning his words over and over again in her head: she didn’t have to… what exactly? Was he trying to say she could have gone to him instead of Ed? Scully didn’t know if that was just wishful thinking on her part or if Mulder actually thought that was a viable option. Was he really offering himself to her? Didn’t he know that would only make things worse?

But now that the idea was in her head, she couldn’t stop ruminating over the things left unsaid between the two of them. It served as a nice distraction from the nosebleeds that seemed to be increasing in frequency and severity and Leonard Betts telling her that she had something he needed. Scully was never good at keeping secrets and it was only a matter of time before Mulder figured out what was going on with her, but she wanted to delay that as long as possible. Besides, for all she knew, there was nothing to tell.

Scully was worried that the stress was getting to her, though. Whenever the pressure built up inside her, she felt the urge to “blow up her life,” as Missy described it at one time. When she was younger, and she was stressed about school or worried about her father’s deployment or fighting with her siblings, she would steal her mother’s cigarettes or get drunk at the park at night with her high school classmates. It was also part of the reason she joined the FBI. Scully was already considering the career switch but when she found out that Daniel was married and she was complicit in his deceit, she knew she needed to make a drastic change in her life.

Luckily, Mulder and Scully had wrapped up the case fairly quickly (unsurprisingly, the serial arsonist of apartment complexes and corporate offices was the property owner looking for an insurance payout) and there was nothing left to do until their flight home the next morning. It was Friday night, and while it was unusual for Scully to have almost an entire weekend free from work, she was looking forward to it.

Instead of eating dinner together or watching a movie as Mulder and Scully had done at the conclusion of other cases, they went to their separate rooms without speaking. Scully had been glancing at the connecting door all evening, expecting Mulder to come bursting through with some ridiculous story or theory. She knew both sides were unlocked: even at their most dysfunctional, they still wanted to be available to each other.

Since they hadn’t been home in a few days, Scully decided to call her answering machine to check her messages. She listened as her mother invited her to the church cookout the following weekend and the dealership notified her that her car was due for an oil change. The last message was a reminder for her oncology appointment on Tuesday. Just a few short days away. Scully took a deep breath, but didn’t feel like she got any air. She knew the appointment was coming; she scheduled the damn thing herself. But now it felt real. As her mind raced and her breathing turned shallower, Scully’s eyes swept across the room, trying to name five things she could see, four things she could hear… she didn’t get very far before the hotel room felt like it was closing in on her. She had to get out.

Scully went to the connecting door, knocked once, and then pushed into Mulder’s room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching a baseball game.

“Can I have the car keys?” she asked, referring to the rental they had for the case.

He turned around, apparently surprised that she was in his room.

“For what?” he questioned casually, before going back to watching the game.

“I want to go out,” Scully said, feeling like she was asking her dad to borrow the family car. She resented the implication that she had to ask for permission.

“Out?” he scoffed, still not looking at her. “That didn’t work out so well the last time.”

“Excuse me?” she asked between gritted teeth. She couldn’t believe he was talking to her this way.

He stood up to face her. “I’m not letting you go out, get drunk, and fuck some guy, just for him to knock you around afterwards.”

Scully’s jaw dropped open, aghast at the words coming out of Mulder’s mouth. She already knew he wasn’t pleased by her recent behavior but to hear him speak so crudely about it struck a nerve with her. Her earlier panic turned to righteous anger, which quickly dissolved into… something else. Scully could feel the electricity crackling between them and it wasn’t just from their current fight. It was four years worth of tension, of intense eye contact, of arguments, of saving each other, of trusting each other. Scully realized she could get what she needed here, in this room.

“Fine, I won’t go out,” she conceded.

“You won’t?” he asked, looking astonished that she acquiesced so quickly.

Scully stepped closer and she could have sworn she heard him gulp.

“I don’t need to. Right, Mulder?” she asked, feeling almost predatory as she took another step towards him.

“I, um, Scully -” he stammered.

“Right, Mulder?” she repeated, this time a whisper because she was now right next to him. “I don’t have to find some other guy…” she trailed off, bringing her hand up to touch his face. “Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to tell me?”

Mulder seemed to come back to his senses a little, because he grasped her wrist before it could reach its destination. The action eerily reminded Scully of Ed and she hated to admit that it turned her on even more than she already was. She was close enough that she could smell him, end of the day sweat and cologne and of course, sunflower seeds. Scully wanted to see if he tasted like he smelled, so she closed the small amount of distance between them and experimentally licked his neck. She was ready for him to push her away, but instead, his arms came around her waist and pulled her closer in, his hands roaming her body over her clothes.

They stayed like that for a moment, wrapped around each other but not doing much, until Scully moved back so that she could maneuver Mulder to the bed; it was easier to manage their height difference if he was sitting while she stood between his legs. Mulder was oddly deferential and allowed her to lead, which was unexpected. She wasted no time returning to the task at hand, but this time she wanted to actually taste him. Scully twined her fingers in Mulder’s hair and when their lips finally met, Scully had to hold back a moan. Everything so far was even better than she imagined and was serving as a nice distraction from what was going on in her life. After a few moments, Scully pushed him so he laid back on the bed and began to unbutton her blouse as she straddled his hips.

“Scully,” he started but she interrupted: “No talking.”

Mulder seemed to understand what she wanted and didn’t speak again, so she kept undressing. She tried not to look Mulder in the eye because she might start crying if she looked at his wide, guileless expression for too long. Scully had already decided this could be quick; she was so desperate for release and wanted a break from her racing thoughts. But when she reached down to unzip Mulder’s pants, he seemed to have had enough of passivity and flipped her on her back so that he hovered over her, deliciously pressing her into the mattress. Her hand went back to his fly, but Mulder intercepted and stopped her before she could go any farther.

Every time Scully tried to speed up the process he deliberately slowed his pace. When she tried to touch him, he held her hands down. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he gently pushed her back onto the mattress. Eventually she gave up, allowing Mulder to carefully remove her clothing, kissing new skin as it was revealed to him, until she was naked and he was left wearing just his boxers. Scully felt her mind start to pleasantly buzz, the worries and concerns that plagued her earlier replaced with only the feel of his fingertips and lips. When he saw the healing bruises on her torso, he gently traced the outlines of them, a look of concern on his face. She smiled at him to let him know that it didn’t hurt, in fact it felt nice to be touched so tenderly.

Mulder moved down her body and Scully gasped when she felt him lick her expertly. It appeared his oral fixation extended beyond sunflower seeds, she noted with some humor. In the past when a man had gone down on her, she was usually stuck in her head, a bit self conscious about how she looked and how her body was reacting. However, this time, she completely gave into the sensation of Mulder’s tongue on her clit and finger stroking her g-spot. Her orgasm was slow approaching and then hit her like a freight train. While she recovered, arm flung over her face and breathing heavy, Mulder crawled up the bed to lay next to her. He traced a line from her bellybutton to her clavicle and didn’t appear to be in any rush for his own pleasure. Scully reached down and tugged on the waistband of his boxers, wordlessly asking for more. Mulder hesitated for a split second, but then complied with her request after she stroked him a few times through the fabric.

When he finally pushed into her, Scully’s mind turned to static in the best way. She didn’t have the bandwidth to do much else aside from dig her fingernails into his back, but Mulder took charge. He rocked into her like the tide, slowly ebbing in and out. Earlier she had been hoping for something hard and fast but now realized that Mulder had the right idea by insisting on a slow pace. He left kisses on her neck and hitched her left knee up to her shoulder and bit her earlobe and it was all too much for the second time that night.

When it was over and they both had finished and lay panting on the bed, Scully turned on her side away from Mulder and wondered somewhat wistfully if their tryst had been a mistake. The problem was that it was good. Really good. Too good that it was impossible to pretend it never happened, mostly because she already wanted to do it again. The sex was a lot better than with Ed, which Scully would not admit even at gunpoint; Mulder’s ego was big enough. Not only was the physical act itself better, but the fact that it was with Mulder meant that it was already ten times better than with a stranger. She wasn’t going to admit that she was in love with him, because she didn’t need that complication in her life right now, and she already had a lot of practice tamping those feelings down.

Mulder was still breathing deeply beside her. The mattress shifted and he placed his hand gently on her side.

“I know something’s going on with you. If you won’t tell me, I’ll just figure it out another way.”

Those were the first words spoken since they fell into bed and they sounded loud and foreboding in the quiet room. Scully squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened to flow. She was glad Mulder couldn’t see her. How was he able to read her so well?

“Go to sleep, Mulder,” she pleaded, voice cracking a bit. He left his hand on her waist for a moment before squeezing once and then pulling away.

Once his breathing evened out and Scully could tell that he was asleep, she gathered her clothes and snuck back to her room. She locked the door behind her.

–

The next morning, Scully got dressed in a suit, even though they were flying home. She applied her make-up carefully, made sure every strand of hair was perfectly in place and hid the bloody tissues in the trash so no one would see. At 9 am, there was a knock on the connecting door and Scully rose from the table where she was sitting to let Mulder in.

“Our flight leaves in two hours; are you ready to hit the road?” he asked.

She nodded and went to grab her luggage. When she turned back to Mulder, he opened his mouth, likely about to say something regarding the night before. She shot him a look to convey, “Don’t.”

Their communication wasn’t as lacking as she previously thought, because he understood her perfectly and didn’t say a word. They didn’t talk on the way to the airport or during the flight or at baggage claim or as they left the airport. It was Saturday afternoon and Scully had almost two whole days before she had to deal with Mulder again.

She spent the rest of the weekend catching up on chores and meeting her mother for lunch. She deleted all the messages on her voicemail without listening to them again and tried not to think about her upcoming appointment or Mulder, which proved to be very difficult. She wondered how he would react if she showed up at his door. It was tempting, very tempting, but she restrained herself. There was no point in making the same mistake twice.

—-- Monday rolled around quickly. Scully wanted to be the first one in the office; she felt like she would have the upper hand that way, so she arrived at 8 am. Mulder must have felt the same way because he beat her there. He was sitting quietly at the desk, two cups of coffee in front of him. Scully paused at the doorway, her mouth suddenly dry.

Mulder glanced up and beckoned her into the office. “Come in, come in,” he encouraged, standing up to take her bag. “I got you coffee.”

Scully noticed it was from the expensive cafe she really liked. She was a little confused as to why Mulder was being so nice.

He handed her the cup and started talking, “I wanted to apologize for my behavior these past few weeks and for what I said Friday night. I was way out of line and it was totally uncalled for. You should be able to do what you want without judgment from me.”

Scully was shocked. She never expected this kind of apology, though it was what she was looking for after Philadelphia. But after she basically used him on Friday night, she was starting to think this all was a big mistake. His demeanor was hopeful and she knew he wanted something from her, something she wanted to give him, but couldn’t, at least not right now.

When Scully didn’t say anything right away, Mulder opened his mouth to continue. What else was he going to say?

She put her hand out, “No, please, stop.”

Scully didn’t want to hear any more heartfelt apologies, she didn’t want to look at Mulder and remember how his touch had left goosebumps all over her skin on Friday night and everything else they did. She had to get out of the office. She went to grab her bag and coat.

“Scully, where are you going? Will you please sit down and talk to me?” he begged.

She wished she could. “Mulder, I can’t. I have to go,” she responded and rushed out of the basement office.

Scully went straight to Skinner’s office and left a message with Holly that she was ill and would be back at work tomorrow after her doctor’s appointment. Then she drove home.

Unsurprisingly, Mulder called her five times on her cell phone and left two messages on her home answering machine until Scully unplugged it. She didn’t want to talk to him, so she called his apartment line and left the same message she gave Holly. She knew he checked his home voicemail frequently at work, so when her cell phone stopped ringing that was indication that he heard her message. Scully just hoped he didn’t come by; she would deal with him tomorrow and would explain everything then. She took a few deep breaths; she just had to hold on until then and everything would be fine. —--

When Scully received the news, the only person she could think to call, that she wanted to talk to, was Mulder. Even after everything that happened between them, she still needed him, which frightened her. Because of everything that happened between them, he deserved to know first.

Mulder brought her flowers, but he didn’t take the news quite as she expected.

He stared at her for a long moment, long enough that Scully thought she might have to repeat herself because maybe he didn’t hear.

“You knew?” Mulder finally asked, chest heaving. He sounded like he was out of breath.

“No,” Scully said defiantly. “I didn’t know.” She was annoyed that she just received life-changing news and he was giving her a hard time.

“But you suspected?” Mulder pressed. “You’re a doctor, Scully, you knew something was wrong and you didn’t tell me. Even when I asked you repeatedly, you still wouldn’t tell me.”

He began pacing around the room, the glow from the lightbox casting a white sheen on his figure. “You let me - we…” he was having trouble getting the words out.

He stopped abruptly, facing her again. “How could you do that?” he asked, his face pale and eyes wide.

Scully’s earlier defiance vanished. She now realized that she had been cruel to give him what he wanted, what they both wanted, and then take it all away.

“I’m sorry, Mulder,” she choked, trying not to cry.

He took two big steps over to her and grasped her by the shoulders.

“Dana,” was all he got out before he pulled her to his chest roughly, arms tight around her.

“It’s going to be okay.” His voice was thick, like he was holding back tears as well.“I’m going to figure this out. We’re going to fix this.”

Scully didn’t respond, but remained in his embrace, her cheek brushing the rough wool of his coat. There was nothing she could say; he was the believer after all.

#this fic gave me brain worms #i think it was the smut #so sorry if it's bad but i couldn't edit it anymore #LOL #the x files #txf #txf fic #msr #xfiles bingo

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plainemmanem · 4 months

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HELPP I JUST WOKE UP FROM A LONG DREAM ABOUT JOE?

Like at first it was a just a really weird dream like complete nonsense and then i went to my old school and somehow they got Joe to come up there and perform a new album. So im freaking out the WHOLE time. Its important that i mention that this dream was a continuation of another dream with the same premise so he was technically coming back after performing once and i remember there was this part where he asked everyone in the crowd their names(it wasn’t a large crowd) and then he got to me and he was like “Ohhh i remember you! We talked at the last one! You knew were my favorite!” and i was like “yeah thats me!” So anyways i remember him performing i want your video and another song i forgot which it was and i was screaming my ass off. And then he started picking people in the crowd to ask them random questions about themselves. So i remember anticipating the whole time waiting for him to get to me. But then people started leaving so there were more seats available so then i was like “bet” and i kept moving up to the front. And then One of the teachers who organized the event called me out and said “hey! stop skipping seats!” And i still did it anyways because i was getting closer and closer to the front but then Joe announced that he was leaving and im pretty sure it was because they ended the show early. So i was angry and panicking. I only had control over my thoughts so i remember telling myself “ah shit. We gotta go catch em before he leave again We cant just let em go”(i would never do that irl) So i made it my mission to go talk to that man. So i ran up on stage and stopped him and i was like “I didn’t to talk with you last time it it okay if i talk with you this time?” and he was like “yeah” so i remember us just talking about regular stuff. I told him i enjoyed the concert and that i listened to his last 2 albums and stuff. He was smiling the whole time but there was this underlying tension. Cuz i kept flirting with him wondering if he knew that i was tryna spit game at him but he always responded in the most subtle ways. Anywayyyss- We walk all the way to this tomb raider ass map or something and we started hiking?? We were at a trail that has a few waterfalls in it by my neighborhood. Idk but it felt like i was actually doing it cuz it was so damn long but we were still conversing. And this wasn’t me consciously- but i think i said something that triggered him cuz he started talking about his exes and i dont remember the whole convo but if yall ever dream of this man dont bring it up ☹️ cuz then things got kinda weird and he started acting distant towards me and a little mean. So he took me back to the school because my dream telling me my dad has to pick me up. But once we got back there we parted like something out of a movie cuz i remember walking to my dads car and then looking back at him and he was like “Maybe next time. you’re still my favorite though” and then i woke up

this was a crazy read

#how do y’all have such vivid dreams mine are literally just… i walk to the grocery store….#BAHHAHA LIKE I RARELY EVER EVEN DREAM

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flowerslut · 1 year

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Hi so this ask is a request (desperate) for twilight content since i feel like i've read all jalice fics in the fucking universe and for some reason most part of this fandom is obsessed with edbella (idc the whole saga is about them that's a detail) so here it goes: what's your currently hyperfixation inside the jasper&alice hyperfixation? like plots for fics, au, headcanons about personality traits (since jasper's canon personality is based on loving alice and being a low profile hottie with a tragic past)

yeah being a jalice girlie in the twilight saga is a rough experience bestie, I can soooooo relate to you there 😔 we truly are a group who suffers from lack of content 💔

right now my main jalicey focus is on my fic WIPs roots that I've mentioned before! I've been a bit distracted over the last several months thanks to the locked tomb fucking up my entire brain, but despite that I've still managed to write a solid 75k of roots, which has been nice.

I'm actually not real big on fixating on or even discussing headcanons unless its something I need to dissect privately for fic purposes. I'm also a huge critical bitch about other people's interpretations of my favorite characters which is why you don't see me talking about it a lot on tumblr. so many people get it (alice and jasper) so, so wrong, and obviously I have it so, soooooo right 😌💅 but lmfao okay no I mainly keep my opinions and headcanons to myself so I don't come across as an unlikeable cunt on this stupid site. unless someone asks, and then I have no problem being an asshole and telling people their tastes are bad. but I've been so well behaved recently and people have been much nicer and less insufferable in the twilight fandom in recent years which has been nice!!!!

but another huge fandom interest I have is making playlists! so I have like a dozen or so jalice-themed playlists (most of them are fic playlists for various @goldeneyedgirl stories because she really just keeps pumping out banger after banger; sometimes I swear I think about lexie's stories than I do about my own) and I am constantly listening to and working on playlists. one day I'll finish all my twilight character playlists and my Main jalice playlist, but it's already been a few years that I've been working on some of them, so what's a few more, yknow???

besides roots, I still have a kajillion big fics I need to finish outlining—my third cotn installment, it's novella, my AH au, the neglected WIP projects I have already published (sorry to my edge of it all readers, specifically). most of my jalice fixation gets redirected into planning and writing fanfiction when I'm not constantly arranging and rearranging carefully curated playlists

but thank you so much for calling jasper a "low profile hottie with a tragic past" because thats so funny. "low profile hottie" is SO good. I love any description of jasper that brushes aside the tiny bits of canon characterization we get of him to be like "ok but forget all that. he's quiet and sexy." it's like this iconic tweet:

anyways thank u kindly for the message I am so sorry there seems to be a bit of a jalice drought currently. I know lexie has been throwing prompts into the void on here recently but I'm sure if you're in here pleading for content you've probably already read all of her stuff 10x over. I can't promise you any real content out of me this month (or next) but I can guarantee you'll get plenty of snippets!!! hold strong anon 💖

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cloudyswritings · 4 months

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Pjo/Sunless sea crossover thing:Part 1

So wearing right here, this will have spoilers for sunless seas, skies, and some parts of fallen London. Proceed with caution

So basically I got thinking about what character from pjo would go by in sunless seas, and what their Parabolan counterparts would be too. The names will go like this (Characters name/Sunless sea title/ Parabolan counterpart). Let’s start, like all things do, with Percy.

Percy Jackson/The Saltborne Captain/ The Ancient Mariner:

The inhabitants of Parabola have all sorts of theories about the origin of the Ancient Mariner. Many Fingerkings claim that he is a manifestation of poetry and the furious call of the unreal sea, and nothing more. The cats of Parabola seek his wisdom often, they claim he waits for the arrival of a traveler, and that he plans to depart once they arrive. And those one the fringes of Parabola, those desperate wretches clinging to the edges of broken mirrors and hiding between the false light orange sunbeams claim something else. They claim the Ancient Mariner is a fragment of the Sun Beneath the Sea, bearing a word of its law. Of course who can say whic of these groups are correct…

(I think if Percy were in sunless sea he would probably end up following Salts path, albeit a modified one. My headcanon of him has him feeling an innate connection to the unterzee that could be explained by him being Salts reincarnation.)

Annabeth Chase/The Meticulous Detective/The Peerless Architect:

To: The Shivering Spirifer

We’re going to need to move our operations to the east end. I heard some Whispering Urchins talking about how The Meticulous Detective is back from visiting the tomb colonies and we’re dead in the middle of her usual stomping grounds. I don’t think that her erratic behavior as of these last few years(which have, of course, been 1999) is going to prevent her from dragging us to the constables and shaking our pockets out for Incendiary Gossip along the way. Best we get a move on and look for other hunting grounds.

Cheers!

The Soulful Author

Nico/The Shadowy Citizen/The Thing in The Darkness

Some say, in the depths of Parabola, where even the light of its false sun doesn’t reach, there dwells a creature. It doesn’t belong to parabola, how could it? Its unrealness has knotted and twisted in on itself like the slow writhing of vines and compression of ancient stones. In this way it has become real once more. The Thing in the Shadows, they say, hunts for probabilities, devouring them right out from under its victims. It was a potential squandered and a future loss, and its keening cries echo with the satin-grey notes of prophecy. So they say at least, it may just be a tale told to keep young Parabolans on their best behavior.

Frank/The Jolly Veteran/The Formless Soldier

It’s quite a thing to be formless among the legions of not-things that live behind glass. Quite impressive even, though none in Parabola would say so within earshot.

To: The Duplicitous Heiress

I can’t quite seem to figure out what angle the Jolly Veteran is working truth be told. He seems to be as he is, and I’ve found no connections to any of the factions here in London beyond the joviality typical of him. Truthfully even our friends in the flit couldn’t find anything on him. I’d suggest picking a target easier to besmirch m’lady.

Regards

The Repentant Knight.

Hazel/The Bedazzled Sorcerer/???

“if you are crafty enough, if you are powerful enough, and if you are mad enough-though who isn’t these days- you can bind things from Parabola and bring them into reality in truth. Though I can’t say how this might be accomplished I reckon it’d take magic beyond us mere mortals. Or dying properly I suppose-not like anyone here on this d__n zea can anyway.”

excerpt from Phenomenon of the Unterzee by the Complaining Chronicler.

#pjo #sunless sea #percy jackson #fusion #headcanon #these have been melting my brain for ages #Literally had a dream about them #I need to play seas and skies again #what do you think?#pjo headcanon

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measuringbliss · 7 months

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Spider-Man Read-Through 026: The Liz' is back, back again (GSSM 3-6)

MASTERPOST

This batch features the Punisher, Gwen Stacy, aliens, and also...

...Doc Savage.

Are you lost? Me too!

I'm not familiar with Doc Savage, but he's a big figure of GSSM3! And newcomer Desinna (who never appeared again) too. What follows is a wild, wild tale and I'm at a complete loss over how to even handle it. Let's just say: aliens from a parallel dimension that's out of time.

There's this funny bit where Peter pretends the women he knows aren't written like demure little things too.

That sure is a conclusion. I'm staring wide-eyed at my monitor. I'm in shock.

...Let's go on to the next one.

GSSM #4 features the Punisher! He saves Spidey from a deadly bullet and once again shows him a stag movie. He asks Spidey to help him make a biochemical weapon go "poof". Sorry, I'm tired. Words. In the dictionary. Are being forgotten.

Frank Castle has not lost the art of sensational entrances, as you can see. We also get to see a nice page of Spidey infiltrating a building amidst falling snow. Snow always makes for nice visuals.

By the way, talking about snow, which is featured a lot in Tomb of Dracula, I'm only midway through 1973 in *that* series. Just an observation.

The pretty visuals continue. Can you tell I enjoy this issue more?

Spidey gets thrown in a death camp and makes jokes that actually made me snort:

But it turns out this isn't our Spidey! What?!

Oh. Okay. Gerry Conway likes his twists, huh?

On the panel on the right, Spidey's momentarily missing a part of his costume with no explanation. I hate it when that happens!

They save the day and the Punisher more or less directly makes the antagonist melt in a poison gas.

Spidey's expression in the last panel is funny. I wish he discussed that just a bit more, because the Punisher already killed someone in the first few pages of the issue and I was surprised they didn't comment on it, but that last page makes up for it.

GSSM 5 time!

Gwen's back (although we know the truth is a tad more complicated), and Spidey wants to get away from all this drama. He hears about the Man-Thing wrecking havoc in Florida and immediately gets Jameson's approval and calls Dr. Connors.

We finally get Peter crumbs, nice! And nice development for everybody. That's actually more than what I was expecting, I'm really happy.

Meanwhile, Connors gets back in his Lizard form and seeks the Man Thing. He finds him and they fight next to Arnstead, a guy who was previously contemplating ending it all. Gerry Conway didn't hesitate to touch complicated subjects, huh.

Spidey and the Lizard's fight is neat, and our hero gets help from Connors's wife!

Naturally, the Man Thing quickly intervenes as well and we get furry bondage. It makes me... feel... absolutely nothing. What the fuck, Ross Andru.

*Ahem* Anyway, Arnstead figures out from Connors's notes how to make an antidote and all's well that ends well. That was a neat issue and I particularly appreciated the soap side.

...I'll admit I had the same joke in mind.

Last one for tonight, GSSM 6! But it's actually a reprint of Annual 4, which I've reviewed here. I definitely recommend it (as seen here).

What's next in store:

a new regular writer, Len Wein

the Shocker

a coda to the first Clone Saga

See you there!

#peter parker #gwen stacy #spider-man #comic books #comics #mary jane watson #gerry conway #ross andru

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sleuth-hounds · 1 year

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The Tomb of Slytunkhamen, Part 1

New York City, circa 1975.

Scandinavian detective Christopher Alister and his Spanish partner Carmelo Fox arrived to a cellar apartment. The detectives entered a boiler room with shabby proportions and an overall sombre ambience. They also met a female mutt, Shirley Müller. She was petite, blonde, and was casting a spell from outside the window while muttering magic words to herself. Maybe the foxes came at a bad time...

The lady seemed like a trobuled soul. Either way, Christopher was willing to help her out. He walked a few inches closer to her.

"Excuse me, madame. I can see you're busy muttering to yourself, but--"

"Why you break my concentration on curse?! You in cahoots with Cooper gang, no?", The lady fired back at the ritzy arctic fox.

"No, we're not!", Christopher said.

"Actually, we're two thirds of the Alister gang- pretty much the same as the Cooper gang, but from the good side of the law." Carmelo added to the counter-accusation, and grabbed the attention of Shirley. She suddenly recognized his face...

"Wait! Meska Leeza Dooza-Fizzle Einsafeld... It is you! Nut Boy!" She said in awe, like she was in presence of a celebrity or a deity.

"Christopher, she just called me Nut Boy...", Carmelo murmured to his partner.

"The one with great power from body! To squish himself down to can o' nuts, ya?" She asked him.

Taking this in, Carmelo realized the lady was alluding to his unflattering moniker. However, he kept his cool and pretended to be flattered at the acknowledgement. "Oh! Si, si! It's me, Nut Boy!", he said, smiling nervously.

"Nut Boy!" She sobbed and laughed at the same time through her thick German accent. "Rotten, stinking diska-feisik thieves!" She ranted as the peeked through the window.

"So long have I been searching for sacred can o' nuts, stolen from Tomb of Slytunkhamen! To find it in theater, to see it making with glorious magic Nut Boy squish down with arctic fox friend... And then, to lose it to those grubby, sacrilegious thieves!" She continued her rant. She stopped and turned around back to the boys.

"You seem upset", Carmelo sensed some anger on Shirley's part.

"Would you like to talk about it?", Christopher asked her generously.

"You, Nut Boy and arctic fox friend! You will come to aid of this pitiful dog lady. You will take can o'nuts back from nasty thieves and bring it back to me." The lady proposed them the quest to recover the stolen item.

"Sure!"

"The first part, anyway."

The two foxes accepted the assignment.

"And perhaps there is something I can do for you?" Shirley asked them.

"So, miss..." Christopher was about to ask her a question, but she cut him off.

"You can call me Shirley, sir." She politely introduced herself.

"Right. So this vampire curse... how does it work? Is it instantaneous?" Christopher asked her.

"Nein. My magic only sets process in motion. Cursed thief thinks himself safe now, but wait until he runs into a wumpire, ha! Nothing can save him then!"

"I guess you curse a lot of guys who mistreat you, no?" Carmelo asked her.

"Eh, not so many. I cursed an interloper back at the tomb once, but that was five years ago..."

"Shirley, you said something about the Tomb of Slytunkhamen..."

"Oh, how I miss it! Ze happy pitter-patter of little scarabs! Ze smiling faces of the sarcophagi! Guarding ze tomb has been my family business for many generations."

"Then, why did you leave the old country?" Christopher asked with intrigue.

"Tomb-guarding business is no longer what it used to be. Nowadays, zhere is no decent tomb raiders to impale. Zo, my family sent me here. I make it big in America, I send for them!"

#story #the tomb of slytunkhamen #reupload

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rigelmejo · 2 years

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updates:

I read chapters 1-2 of dmbj yucun notes. I highly recommend this as a read for HSK 4+ learners. The subject matter is easier than regular dmbj novels, so far the words are focused on daily life and business so very useful everyday words. There’s very few tomb-raiding related words so far, so little special vocabulary required. The chapters are VERY short so you can read one within a half hour even if they are a difficult reading level for you, the chapters use few unique characters, and Readibu rates yucun notes chapters as usually 84% (ort higher) comprehensible to an HSK 4 person.

Based on Readibu’s statistics, I’m noticing that if something is rated HSK 4 80% comprehensible or above, it seems to be of an easier reading level. So that is a step above graded readers, but still on the simpler side. Additionally, if HSK 5 is giving you a 90% comprehension rating or more, the reading material will be easier.

When Readibu rates something as HSK 4 under 80% comprehensible, then the reading material is at least slightly higher reading level/difficulty. Especially if HSK 5 has a comprehension rating as under 90%. For example, Poyun is HSK 4 76% comprehensible, HSK 5 88% comprehensible. So the novel is a more difficult read.

You can view Readibu’s statistics for a novel by clicking the orange book icon, then clicking the bottom ‘Stats’ icon, it will show you “Comprehension % (by reader’s HSK level). For me, I learned using HSK vocabulary until about HSK 4 (and middle of HSK 5 vocabulary), then I split off and learned new vocabulary from reading, shows, and conversations only. I would imagine some other people who learn for reading, probably split off from HSK materials around HSK 4 as well. So your vocabulary may not overlap with HSK as much after 4. If this is the case for you, I find the higher % the HSK 4 rating in Readibu is, the easier the material will be.

I read 1 chapter of a chinese pingxie fanfic that I found named 用我一生 (and learned Long jibei is the name of Zhang Qiling’s weapon lol), and 2 chapters of dmbj volume 1 yesterday. First, I love Merebear Translation’s new translating of the books, because I read the books first in english print translation official versions and they cut out some details and paragraphs Merebear is preserving. So Merebear’s translations as usual, are worth the read. Second, it always shocks me how much more detail I seem to get when I read in the original chinese - even when I understand some things a bit more ‘vaguely.’ I think its because when I read in the original chinese, the meaning/nuance of words gets preserved more, whereas in translation you have to pick a ‘close enough’ equivalent for every word and phrase and its always going to lose some of the nuance and change it. Last time I read these dmbj chapters in chinese I was a newbie lol, and this time I read much better. This time I really noticed how much wu xie curses people out and calls them names in his head lol vulgar mean bastard kitten that he is in book 1. And it yet again hammers home just HOW much The Lost Tomb drama (and some subsequent dramas) water down his less heroic personality points, his more down to earth ‘definitely the nephew of that fucker San Shu’ personality traits. In the novels, people talk more casually and curse more, and wu xie is less a perfect hero and more an average guy who’s at the periphery of tomb raiding and really curious to get a bit closer and have adventure/wonder of his own. His heroics are sort of more a side effect of innately treating people like himself when people’s lives are in danger, rather than him actually being warm and fuzzy or caring overtly. Consciously, he’s a sharp but naive little bastard who just wants in on what looks interesting. Its just then when shit hits the fan, he can’t help himself but end up trying to help others anyway. The Lost Tomb and The Lost Tomb 2 Wu Xies really water down this part of his personality, painting him more as really heroically brave and well intended from the get go.

Question for everyone: does anyone have links/backups to chinese audiobooks, audio dramas, or know of alternative unofficial sites where audio stuff tends to get uploaded? (As in outside of missevan, youtube, bilibili, 163.music, ximalaya).

I noticed recently a lot of audio books/dramas have been deleted from ximalaya, and people’s backups on bilibili have gotten deleted as well. When I search online, I just get bilibili/ximalaya links then click the links and the videos have been removed so the link is useless. I know recently audio stuff got hit hard. I have zhenhun (fanmade), modu (ximalaya version), modaozushi (fanmade), svsss (fanmade), and tianyake audiobooks backed up. If anyone needs these files let me know. Some of these ones are still on bilibili (but modu isn’t anymore which makes me sad because I liked the fanmade one by a woman but can’t find it). I’m worried more are going to go missing though, I already can’t find a few on any of the sites listed above where I usually look.

#rant #progress #updates #question #audiobooks #chinese audiobooks

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