#i really wish i could find a whole recording of this somewhere!

[tbyfandoms]

Sweet Nothing | Austin Butler x Reader

Pairing: austin butler x singer!f!reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Summary: noticing y/n’s struggle to come up with a final song for her new album, austin offers his help which leads to a trip down memory lane and a whole lot of sweet nothing. based off the song sweet nothing by taylor swift (requested)

Warnings: mild swearing

Masterlist/Request Form | Ask/Tell/Request

A/N: I love this song and I loved writing this fic and that’s really all I have to say. thank you so much to the person who requested this. writing fics based off of taylor’s songs is one of my all time favorite things and I appreciate when people trust me enough to write a fic based off one of their favorites. it truly means the world. enjoy and lmk what you think! love ya’ll so much :) <3

“Dammit,” you mutter, groaning as you slam your hands down on the piano keys. You’ve been at this for hours and nothing, absolutely nothing, is coming to mind when you try to think of lyrics for a new song. At least nothing you can actually use.

All you need is one final song to complete your new album set to come out later this year, but you’ve been struggling immensely to come up with anything. You feel solid with everything else you’ve written thus far for the new record, but you feel like something’s missing, you just don’t know what.

For months you’ve been revisiting your feelings on past relationships and experiences that you’ve never been able to face before. This album has honestly been the most healing and eye opening experience for you. With each finished song you’ve found yourself feeling lighter or more empowered which has been such a surreal experience. For this final song you want to continue that theme of opening up and talking about things that have affected you. But you don’t want it to be heavy like some of the other songs and also don’t want it to be a fun pop-infused track like the rest of them. You want it to be that middle ground. You just wish you knew what that middle ground is.

After a few more minutes of fiddling around with the black and white keys, you hear your boyfriend of six years come in through the front door.

“Hey, baby,” he says as he spots you sitting at the piano in the exact spot he left you in hours ago. “Still working on that song?”

Sighing, you nod your head and rub at your eyes. They’re honestly starting to burn after staring at your notes of random lyrics for so long. You could use a nap right about now.

Austin walks over and places a light hand on one of your shoulders before leaning down and planting a kiss on the top of your head. The action leaves you feeling warm inside and causes a small smile to form at the corner of your mouth. Turning, you look up at him and are met with his pale blue eyes and sweet smile.

“Why don’t I help you? We can work on it together.”

Nodding your head you say, “Yeah, I’d love that.”

Looking around, you try to find something that you can pull up to the piano so Austin can have somewhere to sit. Before you can even glance halfway across the living room though, he’s picking you up by your waist and settling in behind you and placing you on his lap, pulling you back so you’re flush against his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around you.

“Austin!” You giggle, bits of your frustration and struggles already melting away with his presence. “You do realize this stool is not only small but also not that sturdy?”

The blonde hums and you can feel him shrug his shoulders. “At least if it breaks I’ll be the one to hit the ground first. I’ll soften your landin’.”

Rolling your eyes, you chuckle before reaching out for your open notebook. You unhook the pen from the page you left it clipped in and begin to tap lightly on the paper, reading over what little you have on it.

“Do you have any idea what you want this song to be about? Or are you still tryin’ to decide?”

“I guess still trying to decide. I mean you know how special this album has been for me so far.” Unwrapping Austin’s arms from around your waist, you get up and turn yourself around, settling back on your boyfriends lap once you’re face to face. “I just want to keep that feeling going. I don’t know why I’m struggling so much with this. It’s one last song, I’ve dealt with worse pressure and deadlines before I just-I don’t know, it all feels-“

Cutting yourself off, you take a deep breath, suddenly feeling a rush of emotions beginning to bubble to the surface. Maybe it’s the fact you’ve been working for hours or that all of these songs have opened up parts of you you never thought would be open again. Whatever it is, it has you on the brink of tears.

This music has been some of your most vulnerable art yet and you know that there’s a part of you that’s worried it won’t be received well or that it’ll be picked apart. There’s a reason you’ve never closed the chapter on so many of these stories before, your stories. These songs are literally about things and people that have kept you up at night and there’s something awfully scary about releasing something like that, even if you have been doing stuff like this for years. Somehow, it feels different this time.

“Hey, look at me,” Austin cups your face between his hands and tilts his head to try and catch your eyes. He can see the gleam of tears in them and his heart constricts at the sight. He hates the pressure you put on yourself and the pressure other people put on you as well. It’s something the two of you have worked on together over the years, but he knows you still struggle with it deeply, especially with things like this. “I know how important this album is to you and I have no doubt in my mind that you’re gonna figure this out. Forget what anyone else might think, this music is yours and yours alone. Hell, you know you could just throw on a five minute track of you just breathin’ and your fans would think it’s the best damn thing in the world.”

A loud laugh erupts from the back of your throat and you throw your head back, the sound carrying throughout the living room. “How is it you always know the right thing to say?” Wrapping your arms around Austin’s neck, you lean in and rub your nose lightly against his.

“It’s a natural talent, or so I’m told.” The two of you let out breathy laughs before going silent. A beat passes before Austin pulls away slightly. “I just know my girl and I know she’s gonna figure out this song and that it’s gonna be incredible. Just take a breath, sweetheart, it’s just me and you here. You don’t need to worry about all that outside pressure when you’re with me, you know that. I’ve got you.”

It’s impossible to hold back the smile that spreads across your face. Reaching up, you cup the blonde’s jaw in one of your hands and lean in, connecting your lips and quickly falling into a smooth rhythm.

Austin’s lips are soft and warm against your own. Your body practically melts into his, a content feeling coursing through your veins. These moments with your boyfriend, where it’s just the two of you, are some of your most favorite. When you’re with Austin it’s like nothing else matters besides the two of you. The outside world and all the pressure, gossip, and expectations that come with it float away. With Austin, you’re no longer Y/N Y/L/N, you’re just Y/N. In the best way possible he expects nothing from you, unlike previous boyfriends and a large part of the public, all Austin wants is to love and care for you. Honestly that’s all you could ever ask for in a partner.

Trailing your hands down the actor’s chest, you grab onto the pockets of his jacket he has yet to take off, using them to bring him impossibly closer to you. As your fingers settle into the pockets, you pull one hand out as something brushes across it.

Holding the item between two fingers, you break apart from Austin and look down at it, a joyous laugh instantly passing between your lips as you realize what it is. “Aus, no way! I can’t believe you still have this in your pocket!”

“What is it?” Shifting his head down, Austin peers at the small item pinched between your fingers. Recognition flashes across his face and he smirks while shaking his head. “I almost forgot about that! That’s crazy it’s stayed in there all this time, it’s so small, like a firefly.”

Holding it up in the sunlight, your eyes gleam at the small token. The way the sun shines across the smooth surface, it practically does resemble a firefly. To others it may seem like nothing, but to you and Austin it’s a fond memory of one of the few getaways you were able to have without being constantly followed by paparazzi. It’s nothing but a pebble, but the story that goes along with it will always warm your heart.

“Do you remember when we got this?” You ask barely above a whisper, the feelings of the memory already seeping into your mind, a sense of calm and peace settling within you.

“Of course I do. We picked it up last July when we were in Ireland. I remember we found it while playin’ I Spy and walkin’ around the coast one afternoon.” A small smile curves Austin’s lips upwards, the sound of the waves and the feeling of the sun on his skin coming back to him full force.

“It was your turn to guess what I spotted and you picked it up and were so sure that was the thing I was talking about. The smallest pebble in the world amongst a thousand other things and yet you were dead set on making me believe that’s what I saw and that you won.”

Austin’s deep chuckle fills the air as he takes the pebble from your hand. “And I did win. Fair and square and you know it, baby.” The man winks at you before reaching over and placing the pebble on the built in shelf on the wall next to the piano. Dozens of your and Austin’s accomplishments and shared memories line the shelves. It’s one of your favorite parts of the house.

As you stare at the new addition to the collection, an idea comes to mind, a little joke if you will. “I spy with my little tired eye, tiny as a firefly, a pebble that we picked up last July.”

Austin smiles and nudges his head into your neck. “Real specific,” he quips. “Do you think it misses Wicklow sometimes?”

Giggling, you nod your head. “Probably. I know I do. I’d give anything to be back in that town with you again.”

“Me too. We’ll have to go back sometime.” You hum in agreement, the thought seeming really nice.

As you look at your boyfriend and reflect back on that vacation and the thoughts you’ve had since he arrived home, words, no lyrics, start to form in your mind.

Quickly, you untangle yourself from Austin before getting up and turning back around towards the piano. You carefully sit back down on his lap, not wanting to hurt him, and pick up your notebook.

Before your pen even gets a chance to touch the paper, your phone buzzes across the piano’s music shelf.

Picking up your phone, you check to see if it’s anything important. Unfortunately it’s not, it’s merely a news notification that you could’ve sworn you turned off ages ago. Even more unfortunately, the article happens to be about you. Scoffing at the title and the clear absurdity of it all, you hold the device up for Austin to see.

“They said ‘the end is coming’,” you mumble, feeling tired of the constant speculation on not only your career but your relationship with your actor boyfriend as well.

The blonde looks at your phone and rolls his eyes at the bold print he comes across.

EXCLUSIVE! Y/N Y/L/N and the Evident End of Both Her Career and Relationship With Actor Beau Austin Butler!

“Not a chance. Everyone’s up to somethin’, you just gotta stick with what you know and trust that everythin’ will turn out okay. You’re doin’ incredible in your career right now and no matter what anyone says, I’m not goin’ anywhere. You’re it for me, Y/N, no one’s ever gonna be able to compare.”

Austin leans forward and presses a kiss to the back of your shoulder, the feeling making your heart flutter. You scrunch your shoulder up and press your cheek to it, basking in the warmth there as Austin tilts his head down towards you.

“And you wonder why I find myself running home to you every day. How could a girl ever give up a guy that treats her as good as you treat me?”

Nuzzling his nose in the crook of your neck, Austin responds, “I could say the same about you, sweetheart.”

Austin kisses your shoulder again quickly before you toss your phone to the side and pick up where you left off. For a while the only sounds audible in the house are the soft breathing of the man behind you and the rapid scribbles of your pen on paper. Despite the pressure you’re dealing with and the sudden unwarranted gossip article interruption, you feel at ease. Just like Austin said you would, you find yourself rapidly coming up with a final song, the man of the hour ironically becoming your inspiration. You should’ve known you’d end up here, there will never be enough songs to describe the love you and the actor share.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Austin mumbles softly as he leans his head on your shoulder, the vibration of his voice sending chills down your back. You hum in response, not trusting your voice. “Remember that one time we were driving home from…somewhere, I don’t know, but suddenly you just got this random idea out of nowhere and started writin’ this poem on a napkin we had in the glove box.”

“I do!” You grin. “It was called Mirrorball and when I finished writing it and showed you, you turned to me and said ‘what a mind!’. You do realize you say that to me all the time? Pretty much anytime I show you something new I write.” You giggle and sneak a glance over your shoulder, melting at the sight of Austin’s sparkling eyes and coy smile.

“Okay but I was right because you ended up turnin’ it into a genius song that’s still one of my favorites of yours to this day. Everyone loves it and yet has no idea it started as a little poem written on a random car napkin. It never fails to blow my mind how you’re able to come up with this stuff. I hope you realize how talented you are. You’re amazing, Y/N, seriously.”

“Austin!” You squeak, heat rising to your cheeks as you become shy over his words. It’s not that you don’t know you’re talented, it’s just the fact there’s someone else who constantly supports you and understands your art as much as you do. Someone who believes in you wholeheartedly and is genuinely in awe over your life’s work. To have someone be honest with you about it all and be unashamed to admit their astonishment over it is really special to you and you appreciate it a lot. “Thank you, truly.”

Your boyfriend smiles kindly at you, understanding completely how you’re feeling. Somehow he’s always able to do that; read your mind in a way, understand all the things you’re trying to say without actually saying them. You’re not sure when this started happening but whenever it was it was natural and just more of a sign to you that you’ve never had anyone quite like Austin in your life before and you know that you never will again.

“I don’t think I say it enough so I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you do for me. I know being in this relationship hasn’t always been the easiest and who knows what the future will hold, but yet you’ve always stood by me. You don’t let the noise in and are only ever concerned with what’s happening between you and I alone, never what anyone else thinks of us. You know better than anyone that there are times I fear our relationship will crumble or that something will change and you’ll turn out like every other guy I’ve been with. And I know it won’t and I know you aren’t, I know it with my whole heart, and yet sometimes it still happens but you take it in stride.

“You never pressure me about it all or expect me to be someone I’m not. You accept me for who I am and who I’m trying to be without any questions. We’re not perfect and we have our moments, I know that, but there’s truly no one else in this world I’d rather be with. Outside, there’s an endless amount of people pushing and shoving, both metaphorically and physically sometimes, and yet as soon as I step through that front door it stops. I walk in and half the time I find you humming Elvis songs in the kitchen and it’s like nothing else matters. When I’m with you I’m just Y/N. No pressure, no expectations, nothing, and it’s…sweet. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you seeing me for me and that I love you more than you could ever imagine, Austin.”

Instantly you feel the man’s arms tighten around you, his chin settling on the top part of your shoulder as he holds you close. “I did not expect to get emotional today,” he jokes, his voice quavering, a tell tale sign he’s trying to fight back tears. “I don’t know what else to say besides I love you, Y/N, so so much. You don’t ever have to thank me for all of that but I appreciate it just as much as I appreciate you.”

Reaching a hand up, you thread your fingers in Austin’s hair, turning your head so you can lean it against his as the two of you take in this loving moment. You and Austin express your love to each other practically every day, but you can’t remember the last time it was as intense and deep as this. Your heart feels so incredibly full right now and a small part of you is grateful you were struggling with this song because without that frustration, you would’ve never had this moment with the man you love today, and that thought alone seems unbearable.

After some time passes, Austin begins to shift behind you. You watch as he reaches a hand out and grabs your notebook from the piano. He hums as he reads over what you have so far, majority of it based off things you were discussing earlier. His lips twitch happily as he gets further down the page and it’s not long before he asks, “Can you hand me that pen?”

You happily oblige him, intrigued in whatever it is he plans on doing. Austin’s quick with it, he brings the pen up to the top of the page and in an instant he’s finished. After he places the journal back on the piano you take a moment to look over what he wrote. A satisfied sigh escapes you and a smile forms on your lips as you’re met with the most perfect title and the missing words you couldn’t quite place for the refrain.

“Well, I think you just earned yourself some writing credits, Mr. Butler,” you tease, squeezing the hand still wrapped around your waist.

“I guess you’re not the only lyrical genius in this house then, are you?” Austin begins to pepper kisses all around the side of your face which causes you to erupt in a fit of giggles. You squirm against him and a thought flashes in your mind that if this keeps up, the piano bench may actually collapse. But hey, at least you’ll have someone to catch you, to soften the landing, and a part of you feels content in knowing that. Sometimes things happen and you end up getting knocked down, but it’s not so bad when you’ve got someone there to help you get back up.

Luckily, the two of you settle down and get situated. Just as you were earlier, you begin to play around with the piano keys. Based off the lyrics you have so far you feel a soft ballad would be best for this song, not too deep or intense and not too pop-infused; that perfect middle ground.

The notes you begin to play are alright, but you can tell there’s something missing. The beat isn’t quite hitting right as you think about the lyrics in your head, but before you can begin to fuss over it, Austin places one of his hands over yours.

“What if you add this in…”

The blonde’s slender fingers begin to push down on the keys along with yours and soon the space is filled with a tune you immediately fall in love with. Austin continues playing as you slip your hand out from under his and you watch adoringly as he tries to piece together the lyrics with the melody, genuine interest and enjoyment evident in his actions.

You revel in the sight before you, a visual you’ll never quite get over. This has happened before, you and Austin making music together, but each and every time it’s so special to you and you just have a feeling this one’s going to be even more-so.

Glancing at the open journal infront of you, you yet again smile at the title Austin’s written out. He captured the song, the feeling, perfectly.

There’s no other phrase you’d rather use. It all truly is a whole lot of Sweet Nothing.

#austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler x y/n #austin butler x you #austin butler imagine #austin butler imagines #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler fanfic #austin butler fluff #requested

[lastoneout]

if/when the pla protag gets back to their time do you think it fucks with them that everyone they knew in the past is dead? like this isn’t like other pokemon media going to another world things, their friends aren’t off living their own lives somewhere else, they’re dead. have been for decades. probably have graves the protag could visit, well some of them, anyway. I bet some of them weren’t important enough for graves or memorials that lasted that long. some of them probably never even really got recorded as existing at all, and now the protag is the only one who remembers them.

like we all make jokes about the protag going back with Ingo and punting Cyrus into the next decade for the whole Team Galactic thing but like, after all that, do you think it hits them at some point that everyone’s dead now? do they look at Cyrus and just feel devastated because he might be the only thing that’s left of Cyllene? do they stay up late reading Laventon’s wikipedia page trying to reconcile the historical figure who has university buildings named after him and books written about him with the friendly father-figure who hugged them and remembered their birthday and made sure they ate dinner? do they research the history of the clans, trying to find whatever remnants might exist just to see something familiar, something that reminds them of the friends they made? do they go to memorials and graveyards and whatever historic buildings remain desperate to find some sense of closure, or maybe just comfort, to try and imagine that people they left behind are still there, just for a moment?

do they go back up to the top of mt. coronet and stand there in the ruined temple, eyes closed, wondering if maybe when they walk back down instead of the bustling towns of the future they’ll find a small camp with a familiar flag waving out front? does some deep, small part of them wish that they could go back, even just for a moment, just to see everyone one last time? do they regret not cherishing the time they did have, being so eager to get back home that they didn’t stop to appreciate what they were leaving behind?

cuz I mean sure the protag probably only spent a couple of years in the past, depending, but a couple of years is a long time when you’re a teenager finally coming into your own, even if they knew deep down the Hisui of the past wasn’t their real home and that they had to leave one day, I think it would be hard for them to truly let go of everything that happened to them, and especially the bonds they formed with the people there. it might not hit them right away, but nah I bet they would always feel just a little bit out of place once they came back, and I think eventually they’d really have to contend with the fact that everyone they knew is dead and gone and they’ll never see them again, and it's gonna be hard.

(and yeah they probably have Ingo, but he lives on the other side of the world and is an adult, it’s gonna be different for him. fifteen year olds are still kids, and kids really latch on to people in ways you don’t expect, especially when things are going Very Badly. I think Ingo would understand, but also, probably not as much as the protag would need him to.) 

I just really wonder sometimes...

#pla #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon meta #legends arceus #p:la #pokemon #long post #this post brought to you by 'I listened to Time Adventure again and now I'm sad' #look I'm writing a fic about this #kinda #but I just think about it and I go insane

[yungchaeng]

smut prompt 20, reader x sahyo??? 👀👀👀

Can't Help It (Twice: Sana & Jihyo)

word count: 2407 content warning: smut, so mind the disclaimer

Perhaps it was a bit scandalous – but you didn’t care. You wanted them both. How could you not?

Your job was simple – to make sure all of Twice’s  every wish was fulfilled. However, out of the whole group,  it seemed to be Jihyo and Sana that required your assistant services most. Although sometimes they called you for the smallest and most mundane things, you couldn’t find yourself to mind it.

You liked it whenever Sana would pout at you prettily, rubbing up and down your arm softly when she asked you to bring her food up to her room and you loved it whenever Jihyo would groan of pleasure when you gave her the massage she’d been asking for all day.

Both of them had an effect on you that you couldn’t quite comprehend. They had you wrapped around their finger, and you’d do anything for them. They knew that…and they liked that.

At first, you convinced yourself you were imagining things when you caught Jihyo gaze up and down your body in the corner of her eye. Especially since she’d avert her gaze whenever you looked at her. And surely it was all in your mind that Sana would whimper in your ear on purpose whenever she hugged you in the morning, right?

Right?

Your phone rang. At 8 in the evening this time. It was Sana, urging you to come to the recording studio with some food and claiming to be in desperate need of some company – yours in particular. You swooned at that but tried not to show it as you sighed and reminded her that any request of theirs after 5 technically surpassed the bounds of your working hours. However, she whined and lowered her voice when she said she’d make it worth your while this time.

What that meant, you had no clue…but at the way she whispered it into your ear over the phone and the way goosebumps travelled over your skin at it, no one would have to tell you twice. You grabbed your jacket and rushed over there like you’ve never rushed before.

When you got to the company you made your way over to the studio and found Sana, eyebrows furrowed, and eyes closed as she concentrated on getting the notes she sang right. You smiled, she was so cute.

You sat down and waited for her to notice you as you looked her up and down. Her hair was tied up into a quick bun, revealing her collar bones peeking from the neck line of the top she wore. You couldn’t help but fixate on her tummy flexing as she sang and your gaze slowly moved over to her chest…but how could you help yourself? The cropped top she wore didn’t leave much to the imagination…but just enough to keep you guessing. You bit down your lip, she was so sexy.

“Do you like what you see?” Her voice stunned you and made you blush, and the grin on her face even more so.

To say you were embarrassed would be an understatement. She was your boss; you couldn’t be looking at her this way.

Awkwardly you cleared your throat as she stepped out of the recording booth. “I…uh, I put your food on the table.” You mumbled, looking away as she moved closer to you.

“Now you’re shy?” Sana smirked. You felt the heat rise to your cheeks as she tried to find your eyes.

This was one of those moments. One of those moments you couldn’t really decipher. It couldn’t just be your wishful thinking that imagined all of this tension, right? Sana was actually staring you down as if she wanted nothing more than to devour you…….right?

When you didn’t reply and her attempts at eye contact proved futile, she laughed. Relenting a bit as she moved over to the soundboard, editing some of the voice clips she just recorded. “Grab yourself a plate.” She smiled and motioned over to the cupboard. “Jihyo should be around here somewhere too, do you mind fixing her one too?”

You simply nodded and did as told, but your mind went into overdrive. Jihyo was here too? At the company after hours, just the three of you? You let out a deep breath as you realised you had actually never been alone with these two before. God, even moments when you were alone with just one had you gasping for air and fanning yourself. How in the world would you survive both?

You ate and watched Sana do whatever she did while working on her vocals. Seeing her so concentrated was actually kind of…hot? You didn’t notice you’d started playing with the ends of the skirt you wore, but she most definitely did. And she smirked at that.

“You know,” she started and joined you on the couch. “out of all the assistants we have, you’re my favourite.”

You raised an eyebrow at her and drew a breath as her hand rested slightly on your bare thigh. In that moment you couldn’t decide whether wearing a skirt over here tonight was your best or worst idea ever, but you did know that her touch on your skin was fucking electric.

“Do you know why?” she went on and intensly focused on her hand that she now slowly started moving up and down your thigh, going just the slightest bit higher every time.

You instinctively gasped, which you tried to play off as another cough. “Why?”

She looked you in your eyes and you could see her desire for you in the way her gaze moved to your lips and how she then bit down hers. “Because you’d do anything for me. Isn’t that right?” Sana asked, paired with a quick squeeze to your inner thigh which made you draw another sharp breath.

“Yeah.” You let out, surprising even yourself at how desperate you sounded then.

It was probably due to the way she moved closer, almost hovering over you, with her other arm on the backrest of the couch behind you…but you couldn’t think straight anymore. She laughed and inspected your reaction as she suddenly left a lingering kiss onto the side your neck. Your breath got even shakier and your eyes closed.

Yeah, this most definitely wasn’t just wishful thinking, nor one of your many fantasies. You could feel her lips on you, her fingers digging into your sensitive thigh, could smell her sweet scent and feel her body warmth on you. This was fucking real.

Humming, she kissed up your neck and nipped at your earlobe, drawing a small moan from you as you melted into her. She had you losing your control, but had barely touched you, how?

“I think you know how much I want you.” She whispered against your skin. “I’ve been thinking about you for way too long, and I can’t wait any longer. I want you right now.”

“Right now?” you repeated, not even really knowing what you were saying anymore as the way she touched and kissed you already had you going a bit dumb. “Right here, right now?”

“Yes. Right here, right now.” Sana smirked. Her lips against your skin became hungrier, sloppier, felt more intense. “Kiss me.” She urged.

Her being your boss was the absolute last thing you cared about in that moment. Desire and lust took over you, and apparently Sana too, when you turned your head to meet her lips. Within a second your hands were all over her. Finally you could touch her in ways and places you’d always fantasize about, so who were you not to take that opportunity?

Before you could fathom anything or even start thinking about all the places you wanted to take this, the door of the studio swung open. At this, you nearly jumped to the other side of the couch, but Sana’s grip on your thigh was firm, holding you in place.

Flustered, you looked up and were met with Jihyo’s stern gaze on you both, especially on Sana actually. She raised eyebrow. “What is this?”

You felt so ashamed and couldn’t even begin to explain what was happening, but when you looked over Sana for a bit of help in the situation, she was just smirking at the other girl. Even more confusing, her tracing of figures on your inner thigh never stopped.

And even after the embarrassment of getting caught, it still made you weak.

“Sorry,” Sana sheepishly grinned.

Jihyo hummed  and looked you up and down, fixating on Sana’s hand that disappeared up your skirt for a second. Then she scolded, “I thought we agreed to share her?”

What?

You’d love to analyse the words that just came out of Jihyo’s mouth, but all that came past your lips was a whimper when Sana’s slender fingers seemed to have found their way to their destination and softly brushed over your panties. They both smirked at the reaction.

“I know, but I can’t help it.” Sana pouted, leaning in to leave a lingering kiss behind your ear. “She’s so pretty.”

Once again, Jihyo hummed and her gaze turned darker than you’ve ever seen it before. She reached behind her and you heard the click of her locking the door behind her before she slowly made her way over to you both.

Everything you said about this being reality you took back in that moment. Your head was spinning and the whole situation had you throbbing and aching in ways you never had before. This had to be a dream, and if so it was probably your wildest one. Your absolute favourite one.

“Don’t you think she’s so pretty?” Sana smirked at Jihyo through kisses she left on your neck as she pulled her closer by her belt loop.

As Jihyo hovered over you both, her lips parted and tongue wetting them, she hurriedly nodded. “Precious.”

As with Sana before, you were too shy to make eye contact with her, so you stared at the ground, but Jihyo simply urged it out of you as she hooked a finger under your chin coaxing you to look up at her. She cocked an eyebrow and focused on Sana’s hand having its way up your skirt. Then she looked into your eyes. “Do you want me?”

How you didn’t come from that alone, you had no clue.

Sana chuckled and whispered, “I see the way you always look at her, you know? And I must admit, I’m the slightest bit jealous, but there’s no harm in sharing, right?”

The hunger was clear in Jihyo’s eyes and you loved to see it, but were so caught up on the painfully slow and feathery movements of Sana’s fingers over your centre to truly keep your eyes open. Another whimper escaped your lips as your head fell forwards onto Jihyo and with your eyes tightly shut, you nodded. At this Jihyo smirked and her hand made its way up your shirt, wasting no time to move your bra aside as well.

“You don’t have to hold back your moans. I want to hear you.” Sana grinned, taunting you with more pressure of her fingers. For a second she leaned back and found your eyes. “Use your words, okay? Do you want her?”

“Yes,” you groaned, a bit overwhelmed but in the best way. “Yes, Jihyo, I want you.”

“Show her how much,” Sana spurred on, a sweet smile on her lips as she once again buried her head in the crook of your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses on the spot.

Desperate for more of their touch, or maybe just for anything at all, you dragged Jihyo closer by her shirt and eagerly kissed her – almost slamming your lips together. Jihyo didn’t hesitate for a second to match that energy as she kissed you feverishly, all through it Sana smirked – clearly very satisfied.

With Sana’s fingers on you, her kisses on your neck and Jihyo both kissing you the way she did and her fingers somehow expertly having their way with your sensitive nipple, your head was spinning. Every inch of your body was on fire by their doing and you didn’t care that you were practically begging when you panted against Jihyo’s lips, “please, I want…I need more.”

At this they smirked at each other and suddenly, as if on command, Jihyo broke the kiss and kneeled in front of you, giving you small pecks all over your body all the way down without breaking eye contact even once. For a second you pouted as Sana also halted all that she did, but it became very clear what Jihyo was planning when she pushed your skirt aside, hooked her fingers around your panties and slid them down with ease.

Both you and Sana stared at her in desire as she kissed up your thigh at a painfully slow pace and you whimpered an “ah, fuck…” in anticipation.

“Aw, baby.” Sana cooed and stroked your cheek fondly. “Relax.” She planted a gentle kiss on your lips to relieve the burden you felt, and you melted into it.

Then, finally, Jihyo kissed you where you needed her most and you couldn’t help but moan into the other girl’s mouth. In contrast to Sana’s kiss on your lips, Jihyo’s was hungry, relentless. One hand grasped at the back of Sana’s neck, urging her to come closer, and the other tangled in Jihyo’s hair as you lost yourself in them completely.

You earned a satisfied groan from Sana when you bit down her bottom lip and she broke your kiss to kiss you on the cheek instead as she praised you for taking it like such a good girl. Swiftly, she lifted your shirt over your head and left her mark all over your bra-clad chest.

Your breath hitched as strangled moans left your lips and your eyebrows furrowed as you tightened your grip on Jihyo’s hair. Your hips bucked to meet her tongue’s movement and your head fell back in pleasure while you got closer and closer to completely falling apart.

Out of breath, and completely out of your mind, you were once again reduced to begging, “Oh my god…I’m so close. Please, don’t stop.”

Sana smiled at this, and she kissed up your body to plant a lingering kiss behind your ear, then on your slightly parted lips as your moans grew louder. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’re not done with you yet.”

#....well hope you enjoyed #twice #sana #jihyo #twice x reader #sahyo x reader #twice smut #sana smut #jihyo smut #twice x fem reader #sahyo x fem reader

[thebisexualdogdad]

I need more of the Donna and Ra’s son!!!

Donna Troy x male!reader

Part 1

● now that the Titans know about you and Donna some of them have accepted you into the group while others disagree with the decision

● Kory, Dawn, Connor and Gar believed you when you said you hadn't spoken to your father Ra's in years and had no allegiance to him

● while Jason, Hank and Rachel didn't which you can't blame them for, you probably wouldn't trust you either if you were in their position

● Dick hasn't made his mind up yet but wants to give you the benefit of the doubt

● plus he finds it helpful to have someone who knows first hand how the mind of one of Batman's most dangerous enemies works

● Jason "why the hell would the son of Ra's Al Ghul suddenly want to be a good guy? You know he was trained to be a violent killer right?"

● Donna "he's not that person anymore and we've been together for a year, if he really wanted to kill us he would have by now"

● "she's right, I know seven different ways to kill every single one of you in this exact moment but I won't"

● Donna "babe you're not helping"

● "right sorry, but for the record I haven't actually killed that many people, my father didn't let me leave Nanda Parbat often. I couldn't exactly be his secret weapon if I was out there killing people all willy nilly"

● there's still tension but Donna doesn't let it get to her

● she loves you and knows you love her too

● Hank and Jason refuse to let you move into the tower so you continue to live in your apartment

● which you're fine with because it's the only place you and Donna can get any sort of privacy

● whenever you're at the tower Jason and Hank watch your every move to make sure you're not snooping around somewhere you're not supposed to

● Kory "really Rachel, you condone them acting like this?"

● Rachel "I'm not saying people can't change but he's an ex assassin of all things so I have to be a little suspicious of his motives"

● Kory "how many bad guys do you know make chocolate chip pancakes in a 'kiss the cook' apron"

● you from the kitchen with stacks on stacks of pancakes for the whole team "breakfast is ready!"

● Gar and Connor however wished you lived in the tower not only so you could cook for them more often but also so you could have more video game all nighters together

● when you play online from home Donna tempts you with… other activities to get you to turn the game off

● she'll be standing in the doorway of your bedroom unbuttoning her shirt

● "are you really going to make me go to bed alone?"

● you into your headset mic "sorry guys I gotta go"

● Gar "Wait what we are in the middle of a match!" but you're already gone fumbling out of your clothes as you follow Donna to bed

● one night the Titans are ambushed by someone dressed head to toe in black with their face covered by a mask

● you immediately recognize the fighting style and can only hope you're wrong about who you are up against

● but when they have you pinned to the ground with their sword and lift their mask you unfortunately discover you were correct

● Nyssa "hi little brother"

● "...Shit"

#titans imagine #donna troy imagine #donna troy x reader #x male reader #headcanons

[e-adlirez]

An Independent Callout Update

Hi everybody, this is uh, this is exactly what it says on the tin, and I figured I'd make one.

Last you saw me I was offering some appreciation for some funni Tumblr art, and sharing a project long-ish in the making (it was like two months it's not that long). I figured y'know, maybe we can let sleeping dogs lie, maybe I can work on other things and maybe take a br--

NOPE JUST KIDDING someone's still up and about and still trying to prove himself somewhere in the blameless route. I've genuinely never seen someone make this many backflips to make them look innocent since Grace Chastity, which is an accomplishment, by the way! Not a good one by any means, but an accomplishment nonetheless!

Let's dive into it, shall we?

Here we have a Cadillac trying to claim that he was hacked. As you can see, he's failed miserably at trying to ping @2deadkat, @ratonahat and @bloombirdreads, in an attempt to call for help. He's failing to ping them because they blocked his ass a whiiiillleeeee ago. And of course, the "it wasn't his fault, it was someone else acting in my name!" excuse! This is peak "I can't be having impure thoughts! This is the other guy's fault for making me horny!" Cadillac is there something you wish to confess in front of the class?

Two holes in his excuse:

One, you didn't seem to have any issues when you were trying to convince me into thinking that you were trying even the tiniest modicum of owning up to your mistakes (which I have screenshotted here in case you think you can delete them and say I can't prove anything). It was really more of a "I'm changed in literally 2 days, I'm not like that anymore!", which is about as believable as falling into a black hole and coming out alive. In other words, not at all. Even less believable since your writing style doesn't seem to have changed from your older posts to your newer posts, hm....

Two, Cadillac, even if you were telling the truth and got hacked, how did you not notice? Getting your account hacked is a very big deal! You could lose personal information, get doxxed, have your account become a mouthpiece for scams, and that's only the half of it! How did you only notice this just now, on December 22nd of 2023? This is a big affront to your internet safety! It would be impossible!

And if you want to say this is a recent development, then uh, buddy, I have some news for you.

Here I have a screenshot from one of my personal Discords, and so far it's the earliest secondary record I have of Cadillac's shenaniganery.

And you can tell it's really early because a reply to the mini-rant around the same day mentions this funny little detail:

This was back when Cadillac had only made two shirtless G posts on his blog. From July 26th, 2023 to December 22nd, 2023-- that's a five-month time period! Almost half a year of not realizing that you've been hacked! And the strangest thing is you haven't changed a bit before or after! This hacker must've done a very good job making your posts sound like your own by extrapolating your internet personality from-- and I counted-- eight bare-bones posts, hm? /sarcastic

Well okay, remember how I said Cadillac's been very consistent this whole time? Well, I lied. There's Cadillac's most recent post as well:

Dear me, you're sounding awfully mature and respectful here! Is this a miracle? Could you possibly have actually been hacked and the person behind the screen is actually a decent person all alo--

OOP I GUESS NOT!

Buddy, I didn't even need to pull up GPTZero for this, you were sounding so corporate and so fake it wasn't even a contest. You ain't slick, Cadillac, not slick at all.

And for the record, I plugged my entries in the callout post in there too because why not

Yep, a lotta hooman to go around with me, Cadillac. This one in I'm writing right now took about an hour :D Whether or not it's because of having to find sources or just to find a good way to say what I want to, I'll leave that for everyone else to decide.

Anyway, this is your Cadillac callout update, goodnight tristate area.

Yes Cadillac you can bet your ass that the only reason anyone would ever be unblocking you would be for no other reason but this: making callouts that aren't going any time soon. I will admit, one flaw in my original post was the fact that I hyperlinked more than I screenshotted, giving you an opportunity to wipe the evidence. Well, you've got nowhere to hide now, Cadillac. I've caught you in 4K, and these posts aren't going anywhere.

#geronimo stilton #callout post #update #also the “I'm clean now” post has only one like which I can only assume was him self-liking his post #can I get sad trombone noises please #and cadillac if you really wanna make things right #stop replying and making excuses and making a fool of yourself in every way possible #just #show us that you've changed #and stop trying to pin the blame on someone else or trying to rope other people in this mess #they're not helping you and they never will #the pingfail is just proof of that

[e-the-village-cryptid]

Goncharov the Musical (1985)

with all this goncharov posting I still haven’t seen anyone mention the musical adaptation! granted, if goncharov is a lost movie, then the musical is fricken atlantis, but the little-known adaptation did in fact exist, if very briefly. as far as I��ve been able to find out, there were only two showings and somewhere between 5 and 10 previews before it was shut down for good. 

just as goncharov itself is full of bitter ironies, so too is the story behind the (partial) recovery of this musical. Cranston Park Theatre, where the musical was staged, suffered flooding in September of this year, forcing the theater to close for repairs. in clearing out their flooded basement, a few discs from the goncharov production were discovered, but not before the long submersion in water highly damaged them. yeah, the same flood that led to the discs’ rediscovery also ruined large portions of them. the irony is flawless, but I’m still mad about that lost history that may never be recovered. 

however, we do have a mostly intact rendition of the first two numbers, which are, as in most musicals, an ensemble opener and an “I want” song. (many thanks to the Cranston Park Theatre employee who got permission to post the recovered clips to youtube!) the song titles are lost to time as far as I can tell, but we have some footage and that’s what’s most important. let’s dive in!

the ensemble opener: it’s very militaristic, which is an interesting choice. the stately march-style opener evokes the mechanical, grim themes present throughout much of the film— or, at least it would, if the costumes weren’t so ridiculous. despite the attempted seriousness of the number, the set and costumes come off as quite campy— perhaps this was an intentional mockery of the militaristic march, to emphasize the existing irony of comparing mafia and gangsters to soldiers? my favorite part about this number is that the strong, steady beat is exactly 60 bpm— one beat per second, like the ticking of a clock. say what you will about the directors of this musical, but they knew their motifs for sure!

the “I want” song: usually the second song of a musical would be given to the lead to sing their “I want” ballad— think “Waiting on a Miracle” in Encanto where Mirabel just wants to be special like the rest of the family, or “Carrie” in Carrie (a musical from around the same time period that suffered a similar fate of early cancellation, but that’s a parallel for a different post), where Carrie longs for her classmates to stop bullying her and see her for who she truly is. now, in Goncharov, this song is given not to Goncharov, but to Katya. this is fascinating! the narrative is essentially establishing Katya as the central character, of equal or greater importance than Goncharov himself. I wish so badly I could make out the lyrics, but the recording is too damaged for me at least. the tone of the ballad is emotional, though, and Katya can be seen gesturing to Goncharov, who is staged out of reach and out of earshot. At another point, she also gestures close to the wings, where there appears to be a figure? the video quality is very grainy but at least in my mind this has to be Sofia. (oh how I wish the lyrics were audible here!)  and of course, the centerpiece of the number (and the whole musical, really) is the giant clock tower in the square, which the choreography and Katya’s movements places as an important element of the song. the song ends with the tolling of the clock bells, setting the characters into a hurry about their business as if the spell is broken. ok, a little heavy-handed at this point. oh well, I honestly enjoy it, this song strikes the balance between sincere and campy— the choreography could be considered over-the-top and even a bit ridiculous in other circumstances but weirdly it worked?? one of my favorites and definitely the one I wish the most that we had a better recording of.

I’ll keep the analysis to just these two songs for now, but if anyone on some off-chance has found any better recordings of this musical please share them! not much is known about this musical’s history since it fell apart so quickly, likely due to budget and conflict between several of the lead actors and the director, so it’s entirely possible they performed at some other smaller theatre or at least rehearsed there. let’s piece this musical back together!

#goncharov #goncharov the musical #unreality #an e original

[uummyuu]

the azul headcanons

big strong man that the show really doesn't utilize enough... wish we had more knowledge on the other members' names though :((

although de los santos is the only one who outright states he's aztec, i'd like to think the entire team is of aztec descent in some way.

anyways fun fact about aztec tattoos, they're usually designed to honor a chosen god so that they may provide blessings of prosperity, strength, health, etc. i don't want to look too deep on what was probably a tattoo designed on whim but it seems pretty close to the aztec calendar? or an iteration of the aztec sun god huitzilopochtli, the interpretation is very vague.

if we go by the thought that this is a tattoo of the aztec calendar, the tattoo itself could mean eternity and connection. de los santos in the show itself kind of rues the fact that what was once his home is now simply brushed of as the forgotten city or something to be left in the history books. with this tattoo it's his way of keeping his home and his friends by his side forever.

but also a tattoo of huitzilopochtli can symbolize power as well as sacrifice. some tattoos of the sun god are stylized to just be the sun with the god's face on it(although typically depicted with 8 rays instead of the weird 13 on his tattoo). santos' power is never understated in the show and his tattoo could be a testament to that.

the other members probably have their tattoos either on their chest or back to keep them out of sight, probably eagles to symbolize power and bravery, or maybe even a literal quetzlcoatl to symbolize wisdom. aspects that would be useful on the playing field.

anyways please see my vision of de los santos with a whole extensive aztec back tattoo on him

ok back to your regularly scheduled program, santos has bench pressed the entire team on his back once and it was recorded somewhere. the video resurfaces on natter everytime the azul play a game.

i read in a 4-panel comic that klaus actually has santos' jersey? i'll try and find it but anyways if some lucky fan manages to get it congrats you basically have a new blanket, that shirt is huge. (or if he has a tiny s/o who he loves smothering in his clothing i dunno 👀)

overall i'd like to think the team is just one big family, they have shared ancestry and that solidifies the bond they share with each other even if they aren't exactly related.

the other team members worry about santos taking on too much, with his reputation as an extremely difficult goalkeeper to get past when he does lose a point to the opposition it hits him hard. so the team does their best to pull their own weight, they want to have santos' back as much as he watches theirs.

de los santos is very much a protector type, i don't think he'd be the azul's captain, but he's definitely a pillar of support and morale for the team. (kind of a big bo and dancing rasta dynamic?)

the team definitely worries about relying on santos too much, but in reality santos likes being reliable and strong in the eyes of others, he longs to be needed so he doesn't end up as "forgotten" just like his home did.

honestly these guys probably try to keep out of the media too, but when they do get on an interview other than talking about the game they love talking about their culture. as "exotic" and "forgotten" it may seem to interviewers, to the team it's merely the childhood memories that link them all together. even if the city itself no longer stands.

i'm gonna make de los santos dating headcanons one day i swear because i have so much more to say about him—

#supa strikas #supa strikas headcanons #supa strikas the azul #supa strikas de los santos #this devolved into tattoo hc's real quick #im so sorry aztec tattoo culture is just so cool #i'll make another post on how i came to the conclusions for santos' tattoo inspo eventually #but i definitely overanalyzed his tattoo lol i just wanted to give it significance somehow man #myu writes 🌸

[gffa]

Hey! Love your blog for the sw content but ngl you have me window shipping dickbabs more and more everyday. I’m not reeeeally a comics person unless it has quality online format but I have been known to enjoy cartoons. Do you have any show recs to get me into the batfam? Sorry if this has already been asked (and answered somewhere else). Thanks again for all your great content! Love your blog!

Hi! Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad to be helping to at least tempt you into this pit, and I wish I had better recs for you, but I've been turning this over in my head for the last couple of days and keep coming back to that I don't know that I would recommend most of the animated series or movies/TV series for DC. Even the best bets would be: - Young Justice 2010 cartoon, which is overall decent, but DickBabs doesn't happen until like season 3, I think? (And I think Dick dates Kory for awhile before that?) And they're a very minor part of the show, even the Batfam as a whole is only one aspect of the show, it's really a multi-fam kind of series. As long as you know that it will have some major differences in relationship and character dynamics (like Superboy in the show and Kon from the comics share certain aspects, but they are also vastly different and I'm not sure you'd recognize Kon as the same character), it's a fun show to watch overall! - Batman: The Animated Series 1992 + The New Batman Adventures 1997 was absolutely, incredibly groundbreaking at the time it came out, but that means it's 30 years old now and a lot of it is going to be incredibly dated compared to current stuff. I do still love it and the Dick/Babs episodes are TOP NOTCH (so much delicious yearning oh my god) and the flashback to when Dick was a kid are also great, but there's a LOT of basic cartoon action stuff that's not that exciting anymore and it might feel like a long haul. Cautiously recommended if you don't mind viewing it through an old-fashioned lens, don't mind that Dick tends to be more in his "angry teenage years" than his more settled 20s, and you're okay with zipping through any parts that bore you. - The Batman 2004 is another series that's pretty dated, but in a way I find deeply charming, because it really leaned into the gothic aesthetic and wasn't afraid to try some new things with the character designs. I usually suggest skipping forward to season 4 when Dick shows up (and I greatly enjoy his and Babs' dynamic, they're kids at the time, it's not a romance here, but it's not hard to see that one day they could grow up into the characters they'll be in other versions) but the whole show is just a good Batman cartoon! Honorable mentions: - Justice League: The Animated Series 2001 which I don't think Dick or Babs ever appeared in, but is still probably THE best DC animated series. It's not super complex, but what it did, it did very well, and is still pretty influential to this day. - If you don't mind reading an online comic, the Wayne Family Adventures webtoon is a very easy intro point, has very pretty art, and will get you reasonably familiar with the characters! (I sort of liken it to LEGO adaptations, it's meant to be light-hearted and occasionally genuinely touching, it focuses on extremes of the characters and memeable moments, rather than the more sharp-edged comics, but that makes it all the better for an entry point imo.) Beyond that, I can't really think of anything I would necessarily recommend to help get new fans into the Batfam characters (I wouldn't recommend the Harley Quinn show as a starting place for them, nor the Teen Titans cartoon, and I don't really personally care for any of the animated movies personally, other than maybe Super Sons, which was absolutely adorable and a great intro to Jon and Damian), because DC has a really weird track record on adapting them into non-comics mediums and I just enjoy the comics so much more. Though, if others have recs or would offer a rebuttal against some of the suggestions, feel free, because I would love to have easier ways into the comics

#lumi.txt #dc #batfam #comics recs

[amysubmits]

Goblin Brain

I was out with some of my family. Including my least favorite person (LFP). 

It was cold. We haven’t been to our storage unit to dig out our winter stuff yet. When someone (not LFP) offered me their extra pair of gloves, I accepted them. Moments after I put them on, LFP comments about how he wishes he had gloves. I find this non-subtle hinting to be inconsiderate, but despite seeing it as inconsiderate, I feel awkward having been loaned gloves when he clearly wanted them. I don’t say anything, I just keep the gloves on. If he were almost anyone else, I’d offer him the gloves. But he is my least favorite person, so say nothing. 

Maybe half an hour later:

LFP, out of the blue: “Give me those gloves!” 

My arms physically jerked, and one of my hands was over the other, ready to pull them off before I had an conscious thoughts whatsoever. 

LFP laughs and shakes his head. “She was going to give them to me!” he says to someone else. 

I’m sure it was less, but it felt like three solid minutes passed before I could blink, or breathe. Part of me wanted to cry, part of me wanted to run, part of me wanted to scream. I was frozen and silent, instead. My triggered mind spiraled. 

What the fuck is wrong with you? Why were you going to take them off? Why was your impulse to comply before you even had time to think? And when it was LFP of all people? You’re garbage. That’s your unconscious response? To obey a shitty person? You’ve convinced yourself you’re a sub, but you’re just traumatized. Damaged. And because of that you compromise your values. That isn’t submission. That’s garbage.  

But then I breathe, and those thoughts from my brain goblins get quieter, and I find the real me in here somewhere. 

Yeah, that isn’t submission - that probably is a trauma response. But that reaction was involuntary. And that sure as hell isn’t what my actual submission is like. My submission happens from a place where I’m safe, and making conscious decisions. It’s totally different.  

I make my way to a restroom and record a video of myself sticking my fingers down my throat. It wasn’t a spontaneous plan, I had already planned to make this video to surprise CD with. But I do it now for him and for me. It’s empowering to do it from a place of love, free-flowing, uncoerced submission and choice. 

He texts me back that I make him so happy and am such a good girl. 

When I get home I tell CD about various other aspects of my day before getting to the glove incident. When I tell him what happened, I don’t have to explicitly say the whole thing triggered me. I can see in his face that he sees the depth of the pain. 

He tells me I have so much value. He tells me I’m his equal in every way. He tells me he loves me so fucking much. He tells me that my instinctive reaction to being startled doesn’t say anything about who I really am. 

I really do know, and believe, all of this already. But here’s a goblin who lives in my brain, and it’s nice to have someone else help me silence the goblin sometimes. 

#writing #sccwriting #d/s

[krissiefox]

Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog - The Pilot! (Screenshots & Review)

They waste no time showing off how sadistic Sonic can be at times. Poor Robotnik! I was actually going to be wrapping up this review series today with "Sonically Ever After", but I recently got a request to review the Aosth pilot, so I'm giving it a go, first!

There isn't much of a cohesive story to this pilot, as it seems like it thrown together more to give a feel of the shows tone, character personalities, and segments such as “Sonic says”. Also, before I start, I should mention that there are several different uploads of the pilot on Youtube (as well a download on the internet archive), and I decided to go with the one that had the longest length. Part of that extra length turned out to be clips from an episode included in the main series, so I'll be leaving that segment out. And, I do apologize for the incredibly fuzzy screenshots, but sadly I could not find any high-quality recordings of this pilot. I really hope they still exist somewhere!

The first scene starts out with Sonic introducing himself (And Robotnik) in front of a funky looking black and white background.

We then jump to a zoom in of planet Mobius, with a narrator, no less! That's definitely different from the final show. The narrator Gary Owens is fun and over-the-top like something from an old radio drama, and he also guest-starred as the voice of Powdered Toast Man in a Ren & Stimpy cartoon. No wonder he sounded familiar!

We see Sonic vandalizing a wanted poster that Robotnik put up of him, and hot damn, I need to praise how smooth this animation is! As cute and fun as Aosth is, it does feel unfortunate that this level of fluidity couldn't have been present throughout the entire main series.Though, on the other hand, there are a couple of moments in the pilot where Robotnik feels “overly” animated to the point of being visually confusing. Think something like the weird animations in CDI Zelda, but sped up really fast.

Blue arms?! Yup, despite some really nice and art and animation peppered throughout, there was a coloring error even in the pilot. Whoops!

We then see Robotnik telling his badniks about Sonic, in a scene that should look very familiar to anyone who's played Dr. Robotnik's mean bean machine. He's also voiced by Jim Cummings at times, which is odd to hear when I'm so used to hearing him be played by Long John Baldry (which is an awesome name by the way, wish he was still around... ). Sonic enters the room to taunt Robotnik, and all the robots chase him out of the tent in Emerald Hill Zone - which looks really nice! Again, it's a damn shame they couldn't have had this level of quality in the whole series' backgrounds.

I love that pretty and highly accurate Emerald Hill Zone background!

We get to occasionally see Scratch and Grounder in the pilot, but they don’t have any speaking scenes.

At this point, the "story" just kinda ends and the rest of the pilot is just a bunch of unconnected scenes - but they're still a treat to watch. We get to see Robotnik launch a cactus out of a cannon at Sonic. This part of the pilot was reused in the episode “ Untouchable Sonic “ (review here) , which is cool because at-least some of it was preserved in a higher quality this way.

The next scene clip has Sonic rallying freedom fighters and vandalizing a Robotnik billboard (another clip that got included in "Untouchable Sonic”). We then also see the scene that ended up being used for the show's credit sequence, where Robotnik gets squished by his own trap while trying to kill Sonic. The mystery of how he recovers form this at the end of every credits sequence is revealed - Scratch and Grounder come to re-inflate him like an old timey cartoon.

Next, there's a scene where some ...frog?...guy asks Sonic for help with a pond that Robotnik seems to be polluting or sealing the water from. Sonic traps Robotnik in his pipe then goes to relax at the beach with Tails. This is yet another scene that fascinates me because there's an old Archie Sonic comic where a fan submitted pretty much the exact same drawing on Sonic on the beach...but this was an unaired pilot. Maybe the kid who sent the art had a parent who worked on this show's pilot? I’d link the art but I can’t find it online. Maybe later I can do some scans from the original comic...

Wanting revenge for the pond incident, Robotnik attacks again using his little drilling vehicle from mystic cave zone in Sonic 2. He causes Sonic to fall into a hole in the beach, and we hear Tails' voice for the first time, too. It's definitely a different voice actor, whom is apparently rumored to have been a gal named  Russi Taylor, but no voice actor was officially credited. The voice for Tails wasn't bad, but I'm so used to kid who voiced him int he mains series that it sounds quite odd to hear, much like with Jim Cummings.

Sonic and Tails take out Robotnik’s drill vehicle, and there's a bunch more chaotic slapstick scenes between him and Sonic shown. We also see a clip of Sonic talking to a character called "King Leo" and eventually a glimpse of Sonic running through Hill Top Zone, too!

I like this goofy screenshot I managed to capture of Tails. Looks like he’s having a sugar rush. :D

I enjoy how Robotnik looks comically small in this shot, and the look on his face is fun, too.

Sonic and Tails have the best little impish grins here. :)

Hill Top Zone!

Lastly, we get to see the very first "Sonic Says!". Sonic saves Tails from being hit by a car, and feeling embarrassed, Tails acknowledges that he knows he was careless to just run out into the road. Like many characters in the pilot, Tails' animation is much more "wild" and exaggerated, but nod distractingly so like Robontik was at times. The scene is quite cute and gives a chance to hear much more of Russi's (?) Tails voice.

“I don’t want any of my pals gettin’ turned into road pizza!”

And, well, that's the pilot! Not much of a story of course, but what makes it such a  treat is seeing all the early ideas for elements in the final show, as well as all that great animation and art. I'm really glad this was preserved online by several folks, though I do still hope one day there will be a version with better visual quality and possibly more sound too. Oh right, the sound - another thing I forgot to mention was that some edits on YouTube add music and sounds to make things feel less awkward and empty in the audio department, as it seems the original video was quite lacking in music, sound effects and surprisingly, a lot of voices, too! Til next time, stay cool, and don’t become street pizza!

#dr. robotnik's mean bean machine #Hill Top Zone #Emerald Hill Zone #Sonic Says #Jim Cummings #Aosth #adventures of sonic the hedgehog #Sonic #sonic the hedgehog #tails #Miles prower #Robotnik #Dr. Robotnik #Scratch #aosth Scratch #Grounder #king leo #pilot #cartoon pilot #aosth pilot #adventures of sonic the hedgehog pilot #animation #cartoons #behind the scenes #long post #Long John Baldry #Gary Owens

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

There was nothing remotely Arctic Monkeyesque on Walls though unless you count Louis' Yorkshire accent which was similar to Alex's on the initial records. The greatest being inspired by Oasis oh is it because it sounds like something you would listen to if wanted to get pumped for a football match, you know football - oasis?

Its like you got the cliff notes for a book review from somewhere and muddled the whole thing up when trying to reword it.

Also, Copy's studio version is not even released what is she talking about it being a "hit" in terms of commercial success?

Even if we ignore the rest of her review which was basically I wanted to go to a Harry show but ended up on a Louis show because I am not successful enough to write a Harry puff piece, her review was I don't really know much about music and concerts to be able critique anything based on what I was hearing and seeing so I am going to rely on what I have heard about Louis' music from other sources.

Here’s that review, and a translation:

Seven years since One Direction split, only one ex-member can still claim superstar status. Yet it wasn’t Harry Styles who fans camped out for overnight in sub-zero temperatures this week. It was Louis Tomlinson, until recently the least successful of the former famous five.

“I really wish I was reviewing a Harry Styles concert, but I’m neither qualified nor connected enough. Fucking hate Louis.”

Slow to settle on a solo sound, the Yorkshire-born 30-year-old aped his idols Oasis and Arctic Monkeys on his widely derided debut album Walls in 2020. He did much the same on last month’s follow-up, Faith in the Future, yet something had changed. That one went to No 1.

“I’m pretty sure I would hate Walls, though I’ve never heard it. Never heard Faith In The Future either, but every northern band wants to be Oasis, that’s what my dad says. Never heard Oasis either.”

Live, Tomlinson could still be finding his feet. His Walls world tour was cancelled due to Covid and even this show arrived a month late after the singer broke his arm. Initially, he did little other than hang Liam Gallagher-like on the mike stand, a slight figure in what could have passed for workout gear, and sprinkle swear words among his basic banter.

“God, I wish he broke his other arm. Why isn’t he wearing pink bellbottom pants? Heteronormative little bastard. Fucking this fucking that. Fuck you.”

His almost exclusively female fans, on the other hand, were up for a party and perhaps the loudest singalongs Shepherds Bush has heard all year. The surprise was how strong the songs sounded.

“I hate that his songs were good.”

Backed by a five-piece rock band, Tomlinson more than held his own despite his not notably distinctive vocals. His opener The Greatest was clearly indebted to Oasis, but its bolshiness and catchy chorus meant it didn’t matter. Even the poppier Kill My Mind had swagger, while Written All Over Your Face had a sleazy funk undercurrent that brought to mind Black Grape.

“Louis is such a basic white man. He’s like any other basic white man, except damn, this song is dirty and catchy? Even though I know Harry is supposed to be dirtier and sexier because… duh, orgies. Nudes. Titties. Why are my feet dancing?”

By mid-show Tomlinson had taken to prowling the stage, handing huge chunks of songs over to chanting fans and, occasionally, looking as if he might crowd surf. He didn’t, but the more confident he grew, the more electric the atmosphere.

“He can’t sing. He can’t sing. If I repeat this fifty times, I know it���ll be true. I don’t care that I’m getting a little heated, it’s not because of Louis because he can’t sing and he’s not sexy. I know this. I know this!”

Copy of a Copy of a Copy, officially an unreleased song, was a rocky monster that could give Tomlinson his first solo hit single. Walls, performed as an acoustic ditty, was greeted like Wonderwall. The only One Direction song on the set list, Night Changes, sounded tame by comparison.

“Ugh he sounds better than 1D. Fuck.”

Tomlinson may lack the inventiveness and sex appeal of Styles, but for simple singalongs, he’s now 1D’s go-to guy.

“I feel bad that I had a good time. The world feels wrong. Wanna go home and read my Y/N Harry fics.”

[ollieofthebeholder]

to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest): a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 98: February 2018

Martin had made a good effort to be cheerful for Christmas, but he’d been badly affected by his mother’s death and the statement he’d taken from her, and really none of them had tried all that hard to snap it out of him. Jon hadn’t known what to do other than be there for him, and while Martin insisted that was enough, Jon still felt like he should have done more. Melanie, too, had been upset by it, or at least Jon assumed that was what was upsetting her. It was hard to tell with Melanie these days. But it didn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to conclude that the revelation that Liliana Blackwood-King had orchestrated Roger King’s dementia in order to manipulate their children had not gone over well with her. Gerry’s attitude towards the whole thing was hard to read, but Gerry wasn’t one to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Unlike the previous year, they hadn’t spent New Year’s Eve all together; Sasha had somehow managed to convince Melanie to go see the fireworks with her, Tim and Gerry had gone off on some mysterious date of their own—the nature of which they still hadn’t disclosed to the others, and none of them had asked—and Jon and Martin had gone back to their flat and had a quiet night in. Actually, it had been pretty nice, listening to old records and dancing in the kitchen while they made dinner, and they had kissed right at midnight while the mayor’s fireworks exploded on the horizon. Martin hadn’t even had any nightmares that night, or so he said. For a moment, Jon had sincerely hoped, even believed, that the new year would mean a fresh start, that things would start getting better for them.

He still believed it, but he had also bowed to the inevitable and made a list of all the different “new years” marked by the different cultures around the world. Surely one of them would turn the page.

The Christmas decorations had gone down on the second of February, but Tim hadn’t even mentioned Valentine’s Day, much to Jon’s relief. He had to admit he’d been a bit jumpy as the anniversary of that day—the day the Not-Rosie had attacked, the day Jurgen Leitner had been brutally and extensively murdered with a pipe in what had then been his office, the day he’d been forced to go on the run alone—got closer. Martin had tried very hard to give him the day off, but Jon had refused to spend the day without Martin, and in the end Martin had closed the Archives down entirely and told everyone to take it off.

After all, it wasn’t like they could get fired for it.

Jon very much wished he could say he and Martin had come in smiling, holding hands, and refreshed from their day off. Or, for that matter, that any of them had. But neither Jon nor Martin had slept well—Jon because he kept waking up what seemed like every few minutes to reassure himself Martin was still there, Martin because he had evidently had serious nightmares—and it was apparent from the dark circles under Sasha’s eyes when they arrived that she hadn’t either. Although that could have been because she was up earlier than usual, since she’d actually beat them to the Institute.

“Sasha. You’re…early,” Jon said, trying and failing not to let his surprise show.

Martin managed a small smile somewhere between amused and sympathetic. “Melanie keep you up all night?”

“In a sense. We had a fight,” Sasha confessed. “Really nasty one, I don’t even know what started it, and it didn’t matter what I said, she just kept getting angrier and angrier. It finally ended in her storming out and slamming the door so hard she actually woke Nod up out of a sound sleep.” She shrugged out of her cardigan, and Jon winced at the claw marks on her shoulder. “Cat. Not Melanie…anyway, I figured I’d just give her some space and she’d come back eventually, but then I realized it was dark out and she never had. I called her, but then I realized I could hear the phone. She left it behind.”

Jon’s heart kicked into high gear. Martin stared at Sasha, all the color draining out of his face. “Did she ever come back?”

“No. I came early hoping she’d be here, but…”

“Jesus, Sasha, why didn’t you call me?” Martin reached for his pocket, then stopped as it evidently occurred to him that wouldn’t help. “Anything could have happened to her, not just the Fourteen.”

“I—” Sasha dropped her gaze, looking shamefaced, her cheeks flushing. “I don’t know. I should have, but…I just, I wanted to fix whatever I did wrong before I started calling you into it. I guess I thought that would just make her angrier.”

Martin sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “You’re probably not wrong, but she’s got to realize she can’t do this. Not now. Especially not now.”

Jon tried to think where he would have gone if he and Martin had had a fight like that. Not far, truthfully, because even at his angriest he didn’t think he could walk away for very long, but depending on how bad the fight was he might have broken down and bought a pack of cigarettes. Melanie hadn’t smoked as long as he had, but she still might have done something else destructive that she’d theoretically given up. But to be gone all night…

“Can you—” Sasha hesitated, then gestured vaguely at Martin’s eyes.

“Can, yeah, no problem.” Martin’s voice took on a slight edge. “Honestly, these days it’s stopping myself from doing something like that that’s the challenge. Should, absolutely not. It’s not a habit I really need to be getting into.”

“But if she’s in danger…Martin, please, you know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” Sasha clasped her hands in front of her and looked up at Martin desperately. “Not when it’s something like this. I’ll take the blame if she gets mad about it.”

“It’s not Melanie I’m worried about being mad, but…fine. Fine, I’ll do it.”

Jon held up a hand. “I’m sorry, what are we talking about?”

Martin sighed. “Sasha is asking if I can use the Eye to Know where Melanie is and if she’s okay.”

A chill ran up Jon’s spine. “That…sounds like a very bad idea. Martin, you’re already so tightly bound in it—”

“I know, Jon. But Sasha’s right.” Martin ran a hand through his hair. “Melanie’s been missing for more than twelve hours, and she’s…she’s vulnerable right now. I won’t look long. Just a quick peek.”

Jon considered protesting further, but he knew it was useless if Martin had made up his mind. Anyway, he had to admit that he was worried, too, and if he had the power to Know where someone was like that, he’d be using it about now. “I’ll go find you a statement, then. You’re going to need one when you’re done.”

Martin gave him a crooked smile and bent down to kiss him quickly. “Thank you.”

As Jon headed deeper into the Archives, scanning the haphazard files on the shelves for something promising, he wondered when this had all become…maybe not normal, but expected. Just facts of life, just how things were. Gerry had come back from the dead and subsisted on souls. Martin could read minds and pull information from the ether like some kind of walking search engine. They’d traded in a boss who could plant memories in their heads and watch them without the aid of CCTV for a boss whom very few people had seen in person but could apparently make people who displeased him disappear in a rather permanent fashion. There was a makeshift bunker, complete with camp stove, down in the tunnels, which still held the Not-Them, presumably. Somewhere along the line, it had become just another day at the office. And something inside Jon mourned the fact that the best way he could think of to comfort his boyfriend was with a written record of someone else’s fear rather than a cup of tea.

The sound of commotion from the front of the Archives made every instinct Jon had fire simultaneously. Abandoning the statements, he bolted back towards the main area and skidded to a halt, gasping in relief—at least momentarily. Melanie was there, looking very much as though she had spent the night on the streets, but alive. She was also nearly purple with rage, her hands balled into tight fists as she shouted up at Martin. Sasha stood a few steps away, hands over her mouth and eyes wide.

“—stay out of it!” she bellowed. “You have no fucking right—”

“Melanie, I didn’t, I was only going to—” Martin began.

Melanie steamrolled right over him. “Spooky eldritch powers don’t give you the fucking right to just go in people’s heads whenever you want!”

“I didn’t.” Martin looked somewhere between anxious and angry. It was clear that he was trying to be rational and calm, but Melanie was pushing him to his limits. “You just vanished, you didn’t have your phone—”

“I’m a grown-ass fucking adult, and I don’t need you checking up on me every five minutes,” Melanie snarled, shoving at Martin and actually knocking him back a step.

Somehow, Martin kept his cool. “Melanie, it’s not safe—”

“Fuck you!” Melanie swung a fist and struck Martin in the stomach. He gave a soft grunt of pain and doubled over.

“Hey, hey, Jesus!” Jon rushed over to the group. Melanie whirled on him, and he took a step back on instinct. From the gleam in her eye, she liked that, liked that she’d scared him, which…wasn’t good. He held up his hands in supplication. “Melanie, come on, this isn’t like you.”

“Oh? What isn’t like me?” Melanie tensed her whole body again. “Choose your words carefully, Sims.”

Sims. Not Jon. She hadn’t called him that in a year and a half. Jon swallowed the sudden lump of emotion and tried to speak softly. “You know what I mean. Not you being angry. I know you well enough to know that’s your default state of being, like mine is being paranoid. But you never treat Martin like this, and frankly I don’t like it.”

“I bet you don’t.” Melanie sneered at him. Martin straightened and bristled, obviously as upset at Melanie talking to Jon like that as he was about her talking to Martin like that.

Jon shook his head, very quickly. Martin didn’t need to…he could handle this. He could. “What’s got into you?”

“What’s got into me?” Melanie repeated incredulously. She slammed her hand on the desk, making Jon flinch. “There’s nothing in me that I didn’t bloody well want there.”

Something cold trickled down Jon’s spine, and from the way Martin’s face shifted, he’d evidently had the same thought. He opened his mouth to say something, but Martin beat him to it. “Melanie, your leg. Is it—”

“Don’t you dare!” Melanie spun back around towards Martin and screamed in his face. “Don’t you fucking force me to answer your questions! You have no right! You have no right!”

“I’m not—” Martin began.

Jon jumped in before Martin could make things any worse. “Is your leg still hurting? Are you sure they—”

“And don’t you start either!” Melanie yelled, shoving Jon back. He stumbled and cracked his hip rather painfully against the desk. “You and your goddamn fucking compulsion, I don’t—”

“Melanie, stop,” Martin said forcefully.

There was no static in the word. It was just an order—from a boss, from an older brother, from a friend who recognized the destructive path currently being traversed and was desperate to save her from heading any further along it. Melanie didn’t seem to care. “Don’t tell me what to do!”

“Melanie, please, we’re—” Martin started.

“It’s bad enough that I’m trapped here, but—” Melanie ranted.

“If there’s still a—” Jon tried.

“—trying to help you—”

“—have a minute to myself—”

“—doctors couldn’t see—”

“—listen to me for one second—”

“—all calm down and—”

“—fucking irresponsible—”

“I’ll kill you!” Melanie screamed, lunging at Martin.

“Melanie, no, stop!” Jon leaped for Melanie, his heart in his throat.

Too late. The blade in her hand—a blade she hadn’t had mere seconds before, a blade Jon hadn’t noticed her holding until it was far, far too late—flashed as she plunged it into Martin’s shoulder, then withdrew it in the same swift motion. Martin cried out in pain, reeling back with a hand pressed to his chest, far too close to his heart for Jon’s liking.

There was clang as the knife dropped from Melanie’s suddenly nerveless fingers. To her credit, she looked absolutely stunned that she’d done that, all the color gone from her face. There was a heartbeat of silence as they stared at one another, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, Sasha loomed up behind Melanie, her own face pale. She threw one arm around Melanie’s chest and clapped a tea-towel over her mouth and nose with the other. Melanie stiffened for a second, then started to fight.

“Jon, help me!” Sasha shouted. “I can’t hold her on my own!”

Not sure what else to do, Jon lunged forward and grabbed Melanie’s wrists. She tried to knee him in the balls; somehow he managed to clamp onto her leg with his own knees and keep it down. Her attempt to kick him, or Sasha, with the other leg almost sent all three of them to the ground, but they just held on as she struggled.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Sasha repeated, over and over. Jon was sure they were going to lose the battle any second, but slowly, Melanie’s struggles grew less and less, until she finally sagged against Sasha, boneless and unconscious, leaving the rest of them silent and worn out.

“What,” Jon panted, “the fuck just happened?”

“Chloroform,” Sasha said miserably. “I soaked the towel in enough to knock her out without doing too much permanent damage. Hopefully.”

“Why do you just happen to have chloroform lying around in sufficient quantities to knock her out safely?” Martin asked, sounding    very much as if he were doing so through clenched teeth.

“I recommend not asking questions you don’t want the answers to.” Sasha shifted her grip on Melanie. “Someone help me get her lying down.”

“Can someone please get me up to speed here?” Jon asked, not for the first time that day and not, he suspected, for the last.

Martin came over and took Melanie’s legs from Jon, gingerly, then helped Sasha lay her on the floor. “You figured it out, too. I could see it in your eyes. The ghost’s bullet is still in her leg, infecting her with the Slaughter, and it’s only getting worse. We’ve got to get it out.”

Jon blinked. “How?”

Martin looked up at Jon and raised an eyebrow. “How do you think?”

Jon’s stomach flipped as he realized what Martin was implying. “Oh. Will—how long to we have?”

“Until she wakes up, which won’t be long. Chloroform doesn’t last forever.” Martin took a deep breath. “Someone get me a pair of scissors.”

“You’re going to do this with scissors?” Jon said, horrified.

Unexpectedly, the corners of Martin’s mouth twitched. “For the trouser leg, Jon. There’s a scalpel in the first aid kit.”

“I feel like that’s not exactly standard for a first aid kit,” Jon muttered, but he hurried over to the Archivist’s office to fetch a pair of scissors.

By the time he got back, Sasha had Melanie’s head in her lap and was holding her shoulders down, while Martin had spread the chloroform-soaked towel—probably not the cleanest in the world, but Jon guessed it was mostly for the blood—under the leg Melanie was always running. Jon tapped him on the shoulder with the handle of the scissors. Martin took them and nodded his thanks. “Do me one more favor?”

Jon sat on Melanie’s ankle without being asked. Martin smiled at him again, then began cutting away the pant leg. That done, he set the scissors aside, took a deep breath, and Looked. Soft static began gathering, then faded, taking what little color was left in Martin’s face with it. “Jesus.”

“Bad?” Jon asked.

“It’s poisoning her whole system. She’s not gone full avatar yet, but if I can’t get this out…God, I should have Looked at her ages ago.” Martin shook his head and picked up a small packet, then peeled the paper back to reveal a scalpel that was either brand new or had been cunningly replaced. “Right. Let’s do this.”

It was…messier than Jon would have liked, and he had to work hard not to be sick, but he made himself watch as Martin cut a surprisingly neat incision in Melanie’s leg, then dug into it with a pair of forceps. Melanie shifted and groaned, and Jon scanned her face anxiously. “She’s still awake?”

“No.” Surprisingly, it was Sasha who answered, not Martin. “People always used to think that, but it’s not true. She’s just restless from the anesthesia, but she’s asleep and can’t feel anything. Uh…maybe hurry, though?”

“I’m going as fast as I safely can,” Martin assured her without looking up.

There was an unpleasant wet squelching sound, and then Martin withdrew the forceps, seemingly empty…but when he opened them over the metal tray next to him, something landed with a clatter.

“Did you get it?” Sasha asked, her voice shaking a little.

“Yeah.” Martin exhaled slowly and laid the forceps gently in the tray next to the scalpel and, Jon assumed, the ghost bullet. “Let me close her up, and then you can take her back to the cot in Document Storage until she wakes up.”

“And then I want to look at your shoulder,” Jon said, unable to stop the anxiety from coloring his own voice.

Something infinitely sad flickered through Martin’s eyes for a moment, but he didn’t say anything, just concentrated on applying what seemed like an entire box of butterfly bandages to the gash he’d made in Melanie’s thigh. Finally, he was done, and he nodded to Jon to get off Melanie’s leg. The second he did, Sasha scooped her into her arms without a word and staggered towards Document Storage. Jon almost offered to help her, but one look at her face and he knew that wasn’t his place.

“Come here,” he said instead, turning to Martin. “Into your office. Let me see what she did to you.”

Martin gave him a sad smile, but got to his feet and headed for the Archivist’s office. Jon assumed it was the your office bit; even after ten months, he knew Martin still felt guilty about that. He swept up the parts of the first aid kit that hadn’t been used for impromptu surgery and followed him.

Once inside, Martin went without being told to the far back corner, where there was a sturdy floor lamp, and sat slowly down on the floor. He pulled off his torn and bloodied jumper, then simply tugged at the hole in the shirt underneath to make it bigger. Jon grabbed an alcohol wipe out of the first aid kit, hurried over, knelt next to Martin, and began wiping off the blood to see how bad the cut was.

Only to discover that it had already closed itself over, leaving only a shiny pink ridge about an inch and a half wide.

Jon sat back on his heels and stared at it. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Martin said quietly. “Same thing happened with Trevor stabbing me, kind of. Took a bit longer for that to stop bleeding, but, well, I wasn’t…”

“An Avatar?”

“I was going to say ‘Marked by the End’, but yeah, that, too.” Martin sighed and reached for Jon’s hand, then stopped, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to. “Killing me won’t be that easy. Melanie wasn’t far enough along for it to be that simple.”

Jon shuddered. “She was so angry…”

“Yes. But there was enough of her left that didn’t mean it when she said she’d kill me that she couldn’t.”

He still wasn’t touching. Jon grabbed his hands and laced their fingers together, refusing to let go, then leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the spot. It felt hot to the touch. “I wouldn’t have let her. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Martin sighed and wrapped his arms around Jon. Jon snuggled against him and rested his ear against Martin’s chest just below the new scar. The steady thudding of his heartbeat reassured Jon in a way few other things could right about then.

The sound of a door opening somewhere behind him reminded Jon that Tim hadn’t arrived yet. He sighed and started to turn. “You missed quite a morning. Late night or—”

Martin suddenly stiffened and shot to his feet, dragging Jon upright with him and simultaneously pushing him back. Jon was about to demand to know what the hell was going on when he, too, turned and caught sight of the figure standing just a few feet away, far too close for comfort—one of the two men who had menaced them outside the House of Wax.

Only one?

“Come to make a delivery, have you?” Martin’s voice was low and dangerous.

“Maybe,” the figure—Breekon or Hope, Jon wasn’t sure—said. “Yeah. That’s right. Just here to deliver a—package.”

“Why?” Martin’s voice crackled with compulsion.

Unlike when Jon had tried, the Stranger answered immediately. “Realized that I’m not tied to it anymore.” He—it—knocked twice on a wooden box next to him, and Jon felt what little courage he possessed desert him as he realized it was the coffin—the Buried. “Not on my own. Thought you could have it. Pay your respects, like.”

“Our respects?” Jon asked, bewildered, his voice shaking.

Martin didn’t answer, or move from in front of Jon. He only stared down the man in front of them. “Why are you here?”

“Dunno.” The man actually seemed bewildered, maybe a little lost. “’S not right on my own. Not right. No point in doing it on my own. Dunno what happens now.” He tilted his head to one side. “Thought I might kill you. Missed my chance. Thought I might just deliver something. So…here’s a coffin. In case you want to join your friend.”

Horror seized Jon. Oh, God, Tim. Tim was in there, that was why he was late…

He tried to step forward, only to be barred by Martin’s arm. A sudden surge of anger struck him—not at Martin, but at the thing in front of him—and he snarled, “Get out.”

The wrong kind of static crackled. The figure in front of them only grinned nastily, and there was a whooshing, rushing noise that filled the air as it said, “Make me.”

What do you think I was trying to do? Jon wanted to scream, but the anger was gone, replaced only by horror and terror in equal measures. This thing was after him, after Martin, it was so close, and there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide…

But there was Martin, who continued to stand in front of him, and the whooshing noise died instantly as he said, simply, “Stop.”

Static rose, not soft and gentle but heavy and oppressive, like a sudden torrential downpour on a summer afternoon. The weight of it almost bore Jon physically to the floor, and he saw the thing in front of them reel back from it.

“What are you—stop it,” it protested. “Stop it!”

Martin didn’t so much as flinch. “No.”

Jon watched, fascinated, as the thing before them cringed, literally shrank before Martin’s gaze. “Enough! Stop looking at me!” it howled. Suddenly seeming unable to take any more, it turned and fled across the Archives. A door slammed shut in the distance.

The static died that fast, and Martin sagged slightly, panting for breath.

The world rushed back in. Jon became aware of the situation—the bloody towel, the used scalpel, the small invasion of their workspace, their sanctum. The coffin in the middle of the floor of the Archivist’s office.

The coffin.

Suddenly alive, Jon grabbed Martin’s arm and tugged him out of the office. Martin shook off whatever stupor he was in and followed, and the two of them practically dragged one another to the trapdoor by unspoken agreement, tumbling pell-mell down the steps. They wound up in the small room where they’d spoken after Jon’s return to the Institute after Leitner’s murder.

There was no light. They didn’t need it. They simply collapsed onto the floor, clinging to one another tightly.

Jon trembled head to toe. The adrenaline had worn off, and he was suddenly aware that the Buried, the Fear Martin was most afraid of, was in the middle of the Archives. Tim was trapped in it, and oh, God, what were they going to tell Gerry…and Sasha, she’d be so upset…but what if it took Martin too…

“Tim—” he choked out, unable to say anything more.

“Wh—oh, Christ, we’re going to have to get out there before he gets in,” Martin murmured. “He’s, I don’t think he’ll open the coffin, but—”

Jon looked up at Martin, or at least in the direction of the vague black shape that was Martin, wide-eyed. “He’s…not already…I-I thought that was what…”

“No, Jon, it’s Daisy,” Martin said gently. He kissed Jon’s forehead and tucked his chin over the top of his head. “They…fed her to it. Or—it did. After she killed the other one. She’s in there, and she’s alive.”

“You’re—you’re sure?”

“Yeah. Knew she was still alive before…but yeah.” Martin sighed heavily. “I got its statement. I think.”

“How are we going to get rid of it?” Jon began ticking over possibilities. “It—it can’t stay here, it’s dangerous.”

“I suppose we could put it up in Artifact Storage, but…that won’t help. I don’t know what we have to do with it. We’ll probably have to go over that with the others, and…it m-might need to wait until Melanie’s conscious, at least.”

“You can’t go near it. You—it’ll kill you, or at least it won’t let you go.”

Martin was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, “I am the Archivist, Jon. It’s my job to protect you all. And if that means keeping the Buried away from any of you, so be it.”

That wasn’t happening. It wasn’t. Jon was going to have to come up with a way to get Daisy out, and get rid of the coffin, without Martin going near it. But all he said was, “But Tim’s okay? You’re sure?”

“Yeah, he texted while I was getting the first aid kit, said he’d just woke up and he was on his way. Said there was something important he needed to talk to us about.” Martin sighed again. “Can’t say that fills me with confidence.”

Jon nodded slowly. He completely agreed. “So what are we doing in the meantime?”

There was a rustle as Martin got to his feet, guiding Jon up with him. “We’re going back up to the Archives. And…I think I need a pen.”

#ollie writes fanfic #to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest) #tma fanfic #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #melanie king #sasha james #breekon and hope #manipulation #stress #fighting #anger #knife violence #blood #drugging #nonconsentual medical procedures #panic #mention of being buried alive

[life-and-death-companions]

some (possibly) unpopular opinions

i don't like any of these and you're going to hear me explain why 💀💀

There's a part two to this, if anyone's interested.

Lady Baby

Sincerely: I Became a Duke’s Maid

Remarried Empress

When the Villainess Loves

Lady to Queen

Today the Villainess Has Fun Again

Finding Camellia

There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead

The Duchess of the Glass Greenhouse

1. Lady Baby

this story felt like a fever dream, except the fever never fucking breaks because the pacing is so slow i could sucker punch Flash in the face and he'd still be roiling back from the recoil in the length of time it takes for her to just fucking AGE already. I know she's cute and the art is amazing but there comes a point where it's too much and you start to forget how old she really is. reincarnation or regression or whatever works because the mc can make decisions they hadn't before, and drive the plot quickly in a chosen direction.

where was she driving the plot? well, it was certainly Somewhere. perhaps in five years, give or take, we'll know exactly where.

Sincerely: I Became a Duke’s Maid

miss ma'am raised her husband. i refuse to elaborate on this any further. all i can say is i dropped it 5 chapters in and i think it saved me a great deal of mental strife. i thank past me every day for taking the steps to ensure this doesn't get recorded in my brain as a memory more than it already has.

Remarried Empress

no, i did not read the novel. however, i do know that the issues i have with it cannot be resolved even with supplementary information from the novel.

this story is about an empress, born and raised in aristocracy, flawless and perfect in every way, kind and wise to her subjects, divorcing her scumbag husband and finding a better man to become happy. now, i love navier. she's wise, knowledgeable, cool, charismatic, collected.

but she has no flaws. her second spouse is a rich sexy guy that falls at her feet to please her. the duke of another country pines after her, joining her sad lump of an ex-husband sovieshu in abject misery. she's got a parade of equally hot, rich, influential girlfriends to support her.

every character is there to serve navier and make her look good and in comparison, rashta has nothing but her looks, her ambition, her fucking audacity, and --truth be said-- her raging delusion. ironically, in the process of making her the biggest object of hatred, they also made her into the most complex, developed and interesting character in the whole story.

this had the potential of being something great. navier and sovieshu and royalty and politics paint a picture of these empires and kingdoms as full of prosperity and wealth --and yet slavery still exists. a truly amazing novel could've shown a partnership between rashta the slave, who has nothing, and navier the empress, who has everything, and their efforts to reduce social and economic disparities in the land. this shared, difficult goal would have immediately made every character more realistic.

AND the real villain in the story is sovieshu. i'm tired of the relentless, OVERWHELMINGLY more abundant commentary about 'trashta' this and 'trashta' that.

tl;dr: the story accomplishes what it sets out to do. but for this kind of simple, shallow storytelling, surely 100 chaps are enough to wrap it up???? like????

thank you next

When the Villainess Loves

i don't know how artists get contracted to work on a novel but this artist should have looked at the script and backed away pronto. everyone complains about this one. the majority of us prefer the second male lead with Libertia, which is already a failure in any romance story.

An overwhelming number of readers, me included, would much rather have OG Libertia, thank you. at least she'd have the sense to reject a man as shady as this daniel rando. he LITERALLY started involving himself in her affairs out of nowhere --and then he WOULD NOT leave, like??? go get a job or something? do you have any hobbies or friends or what?

Lady to Queen

a good angsty story has periods of calm and relief and humour that gives the main character something to live for and some hope for improving her life in the future. otherwise, i'm sorry, but it's just tragedy and tragedies are hardly ever written well. they rely on pacing that episodes updated every like two to three weeks just cannot provide. bonus points for the sisterly bond though, and how well the villain was written. i wouldn't have minded if the sister decided to push rosa-whatever down a long flight or stairs 👀

tl;dr: probably not for everyone. i enjoyed some aspects. probably better to read the whole story in one or two sittings.

Today the Villainess Has Fun Again

a typical misunderstood villainess isekai with a ton of money and influence does not make it bad. on the contrary, i was quite enjoying it, until that leopard boy inserted himself into the story with all the grace and elegance of a fucking rock. his personality pissed me off. his interdependence on her pissed me off. the physical age difference made me uncomfortable. the romance was forced.

tl;dr: no thank you

Finding Camellia

hi everyone and welcome to andrew tate's podcast, romance manhwa version. here you will find:

"InTeReStInG," said Male Lead 1 smirking smirkingly, coolly looking at the back of the Female Lead. he brushes his hair back with a careless hand, loosening his cravat in the other. he exudes an undeniable Aura of Alphaness.

"Don't talk nonsense," said Male Lead 1, obviously wanting to demonstrate his Superior Knowledge of our FL's habits and character (ps. it's been 2 weeks since they met again). "She doesn't want actual food for dinner, send her lollies instead."

"You infuriate me," said Male Lead 1, backing a vulnerable woman who had just been sexually harassed into the shadowy alcove of a deserted library. "I find you painfully attractive and it's obviously your fault, so stop."

"InTeReStIng," said Obligatory Male Love Interest #2, his overlong fringe falling over his eyes. Readers have to question whether he can see the FL's infamous beauty through the fucking keratin worms growing from his scalp down to his nose bridge.

Alpha Fight: Prince vs Duke of a Rivalling Kingdom. I know we have a monarchy here but status apparently doesn't matter --except when it does, to demonstrate their power and affluence to random people. If you're confused, good. so was i.

There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead

to the ml:

fuck you

that is it.

The Duchess of the Glass Greenhouse

why has it become a manhwa trend for FLs to be treated horribly by everyone around them including their husbands and then they time travel or something and END UP WITH THE SAME FUCKING DUDE??? YOU ARE IN A MADE UP WORLD. FIND A BETTER GUY. GOD KNOWS THERE'S AN ABUNDANCE OF LOVE INTERESTS IN MANHWAS LIKE THESE.

#the duchess of the glass greenhouse #finding camellia #wished you were dead #today the villainess has fun again #when the villainess loves #sincerely: i became a duke's maid #remarried empress #lady baby #manhwa #you could point a bazooka at my face and tell me to read these all again and i'd tell you to blast my brains away. maybe then i can forget

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 165

Chapter 165: "You Can Fly!"

(I've finally reached that point where those old chapter reviews of mine became consistent, so if there's some deja vu moments with stuff I say from here onwards then I apologize. Might not happen since those were done blindly while I have a perfectly good idea of what happens in the story now, but I'll look back at those posts just in case so I don't become a broken record.)

I find it so adorable that even after so many years, Isabella still thinks of Leslie.

The hatred I feel for Sarah has grown immensely over the past couple months, so of course now I can't help but feel a bit giddy over her being shipped out. Peter eventually comes in with a comment stating that the farm made the decision based on who, between Isabella or Sarah, would be more beneficial to the farms, and with the impressive results Isabella has made during her time as caretaker, she was chosen as the obvious choice to keep around. And rightfully so. Thank heavens.

I know this poor woman just wanted to be free from all this hell and while I certainly don't wish to see Isabella suffer under the farm's rules and restrictions anymore, I love her too much to just see her get killed off, so you gotta stick around for a couple more years to help out the kids honey. It'll be worth it.

As much as I despise the man, I do like the intense shadow Peter gets across him during this panel. It really makes the sinister aura believable with how terrified Isabella looks, and for a woman who's been around death for so long and perfected a strong facade over the years to actually show some kind of fear, that's quite impressive he managed to make her feel that way.

After all this time and now I'm just getting the feeling that Isabella was crying a bit sometime during that panel of her looking at her number and chip implant in the mirror back at GF. Anyways, I know it was intentional for her to look completely scared upon making this deal with Peter here, but I love that it's all just an act as we later find out in ch170. (also, not important but this is my post so it was gonna get mentioned anyway: absolutely thankful that the second season decided to keep Isabella's hair down during this scene. She may have made the deal with one of the GF demons instead of Peter, but I can forgive the anime for that because Isabella just looked so perfect.)

Duh, everything this woman does is impressive. Sure, it's real bummer for those kids who had to be shipped out, but at least we learned during 181.7 that she did lower the frequency of the shipments so a fewer number of children were shipped out all together. It was a whole quality over quantity idea that worked out well so good for her. The less lives lost the better.

I'm certainly repeating myself from somewhere, but the way Isabella was able to successfully rally all the other moms and sisters together in less than a day is just fantastic. Such a power move. I still geek out over it.

Motherly instincts kicking back in (pfft, silly me, as if they ever left. that's genuine concern on her face). It's certainly a painful way to fix a finger but at least she helped!

The switch from "mom" to "caretaker" happens so quick it could give someone whiplash. Honey, I know this is all part of a grand performance but I don't like when you openly treat your precious children as food!

Still wondering how y'all managed to cross the giant cliff in order to sneak into headquarters but whatever works I guess. I'm certain they didn't just cross the bridge since security probably would've been alerted much sooner and I'm not gonna believe they arrived via random hot air balloons like the second season did. Regardless, it was quite a surprise to see Norman armed with a gun but very welcomed. Seeing him in the shelter jacket and pants is a good look for him too.

Favorite panel/moment:

Oh to be lucky enough to receive a hug from such a beautiful woman.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

[storiesofsvu]

Alright. It’s Thursday let’s see how tonight goes…

Weird opening that’s for sure

That blue suit on mechad is fucking gorgeous

Wtf is happening?!!!!?? Is this gonna be one of those twisty episodes? We’re only halfway through…

YES! SAM! Give her more screen time PLEASE

The like, main thing here would be finding the dancer, yes?

The lawyers have a good point with this recording, but it’s all speculation at this point…

I KNOW I know this defence attorney from somewhere… hold pls while I try to figure it out lol

Goddammit it’s not on imdb yet…

Okay so defence found the witness and honestly that just made everything way more complicated. YES, he killed the guy in (self) defence/trying to help/save the girl, BUT he’s still a racist pos who strangled the guy for three minutes after he stopped breathing. Also what was going on with the vic on the train? Cause he defs seemed out of it…

Ohhkay, an asthma attack, that makes sense. Reaching for the inhaler. Got it

Okay, y’all I’m sold on the new DA guy who came from scandal.

What is it with cop shows having very racist/sexist people/witnesses and choosing to send in their poc/women to figure details out.

OOHHH WE LOVE A GOOD UC STORYLINE! IS THIS GONNA BE A MULTI EP ARC?! A CROSSOVER?! (I know im clowning over a crossover, you don’t need to tell me)

That was a really good ep tbh.

*

Okay we all know I’m ignoring TO.

If anyone has any good ideas for a relatively affordable vacation over July/august that wouldn’t be too fucking hot, pls lmk.

*

Svu time!

Woof talk about a dark open

Also… it’s giving little mermaid…. The whole hazy can’t see her but she’s rescuing him and keeping him safe??

…pants around the ankles? Okay wait so something else happened in there?

WHERE! IS! VELASCO!

FFS

“EVERYONE IS ON MANDATORY OT” REALLY?! I REPEAT WHAT I JUST SAID!!

If they’re gonna be fucking rotating cast members, they should be rotating the ones who aren’t officially part of the squad. Curry was on last week, she should be gone this week.

Oh it was a man in the little mermaid vibes, my bad lol

….at least bruno’s here..

Okay… this girl’s apartment layout is the same as olivia’s (old?) one? (the one where noah was a toddler and up on the counter stealing cookies..) they really all about reusing sets aren’t they? Yet they make olivia’s apt completely different each ep…

Also I lowkey love all the fairy lights and art she’s got up, she’s made this place super cozy and calming and I dig it. Like I legit want that little tree with the fairy lights she has… catch me on amazon later.

Okay but like, if you were beat that bad and fighting for your life, there’s definitely a chance of hallucinating someone..

Bruno can yell at me any day…. Just sayin.

Why cant the girl with agoraphobia just fucking zoom/face time into the trial??? Like, they did that shit for younger witnesses/victims, for people already in prison/stuck in hospitals and that was all BEFORE covid…. I get that this is some kind of progress for her/olivia and more building for liv but it’s stupid…

Shout out to liv for making her office a complete safe space with the blinds drawn and candles and shit. Cute.

Okay that was an okay episode, we’re getting there slowly. I just wish we would go back to court for once. I miss my defence attorneys…

*

Lowkey hate this flashback, ngl.

 Okay…I NEED to know how old joe stabler is supposed to be. Cause the actor’s age isn’t listed on wiki/imdb, but there’s a couple pages/articles that say he’s super late 40’s, early 50’s but he could pass for late 30’s so im SO confused lol.

Ahh… okay. Glad the drugs are his and not eli’s lol

Ugh I love bell so fucking much

I really hope Bobby’s leave was written in cause the actor had another offer that he wanted to take and not one that screwed him over.

Yaaasss cragen with the distraction save!

“I thought it worked…” bruh it sure did lol

God I miss cragen’s sass and quips. Im super glad he’s open to guest star

Bell being a complete bad ass like always. Yaaas queen

Speaking of bad ass women… nicely done chief…

Oh fuck….

Okay, well that was a decent night of l&o tonight!

#spoilers #law and order #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #law and order organized crime

[asterz-playz-official]

[unwinding au] - season 3, part ?????

Aaaaaaaaagh i feel like I’m missing something what is it what am I

OHHHHHHHH

Michael didn’t get out of the institute using the mirrors, he doesn’t like using the mirrors (at all)-

He took the tunnels. He had no idea where he was going, but he took em anyway, cause he figured he had the best chance at finding the right way through.

He actually also took the tape recorder that was there, I was wrong. He didn’t want anyone to find out what he’d done (they sort of did anyway :( ) and also it had just become a “comfort item” at that point.

He sort of feels the same way about the recorders as Martin does, but also feels like they give him a sort of anchor to steady himself with so he can keep himself together.

[CONTINUED BELOW!!!!]

I really wish I could find some good maps of London so that I could plot out his course, but he tries going to his own apartment initially, only to find it surrounded by police/law enforcement.

So he feels very much like he’s got nowhere to go.

For the first time, he wishes he could just loose himself in a crowd and find himself somewhere else.

He’s just… too tall for it. He’s worried he’d just get spotted immediately.

But it turns out that doesn’t matter anymore. It’s as if no one can really see him, or at least can’t pick him out from the rest of the crowd. Which, by the way, is really uncomfortably bump-y and jostle-y, and he hates it just as much as he used to, but it works.

Not just to hide him, but to get him to where he’s going.

Somehow, he finds himself inside of a department store.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so I decided it’s probably either Peter Jones or Harrods… but……

How tf do UK department stores work

help

Ummmmm heck it’s fine I’ll just wing it and revise later, at least i’ve got a vibe

So, Peter Jones and partners, runs into someone he knew before the institute.

I don’t know her name, but she’s pretty and a fantastic person and I tried to draw her one time but I don’t feel like it came out quite right, however I’m still going to drop it here.

(Uuuuugghhhhhhhh yeah there’s a lot I don’t like about how I drew this, I don’t feel like I got her features right and I wish I could go back and change it but it’s PENCIL and erasing/redrawing is ANNOYING aaaaaa /lh)

(I’m actually not going to insert the drawing. I just feel like it’s probably wrong in a hundred different ways, and I’d like to research some stuff further first before I make a finalized design.)

She and Michael talk a little bit, her manager comes over and does the whole “you’re paid to sell things to customers, not chat with them,” thing and Michael actually glares at him!

Yasmin(a?) (this is why i want to do more research, I don’t feel like that’s right aaaaaa) is completely taken aback by this, because the Michael Shelley she’d grown up with had barely ever glared at someone in this sort of a situation.

Michael was a tiny bit surprised by it, too, but fuck it- he was fed up, tired, on the run, possibly turning into a monster, and this clerk was being completely unreasonable (in his opinion). He was having a bad day and hadn’t seen his friend in years, couldn’t he just leave them alone?

Apparently not. The manager was getting very disgruntled, and curtly acknowledged him with a steely-eyed stare, and told him that if he wanted to make a fuss over the store’s management rules, he should leave the department and go speak with the (police? Upper management? Idk).

And thus a small standoff occurs. I’m honestly impressed that the manager could remain rigid in his stance with this tall guy basically looming over him, but by god he did- and then the usual thing of “I’m going to call the cops.”

And naturally, Michael gets both upset and a bit panicked.

The guy turns away to call someone on his phone, then notices some strange movement out of the corner of his eye and turns around to see Michael, looking… definitely different from how he did before.

He’s trying hard not to look at his friend, cause he feels like if he does, he’ll scare her, but the manager is staring right at him, into his twisting face, and screams after taking a few moments to register what’s going on.

And then Michael leaves.

——————

The police get there far too late to catch him exiting the building, and naturally, daisy is a little more than a bit miffed by this.

He’s just glad he could get away at all. He’s actually unaware that the police are following him.

Thing is, he didn’t actually even hurt anyone, he just scared the manager and ran away. Supposedly, no actual harm done, (the manager’s now marked but Michael doesn’t need to know that 🫠), so the police leave.

He considers checking in to a hotel or something, but… it feels like it’s too… risky.

So he just… sleeps wherever.

It’s awful.

His friend’s probably trying to figure out where he went, just so she can understand what the heck’s going on and why the police are trying to find him, cause last she heard, he was working at the infamous “Magnus Institute”, which, as far as she understands it, is essentially a fucked-up library of weird things. So maybe things had gotten a little too weird for him, or he’d just been some kind of serial-whatever this entire time. They hadn’t even explained the situation to her when they’d questioned her about him. She fully thought she was going to be arrested as an accomplice or something, which would have been awful, but apparently all they cared about was getting him.

And she kind of wanted to know why.

I mean- look. Scaring someone’s manager with a gun or blackmail or something is one thing. But with just a look? That stuff was not normal, she knew it wasn’t, and he was gonna have to spill everything to her.

Once she could find him, at least.

She took a few days off from work to wander around and see if she could look for him in… the shops, maybe, or nearby apartments. But nothing came up. No sandy-blond-haired skinny tall bastards in the directory, or around there anywhere. (Sounded like she was ordering Starbucks or something every time she asked around about him.)

She nearly tripped over him when she was passing through (insert place name here, I really need to get a map or else I’m just going to end up playing mad libs with location names for this, lmao).

She had been trying to find a bar she thought he might be relatively more comfortable at than the others in the area. Bars in general did not seem Michael’s style, but she was running out of options, and hey, he’d obviously changed at least a little bit since she’d seen him.

But the expression on his face when he looked at her, startled, confused — hell, maybe even hopeful — was exactly the same expression he’d worn that day that the two’d met each other the first time.

They’d both been different then, in their own ways. But now, it seemed like one of them had changed… well, a little more than would be possible for the other.

Still him, though. She could be sure about that.

And he needed some help.

“Hey.” She said simply, in greeting. “No complaining, no insisting on not bothering someone, we’re going to get you a bed.”

#the magnus archives #tma #michael shelley #michael tma #tma au #tma unwinding au #unwinding au #tw police #FINALLY found the thread of the plot #it would be kinda fun to name the next chapter ‘monster house’ #just putting that in the notes so I remember #tma fic #sorta #just a draft tho #rambles