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yanderes-galore · 3 years

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Yandere! Creature x Scientist! Reader One-Shot (OLD, REVISED)

(This was written years ago, lmao, you'll probably see writing style differences)

"Creator...."

Possible Trigger Warnings: NSFW mentions, Yandere Behavior, Murder, Possessive behavior.

Log #1:

I have had the plan for a while now to make a creature out of human DNA and another component. I have been having trouble finding a suitable component, however. Another coworker I work with, going by the name Jeffrey, suggested I add the DNA to some plant based biomaterial called "Florazine". I had never heard of this biomaterial before but I heard it was relatively new. Jeffrey was even nice enough to supply a bit of his DNA as a component for the creature. I did some blood tests on him to get started. Perfect.

Log #2:

Today I am going to start making the creature. I took the Florazine and blood and carefully put it into a small test tube, swirling the tube carefully to mix things up a bit more. The solution was almost complete, but I could tell it was missing something. All living life needs to start with a fertilized egg. At the back of the storage room of chemicals and acids along with other bio materials I opened a freezer at the end of the room. A small box on one of the shelves held something valuable. Donor human eggs and sperm. I picked out a small box, containing the useful materials and walked back to my work area.

Log #3:

Finally, Florazine, human blood, sperm and an egg. I had everything I needed. I mixed the sperm with the concoction of Florazine and blood and extracted it from the test tube into a syringe. I then carefully put the needle in the egg under a microscope and injected some of the concoction in. I then put it in a test tube to start growing. I carefully put the test tube in a locked box with a heat source to warm it. Locking the box I then cleaned my work area, It was time to play the waiting game.

Log #4:

Months later we finally got a fetus for the creature. It was... Interesting. Different from a normal human fetus. More boney, underdeveloped and covered in an ink-like substance. It looked more like a puddle of goo with stained bones in it. I almost gave up on it but decided to keep going. What was this new fetus going to create if anything? I realized as it developed it would need a new place to grow, so I had Jeffrey fix up a giant tube filled with fluid to keep the baby alive. I then put the fetus in it, watching the small blackish, grey fetus float in the middle of the giant tube. It was given a feeding tube, also. Jeffrey stood by me, putting his arm around me. I smiled a bit that day.

Log #5:

More agonizingly long months passed but the growing process finally began. The creature was now able to come out of the tube. Me and Jeffery were hesitant at first, the tube now filled with the black Inky substance. We couldn't see anything. I took my clip board and prepared for notes. I jumped a little when I saw a grayish black boney hand put itself against the glass, and a skull the same color looked through the black substance at me. I shook for a bit seeing the sharp teeth. It just stared at me. I huffed and wrote "blackish gray skeleton like creature, seems to cover itself in a black ink substance. Substitute for skin?" I sighed, getting ready for the next day.

Log #6:

One thing I noticed yesterday was that the creature had mixed feelings about me leaving yesterday. It looked a combination of sad and distressed. Might just be me though. I wrote "hates being left alone" on my clipboard. I signaled Jeffery to get the testing room ready, it was time to let it out. Hours later Jeffery finally got a good living space for the creature, which we have decided to label it "Unknown" for now. I watched with Jeffery as the tube started to drain, revealing the Inky creature in all its glory. A metal hatch opened from the tube into the room we prepared. Unknown seemed hesitant at first but once seeing my smiling face, I assume, It crawled into the room leaving a sludge like trail.

Let the testing begin.

Log #7:

Testing day 1, now in session. We first decided to test what it eats. It seems it eats anything a human eats, Dairy, Fruit, Grains, Greens, Meat, ETC. But, the way it eats is interesting. It just...absorbs it into its body and gains more mass. We have not seen it excrete waste yet. For now our assumption is it doesn't. I sighed not liking this next part. This time I sent in a bunny through a hatch. Unknown looked at the hatch, the bunny, and at me with its boney skull. Unknown slinked its way to the terrified mammal and reached its hand out, patting the bunny's head. I was curious as to its nature. I had Jeffrey write on the clipboard "Compassionate to other life forms". I had the Bunny sent back through the Hatch. I noticed the creature kept staring at Jeffrey with a look of...hatred. It was odd-

Log #8:

I wanted to test the compassion of the creature again. I put on protective clothing and head gear. I was going in today. Jeffrey would be monitoring and taking notes. I opened the locked door, at first not spotting the creature. The door closed and I looked around. Black goo dripped onto my head gear. I backed away and looked up, Unknown was on the ceiling. Its left inky socket having a dull pink glow to it. I slightly waved, nervous. This was different behavior.... Unknown crawled on all fours down the wall, still leaving a trail towards me. I kept backing up, looking at Jeffrey. He looked uneasy, not sure if we should gas this creature yet. It stood, like a person, dripping the black substance from its body. I shivered. Unknown smelled like flowers. Weird for the creature's demeanor. Unknown then pounced. I screamed. Jeffrey quickly looking for the gas button. The pink glow in Unknown's socket glowed brighter as it restrained my hands with black vines. This made sense due to it being part plant due to the Florazine. The flower smell intensified as it brought its skull closer. Unknown seemed to then let out a low cooing noise, weird. Unknown was an interesting creature that seemed really attached to its creator, aka me. What seemed like hours passed of Unknown's noises and attempts at what it thinks is affection. I finally was able to go, covered in black. I exited the room and closed the automated door. I was then cleaned off. Jeffrey seemed to have the same reaction as me. Confusion.

Log #9:

It was now Jeffrey's turn to go into Unknown's room. Jeffrey seemed hesitant but I promised him if anything goes wrong I would gas the creature. He nodded and put on the protective gear. I watched him enter. This time Unknown was not on the ceiling but in a corner, slightly bigger, staring through the one way glass we had just installed. I shuddered and watched Jeffrey approach the creature. The creature slowly turned around, still in a sitting position. I heard low throaty growling arise from Unknown's inky complex. Did it just not like Jeffery? My eyes widened when inky plant like vines/tendrils constricted Jeffrey. I hovered my hand over the gas button. Unknown went closer and stared at Jeffery, still growling. Unknown's sharp teeth gleamed. I slapped the gas button and Unknown let out a screech, releasing Jeffery who coughed and booked it out the room, locking the door. We got some results today. "Subject Unknown seems to dislike Scientist Jeffrey, But seems to favor Scientist (Y/N)" "Subject Unknown has successfully grown to 8,3 at full height on two legs, which was interesting." "Subject Unknown seems to get human attraction confused with animal like possession." We learned the last one yesterday.

I put the logs I wrote down in a file marked "Subject: Unknown".

This thing was like an SCP- What have I created....

I tapped my pen on my desk, thinking of other tests before alarms went off.

"SPECIMEN BREACH IN LAB 401, SUBJECT NAME: UNKNOWN. QUARANTINE MUST OCCUR."

I quickly ran to the control room for all the labs. I looked for lab 401's quarantine button... It appeared to be broken.

"Great, just great..." I murmured and ran down the hall. I remember we put an armory in the building in case a dangerous experiment got out, for example, Unknown. I panted, hearing screams from other scientists. It's either they're panicking or getting killed. Tears pricked my eyes, thinking of my mistakes creating this creature. I finally got to the armory, Tapping in the key code as fast as I could. I needed a weapon. Unknown is too dangerous.

I grabbed an assault rifle and some high tech armor and exited the armory. Just in time to hear a scream, Jeffrey's scream. I high tailed it to the direction it came from. Jeffrey's work area. I shook my head. There was a black ink like trail that smelled like decaying leaves and meat. I cringed at the smell. I quietly opened the door. I covered my mouth at what I saw.

Jeffrey was dead alright, and Unknown was slowly absorbing the carcass. Its inky skull dripping like it was sweating and left eye socket a dull red. I readied the assault rifle. The damn sharp toothed skull saw me and a tendril snatched the gun and absorbed it. The 8 foot tall creature stared at me, cooing. I ran, the black ink slowly turning back to a flowery smell. Lilacs to be exact... It was trying to calm me. I did not succumb. I could see it slink its tall body out of the room.

I breathed and sprinted faster. There had to be something I could do to get rid of this thing. I hopped into an elevator, I needed to go up to surface level because the labs were in an underground level for this reason. I slammed the ground level button and the doors closed just as I smelled the Lilac scent and saw the pink glow. Why did I have to grab and assault rifle...This wasn't gonna do anything! I took deep breaths as the elevator went up, then stopped. Was it stuck..? I felt the elevator pull down, against its own will and the elevator box get pulled out its hold. I slammed against the doors and looked at the ceiling of the compartment. Sharp teeth slammed into the metal and peeled it open. I made myself look as small as possible, shivering. The skull from Unknown scanned the box, finally staring at me. A black soupy ink tendril wrapped around my frightened body, then lifted me to the skull. At first there was a guttural gurgle/purr. Then, words-

"Hello... Creator." It gurgled, a deep voice coming from the mass. I flinched.

"H-H-Hello...Subject Unknown----" I stuttered.

"Unknown...I have never heard you call me that, Creator. It is a nice name~" It purred once more before speaking again. "But Creator, I never knew your name. What is it?" I gulped, finding my words.

"(Y-Y/N)....Scientist (Y/N) (L/N)-" I shook. Unknown seemed content, pushing closer towards it's inky structure so that I was laying on it.

"(Y/N)...It rolls off the tongue~" It purred. "And yes Creator (Y/N), I do have one~" and with that, the creature revealed a black inky muscle, dripping and smelling like blood and flowers. I stared before closing my eyes as the tongue of Unknown glided across my face. The creature purred again.

"(Y/N)...You taste nice... But I would never consume you. You are too precious and valuable for me to do that~" the creature purred, keeping my body incased by its tendrils. "I just want to keep you forever~ As my creator~" The Lilac smell grew stronger, making me pass out.

This is probably why, Humanity should not play god.

END LOG

#yandere x reader #yandere oc

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unproduciblesmackdown · 4 years

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also i’ve been mulling over the “we’re Living ex machina!!!!” line and like, it still doesn’t make sense Really, but here’s my Afternoon Musings i guess

i’ve only actually seen ex machina once like 3 years ago but as i remember it goes a little something like This: some rando white-collar programmer guy has like, won a contest where the prize is to go hang out for maybe a few days or a week or so with this ~visionary genius~ tech dude played by oscar isaac at oscar isaac tech dude’s off-the-grid reclusive mansion or whatever.......i thiiiink the Protag Programmer won b/c his programming submission was Really Good but also maybe there’s a [randomly selected] element to it, or maybe we Think it was partly random selection but then learn it was actually All “yeah i chose you b/c your coding was the Best,” idk. doesn’t really matter but anyway yeah protag guy gets helicoptered in to the oscar isaac genius bro’s secret mansion

oscar isaac soon reveals he has this advanced ai android whomst he wants the Protagonist to study / turing test, and the protagonist does that, but during one Conversation Session with this android (who is named ava i think? and designed to Look Like a Woman oo) like the lights turn off and ava-i-think informs the protagonist she’s found a Weakness in the mansion’s security system and hackt it so that the power (and thus the Security / Monitoring Systems) shut down for a minute like this but could feasibly be thought of as a glitch and anyways she’s like yeah i have feelings and thoughts and i want to Not Be Trapped here, ya gotta help me out here buddy, and then yknow ooh the systems come back on, oscar isaac can Observe them again, intrigue.....tl;dr protag and ava keep having these short secret convos and Do plan to break her out, there’s this dramatic moment where oscar isaac (who’s natch been acting weirder and more erratic as the plot unfolds) confronts the protag after the protag has just like, tried to get him blackout smashed by Hanging Out With Him lmfao and oscar isaac is like “ooh i knew you were planning to break her out, i’m gonna stop you guys though haha pwned” but then oh further twist, turns out ava and protag Knew that was the case and were thinking one step ahead and idk but yeah they break her out and oscar isaac dies but ooh further twist!!! ava locks the protag (or well, just Does Not Unlock, As Planned) in some room and leaves the mansion and gets on the Helicopter meant to take the protag back to wherever after the planned end of his stay. and the protag is just stuck there b/c everyone else is dead and presumably he dies as ava gets to exist in the outside world now, idk, we don’t need ex machina 2 where he’s escaped or smthing lmao

and i do NOT get what winston is comparing their situation to lmfao. like, oh rian is like an advanced ai android??? if anything, her being the more like ~true believer in High Finance as a means of socially beneficial effect~ vs winston like, having the supposedly cutthroat and cold Math approach would make Him more of the ~oh no more a robot than a person~ (though i think it’s Ambiguous whether we wanna judge ava as more Scary Bad or Sympathetic).........you can’t even really make the connection that “oh no we’re being deliberately Replaced!!” b/c if winston is [protag programmer rando] and rian is [ava] and wendy is, i guess oscar isaac then, uhhhh oscar isaac most definitely did Not intend to ~replace~ the protag with ava, he very much wanted her trapped in his mansion still........and the protagonist Only got “replaced” by ava in the sense that she took his place on the helicopter out of the reclusive secret mansion. i really doubt she planned to, or would even be able to, like take over his identity/life beyond that.....certainly not his job lol like, coworkers are gonna notice you’re a different person, there was no implication the androids can like oh shapeshift their appearance or whatever, and no implications about what ava even intended to do in the Outside World which is kind of bemusing b/c like, what of the Practical Questions of being an android and needing whatever Fuel Source a robot does, idk that might’ve been addressed or smthing like “oh yeah they can just Eat,” also she clearly does not Trust People considering her only company was evil oscar isaac creator and she wasn’t interested in bringing the protag along, plus yknow the fact that she Did deliberately manipulate the protag into thinking that she wanted to escape into the world With him........but not like i guess she has any choice for any other world to escape into but the one with all the people where she pretends to be an organic human

like there is just NO point of comparison where these situations line up unless you get soooooooo like broad strokes about ex machina that you’d do better to compare your experience to Anything else lmao. like, does winston think she’s some like, ideal advanced version of him?? like you might consider a crafted AI android to be?? i don’t know but i mean i think we have a more feasible explanation for why he’s so Insistent about this totally being Ex Machina, if only b/c as a straightforward comparison i swear to god it doesn’t work lmfao None of these points line up at all with any significance that’s worth insisting on

given that winston’s Apparently Canonically meant to be crushing on rian, and we have his example of ribbing her by calling her “gal gadot’s quirky sister” which is like, okay so the dunk is “you look similar to this famous a-lister who everyone thinks is pretty” and “also you’re quirky, boom” like, i think that could easily be meant as like, a Tell that winston already ~likes~ her.............aaaand it’s also somewhat ~ambiguous~ but i mean i think it’s safe to say that in Ex Machina you may understand the protag as having Fallen For the ai android lady. so maybe we can Understand this invocation of ex machina as being like “ooh person meant to replace me is Attractive but ultimately i think this Overall Situation is a bad thing i shouldn’t feel this way i resent it” like, a bit of a Reach, but honestly it’s way more of a reach to think about applying anything else about this scenario to ex machina, so i could v much believe that the thought that went behind writing this is once again, like, “okay winston’s invoking one thing on the surface level here, but simultaneously he’s already (inadvertently probably) acknowledging like oh also i have a crush on her already”

between this episode seeming to be Setup and the [winston has a Canon crush] and the fact that it probably seems like They Will Fuck A Nonzero Number Of Times or Make Out At Least But It’s Billions So, Might Get A Humorous Cut To [Postcoital] Or A Scene Where They Arrive At Work Together Short Of Breath With Messy Hair And Hickies And Winston’s Got A Hoodie W/ “Property Of Rian” On It Until He Goes "Oh Shit Woops” And Hands It To Her And She’s Like “Oh Btw You Forgot Your Glasses.....Uh You Left Them Here On Your Desk Yesterday I Mean Of Course” And Hands Them To Him And An Unnamed Character Stands Up And Asks “Daily Poll: Who Had Sex With A Coworker Last Night” And Rian And Winston Raise Their Hands Before Going “Oh Wait” And Lowering Them With A Shake Of The Head And A Nervous Cough and i’m exaggerating but you know, the equivalent of the billions writing saying “wwinnnk” at us. i am fine with them having an unsolemn like, quasi-rivals-to-lovers (or -And-lovers) dynamic, even with it being a bit messy in like, still an overall Fun way, where yknow it doesn’t have to be peak epic romance cuz a) that’s just Always true and yet it can still be overall an okay thing even if they don’t quite get it together / mostly just trade sparks and sometimes hook up and b) idk seems like mayybe rian’s character isn’t meant to go beyond this season, so, an inherent limit there if true

i’m like Apologetic for being like “already i like their dynamic even as Romantique and it’s kinda cute and fun and i’m willing to continue to be engaged w/ this as long as the writing doesn’t completely fuck it up” lmao like, i guess i Did inadvertently give myself time to prepare for this exact eventuality b/c of wondering if this exact character would have A Thing w/ winston whenever she showed up and even if i was like “haha the character could show up Anywhere and do Anything and what are the odds, right” i was also like “hmm but i’m going to really think about it though” like, as always, didn’t think i was cassandraing that hard, but truly did do it 4x03 style where everyone else can be like “you never [made the text post or gave any indication you were thinking about “what if whoever she plays and winston have some kind of romance thing going on”]” and i can go “i only thought it but didn’t say it....doesn’t count” but well. i did think it lmao and why would i make it up.......sorry i had such a head start on Getting More Used To This Notion.......some crimes can never be forgiven.meme.......

anyways natch “intense horrible passionate” seems a little foreboding but maybe she was talking about it relative to [any Normal show] rather than the standards we’re used to on billions, where this was all but a Meet Cute, and a kind of quasi coworker rivalry where nobody’s taking it *that* deeply seriously and they also seem to mutually like each other by the end of 5x05 already so how not-amicable can it get. and re: Intense like, maybe the writing in future episodes will totally upend this, but i’d say rian and winston in 5x05, even when “clashing,” was like damn near laidback and chill. neither of them seem at all that pressed, but maybe even a sorta-playful Friendly Rivalry is more “intense” than, say, a dynamic that involves no rivalry at all. imo “Passionate” is just like, okay, so they’ll fuck or at least make out? sure. not sure what to make of “horrible” lmfao maybe again it’s addressing like “this is a lil messy and they’re kinda rivals!!!” like, certainly not an ideal start, except by billions standards it IS weirdly great. rian seeming good-naturedly amused by winston is something we didn’t get from his longtime-coworkers until like, now, sort of, and still not to the degree that anyone has smiled at him as many times as rian did in like that course of [1 min long First Scene Together] wherein also winston always gets off to a way worse start with people lmao............like everything about this seems Way Better And More Dialed Back And Grounded than usual, actually. but it’s that like, point of reference of “what’s Usual for winston and, more broadly, Billions” that maybe explains this weirdly strong language when all in 5x05 seemed chill actually

anyways like i said Sorry For Already Liking Rian/Winston This Much with my head start and all where like, i’m even tentatively looking forward to seeing where this goes, by “tentative” i also mean going [”i’ll kill you” the office.jpg] at billions where i am fully aware that maybe where this goes *is* a mess and not in like, just kind of a fun, non-melodramatic, not-treated-like-a-total-joke-but-also-not-that-big-a-deal way, where 5x05 could seem like Those Halcyon Days b/c everything from here out just devolves into an unappealing disaster.......but this is an unexpectedly solid start imo and like. even if this doesn’t become like this epic romance where they officially date and if rian does eventually depart the show by the end of the season, it can still just be Enjoyable and Fun for the characters and, god forbid, the viewers, where like, you don’t have to demand we be desperately invested with our entire life in this deadly serious heartwrenching epic romance, they can just kind of mess around and enjoy having a mutual attraction w/ this mathy rivalry and etc and it’s neither a tragedy of “the greatest love story of all time torn asunder” Or, truly god forbid,” this is a Whole Mess In A Bad Way b/c winston’s involved and ugh who could Really like him, being at all romantically entangled is an embarrassing mistake surely, ew cringe we hate him............like, cautiously optimistic in how like i always say that a Romantic Arc is just an easy/efficient way to develop both characters and it could certainly humanize winston an ounce in a show that treats him more like a walking algorithmic plot device and the thoughts of any viewers but us are limited to “winston annoying” basically........the show doesn’t seem to treat rian as a joke, so it seems possible that their mutual Romance in whatever way it unfolds could also be Not A Joke, which means winston’s part in it isn’t a joke, so that’s Some aspect of him for people to take seriously, for once..........like, the way his apparently-already-official crush played out in 5x05 *was* funny but it also didn’t seem like oh it’s a joke b/c his feelings are a total joke......it might seem that way if this *was* totally unrequited and going nowhere, but i somewhat get the sense that the interest is mutual even by the end of the ep, that didn’t strike me as a “shove off, it could Never Happen” shutdown from rian there, just like, hold off on that for rn maybe cue to rein it in a little, not just yet........anyways lmao i’m like “oh yeah i started this post about the baffling ex machina thing” but yeah the point is i think so far it’s pretty solid and i like it and am cautiously but [relative-to-billions level of Hopeful] about whatever developments we’re surely gonna get b/c it def sounds like this has Not ended with 5x05, but seriously @ billions i swear to god. yes so far the approach to winston’s crush here and even their unfolding mutual dynamique and dare i say, romantic interest, is being handled with an encouraging level of “this is Humorous but the characters / their feelings are not what’s being treated as A Total Joke or anything,” but who knows what will come next, this is billions and you can’t predict anything. fingers crossed about it all, though

#winston billions #i'm enjoying what we have so far anyways While I Can #still billions-grade Hopeful that it will continue to be enjoyable.......#i can imagine that things could continue to unfold in a fairly cute & fun way. i am already somewhat Doing So b/c i like them enough already #have enough gentle optimism that i absolutely can be let down by next week's developments...........We Shall See #seriously just tl;dr i'm not the least bit sure what the ex machina thing means. tentative ''it's as much a Clue that winston already kinda #is crushing as much as idk.....meaning anything else at all'' lmao.........like okay whatever it's billions just roll w/ the weird refs #like the seeming nascar-or-whatever related one whomever taylor was talking about tony womsthever from 2005?? i didnt research too much into #that like i don't need to know cuz idc and Why Would They.....maybe it's like wendy making the unnecessary metallica reference 4 sec later #where everyone's just automatically in [unnecessary references] mode.........#riawin

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ricekrispyjoints · 4 years

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3 and/or 11 for the sappy prompts blease I'm soft (pick whatever fandom/pairing u want)

listen i tried to give u soft uwus and i think i kind of did but i also feel like a tease so sorry about that...

anyway since i already wrote 11, i picked 3 “It’s always been you” for royai which i’ve never written before, and maybe read like 3 fics fo them too so lmao what am i doing

ANYWAY PLS ENJOY

Roy removedhis reading glasses and sighed heavily, pushing away from his desk.

It’s lateat night—hours after he told himself he would stay—and the only source of lightcomes from the small banker’s lamp on his desk.

His mind issluggish from the hours of reading and analyzing and thinking. He rubs his eyesin the vain attempt to clear the bleariness.

It’s nightslike this that make Roy long for something else.

He doesn’thave regrets, per se, but he can’t help but feel like he’s missing something inhis life.

Like havinga life outside of work.

That’salways been his problem, though, he supposes.

He doesn’tfeel young anymore; not with everything that’s happened. He had so much energy,so much anger and drive, but now, in the aftermath of dismantling of agovernment he feels like he’s aged thirty years.

Given hisnew reading glasses, he almost believes he did.

“Go home,Sir.”

[read on ao3]

Roystartles at the voice, but there’s only one person who would be here this late.

“You’re oneto talk,” he says, clearing his throat.

“I cameback because I knew you were still here,” she says, voice softening.

“I have aphone.”

“You and Iboth know that if I had called, you would have assured me that you wereleaving, and then stayed another hour or three.”

Riza stepsmore fully into the light, traces of circles under her eyes, but the samecomposure as always.

“That’sprobably fair,” Roy laughs.

“Come on.I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

“Thought Iwas supposed to be going home?”

Riza archesan eyebrow. “I’ll make you the cup of tea at home.”

He’ssurprised, to say the least, but he’s not going to risk saying anything thatwill make her retract the offer, so he tidies the papers on his desk, grabs hisjacket and hat, and turns out the light.

The nightair feels crisp and clean in his lungs, and the clack, clack, clack of theirboots against the cobblestones is rhythmic and synchronized in a soothing way.

They walkclosely but never touching, and Roy can’t help but wonder what would happen ifhe reached out, let their arms brush, took her hand…

She’dprobably break my fingers, he thinks with a derisive snort.

“Somethingfunny, Sir?” she asks.

“Just had athought.”

“Don’t hurtyourself.”

Roy laughslightly, but doesn’t press it.

They arriveat his apartment shortly thereafter.

Riza hasbeen here before, and she moves as naturally as if it were home toward thekitchen. She picks out two cups, fills the kettle, and lights the stove.

Roy removeshis jacket slowly, placing it on the hall tree. He places his briefcase on atable and then walks slowly to the kitchen to join Riza.

“I’m makinga tisane so it doesn’t keep you awake,” she says simply.

“I don’thave any tisanes.”

Riza slidesa box toward him. It looks like it was just purchased. “Chamomile and linden.”

Wordlessly,Roy prepares the teas, and when the water boils, Riza pours two equal cupsneatly, and they sit, holding their cups that are too hot to drink from justyet.

“Why did—”Roy starts.

“You haveto—" Riza says at the same time. “Ah, go ahead.”

“No,please. You first.”

“You haveto take better care of yourself,” Riza says.

Roy sighs.“But that’s what I have you for.”

She glaresat him, though it lacks the usual intensity. “That’s not my job.”

“You’reright. It’s not. And yet here we are.”

“Bad habit,I suppose,” Riza says.

It is a badhabit, Roy supposes. She’s had to bail him out of trouble for years, to varyingdegrees. She’s kept watch over him through so much. Roy knows for a fact hewould be dead if it weren’t for her.

He wouldalso be more miserable than he is.

Asprofessional as Riza insists on keeping things, Roy likes to believe there’s slightlymore to their relationship than commanding officer and subordinate.

He hopeshe’s not deluding himself.

They’vespent what Roy would consider intimate evenings together: just the two of them,working silently across the room, the only noise coming from the shuffling ofpapers and the scratching of pens.

She’salways taken care of him, and Roy likes to think that, especially recently,he’s gotten better at returning the favor.

He bringsher lunch every day except for Wednesday, when she has a standing lunch with afriend.

He leavesbooks he thinks she might enjoy on her desk.

He alwaysmakes sure to carry her favorite type of pen on him, since it’s the favorite ofmost of their coworkers and thus tends to get misplaced (read: stolen).

Despite theupheaval in regimes, Roy remains her superior—her direct superior atthat—and he knows that no matter her personal feelings for him, her sense ofpropriety would prevent her from ever even so much as admitting it.

And yet,here they are, in his kitchen as they’ve been many times. She’s come to hisoffice, dragged him home, made him tea.

This is nota superior-subordinate relationship.

This is nother job.

So why…?

“How did weget here?” Roy asks, testing the waters.

“We walked,Sir,” Riza snarks.

He shootsan unimpressed look at her. “You know what I’m asking.”

“Maybe Idon’t want to answer.” She takes a long sip of her tea.

That catches his interest. “Why not?”

“Don’t makeme say it,” she says, her voice low and measured.

“Humor me?”

She setsher teacup down, fixing him with a long stare. “You entrusted me, long ago,with watching your back.”

“I don’tthink dragging me out of the office to make me calming tea is really part of ‘watchingmy back’.”

“Perhapsnot in the sense you meant it, no,” she agrees. “But I chose to re-interpret ithow I saw fit.”

“Whichmeans?”

“There’smore than one way to watch over you,” she says simply.

“Thingshave changed quite a bit since I first asked you to watch my back.”

“All themore reason for me to adapt my actions.”

“Some mightsay that dragging me home for tisanes and to tuck me in at night goes beyondeven an updated interpretation of your directive,” Roy says carefully.

She liftsher chin, defiant. “I’m dedicated to my work.”

“So you dothis to your other colleagues as well?” Roy asks with a smirk.

“Of coursenot, none of the others need this much attention.”

“I wouldn’tbe too sure, I saw Fuery trip up a hill yesterday, maybe he needs morehelp than I do.”

“You knowit’s always been you,” Riza says, voice turning more serious. “And after everythingwe’ve been through, it will always be you.”

“Alwaysbeen me… for what?”

“Everything,I suppose. Our situation is complicated, I know. And it always has been.Military hierarchy, life and death situations… but throughout it all, there’salways been you: at the center, at the forefront. How could I ever abandonthat?”

“I’m not askingyou to abandon it,” Roy rushes to say. “The opposite, actually.”

“You’reasking me for a commitment I can’t give you,” she says, and Roy doesn’t thinkhe’s imagining the sadness in her voice.

“No, I… Iunderstand.”

“Not yet,at least,” she says, trying to hide the small smile that tugs at the corner ofher lips.

It soundslike a promise.

#FMA fic #my writing #royai fic #royai #sappyprompts #writing mood #frenchibi

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actuallyspencerreid · 6 years

Text

A Thousand Words

A/N: This is the longest thing I’ve ever done but I just didn’t want to break it into multiple parts. I really like this one and I hope you guys do too!

Requested by You already know! @mantlereid (one day Imma release all of her original requests and y’all can tell me if you think I stuck to the script or not lmao.)

Word Count: 2.7k

Tags: @the-unfortunate-fangirl @cynbx @princesswagger15 @obsessivereader36 @hearts-to-the-sky @mantlereid @dreamxcollide @qu3n-elizab3th @hiya-imthatgirl @literallyprentissstwin @bauboywonder @everyday-imfangirling @spencerreidreads @spencerreidobsessed @alixcharmedworld @writer-of-camelot @grubler

-----

The office was oddly quiet. The team had just gotten back from a case, so everyone was catching up on paperwork. Of course, you’d finished yours already because you actually like paperwork. Unfortunately though, that meant that were just fiddling your thumb. JJ had taken a few days off to be with her family and Tara was doing a psych evaluation in Chicago, so you didn’t have anyone to talk to.

Your boyfriend sat across from you, eyebrows pulled together as he filled out his reports. You grabbed your camera and snapped a few candid shots.

“Smile.”

Spencer looked up at you, irritation etched on his face. “Don’t you have paperwork to be doing?”

“I finished a few minutes ago.” You looked at him through the lens of your camera and snapped a picture. “Plus, you look so pretty when you’re focusing on things.”

You took a few more shots as his head dipped back down to focus on his paperwork. “Stop, (Y/N). I’m serious.”

“C’mon Spence, just one smile.”

“I said stop!” He startled you, slamming his pen on his desk. “Your stupid hobby isn’t helping anything! It’s not changing anything! Seven people are still dead and their killer is still on the loose! Come out from behind that camera and smell the dead roses for once!”

You could practically hear you heart beating in your chest, eyes welling with tears. Spencer never snapped, especially not at you. Everyone around you had stopped what they were doing to look up at the source of the commotion. Minding your surroundings, you swallowed thickly and stood.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered before disappearing towards the break room.

“What the hell was that?” Matt asked him quietly.

“She’s always in my face with that damn camera.” Spencer didn’t look up at his colleague, almost afraid of what he would see.

“She’s your girlfriend!” Matt was trying to keep his voice down. “Reid, we all see a lot of bad things out there. Taking photos of you and this team is how she copes with it. Sure it’s a little irritating at times, but it’s how she gets through the day.”

“You screamed at her and she’s the one who apologized.” Spencer actually looked up at Luke. “You gotta apologize man.”

“Research confirms that women tend to apologize much more frequently than men do. Recent studies have shown that this is because they feel that they commit more offenses, when in reality it’s just society dictation of what is considered offensive from men and women. Men are just as likely as women to apologize for a given offense, but their threshold for what they consider an offense is lower.”

Matt and Luke shared a look of disbelief before both rising from their seats. “You’re impossible man.”

Matt made his way to the breakroom, where he found you picking at a muffin as tears slowly fell down your face. He took a seat on next to you and placed a comforting hand on your back.

“Are you okay?”

You shook your head, reaching up to wipe your face. “You would tell me the truth, right?”

“Of course.” You looked over at him with a small smile.

“Are you guys irritated by my photography?” You were almost scared of his answer, but you needed to hear it.

His next words were hesitant. “Sometimes it feels like you’re being a touch oblivious. I don’t agree with what he did, but he’s kind of right. Pictures of us aren’t going to erase what’s going on out there.”

You nodded, standing. Wiping away the evidence of your meltdown, you took a deep breath and thanked your coworker. Matt tried to call you back, tried to reassure you, but you just thanked him and headed for Emily’s office.

“I’ve finished with my paperwork. Is it okay if I go home?”

“Of course.” She gave you a sad smile. “I heard what happened. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You left before she could ask anymore questions. You were careful not to look at Spencer as you made your way to your desk and grabbed your things.

“(Y/N)...” he started quietly as he watched you carefully pack your camera.

“Don’t worry about it.” You bid him, Matt and Luke farewell before leaving briskly.

-----

The next day at work was quiet. JJ and Tara were still gone, so you decided to spend the day going over a few of your unsolved case files in a Penelope’s office. You were knee deep in the middle of a slasher case when Spencer stepped in.

“Garcia, can you --” He stopped when he saw you. “(Y/N). I didn’t know that you were here today. Your camera wasn’t on your desk.”

“Cold cases.” You gestured towards the board you’d set up and turned back to it, effectively cutting off the conversation. He searched his mind for something to say to you, but decided against it.

“Did you need my help, Boy Wonder?” Penelope grabbed his attention. He nodded, gathering himself to return to his task. You purposely ignored their conversation, racking your brain to connect the dots in your case.

When he left, you released the breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

“He’s so smart, but so dumb.” Penelope tried to make you laugh, but it didn’t help all that much. Your heart still ached after what happened yesterday. You’d spent the night alone at your apartment for the first time since you’d started dating Spencer. Getting ready for work that morning, you’d made the conscious decision to just leave your camera at home.

“He was right though.” You sat next to her, leaning your head on her shoulder. “Nothing I do is going to erase the fact that there are people out there dying. I’m an FBI agent, not Annie Leibovitz. My job is solely to stop the bad guys, not record the good ones.”

“Oh Sugar Plum.” She stroked your hair gently. “Don’t let this job make you jaded. If taking dumb pictures of these dumb people that you love is what makes you happy, then to hell with what they think. Find a new muse and move on.”

You smiled, turning to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “I love you, Penelope Garcia.”

“I know.”

-----

Leaving work that night, you tried to slip out of the office without anyone noticing. No such luck.

“Hey hot stuff!” You groaned silently as Luke drew attention to you. Turning, you gave him a strained smile. “We missed you down here today. Tara just got back from Chicago so we were gonna go pick her up from the airport and head out for a drink. You in?”

“Thanks, but I’m exhausted.” You left without another word.

He turned to Spencer, but the doctor just gave him a shrug. “I tried to talk to her. Twice. She shut me down both times.”

“Try harder.”

Spencer looked at the photo on his desk. It had been an anniversary gift from you just a few months ago. You were smiling at the camera, but he’d been looking down at you with as much love as he could feel. It wasn’t the picture that got to him so much as the frame, gold with the words “You’re My Forever” imprinted at the bottom. Sighing, he quickly gathered his stuff and ran after you.

“(Y/N)!” He reached out to stop the elevator doors from closing, slipping in next to you.

“Dr. Reid.” You addressed him quietly.

“Your place?”

“Sure.” Neither of you spoke again as you walked to your car and drove home.

“It’s a bit of a mess.” You kicked your shoes off as you stepped inside, hanging your jacket up on the back of the door.

He took your bag from you. “I’m sorry about screaming at you yesterday.”

“It’s fine.” He followed you to the bedroom.

“It’s not fine, (Y/N).” He sat on the bed as you disappeared into the closet to change. “This last case really got to me, but I shouldn’t have taken out on you. I’m sorry.”

“Forgiven.” You wouldn’t meet his eye as you stepped back into the room and began picking things up from the ground. He watched for a moment before sighing in frustration.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Spence.”

“No something’s up.” He stepped in front of you before you could bend over again, hands on your arms. “Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

“Stop pushing me Spencer!” You yanked away from him, crossing your arms over your chest protectively. “You apologized. I forgave you. What more do you want from me?”

“I want you to talk to me!” He ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. “You haven’t said more than a handful of words to me all day. No one even knew you were at work today, and when they realized that you were, they could see that you were acting weird. I’m trying to be understanding and talk, but you’re pushing me away! First the stupid pictures and now this. I don’t know why I put up with any of it!”

He stormed out. You broke, crying when you heard the front door slam. You chucked a pillow at the door with a scream. Climbing into bed, you cried yourself to sleep yet again.

-----

You woke up to the sound of your phone going off. With a groan, you reached for the device.

“Hello?”

“Hey sunshine.” Your mind perked at the smooth sound of Derek’s voice. “Want to come open your front door for me?”

“Should be unlocked.”

He hung up. You heard the door open, then heavy footsteps. There was a dip on the bed as he sat at the end. “Where’s the Kid?”

“Don’t know.” You sat up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. “Fight last night. He left.”

“Garcia told me that you guys might be having some issues?” You sighed, nodding. “Why didn’t you call? I don’t live that far.”

“You have a family of your own to worry about.” You reach out and gave his cheek a loving pat. “Thank you for coming, but I can take care of my relationship issues.”

“Oh I’m not here because of your relationship.” He help up his phone and it took a moment for your eyes to adjust. “I’m here because I got an event reminder on my phone about a certain genius’ birthday party tonight and I came to see if his lady needed any help with set up.”

“I forgot about his party tonight!” You scrolled through the notifications on your phone, noticing the multiple messages asking if the party was still on. “Spencer hates parties anyway. Is it too late to cancel?”

“Definitely.”

You closed your eyes and fell back against the pillows. “Give me ten minutes to get dressed. Then we can go to Party City.”

-----

Spencer stared at your apartment building as the sun began to set behind him. When he’d gotten the notification on his phone that morning, he’d debating calling you about it, but decided not to. He knew he was being unfair and childish, and it was time for him to face the music.

“You’ve got a real good woman up there.” Luke stepped up next to his coworker, arm linked to Penelope’s. “Don’t lose her.”

Spencer nodded and let them walk in front of him and up to your apartment. The door was slightly ajar and he could hear music and laughter coming from inside. He was hesitant to follow Penelope and Luke inside, and they were all surprised by what they saw.

There were pictures hanging all over the walls on strings of lights. Some were candids, some were posed. As the trio moved closer to the living room, the photos got more and more recent. Spencer immediately realized that they were telling a story, their story, in chronological order. Before he turned the corner to the living room, he was stopped by the photo you’d taken yesterday of him working.

All of the chatter ceased when he stepped into the room. His eyes locked onto yours quickly.

“I’d already developed them.” You explained. “I didn’t want them to go to waste. Plus, I figured if anyone saw anything they liked, they could take them. I’m sorry if you hate it. I just wanted to do something special, I’m sorry.”

Spencer’s heart ached as his eyes swept the room. There were bigger prints framed around the room, primarily featuring him. Guilt filled his chest and he had tears in his eyes as he realized just how talented you were. Before today, you very rarely showed the pictures that you took, for fear that they weren’t as good as you thought them to be.

“I need some air.” You whispered before he could say anything, stepping away from the group and out onto the balcony.

“I’m an asshole.” His voice cracked as he looked at the team.

“Only if you stay in here.” Spencer gave Will a nod and quickly followed you out into the brisk October air.

You heard him come out. “I’m sorry if you hate it. I’ll take them all down before the night is over.”

“Don’t.” You turned to him and his heart broke when he noticed that you’d been crying. “Don’t take them down. They’re so beautiful.”

“No, you were right.” You shivered slightly, wrapping your arms around yourself. “It’s stupid and irritating.”

He stepped close and pulled you into him. “No I wasn’t. I was upset and being a jerk. What you’ve done tonight shows beauty and talent and dedication and I’m the world’s biggest idiot for not seeing that. Nothing I could ever say or do will ever being able to convey just how sorry I am for what I said to you. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide who you are from me.”

You relaxed into him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“I love you so much.” He kissed the top of your head as you gently swayed together.

You could have stayed there forever, but you heard the balcony door slide open a few minutes later. You both turned to see Matt standing there with a small smile.

“Were you guys planning on freezing out here or were you coming back to the party?” You both laughed.

“Give us a second.” Spencer turned back to you and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. “Thank you for my party.”

“I can’t take all the credit. Derek came and lit a fire under my ass this morning.”

“Maybe I should go in and thank him.” You laughed as your boyfriend wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. He lead you back into your apartment, where your friends were dancing around playfully.

As the night wound down, you gave everyone a tour through the photos. It helped that Spencer had an eidetic memory as he helped to fill in any story gaps that you might have missed. Everyone shared a moment of silence for Hotch, who had taken Jack on vacation a few days ago and therefore was unable to make it to the party. By the end of the night, half of your photos had disappeared.

“This party was beautiful,” JJ said as she hugged you at the door.

“The photos were amazing.” Will pressed a soft kiss to your cheek before shaking Spencer’s hand. “Might have to hire you to get some shots of the boys.”

“Anytime.”

You leaned into your boyfriend as the last of your friends left. He tried to lead you to bed, but you stopped him.

“I got you a gift, but I wanted to wait until we were alone to give it to you.” You stepped into the closet and retrieved the neatly wrapped book. Hesitantly, you handed it to him.

He very carefully unwrapped it. On the cover was the same photo of the two of you that sat on his desk, a golden SR engraved on the bottom right corner. He slowly flipped through the pages that were filled with photos of the two of you. There was small accent and captions on some of the pictures. He didn’t realize he’d been crying until a tear dropped onto the laminate page.

“This is beautiful.” He whispered as you sat next to him.

“You know what they say.” You reached up to stroke his cheek and he leaned into your hand. “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

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segadores-y-soldados · 6 years

Text

Personal and Fic Updates

Hey everyone!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these personal update messages. I’m trying to get my stuff in order but life continues to outpace me, it seems.

The quick and dirty: Fic Stuff:

Moira has been integrated into the overarching plot of “And Overwatch For All”

Because of this, I am currently rewriting major portions of Old Habits. Yesterday, I finished a major rewrite of chapter 10 (the “evil council is introduce” chapter). I have the majority of chapter 11′s rewrite done and hope to finish that today as well. With luck, I will start working on a rewrite of Chapter 13.

Shockingly, I’m keeping a lot of the “present day” plot elements the same (aka, all the stuff leading up to Recall). But several major “past events” have changed, including Reaper/Gabriel’s backstory.

More on this later. I will also be writing a separate post JUST for fic stuff, if you prefer to read only that.

Personal Stuff:

Extra expenses have started showing up in my life. Details are under the cut.

My job has not yet promoted me and a coworker the way they said they would in the timeframe they gave us (1 year). Because of this, I am starting the job hunt again.

I have created a Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ)

More under the cut

Alright, so here’s the longer version of what my last like...three months have been like, with both personal/work stuff and fandom stuff.

Personal life/Work:

I have said this in a few places, but I currently work as an entry-level archaeologist for a state department in California. Full disclosure: I and my fellow coworker are underpaid for our work, which is as variable as conducting documentation research through databases and organizing research on behalf of our higher-level archaeologist and historian supervisors to performing surveys and actual fieldwork digs in every type of weathers in California. As an example, two weeks ago (the week of Thanksgiving here in the U.S.), myself and one of my supervisors did an 8 hour fieldwork day which consisted of 3-4 hours of surveying through waist-high grass in pouring rain at 55 degrees F/12 degrees C. This upcoming week, I and (other underpaid) coworker will be doing two 12-hour days of construction monitoring. Our work consists of traveling all over the state, with driving that can take a full day to get to a work destination (these are charged to work, don’t worry - I don’t have to pay for that, thank god).

The reason I’m explaining this is because this is a huge reason why some days (or even some weeks) my activity on tumblr, twitter, and AO3 will take a straight nosedive. On Thursday of this past week, I spent 8-10 hours without checking my phone and came home to 4 missed calls, 8 “active chats” on messenger, 600 messages on discord, and basically a whole day of “social media-ing” missed out.

If you’re rolling your eyes over this, I get it, I really do - it sounds like all the stuff that older people complain millennials “overvalue,” but (for example) one of those phone calls was from my dentist’s office saying that they will not serve me because (after three months of them NOT checking) they realized that I don’t have the right dental insurance for them.

Fun.

I don’t make enough money to switch to higher, “better services” health and dental insurance, but since I work a job that requires physical labor, I’m scared to cut them from my life. Said coworker twisted his ankle earlier this year, and work only compensated him for 1 week of “missed” work, when in reality he was walking with a slight limp for 2-3 weeks. Because of our low-level, we are not given access to benefits that many other state workers get.

Moreover, our sub-department has been promising that the two of us would get promoted “within the year.” We reached a year working with them in mid-November, and that promise still hasn’t been reached.

So in terms of my personal life, I’m at a cross-roads: I will tell them that they need to promote us, even to the next “low-level position” because that will give us just a few more $/hour which will help A LOT when accumulated, or I’m going to tell them that I’ll have to search for something else.

On top of this, my parents have decided it’s time for me to “pay rent” to live at home with them - a discussion we, frankly, haven’t had on a serious level yet and one which blindsided me this morning. I am looking into my options but without a better job, they’re not good.

This also doesn’t cover whatever it will take to help me start the legal and medical processes of transitioning, which are, frankly, the main things I’ve been saving money for.

What does this mean:

I’m looking for places to cut costs, but the combination of current expenses + what my parents want from me will take 1/3 to 1/2 of my current monthly paycheck. I already spend next to nothing on personal stuff, so all my current expenses are “necessities” such as food, gas, and insurance. I’m looking to cut down on gas costs but it may be awhile before my daily schedule gets adjusted.

The alternate is taking a second job that will permit me to only work my free three days a week.

Doing this means I will have zero time to write or produce content.

For now, I’m not jumping out to do that. I’ve made a Ko-Fi account (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ) that I would greatly appreciate any spare money you’re willing to contribute. Something as simple as a few dollars can go to me covering the cost of my health insurance per month, while I figure out the bigger problems of searching for a job.

The reason why I started with this is because:

Fic Stuff/Writing Stuff:

I do the equivalent of 3-4 full days of “writing” for fandom stuff per week: on my days off, I can write anywhere from 8 to 14 hours a day. Using just Friday and yesterday as an example, I wrote 9k words, and with whatever I do today, I will likely push that to about 11-12k.

Yes, it is all voluntary, and I do not have to write at the pace that I do, nor the amount that I do. I do it because I enjoy it, and because, honestly, writing for Overwatch has given me some of the biggest joys and happiness I have felt in like, a decade. And that includes writing the long essays. My last big R76 post (http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167321630835/everything-you-want-to-know-about-reaper-and) spans a whopping 67 pages and 7.5k words in Google Docs (that includes pictures and sources/credits/links/references).

Again, this isn’t to brag, but just to put my writing into perspective, I guess. This is the equivalent of doing a second part-time job, which was something I attempted last year but was unable to balance my current archaeology job + a part-time retail job + writing. I dropped the second one because, at the time, I finally had the luxury to choose a job in my profession and writing on the side. This is a luxury I was fortunate to enjoy for the first half of 2017, but it is steadily becoming undoable as my work increases my responsibilities without increasing my pay.

Fic Updates:

For those of your who have been waiting patiently for information on “And Overwatch for All” I do have some good news that I’m finally ready to share:

Moira has been integrated into the plot.

I got a number of comments here and on twitter that were really supportive of my current version of “AOFA” and I just want to say, thank you all so much. It means a lot to me that you guys have liked the version of Overwatch I’ve built up and that you found all the characters, including my silly OCs, to be engaging and well-written. It was soul-crushing to think I would have to lose some of them, but after some time and doing more research on Moira, I feel ready to talk more about her and how she’s going to factor into the updated plot.

To start off with:

None of the OCs will be cut, but some of their roles will change.

Lmao, this surprised me as well, but I’ve figured out a few different ways to make all of the OCs, especially the very obviously contrived “Death Agents,” stick around in the updated plot.

Only one OC (and you can probably guess who, if you’ve started “New Wars”) will change names: the character called “Reaper” in “New Wars Chapter 1″ (the “young Hanzo chapter”) will be called “Reaver.” This is due to his updated role in the plot. His background has changed only slightly.

If it wasn’t apparent, this “Reaper” was meant to act as a plot device to cause confusion over Gabriel/Reaper’s actions after the fall of Overwatch, but that has changed because:

I’m switching to Crisis-era and “undercover mercenary” Reaper.

If you’ve read some of my more recent posts on Moira, you’ll know that I’ve switched over to supporting the idea that “something went wrong with Gabriel Reyes during SEP/the Crisis.” This is due to the fact that you can find a folder labeled “Soldier ID: 24″ in Moira’s Oasis lab, that Michael Chu said that Reyes was interested in getting her help on “matters of genetics,” and that this appears to mesh the “Reaper has existed for decades” concept in Reaper’s hero profile.

Truth be told, I’ve actually been a supporter of this idea of “Gabriel has been Reaper behind the scenes for decades” plot point for a long, long time, almost as long as I’ve been posting Old Habits. “Reaper”/“Reaver” was semi-messy OC that attempted to bridge Reaper’s original hero profile with the “Old Soldiers” explanation that Gabriel/Reaper gave that “Jack and Overwatch ‘left [him] to suffer.’” However, I also knew when writing Old Habits that the “Mercy is evil” theory was ALSO not true, so I was kinda stuck:

“If Gabriel = Reaper for decades, why did he appear to blame Jack and Overwatch for his current condition?”

My original solution was to make “Reaper” a different character and have him operating the situation in the background (like a mystery story), but over time this solution got trickier and trickier to work with. With Moira, I have a chance to rework much of Old Habits/AOFA to better suit some of the details that have come out since drafting it.

This does mean, unfortunately, that all the “76+127″ content is going to become its own, standalone series.

To switch over to integrating “Soldier: 24,” the “76+127″ stories will have to become their own standalone series. Don’t worry - I’m not deleting anything. Old content from “Old Habits” will be moved to their own fics, so you can read the whole thing in chronological order.

A new version of my updated ideas on SEP has already started being drafted. Writing it out is just a matter of time at this point, haha.

The conspiracy/Talon council “mysteries” will become more transparent almost immediately.

With Moira, I finally get the chance to explore some of my ideas in “full format” instead of the kinda awkward “Sombra hacking a chat log” parts yall originally got. This DOES mean that written portions will suddenly be much, MUCH longer. For example:

Old Habits original chapter 10 (Sombra hacks an SSO chat log): 17 pages

Old Habits revised chapter 10 (Moira discusses the Route 66 battle with council members + Sombra hacks a chat log): closer to 34 pages

The explosion fight has been changed.

Because of the changes to Gabriel’s plot, the nature of the explosion fight between him and Jack has changed significantly. It does incorporate new information that Moira revealed.

If it wasn’t obvious, I’ve had a draft version of my ideas for the fight sitting in GDocs for about a year now, and I use that for all my flashback/memories, and also for when Reaper and Soldier: 76 are arguing in the present. There was a major plot point in the explosion fight that I was extremely uncomfortable with, but found it to be “solid angst material.” In retrospect, I dislike this plot point and have removed it for another plot point that sits better with me, and fits the overall story more comfortably (I think).

So yes, I DO have a new draft of the explosion fight - written completely from scratch, 100% different in tone and emotionality. Parts of this should begin to show in updates to Chapter 13, when Soldier: 76/Jack reflects on some of the fight.

The Goal:

The goal for AOFA right now is to update Old Habits in “two big batches” - update the first half (Chapters 1 - 15) within 1 - 2 weeks, and then update the second half (Chapters 16 - 31) shortly after. Optimistically, before January, but realistically, closer to late-January/early-February.

Thanks for sticking with me - both with this post, and with my life changes. Things are incredibly and often overwhelmingly busy for me, and I don’t really know where many of these things (both personal stuff and fic stuff) will end up. I really do appreciate any and all support, even if I’m not able to respond to comments. You guys make it worthwhile to keep writing, and I apologize for how distant I’ve been with this stuff.

#personal #my essays #my writing #an update #ko-fi #segadores y soldados #long post

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