#It took us so long to even be classified and seen as people and now this :)

[rahabs]

Nova Scotia really went with “indigenous people with uteruses”, huh.  Yeah, as an indigenous woman that doesn’t make me feel dehumanized at all.  Why would it, with how well Canada’s medical system has clearly always treated indigenous women :)  Also found “indigenous birthing people”.  So inclusive and not at all dehumanizing.

[intrinsicepiphany]

Okay tumblr lets talk theories again.

(my brain rot + knowledge of religion has me all up in Hazbin Hotel right now.)

Today I want to talk Biology! Mostly because I made the poor choice of going to Twitter's chaggie tag and looking at the comments...

So can we discuss Why do so many people keep trying to apply HUMAN biology to the Half-Demon Nephillim daughter of an Arch-Angel?!

Okay I'll start at the begining and work my way to the reasons why if Charlie really wants a kid with Vaggie both of them being assigned female at creation probably isn't going to matter.

Let's start with Lucifer!

So as far as has been shown in the show Lucifer is an original Archangel even down to his lovely 6 red wings. This makes him one of the most powerful beings in heaven.

(If we go by bible text he was actually a favorite until his dreams of free will led him astray and depending on the text he merely has to admit he was wrong and ask for forgiveness to return)

Now looking at everything after this fall he has never lost his Angelic Abilities. His default powers are still angelic gold.

We do see he also has a Full Demon form when he is pissed. Interestingly enough his crown also doubles as a halo in this form. Also note for later just how much Charlie resembles him in both forms.

This suggest that at root biology Lucifer is still an archangel with demon traits. This combination is most likely what makes him the strongest being in hell by a long shot. The only reason others even have power is purely because he doesnt care enough to flex his power and has no desire to actually rule.

Now on to Lilith!

What do we know about Lilith?

Well we know she was a created human not born.

She was Adam's equal

And she left and got with Lucifer before the fall.

So here is the deal... I dont think Lilith can be classified as a sinner. She didnt die to end up in hell and in fact she fell before hell was really a thing. she helped create it after all. (Plus you know Charlie exsists)

So what IS Lilith? I think Lilith as one of a few Actual Demons. And if we have to classify her she'd be closer to a Sin. I actually think of Lilith as the Sin of Pride in Hazbin Hotel not Lucifer. We are even told that She created pentagram city and developed hell while lucifer kept to his workshop in depression.

Now let's talk about this scene for a second. Lilith fell from heaven/earth Alive and possibly even immortal since human kind was immortal before Eve took the apple.

Lilith gains power from her fall into hell. She develops demon like attributes and seems to have musical based magic. She also seems to retain or get immortality. So what does this fall mean? It means that Lilith was NOT HUMAN by the time Charlie was born.

So what does this mean for Charlie?

Well for one Charlie is NOT just some Hellborn. She is by Definition a Nephilim but she is not half-human. She would most likely be considered a Half-Demon, Half-Angel Nephilim.

This would explain her expansive (if never used) power base. The official power ranking has her tied with Lilith with only Lucifer being more powerful. Which makes complete sense. She is the Heir to the entire thing after all. (I actually think this is why Alastor couldnt make a deal for her soul and settled for a favor instead)

She also inheirited Angelic powers from her father. As seen by the fact that her default magic is gold. Which means she has angel blood in her veins. Lets be honest i wouldnt be surprised if she ended up bleeding gold in the future.

In fact she seems to have inherited most of her abilities from dear old dad.

Im pretty sure that just by shear ability and magic if Charlie wanted a kid she could probably create/magic one into exsistance no matter who her partner was.

But lets review Vaggie just for fun! Because I have thoughts

What do we actually know about Vaggie?

Well we know she is an angel. I say is because I dont think Lute or Adam actually have the power to cast an angel out of heaven AND she gets her wings back. This would mean she is not actually a sinner she would be closer to a fallen angel like lucifer.

We know she speaks Spanish and seems to be of Hispanic nature. BUT! Do we know if she was ever really human?!

We know Adam claims to have named her Vaggie. This could suggest three things

1) exorcist take on a new name when they join. But if this was true why wouldnt she leave this name behind and return to her human name once in hell? It would have kept her secret better and you'd figure she would want to leave behind the negative feelings that would come with her exorcist name.

2) Adam in his self-centered ways misheard her real name (maybe something like Aggie from Agatha or Maggie) and thought she said Vaggie or actively chose to misinterpret her name and she never cared to correct him. BUT Once more why would she not just return to her real name once with Charlie in hell?

Or 3) And this one is the real kicker. Vaggie is a Heaven-born Angel.

If the answer is 3 than it would imply that she was never human which brings her closer to lucifers biology.

Some other interesting things to consider about this last theory. Lute and Vaggie resemble each other a great deal. In fact, all the exorcist seem to have a similar body type. (I mean you could argue its the uniform but even without the uniform the resembalance between lute and vaggie is uncanny) and if I remember correctly at one point the exterminators are refered to as sister? I mean this could mean sisters-in-arms BUT What if ALL exorcist were heaven-born?

If they were never human this could explain both their ability and their desire to slay sinners. Much like Sera they wouldn't have any sympathy for the dammed because they wouldn't have any possible family that could end up down there. They would also have Very little connection to or concern for former humans. After all like Adam said they had their chance and they screwed up.

So in the end what does this all mean?

Well I actually already kind of said it

1) Fandom really needs to stop applying human biology to Charlie. She is a half demon half archangel Nephilim with incredible magic.

If charlie wants a kid she can probably magic one up no matter the obsticles please stop asking artist and writers how it is possible for her and vaggie to have a kid/get pregnant if they are both women - the answer is Charlie Magic.

2) all 4 of the above have the potential to be way stronger than they have been shown in the show.

And

3) Charlie is a potential BadAss and is just too nice to go full tactical nuke - this will be covered in my next ted talk.

[ninzied]

weeds

based on the prompt: a kiss on a falling tear. brownstone/bonus chapter era. 600 word ficlet.

Henry has been surrounded by flowers all his life.

Flowers in every hallway and room. Atop every table and flanking every door that led to yet more hallways, yet more rooms. Flowers that were fussed over, flowers that were arranged to perfection despite being replaced at least once a day. Flowers in the palace gardens where Henry used to escape as a child, wishing the mazes could swallow him whole.

Flowers at the funeral.

Flowers at the royal wedding, when his life jump-started again.

And now, flowers in the brownstone that Alex has just moved into with him. They’re daisies in an assortment of colors. Nothing extraordinary, though they would’ve turned heads at the palace for that very reason alone. Henry’s pretty sure they’re classified as weeds, technically speaking.

He’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

That is, apart from the man who’s just brought them home on a whim, who’s now calling to Henry over his shoulder, “Babe, do you think these would look good in a mug?”

Henry thinks he would love them anywhere. Everywhere. Wherever he can. This little life he’s building with Alex is the brightest, fullest, most incredible thing, and he will not take a single bit of it for granted.

.

They go to the MoMA. It’s the first touristy thing that they’ve done since moving in together. And, Henry realizes, watching Alex tear through his wardrobe looking for the perfect cover, it’s one of the first museums he’ll have been to during normal daylight hours.

Alex gleefully poses Henry in all the various hats that he owns. He makes a grave miscalculation when it comes to his black Stetson, which delays their leaving the house by many, many hours. Alex finally comes to the breathless conclusion that it would draw too much attention if Henry were to wear it outside.

(“Mm,” says Henry, still catching his breath back himself. “You can’t possibly mean from you, of course.”

“Definitely not,” Alex agrees, already moving to kiss him again.)

They walk hand-in-hand through the museum sometime even later, in baseball caps and soft t-shirts, and Henry can’t believe this gets to be his life now. They let themselves be jostled along with the crowds, Angus up ahead of them. He needn’t be; no one so much as looks at them twice.

Eventually, they wander their way up to the fifth level. They step into a room where Henry finds himself once again surrounded by flowers.

The largest painting occupies three panels, spanning a significant length of the room. Gran has taken great pride in the royal collection over the years, pieces the family could access in private whenever they so pleased. But there’s something about standing here, with Alex. Just two people, being in love while looking at art. Like it’s something extraordinary, this beautifully ordinary thing they can do.

“Huh,” Alex murmurs, reading the placard. “Took him twelve years to paint this.” He squeezes Henry’s hand, then adds almost offhandedly: “I think that’s about how long it took after seeing you in J14 for the first time. Getting to finally kiss you, I mean.”

Henry looks at Alex with a feeling much too big for words. He smiles, his chest aching with it. The feeling wells up, touching the edges of his vision until he sees in watercolor. “Darling,” he says. “Are you comparing our love story to a Monet?”

“Please.” Alex looks affronted. “This guy’s got nothing on us.”

It’s blasphemous, surely. But as Alex leans in, kissing away a tear on his cheek, Henry thinks he’s secretly rather inclined to agree.

also on ao3.

[nastyaromatherapy]

Hiii I love ur work mwah mwah

Could u make some stuff for Gf Ethan as the readers Bf . Like a list of the different things happen to reader that they're unaware is by Ethan to trap her with him.

Ex: As Gf making the reader break her leg or arm so she has to relay on Ethan to take care of her.

Just a list of stuff like that

bf ghostface ethan headcanons 😽

wc: 700+ cw: mentions of sex, sociopathic ethan, reader's colorblind, a little dark but not rlly

๋࣭ ⭑ you met Ethan in econ class when your teacher paired you two for a project. you both hit it off instantly. it didn't take long for y'all to start dating, you making the first move of course.

๋࣭ ⭑ after that, the two of you were inseparable, two peas in a pod. you were never seen without ethan, and you never realized it was all subliminal.

๋࣭ ⭑ ethan was a master manipulator, a sociopath if you will. he wasn't toxic, he wasn't trying to use you, but he needed you. to be around you at all times. he knew someday you would leave him. girls like you didn't like to settle down, and often nice guys finished last. that was his ideology.

๋࣭ ⭑ first, he had to turn you away from your friends. he had to be your only emotional outlet. besides, since your friends were pretty sane, he knew that they would worry for you at some point, and maybe try and drive you away from him, which couldn't happen.

๋࣭ ⭑ he would casually talk about how he didn't like them while on dates, and he'd find the smallest things about your friends to turn you against them,

“the one with the wavy hair, yeah, i think she was kinda, laughing at me. it's okay if i'm embarrassing you, i'll wait in the car.”

๋࣭ ⭑ in turn, you would give the girls a piece of your mind and continued with your life, your long life in his captivity.

๋࣭ ⭑ now friendless, the only person you could talk to was him, which he loved. he loved whenever you were vulnerable and confided in him, even sometimes spilling a bit too much. you knew he had issues and was angry, but you never thought he'd ever actually kill for you.

๋࣭ ⭑ he could never let you know that he's killed before though. he knew you were soft and not like him. he was aware that if you had found out there would be no saving it, no coming back.

๋࣭ ⭑ so he did everything in secret, chalked it up to coincidence. you puked in bed, leading him to have to nurse you back to health? must've been the shrimp. the town is on lockdown due to the deaths recently, all of them being people that you despised or despised you? karma.

๋࣭ ⭑ the sweet boy persona worked so well, even having you fooled. even when he dicked you down into the mattress, claiming you, making you say you'd never leave him and that he was the only boy for you, you thought he just cared about you.

๋࣭ ⭑ he cared about nobody but himself. you were the closest he's ever got to caring for someone. he wanted to hurt anybody who hurt you, going lower than those who went low. but that was because he knew if they really hurt you, you'd be gone, and that wouldn't be good for him. it was always about him.

๋࣭ ⭑ even once, you insisted to go roller skating with some classmates you didn't even classify as friends, yet, but you would. so, he followed you. he couldn't just force you to stay home, but you needed to learn a lesson.

๋࣭ ⭑ he would cower around the rink as Quinn, his accomplice, "accidentally" crashed into you. For safe measure, she cushioned herself with knee and elbow pads. You, already great at skating, had nothing to help break your fall.

๋࣭ ⭑ you yelped loud enough for the whole plex to hear, your arm broken. Quinn was quick to apologize for the "mistake," it all being a face as she shared the same sociopathic traits with her brother.

๋࣭ ⭑ your friends took you to the hospital, and you called him unaware that he was still following you, already on his way.

๋࣭ ⭑ he coddled you when he saw you laying in bed with a cast on your arm, and you were quick to hug him as much as you could.

“I let you out of my sight for a couple of hours, god, promise you won't leave me again.”

“I won't Eth, I'm so sorry. I promise.”

[mossymandibles]

I'm sure it's all lore that will be revealed in due time, but could you tell us about some of the side effects of consuming the celestial flesh?

I’m definitely not good at working linearly and slow at story plot reveal right now anyway, so happy to answer lol

Also, I wasn’t sure how to gage how much context this answer needed so sorry in advance for the long answer 😭. And cw for graphic descriptions of disease/body horror stuff.

Tl;dr Eating Yvishnir eventually caused evolutionary entropy that sometimes causes horrors.

It’s said that Yvishnir (the body not in the ocean) was a fallen star from long ago, before humanity and the fall of Tartarus(ocean body). The primordials, (Furies and sea dragons) were the ancient fish and birds that fed on Yvishnir in order to sustain their size and godhood and multiply on Earth as its continued keepers. They grew jealous over humanity’s progress and out of fear they buried Yvishnir so humans wouldn’t find it, and hid themselves away. That’s how part of the creation myth goes anyway. Then Tartarus fell and uncovered Yvishnir once again, drawing the primordials out and changing the sea.

So when I say ‘eating the flesh’, I mostly mean the Crux. At first, when Yvishnir was discovered and exposed to the atmosphere, it produced something called Crux which permeated the corpse and oozed from it as a liquid, thought to be a type of otherworldly bacterium or ichor to help it decompose. It caused a sort of explosion of hyper biodiversity/evolution, starting with plants. Here are some examples, mostly some fungi:

Most Humans didn’t really consider eating the Crux of course.

There were a few eccentrics and cults however that started the ball rolling. They would mostly eat it from fungi that had grown around Yvishnir, as well as cooking with it. This caused versions of human evolution, where they began to evolve into the Myce and other species to repopulate as, genetically merging with fungi in order to survive the new world. They’re under the blanket term ‘Hox Strays’, who make up most of Marrowtide and other known civilization islands to this day. There are different variations of these and their mutations have ‘stabilized’ over many generations but that’s another story.

As for Yvishnir, there was a point where the Crux changed its properties, becoming more crystalline. Entropy took over the longer the body was exposed. Even the very insects that were feeding on it began to quickly horrifically mutate and grow. People would say that demons were being birthed from its rotted juices. The Crux began to bring on less desirable effects. Humans classified it as several new forms of horrific diseases ranging from otherworldly prions to the very DNA itself denaturing and mutating.

✨Some outcomes include but are not limited to;✨

>Victims known to have fits of uncontrollable laughter while bleeding from orifices. Several cysts that had broken out on the skin were found to contain bits of teeth, hair and even eyes, like they were growing them.

>Some victims became more beast-like but at the cost of their minds and insatiable hunger for more of the celestial flesh/Crux.

>Victims first described it as a tingling sensation in their chest and extremities. Their blood began to change its molecular structure to be crystalline as well. Cells became shard-like, until their blood eventually hardened completely. It could be seen poking through skin, like they were full of glass.

>Worse still, in a sort of sped up form of the first outcome, they can become a never ending cycle of constantly evolving body parts, growing biomass like cancerous tumors of body parts forever in bloom, eg. growing several hands from your eye or numerous organs. The body can’t sustain this and it pretty much ends in death.

These modern day effects were mostly observed by The Ladder and they determined that Yvishnir was not to be consumed by organisms any longer. In the modern day it is safely contained in Hearth, which is the name of the quarantined citadel outside of The Fever, serving god knows what purpose aside from genetic experiments they’re rumored to be continuing with the remaining crystalline Crux Root.

The primordials felt that those who continued eating the Crux were forsaken, punished for eating the god. They along with others had migrated far, far away at that point, populating the mountains of Zenith and oceans that no one dared to sail through. The body of Yvishnir faded into legends. Even people living within Fever and the isles surrounding it knew less and less about the body as time went on, more focused on surviving day to day.

Their are cases where people have somehow managed to preserve the liquid form of Crux, said to still be procured and preserved when the body was first uncovered and would thus have the least amount of risk involved.

Some people hunt mermaids for the soul purpose of searching the contents of their stomach, to see if they have remnants of Tartarus in them.

With Tartarus it’s all based on theory because no one is able to get down there to see wtf is going on, they only see the results.

[edelfan]

(Not) Letting Go | Icemav

Cross-posted on AO3

(You guys overwhelmed me with your feedback on my drabble, so here is the one shot version)

Feeling the high standing midday sun in his neck, Bradley bent over the hood of the Bronco. His shore leave had just started yesterday and he wanted to make sure his baby was in top condition after being parked in the garage for so long.

It was in this moment when once again his phone started ringing. Pulling it out of the pocket of his jeans, one look was enough to see that it was the same person who has been trying to reach him for the last couple of hours.

However, Bradley was in no mood to talk to the man outside of any professional matter. This had been different at a time long ago, but things had changed - Bradley had changed... Without a single thought of regret he declined the call and turned back to his precious car.

Only a few moments later Bradley was pulled from his task again, when a car came to a halt at the end of his driveway. Frowning he turned around, while cleaning his hands with a semi clean rag. The car didn't seem familiar and he wasn't expecting any visitors today. But then a well-known face stepped out from the vehicle. Groaning, Bradley leaned back against the Bronco, his arms crossed in a defensive way.

"What do you want?"

"Well, hello to you, too, kid."

"I'm not a fucking kid anymore, Slider," Bradley hissed, not taking his eyes of the older man whom he had considered an uncle once.

Ron sighed and took off his sunglasses. He stayed next to his car, leaving more than enough space between them.

He looked way older than Bradley remembered him, his face worn down by in life. There was something in his eyes that Bradley couldn't place.

"He sent you?"

"Yeah, Ice sent me to get you-"

"Nice try, old man. I think I made it clear enough that I don't want to see him... see them. Ice and Mav can go fuck themselves."

Throwing the dirty rag he had been holding on to onto the ground, Bradley turned around, about to stumble into the house and close the door in Slider's face.

"Maverick's dying, Bradley."

Ron's words stopped Bradley's movements immediately, stopped his whole world.

~~~

They had barely talked on the way to the hospital. The only thing Slider had said was that a classified test had gone horribly wrong.

By the time they had arrived, Bradley had stopped counting the thoughts of kicking himself for not picking up when Ice had called. It wasn't like he could change it now. Ron let him go with tears in his eyes and Mav's room number on ICU.

With no one to stop him - his name seemed to literally open doors for him - Bradley lost all feeling for time and space until he found himself in front of a closed door. The slightly milky glass embedded in it let him see the two figures inside.

Everything inside Bradley wanted to turn and run, wanted to deny this and get back to hating and ignoring the two people who had become his parents after his mom had passed away.

He had no idea how long he had been standing there when suddenly the door opened from the inside, Ice appearing in front of him. Bradley was shocked. The other man seemed so old, so broken - nothing like he remembered him.

"Oh Bradley…"

Ice didn't even hesitate a single second to pull Bradley into his arms. And despite everything Bradley immediately hugged back. Burying his nose into the older man's neck, he recognized the aftershave Ice still seemed to use to this day and for whatever reason, it was this that brought tears to his eyes.

The comforting movement of Ice's hand on his back threw him back into his childhood and for a very brief moment there was this feeling that the older man would make everything alright again. But with one look over Ice's shoulder it was immediately gone again.

Bradley had seen this before, in nightmares - when he had thought that he would lose his surrogate family just like he had lost his parents. This, however, wasn't a nightmare. This was real. And Bradley had to fight the urge to turn and run again.

Slowly, Bradley let go of Ice, his feet bringing him over to the bed in the center of the room, unable to move anything else as he took in the figure lying in front of him.

Most visible parts of Maverick's body were covered in bandages, the rest of it black and blue. Several cables were leading to the attached monitors, the low beeping sounds showing that he was actually still alive. Bradley had to swallow heavily when his eyes fell onto the tube of the ventilator going down Maverick's throat. A part of him wanted to crawl into the bed and never let go again of the other man, but in reality he couldn't even bring himself to reach for his hand.

"What happened?" Bradley asked quietly, turning back towards Ice, who was just about to wipe away his tears in a discreet way. In what kind of world had Bradley woken up today? Maverick was invincible and Ice didn't cry, period.

"Mav... Pete was test-flying... It's mostly classified, but he ran into some troubles and had to eject at Mach 10.4."

"Mach 10.4? You've got to be kidding me... How...?" Surely he must have misheard, but the shattered look on Ice's face told him the truth.

"I don't know all the details yet. The original test point for today was Mach 9... All I know is that not even the doctors know how he survived, how he's still-" The rest of the sentence got swallowed by Ice's sob. And all Bradley could do was stand there like an idiot... After all, how did a kid sooth a grieving parent when they didn't really understood themselves what was going on?

Bradley just looked on while Ice wiped his face clumsily before walking over to the other side of Maverick's bed, his right hand reaching for Mav's cheek and carefully caressing the older man.

"I know you two, hell, we haven't talked in ages, not like we should have and you still have every right to be angry, but I just needed you to come here. Pete needs you... Just the thought that he would... without you here... Maybe that's the reason he's still holding on." Ice barely whispered the last bit, yet it made Bradley shudder, his knees suddenly weak as he let himself sink down on the chair Ice had occupied just moments before.

"Don't fucking say that, Pops."

Ice looked up at the endearment he hadn't heard in over 15 years. And this time when he reached out, Bradley immediately took his hand and didn't let go.

Bradley had no idea how long they sat like this, the silence between them only disturbed by the low beeping of Mav's heart monitor and the regular swooshing of the ventilator. But despite holding onto Ice's hand like a drowning person, he couldn't bring himself to touch Maverick, only his eyes never leaving the older man's pale face.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bradley heard Ice sigh heavily. He looked on as his surrogate father placed a light kiss on Maverick's forehead before pulling something out of the pocket of his trousers.

"Pete will be so pissed when he learns that I gave this to you. His orders had been precise not to hand it to you until after he... Well, Pete's always been an idiot... my idiot, but an idiot, so I'm doing what he should have done a long time ago."

Without further explanations Ice handed Bradley a slightly crumbled envelope. Even upon Bradley's questioning look Ice didn't say anything else, so he simply opened it with shanking hands...

Dear Bradley,

if you get to read this, it means that I missed my chance to make up with you in this life. I entrusted this to Tom in hopes that he would find you and get this to you. And he knows that I'll haunt his ass if he doesn't...

There's something I need to tell you that I couldn't tell you while I was still around because I had promised myself that I would take it to the grave with me. But your Pops insisted that I would let you know at one point (and you know I could never deny him anything, even though it wouldn't mean I wouldn't fight it).

I know I never gave you a reason why I pulled your papers from the academy and that you would hate me for it for the rest of your life. This is not supposed to be an excuse because in the end it was my decision to actually go through with it, but your mom, during those last painful days when we had brought her home from the hospital, asked me to do it... She knew flying was your dream, but she had a dream for you to grow old and live a beautiful life. Her biggest fear was that you would end up like Goose, your life cut short because of something happening in the air.

You know that your mom was like a sister for me and that I would have done anything for her. And I am not the type of guy to deny a dying woman's wish - even if it means that you would end up resenting me forever. I just had to make sure your resentment stayed with me and not with your mom...

Well, as it turned out you inherited her hardheadedness though. You made your dream come true anyway. And I am so proud of you, you have no idea. I am so glad that I had the privilege to call you my son at least for a short amount of time.

Please take care of yourself and everyone around you. I love you, kid.

One last request: would you look out for Pops for me? Don't let him do anything stupid and don't let him be alone. That's all asking of you.

Love, Mav (dad)

Tears dropped onto the paper as Bradley slowly lifted his head and looked at Ice again.

"Is it true? Mom asked him to...?"

Ice nodded, sighing.

"Yeah. And don't think it was easy for him either. I mean we both watched you grow up with your love for flying and he didn't want to clip your wings, really. But whenever his nightmares hit, the ones of him and the day he... we lost your father, he knew he wouldn't survive if the same happened to you. He would rather live with your hate. He'd lose you, but at least you were alive... And I just wanted to make sure you knew that before he..."

Bradley knew what Ice tried to say. But he didn't accept it, not after what he had just learned.

"He's not going anywhere," Bradley groaned, not even trying to wipe away his tears at this point as he looked down at Maverick.

Careful as to not disturb any of the medical equipment, Bradley half lay down on the bed, slowly wrapping his arm around the older man.

"You hear me, Dad? You can't leave, not now. I'm so sorry..."

~~~

The doctors had predicted that Maverick wouldn't make it through the night. It was in the early morning hours, after Ice had to pull rank for him and Bradley to stay by his bedside, that they felt him slightly squeeze back their hands.

[thequeenofthewinter]

I come bearing corvid questions of the what if variety. A sociological question for you. What do you think the Nord concept of "honor" might be, and what are its cultural implications? If you were to elaborate on what TES gives us (or extrapolate athwart to it), what might you come away with? Take it as an invitation for wild meta XD

Very sorry it took me so long to get to this, Para, but it has been rattling around in my brain for the last week. I hope that any of this also makes sense at all because I think I started rambling at the end.

I think there are a myriad of ways that one could think about honor and its role in Nord society at different levels or rather, how we can see how this concept affects everyday society/culture from the top down.

Take for instance one of our favorite Nordic insults: “milk-drinker.” Why is it there and how is it used in order to classify who or what is seen as honorable—or conversely in this case DIShonorable: drinking milk. Why? There has to be some concept there which is related to the simple act of an apparent beverage choice. Seems very innocuous, doesn’t it? There has to be something behind it because why else would random bandit chief #76 insult is in this way. What can this language choice tell us? This could go many ways and I don’t pretend to have the answer to this, but my best guess is that milkdrinking is seen as an activity for infants. (Obviously cheese is for real honorable macho adults.) So…what is there with the implication? You are a baby. You are incapable of taking care of yourself or swinging around your big burly battleaxe or maybe that you’re even taking the easy road out by accepting some of the most readily-available food source available in Skyrim. Honor is seen in strong action and proving oneself as being capable.

I’ll let you stew on that for a second as we look at something else.

On a similar note, finding a partner in Skyrim is much the same thing. How does one go about doing it? While we might find the whole system of, “Go fetch me X thing in Y creepy frostbite spider infested cave” to be laughable, there is also a lot to be said about Nordic culture and their beliefs about honor as well. I mean, who wouldn’t want a good and honorable husband or wife? It would appear that they place a higher priority on actions than romantics. (Although, we can find romantics there! Think of Jon and Olfina.) It’s stated by Maramal himself that life is ”hard and short” for the “earnest” people of Skyrim, so by wearing an amulet of Mara and then having potential marriage candidates respond to it only after certain actions…well, I think that speaks a lot about what is honorable. 

…Or perhaps what we really should talk about is my pet “blorbo,” Ulfric. What is honor and how do the people respond to him and his actions? We know that there is a huge dichotomy of Empire vs Stormcloak and implications, opinions, and the dreaded discourse depending on whose side you are on. What’s the main problem with the man? Why is or isn’t he honorable? I’m not going to touch the whole thing here because I don’t have any wish to stir the bees. I only want to look at two particular:

The Challenging of High King Torygg

Skyrim’s Civil War

A lot of how you’re going to view Ulfric’s actions as honorable or dishonorable is going to heavily lean on what your personal belief system is in relation to morality (even if most of it is really very grey in Skyrim) and the concept of what is right and wrong. (And it’s not about who you think is going to actually win the war at all.) Is it moral that Ulfric used his ability to Shout to challenge High King Torygg? Depends on who you ask. I don’t want to go too far down this rabbit hole right now because I would write a whole 5 paragraph essay (actually probably more) about it and I’m not prepared to do that at the moment. But let’s just suffice it to say it all boils down to actions. Is it honorable that Ulfric stands up to defend the people of Skyrim and take it back from a clearly crumbing Empire to save their province? Or is dishonorable that he slaughters a young and naïve ruler to pave the way for his own coronation? Is he a hero or is he an egotistical megalomaniac? Is he perhaps both? I can’t tell you. Only YOU can tell yourself that and it’s the beauty to the TES universe. We can pick, decide, and choose what is and isn’t honorable just as much as the people who are in Skyrim. We can imagine what they think or feel and make deductions based on what we do or do not see in the context.

Anyway, I think all of this at its essence comes back to the same thing: Respect. Do you respect the other person you are in combat with? Do you respect the person proposing marriage to you? Do you respect Ulfric’s decisions and actions?

Being able to prove oneself as strong and capable and having traits which demonstrate to that you are reliable, I believe, is part of this. At the end of the day, people respond to actions and people respect or honor you based on that.

[sequinsmile-x]

A Lot of Lonely Places

She used to be good at being alone. 

-x-

Hi friends,

Truly could not tell you where this came from. Opened my laptop, opened google docs and started writing and here we are.

I hope you enjoy it, and as always, let me know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 2.3k

Warnings: None

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

She used to be good at being alone. 

She used to pride herself on it. Full of false bravado about how she excelled in her own company that was borne out of necessity, a side effect of her mother’s job that had left her with no other choice. She was good at being alone and she enjoyed it. She’d painted a lonely picture as a kid, something that had followed her into her teenage years and early adulthood. It was only in college, when she spent four years in one place - the longest she ever had - that she started to make stronger connections. Threads of convenience and coincidence that tied her and her friends together during that time, holding them close until drunken promises before graduation that they’d always have each other turned out to be lies. They’d drifted apart, seeing each other only at reunions and organised events, and she knew she wasn’t blameless. She hadn’t been great at keeping in contact, not entirely used to having people to stay in contact with. It was something that slipped away entirely when she’d joined Interpol, her work not something that allowed the connections she had once treasured. 

Even though she’d barely spent time alone when she was eventually with Ian, something he ensured by always having people around her, she’d felt lonely. At first, it had been drowned by the ever-present fear she’d be caught. That he’d see through her practised lies and kill her before she could call for backup. As that faded, as time made it clear he’d fallen for her charm and the skills she’d honed at a young age, the loneliness took over. The strange desire to hear someone call her by her actual name one that never quite went away. 

Returning to her actual life was overwhelming. She was suddenly surrounded by people who knew who she really was. Every single one of them telling her she’d done an excellent job before it was all classified, anything she’d done a secret to anyone who didn’t already know. It made the loneliness bone-deep, so much a part of her she wasn’t sure she’d ever be without it, but it also made it easier to pretend it never happened. To file it away into one of the boxes in her head, the lid of it liable to slip away whenever she heard an Irish accent or smelt expensive whisky and cigar smoke. 

When she joined the BAU, her sense of self pieced back together after her time as Lauren Reynolds, and a fake background typed out on a piece of paper, she wasn’t sure what she’d find. A small part of her hoped she would make friends, something that felt childish and misplaced after everything she’d seen and done, and even that had been dashed by some of the team's initial reaction to her. The mistrust she’d since learnt was a defence mechanism, particularly on Aaron’s part, more painful than she cared to admit even to herself. 

She never expected that she’d find a family, that she’d find people who felt like home. People she would, and eventually did, die for. It made the loneliness in Paris even sharper. Nights that would have once been spent drinking with JJ and Penelope, or watching kid's movies with Aaron and Jack, long and painful as she lived under a name they did not know. She treated the loneliness like a penance, something she deserved for the lies that had led her there, the choices she could never regret but wished hadn’t happened. She got used to it again. The loneliness. The silence that came with it.  She got used to it but every now and again it would weigh heavily on her chest, crushing it inwards until it became unbearable. Gasping sobs would steal the air from her lungs until she’d eventually cry herself to sleep, ready to be tortured by dreams of everything she had lost. 

When she came home, unsteady and unsure of her place in the life she’d built herself, she was overwhelmed again. Everyone’s desire to see her, to spend time with her they thought they’d never get again, almost too much to take. She’d sought out time on her own, would issue white lies that tasted bitter as she told her friends she was tired or had other plans just so she could sit on her couch alone, the television and radio off, the silence a comforting blanket as she tried to learn to be herself again. 

As time went on, she found her footing. Found her new place in her new life, the broken pieces of her old one at her feet no longer a tripping hazard, but the very thing she used as a foundation for what she had now. 

Loneliness became a thing of her past, something she knew she could thank Aaron, and by extension Jack, for. The day after their conversation on the jet, when she kept her side of the deal and admitted she was having a bad day, Aaron showed up at her apartment. He was casually dressed, or as casual as she’d ever seen him at the time in jeans and a polo shirt, and he said he was there to help her unpack. To this day, she had no idea how he knew she hadn’t unpacked, how he knew that her meagre belongings that hadn’t been sold on after she died were still in boxes. She’d let him in, too tired to argue with him, and she’d let him help without argument - something she now knew was a sign of just how much she trusted him even when she wasn’t sure she could trust herself. He’d turned her mood around that day, had arrived to her on the edge of a panic attack and left her laughing, her smile shining with adoration as he dryly told her about something Dave had done whilst she was away. 

He’d come back the following weekend, with Jack and breakfast from their favourite diner in tow, matching smiles on their faces as they told her they were there to cheer her up, and it had been a tradition ever since. Something that followed her and Aaron from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend and now husband and wife. 

She was never alone now and if she ever was, she was terrible at it. On the rare occasion she was in the house alone she’d struggle. She was used to Aaron’s laugh, or the low timbre of his voice that would travel even through closed doors. She was used to Jack’s excited chatter, or the sound of his video games or cartoons he loved. When it was just her, it was too quiet, something she’d try and counteract by turning on the television or simply calling her husband and asking him when he’d be home. She’d feel nothing short of absurd for it, and she knew a past version of herself would mock her for it, but she loved having him near. Loved the reassurance of his presence, and the only thing that stopped her from chastising herself for it was that she knew Aaron was the same. 

The team made fun of them for it. They’d gently tease them for how they would gravitate towards each other, never able to be too far away as if they felt unsteady if they were. In the same breath as they made fun of them their friends would tell them they were happy for them, that they both deserved what they had now.

___

She sighs contentedly as she wakes up, stretching her limbs as she rolls onto her back, a yawn escaping her as she reaches for her husband's side of the bed. She furrows her brows when she finds it empty, the sheets cold to the touch, and she sits up, her eyes flicking to the also empty bassinet on her side of the bed. A quick glance at the alarm clock, and the lack of daylight streaming in through the curtains, let her know it’s 3.35 am, that she’s likely been pulled from sleep by the cold emptiness of her bed as well as the dull ache starting to build in her breasts. 

Even though she knows that they’re safe, that Aaron will have taken their little girl downstairs to give her some more rare and precious sleep, she’s still met with momentary panic. It greets her like an old friend as it wraps its hand around her throat, stealing the breath from her lungs before she can reason with herself, memories of when she was alone and being hunted by the man who had killed her briefly overwhelming. She shakes her head and blows out a slow breath and she shoves the covers off her as she climbs out of bed. 

“Get it together, Emily,” she mumbles to herself, grabbing Aaron’s robe from the back of the bedroom door as she passes it, wrapping it around herself to warn off the slight chill in the air. 

She checks in on Jack on the way past, takes a moment to rearrange his bedding around him and kisses his forehead before she sneaks back out of his room, not wanting to wake him on a night when he’d somehow slept through his baby sister’s cries. She finds Aaron and the baby exactly where she knew she would, snuggled up on the couch together with only the light of a single lamp in the corner of the room illuminating them. She can’t help but smile as she walks into the living room, her chest aching with love at the sight of her little girl fast asleep on Aaron’s chest, her cheek squashed against his t-shirt and a line of drool visible even in the low light. 

“Can I join this party, or is it invite only?” She asks, careful to stay quiet, to not startle him or wake up their daughter. 

Aaron turns to look at her, his smile soft and sleepy, and he removes one hand from Violet’s back to tap the couch next to him, “You’re always invited,” he replies, just as quietly as he presses a kiss to the dark hair on the newborn’s head, “Right, Vi? Mommy can always join us.” 

Emily crosses the room and sits next to him, immediately snuggling into his side, sneaking under the blanket he had draped over his lap. She rests her head on his shoulder and reaches out to run her knuckles up and down Violet’s soft cheek. “Is she okay? You could have woken me up.” 

“She’s fine,” he says, turning his head to kiss her temple, smiling when she tilts her head to capture it, his lips slightly chapped against hers, “She was fussing, but I think she just wanted to cuddle,” he smiles as he pulls back, “Now I may lack the facilities to feed her, but I’ve got it on good authority I give amazing hugs,” his smile gets wider as she lovingly rolls her eyes, “So I thought I’d let you rest until she did need feeding.” 

Emily hums gratefully, kissing the corner of his mouth before she rests her temple against his cheek, unable to tear her gaze away from the sleeping baby, “Daddy really does give the best hugs, sweet girl,” she says, her words disappearing into a laugh as more drool lands on Aaron’s t-shirt, “Although, I used to be the only girl allowed to drool on him,” she strokes her daughter’s head, following the swirl of dark hair. It was the very first part of her that Emily had touched, encouraged to reach between her legs by her doctor and feel the top of her little girl’s head when labour was starting to feel like it was too much, “I guess I can share him with you though.” 

Aaron chuckles and wraps his arm around her, tugging her closer as he securely holds Violet close with one arm, “Did we wake you?”

Emily shakes her head, “No, I think it was because the bed was empty,” she mumbles, reaching for his hand and unhooking herself from under his arm so she can hug it to her chest, his hand sandwiched between both of hers as she tucks them under her chin, “I’m not good at sleeping alone anymore. You ruined me.” 

He raises an eyebrow at her and smiles, “I’m…sorry,” he says, his tone teasing and she squeezes his hand tighter. 

“As you should be,” she replies dryly, feeling sleepiness take over, the warmth of him and the sound of Violet’s breathing slowly pulling her under, “There’s only one way to make up for it.”

He kisses the top of her head and then hides his smile in her hairline, “Oh yeah, what’s that then?” 

“Sleeping next to me forever.” 

He chuckles “You drive a hard bargain, but I’m sure I can manage that,” he says, and she leans into him, his voice something that calmed her, something that pulled her in, “You should get some sleep, sweetheart.” 

She grumbles, trying to fight him on it even though it was a losing battle, “But you’ll be trapped here with both of us sleeping on you.” 

“There are much worse places to be trapped, Em,” he assures her, his words murmured against her forehead, “And Vi will wake us up soon anyway,” he kisses her forehead, “Get some sleep, and I’ll be here for you both.” 

She hums, no longer able to fight it, exhaustion and the comfort of him washing over her, “Love you.” 

The last thing she hears before she falls asleep is his reply, his I love you too whispered against her skin, and she knows that not only would she never be good at being alone again, but that she’d never have to be. 

[indigo-ghost-girl]

Partial spoilers for Sonic Frontiers

Part 1

Part 3

During Sonic’s final battle with the end, just as super sonic boosts at it at top speed, it suddenly realizes that: This mortal, who has fought gods and won, who successfully took down three of the four titans that sealed it away, who fought to the bitter end it save his friends only to come back and stand against it as his ancient ancestors had: was zooming right towards it, faster than any creature or machine that had ever dared to face it. Radiating an intense golden power, dim in comparison to its own, yet undeniably powerful. That same power the ancient race had used to run away from it, so far and so fast it took a hundred years to catch up with them. The same power that had kept it trapped for eons inside cyberspace.

It never thought it could come to understand the pitiful emotions of mere mortals. The screams of terror and pain that spewed from their mouths like squeaking ants. Yet in that moment, a calculated pang of something it could only classify as fear shot through it.

Perhaps it was the end. The end of the end. It could almost laugh at the irony… That tiny little mortal had been far stronger than it had first believed him to be.

Unless…

The golden mortal before it was strong, stronger than it could have ever fathomed, even after it had seen his triumph over cyberspace. Escaping it even after fully succumbing to it. He had defeated Gods… from his world. He was a young mortal, fifteen years in age. In time, his strength would inevitably multiply…

He would be exemplary.

Come closer little mortal, perhaps you can continue to serve my will further.

Sonic clenched his fists tighter as he soared through space like a shooting star. Everything he loved and cared for was riding on this one shot at survival.  

His friends had sacrificed their freedom just to free him, he wouldn’t fail them again. He couldn’t. Amy still had to see the world! Knuckles still had his own life to live! Get off that old floating rock. Tails was continuing to grow into his own person! His own kind of hero!

They had all trusted him with all their hearts and minds.

And planet below him, full of people who might not even know what was happening in the sky above them. Half of them probably asleep! Each one of them, had the potential to grow and change for the better. And sage, that little ai girl that had grown into her own caring person despite the circumstances of her creation. She still had to go back to her father, maybe her influence on him could do some good in the long run. For everyone.

Sonic refused to back down now. Refused to let himself fear that giant purple moon he was pelting towards. The vast rocky purple landscape came rushing up the greet him. Craters made by the ancients attempts to drive it away countless of years ago, forever scarred into its surface.

He gritted his teeth and ploughed into its surface, straight into the heart of one of the craters. His fists tore way at the rock, drilling through the power infused rock. He planned to drive it clean through like he had the first titan.

He was well into it when he heard it speak. “Your arrogance has been your downfall.”

Suddenly, a great power forced itself onto him. It suffocated the chaos energy sparking around his body. It struggled for a moment against the energy of the emeralds. The hedgehog flickered a blue for a moment before blazing a golden yellow again. “Nice try,” he mocked. Sonic shook his head and pushed forward into the planet. The further he got, the worse it became. Super Sonics speed faltered and slowed. The closer he got to the centre of it, the stronger the force became.

“Sonic!” called the panicked voice of Sage after him. The hyper intelligent ai could tell something was off. That didn’t make Sonic too confident.

A wave of unfathomable pressure burst down on him again. His Golden quills snapped blue, then gold, then blue. Sonic let out a burst of chaos energy, fighting back its domain once more.

“You wanna try that again?” Sonic shouted, punching the stone of its form faster and harder.

“You tricked me into freeing you!” he yelled, “You put all of my friends in danger!” He curled into a ball and dug into the purple rock, faster than ever before. “You destroyed so many lives! So many people that could have lived long and happy. I won’t let you hurt anymore!”

Finally, Sonic could tell its power was wavering. It seemed to be giving up.

With a newfound vigor, Sonic tore through its form, passing through its core and bursting through to the other side. The sight of the starry sky let a flow of relief and triumph surge through Sonic. A short sigh heaved from him as he turned to see if he had finished it off, a ghost of a smirk on his face.

A deadly silence followed. No explosions, no cracks. No retorts or high and mighty speeches.

Instead, the purple faded and it dissolved, fizzling into purple and red dust. Sonic huffed in a sigh. Had he done it?

A voice called to him. “Sonic!” Sage shrieked, “Get away!”

The purple dust suddenly warped and span. A spherical hurricane of space debree and power.

Sonic turned to put some space between him and it. The space dust jumped on him. He brought up a hand to shield his face. Super Sonic glared about the hurricane. The red lightning zapped among the clouds of sparkling mist. He boldly dashed at the wall of the hurricane. A loud screeching filled his ears as his body hit the wall. It was a grating sound like that of nails on chalkboard. He was flung back into the center against the winds of the swirling void.

“You may have destroyed my form, mortal. however,” came the deep rumbling voice from all around him, “I have found fresh form to take.”

“Oh yeah? And what form is that?” Super Sonic questioned loudly into the cloud, eyes flickering around in panic.

“Yours.”

…

Sage zoomed up to the cloud in panic, just milliseconds after the cloud had engulfed the super hedgehog.

“NO!” she had shouted. Razing the balled fist of the titan, she stuck the wall of dust. A great grinding made the ai pull back the titans hand. She looked over to see the ground remained of the titans two fingers and thumb, a stub.

The ai, not knowing what else to do, ran as many simulations, she could as fast as possible. The first one she ran gave her a terrible red and purple image. It made her fear for the life of her father. Those two together would be far too strong to stand against with the limited resources the planet had.

She ran more and more simulations, taking even the smallest odds into consideration. No, her father’s technology would stand no chance. The ancient’s technology couldn’t be used much either. Even throwing the arch at it would do nothing. She was starting to panic now.

No matter how many she ran the odds seemed hopeless. How much time did she have to figure something out? How long could he reject it? Sonic was so unpredictable it was difficult to hypothesise about. He was always so impulsive.

In an uncalculated moment of impulse, Sage pulled out the titans gun. She recklessly poured her energy into the blast, the bright blue light shining brighter and brighter in the barrel. With a point of her finger the blast shot from the gun. It hit the ball of energy with a zap.

The energy of the gun hummed and fizzed through the air as Sage struggled to maintain the intensity of the beam. The dust zapped and whirred but otherwise wasn’t fazed by the blast.

Sage eventually felt herself began to run dangerously low on energy. She had to stop before something critical happened to her system.

She frowned to herself as the beam fizzled out.

Sage resorted to the last thing she could think of. As much as it hurt her to go against her fathers orders, she had to start simulating sanarios with Sonic and his friends or he would be doomed.

In milliseconds she took to examining what of Sonics memories had made it into cyberspace.

Millions of new options opened to her. Unfortunately, many of them included the chaos emeralds, something she didn’t have access to as the moment. Finally, after several aching seconds of simulations she found a few that just might work. The chances were low and there was no guarantee the everyone would survive but the world would live.

She moved to fly below the now shrinking cloud. If the odds where in her favour at first, she could increase the odds immensely.

[sunsetcurbed]

20 Questions

Saw someone do this and gave an open tag and I'm bored at work so guess what I'm doing.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 28

2. Whats your total AO3 word count? 538,006

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently, Julie and the Phantoms and Bridgerton. In the past I've also written Harry Potter (obligatory fuck JKR), 9-1-1, Teen Wolf, etc.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

don't you know you've got the best of me? - 6,314

so just give me one more night - 2,606

every piece of you (it just fits perfectly) - 1,188

and even better, i get to be the other half of you - 770

i didn't wanna believe that i could lose you - 750

5. Do you respond to comments? Unfortunately, not typically. I used to, but I was putting so much effort in to responding and it just took a lot out of me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hands down don't you know you've got the best of me?. I strongly believe in HEA and all my fics will have one, however, dykygtbom is more of a bittersweet ending?? It's still a happy ending, but there's a lot of darkness in there as well.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? ... All of them?? As I said, HEA is my thing, and I don't really skimp on them. If you pressed me for an answer, I'd probably say give me something to hold on to, SOLELY because we see some of the happy ending that is simply implied in others. Like, we see the proposal, the wedding, their kids, etc. So probably that one, but like. My other fics don't not have a happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I've gotten exactly one comment that I'd classify as a "hate" comment, but I've seen people hate on my fics in other places outside of my comments. So like... yes but no?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do not! If I want to indicate a sex scene, it will be a fade to black.

10. Do you write crossovers? I do not! It's nothing I'm against and I won't say I'll never write one.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yes, a few times. Mostly people reposting my fics onto WattPad.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Someone recently asked if they could translate dykygtbom! So in process, I guess?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Once! life is not a love song we can try I also haven't technically co-written with them, but @willexmagic and @hufflebibin have been involved in a lot of plotting for my more recent Willex fics, like mob au.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? This question is illegal actually, didn't you know? Top 5 are:

Penelope/Colin (Bridgerton)

Fred/Hermione (Harry Potter (obligatory fuck JKR))

Willie/Alex (Julie and the Phantoms)

Ben/Leslie (Parks & Rec)

Percy/Annabeth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

And it was hard narrowing it down to those. :( Also yes I am a friends to lovers truther.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will? Honestly... it depends? Right now I'd probably say MLB au for Willex. I want to finish that so badly, but I just haven't had the steam for it. There are other Willex fics I'll definitely be finishing—mechanic au, mob au, etc—but MLB au is just so long, so I'll just have to see how it plays out.

16. What are your writing strengths? Texting. /j (No but actually the amount of comments I have gotten in my fics that have complimented the texting/soc med elements that I include is actually really cool.) I'm often told I'm good at characterization and voices!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I feel like I can really struggle with pacing. Also knowing where to put hands.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Have you ever read Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter? They sometimes speak different languages in those books, but the internal thoughts translate for you. Not like word for word, but like, say someone asked "What did you do on summer vacation?" the internal monologue would kind of paraphrase that and while you might not know exactly what was said, you're given insight into what is being said. I rarely use different languages, but when I do, that's the technique I use.

19. First fandom you wrote for? The fics no longer exist, but Maximum Ride. Yeah, I've been around the block a few times.

20. Favorite fic you've written? give me something to hold on to. It's my most honest, real, human fic. So much went into that fic and it's the one I'm most proud of.

Tagging anyone and everyone who wants to do this!

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 379: The Tale of Queen Angie, p8

Alright, so you need me to explain? Okay, though you should have figured it all out anyway by this point, if you’ve been reading this crap, this is what I know. I’ll tell you if you need. I know not all of you weirdos pay attention.

Me? I pay attention, for sure. I listen, I ask around, I snoop. I’m able to see some of his emails. I know Melissa’s some sort of freak, that she gets studied by scientists at the drug company. I mean, I kinda knew it even back in high school. Things are way too easy for her. She changes, like physically, to get what she wants. Not just “go to the gym and get hot” kinda changes. She fucking evolves. Have a teacher that likes long legs, you need to pass American History? If you’re Melissa Monroe, a junior at Middlesex High, your legs get longer. Does your supervisor like big butts? Boom. Asszilla. Really helped at that dealership she worked at. And here, with this cretin of a doctor who wants to - what? - be a fucking worm like all you other guys these days and burrow into our fucking under-tits? She’s not just growing into some sort of Dolly Parton meets Pam Anderson the 4000cc porn star She-Hulk the Amazon Queen Kong, SHE’S MAKING HIM FUCKING SHRINK. And I think - no, I know - that it has to do with these chemicals coming off of her. They’re doing something to him, and they’re changing everyone else, all these other bimbos, too. They’re making them taller and stronger and bustier and some of them are getting fucking superpowers.

BUT WHY NOT ME?!?!!!?

I’m fucking pissed. I mean, I took this job in the first place because I wanted in. This stupid old-person medical practice is, like, ground zero for some of the shit going down. No one really tells us these things but I just know it.

This “Product” that they’re ‘studying’? ‘Testing’? What a joke. They know what it does, they’re just jumping through hoops that they could break into pieces, if they really wanted. This stuff they’re injecting is making all these study subjects into little fucking Melissas!! I’ve seen it, I’ve read some of the papers and documents that come through that are supposed to be classified or whatever. Shit that, for some reason, people like Morgan and Kathy have access to but he doesn’t?? And he’s the ‘principal investigator’? Red flag much?

I mean, I’m not a scientist but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they’ve concocted some treatment from whatever it is that naturally makes Melissa a freak of nature and they’re trying to spread it around. So they can have a whole, what?, echelon of women that can breastfeed a small village or break spines with their bare hands?

Is “echelon” too big a word for you? Sorry. Yeah, the way I see it, Evolution Pharmaceuticals - or, probably rather, this big shadowy network of companies they’re calling 'The Collective'  is trying to create a bunch of these ‘Queen Bees’ from hand-picked women, each with their own little ‘hive’, like the thing Melissa has here with the girls (THAT I’M BEING EXCLUDED FROM). They want to make some sort of ruling class maybe, using like Melissa’s genetics or something. Is that it? Well, whatever the fuck it is I refuse to be left behind. I came here wanting to be part of this shit, but now I know too much. In fact. I don’t want to be a fucking worker bee anymore, even if it does mean growing six inches taller and knockers the size of zeppelins. I want to be a fucking Queen. The fucking Queen.

But nobody will talk to me. My calls to Evolution go unreturned. I’ve tried to weasel into, or at least listen in on, some of the meetings between these ones that I think are “agents” here - Morgan, Kathy, Karen (if that’s her real name), some of the others - but these chicks are pretty careful. My next thought is approaching the intern - Sammi. I think she knows more than she lets on, and is into something weird with the tall redhead Bianca and the big-boned one. Emily, yeah that’s her name. Even this new manager lady Olivia - the friend of his wife’s that’s never around - something’s up with her.

What else do you want to know? Oh yeah, about the prion? Didn’t think I knew about that, did you? I didn’t even know what a g-d prion was until I started reading some of the communications back and forth between these agent-girls here and Evolution. They didn’t explain too much themselves, but I did  some of my own snooping. It's been around for a while - I'm not sure how long, a few years, at least - and it changes people somehow. Not necessarily physically, but maybe it's what started everything on this…whatever. Path, trajectory that society’s taking.Like, ten years ago there’s no way most girls would have wanted to be taller than their boyfriends. Back when I was in high school guys always tended to be kinda in charge. But maybe it was around then that things started to change?

Anyway, for now, I have more important things to worry about. Like, I have his suit. Yeah, someone had bought it for him, brought it to the tailor to size it down for this photoshoot thing (he'd shrunk again since they measured him for the suit). They’re doing this press event crap over the weekend, and though it sounds like he’s more an afterthought at this point, they want him to at least look put-together. The news station was sending people over today to get some footage, take some pictures for a news piece they’re doing to cover the grand opening of the new wings, which - technically- wasn't until Monday but there’s like this little ceremony or whatever, some party with the new staff this Friday. So, yeah, I thought, if I hijacked his suit, I could get in on some more of the action.

“Heyyy! You’re awake!” I sang, busting into his office that morning with my friendliest, most bubbly office-girl voice. I wanted to make him comfortable, and I knew he’d basically been avoiding me since the party downtown where I’d come on maybe a little too strong for him to handle. So yeah I can play the bimbo when I need to. “So…I have your suit, and we need to get you dressed. It’s almost eleven and your photoshoot’s in a half hour!”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he answered, looking up from whatever he’d been doing on his computer. He didn’t look well, kinda squirrely. Immediately he started nervously smushing down the bed-head of hair that he was sporting. “And, uh, good morning Angie,” he finally said. 

“Good morning to you!” I sang back. Of course I noticed the cot in the corner with the rumpled sheets. The girls had snuck him some of Katarina’s breastmilk yesterday, I heard, and it had eventually knocked him out for more than twelve hours. I’d filed that under “another weird thing I’ve got to figure out” in my brain and moved on, but not until I’d grabbed the bottle of leftover milk still in the breakroom fridge and hid it away. 

“Speaking of good mornings, I haven’t had my daily kiss yet!” I chirped (yes I can chirp if I want to). I saw the look that came across his face but I moved in on him anyway, laying the suit I held on its hanger down flat on his desk and leaning over, towards him. I’d made the mistake of wearing this high-necked black sweaterdress today, with these crazy shoulder pad things; something with some cleavage would have been useful for this moment. “C’mon,” I said, “You know the rules!” My face was suddenly right in front of his, and I set my eyes to flash, egging him on.

For as dumb as Melissa is, this new policy of mandatory morning greetings was a win. Even though I could tell his heart wasn’t in it, just getting him to peck me on the lips gave me the chance to exert some dominance. My tongue danced over his lips and even though he pulled away quickly I could feel him shudder.

“Watcha working on?” I asked, leaning in a bit more to look at his computer screen, rotating it towards myself. He was writing to someone, and I saw him get nervous. Was this one to that “Anderson” guy? No, it looked like he was talking to someone else.  “Some emails?”

“Y-yeah…” he answered…

========================================

Thx to Elephantporn for the image and RiF for editing work

[beezleberry-breakie]

Shouldn't Have Done That 🔪🔪

So I lied. Max is gonna come soon I swear. I redid some of Holly's info >.> felt like I made her stand out a lot, almost mary-sue ish. Soooooo I changed some physical things and gonna redeux some of her info....hehe. She's 5'7" now instead of 5'6, lol gave her an inch, lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bloodlust Devotion or James they belong to @hotpinkmoon (who I am sure is tired of seeing me spam her inbox ⊂(•̀_•́⊂ )∘˚˳°). But with a beautiful mountain man likes James comes fans like me who want to climb him.

"Hello. Welcome to 7-Heaven", you mumbled the greeting, phone glued to your fingers, when you heard the chime of the front doors. The pit pat of feet soon echoing against the linoleum floor.

Sigh.

Another boring late night at your job. Another lousy 10 hours to go. A lonely bitter work shift. People shouldn’t have to work like this, let alone live on a shit salary, but it was all you could find in the classifieds in this town. You swore as soon as you had enough cash- you’d leave this place and make something of yourself. Maybe become a doctor, or an astronaut, or hell even a crab fisherman. Something that would make papa proud, but alas here you were an assistant manager to a small supermarket. This blowed.

An exaggerated yawn left your lips as you decided to do your job to look for the customer who had just entered the store. Nothing unusual, seems they were floating around the snacks and beer aisle, seemed about right for a late night visit. Your eyes lazily glanced to the giant round mirror that hung in the corner at the end of the aisle. Hmm, looked like about a 5”7’ female wearing a dark green dress? You squinted, no a jacket? You couldn’t fully tell, you leaned a bit forward to garner a better look. Brown skin with vitiligo, whatever hair they had was gathered in the back of her jacket dress you didn’t fuckin’ know what she was wearing, and it looked familiar. Almost stupid familiar. Wait. You inwardly gasped. She was back. Shit, you haven't seen her in a while, hell has she been, you're unprepared for this moment!

In a small panic you went back to your phone, using it's camera like a mirror to fix your hair and any imperfections you saw. Once you felt that you were in the best looking shape, you straightened your back, and took a deep breath. She had just turned around to make her way to the register. You smiled.

It's go time.

"Long time, no see stranger".

The young woman blinked, then gave a strained smile.

"Oh, hey Y/N".

It was Holly!

You watched as she continued to approach the counter, long ebony curls bouncing with each step. Your eyes wandered down to finally catch a glance at the monstrosity she was wearing. It was baggy…a VERY BAGGY zip-up hoodie that draped on her shoulders. Damn thing was close to covering over her knees. You blinked, she never wore anything like that before, at least from what you could remember of your past interactions.

The thought was pushed out once you heard Holly say your name again. Her sweet voice, it was always so warm and smooth, like dripping honey into milk. She had a way to make the night a little more bearable when she used to stop in. You stopped your ogling to snap yourself back into work mode, a faint blush on your cheeks.

You remembered the first night you both met, she seemed to curl into herself, like she was just tired and wanted to get the night over with. She wouldn't even chance a glance or talk to you when cashing out. The days would continue as the day before. Holly would come in, grab her snack and coffee, then cash out. Nothing changed in the first couple of months of seeing her, and you were close in giving up hope in getting to know her.

Suddenly one week she just became more talkative. Honeyed eyes shining brighter, her laughter and dirty jokes contagious, it was like she finally found something that made her days better. She was nearly stopping in everyday at your workplace, so in some hope you felt you had a reason for her sudden happiness, in fact you felt that maybe it was all you. Every chance Holly shopped in the market, you always tried to start some sort of small talk and always wished her a better night. You felt a swell of pride as you thought you gave this young woman some new found happiness. You’re such a good person! Gold star!

Yet she just seemed to disappear one day? Was her weeks of happiness at seeing you just a sign of maniac depression she complained about? It had been a few months when she didn't stop in at all and you tore yourself up in not getting her number. Maybe she just needed a friend to lean on, a person to cuddle with, or someone to talk to? Whatever went on, seems to have passed as she was here now! You beamed. Fate seemed to always find a way for star crossed lovers, and maybe Holly was yours.

Holly placed the basket of food on the counter, soon followed by a 6 pack of light beer. She huffed a bit after placing the objects down, her hoodie and straps of her tank top dropping from off her shoulders. She cursed softly and pulled the straps back onto her shoulders and moving the...was...was that a gold chain on her breasts-uh uhm uhh you meant neck?! That chain looked way too big for her, was baggy and saggy a new thing from Europe or something?

You blushed, mouth falling agape as you watched her move the gold chain from in-between her full breasts. A swallow was stuck in your throat. Fuck. She was looking at you now! Damn these hormones. You forgot how she makes you feel. Recover this moment Y/N! You cleared your now dry throat to stop embarrassing yourself any further.

"H-Holly! I haven't seen you in a w-while", curse your stammering words. This was your moment to make a move....do you think she noticed that you slowed down scanning her things yet?

" H-How have you been? I...I worried about you when stopped coming by".

Holly had blinked several time before shifting her eyes quickly to look out the glass door, you also peered, but didn't see anybody outside. What the fuck was she looking at? Was she in trouble or just was someone out there? You glanced back at Holly for a moment, but decided to just go back to scanning. She didn't look like she was in trouble, in fact she looked flawless. You bet your face was the color of fire right now. Keep your shit together Y/N, you can ask her questions later once you get her number.

You needed to fix this awkward moment, what did Holly like again? Aw that's right! After scanning the last snack, you brought your phone out to show Holly a pictures you took when you were finally able to vacation in Europe.

"S-So, Holly May", fucking shit ,what a horrible nickname you just graced her, "I took your advice and actually went on holiday overseas". That seemed to snap her out of zoning out, this was the only moment you noticed that she wasn't staring outside, almost unblinkingly so. Your shaky hand reached out to give her your phone, your fingers grazing for a slight moment against her own as she snatched gently took it.

"Oh meride! You went to that tourist trap?” she began swiping to look at more photos “Penedejo. Who the hell told you to go here?!", awwww there was your peace, your Holly, it was like she never left as you listen to her ramble about her families home town that you visited, making obscene hand gestures and cursing in a mix of French and cursive Spanish to some of the photos of you backpacking through the country. Your courage continued to skyrocket when she leaned forward, excitingly mind you, to explain the different spices she used when it came to some of the meals you told her you had. You couldn’t help but take a quick glance at her round ass as it poked out from under the hood. Another hard gulp stuck in your throat. Ok. Ok you decided.

It was now or never.

Just when you were about to confess your feelings, the chime of another customer entering the store caught your attention. You groaned, excusing yourself from chatting with the energy gremlin that was Holly to greet the new customer.

You forced a smile, looking towards the door, "Welcome to 7-Heaven, I'll be right...with...you?".

Oh, oh he was big. He was very fucking big. You stared, the length of which you did more than boarded on rude at this point, but someone this big and scary looking needed to be stared at. Yet looking into his eyes you saw how he, at first, kept his gaze on Holly then turned to stare at you-his glare seeming to hold a silent veiled threat. You almost locked your knees in fear. What the hell?! Who is this guy?! You had the snarky idea to call him Jasón Voorhees but you were sure he’d punch your teeth in.

"Holly".

You jumped, even muffled through the mask he was wearing, the baritone of his voice caught you both off guard. Holly had shot straight back up, fingers scrambling to catch the phone she almost dropped, her eyes snapping to the new intruder.

"James”, she pulled the hoodie back onto her shoulders, concern etched on her face, “-is somethin-"

"You ok darlin’?".

She had yet to take her eyes of this behemoth, her fingers nervously tugging on the cuffs of her hoodie. "Yes! I'm fine James”, was she fucking blushing?! “Im sorry for taking so long". She was smiling? A true genuine smile even as this James, stood menacingly behind her to place a masked kiss to the top of her head, his eyes not once straying from your face. You swore you almost heard a purr fall from Holly's lips at his gesture, all her attention now directed towards him. It's like you didn't exist anymore. He looked controlling, possessive, downright dangerous, and you didn’t understand how Holly was loving on him like a bitch in heat. You bit your lip in frustration.

When did he even appear? You didn't even see this tall motherfucker outside, how the hell were his footsteps so silent, was it Friday the 13th? You quickly glanced at the mini calendar on the counter. Nope not the 13th, you silently thanked God at least you’d see another day.heh.

You watched as Holly grabbed one of his hands to intertwine their fingers together, acting like a love sick puppy to this deranged giant. Whom you noticed, had still YET to take his eyes off you.

Was this who she went away to all those months? With this giant ogre of a man doing god knows what? You clutched the scanning gun in your hand, your eyes focused on Holly. This couldn’t have been healthy, right? To just be gone for a couple of months then be all love drunk to a man who resembled Scarface’s son. No. You had to reason with Holly. This was wrong.

"H-Holly are you sure you're doing alright?". You place the scanning tool away, worry etched in your voice as your hand reached out to her. “You know I can help if you just ask. I’m here for you Holly”

This triggered a response. Not from Holly, oh no, but from James. He tilted his head at your emboldened heroic statement, eyes glazing over while his arms protectively crossed over Holly’s chest. Right now you deemed him akin to a bear protecting its slain prey, it was intimidating, and it made your blood run cold.

No. She wasn’t worth it, not by that much. You went back to scanning the last of Holly's snacks, hands shaking as you bagged the items, almost dropping a few in the process.

You hit the register to get the total, "$2-24.50". They’d be out of your hair soon, you kept repeating to yourself, he’d be gone soon. Holly was digging in her hoodie pocket to pay you when James had beat her to it. Reaching over Holly's shoulder he slapped a 20 (and your now broken phone) onto the counter. You looked back up at him, unwilling to blink, as if the gesture would keep him from physically striking you. You wanted to get some sort of bravery back into your system, but no matter how much you tried, you just couldn't ignore the feeling of dread that was choking the air. It was suffocating and Holly was none the wiser as she kissed the back of James’ intwined hand. You gulped nervously. She was too far gone. No saving her.

"Keep the change", with the final word, he turned, grabbed the bag of snacks and tugged Holly’s wrist to finally leave the store. You let out a puff of air that you didn't know you were even holding, your chest burning at the lack of air. You wanted to steady your shaking hands before you looked at the damage created on your phone. At least you could try to save something.

The screen was completely shattered, small fissures on the sides, ruining any chance of saving the device. You gave a deep sigh and looked out the store’s windows to watch Holly and James disappear down the sidewalk. Her form leaning against his arm. Even with them gone, you still felt the murderous gaze he gave whenever you chanced a look at Holly. You shivered. Did you sign your death certificate? Something was just not right with either of them. Maybe. Maybe it was time to move. Pawn everything and just leave. Yea, that sounded like a good idea. You'd start packing as soon as you clocked out and just start anew in another town. Fuck Holly and her new Beau. Your 10 hours of work couldn’t finish fast enough.

It was a pity though.

James came back to “talk” before you could even step foot out of the store.

I feel like I'm making these things long...should I shorten them up? Also was Holly Mary sue? I need to know >.> I don’t raise no perfect bitches.

[guesswho2568]

O-03-350 "The Devourer of Trauma"

"I knew the puppet she wore was fake, but by that point, I didn't really care about loved ones anymore."

"The devourer of trauma, is an unknown god. No one has ever looked at her, and no one ever will. No one is allowed to go into her "chamber" (The lower half of the facility) except me, the manager of Facility X-2568"

She first appeared a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like a normal day, until the entire bottom half of the facility went quiet, I couldn't even see anything in the cameras. I sent an employee down there, but by the time the day was done, they hadn't returned. People were wondering what was going on, so I lied and simply stated that the lower levels were lost to a strong new abnormality, and I'd send a team down there as soon as I could, why did I do it? She told me to, I could hear her beckoning me down there, so I went. I was greeted with the corpse of the employee I sent down there, I hadn't seen such an pretty way of displaying a corpse. Their blood and guts had become a spider web, with their hallow husk sitting cozily inside the web like a little blanket. What was more interesting, was who also greeted me. It was her, she took the form of a long lost loved one, or at least, put on a little sock puppet of her, I knew she was fake, by that point, I just didn't care. She spoke to me, but not with the doll, there was no mouth. She offered a deal of some kind. I would provide her with something called "liquid trauma", and in exchange the world would be kept alive for just a day longer. How could I say no? I am practically everyone's savoir now. But where would I get such a thing? No human could just be wrung of their trauma like a sponge. But the next day, an employee found this bucket, and immediately threw up in it. This strange purple liquid was exactly what I was looking for, as for the bucket, it was classified as a new abnormality. Somehow, there were dozens of buckets like this around. I guess it was a gift from our goddess, who wanted us to actually be able to provide it food.

Not only that, but employee's started showing signs large increases in mental corruption, we had to put a new tracker in the system that allowed us to track this so called "liquid trauma". It would be important to track this, as I could then use those who gained a lot and wring them like a towel. I put it all I could fit in a bucket, and went down when everyone went home. I handed the bucket over to her, and the doll simply tossed the trauma down and gave me back the bucket. She was happy, satisfied, but she wanted more, a simply bucket full would not do. Over the next couple of days, I tried to find a good way of increasing trauma in my employee's, but to no avail. Soon she started getting angry, employee's started noticing the purple substance was oozing from the walls, and were having harder times working with abnormalities. Then one day, a bunch of creatures came and took an employee and dragged them down into the lower layer. By then everyone was on to me, they knew something was up. So I came out with the "truth" to the facility, we had a new abnormality, which required this liquid trauma to produce energy. I had to write some garbage in the employee and manager manual, it was technically true, but she produced no energy. I went down to apologize to her, she was angry for sure. But a dry corpse next to me told me she at least had something to eat. But she didn't like eating from the source, so I had to do something to appease her. So I started picking random employee's and made them suffer. I'd make one watch countless videos of employee deaths in the guise of "special training" just so he could be traumatized enough, and once I even had a employee watch as all of their coworkers and friends were brutally killed and maimed in real time, just for a bucket or two. It worked well, but soon I found abnormalities that could inflict trauma onto my employee's, I had found what I was looking for.

Soon the buckets were rolling in, we had to get a feeder of some sorts since I couldn't carry them all, and I forbid anyone from going into her chamber. she was so full, and it made me so happy! Employee's were even reporting that they were getting work done faster and that the facility had this nice aura to it. But I knew one day, I'd stop being manager either through death or retirement, so I had to prepare the day I'd feed her, one last time. The facility already had a plan to bury itself, should anything occur, but I needed a better plan for this one. Then I came up with it, you can't kill a god, but you can appease it for life. So I'd save some after each day, and had it stored in a safe location. Then when it came time to destroy everything, I'd dump all of it on her. But for now, we feed her so that the world may survive, I even go down there with a bucket every now and then and feed her myself. I think sometimes about watching all of it pour down on her, and sometimes, I think about jumping in with it, just to be with her forever.

"She is the devourer of trauma, she shall consume it all, and one day, spit it all out again."

[cartoonfanatic]

Here they are

Dylan

Species:rock troll but also likes pop and other genres just has a preference to those 2

Age:28

Pronouns:he/him/they/them

Sexuality:pan

Crushes:has a crush on floyd hasn't confessed yet

He is riffs older brother and he can play the drums like no other troll

If you have seen Benson drum solo from regular show yeah that's how good he is

While he is best on drums he isn't bad on guitar

He loves making music it's his favorite thing to do.

He is pretty chill and knows when and when not to play music

Also has his drumsticks always on standby ready to drum anytime

He is known by other rock trolls for his bright red drumsticks any rock trolls who sees them know who they belong too

Name:bradley

Tribe:hard Rock but isn't against other music just prefers rock

Age: 25

Siblings:none

Sexuality:bi

Pronouns:he/him they/them

Crush:none

He loves to play his guitar it's his favorite pastime. He is known for picking fights he has the scars to prove it. He is actually a very caring troll he just has a hard time showing it.

He is a very good fighter and is trained in martial arts. Its a good pastime for him when he isn't rocking out.

He teaches Branch and their group of friends self defense for any wild animal

don't hurt his friends otherwise he is going to hurt you in ways that haven't even been invented yet

Name:Angel

Tribe:techno but classifies as a nightcore troll but does like other genres just prefers them to be nightcore

Siblings:is king trollexs younger sister by a year

Age:34

Crush:Jd (he somehow managed to win her over don't ask neither of them know how tf they did it he just told her a really bad joke and it went from there)

Sexuality:straight ally

Pronouns:she/her

She has her own soundboard she uses to make remixes with along with her own headphones so she won't bother anyone with her music

She doesn't like to tell people she technically is royalty she likes to be treated as a normal troll

She went off to find other music genres and to just travel the world but she does visit home every once in a while

Name:Randy

Tribe:Funk and pop but does enjoy some good country every once in a while along with rock

Age:24

Siblings:none

Sexuality:straight ally

Pronouns:he/him

Crush/none

Is a pretty chill dude and takes things as is. Was shocked when he saw Cooper and told him about his family and that's how the pop trolls learned early on about the other tribes and took him to his family and now they visit every other week.

Teaches Branch some good calming techniques when angry. And is pretty good at giving advice to others.

Alla round a pretty chill and cool dude who just enjoys a good party every now and then

Name:Jordan

Tribe:country rock and pop

Dad was a pop and rock troll mom was a country troll she also loves anime music

Age:22

Siblings:none

Sexuality:straight ally but thinks she might be bi isn't too sure yet

Pronouns:she/her but also accepts they/them

Crushes:none (had a small one on Branch not long after they first met but it quickly went away when she saw how whipped he was for Poppy so now she helps them out with their relationship)

She is the one who teaches Branch not all songs have to be happy and cheerful some can be sad and depressing and that music helps show how one feels as well

She is my sona and I had to include her

Now for fun facts

The group is ready to throw hands with anyone who makes fun of Branch they know about grey trolls and could only imagine what caused him to be grey but they won't pry its his business and will share if he wants to

Bradley offered to pierce branchs ears as a way of making him a honorary rock troll and while he didn't sing or dance they could tell he enjoyed their music

This was while Branch was still grey btw

He denied it but did thank them for the offer

Although he didn't sing or dance he still enjoyed their music as it wasn't all nice and happy like most pop music

Also Bradley was the one who gave Branch the brass knuckles you see in the second movie

Him:here *gives Branch brass knuckles* you can use these to beat up trolls who make you mad 🙂

They met 1 year before the events of the first movie btw

This is super sweet dude! They got nice designs! and i love their characters! .w.b

Hope to see more in the future! x3

[dame-nervy]

Gladers are WCKD - Chapter 14

Vince used to say I had a smart mouth that would only cause trouble, Mary said I was clever enough to talk my way through anything, and when I met Jorge, well he told me I should work on my aim. Though I don't think any of them would expect my escape to have something to do with chewing.

It had been a long 24 hours - I'm guessing, I don't have a clock - of nothing since Jeff had threaten and fed me. Apparently, I wasn't interesting enough for anyone other than Clint and Jeff to come and check on, both saying a lot less than yesterday. Though, with all that time I was able to estimate that I was far away from most people, barely any foot traffic coming past my door. So, while being fed my one meal a day - though I'm not sure you can classify the grease trap grit I received as food - I had managed to spit some in my hand when the Medjacks weren't looking. After they'd left, I was able to use it to finally slip my hand free, though it was not without pain and the wonder of if it will lead to an infection later. Putting that out of my head I redressed myself, collected my weapons and waited by the door until I was pretty sure that no one was around. I opened the door only as far as I needed, quickly getting out and shutting it again before finding a dark hallway to hide in. The silence was deafening, but reassuring. I was alone.

It was only now that I discovered that I was in a building that was barely standing, lots of patch work and boarded up windows. Peeking through the boards I was momentarily blinded before seeing what was home base for the Gladers.

It was a large clearing of green land, men meandering around crop fields, sheds, pens with animals grazing, and buildings that were either new or very well taken care of. I couldn't believe my eyes at how they were living, I'd never even seen green grass before, not in real life. but then there was the 30 metre tall walls that reminding me of the wall around the last city and of what Sonya, Harriet, and Aris had said about where wicked had kept them. Must be Wicked's favourite architectural trait. And then I notice the gaps in the walls... my way out.

Even though I knew my odds would be better to wait for nightfall, there's no telling when someone would next come to check on me. Now might be my only chance. I found a boarded-up window on the side towards the back, peaking out of that one you could easily tell it was closer to the wall and not too visible to the main area, I could also see another hole in the wall, closer but easily exposed. I pulled the boards off, which was made easy by the fact that they were rotted out, thankfully since my busted hands ached after a few moments of pressure. I peaked out a little to see if I'd been noticed luckily finding no one around at all, the closest person being around 50 metres away.

The was no cover. there was no waiting around for a better opportunity. It was now or go and get comfortable in my seat. I climbed out the window, took a deep breath, steadied my nerves and ran.

.

.

.

.

.

"HEY!"

- - - - -

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[whatisreggieshortfor]

A Project

For @lasswithumor

Carl x MC

Coworkers

Naleah Coleman enjoyed her work. Tech wasn’t something people outside of the field found interesting. It wasn’t glamorous, outside of the rare expo. But she loved the idea of being able to take something apart and look at the small components that made it work, to find a way to make it better.

The view from her desk wasn’t too bad either.

Carl Sullivan. Tall, handsome, brilliant.

Stationed directed across the space from her desk.

Naleah was sure she spent just as much time watching him as she did doing her work, if not more. The flushed cheeks and shy smile she would see when he caught her told her he might not mind too much though.

But she often wondered how long she’d have to dance around it before one of them would be brave enough to actually say something. She figured it wouldn’t be him, not after relationship with the girl from the cycling committee went south and she’d tried like to get him in trouble with HR. But finding a good time to actually approach him about her affections?

She would swear it didn’t exist.

One of them was always held up at the end of the day about something on a project, or they got stuck with a request during lunch.

She couldn’t very well ask while they were working.

And then she got a her new project assignment.

And this time she would have a partner for it. A certain dark haired man that also usually worked alone.

“No, you can’t use that polymer to adhere the circuit board to the titanium alloy.” Naleah sighed.

Carl’s lips pursed thoughtfully into a pout, and she ignored the urge to kiss it away, “I suppose you are right. The reaction between that polymer and the titanium would risk overheating and frying the circuitry. Maybe if we use an epoxy adhesive rather than polyurethane-“ he stopped abruptly, fingertips tapping off each other, “I mean to say, I would appreciate hearing your opinion on the matter. What do you believe the correct adhesive would be?”

Her brow furrowed. The Carl she had become familiar with wasn’t like this. Wasn’t nervous about the things he knew, or the ideas he had. He was always sure of the thoughts he made into statements. It often rubbed other coworkers the wrong way. So why was he second guessing himself now? “Carl, do you not want to work with me?” She blinked at herself. That wasn’t the question she had been planning to ask.

His eyes widened, “No- I mean- Yes. I do want to work with you.”

“Are you sure?” She bit her lip, eyes staring at the blueprints of the device they were trying to develop rather than his expression. “You seem…different when you work with others.”

“I-“ He cleared his throat, “I suppose I do.”

“It’s okay. Like, I get it. You prefer to work alone and-“

“No, I assure you, Miss Coleman, it isn’t that.” Carl took a deep breath, not so much looking at her as he was staring over her shoulder. “I just- I am aware that I can be classified as difficult. I work alone in true vast majority or situations because I infuriate colleagues. I…I do not want to infuriate you or showcase that I can be difficult.”

She felt her head cocking to the side without realizing she had even moved, face turned up to look at him now, “Why would I be bothered that you like to work a certain way?”

He pursed his lips again, glancing down as his fingers continued tap tap tapping off each other, “I am merely trying to be certain that the way I behave will not make you…no longer like me.”

Hope brimmed in her chest, threatening to overflow, but she needed to be sure if he meant it the way she did. “In what way…do you want me to like you?”

“Preferably in the same way I like you?” He offered uncertainly. Uncertainty was never a look she’d seen on him before. “I understand if you do not reciprocate, but I would like to imagine partaking in activities together when the project is complete.”

“You mean you’d like to go out. With me. Romantically.”

“Yes.”

She nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to smother a smile that was threatening to split across her face, “Okay. But why would you change yourself for that?”

Carl frowned, his brow furrowing, “I do not wish you to think I am difficult.”

She giggled, just to herself, “I know you’re difficult.” His lips pursed again but she continued, “Carl, you’re smart and don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise. You don’t take criticism from anyone that doesn’t have the points to back it up. People label you as difficult because you’d rather point out the flaws of a plan from the get go rather than keep your mouth shut to avoid making waves. It’s good to be difficult.”

“I…I suppose to hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Now you will.” She grinned, gesturing to the blue prints, “Now, what were you saying about using the epoxy adhesive for the circuit board?”

It took a few weeks, and a lot of arguments between them about design flaws and testing, but eventually the two of them finished the project. She half expected to go back to admiring him from her desk when they turned in the final project to the budget committee, but he was good at defying her expectations.

“Are you ready?” Naleah blinked up at Carl, standing at the edge of her desk with her coat tucked over his arm.

“Ready for…?”

His ears flushed a flight pink as he cleared his throat, “I suppose I may have taken your encouragement as an affirmative response. The, uh, the project is finished, so I thought- maybe- but if you do not wish to-“

“You were serious?” She felt her cheeks warm, “Okay, yeah, let’s go.” She grinned as she stood from her desk, allowing him to hold her coat for her to slip her arms into, “What did you have in mind?”

“How would feel about a culinary exploration of countries in a park down the street?” He looked unsure again, but she liked the fact that she made him nervous.

“The food truck festival? Yes, please.”

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