#anyway the default feeling peter has is probably along the lines of

[paralianprince]

@islandiis continued from here!

[sms]:  OH hold on

[sms]:  wow alright my offer to do all your chores for you mustve been like even weirder than i was worried it would sound, well done me

[sms]:  srry someone gave me your number ages & ages ago.  this is Sea, based just to the southwesterly of the lands of freezing ones ears off

[sms]:  anyway!!  hi !  i figured itd be a bit silly to go all that way without yknow askin first so i sort of got ahead of myself

[hale-13]

The Trouble with Tabloids

By Hale13 for @jenniboo311

“Oh look at this, this is a good one: ‘Some suggest that Parker’s powers include the male spider’s ability to hypnotize females.”

“Stop, c’mon,” Peter says back, slightly irritated at her teasing.

“Yes my Spider-Lord,” MJ says, dropping her voice in pitch and, against his will he starts chuckling. It makes him feel lighter and calmer and warm.

“Can we just like sit up here all day? It is so crazy down there.”

MJ hums and flicks over to the next page, still skimming. “I mean we could,” she says, neutral. “But would it really help anything?”

Or

MJ reads the Daily Bugle and Peter is an nervous mess about returning to school after his identity is reveled to the world.

Words: 5313, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandom: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Relationships: Peter Parker/Michelle Jones, Peter & May, Peter & Ned

Read on AO3 or below line break

“Does any part of you feel relieved about all this?” Michelle is curled up on her side, the half priced Christmas twinkle lights she picked up off a dusty shelf when they went thrift shopping a few months ago hung up haphazardly behind her. They make the edges of her hair glow red and throw strange and beautiful shadows across her face. Peter is almost too distracted looking at her to register her question.

“What do you mean?” His voice quiet and questioning. His living room is completely dark – his face lit only by his phone screen where he holds is just above his chest.

MJ’s face scrunches a little and she readjusts her head on the pillow, a few stray fractals of light bouncing off the broken black dahlia necklace and painting rainbows onto the wall and ceiling. “Now that everybody knows you don’t really have to hide or lie to people.”

Peter feels his hackles rise just a little at that comment but he’s too tired and burnt out to really be upset. He feels like he’s been fighting for years even though its only been a few weeks since Beck outed him to the world. His head pulsates with the starts of a headache and he just sighs. “For the record,” despite his desire to sound neutral his voice has a bit of an edge, “I never wanted to lie to you. But how do you tell someone that you’re Spider-Man?”

MJ hums noncommittally, it’s the sound she makes when she disagrees or has strong feelings about something in particular but doesn’t feel like arguing – he’s sure it will come up later and that her opinion will probably be correct. It makes him feel thankful and pissed simultaneously but he takes a deep breath and tries to let it go. Anger seems to be his default emotion these days. Anger and frustration and a dash of hopelessness. “Are you ready for tomorrow?” MJ asks, changing the subject abruptly and Peter settles a little more firmly into the ancient couch that May picked up from one of their neighbors. It groans under him.

“Sure,” he replies with a bit of a crooked smile that he can tell doesn’t reach his eyes – the little image in the bottom of his screen that shows his reflection makes him look pale and washed out and so so tired. No wonder May had been hovering so much recently. “I’ve always wanted to try and balance being a well known vigilante while going to high school.”

MJ chuckles and gives him a fond smile. The school year technically started a few weeks ago but Peter has been on unofficial home arrest while the NYPD and FBI and the freaking UN sorted out what to do with him. The unaltered footage from EDITH along with the character witness statements and testimonials from Happy and the newly returned to Earth Nick Fury (shape-shifting aliens what the fuck?) made it clear quickly that he was innocent but just opened the door for a whole host of other problems.

Like a large portion of conspiracy theorists still saying he killed Beck and that the government was covering it up. Or the fact that his address had gotten leaked and people had camped outside with signs or support or hatred and he and May had needed to move somewhere new. Or how Ned had been accosted by a crazy Fox News journalist on his way home from school one day.

That had made Peter see red and it was only May and Happy taking his web-shooters and phone and nearly restraining him that kept him from leaving to do something he would probably (maybe) regret later.

Jimmy Woo, the FBI agent over his case, had advised him to just lay low while the local and worldwide organizations hashed everything out. Peter was still too young to sign the Sokovia Accords but they couldn’t have him running around and ‘causing untold destruction’ in other countries. And, well, the NYPD still wasn’t his biggest fan when it came to the low-to-the-ground and neighborhood problems he liked to deal with.

As it was, he was now allowed to continue being Spider-Man in New York City but he would need special permission from local governments to act anywhere else. This suited Peter just fine; he would rather not leave home anytime soon after his last ‘vacation’ and Spider-Man was a Queens hero anyway. The clock on his phone ticked over to one in the morning just as his battery bar turned red.

“Hey,” Michelle said, pulling his attention back to her. She gave him a tired smile and pulled her blanket up higher on her shoulder. “We’ll be there with you the whole time.”

“I know,” Peter whispered, fingering the stitching of the t-shirt he had stolen from his girlfriend and was wearing. It still had just a bit of her scent that he could probably only pick up due to his enhanced senses and it made his chest feel a little full. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You will,” MJ said, ending the call and leaving Peter alone. The shadows that stretched across the walls from his dim phone light looked foreboding and he stared at them until his screen went dim. He really should get up and go to bed. He should pack his book bag. He should definitely charge his phone.

Instead, Peter creeps to his room and shimmies into his suit, jumping out his window into the cool night. ———————————————

Peter crawled back through his window just before his alarm goes off at six, tired and sweaty and still freaking out a little but feeling marginally better now that some of his nervous energy was gone. May is sitting at their little kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee in her robe and looking just as exhausted as he feels. He can tell she knows that he’s been out all night but he’s thankful she chooses not to say anything as he makes his walk of shame to their cramped single bathroom to shower.

When he emerges about twenty minutes later with damp hair and layered up in his favorite flannel shirt and a plain white t-shirt May has brewed another pot of coffee and has a stack of toast and jam on the table and his heart clenches. Toast and jam has always been his go-to for mornings where his anxiety is at an all time high and his stomach is twisting and he wraps his arms around May’s shoulders from behind in a fierce hug and tucks his face into her neck like he’s a little kid again. May gives him a kiss on the temple and lets him soak in some comfort from her before she shoos him over to his seat to eat.

They both sit in silence; Peter munching on his toast and drinking black coffee full of sugar to perk him up and May nursing her own cup and staring at the wall. May’s knee bumps against his when she scoots a little closer and he can feel a little bit more of the tension leak out of him – as long as he still has her he’s okay. No matter what happens with school and Spider-Man and the Avengers he has May.

“I’m so proud of you,” May tells him a few minutes later as he’s chewing on his last piece of toast and Peter can feel the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes but he refuses to cry. He sniffs and coughs, choking on emotion and May scoots her chair over more to pull him into a hug and he just lets himself be held for a minute.

“I love you,” he tells her, leaning into the hug for just another second before pulling away. May smiles, her own eyes watery and she fidgets with his hair, smoothing out the wild curls and fixing his collar. He knows she hears everything else he’s trying to say: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t want this.

“I love you too,” she says; It’s okay, its not your fault. “I have the next week off so if you need me for anything – and I mean anything – I want you to call me okay? I’ll come get you.”

Peter nods even though he would never call her to come bail him out and goes to the sink to rinse his cup and brush the crumbs off his plate. “I know May and I will, I promise.” Liar. The knock at the door interrupts them and Peter glances at the clock; its later than he thought. May bites her lip like she’s waffling on saying more but relents and goes to answer it. He can hear her greeting MJ and Ned, can hear the brushing of clothes as she hugs them both and Peter takes just a moment for himself. He closes his eyes and takes a fortifying breath – in through his nose and out through his mouth – and straightens his spine, squares his shoulders.

He can do this.

And he’s does. He’s fine as he slinks out of his building (the first time leaving as Peter Parker since his arrest and meeting with multiple government organizations and moving) and down the steps to slide into Happy’s car with Ned and MJ on either side of him. Ned is wearing the ridiculous letterman jacket from Acadec that he spent way too much money on and MJ is wearing a dark blazer he’s never seen before but instantly loves. He would probably love everything she wore to be honest.

“Hey kid,” Happy says. He looks completely unruffled in his usual dark suit and tie but Peter can hear his heart beating faster than usual as he double and triple checks his mirrors before pulling away from the curb. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Peter says but his voice is all wrong and he clears his throat to try to get rid of the lump that’s formed there unsuccessfully. Michelle slips her hand in his and squeezes tightly and Ned presses their sides together in a quick moment of support on his other side.

Ned’s phone buzzes against Peter’s leg and he fishes it out, unlocking it and reading through the message before typing a short reply. “Flash is meeting us out front,” he says. And that, probably, had been the biggest surprise from this whole identity reveal mess but it probably shouldn’t have been. When they had come back from the blip, fifteen kids out of their class of forty-three, they had come to an understanding.

The apology and forgiveness had gone unsaid between them but, suddenly, Flash wasn’t as terrible to be around. There was still some ribbing and snarky commentary but nothing to the intensity of before. No more ‘Penis Parker’ no tripping him in the halls or pushing him into lockers like before.

If the Blip had done one thing it was reset everyone’s preconceived notions and priorities.

After Beck had released his heavily doctored video, Flash had practically beat down Ned’s door and asked how he could help. With his large Twitter, Instagram and TikTok following, he had been able to help get the word out about local protests and had been the person behind #NY❤️sSpidey and #PeterParkerisInnocent trending on twitter for multiple days.

Peter had uninstalled all social media from his phone weeks ago to protect his sanity and had basically only been texting May, MJ, Ned and Happy but he really appreciated the sentiment and had dropped in on Flash when he was in the park the other day as Spider-Man to say a quick ‘thank you’ as he patrolled. Flash had looked stunned and excited in equal measure but had offered a scoff and a fist bump that Peter gladly returned before swinging off.

“Well shit,” Happy muttered as he turned into Midtown drawing Peter out of his thoughts.

The school was a madhouse – news trucks were lining the perimeter, their cameras and newscasters being careful to not step onto school property and under close watch from the scattering of NYPD and SRO on the scene. That was fine, they had expected that.

What Peter had not expected, what no one had prepared for, was the literal mob of protestors with signs and banners and t-shirts screaming and chanting behind a series of guardrails that fringed the path up to the school. His classmates were walking up the path mostly unmolested and filming and taking pictures, some of them lingering around the front entrance or on the steps or surrounding lawn as they watched in fascination. A couple were enthusiastically talking to a cluster of cameras and reporters near the subway entrance.

“How did they know I was coming back to school today?” Peter asks, mouth and throat dry and making his voice croak.

“Someone must have slipped it,” MJ says, not sounding surprised. There had been a school wide assembly the Friday before where Principal Morita had announced Peter’s imminent return and had put some ground rules in place – don’t treat him like a zoo animal, no crowding the halls, no harassment – but Peter didn’t really expect anyone to listen. He’d had his own meeting with May and Morita via Zoom a couple weeks before to hammer out the details of his continued education at Midtown and his tardy and absence policy. The man has assured him that he would do everything he could to keep Peter’s school experience as normal as possible which had bolstered May’s confidence but Peter had known it was more of an empty promise than anything else.

“It’s fine Pete,” Ned said. “They can’t do anything to us.”

Happy met his eyes in the rear view mirror and raised a questioning brow and Peter gave a shake of his head. He wasn’t going to back out now, besides, the car had been spotted and multiple cameras were pointed in his direction and the mob was screaming and waving their signs even more aggressively now.

Happy pulled to a slow stop in front of the path and put the car in park. “I can have them removed if you want,” he offered. “Or find a back entrance? You don’t have to deal with them Pete.”

Peter looked at the crowd again and gnawed at his already ragged lip. “It’s okay. It’ll just make it worse if I try to avoid them.”

Happy muttered something about self-flagellation under his breath with a fond eye roll but didn’t fight him. “Just don’t say anything,” he advises. “Don’t look at them and don’t say anything. Just keep walking until you’re in the school okay? I’ll be here right at four-thirty to pick you up after decathlon.”

“Thanks Happy,” Peter says, trading seats with Michelle so that he’ll be the first to emerge from the car and tightening his backpack straps. He wishes he had his red and black suit with him instead of the Iron Spider in its housing units on his wrists – the weight, minuscule as it is, is always comforting on his back. He wishes he was wearing his mask. He wishes he could just be plain Peter Parker again. He takes a deep, fortifying breath and opens the door.

The angry roar of the crowd when they see him nearly deafens him and he fights the urge to cover his ears and protect his sensitive hearing. Flash materializes out of nowhere to stand staunchly at his side as MJ slips out of the car, clearly nervous but ignoring the mass of people and grabbing his hand. “Nice hair Eugene,” she teases as Ned joins them and closes the door. Flash rolls his eyes at her and pushes his shockingly blonde fringe out of his eyes.

“You wish you could pull this off,” he offers in response and her smile becomes more genuine at the ribbing.

“Maybe red,” she muses, adjusting her own bag on her shoulder before she starts to walk up the sidewalk.

The path is only wide enough for them to walk two by two and MJ pulls him closer and holds his hand tighter as they face the school. Peter tries to ignore the signs and screams as he walks resolutely toward the door but he can’t completely block them out, especially after seeing a blown up copy of his year book photo with devil horns calling him a murderer. The woman holding it, wearing a t-shirt with a similar message and a button with Mysterio’s helmet on it, spews even more vitriol when she sees him look her direction. Her face is red and angry and Peter redirects his attention back to the school.

His classmates crowd the stairs and most of them have their phones out to livestream him coming to school. He feels like a bug pinned under glass and he can feel his breath speed up in his chest but he tries not to show it. Ben had always told him that he was an open book and that anyone could read his every thought on his face. It had been funny back then but now Peter just wishes that it was anything but true.

It, unfortunately, doesn’t get any better inside. The halls are lined with curious teenagers and teachers alike who all watch him walk down the hall and film him and get way too close for comfort. Morita had told him that he can’t, technically, enforce the no phone rule before school officially starts for the day and after it ends so Peter will have to deal with it.

His locker is also, unfortunately, down a completely different hall than Ned, MJ and Flash’s so they have to separate if they plan on being on time for home room. He’ll meet Ned there but he won’t see the other two until second period and he has first period, APUSH, completely alone. It’s almost enough to send him over the edge.

“I can walk with you,” Ned offers, adjusting his bag but Peter just shakes his head. He can do this. He has to do this.

The heckling gets worse once the others leave and his classmates get bolder – pushing into his space and taking selfies with him and asking invasive questions. He’s never been popular and he’s always been ignored and its just getting to be too much but at least he understands why some celebrities go off the deep end and straight up punch paparazzi now.

He makes quick work of getting his locker open and stowing his extra notebooks and gym bag before hassling in the direction of his home room. Ned meets up with him halfway there, a little out of breath from clearly rushing to meet him and pushing through the crowd, and the groupies back off a little once he’s around and forming a barrier between them and Peter. Ms. Warren glances at them from her desk when they enter and her eyes linger on Peter a little longer than normal but she otherwise ignores them and Peter feels honestly faint in relief.

“Dude,” Ned tells him as he slips into the seat to Peter’s right at the scratched up black lab table. Peter groans and drops his head onto his crossed arms, not really knowing how to respond. “At least you have Dell for APUSH – he won’t put up with any shit in his class.”

“Yeah,” Peter responds. “Lucky.”

Ned winces and goes to say something else but the bell rings and the school morning newscast starts playing on the TV. Ms. Warren turns it up just as Betty Brant says “This morning our very own Midtown Avenger joined us back in classes. In case you missed it, Jason and I were live on the scene for his-,”

Peter crammed his headphones in and turned on the white noise to drown out the sound of the newscast and pointedly ignored Ned’s sympathetic looks and Ms. Warren who looked at his headphones in blatant disapproval but didn’t ask him to take them out. Thank God.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he peeked at the message coming through – a single eye rolling emoji from MJ followed by Must be a slow news day. He smiled despite himself and tucked the phone back away just as the bell rang.

His first class alone was a nightmare – Mr. Dell had assigned them all seats and had put Peter front and center in what was, probably, an effort to keep his classmates for hassling him too much and keep everyone’s attention on what he was teaching and not on Peter. It didn’t really work since people kept taking sneaky Snapchat pictures and videos of him under their desks when Mr. Dell’s back was turned. Peter set his jaw and tried to ignore it but he knew he would have to borrow Ned’s notes if he even hoped at passing the class.

His AP English class was a little better since he had both Ned and MJ with him but Mr. Harrington who was, arguably, his favorite teacher and one that had, apparently, really gone to bat for him against the PTO and school board so that he could keep his scholarship and go to school, was a little oblivious. His classmates were even more bold and blatant and he was clenching his jaw so much he thought his teeth might break.

“Come with me,” MJ said, pulling him out of his desk right as the bell rang and rushing out the door.

“Where are we going?” Peter asked, stumbling after her as she pulled him toward one of the stock rooms, pushing him in and closing and locking the door behind them.

“To the roof,” she answered, standing on an overturned bucket to open up the small window. Peter blinked in surprise.

“But you have art this hour.”

“And you have a free period,” MJ said like it was obvious, hopping off the bucket and herding him to the window. “Ms. Goode loves me anyway so she won’t care if I miss a class. Hurry up and get sticky.”

Peter let out a bark of a laugh and climbed up the wall, pulling Michelle through the window after him and carefully avoiding the classrooms and front of the building until they reached the roof. The sun was bright and warm on his skin and he laid on his back just reveling in the silence. “This is nice,” he said, catching the book MJ dropped before it hit his stomach without opening his eyes and positioning it behind his head as a pillow. She settled in next to him, rustling with some paper and he cracked open one eye to glance at her. “What is that?”

“The Daily Bugle,” she answered, flicking through a couple pages and skimming the words, ignoring as Peter choked on his own saliva and fell into a coughing fit.

“You’re actually reading that garbage? You know what they’re saying about me right? Jameson keeps calling me a ‘Spider-Menace like that even makes sense-.”

“It’s actually pretty hilarious,” she said interrupting his tirade and stopping her flicking to read through a page. “Oh look at this, this is a good one: ‘Some suggest that Parker’s powers include the male spider’s ability to hypnotize females.”

“Stop, c’mon,” Peter says back, slightly irritated at her teasing.

“Yes my Spider-Lord,” MJ says, dropping her voice in pitch and, against his will he starts chuckling. It makes him feel lighter and calmer and warm.

“Can we just like sit up here all day? It is so crazy down there.”

MJ hums and flicks over to the next page, still skimming. “I mean we could,” she says, neutral. “But would it really help anything?”

Peter sighs and flops over on his stomach to beat his head gently into the book. “Probably not.” His stomach growls and he sighs – at least lunch is next. MJ’s hand skims down his neck to sit in the small of his back.

“I can think of something that could take your mind off it,” she says lightly and Peter feels his cheeks heat just a little but rolls his head over to smirk at her.

“Do tell.”

She gives him a little smile of her own before poking him until he moves enough for her to perch on his lap. He curls block out the sun and she’s at just the perfect height for him to lean forward and pull her into kiss.

They slip back into the window of the stock room just before the bell rings to end third period with their lips swollen and their hair a little more messy than it was before but with bright smiles and less tense muscles. Peter keeps his ear to the door and waits for the hallway to clear before they slip out and make their way to the lunch room.

Both of them had brought lunch so it was easier to creep in unnoticed through the side door and join Ned and Flash in the back corner of the cafeteria. It didn’t take too long before their classmates started murmuring and pointing and, despite the numerous warnings from various administrators and the fact that five of the sophomore level teachers were seated at their own table near the front of the room, many of the students took notice of their sudden appearance and were attempting to take surreptitious pictures and videos of them on phones hidden under tables and halfway in hoodie pockets. Peter felt his ears turn red as he ducked his head closer to the table and nearly into his sandwich. MJ glared at the table closest to them and the few girls seated there at least had the decency to look ashamed though they didn’t tuck their phones away.

“So this is fun,” Flash muttered as he picked at the flavorless and congealed school spaghetti on his tray. His normal table of friends and groupies were seated a few tables away and looking at him with jealously. Awkward silence followed his deadpan grumbling and Peter shifted uncomfortably.

Michelle rolled her eyes and snorted indelicately before glancing at Peter with clear mischief in her eyes and slapping her copy of the Daily Bugle on the table before flipping it open to a page she had earmarked. Peter groaned and dropped his head to thunk on the table dramatically as MJ said “ Did you know that Peter can hypnotize females with his spider powers?”

Ned snorted so abruptly some of the water he was drinking dribbled out his nose causing him to cough and gag and Flash to thump him on the back. “Oh my God,” Ned said reverently, touching the gossip rag and cradling it like it was special as his eyes darted across the page. “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen. I need to get this framed!”

Peter whined and thumped his head on the table a few more times. “Yo Parker, this says you lay eggs,” Flash pointed out, skimming the edge of the page where a bullet pointed lists of ‘Fun Facts!’ were.

“I don’t lay eggs!” Peter groaned out in dismay, giving MJ his best betrayed look. She ignored his misery as she gleefully looked at the paper upside down to read the other inaccurate facts listed about him. “This is abuse,” he muttered, trying to pull the paper away from Ned but failing as his friend dodged and Flash batted his hands away.

“Does your ability to hypnotize only work on females? What exactly is the process?” Ned teased, voice shaking in mirth. “Wait! Wait what do you make them call you? Master of the Spiders? Arachnid King?”

“Spider Lord,” MJ provided with a shit-eating grin that had Flash and Ned sputtering with laughter and drawing even more attention their way.

“Oh come on,” Peter begged. “Don’t let anyone hear you or they’ll believe it!”

“Of course Spider Lord,” Flash intoned with barely concealed glee causing Ned and MJ to cackle more.

“You’re all the worst,” Peter told them without heat. To be honest this was the best he had felt all day – he hardly noticed the extra stares and muttering anymore. The bell announcing the end of their lunch rang and he hurried to cram the rest of his sandwich in his mouth as quickly as possible; they all had to hurry since they had gym and had to change before the tardy bell rang in ten minutes.

The heckling continued up until they split off to enter different locker rooms and Peter abruptly clenched his jaw as he realized the majority of his class was not only early to class to change but also waiting in the locker room and looking busy while they waited for him. Ned shot him a wince as he ducked into one of the stalls to change. Peter could feel the eyes following him as he did the same.

“Come on Parker,” he told himself as he took a few moments to center himself. “It’s just gym. You’ve done it a hundred times. This time’s no different.” He took as much time as possible to change, only sneaking out just before the bell rang and the majority of the room emptied.

MJ had saved them seats a bit away from the rest of the class and Peter squeezed between her and Ned, taking her hand and giving it a soft squeeze. Coach Wilson, looking particularly bored, was lugging a couple bags of foam balls from the locked equipment closet and Peter felt his stomach turn with dread. He detested dodgeball.

“You know the drill,” Coach Wilson drowned from the middle of the court. “Split in half, game starts on my whistle. Not you Parker,” he called over the din of talking and scuffing tennis shoes. “New PTA rules – you can watch and do individual work but no more team or contact sports.”

Peter felt his face flush again as he lowered himself back into his seat as the class broke out into louder conversations around him. Ned clapped him on the shoulder and said “Don’t worry about it man,” and Peter opened his mouth with the intent to thank or reassure his friend that he was okay but Ned, taking advantage and wearing a smirk, loudly went directly for the kill. “Besides, its unbecoming of a Spider Lord to comport himself like one of us mere plebes.”

Flash promptly tripped down the stairs and barely caught himself from falling on his face and breaking his nose on the floor, MJ had to sit back down to get herself under control as the rest of their class just stared at them with confused looks on their faces.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” Peter told Ned seriously causing his friends to break out into laughter again. If you can’t beat ‘em right?

“You’ve been an awfully good sport about this,” MJ told him later, leaning against a neighboring locker as he packed his bag and grabbed his decathlon binder. He shot her a questioning glance as he zipped up his bag. “The Spider Lord thing. It doesn’t actually bother you right? Because Ned already changed your name in the group chat and I’d hate to hurt his feelings by changing it again.”

“No its fine,” Peter reassured her. “It’s a little funny.” He slammed his locker shut and took her hand, “We’re going to be late Captain,” he told her, walking in the direction of the library. And maybe it didn’t bother him but it didn’t stop the wheels from turning. The attention rankled and he just wanted to go back to being Peter Parker again, to be completely anonymous.

He may know a guy who could help with that – it would only take a quick trip to Bleeker Street.

[shihalyfie]

Menoa Bellucci, and her relation to Adventure and 02′s antagonists

I mentioned in an earlier meta that Kizuna has a particularly deep relationship to 02 on a thematic level, with a lot of that being because its primary antagonist, Menoa, has heavy parallels to its two main antagonists (the Digimon Kaiser and Oikawa Yukio). I felt like I should make another post talking about Menoa in particular, and how the themes of both Adventure and 02 relate to her.

Do note that naturally, this will contain heavy spoilers for the movie (although I guess I’ve technically already spoiled it in this post’s premise...).

Before we begin, I’m going to start off with...well, look, I don’t really like starting off with what’s probably going to sound like an indictment, but I’m pretty sure so much of the potential audience for this post is going to be thinking about it that I inevitably need to address it. It’s the part where a lot of people have generally accused Menoa of being a rehash of tri.’s Himekawa Maki. Honestly, I don’t blame anyone for jumping to that connection, because of how similar the surface details are -- she’s a young woman who was a Chosen Child, who lost her partner and did morally questionable things as a result. That, and tri. was only a few years ago, so Himekawa is still recent in memory, and it’s logical to think that maybe the most recent work would be pulling from the second most recent work.

...But that’s also exactly where the similarities stop. Beyond that surface level, there’s not much connection on a thematic level. Mainly: after losing her partner, Himekawa’s main goal was to get said partner back, even if it meant dismantling the same Digital World she’d been originally meant to protect -- she was willing to destroy everything for the sake of that goal (i.e. she was knowingly acting selfishly). Not only that, she’s not even the primary antagonist, because the whole thing ties into her being used as a pawn by Yggdrasil -- so we’re not even sure how much agency she had in this entire arrangement. Meanwhile, Menoa’s motives were definitely very based on her desire to get said partner back, but the whole point was that she thought it was impossible -- she’d certainly tried, but because nothing was bearing fruit, she determined that the only thing she could do would be to prevent everyone else from going through the same thing. So in other words, she was convinced her actions were actually selfless, and her failure in getting her partner back was what motivated her -- all based on her own personal choices and motivations, directed entirely by her. Other than the backstory part being somewhat similar, the way they react to it is completely different.

If Menoa is meant to be relevant to Himekawa, then that can only really be said in the sense that Menoa is a response to and deconstruction of the plot point Himekawa introduced. This is especially because part of Kizuna’s creation involved being a direct response to tri.’s inadequate portrayal of Digimon partnerships, which, unfortunately, Himekawa is...kind of a major symptom of -- we’re never given any serious depiction on what emotional connection Himekawa and her partner had, we’re only supposed to glean this by projecting the old Adventure/02 definition and depiction of partnerships, and everything else we learn about Himekawa’s desperation is after the fact. And...well, I’ll be honest, it’s still kind of hard to even rationalize how Himekawa’s “character arc” makes much sense (especially the part where we’re supposed to figure out how she apparently studied the reboot since university but had no contingency plan for Bakumon not remembering her, to the point where this apparently drove her completely insane...?). So as a result, she’s just killed off unceremoniously, because there’s no real natural conclusion to this arc, nor any underlying logic as to what relationship Himekawa and Bakumon supposedly had.

So it is true that Menoa starts off with a similar base concept, but because Kizuna is dedicated to “defining what it means to have a partner”, it takes a proper step-by-step approach: firstly, what did Morphomon actually mean to Menoa? We’re given tons and tons of depictions of how Morphomon was integrated into her daily life, and was her closest confidant for years. What exactly does it mean to lose a partner? The depictions and descriptions in Kizuna don’t hold back at all; Menoa even says that it feels “like a part of your body has been ripped away”. What is a Digimon partner in the first place, and what does it mean to have one or to not have one? In line with Adventure/02′s portrayal of Digimon partners, a Digimon is portrayed as a part of the inner self whose presence or absence depends on the human’s state of mind, which means that getting a partner back also depends on said human -- and thus, even Menoa is provided an opportunity for salvation at the end, because everyone has the potential to grow again. In that sense, it’s hard to really call Menoa a parallel or a rehash, when, if anything, it’s more like she’s taking that concept and readjusting it to what it should have been more like when under the original Adventure/02 concept of partnerships.

Anyway...

Back to Adventure and 02. On its face, Kizuna does seem to have more pertinence to 02 than it does Adventure when it comes to themes -- after all, Kizuna styles itself as something that’s supposed to be relatable and personal to the modern millennial adult, meaning that it focuses moreso on human drama and introspection more so than it does Digital World and Digimon mechanics. In doing so, it was probably inevitable that it aligns itself more with 02 (which was significantly more about human drama and interpersonal relationships than it was Adventure’s Digital World and Digimon lore) by default.

Still, there is a lot of pertinence in the sense that Adventure was always intended to be “a story of humanity’s evolution” -- recalling that the 02 epilogue was actually the originally intended ending for Adventure, and the result of “everyone in the world having a Digimon partner” being the “evolution” of humanity by having a visible form of their own soul -- and thus, the core of each enemy in Adventure was tied to it in some form. This is made especially clear in the third Adventure novel:

At the beginning of the world, when the Digital world was still in chaos, the Digital world chose the idea of “evolution.” By deciding that this process would involve the Digital world itself “evolving,” it created Homeostasis for that necessity...

...Apocalymon must have sent its thoughts through the “Wall of Fire” into the Digital world. It planted the idea into the Dark Masters’ minds to unconsciously reject “evolution.” The Dark Masters’ plan would permanently destroy the function of the Village of Beginnings. It was possible that, to the very end, they had been unaware of it. In other words, the construction of Spiral Mountain took “evolution” away from the Digital World.

When the kids finally meet Apocalymon in the penultimate episode of Adventure, he has the following complaints:

Apocalymon: We are the Digimon who have disappeared through the evolution process...The resultant build-up of thoughts that have cursed our sad and hateful fates! Sora: You were created from the dark hearts of the Digimon who disappeared? Apocalymon: Dear Chosen Children and your dear Digimon. We have been looking forward to meeting all of you. ... Apocalymon: Listen. While we lay buried under a deep darkness of utter coldness and sorrow, you were on the other side, enjoying yourselves and laughing happily in the warm light. WHY?! ... Apocalymon: What have we done to deserve this?! (tears at self) Why must we weep tears of grief while you enjoy cheerful laughter? Mimi: No, I don't want to see this! Apocalymon: We, too, have tears that flow from our eyes and feelings that flow from our hearts. Just who decided that we were to be deprived of this world and consigned to oblivion?! We wanted to live! We wanted to live and speak of friendship, justice, and love! We wanted to use this body to be helpful to this world! Are you saying that this world has no need for us? That we are meaningless?! ... Apocalymon: Then we shall rule this world! We shall make this place belong to us. All who get in our way will die! (laughs) May the light be forever cursed where it shines!

(Translation by Ryuu-Rogue.)

So, basically, Apocalymon is a “Legion” sort of Digimon, made up of the condensed regrets of Digimon who were unable to evolve, and lived so much in despair that they decided they would drag everyone else down with them, and reform the world into their own. So in other words, his main goal to “inhibit evolution” was in the sense of inhibiting the Digital World’s own evolution and development, while it was growing alongside the human world -- all of this villainous “destroying the world” and “taking over the world” is all tied to a root of “inhibiting evolution”. And this was all intended to be tied into 02 as well, along with even the theoretical third Adventure series that never happened -- an ongoing fight for humanity and the Digital World’s right to continue “evolving” against forces that were trying to block it.

How does this relate to Menoa?

“Evolution” in the context of Adventure and 02 has a lot of meanings, and of course one of the most prominent ones is in terms of the metaphor of “evolution = human growth and potential”. Kizuna brings it to the forefront in terms of explicitly saying that Digimon growth is tied to human potential, but that’s always been there from the beginning -- especially considering how high-level evolution is powered by human virtues, like Crests.

But by trapping everyone in Neverland, Menoa is keeping people from “evolving” -- not just the Digimon from evolving, but humans from gaining any growth or potential, because they’ll be fixated in their childhood memories forever. The namesake of Neverland, the original Peter Pan, was very much about how staying a child forever would involve always being immature -- Peter was not a heroic figure in the end, as he was someone who was ultimately callous and irresponsible, at times even self-serving. No one will grow as people. Everyone will stay locked in the same mentality forever. The Digimon will never evolve. Robbed of Chosen Children to help protect the world, both the human world and Digital World will be left defenseless, and perhaps even be destroyed -- and that would be the end of “evolution” for all.

All because of Menoa’s own grief and projection.

Moving back to 02, this is of course where the parallels start getting really explicit. As I mentioned earlier, Menoa is effectively a combination of 02′s two most prominent antagonists -- the Digimon Kaiser, Ichijouji Ken, who was pressured into being recognized as a “genius” by society and lost a grip on his true self as a result, and Oikawa Yukio, who was cut off from the Digital World in childhood and spent his adulthood trying to grasp at shallow symbols of his past, projecting on others in the process.

Actually, let’s go over these characters in their stages of antagonism!

The Digimon Kaiser:

Was recognized by society as a “genius” and paraded around for those abilities; mentioned to be intelligent enough to skip grades into university (was only prevented from doing so like Menoa did because he lived in Japan, which didn’t have a system for this)

Tried to smash out the aspects of himself that didn’t fit the image he was aiming for, throwing away the “kindness” in his heart under the idea it was “weakness”, trying to become “better than others”

Started pushing away his own Digimon partner in the process, symbolizing a rejection of his own inner self

Ultimately, never got to have a proper childhood of having the freedom to do “meaningless things”, because he and his brother Osamu were “demanded to grow up fast”

Young Menoa:

Was recognized by society as a “genius” to the point she felt isolated from her peers, to the point she decided to skip grades into university because she felt like it would get her recognition and allow her to be productive to society

Stopped engaging in childhood hobbies (e.g. the swing she used to play with Morphomon at) and is implied to have pushed others away in her bid to be independent

Wasn’t even talking to Morphomon much anymore by the time of their separation, because she’d prioritized her studies in order to skip grades

Ultimately turned herself into an “adult” at the age of 14, far too young for anyone to become an adult

The surface details are a little different -- because Ken’s troubles manifested in a way that made him more “consciously reject” Wormmon rather than outright neglect him, and because his reaction to being “demanded to grow up fast” ultimately involved him trying to ditch everything into the Digital World instead of trying to become more mature, he was spared from the fate of having an outright partnership dissolution with Wormmon at the tender age of eleven. (Although he did still have a pretty traumatizing “loss” of Wormmon, so it’s not like he got off scot-free -- especially when getting said partner back involved a necessary epiphany about choosing to face what he did and moving forward with the consequences, something Menoa did not do during the events of the movie.) Either way, though, he managed to snap himself out of it and prevent himself from taking the same path Menoa did -- especially since the two of them are based off the same real-life origin story, the 9-year-old American boy whom Seki Hiromi read about in a newspaper, who skipped grades into Columbia University, causing her to conclude that he’d be unable to make friends his age.

Since Menoa ends up taking a different path and going “all the way”, once Morphomon is taken from her, she veers onto a path very similar to Oikawa’s.

Oikawa Yukio:

Was torn away from contact with the Digital World (and his future partner) by a well-meaning Hida Chikara, worried about him and Hiroki getting into “foolish talk”

Was isolated from the only friend he could relate to (via Hida Hiroki’s death)

Tried to make his own Digimon, implied to at least partially be inspired by trying to fill the void (see 02 episode 47), but only manages to create minions who do his bidding

Kidnapped a bunch of children under the premise that he was just giving them what they wanted; implanted Dark Seeds into them that on the surface gave them what they wanted but actually ate at their feelings

Blamed the fact he was a “tainted adult” for his inability to go to the Digital World without more forcible methods

Menoa:

Lost her partner after discarding her childhood hobbies in order to fit society’s standard of adulthood

Developed an obsession with becoming “independent”; ended up likely having no friends to connect with (states during the climax in Neverland that nobody understands how she feels)

Tried to use “scientific” computer methods to bring back her partner, but only managed to get hordes of soulless husks to do her bidding

Kidnapped a bunch of people (eventually including literal children) under the premise that she would be saving everyone; forced them to experience eternal loops of their childhood memories that prevented them from moving forward

Blamed the fact she’d “made that choice” and become an adult for her loss of her partner

Oikawa didn’t “lose” his partner in the sense of something permanent-sounding like Morphomon, but in terms of thematic parallels, Menoa basically ends up throwing herself into his path after continuing in the direction Ken ultimately chose to tear himself away from.

Ultimately, there are still differences in execution and life circumstances between all three characters -- and that’s how it ought to be, given that it would be inappropriate for Kizuna to be a complete rehash of 02. But considering that 02 was heavily built on the themes of “not drowning in regret and learning to move forward” and “embracing the inner child and not caving to societal expectations”, it makes sense that Kizuna, which is built on “not drowning in nostalgia and learning to face the future” and “not losing touch with childhood memories and experiences nor the childish self to the pressures of becoming an adult”, the parallels between the main antagonists driving the story are going to be very similar.

Although, given the events of Kizuna and how they played out...one wonders if Ken has any idea how lucky he is...

[aire101]

Ferrum Chapter 1

His first moment of awareness struck him like a tidal wave of sensory input—the sound of thousands of voices chattering; an alien smell of dust and ozone, as if someone wasn’t quite sure what air should smell like; the feel of a breeze caught in a wind tunnel, and the warmth of hundreds of bodies standing together.  

And then Tony opened his eyes.

All around him were thousands of people in various fantasy garb, some with swords hanging from their waist, others eyeing daggers, rapiers and axes at stalls along the side streets. People shouted to one another, smiled and fist pumped in fits of elation.  The whole city plaza was filled with an energy of excitement and anticipation.  

Tony had no idea where the hell he was, or what was going on.

The last thing he remembered was… a meeting.  With that Argus Head Developer, Kayaba.  But the harder he tried to focus on the details, the more he felt them slip away…

“Holy Shit!  Your avatar looks just like Iron Man!” said a man who Tony was pretty sure had not been standing next to him a couple seconds ago.  “How did you manage that?  I know the character creation module is super detailed but that would have taken forever to work out.  Does that mean you were you in the beta test?”

“Uhh…” Tony said, scrambling to make sense of the jargon he had just heard.

Avatar… character creation… beta test…

“Anyway, excellent work on it!  I’m an Iron Man fan too, though I guess most people are these days.  See ya ‘round, mate!” And with that the man left, leaving Tony still scrambling to comprehend.

As he stood there, he listened in on nearby conversations for more context clues.

“Oh my god this is amazing!  The visuals are so gorgeous!”

“You can feel the breeze!  The amount of sensory input just to achieve that—”

“Do you smell that?  It smells like fresh baked bread.  I heard that the taste and smell sensory was the hardest part in the coding development.”

Visuals… sensory input… coding development…

“That’s it, Full Dive has won me over completely.  I’m going to sell all my other games starting tomorrow.”

Holy.  Fucking.  Shit.

The meeting with Argus and Kayaba.  It was over his consultation on their new Full Dive gaming technology and their AI systems.  But it was still years away from completion.  And besides, there was no way in hell he would ever consent to having his brain plugged in to someone else’s technology.  That was in fact exactly what he had told them in that meeting, and the primary hold up on developments on his end.  

But this was way past pre-alpha or even the alpha phase… if he understood this right, this was a stable release event.

Which meant he was currently plugged into the Sword Art Online servers, and had lost years off his memory.

His chest tightened as his breaths started to come in shallow gasps.  His vision began to gray around the edges.  

In spite of his situation, he had to give Argus an applause for their work— this panic attack felt exactly like one in the real world, only less physically painful.  

Just as he felt his knees hit the ground, someone came up beside him.

“Hey, I don’t know what’s wrong, but its going to be ok,” said a voice.  They sounded young.  “Take deep breaths with me.  After every number I count, we’ll breath together, ok?  So… one,” the kid took a deep breath and slowly released.  Tony tried to breath along with them, but didn’t quite manage it.  “That’s ok, we have plenty more you can do.  So here we go.  Two…”

Breath in, breath out…

“Three…”

This reminded him of that time he’d missed a week of meds during a mission.  Peter had been over to do some necessary maintenance after he had gotten back, and next thing he knew the kid was walking him through the storm.  Apparently his aunt had some problems after his uncle had died.

“Ok, you backslid a bit there on four, lets try again.  Five…”

Peter… the kid had been so excited about this game concept.

“That’s great, you’re doing great.  Six…”

Was he out there in the crowd somewhere?

“Seven…”

He needed to find out what was going on.  He needed to get in touch with game support.  He needed to log out.

“Eight…”

His breaths were coming deeper and the tightness was releasing.  Now with a plan of action, he felt marginally more in control.

“Nine…”

He could do this.  Memories or no memories, his mind was still his own.

“Ten… You look like you’re doing good there.  How are you feeling?”

Tony finally took a moment to look at the one who had helped him.  Given that what he was seeing was an avatar, there was no telling the real age or gender of the person.  But the character depicted was a young man with long blond hair, blue eyes and built like a wall.  He looked strangely like what Tony imagined a young Thor would have looked like.

“I’m alright.  Thanks for hanging around through that.  You didn’t have to, so I appreciate it,” said Tony, slowly getting to his feet.  He couldn’t help but notice (and appreciate) the lack of pain in his knees from either the fall or the standing.  

Yay for silver linings.

“It’s no problem.  I had… have… family that needed that kind of support,” the boy said, with a glance at his face before he looked away.

“I’m sorry, that sucks.  Not that you have them, but that they have it too.  It sucks,” said Tony, fumbling through his words awkwardly.

The guy smiled and nodded, “I get what you mean.  And yeah, it does.  You doing alright now though?  Do you need me to call a GM or something?”

“Maybe.  I’m probably just going to try and log out though.  You wouldn’t happen to know how to do that would you?” asked Tony.

“I think so.  I read about the mechanics of it at least,” said the boy. “What you need to do is open up your User Interface.  Just swipe down with your hand in front of yourself.”

The boy swiped his hand down and an interface screen popped up like a hologram.

Tony followed his example, bringing up his own interface.

“Thanks kid… Have a name I can call you?”

“I’m going by Tor in the game.”

Tony looked over his interface with a raised eyebrow, “A Thor fan I take it.”

“Like you’re in any position to criticize,” the kid grumbled, with a look up and down.  “Even your robes are his colors.  How did you get robes, anyway?  The default is trousers, tunic and vest.  I haven’t seen anyone run around in a set of robes.  Was it a beta thing?”

Tony looked down at himself.  Sure enough, he was in a set of red robes with gold trim.  That also made him realize… this body was only an avatar, but apparently it looked like himself.

Whatever, him making his avatar look exactly like himself sounded pretty on brand, honestly.

“Would you believe me if I said I honestly have no idea,” said Tony, scrolling through his interface.

“I mean, it’d be weird but considering how confused you look I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Tor said with a shrug.

Meanwhile Tony found two separate settings menus.  One opened up an entire other menu system, and the other at the bottom of the main menu opened a box with three buttons— Options, Help, and a grayed out logout symbol.

“Huh, that’s weird,” mumbled Tor, looking through his own settings menu.  “Talk about a terrible bug to have on opening day.  You’d think that would be the one thing they had working before opening to the public.  As far as I know there weren’t any logout problems during the beta.”

“I guess we’re calling a GM then,” said Tony.

Peter pressed the Help button, prompting a ‘Calling GM’ box to pop up with a picture of an old man in red and gold robes.

“Hey, those robes look like—” Tor was saying.

“Oh shit,” said Tony, wide eyed.  A communication bubble had come up on his menu as soon as Tor had pressed his button, it read ‘Incoming GM Help call from Tor (Player 8476).’

“Uhhh…” said Tor, staring at the window with wide eyes as well.  “Well then, that’s a problem.”

Tony continued to stare at the screen dumbfounded, mouth open and closing like a fish.

As he did, another call request window opened up.  Then another.  Then another…

Tony’s confusion quickly morphed into horror.  

“Dude, how in the world did you accidentally end up with a GM account?” asked Tor.

“I don’t know, but I can’t help these people.  How do I shut it off?!”

“See if there’s a ghost mode or something,” said Tor.

Quickly Tony tapped into the other options menu he had only briefly glanced at before.  Sure enough, the menu was titled ‘Game Master Settings.’

“This is ridiculous,” muttered Tony as he scrolled and tapped through various options.

“About as ridiculous as your facial hair,” said Tor, with a grin.

“Excuse you, everything about my face is a work of art,” said Tony.

“Abstract art, maybe.”

“You know what, kid—”

“Could you maybe not call me that?  Please?” Tor asked, his face suddenly tight.

“Uh, sure… sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry.  It just makes me a bit uncomfortable,” said Tor, looking like he regretted even saying anything.

“No problem.”

Finally, Tony found the GM communication settings.  Currently the mode was set to ‘Available,’ but after clicking on it he found an ‘Unavailable’ setting, with the option to send calls to a voice mail for later listening.

Quickly he switched the modes, and the flurry of call boxes ceased.

“Well, that’s one problem down,” said Tony, scrolling through the rest of the GM settings.  While he heartily approved of the colors, the robes made him stand out like a sore thumb amongst the masses of beige and brown.

But if he really was a GM, he should be able to generate something different…

With a flash of blue static light, Tony generated a red tunic under an average looking breast plate, paired with the usual leather trousers.  

“You just had to make the tunic red, huh?” said Tor with a thin laugh.

“Eh, it’s my thing,” Tony said with a shrug.  

Tor pursed his lips but didn’t comment further.

“Anyway, thanks for your help.  I’m sure whatever bug this is will be figured out pretty quick.  I don’t want to hog your game time though,” said Tony, trying to disengage as kindly as possible and without hinting at just how concerning the current situation really was.  Tor had been helpful, but the person on the other side of that avatar could be fourteen or forty.  Either way, they didn’t need to be saddled with Tony’s issues.

“I don’t mind.  I don’t usually play MMO’s anyway, so I’m not really sure what to do now,” said Tor.  “I have a few hours before I’m supposed to trade off with my friend, but I had only really planned to hang around for a couple of them to check things out.  With the logout bugged though, I might be here for a while.”

“I’ve never played RPG’s at all, so I’m probably even more clueless than you are,” said Tony.  “That being said, the first thing you do is probably to stock up on equipment and supplies.  Do you have any currency right off the bat?”

“We start with 50 Cor, but I’m not really sure what that translates to within the economy.”

“I would say as a GM I could generate more, but if I’m remembering correctly the system was specifically designed to control inflation and it may not like that,” said Tony, flicking through his interface.

“I mean, I guess that would be one way to get someone’s attention,” shrugged Tor.

“Considering I apparently have my brain plugged into someone else’s tech, I would really rather avoid that particular flavor of attention,” said Tony.

“I hadn’t thought about it that way… They wouldn’t do something too awful to a player though would they?  That wouldn’t really be good press for them.  I would think that the worst they would do is boot you out of the game,” said Tor, looking concerned.

“I wish I had the kind of faith in people you do.  As it is, I’d rather not chance it.  That being said, it looks like one of the things I can freely generate are base level swords and armor.  Its not much, but it’ll get you started.”

“Since we’re both stuck here, how about we party up for a while?  Not much else to do to spend the time.  My friend downloaded a text file with some starter tips from the Beta players, so we could go give it a shot,” said Tor.

Tony let out a breath, running his hand through his hair.  He really should be trying to figure out a solution to his predicament, but if the GM call failure was any indicator, the situation may be a lot worse than he wanted this kid to realize.  And at this point he was pretty sure the person on the other side of Tor’s avatar was in fact a kid, perhaps a relatively mature teenager, but not an adult.

And apparently they were attaching themselves to Tony, for whatever reason.  And Tony couldn’t bring himself to kick an obviously anxious kid to the curb.

“Sure, that sounds like a good plan. Send me a copy of the text file and we’ll discuss it while we head out of town.”

. . .

“Ferrum Vir… did you seriously name yourself ‘Iron Man’ in Latin?”

“Pot meet kettle there, Tor.”

[the-voice-of-night-vale]

oh PLEASE inform me how to make 11's stuff better

you’ve tapped into my favorite fucking fix-it in this WHOLE SHOW

SO: this was created between me and sydni this one time whilst we were talkin about an idea for a roleplay so it will require some context

originally, this character was created for an au involving tentoo and jack, but through a series of events and jokes i can’t entirely recall (it was about three hours of yelling whilst i was alone in a house house-sitting), we eventually got to where we are now with this character.

so, his name is khralir. he’s from halecine, and his folks can shapeshift when they come into physical contact with someone. their shift is extreme: they adopt the physical aspects of the person they shift into, inside and out. their shifting ability is centered in the brain, which si the only thing that doesn’t change all the way. SO. the way khralir and the doctor met isn’t exactly hammered out in the non-au universe, but the way it happens in tentoo thread is he copies tentoo thinking hes the doctor, and at some point shifts into the proper doctor, therefre becoming a time lord. and he gets killed, regenerating. he ends up regenerating into matt smith, which is his new “default” form which he can return to at will.

so something... along those lines presumably happens in the non-au, and he and the doctor kind of become comrades but khralir doesn’t really like. love the doctor because he’s an asshole (this is around martha-donna eras where he’s still really fucked up over rose and getting into the whole time lord victorious thing)

so they hang for a while and then they part ways. and then journey’s end happens and the doctor is seriously fucked up, and then the waters of mars and all happens and the doctor has that realization of “oh, I’ve gone too far” so he decides he needs a Fucking Break. but of course the doctor just can’t stop being the doctor, the whole world will end!!! so he calls up khralir and is like “i have something to do but after i’m done with that do you want to like. take my tardis for a joy ride?” and khralir is like... what. ok i guess?

so the end of time happens and the doctor regenerates into peter capaldi, skipping matt smith altogether (because to me, the characterization makes more sense if we go from ten to twelve so it fits real good with this). so the doctor and khralir kind of Vibe for a while, khralir learning some stuff about time lords and the doctor and gallifrey. he’s very autistic in my mind and researching things is kind of one of his special interests, so when he has free time he likes to learn things. the doctor spends most of his time chilling in the bowels of the tardis trying to Relax and Recover from his Trauma, and sometimes he and khralir have lunch and stuff, and khralir sometimes calls the doctor up when he’s stuck like “hey -- what”

but so while the doctor is vibin in the center of the tardis somewhere, khralir is out being 11. this fixes and breaks some things but it’s enormous so that’s ok (it’s also such a big change that i understand a lot of people would probably not want to accept this and lbr i would be pissed if this was retroactively made canon but it’s MY HEADCANON AND I GET TO DECIDE WHO IMPERSINATES THE DOCTOR) anyway.

so 11 has amy and rory, he’s the one who really has a relationship with and gets married to river (i decided that the doctor has kind of a thing with her but it’s not as deep and loving as what she and khralir have), and he has the first bits with clara. i have more stuff to add to this but ask me again when i get to this part in newwho and i’ll be glad to add on but right now --

it both breaks and improves 12′s first episode (”deep breath”) wrt clara acting Like That because of the doctor’s regeneration.

in the scene where she has a phone call with 11 and 12 goes “i’m not your boyfriend, clara,” i decided that it was bc khralir was giving off kind of mixed signfals bc he’s big autism and probably didn’t even understand his own feelings for clara, so 12′s line is more like “i’m not the same person and i’m sorry he lied but i can’t be what he was for you.” (i realize not everyone will like that as much as me but again. IT’S MY SYNPATH I GET TO DECIDE -- gnriognriognr)

and then the line a little later (or a little eariler? i can’t remember) where he goes “you don’t see me -- you look at me, and you don’t see me” is a little complicated but shhh bc it’s more broken than improved but that’s fine bc that scene still goes hard,,,, but it’s more of the like “you both lied to me about who you were, and that’s not fair” and the doctor going like “i know and it was mostly his fault but i’m not him so taking your anger out on him isn’t fair to me,” and he wants to be friends with her but he’s afraid that her anger at him won’t let him.

there’s probably more like... little details as i get into newwho but i’d have to find them in my liveblogs and that will take t i m e

but yeah that’s basically the run down but if there’s questions or things i’d love to answer them because i’m me or like. literally any details i’ll have a rant for it because all i’m care about is doctor whom rn grniogniognriorgnogni

i’m in ur debt em this is so much fuckin dopamine

[blindtaleteller]

Teaser: Chapter 7 - Photograph

                                     ((still looking for this artist!))

 -----Pre-notes, note and clue: If you close your eyes and listen to Ed Sheeran’s song by the same name as the chapter title: you’ll get an idea for this chapter’s theme.

----==BONUS TRACK - Loki (Love Letters)

The debate didn’t even last a second in his head.

He wanted to know what they had been talking about; so he was half sliding from the bed, coming around Peter’s feet to slip-step sideways on his haunches between their knees and snag the wire-bound little stack of paper. A hasty but silent retreat and he was fast out the door with a near devilish smile as he flipped it back and started for the kitchen with every intent of starting up some coffee and breakfast when he noted the time. Loki was halfway down  the stairs, when the first few lines started to slow his steps.

   And then stopped them entirely, nearly made him sit down right there; when he realized with the longer, second scroll of graphite across the paper just what, and  who  they  had been talking about. He did sit, when he re-read those words again; unable to turn the page right away as they hit him, hard in the throat and low in the gut.

He instantly knew, he wanted to keep this. Reading it a third time, he finally turned the page: and read more.

‘Gam..    my   Gamora; she was the same way. Probably a lot angrier about it though? That was her general default already when I met her. Chip on her shoulder. Lots of pride, and none of it for who raised her; but plenty for who she made herself into regardless. Good reason to, when you look at who it was that did. I’d have gone a little crazy -- okay, I did, a little: when my old man let slip he actually put the tumor that killed her in my mom’s head. I’m sorry you had to go through that, if I haven’t said it. I know how that goes. I had to watch mom go through all the stages.’

Another little page, he kept reading. This was something, a set of details Quill hadn’t told him.  Not outright, not in this detail.

‘Right up to the night she died. I was a kid, and couldn’t take it. I ran, and I never got to see her off. Then he said that, and I just imploded. Shot him seventeen times. Six seconds. Wasn’t enough. Not to kill him, and not to finish off what rage I had either. Neither was what followed. Not for the rage anyway. Not really. But for all that; for all the tiny parts that feel dirty just still having the tiniest wish he could have been different? I don’t think I could have been raised by him knowing what he’d done, like she was: and come out as put together as she was. She had trust issues, yeah and go fig. We had a hard time getting to being a real us because of that, and because I knew it and had a hard time figuring out how to go at it without spooking her. Well, ha;   and  because I’m a flirt with big appetites who tends to jump in head first and figure out how to make the messes I get myself in, to work after: somehow.’

That last part made him smile a bit as he turned the page; and kept reading; a pause to listen for movement, a glance up the steps because Loki knew even first thing in the morning, Clint could be as deadly silent as he himself was if he wanted to be.

‘But she knew that too; and would dance with me anyway, when no one else was looking. Or no one else was around, and work at it. Step by step. Song by song. Oh we’d argue. A lot.    A lot!!!    But we always figured it out, sometimes because we did argue.. If that makes sense?’

‘Heh. I get that. Laura and I fought a lot in the beginning too; even before we were married. She knew early on I was bisexual. Our second meeting? Was me coming out of a hotel she was staying at with the then on again off again bed partner making his escape in the background. Made for a funny conversation but; she was way cooler about it than I thought she might have been. He wasn’t in the picture the next time we met, and we were good those first few months after.’

Loki remembered this conversation, though it was different in text than in word. Clint been a little short with him, when he’d explained it, but in a different way. More words, but a little less trust at the beginning; something that, by the end, Loki had been given on the subject: when Clint had seen not only the lack of judgement, but the near eagerness to know more about him. He read on.

‘But she had a hard time when it came up, understanding how that end of my life worked and where she might fit in it. Wrapping her head around the fact I was still figuring some of that out for myself, back then: but not where   she   was concerned. I was still a bit of a mess when we met, but I knew she was different for me; where they weren’t. She did figure it out though, eventually and lucky me. Maybe faster than I did in some ways. Sometimes I just ..needed to try and find whatever was missing there, for me. She wasn’t it. I was happy with her. With the kids, but .. well, that gap, I mentioned. Didn’t find what I needed to fill it for a long time. Not until Lau. And I never expected to find him where I did. He surprised the hell out of me.’

‘How did you know?’

Another blue ruled line. ‘I mean; not just about him. About.. You know.’

‘Liking men too, and the difference between him and the rest?’

‘Yeah.’

There were several little grey dots to one side of that last penned entry. Like Clint had tapped it a few times. Loki could almost see him thinking about it; probably that narrowed look at the paper, or his own knees. He did that sometimes. Sometimes the trickster loved it, others it could be frustrating; but in the end he admitted still: that the thoughtfulness he put in behind his answers when it came to things like this still made him smile. ‘I'm still sort of figuring us out, with the gaps. But I see him; enough of him and his affect on me to know this is worth keeping, whether I get it all back or not. We fit. I love him. Sometimes, that and the willingness to stick through the painful bits and arguments along with the good parts are all you need. Hell. They're the biggest part, really. Don't think I need to tell you that. Gender aside, the ones that can really bail on you when the going gets tough, aren't worth holding onto when it comes to much of anything. As for the general.. I think maybe I always did; and I just never really thought to explore or show it? I mean.. Look where we both grew up, and when; and how that kind of thing was viewed in those kinds of little communities back then. Don’t even get me started on how my old man would have reacted if he’d lived long enough to see the signs himself.’

‘Look on your face says you belong to the same club as me and Loki?’

‘?’

‘Which club?’

‘The ‘my dad was pretty much a waste of breath’, club.’

‘Yeah, definitely on that train.’

‘He’s why I was so damned mad at myself hitting Lau like that; even if it didn't hurt him physically. Why I asked you to deck me, if I tried again. He was the worst kind of alcoholic. Used to beat the hell out of me and my little brother when we were younger. Mom too, when ever she got between him and us. And she did that a lot, when we were still too small and not fast enough yet to run and get out of his reach, and he didn’t have more booze money. Also why I don’t drink. Much, if at all. Your dad killed your mom with a magic tumor. Mine killed himself and my mother with an emptied set of bottles left behind on the bar top, and the insistence he get behind the wheel of that piece of shit Le Baron after she’d peeled him off smacking me around and sprung for said bar run to keep him off for the night.’

   ‘Told myself early on I wouldn’t be him. Following that’s what drove me into what I do. Trying to be better. Aiming to be what he wasn't. But sometimes, I wonder if I didn’t get his shit temper anyway.’

‘I dunno. I’m pretty infuriating, or so I’m told. And you didn’t swing at me. You do good by your kids, that much I can tell. Can tell it’s been a stressful ride for you too. Honestly, just Loki's end would have driven me to swing at someone: never mind the frustration of yours. Doesn't make who you ended up hitting any more excusable! But isn't any less true.’

‘You still threatened to put me in a wheelchair.’

‘Yep. Would again too, if it meant you’d still get or keep your head on straight. We talked a lot that night. A lot about things that had nothing to do with what we intended to. He couldn’t go more than twenty minutes without mentioning you, and anybody what’s been hurt by someone they love could see the reason why he was so down? Was because he’s crazy about you. Disappointed and beating himself up more over what he did than you   ever   could. Doesn’t make it right, but by comparison; he didn’t feel that punch so much as he felt what was behind it?’

‘I know. I figured that out after. It’s the part of me that took that long to piece, that pisses me off about it still. Don’t let me do that again. I dunno how he does it, but he usually has to make a conscious effort to make it so we don’t break more bones when someone not as physically durable as they are comes at them earnestly; but. That doesn't mean I want him using it as an excuse not to smack me back if he's not confident in being fast enough about it. If you're watching though? I feel .. more in check? ’

‘I didn’t even know that was possible. Aren’t their muscles alone like .. I dunno. Gamora said it was like some kind of alloy or fiber or something.’

‘Far as I can tell, yeah. Asgardian durability and strength is up there. Though it varies. I’ve seen him bounce bullets off ’

‘ What? Is this a kink thing like the porn theatre, cause I never thought of using a gu___’ Loki snorted a little at where that word had literally been drawn right off the edge of the page. Clint had probably grabbed his hand.

‘No. It’s not a - I don’t even know what to say to even the idea of that, shut up...’

.-=][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][=-.

---The only bad thing about tumblr posting is; you miss out on the emphasis on certain words and phrases that things like italics help you read with better emotive understanding. There’s a lot more to this. I’ll be posting one more teaser for Photograph before I stop spamming you poor bastards til Chapter 8.

Read from the beginning and more here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248328/chapters/45772732

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Classic is Just Another Word For Old

When John sees Stiles and Peter spending time together, he draws certain conclusions. Very, very wrong conclusions.

For @bunnywest

Inspired by A Taste for the Classics by Bunnywest.

This is John's POV from A Taste for the Classics, Bunnywest's story. I lifted a lot of the dialogue in the second-to-last scene for it, so it all slots together. I also stole her summary. Plagiarism is such a dirty word... let's call it sampling!

“Coffee?”

John Stilinski stares the cup being offered to him, then at the man holding it.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been staring at your computer for four and a half minutes,” Parrish tells him, “and it’s still on the log in screen. I figured you could use a pick-me-up.”

“Thanks,” John says, his voice as rough as sandpaper.

Parrish’s mouth quirks up sympathetically. “Didn’t get any sleep last night?”

“It’s that obvious, huh?” John runs a hand over his face.

Not that he needs the reminder that he’s looking tired. And old. He’s nearer to fifty than to forty these days, and he’s starting to feel it. And it doesn’t help that Stiles is still bouncing around the house every day with more energy than he had as a sugar-fuelled toddler. John’s tired, dammit, and he’s old.

And he’s apparently having a vey obvious pity party at work, given the way Parrish is looking at him worriedly.

He clears his throat. “Thanks for the coffee. Now, how are those reports coming along?”

***

The thing is, Stiles is eighteen now. And the other thing is, it’s been way too many years since he listened to any damn thing John told him anyway. But that doesn’t mean John doesn’t have a right to be worried, right? And honestly, in a town overrun with goddamn werewolves, why the hell is Stiles seemingly fixing on the one with an actual death toll?

Because this week he’s seen Stiles in the coffee shop with Peter Hale twice. The fancy coffee shop, not the diner. And John knows Stiles’s budget, and he knows he can’t afford to drop ten bucks on a coffee and a muffin every couple of days. Which means that Peter is buying, of course. Which means that he wants something. And John’s got a pretty good idea of why Peter Hale is sniffing around his kid, and he doesn’t like it one bit.

“Goddamn Peter fucking Hale and his goddamn booty count,” John mutters to himself in the shower. Fucking what? He freezes with the shampoo bottle in his hands. “Bodycount. His goddamn bodycount.”

The thing is, John isn’t blind. Peter Hale is an attractive guy. Werewolf. Whatever. He’s the total package, and he knows how to work it, the smug asshole. That smirk of his. That swagger. The way that he rolls his shoulders sometimes and draws a guy’s attention right to his ridiculous neck. His neck. Necks aren’t supposed to be attractive. They’re supposed to be functional. They’re just the bit of the body that stops the head from falling off and bouncing away, and…

And clearly this is where Stiles gets his crazy from, right?

Because John is going around the fucking bend right now.

Fuck his life.

He’s going to call Chris Argent and get some more wolfsbane bullets.

***

Stiles is an adult, and John needs to respect that.

Stiles is an adult, and he’s allowed to squawk—and blush—when he gets texts on his phone and then mutters “Fucking creeperwolf” under his breath.

Why the fuck is he blushing though?

What the hell is Peter Hale sending him?

John stomps upstairs unhappily, and goes to bed with a paperback.

He’d thought Stiles was crazy about Derek, not Peter, and that it was reciprocated. He’d thought that eventually Stiles would stop flailing and Derek would remember how to use his words, and they’d figure their shit out and get together. He’d thought that Peter would still be single and—

No.

This is about Stiles.

John is concerned for Stiles’s welfare, like any father would be.

This isn’t about Peter, and his neck and his facial hair, and those v-necks he wears, and those expensive pants that pull tight across his ass when he moves, and that subvocal growling noise he makes when he gets angry, and—

Shit.

This is totally about Peter, isn’t it?

John is completely fucked.

***

It all comes to a head the night the John is working and gets a call to a minor traffic accident on Maple and Lincoln. It’s barely a ding, and there are no injuries at all, but one of the drivers is elderly and flustered, so John shows up, calms everyone down, and makes sure that the old guy gets a ride home with a deputy. Then, as he’s heading back to his car, he happens to glance down the street and see Peter’s ridiculously flashy car parked in the next block.

Weird.

There’s nothing in this block except for…

John’s heart skips a beat.

Rue de Paris, Beacon Hills’ answer to fine French cuisine, if the question had been “So, you’ve never actually been to France, right?” Still, it’s something of a Beacon Hills institution, a place for first dates and romantic evenings, where the wine is expensive and the tablecloths aren’t made of paper.

When Stiles was little he couldn’t pronounce the sign, and called it Rudey Paris.

John crosses the street and approaches the restaurant. There’s a sinking feeling in his gut that he’s too much of a coward to put a name to, and it only intensifies when he looks through the front window of the restaurant and sees Stiles and Peter sitting at a table, their faces bathed in flickering candlelight.

Stiles is laughing at something Peter says, and Peter is smiling in return.

Stiles looks happy, and Peter looks as strikingly handsome as always.

John presses his mouth into a thin line, draws a deep breath, and walks away.

It jabs at him all night.

Stiles is an adult, but Peter is a killer.

Stiles is an adult, but Peter is dangerous, and manipulative, and can’t be trusted.

Stiles is an adult, but John still has a right to protect him.

Of course, he can’t trust his objectivity here, can he?

Because Stiles is an adult, and John is jealous.

“Parrish,” he says later, working on next month’s roster.

Parrish leans into his doorway. “Sheriff?”

“Would you let your only son date Peter Hale?” he asks.

“What?” Parrish’s eyes widen. “No. Oh, god, no. Not in a million years.”

Well then. That settles it. John might not be able to trust his own judgement, but he can trust Parrish’s.

“I’m heading home,” he says, standing up from his desk. “Call me if anything crops up.”

***

John’s not going to lie. He, and his shotgun, are looking forward to this. He’s sitting on the porch swing when Peter pulls up in his car and Stiles stumbles out of the front passenger seat like a baby gazelle trying to walk on ice.

“Hale,” John calls out, standing up. “Get over here and face me like a man.”

Too much?

No, dammit. He’s spent eighteen years raising Stiles. He’s earned the right to posture a little. And, to his satisfaction, Peter actually looks intimidated for about half a second as he climbs out of the car. Then he sheds it in a heartbeat and defaults back to Smug Fucking Asshole.

“Uh, Dad?” Stiles hurries toward him. “What’s going on?”

“Quiet, Stiles. This is between me and Hale.”

Stiles makes a face like a toddler refusing vegetables.

“Hale,” John says, “I’m going to ask you a question, and by god, the answer had better be no.” He raises the barrel of the shotgun. “Are you sleeping with my teenage son?”

The fucker smirks.

Actually smirks.

And then he leans in a little, like he’s sharing a secret. “Absolutely not. Stiles is a little young for my taste.”

John isn’t sure what to make of that. He lowers the shotgun. “Well then what in hell are you two doing slinking off together at night?”

Peter’s smirk widens into a smile. “We’ve been talking about you, actually.”

John doesn’t like the jolt that runs through him at that. “Me?”

“You. I’ve been bribing Stiles with meals and caffeine to tell me what you like, so when I take you on a date, I can be certain you’ll enjoy yourself.”

When he takes him on a what? John’s brain trips on that word, stalls, comes at it again from a different angle, can’t process it from that direction either, and then shuts down completely.

“Of course,” Peter purrs, stepping up onto the porch like a wolf who’s just cornered the world’s dumbest rabbit, “it’s a date with me, so a good time’s guaranteed.”

John’s brain jump-starts again, except now it’s filled with explicit pornographic images. Most of them involve Peter, his smirk, his neck, and his dick.

The shotgun drops from his numb fingers. “Well, shit.”

Peter leans in close, his nostrils flaring a little as though he can smell John’s arousal. He probably can, the arrogant fuck. John should step back—he really should—but he doesn’t, and a shiver runs through him as Peter’s lips brush against his in a soft, brief kiss.

“Let me take you out and treat you right, Sheriff?”

And every single objection John had earlier in the night in regards to Peter and Stiles vanishes. Because fuck it, John is a long way past eighteen, and he can take care of himself.

“If you’re taking me out, you can call me John. And I don’t put out, not on the first date.” He reaches out and curls his palm around the back of that ridiculous fucking neck, pulling Peter in for another kiss.

This one is bruising.

“Oh, my fucking eyes!” Stiles exclaims, and flees inside.

John doesn’t spare him any sympathy.

His kid is an adult. He’ll get over it.

***

“Coffee?” Parrish asks the next morning.

“Thanks.” John taps his fingers along his desk. “So, the conversation we had last night?”

Parrish looks at him expectantly.

“What if it wasn’t your son who wanted to date Peter Hale?” he asks. “What if it was you? What would you say then?”

Parrish’s expression becomes wary. “I’d say that I really like my job here, and my boss’s private life is none of my business.”

“Good answer, son,” John says. “Good answer.”

He takes his coffee and whistles as he begins to work.

[kiheons]

How about Bri and Aqua skipping class and fucking somewhere in their school?

This lowkey turned into a snapshot of a highschool au. 

Brianna is definitely a good student, straight A’s, extracurriculars, etc. Aquaria is uh. She’s there? She more of a straight C’s student. School just doesn’t suit her and she knows that and it’s okay.

Aquaria is also definitely a bad influence. She’ll get up real close to Brianna during lunch, squeeze her thigh and tell Brianna to meet her in the student council room during 6th period. Brianna, who’s president of student council, starts her lecture on how that’s not what the room is supposed to be used for and Aquaria let’s her rant while moving her hand further and further up Brianna’s thigh. Eventually Brianna just kinda peters off, eyes focused on Aquaria’s hand. “Are you done?” Brianna nodding and Aquaria tracing the line of Brianna’s hip “So you’ll meet me there?” Brianna leaning into Aquaria’s touch “Yeah.”

Aquaria kissing Brianna’s cheek and getting up “See you later babe.” Leaving Brianna there, frazzled and turned on. Brianna quietly begging Monet to cover for her during Biology and when Monet asks why Brianna just kinda fumbles through an excuse. “Okay. So you want me to lie for you so you can skip class and fuck Aquaria.” Brianna going red “that’s - no I mean - that’s not what…..I’m….doing?” Monet calls bullshit immediately “no that’s definitely what you’re doing. Don’t worry girl, I got you. I’m a great wingwoman.” Monet making up some excuse about how Brianna wasn’t feeling good so she probably went to the nurse and their teacher, who knows that Brianna has never skipped class and would never skip unless she was dead or dying, believes it.

Aquaria on the other hand just doesn’t show up and her teacher sighs and hopes that Aquaria will at least manage to graduate. Shamelessly waits outside the student council room for Brianna on her phone, flips off the hall monitor who gives up pretty easily because by now he’s learned that Aquaria truly does not give a fuck. Meanwhile Brianna is literally so scared of being caught, she’s hiding around corners and stuff, speed walking her way to the student council room.

Aquaria grinning when she sees Brianna down the hall. Brianna is flushed, she looks nervous. Running up to Aquaria and hissing “This is a terrible idea, what if we get caught? Aquaria I’ll get detention! I’ll lose my position as president!” Aquaria looping her arm around Brianna’s waist, pressing Brianna against her chest. “Bri it’ll be fine, we won’t get caught. And if we do you can just blame me.” Brianna frowning. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Aquaria is just like fuck why is my girlfriend so cute “I’m in detention half the time anyway. At worst they’ll suspend me for like a week.” Brianna looks even more upset “I don’t want you to get suspended either!” Aquaria like “babe I won’t it’ll be fine. Now just open the door.”

Brianna opening the door, it takes her like three tries but she finally manages to do it. Both of them stepping inside and Brianna immediately close the door behind them and locking it. Aquaria goes to turn on the lights and Brianna says no “There’s enough natural light coming through the windows. No one is supposed to be here right now, we can’t turn on the lights.” Aquaria’s like okay fine by me.

Brianna leaning against the door, staring down at her shoes and Aquaria moving to stand in front of her, holding Brianna’s hips. Brianna making a little noise, spreading her feet apart just enough so that Aquaria can stand in between them. “Are you nervous?” Brianna shaking her head “I just don’t want to get caught.” Aquaria kissing Brianna’s cheek “We won’t. Trust me.” Brianna relaxing against Aquaria as Aquaria kisses down Brianna’s jaw, to her neck. Brianna whimpering “Don’t give me a hickie.” as Aquaria sucks softly at the skin there. Brianna’s hands going up to hold Aquaria’s biceps, holding onto her. Brianna leaning her head back, panting softly as Aquaria kisses along the length of her neck, back up her jaw, before finally kissing Brianna properly.

Brianna looping her arms around Aquaria’s neck as they kiss. She has to stand on her tiptoes cause Aquaria is already taller than her and Aquaria is wearing heels. Brianna moaning into Aquaria’s mouth and Aquaria knows Brianna has probably been turned on since lunch. Breaking the kiss, Aquaria pushing up the hem of Brianna’s skirt with her hand. Brianna’s breath hitching, her hands sliding down to Aquaria’s shoulders. “Have you been thinking about me?” Aquaria asking softly, running her hand up the side of Brianna’s thigh until she reaches the line of Brianna’s panties.

Brianna whimpering “Mmhmm.” Aquaria pressing a short kiss against Brianna’s lips. “What were you thinking about?” Slipping a finger under the elastic of Brianna’s panties and letting it snap back on her skin. Brianna letting out a little gasp. “You touching me.” Aquaria squeezing Brianna’s ass under her skirt. “How do you want me to touch you?” Brianna seems very embarrassed, leaning her head forward against Aquaria’s chest. “You already know.” Aquaria smiling down at her, even though she knows Brianna can’t see it. “No I don’t.” She absolutely does, she just wants to hear Brianna say it. “You have to tell me what you want.” Brianna curling her fingers into Aquaria’s top. “Y-your fingers…Aquaria please don’t make me say it.”

Aquaria figures she’s already put Brianna through enough today. Moving her hand down in between Brianna’s legs, pressing against Brianna’s clit through her panties. Brianna gasping, grip tightening. “There?” Brianna moaning “Uh huh, right there.” Aquaria can feel how damp the cotton is “Bri you’re so wet. You really were thinking about me, weren’t you?” Brianna whining “Shut up, I couldn’t help it.” Aquaria laughing and Brianna looking up at her in frustration. “Stop laughing at me.” Aquaria giving Brianna a peck “Sorry, you’re just cute.” Brianna frowning “I’m older than you, don’t call me cute.”

Aquaria running her hands up the back of Brianna’s thighs, before hoisting her up. Brianna gasping in surprise, immediately wrapping her legs around Aquaria’s waist. Curse Aquaria’s years of ballet training and her ability to be a lot stronger than she looks. “I swear to god if you drop me-” Aquaria rolling her eyes “I won’t. Jeez, you have no trust in me.” Brianna tucking her face into Aquaria’s neck as Aquaria carries her to the big conference table in the middle of the room. “I trust you I just don’t wanna crack my skull open.” Aquaria setting Brianna down on the table, looking at her cause their height difference is bad enough that Brianna has to be on a table to be close to Aquaria’s height. “Well you survived. Happy?”  This time Brianna pulls Aquaria in for a kiss “Very.”  

Aquaria slipping her hands under Brianna’s skirt and dragging her panties down her thighs. Brianna lifting up her hips to make it easier. Aquaria resting her hands on Brianna’s thigh and she’s clearly considering something and Brianna is like oh shit now what. “Hey Brianna…” Brianna raising an eyebrow “Yes?” Aquaria looking up at her, eyes dark “Can I eat you out?” Brianna’s default reaction is absolutely the fuck not cause we’re literally at school and you know how I get when you eat me out. Aquaria pouting. “Please? You can be quiet, I know you can.” Brianna hesitating cause fuck, she loves it when Aquaria eats her out but it’s also a struggle to even attempt to stay quiet when she does. Whispering “I’ll be too loud.” Aquaria immediately stripping off her top, handing it to Brianna. “Bite down then.” Brianna can feel how hot her ears are and honestly she really really wants this. “Fine. If we get caught it’s your fault.” Aquaria looks absolute wicked. “I don’t mind being blamed for this at all.”

Brianna’s legs thrown over Aquaria’s shoulders, Aquaria gripping her thighs. Brianna is laying back against the conference table, one hand gripping Aquaria’s hair and the other pressed against her mouth. Brianna doing her best to stay quiet but Aquaria’s mouth feels so good and Aquaria does that thing with her tongue that Brianna fucking loves and she can’t help but moan. Aquaria stopping, looking up at Brianna, licking her lips as she does and Brianna is fine with dying right here. “You have to be quiet.” Brianna’s chest heaving, she’s so fucking turned on and this was all Aquaria’s idea anyway “I can’t help it. It feels good.”

Aquaria pressing a kiss against the inside of Brianna’s thigh, her fingers circling around Brianna’s clit. “Still. You have to be quiet.” Brianna whining. “Fine fine, just hurry up.” Aquaria ignoring her, still playing with Brianna’s clit and Brianna wants to punch her. “Aquaria! This is your fault you can’t just-” Aquaria meeting Brianna’s eyes and Brianna stops talking. “Can’t just what?” Brianna whimpering “Aquaria please. I want your mouth.” Aquaria grinning and Brianna is pretty sure she’s dating a demon “Since you asked so nicely.”

Brianna cums with Aquaria’s top stuffed in her mouth, yanking on Aquaria’s hair, and Aquaria sucking at her clit until Brianna has to push her away. Aquaria leaning back to examine her handiwork and Brianna looks wrecked. Her face and neck are flushed red, she’s sweating, lipstick smeared on Aquaria’s shirt. Aquaria wants to eat her alive. Brianna also looks like she needs at least 15 minutes to recover before she’s capable of doing anything to Aquaria and Aquaria knows they only have about 25 left of this period.

Aquaria crawling on the table, hoping that it’ll hold them both, and straddling Brianna. Pulling her jeans and panties down to her knees, leaning down to kiss Brianna as she touches herself. Brianna helping out by kissing Aquaria, reaching up to play with Aquaria’s breasts as Aquaria’s fingers move over her clit, the way she’s made herself cum in a hurry dozens of times. Brianna is kissing her desperately, dragging Aquaria down towards her. Aquaria bracing herself with an arm over Brianna’s head and she’s so close and Brianna is the one who moans and that’s what sends aquaria over the edge. Breaking their kiss, Aquaria gasping into Brianna’s neck as she rides out her orgasm, Brianna’s hands on her waist.

They lay there for a second, Aquaria catching her breath before she gets off Brianna and starts getting dressed. Brianna is still laying there. “Bri? You okay?” Brianna staring up at the ceiling. “I have a student council meeting after classes today.” Aquaria laughing, grabbing her shirt from the table “What, are you gonna just think about this the whole time?” Brianna looking at Aquaria and she’s dead serious “Yes. Do you realize what you’ve done? I’m just gonna associate this with the room from now on.”

Aquaria taking her compact out, trying to fix her hair. “Then just come over after your meeting is done and I’ll take care of you.” Brianna lifting herself up off the table, pulling her panties up. “I hate you.” Pulling out her own compact and Aquaria can hear a gasp of horror. Looking at Brianna and Brianna looks horrified. “Aquaria what did you do to me? I look like a mess!” Aquaria is like hey I just ate you out you did everything else. Brianna fretting over her lipstick, how red she looks “Aquaria I have to go back to class what do I do?” Aquaria isn’t worried about herself. Her hair is a little messy but it’s not too bad. “Just go to the nurse and pretend like you’re sick and that you were gone this whole time cause you were throwing up or something. It’s not a big deal.”

“You want me to lie to the nurse?” Aquaria like well what other option do you have. “Look, I’ll go with you. You just have to stand there, I’ll lie for you.” Aquaria holding up her end of the bargain. Brianna standing next to her, feeling very very guilty as Aquaria is like “I felt so bad for her, she looked so sick, see her face is all red she missed class too it’s terrible” The nurse raising an eyebrow cause on one hand Brianna is a star student and she does look like a mess and she could never miss class willingly. On the other hand Aquaria.  “Fine. Brianna you can rest here if you want to.” Brianna isn’t about to miss another class “I’m okay now I just need a nurse’s excuse, I’m really sorry I got sick I promise it was an accident.” Aquaria looking at her like wtf no one gets sick on purpose let me lie for you. 

Brianna walking to her next class, Aquaria beside her. Class is about to let out. Aquaria kissing Brianna right before the bell rings. “Come over after you’re done today. It’ll be fun, I promise.” Brianna smiling “I’ll be there.”

[whifferdills]

"The Pyramid at the End of the World" quicktakes:

the Previously On/Now intercutting was a neat trick, i like it

Bill/Penny are adorable. i love that Penny very much does not believe Bill's story, but hangs around anyway

also i love that the simulation only got it slightly wrong - interrupting UN, not interrupting pope. and that instead of just running, Penny excuses herself. still 'fuck this i'm audi 500' but less of a door closed between them, and less - depending on how the simulation was really constructed - less informed by Bill's fear of, or expectation of, abandonment

'straight and narrow' lmao

12 playing something twinkly and mournful on the guitar while monologue-ing, i am weak for this

is this the new American Football album? delete all your rock star AUs, 12 clearly is an Emo. they filled in as guitar player for Christie Front Drive once, pass it on

forreal tho that shot from the floof to 12's stupid face like i want to stay gen here but

(the untucked shirt with unbuttoned collar and cuffs is not helping here. this rumpled can't-be-fucked poorly-put-together boy. and is the red shirt matching the monks' red robes like a Thing orrr?)

12's continuing championing of Bill gettin' some

it's the butterfly effect 12 was making fun of Bill for suggesting in "Thin Ice". i am not smart enough to know what this means. good editing, tho, i like how the glass-breaking glasses-breaking inserts pop up as punctuation

Erica is great, can she stay? (i'd imagine the casting of a little person was deliberate, 'the right person for the job' isn't enough to change what a default, average character looks like. but the role really could have been played by anyone, so the fact that we got Rachel Denning is just, it's nice, it's good, the bar is very low but still. representation matters. casual off-handed no big deal rep doubly so.)

”What do you depend on?” “Air, water, food, beer.” you and me both Nardole

"Are you following me?" the AV Club described this bit as vaudeville and, yes, it's such a corny old-school comedic beat, and PCap and Lucas sell it, or undersell it, as a direct bit of physical comedy that's goofy, yeah, but not unreasonably so and it’s so nice

(i do kind of enjoy it when PCap chews the scenery but his ability to toss away lines has been a highlight of the past three seasons and i'll miss that, in addition to all the other things i'll miss about 12)

Peter Harness, what are you trying to say here? love is consent? is this About something? This feels like classic Harness, like i can see all the shit he loves and insists on taping onto Dr Who, a place where What Peter Harness Wants doesn't quite belong. the big world-trotting set pieces, the conception of Humanity as a vague blob represented by archetypes, the ill-advised attempt at following real-world rules, the grand metaphors that get fucked to high hell somewhere along the way. none of the stuff between the military leaders rises above 'acceptable i guess', and it's mediocre in a way where i can tell it's meant to be Deep and Insightful, but i can't figure how. i do know that the aesthetic rubs me the wrong way

i will admit that the Doomsday Clock is absolutely the sort of thing DW does well playing off. just it doesn't quite...doesn't quite land.

12 knowing Bill has a Look on her face - like that they know how bullshit of a move this is, and that Bill - as kind of the stand-in for their conscience - will disapprove

bit of an Arrival vibe here, huh.

and a bit of a "End of the World pt II" vibe - the evil defeated, the Dr is doomed by something small. here it's 12's flaws that nearly do them in, the lying and hiding, the hubris. compared to 10, whose death was the good in them coming out, just made noisy by their flaws

Pearl Mackie hit that ending out of the park, a solid donger. no Harness episode complete without an iffy moment sold by the acting. (it's not bad, or out of character, and far less obnoxious than "Kill the Moon" or "The Zygpon Fuck You", but it's got that same sort of...like the Big Moment was conceived of first, and the character involved was shoved into it. it works better than it deserves to, imo)

“tell you what, old man, you’d better get my planet back” ok so maybe some lines are worth contorting your narrative to lead up to cause DANG

and PCap, too, that mix of refusing to admit things are fucked and the dawning realization that things are fucked and the ‘yeah ok so this is how i go” anyway when 12 regenerates into 13 i will Die

has anyone done the gifset comparing "you look at me and you don't see me" of "Deep Breath" with the I Can't See A Single Ding Darn Thing 12 of these past few episodes

s/o to whoever designed the 'putting the sonic glasses on' sound bc it's not too much but just There enough to underscore the movement

the strands-of-your-story, the three fates (ish) prop for the simulation thing is quite nice.

i do appreciate that 12 isn't given, like, Daredevil superpowers, just sunglasses that sort of know the layout of a room and the basic stats of the people inside it. yes their blindness is handwaved away, but

what is Nardole i mean really

his “okay here we go” when the Dr nearly comes clean

is it wrong that like. i’m upset that the next episode is kind of a reset, okay, so we don't get the Dr panicked and swooning over a dying Nardole?

and what is a Twelvedole god the two of them ok

"i’m not just sexy" awjgfeghagfwFG

“oh, and tidy up your room” like i’m not saying Twelvedole is canon but

Bill getting that moment of 'actually fuck you and fuck this what is wrong with you' AND the 'screw you i'm saving your ass' beat it's so good

so the Monks are Cybermen right like this is where this is going

NEXT ON: Missy! Bill reverse-fridges the Dr! Missy! my heart probably is just gonna fucking explode