#even when you could literally tell they never even investigated anything themselves

[emelinstriker]

bro i'm actually fuckin crying

i was having anxiety the entire night over more random people from the other blog pulling up in my inbox and harassing me over shit i've already explained, but i woke up to like 4 messages and all rather wholesome and aren't accusing me

the fact that i haven't cried a single fuckin time the past 1-2 weeks of me knowing about this bullshit and just bottled it all up- and it just all comes all crashing the fuck down after seeing the sudden overwhelming support of people that actually read and understand context

it's literally only 6am here and i'm bawling my eyes out

i love every single one of you who isn't blindly jumping in on the fuckin hate train i wasn't even supposed to know about :'D

will be responding to them once i'm back in my room after school! fghfndghdfg already read through them tho, but i gotta go in a bit and can't type it all out hgfdgnfdhgnhdfg

[deardoiloveyou]

Softening angel

Draco x Fem!Ravenclaw!Prefect!Reader

Notes/CW: Angst, fluff, holding hands, romance in general, this is a decently experimental fic, in this AU draco isn't a prefect while you are,

Proofread: Yes

Prompt: Draco slowly falling in love with a genius yet outcasted reader

Part 1, Part 2

Draco's pastimes consisted of; teasing ickle hufflepuffs, in general bullying 'annoying arseholes', making snide remarks to Pottah, and mostly hanging out with his toxic filled friend group. Oh, and might I mention he has a knack for breaking rules (if you couldn't tell).

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"You buffoons- quit being so loud"

Crabbe and Goyle were quick to shut themselves up at Draco's command. Sneaking into the restricted section of the library wasn't a usual for Draco, but he needed to know the secrets that resided in this part of the library. No matter what anyone told the cold slytherin prince, he most likely wouldn't listen.

You were doing your prefect duties as always, diligently walking around the corridors of a school that was built like a maze. Yet, you seemed to notice something was off, your instincts were always strong and being observant was what you were known for.

A loud thunk. And then the sound of a boy scolding another person. From what you could make out, he was saying,

"This is why I don't invite you when I'm about to break about a thousand rules!"

And then the sound of shushing, shuffling, and a bit more quiet scolding.

You finally decided to investigate, your shoes clacking against the floor. Draco noticed it immediately, the sound of your walking growing nearer and nearer until he couldn't do anything about it,

"Crabbe- do you see any-..."

Before Draco even had the chance to finish his sentence, he came to the realization they had literally ditched him. Oh, how badly he was going to scold his normally obedient goons was incomprehensible.

"Hm? What does he see...?"

Your voice filled the tense air, Draco knew he couldn't "My father will hear about this" out of this situation.

Draco immediately noticed your practically glimmering Prefects' badge, he decided to try and act innocent (to no avail).

"Ah- Ms. Prefect, I was just about to lea-"

Before Draco could finish his sentence, you cut him off. Deeply disturbing Draco as he was used to having the upper hand. But before you could even begin to scold this unfamiliar boy, Filch's rugged tip-tapping entered the cold library. You weren't sure what to do, but your gut directed the rest of your actions.

You gently pushed Draco against the shelf full of curious books, placing a finger over his mouth as a way to say "Shut up". But Draco never obeys.

"Quite the temptress I see."

Dracos whisper sent a cold shiver down your spine.

"Oh for Merlins sake, shut up..."

His lips curled into a charming smirk.

"Oh you like me, don't you?"

The tension grew between you two. The heat growing between both Draco and you was undeniable. You didn't even know this boy, so how was it that you felt your cheeks burning red?

You finally heard the library go quiet. So you immediately pushed Draco away from you, seemingly further into the bookcase.

Your usual competent demeanor returned, yet you still couldn't make eye contact with this platinum blonde boy.

"I can tell you'd like to know my name, so, the name's Draco. Draco Malfoy."

You took a mental note inside your head to give "Draco Malfoy" a detention. And with that, you turned on your heel and walked off from a mesmerized boy, known as Draco Malfoy.

A/N: this will eventually become a series but depending on my schedule and motivation it could take quite a while!! I truly appreciate your patience as well as the support for my recent fics♡

[chaifootsteps]

Hello! It's Secret Identity Alastor AU Anon again! <3

Probably an unpopular take but: if they were gonna give That scene to Alastor and Mimzy in 'Dad Beat Dad' where Alastor tells Mimzy to buzz off, then Alastor should've gotten the 'fair weather/toxic friend' plotline rather than Angel Dust (it would've spared Cherri the character assassination at least). Or at the very least a friend betrayal plotline, not even a 'I tried to kill you/other people you started to care about" way, just a, "I actively fed information about you to other interested hostile parties and didn't even give you a heads up when their goons came knocking."

Maybe build it up with Alastor actually being, pretty reliable with doing Hotel things. Have multiple sinners check in for various reasons than just Sir Pentious, like Baxter, Crymini and then Mimzy. Have Mimzy be the spy for the Vees but Alastor totally unwilling to consider it. Have there be an actual mystery of who the spy is, and have Alastor and Vaggie be the main investigators because Charlie is busy trying to get an audience with the branch of Heaven monitoring Hell & running the Purges. Have Husk and Alastor (I prefer AU where they're actually kinda buds but I'd imagine they hold each other at a distance, or are tsundere about it) have an argument about Mimzy possibly being the spy, and have Alastor lose his fucking temper because that's his Bestie that Husk is trash talking (Husk wasn't exactly, but that's the point) and double down because man is literally terrified of looking weak and attackable. Have Mimzy had started to get cold feet about dropping an attack where one of her friends (Alastor) is working closely with, but the siege happening before she can give her friend a heads up. Then the friend betrayal is staring Alastor in the face. Have the attack on the hotel happen because Charlie is out at the meeting with Heaven finally; and thus leaving the Hotel "vulnerable". Have the culmination of the trust exercises for the main cast be the battle to defend themselves and the Hotel.

Then instead of like, talking about what they're actually feeling or whatever, Mimzy doubles down too, tries to play it off like, "there was never anything to worry about, besides, you've always been good at landing on your hooves, Al."

And then Alastor tells her to leave, maybe the whole "[redemption's] not your style" thing could be a callback to her words upon her check in to the Hotel? (Mimzy and Alastor could make up and be friends again in the future after some character development for both, some plot and actual communication between them.)

Then Alastor disappears long enough for the rest of the cast to grow concerned (there would've been, some bonding there?) enough to go looking for him. He's out killing and eating his feelings, he also might be injured from the Hotel Siege but refused to let the other Hotel cast see him look weak.

Also, I feel that one of Alastor's main sins/flaws should be Wrath. People keep assigning him Pride or Gluttony, and while I get it, it doesn't feel all that special or personal. But a vigilante killer in Hell who despite being in Hell still follows a code that punishes those that prey on or victimize the weak (in his eyes)? That's Wrath babey! What if Alastor had his father's temper (if we go with the common fanon that he had an abusive father, who probably hurt his mother while he was helpless to solve the problem in a meaningful way)? And oh, Alastor would be decent at keeping a lid on his temper in everyday life, whether through manners, hobbies, keeping distant, venting on hunting down jerks in Hell, etc, but his main method of self-control is complete denial & refusal to examine his own negative feelings, just keep dancing smiling 'til the curtain call, everything Is Fine, he is perfectly fine. So basically, Alastor's smile is a pressure cooker containing his temper (or something idk metaphor lol), and even he doesn't know when it's going to go off.

Yeah I know my AU version of Alastor is drifting significantly from both "canon" Alastor and long established common fan interpretations of him, but I like the stark dichotomy between the image that Alastor wishes to project as both his identities (the Radio Demon and Alastor) compared to whatever's actually going on in his head and his character arc. I hope this all makes sense or seems coherent to other people who aren't me.

Idk that's all I have right now. Like idk if I'd keep it, but the conflict of interest among friends, even besties, in the survival situation that is Hell could be interesting. It's a fun thought, anyways if you have thoughts, about or to add or whatever, have at it if you want (or not, that's valid too). <3

Got nothing to add to this, but I did enjoy reading it!

[nerdalmighty]

What are your top picks for your favorite Good Omens fanfics? 👀

-AnnTickwittee

Oh my dear AnnTickwittee, THANK YOU for this ask. There are a bunch of great ones out there but here are some I've loved recently! Also, everyone PLEASE feel free to leave more recs in comments or reblogs or tags! I LOVE a good fic!

Weirdly, most of my faves were written before S2 premiered - PLEASE recommend me some good S2 stuff, and ones you'd consider staples in the GO fandom - I've missed out on a LOT of great content - help me find it/catch up! (Note: All fics listed below are COMPLETE and feature happy endings.)

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1. The Rose and the Serpent by @brightwanderer | Rating: M | Status: Complete | Chapters: 12 | Word Count: 55,795 | Published: 2020-05-31 | Completed: 2020-08-15

Summary: AU, retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”. Quite honestly, sending Aziraphale off into the forest to be held hostage by a giant snake in a cursed castle isn’t even the worst thing Gabriel’s ever done to him, and at least it means a change of scene. But then neither the snake nor the castle turn out to be quite what he’s expecting…

My Review: Fave fave FAVE at the moment! I discovered this one from this tiktok, fully thinking it was going to be a silly little romp and was instead met with beautiful prose, adorable banter, and moments that literally made me go "AWW" out loud (which I NEVER do). I meant to read a few chapters per night before bed and then accidentally read the whole thing in one go. I stayed up until 4am reading and then woke up 4 hours later STILL thinking about it. Aziraphale is the perfect lead in this one, with Crowley as the wily yet lovable snake that lives in a cursed/enchanted castle with some familiar faces. CLASSIC pining ensues. The author does a great job of world building and character development and I find myself wishing I could read it again with fresh eyes. It's beautiful and adorable and I can't recommend it enough. Favorite quote: "'I love him,' he said. 'Let me in.' And the gates swung open before him."

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2. a lighthouse (burning) by @books-and-omens | Rating: M | Status: Complete | Chapters: 12 | Word Count: 108,477 | Published: 2022-03-26 | Completed: 2023-06-13

Summary: In good weather, one can see the lighthouse at the Rock from the shore: a dot on the horizon, a distant star flashing red and white and red again. It’s been dark for a fortnight, of course—ever since the incident that every newspaper had breathlessly written about, that the paper-boys on the corners had shouted themselves hoarse over. This is where Aziraphale is headed: it is his duty, after all, to find out what happened, to make sure that the beacon can be safely lit once again. He does not expect Crowley to follow him to the windswept isle, to the lonely lighthouse at what could just as well be the edge of the world. Crowley follows him anyway.

My Review: THIS ONE! This one is a good old fashioned mystery! The humans believe this lighthouse is haunted, especially since its last three keepers vanished without a trace, but Aziraphale and Crowley know that can't possibly be the case. As such, they decide to investigate for themselves. It's an adorable slow burn period piece that had me weeping at certain points with twists and turns abound, and I really liked how the author handled the mystery and lore! Deep lore is tough to do convincingly and I found myself believing everything the author said. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I KIND OF clocked what the author was going for with their mystery. Their explanation for everything was far better than anything my monkey brain could have come up with. Also that S2 ep of OFMD that featured a lighthouse in the beginning came out after I read this fic and I got all giddy thinking about Aziracrow here. I literally don't think I'll ever see a lighthouse again and not think of this gorgeous fic. EDIT: Also, here's a YouTube video that appeared in my recommended shortly after I read this. It's super interesting that disappearances like this have happened in real life 😱

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3. If We've Got Nothing (We've Got Us) by @kedreeva | Rating: G | Status: Complete | Chapters: 4 | Word Count: 19,897 | Published: 2019-06-17 | Completed: 2020-03-02

Summary: Two months after the failed apocalypse Aziraphale finds the first dark feather growing in his wings. A story about middle grounds, ineffable plans, and what happens when the world doesn't end.

My Review: Another fic I found on Tiktok. The edit itself was so gorgeous I decided to give it a go and was not disappointed. It was written before S2 was even announced so it takes some liberties with fanon (Crowley was Raphael in the canon of this world, etc), but it's a lovely, relatively quick read. Crowley and Aziraphale are on their own side, finally, and soon, others join their ranks. All while God watches from afar. The prose is beautiful and I come back to the tiktok all the time (I saved it onto my phone lol). It was also fun to go back and rewatch the tiktok after reading and realize that the editor stitched together parts from each chapter into something new and amazing. It's not a romantic fic, not in the way the others are; it cares more about the aftermath of an apocalypse and shades of gray and how the universe came to be in the first place. I love the POV of God reminiscing on creation and thought it was very well written. Absolutely loved this one! (@anntickwittee, this was the fic I was referring to in the tags of this post, which is probably what prompted you to leave this ask in the first place! 😊)

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4. All That's Best of Dark and Bright by @hope-inthedark | Rating: T | Status: Complete | Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 5,648 | Published: 2020-06-22

Summary: When Crowley drops a bomb on a church, Aziraphale falls in love with him. This should be a secret, but unfortunately, Aziraphale's never been much good at keeping them.

My Review: A one-shot expanding on the 1941 minisode (2019) BEFORE the S2 minisode canonically expanded on it. Recap: Aziraphale's just realized he's in love with Crowley (thank you Michael Sheen for that AMAZING acting choice) and this fic is the author's interpretation of what might have happened after the show cut away from the burning church. I was floored by how many parallels made it from this fic into the actual show both directly and indirectly (Aziraphale says "Not as such" at one point and I'm pretty sure I burst into tears and/or yelped loudly). It's got a good bit of angst to it, the same kind from S2 that makes you scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! HE'S RIGHT THERE!" with a happy ending that helped heal my shattered heart. I definitely cried reading this one (affectionate). It's extremely fluffy at the end which EYE LOVE, so if that's your thing, I highly recommend! Favorite Quote: "'I’m afraid I’m quite terribly in love with you,' Aziraphale said unceremoniously. Crowley, who had been in the process of sitting up, promptly fell off the sofa."

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5. the two shepherds of uruk by lupinely | Rating: E | Status: Complete | Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 24,963 | Published: 2023-10-09

Summary: After Aziraphale goes back to Heaven with the Metatron, Crowley reflects. And 4,400 years ago in 2407 BC, in the city of Uruk in ancient Sumer, he and Aziraphale fall in love with humanity, and each other. - “What are you doing here?” asked Aziraphale. Crowley lifted an eyebrow and felt himself start to smile. “I should ask you the same. What are you thinking, coming here with your wings out and the blessed light of Heaven raining down upon you? You’re scaring the mortals.” Aziraphale blushed. Crowley dutifully looked away. It felt disrespectful not to.

My Review: This one-shot is a love letter to history and humanity. I think I found it on twitter? Unfortunately I don't have a link to the tweet or the author's tumblr. What I really love about this one is that the author adds footnotes like the original Good Omens book does. You can absolutely feel the love and care that went into writing and researching for this particular fic, which I can really appreciate as a fellow writer. (For all my Bildad the Shuhite stans out there, this story takes place after, but the vibes are VERY SIMILAR. If you even care.) Crowley and Aziraphale are in Uruk to keep an eye on the humans as they try to build a structure tall enough to reach God (the Tower of Babel). Theoretically, they can both return to their respective sides, but opt to stay on earth (with each other) for 10 years to watch the construction unfold. Pining ensues, NSFW ensues, and as the author puts it, "now featuring Aziraphale as a little country girl tending her sheep ♥" I highly recommend if you want to be sucked into another time period/biblical story and feel MANY different feelings (with a happy ending!)

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I have more bookmarked that I could absolutely recommend if anyone is interested, but these 5 are just the ones that have stuck out to me the most recently!! Believe me, I could go ON, but this post is long enough for now.

If you DO read any of these, please chat with me about them, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Happy reading!

[terrence-silver]

I'm feeling pretty blue today - what would CK Terry (or any TIG characters you feel like writing about!) to do earnest, sincerely cheer up someone they love?

I wish you lots of elation and happiness. Hope these help. ❤️

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― When Jan Valek met beloved he already knew it'll be a moment he'll memorize and cherish for the rest of eternity. He already knew beloved will be something or someone that'll bring only true goodness into his life. He equates them to the light of the sun he and his kind were bereft of for centuries. He equates them with everything that's still noble, genuine, warm and sweet about humanity at large even though he doesn't view other mortals in the most of favorable light exactly. He has this incredibly exalted and romantic opinion of them, so, oh, the idea they'd ever feel blue about anything when he puts them all the way up there with the stars --- well, it strikes him. It is like witnessing a beautiful flower being sad about something; it cannot be conceivable because it isn't the flower's intended purpose in the grand scheme of creation. He's all affection and worship, collecting every tear from beloved's face with his lips and fingers, hugging them to himself with both hands and hiding them in his cape. He coos them. Caresses them. Hides them. Reminds them that in his infinite glory, God didn't create them for moments of sorrow. He's created them for joy. In fact, such is the depth of Jan's comfort and consolation of beloved that it telepathically revibrates through the entire coven and all his children feel it too. Beloved's not only loved, they're embraced. He remains with beloved instead of retreating underground when daytime returns, finding some dark, concealed place where he can hold them for as long as needed, time truly being meaningless to him. He could do this for decades if decades was what it took. Centuries, even, if need be. Ultimately, he waits it out with beloved and his arms around them don't unclasp until he literally senses their blood, scent and pheromones sing out with a change of mood before beloved themselves even realizes that they're no longer quite as upset as they were before.

― Terry McCain would downright willingly and tactically make a fool out of himself it meant beloved will simply...oh...you know...crack a smile for him? Why is that? Well, when you're a hardened, hot-headed Chicago Detective who has a tendency of taking things too far, to the point of utilizing excessive force during investigations and arrests, the sensitivity training doesn't really come all that naturally and so he counter-acts this by goofing around, in ways, even if that means getting beloved an adopted fuzzy pet out of the blue, enduring a scolding even when he doesn't give them space to breathe because he wants them to tell him what's wrong or waiting in front of their locked apartment door for hours when they want to be left alone, notwithstanding the fact he's also likely to just, you know, break in. He will be nosy. He will be invasive. He will employ his own professional deformation and investigate to get to the bottom of beloved's bad mood in the off chance they refuse to tell him, but one thing is absolutely certain; He will never, ever, ever leave them alone during this bad time, even risking being ridiculous and possibly overbearing doing so. Which means beloved can expect a takeover of their own life during the period of their depression. They wake up, they find McCain prepping up breakfast, wrapping his oversized coat or scarf around on a cold evening walk, tucking them in next to the fireplace and being fully domestic, threatening to knock some joker's teeth if the cause of their upset came from another person, or hey, he might just jokingly bring up doing so to deliberately appear like some dangerous wiseguy and hopefully amuse beloved through his antics. He'll try so many things that statically, something's very likely to just entertain beloved enough, even if begrudgingly, to have them snort through their nose with laughter at him faced with a funny anecdote from his First Communion.

― Gus Travis is paranoid and he is convinced beloved's current bad mood has something to do with him and taking it a step further than that, he gets this agitated impression that their depression is a prelude to an array of more serious underlining issues that remain yet unspoken; like them wanting to leave him or at least really seriously pondering it just about now. That they're deeply unhappy by his side and if he doesn't do something now to prevent it, history will only repeat itself and he'll lose someone he loves. Again. Would he really survive that crap twice? He doesn't think so. All the signs are there, after all, with his past bad experiences only further exacerbating the issue to the degree that depending of how blue beloved is feeling and for how long, Gus might just take it as far as really seriously telling them they should leave. Run away together. From this life. From his associates. From his gang. His syndicate. Sever all ties to them. Cut loose. Break out on their own. Turn a new page. Start a new life elsewhere. Far, far from here. Head out to sea on a boat if they have to. Not say anything to anyone. Pack up the basics. Hop in their car and go. Just go. Meaning that Gus Travis is genuinely probably willing to quite literally erase everyone and disappear if it could potentially bring contentment to beloved and ensure that they'll stay together. Just the two of them. Man could very well be halfway through the State of Washington on an escape spree before the conclusion might arrive that he did not, in fact, have to practically run away to make beloved happy. A kind word would've sufficed. Maybe a hug. But, Gus is a man of aggressive impulse, with an impassioned, streetwise nature to boot. His dryland mermaid is sad and he's expected to just...handle it in stride without shooting someone in the head? Yeah, no. Before anyone puts two and two together, Gus and beloved are too far gone to ever be found, headed somewhere that is bound to make them happy.

― Terry Silver does anything to cheer up someone he loves. And I do mean anything. Therein lies the danger of someone he cares for being even slightly upset or depressed, because he'd stop at nothing. There's no boundaries. Nothing is too ridiculous. No such thing as 'too far'. And no, I don't just mean throwing excess money and acts of service on a problem until it goes away --- I mean, he'd literally abuse someone to make beloved laugh. He'd hurt someone. He'd hurt whoever hurt them; whoever he feels fucked up their sunny disposition because trust and believe he's ready to have an enemy. Just point at one. If you don't, he's capable of inventing one himself. Throw an expensive car in the mix, sure, as a cherry on top of a cake. Does beloved want real estate? A company? A private island? Do they want him to buy out half of Los Angeles? Do they need a lavish vacation to fix their mood? An encouraging pep talk worthy of a Sensei? Should he knock someone's teeth out while they watch? Should he avenge them to remind them just how adored they are? Should he kill? Drag someone's bruised and beaten body and drop them off at beloved's feet as homage like a devoted blood hound would? Should he fuck beloved? Please, kiss, lick and work their body until their physique registers it as happiness? His mind will be working overtime --- the gears in his brain spinning and spinning and Terry will be likely to cheer himself up at the prospect of all the things he could do. He giggles and snickers as he plans. It is honestly just safer to tell this man what it is likely to make you content so he can go ahead and just do it for you because if his mind wonders too far in its deviousness, he'll do some pretty unhinged things in the hope it'll cheer beloved you up. But, point here is; he'd do just about anything, yes and beloved will probably never be as upset and in need of uplifting that will ever match the distance Terry Silver is willing to go to uplift them.

― Going to go out on a limb and saying Cash doesn't immediately know how to cheer up beloved or anyone as for that matter because this is simply not something he ever frequently does or has to do. His line of work or lifestyle doesn't exactly demand this of him --- in fact, even when he himself's in a gloomy mood, he merely fixes it with a quick beer and just shutting the heck up about it until it goes away. But, just because it is underexplored, new territory for him doesn't mean he doesn't care to the point he's thrown off of balance, pacing back and forth around the room, absolutely exasperated, an annoyed hand in his hair, feverishly thinking of what he should do, his mood sinking to dark depths right alongside beloved. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't talk. Doesn't do anything. He can't think straight. He's capable of spending days in front of beloved's room, just sitting there like a watchful warden in a state of limbo, waiting for a single word from them, a sign, a signal, a hint, anything that could indicate they're doing better now, and until he gets that, he might as well rot into the arm chair he's nestled into for all he's concerned. Cash takes whatever's going on very much to heart even though it isn't outright visible or easy to immediately tell at all times, but one order out of beloved's lips is enough to put him into action there and then without a single bit of protest out of him. If beloved said 'Rob a bank. It'll make me happy.' man outright would do just that entirely wordlessly. He'd be there getting his gun, gloves and mask ready, making the necessary phone calls, gone within the hour and already back home by the time they've woken up from their daily depression nap. He cares immensely. He doesn't always know how to express it or act on it, but even when beloved's in an infinitely better mood it'll be days and even weeks before Cash wholly recovers from whatever it was that bothered them, even if he doesn't really talk about it.

― Jack Blaylock, or rather, Timothy Calloway sits down and genuinely talks to beloved about it. Yes. Talks. Although never doubt this man too would be prepared to go to some truly harrowing lengths to merely see the slightest shadow of a smile on beloved's face, I get this impression he fixes them a warm beverage, makes them a lovely, intimate meal for two and tucks in by their side on a cozy, quiet evening instead, the lights of the city sparkling in the distance through the windows because civilian problems require civilian solutions and beloved's a civilian, first and foremost; so, he approaches their sadness in a way he knows they'll respond to best psychologically, not wishing to frighten them with promises of knives, blades, guns, murder, carnage, gore and all the things he'd do to anyone or anything that would ever make them sad or encroach on their happiness. He tells them anecdotes. Tales from his travels. All the places he's been. Seen. Spirituality. Past lives. How this is all unsolved karmic baggage and in few days time, it'll seem like a distant matter that'll only grow more foggy as time passes but that he's here, interconnected with beloved through countless past lives, feeling every bit of dejectedness they themselves might feel. He's here to face the fray with them because they're soulmates and that's what soulmates do. It is genuinely the most intense and eye-opening conversation beloved's ever had. One of those goddamn near live changing chats that seem a bit dream-like and slightly haunting and strange the next day but beloved truly does feel better afterwards because Jack will literally talk them out of their sour mood. Of course, has to be said that there's a disturbing factor to all of this because it is almost like Jack saw into beloved's soul and just about scraped off whatever was bothering them singlehandedly. Was there something in the coffee he's made them? Something in his general air and manner, how he knows to handle people? The sex they had afterwards? Beloved cannot tell, but they do feel infinitely better.

[mrsmiagreer]

Milo was preparing to go to bed. It was around 11pm, and he got a text from Sweetheart saying that they had to stay late again tonight, a particular investigation going a little longer than usual, and that they were gonna have to “chaperone” the cop this time. He lightly chuckled at the text before heading to their room.

Of course he was always a little worried about Sweetheart’s safety in their field, but he knew they could handle themselves. He did feel a little unsettled in his stomach though. He shouldn’t have dismissed it.

3:47 am

“Shit—”

Milo slowly blinked awake as he heard noise in the living room. He figured it was Sweetheart and rolled over to check his phone for the time. It was almost 4, and he never received a text saying they were on their way. “Sweetheart?”

When he didn’t get an answer he got up, basically sleep walking to the living room where he heard them. “Baby what happened?? Is that your blood? Are you hurt?!”

Sweetheart was sprawled across their couch, super tired and a little queasy from the events of the night. They explained to him that while they were investigating, some guy who claimed he was “Anti-Department” caught them off guard and shot them in the side. They told Milo that it wasn’t that bad, and that the cop they were with knew a decent amount of healing magic so their wound is healed completely. Now they’re just exhausted.

“I’m sorry baby. I would have picked you up if you called, you didn’t have to drive home. Can I do anything for you?”

He ended up running a bath for them, and afterward massaging the area along with the rest of their back until they would fall asleep for the night.

Milo couldn’t believe they were being so calm about this. Was this a normal occurrence for them?! How many times have they been casually shot, or stabbed, tased, anything like that? They didn’t even call him, they drove home themselves, and had the nerve to try and be quiet when they got home because HE was asleep, as if they weren’t in this life threatening predicament about an hour ago. They’re so strong, he thought, maybe too strong sometimes.

This event did end up worrying Milo a little more than he’d like it to, because they will have to go back to work and risk something like this again or worse, but for the moment, he just wanted them to be safe and comfortable.

“Thank you, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to worry you or wake you”

“It’s okay Sweetheart. You have nothing to apologize for. ‘f anything like this happens again you don’t be scared to call me and wake me up, you hear me? I love you, just want you to be safe”

“I love you too” they smiled, silently telling him that they can’t make any promises, but he knew they’d try their best.

He kissed them goodnight and stayed up for a while after they fell asleep to watch for any signs of discomfort or nightmares.

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A/N: Literally not even correctly proofread, sorry there might be some TW in here that i forgot to add warnings to but i’m pretty tired and don’t feel like going back and looking for them all

[madame-mortician]

If Tomie was an SCP!

So I had a random thought while rereading Tomie, but what if the SCP foundation captured her and how would that work? How could they contain her? What would they learn from her? Well I wanted to write down my ideas for fun so here we are:

Tomie would classify as Safe. You could argue her unpredictable regeneration ability and her control over men makes her more of a threat, but honestly, she herself isn’t dangerous and even if she did regenerate, it’s not like the foundation can’t handle a few clones. That and “Safe” SCPs don’t mean they aren’t dangerous, just that they are easier to contain.

I feel as though she’d be kept in a cell meant to look like a fancy hotel. Tomie is notoriously materialistic and greedy, so she’d probably become annoying and uncooperative unless she was satisfied with an expensive bed, glamorous decorations and high-class meals.

Adding onto her cell, I also believe they’d have extra precautions to make sure she doesn’t escape or doesn’t regenerate too much. The door would likely be sealed completely shut every time it was used and would have an extra layer just to be sure she couldn’t slip through the cracks. The walls of her cell would also have flame dispensers meant to exterminate her if she somehow became a threat or had cloned too much.

There would be a procedure for getting rid of clones, that would require a female staff member entering and removing one of the Tomies before the room would be lit ablaze to kill the clones leaving only one, who would then be returned to her new room. This would mean that since the foundation can’t tell the difference between each Tomie, the current Tomie in the cell is not the same one they captured.

Every Tomie outside of the facility was destroyed, meaning only the Tomie’s in the facility are left. This would also mean that Tomie is no longer a threat.

When being fed, investigated or just interacted with in general, only female staff members are allowed in both her cell and the monitor room observing her cell. After Tomie was first captured the foundation quickly learnt Tomie could dive men into insanity no matter the person, and this would lead to not only Tomie getting hurt, but the male staff member and anybody nearby. The only cure to this was killing the infatuated man, but obviously the SCP foundation doesn’t want this happening again so only women are allowed near her cell. They also found out that even video footage of Tomie could seduce men, hence the banning of men in her monitor room.

Out of all of the SCPs, Tomie is one of the most talkative. Not just that she’s a teenage girl (supposedly) but also she is pretty willing to talk about herself and her abilities. When a staff member interrogates her for information, Tomie tells them everything she knows about herself. This is how the foundation learnt about her fire weakness and her ability to clone herself.

Despite being super willing to do almost anything the foundation asks her to do, Tomie literally cannot stop herself from cloning. If she doesn’t get a man to kill her in a while, she finds other ways to stay young and beautiful forever by splitting off into another Tomie. Because it’s biological, and she cannot control it, they implemented the fire procedure, which Tomie willingly goes along with because she likes being pampered like royalty here.

In the case of a security breach or prison break, Tomie would definitely roam around the facility looking for a way out, but wouldn’t be much of a threat if cornered since she herself can’t really fight back. Worst case scenario, she’s cornered by entirely male staff members and they all fall for her instantly and either kill themselves fighting over her and she escapes, or they kill her and she revives as two and one slips away whilst the other is captured. More likely though, she’d never make it past the security features and would end up back in her cell.

Now for some fun interactions I can think of, between her and other SCP’s:

SCP-049: If somehow 049 came into contact with Tomie and touched her, she would still die like a normal human. However, she’d reanimate before he’d begun his zombie transformation surgery, and thus would likely confuse him. Every subsequent time he touched her, she’d die and revive quicker and quicker until eventually, she was essentially immune to his touches. If somehow he was fast enough to complete the surgery before she revived, she reanimated with his weird additions but would still retain her memories and personality, making his additions ineffective.

SCP-173: It’s unlikely they’d ever meet, but if the foundation put them together for an experiment the most likely outcome would simply be a loop. Even if Tomie was told what 173 did, she’d still look away or blink eventually, and he’d come and snap her neck. Of course, Tomie being Tomie, she’d get back up in a few seconds and her neck would slowly return to normal. 173 likely would be long gone by this point, chasing somebody else, but if by some miracle he’d stuck around or stayed in the area whilst she healed, he’d come back and snap her neck again. Like with 049, if Tomie was killed repeatedly, she would revive faster and faster each time she was killed, eventually leading to his neck snaps doing nothing and her simply standing there after an unsuccessful attempt on her life. It’s unlikely it would ever get to this point as he would likely have been far from her by the time she first revived, but this is all just hypothetical anyway. Ironically, she’d be the most helpful with recapturing 173, as if she got to the point of being immune to his neck snaps, she would be able to stare at him to get him locked up, yet when she eventually blinked it would not matter because he couldn’t kill her and would be stuck in place until eventually the staff recaptured him. It’s very unlikely this would ever happen though. This tells the foundation that Tomie is essentially immune to all violent SCPs as enough exposure will render their attacks useless against her since her revival becomes fast after each death. Oddly, the death revival resets for each SCP, so even if she’s immune to 173, she can still be killed by 682.

SCP-682: Since they have similar abilities, it makes sense the foundation would put them together to see what would happen. He would start non-hostile towards her, mainly ignoring her or just staring at her but after too much exposure towards her, he would kill her in whichever way was easiest for him at the time. Of course, she’d revive and heal herself and he’d continue staring at her, perhaps even trying again to kill her. It’s unlikely Tomie would really give a shit, to be honest, she’d probably be annoyed at the foundation locking her in a room with a giant kaiju but she wouldn’t exactly be able to do anything. Despite her “seduction” seemingly working on 682, her ability to drive men to suicide wouldn’t work on him due to his unkillable nature, so eventually the foundation would get bored of watching Tomie be crushed by a giant reptile and would end the test. This does tell the foundation that her powers do work on all men, including non-humanoid SCPs, but they work differently depending on which SCP she is facing.

I might add more SCP interactions if people have interesting suggestions!

[ac-liveblogs]

Greetings! Can I share my woes with you, fellow stranger? I... honestly cannot believe that a game like genshin could possibly exist. I'm almost done with the Fountain AQ and lemme just say that... This dumbfuck journey through the nations made me fear for my own sanity. There is almost NEVER any logical progression between the stages of the quests and literally only 2,5 people in the whole fandom ever talk about this! Half the time you cannot tell why the characters are doing what they are doing and even when you can see the logic behind their actions the actions themselves are usually stupid af. And then there are world quests that are written as if they exist in some entirely different worlds! Like how the Meropide from the AQ and from the Unfinished Comedy are two completely different prisons, because NO WAY are they run by the same Duke guy. So, I've been very troubled by this. Have I lost my last braincells and this is why I can't comprehend the very good writing of the very good hoyo? Is everyone else just playing a different genshin that ACTUALLY makes sense?? Am I insane or is it the world around me that has gone mad???

Salutations, kind stranger, please take a seat!

To risk sounding very unkind, my general impression behind a lot of the discussion surrounding Genshin's story and character writing boils roughly down to this post;

Because I do get the general sense that what sticks with most people are the big dramatic moments and the general SHAPE of what you expect this all to mean or look like, not what it actually is or says. Which is FINE, praise fanon because god knows this game needs it, but my eye will start aggressively twitching when I see people praising Scaramouche's deep emotionally charged writing (HYV avoided writing as much of his story as possible though) or how meaningful a character Neuvillette is (confusing role in the narrative at best, actively detrimental to the world-building at worst).

And maybe if you're willing to accept lore dumps, explanations that character arcs happened off-screen, character bios, flashback sequences, telling not showing and animated trailers as substitutes for actual writing... then maybe it does seem like a lot is accomplished, even if you do have to bridge the gap with fanon. Like, there's so much lore! And they wrote so many words! It must be smart!!

I did chat to a colleague at work (anime fan; writing a book) who played Genshin and dropped it very early on. I asked "so what did you think of the writing" and without missing a beat he said "embarrassingly bad". So I'm going to say that most of the people that recognise it just dropped it immediately and the majority of the remainders are people that are willing to accept this. And suckers like us who sit open mouthed watching the trainwreck unfold.

Or, there's a secret version of this game I failed to download twice, and you clearly didn't get it, in which case I think we need to find the correct person to complain to about it.

Though speaking of the Fortress of Meropide, I was really amused when 'this is a DARK PRISON' collided with 'this is a GREAT prison and Wrio's so cool' in Wriothesely's quest, where the writers struggled with giving him a dramatic storyline tied to his own location so much they made him accidentally endorse a torture cult without realising how much that clashed with Wrio's previous characterisation of 'I know everything in the Fortress, including that you three are Fatui agents, to the point that I can quiz the Traveller on weird conspiracy theories about this place'.

Or like, "oh I'm really observant, I did notice this weird and suspicious/worrying thing, I just haven't done anything about it" x2 because he can't look ignorant, he's gotta know what's up, but like, think about that a second more and that's worse. Wrio. That's worse, you have to investigate those things. There is a torture cult in the basement and the entire prison almost flooded with people dissolving water, Wrio, we could have avoided these problems!

My current conspiracy theory is this place sucks like the AQ implies, but everyone just lies to Wrio and pretends everything is great and he's doing such a good job running the joint and he just believes them. The bubble almost pops in his character quest, but not quite.

Although, I hate the Fortress in it's entirety and all, but the thing that's sticking with me despite everything that Fontaine did is still.... "these people used to be oceanids but just forgot". Who forgot? Hoyoverse, apparently. Furina's quest sure didn't engage with 90% of the writing surrounding both that and her trial, huh. What a stupid meaningless twist that meant nothing and had no impact whatsoever. Why even do it.

this game is punishment for something and i'm not sure what

[ladysophiebeckett]

I read you think Freddy knew about Armando and Betty or at least suspected something weird was going on (Wilson most likely too). At Inesita’s house, it was obvious that something was happening to Armando and it had to do with Betty, but the night at the bar the day she returned to Ecomoda, do you think Freddy suspected that Armando had feelings for Betty? We, as the audience, know that everything Freddy said about having a loved one looking more beautiful than ever and picturing them with someone else at that very moment was painful, which voiced out loud exactly what Armando was thinking judging by his reactions, but do you think Freddy picked up on that?

El Cuartel should have discussed this piece of gossip with Freddy because they notice Betty is being really cold with Armando and know they definitely had a falling out, but Freddy knows for a fact that Armando supports her presidency and admires her a lot, and also gets really defensive about her (well they all know that because they saw how upset he became with the dude that wanted to dance with Betty who wouldn’t take no for an answer). Anyways, I just can’t believe they didn’t suspect anything sooner. I guess this is one of the most unbelievable parts tbh or how about when Armando went insane trying to contact Betty when they told him she was gonna quit and yet they still didn’t think his feelings were genuine? Even after they found out he broke up with Marcela for good, didn’t do anything with Alejandra, not even Inesita, of all people, dared to think he was jealous for real? (She does pick up on this later when she sees his desperation, but not before he had a breakdown and destroyed Mario’s office). I’ve seen people say Armando and Mario share one brain cell, but also El Cuartel sometimes 😂

I can't take credit for the Freddy knowing addition, one of my mutuals added that and i had to go back the episode to confirm. And also super agree(!!). If Freddy suspected it at Inesita's house, then the scene in bar the night of Betty's return confirms it. let me get the caps:

like why is freddy saying 'y, usted?' for? he knows that something happened between them but freddy is discrete. (like, everyone at ecomoda knows about armando's infidelities towards marcela, why wouldn't Freddy, who takes care of armando's car, has access to armando's apartment and probably took care of that dog that disappeared---why wouldn't he know about betty and armando?). he's the closest employee to armando that's not betty.

going back to the bar convo--yes i think Freddy picked up on it, lol.

el curatel was never gonna discuss that with freddy bc, well they didnt know he had important information, but also bc he was only sometimes an honorary member. they themselves wouldn't have discussed this with freddy bc they would say its not his business. (son cosas de mujeres). cuartel loves gossip but they're hit and miss with their investigations. they never suspected be The Quiet One to be having an affair with her boss (this aside from the fact that Betty is 'ugly' (we know she isn't but thats how they perceive her).

Bertha is actually the closest person in el cuartel to finding out about the affair. She literally saw them leave the exhibit together and Armando shut her down quick from saying anything to Marcela. So it's very convenient that she gets sent away bc of her pregnancy right when everything at la junta directiva is coming to light. convenient also that her return to ecomoda is also the day that betty returns to ecomoda. the one person that could have pieced part of it together while armando was on a binge and betty was away, was also missing in action.

Regarding when not believing Armando and not telling him where Betty is--I think part of it is that they know what he did and that doesn't exactly give them incentive to help him (on top of Betty giving instructions not to tell him). At least that's how Aura Maria feels about it, bc she's the one who doesn't waver and also the last one to support Armando at the end (I mean the eps of the arrival of Michel).

They're not completely dumb bc whenever Betty is sad or upset, they notice it but they never know the reason why bc Betty wont tell them. Tho they're heart is often times in the right place, they're very nosey and get caught very easily. That's why Betty doesn't tell them everything. (probably why Freddy doesnt either).

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

So I watched Devil in Ohio. And I have some thoughts.

I don’t know, the way characters treat each other in this series just strikes me as weird. For example, Isaac and Jules apparently have been friends since like the third grade, but it was so fragile. The moment Jules makes friends with Mae he acts all upset about it. And on Halloween, I know they have a tradition, but they could literally watch the movie the next day or something, and it wasn’t like Jules was discluding him; she invites him to the bonfire with her, but he acts like this is some friendship ending event. And then, when she asks for a ride home, where he KNEW there would be alcohol there, he told her no, leaving her to fend for herself, knowing she was probably drunk at night, and he never apologized for that, instead she had to apologize for what, branching out? 

And then Jules with Mae, that just kind of sucked; the dad to actually. They acted like they were best friends, and yeah Mae was obviously possessive of their friendship, but what did she do besides help her photography and take a picture of Isaac from her wall? Yes, Mae did have some potential toxic behaviors in their friendship, but she just left a cult and has no idea of regular social boundaries, so they could have had a conversation with her to let her understand, but no. And in the end, that’s not even what Jules got mad about, it was because Mae decided to branch out, same thing with Jules and Isaac. Mae goes to the mall with some people without Jules, and Jules acts all weird about it. And then they wear the same costume, because as stated Mae wants to copy Jules, but Jules takes this strangely personally. And then Sebastian, Jules’s crush, asks Mae to the dance and that’s enough for Jules to decide their friendship is over? Mae even told Jules she wouldn’t go with Sebastian to the dance when she learned Jules had a crush on him, but Jules didn’t care, and now Jules and Isaac are calling Mae a narcissist? She definitely has some problems with attachment and how to form healthy bonds, but I wouldn’t say narcissist. Jules was just pissed that Mae started having connections outside of her, and that inconvenienced her.

And then with the dad, he obviously didn’t care much for Mae since the beginning, which okay, fair, he’s not obliged to think of Mae as his own daughter or something, and with where they are financially due to his house thing taking in another child probably isn’t the best. But he could at least see her for what she is; a traumatized, cult programed child. One thing that made me a bit upset, was when he was asking about the fire and if she knew about it, it seemed like he literally triggered a trauma response in her, as she went to her knees, clinging to his feet and mumbling. Instead of consoling her or something, he goes into the house, telling Suzanne later that this was suspicious behavior or some shit. Like, my guy, you, a older man was accusing her of something, and it made her want to beg for forgiveness, and the leader of her cult is an older man, fill in the dots. 

Then towards the end they’re acting like it’s Mae’s fault that their family is in disarray? But it’s not? Mae didn’t do anything till the flower thing at the end to see if Suzanne would come for her. What’s the worst thing that happened to this family due to Mae’s presence? The parents had a small disagreement about scheduling and who would drive who to where? And yes, the cult is now interacting with the family, but that’s not Mae’s fault, she’s the victim of this cult who is literally trying to kill her, but the family is acting like Mae is masterminding all their minor inconveniences. Yes, Suzanne got a little too involved in the investigation of Mae, but Mae never asked this of her, this was Suzanne’s decision. And what, they had to stay in a different place for the night because Mae was about to be KILLED by the cult? She’s dying, and they couldn’t give less of a shit, victimizing themselves, not even slightly worried about Mae. When Jules and Peter were talking it was all like ‘Mae shouldn’t have come here’ ‘yes but it wasn’t just her fault honey’ like, can you not, she’s kind of reliving her trauma right now while you are all fine. Three arguments with your wife, a shared Halloween costume, and the family is in shambles?  And then in the end, they decide they can’t bare to stay with Mae so they end up living separately from their mom? This random hatred for Mae just seemed so out of place when she hasn’t really done much to them besides exist. That’s really it; they’re upset at her for existing in their home, for existing near them when people are trying to kill her, a child.

And then with the ending, it was nothing out of character for Mae; it’s been established she has problems knowing how to keep lasting bonds with people. It was very self destructive of her to want confirmation for love so badly that she willingly brought herself back into the cult to die just to see if they come for her. That’s kind of sad, and makes for a very unhealthy relationship, and Mae should see a therapist. In fact, Suzanne is literally a psychiatrist, and she never addresses any of this previous, less extreme behavior within Mae. I want Mae to understand she can reach out to other people and not go to such extreme measures, but when she started doing that when she went to the mall with other girls without Jules, Jules got all upset about it rather then encourage her, so that probably didn’t help. 

I don’t know; maybe this is just me projecting my love for the found family troupe.

[pendragonsandbuckleys]

do you see the light (at the end of the tunnel)

Summary: Guerin was incredibly lucky not to have short circuited his own heart in his attempt at restarting Alex’s – something Kyle had admonished him for repeatedly since then.

-

Follow up to I can hear the sound of your barely beating heart

Word Count: 2,612

[Also on AO3]

Guerin was incredibly lucky not to have short circuited his own heart in his attempt at restarting Alex’s – something Kyle had admonished him for repeatedly since then.

He had succeeded in passing out in a rather dramatic fashion at Liz’s feet, scaring the life out of Isobel and leaving Kyle with yet another patient to deal with. But, he supposed, it was much better than the alternative. And after feeling rough for a day – regardless of the gallon of acetone he had chugged – he had soon been back to his normal self.

Not that Kyle was complaining (for once). He couldn’t imagine what Alex would do to him if he found out that his boyfriend had sacrificed his life in order to raise him from the dead. 

Kyle was definitely taking partial credit for that by the way. Guerin may have used his magical glowy hand, but the tests they had run since then revealed that his and Liz’s serum had fused to Alex’s cells, the handprint had just given it the jump start it needed.

It was still crazy to think about. The feat they had achieved with only a few science nerds and some alien DNA. He and Liz had literally pulled off the impossible, bringing a human being— bringing their best friend back to life. 

They wouldn’t have pulled any of it off without his uncle’s powerful, pro-alien organisation, of course. The tech at Deep Sky had been invaluable not to mention the private space they had been afforded. All employees were very serious about their oath to secrecy regarding what they worked on and witnessed within that building, but it was still nice to know they didn’t have to worry about any ex-boyfriends sneaking around trying to scoop out their scientific discoveries. 

He understood why his uncle had been wary when he and Alex had first started to bring everyone into the fold. Eduardo had employed them not their friends. And that was only after extensive background checks. (Yes, even on his own nephew). 

This time, he’d welcomed them with open arms if it meant finding a cure for Alex.

Not that it should ever have been needed.

Alex should never have ended up in that situation. 

He had been so close to leaving the Air Force. So close to getting out. And he’d told Kyle as much over a beer at the Wild Pony some weeks before his death. He had only stayed in order to investigate the last vestiges of Project Shepard that he suspected was still active but he’d promised Kyle – he’d promised himself – that his next mission would be his last. 

Oh, how right he was.

When he’d bumped into Kyle on the morning of his last assignment, he’d mentioned his certainty that his father still had a hold on a small corner of the military and that the mission he was being sent on could very well prove the connection he’d been looking for.

He’d made Kyle promise not to tell Michael – that his boyfriend would just worry endlessly until he returned. Not that Kyle would have blamed him. 

When the call came in about Alex’s death, he knew his friend’s suspicions had been true. And he wished beyond anything that he had stopped him from going. 

Getting the news had been like a hundred punches to the stomach, winding him instantly. In fact, it felt like he had been holding his breath ever since Isobel had called. His lungs closing in on themselves, refusing to take in any air until his friend could do the same, as if it was the least they could do.

But there was time to unpack his guilt later. For now, he was more than happy to focus on the miracle of a fact that Alex Manes was alive. 

There was just the minor issue of him not having woken up yet.

Entering the Deep Sky infirmary, he was unsurprised to see that the familiar scene before him was unchanged since his last check in. Alex was reclined on the bed, eyes closed in a seemingly endless sleep, the few screens surrounding him beeping steadily. 

The EKG leads snaking under the collar of his loose-fitting t-shirt were just a precaution, a way for Kyle to monitor his condition easily and put his mind at ease for when he wasn’t in the room. For all intents and purposes, Alex seemed to be okay, his recent brush with death having left no ill effects on his body.

Glued to his side, Guerin didn’t look to have moved an inch in the hour that Kyle was out of the room. He’d been waiting patiently, diligently, (relentlessly) since Alex had taken his first breath a few days ago and lack of sleep was definitely going to catch up with him at some point. Kyle had tried to make him take a break, but if there was one thing Michael Guerin wasn’t going to do, it was listen to a Valenti. 

He was looking better though, in a way. Still tired, but less dishevelled. Less of a wreck. The past month had been hard on all of them but none more than Michael. For a rough, tough cowboy, always eager to put up a front, he hadn’t been far off from completely breaking apart. And even Kyle had to admit, that had been difficult to witness.

But the hardest part was over now, Alex was alive and that was their only focus.

Guerin didn’t react as Kyle entered the room, one hand propping up his chin whilst the other rested gently atop Alex’s, his thumb lazily tracing the grooves of his boyfriend’s knuckles. His gaze only wandered away from Alex’s lax features once Kyle was close enough to survey the monitors, but he had a feeling Guerin was paying more attention to the up and down of the waveform than he was to the doctor reading them.

It was a common sight at the hospital – relatives not wanting to stray too far from their loved ones for fear of the worst. Sometimes they would stare at the screens for hours without really knowing what the flashing numbers meant, just on the lookout for the first warning sign that something was wrong. Anything to feel useful.

It was a horrible responsibility for someone to put on themselves, but he was kind of glad Alex had someone in his life that would do the same for him.

He’d seen the connection between the two of them for some time, even back in high school when he’d secretly kept track on Alex in between his macho need to torment him. He had to thank teenage Kyle for having a modicum of sense back then and not sabotaging Alex’s life entirely.

Since they’d reconciled, he’d seen how cheerful Alex had been. The way he got all sappy when he talked about Guerin, blush creeping up his cheeks as if Kyle wasn’t aware of how absolutely head over heels he was.

And honestly, it made Kyle so damn happy. 

He glanced up from Alex’s chart, pen hovering above the paper mid-update, and over to Guerin with a look that obviously had the man spiralling into instant panic. 

“What’s wrong?” Guerin asked, eyes widening as his brow pulled down low. Kyle chose not to comment on the way he gripped Alex’s hand a little tighter.

“What’s wrong is that you’re still sitting here. I thought I told you to go home and rest.”

“Yeah, and I told you that I’m not going anywhere, Valenti.” His attempt at being disdainful failed, his usual level of snark muted drastically by the clear exhaustion hanging over him.

Kyle held back the exasperated sigh as he continued jotting down notes. He knew better than to argue against Guerin when he was like this. His first attempts at getting him to leave had ended with raised voices and more accidentally exploded light bulbs and he couldn’t imagine Eduardo would be best pleased with more of his property being destroyed. 

He could feel Guerin’s eyes on him, watching him carefully as he wrote, so obvious in his concern.

“Is something wrong?” Guerin asked him gingerly as he placed the clipboard on the table, and he forced himself to hold back another sigh for a completely different reason.

“No.” He replied, the gentle tone saved for soothing fearful relatives coming through. “Everything still looks okay. There doesn’t seem to be any lasting effects, his vitals are still normal… We just need to give him time.”

Guerin nodded, roughly wiping at a stray tear that escaped so quickly it had rolled off his chin before he could stop it. Kyle hadn’t thought it possible for him to look even more deflated but the way his gaze shifted back to Alex showed his disappointment at the answer.

They could pretend that it was good news all they wanted, taking solace in that fact that Alex wasn’t suddenly getting worse, but the longer it took for him to wake up, the harder it was to see any positives.  

“Does he know that we’re here? Can he— like, is he hearing us, without being able to—?”

And if that wasn’t the age-old coma question. 

“Honestly Guerin, I don’t know.”

Michael nodded again absentmindedly, biting his lip so hard Kyle was surprised he didn’t draw blood. There was little else he could do for now and as Guerin laced his fingers with Alex’s, bringing his hand up to kiss softly at his knuckles, he took that as his cue to leave.

Before he could fully close the door behind him, he heard Guerin whisper gently to a blissfully unaware Alex. 

“You take as long as you need. We’ll all be here when you’re ready.”

 —

 Kyle didn’t stray far.

As had often been the case during the past few days.

He had taken emergency leave at the hospital shortly after beginning their search for a cure. Every minute spent not in the lab had felt like a waste of precious time and he had found it increasingly more difficult to concentrate on the patients in front of him when his mind kept wandering to the one waiting for him in stasis.

He had yet to return to work, despite successfully pulling off the small medical miracle of conquering death and resurrecting his childhood best friend. They were in untested waters here with no real clue of the consequences to their actions and he wasn’t going to leave until he knew for certain that Alex would be okay. 

Bringing him back didn’t come with any guarantees, despite what he had been reassuring Guerin. But then, sometimes loved ones needed that little bit of hope to hold onto.

He kept himself busy in the lab – Deep Sky having an abundance of fascinating work to dive into – until it was time to check in on Alex again. 

The door opened quietly as he turned the handle, the soft click of the hinges doing little to disturb the occupants of the room, and the softly spoken words floating out from inside left him reluctant to enter. As he lingered in the doorway, he could hear Guerin talking to Alex again, gentle encouragements for him to open his eyes or squeeze his hand again. 

He could see Alex from where he stood and it was only as he noticed the tiny furrow of his brow that had been absent for so long, that he registered Guerin’s words.

Again.

Kyle felt his heart in his throat as he realised what he was watching. The scrunch of his nose, the ever so slightly pursed lips. Was Alex really, finally waking up?

He stepped further into the room, eager to be ready in case his patient needed him but found himself pausing before he got too close. His heart was racing now in anticipation but a small part of him – the part that had witnessed this exact situation so many times at the hospital over the years – begged him not to get his hopes up. 

That begged him to tell Guerin not to get his hopes up.

It had been so long since they had brought a deceased Alex back to Roswell, a small part of him had never really believed that their end goal would be achieved. That this had been the best they were ever going to get. But it seemed the universe had actually answered their prayers.

Alex’s eyes opened slowly, his unfocused gaze lazily searching the ceiling above him before drifting to the right to land on Guerin. For a moment, there was no sign of recognition, just two dark eyes staring at a stranger in front of him and then— Alex smiled. A frail, pitiful excuse for a smile, the corners of his lips turning up just a fraction. But honestly, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Guerin was too caught up in the moment to notice Kyle’s intrusion. He was standing now, one hand still wrapped around Alex’s as he squeezed it tight, beaming grin on his face as he let the tears freely stain his skin. His other ran soothingly through Alex’s hair, and he bent forward to press wet and teary kisses against his temple, whispering grateful reassurances too low for Kyle to make out.

Alex could barely keep his eyes open as he tried to accept the sudden outpouring of love, but his smile couldn’t help but grow. His hand lifted from the bed but, lacking the strength to get far enough to reach Guerin, it came to rest weakly on his chest and Kyle wondered if maybe the physical touches weren’t the only thing he was feeling.

He watched as Alex slowly ran his thumb back and forth over the spot at the centre of his ribs — the spot where an alien handprint had been etched into his skin a few days prior – and wondered if maybe he could feel Guerin’s very soul crying out in relief. If the celestial bond that Guerin had been desperate to feel had finally snapped into place.  

He had been trying to ignite it since he resurrected Alex, questioning Liz and Max on how it worked for them— how he could use it to bring Alex back to them. But each time he tried, there had been nothing. A dark emptiness where a rush of emotions should be. He’d beaten himself up about that, convinced he had done something wrong. Convinced that he had failed Alex.

But Kyle had never believed that. 

It had been hard to see Alex so lifeless for so damn long, flashes of a future without him spurring them on and pushing them to the limit. But watching him now, him and Guerin, Kyle’s heart was almost bursting with relief.

On the darker days when it had been too much for Guerin, when the outcome they’d longed for had been but an impossible notion and he had struggled to see even the dimmest light at the end of the tunnel, Kyle had tried his best to keep the hope alive. For Guerin. For Alex. For all of them. 

But watching them now, foreheads touching and fingers intertwined, he didn’t need to cling onto that hope anymore.

The doctor in him was desperate to check on his patient but he forced himself to hold back. This precious moment was the least they deserved and it would do neither of them any good for him to break it.

So he let them hold each other for a minute longer. And as he watched on with a full heart and teary eyes, he finally let himself take a breath.

[bean-pronounced-bawn]

I just listened to the last episode of The Black Tapes. I know this podcast literally aired 2015-2017, but I didn't look up anything about it going into it or at any point while listening, and I

Have never been

So enraged

By a podcast

In my L I F E

What the goddamn motherfucking fuck was that last episode???? How do you shit the bed that fucking bad????

I could tell the producers didn't have a great idea where the show was going, and they were getting kind of lost in the weeds in season two, but I figured they would tie most if not all of it together at some point, like maybe take a break between seasons to kinda tie the threads together, y'know? Cause the show was really good at first and I was like ah they're probably gonna pull a Good Place and drag themselves out of the pit they dug, right?

Do you want to know how the entire show ended?

Do you want to know

How the ENTIRE fucking show

Ended????

ONE! They shipped the two protagonists -- who have NEVER at ANY POINT in the show shown any interest in each other -- together a the span of like five minutes excluding ads. ONE OF THE PROTAGONIST'S ENTIRE OVERARCHING GOAL HAS BEEN TO FIND HIS MISSING W I F E, and then to like track her down after he momentarily found her and she was involved in conspiracy stuff and whatnot but like HIS ENTIRE MOTIVATION WAS THAT HE WAS GRIEVING HIS WIFE AND UNWILLING TO ACCEPT THAT SHE WAS GONE, and when they briefly met again, he PROVED THAT HE WAS STILL MADLY IN LOVE WITH HER. And then they DITCHED THAT ENTIRE PLOTLINE to fucking SHIP HIM with the fucking PROTAGONIST.

TWO! The entire plot of the podcast is a rising conspiracy stemming from some supernatural BS that I won't get into because they kind of lost themselves in the weeds a bit with that. The schtick is that the female lead believes in the supernatural aspect and the make lead vehemently does not, to the point where he literally has seen supernatural stuff and blames it on an overactive imagination despite being The Opposite Of That. In the final episode, they discover that the conspiracy centers the male protagonist, and that if the protagonist goes to Geneva (which was supposed to happen for other complicated reasons), the cult they've been investigating will use him to trigger the apocalypse -- something that the male protagonist has AT NO POINT BELIEVED. He believes that the cult believes that that's going to happen, but he has NEVER ONCE BELIEVED IT WAS REAL. In the last TWO MINUTES of the show, the female lead tells the male lead not to go to Geneva for all these reasons, and DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DOES???

HE BELIEVES HER, AND THEY RUN AWAY TO LIVE IN HIDING TOGETHER.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHHFHDHDGSGGSGSGAFFSAGAGSFFS

AND THEN THE SHOW JUST FUCKING ENDS!!!!!

WHO IN THE EVERLOVING FUCK????????????

THEY DIDN'T EVEN SOLVE LIKE ANY OF THE FUCKING MYSTERIES!!!! THEY JUST FUCKING RUN AWAY!!!!!

I am going to rip someone's head off. I have never been so angry in my life.

[xwinterdreams-blog]

I fell heavy into your arms

Steve/Tony (MCU) & Steve/Tony (1872)

Inspired by @thahiree great fic

Read on AO3

-

Ch 1.

MCU — Steve POV

It wasn’t Steve’s world. He wasn’t his Tony.

But he was Tony Stark. Beautiful and clever and devastatingly Tony.

Steve had never intended to land himself in this bizarre western universe where another version of Tony grieved for his Steve Rogers.

But now that Steve was here, he couldn’t walk away from this second chance to have more time with Tony. From the first time he fell into Tony’s arms—a mixture of grief and need combining into irresistible pleasure—there was no way he was returning home to a universe that grieved Tony’s absence. There was nothing for him there. There was something here.

So he stayed. It wasn’t the same. Tony might have had a lot in common with his Tony, but neither of them were the one that either of them missed. It was bittersweet, getting to share themselves with each other in a way they never had with their Tony, their Steve.

They’d never been brave enough before the chance was ripped out of their fingers and it was too late.

But at least they had this. They had each other. The pleasure they found in each other’s arms, the comfort they provided when memories haunted them.

And over time they got to know each other. Their stories, their intricacies. They stopped seeing what was missing and they started seeing each other as they were.

Steve started getting used to his new life here. He wasn’t Sheriff or anything like that. He wasn’t filling the other Steve’s shoes. He kept Tony company mostly. It was good. They were content. Maybe even inching their way towards happiness.

So of course that was when it all changed again.

There was a flash outside Tony’s window accompanied by a thunderous sound. It reminded Steve of Thor’s entrances and exits using the bifrost.

Steve rushed outside to investigate, and there in the middle of the street, surrounded by a glowing ring that was quickly fading into scorched earth, were two befuddled figures. One much more befuddled than the other. Who looked very much like Steve with longer hair. But the person beside him, that was the real gut punch.

He was lying on his back, and Steve was viscerally reminded of the sight of Tony, weak, life force draining away until he was gone. No. This wasn’t. This couldn’t be… “Tony?” He still hoped.

Tony groaned, lifted himself up onto his elbows, and then he jumped into a standing position like it was nothing. Like he was fine. He looked exactly as Tony had before that final battle. Greying, but perfectly healthy.

“Is that? Are you?” Steve’s thoughts all jumbled together and he couldn’t get the words out.

“Alive?” Tony grinned, dusting his clothes off with his hands. “Feels like it.”

“How?”

“Well…” he paused. “Huh. I don’t exactly… know.”

Steve stared at him. “You died.”

“I believe I did, yes.”

“I saw your body Tony. You died.”

“Right. Yeah. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s like the stone's power got inside me, and yeah it was more than my body could handle, but it’s like I left my body yet I was still there. I remember being surprised that I still had thoughts but kinda bummed because being ethereal forever was gonna be boring as shit and dying sucks I didn’t want that to happen and I don’t know. Here I am. Some kind of mystical space shit I guess, makes no sense to me.”

“And your friend?”

“My frien-holy shit! That’s you. How is there another you?”

“I think he might—”

“And where the fuck are we?” He asked, finally looking around with a frown. “Looks like a movie set.”

“It’s an alternate universe. Where it’s literally 1872. That’s—I think that’s the Steve who belongs here.”

“The fuck are you doing in an alternate universe, Steve? That’s really beyond even the scope of time travel.”

“It was an accident,” Steve mumbled.

Tony snorted. “An accident. Jesus. So somehow I didn’t just come back to life, I brought another you along for the ride? That’s bizarre.”

“He was dead too.”

Tony cocked his head thoughtfully. “If there’s another you, does that mean there’s a… oh. Hello me.”

Steve turned his head to see that the other, this universe’s—this was bound to get confusing fast—Tony had followed behind him. Albeit much slower. He barely spared a glance at either of them though. His eyes were fixed on the other Steve.

Steve felt an immediate stab of sympathy, remembering the first time they met. Tony had held a gun on him, telling him to stay away because he wasn’t Steve, not his Steve who Tony saw die. And now here was his Steve. Very much not dead.

Steve himself was in a state of shock, tentative hope mixed with utter disbelief, but he also felt like everything in his life was just a series of escalating batshit crazy happenings, so this was just the next step. But for people who lived in the relatively normal town of Timely, this was a lot to comprehend.

“I don’— what the hell is goin’ on?” Tony didn’t shift his gaze away from the other Steve, but Steve presumed the question was directed at him. The other Steve just blinked at Tony in something of a daze.

“It’s… complicated. I think. But there’s cosmic forces involved, and they brought them both back. They’re alive.”

Tony threw his startled gaze at Steve at that. Their eyes locked for an eternal moment—all the things that they had shared in the last few weeks expressed in their gaze—as they acknowledged that that was done now. The right people had returned which meant they didn’t need their placeholders anymore.

Steve was glad to have his Tony back. So over the moon about it that it hadn’t quite sunk in yet. But he hadn’t been prepared for the aching sense of loss that was never being close to this Tony again. They had shared a lot these last few weeks—things both physical and emotional, but all of it had been intimate. There was no turning back the clock to the time where all they had was each other—and they wouldn’t make that choice—but it was a very sudden and unacknowledged end.

Steve tried to shake off the melancholy feeling and turned back to his Tony, who was still watching his other self with fascination.

“Tony,” Steve whispered.

Tony’s gaze shifted to Steve. “Hey.”

Steve chuckled. That was so typically understated, so very Tony, and he had to laugh because if he didn’t he might cry. And then he did something he wouldn’t normally have done, but fuck it, Tony had been dead, Steve was pretty sure he could throw some of his usual behaviours out the window, considering.

Steve pulled Tony into a firm hug. He made an oof sound at the sudden impact, before settling into the embrace, patting Steve on the arm because, well. It was still them and hugging was a little awkward.

“I’m okay.”

“Thank god.”

They pulled apart, and there were so many unspoken things they needed to say—or Steve needed to, anyway—but he couldn’t seem to find the words to say any of them. So instead they shared a tight smile, and nodded at each other. So about their usual level of communication then.

1872 — Tony POV

Tony Stark stared at Sheriff Steve Rogers in disbelief. The man he had watched get shot straight through the chest on this here street, standin’ around all perfectly well. He’d almost believe this was another version of Steve like the one standing a few steps away, ‘cept fer the fact that Tony knew. He knew this man. Not as well or as closely as he’d always wished. But he knew him.

Just as he’d known when it was the wrong Steve, he knew this one was the right one. His one.

“Steve?” He asked plaintively, because the man had yet to speak or do anythin’ but just stand around. It didn’t feel real yet. Like it was all some sorta hallucination. He didn’t reckon his imagination was quite that creative but he needed… somethin’.

“Tony. I’m not sure how I got here.”

Tony breathed out a sigh of deep relief. That was Steve, that was his drawling voice. Unmistakable.

“Don’ reckon it’d make any sense if they explained it neither.”

“They?” As if only now realising something important was occurring, Steve looked over at their alternative doubles. The other two of them stood close, but they didn’t look near as cosy or comfortable as he and Steve had gotten in recent weeks. Aw fuck. That was gonna be a big ol’ complication now, wasn’t it?

He’d been lonely and it was Steve. How the hell was he supposed to know his Steve was gonna come back and he’d have another chance with him? That rated mighty high on his list of impossible wishes.

“Oh lord. They’re us but not. What on earth?” He looked back at Tony. He’d never seen his brave Sheriff be at such a loss for words.

“They’re us from an alternate universe.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “Alternate—that exists?”

Tony shrugged. “Seems like it.”

“Alright then.” Steve fell silent once more.

“Listen, Steve.” Tony said, not able to hold in at least some o’ the things he needed off his chest a moment longer. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t—we all know I’m a useless drunk, but I tried to get to ya. I was just too late. Couldn’t even get avengin’ ya right cause I was a lousy shot. Anyways, I’m just sorry is all. So sorry.”

Steve was already shaking his head, taking two steps forward to place his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Now you listen here, Stark. I made my bed. I knew what I was getting myself into, and I probably should’ve known better than to think I could get out of it. To think justice would prevail in the end, I was stubborn and too idealistic, like you’ve always said.”

“Don’ say that. You’re the best man I know. Fisk and all are just corrupt scum who’d never let a man like you survive. But you don’ gotta worry bout them no more. All of their lot are dead or run outta town. Death to tyranny.” Tony smirked, able to enjoy the victory now that Steve was here to appreciate it and it didn’t feel like a waste.

“Incredible.” Steve grinned, and he pulled Tony into a hug that surprised him but pleased him to no end. “Whatever crazy happenings landed me back here, I’m mighty pleased to be back here pal. It’ll be better this time.”

Steve patted his back and pulled away, still grinning, but Tony’s brain had frozen. He was stuck on pal.

I know what you look like naked. What you feel like when I slide inside you. The expression on your face when you surrender yourself to the pleasure.

Sure, it wasn’t his Steve. But how different could they be in that regard? Tony knew what it was to lay with Steve, but Steve hadn’t experienced it. He had no idea. Steve still thought of him as a friend. Did any part of him see Tony as somethin’ more than that or was that all it’d ever be? Tony had no clue.

He glanced over at the other two, wondering if that Steve was thinking the same kinds of things that he was. That this was the best thing that’d ever happened to him. But also a right fuckin’ mess.

[eristic-kaleidoscope]

Fill My Cup, Put Some Julietenizone In It! | Adrik Antonov | Trial 5.6 | RE: Calluna, Erik A, Byrne, Kori

“So Calluna doesn’t need a tablet to shock us, but An does. It makes sense. We saw An frantically whip her tablet out to kill Kaguya all the way back at the start…”

So, now what? Adrik stops, wondering if they’ve hit a dead end, before they suddenly...

Stop! Wait a minute…

“If Calluna was watching the screens at that exact moment, Erisu would’ve been dead before she could land a hit. It was suicide to attack An even without her tablet. There was no way in hell she would know Calluna wasn't checking the screens at that moment unless one of you told her, or she checked the surveillance room first.

Even as you explain things away, it doesn't add up. Every explanation just makes another weird contradiction to everything we've come to expect. What the hell?"

As more holes in their original theory are exposed, they’re faster to patch them up and redirect. Even if they started off wildly wrong, it let them narrow things down even further. Still, there’s more questions they need to ask, and more answers to find before they can point their finger and lay another accusation. They wheeze, holding their stomach as they hunch over again, taking deep breaths to force themselves to relax. They need to move on.

“I can confirm what Erik A said. First, Akito didn’t take the photos to show me specifically. He was just documenting things for when he was leaving. He only showed me the photos during the investigation to prove his alibi, since... I snapped at him while we were investigating.

Also, I saw Akito’s thermos this morning in our room without a single dent. If we saw that dented thermos back in the G Office way before today, it just proves that thermos wasn't the one Akito always carries."

They tap their fingers against their arms, thinking, and they let Byrne speak. There’s a moment of hesitance, and they look uneasy, but they eventually speak up.

“For all the time Akito and I spent together from the first day we got here, he never slipped up with me. I think he spent the most time with me and Erik A, yet I never, ever thought he knew anything about my life as Adrik Antonov until I told him. That’s because, I can tell you with complete certainty, there was no way anyone would know I was Adrik Antonov except for the hosts, no matter how hard they pried into my life.

Even the note Az-8 left behind said to keep me at a distance because of my fight or flight response if I thought somebody would figure it out. You wanna know what Akito did from day one? He simped after me like a sad puppy and followed me everywhere. It’s the only reason I got close to him. I thought it would keep me safe to have someone that fucking desperate to know me. Obviously, things changed, I changed, and I actually love and care about him now, but that's besides the point.

If he was really Az-8, he made the literal worst decision he could to pick me to become close with over anyone else in this room, to the point that Az-8 acknowledged as much in their notes. One slip, and it was completely over. There was no way to try to lie out of it like he did with you, Byrne, and I assume many others.

So why the fuck would Az-8 not only get close to me, but date me, if just one mistake put them in active danger?”

They nod at Kori, their hands digging under their cape.

"Exactly. This case doesn't make any fucking sense. We have literal proof that you were all trying to frame HPGB for your actions, the exact organization Akito works for. We also know you needed to kill another person for the brain syncs, and you literally said you'd take the most annoying person.

Akito has been on to your ass from day one. He figured things out that there was no way he should know, because he was looking into you long before any of this. I saw your reaction to the fucking Austria cupcakes all the way back at that cultural exchange thing. You both knew he knew something, and you needed him gone. 

All the shit we've seen so far framing Akito can be accused away. Akito is a natural fucking blonde. I've seen his high school yearbook photo, and while it was vandalized to the point I couldn't see the eyes, his hair was blonde. Also, I felt his hair, and it didn't have any of the damage it would if it was bleached- since you'd need to bleach it to get that level of blonde. We found blonde hair dye and the green eye drops in the gacha, which easily explains away the receipt. We already touched on the thermos, we already touched on his connections to the experiment through Kristina, and every other piece of evidence can be tied right back to Erisu as well. Also- Akito's birth mother was his hostage for the third motive. Akito grew up living with her, and the Erika Foundation was easily able to get ahold of her for the motive, so wouldn't they have been able to track him down if he was Az-8 ages ago?

Erisu is the only person that could be Az-8. Even Jae-min, who would be the most biased to support her, admits it. The evidence has been there since even before today. Azure is blue. The vocaloid merchandising everywhere. The mentions of being a musician and a performer. The talk of hidden indulgences. The fact that she was adopted, so even if her birth mother was identified and found, she wouldn't be under her care and instead living elsewhere."

One more time, they look at the hosts with a challenge.

"Julietenizone, which shares a name with Juliette Vargas, has a maximum time of four hours until it's too dangerous. The investigation itself was only two hours, and her body was found very shortly after her death. She easily could've been injected with the substance, and since she was in such a public place, she would've been found almost immediately. 

One thing stood out to me. Erisu's body was already removed from the hallway when we went back to the elevator to get to the trial room. Unless An and Calluna removed her body way before the investigation concluded, they had no time between the investigation ending and us coming to the lobby to move the body. That, and if I remember correctly, every other body was removed only after the trial.

So where the fuck did Erisu's body go? You had no time to move her to the morgue between ending the investigation and summoning us to the lobby, so why is she missing? I admit there's a few things that don't add up, like her injuries as well as the scratches on the curtain, but that doesn't explain a body missing from the scene before the trial is finished."

[pennylaneforthoughts]

Okay but episode 4 from Mobius' perspective is literally the saddest thing if you let yourself think about it for too long.

Imagine you're Mobius and you have a huge massive crush on Loki, and by the end of episode 2 you feel like you've bonded so well, and you know, maybe there's a chance he likes you back. But then he betrays you, runs through that time door after Sylvie and everyone is telling you he's just yeeted out Like Always but you're like "No there's gotta be another explanation. We were friends. Really friends. We had something."

And then you find out that not only did he yeet after Sylvie, as you're dragging them through the halls, all they look at is each other, and it's not until Sylvie's down another corridor that Loki even pays you any mind or says anything to you. And you're just absolutely seething because of course everyone else was right. How could you be so stupid to think Loki could ever like you back? Hes a literal god. You're just some random guy, a bureaucrat. Of course he would rather be with some crazy, stab-happy version of HIMSELF than you.

And you feel so jealous, so angry, so unwanted you can barely think straight. But you still have to do your job even though you feel like this, so you lie and sneer and poke and prod because you're angry and hurting and a part of you wants Loki to hurt too. And then as you're interrogating him, you see him get all teary eyed over Sylvie, and you think, "How horribly painful and awful is this?" He'd cry over this girl after knowing her for less than a day, but he'd leave you without a care in the world. Not a goodbye or any sort of explanation. Would he even care if someone had told him you were pruned? Unlikely.

And you're so upset that even when Loki's yelling at you, desperately trying to make you see he's telling you the truth, it doesn't relieve you to see so clearly in his eyes that he's not lying, because those are the same eyes that you just saw worried over and crushing on Sylvie. So you slam your face directly into denial because how dare he? How dare he be honest now? And so you run away before you let yourself get sucked back in by those eyes, but it's too late, the damage is done. And even though you're angry and bitter and kind of wish Loki would just disappear, you can't deny he was being honest for very long. So you go and stick your neck out and investigate anyway, because you're nothing if not a lovesick fool, and even being angry at him isn't going to change that, no matter how much you try.

And if you're being honest with yourself, something really has been off about this whole thing, and Loki's rare honesty was the proverbial straw that broke your camel's back in this whole mess. After all, you've never been good at denying him when he looks at you like that. You were bad at it when he wanted to go to an apocalypse with you, and you're bad at it now. So you steal Ravonna's tempad and look for yourself. And where else could you go except to the archives where you and Loki had spent so much time together hidden away? It's only appropriate. And what you find just makes your heart sink.

Not only was Loki telling the truth, it's so much worse than either of you realized. Ravonna had killed C-20. And she had lied to you. And what beautiful, horrible irony that the person who was supposed to do nothing but lie was the one being honest, and your friend for nobody even knows how long is the one lying to you. Your whole world starts crashing down around you, and it's too much. You were already emotionally wrecked by everything going on with Loki. You didn't need this too. And oh God, the implications of it.

This means that everything you've done and said your whole known life has been wrong. And more importantly, it means you've hurt and killed for nothing. And that guilt just eats at your soul as you remember what you've said even just to Loki.

"You were born to bring pain and suffering and death. All so that others can be the best versions of themselves."

What have you done? How much damage have you caused? And it's this thought that spurs you forward. Because screw ideology. Screw glorious purpose. What even are those in the face of a person in pain, much less the person you've found yourself caring about more than anything else?

So you run. Almost on instinct. You run to Loki knowing exactly what memory you've looped him through out of bitterness and jealousy and spite, and you're praying you haven't caused irreparable damage.

"You deserve to be alone, and you always will be."

No, no, no, of course he doesn't. He has you. He'll always have you if you have any say in the matter. He has...

Sylvie.

You remember her. Them. The nexus event. And you have a theory. A theory you hate so much it makes you want to crawl out of your own skin and die, but it makes too much sense, and unfortunately, it could work. So as you step into the time prison, you ask.

"Do you really believe you deserve to be alone?"

And he says he doesn't know, but you can see he just doesn't want to admit that yes, he does. And it breaks your heart because you know that you've had a part in that. So you apologize in the only way you think Loki could begin to accept.

"You can be whoever, whatever you want to be. Even someone good."

And part of you is saying that to yourself too, because heaven knows you need to hear it just as much. And Loki's words are still ringing in your ears.

Friend.

How bittersweet. But you're an adult. You know you can't demand Loki's affection as much as you selfishly want to. If he wants to be with Sylvie, you'll force yourself to find some way to cope with that. It's fine. It only makes sense. You'd rather have Loki in your life as a friend than nothing at all. And you're happy to be reconciled at least a little.

But then you step out into the Time Theatre and everything stops. Ravonna is standing there and she's obviously pissed. She knows. You deflect, you lie, try to be as Loki as you can to get out of this. You're surrounded by Minutemen and pruning sticks but all you can think is you can't let Loki get hurt. Not now. He's the key to taking down the TVA. And it's clear Ravonna is having none of it. But you know her. You were friends. Good friends. And you know she's more angry at you than Loki at the moment. So you realize what you have to do to keep it that way. To protect him.

So you press the button you know will hurt her the most. You answer her question from just a short while ago. You bring all the focus onto you, knowing what it'll likely mean. Knowing it'll hurt her and make her lash out. You're not stupid. You're good at reading people. That's why you're an analyst. And if it means protecting Loki, you know you'd have been willing to die much longer ago than is probably reasonable.

You don't even try to avoid the pruning stick. And honestly? It's not even the most painful thing you've experienced today.

And besides. It's better this way. Now Loki can be with Sylvie, be happy, and you don't have to feel a dagger through your heart every time they look at each other. And it's not like Loki will really miss you.

It's better this way.

[jasmine-the-fox]

Down you go

Before you all read this... I want to make one thing clear to you all (what i’m about to bring up happened on ao3)

Never EVER! Ask me when the next update is going to happen before or after you make a salt request! It’s very rude and I will ignore you and or block you if you do this!

Anyways... Enjoy the salt fic! This request was made by @pinkskeletonsharkdeputy

It had started off as a normal day... Until it went down the hill... Literally, Marinette was having a great day! She had spoken to her girlfriend for a bit this morning which made her happy, then Lila was quiet this morning... Save for a few glares from her classmates, she aced three tests that Lila tried to claim she cheated... Resulting in Lila getting three weeks of detention for false accusations with lack of proof and her girlfriend called her to say she sent her a gift!

And then it went bad...

Turns out that when Mari was at the bakery for lunch (like always) and to see her gift... Lila claimed to the class that Mari pushed her down the stairs to try and make her stay away from her Adrien (even though Mari is a lesbian and she told the class before Lila even came to school) then warned her that if she tried to get near Adrien... She would be in a worse condition then this, she cried and claimed that she was hurting (she had no bruises, no cuts or even a bone either dislocated or fractured) so the class decided to get back at Marinette by making her go through the same thing... Even though Lila lied to them.

Mari got back to school to hear her classmates whispering her name, she thought it was strange but decided to wait and see what will happen next, the day continued with Lila going back to lying in miss Bustier’s class... As it was the only class she could get away with it, Mari completely ignored her and simply focused on using her new tablet that Jasmine bought her as a gift, at one point Caline ordered her to give Lila her supposed “stolen” tablet and apologize (Lila claimed that her mother bought it for her a week ago) problem was... The tablet was a new model that came out three days ago and she only got it this afternoon.

Mari even showed the proof that it only just arrived...

Everyone was quiet at this info... But Lila still lied her way out of it and claimed that she must have believed it was her’s by mistake, the class then went back to ignoring Mari and listening to Lila instead, Mari went back to using the tablet to draw and work on a few personal things that made her smile before saving them to her computer and tablet at home, she packed up as the bell rang and then left the classroom when it happened... Lila purposfully bumped into her and stole her tablet, then as Mari took one step down the stairs.

Alya pushed her to fall down... And the class laughed at her...

They claimed she was trying to be petty when she screamed and cried for help, they claimed she was joking when there was blood and they scoffed as she was placed into the ambulance that miss Mendelieve called, police did a quick investigation and reviewed CCTV footage before taking Alya by for to the station to ask her what she was thinking that would happen after pushing Marinette down the stairs.

Sabine called Jasmine about what happened and the girl rushed over in a panic, when Mari’s bags were handed to them, Tom was shocked when the tablet wasn’t there, police came and it was Jasmine who revealed she had gifted it to Mari... And then revealed it’s last tracked location... Lila Rossi’s bedroom. They rushed over and searched her room to find it in her trash can... Broken, Lila claimed she bought it yesterday and Marinette destroyed it, but Jasmine’s tracker said otherwise, so Lila was arrested for lying to the police, theft and destruction of another’s property... Also was forced to by a new one.

Lila’s mother refused to help her, claimed that Lila was on her own now and instead gave the police permission to search there home and to question Lila fully... Without the rights to a lawyer, Lila was shocked at this but her mother simply left the apartment to go do some shopping... And use her daughter’s money to buy a replacement tablet for Marinette, Lila tried to fight back, claiming she had nothing to do with Marinette being pushed down the stairs... She only stole the tablet... This confused the police since Alya claimed it was all Lila’s idea because Marinette did the same to her.

Lila denied it fully, Marinette never pushed her down any stairs, she admitted that Mari didn’t like her because of her lying disease that causes her to lie about anything and everything... She accidentally got triggered and lied about Mari pushing down the stairs, she tried to tell Alya that it never happened but by then Alya had already pushed her down the stairs, the class was laughing at Mari and claimed Mari was faking it up till she got to the hospital, the two officers now understood that Alya was lying to them... And then Lila continued, she revealed that her teacher, principal, Marinette and her parent’s knew about this... But no one else knew.

This told them everything in an instant...

To make sure Lila had friends, the principal and teacher agreed to keep this info about Lila a secret from the class... Not caring that it might cause problems if someone was accidentally targeted by Lila’s lies, since Marinette was more then likely the main target, the teacher and principal did nothing to stop the class from bullying Marinette... And now they would suffer from there choices, they decided to place an investigation on the two adults, and asked Lila to come to the station to answer a few more questions... Lila agreed while secretly smirking at the fact that she would get away with this by putting the whole blame on Alya.

Meanwhile, Marinette woke up to find her worried parents and a relieved girlfriend, Jasmine helped her to sit up and explained her condition and how long she would stay at the hospital and then at home before even thinking about going back to school, Mari sighed in relief... But then panicked at the fact that she couldn’t find her tablet anywhere “Lila stole it from you, she claimed it to be her’s and you destroyed it but I had a tracker on it just incase, so she needs to buy you a new one” Jasmine explained as she pulled out a new one “Her mother came to drop this off, she explained Lila was to be questioned and went to get it for her daughter” she added making Mari nod as she then turned it on.

“I had it configured to your previous tablet, so you don’t need to set anything up” Jasmine said making Mari smile, she then pulled out the pen and began to sketch, a doctor and police officer came in together, the doctor got to examining her before explaining her whole condition and what she might need to go through, then explained that the Cesaire family will need to pay for all the treatments as it was Alya who caused all of this to happen, once gone, the officer began to question her, Marinette told the officer everything... And by that...

I mean about Lila transferring, her lies beginning, her leaving for a while, her return with more lies, her threat towards Mari, her attempt of getting Mari expelled, her expulsion canceled with Lila claiming she has a lying disease, Lila lying to the class about Mari bullying her and the class turning against her to bully her in return the supposed bullying she caused to Lila...

The officer was shocked by all this information, so much more different from what Lila Rossi and Alya Cesaire reported... The officer could tell that only Marinette Dupain-Cheng will tell the truth in the end, the officer then thanked her and then left to report all of this, Mari relaxed with Jasmine helping her when she could, her parents then left to take care of the bakery, Jasmine waited for a bit before she sighed “I really think you should switch schools... Even if Lila is gone... The class won’t apologize for there actions... They won’t admit to being wrong until they suffer from there actions... And then hope that you will save them” she explained making Mari nod.

For a week she rests in the hospital before being allowed to rest at home, where she stays there for two weeks, during that time Alya told everyone to blame Lila for the whole incident... While Lila cries to her mom as to why Alya would lie and accuse her of causing Mari to be in the hospital... While the police look deeper into Lila Rossi, Jasmine was at Marinette’s side the whole time she was at the hospital and at home... While no one in the class came to visit her, they all believed she was faking it... All the while they got a new principal and teacher after the investigation the police did on the school.

Now all that was left was Marinette’s classmates...

When Mari returned to school, the whole school minus her classmates welcomed her return to school... Some came to visit her to see how she was doing in her recovery, she was happy to have visitors checking in on her like that and Jasmine was relieved that they were so kind towards her girlfriend... But she was worried about her going back to school, because of the fall her legs needed time to recover so she needed some support for them thus she needed a crutch, the school was informed and students were told to help Marinette when they could and to not mess with her crutch.

That didn’t stop her class though...

When she walked into class, Alya was the first to snap at her for cause her parents to get mad at her, how was she supposed to know that the fall was serious, she kept yelling at her until there new teacher came and told her to stop or she would get detention, Alya tried to defend herself but there was nothing she could do about it, she was to blame for forcing her parents to pay Marinette’s medical after Alya pushed her down the stairs... Now she had to face her actions... Not long after class started, the police came to speak with Lila for her lies about everything... And to Alya for attempting to try and blame Lila for everything.

Both girls tried to defend themselves but there teacher forced them to follow, once outside the class, the two girls began to fight... Well if you can call Alya screaming at Lila for causing everything and Lila crying as she tries to defend herself a fight... Then sure, anyways the police didn’t care and forced them to follow them to the station to be once again questioned... When asked why they replied with them needing to help fill out some holes in the story... Both girls agreed... Without knowing that the police caught them right where they wanted them.

Once at the station, there parents watched as the two girls lied about what happened... And never bringing up the past of when it all started when the officer asked about it... They simply acted like the question was never made and continued explaining everything, there parents refused to help there daughter’s and asked that the rest of the class get’s questioned about all of this... Believing there was more to all of this and one of them might be able to help with the whole situation... The police agreed to the request.

And there answer... Was in none other then Adrien Agreste himself...

When he was asked to answer a few questions he agreed... But at the station he claimed to have the whole story on Lila and her actions, they sat down with him and talked... About everything, including the deal he made with her to bring Marinette back from expulsion, the police was shocked and asked if he did anything to help Marinette, he explained that his father ordered him to stay away from Marinette and to make Lila happy... Meaning he had to follow her around, go where she wanted to go and even agree with whatever she said.

The police was furious about all of this, as a result... Lila Rossi, Alya Cesaire and Gabriel Agreste were arrested... For different reasons of course, the rest of the class were given fines while Adrien was sent to London to live with his aunt.

Meanwhile... Marinette transferred schools to be with Jasmine... She changed her number and anything else connecting her to her old class, so even if they tried... None of them but Adrien can contact her.

It was there own fault for going down the way they did...