#he and laura are so interesting to me. I like that he doesn't call them 'my mother and stepfather' but 'my mother and the king'

[oakappleday]

...On the day of the coronation, Parker Bowles, a London-based food critic, said his role will be to “just get there early and smile.” He said he’ll be thinking most about his mother and stepfather.

“I’m very excited about it,” he said. “I just want everything to go smoothly, and my mother and the king, everyone, to just get through it and do it well and do it proud.”

[transvampireboyfriend]

Eddie would come up with the most elaborate schemes to kiss Steve for the first time.

here's mine: He realizes Steve is a gossip early on, like the first time they all hang out someone mentions a rumour in passing and Steve latches on. Eddie is delighted. He's enamoured by the twinkle in Steve's eyes and the intensity in his probing, even the enthusiasm in giving out the information he has about the people in question.

So Eddie knows what he has to do.

Whenever Eddie sees or hears something that frankly should not be any of his business he makes sure to tell Steve. He doesn't mention it to anybody else and most of the time he doesn't care about it much, but he needs to tell Steve.

And he only does it when it's just the two of them. He finds Steve in a secluded corner of the Family Video, says "i think my boss is cheating on his wife" and is rewarded with a gasp.

He follows after Steve when he goes to refill the popcorn in the middle of movie night and casually asks "you know who I saw the other day coming out of Laura's house at 3am?" Steve raises his eyebrows higher than Eddie has ever seen.

He calls Steve at midnight on a Wednesday and opens with "my neighbors are definitely getting back together" Steve answers with a devastated "noooo!"

He leaves the kids in the cookie aisle to go catch up to Steve and lean on the shopping cart shoulder to shoulder and whisper "dont look now, but Heather and Monica are here together, right behind us. They ARE dating" Steve looks immediately.

And Eddie's not only excited about his initial reactions, but he thanks the heavens for his discovery because it gets him Steve's total, undivided attention every.fucking.time. without fail.

Steve turns fully to him, touches Eddie's arms for emphasis, shoves him when Eddie says something dumb, tugs on a strand of his hair a bit when Eddie says something silly, opens his eyes SO wide or squints at him and his eyelashes look sooo pretty. Steve leans in and whispers back and grins and teases and scrunches his nose in the most adorable gesture Eddie has ever seen in his life.

With practice, Eddie goes from having to give Steve's shoulder a back handed slap to get his attention, to just looking at him directly for like 5 seconds and then Steve knows Eddie has something to tell him.

so he does it at dinner, on a nondescript date at a nondescript hour because, mostly, Eddie just kinda can't take it anymore.

He's listening to Steve tell this story about a costumer and frankly, forgets to look away from him and Steve interprets this as Eddie having something to say. He cuts himself off, tilts his head and asks "what?" with mirth in his voice.

Eddie smiles, a little mischievous and says "c'mere I have to tell you something"

Steve smiles back, but says "we're the only ones here, Eds" gesturing to his kitchen.

Eddie rolls his eyes a bit and threatens "do you want me to tell you or not?"

Steve leans across the table, his cut off tank almost touching their spaghetti.

Eddie wants to shove his hands through the armpit holes, but he settles for holding Steve's jaw and threading his fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

Steve's lips are as soft and warm as he expected, he tastes of the red sauce they cooked together and he smells good enough to eat. Eddie indulges in a thorough kiss but keeps it short.

No matter how many times Steve looks at him like he's the most interesting person in the room, he hasn't outright said that he likes Eddie like that, so he'd rather be careful.

Eddie pulls back and finds Steve smiling, his eyes closed still.

Steve blinks his eyes open and looks at Eddie, his tongue darts out to swipe across his lips and he says "I think that's the best one you've told me yet"

Eddie snorts and feels his cheeks burn "Yeah?" he asks.

"Mmhm" Steve confirms against his lips, already kissing Eddie again.

It takes a while, but eventually Eddie realizes Steve doesn't only give him his undivided attention when he has gossip. He does it pretty much all the time.

Maybe at some point it expanded to everything Eddie has to say.

Or maybe it was like that all along.

[christinesficrecs]

I love ALL of these fics but if they are a bit "too classic" for you, definitely read Mating Habits and The Dating Game. 🩷

Things To Do On The Dates You Aren't Having by lielabell | 5.5K | Mature

"So are we dating now or what?" Stiles asks the third time he finds himself doing the obligatory postcoital cuddling with a certain sour wolf.

A Heart is a Heavy Burden by lielabell | 41.2K

In Which Stiles: is accosted by unhappy witches, becomes friends with fire demons, is rescued by darkly handsome wizards, discovers hidden inner depths, is introduced to princes, and finds true love. Though not necessarily in that order.

And Dwell Beneath My Shadow by  lielabell | 8.6K

Derek is not stupid. He gets why Stiles puts up with him. It’s clear every time Stiles looks at him, the spicy scent of lust and arousal Stiles’s body can’t help but put off. It doesn’t surprise him. Not at all. Derek knows what he looks like, knows that his face and his body are more than enough to compensate for his shitty personality. Stiles wants him more than he is annoyed by him. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s not anything to be amazed over, nothing to write home about. Stiles isn’t the first– and most likely won’t be the last– hormone soaked teen who has panted over Derek.

Good Intent by lielabell | 4.4K | Mature

It’s dark out, no moon tonight. Just clouds and a bitter, cold wind that rips right through you as you move from shadow to shadow. You’re hunting, because you are always hunting, and tonight’s prey is the best kind: not too smart, not too old, and worth enough to keep you in the black for the better part of a year.

Nine Times Out Of Ten by lielabell | 4.6K | Explicit

Nine times out of ten, Stiles is the one being pushed back on the bed with his head tilted back to expose his neck. Nine times out of ten, Stiles's legs are the ones that are spread, his hands are the ones that grip the sheets. Nine times out of ten, Stiles gasps and moans and arches up into Derek's touch, Stiles's thighs grip at Derek's hips; Stiles’s feet lock together behind Derek's back. Nine times out of ten, Stiles takes and takes and takes and loves every single second of it.

But the tenth time . . .

The tenth time is different.

Mating Habits of the Domesticated North American Werewolf by lielabell | 35.4K | Mature

Derek doesn’t do pining. He doesn’t. So when it becomes clear that Stiles is much more interested in having Derek as a new best friend than a boyfriend, he puts on his big boy pants and makes it fucking work. He becomes the best goddamn friend a spastic teenager could ever hope to have.

The Dating Game by lielabell | 4.5K | Mature

Derek doesn't exactly understand how he ended up as a contestant on a dating show. He knows that it started with a lot of whiskey and a late night phone call to his sister and mockery. Lots and lots of mockery, because Laura never lets anything go, no matter how old she gets.

In Word and in Deed by lielabell | 7.7K | Explicit

Stiles has stopped saying "I love you." Derek wants to know why.

I Like My Coffee Like I Like My Men by lielabell | 2K

Seriously, sometimes Stiles thinks that the man is a plant by the owner, who is a hippie, through and through, but just business savvy enough to pay someone hot to sit on the premises and brood up a storm like a modern day James Dean, clicking away at his computer in his leather jacket with that pensive look on his face.

Upon My Skin by lielabell | 6.2K | Mature

"I smell blood." Derek draws in a breath through his nose, frowning like it's going out of style. "And ink and--" his voice trails off and his eyes widen slightly. "Let me see it," he demands, crossing the space between them and tugging at the hem of Stiles's shirt.

[heartinportuairk]

I went to the final performance of Macbeth last night and I wanted to make some notes for myself so I would remember some things. I only use this account for lurking but I am making this public in case anyone scouring the David Tennant / Macbeth tags is interested in my musings for some reason.

I had been lucky enough to have seen this production three times already before last night - twice in December and once in January - so I have been able to track its journey and pick out what changes night on night and what doesn't. I have found that fascinating. Any changes were minor and pretty much exclusively found in simply the way a line was spoken. For example, the brilliant Noof Oussellam (Macduff)'s "but I must also feel it as a man" was impassioned and angry the first and last times, but the two times inbetween I found it to be more subtle. More sadness, more despair than anger. I guess it comes down to how the actor is feeling it in that point in time and I think it shows a great understanding of the character that they play them in the moment and don't just mimic themselves night after night.

The other great thing about going multiple times is viewing it from different angles. I saw it from all sides, twice from the stalls and twice from the front row of the circle. Honestly, circle was better, especially for Macbeth's death in the closing moments. You do not get the effect of the blood seeping out from under him from the stalls and I tell you now, that image from above sears itself onto your brain.

All of the actors are incredible and have been from the start, but there were a few times last night where I could feel them step up their game. Like they knew it was the last time they were going to say that line (at least for a while) so they were going to give it their all.

One of those times was Macbeth's "tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy which had always been brilliant and very moving, but about which something was a little different last night. The quiet, raw emotion in that speech felt as though it had been ramped up (or down??) a notch and was so palpable that it brought a tear to my eye.

Another moment came from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene. Again, always brilliant and always moving but somehow desperately sadder this time around. I wanted to give that murderous, conniving fiend a big hug.

The Porter:

The porter scene is funny but obviously not as much when you know what's coming. Which is why when somebody in the audience yelled out "who's there?" right before he got a chance to say his "ok seriously do none of you understand the concept of a knock-knock joke?" line last night, it was both a shame and a blessing. I felt a bit bad for the guy!

"Alright, you've seen the show before! That was my favourite-... and it's the final show!"

But what followed was a hilarious bit of improvisation and it changed things up a bit, especially as Laura the sound engineer proceeded to make his job even harder with the timing of the sound effects that followed. It meant I was able to enjoy the porter scene as much as I did the first time, but like I said, I did feel a bit bad that his favourite line got taken away from him! (It wasn't me who called out, by the way.)

David bloody Tennant:

I've not seen much Shakespeare live (I want to remedy that, I have become completely obsessed), but I can believe people when they say David Tennant is arguably the greatest Shakespearean actor of his time. You can tell he feels and understands completely the meaning behind the words he is saying. He's not just reciting, not just reeling it off. The pauses, the intonations, the passion, sadness, grief, guilt behind every line just shows his deep understanding of the character and his innermost thoughts. On that stage, he is Macbeth.

What's more is you can tell he absolutely delights in it. Anybody who knows anything about DT knows he loves Shakespeare and it is glaringly evident when he is out on stage. He puts everything he has into it and it is wonderful to witness.

He is truly an amazing actor and a treasure and I have been so delighted to watch his career somehow continue to hit new highs of late. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. As many have said before me, this really is David Tennant's world and the rest of us are just living in it.

The bows:

The reception this group of actors received at the end of the performance was phenomenal and no more than they deserved. Everybody on their feet, whooping, cheering. A lot of noise coming from such a small audience. The cast were both playful and tearful. To see some of the actors get a bit emotional was very touching and I hope that was, at least in part, due to the love and admiration pouring out of us and on to that stage.

An aside:

So I turn up to the theatre and head straight for the toilets on the first floor. There is one person waiting outside them because it's full inside so I wait too. Within moments, out pops DT from a set of double doors right in front of me. He quickly checks if there's anyone in the other set of toilets (there is) and disappears back through the doors again. It's fleeting, and the only other person in the queue is facing the other way and doesn't see. I keep quiet, obviously. It's just over half an hour until the performance is due to start. He's not in costume yet and the man just wants to go to the bathroom. My point is, I've now watched him live on stage in a very small theatre for approximately 7 and a half hours and at no point in that time have I actually concluded that he is real, except in those brief four or five seconds outside the toilets of the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, when we're just two people who needed a wee.

[cloudycaffeinatedcryptid]

Which of the counselors would join fandom spaces, and what fandom would they join? :)

hrrrnng this is a good question, it makes the rusty cogs in my head squeak 🙃

right off the bat, Jacob dearest doesn't strike me as the fandom type, & Laura's prolly so busy that she wouldn't have time even if she wanted to. Jacob prolly has a reddit account tho, so take that as you will

Abi definitely has a tumblr, prolly post some of her art online & she definitely participates in fandoms - she's a bit more courageous behind a screen. 90% sure she reads fanfiction. i imagine she would be in fandoms like The Owl House & Stardew Valley & Legend of Zelda, but also stuff like Supernatural & old horror movies like the original Jeepers Creepers & The Exorcist. & also Scooby-Doo

Ryan obviously spends time in the fandom space of the Bizarre Yet Bonifide podcast & he prolly hangs out on the fanpages, swapping theories & answering questions. he's just vibing in the fandom with all his knowledge & special interest. he also like classic/old movies & he & Abi brainrot together sometimes about classic horror (& she makes him watch Scooby-Doo with her)

Emma lurks in her own fan spaces lmao. i believe wholeheartedly that she LOVES shows like Bridgerton & she posts about it as soon as anything new comes out. she also follows fashion week & the Emmys every year, & liveposts about it the entire time. her fans recommend her romance/romcom movies & sometimes she'll host a movie night on her stream to review it, other times she'll just post about it. most of the time, the fandom comes to her (when Abi visits & agrees to be on camera, they stream a movie night & watch scooby-do)

Nick is so bizarre he has a twitter account that he barely remembers & hasn't even finished fully setting it up yet & he doesn't check his notifications, but almost every time he posts something, ppl go crazy trying to figure out what the fuck he's talking about. so he kind of has his own little "fanbase", if you could call it that

Dylan's for sure a shitposter, but he also loves digging into the lore & secrets - especially of video games. he's a total Dr. Who nerd & he's prolly read the Sherlock Holmes novels. he cracks all that shit open like a cold one with all the other fans online & mentally red-strings everything he thinks about. Abi tells Ryan to make him watch Scooby-Doo, unaware that Dylan has seen all the cartoons & movies, & posts Scrappy-Doo hate

Kaitlyn & Max i feel like are both the type not to interact much online, also they do lurk from time to time. Kaitlyn's more likely to jump in if she sees someone being blatantly & snobbily wrong about something she knows intimately. Max tends to just reblog fanart he likes. i think Kaitlyn loves horror movies - Scream, Halloween, Final Destination, etc - & she throws popcorn at the screen when someone makes a dumb choice then goes to find complaints about the dumb logic online so she can agree with them. Emma forces her to watch Bridgerton, which she reluctantly loves

Max likes romcoms & has a soft spot for cartoons like Steven Universe, but he also gets into some crime dramas like Criminal Minds bc Laura likes them. a lot of art he reblogs online is pixel art, it's his favorite, but 80% of the time, anything with a nice color palette will get him. he also likes Scooby-Doo

i would love to hear others' opinions on this!

[specialagentlokitty]

Mr Evershed x daughter!reader - Christmas as a family

Hej, can you please write a Evershed x Daughter story? Mister Evershed learns that he has a daughter. She is also a student at Ackley Bridge. However, she refuses contact with Mr. Evershed because she doesn't want to destroy his happy family life. Christmas is coming soon and Mr. Evershed invited her over a few times. Without success. Maybe you can include the Winter Prompt Number 19. So he visits her to celebrate christmas. Thanks 😊 - Anon💜

19: “Shouldn’t you be with your family?” “They see me every year, I think it’s your turn to have somebody be with you on Christmas.”

When Mr Evershed opened the letter he received in the post it wasn’t what he was expecting at all, and he sat on his sofa in pure shock as he stared at it.

“What is it?” His wife asked.

He looked at her and back to the letter.

“Gaynor I have a teenage daughter..”

“What?!”

She sat next to him and he handed the letter over to her to read.

It was a legit letter, sent from a lawyer to him, and he didn’t know what to do.

Neither of them did, how would they? What where you supposed to do when you found something out like this?

Did he get in contact with the lawyer? Did he leave it and pretend he never got it?

He didn’t know, but the letter didn’t say much, just that they wanted to talk about the situation so after nearly a week he finally agreed.

And he went to the building where the meeting had been set up.

“If I’m being honest I wasn’t sure you were going to show up…” a woman said quietly.

He turned around and looked at her.

“Laura?” He asked shocked.

“Hey Martin…”

They sat down and the woman sighed.

“I’m sorry, I just saw you were in town and I thought you had a right to know about your daughter. When I found out it was too late, we’d graduated and you moved away..”

“I.. yeah.. to further my studies..”

Laura nodded.

“You want to know more, don’t you?”

“Please.”

“Her name is (Y/N), she’s a lovely girl, happy and friendly. I’ve told her as well, she knows. She’s a student at your school, it’s how I found out I saw your name at the bottom of a letter.”

He slowly nodded his head and they talked more about you.

After nearly an hour, he sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m not saying you would lie but do you have any proof?” He asked.

“We can do a DNA test to confirm it, (Y/N) already asked for one to be done.”

He agreed and then it was the agonising wait for the test to come back.

When it did it confirmed it all, and he didn’t know what to do. Though he spoke to your mum about it, he hadn’t spoken to you.

So, he called you to his office so the pair of you could talk about it and you walked in.

“Yes sir?” You asked.

“I thought maybe we should talk..”

You looked at him, shaking your head.

“I don’t think we’ve got anything to talk about, if it’s not about school I’m not interested in talking about it.” You said.

“Oh.. I see..”

“I don’t want any contact with you, I don’t want to meet your family, I have my mum and that’s all I need.”

With that, you left.

And if he was being honest he felt a little defeated.

He had found out you were his daughter, and he was looking forward to getting to know you more, but you weren’t interested in that.

Every time he asked your mum to try arrange a day that the pair of you could meet up and do something, you declined.

And after weeks of trying he didn’t know what to do anymore.

“I don’t know what else to do Laura, I’ve tried, but (Y/N) wants nothing to do with me. I actually think she hates me.” He said.

“I’m sure she doesn’t, it may be hard for her.” Gaynor said.

Laura nodded her head.

“Exactly, I know (Y/N) doesn’t hate you. In fact you were her favourite teacher when you were teacher her English. It’s just hard for her, all her life it’s been us two.”

“Then what do I do? Because right now it feels like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Laura sighed.

“Listen, you never heard this from me, but the truth is (Y/N) is worried about your family.”

“Us?” Gaynor asked.

Your mum nodded.

“She doesn’t want to break your family apart, so to her it’s easier to stay away from all of you.”

Your mum looked at her watch before getting up.

“I’m going to be late to work, but just keep trying.”

With that she left and Mr Evershed turned to his wife.

“Ask her over for Christmas, or Christmas Eve.” Gaynor said.

“You’d be okay with it?”

“She’s your daughter Martin, there’s only so long we can put this off. It’ll be nice to introduce the girls to her.”

Mr Evershed nodded his head.

So, the following Monday while he was wondering the hallways he spotted you at your locker and made his way over.

“Can I ask you something?”

You glanced at him but nodded.

“How would you feel about spending Christmas Eve with us at my house?”

“No.”

“Please I’m trying here (Y/N).”

You closed your locker and walked away from him.

He tried again a few days later, and again you turned his offer down.

He had gotten you presents, he knew some things you liked, and got you a few of them, and now he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to give them to you.

The Christmas holidays had started, and he still hadn’t been able to reach you or talk to you.

But a conversation with your mum made an idea come into his head, and after running it by with his wife she agreed to was a good idea.

On Christmas Day, you woke up around lunch time, and wondered into the kitchen to find something to eat.

You knew your mum was at work, so you decided to make something to eat, and sit down watching some crappy Christmas films.

You glanced at the tree, two presents were under it, one from you to your mum and one from your mum to you.

It wasn’t much, but it was always enough for you.

There was a knock on your door, and you got up to answer it, seeing Mr Evershed in the other side and he smiled, holding up a few bags.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas I guess.”

You stepped aside to let him in.

“Mum isn’t in, she’ll be back tonight I think. She’s working.”

“I know, she told me.

“Shouldn’t you be with your family?” You asked.

Walking over to the coffee table, Mr Evershed set the bags down.

Then he turned around to look at you.

“They see me every year, I think it’s your turn to have somebody be with you on Christmas.”

You looked at him with a blank look and he sighed.

“Your mum told me she was going to be working, and she didn’t want to leave you alone on Christmas. I know for the past few years she hasn’t been able to be here, so I wanted to be here.”

“You got family you should be with.”

“And you are family, it’s why I hunted all around town for a pizza place still open, and I got you some presents.”

“What?”

He smiled, pulling a couple of wrapped presents out of a plastic bag.

“Yeah, I haven’t been part of your life I underhand, but I want to be. And Gaynor is alright with it, and the girls don’t know yet but when you’re ready we’ll tell them.”

You sat down on the sofa and he sighed.

“You don’t have to be scared about ruining my family (Y/N), they know that you’re my daughter, and that makes you family as well.”

He smiled at you.

“I don’t want you to be alone on Christmas, and neither does your mum, so whether you like it or not unfortunately you’re stuck with me for the rest of the night.”

He sat next to you, gesturing to the presents and you looked at them.

“Go on, they’re for you.”

You reached over and opened them, admiring the new books and games he had gotten you.

“These must have cost a bomb…”

“Not really, your mum helped me pick them out.”

You nodded.

“Well uh.. thanks..”

He smiled and you sat back to carry on watching your film, happily eating away at the pizza he brought.

It was quiet for a while until you spoke up.

“Mr Evershed?”

“Yeah?”

“I guess I wouldn’t mind getting to know you and your family.”

“We’ll sort it all at a later date, but I’m glad to hear it.”

And that was a start, it was what he wanted. Just a chance to get to know you, and be able to spend Christmas with you

[kpchrs]

Flight of Icarus Spoilers and Opinions - Hellcheer Version

Just my thoughts on the Hellcheer crumbs in the book. I wanted to write it short and just for myself, but it became longer so I thought I'll share it with people who might be interested.

I haven't rewatched S4 and I haven't processed Eddie's characterisation as intense as fanfic writers so maybe I can be wrong here and there, but this is just my opinion. This is not too organised, sorry, I'm sleepy lol

I think the fact that Eddie thought Chrissy was just another conformity-loving cheerleader girl fits his character. Eddie has formed his prejudice to jocks rock-solid since forever here, thus skipping her existence until then.

Chrissy may have been pressured to behave as the perfect cheerleader too so far, but the sweet Chrissy can't just stay quiet when the jocks harass Gareth. Chrissy is different, thus Eddie notices her again.

I love it when Eddie says "straight teeth". Maybe I overanalyse it, but that just symbolises that Eddie is far too stuck up in his prejudiced thinking. Because Chrissy - by coincidence because I'm sure the production casted Grace without taking account of her appearance - doesn't have what society called "perfect teeth". I don't know if the writer wrote that deliberately, but I think that's interesting? Just symbolises even further that Chrissy is actually not the cliche cheerleader girl he thought of.

I don't think of this book as absolute canon, but based on this, my headcanon is Eddie notices Chrissy more and more from then on (or after the book time (I haven't finished the book lol)) and as a result, he respects cheerleaders and has a soft spot for them, which is why he was kind to the cheerleaders in the cafeteria scene.

About him not remembering her until then, as much as I love the "Eddie has a crush on Chrissy since middle school" fanon, I think it's understandable that he didn't clock her or remember her until then. He got a life after middle school, I guess. But since in the show, Eddie called the talent show "hangout", the writer should have shown that thought process in the book. Or like emphasising more that this is a significant moment for him. But maybe I'm just asking for too much lol Hellcheer is canon but not "canon" anyway.

I like that the writer emphasises subtly Jason's...craziness, to foreshadow his character and what he is capable of doing.

As I have said before, I like the talent show background story. Lots of Hellcheer writers have written a similar version of their own, so it's very familiar. It also foreshadows Chrissy's struggles with her parents (as the writer should, what a missed opportunity if not). I can't make up my mind yet about Chrissy's "hungry jealousy" at Eddie's dad being late though.

We don't know much about Chrissy's dad. I love her fanon dad's characterisation fans based on the vision, but this makes me wonder if there's so much more about her dad. But I think fanon is not that far off, seeing the "blank-faced" Philip Cunningham at her daughter being lectured by the abusive Laura ("grabbing her shoulder and yanking her to the door" wtf??????? Chrissy Protection Squad, go go go!!!)

The fact that middle school Eddie immediately says sorry to Chrissy pointing at her mum tells me that he realises Chrissy's struggles intuitively. I love that Chrissy immediately opens up to Eddie with that "me too" and "like a secret she never told anyone". Just like 20-year-old Eddie sees through her and 18-year-old Chrissy opens up to him at the picnic table.

Well, I love Steve Harrington and his cameo. I like that it is implied that Jason is kinda scared of him lol

I'm overanalysing again but I love that Jason immediately pulls Chrissy away the moment she starts to defend Eddie. Just shows that Jason is that asshole who wants Eddie to...hm, get executed(? lol) no matter what, just like how he is in S4. But maybe it's more likely so that Chrissy won't tell the truth, hah.

[griffin-girl-r]

Coming home (Part 3)

Created: 12.02.2022

Finished: 03.05.2023

Edited: 18.09.2023

Age: 16

Word count: 2,000

Warnings: None

Request: No

Part 2

—

Six months.

That's how much time had passed since your death. And no one was over it yet.

Your uncles tried to focus on the thing that each knew how to do better, to distract themself from your loss.

And your mother... Well... She was in the worst shape from all of them. She looked nothing like the woman she was six months ago.

Natasha is pale, she barely eats or gets out of her room. She cried all the time and the spark in her eyes died with you.

Clint took her to his house once, thinking it would make her feel better.

That was such a bad idea, because as soon as his kids jumped to hug their aunt, she burst into tears again and Natasha didn't stop until she fell asleep.

Clint learned his lesson.

—

Today, the team had a big mission and they needed all the help they could get.

Taking down a Hydra base wasn't easy.

But for Natasha, was again one of those days when she would just lock herself in your room and cry, so no one dared to disturb her.

Little did they know that this mission would become the most important mission in their lives.

—

As soon as they returned everyone snapped into action, Thor went to Asgard to give the news. Bruce, Tony, and Steve headed to the medbay and Clint sprinted to tell Natasha what they had found and brought back.

Natasha didn't even flinch, when Clint literally took down the door with a huge smile on his face.

She just continued to lay on your bed, hugging a picture of you. Her face was tear-strained but her eyes were empty of all feelings.

"Nat, you won't believe what we have found! You need to hurry up and see it too." Clint yelled

"I don't care." She simply said in a very low voice

"When you see what it is, I bet you're going to be interested in it." Clint's voice was sounding too tempting

From one quick move, he lifted her from the bed and threw her over his shoulder, the assassin making no move to protest.

Ever since you had died, she just doesn't care what happens to her anymore.

"You are going to be so happy. So happy." Clint beamed up

"That's not possible for me anymore, Clint." Natasha emotionlessly clarified

"I doubt." He challenged

—

Once inside the medbay, Clint put Natasha down and motioned to her to turn around.

When she didn't, he turned her around himself.

Natasha's eyes widened and she blinked a few times, waiting for the illusion in front of her to disappear.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Romanoff." Tony laughed

In fact, she was seeing one.

"This can't be." She muttered "What type of sick joke is this, boys?!"

"It's not a joke." Steve assured

Natasha took a step forward, afraid to do more.

If she was dreaming, then she never wanted to wake up.

There, right in front of her eyes, sleeping on a bed, was her baby. The one she believed dead. The one she never hoped to see again. Or stopped mourning.

Her little girl's chest was rising and falling steadily and the monitor beside her bed, showed a heartbeat.

"Y/N..." Natasha whispered

"It's her, Natasha. She's alive! Do you understand? Your daughter is alive!" Clint was almost crying from happiness

He was so happy to know that his beloved niece was alive and safe back home with her mother. He'll have to call Laura and the kids later. His children will be so happy to have their cousin back.

He looked at his best friend, who was crying silently, but still made no move.

"It's her." Bruce finally spoked

That's all it took for Natasha to throw herself at you and hug tightly to her chest, your unconscious body.

She could feel your warmth and soft breath and that made her beyond happy.

She feels like she's in heaven.

Maybe she had actually died and that's how she got to see you again.

"H-How?" Natasha asked, too afraid to let go of you

"Turns out Hydra held her hostage all this time. We don't know what they did to her. She was already unconscious when we found her, but I'm running some tests to see if she's okay." Bruce softly reassured her

"I-I s-saw her... her..." Natasha couldn't bring herself to end the sentence

"We know. But Steve has a theory." Tony pointed to Steve "Cap?"

"Shapeshifters." Steve stated

Steve's theory wasn't that hard to believe. They had actually dealt with them a couple of times before.

"We think that, instead of killing her, Hydra took her and kept her in a coma-like state. Most probably to use her against us when the time was right." Clint explained "You know that if a shapeshifter is killed while it has another form than its original one, they would not change their appearance. That's why we found a body. They replaced her."

Natasha just nodded and focused once again on you. This was actually real. She could feel you, hold you, kiss you. She could do again all the things she only had dreamed about in the last six months.

And she just sat there, enjoying the fact that she could hold you in her arms, until Bruce cleared his throat.

"It seems that they hadn't done anything to her and as soon as the effects of what they gave her wears off, she'll wake up. I don't know when. Now we'll just have to wait."

"I'll wait as long as needed." Natasha declared with confidence, sounding a little like the Natasha the team knew

And how the boys missed that Natasha.

Your mother was more than happy to wait as long as needed for you to wake up.

She was dying of excitement at the thought that she would see your beautiful green eyes again. That you would open them and look at her. That you would smile at her and make one of your jokes.

So she waited.

The whole team did. It took you two days to wake up but when you finally did, it was like your mother's soul came back to her. And the joy returned between your uncles.

—

Natasha was just staring at your face, holding your hand, still not believing that you were alive. That's all she did for the past two days, ever since your uncles brought you back.

She would only leave your side for a few minutes to go to the bathroom and that was it.

She seemed glued to your side.

She was afraid that if she was gone for too long you would wake up and she wouldn't be there to greet you.

It was almost midnight when Natasha fell asleep, while looking at you, her head falling over your left arm. The others were already asleep in their rooms.

One hour later, you slowly opened your eyes and looked around you.

You were in the medbay, the light was low and the tower was silent.

You felt some weight on your hand and you turned your head to look at what was on your arm.

A big smile spread across your face when you saw your mom, soundly asleep, her head turned towards you.

You frowned when you tried to remember what happened to you. The last thing you remember is saying goodbye to your mom and then nothing.

Are you not dead? How are you alive? Who saved you? How long have you slept?

Worry grew over you when you took a better look at Natasha.

She had drastically lost weight, the bags under her eyes were extremely big and she looked so fragile.

Was she sick? She looks like this because of you? Did someone hurt her? What on Earth happened while you were sleeping?!

Shaking your head slightly, now wide awake, you reached your free hand to caress Natasha's cheek and lightly stroke her hair.

Natasha shot her eyes open when she felt a hand over her face and she froze in place, tears gathering in her eyes again, when she saw you looking at her.

"Hey, Mama." You weakly smiled at her, your voice barely above a whisper

The woman stopped breathing for a second, trying to figure out if she was dreaming or not. But when you looked her dead in the eyes, your green eyes full of life, she jumped forward to hold you close to her.

"Oh, my baby." She cried out very loudly "My sweet baby. My little girl."

You wrapped your arms around her and held her tight.

You thought that you would never see your mom again or hug her, so you were so happy to be with her again.

Little do you know that your mom is over the moon, for the same reason.

She breathed in your smell. How she missed it. How she missed you and everything about you.

When she finally pulled back, Natasha took your face in her hands and rubbed your cheeks with her thumbs.

"I can't believe you here. I can't believe you're alive." She breathed out

"What do you mean?" You asked confused

Natasha proceeded to tell you everything that happened since you went on that mission.

At the end of the story, Natasha was crying so hard, that you had no idea how to make her stop. So you just let her cry on your shoulder.

She had really suffered in the past six months.

And you felt guilty about it.

Maybe you are guilty?

—

When she eventually calmed down, she lay beside you on the bed, her arms wrapping around you as she kept kissing your head.

She asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to wake the rest of the team up.

Even the A.I. sounded happy when she greeted you and told you how good it was to have you back.

Your uncles burst through the door in their pajamas, fighting over who should enter first.

They were really funny.

As soon as they saw you awake and in your mother's arms they hugged you and ruffed your hair, telling you how much they missed you.

"It's great to see that you're okay, kid." Clint ruffed your hair, for the tenth time in two minutes

You just stared at them confused, then at your mom, and then again at the men.

"Who are you?" You asked pointing at the men

Everyone shared a worried look and you felt Natasha shift beside you, panic taking over her.

"You don't remember us?" Steve questioned very hurt

After a few seconds of silence, you gasped.

"I do remember you, guys." You pointed to each man "You're the Old man also known as Capsicle, Hammer boy, Green Doctor, Metalhead, and... Katniss Everdeen!" You finished with a surprised look, in Clint's direction.

Everyone burst laughing, even Natasha.

She had missed your stupid jokes so much.

"Language." Steve almost yelled

"Wow, Steve. You really are an old man." You teased

—

After a few hours, the team left you and Natasha alone again.

You yawned and tried to fight back sleep.

"It's okay now. You can rest. I'm here and I'm not leaving." Natasha traced your newly defined facial features with her fingers

"Stay with me?" You asked sleepily

"I promise. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you wake up." She promised

You smiled as you lay your head on her chest, hearing her heartbeat "I think we should take Uncle Clint's offer and move to the farm. It's big enough. Besides, I want to spend more time with my cousins and I think that it would also do you good to have Aunt Laura as company. I think it's time to retaire, Mama."

"I'd love that." Natasha smiled and slowly started to fall asleep with you in her arms

You were with her again and she wasn't planning on letting go of you too soon.

[wealmostaneckbeard]

Critical Role Plays Lancer (hypothetical)

What if the core cast of Critical Role played the table top Mecha role playing game Lancer? Here are the CR cast members paired with the most entertaining mechs for their style of play:

Travis Willingham in a HORUS Balor

In the major D&D campaigns Travis has shown a preference for melee combatants who engage with dark unsavory powers. The Balor is a huge mech that eats other mechs using nanite swarms. Those same nanites probably contain the consciousness of freedom fighters-turned-terrorists-turned-into-a-hive mind. It's a perfect match! If the Balor is equipped with an A.I. called a Non-Human Person then there is a possibility that Travis's pilot-character could get eaten by his own mech!

Laura Bailey in a Harrison Armory Barbarossa

Laura apparently likes long-range damage dealers and typically those are very delicate and agile characters. It would be intriguing to see how she'd handle the Barbarossa. The Barbarossa is a tanky behemoth armed with the APOCALYPSE RAIL, an anti-warship weapon that requires the user to stay still in order to charge. It would be very interesting to see if the pilot that Laura creates would fire into a melee scrum and potentially kill her allies to achieve victory. She could play around with the anxiety her pilot would experience while screaming "Get Clear of the Blast! Firing!" Or she could role play as someone totally ruthless who justifies friendly fire with the fact that dead pilots can be flash-cloned and mechs can be salvaged.

Marisha Ray in an IPS-N Tortuga

Marisha Ray is from Kentucky. The Tortuga has Shotguns. The synergy is naturally there, you guys. Joking aside, the Tortuga would give Marisha a lot of role flexibility, she'd be able to defend her friends from enemy advance or she could push into the fray headfirst. If her pilot is tech-savvy, she could even engage in some cyberwarfare which the Tortuga is kind-of good at. Plus the Tortuga comes with a really boring A.I. that could act as the straight man for whatever jokes Marisha's character would come up with.

Talesin Jaffey in an SSC Mourning Cloak

Mr. Jaffey would probably go with a homebrewed mech if given the choice. Since I cannot imagine the Eldritch Mechanism he would craft, I am forced to prescribe him a Mourning Cloak. It is one of the few mechs capable of teleporting, which it doesn't do very precisely. There is a slight chance that Talesin might roll poorly while determining teleport distance, causing his pilot and mech to go... someplace else... and only reappear after the scene is over. He and the game master could have a lot of fun with that.

Liam O'Brien in a HORUS Goblin (warning: robo-codpiece, or maybe you like that kind of thing, IDK)

In tactical table top action, Liam shows a propensity for complexity. And nothing is more complex than the little Goblin which contains more electronics within it than is physically possible. The Goblin can hack allies to make their systems better, hack enemy systems to make them much worse, and even hack reality to make Things happen. Liam could reprise some of his favorite shticks like "I'm just a little guy, give me uppies," and "This goblin is named Nott and is my best friend."

Ashley Johnson in a Harrison Armory Genghis

In the first two major D&D campaigns Ashley played melee damage dealers and then branched out into a wildfire druid in the third. So a striker type mech that plays with fire would be consistent with her previous choices. Enter the Genghis, the carefree pyromaniacs choice of mechanized chassis. The mech builds up heat from weapons like it's Krakatoa flamethrower or a GMS Thermal Lance and then releases it in a blistering-blinding heat cloud. Incendiary damage continues burning victims until they douse themselves so Ashley can just set and forget. Finally I'd love to see what kind of pilot Ashley would come up with who would use a mech that's just as terrifying as the Balor.

Sam Riegel in an SSC Swallowtail (oh gods... please excuse the terrible mspaint job... hopefully this looks funny in a good way)

In D&D, Sam seems to like playing as unconventional back-line characters. He's been a tricky bard, a sneaky goblin/halfling rogue, and most recently a literal healbot with rage issues. So I think the Swallowtail would be a good fit for him. It's less of a mech and more of a high quality holographic movie studio on legs. It can make simulated stunt doubles of allies, use it's cameras to focus in such excruciating detail that invisible subjects are revealed, and even turn itself and everyone nearby invisible so they don't mess up the film shoot. Sam's pilot character could be some kind of propagandist or movie set manager who is infuriated by how messy actual warfare is.

Finally, Last but not least:

Mathew Mercer in an IPS-N Lancaster

I would be automatically fascinated by Mr. Mercer's interpretation of galactic human society in the year 5016u and the journey he would take his players on. But if he was a player then it would be interesting to see him controlling a Lancaster, the apex of mobile field repair platforms. Anything bad that can happen to a mech (damage, burning, hacked, immobilized) can be undone by the reliable Lancaster and it's limited pool of resources. I'm confident Mercer would be able to manage those resources wisely although it would be funny if he didn't. Role playing as his pilot, we'd get to see Matt do his best futuristic tow truck operator impression, which I think would be a very gratifying experience.

[ravenadottir]

renaming characters: s1, s3 and s4

i just decided to compile all of them in one post since we all know these characters pretty well, and by that i mean i know SOME of the names from season 4.

season 2 / season 5 (i guessed/named them because i didn't play the season so... no stakes there!)

SEASON 1

allegra - she's very powerful, *clears throat* hot, and allegra as a name can be that...? i don't know, i feel like amber resumes this character so much, especially if you say it with her accent... amba... every amber in reality tv is a little too intense and we know she's the queen of cringey overreactions.

erikah - always thought laura would suit her better. i don't know why but i don't like erikah for her, but i think laura has a je ne sais quoi that she, the character, also has. she's very complicated and quite feeble at times, but her face tells me laura.

jen - she's clearly a fucking ashleigh. not for nothing, i know a lot of great ashleys', but the -eigh makes it so obnoxious and that's perfect for homegirl, because right off the bat she's claiming vanilla swirley hair romeo and ashleigh's tend to be like that... tell me you can't picture jen in a 2014 pinterest gear up in a pumpkin field wearing uggs and a fedora, i dare you to tell me she's not the type!

talia - is her full name natalia? 'cause it should be. in my humble opinion isla is a great name for her, (pronounced ay-lah) means island and it's spanish and scottish, perfectly beautiful for her, because let's be honest, if any of these girls is gonna have an interesting name, that's talia. hell, talia is already a great name!

jake - this is such a boring name for someone so full of flavor, i can't! he's not dabbed in caucasity nor adolescence, so why the fuck was he named jake???? mateo though... mateo is a fucking name, ok? it can be italian, spanish, portuguese, it doesn't matter. jake is such a 13-yo momma's boy name... ugh, no. if the guy has a collar popped like a fucking vampire and is walking around the villa with that hair, jake is not his name. PERIOD.

mason - i honestly like the name, just not for him. i always thought oliver would be a curveball because so is mason's lack of personality. let's face it they made a huge oopsie when interchanging levi's characteristics with his when coupled up with mc. mason is a drummer turned model, how the fuck did you manage to make him boring??? anyway, his face, to me, is giving oliver.

miles - he deserves a douche name because he has that chest piece, and any guy who displays such... awful tattoo deserves to be punished. fuck it, let's name him terry, short for terrible.

jasper - i mean, i HATE this name, and well, his face and hair is giving elité father tease, so i want to name santiago, because oh my god, every santiago i've met sucks ass and is a creep. the guy has a pet cobra, he HAS to be named santiago!

tim - this is the ONLY character who fits in the jake genre, because he looks 18 and clueless (affectionate). i feel like liam is somehow fitting for him, mostly because that's the go-to name in teen dramas... and usually the liam's are also clueless.

levi - why do his mates call him romeo is beyond me, homeboy has NO GAME. NONE. he's the personification (along with mason) of pretty privilege. if you stick a pin on his head it might deflate, because there's nothing going on behind those average eyes. fuck levi, his name is eric, basic and common.

rohan - since his name has multiple origins, and we don't know for sure his ethnicity (not that it matters, i know brazilian boys who are named tyler, so...) i'm naming him gael. he's a gael, argue with the wall.

cherry - have you ever seen a courtney??? because that's her! and she might be the type to say "although i have the same name as kourtney, khloe is my spirit animal" and you can't tell me she doesn't.

reese - tristan. fuck reese.

sammi - i would love to name her according to her ethnicity, because sammi apparently is hebrew. for instance, if she's korean: seong-min is perfect, because it's a genderless name and so it's sammi. also, i headcanon her as enby (she/them). if she's japanese, aya, because it can mean "brilliant fabric" and that's what she's fucking wearing. if chinese, yu ming, which means jade brightness, again... fitting! i like sammi, but i think it was a missed opportunity to name her in what could be her background culture, since lots of us don't know much, if anything about those countries. i for one didn't have any asian history classes in my school curriculum, which is weird because we had ajapanese immigration here, so like... MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. anyway, these are the names i would give her.

lucy - that's a rebecca that refuses being called becky, and will have a fit if you do. i don't have much to say about her, lucy can die in a hole.

~~

SEASON 3

elladine - she gives me "i have two L's in my name" but it's not elladine. it's something like danielle, which is really pretty and the first name that came to mind when i saw the teasers with her.

aj - this is a great name for her, i have to say! if anything i would've taken the same route and either use an acronym, like aj, or a "boy name" like robin. i honestly love that name for girls and enby's.

bill - honestly the caucasity is too much for me, and i have to say, the name has to fall into that category, so i'm naming him ryan! he's childish and you can tell nobody has told him to shut the fuck up ONCE in his life. his name is ryan and you can argue with the jar of mayo sitting next to him.

camilo - i don't like this for anybody, it's such an ugly name in my opinion. if they wanted to name him a latin name they could've gone with so many other prettier options, and to me he looks like a cauã (the last a is pronounced ahn). listen, cauã is indigenous from brazil, BUT it's so fitting for him, you'll have to trust me on this one! they're athletic and also very... um... let's say "active", and by that i mean they're all whores (affectionate). it's perfect for him.

harry - if zhong is his surname (and it's chinese), then i'm choosing my favorite boy name, which is jun hie. ((fun fact, zhong can also be a first name, and it can mean devotion, among other things that don't even slightly mean that, but i'm focusing on devotion)). harry looks like someone who deserves a cute name that has a deep meaning, and jun hie means outstanding.

nicky - what a bland ass name for someone so pretty! i like jamal for him, and i could stand here all day trying to come up with an excuse but truth be told, it's because of jamal sims (the coreographer), leave me alone he's hot ok!

seb - i actually think a cat name is perfect for him lol it's either seb or something stupid like axel or dash, which makes him INCREDIBLY EMBARRASSED ABOUT IT.

miki - i like it but i think something like sakura would be perfect. there's something about her that reminds me of the petals' colors... she's a pretty chill girl, and somewhat delicate, so i like sakura for her.

genevieve - i think it's perfect! it's dainty but has some strength to it. personally i think if i came up with a name for her it wouldn't be as good as genevieve. hate the nickname though, viv is really basic. call her vieve, man, what are you doing??

iona - i would never think of this name because i've never heard it before meeting her, but she gives me the vibe of a girl who has a big name but cool, short nickname, like andressa or andrea but the nick is andi. the choice is andi, you pick the original.

ciaran - this is a trent and you can argue with bill's mayo jar. he might be irish but his stance is the fucking white american who is a nice guy. i don't like his personality, or the lack of, and trent is a brainless guy, just like him.

tai - it's fucking perfect for him actually! when i saw him on the tease i thought of taika, tai or koa (joyful), but personally i think tai or koa are very fitting.

yasmin - whenever i see her i think of the exact color of iris, so that's the name. plus, she gives "hemp-skirt-wearing and having lesbian sex in an orange tent after lolapalooza" tease and that's why iris fits.

rafi - i don't like the name rafi for him, so... husani. it's pretty accurate, since it means 'handsome'. i also like how it sounds and i think it fits with his personality since that's... the only personality he has. "ah, but vena he talks about his brother-" i'm gonna stop you right there, because he does, but um... how many times did we get to see his depth? exactly.

lily (liliana) - she looks like a bruna to me. it is italian but we do have a lot of bruna's here, and honestly? THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME, and they look like that.

~~

SEASON 4

angie - she gives me strong vibes of alexandra, in a way that she hates her name and prefers a gender bent nickname, like alex. i don't like angie for her.

lexi - this absolute excuse of a person is a jessica to me, but the bad type. you know what i'm talking about, the type you have to call her out in the middle of a discussion because once again she's giving "THAT'S MY OPINION!!" tease. i hate this character so much, she's 46% of the reason why i stopped playing the season.

najuma - i love it but i would never think of this name since i've never heard it before. if someone suggested it, i would probably go with it, but if i had to pick one, it would be amani. i think najuma is better though.

thabi - honestly? pretty cool name for her, such a cute and short name, i would probably choose something like that. i'll keep it.

hazeem - not gonna lie i did NOT think he would have a muslim/arabic/urdu name when i saw him for the first time. and because i don't know NEARLY ENOUGH about the culture, i'm keeping it. he does look like a hazeem somehow.

james - it's such a common, bland, accessible name... then again, so is he. meh, james is fine. although he gives me benjamin... lol idk why, don't ask

kobi - this guy is such a... dynamic young man. there's a guy named calvin, from season 3 of the circle, and is the perfect summoning of what i think kobi is like. the type of guy that joins his fingers and gestures it to explain something, particularly to someone who hasn't asked anything. yeah, kobi's name is calvin.

will - ok, it would be EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN before will, especially knowing it's short for willem? LIKE, I FEEL SO BETRAYED- anyway, since he's japanese, and i wouldn't give him an engligh name, it's an opportunity to expand the character's culture a bit, so his name would be shigeru (lush), 'cause let's face it, the boy is pure lush... he has a fucking robe, it's perfect.

bruno - rafael vibes, and that's because here in brazil that usually goes to very annoying boys... (pronounced ha-fah-el). he just strikes me as a guy who doesn't know when to be quiet and well... he's a comedian, so you know that's fucking true.

youcef - if you told me he was french i would say pierre, because to be honest his face gives... absolutely nothing, so probably blanche? or blanc...? i don't know, he's just such a weird choice, all i think of is the "go back to party city where you belong" because of his hair. i'm definitely naming his blanche.

valentina - that's the most gabriela i've ever seen!! like... she's so fucking hot, i barely can think when i see her, and valentina is a beautiful name, just doesn't fit her vibe.

juliet - fuck this girl, i hate her design so much. and you know what, i also hate the name adrianna, so that's what i would name her. she has the vibe of someone who cuts you off to talk about herself and adrianna's love doing that shit.

cora - close but not quite, i would name her nova, because reasons. she just gives me nova vibes, maybe it's her style? maybe it's just how fresh she looks, idk, i just love the name nova for her.

tom - i'm not fucking with you, the first name that came to mind when i saw him was jerry, before knowing what he was called lol istg it's just jerry for me, the oldest most generic name for a guy that wears a goddamn suit on a summer trip.

kelly - i don't like the name kelly, it's really common in some regions here, i'm tired! plus, she breathes, walks and talks like a chloe, i can't imagine another name for her.

tiffany - hate this name, oh my god... if i had to moan tiffany at any given time, i would jump into an elevator shaft first. since they go by all pronouns, why not a gender neutral name? he gives me solid riley energy. i like it because of the girl in inside out and how there's male and female emotions in her head, so... riley.

dylan - he could be named rat for all i care. BUT i'm giving marcel, because that's what marcel's do, understimate women and are slightly misogynistic, and by slightly i mean a fuck ton. FUCK THIS GUY, FUCK HIS FACE, FUCK HIS BODY, FUCK HIS PERSONALITY. FUCK - THIS - CHARACTER.

oliver - at this point i don't even know, because he gives oliver, but he also gives mason, and also jason, basically names for guys that are ripped lol i think i would give him luke. don't ask, it's a luke thing!

[foone]

Some days you get out of bed and feel like it should be dark, and raining, like the sky was falling, like it was never going to stop. But sadly you live in northern California and the weather is nice and sunny, so the outside never matches how you feel inside. And you were feeling bad enough before an FBI agent knocks on your door... It's all downhill from here.

You open the door and don't even attempt a smile. It's Captain... Jenkins? Johnson? You've dealt with him before, wherever his name is. He's young for an agent, and all smiles as usual. It's almost enough to make you vomit.

"Laura! It's good to see you again. May I come in? I may have a job for you, if you're interested."

He holds up a briefcase, still closed, like he expects you to figure that out from the anonymous box.

"I'm not sure I want you to come in right now, captain. And you could have called, or emailed? It's not the 50s anymore, despite what your agency might seem to think." you manage to grumble at him, shying away from the painful sunlight beaming in your door uninvited.

"I did!", he says, somehow managing to smile wider. "No response. And this is urgent, so I thought it was worth a flight down to check in on you in person."

He flew in just to talk to me? Why? This must really be urgent, but why me?

"uhh, give me a moment". You close the door in his face, and move some of the more obvious paraphernalia out of sight. He may have said it's "alright", but he's still a damn FBI agent.

You unlock the door and he comes in and sits down on your couch, before you can say "sit anywhere". He pulls a paper out of his briefcase and shoves it your direction.

"what's this?" "an NDA. This job is potentially a matter of national security, so before I can discuss any details I need you to agree not to speak of this outside this room."

You glance at the page. This is a lot of legal nonsense, but it looks like how you expect. A long list of things you can't do with this information and an even longer list of all the bad shit that will happen if you break the rules.

"I'm not sure I should sign this. Maybe I should call my lawyer..."

He turns, and hands me a pen. "Laura, I understand your hesitation, but this is a standard form, and we're really in a hurry. I had to go through a lot to get my superiors to agree to let you in on this, instead of someone with clearance. I promise there's nothing untoward in here, and if you can take on this job we can offer you five times your standard rate."

This all stinks. This stinks bad. But you sign anyway. You overcharged them last time you worked for them, and if they're going to pay five times that... This might be worth it, even if you have to pay a lawyer to get out of this mess. You sign.

"Great!" he says, and opens his briefcase to show you a pile of documents, and a large hardback book. "So we've got a language that we need to understand yesterday, but as far as we can tell it doesn't seem to match or even resemble anything we've seen before."

You pick up one of the photos. It's a black and white image of a large stone block sitting on its side, in the back of some kind of truck. The symbols carved into the side are all curves, intricate glyphs, looking something like a combination of Hanzi and Devanagari, but with a circular theme not common to either script.

"what is this? Some kind of obelisk?"

"No, it seems to be a container, and we're very worried about what's inside it. That's why we needed your help. We're out of leads for everything else about this case, so this language is our last clue."

"what's inside it?"

"I can't tell you that. But I can confirm it's of serious national security importance."

You study his face. He'd make a good poker player, with that endless smile. A bomb? Biological weapons? Stolen documents? Elvis? An alien? What could be so important that they'd fly him down here and drag you out of your depression just to try to decode it?

He reaches down and picks up the book, opening it to a random page and turning it toward you. "The good news is that we have a lot of examples of this language. This isn't the only book we have on hand, it's just the only one I brought. If you take on this job, I can deliver you all the source texts you could ever need."

You page through the book. This looks handwritten, like calligraphy. "Are you sure this isn't some code? Or a prank? Like someone trying to make a hoax Voynich Manuscript."

He shakes his head. "We can't be sure of course, but we did statistical analysis. There's not enough entropy to be a code, and too much to be a hoax. This is a real language, just not one we've ever seen before. And none of the other experts we've asked have either."

Maybe this really did fall out of the sky. If you get halfway through this and find out it's about little green men from Mars, are they really going to let you just move on to your next job? Or are they going to lock you up in Area 51?

"you say you've got more examples of this script, and I'm your last hope?"

He nods, making a affirmative noise.

"Eighttimes my usual rate and you've got a deal. It'll take a lot to set up book scanning for this." you say, in the hopes he'll balk and leave you alone.

"Great! We've got a deal. I'll have the boys bring the books in." he stands, and walks to the door. "Thanks very much for taking this on. You're our best hope to understand all this."

He steps out, and a minute later there's a knock at the door. You open it, and there's another man in a suit pushing a cart, piled high with hardback books. Behind him, another cart is being loaded from a van.

What have you gotten yourself into?

[negative-speedforce]

This is super dark but... I was listening to Work Song and De Selby Pt. 2 by Hozier while I was sculpting earlier (I usually listen to Hozier while I work with clay, idk why but it works for me) and I had this interesting idea for an AU...

Imagine if instead of breaking out of the hypnosis eventually, Hyun-Ki stays under Jessi's control for years/decades longer, to the point that it basically consumes his entire mind. And then at one point she gets tired of him and decides to get rid of him - he's dead, she knows he's dead, she orchestrated it all and watched them put him in the ground...

But then she comes home and he's in her apartment, dead-eyed and covered in dirt but still acting all hypnotized-in-love with her. Like he's been controlled by her magic for so long that it's seeped into him, and continues to animate him even after he's dead. Now she's got a corpse walking around, still trying to cook her meals and wrap its arms around her at night, creaking words of affection in broken zombie-babble, and she doesn't know how to get rid of it. She's trapped with this thing, and it's entirely her own making, her comeuppance for years of manipulation and abuse.

It's sort of... Pet Sematary plus Laura in American Gods plus the biologist's husband in Annihilation... idk. It seemed like the kind of thing you'd find interesting.

Holy shit this is dark... I love it!

Okay but the rumors because Jessi and her house start to smell like literal death, Jessi trying to kill Hyun-ki again, rumors spreading because people know he's dead, but he's been spotted working on Jessi's garden, a bunch of exorcists and religious leaders being called to try to banish Hyun-ki back to the grave, it'd be a huge scandal...

[cellard0ors]

The next night Travis finds her at the shoreline.

She's there and she has legs.

Her hair is still damp, but otherwise she's dry and she's tucked into the long grass and brush near the water's edge so as not to fully expose her nakedness.

She looks at him with accusatory blue eyes, "Did you bring clothes?"

Travis nods dumbly and draws out a dress from his pack. It belongs to his mother, so it will be big on her, but better this than nothing.

He holds it out and she takes it before shooting him a look that says he should turn around so she can have privacy. He has absolutely no trouble doing so, his whole face hot and red just from seeing her bare legs.

Even though his back is to her, he speaks, "Is Laura okay?"

"Laura?"

"As a name...can I call you Laura?"

It's quiet for a minute and he can hear the cloth of the dress ruffling before he gets a muffled, "Yeah.. Actually sounds pretty close to my actual name."

Travis grins, pleased at her response. When she gives an 'okay, you can turn around now', it's hard not to laugh, because she's pretty much swimming in the dress he managed to sneak out.

Still, she knows all about swimming and she manages to make it work as she seats herself back on the ground, "Did you bring the shiny thing?"

"The shin-?" Travis starts and then, remembering the slinky he quickly sits across from her with an, "Oh yeah!"

He pulls out the toy and hands it to her. Laura fiddles with it, clearly finding it interesting, which is fitting considering Travis finds her interesting, "So, ah - you have legs?"

Laura nods, but her attention seems fixated on the slinky, which she moves back and forth with an absorbed fascination. Travis clears his throat and she seems to pick up on the nuance of how that means she should continue.

"I do when I'm dry. All our people do."

Travis doesn't even know where to start with that one, but luckily she seems more than happy to continue as she plays with the toy, "Mers are all over the world. We inhabit all types of water. We can only turn our legs into tails in our home waters though."

"Oh! Neato!" Travis returns brightly, because it truly is. Laura just smirks, "Home waters can change too - depending on what you choose when you reach The Embarkment."

"The-?"

"It's a coming of age for us. We go through several of them. The first is after your twentieth wave, then thirtieth and so on."

Travis takes that to mean their ages and nods as if he understands, which he's pretty sure he does. Laura suddenly looks a little sad, even with her dedication to the slinky, which she's currently trying to unravel, "My mother hit her thirtieth recently...she chose to come to shore."

This gets a frown from him, confusion clear on his face, but Laura - while clearly sad - seems to like having someone to confide in, "That's why I was here a few nights ago. I was hoping she might come back."

Laura sits the toy down and looks at him sadly, "I should have known better though. She's made her choice. She'll be here for the next ten waves, then reevaluate. She might continue to choose the land. She might not. Either way..."

There's a slim shrug from her, but Travis is horrified at the implications of her words, "You're saying your mom just left?!?"

A nod and Laura looks at his pack thoughtfully, "Didn't you have other things in there?"

Travis nods and pulls out his other toys, but he feels awful. His parents might not love him, but at least they're around. They didn't just abandon him. Laura must sense his thoughts because she gives a small smile, "Don't worry. My father is still with me. He says the currents were simply too strong for her to ignore. That's all."

While Travis doesn't think that's a legitimate reason for abandoning someone's family, he is glad to hear she's not entirely alone. Especially out there, in the lake, and he looks at it in wonder - how many of her people are down there?

How many mystical and magical things are there in the world? The idea of it makes him feel light, happy - makes him feel as if what he endures at home is worth it. Because wonderful things are out there!

And the first wonderful thing he met is her and he looks at Laura with a lopsided grin, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm glad we got to meet one another and become friends."

"Friends?" Laura blinks, "Is that what we are?"

Travis audibly swallows and suddenly feels like a real big dummy, only for her to gives him a huge grin as she reaches out to shove at one of his shoulders, "I'm kidding!"

"Y-you are?"

"Of course! We can be friends!" Laura picks up the eight ball and rolls it around in her hands, "It'll be fun! Not to mention it's good for me to learn about the land - especially if my mother ever returns."

Travis sees the logic in this, but he's more stoked at the idea of having his first ever friend. Especially one so unique and, as if sensing this, Laura suddenly looks at him, her expression very serious, "You can't tell anyone about me though. Not ever. Do you understand?"

...the only way she says it...with such serious gravity...

But Travis does understand and it's not as if he has anyone to tell anyway, so he nods and holds out one hand, "Okay! It's a deal!"

Laura looks at his hand in confusion and he sighs, "You shake it."

Laura takes his hand by the top of his fingers and shakes it. He laughs and gives a little 'Oh no, not like that! Like-?' and he shows her how they should hold one another's hands and shake.

They do so and the moment seems almost electric. Momentous in a way Travis can't describe. But it feels good, too and for the first time in a long time, Travis is happy.

Very happy indeed.

[lyxthen]

Extremely mildly niche academic-ish rambling ahead. Might wanna skip this one. It is long and boring

One thing that does make me happy is the Latinoamerican Literary Boom was so big it actually went on to be translated in other languages. There are still authors that I feel need to have their works translated (mostly women, I wonder why) but many of the video essayist I watch keep mentioning Borges in their videos, and truly I can't blame them because his work is rad. I don't know about him as a person but he lives 30 layers of post ironic meta fantasy or some shit like that. Cortazar is really cool also. In terms of living authors I really like Juan Villoro, his writing style is very fun. The Wild Book is a children's book about literary theory, like, Theory of Reception, Death of the Author, stuff like that. It was a really fun read as a child but the themes are interesting as well.

I feel like, I don't know, it's so hard to find Latin American fantasy books these days, or at least they are not as available. The YA genre is dominated by books originally writen in English or on books written in Spain (think Laura Gallego, which I just found out has a Netflix series made out of her most famous series of novels, but I am derailing) with the exception of Benito Taibo, who is Mexican, and has one (1) high fantasy trilogy that is kinda mid. The ideas were great, but they could've been expanded, you know? Camino a Sognum had so much potential, and you can *see* that it was inspired by classic epic fantasy like Earthsea, but it needed some more *spark* to actually work. I have not read Normal Person, but I plan to. Maybe it is better made?

And it's funny, because a book like Mexican Gothic, that was written in English, is so darn good! But only if you read it *in English* because the Spanish translation did this thing where they try to "neutralize" the accent and manerismd of the characters to make it appeal to the wider Spanish-speaking world and it doesn't sound or feel Mexican at all.

I am not sure where I am going with this. I have been discovering the local literary scene lately (and I mean *local*, like city-wide local) and it is mostly so boring because no one is writing fantasy! No magic realism! It's all kind of depressing dwellings on how we are being gentrified and indigenous people keep being oppressed by the mestizo majority and corporations and the goverment keep stealing the land to make Coca Cola and we are dying of diabetes and we don't got water and Capitalism sucks. LIKE I AGREE BUT CAN YOU PUT FAIRIES IN THERE OR SOMETHING. And I guess that's why I've never wanted to read Cómo Agua para Chocolate, because it is just *too real*, cuz it's a story I know by memory and I don't wanna live it all over again verbatim. Probably a great book, but I just cannot.

I don't know man idk idk.

The funniest think about this is that my favorite book ever (like actually, for real) is a children's book, written from the perspective of the imaginary friend of a child, and it is so gracefully narrated, and the characters so well constructed, and it touches real problems like Teen Pregnancy and Childhood Depression and Anxiety while also managing to be funny and whimsical? The very premise of the book (memories of an almost true friend, it's called) is already so creative and the execution is masterful. BUT I AM THE ONLY GUY ON PLANET EARTH THAT SEEMS TO KNOW ABOUT ITS EXISTENCE ITS DRIVING ME INSANE.

Where was I going with this. Ah yes. Youtubers talking about Borges. Well. Um. I. I think imma translate some of my own texts to English and put them on Wattpad or something. They are not the kind of thing Wattpad people are into but I gotta archive them somewhere and doing it on AO3 feels wrong since they aren't fan works. And on that note, I also wanna write more fan works.

Ugh I could be writing an essay but you got me writing a Tumblr post. What is wrong with me. I'm too bad at word weaving.

Aaaa (??????

Thoughts?

Help

I did take my meds today BTW. I don't know what is happening to me I just wanna WRITE ok I LOVE WRITING BUT WHY MUST I DO TUMBLR INSTEAD OF MY PASSIONS?

Oi I'll end it there

[hadeantaiga]

I'm watching Twin Peaks for the first time.

Pilot episode spoiler free thoughts: I am hooked. The characters are all really interesting and I want to know more and to watch all of them like ants. I want to put them in a jar and shake it up.

Pilot episode - liveblogging, full of spoilers.

----

Lots of machinery ASMR and nature porn. Not sure what the show's about though.

Who is this sad person making sad eyes at the camera.

Hello fisher guy. Oh, a thing. Oh it's early spring, those tulips aren't up yet. Oh that's a whole body.

Lucy's gonna tell everyone. Oh boy he gets to use the siren!

Andy's got a big heart huh. Ope, they know her.

Hi lady (mom?), Laura's not coming down.

That kitchen is red.

Does David Lynch have a foot fetish?

Gross, don't spit dude.

"We're businessy businessmen doing business"

Is this Mr. Palmer? Yup. Also, there's the sheriff. Sarah knows what's up. Glad to see he cares about his kid tho. So often the businessy businessmen don't care about their kids.

Oh, I know this music! Now I know where it's from.

Ow, my ears.

Ah, Bobby. Here you are. You're a greaser huh? Ah, smoking and drinking, it's what Teens Do.

Idk if the acting is good or bad but I do believe Laura's dad's character is genuinely sad.

No really, does David Lynch have a foot fetish?

Bobby I want to hate you but you are very charismatic. Random screaming student. Everyone just seems to instinctively know Laura is dead.

Bobby was driving his third girlfriend home, he wasn't murdering anyone. Hey whoever this guy is, he's actually ensuring Bobby gets his rights, to a degree.

Everyone also seems to have really loved Laura. Like. It's almost creepy how much they all love her.

Oh, it's the music again.

Don't be sad, just get some drugs.

Oh, sad lady owns the mill. Josie Packard. Why is the other woman so mad?

Oh, that doesn't look like a good time, girl. Oh, she escaped.

It's Flattop greaser guy. He was in love with Laura too??

Hello eyepatch lady.

IT'S OUR GUY, RIGHT? The detective??? That's some sleazy music, he's gotta be a detective. He's very cheery.

Dale Cooper, FBI.

Huh. Dale, you're a bit of a snob. Also, you're annoying. Am I supposed to like you?

What is in this psych's ears?? Also, creepy, yuck.

Ew, Dale's going really far up there under that nail. Oh shit, a letter. Dale your face disturbs me.

Hey blonde boy, you don't tell Donna what to do. Heh, Ed's alright though.

Yeah, I'd also break the diary open, it's not like she's gonna write in it again. Hm, "J" is not Bobby. Day 26? Cocaine? Lockbox key? Mysteries abound. Also, chocolate bunnies.

I kinda love this cop who can't stop crying. Andy.

I don't think Bobby killed her. Wait, how was she studying at Bobby's house at 9:30 if her mom said she came home at 9? Lol using a calculator to type messages. "She wouldn't do that to me" hmm, do what? See "J"?

Audrey does what Audrey wants. *snort*. Audrey, you're great. Terrible, but I love you anyway.

Ooh, who said that line about the picnic earlier in the episode???

I guessed there'd be a reflection in her eyes.

Oh - it's flatop kid. He's the biker? But is he THE biker? And just cause he was the person behind the camera doesn't mean he killed or hurt them.

Oh, I've seen/heard "Fire walk with me" online before, didn't know it was from Twin Peaks!

Flattop has the other heart piece...

Seems that whole family is a bit... in need of help.

Ronette, who escaped, was a sex worker or something? In a skeezy magazine. Also a photo of trucker guy?

Ok Leo, your acting is kinda bad.

Oooh, Ed's getting it on with diner lady? Don't blame him. But meeting at the Roadhouse at 9:30? That's when flattop is gonna meet whatshername!.

Oooh she was his sister. That's why sawmill lady was so angry.

"Who's the lady with the log?" "We call her the log lady"

Mayor is senile, apparently. Dale, don't scare them all by saying the killer may be among them and then tell them not to start a witch hunt.

~oooh nighttime scary~

Hi, old man. Oh, Donna's relative of some kind. At least her sister(?) is gonna cover for her. Harriet. The bros are here to grab Donna but she's not there hehe. Blondie is Mike, got it. Heh. Harriet, that wasn't much of a cover. But Dad? Grandpa? I wouldn't have told THOSE losers she was missing, I would've said "She doesn't want to see your sorry asses".

Are you really gonna leave Hank? For Ed? Are you? Love this singer though. Ah, so the other bikers? greasers? don't like Mike and Bobby huh?

Oooh Joe's taking her to "James".

I'd turn off your lights if you're tailing, that's just me.

I do like how like, not-glorified this bar fight is. It's kinda lame actually.

So here's James.... oh, it's flattop. Oooh, so Laura WAS into sketchy stuff. And maybe Bobby killed someone? Aw, James. I don't think you killed her either. I might be super wrong, but hey. And it's the music again. It's fine, you can trauma bond and kiss to the music. Eey, Donna, that's a good plan to hide the necklace actually. If he's innocent.

Oh, I like that Dale already believes James didn't do anything.

Bobby that's a hell of a look on your face.

Aw, Donna's dad is a sweetie.

Bobby, you're so fucking weird. But apparently so is Mike, so whatever. Two peas in a pod. Also I don't like you anymore.

Ooh Mill owner lady and the sheriff are together, and the mill sister is planning some murder perhaps?

Uh, what? Was Laura's mom dreaming? Having a vision? Screaming for an unrelated reason?

(end of episode)

[lumikinetic]

I can’t speak for everyone but I just hate Bruce and think steph’s role as spoiler was really cool & there’s a lot of unexplored ideas that could go along w her identity as spoiler (plus I love the spoiler outfit way more than her batgirl outfit I mean the black shadowy face the hood the belt.. it had it all) Though batgirl 2009 was amazing I just think it’d be cool if she called out Bruce for being a hypocrite and goes back to being spoiler/an independent vigilante. Think there needs to be more independent vigilantes around Gotham anyway like why does every hero need to be connected to Batman

I'm gonna derail onto a soapbox with this first one cause it is literally my number one all time biggest grievance with the way I see people interact with comics nowadays but my sincere and honestly held belief is that there are very very few characters in all of comics you can fully, thoroughly hate with justification. You can say "this character isn't for me" and that's fine whatever it happens, sometimes a concept doesn't make you feel that feeling when experiencing great media and this is why people naturally gravitate towards sci-fi over fantasy or slice of life over high octane action but I truly believe you can't hate most characters. Especially the biggest ones who have been running for 50+ years cause the odds that there is that one run out there that will make you finally Get It™ are astronomically high, and increase with each new writer and THAT is what comics are really about. I'm gonna be upfront w/you, I'm so so worn down by Bruce slander these days, even when I'm not trying to be hostile (like now for instance, I promise) it still comes off as that but god. It really is the lamest, most boring, hivemind-esque stance to take. "I prefer [character] to Batman" yeah sure that's valid I do too, a whole bunch of them, even Batman himself prefers Superman, but when people say "I don't like Batman, at all" all I hear is "I'm not willing to put the work in and actually do the reading". Bruce is cool as fuck as a character as it is, but if you let yourself just enjoy the rule of cool he elevates to 1000. Zdarsky's run has lost the sauce a little bit imo but Failsafe and chasing Joker to the end of existence is still great stuff, and that's just what's happening right now. Great thing about being the guy who oversaturates the DC market: Decades upon decades of top shelf content out there. BUT. The content won't come to you. You gotta go looking.

Anyway Spoiler is cool, yes

The full face mask is cool, yes

I have no preference for the spoiler/stephgirl split. Both identities are good for me she can use whatever. But it doesn't take a whole lot of attention to notice that at the end of the day, it's just a recycled and watered down version of "Laura Kinney is X-23 not Wolverine" or "Miles Morales isn't Spider-Man" and just like those ones, it bothers me. Who cares if both use it at the same time? At best, it adds something new and interesting to the world and offers a dual perspective on what an identity could be. At worst, it's just something inconsequential but in a way that is fun and doesn't detract anything from the story being told. If one Batgirl is preoccupied, maybe in a ghostly magic realm for example, we still got another to do normal Gotham stuff.

Historically, every "Batman-related" character got tired of being Batman-related (or they exploded, sorry Jason) and decided to take the batsymbol and make it their own (or the writers forced it on them, sorry Jason). Batgirl is not connected to Batman. Batgirl is connected to Barbara Gordon. Bette Kane if you wanna get really technical about it. Babs' whole thing is about how she didn't become Batgirl to appease Batman or whatever, she did it because she wanted to and the bat was a convenient symbol that already had some weight to it. Also don't let the internet fool you, Babs' time as Batgirl really wasn't as impactful and iconic as everyone thinks it is and the '66 TV show makes everyone believe. She was in the cape for a comparatively short time before going straight into Oracle. It holds much more meaning to both Steph and Cass, so even then, it's not even connected to Babs, it's connected to Cass more than anything, and only because she was the one who got it first.

I would say Helena B cause she was before Cass but she had it for like five seconds, so. Lol.