#incidental chapter

[lady-harrowhark]

I promise I’m going somewhere with this but I am currently fixating on how seeing Naberius’s trident knife in the beginning of HtN gives Harrow the Gideon Memory Migraine™, despite no clear connection to Gideon:

Ianthe considered this. She nudged the confection basket hilt of the rapier at her hip aside, and took out a long knife that, again, ran a hot rill of pain down your temporal bone. It was—though you had never bothered to learn—Tern’s main-gauche, his trident knife, a long blade from which two other blades would spring at the press of some hidden mechanism; she flicked that mechanism now, and with a snickt they burst out like a firework, two hard points of gleaming steel. She flicked it again, and the blades went snickt back into their housing.

Is it simply that it’s something from the Canaan House era in general? Or is there more going on? Stick with me here.

One of my pet theories I’ve been harboring since Kiriona’s wounds were revealed is that Harrow herself wounded Gideon after she threw herself on the fence, paralleling Jesus’s side wound from being speared after his crucifixion. They needed to ensure Jesus was truly dead, and presumably Harrow also needed to be well and truly sure that Gideon was dead before proceeding. Ianthe says she put a sword through Naberius’s heart to pin his soul in place for her ascension, and we see his body run through with the sword. Harrow needing to do the same to Gideon would certainly be some very juicy angst fuel.

The other crucial component here is one of my other favorite pet theories: that Harrow knew Gideon’s sword was haunted, likely before even coming to Canaan House. I’ve seen a few people do some more detailed explanations about that, but I’ll do a brief rundown here. 

Harrow says as far back as GtN about the sword “I never liked that cursed thing anyway; I always felt like it was judging me.” After the events of HtN with the River and Canaan House 2.0, we know she has an innate and potentially subconscious talent with spirit magic; it seems likely she was able to sense what was in the sword whether she knew exactly what was going on or not.

In HtN, Guideline #3 in her her pre-lobotomy letters to her post-lobotomy self has several stipulations (wipe it down with arterial blood nightly, coat it in regenerating ash, don’t cut flesh or bone with it) that sound a lot like precautions one would take to keep a soul from hopping out of it.

When discussing the sword with Abigail in Canaan House 2.0, we get some very specific qualifiers around how much information Harrow is able to provide about the sword. Directly before remembering that the sword was Gideon’s we have: “Harrow’s brain, though still a jumble, was no longer a mess in a darkened room. Memory had gifted her a small torch she could light the disarray with.”

After that, she struggles to recall further details, her own brain providing obstacles: “The light was not proving helpful enough: she was, in desperation, kicking over piles of the rubble in her own brain.” In the end, she’s able to tell Abigail: “I hated that damned sword for years. I don’t know why; it just felt strange - rancorous. I cannot deny that I often assumed its edge would be the last thing I saw. I don’t know.”

Circling back to the final battle of GtN, we get my favorite little nugget of support for this: Harrow is described as looking “affrighted” when Gideon tells her to go get her two-hander. I’d initially taken that to mean she was startled (and maybe a bit annoyed) to find out that Gideon had brought it at all, or freaked out at the situation in general. But I’ve begun to wonder if she specifically didn’t want Gideon to bring that sword with her to Canaan House because she knew, or at least suspected, what it contained.

Which brings us to the trident knife. If Harrow needed to fix Gideon’s soul in place by impaling her herself, and she knew there was a malevolent soul in the two-hander that could conceivably hitch a ride in another body that it came into contact with, she would have needed a different tool for the job… Which may very well have been the trident knife. Seeing the weapon she used to mutilate her cavalier’s body with seems like exactly the sort of thing that would bring on one of Harrow’s Gideon-induced headaches, no? It’s also notable that when Harrow sees this knife, it’s directly before Ianthe stabs her through the hand, again analogous to crucifixion wounds. I gotta say, if this holds water, there’s a certain poetry to both Harrow and Gideon receiving versions of the Holy Wounds on the blade of the same knife.

(Edit to add: further theorizing prompted by @camilla-rekt‘s fab addition can be found on this reblog)

[pegasusdrawnchariots]

what's with this guy

[atissi]

i’ll be real i did kinda forget how to draw him but im back in business now

[poppy5991]

Hawks is asked to go undercover to bust a villain with a lust-inducing quirk. He makes a request, just in case things go south. Which they shouldn’t, really!

(They do. Thankfully, Enji is there to help.)

———

So smutty, yet so soft

[kayzero]

Chapter 49: Pathogen (Infection)

So no, you’re not righteous. But you’re not arrogant enough to put yourself above the whole planet. …Your brother, though.

Read on AO3.

...and when you're done click next chapter so you can read

Chapter 50: Confession (Judgment)

The victims' names escape you, but the similarity of the first murder to the exact same crime your father was executed for caught your attention, and you followed the serial killer’s actions as they were discovered for four months, right up to Phi showing up. And now the serial killer sits before you, asleep.

Read on AO3.

[miodiodavinci]

what reading dungeon meshi will do to a man

[winepresswrath]

thank you youtube user a_me_1 for your dedicated compilation of Natori's irrepressible fabulousness and radiant smile (his words).

[spectre-ship]

genuinely nothing could have prepared me for how weird Moby-Dick is and I love every word of it

[last-hourglass]

Heyyyy~ question of the “you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to” variety, but…. Is there any chance we’re gonna get another Last Hourglass chapter within the foreseeable future?

I LOVE your fic so much and I eat up your writing every single time I read it, and I am BEYOND excited to see where it goes!!

I appreciate the enthusiasm of the latter half of this ask so I am going to try my best to be polite about this.

Please do not ask me if/when this fic or any of my fics are going to be updated. I work a full time job. I have other projects to work on. I have straight up fallen out of this hyperfixation. I really, really would love to see both of my ROTTMNT fics through to the end, and I ALWAYS love to see new comments, but being outright asked about when new chapters are coming out or if they're happening soon just feeds my burnout even more.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk everyone

[definitelynotshouting]

Hey!! You dont have to respond to this publicly but i realised after sending that ask in today that i didnt do my usual quotes for the recent chapter and i just wanted to reassure you that i dont love it any less 😭. Ive just had a lot on my plate (im doing fine, just busy) and havent found the time so im really sorry if you were expecting something and ive just been quiet. Hope all is well with you!! :)))

-☀️

AWWWW WAIT SUN ANON,,,,, DW KING UR ALL GOOD U HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR!!!!!! getting comments and quotes from people is a gift that i am SO happy to receive but it is not something i ever feel that i am owed!!!! Your life comes first and foremost-- i absolutely treasure everyone's comments, but i will never fault anyone for just not having the time, energy, or even desire to leave one.

Im really glad you liked the chapter, and its nice to hear that you enjoyed it just as much as the others-- i know it was a relatively slow-paced one, despite having actual physical action going on for once. i hope things slow down for you soon!!! It was a really nice surprise to get an ask from you, and i hope you're doing just as well :] ❤️

[pentacass]

So I'm reading through Ves and Lana series again and thinking about how Lana takes care of an injured Ves, but what about Ves taking care of an injured Lana? How does Ves react to, say, the time Lana got tossed around like a rag doll by Vaylin?

and here i was, thinking of ways to hurt Lana to reverse their hurt/comfort roles >:3 thanks for the ask!! (art by skullinacowboyhat)

Depends which phase of their lives they're in. In the Empire, Ves won't risk showing overt concern and having Lana targeted as Darth Avriss' weak spot. So an injured Lana has to care for herself, while receiving care packages from her friends, Ashara and Talos (read: Vestra's proxies). What Ves can do, is destroy those who hurt her.

In the Alliance, Vestra doesn't hide anymore. She cares for Lana herself, but doesn't get overprotective (it's the same vice versa). Lana's tough, and Ves treats her with that sort of dignity; Lana hates being coddled anyway. She'll stay close, ensure Lana's needs are cared for. If Lana wants to work, Ves lets her work within reason. If she goes overboard, Ves puts her foot down and whisks Lana away for some needed rest.

For the Vaylin scene - due to the timeline of events (getting yeeted to Iokath right after the Gravestone hijacking), I'd planned for Ves to fight Vaylin alongside Lana, and draw most of Vaylin's ire to keep Lana from harm. But, let's have a lil thought exercise :3

Say that Ves stuck with Aelirra to defuse the bombs on the Gravestone, and Lana had to fight Vaylin alone, as in canon. When they find Vaylin and Lana in the last bomb's chamber, Ves sees Lana thrown across the room and loses her mind. Not caring that they're standing right on top of a quantum bomb, she unleashes a fuckton of lightning at Vaylin. Aelirra has to step in, blowing Vaylin back with the Force, and convinces Ves to step away, 'Go to Lana! Listen, Lana's hurt bad. She needs you. Go!'

Ves snaps back into herself and rushes over to Lana, dragging her to the side to assess her wounds. She'd just started healing Lana when they get hit by Iokath's superweapon. They're split up and stranded on Iokath, and Ves is painfully aware that Lana's still hurting from the fight, getting Big Mad at herself for losing Lana (even though she had no control over it). Her top priority is to find Lana and ensure her safety.

When she finds Lana, limping and looking like she was thrown into a trash compactor, she pulls Lana into a secure corner and heals all the wounds she can. As they head to Theron's location, Ves insists on taking point while Lana guards her flank, allowing her to face whatever dangers they encounter first. Basically, 'leave the heavy lifting to me, you take it easy'.

Reuniting with the Alliance crew makes Ves less tense, but she won't leave Lana's side again, and keeps an eye on her as they carve a way to the Gravestone. Part of her wants to find Vaylin and rip into her, but her thirst for Vaylin's blood has to wait until her love is safe.

Only when they're back aboard the Gravestone and free of Iokath, will Ves take Lana into her arms for reassurance, and escort her to medbay, where she'll sit with Lana until they reach Odessen.

[vibesbasedorganism]

I've been thinking about how, on in-game Monday, Morell and Gary haven't returned from the coast, and yet Lena leaves the Whirling at the scheduled time to supposedly go to Gary's apartment. If you break in after 11pm, it is obviously empty. So where is Lena? Which in turn had me reflecting on my experience navigating *modern* cities while marginally disabled, and getting immensely sad about Lena having to cope with shelled-to-shit Martinaise. 'Don't worry, this old thing is gas-powered' may have sounded convincing to Harry, but not to me. So we have a flashback, from before the miracle.

________________________

Monday 11th March '51

At eleven p.m. sharp, she had left the Whirling-in-Rags. 

She'd had to. Not that the manager would have rushed her out when the kitchen closed, despite not renting a room there. But to stay longer – as all but the passed out drunks drained from the room, through the cracked grouting of the night and into the street – would make her feel pitiful. It was bad enough feeling old and isolated, without being pitiful as well.

Eleven o'clock, and the temperature was already hovering at zero degrees celsius — the condensation on the inside of the Whirling's windows warned of it, and the sharp twinge of arthritis through her bony hands confirmed it, as the automatic doors pulled frigid air into the Whirling's warmly lit throat. 

Behind the partial shield of her spectacles, the membranes of her eyes became instantly wet with shock. She blinked, blinked in determination against the cold and loneliness, and tapped the accelerator stick on her wheelchair's right arm. It was good that her carriage was gas-powered, because the days were long gone when her arms could have managed alone the war-pitted streets of Martinaise.

Sometimes, when she observed her arms without sleeves, bent at their sharp elbows, tendons arched as she levered herself down into the chair... she saw the Phasmid again. Just like all those decades ago: limbs pale and porcelain, seeming unconscionably fragile; swaying, despite how near to nothing its body must weigh. 

It was an eerie experience: living long enough, to become a dull human equivalent of that miraculous design. In places, her skin was so thin upon bone, it may as well have been chitin. 

If only her limbs could balance like a ghost upon marsh waters. If only she could skim away into the reeds, leaving barely a ripple behind.

Rolling across the mosaicked plaza, she kept the jagged concrete fissure on her left, until it joined a crater between two public benches and she was faced with a branching decision: directly ahead, eight shallow stairs down awaited her, slightly more than double the width of her chair and with metal tube handrails that seemed more ornamental than functional, in height; a little further on, past the mailbox and between the bookstore's outdoor displays, were seven steeper, much narrower steps - an extremely tight fit for her chair - with the slight benefit of raised stone on either side, should she need something to grip — or, more likely, cling onto. 

Either way, it would be stairs, the natural enemy of wheeled vehicles. Either choice would be hazardous, and even more so on her own, with no one there to grab the chair handles and prevent catastrophe.

While she continued to appraise the ground at the end of both descents, the coastal temperature dropped another degree, the ceaseless brushing of waves against concrete making her feel colder still, as she imagined her chair moving too quickly towards the guardrail, at the foot of the bookstore stairs, imagined herself crashing over, onto the next snow-dappled level, and then helplessly into the icy black water. 

Even if her legs still functioned like a regular person's, it was doubtful her heart could survive the glacial shock. Even if the drunken man teetering by the rails had been of a mind to leap in after her, and had the uncommon means to be more help than hindrance. 

It would be an ugly way to die. And Morell deserved so much better. When her time eventually came, Dei willing, the life would simply flutter out of her chest, as they both slept. It would be too much to hope for that she could outlive him and keep him from grief, but she could at least die kindly...

Her stomach cinched, her worsening mood making her even more vulnerable to the cold, and she shook her head, attempting to shake all of it off but only forcing more air past her increasingly sparse hairline.

"Get a move on, old woman," she muttered, the words rising in thin vapour past her spectacles.

Two metres from the bottom of the broad steps was a man-hole cover, whose texture would help slow her down, and with some reasonable steering she could safely coast for quite some time without any obstacles, long enough for the wheelchair's mechanism to regain control; engaging the brakes too hard was best avoided in these conditions, even with a chair as solid as hers. 

Rotating so that the chair's larger rear wheels would be making the descent, she drew an X over her heart, leaned her body weight as far forward as she could, and prayed for gravity to be merciful. 

There was no pausing on the way down, only thunk after jaw-jarring thunk, and then the pounding of her heart in her ears as she continued backwards with a craning neck, controlling the situation as best she could. Until she was beneath the three-way lamp-post, its illumination granting no warmth while she soothed — as efficiently as possible — the spooked pony that thrashed about inside her chest, and spirit.

"That's halfway now," she told herself, though it was not quite true.

[continue on ao3]

[linskywords]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Men's Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid, Connor McDavid/Matthew Tkachuk, Leon Draisaitl/Matthew Tkachuk, Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid/Matthew Tkachuk Characters: Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Matthew Tkachuk Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, ot3 is endgame, gray-ace!Connor, (very gray though), some pandemic stuff, Mild Internalized Homophobia, Undernegotiated Kink, Matthew just wants attention okay Series: Part 12 of Wolfverse Summary:

If there’s one thing Leon knows, from the very beginning, it’s that Connor McDavid isn’t for him.

If there’s a second thing he knows, it’s that Matthew Tkachuk is a grade-A asshole.

(Can be read as a stand-alone)

[fore-seer]

i’ve been thinking about the dire future version of chapter 6 for a while now trying to square chrom and gaius still becoming close friends in that timeline with the fact that emmeryn dies in an attack that gaius participated in, given how badly chrom reacts to emmeryn’s death later. and i think the best way to do it is to have gaius find out that the break-in is in fact an assassination attempt a little earlier than he does in-game and try to warn chrom about it, essentially taking lucina’s place in the beginning of chapter 6, only since gaius isn’t nearly as good a fighter as lucina is at that point, chrom gets injured and they fail to protect emmeryn

[itsbinghebitch]

NO REST FOR THE WICKED | E | 13.3k | vegaspete AU

chapter 3: Kinn takes everyone on a forest hike. It goes poorly.

“And on the verge of meeting his inevitable death, Pete curses Kinn and his stupid high difficulty route. No, he curses Porsche for choosing to marry someone like Kinn, who’d choose a high difficulty trail in the middle of nowhere in the first place when there are literally a million other things to do on the island, like animal sanctuaries, and pools, and restaurants, and beaches and many others that Pete will never get to enjoy in this lifetime just because his eyes were glued on his goddamn work e-mails instead of what was right in front of him—

A hand shoots out and grabs him at the last second.

Pete’s exhale punches out of his lungs. He’s right over the edge of the footpath, sole driving painfully into the soil. The fingers clutch at his hand, and Pete’s eyes shoot up to meet Vegas Theerapanyakul’s.

Of course.

Of fucking course it would be Vegas catching him.

Pete contemplates throwing himself back into the ravine.”

☀️🏝️👬🏻 fic details under the cut ❤️‍🔥⛓ 

☀️ summary:

Pete has long left Thailand. He is now living the American dream, working long hours to make his rich clients richer and himself more miserable than ever.

But when his best friend Porsche invites him to his destination wedding to the mysterious Kinn, Pete finds himself suddenly thrown into the world of the Theerapanyakul family, the silent machinations underpinning their wealth, and Kinn’s cousin Vegas—who, for reasons unknown, has made it his mission to tear down every assumption Pete holds about his life.

—

resort romance AU where Kinn & co are still mafia (except Pete doesn't know)

🔥 tags:

Alternate Universe, Corporate Consultant Pete, Pete POV, wedding shenanigans, Thailand, Secret Relationship, Plot, Mental Health Issues, Depression, some strong language around mental health, Injury, Angst, but with a happy ending, Explicit Sexual Content, things happening on balconies, Kink Negotiation, Dom/sub, pete meets vegas and is immediately like 'disgusting......tell me more’, the inherent bdsm of capitalism, the inherent bdsm of mafia romance, class fallouts, pete’s many dormant kinks, Other Additional Tags To Be Added

[ladylynse]

For anyone interested in my Huntsclan!Jake AU fic Unbound, I've been doing some tallying between what I've written and what I've got planned, and I can confidently say this fic will crack 50 chapters so chances are very good it will also crack 125 K.