#solid state physics important questions

[vaishu1126]

Top 100 Important Solid State Physics IIT JAM Questions for Preparation - L 4

[gf2bellamy]

Hiii ! First of all take care of you dw if you want to slow down on request it's totally okay !!! I looove your fics tysm for your amazing writing

I was wandering i you could write something about Spencer and nonBAUreader are watching a serie about serial killer and reader ask MANY questions about Spencer's work (i'm curently watching the new season of Dexter x)) and it's all cute

love uuuu <3💐

questions — spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid x reader ( no use of y/n ) content warnings: mention of serial killers not getting caught / dna under finger nails / victims a/n: hi hi tysm !! that's so so nice <33 and i hope you like this <3 also i don't even wanna know how bad my google search history looks like rn

You were curled up on the couch, a blanket draped over your legs and a bowl of popcorn resting between you and Spencer. The two of you were halfway through a binge-watch of a fictional crime series about a serial killer, and while the show was gripping, you couldn’t help but pepper Spencer with questions.

After all, who better to ask than an actual FBI profiler?

“Okay, wait,” you said, pausing the show just as the detectives on screen were about to interrogate a suspect. “This whole DNA-under-the-nails thing—how often does that actually happen in real cases? Like, is it as common as they make it seem?”

Spencer, who had been leaning back against the arm of the couch with his legs stretched out, turned to look at you, his eyes lighting up at the question.

“Actually,” he said, sitting up a little straighter, “it’s not as common as TV makes it seem, but it does happen. The likelihood depends on the type of assault and whether the victim had the opportunity to fight back. Statistically, it’s present in about 12% of cases where there’s close physical contact.”

You nodded, absorbing the information. “So, it’s not a guarantee, but it’s a solid lead when it’s there,” you said, more to yourself than to him. “What about contamination? Like, how often does the DNA get messed up because of improper collection or storage?”

Spencer’s face lit up even more, and you could tell he was enjoying this.

“Great question,” he said, his tone enthusiastic. “Contamination is a huge issue, especially in high-profile cases where there’s a lot of media attention and pressure to solve the case quickly. Improper handling of evidence can reduce the reliability of DNA results by up to 30%. That’s why chain of custody is so important.”

You hummed thoughtfully, popping a piece of popcorn into your mouth. “Makes sense,” you said. “Okay, next question. How likely is it that a serial killer could stay hidden for, like, decades?”

Spencer tilted his head, his expression thoughtful. “It’s more common than you’d think,” he said. “If the killer is organized, methodical, and avoids leaving behind forensic evidence, they can evade capture for years—sometimes even decades. The Golden State Killer, for example, wasn’t caught for over 40 years. The probability of staying hidden increases if the killer targets strangers, moves frequently, and avoids leaving behind patterns that law enforcement can track.”

You frowned slightly, your brow furrowing as you considered that.

“That’s… kind of terrifying,” you said. “But also fascinating. How do you even start profiling someone like that? Like, what’s the first step?”

Spencer smiled, clearly impressed by your line of questioning. “It starts with the crime scene,” he said, his tone shifting into what you affectionately called his “professor voice.” “Every detail tells a story. The way the victim was killed, the location, the level of violence—it all gives us clues about the killer’s psychology, their motives, and even their background. From there, we build a profile and use it to narrow down potential suspects.”

You nodded, your eyes narrowing slightly as you processed everything. “That’s so cool,” you said, your voice soft. ���I mean, not cool that people do terrible things, but cool that you can figure all that out just by looking at the evidence.”

Spencer chuckled, his smile warm. “It’s not always easy,” he said. “But it’s rewarding when we can use it to catch someone and stop them from doing harm.”

You smiled, tucking your legs underneath you as you turned to face him more fully. “I can’t even imagine,” you said. “Do you ever… I don’t know, get scared? Or overwhelmed?”

Spencer’s expression softened, and he hesitated for a moment, as if considering how much to share. “Sometimes,” he admitted, his voice quiet. “There are cases that stay with you, ones that are harder to shake. But having a team helps. And… well, it helps to have something—or someone—to come home to.”

His words hung in the air for a moment and you felt your heart swell. Without thinking, you shifted closer to him on the couch, your hand reaching out to gently rest on his arm.

“I’m glad you have that,” you said, your voice warm. “And I’m really glad I get to be that someone.”

[afurtivecake]

What if, unbeknownst to everyone around them, Tetsuji and Wymack are embroiled in a psychological battle of wits and nerve the likes of which would put Light/L (of Death Note fame) to shame? What if their negotiations over Kevin was less professional and rational, and more cutthroat and borderline threatening?

Think about it: why would Tetsuji let Kevin go just like that? Broken hand or not, Kevin is valuable property and Kevin has insider information about the Moriyamas. Even an outsider civilian like Kathy Ferdinand can point out that, surely, it would have made more sense for the Ravens to keep Kevin on board, career-ending injury or not.

WHAT IF. Tetsuji feared that Kevin had immediately told Wymack everything he knew about the Moriyamas and about him being Wymack's son and that Wymack might choose to go public with that information and cause a lot of problems. He might not have been sure what Wymack knew or what Wymack had solid proof of. (Maybe he went looking for the letter that contained the only evidence that he knew from Kayleigh who Kevin's father was and couldn't find it? Maybe he couldn't be sure if he had just lost it or if Kevin had somehow found it and handed it over to Wymack as proof when seeking shelter with him.) He has to walk a fine line between probing Wymack for what he knows and threatening him outright with Moriyama resources (which would definitely give him away).

And what if Wymack guessed that that's what Tetsuji was thinking and therefore chose to play it very carefully, not letting Tetsuji know just how much he knows, nor giving any indication about just how big of a fuss he's considering kicking up. What if he calmly and reasonably suggested to Tetsuji that Kevin doesn't to go back, nor does he want to talk about his time with Tetsuji and the Ravens - for now. He has a lot of concerns and questions to raise with Tetsuji about Kevin's physical and mental state, but perhaps they can all agree that those concerns are less important than Kevin's wellbeing at the moment. And that perhaps it would make sense for everyone if Wymack and his staff looked after Kevin for the time being?

What if that's how Wymack manages to get Tetsuji to hand over Kevin (and later, Jean) - basically blackmail.

It'd be so much fun if from Wymack's POV, AFTG is a high-stakes psychological/political drama involving the mafia, the ERC and the man he has an old grudge with.

[bthump]

Do you agree with the common belief that Griffith is a weak person? The main arguments usually come down to the following: 1. He accepted the fate of becoming a monster and didn’t fight it. Maybe 99% of people would’ve done the same, but if you compare him to Guts—a man who's spent his whole life fighting against the odds — it raises the question: why did Griffith, who claims to be exceptional, choose the path of least resistance? I’m not sure if it’s right to use Guts as a measure of moral strength, but if Berserk presents these two as equals, then the comparison feels fair. 2. After Guts left, he immediately spiraled into self-destruction. Isn’t that a sign of weakness? Losing someone close is painful, but Guts didn’t die or vanish forever. One could have fought for his loyalty (even if that would have been difficult and might have taken months/years), or chased after him in a deadly vendetta, like Guts did. But instead, he gave up at the first real rejection. The “great leader” chose the path of pathetic self-destruction, dragging down not just himself but also the Hawks, who supposedly meant a lot to him.

I don't consider him evil and I don’t want to oversimplify his character, but I can't find solid arguments against the idea that he's a weak person. I'm interested in your opinion. Thanks

Honestly this entire framework doesn't fit my worldview, and I think Berserk as a story is partially about refuting the idea of a weak vs strong dichotemy as framed this way, with the idea of strength as a virtue and weakness as a flaw.

Casca states a central theme of Berserk here when she says that everyone is weak. Everyone needs emotional support, everyone needs someone or something to rely on. Everyone will break given the right pressure. And it's important to acknowledge that and find things that can support you, particularly people as opposed to dreams.

Guts at his absolute worst denies feeling guilty over causing the deaths of two innocent people by dismissing them as weak and himself as strong. This is very overtly framed as a big flaw and a smokescreen to hide his intense emotional turmoil, as shown through Puck feeling intense pain from his emotions lol.

Strength, in Berserk, is often equated to monstrousness. Guts' refusal to die, for instance, is first paralleled to the Snake Baron in chapter one, and then Count Slug.

And just in a more mundane way, his dogged determination is depicted as a flaw quite often, for instance in this scene by Voice of the Narrative Godo:

Then we have to have consistent definitions of strong and weak. You mention moral strength, but then you also suggest that Griffith spiraling when Guts leaves is weak, which has nothing to do with morality. Is it willpower we're talking about, physical strength, determination, moral purity, strength of character, self-actualization, emotional stability ,etc? If it's moral weakness, Guts scores a lot lower than Griffith on that scale, imo. If it's self-actualization, both are very weak because they're both driven by coping mechanisms for childhood trauma, and neither is honest to themselves about it. If it's physical strength, they're both equally matched before one is tortured, and again Guts' physical strength post-Eclipse is often depicted as borderline monstrous. If it's willpower and determination then I'd argue that Griffith making the sacrifice is a sign of strength rather than weakness, because he does it in the service of achieving his life goal and ensuring that thousands of people didn't die for no reason, rather than giving up.

Anyway, you can see how the concept of strength and weakness is vague and can be twisted to apply in a lot of different ways to make any case you want.

In terms of how weakness is used in canon, Casca does say that Guts "made Griffith weak," but that's not a bad thing in the context of the story. It's a sign of emotional growth for Griffith, a way for him to move past being motivated by a childhood dream conceived out of trauma, and become a more balanced person. It's also very human and endearing, something that makes Griffith more likeable.

When Griffith spirals after Guts leaves, that's a narrative indictment of Guts' decision. Narratively it's a negative consequence of Guts' wrongheaded choice to leave the Hawks. It's not telling us that Griffith is inadequate in any way, it's telling us that Griffith is blindsided and heartbroken and very human, and Guts was blinded by his own inadequacy issues. You can say 'Griffith should've done this or that instead' but that's functionally fanfiction. The story itself doesn't treat Griffith's downward spiral as an intellectual mistake - it doesn't present us with alternative roads that Griffith could've taken but didn't because he wasn't strong enough, it just presents us with a guy in the middle of heartbreak fucking up. It's meant to be relatable and emotionally understandable.

So yeah, he's textually weak when it comes to Guts, but that's a positive thing when it comes to Berserk's themes, even if it was part of what led to tragedy. Griffith getting rid of that human emotional weakness is what makes him Femto. NeoGriffith is much stronger emotionally - he was able to leave Guts on the Hill of Swords without outwardly acknowledging any emotional impact at all. But we're not meant to admire that about him.

So yeah, basically I don't think the story of Berserk values strength the same way you do, so I think this just isn't a good framework for viewing the characters. Griffith and Guts at their strongest by most definitions are both monsters.

I hope this response doesn't come across as too harsh, I think it's an interesting question that provides a lot to chew on and discuss, but ultimately your take on strength and weakness as a framework to judge the characters just doesn't fit with what I consider to be the themes of the story. But thanks for the ask!

[havecourage-darling]

Oh my gosh ok so I thought of something for Eddie and you don’t necessarily have to write it you totally can if you want but I was thinking about one of the kids like older siblings is at Lucas’s game supporting him and realizes that Dustin, Mike and Erica isn’t there. After she sees them all coming out of hellfire she gets a little disappointed with them (cause she’s kinda a mom friend) and like kinda gets a little snippy with Eddie (who has known about her but never met her) and is like you really couldn’t change the date for one meeting, this was important all the while Eddie is just standing there stunned with heart eyes

I don’t know why this just popped into my head but I had to tell somebody

A/N: First, I am so sorry for taking forever to get to this. Second, this might not have been what you had in mind but I hope you like it anyway anon! Third, this really didn't need to be this long but, yolo

wc: 3.5k

warnings: none

It was a bright and early afternoon when Steve Harrington’s bad luck streak had finally broken. You’d watched, hiding next to Robin in the documentary section, as Steve asked out the pretty blonde to the championship game. Robin inhaled sharply, expression twisting sympathetically, when blondie blinked at him for a beat but you knew. Steve was one of your oldest friends and despite abdicating the throne, you knew the effect Harrington had on a girl – as gross as he was.

“Holy shit, Harrington I can’t believe she actually showed,” you said out of the corner of your mouth.

It was a solid indication that Steve was actually more nervous than he looked because he hadn’t reacted to your teasing. Instead, he shot you a wide-eyed look and bobbed his head. “Right?” With an anxious swipe through his hair, he glanced at you.

Answering his non-verbal question, you nodded. “It looks perfect as always.” Steve’s hair barely obeyed the laws of physics. Blondie leaned across Steve and waved.

“It’s nice to meet you!” She beamed. “Are you a senior?”

“Oh no,” you said, “I’m a freshman at Indiana State. Go Lions!”

“That’s so cute!” She said and you furrowed your brows. Was it? You could tell she wasn’t being malicious but you weren’t sure where she was going with it.

“Yeah,” you said, laughing, “super cute!” Blondie laughed, hair shaking as she did and you glanced at Steve. Already knowing, he kicked your calf and you swallowed your own laughter.

Nancy pointed at the court, fingers splaying out and the photographer nodded, hanging onto her every word. Her head swiveled to the crowd and, somehow, she’d caught your gaze. Waving, smile broadening, she rolled her eyes when you waved back. You knew she missed Jonathan – he wouldn’t have needed her instructions and would’ve just known.

“Where’s Lucas?” You asked, trying to glance over the jumping cheerleader’s heads to get a good look at the line up.

Steve motioned to the end of the bench, where Lucas stood searching the bleachers in front of you for someone. You followed his lead and realized you couldn’t spot the familiar redhead he was undoubtedly looking for. Heart squeezing a bit, you knew the likelihood of Max showing up was close to slim. She’d retreated into herself after El had left and despite your weekly visits to her trailer – you didn’t want to push too hard.

“Wait,” you said, mostly to yourself, “where’s Dustin?”

Searching out the familiar set of curls, you felt panic start to climb up your spine. Where was Mike? Steve’s warm hand grabbed at your wrist and pulled you to the surface. “What’s wrong?” He asked, his own voice anxious.

“The guys, Dustin and Mike, they’re not here,” you whispered, “what if something happened to them?”

Steve’s furrowed brows smoothed and he exhaled. “Oh, don’t worry they’re fine. I think they had their little game finale or whatever tonight. Henderson tried to rope me in as a substitute for Lucas.”

“Substitute?” You echoed, forcing a wide smile onto your face when Lucas saw you and Steve. His entire expression shifted, excitement and relief at the sight of you two. You waved, lifting your small sign that Robin had helped you paint.

‘DUNK IT! GO #8!’

Lucas beamed at you, waving wildly up at you two. Steve shot him a thumbs up before he started some drills.

Dustin and Mike wouldn’t have ditched Lucas’ game for a campaign, would they? Especially knowing that he’d already be hurt at the fact that Max wasn’t going to show up. No…a flash of long curly hair scampered across your mind. The leader of their new club…the guy Steve was obviously jealous of. Eddie Munson, you snapped your fingers, remembering.

Dustin had shown you photos of the club that Nancy had taken, a proud beam across his face. You knew Dustin was just excited to have more friends but, to give Steve some credit, he did talk about Munson an awful lot. You still hadn’t met him, but you had a brief memory of seeing him in the hallways sometimes, hair much shorter.

But you knew, then, if Munson had refused to move the campaign – there was no way Dustin or Mike would stand up against him. Especially not out of fear that they’d be kicked out the club. It was all they talked about. Shit, you’d driven Dustin to the town over so he could find just the right color for his figurine.

Lucas glanced up again, gaze desperate, and your heart broke.

“Everyone now please rise for our national anthem. Singing for us tonight, we have a very special guest tonight. All the way from Nashville, our very own – Tammy Thompson!” Your jaw dropped, exchanging gazes with Steve before you both whipped around to find Robin.

Shocked, you watched dumbly as Tammy strutted up to the mic and started to sing off key. Robin’s eyes were wide and you heard Steve mutter, “Muppet.” You couldn’t hold back your laughter, Brenda turning to look at you both at the sound.

“Wow, she sounds amazing, doesn’t she?” She asked, tone awed.

Steve’s hand gripped your wrist tightly, both of you clearing your throats in a desperate attempt not to laugh.

You watched Lucas’ leg shake as he stood near the benches, teeth sinking into his bottom lip. He was nervous. Your chest tightened. Please let him play. You plead the universe, crossing your fingers. He needs a win.

/////

“I can’t believe it,” you said, getting choked up again. Lucas beamed under everyone’s attention, but you tucked him into your side, arm squeezing his shoulders. “Lucas, you were amazing!”

“Thanks,” he said, grinning when Jason Carver shoved him excitedly. ‘Party at Benny’s boys!’ The group of morons shuffled off towards a nearby car and you rolled your eyes. Lucas caught your half-scoff and winced. “I know you don’t like them…”

“Hey, whoever you hang out with is not my decision, just – be careful, yeah?” You glanced after Carver and remembered what it was like being in Lucas’ place. “That crowd tends to want to mold you after them and you’re already your own person. A person I really like. Don’t let them try to shove you into some cookie cutter box.”

Lucas smiled, pleased, and looked down at his sneakers. “Thanks. It…really means a lot to me that you guys showed. I know you go to everyone’s stuff, you and Steve, but-”

“Hey, you’ll always have me in your corner, all of you do,” you assured him, your mind drifting to the rest of the party. Will would’ve showed, you thought, smiling at the reminder of the weekly call you had coming up.

Before either of you could say anything else, a loud crash caught your attention.

You watched a group of people rush out the double doors, excited and laughing with each other. Easily picking out Dustin’s curly hair, you glanced back at Lucas’ frozen expression.

Emotions flashing, you opened your mouth to try and do damage control but one of his teammates smacked into his side. “Sinclair, come on! You’re riding with us.” Lucas’ expression pulled into a smile quickly, but it was too late. You’d seen underneath it. Anger building in your chest, it bubbled to the point of discomfort.

Placing your hands on his shoulders, you shook him. “Do not drink and drive, Lucas Sinclair I’ll rip your spine out – you hear me? And don’t take any pills,” you said, shooting him a withering glare. His shoulders were still slumped but he nodded, his smile half-hearted. “Alright, if you need me for a ride or for help, you call me.”

“I will, thanks…for coming,” he said slowly, jogging off without a second glance. Making sure he’d disappeared around the corner towards the other jocks, you whipped around on your heel and stomped over to the loitering group.

As you got within earshot you saw Mike’s eyes drift over to you. He smiled, hand coming up, but immediately froze when he saw your expression. “Oh fuck,” he muttered, and Dustin stopped his excited jumping just in time for you to punch him in the shoulder.

“Ouch, what the fuuu- oh, hey there Widow,” he smiled, a little confused, “what are you doing here?”

///

Eddie raised his brows, watching Dustin stumble as you punched him in the shoulder. Wincing, he knew that had to have hurt. He’d almost instinctually stepped in but Henderson’s expression brightened, smile widening, and he figured you were safe enough.

“Shit,” Eddie heard Mike mutter, watching him take a step behind Dustin at the sight of your furious expression.

“Hi Widow,” Erica said, expression lighting up when you paused your anger and shot her a smile.

Ah, so this was the infamous Widow. Henderson and Wheeler had nothing but praises for Harrington and you. Eddie knew Harrington, because who didn’t? He had his reservations but Eddie was nothing if not fair. He’d save them for the moment he actually met King Steve – not that he thought that would be any time soon. But you? He’d heard all about you.

“What am I doing here?” You echoed, one of your hands dropping, the other flying through the air. “What the hell are you doing?”

Eddie was a little surprised with how intrigued he was.

Dustin looked back at Mike, surprised to see him so far away. “Uh, we had a campaign. Oh, this is Eddie!” Dustin’s hand came out towards Eddie – who waited less than a millisecond to step forward.

“If I may,” Eddie started, wanting to make a good impression on Dustin’s hot friend. How the hell did Henderson even know you?

You, however, barely spared him a glance. “You may not,” you snapped, turning back to the boys. Eddie’s voice died in his throat, blinking at how easily you’d dismissed him. Interest flared to life in his chest, because of course it did. “What the hell guys? You missed the championship game?”

The newfound interest waned. Ah, you were jock. He probably didn’t recognize you because you’d run with the popular crowds. Especially if you knew Harrington.

Dustin and Mike, however, withered like plants who’d been kept in the shade for too long. “It was The Cult of Vecna!” Dustin said, voice going high. Eddie’s eyes darted over to you, where he watched – fascinated – as your eye twitched.

“I don’t care if it was the goddamn reckoning. We don’t abandon our friends! That’s the first rule of the party!” You shouted.

“Actually, the first rule is no girls,” Mike muttered and you turned your sole attention onto him and he winced. “Not that – we’re not…happy to have you. Of course we are! You’ve been there since the beginning almost. And Nancy. And Robin. Obviously. But this campaign has been going on for weeks and and and…we couldn’t postpone! We tried!”

Eddie watched you soften and his interest reared its head again. You had a soft spot for the freshmen. Why?

“You knew Max wasn’t going to show,” you said, quieter, “you knew how important this was for him.”

The guilt that shot across their faces was clear. “He was going to be on the bench!” Dustin said, hands coming up.

Anger flickered to life in your eyes again. “Yeah?” You asked, tone incredulous. “Well, he shot the winning basket. You should’ve seen his face when he looked up and saw you guys weren’t there.”

Dustin and Mike ducked their heads, expressions sheepish, and Eddie was impressed. You really were laying it on thick.

“I’m not mad,” you said, and Eddie could see you rearing back for the killing strike, “I’m just really disappointed in you two.”

Their shoulders slumped, eyes on the floor, and Eddie couldn’t help but whistle. You were playing them like a fiddle. Unfortunately, it seemed to catch your attention and your sharp eyes turned to him.

“And you!”

Eddie pointed at himself, taking a small step back now that your fury was turned to him. “Me?” Interest shot down his spine. Jesus, what was with him with the hot and scary ones?

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you? I know campaigns take time to plan out, I know that!” Eddie blinked, caught off guard at the respect he wasn’t expecting. “But he’s a kid, they’re all kids. You couldn’t have moved it twenty-four hours so that they could go watch his game? Out of what? Jealousy? Some sort of misguided pettiness because the popular kids were mean to you? They’re mean to everyone! That’s what they do! They almost broke my nose senior year. Instead of teaching them to rise above it, you stoop to their level? Ugh, grow up. God, this whole town is such a cliché!”

Dustin looked panicked, Mike had a hand over his eyes, and Gareth turned to him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Eddie was also shocked, not sure where to start. “I think-”

“Seriously,” you snapped, talking over him again, eyes lighting up with an anger that was most appealing. The flash of your eyes reminded him of a harpy – in the most flattering of ways. In fact, Eddie’s knees went a little weak, his chest unfurling with something that was way too close to blatant interest.

Oh, who was he kidding? He’d give all his month’s tips to be able to sink his teeth into the tendon by your neck. It strained at him, taunting him, as you heaved a guilt trip onto him. Unfortunately for you, he was immune to them. So, it left him a few seconds to drag his gaze up and down your body.

“Can I speak now?” He asked, not wanting to interrupt another tirade, he was getting fond of those at this point.

You inhaled deeply, fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of your nose. “Yes.”

“Why do they call you Widow?” He asked. “Is it because you like spiders?”

If you did, he wouldn’t mind, Eddie decided. He wasn’t particularly fond of them himself but he was also an acquired taste so what did he know?

The withering glare you shot him went straight to his chest and curled around his ribcage. Eddie rubbed his sternum, like that could stop the ridiculous seed of interest from planting itself deep within his skin.

“No,” you said, offering no further explanation. “Why do they call you the Freak? Is it because you’re really Satan Worshippers?”

The way your entire face twisted with regret, and guilt swam into your eyes, Eddie knew you hadn’t meant it. In fact, he already felt a smile growing at his lips.

“I’m sorry,” you said immediately, “that was a low blow, I’m just – no, it’s no excuse. I know you get shit from other people. You don’t need it from me, especially not since I know it’s not – it’s not that.”

Instead of ducking down to look at the floor, you met his gaze straight on for the first time since stomping up to the group of them. Eddie sighed and you’d clearly taken it as a reaction to your barbed reply because you began to wring your hands together. In reality, Eddie wanted to slap his stupid chest. He always did this.

Barely five minutes had passed and the interest dug deeper and rooted around for its new home. The vines grew, twirling around his veins, and reaching towards his chest. Heart, already on his sleeve, skipped a beat as you offered up a sincere apology, Eddie nodded. “No harm done,” he said, seizing the chance to bow, “Eddie Munson at your service. Atheist by the way.”

You nodded, quickly skirting your gaze back to the two boys but Eddie was stunned into silence when he caught the flash of interest in them. Was he still high on the success of the campaign or were you actually glancing back at him?

“I hope you know how shitty this was, Steve had a date and he brought her here instead of missing it,” you said.

Dustin snorted. “Steve’s just cheap and wanted an easy date night.”

Eddie saw you bite your cheek and he winced, knowing it must’ve hurt. You made a valiant attempt to hide it, but the laughter had already made it to your eyes. It softened your face entirely and his heart stirred awake. Jesus, what magic did you wield that you had captured his attention so thoroughly? 

“Still,” you insisted, one last glare at them. Turning to Erica she glanced up at you, smile crooked and you softened. Lifting your arm, she scurried over to you and you draped it across her shoulders. “I won’t even waste my breath trying to straighten you out. You want a ride home?”

“Thanks Widow,” she said, lifting her nose up at the other two. You must be the real deal if you had little Sinclair’s approval. He’d met her a few hours ago even Eddie knew she was a tough nut to crack. Clearly, not for you.

Mike, proving he’d lost most of his brain power during the campaign, stepped forward to follow and you shot him a glare that had Eddie wincing “Uh, no. My offer extends to her only.” He frowned and Eddie heard a very Jeff sounding laugh.

You started to walk away, and Eddie’s eyes dipped – he couldn’t control it! - when you stopped and sighed a few feet away. Eddie startled, eyes raising quickly from your ass to your eyes and winced when realizing you had your gaze directed at him. Eyeing him, Eddie felt his neck flush as your eyes trailed up his body. What the fuck? Since when did he get shy?

“Can you give them a ride home?” You asked. “It’s dark and I don’t want them riding their bikes alone.”

They two started to protest, glancing at Eddie warily, but another glare from you shut them up. Eddie was about start a tirade, asking what it was in for him – a date he hoped – when you spoke up again.

“Please,” you said, barely audible. Eddie was helpless to do anything but nod, fingers itching to see if he could play you as well as his guitar. He just needed a chance.

Somehow, his brain spurred to life before he realized. “Yeah, Widow,” he said, barely containing the urge to fist pump at the sight of your small amused smile, “I can get the nerds home.”

“Hey!”

Eddie was wholly unprepared for the grin that you shot at him. If your fury had sparked interest in him, your smile almost made his knees give way. Bats fluttering around in his small intestine, wreaking havoc, he managed to smile back at you.

“Thanks Munson,” you said, disappearing into the crowded parking lot after one last look.

No one spoke for a moment, the air stilling as Eddie reeled from the way his entire world had shifted in two seconds.

“I’ve never seen Eddie blush,” Dustin whispered loudly.

At that, Eddie snapped. “I’m not blushing!”

“Are you really going to give us a ride?” Wheeler asked meekly, eyes going towards the bike stand.

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give you a ride, hurry up.” He’d use this to his advantage. He knew his chances were slim to none but even he wasn’t that stupid to not even try. “So, what’s your hot friend’s deal?”

The two idiots groaned, face twisted into disgust, but Eddie ignored them. He wanted to know everything he could about you.

///

“Stop moving so much!” You hissed, anxiety practically spilling out of every pore in your body.

Eddie whined, his nose scrunching as he shut his eyes tightly. “I’m just so itchy,” he complained, the skin around his bandages bright red.

“They come off soon, just wait a little bit more,” you said, gesturing to the doctor’s office you were currently in. “We’re next I think.”

Grunting, Eddie threw his head back and winced when it collided too loudly with the wall. You rolled your eyes and brought your hand up to check for a bump. “You’re a child.”

Sticking out his tongue, he leaned into your touch like a puppy and you rolled your eyes. You’d known him less than a month but just like Robin – trauma bonded people faster than most things.

“I can see your fingers,” you said, smacking his hand away from the larger bandage by his clavicle. The demobats had really done some damage but you’d been there when the ER doctor had clearly said to keep the stitches dry, clean, and intact. “You’re gonna make it worse!”

“Distract me, please, I feel like I’m going to crawl out my skin,” he begged.

Without thinking twice, you pressed your lips to his for a second. You bit back your smile as he blinked at you, eyes glazed over. “Was that enough of a distraction?” You asked, smile threatening to break through.

“Uh, I might need a second try to make sure,” he said faintly and you only just managed to not smack his shoulder.

“Pervert.”

Eddie’s brows flew up into his overgrown bangs. “Who just kissed who?”

You hummed, ignoring him, and went back to flipping through your magazine.

“Can I ask you something?”

Pulse pounding, you kept your eyes on the article in front of you. “What?”

“Why do they call you Widow?” Eddie asked, surprising you.

Glancing at him from the corner of your eye, you shrugged. “Dustin started it,” you sighed.

“He always does,” Eddie said, smile growing wider.

“After Natalia Romanoff. The Black Widow?”

“The spy and assassin?”

“Yeah,” you smirked, memories flashing through your mind, “I was really good at killing demogorgons. Plus, once actual Russians joined the picture, even I couldn’t deny that it was kind of perfect.”

“Cool, my girlfriend’s nickname is after a Marvel superhero.”

The word girlfriend brought your brain to a sudden halt and you whipped around to look at him. He was grinning, eyes mischievous, and you sputtered.

“Edward Munson?” A nurse called out. “Follow me.”

“Come on,” Eddie said, threading your fingers together. “We’ll talk about where our first date will be on the ride home.”

First date? You blinked at him, letting him lead you towards the exam room.

[trans-axolotl]

Hi! I'm currently researching prison abolition, both for the sake of becoming better educated about it and because I plan to write a paper on it for class. Two questions for you:

First— what books/articles/videos/any other resources on the topic would you recommend? I've been doing some research on my own, but I'd love to have some more sources.

Second— what solutions do abolitionists offer for people who pose immediate threats? I'm struggling to find a solid answer on this. I know it's going to vary based on who you ask! Just looking for some possible answers. Mostly, I've seen this question answered by redirecting focus towards prevention of the circumstances that lead to this kind of behavior, and obviously that is important and should be the main focus, but I'm not sure what possible methods there are for people who already exist who are a threat to others' safety.

(I especially have a hard time with this question because I'm coming at it from an anarchist lens and I don't believe there should be any sort of carceral system or any governing power, but I don't know how this sort of problem can be dealt with without there being some sort of power structure).

If you don't have an answer for that second one, or just don't feel like answering, that's alright! Thanks for your time :))

Hi!

I'm going to list out a bunch of random resources--this is a very incomplete list, just with a few things that came to mind first.

Articles:

Journalism from currently incarcerated writers:

Prison Journalism Project

Scalawag Abolition Week

Marshall Prison Project

Prison Writing on Prison Abolition by empty cages collective and incarcerated workers organizing committee

Other articles:

Truthout's Road to Abolition

Reports/infographics/organizations:

Advancing Transgender Justice: Illuminating Trans Lives Behind and Beyond Bars By Vera Institute of Justice and Black and Pink

Critical Resistance.

SWOP behind Bars

HEARD

Books:

Change Everything by Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur

Disability Incarcerated by Liat Ben Moshe

We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba

Are Prisons Obsolete? By Angela Davis

The New Abolitionists edited by Joy James

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex by Eric Stanley & Nat Smith

Golden Gulag by Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

In terms of your second question:

short answer, it cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution--any abolitionist future needs to have a wide variety of options for addressing harm that are able to actual address the particular circumstances of harm and meet the needs of the people in that particular context. Harm is an incredibly broad category that can differ so much depending on context. It feels difficult to just give one broad answer for "this is what we do about harm"--it seems necessary to have a different response to someone breaking into your house versus sexual violence versus bigoted physical violence and on and on and on.

Long answer: You're right that a lot of abolitionist thinking focuses on preventing harm and fundamentally changing a lot of the circumstances that are currently causing harm in people's lives. A lot also focusing on rethinking our ideas of safety, violence, harm, and crime, and untangling all the ways a carceral state has shaped our views on those concepts. (this article titled Reclaiming Safety by Mariame Kaba & Andrea J. Ritchie is an important read for thinking about how the concept of safety is constructed in our society). But all that being said, you're right that part of building an abolitionist future requires us to have a way to respond to harm when it does occur, because change doesn't happen overnight and we need those skills now. And these abolitionist responses to harm are something that are already happening now in so many ways in so many different communities and neighborhoods--a lot of people aren't just talking about it using the terminology of prison abolition. For me, it feels really important to start by thinking about what we're already doing and look for ways we can increase our own capacity to respond to harm and to care for our community.

I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to list out some examples of ways that people are already responding to harm without prisons. i don't necessarily think that all of these approaches are applicable to every situation or that they would be the ideal response in a future when we have more options, but i do just want to emphasize that there are things that people are trying right now:

making sure that someone who caused harm isn't able to be in positions of power in organizations/work/community spaces, and making people aware of the harm that was caused.

meeting the material needs of survivors of harm--mutual aid, getting access to housing, resources, etc.

de-escalation training, having people in community equipped to step in to situations where harm is being caused. (i know a few places where this is more-or-less organized--some neighborhoods where people have sort of a neighborhood watch thing going on so people know they can call that group instead of the cops if they need emergency support. )

building up things like peer respite and many other alternatives for supporting people through madness--i have a post discussing the question of alternatives to psych wards for people labeled a "danger to others."

directly intervening in situations where harm is being caused: physically showing up to keep each other safe

financial reparations

community accountability processes focused on creating accountability for bigoted violence, gender based violence, etc.

and a bunch more ideas--I'm not going to list out every possible thing I could think of here.

I'd really recommend reading Beyond Survival, which is a trying to answer some of these questions through looking at examples of things that are already working, and challenges the idea that transformative justice is just community accountability processes where everyone has to sit down at a table together to talk and the survivor just ends up retraumatized. (some authors in the anthology talk in depth about times in which that kind of process would actually increase danger to survivors, in fact.) They also make a lot of room to talk about the experience of being a survivor who has all these complex emotions and feelings towards whoever has caused us harm, and makes a lot of room for messy, complicated feelings of anger or desires for retributive harm.

Some of the examples of transformative justices responses that they share include a public letter campaign to address an abuser who was popular in movement spaces, community created research databases tracking racist violence and murders, community led murder investigations through different tactics including documentary filmmaking, family members stepping in to confront abusers and remove children from unsafe spaces, building up community first aid and medical knowledge to reduce the amount cops get called, a toolkit for transformative justice plans within youth spaces, community defense groups, including groups prepared to do physical defense, and so many more examples of things that people are trying.

I'll also link the creative interventions workbook, which is a really extensive toolkit for thinking of ways to respond to interpersonal violence.

A frequent criticism of prison abolition is that it's not practical--that our suggested responses to harm are impossible and could never work. And I can understand why people respond that way. It can be really frustrating to see people list out a lot of things that wouldn't work yet where you live because your neighbors are bigoted, or you're currently incarcerated, or you live in an inaccessible city with no in person community, etc. That anger feels meaningful, because it highlights just how fucked up it is that those barriers exist and that we don't have more options for community care right now. And at the same time, if we only try ideas based on what is currently practical, we end up just using the same existing frameworks to try to build a new world, and accept the current limits placed on us through the violence of prisons and policing. I think that abolition must be a little impractical to be effective--we need to be able to move beyond what is currently practical within the carceral apparatuses of state violence, and instead work to build in a way that dismantles what the state defines as realistic.

Last thing I'll say is that for me, it is so vital to always remember that prison abolition is a political movement centered in dismantling a white supremacist system that enacts antiblack racist violence on a gigantic scale. It's not just a buzzword to throw around to refer to anything, it's important to stay connected to what this actually about, learn about the radical history and lineage of Black prison abolitionists in the US, instead of misusing and extracting political resources without having reciprocity and solidarity. And also to stay connected to prison resistance movements right now--recognizing that the most important works of abolition are happening in these carceral spaces as we speak.

if any followers have other resources about prison abolition that they want to add on, feel free!

[melvisik]

OFMD S2 SPOILERS

Warning: This post contains non-explicit, brief implications of sexual assault/harassment and (explicit) invasion of personal space. The subject of consent is delicate and complex and I am no expert, so if any information/opinions in this post are evaluated to be erroneous, seem careless, or cause too much controversy, this post will be deleted and apologies given.

Constructive criticism is welcome.

That goddamn scene in episode 6. There are so many amazing posts that have painstakingly broken it down. So at the risk of another potentially controversial (and definitely extremely long) post, here's a summary of a few favorite observations complied together: The main thing to remember is that these two are still frickin' whim-prone. They don't think things through sometimes, and here especially they didn't let themselves think. One would assume they deliberately didn't stop to question any of this - Stede didn't just throw Ed over the couch for a ravishing, he took time to prepare the room as Ed waited for him.

Gifs credit to @mermaidstede

There was also absolutely something happening here on a more subconscious level, so here's a mixture of suggestions in one proposal: Ed came to comfort Stede, something that possibly no one has ever done for Stede before...

Gifs credit to @mermaidstede

Perhaps without even consciously acknowledging it, Stede is so touched. And he's conflicted and in shock and so filled with love for this man - he is an absolute mess. Stede grabs this wonderful source of love and comfort...

Gif credit to @mermaidstede

...and pushes him up against something solid to brace against. Stede is in something like a free fall, and he needs to feel something or someone is there to catch him before he crashes down...

Gif credit to @gay Ed's subconscious might be catching on to this; after the initial surprise of Stede's literal launch at him, Ed's nigh-supernatural instincts gauge Stede and the state he's in.

Gif credit to @gay Stede needs comfort and support desperately, something to show him that although he's killed someone who was a threat to the people important to him, he's not unlovable. So Ed gives the man he loves warmth...

Gifs credit to @gay

Ed shares in the good shit with him...

Gif credit to @nicostiel And Ed later tries to give him good food, like the marmalade he loves so much...

Screenshot credit to @piratecaptainscaptainpirates Ed is technically stretching his boundaries here, but he isn't unwilling to become physical; as much as he prefers to wait, he wants Stede as much as Stede wants him. Ed’s also in a bit of a vulnerable state at this point; both he and Stede just had their personal space utlra-invaded (to put it mildly), by some creepy bastard who considered Ed scum.

But Stede (who just caused said bastard's death for crimes Ed himself has committed against him - damaging his ship, hurting his crew) loves everything about him. Ed reciprocates. He's wanted Stede for a long while now, missing him like hell when Stede left...

...and Ed almost just lost him again.

Moreover, Stede needs to know in this moment that he is loved, it's going to be ok, and that Ed is there for him. So Ed consents...

Gif credit to @nicostiel He lets his adoring mate collapse against his body, giving him his usual sign of affectionate - a rough slap on his shoulder. That hand quickly slides up to brace around Stede's neck...

Gif credit to @nicostiel

...just like Stede had done to him.

Gif credit to @figmentof

Ed's touch is firm. The arm snapping around Stede's waist is firm as hell, as if Ed's giving Stede a combination of "I want you so much" and "It's okay, love. I've got you"

Gif credit to @bulletsangwich

Stede lets go, melting into his beloved, and is surrounded by the strength of supportive arms. He more than likely snakes his own arm around Ed's waist, bringing his other hand up to gently cup Ed's head and pull this solid source of love and warmth closer. Maybe in some ways, Ed is still trying to protect Stede...

Gifs credit to @izzy-hands ...and in some ways, Stede still needs to be protected. Now switch to (hypothetically) Stede's point of view right before this scene- We all saw it, that bastard did indeed hurt his crew and damaged Stede's ship, but when Ned blatantly disrespects and debases Ed...

Gifs credit to @eddie-redcliffe ...Stede snaps. But then perhaps this is a rage that was building before and not just out of protectiveness. Stede was the one who foiled Ned's plan, and yet it's Blackbeard to whom Ned asks about his punishment. We've all noticed how Stede longs to be respected as The Gentleman Pirate, and yet even when he's victorious he isn't taken seriously. He comments later to his Republic of Pirates fanclub how he and Ed take turns making decisions, and that is exactly what he wants. He wants to be Ed's equal. He's not Ed's pet...

Gif credit to @eddie-redcliffe

...anymore than Ed is Stede's plaything. Stede exacts his revenge, but it was an act from which he can never return. Olu and Jim told him in S1 - once you kill, it changes you forever. Ed's told him you can't come back from it. This is the first time he's intended to kill someone, and it leaves him reeling.

He needs time, he goes to be alone. Then Ed shows up, concerned and worried about him. On the surface, perhaps Stede's brain is overcompensating, making him feel confident rather than devastated. Stede could be feeling like he's on the same level as Blackbeard now. Ed has deferred to him many times, but now others will do it too. And here's Ed/Blackbeard himself, sympathizing with him and just simply being the man Stede loves.

Gifs credit to @mermaidstede

Stede lunges. He anchors them both into a stable place, then switches to being being gentle, waiting to see how Ed will react. Maybe also he's thinking how he and Ed are on equal footing now? They can be true pirates together. Or maybe he's musing about how Ned was so wrong, and Ed is absolutely everything? In any case, he treats Ed tenderly when the permission is given, treasuring their closeness but not really recognizing just what his subconscious could really be seeking.

Gif credit to @moiirasketchup In any case, what we ultimately see this night are a pair of kindred wrecks giving over to passion, spurred on from mutual desire and a deep need to show and receive love and comfort. Of course, there are numerous other ways to express these things to one's partner(s) rather than sexually (though it can be a method for some relationships), but for better or worse that seems the be what's happened here. Ed could have stopped it, pushed Stede away or talked him through it. He chose not to.

Stede could have just not initiated it in the first place. In fact, he probably shouldn’t have, and wouldn’t have in he were in the right headspace.

But the heat of the moment can be a bitch when emotions are running high. These overwhelming feelings are in addition to all their other traumatic baggage (which would take too long to analyze in this already-too-long-post, but for example - 'defiling beautiful things,' the different paths they're on, etc.), and again, these two are still frickin whim-prone. This really seems to be a moment when they're both just like "Fuck it."

So when Ed eventually calms down from basking in the afterglow, perhaps he realizes that yes, that could have been handled differently. He agreed to it, he wanted it, but was that really what Stede (or he) needed, and now what does it mean for their future? Ed panics, and true to his whimsy ways, he runs off to become a fisherman without really knowing anything about it.

Stede on the other hand is still running off a major high - he's destroyed a brief-time nemesis, gained infamy, learned pirating skills from one of the best, pulled off successful raids, reclaimed his ship, protected his crew, and made love to the love of his life. Then it all comes crashing down on him - his beloved leaves him, his crew are moving on to others things, and he gets his ass whooped while trying to separate lovers and pursue danger as if he somehow wants to destroy himself.

To state the obvious - Ed and Stede need each other. To share in fun and happiness, and to be there when the other really needs him.

We see them struggling figure out the best way to handle these trying times, and while some of the regrets and the risks are unavoidable, we all suspect (ie know) the rewards would most certainly outweigh them.

And on that note, to sum it up...

It's just the same old song Nothing cruel, nothing wrong It's just two fools Who know the rules But break them all And grasp at half a chance To play their part In a light romance

-"Light Romance" from Blood Brothers P.S. Ok, there's definitely nothing light about their romance but dammit, there's a unshakable need to add a Blood Brothers reference in an episode where Con O'Neill sings like the goddess he is...

Gif credit to @mozarlin P.P.S. Some other sources/insights can be found here (made a list of 'research material' this time):

A couple of analyses of the 'night in question' and/with 'day after'-

And a wonderful analysis/subtext-translation of episode 7's 'last night was a mistake' conversation-

[cozage]

The Daughter's Return: Part 3

Chapter 4: Doctor's Visit

Start From Beginning | Next Chapter | Table of Contents | Read on AO3

Characters: female reader x Portgas D. Ace Word Count: 2.2k

As soon as the doors to the clinic were open, Ace was dragging you inside. He even wore a shirt without you having to remind you. He was that desperate to get you in.

You couldn’t blame him. Neither of you had gotten much sleep. When you finally managed to doze off, you were haunted by horrific dreams. It was almost better to be awake and sleep deprived. But when you were awake, you were also nauseous. Both states of being were about equally as miserable. 

Ace hadn’t slept well either. You knew he was anxious to be on an island. He wanted to be out at sea, chasing down Teach. And you couldn’t blame him. Justice had to be dealt and you were keeping him tied down, waiting for the clinic to open their doors. 

The doctor took you quickly, though they made Ace wait in the lobby. It made you nervous to be separated from him, but it would be easier to talk about your actual concerns this way. 

You gave a false name and age to the worker, not wanting your records to be found by anyone. Then they took your weight and blood pressure, which they noted was a bit high. That would be reason for concern, if you weren’t in the process of tracking down your uncle’s killer.  

“My name is Ali,” the young nurse said. “What brings you in today.?”

“Quite frankly,” you tried to swallow the lump in your throat. “I think I’m pregnant.”

“Oh!” Ali said, her eyes widening in shock.

“The guy out in the lobby doesn’t know yet. I just wanted to get a test to be certain before I told him.”

“Of course.” Ali nodded and began writing some information down on her sheet. “I’ll order some labs for you, and take some blood. Should I bring him back or leave him out there?”

You sighed in relief. This girl really was a godsend. She knew exactly what you needed. 

“Can you bring him back?” you asked. “That would be great.”

She went and gathered Ace, who you referred to as Axel in front of the staff, and then began to prepare for a blood sample. As she tried to take your blood, you realized you had forgotten to give her very important information. 

“Oh!” You pulled away from the incoming needle, startling the nurse. “I’m sorry, I just forgot to tell you- I have a devil fruit power. Logia type.”

“Oh dear,” Ali said, quickly pulling away her needle. “I totally forgot to ask you that question as a part of the screening. Here-” she handed you a bracelet that had green stone and an adjustable leather cord. “If you’ll just put that on, we can get started.”

When you put it on, you hardly felt different. You felt a little more solid than you usually did, but that was about it.

“What is this?” you asked, examining the bracelet around your wrist. 

“Sea prism,” the nurse said. You felt Ace stiffen beside you. Sea prism usually meant bad things for pirates, but you trusted this woman.

 “It’s an extremely weakened version of it, so it just negates your abilities without physically weakening you. You’ll need it if-” she paused, her eyes flitting over to Ace. “Well, we can talk about the uses for it later.”

She easily stuck the needle in and drew out a few vials of blood, and then sent them off to the lab. “We’ll have results in about ten to twenty minutes. Just hang tight, okay?”

You gave her a tense smile. “Thanks.”

Ace looked pale and sick. You couldn’t blame him. Usually when people were this kind, it was a trap. Every bone in your body was telling you to flee. But you couldn’t run away this time. You had to wait for the results. 

“Are you going to die?” Ace whispered. “I know I said you could go first, but I didn’t mean this soon.”

“I’m not going to die, Ace,” you said. “Let’s just wait for the results, okay?”

You didn’t have to wait long, thankfully. Ali had worked some kind of laboratory magic, and came back in less than ten minutes. 

When the door opened, Ace’s hand interlaced in yours and he held onto it tightly, as if you were his only anchor for survival. 

Ali gave you a big grin as she shut the door, looking at the two of you with pure joy on her face. “I believe some congratulations are in order!”

“Congratulations?” Ace asked, confusion written all over his face. 

You wanted to puke. You were right. And now Ace was about to find out. 

“All of the bloodwork came back normal,” Ali confirmed. “Except for the pregnancy test. That came back positive.”

You gripped Ace’s hand tighter than you thought possible, but Ace was still processing her words. 

“Pregnancy test?” He looked at you, his eyes wide with fear. “You’re pregnant?”

“It looks like she’s about done with her first trimester!” Ali squeaked, her excitement palpable in the room. You wished you could feel the same. 

“Ali-” you cleared your throat, trying to maintain your composure. “Can we have a minute?”

“Oh!” Ali’s face flushed with pink. “Of course. Let me give you some privacy to talk about this, and then we can go over everything you need to know.”

Ace was still staring at you, unbelieving and unaccepting. You flinched slightly as the door shut, waiting for Ace to say something. Anything. 

“How long?” Ace demanded. “How long have you known?”

“Last night,” you admitted. “The no-moon made me realize.”

“We were so careful!”

You sighed. “The onsen.”

Ace’s eyes got wide. “Fuck,” he hissed. “I forgot about that.”

“I swear I didn’t know before last night,” you promised. 

“I believe you,” Ace said. “You were too stubborn about that no-moon.”

You gave a nervous laugh that quickly died, leaving the room wrapped in an eerie silence. 

“What do we do?” you whispered, tears filling your eyes. Now that it was real, it all felt so scary. 

“What do you mean? We’re having a baby!” Ace laughed, a toothy smile emerging from his previously concerned face. “I thought you were dying, but this is great news in comparison!”

“But-” you paused to wipe away your tears. “You said you didn’t want kids.”

He put a hand atop your stomach, staring down at where your child was growing. “I changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind?”

“Yep.” He gave another soft smile, staring at your stomach with complete love and infatuation. “We’re gonna be better parents than even Pops. Think we can do that?”

You laughed, choking out a sob as well. “I thought you said pirates-”

He cut your words off with his lips; a kiss that was long and deep, and all of your doubt was instantly replaced with love. 

He finally pulled away from your lips, pressing his forehead against yours. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

You gave him a tearful smile and nodded in agreement. “Okay,” you whispered. 

“I really thought you were going to die,” Ace whispered. “This is nothing compared to that.”

Ace couldn’t stop staring at your belly, that goofy grin still widespread across his face. He was still staring when Ali knocked on the door a few minutes later, and came back in. 

“How are we feeling?” she asked, her eyes glancing between you and Ace. 

“Great!” Ace was cheerful and enthusiastic as he spoke to Ali, but he kept his hand protectively over you. 

“Awesome!” Ali said, turning back to you. “There’s a lot of information we need to go over, but the most important is that bracelet. It’s yours now. Keep it on unless you need to use your devil fruit powers.”

“Wait, what? Why?” you asked, looking at the sea prism bracelet. 

“Logia users are at the highest risk of a failed pregnancy. Your body goes through extreme changes and isn’t even always solid sometimes. You may be able to handle those changes like it’s nothing, but a baby can’t.

“We recommend you keep your ability usage down to around 15 minutes over an hour span between months two through four. I’m guessing your body has been having some weird reactions over the past few weeks? The pregnancy would be the reason for it. Keeping that bracelet on should help negate those adverse effects, as well as clear up any major nausea and major sickness you’ve been having.”

“Wow,” you whispered. “I had no idea. That makes so much sense.”

“Between months five and nine,” Ali continued on, handing Ace a pamphlet. “We recommend no ability usage at all unless absolutely imperative circumstances. It’s very dangerous to the baby for the mother to use powers during that time. That bracelet will be your absolute best friend over the next few months. I hope you like green!”

You gave a light laugh as you continued to stare at the bracelet, but you could feel dread bubbling up inside you. If you couldn’t use your powers, you weren’t sure how much help you would be at any time over the next few months, for Ace or for your family. 

“I’m sure you’re worried about losing the bracelet,” Ali said, misunderstanding your unease. “We’ll give you a bag with two more in it, just in case one breaks or gets lost. And you can always come back to this clinic or any clinic on the Grand Line, most of them have a form of this in stock.”

“What about the baby?” Ace asked. “You said months two through four she should only be using her devil fruit powers 15 minutes an hour, but we’re on month three. Is there anything to be worried about?”

“We’ll do a routine checkup,” Ali said, turning to look at you. “But months two through four are more for the mother's sake. Preparing you to not be reliant on your powers as well as keeping the sickness at bay.”

You gave a nod, but your hand reached out to find Ace’s again. This was too much information. There was no way you would remember it all. He gripped your hand reassuringly, giving you an encouraging squeeze every now and then as Ali rambled through more specific deatils. 

She went over hundreds of other pieces of information, each thing coming with its own pamphlet or handout. Where to get checkups, how to get proper nutrition, things to look out for and things that were completely normal. It was overwhelming, and by the end of it, your head was spinning. 

The two of you walked out of the clinic, hands full of vitamins, appointment schedules, and the results of a healthy baby. It felt like an eternity ago that Thatch had died, and you wanted to cry remembering he was gone. How had you already forgotten so quickly?

As you and Ace walked back to the boat, you passed a board full of bounty posters. 

“Hey!” Ace called you back to the board. “Our bounties went up.”

You scowled. “We didn’t even do anything!”

He gave you a wicked grin. “They probably assumed the masterminds were involved in the embargo Thatch did the other week.”

His face fell at the mention of his fellow commander. It was clear that he had forgotten too. You walked back to the board, trying not to think about it too hard. Now was not the time for sadness. It was time for revenge. 

“What are they now?” You scanned the board, looking for your bounty poster. Both you and Ace had gotten updated photos after the Marine Ball incident, and it took a second to find them. 

“You’re at 550 million!?” you whispered, thoroughly impressed. Six months ago he hadn’t even been at a million, and now he was over halfway to a billion. 

“And you’re 790 million,” Ace smirked, nudging you playfully. “Look at you go.”

You rolled your eyes. “The Navy only sees Newgate.”

Ace pulled down your poster and shoved it in his pocket, and he stared at the board again, his mouth hanging wide open. 

“What?” you asked, looking where your poster had been. 

A straw hat. Not just any straw hat. Uncle Red’s old straw hat. The one he had promised to you years and years ago. 

“Hey!” you shouted. “I know that hat!”

“You know that hat?” Ace yelled back, his enthusiasm growing. “I know that kid! That’s Luffy!”

“Luffy?!” You looked back at the poster. Monkey D. Luffy. Ace’s little brother. 

You looked at him. “You’re telling me that your little brother stole my hat? Your family just keeps stealing all the stuff that was promised to me!”

He laughed at your joke, and you found yourself laughing along too. It had been a long time since you had thought about your promised position in a bitter way, and an even longer time since you had thought about that hat. 

“We should go see him,” Ace offered wistfully. “I was browsing the papers while you were with the nurse. Sounds like Teach was heading back to Paradise to form a crew.”

“Man, it’s been forever since I’ve been to Paradise.” You pulled down Luffy’s bounty poster, examining it as you walked. “You know Luffy already has a higher bounty than you did a few months ago, right?”

Ace groaned and shook his head. “The Navy is different with rookies now than they used to be. They don’t underestimate them anymore.”

“Or maybe he’s just stronger,” you said, sending him a cheesy grin as he rolled his eyes. 

“Come on.” He snatched Luffy’s poster out of your hand, but gingerly folded it up and placed it in his pocket. “We’ve got a pirate to find.”

--

Tag list! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog @dancingnewcat @dxestyi @flooofity @nyxthedragon01 @deadsnothere @h-rhodes1598  @morgyyyyyyy @trafalgardvivi  @fiestynatureweeb @frogpogjoghurt @beepboopcowboy @ms-portgas @luvyallbabes @appalost @zuchkaa @saybeyonce @stray-npc @kitsunechan707 @theyluvmesblog @heartysworld @aira-needs-sleep

(if you'd like to be included in the tag list, just comment or send me a message!)

[argentangelhelps]

HOW TO SCREENCAP & POST YOUR CAPS : A MOSTLY COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE

i got an ask about this, and it felt like it was too long of an explanation to answer in an ask so i made this guide. i am definitely not the expert (as proven by the fact that my VLC tutorial is two links to better tutorials than i could ever make) , but i hope this is helpful!

TABLE OF CONTENTS - finding stuff to cap - capping 101 - storage

FINDING STUFF TO CAP the less "crime" you do while doing this the better honestly. make someone else do it for you and if you absolutely must sail the seven seas 🏴‍☠️ for the love of god use a good vpn and anti-virus. the safest way to find downloads is to find pages who post them for you to use - on tumblr that is hdsources ! we love hdsources here - there are also pages on instagram (and apparently the site formerly known as twitter, but i don't use those) who post downloads of stuff. my favorites on insta are megaawrld_ , logolessfiles, djatsscenes, sadisticscenes and elyse.logoless . to get into these pages you do have to have an instagram account, but once you get in you can get links to them posting shows and movies. this is significantly safer than p*racy. the next step if these pages don't have what you want is to get them yourself through other ways. if you have to do that, GET A FUCKING VPN.

CAPPING 101 now that you have something to cap, it's time to actually make screencaps. you're gonna wanna download a program to do that. most people use VLC, i use adapter for the most part but it can be fickle so i'm learning to use VLC too.

adapter doesn't require much in depth so here's a quick tutorial: - have file and drop it into the window (it can read mp4 and mkv files) - select where you want your screencaps to end up, i make a folder for them - select your frame rate (how many images you want to generate per second of video. i tend to do 1, and anything over 5 creates so many pictures that its too much to deal with, but if you're making gifs you want more pictures) - select your file size and image quality.

i could not explain VLC to you if i tried, i am still figuring out how to use it. this tutorial & this tutorial have been very helpful though !

STORAGE

honestly this should have probably come first, but i didn't want to scare people. there are two types of storage, physical and cloud storage. to run a resource blog you need both.

physical storage comes in the form of space on a hard drive. your computer has a limited amount of space and i truly do not suggest keeping every screencap you've ever made on your computer's hard drive. screencaps take up A LOT of space. get an external hard drive and get the beefiest one you can afford. ssds (solid state drives) are fast as fuck. depending on how much content you make (and how much you can afford) get at LEAST 2 tbs but maybe get more. i like this guy cause it's fast and small!

if you just came here to learn how to screencap you can stop here unless you want to learn how to back up your files because that's really what cloud storage is for.

cloud storage is storage that is not on your actual computer. you cannot touch it but it's important if you want to make your screencaps available for other people to use.

i'm a big fan of dropbox, mega, mediafire and if you absolutely must use it google drive. (my preferences are in that order) unfortunately, cloud storage gets really expensive really fast and there's kind of no way to avoid it. compress your files when you upload them so they take up less space in whatever form of cloud storage you do get, and pray.

that's what i got for ya! if you have any questions feel free to send an ask or join my discord server!

[kindasleepywriter]

Bird of Prey - Chapter 7: A New Resolution

Bird of Prey masterlist. Azriel x Reader.

Chapter summary: You lash out at an old friend and find comfort in a new one.

Warnings: None.

Word count: 1.9k

Prev | Next

You’d known the House of Wind was an exceptionally tall building long before you’d stepped foot in it. Up on the balconies, however, you could feel the height of the house down to your bones. Settled cross-legged on a low iron railing, your mind melded with the power of the wind, it’s song calling to you, the closest thing to what you could call home. You felt the tremors in the rock, the barely audible snap of a falcon’s wings, the whistling of the trees.

Peregryns and Illyrian need to fly like a fish needs water, and staying on solid ground for so long had you in a fidgety state no matter what you did. Up here, you could feel the slightest relief.

“Mind if I join you?”

You startled at the sound, almost slipping off the railing. You looked over your shoulder and met Lucien’s eyes, the man approaching carefully as if you were a deer that might spook at any sudden movement. You didn’t have it in you to be annoyed at his behavior.

You shrugged in greeting, and he settled at your side, his feet staying on firm ground and leaning sideways against the metal barrier. He knew better than to jump into asking questions when you were like this. You both gazed at the horizon for a few moments in silence, the soft wind caressing both of your faces. He’d stay here until you spoke, no matter how long it could take.

“I assume Feyre shared what happened with everyone during the meeting she called for this morning.” you grumbled.

“It would’ve been difficult to explain the splintered floors and destroyed furniture, Rhys and Feyre don’t hold back in their lovemaking but even they wouldn’t go that far.”

“I mean what she saw, don’t play dumb with me Lucien.”, you snapped. He frowned at the use of his full name. He could probably count on his fingers the number of times that had happened since he met you. He sighed.

“She was hesitant to do so, but Rhys… He said it was important that everyone knew… that they knew you were hiding things from them.”

You scoffed. You hadn’t expected any different. You never were a person in their eyes, only ever a danger to be tolerated at best.

“If it means anything, the idea wasn’t supported by all parties present.” he continued.

“Who.”

“What do you mean, who?” Lucien asked.

 “The names,” you gritted out, “of those who didn’t support him.” Your friend normally helped you in situations like these but at that specific moment he was inadvertently pushing every button that made your head feel like it was going to explode. You simmered with anger as is and he was stoking the flames despite his good intentions.

“Of the people there, there was me, Morrigan and Nesta that tried to convince him it wasn’t everyone’s business.” he said.

You nodded. You’d keep that information tucked away for later.

“And of course, Azriel.” he continued with a snicker.

You shot him a questioning look.

“You should’ve heard the argument he had with Rhys. I don’t know what you’ve got going on with Az, but I’ve never seen him act so aggressively towards a member of the inner circle before.”

“We don’t ‘have’ anything.” There couldn’t be. Not anymore.

“Try telling that to the guy. He looked like a kicked puppy when you kicked him out of your room this morning. He doesn’t quite seem to agree.” he laughed. “Anyways, it almost came to blows. Cassian had to physically remove him from the room.”

You blinked. He really went against his brother, and all of it for you? It was basic decency to defend someone’s privacy, you reasoned, but to the point of a physical confrontation with his High Lord… A flicker of warmth spread through your chest. For someone to take your side that assuredly despite the possible consequences was perhaps a too new experience for you.

You did not comment. Your suspicions had been right, in the end. You couldn’t trust those here. Well, most of them, you corrected yourself. As if reading your thoughts, Lucien spoke up again.

“I know this wasn’t exactly the best move on their part, and I’m sorry-”

“Sorry for what, Lucien,” you snapped, “For telling me they wouldn’t hurt me? That their reputation was all an act? Rumors must’ve start somewhere.”

“It was an accident, Feathers-”

“I’m thinking it’s really convenient that you lowered my guard right before they set a time to violate my mind.” you said. Hurt flashed across his face and your nails dug into your palms so hard they drew blood. “I’m thinking,” you continued, “that you should’ve been the most outspoken opponent in that room, that you are the one who knew best what this might do to me.”

You sniffled and drew a breath, warm tears slowly trickling down your cheeks. Lucien turned on you, he was with them now. They were his family, and you’d been left behind, again. The hurt ran so deep, you felt it in your very soul. He was all you had left, and you hadn’t been enough. You never were.

“You’re just like them all,” you spat, “I got inconvenient, so I wasn’t worth the effort to you anymore. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Vanserra.”

Silence. You saw the pain in his eyes. You’d cut where you knew it would hurt the most, in a way that there would be no coming back. A wound too deep to describe.

“You know,” he said coldly, “We always said one thing. ‘From the ashes and smoke rises the fiercest fire’, right? Right now, the only thing you’re doing with that fire is burning yourself. When you end up gasping for breath, you’ll have no one to blame but your own decisions.”

You turned back to look up at the sky once again, without commenting. He could go to hell, him and all the others. You’d make it on your own, you had for the last 300 years. It didn’t matter what he thought. He hadn’t even chosen to be here, the Mother had made that decision for him and most of the people in this cursed house, pushing them into mating bonds. You couldn’t bear the thought of being linked like your parents had been, losing your sense of self to another against your will.

Still, you felt empty. You were alone, once again. You hadn’t let yourself admit it, but you’d unwillingly felt a flicker of hope these past few days. Here, with Lucien, you were safe, you’d thought. You cleared your mind of the thought. If the only thing you had left was your freedom, then that’s all you would need.

You barely noticed when Lucien stepped into the house.

If you looked up for long enough, one could almost make out the curve along which the stars travelled across the midnight black sky. So many of them, light years apart from each other, all hurtling away and towards each other. Even the stars were destined for a lonely life until they met their peers, only to inevitably combust into unsignificant dust at their crossing. You didn’t let yourself reflect on it either. You’d be gone by dawn, you concluded.

While you stared unmoving, the inky black shrouding the city gave way to indigo, gradually obscuring the bright paths you had been studying for hours now. The early morning air had a bite that had been absent the previous day, but you did not move an inch. You had lost feeling in your limbs long ago, and only the iron grip of your thighs on the railing kept you still upright.

Despite the sun’s prelude nearing its end, strokes of darkness danced in your peripheral vision. For a second you believed you might be losing consciousness, tensing at the idea, until you glanced to the side and were met with the shadows you’d grown accustomed to during your stay here. They looked almost hesitant. You swung your legs back over the rails, sitting upright with your back to the city.

Azriel was leaning slightly against the frame of the balcony doors, watching you carefully with his hands in his pockets. His face was pinched, and you couldn’t determine if it was the result of controlling his shadows or remaining irritation at being shoved out of bed at morning light. You stared at each other, both at a loss at what to say. God, those eyes. Even in the low morning light, you could make out the golden flecks that spread from his pupillae. Azriel was beautiful in a different way than the Illyrians you’d seen before. He didn’t exude brute and unrefined force, though he still looked like he could snap your spine with barely a touch. He had the kind of beauty you’d only seen in the marble statues that adorned Dawn’s royal grounds, idealistic depictions of heroes from long ago, with near perfect symmetry and angular features. It was a beauty you couldn’t look away from.

It was he who spoke up first.

“Are you interested in astronomy?”

You tilted your head. Not exactly the question you expected, but a welcome change of pace from the heavy vice choking your heart.

“It doesn’t matter how I feel about the subject. Without magic, it’s the only guide for travel. When I left Dawn, I didn’t have a choice but to learn.”

Azriel nodded, deep in thought.

“I can answer some questions, if I have to.” you added. “I know my past is a complicated mess, and I can barely make sense of it myself.” He shook his head in response.

“You don’t have to do anything. Rhys- He means well, but it wasn’t his place to share that. He’s wary even at the best of times. Your past remains your own from this moment forward.”

You looked down, slipping from his gaze. You weren’t going to waste your breath on Rhysand’s politics. You had no fight left in you, but you were so overwhelmed that you feared what would happen if you didn’t make sense of the turmoil in your heart. You feared leaving, you feared staying, but most of all you feared yourself. The destruction you’d caused, based only in your emotions and pain. Would you lose control again? What would be the cost then?

Azriel remained the one person who might be in your corner. You had no idea why, you’d given him no reason to like you, but it was like you were magnets that couldn’t help but drift towards each other.

Lucien’s words rang in your mind, doubt echoing through you. Were you causing your own pain, was it all your fault, after all? Insecurity had always been an enemy of yours, but you’d thought you mastered wielding it as a shield, not a weapon.

You weren’t one for experiments, but you were losing yourself in your efforts at self-preservation and you needed to figure out some part of you that wasn’t ravaged by your trauma, if it still existed.

Azriel. You’d trusted him the night before and he had played his hand well today. Maybe… Maybe he could manage it again? A trial run, so to speak. One last ditch effort at proving Lucien wrong, to show you could open up.

You tried to rummage through your thoughts, trying to put into words even just one concise emotion. Vulnerability wasn’t your forte, evidently, and every scene you played out in your head ended with your soul in pieces. You knew you were risking it all. Could you live with another heartbreak, another betrayal?

If there was one thing that you’d never thought you’d share to anyone, it was your childhood. Only Lucien had been granted that knowledge and even then, you’d been light on the details like you always were. Now that its hardest part had been laid out in the open, perhaps it would be easier to recount the rest.

You glanced up at hazel eyes. “I think,” you voiced hesitantly, “that I want to tell you about my parents.”

Our girl couldn't name a single emotion to save her life. Relatable.

Couldn't help but find a title that themed with the New Year! I wish you all a great 2024!

(P.S.: Next chapter is going to be fun >:) )

Banner created by the amazing @saradika!

Taglist: @sapphenaa @minnieoo

[thebeeecoven]

Why Steve x Adrian Is Actually Good

I haven’t actually written about why I like the idea of Steve and Adrian together but it’s more writing related than anyone thinks and it’s annoying me that people might think I haven’t put real thought into it 🚬 (don’t mind the old ass art.)

So! 👁️

What serves as a good foundation for both of their characters individually is that we really don’t know much about them at all other than what we’re cued.

Steve got his own B plot in Titan Where Art Thou, and so did Adrian in Labyrinth Runners, so overall the two of them’s valuable screen time adds up to maybe 10-13 minutes across the entire show… but in this time, we can make an inference of their goals, personalities, how they treat others, and their worldview and perspectives.

When I get into this, I wanna believe that everything that was chosen to be included in S2 and S3 was heavily intentional. When you’re running out of time, the most important aspects make the cut, even if it’s subtle!

Beginning with Steve, it’s obvious by dialogue that he holds regret for his time spent in the Emperor’s Coven. We can assume he likely worked his whole life for the role, only for it to not be what he thought it was, leading him to question his loyalty, religion, and the coven system.

Knowing from behind the scenes that Mattholomule is Steve’s half-brother and that Matt looks up to him, there’s also the feeling of having let down his little brother that looks to him for guidance and obviously has a high opinion of him.

Not only grappling with the mistakes he made enforcing a system that never had people’s wellbeing in mind, he’s also missed out on life, letting it pass him by as he got wrapped up in work.

Coven scouts don’t get breaks or days off, as we see from Hunter in ASIAS. One day a year off from work is not only inhumane but contributes to burnout, stress on the physical body and the mental state, exhaustion, etc.

Not only this, but it leaves no time to do anything outside the castle, minus the one single day a year.. which Steve spends working anyway, since he was one of the guards escorting the flyer derby squad to the prison cells.

This means no serious / grounding romantic relationships or partnerships, lack of genuine friendships outside of the coven, and any coven friendships being largely artificial / conditional or featuring a power imbalance (such as him and Lilith’s friendship in the coven unfortunately). Even the BATT’s were conditional friendships, as Steve integrated with them very late.

People say Steve is well-rounded because he’s been through the rounds of therapy, and while this is true, therapy cannot replace solid social connections. Witches aren’t humans (duh) but it’s a biological human need to have people we trust in our lives. Being alone all the time is detrimental to your mental and physical health in a variety of ways, so even though Steve has the tools to work through his trauma and problems, he’s lacking strong social connections and a stable partnership that many people his age have already found.

This scene was included for a reason! Everything is intentional!

There also comes the point that once the collector is defeated, Steve has to fully grapple the loss of power.

He was once a guard honored with respect and admiration for keeping people safe when the coven system was heavily idolized, but now he’s back to being a regular civilian, with maybe even the people of the Isles looking at him and the other former scouts with a certain scorn. Not only this, but he has nothing to fall back on.

There’s also the remainder of coven ideology still in him, as when Lilith expresses her religious and loyalty issues, he says “I’ve been there.”, which means he’s working on and/or dealing with the same thing. Huge loyalty issues, especially considering Steve gave up his palisman to Belos because of his complete faith in the role he was committing to. Steve is very much able to step down and see people’s points of view, like how he walked King through his process of grieving his dad despite not understanding fully. He gave him the chance to explain himself, and this will be important later.

NOW… Adrian Graye.

Even outside of head canon, you can make an inference that becoming a coven head is much more grueling and time consuming than becoming a scout. If becoming a coven head was on the same level of becoming a scout, there would be thousands of coven head applicants.

Taking this, we assume that Adrian has worked a good portion of his life to become a coven head.

He has the same loyalty issues as Steve, except Adrian is blinded by his loyalty while Steve had enough internal processing to have thought it out and dropped out of the operation while there was still time.

Adrian is clearly very intelligent and observational, shown in how HE knew Hunter was terrified was Belos while the other scouts and even fellow coven heads had no idea.

I like that it’s also implied Adrian had been keeping tabs on Hexside, as he also somehow knew Willow was Gus’s best friend when he orchestrated the illusion of her leading Gus away from Hunter.

(This is why I feel like making Adrian an easy coven head to beat not only undermined his intelligence and power, but undermined Gus’s power. I mean we’re supposed to see Gus as this insanely talented illusionist that beat the illusion coven head but then they try to make the point that Graye was the easiest coven head to beat/ that he’s weak af and it’s kinda contradictory but ANYWAY)

So yes, very clever and skilled at his craft, but his unmoved loyalty and dedication to someone that he looks up to and aspires to be like is what swept him off his feet in the end.

He views his higher ups as a goal post for his own magical and theatrical development rather than a potential threat or power that could put him in a vulnerable position. He aspires to be LIKE Belos, such as acquiring his control over people, where people understand the messages he conveys, and where he can puppeteer anyone to his own will so that “they too can be great”, which is why we see Graye’s growing frustration when the scouts don’t understand his notes or his manner of speaking.

He expects others to put in the work to understand him, while not understanding that connection is a two way street. He doesn’t realize his vital role in maintaining relationships both in work and outside of it, which again, may be related to the lack of a social life outside of the coven due to its grueling schedule. It sounds silly blaming his behavior on “.. he doesn’t get out much..” but lack of social connection affects people more than you think.

And anywho, why would he think Belos is suspicious and out to get him if he wants to be exactly LIKE him? Belos is the exact personality type Graye admires.

So basically, it’s not that Graye isn’t talented.. it’s that he’s unable to work in a team. He’s incapable of explaining himself, and an illusionist that orchestrates scenes to confuse and deceive his opponents that is unable to direct them due to his own ego and inability to take himself off of his high horse is a yikes.

So through all this, we know Adrian is a very vain, egotistical individual, especially if you read the book he's based on. The Picture of Dorian Gray's protagonist is EXACTLY like him, if you're curious, right down to being referred to as "horribly thoughtless and taking a great deal of pleasure in giving pain..." and treating people as accessories or puppetry, even viewing tragic circumstances as "poetry" in a way only a man with an inflated ego and skewed sense of artistry could.

Like Steve, he must deal with his loss of power in a multitude of ways. Speaking of canon outside of any writing I have planned, not only is he stripped of the dignity in his role when he fails his mission at Hexside, he loses his title as coven head right along with the others when the Day of Unity's true intentions are revealed... and then is turned into a puppet and loses all of his autonomy to become a plaything for The Collector.

Ego DEATH.

After The Collector's self-made apocalypse ends, he has to go back to being a regular civilian, and is not ready to grapple with that change and prefers to try and re-instate the world he is used to. It wouldn't have surprised me at all if we had gotten a Season 4 and Adrian had been a re-occurring villain... but if you ask me, part of me thinks he wouldn't attempt to take the throne.

Such a prideful man taking so many hits to his ego, his perception of his own self worth is in HELL. There's a bit of me that thinks he would lose confidence in his ability and fall back on his tendency of developing an inflated loyalty to something else or someone else.. but who knows.

Despite all this though, you CAN'T argue that something isn't eating at him. One might argue that he feels no remorse because he attempts to take the throne again, but if he felt no regret for any part of how he lived his life, we wouldn't have this scene and he wouldn't have failed his Hexside excursion:

Facing his own memories, he is knocked out and incapacitated for what we can assume is a few days.

Even by the Day of Unity, he has not recuperated. When such a prideful man obsessed with appearance shows up to such an important event unshaven and looking like a wet sock, we know whatever went on in his life was serious and he is dealing with what could be unchecked regret, grief, guilt, etc.

What exactly is eating at him we will never be sure, but the writers, animators, directors, etc. wouldn't have wasted their time implementing this if it wasn't going to be addressed at some point in a dream world where we got a full show.

NOW, the meat. How does this all come together to make an interesting pairing exactly?

I have a Stevedrian introductory post that is slightly outdated, but I'll link it anyway for proof I've been developing this for a while...

Sigh the gays r burning... anyway.

To understand my planned scenario for them, Steve helps Adrian escape the D.O.U so that he's not turned into a puppet, and a forced partnership for a few days has the two end up at Hexside. Due to the kids' lack of adult supervision, Matt vouches for his brother and the two are allowed to stay to keep watch over everyone and seek shelter.

In this scenario, both of them are stripped of their role, and there is no power dynamic in either of them. They are both regular people and have to grapple with that while reflecting on everything that's happened in different ways, with Steve groveling in silent regret and putting on a brave face while Adrian proceeds in denial for a period of time.

Thus, they have to come to know each-other out of their own volition and discard any pre-disposed opinions of one another. They must break down their prejudices as they adjust to being regular people again.

Adrian is used to seeing Steve as just another masked individual in a sea of scouts following his every whim, but he is placed in a situation where he is forced to see Steve as his own person, with regrets, wishes, personality, and charisma (lol)

Meanwhile, Steve is used to seeing Adrian as an egotistical coven head, always wearing a proud face and never in the face of struggle in front of him. Yet, the man staring back at him in this apocalypse is wounded in ego, pride, ability, all of it. It's wild to see such an esteemed coven head so dejected in the presence of it all, so Steve must get to know Adrian as a normal person without the corruption of power eating at his heart, and this is NOT easy.

Steve is nice to keep the peace, but such a sassy and at times cruel and hasty individual is not easy to get along with.

Two moments in my outline of the story that helps them get on each other's level more is (weirdly enough) injury.

Adrian loses an eye to an old enemy finally slipping in an opportunity to seek revenge, and is forced to rely on Steve for guidance as he heals and readjusts. This causes yet another scrape on his already frail ego, where his calmer personality takes a peek out due to his exhaustion and inability to keep up his persona. Graye must learn how to rely on other people again after being a controlling ass for most of his career, ordering people around without actually contributing or working with them.

The second occurrence is when Steve gets hurt, and Adrian must grapple with his feelings and let go of his ego to fix things, thus admitting he cares. There's an instance in this arc of mid S3 where Steve does have to rely on Adrian to get him to safety, which is nerve wracking yet evident of development when you consider that S2 Adrian 100% would've just left him.

Steve is well rounded, yes, but he's so used to being alone and being the mediator of conflict and injury that he's largely unable to step down and let someone else take care of him.

And the person LEAST likely to step down to help a teammate nursing him back to health after a bad hit is a good connecting moment!

The two of them, in their own ways, are not ready for how life will change after the apocalypse.. when things will seriously hit that they are no longer esteemed and respected coven members anymore. But dealing with that shift together will benefit.

No matter the difference in personality, they share similarity that bonds them:

Regret.

Grief for the time they wasted serving a fruitless cause.

Feeling behind on milestones from other adults their age.

Not having any secure or stable path to fall back on.

Losing their palisman... you can go on and on.

These connections pierce through the differences eventually, and in a way, I argue Adrian's blunt personality could help Steve in a unique way.

As I said above, Steve has remaining people pleasing tendencies and has to act as a mediator for not only a bunch of teenagers panicking about a Collector-pocalypse, but a bunch of teenagers who HATE Adrian after the Labyrinth Runners stunt and are only using him for information.

Adrian's bluntness and raw honesty without regard for feelings may be good for Steve, and Adrian could encourage him to learn to be more out of line and prideful in his magic abilities... or even just provide a safe space for him to vent anger or frustration or upset because he won't judge and will give his honest opinion on the situation and not be veered off by Steve's emotional stress.

On the flip side, Steve could give Adrian tools to express himself better, as Adrian struggles with explaining himself and verbalizing directions (and feelings if you wanna go there). Steve is a patient individual and lending that patience to Adrian to teach him how to be a more empathetic individual is not only helpful to his development but also funny to watch. I think a well written ship should have personalities that compliment one another and a whole mess of things, but two characters who are just fun to watch is important too. A "well-written" duo that is boring to watch is a yuck.

Plus, imagine Steve accidentally eavesdropping on some teenage drama and Adrian wanting the details, only to be met with, "Today's lesson is on respect for other people's private situations :D". Too good.

Even at it's boring tumblr cookie cut-out base, a "sunshine" character and a grumpy, sassy character with no filter is just FUN.

Either way, there's lack of judgement. Steve doesn't excuse Adrian's past, but he accepts it, as he himself understands that mistakes don't define a person. Steve was in the Emperor's Coven too. He understands the weight of doing things you're not proud of and yet can't take back.

Adrian, in return, would grow to trust that Steve not only sees him, but sees THROUGH him and his wicked persona he displays. Steve's honesty eventually forces Adrian to open up a bit, maybe even teaching Adrian that emotional vulnerability doesn't always mean weakness.

Steve helps Adrian learn to be mortal again, and Adrian makes Steve feel seen and understood, or even at it's least, heard.

He knows Steve is strong and a talented guy, both in physical strength and in his magic, so seeing that he can still get the job done and still be so open and kind inspires him to do somewhat the same... in his own way. This makes it all the more meaningful when Graye finally drops his walls.

Also weirdly enough, I think Adrian's jealously caused by his ego would be affirming for Steve.

Steve likely hasn't had a long term romantic relationship, and having a romantic interest that is willing to fight for him not only in battle but by being lightly possessive might make him the slightest bit prideful.

Overly jealous and possessive characters are weird, but just the slightest amount where Graye wants to be with Steve all the time and doesn't know what to do with himself when Steve's attention isn't on him (and he can't figure out why he cares so much)... kinda funny and also cute.

Maybe solely because Steve might not feel like he's worth fighting for until he gets closer to Graye.

It additionally helps that although both of their loyalty issues can be considered a problem, they're both loyal to one another.

Their growth is slow but powerful and earned, overtime creating a healthy relationship where the both of them don't lose their personalities that make them so unique, but simply learn to develop better tendencies so that they can care for one another, with Steve having to let himself be taken care of and listened to, and Adrian having to step down and let himself be open and display care, vulnerability, and empathy for a person he cares about.

They meet each other where it hurts, and neither runs away.

So in other words, it takes a long ass time.

But anywho that's about it... if you read through everything, thank you! :D

[shiftcuriosity]

Welcome to my account.

In a brief introduction, I'll say that my content is usually in long videos, but since I want to share it further, I have decided to also share the scripts of my videos.

I am not looking for any controversy, or to emphasize any of the "misinformation", nor to impose my point of view on anyone, but rather to make use of my freedom of expression, my judgment, my internal logic, and my love of questioning things, to understand shifting more deeply and facilitate the processes. And yes, I'm informed, so you should know that if I say something contrary, it's because I've already deliberated it. And I don't use emotions to base my conclusions.

I would like you, before attacking me for any opinion that may be contrary to yours, to be open to a debate and know that my ideas are usually carefully thought out. In the same way that I invite everyone on my account to share their opinion of shifting without fear, because I consider that being a subject so little studied and susceptible to unstructured beliefs, flatly denying any statement without solid arguments is what is misinformation, not the content of the information itself as far as shifting is concerned.

My videos are on Youtube and TikTok, my approach to shifting is based on the multiverse, and I don't usually hide my belief (my friends and family know I'm a shifter). Usually when I meet someone new, I explain it to them by saying "We are constantly moving forward in time, and shifting claims that we can also move horizontally (without getting rid of the force that moves us forward) something more diagonal", which usually is better than "You can go to Hogwarts right now." (that information comes later). This improves their understanding because it makes them see the undeniable: that we are already traveling in time in some way, although, of course, shifting consists of many other variables and complexities.

Important

I want to be truthful, and to that end, you need to know that there are some things I don't agree with. I don't think shifting is "easy" nor do I think that "we change reality with every decision." I have reasons for this, and I think both statements are much more complex than they appear (especially considering that the "difficulty" of something depends on a large number of variables, and that "we change reality all the time" from a scientific perspective, is often misinterpreted) .

You might think this is misinformation, just my opinion, or both, but it's what I believe to be true after careful consideration. I think that, at least, makes it valid.

Beyond that

These are not the only topics I'm going to cover, and whenever I make a statement I'll explain it. And above all, I won't do so without a foundation; in many cases, there is usually scientific evidence that corroborates certain issues related to shifting (not shifting directly , sure) (such as meditation, altered states of consciousness, mind and body, quantum physics...). No one is obliged to believe my words because they are not attacks, I will never claim to have the whole truth, but whenever my opinion can be considered, even if it is to strengthen a contrary opinion through seeing more possibilities, I am happy.

[happilydopecomputer]

(Cher assistant)

Dolo (Jonathan-Ismael Diaby) x plus sized! reader

Chapter 1

It's my first day back in a week, and I'm late; I whine as I step out of my car, grabbing my matching cherry-print purse and work tote. My black D’Orsay heels click on the walkway as I scurry into the building. Good morning Shoresy I chime as I see him walking a little ahead of me with his duffle thrown over his shoulder and his spitter halfway to his lip. Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Aren't you supposed to be on vacation? He questions as he grabs me up in a tight hug while grabbing my bags from me. I was on vacation, and I decided to come back early when Miigwan and Ziigwan told me we were possibly folding. So, what do you have up your sleeve Shoresy? Whatever you need, I'm on board, I confidently state as he places me back on my feet. Let me check the outstanding schedule and we can get to work I say as Shoresy walks beside me towards my office. Well, I was thinking about bringing in a couple of new recruits and getting us on track to win the championship. We'll never lose again Shoresy says as he opens my office door for me and I turn on the light. Okay, Shoresy have you and Sanguinet already looked into how you're going to sell these guys to Nat with Michael's "quitting" we should have the budget for about 7-8 recruits if you know who you're looking for, I say as I go around my office setting up my monitors and turning on my Nespresso machine to get started. Just place them on the fold-out couch please I tell him in between rambling as I pull out my physical planners and take out my business & personal phone. I watch amused as he plops down on the couch spreading out reaching into the mini fridge and grabbing out one of the flavored electrolyte waters, I keep in there specifically for him. Vacations are cool and all Shoresy but nothing beats a solid presentation I inform him as I turn on my projector and whip out a couple of binders placing them in his lap. Their stats for the last fifteen years, previous injuries, socials, and pretty much all of the important information Nat would want to know. I've set up some temporary living, and travel accommodations. I walked over and passed Shoresy a box of tissues as he sat up, I sat beside him as I filtered through my physical planner. I spoke with Sanger a couple of days ago and got everything set up they'll be here the day after tomorrow. I've rented a van from a friend of a friend I'll come along with you and Coach Sanger to pick them up I state as he grabs a couple of tissues and leans into my side hiding his face in my shoulder as he cries silently. Yeah, we have your back my guy Sanger says as he walks into the office trying to join in the moment with spread arms. Shut the fuck up Sanger, Shoresy stresses through his teeth with artificial malice in his voice. I cackle loudly as I hop up and walk toward Sanger walking into his spread arms. I've put together a couple of gift baskets for our new recruits taking their like and dislikes into consideration examples include a custom stash box for Mr. Diaby, gift cards and locations to all the most prominent chicken spots in Sudbury for Mr. good-leaf and a couple of bottles of gin for Mr. Hitchcock. I say professionally just as they receive the emails, I sent out containing their schedules for the day. I spoke with Nat and I’m on loan to you both to take some stress off your shoulder I say as I grab my purse and my keys. Respectfully, I’m ready to never fucking lose again. I say confidently as I look between them and change my heels to my fur boots, I keep by the door.

+++Wip+++

[louisirl]

A term I recently came across is Post-Dramatic Stress Disorder (PDSD). It describes the lasting effects actors can experience after becoming deeply immersed in a role—effects that can include difficulty separating from the character and adopting the character’s habits for weeks, months, or even years after production has ended.

One method used to address this is de-roling, a technique designed to help actors shed their characters and return to their core selves. As described in the Feldenkrais Guild:

“Typical de-roling practices combine psychological methods along with physical rituals, like talking to one’s character and telling it to remain in the theatre while taking off the costume and hanging it up. Although such a ritual can help an actor depart from the fictionalized world, it may not fully calm their nervous system and release unwanted emotional states.” — Feldenkrais Guild

I’d like to point out that while I reference this source to provide context on the concept of “de-roling,” further investigation into the Feldenkrais Guild itself reveals a lack of solid evidence supporting its methods, along with a controversial history of reported abuse. For me, this raised an important question about whether the practice of “de-roling” an actor is always ethical. As Fictionkin, we recognize that while our identities can sometimes be accompanied by significant distress, the identity itself isn’t inherently the problem. So what happens if an actor unknowingly awakens to their Fictionkin identity through a role? In that case, would the process of “de-roling” actually be harmful?

This isn’t to imply that the fictionkin experience is inherently a disorder—quite the opposite. However, the way actors experience fictional identity tends to be more widely acknowledged and accepted. This presents a compelling point of comparison for Fictionkin. Even when an actor’s connection to a character is dismissed as “just a role,” there’s plenty of evidence demonstrating how psychologically deep and lasting that embodiment can be.

[santoschristos]

The Flower of Life, Sacred Sex --Unknown artist

The flower of life appears as female energy, but it actually holds both male and female energy. The points are made up of male energy, while the curves are female energy.

Sacred Geometry: The Meaning Behind The Flower Of Life:

Throughout history, both in the ancient and modern world, certain repetitive geometrical patterns have been found in Nature.

Scientific studies done by research scholars have declared their frequent occurrences in the environment. Prodigious philosophers like Euclid, Pythagoras and Plato among many others have concluded that they form the basis of the reality of our existence; their patterns are inherent to the previous design of human life itself.

Fractals have forever held an important place in certain communities and places of worship and religion which has further sparked questions about the significance of their patterns.

Did the inhabitants of the ancient civilizations have any different knowledge about fractals and their omnipotence? Why the modern world lost its relevance?

Do these patterns have magnified symbolic significance other than simple artistic purposes? Do these fractals form the basis of all things accessible to their domains?

These fractals have a separate harmony of their own. They are ingrained into our consciousness or subconscious because they are a regular occurrence in the human design. They resonate congruously with our all-knowing awareness, because they speak the universal language of mathematics. They imply wholeness, equilibrium, equitable proportions.

Simply staring at these geometric patterns can alter our range, level or frequency of our potentials invoking healing, relaxation and colossal change within you. These fractal representations can calm our mind; transporting us to trance meditative state which lies beyond waking consciousness.

This flower of life is sacred, connected essentially to every aspect of our physicality. When a repetition of uniformly balanced overlapping fractals is placed within six fold symmetry, it creates consistency. It is found in ancient temples of worship and even in modern churches. The commonest version is the two dimensional print vision.

When overlapped with three dimensional Platonic solid figures, it creates a more varied representation of geometry. This topic is the most trending and famous area of discussion among today’s metaphysical and spiritual communities

By in Consciousness Spirit Science

[crimsonlyinglilly]

Day 28: bloody nose / medic / abandoned

Day 28 for @augustofwhump.

sorry for being late got distracted starting a quilt.

NEW AU (when will I stop?)

Second Chances-  a attempt to break the Crescent curse goes wrong in an unexpected way, leaving the oldest three Mikaelson siblings waking in a different time.

Time Travel.

Mostly all grown from the seed @theotherworld97 planted.

----

“Freya!”

It was a strange feeling, the sound of both her younger brothers calling her name in concern, something she had never thought to ever have, heartwarming and yet at the same time in this current moment, it was irritating.

She can feel her nose bleed, taste the iron in the back of her throat, but she can almost reach their ancestors powers, the whole reason she had started this. With Elijah to act as her anchor and Finn the additional power she should be able to collect enough power that she would be able to break Dahlia’s curse on the crescent pack and give her niece her mother back.

“I know.” she snapped, as she found what she was looking for “Almost there,”

“This isn’t worth your life.” Finn complained, but she ignored it as she finally managed to connect to their bloodline’s past magic. 

“Something’s wrong.” Elijah’s quieter voice managed to make her open her eyes in concern, her eyes widened in shock as discovered Elijah red blood from his nose and eyes stark against his paler than normal skin.

Before she could call him she felt something grasp at her heart and pull.

Her brother's gasps of shock matched hers before everything went dark.

—

She woke to fallen leaves in her face, bird calls in the air and opened her eyes to find herself on the ground in the middle of some chilly woods and not in one of the upstairs rooms of the compound.

She pushed herself up to look around but all question on how and where they were; vanished as she found herself looking as Finn, her brother in his original body physical as the leaf litter mover as he pushed himself up in front of her. Given the way he was looking at his hands he was just as surprised but he still caught her when she threw herself at him in a hug

“You're alive.” she breathed as she reached out to cup his face, solid and living under her fingers.

“In a way.” he sighed, his hand coming up to rest on hers. She worked out that meant he had returned to his vampire state but she couldn’t care about that, she could understand his hatred of living like that but he was alive that was by far the most important part to her.

 “What happened?” Finn asked after a moment taking in the wilderness around them, she let him go to look around her herself but before she could do anything more a voice called out.

“I was thinking the same.” a far too young voice replied they twisted around at the same time, Finn trying to push her behind as he did.

A boy around 10 was staring at them, dark brown hair and brown eyes leaning heavily on a tree. There was something about him that was familiar to Freya but she couldn’t place it.

“Elijah.” Finn answered for her, her eyes widened as she retook in the boy to memorise the little brother she had missed growing into the man she knew, “How?”

“No idea, “ he shrugged, stepping away from the tree towards them swaying slightly as he did, “I felt myself being torn from my body.”

“Are you ok?” she asked, pulling herself from Finn’s hand to kneel in front of him, he was so small like this she thought as she reached to check him, she couldn’t help it even as she was trying to work out how this had happened.

What could have caused this change to her brother, from vampire back to young witch-

She remembered the state of him before the spell had gone wrong, or before she had noticed, somehow their ancestral magic had reached back and targeted the anchor to pull them away.

She hissed as she realised her mistake, it was their blood, the magic of their blood, she had thought with Elijah no longer a witch, as a vampire he wouldn’t have been affected by it but it seemed even after being turned into a vampire the magic of their blood still called to itself.

She wasn’t sure how that had ended with them in a woods somewhere or why Elijah returned to such a young age, if it wanted to return him to his human state surely it would have been easier to just return him to just before Esther had changed them.

And why hadn’t Finn similarly been transformed.

Her eyes widened as she noticed a second flicker of magic within Elijah, another soul but unlike when she had first met Finn in the other body, this one wasn’t asleep and this one was almost a match with Elijah.

“Your not alone in-” she started,

“This body.” he finished for her, wincing slightly “no, my younger self was looking after the babies when I woke here.”

“Your younger- time travel? That’s not possible.” Finn cut in as Freya’s mind spun.

She had been calling to the magic in their blood, their ancestors, but that had ended with them, they were the last generation for a thousand years so instead of granting her the power, the magic had sent them back to the last witches of their line.

Themselves.

“Time Travel or Parallel Universe, it’s one of them,” Elijah replied sharply, glaring up at Finn over her shoulder as he allowed her to place her hand on his forehead “as this Elijah’s memories are identical to mine from around this time until now. Or do you have another reason I'm stuck as a child?”

“I don't, why just you and not Freya or I?” Finn snapped back.

“I was the one casting the spell with your power, the magic must have viewed us both as witches but Elijah, you had the blood of their line but you weren't so- the magic brought us to the magic we were seeking and returned you the way it saw you should be.” he theorised aloud, swallowing back her comments about how adorable Elijah was this age even glaring at Finn.

Now was not the time, but she was going to treasure the chance she got to see sight of any of her siblings that were stolen from her. 

“So this is our ancestors' answer to correcting that and giving us the power you asked for?” Elijah asked dryly with a slight frown, and Freya had to stop herself from reaching out to pull him into a hug, the impression of looking more like a pout than the look she knew he was aiming for.

She had missed out on all of this, her siblings looking sweet and innocent, unhardened by time. 

“Can we fix this?” he asked again, to call her from her thoughts

“I need time to recover and to find out how you're connected.” she explained, she had to know how and where they had ended up and to ensure she didn’t harm the younger Elijah in any attempt, it would require a delicate touch and power. The second she would have time to recover, the first would take more work.

“ELIJAH!” a shout came suddenly from the woods around them, making her and Elijah jump, she turned to Finn to find him staring in one direction likely listening to whoever it was with supernatural hearing.

“I don't think we have time.” Elijah said, one of his hands moving to clutch his tunic in an uncharacteristic show of nerves, he seemed to notice as his other hand moved to cover it.

“Whose that?” she asked, it sounded like a child, so not one of their parents, she was slightly relieved unsure how she would react to either of them.

“ELIJAH!”

“Finn,” Elijah answered, “I was- he- this body was looking after the others before I woke up here, they would have noticed me vanishing.”

“EYLAUGR!”

“I’M HERE!” Elijah suddenly shouted before his own hand came up to cover his mouth, Freya quickly worked out the cause as she caught the surprise in his eyes shifted to annoyance.

“Elijah!” Finn hissed.

“Wasn’t me,” he snapped back glaring back up at Finn, she looked between them and realised if she wasn’t between them the venom and tension would likely be worse, and here she had thought Klaus and Elijah over the last few months had been bad.

“My younger self is up here.” Elijah told them two fingers tapping at his head. “Besides, do you have another way to deal with this, I'm- this body is going to be missed.”

Finn was silent as they all realised the truth in the statement, Elijah would need to return and play the role of his younger self until they were ready.

Something in Freya’s chest ached at the idea of somewhere beyond the trees were all her younger siblings, Klaus and Rebekah, even Kol who she had just missed out on meeting, too busy relearning the world after another century sleep to know she was losing her time with him and tiny Henrik, the one she had never thought she would get a chance to meet.

He had been dead by the first time she had learnt he ever existed. 

“ELIJAH!” The shout came much closer this time along the sound of frantic steps, she twisted slightly to the sound of it to catch the moment the owner of the voice came into view and saw them.

“Get away from him!” was shouted moments later and suddenly Elijah was pulled from her arms and pushed behind the boy.

Finn, a few years older than Elijah, fourteen perhaps, hair a darker brown making the season nearer winter than summer. Elijah looked somewhat surprised at young Finn’s action looking up at him from his new place at his side with a confused look.

“I wasn’t hurting him.” she offered showing both her hands to him to show her harmlessness, Finn moving behind her to scowl didn’t help her motives.

“Stay away from him, you can’t take him.” young Finn repeated, pulling a knife to keep them back.

She could almost feel her Finn wince behind her as he no doubt realised the same thing as her. A sibling stolen away by a witch, a reminder of Finn’s worst memory.

They were all silent for a moment before Eijah spoke, voice strangely soft and quiet, she wondered if the younger Elijah had managed to take over.

“It’s okay, Finn.” Elijah muttered his hand reaching out to grab Finn’s coat making Freya suddenly realise Elijah was out in the autumn cold in just a tunic, while she was cold, dressed for New Orleans heat, Elijah’s body was just a child it would suffer the effect sooner.

“He’s getting cold.” she said, getting a suspicious glare from Finn before he stepped backwards from them keeping Elijah behind him as he did so, once there was a distance between them he put the knife away and slipped off his coat to push onto Elijah. “Finn- i can’t- you’ll-” Elijah started as he struggled to hold the coat in his arms.

“Eylaugr.” Finn warned and Elijah sighed pulling the coat over him, the size difference meant it covered most of him, sleeves covering his hands and going past his knees and Elijah failed to hide the way he sighed at the sudden warmth.

She frowned at her own failing to notice he was cold when he had been under her reach.

“We’re going.” Young Finn told them before he started to walk away with Elijah under his arm, Elijah managed to send them a nod before he left.

For a moment she can enjoying getting to see the picture she had dreamed of in her first years with Dahlia, her little brothers together. Finn’s arm over Elijah’s shoulder to lead him away from the apparent threat.

Then she catches the words between them.

“Father’s furious,” the young Finn snapped but unlike the older Finn the concern in his voice was clear as was it in the arm still over Elijah’s shoulder holding him tight at his side, almost as if he expected Elijah to still be snatched form him. “you abandoned the little ones alone.”

“What’s the punishment?” Elijah asked with resignation in his words even as their voices faded from her hearing.

“I convinced him to let me find you but-” she caught before it faded completely, leaving her to watch as the pair of her little brothers vanished into the woods.

Punishment, because Freya’s spell had called the child from his task, because her spell had left Elijah in a body that was vulnerable and still under the care of a man that had grown cruel in her loss and a woman that bartered her first child away.

“Finn, we need to follow them.” she told him with sudden urgency, he frowned at her.

“What? Freya, why?” he asked, clearly his attention split between her and the distant sound of his younger self and Elijah.

“We came here together, we can't just abandon.” she explained.

“He’ll be fine.” Finn told her to reinsure her but the flat frown and the way he kept glancing from her to where they had vanished made her doubt it.

What’s the punishment? Elijah had asked unsurprised by it and little Finn hadn’t bothered to deny it.

“I want to see them.” She said, trying from a different angle, “I want to see the family I was taken from, the little siblings we should have got to look after together.”

Finn sighed but gave him, he really hadn’t changed much from her few most precious memories, he had given in back then too.