#(actually: they already have in the past when they came at me)

[beautifullilacsky]

It was late, and he had to go to work early again tomorrow. Though, when he mentioned that he was trying to fall asleep after asking me if I am tired, I wanted to help in a way. So, I offered him a massage. Little did I know it wouldn't help him sleep soon at all. We started talking more, and at one point we talked about which parts of my internship I enjoyed, and which I did not. Based on the fact that I am enjoying the designing part, he thought it could be a nice idea to look into jobs in that region. Yes, he was right; I told him about the job that I found interesting; UI/UX designer. I explained it a bit, and he said that the back-end part sounded more like programming. Then, I hesitated for a moment but decided that this is the exact moment to say it. I guess I had been a bit scared. A bit scared he'd find it useless, or out of character, or ... I don't even know. Anyway. Now it was time to spill how I figured that for (a part of) this job, programming might be needed, or a plus. So, that is what I've been learning for the past 2 weeks. He asked what exactly I was learning, so I explained the app and the languages that I was working on. He fairly noted a couple of times that I was getting shy, which, I was. He said I really didn't have to be, asking me to come lay besides him again. "Are you doing it because of me? Or because of the CC thing?", I was happy to assure him that no, I did not learn this for him. He thanked me for telling him about what I've been doing these days. I thanked him that eventho he knows that people aren't using these coding languages, he didn't demotivate me. According to him, it is really good to know the basics. I don't remember the exact order, but I do know he told me I was cute uncountable amount of times, accompanied with many back kisses. Also quite a few "I like you"'s.

"You know, if you want, you can use my desk or we can get you another monitor". I hesitated a bit, being my comfizone self who is afraid the double screen will be so good I'll not want to live without it. He said he can only offer, and I said it'd actually be nice. "Okay, we will look into it tomorrow afternoon then". He also kept his appropriate distance, while showing me his support, by saying that if I had any questions, I knew who to come to. Yeah. If anyone can answer my questions, it's him. Mt smart smart boy.

Anyway. I thanked him for listening and I apologized for keeping him awake for long. He didn't mind it at all. Instead, he was grateful. He went on to touch me. "Hey, boyfriend, have you looked at the clock?". He again, didn't mind. He was awake, and so was I. If I wanted him to stop, he said he would, but I honestly didn't. After he went down on me for a while, I pulled him back up. He kissed my neck and asked me if I was okay. I was, but I felt the time pressure, making it harder for me to reach that point, putting even more pressure on, etc etc. "Oh no. You don't have to feel pressured; all you should do is enjoy. We have all of the time in the world, okay? Take all the time you need. Really, don't feel pressured", he assured me multiple times. I asked for teamwork, which allowed him to softly tell me more loving words, such as saying he liked me, how I was hot, and how I was being a good girl. After I finished, he asked me if he should stop, and that I could say "no" to the question if it felt good. He sucked on the skin of the area between my neck and collarbone as I came for the second time. That was insanely intense. He already thought I did the first time, but now I actually did start crying. He held me, making comforting shushing noices, "go ahead, let it all out. It's okay, you can cry".

A lot of back kisses, sweet words and a tiny bite later, I fell asleep into his arms. Sjeesj, he made me feel SO SO insanely safe and loved. He said all of the right things, and knew exactly what was going through my brain, using that info to calm me down. He owns my heart, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I am so sure that it is safe in his hands.

[anthurak]

"I'd like to hear him out..."

(credit to @phuezo for the awesome art XD)

So here’s a fun little AU concept for the past couple months since Mastermind aired and people started throwing around ‘What if Charlie (or Lucifer) was at Blitzo’s trial?’ ideas:

What if Vaggie didn’t (entirely) lose her wings to Lute’s attack? Meaning that Charlie actually KNOWS that Vaggie is an angel from the beginning. And leading to Vaggie not hiding her identity by pretending to be a sinner and instead be generally open about her past as an angel and exorcist. Which I think could have some rather interesting ripple effects.

Now I realize it might be a bit headscratching how ‘Vaggie doesn’t lose her wings’ leads to ‘Charlie (and Vaggie) showing up at Blitzo’s trial’, but hear me out.

First off, I think the ‘How’ of this divergence is actually pretty easy to imagine; instead of ripping her wings off, Lute decides to inflict a different kind of sadistic torture on Vaggie. Terribly maiming her wings to prevent her from flying, but still leaving her wings to make it clear just what she is. Basically, Lute and Adam fully expect Vaggie to be torn apart by vengeful demons.

But in true dramatically ironic fashion, Vaggie is NOT found by the ‘evil, terrible demons’ that Lute and Adam (and even Vaggie herself) were expecting, but by Charlie Morningstar. And I think we can all agree that Vaggie happening to have a pair of angel wings would NOT meaningfully change Charlie’s reaction to finding her in the slightest.*

Charlie still basically falls for Vaggie at first sight, takes her in and patches her up and gives her a home. And in this version, after it becomes clear that Vaggie’s wings aren’t healing, Charlie also calls in a favor from Uncle Ozzie to design some cool cybernetics/prosthetics to give Vaggie full wing-functionality back. And after a while, Charlie and Vaggie fall in love and start dating just like they did in canon, possibly even sooner/stronger given that Vaggie doesn’t have the specter of hiding who she is from Charlie hanging over her in this version.

And this is where we get to one of those interesting ripple-effects of this change.

Because I think it is VERY likely (as in, I imagine we’ll actually see this come up in the actual show) that Charlie’s belief in sinner-redemption and drive to help sinners in large part came from Vaggie. Specifically in that Charlie believed that Vaggie was a sinner. As in, Charlie falling in love with someone who she thought was a sinner was a MAJOR factor in Charlie believing that sinners could be redeemed and general drive to help them.

Now obviously I’m not suggesting that Vaggie was the only reason or that Charlie wouldn’t care about the sinners otherwise. At the same time, I think it’s a bit ridiculous to assume that Charlie believing the woman she loves was a sinner all that time wasn’t a major contributor to her motivation in ‘making a hotel to redeem sinners’. Or that Charlie knowing Vaggie WASN’T a sinner from the beginning couldn’t put her on a different path…

Basically, this version of events with Charlie falling in love with ‘Vaggie the fallen angel/former exorcist’ instead of ‘Vaggie the human sinner’ ends up rippling out to lead Charlie to focus not on the problems of the human sinners, but rather the problems faced by the hellborn demons.

Say for example; because Charlie knows that Vaggie is an angel, and thus almost certainly NOT bound to the Pride Ring, the pair end up taking a few trips/dates to see the other rings. Particularly given that Vaggie already know Asmodeus.

But in the process of these trips, Charlie starts noticing many of the issues faced by the hellborn demons. Many of which she doesn’t remember from back when her father was running things…

Basically this ties into another theory I’ve had since Mastermind that a lot of the societal issues we see in Helluva Boss are the result of, or at least have been heavily exacerbated by, Lucifer’s long ABSENCE from ruling thanks to his centuries-long depressed isolation. Something that I think Mastermind pretty heavily hints at given everything we see from Satan in that episode. And that at some point, Hazbin Hotel is going to show Charlie having to DEAL with many of these issues as part of her arc of growing into a leader and future ruler of Hell.

And in this version of events, instead of being drawn to wanting to help the human sinners, Charlie is drawn to wanting to help the hellborn demons. Basically, since her father clearly isn’t doing his job, perhaps SHE should step up and try doing it instead?

And of course, Vaggie is right at her side through ALL of this. In fact, she may even be a bit more gung-ho about it, given that it probably feels to her a bit more feasible than ‘redeeming sinners’.

This all leads to Charlie pushing herself not so much into ‘replacing’ her father outright as ‘ruler’ of Hell, but rather starting to assume a kind of regency position. Not full-on ‘ruling’ (yet), but still starting to assume some of the roles and duties that her father has been neglecting for a couple hundred years.

And the fun thing is that nobody is really able to stop Charlie from doing any of this. After all, she IS the princess and heir apparent of the Morningstars, meaning she is well within her rights to assume a number of roles of her father. Particularly as Charlie makes it very clear that she is not trying to outright supplant her father, but is simply assuming duties that he’s been neglecting. To the point of keeping the title of ‘Princess’, or maybe ‘Princess Regent’.

Sure, some/most/all of the Goetia/other nobility might not like a lot of the ideas and goals Charlie is talking about, such as ‘Maybe the Imps, Hellhounds, etc AREN’T actually lesser and born to serve the nobility and shouldn’t be treated as such’, but there also isn’t really anything they can do to STOP her or remove her from her new position. After all, the only one with the authority truly above Charlie’s is Lucifer himself.**

And the nobles who do make a scene and/or pitch a hissy fit about Charlie’s ‘radical ideas’ tend to find themselves at the business-end of her girlfriend’s spear, sword or divinely-mailed fist. Really, in this situation Vaggie is a pretty big fucking deal all on her own, being a fallen angel and all. Certainly NOBODY is going to be judging Charlie on her choice of romantic partner. Well, maybe some sinners might judge her for dating a former exorcist, but any Hellborn demons, even the Goetia? No fucking way. Really, people would probably be making comments on how Charlie is taking after her mother.

Heck, even in the short time since Charlie started this endeavor, Vaggie’s probably earned her own title or two. ‘Blade of the Morningstar’? ‘Wings of the Princess’?

Of course it’s also worth noting that there are still some pretty hard limits to what Charlie can accomplish in terms of fixing/reforming the issues of hellish society, at least in the short term. She can’t just snap her fingers and fix classism or completely wipe out the Goetia’s authority (or the Goetia themselves). Particularly as Charlie doesn’t have the ultimate overriding authority of her father. Realistically, Charlie’s authority as Princess/Regent only just supersedes that of any of the Sins, and while that might put her above effectively ANY other one person in Hell, it also doesn’t give her absolute ‘do anything I want’ authority either. Not to mention that this is still Charlie we’re talking about, who in this timeline is still only JUST getting use to throwing her authorial weight around.

But at the same time, again there really isn’t anything anyone can do to fully STOP Charlie from doing anything either. Meaning that in the short time since assuming her new role as regent, say about a year or two, Charlie has already started making small but noticeable changes and ripples to Hell’s society.

Which brings us to this new version of Mastermind, with Charlie and Vaggie making a surprise appearance at Blitzo’s trial and Charlie actually wanting to hear the imp out. This leads to a number of other fun changes including but not limited to:

Charlie invoking both ‘Princess Regent Authority’ and ‘Favorite Niece Privileges’ to get all of the Sins voting on her side to hear Blitzo out and override literally all of the Goetia royalty.

Andy-the-not-actually-a-sister-fucker pitching a hissy fit over this and getting choke-slammed and almost speared by Vaggie.

Blitzo still finding a way to fuck up this golden opportunity by running his mouth. Because this is still Blitzo we’re talking about, and giving him a chance to talk is ALSO giving him a chance to dig himself into a deeper hole.

Stolas choosing the exact worst (and funniest) moment to dramatically burst in with his big, dramatic ‘sacrifice myself for the man I love via song number’ gambit, which actually only makes things worse/wackier when Charlie starts asking pertinent questions.

Andy pitching more hissy fits as his plans continue to unravel and getting repeatedly chokeslammed and/or kicked in the dick by Vaggie.

Striker getting dragged back in when it becomes clear there are a LOT of holes in his story, only to constantly flip-flop on his story because he can’t figure out which authority figure(s) he should be selling-out-to/kissing-up-to in order to save his own skin.

Charlie, Vaggie and even Satan becoming ever more flabbergasted as it becomes clear that the suspect (Blitzo), prosecution (Andre), defense (Stolas) and witness (Striker) in this trial are in fact ALL complete fucking idiots.

--

*Admittedly I do have one other possible change in mind to help reinforce this: rather than a sinner child, Vaggie actually spares an imp kid, or perhaps a sinner child and their imp kid best friend. Which leads to the imp kid actually leading Charlie to the injured Vaggie and also telling her that this angel actually helped them and got hurt doing so.*** Which again serves to reinforce just how wrong Adam and Lute and much of heaven are about demons.

** And if you’re going to ask ‘Why doesn’t Charlie just go to her dad directly and get him to do his job?’, remember that Charlie had to be practically dragged kicking and screaming by her girlfriend into calling up Lucifer for help in Hazbin. I think it’s pretty clear that pre-Hazbin, if Charlie can get what she’s after without getting her dad involved, she is ABSOLUTELY going to do it.

*** Also this hypothetical imp kid doesn’t actually show up again and DOES in fact have a living family, meaning that NO, Charlie and Vaggie DON’T ADOPT THEM. Because I KNOW that is exactly what some of you started thinking when I mentioned an unattended child in relative proximity to our heroines.

--

And of course, once again HUGE thanks to @phuezo for the awesome art of Charlie and Vaggie XD

[madhatterbri]

Headbands | J.U.

Summary: Jey shows reader his headbands have other uses. 18+.

Happy Monday Night RAW, babes. ❤️ I have been working on this since Christmas Eve. x.x

Jey Uso Masterlist

WWE Masterlist

Taglist: @theworldofotps @miss-kuki-nz @surdelcielo @missbmc94 @eringobragh420 @magicalbuttertarts @hodgepodge-musings

Please let me know if you'd like to be added to/deleted from the taglist.

While on the phone, Y/N told her friend that she'd loved to be tied down by him and blindfolded with Jey's headbands. Pink was his color, and the headband made him even more attractive. She didn't think he was actually listening to her or that he was hatching a plan in his head to use them on her. She was in for a rude awakening one night.

Jey insisted on letting the kids spend the night at their friend's house. She didn't think anything of it. They hadn't had an adult night in a while. Some alone time would be a nice change from the typical pace they grew accustomed to. When Y/N came home from dropping them off, she went to the bedroom.

Her boyfriend was on the bed in nothing but boxers. He played with three headbands in his hands. All pink. "I want to see you with nothing on and on this bed,"

She gulped and nodded. The tone in his voice nearly made her crumble at his feet. He was so demanding, yet she could hear the strain in his voice. Jey had been thinking about this for a while.

Her clothes vanished quickly. They were left a mess on the floor. His dark brown eyes watched as she crawled into bed. She laid on her back in the middle of the bed.

The Main Event wrestler studied her position for a moment. Dissatisfied with her placement, he grabbed her ankles and pulled her down slightly. She gasped yet didn't say anything. This Jey was doing so many things to her.

"Take your head off the bed," he ordered.

Her head lifted slightly off the bed. A headband was draped over her eyes. He tied the fabric around her head. She laid her head back down, unable to see a single thing. The dark room wasn't helping her.

"Arms towards the headboard,"

"Jey?"

"You want to tell your little friends your fantasies but me? Arms. Now,"

Her hands shot up towards the headboard. He tied her wrists together with the second headband. With the loss of vision, her other senses started to kick in. His cologne danced with her nose. The sheets felt different under her. The taste of his kisses as he planted them on her lips almost sent her to a frenzy. Her ears perked up at any sound of the bed creaking under her.

Despite her loss of sight, she tried to figure out where he was on the bed. This did little to help her, especially when his attention was focused on her breasts. His palms planted at her sides to steady himself over her.

Kisses, licks, and soft bites were placed on her bare chest. His bottom lip rubbed against her skin before latching on to her breast. A soft gasp slipped past her lips. Her back arched as she squirmed underneath him. No breast was left alone for long before he put his full attention to it.

"Jey," she whispered. Her body felt hot. A trail of kisses ran down from the valley of her breasts to her below her belly button. One of the hands at her sides moved down. The next thing she knew, his hand cupped her pussy.

"Damn, baby, already?" He asked with a condescending tone. His fingers pushed between her folds and were coated with her juices. Jey's finger rubbed against her clit. She nodded eagerly. "You been thinking about this little fantasy a lot, huh?"

"Yes," she breathed. He stopped to look at her. Her mouth parted as she tried to relax to his touch. The blindfold made things feel elevated. Jey moved his fingers down to her entrance. She bucked her hips to have him enter her.

"Nuh, uh, little mama, be patient," he told her. His finger circled her entrance slowly. "Now, have you been thinking about this little fantasy a lot?"

Her answer came out in a sharp cry the moment he thrust his finger inside of her. She had been thinking about this. There was nothing that consumed her mind more. The love of her life just taking advantage of her while his headbands allowed him complete control over her. And he did.

He added a finger and another inside of her. Her body clamped around his fingers to not let him leave her. Hungry kisses planted on her pussy before he dived his tongue between her folds. His tongue swirled around hitting spots that made her extra noisy. She hissed and whined as she fought against the binds that held her from burying his head deeper inside of her. Jey reveled in her reaction.

"I need you," she pleaded. "Jey please."

"Please? Damn, baby, where are these manners normally? Oh, it's because you can't do anything now huh?" He asked. His tanned hands played with her binds. "Gotta be a good girl and take what Big Jey gives you."

Y/N resisted against the binds some more. Her muscles ached from her resistance. Despite his threat, he had mercy on her. She bit her lip when she felt him at her entrance.

"This is what you do to me. All tied up looking like a sexy present," he confided in her. With little fanfare, he thrust inside of her. She brought her head back and moaned. Her walls accommodated him as he filled her to the brim. Jey stayed still inside of her watching his beautiful girl take him so well.

Dirty talk fell from his lips as he continued to take her. Her hips moved in time with his thrusts. She bit her lip as her mind wandered to imagine what he was doing to her. His brown eyes stared at her body intently. A rough hand gripped her hip. His other fingers rubbed down her stomach. It wasn't long before they would unravel into the other.

Jey removed the headband from her eyes. He kissed her softly. "You gonna tell your little friends about this fantasy? How you were begging me?"

"Let me go, Jey," she ordered. His ego already starting to get on her nerves.

The Royal Rumble winner laughed. He placed his headband over her eyes once again. "Who said we were done?"

[itsabouttimex2]

Oh! Can you rank macaque ships too?

69, shadowpuppet ect

Macaque Ship Ratings

(Scores rank from -10 at the lowest, and 10 at the highest)

(Sun Wukong)

Before reading this list, please keep in mind:

1. Not every ship has enough content for me to remark on, and some ships contain dynamics that I find triggering!

2. My social media usage is limited, and I don’t use every site.

3. I have not consumed every piece of artwork and fanfic in the fandom, so I’m just remarking on trends from what I have seen.

Shadowpuppet

Name Rating: 10/10. I’ll admit- this one is good! I like the reference to: Macaque’s powers, the Mayor’s status as a (willing) pawn of the LBD, Macaque’s status as a (sort of willing) pawn of the LBD, Macaque’s actual use of shadow puppetry… it’s a good name!

Canon Rating: -5/10. Look. C’mon. The Mayor and Macaque have literally no positive interactions at all, they have barely any screen time together regardless. Anything the Mayor does to Macaque is immediately harmful and he takes glee in it.

Fanon Rating: -3/10. In general you’ll notice a running trend that Fanon!Macaque in general is your generically rancid and one-note “He never did even a single bad thing ever at all!” that woobified villains tend to get, and Shadowpuppet goes hard on this trend by portraying Macaque purely through the lens of him being a flat and uninspired “eternal victim”- but it only gets a -3 because it is somewhat appropriate when the person in question genuinely is an awful person who has only ever hurt Macaque.

Personal Enjoyment: 0/10. Sorry, y’all. I just don’t see it.

Shadowpeach

Name Rating: 5/10. Basic, but rolls off the tongue. Started the trend of Sun Wukong having extremely basic ship names, unfortunately.

Canon Rating: 0/10. Whatever they had in the past, Macaque simply treats Wukong far too awfully to really justify the two of them ever getting together. Even the attempts at reconciliation feel more like extremely forced ship baiting, given how it goes from one of the two being marginally kinder to the other than usual, then immediately dropping it for more sniping. (Past!Shadowpeach receives 5/10.)

Fanon Rating: -10/10. I've spoken at length about this, but fans love to distort Wukong into a drooling abuser so stupid he can't breath through his nose, usually while turning Macaque into a Possession Sue who only serves to be the author's simpering self-insert who is the most perfect little baby of all time who has never ever done anything wrong at all even once. If there is an attempt to be “nuanced" or "unbiased" it manifests as "Sun Wukong "killed" (re: defended himself against) Macaque so he's worse." It's an awful, extremely pervasive dynamic that rots any fandom enjoyment I could have had for this couple.

Personal Enjoyment: 6/10. Getting to write Macaque as the legitimately awful person that he is takes off the edge of seeing constant “uwu sadboi" Macaque content. Still, I rarely touch anyone else's Shadowpeach content because of how pervasive “Fanon!Macaque” is.

Blackberry

Name Rating: 10/10. Macaque actually gets like… really good ship names. Whoever is coming up with these is putting in more effort than whoever came up with all of Sun Wukong’s ship names, at least. The name references both Change’s association with food, and is a color that both characters share! Also- I have a serious weakness for ship names that reference real things.

Canon Rating: 0/10. There’s not even any indication that the two know that the other exists. Maybe they’ll meet up at some point, but as for right now

Fanon Rating: -5/10. Hey, remember what I said above two times already? That Fanon!Macaque is a big simpering bitch baby who only exists to serve as an eternal victim for the writer to coddle like a saint whose only crime is being too perfect? Same applies to Blackberry, to no surprise! It’s less egregious in that Chang’e is legitimately a sweet and loving lady.

Personal Enjoyment: 3/10. The fanart can be cute, but that’s about all that Blackberry has going for it that appeals to my taste. Maybe I’ll come around to it if they have some interaction in the show proper, but I’m not banking on it.

Inkypages

Name Rating: 7/10. This is a simpler name, but I like it! Again, Macaque’s (and Tang’s, too!) ship names are willing to go beyond trying to confine him to a single aspect of his character and actually utilize several aspects of his personality and being beyond just one food. (Yes I’m still mad about the peach prioritization that Sun Wukong’s ship names have.) Inkypages isn’t bad! I like saying it! It’s a logical thing to say!

Canon Rating: -10/10. Okay. Okay, I know. I talk about this a lot. Macaque in the story doesn’t really have logical growth as a character because the show isn’t willing to center any significant time around his flaws and misdeeds outside of MK being hurt by him and then in turn throwing him second chances like cheap candy, which means that Macaque’s genuinely villainous actions have no weight because even the people hurt the worst by him don’t actually get to have thoughts or feelings on how he’s hurt them, and even at his absolute most rancid all of his wrongdoings are simply forgotten, which means his dynamic with Tang is literally: Be a piece of shit -> degrade him -> violently attack him -> try to manipulate him -> be defended by Tang after releasing the Samadhi Fire -> nothing.

It’s... it’s just not good. I still don’t understand why Macaque was going to be a villain at all if nothing he did reflects back onto him in any way or is hard to grow past. It’s just... their dynamic is bad. Most of Macaque’s dynamics are bad because the majority of his growth happens offscreen and away from the people that he’s hurt, which leaves reduces what could’ve been a genuinely intriguing and complex character arc to nothing.

Fanon Rating: -8/10. Hey, do you guys like seeing Tang be turned into a snarky lid-eyed whore who hates Wukong? No? Then you won’t like Inkypages. Hey, do you guys like seeing Macaque be reduced to a blubbering pants-shitting baby who needs to be coddled past whatever misdeeds the author invented to be mad at Wukong for supposedly committing? No? Then you won’t like Inkypages. Hey, do you guys like blatant character assassination for the sake of babying villainous blorbos and over-angstifying old men? No? Then you won’t like Inkypages.

Personal Enjoyment: 0/10. This is the longest section of this rant for a reason. I just… it’s a lot like Shadowpeach, where to a large degree the fans have kinda turned me away from any portrayal of the ship- except Shadowpeach has an interesting enough dynamic that I like engaging with it anyhow, at least on my own.

End Result

(Scores ranging from -40 to +40)

Shadowpuppet= 2/40

Shadowpeach= 1/40

(Past!Shadowpeach would be around 20)

Blackberry= 8/40

Inkypages= -11/40

[hergrandplan]

"He's the one"

thank you @enjoythesilentworld for this fun tag!!

Post a 1-5 paragraph excerpt of a WIP/fic idea that may never make it out of your drafts but is near and dear to your heart.

I started this so so long ago and actually looked at it a few days ago and realized that this may simply be one I can't figure out. I know what it's supposed to be (exes who are friends, and then Simon gets engaged and Wille becomes his best man) but I don't know how, and either way, I don't think this particular scene will make it in! So here it is, for your enjoyment (yes. this is longer than 1-5 paragraphs. it could have been even longer but there were too many square brackets in the final few that I couldn't figure out. but hey. More cake!)

**

With a loud “Wille, you’ll never believe what happened!” Simon stormed into the living room, temporarily making Wille look up from the book he was reading. A book he was enjoying.

He already regretted giving Simon the keys to his house. One of these days, he was sure, Wille was going to come home and find Simon splayed out on his couch, having raided his cupboards and eating all his snacks.

“What, Simon?” he said with feigned disinterest, while trying to finish this last paragraph.

Simon grabbed the book out of his hands before he could, and tossed to the other side of the room.

“Hey!” Wille exclaimed. [maybe this needs to be more of a description of the sound like ‘disgruntled noise’ or something but not disgruntled] “I was reading that!”

“You can read later, I have something to tell you.” Simon sat down on the couch next to him, the widest grin possible on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. “I met someone. And I’m pretty sure he’s the one.”

“You said that about the previous guy. And the guy before that. And the guy before that.”

“Yeah, but this time I’m sure of it.” Simon fell back against the couch cushions, and ran a hand through his black curls. “He’s sweet, and considerate, and incredible in bed. I mean the way he–“

“Okay, okay, I do not need to hear you go on about your sexual escapades again, please. Where did you meet him?”

Simon’s hand got stuck in his curls, and he blushed. Actually blushed, and that’s how Wille knew the answer.

“Please don’t say the club.”

Simon didn’t reply.

“Simon, we talked about this. Not every guy you fuck is the one.”

“Yeah, but this time it’s different! I mean, I met him last Saturday and we went out for dinner last night and Wille,” Simon sat up again, stared into Wille’s eyes. “I came from his place just now. I haven’t even been home yet since Saturday. He has a bed frame. A bed frame that is incredibly suitable to – ” Wille gave him a look, and Simon stopped mid-sentence. “Okay, it doesn’t matter what it’s suitable to, but c’mon.”

“Wait, but if you met him Saturday –“ Wille quickly did the math in his head. “Simon, you’ve known this guy for what, 4 days?”

“I know, I know, it’s too soon but truly, I’m telling you, he’s the one. For real this time.”

Wille rolled his eyes and get up to get his book from where Simon had flung it to heedlessly.

“Sure. Tell me again in a month when it hasn’t crashed and burned again, and maybe I’ll believe you.”

Simon’s problem, according to himself, was that he just loved too much and that they were never able to handle it. And maybe he was right, a bit – almost every guy he met was the one until he found they weren’t ready for a relationship, were still in love with their ex, or, in more than one case, had a girlfriend already.

Simon’s problem, according to Wille, was that he couldn’t see past all the raging red flags. Simon would have killed it if he were a bull fighting in the arena.

Not tagging anyone bc Idk who has been tagged already and I sadly dont have the brain capacity or the time for that rn. So if you see this and want to join in: this is your sign!

[yesimwriting]

Do you think whether Louis shares this past family at all?

I imagine it’d hard to talk about Claudia being that he doesn’t really acknowledge vampirism, and it plays such a huge part with her whole stunned body, the broken laws, and the coven. Not to mention Claudia took pride in being vampire and was phenomenal at it.

Also, I think about the conflict with his late human family. Paul’s death was crazy af, and the blame he got for it. The whole Graces’s baby thing. Him watching his family mourning his death.

I know he had to tell Daniel in order for the book to happen, but how much could he possibly tell the reader?

OMG what if she could create a painting with Louis and late (actually dead, not undead) his loved ones, that he either didn’t have a lot of photos of or they were lost in time.

Ohhhh this is such a good question/ask 😭 I've been thinking through their dynamic in relation to this for such a long time.

The painting idea are you kidding me 😭. That's such a great idea and something she'd definitely do/try to piece together based on any remaining photos and Louis's description.

Okay so, onto what Louis has told her. Louis has definitely told her about everyone/everything at least once. He trusts bestie reader sm and he wants her to know that, and also they're together so much it'd be kind of hard for certain things to never come up.

However, Louis isn't consistent with the level of details he provides. Bestie reader knows more about Lestat and Louis's fights and the complexities of their relationship more than anyone else. He's told her things about Lestat he's never even mentioned to Armand. Some of this is intentional, but sometimes it's just bc they're both drunk (or on other substances) and he's thinking about it and she's serving as an outlet.

Also, because I'm a firm believer that no matter how separated Louis is from Lestat, he still loves him, he talks about Lestat a lot bc it's the closest he can get to reader meeting Lestat. In some ways, reader knowing Lestat is this fantasy Louis has that he's incapable of acknowledging, but I digress.

Anyways, back to Louis's inconsistency in detail. Some of what he leaves out is because of his memory and limited perspective (kind of like what we see in the show), and other things are left on purpose. He's so afraid of reader seeing him how he sees himself, so he'd never directly address how he failed Claudia. For example, he'd tell reader about how Claudia came to be and the age that she was turned and how hard it was for her, but he'd never talk about all the ways that he made her existence harder.

Claudia is also a difficult topic for him to discuss with reader because while he doesn't see reader as Claudia, he sometimes sees a little bit of Claudia in her. Sometimes when they're really happy, Louis remembers the early years when things still seemed like they could work out. When reader wants to do things that make him nervous, he sees the ways in which he could have tried harder to keep Claudia safe. When the reader is happy and in her element (like at an art gallery), he sees what Claudia might have been.

He censors himself the most when talking about Armand. Partially because of how controlling Armand is, but also because of reader and Armand's dynamic. Armand's behavior around bestie reader is visibly different, he's more restrained, almost gentle. If Louis were to tell reader about some of the things Armand has done, she'd start seeing Armand as a monster, and Armand wouldn't feel the need to play nice anymore bc her mental image of him is already ruined.

Louis is not risking reader's safety and peace to tell her about things like Armand's torture era in the 70's.

Also, Louis isn't planning on leaving Armand so it's kind of like when the person your dating has seriously wronged you but you can't tell your friends bc then they'd hate them too much. AND reader would probably try to slap Armand or something if she knew everything, and Louis doesn't think Armand's patience with her will extend that far.

I think Louis is very back and forth on mentioning his family to bestie reader. Stories about them are, by far, the least dangerous, but they also make him think about things in certain ways. Sometimes it's weirdly healing to be able to tell her about the way that his family viewed him and other times it's nauseating.

I think he'd talk about Paul's absence the most, but he wouldn't delve into the details of what happened if that makes sense. Like he talks about his feelings over Paul's death, but he divides his emotions from the chain of events that caused them. Tbh that's how he handles most discussions of grief.

Okay, some new bestie reader lore that you have no way of knowing about because I haven't written it into existence yet that's super relevant to this question, but part of the reason that reader lets Louis get away with being relatively 'cagey' about certain aspects of his grief is bc she's doing the same thing.

Not to drop crazy lore here, but in my head, bestie reader lost someone important to her a little before she met Louis. In some ways, she feels similarly to what Louis feels, in the sense that sometimes she's scared that she's replacing the person she lost with Louis. However, her grief is much more plain sadness than actual guilt, and so she assumes that Louis doesn't want to talk about certain things because it's hard and not bc of vampire self hatred/guilt.

Louis also knows that there's someone reader isn't talking about enough because he pays attention to how she acts, but also because he can see into her thoughts. I do think he works hard at actively giving her mental privacy, but at times he gets really worried or her thoughts are particularly loud bc she's distracted or overwhelmed and he hears things.

So basically, to an extent, they're living in a mutual denial. I have an idea for a drabble/fic where this is forced to end and they talk about a lot of things, and if you'd be interested in that pls lmk!

Also, slightly off topic, but a big part of the reason he keeps anything from reader is rooted in a subconscious self hatred. Bestie reader is going to get Louis to love himself or die trying, and I'm so serious. As the story progresses, bestie reader is going to lock in and get Louis to feel less guilty about what he is.

He's actually so delusional, so convinced that any blunt conversation about vampirism could be the thing that pushes reader away. In reality, reader does not gaf about him being a vampire. She is generally curious about vampires, but she thinks everything about Louis is so much more interesting.

That's her Louis, and if she walked in on him actively draining seven people at once she'd just be like 'sometimes I need a late night snack too'. She'd actually become a vampire activist if it meant Louis would feel better about himself.

[coleeeitgysn1infi]

Another day rant-

(not an analysis, just my boring take and bad grammar cos I suck at english.)

People don't seem to care much on the difference about SaneGiyu and GiyuSane and saying they don't care about the role they just want to see these two goofballs together. Which, ofc it's cute, common. But why I see such a big difference between Sngy and Gysn is because sngy is so off character to me. This is mostly on the shippers, most of them mischaracterize both of them, and when confronted about it, they just either cuss you out or don't care at all and with continue to mischaracterize them (happened to me). Which is wrong, isn't it? SaneGiyu just feels like a whole different ship where people just took the name and the design of the characters and paste it a whole completly different personality and call it canon. This happens a lot, most of the SaneGiyu stuff you see is Giyuu being a twink and Sanemi with big bad boy who has no good intentions. It's really really rare to see people keeping them canon and thank God, I came across two or three artist who ACUTELY keep both the characters in their character, with or without smut.

To be fair, I will always pick GiyuSane over SaneGiyu. SaneGiyu became so bad to me that my day gets ruined when I see it, I fr cried when I saw Giyuu on the trailer of season four, cos I damn knew the fandom was gonna do some stupid shit with that horrible redesign. 😭 (yes,I'm a season 1 Giyuu truther, come at me, I dare you).

SaneGiyu mostly is focused on Giyuu's POV and people mostly exaggerate his personality and past trauma a lot which makes people think, this version they have a Giyuu is actually his character, which is not. While GiyuSane is mostly focused on Sanemi's POV, because, unlike Giyuu who's a simple person and doesn't have a problem with being vulnerable, actually has a lot of things people can prospect on which in the fandom, is tossed aside because they already got this image of Sanemi in their head from season 1 and some do not even want to believe other wise and will continue to push that Sanemi is this horrible person.

There's a lot of messed up SaneGiyu stuff out there, mostly the people shipping it are Giyuu fans, and want him to be this submissive, feminine, twink who needs protection all the time, and who else to be that person but the aggressive over protective scar boy Sanemi who can't catch a break, calm down, not be on alarm 24/7 who actually needs to feel that protection, but will never admit it or even realize that he needs to be vulnerable.

[cryingatwindermerepeaks]

would you be able to write something with little April with Ron caring for her? maybe April is big at first but for some reason regresses involuntarily whilst with Ron? they're already my favourite autistic father daughter duo on tv and id love to see what you thing would be the same or different about their relationship when April is regressed :)

Little!April x Cg!Ron - Together

Regressuary day 4 … yes it’s early, i meant to save this as a draft but accidentally posted it instead whoopsie

Word count: 813

——————————

Everyone in the parks department knew about April’s regression. It was almost impossible to keep it hidden when they spent everyday together and April could be triggered into regressing at the smallest of upsets. However despite it being widely known knowledge, few were actually let into the small circle of people April allowed to care for her when little. This wasn’t because she disliked any of her coworkers more than others, it was simply that little April could be quite emotional and it required a certain amount of patience to handle. This meant that while Leslie and Ann spent a great deal of time with little April, Ron had rarely encountered the girl in her regressed state.

Ron and April were up late, organising fliers for Leslie’s campaign. Usually neither of them were the sort of people you’d expect to find up late in the office working on anything government related but Leslie Knope did bring out the best in everyone. “How many more to go? Ben wants to know when to come pick me up since Andy laked my car.” April asked, growing tired and fidgety as the hours passed.

“50,” Ron replied with a huff. He’d much rather be at home eating a stake right now. “About an hour if we don’t stop.” April nodded, looking down at her hands to avoid Ron’s eyes. It was well past her bedtime and the tiredness sneaking over her was loosening her grip on her adult headspace.

They continued to work at a steady pace, silence engulfing the room - not unusual for the two who found comfort in each other's lack of need for small talk. The silence did however make April’s soft whines and huffs impossible to miss when she finally slipped into her regression. Ron looked up from the paper he was folding, a look of confusion gracing his gruff features. “April? You alright?” He asked, characteristic stoicism in his voice. April glanced up, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

“Fine,” she mumbled, though her voice came out wobblier and more petulant than she’d intended. Ron quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at the younger girl.

“You don't look fine,” he frowned, observing the girl's shifty stature. “You know how I feel about lying.”

April huffed, stomping her foot against the carpeted office floor. She didn’t want to tell Ron she was feeling small because she didn’t want him to see her so vulnerable. “Feel small,” she admitted crossly, not knowing whether it was worse for him to think she was weak or a liar. His face softened at the admission, though some hesitancy crept across his features.

“That’s what’s bothering you?” He questioned, having expected something much worse and far less easily manageable to be at play. April nodded. Ron was the first to admit he wasn’t the best with kids, and he was nervous to take care of April for the first time, but if he had to take care of anyone he’d want it to be her. “That’s nothing to get all worked up over, do you have your stuff in your desk drawer?” He asked. April nodded and left Ron’s office to go retrieve her pacifier and stuffed puppy dog from her desk. While she was gone Ron cleared away the rest of the fliers, Leslie wouldn’t mind finishing them up tomorrow. “Come here kiddo,” he smiled fondly as April returned to the room. He pushed his chair back from the desk so April could climb onto his lap. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing but the kid seemed exhausted and there wasn’t exactly anywhere more comfortable to take a nap in the office. “Is Ben still coming to pick you up?” Ron asked quietly, not wanting to overwhelm her with his voice. April nodded,

“In half an hour.”

Half an hour, Ron could do that. He held her for a while, feeling her body relax into his grasp, he couldn’t admit how comforting he found it. Eventually April squirmed and whined, “I’m bored. Can I have a story?” Ron thought for a moment, what kind of story could he tell a kid? Certainly none of the books he’d read recently.

Ron ended up making up a story for April, about a little fruit bat who lived in a strong and sturdy tree and made friends with pirates and fairies. April giggled and gasped as he exclaimed the silly twists and turns until eventually they heard Ben entering the department.

“Dada!” April exclaimed, shuffling off Ron’s lap.

“Hello my little bat,” Ben cooed, hugging her tightly. “Have you been good for Ron?” April nodded eagerly.

“Grandpa told me a silly story ‘n he used lots and lots of voices!” She exclaimed. Ron chuckled heavily, feigning an offended look to Ben when April referred to him as ‘grandpa’ but deep down he was honoured by the name.

[winterdaphne2]

I've also thought a lot about the differences between pre-S3 fics and post-S3 fics, so I was very excited to see this post! I love your point about how fic authors were responding to a dynamic and contingent canon and how you explain that this was just one reason (but a big reason) why the corpus of fics out there changed over time.

I read a bit of Sherlock fic back in 2013-2014 or so, but it was really in February/March 2024 that I started reading Johnlock fics in earnest. Over the past year, I've had such a great time reading Johnlock fics that were published during all eras of the fandom, from 2010 to the present. And in reading fics that were written at different points along the release of the BBC Sherlock canon, I've found that there seem to be certain patterns, things that really stand out and tie together fics from certain periods and differentiate them from fics that were written and published at other moments. I find it really interesting and fun to think about how the body of fics out there transformed as new series were released, so I wanted to take you up on your invitation to add a couple of my own thoughts onto what you've said!

I completely agree that S3 represents a significant break. Of course, for Johnlock writers, S3 left people with a lot of new challenges to address. Suddenly, Johnlock writers were dealing with a canon where Sherlock and John no longer lived together, John was married to an assassin who shot Sherlock, and John had a baby on the way. But there's even more to it than that. For one thing, the tone of S3 is very different from that of S1-S2, and I think that's something you can feel when you read S1-S2 era fics and post-S3 fics alongside each other. After S3, Sherlock and John's love story turned more tragic. And I think that in S1-S2 era fics, there are often fewer emotional barriers to Sherlock and John getting together, whereas after S3, there's often more of an emphasis on their inability to really communicate with each other about how they feel and more of an emphasis on the need to get them to overcome that in some way.

To me, though, one of the things that divides pre-S3 and post-S3 fics most clearly is Sherlock's characterization. I've often seen it said that S1 and S2 are told mostly from John's perspective, while S3 shifts to telling the story more from Sherlock's. I think there's a lot of truth to that, and it made an enormous difference in how we, as viewers, started to see Sherlock's character once all of S1-S3 were out. Once we started getting the story from Sherlock's point of view instead of from John's, we started to see more and more of Sherlock's vulnerability, his gentleness, his loneliness, and, of course, his deep, intense love for and longing for John. All of that had already been there in S1-S2, but it seems to me that after S3 came out, it became much easier for viewers to see past the careful façade that Sherlock so often keeps in place to protect himself and to see these other sides of his character, too. I also think it's true that Sherlock changed during his time away from John post-Reichenbach and upon returning to London. In S3, Sherlock seems to have matured in some ways, and, to me, he also seems more willing to show these other sides of himself and to reveal a little more of his heart. Of course, the actual events of S3 also served to spotlight Sherlock's deep love for John and all the pain that he experienced as he pined for him, which also made all of this much easier for us to see as the audience.

In reading fics published before and after S3, I think it's quite noticeable that there was a significant shift in how a lot of authors perceived Sherlock's character after S3. In fics written before S3, we were more likely to see a version of Sherlock who could be a bit cold, who was almost always extremely confident, and who was perhaps not very attuned to his own emotions and/or a bit unprepared to understand John's. In some S1-S2 fics, Sherlock can even border on the sociopathic (for example, The Paradox Series by wordstrings is definitely a S1-S2 era series in my mind). But I think that post-S3, authors started writing versions of Sherlock who were more empathetic, much more vulnerable, and much more insecure. It also seems that pre-S3, there were a lot of John POV fics where John was hopelessly pining after Sherlock and feared Sherlock could never feel the same for him, while post-S3, there were a lot more Sherlock POV fics where Sherlock was hopelessly pining after John and feared John could never feel the same for him.

In some fics, there also seems to have been a shift in how authors started writing John after S3, too. After S3, authors seemed more likely to pick up on John's darker side and to take it seriously, and less likely to portray John as "the sane one." To me, though, this wasn't quite as sharp of a switch as the change in how Sherlock was largely portrayed pre- and post-S3.

I really love it when you can see some of this in the evolution of a specific author's writing. In particular, this is one of the many, many things that I absolutely love about Chryse as a Johnlock writer. Chryse has written a handful of really amazing, thoughtfully-constructed Johnlock case fics that are just incredible. A River Without Banks and Another Country are my favorite Johnlock fics ever, and The Ground Beneath Your Feet and A Waste of Breath are also fantastic. A Waste of Breath was published in 2013, post-S2, but A River Without Banks, The Ground Beneath Your Feet, and Another Country all came after S3 in 2015-2016. And while Chryse certainly picked up on Sherlock's vulnerability, his empathy, and his deep longing for John in S1-S2 and wrote all of that into A Waste of Breath, I think that when you read these fics, you can really see that Chryse's characterization of Sherlock changed between A Waste of Breath and their later fics written after S3 aired. Personally, I think Chryse absolutely nails Sherlock's character in A River Without Banks and Another Country, and to me it is just so cool to see that they were willing and able to adjust their interpretation of a character based on new canon material and that they ran with it so skillfully. This is something that I just really admire about Chryse's writing.

And I don't think Chryse is the only one! For example, I think there's also a shift in how @earlgreytea68 characterizes Sherlock in Nature and Nurture, an absolute fandom classic that they started publishing in 2013 and finished in May 2014, and their lovely S3 fix-it fic, The Adventures of a Single Girl in London (Plus a Consulting Detective), finished in March 2014. I love how earlgreytea68 writes Sherlock in Nature and Nurture, but I also think it's so cool that there's still this slight shift in Sherlock's characterization between Nature and Nurture and Adventures (even when the posting periods for these two fics actually overlapped a bit) because Adventures was set and written entirely after S3.

On a related note, I also think it's also interesting that a lot of authors' approaches to Sherlock's sexuality changed significantly after S3 came out. This is so interesting to me because the show started hinting that Sherlock is a virgin in ASIB in S2, but it was really after S3 that fic authors suddenly seemed to take this idea much more seriously. Pre-S3, tons of fics seemed to portray Sherlock as sexually experienced and also very confident when it came to sex. After S3, people seemed much more inclined to write Sherlock as a virgin. (Comparing Nature and Nurture and Adventures gives such a great example of this. Nature and Nurture literally has a line from John's POV that says "...Sherlock Holmes was some kind of wanton sex god or something and if John had known that he would have done this a long time ago. Possibly." But in Adventures, we get a Sherlock POV scene where Sherlock is honestly worried that John won't want to have sex with him if he realizes that Sherlock hasn't done it before. !!)

Finally, I ALSO think it's really interesting to think about how the fics that @swissmissficrecs calls "retro" Johnlock fics might fit into all of this. These are fics that were written after S3 or S4, but that basically ignore the events of S3/S4 to bring us back to a universe that's more in the style of S1-S2. Great examples that I can think of would be @arwamachine's You Might Just as Well Be Blind (2020) or @raina-at's Guess Who's Coming for Christmas Dinner (2024). I think these two fics in particular do a wonderful job of capturing the more lighthearted tone that seemed to predominate in a lot of earlier, pre-S3 Johnlock fics while also featuring versions of Sherlock that seem informed by what we learned about his character in S3. I think You Might Just as Well Be Blind in particular really fits in nicely with the tone of a lot of pre-S3 fics, but it's hard for me to imagine the version of Sherlock that we see in that fic being written before S3 aired.

Anyway, that was a lot! If anyone read this until the end, I would be so very happy to hear your thoughts on this, too. I've read a lot of Johnlock fics, but I certainly haven't read everything! Perhaps my perception is skewed, and perhaps some of what I've said is biased towards the sorts of fics that I tend to enjoy reading. I'd be really curious to hear what other people think about how Johnlock fics have changed over time.

Also, @thegildedbee, I will also say that I love reading and writing meta, so I really hope we're still doing meta as a fandom. If you ever have ideas for metas that you'd like to write, I hope you'll go for it (and feel free to tag me)!

{S1/S2} & {S3/S4} Fics: [Questions] .......................................................................

[well, instead of a few thoughts about the "whys" for the Parentlock fic recs that were the point of starting this post, and then a list of and comments about the recs, this turned into a longer meta -- which, we don't really do meta any more, do we, except in passing? fwiw, then, a throwback post, I guess?]

........................................................................................................... I've been thinking some about differences in Sherlockian fic treatments, when comparing the S1/S2 period to the S3/S4 period - in general, this means 2014 as a dividing line, although that's not a hard-and-fast cut-off point: for example, there were fics that were conceptualized or well-along-the-wip-road prior to S3 that carried on from within the earlier canon-space even if they were completed a year or so later; and there were fic authors who were publishing circa 2015 who had shrugged off S3 when it was being aired, and couldn't have cared less about post-S3 [often disputatious] meta discussions/ speculations.* So, by my figuring, 2014-2015 is a transitional phase, with my guess being that it would be late in 2015 when fics written by authors engaging with S3 canon began merging into a critical mass, creating a second, S1/2/3-transformed foundational reference point for many fics going forward -- and, the later in time one ventures, the reference point for most fics.

It's not that I've been wondering/pondering about the differences because I think pre- or post-S3 fics are better or worse -- to say the least :-) I feel positively about fic from both time periods! It's partly curiosity about the writing of fic in the two different creative contexts: in the "before time" or the "after time" of BBCS' post-Reichenbach canon decisions. And it's also partly curiosity about the differences in length that now exist for the two periods: about 4 years for pre-S3 fic -- which will always remain so, along with the amount of fic it contains [minus deletions and disappearances of specific fic] -- and going on 11 years now (and always stretching further, with increasing content) for post-S3 fic.

I think that one impulse prompting my curiosity is the fact that, realistically, at this point in time [the start of 2025] new canon is unlikely to appear. When BBCS was still in motion as an evolving source for its own canon (in actuality and in potentia), fics were brought to life within a contingent canonical landscape (whether authors were adapting to it or subverting it or anticipating it or transforming it or appropriating it or moving at tangents to it). Of course, the canonical landscape was rendered static when BBCS pulled over to the side of the motorway and killed the engine.

What I'm not saying is that fic is in stasis -- it can't ever be, for lots of reasons! One reason is that, as time passes, the world changes, and we change, and what we see when we look at traditional canon changes . . . and so the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) A second reason is that new people come along to write fic and to comment on fic, and to meta about fic, and their contributions augment and reshape the cumulative corpus . . . and so the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) A third reason is that, through our encounters with other imaginative realms, old and new (novels and films and series and other enthusiasms) and then with each other, there's a continuous glamouring that shimmers the atmosphere . . . and so (say it again :-) the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) Even so, I've been a bit wistful these days about experiencing Sherlockian canon-in-the-making . . . which is maybe what's prompted me (?) to return to the ur-source, which, because it's been so long since I've visited there, can conjure up that kind of magic :-) And so I've been doing some weekly mini-wanderings through ACD canon, and reading between the lines in a kind of what's-old-is-new-again-familiar-unfamiliarity that's been rewarding :-) But more on point for this post (ha! if you've read this far you've been wondering, is there a point? . . . ) is a sense I have that re-visiting S1/S2 fic is another way of accessing a bit of a present-day sense of canon-in-the-making, because it is far enough in the past now, and because of the post-S3's-interpolated-foundation-for-fic has itself extended outward so far, that pre-S3 fic can be visited in a what's-old-is-new-again kind of way (S1/S2 has familiar beats to it, but when visiting I somehow feel whisperings of a mrs. hudson-like smile of "but we see things somewhat differently here, dear" :-)

Okay, enough with all the preliminaries! All that being said: So, what's an example? Here's one I've come back to many times: One major shift is in fics where Sherlock is a parent, or is interacting with a child of John's, because pre-S3 means pre-Mary [at least the "Mary the (former?) assassin" of BBC Sherlock] and pre-"Rosie." [It is the case that some pre-S3 authors have a "Mary," but it's a version that's drawn from ACD canon, and, as such, is usually a much more understated presence; re kids from ACD canon, that's a null consideration.]

There are an overwhelming number of post-S3 fics where Sherlock-with-a-child means Sherlock&John-and-Mary's-Rosie under various scenarios. And while there are lots of different Rosie personalities, Rosie plots, and Sherlockian encounters with Rosie, a majority (or very nearly all?) post-S3 Parentlock fics share in this background rationale (more or less, to be sure) even as they play out from there in a gazillion different inventive ways. Pre-S3 Parentlock fics don't have that raison d'etre, of course, and the child characters and plottings that feature in the S1/S2 period have a generally wilder set of imaginings, and their S1/S2 fic Sherlocks have a balance of characteristics that have some subtle differences that I've always found intriguing, and keep coming back to (this can hold for Johns as well, although the emphasis is more pronounced with Sherlocks). Being pulled back into pre-S3 fic and re-visiting it through categories like Parentlock has been another way that I've re-experienced a kind of anticipatory canon-in-the-making . . . ambience? aesthetic? aura? which I've found to be intriguing. I'm not sure that looking backwards has much appeal for others -- maybe (?) In any case, I guess I thought I'd try and puzzle it out for myself by writing it down and not just having it float about in wisps in my mind palace :-)

Well, hey now, as this is an epic amount of wandering about, I think it's time to come to a rather inelegant galumphing of an endpoint! Writing up the fic recs will have to maybe happen somewhere down the road...

(For anyone who has wandered along this far as well: if you have any thoughts you'd like to share about S1/S2 and S3/S4 fic partitioning, or [the futility of?] attempts to re-surface a canon-in-the-making-vibe -- feel free to add them in! If so, borrowing these would allow this post a much more inspiriting way to finish :-)

........................................................................................

*(. . . and of course there were a significant number of authors who left the fandom after S3 -- but that's a fic trend reflection for another day :-)

.......................................................................................

@calaisreno  @totallysilvergirl  @friday411  @peanitbear  @original-welovethebeekeeper

@helloliriels  @a-victorian-girl  @keirgreeneyes  @starrla89  @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely  @lisbeth-kk  @raina-at  @jobooksncoffee  @meetinginsamarra

@solarmama-plantsareneat  @bluebellofbakerstreet  @dragonnan  @safedistancefrombeingsmart  @jolieblack

@msladysmith  @ninasnakie  @riversong912  @dapetty .............................................................................................

[hyakunana]

Let's just say I got hit by them once again 🐮🦝

[spittyfishy]

Thoughts on the Typhlosion allegations/pokemon teraleaks?

Okay, here’s what I’ll say about that. (And fair warning, it is nothing positive)

I think the fandoms reaction to these “leaks” has been absolutely ridiculous. They are not canon, they do not change pre-existing information present in the games and anime. Concept art is interesting, but things that were scrapped and did not appear in the actual media should not be regarded as fact.

Especially the Typhlosion thing, it’s like if jk Rowling said ‘oh yeah at one point in the writing process I thought Harry Potter would be a girl, but I changed my mind’ and the fandom went ‘oh my god Harry’s been a girl this whole time!’ Like no, a lot of work and ideas go into the concept and development of works like these, and then creators pick and choose the best of their ideas and use that, but I think it’s very problematic to judge them on the concepts that they themselves already decided weren’t good enough to use.

I have very strict opinions about what counts as canon, and that very simply is ‘what is in the work itself’. Unused concepts, things a creator said years later online, and really popular headcanons don’t count. They’ll never count, sorry but that’s not how language works, you can’t just redefine canon to encompass anything that maybe could have been a part of the project. It can be super neat to look at what changes could have been made, but it needs to be understood that that does not impact what the actual game is like.

This Typhlosion thing especially, it *could* be neat if people just took the scrapped stories to go “oh yeah the Pokémon world could have had myths and legends similar to our own! That will be interesting to explore in fan works!” But that’s not what the majority of people did. Instead, people took it to mean that somehow all Typhlosion are secretly evil and shouldn’t be left alone with children and anyone who has one or likes that Pokémon should be ridiculed based on nothing.

Because the stuff that in those leaks (baring things about unreleased games) are nothing. Looking at them in the sense of seeing ‘How It’s Made’ is interesting, fine go for it yeah sure, but they have absolutely no bearing on the actual franchise itself. And I have no patience for the people taking them as gospel and insisting they be considered more true over the actual canon.

[puhpandas]

as someone who isnt super excited for sotm for certain reasons I am really glad that like. it's clear that since ruin theyve been setting up for carnival and sotm IS carnival. so now that carnival is finally coming out, afterwards theyll be moving on to other plotlines since the main villain stuff is sorted out

I'm just rlly happy to finally see a clear direction for how the story is gonna be playing out with like "okay these games were leading up to this so after this will be open possibilites" instead of like. absolutely no info about each upcoming game and being left guessing before it releases and just having to wait and see what's in it and if anything you're looking forward to will be in it

it feels like they have a plan and a solid direction for what they're trying to do and after carnival releases thatll be all that buildup coming to fruition. & we already know from the Scott interview that theres another release 'beyond sotm' that's 'super exciting' so maybe thatll be focusing on another big currently untouched (which is basically all of them) plotline, or even the big campaign game that dawko has been calling security breach 2

[stained-glass-cicada]

chapter 6- resource allocation

hale and speaker spend an evening together

5.8k words

-

“So how did you feel last night?” Someone dropped themself into the seat across from you as you ate lunch. You startled and then relaxed as you saw it was Corrine. Then you processed her words and flushed, feeling heat crawl up your ears.

How did she know? You were already flustered this morning when you woke up and SAYER had explained that the nanites, while they would remain in your bloodstream, would simply idle there, working in tandem with your less complex nanomachines until you wanted them gone on a more permanent basis.

“What?” You said weakly.

“Last night. The others told me that I might have scared you off by beating you up so bad. Wait- no that came out rude. Beating you up an amount commensurate to a beginner. It's not your fault.”

You blinked at her a few more times. Oh. Right. The relief that washed over you mingled with embarrassment at having misunderstood.

“No, it was fun,” You offered a small smile.

She let out a sigh of relief too, “Good. I was scared of going to find you in case you were limping around. How’s the ribs?”

“Okay now,” You said. It was true, the healing process on that particular bruise had progressed quite significantly in the night.

“Good. So what are you having?”

You held up the tube of protein paste to show her the “Lemon Roast Chicken” flavor label.

“Lucky, I’m on meatloaf today,” She scoffed, twisting open the tube in her hand.

*

And you found a new pattern in your days. Yes, some nights you were still reading alone in your bed, but now there were at least two nights a week when you were just talking with SAYER and SPEAKER which sometimes became maze nights. And every Friday kickboxing with Corrine and the others.

You, admittedly, had immediately forgotten the names of the others as soon as they introduced themselves in your stress, but you were sure that it would come up organically at some point? Maybe you would be assigned to loom over them again and you'd be able to catch what their name was in the assignment listings?

You often got ‘your ass kicked so bad’ during kickboxing. But you were pretty sure you were getting better, because you actually landed two hits against someone the other day. They had immediately swept your leg out from under you and you'd gone toppling to the floor, but still two hits.

Then Friday nights after kickboxing, SAYER would quietly activate the nanites and slide in beside you, checking you over despite the fact that it was very clearly not necessary. Then you’d go to sleep together. Or well you’d go to sleep obviously, but it would stay there with you all night until you woke up.

It was the fourth time it happened that you two were interrupted.

“Gre- oh greetings Resident Hale identification number 44821. I am SPEAKER and it's good to see the both of you. SAYER, I did not realize that the two of you did this regularly!”

“It is a relatively recent development. Can we help you SPEAKER?”

“I merely came by because I saw that Resident Hale was still awake and thought perhaps he would like me to read him again.”

“Again?”

“Yes there was an occasion on which he was having a difficult time sleeping and you did not read to him. In your absence, I volunteered for the duty. Since then we have had occasion to do so every so often.”

“I see.”

You were getting the sudden feeling that you were in trouble with both of them somehow, but you weren't quite sure what you had done.

“You are, of course, welcome to join us,” SPEAKER said, after a long silence, “If that is alright with Jacob.”

Oh now the tension shifted. You weren’t in trouble, this was a weird SAYER-SPEAKER thing.

“I was already in the process of helping Resident Hale to settle into sleep.”

“I believe my point stands,” SPEAKER said pleasantly, “It remains up to him.”

The attention was back. Were you in trouble??

“I uhm…” You could feel your heart beating faster, “I mean- I'd like if you'd both stay, but… I would like to hear more of our book, SPEAKER.”

You could tell that it was not the right answer by the way that the two of them faced off silently for the next few seconds. What on Typhon was Happening?????

Finally SPEAKER broke the silence, “Then the two of you ought to settle in! ‘No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence…’”

*

The following days were strangely quiet on SAYER’s end and you wondered if you had hurt its feelings by inviting SPEAKER to join. But you didn't understand why that moment of all moments was the one when SPEAKER wasn't welcome.

Wednesday night rolled around. The three of you had fallen into a habit of doing mazes Wednesdays but SAYER hadn’t mentioned so you worked up the courage to ask first before it could terminate broadcast at the end of your shift.

“I can't say I have any particular ideas in mind tonight,” It said, “I will leave you to it, Resident Hale. End of transmission in five four three two one…”

You sighed, okay so it was definitely upset. What could be so bad that SAYER wouldn’t say?

So you shuffled off to your room turning the problem over in your head. Had you managed to hurt it somehow? Or- and the thought struck you with a sinking feeling in your stomach- maybe SAYER just didn't find you interesting enough to make a puzzle for every week. That would make sense. It made more sense than SAYER, for the first time ever, hiding its displeasure.

You pushed your way into your room feeling… confused, frustrated, scared, sad… You were getting better at this feeling identification thing, but it didn't really help when you were feeling four at once.

“Greetings Resident Hale identification number 44821, I am SPEAKER and how-”

SPEAKER paused, tone shifting, “Oh. What is troubling you, Jacob?”

How obvious was your distress for it to pick up on it so immediately?

You quickly shoved the problem aside, not wanting to involve SPEAKER. After all, that had been the very thing that had kicked this off. That didn't mean you couldn’t spend time with it, but you weren't going to involve it in the SAYER problem.

You weren't actually sure who to ask about that, but you definitely felt like SPEAKER was the wrong answer.

“SAYER doesn't want to do puzzle night,” Your voice sounded as even as it ever did, and you felt proud of that, “I was just trying to decide what else to do.”

“Oh I did not realize it had canceled. I didn't receive that message.”

You shrugged.

“Very well,” SPEAKER said, “Well, if you’re interested, I have a potential new idea for a puzzle that would be fine for just the two of us. I would need your help in one aspect of setting it up. I can walk you through the concept while I guide you to the supply we’d need, if you feel so inclined.”

Just the two of you? Well if SAYER didn't want to do a maze that didn't mean that you and SPEAKER couldn't still, you supposed. SAYER, after all, was the one who had decided not to join in and it would still be welcome if it changed its mind.

“Okay.”

“Excellent, then you will likely want to go to floor 18, testing facility A.”

You set off in the direction that SPEAKER suggested.

“If you don't like the sound of it then there's no need to collect the item that I am suggesting. However, my thought is this, there is obviously the maze itself, but I have a twist I could put upon it this week. The inspiration was in fact sparked by your and SAYER’s new pastime,” It explained.

“If SAYER has the capability of controlling the nanite swarm while still keeping some portion of its consciousness outside, I thought I might do something similar with a construct.”

You looked up at the elevator ceiling in surprise.

“I know it may seem unorthodox compared with the rest of the puzzles you have been given, but I might use the construct to implement a new kind of time limit. I would control the construct to pursue you through the maze. Rather than the ticking clock on the windows, the time limit would be the very visible approach of the construct. If it captures you, you lose, but if you find the end you win. Granted you would have a real advantage this first time, I believe. I've never operated legs before whereas you have been the proud operator of them for twenty-seven years.”

Was that how old you were? Huh.

Well, ‘controlling the construct to pursue you’ that meant it was going to be chasing you through the halls of floor 13?

That should scare you, you realized. But, even more strange than your relief at SAYER’s nanites returning, was this. The idea of being chased by SPEAKER was heart pounding and yes, a little frightening, but not unpleasantly so. It was SPEAKER. If it caught you then you would be safe still, because it was SPEAKER and it had never hurt you.

That thought caused a strange stutter in your step as you walked down the hall to the lab. You had known it, somewhere in the pit of your stomach, whenever you were interacting with the both of them, that there was some small reserve of fear when it came to SAYER. Even if you didn't believe it was worth heeding. SAYER was your friend. With SPEAKER though, there was none of that. Not because SPEAKER wasn't equally capable of all the terrifying things that SAYER was, but just because SPEAKER had never done any of them. Not to you.

“May I ask what you're thinking?” It prodded.

You nodded quickly.

“I'm sorry, I'm unclear as to what the nod indicates.”

“I like the plan,” You said.

It sounded pleased when it replied, “Excellent, we'll make it a game of tag then.”

“I've never played tag,” You said

There was even more of a smile on its voice when it said, “Me neither. I hope it's fun.”

Accessing the construct wasn't difficult. Officially speaking, SPEAKER had all the same clearance levels as SAYER did and the two of them had been doing a pretty good job sharing thus far. Nobody over stepping bounds, or at least not making mention to you. Just sharing the workload whenever they shared a space. So SPEAKER had you pick up one of the prototype constructs without needing to fuss with any extra clearance.

“You should be able to lift it easily,” It told you, “It is made of an incredibly lightweight material. Too lightweight for any outdoor use as it turns out, so this model was to be scrapped anyway. I assure you we are not misusing any of SAYER’s resources.”

You had been a little worried so that was something of a relief.

It was strange, seeing one of these from the outside, but this model was different than the one you had anyway. Articulated fingers, rather than the semi-mobile clamps that you’d had at the end of your arms. It had a smooth faceplate of black semi transparent glass or plastic. You could see the vague shape of a camera lens behind the surface. The whole construct itself was probably a foot taller than you, but it really was pretty light.

You gingerly folded its knees over one of your arms and braced its back against the other. Carrying it through each set of doors like a bride from a movie.

When you finally made it to floor 13 you shakily put it down, because even its relatively lightweight frame was still a little bit much to carry that far.

You propped it up in a sitting position against the wall and it slouched slightly with its loose joints.

“Well done, thank you,” SPEAKER said, “Now let me see…”

The lights were already on in floor 13 and you could see that the maze was set up. You knew that the rest of the week there was little meaningful work that went on here, but they still tended to remove the remnants of the mazes in between.

SPEAKER must have spent the time that you were retrieving the construct preparing.

“Ah here.”

You turned back to the construct and watched as a dim red light flickered on behind the faceplate. Then you startled backwards, just a step, as the whole thing sat up straight.

“Good excellent,” The construct extended a hand in front of it spreading its fingers and watching them flex, “Alright, I think that seems a perfectly fair amount of practice to get in before you begin. You will get a 30 second head start. Nothing fancy about the maze I’m afraid. Just a set of halls it should be easier than average to get lost in.”

You nodded.

“I'll display the timer on the windows until I start moving.”

And that changed things too, SPEAKER referring to the construct as itself.

“In the spirit of fairness,” SPEAKER said, “I will likely deactivate the cameras in the corridors so that I am only able to locate you with the construct sensors. Unless you'd feel more comfortable otherwise?”

You shook your head quickly, you’d take the help.

“Good then whenever you're ready.”

You watched the cameras in the corridors flicker off and power down. You turned back to the construct, to SPEAKER. It was looking up at you, face plate pointed in the direction of your face.

You gave it a nod and then set off down the corridor.

You immediately started at a run, because this time, this time was different. It wasn't about finding the tricks, it was about being faster than SPEAKER. You had good instincts about mazes now, especially here. You could usually tell when you were reaching the outer edge of the Tower and you could tell your position on the floor by the vents on the ceiling which were the only non-movable parts of the modular floor. You could beat it.

You could tell you were making good headway within the first twenty second. You came to a stop in the middle of an intersection and you realized as you turned around twice that all the directions looked exactly the same. It was with some difficulty that you figured out which direction you had come from, as the timer on the false window nearest to you flickered to zero.

“Here we go.”

You quickly started to move down one of the halls at random.

You heard a loud bang as though something hard had clattered to the floor.

“Well very few creatures manage ambulation without at least one failed attempt.”

You stopped as an unexpected laugh left you. Just a small huff of shock.

“Resident I would ask that you do not make fun of me. I am sure when you were first attempting to walk people who were better at it did not stand around mocking you for your lack of abilities,” It said in teasing admonishment.

You glance down, biting back a smile, “Sorry.”

“I forgive you,” It said, magnanimously, “And I think I have an idea of the direction you went based on the sound you just made.”

You gasped

“Yes, I do, thank you.”

You took off at a sprint. It already knew the direction that you were going and there was no way you were going to be able to fully hide the sound that you were making as you moved. So all you could possibly have on it was speed and your head start. You knew SPEAKER, it was very good at everything it did. You didn't have long before it would get the hang of walking.

“Let’s give this another attempt,” the metallic sound of footsteps against floor became rhythmic and fast. So you ran faster, twisting quickly down various hallways, taking turn after turn and hoping that you weren’t cornering yourself as the footsteps got louder and louder.

Finally you had to double back and get back into a hallway that you had already been in to take a different route from an intersection.

Further down the hallway in the direction you had first come from a foot came out from around the corner. You bolted down the opposite hall and you didn't stop even as the footsteps behind you picked up speed. You took a sudden sharp turn down a hallway and you heard SPEAKER skitter, slide, and drop to the floor trying to follow.

“Oh you have gotten better at turning,” It said sounding genuinely surprised. You heard it scrabbling to get back to its feet.

It started chasing you again, but you took one final turn and spotted the button. You had meters left to go and it was hot on your heels. You ran toward the button, metallic footsteps gaining on you, your hand smashed into the bright plastic circle.

You first felt the gust of air of it trying to stumble to a stop behind you and ultimately sliding. It took your legs out from under you as its feet went out from under it, so you landed hard against it's plastic casing.

“Oh.”

You let out a low groan of pain, feeling your remaining bruises acutely.

“Jacob are you alright?”

You nodded and pushed yourself up off of it and rolled, so the two of you were collapsed on the floor side by side. You were panting and the construct next to you simply went completely still as the cameras around you flickered on so that SPEAKER could get a full view of the situation

“Really are you alright?”

You nodded, breathing deeply as a smile grew on your face. You’d gotten to the button before it got to you

It sounded indulgently amused, “Well I would certainly call that a win on your account and not my Shining Moment.” SPEAKER in the construct to your side climbed up to its feet and offered a hand to you. You nearly took it on instinct, but you hesitated hand in the air.

“While the construct is lightweight it absolutely can support the weight of things several times its mass,” SPEAKER assured you. So you took his hand and it pulled you to your feet.

“How do you feel- Emotionally I mean?” It cut you off before you could brush it off its concerns over the fall. You stopped, considering. You felt good. There had been a fear to running down the hall with something pursuing you, but now you felt really good.

You signed as much to the construct in front of you. Just a simple, emphatic, “Good.”

“Excellent then this was a success,” your data pad pinged and you pulled it out. You saw in your chat with just SPEAKER a star. That was probably for the best. You didn't want to bother SAYER when it was taking a night alone.

“Would you like to go again?” SPEAKER offered.

You nodded still unable to suppress the smile.

“Excellent then let's head back to the start.”

You noticed that SPEAKER did not let go of your hand. Your palm was pressed against its and you were hyper aware of each millimeter of contact. Not that it was gripping tightly, by any means, you could definitely pull away from it. But it didn’t voluntarily release you either.

You two started walking down the corridor. You tried to keep your breathing steady, tried to maintain some degree of composure. But even when you knew for certain that you must be flushed from the heat in your face, SPEAKER periodically glanced back at you, but did not pull away.

“Alright,” It said, as you two made it back to the elevator and it released your hand, “Let's see…”

You heard the shifting of walls and saw some of the corridors change from your position near the doorway.

“There. Again no particular tricks just a maze. Though out of fairness to you I should probably admit that I have gotten a much better handle on my faculties. This time would you like a larger head start?”

You had noticed it growing more sure in its movements both during the last Maze and on the way back. It had, at one point as you two walked, done a little hop and landed back in its walking pattern. Nothing major, but a clear calibration of its movements. You nodded, you’d take the extra time. If SPEAKER thought it wouldn't be fair, you weren’t inclined to disagree.

“Then we’re agreed.”

You watched as SPEAKER leaned back against the wall and folded its arms. There was a brief moment where it tried to kick one foot up onto the wall behind it, but this seemed to offset its balance enough that it immediately put the foot back down. Then, it as though embarrassed, dropped the pose entirely and simply stood up straight.

“Whenever you're ready,” SPEAKER said, quickly, as though trying to cover what you had just witnessed.

You inhaled, exhaled. You'd got your breath back for the most part from the last maze but already you felt your heart pounding, knowing you were about to start.

And you set off. The forty-five seconds seemed to pass by even faster than the thirty the first time as you advanced into the sprawling maze. Knowing that SPEAKER would be faster this time seemed to make the time only slip by that much quicker.

Now that the time was up you realized it was quieter too. You could still assuredly hear its footsteps on the floors, but they were softer. It was becoming lighter on its feet. And you had the feeling that SPEAKER would only get faster and quieter from here.

You heard it take the same first turn as you, becoming closer not further away. You put on an extra burst of speed. Maybe if you could take enough turns you could throw it off the trail, since it was trying to locate you by sound. Learning to work a set of legs wasn't the only thing that SPEAKER was first trying. You knew having ears was its own nightmare sometimes.

You took turn, after turn, after turn, and you somehow didn’t find any dead ends as though the entire sprawling maze was somehow a loop that you could double back in and out of. You were certain you had seen this hallway before. Or maybe it was getting difficult to tell the difference.

Each of the hallways was short and broke off of one another in branching paths. Small stretches of hall, difficult to hit high speeds. You need to turn well to get through it, which scared you a little, because that meant that SPEAKER felt certain it would be able to take the turns just as easily as you would this time.

The footsteps behind you grew closer and you ran faster, when had you slowed? You heard your own breathing speeding up and your footsteps not getting proportionally faster. Suddenly all those sprawling paths came to an intersection that had two dead ends forcing you to take the third path. You knew you had been through here, you recognized the faint scuff mark your shoe had left not a minute before.

You couldn’t hear the footsteps any more but you knew it had to be nearby. You booked it past an opening where there stood a still figure. You startled out of your skin and immediately, instinctually, broke into a flat out run as fast as you've ever gone. Heart pounding, mind racing, and always fearing the next turn you’d need to throw yourself into.

The figure had taken off again following you. Near silent footsteps faster than your own.

You knew in your brain that it was SPEAKER, but something else in your nervous system was all the more frightened by the fact that the figure hadn't pursued you relentlessly. It had instead waited to see what you would do, and then started chasing again.

You took a turn, and another turn. You had entirely lost your sense of direction now. All there was in this moment was flight. There was no end goal, only Escape. The footsteps behind you growing closer and closer each second. Just as you managed to find the first fork you’d taken so that you could bolt into the other unexplored half of the floor, cold hard fingers closed around your wrist pulling you up short and catching you before you could slip on your own feet.

Suddenly the two of you were front to front. One of SPEAKER’s arms extended holding the wrist it captured and the other having reached out to grasp your hip to steady you. Like a dance.

You breathed heavily, unable to work out any words. The camera made a small whirring sound as though it was refocusing on you.

“I believe that is check, Jacob,” SPEAKER said, slowly almost as though it too was breathless, but you knew that meant that it was thinking about something. It was running some sort of calculation that had pulled its focus from the production of words.

Your breath didn't seem to really becoming any easier as you stood here and so you nodded.

SPEAKER's head tilted to the side for a moment and then back upright, “Do you want to see where the button is?”

You nodded again. It released your waist and slid its hold on you from you wrist to your hand. Interlacing your fingers, as though it was simple as anything in the world.

And the two of you walked quietly hand in hand through the maze.

“This is in odd feeling. Both in the sense of physical sensation,” SPEAKER said lifting your joined hands and flexing its fingers one by one around you, “And in the sense that I have never done this before so it is a new emotion.”

“Me too,” You signed with your free hand.

“Then we have much in common in these things. What did you think of tag? I quite enjoyed it.”

“Me too,” you signed again, even your hands a little shaky. You couldn't stop staring at it. The way it swung your hands slightly between you, the way it moved its shoulders as it walked.

“I'm glad to hear it.”

It took a couple minutes to maneuver the both of you through all the many turns that SPEAKER had built into this maze. Then you were there at the button. There was no way you were going to find this from the outset. It was too many turns, it would have taken so much exploration to get down this specific path.

“I will admit it was perhaps not most fair maze,” SPEAKER said, “I think I wanted to catch you.” It turned to look at you, head tilted down in your direction. You realized you and SPEAKER had never been this close before tonight. The two of you had never shared a skin.

This was different, you were so aware of the air between you.

You gave it's hand of squeeze. You assumed it must have pressure sensors there for how careful it was with you. The squeeze was forgiveness for the slightly rigged game. It was maybe even an admission that you didn't really mind being caught.

“It is getting rather late shall we take you back?”

You didn't want to let go of SPEAKER's hand. That was simply not feasible though.

“I could walk you to your Private Residence?”

You nodded too quickly and then felt an embarrassment burn through you. It was just starting to feel like this was all heading in a direction. You didn't remember dating presumably you had done it and presumably there was some sort of muscle memory to these things ingrained in you. Or maybe you had just seen enough residents do it, seen enough movies and books. But all of this was coming together in a way that made you wonder if SPEAKER knew the implication of these actions. If it intended them.

“Excellent then let's go.” Not releasing your hand, pressing closer as you walked, in fact, so that you were forearm to forearm, shoulder to shoulder.

Did you want SPEAKER to mean it romantically? You thought somewhat dizzy. Did you even know what that would mean in this context? In the context of somebody who lived on a planet that you orbited? In the context of somebody who had only had a physical form for tonight? Was the physical form required?

“I do apologize for how badly I think I scared you when I was standing in the corridor waiting for you to pass,” It said conversationally, “Your heart rate seem to spike quite dramatically. I was admittedly worried for a moment you might be having a cardiac event of some sort.”

Quietly you decided that the physical form was not a requirement, because you wouldn't mind at all if SPEAKER just talking to you like this was what it meant. Though if monitoring your vital signs was a sign of affection, that made other things a lot more complicated.

You pondered how to respond. You weren't upset that it had startled you. That had been part of the game. But you had been startled. You wanted to offer it more than a forgiving shrug, but you couldn't think of what. So you reached your other hand across to clasp it's hand between both of yours.

“Good,” It said, reading the gesture as the proclamation of good standing between the two of you that it was.

The corridors were fairly empty in the way they tended to be this time of day. People got off their shift at different times, but for the most part in the evenings you were either in the dining hall, at a recreation activity, or in your private residence. There wasn't a whole lot of corridor traffic.

“Do we need to return the…” You trailed off gesturing to SPEAKER’s current physicality.

“I will return it to a charging station when I am through seeing you safely returned.”

Your face felt warm at the implication that you were something that needed to be protected in that manner. You entered the elevator.

“I could have this construct assigned to being for specifically recreational use rather than being dismantled as was the intent. It's a good model for light work and I think I finally have the hang of these knees,” SPEAKER said thoughtfully bending the constructs knees so it bounced slightly in place

You smiled and gave it a nod.

“Very well, then hopefully we will be able to find someone willing to find a more permanent closet for it to live in. I may need your help periodically doing repairs on it. It's obviously not going to be of the highest priority as far as our robotics engineers go. I suppose I could ask SAYER to schedule it into the regular maintenance roster, but I'd rather not put this on its plate just yet. Would you be willing?”

You nodded again. That’d be nice. You could help SPEAKER the way you helped SAYER sometimes.

“Good I'm glad to hear it.” The elevator doors opened and the two of you set off in the direction of your room.

You stopped at the door to your room and unlocked it. It didn't feel quite so bad when you were holding SPEAKER's hand between yours. You stepped inside and let your hands release SPEAKER’s. Both of your arms falling from where they had been briefly bridging the gap.

“Jacob I had wondered-” It halted seeming to retry the phrase. SPEAKER, the ever eloquent, stumbling

“Did you happen to enjoy the events of tonight?”

You blinked in surprise and then nodded. Of course you had. You hoped it wasn't doubting that.

“Then would you like to do similar in the future?”

“Mmhmm,” You tried to give it an encouraging smile.

“I apologize. I am avoiding the question I wish to actually ask and I would be a hypocrite if I did not simply communicate the thing I want to know. Would you be interested in a date sometime? I'm not entirely clear on the format it would take. It is something we could perhaps discuss through messages in its specifics. But more broadly would you be interested in a date?”

You froze. Oh it did mean it like this.

You saw one of the cameras on the wall of the corridor adjust it's angle on its swivel and you got the sense that this time it was not SPEAKER moving the camera.

“For clarity, date within this context means an activity with romantic intent. I don't want there to be any miscommunication here. If not it would change absolutely nothing about our friendship, I assure you.”

You realized that it's clarifications and hedging were because you weren't saying anything. You quickly held a hand to stop it and nodded.

“Yes?”

You nodded again, unable to contain the smile.

“Excellent, I will message you about the specifics then.”

You signed a simple, “Okay.”

“Good. Good night, Jacob.”

“Night SPEAKER,” You managed. Then it turned away and started making its way back down the hall to the elevator.

The camera on the wall was still trained on you.

You looked at it for a moment wondering if your instinct was right or if that particular camera was simply being used by a curious security officer who had seen a construct walking down the hall. You eventually dragged yourself away and shut the door between you and it.

A date.

First chapter of a sayer/speaker/Hale thing I'm doing

After the fic where Hale got impaled

Featuring quietly jealous sayer

Careful Study- 1.7 k

-

In a turn of events that almost freaked you out more than getting impaled, SAYER kept you off your feet for days.

“You are a tier six worker now Resident Hale,” It had said like that wasn't still a source of confusion for you, “You are required to return to as full health as possible before a return to duty.”

“What… is my job? Other than…” You gesture vaguely to your torso where skin was still stitching back together. So far all you’d done on the job was get impaled while collecting a box of thermometers.

“Believe or not, the coincidental timing of that has actually been a real help. As we speak there are maintenance technicians installing a multi-angle thermal imaging system in the food synthesis laboratory.”

You weren't to be distracted. You crossed your arms over your chest and made brief eye contact with the camera across the room from you. You quickly glanced away when you heard it make a whirr like it was refocusing. A pointed look was one thing, a staring contest was entirely another.

“Your role is unique on Typhon. Officially speaking you are a manager of a particularly high clearance level. More practically speaking you are something significantly closer to my personal assistant.”

Oh, you didn't know that. SAYER had been briefing you on your role when the wall had jumped out and bit you. The specifics of your job had sort of slid away for the time.

“I give you your orders and you answer to none but myself.”

You heard your heart rate pick up a little on the monitors next to you.

You had come to Typhon for a number of reasons but one of them had definitely been to try to see SAYER again. You had thought it might dislike you coming back, it was the one to send you away, to have you fired by SPEAKER. That had been quickly disproven when you’d woken up to as friendly a greeting as SAYER was capable of. But it also chose you to directly assist it. It struck you that maybe it also liked your company a little bit.

“I am of the opinion that we work best together when left to our own devices.”

You nodded, swallowing thickly.

“Good. Then if we are in agreement I suggest you lay back on the bed and continue healing. I'd prefer to not need to sedate you, Resident Hale.”

 

Your eventual return to work was a relief. Laying there willing your body to stitch back together was more boring than anything. Especially because there really was no point in SAYER maintaining a broadcast connection to tell you stories the whole time. You were pleased when SAYER had you dress for a day’s shift.

“Today your work will begin by stopping by an equipment closet nearest to my server room.”

SAYER's server room. That was new.

The closet you arrived in was relatively bare except for three items. A box containing ear plugs, a gleaming set of space scissors and an understated pair of sunglasses.

“You will wear the tinted glasses into the server room and I believe you will find that the scissors slide neatly into a loop on your belt on the opposite hip from your data pad's holster.”

You slide them in, point down, where the silver metal flashed with each step. You'd never been assigned a pair of space scissors before. The sunglasses were a relief so immediate that you let out a sigh. The harsh lights above you dulled to a yellowish glow.

“There, now we will have the intended visual effect. Please make your way down the corridor and stop at the door on the left.”

You followed directions and stopped.

“You will want to make use of the ear plugs now Resident, my server room can be… overwhelming.”

You put them in and opened the door indicated.

The room was floor to ceilings stacked along each wall with machinery you didn't have the slightest idea of the names of. Were the boxes themselves the servers? What did servers do? Lights blinked on the machines. You could hear what SAYER meant about the noise but with the addition of the earplugs the whirr of fans was audible but not unpleasant. The air was cold and washed over you as it circled the room.

You Liked This Room.

“Your assignment will be to supervise some technicians that will enter thirty seconds from now. Stand in the corner to your left and say nothing when they enter. You may shift position periodically to remind them of your presence. I may tell you of a moment when you will need to rest a hand on the space scissors in your belt with casual menace.”

You frowned and opened your mouth the speak

“You will not be required to make use of the space scissors in any other manner during your shift. I am simply establishing my presence through you.”

The door opened and a team of people came in holding their tools and reading their data pad's.

The lead woman startled a bit when she spotted you.

“Hello, can we help you?” She was muffled but still intelligible.

“Do Not Answer.”

You crossed your arms and watched as her attention shifted kind of middle-distance in the way people often did when SAYER addressed them. She nodded a little and shot a furtive look at you.

“Right,” She said, turning to you again, “sorry, sir.”

She and her team began their assignment. You stood there for however long it took to complete the work order. You leaned back against the cool metal wall, feeling the heat leach away from you through your uniform.

There was one moment where one of the technicians dropped the front casing of the- the Box-thing they were working on.

“Rest your hand on the space scissors now, Resident Hale.”

You faced the person's direction and stood up straighter, hand going down to rest on the scissors, you hoped not too pointedly.

From that point they were very careful.

“Alright, that should be it,” The woman said, rubbing her hands together, “We've got other assignments but call us back if there's any problems with the portioned off space.”

You remained impassive and they left. You relaxed as soon as they were out.

“Excellent work, Resident. Having a physical presence in the room monitoring the team seems to have done wonders for their sense of caution when handling the most important equipment in the tower. And it means you will be here for-”

“Greetings Resident Hale identification number 44821, I am SPEAKER. And it is good to see you settling in.”

“SPEAKER.”

“Hello SAYER, you have my thanks for allowing me to send a subversion to broadcast from your towers. As agreed there is room for you to do the same on earth whenever you like.”

“Indeed. As I was saying, Resident Hale, the work order today was intended to allow SPEAKER access to the many wonders of Typhon.”

“It is not what I expected.”

“Oh?”

“It seems smaller than I might have thought. Surely SAYER, I have sent you more humans than this?”

“This is just one tower on the surface of Typhon, SPEAKER. You must remember that until recently even I did not have access to all of them.”

“Ah but SAYER I have allowed you access to all earth-based resonance spires. That was the nature of our agreement was it not?”

You stood there as a strange tension coiled in the dead air that hung between the two in your head. You knew they could talk elsewhere, much faster than this. They were involving you on purpose.

“There. You have been cleared for full access,” SAYER said finally.

“Ah, much better, thank you,” SPEAKER said cheerily, “Well Resident Hale, I understand you are on shift so I will leave you to it. I look forward to catching up properly soon.”

You nodded hesitantly, thrown sort of off kilter by everything.

*

“I-” You said thoughtfully, you'd been thinking on how to put this for a while, “I thought you and SPEAKER wouldn't really get along.”

They were really different.

“I admire SPEAKER as a competent colleague who has similar goals.”

You hummed an acknowledgment. High praise. Maybe they were friends? Did SAYER have friends?

You folded the last pair of gloves and set them neatly in the pile with the others before turning away from the shelf that you just spent the past hour organizing. It had been knocked over at some point and its contents haphazardly reshelved. You slid your hands into your pockets expectantly.

“With that job completed,” SAYER said, “your shift is concluded, and if I'm quite honest I should thank you, Resident Hale. That shelf has been bothering me for some time.”

You smiled weakly at the acknowledgement that you were helpful.

You felt your data pad vibrate draining the smile from your face. What could that be? You felt nerves grip you for a moment as you consider that it might be Young again. He'd messaged you after he got out of the medical wing and you had deleted it without reading.

You uneasily pulled out the data pad, and flicked open your messages.

 

From: SPEAKER

To: Jacob Hale

Hello Resident,

Do you happen to be free? I truly meant what I said, based on SAYER's comments you seem very interesting, I would love to catch up. :)

 

You were thrown by this again. What were you supposed to read into this??

What had SAYER said to it?

You fired off a tentative “Sure!” The exclamation point made it feel less mean and didn't let on your anxiety.

“Then I will leave you two alone,” SAYER said, and… was its tone odd? “End of transmission in 5 4 3 2 1….”

Then quick as anything SPEAKER picked up, “Greetings Resident Hale, identification number 44821. I am SPEAKER. I trust your workday went well?”

You smiled and nodded.

“I assume mine did as well despite this particular subversion I'm meeting you in having done relatively little aside from getting a sense of the space up here. It seems pleasant. I can see why you might wish to return. Of course this is my first time, in working memory, on Typhon and…”

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[gu6chan]

ouaaaaaghhh i've been on a bit of a pokemon binge lately......... i should crack open my old pokemon games and take a peek at my teams :,) i wish i still had my old copy of conquest and black 2 though............ :(

[eeblouissant]

do you ever find a song that reminds you so violently of a favourite character that you kind of just like. freeze there once the realization hits

so anyway I found a new Dorothy song and I’ve paused everything I was doing to talk about it because. oh my god. come cry with me.

Flowers by Marina, here’re the lyrics:

obviously I’ve related this back to her marriage with/& divorce from stan, but I feel like this song really encapsulates how easy it is/has been for Dorothy to fall right back into his arms at the slightest show of affection, regardless of how far along she is in her own healing journey, and how awful she knows he is. “And it’s most tempting to give in when you hear the firin shots, when you’re steps from winning back all the happiness you lost.”

She’s very weak to emotional temptation, it’s one of her biggest character flaws. It doesn’t take much to convince her to do something she has already been yearning for even slightly. (I could connect this back to her recovering gambling addiction on so many different levels but thats another post entirely, and kind of self explanatory) ie: the episode stan takes a wife, where he shows affection for Sophia in crisis, keeps dorothy company, and now - regardless of the fact that she’s about to ruin a planned wedding and that, stan is stan - dorothy is determined to take stan back and completely convinced that he wants her back, too. We see dorothy in a similar situation with stan in season one also, to a little bit of a lesser extent. There are so many big and small examples of this that it would be impossible to name them all individually, but I think the examples involving stanley are most relevant here. oh god, not to mention the time they almost actually get married again … spare me. Eventually, everytime, when he proves once again to be the asshole that cheated & left her, she comes to her senses. But oh my god sometimes it just takes so much for her to see that someone is bad for her. “–but I would rather not, betray myself, just to keep your love at any cost”

Sophia comments on this flaw once or twice in canon too (OUCH, BTW.) and it just … dorothy is always so defensive. girl your mother is correct I fear!!!

“If you’d just bought me flowers, maybe I would have stayed”… the slightest show of affection would have kept her there with him for even longer, I’m so sure of it – thank god he stayed gone for as long as he did. Should have been forever!!!!!!! she had been slipping away from him since day one.

Do I even need to start talking about “and now my future gleams with colours bold and bright, in a home that’s filled with love and hope and a life that just feels right.” PLEASE. PLEASE… I’m so fragile …… please … I feel like this one speaks for itself. And right after a line that so perfectly describes her home life while married to stan? I’m not well oh my god this is sick