#ACTUALLY! What about Daedalus. I never think about him but what an interesting guy he’s kind of got a lot going on doesn’t he. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shadowfae · 4 years ago

Note

Uhhh since you're dealing with people being jackasses: talk about a thing you've been wanting to talk about; or tell a story you've been dying to tell but haven't had a good time to tell it.

Things I want to talk about, hmmmm.

See, the twins’ birthday is on Friday, and it seems I’m writing More Porn. After that is Minos, next Thursday, and that’ll be fun because I know exactly what to write for his birthday, and that’s the fic of how he becomes a Spectre wayyyy back in the Age of Myth. (This is about Saint Seiya, for those of you who don’t follow me on my main.)

King Minos of Crete’s story is a fascinating thing. And the thing about a lot of retellings of Greek myth is that the running theme is almost always “...and the myth got it all wrong because what makes for a good story isn’t what actually happened” and that really got me to wonder how I could spin this guy into a sympathetic villain. Then, of course, I put on Gang of Youth’s Achilles Come Down and that was it, my dude.

So consider this: a young prince and his brother, being prettied up for the throne of Crete where Zeus was born in the most prosperous, if young, kingdom in the Mediterranean, four thousand years ago where this is where most human development is going on right now. That seat of power will move to India next during their Golden Age (as they don’t get their shit wrecked by Santorini and become the Atlantis myth) but for now, it’s in the sea that breathes and is as warm as a bath to dive on into, in the sea where everyone is right now.

A young prince whose brother is pretty and not much else, who knows he has to rule because while his brother is popular, he doesn’t pay attention to his studies and would drive the kingdom immediately into the ground with his enjoyment of finery at the expense of all else. A young prince who knows if he wants his kingdom to survive, knowing full well how many settlements and lives depend on Crete to run supply, that he’s going to have to do some evil and damn himself to save the kingdom. It doesn’t even matter if he wants to be king: it’s just that Rhadamanthys won’t do a good job, and there’s no way he can get him to abdicate, and good sake he doesn’t want to murder his own brother.

But then they get into a catfight over a pretty farmboy that they both like. Rhadamanthys likes Miletos’ smile and the way he talks to plants. Minos likes his wit and how he knows how to keep a farm running and what every problem’s solution is. Rhadamanthys sees a trophy to win, Minos sees an advisor. They both fall in love. Aphrodite from her throne laughs at the thought of two heroes to make a tragedy out of, and lets them start to rip Crete apart.

Minos realizes what’s going on, of course, why wouldn’t he? He wants his kingdom to survive, and this isn’t that. Good sake he doesn’t want to take Miletos prisoner, he knows how the heroes’ stories end and he doesn’t want to be betrayed. So he chases Rhadamanthys out of Crete and stuffs Miletos onto a supply ship heading into Thessaly and bids him that if he likes being alive, he should lay low and stay far from either brother, but gives him a good bag of drachmae and food anyway, and probably a scrap of parchment with an address to a temple of Demeter. Enough that he can save himself if he uses his wits, and Minos knows Miletos has wit.

He becomes king. He saves the kingdom from his brother’s idiocy, knowing Rhadamanthys will never forgive him, knowing that their warring would have destroyed the Mediterranean. This is the cost of what it is to be king of the powerhouse of the cell world. You sacrifice everything you love, everything you are, and you save everyone but yourself.

Kings and heroes have a lot alike, and Minos is a son of Zeus. It doesn’t stop him from being angry with himself. It doesn’t stop the gods from taking an interest in this plucky young man. It doesn’t stop Hera from being angry at Europa all over again. It doesn’t stop Aphrodite from being angry that he denied her the tragedy. He hasn’t proved himself, not to them. So they set him trials. Conquer this kingdom and liberate it from the evil king. Kill that monster and liberate that city from it. Do this, do that, and just when you think you’re done, someone else goes mad and starts killing their own civilians.

Minos doesn’t realize at first that he’s become a terror. That he’s the ghost king already, the one that queens and princes and servants whisper about when their king has so much of a cold. He’ll go mad one day. He’ll go mad and then King Minos of Crete will come by with his armour and his sword, high on his own heroism, walking the road to hell with the very best of intentions.

Minos will care for those kingdoms. He’ll send his advisors and sell them their necessities at half price, help the fledgling kings that rise in the throne still bloody from his conquest until they’re steady under the crown. He makes alliances and plays the game well, but he’s still killing people who never asked to be killed. Still saving people who never wanted to be saved.

He finds a wife in a nymph-goddess and he loves her, he loves her hard, and he’s still scarred from Miletos, he’s afraid to love Pasiphae even though he does with all his heart. She’s powerful, daughter of Helios who blinds him with her sunlight. He kneels before her and tells her that if anyone including himself but save his kingdom tries to take him away from her glory, he will kill them to make her happy.

He doesn’t know he’s already evil. He wants to make his wife happy, wants to not make the mistakes his father did that resulted in his existence. He wants to apologize to Hera for his birth by valuing what she does, and never doing to Pasiphae what his father did to her. He doesn’t know he’s damning himself with every move. But he swears his life to the girl of sunshine and brings her home to celebrate. Crete rejoices, they’ve always had the best of him, they’ve always loved their king who saved them and risks himself to save everyone else. He’s brought home the sun for them, hasn’t he?

They have children, his pride and joy, and he hires the best of tutors for them. He finds a son of Athena who’s known for his brilliance and pays him to teach his son, finds a son of Ares content with his spoils to teach his daughters and his youngest, loves them all and teaches them how to rule when he has to go out and save another city from a mad, dying king. So that when he gets himself killed being stupid, Crete isn’t damned and the world can run without him, because his wife and his children will continue the throne of power. They’ll run the supply lines and find a place for those who need to run, and they’ll save as many people as they can.

Hera likes him well enough for his love, hates him for what he is, hates him more for that he doesn’t understand why the mad king’s wife wants him dead. Aphrodite stings from that he earned Pasiphae’s love with a pledge he didn’t know the consequences of, that he denied her the messy child’s-love of Miletos. Zeus thinks he has farther to go. Poseidon, who Minos doesn’t love as much as his father but whose sea is the very reason he’s as powerful as he is, whose sea he loves more than most but doesn’t remember to thank, shakes the bottom of the Mediterranean in jealousy.

Poseidon makes his displeasure known. Minos appeases him, as best he can, and like every awkward nephew, asks if he needs further repayment or if he has earned his forgiveness. Poseidon smiles, thinks of how Minos does not know how the gods can suffer, and sends him a while bull that shines like the moon.

Minos presents it to his wife, thinks of the white dove that Zeus was for Hera. It’s a long habit he’s fallen into, appeasing Hera at every turn just in case. Amphitrite too, actually, and Artemis for his daughter Ariadne who loves to weave. Pasiphae loves the bull, and shows their children, and Crete understands that the gods love their king as much as they do.

Daedalus, whose son’s education Minos has paid for but who isn’t allowed his freedom to wander - he’s quite useful, and Minos has figured out that people will stay if you give them a reason to, but not that he needs to ask if Daedalus needs anything he might not ask for in supply requests - listens to Athena whispering of kings who didn’t deserve to die and kingdoms robbed of their ability to stand on their own, indebted to no one.

Aphrodite hates the pretty fantasy Minos and Pasiphae have created, hates that they have always gotten along. Hates that they still trust in the vow they made and haven’t had any reason to question. Love is suffering, love is war, and she wants them to prove that they understand her as well as they understand Hera. She goes to Poseidon, shaking with jealousy, and they hatch a plan together.

If he sacrifices the bull, he honours Poseidon. But the dreams of his sleep say that if he does not keep it to show the wealth of his kingdom, he rejects Zeus. There is no way to win. But maybe dreams are just dreams. He breeds the bull several times, to spread the wealth of the blessing to more than just himself, to honour Zeus by keeping what he can. Minos goes to sacrifice it, and finds it missing. He searches with his three eldest children and does not find it until morning, when Daedalus has put Pasiphae back to bed and has burned the contraption he made in a frenzy for his mother’s appreciation. He does not sacrifice it on time, and though he does the moment he finds it and checks that it has not been injured, it isn’t enough.

Three weeks later, they find Pasiphae is pregnant, and although Minos doesn’t quite think the math lines up, sometimes children are weird. Stranger things have happened, and it is a time to rejoice. The pregnancy is difficult, and he spends many days by her side, asking for the best physicians they can find and hopes that they can save her. They make it all the way to the delivery with her still breathing, and when the time comes, the physicians who have helped her through several births know by now to send him to fetch water from the other side of Crete to keep him out from underfoot.

He returns with water he knows they don’t actually need but is willing to fetch for love of Pasiphae, and finds that his wife is dead, and there is a curse within the kingdom that nobody knew about. He thinks of how Poseidon could have swept them all away with a tsunami, and knows that this is his punishment, not Crete’s, and he vows to keep it that way. He thinks another moment, thoughts too quick for anything but grief and shock. He thinks of how Hera might hate him now that he cannot apologize to her. He thinks of how Aphrodite ripped his family apart, and he hasn’t spoken to or seen Rhadamanthys in thirty years. And Minos realizes the question he’s always asked of why kings go mad has an answer, staring him in the face this entire time, and he’s just now seeing it.

It isn’t too late. It can’t be too late. He takes in a breath and asks to see the child. It’s... kind of cute, actually. Half cow, of course, and most certainly a monster, but it’s a baby monster, and when he reaches to hold it like he would any other child of his, it reaches back for him. He half-expected it to bite, and it doesn’t. Really, it’s acting like any other child he’s ever seen.

He swore to Pasiphae he’d keep her safe from everything, and the only thing that would sunder him from her side was his kingdom. She understood his reasons and loved him anyway. A goddess of a woman, and he’d still choose his kingdom over her.

He loved his father, and he loved Rhadamanthys, and he had chosen his kingdom. He loved the gods, as all men did. But he loved his kingdom more. This child is a monster, and monsters need to be killed. Children need to be loved, and killing a child brings down the wrath of every god he knows the name of. He closes his eyes, and opens them again. He loves his kingdom more.

“His name is to be Asterius,” he says, thinking of his mortal stepfather, who loved him more than he loved the gods. “He is a blessing from Poseidon, and though he comes with the death of our queen, we will love him as the prince he is.”

The physicians stare at him as though he is already mad. The glint in his eye probably doesn’t help. They know his words are a lie, and so does he. But sometimes it’s lies that keep a kingdom together. Crete is confused, but rejoices nonetheless, and when Asterius is put to bed, he weeps where his children can see. When he’s done crying for Pasiphae’s loss, he collects himself, and tells his children what he knows, and admits he knows the gods are trying to kill him.

Ariadne puts her hand, calloused from her weaving, on his shoulder, and twisting a spindle of thread in her other hand, swears they’ll always find a way through the machinations of the gods. Minos nods and thanks her, and is comforted by this. The vow has magic to it, not that they realize it, yet. Androgeus twists his sheathed sword and tells him that he’ll go be a hero where he can’t hurt his family, so when the time comes, he will be king and give his father a better way out. Minos looks up at his son, who looks heartbreakingly like Rhadamanthys but with all of Miletos’ wit, and knows that when there is no other option, his son will kill him as a monster, and only his family will know any different, and he will save the kingdom.

Crete has always come first. But his children love him, for they have always seen the best of intentions and only just now do they begin to see the road to hell, and they understand his determination. Blood of a hero’s blood. And by Asterius, too, blood of a monster’s blood.

The kingdom rejoices. Asterius grows in royalty and plenty, knows nothing but kindness as Minos makes it clear anyone who treats him more different than necessary can find another kingdom to serve. He slides down polished palace floors into his stepfather’s arms and Minos laughs. He dares the gods in the silence of his own mind to shatter a bond so gentle and innocent as this.

He does not forget that the gods thrive on challenge, and on bleeding out the innocent. The first assassination attempt happens when Asterius is three. Minos has the man jailed, but released when he doesn’t remember anything and can’t tell him why he wanted the young prince dead so badly. After two more, Minos orders Daedalus to build Asterius a paradise where nobody can find him when he doesn’t want to be found, where he can’t be hurt by the sight of a knife and the fear of his family. Asterius is visited every day by his tutors, escorted by his siblings, and sees the outside world only when Minos is there to ensure his safety. He loves him, and he does not want to see his youngest son hurt.

When Asterius is seven, Androgeus goes to Athens to compete in a tournament. He does not return, murdered by his own fellows in envy for his skill. Minos taught him everything he knows about fighting, and in his rage, he conquers Athens (again) and demands a sacrifice every seven years of fourteen youths and Crete will do with the sacrifices as they will. He returns home to plan the funeral and weep, and Ariadne bars his way to the throne room and starts yelling at him, tears bleeding through her voice.

He realizes what he’s done, and the implications of his words. Now everyone thinks that he’s going to feed Athenians to Asterius, all except for those who are perfectly aware that Asterius is a vegetarian, and can’t really stomach meat anyway. He can’t exactly go back on his word, it shows weakness. Kings pay for their convictions, and Crete comes first.

When he can think straight, after crying some more, they hatch a plan. Really, Ariadne is the genius here. Minos is going to go mad no matter what they do. He will have to die a villain, though she fears that with Androgeus gone, she will have to kill her father in his stead. So she proposes hiding the sacrifices in the labyrinth, so Asterius can have friends for once, and when it is time for Minos to go, they will ‘resurrect’ the sacrifices, and show that Crete once more has the blessing of the gods. Minos starts to laugh, and he laughs until his laughter turns into sobs, and he holds his daughter while his family cries.

This is what it means to be king. Crete will always come first.

They manage fourteen years of sacrifices, twenty-eight friends for Asterius who are all relieved to not be dying, who are glad to know they do get to go home one day, and are perfectly happy to keep up with the con so long as they can have some fineries they’ve never been able to reach. Minos smiles and gets them what they’d like. He can’t give them freedom, but for now, he can give them a home.

Theseus is in the third group of sacrifices, and Minos doesn’t know he’s danger. Ariadne takes a shine to him, gives him her thread that she swore to her father would always find the way through the machinations of the gods. Like every weapon, it has a double edge. By giving it to her love, by letting Aphrodite in, she sacrifices Hera. She goes to her father and asks if there’s not a way they can put on a secret wedding, so that he can still walk her down the aisle, knowing he will not be able to live to see his son-in-law free. He agrees.

They never get that far. Daedalus is bitter from the loss of his son, a messy affair that could have been rectified if he’d only asked for his freedom for a while and had sworn to keep his king’s secrets that still keeps Minos awake, crying from all the mistakes he’s made and the fact that his wife will never be able to soothe him back to sleep, and he offers Theseus a faster deal. The red shine of Ares glitters in the young hero’s eyes. The king of Crete has gone mad, and he delights in drawing out the suffering of Athens. A hero must liberate them from the evil king.

Asterius enjoys swordplay, wants to honour his big brother, is delighted that Theseus can spar with him for a while. Theseus’ blade is much sharper than Asterius has ever remembered a blade being. He dies, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Theseus grabs Ariadne, all but limp from the shock and the horror and the sudden, raw guilt of believing Theseus could love her and yet let him near her baby brother, and he runs. Daedalus opens their way, and knows exactly what he’s doing.

Minos is woken by his eldest, Catreus, who already knows what it is to be king, and he sends his father after not Theseus but Daedalus. The mastermind of the cruelty this day. Catreus orders Theseus found and brought to Crete for the crime of murdering a prince and kidnapping a princess. Minos takes up his blade and he runs after Daedalus.

He finds him not far from Sicily. It’s been months on the road, and he knows when he returns with the man’s head, he will have one night with his family, and Catreus will kill him with a kiss to the forehead and a sleeping poison to ensure it doesn’t hurt. Is it really so bad, then, that he draws it out? He wants justice for his son, he always has, but he also isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the world, even though he knew it was coming for years. Even though he has made every preparation he can for the ending that’s inevitable. The gods win, but Crete will survive.

He wishes he could stop in Rhadamanthys’ kingdom, apologize to his brother for everything, see him one last time before he lets the gods win. He can’t. Daedalus ensnares King Cocalus’ three daughters, and when he finds him there, he accepts hospitality as one final thank you to the world. The bathwater is scalding. The princesses look at him like the monster he’s become to save them all.

Minos finds himself in the Underworld and he does not weep. Not yet. He’s still on a quest. It’s not over yet. Charon takes him to the judges’ hall, where Hades and Persephone look upon him, fascinated, tie him to a chair with chains, and ask for this story.

He tells them, and it’s not until Pasiphae’s death that he has to stop to take a breath, so the tears can fall. He chokes out the rest of the story, makes it to the end, and it’s beginning to set in that he doesn’t get to see Catreus again. He won’t see Ariadne brought home. He won’t get to tell his children that he loves them, that he’s proud of them.

Persephone fixes him with a stare so much like Pasiphae that he weeps stronger, and then forces himself to stop. When Pasiphae gives him that look, she wants him to listen, and when Persephone does it, it seems habits die long after he does. She asks him what he considers his single greatest mistake.

He’s blindsided by the question, but thinks. Starts to answer treating Athens with cruelty, pauses. He wants to make sure he gets this right. Takes a breath, and with more conviction, says that he didn’t treat Rhadamanthys and Poseidon with the same love he treated Zeus and Hera to. Persephone nods, expression stoic, and asks what his greatest achievement is.

He thinks of his love for his wife, and his kingdom. He admits that he wants to say it’s saving Crete, but it came with so much suffering that he isn’t sure it counts. And then he says that his greatest achievement is Asterius, who had everything stacked against him, but Minos loved him, and by the time of his death had never become a monster because Minos had saved him, and the only suffering there was that he would be missed and mourned by all of Crete.

Persephone smiles, just a little. She asks him one last question. If she could snap her fingers and he woke up just outside of Sicily in an inn with Daedalus dead and himself alive, would he ask her to? Would he go back?

He doesn’t need to think. Of course he would. He wants to see his remaining children. He wants to tell them that he loves them. He wants to give them a better ending to this chapter of their lives, even though he knows they’ll have to kill him for his crimes. It won’t do anything for him, not really. Not even for Crete. But he wants to save them, one last time.

She glances at Hades, who smiles for the first time since the trial began. He says that while he cannot give Minos what he deserves, not with his contemporaries so angry with him, he can offer him a choice so very few humans ever achieve. He can send him to another Underworld, held by different gods, and offer him paradise somewhere else. He will never see his family again, not even in death, but he will have a chance to rest, and celebrate, and be happy. Or, he can stay here. He can serve two gods who will never toy with his heart, so completely under their claim that no other god would dare reach for him again, wait for his family, and help them build a kingdom here.

Minos blinks. He isn’t going to be king, not here, not with Hades right there. But it’s a chance to start over, build a place of pride, and when his family returns to him, he can give them all they deserve.

He agrees enthusiastically. He would love to help. He likes building, loves seeing Crete in full festival and laughing. And it means he gets to see his family again.

A fish-god in a wheelchair and a tail for legs wheels themself forward with a metal griffon at their side, and says that the griffon will train him. This looks already better than anything Daedalus came up with, and he’s intrigued. He reaches out to the griffon to shake their paw, only to find that they are now armour, wrapped around him, wings and tassets and gauntlets and all. The Griffon Surplice laughs a little in his ear, their head his helmet and two minds right beside each other, and he smiles.

Hades welcomes his new Spectre, Griffon Minos, and Minos finds himself immediately slammed into by something twice his size. When he gets over his shock, he realizes he’s looking at Asterius, clad in green armour not all that different from his own, and he shines.

Asterius whoops that he knew Minos would stay, that he loves him, and that he thinks Minos has always been the best to him, and that while Pasiphae isn’t here, Androgeus is, and so is Rhadamanthys. Minos starts to cry again, but these are good tears.

He’s finally home.

#asks #anonymous #welp I guess Minos' birthday fic is written???#Anonymous

14 notes · View notes

tornsuits · 4 years ago

Note

Big Ask Pt. 2: 1) Would CG!Heracles or Oedipus consider asking Ashes about rebodying their family/wife? 2) "all the suits are neurodivergent"--you're probably right, and also pls elaborate. 3) Do you have any UDAD ships for the characters other than Orpheus, Eurydice, Narcissus, and Echo? 4) screw it: each of the individual Suits (as in the pinstripe 4+Ulysses+Daedalus) for the "realistic headcanon/haha funny headcanon/sad headcanon/my canon now" thing?

1) i think heracles might ask for them to be rebodied, but probably keep his distance from them, bc he did like. kill them. & he wants them to have an opportunity to get away from that, if they want to.

oedipus does not revive his family, because he hates them <2

2) theyre all autistic. all of em. & at least orpheus and heracles have depression (w orpheus it's basically canon) & i mean. all of them have been through so much shit that even if they're not traumatized per se they're definitely fucked in the head

3) i wouldn't say that i actively ship it, but i do enjoy heracles/oedipus on occasion <3 i'm also a sucker for ariadne & arachne having ANY kind of relationship, so i guess i'd say i ship them? girlboss4girlboss yknow

there's also ulysses/galahad but we don't talk about that one

4) will be under the cut bc that's gonna get long!

heracles

realistic headcanon: gay for hylus lmao. i didn't include that as a ship bc i haven't pinned down any kind of solid hcs for hylus but heracles was 100% gay for him

haha funny headcanon: hes lived on this godforsaken city for 124 years and he still has to do the Ls to tell left from right

sad headcanon: hes kind of tied all of his self-worth 2 his physical strength & athletic abilities at this point, so he feels like if people don't need/appreciate his skills hes basically useless :( which is part of the reason he played along with zeus for so long, because it just made him feel wanted

my canon now: he never killed his wife n kids they're alive and well and were waiting for him when he got home from the ulysses job <3

ariadne

realistic headcanon: shes aro!! doesnt use any other sexuality labels just aro <3 also demigirl ariadne supremacy bay bee

haha funny headcanon: in general she's not great in combat EXCEPT for with a garrote. people tend to underestimate her and then she pulls out this small piece of wire and they start REALLY underestimating her and then she cuts their head off

sad headcanon: i think she was actually really close with daedalus :( she stuck with him well after he started being Really Evil, just bc she refused to accept that the one good person she'd grown up with was Bad Actually

my canon now: beat the shit out of theseus and now she has actually good friends (even though she prefers working alone most of the time, which is okay bc they respect her boundaries <3)

oedipus

realistic headcanon: hes a smart guy :] no caveats here i just think hes a very smart dude w a special interest in the sphinx virus

haha funny headcanon: he says "stand back, i'm a doctor" even in situations where it doesn't apply at all. trying to cut in line? "stand back, i'm a doctor." threatening someone trying to hurt him? "stand back, i'm a doctor." someone specifically told him not to say he was a doctor? "stand back, i'm a doctor (and also fuck you)"

sad headcanon: when he was a kid he really wanted to go to space... he genuinely thought there was something up there, something he could study, yknow? and he still wants to go to space, now he just knows there's nothing up there.

my canon now: he and brian are friends i think both of them deserve it

orpheus

realistic headcanon: [points] emo phase. this "man" has emo phase written all over him. i don't know what else to say here he just 100% had an emo phase

haha funny headcanon: has a huge amount of useless trivia kicking around in his head. the suits go anywhere and orpheus can tell them the top ten facts they did not know about this place. number five will surprise you (he does not know anything practical about it)

sad headcanon: i mean canon does most of the heavy lifting for me there BUT i think he gets really horrible nightmares :( he's pretty much gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night crying and not being able 2 remember why :( i am not projecting be quiet

my canon now: he is living his best life with his husband eurydice and his boyfriend narcissus <333 they have a cat <333 also genderfluid orpheus so true

ulysses

realistic headcanon: theyre a nonbinary lesbian im actually not accepting criticism at this time

haha funny headcanon: when they're not horribly depressed they have the disposition of like, your weird grandparent that's mostly settled down now but got up to SO much shit in their youth. ulysses vc come bake cookies with me and i'll tell you about the murder i committed in '89

sad headcanon: again canon just does all of the hard work for me here. i think they died right on top of their wife maybe <3

my canon now: honestly okay i WANT to say they got therapy and a nice pet dog after udad but honestly i think they'd just be happier dead LMAO

daedalus

oh i could not give less of a shit about this man. i hate him. hes homophobic and gay and figured out how mechanization works and that's all i have on him. i despise him

#alan don't look #OHKAY i will answer the third part of this ask tomorrow because i am EXHAUSTED #but ugh. all the suits my beloveda #*beloveds #jay says words #asks #lun4rcr0w

4 notes · View notes

lookingseeing · 5 years ago

Text

okay! finally tma 174- The Great Beast

alright. i thought this was about the spiral maybe? idk i saw someone mention helen, thats the only spoiler i have. um... the episode description looks like the vast, so do the content warnings, though "distortion" is definitely a key word of the spiral so.

Marie. okay hello, whats up with her. there was an eclipse this weekend irl but it wasnt really visible unfortunately, but maybe thats good bc this unending eclipse? sucks.

yo thats the ritual of the vast that the spaceship crew was working on right? the uhhhhh Daedalus? i went to look it up but i remembered, and the statement giver's name was..... ah. Jan Kilbride, did have to look that up. wait was that the tirual for the dark? the dark sun? the Daedalus trip had the Lonely, the Vast, and the Dark all fucking around on it

is it marie or marine???

memory stuff, but this time connected to the vast. thats interesting. i have absolutely no idea what this means

this is kinda Dark oriented what with the giant shadow, but its definitely the Vast, clearly. the Vast was historically centered around space, the ocean, and the sky, so new angles are great

so is simon fairchild gonna make an appearance? where is jon? where is martin? clearly the most important things to be asking right now

Edward whats good my dude. oh that sucks im sorry. oh god. oh no. "the impossible colossus" thats a dope line. ....could be a band name. this guy losing limbs now? i think i missed something

claustrophobia? another element of a different entity? would the rock climbing also be the buried? i suppose its true that the Vast is uhhh unknowable and all encompassing so if it has other fears folded into it thats some interesting and spicy worldbuilding

ahhahah edward how are we. feeling mortal fear yet? i am! im writing this from an airplane thousands of feet in the sky! why'd i do that to myself! fuck! EDWARD NO he will be missed

the beast!!!!! its a fuckin mishmash of people okay. and when edward is cast out he is no longer part of the whole and is painfully an individual, tiny, insignificant.... oh hey he's fine actually! great. he's part of the giant beast again. "the great, suffering colossus" FUCK YEAH OKAY IM DOWN WITH THIS giant man made of smaller men

martiiiiiiiiiin

so those booms in the background are the footsteps of the colossus beast?

"okay so what counts as a day" "excellent question" *indignant martin noises* good

SIMON.??? HELLO! missed this shitty old man! i mean only like a little. oh hey has he never met jon? that's fantastic. also i like that he clearly just fell out of the sky next to them. hope he's okay physically? hopefully he's not a talking smear of blood? that would suck and also hey please leave martin alone- fuckin get his ass martin!!

martin being annoyed with jon for being a little too casual and almost borderline friendly to other avatars is great. i am obsessed with the conflict there, bc jon is like oh these people are like me, whereas martin sees them as Monsters and wants them all fuckin Eradicated, which uhhhhh is definitely a problem for these two's relationship. martin keeps trying to get jon to distance himself from his avatar-ness too

this scene is hilarious alfjjdjsls Kill Him. ...c-can he do that?? Yeah And He's Going To.

and jon let him go!!!!!!!! bc he seemed like a chill dude! martin you have to understand that maybe jon doesn HELEN

anyways. love avatars either struggling with being a monster and trying to stay human, or, more commonly, saying fuck it and going all in. hey martin? maybe committing murders makes jon feel like a Bad Person, a Monster if you will. but martin sees it as heroic bc he doesn't see them as people like jon does

aaaaand now we're talking about it! helen it is not boring!!!!!!!!! Let Jon Speak...... though...... i do have to agree with helen a bit. if jon goes full feral he'd be having a much better time

aw martin..... no jon you deserve the apology "he threatened to throw me off a rollercoaster" excellent. yeah it is scary if you think about it but yeah. that is funny as hell

glad we're still on board with killing elias. melanie and i have only been waiting for it since season TWO

#tma #the magnus archives #liveblog #jon sims #martin blackwood #helen richardson #simon fairchild #the vast #meta #eeeeeeheehee #tma spoilers

28 notes · View notes

soveryanon · 5 years ago

Text

Reviewing time for MAG159, shortly before I’m Eradicated I Guess. TT___TT

- Hhhh over the quietness compared to last episode: less characters, less urgency, less twists and things happening on every side. Just the slowness, the repetitions of the waves, the footsteps, the echoes (down to the structure of the exchanges: Jon-Peter, Jon-Martin, Jon-Peter, Jon-Martin). Peter’s voice was really cool with earphones, because:

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED] He doesn’t~ want~ to see you~ ARCHIVIST: Where are you? PETER: [DISTORTED, END OF SENTENCES ECHOING] I’m not here, Archivist – no one is. It’s only you.

Given how his voice was circling (sometimes far, closer, on the right, on the left), it really felt that indeed: he was nowhere at all, and everywhere at the same time. Everything felt more intimate, more personal, more intrusive: Peter’s personal story, Jon’s own sense of losses (the friends or people he cared for lost over his journey, the threat that Martin would meet the same fate), The Lonely feeding Martin with a false sense of security… everything was really fitting, for our first inside experience of The Lonely?

- I’m going to miss Peter’s own static, because it really felt to me, every time, that the tape recorders were just plain hissing at him for being there, “we do not like you, hhhh go away go away go away!!”. Though: Peter is dead (exploded/was ripped from existence), but Martin is still around (for now ;;), has been trained to be dual-Lonely, managed to disappear on Georgie in MAG149, has admitted that he was “getting there”, so… if Martin survives the end of season 4 and is not sealed or stuck somewhere afterwards, or at the very least, if we still hear him from time to time, we could still get some trademark Lonely static. This time from him. Sob.

- “If Peter loses, it won’t be (all) that bad” Simon and Elias said.

(MAG151) SIMON: I think… [INHALE] I think Peter is taking a rather large, but calculated gamble. Not just on you, but on a lot of things. If it works, he’ll be in a very strong position. And if he fails… it won’t be all that bad. MARTIN: You don’t think it will be the end of the world? SIMON: Oh! It very well might be, but…

(MAG158) PETER: … Fine. MARTIN: Great. [VERY SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION INCREASING] Now, perhaps if one of you, then, can tell me what– [SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION REACHING A PEAK, BEFORE DECREASING] ELIAS: It won’t be that bad, Peter~ [CHUCKLE] You’ll see. Now: he’ll be here soon, so you can leave, or…

Cue Peter being disintegrated. “won’t be that bad”.

(In Elias’s case, it was probably about The Watcher’s Crown happening and Peter having to live under The Eye, since it was before Peter announced that no, he would stick around to make it hard on Jon? But ouft.)

- I do love how Peter’s own statement didn’t even try to portray him in a good light (filthy rich, not doing much with his life or to create money on his own, only spending it? And utterly unrepentant about sacrificing people), but also showed how… pathetic he actually was? It really feels like he was broken since his childhood, and I was especially !! over this bit:

(MAG159) PETER: Gertrude was the one that scared me. She seemed to have no interest in meeting me whatsoever, something… I appreciated, but there was something in her eyes when she looked at me, as though she was making a calculation and I was an unwanted integer she was deciding whether to remove. It wasn’t until much later that I realised exactly how true that was. Still, it seems I was never a pressing enough concern for her to sail out after me, or even wait until I’d made port and waylay me. I suppose even she couldn’t have predicted how it would all turn out.

… He described her as a child would. How this big, undecipherable, scary adult could harm him, and how he would have been unable to do anything against that. It was also there in the way he seemed to constantly miss the point, although he had claimed to Martin that he was “focusing on the big picture” (MAG126):

* The Daedalus project. The Dark went full-force into it, created a device they would use for their ritual (and which had survived the failed attempt until Jon destroyed it in MAG143); it contributed to Simon’s research for his own next ritual attempt (MAG151: “Oh goodness no, that’s the future my boy! […] Honestly, I’m pinning most of my long-term hopes on space – but that’s at least a hundred years away.”); meanwhile, Peter:

(MAG159) PETER: I started it, shortly before Simon convinced me to join him with his little space experiment. It was interesting, of course! But in the end, a tremendous waste of money, just to scare a single astronaut. But I had it in my mind that it might distract from my true attempt.

Peter “focusing on the big picture” Lukas only spilled all that cash for an experiment on one person without… even… thinking… that maybe… it could serve… bigger/greater plans…

* The fact that a few details from his ritual attempts were personal biases – the only description we have of Peter is that he’s “white” and “very pale” for a sailor, so, big surprise that he would only pick white people for his project. (And he was obsessed with so many details in his description of the building? I mean, on the one hand, he got a good reading of how modern people’s fears worked (although he got help to nail it); on the other hand, it also read as an accumulation of small silly little details meant to casually make people’s lives worse… but not a Grand Plan or something. It was fairly efficient, it fits The Lonely, but still. The Dark and The Stranger plotted their ritual for years with an accumulation of esoteric symbols and dedication and The Lonely had to be an attempt coming from One Guy, and one of the evilnesses of said plan relied on cutting off people’s Internet. And he got defeated by a headline in the newspaper.)

(I’m not even sure that it was Gertrude who was responsible for the headline because, to be fair, that could as well have been Elias’s doing.)

* Still rezudisjnezd that he named the ritual ��The Silence” only because he thought they had to have a name. It’s just. Lacking so much love and Conviction.

* Peter was ultimately played by everyone: Elias staged his encounter with Martin in MAG108, ensuring that Peter would pick him (was it because of Melanie&Basira’s conversation in MAG106, about the fact that Martin had a crush on Jon? Did Elias think that it would work as a safeguard to ensure that Martin would choose Jon over The Lonely?), and riled him up enough to go wait for Jon in The Lonely although it wasn’t part of their deal. Martin waited his time before dropping Peter at the last moment in the Panopticon. Even in this episode, Jon… lured him out:

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. I suppose you did. [FOOTSTEPS] … Where are your friends, Archivist? [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Tim and Sasha are dead. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Daisy and Basira are… probably dead. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Because – of – you. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Georgie and Melanie have left me. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] And? [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Martin’s gone. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] You’re alone, Archivist. The last one standing. I did warn you, I did want you to leave but… perhaps it would be better if you stayed a while. After all, you can’t hurt anyone in here. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Yes… [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. [FOOTSTEPS STOP] ARCHIVIST: [STATIC] … Or perhaps you could answer some questions. PETER: [DISTORTED] … What? ARCHIVIST: [STATIC INCREASES] I wouldn’t try to leave if I were you. I can See you now. I can find you wherever you go.

(J–Jon, that does count as “honey-trap”.)

* Feeding the pitiful vibes (not sympathetic ones): the fact that Peter was aware of his fatal flaw and the fact that he was predictable, not a big enough threat for anyone? And there was the casual awareness, too, that he wouldn’t come back, or at least wouldn’t come back to what he loved:

(MAG159) PETER: Some of my most peaceful memories were on the Tundra. I had gathered a small group of trusted souls, who I knew were loyal and dedicated – to… my money. They had no qualms or morals about what we did on that boat, and at my request, each signed to the ship under a false name, so I would never have to know who they were. Those Lonely nights of sacrifice, and waiting, hearing the dreadful sound of my ancestors’ whistle drift over the dark and brooding waters, knowing another soul was leaving this world… God, I wish I was there now…! Locked in my cabin, staring over the quiet emptiness of the open ocean. But it’s moored now, and I came on land, at Elias’s request. My crew is out there waiting for a call I think I am now unlikely ever to give them. […] Thinking about it now, perhaps one of the reasons I lasted as long as I did was that I was, at the end of the day, predictable. A “known quantity”. I had my little patch, sending my poor lost sailors to their Forsaken end, but I rarely stepped outside of it. When I think of all those I met who travelled in this secret world we found ourselves in – Gertrude, Simon, Mikaele, even Rayner… there are plenty whose lives might well have been easier with my death, but it was rare that I strayed outside my habits. […] Maybe that’s why, when I crossed paths with Adelard Dekker, we ended up talking, and he told me his theory of The Extinction – something that stayed with me even after he died pursuing it.

(* The way Adelard Dekker just casually chatted to Peter about his theory was revealing: we saw Adelard binding the Not!Them to the Web table, following an End avatar to neutralise him for some time and prevent further victims, confronting John Amherst at the cost of his own life… but Peter Lukas? Adelard chatted with him about his convictions and theories regarding a new Fear emerging.)

* The way Peter was obliterated on all accounts?? He got played by everyone, learned that Martin was not loyal to him, lost his bet with Elias, Jon tore his statement from his sore mouth (and DANG was Alasdair’s voice acting incredible, with Peter’s voice getting hoarser and hoarser as his story was dragged down from his throat; Peter wasn’t used to talking that much, clearly), then obliterated him in his own territory – The Lonely, with the sound of the waves reminiscent of the sea Peter loved. And Jon managed to get Martin and to get him back to himself, and is now ready to leave The Lonely. And nail into the coffin:

(MAG159) ARCHIVIST: Martin…! He’s gone, Martin. He is gone. MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] His only wish was to die alone. ARCHIVIST: Tough…!

… he didn’t even get to get his last wish respected. (That “Tough…!”, jON… Jon was acting like Tim in MAG118, when Jon was complaining about cobwebs.)

- I’m surprised we never saw a Eye-Vast-Lonely collaboration at work because??? Perfect trinity, they’ve all pointed out how close they were to each of the other two?

(MAG091) MIKE: A little bit of privacy. Is that really so much to ask? I suppose it is, isn’t it? From you and yours at least. We have a lot in common, really. After all, what, what good’s the height, the terrifying draw of gravity, unless you, unless you really know the scale of what you’re facing?

(MAG151) SIMON: I mean, yes, if you want to get technical, he serves The-One-Alone, and I serve The-Falling-Titan, but – those two are a lot closer than you might imagine. After all: the larger the space you find yourself alone in, the more isolated you feel. MARTIN: [RECITING] And being aware of how lonely you are can make anywhere feel more empty. SIMON: Exactly. I’ve actually been toying with the idea of trying to do something with the scale of humanity itself; you know, emphasise all that “overpopulation” nonsense, but… honestly, it just… doesn’t ring true for me. We’re all just so tiny and pointless, you see; it’s hard to really get past it.

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED] Just go. [RUMBLING SOUND] ARCHIVIST: Make me. … Unless you can’t. The Lonely and The Eye aren’t too far apart, are they? Not really. What good’s being alone if you don’t know how alone you truly are.

Though yeah, The Eye sounds compatible with a lot of things – especially given how it just fed on Peter’s misery, indiscriminately (even to the point that, you got messed up by The Dark? Well, telling your story will still feed Beholding).

- I’m not sure I understood well what Peter meant, chronology-wise, regarding his ritual:

(MAG159) PETER: My instinct was much like the others: I thought that if I could complete my ritual first, then the potential birth of the Dreadful Change would be meaningless. I started it, shortly before Simon convinced me to join him with his little space experiment. It was interesting, of course! But in the end, a tremendous waste of money, just to scare a single astronaut. But I had it in my mind that it might distract from my true attempt.

If it’s how I think it went: Adelard talked to Peter about his theory of The Extinction, so Peter began to think about his ritual, but Simon distracted him with the Daedalus project first, Peter got involved with the Daedalus, then began to get invested in his Lonely ritual for real? If so:

* Adelard’s oldest letter regarding The Extinction was from January 2006 (MAG134). He probably talked about it with Peter around that time, since…

* “Stratosphere group” launched the Daedalus in early 2007 (MAG057).

* Peter brought Gertrude and Michael Shelly towards The Great Twisting (MAG101), some time after October 2009 (as it was coming close in MAG126).

* Sean Kelly was sacrificed on the Tundra in/shortly after October 2010 (MAG033).

So the big question is whether Gertrude had already thwarted Peter’s ritual attempt by The Great Twisting, or if she did it afterwards. Peter mentioned that he was a mess right after:

(MAG159) PETER: It really knocked me back. Took me years to find myself again. I returned to the Tundra, tried to forget.

And it could fit Carlita’s description of him in MAG033? (It would mean that Peter was actually MOPING when she saw him, which could match and explain why he had felt so different from the Peter Lukas who later started looming around the Institute.)

Another question is whether “[C/K]onrad Lukas” was actually Peter under an alias, or another Lukas:

(MAG057, Carter Chilcott) “I remember the man in charge of my particular project, Conrad Lukas, made a face of rather overstated disgust when he told me I wouldn’t be up there entirely on my own. I got the distinct impression he was one of those people who feel that ethical restrictions do nothing but bind the hands of the true scientist, and leave them at the mercy of their subjects’ limitations. […] Mission Control had also supplied me with a lot of books and films and other entertainment as, like Conrad had told me at the first briefing, the experiment was into isolation – not boredom.”

But given Peter’s own stance towards fiction:

(MAG159) PETER: I had no time for… books, or television, or any of the escapes and artificial friendships of fiction. No; I was myself, and that was enough.

I’m leaning towards the idea that it was another Lukas there. So: Peter being indeed the “favoured son”, official heir, in control of the family money, and sending other Lukases to do this or that.

- Re: Adelard’s email from MAG157:

(MAG159) PETER: Maybe that’s why, when I crossed paths with Adelard Dekker, we ended up talking, and he told me his theory of The Extinction – something that stayed with me even after he died pursuing it.

It doesn’t mean that Peter was the one who put it on Jon’s desk, but at the very least, he did indeed know that Adelard was dead. (I was strongly suspecting it since Peter had never mentioned to Martin the possibility of finding Adelard or working with him, so yeah, that checks out!)

- So…

(MAG111) GERARD: Families are just useful ‘cause they can push you in the right direction. And the Lukases are very good at that. ARCHIVIST: And I imagine they’re not… reluctant to remove any members that might put that legacy at risk. GERARD: Right. You know, for a group that worships a power of Loneliness, they never seem to have any problems breeding, or finding spooky singles to marry them. Just one of those things, I guess. But most times you try to put your descendants on the path to worship, it doesn’t go great. Just takes one stubborn heir to freak out about the truth, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

(MAG159) PETER: I suppose to call myself an “only child” is, technically, untrue. Two of my sisters still live, though they disavowed the family and moved far, far away. Still… to be cut off from one’s family is its own… very special sort of loneliness, isn’t it? So we all serve, in our own ways. The other two – my brother, Aaron, and sister, Judith – well… they weren’t considerate enough to quietly grow to adulthood and disappear. They simply didn’t have the temperament to thrive in a Lukas household, always trying to… instigate games… make friends… connect with people… As far as I’m aware, they were sent away, to live their lives with very distant relatives, never to return. I’m sure it’s possible my mother resolved the matter in a less pleasant manner, but in my limited interaction with her, she never struck me as a cruel woman, and I would imagine for children that age, the fear and isolation of being uprooted, and sent away, is just as strong as that of meeting a more… grisly fate.

I’m still not sure what happened with Evan Lukas, but this episode pointed out that, actually, Lukases that do not embrace The Lonely… are the norm. Out of the five children, Peter was the only one to willingly take that path, although growing up in such a family was, yeah, enough to mess up the others and make their lives casually miserable just because they had been born in the wrong family. On the one hand, funerals seemed to be a regular thing in the family (“When I returned, I was met by my mother and a small group of stern-faced relatives that I had never seen before – except at funerals. […] I left the house again shortly after, and took to the sea, and never saw my mother again – except, of course, at funerals.”); on the other hand, I think Peter would have mentioned it, if being a Lukas but straying away from the family god had a known tendency to kill you very soon, very fast…?

So what happened with Evan Lukas exactly…? Since ~having a heart~ was actually not that uncommon, since choosing not to partake in the family faith happened to almost all Lukases, what happened for him to suddenly die and for the family to try to feed Naomi to The Lonely…?

(- The mention of funerals was so awful and funny at the same time because, yes, you understand why in this family, funerals would constitute the ideal family gathering instead of getting everyone together over birthdays or life-oriented celebrations.

… at the same time, oops, it’s exactly Like That in my extended family too.

But still: Peter’s delivery was so… Peter. I’m love him, I’m gonna miss this awful man.)

- So, we got our ~Beach episode~ with the waves in the background, complete with a murder and a hug /o/ But the atmosphere was exceptionally fitting since, when Carter Chilcott was losing it in the Daedalus, he had dreamed about graveyards and the sea (MAG057: “I’d be sleeping, strapped into my bed in the middle of the void, or at the same time floating through ancient graveyards or the open, empty sea. They weren’t hallucinations though, they were dreams – even if the cold seem to seep out of them, and into the bones of me.”). In MAG159, we had waves, but also the sound of Jon walking on gravel, which was reminiscent of a graveyard? So, the two places Peter was associated with: the sea (and the Tundra), and the graveyards (from the funerals).

- I love how the (potential) Lonely Eyes was brushed upon with subtle touch / was “maybe there” behind what what Peter wasn’t saying:

(MAG159) PETER: My mother had five children over her life, before my father finally drifted away. She was a Lukas to the core, though not born into the family, while my father, for all he believed himself keen on a life… without… obligation, gradually withered away to nothing, as she cultivated the space between them. […] It was the sort of childhood that would not be allowed if we didn’t have money, but we’re an old family with, shall we say, a… [CHUCKLE] remarkably direct line of inheritance. […] I, of course, was the favoured son, being quiet and reserved and, at all points, deeply engaged with my own loneliness.

Not surprising for a Lonely avatar? But still noticeable that Peter never mentioned the concept of producing children of his own, when he was the “favoured son” in a family with a “remarkably direct line of inheritance” (you don’t have to be gay to not want children, but.). Same with his meeting with James-Elias-Jonah:

(MAG159) PETER: But it’s moored now, and I came on land, at Elias’s request. My crew is out there waiting for a call I think I am now unlikely ever to give them. … I will call him “Elias”, for that’s how I’ve known him for most of our… acquaintance, though I originally met him when he was still “James Wright, Head of the Magnus Institute”. I considered him a dull little man at first, so keen to watch other people’s misery, to lose himself in second-hand pain and drama – exactly the sort of thing I’d always been so keen to avoid. […] I suppose that’s why I was so keen when Elias contacted me. We kept in touch, of course: my family helped fund the Institute, and he’d always been good about tipping me off to potential victims. Going through something horrific can leave you feeling very isolated indeed, especially if you know no one else will believe you. And of course… he knew I find it hard to resist a wager.

Peter “considered him a dull little man at first”, and that “at first” is saying a lot on its own, uh? (I’m screaming a bit less dignifiedly over that hesitation before “acquaintance”, because that one really felt like a way to circumvent The Eye’s compulsion, to not lie but not go into TMI territory.)

As Peter mentioned, he was a creature of habit – so, it’s almost sweet, in its own way, that he stuck to “Elias”, since it was the body he was mainly accustomed to (… well. “host-body”.)

(- SCREAMING over the concept of Elias “tipping off” Peter to victims as potential Lonely sacrifices: OF COURSE, he would, and that’s??? So horrible??? And yeah, really putting back in mind that the Institute has never been a “good” place, or even that passive: getting stories from people, feeding their trauma to The Eye, trapping them in the Archivist’s nightmares if they gave their statements live, never helping you to deal with the things that were going after you… and even ensuring that you could be snatched up by other Fears. I thought that sending Brian to the Lonely in MAG100 was a power display (snatching a victim in The Eye’s own temple under Elias’s nose), and maybe it was; but it was… also linked to the fact that anyway, Peter was used to get statement-givers after the Institute was done with them.

… come to think of it, that’s almost “sweet”/blasphemy from Elias, to throw potential victims in Peter’s direction, since it means they wouldn’t feed The Eye anymore?)

- … Peter’s statement also highlighted that Peter was (assumingly) pretty young compared to Elias-Jonah? I’m a bit sad about how ouuuuuuuuuuuuuft, in the end, Peter and Elias’s relationship doesn’t feel like two terrible people casually annoying each other and their plans, after all, but… mostly Elias indulging/toying with Peter, from start to finish? The way Peter described it, they were absolutely not on equal ground:

(MAG159) PETER: And of course… he knew I find it hard to resist a wager. If I could convince one of his staff to willingly pledge themselves to The Lonely, it was all mine. He even let me pick the victim. He was so sure the prize of the Institute, the Panopticon, and a willing vessel to use it, would be just too much for me to resist. And… he was right. Just didn’t go quite as I’d hoped. … You know, this is one of the first bets I ever made with him that I’ve actually lost. But I guess that’s how hustlers work, isn’t it? They lose, and lose, until you’re willing to put it all on the line, and then… the trap shuts. So I suppose that’s probably why I reacted so rashly, trying to rip his victory away. Keep you here. But it looks like I might have underestimated my opponent, once again.

Elias absolutely manipulated Peter from the start? He pushed him in Martin’s direction (MAG108) so the pick was rigged from the start. He lost previous bets, assumedly on purpose, just to give Peter a false sense of security. Elias got what he needed from Peter, which was at the bare minimum getting Jon to willingly experience The Lonely, and a potential few petty bonuses (making Martin’s life miserable for a few months after Martin plotted his arrest; ensuring that the Archives team would drift apart with The Lonely’s presence in the Institute; pushing Basira to leave Jon alone with the coffin, then encouraging her to take Jon to Svalbard so Jon would both face The Buried and The Dark)… meanwhile, Peter didn’t manage to get anything at all except for a few researchers? It seems that Peter was the only one to think that Elias and him were on kinda equal footing?

(I’m not excluding the possibility that Elias will be surprised/upset to learn that Jon absolutely butchered Peter, and that Elias was assuming that Peter would get out damaged but not dead, but… not banking on it. From the letters we saw, Jonah Magnus wasn’t really into attachments, and given Elias’s cackle when Peter went off to wait for Jon in The Lonely? Yeah no, all according to plan.)

- ;; Martin got back this time, but I’m not sure that his involvement with The Lonely won’t have long-lasting (well. First assuming he survives.) effects on him? His description of the comfort he found in it didn’t come out of nowhere – it’s how he had described it to the tape recorders before:

(MAG142) MARTIN: [SIGH] Th–the worst part is I don’t even want to talk to him about it. I’m just… [SIGH] I suppose I’m just getting comfortable with the distance. [SIGH] Cut off. [DRY CHUCKLE] “Lonely”. [INHALE] Mind you, Peter’s not wrong. It really is easier than actually just trying to communicate with people.

(MAG149) MARTIN: Sort of… surprised Peter hasn’t rocked up with some more… “insights”? Haven’t seen him around for a while, actually. I mean… eh, it’s not like I miss him [CHUCKLING] but, at least he was someone to– [PAUSE] … Ah. [HUFF] [PAPER RUSTLING] Yeah, that makes sense. [EXHALE] A’ight, fine. Just… me on my lonesome for a while, then. … Could be worse. … Peaceful, at least. … I don’t miss all the shouting. [CHUCKLE] Even if it w–

(MAG156) MARTIN: Mm. “Emptiness or maggots”…! It’s kinda the shape of things around here, isn’t it? Still, kind of nice to talk to some… thing. [INHALE] It’s always… quiet, these days. For me, at least. I guess I technically have the power to make it not quiet, to… to talk to people, but like… You know, I–I also have the power to clean out the fridge, and it’s still a mess. It’s not that I don’t want to clean the fridge, it’s just… Some things are just hard…! Anyway. I know he’s been listening to the tapes so, [INHALE] I guess that’ll have to do. I think I still care that he hears my voice. It’s hard to tell, sometimes. How much do I actually care; how much is just feeling that I should care. I’m on my own so much these days, I… just wish I didn’t like it so much.

(MAG159) MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] N–No. No, I don’t think so. ARCHIVIST: … Why? MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] This is where I should be. It feels right. ARCHIVIST: Martin, don’t say that. MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] Nothing hurts here. It’s just quiet. Even the fear is gentle here. ARCHIVIST: This isn’t right, this isn’t you! MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] It is, though. [CHUCKLE] I really loved you, you know? […] ARCHIVIST: Listen – I know you think you want to be here, I know you think it’s safer and w– … well, maybe it is… But we need you. I need you. MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] No, you don’t. Not really…! Everyone’s alone, but we all survive. ARCHIVIST: I don’t just want to survive! MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] I’m sorry.

Some of the things Martin said over season 4 might have been in case Peter would hear them, but there was still some bits of truth, eh? And it’s absolutely nasty from The Lonely to sell him promises of distance – not losing anymore, not being hurt ever again – when Martin had indeed lost and lost and lost.

(And ouft, the shared bits regarding how Jon and Martin experienced The Lonely and/or Peter’s influence… Peter reminded Martin of Tim and Sasha’s death right at the start of MAG158, simply by mentioning Tim and freeing Not!Sasha; Jon had to once again acknowledge whom he had lost, so Tim and Sasha, while walking in The Lonely. Martin got promised to not be hurt again; Jon got encouraged to give in because he couldn’t hurt anyone again.)

* Cries in season 4 trailer:

(S4 trailer) MARTIN: We really need you, Jon. Everything’s… It’s bad. I–I don’t know how much longer we can do this. We– … I need you. A–and… I know that you’re not… [PAUSE] I–I know th–there’s no way to… [PAUSE] But we need you. Jon. Jon, please, just… Please. If–if there’s anything left in you that can still… see us, or–or some power that you’ve still got, or–or, or something, anything – please! … Please… [SHAKY BREATHING, STRANGLED VOICE] I… I can’t…

(MAG159) ARCHIVIST: Listen – I know you think you want to be here, I know you think it’s safer and w– … well, maybe it is… But we need you. I need you. MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] No, you don’t. Not really…! Everyone’s alone, but we all survive.

Because!!! Gnn, Martin could deflect Jon like this since he had already tried to beg for help, for Jon to come back, down to the correction of “We – I need you”, and it hadn’t worked back then.

And that’s the thing with Martin, I think? He highlighted in MAG158 that he wasn’t a “chosen” one and, given his life, it indeed feels like a long string of never being chosen or favoured or saved. His father dumped him along with his mother when he was a kid (MAG118: “How old were you when your father left? Eight? Nine? When you mother began to sicken and he decided he was done with you both.”), his mother had grown to hate him although he had sacrificed his life for her well-being, quitting school to find work (MAG118: “Your mother… simply hates you. You just don’t know why! It’s not your fault. Though I know that isn’t any consolation, it’s just bad luck, really.”). Tim… had favoured him a lot, at first (still following him when Martin wanted to check on Jon at the end of season 2, warning him over what it meant to read statements during season 3) but ultimately followed his own path to avenge his brother without considering Martin a reason to stay (MAG114: “You know how long that thing pretended to be Sasha? […] And I had no idea? I knew Sasha for years, we… I don’t know Martin as well as I knew her; I barely know what Melanie and Basira look like, or that weird murder-cop.”). It has been the case with a lot of characters (Martin did that to Tim by favouring Jon over him, too?), but Basira and Daisy had each other, Georgie and Melanie found each other, and given his backstory, it’s… not really a surprise that a weak spot would be the fact that, although he’s trying to be the caretaker and the caregiver, Martin mostly wanted to be cared for by someone…? (And it wasn’t anyone’s responsibility or duty to provide that, except for his parents, and that part had been screwed for most of his life already.) (Well, tho. Technically, Martin has been “chosen” thrice recently: by Elias when he pushed Peter in his direction, by Peter when he picked Martin for their bet – and now by Jon.)

So tl;dr SOMEONE CAME FOR MARTIN, and independently from the fact that it was Jon, I’m so glad for him? ;w; Especially with the contrast between the two times Martin was made to experience Eye powers:

(MAG118) ELIAS: The resemblance is quite uncanny: the face of the man she hates, who destroyed her life, watching over her; feeding her; cleaning her; looking down on her with such pity– MARTIN: [RAGGED] Shut! Up! ELIAS: Do you want to know what she sees when she looks a you? [STATIC INTENSIFIES] MARTIN: [STRANGLED BREATHING AND CRIES] [FOR LONG] [LONG] [STRANGLED SOBS] [STATIC FADES OUT] ELIAS: Don’t. burn. any more. statements.

(MAG159) ARCHIVIST: Martin… Martin, look at me. Look at me, and tell me what you see. [STATIC RISES] MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] I see… [INHALE] I see you, Jon. [BREATHLESS CHUCKLE] [PRESENT, ECHO FADES] I see you…! ARCHIVIST: Oh, Martin… [CLOTHES RUSTLING] MARTIN: [FRANTIC BREATHING] I w–I was on my own…! I was all on my own… ARCHIVIST: Not anymore. Come on – let’s go home…

In both cases: showing, seeing… but in order to hurt him (thx Elias), and in order to comfort/love him (jON!!). Souring and taking vs. … giving?

And it felt like such a completion for Jon, too! Because Sasha had died in a blind spot, unnoticed until Jon could pick up on and puzzle together what had happened to her. Tim died “thanks” to Jon giving him the means to fight against The Unknowing’s effects, through the compulsion.

(MAG119) ARCHIVIST: Tim!! [STATIC] What do you see? TIM: I see my asshole boss! W– wait… wait… SARAH: Spoil-sport. NIKOLA: Tim… TIM: … Grimaldi. NIKOLA: Once, a long time ago, before Orsinov made me. And sometimes, even now, on special occasions. Like your brother! DISTORTED MALE VOICE: Shall I? ARCHIVIST: Tim! [STATIC] What’s in your hand? TIM: It’s… I don’t… the– the– … the detonator…

And we got a glimpse of how the people Jon had lost, permanently or spiritually, were still impacting him:

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED, END OF SENTENCES ECHOING] I tried to tell you. He’s gone. He made his choice. And it wasn’t you. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: … It was for me, though. I’m the reason he…! … I did this to him as much as you. PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. I suppose you did. [FOOTSTEPS] … Where are your friends, Archivist? [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Tim and Sasha are dead. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Daisy and Basira are… probably dead. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Because – of – you. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Georgie and Melanie have left me. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] And? [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Martin’s gone. [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] You’re alone, Archivist. The last one standing. I did warn you, I did want you to leave but… perhaps it would be better if you stayed a while. After all, you can’t hurt anyone in here.

Jon, who had failed to save anyone… finally managed to get Martin (/an assistant) back. Regardless of Jon’s personal feelings for Martin, it’s still so much…! Peter was right to point out that they don’t know each other that much (and I’m glad that someone finally addressed it), but it’s not that much relevant when there is still a desire to reach the other, like we saw? I’m glad for that this small bubble of hug and comfort was found…

(;; But. He did save Martin. Thanks to The Eye’s powers. It was a mix of himself as a human and of supernatural means, but… It’s not the kind of series where using these powers is ever a positive thing in the medium to long run.)

(I’m still not sure what I want Jon to have done there!! If it was to focus and anchor Martin, or to Show His Inner Self to him. Whatever Martin saw, it pleased him; it might not be a Good Thing given that Jon had just murdered someone but!! Still. Martin was happy?? Relieved??? In my TMA??? I’m so worried over what the next episode will do to shatter that orz)

- edcnjxerfd Peter please.

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED] You’ve still got time, Archivist. Turn around, and leave. You’ve played your part; now, go. ARCHIVIST: What’s wrong, Lukas? Afraid of talking face to face? PETER: [DISTORTED] [LAUGH] Of course! Or haven’t you been paying attention? ARCHIVIST: [GRUNT] [FOOTSTEPS] Mar–tin!

Glad that it was acknowledged that yeah, Peter had been avoiding him for the entirety of season 4; extra-glad that Jon is receiving that as a slow burn.

- Re: Jon => he was incredibly scary, I’m Very Worried because, despite the hug, despite the comfort, despite Martin being found/chosen and Jon finally managing to save someone, it was still Jon’s powers who saved him… and it had been a good thing when it had happened with the coffin according to Elias.

And Jon was incredibly predatory in this episode: he didn’t need Peter’s statement! He crushed him to extort it, like with Breekon and Manuela! He still pushed to get more afterwards, leading to Peter’s annihilation! … and yeah, One Less Avatar Doing Harm, but it had nothing to do with that or saving Martin. It was pure Eye hunger; and we saw with Daisy and the Section 31 officers that this kind of violence is not written to be perceived as positive (it’s cruelty and violence for the sake of violence, it has nothing to do with fairness or justice). As much as I prefer to see Jon being like this to other avatars rather than to innocents… I’m afraid that it could also mean that he’s going to fall back into hunting people, if Elias’s immediate plans don’t incapacitate him? Who would make sure that he doesn’t? Melanie has left; Daisy is lost; Basira is… we don’t know yet. (And Martin but ;; Martin was too happy, there has to be a trick and he’ll be either stuck back in The Lonely or in the Panopticon or serve as a new body for Jonah, or get killed and trapped in the End book, uh.)

- Something that gets me is how heavily Jon’s journey to The Lonely sounds like his descent into the coffin?

(MAG128, Breekon) “It was waiting. I fed her to it. She took him from me. Made us a me, and she doesn’t get to die for that. She gets to live, trapped, and helpless, and entombed forever. No prey, no hunt, no movement. We failed, but I have at least that comfort. I am without him, now. I. am. I can feel myself fading. Weak. No reason to move. Nothing to deliver. But I am no longer tied to the casket; so you can have it. You can stare at it, knowing how your feral friend suffers, knowing how powerless you are to help. And when you can’t bear it any longer, knowing that you can climb in and join her…”

(MAG132) ARCHIVIST: I have her voice. I think that should be enough to find her, and I’m leaving my– … I’ll leave it with the tape. I should be able to find my way back to it… I think. Wish me luck…! … Although I suppose if you’re hearing this, then I… I didn’t have any. I don’t know. I’m… I’m scared. [SHORT CHUCKLE] When does the fear go away…? […] It’s okay… I’ve… I’ve got a plan. DAISY: I–is this like all your other plans? ARCHIVIST: It’s fine, I just… I just need to… to find it. DAISY: What? ARCHIVIST: Come on… Come on, where I… DAISY: Jon? ARCHIVIST: … Come on… [STATIC] [SHAKY BREATHING] DAISY: Jon? ARCHIVIST: I know… DAISY: Th–the way out? ARCHIVIST: No… I know where we are! There isn’t no out, not here. This is… this is forever deep below creation. Where the weight of existence bears down… This is The Buried, and we are alive… There isn’t even an up. … Oh god… What have I done! What have I done… […] [STATIC RISING] D–Daisy… DAISY: Uh, I’m, I’m here. ARCHIVIST: I I can… I–It… it’s closer. DAISY: What is? ARCHIVIST: M–my, my… my anchor? My… A–a rib, I can f–, I can fee– … I know the way! [DIGGING SOUNDS] DAISY: Wh–what? H–how– ARCHIVIST: I don’t… It’s like… My mindlink is… it’s stronger…

(MAG134) PETER: What does puzzle me, though, and I mean that genuinely, is… why you were piling tape recorders onto the coffin, while Jon was in there. [PAUSE] It’s a question, Martin, it’s– it’s not an accusation. MARTIN: I don’t know. And I just… felt like it might help. He’s always recording, I thought… it–it might help him… find his way out. PETER: Interesting. Were you compelled? MARTIN: [SULLEN] … I don’t know. … M–maybe? I–I, I definitely wanted to do it… PETER: But? MARTIN: I’m… I’m not sure where the idea came from.

(MAG135) ELIAS: I needed a way to force him to harness his ability more acutely than he had before. The coffin was a useful tool; Daisy an adequate bait. BASIRA: Then you messed up. Way he tells it, he doesn’t know how he got out of there. ELIAS: But he did. And his powers were no small part of it. Even if he required some assistance, they were what saved him. And he’s still achieved what no one – mortal, monster, or anything in-between – has ever been able to. He climbed out of The Buried.

(MAG136) DAISY: Jon… when you went into the coffin. Was it you choosing to do that? Did you actually think you could save me, or was… that something telling you to do it? [SILENCE] ARCHIVIST: It was me. I was… drawn to it, I’ll admit, but it was my decision. [PAUSE] It wasn’t entirely about you, though. […] If I do die, now, or get sealed away somewhere forever… I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. And I don’t want to lose anyone else so, if I can maybe stop that happening, and [DRY CHUCKLE] the only danger is to me, I– I’ll do it in a heartbeat; worst case scenario… the universe loses another monster. DAISY: That’s messed up. ARCHIVIST: [LOW SELF-DEPRECATIVE DRY LAUGHTER] … Yeah. I suppose it is. DAISY: Did you know the coffin wouldn’t kill you? ARCHIVIST: I– guess I thought imprisonment wouldn’t… wouldn’t be as bad as it was. DAISY: [SHAKY SIGH] ARCHIVIST: And it’s a lot easier to make that choice than it is to actually… endure the result. You might have noticed when I was in there with you, I… I had regrets.

So: warned about the danger of going inside the coffin, fearing it when he was on the verge of doing it, suffering from it once inside; a main motivation to still try was that it was a way to save Daisy; was initially trapped/made to experience what The Buried is about… until Jon’s powers kicked in and he managed to get back to the surface.

Rinse and repeat with The Lonely:

(MAG158) ELIAS: Peter. [PAUSE] It’s time. [SILENCE] PETER: … Fine. MARTIN: Great. [VERY SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION INCREASING] Now, perhaps if one of you, then, can tell me what– [SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION REACHING A PEAK, BEFORE DECREASING] ELIAS: It won’t be that bad, Peter~ [CHUCKLE] You’ll see. Now: he’ll be here soon, so you can leave, or… PETER: Oh no. No. I’m not gonna make it easy on him. You haven’t won yet. ELIAS: Your choice. Just make sure to leave the door open. […] ARCHIVIST: … You want me to follow him. ELIAS: No, Jon. You want you to follow him. I simply want you to know that if you do so, you are almost certainly not coming back. To go into The Lonely willingly is as good as death. ARCHIVIST: … How do I do it? ELIAS: [INHALE] Wasn’t too long ago. And I’m sure traces of their passage still remain. Just open your mind. Drink it all in. Know their route, [VERY SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION, INCREASING] and simply… follow it. ARCHIVIST: [LOUDER BREATHING] ELIAS: Very good. Are you scared, Jon? ARCHIVIST: Yes… ELIAS: Perfect.

(MAG159) PETER: [DISTORTED] You’ve still got time, Archivist. Turn around, and leave. You’ve played your part; now, go. […] You’re alone, Archivist. The last one standing. I did warn you, I did want you to leave but… perhaps it would be better if you stayed a while. After all, you can’t hurt anyone in here. [FOOTSTEPS] ARCHIVIST: Yes… [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. [FOOTSTEPS STOP] ARCHIVIST: [STATIC] … Or perhaps you could answer some questions. PETER: [DISTORTED] … What? ARCHIVIST: [STATIC INCREASES] I wouldn’t try to leave if I were you. I can See you now. I can find you wherever you go. […] MARTIN: [FRANTIC BREATHING] I w–I was on my own…! I was all on my own… ARCHIVIST: Not anymore. Come on – let’s go home… MARTIN: How? ARCHIVIST: [SOFTLY] Don’t worry. I know the way.

In both cases, Jon went in to save someone despite his own fears (or because of them), got initially stuck (Buried and made to understand he couldn’t leave it; haunted by Peter who was trying to goad him to stay in the Lonely because of everything he had lost) until… his powers kicked back to the surface, fighting resistances until he could get out of here – in both cases, “I know the way”.

Still unsure over what was his anchor or the thing that actually pulled him out of there – was it his connection to The Eye, through the statements…? Was it truly his rib, though it needed a bit of amplification? Was it specifically his connection to the audio recordings, Web stuff, the lighter? Martin was used to do something, back with the coffin, and given that 1°) Peter and Elias had an ongoing bet relying on Elias’s non-interference, 2°) Peter accused Elias of having interfered in MAG158, so it was a possibility (and put in another perspective the way he asked if Martin had been “compelled” to help Jon in MAG134: he may have suspected it was Elias’s doing), 3°) … Elias apparently can “call” Jon indeed (MAG158: “Ah, Jon. I was almost worried…! You found your way all right.” “Yes. … Ye–yes, I did… How?” “Suffice it to say I called you.”), it’s also possible that it is just Elias calling him back right now… we’ll see, I guess. Are Martin and Jon going to come out surrounded by tape recorders…? …………… or past statement-givers who have been “called” here too…?

- Another point of worry when comparing the coffin and The Lonely trip: what happened after Jon… got out from the coffin.

(MAG146) ARCHIVIST: [SIGH] Jess Tyrell, the woman on the tape… [SIGH] She was the fourth. I–I just tried to… I was weak, r–ravenous, I–I didn’t feel… … The first was a supermarket cleaner. Em, ended up lost for a week in an endless warehouse. I didn’t even…! I–I just went in for some shopping, and he was there, and I–I just… asked. The second was, uh, it was after I got… stabbed by Melanie. MELANIE: You are not putting this on me! ARCHIVIST: No, that’s not what I meant! [SIGH] I was walking the streets, I–I thought I was trying to clear my head– DAISY: [DELIBERATE] But you were hunting. ARCHIVIST: … Apparently. I found a woman who… every year on her birthday, wakes up in a fresh grave. Just for her. DAISY: And the third was after the coffin. ARCHIVIST: A man rejected by all who knew him, searching ever-darker places for love. When he told me his story, he started… weeping maggots.

On the one hand: Jon gave in and took Peter’s statement – it should count as “feeding”. On the other hand: he used his powers on him right after (to the point of Peter’s… destruction), used them again with Martin, and may be relying on them again to leave The Lonely. The situation mirrors what happened with the trip against The Dark – taking Manuela’s statement, then using his powers to destroy the Dark Sun – and that one had not left Jon in an amazing state (MAG145: “We’ve been back in London for just over a week, now. I’m… more or less recovered physically.”).

Right when he left, Trevor and Julia had been wrecking havoc in the Institute, Hunting staff members; Basira had pointed out that cases happening in the Institute meant an automatic Section 31, which means there could be Section’d officers full of stories heading there… Which… is extra bad given Jon’s current state…?

- ;; Martin was at his softest and I still can’t believe the sheer relief in his voice, the fact he was getting One Nice Thing… But aouch, the context in itself hurts so much?

Jon taking Peter’s statement had nothing to do with saving Martin, and it was clearly an Eye monster getting what it wanted here:

(MAG159) ARCHIVIST: Yes… [FOOTSTEPS] PETER: [DISTORTED] Yes. [FOOTSTEPS STOP] ARCHIVIST: [STATIC] … Or perhaps you could answer some questions. PETER: [DISTORTED] … What? ARCHIVIST: [STATIC INCREASES] I wouldn’t try to leave if I were you. I can See you now. I can find you wherever you go. [STRONG STATIC] PETER: Fine! It was just a thought. [STATIC DECREASES] So leave. ARCHIVIST: Not before I get some answers. PETER: That’s not going to happen. ARCHIVIST: [STATIC] Tell me your story, Peter Lukas. [STATIC INCREASES] PETER: No…! ARCHIVIST: Tell me! PETER: [GROANING, STRUGGLING] Fine! Fine. […] I’m. Not saying. Another. Word. [STATIC INCREASES] ARCHIVIST: Tell me, or I will rip it out of you! [STATIC INCREASES] PETER: [STRUGGLING] No…! ARCHIVIST: Answer. My question! PETER: NO! Leave – me – ALONE! [STATIC INCREASES] ARCHIVIST: TELL ME! PETER: [GROANING SCREAM] [RIPPING, EXPLODING SOUND] [STATIC FADES] ARCHIVIST: … Stubborn fool…

Peter was not an innocent, was horrible; although he was indeed born in a bad family, we clearly saw that that doesn’t necessarily mean turning into a monster (his brothers and sisters either didn’t have the personality, or cut ties as soon as they became adults). This is still a lifestyle he chose to embrace, relying on sacrificing innocents?

But even then, it really doesn’t make Jon’s actions heroic and “right” at all: forcing Peter to spill his story, destroying someone who couldn’t do much more damage to him or Martin and whose last words were “Leave me alone” (ffs), and almost shruggingly putting the blame on Peter afterwards. In this episode, although Peter tried to ~seduce~ Jon into The Lonely, the monster clearly was Jon: Jon, who fed The Eye through Peter and got himself fed through Peter’s misery and revealed secrets, and who used Eye powers to destroy Peter. Even if he did some good (?) to Martin, it was still by using the same powers, granted by that Fear god, in the same episode during which Jon broke his hunger strike (“only” three months, from Manuela on the 16th of June, to Peter on the 25th of September)… and that really can’t be good, uh.

(- ;; Also ;; That association of the archives/the institute as Jon’s “home”…

(MAG143) HELEN: Go find your Basira. Then, let’s get you both home. (MAG159) ARCHIVIST: Not anymore. Come on – let’s go home…

Not good ;; Maybe it will turn out that Jon was planning to get Martin out of the institute in that last one, but I doubt it ;;)

(But that switch, with Jon going from “I killed a man because he didn’t want to answer my questions” to “Martin!”:

(MAG159) ARCHIVIST: … Stubborn fool… [FOOTSTEPS] Martin…! He’s gone, Martin. He is gone. MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] His only wish was to die alone. ARCHIVIST: Tough…! Now, listen to me, Martin. Li–listen… MARTIN: [DISTANT, VOICE ECHOING] Oh, hello, Jon. ARCHIVIST: Listen – I know you think you want to be here, I know you think it’s safer and w– … well, maybe it is… But we need you. I need you.

Jon confirmed as a cat, going from murderous to uwu in a few seconds.)

- There were a few things in Peter’s statement which put me in mind of Robert Smirke’s letter:

(MAG138, Robert Smirke) “I have been blessed with a long life, something few who crossed paths with the Dread Powers can boast, but now… at the end of it, my true fear is that I have wasted it, chasing an impossible dream. […] So many have abandoned us, casting about for rituals that I helped design. In my excited discussions with Mr. Rayner, I… perhaps extrapolated too much from his talk of a “Grand Ritual” of darkness. The Dark, I thought, was simply one of the Powers so, it stands to reason that each of them should have its own ritual. Perhaps they already did, even before I put pen to paper. They certainly do now, and I shudder to think how Lukas, Scott and the others may use this conception.”

(MAG159) PETER: Thinking about it now, perhaps one of the reasons I lasted as long as I did was that I was, at the end of the day, predictable. A “known quantity”. I had my little patch, sending my poor lost sailors to their Forsaken end, but I rarely stepped outside of it. When I think of all those I met who travelled in this secret world we found ourselves in – Gertrude, Simon, Mikaele, even Rayner… there are plenty whose lives might well have been easier with my death, but it was rare that I strayed outside my habits.

It was mostly the overall tone of someone who knows they’re going to die soon, with the statement feeling more like a testament at that moment? But, in Smirke’s case, he was still seeing people (although corrupted) still going on, which quite contrasts with Peter since…

Season 4 really feels like a season clearing up and “concluding” a lot of stories which had been ongoing until now? We learned about so many rituals, and how they weren’t a pressing concern or an ongoing issue for the next decades (Gertrude took care of The Spiral, The Buried, The Flesh, The Lonely; The Slaughter and The Vast have wasted their chance recently, same for (Jon thinks) The Corruption; both Elias and Gertrude had understood that The Dark wouldn’t succeed in 2015; Agnes’s doubts prevented The Desolation’s from happening; team Archives handled The Stranger at the end of season 3; The Hunt, The End and The Web can’t complete their rituals or don’t have any interest in doing so). And at the same time, we also got so many confirmations over reccurring characters’ fates and the circumstances in which they died and got neutralised, at least officially: The Stranger’s minions exploded at the end of season 3 (only leaving Breekon, who was Known by Jon rather forcefully); Gertrude’s hypothesis regarding Tom Haan in MAG130 revealed that we had probably witnessed his ending in MAG030 already (fading away, following his failed ritual); there wasn’t any trick and Maxwell Rayner seemed to have indeed been taken care of in the events related in MAG073 (MAG135, MAG140, MAG143), [Vardan Darvish] had indeed been killed in the events described in MAG109, and Manuela Dominguez, one of the last cultist, was swallowed by Helen’s doors in MAG143; we witnessed a (?) Web avatar’s last moment in MAG136; Agnes Montague indeed organised her assisted suicide in MAG067 (MAG139, MAG145); though still shrouded in mystery, Mikaele Salesa has been (at least officially) dead for years (MAG141); Eric Delano had indeed been dead since the 90s (MAG154); Adelard Dekker died shortly before Gertrude (MAG157), ensuring John Amherst’s confinement and neutralisation for a long time at least. We already knew about Gertrude’s death (we heard her getting shot live in season 4, tho); we heard Leitner’s murder; Gerry Keay stopped living and then actually died when Jon burned his page; Mary Keay had been dead for a few years and Gertrude had burned her page; Jane Prentiss died at the end of season 1; Arthur Nolan’s death was described in MAG055; Diego Molina in MAG012; Raymond Fielding had been taken care of by Agnes in the 70s; Mike Crew was murdered/Buried in MAG091; “Michael” was replaced in MAG102… and now, we can add Peter Lukas to the list of avatars/monsters who are not current concerns anymore.

Who are the recurring figures left and still kicking, at this point? Amongst the old or middle-aged ones: Jared Hopworth (Flesh, turned avatar in 1996, manhandled by Helen at the end of MAG131 but set free), Jude Perry (Desolation, turned avatar in 1991, still kicking though their ritual was neutralised), Trevor Herbert (Hunt, old as balls), Daisy (Hunt, began to deal with the supernatural as a child and formally starting 2002; Trevor and Daisy might be currently destroying each other), “Elias Bouchard” (Beholding, Jonah being more than 200 years old), Simon Fairchild (Vast, a few centuries old, having a blast).

We have a few recent avatars around: Oliver Banks (End, turned in or after 2015), Annabelle Cane (Web, turned in 2010), Helen-the-Distortion (Spiral, took over in 2017), Julia Montauk (embraced The Hunt in Summer 2010), Jon (Beholding, gradually groomed into avatarhood from late 2015 to early 2018), potentially Martin (Beholding-touched Lonely, late 2017 and 2018).

… it really feels like a clean slate? What can there be afterwards, an expansion of that new generation of avatars, or nothing at all…? (We still have The Extinction, and Hill Top Road, and most likely Beholding happening or trying to happen right now… but it really feels like a current cycle has been reaching its end…?

- WorriedAboutElias™ T____T

(MAG135) BASIRA: [DRY SIGH] What was the point? You won’t be getting your ritual off from in here so, what do you need him for? What’s so important you need him stronger?

(MAG158) ELIAS: You’ve lost, Peter. Admit it. […] Peter. [PAUSE] It’s time. […] It won’t be that bad, Peter~ [CHUCKLE] You’ll see. Now: he’ll be here soon, so you can leave, or… PETER: Oh no. No. I’m not gonna make it easy on him. You haven’t won yet. ELIAS: Your choice. Just make sure to leave the door open. [VERY SHARP SQUEALS OF DISTORTION INCREASING, REACHING A PEAK, THEN DECREASING AND STOPPING] ELIAS: [LONG, ECHOING, DELIGHTED LAUGHTER] [SELF-CONTENDED SIGH]

(MAG159) PETER: So I suppose that’s probably why I reacted so rashly, trying to rip his victory away. Keep you here. But it looks like I might have underestimated my opponent, once again. ARCHIVIST: … What was his prize? What did he get, if you lost? PETER: Oh, he got you. ARCHIVIST: … I, I don’t understand. PETER: And you won’t. Not from me. I’m done.

… I do love and hate equally both meaning behind that “he got you”: as in, “he fooled you” and “his prize was you”.

Question still open as to what Elias wanted Jon to do exactly, and how he’s now planning to use it. For the second part, given his questions about Jon’s fear, I’d say it was about Jon’s experiencing The Lonely as a fear and/or getting an experience of it through first-hand experience (Jon being afraid of it, Jon picking it apart once inside of it and knowing it intimately); could still be about collecting the statement of a Lonely-worshipper, too, since Elias had been… delighted… right after Peter had decided to make it harder for Jon although his presence wasn’t part of their deal (given how Peter had been played by everyone until now… he could have been fooled about that part too. Elias did mention that “Your choice~”, and the bastard is all about rubbing your own mistakes in your face, even when he engineered everything for you to make that decision).

And now, Jon has known all the Fourteen Fears, got to “to experience them, whether first-hand or through the eyes of others” (MAG092): he has done both, completing the set of getting statements, live or written, from people serving through the sacrifices of innocents or overtaken by a Power, and experiencing direct manifestations:

* Everything about The Eye.

* The Web: Annabelle Cane’s insight into The Web (MAG147) / being controlled by A Guest For Mr. Spider (MAG080).

* The Corruption: Jane Prentiss’s being contaminated by The Hive (MAG032) / The Hive’s worms burrowing themselves into him (MAG039).

* The Spiral: Michael-The-Distortion’s statement (MAG102) / Michael’s and Helen’s corridors (MAG078, MAG079 and MAG143).

* The Desolation: Jude Perry’s statement / his hand burned to a crisp (MAG089).

* The Vast: Mike Crew’s statement / enjoy sky blue from your chair (MAG091).

* The Hunt: Daisy’s statement (MAG061), Trevor&Julia’s statement (MAG109) / hunted by Daisy (MAG091) and Julia (MAG107) (“Do I miss being chased…?”).

* The Stranger: Breekon’s “extracted” statement (MAG128) / got to learn the feeling through the Not!Them in season 2, got to “See” Nikolas (MAG119), the overall Unknowing experience.

* The End: Oliver Banks’s statement (MAG121), bonus Tova McHugh (MAG155) / the whole refusing to die and becoming something else post-explosion (MAG120, MAG121).

* The Slaughter: Melanie’s account (MAG117) (?) / Melanie’s murderous attempts in the second half of season 3 and beginning of season 4, culminating with getting stabbed at the end of MAG125.

* The Flesh: Jared Hopworth’s statement / body twisted and two ribs being taken (MAG131).

* The Buried: Hezekiah Wakely’s statement (MAG152) / going into the coffin and learning what is Too-Close-I-Cannot-Breathe (MAG132).

* The Dark: Manuela Dominguez’s written (MAG135) and live (MAG143) statements / killing the Dark Sun by sight (MAG143).

* The Lonely: Peter Lukas’s statement / going into The Lonely (MAG159).

=> idk if it was misleading, or if yeah, completing the set was the point all along, but if the latter: I hope that Elias minimising The Extinction and not initially factoring it in could bite him in the arse (MAG138: “In my case, while Peter has talked of it before, it is only very recently that I’ve been forced to admit The Extinction is real.”)

Other actors who could do something in MAG160:

* Helen, who’s probably been eating popcorn and enjoying the chaos but… could still do something else to make things a bit worse.

* Annabelle: we know that she has plans for Jon and needed him alive for something (MAG147: “I’ve simply been… watching. I’m sure you understand that. Maybe I’ve occasionally been nudging something here and there to keep you safe, to keep everything on track.” + Oliver went to push Jon to wake up at the request of someone from The Web), and we still don’t know what that is… She could be collaborating with Elias, or she could be planning to stab him last moment, I guess?

* Baaaaaaaaasiiiiiiraaaa: she had left the chaos by the end of MAG158, I don’t think she has many other options than trying to reach the Panopticon herself…? And all season has been about her getting misled and manipulated by Elias, making bad decisions and/or not managing to get any “win”… (=> on the one hand, there is still a knife in the Panopticon near Jonah’s original body and his current one; on the other hand, Basira had also been associated to her search for Annabelle Cane in this second half, insisting to go to Hill Top Road, being told by Elias to drop it, explaining to Jon that she was still trying to find her… So if anything regarding Annabelle happens, I’m kinda expecting it to be through or with Basira.)

(Oooooooorrrr… plain timeskip and we don’t know what happened exactly / only get glimpses and clues thanks to MAG160? MAG158’s summary felt a bit more canon/relevant than usual: “#0182509-A – Original recording of events leading to the disappearances of Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, Alice Tonner and Peter Lukas.” and we got a B-side with MAG159. That leaves Basira and Elias as people who aren’t perceived as having ~disappeared~ by the time of that summary, so… either dead, or in plain sight.)

MAG160’s title is [REDACTED] and that’s a 16th Fear on its own. Idk. Straightforward “Watcher’s Crown”, terrible Eye Pun, “Anniversary”, “Mr Blackwood-Sims”, surprise!Web title (“Mother”)?? I have no idea, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrg ;; (I wanna hope for a kinda soft, bittersweet ending for this season, allowing us to breathe a bit and enjoy the hiatus before everything ends terribly in season 5? But realistically: it’s prob Watcher’s Crown Time or Extinction emergence time or Web hijacking time and we’ll spend the next months in agony and dread and worry and mourning, uh.)

(Had a dream last night that the episode was delayed and released when I was on my way to get another friend back to my home, so I only came home to witness the early chaos of Aza and other people listening: title was “If I stay long enough to live” (???), and it was mostly dealing with Tessa Winters and Extinction (???). Fun times

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #the magnus archives #tma season 4 #tma liveblog #mag159 #done in time and now it's coming so soon and i'm not reaaaadyyy aaaarrggg #long post/

29 notes · View notes

i-rove-rock-n-roll · 6 years ago

Text

Character questions tag

Tagged by the fabulous @jackeritesstuff (even though you tagged me like, AGES ago, I’m doin this)

Rules: Answer the following questions for one of your characters and then tag others to answer the same questions for their OCs.

I’m doing this for my OC Icarus, since he’s my main rn.

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

K, so, first thing with Icarus was his relationship with his dad, Daedalus, considering, myth wise, how closely connected their stories are. My early characterization/relationship between the two was..uh...bad, to put it lightly. May those excerpts never see the light of day.

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

One thing I did think a little about was how he’s always seen as a bright child, in features and intelligence (somewhat, since I’m sure Daedalus, a genius, wouldn’t allow his son to be dumber than a box of rocks) Greece wasn’t all blond people back then, so I figured I’d like to make a darker haired Icarus (though Daedalus was somewhat blond, his son took after his mother)

3. How did you choose their name?

Didn’t have to. Only problem with working with Greek myths is that some people spell things differently, Like Ikaros vs Icarus or Heracles vs Herakles vs Hercules etc. Its a translational thing with Greek and Latin, so I guess they generally choose what they think looks coolest.

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world that they live in played the most influential parts?

Well, Icarus is Greek, so I had to look somewhat into Ancient Grecian society, though I figure I can throw some of the rules out the window considering he was locked in a tower as a kid, so his learning experience was not the norm. I also looked into the customs of some other places around Greece was well for more info

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color?

Not really. I mostly was just interested in the idea of a ‘sun child’ with darker hair and skin (melanin still exists people). I mean, my Icarus would probably be considered mixed (though I’m not 100% sure how ancient greeks considered race) but he my character now, get used to it. You had your chance Ovid.

6. Is there any significance behind their eye color?

Don’t actually remember if I gave him an eye color.

7. Is there any significance behind their height?

Nope. He’s just a bit taller than his dad, and gangly since he didn’t have the most food growing up.

8. What, if anything, do you relate to within their character/story?

Lots of people like to use his story as a metaphor, don’t fly to high, don’t try to hard to achieve the impossible. I saw somewhere that someone once said (sorry, I can’t recall who) That Icarus was told not to fly too low, or set unambitious goals. Yet at the same time, while the middle ground might be achievable, there’s a certain wonderfulness in trying to reach this proverbial sun, even if we fall on the way down.

Not everyone does fall, you know?

9. Are they based off of you in some way?

All of my characters, I think, have a piece of me in some way. Name one and I could say what it is. Icarus has my yearning for adventure, and safety/family comfort wrapped in one. Also, he makes dumb mistakes once in a while, which I myself do, since thinking before speaking was apparently not a trait I was given.

10. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Nope. Mostly cause it’s just not a thing in this book. He’s got no interest in romance, as there are more important things to do

11. What have you found to be the most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art; writing, drawing, edits, ect.)?

I can draw, but not my own OCs. It’s just this weird thing I have. (though the awesome @livjnoodles did a drawing of Icarus for me!)

But the real difficulty is making sure I’ve shown their personality clearly/fully in my writing, since I know these characters really well, but no one else does

12. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

Uhhhh...I’ve started writing bits of the sequel? It doesn’t follow Icarus though (spoilers) but it does follow some of the other characters after this book.

13. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

To not rush things, to write scenes to the best of my ability. I’ve got all this images, one liners and speeches and revelations that have to take place in due time. They can’t be thrown wherever I feel, this is a story of people, not puppets

14. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

He shot a guy in the butt with a bow and arrow by accident.

15. What is something about you OC that can make you cry?

...Spoilers? No, but like most OCs, they go through some sh--stuff.

16. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

Can’t think of one right now. Ask me when this eventually hits bookshelves, I’m sure I’ll have an alphabetized list

17. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

He’s actually grown, somewhat, as a character. I think I’ll have to rewrite some bits, but he’s made some progress

18. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

His impulsiveness is both endearing, and frustrating, as this is where shenanigans occur in this book.

Alrighty then, time to tag some peeps. Anyone can do this, I’m just tagging a couple folks here, no pressure if you guy’s don’t wanna

@elaynab-writing @lmorasey @aj-the-satyr @pheita @jellybeanwriter

#Icarus #writing #OC #Tag Game

6 notes · View notes

banned-from-kansas · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 3,049 times in 2021

45 posts created (1%)

3004 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 66.8 posts.

I added 451 tags in 2021

#m*a*s*h - 71 posts

#deltarune - 59 posts

#ohoho - 51 posts

#tags - 49 posts

#video - 44 posts

#ragad - 40 posts

#mine - 36 posts

#what - 35 posts

#iconic - 34 posts

#supernatural - 32 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i've never seen any marvel things but i like to think loki is actually screaming under that mask thing it just is really good at muffling it

My Top Posts in 2021

There’s something about Icarus

The way he flew to the sky

It’s strange; growing up it was always told to me as a warning to not disobey, but now-

But now...

Now it’s a story of love. Of a boy trying to reach the sun, to do the impossible even though he knew he would die, for love.

Icarus is a boy of love, not a token of warning.

And again, in my childhood, it was Icarus’ folly for falling to the sea, but was it not Daedalus who came up with this plan? A man so smart he invented wings could not have come up with a safer plan, or warned his son just a bit harder, or tied himself to his boy, or

But it is not. Icarus is dead, and has been for years.

Icarus is gone.

22 notes • Posted 2021-09-25 01:53:25 GMT

The most powerful moment I’ve ever heard in a podcast was when Kevin said “He is holding a cat” and the theme started fully playing goddamn that hit me hard

24 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 15:45:19 GMT

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead has to end with a Hamlet scene because it was never about them. The story is about Hamlet, that’s why they’re lost, that’s why they can’t remember. It’s not important to Hamlet’s story for one to specifically be Rosencrantz and the other to be specifically Guildenstern. And their lives (and deaths) are being caused by completely removed forces. This is the only time Horatio is in the play, and he is going to tell the ambassadors why everyone died, sending them back to the start.

Then again, it’s just a play about two guys spinning coins.

28 notes • Posted 2021-07-19 19:23:11 GMT

Achilles when he sings idk I didn’t read the book

79 notes • Posted 2021-09-30 02:11:45 GMT

Ways I’d Direct Hamlet

In any scenario, Hamlet talks extremely fast (except maybe when he’s alone)

I remember once seeing a post about Hamlet being able to see the audience, and I think that’d be really cool, and here’s my version: Right before a character dies they can see the audience. Hamlet can see the audience the whole time because he’s always on the brink of death

Alternately, as soon as a character dies they remain onstage constantly. (Hamlet’s father might be the exception to this rule.) Sometimes they mill about, but sometimes they stand really close to Hamlet, crowding him, his conscience ruining him. I think it’d be interesting if he could or couldn’t see them

Hamlet but the audience is on the stage and the actors act in the house

Hamlet but he slowly takes on bits and pieces of dialogue and action from other characters until he’s the only one on stage. I don’t know if the play ends when he dies or if right before his death Horatio is there with him

255 notes • Posted 2021-09-12 18:01:41 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#lets go babey #mine

1 note · View note

contre-qui · 4 years ago

Text

Book 6 of 2021: The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

(paperback, 391 pages, historical fiction, romance, adult)

I am like Icarus without wings. But the desire to fly was very strong in me. I think I was always looking for a Daedalus. (11)

I didn't really enjoy this book, but I feel I should also mention I wasn't aware that this book was extremely historical romance, and focused a lot on a very specific point in history I know basically nothing about. Also I think the blurb was kind of misleading because it sort of implies one of the characters is a famous artist but he's not there yet when the book takes place, and that's just not the case at all.

First things first: the title makes no sense. The actual painting The Birth of Venus - the one everyone knows - was painted at least ten years before this book takes place and has no relevance to the plot or characters. Again, I think it was misleading because the title paired with the blurb made me think this mysterious young artist was going to be someone like Botticelli (who painted the big famous painting), and he just wasn't. He was just a random artist who wasn't famous and didn't do anything big. I think that's still a cool premise because I like reading about 'normal' or 'forgotten' people from history, but honestly this guy was so irrelevant I couldn't even tell you his name. I think they only use his name once or twice, anyways. I think Dunant could have done a lot with the anonymity of this painter and what that meant for him and for the main character, but she just didn't because the book wasn't really about him and he was more of a plot device than an actual character anyways, in my opinion.

The Birth of Venus is about teenage Alessandra, the daughter of a wealthy textile merchant in 1490s Florence. When we first meet her, Alessandra is resisting the idea of marriage and is only getting out of it because she hasn't started menstruating yet. Her father hires a promising young artist to paint their family's chapel walls, and Alessandra - who draws in secret - is immediately intrigued. She tries to to convince him to teach her how to paint, but he refuses because of the impropriety of the request. Eventually, Alessandra begins menstruating, but the political climate of Florence is becoming charged and dangerous, especially for unmarried women. Faced with a difficult decision - marriage or a convent - Alessandra agrees to marry a slightly older man who seems interested in her intellect more than her looks. On their wedding night, however, she discovers her husband is gay and she is to be his beard now that the Catholic Church is looking more closely at its parishioners. Alessandra also discovers that her husband has been maintaining a long-term relationship with one of her older brothers, who she also did not know was gay. The political climate continues to tighten, Alessandra has to figure out her opinions on her husband and brother's particular sin, and she continues to think of the artist in her father's home.

This keeps happening to me, but this was such an interesting premise with such a disappointing execution. I get that it's historically accurate or whatever, but I'm honestly so tired to reading about straight people trying to figure out if queerness is a sin. It just sucks to read, and the way queerness is presented in this book was just odd. Alessandra never came to any definitive conclusions about it - which is fine - but I could have used a little less of the vague villainization of queer people and the way it felt like her husband was taking advantage of her. Everyone sort of 'assumed' Alessandra knew about her brother, and they paint it as this phase they expected him to grow out of once he got married. Because of that, Alessandra is presented as this innocent and clueless teenager who is startled by queer sexuality. Honestly, it's tiring. It felt like some straight lady patting herself on the back for representation. This book was written for straight people, and that is so obvious. Her husband gives Alessandra permission to see other men, as he does, as long as she's quiet about it - and that feels like some straight lady fantasy for women who aren't happy in their marriages and would rather pursue some grungy young artist than their husbands. It was annoying, and I don't like having my community debated, even if it is thinly veiled as historical accuracy.

I was also super turned off by an uncomfortably graphic description of Alessandra's wedding night (meant to be uncomfortable I'm sure, but just kind of unnecessary in my opinion) and by an equally graphic description of Alessandra later giving birth. I get it, these things are part of life and weren't very pretty, especially in that time period. But I think Dunant could have given the reader the same sense of discomfort and frightened urgency, respectively, without the graphic descriptors. They were just really gross and hard to read for me, personally.

Let's not even get into Alessandra's maid, a Black woman whose portrayal gives me mixed feelings.

The book was also a little more historical than I expected, which was kind of interesting to read about because I'm not super familiar with Savonarola's rise to power in Florence and the subsequent religious and political fallout, but it was pretty dry. As much as some of the impacts did affect Alessandra, she was upper class so it wasn't that big of a deal for her. And though her father's business was heavily impacted, she was out of the house pretty quickly when things started going downhill, so she missed most of those ramifications. I don't think the artist really added that much to the story if I'm being honest. His inclusion felt like straight woman fantasy about cheating on their husbands or pursuing some secret passion for art or something. It was weird. And the conclusion of the novel with his impact on Alessandra's life felt kind of random with where the book had been going. I just wasn't that impressed.

Trigger warnings for weird/homophobic descriptions of queerness and queer relationships, heavy Catholicism and older Catholic teachings, murder, descriptions of murdered bodies, self-injury, injury mentions of blood, medical care, illness/vomiting, pregnancy, graphic descriptions of uncomfortable sex, graphic descriptions of childbirth, and mentions of racism and slavery.

My overall opinion: This book was not written for me, and that was abundantly clear throughout the entire thing.

#contrespeaks #books of 2021 #bookblr #the birth of venus #sarah dunant #historical fiction #romance #historical romance #book reviews #mini book reviews #booklr

0 notes

takaraphoenix · 7 years ago

Text

Imagine a Shared Cinematic Greek Mythology Universe

Franchises are a huge thing these days. Everyone wants one. Marvel did it best, DC is... trying to get the hang of it and Universal, honestly I don’t know what that mess is supposed to be at the end of the day.

Comics offer this kind of thing. And what else offers it would be mythology. I have never seen a good movie about Greek mythology. And there are so many different tales to tale and so many different heroes to introduce.

Now, let me propose to you a 13 movie shared cinematic universe for Greek mythology.

Herakles: Birth of a Hero

Of course, we’d kickstart our shared universe with the household name of Herakles. Because everyone knows that name, knows that hero. He can get butts in seats to pique the interest of the people.

But I want more than just the average tale. I want some focus on his backstory too. I mean, holy Hades the fact that he literally has a twin-brother and that Herakles is just a title and not his actual name - born Alcaeus, thank you very much - are so easily forgotten and just ignored. Do it right. Do it rich and detailed.

A simple origin story as the beginning, of Alcaeus, growing up with his big sister Laonome and his twin-brother Iphicles, listening to the heroic tales of his great-grandfather/half-brother Perseus. Dreaming to be like him. Setting out to become the great Herakles.

We cover some of his labors, after all he does have twelve of them and all twelve in one movie is just gonna overcrowd it with plot. So have a slow set-up and let’s go with maybe three or four labors. Because this is a franchise, so we can divide his tales into like a trilogy.

We know there are 12 labors to finish, but this movie ends semi-rounded up. He found one of his various lovers - let’s go with Megara, because she is the most famous and does for a great set-up for the second movie - he seems ready to settle down and be happy.

In the post-credit scene, we see a vicious Hera, watching from above - teasing that she’s not going to stand for his happiness.

Theseus: The daughters of Zeus

Theseus is up next. I also see that one as a trilogy - though, of course, as with the MCU we do not just dash all three of them out one after the other.

First movie in the franchise sees Theseus teaming up with his best friend Pirithous, son of Zeus. They got up to some shit together in the myths, among other, trying to abduct “daughters of Zeus”.

They went to the underworld to abduct Persephone and they also tried to steal Helen of Troy, being fought off by Helen’s brothers Castor and Pollux (cameo back-door introduction of Helen, Castor and Pollux and set-up for the Trojan war movie later down the line).

I think this would be a really fun way to do some world-building, by giving characters that will be important in the future already small cameos. And you get to explore a whole new world in the underworld.

Just a buddy hero movie of two friends getting up to shenanigans.

And, here’s where we get our first little crossover, because when Pirithous and Theseus ventured into the underworld, they got stuck there and then were saved by Herakles who was down there for his twelve labors. So we also have him give a very tiny cameo - really jut one scene, five to ten minutes, he’s not supposed to steal the movie but to establish that yes, these worlds are shared.

Herakles 2: The Labors of Herakles

This movie would be set up in a post-credit scene of Theseus, where after Theseus and Pirithous left the underworld, we see Herakles wrestling the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld. Zerberus, the reason he was in the underworld to begin with.

But that’s his last labor and more of a tease, really.

We start off with the whole driven mad by Hera and killing Megara thing first. And yes, I’m taking liberties with the myths a liiittle here because technically all of Herakles’ labors were given to him by Hera to appease her and to repent for “his” crimes. But as mentioned before, 12 labors in one movie is going to cram it and we do want some action in the first one already.

We cover the other left-over labors he didn’t accomplish in the first movie now. Lots of action, lots of monsters, lots of fighting - and another cameo, because labor number 9 features Herakles going to the Amazons and stealing Queen Hippolyta’s girdle. So we meet the Amazons.

Theseus 2: The Labors of Theseus

Okay, after the origin-esque first Theseus movie, we move on to the one about his more famous heroics - the whole bandit-killing, sow-slaying, wrestling and all that jazz.

The six labors of Theseus.

Throw in Theseus meeting the Amazons too, meaning Hippolyta and her little sister Melanippe get a reoccuring appearance and crossing over between the Herakles and the Theseus franchises. Because the most fun thing about a shared universe is the shared part.

Jason and the Argonauts

Whoop, time for the Avengers/Justice League! Time for the first team-up movie!

Jason assembles a team to go on a long-ass journey to find the Golden Fleece.

Including both Castor and Pollux, as well as Herakles. Among many, many others.

Like the twin sons of Hermes Eurytus and Echion, who I picture as the Weasleys of this universe. Because every good franchise needs two fun brothers.

Then there are Zetes and Calais, the sons of wind-god Boreas.

And Calais’ lover Orpheus, the son of Apollo, who will set up his own stand-alone movie in this.

Also featuring pilot Erginus, son of Poseidon, and Palaomonius, the bronze-smith and son of Hephaestus. Because there’s nothing more fun than a demigod team-up. And yes, I want them to actually use their powers.

And, of course, Jason’s lover the witch Medea (who is also the cousin of Ariadne, so there could be an Easter Egg name-dropping here).

And the most famous female Greek hero - Atalanta.

A wild fun ride follows as they search.

It also serves as a set-up for the Trojan War by re-introducing Castor and Pollux, a set-up for the stand-alone Orpheus movie and the second team-up movie led by Atalanta.

We’d also put a post-credit scene in here to tease Heracles 3, just showing Herakles happy in the arms of a woman.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Keeping it close time-wise, we tie in with the Orpheus stand-alone movie after Jason and the Argonauts.

Orpheus going to the underworld to bring back the love of his life Eurydice after she dies. Him charming Hades and Persephone, who get to make their third appearance after already encountering Herakles and Theseus, with his beautiful voice, but still failing.

Theseus 3: The Labyrinth of the Minotaur

Let’s break the flow a little and bring back Theseus for his third movie - and his most famous story.

Because just because something is the most well-known tale does not mean it has to be the first. That way, we always get stuck with the very same stories being told all the time, because most of the time it never gets past one movie. No. Let’s save Theseus’ most well-known tale to be the third in the franchise - because this is in my head and in my head, the franchise is allowed to expand this far and we do not need to worry about cancellation and such.

Theseus meeting Ariadne and Daedalus and slaying the Minotaur in the labyrinth. You know the story.

Atalanta: Huntress of Artemis

After we previously met Atalanta in Jason and the Argonauts, let’s give the greatest heroine her own stand-alone movie.

After all, she is a famous racer, a great hunter, an Argonaut, a huntress of Artemis and became a minor hunting goddess later on. She’s been busy and her story is worth telling.

In this, I’d like to focus on the huntress-aspect. Maybe include the tale of Artemis and Orion in here and tie that into how Atalanta joined the goddess’ hunt. Have her be trained by Artemis and befriend other huntresses.

Supporting cast would to me include the three daughrers of Boreas - Hekaerge, Loxo and Oupis, as well as Britomartis who’s the daughter of Zeus, and Phylonoe, who is actually not just a huntress but also a sister to Helen, Castor and Pollux.

Achilles: Hero of Sparta

Cue in Castor and Pollux again, after their small Theseus cameo and their supporting roles in Jason and the Argonauts, they are now back for the big story.

We start the story right though.

Eris, pulling a prank on the goddesses on Olympus with the golden apple for “the fairest of them all”. The goddesses pick Paris of Troy and make him chose. After he picks Aphrodite, she promises him the prettiest lady around - Helen of Sparta.

Castor and Pollux alone stand no chance. But they got friends.

Achilles, Patroclus, Odysseus, Francis Ajax and Phoenix.

The Trojan War ensues and in the end, sets up the Odyssey as our friends part ways and Odysseus claims to look forward to seeing his wife Penelope again.

Odysseus: Long Way Home

Taking place directly after Achilles: Hero of Sparta and featuring Odysseus’ ridiculous journey home. Seriously, that guy should have just asked for directions.

Visiting Circe and meeting Calypso and fighting off sirens. All the fun stuff that then pays off by the heartfelt reunion between two lovers long separated.

Atalanta 2: Hunt for the Calydonian Boar

After her supporting role in Jason and the Argonauts and her stand-alone movie, she’s now back to be the one to lead the second team-up movie.

The hunt for the Calydonian Boar was kind of a real big deal back in the day, you know. Everyone participated, everyone wanted to be the one to kill it.

And I mean everyone.

We see the return of not just Theseus but also his buddy Pirithous.

Atalanta’s fellow Argonauts Eurytus and Echion are going to bring all the fun as the comic-relief tricksters again.

Castor and Pollux are back for this one too!

And hey, even Phoenix from the Trojan war will be here.

Because the thing about those big franchises is that more characters need to cross over. If all those characters exist in the same world, how are they always so strictly separated? No. The characters who dabbled in multiple myths are also going to be recognizable crossover characters in this universe.

And in the end, of course, Atalanta was the one to kill it. That’s why this team-up movie is called Atalanta 2.

Herakles 3: God of Olympus

Because before the universe hits its finale, we need a pay-off for the man who started it all.

Last time we saw him, in a post-credit scene, he was holding his recent lover Deianira and being happy. Which, again, Hera does not like.

Deianira accidentally kinda kills him with the poisoned blood of Nessus.

He has to fight. Again. Has to prove himself. Again.

But at the end of this, there is an actual happy ending waiting for him as he is granted godhood and falls in love with the goddess Hebe to live happily ever after on Olympus.

Chiron: Trainer of Heroes

The third and maybe strongest of the team-up movies. The grand finale of the series, you could say. Also the only original idea I’m pitching here; all others are just the myths as they happened, put into a chronological order that would make for a cool movie-verse in my eyes.

The best place for this to start is Chiron.

Because the thing is, Chiron trained and raised most heroes.

Herakles, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, Patroclus, Phoenix, Ajax.

Let’s say the trainer of heroes got into a little trouble and his wife Chariclo - daughter of Apollo and mountain-nymph and also the one who did the whole raising of the heroes while Chiron only did the training because honestly everyone keeps forgetting that this centaur gets babies dumped in his lap and not teens and that it requires more than just hand-to-hand and sword training and that he had a wife who did all of that - assembles a team of the above named heroes to save their trainer, featuring cute flashbacks to them as kids during training.

#Greek Mythology #Shared Universe #Movie Idea #Achilles #Herakles #Theseus #Jason #Odysseus #Atalanta #Orpheus #all the heroes #Franchise Idea #I really want this to happen so badly

240 notes · View notes

wheredidhiseyebrowsgo · 8 years ago

Note

Hey, any Outsider POV Sterek fics similar to "(Not so) Out Of His League" by har1ey_quinn. ANYTHING along those lines of people meeting Stiles and ranting about Derek not knowing they're together or being shocked he's his s/o or the other way around with people finding out Derek is Stile's s/o. Also, can you attach the links to tags similar to this? Thank you!!! Love your blog

AND

Anonymous said:Hi! Can I have a fic about people POV of Stiles?? Can be outsiders or the characters. Basically I'm just thirsty for what people thought of Stiles

There weren’t a whole lot like “(Not so) Out Of His League” by har1ey_quinn. So I went with Outsider POV in general. - Anastasia

Suffering by mikkimouse

(1/1 I 530 I General)

Stiles and Derek are very, very obvious and very, very oblivious.

Lydia is very, very tired of it.

The Pope Would Brag by Hatteress (goddammitstacey)

(1/1 I 1,195 I Teen)

The thing is, Derek’s really, really hot. Like, insane levels of attraction. What with the leather and the cheekbones and the stubble and the ass — oh god, that ass — Stiles can’t really be blamed, at all for freaking bragging.

Now if only his college friends actually believed Derek existed.

a target that I’m probably gonna miss by HalfFizzbin

(1/1 I 2,469 I Teen)

When Scott calls Stiles to ask if he wants to come over and hang, it’s pretty much just a formality. They’ve spent every Saturday night together for as long as Scott can remember; it’s not like Stiles is going to have other plans.

Extra Whip by Door

(1/1 I 3,338 I General)

Sam’s been working at the Beacon Hollow Brew-Up for over a year now, and she knows all of the customers and their regular orders. The tips help her pay for books, but the most interesting thing that’s happened is the time Ishu set a dishtowel on fire while cleaning the espresso machine. Then one day a guy she’s never seen walks in looking awkward in a leather jacket and straight-up LIES to her about what kind of drink he wants.

“'You hated that latte you got last time, and it was not because it was a bad latte. I have never made a bad latte. Order what you really want.’

He glared at her. ‘Latte. Med–’

'No,’ she interrupted. They glared at each other for a long minute.

Finally, he huffed out a breath. 'White chocolate mocha. Medium.’“

When Life Hands You Werewolves by uraneia

(1/1 i 4,632 I Teen)

Four hours—that’s how long it takes after the Daedalus II drops off the new contingent of baby scientists and Marines before Rodney starts taking bets on who’ll be the first to get into Derek Hale’s pants.*A month ago John’s team rescued a former runner named Derek Hale. He’s great to have on offworld missions–he’s like a danger magnet; nobody else gets so much as a splinter. But there’s just something different about him. John can’t quite put his finger on it….

Single Parent, Multiple Problems by hoosierbitch

(1/1 I 4,701 I General)

Derek tries really hard to do the right thing, Stiles thinks Derek’s idea of the right thing is the wrong thing, and John does his best to help.

"Is, uh–is Stiles home?” Hale is staring at the ground and his shoulders are so tense that John’s tempted to say 'Boo!’ just to see what’ll happen.

the lovers [murderers] in 9B by ofherlionheart

(1/1 I 8,135 I Teen)

There is a new resident in apartment 9B, and he and his boyfriend are either serial killers … or just really loud in bed.

—

Derek Hale moves into a new apartment building, and his new neighbors try to figure out what to make of him and his frequent visitor, Stiles Stilinski.

Derelictions of Duty by Regann

(1/1 I 10,846 I Teen)

No one wants to be the bearer of bad news to someone as nice as Sheriff Stilinski – especially when he’s your boss. That’s why none of his employees want to be the first one to tell him about the scandalous goings-on between his only son and the former murder suspect Derek Hale. For all of their sakes, hopefully the Sheriff will find out all on his own…

(Or, 5 times a Beacon County Sheriff’s Office employee witnesses the unique relationship between Stiles and Derek but neglects to tell the Sheriff and 1 time he witnesses it for himself.)

Deep Down, Where Your Fight Is Waiting by yodasyoyo

(1/1 I 14,430 I Teen)

“Stiles?”

“I’m eating Cheetos,” he mumbles thickly. “It’s a stress thing. A heartache thing. You want one?”

“Oh my God, you just brushed your teeth.”

Allison never planned to return to Beacon Hills once they resurrected her, but when has her life ever gone to plan?

#teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #outsider pov #anon #Anonymous

201 notes · View notes

iatethepomegranate · 8 years ago

Text

Homecoming Chapter 17

@iontorch @darkmagicianknight @prettybeefballs

The whole fic is a sequel to Human Connection (can be read as a standalone, but character personalities make more sense if read together)

All chapters

Read on AO3

Pairing: DickTiger

Rating: Mature

Length: 4.6k (this chapter)

Summary: Tiger didn’t want to do this.

Notes: I am very sorry. More torture, of the suffocation and electrocution varieties.

Chapter 17

Tiger had known all along this was going to happen, but that didn't mean he was ready. He could never be ready for this. Dick had been worn down by hours of being chained to that pole without food or water. There was only so much Tiger could do without arousing suspicion. Helena believed Bannon would know Tiger had helped Dick even the small amount that he had. Tiger could not bring himself to care.

Helena had a smaller office than she used to, when she was director of Spyral. She also took less pride in its condition, half-heartedly dusting it every so often when visitors were expected. There was one window, looking out at distant mountains. They were oddly hypnotising, or maybe that was simply Tiger's exhaustion leading him to stare at them for long periods of time before Helena would finally catch his attention.

Helena joined him at the window. “Can you do this?”

Tiger was unsure, but that answer would not satisfy her. “Yes.”

“It may be more difficult than anticipated,” Helena continued. “We didn't account for the deprivation treatment. He may not handle it as well as he would have otherwise.”

That had been weighing on Tiger's mind ever since he'd discovered Dick's situation a few hours ago. A tiny amount of food, water and bladder relief would not help much.

“You need to have the strength he won't have,” Helena said.

Tiger nodded curtly, eyes still fixed on the mountains. Better out there than in here. Why had he ever thought returning to Spyral had been a good idea? It was difficult to not be bitter about Bruce Wayne's behaviour now, given what it had ultimately led to. Tiger never should have let Dick become involved in this.

“Bannon is interrogating you as much as he is Dick. Remember that. Remember your cover. Do not let either of them see how much it hurts you. I'll use the time he's down there with you to break into the director's office.” The one that should've been hers, which Bannon was currently using but didn't actually own. That honour went to whoever was in charge now, whose identity Helena had taken upon herself to discover.

Bannon found the two of them in Helena's office shortly thereafter. Tiger had to fight nausea every time he saw the man. He hadn't had a single good night's rest ever since Bannon had shown his face here.

Bannon smiled horribly. “I have a job for you, Tiger.”

Tiger didn't bother asking what that was.

Bannon turned on his heel and marched out the door, evidently expecting Tiger to follow, which he did. “Our guest has provided some limited information, but his attitude irks me. I would rather not continue wasting time with his word games in order to receive scraps of information. Perhaps you can help with that.”

Tiger would have to communicate to Dick after this what Bannon wanted. Maybe if Dick acted defeated, Bannon would go easier on him. Tiger wouldn't know. He hadn't been captured for long enough to reach that point, even if it had not been far away when Dick found him.

Then again, doing that was totally outside Dick's nature. Maybe it wouldn't be convincing if one session with Tiger seemed to break him. The thought of needing more than that to convince Bannon Dick's changed attitude was real made Tiger feel sick all over again.

Stop thinking. Compartmentalise. Getting through this first trial was all that mattered right now.

Dick was still chained to the pole, pallid from both the terrible lighting and hours of restraint. His eyes sharpened when Bannon and Tiger entered, but not by much. Tiger couldn't determine whether it was the pain, hunger, thirst or just plain exhaustion that had dimmed him.

Tiger unchained Dick per Bannon's instructions and half-carried him to the chair, doing his best to ignore the half-swallowed gasp when Dick was forced to use his shoulders in any way. Tiger strapped him in, focusing on the leather straps rather than Dick's face. They both needed a moment.

Then Bannon handed Tiger a stun gun.

“Something easy for your first time with us,” said Bannon. “All you have to do is press a button when I say so.”

“You're a real asshole, you know that?” said Dick. His voice was scratchy, likely from dehydration.

“Shock him.”

Tiger touched the stun gun to Dick's torso, well away from his heart, and pressed the button for as short a moment as he dared. Dick jerked in his seat, but didn't make a sound. This time. It wouldn't take long for Dick's muscles to be exhausted in his current state. Potential burns aside, the buildup of lactic acid would, at the very least, result in aches and pains and general fatigue after this was over.

“Now, I am very interested in how you managed to seduce our friend here,” Bannon said to Dick.

Dick tried to shrug, gritting his teeth as he evidently remembered the shit his shoulders had just gone through. “Just kinda happened. Take your victories when you can, you know?”

“And...?”

Dick came visibly close to rolling his eyes. “We slept together a couple of times. Shit happens. I figured having Agent 1 on my side could be handy, so I took it further. Clearly, that ended well for me.”

Tiger consciously reminded himself there was no way Dick was about to tell the truth to Bannon. Not on this. They had been through enough to know their relationship was secure. Dick had come all the way out there for him, after all.

“Feel free to shock him again,” Bannon said. “He is being quite rude to you.”

That was less of an invitation and more of a thinly-veiled order. Tiger pressed the stun gun to Dick's torso again, earning another jerk and a grunt this time. Dick exhaled loudly afterwards, and probably wouldn't have remained upright if he wasn't strapped securely to the chair. This was wearing him out quickly, and Tiger was only doing the bare minimum.

“And how did you come to sleep together?” Bannon asked. Oddly personal.

“I don't do well with isolation. Realising that, Tiger came onto me. I rebuffed his advances, then realised it was probably a good idea. Get in his good graces.” Close to the truth, but not quite there. Sometimes it was better not to stray too far from the truth so it was easier to keep the story straight. Other times, like the Batman communication question, the further from the truth they were, the better.

“You are aware Spyral has rules about fraternisation, yes?”

“Which generally aren't enforced,” Dick pointed out. “Don't tell me no one knew I was sleeping with Agent 8 once upon a time.”

“Any other agent lovers I should be aware of?”

“If there were, you'd already know.”

“Is there a point to this?” Tiger found himself asking.

“Oh, I'm just trying to determine the true breadth of Nightwing's influence on our agents,” Bannon said mildly. “No matter. Nightwing has clearly proven he is incapable of hiding his sexual conquests.”

“I feel like I should be offended,” Dick said. Tiger wanted to tell him to shut up.

Blessedly, Bannon ignored that. “Where did you and Tiger go after leaving Spyral?” It was a question Bannon could've asked Tiger, but maybe it wasn't as fun to ask someone you weren't torturing at the present moment.

“Gotham, obviously.”

“How did you convince Tiger to leave with you?”

“Spyral was a mess after the Daedalus thing. I figured that was my best chance for getting out and, at the time, I believed Tiger to be of the same mind. Just as well he never met my family, then. I'd hate to tell the big guy I brought a traitor into the batcave.” Dick made sure to voice that last part very pointedly at Tiger, who showed no reaction. There had to be a reason for the lie. Perhaps it would be safer if Tiger didn't appear to know the identities of the Gotham vigilantes.

“You should shock him for that,” Bannon said.

Tiger had to oblige. Dick cried out once as his whole body stuttered, and groaned once it was over. Sweat was collecting at his hairline and he was breathing far too heavily for Tiger's liking.

“You should really curb that tongue of yours, Nightwing,” said Bannon. “It seems to be getting you into trouble.”

Dick opened his mouth to make a smartass reply, but apparently thought better of it at the last second. Good. Maybe they could get out of this without too much more pain.

“Ah, you're learning.” Bannon retreated to his table—Dick and Tiger both held their breath—and picked out a... plastic bag? “You might want to get that breathing under control, Nightwing, before I do it for you.”

Dick had already been quite pale due to his previous treatment. This did not help.

“Now, your fellow vigilantes in Gotham City have proven to be quite a thorn in Spyral's side,” said Bannon, shaking the bag out until it formed a more open shape. “They have proven quite adept at finding our footholds and removing agents from the city. How were they able to find our agents so easily?”

“Tiger and I were followed into the city,” Dick replied. “Not that hard to figure out there are Spyral agents there. The rest was good old-fashioned detective work.”

“They completely bypassed our dummy bases. How did they know to do that?”

Dick and Tiger had provided their share of information about operation tactics in the time they'd spent at Wayne Manor. But Tiger, according to Dick's lie, had never been there. Dick had provided useful information, but most of it had been Tiger's. Whether Bannon would believe Dick had provided all the information himself was anyone's guess.

Dick seemed to realise that, too, because he was playing hard to get with the information Bannon sought. As in, he remained completely silent. Tiger hoped he was doing that on purpose to make whatever clever lie he had seem more plausible when he finally shared it.

“Shock him. Don't stop until I say so.”

Tiger had been dreading that order. He placed the stun gun in a new position—Dick probably had a burn in the old one—and turned it on. Dick's body shook, teeth jammed together. Tiger wanted to stop already, but he couldn't. Dick grunted from the pain, again and again, louder each time. Tiger was of a mind to kill Bannon and get the both of them out of here. Fuck the mission.

When Bannon finally told him to stop, Dick barely had a moment to gasp before Bannon had shoved the bag over his head, wrapping the base tight around his neck to stop any more air from getting in. Dick jerked weakly, locked in place by the restraints and his exhaustion. Bannon only let up when Dick stopped moving.

Dick was conscious, but only barely. He sucked down air.

Bannon shoved the bag into Tiger's hands. “Now. I'm going to ask again. How did your allies know how to tell the difference between a dummy base and a real one?”

“I stole files,” Dick said quietly. He breathed. “Before.”

“Before you left Spyral?”

Dick nodded.

“What files?”

“Field ops. Decoy protocols. Agent assignment algorithms.” Dick and Tiger had taken a whole lot more than that, plus the information stored in their brains, but the less Bannon suspected Batman knew, the better.

“Of all the available files, that's all?”

“We were in a hurry.”

“And how did Batman receive this files from you?”

“Ever heard of a flash drive?” Dick bit out, apparently having recovered just enough to be pissed off by the whole situation. “I handed it to him. Did you think I used some kind of high-tech brain link to beam the information to him?”

Tiger backhanded him before he said anything else that would get him in trouble. He couldn't pull back his strength as much as he would've liked, given Dick's condition, so his head snapped right to the side. Dick closed his eyes for a moment.

“It seems you want us to hurt you,” said Bannon. Tiger wanted to say anger was a natural reaction to what he'd been through, but wasn't sure how to phrase it without sounding like he was defending Dick. Even if that was what he wanted to do.

“I am uncertain he will provide any more useful information in this state,” Tiger said, hoping that would suffice. “Additional torture would be more entertaining than useful at this time.”

“I am quite enjoying myself, I will admit. Shock him again.”

Damn it. Tiger found a new spot, still far enough from Dick's heart that it wouldn't cause immediate heart failure.

“Don't stop until I say so.”

Tiger pressed the button, half-watching Dick's reaction and half-watching Bannon putter around his table of torture implements, putting the plastic bag away, straightening his knives, stroking the hammer. Dick screamed, breathless, barely loud enough to count. Tiger had to force himself to keep doing this. Stopping now, raising suspicion, would make everything Dick had suffered utterly pointless.

Bannon packed up his kit, taking his time to make it all neat and ordered. Dick's head listed to the side, eyes closing, and it was only then that Bannon finally gave the signal to stop. He took the stun gun from Tiger's hand, sliding it into the leather toolkit.

Dick's head drooped forward, shirt transparent with sweat.

“Put him back in his cell,” Bannon said, smiling his way out the door.

Tiger reached for the nearest wrist strap, slowly feeding it out of the buckle until it was open. “Are you with me, Dick?”

Dick's breathing shifted deeper, but he didn't respond. Tiger unstrapped his other wrist and knelt to free his ankles.

It was that point Dick's breathing hitched, fingers on his uninjured hand clenching around the arm of the chair. He didn't try to move, even after his ankles were freed. Tiger leaned sideways, to try and meet Dick's eyes. They were still closed, screwed shut, lashes wet.

“He's gone, Dick,” Tiger said, as gently as he could manage when all he wanted to do was chase after Bannon and snap his neck. “We're alone. I'm sorry.”

Dick had lost track of everything as soon as the last shock had begun. He came back to himself much later, head pillowed on Tiger's chest as they lay on the bed in his cell. Dick was lying more on Tiger than the bed, which would be a problem if Bannon returned, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Dick's whole body was wrung out. He couldn't have moved if he wanted to. A few spots on his torso burned, but dealing with them would require getting up. Evidently Tiger had been unable to do much about them while Dick had been out of it.

“Are you with me now?” Tiger asked softly.

Dick nodded, not even bothering to lift it.

“You should eat something. Have some water.” But neither of them moved. “Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

“Burns?”

Dick nodded.

Tiger sighed, his chest lifting and dropping Dick's head. “Helena will look for me soon. And scold me for wasting time down here, most likely.” Not that he was making an effort to do anything about that.

The door squeaked open. “I heard that, Tiger,” Helena said, jabbing at the communicator in her ear as she stepped inside.

“No one told you to listen in.” Tiger's response was a little snappier than usual.

Helena ignored it, resting against the bars. “Injuries?”

“Burns,” Tiger replied. “I was unable to examine them earlier.”

“You should do that now. You've already spent far too long down here.”

The look Tiger gave her could've stripped paint off the walls.

“Don't look at me like that. You're well aware it's a risk.” She was right, but Dick also didn't want Tiger going anywhere. Being alone right now was... not ideal. In his exhaustion, he had no control over his body language. His thoughts were damn well on display, which sucked because Tiger was having a hard enough time without Dick telegraphing his anxiety all over the place.

“This was a bad idea,” Tiger muttered into Dick's hair, holding him closer.

“We're committed.” Helena was doggedly sticking to being the voice of reason. Someone had to, and Dick and Tiger certainly weren't up for it. “I got into the director's office. It's as we expected. Alia is behind this.”

“Do we know when she will return here?”

“In five days.”

“It is possible she will simply order Bannon to kill Dick. We should arrange the attack to begin just before she arrives. Too soon for her to aid the defence too much, but too late to retreat.”

“I'll find the exact timing and make the arrangements. Tiger, when Dick is feeling better, help him memorise the building's layout.”

Dick had to endure this for five more days. How could a unit of time be so short and yet horribly long at the same time?

Helena rested her forehead against the bars. “Dick? Have you eaten?”

Dick shook his head.

“I'll bring you something. Tiger, check his injuries.”

Tiger pushed him into a seated position and helped him remove his shirt. Tiger had hidden a first-aid kit under the bed, since Bannon didn't seem to give a shit about the cell. All the more reason to get the attack underway before Alia arrived. She probably would care about such minute details.

Tiger cleaned the three burns from contact with the stun gun. Dick tried not to flinch, but he had little control over his body, which was aching all over as if he'd run a marathon without warming up first. Lactic acid was an asshole.

Tiger pressed his lips to Dick's bare shoulder and used stick-on bandages to cover the burns, just for a little while. Helena returned with a small amount of fruit and fresh water, plus a clean shirt. Dick didn't feel like doing much of anything, let alone eating, but he wasn't about to give either Tiger or Helena the opportunity to force it in his mouth if they had to. Which they totally would.

“Don't stay much longer,” Helena warned Tiger, taking the finished tray away with her.

Tiger helped Dick into the fresh shirt and they lay down again.

“You'll have to leave eventually,” Dick said.

“I'll leave when I'm ready,” Tiger muttered bitterly. “When you're ready.”

Dick was never going to be ready. He'd spent hours chained up, in pain and alone, and had just been tortured by the man he loved against both their wills. He wanted Tiger to stay, both for his own sake and for Tiger's.

Tiger made a slow circle on Dick's back with his palm. “Get some rest. I'll leave when you're asleep.”

Despite his exhaustion, sleep wasn't really on the cards. He was more in the mood to lie here and be miserable. Maybe it would've been kinder to make Tiger leave, knowing the man was paying very close attention to how Dick was feeling, but Dick couldn't bring himself to enact that kind of selflessness right now.

“We can do five more days,” Tiger promised.

Dick almost said he didn't want to, but that wasn't helpful, even if he'd rather have a complete nervous breakdown than spend another minute in this place. But he had to. He chose to do this.

But, fuck he hurt all over. If he never had to move his shoulders again, he would be a happy man. So far, he'd been able to lie his way out of providing accurate information that he didn't want Bannon knowing. But he couldn't rely on that. Sooner or later, his creativity would fail him. He certainly couldn't have come up with a lie if he'd been asked something sensitive at the end of today's interrogation.

Tiger cradled the back of Dick's head, resting his chin on top. “Dick. You need your rest. I will wake you in a few hours, I promise. You will need to eat small amounts at regular intervals anyway.”

Dick had managed to sleep while chained to the pole, but it seemed impossible now. He'd known this thing with Tiger was coming, but that hadn't helped. There was no way he could voice that without making Tiger feel worse than he already did.

“You're quiet,” Tiger said. Dick didn't have it in him to be a smartass, even with Tiger stating the obvious. He dislodged his head from beneath Tiger's to meet his eyes, which were full of concern. Dick managed the weakest of smiles and reached up with what little strength he had to kiss his cheek.

Bannon didn't always call on Tiger to assist in interrogations. Helena continued using Bannon's interrogation time to investigate restricted areas, passing the intel onto Batman.

Tiger, when he could afford to linger, set about helping Dick memorise the building's layout and the plan they were putting together. There weren't many points of entry available to outside forces, so the bulk of the family would be entering through the front door, with a few slipping in through other, smaller, entrances. They would wait to enter until Bannon was with Dick and Tiger would then help him take the man out.

“And what about those allies you and Helena were going on about?” Dick was propped up against the wall on the bed, nursing a nosebleed into a tissue. Nothing broken. It would pass soon enough.

“Most are not interested in fighting either side,” Tiger said, passing Dick a fresh tissue. “Those people have escape routes planned. A small group have agreed to assist. Gloria is one of them.”

“Huh. Been a while. Would've thought she'd want to escape so she could see her kids again.”

“She wishes to make sure we succeed. Desertion will put her family at risk if we do not.”

“Fair enough.” Dick pushed the map further down his legs, the better to see with his tissue-holding hand in the way.

“How's the bleeding?”

Dick dabbed at his nostrils. “Getting better.”

“Did you tell him anything?”

“He asked how much Batman knew about hypnos. He had to make this nosebleed happen before I answered, so I guess I convinced him Batman hasn't had a chance to study them properly.”

Tiger dampened a tissue in the sink and passed it to Dick, who cleaned the dried blood off his face. Tiger took the tissue from his hands after a few moments, taking over the task. That was fine by Dick. His shoulder had been killing him anyway.

“Will you be able to fight when the time comes?” Tiger asked, swiping the damp tissue across the corner of Dick's mouth.

“In this state? Probably. I don't know if my answer'll be the same if I have another round with that pole.”

“Just three more days, Dick. Are your shoulders still hurting?”

“When I use them too much, yeah. I probably won't notice it as much in the middle of a fight.”

Tiger threw the tissue into the toilet on the other side of the cell and hid the map underneath the mattress. “I'll try to get to you as soon as the fighting starts. You will not be left alone if I can help it.”

“I'm starting to suspect I'm more of a hindrance than a help.”

Tiger cupped Dick's cheeks between his palms. “No. You are providing a useful distraction for Helena's investigation and, to my shame, I prefer having you close, even under these circumstances.”

“You smooth talker, you.”

Tiger made a sound of disgust. “You must be feeling better.”

“For the moment.”

Tiger pressed his lips to Dick's forehead. “I love you. I'm sorry I put you in this situation.”

“Well, to be fair, you did try to stop me.” Dick could just feel Tiger wanting to argue, but he kept quiet. They were both doing a lot of that. Some things were better left unsaid, especially in a situation such as this.

They kissed instead of arguing. The door squeaked and they separated, which was just as well, because Bannon had returned.

“Well, isn't this cosy?” The man looked like he'd just won the lottery. Fuck.

“Someone had to clean up the mess you made of my face,” Dick shot back immediately. It wasn't technically a lie, so...

“Still mouthing off, Nightwing? Haven't you learned your lesson yet?”

“I'm a slow learner.”

Tiger shot him a look that clearly said shut up. It was probably in Dick's best interests, but he'd never been good at looking after himself.

“Who did you think was patching me up after you were done with me, Bannon?”

That just made Bannon smile even wider. “You seem awfully keen to defend your betrayer.”

“I don't see many people down here and you're a grade-A asshole, so I don't have an endless supply of people who'll patch me up and talk to me every so often.”

“Guilty conscience, Tiger?”

Tiger always seemed to struggle with answering back to Bannon, which was no surprise. “A healthy prisoner will last longer,” he finally came out with. “The longer he survives, the more information he will give us.” Dick made sure to school his expression into that of hurt, though he couldn't telegraph it too much or Bannon would realise he was bullshitting. This whole plan could fall apart if Bannon stopped believing Tiger's handing Dick over to Spyral was an act of betrayal.

Bannon's face was positively gleeful. “Oh, I'm sure. Perhaps you could convince me further. But don't bruise your knuckles too quickly. Or perhaps I'll let you borrow my brass ones.”

That was all the warning Dick got before Bannon had Tiger deliver him to the torture chamber once again.

Multiple sessions in one day wore Dick down, breaking him faster. Perhaps that was why Bannon always made sure he'd had his own session before he brought Tiger in to do the dirty work.

This time, however, Tiger was not permitted to stay and tend to Dick's medical needs. Dick's head throbbed as he lay in bed, lights out in a mimicry of night. No dinner had come, but Dick probably couldn't have eaten anyway. His ribs were definitely bruised and there had been a few gut punches that made him want to vomit.

But the door squeaked on its noisy hinges. Dick thought, for a second, maybe Tiger had managed to get away for a moment, but...

“Hello, dear.”

“Gloria?”

“Matron sent me.” A flashlight clicked on and she unlocked the cell door. “Your partner couldn't get away from Bannon. I only have a moment, so show me where you're hurt.”

“Not much you can do without ice,” Dick said, lifting his shirt to show her the bruises on his torso. Gloria produced a handful of washcloths.

“These won't work as well as ice, but better than nothing.” She dampened them in the sink, pushed Dick onto his back and laid them over the worst of the bruising. She put one over his eye, which had swollen slightly. “Whoever is bringing you breakfast will take them, but be sure to hide them just in case.”

“Do you think Bannon suspects Tiger now?”

“Bannon suspects everyone. If Tiger's position is too tenuous, I will take over his caretaking duties until the reckoning begins.” She patted his hand. “Matron tells me you're Nightwing. I take it that's your preferred name?”

“Around people who can't know my identity? Yes.”

Gloria's smile was barely visible in the thin beam from the flashlight, but it was refreshing all the same.

#dicktiger #dick grayson #agent tiger #tiger king of kandahar #ao3 #my fics #homecoming dicktiger fic #i typed my own title wrong wtf

5 notes · View notes

rpchive · 6 years ago

Text

107th Encounter-- Smoking Barrel

The background noises of the IT travelling come to a stop as it reaches its next destination. Collin looks up from the table in his room where he is currently working on something with his magic. He quickly moves the project into a drawer and turns himself around in his chair to look back for Jay. "Sounds like we've finally landed somewhere. Do you wanna go see what we've got?" Shifting to a seated position on the bed, Jay nods. "Always should." Collin hops up out of his chair and walks over to Jay as he gets up. Taking Jay's hand in his, they make their way down the hall to the console room. Nydins; Demo; and Maya are all patiently waiting around the console. Rio's chair remains empty as she remains with XL and Hod. Collin: Hey guys. Man, I know Rio isn't always in here, but it feels even weirder than usual not to see her... Nydins: I know. Late nights got a lot quieter suddenly...I keep having to visit her in XL's room now. Collin: You know you don't always have to be in here, right? It's fine to leave the console for a while; I think the IT can handle itself somewhat. Nydins: Yeah, but if something weird happens to our coordinates, who's gonna tell everybody? Collin: I guess that's fair. I wish this thing had a PA system or something so it could just say when stuff was getting weird.

look me in the eyes and honestly tell me you want the IT to start talking and I’ll do it

Fawkes enters the room, quickly jumping into the conversation. "I do find it a little odd that a ship as complicated as this one doesn't have any automated alert systems. Verbal ones, at least." Demo: Wow, you're about the last guy I expected to see show up. Is it a special occasion? Fawkes: Not exactly. I finished decommissioning the speedwell weapon I installed a while back, and I figured I've spent enough time working on another personal project for now. I thought now would be as good a time as any to join you for a change. Demo: The more the merrier, I guess. Anyone gonna take a look outside first? Collin: I guess I can do that real qui-

He gets cut off as Daedalus quickly hurries into the console room, Clair closely behind him.

Daedalus: Wait wait wait, hang on a second. I was on my way here when I ran into a tag-along. You guys already got a full group yet? Demo: Well no, but I guess we can make this a field trip if we're gonna bring half the IT. At least we aren't bringing everyone who can fight.

Maya: Eh, I'll hang back unless you need me. Looks like Nydins could use the company anyway. Collin: I think we can manage. We've got a pretty decent group right here. Everyone ready then? alienrabitt: Looks like it. Daedalus: Cool, let's see what we're dealing with then.

Fawkes, Collin, Jay, Demo, Daedalus, and Clair step out of the IT and find themselves standing in an alleyway between two tall brick buildings that have seen happier days. The sound of numerous voices clamor at the end of the alley, and sand swirls around their ankles as the wind sweeps the worn pavement. They head out of the alley and find themselves at the far end of a long stretch of market stalls. Colors, smells, and sounds rush toward them in a wave, trying to convince them to come further.

Clothing lines run across the buildings on either side of the market, various personal belongings hanging from them in the breeze. On the rooftops are numerous personal windmills that seem to provide power to the buildings, and solar panels dot the outer walls to catch the sun as it moves across the sky. The wind that spins the windmills above continues swirling sand through the market occasionally, though the locals seem to pay it no mind. Demo: I feel over-dressed...what kind of place is this? Daedalus: Beats me. The IT doesn't exactly print out a tourist pamphlet whenever we go somewhere.

Fawkes: It feels like Earth, but something also feels... off. I can't quite identify what it is though. Demo: I'm more trying to figure the time period out...

alienrabitt: Won't figure anything out standing around here... Collin: In we go, then. Maybe someone can help us out...?

As the group enters the marketplace and begins looking around, they quickly find themselves pulled along in the current of people. Fawkes occasionally draws an interested or admiring glance, although no one seems to perplexed by his presence. Several members of the group are assailed by a barrage of invitations to come look at stalls or deals as they make their way through, but even those are hard to place in the confusion. alienrabitt: This is way too many people...

Clair: They're not weirded out by you guys? Between your arm and Fawkes, I kinda expected a lot of attention...

Demo: As if this crowd isn't?! A voice suddenly calls out to them through the crowd. "E-Excuse me, Mr. Robot? Can you and your friends come here for a minute?"

Fawkes perks up and spins his head around, finding the source of the voice to be a girl in her late teens at the latest standing in the front of another alleyway, waving to them.

Fawkes: Well I can't say no, can I? She called me "mister". Demo: Anything to get away from all these people...

I never inherited mom’s claustrophobia but since Jay is “me” Demo did, which is surreal

Fawkes ushers the group through the crowd into the alleyway with the girl.

Fawkes: Alright, what is it you need, little miss? Oh, and you can call me Fawkes. "Mr. Robot" is my father.

domo arigato

it’s actually hard for us to sing that song because Miku always falls into the phonetics during that part (domo arigato meestaa robotto)

The girl gives a small bow to them, brushing a stray hair behind her ear as she stands back up. "I'm Senri. I... really appreciate you coming over here. I know it's probably strange getting flagged down like that. You're travelers, right? I doubt there's a family here with a working robot and a hard light prosthesis that I don't know at this point." Demo: How'd you know...? Senri: That you weren't from here? Like I said, I know everyone in town with tech like yours. When you run a newspaper, you need to know your audience, right? Clair: A newspaper? Is that why you flagged us down? Senri: N-No, not quite. I lost track of my younger sibling, and I've looked in all the normal places where he usually plays. No one else has seen him in a while either, and I'm worried he might've gone into the... sketchier part of town. If you could find him, I'll give you anything you want. I've got some money saved up, or maybe I have something at home to trade... alienrabitt: What exactly do you mean by sketchy, anyway? Senri: Well, you probably know this is arguably the biggest trading city in the Burning Blight. Obviously you need places to store those goods. There's an old storage depot at the far end of town, but some of those areas are owned by... seedier individuals. If Raz is over there, I'm afraid someone might decide he'd be a... valuable asset.

The thought forces her to pause for a second before she continues. "I just need someone to go look and make sure that he's not over there."

so I remember a trillion years back you said that Daedalus likely had a secondary love interest from Somewhere and part of me was like “is this her” but this is a Teenager and we’re all in our 20s so Probably No

Demo: Say no more; we're on the case. ...Unless it's more info on the case; then probably say what you can. Senri: Well, he's... about this tall, twelve years old. I... shoot, I can't remember what he was wearing today, but he always has his toy laser gun with him. It's white with red markings, the only one like it that I've seen. Does that help?

did you give him the fucking Nuka Blaster

Demo: Well, unless this seedy part of town is the hip hangout for teens and tweens, I think we'll be able to work with that. Senri: It shouldn't be, not for kids his age. I've told him not to go there, but... Please, just help me find him. The depot is down this alleyway and to the right. Just follow the road and eventually it'll be on your left. Demo: Alright then, let's get going! The group leaves through the other side of the alleyway and start following her directions.

Daedalus: Sheesh, finding lost kids? The IT has a weird classification for "emergencies" sometimes, huh? alienrabitt: What's gotten into you, anyway? Helping people find little kids isn't really your thing.

Demo: Well, I helped pull you out of the ground like a potato; might as well try to beat somebody to the punch for once.

alienrabitt: D--don't say that!! Ugh! This is somebody's brother we're talking about!

Demo: And? So were you; but they definitely don't know that now. So let's try not to make the same mistake twice, alright? Save the kids before there's trouble; not when they're gods that wind up falling in love with a god magnet. Collin: It's like a good intention buried under several feet of manure... alienrabitt: A salt brick road to a shit brick house; but at least it's paved with good intentions?

probably the first and only time you won’t make fun of me for saying “shit brick” instead of “brick shit”

Daedalus: Alright alright, as funny as it is roasting Demo like a grumpy marshmallow, I think we're getting close. Geez, this place really has seen better days though...

On the group's left is a line of large storage depots, just as Senri said. The structures are very clearly lacking maintenance and appear to have scorch marks along most of the outer walls on the right side of each building. Some depots even have holes hastily patched with clay or other various materials. A few men seem to be moving items in and out of a few of the storage buildings, although the workers are fairly spaced out between depots. alienrabitt: So, how should we be doing this? Surely we can't just check all of these one by one...

Demo: I think there's juuuust enough sand blowing around for me to be able to sneak some anubis out; but we'd have to wait for them to come back; and we're kind of a big group... Fawkes: ... How stealthy can your anubis be? Demo: As quiet as the wind and as dark as the shadows. Unless someone would just really get upset about seeing more sand somewhere, my anubis will be fine. Fawkes: Sounds perfect. Could you have one look around the far side of that last depot in the row? I think I just saw someone suspicious go around the corner outside, but I wasn't able to zoom in fast enough to get a better look. Gently tilting her head in the direction briefly, Demo watches the smallest cloud of black grains of sand blow off towards where Fawkes mentioned. "It'll lay low from here." After a minute or so, the anubis returns to Demo and reports back to her. Two men were holding a small child up by the arms, and a taller, third man with a mechanical right arm was giving orders to the first two men while twirling a white and red gun in his metallic hand. After a few more moments getting the child under control, they took a side entrance through a hole in the wall on that side. Demo: ...Sounds like we found our guys. At least three of 'em; one's got a prosthetic right arm. They took some side entrance through a hole. Hopefully they aren't expecting company. Fawkes: I would expect more company. That seems like a large building for only three people to use.

Daedalus: It's really weird to hear you get so tactical, you know that?

Fawkes: I was originally designed to be a military turret, you know. Sometimes the files come in handy.

Collin: So we go in through that side entrance; then what?

Fawkes: I'll try and do one final sweep to identify hostiles. We priortize targets, take them out, and save the child. Any thoughts? Demo: Sounds good to me. Worst case we hope Azreldeh's riding around in someone's shadow again; though I guess she wouldn't be able to drag someone with her with the magic she has after what she pulled in Lobotomy... Fawkes: Alright. These are probably simple thugs, so I doubt lethal force will be necessary. Now we just need to wait for a moment...

The group waits as some of the other depot works in the other buildings continue their own work. Once they are suitably busy, the group hurries across the open space between the street and the depot and ducks behind the outer wall. They soon find the side entrance and sneak inside.

The inside of the building is full of tall racks full of various crates and other items, with a larger open space in the center. Everyone hides behind a few boxes on the closest shelf while Fawkes pokes his visor just over a box. He scans side to side for a few minutes, then turns back to the group. Whispering under the cover of the people moving and talking inside, he relays his findings to the others.

Fawkes: Alright, definitely more than three. There are at least fifteen people here, although luckily only two have any sort of firearm, and they're both up on a balcony. I can take one out with several tranquilizer rounds if you can dispatch the other one, Collin.

Collin: Yeah, I can do that, no problem. After that, should we just group up and take out the others?

Fawkes: I think pairs will work best. You and Jay, Daedalus and Clair, and Demo and myself. Any objections? Demo: ...Yeah, I guess that's fine. Do your thing, then. Fawkes: Alright, on three then. One... two... three!

Collin and Fawkes dash out from their hiding space and fire simultaneously up toward a balcony across from them. Two surprised shouts and thuds echo out in response, spurring the rest of the group into action as the people inside start to go on the alert. Sneaking through the shelves, Demo attempts to group up with Fawkes as planned, while Jay heads for Collin. Clair, unsure of what to do in the commotion, sticks close to Daedalus. As the pairs come out of hiding, the gang members inside pick up various pieces of junk or tools as makeshift weapons and start charging in to meet them. The gang is far outmatched by the strength of the IT crew, however, and quickly start falling one by one. Half of the gang is down by the time a voice finally shouts, reverberating off the walls of the depot, "Enough!"

The man with the mechanical arm grabs Raz by the back of his shirt and deploys a razor sharp blade from the underside of his prosthetic wrist, then quickly holds it against the boy's throat. "One more move and I slice the kid open like a pig!"

okay so idk if you intended this or not but all I could visualize for this dude was that pirate captain from fucking Treasure Planet

Glaring coldly, Demo backs down first. "Put the kid down...he doesn't have anything to do with this." ?: In the long run, absolutely. Right now though, he makes some great leverage. Now, why don't you all be good little boys and girls and get on your knees right over there? I think we should have a little chat before you give anyone else a fucking concussion. No sudden moves, remember...

He motions with the knife for a moment and gestures toward a small area fifteen feet or so away from him. Reluctantly, Jay backs down as well; Clair, offering no resistance to begin with, follows suit. Fawkes, Collin, and Daedalus follow suit behind them, although Daedalus can hardly keep himself still.

?: Now, let's start simple, alright? The name's Cidney, and within a few minutes I'll have the power to hold this entire stinking trade center in my palm. Should've figured someone would come looking for this little brat, but I didn't figure they'd send a group so....spirited. Guess I should've tried to snatch the kid faster, but eh, what can you do? Demo: What the hell are you going on about? Cidney: Not surprised you don't know. Most people don't, as it turns out. So, quick storytime for ya, back before the war, one of the old governments decided to try making an orbital laser cannon, but not just any laser, no no. This sucker is solar powered; literally infinite use, at least until the sun burns out in another few billion years or whatever. The problem is that the whole thing was still in the testing phase before shit hit the fan. Fast forward to now, and the whole thing is still useless without its target designator. Do you know how hard it is to find a target system for a weapon that no one knows about? Demo: Clearly somebody had to know if you know. So I'm guessing you found one...or someone that could make one. Cidney: Well, I did have a diagram of it, which helped when trying to look around and ask people what they knew. Rumor after rumor led me aaaall the way to here, and wouldn't you fuckin' know it...

He whistles, and one of the surviving thugs walks over and takes over holding Raz hostage, holding their own knife against his neck. Cidney steps over and grabs Raz's toy gun from a table, twirling it around his finger as he walks in front of the group. "Hiding in plain sight." alienrabitt: You've gotta be kidding me... Cidney: I know, right? The fucking kid could've brought the wrath of the fuckin' sun on this city at any moment in the last couple of months if it weren't for one teeny tiny detail...

He grabs the barrel of the gun, pushes it inward, twists it back and forth in a specific pattern, and releases the barrel. The gun makes an ominous charging up tone, forcing Cidney to hold the gun much more carefully. "The damn safety was on. Lucky him, right?" Demo: What the hell do you think you're gonna get out of this place if you blast it to bits with the sun?! Cidney: The best weapons are the ones you never have to fire, sweetheart. With the threat of annihilating entire buildings with a single shot, they'll have no choice but to turn over control of the city to me. 'Course that's just the start of everything, but I won't bore you with that. Back to you guys, then. I'm feeling pretty generous, so I'll tell you what. I pick one of you to test this bad boy out on, and the rest of you get to live! 'Course, I'm taking all your stuff and selling you to slavers the next town over, but you'll be alive at least, right? Demo: You won't get away with this... Cidney: That's what everyone says. Hmm, now then...

Fawkes: Just pick me.

Collin: Fawkes, no!

Cidney: What, are you kidding me? Who's gonna cry about a melted hunk of slag and circuitry? You're worth way more in parts, frankly.

Cidney makes a dramatic exaggeration of him trying to make a choice, then finally points the gun in Clair's direction. "Alright, you're up, blondie. On your feet." Flinching as she's called upon, Clair shakily stands up. "...F-fine...just leave them alone..." Daedalus stands up right after her. "Absolutely not. I'll go."

Cidney: My my, what unexpected chivalry! You don't look like the type for sacrifice, buddy!

I mean, he looks like his “twin,” and that’s right up Collin’s alley, soooo...yeah he does?

Daedalus: Shove it up your ass, "buddy". Leave her out of this.

Cidney: Hmm... Y'know what, sure! This should be good.. You're free to get back down, sweetheart. Demo practically attempts to launch herself off the floor, but Jay yanks her down, desperately attempting to keep her from getting anyone else hurt as she swears profusely and attempts to shove Jay away from her with an equal sense of desperation and anger. Clair, frozen to the spot with fear and heartbreak, collapses to her knees, tears already beginning to fall as she barely chokes out an objection that she cannot back with any effort, instantly overwhelmed with grief. Cidney points with his gun a fair distance away from everyone else, and Daedalus resolvedly strides over to the spot, turning back to stare him down. Cidney pulls the trigger while pointing directly at Daedalus' feet, then casually blows the barrel off. A loud sizzling noise can be heard from above the roof as it seems to get brighter outside. A few seconds later, a piercing column of sunlight rips through the roof of the building and slams down where Daedalus is standing. Air rushes away from the intense heat source as the ground cracks underneath the beam.

The beam's width begins to shrink at the bottom, gradually tapering into a single point as if it were being pulled inwards. Cidney's look of confidence finally breaks into one of confusion as the beam starts to rise upward off the ground. A towering humanoid figure of golden light appears to be sucking in the sun's laser as it pushes it upwards, while a fully armored Daedalus begins to push himself off the floor. His armor is clearly based on that of a knight's, but significantly streamlined and modernized, with mesh-like accents around the shoulders and stomach. Both the figure and Daedalus stand to their full height, and a moment later the beam is completely consumed, and a blast of blinding light shakes the very ground.

When the light clears, a huge armored figure stands behind Daedalus, banners and tapestries with depictions of a sun emblazoned upon it. Its face is a golden mask with an expression of joy and determination, as though excited to face whatever challenge stands before it. The mesh parts of Daedalus' armor now have a fire raging inside of them like a roaring forge. The figure behind Daedalus raises its arms in the air triumphantly, and a deep voice bellows forth.

?: THE DAWN BREAKS ONCE MORE!

THE SHADOW REMAINS CAST

Demo: Wh-what?! What the hell is...?! The figure bends over so that its "face" is next to Daedalus', then casually glances over at him and speaks in a much softer voice. "I think you know what to do." A harsh grinding noise and a rush of air is Cidney's only warning as Daedlaus suddenly lunges forward, grabbing both him and the thug holding Raz hostage as he blazes through a charge, knocking Raz over but leaving him otherwise unharmed. The thug is then hurled head over heels into one of the shelving units, then crashes to the ground. Cidney however is hurled straight up toward the ceiling. Daedalus kicks off the ground and launches himself clear to the ceiling, conjuring an enormous searing halberd on his way up. He then kicks off the ceiling and drives the weapon straight through Cidney's stomach as they plummet back down to the ground.

Once back on the ground, Daedalus removes the weapon and allows it to dissipate. He calmly turns his back to Cidney and takes three confident steps toward the others before promptly collapsing to the ground, the flames in his armor fading away. Stunned by the display, Jay is easily pushed off of Demo, who quickly gets off the floor and rushes over to Daedalus. Forcing her legs to function, Clair shakily stands once more, stumbling initially as she hurries over but drops to his side just as quickly.

Demo: What was all that?!

Clair: A-are you okay?! Daedalus: I... think we... figured out... the fire thing.

The armored figure strides over to where the laser target sits on the ground and picks it up in one hand. He glances at the few remaining thugs in the room and then emphasizes one single command by crushing the weapon in his grip. "BEGONE!"

beGONE, THUG

The thugs, to their credit, quickly accept the man's request and scramble out of the depot, running for their lives. "There, that settles that business." alienrabitt: Who...who are you? ?: Hmm? Oh, of course, we haven't properly met the rest of you yet, have we? I am-

The sound of a crowd of people shouting and approaching the building suddenly drifts through the open doors of the building. "- going to have to answer that question in a bit! I'll see you on the IT!"

With no further explanation, he bursts into a shower of sparks, letting the remains of the gun drop to the ground. Demo: ...Come on, help me get him off the floor; we need to get that kid back to his sister and get the hell out of here, we've got a corpse to answer for now... Fawkes approaches the trio and lifts Daedalus off the ground. "I'll handle him. This armor makes him much heavier than normal."

Collin quickly gets up and hurries over to Raz. "C'mon bud, we need to get you back home. You're safe now, don't worry."

Still stunned from the events of the day, Raz quietly nods and glances sadly at the remains of his gun as the group makes a hasty escape out of the depot. As they exit the side of the building, they run into Senri, who seems just as surprised to find them there.

Senri: Oh, it's you! Wait, please tell me you found- Raz!

Raz doesn't even try to let go of Collin's hand as he sprints forward into Senri's arms, yanking him forward slightly. The pair embrace tightly as Senri spins him around a couple of times. She brushes the back of his head as she speaks again. "Oh thank you, thank you... I'm so glad you're okay..."

She looks back up at the others, tears running down her face. "Thank you so much for finding him. I didn't realize it was going to be that much trouble or I would've warned you!" Demo: Sweetheart, I don't think anybody could've warned us for all that. If he brings home something like that again, maybe check for batteries or something next time first. Senri: Wait, what are you... are you saying that was because of...? Demo: Yes. Senri: ... Oh.

She seems almost too stunned to properly change her facial expression for a second.

Collin: Wait, how did you know we would be coming out here this way anyway?

Senri: Huh? Oh, well that's easy, at least. I know most of this city like the back of my hand, and a good reporter never uses the front door.

Fawkes: ... Well, you can't argue with that logic. Demo: Right, a reporter. ...Look, this story's a little big for your breeches; I don't think you're ready for this yet. Senri: Hey, don't underestimate me just because I'm small! But... this time, I have more important things to deal with right now. Is there anything I can do to repay you all? Demo: Yeah, just keep your brother-- oof!

Demo's cut off as Jay elbows her in the ribs.

alienrabitt: I think we're good for now! We'll...let you know sometime, though. Senri: Alright, my newstand is in the marketplace when you need to find me! I think everyone's inside the depot now, so you should be good to go if you hurry. See you later!

The pair hurry off ahead of the others, quickly making their way back home.

Collin: All in favor of following their example?

Daedalus: ... Aye... Demo: Do you even have to ask? Let's get the hell out of here.

me, visibly attempting to reel in the BPD salt, knowing full well there’s no reason to be angry:

The group quickly makes their way back through the streets and the marketplace to the IT. The crowd is now so abuzz with the news from the depot that no one even really pays any mind to them as they pass back through, and eventually they wind up back in the console room, safe and sound. The instant the door closes behind them, a glowing ball of light appears in the console room with them and then bursts back into the masked figure from earlier. "Ah, home sweet home." Nydins: What the hell is that?! ?: Oh, my apologies! I didn't see you there! Forgive my rudeness for earlier and now. As I was saying earlier, I am Voltarus, embodiment of the Radiant aspect of the stars, twin god of the art of Astral Sorcery, and companion to your friend Daedalus, at your service.

He prostrates himself in a deep bow, then rises back up to his full height. "It is good to finally meet all of you in person." alienrabitt: Twin? So there's a second one somewhere? Voltarus: Of course!

The mask where his head should be suddenly flips like a coin, revealing a silver side with a much more calm and blissful smile, its eyes closed peacefully. Voltarus' body suddenly changes color and shape, swapping heavy armor for graceful robes of deep blue and black, studded with diamonds. A short bob of "hair" circles around its head, although an aurora would be a more apt description of its appearance. The new figure folds its hands in front of itself and gives a small curtsy.

?: Ah, my turn already? Well, I am Vintillo, embodiment of the Serene aspect of the stars, twin god of the art of Astral Sorcery, and companion to your friend Daedalus. It is truly a pleasure.

vinti skinny mocha chai god

Demo: A-are you a golem or something?! Vintillo giggles, a surprisingly sweet and bubbly sound. "Of course not! We are not such a mundane being. We are merely two sides of the body that is the heavens and the stars. In the same way a flame can both burn and illuminate, so too do the stars burn and combust with unparalleled ferocity, and yet guide us through the world and inspire awe and wonder... Do I make sense? It's been a while since I've given this speech, hmm hmm! Demo: S-so you're...stars? Vintillo: Mm, yes and no? It's a little more complex than that, but... alienrabitt: I think she's just trying to figure out if you just twisted a physical neck around like an owl or something... Vintillo: Oh! No, we don't have a neck!

Collin: You say that a little too casually... Daedalus: So.... hang on... Is this some bullshit... like what Collin had until recently?

Vintillo: Ah, good question! Our connection is similar but notably different. As you can see, we can project ourselves into the material world already. In addition, our connection is a contract rather than a bond. At the time of your resurrection into this world, we were given the opportunity to enter the physical realm once more, although we had to lend you our strength in order to do so. If you decide that you would rather not have our strength, or if we deem you unfit to wield it, the contract can be broken at any time.

Daedalus: I don't remember.... anything like that happening.

Vintillo: It was all a bit of a blur for even us, truthfully. The process took its toll on us, which is why we were unable to be present immediately upon arriving. Luckily someone fed us energy directly from a star, which greatly accelerated the process! alienrabitt: So, do the rest of the gods know about you? Collin: I certainly don't, so I have a feeling they might not either....

Vintillo: This is most likely the case. We are... not quite from the same realm as each other. They may praise our influence, but they will not know us. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind a new companion though, right? Hmm hmm!

[muffled da vinci noises]

Daedalus: Listen, I appreciate the honesty, but... this armor is hot as hell and my entire body hurts. Can we hold off on this until tomorrow or something?

Vintillo: Oh, of course. We will leave you with your friends for now. Let us know when you wish to speak again!

Vintillo's body dissolves into a sparkling mist and then vanishes entirely.

Daedalus: Alright, well, I think you can put me down now, Tiny. I'm pretty sure I can hobble to my room at this point.

Fawkes: If you insist.

He moves his arms to let Daedalus down onto the ground. Daedalus stumbles for a second, but finally manages a shaky standing position.

Daedalus: Okay... I think I can do this. Someone mind walking with me just in case? Clair: Um...yeah, of course! The pair make their way down the hallway to Daedalus' room. Stepping inside, Daedalus slowly moves over to his couch and rests his hand on the back of it to steady himself. "Okay, this armor sucks to wear when you're tired. Can you close your eyes for a second?" Covering her eyes with her hands, Clair nods. "Go ahead." A loud clattering sound of metal suddenly dropping onto something further away in the room rings out for a second, followed by the soft thump of something dropping into the couch. "Alright, you're good." Letting her hands fall down to her sides, Clair glances over to the couch. Daedalus is now lying in the closest available seat, already changed into his normal shirt and a pair of shorts. His armor is still wobbling slightly on the rack across the room as it comes to rest. Letting out a long sigh, he leans his head back and speaks a moment later. "You can sit if you want to. I'm... sorry for scaring you back there." Clair: ...Did you know you'd be okay? Daedalus: It was... a weird feeling. It almost felt as if I needed to do it. Maybe that was mister and miss sunshine's way of nudging me along so that they could recharge, or maybe I was just... stubborn or something. The whole thing feels like a haze now. I guess more than anything, I just couldn't bear to let that happen to you. Clair: M-me?! What about me?! I...you can't stand the thought of losing your only friend, but if those two hadn't been there, I would've lost everything! I lost my parents; I lost Zenith; and I couldn't do anything to change that; and then all of a sudden I get wrapped up in another situation where I'm totally helpless, and all you can think about is--!! Do...do you seriously just think so little about yourself that you thought you could just...risk throwing yourself away like that?! I...I just...!! Why does this keep happening?! Why does everybody...?

Crying to the point where she can quite literally no longer stand it, Clair falls to her knees, burying her face in her hands. "...Why does everybody I care about keep trying to leave me like this?!"

quit being dramatic and making everything about you, ffs, this is what I hate about you

Daedalus is quiet for a moment. He pushes himself back up and walks over to the side of the couch, then drops back down to sit on the floor with his back against its side. "I wasn't trying to leave you. For the first time in my life, I think I felt like I could actually protect someone; that I wanted to, even. I know that wasn't fair to you given... literally everything else."

He takes off his sunglasses and sets them on the floor next to him. "I... really am sorry, Clair. This was probably the last thing you needed right now. Is there... Is there any way I can make this right with you?" Clair: Just...just don't do that again...! Everybody keeps leaving me behind; I just...I don't want to keep replacing people...I want to help everybody; but I can't even do anything...I can't fight; I can't protect anyone...what am I supposed to do...? Daedalus: I think it's time we really started trying to figure out what exactly you can do. You're half kleivenn now, that's gotta mean something. Maybe you can't summon spears or shoot missiles or whatever, but there's gotta be something you can do with all that magic. Clair: ...M-maybe, but I don't know what...I thought that if something like this happened, I'd be able to do something in the moment, but I couldn't do anything at all... Daedalus: Maybe you just need a different push or something. First though, can we continue the conversation off the floor? This isn't exactly helping my- agh, fuck!

He moves to pull himself up onto his feet but suddenly winces and drops back down, clutching at the left side of his chest. "Okay, that still hurts..." Clair: ...What's wrong? Daedalus: I uh.... may have cooked myself slightly in all of that back there. Didn't think that was possible but shows what I know. The adrenaline's wearing off so now the pain's starting to kick in. I'll live, just hurts. Guess I had that much coming, though. Clair: Um, well, l-let's get you off the floor first...I guess XL has a way to help... Standing up, Clair offers Daedalus her hand. Daedalus hesitates for a second as an odd look crosses his face momentarily, but then takes her hand. Clair: Wh-what? Is there something wrong...? Daedalus: No, it's... Hang on, let me just sit for a second.

He slides over to the couch and takes back his old seat. "I'm... not really used to touching people yet. I know that sounds stupid but it's true." Clair: Oh! I, uhh...I can stop? Daedalus: No, you're... you're fine. It's just that historically speaking, anyone touching me meant bad news. Sorry, I've gotten us off track again, shit. Listen, I... I promise I won't do anything like what I did back there again. Clair: Believe me, the last thing I'd want to do is hurt you. And...I'm gonna hold you to that; so don't let me down, okay? ...But seriously, how badly are you burned? If it's something small, you could probably avoid XL, but if it's bad, you seriously need help. Daedalus: I'm not well done, don't worry. I try to stay further on the rare side of the cooking spectrum. Clair: Haha; alright. Just make sure you get it checked if it starts bothering you. Daedalus: I'll keep it in mind. So... are we good? You're not angry or anything? Clair: I'm still shaken, but I think I'm calming down. I'll be okay... Daedalus: We can still talk about it if you want. I'm not kicking you out or anything. Taking a seat beside Daedalus on the couch, Clair lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad you're still here! Watching you walk over like that felt like someone just straight up pulled the wind out of me..." Daedalus: I guess I underestimated how bad that was gonna be for you guys. It's strange, honestly. Not so long ago everyone was probably glad to be rid of me, and now suddenly it's a big deal when I'm in danger. I guess I'm just not used to people feeling that way about me. Clair: I mean, you still mean something to them too...they might not be close friends or anything, but they do care... Daedalus: Maybe so. I'm just not in the habit of thinking about it. Guess I've got more to work on than I thought.. Clair: Probably doesn't help that you spend a lot of time in here... Daedalus: ... Well, you've got me there too. If this conversation was a game of chess, you'd be kicking my ass right about now. Clair: Haha! I've never actually played chess. Or...most games, I guess. Daedalus: Really? What have you played? Clair: Um, well; I did draw a lot back when I was younger; but I guess that doesn't really count. I used to draw all the interesting things I saw when dad took me to visit other places... Daedalus: Huh, go figure. I'm guessing you don't have any of your drawings now, though...? Clair: I...actually have one sketchbook I managed to sneak around. It was from our trip to some snowy place I haven't seen again; I don't know the name... Daedalus: No kidding? Well, I'm glad you were able to keep something. Would you mind showing me some time? Clair: Of course! I'll have to find it again first, though. I put it in my bookshelf; but I've done a lot of reading since... Daedalus: What, you get to read books all day but I'm the one being a shut-in? I think I smell a double standard somewhere on this couch...

that might just be your fucking burnt flesh

also now that I think about it this game is basically what you did with that gun

His normal teasing demeanor starts to sneak back into his tone as he grins cheekily at her. Clair's face turns a little pinkish red. "W-well, I can't defend myself if anything happens outside, so I just...stay in." Daedalus: Bah, don't be like that. There are plenty of people on here that would be able to keep you safe if something happened. Don't be afraid to live a little, you're safe here. Clair: ...At the least, I'd like to know what I can do before I wind up going out again. I've tried asking Karumet, but she keeps ignoring me for the most part. All she's really said is that, whatever I can do, I can do it because of what I wanted when I tried to get back up; but everything in that moment is so hazy, I wouldn't know where to start... Daedalus: Oh, you meant going outside. I just thought you meant around the IT, sheesh... Well, do you remember anything from when all of that happened? Any detail is a possible clue at this stage. Clair: I just wanted...I wanted Zenith to be okay. I felt like I really messed up by being there...I shouldn't have gone back then either...now it just kind of feels like, if I go anywhere, people will get hurt or worse...and that's about the last thing I want... Daedalus: Hmm...

He starts getting lost in thought as he processes Clair's words, unintentionally staring straight at Clair. Clair: ...Um...are you okay? Daedalus: ... Oh, sorry. It's just that last bit you said got me thinking. If hurting people is the last thing you want, maybe your powers aren't meant to hurt? Clair: ...Maybe not; but if I could defend people, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have gotten shot with the sun... Daedalus: You've got a point there... What about healing? It doesn't get much more opposite from pain than that, right? Clair: I...haven't tried that, actually. But if you don't want to be touched, I'm sure you definitely don't want me trying to touch where you're hurt... Daedalus: I'll survive. It helps that I'm expecting it, for starters. Ever so gingerly, Clair attempts to touch the area where Daedalus was burned; however she makes no effort to remove his shirt. Nothing seems to happen, and Clair pulls her reach away. "...I...don't think that worked." Daedalus: Doesn't feel like it, either. You... don't think it's the shirt, do you? Clair: Maybe? B-but you don't need to take it off or anything; I can just...wait for somebody else to get hurt somehow? Daedalus: I don't think I need to take the whole thing off, you know. Look, if it helps you figure out what you can do... I can deal with it. I sorta owe you after today anyway.

Not waiting for a response, he takes one deep breath and then lifts up his shirt up just above his stomach. A bright red patch of skin stretches along most of the revealed area. A little surprised to see him lift his shirt, Clair turns her head away almost immediately. "Uhhm...! Ah, right; I-I guess it won't work too well if I can't see where I should...haha..."

Nervously, Clair slowly returns her gaze back to Daedalus, but only long enough to see where to place her hands. Closing her eyes, she returns her hands to Daedalus' side. With a small, but not harsh, flash of pink light, the burned area returns to normal, with little more sting to it than an average sunburn. Daedalus: ... Wow, uh... That was fast. Clair: H-huh? ...Oh! Oh, you're better now! I...uhh...y-you can put your shirt back... Daedalus: Right, right.

He lowers his shirt back down and tentatively pats his stomach slightly. "Man, that really did help though. Looks like this place finally has someone that can heal people. Quickly, I mean. Are... you alright?" Clair: Yeah, I'm just a little winded, I think... Daedalus: I guess using magic for the first time is pretty draining... Do you need to lie down or something? I can take you back to your room if you want. Clair: N-no, I'm okay...! Just...probably shouldn't get up too fast. What about you...? Daedalus: I'm... definitely feeling better, honestly. Shame about the skin-to-skin thing though. Here's hoping no one gets their literal butt kicked and needs your help before you find a way to get through clothes.

okay so basically I know why Clair’s powers are “held back” and the only vague comment I’m gonna make to keep it no spoilo is that they’re like that because her magic and stuff draws from an unexpected source

Clair: I...might be able to figure out how to do it without touching people; but I think it'll take practice... Daedalus: Oh I'm sure you can. You're always full of surprises like that. 'Course, not sure how you're gonna practice that, but y'know.... Clair: I'll probably just wait for someone to bang their knee at breakfast or something. Seems easy enough... Daedalus: Guess so. Just don't start punching people or something; that'll just get 'em annoyed with you, trust me. Clair: Haha, I won't! I'm not exactly tough enough for it to hurt, anyway. Daedalus: Maybe we need to start taking you to the gym then. We'll have you benching 250 in no time. Clair: 2:50? Nah, I'd be benched the whole time! Daedalus groans and covers his face. "Please no, not corny jokes. Someone get that laser gun again, I need out of here." Clair: H-hey, it wasn't that bad...! Daedalus flops over on the edge of the couch. "Nope, it's killed me. Farewell, world." Clair: ...Well, I can't heal that. Guess I better go show everyone your sunglasses since it's all we'd have left...maybe we'll make a little memorial thing at the breakfast table with em; people will get all emotional and stuff; it'll be great. Daedalus: Yeah, and then I'll haunt you all from beyond so you have to deal with me forever... Although actually lying here is making me realize how tired I am. I should probably take a power nap or something. Clair: I don't blame you; I'd be pretty tired if I had to go through all that too. Alright, I'll leave you be, then.

Getting up from the couch, Clair heads for the door. Perking his head up, he looks at her as she leaves. "Don't forget to look for that notebook of yours." Clair: I won't! Just don't expect it to look too good; I wasn't even 10 yet. With that, Clair leaves the room. Daedalus puts his head back down and is asleep within a minute.

the next log is gonna be something I find Particularly Interesting and I can’t wait to expand on it

#[S4]

0 notes