#AND IT ALL CALLS BACK TO THE TRAGEDY SHES TRYING TO PREVENT

[pathologicalreid]

wrapped around your finger | s.r.

in which you come home to find spencer in peak girl dad form

who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: fluff content warnings: mom!reader, girldad!spencer, nail polish, this is technically the family from cryptic, but you don't need to read cryptic to know what's going on word count: 578 a/n: this is for the anon who asked for dad!spencer! i always have some dad!spencer on retainer for when the people are in need! it's nothing crazy, but i was cleaning up my desk and found a sticky note that said spencer would definitely let his daughter paint his nails.

A little voice carries itself from down the hallway, and you follow the sound of it. The carefully chosen words of your four-year-old daughter make you wonder who she could possibly be speaking to. Slowly, you walk down the hallway, trying not to alert anyone to your presence.

On your way, you peek into the nursery, your younger daughter sleeping soundly in her crib as you pass her, finally ending up at the doorway of Eleanor’s room, “Do you like the color?” She asks gently, holding her father’s hand in hers and inspecting his fingers.

“I love the color, thank you,” Spencer says politely, “You know, purple is my favorite color.”

The smile that blooms on her face is so bright, it makes you wish you’d never left the house in the first place. “Mommy told me!”

Nothing in all of the parenting books you’ve read prepared you for your firstborn to stop calling you mama. The switch had caught you off-guard, and you found yourself mourning the little girl she had been while simultaneously prideful of the personality that she was developing.

You’d have to keep better track of it with Olivia, though you and Spencer hadn’t come to a consensus on whether or not you were done after two kids. The sight in front of you might just be enough to convince you to go for a third.

Her princess tiara slides forward on her head as she focuses on painting Spencer’s nails, your husband sitting in a chair that’s comically small for him as her small hands deftly apply the lacquer.

Catching sight of you in his periphery, Spencer gives a soft smile in greeting, not wanting to alarm Eleanor of your appearance. “You’re really good at painting nails,” he observes, reaching his free hand up to adjust her crown.

“I wanna do it forever and ever,” she responds giddily, putting the brush back into the bottle. You notice the way Spencer reached over to seal the nail polish bottle, preventing a tragedy before it strikes.

Spencer hums in response, “If that’s what you want, lovebug.”

She smiles, spinning around in her PJs until she sees you, “Mommy!” She squeaks excitedly, running over to you and giggling when you pick her up.

“Hello, Princess Nellie,” you greet her, hugging her tightly before setting her back down. Listening to see if the ruckus woke up the baby, you walk further into the bedroom when you hear no stirring from the room next door.

She smiles, pointing at Spencer with a proud look on her face, “I painted daddy’s nails.”

“I see that,” you took in the sight before you, Spencer’s nails had indeed been painted, along with all of the skin surrounding them. “They look great honey,” you tell her, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Nellie looks up at you expectantly, “Daddy said I can’t paint Livvy’s nails.”

You smile slightly at the pout on her face, “That’s right, she’s too little to have her nails painted.” Though you have to admit, you’ve been imagining mini spa nights with your daughters from the moment you found out you were having another girl.

Her eyes go wide as saucers, “Oh! Then it’s a good thing I have daddy.” She beams over at her father, and he looks at her with an equal amount of adoration in his eyes.

Grinning over at Spencer, you nod in agreement with her, “Yeah, it is a good thing.”

[morguecuts]

Incase I’m Not Here

five hargreeves has a baby with fem!reader  synopsis: five has saved the world from an apocalypse countless times. after creating a loving family of his own, his constant worry that the end will come again unfortunately became true. word count: 1.5k tags: five is a father, fluff, angst, death, a few sad moments authors note: this is one of my most beautiful, yet devastating pieces. i truly love the idea of five being a loving father :(

  ♱⛧ ⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨ ୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆⛧♱ the end of the world was an ongoing tragedy for many years, ruining the lives of billions over and over again, but especially the hargreeves. the umbrella academy, as they were called, spent endless months trying to prevent an apocalypse from occurring. they traveled from timeline to timeline, skipping around decades trying to save themselves and the remainder of earth. 

when the timeline was assumed to be restored, the superhumans had agreed to go separate ways and live their lives. diego and lila created their own family, housing a new timeline version of lila’s birth parents. viktor moved all the way to canada, owning a bar and a gray cat named misty. luther was typically off the grid, except the occasional birthday post for him and all of his siblings. klaus and allison lived together, in a three story house with allison’s daughter claire. 

five hargreeves traveled the world, worrying about the potential upcoming events that would force him and his siblings to reunite in tragedy. he tracked previous timelines, looking for artifacts that hint at a glitch in the system. after the first 5 years of silence, and seeming nothing pointing toward any timeline issues, he began to calm his nerves. 

that’s when he met the mother of his child. she was the light that five never knew he was missing. she ignited a burnt flame deep inside his soul, rekindling the lost inspiration he held for things that were other than research. in addition, her beauty was unmatched to anyone he had ever seen, or met before. her long hair completely covered the back of her body, tracing the outline of her beautiful shape. her perfectly puzzled face made him swoon almost immediately. most importantly, the way that she loved him made him learn to love who he was inside, instead of who people wanted him to be. 

their home was a perfect combination of their personalities. a matte black and white aesthetic, perfectly clean and chic, with a hint of victorian vampire. her feminine touch was visible in all the right places, creating a warm home for the two of them, and anyone else who entered. his headstrong worries of future destruction set up for typically annoying safety procedures, but she didn't mind it. the pair merged together quite beautifully, carbon copies of the other. if five didn’t know any better, which to be fair he actually did, then he would say they were lovers in every possible timeline. 

five was used to living for himself, his siblings, and even the rest of the world. his purpose was always meant to save other people, live for them, protect them. however, now 5 years into the loving marriage with her, he had learned to live for someone who wasn’t superhuman. 

he stood hovering over the clean white bassinet. the small beaded eyes glance up at him, an overwhelming amount of confusion falls over them before turning to love. her small nose scrunching at the sight of him. the few hairs brushed upon her head are slicked down away from her face. her small pursed lips release grumbles and whines at an alarming volume, desiring for the tall suited man to hold her.

“she isn’t going to crumble if you pick her up, five. you have to hold her eventually, she needs to know who her father is.” the child's mother cooed, leaning into his back, wrapping her arms around his waist lovingly. the man sighed into her touch, except it wasn't really there. the air behind him was cold and stiff. his body ached for her, a sense of comfort was quickly turned back into sadness. 

“what if she doesn't like me?” he spoke into the rather empty room. “what if something triggers me to teleport and i hurt her? my only way of protecting her is loving her from a distance.” the water in his eyes glasses over the blue. he reeks of sorrow, insecurity, and fear. 

“you are the one man designed to protect her, my love. don't let what happened in the past make you afraid of what's happening in the present. she’s going to need you, we both know i can't help you anymore. please just pick her up, five.” the voice echoes around him, his eyes narrowing down onto the now sleep filled child. 

he carefully unbuttons the sleeves on his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders and draping it onto the side of the crib. he rolls his white undershirt above his elbows, hyping himself up in the process. the small fragile girl rests on the pillowed surface, her tiny chest rising and falling. his hands carefully wrapping around her body, supporting her head while raising her close to him.

the small being is unlike anything he’s ever seen. tiny hands attached to tiny arms, short legs with the smallest feet. she’s unable to do anything without him. her entire life for the next few years depends on his actions. a small worried smile spreads across his face, admiring the girl leaning against his arms. 

small eyes blink open tiredly, glaring around before landing on her fathers. pure love glistens with the hazel colors swimming around. she makes chirps and squirming noises, slightly frightening five in the process. he takes mental notes on all of her little features. definitely her mothers eyes and lips, but his nose. truly the perfect combination of the two lovebirds. tears form in his eyes when he sees her smile, a miniature yet exact replica that once belonged to her mother. 

a faint knock taps upon the nursery door, the caretaker is chattering unknown words outside. theres a moment of silence before she enters the room, glancing at five with the baby cradled lovingly in his embrace. he turns around at the sound of her appearance, looking into her puzzled face. “there’s been a call for you, it's from your sister in law.” her eyes are firm and strong, holding his gaze causing him to pause for a moment. 

“and what did she say?” he turns his back to her again, slowly rocking the baby back into her peaceful rest.

“a briefcase was found in new york this morning. i’m so sorry, but it’s starting, sir.” she holds her hands together in front of her body, head dipping into her chest. 

“how long do we have?” five knows his constant worrying would eventually lead to this. he thought by spending endless hours hunting down glitches in the timeline, he could find a cause, find a solution, but nothing ever came until now.

“they don't know anything yet. it could be weeks, months, possibly even years. i’ve been told it's not severe, but that doesn't mean that it won't become so.” the sorrow in her voice runs deep, an unfortunate sigh escapes her lips. 

his stillness is deafening, the room has a slight buzzing noise from the house's electricity, but otherwise is completely silent. the babe shifts in his arms, nuzzling into him for better warmth and comfort. it is at this exact moment that everything clicks into place. she is his new purpose, and she will be his future. if anything is to go wrong, he would sacrifice his life for her without a question. nothing will ever be able to cause harm to her as long as he is alive.

his mind races thinking of the possibilities, will she have powers like him? will she be as headstrong as him? will she be accurately able to save the world if he is no longer alive to do so himself? The caretaker takes a step backwards, beginning to leave the room before his voice breaks the silence. “i need parchment, as much as you can physically gather.” his words are cold, and demanding, nothing that he has ever been towards her before. “and pens as well, as many pens as you can find me. i have work i must do before it's too late.” he begins to lie the child back into her bassinet, gently wrapping her back into the warmth of the bed. “yes sir, is there anything else?” the caretaker steps towards the door once more, ready to step into motion as requested. five’s eyes scan over every inch of his beloved offspring, a protective concern washed over his face. “yes actually, the albums from the attic please. i want her to be able to recognize her family when things go south.” his comment is quieter, more personal and calm. the caretaker whisks away, leaving the man and his daughter alone once more.

“you will never be alone” a gentle hand brushes small hairs away and out of her face. rubbing her small, chubby cheeks before pulling back. “i will guide you through everything that i possibly know, you will not fail this world.” his feet step back from the white wooden crib, reaching for the black jacket that was hung upon it earlier that night. slipping into it before exiting the room, heading toward his office.

 ♱⛧ ⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨ ୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆⛧♱

thank you so much for reading!

i hope you’ve enjoyed it, please feel free to make any comments or story requests down below. any support is always appreciated <3

[boredpotate]

Happier Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Arcane or the music I linked in the title.

I had an idea about an angst yandere scenario.

Synopsis: Isekai Fem Reader turns back time to make a better timeline, but some characters can't help but feel like they know her.

Concept: Isekai Fem Reader who didn't see S2 of Arcane dies and reincarnates into Arcane. Gets taken in by Vander along and becomes a part of the family (younger than Vi but older than Powder) and tries to prevent the future tragedy but fails. No matter how hard they try to change the plot, bother before and after Vander dies, it seems to stay on course. She gets adopted by Silco with Powder, but she can't save Powder from becoming Jinx, can't stop Jinx from losing more of herself, can't convince Silco that there's a better way, can't free Vi from prison, can't stop or change anything no matter how hard they try. At the end of it all it was too much for Reader so they move far away trying and failing to live one without remembering her failures. Later finds out that they feel a connection to the arcane and gets glimpses of a timeline where she didn't exist, but Hextech didn't exist and Piltover and Zuan were united. Risks everything to turn back the clock and fix everything but stays away from her family. Not wanting to risk it. However, her old family can't help but feel like they know her.

If you're interested, have any ideas, advice or an opinion on whether or not there should be romance let me know. I just really had to let out an idea.

Reader Pov

'I did it..... I.. I'm back.'

I thought as I look around at Zuan. It was dirty, messy, smoke and some fires, but it was my home. My shitty dump of a home that I grew to love. When loyalty still meant something.

Just like before all those years ago, I find myself wandering the streets as young girl again.

*step* *step* *step*

I hear a heavy set of steps just like before, but this time I panic. I whisper to myself before quickly rushing to an alley to hide behind some debris. I wait and listen before slowly making my way to the corner to peak around.

What I see makes me want to cry as my heart pound in my chest. Feeling like it would burst out any second. I see a young girl with pink hair holding an older man's hand, a blue head of hair leaning on the shoulder of the man and an all too familiar stature of someone I haven't seen in forever.

"....Dad"

For a moment I consider stepping out and I really want to, but then I remember.

Explosions...Fire...Ringing...Milo...Claggor...Vander......Dead

stop

Silco...Sevika...Ekko...Powder...Shimmer......Jinx

Stop

Vi...Prison...Hextech...Chemtech...Caitlyn...Rocket...Piltover...Zuan...Death......War

STOP

I freeze in place, needing to give absolutely everything I have to stop myself from running to them, stop myself from hugging my sister again and stop myself from hugging dad again and feeling safe.

'I can't. This time it needs to be different. I can't risk it.'

So I stop. I don't allow myself what I want the most. No matter how hard my heart beats. I restrain it all, except one.

I cry. I cry both tears of happiness and sadness.

Happy because my plan worked, because my dad is alive again, because Vi and Jin- no..... Powder (god does it feel good to call her that again) together again, and because it means I can fix it all.

Sad because I can't go to them, because I want them to be happy and because I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't remember.

That dream and those visions. Those damn glimpses into another time where everyone was alive and happy. Alive and happy. Without me. No me, myself and I. Which makes sense honestly, so I don't know why I'm crying. I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place.

I let tears rapidly flow down as I stare for just a few seconds more taking it all in. Just to make sure this is real and I'm not imagining it all.

I finally will myself to pull away from the corner but knock into a bottle laid on the ground by accident.

"Who's there!?"

I hear dad call out, so I quickly hug the wall and stay quiet. Afraid to make noise by trying to run away.

'It's me, dad. It's Y/n.'

I do all I can to keep myself from coming out and crying from hearing him again, but I manage to hold out long enough to hear them continue on their way. I take one last look before turning into the alley.

'I'll fix it all. Don't worry about a thing. I'll get you and everyone else's happy ending.'

Vander Pov

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. Connole, Felecia...... I'm so sorry. I promise I-'

I suddenly hear the sound of steps and a bottle clattering. I quickly turn around, pulling Violet and Powder close, and scan the area I heard it coming from.

"Who's there!?", I call out but receive no reply. I consider going to check, but reconsider when I feel Violet and Powder hold onto me tighter.

'I need to keep them safe.'

I wait a few more seconds before turning back with the kids.

"C'mon, let's get you two somewhere safe."

I don't know why, but I had a strange feeling about something. I couldn't describe it. Doesn't matter right now; what matters is the girls.

Chapter 2

[team-avia]

Interview with the Vampire(s)

You flipped open to a fresh page in your journal, a newly sharpened pencil in your hand, with two more tucked precariously behind each of your ears, and another one shoved in the front pocket of your lab coat.

The room was dark, save for the lone candle illuminating the desk at which you and your guest sat at. Rain pattered behind the closed window, branches moving in the slight wind.

“I have some questions I'd like to ask you, about yourself, about Novit,” you told the person sitting in front of you. They held a long and delicate looking porcelain pipe in their hand, sweet smelling wafts of smoke pouring from their lips as they exhaled.

“I will answer any questions you have to the best of my ability. Though this knowledge is not something you should share readily with the humans in your world.”

You nodded your head. You understood how dangerous this information could be falling into the wrong hands. But you also knew how big a wave this could make in all the fields of science. You'd be a fool to pass up this opportunity.

Clearing your throat, you pressed your pencil to the page. “For now, I merely need a few details about yourself.” More in depth questions would come later once you knew what to ask about this mysterious new world and its occupants.

“My name is Cordelia,” the woman in front of you spoke, her piercing blue eyes glowing in the dark. She held herself with a sense of importance. “I am the head of this coven, and I own Corville manor. I am originally from a beautiful and serene island country called Yupin, before moving to Piedamonte to fulfill my duties.”

You scribbled down her words.

“I keep the peace between your world and Novit, and have been doing so for many decades. I have seen both the truimphs and horrors of man and I seek to prevent tragedy from befalling either worlds. Though there are those of my kind that seek to bring about chaos. It is why the rest of the coven and I fight diligently to keep them away.”

The scene changed and another vampire had taken Cordelia's place. This vampire wore a charming grin on their face, long brown hair swept up into a ponytail. “My name is Natalie and I hail from Cuniso, an island nation that curates the pursuit of knowledge. I feel you would love it there very much, given your curious mind.” She flashed you a bright grin. “Perhaps I could take you on a date and show you around sometime?”

You flushed at her words, clearing your throat awkwardly as you turned back to your notes.

“What do you do in the coven?”

“You could call me Cordelia's right hand person. She gives us orders and I make sure everyone falls into line to follow them. I'm a peacekeeper of sorts in the group.” She placed a hand to her chest, proud of this fact. “Someone has to keep Victoriqua in check. You know how Drunians get.”

“Natalie said they were Cordelia's right hand person?!” the red head's nostrils flared as she crossed her arms over her chest tightly. “I'm Cordelia's right hand person! I was there almost from the start, helping her build this coven, helping her build the defenses to keep the humans safe!”

“Uh, could we maybe move on from-” you began, not wanting to continue listening to this rant.

“I'm going to find her and shove my fist up her-”

“Where are you from?” you interjected loudly. Victoriqua glared at you.

“You're trying to distract me from giving her an ass kicking and it's not working.”

She hurried away from her chair, making it rock back and forth, before she slammed the door to the room shut. You sighed, wondering how badly things would go after this.

Willow was next and she sat stiffly in her chair, a semi vacant look in her eyes. You could hear crashing noises and muffled screams in the distance and you really hoped that someone would intervene between Victoriqua and Natalie.

“Mind telling me a bit about yourself?” you asked Willow hopefully.

The woman with white hair and dark circles under her eyes, sighed gently to herself. “I am Willow of Prevenio. I have been alive longer than several generations of your family.” Her voice was whispery, scratchy, as if she didn't use it often.

“Why did you join the coven?”

“What other option did I have?” she poised and you scratched your cheek with eraser of your pencil. Huh?

“Willow-”

“I must leave,” she said, already pushing her chair back. “The mirrors need a freshening.”

Now what did that mean?

Willow was barely out of the door when another vampire bounded into the room, sitting down hard and fast in the chair, almost crushing it with their strength.

“I'm Sierra!” she cheered, hand in the air, smiling sharp fangs at you. “I'm from Piedamonte.” She put her hand down. “I'll tell you anything and everything.”

“Are you...okay?” you asked in mild concern, noting the trickle of gold red on her shirt.

She glanced down. “Ah man, I'm gonna have to wash that. It's one of my favorite shirts too.” She looked up at you. “I'm fine. Vic-a-dic and Nat-a-lie we're going at it, so I kinda jumped in to give them the biz and they got annoyed I was getting involved so they chased me away and I had to run around the manor to lose them. Cordelia caught them tho and she gave them a thorough tongue lashing but it's all fine now cuz she made them apologize to me and I wasn't even mad at them.”

“Sounds like you were busy,” you said, noting this down.

“It's always a blast around here, human,” Sierra smiled. “Stick with us, and you'll never be bored...”

The candle on the desk flickered and gave out at this, throwing you both into the dark, leaving Sierra's pink eyes staring unnervingly back at you.

A little taste to give some more context about the setting and characters in MHD...

[heathermason6060]

Daryl Dixon x f!Reader: Together Apart Ch.2

Warnings/Mentions: History of abuse, neglect, strong language, mentions of character death, alcohol and drug abuse, ptsd, shared trauma, reader is cold, angst, fluff, eventual smut

Summary: Reader gives friendships a try, and the first signs of Daryl changing start showing after unexpected tragedy.

Notes: I love writing Merle and early season Daryl, I hope they're in character!

"I'm ten seconds away from blowing his goddamn brains out."

"Not worth the wasted bullets." Daryl watched as Shane stalked back up towards the Greene house. You scoffed and rolled your eyes when you saw him stopping himself from slamming the door, at least needing to respect Hershel gave him some restraint from being a complete piece of shit. You weren't sure how long that would last though.

"Can't fucking stand these people Daryl. He looked like he wanted to kill me."

"Ya called 'em a homewrecker. The hell'd you expect?"

The days would go by without pause, no matter how you all screamed and cried for just one minute, one minute to get it together and breathe. Everything was constantly changing, and it ended up making you colder. 

The Greene farm was a nice place. You enjoyed the chores you took on there, you got to work with the horses, the cows, and the old barn cat. He'd end up passing away after a while, which would have really upset you if it hadn't been such a peaceful death, he just fell asleep with a stomach full of deer stew and never woke up. 

Andrea's strange half admiration and half disturbed likeness to you strengthened at the time on the farm, which you didn't know how to handle. You'd always wanted a girlfriend, ever since your first one in 6th grade ended your friendship. Your mother had shown up to pick you up from school, so high on Percocet she could barely keep her eyes open. She rear-ended the father of your friend, he got pissed, she spit in his face, and he called the police. ‘My daddy says I can't hang out with trailer trash like you anymore.’ She'd told you the next day. 

You secretly liked the way Andrea looked up to you. It was nice having a woman think highly of you, or any adult for that matter. She would often ask for shooting practice, and you even let her try out your bow a few times. 

She kind of fucked up your budding friendship when she shot Daryl. If you hadn't been so busy helping him get up into the house you would have shot her in her foot, and that's not an exaggeration. You wanted to stay up in that room with him until he fully healed, willing to sleep on the floor just so you'd be with him at all times, but the insecure fear of being seen as weak and clingy prevented you from doing so. You were out in the woods most of those days, hunting or killing any dead you ran across.

It was almost humiliating the way people would update you on Daryl’s condition. At first it was just Rick letting you know he’d be okay, but then it was Maggie and Hershel updating you on his eating habits, how much he ate, when he ate, he was only in bed for a couple of days, but it felt like weeks. Each time someone would tell you the miniscule details of his day you’d respond the same way, ‘Why’re you telling me? I’m not his mamma’. If you could look past the embarrassment of feeling like a worried child, you would be grateful. 

Andrea unknowingly made it up to you when you heard her bitching at Lori in the kitchen once, apparently having enough of her ‘a woman's place is in the kitchen making life worth living, leave the guns to the men' spiel. You complimented her afterwards. 

“Been real sick of that shit.” You had said as you loaded your Ruger pistol. “She's lucky it was you who said it, I think I would've punched that bitch in the face if she said that bullshit to me.”

Andrea was almost too stressed over the Beth situation to fully appreciate the gravity of your praise. She nodded as she looked over the field, eyes squinting against the bright afternoon sun, her arms crossed over her chest. “All my life I've heard that kind of thinking from men. It's different when it's a woman telling you that you're not worth the same as a man. Especially when said man lied about her husband being dead and got in her pants right after.” 

You smirked, stuffing your gun into the back of your jeans as you looked her over. “Wanna go kill some dead people?” 

“Oh, god.” She groaned dramatically. “That's the best idea I've heard all week.”

After you lost the farm, you wound up at an old prison. That was one of the rare times you had allowed yourself to try and be positive, and forced yourself to make friends, although it was obvious all your relationships were strained. Andrea was the only person who had ever made an effort to get to know you, and she was gone. 

Shane’s death didn’t affect you much, truthfully you were glad Rick killed him. The constant tension and heated arguments drained you just as much as Dale’s annoying humanitarianism. You attempted being friends with Lori, Hershel, Carol and Beth, despite the young girl being your polar opposite. She was soft, pretty, sweet and bubbly, you were hard, mean, vulgar and distant. 

Which might be one of the reasons your relationship with her had started to work. Beth saw you as a challenge, like a mean feral cat, and deep down you saw her as a possible redemption. If you could become friends with Beth, the sweetest girl with the kindest heart, you could do it with anyone. 

Lori never trusted you, so you never got far with her. She would look at you with this look on her face, like you were always seconds away from cutting her baby out of her stomach or some twisted shit. You had cursed her out once for said expressions, calling her a stuck-up bitch who thinks every woman that isn't her is beneath her. She died a couple days later, and a part of you that you couldn't push away felt like shit about it, for a very long time.

The whole Governor shit was a pain in your ass. But it was a blessing in disguise, because he was the reason you were reunited with Merle. 

“I want to come.” You stood your ground, grabbing your Ruger AR-15 from its spot on your cell wall. 

“I said no, we’ve got enough concerns, we don't need to be worrying about you.” Rick tried to speak in a hushed tone, his intentions good, not wanting you to feel embarrassed if the others heard you being denied. They knew you seethed at the prospect of being told what to do. You didn't work well with others, that was glaringly obvious.

“I don’t need you to worry about me.” You hissed, tugging the heavy gun over your back so the strap dug into your shoulder. 

Rick repeated your name, using his angry father tone, and that seemed to work. Your shoulders drooped and you growled out a few insults under your breath. You missed when the group members had more say in the way things were. Rick had become more authoritarian after Lori died, and it never affected you until that day. 

When they got back you were waiting at the door, pacing like a mother in those movies whose children had stayed out too late. Your eyes brightened as they filed into the prison, you saw Maggie and Glenn were back, and Michonne had returned as well. 

Your anxious smile slowly faded as the door closed behind them, counting two missing bodies. 

“Where…?” You breathed, looking between Rick and Maggie, your heart racing. 

Rick started having a goddamn mental breakdown after that, screaming at the walls and pointing his gun at things only visible to him. Tyrese, the newcomer, and his group fled, and a part of you considered it as well. If Daryl and Merle were dead, you had no reason to stay. Especially not with Rick behaving like a fucking maniac and no one speaking to you. 

True to your nature, you abandoned the prison in search of the Dixons. You knew they couldn’t have truly left, they would never do that, they'd never leave and forget you. Especially Daryl. He had promised to you one night after you fully secured the prison, that he was the one thing in your life that would never change. He’d never die, he’d never leave, he would always be there. Not in those exact words, of course, but in his own way.

He had stayed true to his promise. You found the two of them on their way to the prison, traveling through the same trails you’d originally used to find the place. 

“Thought I’d never see you two assholes again.” The apocalypse had made you more skilled at hiding your true emotions. You came off as playfully irritated, a contrast to the way you were barely keeping tears at bay. 

“Awww,” Merle teased in a condescending tone, faking a pout, “You miss us?”

“No. Rick’s group makes you seem like a peach though.” 

“Our group.” Daryl’s voice had taken on a strange edge as he walked ahead of you down the trail. “Those are our people now.”

You glanced at Merle to see he was outwardly displaying your same reaction, rolling his eyes and silently mimicking his brother's words. 

No matter how happy you were to see the two of them, Daryl’s reply echoed in your head for a long time. He meant what he said, you could tell by the way he spoke. He was changing, you hadn’t noticed it until that day, he wasn’t the same Daryl from Atlanta, the Daryl you knew. You swallowed your retort and followed him back to the prison. 

The Governor shit was really a pain in your ass after that day, making your earlier experiences a walk in the park. Through the tense days you found yourself around Merle more, the two of you discussing the prospect of just getting the fuck out of there in hushed voices, despite you both knowing Daryl would never abandon Ricks group. It was like he had some sort of unknown obligation to them, something you couldn't decode for the life of you, no matter how hard you tried.

“You're gettin’ real close to bein’ a bonafide pussy, boy.” Merle had said one day, shoving his finger in Daryl’s face. You stayed silent as they argued, biting at the soft skin inside your cheek. 

“Why? Cause I ain't jus’ lookin’ out for myself no more? Cause I actually give a shit about these people?” Daryl standing up to Merle wasn’t a familiar sight, and it made you feel emotions you really weren’t comfortable with. 

“It’s making you weak, brother.” Merle urged, nearly slicing his own scalp when he went to put his hands on his head, the heat of the moment causing him to forget his right hand was now a weapon. “Can't you see it? I ain’t gonna let you die for these sheep.”

Daryl would soon come to regret his last interaction with his brother. You, on the other hand, were lucky enough to have had some peaceful final moments with him before he vanished. 

“Dude, that's my fucking bed!” You shoved Merle away from your mattress, groaning when you saw it shredded and ruined. You’d have to go to the other cellblock and get another, if he hadn’t already paid those cells a visit. 

Merle sat on the floor breathing heavily through his mouth, resting an arm over his propped up knee.

“The hell you do that for?” You grumbled, kicking a chunk of bedding out of your cell and into the hallway. 

“Hopin’ to find some contraband.” 

“Dude, you could’ve just asked me. Holy shit.” You grabbed one of your bags from the corner of your room and began to dig through it, finally pulling out Merle’s old stash bag. HIs eyes lit up and he practically jumped for joy, snatching it out of your hands.

“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful, you know that?” He grabbed your face with his hand and noisily kissed your cheek, making you groan and shove him off. “Oh sweetheart. Whooo! Daryl know about this?”

“No, didn’t want him to know. I’m better at making shit last than him.” You replied. Daryl didn't like drugs the way Merle did, he had his run in with meth and its consequences and he was strong enough to quit and not touch it again. Other drugs were a different story though, you suspected the speed and painkillers would be gone by now if he had known you were the one who stole it.

He fished out the group of smaller baggies he was looking for, full of various shades of white in different textures. He groaned like he just creamed his pants and leaned over, planting another dramatic smooch to your forehead.

You stayed with him on the floor of your cell as he got high, and eventually he left to go ‘clear out the walkers in the tombs’, something you were happy to sit out on. He told you to stay back and you laughed, teasing with a ‘it's all yours, tweaker’. 

Even though your last moments with him were pleasant, you never forgave yourself for not accompanying him. 

@ophelialaufey @carlgrimesgfofficial @theskinniestjackson-denny @dilfish-daydreams @my1fx

[pendularium]

sorry, yapping quickly. I saw a post earlier analysing how vi doesn't stand up for the zaunites to caitlyn, and contrasting that to jinx (and ekko), and viewing vi as a sort of pick me (not the language used but I can't find the original rn), and like. yes, I think the argument is correct, but there is like one thing I want to add, which is that vi, unlike jinx and ekko, isn't really in a position where she can criticise caitlyn right? ok hear me out. so one) imo a lot of s1 establishes vi as someone genuinely desperate for connection - its the thought to getting back to powder that gets her through prison (where she has been pretty isolated), her and caitlyn click incredibly fast etc, and all of s1 into s2 happen pretty damn fast right? vi gets out of prison, gains a friend, regains a sister and then instantly loses her again, and then that loss of powder is really underscored in the finale - vi has very few relationships left, and most of the ones she has had have ended in horrible tragedy and violence; it is no wonder that she especially would try to cling to the one (cait) she has left and two) vi is also someone who is constantly in the big sister/protector role - her intro shows this, her leadership of their little gang as kids, and after the time skip (after she fails) you can see her try to assert her dominance over caitlyn in s1 - vi is the one who knows the lanes, caitlyn has to keep up, vi throws caitlyn out of her comfort zone in the brothel etc., vi is trying to demonstrate that she has worth to caitlyn right? and of course when maddie is talking to vi, it's caitlyn expressing respect for vi's actions that vi seizes onto. I don't think this is (just) a way of showing off to caitlyn, rich girl from piltover, I think this is part of vi's understanding of herself as a figure of authority and protection in her relationships put them together and you have someone who, when confronted with an angry and grieving caitlyn, her last real connection (not counting ekko) makes compromises to avoid a confrontation with her. vi doesn't counter 'what kind of animals' directly, because that risks her relationship with caitlyn; she is pretty consistently someone who cares more about personal relationships than the grand scheme of things (as does powder/jinx but that's a different post). and yet, with that in mind, vi does try to defend zaunites! first, she tries to humanise them right; instead of being wild uncontrollable beasts, vi positions them as making a calculated attack - they wanted the spectacle, they're trying to scare you, and then after caitlyn doubles down on her anger towards them, vi pushes for caitlyn to call off the invasion. those aren't the actions of someone who doesn't care about zaunites, or would rather side with piltover imo, they're the actions of someone who does care about zaun, but who doesn't want to jeopardise her relationship with caitlyn. vi joining the enforcers is not only her staying with caitlyn, but also her trying to prevent the invasion. if I go after your sister alone, one of us comes back in a box = caitlyn won't go alone. the strike force then, can be read as a deliberate compromise between caitlyn, who has all the power here, and vi, who doesn't want zaun to be invaded by the enforcers

this is, of course, just a way you can read all this lol, if you disagree/want to add on please do so! I am a bit busy rn but I cannot express how much I want to talk about arcane with people

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

How murderous is Karkat and Eridan?

Eridan: "killin is all i evver done practically the ocean wwas my killing cauldron"

Karkat: loves his friends so much that it hurts

They're both really blasé about killing things like imps or game enemies, and neither of them WANT to hurt their friends. Eridan's just more used to it because it was his whole job, and he's a lot better at fighting than Karkat is.

Vriska at one point says to John that her bodycount is probably "many thousands," so we can probably use that as a reference and assume Eridan's in that same bracket, because he and Vriska have a lot of parallels. In fact, I'd go so far as to call Vriska and Eridan a literary device called "parallel characters" - by listening to Vriska tell John about her feelings about her bodycount and of her place in society, we get to learn about how Eridan's feeling, too.

If we set the bar at 3000 (the low end of "many thousands") and Vriska and Eridan are both the equivalent of 13 years old, or a little less than 700 weeks, that meant he and Vriska were averaging out to multiple kills a week (and given they probably didn't start when they were newhatches and 3000 is a low estimate, like... it was probably an insane number like 5-7 kills/week). But never anyone they "cared about," in Vriska's words, until the Team Charge debacle, or Eridan went berserk on Feferi and Sollux (we should also keep in mind that Eridan outright says to Kanaya that he doesn't want to kill people he considers his friends).

But Eridan is significantly less emotionally intelligent than Vriska (a fucking feat), has less of a support system, and has a lot of Duty and Responsibility and Fate of the Species on his shoulders, so he copes a lot worse (again, a fucking feat). For Eridan, it's less about "being murderous," and more about "society demands that I be murderous" + "if I am not murderous, everybody dies" + "when I grow up, murder is my only viable career path".

He's ANXIOUS AS FUCK at his core. Via their parallel character status, we know from Vriska that they're both actually really nervous about growing up and taking their place in a society that demands bloodshed from them. When Eridan obsesses over genocide, it's a byproduct of Literally Being The Guy That Is Preventing Genocide (to the point of not really having other hobbies). We also know that he feels guilt towards his victims (or at least more than Feferi), which we know from Vriska is societally unacceptible. And if it's unacceptible for her to feel bad, then imagine how much less okay it is for the sea dweller.

So I wouldn't necessarily call Eridan murderous - like with most things regarding Eridan, it's more complicated than that - but I would call him "on a hair trigger", "conditioned to reach towards murder as an early solution," and "obsessively/anxiously trying to live up to how murderous society demands he be," all while not at all wanting to kill people he cares about. I think it's really important to note that, even though the higher the blood the more volatile the troll, and despite being unauspiced and unmoirailled, and without relying on sopor, Eridan did not start shooting to kill until Sollux and Feferi escalated the situation.

And before anyone mentions that Feferi's in the same boat, she spends practically the whole time with Sollux, who is foreshadowed to be her moirail.

Like, the tragedy of Eridan's character is that he's lonely and terrified, but does such a good job at putting up an obnoxious front that even a lot of the audience became convinced that he basically sucked and his problems didn't matter. His dumbass plan to go to Jack was a genuine attempt to save Feferi, the person he cared most about.

If you go back and look at that conversation, Eridan's casual casteist threats aren't genuine (see my pinned Eridan essay for details) - and SOLLUX is the one who says "I should have killed you when I had the chance". And Eridan DOESN'T KILL SOLLUX, because this whole time, Eridan has not wanted to kill his friends. It's not until Feferi - the person he cares most about, the one whom he concocted that suicidal mission in order to save - turns on him in agreement that Sollux should've killed him - that makes Eridan finally lose it.

Meanwhile, Karkat just loves his friends. He loves them so fucking much. I think this is pretty well-documented about him? He's got no qualms about murdering game constructs like imps and the black king, but he feels deeply fucking hurt and betrayed by Bec Noir since he bonded with Jack/Spades Slick. I don't think Karkat ever makes a genuine death threat against anybody but past!Eridan, but he and Eridan are heavily foreshadowed to be moirails, and that conversation has a hilarious bit in the middle where Karkat seemingly forgets that he's mad at the guy and just starts telling him he's a dumbass. Later on, he expresses missing his dead friends, including/especially the assholes, in the same segment as the meteor runs into dead Feferi and Eridan, so I think that that was more an angry outburst than a genuine desire to see Eridan dead.

In fact, even though he's basically shown nothing but scorn for Gamzee and Gamzee's religious beliefs and clown-ness, and even after Gamzee murders two people and seems to be trying to murder them all, Karkat can't bring himself to kill or even fight the guy, just shooshpap him down, later ranting that Gamzee was a lovable bullshit clown that he liked a lot, and (one of) his best friend(s).

So they're both in this boat of not wanting to kill their friends, but feeling societally pressured into grandstanding that they're TOTALLY murderous assholes just trust me - but Eridan was in a position where he was forced to do it at the detriment of any other hobbies, or else everybody died, and is also one of the best fighters on the team, if not THE best. Thus, the fact that it's a viable option is not only near the forefront of his mind at all times, but he has the skills to resort to it. I guess technically, that does make him more murderous, but it's also, like... any normal person in his situation would wind up the same way, honestly.

[arimiaromage]

I do not trust wisely.

throwing out my thoughts before chapter 251 of d.gray-man releases. spoilers for up to chapter 250 below!!

disclaimer: I don't hate wisely. I really like him. but I don't trust him right now.

I don't trust his actions right now. before chapter 250, I was sure wisely was going to be the new "leader" of the noah now that the earl is somewhat out of commission, either outright or by pulling the strings/giving suggestions to other members. road wasn't really the leader of them but they looked to her for answers about the things they didn't because she was the one that had stuck around the longest (such as when tyki's scars are aching) and was clearly the closest to the earl.

wisely is already suspicious of nea before this...

and when he approached the earl, wisely made a few comments about it, urging the earl to leave.

but he has an extra thought in chapter 224 about how he specifically won't let him cross paths with nea ever again. not really sus, I mean nea did kill the noah and try to kill the earl and the earl is clearly Not Over It, so makes sense.

but as they leave, wisely and tyki have a very specific exchange.

not only did wisely apparently let bookman go before they could find out more info, but wisely seems to know full well about nea- possibly being the reason he let bookman go, before bookman could tell the others who the earl and nea actually are.

specifically, wisely says "even if you don't find it out from me, you'll find it out eventually" and thinks to himself how this information will hurt tyki. that, to me, sounds like he knows most of the secrets of mana/nea. otherwise, how would he know that it will be so damning to tyki?

that brings us back to chapter 250, where they're interrogating apocryphos. I suspect the main goal of this was to find the heart rather than information on nea.

however, apocryphos can't help but jab at the ignorant noah who are in way over their heads, letting it slip that tyki has some deep connection to nea. wisely of course responds naturally by—

—destroying apocryphos' head, preventing him from talking until he heals. he claims it's because there's no use in interrogating him any further, that they've already got as much info as they can. that marks the 2nd interrogation victim he's let loose before the rest are ready.

with nea and the mention of 35 years ago being brought up, there's still tension in the air and sherril isn't about to let it go. remember, he's still pissed about road being hurt so badly trying to protect allen (because she wouldn't protect nea, right?)

and here it's finally brought up that, despite road being the only true survivor (aside from the earl), wisely has more knowledge about the events due to his demonic eye. he's finally being called out for possibly withholding the truth from them.

and what does he do? deflect it immediately. "it's not my fault, it's the fault of the previous wisely!"

okay, let's really dissect this page.

he starts off with apologizing, saying that the reason the other noah can't remember the tragedy is because the knowledge was so devastating the previous wisely locked it away (I guess before he died?? how does that work).

specifically, "to know nea is to know 'mana'". wisely knows who mana is, whereas the other noah only know that nea called the earl mana which made him cry.

the part I think most important is this- how conflicted he looks when thinking about the earl. he's not thinking about the noah here, he's thinking about the earl's safety. about mana.

why is he so conflicted?

let's go over some more stuff real quick.

wisely knows tyki looks suspiciously just like nea

2. nea isn't just a noah, he's the earl

3. SOMETHING happened to adam to make him disappear/split into mana/nea and is most likely connected to the noah & innocence

with all of these things in mind, this leads me to believe this...

wisely is keeping the info about mana secret to get the earl to destroy the world

not really a big shocker, but let me explain. the goal of the noah is to see the end of the world and aid the earl in that, but we've learned that the earl acts somewhat as a ticking time bomb, as he is the one that brings about the end days.

that is the goal of all of the noah, but road has been apprehensive about it because the current earl is mana. she wants him to be safe, and when cross urged her to help him save mana, instead of scoffing at the idea she starts crying and saying she can't because she's a noah. she wants to save him but being a noah cancels that out.

but our wisely didn't grow up with mana & nea. wisely didn't witness nea kill their entire family, mana kill him in return, and quickly descend into madness. wisely has secondhand memories so he doesn't have that emotional attachment.

this is why I felt wisely would be the new "leader". he has the insight to know that the earl = mana and that nea is part of the earl but doesn't have the emotional baggage road has. this gives him the best opportunity to see the noah's goal to the end, to push the earl over the edge and make him destroy it.

how would the rest of the noah feel if they found out the earl they've known their entire life isn't 7000 years old? that he was raised as a human just 50~ years ago? that the earl can die?

and worse-

how would the noah feel if they found out a personality of the earl was the one what slaughtered them all?

it would absolutely fracture them, possibly worse so than the exorcists finding out about apocryphos. the man they trust as their leader, who they feel in their souls a deep connection to, isn't even actually him and the man that killed them was supposed to be their leader.

that's why I feel like wisely is still keeping secrets. if he does actually know who mana/nea are, then it doesn't make sense for him to reveal this info so easily. I don't know what he's going to do next as the scene cuts there with him supposedly revealing the secrets, but I have a fear he's either only revealed a small part of it or worse, created a new lie about mana/nea to show them.

maybe he's telling the truth??

there's always a chance I'm grasping at straws, but from what I've seen it just doesn't make sense to me for him to reveal "everything" about mana/nea to the other noah, ESPECIALLY TYKI, so quickly. sherril snaps at him and he immediately folds. we've seen such careful character motivations thusfar from everyone else and I doubt hoshino would stumble here, on such a pivotal plot point.

so yeah, I don't believe wisely when he says he's going to reveal everything. he has the best shot out of all the noah to bring about the apocalypse and it doesn't make sense for him to fumble that now.

thanks for being a lil shit wisely, love you

[sciderman]

you know i'm kind of obsessed with the tragedy of gwen stacy in the tasm movies because she's - she's such an interesting, tragic creature. we get into it a little in tasm1, that. you know, her father is a police captain - you know, authoritative. incredibly protective of her.

and looking at it, gwen is constantly the victim of men deciding what's best for her. her father decides it's best for her that she stay away from peter. peter decides it's best too, obviously, even though it hurts. it's not a question of what gwen wants.

thinking of the scene in tasm where gwen confides in peter, as she's cleaning his wounds, that she knows what this is - every day she sees her father strap a badge to his chest and she doesn't know if he's going to make it home or not.

gwen's powerless - she has these men in her life that she loves that are constantly making dangerous decisions that put their own lives in danger, and she's constantly expected to sit by passively and do nothing and pray for them to get home safely. like her own desires don't matter. she wants them to be there, she wants to have a say in what these men do, because she loves them and they're important to her. but she has no power. she knows that what they're doing is noble and good for the world, but she is sidelined and never listened to. she has no superpowers, no badge, and no say in the matter.

and her father gets killed. doing something stupid and heroic. and she wasn't involved, and she was powerless to prevent it. and even still, after his death, he's trying to push gwen out of the way of danger. strip her of agency in her own life. she can't be with peter. she doesn't get a say in the matter.

of course that doesn't work out, and peter and gwen wind up back together - but peter is eaten up with guilt, and still thinks he shouldn't be with gwen because gwen is safer without him, yadda yadda, and gwen is sick of it. gwen is sick of men dictating what becomes of her. what she can and can't have. where she should and shouldn't be. so.

i always made fun of this bit of script - it's so, so funny.

"i break up with you peter. i break up with you."

i make fun of it all the time, but i get it. i get why it's written this way. the tasm2 script isn't subtle. gwen is pointedly telling peter that she is calling the shots. peter cannot dictate her fate. this is her choice. she breaks up with him. she is the one with power in this dynamic. she is taking the power. she is not his damsel that needs protecting. she is allowed to tell peter what she wants, and make her own decision about what's best for her.

cut to the end, where peter webs gwen to a car. he wants her out of the line of fire. even though she's proven she's helpful and capable, more so than peter. peter wants her out of harms way, so that he can do something heroic and dangerous.

gwen is SICK of it!! she's going to be heroic and dangerous too. if these men can throw themselves into the line of fire with little care for the people they leave watching helplessly in the rafters than, by god, gwen can do it too. she's not going to watch helplessly as peter fights his battle on his horse, dick swinging, swords drawn. and she's not going to passively sit by as peter gets himself killed because actually, peter's not as smart as he thinks he is.

he's just stupid enough to take the hits and scrape himself off the pavement afterwards. gwen is the one with the plan. and if gwen weren't there, peter might not have been able to pull everything off. he probably would've eventually taken them down in the end, but he would've definitely taken more of a beating, and more property damage, and potentially, more civilian casualties. it was a good thing gwen was there. female excellence. it's not always about who can take a hit.

of course, in the end up - gwen winds up in peril, and no. she doesn't have powers that can save her. and, these men who try and do everything to protect her - they're fallible. but it was her choice. her choice to do the heroic thing, despite her fragility. her choice to step into the line of fire, without super-strength or spider-reflexes. and i think it's a poetic, heroic way to go.

one thing though, that i feel is mismanaged, almost infuriatingly so – is how underdelivered on gwen's death as a heroic gesture. in the end it becomes more about peter's guilt than it does about gwen's sacrifice. because they still wanted to have the iconic "fall" scene from the comics. so, in the end, gwen becomes powerless. she's mid fall. she can't do anything. she has to wait for peter to save her, in the end.

it's infuriating because captain stacy's death is unfalteringly heroic. he dies to save peter.

gwen puts herself in the line of fire to save peter. in the same way her father did. but she's robbed of the heroic framing her father gets because in the end, she has to be saved. in the end, it isn't framed like she saved peter. it's framed like peter failed to save her.

so we get a peter parker pity party instead of actually, what should be a beautiful, heroic send-off for gwen stacy, who became a hero despite every man trying to sideline her.

tl;dr tasm gwen deserved the same heroic framing her father got but hollywood messed up again because they don't know how to do female hero stories

[mryoyo000]

“Wicked” Book and Musical Thoughts (SPOILERS)

in advance: these are just my personal thoughts—I am not trying to force my opinion on anyone and I welcome any disagreement!

SPOILERS (also long sorry) also for the sake of writing this I actually went back and reread Wicked for the first time in several years.

I think it might be helpful for people to consider that Wicked the book, and Wicked the musical, are not just different in terms of plot and tone, they are ultimately telling two different stories with different goals. If you are having a hard time reconciling the musical/movie to the book or vice versa, this might be one way to look at it.

I think the differences ultimately add up to two entirely different stories. The book is a lot darker, definitely not written for younger audiences, and it also has a very different scope. The musical is about Elphaba, and primarily it’s focused on Elphaba’s relationship with Glinda. The book is attempting to tell a sort of epic scale story (whether or not it succeeds in that) about the times in Oz during Elphaba’s life—and Glinda has significantly less overall prominence and presence than in the musical.

I don’t think you can overestimate the significance of this difference. This might be one of the most fundamental differences between the book and the show/movie—Glinda is central to the musical, but only one among an ensemble in the book. I have critiques about the book which I won’t get into in depth here, but this is NOT one of them and I actually think that, for what the book is trying to be (which is NOT what the musical is trying to be), Glinda’s relative lack of prominence is the right decision. The book goes through a number of perspectives before reaching Elphaba herself, and all of these other voices are among the people in her life who either died and/or became estranged from her. (Elphaba does not become the point of view until she’s reached the point where she starts referring to herself as “the Witch.”) In the book, Glinda functions as one among many of Elphaba’s relationships that fell apart and failed over time—there cannot be a central relationship between them in the book because the book is telling a story about Elphaba losing everyone in her life.

So the book is not trying to be “about” Elphaba and Glinda, and the story it is telling about Elphaba is a lot bleaker than the one that the musical is telling.

Elphaba’s story in the book is about loss, and also about failure. I think this is also one thing that causes the book to be controversial. Elphaba is unable to succeed in the book—for all of her revolutionary sympathies, she is constantly prevented (narratively) from making any actual difference. The sad joke of the book is that the “wicked witch of the west” title wasn’t given to Elphaba even out of spite—it was transferred to her because Nessarose was already being called the wicked witch of the east. Elphaba isn’t even treated as a wicked witch for the most part—she’s seen as an oddity, and she’s more mocked than feared.

for anyone reading this post who is also an ASOIAF reader, I would make comparisons between Elphaba and Catelyn, since in the book Elphaba’s final confrontation with Dorothy shows her at her most broken (she is only called the Witch at this point) after an entire book’s worth of loss, and of seeing all of her hopes never come to fruition.

the tragedy of the musical is that Elphaba was never evil, just misunderstood and labeled by others.

the tragedy of the book is that in the last moments of her life, Elphaba really did become the wicked witch, after a lifetime of being broken down. She was genuinely threatening to kill Dorothy out of paranoia.

It’s a strangely private scene though, because Dorothy is the only person who witnesses Elphaba’s final breakdown. This moment of real “wickedness” is only seen by Dorothy, no one else in the story knows about it, and it ends anyway with Elphaba’s destruction.

There is a lot more to get into as far as differences (Glinda is an entirely different character, so are Boq and Nessarose etc.) but I think I wanted to mainly focus here on Elphaba and also to say that I think the book is at least worth reading to find out how you personally feel about it. last but not least but also not relevant to the post as much, I would say that out of the Gregory Maguire books I’ve read, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is my favorite and I would personally say that I think it’s better than Wicked, both as a book in its own right and as a reworking of a classic story. I would recommend it as an introduction to Maguire’s writing even before Wicked, because it’s a more focused and smaller story and I think it has stronger characterization. It has typically Maguire sardonic dialogue but overall is less cynical than Wicked, so it’s less heavy��no need to slog through fascist dystopia Oz with this one.

[kilannad]

Musings on Dragon Age alla the Veilguard Controversy

I was talking with my brother after I finished Veilguard and its led to some Thoughts. For context, shortly after Veilguard came out and my dash became nothing but DA, I asked him if the games were worth playing; he said the first three were but the newest was shit and that I'd end up rage quitting quickly.

Naturally, that meant I played all four back to back.

Warning: I'm a literature major first and gamer second. My analysis/meta commentary reflects this. Spoilers for all four games below the cut.

this got stupidly long

I saw a post recently about how the greater theme of all Dragon Age games is Grief. Through all four storylines, it's the one thing they share, the uniting force of the series. I cannot agree more that Thedas is a setting about grief and the greater arc between games reflects that. However, that and the conversation with my brother had me reflecting on the story each game was individually trying to tell.

I'm setting aside the technical gameplay for each of these because while I think it helps tell the story, it's also largely reflective of what technology was like when each game came out and doesn't add much to the point I'm trying to make.

Origins

When you boil it down, Origins is a story about Duty. Someone, for whatever reason, is placed in an organization bound to protect Thedas and is then left nearly completely alone to do it. From the very beginning when Alistair looks to you to make a call in Lothering, it's people and the world asking for a choice and telling you this is your job. It's your choice. Can you live with it? Are you making the right one? Irrelevant. You are a Warden. The Warden. Alistair refuses to lead and you're the only other one left. You need to get allies to stop the Blight and that is the only thing that matters. Do you save the mages or damn them? Can you reconcile the werewolves and elves? Which king do you raise in Orzammar? Every decision you make ripples out and effects the world but you have to make them. The Blight must be stopped. How you get there is important because it changes the world but it doesn't matter because you end up in the same place anyway; fighting an Archdemon, stopping the Blight. You can be cruel, kind, aloof. It doesn't change it. This is your job, your Duty. You are the Warden and the Blight must end.

DA 2

Is there a word that means perseverance and failing anyway? If so, that's the theme of DA2. Inevitability, maybe. You lose your home. You lose your sibling. You go to a city where you're promised a better life and have to sell yourself in order to even get in and live in squalor. Every step you take, every day you live is about protecting your family and fighting for a better life. You collect strays because you are one and maybe together you can make everything a little better (the streets run red with blood). Surely going to the Deep Roads will fix things, will get your mother the life she deserves. (It does, but what is the cost? Unknowable, considering the next two games and the effect of the idol and red lyrium). If you earn enough respect from the Arishok, surely you can prevent bloodshed, can save the city. (You do but you're too late. People are already dead; the Viscount is already dead). Maybe, if you're quick enough, if you're smart enough, you can keep the city together. You're the Champion now, you have real power. You just need to be smart enough, funny enough, forceful enough. (It doesn't matter. Whatever steps you took don't matter and it is your fault. You blow up the Chantry as surely as Anders does no matter what because you let him get here. You promised to protect and you failed). You get up and do your best to limit the bloodshed anyway. But the match has been lit. The path has been laid out. (It's a tragedy. I could make a whole post about how the 3 Act structure lends itself to this story, but I'll save it for another time.) (This doesn't touch on the two DLCs. You have to wonder, years and years later. You are the reason Corypheus is freed. You are the reason those Qunari spies are never identified. Could you have stopped Dragon's Breath? Maybe.) (No.)

Inquisition

Faith. Not religious faith on whether you think you are Maker sent or not (see this for my thoughts on that), though that is important. But Faith in people. In the world. In what could be. Do you have Faith in Cassandra, Leliana, or Vivienne being the Divine? Do you have Faith in Bull? In Dorian's father? Do you have Faith in Solas? Do you have Faith in yourself? I've ignored gameplay for most of this post since it's not very relevant in most ways, but for DAI it is. It's open world for many reasons, most Doylistic, but it also lends itself to the weight and size of the story. The entire south is depending on you keeping the world together. You feel that in every minute you spend running around huge maps, doing a million little things. In a lot of ways, it's the sister game to Origins. But whereas Origins concerns itself with a singular, focused duty, Inquisition is about having Faith in making a better world. Sure you stop and make watch towers; after Corypheus is defeated, this area will still need protection. Why not help the draconologist? He's a good guy. Of course you help Valta go towards the Titan; she's a friend at this point. Every choice you make showcases whatever brand of Faith you carry, whether it be weary or reluctant or passionate. The world is changed by the Faith people have in you but just as equally as the Faith you have in the world.

Veilguard

Finally, we get here. The fourth, bastard child. The reason that I even started these games in the first place. Plenty of people have pointed out that what Inquisition is to Origins, Veilguard is to DA 2. That is a fair comparison I think in many ways, but also diminishes what Veilguard is trying to do. There's a lot of criticism towards the game (and much of it is very fair I think. There is no joy in engagement that isn't critical (meaning well thought out) and shit sometimes needs to be called out) but that being said, I think some things need to be taken in good faith.

The atmosphere: I've seen many a complaint that Veilguard removes the 'dark fantasy' elements that were so beloved in various previous games. Do I think some of the factions were sanitized for the sake of time and staying focused in a way the other games didn't do? Absolutely, yes (Minrathous, looking at you). HOWEVER I don't think that means it stopped being dark fantasy, or magically stopped feeling like Thedas. Did we all see D'Metas Crossing? Treviso/Minrathous? Harding/Davrin??? DA games have always been hilarious (Morrigan and Alistair banter comes to mind, to say nothing of the Bull/Inquisitor BDSM scene) while still feeling real and I don't think Veilguard loses this at all if you're willing to enjoy it for what it is.

Consequences from previous games: this one... this is my biggest pet peeve with the game. Zevran, Fenris, Merill, Hawke/Warden choice... this game is so big (geographically) that there were a million ways to have more of an impact from whatever world state you have. On one hand, I understand that it might take away from the story being told (see below) but on the other I think a few more lines of dialogue, possibly by these characters themselves, would fix a lot of problems about the factions being sanitized that people have complained about. I wasn't part of the development and don't have the knowledge to know if there's a doylist explanation for this.

Personality/choice impact: I've seen some complaints that even the 'mean' options aren't actually that mean and the game hard-fixes you into an archetype. I've also seen complaints that most of the important decisions are near the end game and thus aren't felt near as much as in some previous games. These are both very fair criticisms that are completely understandable. However, I do think there is a reason for them, whether you think it's a valid reason or not. See below.

Here is the crux on which all conversations about Veilguard's plot must rest: what story is it telling? Origins is about someone forced to carry a duty they did not ask for. DA 2 is Some Guy (gn) fighting for a life and life fighting back. Inquisition is an accidental miracle doing everything they can to save a world on the brink of ruin. But Veilguard?

Veilguard is a story about a reluctant hero. If Origins is Duty, DA 2 is Inevitability, and Inquisition Faith, then Veilguard's theme is Responsibility (which is not the same thing as duty). Rook gets hired. That's their problem, that's what sucks them in. They don't even have Hawke's excuse of coming to a place for a better life anyway. Varric finds them on the street (so to speak) and drags them along. And then he dies (not that they realize it) and suddenly the world is ending and it's their problem! There's a conversation where Solas asks you why you're leading the Veilguard and one of the options is you saying because someone has to step up. That's the whole point of Veilguard, the whole story that is being told; the world is ending and you have to be the Hero. Like with all the games, the companion quests all relate to the main theme. Bellara has to take responsibility for her brother and deal with the consequences. Neve takes responsibility for Dock Town. Lucanis for his cousin specifically and then the Crows as a whole. Taash for their identity, Harding for her lost heritage, Emmrich for his life (one way or another), and Davrin for the griffins and also what it means to be a Grey Warden. It all comes back to this one question: if I have to step up, what does that look like?

Rook has to save the fucking world and they did not ask for this. They aren't like the Warden, who was the only choice left. They aren't Hawke, who is fighting for their family and friends and home. They are closest to the Inquisitor, who was also chosen to save the world seemingly by accident, but crucially the Inquisitor had no choice--they had the anchor. They had to be involved with the Inquisition, one way or another (which is why they aren't actually the Inquisitor until after the first act ends and you end up at Skyhold). Rook?

Rook could walk away. Rook has every right to say fuck this and walk away. Let Harding or Neve lead the Veilguard. The only thing stopping them from doing that very thing is the fact that Varric is their friend and has asked them to do this, to take on this responsibility. And that is enough.

A story depends on character motivation. This is especially true of every DA game; if they didn't find a way for the character to buy into the goal, then there is no story. It's the first rule of writing. Even as an asshole, the Warden is still caught in a duty they don't want but have to complete. Even aggressive, Hawke still has to protect their family. Even doubtful, the Inquisitor still has to stop their world from falling apart because they are literally magically infected by the disaster. Rook doesn't have any of that.

Rook can't be an asshole, or at least as much of one as in previous games, because then the whole story stops working. If Rook doesn't care, if they don't value the world, or their friendships, or at least their responsibilities, then why the fuck are we here? You can say that Solas is controlling them as much as the anchor forced the Inquisitor's hand (ha) but I don't buy it. He has to use constant manipulation tactics and hallucinating Varric just to get them to do as much as they already are. If they didn't care about Varric? If they didn't willingly reach out to Solas for help? No fucking way could he get them to do it.

And that means there is no game.

There is a term many of you are probably familiar with: railroading. I would find Veilguard guilty of this far more than any other game, though Inquisition comes close imo (another post for another time). However, I would equally argue it has to be. It is a story of a reluctant hero, forced to carry a responsibility they are not ready for and deal with the consequences. If you aren't willing to be a hero, if you aren't the underdog, if you don't deal with your responsibility, then there is no plot. There is no game. They could have put those conversation options in, but where would it get us? A hollow game without even a sense of internal consistency, which DA has long prided itself for.

Is it perfect? No. Could some changes have been made to alleviate these problems at least? Yeah, of course. But that's true of all the games. How many people complained about DA 2's repeated maps? Of DAI's obnoxious fetch quests? Of Origins' either or mentality for basically all the choices? Don't let its flaws blind you to the story being told. Because that is where it shines, just as all the Dragon Age games do. It's why we're all still here, being heroes even if we don't want to.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Bloody Realization

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.4k

Warnings: talking about and unsub and his victims and blood

Summary: Spencer finally figures out the piece of the puzzle. The painting you bought ties directly to the case they’re working on.

There’s Beauty in Tragedy Masterlist

Square Filled: free space for @mfbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are greatly appreciated <3

x

JJ walks into work and sees Spencer by his desk. He looks focused as if he’s trying to figure out a puzzle. For a man who solves them quickly and easily, he must be stuck on a hard one. She approaches his desk and sees multiple files of different cases they’ve tackled on his desk.

“What are you doing, Spence?” she asks.

“Research,” he mutters.

“What on?”

“I’ll let you know when I know.”

“Okay,” she frowns slightly.

She leaves him to his work, and he rubs his temples when they begin to throb. Ever since the housewarming party, he can’t get that bleeding painting out of his mind. There’s something about the paint that looks so familiar to him. He knows he’s seen that through an old case, so he’s going back as far as he can until he finds what he’s looking for.

What he’s looking for, he’s not sure himself. He just knows he’ll know when he finds it.

His desk phone rings and he leans back in his chair before answering the call.

“Did you find it?” he asks.

“Leo had to do some digging but the only name the artist would give is Banksy,” you say. “According to Leo, he’s very high in demand and has been for the past month.”

“Thanks,” Spencer says and hangs up. He gets up and heads to Hotch’s office. “Hey. Hotch, where are the files from January to March of 2024?”

“Right here.” Hotch points to them on his desk. “I haven’t filed them away yet.”

“Can I look at them?”

“Sure.” He hands them over. “For what?”

“I don’t know.” Spencer flips through the file and passes by the pictures when they aren’t what he’s looking for. Until he gets to the last one. Then he sees what he’s been looking for. “I think I know what our unsub is doing with the blood.”

Hotch calls for an emergency meeting in the briefing room, and Spencer pins up the photos from the file onto the bulletin board.

“Do you guys remember this case? The unsub harmed himself and others and used his blood to paint on the walls. He claimed it fed the monsters in the wall and prevented them from coming out.”

“Yeah, that was a nightmare,” Emily scoffs.

“Look at the picture of the blood on the walls. See how it drips down?” He grabs the remote Penelope usually uses and puts up the picture he took of the painting you bought. “I didn’t know why this painting stuck out to me so much until I saw the photos of this case. Look at how the paint drips down. See any similarities?”

“Don’t tell me what you’re thinking,” Emily sighs.

“What is it?” Penelope asks. “What are you thinking?”

“The painting looks like there is a person running through the woods. Wasn’t one of our victims on a run through the woods on a trail?”

“Just say it.”

“I think the artist who painted this is our unsub, and I think he’s using the blood of his victims as paint.”

“Oh, my God,” Penelope gasps.

Seeing the paint drip down like teardrops gave you the idea of designing blood-red diamonds in the shape of a teardrop. Either you’re going to use rubies for the stone or you’re going to alter the color of a diamond. Maybe both. You’re in the middle of drawing a pair of earrings on your iPad when your phone rings.

“Hey, baby. I can’t wait to show you what I’m designing next.”

“Can you come to the BAU?”

“Why, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We need you here.”

“I’m on my way.”

You have Ingrid hold your meetings until you know what’s going on. JJ usually tells you over the phone what’s going on so going to the BAU is a bit suspicious. Still, you arrive twenty minutes later and meet the team in the bullpen.

“Come with me.”

You follow JJ to their interrogation rooms and look at her nervously.

“Am I in trouble?”

“No, but I’ll be right back.”

She leaves you in there alone and returns minutes later with Spencer and Hotch.

“Okay, you’re starting to scare me.” You look between her and the two men. “What’s going on?”

“Where did you buy that painting in your living room?” Spencer asks.

“I told you. Leo’s art gallery.”

“Leo’s the one who gave it to you?”

“I bought it from him, yes, but he’s not the artist. Artists submit their works to galleries to have them showcased, and Leo agreed to sell the painting for the artist.”

“Can you write down Leo’s address and phone number?” hotch asks and hands you a pad and pen.

“Sure. Is Leo in trouble?”

“Have you seen paintings like this one?” Hotch asks without answering your question.

“Yeah, at an auction. I saw two more. I didn’t want to buy them. I think one of those paintings is more than enough.”

“Do you know who bought them?”

“No, I don’t.” You look at JJ. “JJ, what’s going on? Please tell me.”

“There’s a reason why I couldn’t get that painting out of my head,” Spencer says. He lays out crime scene photos, and you wince when you see the bloody room. “See the walls? The blood on the walls?”

It takes you less than three seconds to connect the dots, and your eyes go as wide as saucers.

“Tell me I don’t have a dead person’s blood in my painting.”

“Will you allow us into your home and take the painting for some tests?” Hotch asks.

“Yes, of course. Whatever you need.”

You give them your home key and stay seated. You’re not sure if you can stand by how shocked you are. Hotch and Spencer leave the room with your key while JJ stays with you.

“Tell me this isn’t happening,” you sigh and put your head on the table.

“I think it is.” JJ sighs.

“Can I have some water, please?”

“Sure.”

JJ returns with a bottle of water, and you take three big sips from it.

“You don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you?”

“No, it’s not that. Let’s just wait for the results.”

Due to the urgency of the situation, the lab results were rushed. It doesn’t take long for them to come in. Not only is it confirmed to be human blood, but it belongs to two of their victims. When the news hits, you have to swallow down your bile. You respect JJ and what she does but you could not handle being an FBI agent. You hate blood and anything gorey. To think you had two dead people in your house this entire time makes you want to throw up.

The team gathers in the hallway but keeps the interrogation room open so you can hear everything they’re saying.

“We got in touch with Leo. He’s on his way in for questioning. Hopefully, he’ll lead us to the artist.”

“Leo won’t know anything.” The team shuffles into the room one by one. “He barely has contact with Banksy. He’s anonymous, and that’s a big deal in the art community.”

“We know of one place to get a painting like that. You mentioned an auction. We’ll just go there and pose as buyers,” JJ suggests.

“I love you, but they won’t let you in.”

“Why not?”

“To put it plainly, you’re not rich enough. You don’t have the connections. They’re very elite and only a handful of people are invited to them.” A lightbulb goes off in your head. “I can get in no problem. Let me help you get this guy.”

“Involving you may not be the best idea,” Rossi says.

“You helped me when Mark was a problem. Let me help you with this. I am your only way in. Even if you pose as a buyer or as the FBI, they won’t let you in. They’re very thorough. There are items on sale that have a high historic value. They’re not going to let just anyone in. Please.”

The leave to discuss this internally while you wait in the interrogation room. Ten minutes pass before JJ and Hotch walk in alone.

“If we’re doing this, you must follow strict rules. Rules which you cannot break,” Hotch says.

“I understand.”

There’s no way in Hell you’re going to let this bastard get away with this.

x

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[lover-of-mine]

Me? Wanting to talk about the locker room scene in comparison to the cemetery scene to make a point no one asked about? Raise your hand if you saw this is coming 🙋‍♀️

Anyway, this is madness written by a gifmaker/video editor who hates coloring the cemetery scene with a burning passion and who spent the better part of the past 2 days trying to make a coloring work for the locker room scene, who also did some asking around with other editors who also seem to be having issues with the scene, and who spends way too much time thinking about Buck and death (someone drown that man, please).

I'm gonna start this off by saying that I don't really believe the cemetery scene will be directly addressed on the show no matter how much I wish it would. But something about the cemetery scene besides the actual content of the scene that keeps me up at night and had me writing multiple fics dealing with it, is the fact that the sky is only blue behind Eddie.

Why is that relevant in any way, shape, or form? The colors when the focus is on Buck or both of them have this almost yellowish tone that the focus on Eddie doesn't have. The sky and colors strongly imply that they added a filter to it in post-production to ensure the colors looked like that, along with the fact that it is a scene that's really weird to color something that happens when they go too hard on the filters *cough* crossover *cough* pilot *cough*. What does that have to do with the locker room? The locker room also has this almost yellowish tone that makes it hell to color. But based on my 2 days of testing different colorings and techniques, it seems to be a hell of a lot worse when the shot has that wall over there where the sun is hitting as a background.

That suggests that they wanted the scenes to have a specific lighting that they achieved later. Considering the way that the tendency of the cemetery is that the colors get muted or weirdly blended together and that the locker room goes YELLOW, I am assuming that they messed with the colors on the cemetery to make the colors look faded, giving it that gloomy feeling, which in turn made the sky almost white, and that they needed that sunlight reflecting on the wall to look that bright, which made the scene look a lot more yellow than it should. Seriously, trying to work this out I legit make it look like Buck is a Simpsons character.

Okay, but Anna, why did you make this particular connection? Well, the word is muted when Buck is talking about starting to date Natalia and then the sun gets brighter when he talks about them breaking up? COME ON. He's calling the relationship boring and the word literally gets brighter as he says it, madness.

Buck talking about dating Natalia -> Buck talking about breaking up with Natalia (please don't judge the gifs I don't want the stress of coloring them combined right now lol)

But that's the same reaction. Dude is smiling going in, he's smiling going out.

And considering Buck's relationship with his own death and the way I strongly believe that what drew him to Natalia was the fact that she didn't think his death was a tragedy and he wasn't ready to deal with the reality of had happened to him yet, to get him to the point where death is boring is progress. Makes me fear for my Buck breakdown wishes, but it is progress for that particular aspect of Buck, considering he has a very intricate relationship with death down to the fact he was born as a hail mary to prevent it. We have multiple near-death experiences, we have him saving the lives of people loves multiple times, the first time we see him he's saving a kid who drowned, his first big conflict is the fact that he's not handling not being able to save someone's life all that well, I can keep going, but you see my point, right?

The arc with Natalia, even though we didn't see the originally planned conclusion since the actress couldn't come back, had this point of Buck looking at what happened to him through the eyes of someone who didn't know him before and was actually excited about that happening, so he could distance himself from what happened and look at it from a "safe" distance. That distance also allowed him to ignore the very important "I need to do this for myself" thing from the coma dream because Buck is terrified of being alone, and that definitely includes the fear of finding out who he is by himself. Buck is bad at being alone, from meaningless sex, to hanging on to Abby too long, to hanging on to Taylor too long, to jumping in with Natalia, the first pretty girl who looked his way, it all makes this part of him very clear (parenthesis because I just had a thought, yes, Buck latches on to Taylor out of fear of being alone triggered by Eddie almost dying, but he thought he could have died himself considering the crane and everything about it and also the way he could very much have been shot at the same time as Eddie, he latched on to Natalia because he did die, he also almost died on his first date with Abby and Abby actually reached out to him when he was feeling all sorts of bad over someone dying, and he is held at gunpoint and watched a death that deeply affected him before he started dating Ali, so we have death as a connection here too, if that makes sense, I might have to come back to this thought later).

But the thing is, when you look at 6a for Buck considering the fact that Buck is passively suicidal, in a very I'm not trying to get killed but I don't think I don't care if I do die way, and how he probably thought he was going to die in a blaze of glory saving someone, and how he actually died in a pretty run-of-the-mill call, by something no one has any control over it, Buck's relationship with what he thought death was and would be for him changed. For one, Buck was not ready for how much it affected everyone around him, he never considered what the grief of losing him would do to the people he loves, but also, Buck's main excuse for his near-death experiences/impulsive behavior that puts him in mortal danger was "but I didn't actually die" like with the blood clots or "I didn't get the worst of it" like with the shooting, I think even the tsunami a little bit with how he felt about losing Chris. But he did actually die, and considering the fact that he went up that ladder when Chimney was ready to go up and Eddie also got hit by the lightning, he also got the worst of it. So he lost his own coping mechanism.

So he arrived at a point where death is boring and he is smiling like an idiot at Eddie welcoming him "back to the world of the living" and that could have fun implications going forward. Because, one, he still hasn't dealt with a big emotion in a healthy way, and two, Bobby is in mortal danger. Considering his reaction to Bobby being dead in his coma world and the fact that he has no coping mechanism left when it comes to death anymore along with his own relationship with water and danger we could have some fun reactions to these types of triggers for him there.

And thinking about the way Oliver keeps talking about Buck learning more about himself and also about Buck leaning on Eddie, someone who had his own journey dealing with multiple layers of his relationship with death, they have a fun space to play with there, with Buck's relationship with death, Eddie's relationship with Buck's death, and everything else that could happen with Eddie fully dealing with Shannon's death, and Buck dealing with anything really, Daniel, his own death, his fear of being alone, all as someone who actually wants to live, who's not just moving because he's alive and has no other alternative.

That's it for today, as always, if you reached this I love you 💜

[dominiquelucalover]

Street's Friend Reggie

Dominique Luca x OC |

Summary: Street has a friend who seems to know a lot about a lot. Reggie always comes with information when 20-David least expects it, but no one's seen or even heard him before. So what happens when he comes to HQ unannounced?

CW: discussions about drug dealing, gun dealing, and other crimes - canon level tbh, more to come throughout the series though.

Dead ends in a case weren't favorable. Anytime 20-David faced some kind of roadblock, they could always find a way around it. As the team leader, Hondo was always thinking of the next step. The crook they were after was smart, so he and his team needed to be smarter. The only drawback was that their man was an ace at hiding in plain sight and they'd lost their eyes on him, so everyone was wracking their brains to figure out what to do next. 

“We need to figure out where Jones is before he makes a move, he could try to flee and then we'll be out of luck,” Deacon said, putting down his work tablet and looking at everyone. “He could take the drugs with him and they'll be gone before we know it.” 

“We just have to think like him,” Hondo said, arms crossed over his chest. “Where would he go or who could he get in contact with to lay low for a while?” 

“He's got a long list of friends, too many to talk to individually,” Chris sighed as she scrolled through known associates of their suspect. “We could split them up, divide and conquer.” 

“That would still take too long,” Tan said as he looked at the list over her shoulder. “He'll hear us knocking on doors and split.” 

“And they'll cover his tracks for him,” Luca added, displeased with where this was headed. 

“I've got a friend who might know something,” Street interjected, causing everyone to look at him. “What?” 

“Does this friend have a record?” Hondo asked. 

“No.” 

“Are they in Long Beach, because that won't help us much,” Deacon said. 

“No.” 

“Are they an informant?” Tan asked. 

“Not exactly.” 

Hondo sighed and nodded to him. “Get in contact with this friend of yours. If they have anything useful, we'll run with it.” He turned to everyone else. “For now, we'll start with Jones’ associates, get eyes on them, and see where that takes us.” 

Street grinned as he slipped his phone from his pocket. As everyone else got to work, he dialed the number, walking away once the call was answered. “Hey, Reggie! I need a favor…” 

The team watched him as his voice faded. Once he was out of earshot, Hondo shook his head. “I hope this doesn't come back to bite us.” 

The information Reggie provided was more than helpful. Street returned with a big smile and informed his teammates that Fredrick Jones wasn't with an associate listed in their records but at an old girlfriend's place. When asked how Reggie the not-really-an-informant got that information, Street shrugged and said, “I don't really ask how Reggie gets in touch with these people.” 

It was a half lie. He did know, but he'd rather not know. 

He quickly pushed all the looks and questions aside, aiming to get on with going after Jones and arresting him. So, he pulled up an aerial map of the address he'd looked up for the ex and showed it to his teammates. “Well?” 

Hondo looked at him and smirked. “Alright, let's go.” Then he pointed at him. “But we're not done talking about your friend Reggie.” 

But they never did get to have that follow-up conversation. After Jones was apprehended, things moved fast. Before they knew it, they were onto the next case, saving the next person, preventing the next tragedy. Life went on. 

It was a couple of months later that anyone in S.W.A.T. heard the name Reggie again. 

Street walked in with knitted brown and a frown. His team was currently on standby, working less active cases to pass the time as nothing was urgent until he caught up to Hondo as he was walking toward the kitchen. 

“Hey, so Reggie gave me a call this morning and said something weird is going on in the neighborhood of a coworker,” he explained, knowing it sounded out there and unreliable. “A black van was backed into a driveway and the coworker said they saw the neighbor loading a lot of crates into the back.” 

“Why didn't the coworker call it in?” Hondo asked skeptically. 

“Reggie said they were scared, that this neighbor hasn't been the same since his wife died and didn't want it to come back to him if anyone looked into it,” he explained. 

Hondo stopped and turned to Street in the hall. “Did he actually witness this happening or is Reggie just sending the message? How do I know we can trust this guy?” 

Street opened his mouth to reply but then his phone dinged and he dug into his pocket to see what it was. He smirked as he watched the screen for a moment, then turned the phone to his leader. 

On display was a video of the aforementioned black van from a distance. It was backed into the driveway of a nice-looking home, but it wasn't too fancy or expensive. There were a few hedges and trees in the way, but there was a gap just big enough to see a man loading what looked to be a heavy crate into the back of the van. The video went on for a moment without anything happening, then he appeared to move another crate into the van, shut the doors, walked around to the driver's side, and got behind the wheel. 

Hondo looked up from the device and at Street. “Alright, who is this guy?” 

“I don't know,” he said, then looked at his phone as he got another message. “But, according to Reg, this is the second time he's done this. Something's up.” 

“I don't disagree,” Hondo said and nodded toward the phone. “See if Reggie can get the address of this neighbor and get the team together. And tell your friend we'll look into it.” 

Street smiled as he looked down to send a text. 

The neighbor, as it turned out, was selling illegal weapons out of his home in large quantities. His wife had been the breadwinner and once she died, he didn't want to get a real job, so he got involved in smuggling and selling weapons to gangs and anyone who wanted high-powered guns.

When he was arrested, he was erratic and non-compliant. He shot at the police when they came to his home and found himself getting taken down by Deacon. The man swore like a sailor, worse than one even, and explained that all he knew how to do was guns. Guns guns guns. He wouldn't shut up about how much his wife had hated them, so when she died, he was finally able to have them again. They later found out that he had blown all his savings on them and needed a way to provide for himself and his habit of collecting weapons. 

Now, S.W.A.T. was on the hunt for all of those weapons while he would be charged. And it was thanks to Reggie, who allegedly gave the credit to the coworker who had shared their concerns. They remained anonymous when it was time to go to trial but Reggie made a promise to Street to keep an ear out about any illegally obtained guns. 

As time went on, the team either heard of Reggie from Street or didn't hear of Reggie at all. It piqued everyone's interest, especially since the tips they were given always led to something. Whether it was an accomplice or a threat that eventually got them to the bigger picture, Reggie was aware of a lot.

He was a mystery to all, quickly earning him the joking nickname of Urban Legend around S.W.A.T. HQ. 

It was a quiet day, so everyone was using their time wisely to catch up on case information, help where they could, or train to keep their bodies in tip-top shape. Luca and Chris were in the boxing ring, taking turns practicing their punches. It was Luca's turn to hit the mitts when a woman walked by, looking around as if lost. He couldn't help but stare at her, as she was gorgeous. 

She was in her mid to late twenties and dressed to the nines. Her blouse was simple yet elegant, cut only low enough to show off some of her natural assets while her jeans hugged every curve snuggly. She wore a pair of no-nonsense combat boots that were laced up, almost but not quite hiding her periwinkle socks. She had on little jewelry aside from a locket resting on her collarbone and a few bracelets. Her hair was a tousled mess of blonde waves, a bit unruly, but it fit her perfectly. It went down to her shoulder blades and was tossed about over her shoulders as she walked. A small backpack hung from her shoulders, giving her the look of a tourist or a woman on an adventure. 

Her brow was furrowed with worry as she looked around the building, slowly making her way through as she searched for something that wasn't there. Upon seeing her so lost, Luca dropped his arms, nodded to the woman, and walked past Chris. He stopped at the edge of the boxing ring and called out to her. 

“Need any help?” he asked. 

The woman turned to him and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Yes, actually. I'm looking for Jim Street.” 

“He's working with some officers at the moment,” Chris told her, grabbing the rope and lifting it. She and Luca exited the ring and stepped down as the woman approached. “Maybe we can help you while you wait for him.” 

“That's nice of you, but I really only feel comfortable talking to him,” the woman explained trying not to be rude. 

Luca nodded gently, sensing she was a little anxious. Her jaw was tight and her dark eyes were darting around the room, so he tried to put her at ease. “Okay, that's alright. I'm sure he'll be done soon and you can talk to him. Can we get you anything in the meantime? Water? Juice?” 

“No, thank you though,” she said and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Her hand came up to fiddle with the visitor's badge she'd been given. 

Chris posed a question, “Does he know you're here?” 

She shook her head and sighed. “I probably should have texted him but I-” she stopped and looked at the two S.W.A.T. officers in front of her. “I'm sorry, I've been so rude. I didn't even introduce myself.” 

Luca smiled softly and shook his head. “I guess that makes us rude too, but we were so focused on helping you that we forgot.” 

His jovial tone seemed to help ease her mind and she smiled.

Chris put out her hand to shake as she introduced herself, then her teammate beside her. They both shook hands with the woman as she nodded, a certain recognition in her eye. 

She smiled, tension melting away from her face. “It's so nice to meet you. I'm-” 

“Reggie?” a voice called from behind. 

She turned and the officers looked up to see Street and Tan coming their way. Street looked shocked and Tan was intrigued. Everyone's ears were burning as they heard the name of their Urban Legend uttered, but did they finally have a face to put to it? 

“You're Reggie?” Luca asked, mystified. 

The woman looked back at him and Chris, a tight smile on her lips. “Only to Jimmy. It's short for Regina.” 

Street walked up to her and asked, “What are doing here?” 

Suddenly reminded of why she was there, Regina's smile faded and she turned to him. She took a deep breath and her next words cut through the excitement of finally getting to meet her. “I'm in trouble, Jimmy. Real trouble.” 

Street's face became hard. “What kind of trouble?” 

“Someone wants me dead.”

[lightningfury13]

Stupid Todoroki family shit

The kids all decide to live with Rei afterwards. They tell Enji off and leave with her. Leaving with Rei actually ends up with them staying at their grandparent's who they've not seen a lot of. At first they think maybe Enji isn't paying enough alimony and child support in the case of Shouto but Rei overhearing this tells them flatly that's not it.

She's not allowed to live alone. She was under psychiatric care for well over a decade. She's just flat out not cleared to live alone. So she's living with her parents.

See the kids have thought for years that it was all Enji's doing. Rei's confinement, the restriction on them seeing her, and whole shebang.

Not that Rei neglected to watch her volatile son which resulted in his death, not that Rei poured boiling water over her son's face permanently scarring him, not the neglect of her middle children.

Nope in their mind it's always been Enji's fault. Whole thing. Forgetting that as a busy hero Enji wasn't home a lot period. That when he was home was he probably hurt or exhausted. That in the aftermath his sole focus was protecting his kids.

After all they were young, they just lost their big brother and their mom. They didn't need to know about the investigation, the ligation, the sentencing. They didn't need to know about their mom's psychotic break. The determination she was a danger to herself and others but especially her kids.

Enji let them blame him because in part he blamed himself. If he'd done more, if he'd been home more, if he'd helped more. Something, anything. Forgetting the countless lives he's saved, the cases he's solved. Some how some way he could have done more and prevented all the tragedy. So he takes all the blame. Never says a bad word about Rei to the kids ever.

At the same time though it's well over a decade before Natsuo and Fuyumi are cleared to see her. And only then because as adults they can sign waivers at the hospital.

By the time Shouto goes to see her she's mostly stable. Seeing Shouto and not reacting violently was a very big hurdle for her though he didn't know it at the time.

That said she's on a cocktail of drugs to keep her that way and one reason she can't live alone is someone has to take responsibility to make sure she takes all those drugs.

Now if the kids had known any of that? They'd have made sure she took her meds.

Her elderly parents concerned with their own meds and knowing how important they are for their health and unable to fathom that Rei might just stop taking them because she felt fine? Less certain.

It takes about a week before she has an episode. Sees Touya sitting with Natsuo on the couch and throws ice at his head screaming "why didn't you die?!"

Her parents restrain her successfully and but beg the kids to get out and to not tell Enji Rei broke her parole. Clearly she still can't handle seeing the kids regularly but they don't want her going back to the hospital.

Confused and baffled the kids have little choice but to make their way back home to Enji's the house they grew up in.

They're sitting around discussing what happened. Trying to call but getting no response from Rei's parents.

Enji comes homes. One arm in a sling. Looking like shit warmed up. Just exhausted from a 72 hour shift. Small grocery bag with the things he was gonna make one handed.

He's confused by the kid's presence but less so when they ignore their injured and exhausted father to immediately attack him about what's wrong with Rei?

He sighes and since they're all more or less adults now...he sits down and offers to order take out. He just doesn't have it in him right now to got back out for groceries and food for 5.

He then explains that Rei was convicted of child abuse and neglect and abandonment back then. Enji had actually supported the defense in getting her declared mentally unfit which prevented a prison sentence.

A lot of her time in the psychological hospital was as an inmate not just a patient.

There at first even pictures of her kids sent her into an episode which is why the kids could never visit.

At first the kids just don't believe him. Claim he's making shit up to make her look bad...but then Enji retrieves the case file which he hands to Shouto and Touya who should know how to read them and her medical report which he hands to medical student Natsuo and teacher Fuyumi.

Touya wants to say Enji interfered in the investigation but it was conducted by heros Enji was rivals with. Ones above reproach that wouldn't have given Endeavor a by if their lives depended on it. In fact it's noted in the case notes that Enji seemed guilty and encouraged then to find anything to stick to him.

Touya notices the note first...that Enji had been hundreds of miles away locked in a fierce battle with a villian that left him severely injured when Touya had set the forest and himself a blaze. His mother should have been watching him. Knew he was a danger. Had the powerset to stop him....but did nothing.

On the other side Natsuo is shocked by list of diagnosis and meds his mom was on before noting...she had been drinking grapefruit non stop.

It seems non sequitur until he explains that grapefruit cancels out a bunch of these drugs and Rei had to have been informed of that. In fact in the aftercare notes for her release it's mentioned several times.

Which means she hadn't just stopped taking her meds...she'd been actively trying to flush her system.

Okay this is turning to Rei goes supervillian territory. Might revisit that idea.

The rest is the kids seeing Enji dutifully taking his pain meds complaining lightly that they make him sick because Hawks has been trying to get him to humanize himself in front of his kids.

Natsuo of all people gets up and gets his dad some warm milk to take the pills with because apparently in all this time no one had actually just taken the time to take care of Enji and tell him how to take narcotic pain meds without getting sick so he'd just suffered through it silently all these years.

He goes to bed afterwards because the pills also make him sleepy leaving the files with his kids and the dawning realization that maybe, just maybe, their father isn't the root of all evil.

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: The Story of Us Fest (Part 1)

The Story of Us Fest 2024:

Constellations and Miscommunications by noxinkwell - E, WIP - For the last year, Hermione and Draco’s relationship was a dream come true, hidden away from from prying eyes. That is, until it was time for Hermione to meet his mother. Then, everything fell apart. One year later, Draco is revealing two new potions—one to heal the ‘souls’ and the other is to heal a close friend. Hermione is forced to re-live their relationship when she’s invited to a Healers’ Gala hosted by the Malfoy Family to celebrate this momentous occasion. Tonight’s gala was only for her career. Hermione could get through one more night of seeing her ex and then she can move on… right? Based on: The Story of Us-Taylor Swift. Oh, a simple complication Miscommunications lead to fall out So many things that I wish you knew So many walls up I can't break through Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room And we're not speaking and I'm dying to know Is it killing you like it's killing me? Yeah I don't know what to say since the twist of fate When it all broke down And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now

Declassified by byanca_black - T, WIP - Hermione Granger believed she knew the man she married. Five years of unwavering trust had built a fortress around their seemingly idyllic life. But when Draco does something that she never believed he was capable of, their perfect world comes crashing down.

One Single Thread of Gold by justforgiggs - M, WIP - On a dreary September day, Narcissa Malfoy receives a shocking prediction from an unlikely source. She'll spend the next several years trying anything in her power to prevent it from coming true. -- A Narcissa POV Dramione fic

VERSIONS by jiex_hua - M, WIP - IN WHICH, two ex-lovers have different versions of their past but the present brings about an opportunity to reconcile their story. PRESENT: When workaholic Hermione Granger's so-called friends drag her home to London for a weekend, the last thing she expects is crashing her ex's bachelor party. Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, has no idea it's the moment he's been waiting for—until he sees her. PAST: Post-war Draco Malfoy is proving he can rehabilitate back into society under the watchful eye of none other than Wizarding Britain's Bleeding Hearted Boy Who Lived Hero, Harry Potter. But staying in line isn't so simple when he catches said hero's Golden Girl colluding with a Death Eater's son. Meanwhile, Hermione Granger is on another mission for the greater good that no one, especially her best friend Harry, can know about—even if that means forming an alliance with said best friend's ex-Death Eater pet project. FEATURING: past/present dual povs, both equally unfiltered and equally unreliable

Twist of Fate by Sparkly_Bee - E, WIP - It is harrowing how a single choice can change the trajectory of one’s life. What if it wasn’t his choice, but the choice of another that shifted his path? This isn't a tale of good decisions and happy endings, where a man can find his redemption. This is the tale of the boy who had no choice finally getting a chance to choose. Draco Malfoy has lost hope awaiting his fate amidst the Death Eater trials when his longtime crush, Hermione Granger, joins his legal team. What will drive Draco Malfoy’s choice? What will that choice cost? Can Hermione Granger save him?

In My System by Ink_and_Cider - E, WIP - “Come home with me,” she breathed. “Just for tonight. You're discreet, and obviously we have chemistry.” “Why are you giving me a sales pitch, I'm already trying to shag you in an alleyway. Do you frequently have to beg for sex?” “I usually make them beg,” she shrugged, taking a step towards him. “Oh really?” His eyes grew dark and heavy, and he stepped up to meet her. “Do you like when wizards beg at your feet?” “Sometimes. Other times, I allow them to worship me. If they earn it.” His swallow was audible and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Granger, if you aren't into public nudity, I think you ought to take me home now.”

Pull Me Under by IndigoHaze - M, one-shot - One night a few moons ago I saw flecks of what could’ve been lights But it might just have been you Passing by unbeknownst to me Snow On The Beach - Taylor Swift feat. Lana Del Ray Grief can eat away at a person until they're a shell of themselves. When someone can't publicly express their grief, it can drive them to madness. At least that's what Draco believes when he loses Hermione when she drowns during the second task of the Triward Tournament. Meanwhile, he's unaware that she's trying to find him. Written for The Story of Us Fest in DWS! (WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH)

A Million Little Times by Silver_Snidget - E, one-shot - And that's the thing about illicit affairs And clandestine meetings and stolen stares They show their truth one single time But they lie, and they lie, and they lie A million little times And you wanna scream Don't call me "kid" Don't call me "baby" Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me You showed me colors You know I can't see with anyone else “I told you not to show up today,” he said in a low voice. With his free hand he brushed her hair over her shoulder. His hand moved slowly, leaving a tingling trail in its wake, from her arm all the way down to the hand that held her book in a vice grip. He gently loosened said grip and entwined their fingers.

The Synthesis of You by dearhummingbird - T, WIP - She could see, however, how it calmed him, how he heard music in everyday things - the clinking of a spoon on porcelain, the pitter-patter of raindrops. To Draco, his mother sounded like Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 3, powerful, serene, sorrowful, with bursting moments of joy. His father was moody, sombre; the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14. Though, from the stories his mother told him, his father wasn’t always that way - even Draco had glimpses of memories - more Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ than ‘Moonlight Sonata’. Draco hears music in everyday things, in objects and the people around him. But he didn’t expect that his favourite song would one day be the result of the summers spent with a certain Muggle-born witch.

There’s Glitter On The Floor After The Party by GoldMagpie - T, one-shot - “You’ll do what…?” “If I kiss you at midnight, McLaggen won’t.” He explained rapidly, his gaze falling to her lips briefly. “If you want me to…?” - New Year’s Eve changes Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy’s lives forever.

Of Starlings & Shorelines by Hanniesalwaysreading - E, WIP - It’s been five years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and Draco is living in self-imposed exile on the Yorkshire Coast. His bigoted past is far behind him, his future is bright, and no one can bring him down. No one, that is, except for Hermione Granger. Why Granger, how nice to see you. What am I doing here, you ask? Ah, well, you see, I ran away like the coward I am, and I’ve been hiding on a secret estate cleaning up bird shit for the last three years. What the fuck are you doing here? — Or, how Draco Malfoy accidentally turned his home into a bird sanctuary, learned a bit of veterinary medicine, befriended a phoenix, and failed to keep Hermione Granger’s swotty nose out of his business.

dust off your highest hopes by cosmic_kate - T, one-shot - After draining all her accounts on repeated unsuccessful reversal attempts for the botched obliviation she performed on her mother, Hermione is just desperate enough to accept Draco Malfoy's offer of employment. He's annoyingly charming, handsome, and even comes with his own personal sidekick. But when she finally realizes what he's after, everything changes. OR Play seek and find for the 100 Taylor Swift titles hidden throughout.

Hoax by dittanyanddreams - M, one-shot - "You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score? You knew it still hurts underneath my scars From when they pulled me apart But what you did was just as dark" Hermione sat in the window seat of her London flat looking out over the misty city on the horizon, cradling a mug of piping hot tea in her hands. The soft, rhythmic tapping of raindrops against the window echoed a comforting melody. It was during these peaceful moments that her thoughts unfailingly drifted back to her days at Hogwarts, particularly her eighth year. She had been Head Girl, an expected outcome even with the war having disrupted their education; but she had been paired with Draco Malfoy as Head Boy - a combination that had initially appeared impossible to work. Can Draco truly distance himself from pureblood culture, and what can the price of meddling and miscommunication truly be? This is not a HEA, please mind the tags!

little taste of heaven by goldrushrenegade - E, WIP - In which Hermione is forced to endure the presence of her ex-boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, in order to secure the coveted position of Junior Unspeakable. Being around him is unbearable, he acts as if he wants to be friends—as if they ever were friends—while planning his wedding with Astoria Greengrass. Hermione has tried to hate him…but her heart knows what the truth is. - Essentially, a love letter to Fearless (and every Taylor Swift post break up I-still-love-you song because I have no self control)

it's coming down, it's all around by kakumeizenya - T, one-shot - “Just so you know, Draco,” she says as he settles into the seat next to her. “If you sit at the front, you’re not allowed to sleep.” “Why?” “It’s against the law.” A blatant lie. “They stated it in the Geneva Convention.” Followed by another. -- Or, Hermione is knee-deep in denial.

Cracking Locks by kaycares - M, one-shot - Lately, Hermione dreams of cages. She knows they started the night Ron proposed. She just can't figure out why Draco Malfoy is always there.

Good Ideas & Power Moves by kaycares - M, one-shot - Hermione Granger is so sick of running as fast as she can, wondering if she'd get there quicker if she were Draco Malfoy.

Things We Never Did by AutumnWeen - M, one-shot - When loneliness set in, magic provided comfort, but even the most innocent spells can become addictive. People can be addictive, and that is something Hermione Granger knows well.

For You, I Would Fall From Grace by morgan_magic - M, one-shot - Hermione’s marriage was happy, her pregnancy easy, but postpartum she falls into a deep depression, contesting with suicidal thoughts and skirting psychosis. And although she finds love and helping hands thrust upon her, it’s never the person she needs. Or: Hermione can't live with grief and Draco's distance, but Draco can't live without Hermione.

If We Survived by Yeuxverts - E, one-shot - For the first time he thought maybe he might not die before the war ended. Maybe he’d survive. Maybe she would. She should know. How he felt. She should know how much he loved her. She reached a hand out to offer him the pardon and it fluttered to the ground, forgotten, as he pulled her close to him and gave her the kiss he’d been crafting for years. Draco Malfoy reflects on the contours of his and Hermione's story over the years of The Great War.

I Wish You'd Left Me Wondering by Sparkly_Bee - E, one-shot - "I’ve never-” Her courage disappeared when his eyes widened. “Never?” he asked, squeezing her hands. His whole body lit up, everything from his cock to his jaw twitched at the thought that she was untouched. He would be the first to figure out what made her tick. “That’s hot.” *** Draco Malfoy takes Hermione Granger to the Prefect's Bath and makes her feel better when her on-again/off-again boyfriend, Ron Weasley, runs off with another brunette. Things get wet, sloppy, and little crass. Will Hermione regret it? Yes. Do we regret it? No, and neither does Draco. At least not right away. Mind the tags!

Pink Rosé Regrets by allofthelights11 - M, one-shot - The awkward morning after. Fuck Theo and his commitment to screw-top rosé. Hermione is having none of it.

The Great War (Hermione's Version) by leryan - T, one-shot - Hermione felt like she'd been running for months. Years. Her bones ached. Her lungs burned. She was so tired. But she had to run. Inspired by "The Great War" by Taylor Swift .