#HE WAS LITERALLY WRITING MAGNUS AT THE EXACT SAME TIME

[aroaceleovaldez]

One of the both interesting and annoying things with Trials of Apollo is Apollo is an unreliable narrator who will entirely straight up lie to the audience.

Like, on one hand, yes technically that is what an unreliable narrator is, but generally with unreliable narrators you are able to parse that they’re being unreliable entirely within the contexts of the narrative and also parse the truth. A good example is actually Magnus Chase - he’s also an unreliable narrator. But he doesn’t wholly outright lie ever about random details. Magnus is somewhat coy when it comes to details about himself or his feelings, but its also generally very easy to see through his pretenses. When we’re introduced to him, he talks a lot insisting that he’s some type of tough loner guy on the streets, and isn’t super into touchy-feely stuff. Then we’re immediately introduced to his found family and spend the next two books seeing his found family grow and finally him literally win a fight with the power of friendship. He claims he’s totally independent, but then also talks about how he keeps sneaking into his uncle’s house and again, has two adoptive dads. We’re presented this information almost side-by-side, so while Magnus is an unreliable narrator, we as the audience are still receiving valid information. And then comparatively Percy is just almost entirely a truthful narrator. There’s never really a question of having to dispute the information he gives us.

Meanwhile, Apollo will exposition at the audience and we genuinely have no way of confirming or denying it, and we do know that he is blatantly lying about at least some of it, which makes basically all of the information entirely useless. The most notable example of this is Apollo spending three whole books referring to Artemis as his younger twin sister. Without contextual knowledge of Greek Mythology, specifically relating to the myth of Artemis and Apollo’s births, there is no reason for the audience to dispute this or not take this as fact when Apollo is presenting it as such. Then, in Tyrant’s Tomb when Artemis actually shows up, Apollo completely 180s into being truthful and referring to Artemis as his older twin. It honestly almost reads as just narrative inconsistency or textual error if you aren’t aware that Apollo is intentionally supposed to be lying to the audience.

And it’s annoying! Because we can’t take anything he says as fact most of the time! Like, we can presume it’s true, because we have nothing saying it’s not true until we do. But also, sometimes we do! Like with Artemis! So there’s a ton of little instances of having to go “Is this a retcon, new information, consistency error, or is Apollo just straight up lying and it will never get addressed?” We don’t know.

[bots-and-cons]

Hello! Tfp optimus, ratchet and ultra magnus reaction to a reader that can see the future. As in we warn them of an attack or a trap or an outcome of a plan and it ends up happening exactly as we say every time. Thanks!

I did HCs, kind of a ramble maybe, but it’s kinda late so I don’t really have the energy for much else and I just wanted to write something

~Ultra Magnus~

•He just straight up didn’t believe it when you told him you could see the future

•He thought it was some strange human joke he didn’t understand

•Magnus also thought it was hazardous, because if someone were to take your word as fact they might believe they couldn’t get injured if you told them they would return unhurt and they would get reckless

•Of course Magnus thinks Bumblebee and Smokescreen are already needlessly reckless so he especially doesn’t want them believing anything you say

•But when you get proven right again and again, Magnus starts to think that maybe you’re not a fraud, maybe you’re a traitor, because you know when the cons are going to ambush someone and when and where the attacks are going to happen

•He doesn’t outright accuse you, but he does start keeping an even keener eye on you

•But it just seems to go beyond that, because you seem to know things you couldn’t possibly know even if you were getting intel from the cons

•And why would you try to warn the autobots if you were a traitor

•He just doesn’t want to believe such an ability exists, because it doesn’t make any sense to him

•But eventually he has no choice but to start believing what you’re telling him and the others

•When he finally starts taking you seriously, he actually notices you’re helping him and the others stay safe

~Optimus Prime~

•Optimus wants to believe you, but it just doesn’t seem very probable

•He does pay attention to what you say though, he sort of keeps it at the back of his mind and he stars noticing you seem to be right a lot

•Like suspiciously much

•So he can’t really deny that you are seeing the future

•He’s pretty interested in how it works, because he’s never encountered anything like this

•Like do you only see bad things? Can you see the future when you want to or is it kinda random? Does it drain you?

•It does cause you some pretty intense migraines, especially if you try to force your visions, but you don’t really tell Optimus that because you want to help the autobots

•You warn them all the time of danger and it ends up saving a lot of lives, resources and time

•It’s not like you can prevent all the bad stuff from happening and sometimes even though you warn the bots they have to go on missions anyway or can’t change the way they have to do something

~Ratchet~

•Ratchet wasn’t exactly ecstatic when you told him you saw something bad happening to Optimus

•He asks why you would say something like that, and that it’s not funny

•You assure him that it’s not meant to be funny and that you can sometimes see bad things before they happen

•But when it happens and Optimus gets hurt in the exact way you said, Ratchet confronts you after treating Optimus and asks how in the name of Primus you could know that

•You repeat the same thing you said before, but Ratchet is still a bit skeptical, even though the evidence is literally right in front of him

•But eventually he starts asking you about if you’ve seen something bad happening before just about every mission

•He starts trusting what you say about your visions and you become sort of like danger meter for the autobots

•While Ratchet doesn’t want you to hurt yourself, he might still sometimes push you to try and see something if you haven’t had a vision about a mission

•It causes you migraines and it’s all around not a pleasant experience when you try to force your visions, but Ratchet is way too worried about the team to not ask you about it

•Of course if you don’t see anything, that’s a sign too

[safflowerisyes]

Here comes a thought..

I reacently finished watching TFA, and I have been DYING for a good TFP/TFA crossover.

But I havent been able to find one I really like. I've been able to find some good ones, but none of them hit the exact spot.

So I thought, "Well, Moony, instead of complaning, why don't you write one?" And that's what I plan on doing.

So this is what I was thinking...

On one fateful day in the primeverse, Wheeljack and Ratchet are arguing on weather or not a new kind of spacebridge should have xyz part/feature. And Miko [being Miko] decides the best way to settle this dispute is to turn it on. And thus how 8 autobots and 5 humans are thrust into the animatedverse.

Meanwhile, Sentinel is "lecturing" Optmus on why he should "shut his intake about all this fake dicepticon propaganda". This, however, is interrupted by a swirling blue-green vortex resimboling a spacebridge portal. When 8 enormus robots veughly resemboling bots they know pop out, you can imagine the shock and conufsion that ensues. They don't really notice the humans, untill Miko points out Sentinel's abnormally large chin. Everyone laughs (except Sentinel, but, yk), and then the questions come.

At one point, Sentinel insults TFP Optimus, and everyone else from the primeverse tries to kill him. And they would have (several times over), if the Optimuses (Optimi? Optimieuses?) hadn't stepped in.

Then BAM! TFA Optimus (who will from here on be know as just Prime) remembers the dicepticon trap that Ultra Magnus and Jazz are driving into. Optimus offerse his team as help, and Prime gladly excepts. Ratchet then throughs a wrench at the head of a complaining Sentinel, and Wheeljack ties him up and knicks him to the curb. Literally.

So, Prime tells his team there's no time to explain the company, and they're off.

Enter: Starscream.

TFP chracters find out that the dicepticon their fighting is the one and olny Screamer, and jump into action. Optimus starrs quickly ordering his team and they take down Star' with a little less than ease. Just cause he's imortal, doesn't mean you can't knock him out. So they do, and Prime is quick to put stasis cuffs on him.

Megatron, inpressed my this display, decides he wants to observe these new comers for a while.

Note: I really wanna emphasize the size difference between the TFP bots and the TFA bots. I mean TFP Optimus and TFA Megatron are roughly the same hieght. I mean TFA Bee gives TFP Arcee hieght.

And that's all for today, if you think I should actually write this please tell me. If you have any sugestions or ideas that's even better. Any way, thank you for reading, and have a dandy day/night.

[indigos-shits-and-giggles]

So, lately I've been thinking about what Fears would focus on the Stan twins, that being Stanford and Stanley Pines, if they ended up in the universe of the Magnus Archives. This really interests me because number one, my brainrot about the Gravity Falls / The Magnus Archives crossover AU has not ceased, and number two, it's just a really fun thought exercise. Well, I think I've come to a few conclusions that honestly kind of fit in my mind, that Grunkle Ford would be an avatar of the Spiral, marked by the Eye, and Grunkle Stan would be an avatar of the Stranger.

First, I think I should explain why Stanford's an avatar of the Spiral and not the eye. While I think him being an Eye avatar does also fit, I'm honestly not inclined to go for that because firstly, it'd overlap with Dipper being an avatar of the Eye, and secondly being an avatar of the Spiral fits in a much more intriguing way. See, during Stanford's time researching paranormal phenomena in Gravity Falls, he has been deceived, and deceived others. He's deceived by Bill Cipher, who he honestly thought was his friend, his muse, only to learn that Bill didn't have his best interests at heart, and he's deceived Fiddleford, lying to his friend about what the portal was going to do, and where he was getting all this information in the first place. I mean, obviously, "I'm friends with a yellow Dorito demon and that's why we're building the portal," isn't something you can tell just about anyone. So, Fiddleford is left mostly in the dark, until that fateful day where he ends up falling into the portal and glimpsing the horrors that lie on the other side.

Then, Fiddleford leaves, declaring the project to be far too dangerous, and all Stanford is left with is the firm belief that he can't trust anyone. He couldn't trust Bill, who nearly led him to destroying the world, and he couldn't trust Fiddleford, who abandoned him and the project they'd spent years working on together. However, he'd also inadvertently lied to Fiddleford in the process, both about how he'd gotten the idea for the portal, and why it was supposed to be built in the first place (though that was mostly Bill's fault). And that deception, those lies that had cursed the whole project to begin with, makes the exact kind of paranoia the Spiral would love to prey on.

Of course, we can't forget about good ol' Stanley Pines, who spent literal decades lying about his identity, living in Ford's house, using Ford's name, and even, to an extent, wearing Ford's face. You can probably see where I'm going with this, right? Yeah, Stan Pines is an avatar of the Stranger. 'Nuff said. After all, he's certainly had practice pretending to be someone he wasn't, so he'd fit right in with the Not-Them! Some might say he's... Not-Stan?

...yeah, that's was barely even a joke, let alone a good one. I'll see myself out.

BUT NOT BEFORE I WRITE A GOOD CONCLUSION TO THIS RAMBLE!!!

In the end, Stanley and Stanford Pines are both two sides of the same coin, similar to how the Fears that claim them bleed into each-other. After all, you can't truly separate the fear of being deceived from the fear of things that are almost the people you know, but not. Just like how you can never really separate the Stan Pines twins.

[dancing-to-architecture]

Wanna say that I've been busy, but really I've just been lazy. (That kingdom just has so many tears!)

Expect a few albums coming in hot.

19 - The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society

Initial thoughts: Okay, i know exactly 3 songs by The Kinks. Aaaaaaaand none of them are on this album. All new stuff.

Very cool cover art.

The Village Green Preservation Society-

I used to be MUCH harsher on things like this, but they're gonna catch a little flak for rhyming "society" with "society" and "variety" with "varieties".

Now, I'm not saying it's a sign of impropriety, nor is it a cause for notoriety, but in it's entirety, it reliably, justifiably gives me anxiety.

(Later edit: okay never mind, he just rhymed "vernacular" with "Dracula" and that's goddamn amazing)

All that said, i do want to join the Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium, and i really like what the song is saying: sometimes small towns/communities aren't wholly terrible, new things can absolutely live alongside older traditions, and there's no sense in going blisteringly fast directly into the New just because you can.

Do You Remember Walter?-

Oh man, the first 5 seconds got me hyped and then i remembered this isn't ELO, and ELO likely referenced (or stole) that piano/drum fill combo for Mr. Blue Sky.

So, literally *yesterday*, i could have sworn that i saw a guy that looked JUST like one of my close friends from high school walking into a Walmart in Florida. And it made me wonder for a few minutes about how that guy is doing and how "if you saw me now you wouldn't even know my name".

They put that exact feeling into a song.

People often change, but memories of people can remain. Damn, i hope people remember me kindly, at least.

...but knowing my past? Outlook not hopeful.

I was a real piece of shit before some really good times with very hard drugs showed me EXACTLY who i was (right before they annihilated my ego right in front of me and told me to go play 52-soul pickup).

Picture Book-

Okay i know this one from about a dozen movies and it commercials, usually involving scenes of the Glorious Past and How Much Better Things Used To Be, and that kind of manufactured nostalgia generally turns my stomach.

Also, given that nobody gets pictures processed anymore, this song actually hurts. There aren't any modern picture books unless you have a person in your life who's REALLY into scrapbooking or something.

All of our memories are all stored on two forms of objectively rapidly-decaying memory; one silicon, one electric jelly, and neither are as reliable or durable as processed film.

There will come a day when nobody has actual pictures of anybody because they've all been sitting on someone's phone... which just got factory reset.

A good song, I'm just in a funk about the future of it all.

Johnny Thunder-

Look, Johnny Thunder is clearly a bum and/or drifter and Helena could probably do better.

Last of the Steam-Powered Trains-

Some really solid bluesy guitar work, and who doesn't enjoy a well-placed harmonica?

Also, holy shit do i feel this song, knowing that a lot of my friends have relatively well-paying (air conditioned) computer-toucher jobs while i sweat in this machine shop.

C'est la vie.

I'm the last of the soot and scum brigade, and I guess I'll wear that badge with pride.

Big Sky-

This is an anthem for The Vast. (Magnus Archives fans will relate.)

Big Sky hears ya, Big Sky don't care.

Be like Big Sky.

Sitting by the Riverside-

The sonic equivalent of a beautiful day doing nothing at all, just chilling by the river and getting nicely wine-drunk with someone you love. This one's short but sweet.

Animal Farm-

Fun fact: this song has exactly fuck-all to do with the book of the same name.

Real B-side hours on this one, if I'm being honest. Not terrible, but nothing to really write home about, imo.

Village Green-

There are some aspects of small town life that i almost miss.

Not enough to write a song about it, but i guess that's the overall theme of the album.

I will never say that I'm upset that i left my hometown, to the extent that i feel like i even have one.

Starstruck-

Fitting right after Village Green to have a song about the crazy Big City and how dazzling and disorienting it can all be.

Not very fitting that this one's actually all about "yeah, girl, I'm the shit. Be dazzled by my glorious incandescence."

Phenomenal Cat-

I'm gonna be real: a bit of a waste of the intro lines here, because 'a long long time ago, in the land of idiot boys' is a GREAT opener.

Another "the world isn't what you want, what you want is a simple, peaceful life" song, continuing the theme.

Also, kinda feels like the cat just became a Buddhist?

All of My Friends Were There-

Sounds like one of the hardest parts of dealing with fame is "who is actually really a friend, and who just wants to ride my dick and try to sponge some spillover cash?"

Kinda glad I've never been wealthy enough to have to worry about that, tbh.

Wicked Annabella-

Slick drum intro, love the fuzzy guitars.

The lyrics are a goddamn Grimm fairy tale, though.

This guy's clearly not ready for a big titty goth gf...

Monica-

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Captain Save-a-ho! "No no she loves ME guys, you don't have what WE have."

People Take Pictures of Each Other-

Just reread everything i said about Picture Book again. Same thoughts.

All in all, not a bad album, but it doesn't really feel like The Kinks i know just yet.

Favorite Track: The Village Green Preservation Society. Yeah the first four rhymes are pretty weak but it's a great setup for the themes of the album overall, sets a nice tone of what to expect.

Least Favorite Track: honestly, it's Picture Book, because that song is irrevocably connected with commercials for Kodak or whoever.

[marlasomething]

(my) Mag a Day Special Feauture: The Gertrude Protocol

Hello there!

Here is the thing: I am participating in the "a mag a day" idea by @a-mag-a-day which is BRILLIANT and I decided to do "statement a week", rolling dice with the characters and fears that were ftw that week in the episodes I have listened. But, then, I thought...what if I made some special features for when each season finishes? AND THAT IS WHAT I DID INDEED. The format is similar:  roll dices for characters, main Fear, etc. But they are all going to be different interpretations of who Sam and Alice might be and how they "enter in contact" with TMA's universe.

For season one (when I am almost about to write season 2 -I AM SO SORRY-) I've gotten Gertrude Robinson and Sasha James as characteres to be featured and "The Slaughter" as "The Baddie".

As usual, please do forgive my quick tipper and non-native speaker mistakes, Marla

Allons-y!

CW: mentions of mental ilnesses, ED and family issues. Also, of grief, deception and death

Also on AO3!

Sam and Alice were ravenous. They had a free week for the very first time since for forever; just a few days all for themselves, to try to understand how they worked as a couple outside of the work environment and, more concretely, outside of the extremely creepy environment they had been forced to live in for the very last few months.

And, here, right in front of them, was a woman they knew for certain was death, six feet under, pushing daisies, taken by the scythe (choose your fighter).

Gertrude Robinson; only that she looked… younger was not the precise term. All the wrinkles and skin spots were still there, the greying hair and the thin body that was starting to shrink were just as in the pictures from more than two decades ago.

However, that was the very exact problem: she should have been older. It had been two decades, after all, and age had just barely started to make a show on her body.

Sam put themselves in front of their partner, who wanted to protest but, honest to God, she was so out of her element she thanked her much better trained (even if they were much smaller in size) to protect her from the…what was even this woman?

She recalled the weird small man they had encountered a few weeks before, the one that said he was very sorry, though he also added that maybe it would have happened whether he had died or not. It had been strange, especially because the other man that went with him looked a lot as someone that could be related to her (same hair, built, eyes and way of walking).

Was there another Blackwood line her father hadn’t talked to them about? She would have believed it. After all, fidelity wasn’t his father’s strength exactly.

She was pulled back to reality by the older woman’s word.

“Your partner is very brave, Alice, what a pity they were the one that took the calliope from me, he would have made a good acquisition to The Circus, and I reckon the Stokers would find them… rather interesting”.

That was more than enough for Alice, who dragged Sam up to her height with strength that came out of pure fear and love for the person. She stared fiercely at Robinson, who just started cackling.

“Once upon a time, I would have been as resolute as you, though I was more boring and efficient. I would have never been as foolish as to choose a special-someone over the safety of this pathetic World…” she couldn’t finish speaking, for someone from behind her just cut off her head with an axe that had some quite strange carvings all through it (including the blade itself).

She was a tall dark-skinned woman of wavy hair, green literally glowing eyes and cardigan over cardigan over cardigan. The newly arrived smiled at them and gave a look around, as people seemingly were not seeing unusual as, for example, the murder of an old woman right before their eyes.

“A weapon fuelled by The Stranger…who knows what on Bloody Earth they are seeing”. She turned to them and gave them a hand so shake. “Sasha James, The Archivist. You are the ones in charge of The Magnus Protocol, right?”

Both nodded, feeling about to throw up.

“Perfect! You ought to meet the gang; my patron is going to love you two” as she finished speaking, she stared at them for a bit too long, with an almost painful longing in her shining eyes.

She had lost someone really important for her. That was clear; reason enough for Alice to held Sam’s hand even tighter. Sam had been one of the very few people that hadn’t started looking at her with a bizarre expression when she explained she felt both comfortable with she/her and they/them pronouns, how with that slight change now everything fit better. Sam had been the one not to mock her for not having been in a relationship (not sentimental, nor sexual) before theirs, understanding it was not a lack of desire, but some much more complex conditionals around her life. Sam made her laugh and think, never got angry without a good reason and even forced themselves to learn about her ED just not to trigger her.

This Sasha person apparently knew how to fight the things that were now part of their existence, whether they like it or not. Better to follow her, perhaps her patron was as friendly-presenting as her.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

[bakedbananners]

Can we talk about his Alex literally was depicted as a villain for the beginning of the hammer of thor? Nobody had any reason to trust her and she made it kinda hard too. I do think if there was more time in the series this could have been super interesting, kinda like the reverse Luke story arc, but it was fascinating how Magnus who doesn’t trust anyone in the first book was like “no I trust her” completely. I wish it was more relevant to the book like maybe imbedded into a prophecy, but I still like this kind of detailed story developments

Villain is maybe a strong word for her imo. Not sure if I’d call her a foil either, but maybe a… morally questionable person? The point of Alex’s introduction is that she is ALWAYS more than she appears, and basically the moral is “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. She’s misgendered, she looks preppy and bright but is really moody and serious, she uses the Urnes snakes symbol, etc. Alex is considered a deviant by Asgardian standards as much as Samirah was, because they are judging her based on Loki. Hell, she even tells the Thanes to not refer to her in relation to her mother because she doesn’t even like him lol. Plus Magnus had also already befriended a child of Loki in Samirah, adding onto the whole “don’t judge people at first glance”. The audience, who read book 1 and saw how Samirah was treated due to her heritage, should catch on that it’s probably not really the case with Alex. (Maybe I’m biased bc I read it after the entire trilogy came out tho lol)

I’ve been thinking about this for a while but I do appreciate to some extent that Riordan writes Alex as having a pretty common type of trauma response by being physically destructive and flighty for a while. And the thing is that Magnus understands that. He even says he remembered doing the same things because he had a hard time adjusting. He recognizes her, sees HIMSELF in her, and because he had been given opportunities and showed extensive kindness by others, he’s passing it forward to Alex (granted that “kindness” does kinda dip into a problematic pushing of boundaries for a moment re at the campfire but alas). It’s a more “unpleasant” response to trauma that some victims/survivors go through, and I think it’s good to show that without demonizing it.

Hence I wouldn’t want her to be forced into a plot twist where she was somehow the villain the whole time or whatever, because it feels antithetical to her character to say “here’s a misfit who everyone thinks is bad, she gains everyone’s trust, and turns out she really IS bad ooooo”. HOWEVER, I think she’s a great narrative vehicle for change. Maybe I do want her to keep fucking shit up anarchically messing with the gods and giants like she did with Surt in 9ft9w. I think it would be a great way to hammer (pun not intended) home the point that the gods are shit and change comes from The People, and fate maybe can be toyed with sometimes, if not for Good then at least because it’s fun lol. It would be the only way I could accept her being a “villain” AKA opposing systemic unjust power structures and being demonized by said unjust power, in my opinion lol. I’m still rereading PJO rn so I think it would be a SIMILAR but not quite exact parallel to Luke’s story where he���s kinda doing the same thing in theory but in actuality is committing genuine atrocities instead and just generally being a piece of shit lmao.

TLDR I don’t think Alex is actually from a narrative standpoint conveyed to be a “villain” per se, but there’s literary layers to it because you’re 1) seeing things through an inherently biased 1st person narrator in Magnus 2) a lot of the characters with “moral authority” like the Thanes and Norse gods are kinda shitty and stupid anyways and 3) Alex as a character unfolds in layers. Like an onion lol. I do think it would be fun to make her a force of anarchic change and upheaval of the system which has shown to be unfair and unjust, but then Rick would have to be like an actual anarchist lol. Which he is not (AFAIK) 😢

[savrenim]

Wowww your Ao3 is high key fire 🙌 . Do you have any current fic plans, and what fandoms inspire your creativity?

Also- double WOWWW for your Seer Aaron Burr fic I went in knowing any character other than Hamilton and am now obsessed with James Madison of all people. why didn’t I pay attention in us history :0 If ya don’t mind me asking, how much effort went into writing these historical type fics?

Aaaah I'm very glad you enjoy my writing!

To answer the second question first, (a) yeah me too buddy me too, he wasn't meant to be a big character in the fic at all, and then round 2 happened and I had to go through and change my outline for everything because oops James Madison was now another main character, and (b) so. much. effort. I too paid enough attention in high school to get a 5 in APUSH and then promptly decided I was done with history, thank you very much, because I was going to be (am going to be still) a mathematician and physicist. So I had to research every. little. thing. from. scratch. through a variety of hodgepodge sources, be they books, original documents, wikipedia rabbit holes, I tried so hard to get everything that I wanted as a historical trivia detail right, which also just kind of.... creates this really weird setting that is part musical fanfiction and is meant to capture the vibes portrayed in the musical, and part is attempting to take every single other background detail from real history. I'm pretty sure that I managed to stick to "literally every character who appears by name was a real person", or if I do break that, I only break it once. But it also kind of meant that sometimes I learned facts after I'd written things without them included and had to stare at my prior work and go "well fuck, um, guess we're really in alternate history" (the biggest example being I got Burr's grandparents' deaths wrong time-wise because I just assumed re the lyrics of Wait For It that he'd be old enough to know them.) I tried to put a works cited document together once and I think it was at least 12 pages and only covered the first quarter of the fic before I gave up and stopped? so yeah, I'd say at least as much if not more research went into that fic than writing it just because I was starting from scratch, and that is one of the reasons that it somewhat ended up on hiatus-- the sheer amount of time it took to research before being able to write anything was just too much for me to handle with grad school life.

funnily enough, those research instincts have followed me everywhere else I've been trying to write. for my Magnus Archives fic, I put the exact same historical detail obsession into one thing in particular: making sure that none of my language was anachronistic, AKA, that any meme that I wanted to use existed in the actual timeline of when the show was set. you have no idea how much it hurt when I very specifically wanted a character to say "your vibes are rancid" but it was 2016. finally it got to the point where I couldn't give the line up so I gave [redacted] time traveling powers just so that it would not be anachronistic for someone to reference a meme from the future. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't written ifmlam I would have used "your vibes are rancid" as a line and wouldn't have cared or even realized that technically I shouldn't have but nooooo, I had to go write two novels' length worth of historical fanfic and suddenly now care about all of my fic set in the real world being ~historically accurate~

as for fic I'm writing, my current plans are to try to finish at least some of my unfinished fic and possibly publish a single one-shot for Hadestown that is. two full years late at this point and then maybe everyone's least favorite answer from someone who primarily writes fanfic, which is that I'm taking the time to concentrate on my original writing. on the other hand, I'm planning on self-publishing online for free same as I would on ao3 as this remains a side project hobby and not ~me trying to break into the publishing business~, I am now just effectively writing fanfic for fandoms that exist only in my head. a non-comprehensive list but of the biggest and most likely to be done soonest ones include:

Opus: aka trash novel (affectionate). I've been working on this book/series for... five years now? the first book, Saes Iminrin, is in the editing stage and probably going to be released in 2022? this series is my magnum opus. it's got everything. seers. political intrigue. everyone is a gay mess. did I mention seers? enemies to ride or die best friends slow burn. fun high fantasy magic. space opera style tech. (if it sticks to my outline in, like, ten books it'll actually properly become a space opera but let's not get ahead of ourselves.) seers engaging in spy-on-spy except seer-on-seer drama and also punching things. it's, like, ten ideas that all might be one actual good book on their own all brawling it out for supremacy which makes both a terrible book and a very, very fun book. I love this book so much. it is not good literature, it was written with the intention that at any given point the most amusing or satisfying thing or thing that would make me the happiest that could happen would happen. it will probably be the first of my original writing that I release into the world and I guess we'll see where it goes from there.

The Numanok Files: a series of stand alone ~20k novellas that I can release whenever I'm done with one that is about a bounty hunter who takes paranormal cases, except ghosts are real and you can fight them with electromagnetic brass knuckles, except most people don't believe that ghosts are real, except also, like, half the time you call in a ghost job and it's your space carbon monoxide detector being bad or solar flares or an alien fungus. so just a bunch of connected short stories about a ghost hunting bounty hunter who half the time deals with ghosts and half the time is acting as a home inspector for whatever space station or lunar colony she's been called to exorcise.

Strangeside7: also entitled 'spacerace'. I got tired of so many fiction works having end-of-the-world/galaxy/universe stakes and went "what if I wrote a book where there were no stakes. there's just this cool race in space that our secondary main character, Sasha, who is 13 and fears nothing, has decided to enter and win. not because she's ~desperate for money~ or ~desperate for fame~ or literally anything, her life is fine, she's just a 13-year-old being a chaos gremlin who wants to race because she (correctly) thinks that she's a great pilot and can and no one can stop her because that's what 13-year-olds are like. the main character, June, takes one look at this 13-year-old entering an Incredibly Dangerous Spacerace and goes "is no responsible adult going to??? stop this????" and realizes oh gods he's the responsible adult who now has to enter this race to try to make sure that the 13-year-old is fine. that's all. no other stakes." it has some of the coolest setting details that I've come up with (weird fae space wilds for one, but I also really like the outer reaches vs core worlds culture, and some of the takes on future tech).

Memoirs: you know The Enchanted Forest Chronicles? This is a series of four short stories of exactly that tone, except surrounding the Dread Necromancer Mordechai Malus who quasi-accidentally took over a kingdom when he politely asked the queen of the kingdom if she would like to marry him and they could be gay beards for each other to circumvent the prophecy that he would take over the kingdom and hence all of her other suiters being super warmongering and wanting to attack his tower when he really just wanted to be left alone to do mad necromancy science, except oops, that means he needs to run a kingdom now. and is solving all of his fantasy kingdom problems with weird necromancy solutions while his personal assistant (a holy paladin on a mission to Murder Him who was supposed to be undercover to get close to him what do you mean she's his actual PA now) just sighs long-sufferingly the whole time.

there are a couple more: Strangeside7 will almost certainly get a companion novel Operation Swansong; there is in my heart Invading Hell For The Pomegranates which is a weird heist crew incredibly self-indulgent bc starring basically one of my DnD characters book; then maybe a weird collection of short stories in second person that I haven't even named yet. there are some collab projects like a horror recipe blog also maybe in the works. But I want to get Opus out there, and then maybe something short and easy like Memoirs, and if it works out for me and people are willing to read my original fiction I will proceed with all of the ideas and half-drafts listed above and more, and if No One Reads It I will.... either not care and keep writing for myself, return to fandom writing, or end up with a new hobby, who knows.

what usually draws me to fandom and to want to write in a fandom is either I love a specific character, a specific character dynamic, or just the world overall/specific setting details/the vibes I guess? except at this point what I've started to do when I am in love with a thing that before I would have written fanfic for is that I isolate the specific vibe I love, transplant it into characters that are very different or settings that are very different, and then things will start to develop in their own way so removed from the fandom it would have been for that ideally someone won't even be able to ping that as inspiration but also I get my kick writing the emotion that I want to write. I've noticed when I write in fandom it tends to be either "I'm re-writing canon, but with this one particular twist that frames everything slightly differently" or "CHARACTERS HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THE CANON IS GOING TO BE AND ARE UNLEASHED TO CHANGE THE FUTURE, GO" which both require me to like the characters, their dynamic, the plot, and the world, because usually I'm writing for a fandom because I'm hyperfixated on it and that's one of the easiest ways to immerse myself fully. but, like, on my list above, there are flat-out at least three things that started out as me wanting to write fanfic in my head and if no one is ever able to clock them I will have succeeded as a writer. subscribe to my patreon I guess if you ever want to know the deep secret confessions of what is what.

[yellowocaballero]

Jon & Sasha Arson fic

Little fragment of an idea that never went anywhere. No reason for it. Just thought it would be funny. I was right. Rest under the cut. 

Most people who were unlucky enough to meet Jonathan Sims assumed he had no friends.

This was true, up to a point two weeks after Jon became a researcher at the Magnus Institute: afterwards Jon had no friends, except for Sasha James.

Sasha James was attributable to arson.

Most people who were unlucky enough to meet Jonathan Sims assumed he had no friends. 

This was true, up to a point two weeks after Jon became a researcher at the Magnus Institute: afterwards Jon had no friends, except for Sasha James. 

*******

Sasha James was attributable to arson.

Arson was attributable to a bookshelf of Leitners, humming strange songs and spewing toxic energy into the air in rhythmic hissing motions. The Leitners were attributable to Artifact Storage, a testament to mankind’s hubris and a modern-day tower of Babel where a group of underpaid academics found themselves stress testing kevlar and fire suppression systems each day. Artifact Storage was attributable to the Magnus Institute, where Jon had managed to land a job after three months of desolate post-graduate unemployment. And the Magnus Institute was attributable to - well, probably Jonah Magnus, but Jon found that it was likely a bit of a reach to blame a long dead Regency gentleman for all of his problems. 

Jon needed this job. London was expensive and so were funerals, and he couldn’t keep living on life insurance forever. It was even a good job, with decent pay and the exact kind of limp, half-hearted academia that the private sector promised disillusioned English mastery holders. His coworkers were nice - well, Tim was nice, everybody else seemed to hate him for the same reason that everybody else hated him, likely intimidated by how smart he was - and the commute was short. He couldn’t afford to lose this job. Spiritually, metaphysically, and literally. 

Which was why he should stop staring at this piece of paper. The follow-up research to a statement given by some idiot unlucky enough to cross paths with what was certainly a Leitner. 

‘ORIGINATION OF PHENOMENA ISOLATED’, the page read out professionally, yet chipperly, like a young woman in a new office job. ‘ITEM QUARANTINED WITHIN ARTIFACT STORAGE (46B.1)’. 

Hm. 

Jon pushed down on the floor, rolling himself a meter to the left.

“Say, er, Mr. Stoker.”

Tim “I’m only four years older than you, please call me Tim” Stoker, who had been thumping away on his cheap plastic keyboard either writing up a report or messaging someone on one of those infernal casual sex websites, pulled down his headphones and blinked at Jon owlishly, before splitting his face into a grin. Jon could practically hear the David Attenborough-style narration within his mind: ‘After long weeks leaving out food for the wild Simothan, the feral yet gentle animal approaches the researcher of his own volition. A win for scientists everywhere.’

“Yes, Jon?” Tim asked, in an uncanny yet hopefully unintentional RP drawl. 

“What’s Artifact Storage?”

“God, I wish I was you,” Tim said feelingly. But he nodded sagely anyway, milking his ‘wise senpai’ thing for all it was worth. Jon could practically feel Tim calling himself a senpai. It was kind of embarrassing. “You know the shady room locked deep within the basement that exudes a terrible aura of malice and hatred towards you specifically?”

“The gender neutral bathroom?” Jon asked, confused. 

“No, the one that always smells somewhat of blood. You hear screams sometimes?”

“The Archives!”

“Yes, but no! It’s Artifact Storage. If the researchers dig up any creepy shit from a statement, or if a statement giver brings in something that melts the metal detector, then we dump it in Artifact Storage and let those miserable fucks take care of it.”

“Is it more of a containment facility, or would you say that they conduct experiments?”

But Tim just shrugged. “My source down there tells me that they do some experiments to justify their budget, but it’s mostly unscientific. Poke this and I’ll give you twenty quid, that kind of thing. They say that if you really want a sick day, all you have to do is touch a mysterious rock and whisper your mother’s name -”

“Fantastic, thank you for your help, must go back to filling now,” Jon said quickly, skittering back to his own desk. He tried to distract himself from the terrifying thought of the basement full of supernatural nuclear bombs underneath his feet by trying to remember his mother’s name, but he was stuck on if it was Marjorie or Margaret. Mary Anne?

Maybe Tim’s personal Meerkat Manor series of Jon’s life had paid off - Sims Shack? - more than Jon would like, because Tim squinted at Jon in an unsettlingly familiar way. As if he knew exactly what Jon was thinking about the literature of mass destruction, and he really wanted Jon to be thinking literally anything else. 

“I wouldn’t go down there if I were you, Jon,” Tim warned, sounding a little like a horror movie trailer. “Bushy tailed college grads who go down there don’t come out the same as they went in.”

“I’ll take that under advisement, Mr. Stoker.”

“For the love of christ call me Tim!”

It really was a pity - Jon had actually liked this job. 

*******

It was remarkably easy to commit arson in central London.

Jon had done it once or twice. Three times, actually, although when you think about it arson was a criminal charge and only truly existed so long as someone was charged with it, so technically you could say that Jon had done arson zero times. In his defense, you try making it through Oxford without doing anything embarrassing. 90% of your time was in class or schoolwork and 10% of it was being hazed. At least Jon hadn’t fucked any pigs. 

Jon hit up the usual stores, and stashed the usual implements in his rucksack. It was a careful week after his conversation with Tim, as he couldn’t afford for the older man to connect the dots. He made a show of going home at a timely five pm, startling everybody around him, and paced in a tight circle around his flat until he gave up and watched mindless telly until the clock struck midnight. 

He took a cab to the park a few blocks down from the Institute, and walked the rest of the way. It was a cool, dim night in London, and the foot-traffic had slowed down to a steady trickle of young people in tight clothing. Jon pulled down his baseball cap on his head, fished a key out from his pocket given to him by a helpful and friendly janitor, and took a back entrance into the Institute. 

Said helpful and friendly janitor, whose allegiance had been won because Jon was a “nice young lad” and “I always wanted to burn down the place myself, I’m happy to see the next generation give it a go” had helpfully told Jon that there were no security cameras inside the Institute. A grievous oversight, but good luck for Jon tonight. He took the stairs down to the basement, zipping his jacket up tight against the inescapable chill, and pushed his hat further down his head as he navigated his way towards Artifact Storage.

He unlocked the door with the janitor’s key, hands shaking, and slipped inside into the dusky and unlit room. 

It was pitch-black, and Jon quickly fished a torch out of his backpack. He flipped it on, letting it slowly scan the room. It was the lobby into Artifact Storage, familiar from his stake-out missions: you walked in, met the bored woman behind the desk, checked in or checked out what you wanted, and if you needed to go inside she would press the button that unlocked the heavy climate-controlled door and let you into the hallway inside. The only other door in the lobby was to the office of the Director of Artifact Storage, a terrifying short and squat woman with silver hair pulled into a bun. 

Jon leaned over the counter and jammed the button, holding his breath until he heard the door click open. He quickly twisted the handle, swung the heavy door out, and slipped inside, taking care to grab one of the chairs in the lobby and prop it open. Quick escapes were necessary. 

He was in. 

The torch lit up a map taped up to the wall, and Jon squinted at it. Section A, Section B, Section C...he remembered the classification from the document he read a week ago, and slowly walked down the hallway until he found the heavy climate controlled door marked ‘SECTION B’. He carefully wrenched it open, taking care to grab a rolling cart and using it to prop the door open, before stepping inside. He fished the canister of gasoline and the lighter out of his backpack, giving the gasoline a good shake. 

It was a library. Small, and instead of shelves there were long metal racks with filing boxes stretching long into the darkness, but Jon knew a library when he saw one. Each box had a clipboard attached to it, and most boxes had very large and terrifying stickers on them painted sickly yellow or dangerous red. 

The only thing in the library that wasn’t a filing rack was a battered and beat couch. And the only person in the room besides Jon was a woman, blinking up at Jon blearily from where she had been passed out on the couch. 

“Er,” Jon said. 

The woman sat up, squinting at Jon’s torchlight until he guiltily aimed it just to her left. She had a wild mane of curly brown hair, and was wearing a pencil skirt and ruffled burgundy blouse. A blazer was folded at one end of the couch, clearly being used as a pillow, and she looked strongly as if Jon had just woken her up from a very nice nap. 

“Whuh,” the sleepy woman said. 

“My mistake,” Jon said, “this isn’t the loo. Go back to bed, this is - er, a very bad dream, goodnight.”

“Whutuhiseet,” the woman slurred. 

“It’s - very late, go back to bed.”

“Alright,” the woman said, falling back on the couch. After a second, her snores echoed through the room again. 

Jon very slowly crept backwards. Actually, on second thought, his mission could wait for tomorrow. Bit of a cock block, this, but that was alright - 

“Hey! Who are you!”

Jon, hand on the handle of the door, squeaked and turned around. 

The woman was back up again, and this time she seemed actually awake. She was frowning mightily at Jon, and was already sliding off the couch in stocking feet to glare at him. Jon was aware that he did not look like an innocent person in these events. The gasoline did not help.

The woman’s eyes trailed to the gasoline, then widened. Jon ineffectually tried to hide it behind his back. 

“You’re trying to burn down Artifact Storage!” the woman accused, somewhat fairly.

“Not all of Artifact Storage,” Jon said guiltily, “just the Leitners.”

The woman stared at him further, as if she was a special guest on Tim’s Sims Shack nature documentary. 

“Why,” the woman said slowly, “would you want to do that?”

Despite himself, Jon found himself puffing up in indignation. “They’re evil, nasty little books that shouldn’t exist. Forget studying and - and containing them, we should be making sure no more of them ever disgrace the world again. We should be burning every one we see. They’re pure evil given literary form, they are a disgrace to books and libraries, and if I ever met Leitner myself I would beat him to death with a rusty pipe for subjecting me to his fucked up books.”

The woman stared at him. 

Finally, she said, “I’m Sasha James. Want some help?”

“I - er, wouldn’t that get you in trouble, Ms. James?” 

“I like this job but I hate Leitner and his fucked up books more,” Sasha said gravely. 

Jon, having found a kindred spirit, held out the lighter. 

Sasha James took it, a wide grin splitting her face. 

*********

Jon didn’t remember much else of that night. 

There was definitely arson involved - or, seeing as they hadn’t gotten caught, just some good old-fashioned fire starting. He had the sense that they had both been so giddy with adrenaline that they had immediately joined the raging uni students in the late night bars, toasting their success in toasting. There had probably been quite a bit of alcohol.

When he woke up the next morning, it was in his narrow and uncomfortable bed, face to face with an unfamiliar snoring woman. For a second, two, Jon was briefly convinced that he had done something so drastically out of character it meant that a fucked up book had body swapped him with Tim. Bodyswapping was more likely than him having casual sex. 

Then Jon remembered the arson, and he exhaled in relief as his life made sense again. 

“Ms. James,” Jon whispered, poking her in the arm. She snuffled and muttered something. Jon poked her harder. “Ms. James, we have work.”

Sasha turned around, turning her back to him and pulling up the blankets. “Go back to bed, Tim.”

Ti - oh god. Jon felt like he was in a CW drama. This was why he didn’t interact with people, far too much likelihood that he would accidentally end up interacting with somebody who had sex.

“Ms. James,” Jon hissed, extremely embarrassed, “you have to get up!”

“Mergh mergh fuck off,” Sasha James said. 

Jon, like a true gentleman and hero, got up and made them both strong tea. He squinted at Sasha, recalling everything he knew about her (slept a lot, liked arson, hated Jurgen Leitner) before digging out some instant coffee and making some of that too. Finally, after shoving a hot cup of sludgey black liquid at the woman, she grabbed the cup and chugged it until she was able to sit up and open her eyes. 

She blinked at Jon, who was already picking his hair in an attempt to get ready for work. He could clearly see the thoughts ‘you aren’t Tim’ run through her brain. Hah! He could be the narrator of the nature documentary for once!

“Uh,” Sasha James said, “I’m sorry, did we…?”

“Commit arson? Yes.” Jon paused a beat. “But as I don’t believe we were caught, call it an indoor campfire.”

Sasha James drank more of her coffee. Jon grabbed his clothing and disappeared into the loo to get changed. 

When he re-entered his bedroom, she snapped her fingers at him. “Right! We got pissed after! Good times, mate!”

“I have to assume,” Jon said politely. He was doing his very best to be very polite, because Jon knew he was rude and didn’t want his new coworkers to know that until his probation period was over. Maybe he should have waited until after his probation period for the arson? Would it look bad on his annual review? “Do you need to borrow some clothing? I think we’re about the same size.” Oh, no, was that rude to say to a woman?

Sasha James squinted at him. “It’s like you’re not hungover at all. How old are you?”

“Twenty five?” Be polite, Jon! “And you’re...thirty seven?”

“I’m thirty one, asshole!”

Oh no. Women hated it when you called them old. “You don’t look a day over twenty seven!” Jon cried, panicked. 

“Have you met a woman?”

“I had a grandmother?”

“I’m going back to bed,” Sasha James said. 

Unfortunately, Jon knew that it would be very suspicious if they both skipped, so he forced Sasha into one of his suits that...looked much nicer on her than him, but whatever, and hustled them both to work. Now that the adrenaline had worn away and the sense of purpose in his holy mission had burned up with the cleansing flames, Jon found himself biting his nails in agony in the Underground. 

They had to know. Someone must have caught them. Maybe there were secret CCTVs in the Institute. Maybe Sasha was going to rat him out - but she had helped, so wouldn’t she just be ratting out herself? Was she a double agent? Mr. Bouchard was never going to forgive him, no matter how nice he was and how much he seemed to like Jon to the point where he rather wished someone had given him the ‘Stranger Danger’ speech as a child so he would know what to do. Jon was going to go to jail, or worse - get fired. 

Sasha, cooly sipping her coffee and looking somewhat fly in sunglasses and his suit, did not seem disturbed by any of this. Jon’s rapidly spiralling panic attack must have been obvious, because she casually flicked a finger on his forehead. Jon yelped with pain. 

“Take it easy, mate. If they catch us, I’ll just say that the books made us do it.”

Jon scowled at her, rubbing his smarting forehead. “The books?”

“Sure.” She waved her fingers spookily as the Underground rattled forward into the heart of London. “Brainwashed us to do their evil bidding of -”

“Destroying them?”

“There’s a lot of arson Leitners,” Sasha James said sagely. “Trust me, this is just a normal day in Artifact Storage.” She clapped him reassuringly on the shoulder, and Jon fought a blush. “Don’t worry. We performed a public service, kiddo. St. Peter’s gonna give us a medal when we get to the pearly gates.”

“I’m an adult,” Jon said, scandalized. He had gray hair!

“Well, I guess, but I don’t know your name, so…”

 Jon squinted at her. She squinted at him back. 

“You’re thinking that if you don’t give me your name I can’t rat you out to the feds,” Sasha said flatly. 

Jon pursed his lips. 

Finally, he settled on, “You don’t rat me out to the feds and I won’t tell them that you’re in an illicit relationship with Mr. Stoker.”

“Mr. - how did - what!”

“It’s Jonathan Sims,” Jon said gruffly, crossing his arms. He was slightly hungover and his nerve were jittery and he had set fire to his workplace the previous night, but somehow Jon thought that his heart was jackrabbiting in his chest for a different reason. Somehow Jon felt as if his heart couldn’t stop thumping behind his sternum because Sasha James was staring at him, head cocked, as if he was a mystery she was interested in finding out. “That’s my name.”

Sasha James stared at him, as if surprised, before her face broke into a wide and happy smile. Jon hunched his shoulders up, embarrassed, faintly aware he was blushing. “It’s nice to meet you, Jonathan!” Then she grabbed him by the collar, shaking him slightly. “And there is nothing illicit about me and Tim, and there is nothing between me and Tim at all, we are just friends, so get that out of your little head -”

The train rattled on towards the Magnus Institute, and towards the slight smell of smoke in the air. 

*******

Sasha: are you coming 2 the pub w/us 2nite?

Sasha: come onnn you should comeee don’t feel awkwardddd 

Sasha: I know you hate a) group settings b) drunk people c) Tim in a group d) drunk Tim and e) Tim drunk in a group but that’s no reason not to come!

Sasha: Tim is physiologically incapable of not adopting men 3-5 years younger than him it’s in his blood you can’t escape his affection

Sasha: or at least I find it funny so I’m not letting you

Sasha: Jonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Jon: Yes I’ll come, I need to talk to both of you.

Sasha: WAHOO

Sasha: wait

Sasha: really?

Sasha: did you commit ars*on again

Sasha: wait if you did don’t tell me the courts can request text transcripts

Jon: No, I just need your advice on an urgent matter.

Sasha: do you need to be drunk to do it

Jon: ...maybe.

Jon: ....Mr. Bouchard offered me the Head Archivist Job?

Jon: Which is stupid because I’ve worked here for barely four years and you’ve worked here for about ten years I think. And you’ve published five papers in parapsychological research. I know I helped you figure out that this place is a weird trauma mill but it was really mostly you. It’s completely ridiculous to promote me and I’m afraid it’s favoritism. For potentially heinous ends? This feels awful because it’s such an honor but I would never stop feeling stressed and guilty because I know so many more people (like you) are so much more qualified. Or qualified at all.

Sasha: holy shit

Sasha: ...do you remember the speech I gave you on stranger danger?

Jon: I’m afraid to mention this to Tim because he might beat up Mr. Bouchard for both my honor and yours.

Sasha: Jesus at this point I don’t even want a fucking job anymore. What bullshit. I’m never going to get promoted and I just need to accept that. This isn’t your fault, Jon, seriously, thank you for telling me. 

Sasha: we can talk about this at the pub

Sasha: in private. Off the radar. 

Jon: Looking forward to it :)

Jon: did I use the emoticon right?

Sasha: Yes, Jon, you did everything right. 

[aerialflight]

Fic Recs (cause it's always nice to give a shout out and get people into things I'm into rn)

[The Magnus Archives] (I recently finished the podcast and I fell into a hole for a while so here you go)

Sing a Song of Sixpence by Kaiel

Ship: Jon/Martin

In which Jonathan Sims is a Siren, and he fails to notice any new abilities granted to him by the position of Archivist. Or really anything about the Entities at all.

Takes place in season 1 featuring Jonah Magnus’s slow decent into madness

(The new mythology interwoven with tma's worldbuilding is so freaking good and I love how all the characters change and develop because of these changes. Also, f you Elias)

Along Came a Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Ship: implied Jon/Martin

Sasha James is the Archivist, as expected. Martin Blackwood is menaced by Jane Prentiss, as expected. Elias Bouchard weaves his web, as expected.

All goes as it should.

At least until something calling itself Jonathan Sims steps in.

(Web!Jon in this makes me want to weep, it's so freaking good. A pretty long, very excellent oneshot on what could've happened if Jon got taken by the web when he was a kid. And Sasha as the Archivist is ALWAYS so cool, we love her in this house.)

A Break in the Clouds by Ash_Rabbit

“I’m eight.” the kid sniffs as if eight was any different from four, maybe not an unspeakable horror then, just a regular horror. “And I heard that the Magnus Institute deals with-” his little nose scrunches, cute. “-spooky things.”

“Do you have a-” he cracks a grin, and then rethinks it as small hands tighten against their burden.”-spooky thing to deliver?” gods he hopes not, it’s bad enough when adults walk in and lay out all of their baggage, but for a child-

“There’s a spider in this book.” the kid says solemnly, raising his textbook sized parcel. “It ate Evan Pritchard.” a bloody fucking Leitner. Of course an eight year old would find a murder spider book. “This seemed like the best place to bring it.”

(I never thought about what the Original Elias could've been like AND NOW I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF THIS FIC. I LOVE HIM, HE'S COMPLEX AND HE CARES AND JON CARES AND THEY BOTH CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT, OMG. Also, Jon being even smaller than usual is adorable, so cute. No wonder Elias wants to hug him, a LOT.)

See the Line where the Sky meets the Sea by The_Floating_World

Ship: Jon/Martin, Jon/Oliver Banks

When Jon is a child he looks into the infinite abyss of space. The Vast looks back into him.

(One of my all time fave fics in this fandom, no questions asked. I have reread this three times and am open to doing it again, god. Vast!Jon, such a concept. It's written so beautifully and the relationships Jon develops, so good. ugh. My heart. Please please read.)

Sweet As Roses by Prim_the_Amazing

Ship: Jon/Martin

“Come in, Martin,” he says, not looking up from his notes.

“Hi, Jon,” he says, and Jon stops writing at the sound of his voice. “We’re out of the green tea, but we’ve got lemon?”

Jon looks at him. Martin smiles at him in his usual tentative way as he sets the mug of tea down on Jon’s desk. Heat spikes so sharply in his gut that he twitches with it.

“Thank you, Martin,” he says, mouth dry, and he stands up.

“Oh,” he says, sounding almost surprised. He smiles again. “No-- no problem-- um, what are you--”

Jon takes Martin by the shoulders, leans up on the tips of his toes, and kisses him.

(You have no idea how much I howled through this fic, my god. *buries face in hands* The number of times I wanted to cry from sheer hilarity and horror reading this good lord.)

Things Could Always Be Worse by theOestofOCs

Ship: Jon/Martin, Georgie/Melanie

Sometimes, the most horrifying thing of all is what might have been.

Somewhere, Jon could swear he heard a crowd laughing.

Or: in which Jonathan Sims is forced to swap places with his alternate self—a tall, chivalrous hero extraordinaire, who knows neither fear nor nuance—and is sent to the aggressively straight alternate universe the Magnus Archives was never meant to be.

“Whatever place this is,” Jon announced, “I just want to be sure it knows I hate it.”

(I will say this once, THIS IS THE MOST CURSED THING IVE EVER READ EVER. Like holy hell. I can't believe this thing exists. please read it oh please please please)

-

[Supernatural]

heard from your mother (she don't recognize you) by Schmuzz

Ship: Dean/Cas, Jessica/Sam

A man named Cas wakes up in 2003 with no memories, but he's able to piece together a few things:

1. Supernatural creatures exist, and most of them will hurt innocent civilians if he doesn't stop them; 2. He has abilities that no human hunter should have, but he knows enough about human hunters to keep that to himself, and finally; 3. He keeps running into another hunter named Dean Winchester, who seems to be about as lonely as he is if he's willing to put up with those former facts long enough to help Cas unravel the mystery of who (or what) he really is.

For his part, Dean's still (not) dealing with Sam's departure to Stanford, and figures distracting himself with a bit of mystery and intrigue is as harmless as it gets, right? Right.

(THE fic I'm most into right now, been following this from the very start and it's AMAZING. Cas has agency and is making friends and S1 Dean is growing out of John's influence and is becoming a Person and the both of them first being friends then more. The slow burn as their relationship develops, SO GOOD. SO SO DAMN GOOD. *screams* Seriously one of the best spn fics I've read in a long, long time.)

anamnesis by cenotaphy

Ships: Castiel/Dean, Sam/Eileen

Chuck is depowered, Jack is the new god, and the world is free. Dean and Sam get into the Impala and chase down the miles on an endless highway, and their story is finally, finally their own to follow. At least, that's what Dean tells himself. But the diners and motels and painted interstate lines are blurring together and the smallest details keep catching at his brain like tiny fishhooks and he can't quite shake the feeling that not everything is exactly as it should be.

* Fix-it/alternate series finale. Canon-compliant through the end of 15.19.

(THIS IS THE FIC THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE FINALE OKAY. WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN CANON. It's Disturbing and honestly plot-wise this makes more sense. Why couldn't we have had this. *screams*)

-

[Avatar: The Last Airbender]

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor

Ship: Sokka/Zuko

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them.

Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

(The fact one of the tags in this fic is, "Sibling Dynamic: Fucked Up But Wholesome" should give you an idea what this fic is like. Chaotic as HELL and I just love Azula here, she loves Zuko so much in her messed up way and Zuko loves her back in the exact same way lol. It's batshit and I am Here For This.)

-

[Naruto]

Eclipse by AislingRoisin (JayBird345) for HybrisAnaideia

Ship: Nara Shikaku/OFC

"In life, it's easier to remain stagnant and wallow in your troubles. But life isn't merely about continued existence, nor is it meant to be gone through alone."

(This is a fic that's slept on and I NEED people to read this. A self-insert fic that I find really interesting in its approach and the worldbuilding for the post-third war shinobi world is fantastic. I feel like there's a certain pattern with self-insert fics, not that is a detriment in any way to how much I enjoy them, so this fic feels fresh to me in a way I haven't read in a while. I am waiting eagerly for this to get updated! Please read!)

On Freedom and Other Formalities by iaso

Ship: Kakashi/Genma/OFC

When push comes to shove, Hiwa Inuzuka doesn't go down easy. Reborn into a new, dangerous world? She puts her past life as a spy to work. Thrown into a war? Hiwa does her duty, for Konoha. And when she's forced into an arranged marriage? All there is to do is beat them to the punch and get married first. Thankfully, Genma Shiranui is willing to lend a hand. Literally. SI/OC

(Listen, LISTEN, it's about the slow burn, the longing, the communication (it both has and hasn't and isn't THAT great??), the messy way you fit three very different people together, it's so freaking good! Also, Kakashi is so Chaotic here this is my fave characterization of him, you can't change my mind. And Genma is a Good Boi who is Doing His Best, along with the Self-insert character who I LOVE SO MUCH, SHE'S FANTASTIC FNEIWOPAF. Sped past this fic in the speed of light, I could not stop reading!)(Honestly, read all of the author's fics, they're all really REALLY good!)

Building a Castle by WhisperingDarkness

Without needing anyone to tell her, Sakura knew that talking to someone no-one else could see or hear would make her weird. It would draw the bad kind of attention to her, something people could make fun of her for.

She didn’t like being weird, but she did like the voice. Her inner voice was helpful and it was a part of her that had always been there. The idea of it not being there would have been so much weirder than anything else.

It was during her first year at the Academy that Sakura realised the voice was not in her head at all, but that it came from a cloudy shape floating next to her.

(Basically a short-ish retelling of Hikaru no Go. Only with more Shogi and Nara and Ninja's)

(Sakura can see ghosts (I'm noticing this is a popular trope for her) and it's really cute haha! Her relationship with Tobirama is sweet and I just enjoyed reading this so much.)

-

[The Magicians]

So Long (And Thanks For All The Books) by IncompleteSentanc (Erava)

Ships: Quentin/Eliot, James/Julia, Quentin/Margo/Eliot

When Quentin is told Julia wasn't admitted to Brakebills, he realizes he has a drastic decision in front of him. If he tells Julia about magic, he'll have his mind wiped as well as hers. But he can't just leave her behind, either. He can't lose his best friend, and he can't let her life a life with her magical potential stolen away from her.

So he makes a third choice.

(Really, and I mean REALLY well-done canon divergent fic, this is the Quentin & Julia friendship fic I have been looking for forever. It explores so much of what could've happened and I just love Quentin here, I really really do. Characterization done so right. I also recommend the author's other works too. Been a follower of them for a long time, they're great.)

-

[Game of Thrones]

The Road to Victory by writing_as_tracey

Too late in preparing for the Night King and the Long Night, the last stand at Winterfell is close to falling. Bran takes desperate measures to ensure victory, and Jon, Sansa, and Arya pay the price for it in a time unfamiliar to them, on the cusp of another war. [GoT, time-travel fix it]

(I swear, this fic made me laugh so many times, all the Stark are BAMF and fantastic, and Rhaegar gets Wrecked lol. It's crack btw, and the plot goes in directions you'll never guess and it's amazing hahaha!)

-

[Haikyuu!!] (I am very very late to the fandom but here I am)

Ballare (To Dance) by MidnightSparks

Ship: Iwaizumi Hajime/Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, and platonic Kageyama & Kentarou (really love their friendship)

Kageyama’s first love is volleyball. His second, however, is ballet.

In one world, Kageyama Tobio is left behind by his parents. In this world, the existence of soulbonds keeps Kageyama’s parents in Miyagi and leaves Kageyama in the care of his grandma and grandpa.

(In which soulmates exist and that changes everything and nothing at the same time.)

(*buries face in hands* I have fallen for this ship so hard and I can't get out fudge me. I understand now. Their DYNAMICS FIEWONPAF)

Kings of Tomorrow by bokubroya (liarielle)

Ship: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

On the eve of Tobio’s 16th birthday, he counts down the seconds to midnight, and emerges with Oikawa Tooru’s name on his wrist.

It’s been two years since then, and Tobio thought they had an understanding. A silent, never spoken about understanding that this thing between them is nothing, and they’re going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Of course, it’s just like Oikawa to change the game and leave Tobio wondering what comes next.

(I am WEAK for soulmate fics between these two, I don't even really like soulmate fics half the times what is WRONG WITH ME-)(Please suffer with me, I'm begging you. Its a good fic, thumbs up.)

-

[Crossover]

Honey and Magic by JustARatherVerySillyWriter, White_Squirrel for Super Carlin Brothers

Fandoms: Matilda (yeah you read that right), Harry Potter

Everyone knew Matilda was a rather extraordinary child, but even she didn't know she was a witch. Matilda Honey receives her Hogwarts letter in the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and soon, she will leave her unique mark on the magical world.

(Do I even need to explain how amazing it is to have Matilda in the wizarding world? And Matilda is a HUFFLEPUFF AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL THIS FIC IS GREAT PLEASE READ!!!)

An Eye for an Eye by DpsMercy

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Night Vale

In which Jonathan Sims is not from the UK but instead, if you took his origins and turned them sideways twice then flipped them over, he technically would be from the US, the town of Night Vale specifically. Elias can’t do shit about it and gets a headache and slowly creeping madness instead.

(Look, I know probably everyone has read this because if they haven't, what have you been DOING with your lives??? Jon interning at Night Vale is Incredible, nothing phases this man, it's Delightful. I laughed so many times reading this, I'm not even kidding right now. Read or perish.)

The Favour by R_Cookie

Fandoms: Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Ship: Original Percival Graves/Harry Potter

Percival is ten years old when his grandfather tries to tell him that he's ensured the greatness of the Graves legacy for him, that he ought to be eternally grateful - but the explanation is hijacked by a stranger who manages to intimidate Chester Graves with an ease never seen before.

or: Hadrian (Harry) Potter is the Master of Death, who grants Graves a boon. Nobody could have known that the Deathly Hallows didn't turn you so much into the 'Master of Death' as into the anthropomorphic personification of Death. And so, Death becomes Percival's guardian angel, and Percival does not spit out his cereal.

(Look, I don't know how I stumbled back into the FBAWTFT fandom either, it just happened and I'm grateful for that. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found this amazing fic. Their relationship is slow and strange and I just love how Percival is characterized here. Also, one of the tag promises that it deviates from canon so I am really, really excited for that! XD)

baby that's what i do by natanije

Fandoms: Naruto, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

"Are you telling me," Hidan exclaims, incredulous, "that you collect money all this time to give to orphans?!"

Kakuzu pauses. He blinks a few times.

"Huh. I guess I do."

(Tsuna reincarnates as Kakuzu and it's HILARIOUS. HE'S SUCH A MOM HAHAHA)

[magnus-the-maqnificent]

Congrats on 700 followers!!! 🥳🙃 for the drabbles could I have Malec + 22 (for situations) and 20 (for sentences)? 💜

I’m SO SORRY this took so long I had literally NO IDEA what to write 😭😭 (also this turned angsty and NOT the good kind, so, uh, proceed with caution ig) (takes place in COFA, the night after Malec return from their vacation)

———————————————

Jealous + “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“We need to talk,” Magnus said as soon as the door to the apartment fell shut.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Alec muttered mutinously, sitting on the couch and pulling off his boots. He paused when Magnus’s frame appeared in front of him, and looked up to see his boyfriend towering over him, glaring down through hardened amber eyes with his arms crossed.

Alec shoved his now removed boots aside and leaned back into the couch, crossing his own arms and looking up at Magnus. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about the part where you made a scene in the institute about my supposedly hundreds of exes,” Magnus said dryly.

“Well I still don’t know if they’re in the hundreds or the thousands, now do I?” Alec returned in the exact same tone.

Magnus turned his eyes up to the ceiling, muttering something under his breath before looking at Alec again. “What’s your problem?”

Alec turned his gaze away, a little taken aback at being asked such a direct question.

Magnus seemed to have taken note of his silence, because he sat down next to him on the couch and asked, again, “Is it because our vacation was cut short?”

Alec remained silent.

Magnus sighed. “If that’s the case, I’m sorry for ruining our vacation, again-“

“It’s not about the vacation, Magnus,” Alec nearly snapped, a note of exasperation slipping into his voice.

“Then what?” Magnus asked in a tone that was both mildly annoyed and pleading at the same time. “What is it?”

“It’s-“ Alec paused, the words freezing in his throat, and tried again while rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know, okay?! I just- I just hate that you’re always so secretive all the time! You could’ve at least mentioned, before we left for the institute, that Camille was your ex-girlfriend. Maybe I wouldn’t have looked like a jealous fool in front of everyone, then!”

“You looked like a fool?!” Magnus demanded. “Did you even see the looks your mother was shooting me?! If anything, I was the one who looked like a complete asshole of a boyfriend, Alec-“

Magnus abruptly shut his mouth with a snap, turning away. Alec hesitated a moment before looking directly at him, and found him staring at the ground with a frown etched into his face. Alec had never seen him so disrupted and uncomposed before.

Before Alec could say anything, however, Magnus spoke up once more.

“I think it’s better if we sleep on this, first,” he grumbled and stood up. “We can talk in the morning. Come on, we’re going to bed.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Alec snapped. “You said you wanted to talk about this, didn’t you? Well, we’re talking.”

Magnus looked at him, his jaw set. “Not like this. Look, I just don’t want either of us to say something we’ll regret.”

“Right,” Alec said dryly, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I completely forgot that you have two-hundred times the experience I do. So sorry I’m not the expert in this relationship.”

Magnus’s gaze slipped away, and he stared hard at the floor for a moment before adding, “And I think it’s better if we slept separately tonight.”

“What?!”

Alec goggled at him, wide eyed, but before he could say anything, Magnus disappeared into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. The living room was suddenly too intensely silent for Alec’s taste. He’d never felt so lost in this apartment before.

A few moments later, a blanket and pillow, along with one of Alec’s sweaters materialised on the couch next to him. Alec slumped into the cushions for a moment, staring at the items for what seemed like a long time, before begrudgingly removing his tuxedo and pulling the sweater on. He left the tux on one of the armchairs, and with one last longing look at the closed bedroom door, mixed with a sort of dread and sorrow cutting into his heart, lay down on the couch and threw the blanket over himself.

It was the most fitful, sleepless night that Alec had ever had.

And yet, when he woke up from the few hours of sleep he had managed to catch in the early hours of the morning, it was to the smell of sandalwood lingering in the air and Magnus’s arms wrapped around him.

[fiamac]

AO3 Tag Game

Tagged by the illustrious, incomparable @stillbeatingheart

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

An even 50 

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

230,499 — woo! go me!

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Uh... seven. Inception, Teen Wolf, Supernatural. The Old Guard, The Princess Bride (does this count if it’s a fusion?), The Cassandra Palmer series, and the Darkest Powers series (not on AO3)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All are from my Psycho Heroes series, unsurprisingly:

It’s Just A Twitch, And It’s Part of His Style

You So Impolitely Walked Into My Dreams

The Fall Makes You Break

The Wise Man Knows

Disarm You With a Smile

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably either You Can Close Your Eyes (But That’s Not Gonna Take Away the View) or My Heroes All Became Psychotics. Both deal with the same breakup but from different POVs.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

They all end happy—eventually, sort of—but I’d say As You Wish, my Teen Wolf/Princess Bride fusion fic since that one’s, like, an actual storybook happily-ever-after ending. The happy couple rides off into the sunset and sails away to a paradise of their own making. What could be better?

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I love crossovers! I’ve only finished two, but I have so many crossover WIPs. So. Many. The craziest one is a self-indulgent crack fic tentatively titled Moody, Dark, and Handsome, which has Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters making a drunken magic oopsie and transporting characters from That Awkward Magic, Teen Wolf, Inception, Check Please!, and Supernatural into his world. There’s just so many beautiful, dark-haired grumpy-gusses out there, after all, and it’s hard for a warlock’s inebriated mind to pinpoint the exact one he’s looking for.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

You bet your patootie, I do. Mostly I write plotty smut, or smut’n’feels, because I have a hard time with keeping plot out of my fics. So far, all my smut is in the Inception fandom. Two of my best smutty works are Lust in Translation and The Tightest Fit, if you realllllly wanna know what I write.

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I always intend to respond to all comments and actually respond to maybe 80–90% of them. Me not responding is usually due to Life Woes or having literally no idea what to say back. (It’s not you, it’s me.) I enjoy responding to comments because I like it when other writers respond to mine, I desperately want to talk about my fics, it makes me feel connected to the fandom, and it helps keep my readers engaged with my stories—which is handy when you put out an ongoing saga that’s been taking years and years to write.

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Happy to say, I haven’t. Sometimes I get “concrit” and shit (pro tip, folks: unsolicited criticism is never constructive). And one memorable instance, a reader was completely hating on the events within my story but, like... as if I were a sympathetic ear? Despite the fact that I obviously wrote the very thing they were upset about...? It was very weird.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, though I check periodically. ::narrow-eyed stare:: 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Some people have asked permission, but nothing yet. On that note, I give blanket permission for any transformative works of my transformative works. Or even my original works. Go nuts. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

::nervous foot shuffle:: Uh... there was this plan? But, uh, no, not yet. @iamanonniemouse look away!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Playing favorites!? I could never! Or, fine okay. It’s probably Sterek. With most ships, I love one of the characters more than the other(s). But I adore Stiles and Derek equally, second only to how much I love them together.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t ever think you will?

My first-ever fic, Awakened, for the Darkest Powers YA series (the Dereks, again! I have such a type). It lives on ffnet, and I’m very proud of the some of the writing in it and have the rest of the story mapped out for the most part. But it’s just never gonna happen.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Consistency, maybe? I like to think I’m good at avoiding plot holes, loose threads, and OOC-ness. Oh, and I’ve been surprisingly successful at combining crack-worthy humor, violent angst, tasty smut, and schmoopy feels all in the same fic. That’s definitely a superpower.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Big chunks of exposition acting like giant speed bumps, slowing things down. And I definitely struggle to keep stories contained within manageable, achievable goals. Everything turns into a a series of multichaptered WIPs up the wazoo. 

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Darkest Powers, a YA book series by Kelley Armstrong

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

It’s either Cock Handling or As You Wish. Both of these were ridiculously fun to create and gave me that “yes, I am a writer” rush.

I’m going to tag @vex-verlain, @little-specificity, and @slashmania but and anyone else who wants to play. No pressure, of course!

[queenlilith43]

Why Malec Works Together-and SnowBaz Doesn't

Hello, everyone. Yes, I know this is technically my hiatus, but writing essays is a thing I do often so I wrote this thing.

If you've been paying attention to my Goodreads, I recently read Carry On. And I had THOUGHTS on that book. I actually ended up eating it two stars because the world building convinced me to read the second book.

Then I DNFed it at 44 pages.

So in this essay I will compare Simon and Baz's relationship to a better queer relationship-Magnus and Alec. Be prepared for some hot takes.

The first problem I see with Carry On (just in the whole) is when we first get Baz's POV. And the first thing we learn is that he is GAY. Like, hopelessly pining for Simon gay. And it for me it felt . . . Unnecessary.

It was like I'd been smacked with the sudden realization he was gay. And it didn't feel right at all.

Compared to when I found out Alec was gay in City of Bones. I was like, "okay." It worked.

Even though both Alec and Baz are both loners, Alec was at least shown as gay before that. Clary picked up on the way he was looking at Jace at least fifty pages before Izzy confirmed it.

It was the exact same with Simon suddenly being attracted to guys. Baz kisses him, and he's like, "I must be gay! But I'm straight!" Completely skips over bisexuals being a thing, which reeks of biphobia. (I'm also bi, so thanks, Rainbow Rowell, for erasing my identity.)

Compared to Magnus, whose bisexuality is not a surprise and works perfectly with him. Magnus is one of the best bisexuals in books I've read because he does care what people think of him. He acts and then thinks later. Hey, at least Magnus isn't some kind of rip-off Chosen Harry Potter.

Another issue I have is that Simon and Baz HAVE NO CHEMISTRY. Like, yes, Baz had a crush on him. But so did Alec for Jace and those two were never going to end up together even if Jace wasn't his parabatai and also queer. (Although Alone though Simon and Jace were dating; Jace could totally be bi or something.)

Baz just kissed Simon, and all of a sudden, Simon just loves him. Despite the fact Baz has been kind of a dick towards him for the entire time. Not the worst person, but the annoying roommate who REFUSES to pick up their socks. (Not exactly canon but he gives off those vibes.)

Somehow the rest of the book (which is less than 200 pages because the last 100 were hopeless gay pining and before that 200 pages of STRAIGHT) manages to drill this horrible no-chemistry relationship into you. It shows how bad their chemistry is.

Basically Simon is left alone to solve his problems, which he technically caused. So the other antagonist dies and Simon gets a devil tail and some wings. He looks like a rip-off blue Lucifer. I'm not even joking.

I don't even think Baz helped whatsoever. He just vibes with Simon's other friends, who didn't even help either.

Whereas we have Magnus and Alec where Magnus had to show up and help the Shadowhunters simply because he was dating Alec. Magnus, for no other reason than Alec, helped. And he actually did things, like doing some magic with Valentine's ship, fighting against Valentine's demons in City of Glass, and even going as far to SUMMON AZAZEL. That's pretty serious.

Even if Alec isn't technically the Chosen One, he's still chosen in the sense of being chosen to fight demons. The Shadowhunters are the warriors, who have to right against the demons. They were literally CHOSEN BY THE ANGEL RAZIEL. That's close enough for me.

Also, when Alec and Magnus fought together (Alliance rune in both CoG and TLBOW, the Battle of the Burren in CoLS, most of TRSM.) their relationship got better. It was amazing to see them grow closer together while defeating their enemies. It's the best.

If Baz doesn't help his boyfriend at all out of pure spite, it just DOES NOT WORK.

And then the last scene with Baz and Simon was kinda thrown together. They were trying not be gay while being gay. And it's not even like they really had that much homophobia. It's hinted at Baz's dad wouldn't approve of him dating a boy, and he would have to marry a girl.

But it's not like how Alec believed he could never be himself because the Shadowhunters frowned on if. In GOTSM, we did see how Alec felt oppressed by his dad when he was younger. And in the TV show he almost married Lydia before Magnus crashed his wedding, so there was some obvious homophobia.

Also, the homophobia for the Shadowhunters was more likely because of the bag of dicks known as the Cohort. It was obvious. Carry On had one person who disapproved and technically Baz could move out so it didn't matter.

And then we have the mess that is Wayward Son. I have read 44 pages of it, then gave up. Why? Because there is no plot to speak of.

Wayward Son and the Red Scrolls of Magic have similar premises: The world has been saved, now the relationship must be developed.

But Wayward Son doesn't have a demon-worshipping cult (which could happen because of Blue Lucifer over there). It instead has Simon adjusting to being normal.

But unlike the mundane Magnus from Season 3B of the TV show, nothing happened. It was just a stupid vacation that had no development over forty pages. I would forgive it if it was longer, but it's 356 pages, about the length of The Red Scrolls of Magic.

TRSM had plot when you started. We had Magnus and Alec in Paris, introducing their relationship at this time, and there was a little conflict involving demons. This was in the first twenty pages.

In the next twenty pages, another plot in the book was established: Magnus and Alec trying to take the next step. Which leads a huge part of the book, and a hilarious subplot.

After Magnus and Alec are interrupted by Tessa (who was calmly sitting on a chair), the main plot is introduced. Also known as Magnus's demon-worshipping cult, the Crimson Hand. There was plot here, all the way from the inciting incident of the Iblis demons to Tessa telling Magnus his cult is causing problems.

Wayward Son has no plot. They just randomly go on this vacation, and no magic plot happens. It's just a vacation on a fantasy backdrop. Which is so boring.

You could argue that the plot is Simon adjusting to being normal, but I throw in the evidence that is Magnus in most of season 3B of Shadowhunters.

First, some background.

Back in season 3A, Magnus gave up his magic to Asmodeus to help Jace. (Mainly because he wanted Alec to feel better but that's a discussion for another time.) They left to Magnus being a mundane for most of season 3B until Alec tried to get Magnus his magic back. (Another plot, but let me focus on the mundane part of this plot which was in episodes 11-13, and 17)

Magnus, who has used magic for his entire life, doesn't feel right. But he still tries to live his normal life. Which ends up with him facing off against another warlock and getting kidnapped. Good job, Magnus. You really fucked up.

You can see the way Magnus tries to adjust to being the person he is now, just a mundane. He's trying to be the same person he was before, just without his magic.

Even with it being a TV show and we can't see what Magnus is thinking, it's clear Magnus is hurting. He turns to alcohol, and is so sad and lonely. Alec offers him unconditional love (he even was going to propose to him!) but it just isn't enough.

In the end, Magnus gets magic back, and loses Alec. However, because Maryse has a brain and knew her son screwed up, managed to have Magnus connect the dots, yeet Asmodeus into Limbo, and ends up proposing to Alec. I was a mess by the end of the whole situation.

I've seen none of this in Wayward Son. Simon may show it in a different way but it's just . . . Not effective. He mopes around and his relationship with Baz doesn't matter.

So that is the exact opposite of Malec, where Alec clung onto Magnus and loved him enough to try and get him to stay. Baz wasn't doing anything. In fact, they were going to break up.

You know what, Wayward Son sounds like if CoLS Malec went on a trip. But I guess the time away from Camille would do Alec good, and they'd come back stronger than a 90's trend. Whereas Simon and Baz are hanging on by a loose thread and ate going to crash and burn soon.

I could continue ranting, but this is the best I can do. I know this might be me bashing on your favorite book, it just makes no sense to me.

[tenglows]

in the name of the old days

summary: it’s the last day of the year and you’re feeling nostalgic. you come across the twitter of the boy who used to be your best friend a few years ago, and decide to message him.

category: fluff, a bit of angst? maybe??, internet friend!mark

it was currently december 31, at half past one am, and you were scrolling on twitter

some chuckles here and there while reading your friend’s posts about timothee chalamet

you were about to close the app to go brush your teeth and prepare for bed

when your eyes wandered off and focused on another tweet

“almost 2020 and still no flying cars” read the tweet

from @/markly_

this made you sit straight in your mattress

you clicked on his profile

you two still followed each other

there weren’t a lot of recents tweets, so that’s why you figured you hadn’t come across the boy’s twitter sooner

plus; lately you weren’t the type to be so active on social media either

you mentally counted the years since you first met mark lee

it was 2019 (almost 2020) now and you guys had met in 2015

you had gotten involved in a drama with a one direction stan, you being part of 5sos stan twitter

and mark, little mix stan, had defended you

it was in the middle of the zayn and perrie scandal, so he assured both of your teams had to stick together to defeat one direction’s fans

you became mutuals after that

and you soon realized that mark had the tendency to initiate lots of twitter fights

often with the people that would bash perrie and her group

your friendship rose as the two of you took turns defending the other one on those enfrentations

you don’t know how but all of the sudden there was no day you wouldn’t talk to mark

you were both 16 at the time, you being older just by a few months

you guys would talk about everything and anything

and basically grew up together

you were there for him when school got hard and future scared him

he was there for you when you faced a pretty bad relationship

and you honestly considered him your best friend

sleepless nights with him on facetime were one of the things you looked forward to the most

hearing him talk about his day

him showing you a new song he learned on the guitar, or him playing some melodies and lyrics he composed himself every now and then

watching the same movie or show at the same time on your respective screens

struggling to press play together to match the exact second

“i totally knew he was gonna die”

“shut up you’re way ahead!!!!”

you had other friends at school, too

but mark was just mark

and you two had such a loving bond, you were so close you took him with you to everywhere you went

you just wished you had him closer

at least you were both from canada

him being from vancouver and you from quebec

you had made lots of plans about meeting in real life, and you genuinely believed they would come about

but it is true that time passes and people drift apart

you were about to begin college and made new friends

mark moved out to toronto

and gradually, the responses took longer

and the calls had kinda been left aside

until one of you just stopped replying

you honestly don’t remember who it was

but there isn’t really a reason, either

you just parted ways

and it’s fine, it’s human and natural and normal

but now looking at his profile picture: a polaroid of him hugging another boy

you felt as if a bucket of cold and frostbound nostalgia had been dumped over your head

you recognized his moles, and how he had the same smile

his header picture was a guitar

and it wasn’t the same he used to have, but something about him still liking music made you feel warm

it’s always astonishing to see how the life of a person who is no longer in yours just,,,

goes on

and you aren’t aware of a thing about their existence

or even think about them

so it’s almost as they don’t exist

but now you know mark still exists

and it’s so weird to think about how your lives had been so overlapped, so united

and now you didn’t know anything about him

the mix of reminiscence about this and the year ending

resulted in your impulsive fingers pressing the envelope icon in mark’s profile

you stayed like that for a few minutes, writing and deleting messages. the sentences you thought about never feeling enough

you sighed as you told yourself this would be the last attempt

“hi mark, i’m not sure if you remember me but i saw you on my tl and it made me want to check on you! maybe this message will disappear into thin air but i just wanted to try. i hope you’re doing well <3”

you stared at the blue bubble of text almost without blinking for a moment

maybe he didn’t want to talk to you, and it was okay. you stopped talking in 2017, almost three years had passed

you thought looking at yourself in the mirror while you brushed your teeth

you came back to your room and turned off your lights, ready to go to sleep

but when you grabbed your phone with the intention to charge it, you saw you had a twitter notification

“y/n! how could i forget about you? haha it’s been so long two years without talking. how are you? how’s life? tell me something”

an instant smile started growing upon your face

the way he texted was the same as before

and you missed his haha

two and a half hours into the night you felt as if you were stuck in 2015 all over again

you had always had this fluidity at the time of talking with mark

the conversation just,, bloomed

he told you he still lived in new york, but he was actually gonna move back to toronto in a couple of months

he was majoring in music and owned a soundcloud rap account, and he had gotten quite popular as well

you mentioned how you had changed majors

what started as you being a marketing management major ended up on you leaning towards philosophy

something that no one had seen coming

so you expected the same reaction from mark

“i can totally see it, you always liked to think and question everything a little too much”

and that comment made you feel thrilled in your stomach, to say the least

even after all these years

mark was probably the person who knew you the most

days passed

weeks, even

and what you thought was just a conversation remembering the old days and filling the other in on your life

just,,, never stopped

mark and you went back to talking every day

everything felt the same as it did before

because after all, it was the same mark. it was always mark

still, the day you had agreed on facetiming for the first time again you felt kinda nervous

what if you ran out of what to talk about? what if it was suddenly weird?

and when you picked up the call and found yourself face to face with a flustered mark you knew he felt the same

you both hesitated as to who would speak first

him being the one to break the ice

“hey y/n” he giggled

“wow, your voice has gotten deeper”

he laughed loudly at your honesty, making you laugh back

“your hair is shorter”

“i know right? it was so long, i just got fed up of it reaching my waist”

“i like it, it looks pretty” he paused “you look pretty”

and in that moment you wondered how your heart could be beating this hard at a blurry screen with poor connection

comments like that kept making an appearance as time went by, sometimes from mark and eventually from your part

and that was the only thing that differed from the relationship you used to have with the one you had now

was it flirting? you didn’t know

but you had never thought of mark the way you think about him now

“so? what do you think?”

you set the phone on your desk as you walked away and showed mark your white dress. you were on your way to a costume party one of your friend’s brother was throwing, and even though it was cliché, you couldn’t be bothered to think of a more ingenious costume than a traditional angel

mark took his time fixing his gaze on you, his eyes getting closer to concentrate on what the vague wifi let him

“i can’t recognize the costume”

“what do you mean? i’m literally wearing wings and a halo”

“could it be because you always look like an angel?”

“ayee mark that was cheesy”

“i know, i’m sorry” you both laughed

“but really, you look amazing. go and have fun babe”

then pet names came into play

you weren’t sure what you were doing, but flirting with mark was sweet and fun and innocent

you always found yourself wanting for more

you were yearning for mark, you wanted to see him, listen to him, touch him

and you didn’t know what to do with yourself

until one day he called you out of the blue, which startled you, since he always asked before calling

“hey! were you busy?”

“no no i’m just doing the dishes, what’s up?”

“okay, so you know how i’m moving to toronto in two weeks, right?” you nodded “well, i just managed to change my flight so i would go to quebec for some days before properly settling in toronto, you know since it’s not that far”

“you’re kidding”

“i’m going to visit you!!!!!!!”

he squealed in your ear and you squealed back, scaring your poor cat who was sleeping soundly

after some more yelling, the excitement died out a bit and you stayed in silence for just a few seconds

“i don’t really have a place to stay though” he snorted, embarrassed

“you can always stay with me, mark”

after some long and never-ending hours and days (you had seriously convinced yourself some wrinkles had appeared on your forehead from all the waiting)

it was finally the day you would see mark

it was currently 11 am, mark’s flight was at 1 pm and he would arrive at quebec at approximately a bit less than 3 pm

now, he was at new york’s airport taking care of all the travelling procedures

and you were cleaning up the same spots in your aparment for the fourth time in a row

to say you were nervous was an understanding

you felt like you were going insane

you barely had gotten any sleep the night before, not being able to defeat the crowding thoughts about finally meeting your long-time friend

(who now you wanted to be more than a friend and seeing him physically could totally help with that)

you arranged some lunch for you and your cat (magnus) and sat in front of the tv, wanting to find literally anything that would keep your mind occupied

luckily, it worked, and you let yourself lose track of time

until your phone beeped, indicating you had received a text

“i’m boarding now!! i’ll text you when i get there, can’t wait to see you”

“have a safe flight love”

you sighed dramatically and rested your arm against your forehead

magnus stared at you in confusion and boredom

“magnus, i think i’m going to die”

as promised, mark texted you as soon as the plane landed

you offered to go pick him up at the airport, but he denied, saying he had already scheduled a taxi

so now you were ready and dressed, going all over your apartment non stop

mark was texting you through all the taxi drive and updating you on his location, you growing more and more anxious as you knew he was getting closer

you went to the bathroom and as soon as you stepped out, a knock was heard on your door

it was soft and steady, and you opened your eyes widely when the realization of who the owner of the hand was hit you

you panicked, one last time

you even eyed your room window to check if you had any chance of jumping out and running away

but you took a deep breath and walked decidedly towards your door

you just had to remind yourself it was the same mark as always, and nothing could go wrong if there was him

thus, you opened the door

and the facetime pixels and instagram pictures could have never prepared you for how dreamy mark looked

you two stayed like that for a bit

just watching the other with shy eyes and smiles

you eventually snapped out of your trance and helped mark get his luggage inside

"it's a bit small but i hope you can make yourself comfortable"

"oh please it's perfect, don't worry" he gave you a reassuring smile before getting totally distracted by the fluffy ball of hair in your couch

"oh my god is that magnus!!!!"

after letting mark get comfortable and installed, you guys decided to take a walk and go over your apartment zone, showing mark all your favorite places and memories you had there

it was a bit cold and you were both tightened around your coats

eventually, it was getting late and more chilly

so you opted for going back to your place

as you walked there in a bit of silence, you could feel mark's body getting more close in proximity

you looked at him, his gaze fixed upon the path with a small grin on his lips

you got closer too

and you liked it

it was cold outside but when mark brushed against your body

canada has never felt more like summer

you guys were really close now

as you took step after step, your jackets made static sounds, rubbing against the other

you looked at mark and delicately touched one of his fingers with your pinky, as if asking for permission

he finally looked up from the way and focused on your eyes instead, breaking into a smile once again

he took a peek at your close hands and softly intertwined your fingers

both of your faces reddening, from the low temperature and the feelings that were growing in your stomach

when you got to your apartment you guys were still holding hands, but you realized you had to open the door with that one, and couldn't find the keys in your pocket

"y/n, you will have to let go of my hand to get the keys"

"that's the point. i don't want to"

"y/n, i'm freezing. please open the door i can still hold your hand when we're inside"

and yeah,,

he did

you changed into comfortable and warm clothes and prepared some hot chocolate while mark chose a movie in your laptop

when you entered the room, two mugs in hand

mark was lying on his stomach on your bed, his hand on his chin with his mouth a bit open while concentrating on the variation of movies netflix offered

you felt a shiver down your spine

he really was here

after taking a while to decide on a movie, or at least its genre, you just selected a random title

you turned off the lights and went back to your bed, getting under the covers

and you just felt warm

and whole

maybe more because of mark than the actual sheets that were meant to keep you heated

(he also held your hand the entire time, rubbing his thumb against your palm and drawing invisible figures on it)

your head rested on his shoulder and you went up as the same time his chest did with every breath he took

in some moment you stopped paying attention to the movie

your mind wandered off to thoughts about the boy, about how you have never felt this close to him. you felt like you were really inside his ribcage

still from his shoulder, you moved a bit so you could look at him

his face was glowing

yeah, the images and lights of the computer were reflecting on him

but you meant this boy glowed in the dark

he just had something in him

it was either rays of sunshine or neon paint

but he, in this frosty and amusing night within your bedroom walls, glowed on his own

he turned his gaze towards you too, and tightened the grip on your hand

you felt mark’s arm on your waist and he rearranged the position so you would be on his chest

hearing his heartbeat, it was music

mark always did music. and he himself was music too, his heart creating your new favorite beat

“markie”

“hm?”

“i’m falling asleep” you confessed with a drowsy voice, making him laugh

“let’s turn off the movie, shall we? we can continue it tomorrow”

he shut the laptop closed and placed it on your desk, quickly making his way back to the bed so he would hold you

you had prepared him another bed next to you, a mattress already covered

but he was showing no intentions of moving a muscle

“are you going to sleep here?”

“that was the plan, yeah” he giggled on your neck. you shuddered

“i made the bed just in case”

“i can go there if you prefer”

“no” pause “i want you here”

and he smiled proudly as he hid his face in the crook of your neck

you smelled nice, like coconut and vainilla and all his sweetest dreams combined

and with his arms around your waist he felt strong, like he could defeat anything that the world aimed at him

“do you think it was meant to be that we’re here after all this years? would you consider it destiny?” he thought out loud, gazing at you

“i can’t give you an answer right now”

“fine, philosophy major” he mocked, making you both laugh

“as a philosophy major, i don’t know. destiny is always a tricky thing to discuss”

“but as y/n, yeah, i believe it was meant to be”

he stared at you in awe

“i really want to kiss you right now”

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #4- Man, Talk About Timely, Huh? It’s Time for the Plague Storyline!

Issue #4 opens up with First Aid writing in his diary about the less-than-stellar working conditions at Delphi medical center, and it’s not because Ambulon caught him reading Wreckers fanfic during office hours for the eighth time this week.

So, here’s the thing: you can’t be demoted from doctor to nurse. That’s not how that goes, because doctors and nurses aren’t on the same career path ladder. A doctor can have certain accesses and privileges taken away if their performance slips, or can be moved to a different ward or transferred to another facility, but outright demotion to nurse status isn’t a THING. If anything, First Aid would be performing nurse duties to cover for the fact that Delphi seems to have a grand total of three staff members for the entire outpost. Hell, they’ve had to outsource their mental health checkups to a guy who was in orbit over Cybertron until a couple months ago.

But anyway, something’s up at Delphi, and it all started when they let a couple of Decepticon surrendering combatants inside. These two dudes were running from the Decepticon Justice Division, a group who basically super-murder any Decepticon who’s decided to do a runner from the Cause. The DJD’s base of operations is in the same general area as Delphi, which seems like maybe not the best idea for the Autobots when it came to outpost placement, but it seems to be working out pretty well for the surrendering combatants.

Pharma shows up, and is ready to throw them back outside- he’s the big boss, so he can make that kind of call- but after a little detective works they figure out that the two don’t have their t-cogs anymore, having had them removed for religious purposes. Ambulon sees them as the exact opposite of a threat because of this, not to mention him having a soft spot for surrendering ‘Cons, and manages to convince Pharma to let them stay, and also not violate the Autobot Code, Article 7, which states that all surrendering combatants must be granted safe haven. Ultra Magnus would be proud.

They lock up the Decepticons, slate them for a patch up, then things get complicated as it turns out, they’ve got a branched spark. The last time we saw a branched spark, things didn’t turn out so hot, and it looks like things have started going similarly downhill.

But enough about the horrific deaths of dozens of robots on a frozen planet, it’s time for bar shenanigans!

While Skids prepares to commit an act of violence on a droid that’s done absolutely nothing to him and is just trying to do its friggin’ job, Swerve reveals to Ratchet that he’s decided to follow his dreams after all and open a bar. He doesn’t have all the paperwork turned in yet, per se, but he’s working on it. He hands Ratchet a free drink to celebrate the off-panel event of the Lost Light having found itself on the map again, and Ratchet, who’s apparently never heard of a shot, gripes about the portioning.

Of course, he might have a bit of a point, as the drink seems to shrink more and more as he talks to Swerve about the fact that they’re both giant nerds who were subscribed to Wreckers: Declassified.

Was non-war-related entertainment just not allowed for the last four million years? No wonder the war went on for so long- everyone was so steeped in it they forgot how to function like regular people. Since the logs were beamed directly into the brain, I can only imagine the amount of physic damage that last entry caused.

The reason Ratchet’s brought up everyone’s favorite podcast is that there was a new entry last night- odd, considering that Ironfist’s been dead for a couple years at this point. It was just a series of seemingly random numbers, or at least it would have been, if Ratchet wasn’t a good doctor who kept up-to-date on his medical news.

My my, I do wonder which Wreckers: Declassified subscriber could have sent those statistics on Delphi out into the aether.

As luck would have it, the Lost Light isn’t terribly far away from Messatine at the moment, which is the planet Delphi is on. Ratchet decides it’s time to check things out.

Over in Rodimus’ very pink room, Ultra Magnus wants to have a discussion about Tailgate, and the fact that he wants to be a Decepticon. This is, obviously, a problem, considering the fact that everyone on the ship, who wasn’t stuck in some sort of hole or alternate dimension for the last six millions years, is staunchly anti-Decepticon. Magnus laments on the fact that now that the war is over, he has to start seeing people as people, as opposed to cogs in the machine. Magnus is one of those guys who functions better with structure, which the Lost Light doesn’t really have a ton of.

Rodimus tells Magnus to lighten up a bit, before he pulls something trying to bring military regulation into civilian life, and says that he’ll handle the whole Tailgate thing.

Back down on Messatine, Ratchet’s dragged Drift and Pipes of all people into his little visit to Delphi, and they’re rocking up to the scene on the MARBs- Mobile Autobot Repair Bays. This is Pipe’s first space adventure, and he’s really happy to be here!

We’ll see how he feels a little later in the day.

As the boys make their way over to the plot, Drift and Ratchet lay a bit of groundwork down for future storylines, then arrive outside Delphi to find the door locked and spray painted with a big ol’ X.

Shane McCarthy slipped James Roberts a twenty to set up a slowburn between his OC and Ratchet. Let’s see how that pays off.

Pipes decides to do a thing and crash through the entrance like a hooligan. It goes about as well as one could expect, though we do a pretty sweet and unnecessary flip from Drift out of it.

We’re going to need to soak Pipes in rubbing alcohol for a good hour.

Ratchet yells at Pipes for busting into a medical outpost that clearly wasn’t meant to be cracked open like a cold one, not to mention knocking over at least three hospital beds.

Then a sick guy shows up and Drift flips the hell out and slices up a guy so hard Pipes has to remove his visor to watch the insanity unfold.

The whole “sword murder” thing doesn’t really gel with the idea of “do no harm”, so Ratchet and Drift get into it a bit before First Aid shows up and starts drawing on Pipe’s face.

Back on the Lost Light, Rodimus is keeping his promise and dealing with Tailgate, with the help of Rewind, resident historical archivist and the guy who’s about to rock Tailgate’s fucking world in under 12 seconds.

Okay. So.

The thing about recorded history is everything has a bias. No matter how impartial the recorder attempts to be, no matter how detached, there will ALWAYS be at least a little bleedthough. Now, while it’s unlikely Rewind’s been in direct combat, because he’s friggin’ tiny and turns into a data slug, and while he doesn’t seem the patriotic type, he’s still an Autobot. He’s only been on one side of the war, so most, if all all of his archive, is built from the framework of being surrounded by Autobot mindsets and propaganda. It would appear that this isn’t the first time Rewind’s done something like this, if he already has the upload time committed to memory down to the tens decimal. If he’d been asked to do this prior to the conclusion of the war- very likely, considering it ended a few months ago- what are the odds that he was asked to frame things a little more in favor of his own team? Pretty good, I’d think.

Guys, I don’t think Tailgate is having a good time with the history lesson.

Needless to say, any concern over Tailgate wanting to be a Decepticon is pretty soundly quashed after this.

Back over with the plague plotline, First Aid gives Ratchet the rundown on the symptoms they’ve run into at Delphi.

You fucker, you got that line from Wreckers: Declassified.

Delphi hasn’t been able to call for help, because even if they didn’t have their hands full of liquified robot, communications have been out since something went off and broke pretty much everything in the outpost, general health and well-being included. First Aid suspects a dirty bomb, curtesy of the DJD. The tour of the facility ends in the medical bay proper, where Ambulon is hard at work trying to keep folks alive.

Ratchet looks over the scene, and notes that the older patients in the ward aren’t crying their literal eyeballs out. Weird, that.

Ambulon shows off their super-secret patient, who is kept in shadow for the reader, to keep the suspense going for a bit longer. Mystery patient’s been in an “everlasting coma” since he got here, and while Ambulon and Pharma don’t think anything can be done, First Aid’s willing to get weird with it.

Earlier in the issue, it was mentioned that Ambulon didn’t think First Aid took any initiative. Turns out, First Aid does, and has, just not on things Ambulon agrees with.

It was at that point that Ratchet decided he rather liked First Aid.

Back with Tailgate, he’s returned to his room to confront Cyclonus, who’s busy doing something on the computer. What exactly isn’t revealed, and never will be.

Tailgate is really cross about the fact that Cyclonus let him walk around on a ship full of Autobots claiming he wanted to be a Decepticon. Of course, it’s not like Cyclonus knew he was going to be such a loudmouth about it, otherwise maybe he would have told him to maybe NOT do that, if only to prevent his life getting further muddied up by a war he wasn’t even around for.

Tailgate’s gotten really worked up over this, because that’s just how he is as a person, and even goes so far as to punch Cyclonus in the arm in his frustration. He apologizes almost immediately, but the bear’s already been poked, unfortunately.

Oh, honeybunches, you are going to be regretting that move for the next five years.

But not before the customary “pulling away from the one guy who’ll even talk to you because you don’t know how to properly react to anything anymore" thing.

Back on Messatine, we find out where Pharma got to- he’s been locked into the quarantine room by accident, and will remain there until all technopathogens are completely dead. This will take millions of years.

That seems like poor planning for such a room.

Or, at least, it would be, if Ambulon was still running the show.

How the fuck has Ambulon survived this long without dying of stupidity?

As Ratchet starts trying to get Pharma out of his glass case of emotion, Pipes is starting to not have so much fun on his first-ever field trip.

Yaaay, space adventure!

Ratchet warns Drift not to kill Pipes- repeatedly- and Drift manages to do that, though it looks a little dodgy for a second, as he bonks the little guy on the head and knocks him out. Ratchet’s managed to get Pharma out, and Pharma immediately runs for the prison cells, saying he’s figured it out.

Ambulon carries what’s left of Pipes back to the emergency ward, and Ratchet holds the little dude’s hand while they get him hooked up to some feeds. Drift starts bleeding from the eyes. Awesome.

Enter Pharma.

Today just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?

Turns out those two Decepticons from earlier got out of their cells somehow, and they’ve got guns. Things aren’t looking too good for the Autobots.

Well, I mean, if he says it’s fine, then I guess…

Yep, our mystery patient is none other than Fortress Maximus, warden of Garrus 9, victim of Overlord, and glorified lock-pick for the Aequitas chamber. He’s looking a lot better than the last time we saw him, in that he’s got some limbs attached to that torso of his, and also eyeballs. Good for him.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Thoughts on Maryse actually earning a redemption? I liked her character post redemption but the whole arc felt rushed, unearned, and too easy. Especially with her victims (both her children and downworlders like Magnus) forgiving her so easily like she didn't do anything that bad...

oh mood. i actually have lowkey conflicted feelings on the whole maryse thing because like, on the one hand, they didn't do the thing i hate the most with this kind of "arc" - having the character b like "sorry that i was an asshole" and then continue to be an asshole but not on purpose this time and so it's fine now. on the other hand, they did the opposite - maryse did actually change and become a non-abusive person, but it didn't fucking make sense and she basically never bothered to acknowledge that she was a uhhhh terrible fucking person

there's also lowkey projection feelings that make me a little fond of maryse, like, damn, i wish my mom just decided one day that transphobia isn't sexy and completely changed overnight. u know? lmao

but anyway yeah i do have thoughts on a maryse redemption arc that doesn't suck ass. especially because i think there are elements that could make a cohesive story if the show actually, like, bothered with them. i'll warn u that i'll mostly ignore the cheating plotline because 1- it has kinda yikes vibes like "oh she's suffered now so we have to forgive her", and 2- i don't really care about cheating plotlines tbh. like rationally i can understand that it's essentially betrayal of an agreement, but emotionally, i simply don't understand why anyone would give a fuck lol i just can't connect emotionally with it in any way so it feels very abstract and forced for me to write about

so i think the starting point for her redemption would be her being deruned. so i’m gonna start from there, and just assume that everything that went down before the announcement of her deruning was the same

i say the deruning because like.... her entire life, this was her absolute top priority. being a shadowhunter. being a part of that society. upholding these values. being essentially shadowhunter royalty. and now, she's lost that. and she's forced to look back at everything that she did without the looming threat of her losing what she's been working so hard for (since she already did) and it suddenly feels way clearer

not that like oh she never realized how shitty she was! she fucking knew how shitty she was. there's no way she didn't. she manipulated her children, she purposefully humiliated them and withheld affection, she hurt them, she participated in genocide, she killed people, and she did it with the intent of doing all those things. but i think - especially with the part about that her children - that the way she looked at this was always distorted by the fact that the clave/the lightwood name/her position of power and prestige took precedence. also, the constant threat that she would lose that meant that she could justify it to herself saying that it was what she had to do. now, she can no longer do that, because it's already happened. and guess what? life went on now that she's deruned. so she's forced to look at everything that she did for her position as a shadowhunter from a distance this time, because her goals are unattainable now, and that means she can look at it more rationally, especially since she ran out of excuses. and here's the picture: none of it was worth it

and i'm talking about her children specifically. the literal fascism shit is more complicated since like, she is a radical racist and i don't think she would see a problem with that, tbh. she has no reason to care about that, yet

so okay, she's looking back and she realizes not only that her excuses for her behavior were made of paper, but also that her priorities were all fucked up, because now that she's deruned, it isn't that in itself that hurts her the most. it's the fact that she's alone

and again, i don't mean that like, boo hoo, poor her. that was the consequence of her own actions and honestly good for all the people in her life that they didn't feel obligated to give her emotional support when she was out there ruining their lives

what i do mean is that this is what moves her to want to change and mend things, if anything, because she wants comfort

and initially she would be super fucking selfish and shitty about it, because like..... obviously, maryse was selfish. she might have said "lightwood name" this and that, but let's be real here, she wasn't even born a lightwood to care all that much about that. it was about her, her power, her prestige. if overnight the lightwood name stopped being a symbol of status she would drop it like a hot potato, she held it close to her chest because it meant ascension for her personally. she manipulated her children and drew away her friends and supported genocide for herself, not out of some obligation with the concept of lightwoodship or whatever

she would try to "mend" her relationship with her children for herself, and it would show. robert would probably drop her like a hot potato too after the deruning, lbr, and i don't think she cared all that much about him anyway, so i'll focus on izzy, alec, and jace. jace is kind of weird since she was never shown to abuse him, but she also was willing to throw him on the trash when she found out he was valentine's kid, so. but overall i think he would be the one to mend his relationship with her more easily, but also - jace is just as selfish as her and even more self centered, so she wouldn't get a lot of support/satisfaction out of that relationship

so she tries to make things better with alec and izzy and they're both like... lol. especially alec because as we've seen he had no qualms about being completely ruthless with maryse once he broke out of her claws (good for him!) and while izzy had this whole "i don't care about maryse" facade.... she did, honestly. like she was visibly hurt by maryse not hugging her despite that being expected, and maryse's presence there in itself was enough for her body language to completely change. when izzy wanted to prove that she could be mature, she emulated maryse's style. so i think, especially since izzy was obviously the fuckup kid, that a part of her is kind of desperate to get any sort of approval or affection from maryse

but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to humiliate herself for maryse, and she also gets some satisfaction in being able to flip the tables and be the one to reject her, for once. and alec is straight up like... “you never gave us any support, but now that you’ve lost everything, you want it from us? i’m just doing what you taught us, mother”

i think jace would probably be the one to be like “oh, come on, alec, she wasn’t that bad” almost scoffing at the idea and it’s just like... “between what she did to me, izzy, and magnus, she has to work a lot harder if she wants my forgiveness” and maryse is kind of taken aback because tbh up to this point she hadn’t given any thought whatsoever to what she did to magnus or downworlders in general

she’s probably kind of appalled by the idea tbh

but she also starts to like... lowkey... get it? i mean obviously she’s not a downworlder and she’ll never suffer what downworlders went through, but now that shadowhunter society has turned her back on her, now that she’s become depised by them too, she has a tiny little taste of what it feels like, and it’s not nice

especially cuz like, again... robert would drop her like a hot potato lol and like i don’t even blame him cuz she wasn’t exactly a great wife either and maryse would have done the same, i don’t think either of them ever had any illusions when it came to their marriage tbh. but robert uses her exact m.o. against her (since well, it was his, too) and that means that she gets to feel at least a little bit of forced sympathy for the people she’s done the same thing to

so i think she would come to luke (no i’m not going a lukemaryse route keep calm)

and luke is kind of like... well, i was waiting for this to happen. you know, because he is the one to comes closest to having been in maryse’s situation, since he’s also an ex-shadowhunter - except worse because he’s been turned downworlder, not just mundane

and it’s the first time she actually shows some level of empathy because she’s kind of like “i was just wondering... how did you deal with it when they... when all of us... turned our backs on you?” and she apologizes for that and that shocks luke because he didn’t expect it 

and it’s easier for luke to forgive her because 1- it’s been a while; 2- they aren’t super close; 3- luke was also a fascist so like lmao; 4- there is one (1) person who understands what he went through, kinda. again not really because being a downworlder is way worse than mundane but who else comes close?

and look i’m not saying they become best friends or anything but they have a good talk about what it was like, and maryse is again forced to meet her own shittiness dead in the eye because when luke talks about what he went through when he was Turned, well, maryse was there. and now she is basically forced to empathize with him, who was on the other side, and see herself as the tormentor that other people are being to her now

and like again it’s not like she didn’t know that she was a shitty ass person and what she was doing was terrible but now all the walls he had put up to avoid acknowledging that are straight up torn down

she apologizes and he just kind of shrugs because it’s not like he’s gonna be like “yeah np lol” and this is not the kind of thing that you resolve easily, especially after such a long time, so it’s awkward. but again, he doesn’t exactly resent her anymore either, he’s more kind of... neutral i guess. like he made his peace with it a long time ago and an apology from one of the people involved is way more than he ever expected to get, so

also maryse doesn’t cry her woes because she is way too proud for that, which means that luke doesn’t have to deal with her Shadowhunter Tears on top of everything else. it’s more the opposite, really, it’s luke who talks and maryse who listens, and for the first time, luke gets to talk about how he felt about being turned and shunned without... i don’t want to say fear, but like, reservation? because obviously talking about this with a downworlder is worse and more awkward and more painful. because maryse was essentially worse than him, he gets to talk about it without shame, if that makes sense? and he also gets to say everything he’s always wanted to say to shadowhunters/circle members in general, and it does him good

they go their separate ways and luke is left feeling emotionally exhausted from reopening that wound but also like its scar has faded further, you know? and maryse is starting to actually genuinely want to be better, not just to convince people to not leave her

also, luke is by far the one who treated her best up to this point, so she feels a little lighter, even if it was far from a good interaction

i think the next she would go to would be magnus?? kinda?? like not right away of course, this isn’t shtv so i’m going with a long timeline that involves plenty of her living as a mundane and Thinking About What She’s Done and trying to find a purpose for her life now

i guess she would have that fucking shop? so there’s that. and in that time she gets to meet some mundanes and make tentative local-shop-owner/client sorta friendships and talk about what she went through in vague terms and get some advice that might actually be useful

anyway, magnus! so she would go to magnus because he’s one of the downworlders (and her experience with luke makes her think that they are more likely to forgive her since they weren’t close) but mostly because she wants to win alec over and she knows that will never ever happen if she isn’t nice to magnus. she’s racist, not stupid

magnus doesn’t let her into the loft, but he also doesn’t close the door on her face. from previous scenes (mostly max’s rune ceremony thing) we know that magnus is at least willing to try to have some sort of truce for alec’s sake, but there’s that, and there’s maryse marching into his home like nobody’s business expecting forgiveness when she directly killed at least a few people magnus cared about and/or was responsible for protecting

also it’s transparent that she’s doing it for alec, so magnus is like “while it is nice to know that you care this much about alexander... i can’t just forgive you” and she is a little outraged, but she leaves without making a fuss

meanwhile magnus is just emotionally depleted even from this very short interaction with her, because she’s just... too much

lowkey has a depression day after that because that is way too much and he’s just kind of in a slump, feeling empty and reliving the worst memories of the people he’s lost in that war. alec notices and magnus is vague about it, just like “maryse.... visited” and alec wants him to talk about it but magnus is not going to talk about everything alec’s mom did to him cuz she’s like... still alec’s mom. so it’s awkward and heavy but they both lowkey comfort each other for the rest of the day and cuddle and shit

also there’s max! with max it’s a little different because he’s not going to like, straight up not want to talk to maryse, and his relationship with her seemed to be a little different from the others anyway. he was still heavily influenced by her ideals, and even with the dirvorce/distancing/idk, obviously she and robert are still like, sharing the custody. and she asks max about alec and izzy (as well as jace when they get to talk) and max is very blunt about it too, very “they’re still pissed at you” and she’s like gee kid thanks, i know that, but how are they. are they ok?

and again max is a nosy bitch so whenever he sees alec and izzy he’s like “mom keeps asking how you guys are doing. she wanted to know about izzy’s new project” and izzy is shocked like “since when does she know about my projects?” and max shrugs like “idk” 

and again, emotionally exhausting. especially when eventually max starts to say that maryse also asked how magnus was doing, and that hits alec like a billion bricks, because maryse is acknowledging their relationship? without him like, basically threatening her? lmao

cue their own version of depression days/weird coping mechanisms because they don’t know how to deal emotionally with this. izzy would probably throw herself headfirst into work like “emotions what emotions haha never heard of that anyway check out this corpse” and alec... shoots arrows until his hands bleed, as usual

because look, it’s hard, and i say that from firsthand experience. even the thought that your prejudiced parents might change gives hope. and alec had always been so loyal to family, to him, it was family before everything else, and that included maryse. and yes, he was manipulated by her, but he also did value family and he had some good moments, or moments that he saw as good (like the whole guy whose nose he broke thing) with her. so it’s just like... a lot of conflict because he kind of wants to turn his back on her and has been ever since he came out, but there’s a lot of emotions swirling inside of him

again magnus sees his bloodied hands and he heals them softly, asking him what happened. and alec is like “maryse is asking max about us” and magnus is like “oh” and again, alec is not going to go into the details of his relationship with his mom who killed magnus’ people, so it’s a little silent and awkward again, but they can again draw comfort from each other just from being together in silence and cuddling and shit

me? talking about malec cuddling in a maryse post? it’s more likely than you think

for a while alec and izzy do this weird dance around each other where they’re both like “you’re overworking yourself, want a break?” without actually acknowleding it because they know that if they actually tried they would both just keep uno +4 carding each other like “oh so why don’t you talk about how you feel?” “well why don’t you talk about how you feel?” “well but why don’t you talk abou-” 

i think izzy might be the one to break first. if anything, because alec’s Big Brother instincts mean that he doesn’t want to come to her to cry his woes, because he feels like He Should Be The One To Protect Her. and she’s like “alec, i’m not a child, you can talk to me. and if we aren’t going to face this together, who are we going to face it with?” and alec just looks at her with that intense stare and izzy goes, “i feel disappointed in myself because a part of me is so happy that she finally cared about something i was creating” and just like that, alec’s walls are gone

he finally gets to really talk about how he feels with the whole maryse and magnus thing and admit that a part of him is also happy that she asked and that it sucks and he hates it and feels weak, basically 

lightwood siblings mutual support because we are all about that shit! who’s maryse again

anyway max is kinda their bridge for a while, not even intentionally, but alec and izzy get to get used to the idea that maryse is trying because he tells them about it and he gets to see the small changes in maryse’s behavior you know? and so alec and izzy hear about that

it’s also probably because of max that they get to see her again, i mean, they are all family. and they’re both kinda bracing for some emotionally loaded interactions at the very least 

but instead she has like kind of accepted that they don’t feel comfortable with her and that it’s her fault for using them instead of protecting them most of their lives so she leaves them be beyond the pleasantries and they find themselves... relaxing? not enough to talk to her but just to be able to breathe in her presence which is already a lot

so this goes on for a while. also, maryse does end up genuinely trying to help in the anti-valentine crusade, but like, she’s respectful about it? she definitely isn’t taking charge or going after downworlders when they couldn’t trust her, but she has A- intel because she knew him for most of his life and can help predict what he thinks (as can luke) and B- fierceness and willingness to do what he’s told. the fact that whenever a downworlder like luke or magnus tells her what to do she just nods and does as she’s told earns her a lot of points. she also doesn’t demand their trust in any way and doesn’t ask for any information so that helps even if of course it’s still tense for everyone involved. but maryse understands and acknowledges this. in this case the shadowhunter training also helps because she is very used to dealing with following orders, not being told things, and tense/uncomfortable environments lol so that means that she can be there without putting her shadowhunter fragility all over the place or demanding things she doesn’t have the right to

also whenever people ask her why she’s doing this (which happens frequently since you know. why does maryse lightwood care) she says that just accepting her punishment is not enough to undo her mistakes. she is responsible for this mess and it’s on her to help take it down as well as she possibly can

so slowly she starts to gain trust? and slowly her relationship with them both mends

i’m unsure whether alec or izzy would forgive her first. a part of me wants to say izzy because again, i feel like she is really desperate for maryse’s approval, while alec’s whole thing is that he's over needing it. i mean obviously alec is still human and like i said, a family man, so of course he also wants maryse to approve of him and them both to have a good relationship even if he hates that he does. but he’s been working too hard to break out of needing to be on maryse’s good books to start now. in a way, having maryse’s approval is almost triggering because he’s coming to associate maryse’s pride on him with his own suffering

but on the other hand, alec is a family man, and he was closer to maryse than izzy, so i could also see him being the one to forgive her first. maybe he is the one who gets back to talking to her first, but izzy is the one who once starts mending their relationship lowers her guard for real? while alec still has like... snappy and defensive tendencies (which are perfectly valid and healthy of him to have)? you know? like once izzy is like fine let’s give her a chance she actually does, while alec takes a long, long time to lower his guard, and that only happens like, way after valentine is defeated and magnus starts feeling more comfortable around maryse (obviously magnus and maryse won’t ever be BFFs, but over time he can handle her presence, you know? make small talk, have a sorta “i have my mom-in-law but what can we do” dynamic)

and yeah those are my thoughts? it takes some years for them to actually have a good relationship but it builds slowly and maryse does do her homework as much as possible so that’s nice

again, thank you so much for this question and i hope you like my answer

EDIT: here's some more on alec's response to the whole thing. thank you, anon!