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welcome-to-green-hills · 2 years ago

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Hey mystery I have a question. While trapped in the tube frozen, do you think that Shadow could dream or anything? Do you think that he had a level of awareness of what was going on? Asking for research for a fanfic I’m writing. Also, you’re the smartest person I know so I wanted to ask.

Hello, my dear!❤️✨

This is a very interesting question. To be honest, I feel that it really depends on Shadow’s situation. I’m not entirely sure as to what direction you’re writing Shadow’s experience in for your project. (When you’ve finished, please send it to me. I wanna read it). It kinda factors into what answer I give you in the long run. For this ask, I feel that it would be safer to supply more than one potential scenario so that you have that information in hand.

Let’s make a little disclaimer first: most of what I’m sharing with you are hypothetical scenarios. As much as I would love to delve deep into this topic, I find that my answers might be… hmm… taken with a grain of salt. I express this because this is a developing field. There either isn’t much research to it, or existing case studies haven’t been updated since the early-to-mid 2000’s. Research of the topic barely have much to contribute to it for multiple reasons (I.E., finding volunteers, researchers, funding. You know, fun stuff). While these ideas and concepts are fantastic, the best I can offer are educated guessed with some research that brings some support to a claim.

It’s also important to keep in mind that this is a fictional character. Not everything needs a scientific explanation. Sometimes it’s just fun to bend the rules a little bit and let your imagination run wild! You can take all of my ideas to heart and use them, or you can throw them away in the trash. It’s not gonna hurt my feelings, Let Shadow be whatever you want him to be in your project, okay?

Alright, now for the fun stuff. Here we go!

What is REM Sleep?

To put simply, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the state of consciousness in which an individual experiences low function of the body to gain full rest. This is the state of sleep in which people experience dreams from as well. With this rapid eye movement, we can infer that a person is engaging with either a memory or a dream! It’s a form of memory that allows an individual to remember muscle spasms, movements, sights, smells, sounds, etc., and process nearly everything that was absorbed through an engaging environment (NSF, 2020). REM sleep play a crucial part in development of the mind. Having that down time to experience dreams and memories allows for a sense of mental and emotional maturity of past/current situations.

Infant-Like Slumber:

If the question in mind is geared towards him being created, then possibly? More than likely not. We run into a couple of problems when exploring this topic:

A). We don’t have enough information on fetal and infant development to make a logical conclusion.

B). We don’t have enough technological advances and volunteers to make this happen.

The best that I could describe is this: he would have lots of muscle spasms, but he’s dream with select sound and no pictures. His form of “dreaming” would be sensory-based and how he engaged with his environment. “Environment” being him in his stasis pod. This is the same way that newborn infants engage with their REM sleep (American Institute of Physics, 2009).

Let’s create a hypothetical scenario for you here: If Shadow’s stasis pod was built to be interactive, then I think that he would be able to hear and sense touch pretty well! His little pod could allow him to hear Maria, Gerald, and all of the other scientists in the lab while he’s still “cooking.” If touch was implied as well, then he could reflect on that physical contact. It could help create an emotional connection and recognition of safety establish with everyone even before opening his eyes (Harmon, 2010). Anthropologist like myself make it a point to share that physical touch is important through cultural and social teachings. When I mean “physical touch,” I mean along the lines of hand holding, high five, hugging, kissing, anything! Not only does it help create of safety and familiarity, it helps individuals recognize and distinguish people to form inner circles. Individuals need physical touch for emotional development and a boost in physiological development (Cekaite et Al., 2011).

Again, this is hypothetical scenario. I did not find any indication through Gerald’s journals (SA2, Sonic Battles), Rouge’s field report, and trivia from his creators on Twitter that he was able to hear things around him while he was in his stasis pod.

Cryogenic Hypothesis:

Cryogenically freezing—otherwise known as Cryopreservation—is another iffy scenario to explore as well. Traditionally, cryogenically suspended individuals are deceased… and have bee deceased for mere minutes. Cryopreservation is not flash freezing an individual like a popsicle, these are individuals that are kept in a temperature controlled environment for extended periods of time in a liquid nitrogen temperature (Paulo, 2012).

This is a topic in the scientific community that is considered a bit controversial. Some believe that it can be real and life saving, others believe that it’s completely a pseudoscience. And then there’s a small cluster of scientists who don’t really have an opinion on it because there isn’t a lot of information on it. If there was more funding and willingness to explore this topic, then sure! I’m positive that there will be more researchers out there that would like to explore cryopreservation on human and their mental state more.

What I can tell you is that there can’t be any form of dreaming in cryopreservation. There would be cellular damage. There isn’t a trace of brainwave activity that could display REM from cryopreservation individuals. This would not be plausible for Shadow if you’d like for him to dream in your fanfic.

Comatose Hypothesis:

My final thought would be to portray him as if he were in a coma-like state for there to be a form of dreaming.

Medical research has strongly indicated that a patient’s brain does not show signs of normal sleep and wakefulness cycles, meaning that they more than likely cannot dream in a coma (Blackburn, 2023). However, it depends on the state in which the coma is caused (I.E., if the visual context of the brain is damaged or medically induced to help patients heal). Some patients that have awaken from their comas shared that they’ve felt as if they were in a dream-like state/nightmare loop. J. Schradar, a psychologist reporter for Psychology Today, shared that when she was in a coma it felt as if she viewed “memories upon memories and violently ripped away from them (Schradar, 2021).

It’s like being trapped in a maze with fuzzy feelings. You’re aware that you lived a life, but you can’t make out what you did and what happened. There would be speech and compression problems with retaining new memory. We do know that coma patients can respond to select sound as well (Blackburn, 2023). As stated in a previous section, sound plays a vital role in creating a memory. With sound—as well as following under the idea that Shadow’s in the process of being sealed away by GUN after the raid on the ARK—Shadow can build upon that and form dreams. He can form memories and emotional responses to them.

Discussion:

We know that Shadow was created with the intentions of being a cure for illness, as well as a cure for immortality (Sonic Heroes game manual). However, there are some limitations. We don’t know the true extent of his immortality. He could easily die depending on the extremity of the situation. All that we know about our ageless hedgehog-alien hybrid is that he’s got kickass air shoes and a sense of immortality.

I am much more inclined to believe that Shadow was put into an induced coma before being sealed away. Dreams and memories that Shadow had experienced in the past are behind metaphorical doors and locked away. His subconscious walks around through an endless maze of distorted images of what he engaged with in the past. He—supposedly—can hear sounds, but we’re not entirely certain of his surroundings and mental state of mind. He could absolutely have an idea of him being trapped in the fog of his mind. The only thing that he could do is relive memories of the past and be haunted by nightmares. I’m also willing to believe that he had a state of conscious (to a certain degree) while being created aboard the ARK. We’ve seen through the games that each time Shadow awakens from stasis, he already has a knowing. He displays the ability to react quickly and speak by the time his eyes open. He already has a stream of consciousness.

I feel that either of these would be an interesting approach to your personal project to explore. I’d like to share one more with you for your story. One that is a bit more of a stretch, but would be interesting to explore.

As soon as Shadow awakens by Dr. Robotnik in SA2, Shadow says the line “my name is Shadow. Since you’ve been so kind as to release me, my master, I will grant you ONE wish.” I feel that this line has a lot more meaning to it than what fans give it credit for. I don’t believe that this line was put in the game for the sake of the scene being cool and relatively cheesy. Of all the things that Shadow could have said when he was awaken, why that line? I feel that this particular line strengthens the idea that Shadow had dreams as if he were in a coma-like state. This one line could indicate that he just awoke from a revisited memory of him and Maria having philosophical talks about fulfilling their wish to go to Earth. This one line foreshadows that both Shadow and Maria had wishes. And maybe, just maybe, that would be his “dream.”

Anyways. I hope that this helps with your research for your fanfic. These are my thoughts on the subject. I’ve made sure to put sources to my thoughts for you to read further if you’re interested. Again, you don’t have to use these ideas if you don’t want to, or you can 100% use them to your full advantage. I don’t necessarily believe that we’re supposed to be thinking that hard when it comes to Shadow being awaken from his 50+ year sleep, but I can completely understand the need to question. If you have any further questions or thoughts, please feel free to ask! I’m more than happy to help! Best wishes❤️✨

#mystery anon #off topic #I am an anthropologist #I am an archaeologist #I hope that this helps you with your story #This ask was a lot deeper and spiraled a bit more than it needed to…. whoops #shadow the hedgehog #Movie!Shadow

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protege-not-protagonist · 1 year ago

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Criminal Minds: The Protégé Chapter 4

Ch 4: My Brother's Keeper Pt. 1

Blurb: After meeting with Dr. Reid, Grace is called away on a case with the team to a double Homicide of children with excessive overkill. It doesn't take long to establish that This Unsub will kill again if not caught soon. But as Grace works the case, certain aspects of it stir up a past she would rather forget. Meanwhile Spencer can't help but start working on the victimology of this new possible serial killer back home.

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Audience: mature audience for depictions of violence and sexual references

Author's Note: if you see a trigger warning that concerns you, you can scroll to end and I'll have a brief description what happens. I think that system should work well cause then those who don't want spoilers don't have to read the trigger warnings at the start and get spoiled. Also my apologies to Groton South Dakota. I'm sorry I'm sure your a lovely town, I just threw a dart on the map and looked for a small town in that area. No offense.

TW: Ableism, child death, violence, gore, crime scene depiction, kidnapping.

Quantico, FBI Runway Tarmac Thursday July 2023 1:32 pm

‘Sorry,’ Grace apologised as she entered the jet, ‘It’s worth the wait trust me.’ She turned behind her and gestured to the two people who followed her up the stairs, ‘This is my friend Agent Stiller, from Forensics…’

A neatly dressed young man with dark skin and round glasses smiled widely and offered his hand to the rest of the team, ‘You can just call me Avery, nice to meet you guys, I’ve heard a lot about the lofty sixth floor. Didn't know you guys had a jet.’ That earnt a few laughs from her team.

Grace turned to the older redheaded woman who still stood at her side. ‘And this is our associate, Dr Boland, she's an expert Forensic Anthropologist with the Smithsonian. She taught me everything I know.’

'Well, I don't think that's quite true, Grace,' Dr Boland chuckled slightly and turned to the team offering a small wave, ‘Nice to meet you all, although I wish it were under better circumstances.’

‘Thank you for joining us on short notice, we appreciate having you both on board,’ Prentiss welcomed them, ‘Take a seat where you can find one, budget won’t allow for a bigger jet so we might have to get a little cosy, I’m Section Chief and Acting Unit Chief SSA Prentiss, this is SSA’s Rossi, Alvez, Simmons, Jareau and Dr Lewis, you both know Special Agent Matthews. As soon as we’ve taken off, we’ll start running through what we've got so far.’

The jet started taxiing along the runway. Without too much surprise, Avery and Dr Boland took the couch seat together. Grace smiled and shot them an encouraging smile up before sitting down next to Rossi.

‘Where did you wander off to today, huh? That's the first time you’ve taken a lunch break longer than 10 minutes. I’m proud of you,’ Rossi nudged her.

Across the table from her, Dr. Lewis and JJ listened in curiously.

‘I was still on site, as I’m sure you will all hear from Alvez in his report-’ she heard Luke snort from the seat behind her. ‘-I went to see Dr Reid.’

Everyone sat up in their chairs, suddenly very focused on what she had to say. She even heard the rest of the team's seats creak behind her.

‘What?’ she asked. It felt like she was unaware of some joke that they had with each other. Had they been taking bets again?

‘Nothing.’ Rossi shrugged, ‘We all miss him. Guess we just wanna know how he's doing, How’d it go?’

The jet shuddered as it sped full speed down the runway. They all paused their conversation as the cabin began to rattle. Rossi gripped the armrest tightly and Grace closed her eyes and enjoyed the stomach flipping sensation. They lifted off the ground and there was the pleasant buzz in her body of adrenalin. She loved take offs. She opened her eyes and there were a few pairs staring back at her, waiting. Oh yeah, they had asked her a question.

‘Fine, it was really good actually. He’s nice, gave me some advice, and he's funny too… It was very… I don’t know.’

‘You two just… gelled well? It would be nice having someone on your level to talk to,’ Dr. Lewis suggested.

Grace let out a nervous chuckle, ‘Oh no, he is way above my level, but… he’s not like other people I've met who are like that.’

Rossi gave her a knowing look, ‘He is the smartest guy in the room but he doesn't lord it over anyone. He doesn’t have a drop of arrogance or conceitedness in him.’

‘Yeah, that’s it,’ she smiled. Rossi was right, probably because he knew who some of the ‘other people’ she was referring to.

‘Well, if you think he is funny, you must be closer to his level than us, cause his jokes often go over our heads,’ JJ remarked and there were a few nods of agreement.

The monitor chimed, and Garcia’s bright personality shone through the screen.

'Hello my crime fighters and special guests! I've got an update, not a good one but still an update.'

'What have you got, Garcia?' Prentiss asked. They all got up and gathered around the second table in the jet that currently had all the files scattered across it.

‘Well, I have nothing folks, I looked for two related persons with Brittle Bone Disease in Groton and surrounding areas, and there are none. I trolled through medical records, but knowing they can be tricky and locked up tight, I went with ER admissions for repeated broken bones, then tried health insurance, then wheelchair and braces purchases, then school enrollments with special needs, nada… whoever these babies are, they aren't local and I can't find them and it's making me so sad.'

‘That's okay, keep working on that list, extend it to nationwide; families with two or more individuals with Brittle Bone who are under 25,’ Prentiss instructed.

‘Oooh, that is a big list,’ Garcia winced.

‘It’s okay, we have Dr Boland and Agent Stiller here, they will help give us more identifying features and we can narrow down the list further as we go along.’ Prentiss assured her. 'But are there any missing persons with Brittle Bone reported?'

Garcia shook her head, 'None reported in the entire country.'

Grace felt her chest ache a bit at the thought of a pair of parents out there unaware their kids were missing, or worse, not caring that they were. She held to that thought.

‘Brittle Bone is debilitating for kids. Most breakages occur before puberty, they would require a high level of care. These are kids you couldn't leave them home alone for long periods of time. They wouldn't be able to walk long distances or play on a playground unsupervised. Even if these victims are in their early teens, and they aren't as vulnerable, they're still someone you would notice missing. If they have not been reported missing, it’s likely that their guardian is also missing,' she suggested.

'Or the unsub themselves,' Alvez countered.

Why hadn’t she considered that? It was more likely.

She winced at the thought, 'I hope not. But yeah that's what statistics would point to, most murders are committed by someone closely related to a victim, even more so with children.'

'Well, if that is not the case…' Simmons pointed to a map of Groton they had on the table, 'Two major routes intersect here the 37 and the 12, there isn’t much in the town, it’s basically a rest stop, we could be dealing with a mobile killer. If our unsub knew the town had little in the way of law enforcement, they could dump the bodies, shock a small town, overwhelm law enforcement and continue driving. They’d be long gone before the cops even figured out what to do, it’s a forensic countermeasure. Have we looked at the Highway Serial Crimes database? Any similar scenes in other states?'

Garcia shook her head, ‘I checked that, and I'm keeping tabs, but I’ve found nothing this severe, or with kids, sorry. Ah… and I see you’re getting ready to look at those photos and I’ll take that as my cue, I’m out. Talk to you later.’

The screen went dark as Simmons laid out some of the photos on the table.

Prentiss turned their guests. ‘Can you tell anything from the photos that will help narrow anything down?’

‘Ah, no, I agree with everything Grace has concluded. An MNI of two. Both victims are definitely under 21. Most likely related, both have OI. Most likely Caucasian; their teeth have no shovelling. I would say these victims are more likely have Type One, but we will have to reconstruct and get stature estimates and bone samples to know that for certain. Unfortunately, I can’t rule out one of our individuals being pre-pubescent either, like Grace observed, their 31 hasn’t erupted. And if the victims do have Type One, it is the only type not known to cause unusual dentition. I believe it is a worse case scenario, one of those victims is around 12 years old.’ Dr Boland reported.

Grace already had known that, but somehow having someone else confirm it, made the cabin's recycled air feel heavy.

Avery sighed, ‘I have nothing to add, except I want to let you guys know, we are pretty good, but we are not miracle workers. I just want to prepare you for the possibility that we may not ID these victims if no relative comes forward with DNA or reports them missing. Soft tissue is obliterated, so we’re going to work with what we can and move to bones. Now, with younger victims, it is harder to determine sex with only skeletal remains, and given the condition they are in, the fragmentation will also make it difficult to determine facial features or distinguishable characteristics. Dr Boland will do what she can and I will assist where I can.’

‘Wait assist? So you’re not a bone and body guy?’ Alvez asked.

The rest of the team looked confused. Grace realised she hadn’t really told them much about who Avery was, or much about her old team, really.

‘I dabble but no, on the second floor, I’m the living people expert,’ he explained.

JJ nodded along with a grin, ‘You’re the team liaison.’

He nodded proudly, ‘I specialise in CSI coordination, organisation, and education for local police. Grace called me because I’ve worked cases like this before. It is possible we are walking into a contaminated crime scene, regional PD’s will be trying to work with one another, there will be press vultures, and we will most likely be doing the reconstruction in a country clinic or even a vet clinic. Agent Prentiss, I know you will be head of this investigation, but if you allow it, I will gladly organise and coach Local PD though evidence collection. I will do my best to make sure all evidence is collected and processed so it is admissible in court, if that's what you want me to do.’

‘That would be a big help, a profile is going to be hard enough with not much victimology to go off, we don’t need to be juggling crime scene management as well,’ Prentiss agreed.

Avery pulled out a business card and passed it around, ‘That’s my number, I'll grab all yours as well. I know how important a profile is in a case like this, I need to know any updates on your profiles immediately. In a small town like this, we will definitely work with volunteers. I’ve been warned that having Feds brought in might excite and Unsub, it’s possible I will be working along side our unsub at some point, so I think it’s good if we stay in touch.’

Rossi nodded with an impressed look on his face, ‘Where do you find these people, kid?’

‘Around. I keep good company,’ she smiled.

‘Okay when we land, we have a 20 minute drive to Groton from the regional airport, JJ, Matthews, Stiller and Dr Boland, I want you to go to the crime scene, make sure they get everything under control. Rossi, Alvez, I want you to question the staff at the golf course where the bodies were found. Simmons, Lewis you're with me, we will go to the station and get a lay of the land. We'll meet at the Gold Stallion Inn by seven. That's where we're being put up. I hope none of you snore, because there are only six rooms some of us are gonna have to share.’

‘Shot not sharing with Rossi,’ Dr Lewis remarked.

‘Hey, I do not snore. And I’ve had three wives who can attest to that,’ Rossi defended.

-------

Somewhere along Route 37, South Dakota, Thursday July 2023 3:30 pm

He looked out the window as the radio played country music. It had been a long time since he had been on a road trip, he’d forgotten what it felt like. The crink in his knees hardly bothered him though. This was too exciting. Fields passed him and he smiled as a herd of cows lazily grazed, watching their minivan drive by.

‘Cows!’ he exclaimed with delight.

No one else in the car shared his enthusiasm. That was okay, his mom and dad had been driving for a long time, they were tired.

But then the woman next to him sobbed.

‘Please, where are you taking us? Where are my boys!’ his mother cried.

His smile retreated. She was ruining it.

‘SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!’ he pressed the gun to her head again.

‘Lilly, it’s okay baby, we’ll be okay!’ Dad called from the driver’s seat. ‘Please don’t hurt her, she just wants to know when we are going to stop.’

The man turned back to look at him and the woman with pleading eyes. It was good that Mom and Dad loved each other. If only they would love him as much. This was supposed to be a family road trip. They were supposed to be a happy family now. Why didn’t they love him?

‘We stop when I say we can, and you’ll see your boys again, soon enough,' he promised, and he wasn’t lying this time.

This Mom and Dad weren't right, his brothers weren’t right. He’d find the right ones one day. But he supposed he had to value what little time left he had with this family, it was supposed to be fun wasn’t it? He lowered the gun as the road sign loomed up ahead and he smiled. They were nearly there.

‘Ooh, let’s play a game… I spy, with my little eye, something, beginning with… M.’

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Groton SD, Golf Course, Thursday July 2023 3:58 pm

'Deputy Mitchell?' JJ asked as the four of them climbed off the golf cart and approached a middle-aged man guarding a large tarp spread over the ground.

'You the feds?'

‘Agents Jareau, Matthews, and Stiller, and our forensic expert Dr Boland.' JJ introduced, pointing out each one.

'Well, thought you'd be all suited up with earpieces, but I'm glad you're here. Body is under here.' He lifted the tarp partially and they all braced themselves. 'Groundsman found it here this morning, Jesus,' the deputy winced and turned away.

'When did the call come in?' JJ asked.

‘That was about six this morning... Look, other than putting the tarp on and doing a search of the grounds, we haven't done anything else. This is way over our heads. We are a small community. People come here cause it’s quiet and nothing happens, we don’t have resources, certainly not for this. Heck, I’m not even sure how we are going to move the body. We asked the regional centre, Aberdeen, for help. They took one look and told us to contact you guys, but they’re sending us their CSI team. They just radioed that they are a few minutes away.'

Avery began to talk about how they were logistically going to go about this. JJ asked questions about what time people usually played golf, and the opening times of the course. She zoned out and peeled the tarp back fully, and Dr Boland jumped to help.

Immediately it was clear the victims were killed right here. This wasn't a dump sight. Blood spatter was caked all over the grass.

Dr Boland opened her field kit and began taking the ambient temperature, following procedure. Grace however became focused on the thing she hadn't been able to tell from the photos; how was this done.

She fixed her glasses on the nose and knelt down next to the bodies.

'Hello, I'm Agent Grace Matthews, I'm just going to examine you to see what happened, okay? Then we will get you both somewhere safe and put you together so we can bury you okay?'

She always spoke to the bodies. She knew the others on the team thought it was weird. She even felt weird talking to them this time, it was hard to even recognise them as human in the state they were in. But that’s why she had to do it, especially at a scene like this.

It was a habit she started at her first job after she left school and she kept it up when she went into forensics. The practice was quite normal in some fields. It was a humanising technique that gave dignity to a body while acting as a coping strategy for the living person. They taught it at the academy, but few practiced it.

'And I'm Dr Boland, I’m Grace’s friend. I will be putting you together and running tests. I will work as fast as I can.' Dr Boland introduced herself, not missing a beat. Grace looked to her in surprise. The doctor only smiled warmly back at her as if to say, “it's not weird at all.” And kept setting up the scene for the investigation.

Grace turned her attention back to the gore and clasped her hands together and hugged them under her chin; it was time to focus. This is what she was here for, this is what got her into the FBI.

Her eyes darted across the mess and searched for repeated patterns or familiar shapes. Amongst the clumps of flesh, splinters of bone and bloody strips of cloth that would have been clothes, she looked for large pieces that were still relatively intact. A long bone, or perhaps the outline of where the clothes would have sat, hopefully. She moved around, searching from every angle for something recognizable. Eventually, the two bodies began to appear. She could identify different sections of a body and her mind filled in the blanks or rearranged into the form it was supposed to take. The two had died next to each other; one face down, one face up.

Two fragmented bones stuck out to her. A snapped the ulna and radius. Attached to it she found a bit of skin that was bruised and dented in a rough crescent shape.

The scene flashed in her mind;

A young voice cried out as they were hit in the back of the head with the bludgeon, their skull shattered immediately, they fell face first into the grass and their jaw dislocated, which allowed the mandible to remain relatively while the overkill was exerted. This was the younger one. When they hit the ground, the other older one turned to the assailant, who was already swinging the weapon at him now. They raised their arm in defence to block the first blow of a rounded heavy object swinging at them. Their forearm shattered immediately. They fell to the ground, and the blows kept coming in a frenzied rage from the man standing above them. They died relatively quickly. But the unsub wanted to humiliate and disfigure them further, he beat them for what must have been hours.

She shook the scene from her mind and focused now on the weapon.

It was flexible and heavy yet did not leave a uniformed mark. It was malleable and, given the frenzied blitz attack; improvised.

She racked her brain, an improvised weapon on a golf course. It would have to be a club right? But it couldn't be; a golf club wasn't the right… anything. Shape, size, weight distance from the attacker; it was all wrong. This damage was more like a mediaeval mace, something heavy that could be swung but didn’t have much reach- yet, not solid? She stood up and wandered around, deaf to the world as she searched for an object that would fit the disruption.

'Hey Agent Matthews… Matthews… Grace. Grace!’ Dr Boland called to her.

‘Yes?’ she turned around

‘If you're heading over there to the bunker can you get a sample of the sand please?' Dr Boland asked.

She nodded and pulled out a test tube from her forensics field kit. She knelt down and scooped up some sand from the bunker. It was really fine sand, not like the natural sand that was about the town. This stuff would get everywhere if I fell over right now, she thought to herself. Then she had a little giggle to herself, it would get everywhere, but it wasn’t rough, or course, it was powdery and fine. Like Anakin Skywalker, she disliked sand, which was unfortunate, having grown up on a tropical island. She also hated golf courses. In her opinion, and her father’s, they were a waste of space. Swathes of nature manicured into useless fields to chase a ball in. The amount of habitat destruction, water wastage and land metamorphosis places like this went through was… she halted.

The sand wasn't from here.

It was brought here, and you buy sand in bags and sand bags are heavy and malleable. And she knew firsthand, you can scale a sandbag down and make the tried-and-true homemade truncheon with little effort.

She ran back over the body and pulled out her magnifying glass, inspecting a depression that would have been caused by a blow. Sure enough, she could make out a few fibres and sandy particulates in the wound. She pulled out a swab taking a sample.

‘Dr Boland, there are fibres and particulates in these wounds, make sure to get some samples before you clean the bones, have you established a baseline yet?’

‘Yeah, it's that flag there,’ she pointed to the peg in the ground and continued laying out measuring guides getting ready to take scaled photos. Grace stood next to the baseline, took out her tablet, snapped a photo and drew an outline with her stylus.

'I got a rough indication of where the victims are lying. I'll do a diagram, that way you can have a rough starting point for the reconstructions.’ She drew outlines of the victims over the photos and labelled them One and Two and hit send.

Dr Boland glance at her tablet smiled, 'This is great. I've never seen you work out side the lab before.'

'Well I do this quite often, I think it would be more accurate to say I've never seen you work out side a lab before,' Grace grinned.

'True, the field is not usually my scene, especially when the site is this recent. But I just wanted to say, the field, it suits you. You seem... more free.' The doctor remarked.

Another golf cart approached carrying a uniformed officer and a few people in CSI jackets; the team from Aberdeen.

‘Looks like the Cavalry's arrived.’

‘Go, catch this guy, we’ve got this,’ Dr Boland nodded, holding out her hand.

Grace frowned at her and reached to shake it.

Dr Boland laughed and shook her hand back, ‘As much as I appreciate that you are comfortable enough to shake my hand, I actually was after the samples you collected, I need to catalogue them.’

‘Oh. right,’ Grace nodded and handed them over. ‘What do you recon? If we catch this guy by Saturday, will you be up for Sunday Study Brunch?’

Dr Boland smiled at her, ‘Well with your diagram here, it should make it easier to reconstruct. I’ll say, we’re on at this point. I’ve got a new stack of possible US soldiers from Bataan, circa 1940s, that I could use help cataloguing, unless you want to work more on your thesis?’

Grace sighed, ‘Not yet, I’m still stuck. Cataloguing Soldiers it is then. I’ll see you and Avery tonight, I’ll keep you in the loop, but I have to brief JJ, and the team. I’ve got a weapon and a few details.’

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Leaving one car with Avery and Dr Boland at the scene, JJ and her met up with Rossi and Alvez after they finished the staff interviews.

‘Anyone stick out?’ JJ asked.

‘Nope,’ Rossi shook his head. ‘All of them have alibis.’

‘Grounds man was a bit too into lawn, but none of them seemed off at all.‘ Alvez added. ‘What if this guy is a worse case scenario; just a random guy with victims of opportunity who motored out of here like Simmons said?’

JJ sighed, ‘Well, apparently opening hours are seven to seven, and people would only interact with staff and leave a record if they paid for entry, or hired equipment or a cart. Most locals have an annual pass, so they don’t need to pay for entry. Not that it’s really barred at all, there is no fence, no security or CCTV. Anyone could walk onto the course at any time. What could you tell from the bodies?’

They all looked to her.

‘It was a blitz attack followed by post mortem overkill. After the initial attack the unsub continued to beat them to humiliate and dehumanise them. There was no attempt to conceal the bodies; there is no remorse. The Unsub, is a man, given the strength, and probably under 30, immature and emotionally stunted. The attack was disorganised and full of rage. It seems personal, if the unsub didn’t know these kids, he must be using them as surrogates,’ she reported.

‘Now that kinda rage at two random defenceless disabled kids makes me think we could be looking at a hate crime; like extreme ableism,’ Alvez surmised darkly.

‘Ugh, can this guy get any worse,’ JJ murmured.

Grace gave her a sympathetic look. JJ hid it well but Grace could tell, she was very shaken by this case. She had said very little the entire time. Anything with kids was hard, especially on JJ, but this level of brutality was something else entirely.

‘You said the attack was disorganised, are you implying that he is organised in another aspect?’ Rossi turned to her.

‘Yes well, I may have some good-ish news in that department,’ Grace nodded, ‘The weapon was an improvised truncheon. Now improvised weapons usually indicate a disorganised individual, but on this occasion the weapon actually shows the opposite. He used something that requires criminal sophistication. This guy used a sock filled with sand. It’s a simple but effective weapon. It's not one that comes to mind unless you’ve been in a situation where you’ve had to learn to make a weapon out of nothing before,’ she smiled proudly. They continued to look at her, confused, so she elaborated; ‘I think this guy’s been to prison. Which means he’s in the system, we can find him.’

Rossi’s phone rang and he answered after a quick glance at the Caller ID. ‘Yes? Yeah everyone’s here, yeah I’ll put you on speaker hang on-’ Rossi held his phone out, and they gathered around it, ‘-Go ahead Emily.’

‘I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is there are only five rooms at the inn, so more of us are going to have to share. The worse news is that there are only five rooms because room one’s key was left in the drop box this morning before the office opened and the guests’ car was gone. Now the manager assumed they had checked out, but when the cleaner arrived this afternoon, the Giles family’s belongings were still inside the room.’

‘Well, that’s not good,’ Rossi voiced what they were all thinking.

Grace's mind raced, it made sense why they weren’t reported missing; this family was on vacation, they weren’t expected to be anywhere. The Unsub still had the parents, they couldn’t report the kids missing, they might not even know their kids are dead.

Prentiss continued, ‘Hotel manager says the Giles family were a family of four staying one night. Mom, dad and two boys, one around 15, one around 12 with crutches. Garcia got the 411 on them, the Giles are originally from Minneapolis, she can confirm the boys and the father have type one Brittle Bone Disease. Garcia is searching for their car as we speak. We also have moved our base of operations to the inn and called in State troopers to meet us and the sheriff there. We need to give the profile as soon as possible; we’re dealing with a family annihilator.’

-------

Next Chapter

Note: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this and that you like Avery and Dr Boland, we'll be seeing them and a few other OCs a fair bit in this story. If you love it, or even just like it, please leave a comment and/or like, it is much appreciated and it really motivates me.

TWs:

Ablesim: this is the big one. Unsub is targeting physically disabled people and it is suggested that these murders could be hate crimes. It is not explored why the unsub has this view point in this chapter but it doesn't really matter. It's never justifiable at all to hate like that. unsub is horrible and delusional. Be warned for ick factor.

Child death: sadly the victims are kids.

Violence, gore, crime scene depiction: these all go together, I don't think I'm too graphic, but Agent Matthews goes to the crimes scene and she replays the events in her head. it's a brief depiction of how the children were murdered.

Kidnapping: there is a scene with our unsub who is currently with the kids' parents, who have been kidnapped. He threatens them and is just generally creepy.

#oc #OC Grace Matthews #BAU #criminal minds #mentor spencer #big brother spencer #spencer gets a happy ending #the protege #the protege chapter 4 #fanfic #my fic #criminal minds case #spencer reid

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sugarcomatosed · 4 years ago

Note

i love your stories so much!! and was wondering if you can give some writing tips perhaps? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Breaking this up into sections for you + putting it under a cut cause I went overboard. 😅

General Writing Tips

These work for both academic and creative writing.

Make an outline.

It doesn't have to be a formal one, but having at least a general idea of the scenes you want to include is helpful. If I know my fic is going to be a longer one (like Don't Hesitate was and my current WIP is), I break down the larger story beats i want to hit on a piece of paper or my iPad.

It's good to know what you're planning to do, in a any piece I usually have a single specific scene I want to do and depending on what it is, I might either just do the scene I want to or turn into something longer.

Draft, draft, draft.

I cannot stress the importance of going through and reviewing your work. This is a big part of any sort of writing.

Your first idea isn't always your best idea. As you work on a piece you might find your original idea is holding you back, focus shifts! Don't be afraid to let your work change as you go. It's not always easy to let go of your original idea but if you find it's not working, you have to let it change. Sections will need to be rewritten, things have to be readjusted to fit with later sections. Reread for clarity while you're drafting and look to see if this makes sense to you, or reads well to you. If you can't follow it and you wrote it, chances are your reader can't either. Did you use the same phrase again and again? Find and search it on your doc to double check.

Sometimes you have to cut things you really like because they just don't contribute to the fic anymore. Save those bits and use them somewhere else!In a lot of my longer pieces I will write a paragraph, realize that's not where it should go and cut/paste it into another part of the doc because the pacing/scene doesn't make sense where I had it originally, but it works somewhere else.

If you're stuck, skip around, come back and then stitch the bits you have written together.

Don't Focus on a Word Count

This might be controversial, but I'm of the opinion just because something is longer does not make it better. Some works are short, and that's okay! I very rarely try to aim for a specific count of words unless it's for a prompt exchange or a personal challenge. I write till I feel the piece is done. Some stories require more words, some require less.

Don't Hesitate is a great example of this again, because all I wanted to do was a bittersweet first kiss fic, but jumping write into the kiss wouldn't get the full effect I wanted. Meanwhile, with Old Habits all I wanted to do was write dumb comedic kisses, we didn't need a 2k preamble.

Get Someone You Trust to Edit

My go to editor for the past six years or so is one of my good friends. She has edited everything from college papers to my fics for me before I post them to read for clarity, find any funky phrases or misspelled words I missed, and I do the same for her when she asks! A fresh set of eyes makes a world of a difference. Find someone to trade fics with or ask a friend! They might have good suggestions you never thought of, or be able to tell what you were going for when you don't even know yourself.

I also rely on my friends a lot to brainstorm and talk my ideas out before I start because it helps me think and figure out what I need. It's super common for me to text someone and say "im gonna spitball at you, that okay?" and then spend twenty minutes chatting through my ideas.

Have Reference Material

For my 13sar fics, I regularly go back and review/screenshot videos of the dialogue to make sure I am staying consistent with story events, character nuance and small details. You don't have to go crazy, but it is really helpful to have your source material to go back to and check yourself against. In non creative writing I always had a pile of papers highlighted with my own notes on the margins.

Take Breaks/Pace Yourself

Know your own limits, and if you are working and working on something and it's not coming out leave it alone and come back to it. I'm really bad at this personally because when I get an idea in my head I want to see it through but sometimes you gotta step back! It's not healthy to keep working on things and overwork yourself. Stretch, get up go for a walk.

Write What You Want to Write

Don't focus on what people want to read. Focus on what you like. Find a topic, a scene, anything that you are passionate about and the rest will follow. The only time I write fic for other people is when I am writing for a friend. Even prompt requests I only take open ended ones, if I am not interested in writing it it's not gonna happen. I know it's super hard and I get really anxious sometimes about letting people down now, or worrying people won't like something but then I step back and remind myself this is a hobby and I'm doing it for fun.

Play to Your Strengths

You shouldn't try to write like me, you should try to write like yourself. Find what skills you have and use them to your advantage!

I can't give you a step by step list to write like me, because nobody in the world has my background! We're all unique. Everything I've listed so far I know because I'm not a beginner anymore! I'm in my twenties and have come from a strong academic writing background.

I took on an intensive course load in high school, and then went onto college for a sociology degree. I very rarely had test based finals and at the end of each semester would have five 10-15 page papers to submit. Straight up some of my skills come from having read and studied the works of anthropologist Clifford Geertz. I am not saying you should read anthropology/sociology texts. Unless you like that sort of thing lol

I also have 6+ years of theater experience (acting & directing), I use this all the time for my writing. When I think about a scene, I think about how I would work through it as an actor, how the character would move, and how would things read to an audience. The GOTE ("Goal, Obstacle, Tactics, and Expectation") method of acting by Robert Cohen is really useful hear if you want a more technical breakdown of what I mean by that.

This leads to a lot of what we called "business" in acting, doing small tiny things while you talk or move around on stage to give the sense you're a real human. I don't have to think or try on these sort of things because they're in my skill set already!

Things I do Personally

As in, these are not transferable skills this is just the stuff I do while working on projects.

Find a Vibe™️

I come into any fic with usually a goal I want to hit, a line of dialogue or something I want to capture. Just like, the general idea of a feeling a song even if the lyrics don't match up. Make a mood-board, a playlist, just find something you wanna do. It's less about the actual words on the page and what you're aiming to do.

Look to things that inspire you

Don't Hesitate got written because I wanted to write a fic that captured the same vibe as a scene in Macross Frontier, where two characters have a bittersweet kiss before the final battle and that scene still has me fucked up six years after watching it.

My current WIP is doing the same thing but with the song All I've Ever Known from Hadestown. Two characters working through loneliness, the sudden feeling of falling in love and the frustration that feeling can bring on sometime.

I don't plagiarize them word for word, but these are scenes that inspire me! I also patchwork quilt ideas together. Using Don't Hesitate again, I also ended up pulling from a bunch of shoujo anime, Toradora, Sailor Moon, Yona of the Dawn, Princess Tutu...specific scenes I enjoy to blend and create something new.

Goof Off While You Write

I name my documents stupid things, I write dumb placeholder dialogue or vague sentiments like "insert better word here", I make memes when I'm struggling and roast myself and my predictable tastes.

I spent twenty minutes texting a friend Juro's name with different letters spelt out and then the "fuck your chickenstrips" vine saying it was Juro during destruction. Just have fun with it!

Listen to J-POP On Loop for Hours at a Time

i am not kidding I do this all the time. Perfume, AKB48, anime idol osts, Sailor Moon's OPs/ED, vocaloid songs. I like technopop and Japanese is good because it usually doesn't distract my brain since I only know random phrases, but still know what the meaning og the song is.

I love music, it helps me vibe out.

Thank you so much for enjoying my work ;o;

I hope this is useful to you in some way! I'm so sorry it's so long winded but I am overly thorough and love to teach people ;w;

#sugar speaks #sugar writes #okay to reblog

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samanthadalton · 4 years ago

Note

You’re latest Ina Fanfic was sooo lush! Can you write one where Ina and MC bump into each other in NYC on Christmas Eve? Just think that would be super romantic ❤️

hi anon, im sorry it took a while, im slowly trying to get back into my requests, hope you enjoy ❤️

pairings: Ina x Bea

taglist: @cloud9in @kulaykape @citybornchick @helpconfusedpersonhere @astrangeandunusualgirl @jenxespinoza @thedaft1 (added people from my ina taglist if you wanna be added in future fics let me know 😊)

word count: 1.7k

Holiday tour date

You wade through the busy streets of New York as the streets are in full pandemonium, as patrons roam the streets, most likely doing their last minute christmas shopping. You take a minute to watch the looks on their faces, so full of worry, so far from the christmas cheer they’ll most likely plaster on their faces tomorrow morning. As you look around the streets you see a woman who kinda looks like Ina, she even has the same glasses as Ina- wait… that IS Ina. What is the coincidence that you’ll bump into her on Christmas Eve???

You’re about to approach her, until you notice the crestfallen expression on her face, her corner of her lips drawn downwards as she wishfully stares up at bustling crowds. After a few more moments of deliberation you decide to take the plunge and approach Ina, after all it's Christmas Eve and no one should be sad on Christmas Eve.

“Hey stranger.” You announce as you edge closer to her. As if startled by the sound of your voice, Ina jerks her head towards your direction, her eyebrows shot up.

“Bea!” She looks at you like you’re not real, unable to hide the sound of surprise in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw you from across the street and decided to say hi to my favourite professor.” You give her a sweet smile and see some of the shock dissipate from her face, as her expression softens and relaxes.

“I meant what are you doing in New York?” She quirks an eyebrow up at you. “I thought you said you were going home for the holidays?”

You sigh sadly, and pointedly glance away, “yeah, I was planning on going home a couple of days ago but there’s a storm back at home so all flights got cancelled.” You give her an empty smile, sadness swimming in your eyes as you draw your gaze back to her. She frowns slightly, her expression solemn as she looks at you apologetically.

“I’m sorry to hear that. What about your roommate Zoey? Surely you aren’t spending Christmas alone?”

You are but for some reason you don’t want Ina to know that so you give Ina a teasingly smile and retort, “wouldn’t you like to know?” Ina huffs, her cold breath clouds out of her mouth as she does, and you can’t help but smile. “So what are you doing here professor?”

Ina gazes at you, a calculating look on her face, and you can almost feel her building the walls around you, but as the intensity of your gaze darkens, Ina sharply inhales before running a hand through her hair.

“Lexi decided to crash my Christmas Eve party and try to parade me around my colleagues like I’m some trophy she’s just won.” At the mention of Lexi you feel your blood beginning to boil, that try hard wouldn’t know what’s good for Ina even if it slapped her in the face, and with how arrogant she acts, you would just love to give her a nice slap on her stupid face. Ina glances over to see your fists balled up and places a sweet hand on yours, her fingers gently rubbing soothing circles on your knuckles. “Something the matter?” You see the amusement glistening in her eyes which just frustrates you more.

“No.”

“Are you sure,” she playfully asks, and you feel the walls she put up before, crashing down as she teases you.

“Lexi needs to get a job and stay away from you,” you grumble.

“She’s a renowned anthropologist.”

You sigh, “no, it’s a saying.” You relax your hand opening it up and Ina slips her hand into yours, fingers intertwining. You’re not sure if she’s purposely done it or not. “Enough about Lexi, I don’t want to hear about her anymore than I have to.”

Ina flashes you a wide grin, “and what do you suppose we do?”

“It’s Christmas Eve, why don’t we live a little?” You gently tug Ina towards you, her slender fingers tightening against your hand even more. “It’s my first Christmas in New York, why don’t you show me around?”

“Okay, but be warned this won’t be an ordinary tour, where we go to the conventional places every other tourist goes. I’m going to give you the full New York experience.” Ina’s gaze darkens and just as the air surrounding the two of you begins to feel dense with anticipation, she pulls you out of your trance as she trudges along the soft snow begins to cover the ground.

Ina first takes you to a food stand where she orders apple pie nachos for you to share

“What the hell is apple pie nachos?”

“You’re about to find out.”

The vendor hands Ina a box and she slips a $20 bill in his tip box and places her hand on the small of your back to guide you away from the stall as other customers begin to order. You look at Ina as if she’s heaven sent, your heart unable to take the softness overload of this woman.

Ina licks her thumb after opening the box and raises a confused eyebrow at you, “what?”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a saint?”

Ina lets out a small laugh as she hands you the box, “everyone could use something extra during the holiday.”

You take the box, your fingers brushing against hers as you do, “so this is the famous apple pie nachos?” You inhale the sweetness of the food, your entire body going into sensory overload just by the smell of the cooked apple infiltrating your nose. You lift up one of the nacho pieces and all but moan when you crunch into the apples, “oh my god this is heaven.” Ina watches you eat, as her gaze drifts down to your lips and when you catch you, you catch her cheeks dusting with red. “You want a bite?” You take a piece of the nachos and hold your hand out to her, inviting her to have a taste. Ina leans forward, her eyes never leaving yours as she wraps her lips around the piece of food and all makes a satisfied groan and she relishes in the taste.

“Mmm.” You feel transfixed by the way her tongue darts out to lick the glaze on her lips, unable to look away. Ina’s lips quirk up a little and you feel like it’s your turn to be flushing red. Once you finish the box you look at the time on your phone.

“Don’t you think it’s getting late? You should be getting home.” You try and hide the sadness that’s lurking in your tone. Ina’s eyes search yours, before she gives you a small smile.

“Why would I leave now when I haven’t even shown you the best part?” You feel your heart doing somersaults as Ina’s hand finds yours once again and she pulls you into a cab and whisks you away to an unknown place.

…

“Trust me Bea, it will be worth it.” You trudge behind Ina, your legs beginning to burn as you walk up a secluded hill, you mentally groan and berate yourself for not being fitter but you don’t mind the view of Ina’s ass in front of you and she effortlessly ambles up the hill. “Almost there.”

Once you reach the top you triumphantly cheer, your legs slumping over as you sit on the slope of the hill looking out to the rest of New York, the brightness of the christmas lights glowing every inch of the town.

“Wow.” You breathlessly say as Ina sits next to you, your legs brushing together.

“Wow indeed.” Ina wistfully gazes at the town, her eyes contemplative. You bask in the silence for a few moments, reflecting back on the night you’ve had so far with Ina. It’s been a while since you’ve seen her so free, so careless. Ina breaks the silence, when she speaks her voice is low and soft.

“Charlotte loves christmas, so does Lillian.” You hum as you recollect the time Ina told you about her sister and niece, you remember the cheerful glint in her eyes as she told you about the time she took her niece to a theme park. “Sometimes Lillian gets mad when I place work over her, but sometimes I have to sacrifice things for the sake of my career.” In your peripheral vision you see her eyes move to yours, filled with sadness and longing. She sighs dolefully before speaking out again. “It’s why I love Christmas so much, it gives me an excuse to be with my family and put them first no matter what.”

“Ina?” Ina hums in response. “If spending Christmas with your family is so important, why are you here with me right now?” You gaze up at her, anticipating her answer. You see a smile ghost around her lips as she meets your eyes, her brown eyes glistening under the reflection of the lights, “because we should all have some company during the holidays. I can’t imagine how you’ve been feeling without your family.”

You nonchalantly shrug, trying too hard not to think about being away from them, “it is what it is I guess. I can’t control the weather. But thank you Ina. Tonight was great.”

“Bea,” your name escapes her lips in a breathy fashion, “I know that this,” she gestures between the two of you, “is unconventional to say the least. But you must know I,” she pauses, her eyebrows furrowed together as she looks away from you, unable to finish her sentence.

You cup her chin, bringing her gaze back on yours, “I know Ina. Let’s just forget about everything else tonight. Right now we’re just two people with a connection we can’t ignore.”

“Right,” she nervously chews on her bottom lip before leaning down, capturing your lips in a soft and slow kiss. Before she can pull away, you lean in more, your hands hooking around her neck as you draw her in closer, the kiss becoming more fuelled as she slips her tongue into yours and you involuntarily moan. You enjoy the sensation of her lips on yours for a few more moments before pulling apart resting your forehead against hers. “Merry Christmas Ina.”

“Merry Christmas Bea.”

#playchoices #queen b #ina x mc #ina kingsley #request #hope you enjoy!!!

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b1ksh88p · 5 years ago

Text

Guts and Roses

Plot: Jesse hired you to clean up crime scenes. This time you were stuck cleaning up boob implants and stomach bile after a gruesome murder. All was well, you never crossed paths with him and didn’t mind it. That is when he accidentally forgot something important lodged into the girls torso leading to a unexpected visit from the man himself. (This was supposed to be practice for suspense soooo if it’s ass I apologize)

Warnings: Gore/Cursing/Implied Necro (nothing happens lmao)

It started with good intentions. You were a forensic anthropologist/medical examiner for the Florida PD, truly the best of the best. To bad all that knowledge and expertise was wasted. The whole system was corrupt. From dirty cops to crook politicians there was no such thing as reform. The entire system was fucked. Sometimes you’d get bodies without organs despite them not being organ donors. So many people came through and cases piled up. You felt more like a mortician than a forensic anthropologist. It made you feel horrible for the victims but after a few years you just let it pass you.

To make some extra cash on the side you put your services up for hire on the deep web. At first you were sure you were gonna get caught by the FBI but it seemed like a lot of sickos in Florida needed someone to clean their mess. They’d do their business, call you in, you’d take pictures for some blackmail, then do your job. You carefully instructed that they leave the cash in a plastic bag. The price varied on a few things. The floors material, the square feet, severity of stains, chemical cleaning cost, etc. were all factored into the final price. She made a good 5 grand off one easy clean up. A pretty good gig although certainly nausea inducing for the faint of heart.

This Jesse guy was no different than the rest of them. A rich weirdo with mommy issues who had a knack for snuff films. Nothing new. Sometimes you thought about watching one of the films just to see what all the talk was about. You got what was left of some bodies but you don’t really get the full picture from a crime scene or a cold corpse. There was a morbid curiosity. Ever since you’ve taken jobs for him you’ve wanted to see it. See him in action. You wondered if he got off to it. If he had a ritual, what his motives were. Along with playing music you could think about the crazed Chromeskull to help past the time. What a lame name. Surely the guy wasn’t that scary with a stupid name like that.

After scrubbing the blood splatter with your own secret mix you let it sit for a bit and get to work on the floor. First you dispose of all the guts, chunks of flesh, and silicon implants into a acid mix. Then you move onto mopping up the blood and other bodily fluids released by the body. She was completely torn apart. Her rib cage exposed as if the Jesse guy was looking for something inside her. Admittedly you were kinda grossed out. You much rather worked for the Collector. At least he had a bit of interesting presentation. This Chromeskull guy was just a fucking monster. The girl must’ve done something to piss him off if he got this mad.

After staring you get out some plastic wrap and cover the bathroom in it. After that you start cutting her limbs one by one and placing them in your special acid mix. One score was the bitches jewelry. Sick looks like Chromefuck left a lil tip. If this shit was real you could totally pawn it after her case turned cold.

You were just about to decapitate her when you heard the doorknob jiggle. You always locked the doors behind you, it was a safety precaution. You didn’t want to have to clean up another body for free. At first you just ignored it. Maybe the person would go away when they figured out no one was here. Suddenly a fury of hard knocks rammed upon the thin door. You get up. Whoever was trying to get inside sure as hell weren’t the friendly type. You think to grab your gun but your dumbass left it on the counter outside. All you had was a bone saw, and by the sound of it you were gonna need a tank.

After a serious of loud thumps the rickety chain snapped sealing your fate. You huddle into the bathtub and slide the shower curtain to conceal you. Whoever he was he was strong enough to open the door but oddly stealthy enough to muffle his steps because after the chain snapped and the door flung open you didn’t hear shit. For a moment you thought you were in the clear, that whatever they wanted they got and left. You start to slowly stand up before a sound makes your knees buckle in place. The same pounding from before was right outside the door. You freeze. Your entire body wanted to flee but there was nowhere to go. The door flings open like it was a piece of paper. On the other side of the curtain you heard shallow breaths. Whoever it was was pissed. For a second there was silence. It felt like you had held your breath for what seemed like a eternity before you heard the grossest sounds ever. It was the sound of flesh being strained and bothered with. Meat and congealed bodily fluids churning around echoed off the walls. You wanted to gag. Was he...was he fucking it?

All of a sudden the sounds came to a abrupt stop. You watch in pure horror as he tears the shower curtain asunder. A gloved hand grabs at your crinkly clean up suit and you instinctively swipe at it with your bone saw. Lucky for him in your fear ridden haze you miss. “Gah! What the fuck do you want?!?” You shriek pointing the blade at the mask. Definitely believed the hype around this guy he was fucking terrifying. For a moment he just stared at you, possibly thinking if he should kill you for the stunt you just pulled. To your surprise he recoiled and calmly began to sign.

‘I thought you’d be finished. It’s been 3 hours’

Before you can stop yourself you scoff. “I don’t rush you when you’re making pulled pork.” When you noticed what you said you felt the color leave your body. Everyone always said your attitude would one day get the best of you. Now you were about to become the star of a snuff film lucky you. Instead of slamming your face into the tiles until it resembled strawberry purée his shoulders raised up and down...he was laughing.

‘Touché, well doll I’m looking for something. The stupid cunt swallowed it.’

Did you even want to know the gruesome details? Yes, but you didn’t need this sicko thinking you admired him. You were merely intrigued. Anyone would be even just a little. Or at least that’s what you told yourself. “Want me to...help?” You treaded carefully. You didn’t need him getting angry that a woman wanted to help. Some men saw it as pity and got all pissy and acted like they were Alpha males. He shrugs. It seemed like metal head didn’t mind a lady getting down and dirty. Good cuz it was your fucking job.

‘Knock yourself out Princess.’

You step out from the safety of the tub and dig into the mush of the torso. You can feel him looming over you. Cold eyes boring into your skin as you searched in silence. It hit you.

“What am I looking for exactly?” You ask turning to him.

‘A sim card, the stupid bitch swallowed it thinking I’d spare her or something.’

“Clearly her plan didn’t work out.” You let out a wry laugh. That wasn’t funny. Oh god why were you comfortable saying weird shit around this guy. You kept focus on finding the little black card. It was lodged in a piece of her small intestine that he had missed during his rampage. When you turn to announce your findings he’s crouched down in front of you. “I...I got your sim c-card...” you try and mask the fear in your voice but failed. Why was he so close? How’d he keep moving so silently? You tense up as he slowly signs to you.

‘I wanna see you without the mask.’

Your heart sunk but a stupid smile was on your face. Is that all? The sicko just wanted to see her face? But why? You’d only worked a few jobs for him. This was the first time you’d met face to face. Was he joking?

‘But not now. I’ll let you get back to work.’ He stood and dusted himself off. When he outstretched a gloved hand you thought he was just waiting for you to hand over his precious SIM card so you did just that. With like zero effort he hoisted you up to your feet. He hands you a card and takes his property before leaving you alone in the penthouse. You read the card and furrow your brow. On the back there was a message. When you read it aloud it made your skin crawl.

“I’m always watching you”

What the hell have you gotten yourself into???

#chromeskull #slasher #horror #slashers #jessecromeans #slasher x reader #slasher x s/o #potential series maybe idk #im not good at writing lmao

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notalwaysthevillian · 5 years ago

Text

Say My Name, Say My Name

@cloverlyanxious I was your Secret Santa!! <3

Pairing: Romantic Intrulogical, Platonic Creativitwins

Prompt: They have to say each other’s name to figure out they’re soulmates.

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: Remus is mentioned (I guess he’s sympathetic but that’s your call), talk of dead bodies, Remus calls Logan ‘Daddy’ as a joke, kissing, let me know if there’s anything else

After living for his roommate for an entire school year, Logan thought he would never be surprised again. Roman was extremely spontaneous, often dragging Logan off to events that he’d heard only about that morning. It was something Logan had grown accustomed to over the year, to the point where he didn’t bother to make plans on any given day.

So when he walked in on the first day of sophomore year to find someone who looked a bit like Roman but also...not sitting on his bed, he was proven wrong.

“...hi?”

“Lo!” Roman called from where he’d been hanging up stuff in the closet. “Meet my bro. Re, this is Logan.”

Re laughed at the rhyme, hard enough that his white strip of hair fell into his face. He flicked his head, getting it out of his face. “Nice to meet you, Lo.”

“He’s the nerdiest guy you’ll ever meet.”

While those words may have been an insult to some people, Roman knew that Logan took them as a compliment.

“Remus is transferring to our school.” Roman continued to pile clothing in the closet. “He’s dorming over in Rockwell though.”

“Oh. What’s your major?” Logan asked.

Remus shrugged. “I’m undeclared right now. But I wanna do something gross. You know, like work with dead bodies or cut ‘em open or something.”

“There’s a lot of options there. You could be a coroner, or a forensic anthropologist, or...most of the science majors.” Logan listed off, grabbing the course catalogue and flipping through it. “You’d have to be alright with a bunch of labs though.”

When no one responded, Logan looked up to find the brothers staring at him. “What?”

“No one has ever reacted like that when I tell them I want to do something gross.”

Roman nodded, a glittery sweater in his hands. “No one really gets my brother except for me.”

“There is a need for doing the jobs that people deem ‘gross’.” Logan made air quotes. “If no one did that work, there would be problems. For example, trash collectors are vastly undervalued. If no one picked up trash, it would collect in the streets and make the world a disgusting mess.”

“I just really wanna pick up some guts.”

Logan laughed, setting the book down. “To each their own. Now if you’re going to lay on my bed, the least you can do is help me make it up.”

Remus wiggled his eyebrows, but before he could say anything Roman threw a scarf at his face. “No sex jokes in here. This is a safe zone.”

“Fiiiine.”

Over the next month, the Logan learned a lot more about Remus. For one, he learned that he and Roman shared the same penchant for nicknames. Remus never called him by his first name, which was rare in their society. Normally people wanted to find their soulmates quickly, but Remus didn’t seem to care about soulmates.

When Logan asked him about it, he merely shrugged. “I’ll find them eventually. And if I don’t, I don’t.”

That was something Logan could respect. He also didn’t really care about finding his soulmate, which had been a point of contention between him and Roman when they’d first met. He’d refused to call Roman by his full first name for months, before it had finally slipped out. By then, Roman was relieved that they weren’t soulmates.

Remus had borrowed a handful of nicknames from his brother, namely ‘nerd’ and ‘brainiac’ but he’d also come up with quite a few of his own.

“Hey, Nerdy Wolverine, can you pass me the popcorn?”

“Sure, Re.”

Logan was not one for nicknames. He would, however, call people whatever it was they preferred to be called. Which, in Remus’s case, was Re.

“Sorry, Re, I’m not good at Psych.” Logan heard one day when he came back to their room.

“Psychology is my major.” Logan said as he tossed his backpack on the floor by his desk. “Perhaps I can be of assistance?”

“Oh, Logster, that would be awesome!”

So Logan began to help Remus with his Intro to Psych class. Remus was excellent at remembering terms, so long as Logan related it back to something ‘gross’.

“Who was Pavlov?” Logan asked. He was quizzing Remus in one of the back corners of the library, where they wouldn’t be bothered.

“He was the guy with the dogs.” Remus signed ‘dog’ as he said this.

It was another thing he and Logan had been working on. Sometimes Remus made crude gestures, so Logan was working on getting him to sign instead. Which had led to Remus learning dirty words in sign language, but at least most of the general public didn’t know what he was saying.

“He would ring a bell when it was dinnertime or something, and then the dogs started to associate the bell with dinner.”

Logan put the flashcard into the correct pile, before picking up the single card in the incorrect pile. “Skinner?”

“The pigeon man.”

“But what did he do?”

“Um…reinforcement?”

Logan nodded, uncrossing his legs. “Positive reinforcement is?”

“When you get a good thing after doing a thing, which makes you do the thing more often.”

“Not the terms I would’ve used, but yes.” Logan shook his head, marvelling at how Remus’s brain worked. “And negative reinforcement?”

“Pretty much the same thing, just the other way. You get a bad thing for not doing a thing.”

“And punishment?”

Remus shot him a grin. “What, like ‘spank me, Daddy’?”

Logan gave him a deadpan stare. “Re.”

He huffed, blowing his white streak into the air. “Punishment makes you not do the thing.”

“Good.” Stretching, Logan picked up the set of flashcards. “I think you’re ready for your test.”

Sitting up, Remus gave him a real smile. It wasn’t the smile he had after a joke, or a smile he would plaster on his face to make someone uncomfortable. It was genuine. “Thanks, Logan.”

“Anytime, Remus.”

A jolt seemed to spark through Logan’s skin, making his eyes widen. He snapped his head up to meet Remus’s eyes, which were also wide. “Did you -”

“-feel that?” Remus finished, nodding vigorously. “What do we do now?”

“I believe it’s customary to take one’s soulmate to dinner, but we’ve had plenty of those together.” Logan said, blushing as Remus crawled closer to him. “What are you -”

“I’m going to kiss you.” The phrase was blunt, just like most of what Remus said. “Unless you tell me not to.”

Logan couldn’t help but grin as Remus settled in his lap.

“Now why would I do that?”

#romantic intrulogical #platonic creativitwins #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #logan sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #kissing

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vellichorom · 4 years ago

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What are your favorite characters from all three games? (or four, if you wanna count Ultra Despair Girls)

-- anonymous asked.

EXCELLENT QUESTION !!!! ( & truly I do love questions like this ) despite me not having played / seen much of ULG, I’ll still try to give you a favorite !!!

tdlr; twinkie states her favorites which are already rather predictable & talks about them while on a tangent

IT’S A LITTLE LONG BUT I JUST HAVE A LOT TO SAY !!!!

I’LL START WITH TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC FOR THE HELL OF IT !!!

it’s byakuya togami. always byakuya togami.

OK PARTIALLY IT IS but seriously speaking- I think there’s something to like about MOST of the characters, save for a select few. alongside byakuya, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed toko’s erratic behavior & I think she just deserves a LOT better. I found myself going to visit & hang out with her in game a lot more than I initially expected to? & I literally just want her to thrive

I EXTREMELY appreciate junko enoshima for her nasty little antics & I thought she was a great antagonist that just really makes you think? BUT after going through danganronpa: IF, I also SUPER adore mukuro & the goal that these twisted sisters began to strive for & what it became in that universe; I SUPER hope mukuro was able to give junko the despair she deserved, but not in a good way :thumbs_up: & OF COURSE I really like monokuma as a general mascot for the game, another NASTY little creature that just makes things so enjoyable with his wacky-tackyness it’s also just an interestingly kind of disturbing to know that THIS is the mascot for a whole bunch of horror & murder & I do enjoy actually being creeped out by him

AGAIN THOUGH, everybody-- ESPECIALLY in trigger happy havoc has something to enjoy about them & I catch myself thinking about characters like chihiro, hifumi, mondo, celeste, & ishimaru a whole lot even just based on their designs

THAT BEING SAID !!!! let’s now move on to danganronpa 2: goodbye despair ( which is my new FAVORITE danganronpa game )

-- the ultimate impostor, BUT WE PROBABLY EXPECTED THAT ONE DIDN’T WE !!!! I did actually just buy the games to see them, admittedly, but I was pleasantly surprised by the range of likeable characters that came with them?

it’s a shameful thing to admit, but I am slowly growing attached to....... komaeda he’s a funky little man & while I don’t entirely understand his whole... thing ??? I like how he’s just there to cause problems ALSO TERUTERU, I REALLY like TERUTERU though I actually thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he was able to kill & his motive for doing so, I wish he could have stuck around longer? he’s such a horrible little creep but the crudeness of his character just made me laugh a whole lot THERE WAS A BIG NASTY GAP HE LEFT IN MY HEART WHEN HE GOT SAUTEED Y’ALL......

nekomaru ???? a friend a friend full of shit but nonetheless a friend & he could suckerpunch me into the sun ALSO HIYOKO, I LOVE the horrible little bully characters & she is just ??? AWFUL !!!! though I greatly appreciated the moments when she & mahiru were getting along, they’re super cute && chiaki & monomi & gundham & fuyuhiko & kazuichi & hajime !!!! they’re all WONDERFUL & left me really interested regarding all their characters!

DANGANRONPA V3 LET’S GO

shamefully? korekiyo comes to mind first I HAD HEARD OF HIS. “ plot twist “ LONG before I actually got to know the character, & the disgusting shock makes me like ??? really sad because he seems like such a generally cool, a little creepy guy & then chinsoft had to take it up to THAT level. nasty shit. DESPITE HIS INFATUATIONS, I found myself going to him the most still ?? JUST BECAUSE I really enjoyed his concept as just this weird anthropologist dude who wants to tell what he knows like an old man with stories to tell chinsoft, we COULD have left it at that why couldn’t we have left it at that

TSUMUGI !!! tsumugi has recently become a favorite of mine-- IRONICALLY moreso through playing around with a pal of mine who roleplays her on discord, & knowing how important her role truly is makes me super interested in her? MONOKUBS !!!!! I found myself enjoying the monokubs a LOT more than I thought I would, & I’m partial to monosuke, monotaro, & monodam !

OH MIU !!!!! MIU MIU MIU MIU because I ALSO make horrible jokes & have people glare at me & make me cry /j JOKES ASIDE, she’s !!! cute !!! & I love that she’s not all rough & tumble, with clear insecurities & I literally just want her to stop being bullied, I also can’t get by in the morning without my danganronpa:tm: crudeness & she provides a Healthy Dose of that kokichi & gonta !!! MY FRIEND ACTUALLY GOT ME INTO GONTA & I’m just at the brink of chapter 3 & I’m SO afraid to see them interact more & screw each other over

tenko & kiibo & himiko & angie & shuichi also have my focus too.... THEY’RE REAL GOOD...........

&& FINALLY !!!! UDG !!!!!

toko still retains all of my uwus I’M ALSO PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN JATARO & KOTOKO, I mean ALL the warriors of hope deserve so much better than what they got but I relate so HEAVILY with jataro & I literally just want to give kotoko the best in life

you know who I’m SUPER curious about though? shirokuma & kurokuma I HOPE TO FIND OUT BY PLAYING MYSELF ONE DAY BUT.... rogue kumas.......?

but goddammit junko look what you did, everyone’s got ANXIETY

BUT YEAH !!!! THOSE ARE THE BIG FAVORITES !!!!! THIS IS REALLY LONG & IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR YOU ARE MY HERO

#anonymous #twinkie talks #A VERY POGGERS QUESTION #this is a given but obviously I don't condone any of my favorites or their actions #HOW PREDICTABLE TWINKIE LOVES THE AWFUL PEOPLE #but know with every bit of love I have toward them they also get my hate #I Hate to Love them & Love to Hate them

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gokuchulainn · 4 years ago

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can i get uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh soulsilver star trek AU

so this has been sitting for ages but……I have thought on this! I’d probably set this in the time post events of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. I’m choosing to ignore the events of the Star Trek movie and the series Picard because quite frankly…no.

I guess the general arc would be:

Lyra is in Starfleet proper, but she works on a space station. It’s more Deep Space Nine-ish but without the “holy crap this wormhole” drama, but it’s a bit wild west out there. She’s essentially a Starfleet anthropologist assigned to catalog and take notes on the myriad of cultures drifting through. Her strong, vibrant personality and ability to quickly code-switch works well to get information about new cultures and foster good relations and respect.

Silver is a Romulan whose work (scavenging and repurposing space flotsam and jetsam) brings him to the station every so often. He’s very shifty about his work, which makes people who don’t know him think he’s Tal Shiar (Romulan secret police), but he’s just very private. He feels he’s a bad example of a Romulan–not that he wants other people to know that. He probably frequents the bar and can be spotted in lonely corners gazing out at the stars.

I imagine Lyra finds this frequent visitor curious. He probably rebuffs her a lot at first, telling her to buzz off (is she spying on him?) manages to befriend him by fluffing his ego at first, asking where his gear was from (he made it himself!) and the like. A Romulan is unlikely to talk at length about his culture unless in a pithy sense, so she tends to go for his personal achievements, and a friendship blooms from there.

They fall in love in a slow sense. They come from different cultures and have to learn how to communicate. Lyra is busy with work with Silver disappears for weeks or even months at a time. They start staying in contact even when he’s gone with long calls and messages. When Silver’s around, they spend virtually all their time together, and that first kiss probably has so much romantic tension and pining leading up to it.

They get together not long after the first kiss (that kinda love, you feel?) and live kind of this hectic life, and if Lyra transfers, Silver would choose to follow her wherever she goes. They honor both Lyra’s human traditions and Silver’s Romulan traditions, and I can see them with cats and lots of plants from both planets.

Fun notes/ideas/headcanons:

So much potential for Holodeck shenanigans. Showing each other favorite spaces. Lyra gets her childhood home programmed and shows him the quiet waters and waving grasses of her home on Earth. Silver shows her some of the most fantastic nebulae and some of the stark vistas from where he’s from on Romulus.

Lyra works with Kris, a high-achieving but mischievous Vulcan–mischievous by Vulcan standards, which is to say she isn’t too spicy, and Ethan, a laidback and humorous human man. Kris tends to the curation and organization of the data that Ethan and Lyra bring in, while also taking note of human…proclivities. Ethan absolutely tries to wingman Silver and Lyra, but fails spectacularly because he doesn’t know how Romulan courtship goes. Kris largely leaves the romance alone, but she isn’t adverse to talking to Ethan about how to properly wingman.

I imagine Giovanni is some power-grubbing senator on Romulus and Silver complains about his tactics a lot. Lyra has a good relationship with her mother and can’t relate, but they certainly share some drinks over that one. This also suggests Silver is part of the senatorial class and isn’t allowed to marry outside of it, but he’s just out there rejecting Romulan society. Silver’s a nerd rebel like that.

Silver probably spends a lot of time in isolated corners just gazing out windows at the great starry expanse, completely in wonder, listening to music and books. He loves the literature and arts of various cultures, (probably has a collection of Klingon opera) but virtually no one knows that, and if you do, you’re sworn to secrecy about it.

The thought of Lyra and Silver figuring out how to touch and show affection is just…very cute to me. This AU would be full of that. Gah. Now I wanna write it for real.

#soulsilvershipping #stariose #i wanna do sci fi with soulsilvershipping....it'd be so cute #idk everything is cute with them

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dw-writes · 5 years ago

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Dial Tone Devil - Chapter Three

Summary: Lucifer’s reputation of granting favors is the second best thing his known for. So when you ask for one - point blank - and offer him immediate repayment in the form of a coin he thought to be long gone, he immediately agrees. But you come with baggage, and series of suspicious circumstances, and Lucifer finds himself full invested in your story.

All because of a suspiciously familiar coin.

Interesting.

A/N: HI GUYS HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!! :D I’m....SO stoked about this series. It’s so much fun, I have a full plot from start to finish, and its??? UGH I’m excited. And I’m excited for this chapter! Because it’s interesting and dives into not only the main plot but the sub plot!! So!! I hope that you enjoy this chapter~!

IF YOU GUYS WANT TO FOLLOW THIS SERIES, LET ME KNOW AND ILL ADD YOU TO THE TAG LIST FOR IT!!!

Also, how do you guys like the new presentation? I think having the summary at the beginning really helps out! :D

Chapters: Chapter One || Chapter Two || Chapter Three || Chapter Four || Chapter Five || Chapter Six || Chapter Seven || Chapter Eight || Chapter Nine || Chapter Ten || Chapter Eleven || Chapter Twelve || Chapter Thirteen || Chapter Fourteen || Chapter Fifteen

More Content: Dial Tone Christmas || The Keys to Lux || Quarantine

To Tag: @revinval @spotgaai2000 @measure-in-pain @kittenlittle24 @broadwayandnetflix

You followed the case from the safety of the internet, Lucifer’s emoji filled texts, and wildly inappropriate pictures of the crime scene and suspects. For days, it was all that occupied your mornings, and afternoons you fell into the groove of managing Lux. Once the case was closed, it was all Lux all the time. And…well, running Lux was so much harder than it looked. Add being Lucifer’s personal assistant on top of it? It made your life a living Hell.

You laid down some ground rules after three weeks straight of nothing but Work: Monday and Tuesday you were Unavailable. You did not exist on Mondays and Tuesdays. Nothing, not even the end of the world, could get you off your couch between 12:00 AM Monday morning, to 11:59 PM Tuesday evening. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

So why were you standing in front of Lux in the middle of said unavailable Monday morning?

You clutched your beaten backpack in one hand as you struggled to dredge through the memories, staring up at the sleek silver sign of the club. It took time, but once you made it to the center of your Monday morning memory block, you recalled exactly why you had ended up at Lux’s front doors.

You withdrew from your classes to take the rest of the semester off, and evaluate if you even wanted to finish school. It was a blow to your pride. The meeting itself was difficult as you struggled not to cry while you explained to each of your professors that you needed to leave their classes. They gave the normal nods, the I understands, but you could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn’t expect you back. To them, you were just another drop out.

It made the upset anxiety turn into boiling anger.

You clutched your bag tighter, adjusted it on your back, and pushed the doors open to the club.

Maze was right where you expected her to be – behind the counter, taking inventory of the alcohol. She threw a cursory glance over her shoulder, then turned completely around, eyes only a fraction wider than normal. “You made Lucifer sign a piece of paper saying he couldn’t call you on Monday,” she pointed out.

You dropped your bag on the counter. “I left school,” you said.

She shrugged and set a glass on the counter before you. “Good,” she scoffed as she poured two fingers of the finest whiskey she had, “You were too good for that place.” She offered you the glass. When you declined, she took a sip instead. “A bunch of humans thinking they’re smarter than everyone else.” Her lip curled as she sucked on her teeth.

“Actually, that’s why I came by.” You upended your bag, sending a collection of old boxing wraps, gloves, and mitts scattering across the bar. “I wanna hit something.”

Maze moaned, taking in everything you had spilled on the counter. She looked up at you. “Have I told you that I enjoy you being here, yet?” She picked up the wraps. “You even practice safety in the gym.” She hissed, slow and sultry, and met your gaze.

Your jutted your jaw and widened your eyes. “Yeah, because I want ever trip to the gym to be oddly sexual,” you mumbled.

Maze scoffed and dropped the wraps. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“No, Mazikeen, that is not the point of the gym,” you sighed.

She squinted, and sipped her drink. “Then why do human women wear tight clothing there?”

There was another one. Human, said as if she wasn’t one, but merely observing another species. It reminded you of an anthropologist, and created disturbing images of Maze in a Jane Goodall hat. You pursed your lips in a lemon pout. You didn’t really like that image, but didn’t say anything. Let her keep her weird vocabulary.

You sighed and shook your head. “Why do you, Mazikeen?”

“Maze.” Her correction snapped you out of your thoughts. Before you could ask, she downed the rest of her drink. “Because I know that this,” she waved to her body, “Is delectable.” She slammed the glass onto the bar a little too hard. “It’s like a candy wrapper.”

“No.”

“You know, leather, and yoga pants.”

“That’s not it at all, Maze.”

“Sports bras.”

“Maze.”

“Especially the ones with the zipper in the front?”

You started to shove your work out gear back into the bag.

“Do you have sweat pants?” she asked. She tilted her head as she leaned on the bar. “Yoga pants?” You bounced a wrap roll off her shoulder.

“Stop,” you drawled impatiently. “I came to invite you, and now you’re being weird about it.” You shouldered the bag once everything was collected.

She sat up, spine straightening to the point that something popped. “Wait, you actually PAY to go use someone else’s equipment to work out?” she asked. You nodded, and earned a scoff. “No. No, no, no.” Maze rounded the bar and took your bag. “You can fight me. Here. Right now.” She pulled on a pair of target gloves. “I’ll teach you how to fight a hellion.”

So she did. She did just that for almost five hours. Maze decided that it was best to give you a break when you stumbled over your own feet, fell onto the steps of club, and couldn’t get back up.

“Are you beating up on our administration staff already, Maze?” You dropped your head back, and followed the motion until you were lying on the floor, to see Lucifer standing behind you. He was fixing a cufflink, and arched an eyebrow at your compromising position, with a smile worming across his face. “Oh, hello.”

Maze shouted your name from across Lux as she said, “Wanted to fight!”

Lucifer crouched to help you sit up, and took the space next to you. “Now, why the Me would you do something as silly as that?” he asked. He took your hand, undid your glove, and proceeded to roll your wraps off your scorching skin.

You heaved a heavy sigh, motioning to Maze. “She said it.”

“Well yes, but why?” he asked again. His fingers were cold on your wrist. Your pulse jumped. As the wrap left your hand and he started on the other one, you explained what happened. “No?” You mimicked the question, voice high and confused as he removed the second wrap completely. “No, why did you leave school? The point was to do school, and keep working!”

You yanked the things from his hands and stood. “One, I can’t do jack—”

“How about Jill?” Lucifer quipped. You rolled your eyes and headed back to the bar, shoving your items into the bag. Maze had come around the other side, and stared at her phone as she dumped ingredients into a blender. Before you could speak, she turned it on, stared at the chocolate brown concoction inside. Lucifer joined you at the bar to watch Maze stop the blender, pour the mixture into a tall glass, and drop it in front of you.

You arched an eyebrow. “What’s this?” you asked.

She shrugged. “A protein shake.” She looked at her phone. “This says its necessary for humans that work out, because like…muscle things, or whatever.” She looked back up at you. “I kicked your ass, you’re probably gonna be sore.” You tilted the glass towards you. “It’s chocolate,” Maze stated, “Don’t humans like chocolate?”

You sipped it. It was thick, and delicious, and so chocolatey you couldn’t taste the protein in it. You downed the shake without taking a break. It left a thin mustache of chocolate across your top lip. You sighed.

“Feel better?” Lucifer asked. You nodded slowly. “So, why did you leave school again?”

Maze whispered something you couldn’t hear as you turned to him ever so slowly. “Really?”

“Well, yes!” Lucifer adjusted his cufflink again. “I assumed you would continue during your employment here!”

You took a deep, slow inhale through your nose. Exhaled. Slid the glass towards Maze with a soft thank you, and went off:

“First of all, how am I supposed to do ANYTHING in my private life when I’m supposed to be at your beck and call twenty-four seven? Why do you think I demanded to have Monday and Tuesday off? Hm?” you shouted. Lucifer started to open his mouth. “That was rhetorical, you dingus. Secondly—” You snatched your bag off the bar to emphasis your words, “Secondly, I was failing. And it’s only for the semester.”

“What, how are you failing?” Lucifer asked. He tutted as you started to walk away, grabbing your arm and turning you back towards the bar. “No, no, no, sit. Explain.” He waved his hands. “Tell me everything!”

“It’s stupid, Lucifer—in fact, it’s already done, I talked to everyone I needed to this morning—”

“No, no, no!!” he protested again. He patted the bar. “First, you tell me what happened! And then we’ll figure out why.” He nodded, and turned to you with a satisfied look. “First rule of Detective School.”

You shook your head, but settled onto the stool he had perched you on, bag dangling from your fingers. “They just told me that my work wasn’t up to par,” you said. You shrugged. “That was it. I mean…it’s the same caliber of work I’ve been doing, better even, and I can’t…” You sighed and dropped your bag to cover your face.

When you looked back up, Maze and Lucifer were exchanging glances. The latter turned his attention back to you, a frown knitting his brow together. “What did you do in school, if I may ask?” he pondered.

“A little of everything?” you sighed. “I uh, I hadn’t really picked a major, but I had enough credits for, like…English, Criminal Justice, uh…a minor or two—”

“Why on Earth would you take so many classes, did you want to kill yourself?” he cut in.

You shrugged. “I have a plethora of unmedicated, and undiagnosed, mental illnesses that I tried to drown out with topics that I highly enjoyed,” you answered.

Maze knocked her knuckles against the bar. Lucifer hummed. “Right, so, we need to introduce you to Linda later, but please,” he shifted in his seat, “Continue.”

Your mouth tightened into an o of confusion as you stared at him. “What do you mean send me to…Linda?”

“Oh, well, Linda is this wonderful therapist I’ve been seeing while here on Earth, and if you say you have these mental illnesses – hold on, is that what you meant before by ‘brain thing’?”

“….Maybe. But that also wasn’t the point of this conversation,” you prompted. But you frowned. Pouted. Looked up at Lucifer. “Thank you,” you whispered.

He straightened his coat as he cleared his throat, tilting his head just a tad. “Oh, well, you’re quite welcome.”

“The school,” Maze cut in loudly.

You cleared your throat and nodded. “Yeah, uh…” You swallowed. “They just said my work wasn’t cutting it. All of them.” You frowned. “I just don’t understand, my work was….amazing. I mean, I had a ton of shorts stories for Creative Writing that my professor wanted to publish them? And my Criminology professor was going to write me a letter of recommendation for the police academy, so…” You sighed and stared at your hands. “This was just last semester, so I don’t know how things changed.”

Lucifer hummed. When you looked up, he was staring towards the ground in contemplation. “Interesting,” he murmured.

You shrugged, and jumped off the stool, scooping your bag up. “It’s life, actually.” You heaved a sigh. “I’m gonna go up to my apartment and shower and…probably eat ice cream for the rest of the day.”

“Nonsense!” Lucifer stood and buttoned his blazer. “Well, besides the shower—do you want company?”

“Lucifer.”

He smiled. “Knee jerk reaction,” his eyebrows moved up and down as his smile grew. “But don’t just brush this off! Alright? Look, I will personally look into this little matter for you. A favor, if you will.”

“I didn’t ask for a favor,” you stated as you walked up the stairs.

Lucifer slid his hands into his pockets. His coin sat at the bottom, heavy, and smooth. He turned it over in his fingers with a frown. “Favors are done in good faith,” he commented absently. You rolled your eyes as you punched the button for your floor. As you disappeared behind the elevator doors, Lucifer pulled the coin from his pocket. The details were flat, smooth. The raised brushed gold pentagram that scarred your hand was now nothing more than a fanciful paint job that had chipped to reveal the silver beneath it. Lucifer set it on the bar and scratched at it with his nail until it all flaked away.

It wasn’t even a coin, just a single flattened metal disk. Lucifer scoffed as he held it up between his fingers. “That’s interesting,” he murmured.

Maze leaned into the space in front of him. “What happened to the Pentecostal coin?” she asked.

“I don’t think it was one at all,” he breathed. He released it, and spun it in the space between his fingers. One side was beautiful detailed, the other scratched away and plain. His eyes widened and he smiled. “Oh, this is interesting.”

#lucifer morningstar #dial tone devil series #lucifer on fox #lucifer on netflix #lucifer morningstar imagine #lucifer morningstar imagines #lucifer morningstar requests #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer morningstar/reader #lucifer on fox imagine #lucifer on fox imagines #lucifer on fox requests #lucifer on netflix imagine #lucifer on netflix imagines #lucifer on netflix requests

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saoirsetm · 4 years ago

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hey y’all ! i’m kat and we’re FINALLY opening ?!? i’m so hyped, you don’t even know. i’m a double leo Trying to survive video lectures in a noisy house who loves dark chocolate and 80% of the kpop releases so far this year ( stream feel good by fromis_9, it’s such a cute bop ! ) i’m also a cat mom to my almost fourteen year old babies who are still like energetic kittens, so ask for pics and you shall receive DSLKGJ but without further ado, here’s my girl who’s gonna prove that hindsight is INDEED 20/20, so this is gonna be fun:

✧ ˖ * ° ><> ╱ abigail cowen, cis female, she/her — look who’s fresh from the ferry, aren’t you SAOIRSE LEARY ? your eroda brochure says you’re TWENTY-THREE and that you’re currently residing in MARMOTON . your favourite tourist attraction to hang around is ERODIAN BEACH , and the locals around these ports would describe you as INQUISITIVE & INTREPID, STUBBORN & IMPULSIVE . your resting fish face really gives off LONG HAIR BLOWN BACK BY THE OCEAN BREEZE, LATE NIGHTS SPENT PLOTTING THE NEXT GREAT VOYAGE, RED LIPSTICK IMPRINTED ON A MUG OF TEA , and i’m a big fan of the VINTAGE CELTIC KNOT NECKLACE you seem to always be attached to. well, if you see the minister this morning; make sure you head on home as quick as possible, you never know what bad luck he could bring. ╱ ooc; kat, 23, she/her, ast.

tw: needles ( tattoo mention ), cancer mention, death mention

miss saoirse...... oof

GDFLSJL where do i begin with her honestly ??

full name is saoirse eve leary, affectionately called cece by her family since she was young and runs with it as her nickname !

born and raised in cork, ireland with two siblings, a working class father and Slightly upper middle class mother

her childhood wasn’t like, Majorly eventful; she was considered a bit of a tomboy which isn’t a surprise bc she’s always been a bit of a spirited, adventurous girl, has the odd nomadic moment strike her and loves to travel

had a SUPER close relationship with her maternal grandmother before she passed a few years back, still has a close one with her grandfather and paternal grandmother as they’re still living

is a big family girl overall, so much so that she’s eagerly awaiting the day she gets to be the cool aunt

had a decent cluster of pals over the years that’s likely dwindled due to everyone going their separate ways after high school

saoirse Did go to uni between her travels — and graduated — and has aspirations of becoming an anthropologist to explore other cultures and meet new people/understand them

which.. obviously ain’t happening now LFSGJGF rip

came to eroda partially bc it seems like such a pretty and quaint place, partially to explore its “ myth ” that you can never leave; her naturally curious ass questions the whole thing, at least in the sense that there’s no way to challenge your supposed fate on the island and won’t deny entertaining some conspiracy theories around the mystery

she still doesn’t understand that.. yeah, she Literally is stuck here for the rest of her life now, probably because she hasn’t made a Real attempt to put that to the test, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it FDSLKJDS

anyways she came here solo ( more than likely ) and has enjoyed her time getting to know the locals and other visitors, taking in the scenery, etc

probably took up a part-time job at sally’s tavern to cover her expenses since she lives in marmoton and it ought to be close enough for her to get to gfjlsdg

personality and everything else

a sociable, ( relatively ) fearless ginger with an eclectic taste in music and a profound appreciation for pastries..

despite being all about cleaner eating habits and lowering her sugar intake, she takes a cheat day or week wherever she can LSDGFJK

parties, game nights, etc, you name it ?? she’s there !

kinda competitive while we’re bringing up games and such, but she’s not about the whole sore winner/loser thing — rather she’ll groan and sulk a little before moving on

like i said before, loves to travel, loves pretty places in general so prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures on her insta feed of where she’s been or where she wants to go

loyal as hell, but she has her limit if you misuse the trust that comes with it

she’s just v wholesome and has a mix of small town city/endlessly curious energy with a sprinkle of being the life of the party……. kinda

however, she’s the most ?? hard to place person all the same

that feeling of freedom that comes with her exploring and all makes her a little hard to tie down; she doesn’t plan on staying in eroda ( which is unfortunate for her considering.... fglsdk ) as she has more to accomplish and see

very much does her own thing and doesn’t wanna hear any criticism for it

as if she’s that out of line DLJGDSLK but still

always wants to try new things, no matter how dumb they might be; except for anything that’s a Legitimate death sentence or is.. a GENUINELY dumb idea, she has enough common sense to know what Not to do KSGFDJDS

has little tattoos on her wrist and behind her left ear for her Favourite trips/symbols/whatever and her family, will let y’all know what they’d be whenever i figure them out since i’m so damn picky with these things

a Big supporter for buying/investing locally, has little trinkets and such to prove it

in fact, she has a collection of thrifted or vintage clothes from her travels and back home, and a chest full of cute jewelry she switches between daily

one piece she wears all the time — only parts with it when she sleeps — is the celtic knot pendant mentioned in her app that’s become something of an heirloom on her mom’s side of the family !

she has the cutest irish lilt in my mind, kinda the same as miss ronan’s and aisling bea’s

really loves her freckles, partially bc i love her freckles and my own :(

tea > coffee, but she loves coffee-flavoured things; bring her a peppermint or camomile tea as her shift winds down or.. idk, just because, and she’ll be forever indebted to you fldjgs

loves to hang out by the water in her free time — she loves the scent and sounds that comes with it, it’s one of the few places where she can put her mind to rest for a bit

the sound of rain hitting a rooftop is her perfect sleep soundtrack

kinda wants to adopt a pet, but doesn’t wanna leave them if she goes on an excursion where they can’t come with her :(

baths with epsom salts, candles that smell like lavender or something just as pleasant and calming, etc during a night in soothes the hell out of her soul

top three products she has in her bag at all times, besides personal info and her phone ? lip balm, a powder spf and mints FGLGKSD

btw.. miss ginger hair and freckles will probably gasp at anyone going out with no spf on them and scold tf out of them bc ‘ hello, melanoma ?? sunburn ?!? ’

wanted connections

childhood pal(s) she’s bumped into: reunited by chance, cece’s glad she has a couple of people she knows to keep her grounded when her mind runs wild at what Might happen when she decides to try her hand at leaving

cousin(s), other relatives: idk, figured it’d be fun for her to have a family member or two running around and not realizing the other relative is the Only one they’ll see in person from here on out

best pal(s) in eroda: someone she’s taken to since arriving, likely spending their free-time eating pastries on the beach, talking shit over tea, little market dates, going to the rainzone half-drunk and trying to rope each other into new things

opposites attract.. of sorts sfdlgkj: basically just a traveler meeting a local who’s never been off eroda, telling all about their ( quite limited ) excursions and bonding in other areas over time !

hook-ups, fwbs.... ENEMIES with benefits?? idk, point is the girl’s probably gotten laid since arriving, it’s all a matter of the situation that fits your muse(s) best FHGSDKJ

roommate: she lives in marmoton, likely in a rental of sorts, and i can’t see her living alone given the situation on the island ( though i’ve viewed her as the type to live alone in a space for one and a half people any other time tbh ). so she has just One and they make the arrangement work ! depending on their personalities and such, we’ll figure out how well they get along Exactly, if at all

ex ??: the girl’s bi so y’all can toss anyone at her for this one as well ! question marks bc i was thinking it’d be an on-and-off thing but maybe not come the time i post this intro LSGKD. basically they were seeing each other for a few months, she fell hard Quick/they moved kinda fast bc they were vibing and they would distance themselves upon realizing this — though i see cece giving them distance bc she knows they need it rather than needing it herself. if it IS on-and-off, they’re definitely off rn and treading lightly ( though she finds it hard to stray and hates things not being fully resolved no matter what happens ?? ), so all it’s a bit angsty regardless of how it goes dfgkljsdg

fellow mystery fiend: someone please fuel her curiosity to the max and try to crack the impossible case of eroda’s captive capabilities with her.. and proceed to watch true crime shows with her when that clearly goes to shit SDFKLJ

older sibling or mentor dynamic: someone to look out for her/teach her some things to help fully support herself/give her advice when she probably needs it most.. idk, i just like the idea of someone becoming a stand-in relative type of friend to her

just give her someone to confide in, to swim at night with, stargaze and all that cute shit, be it platonically or otherwise !

she’s not gonna click with everyone and that’s fine, BUT maybe they run in the same social circles and cece thinks they seem nice enough, but they never really talk amongst themselves ?? just a case of awkwardly starting from scratch and seeing where it takes us !

#eroda.intro #╰ ✨ . ❪ 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍' 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐒 ↝ kat chats ｡#tw needles #tw cancer #tw death #i think?? that's all the triggers here?#i really hope it is anyways :/ i'm bad for spotting them sometimes when they're vague mentions #anyways FINALLY did it !!#now to make my theme even Remotely presentable in the next half hour GLDFJS

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chertms · 4 years ago

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hey y’all ! i’m lia and first thing’s first, my blog’s a mess, i know. i’m not 100% set on the theme i’m tweaking rn so i’m still looking through the tags sfkldjfd i’m a Big d*scord lurker, so if anyone wants to plot from there, you can find me at STREAM HELICOPTER 🚁#2030 ! i’ll have more things set up in the next bit for you guys to skim through, but for now lemme present my cutie with insatiable wanderlust:

[ ABIGAIL COWEN, TWENTY-THREE, SHE/HER, CIS FEMALE ]. did you see ( augusta “cher” calhoun ) walking down st. james ave earlier? i heard that they’ve been living in wilmington for ( one year ). i noticed a couple of people down on the pier saying that they’re ( gregarious & unshrinking ), but then again i realized that they can be ( flurried & untethered ) as well. they’ve been working as ( a research assistant/graduate student ). when you see ( polaroids of great adventures, a treasure trove of vintage trinkets, red lipstick imprinted on a wine glass, and the warm glow of golden hour ) you can’t help but think of them. ( lia, 21+, she/her, ast ).

tw: needles ( tattoo mention ), cancer mention, death mention

miss augusta.. oof

LDFSJLDS

her full name is augusta cher calhoun

named after her great-nana who passed within the year before her birth, which she’s kinda proud of, but she NEVER goes by it aside from official documents and the like

has always gone by her middle name, from pre-k onwards it’s all most people have known her as — save for family and super close friends

wilmington born and raised for that matter, haven’t decided where she sits in the age order still, but she’s got a couple of siblings !

is a big family girl overall, so much so that she’s eagerly awaiting the day she gets to be the cool aunt

had a decent cluster of pals over the years that’s likely dwindled due to everyone going their separate ways after high school

the second she graduated, she went to stanford to explore beyond the east coast and has pretty much been a city girl since — she never thought herself to be one, but aside from the san francisco area feeling like an exception, she does enjoy the nightlife and, sometimes, its fast pace !

however, upon graduating uni last year, she kind of wanted a break ig ?? which is why she returned home, stayed with her parents for a bit at her childhood home before renting out a little apartment for herself and beginning her graduate program and research stint at unc wilmington

as for the program she was/is pursuing, she had aspirations of becoming an anthropologist since high school to explore other cultures and meet new people/understand them, and can’t wait to get her masters and hopefully dive right into her career !

personality & extra info

a sociable, ( relatively ) fearless ginger with an eclectic taste in music and a profound appreciation for pastries

.. despite being all about cleaner eating habits and lowering her sugar intake, she takes a cheat day or week wherever she can LSDGFJK

parties, game nights, etc, you name it ?? she’s there !

kinda competitive while we’re bringing up games and such, but she’s not about the whole sore winner/loser thing — rather she’ll groan and sulk a little before moving on

like i said before, loves to travel, loves pretty places in general so prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures on her insta feed of where she’s been or where she wants to go

loyal as hell, but she has her limit if you misuse the trust that comes with it

she’s just v wholesome and has a mix of small city town/endlessly curious energy with a sprinkle of being the life of the party....... kinda

however, she’s the most ?? hard to place person all the same

that feeling of freedom that comes with her exploring and all makes her a little hard to tie down; she doesn’t plan on staying in wilmington from here on out, it’s her hometown but she can’t say it’s where she’ll lay roots down when she has more to accomplish and see

very much does her own thing and doesn’t wanna hear any criticism for it

as if she’s that out of line DLJGDSLK but still

is sometimes the type to stress/overthink sending an old friend a birthday greeting bc old/declining relationships are um. a tough spot for her to think through clearly lgjfsd

a Big supporter for buying/investing locally, has little trinkets and such to prove it

in fact, she has a collection of thrifted or vintage clothes from the area and from her travels/her time at stanford, and a chest full of cute jewelry she switches between daily

one piece she wears all the time — only parts with it when she sleeps — is an older pendant that’s become something of an heirloom on her mom’s side of the family ( s/o to great-nana augusta ! )

also goes by auggie amongst her family — unless you’ve been a frequent guest of the calhouns, otherwise it wouldn’t be common knowledge

really loves her freckles, partially bc i love her freckles and my own :(

tea > coffee, but she loves coffee-flavoured things; bring her a peppermint or camomile tea as her shift winds down or.. idk, just because, and she’ll be forever indebted to you fldjgs

loves to hang out by the water in her free time — the scent and sounds that comes with it makes it one of the few places where she can put her mind to rest for a bit

the sound of rain hitting a rooftop is her perfect sleep soundtrack

kinda wants to adopt a pet, but doesn’t wanna leave them if she goes on an excursion where they can’t come with her :(

baths with epsom salts, candles that smell like lavender or something just as pleasant and calming, etc during a night in soothes the hell out of her soul

top three products she has in her bag at all times, besides personal info and her phone ? lip balm, a powder spf and mints FGLGKSD

btw.. miss ginger hair and freckles will probably gasp at anyone going out with no spf on them and scold tf out of them bc ‘ hello, melanoma ?? sunburn ?!? ’

wanted connections

childhood best friend(s)

cousin(s)/other relatives

best friend or mini squad

fellow traveling/thrill-seeking pals

an ex from high school probably?? just to make things fun sfdkljgd

someone she knows from stanford/her time on the west coast

neighbour(s)

throw whatever you want at me really, because that’s all i’ve really got DLFSKGJDFSKL

#wilmington: intro #╰ ✨ . ❪ 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍' 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐒 ↝ lia talks ｡#tw needles #tw cancer #tw death #the latter two are super brief but ! better safe than sorry right??

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ladywhaiyvern · 4 years ago

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Musings of An Otaku #3: Otaku vs. Weebo?

As someone who has been into Japanese animation since 1997 and other aspects of Japanese culture longer before that with Americanized Super Sentai. I stumbled upon a little glorious movie playing on the Sci-Fi Channel’s Saturday Morning Anime block- “Tenchi in Love: the Movie,” due to my boredom of watching the same rerun of “Power Rangers” at the time. I fell in love with the detailed artwork of the characters, the intricate backgrounds, the music composed and the overall story. I had not seen anything like it in an American produced cartoon series or cartoon movie. I was around when Anime was basically non-existent on store shelves. Not a single manga issue could be found in a library or local book store. VHS titles were sold in very selective stores with 1 or 2 episodes per tape. And forget about wanting to change the language track. You either had to find the dubbed video tape or the subbed video tape. No easy button switching back then! And for television- no station openly aired Anime (outside of the Sci-fi channel). Some movies such as “Ninja Scroll” aired on pay-per-view movie channels late at night. No Toonami existed.

Anime was obscure in America. Hell, I remember going to my local video store and asking if they had anymore titles of “Dirty Pair Flash” (as I had found the first vhs volume there). The look the store clerk gave me was priceless. Thought I was probably talking about a porno or something! Shit, I was into Anime and was made fun of by my fellow students in Middle School and High School because it was different. Now it’s main-stream and all over the place. One can walk into big box stores and find manga titles in the book section, dvd/blu-rays openly on the sales floor, merch like shirts and toys. Now you have dedicated sections on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and not to mention streaming services from Chrunchyroll, Funimation and HiDive that focus on nothing but Anime. But what does all this reminiscing have to do with my title?! Simple.

During the birth of the Japanese Anime boom here in the United States, us select fans had gathered together and decided to call ourselves a name. Granted, the origins of this name were very negative in the Japanese culture. As “otaku” was viewed as a socially inept individual. A subculture of Japanese society that was viewed as being derogatory. A fan of any subgenre of entertainment (not just Anime). However, we adapted this word and started using it. We took away that negative stereotype. We started using it to represent a group of people who not only enjoyed Japanese Animation, but other forms of Japanese entertainment as well. It was an umbrella term for “fan.” It wasn’t meant as someone who lived and breathed anime and manga. They weren’t obsessed over it. They were just fans who enjoyed the art form. Now, I know in the early 2000’s- many Japanese still looked at the term as being negative and probably thought of us as being crazy for wanting to adapt such a term. But we were proud to be called otaku. We were not embarrassed by it at all. Even now, I know it has lost some of its derogatory meaning across the ocean but will still never be 100% accepted. Recent series of both anime and manga poke fun at the otaku subculture in a humorous way instead of negative. It is something that is no longer just pushed under a rug or tossed into a corner and forgotten about as it had in the past. Kinda like how some mental disorders are done here in the States today. That is something I do not wish to touch with a 10 ft pole though...so moving on.

Now, where the hell did this term “weebo” come from? Why the hell has it become such a thing? WHY?! JUST WHY?! According to the Urban Dictionary it is an overly obsessed individual who lives and breathes anime and manga (usually mainstream titles only). They do not branch off into the older titles or even bat an eye at the obscure titles (which I absolutely love). They only “love” what is currently airing. I am using the term “love” lightly. More like they only enjoy it as the current fad. Next mainstream series comes along and they move onto it like a leech. Sooooooooooo from my understanding they are wanna-be’s. They want to be an otaku but don’t want to deep dive into the full anime subculture. They only use Japanese terms and phrases picked up from mainstream shows. And use them periodically out of context. They show no interest in other aspects of the Japanese culture or learning how to correctly speak the language. They think it's the “cool” thing to do. OMG, look at me- I can speak a couple of words of Japanese thanks to this show that everyone else is watching. Look at me, look at me! They scream fake. I’m sure you know a couple. I know I do and they annoy the hell outta me. You try to have an intelligent conversation with them and it all circles around back to the one mainstream series that they are currently obsessed with. This is seriously the main reason I did not get along with some of my former coworkers. Oh well, let them be them and I will continue to enjoy the wide range wonders of all genre anime and manga (especially older titles).

Now as an otaku of not only anime and manga but video games, Super Sentai, Asain Horror, Japanese music and the list goes on and on and on and on; as well as someone who has taken the basic Japanese language classes; and as someone who enjoys learning about different cultures (especially Asian history and culture) due to my cultural anthropologist background- this term offends the hell outta me. Why?! It’s just a word. Maybe I finally understand why some people find the word “moist” offensive as this is along those same lines. I still don’t understand why. It is a fun word to say. Moist! Mooooooooist! Moissssssssst! It’s like do not give yourself a label. Do not think this “weebo” thing is a cool thing to do. It is not. You're a fake, a fraud. Many of us otaku from the older generation can see right through it. Don’t obsess over something if you do not intend to appreciate and understand the full cultural context that it offers. Japanese animation and manga is something that should be appreciated as an art form because in reality that is what it boils down to. It is an art form. It should be enjoyed by all. But to only enjoy something because it is the cool thing to do and you want to impress people, no. Not cool. That is just a slap in the face to those that enjoy it as a whole.

These are my musings, take them or leave them! Enjoy them or don’t! Have fun, don’t be a weebo!

#anime #rants #manga #otaku #musings #random thoughts

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grandthorkiday · 6 years ago

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Mob AU “Playthings” Part 19

[Link to mob!au anon’s “Playthings" fic tag]

[Start at Part 1]*

(*Note: Link is editable for other parts, just change the number. For mobile users, tag is “playthings part1”)

~2011~

Ashley was a sweet girl, if a tad annoying. She had a laugh that was a little too high and made her sound like she was going down a bumpy road. She wore too much jewelry, make up, and perfume, and when she talked in her thick Jersey accent she had tendency to smack her lips and talk with exaggerated gestures. But Mario didn’t keep her around for her conversational skills, as he was fond of saying when he smacked her large bottom as she walked by. Of the frequent hanger ons who came and went from the penthouse, she was Thor’s favorite.

“I brought yah something!” She called as he returned from working out in the hotel gym.

“You really didn’t have to,” he said, but was still excited to see what it was. He looked around. “Where’s Loki?”

“Oh he went with Gast somewhere. Focus!” She snapped her fingers and her rings clanged together. She tossed her overly large purse on the table and pulled out two large books. “Told yah my cousin went to college for this crap. Never finished, and tell him, Jay if you don’t finish sell yah books. Nah, Ash, I’m gonna finish. My ass he’s going to finish. He’s making enough doing the rackets. But here, you take ‘em!”

Thor took the books like they were precious treasure. ‘Medieval European History: An Introduction’ and 'The Viking and Their Legacy on the Early Modern World’ were heavy volumes. But there was art within the pages and most of all, it had nothing to with his current circumstances. He opened the page of one of the books to a picture of a war hammer and spear being laid out on a table by an anthropologist, showing the ceremonial markings and and decoration on both.

“This has some examples of actual art, right?” he asked, feeling a twinge of guilt at being so greedy with his desire.

Ashley didn’t seen to care. “'Course it does! You know, you can go to a bookstore and get a book on that! You already go and get your art stuff there.”

“I-I don’t want to ask,” he said, placing the book down. Asking was not the right word. Gast would want him to beg, for every cent and dollar. To leave the penthouse and get a book from the chain store two blocks away. He would have to debase himself. He already did that for art supplies, he didn’t think he could do it for a book. Maybe, if he was good, he could simply ask for a few books. If he was really good, Grandmaster would just shower him with whatever he asked for. He had to be good.

[read more cut]

“You draw anything new?”

He blinked a few times before answering. “Oh, uh, yeah. One moment.” He never left his sketchbook too far away from him. The penthouse crew had a 'habit’ of going through it and doodling over some of his sketches if he left it out of field of vision. Sometimes, Gast would have them punished if he caught them. Sometimes he would ask for a pen and make his own drawings. Thor really didn’t want to risk it.

He handed the sketchbook to Ashley who greedily snapped it up and opened it. She squealed in delight. “These are amazing!! Seriously, this hand and flower! I would totally get this done! Well, if Max let me get a new tattoo. But,” she turned the page and sighed, “oh this is just fucking gorgeous. You drew a cat and it looks so cute I wanna eat it up!”

“It’s Paul’s cat.”

“I know! And you should show him! He loves that thing. You never considered going into making tattoo art?”

Thor shook his head, trying not to laugh. Before he and Loki were kidnapped, he was an Econ major, desperately wanting to change his major to Medieval History. His Father would never expect anything less than him, though. Sketching and drawing was a hobby done behind closed doors, never encouraged except by his brother. He couldn’t even tell his mother that most of his drawings were tattoo inspired.

After they were taken, his education had stopped. Gast had floated the idea of letting them take online courses, but that was snatched away during one of their 'bad’ periods. Drawing became an escape. Grandmaster was his gentlest when he found him drawing and most people in the penthouse wanted a sketch, either for a tattoo or to just keep. Mario even turned one sketch into a shirt that he wore fondly during football season. Thor doubted Gast, however, would see the use or have the desire to put him through the training needed to be an artist.

As though summoned by the mere thought of him, Gast appeared with Mario at his side. Mario had a strange look of barely contained rage. Thor shrank instantly onto himself, gathering his new books closer to him. Suddenly Ashley having his sketchbook felt dangerous and he wanted to reach out and snatch it back. But he didn’t dare do that. That would bring attention to himself, and he wasn’t the one Mario was angry at.

“Hey, Ash!” the thug in question barked out, flexing his muscles as he crossed his arms. “Gotta sec to talk about the 'girl’?” They talked like this, even in the safety of the penthouse, most often. This vague way of speaking about their dealings. There were times, late in the evening and the dead of night when they would be specific. Old superstition someone once explained to him: the dark remains in the dark.

Ashley barely glanced up at him. “What about her?”

“She didn’t make it to the 'drop’. She and her 'merchandise’ are fucking gone.”

“Well she was on her way when I put her and the baby in the cab this morning.”

Mario rolled his neck in irritation and Gast chuckled darkly. “You didn’t go with her?”

The woman frowned and finally passed back the sketchbook who Thor nearly all but hugged when it was returned. “I ain’t going to see a kid sell a baby! I got betta things to do!”

“Like what?!”

“My hair for one!” She flicked her fire red curls over her shoulder. “And my nails! You want me pretty don’t yah baby?”

“I WANNA BE PAID TOO SWEET FUCKING HEART!”

“What you got there, Sparkles?” Gast asked. Naturally, this was directed at Thor and was said conversationally. Like there wasn’t a feeling of apprehension in the air.

Thor nervously showed his new books and sketchbook. Grandmaster waved him over and plucked them from his arms to examine them from his arms. He thumbed through one book before return them with a hum of mild interest. “You like this stuff?”

“Y-yeah,” he waited to see what happened. He ignored Ashley and Mario having a stare off.

“You know, there’s going to be a Medieval exhibit at one of the museums uptown. Forget which ones, but they want me to come by and throw some razzle dazzle on it. Maybe if you’re good, we’ll go.”

“Really?”

“Sure! Hey, sugar,” Gast leaned over and spoke to him like he was speaking to a child, trying to distract him, “how about you go to my bedroom and hang out with Lo Lo. I bet he could use the company.”

Maybe it was the idea that Thor was leaving that finally made it click in Ashley’s mind that she was in trouble. “Hey, he and I were talkin’!”

Thor was slowly already moving to the bedroom, however. There was still a morbid curiosity that made him want to turn back as Ashley called after him and Mario shouted her down. There was a human emotion to turn around and take one last solid look at what had been a friend and occasional ally. But if he looked back, would he still be good? No, it was better to be good and do as Grandmaster suggested.

The bedroom was large with a king sized bed and huge television built into the wall. Loki was laying on the bed in one of Gast’s robes, watching a period piece half-heartedly. He brightened though when Thor entered.

“Hey, how long have you been back?”

“Fifteen minutes. I got caught up talking to….someone.”

There was a sound of two people shouting from out in the living room.

“O-oh.”

“Hey, I got something.” He sat down on the bed and handed the books over to Loki. The younger man took them and began to thumb through them, smiling more with each page that turned. “I already got some ideas for sketches, but the information also looks really interesting.”

“Yeah,” the other replied, having to tear his eyes away from a sub chapter on the order of succession.

Thor took one of the books again and thumbed to the page with the hammer and spear. “I was thinking of sketching these two first. Make it look like heraldry.”

“Heraldry! Already talking like a professor!” Loki giggled.

“I was thinking of designing it as a tattoo…for you.”

The younger man blinked at him, taken aback. “For me? A tattoo? I don’t…”

He uncovered Loki’s left thigh. There were faded pink lines and crosshatches. One still looked red and recent. He reached out and touched the cut before the robe was yanked back into place. “I doubt it hasn’t crossed his mind the reason why you-”

“I don’t want to hear about-”

“I understand. I know. I know. Trust me…I can still feel where he touched me on the back the first time… in the shower….. But this,” he waved a hand to the scars under the robe, “This will not help.”

Loki laughed bitterly, “And a tattoo will?”

“Maybe. Think about it like this…he touches us now. It’s okay now, we’re used to it. We’re good. We…enjoy it now.” Admitting it out loud made him want vomit out every last trace of bile. But his brother was showing understanding and sympathy, so he pressed on. “But that first time. That first time was awful. Wouldn’t be easier to….edit what happened?”

“Edit?”

“He didn’t touch you here, Loki.” He gripped the other’s thigh. Green eyes began to tear up and he realized a little belatedly he had gripped too hard. He hoped the cut hadn’t opened and was bleeding in the Grandmaster’s bed.

“But he di-”

“No. Don’t think like that. Thinking like that makes it harder, doesn’t it? He touched your tattoo.”

“My-”

“Yes, your tattoo. I designed you an amazing tattoo and you have it and that’s what he touched.”

Loki looked at him for a moment with doubt before there was a female scream from the living room. He recoiled, his face looking full of terror. Thor gathered him in his arms and laid them back onto the bed, shushing his noises of distress. He found the remote and switched the television to something else, a random cartoon show. He turned the volume up and rocked the younger gently.

A few hours later, when Grandmaster would return, he would find his boys with the television still on to cartoons. Loki would be asleep using the robe as part blanket part teddy bear and Thor would be drawing the first draft of Loki’s new tattoo.

~2019~

“I know it’s stupid, and I never realized how much he took it to heart, but he was happy when I finally got it done. We saved so much money to get it,” Thor looked nostalgic for a moment.

“What happened to Ashley?” Tony asked, writing down a few things on his notepad.

“Well, once her hair grew back and her fingers healed, I think Mario sent her to one of the brotels. I mean,” he shrugged, “it was either that or she’s fish food.”

It was the casualness of how it was said that haunted Val for days after that.

#thorki #frostmaster #thorloki #thor #loki #GrandthorkiB #sfw #fic #cw noncon implied #cw self harm #cw mental illness #playthings #submission #playthings part19

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