#I will no doubt make one for Barbara at some point

[skay-ali]

The Forgotten Daughter

Chapter 3

The Wayne family was going through a bad time, everyone noticed it, one of its members was showing strange behavior, this did not escape the attention of the family of detectives, no matter how discreet and secretive the youngest of the family may have been. to hide what he was doing, in any case, it did not prevent suspicions from being aroused around him.

Some discreetly tried to get information out of Damian about why he disappeared, like Dick and Barbara.

Others attacked them with facts, like Jason and Tim, but Damian only gave them a few clever words to annoy them and ignored what they wanted, the next option they followed was to investigate or spy on the boy.

His father, Bruce, concerned about the recent attitude of his son, who disappeared without a trace, especially at night or on his days off, tried to talk to the boy.

But he only received an angry face from his son, he was even more surprised to notice that the boy's eyes had resentment.

Damián wanted to go see his sister and little niece, he really tried, but there was something that stopped him, it wasn't his annoying family who wanted to interfere in his life, nor his brothers who were trying to spy on him (he was able to lose sight of them with some tricks), but rather a little half-Kryptonian boy, who kept following him around to spend time together.

When he appeared at your door and you opened it, you weren't expecting to see him with another boy behind him, one who certainly matched Damian's aptitude.

It seems that your brother did not realize that the boy was with him, because when you greeted the other boy, he was surprised by his presence.

You invited them in, they were a little more joy for this lonely house, your daughter and you were not enough to make the house a very happy place, they did what they could, but even so you could feel that more life was missing. the lonely house.

You left the children at the dining room table, next to Alice, sitting in a baby chair between the two children.

“Okay I'll bring cookies and milk, please don't cause a mess” you warned the children as you walked towards the kitchen “and take care of Alice” you looked at your brother, he nodded at your request.

“What are you doing here?” Damian questioned Jon.

“I was curious to know where you were going in such a hurry,” the boy tried to defend himself, not wanting to make Damian angrier.

“Well, you shouldn't have done it,” he looked at Jon with annoyance, and then diverted his attention to his little niece, who smiled at him and started playing with the boy's fingers.

Jon just silently observes the situation he got into, who always had a brusque attitude to everyone, even his family, treating the two people in this house with a lot of appreciation and affection. How was that even possible?

“Hey, that woman is you… “Sister,” he pointed to the place where you had disappeared.

Damian sighed, letting this boy know his secret put him in danger, one wrong step by Jon and everyone would know about you, he didn't want his father and brothers to find out about you, one because it would be annoying if they stole your attention, another because you could have lived in the mansion and grown up with him, but it was not possible because of the neglect they gave you.

"Look Jon, I'll tell you the truth, but everything that happens in this house and even what I say you will keep secret." He saw the super child again, he knew he had to silence Jon, it was better to leave him without doubts and that you keep the secret, than hearing him ask about you on his missions and risking the others finding out.

The boy hesitated, because what Damian was doing was a secret, but even so, his curiosity piqued him and he wanted to know. Your kind and gentle attitude towards the two children and even the cookies that you would bring them made the boy's curiosity arouse more. He wanted to know. more about you.

“It's okay, I promise.”

Damián knew that he was going to regret what he told Jon sooner or later, but he already revealed everything, their history together and the relationship they had, the things they did when he visited your house, the games he had with his niece, the delicious food you prepared for him, the movies and board games you played, at some point he started bragging about you to the other child.

Jon wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous, he wanted the same thing that Damian had with his sister, his feeling intensified, when you brought them some cookies that looked delicious, and when you sat next to them and they started talking about different things, see how lively you were and the kind smiles you gave them, even more so when you played a board game with them.

He also became attached to little Alice, she was very adorable, at one point he noticed that the baby smiled at him when she saw him and tried to get the child to pay attention to her, you were holding Alice so she wouldn't get hurt on a play mat while the and Damián were playing with the little baby.

It was a real shame that you weren't his sister, he really wanted that... maybe he would find a way to make you part of the family.

He also became attached to little Alice, she was very adorable, at one point he noticed that the baby smiled at him when she saw him and tried to get the child to pay attention to her, you were holding Alice so she wouldn't get hurt on a play mat while the and Damián were playing with the little baby.

It was a real shame that you weren't his sister, he really wanted that... maybe he would find a way to make you part of the family.

Maybe he can convince his friend of that too without him getting angry, he already noticed the conflicting feelings that Damian felt when he mentioned his other family's relationship with his sister, something strange was happening.

He knew for sure that if his parents knew you they would also adore you like he was doing now.

Little Alice would also be loved, he knew it, not only because of the similar appearance they had to him, which he believes is a coincidence because you also had a certain resemblance to his features, he assumes that the baby is similar to him, because of the mix of her father and yours, also because of how adorable the baby was and her smiles, along with the small actions she made and warmed her heart.

It was funny the twists and turns that life takes.

One day you decided to leave your safe home and get away from your perfect and safe little town, when you got one of your friends as a babysitter, to take care of your baby Alice, while you went out to buy some things.

It wasn't easy separating from your daughter, they were always together, you felt like you were away from her for a long time, longer than a day actually lasts.

You went to visit Gotham City, you needed to do it, it wasn't just shopping, but also work.

It was lucky that Damian wasn't going to visit you that day, nor was Jon, the new boy who started visiting you since you met him. You had no complaints about the two boys' visits, you just wouldn't have an excuse to give them if they saw you right now. .

Speaking of the new child, it seemed strange to you that your baby was also friendly with him, just after seeing him once. Did you think it only happened with your blood family? You verified the theory with Damian, the baby loves him as soon as she saw him, not like other of your acquaintances with whom she never got along quickly.

It was a crazy theory but very valid in your situation, because when you visited some distant relatives on your mother's side, your baby did the same, getting along with them instantly.

Wearing a wig and a giant trench coat that covered your entire figure.

Just a short stop at a place with your other two acquaintances, a quick intervention to a patient who needed the Alice project in his life.

When you finished you quickly left and decided to continue with your day, weighing that the remorse for what you had just done would still be present, but it seems that with all the times you have put it on other patients it helped you get used to it.

If they knew the reality, many would judge you, but it didn't matter anymore, you decided to do this for the good of your daughter.

Everything for your little one... your only ray of sunshine

Jason had to patrol this day, he wouldn't have any complaints about that if he were alone, but he didn't have to take care of the demon spawn.

It would be easy, if the boy didn't see him with a murderous face, every time he said something, lately his attitude changed a lot more, it was already a little difficult to deal with him before, but now, he didn't know if he would be able to hold out before wanting to point his gun at Damian.

Suddenly he lost sight of the boy, great now he would have to look for him so he wouldn't get into a dangerous situation. I look for him in many places, they were lucky that this day there were no attacks from villains, only a couple of rookie criminals.

He visited some places, until he saw the child again.

About to reprimand him, he noticed that the boy was distracted by watching something.

When I looked at that address, I noticed that it was not something but someone, a woman, with black hair, average height, light skin, and wearing a trench coat.

She was someone normal to him, until she wasn't anymore... in a small move from the woman who was so entertained in the street book store.

She saw his features better, that face, it made her nostalgic to see him.

He didn't know the reason, but it had to do with something from his childhood.

The memory of a girl, he knew the cover very well, it was that of his favorite novel, he saw her sitting in an uncrowded place in the library, just her sitting next to the window, which illuminated everything around her with a beautiful light, Give her an angelic appreciation and passify the girl.

Something told him that he should remember, he should do it...

hahaha the protagonist is more inclined to have platonic yanderes than a romantic one, all obsessive little children. His little army will grow, I'm sure of that.

I think someone can like supers without knowing it....

Tag list: @kore-of-the-underworld @vanessa-boo @jsprien213 @delias-stuff @vanilliona @bat1212 @yanrandom @Quiarst @palabra de niño salvaje @el termino @leo227 @sirenethblog @ masa para galletas @blueberry19000

[galaxymagitech]

I was asked for context and comics panels for my previous post about that time Bruce got himself and Cass drugged on purpose so they could fight because “She had things she needed to get off her chest. I did too.”

It’s not…quite as bad as it sounds, but it’s definitely unhinged. And honestly, I think it's still pretty bad.

So, first: context. Bruce fires Cass from Batgirl and sends her off to a nice apartment alone. Cass feels that Bruce is pushing her away and challenges him to fight her in Batgirl (2000) #50. Bruce says he doesn’t want to fight her, but Cass insists that he’s lying. (The fact that he's lying will become important later.)

They fight a little, with Bruce mostly just keeping Cass away and defending himself as necessary. In the process, they are both exposed to a chemical agent called Soul, which is “the liquified essence of pain, bitterness, frustration, and rage.” Oh, and inhaling it turns you into a homicidal maniac.

Bruce tells Cass to stop fighting him because he doesn’t want to hurt her. The phrasing...doesn't sound good out of context: "Stop this now, Cass. Before I'm forced to hurt you." But he means it literally; Soul will make Bruce hurt her. Cass is like, “hah, like you could.”

So they fight. This time, it’s an all-out battle.

I tried to get some shots of Cass hitting Bruce, but couldn't find any good ones. Because of Batman’s gadgets he surprisingly seems to be winning this fight. And also there’s the fact that Cass isn’t really fighting to hurt Bruce, but actually trying to kiss him on the cheek (it’s complicated).

Dick tries to interfere (of course he does) and gets punched in the face by Cass for his trouble.

Batman ends up causing an explosion on a bridge and they almost drown, but Cass kisses him on the cheek the way she had to fight David Cain to do when she was younger, and the drug seems to have worn off when they surface.

Right. So, excluding the fact that Bruce seems to want Cass to be more loyal to him than Barbara (maybe that’s an uncharitable interpretation, but it certainly seems like it to me), it’s kind of sweet. They cuddle the way Cass’s father never let her and Cass says she’s loyal to the concept of the Bat. Sure, they fought pretty violently, but they were under the influence of a rage drug, right?

Well, they were, but...

So, I want to point out a few things here.

Bruce had the equipment to prevent this and expected the exposure, but chose not to protect himself and Cass from the drug.

Bruce states that fighting and violence is "the core of [Cass's] being...of her soul." Which is just...wrong, in my opinion. The core of her being is her empathy and compassion, not fighting. She was trained in violence since birth, and yet Bruce so easily judges her to be nothing more than that at her core. And I think that's kind of horrifying.

The fight wasn't just to help Cass express herself. Bruce explicitly states that he also had things to get off his chest. And apparently his method of getting things off his chest is...hitting fighting Cass while they're both under the influence of rage drugs.

Yeah. Anyway, it...does seem to have worked. Cass and Bruce resolved their issues with the fight. And Cass doesn't seem mad at Bruce. But it is admittedly an extremely questionable mentoring technique.

(Later on, Bruce uses violence towards his mentee again as a form of "communication" when he hits Tim on a rooftop in Batman (2016) #71. I don't know that these two incidents are really comparable from a "is Bruce a bad parent" perspective, but they do create a through-line of Bruce using violence as communication. I doubt the writers of Batman #71 were purposefully calling back to a post-crisis Batgirl comic, but it still wasn't a new idea at the time.)

(Batman (2016) #81)

Yeah. Bruce and Cass have plenty of sweet moments, but some of the stuff in Batgirl (2000) is pretty messed up.

[fanfic-obsessed]

The Brother Act

While I do greatly enjoy the ‘Dick was an ass in not believing Tim and taking Robin’ I have had a different thought. 

As always, look not for Canon for it is not here…

Alfred, Dick, Barbara, and Tim have a special bond that the rest of the bats and birds do not really understand. The four of them were the ones who scraped Bruce off the floor and dragged him back to a healthier mindset after Jason’s death(Dick and Babs, lost in their own grief and issues, did come in a little later than Tim and Alfred, so they missed the absolute worst but still had to deal with some of the darkest moments of Batman’s grief). 

After Bruce was lost in the Time steam, considered dead, these four sit together while Damian is at school. Tim tells them what he has found (circumstantial evidence that Bruce is still alive and lost in time). They believe him, there is no doubt that Tim is right, but they do not have proof. And the Justice League is already wary of Tim, primed by Tim’s reaction to Bart and Kon’s death (Look, this is very much a case of Gothamites are built different. Tim’s cloning attempts, where he does not even threaten other people AND makes provisions for any viable clones that do not turn out to be his friends-not that there were any but the were plans in place. Well, that is practically tame for Gotham, most Gothamites would have taken it as a sweet gesture, not madness).

It is clear. If Dick, as Batman, is seen supporting Tim in his ‘grief fueled madness’ then the Justice league will try to interfere in Gotham. And Gotham is built different. The Justice League do not understand Gotham and Cannot be allowed to interfere. Bruce would not want that. 

So Batman cannot be seen supporting Tim. Even if Dick believes him.  

They talk about Jason, who once Got Gotham the best out of any of them…but between his death and rebirth, the Pits, and his time away between Assassin training and the Outlaws he does not remember Gotham the way he thinks he does (shown by how he has forgotten that Batman cannot ever kill, that it is not Bruce that put that rule in place but Gotham herself). Gotham is still inscribed upon Jason’s bones though. He can heal enough to remember, to Get Gotham once again but it will take time. Alfred thinks that if Jason could remain on Gotham soil for three more consecutive months he would remember enough to stay until he healed all the way. Until then, though, they cannot fully trust him. 

They also talk about Damian. How Damian is not connected to Gotham, not yet. Maybe if he had been there longer, he could have truly ‘Got’ Gotham before becoming Robin. But they do not have time for that. Tim points out that Damian would not accept Robin if he thinks Tim is giving it to him, but he would if Damian thought he was beating Tim in some way to get it. They saw that through the murder attempts (Which are not taken as seriously one would think. It’s not that the Bats and Birds believe that Gotham would keep them alive no matter what…but…it does always seem as though everything works out, no matter the odds. And Jason didn’t die until he was not on Gotham soil and eventually came back after being buried in Gotham-No one really knows how Jason was brought back, not for sure). 

So Tim, Dick, Alfred, and Babs construct a very careful play. One devised to slip Damian into the Robin role, where he could grow connected to Gotham. One that gave Tim a reason to slip away, be gone so he could get proof that Bruce was still alive (because they would need the Justice Leagues resources). And all 4 sitting at the table were desperately trying to ignore that Tim had to leave Gotham, without backup, at least in the beginning (hoping that Jason would remember enough to be true backup later). Trying to ignore that the last time a Bat left Gotham without any kind of backup ended with Jason’s death.  And Yes, Tim would always have Oracle in his ear but only on the unofficial channels that do not go anywhere near the JLA systems, but that is not the same as having actual backup. 

And so time rolls on. Tim goes to search for Bruce, draws the attention of Ra’s Al Ghul, and does what was needed.  Damian grows into Robin, and begins to get it, to get Gotham (One day, about 2 months before Tim returns, Damian turns to Dick and goes ‘Drake will succeed, right?’ without any context and Dick knew Damian finally Got Gotham).  Jason did not spend the three consecutive months in Gotham until just before Bruce was brought back. 

When Tim is vindicated by the JLA, he finds Bruce. Every non Bat (and to a small, and shrinking extent, Jason) expects Tim to be petty and pissy with Dick.Even after Dicks catch. Except that does not happen.  Tim is pissy and petty with various members of the Justice League but not Dick (whom they think tried/threatened to throw Tim into Arkham-they have that on video).

[dinarosie]

Snape’s Legacy Goes Beyond His Flaws: part 1

I wrote this post to highlight moments when, despite his personal wounds, Snape still chooses to save the lives of the Marauders. My goal was to show how, no matter how flawed, Snape acts as a brave hero who prioritizes human life. The comments below genuinely surprised me, and they actually make me want to quote specific passages from the books to showcase Snape’s actions. I'm splitting this post into two parts, as including all the quotes from the books makes it quite long.

It’s honestly hilarious when some people keep telling: 'read the books,' while they seem blissfully unaware of how things actually go down in the story. One can only hope that one day they’ll realize fanfics aren’t the original books. Shocking, I know—but those are just fans playing with their own imagination, not a hidden version of the canon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, THE PRINCE’S TALE: dark night: He was accompanied by other hooded Death Eaters, and ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George. . . . A Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin’s back — “Sectumsempra!” shouted Snape. But the spell, intended for the Death Eater’s wand hand, missed and hit George instead — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, HERMIONE'S SECRET: “I don’t know — Harry, look at Snape!” Together they peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry, Hermione, and Black onto them. A fourth stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle.

Let me lay it out clearly: in this scene, Snape’s priority is to save the lives of four people and uphold justice:

Snape is taking the most honorable approach here. He knows that three of his students have directly disobeyed him, put themselves in harm’s way, and even teamed up with Black, a known fugitive, against his warnings. Yet he controls his anger because his first priority is their safety and getting them back to school unharmed.

Snape believes at this moment that Black has conspired with Voldemort, betrayed the Potters, orphaned their son, killed Pettigrew, and murdered twelve innocent Muggles. It’s no wonder he feels Black deserves the Dementor’s Kiss. Even Harry, when he believed these things about Black, felt that justice should be served and saw no issue in Black paying the price for such crimes. And remember, when Black learns the truth about Pettigrew, he’s furious enough to try to kill him on the spot. Yet, Snape has the composure and discipline to restrain his rage and sees it as his responsibility to bring Black back alive. He leaves the punishment to the legal system and to justice, refusing to take it into his own hands.

And let’s not forget: just an hour before, Sirius was openly willing to drag Snape’s unconscious body to the castle, fully prepared to bash Snape’s head against the ceiling—purely out of lingering childish hatred for Snape’s appearance and background. Sirius had no regard for the injuries he might inflict on Snape.

Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal.

His character flaws don’t erase all the good he’s done or the impact he’s had. If you believe that being “flawed” or “grey” prevents someone from being a hero, then you’ve missed one of the core messages of the Harry Potter series. By that standard, no one in the books would be a hero because nearly every character has their own set of flaws. Even J.K. Rowling herself draws parallels between Snape and Harry, calling both of them imperfect. If you find Snape unforgivable, then logically, you’d have to find Harry Potter unforgivable, too.

Snape is a hero because he spends his life atoning for his mistakes. He stays on the right side even when there’s no personal gain, saving lives, healing others, and standing by his principles despite losing his way in darkness. He has the strength to return to the right path and stay loyal to it for years. Thanks to his courage and sacrifices, the wizarding world is freed from a dark wizard’s crimes. Because of him, innocent children like Harry aren’t left orphaned, and young mothers like Lily don’t lose their lives and families. Because of Snape’s loyalty, teenage souls like Draco Malfoy’s don’t get lost in darkness.

[theweirderstuffblogdontlook]

early draft Bob Velseb Fanfic

(im still working on a small comic to accompany this fic before i release it officially, but i would appreciate the feedback, so dont hesitate to comment as it encourages me to make more art for the au. This comic takes place after the events of this post.) For reference, the woman in this image next to bob is Mary-Anne

then in this image, from left to right (no including Bob in the middle) we have Roxy, Greta, Sparrow, Ash, Trixie, Jane (who's the bar's manager and doesn't appear in the fic), and Billie (who is the bar's bouncer)

Fic is below the readmore. And I kinda recommend looking back at the images every so often to keep track of who's who, cus there's a lot of lesbians hanging out chatting in this fic.

Hanging out in the mismatched collection of old sofas in the lounge area of the local lesbian bar, some of the bar’s regulars were having a casual chat. When another of the regulars, a woman named Mary-Anne, excitedly came up to the group with a laptop in hand. Mary: “Hey you girls wanna see my latest true crime theory?! I think I've got a really good one this time!” Sparrow: “YEEEEAAAAHhhhhhh! Lemme see it! Show us what detective work ya been up to!” Trixie: “Did you finally see if I’ve done any murders I didn't know about? You said you’d check.” Mary: “Yeah I know, and I'll get to it eventually, but I found something way more interesting…… Barbra.” Sparrow: “Barbra?” Mary: “Yeah!” She sets up the laptop on the table, the women all crowding around to get a look, as Mary-Anne puts on a dramatic, though still a bit joking, tone and pose.

Mary: “Barbra, could secretly be, the notorious serial killer…. Bob Velseb.”

Ash: “Who?” Sparrow: “No fucking way! The Halloween cannibal from that other town down south? How’ed you make that connection?”

Roxy: “Excuse me, Cannibal?!”

Ash: “That’s pretty metal actually. Wish looking into me found connections to crimes that sick.” Greta: “Ummm, isn’t that man dead?”

Sparrow: “Wait yeah good point. The news said he got caught and killed by police last Halloween night. Shouldn't that be like, disqualifying for what hypothetical crimes you think your friends might have committed?”

Mary: “Wellllll…. yeah, supposedly he even had an autopsy and everything. But It fits too well if you just ignore the whole being dead thing!”

Roxy: “Hey! Don't you buncha freaks go just comparing Barbra to people like that. She hasn't even been around that long. Don't need you scaring her off with your true crime detective mess when I know you didn't even ask if she was okay with it first!”

Mary: “But it's suuuuuuuch a good one though!”

Trixie: “Yeah lighten up, I doubt she's gonna mind. I mean it's not like Barbara is actually gonna be a DEAD criminal. And especially with those morbid jokes she likes, she'll probably think it's hilarious.”

Roxy: “Nuh-Uh! I don't care how funny it is. She's still doing this without asking! It's one thing for her to look into yalls lives like a creepy stalker when you ask her to. But don't you go encouraging her with that spying into people's business shit without permission!”

Mary: “Aww come on.”

Ash: “Okay, I'm actually gonna agree with Roxy here. I mean what if one day, I really have to murder someone? I don't need Sherlock Holmes getting on my trail ten minutes later. You could at least ask first.”

Sparrow: “Come on, that's different! I'm sure you'd have a good reason if you did ever murder someone. And she'd be more likely to help you bury the body than turn you in. We all would.”

Roxy: “Nuh-uh, I still don't like this biz. Plus, isn't Barbra a trans woman? You'd probably end up hurting her feelings more by comparing her to a dead MAN than to the whole criminal thing.”

Sparrow: “Wait, since when was Barbra trans?”

Ash: “She was kinda making it obvious with that wig she always wears.”

Sparrow: “Wait really? I thought she was wearing the wig because she had some grizzly scar or something on her head from the car crash and didn't want to call attention to it. I mean they did say she had a bad head injury. Like it's why they said she's always wearing the sunglasses even when inside. The concussion like, messed up her ability to look directly at bright lights or something.”

Ash: “...Yeah okay that's a fair point I didn't need to immediately jump to her wearing the wig being to make her pass better. But like, there's still a lot of stuff besides that. Plus Caprica admitted to it. Barbra definitely used to be a dude.”

Greta: “Doesn't really matter if she's trans regardless, since she only ever really flirts with Caprica.”

Trixie: “I'd fuck her even with a dick like are you fucking kidding me? She's hot as hell.”

Sparrow: “Oh my god same! I swear Barbra is wasted on that woman.”

Roxy: “Yeah, but like, I ain't gonna pretend I wouldn't get a massive crush too if some lady pulled my fat ass out of a burning car wreck and lemme stay at her place while I recover like Caprica did. That's like some fairytale relationship shit.”

Trixie: “Exactly! if I got my life saved all dramatically by someone who's not just gay, but gay AND single ANNND they let you stay at their house for free? I wouldn't even care if they were hot or not. You'd have to be a real big piece of shit to be getting rid of me anytime soon. I'd be grabbing on with both hands. Maybe not as hard as Barbra seems to be, but still.”

Greta: “Umm, I meant more that she's not pressuring anybody, so it wouldn't matter either way what she has.”

Mary: “We're getting off topic! I wanna talk about my cool theory!”

Ash: “Right, right, let's hear it.”

Roxy: “Let's NOT hear it! She didn't ask Barbra for permission!”

Sparrow: “Well since she's already put it together, the least we could do is go over it and let her know if it'd be a mistake to tell Barbra and hurt her feelings. Like if it is something really insulting, it would be better to act like it never happened right?”

Roxy folds her arms and grumbled, but otherwise stops complaining. Letting Mary-Anne get on with it.

Tapping on her laptop for a second before turning it around to show a PowerPoint style compilation of research and pictures, starting with Bob's prison mugshot, which the ladies leaned in to see.

Mary: “So here's what I found. So we've got this Bob Velseb guy right? Notorious cannibal serial killer, captured on Halloween night a few years ago and put in prison.”

Billie: “....Did you really make a whole presentation for this?”

Mary: “I told you, it's a really good one! And I had to keep my evidence somewhere anyway. So it's like a digital scrapbook, and I just cleaned it up some to show you.”

Trixie, with a bit of a teasing tone: “Becha wish you could make a whole corkboard setup with red yarn instead.”

Mary: “I sooooooo would, but it’s just too hard to fit that sort of thing in my car and drive it around. You all gotta come meet at my house so I can have the excuse to set up a real one!” Billie: “....Amateur detective potluck.” Mary: “Omg yes. With like a bunch of detective based desserts! Sparrow: Chalk outline chocolate cookies!

Ash: “Halloween coleslaw.” Roxy, through half muffled snickering: “Girl, the fuck is halloween coleslaw??” Mary: “We’re getting off track! Back to what I was saying…”

She switches to the next slides showing clips from newspapers and the like.

Mary: “So he stays in prison for awhile. But then last year, he escapes from prison with a few other small time criminals.

And he spends a few months killing people, like 8 or 9 bodies being found, all with the same M - O. Until Halloween night comes around again. He goes after the same family he got caught while trying to kill that other Halloween. And it leads to an encounter with the police who kill him in a shootout. Where he's brought to the morgue for an autopsy and has the cause of death confirmed…..

BUT!!!”

She changes to the next slide, which was talking about a car crash, a man found dead, and had a map with some areas marked in mspaint.

Mary: “The next day after the news report of Mr. Velseb’s death goes out, we have this weird little event happen. So there’s this man, who was supposedly on his way to a hunting trip? He's found stabbed to death on the side of the road here.”

She zooms in on the map, showing the road between this town and the weird little town where Bob comes from, and points to the marked location just past the outskirts of Bob's town.

Mary: “Now wild animals had gotten to the corpse before it was found, so it was pretty mangled, but he had definitely been stabbed. Which is a bit of evidence that could link to the knife wielding serial killer. Bob Velseb, also known as the devil butcher, so named because he used to be a butcher and ended up feeding his victims to his patrons.”

Roxy: “Oh, no, ew why'd you have to go and tell me that?”

Mary: “Well I had to give you the context that this is a guy who stabs people, so we should be looking for stuff like this where the victim was stabbed.”

Roxy: “You could've just said he stabs people!”

Mary: “Well, he also tends to butcher and eat people so we gotta keep an eye out for…”

Billie, in her slightly monotone, but firm voice: “Maybe cool it with the gruesome details.” 

Mary: “Alright alright. It's not super relevant right now anyway, since it looks to me like the guy was in too much of a rush anyway to actually butcher anyone. Because the interesting thing for us…. is this man's truck.”

She points to a location further down the road, on the outskirts of their own town/small city and close to one of the parks.

Mary: “His truck… was found here. Crashed into a ditch, blood all over the inside of it, but no body. So if it had been a regular crash, then the hunter's body should have been right here with his car, not all the way back here covered in stab wounds. So according to the evidence, he was stabbed to death here, had his car stolen by someone who looked to be pretty injured themselves, which was then driven all the way here… to our town.”

Roxy: “Guuuurl…. Shut the hell up! That is sinister as fuck! You're telling me we've got somethin coming up from that creepy ass missing kids town, to over where we live? Man I don't even care if it happened the day after some big time serial killer died. That should still be a big ass problem!”

Mary: “Don't worry, it gets even better!”

Billie: “I think you mean worse.” 

Mary: “Yeah! It gets even worse! So in the days after this body was found up until now, the number of murders went way up for about a month or so. With the bodies matching Bob Velsebs usual modus operandi. Showing up stabbed and mangled with pieces missing. With even a few cops getting killed in that time! 

And then after that, even though there weren't any more bodies being found, the number of missing persons still stayed higher. Almost like a murderer who used to work out in the open….  was now covering his tracks.”

Trixie: “That's spooky as hell! Why's this the first time I'm hearing about somebody out there killing people??”

Billie gave a bit of a knowing look as she explained: “Because what we're listening to is a conspiracy. She's not seeing the evidence and working from it, she's made a theory first and is putting together all the information that supports the theory. That's how these true crime conspiracies work. It's good for a spooky campfire story, but there's a reason why the actual detectives aren't saying the same thing and telling the local news to spread the word.”

Roxy: “Man, you're just gonna be working me up over nothing then.”

Mary: “Not REALLY nothing, this stuff has actually happened.”

She then pitches her voice low and spooky for emphasis.

Mary: “And who knows, maybe there really was a cover up with the serial killer not actually being killed.”

Sparrow: “Yeah! Don't be a spoilsport! So like, so…. Like… uhhh… so how does this stuff have anything to do with Barbra though? Like you're saying the death of this Bob guy was a cover up, but how does this connect to Barbra?”

Mary: “Well first up, their descriptions are very similar. Barbra has the right height and build for…”

Billie: “How tall did they say this Velseb guy was?”

Mary: “Uhhh….”

She flipped through the presentation back to the mugshot 

“6 foot 4.”

Billie: “Yeah, that's about right for Barbra.”

Showing her experience as a bouncer with being able to judge people's height from comparing them to their ID's.

Mary: “Right! Hair color, skin, build, even the accents match too.”

Sparrow: “Cool! That's already way better than when you tried to link me to any murders!”

Mary: “I know right!”

Greta: “Still, that's just looking like a dead serial killer. If you're only going based off of just happening to know someone who matches the description, that could still lead to hurt feelings.”

Mary: “But that's the thing, it's not only looking the same. Like for instance, think about how Barbara and Caprica said they met.”

Billie: “.... A car accident.”

Mary: “Right! And what started off this whole uptick in violent crime? This guy getting killed, getting his truck stolen, then whoever stole it crashing the truck into a ditch on the outskirts of the town.”

Trixie: “That's not the same type of accident they described in how they met though.”

Mary: “Yeah, but any good cover story has an element of truth in it.”

Ash: “So you're basically saying, that Caprica pulled somebody out of a wreck, who turned out to be a cannibal serial killer that the cops covered up the death of. And who instead of cannibal serial killing her, fell head over heels in love, and now…. what, they're like a serial killer power couple or something? So is Caprica secretly a serial killer now too?”

Mary: “Weeeeeeeelllllllll…. Kinda? Yeah? I mean, turns out, Capricas actually kinda legit been through some horrible stuff in real life. Buuuuut I'm not so sure about talking about that stuff since it, you know, actually 100% happened to her.”

Trixie: “Shit, so you're saying she actually has some kind of excuse for how trying to make smalltalk with her, makes her look like she's offended you even thought to try and speak to her?

It's not like… you know. Because of some guy…. Right?”

Mary: “No, no, nothing like that.”

Greta: “Well… you might as well tell us since we've come this far.”

Mary: “....Okay. Just a sec.”

She goes to the laptop, clicks open a web browser, and takes a moment to look up the right event.

Mary: “Okay, so over a decade ago, there was this thing that happened at a campsite near here, where this big elk supposedly ate something bad, like old rat poison from the 70s or something, which made it freak out and go on a violent rampage where it gored a bunch of campers to death.”

She steps back to show an old newspaper clipping with a picture of Caprica and a bunch of young scouts.

Mary: “Caprica was one of the few survivors, who also saved a bunch of cub scouts by having them climb a tree where the elk couldn't reach them.”

Sparrow: “Hold on, I actually recognize this one! That's the state record for the single most people killed in a single day due to an animal attack! So Caprica was one of the people involved in it the whole time? That's wild!”

Ash: “From hero to serial killer….. That's pretty brutal of her…. Nice.”

Sparrow: “Of course the lady who still dresses goth every day even though she's pushing 40 would have that be the takeaway here.”

Ash: “I know what I'm about.”

Trixie: “That still seems like a bit of a reach though.”

Billie: “I’ll reiterate. This is a conspiracy theory being made up for fun. It's going to be full of reaches.”

Trixie: “No I mean, Barbra is absolutely crazy for that girl. Like remember that one time? (comic about bob drowning his sorrows in liquor because caprica had to go to a doctors appointment and he couldn't come along.) Trixie: “It just seems disproportionate to fall that hard after a life of murder and cannibalism, to Caprica of all people.”

Sparrow: “You literally just said a few minutes ago if you were in Barbara's position getting your life saved, they wouldn't be able to get rid of you if they tried.”

Trixie: “What, am I suddenly not allowed to embellish a little? But I mean, come on, haven't you seen the two of them enough? Heck, starting out I was more worried that Caprica was like… like she didn't even want to be in a relationship?”

Ash: “I always got the opposite impression personally, like she was taking advantage of Barbra. She's always acting so mean to her. Like with us she's at least trying to be polite, but not so much with Barb. I've been trying to keep an eye for any other red flags like that, but Barbra’s never seemed to mind soooo….”

Greta: “Hey now, let's not start implying Caprica is abusive. It's clear she's done a lot for Barbra, however begrudgingly. Even coming to the bar all these times. It's clear Caprica isn't doing it because she enjoys clubbing. Barbara's always been the one having the most fun.”

Roxy: “Yeah, let's not have this get out of hand with all these accusations.”

Mary: “And more importantly, I want better feedback on my theory! I mean of all the reasons why it could be wrong, I'd hope for better than something like “Barbra is acting way too crazy to have POSSIBLY been a deranged cannibal serial killer.”

Sparrow: “That Barbra is a certified freak 7 days a week and I love that for her.”

Roxy: “Forget about Barbra, I still don't like the thought that some cannibal serial killer has come over from that town with all the spooky shit going on and is around here terrorizing people!”

Billie: “Once again, she's not following the evidence, she's inventing a ghost story and then finding scary evidence to support the narrative while leaving out any conflicting evidence or context. If it were genuinely something to worry about, this wouldn't be your first time hearing about it.”

Trixie: “Plus it can’t actually be the cannibal serial killer guy, he's super dead.”

Mary-Anne, with a bit of a mischievous tone as she leaned in back to her presentation: “.....You know, I actually found some cell phone video of the guy getting run over I can show everyone.”

To which Billie the bouncer stood up sharply and said: “Nope. Putting my foot down. New rule. No snuff films in the bar.”

Before closing the lid of the laptop.

Mary: “Awwww what? No!”

Trixie: “Killjoy.”

Ash, clearly sarcastic and kidding around: “Yeah, no watching the brutal deaths of serial killers in a bar? What are you, homophobic or something?”

Mary: “It's actually a pretty funny video without much gore or anything. The guy gets run over by a car like 4 times in a row. Like a loony toons character.”

Billie: “I don't care how funny it is, that's the sort of stuff that can get the business in trouble.”

Roxy: “But can't we make an exception this time? I'd feel a lot better for sure knowing that guy is dead.”

Billie replies as she straightens out her pants and shirt: “It's almost time for me to start my shift, so might be best to just call it quits here.”

Mary-Anne went back to the laptop to scroll through the list of images she'd gathered for people either missing or dead.

Mary: “Awww, but I didn't even get a chance to go through the list of victims yet.”

Greta: “No, she's right. I think we've seen enough. I doubt this is anything we should be letting Barbra see. Let's just stop here before…”

Sparrow: “Wait. Scroll back up.”

Mary-Anne did as asked, scrolling a bit up again and upon seeing it Sparrows eyes got wide, and she covered her mouth in shock. Prompting a few of the others to look as well. Getting a similar look of surprise.

Ash: “Oh, wow.”

Mary: “What? What is it?”

Ash: “You weren't there that day. So you wouldn't know. But that one?”

She points at a certain picture of a man on the screen.

Ash: “That's one of the guys who grabbed Caprica that day.”

The silence hangs in the air for a moment.

Mary: “This guy?”

Ash: “Yep.”

Trixie: “Okay that's spooky. But one guy going missing is a coincidence at best. Especially the kind of guy who'd behave like he and that other jerk did. I bet he's asking for a fight everywhere he goes. So let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe if they both went missing that might be a…”

Mary: “Well let's see! What did the other one look like?”

She said with a bit of excitement, scrolling through the rest of her list of missing persons.

Billie:“.... He looked like that.”

Mary: “Huh?”

Billie stepped over, and used the laptop trackpad to scroll a bit upwards, then pointed at a specific picture in the list of missing persons. The picture of the second guy who had tried to hit on Caprica that night.

Mary: “Thats him.”

The air hung still for a moment, the weight of the realization sinking in. Trixie Being the first to break the silence with,

Trixie: “..... Well shit, Barbra and Caprica might actually be some kind of serial killers.”

Another moment of silence, until

Ash: “.....Good for them.” The humor of the response breaking the tension with an indignant, though slightly giggly response of Sparrow: “Ash! Oh my god!”

Ash: “What? Am I supposed to be upset that a pair of creeps who snuck into a gay bar and try to sexually harass the shortest lesbian they could find in the club, and right in front of her girlfriend no less, have gone missing? Good riddance if you ask me.”

Sparrow looked between the women nervously before her gaze settled on Billie: “For real though, should we… call someone about this?” Mary: “What happened to helping bury the bodies?”

Trixie: “Would probably be burying Barbra if you sent the police after her.”

Sparrow: “What?” Trixie: “Seriously, what the fuck do you think would happen if we called up the police and told them that a lesbian trans woman MIGHT be involved in the disappearance of two men? And not only that, but that we’re suspicious of her being involved in their disappearance because she got into a fight with these two dudes when they tried to “correct a woman from the deviancy of homosexuality”. You might as well be broadcasting “Hey dudes! Free target practice over here! Feel free to shoot this woman as many times as you want, because no jury is going to condemn you for murdering a butch trans woman!” to almost every trigger happy misogynist dirtbag in town.” Greta: “I knew this was going to be a mistake….”

Billie let off a sigh: “Trixie is right. We could easily be putting Barbra’s life at risk based on a coincidence she had nothing to do with. Whereas it would be a roll of the dice if it even mattered to law enforcement if she were actually guilty or not.”

Sparrow: “....I guess you’re right.”

Roxy: “Man I told y'all this was gonna be a bad idea. Now yall are speculating about turning Barbra over to the police. But you know what? I’m with Ash on this one! Even though Mary-Anne’s been trying to freak us all out trying to link all these murders to Barbra, the only real evidence we have is that two wannabe date rapists who happened to get into a fight with Barbra have now gone missin. And even if Barb and Caprica did off those two, then good on em for actually being proactive in getting rid of creeps like that. Long as they’re sticking to cleaning up trash like that, and aren’t going after any of the people I care about or who have the good sense to just be minding their own business, then I couldn't give less of a shit.” Trixie: “I hope Barbra and Caprica did kill those pigs though. Fuck the cops, I wish more of them had been killed.”

Greta: “.....I think it might be best for everyone if we just change the subject and forget the whole thing.”

Mary: “........Do you think maybe Barbra and Caprica might have room for one more in their relationship though?” Sparrow, through laughter: “OH MY GOD!” Ash, also trying to stifle a chuckle: “Dude, don’t go trying to be some couple’s third wheel just because you think they might be serial killers.”

Trixie: “Yeah, what if they say yes and then you find out they’re actually super boring and you just end up being disappointed?” Mary: “A girl can dream can’t she?” Roxy, clearly not taking it seriously: “I’d be more worried about you thinking the worst case scenario here would be them NOT being serial killers.” They continue chatting for awhile about various things before eventually going their separate ways, having all agreed not to tell Barbra or Caprica about this conversation. 

[circyexistforcontent]

Re: Paperwork Post

Oof. The paperwork post is so good. Combining the paperwork post with the time dilation post, I imagine would not lead to good things. I imagine in SAGAU, it would lead to a workaholic reader with little to no time with the acolytes. If the reader isn't working on the mountains of paperwork for days on end, then they're sleeping for days on end. Rinse and repeat for eternity, I imagine. I wonder if the reader would ever get sick of the routine, since it would end up being a neverending job at this point. What do you think?

SAGAU CONCEPT: ACOLYTES AND TIME DILATION

❀ synopsis: don't you want devoted followers? Who leaves their families for you? Give their money to you? Give their bodies to you? Give up their lives for you? Consider you God? And will kill for you?

❀ tw: religious themes, cult au, human sacrifice, panic attacks, reader is very tired and overworked.

Yeah, sagau reader is going to be equivalent to a zombie with how they're living. There is no harem anime life, only a workaholic reader whose blood consists of 90% caffeine. Readers' harem wouldn't be helpful (ok maybe a little bit helpful) since they cause more cons than pros. The most troublesome type of yandere is the ones that lead you away from your work (Traveler, Wanderer, Venti, Kazuha) and especially the ones that sacrifice to you in your name (Zhongli, Childe, Dainsleif, Razor).

some people would blame you for killing them in the shadows, and it doesn't help that the same person who accused you disappears the next day. It will cause people to doubt your judgment and it takes several of your followers to ease their opinions (Ganyu, Barbara, Jean, Kaeya, Ayato, etc).

There might be a group of people trying to kill the reader since those who were killed might have close ones, but y'know, their side characters. Their npcs. The acolytes immediately shut it down by threatening them while the defectors were on the brink of death (Diluc, Xiao, Gorou, etc). So to get straight to the point, sagau is basically a normal yandere genshin au on steroids. There is a lot of murder and manipulation on the civilian's end since some yandere's have to cover for the other yandere's who can't control their murder boner. And you have to take care of the two seperate parties or else things might go out of hand

On time dilation...

Let's be honest, Zhongli was the one who most likely saw you sleeping on your desk. When you didn't wake up after 2 days everyone will panic. Some will blame themselves for overworking you and not helping you while some will insist on giving you medicine that might wake you up. The traveler is the clingiest one out of all your acolytes since the two of you have been together since the beginning.

The archons are hysterical the moment you fell into a deep sleep. They're in a constant state of panic and frequently visit to check up on you. Venti likes to play songs when you're sleeping in hopes that you can hear them through your dreams. Zhongli likes to hold your hand and feel your warmth to reassure himself that you're still alive. Ei has this fascination with your holy figure. Every curve, every vein, every single hair on your body is perfect.

It doubles when you fell into a deep sleep. Seeing your body in perfect condition after months of being asleep makes her adore you even more. You really are eternal, you are everything Ei aspires to be. But to be honest, she prefers you to be awake so she can adore you even more.

But yeah, its not a fun time for you once you wake up :(

(sorry this was short, I really want to add more)

[thoninohere]

Childhood Crush - Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson x Neutral Reader

Warnings: None, just some teenage kisses.

Summary: Dick has been having a crush on Barbara for a while, and you're not really interested in Dick, even though you can't deny that your best friend is cute. You two try not to beat around the bush on the subject of love.

You two are around 15-16 years old.

Song: Melting-Kali Uchis/Meaning and lyrics

A/N: I was too lazy to continue this lol. You can read the other titans I have ready here.

Word counter: 1115.

...

Grayson was a bit odd, even though everyone avoided mentioning it. One day he was just another kid, and the next you could swear he looked like an old man recently retired from World War II with PTSD, Grayson was a strange enigma but charismatic enough to hide anything he needed to hide.

His crush on Barbara was curious, although you thought it was normal for him to like someone relatively older, hell even Black Canary or Green Arrow were hot for you; although you still couldn't avoid even a hint of awkwardness about it. Anyway, it was nice to see Dick's loving side whenever Babs worked with the Titans, he was melting like ice cream, and besides finding that endearing, it was nice to see your friend so nervous and confident.

By the time you two were about 16, Dick had given up, it seems that dating Babs was the least of his problems now that the team was having some difficulties against H.I.V.E. And seeing you stressed out because your fights haven't been going well lately makes his chest twist.

But seeing Dick giving up on something? Too strange for you, you knew him, he just didn't give up overnight, he was capable of making a plan that would even last for years so he could realize what he truly love.

Anyway.

Watching you watch stupid comedies that he didn't find funny while eating ice cream just to lighten your mood a little took him out of his comfort zone, Batman never comforted him, and he's just learning how to do that thanks to the other Titans. You had always comforted him so much even when you were just as bad or worse than him in times of stress.

So even though he usually doesn't even take off his mask even if they're in the tower, he sits next to you on the couch while he takes it off and looks at you out of the corner of his eye trying to hide his concern.

"Hey... Your sense of humor is terrible lately; not even Walls goes that low." He murmurs with a comforting smile that makes your organs twist in a strange way. "And you simply have no sense of humor, Richard, buy one." You say with a snort, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.

He laughs, feeling that warmth in his chest. He never wanted to doubt that it was because he felt relatively equal with everyone; or at least that's what he thought. The point is that Dick was smart, a detective, but there was one thing he was sorely lacking in: his feelings.

And by your way not feeling attracted to Dick was almost impossible, you even kept the slight secret of the gay panics that Wally or even Roy have with Richard sometimes have. But you never really thought about having something with Dick, you were all best friends, but he just had a special spark that was hard to see when Barbara visited Titans Tower.

So sometimes it's better to settle for a friendly relationship. And you got used to the idea that Dick is your best friend.

And maybe... Maybe Dick thought something like that. His crush on Barbara was real, but Barbara came into his life long after you, you two were around 11 years old when you first met. He saw you grow and his head on your shoulder when he was tired.

But you two can't avoid that slight spark no matter how much you deny the idea. No one can't escape things forever.

He looks away slightly and clears his throat, because while you two sillys were both thinking about the same thing, were simply staring at each other while dissociating. You can't help but laugh lightly and feel that warmth increase, how long has it been since you two sat down to enjoy each other's company?

"Distracted, Boy Wonder?" You get his attention by tapping him on the forehead that he easily could avoided. "I'd say the same thing, Y/N." He remarks with a smile, still looking deeply into your eyes causing a faint crimson to hover over both of their cheeks before you instinctively move just a little closer.

Richard? Richard was a sweet guy, but there was one thing he and Bruce shared well when they didn't have their masks on; and that was that they were both complete casanovas. Beautiful eyes and a bright attitude is what you were aware they used to their advantage to flirt with elegance and effectiveness.

And even though you swore to yourself that even if you were drunk you couldn't fall into that gaze of Dick's, now thinking about it deeply, it was difficult. Like, boy, stop looking like that, please and thank you. And the worst part? Dick knows what he's doing, he raises an eyebrow and looks at you with that cute smile even though he's acting without stopping to think for the first time.

You freeze, you even want to look away and pretend you have something to do, but then you stare at him too, he's nervous, even a little doubtful of what he wants or does. He looks like an ice cream that's about to melt, as if you were some kind of internal flame that he has or needs right now.

But what's up with this? A glimmer of doubt swirls around you both as you two get closer, what's going on? Does it work? Is it hypothetical anyway? Well if something happens it would still be hypothetical, like an exact experiment that can have hypothetical results for both.

But Dick doesn't think about the hypothetical, no matter how much he'll fill his mind with it later. And he knows that you are indeed hovering around the hypothetical, So, with that out of the way, he pulls you into a small, soft kiss, you gasp in surprise and wonder if he's actually killing himself over it.

No, Dick acts confidently and gently takes your hand, parting without going too far like the great gentleman he is. He looks away, blushing, but his mouth twists as he tries not to look like an idiot by smiling, he wants to say something, he wants to say a thousand things while his mind is in turmoil.

And your mind is blank, and there's nothing else to represent it... Than the alarm in the tower ringing because a villain decided to attack Jump City right now.

What a moment...

[cosmicanemoia]

Ms. Nobody

Melissa schemmenti x reader

SUMMARY

You show up at Abbott Elementary and stick your nose into everybody's business, and no one knows what you really do.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

You were walking down the hallway of Abbott Elementary looking for the principal's office, but you couldn't seem to find it. You were wearing a black and white, three piece pinstripe suit, looking like a stuck-up, but also, like a million bucks, you thought its suffocating.

A woman with a leather jacket paired with tight leather pants walks in your direction, as she gets closer from where you stand, you realise her hair is red, some of it tuck in a cat-eye-framed glasses.

You noticed she's fixated on her phone, so you block her way to make her notice you, she accidentally bumps into you, noticing you too late to stop on her tracks "Sorry, miss. Could you please point me in the direction of the principal's office?" She observed you with a stoic look on her face, you know she's trying to get a read on you "just follow me. I was going there anyway"

The walk to the Ava's office was filled with silence and when you got there, Ava checks you out and raises an eyebrow, she looks at the red haired woman "Damn! Schemmenti, thanks for bringing me a hot stripper. How'd you know I need to release some stress" miss Schemmenti made a dumbfounded face "wha--" she's trying to say something but you interrupted her "That's highly inappropriate" you said that left a silence in the room for a few seconds until you break it "That's highly inappropriate if I wasn't a stripper" both of the women's eyes widened by your revelation.

You started unbuttoning your blazer "but lucky for you I was" their jaw dropped at the sight "woah-- w-what the hell is going on?" Melissa earnestly asked looking around the room, confused by the act happening in the principal's office, you took your blazer off, throw it in a chair, and started unbuttoning your vest "I don't know-- but I'm liking every second of it" Ava replied, her eyes fixated on you. A smirk starts to form in your mouth, both women liking the scene more than they should, you took the vest off and throw it in with the blazer, you started to loosen your tie, you were holding back a laugh for quite some time but you couldn't hold it in anymore, so you burst out laughing, the two women bewildered "I'm just kidding!-- I'm not a stripper" you announce "what!?!" Ava and Melissa both shouted at the same time, their voice both frustrated and annoyed.

"Principal Coleman, I need to talk to you in private regarding classified topics" you took a seat in front of her. Ava gulped and clear her throat which Melissa mirrored "of course. Melissa, what do you need?" The principal asked the teacher "Uh- I forgot... I'll just come back later" Melissa walks out.

You've been there for a couple months now since that day. You've easily made friends with most of the teachers there. Janine always asks you questions but you rarely get to answer them because the topics sometimes change way too fast. Jacob jokes around you, talking nonstop, mostly dropping random facts about something not very well known but you already knew them so it fascinates him. Gregory asks you questions out of nowhere, he's quite and he listen but speaks his mind when he feel the need to do so, and you're just willing to listen. Barbara is always glad when you come to observe her class and is always kind to you. Ava unashamedly flirting with you everytime she can, you sometimes flirt back which makes her fluster and blush. Mr. Johnson telling you stories no one would bother to listen to or believe, but you always listen and you don't care if his stories are believable or not, they're still good stories nonetheless. Melissa scoffs at you when she sees you but it only lasted for a week, and she eventually warms up to you, but you know she still have some doubt and still don't fully trust you, you make her smile and you make her laugh everytime you can.

The teacher's are gathered in the teacher's lounge given that it's lunch time. They were chit chatting and catching up until the topic of their conversation became you.

"There's this mysterious woman who came from nowhere and people doesn't know what she really does here, where she came from, we only know she observes the school and do nothing else" Melissa stated making the other teachers question what are your true motives. They added and added so called facts and evidence of your actions trying to figure you out.

You made your way to the teacher's lounge with your hands in the pockets of your jacket, when you open the door and walk in, the room fell silent. You made your way to the vending machine "how is everybody?" You inquired but your met with silence still and you could feel the tension, you turn your back to check on them and when you do, all their eyes are shooting daggers at you. "What's going on?" You inquire once again, and once again your met with silence.

"You a cop?" Melissa ask you, breaking the silence. You slowly walk closer to her and you sigh "actually, I am." You pulled out a hand cuff out of your jacket, and everyone is stunned, "and Melissa Ann Schemmenti, you are under arrest for obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting, and harboring a criminal in your home" you started to handcuff her, she scoffs "That's ridiculous! I don't know what you're talking about" everyone is in complete shock. A smirk that has formed in your face since you handcuff her begins to become a grin, you tug softly at her shoulder and starts to walk, but halfway through the door you halted and speak again "but mostly for stealing my heart" you burst out laughing and it clicked to everyone what you just did, everyone is holding back their laughter, afraid of the redhead's wrath that you might have unleashed. Your laugh fades when you realise you're the only one laughing, it turned into an awkward chuckle "oookaayyyy. Tough crowd"

Melissa rolled her eyes "ha- ha- satisfied? Now get this off of me" she commanded. You started to search your pockets and nothing "Uh- I might have lost the key" you look at her with puppy eyes, "if this is another one of your jokes, I swear--" her sentence, unfinished, as you tug her and interrupt her "come, I have a copy hidden somewhere" you said as you lead her out the door. When you both are out of sight everyone sighed loudly releasing the breath they didn't know they were holding back.

While walking down the hallway Melissa ask you "so, you just carry around a handcuff with you?" "Who doesn't?" You answered like it's a totally normal thing to carry handcuffs around. She rolled her eyes again, tired of your antics, now clearly irritated, "what kind of idiot carries a handcuff and not have the keys?" You raise your two thumbs and started pointing it to yourself "this idiot, obviously. --Is it idiotic? Or is it part of my grand master plan to get you alone in a private room, with me?" You whispered the last part of your sentence in her ear in a seductive tone.

She's quite for a long time until she ask another question "where'd you put this key anyway? I feel like we've been walking in circles" you smiled and stop in front of her "we actually are" she stopped on her track and looks at you, furious, evident in her eyes.

You started to walk again and this time with the intention of getting the key. You knock at Ava's door and she tells you to come in. You walk in and Ava lifted her gaze from whatever she was doing on her laptop to you "Hey hottie" you shake your head unimpressed with her flirting "where's the key to your handcuffs?" Melissa burst in "This is Ava's handcuffs?!" She lifts and wave her hands "Yes. She gave it to me earlier to hold onto. And you presented an opportunity for it to be used-- so, here we are..." you answered her and she scoff "you won't see another light of day, when I get out of this freaking situation" you smiled at her, daring her to follow through her threat "Nobody carries a handcuff around unless they're actually a cop" you explain "or a stripper" ava added to the end of your sentence.

"Dear god give me patience or I might actually commit murder" Melissa closed her eyes and prayed, as Ava toss the keys to you, and you catch it. You walk over to Melissa to uncuff her as she glares and growls at you. When you finally freed her she massage her wrist and she fake pouncing on you which made Ava flinch, but you stand there unfazed.

Melissa walks out the room first. You drop the cuffs on Ava's table and walk out the office without saying a word.

You had an eventful evening, but today's school is over. You made your way outside the school through the parking lot.

Someone suddenly pulled you, then pushed you against the wall, it was Melissa who is out for blood, your blood. She has you pinned against the wall, you're not complaining, in fact, you actually like it, that position, but really, you just like her.

"Don't think I'll pity you because you're young and pretty. You don't know who you're messing with" she said and you cant help but blush "you think I'm pretty?-- I think you're pretty too, pretty and HOT!" You said emphasising the last word. You were looking eye to eye, faces inches away from each other, you let your eyes wander on her lips, and before both of you knew it, you were kissing her, but you suddenly pulled away when you realise she's not kissing back. She let go of you "first you handcuff me, call me hot, and now kisses me--- what the hell is wrong with you kid?" You look down at your feet ashamed of yourself but you look back gazing in her eyes "I'm not a kid.-- And there's nothing wrong with me.--- I'm just... just-- completely and utterly head over heels for you" you felt something hit the side of your face, you caress it with your hand, she had slapped you, you bit on your lower lip, your chest starting to tighten "don't mess with me like that" she said plainly "I'm no--" "Shut up" she said before you could explain yourself.

You just stood there in the cold as you watch her drive away. 'I really fucked this, shit!' You thought to yourself. You let out a loud sigh thinking how you screwed out really big.

The next day you went to school early, hoping you'd catch her and apologise for being such an asshole, but she didn't get in until before the class starts leaving no time for chit chats, especially with you.

Lunch came and you announce your presence when you walk in the teacher's lounge. You scan the room and you saw everyone is there. "I know you have question. I'm going to answer them truthfully and seriously" you said confidently and you sit on the couch.

Janine raises her hand and you raises your eyebrow at her signaling her to go for it "I actually forgot what to ask- I'm just eager to learn more about you" you nodded and you lean in the couch resting your elbows in your thighs "I know none of you know my name. That's OK. Ms. Nobody sounds good to me, but my name is y/l/n, y/n y/l/n.

"I have a question" Melissa speaks up "What is it you actually do here?" You think for a second "good question. *sighs* I help school that are about to be shut down by the government because the number of students doesn't meet the minimum quota for a public school to be open and for the lack of teachers teaching at the said school or schools that are barely making do"

"We're about to be shut down?" Janine asked to no one, and the teachers starts to converse among themselves, everyone of them shocked by the revelation.

A few minutes later "all teachers please proceed to the library after class we're having an unplanned meeting" Ava said to the intercom.

Someone is about to ask you question but the bell rang and they all dispersed, saddened by the news you told them. You rest your back on the sofa sighing with relief that you don't have to carry that secret anymore.

They went on to their classes pushing the news to the back of of their minds and went teaching like they always do.

The class are over and after the teachers tidy up and finish some things before they head to the library. There are a lot of them when you got there so you didn't bother to sit, you just stood and lean against the bookshelf trusting that if it can hold that many books, it can hold you as well.

Everyone is settled in the library. "I know y/n, has break the news to you. But we are not going to be shut down" Everyone simultaneously lets out a sigh of relief.

Melissa turns her head to look at you "you think everything is a joke, don't you? K--" "No. Of course not." You interrupted her before she finish.

"Everyone listen up. Let me rephrase my beautiful self. We are not going to be shut down because of y/n, and as long as she's here, we'll be okay" Ava collects her things and starts to walk away "Is that all? Are we finished?" Janine ask the principal "Janine, why'd you always gotta be so needy?" She scoffs and continues on her way.

You walk over to where Melissa and Barbara are sitting. "Hi Barbs" you greeted her with a pleasant smile and she replied "thanks for helping the school dear" you smile at her more before you turn your attention to Melissa "Hey, hot stuff. Can I talk to you?" "What'd you wanna talk about?" She ask and Barbara excuse herself so you sat next to her.

You are now alone together in the library. "I just wanted to say sorry for the handcuffs thing, and for stealing a kiss from you" she's just sat there quietly "also, I really mean what I said that night" "what? That I'm hot?" She ask still not looking at you, you look down on your knees and smile to yourself "yeah. That too" You grabbed her hand that is resting on her thighs and rest it on yours instead while you held it "I know you think I'm just messing with you. And I can see why you think that. But, I'm not. I'm being serious and I really mean it.-- please, look at me" you requested and she obliged "I'm in love with you" she just stares at you for a moment and then look away, her hand still held by yours.

You close your eyes and smile but you feel defeated. You let go of her hands and stand up. "I'm sorry" she said right before you walk away so you turn on your back to face her "what?" she's quite for a minute contemplating something "I'm sorry for slapping you" she said and you smiled to her "it's okay. I deserved it.-- and I kinda like it" you said and you wink at her "of course you do" she smiles more wide than usual, she's amused.

She stands up and walks up to you closing the space you made when you walk out, she reach on your fore arms and rub it gently, trying to warm you up. "You're getting cold" she said to you but you know you're hot on the inside caused by the woman's touch "And, no. You didn't deserve it" she said and she starts to let go of you but you pulled her into a hug "it's okay. I know you didn't mean it" you said as you hug her tighter.

You let yourself loosen the embrace but you feel hers tighten, not yet ready to let go, so you tighten your arms around her once more, waiting for her to be ready to let go.

You hugged for more than a couple of minutes until she finally let go, you smiled at each other, saying goodbye with your eyes knowing that you'll meet again soon.

After you've taken a few step away from her she shouted "come over for dinner at my house, let me apologise properly" you look at her with a grin "if you wanted to ask me out for a date, you could've just said so" "and there it is" she gesture with her hands showcasing you and you curtsied at her before you went on your merry way.

You knock and rang on Melissa's door and she opens them right away, inviting you in. Your eyes fixated on her, she looks so comfortable and it warms you, secretly hoping she would be comfortable with you too.

You watch her as you sit on the kitchen counter while she cooks making light conversations.

Her homecooked meal taste so good, you're saying "mmmhh" and nod your head at the same time every time you take a bite. She looks contented and proud of herself.

You were quite for a moment so she ask you "What are you thinking?" You look at her with a wide grin "you don't wanna know" you tease "just tell me" she commanded and you quickly abide "I'm just thinking that my grand master plan actually works. Even better than I'd imagine. Now, I'm eating delicious home cooked meal at your house with a beautiful view right in front of me"

She pulls you in for a kiss, a passionate kiss, which you return with the same desperation she had. You both pulled away at the same time, gasping for air, and catching your breath "I'm just taking back the kiss you stole from me" she said trying to defend her action, you smiled at her "How long have you been wanting to do that?" "Way too long, apparently" she replied and you both burst out laughing.

The night is going great and maybe it will get greater. You don't know where this night might lead you, but you don't care, as long as she's with you, every step of the way.

[gatalentan]

can u actually go over the significance of the sunflowers on the work wives’ table again? I think I missed it the first time and it sounds interesting

You have activated my trap card. Here is my thesis on the Work Wives Sunflowers.

Ok, I want to preface this by saying this is totally just a little bit of fun, and I am not totally deluded as to think this is A Thing. I have no expectations about this ship being canon, or there being Secret Meanings. It's more spotting a pattern and running with it. However, similarly - there is symbolism in this show in terms of costuming and set design, such as Janine's "love" necklace appearing and disappearing during story beats, writing on the teachers' boards being plot-relevant, etc, so it's not me being totally outlandish! For nearly 30 consecutive there hasn't been any decorations on the table, only practical items like salt, pepper, a basket of leaflets/condiments, a napkin holder etc (with the exception of Pilot, where the tables were in a different configuration, the WW are at a different table and all the tables have a little plant). For eg, here is all of S1:

In Fire, the table was damaged during a lapse of Barbara's mental health, where she became very insular with her own internal pain and didn't reach out to Melissa about it. It goes without saying that in the WW lore this table is basically a second home. The only time either of them sits anywhere else is when they fight, when Melissa ends up "sleeping on the couch" (other tables). This table getting damaged was a huge deal to Barbara and an inciting incident in her finally telling Melissa about Gerald's health problems and how it was upsetting her.

The table obviously had to be replaced after the fire damage, and was. In Teacher Conference, there is a new table, and a little bouquet has appeared, which stays through the next episode Mural Arts, squirreled away behind all the dinner paraphernalia.

But in Teacher Appreciation, the sunflowers appeared, huge and bright, two of them, a centrepiece, right there from the cold open.

An episode which, as we know, was a massive turning point in their relationship, where they fought, traded some really, really low blows that cut deep, but this time apologised on screen and reconciled - and one in which Barbara is wearing bright yellow when they do.

Immediately my squirrelly little brain started making connections about this, because they're SO bright and LARGE and PROMINENT and there wasn't any prominent decoration on the table before. My initial thought was oh, it's teacher appreciation day, this can be dismissed easily as just a gift from one of the kids. But we saw a lot of gifts being given to them all in this ep, and the flowers aren't among them. It was @cdyssey who made the stitch for me that this is probably Barbara christening/homecoming the table/the physical manifestation of their friendship/relationship after her lapse damaged it in an episode which re-cements their connection after the events of Fire, and in an episode where their bond is tested. Flowers are her thing. It has to be Barbara.

We also haven't seen any other gift that was given become a recurring feature. They are always facing the wide-angle camera, two bright faces for the two of them in the configuration they always sit in, side by side. Barbara Howard, who loves flowers, no doubt has read up on flower language before. Sunflowers are representative of "silent love, loyalty, admiration, arrogance and unspoken love". This was, without a doubt, a deliberate choice, and so, so thematically relevant for not only the unspoken but incredibly strong bonds of their relationship (platonic, romantic or otherwise), but also the arrogance for which Barbara (and Melissa) took their relationship (and the symbolism of their shared table) for granted in the episode where they appeared, and in Fire where she didn't open up to Melissa and share her pain.

The sunflowers are a physical manifestation of what Barbara feels about her relationship with Melissa, and the sanctuary that is their second home: the table. A safety and enduring loyalty that has lasted decades and seen countless other colleagues and friendships and even Melissa's marriage come and go. For each other, they are a reliable, ever-present constant, a beam of sunlight no matter what they are weathering together. The sunflowers stayed on the table for the following episode, disappeared 2x20 when Melissa was sat at the table alone (and was stressed and unmoored the whole episode), and the reappeared in 2x21, when the WW returned to the table again. And not only reappearing, but reappearing in a yellow outfit.

This cements to me that this is Barbara bringing them in each Monday - when she doesn't come into the lounge, the flowers aren't there.

As an addendum, I haven't re-checked the full series proper, but another time sunflowers have appeared in relation to WW is during another turning-point scene in 1x06, the "maybe this is it for me" scene with Barbara, Melissa & Gerald eating lunch that leads to Barbara encouraging Melissa to date again... but which also contains this look, where Barbara's mask nearly, fully slips one of the most significant times in the whole series and is a foundational moment in WW ship lore. Again, there are two sunflowers in this scene.

Yes, this whole thing is me being a delulu girl. Yes, it's me making tenuous connections for a non-canon ship and making a meal out of scraps. Yes, I fully enjoy this little theory and subscribe to it, and welcome anyone else to play around in the mud with me, too. If you wanna take this idea for fic etc, GO GO GO!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[capcollector]

I'm wondering how you feel about the truthfulness of Deacon's final affinity talk? I'm of the belief in my canon that the story itself is true, but Barbara wasn't her name, he just couldn't quite reveal that much. it felt too personal or painful. one thing he can keep to himself. I'm not choosing another name, she's just Her.

also, in my canon Deacon stops lying to my sole after that. kind of a "maybe there's not much left under the fraud but whatever's there, Judge can have it" deal. lies in front of him, blatantly talks around things or refuses to answer questions, but refuses to lie to him even about tiny unimportant things.

my take on deacon’s affinity convo is that he was telling the truth…up until the U.P. Deathclaws. i don’t think they were real. i think that was a lie, and if anything i think he said it as a means to allow bunny a real reason to hate him/distrust him/etc bc somehow that’s easier. to give her a way out. but barbara was real and that was her name and he killed the people who killed her.

and that conversation is a crucial moment for bunny and deacon bc bunny did initially believe all of it. later on she had gone to university point without him for something entirely different, but there was a voice in the back of her head, gnawing away at her. she had to know. she did some digging bc she wanted to prove to herself that she was wrong for doubting him. so when she rightfully concludes that the U.P. Deathclaws were never real, she calls everything into question. despite everything, was he ever going to tell her the truth, even after she’d opened up to him?

they’re on what should be a normal supply run. deacon notices she’s markedly less chatty, making less jokes than usual. she’s mad about something, and after his usual jokey attempts at getting her to talk fail, she finally turns around and snaps at him. it wasn’t like she was looking. she wanted to be wrong. i went to university point. the U.P. Deathclaws never existed, did they? after everything, you still can’t confide in me? is everything between us founded on a lie? was barbara even real?

and hearing her of all people ask that, looking into her eyes and hearing her voice break, it does something to him. he truly had stopped lying to her after that conversation, but now he had to make sure she knew that. yes, bunny, she was real. it was real and she’s gone but now you’re here and i just…don’t fucking know anymore. i don’t blame you if you don’t trust me ever again, if you wanna stop whatever it is we have, but know that i am in your corner til the end. it’s in this moment that he confesses—in so many words—that he loves her and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her. he can’t bear the thought. that’s the truth.

and bunny just has to sit there w these feelings for a moment. realizing what this really is. the way he talks right now, the way he doesn’t even seem to care he’s raising his voice in the woods, the defeated expression on his face coming through despite his sunglasses. bunny being forced to confront her own feelings, her own secrets and lies. it’s heavy moment for them.

bunny does ultimately believe him. she knows he’s being honest. and from then on this marks a new step forward in their relationship. they’ll both continue to have a few secrets—it’s inevitable w these two—but they are forthcoming w each other. no more lies. we will communicate the way we know how. no one will ever understand me the way you do. i love you.

[x-just-another-fanfic-writer-x]

The Neighbour Down The Hall

Chapter 7

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Summary: A night out after work leads to another unplanned stay with your tall, dark and handsome neighbour down the hall

Word count: 1.7k

AO3

Your late nights continued into the following week. You came home that Sunday from a long lunch with a few old co-workers now turned friends, the strange marijuana smell still lingering in the flat. But it also mingled with the smell of fried chicken. It was so bad that after giving Justin a quick greeting, choosing to ignore the dirt underneath his fingernails, you changed into your gym clothes and went downstairs for two hours. Partly to avoid a conversation with your boyfriend which would no doubt aggravate you, partly on the off chance you’d see Bucky, but mainly because you just wanted to be alone.

The first couple of days that week were bad enough, you were tired from staying at work late as well as continuing your early morning gym routine on top of that. You were tired of biting back scathing comments you wanted to make to Justin about why the hell you noticed a bit of soil on the floor of your literally plantless apartment. By Thursday, you felt particularly rough. You arrived back around 11pm, exhausted and coming down from a sugar rush after scoffing an entire packet of wine gums on the train home.

“Seems like this is becoming a habit,” Bucky called up from a flight of stairs below.

“I know, it's late,” you said, slowing down so he could catch up.

“Didn't you leave early this morning too?” he replied, oddly quickly by your side.

“…yeah…” you said with resignation as you opened the door to the corridor and waited for him to go first. He seemed momentarily perplexed at your action before stepping through. You walked towards your own front door, but Bucky followed. You looked up at him, now you were perplexed.

“You’re burning the candle at both ends, Jess.”

Your eyes narrowed slightly at his perception. “It's fine,” you shrugged.

Bucky pursed his lips. “Doesn’t seem fine.”

“What’s it to you anyway?” you challenged, your tiredness making you more argumentative than usual.

Bucky raised his hands in surrender. “It’s not anything to me. I’m just saying.”

“Well… I appreciate the concern but keep your sayings to yourself.”

He sighed. “Alright.”

You hovered, you wanted to talk to the man more, but weren’t sure what to actually say. You inhaled a deep breath, catching a whiff of his cologne. “I umm-” you began. Think of something you begged yourself. “Do you always wear gloves?” you blurted out, regretting the words before they even left your mouth.

“It’s cold out,” he replied nonchalantly. 

“You wear them in your apartment too,” you pointed out quietly. His expression remained neutral, his eyes boring into yours. After too long of a silence, you fished your key from your pocket.

“You should consider slowing down,” he muttered as he stalked off to his front door.

You didn’t understand what that was about, but you didn’t take his advice. 

The next day you were invited for drinks after work with your female colleagues. A rare event, one you for sure wouldn’t turn down. Drinks with Ellie, Charlotte, Lily, and Barbara (admittedly Barbara was a bit older than the rest of you) were always fun. You left most of your belongings and valuables that you didn’t want to carry around behind in the office, locked in your desk cabinet. You even left your coat. You were fully intending on coming back to pick up your stuff. You were just going for a drink, you were only going to be out 2 hours, maximum. The bar was just round the corner. Just one drink.

How that turned into a full night out you have no idea.

You stumbled out of the cab and walked haphazardly into the building lobby, too drunk to notice how cold it was. You groaned as you reached the bottom of the stairs, then stumbled up, snickering to yourself. By the time you reached the top, you were desperate to just sleep. And pee. And drink some bloody water. You stood, or rather swayed, outside your front door, fumbling for your keys.

“No no no no no,” you muttered, frantically searching your pockets. “Not again,” you groaned loudly. You could have sworn you brought them with you to the bar- then you remembered. No… you left them at work, figuring they’d be ‘safer’ locked in the cabinet than in your stupidly shallow trouser pockets.

You sighed and looked around the deserted corridor. You didn’t want to do it… You already felt guilty and awkward after the man let you stay the last time. But it was almost 3 am, and Justin was hundreds of miles away visiting friends that weekend. If Bucky saw you sitting outside the flat again, like this, he’d probably be pissed you didn't ask for help. You quietly approached his door, maybe he would be out? Maybe he wouldn’t have to know?

You knocked quietly, and within a second Bucky opened the door. His hair was slightly disheveled and he clearly needed a shave, but his blue eyes were bright. 

“Jess?” he asked quietly, taking in your appearance.

“Hey, I’m so sorry. I umm… I don’t have my key and yeah it’s a bit ridiculous, my home is right there and I can’t get… so can I…” you trailed off when in the sliver of the door crack, you spotted the legs of someone sitting on his sofa. Female legs. You looked back up to Bucky, his expression unreadable. “If now’s a bad time I can…” you pointed behind you as you began to stumble backwards, awkwardly.

“No, she was leaving,” he said, looking at you even more concerned as you wobbled on your feet.

A petite red head suddenly appeared at the door, smiling slyly as she looked up at Bucky and slipped past. Her black skin tight outfit left nothing to the imagination.

“Remember what I said. See you around Buck,” she said. Another American? She turned and looked you up and down, judgmentally, before sauntering down the hallway. Bucky let out a small sigh, then ushered you inside.

“You’re drunk,” he stated.

“How do you know?”

“You’re stumbling and I can smell it.”

“Oh,” you murmured, then tried to subtly sniff your clothes. It apparently wasn’t that subtle, as you heard Bucky snort gently. You looked up to see his eyes glinted with amusement.

“Sit down before you fall down,” he instructed, and gently put his hand on your back to guide you to the sofa. You plopped down and hiccuped. “How did you forget your keys this time?”

“I left them in the office before-” you hiccuped again “before we went out for drinks.”

“You came home without your coat in this weather?” he gently scolded.

“‘S fine,” you mumbled, waving a dismissive hand. You heard him sigh before you felt something soft being placed over your shoulders. “You own a blanket?” 

“Yeah I own a blanket.”

“Cause your flat’s like super bare,” you drunkenly pointed out. When he didn’t reply for a beat you continued. “Like- like I’d have thought you’d have more stuff by now or maybe if you don’t it means…”

“Means what?” he gently probed. You didn’t detect the shift in his tone.

“I dunno means you’re up to something shaddyyyy,” you replied in a sing-song tone.

“And why would I be up to something shady?” he asked quietly.

You shrugged. “Can I use your bathroom?” you blurted out, then without waiting for an answer you stood up, letting the blanket fall to the couch. You stumbled towards where you thought the room was.

“On the left,” Bucky called out to you as you hovered, staring into the door to his bedroom. It was somehow even more bare, yet neat. But nature called too strongly for you to look any longer, and you practically slammed the door to the bathroom shut behind you. You tried to take in details of the room there too, but your head was spinning and a headache was forming. Once you were finished, you stumbled back to the sofa, and sank unceremoniously down onto it.

“Do you smoke weed?” you asked, glancing around the flat once again.

“No,” Bucky answered, then sighed. “Why?”

You shrugged. “My boyfriend said maybe you did.”

“And where is this boyfriend of yours?”

“He’s- he’s with friends,” you mumbled, lying back against the couch.

“I see,” he replied quietly whilst you pulled the blanket around yourself again. “You really should get a spare key.”

“And who’s gonna keep it, you?” you retorted with a scoff.

“You got no one else nearby?”

You yawned. “Yeah but like the opposite side of the city.” You were finding it increasingly hard to keep your eyes open. “Do you have anyone nearby?”

“No,” he replied quietly.

“Who was that red head?” you asked as you closed your eyes.

“A passing visit.”

“Uh huh,” you drawled, not believing him. “She was pretty.”

“She is,” he agreed softly, and you opened an eyelid. He was gazing out of his window. 

“Is she from back home?”

“I don’t have a home,” he murmured. You frowned at the bluntness of the statement, wondering what it could mean.

“W-what about a family?” you whispered, and even through your drunk haze you knew you were treading on thin ice.

“No family either.”

Your frown deepened and you sat up, opening both eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he muttered. 

After a few beats, you spoke again. “Why did you move here?”

But abruptly, Bucky stood up. “You should get some rest,” he said quietly. 

Guilt settled uneasily in your stomach as you realised you crossed a line. You watched Bucky walk quietly away and mumbled out a ‘I'm sorry’ that you doubt he heard. His bedroom door shut softly and you groaned, hating yourself for your line of questioning as you closed your eyes. You felt dizzy again, and flopped onto your side on the sofa. You tried to think about how you could make things right, why he reacted like that, but you were too drunk still to stay awake, and before you knew it, you passed out.

Next chapter

[confusedhummingbird]

im pretty sure all of the haley-haterisms are a joke and no one has earnestly wished for any real dogs or otherwise to die

i think the whole "kill dick's dog" thing is coming from the general distaste of that comic run and how haley more or less represents the woobifying and dumbing down of dick's characterization that the run has produced. the killing dog jokes are mainly an outlet to express that frustration with how poorly tt has constructed the beloved characters, mainly dick and barbara, and not like an actual intent to harm a dog bc, yeah, the dog hasn't done anything. but that's also kind of another point? like the dog serves no real purpose other than another cutesy animal sidekick, which ordinarily would be fine, but it's coming at the expense of a lot of solid, competent characterization, which a lot of people really don't like

it feels a little far to imply that anyone making those jokes would ever harm an animal in real life. that would be like saying anyone who has ever made a post or a joke about wanting to see their favorite character tortured and beat up for a whump fic or general angst wants real life people to be hurt and beat up, and i highly highly doubt anyone who writes whump has ever wanted to see what they write come to reality on a real human being

i know that post came from a good place and one from concern, but it comes across as intentionally misunderstanding the reasoning behind the joke and defamatory of anyone who chooses to partake in it

I had a feeling I would get a message like this and this is no hate to you, Anon because you're just the messenger so take no heat from my word,but still this is my point. I don't care. I don't care where the joke may have come from. I don't care why it's a thing. It's a sick joke. Joking about a dog's death is sick. Joking about Jason shooting Dick's dog is sick.

You can hate the way the writing was. I did too I wasn't a fan of Taylor's run but that's no excuse to joke about the death of an animal.

Yeah it doesn't do much. Of course it doesn't it's a dog. A normal dog. What is she meant to do besides looking cute. Like all of Damian's pets we don't see people wanting to kill them. She's a side character. Not every scene and every character is gonna have some big huge meaning or story. Sometimes a character is just there for relief or happiness.

Call me the fun police. Call me missing the joke

I don't fucking care. I'd rather be someone who is too uptight and ruining the fun than someone who jokes about the death of a fucking puppy.

If that's the kinda fun you want then I repeat what I said in the original post, get some serious help.

[intriq]

I love being silly in ur asks!!!!

How do you think the Batfam would react to you being unexpectedly good at one of their "niche" (that isn't the right word I'm sorry) skills? Like gun skills(Jay) or flexibility (Dick)- 🌻

(You also don't have to do this pookie Intri I just love asking questions)

cackling, giggling even. im going to do this. ive been stewing over this since you sent it to me.

Tim - photography

He's probably a little surprised, no doubt. He's got a knack for photography, he's pretty good at it. I wouldn't be surprised if he has some sort of side job where people commission him for photos. He finds it to be a pleasant surprise when you give him a photo you took yourself as a little gift. It doesn't really matter if it's a picture of him or not, he'll still probably find a safe place to keep it so he can always look at it. He makes it a regular thing to trade photos with you after too.

Barbara - computers

Barbara doesn't exactly learn that your good at computers in person or directly. She hears it from the others after one night she wasn't available to provide information as Oracle and you instead did your thing just as smoothly, like it wasn't even an issue to navigate the Batcomputer in her place. She'll probably invite you to hangout with her after, trading tricks that'll no doubt sharpen not only her knowledge, but yours too.

Dick - flexibility

Hands down, Dick is shocked. He doesn't even know until one day you just so happen to showcase it while taking some thug down while on patrol with him, and he's obsessed there after. He probably constantly tries to see if there's anything he can do you can't, and he's probably always wrong in the end. Bonus points if there's something you can do that he can't, so he will pester you to teach him. Your definitely his new favorite person to patrol with after.

Jason - gun skills

He doesn't really let it show but he would be surprised. Amazed may be a bit of an overstatement, but it really depends on the type of person you are. If you don't look the type-- in his eyes-- to wield a gun, then yeah he's an amazed kind of surprised. Otherwise he's kind of neutral about it. He'd probably be interested in seeing if you can show him up in some gun tricks, though.

Bruce - strategy

He doesn't even notice it at first. He's far too busy planning something out when you offer your input that is incredibly thought out, and he runs with it. He adds it to his plan and it moves swimmingly, far better than expected. It doesn't click with him that you're a good strategist until after the mission he was planning for was all said and done.

Duke & Steph - puzzles & riddles [steph specifically]

Steph probably doesn't have much of a reaction. She's probably entirely neutral about it, a little uncaring. She'd still talk with you about it, though. Duke, though, is probably the total opposite. All hyped up and energized about it, happy that he's got something to talk with you about. Not to mention it's probably a topic you and him would enjoy discussing. He's just a hyperactive happy kid, I feel.

Cass - stealth

I feel like Cass would be surprised your good at stealth in its own aspect. No matter how she learns it, it'll probably lead to her staring at you and wondering "how the fuck did you do that" over and over.

[coupleoffanfics]

CW: Baby trapping and toxic behavior

I depict y/n as being someone who is relatively open-minded and open about what she wants. Having that said, there would probably be moments where y/n casually points towards what life she wants with Jeremiah. It would be more jokingly, but she "jokes" about having kids and living in a house with a white picket fence so much that it's like…

You aren't really joking, are you?

y/n: What's the point of having sex if you aren't trying to make a baby?

Barbara: *too stunned to say anything*

Jeremiah: *chokes on his drink*

y/n: …

y/n: Yes, do I have a list of baby names.

Now with in mind, I could see Post-Spray Jeremiah trying to baby trapping y/n. Doesn't care about the baby only about what it means for them. He'll take care of her and their baby. Then she can live out that little domestic life she always talked about just as long as she stays with him.

I only say Post-Spray Jeremiah because Per-Spray would never think of such a thing. It's immoral and they were both too young to be have a child.

I could see two different things happening

y/n could get an abortion because she doesn't want anything to do this him and does not want to the father of her child being an unstable monster.

If she does that, then Jeremiah would bring it up when least expected. y/n is pretty mentally fragile, so I could see her balling her eyes out when he starts saying the worst things imaginable. Everyone in the family is sportive of what ever her choice is.

If y/n keeps the baby, it would be more leverage for Jeremiah. If she gets out of line he'll threaten the baby before it's even born.

Even if she "behaves" he wouldn't really care. Doesn't care that he's brought a life into this horrible situation. He'll act like he does just so she have that image of a normal life. That way she can stay put.

He'd prefer if the baby looked like y/n rather him. Wouldn't even bond with the child until they're able to speak full sentences. That child it going to be a Mama's boy/girl without a doubt. Probably every sheltered too that is if the batfamily can’t save her.

Oh, my God. What if they had twins tho. If they're both boys y/n would jokingly say, "That one is Jeremiah and this one is Jerome." Jeremiah doesn't find it funny at all and if they have his natural features (ex:red hair) then he'd scowl.

One being all for Jeremiah and keeping y/n with him. While the other wants a new dad that doesn't neglect them. They'd take any one to be their new dad as long as Mom is treated nicely too. 😊

Hell, they'd might just call Jerome Dad because he'd probably be a slightly better parent and partner. Jerome is completely smug about the idea, but also feels for the kid. Having been neglected himself it just hits too close to home.

Could see that twin wanting to be a vigilante or just wanting to murder Jeremiah. Then the other twin following in Jeremiah's steps and looking up to him. y/n is trying her best to have some sort of normalcy in their lives, but Jeremiah makes that impossible.

They're both every different, but they both are Mama's boys. y/n would be so embarrassed, but flattered being called a milf.

I might write about it more if anyone wants me to. Just cutting it off here before I start my rambling and go over the character limit. I also don't think many would be interested in this idea and/or would be uncomfortable by it.

Stay safe, peace. ✌️

[isnt-it-pretty]

I found your Cyrus ask/post and really liked anon’s and your thoughts on it

Going onto my own projections lol, I always thought Cyno’s story parallels immigrants to an extent. He’s a desert dweller, but he’s basically been raised in the Akademiya. He’s Othered there because of the prejudices against the desert, but he’s Othered in the desert too due to being the General Mahamatra. He knows the desert, but from what I remember it’s implied (I think since the Sumeru archon quest?) he doesn’t quite know it as much those who actually live there, like Candace

One admirable trait of Cyrus at least is that he has a soft spot for children, and we see that when he’s willing to pretty much drop the case of the threat letter once he finds out it’s a 16-year-old responsible

So I think your take is very consistent of what we already know of Cyrus. Arguably, it’s still not the best outcome, because good intentions doesn’t mean it’s for the best. I honestly think he felt responsible for Cyno, as someone who was involved in implanting the fragment in him and seeing how it resulted in his sickliness. I also think seeing Cyno suffer was possibly half the reason why he ended the experiment and took him with him

But that’s me giving him the benefit of the doubt. Cyrus himself admits at the end of the SQ that he’s “not a good person” and that Cyno has reason to hate him. Like you said, he doesn’t give his reasons, so we’re left to basically guessing his thoughts that ultimately he’s a pretty enigmatic character. It doesn’t help that he’s not the most honest about them. He seems to be pretty emotionally-constipated and very avoidant in fact, and that bites him in the ass when he tells Cyno about Hermanubis but is not willing to get into any depth. Cyno even calls him out a little by the end of the SQ, when he clearly wants to talk to Cyno about something but ends up giving him “non-answers”, so he’s definitely not perfect

Either way, to that anon: you’re valid if u don’t like him. I was a little surprised at how much MHY went into Cyrus’ character, making him flawed enough to be justifiably disliked. It’s not something I expected from a NPC, but it’s a good direction from a story-telling standpoint (in that, I can see how this can be set up for conflict, but that’s my angst fanfic-loving heart lol cuz I doubt MHY will release a third SQ)

I'm glad you liked it! Here is the post referenced.

Cyno very much feels like somebody adopted outside of his culture (same with Kaeya), and he shares a lot with immigrants as well since the desert is basically treated as a seperate nation. He reminds me a lot of people who adopt children from Kenya or China (or other African & Asian countries), or indigenous children adopted outside of their communities, and then their roots are ignored and they're treated as the same as their family, even though they aren't.

I don't think there's any parents, adopted or otherwise, we know of in Genshin who are the idealisitic perfect parents. Kaeya's birth family is its own tangle, Crepus instilled a hero complex so strongly into Diluc that Diluc is now embittered and angry, Jean and Barbara's parents split up abd each took a kid (I mean seriously, what the fuck?), Kaveh's mother had severe depression and left him behind to build a life in Fontaine, Arlecchino is a mess for the Hearth children, Alice isn't the worst but she still left Klee for literally years, Dehya's father was a bandit, Diona's is an alcoholic, Kojou Sara's is a traitor, Wriothesley, Shenhe- you get the point. (Fischl, Bennet, and Yoimiya's parents are admittedly pretty good.)

Genshin has no problem giving us characters with complicated parental relationships. It's nice that we get to see Cyno still associating with Cyrus when so many other characters are estranged.

Cyno definitely deserves some straight answers though, and I think he'd get them eventually. Give it a few days to cool down and then go sit with Cyrus, listen to some tomato rants, and ask hos questions.

I'm too much of a baby to write or read arguments between Cyno and Cyrus 😭

[taranida]

What's in the box?! Or contents of Samantha's shoebox and who wrote what

Many of my theories use evidence from This House of Dreams — how two sets of poems in the shoebox were written by two different authors. I never explained, why I use it as a fact, but I have an excuse! To this day I cannot with confidence say which font is used on the first set. Not like I didn’t try to find out, but I’m at a loss: everything authentic to the time has at least one thing that doesn’t fit. But at this point I also believe that it doesn’t really matter much. There is already enough to talk about as is, and, finally I can touch up on the topic of the Light Switch vs the Clicker.

So, let’s look at the contents of the shoebox and do some comparisons.

First time when Samantha finds it, she makes this photo:

This is where the first set of poems comes from, together with the photos of the Diver, who wrote those poems, and his girlfriend as confirmed by the Bright Presence in the dream:

“The diver from the photos appeared to me. He looked nothing like in the photos, but it was the same man. He was the poet who had written the poems as well. In the dream he floated in the air above me in the bedroom as if we were underwater. He was wearing a strange, heavy diving suit, almost like a spacesuit, and he was shining with a bright light.” “The diver told me that a dark presence had taken over his girlfriend (the woman in the photos).”

What poems he wrote from the two sets is not specified, but it’s not really needed. Let’s take a look at the photos:

Honestly, with such a blatant “the girlfriend — the woman in the photos”, I have questions. Barbara as the Dark Presence in-game is rocking black hair even at her respectable body-age of 65, the woman in the photos seems to be blond or at least light-haired.

Did the Dark Presence make some changes to Barbara’s body to match the gothic vibe more? Did the public perception of The Scratching Hag and Baba Yaga make her black-haired? Sadly, we have no other images of Barbara Jagger to confirm any of that (no, the photo from the second game with Tom the Filmmaker Seine and Baba Jakala is not a source I’m willing to accept), but the detail is quite curious. It is entirely possible that the Dark Presence having the body would be able to make some changes; after all the Bright Presence made Tom’s body so shiny, he’s a floating lamppost. The Poet and The Muse also point that some changes are possible:

In the dead of night she came to him With darkness in her eyes Wearing a mourning gown Sweet words as her disguise

I have doubts that Barbara went to swim in a mourning gown, and the Dark Presence throughout the game is still dressed for funerals, even if her body changed and aged — the clothes adapted to it, fitting perfectly.

Okay, let us move on to the poems. We have few things to establish the author of each set. Firstly, the font. From the first game we know that Alan’s typewriter accompanies him in the Dark Place:

This is the shot from the moment when Alan finds Alice’s “surprise”, that starts the argument.

This is from the very end of the game. We also can see that the font on the page is Courier; same font that is stressed in the guide:

“Wake was hard at work, adding the final edits to his manuscript. He loved the Courier font.”

Twice!

“But then other, less savory ideas began to formulate, encased in the disgusting, black Courier font.”

Second set of poems also has a page that’s pretty in-your-face:

The Courier font; the title page of the AWAN’s Return; revelation about Campbell’s Monomyth, that plays huge role in AWII (In the whole AW franchise to be fair). All of this points to Alan, of course.

Now the first set uses a different font for starters. I will put them side-by-side:

The first one is Tom’s and the second is Alan’s.

The differences do not end here. We also have handwriting on some pages. Since the title-page is the one surely marked by Alan’s hand, let’s take it as an example and put all other notes near:

I’m by all means nowhere near to be a handwriting expert, but those “T”, “N”, “K”, “U, “E” — they kinda look alike. Yes, the writing changes a bit from one page to another, giving a feeling that something was written passionately or even frantically, something — calmly, with care, something dismissively. But some letters just stay the same for the most part. I would bet it’s the same hand. And yes, I see the elephant of E. in the room, I will talk about it.

Now let’s take a look on the notes from the first set of poems:

I know it’s an abomination of a picture, but we can see, that the way of writing is different.

I’ll also put them side-by-side:

It is another abomination, but easier to compare.

Finally, we can talk about the contents.

The first set of poems has 12 of them. And since Tumblr doesn't allow more than 30 pictures per post, I will drop the images while I can and others I'll leave as text and a link. The most famous are, of course:

The “follow my light”.

From the memorial at the Cauldron Lake Lodge:

And:

Used in OGoA’s Balance Slays the Demon (along with the memorial’s lines and the part of “follow my light”).

And those two from the second game, that are recited by Tom the Filmmaker:

In this temple of shadow and mist There's a window In the floor and A door in the ceiling There is no knowing Am I standing still Or running or kneeling

I wish it would shatter Like glass under my heels Just like a sheet of ice When I close my eyes That’s how the mirror feels Oh mercy Thousands have gone missing Beyond the labyrinth of me When you’re lost You’re lost in your own company

I will also draw attention to a bit of unreliable information, since the site of OGoA was taken down, but I find it curious. So, their albums’ names go like that:

And four of them are lines from Tom’s poems:

Until that time comes around again The shadow falls on this town again It’s barely evening But the shadow falls on me again No one will miss us Our faces inked black They’ll sell our things at the flea market They’ll never call us back So she left with them They’ll wine her and dine her We huddle naked in this alley Nothing’s for sure Fir needles tickle We bathe in rain water All the way to the ocean The memory of the slaughter Until that time comes around again The shadow falls on this town again It’s barely evening But the shadow falls on me again When I’m awake I’m barely alive When I sleep I have two hearts Your heart and mine Your two hearts and mine

The memory of the Slaughter, 1971

I go underground Follow me underground Everyone else has gone there Down to the ground I’ll take you underground They chased a mystery They are a mystery to me And you’ll think that of me When I tell you my tale What we bring with us Sorry secrets and awkward lies Wet matches A yarning for overcast skies Everything else down here Has been stolen so many times Everyone who walks down these steps dies I go underground Follow me underground Everyone else has gone there Down to the ground I’ll take you underground

Follow Me Underground, 1972

Divorce me from all that’s sane Screaming, mute darkness Descend on this frail frame I drown in fathomless black space Light never scratched The depths of this domain I see not; yet nothing could be worse Than the shades My mind calls herein Alone at my own wake The unraveling of reason’s skein

Alone at My Own Wake, 1973; The Unraveling of Reason’s Skein, 1975

Now, for completion’s sake I would drop all the poems that are left, but because I managed to get an error every time I've tried to save draft, it will be a link: here's the post of the blog with all 12 poems of the first set.

Aside from the one that starts with "We pillage and whore" (although it can be connected to the Taken), many of those poems point to Barbara being taken by the Dark Presence already. It’s up to interpretation, of course, but I see it there. I, honestly think that those poems were among others that Alan found in the shoebox in the cabin in the first game:

“Anything outside of writing is a struggle. I feel ill. I managed to make my way downstairs. There’s a shoebox filled with books and papers by Thomas Zane. It’s very hard to focus but I managed to read some of it. He’s a poet and a good one. He writes of muses and creators, summoning fabulous things from a magic lake, using its power to shape the world, of a realm of gods and dreams, and demons, dark things that wait for a chance to slip through, wearing the flesh of men as disguise. Zane writes about himself, his girlfriend being taken over by a Dark Presence, about growing scared of the lake. Zane believes it’s a mirror to the gaping void of darkness above, where some Lovecraftian presence lurks. I crawled back upstairs. I’ll borrow these things for my story. They ring true. They fit.”

Also, can’t help but wonder, why would Barbara be so happy about this poem to even draw a heart?

I mean it reads as “love is no more”. But, again, what do I know about Tom’s unique way of expressing his thoughts through art? Or the Dark Presence’s kinks.

Moving to Alan’s poems. By the way, pay attention on the poor condition of the pages; the first set is not pristine, but at least not this horribly damaged.

This one heavily hints on Alan’s journey. Now I will drop all the other poems as well (and hope I won't hit a wall with the ammount of pictures):

I’ll just leave some of my thoughts about the poems and tie them to events of Alan’s journey a bit. You can treat it all as a wild speculation, really.

Spider time! Oh, sorry, I meant: wild speculations time!

The poem about the princess: Mr. Scratch and the Dark Presence? I’m of the opinion that Alan consumed the Dark Presence after “filling it’s heart with light” and I will eventually talk about it; but it fits. To both Mr. Scratch and Scratch in the second game. The rope-walking feels like Alan’s “I’m drowning”, his always-changing mind-state in the Dark Place and also sends back to the AW1 DLCs. Well, the king poem is obviously the desire to leave the Dark Place and the inability to do it. I have no clue what the dinning poem is about, to be honest, is it somehow connected to deer? Deer-fest? Or the Dark Place populace that might or might not feed on Alan himself? After all, in AWAN he claims he became highly knowledgeable of the inhabitants and the fauna of the Dark Place.

The end of wild speculations.

Now let’s talk about E. And I kept the last poem with no wild speculations just for that. So, we have E. and B. in the notes of the second set of poems as well; I would assume that this is the moment in Alan’s stay in the Dark Place when he goes mad enough to try to impersonate Tom or summon him this way, or even create yet another Barry from DLCs, but this time — Tom (might be with Alan’s face?). B., obviously is as dead as she can be for Alan, he probably has no idea about the private island (or forgot about it), so we have only one mention of her, one that is plausible in Alan’s opinion. E., on the other hand was in the Dark Place with Alan at the time or before.

Allow me to explain. Emil “That Arsehole” Hartman is reported missing in AWE-35 up to 2011:

The “notable individuals still missing after the Bright Falls event” here assumes that Hartman still wasn’t located by FBC after the events of AW1, but they already know about the book published in 2011. Sometime after he was arrested:

And released:

Only after that he makes his leap of faith into the Dark Place. By rough calculations year is 2011-2012, so before being spat out from the lake he might’ve been there with Alan and those notes about E. not understanding:

"E can't see it. He's view is too narrow, limited. It's not a lake, it's an ocean, darkness before the act of creation, before the Big Bang, darkness upon the face of the deep, upon the face of the waters, before light, before the primeval atom, before the word, before THE POEM. I can be a creator, the creator. It has happened before, and it will happen again, many times."

Might be genuine. Hartman jumped into the lake having no idea about its nature, tunnel-visioning only the opportunities, profits. His understanding in the recording before the plunge is narrow and limited, his overconfidence blinds him, he has no clue what he’s dealing with, he was shown glimpses of the power of the Dark Place, but was never able to comprehend it.

And it costed him greatly. Alan, assuming the role of Tom, even wrote him a warm farewell; far warmer than Alan without any splitting personalities or creating imaginary friends would have (the grin after closing the office door on Hartman in the Lodge during the attack of the Dark Presence is golden):

I would bet that E., indeed, didn’t find this funny.

And a bit more clues about the contents of the shoebox. Following the story of Samantha, we know that she found it the first time just to give it to FBC:

“In the dream, I heard the doorbell ring and went to open the door. There was a man there. He said he was a federal agent. He showed me his badge and all, just like the FBI agents do in the movies. Here comes the scary part: there was something wrong with his face; it was leaking inky smoke so that I couldn’t see what he looked like. When I woke up I realized that this image totally came from the ink-covered faces in the photos, of course (see the previous post). The man asked me about the shoebox. He said that it contains top-secret information and that I need to give it to him. I got scared that he’ll put me in jail and went to get the shoebox, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I searched the whole house but it was nowhere. Then I went to the bathroom to look for it, and saw myself in the mirror: my face was covered with inky smoke as well! And that’s when I woke up. When I think back about the dream, it didn’t say “FBI” on his badge; it said “AWE”. This is the weirdest thing of all: Now I can’t find the shoebox anywhere. I have looked everywhere I can think of. I’m sure that it will turn up somewhere, there is so much junk lying around in the house at the moment, but kind of creepy in any case.”

She writes about it as a dream, but it did happen, here’s the whiteboard from Control:

Then there was yet another dream:

“In the dream I was visiting the previous owner of my house at the nursing home, only in the dream the owner wasn’t a sweet old lady, he was a man, and he wasn’t old, he was a young man with a dark hair – very good looking in fact. I remember that he was wearing a funny jacket with old-fashioned elbow patches. I was there to find out about the shoebox, but he was very agitated and didn’t listen to me. The place was brightly lit, it was sunny outside, but he was still very anxious and wanted me to turn all the lights on. He kept going on about the place being too dark. I remember being certain that all the lights were on already, but that didn’t calm him down. In the end he was screaming for me to turn the lights on. I was also starting to freak out, starting to think that something horrible was coming to take us away, and that’s when I woke up.”

Hard to miss those give-away elbow patches, so Samantha had a dream about Alan a week before she got the shoebox back. Here are the contents:

“When I found the shoebox again, there were more poems inside, and a battered, old device: a switch of some kind. I actually had to go and ask about it in the local hardware store to be sure what it was. It’s an old light switch. When you flick it, there’s a solid, satisfying click. When I flicked it the first time after finding it, all the lights in the house went out.”

What in the Dark Place is this Light Switch? I’m still trying to figure it out. We know that the Clicker washed ashore after 2013; if Alan wanted the Clicker in our world, he could arrange it: it was there, in his possession in 2012; why was this sent in the shoebox? It might be explained in the future or it might not. But I will still refer to it as Zane’s Light Switch and call the Clicker Alan’s. Because as much as Odin says that the Light Switch (meaning the Clicker) was cut of “Tom’s lamp”, he also calls Alan “Tom”, so which “Tom” are we talking about there?

The only theory about the Light Switch I have: it’s an OoP that’s bound by the real Thomas Zane and has no use for Alan or anyone else, since Thomas is partially alive and can maintain the connection with the item. Or the Bright Presence might be its new wielder. In any case, this at least somewhat explains why Samantha, of all the people, was shown the story about the Last Dive. I don’t think she bound the item, but she did use it, causing the power outage for the whole neighbourhood, might be enough to summon the Bright Presence. Otherwise I can’t stop wondering why Samantha, being so important as to learn the story of the Last Dive, never showed up again.

But, who knows, after all, her blogging time ends with:

“I know that something amazing is coming, that something wonderful is going to happen, and at the same time I know that when it does, it will be something totally different from what I’m expecting, something I could never have imagined. And I know it might take a long time before it does happen, but no matter how long it takes, I’ll be here, waiting.”