#ITS CANON -bangs my gavel-

[juniper-clan]

Okay, so I am BACK with Moon Phases. Fun facts that are just trivia but if you or anyone cares, here they are! Moon 2 (April) we see a full moon when Heron sees the kittypet, which means that night specifically was April 22 1701

The Gathering in September would be the 17th.

There was a Lunar Eclipse February 22 1701 (Moon 0) that would've been visible to them.

Ages: Heronstar is 19, Longstrike would be 14, Heronpaw is 8 (obvs).

As for birthdays, starting March 1st seems appropriate for 1) ease 2) it was the half-moon which is normally the healer meeting. This also means something interesting! February that month just missed being a full month by moon cycle, with the previous half moon that follows the full moon being January 31! So off to a wonderful and weird start when it comes to ages.

So, using the half-moon and pretending they both turned exactly 7 Moons old (Heron) and 2 Moons old (Long) for the sake of this.

Longstrike would've been born December 3. If you want to make that his birthday is up to you, I'm not gonna assign your characters a birthday, but he'd be a December baby.

Heronstar would be July 9th! Once again, your comic, your characters, your rules, so if anyone sees this ask, Unless Jade Says So those are not Official Dates. Fun trivia, there was a blue moon that month, on July 30th.

Slickpaw is being assigned half-moon baby as well for the sake of my sanity, which is already questionable at this point. He would be August 26th, which supports his claim to a lack of food, as a month later was the gathering where Howlstar announced that her Clan was starving and would now kill trespassers. [Also instead makes him the month Long and Heron fought after she saw the kittypet at the border]

For Drama, the gathering would've been March 14th, and the April Gathering with be April 12th, for when Howlstar might ask if anyone knows where that apprentice ran to

-Heron Anon (I am absolutely that in front of the pinboard meme)

This is you.

(Also this is amazing and this is all canon now. I don't make the rules history makes the rules)

[cosmic-ships]

[bangs pots and pans] For once I didn't pick it he did all on his own!

[mofledowe]

was filled with the urge to PUT IT IN JAIL!!!

[encasedinobsidian]

fics i never wrote - a tour of my abandoned WIPs

in honor of halloween - i have a handful of fics i never finished and i’ve joked about my fic graveyard a few times, so I figured it might be fun to give you guys a peek into what you were robbed of due to boredom, lack of inspo, or whatever the reason was that i ended up ditching. descriptions and excerpts below, and feel free to ask questions about any of these!!

Some of the excerpts are NSFW and i am not doing any warnings, so read at your own risk!

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

book club 

Pairing: Joel Miller x ofc 

Summary/gimmick/plot: 

Hello. This is a free call from… 

Joel Miller

… An incarcerated individual at Travis County Correctional Complex. To refuse this call, hang up. To replay this message, press one. To speak with the inmate, remain on the line. 

(Aka Joel is in prison for murdering Sarah’s killer, ends up with a penpal and participates in her book club.)

Excerpt: The cicadas chirp louder alongside the scratches, the clicks, the bottom of the glass bottle hitting the concrete, and then his heavy steps across the driveway into a hazy, golden sunset that would be beautiful had the world not ended already, had darkness not settled over Joel’s existence like every street light flickered and died, one after the other, until the street was pitch black.

Vehicular manslaughter sounds a hell of a lot nicer than a fist around a collar, a muzzle against a man’s temple and the sound of a gunshot, doesn’t it?

It also sounds nicer than sirens in the distance, the click of handcuffs, metal bars slamming shut, doors swinging open, a cough in the courtroom and,

He is sentenced on count one, the murder of Eric Jefferson. 

Fifteen years to life. 

And the bang of a gavel against wood. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

Right down the line

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader 

Summary/gimmick/plot: A long term love affair with Joel Miller comes to an abrupt end. (aka Joel has a 5 yr affair in Jackson with a MILF named Sofia, then canon-style dies) 

Excerpt: “I'm married,” he whispers, under his breath, staring daggers into your eyes and stepping closer until you’re pinned between his body and the edge of the counter. 

“You are.”

“And you're too young for me.” He pushes your hair over your shoulder, slipping his hand onto the back of your neck as you tilt your head like a cat getting scratched behind its ear, loving the warmth of his palm radiating into your skin, the sort of touch no one has ever given you before, that you find yourself dreaming about when you see couples in movies, wondering what it must be like to physically feel a man's affection for you. 

“I am,” you say, breathlessly, with your eyes fluttering closed, feeling this thumb brushing over your skin as a smile tugs at your lips. He smells good, masculine and musky, his shirt carrying the faint scent of sawdust from work. 

“I feel something for you, something that I really shouldn't.” 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

want/need

Pairing: Javi P x OMC

Summary/gimmick/plot: Javi fucks his assistant 

Excerpt: And Javi sucks Miles’s cock when he feels generous, with his forearm pushing Miles into the mattress, pushing him to the edge and pulling back, over and over, a dance back and forth until he raises on his knees and spreads Miles’s legs and enters him, grinding into him until Miles can’t take it anymore and his come hits his own chest. 

It doesn’t go that far now. Javi lets go when Miles’s dick begins to twitch and his thrusts become erratic. 

“Please,” Miles whimpers, “Please fuck me, Javi, I—”

Javi likes Miles like this; incoherent, begging, desperate, naked, with a sheen of sweat over his chest. He kisses him, pulls at his bottom lip with his teeth, puts his hand between Miles’s legs, reaches back behind his balls and circles his asshole with the tips of his fingers. Until he steps back and pulls at his own belt, undoes his zipper and snaps his fingers, nodding for Miles to get on his knees. The young man obliges, sinking to his knees when Javi pulls out his cock, with the waistband of his boxers and his belt sitting low around his hips, his balls pulled over the side. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

but daddy, i love him

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Summary/gimmick/plot: Depressed, broke, two- baby-mama Joel Miller gets a FWB who gets pathetically attached. He’s just a miserable sad sack who lives with Tommy. He's a fuckboy and she thinks she can change him (she cannot)

Fun fact: some of the ideas for this were recycled and used for finally dawn instead. The Sophie character was taken directly from this storyboard. 

Excerpt: The night Joel can’t get it up for a one night stand is the night he tosses the near-empty bottle of Zoloft into the trash. Depression is a strange thing - it permeates, debilitates and paralyzes. 

(i never wrote much so here’s the only other fully formed sentence) 

Evenings spent in a hot, sweaty weight room with guys just as miserable as he is and a broken air conditioner. Weekends spent with his daughter, crafting an image of himself that he loathes when her mother picks her up Sunday afternoon. Never enough time with her and too much with his own mind, with Tommy, 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

The Unhappiness of Being a Bee Man

Pairing: Joel Miller and nobody. Himself perhaps? 

Summary/gimmick/plot: Joel thinks he has turned into a bee. It’s just a ripoff of The Stranger by Camus and The Metamorphosis by Kafka. (This one might actually get written at some point)

Excerpt: Tommy gives him a plate of bacon and fried eggs. They eat in silence and look out of the window, then Tommy offers him a cigarette. Joel slides it out of the pack and lights it, taking a drag and exhaling out of the open window as he continues to watch the streets below. Tommy says he’s got a neighbor with a dog who barks all day and all night. The thing doesn’t bark as much as it yaps, he says, the dog isn’t much larger than an oversized rat. 

The sun still hasn’t set and Joel is feeling restless. Tommy asks him if he would like to go to the lake. He thinks the breeze might be a pleasant reprieve from the still-blistering sun. Joel flicks the ashes off his cigarette into the ashtray in the window sill. Then they make a move. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

abby

Pairing: Abby Anderson x f!reader (platonic)

Summary/gimmick/plot: It's just a character study from her best friend’s POV

Excerpt: Abby walks ahead of you out of the cafeteria, opens the latch on the door with her hip and nods for you to walk through before the door slams shut behind her. You peel back the aluminum foil on your burrito and take the first bite as you walk through the empty corridors, hearing her voice between the crinkly noise. 

“Did you see Jack completely eating shit on Wednesday?” she asks, and you turn your head to look at her with confusion, a hand over your mouth while you chew. “He loads the bar, takes two steps out, descends- the moron didn’t have a spotter and never listens to me when I tell him how to bail properly so he just sits down, looks panicked for a second and then falls backwards and basically gets crushed.” She shudders at the recollection, then huffs a laugh, dumbass. 

“Can’t imagine what that must’ve sounded like,” you mumble, then shudder a little, wincing at the idea of Jack’s knees cracking as his ass hits the ground. 

“I hear it in my sleep every night,” Abby says, and you snort in response but your amusement is short-lived. You wish that's what she heard in her sleep.

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

A propensity for possession 

Pairing: Din Djarin x f!reader 

Summary/gimmick/plot: Din is a fuckboy then marries a barmaid. 

Excerpt: Maybe it’s delusional, but sometimes you wonder if there’s something between the two of you. 

When he arrives early, when he leaves late. When you see his helmet cocked, the dark cross piercing your vision from across the room, from the table in the back and the bar right up where you’re standing. As if he’s always tracking you, a slight turn of his head when you round the corner and tend to the tables in the back. You look behind you and meet that dark T-shape, time after time, week after week, when he comes in, sits down, snatches another tracker off the table, Karga’s glass emptying and slamming down on the wood, his arms spread out over the backrest of the seat, a one sided conversation before he gets up and Din is the only one remaining. The only one there until you close and you sidle up to his table, sit down across from him and make some small talk, more chatter thrown at him that he barely responds to. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

if you weren’t mine

Pairing: Javi P x f!reader

Summary/gimmick/plot: You and Javi savor one of your last days together before he goes to Colombia. (This was supposed to be a prequel style follow up to jealous of your love.)

Excerpt: You watch while he drives, with one elbow resting in the open window and his other arm extended, a large hand wrapped around the wheel. Whiffs of his cologne and sweat travel over to your side of the cabin, filling your nostrils and making you sag against the back of your seat. He switches hands, steering with his left and letting his right rest on your thigh, tracing your skin with his thumb, absentmindedly. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

i’m sweet for you

Pairing: Javi P x f!reader

Summary/gimmick/plot: You watch Stella and Javi bake a cake.  (This was supposed to be another follow up to jealous of your love.)

Excerpt: 

You had it all planned out — angel food cake with raspberry cream, Liliana’s favorite, ready in the fridge for her surprise party tomorrow. Unfortunately for you however, the thought of having to bake when you come home from a long day of work would require energy you don’t have, completely tanked by the baby growing inside of you, with three more months to go of this huffing and puffing and being knocked out cold when you finally step in the door. 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

✨This one didn’t even get a title✨ 

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader 

Summary/gimmick/plot: You and Joel try for a baby. 

This was supposed to be a happy ending AU oneshot as an apology for right down the line. 

Excerpt: There is none. I didn’t even write a single sentence 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

Pat down

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader 

Summary/gimmick/plot: You don’t realize you forgot something until the metal detector goes off at airport security, and a handsome TSA agent has to give you a closer look. (aka reader character forgot she had a metal butt plug in and, well, enough said) 

Excerpt: I only wrote two lines: Name tag says Joel and “Is it because of this?” 

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

No actual title here either - the working title was “secret QZ fic idea” 

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader 

Summary/gimmick/plot: Delulu QZ girl is in love with Joel from a distance, dupes him into taking her virginity, she falls in love w/ him and then he leaves for Jackson with Ellie, leaving the girl a letter saying he’s not coming back. She finds him in Jackson later, and raids a nail supply store on the way. She gives Joel a hand massage at some point (????) 

Excerpt: Never wrote any full lines, but one idea was that she'd tell her she's a virgin right when they're about to fuck and he just gets up and leaves LMFAO

· · ────── · · 𓉸ִֶָྀི · · ────── · ·

well, i hope you were entertained!

feel free to make your own fic graveyard and tag me if you do it, its pretty fun. happy halloween in not too long :)

[joeyclaire]

oh god ok. jr and rand from inside/job (the satire netflix cancelled). they fit all criteria except one- age gap.

toxic - rand and jr are horrible for eachother, and other people. rand manipulated jr, and jr propped rand up his entire career. jr and rand are both assholes, though, so they kind of push and pull? jr insults rand and tells horror stories about him to his daughter who works under jr at the company they founded [reagan, the protagonist of the show. rand effected her in many of the same ways that he effected jr and his ex wife. he kinda forced reagan into the company as a child??? but that's for another time <3], jr uses the department head's team's coleader/the protagonist's best friend to do stuff for him like convince bezos to buy his mega yacht and generally just put him through panic-inducing situations (a little bit of scares for the sensitive white boy <3)

rand has an ex wife

makes you go 'oh jeez i am watching this unfold on my screen right now aren't i' - anytime they're on screen together i feel like i'm going to burst. they're so fucking homosexual for the love of GOD JUST-

uncomfortably homoerotic canonical dialogue - they've seen eachother's- yeah no im not adding that.

engaging in immoral/criminal behavior together - they founded a shadow company together! that, in itself, is evil, but they've both also:

buried a body, buried a dog, destroyed an electric car factory, made a time machine that rewrites timelines (rand), embezzled money/transferred employee pension funds into a personal account to buy an evil volcanic lair (jr), killed/"disappeared" random employees of said evil company, done drugs, killed more people, used the company's hit team as a death squad (jr), and uh. yeah

so. that's uh. a lot, huh.

(im rlly autistic about the show these two are from but the premise of the show is genuinely shit but its making fun of that shit so. uh. i unno)

so that's why these two old rich guys from one of netflix's only good adult cartoons fit the tomgreg criteria!

adding them to the official list BANGS GAVEL

[residentrookie]

Hiii i just binge read ill be seeing u again and its gotta be one of my favourite wips ever ever ever🥹🫶🫶🫶

The way uve crafted the worlds and especially the characters is just insane - like the similarities and differences between the 2 regs and 2 james is just so satisfying and exciting to pick up - especially in terms of their dynamics with other characters!!!

Thats what makes the canon regulus-modern james-modern regulus odd little triangle my favourite thing in the whole work - like its just so MESSY - the way theres an existing romantic tension in the 2022 world, but this whole new thing (for reg at least) in the 1979 world its just so!!!!

And im just so curious and excited for what the romantic endgames will be!!!! Bcs ik its very unlikely but the blossoming romance between 2022 james amd 1979 reg while theyre on their camping adventure (THAT LAST CHAPTER WAS GLORIOUS - THE KISS, "eyes on me love" "i dont need u to be useful i need u to be okay" THEM THEM THEM THEYRE THE CUTEST UR HONOUR *BANGS GAVEL*

And then how 2022 reg is so overprotectove about 1979 james - THE FEELS R ALREADY SO GOOD IM SO EXCITEDDDDDDD

THE ALICISSA SNEAK OMFG I SCREECHED theyre the lomls its true)

anywyas this was extremely rambly but yes i js love this stoey so much and ur brain mwahhh💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

hihihiiii this is so kind oh my god!!!

i’m so so so glad u are enjoying i’ll be seeing you, it is truly my pride and joy and it makes me SO HAPPY to hear that other ppl love it too. thank you x100000 for letting me know. stay tuned for a new chapter soon ;)

[7minutesinpurgatory]

*writing in my notes* as the court rules ketamine john as "un real" it re-examines its case on "meth dave" and has decided from now on meth dave will be considered "canon" and "real" in the house of law. *BANGS GAVEL*

im not meth dave

[battlinghurricanes]

dearest of my brothers

READ HERE

Relationship(s): Deiphobus & Hektor

Summary: Hektor and Deiphobus share a night of exhausted company.

Word count: 1,211

Warnings: none

A/N: coming at you with my most niche content yet! Just spontaneously sat down and took a few hours to write this instead of sleeping, or you know, working on the wips I already have. Though, to be fair, this idea has been in my mind for quite a while now.

[wildfangz]

HAPPY PRIDE 2 ALL MY LGBT+ SIBLINGS!!!!!!!! LOV U

setting this up was a true pain in the ass but after some technical difficulties it went smooth as silk so homophobia is over. finally

I feel like the Vatores would make it a point to attend Windenburg Pride every year. Lilith usually bows out pretty early until the evening festivities and has to deal with a thick coating of sunscreen in the meantime but they both have fun! She tries to dress cute but practical meanwhile Calebs like I Have To Be The Best Dressed No Matter the Cost and yet still dresses . like that .

Basil is much too skittish to be taken to pride but rest assured I did not forget about her!!

[incorrectinkheartquotes]

you’re SO sweet & I feel safe telling you this bc your LGBT+ Inkheart posts are everything - I’m a transguy & sUPER gay, and I had been struggling about my name change for a few years and after Inkheart changed my life, introduced me to my dream career of bookbinding (and yes I have the stuff *-* but I’m a noob), I realized I adored the last name and it just clicked. I owe a lot of who I am now to Mo. I used to have intense dreams about being called “Mr. Folchart” so idk man these books sent me

that's so cool omg. i get it completely because i've had a few characters who've helped me with my own gender stuff and it's been rlly helpful!! identifying rlly strongly with a character and then realizing....oh shit i can be like them. and discovering ur gender identity.....is an adventure tbh

i love that mo and inkheart resonated so much with you!! i've been there and it's validating as hell

also being a bookbinder is sO NEAT BRO!!! i'm so excited for u!! good luck with it!!!!

[actualbird]

some thoughts about artem, the value of work and duty, and emotional neglect

wc: 1k

slight spoilers for details revealed in main story 6.1 and several artem card stories. obligatory disclaimer that these r just my own thoughts and interpretations

i really found bryan wing super interesting because of his SUPER OP POSITION, ON THE FRIGGING SUPREME COURT (thats the whole country, THE WHOLE!!!) but also the fact that this is Literally the first time we have ever head of him across the entire main plot and, if im not mistaken, all card stories.

like, artem's mom is mentioned here and there (in SSR Por Una Cabeza, mentioned as well in another card i cant rmr where mc says artem's mom was her thesis adviser) but artem's dad? nothing. nada. zilch. it's cuz of this, i had the impression and hc that bryan wing was just Not Really Present in artem's life, and when i read his big data lab entry this one bit explains why p well

Ever since he became part of the Supreme Court, Bryan spends most of his time at the capital, returning to Stellis only in the spring.

//bangs gavel on the table court thingy, bryan wing was mostly absent for artem's life: vaguely canon.

only coming home in the spring and most probably busy as hell even when he did come home, i suspect he didnt have much time to spend with artem. while kimberly stayed in stellis and was supposedly more present, she was also probs similarly busy. shes got a doctorate by 2030 and if im going backwards, that means she was either doing masters degree or her doctorate degree during artem's childhood. at some point, she also became ASSISTANT DEAN of the law dept at stellis uni like, maam, girlboss moves tbh. but also, again, TIME. ive got a renowned practitioner doctorate haver mother myself, and when she was working on her degree back when i was a kid, she was.....not there very much. achievements take time, and they also take some time away from family. nothing wrong with that of course, but the absence causes consequences, no matter how the parent didnt mean for it to happen.

the most present adult during artem's pre-adult (and adult) era was neil hume. how artem talks about neil and that one flashback scene we get with neil actually there rlly brought it home that these two were close, they mean a LOT to each other, and rlly imparts the impression that neil was something of father figure to artem as well. but neil wasnt perfect either. neil had to bail on artem as well for work (key detail mentioned in SSR Loving Memories) and given that neil is also renowned as hell (professor, doctoral advisor) and is noted in big data lab entry to "[travel] extensively alone for his commitments to serving the public" and also "had a history of going dark to infiltrate crime organizations" hes damn busy with work as well.

and all this sounds lonely as hell for artem. all the important adults in his development years were either largely absent or still had to go off elsewhere, all due to their respective work. this kind of stuff, i think, causes a bunch things

here are the ones clear in canon

artem seeing work, productivity, and duty as huge virtues. the important adults in his life regarded it very highly, so it's logical that he values these virtues as well.

artem then pursuing these own traits diligently in his later life because it now matters to him a lot. workaholic extraordinaire who keeps going and struggles to not think of work matters or unable to relax when hes supposed to be relaxing, sometimes to the point of frigging INSOMNIA (main conflict in SSR Dreamful Melodies, this card stressed me out so much cuz //shakes artem by the shoulders, PLS SLEEP)

here are the ones where im speculating and/or making hcs

artem pursuing those values for a secondary reason too: the rewards of work become the closest thing to emotional validation hes comfortable accepting. people are busy, people cant always make time, people cant always be paying attention to him and he understands that but emotional validation is a human need and since work has become a value, its payoff is not only more feasibly acquirable, in his eyes, but also close enough to what he wants, he thinks (spoiler: it's not! it's a completely different thing!!! AAAAA)

and lastly, artem thinking it's okay to not pay attention to him as a person. there are more important things in this world. his feelings, in the grand scheme of things, takes its place several notches under the bigger things in this world

pre-entrance-of-MC-into-his-life, it's pretty sad. what artem essentially ends up doing to himself the same thing the adults in his life did to him; focusing on duty to the point that he himself neglects his wants.

this manifests his emotional repression and hesitation (how can he be honest and forward about how he feels when time and time again, those feelings didnt get proper attention?) and vaguely low self esteem (how can he feel sure about himself as a person and the value of his inherent personality without emotional validation strengthening a good view of who he is?).

this kinda reminds me of this one post i saw once that went along the lines of "in my mind, theres a little girl yelling "UNLOVED!! UNLOVED!!!!!"" and that image feels fitting for artem too with some tweaks. in his mind, theres a younger version of himself but that kid isnt yelling. hes just sitting in his room quietly and nobody outside opens the door, not even artem himself. and artem leaves him alone.

and all of that hammers it home how important mc's presence in his life is. whether it progresses into a romantic relationship or continues as a platonic one, mc eventually sees artem under the work, duty, productivity.

she goes over to stand outside of the door of that room in artem's mind nobody enters

and she knocks, asking if it's okay for her come in.

[vipercrash-blog]

did u know that kara thrace is the proud parent of One (1) viper nugget named Nick Clark ?? @corruptedson

[katatonicimpression]

Monet and Other Women

Speaking of ooc moments, there's another post-Generation X early appearance for Monet that I want to talk about.

Monet appears briefly in Uncanny X-Men 410-12 and the writers seem to just really hate her. She's here to be a bitch to Stacy, inexplicably fall out of a plane (she can fly ffs), and then wordlessly disappear from the page at some point. It's a really strange and hostile read and part of a pattern in Monet's writing where she gets unflatteringly compared to other women for no good reason (some good Bobby moments tho). But something about her comments towards Stacy really bothered me.

I'm pretty sure this is the only time Monet expresses an opinion on sex work, so I can't say that it directly contradicts how she's usually written, but it doesn't fit well with her usual characterisation. At this point in canon, Monet hasn't been written as particularly sex-positive. In fact, she's been kind of prudish (I know, it's whack. I'll get to it in another post) but someone being a bit prudish is a long way away from slut-shaming, so what gives?

In general, Monet is really not the kind of bitch who puts other women down to make herself feel better. She's bitchy to women, sure, but she doesn't target them specifically and there's no indication that she has any of that internalised misogyny that informs slut-shaming.

Also, it's very unusual to see Monet instigate drama like this. Escalate? Sure. But she doesn't usually start shit.

So, as well as officially declaring this exchange ooc (bangs gavel), I'm going to devote this post to a few aspects of Monet's attitude towards women.

The obvious place to start is with X-Factor (2006) #14, where we get the exact opposite message. Monet and Siryn have found out that they've both been sleeping with one of Jamie's dupes. Butterfly tells them to get over themselves and it's Monet who offers an olive branch, choosing to form a better friendship with Siryn over feuding with her. Instead of seeing their sexual histories as a reason to fight, it's a jumping off point for them to bond. It's a much healthier exchange and, in my view, much more like Monet.

Secondly, Monet likes women. No, not like that (although her relationships with both Jubilee and Karima have some vibes). Just, in general, she likes women.

Generally, Monet gets on better with women than men. She hits it off with Karima, Trinary and Selene straight away. She always seemed closer with the girls of gen x than the lads. She's close with Siryn in X-Factor. She's shown to adore the rest of the squad in X-Men (2013). Her friendship with Jubilee is arguably her only lasting relationship. Yes, she clashes with Emma, but Emma is the one to instigate that shit. Hell, literal "sisterhood" is a massive theme with her character, with her relationships with Nicole, Claudette and Penance being crucial to her story.

Her friendship with Jamie is the only other non-familial, non-jubilee relationship of hers that recurrs prominently across different series and its not exactly exuding warmth. Hell, with Warren, she straight up says she doesn't think they'll like each other for much longer.

This isn't a profound point or anything, just to say that Monet gets on with other women, better than she does with men, and the catfighting with Stacy seems super ooc for that reason.

Finally, I wanted to mention this little bit in x-corp.

This is Monet being cynical about corporate feminism. She recognises the tendency to separate women off from the men under the guise of being about empowerment while actually preserving the boys club. But at the same time, she's not doing the "lean in" thing either. She's not saying that women should be girl bosses and play the same game as men, rather that the game itself should change.

Idk it's just a surprisingly nuanced take for a comic book and I think it makes sense coming from Monet. She's smart, and sensitive to how she's perceived by others. It makes sense that she'd have thought about this.

She's hardly the only female comic book character to get saddled with random ooc catfighting (because women all hate each other amirite?) but Monet is noteworthy for how much she doesn't fit that mold. She's all about the sisterhood, without it feeling forced, and she had a bunch of interesting feminist moments that, again, come about organically with her character.

Food for thought, that's all.

--------------------------------

Bullying

Relationships

Faith

Morality

[grangcrmalfcy]

Cut the Lights and Pray That You’re Dead

Pairing: Seth Gecko/Kate Fuller

Rating: M

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death (canon)

Tags: POV Second Person, Horror, Psychological Horror, Body Horror, Biblical Scripture References (Abrahamic Religions), Biblical Imagery (Abrahamic Religions), Biblical Symbolism (Abrahamic Religions), Blood and Gore, Hallucinations, Punishment, Not Romance, Not Beta Read, Nightmare Fuel

Summary: Seth is on trial for the pain he’s caused. An angel will get her answer. Takes place after 2x10 and before 3x02.

AO3

You have a lot to answer for.

Who’s asking the questions? There’s a long line at a microphone in a dim, cramped courtroom and you’re the criminal defendant with your hands cuffed too tightly to the wooden stand, judge and jury at your sides, executioner on speed dial.

First up is your father, and his questions are predictable. “What kind of fucked up joke was the universe playing on me when they made you my offspring? You’re a stupid shit, you know that? You ran your mother off, you know that?”

It’s nothing you haven’t heard before, nothing that wasn’t brought to the surface inside the labyrinth in that Godless temple. His questions turn to insults turn to slurs and the judge bangs his (Hers? Its? There’s no face, no identifying features, just a shadow in a black robe.) gavel loudly and a skeleton guard shuffles your father away.

Next comes Vanessa, and it’s more of the same. You look at the long line, only the first couple of faces determinable.

Your ex-wife: “Why couldn’t you just leave your crazy brother and be with me instead?”

The first girl you slept with and never saw again: “Do you ever think about what you did to me? About how badly that hurt?”

The first person you drew the breath out of, watched the life leave: “Do you regret it?

“Did you expect me to be the catalyst for the path you ended up on?”

It’s all shit you’ve heard and thought before, shit you probably felt guilty for at some point or another, but it’s little stuff compared to what you’ve done in recent years. You don’t necessarily feel bad until that pretty bank teller that Richie disemboweled steps up. She looks the same as she did that morning in the bank, warm and alive.

At first, she doesn’t say anything, just stares at you emotionless until you want to look away, but you find that you can’t avert your gaze. It’s uncomfortable and you’re starting to sweat, but you can’t so much as fidget. Your body is not your own.

When she finally speaks, it’s a snake’s tongue being dragged up your spine.

“How could you just move on and forgive Richie after what he did to me?”

You’re damp and cold and hot all at the same time. Nausea is a knot at the base of your throat and you’re choking on it. She wants you to choke on it.

“Spare me the excuses that his mind wasn’t his own. He tore me to pieces. He ripped me open, gutted me like a fish getting prepped for dinner. How could you just leave with him?

“How could you let him around her?”

At her last word, she’s suddenly in front of you. You know which “her” she’s referring to. Monica - and you remember, because she won’t ever let you forget - grins down at you, and her eyes are gone, just gory windows to hell where her sockets are. When she reaches out and cuts you open, marring you in a mirror image of herself, you are not surprised. You don’t even feel it, too busy thinking about her.

The judge smacks the gavel again, a bored rhythm of wood against wood. Monica disappears but your wounds remain. You’re bleeding out but you’re not dying.

Next up at the front of the line is Pastor Jacob Fuller.

He’s got angels in his eyes and that in itself is scarier than any of the devils in the room.

“Do you know why I’m here?”

You can’t speak. Your fucking gallbladder is slipping out of the gaping hole in your abdomen and you’re pouring blood into your lap, onto the seat beneath you, down to puddle on the floor under your feet. Your breath is coming shallowly, sharply. Jacob’s face is so full of anger and blame and you wish Monica had taken your eyes too so you wouldn’t have to face him.

The deceased disciple of Christ speaks again, and his voice echoes with heavenly fire, with trumpets that signal the end of times. “Answer me, Seth Gecko. Do you know why I’m here?”

You’re stuck you can’t move you want to run you want to die please, God, why won’t He just let you  diediedie -

You force a nod.

“You could have left us alone. You could have found another way out of the country. You didn’t need my family, did you?”

Your entrails are rearranging themselves outside of you, a puzzle falling apart, but you shake your head.

“You kidnapped my family, you put us in danger. It’s your fault I’m dead. It’s your fault my son is a monster.”

All you can think is that you need him to stop, but you know he will not. He’s here for a reason, a vengeance, and you’re going to hear about it. You’re going to answer for it.

“It’s your fault my Katie is in Hell.”

You open your mouth to scream but nothing comes out. The physical pain is excruciating, otherworldly, but it’s nothing compared to the mental image of her face, still soft with the remnants of childhood, burning up in a rusted iron cage with a lock only you have a key for.

Hell? There’s no way Kate Fuller is in hell. Dead, sure. But Hell?

Impossible.

Jacob grins, a mirthless stretch of lips. “I know what you’re thinking, but she’s there. Every choice she made after she met you put her further underground, underworld. She’s there, sitting next to the devil, and she’s screaming, crying out. Do you want to know what she’s crying out for?” He doesn’t move, but you feel like he’s closer than even Monica was; in your face, reaching into you to grasp at your bones with taloned fingers.

You shake your head violently. You don’t want to know, you don’t.

Jacob and the angels inside of him don’t care what you want. The pastor’s smile grows and he doesn’t find this funny at all.

“You,” he whispers. “She’s crying out for you.”

Seth.

It’s a whisper in your ears.

“To help her.”

Help me!

So soft you’re sure you’re hallucinating, the blood loss finally getting to you.

“To save her.”

Save me.

Seth, please.

You squeeze your eyes shut, blocking out her sweet, wonderful, terrifying voice.

Why did you do this to me?

Seth, please.

Why did you do this to me?

Seth, please.

“Why did you do this to me?”

Her voice is loud, strong, real.

You open your eyes and a gasp is ripped from your throat. Jacob is gone, and now you’re face to face with Kate.

Just Kate.

The formless judge has faded back into the shape of the wall behind it, the faceless jurors doing the same. The line of ghosts has dissipated and all you see is her. She’s a captivating vision, a horrifying sight, as pure as the day you met her.

As innocent as the day you stole her.

There’s a white Easter lily behind her ear. She’s wearing an old fashioned white sundress with buttons all the way up the front and she’s got her gold cross resting on her collarbone and lower down, a white butterfly pendant lies just above the swell of her breasts. She’s the picture of purity, of virtue. A sinless child, a saint above all.

2:1

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

Her beautiful face is sad as she takes you in. She glides forward and there’s a blinding glow about her but you cannot look away. She is your sweetest undoing and your worst nightmare and your best, happiest, most glorious dream and she’s here in front of you, so long after you walked away from her on that dark road in Mexico.

It hurts, but you look at her.

It aches, but you wish she would reach out and touch you, hold your face in between her small, delicate palms.

It’s agony, but you’re thanking her God when she stops before the stand, just a foot away from you.

Her beautiful face is sad as she takes you in.

“Why did you do this to yourself?” The angels in her voice are so different from the ones in her earthly father’s. Where his were merciless, hers are singing hymns.

It’s all you can do to shake your head now. Words are still impossible for you.

When she realizes this, Kate reaches out one pale hand and caresses your throat. At her touch, you feel your voice return. You whimper out in pain, in awe.

No one can fix you like she can.

Her green eyes are mournful as she studies the state you’re in. Her hand moves from your throat to the edge of your wound. It’s a horrible feeling, your insides making their way back to their original positions, your skin stitching back together. You cry out in pain, yank on the cuffs around your wrists, but she shushes you, places her hand on your cheek and makes you look her in the eye.

“You’re okay, Seth. You’re okay now,” she soothes. She brushes your sweat dampened hair off of your forehead, scratches her nails behind your ear, a spot she knows gives you goosebumps. “I’ve got you.”

You nod and your head lolls forward. She catches you, cuddles you to her chest, her chin against your head. “I’ve got you,” she repeats.

You’re healed and you’re whole and she’s not in Hell, she’s right here and she’s holding you and everything is okay.

2:6

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

“I’ve got you,” one more time, and then the floor falls out from beneath you.

“But you never had me.”

It’s said so sweetly, but you still feel the bite, the hatred and the blame behind it.

Kate rips your head back with a fistful of your hair, viciously and with purpose. “You never had me,” she growls. “You should have let me be and when you couldn’t, you should have never left me alone. I am dead because you left me.”

“No,” you gasp out, a ragged plea. “Kate, no -”

Her sad eyes are a burning sage now, a forest fire, incensed by your betrayal, because that’s what you did. You betrayed her. You earned her trust and her care and even maybe her love and you betrayed it after one bad disagreement, threw all of it and her away like she was nothing to you.

But she was never, never nothing to you.

“No,” you say again.

“Yes,” she repeats. “You. Did this. To me.” She jerks back twice, like she’s been hit, or shot. A bloom of red, a copper scented wine stain, bursts on the front of her dress. It’s not possible but she’s pouring more blood than you had been just a minute prior but your hands cannot heal, can only harm.

Every touch you’ve ever placed on anyone else has caused nothing but harm.

Kate arches back and screams, a guttural cry, and now her angels are screaming with her. It sounds like steel crashing into steel, every cry and beg you’ve heard from the killing end of your gun, a cacophony of chaos. She lurches forward and grabs your face again.

“Why did you do this to me?”

From your right, you hear her. “Why did you do this to me?” You whip your head over and the judge is no longer a shadow figure. It’s Kate and she’s reaching for you.

From your left where the jury sits, there’s a choir and they’re singing a round, one verse a beat after the other.

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?

“Why did you do this to me?”

All the jurors are Kate and they’re all reaching for you and crying out at you and the room is filling with their blood, the floor flooding with it like you’re in the fucking Shining.

“Why -

“Did -

“You -

“Do -

“This -

“To -

“Me?”

You’re screaming one thing over and over and you don’t realize it, but it’s just “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” background vocals accompanying the Song of Kate Fuller.

The Kate in front of you grips you once more. She looks at you like she always did in your dreams, the ones where she tells you she can never leave you.

“Oh, Seth. I was a good person made to do bad things by the likes of you,” she tells you. You don’t argue with her, can’t possibly because she’s right. “And now I’m in Hell, burning forever, and you?”

She presses one soft, precious kiss against your forehead. It’s a gift, it’s a damnation.

“Now you get to live with it.”

2:10

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

You wake in a pool of sweat, dry mouthed but soaked everywhere else. Your eyes are streaming tears, your lungs can’t pull oxygen in fast enough.

You’re in your office at Jed’s, lying on the couch. This is what it’s like to sleep these days. This is the nightmare you have to face every time you close your eyes. It’s appropriate, you think, that Kate is going to haunt you forever. That she’s getting her revenge against you the way Santani - Kisa dreamed of getting it for herself.

You deserve this, you think. Just like she says in the nightmare, you did this to her and now you’re the one who has to live with it.

You sit up, take a swig of the warm half empty beer on the table next to you, choke a little as it wets your throat. You’re haunted by Kate in your sleep, but you’re awake now, and there are hell creatures wreaking havoc in the conscious realm.

Later that night, in a fighting match where you’ve made a deal with the woman who got you all into this mess, you find that maybe Kate has decided to haunt you in every part of your life.

You have to answer for what you did to her.

2:16

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

2:17

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved;

Title comes from The Ballad of Resurrection Joe and Rosa Whore by Rob Zombie. I’ve never written horror and this is untouched by a beta but it’s the first fic I’ve finished in six years and I’m proud of that even if it turns out that it’s garbage. I’m not religious but I love the Bible from a storytelling perspective. Also I just really like hurting my main guy Seth with religion he doesn’t feel.

[angeltannis]

if my experience if anything to go by: a character referring to another character, who's almost solely referred to by their last name (or some variation thereof), by their FIRST name (or some variation thereof), is in love with them . its law. [bangs my imaginary gavel]

Tannith is canon, source: Lilith uses Tannis’ name

[aberfaeth]

OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE I MISSED THE “OR BAU TEAM” PART OF YOUR ASK. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. LETS GO THO

im gonna start with the core 7 because a dnd game with more than six ppl stresses me out conceptually but maybe ill touch diff seasons at a later date. also im more open to concrit abt this because i have not thought about it before this very moment but : 

penelope dms. of course penelope dms. penelope has been WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SOOOOO LONG. shes got maps shes got minis shes got a fun little dungeon master outfit that no one can pretend is not adorable. shes READY. spence plays an artificer because hes a little geek who likes to make things more difficult for himself. emily plays a draconic sorcerer because dragons cool and lesbian and she knows how to have fun. derek plays a paladin and hes just constantly stepping between spencer/em and trouble. jj plays a barbarian, no further explanation needed i think she just has some rage i think she deserves to let out. rossi plays a cleric and he’s not great at it but he’s doing his best and thats whats important. think clint mcelroy. hotch brings this character sheet that looks older than god and its for a beastmaster ranger and penny helps him update it yes he played in high school bangs gavel canon

spence and penny geek out, obviously. emily too bc she is canonically a giant nerd and i dont think we talk about that enough!!!! jj and derek are having a good time, theyre getting into it theyre having fun! rossi isnt as enthusiastic but he wasnt bullied into it either bcos 1. its his house 2. its his family and he likes when theyre together and happy even if theyre being dweebs. hotch has to be lightly pressured into attending and hes initially very quiet but penelope is really good at bringing him into the narrative without making him uncomfortable or overwhelmed. its all very sweet and supportive and i love them very much thank u for attending my ted talk

☕️☕️ leverage team and/or bau crew playing dnd- who would dm? What classes would people play? Who is enthusiastic? Who has to be goaded/bribed into playing? Etc

SAV YOU SPOIL ME.

ok i think ive talked about this but the ideal scenario involves like an actual episode where they play dnd and its sort of like a rashomon job situation where it keeps switching between them in the brewpub/mcrorys and them in the fantasy world. hardison dms and aldis hodge plays every single fantasy world npc in increasingly ridiculous disguises. its very funny

as for classes: parker plays a rogue. why wouldnt she. she doesnt know how to be anything else! sophie plays a bard bc shes dramatic as fuck, maybe a bard sorcerer multiclass? nate plays a wizard bcos he has a god complex. everyone expects eliot to walk in with like a barbarian or a fighter or smth but he sets his character sheet down and its a paladin and everyone coos over that for a minute before he threatens to leave and they all shut up

parker is very enthusiastic because hardison is excited which means shes excited. sophie is also very enthusiastic bcos shes a theater kid and she 1000% goes overboard with all the acting, something which Thrills hardison. hardison is also very enthusiastic, he rly bullies nate and eliot into it. nate had to be threatened into playing by which i mean sophie asks whether he’d rather have another poker game with bonanno and he agrees. eliot puts up token resistence but really he’s down for anything that makes parker and hardison that happy.

parker never rolls below a 15 the entire time. hardison has no idea how she does it. he makes her switch dice with him halfway through and it does nothing. eliot gets really into the planning aspect of an ambush and hardison has to tone down his amused smile bc eliot canNOT be made aware of himself or he’ll stop. sophie is LIVING IT UP although one time she sort of absentmindedly flirts with one of the npcs and then both her and hardison realize what exactly theyre doing and just. recoil and agree to Drop That Immediately. nate is quiet for most of the game--hes participating, but hes not as passionate as the rest of them, except for the end, when he pulls out such a killer one-liner that hardison deals the main bad guy 4d10 psychic damage