#alice wired for sound

[why-i-love-comics]

DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack #1 - "Doom Patrol Block Party" (2024)

pin-up by Marie Llovet

[novaursa]

i love your writing so much 💕 can you write something where male targaryen!reader is the son of viserys and aemma and viserys still marries alicent after aemma's death but alicent and targaryen!reader are having an affair together?

Tangled Ties

- Summary: You and Alicent share a secret. One that could destroy your family.

- Pairing: male!reader/Alicent Hightower

- Note: The reader is Rhaenyra's twin brother.

- Rating: Mature 16+

- Tag(s): @sachaa-ff @alyssa-dayne @oxymakestheworldgoround @literaturedog

The hall of the Red Keep gleamed with the soft glow of thousands of candles, their flickering light dancing on the polished floors and tapestries. Laughter and music filled the space, mingling with the savory scent of roasted meats and sweet perfumes. The courtiers moved like a restless sea, the tide of their conversation rising and falling as wine flowed freely from goblets.

You stood at the edge of the gathering, a chalice in your hand, watching the scene unfold. King Viserys, your father, beamed from his place at the head of the table, his happiness radiating like the sun. His eyes, however, were not on the revelers, but on the small bundle cradled in Alicent's arms—their newest son, Prince Daeron.

Alicent.

Your gaze shifted to her, unable to resist the pull. She was radiant tonight, her auburn hair caught in intricate braids that framed her delicate face. The gown she wore—a deep emerald green—hugged her curves, accentuating the swell of her breasts and the gentle flare of her hips. She looked every inch the queen, a vision of grace and poise. But you knew better. Beneath that calm, composed exterior beat a heart of fire and passion, a heart that had once been yours.

Her eyes lifted, as if sensing your scrutiny, and for a moment, everything else in the hall fell away. The clamor of voices, the clinking of glasses, the music—it all faded, leaving just the two of you suspended in a silence that thrummed with unspoken words. The corner of her mouth twitched, the faintest hint of a smile, but it was her eyes that betrayed her—their dark depths bright with something that went far beyond affection.

Your grip tightened on the chalice, knuckles turning white. You should not be looking at her like this, not here, not now. She was your father’s wife, and the mother of his children. But she was also something more. The memories of secret trysts, of stolen kisses in shadowed alcoves, of whispered promises in the dead of night—all of it came rushing back with the force of a storm.

As if drawn by an invisible thread, Alicent’s gaze flicked to the people around her before settling back on you. Her smile grew, the barest curve of her lips, and then she dipped her head, nuzzling the infant in her arms. Your heart hammered in your chest. She was flaunting him, their child—your child—in front of the entire court, daring anyone to see beyond the façade she had so carefully constructed.

You knew you should turn away, sever the connection that sparked like a live wire between you. But you couldn’t. She was a siren, and you were helpless against her call. The chalice in your hand felt heavy, the wine bitter on your tongue. You had no right to feel this way, to claim any part of her, and yet, some dark, possessive part of you seethed at the sight of her holding Daeron. Your son.

“Brother,” Rhaenyra’s voice cut through the haze, pulling you back to the present. She stood beside you, a teasing smile playing on her lips. “You’re glaring holes into the babe. Are you jealous of a newborn?”

You forced a laugh, a tight, strained sound. “Hardly. I was merely… lost in thought.”

Her gaze sharpened, the playful light in her eyes dimming. “Are you well? You’ve been distant since… well, for some time now.”

“Just the weight of the realm on my shoulders, sister,” you replied, managing a wry smile. “Father’s demands, the council’s endless bickering. It is nothing.”

Rhaenyra’s expression softened, her hand coming to rest on your arm. “You do too much. Take a moment to enjoy yourself, for once.”

“I am enjoying myself,” you lied, your eyes drifting back to Alicent, who was now speaking with her father, the Hand, her expression carefully neutral.

Rhaenyra followed your gaze, a shadow of something crossing her face, but she said nothing. Instead, she squeezed your arm gently. “If you ever wish to talk, you know I am here.”

“Of course, Nyra,” you murmured, forcing yourself to look at her, to see your sister and not the reminder of the forbidden passion that burned in your veins. “Thank you.”

She nodded and moved away, leaving you alone once more, your thoughts swirling like a maelstrom.

Across the hall, Alicent passed the baby to one of the wet nurses, her movements graceful, precise. And then, almost imperceptibly, she glanced your way again. The look was fleeting, a mere heartbeat, but it was enough. A silent promise, a beckoning.

You exhaled slowly, the breath shuddering from your lungs. Tonight, she had said without words. Tonight, when the castle sleeps and the shadows are your only witness.

The feast continued around you, oblivious to the undercurrents that roiled beneath the surface. Your father raised his cup, toasting the birth of his son, his voice ringing out over the crowd. But your attention was elsewhere, your pulse quickening with anticipation.

When the feast finally began to wind down, you made your way through the throng of courtiers, exchanging pleasantries, your smile never faltering. But your mind was already elsewhere, in the darkened corridors and hidden passages that led to a place only the two of you knew.

Alicent’s hand brushed against yours as you passed her, the touch so brief it could have been imagined. But it wasn’t. It was real, and it set your blood afire.

You did not look back as you left the hall, your steps purposeful, your heart pounding like a war drum. Tonight, the world outside the two of you would cease to exist, and for a few precious hours, she would be yours, and you would be hers.

No crown, no kingdom, no king could take that away.

Not tonight.

[acexsmhking]

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒆/𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔

: ̗̀➛ Toby lore/facts

Summary: I wrote a document of Toby that contains my personal lore/facts for him along side non-canonical and original content. Get to know my perspective of Toby better!

Warning(s): 18+ content, dark themes, child abuse, alcoholism, descriptions of gore, descriptions of child abuse, cannibalism, non-canonical mentions

Subject - SCP-524-S

Full name: Tobias Erin Rogers

Date of Birth: 4/28/1994

Place of Birth: Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate Germany

Height: 6ft, 0in

Weight: 165 lbs

Name Origins: Hebrew - Good of God

Zodiac: Taurus

Immigrated to Denver, CO. US at age 5 with parental family (Father, Mother, Aunt and Sister)

Multiple detected physical disorders: TS (Tourette Syndrome, class: both), CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis)

Multiple detected mental disorders: SAD (social anxiety disorder), Depression, Bipolar III (Cyclothymic Disorder), D-PTSD (Dissociative PTSD), Autophagia, Amnesia

SCP-524-S ranges from multiple Northwest states: Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana

SCP-524-S rarely visits Middle/South states, typically more active during Spring, Fall and Winter. Moves to costal areas during Summer.

Subject experienced symptoms of interaction with the creature known as The Operator (SCP-582) through juvenile development. Faced interaction with the creature as 14yrs

Subject has a complicated case with D-PTSD (Dissociative PTSD), and Amnesia. Cause of D-PTSD being after death of family member: Lyra Rogers, Subjects age was 17yrs.

Shortly after tragic events SCP-524-S showed an increase in irrationality and hostility. SCP-524-S experienced increasing memory loss, waking up either dirty or with strange marks, bruises, and indents on body.

Subject is noted to have chewed through the flesh of his left cheek. Other notible scars being a long cut from Subject left eyebrow to eye cause after altercation with Father. SCP-524-S also chewed flesh on both hands, right being severely injured

Seven months after tragedy event Subject was forced to wear a metal wire muzzle fitted to face by pulling wires tighter. Two years later Subject went aggressively brutally killing Father, multiple citizens in a fire

Amnesia later induced on Subject after final contact with SCP-582

SCP-524-S kills in large numbers, typically aiming on office buildings and neighborhoods. SCP-524-S may kill a few victims before entrapping builds in large man-made fire

Singular kills are mainly done in forest areas. SCP-524-S will used leftover body parts from past victims to lure in new ones. Ambushing from trees and bushes

SCP-524-S has a talent of mimicking crying, whispers, and human sounds

Prior to capture, SCP-524-S was elusive. Scent trails and tracks always cut off mid-way and Subject would be lost. Subjects infected by The Operator possibly have chameleon like abilities, blending into their surroundings but not quite teleportation

SCP-524-S has yet to willingly show these abilities

Subject described waking up in the middle of woods with no prior memory after making contact with The Operator. There Subject was met with another proxy to The Operator, Kate the Chaser

Another Subject that has remained unseen by eye or photograph. Subject described learning, living and bonding with Kate which also resulted in his habits of consuming human flesh

“We had to find our own food, eat whatever we caught” — SCP-524-S

Subject stayed in territory of SCP-582 and Kate for six years before leaving, stating SCP-582’s behavior grew increasingly hostile and violent towards him. Kate guided him to the Northern states before leaving

Subject refuses to give location of Kate

While not certain and test remain negative SCP-524-S exhibits behavior of AIWS (Alice In Wonderland Syndrome), could be cause by stressful events and ill-maintained health

When captured, it became apparent that SCP-524-S grew a bond with SCP-225-S as creature could be spotted in distance watching. Subject also had a relationship with a murder of crows

The flock could be seen at sights where victims had been found in woods, and swarmed the capture-spot of SCP-524-S seeming irritated. A few members of the flock attacked personnel

More later….

♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*

: ̗̀➛ OMG WAS THIS STUPIDLY ANNOYING TO DO. I was switch between this and preparing Jack’s Masterlist and general head-canons ugh. Anyways eat this up my goofy goobers I’m gonna work on another Toby smut — Ace

-`♡´- tags list: @vanyatas @moriitis @theredservant

[salpho]

Thinking about how cool BATIM characters are. Ink realm Bertrum's introduction with the tape - a wire trailing from it's top and subtitles rather than an audio log ui imply that he is IN THE MOMENT speaking to Henry rather than this tape being prerecorded like the rest. He speaks through the tape and the reason we stop hearing him is because he destroys it himself. And his design ? Incredible.

Susie's entire story of how Joey manipulated her, using others in her life and the studio as pawns to further it. Destroying her thinking it was Sammy's doing so he can "save" her. Destroying her to the point of connecting with Alice in a way that's too strong to be typical. Then during chapter 3, theory on my part but holy hell the way she acts is incredible. It's so clear that toon alice and susie share a body - the sweet and small but terrified voice of Alice, expressing how Susie made her do terrible things, how the dark puddles are just a pool of disconnected minds. Susie with her deep, confident voice, taunting Henry and showing and air of evil unlike Alice. It's perfect. And the final part ? What sounds like Alice sobbing, only to turn into Susie's maniacal laugh. She's one of my favourite characters for all of this and more she's so well written and thoughts out I love her.

The environmental and visual storytelling from the ink demon. His throne room ? It would've never looked like it did in game. The archives likely held the reels for the cartoons, potentially work on the ink machine too seeing it's part of this massive structure. But either way. In Joey's office just a few corridors away, you notice his chair is missing. But there's an oddly large chair that the ink demon has as a throne. On it you see halos with small parts missing, implying they're all Susie's. You see projectors on a mound of ink, likely from the projectionist which he too has killed countless times. He would've been the one to place the gears leading up to the chair, and the screens hanging from the ceiling ? The chains connect to nothing in particular. They surround the throne perfectly so all are in view, so it's unlikely they were there back in the days of the studio. And they're all playing the Bendy shorts. The ink demon, despite his ceaseless violence and hunt made all of this for himself. He placed everything in that room. And the vault lid ? There's a chance he pulled it away himself, too. Maybe he was originally locked in the vault since Joey wanted to hide him so badly. Maybe that's why he chose it as his own space.

There's just so many hidden details in the lore and the environments in this game. Every time I play it I learn or notice something new that explains everything. Things that enhance the characters and show why they are the way they are, what they've done, and so much more. I could say so much more but that would warrant at least 10 more posts of this length GOD i love this game.

[theanxiousghostartist]

TMAGP 32 Spoilers!

Reactions and theories

(Sorry, this is a day late, y'all. I got busy and couldn't listen last night 😭)

Reactions:

Alice, what are you doing? Are you looking to stop Freddie? ...are you looking for Colin?

All alone? Where's Celia?

Gwen, you don't sound like the boss 😭

Aww, she's looking for Sam.

Yeah, I kinda expected that.

I agree with Alice here, Trevor seemed useless 😭

Gwen does have a point though.

Noriss!!!

For my notes lol: Kyla Barber from Liverpool - environmental health officer (the corruption perhaps?); emergency contact - Violet Weaver; Doctors - (physical) Dr. Mika Volkova; (mental) Dr. Allen Cielo, Jozef Block (ooo, maybe Spiral then)

Alchemy????!!!!

No birds??? Canaries???

Notes again: Mann Island Developments

Ok, so she was marked. "Home" was capitalized.

This reminds me of the tree guy from s1

So she became the land??

The statuc as she gets angrier is such a cool detail!

Ok, so the land took her and Became her, using her as its vessel?

Celia!!!!

The plan seems pretty soild, but I'm suspicious of Celia's intentions with Sam.

A hand??? Colin??????????

Celia you saw teeth in your keyboard????

Is Freddie having trouble "digesting" Colin??

Gwen, babes, you're going to need help 😭

What email did you find Gwen???

Luke!!!

He's abroad?

Yeah! Let out your feelings!! Go Alice!!

Why do I feel like something bad has happened to Luke????

Theories:

The casement this episode reminded me of the guy from S1 who had killed his wife and turned into a tree that later connected to Newton's experiments with his dog. In this casement, Kyla seemed to have taken over (?) by the land and used as its vessel. This also reminds me of the Custodian of the Hilltop Centre, who seemed to have Become Hilltop Road itself. Based on this casement, I'm wondering if this is what was starting to happen with Colin. Freddie was trying to use him as its vessel, and when he resisted, it ate him. Gwen saw a hand pop in and out of her PC screen and Celia found teeth in her keyboard, this leads me to believe that Freddie is having trouble "digesting" Colin, which would also be the reason Gwen and Alice found his hand in the server with wires coming out of it. Matter cannot be created (unless Freddie has access to quantum physics and extremely fast/high powered energy/particles), so Freddie is struggling to reinvent his mass (aka the particles it stripped from him when it ate him). I think that this will go on for a while until we hear his voice in the 'puter, when everything will be finalized. Then, is when Freddie will start trying to create its body. However, I think it will need more victims and will go after whoever it assigned itself to (who will probably be the new IT person, whether the Team likes it or not).

I'm having trouble hearing the Freddie buzzes this season, but according to the comments, when Celia talked about Sam "leaving," it buzzed. This is basically confirming to me that she pushed him in.

Also, IDK why, but I feel like something really bad happened to Luke. He's traveling abroad, which could mean Vampyres or Werewolves as we saw in TMA. It would be very cruel to have Alice's only outside (unaffected) connection dead and force her into the horror completely (like S2 Jon). I know there are also some theories that Alice will be the next to die (mirroring Tim), but I think that she will be one of the last to do so. Wouldn't it be more cruel to have her watch everyone she cares about die or leave or betray her so she can't get an escape from the horrors?

Well, what about Teddy? If my theories are correct, he is either Becoming, working for Starkwell, or both. So, not really much of an escape. He IS the horrors.

Anyway, really good episode. I absolutely loved the casement. The writing was absolutely beautiful!

See y'all next week (hopefully on time too lol)!

[akaikali]

TMAGP EP 31 REACTION (SPOILERS)

OH. OKAY. SO WE'RE PICKING UP IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SEASON 1 FINALE. OKAY THEN.

so its just colin's hand??? not his entire body??? i mean, clearly he's become part of the system, right? like im assuming he TURNED into a system, like wires for blood kind of situation???

gwen you absolutely infuriating woman please get fucked (literally) i think it would really do you some wonders. find someone to dom you please im asking nicely it would do you So Much Good

OH. HAND'S GONE. GREAT. COLIN GOT EATEN BY THE COMPUTER AND NOW THE ONLY PROOF THEY HAD OF THAT IS GONE. LOVELY.

OH. OKAY. OKAY WOW. SO. firstly, jmj=null??? its not .jmj error rn??? and also "extension BECHER" so yes colin is become part of the system. and im assume the computer recording we're hearing is from...inside of him or something.

CROWBAR. YOU'RE JOKING. THIS HAS TO BE ON PURPOSE. BRUTAL PIPE URDER VS BRUTAL CROWBAR MURDER. EXCEPT THE CROWBAR WAS KIND OF SELF MURDER.

oh. oh thats. thats fucked. this is so sergey ushanka coded. tessa winters how i miss you my autistic girl with a tech special interest <3

hmmm okay thats strange. "self.host errors resolved" but ".jmj error not resolved"? but also now its like. if what happened to colin happened to jmj and THATS why they're in the system...my poor babies. except for jonah. jonah fucking deserved that.

new administrator permissions assigned?? TO WHO???? COLIN HAD ADMIN PERMISSIONS BEFORE, WHO HAS THEM NOW???? I THINK WHOEVER IT IS PROBABLY HAS FREDDY'S TARGET ON THEM.

"it sounds like the system was...provoked" SHUT UP GWEN YOU ARE SO FRUSTRATING YOU ARE JUST LIKE UR PREDECESSOR (our dear jarchavist)

"no, no, i'm sure we can leave!...Um. Freddie. Can we leave?" gwen i fucking love you, you stupid fucking dumbass <3

so like i also wanna know what alice knows about lena because CLEARLY, she knows that lena would know how to deal with this. also slightly concerned that lena might be dead seeing as she had uh. no exit interview. the government might have just nerfed her.

gwen acting all tough and like she's in charge but immediately running after alice and going "wait, wait for me!" because she's scared of being alone with the murder computer is SO funny

HELLO????? SAM???? MY BOY MY POOR DEAR BOY ARE YOU GOOD?????? listen i know we have mixed opinions on sam but like. come on. the man still fought off the archivist to protect celia when it came after her.

repeated by something. why is that underlined in the transcript. are there...are there like tape recorder creatures. is that whats happening here.

celia. celia honey no. i know you've got a kid and everythin but like sam is NOT okay. my girl, you sacrificed him and used him. and on top of all of that, you've lied to alice about all of this. this is going to end so badly.

"i...recognized it from a case" celia honey i know you can lie better than that. come on. you know alice does NOT believe that.

OH. THATS NOT FUN. THE PHOTOCOPIER PRINTING COLIN'S FACE EVEN WHEN UNPLUGGED. YEAH THAT IS VERY VERY SERGEY UNSHANKA. LOVING THAT. but also honestly valid coping mechanism alice you gotta make the dark jokes or you will break down.

IM SORRY YOU HAVE TO WHISTLE SOMETHING HAPPY TO MAKE THE ECHO MONSTERS LEAVE??? AND SAM CHOOSES FUCKING CIRCUS MUSIC??? "Not circus music, you cretin!" PLEASE IM DYING THIS IS SO FUNNY okay greensleeves is somewhat better.

OH MY GOD ITS GEORGIE ITS WIFE SHE'S BACK I MISSED YOU MY GIRLLLL she's always here for celia i love her. i think she knows whats going on. vaguely.

"But I just want you to know I think things are looking up. All going well, this should be the last zero-notice call out" "We'll see" GEORGIE WHAT DO YOU KNOWWWWW

"i want a solicitor" oh honey :((( even after being dragged into another dimension he first asks for a lawyer. i don't know if that was intentional but with him clearly being a brown man :((((

GEORGIE???? SHE'S. WHAT. CAPTAIN OF THE WARDENS???? "lacks the military mannor one might expect" IS THIS OUR TMA GEORGIE???? WHAT??????????????

"you got a ride in Gertrude" A RIDE IN WHAT NOW???? ARE YOU TELLING ME THEY NAMED A FUCKING TANK OR SOMETHING AFTER GERTRUDE????? okay wait if this is TMA verse then melanie would be around and melanie knows about gerrtrude's explosives so that. checks out actually.

oh celia. celia your web of lies is going to come back to haunt you. i know you cant tell them but at the same time they are going to find out the truth eventually and alice might straight up chuck you into the "tear" herself.

"licensing issues?" alice i love you never change

"How convenient that your only proof is sat in an inbox I can’t read in case it tries to eat me." "It did not 'eat' Colin! The system just… responded to an attack." "By eating Colin." dyhard how i adore you.

OHHHH ARCHIVIST CREATURE FOLLOWED SAM WE KNEW THIS OFC FROM THE TRAILERRRR

okay so. wait. is. was heidi a watcher???? like when the eyepocalypse happened, was she touched by the eye? like she seems like what i would have expected to happen to someone like amy patel.

oh my god we're getting to find out what LONDON was like during the eyepocalypse. whatever the creatures that were hunting down georgie, melanie, and their little cult was. oh my god.

OKAY SO THIS IS DEF TMA-VERSE "Not when the tower fell and the eye closed. Not when the pupil collapsed and the Archivist died, his face still burned into my mind." BUT ALSO FUCK ME NOOOOO IS JARCHAVIST REALLY DEAD NOOO NO NO HE'S SOMEWHERE ELSE I AM IN DENIAL HE'S ELSEWHERE HE AND MARTIN ARE LIVING IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE HAPPY IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

oh heidi. bye bye heidi.

WOW WHAT A START TO THE SEASON. WE GOT SO MUCH. I HAVE NEVER SAID "WHAT THE FUCK" THIS MANY TIMES IN A ROW BEFORE. GERTRUDE IS A VEHICLE NOW. WHAT THE FUCK.

[beesmygod]

how much have lily and vera changed between conception and debut?

sorry anon, i asked for people to send qs and then my period started so i went into a temporary coma/sat on the couch like a slug. terrible stuff.

i talked last time about how characters start as plot devices/are designed to fulfill a specific narrative purpose; vera's purpose, outside of her direct plot relevance as a mysteriously powered human, is to be maxine's enabler. vera is the most well adjusted of the group and can plainly see everyone's neuroses as an impartial observer and chooses to leverage this social aptitude to make things as funny as possible for her. however, she has an empathetic heart and never want to take her teasing and fucking around too far. these are some of her basic personality traits.

this makes her alarmingly, comparatively normal despite her troubles lol. i have not had a chance to deeply examine her personal motivations and history until recently for the pages im working on now (outside of very basic plot beats: foster care with alice, rough young adulthood with no stability, drug induced crashing and burning). in these pages im working on, i wanted to think about:

1. how did she develop these traits? how much of it is innate vs developed vs by choice?

2. what motivates her on a primal level? i decided it was libidinal in nature in the pages im working on now lol if youre caught up on patreon that might sound Deep but

3. is her past tragic or funny? unlike alice, who is a self-induced unhappiness factory, vera can shrug most things off and would probably find the humor in her lot in life. so what's the humor? i think i have some good stuff for this lol.

i guess the answer is: vera is becoming more of a foil of her sister, rather than becoming alice's polar opposite. this includes the fact that while alice is very resolute in and certain about her role in life, vera is uncertain. she wants conflicting things and knows it. if alice is the physical avatar of vera's desire for stability in her life, then maxine is a tantalizing call to return to the wild life.

as for lily....she was wholly undeveloped until the millisecond i had to put her in the comic lol. it was a nightmare. i knew these things about her: she was the key that unlocked the plot of the comic, her family was fabulously, freakishly wealthy (multi-billionaire wealthy), she's beautiful/turns heads, and she was maxine and valdos friend. which opened up a ton of problems like "how" and "why" that ive been brainstorming and figuring out over the past uhh. year. but thankfully i think its shaking out great and things are falling into place cleanly.

really, the thing for figuring out her personality was being a hater: theres a similar character in another work i cant stand with the depth of a puddle. lily gave me a chance to make my own super wealthy, pretty socialite with special powers in a form that i recognized as being authentic and "real". a sugary, syrupy, cultivated exterior masking a terrifying interior. someone raised in wealth who had to learn to recognize others as people solely because its a social faux pas to treat them otherwise. someone who, out of a combination of natural wiring/childhood boredom/unfortunate formative moments, conflates sex and self-determination with galling violence. someone who does not recognize the autonomy of other people to such a degree that she puppets their bodies for entertainment/comfort. she is an untethered sadist who is desperately trying to be good. she will try to obfuscate this aspect of herself but it will seep out in spite of her efforts.

[tessajameselliottm]

He's hauling an dead robo raptor from Alice's hideout... "Remembered you like to tinker?" He shows it "these things are called sentinels they can mess with us .. I figured if anyone can crack it you can" he Also found some tools

@nate-doorman-elliot

🎁 🧰))

Tessa blinked at the mangled heap of metal, her expression unreadable beneath the faint hum of her visor. She didn’t step forward, just let her eyes drag slowly across the raptor's frame. “…Right.” Her voice was flat, clipped. She didn’t sound impressed, but she wasn’t brushing him off either. She crouched down beside it after a beat, the stiff creak of her suit joints filling the silence. Her gloved hand hovered above the exposed wiring—close, but not touching. “Haven’t really… tinkered in a while.” It slipped out like she hadn’t meant to say it, followed by a pause just long enough to be uncomfortable.

She glanced up, briefly. “You lugged it all the way here?” Her tone didn’t soften, but it wavered at the edges—just enough to suggest something else beneath it. “…Must’ve been heavy.”

Then, almost as an afterthought, her fingers finally grazed the scorched plating. “I’ll see what I can do."

She didn’t say thank you. Just shifted the tools closer with a quiet clatter and got to work, letting the silence do the rest.

[aria-bun]

How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily?

Sam and Colin having a rough time at the library decide to keep each other company. Read on ao3!

Sam squinted at his computer screen, his eyes scanning the PDF on his laptop over and over. He was reading the words, but he wasn’t comprehending them.

He needed more coffee.

Or less coffee, by Alice’s suggestion. Which was fair. Since starting college, he seemed to be a cup away from a caffeine overdose at all times.

But it kept him moving, so the risk of imminent death was worth it.

At least, until the quiet of the library was interrupted by certain… suspicious sounds from one of the nearby study rooms.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Sam turned his head, seeing Colin, on the opposite end of the table, smacking his head against the wooden table.

How long had he been there?

At the sound of another grunt, Sam picked up his laptop. “Nope, nope, nope, nope,” he whispered as he migrated to the other side of the table, farther away from the nearby study room.

Colin looked at him, half amused, half wincing. 

“I already can’t focus, this is not helping.” Sam sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Colin grumbled. There was something about Colin’s voice that Sam liked. It was oddly comforting, and he wasn’t sure why.

Actually, he did know why. It was the briskness of his voice. It reminded Sam of autumn wind. It had a bit of a bite to it, but it was one of his favorite times of the year.

And Sam found himself enjoying Colin’s presence quite a lot.

“What’re you working on?” Sam glanced over Colin’s shoulder at his laptop screen. He didn’t understand a lick of coding, but thought it’d be nice to ask at least.

“Trying to implement AVL trees in Haskell for an assignment. Being a pain in the arse.” Colin’s nose wrinkled, his eyes narrowing at the laptop screen. His face seemed to scrunch slightly when he was thinking, Sam noticed, and it softened his harsh features. 

It was kind of cute.

“Dýou want to talk about it?” Sam asked him.

Colin looked at him. “That would require me to actually know what the hell I’m doing.”

“... That's fair.”

A quiet melody of music wafted through the air, and Sam’s head perked up slightly, confused. 

Colin paused. “At least we know they’re lesbians now.”

He was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, is that The Giver?”

“Yep.”

“Just kill me now.” Sam buried his face in his hands, sinking down in his chair.

“No way I’m suffering through this alone.” Colin gave him a small pat on the head.

“I thought those rooms were supposed to be soundproof.” Sam sighed, reluctantly sitting back up and looking back at his laptop.

“This buildin’s like a hundred years old, Sam.” Colin gave him a look. “Maybe it was at some point.”

“That’s… fair.”

The groans from the study room seemed to get louder, and Sam covered his ears with his palms, nearly smacking his head into the table.

What have I done to earn this in my life?

Trying to focus back on the PDF on his laptop, he felt a small nudge to his shoulder. Glancing over at Colin, he saw the Scot offering him a wired earbud, the other one already in his ear.

Sam scooted his chair over, bringing his laptop with him so he was closer to Colin, so the cord wasn’t reaching super far.

He took the earbud, putting it in his ear before turning his attention back to his laptop. It didn’t fully drown out their surroundings, but it was better than having both hands over his ears the entire time. 

Sam didn’t recognize the song, but it reminded him of the alternative rock that Alice had listened to (and quickly outgrew) when they were in middle school. It wasn’t his personal taste, but it wasn’t bad.

He managed to get through the last bit of the PDF he needed to skim through for the assignment, leaning his head only slightly so he could cover his other ear.

Every now and then, their shoulders brushed slightly due to how close they were sitting, and it made Sam feel… something.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to him that he liked Colin; Sam figured out early on that he grew attached to people very quickly, and Colin was definitely his type. The hard part was trying to sort out other people’s feelings.

“Fuckin’ bastard.” Sam stifled a slight laugh at Colin swearing under his breath, glaring daggers at his laptop.

“Everything alright?” he smiled, a bit amused.

“The program’s bein’ stupid as shit.” Colin fumed slightly, furiously punching something into the keyboard. His accent seemed to have thickened slightly, out of irritation.

Kinda cute.

Sam glanced at Colin’s screen and winced slightly “Just looking at that hurts my head.”

“Imagine trying to write it,” he grumbled, rubbing his face with a hand. “They need so many fucking rotations.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I want to imagine it.” 

“Fair.”

The squeaky sound of a door caught Sam’s attention, and his head perked up slightly before his eyes widened.

Stepping out of the study room, was Alice and Gwen.

He did a double take, glancing over at Colin, who had momentarily dropped his pen, previously having paused to write something down.

What the hell?

“Oh my God.” Sam rubbed the side of his face with his hand.

“Hey ladies,” Colin got their attention. “Those rooms aren’t soundproof. Could hear the Chappel Roan all the way out here.”

Gwen’s face immediately went a bright shade of red, covering her face with her hands.

“Suck a carrot, Becher!” Alice called back as she walked off, dragging Gwen along with her by the arm.

Sam glanced back at Colin, and the amused smirk on his face made the embarrassment all worth it.

——————————————————————

“So… You and Gwen are a thing now?” Sam raised an eyebrow at Alice from across the dorm room.

“Yep,” she said simply, popping the p.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting that.” he leaned back in his desk chair.

“Yeah, yeah, we had our academic rivals-to-lovers arc, what about you, Sammy?” she sat up on her bed. “You and Colin were awfully close.”

“We were just sharing music.”

“Just that?”

“He has good music taste!”

“Please, Sam. Colin has the music taste of a divorced middle-aged man.” Alice flopped back down on her bed. “Which is a level just above a middle schooler discovering MCR for the first time.”

“I think you’re just being a bit mean.” Sam laughed slightly.

“Fine then, what did you guys listen to?”

He paused. “...Black Veil Brides.”

She snapped her fingers. “Exactly. I gotta say, Sammy, your taste varies between batshit and a bit basic.”

He snorted lightly. “And where do you fall on that?”

“Oh, absolutely batshit.” she grinned. “I’m on one side of the scale, Colin’s on the other.”

“Colin isn’t basic.”

“Just a little.”

“He drinks Redeyes and majors in Computer Science. I wouldn’t call it basic.”

Alice raised an eyebrow “...Colin doesn’t drink Redeye.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “Not even close. He likes his drinks as dark as his soul, and even though he likes to put up that bitchy scottish exterior of his, he has the heart and soul of a confetti cupcake.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at that, but said nothing.Huh.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

I wrote something!

Of course it's gender swap stuff that gets me to actually write– that's what happened in my last fandom, here it is, happening again. I do have an idea for a mainverse scene that I'd like to write too though, and now I'm over the hump with this, hopefully that'll be easier to start!

Word count: 733. God, writing fiction is slower than writing normally.

-

“Alice!”

“Yes, Vox?” Alice replied airily, turning her attention away from her microphone, which she had been polishing oh so diligently, and turning it toward the sound of hurried, oncoming footsteps.

She turned in her seat and was met with a flash of blue and red as Vox practically skidded to a halt before her.

“How do you like it? I think it’s pretty. Niffty made it for me— I’ve never met a man who’s such a dab hand with a needle and thread, I swear! He’s so- but I wanted to see how you liked it. I think it’s pretty, but we can change it if you think-” Goodness, she talked a lot now.

Tuning out Vox’s inane babble, Alice flicked her eyes across the new outfit that seemed to be the cause of all this excitement. A red, sleeveless button-down blouse and one of those silly, wide skirts that were in style during Vox’s time on Earth, patterned with cyan lightning bolts on top of plain, navy blue.

Far simpler than Vox’s old style. She’d always had a taste for glamor, for ostentation. Even when she’d been a young sinner without the money necessary for the silken gloves and wide-brimmed hats she favored as an overlord, Alice recalled her trying her best to at least give the facade of wealth and glamor. What a vain creature she was— or rather, had been.

The new outfit was almost girlish in its simplicity. Not practical for the handyman (handywoman?) job Alice had assigned her, but Alice highly doubted that all the brainwashing conditioning in the world could convince Vox to wear dungarees.

Alice was vaguely considering telling Vox to return to Niffty and request the outfit in black and white— the colors she had favored back when she had been safely under Alice’s wing— when her eyes fell upon the large, white rectangle that rested over Vox’s left breast.

It was a name tag. Similar to Charlie’s, in a way, but much larger, with the name “VOX” emblazoned upon it in what Alice could only assume was Vox’s own handwriting.

Oh.

The poor thing couldn’t remember her own name, so she needed a label across her chest to keep her from forgetting.

“It’s lovely, dear.” Alice said abruptly, cutting across Vox’s endless chatter— goodness, what was she going on about now? Tap-dancing?

Vox’s face lit up— literally, as her screen’s brightness appeared to jump several settings— her eyes shining with that adorable, slavish, mindlessadoration that Alice had grown so fond of these past few days. She began babbling again, even faster than before, and gave a little twirl— presumably to show off the skirt— that sent sparks flying. If one of those sparks triggered yet another electrical fire, Alice would not be taking responsibility.

“It’s only missing one last thing.” Vox froze, eyes wide; she never could handle “rejection” well. Alice smiled indulgently and extended a finger, beckoning Vox forward, then pointing down to the space beside her chair. Without hesitation, Vox hurried to the foot of Alice’s seat— the foot! Oh, this was rich— sinking down into a kneeling position at her side.

Smiling fondly, Alice delicately undid the red-and-black striped ribbon that hung at her collar. For a moment, she considered tying it around Vox’s neck (the neck whose wires she’d oh so tenderly severed one at a time all those years ago), but instead chose one of her antennas (the one she had bent in a dozen different places during the process of creating the New Vox).Vox let out a small, sharp gasp as Alice tightened the ribbon around the metal rod— those things were somewhat akin to exposed nerves, to Alice’s understanding; what a silly weakness— her facial display flickering out for a moment before reappearing with a wide-eyed, anticipatory expression.

“There. Now you look perfect.”

Once again, Vox’s face split into that same, worshipful grin from the last time Alice had complimented her. Two gifts— the new, old head and now something to wear on it— in as many days; Alice truly was in a generous mood this week.

“Thank you, Allie, thank you so, so much.”

What a sweet creature she had become.

For a moment, Alice’s eyes flicked away from Vox’s adoring face and towards the hotel bar. She met Husk’s stoney gaze, who immediately looked away, pretending not to have been watching this interaction. Alice’s eyes returned to Vox, and she smiled indulgently down at her lovely little creation.

“You’re welcome, doll.”

[archive-z]

Get to know your mutuals (tagged by @cerebralsilhouettes) 

What's the origin of your username?: originally i was going to abandon this blog and just hold on to it as an archive, so it got changed to archive-z (“z” being the shortened version of my former user), but then every other place online got increasingly hostile to exist so i started using it again 

OTP(s) + ship name: no ship name but im proud to contribute to the alice/daniel molloy, alice/wife #2 believers out there 🫡 

Favorite colour: purple, black, silver, burgundy 🖤 

Song stuck in your head: joyful kilmarnock blues by the proclaimers (it plays while im getting ready for work most days) 

Weirdest habit/trait: i can peel oranges (and most other citrus fruit) in a single, long continuous piece by hand? im perhaps a bad judge of weirdest 

Hobbies: collaging, working in my notebooks, sending mail in the post, gothic/blackletter calligraphy, sketching clothes/costumes, making/modifying clothes and accessories, leathercraft, repairing stuff

If you work, what's your profession?: my day job is 1st asst. props builder, my night job in a combo of sound installation/performance artist, theatre director, video dj, and as of last year professional playwright for the radio lmao 

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?: if the conditions of the job were better (ie less precarious for freelance workers) i would probably spend a lot more time as an assistant director/director for less commercial, more avant-garde media & performance art

Something you're good at: making mashed potatoes 

Something you hate: public spaces that have been designed to look good in instagram photos but have terrible acoustics/sound/lighting design in person, car-centric urban planning  

Something you collect: postcards, zines, LPs, ticket stubs, vintage/antique 925 sterling silver men’s accessories like cufflinks/tie bars/etc, cut crystal glassware, collect a couple specific editions of secondhand books/art books, vintage film cameras 

Something you forget: traumatic memory loss babeyy :) also most things to do with numbers unless it’s my library card

What's your love language?: i know the love languages guy was like a junk science christian fundamentalist bigot 🙃 but i like doing errands together. i like that we can pretend mundane tasks are big adventures and share that sense of whimsy 

Favorite movie/show: (tv show) the hour, the thick of it, the wire, interview with the vampire / (film) my letterboxd top 4 rn is In the Mood for Love, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Casablanca, and Akira

Favorite food: mashed potatoes, orange pekoe tea, dark chocolate digestive biscuits, sea salt dark chocolate

Favorite animal: crows!! and the lesser loved corvids like jackdaws. big ups to all urban scavenger animals (rats, raccoons, foxes, pigeons etc), and to my close personal friends the sea otters at the vancouver aquarium 

What were you like as a child?: intense? confident? when i was a bit older it was “smart but unchallenged, so gets into trouble”?  

Favorite subject at school: theatre, history, politics

Least favorite subject: religion, gym, math

What's your best character trait?: i’ve been told i’m rly passionate abt stuff — when i get into something i really like to take it apart and want to know how it works and know what other people think of it, etc. 

What's your worst character trait?: i get too in my own head abt messaging friends after there’s been a long-ish gap in communication bc i feel i’ve failed to live up to the impossibly high standards i hold myself (and nobody else to) for friendship — i know it happens but also 

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?: too overwhelming to pick 

tagging @ghstbird @natandacat @volkswagonblues

[avionvadion]

"I do have certain songs that I attach to specific fics when I listen to them, though."

I'm curious. What are these songs?

Time Lapse: Reluctant Hero: The Killing Kind, Echoes of You, Master Piece Theater 1, 2, & 3, Porcelain- all Marianas Trench

Once Upon A Dream: Desperate Decisions- Marianas Trench, Celebrity Status- Marianas Trench, Pas de Deux- Princess Tutu, Winter Moon- Erutan, At All Costs (DEMO), Eleonora- Marianas Trench, I'm Not Okay- Citizen Soldier, Would Anyone Care- Citizen Soldier

Once Upon A Tragedy: Stitches- Shawn Mendes, Can't Help Falling In Love- Tommee Profitt, brooke

Forest Deep: Ever After- Marianas Trench, Iris- Goo Goo Dolls, Scylla- Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Call the Nightingale- Vian Izak, Juniper Vale, Shallow- Lady Gaga, I'm Not Okay- Citizen Soldier, Would Anyone Care- Citizen Soldier, Legendary- Jorge Rivera Herrans, Alice- Vocaloid

Desperate Decisions: Jarls and Kings- Fenris, Heathen Row- Fenris, Master of the Ocean- Fenris, Nothing to Forgive- Falconshield, Lost- fin (These are more vibes than anything, lol)

Dancing with the Devil: Not Strong Enough- Apocalyptica, Can't Be Saved, Love is a Weapon- Letdown, Last Resort- Falling in Reverse, Rose Red- the Mechanisms, Here Comes A Thought- Steven Universe, Two Birds On A Wire-Regina Spektor, Pierrot- Vocaloid, Can We Make This Work- Journey to Bethlehem, Safe and Sound- Me vs Gravity

Till Death Do We Fall: Dancing with your Ghost- Sasha Sloan, Circles- Vocaloid, Letdown- Letdown, Die With Me- Gemini Syndrome, 3 Days- Michael Dae, Innocent- Michael Dae, Battlefield- SVRCINA, Hallelujah (I'm not dead)- Citizen Soldier

Shattered Souls: Who Do You Love, Toy Soldiers, All To Myself, Haven't Had Enough- all Marianas Trench. Honest- Thousand Foot Krutch, Armor- Landon Austin, I Scare Myself- Beth Crowley, Battlefield- SVRCINA

There are way more for the stories with Maria/Mae/Maia, but... I can't remember them at the moment, lol. I... don't really have any for Destiny's Call. Huh. I need to do a re-listen to all of Citizens Soldiers songs; it's been a hot minute, so I'm sure there are more that fit.

[the-batty-librarian]

rinnnnng…. 📞

"Hello, is this Abe's Occult? We’ve talked before… ah, once actually. Only once."

Whoever was calling the shop was definitely doing something loud on the other side. A sound one might assume was fireworks was barely muffled by the gloved hand wrapped around the receiver when he wasn’t talking. Speaking of which, the man calling was talking too close to where the audio picked up, a small reverb messing with his already somewhat hard to understand audio.

"I asked y' about cursed swords? Does that ring any bells? M' in London for a …excursion, might as well use the most ‘f it. Wanted to see how much n' exorcism would cost in this context? Could y' call n' give me a quote."

'ExeaRecism’,,,, He had an accent. However it was hard to focus on his voice when the sound of glass breaking picked up, followed by an uncharacteristically higher pitched ‘fuck ow fuck’ that was barely muffled to protect the monster hunters ego.

"…Put ‘t under ‘Doberman'."

( @lt-doberman )

“Put that down!”

Fairies were very petty creatures. If something was twice their size, they were more than likely to pick it up and try and make off with it. Alice's fairies did this, but mostly to annoy her.

The good thing was that they at least listened to a certain point. They dropped the phone, letting it dangle from the cord off the wall and reciever. Alice waved their little bodies away. She had half a mind to flick them.

“Number.”

She rubbed her fingers together. A fairy placed a little sticky note in between her index. Alice squinted, dialing it up. Her fairies continued to mess about on their break; touching tomes, carrying off books.. hanging off the phone wire. Alice waited for it to pick up.

“Hello! This is Alice-May, exorcist—”

Always good to iterate that you were the exorcist now and not your long dead father.

“I'm calling on behalf of a quote,”

Alice flipped open an absolutely ancient checkbook. When was the last time she'd charged for an exorcism? She scanned dates, she scanned numbers.. never. The last paid one seemed to have been in the forties. Long before she was born.

“I don't exactly do payment, so much as I'm willing to get rid of a—”

A fairy flew in front of her face. Alice blew it away, adjusting the phone against her shoulder.

“—pest like that. My shop is open, the church is open, or wherever you might need me to perform is perfectly acceptable. But, if you have some spare teeth, I'd gladly accept those if you're really hellbent on payment.”

[queenofcats17]

The Ink Demonth 2

Today's theme is tea.

Enjoy Audrey having a very normal time!

==============================================

"Ah, awake at last~"

Audrey slowly came back to consciousness to the sound of a woman's voice and the tinny music of a phonograph. She was vaguely aware of being seated on some sort of raised chair as she blinked blearily and looked around.

She was in some kind of... dining room? Or library? She wasn't sure. To her left and right were bookshelves and columns. The floor was the same tile as in Wilson's home, but it was chipped and broken here, with pieces of tile and pools of ink scattered about. The room was dim, lit only by the bare bulbs hanging on wires from the ceiling. Moths fluttered around them, further diminishing the light.

In front of her was a large banquet table, laden with cakes and donuts and pots of tea. Lost Ones were seated on both sides of the table, sipping from tea cups and eating the provided sweets.

And at the head of that table... was a woman. Audrey couldn't make out many details due to her blurry vision and the dull throbbing in the right side of her head, likely from where she'd hit it when she'd fallen. But even with her limited vision, she could tell the woman looked more humanoid than the Lost Ones. Audrey could make out yellow skin and a black dress. Sort of like Allison...

"I was almost afraid you'd miss my party," the strange woman cooed from where she lounged in her chair.

"What...? What's going on?" Audrey murmured, clutching her head.

"Ohh. Seems you're just a little overwhelmed." The woman's voice dripped with sickly sweetness, but Audrey found she didn't care. The woman's voice was... beautiful. Low and husky, like the sort you'd hear in a smoky nightclub.

"It's alright, honey. I understand," the woman continued, still in that faux-sweet tone. "It's not every day every day you get to bask in the glory of... an angel!" The woman's voice went up an octave on the last two words, sounding rather like the voice Audrey had heard used for Alice Angel.

Now that her vision was clearing... The woman did look like Alice Angel. She had the black dress, the horns, the halo. She looked more like Alice than Allison had at least. Come to think of it... Porter had mentioned there were two Alices. What had he said again? Something about one being fair of face and the other stopping at nothing to achieve perfection?

"An... angel?" Audrey echoed as the woman hopped off her chair and began to approach Audrey. Her movements were slow and languid, like a big cat stalking its prey.

"Alice Angel, to be exact," the woman said. "Sent from above. Impending perfection."

As she moved closer, Audrey could see that half of the woman's face was mutilated and deformed. She had no left eye, only a gaping socket that leaked ink down her face. The ink pooled in holes in her left cheek which revealed her blackened gums and ink-stained teeth.

Even with the mutilated face, though, the woman was... stunning. She had the same features as Allison, but on Alice, they seemed... sharper, more mature. Allison's eyes had been wide and alert, while Alice's were hooded and sultry.

Audrey instinctively swallowed as Alice reached the chair. "What... What do you want?" She asked, hoping her voice wasn't shaking too much.

Alice laughed, leaning on the back of the chair. "Ah, right to the chase. I like that. The truth is, honey..." She disappeared, walking around the back of the chair. "You're one of a kind. I have to say..." Her face appeared on the other side of the chair now. "I'm an instant fan."

"Well, I... I'm not from here," Audrey said, shifting uncomfortably in the chair.

"And yet, there's something so... familiar about you." Alice leaned in close. "Like I've met you somewhere before."

Audrey's heartbeat began to speed up. Her face was inches from Alice's. She was almost certain that Alice was supposed to be threatening her, but this also felt... strangely like flirting? She didn't know if she should be terrified or turned on. Maybe a little of both?

....God, was there something wrong with her?

"But I suppose we can get to that later." Suddenly Alice was moving away, heading back to her seat at the head of the table. "This is a party, after all. And you're the guest of honor, honey."

"Would you like some tea?" One of the Lost Ones asked, getting up from their seat.

"is it... actually tea?" Audrey tried not to cringe.

"It's the closest thing we have to tea down here," another Lost One piped up. "It's not that bad," they added quickly.

"It's not great either," a third muttered darkly, although they too took a sip of their tea.

"We take what we can get." Alice sighed dramatically, draping herself over the armchair as if it were a throne. "To think, this is what I've been reduced to. Stealing from that bastard's pantry like some common thief!" Her lip curled in a snarl and she slammed her fist into the arm of the chair before flopping back.

"You took this from... Wilson?" Audrey frowned slightly.

"He's the only one around here with any proper food," Alice replied, gesturing to one of the Lost Ones. Said Lost One immediately got up and began pouring a cup of tea. "And since I refuse to scavenge like the others, stealing is what I must do."

"Our angel is kind enough to share with us," the Lost One who had poured the tea said as they brought it to Audrey.

"So you... protect them?" Audrey asked slowly as she somewhat reluctantly accepted the offered tea cup. A brief sniff made her cringe. The tea smelled burnt and acrid, and vaguely of ink. But it was hard to tell whether the ink smell was coming from the tea or the room around her.

"An angel must protect her flock," Alice said before immediately making a face of disgust. "Ugh... I sound like Sammy."

"You know Sammy?" Audrey asked. Although she knew she was going to regret it, she took a tentative sip of the tea. Almost immediately she spat it out. The ink smell had been coming from the tea. It was the first thing she tasted.

"Told you it was bad," the pessimistic Lost One muttered.

"It would be harder not to know Sammy," Alice said derisively. "He just loves sticking his fingers into everything, pretending he's some kind of savior." She rolled her eyes. "As if that will absolve him of his sins."

"His sins?" Audrey echoed. A Lost One passed her a donut, which she was more than happy to take a bite of. It was stale and tasted vaguely of ink, but she wasn't going to be too picky.

Alice's expression grew dark. She sat up in her chair, folding her arms. "He betrayed me," she said, her gaze fixed on the table. "He said I had talent. He said I'd be as big as Bendy someday. And then he went and gave my role away! To that- That Allison!" She slammed her fists on the table, jostling the dishes. "It was my role! Mine! He didn't have the right to give it away!"

The Lost Ones chimed in with statements of agreement.

"He didn't have the right."

"You were perfect, my angel!"

"He never should have replaced you."

Audrey just chewed on her donut. It would probably be a bad idea to mention that she'd met Allison. She wondered if Allison was still looking for her. Back in the sewers, Allison had said she would come for her. Had she?

"But enough about him." Alice quickly composed herself, leaning forward towards Audrey. "I want to know about you, honey."

"Well, uh, what do you want to know?" Audrey asked, awkwardly clearing her throat.

Alice's smile widened. "What do you want to tell me?"

Audrey paused, leaning back in her chair as she thought. She had to be careful here. It was clear that Alice had a grudge against Sammy for replacing her. And given that decision likely came from Joey to begin with, Alice probably had a grudge against Joey too. Like everyone else in this place. So admitting she was Joey's daughter was definitely not a good idea.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to ground herself. She could do this. She could play this game.

Then, she opened her eyes and began to speak.

[mariacallous]

On Thursday, Elon Musk agreed with the leader of a far-right German political party that Adolf Hitler was a communist and that left-wing groups who support Palestinian causes have more in common with Nazis than with her own party.

The deeply weird and disinformation-filled conversation between Musk and Alice Weidel, the leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD), took place on X. It came after weeks of Musk’s efforts to boost the far-right party, which has deep links to neo-Nazism and has been surveilled for suspected extremism by Germany’s own intelligence services.

“[Hitler] was a communist, and he considered himself as a socialist,” Weidel said in response to Musk asking about media reports linking the AfD to Nazism.

“The biggest success after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right[-wing] and conservative, he was exactly the opposite,” Weidel said. “He wasn't a conservative, he wasn't a libertarian, he was a communist, socialist guy, and we are the opposite.”

“Right,” Musk responded.

In his autobiography Mein Kampf, Hitler—who as leader of the German Reich was responsible for the invasion of the Soviet Union and the enslavement and death of millions of its citizens—repeatedly describes communism as an enemy of the German nation. He believed that Marxism was a Jewish conspiracy to control Germany and the world.

Weidel also compared the Nazi Party’s views to those of modern-day left-wing political groups who support Palestine in the face of what a UN commission has called crimes against humanity conducted by Israel. While her AfD colleagues were last month seen attending a secretive meeting organized by former members of a militant neo-Nazi group known for burning the Israeli flag, she said, “The AfD is the ​​only protector of the Jewish people here in Germany.”

Weidel is the AfD’s candidate for chancellor in Germany’s snap elections, which take place next month. As someone who previously worked in finance and lives in Switzerland with her wife, who is from Sri Lanka, and their children, she has been presented as a relatively moderate face for the party.

This is something Musk picked up on in an op-ed he penned last month for a German newspaper.

"The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party's leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka,” Musk wrote. “Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”

Ahead of the conversation on Thursday, the EU said that it would be monitoring the event to see if it was artificially promoted to voters in Germany, something which would be in violation of the region’s sweeping Digital Service Act rules. A European Commission spokesperson told WIRED it would not be commenting on the contents of the livestream.

Weidel referenced the EU’s preoccupation with the conversation, claiming 150 officials at the EU commission were listening in, then claimed the DSA was a censorship tool, before adding: “You know what Adolf Hitler did? He switched off free speech. He controlled the media, and without that he would have never been successful.”

“Yes, exactly,” Musk responded.

The conversation, which was billed as an interview but was more of a love-in, hit virtually event major culture war topic, from the war in Ukraine, where Weidel suggested European government’s lack of strategy would push Russia toward nuclear war, to immigration, where Musk wildly claimed that “on the Mexican side of the border in the US is a giant pile of discarded passports and drivers’ licenses, like a huge pile.”

It was unclear what Musk was talking about, and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk also claimed that “basically theft is legal in California” and said that the only thing that would slow down what “the influx of criminals” were stealing is “if your back hurts from carrying out all the goods.”

The centibillionaire’s interest in German politics, and the AfD in particular, appear to have been largely informed by a single X user, Naomi Seibt, a 24-year-old German influencer who rose to prominence by posting climate change and Covid-19 denial content.

After she posted an image of herself in June saying she had voted for the AfD in last year’s European elections, Musk shared her post, asking: “Why is there such a negative reaction from some about AfD?”

He then slid into her DMs, Seibt told Reuters. "I explained to him the AfD is not similar to the Nazi ideology or Hitler but is like the 19th century liberal nationalist movement ... because they wanted to be free from authoritarians in their own territory," Seibt told the outlet.

Musk engaged with the 24-year-old 40 more times before sharing one of her posts on December 20 with the comment: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” A week later an op-ed with Musk’s byline appeared in the German Welt am Samstag newspaper claiming that the AfD was the “last spark of hope” for Germany.

Musk repeated his endorsement during the livestream, saying, “I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person, and hopefully people can tell just from this conversation. Nothing outrageous is being proposed, just common sense.”

It’s unclear whether Musk’s endorsement of Weidel and the AfD will have any material impact on the outcome of the election.

“In the first survey we conducted this year, we found that this has not yet benefited the AfD,” Manfred Güllner, the head of the Forsa Institute, told Politico. “I don’t see very much potential for future change, because Musk has become a negative figure.”

[somebodytoundress]

Absolutely adored the new chapter! Alicent and Rhaenyra are just too cute when their all domesticness and worrying about the same thing, thinking the other isn't just a scared or insecure.

Because of different circumstances, they both are in the first genuine relationship either has had and it's so fun seeing the way they react differently or similar to things. i know it won't be easy, especially if the record company doesn't like the publication that Alicent has, but I still think it's really cool to see play out.

And the park scene with the dog lady! I loved that. I loved that Alicent has finally come into her own, and it's clear she would thrive should she and Rhaenyra ever break up. It's so nice to see her happy about her sexuality and even excited about it.

I'm actually both excited and nervous about how the conversation with her parents goes, but I'm proud of her none the less lol.

Thank you for sharing this. It was really sweet and I loved them sharing ear buds on the plane! (But I hate that, personally. Over ear ones or it's insufferable, especially for long flights. Which, RIP to my headphones, who won't turn on anymore. Looks like I'm in the market for some new ones if you have any suggestions)

Anyway! Thanks again. Have a great day!

this chapter was very alicent centered and honestly the next couple of chapters probably will be as well but her development has just been so delicious to write. something about being in a brand new city and getting to meet someone with a clean slate and choosing to introduce yourself and your girlfriend without hesitation i think is a very good landmark as to how far she's come.

also im glad someone mentioned the earbuds thing because i spent way too long researching if wired earbuds were even a thing in 2006 because i couldnt remember (i was 4) so thank you for pointing that out also i dont have good headphones suggestions i have shitty airpods and then for my pc i have the pink razr headphones except the wire went to shit like a few months after i got them so for three years ive had to hold my wire in a specific way in order for me to get sound in both ears