#also this is making me paranoid about the series writing i know not everyone is into it but its better than this

[fruitsofhell]

(RTDL DX LORE STUFF RAMBLING)

This is a genuine question to anyone reading, does the lore given in RTDL DX not feel a bit shoddier than the series' writing is?

Atleast in comparison to KSA and KatFL. I know people have gripes with the 3ds games but they didn't pull stuff as confusing as sending a canonically sending a character to a spinoff universe or erasing a point of origin.The more I think about the new Magolor stuff the just more confusing it is to me in a way I definiteky did not feel with KatFL. Like Elfilis's origins before being captured were vague, but you get the idea it was a force of nature - an "invasive species" - and then when you meet Forgo it has clear motivation if being upset for being trapped for so long.

The Jamba are from ancient times and have a blood feud, Haltmann was an inventor who was consumed busy his company, Sectonia was a monarch from the sky consumed by greed because of a corrupt mirror; and originally I would say Magolor was a Halcandran who wanted to rule over the ruins of his wasteland home, but now he isn't. And I'll be fair, that was totally speculative, but atleast because it was left open it was valid speculation. The thing now is we know he isn't from Halcandra. Alright, where is he from then? DONT KNOW! What brought him to Halcandra and the Lor? He's a traveller and was enticed by all the machinery there because he's an engineering nerd, he wants to build a theme park. AWESOME. And he read a book about stuff so now he's interested in Halcandran history, cool. Why does he want the Master Crown then?

I was personally staked in him being from Halcandra cause I could gleam motivation from that, from the removal of that background and the new info given, his motivations for wanting the Master Crown don't make sense anymore. He is a cunt, yes, but not really in such a universe conquering megalomaniac way? Even Marx just wanted to mess around with Popstar and have power, Magolor wanted a crown, a source of limitless power, world-ending and for what? What does that have to do with engineering marvels and theme parks? These are silly kiddie platformers and "because he's evil" is a valid motivation, but not usually for Kirby these days?

There's usually this underlying layer of tragedy or past slighting that motivates characters in Kumazaki's games, even ones who came off as comically evil like the Jamba. And I'm just confused, cause Magolor was one of the first characters he and the team wrote so I would think a remake would be an opportunity to better flesh out him out, but a lot of it feels like details sloppily added to flesh stuff out meaninglessly. And with how much Kumazaki emphasizes keeping stuff open for interpretation, it really would have been wiser to leave some of those details behind.

Oh lord and then I haven't even gotten into Merry Magoland and Kirby Clash. The Magolor theme park thing had been established for over a decade, a year after the original game it was set up as Magolor's "redemption". And admittedly both that and his appearance in Clash were established in spin-offs, but the first one was established forced s d most cleanly. Magolor Epilogue could have just been him returning to Popstar but instead we throw him in an AU and leave the pre-established conclusion as dubiously canon? And there is totally more character arc to be gleamed out of him being in the Clash universe, but we also could have gone through that with the Epilogue...

And then on top of that, I had higher expectations for the world building in Magolor Epilogue. Forgotten Land weaved together its plot and characters with the history of the world very well, and I was hoping Magolor and HALCANDRA could get similar treatment too. It is a tiny little mode, but we all noticed how much text space for the bosses were taken up by repeating that line about how they're collecting apples for their boss, right? It was a big missed opportunity. And (very personal nitpick here) if you were going to remove a character's connection to Halcandra, it would be nice if that void of connections was filled with actual lore.

I'm still working on my organized theory for all this new stuff, and I totally admit I'm biased and some of this disappointment is coming from personal headcanon, but I cannot shake the feeling that there was something off about the writing in this remake.

[ladycaramelswirl]

definitely not old

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

A/N: Did I create an extremely improbable scenario just to suit my need to create another highly improbable scenario? Yes. Do I care that it’s unrealistic? No. Please forgive any typos/ grammatical errors. 

CW: suggestive content, but not explicit (like 15+?). Use of y/n one time. (Technically this would probably warrant one of those hostile workplace environment seminars like they had for Derek and Penelope. But it’s funny? Idk this isn’t serious.) Sassy Hotch. Crack plot tbh. 

Also I know the timeline doesn’t really make sense, because JJ is a profiler and Emily and Rossi exist, but I imagined Season 1 Spencer while writing this! I guess it’s 2005? Btw I do not know how tapes work, so just pretend it makes sense please. This is so unserious. 

Summary: reader wife and Hotch are private people; the BAU team is nosy. Spencer is just constantly in the right place at the wrong time. 

Enjoy!

——————

The screen in front of you depicted horror - just not the kind the BAU was used to. The UnSub had confessed to leaving a message in an old tape. He had already been arrested, but you were all hoping it might contain something that might help the conviction stick. Only he was extremely paranoid, so not only had he left the message in a code, but he had spliced it into a tape he thought people were least likely to watch. His p***. It was the last thing to do for the case and everyone was trying to help. You all sit at the round table, and Spencer shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. Derek laughs at his shyness and Emily laughs at the very unrealistic movements. She and JJ tilt their heads at the shape the two on the screen have put themselves into. 

“That does not look comfortable”, JJ mocks. 

The words are out of your mouth before you think. “Trust me it’s not”. 

Everyone at the table snaps their heads to look at you. 

“Damn Mama”, Derek laughs. “Who are you doing these moves with?”

You try to hold back a laugh. You were not ready to share about your sex life with your colleagues, no matter how close you were. Plus you’re pretty sure Aaron would not appreciate it. 

“That is inappropriate workplace conversation”, you say, pausing the video. “And you’re going to miss the next series of code”, you tell him, trying to get him to revert his attention back to the video. Emily grins at your attempted evasion.

“We already got all the code. She just doesn’t want us to tell Hotch she’s capable of all that. Doesn’t want to make the old man feel bad”.

“He’s not old. He’s only 5 years older than you”, you remind her. She puts a hand on her chest in mock offense like you’ve stabbed her. You roll your eyes. “And this is still inappropriate”.

“So it wasn’t Hotch”, Derek laughs. 

“You’re just annoyed because you haven’t tried it yourself”, you deflect, moving to sit next to Spencer who seems to actually be doing his job. 

“I’ve seen her do yoga and she’s very flexible, so if she couldn’t do it I don’t think you can”, JJ tells Morgan. 

“Oh you have no idea what I’m capable of”, he teases, which earns laughs from around the table. “I’m better than the old man for sure”. They all start laughing and talking about you and Hotch. 

You roll your eyes. “Wasn’t old in bed last night”, you mutter under your breath. You startle at the sound of a book hitting the floor and see Spencer’s bright red face. JJ, Derek and Emily look over in curiosity at what they might have missed, but you ignore them, attempting to give Spencer an apology for making him uncomfortable. He moves to drink his coffee in an attempt to avoid more of the conversation. Only he chokes on it because Hotch enters the room. 

“Have you finished working out the code?”

Everyone’s heads snap to him - JJ, Emily and Derek wearing matching grins. Hotch eyes you patting a coughing Spencer’s back.

“Are you alright?”, he asks. 

“Yes! Good! I’m good!”, Spencer squeaks, afraid Hotch is going to ask him why he’s so nervous. Aaron looks to you for some answers but before you can tell him it’s nothing, Spencer suddenly stands up.

“Got the code! Going to call the local PD. DA is waiting”, he warbles before you all watch him run out of the room. Hotch turns back to the rest of you. 

“Well then that wraps it up. Go home now, get some rest”, he instructs. Everyone starts packing up. You and Hotch walk towards the door when he realises there’s only 6 of you in the room. 

“Where’s Dave?”, he asks.

You’re about to tell him Rossi went to the bathroom when the Italian walks back in. Rossi immediately notes the paused video.

“Wow that looks uncomfortable”, he remarks. Everyone smirks in your direction. Hotch snakes an arm around your waist and looks at the screen. Then at you. 

“It was, wasn’t it?”

He smiles at the jaws dropping to the floor. 

“Good night everyone”.

—————————

A little bonus scene:

In his office later:

“You heard us talking before you came in the room didn’t you”, you question your husband. He was so private, he wouldn’t have said something like that otherwise. 

“They called me old”, Aaron grumbles, but his tone is amused. “Just wanted to shock them a little”.

You make your way over to his side of the desk, pulling him to stand up beside you. 

“Well Agent Hotchner, I have to tell you, there’s been some speculation about your performance”, you taunt. “Care to prove them wrong?”

“Last night wasn’t enough proof?”, he laughs raising an eyebrow. You run your hands up his chest and behind his neck, pulling him close. 

“The results were inconclusive”, you tease. He grabs your hips and traps you between himself and his desk, his mouth trailing kisses down your jaw. 

“Well I can’t have that kind of speculation going around”, he murmurs into your skin. Your breath hitches from the sensation of his lips on the sensitive spot on your neck. But instead of continuing, he pulls away and meets your eyes in a conspiratorial grin. “We should do an in house evaluation as soon as possible”.

You open your mouth to reply when the door swings open, Spencer finding you sandwiched between Hotch’s thighs and your blouse rumpled. His mouth drops open and suddenly all 187 iq points mean nothing when his brain loses function.

“Oh- I- um- sorry!”, he manages before running away. You stare at the slammed door then back at Aaron and burst into giggles. He drops his head to your shoulders and sighs. 

“I feel like a teenager”, he groans.

“At least you don’t feel old.”

—————————

Bonus bonus: 

Still in the conference room: 

“I want to go back to 10 minutes ago when I didn’t know this information”, Emily moans. 

“I think I need 5 more minutes before I can form a coherent thought”, JJ laughs in disbelief. Spencer walks back in.

“I finished my report. Where’s Hotch and y/n? Can we go home?”

“Probably doing it in his office for all we know”, Derek mutters.

Spencer’s brows furrow in confusion. “Doing what in his office?”

Rossi raises an eyebrow at Emily. “Is this kid serious?”

She shrugs back at him. 

“Spence, Hotch says we can go home. But you should probably report about what local PD told you before you go”, JJ tells him.

Spencer nods and makes his way to Hotch’s office. The rest of the team watch him walk away.

“You think we should have told him to knock before going in?”

“Probably.”

The sound of a high pitch yelp and the slam of an office door echo down the hallway. 

“Oops.”

——————

thank you for reading :)

masterlist

[dearest-painter]

I didn’t do anything wrong! PT.1

Summary: Y/N was just living their best life or as best as it can get as spider-man/women. Y/N misses their old friends but understands that they must be busy but once they go to a place that is filled with people wanting them as their child but also to write their story they get pissed off

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior,abusive relationship,Reader is Miles morals,Reader is tired and trying their best,very out of character characters,this is a series,Reader needs therapy,Reader will be forced into the spider society,I fuck up the movie a lot just so I can make this a bit more sense,Reader is forced to visit Spider society and be away from their actual family,Reader is paranoid and worried all the time now,this doesn’t completely go with the plot as it’ll be a bit different,Reader is mentioned to have selfed harmed because I wanna represent that more as I wanna show that everyone has had tough times even in wrong ways as I’ve selfed harmed in the past so this does mean a lot to me,Reader is basically forced to be around people they don’t want to be around,people might be out of character,tell me if I need to add more

PT.2

Hiding, that’s all your doing. Your panting and scared as people have chased you down for no reason at all! You covered your mouth as you started to cry, you wanted your mom, you wanted your dad, you wanted your uncle just so you can be comforted but no here you are stuck in some society that your scared of being in! It’s so easy for you to cry silently especially with your mouth being covered as you’ve done it many times in the past.

You want your dad to hold you again while comforting you as your mom made your comfort food as he also reassured your safe, you want your uncle Aaron to ruffle your hair while cracking up jokes to cheer you up. You just want to be with your family again but no your uncles dead and your in some strange place with people chasing you! What’s worse is that Gwen and Peter B seemed to be in on it!

Suppose you were to deep in thought to realize someone found you. “Heya” You jumped and crawled away very scared as you saw the women, she was pregnant. “Hey I’m not here to hurt you, I know it must be scary in a new place with new people” “Yeah especially when those people are chasing you and one of them literally has talons while you were unwilling forced to be here, of course I’d be scared! I just wanna go home!” You cried more. Jessica felt so bad, you didn’t deserve this but seeing you cry remind her of a child and she saw you as a child but her child even if you two weren’t biologically related.

She crouched down while holding her belly as she sat beside you, you were not crying because of fear now but now because of anger. “Listen…I understand that your stressed and scared but everyone here just wants the best for you” “and my biological parents are the best for me!? They’ve protected me and raised me all my life! What makes this place safer then my parents arms!” She sighed again, she knew it was to much to ask you to calm down as you had a right to be mad. “I know that it’s just…most people here believe that your safer here as no danger can get you and you don’t have to deal with being spider-man/women/person, even if you wanna be that person they are scared that you’ll lose one of those fights one day”

You scoffed, people who you don’t know are worried for you? That sounds creepy as shit. “Look I know your trying to comfort me but when you see it from my perspective it’s creepy as people I don’t know and didn’t know exist know about me and where I live, they know about my whole life basically and they worry for me. When your taken from the only place you know is home by people who know so much of you but you know so little of them it’s terrifying. You understand now?” She nodded her head. “Yeah now I do, let’s just sit here while you calm down” You nodded your head at the pregnant women.

“I’m Jessica drew” “Y/N Morales…nice to meet ya Ms.drew” she chuckled a bit at your formality, that was something she found cute about you other then your smile.

[obstinaterixatrix]

Do u know any good mob psycho 100 fanfics?? Or authors??

well obviously my sister but I’m guessing you’re the same anon so 1) you already know her fics 2) you want different recs from what’s on her list (some of them being fics I rec’d to her lol). recs will skew heavily seri/rei and I’m just going through my bookmarks so it’s gonna be most recently read to oldest read. also seconding sister’s recs of bobmoss and crookedturtle. but I’ll add a fic from each anyway because I already wrote something for one while I was drafting this (oops)

Recollection by CowardlyBean

This is the journal of missing 31 year old Reigen Arataka, distributed with permission from friends and family. The version presented in this document has been kindly edited with added commentary by a loyal customer of his. -Editor’s Note

gen, experimental and in progress at 14k so definitely deserves more love than it’s getting. inspired by house of leaves; as the summary says, it’s some rando writing annotations about reigen’s journal, but Something Weird Is Going On. the 4th chapter updated so I actually need to catch up. also, sister rec’d this fic to me

Like Acid Reflux, or Love by partingxshot

Dating Reigen is like dating a single dad—only with more children, weirder scruples, and an extreme ruthlessness vis-à-vis group takoyaki discounts. He's not hot enough for this.

OR: "Me, You and Steve" by Garfunkel and Oates but with fifteen million teenagers.

OR: Outsider POV exploring Reigen’s dedication to his gaggle of bizarre children through an ill-fated dating attempt.

OR: Serizawa gets bruxism.

gen(/pre-relationship seri/rei), oneshot, 7k. oc/reigen breakup lmao. extremely funny concept, extremely good execution

Dream Dial by Alakazamboni

For the better part of nine years, Arataka has proudly worked in customer service at a behemoth of a company. At least, that's what he remembers, but a strange illness and a mysterious caller keeps trying to convince him otherwise. It doesn't help that this caller has the power to distort reality.

seri/rei, in progress, 16k. great uncanny atmosphere, and also reigen is trapped in time prison as a miserable office worker. hasn’t been updated for a while but read it anyway, the stoping point is fine

What We Make by crookedturtle

Reigen and Tome are kidnapped from the Spirits and Such office to be used as leverage against Mob. They have two goals: to contact the outside world, and keep each other safe. In doing so they engage in a dangerous game of lies and manipulation with their captors—a game with potentially deadly consequences.

gen (bg seri/rei), complete, 36k. Good for whump and high stakes interpersonal maneuvering & drama. I liked how the story extends beyond rescue and goes into how everyone navigates the fallout

Man's Best Friend by bobmoss

A cursed dog gets left at Spirits and Such. Anyone who pets it is doomed to die a horrible death.

Reigen, of course, pets it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. funny and cute and sweet :) there’s a very charming tentative & tender vibe

heart line by ruthwrites

It doesn’t really matter, he reminds himself. He’s making a change, just like all of Reigen’s clients. What’s on his hands isn’t set in stone. He just has to make sure Reigen doesn’t see it— even if it might feel nice to have that steady attention, Reigen’s hands that are so much nicer than Serizawa’s folding around his.

(or: Reigen starts offering palm readings as a service, leading to Serizawa having to confront his feelings for his boss.)

seri/rei, oneshot, 6k. getting together fluff, a fun light read that also highlights serizawa’s insecurities—the internal narration has good character voice

If you won't believe me when I say it, believe me when I don't by deathdefied

Two years after Reigen invited Serizawa to work for him, he still can't quite categorize his feelings for his coworker. Instead of actually dealing with those feelings like an adult and talking to his friend, he decided to get really paranoid and overthink everything Serizawa does.

seri/rei, complete, 26k. reigen drives himself nuts lmao

Obvious by skeilig

Tome’s perspective on Reigen and Serizawa’s developing relationship.

gen (but about seri/rei), oneshot, 3k. I like outsider perspective getting together fics, especially when the perspective character is like ‘I’m actually not invested in this except when it affects me directly’

Cover Me by flecksofpoppy

Reigen’s shadow seems longer as the days move forward, more solitary. The cuts on his face heal and the ache in his bones go away, but a new sting replaces it. It’s loneliness, the thing he had managed to avoid ever since a primary school-aged kid who could make cups float stumbled into his office so many years ago.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. getting together fic that shows off a little of reigen’s gloomier side, it’s cute

loved you just a little too much by shcherbatskayas

You learn how to let go.

(It doesn't come naturally.)

gen(ish), oneshot, 2k. 2nd person character study of serizawa’s relationship with touichiro, I liked the ambivalence; effectively captures development over time with a relatively short wordcount.

offering genuine help with genuine results by suitablyskippy

“The curse was pretty clear on me not telling lies,” concedes Reigen. “It was pretty clear on me telling the truth. But,” as he lifts one finger, already sliding into the same educational tone he generally uses for imparting wisdom to Mob about life and love and the overall holistic benefits of making sure he’s always available for unexpected overtime work on weekends, “telling the truth isn’t necessarily the same as being honest, is it?”

“You’re the professional liar,” says Dimple. “You tell me.”

(Being cursed to only tell the truth and being cursed with Dimple as an employee are pretty much equally bad, as far as Reigen's stress levels are concerned.)

gen, oneshot, 2k. the tags include friends with no benefits whatsoever, which is very apt. Very funny to have reigen and dimple be petty and shady

a slightly more miraculous miracle by suitablyskippy

“Rumour has it that something impossible’s happened. Something that could never have happened. That shouldn’t have been able to happen.” In a single slick move Mezato produces a tiny voice recorder from an inside pocket, flips it open and active, and holds it up before Mob’s mouth to ask him, in a tone of devastating intensity: “Do you know anything about… a miracle, Mob-kun?”

Mob doesn’t hesitate. “We had maths homework to hand in,” he says. “But now we don’t have to. We don’t even have to go to the lesson.”

(The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Salt Middle School has been closed by an unexplained miracle, and the only thing wrong in Spice City is the fact that nothing is even slightly wrong at all.)

teru/mob, incomplete, 55k. for the most part I haven’t been repeating authors on this list, but listen. listen to me. I need you to listen. it is extremely unlikely for this fic to ever be completed. but hark, lest this sad probability turn you away and leave you dispassionately scrolling to the next fic, I need you (you specifically) to know that if I were in the same room as you, I would be wrestling the phone/mouse/trackpad/touchscreen/etc from your hands and furiously clicking the link. when I bookmarked this fic in 2017 I described it as having “some breathtakingly sensical prose and the funniest misunderstandings I’ve ever read”. trust me from seven years ago. open your heart.

skylight by inexhaustible

unconnected snapshots in what might, in some worlds, be something a little like recovery.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. character study that nails the tension of an escalating romantic atmosphere.

come on, come on, come over (take it off your shoulder) by mortarsmayfall

Reigen's free hand cradles Serizawa's head, curled under his ear just so to turn it for a better angle. He feels his pulse pound under Reigen's fingers, shivers just the slightest bit. If Reigen notices, he doesn't say anything about it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. when I first read this I saved it as a private bookmark because I was so embarrassed by the sheer intimacy of haircuts with severely unresolved sexual tension. I’m guessing this was written after studio bones gave us reigen cutting serizawa’s hair. crumbs no more; for once we had a feast to enjoy. short & sweet getting together fic

Off-White by reigreitz

Some habits are tells.

seri/rei, oneshot, 1k. snapshots of pre-relationship and established relationship scenes, I’m quite fond of it. on my first reading I’m pretty sure I remember not paying attention to the habit piece at all (even with it being right in the summary) so at the last scene I was hit by the double whammy of ‘oh so that was what serizawa was reacting to’ and ‘AW… THAT’S SWEET…’; I think the fic does a great job of hiding/not acknowledging certain things the perspective character knows and is reacting to, which makes it fun to reread and pinpoint what exactly serizawa’s previously more opaque train of thought was. like, it’s the same stuff, but you get to read into more nuance.

the seven stages of falling in love by reigen arataka by matsunoble

You suppose one of the weirdest times to realize you've fallen deeply and irrevocably in love is when it's fuck o'clock in the morning and you're blearily checking your fridge for leftover curry.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. I was quite taken by the mundane (and sometimes unappealing) descriptions of love, and I like when serizawa has the upper hand

Mr. Psychic by beefstatic

Looks like trouble in Spice City...

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. Serizawa Acts Like An Intimidating Bodyguard During Tense/Shady Situations. fun emphasis on that potential aspect of his character, I like how it’s done.

Late by hamlingo

For the first few days after hiring Serizawa, Reigen couldn’t help but be alarmed when the door opened at eight o’clock sharp in the mornings. He got used to it eventually, and in a month’s time he was more surprised when the door didn’t creak open right on time.

This was one of those mornings.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. this is actually among the first seri/rei fics I bookmarked so I can say with relative certainty that on may 20th 2017 I decided that maybe seri/rei was not just a joke of me indulging my own spurious unreasonable whims. fun character study and has that enjoyable tension of pleasant pre-relationship uncertainty.

Quiet Talks by krypkaktus

At some point, Reigen cutting his hair twice a month had turned into a mutual habit.

seri/rei, oneshot, 600 words. another charming snapshot of pre-relationship uncertainty, pleasantly embarrassing unresolved romantic tension.

walk in by ruthwrites

It was then he realized that the reason Reigen and Serizawa were standing so close was because they were kissing.

Mob was not really sure what to do with that information.

(or: mob leaves something at the office, comes back, and walks into something he wasn't supposed to)

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. an extremely popular fic for extremely valid reasons, this is a shining example of the outsider POV shipfic where the perspective character is like. I’m 14 and did not want to see you guys kissing. and the couple is like. we also did not want you to see us kissing, this is excruciatingly awkward.

tomorrow isn't always another day by suitablyskippy

It’s like Reigen’s been waiting for the question. He stops dead on the pavement, grips Mob by the shoulders, and stares down into his eyes with an expression as haunted as though every ghost the pair of them has ever exorcised has taken up residence behind it. “Mob,” he says. “Mob,” he says again. “Tell me, Mob. Look at me and tell me. Tell me truthfully. Do I look cursed to you?”

Mob looks at him, and tells him truthfully. “No.”

“Well, you didn’t look very long,” says Reigen. “Let’s just stand here for a moment, like so, and you can have another look, a nice long look, and really think about it...”

(There's nothing strange about being called back to exorcise the same haunted photocopier six days in a row. It must just be a very haunted photocopier.)

gen, oneshot, 18k. I didn’t mean to rec the same author three (3) times but this is also one of my top faves. extremely funny time prison where nobody is on the same page ever.

space voyage by Anonymous

Tome Kurata is slightly famous—or notorious, more like—for being... a weirdo, to put it simply. She's definitely a person of interest. Just not exactly in a newsworthy way, which is obviously the only way that matters.

mezato/tome, oneshot, 1k. charming pre-relationship contention, they’re the same type of self-absorbed and tunnel vision (affectionate)

I was thinking of not writing up recs for sister’s fics but since one author got three (3) fics on the list I’m gonna also put 3 of my fave fics of sister’s

Reigen's Comprehensive Fool-Proof Guide on How Not To Be Next Door Neighbors With Your Employee (because that'd just be creepy) by MalkyTop

Reigen hires Serizawa and they somehow end up as roommates.

seri/rei, complete, 17k. a fic sister wrote for ✨ME✨ that shows off reigen’s neuroticism and his decidedly not-normal attempts to come across as Extremely Normal, The Most Normal Man Alive. there are so many comedic setups and payoffs. there are so many shenanigans. reigen gets frog-boiled into romance. actually, I drop that term a lot but I’m not sure it’s a common enough to intuitively understand. it refers to the boiling frog metaphor

If At First You Don't Succeed, Find a Loophole by MalkyTop

Reigen keeps dying; Serizawa keeps trying to save him.

seri/rei, complete, 18k. sister was insane for this because she trapped all of her readers AND herself in time prison by releasing one chapter a day. it was really funny to witness because I was the only person not in time prison by virtue of editing privilege. while we were watching mondays: see you next week (an office time loop movie), sister was saying she was impressed at how effective/efficient the movie was at picking which scenes to repeat. this is to say, as someone who notices these details, sister was very intentional about when things changed and how things changed from the perspective of a character completely unaware of time prison. also, the emotional momentum is extremely good, I loved reading serizawa’s increasing desperation from reigen’s context-less perspective.

in absentia* by MalkyTop

After what was supposed to be a routine exorcism, Reigen wakes up in the wrong body.

serirei, complete, 26k. slowburn bodyswap with mystery and intrigue. a solid casefic! I can be biased and right. there are metanarrative elements that I find fun and that, in my opinion, highlights how sister did in fact get a degree in philosophy. there’s also some fun subtle and messy characterization notes, like when serizawa asks reigen not to cook for him. it’s hard to talk about what I like about this fic without giving away a lot of specifics, so go read it.

[fairyfantasma]

i'm on a mission to read the 70+ books/series on my tbr so this list will probably change and evolve but here are some of my current favorite characters of all time ! (lmk what some of yours are !)

part 1: book characters

Lucie Herondale (Official Art by Charlie Bowater, The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare): she's so me, she's silly, she's a writer, she writes borderline erotic fanfiction about her best friend, she sees and controls ghosts, she's the daughter of my favorite characters so she is my favorite character ^3 (cubed) (herongraystairs) <3.

Princess Leia (Art from Star Wars #12 by Stuart Immonen. "Leia, Princess of Alderaan" by Claudia Gray): i love leia in general but in this book my love for her grew x10000. she was 16 and so so angry at everything and the way she grew into her role as a rebel was >>> plus her dynamic with amilyn holdo was delightful. hot take: they should have kissed...

Xie Lian (Image from Heaven Official's Blessing Donghua Adaptation, TGCF aka "Heaven Official's Blessing" by MXTX): The only male character i've ever said HES SO MEEE to, largely cause he's a cancer zodiac like me <3 ascended at 17, went from a crown prince to the god of misfortune and scraps :'(, a virgin for 800+ years, abandoned by everyone except his 1 believer, was banished from the heavens TWICE but ascended three times, cursed, hit rock bottom and then hit it again and then hit it again, nevertheless he chooses to be kind, just wants to help people, he never knows whether to laugh or cry, he's suffered more than jesus, he's so tragic i love him.

Inej Ghafa (Official art for SDCC by Kevin Wada, Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo) : also a cancer zodiac like me hehe (automatically if a character's sign is cancer they get promoted in my brain it seems...) she endured unspeakable horrors and survived, she's a spy, skilled with knives aka the best weapon, she still has faith despite it all and she's so determined to live the best life she can, she's kind !! but also deadly!! so in conclusion, thee best character in the grishaverse + she's called "wraith" aka ghost and ghosts are kinda my thing <3

NEIL JOSTEN (Art from Dazzlingbookishshop special edition cover for The Foxhole Court by @polartss, AFTG series by Nora Sakavic): *SCREAMS* he's my everything. another character who has suffered more than jesus. no one gets him like i get him. most main character to ever main character. i love you paranoid characters who are always running but find a reason to stay <\3. i love his selflessness and his intelligence and his cockiness and his desperation. i love a bunch of aftg characters (most recently jean) but neil is neil. best thing to ever happen to me. no further comment. i can't think of anything else to say i just LOVE him. (and yes him and andrew are the epitome of love)

Annabeth Chase (Fan Art of Annabeth Chase by @madicanart, PJO series by Rick Riordon): ANOTHER ONE (cancer zodiac) my first love. i wanted to be her so bad as a kid. she had curly hair and i have curly hair so i was like YES she's me (she + hermione were my idols). i wore owl-themed jewelry for years cause of her. another smart, kind, and not to be messed with character <3 she was afraid of spiders, and often too prideful, and was always wanting to make her mom proud, and had a complicated relationship with her father. all of that hit a little too close to home :') + her wanting to be an architect in order to build something permanent .. shatters my heart to this day.

Citra Terranova (Scythe Official Bookmark art created for @milleetunlivres_box by @kat_adara, Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman): her character arc is probably my favorite character arc to this day, she went from a somewhat bratty girl with low empathy to the most empathetic scythe. smart, kind, and strong-willed, she said "i vow to become the change that could have been" and then she did !! seeing how much she grew as a person from book 1 to book 2 was incredible. book 3 was a bit of a letdown but citra's character was still the highlight for me.

Blue Sargent AND Ronan Lynch (Official Art from The Raven Cycle Graphic Novel Adaptation Art by Sas Milledge, The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater): i tried to only pick one character per fandom but they're a package deal for me !!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHHHH !!! they're the most characters to ever character, where else can i find an amplifying half-tree manic pixie alt girl from a family of psychics and a eldrich horror gay catholic farmer. don't get me wrong, i love all of the raven cycle gang but these two spoke to me deep in my soul. like i need to be their friend so badly, i would give anything !!

Benji Ovich (Fanart of Benji Ovich by painacotta, Beartown by Fredrik Backman): the newest edition to my fav characters list. beartown made me cry so much my tearducts no longer produced tears and i got a dehydration headache. i'm not yet done with the series but he's the tragic type of character that i know is going to wreak my psyche and destroy my spirit. raised by women, has a bear tattoo, described as "the boy with the most handsome face, saddest eyes, and the wildest heart they've ever seen". my heart is already broken for him.

sidenote: MORE PEOPLE NEED TO READ BEARTOWN AND DRAW FANART, WE'RE STARVING

runner ups: julian blackthorn from the dark artifices series, PERCY JACKSON !!!, tarisai from raybearer, & zoya nazyalensky from the king of scars duology

& special mention for my resident insane girls: pip fitz-amobi from agggtm, mara dyer from the mara dyer series, lissa dragomir from the vampire academy books, & juliette ferrars from shatter me

[beauty-and-passion]

TMA - Chapters 41-50: Everyone is Michael

Hello people, welcome back to the beginning of TMA season 2! Ten more chapters are waiting and I am ready to find out if this season is gonna start with a bang or not.

I have high expectations.

<< Main Masterlist < Previous post 

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MAG 40.1 - Season 2 Trailer

Oh, a trailer! And it was… absolutely incomprehensible and cryptic af. All I got is that a trapdoor should’ve been locked, which translated from author-to-reader means: “The trapdoor is open and some weird supernatural shit will come out of it during the season”.

Well played, Mr. Sims. Now I really want to know more.

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MAG 41 - Too Deep

Ooooh, statement of Jonathan Sims? And it’s about the recently discovered tunnels! I love that we start season 2 directly from where we left in season 1: Jon is recovering, Jane Prentiss is recently dead (I suppose they burned her, considering the ashes) and there are a shit ton of tunnels to explore.

Also, Jon is now paranoid. Great, that’s exactly what he needed.

Jokes aside, this is an amazing choice from a writing perspective, because it’s perfectly justifiable. Jon got assaulted by Jane Prentiss and her worms on July 29th, now it’s September 2nd. It’s been a little more than one month, of course he’s still haunted by the idea that Jane (or other things) might be alive and spying on him.

Even if the feeling of being watched is not just paranoia. I bet everything that it’s Big Brother’s fault for that.

And just to confirm my words, it seems that the Archives have been built on part of this ex Millbank prison, which was built by following the idea of the Panopticon. You know, the prison centered around the idea of making the prisoners feel like they’re always watched, thanks to the central tower.

I love the idea of the Panopticon: it’s extremely cool and I’m very happy to see it here too… but it also proves I am right and Big Brother is some supernatural shit who watches everyone and has something like one million eyes or whatever.

The goddamn weird tunnels. And what about that incorporeal voice telling Jon to leave, right after inviting him to go down? I am extremely curious now, I want to know more! Who was it? Big Brother? Another supernatural shit?

Ah, so Jon will now add supplements to the statements, hide them from his staff just like he hid the existence of the second tape recorder and will put these parts away with precise instructions for his replacement, in case he dies. Great, so he’s this paranoid. Basically one step away from being pathological.

Fine, from one side, I can understand him because he faced some heavy shit not too long ago and he cannot trust anyone. So his sentence “Trust can get you killed” is understandable.

But I also watched Gravity Falls and I’ve learned that “trust no one” doesn’t help, especially if there is a demon watching/haunting you. So please, Jon: please. Be safe. Don’t pull a Dipper Pines on us. Don’t force me to start calling you Jon Dipper. Or Jipper.

And trust someone before some bad shit happens. You’re trying to find Gertrude Robinson’s killer and we all know it was Elias (don’t “first suspect” me and yourself, we both know it was him). So, since Elias already killed one person and he’s in cahoots with the Lukas family, you REALLY need as many allies as possible.

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MAG 42 - Grifter’s Bone

Here we are, back with simple, meh statements. This time, it’s “weird supernatural band kills with their weird supernatural music”. It’s a shame we don’t see how they do it, I would’ve loved to see the whole process. But I also understand that leaving this to the reader’s imagination is a good choice to make something scary.

Also, Alfred Grifter looking up after the massacre and asking “Encore?” is probably the most badass move of the series until now. He might be some minor supernatural shit, but that was a real power move. I respect him a little bit after this.

Glad to notice Jon’s skepticism is back too, but after the end of season 1, now I know why he does it and I understand. Also, his skepticism doesn’t seem as “stubborn” as before and that’s another great writing choice because it shows how all these supernatural shits are affecting him.

Also, since Jon is in Paranoia Land now, I suppose that emphasizing skepticism helps him hide his true intentions, which are… sigh, controlling Martin. Seriously, can this poor guy take a vacation? First the worms, then Jane Prentiss, now Jipper. Martin can’t even be competent, that his boss will question it - all while insulting his poetic skills. The paranoia made Jon even more of an asshole than before.

What? Martin is worried about the others finding out he’s been lying? Lying about what? Jane Prentiss? His supposed incompetence? His poetic skills? His need to go on vacation? In any of these cases, don’t worry, Martin: just take your stuff and go as far away from this Institute as possible.

I still dream something like this for Martin.

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MAG 43 - Section 31

I feel Basira will be a recurring character from now on. I mean, she is currently working on Gertrude’s case and she is a Section 31 - i.e. she dealt with supernatural shits before. But she’s not the only one: we also have Alice “Daisy” Tonner, who came in contact with “spider husks” and, for me, that means one thing only: “Spider Mom & gang”. So I bet these two women will probably be involved again with any other supernatural shit happening in this Institute.

It was also very cool to find out the name of the guy from MAG 12: Diego Molina. And I remember that, when he and Gerard were brought to the hospital, Gerard asked if Diego had “a small book bound in red leather and a brass pendant with an eye design”. The eye pendant is probably related to Big Brother, while the red book basically confirmed it was one of Leitner’s chaos books. I already suspected this considering Gerard was after that, but glad to see an implicit confirmation.

Speaking of the supplement, Jon gained access to the tapes in Gertrude’s room and I’m glad about that because we will surely find something cool and scary. But I’m also sure that’s the easiest way for Jon to get himself killed, so I’m a bit scared for his life.

Also, how weirdly cute is this part?

“I only ever spoke to Gertrude once or twice during her time as archivist. I-I was very new. I don’t remember what her voice sounded like.”

Jon sounds so young, here. Almost like a child. I mean, I imagined he was in his thirties or something, but I actually have no idea how old is he. Is he younger? How old is he?

Also, it’s just nice to see this little moment of him being so… soft and human, with his predecessor. He barely knew her, he barely spoke to her, he probably looked at her and saw just an older, stern figure. But now, he’s in the same position. They became a lot closer than they ever were. It’s fascinating - and there’s a lot of potential for angst too, so I’ll brace myself for it.

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MAG 44 - Tightrope

A statement recorded by Gertrude! it was such a pleasant surprise to finally hear her voice! And she sounds amazing <3

As soon as I heard it was a statement from a guy in Algasovo, I felt it was connected to something I already knew. I remembered there was a circus mentioned in season 1 and, after a little bit of research, I found it: MAG 24, Цирк другого: the Circus of the Other. Ringmaster Gregor Osinov and organist Nikolai Denikin - whose granddaughter recorded the abovementioned statement.

Sure, here it’s called Другой Цирк, which is correctly translated as “Another Circus”. So my question is: which is correct? Did the circus change its name? MAG 44 is from the 70s, while the photo mentioned in MAG 24 was from 1948. Maybe the circus was called Цирк другого, then it changed its name after Denikin left and became Другой Цирк. Anyway, it was very interesting to read and I was so sure it was the smae circus mentioned before (despite the different names). So when Jon mentioned Gregor Osinov, my smile grew bigger than ever :D

Speaking of Jon, he asks some very interesting questions: Gertrude knows a lot more than it seems. And she didn’t finish recording everything in the archive. Why? Was that her way to oppose Big Brother/the Lukas family/the “crimson curse”? Maybe Big Brother can “eat” these statements, so by stopping her recordings, Gertrude was voluntarily leaving it hungry, as a sort of “fuck you, I won’t get eaten by you” kind of thing.

Or maybe she just wanted to not do her job anymore, thus provoking the Lukas family to fire her for not doing anything. Or maybe she was just too busy trying to find a way to escape, to record statements like an insane you-know-who who keeps recording stuff because he wants to find out the truth even if the truth can get him killed.

Did someone find Jon’s tapes? Or is he in full Jipper mode and maybe the drawer wasn’t even ajar? In any case, now he’s hiding them too, which reminds me of Gertrude and her secret hidden library and I don’t like the parallel at all. I don’t want to see Jon dead on a chair, in a room, surrounded by his secret library.

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MAG 45 - Blood Bag

Another meh statement, even if this time I’m quite perplexed by the weird turn of events.

I mean, once Dr. Thompson sold his syringe, there was a sudden spike in heat, the ‘haemoglobish’ became real blood and the mosquitoes decided to wait for their moment to kill the doctor. They’re a lot of weird consequences and they don’t seem too connected either - especially the heat. Why is there always some heat involved?

While speaking of the mosquitoes planning revenge… yes, this is the most plausible thing. These little bitches always plan revenge on everyone.

So, the doctor’s buyer is “Indonesian, I think, or Samoan”. It’s Salesa, isn’t it? Yep, Jon confirms it. Well, I suppose he will be another recurring character. And if Gerard can smell Leitner’s book, Salesa can smell any supernatural shit and make a profit from it. In this case, I suppose the syringe was a real lucky charm or whatever, considering how everything degenerated once the doctor got rid of it.

“Can’t stand mosquitoes. Horrible things.”

You and me, Jon. You and me. Glad to know that, even if he’s in full Jipper mode, he can still be very relatable.

I know Jon was super paranoid with Martin, but he might have a point about Tim. I mean, a guy with this resume decides to work in a place that isn’t so appreciated by normal people? And he doesn’t seem too interested in the supernatural either. Why is he here, to bribe people to get info and do whatever the fuck he wants? If that’s the reason… honestly, mood. I loved him before, I would just appreciate him even more for the power move.

Jonathan Sims, Master at Hiding Things, gets caught by Martin in 0.2 seconds because he’s so clever to record his paranoid thoughts in the middle of a working day, in a place where everyone can enter. A genius.

But now I’m curious to know where he will go to record these statements. I can almost see him, all crammed up into a closet, while Martin searches for him with a cup of tea in his hand.

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MAG 46 - Literary Heights

Oh gosh, I LOVE this chapter.

First of all, as soon as Michael Crew was mentioned, I immediately checked the previous chapters and here he was: MAG 17, the Boneturner’s Tale. Also, if my last theory is correct, Michael Crew and Supernatural Micheal are the same thing. And you know what? I think this statement confirmed it. But one thing at a time.

Second: my man Leitner! Ex Altiora my beloved! We finally know where it was and what it is! It’s a poem and I ADORE the plot. It’s such a perfect mix of weird, suspense and desperation… uuuurgh, I’m so mad I can’t read it, because this plot can be developed into a fantastic story.

And now, let’s put together all the pieces we have:

Michael Crew is interested in the Leitner.

Michael Crew has “a branching pattern of white scar tissue” on himself.

Jon reminds us that, in MAG 4, Mr. Swain said there was a “woodcut of the dark night sky, with the branching, arching design of the Lichtenberg figure” inside Ex Altiora.

This drawing isn’t mentioned by Mr. Knox here.

Lichtenberg figures have a branched shape, similar to the shape of lightning discharges, and appear on the surface/inside insulating materials during dielectric rupture. But they can also appear on lightning victims.

They are also “natural phenomena which exhibit fractal properties”.

In MAG 4, Mr. Swain says Michael Crew got struck by lightning when they were kids.

Michael Crew is surrounded by smells associated with lightning and electric discharges.

Michael Crew has been followed by a tall, thin figure, “its limbs angular and branching”.

Supernatural Michael has angular and branching limbs.

Supernatural Michael Is associated with fractals too.

The figure also “crackled and fizzed, lit by a strobing white light, as though the lightning was within the room itself”.

When Michael Crew reaches the bell tower, the prays something with the words “altiora,” “vertigo,” and “the vast”. then he says “I’m yours”, leaps through the open window and disappears.

Now, here’s my explanation:

Micheal Crew was followed by a supernatural shit. This supernatural shit was the same immense figure mentioned in the poem of Ex Altiora.

Micheal probably came into contact with it when he was a child and got struck by the lightning. Since then, he started to resonate with Vertigo/the Vast just like Jane Prentiss started to resonate with the Hive.

(Also, since Jane Prentiss’ supernatural shit was “the hive”, I think I’ll call this one “the vast” because it was a bit odd that he specifically said “the vast” with a definite article)

So, since Michael Crew came into contact with the Vast and started to resonate with it, he was accompanied by smells associated with lightning/electric discharges and he started to search for all kinds of magic books, trying to find a way to properly connect with it/being consumed by it, just like Jane Prentiss did with the Hive.

In Prentiss’ case, she connected through the wasps’ nest and got “consumed” by the Hive. Michael Crew tried to do the same by using different methods mentioned in the books, but failed. He had to find something stronger to connect to the Vast. And that something turned out to be a tale featuring the Vast itself, told by my man Leitner.

So Michael got it and waited for a storm. And as soon as the storm came, he ran towards it, calling for the Vast. And when the Vast appeared, it looked like that figure similar to an actual lightning.

Michael sang/prayed for it (please notice how Mr. Knows refers to his words like a chant first and a prayer later, just like Jane Prentiss talked about the song of the Hive. These little shits truly talk through songs) and closed his invocation, by saying “I’m yours”, which can be also read as “I give my body to you”.

And so, he jumped. And by doing that, he gave his body to the Vast and the Vast became him. And that turned him into Michael the Supernatural Shit, also known as Best Boyo of this series.

If all of this is true, then:

it’s very cool

his name isn’t Mr. Distortion, but Mr. Vast. Still cool, but Best Boyo is better :P

And if this is true, that also means my previous Leitner theory was completely wrong. His books don’t turn you into the protagonist: his books are about the real, actual supernatural shits living in this world and by getting the right one, it’s easier to connect to the supernatural shit in question. They’re like… facilitators, in a way.

That also puts into question Gerard’s work. What is he actually doing, by searching and destroying all Leitner’s books? Maybe he’s saving the world, because without books it’s more difficult to connect to these supernatural shits. But destroying the books doesn’t mean getting rid of the supernatural shits themselves and these books might actually be useful to recognize all supernatural shits and “catalog” them. I don’t know, I need more info about these two guys and what they’re actually doing.

And yes, there’s also Spider Mom taking possession of the hidden tunnels of the institute and she’s probably the one who opens the door and maybe she even walks around in her human form and that’s very cool too. Just… how fricking cool is this statement?! I think it’s among my top favorites, along with MAG 2, MAG 5, MAG 20, MAG 26 and MAG 39.

(Now that I think about it, I should probably do a top of my favorite statements once I finish the whole series. It would be fun.)

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MAG 47 - The New Door

Holy shit. Just holy shit.

I thought this was just a simple statement. A statement featuring a tall blonde guy. And yes, I was 200% sure it was Michael. But I just though he appeared and did some weird supernatural shit.

For a while, he did it: he made a door in that house, Mrs. Richardson got lost inside it for three days and escaped just because one of the mirrors was “empty” and didn’t reflect Michael. So she did what everyone who met a supernatural shit did: she went to the Institute. My theory about “hiding behind a bigger predator” seems even more convincing.

I loved the little moment when Mrs. Richardson asked Jon if he believed her and Jon admitted that yes, he believes her. It’s a tiny exchange of words, but it’s enough to show the massive change in Jon from season 1. Before, he would’ve been more stern and showed more skepticism (fake or real whatsoever). But now, after all he went through, he’s showing a softer, more empathetic side. Jon is truly evolving as a character.

And speaking of characters, time to talk about the real shit and time to overanalyze everything:

*

Michael’s voice is perfect

First of all, I ADORE Michael. Sorry Tim, you deserve the world, but Michael’s soft laughs and the way he gently mocks Jon because he’s this powerful supernatural shit while Jon is just a mere human it’s just too adorable. His voice is too adorable. And the distortion effect makes him very creepy - but still extremely adorable. I love him so much.

*

Domains?

This part about domains is very fascinating and, in a way, it confirms my theory about the supernatural shits having territories like mafia bosses.

But it seems like they don’t simply take a place and own it. It’s a bit like they are these places. As if these domains are an appendix of them. So I suppose Michael doesn’t simply “make doors pop up”: he is the doors and the corridors. such a cool concept, it makes these supernatural shits look even more eldritch and… well, supernatural. Love it.

But also: if my theory about Big Brother is correct, does that mean Big Brother isn’t just hidden in the Magnus Institute, but is the Institute? Mmmh, I need more details.

It’s also very interesting how Michael refers to Mrs. Richardson as “the Wanderer”. Since it doesn’t seem like Mrs. Richardson is a supernatural shit, I suppose that “the Wanderer” is a name to identify the people who enter the domain of a supernatural shit and become food. But since calling them “food” isn’t nice, Michael (and maybe other supernatural shits) opted for a more sophisticated name, like “the Wanderer”.

Also, Michael reconfirms he’s a poet and I love him so much.

*

The concept of identity (and maybe my theory already failed?)

That’s another interesting part. Michael considers itself a “what”, because “it requires a degree of identity I can’t ever retain”. And this connects to its domain: since it’s so huge and can “overlap” reality by creating new spaces inside it (inanimate spaces), it was probably easier for Michael to identify itself as a “what” rather than a “who”.

But this distorted appearance made me think: wait, probably my brand new theory about Michael as Mr. Vast is completely wrong.

If Michael’s power is being distorted and making weirdly long, distorted corridors (that confirms Michael was probably the voice who told Jon to leave, when he explored the tunnels in MAG 41), that doesn’t line up with the previous statement, where the Vast’s power was related to lightning and to being this colossal figure.

At the same time, Michael laughs with a weird, distorted effect as if it’s more people in one figure and this detail seems coherent with my theory.

So I think there are two possible solutions now:

my theory is correct and Michael can both be hugely vast and very distorted

my theory is wrong and Michael Crew just offered himself to another supernatural shit

Or maybe the correct option is:

3. Mr. Sims is the biggest troll of all mankind and he made a series in which every supernatural shit is named Michael and this explains why everyone is named Michael and why Michael is such a familiar name. If this is true I would respect him even more.

Jokes aside, I really need more information now. Especially I need Michael (this one at least) to talk about itself and its powers. And maybe all other Michaels should talk a bit about themselves too. At least enough to confirm if my theory is right or wrong.

*

A war?!

No, wait, you cannot drop this bomb, tease us like this, then leave. Stay here and explain!

Okay, so the Institute is important. It should stay where it is, because losing it would bring imbalance in the hidden war that’s going on - between supernatural shits, I suppose.

In MAG 41, Jon said the Archives stand on an ex-prison, built around the concept of the Panopticon. This could explain why this place is needed: a place from where you can spy on everything and everyone is a great leverage in a war.

My question is: what are the sides of this war? I suppose that one side is Big Brother and maybe the weird supernatural fog of the Lukas family, but the other? The supernatural meat? And the spider gang? On which side was Jane Prentiss with the Hive?

And what are they all fighting for? To take over the world? To eat as many humans as possible? Or maybe the “All Michael theory” is correct and since all these shits are named Michael, they decided that the last one standing will officially take the name Michael and all others will have to choose another name? All while Best Boyo Michael decided “fuck this shit, I’ll keep this name anyway because it’s just a name and my identity is more than this”?

You know what? I love the All Michael Theory. It’s stupid and yet it somehow works. If it’s true, it would immediately turn the whole series from dramatic to comic, but I love it.

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MAG 48 - Lost in the Crowd

Oooh, a statement settled in Italy! Never visited Genoa, but now it deserves a visit. After all, I already think about this goddamn series every time I see a spider and have to kill it, so why not going to Genoa and fearing weird supernatural shits? Apparently, they love to go anywhere. Was this one taking a vacation?

Speaking of vacations: honestly, I never expected to see my man Gerard, rebel punk and goth, chilling in Italy with a bright shirt on. I hope you’re also wearing some nice shorts, Gerard. And no combat boots. Or sandals with socks. The Italian fashion police can be way worse than any supernatural shits.

So, my man went to Mrs. Nunis, told her she was “marked” and told her to think about her mother. To remember her. To, you know, feel less alone. I immediately thought about Naomi and how she too felt alone, when the mysterious fog tried to “eat” her in MAG 13.

But this time there wasn’t really a fog: the sunny day simply became overcast. So maybe the fog isn’t supernatural but… the clouds are? But then, what about the weird fog from MAG 33? Or maybe, the fog simply hides the real supernatural shit, which is this weird faceless crowd. And this time the fog was on vacation too.

Or maybe Italy’s weather is too warm for the thick UK fog, so the fog dispersed and left only the crowd. I’ll admit it, it would be hilariously funny if a supernatural shit is simply an atmospheric element end you can get rid of it by traveling far enough or by using, idk, an electric fan.

So one question remains: what was Gerard doing in Italy? Was he truly searching for a Leitner? Or maybe he was really taking a vacation? I like to think it’s the second one: unlike Jon “Trust No One” Sims and Martin “Self-preservation is overrated” Blackwood, my man Gerard knows when it’s time to get the fuck out and take a vacation. So he left all the supernatural shits and books to chill on a beach, take a cafè and eat some real food.

Great choice, Gerard, Genoa is a beautiful place.

Speaking of the supplement, Jon realized Michael was warning him about Sasha! But unfortunately, thanks to Not!Sasha’s evil powers, Jon cannot understand what the problem with her is. Damn you, evil imposter! Give Sasha back!

Jon “Jipper” Sims, Master of Secrecy, after being caught by Martin in 0.2 seconds, got caught both by Martin and Tim again and they both immediately realized Jon was spying on them. So they reported him to Elias.

See? See where “trust no one” brings you, Jon? Please, stop spying on them like a creep. why don’t you start spying Elias, instead? He’s the most suspicious guy that ever walked on this planet, why the fuck are you wasting time with your team when you have him?

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MAG 49 - The Butcher’s Window

I read the title and I immediately was: “The meat is back, isn’t it?”

But it’s not just the meat, it’s our old friend Jared! And he does incredibly weird creepy things! And I like them, because they’re creepy without being gorey. You know, it’s just too easy to use gore: scaring without gore is harder and I appreciate it.

Also, what the fuck is the weird… underground superleech he’s feeding? Is that the boneturner? Is this the name of this supernatural shit? After all, every supernatural shit seems to have a name that starts with the definite article: the hive, the vast, the boneturner.

And if we add up all the things we discovered until now, that means that Jared became the Boneturner/the body of the Boneturner thanks to the Leitner’s book that “facilitated” the connection and, since he became that thing, that thing also became him. So the underground creepy superleech is still part of him and by feeding it, he’s feeding himself too.

You know, the whole process of feeding it was creepy, fine, but it made me smile too because… come on, it looks like a guy throwing snacks at his dog. That’s funny.

But not as funny as the mental image of this weird superleech I got, that resembles something like this:

This is a sea lamprey. It’s not a leech, but it’s the closest animal to represent what I imagined. And yes, this is a real living creature on this planet. You’re welcome, glad to know this will haunt your dreams too.

A-ah! We finally got more info about Elias! I knew it was weird that he managed to go from filing clerk to head of the Institute, but I had no idea he became head of the Institute just in five goddamn years. What did he do, did he kill everyone else? Did he kill James Wright too? Did this man also “die on the job” as Gertrude?

Also, how absolutely, insanely funny is it to think that Elias was a pothead? I read it and I was like… what? This guy?! I always imagined him like a posh guy and now you tell me he was smoking crack or whatever? That’s too funny, I love that and it would be hilarious if that’s the reason why he killed everyone else: not because of the Lukas family, not because of the supernatural shits: just because he wants to hide his past.

_______________________________

MAG 50 - Foundations

Oooh, another old statement addressed to Jonah Magnus! I suppose that’s how the Institute started: with this guy walking back and forth inside his house, surrounded by creepy stories. A bit like Jon now. And nope, I don’t like this parallel.

The story itself is very meh. It’s not really creepy nor scary, just “mysterious guy appears outside an office” and “fingers on a stone uuuh”.

This statement probably served to remind us about Robert Smirke’s existence. Jon probably forgot, but I remember that in season 1, he said Tim mentioned him an architect he was obsessed with and this architect was Robert Smirke. So I suppose this guy is important.

We also have Sir George Gilbert Scott now. When Mr. Kempthorne said Scott’s projects had odd symmetries and seemed claustrophobic, they reminded me of the underground tunnels of the Institute. Is it possible that one of these guys is responsible for the construction of the ex Millbank prison? I suppose only time will tell.

I died laughing when Tim thought Jon was hitting on Basira. How he went from “That woman is weird” to “Good job boss, get her”. He’s the best, I love him.

_______________________________

In conclusion

Oh my, what a start for season 2! We have more Michaels than ever, too many theories and lots of mysteries I still can’t grasp.

I want more. I want to know more about Michael, I want to find out which theory is correct. Is Michael Crew one of the many identities of Best Boyo Michael? Is Michael vast and distorted or they’re two different Michaels? Is every supernatural shit named Michael? Is Elias just a pothead trying to survive in a world full of supernatural shits? Is Gerard still on holiday?

We’ll meet back soon with ten more chapters.

>> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

TAGLIST:

@royalprinceroman @mudpuddlenl @allmycrushesaredead @aquatedia @whatishappeningrightnow @effortiswhatmatters @bella-in-a-bag @doydoune @forever-third-wheeling @payte @hypnossanders​  @idontreallyknow24​  @imcrushedbyarainbowoffical @patton-cake​  @hereissananxiousmess​  @purplebronzeandblue​  @cynicalandsarcastic​ ​@lost-in-thought-20​ @andtheyreonfire​ 

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[rs-hawk]

wild to me that ppl are saying you're making being native your whole personality and that you're too political but I remember a handful of times you got ppl criticising you for writing monster smut w native mythos and "appropriating" native folklore and you're just like "I'm native tho..." like there's no winning w ppl when your very existence is political. (I'm not native but I'm disabled, queer and fat and have gotten criticised for highlighting my struggles)

Literally like?? That was wild. I got accused of basically not being Indigenous enough because made it too hard to find on my page (even though I had posted about it multiple times and only had at that time like 100 posts) so at least that Anon thought it was more likely I was appropriating myself than being Indigenous, now I'm getting crap for it being what, too obvious?

I agree though. When people consider your very existence political, there's nothing you can do to not be political.

I delete most asks about this kind of thing because I know it's a "Don't feed the trolls" situation, but I get anons all the time complaining about me saying AFAB/AMAB, trans<insert gender>, Cis, fat, how I portray Disabled!Reader in the God x Disabled!Husband series, etc etc. I think some people just like being unhappy because I get primarily overwhelmingly positive feedback and people saying that some of what I write is the most positive portrayals they've seen in a long time. I try my best to pull from my own experiences, and I do listen to criticism. I want my page to be a reprieve for people, and if someone found my work disrespectful in a genuine sense, I would want to know. That's one reason I have my anons on and my inbox and messages are always open. Also why I was very careful about my tagging and trigger warnings with the Raven Mocker piece that started that whole situation because I know many Indigenous people wouldn't want to read it. Like how I block tags relating to Sk1nw4lk3rs or W3nd1g0s because I'd be paranoid the whole time reading it, and I'd personally find it disrespectful.

I'm happy with what I write and glad other people enjoy it. If others don't just because they don't like it or me, I want them to block me. I want everyone on my page to be happy and enjoy my work. If they don't like me or my work, they shouldn't be here.

[juuuulez]

Okay but since that anon mentioned your Capulet series, I've re-read it and as I am also re-watching The Last Of Us, I can't help but Invision pre-apocalypse Negan and Reader as Joel and Sarah, esp when the outbreak happens at school, it gave me TLOU ep 1 vibes tbh! <333

ALSOOOO I can just SEE a younger reader pulling a "drugs. I sell hardcore drugs." at Negan if she ever gave him a gift for his birthday or something post-apocalypse!

UM UM UM WHY IS THIS IN MY DRAFTS!!!! WHY DIDNT I POST THIS!!!!!!!!!!! okay lock in for my walking dead infodump

oh wow this is so cute… my TLOU and walking dead obsession go hand in hand so knowing that it gave those vibes is the biggest compliment ever

but can i admit something naughty…….

there’s actually an alternate ending to capulet. like, a “canon” version that goes along with the rest of twd……and i never wrote it because, well, it’s a carl fic, and we’ve already mourned his death once.

i’ll put some stuff about it under the cut, because who knows, maybe one day i’ll write it:

basically, if carl had of died like canon, reader would’ve went a little bit crazy. not terribly so, just paranoid, and probably bitching out even more on the saviours.

when negan’s captured it’s like the nail in the coffin, and she’d basically beg anyone to stick around and help her break him out, but nobody wants anything to do with it: the sanctuary is completely abandoned. she spends days, maybe even weeks, incessantly plotting some stupid plan, but never gets around to committing because ultimately she knows it’s slim.

this is simultaneous to rick going a little off the rails, y’know, cus his son is dead. so, with rick paying less attention, and reader still a giant red question mark on the community? maggie takes things into her own hands.

because she’s not risking negan escaping. as far as she’s concerned, you’re a loose thread, someone who could fuck this whole thing up. but being pregnant she can’t exactly do much about it, so instead, she handballs the task to michonne.

the instructions are very clear: kill her. doesn’t matter how, or where, or with what, just make sure it happens.

michonne spends maybe a day hunting you down. the second you even spot her at the sanctuary, you run, letting her chase you anywhere you can get on two legs.

that doesn’t last forever, for michonne is smarter, and probably quicker. she corners you in this dusty area at the edge of town, finally getting you down to your knees. up until this point, you’ve been a rabid animal, fighting and yelling and spitting.

but she just needs you to listen to her.

because she’s not gonna kill you.

instead? you will go far, far away. anywhere but here. and if you ever showed your face again, if anyone even caught the tiniest whiff of you, you’d be killed on sight.

that’s not a bad deal, though. compared to execution, at least.

michonne takes your bat, deciding that would have to be ample proof that she got the job done. you also hand over that little notebook you always carry, the one with drawings of carl in it.

(years later judith would find this notebook and go down to interrogate negan: before eventually suggesting that he keeps it, for he has nothing that reminds him of you. he declines and says that you’d probably wanted judith to have it).

everyone in alexandria thinks you’re dead. michonne tells maggie, who subsequently spreads the news, taking some satisfaction in telling negan, who’s downright miserable.

because it’s depressing. you had been free, and now you were dead. it was almost animalistic, like you’d been put down, like your life wasn’t human enough.

it was unfair because his mistakes got him imprisoned, whilst yours got you killed. that’s fucked up. but, it’s meant to be fucked up, because it’s meant to be a lesson.

years pass like this.

it only serves as another point of tension between negan and maggie, but that isn’t uncommon at this point.

“you killed my husband.”

“you killed my daughter.”

to which maggie would always say, “she’s not your daughter.”

not entirely untrue, but it still stung.

and now it’s 2028: the unlikely pair has ventured into new york in order to rescue hershel, and have been tipped that there’s somebody who knows the area like the back of their hand.

someone who works for the croat, but never speaks with him directly, and can therefore fly under his radar. a scavenger who travels across cities searching for any supplies that could be of use, all in exchange for safety and protection within the bounds of new york.

aaannnndddd i think you can figure out the rest

[minu-moni]

When I entered into the Invader Zim fandom in 2015, I remember being absolutely cringe and annoying to ship ZaDr. People would complain when others would call out the romantic tension between the two and use the creator as some sort of weapon to defend their opinion. “Jhonen would be embarrassed by this” and “Good thing the creator isn’t seeing this” were things often said to discourage people from enjoying the ship, as if it was a crime to like a fictional pairing for a show that was already over. What would also happen is people would use the “they hate each other” card to try to force other people to stop enjoying their parings. That was one I had to see a lot.

At the same time, we had other shows and series with rivals who were canonically paired together romantically (Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, Ben 10, Teen Titans, iCarly) not to mention all the movies that came out years before any of this shows who showed the same dynamic, essentially being: enemies to lovers.

So, what was it about these shows that made their pairings acceptable while ZaDr shippers were shamed for liking it? Everyone knows the answer by now. All the other pairings were straight pairings.

It was okay for you to ship enemies to lovers, as long as it was a female/male relationship. The second you make it a gay or lesbian relationship, “but they hate each other”, “the creator would be disgusted by this”, “people always make everything about ships” and so on and so forth.

This was something that plagued me and followed me for years, even after I left the Invader Zim fandom, and it annoys me to this day that there are people who feel like I should be ashamed for liking a pairing just because they’re a gay couple (not that they’ll ever say that’s the reason they’re shaming you). I remember being paranoid every time I opened a ZaDr fanfic on wattpad out of curiosity, and even backing up those hurtful comments in fear of being discovered and isolated for liking a fictional pairing.

I recently fell back into the iz fandom and, oh boy, am I glad to be able to enjoy my shit without dealing with those stupid comments. Although they’re still around, it’s nice to be able to write and read about ZaDr without seeing those same complaints every single time. Things changed a lot in recent years and I’m glad we don’t get those hateful comments as frequently anymore. It was really upsetting getting bashed for liking a pairing that had the same dynamic as thousands of other pairings like it was my fault for receiving hateful comments in the first place.

There’s still a voice in my mind that nags me sometimes, specially when I look at old iz content and make the mistake of reading the comments, but I’m glad to say it’s much better now. I finally feel like I can enjoy the ships I like without needing to be afraid of backlash.

[dnfrocks]

The replies that Dream made to the QnA tweet about To Whoever Wants To Hear are making me believe wholeheartedly that Paranoid and Spotlight were definitely written for George. The reply that Paranoid was the first thing that he had worked on and that he was wearing the same outfit as he was before when he and George went on a date most likely proves that he had been realising that he had been having feelings for him and that he wanted to write a song about it due to him being scared to confess to him. He talks about his past experiences, and the letter written in the small booklet on the CD is a plea to George to be gentle with him. Spotlight was when either they finally got together, or Dream wanted to treat George the best he could because he realised his feelings and, as said in the booklet, he doesn't want his oxygen ripped away from him. Knowing that Spotlight's wordplay is "I see the limelight" with the clip of DNF in the Christmas stream saying that George should be in the limelight, then spotlight, plus with the fact that this is a time when everyone is giving gifts to each other might have shown that Dream may have either thought of writing this song during Christmas or thought of referencing those moments in his song. Also, "limelight" can also be "lime" as in the colour of Dream's Minecraft skin, and it could be referencing his YouTube channel and the series that made his channel blow up; Minecraft Manhunt; and how the first person to participate in it was George. Also, "light" could also be referring to George, because Dream has described George as "the light in his room". Or, "limelight" could be "lime" as in Dream himself. He talks about how he wants to support his significant other in whatever they do, let them be supported by a million people even if it was just his voice echoing a million times, and seeing them thrive in his support could be the way he sees his "light". He has always supported George, from being with him when he reached 10 million subscribers on his YouTube channel to being with him in the crowd to cheer him on while carrying his shirt around during Name Your Price. Basically, seeing the "limelight" would mean seeing George succeed with his support.

Or, alternatively, limelight could be, again with Dream being the definition of lime, but this time, it’s taking the definition of Spotlight in general. It’s Dream himself giving his lover the spotlight, it’s him specifically that makes someone feel special, and from gentle touches to caring about each other deeply, passing through do not disturbs because they might need each other, Dream does make George feel special, and makes him feel loved.

Paranoid and Spotlight were definitely written for that special someone in his life, and that special someone is George.

[zephyr-rat]

Green Giant Saga: Twitch Character Insights

"My subjects will be like the books of the humans and the sumps, but the tale of Twitch would be even greater. No humans of course, and even in those heroic tales, there were always twists and turns. There were always traitors. Twitch knows better. The sumps taught me so. This bronze brace of mine always reminds. Everyone’s out for themselves down here. But there’s a way for better subjects than those! Creation. Sentience. Life!"

-- Twitch from The Sentient Potion

(You can also read this as "what I do if I have control of Twitch's LoL lore”) (Based off of how I write the characters for The Green Giant Saga)

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It’s hard to find a place to start with Twitch because, currently, Twitch has no lore. Unfortunately, Riot did not give the poor rat an updated bio when the big Piltover-Zaun update came at the beginning of 2017, and ever since then, he’s been sitting with a pathetic two sentence placeholder  bio that says essentially nothing about the character. That being said, to advertise for Twitch’s release in Wild Rift on April 20th, 2023, Riot did release a series of shorts called Twitch Chat: Sewer Tour in which Twitch gives a poor human victim a tour of his collection before presumably shooting him to death. The shorts characterize him as arrogant via his self-proclaimed superiority in taste and cruel as he goes off to test his poisons on an unsuspecting scuttle crab. He comes off as a Looney Toons punching bag. A stupid villain with very easy flaws to exploit for a clever Bugs Bunny type character (probably Ekko or Zeri) to outsmart and make a fool out of. 

While this is a valid direction to go with Twitch (more valid than what the new lore did with Zac), I think it flattens him into this two-dimensional obstacle for better characters to overcome. It also throws away a lot of the motivations, depth, and predefined relationships hinted at the old lore. In the old lore, he joined the League of Legends with the goal of recreating his sentience, making more mutated plague rats like himself, but by joining the League and collaborating with Zaun, he’s now under the possible exploitation and control of the Zaunite government. You could say that he’s one of Zaun’s weapons in the old lore. However, the League of Legends is gone and, with Twitch’s updated voiceover for his visual update, paranoia becomes a huge part of his character, to the point where I just don’t buy Twitch working with filthy topsiding humans anymore. Where does this leave us?

Well, I wanted to explore one particular line found in the old lore: the idea that one of the biggest challenges for him recreating his sentience is “his own insanity”. Where did such insanity come from as someone mutated from the sewers of Piltover-Zaun and how does one overcome such a great challenge? I wanted to lean towards the paranoia of the character and explore how such a mentality formed without contradicting his funny pompous arrogance. In fact, I found a way in which both aspects reinforce each other.

(Art by Martina Matteucci)

Green Giant Saga Twitch:

In my series, Twitch shares the same character base as his VU version in the League of Legends game: a maniacal mutated rat who believes everything in the world should be his, murdering anyone that would get in his way. He’s paranoid of everyone, thinking that they’re aiming to exterminate him and take his stash away from him, and, by all accounts, he’s not entirely wrong.

Twitch is, both figuratively and literally, a product of his environment. He was mutated in the Sumps, the lowest level of Piltover-Zaun, a level that’s so polluted that Zaunites have considered it utterly inhabitable without proper equipment. Down in the Sumps, resources like food and water are extremely limited, forcing the mutated animals to become territorial and aggressive as they fight to find resources just to sustain themselves. Twitch is no exception.

(Art by Cryspan)

One of the most recurring symbols of the entire series is Twitch’s homemade rusty arm brace. In Twitch’s character design, it’s the main component contributing to Twitch’s asymmetry. Usually with a character like Twitch, asymmetry can represent how a character can be off-kilter and uneven. In the context of the story, Twitch sustained this injury after fighting a monster after he asked for food. It was a violent battle, leading to a broken shoulder, but out of that, he gained not only the food he wanted but a corpse to feed on and make poisons with. His stash got way bigger than if he just shared parts of the monster’s food like he asked, and, therefore, he can live longer from the new resources gained than if he did the other option.

The brace is a reminder of what the sumps taught him and he took it to heart. He became one of the fiercest monsters in the Sumps, obtaining a stash that could, in Twitch’s words, rival that of kings. He’s proud of this arm brace as a warrior is proud of their scar after a war. He was the one that killed the monster that day. He was the one that created the cast himself when no one would help him. He earned that monster’s corpse and his food, just like how he earned everyone else’s goods and belongings when he killed them. 

However, the brace wasn’t made well. It might as well be made with shoestring and duct-tape. If he ever made the wrong move, it can be easily ripped off and the arm can be undone. When he gets nervous, he turns the bolts on his brace, tightening it ever so slightly in the hopes that it will stay on, but it will never be enough. No amount of resources can make Twitch feel truly safe.

As time went on, he started to get more interesting loot. Books of fantasy and romance enraptured him. He envied the kings of those pages. Sure he might have everything the sumps could offer with his gigantic collection, but those kings had something he never had: loyal subjects and friends that would follow their leaders anywhere, but this fantasy is contrasted with the cruel reality Twitch lives in. What do we do when the stories we hope for are so different from the life we really live? You make them happen. With hope, you try to make them fit. If he can’t recruit existing subjects down here, he, like in the old lore, would have to make them himself.

(Art by OrlandoFox)

And he successfully did with Zac! (kinda, not really. Read The Sentient Potion for the story) However, he’s not the devoted subject he wanted, and he can’t replace him. After so many failed attempts and dead rats, Twitch has to make this worth it. As the story goes on, the tension between what he was “promised” by the fantasy books he reads and the reality of what he has grows more and more. It reinforces the themes of fantasy versus the reality we have to work with that’s present with Zac’s story. His relationship with Zac challenges his ideas of loyalty, kinship, and what makes a great king. Does he want true friendship with Zac or does he want complete ownership and control of him like the Chem-Barons of Zaun? 

In the Zac character insights, I mention a lot about the idea of individualistic beliefs in the face of systemic problems. In his mind, Twitch thoroughly believes he earned his lot as the sump king of Zaun. He fought through all the monsters and earned his stash fair and square, yet that learned cruelty, greed, and bravado won’t get him what he really wants with Zac. Zac can try to help Twitch be “better” through actions and kindness, but that won’t change the fact that he’s always surrounded by evidence that he has to be the way that he is to not only survive, but thrive. Twitch is ultimately a product of his setting, one that was unintentionally made by the Chem-Barons and Pilties through utter neglect and careless profiteering. To him, this is the only option in the Sumps. He can say that he’s a special king all he wants, but he’s really just another mutated sump creature. 

Twitch’s story is ultimately about how an environment creates us and whether or not we can break away from that environment to grow and change. It’s a story of the ways friendship can enrich lives, but only if one allows it to, and it can be hard to allow it to. After all, who can say no to being the sewer king.

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If any of this is of interest to you, you can read the story here

[dearest-painter]

I didn’t do anything wrong! PT.2

Summary: Y/N was just living their best life or as best as it can get as spider-man/women. Y/N misses their old friends but understands that they must be busy but once they go to a place that is filled with people wanting them as their child but also to write their story they get pissed off

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior,abusive relationship,Reader is Miles morals,Reader is tired and trying their best,very out of character characters,this is a series,Reader needs therapy,Reader will be forced into the spider society,I fuck up the movie a lot just so I can make this a bit more sense,Reader is forced to visit Spider society and be away from their actual family,Reader is paranoid and worried all the time now,this doesn’t completely go with the plot as it’ll be a bit different,Reader is mentioned to have selfed harmed because I wanna represent that more as I wanna show that everyone has had tough times even in wrong ways as I’ve selfed harmed in the past so this does mean a lot to me,Reader is basically forced to be around people they don’t want to be around,lots of this comes from me and @ablobwhowrites conversation about this AU, like the blob Bird and a future romantic relationship, I added the fact Reader plays soccer and was 6 years old to make Miguel feel bad, I want ANGST, people might be out of character,tell me if I need to add more

PT.1

You and Jessica finally went to the cafeteria area, you held her hand breathing very anxiously…everyone is scaring you. You don’t even trust Jessica your just pretend you do for your own safety! “Mrs.Drew I’m not hungry anymore, we can go back” “Look Y/N I know your scared but you need to eat so let’s go” “Please Mrs.Drew! I can eat later! Please!” Jessica sighed, she knew you were on the verge of crying but you were hungry and her child so she can’t let you go hungry.

She kept walking while holding your hand, no amount of pleading stopped her. Luckily..no one was there which calmed you a bit but you were still scared. She quickly got you food then sent you off to Therapist Spider-Man to hide. Knocking on his door you carefully went in, he looked up and wasn’t surprised to see you. “Jessica told me you’d be here. You can hide anywhere..don’t worry I won’t tell the others.” You nodded your head as you hid in a spot. You were eating but you still had tears in your eyes…why won’t they let you go home!? Why can’t you see your parents!?

Soon you finished your food and decided to take a nap, therapist spider-man seemed like a chill guy…maybe he can help you. You closed your eyes to tired to notice you were crying again as you drifted off. Therapist Spider-man sighed as he walked over to you and covered you with a dark colored blanket but also wiped your tears, he felt bad for you and knew you wanted to go home…he knows that feeling all to well. He sighed as he went back to his desk mumbling. “I should help that kid…their parents is what they need…not this fucking place or people, they need their real family….” That’s what he finally decided, to help you.

Miguel was pissed as no one could find you or Jessica until now as she was pulling up. “Did you find them!?” “No, I looked everywhere” Miguel could tell she was hiding something from him, if she was hiding where you were out he was going to be extra pissed. How dare she hide HIS child! He didn’t mean to body you when he first met you and he wants to apologize! “Jessica, tell me the damn truth…DID. YOU. FIND. THEM!?” Jessica has never seen Miguel so pissed and he wants to know where her darling child is kinda pisses her off! “I didn’t!” “If I find out your lying I’m going to make your life a living hell!”

Miguel let a annoyed yell as he kept looking for you, he needed to apologize to you. He needed to show that he’s a good dad, he needed his family back together. He met you before…he accidentally time traveled to when you were 6 which was Gabriella’s age. You were the sweetest thing, even showed him your bird that was basically a blob that you found at the laundry place.

He was crouching to your height. “Here you go mister! Your my friend now so have this sticker!” You or 6 year old you placed a cartoon spider sticker on his suit giggling, he smiled a bit. He felt so bad for harming you now that he sees the true you…you were wearing soccer gear that matched Gabriella’s own soccer team so that must mean that her old team exists here. “You play soccer?” “Mhm! Mama and Papa say I’m the best! I like being the goalie because I get to kick the ball away!” “Yeah, goalie seems like the best spot. Do you go out and kick the ball or are you just a goalie?” “I go out and kick the ball sometimes! I’m not that good at protecting the ball but Mama says it’s okay!” He ruffled your hair making you giggle even more…it sounded so cute. “Your mama’s right, your still learning and it’s okay” “Y/N! COME ON! WE GOTTA GO!”

“OKAY MAMA! Bye mister! I have to go to my soccer game! Have a nice day!” Six year old you waved goodbye as you ran towards your mother, Miguel watched. He felt empty again…he needed you as his child. He was a better dad by far, it was obvious your parents didn’t teach you stranger danger if you were so willing to talk to him! Miguel shook his head out of the flashback…he remembers why he’s looking for guy again, to be the dad you need.

[trulybetty]

Sunday Week In Review XIV

How's everyone doing? I skipped out on last week's update since it was a really slow week on all fronts for all the things for me last week. Things picked up a bit this week - but I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time finding my feet around here at the moment and finding a groove to get into.

Not sure if it's that time of year, a bit of a writing lull or what - but I've been a little meh, not in the sad sense - more like I'm a petulant child offered six different things and I turn my nose up at all of them because I don't know what I want lol.

Also trying to figure out a system for getting through my TBR list, right now it feels like it's out of control and there are only so many I can read in a week. Especially since I want to get through some of my physical TBR pile and dedicate a couple nights a week to offline reading.

Anyway, enough about me seemingly channelling Baby Truly™️ - on with the recap of the last two weeks!

T R U L Y   U P D A T E S . . .

I did a second round of the 'First Sentence' ask game, which I absolutely adore! If you haven't done it before, I very much recommend it! If you do this, tag me so I can come throw a sentence at you!

Round 2

tim x cagney (f!reader)

jack x reader (f!reader)

joel x Charlotte (OFC)

dieter x bryony (OFC)

jack x reader (f!reader)

frankie x clementine (OFC)

W H A T   I   R E A D . . .

Delta Landscaping (Triple Frontier) by @rhoorl Jess' series has me on tenterhooks for every update and then on the edge of my seat waiting for more! This last update we entered the start of Frankie's arch and while it pulls at the heartstrings, I'm so here for it and what's to come next! Also, Benny entering his Rocky era (Jess didn't write this, I've decided it) is something I'm also very much ready for!

Paranoid Hearts (Javi P.) by @goodwithcheese This series. This series is just something else and I finally got my ass into gear to get caught up, and while on the one hand, I'm sorry I started so late on the other hand I enjoyed this smorgasbord of Javi and Tabitha.

he makes life better (Joel) by @wildemaven This is such a warm comforting hug of a fic that just seeps into your bones, that makes your toes curl in softness and you re-read more than once. This is everything fluff should make you feel and I adore each and every last part of this and will be re-reading this.

Headshots (Marcus P.) by @secretelephanttattoo I was not ready for this to end, but El gave our boy Marcus the ending he and his Ella deserved and it was both spicy and sweet. If you've not read this yet, I suggest you do. Also, peep her forthcoming wip... 🔎

Thrash Metal (Dieter) by @morallyinept Jett is back with another delectably mouthwatering smutty one-shot with our favourite deviant Dieter Bravo. This is sinfully indulgent and a must-read and one that lends itself to definitely more than one read.

Six and a half minutes - Frankie's version by @avastrasposts This one calls for a breakout of the Hot Ones gif for sure, because this was the mood the entire time I read this. If anything, Frankie is not one to back down from a challenge...

Medicine (Joel) by @goodwithcheese I was so excited to see Megan had written for Joel that I had to drop everything to read this over my coffee the other morning. I love everything about the dynamic between these two and how Megan illustrates the deep affection they have for one another through their actions as we all know our post-outbreak Miller is not one quick with his words. I hope this isn't the last we see of Joel here!

M E M O R A B L E   P O S T S . . .

Heidi’s amazing mood board inspired by Sequins! 😍 I’m still in absolute awe of it and I love it so much! I think it's going to get a spot on my work desk this week! 💕

These thots had started off as Joel Thots, but have now morphed into Tim Thots and I'm not mad about it... might share a little snippet later 😏

@morallyinept's 'Ode to Writers' this week - I'm going to refrain from getting on my soapbox here (I'd be here all day) - but the table is not finite, it's infinite. If you're not inching your chair down to make room for another chair, or pulling the spare chairs in from the garage, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your relationship with this community.

E N J O Y E D  T H I S  W E E K  . . .

Finally watching ‘Strange Way of Life’ and getting to live message my thots to @rhoorl as I watched - it was a cinematic dissection.

Date night with Mr. Truly - we spent the entire two hours wondering what people do on dates aside from watching their phones and waiting for a call to say your kids are out of control and have taken over Nakatomi Plaza. But needless to say, we had fun, I even ate a meal without someone else's hand in it.

Amazing moots being mooting awesome 🙌 - I'm thankful every day that I get to interact with some wonderful people and have found a lovely corner of this hell site to play in a sandbox with some amazing people 💕

S P E C I A L M E N T I O N . . .

Check out this writing challenge that myself and a group of people that I'm lucky to call moots created that we would love for you to join in on! Everything about it is random and everyone starts with the same parameters and everything else after that is up to you! So excited to see what everyone does with this!

Do I know anything about Javi Pēna? Nope. Am I going to join in? Yes I am! 🙌

See you January 1st to dive into all the fics this challenge I hope produces! 💛

T H I S  W E E K ' S  J A M . . .

Thank you to @gnpwdrnwhiskey for inspiring this week's selection after she pointed out the parallels to Chiffon that I haven't been able to get out of my head since.

Hope everyone has had a great week! Here's to a great week ahead and I hope its a good one full of obnoxious drinks of choice and soft places to land and enjoy.

[lucky-draws]

bosselot ranting and raving which genuinely makes no sense and isn't worth reading ↓

something something big boss becoming a lone, paranoid figure who trusts no one because of his series of betrayals i.e. the boss' "defection", les enfants terribles, the boss' (perceived) abandonment of him in her desire for peace, kaz's involvement with cipher etc. something something when you trust no one but yourself maybe you Would have quite a fascination with someone who is your phantom/copy/double/clone/you. unlike les enfants terribles venom is the kind of "clone" that bb can forge a twisted affection for, due to his absolute loyalty and due to his being, well, him. am i about to start "shipping bbvenom" well not really i'm just pondering big boss and also, as usual, pondering my favourite phenomenon of People Who Are Identical But Not Quite. im big boss and so are you. im maria s/ilent hill and so are you. im solid and im liquid we're the stupid brothers. etc

also. sigh. basically im attempting to write a fic (who knows if it will ever see the light of day) where ocelot gives himself big boss' scar. just for fun/because he's insane. 1964: i wanted to eat the same food as him -> 1973ish: i wanted to permanently mark myself with the same scar he gave himself which also happens to be my mother's scar from birthing me etc. #justocelotthings. and big boss goes through 10000 shrimp colour stages of anger/grief/fascination/horny/acceptance in reaction to it.

and i was thinking about post pw incident where bb is beginning his shift into a much darker, closed off figure and he's full of bitterness in the wake of all his chucking-her-bandana-into-the-ocean The Boss Feelings and also his divorce with kaz. and how maybe his feelings towards ocelot (which are as insane as they've ever been due to the recent development of The Scar) are also shifting a little. up until now he's accepted ocelots promises of devotion and loyalty and he's reciprocated ocelot's affection because he does genuinely Like Him Despite Everything and they have had their weird little Thing going on for many years. but now it's like. concepts such as loyalty to the end and unconditional devotion are beginning to lose their credibility; bb questions whether even ocelot might not be his ally forever. and does BB even Want ocelot's loyalty? he's a useful person but BB never ASKED for ocelots loyalty. loyalty, devotion, subservience - these are hollow promises. he likes ocelot when he's a real human and not a soldier. he likes ocelot as his equal. one might even go as far as to say - he likes ocelot best as an extension of himself. he likes ocelot as his mirror. "you're not a snake and im not an ocelot?" wrong. we're both snakes. as you said yourself, ocelot, in a nice little scene in approximately chapter 2 (doesn't exist), now that you've given yourself that scar, "we match". we're nothing but a pair of snakes. we're red string of fate tied to each other more than ever. we're the sons of the boss; we're twin snakes. we're metal gear solid: the twin snakes 2004 developed by konami and silicon knights for the nintendo gamecube. but we're not just two snakes, we're an ourobouros. i don't just want you to pledge your loyalty to "big boss", i want you to be big boss. i want to you to live my dream, not just be an ally to it.

in actual fact maybe he is just in love with ocelot (squee!) but this is big boss we're talking about so. he is literally a weapon he is war itself he's the war machine he's a soulless dead fish of a man. and either destroying or assimilating everything in his path forever is kind of his whole theme. and ocelot as a literal child of the battlefield will never escape it either. so they both just blow up and go to hell forever.

OR DO THEY. maybe bb is actually like wow everyone is betraying me the boss has abandoned me and ive abandoned her except never entirely even if i did throw her bandana into the sea in a moment of rage ive still got this scar on my chest. and so does ocelot because he's insane about me hm to be honest maybe i should just Give Up War and we can both retire and live on a ranch together forever the end.maybe that's actually what happens. life could be dream.

also please god let me find a job soon ive been unemployed for 7 months this is what happens when i don't have a job it gives me the time to think about bosselot until my brain melts and oozes and i start writing very long incomprehensible posts on my art blog at 3pm which does nobody any good. sigh

[snaitf]

Ranting?? Advice??

okay, so. I'm in a polyamorous relationship with a married couple. They have 4 kids, the youngest are twins (11). They have taken to calling me their bonus parent. It makes field trips hilarious.

Twin 1 is adamant that she isn't a nerd. Everyone in the family is, in fact, a raging nerd, which she will absolutely point out when anyone does nerd things, but call her a nerd and she immediately denies it. Press the issue, and she gets genuinely upset.

And like, I try to explain to her, "girlie, you were the second person at your school to get a book dragon award (reading 1M words. A million!!! She got a keychain!). You read the entire Harry Potter series in less than a year. You write fanfiction and roleplay your Warrior Cat OCs on the playground with your friends. Sweetie, you're a bigger nerd than *I* was at your age."

Not to mention, being a nerd is FINE. Everyone here is a nerd, it's genuinely okay.

The other day she corrected her dad about some fact about wolves and when he argued she said "I'm the wolf nerd here!" and defended her fact (she was correct, btw). We CHEERED for her. Like, genuinely cheered. She CRIED.

Like. I don't know how to explain that accepting the first fact about yourself that you don't like makes accepting the rest easier down the line? I'm paranoid about her in 5, 6 years vehemently denying some part of her identity with the same scorn and I'm like. Please don't do that. As someone who didn't figure out she was ace til after college just. Don't. It's FINE. I promise it's okay.

And that's a weird amount of weight to be putting on this conversation, but. Ughhhh I dunno.

(I'm also really tired of her calling me a nerd and then acting like being called a nerd is the Literal End of the World. Like.... do YOU think it's an insult? Cause if so WHY are you calling me one?)

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Klingon Gambit" review

Novel from 1981, by Robert E. Vardeman. I don't have much to say about this one, neither praise nor a rant. Perhaps there's no worse fate than indifference? This novel is a return to the more episodic format of the old Bantam novels. Basically a rehash of "The Naked Time", with a bit of "This Side of Paradise" (as far as Spock is concerned), and Klingons in the middle. I don't think the plot has enough substance for a novel-length story, so a lot of times I had the impression of reading the same thing over and over, as if the author had to fill pages but didn't really have anything new to say.

Anyway, the writing's fine, and lets Kirk shine as a clever diplomat, always with an ace up his sleeve to avoid a confrontation. While the rest of the crew is infected by some virus of silly, Kirk seems to be the only one that keeps his cool (some scientist should study this man one day; he seems to be immune and special in every single way...). It's hard to judge the rest of the characters, since they're purposefully acting weird through most of the novel. Spock swinging between totally emotional and totally Vulcan was well-done, without being over the top. Though McCoy seems to me a bit too disrespectful and insulting (and I'm not entirely sure this is due to the strange influence affecting the ship). I'm also not sure about his reluctance to save an injured Klingon's life, on the basis of him being the enemy. The way I see it, McCoy is first a doctor, then a Starfleet officer. There's also a return of that weird idea from earlier novels, that Vulcans are completely unable to feel any love or sexual urge outside pon farr. I don't know why this notion was so widespread, when a full Vulcan like Sarek was seen in the series having a loving relationship with his human wife, while Stonn and T'Pring had an affair outside marriage.

As for the plot, it's very simple, so I'm just going to gloss over it without spoilers. The Enterprise finds a Vulcan science ship adrift, and everyone's dead aboard, without any discernible reason. The ship was part of an archaeological expedition on the nearby planet of Alnath II, led by a famous Andorian scientist. As there's also a Klingon ship orbiting the planet, the Klingon become the main suspects for the Vulcans' deaths. However, the lead scientist insists that the Klingons have only been a nuisance, as far as their activities disrupt his investigations of the ruins. Kirk doesn't have any proof that the Klingons are guilty (and they also have some rights over this planet in particular, since it doesn't belong to the Federation). So he enters into a tense situation with the Klingon captain, where none dare to attack the other, and break the Organian peace treaty. Things get worse when the crew of the Enterprise start acting irresponsibly, and almost mutinous. Everyone seems to just do whatever they want, disregarding their duties. Scotty becomes obsessed with improving the engines, and starts dismantling half the ship for spare parts. Chekov becomes too trigger-happy and anxious for battle. Uhura daydreams about M'Benga. Spock swings between his human and Vulcan sides, and is at times overrun by feelings of love for his female assistant. McCoy becomes paranoid about machines and technology, so he switches to primitive medical treatments... You get the idea. The answers, of course, lay in the planet below and its mysterious pyramid. Kirk has a showdown with the Klingons as well. The resolution is nothing special really, though there's a little surprise about the origin of the alien, deserted city.

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. Kirk seems more aware about Spock's mood swings than anyone else. And he's a bit distressed about Spock possibly reciprocating his assistant's feelings. There's also a scene where Spock loses his shit on the bridge and starts crying, so Kirk bitch-slaps him, to make him come to his senses, even at the risk of suffering the Vulcan's violence himself. And Spock catches his wrist and all that (it's very similar to the scene in "This Side of Paradise").

For his part, McCoy wants to go live in a farm with Jim. And he's awfully interested in Spock staying more human, and you know, loving and horny all the time. As you will, Doctor...

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.