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pastpatientlywaitingforimagines · 4 years ago

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Antimatter | Spencer Reid x Reader Platonic

WC: 2486

WARNINGS: SPOILERS FOR 13X15, general Criminal Minds things (mentions of violence, shootings, robberies, death, etc)

This is part of my Galaxy Universe (MASTERLIST). You don’t need to read anything prior to this to understand this fic, though it may help!

You thought your little found family had finally found some reprieve after a long year of difficulties. Spencer was reinstated, Mr. Scratch was dead, Matt Simmons joined the team, and everything seemed like it was returning to your normal crime fighting routine.

As it turns out, you were wrong.

You didn’t think twice about following Spencer out of the round table room. You were loyal to your team, and Assistant Director Linda Barnes was not going to snuff the mojo out of these people that you loved so much.

You caught up to Spencer in the bullpen, where he was shoving books into his bag. He didn’t look up when you slid onto his desk.

You waited a minute before speaking, “what’s our plan?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” you were quick to follow him to the elevator.

“We need to come up with a plan before you leave, Spence,” you knew what he had just done was risky but it was the right move and you stood by your decision to follow him. You also knew that the problem wasn’t going to be solved without some other course of action, however.

“I can’t go back there. I’m not working with her scrutinizing our every move.”

“So don’t. Stay here and figure out how we’re going to get her out of our hair. Emily might know something that we don’t, she just had a bunch of meetings with Barnes, right?” You didn’t like how tense this conversation was becoming. You were currently on the same page as Spencer, that much you knew, but he could read 20,000 words per minute and it was going to take a lot for you to keep up with the pace his brain was working.

“Emily’s suspended,” you could tell he was thinking hard about what steps to take next.

“Go to her place and let her know what’s happening. Distancing yourself from Barnes is the best move before you get yourself fired.”

“What about you?” The elevator dinged to signal it’s arrival. Spencer stepped inside, holding the doors open.

“I’m going to go with the team. We need boots on the ground to figure out exactly what her plan in action looks like. I’ll be a centralized point for info about how she’s targeting everyone and get you it as quickly as I can.”

“Good luck,” he gave you a sad excuse for a smile.

“Go get Emily, I’ll be ok.” You watched the doors close, then walked back towards the round table room. You straightened your posture before opening the door and positioning yourself next to JJ. The rest of the team gave you some very strange looks that you tried to ignore.

“Will you be joining us, Agent (y/l/n)?” Barnes asked, almost as if she expected you to say no.

“I will, thanks,” you showed no weakness, making direct eye contact with her. She didn’t push further, instead confirming JJ’s ‘Wheel’s Up’ and leaving the room.

You spent the entire trip to St. Louis avoiding questions from the rest of the team about what had happened when you and Spencer left the briefing.

In a moment of quiet on the jet, JJ approached you while you were getting coffee.

“Were you able to talk to Spence before he left?” She asked in a hushed whisper, back to the rest of the plane.

“Yeah,” you said slowly, eyes flickering to where Barnes was staring the two of you down, “I’ll tell you about it later, it’s best that you don’t know for now. Trust us on this?”

JJ nodded, “let me know what you need, I’ll make sure it happens.”

You arrived in St. Louis and watched as Barnes demeaned the local PD, undermined the procedural profiling, and intentionally paired herself off with each member on your team. It was only a matter of time before she got to you.

You had been purposely avoiding her, instead collecting tidbits of information from your coworkers about their conversations with her that were unrelated to the case at hand. You intentionally stayed behind to work victimology when she finally cornered you in the conference room.

“You’re loyal to a fault, Agent (y/l/n),” she wasted no time addressing you.

“Excuse me?” You chose to not look up from the crime scene photos.

“Following Agent Reid out of the office this morning was a bold choice,” she tried to assert herself into your space, something you weren’t about to allow.

“I don’t see how my loyalty is a fault. I could see that Doctor Reid was unwell and I wanted to make sure he was ok.”

“You were suspended while he was in prison last year, were you not?” Clearly she had done her homework, although you didn’t like the way she twisted the situation inaccurately.

“I was on medical leave from field work, I still assisted remotely from Quantico and retained all other privileges.”

“Caused by Agent Reid’s arrest?”

“Caused by pre-existing mental health conditions that I’ve been treating since before I joined the BAU. My leave was temporary to help get it under control after the stress of Doctor Reid’s false arrest.”

She was quiet for a minute as you shuffled to the next file. You hoped that she would start asking about the case before you lost your temper, your secret mission would be compromised if you couldn’t keep your head down about it. Her next statement didn’t surprise you, though it came from left field.

“You do know that interpersonal relationships within a Unit are against Bureau policy.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re implying,” you put down the file to finally square up to Barnes. She had seen your file, you knew that much, but you were now doubting how much she had actually read into it.

“Are you and Agent Reid romantically involved?”

“Doctor Reid is my best friend. Last time I checked there was nothing in Bureau policy that didn’t allow that. I don’t appreciate you speculating about my personal relationships when they’re clearly not relevant to this case.”

Questioning your loyalty to the team was one thing, but attacking the most pure thing in your life was going too far.

“What is relevant to this case then, Agent? Your skills must be more useful elsewhere than sitting in a conference room looking at photos. Perhaps a transfer to a tactical unit would be more beneficial to the Bureau?” She finally pushed in a direction you were expecting.

“I would think that the Bureau would be more interested in well rounded agents instead of one trick ponies. I’m building my skillset here, rather than getting stuck in a rut doing tactical work.” It wasn’t completely the truth, just last year you had talked with Spencer about the possibility of you transferring to the Hostage Rescue Team. A tactical position would make sense, considering your strengths, but you had found such an unlikely home at the BAU that leaving was out of the question.

“You’ve been building your skills here for almost a decade. Why do you think Agent Prentiss was promoted to Unit Chief over you?”

“She was the right choice. She has seniority, as well as a more rounded viewpoint from her other assignments. I trust Emily Prentiss wholeheartedly.”

Just like Matt had predicted, Barnes was trying to pit you against your team, “what about Agent Jareau? You’ve been a profiler longer than she has, do you know why I promoted her above you?”

It was her mistake, honestly. Of all the people who she could try to turn against the BAU, you weren’t a good choice. Instead of falling into her trap, you doubled down, “she’s been with the team longer than I have. Knowing how the team works is just as important as knowing how to profile if you want to do this job right. I fully support JJ as Unit Chief, but that’s not why you picked her, is it?”

“It is not.” You waited for her to elaborate, but instead she left the conference room to talk to Matt. As soon as she left your phone was at your ear calling Spencer.

“She had the nerve to ask me if I was romantically involved with you,” you hissed as soon as he answered. You heard Emily laugh on the other end of the line.

“What’s happening with the rest of the team?” Spencer spoke up.

“She’s trying to push us all out, but keeps denying it. We’re closing in on this case, but she’s stepping on our toes all over the place. She wants to make this a quick close but honestly she’s only making it harder for us to profile this guy. How’s it going on your end?”

There was a pause, which you assumed was caused by Spencer taking you off of speaker and stepping out of the room.

“She’s trying to leave. She said someone had to take the fall for what happened with the Truthers-“

“You’re not letting her, right? Nobody needs to take the fall for what happened, where did she get that idea?”

“Barnes, I guess. I’ll keep working here, keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Ok, good luck.”

Doing what you were doing proved harder than you thought. Barnes stepped completely out of line during the validation strategy, getting the unsub killed when Tara and Luke were completely capable of talking him down. You were fuming but knew you needed to keep your head down as to not blow your cover with Spencer, so instead you tacked yourself to Luke’s side with the knowledge that he would tell you if you were about to do something stupid.

It was the right call, because JJ tore into Barnes on the jet and you knew you didn’t have the authority to add on to it. It felt like a small victory, until Barnes met you all in the office right before you were about to head over to O’Keefe’s.

“Agents Prentiss, your suspension is lifted. You will be reassigned within the Bureau, your new post has yet to be determined. Agent Lewis, you will also be reassigned. Agent (y/l/n), you are being reassigned to lead a SWAT team in the city, congratulations on the promotion. Agent Reid, you will be a full time professor with our exchange program. Agent Rossi, the FBI deeply appreciates your service and the Director wishes you nothing but the best in your retirement. Agent Simmons, Agent Alvez, you will remain here at the BAU. Garcia, your loyalty to the team is appreciated but it feels like a fresh start in a different department would be best.”

She made it seem like your reassignment was a good thing, but that was far from the truth.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer answered his door faster than you thought he would, eyes narrowing behind his glasses when he saw your disheveled state a few weeks later.

“I’m losing it. I’m going to get my whole team killed. I can’t keep doing this,” you spilled before you were even able to step into Spencer’s apartment.

“Here,” Spencer led you to his couch and pressed a hot cup of tea into your hands, “take a deep breath, you’re here with me. Did you just get off of a case?”

“Yeah, a bank robbery downtown. We locked it down but the whole time I was thinking about how it could have gone wrong.”

Spencer didn’t say anything, instead letting you sip tea and breathe for a minute.

“When Barnes reassigned me I thought her goal was to give me a promotion so I wouldn’t want to come back to the BAU.”

“It was, she knows you’re an incredible agent. Any unit is lucky to have you.”

“What if it was to break me though? She’s read my file, she knows my episodes have been more frequent since you were arrested in Mexico. Did you hear about the school shooting that happened last week?”

Spencer nodded.

“I was there, Spence. I was there. And the whole time I was leading the team through the hallways getting kids out I kept thinking about Jack, and Henry, Michael, and Hank. How they could be in that school, how there were already kids in that school that I hadn’t saved. I couldn’t save them.

“When I first started out at the Academy my peers all told me I would head up SWAT one day. I thought it was what I wanted until I joined the BAU. You even said I’d do well on a tactical team a year ago, so I trusted the process and that we’d get back at Barnes but I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep having panic attacks after every case. It’s not fair to my team, someone’s going to get killed and it’s going to be my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, it’s Barnes’. Why don’t you take a couple of days off and sit in on my lectures? You can even guest speak if you want, I scheduled an extra day in the syllabus in case I needed to go over any material again but I don’t need to use it.”

“You’re too good at this, Spence. Where’s your mom?” You looked around his small apartment, already starting to feel better.

“She’s in the bedroom resting. She’s liked having me home so much, although she asks me almost every day when you’re coming to visit,” he laughed.

“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m at work now more than when we were in the BAU. I have a newfound respect for every time I’ve called in SWAT in the past nine years,” you joked.

The comfortable silence that fell between you as you finished the drink in your hand was cut short by Spencer’s phone ringing.

“Doctor Reid,” he answered, “Hi Luke, what’s up?”

Your eyebrows smashed together, listening closely to the half of the conversation you were able to hear.

“Don’t bother, they’re with me. We’ll meet you there. Bye,” he hung up and turned to you with a slight frown.

“They have a case that they want us to look at. Barnes won’t approve it, we’re meeting at Emily’s.”

“A secret team meeting?” you stood up excitedly, unable to stop the grin spreading on your face, “let’s go.”

“Hey Spence?” you asked as he got into your car, a small detail of your conversation occurring to you.

“Hmm?” he clicked his seatbelt.

“You didn’t know I was coming over. The tea that you gave me… you made it for yourself, didn’t you?”

Spencer smiled bashfully, “you needed it more than I did.”

“The world doesn’t deserve you, Spencer Reid,” you sighed, putting the car in drive.

Galaxy Taglist: @kermitsaysgayrights @niallthedancingharry @shadyladyperfection @thatsonezesty13 @lexshead @ceeellewrites @howdycharlie @girlycakepops @fantastic-fans @canimarrypizzaornah @daisyflower138 @dyingrexx @taylormobley @tj-drinks-tea

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fluff #platonic soulmates #platonic imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic

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mrsdobrik · 4 years ago

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Heey, love your writing! Sorry if its too specific, but can I request something where the reader is an engineer (or something along those lines) and david is fascinated by your job and what you do that he keeps bragging about it to his friends and on the podcast like "my girlfriend's a smart cookie" idk i feel like he would be so prouuud

I’m terribly sorry to any engineers or future engineers out there who might read this highly inaccurate piece of fiction. I am a woman of letters not numbers thus engineering to me is a rather abstract concept. Any how, I shall try so I hope you enjoy!

Y/n’s nose had for about a week been burried in a stack of papers and photocopies, a pencil was perpetually held in her hair so she could now and again take it out to scribble on whatever she was reading. This type of behavior took over her life from time to time and it always meant the same thing, the answer was close.

It was, however, the first time it happened since she had moved in with her boyfriend. And, of course, this change in behavior picked his interest.

“What are you doing?” He asked, taking a peak over her shoulder.

“I’m... trying to create a voice box” She replied, her eyes still fixated on the paper.

“How?” He looked at her with curiosity in his eyes.

“Well, that’s the problem, that and the fact that to be able to learn to talk you have to be quite young, like a child, and that if it were to be implanted into a child it would have to adapt to the child’s growth.” She smiled at him.

“And are you close to finding out how?” David kept asking. He grabbed one of the papers of the top and looked though all the scribbles and doodles.

“I hope so, god knows I need to stop drinking coffee and get a proper night of sleep.” She chuckled.

“How are you so smart?”

Y/n laughed. “I went to college and read a bunch of books, they are like food for your brain.”

“Yeah, but a lot of people go to college and not everyone is out there helping kids become Iron Man” He beamed at her, his expression filled with pride.

“Let me get this straight, I went through six years of college so you can describe my job as a biomedical engineer as helping kids become Iron Man. Weirdly enough I’m fine with that” She chuckled.

“So...” David started, he had that look on his face like a kid on Christmas morning, but one who got a flamethrower from Santa and is about to burn the house down.

“No, David. I can’t make you an Iron Man suit” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Not even...”

“Nope, not even the glasses.” She completed his thought and pecked his lips before getting back to work.

...

“So... yesterday I found out what my girlfriend actually does for a living... so, I thought she just kind of did something math related. Turns out, she fucking turns people into cyborgs.” David spoke into the mic.

“Guys, just a quick disclaimer, Y/n is an engineer in the medical field, she does not turn people into cyborgs, despite how much David would like that.” Jason laughed at his statement.

“Yes he does bro! I swear! I asked her yesterday what she was doing and guess what? She was designing a fucking voice box. She said she couldn’t turn me into Iron Man, I already asked, but I think she might be able to and she just doesn’t want to tell me.” David frowned at the last part.

“How is it that you of all people ended up with her? I mean it’s insane, she is out there inventing things that will literally save people’s lives and you are here... recording this podcast”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been asking that to myself all day. She is insanely smart. And you know what, she is also funny and a nice person. Like, how does that happen? I feel like it should be illegal. Like when god was making her he was like, okay so she is going to be outstandingly beautiful and have a great sense of humor and she is going to be a nice person but she is going to be a dumb dumb, you know kind of like how he made me, but then he picked the wrong fucking bottle and made her smart too!”

“She is going to love this.” Jason laughed.

“I’m serious Jay. Like isn’t it crazy? I know I might be partial because I’m fucking so in love with her, but truly from an outside perspective, isn’t she like insanely amazing?”

“Well, maybe she made herself Iron Man. Like, have you seen that movie about the wives that turn into perfect cyborgs?... The stepford wives. Maybe she turned herself into a cyborg and made herself perfect.”

“Well but shouldn’t there be like a scar or something? Cause trust me I’ve seen every inch and there are no signs of her having possibly turned into a cyborg. Also wouldn’t she like, be stopped at TSA? We’ve travelled together before and she always walked through the metal detector just fine.” David debunked his own theory.

“Maybe you should ask her to replace your brain for one that actually works” Jason laughed.

“Maybe you should ask her to replace your body for one that actually works, you fat fuck!” David teased back.

“Oh fuck you!”

“You should not be insulting me right now, my cyborg girlfriend might have laser eyesight and use it to destroy you.”

#david dobrik #david dobrik x you #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik imagine #david dobrik blurb

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sky-squido · 5 years ago

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Turn Back Time (A Linked Universe Fanfic)

Part one of the Time’s Travels series

GUYS I WROTE A FIC! This is the first fic i’ve ever put anywhere! Wooooo!

WE GOTS SOME SWEET SWEET TIME ANGST. Lotsa mentions of death and dying, though, so if that’s not your cup of tea, then don’t read this fic. Get cho’ tissues, pals, cuz this is gonna hurt. There is Certified Fluff™, but you gotta work for it. Inspired by this fic I read: https://dinfeanoriel.tumblr.com/post/189094362202/dusk-falls

The group had noticed Time growing more and more weary every time they barely escaped a harsh battle. They could see the bags under his eyes, the way he seemed to be losing weight, and the way he dutifully kept a journal that was suspiciously always tucked out of sight. When Four woke up once during Time’s watch, though, he could see it sitting by his side.

Time was out patrolling when Legend broke the group out of their evening routine. "Does anyone know what's wrong with Time?" he barked out impatiently, drawing everyone's attention. "The old man looks like he's on death's door. Don't tell me you guys haven't noticed."

A chorus of downcast faces gave him his answer.

Before they could discuss it any further, Time returned. If he noticed the heavy silence in the group, he didn't comment on it.

Legend’s comment sparked something inside of Four.

Legend's right. We have to do something!

But what, Red? Time isn't going to tell us anything he doesn't want to. Nobody can make him crack, not even Twilight.

…

Oh no. Vio, what's your idea.

Remember when we woke up in the middle of the night with that terrible headache once?

Yeah?

Who was on watch?

Time.

And what was he doing?

Realization hits the other three.

Keeping a journal.

Vio that's terrible.

It's for his own good, Green! We need to find out what's wrong with him so we can help and we all know he's not going to tell us of his own free will.

I hate to say it, but I think Vio's right.

As usual.

Shut up.

But how are we going to get ahold of the journal in the first place?

What if we ask Legend for help? It was his idea.

We can distract him, and Legend can snatch his journal.

Won't Time realize it's missing?

Not if we can keep him distracted long enough for Legend to figure out what's wrong. He doesn't need to read the whole thing

Good idea. Let's get Legend alone.

Four stared into the fire the group was sitting around. During his internal dialogue, conversation had picked back up again, though strained.

"Do you guys think we need more firewood?" Four asked, making pointed eye contact with Legend.

"I doubt it," Sky replied, "we have a little pile over there and it's getting pretty late."

"Better safe than sorry," Legend yawned, getting up and stretching, "I'll help."

Four nodded his thanks and began heading into the woods with Legend. Twilight's suspicious gaze followed them, though he made no comment.

"What's your plan?" asked Legend the second they got out of earshot.

Four gave him the rundown of everything he had come up with so far. Legend nodded his approval.

"It was a good call asking me. I've got a book that could probably help me translate his Hylian."

"How long should I buy you?"

"I'll need a decent amount of time; a few hours tops. Do you think you can do it?"

"Consider it done."

"Consider what done?"

The two conspirators whirled around, hands on hilts, until they spotted Twilight casually leaning against a tree, arms crossed.

"Twi, you can't stop us. I get that you two are close and all, but-"

"Who said I was going to stop you?"

The two blonds froze.

Twilight pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“It kills me to watch him do this to himself but no matter what I try, he won't tell me anything! He doesn't even seem to think whatever he's doing to himself is wrong! I want to help him, more than anything, and I think this is the only way"

Twilight knew firsthand how obsessed Time could get with his regrets. His desire to teach Twilight the sword had kept his shade from rest for who knows how many years. Twilight knew exactly how Time could get caught up in his head to the point to self-destruction and he didn't want to see it come to that.

"I'll help Four distract Time."

Legend nodded, surprised but grateful.

They split up to gather wood—they had to keep their alibi strong after all—and returned to camp.

"Took you long enough," sassed Warriors, but the three didn’t comment. Instead, Twilight and Four walked up to Time as Legend headed to his own bedroll to organize his inventory. Luckily for him, his spot sat on the edge of the campsite, just like Time's.

He didn’t catch what Twilight and Four said to Time, but Time got thoroughly engrossed in whatever conversation they ended up having, so Legend decided to make his move. He took his box of rings and—with a heavy sigh—tipped it sideways, letting them spill across the floor, rolling towards Time's bedroll and gear.

Warriors glanced over at the sound.

"You good over there, Legend? You need help organizing your jewelry?" Warriors teased, eyeing the rings scattered across the ground.

"My jewelry could kill you so you all better keep your distance while I clean this up," he bit back. To his satisfaction, the group accepted his explanation, not wanting to get cursed by any of Legend's... exotic magic.

It was under this guise that Legend rifled through Time's things, pulling out a small leather journal from between some masks, pocketing it, and picking up the rest of his rings.

He shuffled back to his bedroll, put his box of rings back, and slid the Book of Mudora out of its pocket in his bag. As some of the first stars winked into the sky, Legend began deciphering.

There was no title or date or any sort of preamble. The first entry was rushed and short, only a few sentences. It looked more like Time had jotted down a quick piece of info he wanted to remember for later rather than any sort of journal.

The first word he deciphered was his own name.

He hurriedly deciphered the rest, his blood growing colder with every word.

"Legend: I'm sorry. I'm so f***ing sorry. Tell Hyrule I love him. Tell Warriors I don't actually hate him. Tell—"

Eager to read what followed, he continued deciphering, but to his horror the next word was another name and a new entry.

“Warriors:”

He stopped translating. These were the dying words of his friends, his brothers. The first passage sounded like the very thing he'd cough out with his final breath, something so important and personal that it couldn’t be said until there was no chance of being able to say anything ever again. He looked over at the campfire, at his laughing brothers, and silently closed the Book of Mudora. Whatever needed saying, they’d tell him themselves. These were private, heartfelt words.

He wondered how Time acquired said private, heartfelt words.

He also wondered how many more pages there were and began skimming.

As Legend flipped through the short, clipped sentences, he saw that most of them ended with a sharp, dashed line. Some had small numbers at the bottom, a x2 or x3 and once, a x7.

There were too many. Far too many.

He saw his own name multiple times and wondered how that was even possible, how one person could die multiple times. He thought of his uncle, who had died before his eyes and, though Legend had brought him back, would probably die again eventually.

If Legend had had to guess, he’d say Time had copied down at least 100 dying statements. That was over 11 times for each of them.

Again he wondered how Time had collected so many dying words—different dying words—of people who were, at the moment, still alive.

He wondered why Time had bothered to write them down at all.

But one small question, one he'd had for a while but dismissed, bubbled to the surface.

Why is Time named Time?

A small pebble hitting him in the head snapped him out of his thoughts. His head whipped over to its source and he saw Four looking at him urgently, Twilight stalling as Time began to stand up. Legend got the message and hurriedly tucked the book back where he found it, clutching the paper containing his translations in his curled fist.

Four volunteered for the first watch. Twilight took second. Legend grabbed third.

They all knew they wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

When Four went to wake up Twilight at the end of his watch, he shook Legend awake as well. A furtive glance toward Time told them that the Old Man was slumbering soundly, or at least appeared to be. Not taking any chances, they moved to the opposite corner of the campsite, talking in hushed voices.

"What did you find?" Four asked Legend urgently, clearly restless after spending his watch in suspense.

Legend sighed.

"It's not good."

Twilight's eyes narrowed and Four's face became a mask of focus, his eyes glinting purple in the firelight.

"His book contains a lot of entries, short little snippets, never longer than a few sentences. There's gotta be about a hundred of them. They all go along these lines." He read his own passage, the only one he had had the heart to fully decipher, and Four and Twilight's gazes shifted from focus to shock and fear.

"The journal is filled with our dying words. Dozens of them. This one... it's.... it wouldn't be inaccurate," he manages to force out.

"I've gone back in time to prevent someone from dying before. I know it's possible. But that involved the Triforce and… I've only ever done it the one time. But I have one question for you two:" the two listened at rapt attention, understanding and horror filtering into their gazes as he asked his burning question: "Why is Time named Time?"

A cacophony of voices burst through Four's head, causing him to curl in on himself and pull on his hair. Twilight absently put his hand on Four's head, petting him in a hollow pantomime of comfort as he stared brokenly into the fire.

"We've all died," Twilight started. "Dozens of times. All of us, dead. And he watched as every single one of us breathed out our final words and then turned back the clock to save us."

"I always thought he had an uncanny ability to swoop in and save someone in the nick of time," remarked Four, collecting himself.

"But what do we do with this information?" asked Twilight, the tears in his eyes sparkling in the firelight.

"We can't very well ask him to stop, can we? He's saved our lives countless times and we didn't even know it!" asked Four, the red flames of the fire dancing in his eyes.

"He should have told us," Four bit out abruptly, seemingly changing his mind. He froze in shock for a moment before looking up and letting his eyes reflect the blue of the night sky. "He chose to shut himself up for months, watching us die time and time again. He's an idiot is what he is. He could have told us so we could help him when he rewound time. He could have told us how we died so we wouldn't make those same mistakes again! He could have told us so we could comfort him after he watched us die in his arms!"

Twilight, with his arm now around Four's shoulders, beckoned for Legend to sit next to him. He complied, and Twilight pulled him close, soaking in the warmth of two of his very alive, very breathing, brothers. The three boys sat under the stars, tears sparkling in their eyes and running down their faces.

"We have to confront him" stated Legend, leaning into Twilight's side.

"Do we tell everyone else?" Four asked, eyes drooping from exhaustion after already taking his watch and then having to wrestle to keep himself in line in light of the new information.

"We should start by talking to Time," Twilight growled, eyes steely, "I don't want the others finding out like this."

He felt Four nod sleepily into his side and Legend hum his agreement. Twi thought about how he had the chance to comfort and be comforted by his brothers in the light of this news but Time had never had such luxury, even after doing so much more for so much longer.

---------

Wild rose with the sun as he usually did, glancing around the campsite to orient himself. The whole camp was fast asleep, Wind sprawled over Warriors and burritoed in his scarf. Sky snored lazily, spread-eagle on the ground next to his bedroll. Hyrule slept curled up, the closest one to Legend’s empty sleeping bag. Time laid completely still and silent in his bedroll save for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Twilight, Four, and the aforementioned Legend's sleeping bags were all empty and as Wild moved towards the fire, he saw why. Twilight sat on the ground, his back against a log, staring into the dying embers of the fire. Four was curled up against his left side, snoring lightly, while Legend curled into his right. Wild smiled deviously and pulled out his slate, the camera rune already selected, but upon being leveled by the broken, tired, grief-stricken eyes of Twilight, the smile fell off his face and he put the slate away.

He began preparing breakfast somewhat awkwardly before asking quietly: "you wanna talk about it?"

Twilight didn't move, staring into the embers some more. Wild didn't think he was going to get an answer out of him until he heard a stern "if you are ever hurting, no matter how big or how small, tell me. Please."

He looked over to see Twilight looking at him with an urgent, pleading gaze.

"This is about Time, isn't it," Wild replied.

Twilight's shoulders rose, startled.

"I'm not an idiot,” Wild started defensively, “I saw the looks you three were giving each other after Legend's outburst and then you all went off into the woods together and then took watches and now I find you out here snuggling with Legend of all people? You guys figured it out, didn't you. It’s not good, is it." It wasn't a question.

Twilight sighed, defeated. "No, it's not good, cub."

Wild glanced up from his cooking. "What is it?"

Twilight shook his head.

"You hypocrite!" he started, before getting shushed by Twilight. He continued in a whisper, "you tell me I have to tell you everything that's bothering me and not five minutes later you withhold what's eating you from me! I'll tell you what's bothering me: this!"

Twilight opened his mouth to respond—

"Give up, he's got you cornered."

Twilight looked down to see Four staring up at him. He sat up, stretching, before continuing. "We might as well tell him."

At all of the noise and Twilight's shifting, Legend began to stir, moaning and blinking slowly before sitting up with a start. He looked around, disoriented, until he realized he had fallen asleep on Twilight. When he spotted Wild barely holding back a snicker, his face turned the same shade as his pink bangs.

"You should have woken me up," Legend said in a huff, pulling at his tunic, "I said I was taking the last watch."

Twilight didn't tease him like Legend had thought he would, instead saying, "you needed the sleep more. Besides, I wasn't going to get any, anyway."

"Whyever would that be?" asked Wild, trying to inject himself back into the conversation.

"We read Time's journal," started Legend, waving away Twilight's protests with a hand, "and found out that… we think… well… we haven't been as successful as we thought we were. On this adventure, I mean."

At Wild's cocked head, he continued.

"We have reason to believe that we've died, all of us, numerous times, and Time's somehow been turning back the clock to save us before that happens."

Wild listened intently, running his right hand up and down his left arm as he waited for the water to boil. Understanding slowly crept across his face as he looked up at the trio.

"He must have watched us, all of us... so many times. And he never said anything. Never asked for comfort or recognition..."

Four cut in "or even telling us that we had died and warning us how to avoid it later."

Wild thought for a moment before adding "well, he usually does give out pretty cryptic advice after battles," he gasped, "you don't think—"

"I do think," replied Legend, nodding solemnly. This was a point he hadn't previously considered, but it fit his theory.

Wild continued making breakfast in relative silence as the sun continued to rise. Warriors seemed to wake up before the Wind Burrito™ snuggled him back into dreamland. Time sat up, rubbing his eye, and began to start his morning routine.

"Hey old man!" Four stage-whispered, to the horror of his three companions.

Time looked over at them curiously.

Four waved him over and he obliged, standing slowly before picking his way through camp. He cocked an eyebrow at Four, a carefully blank expression on his face, but now that Four knew what Time had been going through, he could see the grief in Time's eye and could imagine that Time must have been seeing his broken, twisted corpse whenever he looked at him.

The smallest hero stood before the tallest before leaning into his chest and wrapping his arms around him. "Thank you for keeping us safe," Four said into Time's tunic.

Time looked around in confusion before Twilight barreled into him, doing the same.

"We're safe. We're safe thanks to you," Twilight said, wrapping his arms around his mentor from the side. Wild didn't hesitate to follow Twilight's lead before squeezing himself next to his own mentor. Legend watched as tears began to fill Time's eyes and he looked down at who the Old Man saw to be his own children.

"But Pops," Legend drawled, eyes narrowed and a hand on his hip, "f***ing talk to us about it. That's what we're for, right?"

He was met with Wild reaching out and grabbing his tunic, pulling him into the group hug. Tears were streaming down the left side of Time's face and he melted into the arms of his boys, relishing their beating hearts and warm bodies.

They broke the hug after a few moments, Time furiously wiping his eye and the others sniffling slightly and wiping their own. Time tried to collect himself, gravity sinking into his voice as he said: "so you know, then."

Twilight opened his mouth to reply but Legend jumped in first. "No thanks to you! We watched you slowly deteriorate for weeks, Old Man! We thought you were gonna drop dead and you didn't f***ing say anything! The only reason we know is—" Legend cut himself off, realizing he was getting carried away and not wanting to divulge too much.

"The only reason you know is...?" Time questioned, voice growing stern. Legend squirmed for a moment before Twilight stepped in, finally asking: "how many times?"

"You'll have to be more specific, Pup"

"How many times have you rewound time to save us?"

"As many as I needed to."

"That's not a number," growled Twilight, leveling a glare icy enough to rival Time's own.

Time sighed. "Eighty-seven."

Legend's brow furrowed in confusion. There were a lot more than 87 entries in Time’s book. Time noticed. "Sometimes I had to do multiple people a run," he explained. Legend looked up in shock. Had time figured out that Legend had read his journal? Legend wasn't surprised; Time was one of their sharpest members, after all.

"A run?" started Twilight, "a run? You've got a cute little name for it and everything, don’t you. Eighty-seven times, huh? How many runs were you going to do before telling us?"

"Twi," said Four evenly, putting his hand on the teen's arm. He looked at him pleadingly, silently asking him to back down.

Twi sighed, deflating. Time could see his anger for what it really was: worry, fear, love.

Legend figured that Time was onto him anyway, so he decided to come clean about the journal.

"Yeah, but Time," Legend began, almost pleadingly, "why did you have to keep that Hylia-forsaken journal? So you could keep a lovely chronicle of the pain of watching us die over and over again? Why—" he bit back something resembling a sob— "did you write down all of our last words?" Legend asked, searching Time's face.

"In case something happened and we couldn't get your real last ones. In case I couldn't fix it. Because... I thought they deserved to be recorded. I know firsthand that traveling through time causes new timelines to be born. That that Legend is dead in a world where he always will be. Just because I left that world does not make it any less real or that Legend any less dead."

Wild's eyes widened in realization. "You didn't just fix it right away, did you?" He asked. "You buried us, didn't you."

"Every time..." Four trailed off, staring into the distance.

The group descended upon Time again, wrapping him in another, fiercer, bear hug. They got interrupted by Wild's pot boiling over and they quickly untangled while he went to salvage their breakfast. It was good timing, though, as the rest of the camp was beginning to stir, Warriors finally breaking free of the snuggle clutches of the Wind Burrito™ and Hyrule blearily rubbing his eyes. Wind began to unroll himself from the burrito, and Sky began to stir.

Sky, Wind, Warriors, and Hyrule eventually joined the others for breakfast. They all sat around the fire before Wind piped up. "What happened?" he asked Wild. Sentences trailed off as everyone waited for Wild's response. "Something happened?" he asked, trying his best to act nonchalant, but the others had caught on. "Breakfast doesn't taste the same and you've all been awfully quiet," Wind elaborated. Hyrule eyed Legend. He did seem rather off. Warriors' searching eyes caught Twilight's, looking for an explanation, but Twilight's only response was to flick his eyes up to Time. Sky turned towards Time and smiled slightly. "You look better," he remarked simply, startling everyone. "You don't look quite so broken anymore." The group stared in shock at that. He turned to the group. "I won't press," Sky shrugged as an explanation. "He's doing better. I don't see how prying would help."

"Just because you aren't aware of the actions someone took to cause a given outcome, that doesn't mean the outcome would have occurred without their aid," Four cryptically contributed.

The Links in the know shot surprised looks at Four, who glanced softly at Time.

"Would someone please explain what's going on," pleaded Warriors. Time sighed, setting down his empty bowl. He began explaining, but instead of giving them the facts that the other Links had puzzled out, he told it like a story. He told them the story of how Legend, after getting stabbed from behind by a lizalfos, had died in his arms. He told the Links how he had quickly committed his last words to memory, scribbling them down in his journal. He told the Links how the weight of his ocarina hung on his belt, how memories of rewinding time to save lives ran through his head, how he knew that other timelines branched off every time he rewound. He told them how they buried Legend and he read his last words out of his journal as the remaining eight wept. He told them how he had explained to the other Links that there was a way to get Legend back, but that they would never see that other world. He told them how he hugged them all goodbye before playing the Song of Time and materializing right behind Legend, decapitating the lizalfos before it could get to the red-clad hero. The group stared in awe and shock at Time, but also at Legend. Hyrule leaned farther into Legend's side, sniffling. Legend wrapped his arm around the brunet's shoulders.

Time trailed off after he finished his story, allowing the others to figure out for themselves that he had done that whole process 87 times. That there were 87 timelines out there where they were heartbroken, destroyed, dead, and Time had vanished, promising a better future for a different group of Links. "I could only pray that Hylia erased those timelines when I prevented their existence, but I could never be sure. I had to make sure each timeline was the best it could be before I left it."

At that, something dawned on Sky and he rushed over to where he had the Master Sword sheathed by his bedroll. He drew it and wrapped his hands around the hilt, staring at the blade intently and mumbling under his breath. The group watched in confusion, eventually collectively realizing that Sky was asking Fi if she knew what had happened to the other timelines. Sky paused for a moment as though listening before slumping down in relief.

"She says that when you prevent a future, the alternate timeline ceases to exist as if it had never happened." Sky smiles warmly, "the only thing that causes a timeline to continue, even if it has been prevented in another world, is the interference of the Triforce. Legend's not dead. Nobody is. They're all right here."

Time's eye widened in shock. He broke down in that moment, hundreds of lives lost no longer weighing down on him. Wind dove into his arms, the other Links following suit in the third and teariest group hug of the day.

"If only someone could have told you this 86 'runs' ago" muttered Legend under his breath before getting smacked over the head by Hyrule.

---------

After that morning, they would have liked to be able to say that everything went back to normal, but that would have been a lie.

A few days later, they were ambushed in the middle of the night. Hyrule had been on watch, and despite him waking everyone up, they couldn't get prepared in time to defend themselves very well. Twilight had woken with a start to Hyrule's cries, reaching for his sword before getting yanked back by a fully armored Time just in time to watch a spear from one of Sky's moblins crash down where he would have been standing. Twilight stared at Time in shock, who was still clutching his ocarina in his left hand. Twilight froze at the sight before his mentor shook him. "There's no time. Guard Wild's back."

Twilight didn't need to be told twice. Time finished off the moblin and Twilight grabbed his sword, rushing to protect Wild. The battle ended shortly thereafter. It had been a quick, previously deadly, calculated strike. Clearly, their enemy had a very strong grasp on tactics. As the group cleared out their camp, Twilight whispered something in Wild's ear. The younger gasped in shock and the two rushed to where Time was packing up his bedroll and tackled him in a hug.

"Thank you" whispered Twilight into Time's tunic. Wild gingerly picked up Time's hand and placed it over his beating heart like he'd had to do a few times with Flora after the Calamity.

"I'm alive. I'm safe. It's okay."

Needless to say, the group got rather accustomed to the sight of Time in tears, but they also hugged him far more as well. After the battle, Wind spotted Time writing in his journal. Had he been able to read any of it, he’d know that it had said:

Twilight: It’s going to be okay. I love you.

Wild: This isn’t goodbye and you know it. Just play that ocarina of yours and we’ll be right as rain.

“Hey, Time.” Time looked up. Wind continued, “because you know now that the other timelines stopped existing, you don’t have to write those down anymore.” Time started as if he were about to say something before Wind suddenly got an idea. “What if we all wrote down our words so you don’t have to! We could all write out everything we might want to say so you don’t have to copy down those short little sentences anymore.”

“Some people did that in the army,” Warriors butted into the conversation. “It was common practice to write that kind of stuff down for your next of kin before heading out. It’ll make your life a heck of a lot easier, Old Man. Besides,” he added with a wry grin, “I’m not gonna spill out my guts if I know I’m just coming back anyway.”

Time relented. He knew from experience that they never had time to get out everything they wanted to say in those final moments. He nodded his approval and that evening, the whole group solemnly wrote out everything they didn’t want to leave unsaid.

---------

Once, while the group had been trekking through the Snowpeak of Twilight's world, Wild pulled out his shield and prepared to surf down a particularly steep and icy hill.

"Cub." Twilight scolded, "Don't. You'll get yourself killed."

"It's never happened before!" replied Wild cheerily before they all froze, realizing what he'd just said. They turned to Time.

Time shook his head gratefully, "not as of yet. But I still wouldn't—"

That was all the encouragement Wild needed before readying his shield again. Right as he was about to jump, he felt a hand snare the back of his tunic, stopping him. He turned and was met with the face of Time, a new, haunted look in his eyes, and an ocarina clutched in his left hand.

Wild was noticeably less reckless after that, much to the relief of everyone, especially Twilight.

That night, Four sidled up to Time and asked quietly, "how long did we look before giving up?"

Time sighed, "using the ocarina takes a toll on me. I try not to use it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"How long."

"A few days."

At that, something in Four's eyes flashed red and he found Wild, dragged him by the tunic and shoved him into Time's arms. "Give this man a hug," was all he said before heading back to rejoin the others around the fire. Wild didn't need to be told twice.

Time began to look healthier and healthier, no longer on the verge of death. He had to travel back less and less frequently because of his group's newfound self-awareness and he never had to travel back more than once for the same event. He had also been spending less time in each alternate future, only ever sticking around long enough to ensure that there was no other option before they smiled and told Time they’d see him later.

"Moral of the story," chirped Legend happily one day over dinner, "always read your friends' journals without their permission."

Hyrule thwacked him over the head with his spoon.

---------

Bonus:

“There’s no way he survived that fall, Twilight.”

“He has to have. He wouldn’t let something this stupid kill him.”

“Yeah, actually, he kind of would.”

Hyrule hit Legend in the back of the head.

“Are you gonna rewind?” Four asked Time.

He sighed. “There’s no way he’s lasted this long with those injuries. We very well might starve out here anyway considering Wild has all the food. We’ve tried everything. Even Wind’s pendant isn’t helping.”

“Besides,” Sky points out, putting his hand on Twilight’s shoulder, “Wild won’t have to go through all that pain if we rewind.”

“But,” Time adds meaningfully, “let’s not resort to altering the flow of time for the sake of convenience. It’s not exactly easy for me to pull off. Sometimes I miss.”

The group nods solemnly.

“So we’re going back, then?”

“I think we’ll have to.”

Time grabs his ocarina before Legend stops him.

“So when you rewind time, none of us will remember this, right?”

“We’ll walk along the cliff, Wild will ask if the stunt will kill him, I’ll tell him yes, and we’ll keep walking. None of this will happen.”

“Sweet,” says Legend, a mischievous glint in his eye. He walks over to Warriors. “Hey Warriors.”

“Yeah?”

“You suck at life.” Legend punches him in the face. “Turn it back, now!”

Time does not, in fact, turn it back. Instead he watches in amusement as Warriors punches Legend in the face. Then, he starts playing the ocarina.

“I’ll punch you in the face!” yells Legend over the music, but Time’s smirk reminds Legend that he won’t remember to.

Hyrule smacks Legend over the head again for kicks before they finally cease to be.

134 notes · View notes

inkribbon796 · 3 years ago

Text

The Bee ‘n Boo Ch. 1: The Apiary

Summary: The Core Sides go to a nice vacation at a nice bed and breakfast along Brighton beach. But there’s something about the place that doesn’t sit well with Virgil.

Chapters: 1, 2

It began a couple weeks ago, just as Logan began getting less tense around the Sides. It was a mixture of not being attacked by Phantom after the initial scare, and Logan getting some actual decent sleep for the first time in months. Roman was bored and creatively stifled and complained about it to just about anyone who was in ear shot to hear his plight.

Needless to say that everyone was fed up with it and thought it was a good idea to get the Core Sides away for a bit. Joan rather helpfully gave them a link to a bed and breakfast in Brighton and they booked a trip for the weekend to stay there.

Logan and the Sides packed their bags into Logan’s fully fixed car, and drove for an hour or two to Brighton. Virgil in the back seat with Patton, and Roman in the front with Logan.

“This trip will be exactly what the doctor ordered,” Roman sighed, sunglasses perched on his head.

“Interesting enough, Dr. Iplier helped us find reservations,” Logan agreed as he kept his eyes on the road, “so that statement is not inaccurate.”

“Exactly,” Roman grinned. “Warm sun—”

“We’re going to burn,” Virgil warned.

“That’s what the sunscreen is for, you will all wear it,” Logan reassured. “There are no exceptions.”

“—the beach,” Roman continued to list off.

“We’ll be eaten by killer sharks,” Virgil cut in.

“Statistically unlikely for them to kill us,” Logan reminded. “We do have superpowers, after all.”

“Why can’t you two just enjoy this, it’s a vacation,” Roman huffed in exacerbation.

“There are some crazy mixed reviews for this place,” Virgil said instead of answering his boyfriend. “Apparently it’s been up for a couple months now.”

“What’s the name of this place again?” Patton asked, leaning over to get a look at Virgil’s phone.

“The Bee ‘n Boo,” Virgil instinctively tilted his phone away. “And that’s with an apostrophe-n, not the word “and” for all the grammar freaks in the car.”

“I saw the name in the email,” Logan reminded through clenched teeth, glancing at Virgil’s smile in the rearview mirror “I know how it’s spelled.”

“I think it’s cute,” Patton was on his own phone looking at pictures of the place online. “The little bees are adorable.”

“Yeah, apparently it has amazing atmosphere but is awful if you’re allergic to pollen or bees, or are afraid of bees and wasps.” Virgil rolled his eyes.

“So long as they don’t sting my gorgeous face, it’ll be fine,” Roman gestured to himself.

Logan hummed in recognition. “I had to make sure and sign three different waivers that none of us were allergic, apparently there are live bees on the premises.”

“Awww,” Patton said.

The Sides continued traveling until they got to their destination, a little bit off schedule because of traffic but not missing their check in time thanks to Logan’s anal retentive planning.

“Alright I’ll check in and grab a luggage cart,” Logan told them. “We’ll start with the essentials and then come back for the rest of Roman’s belongings he insisted on bringing.”

“Excuse you,” Roman huffed out as he began pulling out three huge red suitcases full of clothing, makeup, shoes, and his hair care products. “I only packed the essentials. The rest of you philistines came Spartan at best.”

Logan stared at him, arms crossed, not commenting that Roman wasn’t even going to use a third of what he had packed. “I’ll be right back with the keys.”

The logical Side took a deep breath and surveyed the bed and breakfast. It was a couple floors and the doors had an emblem of a bee with two horns going upward, and another set curved underneath the bee like ram horns. Etched in gold was the establishment’s name.

Walking inside Logan came to a halt. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he saw pictures of the place. He knew there was an apiary. It was a huge selling point of the bed and breakfast.

But right in the center of the first and second floor with skylights towards the roof was a huge apiary, the receptionist’s desk right in front of it. Colorful and fragrant flowers carefully laid out and bees buzzing around inside the protective area.

Logan walked up to the receptionist desk, the person at the desk cordial and professional.

“Hello,” they greeted with a warm smile. “Welcome to the Bee ‘n Boo, are you here to check in?”

“Yes,” Logan tore his attention away from the apiary. There would be time to observe it later. “It’s filed under: “Sanders”.”

There was a bit of typing from the receptionist and Logan’s attention drifted back to the apiary. The bed and breakfast was well designed, but it was the apiary that held Logan’s attention. It was clearly a labor of love and the entire floor was covered in flowers. It housed a couple beehives, all with the establishment’s emblem carefully erected into the front of every hive. A thin wall of magic barely visible that kept the bees inside the enclosure and the humans out. There were walls of pure magic with a sign on a pillar that read: “Do not interact with the bees. For your own personal safety. -Bee ‘n Boo Management”.

“Logan Sanders?” The receptionist called out and Logan’s attention turned back to them.

“Yes,” Logan answered.

“Everything seems to be in order,” the receptionist hummed and began preparing four keycards. “We just need you to look over and sign this final document. It’s standard at this time of year, with the fireworks and everything,”

The receptionist slid a paper towards him.

Logan sped-read the document. It was a single page front and back with the usual information about the pool and the breakfast bar. But there were three whole paragraphs that immediately drew the logical Side’s attention. It read as follows:

Fireworks and other incendiary type explosives are NOT permitted anywhere on the Bee ‘n Boo premises irregardless of any religious or national holiday. Either within the building or in the parking lot of the premises. This excludes cigarettes, vapes, and cigars that are allowed in the smoking sections of the Bee ‘n Boo. Along with the lighting of candles are permitted both in and around the Bee ‘n Boo premises.

Failure to follow this regulation may result in police and other law enforcement being called and the fireworks will be seized.

The owners and operators of the Bee ‘n Boo, Mr. and Mr. Underscore-Beloved, apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The document was signed with two signatures that were the owners’ names: Tubbo and Ranboo Underscore-Beloved.

Logan found the terms agreeable as they had no plans on lighting fireworks or flares, so he signed the document and a copy of the document was given to him.

With that he was given four keycards for the room and Logan thanked the receptionist, remembering to grab a luggage cart on his way back out.

When he got out there he was watching Virgil and Roman lightly bickering about the suitcases. Virgil looked over to Logan as he approached with the cart and immediately noticed the paper with Logan’s scrawl on it.

“What’s that?” Virgil asked. “Thought you signed for everything before we got here?”

“I did, this was just an agreement not to light fireworks or road flares,” Logan said.

“Shame,” Virgil commented, “Patton was excited for a fireworks show.”

Logan picked up his duffle bag and followed Virgil to where Roman and Patton were moving their bags, “Well we are in Brighton so we wouldn’t be seeing any big shows here, we can make a short drive on our way back to Gainesville on Sunday.”

“Yay,” Patton cheered and the group began taking several trips to take all their things upstairs, Logan pausing a bit when they paused the apiary. Expectedly the other Sides froze in awe of it, but Logan was truly captivated by it. After they’d gotten all their stuff upstairs and the car locked, Virgil checked the fob twice to sate his own caution.

Logan went back to their room and barely had the self-control to unpack his computer before he was walking back down to the apiary.

He sat down on a bench and just stared at it. He had never considered magic to be used for such a purpose, but he supposed it was a mistake on his part to assume that magic was so fleeting and bombastic when all he had to go on were the heroes and villains that made up the city.

The logical Side wanted something like this, but not with bees, they didn’t currently have the space for a suitable habitat for them. Maybe ants would be better suited, and he supposed with enough bribery he could get Roman to help him construct it. But for that he needed to know how it was constructed. Did he need materials or was it a purely magical creation from the ground up?

So he requested an audience with one of the owners, figuring that if anyone would know that information it would be them.

A request that was only answered with a half-promise from the receptionist. “Mr. Underscore-Beloved should be in today, I can ask him if the owner is still here.”

“That is more than amenable,” Logan told them. “If they are too busy, I understand.”

After the conversation he waited a few minutes before he was told one of the owners was able to talk with him and it would be another couple of minutes before he was able to come down.

Logan was too busy observing the bees when the owner did come down, but Logan heard the conversation from where he was sitting.

“Hey, Lee, you said someone wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes they’re right over there.”

Logan looked over at the young man talking to the receptionist.

“Hey there,” the tall man greeted Logan as he walked over, he didn’t meet Logan in the eyes. “Ranboo Underscore-Beloved.”

“Sanders,” Logan greeted in return. The young man had a face mask covering his mouth, he looked human with one green eye and the other was red. Logan figured the man had to be around seven feet tall and had hair that was white on one side and black hair on the other. “I wanted to speak with you about the construction of the apiary you have, it’s quite well made.”

“Oh yeah, my husband constructed the enclosure,” Ranboo explained. “He loves bees.”

That surprised Logan, he hadn’t noticed a ring. But it was clear from the expression on Ranboo’s face that he was fond of his spouse so Logan held his tongue about marriage statistics and causations with age.

“Built the hives himself, cast the magic himself,” the young man explained, smiling at the enclosure as if his husband was standing in there.

Then Ranboo’s phone trolled and he immediately dug it out of his pants pocket.

“Pardon me,” he held up a finger, pulling out his phone and turned away. “Hey Bo, you saw my message?”

He paused at whatever answer he was receiving, “Yeah he is . . . no, yeah I’m in front of it . . . yeah, got it.”

Ranboo pulled away from his phone, “He’ll be here soon, he had a couple errands to run.”

“Oh, I don’t mind the wait,” Logan reassured. “I quite like looking at the apiary.”

“Yeah that’s,” Ranboo looked around. He reminded Logan quite a lot of Virgil. “Alright, we’ll just wait.”

And so began one of the most uncomfortable stretches of waiting Logan had dealt with in some time. If they’d just been waiting in silence it would have been fine but there were moments of quiet where the proprietor — or at least someone who Logan thought was the real owner’s son — was quiet and Logan got to concentrate on the apiary and the calming magic that came from it. But then there was the rest of the time where the young man tried to fill the dead silence with nervous small talk.

If Logan hadn’t been so used to communicating with Virgil and Eric he wouldn’t have known how to handle the situation.

After fifteen minutes of awkward, stilted waiting, the other owner showed up. He overlooked him at first because he was expecting someone older.

Someone much older. But Logan had been very much mistaken.

Wearing the same outfit as Ranboo, was a young man with dark brown hair that covered his eyes, and burns on the right side of his face. Where Ranboo was nervous, this young man was the opposite. His gait and stance betrayed someone with experience and confidence well beyond his years.

Logan thought the tall owner looked young but this shorter individual didn’t have the benefit of height to pretend to look older. He didn’t look older than nineteen, and Logan thought that he was probably much younger. This was a minor. Whoever had given these two a business license must have seen something great or lost their minds.

What caught Logan’s throat in his stomach was the papery-looking burn on the right side of his face. They looked old and Logan had to fight his more scientific mind to determine the origin of the burns.

He didn’t want to pry into the young man’s personal affairs.

“It’s, uh,” Ranboo paused. “Mr. Sanders, I believe?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Logan answered.

“Thanks, bossman,” the shorter man walked over. This made the pair an Englishman and an American, which wasn’t an unexpected pairing in a city like this. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Mr. Underscore-Beloved?” Logan forced himself to say, he thought it was a completely ridiculous name but if it was his legal and more importantly preferred name, Logan had no choice.

“Yeah, you like my bees?” He asked. “They’re my best creation.”

“They certainly have the mark of an expert’s skill,” Logan complimented.

“Oh yeah,” the owner smiled. “Gettin’[1] the queens was the hardest part, actually.”

“You certainly spent a lot of time and energy into the habitat,” Logan commented while abjectly staring at the apiary. “Is it all magic or did you have the beehives constructed?”

“Built them myself,” Tubbo boasted proudly. “Planted the flowers with my husband. Poppies, mint, basil, foxgloves. The bees love them. Built this place so the bees and flowers can get some fresh air without makin’[2] the place drafty or lettin’[3] ‘em[4] out.”

“That’s quite ingenious,” Logan told him, looking back at Tubbo.

Ranboo had stepped away from the conversation when the receptionist called over to him, and then stepped outside for a bit while they were talking. Tubbo occasionally glanced over to keep tabs on where his husband was.

When Ranboo came back in, he was hot on someone else’s heels, another individual following the two.

“He’s talking with someone right now,” Ranboo warned loudly. He was talking to Quackity, a young man with a purple hoodie following close behind them, his hands buried in the pocket of his hoodie.

“I just wanna talk to the kid,” Quackity smiled. “Been ages since we caught up.”

“Quackity, you know you can’t just waltz in here,” Tubbo spat back, stepping in front of Logan. “If you want to talk then you’ll have to wait, I’m in the middle ‘a somethin’.”[5]

“Is it business?” Quackity smiled, staring right into Logan’s eyes. “I love talking business.”

“Not that type ‘a[6] business,” Tubbo glared at him. “We were talkin’[7] about my bees. I don’t step into your casino and talk about my bees there do I?”

Quackity frowned, finally looking away from Logan to Tubbo, “No, I guess you don’t.”

“Come on, he’s—” Purpled began before his companion cleared his throat.

“No,” Quackity interrupted. “Tubbo’s right, this is a paying customer and we are here on other business. I’m sorry we interrupted your little conversation.”

Logan wasn’t sure what to actually say at first but eventually managed, “It’s quite alright, a misunderstanding, I’m sure.”

“Yeah,” Quackity agreed, but with a tone that reminded Logan so much of Janus, but in all the wrong ways.

So Logan excused himself and left, trying to be calm but the instant he was out of sight of the group, he found himself running and hurried to their room. After a moment of fumbling with the keycard, Logan threw open the door and loudly shut it behind him, trying to steady his heart.

“Logan, what happened?” Virgil immediately demanded, looking Logan up and down for any signs of a fight.”

“You okay, Lo?” Patton asked at almost the same time.

“I think the owner of this establishment just saved me from the mafia,” Logan admitted.

“What?” Roman shouted in alarm. He and Patton just stared at him.

“I was talking with one of the proprietors of this establishment and another individual walked in to talk with him as well and he began to get . . .” Logan paused, unsure how to phrase his next words. “He began to get confrontational before the owner made him back off.”

“When was this?” Virgil demanded.

“Just now,” Logan answered. “I thought it was best for me to come back with the rest of you. The apiary is quite lovely, however.”

“Were you accosted? Does your honor need avenging?” Roman demanded.

“I am undamaged, but I feel it’s best if we remain together for the time being,” Logan told them.

“Of course, of course,” Roman smiled, walking over to stand next to Logan and hold out his elbow. “A nice, romantic vacation together, however will I cope?”

“Are we even ready to leave yet?” Logan asked as he linked arms with Roman.

“Nope,” Roman smiled. “But you’re mine now, come along my dear, we’ll go to the beach first and then what say you do some people watching. I know you love it.”

Logan and Virgil initially rolled their eyes, but neither of them could wipe the smiles off their faces. The logical Side felt safe and protected with his boyfriends around him, and that was all he needed right now. They were together, safe, and most importantly: alive. Logan could feel Roman’s pulse under his fingertips, hear him speaking. He was content. They were together and that was what mattered.

After they were finished packing their swimming bags, they went to the beach. Patton was quick to rush into the water as Logan took a seat on one of their towels and just watched Roman and Patton roughhouse in the water. Virgil flipped next to Logan, sprinkling some sand on Logan who gave him a look and dusted the sand off of the book he was reading.

“Have you put on sunscreen yet?” Logan asked. “Your skin is so pale you’re sure to burn.”

“Yeah, just want to make sure you were alright,” Virgil told him.

“I am sufficiently calm,” Logan answered, Roman and Patton walking over.

“You sure?” Patton asked. “This vacation is as much for you as it is for us.”

“I find it hard to relax,” Logan admitted as he leaned back on the beach towel, his book propped on his chest. “After the attacks and everything it seems like I should be braced for some attack . . . some adversary. And the illogical aspect of it is confusing me.”

“You’ve been our pillar for so long, maybe you need a bit of a break?” Patton reminded.

“To let you all do whatever you want with no voice of reason?” Logan chuckled, “as if.”

“Ehhhh,” Roman smiled, chewing on one of the ends of his lens frames. “We tried.”

Logan gave a little chuckle and all the other Core Sides felt at ease at the sound. It had been quite some time since they had heard the logical Side give an honest chuckle.

“Maybe this vacation is a good idea,” Logan decided, sighing deeply. “Perhaps I am tense because I’ve been on edge for too long?”

Virgil ran his fingers through Logan’s hair, “Leave the worrying to me, nerd. You can tell me all about how things are fine and we’ll both feel better.”

Logan smiled warmly at him, closing his eyes softly, “That seems like a good use of our time.”

The other three Sides smiled back at Logan before they began to well and truly relax for the first time in a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations:

1. Getting

2. making

3. letting

4. them

5. If you want to talk then you’ll have to wait, I’m in the middle of something.

6. of

7. talking

#superhero au #masks and maladies #Dream smp #footnotes #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #tubbo #ranboo #quackity #purpled #LAMP #bee n boo #Tubbo and Logan geek out about bees #because I said so #mostly fluff #vacation fic #it is clearly a vacation and not a distraction

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thirdmagic · 4 years ago

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nnnnnnnnn okay so disclaimer that i am not a scholar or an expert on this topic it's more like.... a hobby for me, as weird as it sounds, so this is all me speaking very, very generally. but here's the thing. when angels actually appear in the majority biblical texts, particularly the early ones, they just look like regular humans. the word originally used to describe angels didn't even mean any kind of supernatural being, the word that would eventually be translated as angel, mal'akh/מלאך, just means 'messenger' and can be used to refer to a regular human; the original text just calls them 'messengers of god', and i don't think it ever explicitly states what exactly they are, though the assumption that they're supernatural or divine in some way is a fairly obvious and reasonable one, and it is the natural, traditional reading. later translations would refer to messengers of god and regular human messengers using different terminology, and as i understand it that's where the word angel comes from in the first place, but this distinction doesn't exist in the original text. there's even times when angels are referred to using the same words as regular humans before the narrator and/or character recognizes them as god's messenger. the angel that jacob wrestled with, for example, is just referred to as 'a man', and you surmise that he's a divine messenger and therefore an angel through context clues, although there's also debate over who exactly it was that he fought and whether there even was an angel or in-between or if it really was god himself as we're meant to understand it, but that’s a very radical reading, but that's just one of the things that we don't have clear answers for and are up for interpretation.

anyway, there’s also many stories of angels coming in and blending in with the crowd amongst regular people; the reason people freak out when they recognize them as angels isn't because of the way they look, it's because if god went out of his way to sent his messenger specifically to be in your presence, the implications of that are pretty terrifying for any regular human being living in the ancient near east, and if you don't respect them you're fucked up, and the news they bring is really good or really, really bad. but it's their presence that people are generally reacting and/or freaking out over, not their actual appearance.

and speaking of the fiery concentric wheel with eyes thing: it comes from exactly one (1) passage in the entire hebrew bible, in the book of ezekiel, one of the books of the prophets, a book that comes fairly late both chronologically (in terms of when it was probably written) and its ordering, and has a lot of odd imagery and writing. like, all books and writings in the prophets section have a lot of vivid, creative, fantastical imagery for the purpose of allegory and/or making a specific point, but this particular prophet has a really, really vivid imagination that outdoes all of that. anyway this wheel is a vision he has in the first chapter, and it’s also never at any point referred to as an angel, and it’s how he describes seeing what’s basically a symbolic manifestation of god. the word for the thing he says it is appears in other places, but in these contexts it’s usually either not seen but is understood to be impossible to comprehend or is generally not described at all, making this just a generally very unusual choice of description.

and to be honest, you could write a hell lot more about this particular passage because there's so much going on there, and this whole book, because it's such an odd one and it's so beyond bizarre in its content. it's actually really fascinating and it really says a lot about the author and his own mindset... like, for example, there’s one very memorable chapter that's incredibly sexual and about as actively graphic as any text in the bible ever gets to the point where it doesn't feel like it belongs there, and i'm actually kind of shocked this chapter even made its way into the canon? (the whole chapter uses adultery as a metaphor for betrayal, which is pretty standard, but there is a line where he condemns women preferring foreigners because they have bigger dicks???) and also possibly the one bit of writing across all these books that you can actually classify and define as virulently misogynistic to the point where it’s horrifically uncomfortable to read, but it's kind of fascinating how you can see these texts written by a man who's been dead for thousands of years and who you know little about beyond his 'job' and understand something like this about him just from his writing? but what i'm saying is, this passage, all of the writing in his book, and the descriptions in it are not at all standard and are the exception rather than the rule, so you can't apply it as a general statement of what x thing in the bible is like.

you also have other words like seraph, cherub, and so on, referring to other kinds of heavenly servants/messengers, but these references are more or less scattered across the bible in different contexts and places and aren't very consistent, and i know less about those beyond that. i do know a 'cherub' is a name for a kind of mythical beast from canaanite mythology that's a bit like a sphinx, which i guess is closer to the idea of angels are something terrifying, and i do know that seraphs are described as kind of flaming vaguely human-shaped beings basically covered with wings, which they use both for flying and for modesty, but the context in which these are written also means you can't really take it at face value and they could honestly very well be allegorical or just any other kind of literary devices. and while a lot of later traditions would re-contextualize them as a type of angel, i'm not sure if this was the intent or the idea behind these references or how they're meant to be understood or perceived, i think it's also one of these things that's up for a lot of debate even amongst actual scholars.

so that was an infodump but tl;dr if you want biblically accurate angels, you have options, and ‘fiery wheel with eyes’ is not one of them. mind you, the point that the original meme was trying to make, about how the way most art depicts them is inaccurate, is also true, because the image of them as people with halos and wings and harps/robes etc aren’t biblically accurate either.

#textpost

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alastanor · 4 years ago

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youtube

To start, I would like to thank @cis-het-angel-kinnie for bringing this video to my attention, even if it was to praise the video rather than to point out it's flawed arguments against Charlie for main character.

If you have not seen the video yet, I recommend giving it a watch prior to reading this or you may be confused.

Click to read more...

What Is A Protagonist?

I am not bringing up this question because I think the source used was incorrect. However, the statement that "protagonists ask questions and antagonists make arguments" is an oversimplification of both roles. And I am going to explain why.

The trope of protagonist vs antagonist is an age old theme which has been used countless times throughout storytelling's history in books, plays, films, and story-driven video games. As such, the definition of both roles has continued to flourish and evolve over time. It is no longer good vs evil.

While @diregentleman used books written by, I assume, published writers for his argument, I am going to use Creative Writing and Literary Experts from a Masterclass article.

In the article, a protagonist is described as this:

"In storytelling, a protagonist is the main character or principal character or group of characters in a story."

More than one character is capable of being an antagonist in this story. Given that demons are meant to be redeemed, fitting the theme of the story, it is fair to surmise that all (or the majority of) the demons surrounding Charlie are protagonists in some form.

The article goes on to state that the protagonist's goals reflect the overall story goals and the plot moves forward based on their decisions.

This being said, Charlie's overall goal reflects the premise of the story, that being that Hazbin Hotel is a story about redemption. This is a goal that Angel Dust does not have.

In DireGentleman's video, he claims Angel Dust joined the Happy Hotel with the intention of being redeemed, albeit skeptical whether it could actually be done. This is actually inaccurate, and we see this in both the pilot and the comic.

Angel does display skepticism straight from the gate, but when they explain their reason for approaching him (that no one else has agreed), he makes this face:

Does that really look like someone who believes redemption may be possible? But for further establishment of just how little Angel believes redemption is possible, Angel also laughs them off and calls their goal "lame."

The only reason Angel agrees to Charlie and Vaggie's proposition is because it is a rent free place to stay. He admits as much just a bit further into the comic. By the end, Angel says "Redemption, it's silly. Huh, Nuggs."

The tone we are led to believe he uses is one of contemplation and relief. Relief due likely to the fact that there is some light at the end of the tunnel to the shit situation he was in.

This is just comic evidence, of course. If we go to the pilot, when Angel is engaging in the turf war with Cherri Bomb, he explains that he is using Charlie and Vaggie for free rent. Further exemplified when he later asks if participating in the turf war meant he didn't have a free room anymore. But also in his conversation with Cherri, he also admits that he is still taking some drugs behind Charlie and Vaggie's back. Something that we see immediately toward the opening of the pilot when Angel buys a bag of Angel Dust.

Character Dynamic

I cannot emphasize this enough, the Hunicast is NOT a good exemplifier for character dynamics. Every single "character interaction" is based on fanon, not canon, and they are prompted by the fans themselves. Only Viv really knows exactly how Angel and Alastor would canonically interact. It is no better a source for character dynamic than the wiki is for accurate information. IE, some things may hold true, but the majority of it is not and it is better just to wait until it is confirmed canon.

Moving on...

There is a lot of focus on Valentino as a main antagonist, based entirely too much on the hope that Angel will be the main protagonist. And this is really just disingenuous when you consider there are two other implied Overlords, as well as several other sources of strife within the world of Hazbin Hotel.

An Antagonist is someone working against the protagonist to prevent them from achieving their goal. Alastor would not meet this criteria, as he is a self-professed observer and conflict creator. But he is not a main antagonist. Someone working against the goal of redemption could be anyone from the Overlords (which, far as we know, would include Valentino), Lucifer, or even Heaven itself.

Where antagonists come into play, quoting Masterlist once again, I think these two types of antagonists were overlooked:

A conflict-creator. An antagonist doesn’t have to be a “bad guy.” Sometimes, they’re just a character whose goals are in direct conflict with the protagonist’s, like Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Javert working to arrest Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

The protagonist themselves. The main source of conflict in a story can be from within the protagonist themselves—their shortcomings or insecurities are keeping them from reaching their goal. A prime example of this is Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. While Holden comes into conflict with many characters in the novel, the ever-present antagonizing conflict comes from his own obsessions and insecurities.

Now, why did I bring up these two types? Well! I'm glad you asked! You see, where conflict-creator comes into play would line up more with Alastor. He isn't really the bad guy, but he does create some friction where his goals meet with Charlie's. He is a professed observer, but it is strongly believed that there is something else, another goal, that he has omitted.

As for the Protagonist themselves, this lines up pretty strongly where Charlie is concerned. You could argue that it does for Angel too, but Angel's goal, as mentioned before, is not Redemption. That goal is Charlie's, and hers alone. Yet it is her naivety, inexperience, and insecurities surrounding her failures as a princess that are holding her back from achieving her goal. Going by this, not only do we have multiple protagonists, but we also have multiple antagonists.

"So far, no one else's past is wrought with tension like Angel Dust's."

Even if this wasn't a sweeping, dismissive statement made with limited information, it would still be incorrect. Why? Because each and every character in Hazbin Hotel is going to have their own story to tell. Stories that will each be as relatable and wrought with tension, the only reason we know Angel so extensively is because Viv put the most work into him. She has admitted that Alastor and Angel were characters she wrote based on past dealings and experiences she had. Let those implications sink in a bit.

Now, to further this, people don't need to empathize with a character to like them. They can sympathize as well, even if they personally cannot relate to the emotions the character is feeling.

And where Angel is concerned, he is not addicted to drugs. Angel has used drugs to escape the pain of his trauma. His response in the pilot to having his drugs stolen from him is not one of a typical addict. Which leads us to believe the drugs are simply a coping mechanism more than they are an addiction.

Real Audience for Hazbin is 12 to 16

I would really fucking hope you are joking. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that this was said by someone who isn't a parent. While yes, kids will be sneaky and watch or play things they're not supposed to, a show with drug use/abuse, rape, sex, physical/mental/emotional abuse, and suicide is as much for them as Rick and Morty.

Further, it is not just these themes that make the show for adults. It is the format of the storytelling. Yes, you can complain about what you consider issues with the pilot. But at the end of the day, it did it's job. It established the story premise, introduced important characters (Fat Nuggets does not fall in that category, calm down), gave a basic understanding of their relationships to each other, and get the audience interested in continuing the series. Considering the views for the pilot and the resulting disproportionate growth of the fandom, I would say it did that in spades.

Hazbin Hotel is not Steven Universe. I cannot say this enough times, and the reason I cannot is because I cannot tell you how many times I have come into contact with the underage side of the fandom griping about lack of lore, griping about lack of production information, and overall being exceedingly impatient. At the risk of sounding like an old miser, the underage side of the fandom has never had to wait for additions to a series. Like waiting for Homestuck updates, or the new release of a Harry Potter novel. They have had a steady schedule of content, along with shows that give exposition dumps "in the first 3 minutes."

So don't look at Hazbin Hotel through the lens of kids' show fandoms. It has so much more to offer than that.

Alastor vs Valentino

No, this is not about whether Alastor could beat up Valentino. In the video, DireGentleman pulled a huge pet peeve of mine and lumped Valentino and Alastor together, labeling them both "monsters." Which is opening a huge can of worms for me. So, I will give a brief summary of why that is wrong, and provide a link to one of my other posts for deeper diving.

So, there is a reason why Valentino is more hated than Alastor is. Lumping them together is a mistake.

Valentino is a pimp that abuses and manipulates his victims through intimidation and (implied through) some kind of addiction to the red smoke (whether that is real or symbolism is yet unknown). He takes who and what he wants, be damned the consequences or who gets hurt. He is incredibly self-serving, with no consideration for anyone else. He uses people like pawns, and when those pawns refuse to do what he wants, what does he do? He forces them to do it anyway.

By comparison, while Alastor may use his people like pawns, he also has more consideration for them and doesn't abuse them (far as we can tell). The evidence to support this is the attitude of those serving under Valentino vs those under Alastor. Niffty and Husk both seem to not have a problem with Alastor, and where Husk is concerned it seems that his attitude toward Alastor is their typical banter. But definitely nothing that displays abuse. In fact, when Husker is hesitant or even refusing to do as Alastor asks, Alastor doesn't force Husker. He offers payment in the form of something Husker genuinely likes.

Now, while some might argue this is also manipulating through addiction, one could look at it this way. However, Alastor didn't make Husker an alcoholic. That was Husker's vice to begin with, Alastor simply has no intention of fixing it. After all, Alastor has said he doesn't think anything can change a sinner.

For further explanation and delving into Alastor, click here.

Parents don't 'get' Charlie = Disney Princess

Once again, we fall upon the slippery slope of disinformed statements. While the joke was made that the princess of hell expresses herself best through song, parent issues do not equate to being something that is relatable primarily or only to kids and teens. It's kind of offensive that there is a sort or implication in this statement that adults don't have issues like insecurities surrounding their own failures, or parent issues like what Charlie has or worse. And once again, we fall into the empathize vs sympathize realm and I once again will say that the audience does not need to empathize with the protagonist to make them a good protagonist.

Charlie is a failed princess, her people don't respect her and didn't even prior to her hotel announcement. Yes, she is sheltered and naive. Likely due to how little she was able or allowed to interact with sinners. After all, her ex-boyfriend was from another hellborn family. One that, from what we can surmise, interacts rather frequently with the Magne family.

And it is because of this naivety and inexperience that her method to redeem sinners will not work.

In the video, DireGentleman states that we can pretty much assume that Charlie's redemption methods will work. But her methods, as we see in her song, is to inject demons with meds and take away/burn their vices. She is seeking immediate resolutions to problems that require therapy and a long process that should be making sinners want to change. All Charlie is currently accomplishing is earning the ire and scrutiny of her people. This is why I previously mentioned that Charlie is both protagonist and antagonist, as she is getting in her own way to accomplishing the goal of redemption. And this is where we find that Charlie meets the "starts out being wrong" requirement mentioned in the video as well as "admiring a character for trying."

Charlie is also in a perfect position to be the tour guide for us, the audience, as we observe the metamorphosis of every demon who needs to be redeemed. She is, once again, surrounded by those who need to be redeemed which means we will witness every character arc. This includes Angel, who does not need to be the central focus for us to witness his story.

Finally...

It was stated, or at least implied, that Hazbin Hotel's pilot is no longer relevant. This is a statement that pretty much leaves me puzzled. The only way it would be irrelevant is if Hazbin went in a completely different direction, and we have no reason to believe it will. Vivziepop is still creative director for Hazbin Hotel, and A24 is notorious for giving creators their creative freedom. What A24 is doing is animating, making VA regulations, and ensuring there is an air tight lid kept on the project. Especially given it's popularity in such a short amount of time.

Contrary to what DireGentleman said, Hazbin Hotel will definitely live up to it's hype. Being picked up by A24 will not compromise the show simply because it's not in the same realm of indie production that Helluva Boss is. And it's a bit unfair to Vivziepop to imply as much.

In Conclusion...

Please do a bit more digging in regards to not only the show, but everything surrounding it. Don't lump fanon and canon together and expect them to be equal sources, and please do not claim an obviously adult-audience show is more fit for children and teens.

And lastly, please do more digging to better understand media and storytelling. Reading books is great, but what you were using as the foundation for your arguments were far too simplified and vague,, given the complexity of the protagonist and antagonist roles. Overall, the video just came across as one huge helping of Angel Dust bias with a side of strong dislike for Charlie.

#Youtube #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel husker #hazbin hotel video critical #video analysis #long post #diregentleman #counter argument

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deans-baby-momma · 5 years ago

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AFFLICTED-Part 8

A/N: Here it is....the last part to Afflicted. Enjoy!

The first day of Dean’s ‘vacation’ he busies himself with changing the oil in Baby and replacing the brake pads and fluids in my car, a 2015 Dodge Charger. He had told me they were both overdue on maintenance. So while he is in the garage I do a couple loads of laundry and take care of our daughter.

When I had become pregnant with Mavelin, Dean had insisted we get rid of the car I had been driving, an old hunk of junk Honda Civic hatchback, and get a more dependable vehicle. At the time, the Civic was all I could afford. That was way before I’d even heard of the Winchsters. To say I wouldn’t miss my car was a bold and inaccurate statement. That car held many memories for me but I had to agree with my husband, it wasn’t the safest option.

I am just hanging the last of his never-ending abundance of flannels when he walks into our bedroom, grease covered and dirty. Dean Winchester with grease splatters and stains is a sight that I can’t help but squeeze my thighs together at. The man is always sex on bowed-legs but with specks of oil and grime makes him even sensual.

“Hey baby,” he says as he spots me walking out of the closet. “How about after I take a shower and we have lunch we take Mav over to that park on 9th? Let her watch all the wildlife.”

“Yea, that sounds good,” I answer with a smile. “Do you need help getting those hard to reach areas?”

“Fuck yea! Is she asleep?”

I nod and follow Dean into the bathroom, where we quickly strip and step into the shower stall. Dean immediately steps under the stream, grabbing the soap and lathering it up to wash his hair.

After a couple of minutes he rinses by running his hands up over his face and hair and turns toward me. As sexy and lustful he is when he is dirty, Dean Winchester wet and naked is downright titillating! He is standing there, the water hitting his head and shoulders and rolling down his body.

“Like what you see?” he asks with a smirk when he catches me watching the water slide down his body.

“Duh.” I answer and he pulls me into his arms, hugging me close to his body and allowing the water to cascade over both of us. I can feel his cock grow against my hip. His head lowers until his lips meet mine and I instantly open for him.

The water runs frigid by the time we exit it and wrap ourselves in towels. Dean used to complain that shower sex was complicated but over time he and I have figured out the logistics of it and have used needing a shower as an excuse to get some quality alone time with one another. Especially when the Bunker was overrun by the people he and Sam had saved from the apocalypse world.

Sam and Mary return three days later, with tales of how the ghost almost got the upperhand by jumping from location to location until they realized that the great-granddaughter of the woman was carrying around a broach that she was linked to.

The next few weeks, it is quiet. No one calling for help with cases, the supernatural seems to be taking Dean’s lead and enjoying a vacation themselves. Life in the Bunker is mundane and normal. It is eerily comforting, not having to worry about where the next threat is going to come from and just being a normal-well as normal as the Winchesters could be-family.

But as with all things, the good times must end too. Dean is into his fifth week of his break when the call comes in. Donna Hanscum, sheriff in Stillwater, Minnesota calls early one morning, profusely apologizing for interrupting but in major urgency for some help. After both Sam and Dean speak to her on the phone, you find Dean in your bedroom packing a duffel.

“So,” I begin as I sit on the edge of the bed. “Guess vacation is over huh?”

“Yea, sounds like Donna has sometthing on her hands,” he explains as he rolls up the dress shirt to his suit and places it in the bag. “Are you okay with this? I know you weren’t feeling the best this morning.”

I look up at him, confused. “I heard you in the bathroom. Sounded like you were hacking up a lung. I can send Mom and Sam if you think I need to stay back and take care of you; if you’re coming down with something.”

“No I’m fine,” I assure him. “It’s probably just something I ate or maybe too many whiskeys. I think you were trying to get me wasted last night so you could take advantage.” I finish, smiling up at him.

“Nah, I don’t need you wasted to do that,” he jokes and he cups my cheek in his palm. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Dean, I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. It was just an upset stomach. I am allowed to not feel well all the time you know?” I tell him, laughing at his mother hen tendencies that he denies.

He goes back to packing and within an hour, the three oldest Winchesters pull out of the garage in Baby, headed to Minnesota. Adam stands beside me while we wave them off.

“Why didn’t you go?” I ask as the Impala disappears.

“Dean asked me to stay back and keep an eye on you. Said you weren’t feeling well,” Adam says. “Are you alright?”

“God, that man! Yes, Adam I am fine. Got a little drunk last night and it didn’t settle on my stomach well so I woke up nauseous.”

I stalk back toward the entrance of our home, leaving him standing there.

I am not about to tell my brother-in-law or anyone else that this has been going on for almost a week; waking up nauseated and rushing to the bathroom to puke up whatever is in my system. There could only be one reason for that and I do not want to even consider it.

As I’m going to bed that night, my phone vibrates and lights up on the nightstand. It’s a text from Dean.

D: Hey babe. We made it. Got to catch up with Donna and introduce her to Mom. This case has really taken a toll on her though.

Y/N: Hey. I’m glad you got there in one piece. I had no doubt you would. What does your mom think of our lovely sheriff friend? Her and Donna hit it off? And why do you think that?

D: That’s because I’m an awesome driver. :) Mom is like Sammy and me. Even though she just met the woman, she says Donna is acting strange.

Y/N: Really? Strange how? I mean Donna is kind of strange anyway. So it’s more than usual?

D: Like she was surprised when we walked into the station. I mean she covered it well, but I saw a brief look of shock. I don’t know maybe it’s just been too long and I can’t get a good read on her.

D: So what are you wearing?

The next morning I am met with the same queasiness that has been tormenting all week. Before I could even tend to Mavelin, I was bent over the toilet puking my guts up until I was dry heaving. Knowing that what I have been worried about is more than likely happening, I decide to find out for sure during Mav’s morning nap.

I brush my teeth and rinse my face off before heading toward her room. When I get to the door, I hear Adam talking to her. I push the door open to see my brother-in-law with my daughter on the changing table and he was changing her diaper.

“Who’s a good girl? You’re a good girl. Just like your Mother.”

Mavelin coos and Adam laughs. “Yea your mom likes being called a good girl too.”

I finally make my presence known by walking into the room and standing beside him, pretending not to have heard what he said.

“Good morning, sweet face,” I sing to Mavelin. “Is uncle Adam changing you? Yea, then you’re almost ready for breakfast aren’t you.”

I turn and head toward the rocking chair. Once I am seated I pull the flap of the nursing bra down and reach for Adam to hand her to me.

He turns with her in his arms and stops in his tracks.

“Uh….”

“Oh come on Adam. It’s a boob,” I tell him as I take the baby from him. “It’s not like you haven’t seen them before.”

I help Mavelin latch on and look back up to see that my brother-in-law has left the room. I shrug it off and continue feeding her.

That afternoon while Mavelin is finally down for a nap-she fought her morning siesta- I head to the bathroom where I know the extra pregnancy test is.

The wait for the timer on my phone to go off seems excruciatingly lengthy. When the buzzer finally rings, I take a breath and turn the stick over. Two blue lines. I’m pregnant again! There is a human growing inside me and I am not 100% sure who the father is.

My heart is pounding in my chest as I get rid of the evidence and walk out of the bathroom. So many emotions are running through me; so many thoughts in my head. Mavelin is only 4 months old and is already going to be a big sister. I always knew I wanted more kids, Dean and I had discussed that when I was pregnant with her and he was on board to have one or two more.

But now that it’s actually happening, I can’t be happy; I can’t be excited to be adding another member to our family. Because it might not even be his.

I sit on the end of our bed and contemplate everything. How will I tell him? Do I tell him? Do I just pretend that there is no other possibility that he isn’t the father? That would destroy him, destroy us.

I stand and take a breath before I head out into the hallway and into the kitchen.

Adam is sitting at the table, reading a lore book.

“Adam,” I say to get his attention. “Can we talk?”

A/N2: Did you really think this story was going to be over? SIKE! Ha! Watch for an announcement on Tumblr today at 3PM EDT. <wink wink>

@lostinaseaoffictionalbliss @squirrelnotsam @sandlee44 @internationalmusicteacher @kricketc29 @natura1phenomenon @blacktithe7 @spnbaby-67 @travelingriversideblues-x @keymology @tftumblin @markofdean79 @thevelvetseries @deanwanddamons @winchester-fantasies @akshi8278 @michellethetvaddict @larajadeschmidt13 @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @hoboal87 @atc74 @maddiepants

#AFFLICTED #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #adam milligan #castiel angel of the lord #mary winchester #reader insert #accident #paralysis #cheating #smut #smidge of fluff #angst #unplanned pregnancy #oops

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years ago

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hii, can you tell me more about why you’re anti sukka?

... Okay, now, that’s an inaccurate statement.

As per current internet terminology, I’m not ANTI Sukka. These days, an anti is someone who obsesses with the ships they hate, and spends an insane amount of time harassing fans of the ship, attacking other shippers, making content to disparage the ship and pretending they’re on some sort of superior moral high ground by doing all these things. While I’ve made occasional posts on why I don’t ship Sukka, I don’t think I’ve made any since AGES ago. I don’t get in the way of anyone who does ship it and I wouldn’t even say I HATE the ship. In truth, I just don’t care for it. I won’t read or look for content about it, but that’s not the same as hating a ship, let alone the same as harrassing its shippers: so I’m not anti-Sukka, I just don’t ship Sukka.

Now, since your question’s intent was to figure out why don’t I ship it...

... Warning: long, long essay that won’t sit well with any hardcore Sukka shippers right under the cut. I would be using a truncated term like su*ka throughout the whole post if only the anon hadn’t already used the actual ship name, but regrettably, it’s likely to show up in your tags all the same. I am sorry, preemptively, if it does: please ignore it for your own good and go on your merry way without letting me ruin your day.

I haven’t talked about this for ages tbh. But anyways, here we go.

When I watched The Warriors of Kyoshi for the first time, I actually liked Suki plenty. I liked her initial conflict and chemistry with Sokka, though I wasn’t big on how she made him wear the Kyoshi Warriors uniform when it clearly made him uncomfortable, but all in all, I liked how their relationship had shaped up at that point and I even looked forward to Suki returning in future episodes.

On my first watch of ATLA, I seriously saw nothing wrong in Sukka. I didn’t think a lot of things through during that first time I watched the show, I was just binging the whole thing like a maniac (like a lot of people are doing at the time), so I found their relationship perfectly acceptable as it was, for the show I was watching.

And then later rewatches, even before the Sokkla bug bit me as hard as it has, I realized maybe that wasn’t entirely true.

One of the things I really, REALLY don’t like about Sukka to this day is how unequal their relationship is in terms of how the characters are written in the show. Basically, the same complaint I have about Asami in LOK applies to Suki ever since she reappears in Book 2, but ESPECIALLY in Book 3: her character ends up revolving almost exclusively around Sokka.

Meanwhile, Sokka appears to forget about her surprisingly often and easily.

Instance #1: there’s no sign of Sokka holding a torch for Suki when he first develops a crush on Yue. Implying that, while Suki impressed him, his feelings for her weren’t necessarily romantic despite she outright kissed his cheek... whereas he is crushing, HARD, on Yue. In contrast, Suki was so affected by Team Avatar’s visit to her island that she took off to help people around the world to follow their example. Sokka (and his friends) have a huge impact on Suki’s life... whereas Suki’s impact, sure, taught Sokka to set aside his sexism, but he’s never even seen reflecting on how much Suki has changed him because of this? Neither is Katara portrayed mentioning how much nicer he became after meeting Suki? There’s not a single sign through the rest of the season of how much Suki has meant for Sokka, whether as a teacher, friend or potential love interest.

Instance #2: after initially hesitating to kiss Suki in the Serpent’s Pass, Sokka finally kisses her once they’re about to part ways before she returns to the Kyoshi Warriors. It’s soooo very romantic... until, a mere episode later, Ty Lee openly flirts with Sokka and, instead of reacting as he does later in the season (with a comment along the lines of ”Uh, I’m with someone else”), Sokka merely WAVES AND SMILES. I... don’t even understand why the writers did this. They spent the entire season featuring Sokka avoiding Ty Lee, or being fully hostile with her, but somehow RIGHT AFTER establishing his relationship with Suki, he’s shown behaving like this? It doesn’t make any sense to me. It basically says either he’s not taking his relationship with Suki all that seriously, or he’s just blatantly disloyal, and considering how devoted he was to Yue, I can’t bring myself to believe it’s the second thing. A writing oversight? Eh...

Instance #3: when Toph talks about the moon turning mean, Sokka rages and rants about how nice the moon is. Why do I bring this up? Because Yue is out of reach. Yue is gone: he still feels the need to defend her from someone who isn’t really insulting her despite that. MEANWHILE... Suki’s fate, at the time, is unknown. Sokka has no idea if Azula captured her, left her for dead, tossed her in a river, sold her to a traveling circus...? He doesn’t. He seriously doesn’t. He can’t KNOW what Azula did because the last thing he knew, Mai and Ty Lee were masquerading as Kyoshi Warriors. Implying them, and their leader, did something to the group his girlfriend was part of. And yet, for an entire season finale AND the first half of Book 3, Sokka betrays zero intentions of wanting to discover what happened with Suki, or guilt about not being able to save her UNTIL AZULA BRINGS HER UP. I know it’s very sad for Sukka fans to see Sokka crying over Suki as he did when Azula taunts him... but why haven’t we seen the slightest sign of how affected he is by Suki’s presumed capture/murder/whatever he was imagining happening to her, when Book 2 features Sokka suffering over failing Yue in the Swamp, as well as rejecting Suki initially over guilt because of his lingering feelings for Yue, paired with fear of failing to protect those he cares about? And then in Book 3 he’s even standing up to Toph when she makes a careless comment about the moon spirit...? Why is it so easy to bring up Yue, but not Suki? Is this really just another writing oversight? So we’ve had TWO writing oversights about this relationship already, both of which suggest Suki is barely on Sokka’s mind at all? Is this oversight... or accidental characterization? :’)

Instance #4: Sokka and Zuko travel to the Boiling Rock. Sokka is determined to save his father. It’s a really cool, absolutely acceptable, very important decision for his character... but here’s the kicker: Sokka knows now, at this point, that Suki might still be alive and a prisoner of the Fire Nation. Azula outright said Suki had been WAITING FOR HIM AND GAVE UP BECAUSE HE NEVER CAME. This is what drives him to tears and to shout at Azula while wasting time during the Eclipse! :’D And then? Then he goes to Zuko, to ask him about Fire Nation prisons, and my gullible, first-watch self thought “oh, he wants to save Suki now that Azula said she’s alive! :D” ... only for his intent to be exclusively about his father. I’m not saying it’s WRONG for Sokka to privilege Hakoda over Suki, I mean, he is his father and Sokka really cares about family. It’s one of his main priorities, always has been. But isn’t it WEIRD that after Azula taunted him SO BAD about failing Suki, after saying Suki GAVE UP ON HIM, Sokka makes zero moves to find out if she might be alive and within reach? He could ask Zuko about her, maybe, seeing as he was on Azula’s side in Ba Sing Se and may have known a thing or two about any prisoners she captured in the Earth Kingdom? Sokka could have mentioned he wants to save BOTH Hakoda and Suki, and it doesn’t harm the story in the least for him to say something like that. It doesn’t make his efforts for Hakoda any lesser, and it shows Suki is a priority for him too... But no. Instead let’s feature him bumping into Suki by sheer luck, because that’s truly what it was, and instead of feeling any guilt for not helping her sooner, he’s just lovestruck and attempting to put moves on her when she doesn’t even know who he is yet. Super funny. Super romantic. Super lacking and I can’t understand why, WHY, someone would ever think this is how to write a quality romantic relationship?

Instance #5: connected to instance #4, actually. When traveling to the Boiling Rock, Sokka and Zuko have an awkward conversation. During this awkward conversation, Sokka asks Zuko if there was anything he left behind in the Fire Nation that he might have missed. Zuko smiles and talks about Mai. Sokka is surprised that the “gloomy girl who sighs a lot” was his girlfriend, and Zuko looks genuinely fond of her as he smiles and thinks of her. And then Sokka brings up his own romantic experience... WITH YUE. Instead of bringing up the girl who taught him girls can fight too, instead of bringing up the girl he hasn’t been able to save yet, the girl who MIGHT BE in the prison he’s headed towards, Sokka brings up the girl he absolutely CAN’T save anymore. He brings up the girl whose death most clearly scarred him, deeply, and I’m not trying to lessen the blow Yue’s sacrifice takes on Sokka... but Suki literally, LITERALLY, has something to do with the plot of this very episode? While “My girlfriend turned into the moon” “That’s rough, buddy” is a well-loved hilarious scene and line, I’d have sacrificed that IN A HEARTBEAT if the writers had thought to feature Sokka talking about Suki instead. He could’ve said Azula took her! He literally KNOWS this now, for a fact! Zuko could’ve told him “Hey, maybe she’s in the Boiling Rock too!”, and the plot of the episode wouldn’t have changed in the slightest, beyond featuring Sokka actively looking for BOTH Hakoda and Suki! But no. Again, no. Again, the writers choose to privilege Sokka’s bond with Yue over Suki. With Hakoda over Suki. With anyone else over Suki.

... whlie Suki, most obviously, has no one else she cares about more than Sokka. Why? Because she hasn’t even had enough screentime to establish any other significant relationships, and after the Boiling Rock, she doesn’t establish them anyways.

This causes Suki to feel like a Sokka satellite: SHE revolves around HIM. But Sokka? Sokka doesn’t revolve around Suki IN THE LEAST. Would it be healthy for him to be completely devoted and crazy over Suki to the point of disregarding his ties with other people over her? Hell, no! But it’s not healthy to feature Suki as good as doing that for Sokka either! :’D Suki doesn’t even have a solid, established friendship with any of the other Gaang members. She has POTENTIAL for it, but ever since she joins the Gaang she is most frequently shown interacting with Sokka and only on occasion with the others, but in no memorable, meaningful way with anyone but Sokka. She even joins Katara while searching for Aang in Sozin’s Comet, and we don’t see the slightest sign of unique, important bonding between them. She saved Toph from drowning once, found out Toph has a crush on the same boy she likes, and it’d have been interesting if she, for instance, had refrained from seeking an openly romantic relationship with Sokka out of respect for Toph’s feelings? They could’ve had a conversation about it? With Toph telling her to go for it, maybe, because Sokka liked her too? Suki saying she doesn’t want to hurt her? A perfectly nice bonding situation for these two girls, showing quite a lot of respect between them, as well as respect for their personal relationships with Sokka?

But no. That doesn’t happen.

The second important character Suki bonds most with is Zuko, and in the show, it’s exclusively because they’re with Sokka in the Boiling Rock. Once that’s over you can’t really say there’s any relevant, personal dynamics between them in the show. Heck, Suki tells him she wants a rematch with Azula in the Boiling Rock: Zuko could have offered her a chance to come with him to the Fire Nation and get that rematch, instead of offering it to Katara :’D Why doesn’t he? Because they DID take their time to establish a relationship between Zuko and Katara, even derrailing the show for a whole episode to ensure they would convince Katara to forgive Zuko for all the wrong he did, in the most absurd and contradictory situation possible. Meanwhile, a simple “sorry” from Zuko is enough for Suki to stop holding a grudge. You absolutely CAN interpret this as Suki not being the type to hold a grudge! Which, great! But you also CAN interpret this as the writers being way too lazy to give Suki as much time to forgive Zuko as she could have/should have needed. And sadly, while story-wise I’ll choose to read it the first way, I think, realistically, what happened was the second thing instead.

Suki doesn’t even have a meaningful relationship with Aang. AANG. I’m not saying she should have been his best friend, but Oyaji outright says “you kids had a big impact on her”. It’s PLURAL. It’s not supposed to mean “Sokka had a big impact on her”. Hell, Aang is Kyoshi’s PAST LIFE. Kyoshi is, in all likelihood, Suki’s hero! :’D And yet... nothing. Not even featuring Suki as a Kyoshi fangirl who knows all sorts of random facts about her, such as her favorite foods or the habits she enjoyed most, and Aang saying “oh hey, I like doing that too!”, so that they both could rejoice in this unique, curious shared common ground!

Nay. Nothing. Literally nothing. Her only serious, meaningful relationship is with Sokka... and like I said, whenever Sokka is asked about meaningful relationships with girls, his brain goes “Yue”, immediately, even when the plot would benefit from him saying “Suki” at least ONCE. He’ll sit out at night watching the moon, but he can’t be bothered to bring up how frustrating it is for Azula to have captured Suki whether before or after the Invasion. Yes, Sokka is shown to be the kind of guy who grieves quietly: why is it so much easier, then, to see his quiet grieving for Yue than his concern for Suki?

The truth is, it’s a writing shortcoming. It’s not even something I’d blame on Sokka’s character because, as I always have said, his relationship with Yue really highlights what a wonderful boyfriend he can be when he’s seriously interested in someone. He takes Yue out on dates, gives her gifts, fights for her people, fights the fiancé who only objectifies her, tries to protect her from fulfilling a destiny that will kill her? This is all top-tier romance hero behavior. It is. Why the hell isn’t this behavior seen with Suki too?

It’s not a matter of Suki being a warrior rather than a Princess so she doesn’t need him to act the same way he did with Yue: the show outright, literally, explicitly states Suki is a girl and a warrior, implying Sokka could easily enough woo her the same way he does with Yue, if he cared to. But he doesn’t. It’s Suki with the initiative when their actual romantic relationship begins, and later on Sokka can forget Suki is his girlfriend whenever it suits his fancy, to absolutely no consequences.

So... does this mean, then, that Sokka, in canon, only tries really hard when he’s chasing after someone he can’t be with? That he slacks off and drops the ball when the girl is already his? Well, that’s... not good. Not healthy. Not pretty.

This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing good about Sukka altogether, there are a few things about the ship that aren’t bad... but even then, scenes like “Sokka makes a gross sand sculpture and says it’s Suki” aren’t really that heartwarming to me. It’s not only a comedic relief scene that tries to feature these two as super romantic dorks... but it only reinforces one of the main shortcomings in this relationship for me:

Sokka doesn’t even have to TRY.

He doesn’t. He can make a gross-looking statue, say it’s Suki, and she won’t even make suggestions to improve it? She just says it’s perfect this way. It’s basically the kind of coddling Ursa did with Zuko when Zuko messed up in his firebending display and Ursa said it was wonderful. In the case of a couple, it feels like a mix of cute and condescending? Suki accepts Sokka as he is, sure, so she doesn’t challenge him, doesn’t try to make him do better, he doesn’t need to improve his work... because she’s fine with whatever she gets from him.

This is complacency. It’s a relationship neither one needs to make efforts for. Suki will always accept Sokka’s occasional romantic gestures, even if he leaves so much to be desired in his relationship with her, as opposed to his relationship with Yue. And I’m not saying Sokka DOESN’T care about Suki, but he doesn’t need to do better with her, and while that’s just what Sokka may think he wants/needs for the future, in truth, that’s not what makes his character thrive.

What makes Sokka’s character grow amazingly is CHALLENGE. And I don’t mean that he needs a girlfriend difficult to be with and out of reach (like Yue): I mean that, when faced with a love interest who keeps him on his toes and makes him continue pushing his boundaries, Sokka would genuinely develop and grow further as a man, warrior, leader and love interest. Look at how fast he develops into a quality swordsman while training with Piandao: why? Because it was a challenge. Because it was an opportunity to hone his skills. Because he had to rise up to prove himself, and HE DOES. In the Invasion? He feels he can’t measure up to Hakoda, but in the end? He winds up LEADING the whole operation. People FLOCK to him as he draws out the battle plans and strategies they’ll follow so they can figure out where Ozai is and take him out before the eclipse ends. Right after thinking he couldn’t do it, when the situation DEMANDED that he stepped up, he did and he goddamn EXCELLED at it, proving himself well above these challenges indeed.

THESE are the moments where his character shines the brightest. And a relationship that wasn’t so complacent would do this kind of thing for Sokka’s character just as well: a challenging relationship would promote his GROWTH. He wouldn’t be stunted in simplicity with someone who doesn’t give up on him when he spends MONTHS disregarding her circumstances. Because the truth is, I see Sokka as an overachiever in denial: he wants to go the extra mile, to do things no one else has done before, but because he’s stuck in a world where he doesn’t have the crazy powers his friends do, he wrongfully assumes they’re the ones who’ll do amazing things and he’ll just lag behind them, so he figures it’s better not to bother trying to stand out at all. Yet look at him, figuring out the perfect plan to take down Ozai’s fleet: look at him, making such an impression on Piandao, epic swordmaster, that Piandao even says “If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am.”

Sokka has incredible, extraordinary potential as a character. He has huuuuge anxieties and sources of anguish and insecurities, and those only make his potential greater. He has flaws that can be worked on, there’s so much room for growth...

And the true reason I can’t support Sukka, on Sokka’s end, is because I don’t think that relationship will encourage him to grow any further.

Meanwhile, I can’t support it on Suki’s end because I don’t think she deserves to be an afterthought for a boyfriend who has so much going on in his life that she’s a secondary or even tertiary thing in his life unless she’s right in front of him. And even when he doesn’t have that much going on (meaning, during the first FOUR comic trilogies), he’s shown traveling the world with his friends instead of spending time with her. And heck, where Suki SHOULD have arrived in the South Pole with Zuko as his guard during North and South, Suki doesn’t show up at all. Why? Seriously, what sort of logic explains that the Fire Lord’s appointed BODYGUARD would stay behind in the Fire Nation while Zuko travels halfway across the world, with hell knows how many dangers ahead? If she HAD gone with Zuko, she would’ve had a chance to spend more time with Sokka and it’d even be a point in Sukka’s favor. But that doesn’t happen. To make matters even worse, Sokka doesn’t even tell Aang to say hi to Suki for him when Aang leaves to the Fire Nation by himself in Smoke and Shadow? There are TWO WHOLE PANELS as Aang takes off on Appa with NO DIALOGUE. Sokka calling after Aang to ask him to say hi to Suki literally would’ve fit PERFECTLY, right there! But no. Suki doesn’t even get that much from her boyfriend.

Seriously, it’s NOT THAT HARD to show a healthy long-distance relationship. It’s not that difficult to feature Suki and Sokka longing to see each other but having too much going on to meet up. But that’s not what we got with Sukka, not in the comics, not in the show. Fans ARE free to believe otherwise, and I’m not going to trample on someone who thinks we just conveniently never get to see the healthiest aspects of their very positive relationship... but there’s no genuine evidence to back up this belief. It’s just wishful thinking and hoping that things are far better behind the scenes than what we’re genuinely shown.

Again... I blame the writing. Especially seeing as Yang’s writing of Sokka is DISMAL. But it doesn’t erase what’s already there. It doesn’t do away with the very obvious problems in this relationship.

The positive moments Sukka gets are offset, for me, by all the negatives. The meaningful relationship they could have developed feels underdeveloped instead, something we should take for granted is there and nothing more. And even those positive moments and episodes aren’t necessarily that positive?

In particular, I point to The Ember Island Players: there are soooooo many messed up things about Sukka in this episode I have no idea how people aren’t more bothered by them. First of all: the episode features Sokka crying about Yue’s staged death scene, and Suki is shown amused, saying she had no idea Sokka had made out with the moon spirit. First of all: SOKKA DIDN’T TELL SUKI ABOUT YUE. Her initial reaction here is amusement, for some reason...? Yet as we already saw that there’s no real bad blood between her and Toph despite she, of all people, KNOWS Toph has a crush on the same guy she likes, there’s no real reason to think Suki would behave like a jealous fiend if she knew Sokka had a relationship with someone else before her. Yet Sokka doesn’t tell her about it: this implies he either doesn’t trust her, or doesn’t know her well enough to realize she WON’T be a jealous fiend, and outright assumes she will be one because of mistaken preconceptions about how relationships work.

At this point, Sokka and Suki have been officially together since Book 2, episode 12. Book 2 happens in spring. Book 3′s conclusion is at the end of summer. This means Sokka has had about four-five months of a relationship with Suki. Out of which, yes, she spent the majority of those months in prison :’D but then he rescued her! And... apparently proceeded not to tell her about his experiences while fighting in the war? To not share his biggest failure to protect someone he cared about? So... to NOT open up to Suki about anything that genuinely mattered?

Considering he’s willing to snap at Toph when she brings up the moon could be “mean”, considering he’s willing to tell Zuko that his first girlfriend turned into the moon when they’re only starting to trust each other... this unwillingness to tell Suki about Yue feels OFF. It doesn’t make any sense. His relationship with Yue was far from something to be ashamed of. It meant A LOT to him. Why the heck hide it from Suki, when all the reasons sound either condescending or distrustful as hell?

Ah. Because the writers thought this scene would be funny, that’s why.

And the funny scene gets even BETTER when Sokka shushes Suki and proceeds to cry about Yue’s death: he’s shutting her out. And hey... Suki doesn’t like this. She turns her face around and looks pretty irritated, whether by being shushed or by his unwillingness to share his past with her or BOTH THINGS...

... And then the show doesn’t acknowledge this OBVIOUS, SIZABLE, IMPORTANT shortcoming of their relationship ever again.

We’re supposed to assume Sokka explained everything later just because? Hell, he looks like he has absolutely no intentions of doing that. If you ask me, it even could feel like he thinks his relationship with Yue is none of Suki’s business? And that’s not pretty. That’s not good romance writing, no matter how you look at it.

This, of course, is not everything: there’s another two unpleasant situations in this episode alone! :’D

The second one is a slightly smaller one, but bears mentioning all the same: Aang is annoyed when the play makes a mockery of Zutara, so he gets up and leaves: Sokka tells him to bring him snacks. After his initial request, Sokka wraps an arm around Suki and they’re shown surprisingly cuddly now, DESPITE their previous impasse. At first, Suki smiles fondly at him. But then he turns around and asks Aang for more snacks. And then Suki outright looks ANNOYED, while Sokka looks like he doesn’t give a single crap.

This, I feel, ties in with what I mentioned earlier about how Sokka doesn’t even have to try with Suki: Suki isn’t merely a happy girl who thinks Sokka can do no wrong. She CAN be annoyed by him and his behavior, but for some reason, she chooses not to bring up her grievances with how he’s acting, even if it doesn’t sit well with her?

So while there’s supposed to be something so very cute with the monster blob sand statue, her approval doesn’t feel genuine to me. I simply can’t see it as genuine. Because when you feature Suki smiling in that strangely motherly way, saying the statue is “sweet” (instead of, I don’t know, saying she actually sees the artistic merit of it (if she did) or saying he just needs to put in a bit more work), she’s focusing exclusively on making SOKKA feel better about himself. And when Suki is annoyed? He doesn’t have to show remotely the same amount of consideration or compassion she displays for him. Why? Because she sweeps her feelings under the rug and lets him get away with everything he does, even things she’s not happy about. She lets him get away with keeping important secrets, lets him get away with annoying her in the middle of the play, AND...

... lets him get away with rubbing in Suki’s face that Azula kicked her ass :’)

Look, I’m not even being my biased shipper self here. The third unpleasant thing in Ember Island Players is that Suki decides to point out that Team Avatar keeps getting out of deadly pinches by sheer luck and that they lose a lot! She doesn’t say this with concern: she looks sardonic, like she’s legit mocking them. It’d feel completely out of place if she hadn’t been annoyed by Sokka earlier, so it feels (to me) like she’s just taunting him because she’s already not in the best of moods and expects to feel better by making fun of him. Not a terrible crime, but a rather strange one to commit too, considering she’s making fun of her boyfriend damn near dying all the time. You’d think, maybe, that kind of possibility should worry her a little more...?

... But then Sokka retaliates with: “You're one to talk, Suki. Didn't Azula take you captive? That's right, she did!”

Isn’t it goddamn WEIRD that Sokka would bring up what, according to a large amount of Suki’s fanbase, must have been a terribly scarring experience for Suki... just to win an argument with her? Just to piss her off because she’s making fun of him? They’re BOTH shown being remarkably inconsiderate towards each other and the struggles they faced in their respective journeys in this scene. It’s supposed to be lighthearted bickering, but the subject they’re choosing to talk about isn’t lighthearted AT ALL.

According to some Suki fans, Suki could have even been tortured, tormented in thousand ways, by Azula when she took her prisoner. There were whole posts going around about how heartwarming it was for Suki to still be waiting for Sokka, no matter what...!

And THIS is how Sokka reacted to Suki’s patient waiting for him? THIS? By telling her “lol loser Azula caught you anyhow so your argument’s invalid”? If Suki HAD gone through some serious torture, beyond getting stripped off her uniform, how on earth would it be healthy for Sokka to use this allegedly mentally scarring experience AGAINST HIS GIRLFRIEND?

Now then, it WOULD BE fucked up, but the truth is, Suki wasn’t tortured at all, so the whole delusional, tragic “Suki is so emotionally strong because she believed in the man who would come save her even in the darkest of moments!” is honestly nonsense in the end: a girl who was tortured, tormented and anguished by the memories of whatever she experienced in Azula’s hands wouldn’t have retorted to Sokka’s comment with an irritated: “Are you trying to get on my bad side?”

Yet again, Suki is annoyed.

They’re both annoyed by each other’s arguments.

But their discussion ENDS at this point, and goes forgotten, again.

Suki isn’t even a quality bickering source for Sokka, because as soon as Sokka rebuffs with a counterargument she doesn’t like, she turns things personal and takes offense. Where he may not have taken her initial taunt as a particular, personal attack, she does interpret his words that way.

AND THEN THEY PROCEED TO FORGET ABOUT THEIR ARGUMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS, YET AGAIN :’)

Now then... is all this so terrible? Am I making too big a deal out of small things that shouldn’t be inspected so closely, especially as they were likely written with humorous intent and nothing more? It’s entirely possible!

You see, I don’t exactly love the way romance is handled in ATLA because it’s frankly always flawed and faulty beyond belief. People often have said one of the three canon relationships is better than the others, but at this point I disagree altogether: they’re all written to be flawed and have huge gaps of logic in the behavior of the characters involved. The girls are always shown as prioritizing the boy above everything else ever, and the boys are too often shown leaving them behind, forgetting about their love interests alarmingly frequently, being outright FORCED by the plot to let go of their attachment to them, whereas there’s no such conflicts or situations with the girls, in the least! Implying that it’s fine for girls to be completely devoted to a relationship, to the point where their whole LIVES revolve around the boy they like, but the boy shouldn’t behave the same way and must learn to leave the girl behind or put her aside instead?

... The implicit sexism in this consistent writing element in ALL THREE CANON RELATIONSHIPS is honestly pretty disturbing. I don’t think I need to say much more about it, do I?

Now though, I will, however, point out that it’s relatively good for canon NOT to show Kataang, Maiko or Sukka as perfect relationships because it IS realistic. It’s not pretty, but it is realistic. These characters are children or teenagers who quite often didn’t even have good role models of romance in their parents or peers, let alone even slightly decent childhoods, so for them to be 100% healthy in terms of romance would have been utterly absurd. Therefore, these kids would be expected to make mistakes and then learn from them so their relationships improve over time.

Sokka and Suki’s relationship is flawed, which only lends MORE believability to it, because the characters aren’t warped to fit the narrative, to play them as unmistakably perfect, ideal partners for each other. But those flaws do lend for problems like the ones I pointed out above...

And you see, the ultimate problem is that these characters DON’T learn from those mistakes. They don’t. Mai and Zuko are shown making the exact same blunders in the show and the comics, hell, sometimes even worse ones in the comics. Sokka and Suki still act like they’re totally in love ONLY when they happen to be in the same place and even then? Suki outright ignores Azula’s zapping attack at Sokka in The Search! SHE’S IN THE SAME COURTYARD! But it’s the THREE BENDERS who come to Sokka’s “rescue”, despite he doesn’t even NEED rescuing, since the attack was goddamn meaningless anyhow.

The point is, however, that Suki is right there, damn it, taking care of APPA. And she’d sooner look after the sky bison that than check on her boyfriend, who was just “attacked” by her WORST ENEMY, WITH WHOM SHE WANTED A REMATCH???

Seriously. What logic is this. What kind of ROMANCE is this. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and if I were a Sukka fan I’d be beyond outraged by watching my favorite relationship written so carelessly.

So, because Yang’s writing isn’t even ALLOWED to move anything too far forward, because Bryke don’t want that, none of these relationships have developed in any interesting ways after the show. AT BEST you could say Kataang definitely act differently in the comics than they did in the show, for better or for worse, so you can say there’s some changes in their dynamics, though those changes aren’t necessarily related to genuine character growth. But Maiko? Same old story. Sukka? Same old story.

What exactly does Sukka do for Sokka at this point? He has someone to make out with whenever they cross paths? Yeah, okay, cool. And? That’s it? For that matter, he could be making out with anyone else just the same. What kind of room for growth does she offer him? Going by how she doesn’t even need him around her, by how she has never needed anything but mediocrity from him, I can’t say there’s anything to be found. Their relationship already dealt with its biggest possible hurdle WHEN THEY FIRST MET. That’s the main growth Suki offered Sokka, and now she can’t give him anything else because he’s way too efficient and learned everything she could teach him right away :’) Paired with this, Suki wasn’t developed enough as a character either, so if she has other regards in which she can teach Sokka a thing or two, we simply don’t know it, and the comics refuse to show it to us too, so up to date, Suki is severely underdeveloped by canon and will continue to be, as far as I can tell.

Which, of course, factors in the next question: what does Sukka do for Suki? Honestly, nothing. If this relationship did something interesting for her character, we’d have tons of things to say and discuss about her, but the truth is all Suki-related discussion tends to have nothing to do with Sokka (her past and growth as a Kyoshi Warrior, her future post-canon, whatever the heck happened to her by LOK’s time... I’ve never seen anyone genuinely pondering anything about her relationship with Sokka beyond “did they stay together or not?!?!”). Suki is at her best when she’s with the Kyoshi Warriors, because it’s the only element of her character that DOESN’T revolve around Sokka. Going by the plot of the Shells comic, she could go travel the world teaching girls self-defense, and kicking the asses of sexist dudes! It’s not really going to deepen her character, sadly, because that’s basically ALL we know about her since the start of the show, aside from her attachment to Sokka. And she doesn’t need Sokka to do this. She could do it by herself just the same.

Literally, just for the sake of giving Suki something else to do, not even for my personal OTP’s sake, I’d gladly see Suki breaking up with Sokka so she can damn explore who she is beyond this relationship? The Kyoshi Warriors serving in the Fire Nation Palace was probably the first interesting development for Suki in canon since she first met Sokka, and even then her role there was never explored fully, let alone was her potentially red-herring budding relationship with Zuko.

But who am I kidding? :’) not gonna happen. For all I know, they got married in canon and had a perfectly happy life together. A perfectly happy, mediocre life, where neither one has to make the slightest effort for the other, in the least. Taking each other for granted, every step of the way!

*sigh* I can’t want this for Sokka, seriously. I can’t. I love his character a lot, but I absolutely hate how he’s written in this relationship. Most my understanding of how Sokka behaves in a relationship has come from how he behaves with Yue, precisely because, as brief as their relationship was, he seriously appeared to value her above so many other things, to fight for her, to do anything he could to help her without asking for anything in return. And that’s why I write him as I do.

Love can feel different when you experience it with different people, of course, and I’m not asking for Sokka to be written exactly the same in two different relationships... but the difference is just way too vast. I don’t question he cares about Suki, but I do question that he genuinely loves her. This is NOT how someone in love behaves. And frankly, Suki’s behavior isn’t that of a girl in genuine love either. She likes him plenty, is impressed by the things he and his friends have achieved, but is it genuine love? How can it be, when they apparently can’t even trust each other about their personal experiences (Yue in Sokka’s case, spending months as a prisoner in Suki’s)? When his behavior rubs her the wrong way and annoys her when they’re at their most casual? When the bickering he’d likely enjoy having with a significant other just falters after two exchanges with Suki because she takes offense to what he said?

In conclusion:

Writing: the writing of this relationship is frankly really, REALLY flawed, far more than most fans are willing to acknowledge (whether fans of the ship or of the show in general). They try to make jokes with this relationship, but these jokes end up highlighting serious flaws in this relationship that are never addressed. Also, their relationship is hardly ever treated as something majorly important for Sokka, who constantly privileges his bond with Yue over Suki, which is radically contrasted with Suki, who has no meaningful relationships in the show beyond Sokka. As I pointed out earlier, the writing proposes the boy doesn’t need to revolve around the girl, but the girl DOES revolve around the boy? Absolutely appalling.

Dynamics: beyond their exchanges on their very first episode, their dynamics don’t offer anything unique to their characters. You can replace Suki with any other female character, and Sokka’s struggle to let go of Yue and accept a new love interest in his life wouldn’t change in any considerable way. It didn’t HAVE to be Suki, let alone a Suki whose original personality (sassy, demanding, proud to the point of bordering on arrogant, prone to making mistakes because of this flaw...) was completely hijacked by a new one (perfectly nice, friendly, reasonable, considerate, flirty, not demanding in the least, virtually flawless...). There’s not much Sokka can teach the Book 2-onwards Suki, or much else Suki can teach Sokka. There’s not much they can learn together either, because the writing never offers them new challenges they haven’t handled before. Their dynamics exclusively hinge on Suki being reliable in action situations, weak humor centered around Sokka being a mediocre boyfriend, and making out. That’s all their relationship provides, and frankly, they BOTH can do better than that.

Potential: I don’t think Sukka has much more potential beyond what we already have seen. Their natural chemistry isn’t anything out of this world, it’s FINE, but it’s not exactly something extraordinary that can’t be found anywhere else. And that’s really at the crux of why I don’t ship it or find much enjoyment in it: neither Sokka nor Suki appear to be at their best in this relationship. Suki is outright worse off by this relationship because she went from feminist poster child to a girl who REVOLVES AROUND A BOY. Please, let’s let that sink in? There are better possible relationships for them, relationships that absolutely could explore aspects of BOTH characters that have gone underdeveloped and overshadowed in canon, just for the sake of weak humor and make-out sessions.

*sigh*

Fact is, most the problems with Sukka are a matter of poor writing. With better writing, the relationship could be good, and would be easier to take seriously. But even then? I wouldn’t ever expect this relationship to outshine other possible ships for both Sokka and Suki. If you feature another girl as Sokka’s big, rude “girls are fighters too” awakening... what’s left for Sukka? Speaking from experience, seeing as I outright wrote that: without this factor, their relationship wouldn’t be anything particularly noteworthy. Sokka would respect Suki right off the bat, sure, maybe surprise her a bit because of how unpredictable and unexpected he can be, but there’d be no genuine reason for them to seriously develop feelings for each other. That their entire bond hinges on their first encounter, rather than the growth of their relationship across time, is far from appealing for me in a relationship. I absolutely need more than that to ship something.

I’ve already brought up most these arguments in the past, as well as others I probably forgot to mention, but I can give you one more post to look at (if you want it), specifically about how a certain ship can be a vast improvement for Sokka over Sukka :’D This, I’d hope, will clarify what I mean when I say other ships can offer Sokka far more than Sukka does. I didn’t dig into it here, since I tried to focus exclusively on why I won’t ship this, but that might help expand your understanding of my reasons not to support it. And then there’s also the ship I support for Suki... here are my arguments on that topic too. Admittedly, I was more centered on Zuko in this second post, but I basically already gave you all the arguments why Suki in Sukka doesn’t work for me :’D and there’s a few arguments in there about why Zuko would be a far more interesting love interest for Suki than Sokka has been so far, too. So... that’s that. I hope I gave you plenty to think about :’D

#anon #all this is about the ship itself #I have no qualm with the shippers except a select few #who exhibited some really gross behavior years ago #and whom I've happily not crossed paths with since then #I have no severe qualms with this ship's supporters #not like I do with OTHER ships #that won't be mentioned #so no I'm not saying no one should ship it #but I'm saying this is why I don't #*breeeathes*#anyways I hope you enjoy the veeeery long post anon

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9r7g5h · 5 years ago

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Her Little Garthy

Fandom: Fantasy High

Rating: K

Genre: General

Summary: In which a previous Ayda gains her child.

Words: 2097

Disclaimer: I do not own Fantasy High.

AN: So, Garthy specifically stated that they were from Zajiri celestials, and they’re a half orc. While Ayda could be their bio mother, Ayda has also said in her notes that she hasn’t been in love with anyone for at least the last three lifetimes, spanning the last 150 years. Garthy is nowhere near that old, and Ayda is half phoenix, not related to the Zajiri at all, while Garthy also exhibits no bird-like features. So, best conclusion is adopted families and with the cuteness of Jawbone adopting Adaine, this went ahead and popped out as well.

Ayda Aguefort legitimately wasn’t used to people being inside of her library. Other than Roland, who she had hired many, many years ago as a young man, it was common for her to pass her many days reading and writing and studying without seeing a single other soul. Silence, broken only by the sound of her quill on paper and the rustle of pages, the occasional thunk as she dropped a book back into place, her hands getting a bit too old for the larger of them.

It was nice, in a way. She was old, early fifties by her count, as inaccurate as it was, since she didn’t have an exact date of her last reincarnation. The person she had hired, according to her notes, to take care of her had skipped out when she was young, leaving Roland for the task he was woefully unprepared for. But he had taught her to read and write and use the magic within her, all the things her absent father should have done, so she was grateful, to him and for the silence. She knew she was off, knew something about her seemed strange to others, and so she accepted and enjoyed the silence for what it was.

Except, now, there was an orc woman standing in her library. Clearly suffering from exhaustion, weakened by some unknown affliction Ayda would have to study later, and, most obvious and concerning, coated in blood both her own and not. Her clothes were tattered, clearly showing signs of the fight she had most likely been in just a short while before, especially since her sword was still dripping blood onto the wood of Ayda’s library.

She was also cradling an infant in her other arm, another thing that intrigued Ayda, but that would have to wait for further examination.

“Please,” the orc woman said, holding out the infant to Ayda. “Please, take her.”

Ayda had had very little interaction with children in this life, though a previous one who had made children of various species their subject of investigation had left incredibly detailed notes. So she knew how to cradle the child’s head with her elbow, keeping the infant face up so it could breathe, the runes on her arms flaring slightly to produce the extra heat something so small would most certainly need.

It was so tiny. Fascinating.

“Do you require assistance?” Ayda asked once she had made sure the child was secure, her mind content that said task was complete. “I am not a healer, but I can escort you to-“

“No,” the orc woman said, even as she unsteadily lowered herself to the floor. “No, please, just, let’s just stay inside. No one will bother us here.”

Ayda wanted to ask what the orc woman meant, but there was also part of her that could take a very well-educated guess as to what she was talking about. Ayda was considered weird here on the Leviathan, an anomaly, a magic user amongst all of the pirates that focused on swords and their primitive miniature cannons. Sure, there were some pirates that knew a bit of magic, enough to call up a wind to fill their sails, or those druids who were trying to grow a garden on the north western side of the city, but nothing like her.

There was nothing like her anywhere.

Except, to an extent, the infant she was now holding in her arms.

It was clear the child was a celestial, probably from one of the angelic fiends that inhabited orcish religions. Zajiri, if she had to take a guess, though she would have to reexamine the child and compare the brief mental notes she had taken to the books she knew she had, second floor, twelfth row on the left side of the library. Maybe she could convince the mother to let her borrow the child for a bit, later, when she wasn’t slowly leaking a large puddle of blood.

“Are you sure you do not require assistance? I am available to help if you require it.” For, of course, a fair and reasonable price, but Ayda had been taught to not bring that up when someone was in obvious danger. It was rude, and could potentially hold up events that needed to happen at a quicker pace.

Still, the orc woman shook her head.

“No, I’m alright,” the woman said. She took a few deep breathes, placed her hand over her lower stomach, and the puddle of blood stopped growing as a low light glowed from her hand. A healer, then. “I just needed somewhere safe to rest for a bit.” She stopped for a moment, looked at Ayda. “I’ve heard what you can do. What kind of person you are. Figured you wouldn’t hurt a baby, and could maybe help ward off those who would.”

Ayda gave a jerky nod of her head, adjusting her arm as her shoulder started to feel sore. She disliked violence, though she was well versed in quite a number of spells to protect herself and her library as necessary. She had actually just been working on one a short while before, to help with the unraveling of someone’s very essence. A work in progress, but it showed promise.

“Your child is a celestial.” A statement, though perhaps with the slightest bit of a question behind it.

“As are you,” the orc woman said back, giving a small shrug. “Don’t know what you are,” she added, “but mine at least isn’t a bird.”

Ayda gave a squawk of laughter, finding humor in the orc woman’s statement, she following with a chuckle of her own shortly after.

“It’s funny, because I’m only part bird, and your child doesn’t seem to have any bird within them,” Ayda explained, the orc woman giving a nod at her explanation. No other words, but still the nod made her feel warm inside, at least for a moment. “Is that why you came here, because of our shared heritage from the celestial realms? If you’re looking for information on your child’s legacy, I could be of some service.”

A shake of the head, the orc woman’s previous brief smile disappearing. “You’re strong, right?”

Another jerky nod from Ayda.

“Strong enough to protect a baby, if anyone should try to harm it?”

Another jerky nod, though this one with confusion.

“I am not sure why anyone would try to harm a child, especially in the presence of a wizard, but if you need my help keeping this one safe, I would be happy to help. Do you require this assistance?”

“Good,” the orc woman said. After another moment of sitting, she forced herself to rise, Ayda rising with her, not even aware of when she had sat on the floor to be face to face with this strange orc woman, the child still in her hands. “Look,” the orc woman continued, stretching out the soreness in her muscles that remained even after the healing, “there some asshole out there, James Whitclaw or some shit, who wants to eat my baby’s brains. Kidnapped me from my ship when the word got out that I was birthing something special, thinks it might help him become king or something someday. I’ll be damned before I let that bastard touch that skull, but I’m badly outnumbered. I won’t ask you to come with me, but no one will try to take my baby from you here. Will you watch her until I come back?”

Ayda paused for a moment, looking down at the child in her arms. Sleeping soundly, maybe a few hours old, still wrinkly and that weird newborn orcish green before it settled into its permanent shade.

“Will you allow me to research your child during this time, until you return for it?”

The orc woman snorted and nodded her agreement. “Thought you might say that, from what I’ve heard of ya.”

“Then by the seven seas and the twelve stars and the nine hells, I will care for your child as my own until you have returned to claim it.” Ayda’s runes flared as she spoke her oath, the orc woman satisfied with that response.

“Let me see her real quick then,” the orc woman said, holding out her arms. Ayda was careful handing the child over, watching curiously as the orc woman sniffed the infant’s head, held it close to her chest, and placed a quick kiss on its forehead, causing it to coo and murmur in its sleep.

A brief pang of jealousy, that Ayda quickly forgot about as the child was returned to her care.

“Garthy,” the orc woman said as she reached the door, not turning back. “The babe’s name is Garthy O’Brien.” And with that the orc woman was gone, sword on her should, prepared to go make the world a safer place for her child.

Ayda leaned down as the door closed shut and sniffed the infant’s head, her eyebrow raising as she smelled the strange scent the newborn gave off. Not the various odors one expected from a child, pleasant but not overly so. Fascinating.

“Well, Garthy,” Ayda said as she headed towards the stairs, shifting the child in her arms to a more comfortable position, “I have promised your mother that I would care for you as if you were my own. While I have never had children, as far as my knowledge of my past lives allows me, you are now legally mine until your mother returns. An hour? Maybe two? That should be enough time for me to study you, get a sense of your origins.”

At some point during her statement, one of Garthy’s large eye slid open, looking up at Ayda with sleep and curiosity in equal measures. Curious pupils, a wonderful color, just hinting at the mystic within the child, just waiting to be found.

Ayda leaned down and kissed Garthy on the forehead, the child quickly lulled back to sleep by the warmth of her runes, safe and warm until its mother returned.

***

Ayda Augefort legitimately wasn’t used to people being inside of her library. Other than Roland, who she had hired many, many years ago as a young man, it was common for her to pass her many days reading and writing and studying without seeing a single other soul. Other than, of course, her child, Garthy. A health ten years old, if she had to guess, though half orc aasimars weren’t her specialty, they were happy to spend their time sitting with her in her library, handing her the books that her hands were too old for, taking notes for when her eyes were beginning to fail her.

She hadn’t been the best of mothers, of course. She had been woefully unprepared for the challenges of raising a child, especially one that had been left with her by an orc woman in the middle of the night, once for the child to be left for what Ayda had to presume was the rest of their lives. The orc woman had never come back, and knowing the Leviathan and a smattering of statistics, it was highly unlikely she ever would.

But Ayda had taught Garthy how to read and write and how to use the magic within them, had learned to cook more then just a basic sandwich to feed her new child, and had even considered reaching out to Arthur to let him know about his new grandchild, though she had lost the nerve just before she had. So far she had given them all of the love that she could, in her own strange way of showing it, and Garthy was happy and healthy and seemed to be doing alright.

And by the seven seas and the twelve stars and the nine hells, until the day her next reincarnation was to come, she would make sure that was the case. She loved her little child, the small creature that had so quickly grown from the squalling infant, her little Garthy, and even in her next life, she would make sure that Ayda loved them too.

(And she would, even without the notes reminding her to love Garthy with all her heart, to love her child she couldn’t remember, Ayda would love them. Because Garthy would teach her how to reach and write and use the magic within her, and would love her with all of their heart, and even before Ayda could do so, as Garthy picked her newborn form out of the ashes, Ayda would love them.)

#Fantasy High #Ayda Aguefort #Garthy O'brien #Dimension 20 #fanfiction

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scarlet--wiccan · 4 years ago

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I do feel like if the mcu version of Wanda has something to do with mutants showing up as many suspect (in a reverse m day situation I guess somehow) the twins will become mutants again—provided krakoa isn’t intentionally leading up to some kind of reveal about Wanda being made a scapegoat despite actually being a mutant (not that they should be treating her this way regardless but anti-mutant oppression is the only kind (white, cis, heterosexual) marvel writers seem to care about)

I genuinely don't pay enough attention to the movies to have an informed opinion on what's happening with Wanda, and I can't begin to guess how they're going to start incorporating X-Men properties. At this point, I don't think we know when, or even if, they plan to. Have there been any statements about it? If you want my personal opinion, I don't see the point of having the X-Men in the main MCU continuity. Like, Marvel Studios could continue making X-Men movies, but I literally have no interest in seeing Scott or whoever in the next Avengers.

I have been wondering if Wanda's representation in the current X books is leading up to some kind of turnaround. Hickman keeps trotting out this inaccurate, outdated version of the character just to, like, dump on her, and it's such a willful misinterpretation of past text, and so incongruent with her appearances elsewhere, that it reads as intentionally bad writing. It feels like a red herring, or a signal that something isn't as it seems. Either that, or he just really hates Wanda, and/or really enjoys demeaning and belittling women. Who's to say?

As much as I wish I could undo the chain of retcons that Wanda and Pietro were subjected to in 2015, I don't want it to come at the expense of the character growth they've since undergone. They've finally gotten out from under the shadow of Disassembled and HoM, but Hickman seems determined to drag them back down.

Pietro had a whole miniseries about becoming a more mature and self-actualized person, and Wanda's gained more agency and respect from her peers than she's had in decades. She's also, for the first time in decades, being written as a competent witch who fits in with the fantasy side of Marvel, and I really want it to stay that way. The character we saw in Empyre: X-Men was infantilized, short-sighted, spoken down to by a man who should be her friend and peer, and, for no clear reason, wearing a costume that's been out of date for nearly ten years. If this is what it takes for Wanda to be in an X-Men story, I don't want it, and even if it is a red herring, I don't want Hickman writing this character because he's a whole antisemitic racist!

Thinking about Wanda being used for a "reverse M-Day" just reminds me of all the different ways the situation could have been resolved while restoring at least some of her dignity. Children's Crusade was a great opportunity that would have required minimal tweaking. Hickman claims that Wanda can't "unring this bell", but she did have that power, back when she was hosting the Life Force. Unfortunately, Doom stole that power from her, and so she was forced to banish it altogether before she had a chance to really use it. With Billy's help, she could have wrested control of the Life Force long enough to cast a final spell. You could even write it so that Wanda's reunion with her children is the catalyst for the restoration-- it closes the cycle of magic by giving Wanda the chance to heal from her grief, and in turn allowing the world to heal from the damage her grief had wrought.

Only a year or two later, in AvX, something very similar happened between Wanda, Hope Summers, and the Phoenix force. Together, they were able to wrest the Phoenix Force out of a Dark Phoenix host and dispel its power, and doing so caused a proliferation of new mutants on Earth. It didn't heal everybody who'd lost their mutations before, but it was clearly meant as a resolution to everything Wanda had been through, and everything she'd done. It shouldn't still be hanging over her head like this, if the writers had chosen to do a true reversal of M-Day, it probably wouldn't be.

I don’t dislike the endings to either of these books, at least as far as Wanda is concerned, and I don’t necessarily believe that M-Day needs a perfect resolution. Tragedies have no narrative weight if they can just be just be undone. Having said that, M-Day was not a tragedy of Wanda’s making, and she has nevertheless been seen, many times, trying to make it right. We should be seeing her in this state any more. If a clear cut fix-it scenario would have put this to rest, I’d have taken, gladly.

#wanda maximoff #jonathan hickman #x-men #empyre x men #bee text #robintext

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bssaz97 · 5 years ago

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Fun Times #1

*Atlas Academy, Recreation Room*

The RWBYNOR group have been experiencing a problem that many Huntsmen experience from time to time....boredom. They had no missions as of late and everything else was pretty much run of the mill errands to do. Something that they all either didn’t want to do or found too tame. The door to the rec room opens and comes in Jaune Arc with frizzed hair and a ‘STOP’ sign he got from his babysit- er, primary school voluntary work. He took a look at the room around him and found a spot to sit at on the end of a couch, in between RWBY and NOR. He sat down and sets the sign on his lap.

Yang: ....Ok I’ll bite, what happened to you Vomit Boy? Did those kids become rascals and tried to climb you like a tree?

Jaune: Pff, I wish, the kids were fine. It’s the mothers of those kids that I had to ward off.

Ruby: Wait what? Those ladies are still giving you trouble?

Jaune: (Rubs his face) No, it’s not that, they’re actually very friendly. A bit too friendly. I swear I had so many of them trying to ‘thank me’ for taking care of their kids that it’s really starting to get on my nerves. I think I’ve been given so many casseroles from Mrs. Lars that it’s starting to pile up in the fridge faster than we can get rid of.

Ruby: Well have you tried I don’t know......telling them to back off or that you’re not interested in their advances.

Jaune: I’ve thought about doing that but I’m worried that if I do that and they take it the wrong way, or maybe they aren’t trying to flirt with me and were just trying to be nice in a over friendly way and they’ll look at me like I’m the one getting the wrong idea.

Nora: Mmm. That’s a good point, a lot of ways they could spin it to make it seem you’re the bad guy. Thirsty moms are a scary thing.

Ruby:(Murmurs) I’ll give 'em something to be scared about....

Jaune: What was that Ruby?

Ruby: What? I didn’t say anything. I was....thinking about that casserole that you mentioned. I’m gonna go get some! (Saying the last statement very tightly then left for the kitchen)

Oscar: So, I’m gonna assume we’re going to be having casserole again for dinner?

Nora: Looks like it. I gotta say, I loved the idea of you getting more attention from the ladies because of the new haircut, but now it’s starting to become old. I miss eating other food!

Blake: Maybe we can go out somewhere to eat so that we have something to do.

Weiss: Actually that does remind me of something. Winter said that the academy was going to be holding a ceremony for a class reunion for older Atlas graduates that she’s going to be attending this evening. Perhaps we can go there.

Oscar: Wouldn’t you all need clearance for that from Ironwood?

Weiss: Nonsense, the event is open to all the Atlas students and hunters, besides it more of a formality for old friends to reacquaint with old peers.

Blake: Well that could be fun. What do you think Yang? ....Yang?

She turned to see that her partner was locked on to her scroll and was having a content smile. Yang looked to be texting someone when all of a sudden she feels a nudge on her shoulder. Yang looks away from the screen and sees everyone’s eyes looking at her inquisitively.

Yang: (Closes her scroll) Haha! Sorry guys you were saying?

Nora: Well.~ You seemed in a good mood, who were you texting?

Yang: Hmm. Oh! I was just reading a message from a pen pal of sorts.

Weiss: Pen pal? I wasn’t aware you had kept in contact with any social relationships outside the rest of us.

Yang: Well Weisscream, I’m sorry to disappoint but I do have a life outside of you all and saving the world. Plus you can’t tell me talking to the same people everyday doesn’t sometimes get on your nerves.

Weiss: Hmm. Fair point. So who are they?

Yang: Oh they’re called Nunya.

Weiss: ‘Nunya’? That’s a interesting name.

Yang: Yeah and their full name is Nunya Business!

Weiss: What kind of name is.....Hey wait a minute!

The other remaining friends starts to laugh at the expense of former heiress. While on of the more intellectual of the group, slang was still foreign to her.

Weiss: Alright! Alright! I get that I walked myself into that one. Sense you are not willing to reveal the identity of your friend Xiao-Long, I will not pry any more.

Yang: Great. Glad to hear Weisscream. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go to the dorm.

Blake: You’re not going to the ceremony with us?

Yang: Sorry Blakey but I’m gonna be flying solo tonight. Miss me too much you guys!~

With that Yang left the rec room and was out of sight from the group.

Jaune: Well sense she’s gonna be doing her own thing, maybe we should try going out someplace fun. Be nice to spend with people my age than moms and kids. By the way is Ruby back yet? She’s been in the kitchen for awhile.

Ren: I’ll check. (Walks from couch to rec room Kitchen) Ruby were you able to-

Ruby is seen looking at a burning pile of what smelt of casseroles in a trash bin. She looks at Ren and they make eye contact for a brief moment before he slowly backtracked his steps and made his way back to the couch.

Ren: Just checked with Ruby, turns out we’re out of casserole. Went bad.

Jaune: Dang it! I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish them before they spoiled.

Ruby:(Coming back from kitchen) Welp! Since we’re out of food, I vote we go do something fun! Maybe we could get Penny to join along.

Weiss: I think she maybe too busy attending the ceremony with Winter as she’s a Atlas representative.

Ruby: Oooohhh yeah. Bummer.

Jaune: Hey Ruby how about we all go see that new movie that we’ve been seeing on the posters lately?

Oscar: Can I come along?

Ruby: Oh, sure I don’t see why not? Jaune?

Jaune: Yeah that’s sounds good the more the merrier!

Oscar: Yes!

Nora: Well you can count us in too! Beats going to a snore fest like a social event. (Grabs Ren and wrapped her arm around him)

Weiss: Well I guess that just leaves you and me Blake.

Blake: You know actually I noticed that the Atlas library had a book that really seemed interesting to read-!

Weiss:(Grabbing her via summon arm) Oh no you don’t! I refuse to attend this event by myself, and you’re the only one singled out by everyone here. So dare try to weasel your way out of this!

Blake: But-! Books!

Weiss: (Dragging her friend to the exit of the rec room exit) They aren’t going to grow legs and run away, they’ll be there when we return.

Blake:(Whimpers)

Soon both W and B of team of their group left the rec room leaving only five of the eight friends by themselves.

Jaune: Guess that just leaves us. Kinda funny, this may be one of the first times we’ve had a chance to hang out as team RNJR.

Ruby: Wait really?! ....oh yeah! Oh this’ll be great then, this will be just like when we had time to relax during our time in Anima!

Nora: Oh yeah Team RNJR is back baby! Wait a minute, we have Oscar with us so that does kind of chance the name a bit.

Ren: So what should we call this arrangement then?

Nora:Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Jaune: Guys we don’t need necessarily a new name for the group, we’re just going to see a movie, not fight a final boss Grimm.

Ruby: Besides, it’s just like Jaune said, doesn’t matter what we’re called. As long as we’re together. (Smiles)

Nora: Yeah you’re right. I’ll think of something later. Anyway let’s make this night a killer!

Ruby/Jaune: Yeah!

Ren/Oscar: Yeah.

*RWBY Dormitory*

Yang entered the room and sighed. That was a close one, she almost didn’t think they would let her leave that easily. Before she could think about the matter further she felt her scroll vibrate as her friend had messaged her once more. She opened the scroll to view the message.

White_Knight: Are you still up for tonight? I didn’t rush you too soon did I?

White_Knight: I could always reschedule!

Sun_Dragon: Nah . You’re good, just my friend was trying to be nosey.

Sun_Dragon: Anyway, you still want to go see that new horror flick that’s out now? Heard it’s supposed to be intense.

White_Knight: Most definitely. I’ve reserved private seats for us on top where we won’t have anyone being ‘nosey’ as you say it.

Sun_Dragon: Really?! Dang I thought reserving a seat was hella expensive on primere night!

White_Knight: Never to fear, I have good connections so the seats are very much legit.

Sun_Dragon: ....bet?

White_Knight: On everything.

Sun_Dragon: Geez Knight, keep tryin’ to impress me and you might get yourself a girlfriend by the end of the night cutie~ ;-)

White_Knight: I like to impress my dear. But let’s keep it slow before we start talking about relationships. Or you might come off as desperate ;-)

Sun_Dragon: Ok see you tonight <3

White_Knight: Can’t wait! <3

Yang smiled after the chat with her pen pal. She originally started talking to Knight after download Instaspam on her scroll when she took that selfie with Blake. Originally she got a lot of likes for how the two looked like a cute lesbian couple but she put a plug on that real quick. While she and Blake we’re getting back to better times, she wasn’t really interested in starting a full on relationship with her partner. Kind of brought bad thoughts about her own family dynamic so that was a no-no. Of course she did lose a few subs for the apparent ‘queer baiting’ from some of the ruder people on the app, but others were actually glad that she made the clarification early on so that people wouldn’t make inaccurate assumptions.

It was actually how she met Knight, through a personal message saying how brave she was to tell the truth and not to take the fake friends words seriously. Yang was a bit suprised about the message so she thanked him later and one thing lead to another and they were talking almost everyday whenever she wasn’t on missions. She got a look at his profile and it looked like he was a music enthusiast and played multiple instruments like the piano and violin. She of course teased him of being a nerd for apparently liking classical music for being a young man. However to her suprise he sent her a link to one of his tracks of his music and while not of fan of classical, he was very good at playing piano covers. He didn’t have a profile picture so she asked if she could send her a picture, she had to be sure he wasn’t a creepy old man or something. To her suprise he did send a picture. Granted he was wearing a hat and a pair of glasses but he definitely looked young. Maybe a bit too young. She was a bit uncomfortable about this little tidbit about Knight, but she knew he was definitely only two years younger than her.

Yang’s sisterly instinct was too let Knight know that he shouldn’t try to flirt with girls older than him but the more she thought about it....it couldn’t be that bad. They stayed only as friends and besides casual teasing it wasn’t anything excessive that would send people the wrong message. So she kept in contact with him. Besides her own sister had a massive crush on a guy two years her senior so it wasn’t that bad. Besides Knight was a nice guy, always polite, never vulgar or tried to ask for body shots of her. What really got her was his respect for women. He apparently had a family mostly consisting of women so that put some insight. So Yang was very glad that Knight didn’t turn out to be a creep. Who knows, maybe she might give him a reward if this first outing goes smoothly.

Yang: Guess I’ll see you tonight Mr. Knight.~

*Schnee Manor*

Whitley has been rereading the chat for the past two minutes and couldn’t believe how far Sun_Dragon and him have come from complete strangers to good friends. He originally gotten Instaspam as a way to entertain himself and share his musical taste to other musical enthusiasts. When one of his recommended came up one day and he saw a picture that immediately took his breath away. That was when first was introduced to Sun_Dragon. He saw at the time how people were bashing her for the honestly miss assumptions about her relationship with a friend. He couldn’t believe how others could be so ignorant and uncouth behavior they were treating the poor dear. He normally doesn’t try to engage in these types of topics but he knew he needed to say something that would let her know that not everyone was like these wolves who just enjoyed to harass her. From their their interactions developed then blossomed into the first genuine relationship he’s ever had.

Truthfully if he had to say, Sun_Dragon may have been his only friend. A friend that he had grown especially fond of. Whitley tried to reason that he was only had a small crush because of her majestic beauty, but soon he began to realize that he found everything about her wonderful, her personality, her casual attude and her plain honesty she told. He had never met a more genuine person than Sun_Dragon. The only problem he was worried about was if his age had worried her some, because being a underage minor made some who were female admirers scared off because of fear of being called a pedophile. However she seemed not too worried about the age gap as she was only two years older than him. That made his whole day when she told him that. Whitley was content for the most part with the screen conversations they had but soon he desired to step up the pace, to meet in person. Whitley was sure she would turn down his advances but surprisingly Sun_Dragon favored the idea as well and now brought him to this moment. In a mere few hours he will meet the woman of his dreams. So naturally he only had one response.

Whitley: YES!!! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes yes, yes! Whitley you’re a genius! Oh my gods! Thank you! Oh......this is officially the best day of my life.

So yes, he was excited.

*Trying something different just a bit of a side story, not canon to anything just a spoof or omake if you will. More for comedy than anything. Hope you all enjoy!*

#rwby lancaster #lancaster #ruby rose x jaune arc #ruby rose #jaune arc #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladona #nora valkyrie #lie ren #oscar pine #whitley schnee #rwby frozen dragon

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haberdashing · 5 years ago

Text

Make Your Statement, Face Your Fear

TMA fic. A doctor goes to the Magnus Institute to make a statement about a very strange patient, but is surprised by who she encounters there.

Inspired by this post (spoilers).

on AO3

Cassie Jenkins was, admittedly, a bit of a superstitious sort, more willing to believe in the paranormal than the average person. She tried to keep it a secret for the most part, at least in the workplace--most of the fellow medical professionals she knew prided themselves in their belief in science and reason, and would turn up their noses at any supernatural explanation offered for a patient’s condition--but sometimes... sometimes, enough was enough.

If it had been just the two missing ribs on the chest X-ray, that would have been one thing. It was strange, admittedly, but much as people liked to think that the human body came in a single general mold (or two molds, perhaps), there were in fact any number of variations to be found on the same general theme, individuals who happened to have body part arrangements that differed significantly from the norm, often without even realizing it, let alone showing symptoms. Perhaps this patient was one of those, having two less ribs than the human average for all his life...

...except his medical records, which were extensive, showed no reference to the missing ribs, even though this certainly wouldn’t have been the first test run on him to reveal them if they’d been present since birth. And there were no records of any surgery that would have involved their removal--it had reminded her of some old rumors about celebrities getting ribs removed to make them looked skinnier, but the patient didn’t look to be a vain man, grubby and scar-covered as he was, and he certainly didn’t need surgical help to looking skinny, as he was practically skin and bones already.

Cassie had asked about it in passing, admittedly as motivated by personal curiosity as she was by medical necessity, as she was doubtful that the missing ribs could be connected to the bad cough that had actually brought the patient into the clinic.

His answer?

A nonchalant “Oh yeah, that’s on purpose.”

That probably should have been the end of it. If she were smarter, more focused, less prone to meandering curiosity, Cassie would have accepted that response, strange as it was, and proceeded with assisting the patient with his actual medical concern. (The array of tests that had been ordered the first time he’d come in, chest X-ray included, confirmed that he had a relatively mild case of bronchitis: uncomfortable in the short-term, sure, but easy enough to treat, and it was starting to clear up already, with no sign of complications and unlikely to have any long-term consequences.)

Maybe he was vainer than she thought, and had done some at-home surgery to remove two of his ribs, managing to pull it off without having to consult actual medical professionals in the process.

Maybe the records she had access to were incomplete or inaccurate, and he had been missing the ribs all his life, and his response was... oh, some sort of sick humor, perhaps? Wouldn’t be the first time patients had tried to mess with her...

But neither of those explanations rang quite true for Cassie, and as the patient appeared irregularly for further appointments and she did a bit of extracurricular digging through his records, things just got stranger and stranger.

The pockmark scars across his body had a clear enough explanation in the records, at least. His workplace had suffered from a severe worm infestation a couple years back, apparently, and an ambulance had been called out during the worst of it; he’d even been briefly quarantined before the ambulance workers had determined that his wounds, while significant, weren’t life-threatening or otherwise in need of extended medical supervision. That was a bit odd, sure, but reasonable enough, though that must have been some infestation, to leave him with marks everywhere like that...

But the scar on his neck, the straight line that looked disconcertingly like somebody had tried to slit his throat? The patient had stammered through an explanation that had something to do with slipping while using power tools, but even he seemed to have trouble keeping up with the details of his own claim, and there was no record of him being treated for any wounds that might have left such a scar.

The scar of his shoulder was similar--it looked suspicious, looked like he’d been stabbed, and his claim that he’d fallen onto a stray kitchen knife reminded Cassie uncomfortably of how patients liked to claim that they just “fell” onto things that had gotten lodged in... certain bodily orifices... it wasn’t the same, of course, but the tone was the same, the desperate attempt to find an innocent-sounding explanation for an injury that had a much more awkward true source. No medical records for that one, either.

Oh, and the hand that looked like he’d stuck it in lava, hard to forget that! When she’d asked the patient about that one, he’d just gone flushed and muttered something about touching a hot pan, but she knew better. Touching a hot pan was one thing; having a hand that looked like it’d been set entirely ablaze was quite another. And, gee, no medical records regarding treatment for that one either, who’d’ve thunk it! Though he’d claimed that he would have gone to the hospital for that one, except that he’d been wrongly accused of murder and was on the run at the time, which she had assumed was a joke or another bizarre lie until she’d actually looked into it, and sure enough...

And the roundabout way he always seemed to ask things, the way that even when he wasn’t dodging questions about his collection of scars he never quite seemed to give a straight answer, seeming very concerned about exactly how he phrased whatever he had to say, even during the most mundane bits of conversation...

And there was the time he’d asked to see an optometrist--completely out of the blue, too, no complaints about his vision or anything like that to go with the request--and the optometrist found that his vision was significantly better than the last time he’d had it checked a few years back, and he didn’t seem the least bit surprised when he found out...

And the way Cassie kept finding old-fashioned tape recorders in her office every time he left, though she never remembered seeing him bring them in...

One or two of these things, okay, maybe she could have dismissed them as mere coincidence. But all of them at once... well...

Cassie didn’t have an explanation in mind, admittedly, natural or supernatural in origin, but just the same, she was very sure that there was something wrong about this Jonathan Sims.

And when a news article she’d been perusing in her downtime happened to make mention of the Magnus Institute, it felt like... like a sign. Maybe that was ridiculous, her superstitious tendencies at their worst, but she knew the moment she read about the Institute that she had to go there.

This sort of thing was what they did, after all, wasn’t it? Look into the weird goings-on that the public brought to their attention, let people come in and make statements and then took on the burden of research for them? Sure, its reputation was... iffy, but she wanted to talk to somebody about this, and the Institute seemed like as good a place to go as any.

She wasn’t going to be stupid about it, though. She knew that patient confidentiality was still something she’d have to consider, especially since--hadn’t the Institute’s files been leaked once, back in the 90s maybe? Jonathan Sims might be weird, potentially even touched by the supernatural, but he was still a patient of hers just the same, and she wasn’t going to risk her job giving away personal information about him just to ease her conscience. As she made her way to the Magnus Institute, Cassie thought about giving a false name for herself, or for her patient, or both, perhaps fudging a few of the dates and details so the connection couldn’t be easily made, while still making it clear that something was off about this patient of hers...

The Institute itself looked rather like she’d expected it to--books and file cabinets lining the walls, haggard-looking employees in business casual running here and there with notepads and pens. The front desk employee, a woman with a kind smile, directed Cassie to the archives when she mentioned making a statement, said the Head Archivist was in and would likely be able to hear her statement himself.

The archives were a bit less hectic and a bit more cramped than the first floor had been. It didn’t take too long for Cassie to find the door labeled “HEAD ARCHIVIST”, a muffled voice from within welcoming her inside as she first raised her hand to knock on the door.

The head archivist’s office was crowded and messy, covered in papers and pens and... and old-fashioned tape recorders...

And the man sitting behind the desk was the very patient that Cassie had come to make a statement about, his scar-covered, unhealthily thin visage recognizable enough to her even without the “JONATHAN SIMS: HEAD ARCHIVIST” nameplate on the desk.

Cassie gasped audibly, heard the click of a tape recorder starting though Jonathan hadn’t moved to turn any on. Her head swam with confidentiality rules and half-formed explanations for how the strange patient she thought was fodder for the Magnus Institute and that same Institute’s head archivist could be one and the same.

Jonathan Sims was the one to break the silence. “Dr. Jenkins?”

Cassie closed the door behind her--it wasn’t breaking confidentiality if it was just the two of them listening, after all, although there was still the matter of those tape recorders. “Jonathan? Jonathan Sims?”

“Just Jon, if you don’t mind. And please, take a seat.”

Cassie did as she was told. The chair was more comfortable than she had expected at a glance, given how worn and threadbare it had looked. She took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and realized after she was done that clearing her mind that small bit had not done anything to help her mind reconcile the strangeness of what was in front of her.

“Rosie told me somebody was coming down to make a statement. Is that--I mean, I assume she meant you.”

“Well, yes...” Cassie’s voice sounded weak and choked, and somehow that was what impressed within her that no matter how the rest of this meeting played out, her professional relationship with Jonathan Sims was certainly going to be... different afterwards.

Maybe he’d refuse to see her anymore. She couldn’t say she’d blame him.

“I’m not sure I should anymore, though. Make a statement, that is.”

“Why?”

Cassie really didn’t want to admit why, didn’t want to admit what had brought her to the Institute in the first place, but much as she wanted to dodge Jon’s question as he had dodged so many of her own, the truth just sort of... slipped out of her.

“Because I came here to make a statement about you.”

Cassie cringed a little, when she realized what she’d just said, what she’d just confessed to, and she anticipated any number of possible negative responses from the man in front of her...

...what she hadn’t expected, however, was for him to start laughing.

She must have been staring, must have looked at him like he’d grown another head, because he calmed his laughter soon enough. “Oh, don’t worry, Dr. Jenkins, I- I completely understand.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Jonathan Sims let out another sharp laugh before adding, “You’re not wrong, either. My medical history is quite connected to the paranormal these days...”

#tma #tma fic #tma fanfic #the magnus archives #the magnus archives fic #the magnus archives fanfic #personal #my writing #jonathan sims

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thejackmeister-mongolhistory · 5 years ago

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Have you read/what are your thoughts on Jack Weatherford's books?

I have indeed read some of Weatherford’s work: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, and his Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan rescued his Empire. He has another book which is something to do on on the Mongol Empire laid the foundation for modern religious tolerance, I believe, but I have never read it.

Before I go much further, I should state a few things. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World was the first ‘serious’ book I ever read on the Mongol Empire. I had finished reading Conn Iggulden’s Conqueror series, which sparked my interest in the Chinggisid Empire: that I was able to, some time after, pick up a copy of Weatherford’s book is what fanned the flames of my passion for the topic. At the time, I can remember being so impressed by the depth of Weatherford’s description and his own passion in Mongol culture, and I do believe without it, there would be no The Jackmeister: Mongol History. Especially in my own earlier videos, before my skills as a researcher had developed alongside my access to sources, Weatherford’s influence can be seen. I think in a video I did on Chinggis Khan’s sons, I basically called them all failures, as per Weatherford’s depiction of them.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World was also a huge boon for Weatherford, as it sold magnificently. There is a good chance today if you go into your local bookstore for something on the Mongol Empire, you’ll find a copy of it there, 15 years since its first release. And online, a search for ‘books on the Mongols’ will likely turn it up in the top results. It’s been translated into multiple languages, has brought him honours and awards even in Mongolia. I think it can be created to some extent to assisting in the increase in westerners (i.e., average people, not researchers and historians) to view Chinggis Khan as something other than a blood crazed maniac. That Bodrov’s Mongol came out just a few years afterward contributed as well: before that, probably most North Americans exposure to Chinggis was Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. No disrespect to Al Leong, but it’s not the most accurate depiction.

Weatherford is a skilled writer, and a key to Modern World’s success is that it is a very readable work. The image he presents of Temujin’s flight to Burkhan Khaldun after Borte’s capture, and the choices he faced, I found a poignant image which has stuck with me. Weatherford’s background is as an Anthropologist, and that is apparent in the attention he gives to discussing Mongolian culture. Not an extensive description of steppe tribes and politics, he places Temujin into a cultural context recognizable to modern Mongolians, a focus on his human side, rather than that of the conqueror. Considering that his entire book is on the positive transformative aspects of the Mongol Empire, that shouldn’t be surprising.

Now, that’s a lot of words talking about the books and Weatherford and things about them. My own thoughts on them? Well…

As I have dug deeper into the works of specialists and primary sources, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World has not aged well. Weatherford is a skilled writer and an anthropologist with a deep appreciation for Mongolian culture. But he is not a historian. And when you read it from an historian’s viewpoint, it is a deeply frustrating work. Because there are so many details and facts it gets wrong that it it very distracting. Opening to a random page while I write this, while discussing the opening of conflict between the Mongols and the Jin Dynasty, he writes:

“The unexpected death of the Golden Khan of the Jurched and the ascension of his young son to the throne in 1210 offered the Jurchen court an opportunity to assess Genghis Khan …” (page 82).

A few points just in this line: the Mongols called the Jin Emperor the Altan Khan, so literally the Golden Khan. Unusual to do so in a secondary source though, and rather annoying for a reader who may want something more specific, and to find out who the name of this particular monarch. Likewise, to call them the Jurched is unusual: the -ed is a plural ending in Mongolian which you will see on the end of tribal names. But the Jurchen weren’t Mongolian, and Weatherford’s section on them as a whole emphasis their tribal origins, which is a slight misdirection considering how sincizied they had become over the 12th and early 13th century. Not 100% sinicized, but more than one might expect reading just Weatherford’s work, and enough that the increasing adoption of Chinese culture and customs by the Jurchen Jin court brought friction with the military aspects and particularly those Jurchen who still remained in the homeland, in what we generally call Manchuria. However, the succession changes he described are completely false: from 1208 until 1213 the Jin Emperor was Wei Shao Wang, a man whose reign was so poor he was posthumously demoted from emperor to prince, but was probably similar age to Chinggis himself! He was succeeded by a cousin, the Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, who was again of similar age to Chinggis himself.

The Jin had plenty of difficulties with their emperors, but they never put a child upon the Dragon Throne (I think the third emperor, Xijing of Jin, may have been around 15 when he became Emperor? That was the youngest). This is just one example, but I could flip around the book and find many more (but I don’t want this response to be 20 pages long).

Weatherford is also frustrating in his relative lack of citing his information, especially particularly interesting claims. The importance of footnotes and endnotes in History, is so that others can see where you got your information from. Essentially, so we can see you’re not making it up, or misrepresenting them entirely. For example, on page 235 he says the Mongol conquests led to an increase in tools carpenters in Europe had access too, and that they built new cranes and other devices based off knowledge gained from routes opened by the Mongols. A very interesting point to raise, one I’d love to follow up on, but there is no hint to where this information comes from, or what evidence supports this statement, or if he is even accurately representing what someone said on this matter. Or when he makes those inaccurate statements, we can’t even follow up to see what it was that misled him in the first place.

Finally, while I agree with the general point of his thesis (the Mongol Empire transformed Eurasia) much of his support for this argument I find either unsupported, or just wrong. Page 233, he says literacy increased under the Mongol Empire, presenting Kublai Khan’s construction of a printing office in 1269 so government mandates can be disseminated, as support for this. That isn’t even evidence for increased literacy in China because of the Mongols, let alone the entire Asian continent. And does establishing a printing office offset the destruction of libraries, archives and deaths of learned people in the initial conquests? He presents the Mongol invasions to Europe as ending the Middle Ages, saying at one point.

“European Knighthood never recovered from the blow of losing nearly one hundred thousand soldiers in Hungary and Poland, what the Europeans mounted as the ‘the flower’ of their knighthood and aristocracy. Walled cities and heavily armoured knights were finished, and in the smoke and gunpowder of the Easter Season of 1241, the Mongol triumph portended the coming total destruction of European Feudalism and the Middle Ages.” (page 155)

This is ludicrous. Heavily armoured knights didn’t even end in Hungary, who suffered the worst of the 1241-1242 invasion, let alone in all of Europe. Saying that it portended the end of Feudalism is like saying the death of Augustus portended the end of the Roman Empire. Sure, one occurs before the other, but they’re only tangentially related. As shown in studies by Erik Fügedi, Hungarian castle building actually increased after the Mongol invasion, now largely in stone instead of wood and earthen walls. And of course, European armour making increased in complexity, as the Mongol invasion predated the famous full suits of plate European knights are famous for.

That is in general the problem with much of Weatherford’s evidence for the impact of the Mongol Empire. There is a huge amount of actual effects the Mongols had, both positive and negative. But Weatherford misses much of these in favour of flashier statements like the above. And by trying to prove this point so much, he ends up minimizing the lives lost in the first place: for some regions, that was the entire experience of the Mongols, and the only place they held in those local popular memories after the disintegration of the Khanates. From what I recall of The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, it had many similar problems. That is why I find Weatherford’s work so frustrating: because it ultimately cannot reach the lofty goals it sets for itself, miring the reader down in distracting, inaccurate representations and doing a disservice to a fascinating and important topic for world history.

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