#and its a whole thing like... we have exams in about the history of their country and all that

[narryffdreaming]

my slow brain wasnt getting the whole point behind people finding it so funny that travis was wearing that USA cap while in London + taking pics with the royals... but then it hit me that if it were me i also wouldn't miss the opportunity to wear something saying "las malvinas son nuestras" while standing in a crowd full of english people so... yeah. i get it now.

[voidhope]

The Other Woman

—

Synopsis: Where Miguel leaves Y/N to go back to a different version of his old wife found in another universe.

Pair: Miguel O’Hara x Spider!Reader

Tags: ANGST!!, long term established relationship, heartbreak, marriage, cheating, mental health, cold/distant Miguel

—

A/N: Hi! I don’t really write at all!!

I have been a silent reader on tumblr for years but this idea has been playing in my mind so much I had the urge to write it. I have been down so bad for Miguel been on his tag like 24/7 indulging in all the content creators have been putting out. So I’m excited to join in giving content, however keep in mind I kinda suck! Apologies for any mistakes, anything confusing, or it not being well written enough. Honestly could have made this into multiple parts with better details but nah. Tried my best ^^ since it’s my first time, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Honestly tbh we all don’t have a solid grasp how the whole canon thing and multi universe works yet so!! A lot of what is written is made up to suit my storyline so please don’t get mad about the inaccuracies.

I love a good angst and today’s story will be EXTRAAA angsty!!! As well kinda long!!

—————————————————

The moment that changed your life was while working on an experiment during your college finals. You were a proud and gifted physics major that was so passionate about discovering and exploring what the world didn’t know.

You had snuck into Alchemax late at night. You wanted to show your professors just how much you could do with the right tools. Next thing you know, playing with their machines, you had spawned a spider right in-front of you. The glowing vibrant red spider had sunk its jaw into your hand.

Your life did a complete turn and you spent the rest of that week freaking out while changes to your body were happening. Causing you to fail your semester after missing exams. Things felt like it could only get worse when a massive blue suited masked man showed up out of nowhere in your dorm interrogating you.

“Where’s the spider?” He had a strong grip on your shoulders. You couldn’t focus while trying to process why this man had what seemed like claws sticking out of the ends of his fingers.

“I don’t know, it like died after it bit me!” You exclaimed nervously at the freakishly strong man. Trying to reach for anything behind you to use as a defense weapon.

“Dios mío no me digas eso…” He groaned loudly letting you go. Having the opportunity to grab something, you threw a sanrio plushie at him. Only causing him to wave his arms in annoyance. “That spider is from my earth and somehow you brought it here. Now you’re a spider-man.”

And the rest is history…

—

You learned that the man was Miguel O’Hara and when he found you he was just starting his missions with the multiverse. You being the few of the firsts to join his team.

Your situation was quite bizarre and he called you an anomaly for a long time, spending hours studying you and also training you. You ended up being the one case that can’t be explained no matter how much effort was put into monitoring you.

Almost like it was meant to be. Your universe remained perfect with its current spider-man doing fine. No big collapse of a black hole or anything. When you got bit by a spider from Earth-928 your DNA merged with that universe making you fit in perfectly. You were one of the only spider-people with an uncertain timeline with new canons being created depending on what universe you were in.

What changed from you being just a piece of research for Miguel is when he then realized that maybe you were a gift from the multiverse. After all the grief and pain he’d went through the universe had given him this person that worked out perfectly no matter how hard he tried to push them away. You fell head over heels for him and vice versa, all while canon events were being created with both of you together.

You were there as his team grew, slowly turning into a family. Then both of you getting married finalizing that this was your home. Everything felt perfect. Although a relationship with Miguel could have its up and down days, nothing could ever tear you both apart. Or so you assumed.

—

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Miguel couldn’t look at you.

“When did this start? Please be honest with me. Did I do something wrong?” You begged at him. You knew he was acting off recently but never did you think it would result to this.

You watched as he exhaled deeply staring at the ground. You felt like you couldn’t breathe as you studied his face trying to grasp onto any emotion he was showing. The atmosphere in his office felt so cold. You so badly wanted to catch his gaze and find the warmth and love his red irises used to give you. He was doing everything to push you away. He was abandoning you.

“You did nothing wrong. I met her during a mission 4 months ago.” Was all he replied.

“Who is she?” Your heart kept breaking. His face hardening as the question slipped through your lips. You knew Miguel wouldn’t leave you for just anyone. Deep in your heart you knew what this was about. He never responded but he didn’t need to when you saw his eyes flicker over to his monitor screens. You followed his trace and saw the photo of Gabriella in the corner.

“Does she have another version of your daughter?” You tried again. This is what made him look directly at you. Miguel kept opening and closing his month unsure how to tell you the truth. You weren’t stupid and he knew that. After everything he couldn’t just walk out on you with a lie.

“No.” He paused thinking of how to finally share the truth without it ruining you. There was no way out of this. “She is a younger version of herself. There is no Miguel in her universe and she’s not important to the timeline. She lives a regular life. I-it’s a chance for me to start at the very beginning.”

You felt your heart being ripped out of your chest. You processed the words carefully. She doesn’t have a child yet… Not only was he leaving you for her but he was going to fall in love with her all over again and start a family with her. A family you wanted so badly to have with him.

“What about with what happened last time you tried to live a life in a different universe?” You didn’t understand how this was happening.

He was always so carful he would never do anything to cause that again. Everything you had witness Miguel work so hard for to keep safe for years. Sleepless nights, returning bruised and beaten, frustrations and constant stress. Was it all for nothing? Is he throwing all his work away?

“This is different.” He turned away from you. “I pushed myself then into an already established life. This time I am creating that life. After all the research we did on you…” He knew that this was going to tear you apart. “I learned that if done right I could have a child from two different universes that won’t disrupt anything.”

It clicked to you then that all the research he was doing on you lately was for this. The research he did on you that time was different, personal, intimate even. As he was testing your DNAs together and seeing the outcomes. He mentioned a child and you were foolish enough to assume he was doing research to see what it would be like if you both had one together. You were giddy even as you watched him work. You had both spoken about having a family together in the past but had been too busy with spider activities. You thought it was a sign of him getting more serious about it, knowing how badly he wanted one. You would have never thought he was doing it to see how he could get back his previous child. The one you could never give him.

You had truly believe that Miguel had recovered from his obsession that his grief gave him. He accidentally destroyed a whole universe needing that life back so badly. You had spent late nights watching him re-watch clips over and over of what he had lost. It slowly stopped once your relationship blossomed with him and you thought he was ready to move on and start new. Why would you have never thought that with such a perfect opportunity presented to him that he wouldn’t drop everything for it.

“I think it’s best that you leave.” He spoke with a soft tone. As if not looking at you any longer will make the problem go away. You couldn’t wrap your mind around how he was just throwing you away like this. As if he wasn’t making you dinner, giving soft kisses, whispering I-love-you’s not so long ago.

You felt too choked up to ask anymore questions. Your throat tight and painful as you held back tears from escaping in-front of Miguel. You just nodded and headed straight out the door not being able to handle another second in that room. Your knees and hands were shaky as you speed walked into the nearest bathroom and let it all out.

—

It didn’t take long for everyone else to know something had happened. Everyone had gotten used to seeing you and him sitting together at lunch. You would make him cute lunch boxes and everyone would gag a bit while watching the two of you smile together. Some cringing seeing their scary boss being so soft around you. It was a big surprise when Miguel started to eat alone with a bag of take out food and you no where to be seen.

His teams he sent out for missions were all confused when you weren’t assigned to anything. Knowing you were one of the best, one of them slipped out a “Call for Y/N!” In the middle of fighting an anomaly too strong for them. Miguel only looked away.

It wasn’t until a new woman showed up in Miguel’s office with a grip around his waist. That’s when the spider-community realized that this was way worse than they thought.

—

You on the other hand had spilled everything to Hobie when he caught you that day leaving the bathroom with puffy eyes. You had been staying with him in his universe until you could gather yourself together to return to HQ. You knew you were going to leave for good, but you needed to go back to retrieve all your things. You couldn’t stay with Hobie forever. Worse that you weren’t from there.

You still had some hope that Miguel would come looking for you and tell you that he was all wrong. However almost two months had passed and not a word from him… That’s when you knew it was time you should return to what you once knew.

Stepping into the portal Hobie followed close behind you. He told the few others who were once close to both you and Miguel that you would be visiting. Stepping through the portal you were immediately greeted by Jessica and Peter B Parker.

“Oh, Y/N.” Jess sighed your name sadly while pulling you into a hug. You felt like you wanted to cry all over again. Missing your friends so much. Peter B came behind giving you a hug on the side.

“He’s on a mission right now.” Peter spoke up. “It might be a long one too but don’t waste anytime just incase.”

You nodded pulling away from them. Looking up around the headquarters building faintly smiling at the past memories you had here. You started heading to different areas gathering all the little things you had left around. Hobie had stitched for you a cute backpack with different scraps of patterned clothes and covered in patches of punk band logos but made with hammer space technology. Making it fun for you to fill endless of your things in the bag.

The last stop was in Miguel’s office. Doubt started to fill your mind; maybe he already threw out all of your stuff. Why would he even keep it after all of this? What no one could warn you of was the other person sitting on his platform.

“Hello!” She chirped at you. It felt like the air in your lungs had just been punched out. You knew her too well. From all the photos and videos you had seen peaking over Miguel’s shoulder. However seeing her in person was something you had never expected. You knew it wasn’t the original her but it was a copy paste image for sure.

“Hi.” Was all you managed to choke out. She was beautiful, stunning. You could see clearly now the similar features she shared in another universe with her daughter. The parts that Miguel didn’t have. She kept smiling kindly at you, almost in a graceful way. You started to feel all your insecurities start eating you up from the inside. How could you have ever compared to her.

“What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” Getting off Miguel’s platform she walked closer to you. The room started to feel suffocating.

“Y/N.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! It’s nice to meet other girls around here.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you realized she had no reaction to your name. So Miguel never told her about you… Or that the fact was he was still even legally married to you.

“My boyfriend isn’t here right now but, if you want, I can tell him you stopped by.” She continued as you stayed silent.

“Oh, no it’s okay. I just came in here to get some stuff.” You rushed as you really wanted nothing to do with Miguel at all. You almost worried that he might even get angry knowing you got to speak with her. If he already dislikes you this much you couldn’t even imagine how he would feel if you got in the way of this for him.

You started heading over to the familiar drawers around the room. Grabbing your old hoodies and shirts finding your most comfortable of things here. You treated this place as one of your safe spaces as you used to spend so much time here.

“Oh I didn’t know these were all yours! I was wondering why this was all around. When I came here I wanted to do some spring cleaning but Miguel wouldn’t let me touch anything.” She followed besides you. “It’s so mind blowing seeing all this technology. We don’t have any of this where I live-“ She continue rambling but you started to zone her out. You felt like you were about to have a panic attack any minute. There was one question that kept burning in your mind.

“Are you and Miguel already planning to have a child?” You blurted out. Your eyes widened a bit as you surprised yourself. She let out a loud laugh.

“Oh dear no! We have only been together about 6 months. You must be new around here so you must not know much about us.” She chuckled.

In some cruel way you were hoping she would have said yes. You had that twisted hope of maybe Miguel just keeping her to have a kid and ditching her after he gets Gabriella and run back to you. In reality he was playing the long game, he really meant it when we said he was starting over. “He’s never mentioned kids anyways. I’m not even sure if he’d like them or do well with them.”

With that statement she made you looked at her appalled. Anyone could see in Miguel how good of a father he could be. Just in the way he takes care of the society he built here. You started to realize that she really has been left in the dark. She doesn’t know anything. She probably doesn’t even know that she’s a replacement of another self. You wondered why Miguel was doing this. It felt like he didn’t just toy with you but with her as well. A man you came to love for how selfless he was, to realize now everything was for his own personal gain. Suddenly you started to feel bad for her. You couldn’t dislike her, she wasn’t doing anything wrong and she doesn’t even know.

“I got all my stuff. Nice to meet you.” Was all you could say as you zipped up your bag and turned straight around out of there. Not giving any glance back at her, you left to one of the empty training rooms to recollect your overwhelming thoughts. All of the self healing you tried the past month thrown in the garbage.

It wouldn’t be too soon that news of you going around the building was returned to Lyla. You had cut out all coms while you were gone so she immediately popped up on your watch when she found out.

“AH-“ You jumped as the tiny AI was suddenly in front of your face.

“It’s so wonderful to see you Y/N. Oh my god!”She started. Then she went on rambling about how she knew everything and had seen everything. How she didn’t agree with what was happening and was doing everything she could to convince you to stay. After 5 minutes of her rambling you stopped her to let your emotions out.

“Lyla, Lyla It’s okay. Just stop. It’s all complicated I know, but this didn’t work out. I wished Miguel just cheated on me like all the other fucked up normal men out there. That I walked in on him deep in another random girl. Though painful I could have tried fixing and fighting for us. But instead what I got was him emotionally cheating on me and chase after something he knows I can never give him.” You felt yourself choke up. “I can never ask him to give up what he longs and dreams for just for me to be happy. I lost this battle the moment he laid eyes on her.”

Finding comfort in the AI your husband made. You’ve created a bond with Lyla that Miguel found cute but you knew now this might be the last time you’ll be speaking with her.

“You can give him a family y/n… you guys have been married two years now. I know you’ve both set the thought aside until the multiverse issues are better but you can fight for him. You have to snap him out of his fantasy. He still thinks about you.”

“Lyla you know deep down truly he never just wanted a family. He wanted exactly what he had. What he lost. Which should be impossible but being by his side seeing how insane the multiverse is… Good for him for believing in something so hard he’s found himself even a third chance to do it.”

“I hate that you’re being too kind about this situation.” Lyla paced around you.

“I love him so deeply Lyla. You know that very well. It’s so hard to suddenly hate him. I am angry, but I’m also emotionally drained I can’t do this.” You let out a deep sigh. “I’ve watched him long for this family when we just met. For some stupid reason when things worked out for us I thought I would be enough… When we got engaged and he would spend some days at home with me not even coming to HQ. I thought he was finally moving on not just from his grief and past but from the weight of his work. I saw a bright future for us.”

“You can still have a bright future with him! You moving here gave him a new canon event, another chance at life in his timeline. Here in his own universe! He’s just too obsessed and he’s lost himself in that.” She exclaimed with her hands up.

“Our canon event was our wedding.” Your frowned deepened. “But the universe didn’t say anything else after. It doesn’t say our canon event means we are suppose to live happily together forever I guess.”

“I’m just trying my best to be optimistic. I rooted so hard for you and Miguel when you joined the team. I know you can remember the amount of times I would force you both in rooms.” Lyla recalled.

“And I’m grateful for it… Even if this didn’t work out. I was given precious memories, not just working with you and being on this team but falling in love with Miguel. I know I’m being all depressed and hopeless but I feel like even if I move on I’ll never be able to replace him and find a relationship like this again. However he threw me away so easily and maybe he never valued me as much as I did to him.” You felt your emotions bubble. “I became who I am here. I’m going to miss everyone so much.”

“You can still stay here and work with us.” She edged on.

“I can’t just sit around here begging at his feet to return to me or moping around doing missions while watching him with someone else. I want to hate him so badly. I know he’s your boss and you’re basically hardwired to do everything for him and you’re trying your hardest to fix what you think is his right path. But think of me a little more and how miserable it’ll be. I’m the only one hurting here.”

Lyla paused and stared at you with an almost glossy-eyed look. While she worked she could see the inner term-oil Miguel was hiding and the emptiness he was turning to since trying to start new in the other universe. It just wasn’t her place to hold this conversation and he was the one who needed to get a grip of himself and really think and talk with you. She can’t be the one trying to mend the pieces for both of you together. What Miguel did was so wrong. She knew you were right and she didn’t want to see any more damage be caused to you.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She looked up at you sincerely. “I hate this outcome for you. Not only are you loosing your husband but your home. When was the last time you’ve even been in your universe?”

“Like a year ago for a mission…”

“Exactly! Even if things are over with Miguel, you have all of us here! I wish you could stay. I understand you leaving, I really do. I know a lot of us will try visiting you but I’m tied to Miguel…” You started to see how it clicked for her too that it’s most likely you might not see each other for a long time. “Even if a spider-person is visiting you I can’t just show up on their watch… It’ll go back to him and I know you wouldn’t want that. I know I’m an AI and I can’t hold real emotions but I mean it when I say I’m going to miss you.”

Tears poured down your cheeks as her words hit you. Going back to your universe is going to be a struggle. You have nothing there now. However nothing can compare to the pain of the outcome you’ve had with Miguel, and you needed out of here ASAP. Your mental health getting worse the longer you stay. Even the other spiders you have come to love can’t bring that spark back right now. You needed genuine time for yourself, even if it’s self destructive, instead of putting on a fake smile everyday here.

“Bye, Lyla.” You whispered. She nodded and waved her hand goodbye at you before disappearing. You took your watch off your wrist placing it on a nearby desk. With it you pulled the divorce paperwork out of your pocket neatly sealed and already signed on your half. Opening a portal you took your last glances at the place you spent so many loving memories in.

Tears blurred your vision as you stepped through the portal. Once your legs landed on a rooftop of a building in your dimension, you racked out full sobs falling to your knees.

You were always just the other woman.

—————————————————

Thank you so much for reading!! I know it was a longer one ~

would anyone like a part 2? If so anyone want a angsty or happy ending? I think it’ll be more in Miguel’s perspective as well!

EDIT: You can now read PART 2 here

[sortagaysortahigh]

Operation Exemies to Lovers | Cregan Stark

A/N: Now yall know i have not written and finished a fic in a hot minute so sorry if this reads a bit wonky. Yk I'm an enemies to lovers and exes to lovers girl, so why not combine them both into a modern!cregan stark fic? Also, this is dialogue heavy as that's kind of my thing, if it's not yours, welpt keep scrolling boo I aint mad!. I also fixed the inc*st family tree so you'll see that in this as well (i'll prob keep it for future modern AUs). Anyways lmk what you think and enjoy! Also, I suck at summaries so I pull quotes from my fics, sorry not sorry pookies

Summary: “So y’know those sappy novels Hel’s always reading, anyways I asked her about them and she had one where the two main characters were like totally at ends with each other but their friends were like ‘nah they should be smashing’ so we think, based on our research and our scholarly source-Helaena, we should force them to be around each other until they finally talk it out! Or well, y’know-f*ck it out”

Warnings: cussing, spelling and grammar errors (sue me!), kissing, mentions of smut/allusions to smut but no smut, arguing, Alyssane Blackwood slander (sorry girl), somewhat mean!reader, this is an AU where Aegon's not a bad guy!!!! just a clown <3, mentions of an ill parent, Baela be hitting Aegon (he earned it!), Aemond is still missing an eye sorry to the Aemond girls

Word Count: 6.4k (period I stuck to keeping it short and sweet)

Modern!Cregan Stark x Fem!Reader

“He’s staring at you again” you scoffed, rolling your eyes, doing your best to focus on highlighting the passages about the few Westerosi Civil Wars that had happened centuries ago. It was already difficult enough to focus in the crowded library, midterms were killing everyone. 

It wasn’t a shock for the once quiet and almost empty library to be packed, especially with student athletes who were desperately catching up on their studies in attempts to pass all of their midterms, write endless essays, and practically beg their professors for extra credit via email. 

You should’ve been able to focus on the task at hand, studying with your best friends Baela and Rhaena for your upcoming history midterm, the exam itself would focus heavily on the several majors wars that shaped westerosi society as a whole, and would even include the transition from government leadership as a monarchy into a democracy. 

Hell you’d even have to describe what was once known as the ‘Iron Throne’ and its historical significance. Truthfully the large metal hunk of junk was now sitting in the King’s Landing Red Keep Memorial Museum.

Usually the library was the easiest place for the three of you to study, it wasn’t as loud as your fourth floor flat in one of the student apartment buildings off campus, it was usually pretty clean and well kept, plus every resource you could possibly need was somewhere within the large building. 

However today, your usually comfortable red leather-lined chair felt stiff and was making you hot, not to mention the lack of air flow and increased temperature due to the amount of body heat on each floor, then the lights were either too bright or too dim, and all you wanted to do was slam the books shut, grab your laptop and leave.

“Let him stare.” you muttered as you tried to keep your gaze on the text in front of you, however it was getting increasingly difficult as a very specific pair of eyes were practically burning a hole into your side. 

Gods, he was so obnoxious.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for you to hold onto the grudge against him, of course he totally earned it! I’m not downplaying your emotions but anytime he’s around you stiffen up like a virgin afraid of dick” your jaw dropped at Baela’s words, now staring at her, brows furrowed in shock.

“Baela! You can’t say things like that” Rhaena almost immediately swatted at her sister’s arm, shaking her head before tucking one of her loose locks behind her ear. “You really take after father sometimes.” 

Baela simply shrugged, glancing back at the two tables that were usually empty, now they were filled with six of the school’s hockey players, all spread apart with a plethora of books, laptops, pens, and notepads covering the tables. That’s also not counting all of their bags laying on the floor besides their chairs. 

“I get that you two broke up on not so good terms, but you should be showing him that you don’t care about him! Not that he makes you so angry you’re about to explode like a bomb in Mario Party”.

With that Baela turned her gaze back to her laptop, however at the sound of several texts chiming in at once to both Baela and Rhaena’s phones, you knew that their cousins had texted them once again. It made sense that they’d all shared a group chat, especially considering how close in age they were, and how large the Targaryen/Hightower/Velaryon family was. 

Of course the first time Baela had broken down their family tree you were incredibly confused. Her mother Laena Velaryon was married to Daemon Targaryen, who happened to be the uncle to her cousins Jace, Luke, and Joffrey’s mother Rhaenyra. 

Now, Rhaenyra was married to Dr. Strong (or just Harwin as he’d asked you to call him once at a family gathering you’d been invited to, to which you quickly declined as he was your Literature professor), but based on the Targaryen’s political status within Westeros, their sons took their mother’s last name, not their father. 

Then comes Aegon and Aemond, now truthfully you’d met Aegon your second week of classes a few years ago when he’d caught you off guard, asked for your number, then got mad when you’d ghosted him after finding out he had a girlfriend! (Shame on him, truly). But you actually ended up being pretty good friends with the goof. 

Anyways, Aegon and Aemond were the children of Rhaenyra’s best friend, and now sister-in-law Alicent Hightower who married Rhaenyra’s only brother Baelon Targaryen. 

It’s also important to remember that throughout this entire family tree, which was in fact drawn out on construction paper for you, Alicent and Baelon also had two other children, Daeron and Halaena, both of them attending Sunspear University together. Then of course Rhaenyra and Dr.Strong (Harwin), have two much smaller sons, Aegon and Viserys, which was even more confusing considering you’d already met an Aegon.

Rhaena and Baela shared a look, and it was a look that worried you, so of course instead of being rational and brushing it off, you clenched your jaw as you slowly turned around, making eye contact with none other than your ex-boyfriend who’d been leaning his head against his hand and staring at you with what could only be described as a mournful lovesick expression.

You rolled your eyes, quickly turning back around before anyone else would look at you and do something that would probably piss you off. 

It also didn’t help that the cousins texting Baela and Rhaena were also seated at the table with your ex boyfriend. 

“Jace said that Cregan wants to talk to you but you blocked him, I don’t think you want to know what Aegon said, but it involved an eggplant emoji and a bed” you rolled your eyes, letting out a deep sigh while sitting up straight and shaking your head.

“He’s apologized a million times and has yet to tell me why he decided to go out of his way to not only break things off with me and tell me he still loved me in the same damn sentence, then go out the same night and end up on Aegon-Aegon of all people’s instagram story sucking face with that Blackwood bitch while she was on his lap.” 

You let out a cynical laugh of sorts, rolling your eyes once again. 

“Tell Cregan Stark that I’d rather fuck Aegon after one of his alley-way vomit sprees than ever talk to him again” however, before you could focus back on your studies, an amused laugh came from behind you before the chair next to you was pulled out, only for you to meet the gaze of Aegon Targaryen himself, a lopsided smile on his face with his brows wiggling in a playful suggestive manner.

“Well if I knew the easiest way to get you into my bed was to go drinking until I’m sick then I would’ve invited you out sooner baby” with that he leaned closer while making kissing noises, only to be met with your hand shoving his face away.

“Aeg, for the last time, she doesn’t want you like that” he feigned hurt at Rhaena, sliding back into the chair with his hand over his heart. 

“You wound me dear cousin! You wound me!” then he sat up straight, now looking back at you “so I was sent over here as a trusted messenger. My boy back there, you know him quite well, if y’know what I mean-” he wiggled his eyebrows up and down again, then you shoved him “-anyways, Cregan has been like all sulky and heartbroken and he really misses you. And he doesn’t want anything to do with Alysanne! She came onto him!, so can you give him another shot?”

With that you simply shook your head, quickly packing your things up while scoffing. 

“Tell your “boy back there”-” you spoke with air quotations “-that if he really gave a fuck about me, he shouldn’t have dumped me after two years for no god damn reason, then fucked that Blackwood bitch-who by the way is a fucking whore!” 

Your outburst was met with the looks of many, Rhaena quickly clearing her throat watching as you packed your things away. “What she means to say is, she doesn’t want to talk to him. I think it’s too fresh still”

Aegon scoffed “it’s been four months people! Four months! The summer ended, it’s a new semester, I think she can talk to him now” he glanced around the table, eyes widening as he watched Baela grasp quite the hefty textbook while glaring at him.

“Baela don’t hit me! I’m just saying! Listen-” but before he could finish you’d already gotten up and mumbled that you’d see them at home while you walked away.

Aegon paused, watching as you walked away, blatantly checking you out for a few moments, then you’d disappeared. He then turned around and motioned for someone to come to the table, this is what led both Jace and Luke to walk across the room and now sit where you were sitting and in the last empty seat of the table.

“Listen, we’re all tired of being caught in the middle of this awkward divorce alright. So we came up with a plan!” Baela shook her head while Rhaena sighed slightly.

“No offense Aeg, but your plans are always horrible, need I remind you of Aemond’s missing eyeball?” Luke winced slightly, remembering the day he’d accidentally hit Aemond in the eye with a firewood poker when swinging it behind him.

Truthfully, Luke had no idea Aemond had entered the room when he and Aegon were ‘dueling’ one another, however he’d felt his poker hit something, and he heard Aemond’s loud scream of pain. 

They’d all been kids when that happened, and to make it worse it occurred on their grandfather’s birthday when everyone had traveled to King’s Landing for a large birthday dinner/family holiday.

“She’s got a point there Aegon, but-guys-we all came up with the idea together!” Luke placed his hands on the shoulder of his cousin and his brother, smiling widely while Baela and Rhaena both shook their heads in disappointment.

“Okay, you win, but if the idea is bad, Baela’s going to smack Aegon with that textbook, so pray it’s not bad” they all nodded, Aegon scooting back slightly.

“So y’know those sappy novels Hel’s always reading, anyways I asked her about them and she had one where the two main characters were like totally at ends with each other but their friends were like ‘nah they should be smashing’ so we think, based on our research and our scholarly source-Helaena, we should force them to be around each other until they finally talk it out! Or well, y’know-fuck it out”

He paused to take a quick breath “But we can’t let them in on the plan, otherwise Cregan’s gonna be all like ‘oh my god no she hates me, the love of my life hates me I can’t torture her, blah blah blah, I’m so nice and honorable, blah blah’ and she’s gonna be like ‘fuck that, I’ll kill him for fucking that Blackwood bitch and dumping me for no god damn reason’. Also I don’t think he ever fucked Alysanne-but I did-niether here nor there though!” 

Jace and Luke looked at Baela and Rhaena as if they were waiting to be yelled at by their mother, meanwhile Aegon smiled and nodded after his long winded explanation.

Rhaena spoke first “y’know honestly, your impression of her is pretty spot on.” Baela nodded her head in agreement before adding in “but if this doesn’t work, and she finds out, she’ll want to kill all of you and Cregan. I’m sure you all have realized being on her shit list isn’t exactly the best”

Jace nodded, glancing back at Cregan who was finally focusing on his statistics work with a stoic expression on his face. “Listen, if it doesn’t work and she kicks our asses that’s fine, but we at least have to try! I mean come on Rhae you told me that she cries over him still! And he’s no better. There might not be tears but he’s so long winded and mopey”

He then sighed, patting Luke on the back “I think this is our best shot. I mean c’mon they’re some of your guys' closest friends, and Winterfell over there’s my best friend that I’m not related to-oddly enough they’re pretty rare these days. They used to be so happy together! Now look at them both”

Baela sighed, nodding her head as she finally set the books in her hands down “she’s definitely not really herself anymore. Maybe if it doesn’t work, then at least they’ll both get closure from their relationship”.

Aegon smiled, nodding rapidly again “see! You guys get it!. Also don’t tell Aemond either, y’know he’s too ‘I’ve got a stick up my ass’ sometimes. We can call it operation-uh what’s the book trope that Helaena called it again-one second everyone!” he paused, grabbing his phone from his pocket before quickly calling his sister.

“Hey Hel, yeah yeah I’m good, what did you call that book again! The one where they were like forced to be around eachother then fuck it out and get married and shit?” 

Several hundred miles away, Helaena was grasping her nose bridge as she let out a deep sigh, her brother truly was a character.

“Oh-okay! Got it-thanks so much Hel, love you too! Give Daeron my love and remind him to wrap it up with those Dornish baddies!” with that he hung up the phone before meeting Baela’s disgusted glare.

“You’re so gross, Aeg. And stop saying the word baddies-you sound so cringey!” he simply shrugged at her.

“Anyways, now that we’re done being rude and judgemental to our baddie eldest cousin who’s super smart, funny, and beautiful, we’ll call it operation enemies to lovers!” 

Rhaena raised a brow “wouldn’t it actually be exes to lovers? Since they’re exes? I guess they might also be enemies based on the way she wants to wring his neck-and not how she used to-” with that her eyes widened as she slapped a hand over her mouth.

Jace sighed “don’t worry Rhae, we already know about the shit he let her do to him. Young love, what can I say” 

Aegon nodded his head, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively once again, then he slightly elbowed Luke, who met his gaze with a laugh before they both spoke in unison “kinky innit”.

“Anyways-are we doing this or not? I’ve got a history midterm to study for and you three are interrupting it, and it’s bad enough that Aegon already made the smartest person we know leave” It was clear that Baela was losing her patience.

“Oh come on Bales! Y’know if you’re still interested I can set you up with ol Benji over there, heard he’s a freak in the she-” there it was, the book smacking him in the face “-ow Baela! Jesus! You’re just like your dad! Mean and ever so beautiful to look at” he winked.

“Gross man, she’s our cousin!” he shrugged “didn’t stop our ancestors, okay fine-fine! I didn’t mean it okay! Shit. you all are so violent. The blood of the dragon I guess”.

-

Three days have passed and the TarVelTower group chat had been in constant communication about ‘operation exemies to lovers’ with the additional confused replies from those that were not present in the library that day.

They were planning a game night, it was something they’d all done in the past, inviting their other friends to come along as well for drinks and a night of utter tomfoolery. Baela and Rhaena had done everything but swear on the Old Gods themselves that Cregan wouldn’t be there, meanwhile Jace, Luke, and Aegon had to practically beg Cregan to come to Jace’s for the game night.

It was also a plus that most of them lived in the same building. Dragonstone University wasn’t that large, not compared to other schools such as Sunspear, Driftmark, or even Harrenhall-although it was rumored that Harrenhal U was in fact haunted, that’s probably what brought so many to the school in the first place.

Baela and Rhaena had to drag you out of your bed after your post-class nap and usher you into the shower, stating that you ‘stunk of outside’, which was rather rude considering your only classes today were virtual. 

They’d mentioned the game night several times, and each time you asked if Cregan would be there, they’d said no, which you found a bit odd considering Jace was literally his best friend and probably closest confidant. Maybe his father had come down from Winterfell again, but you were thankful that he wouldn’t be present to ruin your mood.

All you had to do was take the elevator up two floors, so all you did was shower and throw on a pair of sweats and one of Aegon’s many discarded team sweatshirts. It had his number on it and even after washing it what felt like a million times, it still smelled like his overly strong cologne that he claimed ‘the ladies love’.

He’d also told you that maybe you were an ogre for not loving it, which of course even further solidified your friendship with the moron (lovingly).

You took time to braid your hair, knowing that you’d probably wake up hungover without a want or a need to brush it, so this was just easier. Then you’d foregone makeup, knowing you truly didn’t care how people saw you, especially not your friends. 

Of course the one thing you’d always contemplated wearing sat on your desk, the thin gold chain adorned with a small charm in the shape of a howling wolf. It was as if it sat mocking you because almost everyday you’d stare at it while getting ready.

You’d worn it everyday for a year after Cregan gifted it to you. He randomly showed up at your door one day, slightly out of breath, a wide smile on his face with his disheveled hair pulled back. One hand rubbed against his short beard, while the other held a small black gift bag. He looked as if he’d run here, then was contemplating the decision to run in the first place.

Then he’d kissed you gently, a smile you rarely wore now, adorned your face then.

When you invited him in, he was quick to follow, shutting and locking your door behind him while you made your way to the small kitchen, grabbing him something to drink as he caught his breath.

Then as you spun around to hand him the drink, he held the bag out for you, practically forcing you to open it (it wasn’t forceful at all, rather when you declined opening it immediately, he didn’t hesitate to place the strings of the bag between his teeth before picking you up, then plopping you down onto the couch, soft giggles leaving your lips when he climbed right on top of you.).

You remembered him watching as you opened it, he held himself up overtop you, while you easily pulled the small jewelry box out of the packaging, then when you opened it he looked almost nervous, as if you wouldn’t like it.

But you’d kissed him, pulling him down into your lips, thanking him between rushed kisses. 

You shook your head, snapping yourself out of it before grasping the necklace and shoving it into one of your desk drawers. Out of sight, out of mind, you’d tell yourself-until you’d go looking for a pen and see it again.

Rhaena’s voice knocked you out of your thoughts completely, she stood in your doorframe, her posture a little too straight, which would’ve normally thrown you off, but you couldn’t focus on that, not when you were trying to shake off the feeling of heartbreak.

“You ready? I’ve got the snacks already packed to bring up, you’ve just got to grab our blankets. Baela’s already there helping set up. Aeg said he’d give her twenty bucks if she’d actually arrive earlier than him for once” you laughed at that, shaking your head slightly.

It was no secret that Aegon and Baela were incredibly competitive, and as cousins, they had what could only be described as a sibling rivalry, always trying to one up one another when they could, and making stupid bets over random things.

You actually liked that they were all so close, when you’d befriended Rhaena, you never thought that she and her sister would come with a large family that would welcome you in with open arms.

“Yeah, just, let me-um-get my shoes, yeah my shoes. Sorry” you were mumbling and stuttering as you walked to the shoe rack beside your door, slipping your feet into your fuzzy slippers before following Rhaena to the living room, grasping the small pile of throw blankets before the both of you left your apartment. She was quick to lock the door, then you both headed upstairs.

You were still technically early when you arrived, and as you entered the apartment Aegon was handing Baela a $20 bill, while she smirked. Luke was laying on one of the couches on his phone, Jace was putting drinks in the fridge with the help of Benji who honestly looked happy to be there. Meanwhile Aemond sat reading whatever random philosophical book he’d chosen for the week, and to your surprise, Helaena was pulling what smelled like cookies out of the oven.

“Hel! You’re here!” she smiled when she saw you, placing the tray down before meeting your embrace. “Yea, I actually was visiting my parents and Aegon picked me up earlier.” you smiled at that, you enjoyed her company, even if it was a rare occurrence. 

By the time everyone was settled in, around forty-five minutes had passed, and everything was nice. For the first time in a while you weren’t on edge, which was definitely noticeable, and you’d actually managed to relax into the large bean bag below you. Even if it did remind you of a certain someone.

Then, it was as if you’d summoned the asshole himself.

Jace was quick to shoot up and walk to the door, glancing at his phone nervously. Then he opened the door, nervously laughing for a few moments.

Then you spotted him. Not before Aegon, who was already tipsy, had managed to shoot up from his spot on the ground “Cregan! Glad you could make it man!”.

Baela and Rhaena watched as you let out a deep sigh, it was clear you didn’t want to ruin the night, so you simply turned to face away from the door, burying yourself further into the bean bag, covering yourself in the throw blanket as much as you could.

It’s important to mention that the bean bag happened to be big enough for two people, and for a long time, it’s where you would sit with Cregan, well technically, given his size, you’d be cuddled up together, and now, as his gaze found you ignoring him on that bean bag, the gloomy cloud that followed him around had resurfaced.’

After a few tense moments of silence, everyone commenced what they were doing.

Aegon, still standing, held up a deck of cards.

“For today’s game night we’re gonna need to partner up! Rhaena, you’re with me tonight! I need your smarticle particles!” you blinked slowly, Rhaena was usually your partner. Then you sat in silence as you watched everyone partner up.

Baela was shoved into Benji-literally shoved by Aegon. 

Aemond chose Luke as he stated their team needed “balance”, which actually made a lot of sense considering Aemond was always somewhat brooding, and Luke was a ray of sunshine.

Jace glanced between Helaena and Cregan, but when Baela shot him a pointed look-missed completely by you-he chose Helaena.

Which of course left you with the one person you wanted nothing to do with.

Rhaena tried breaking the ice, watching as Cregan awkwardly sat in the armchair beside the beanbag. “It looks like our old winning team is back together!” you were the first to scoff.

“Hey! They used to cheat!” you couldn’t stop yourself from responding to Aegon “actually he waited until we broke up for that”. As you spoke, everyone’s eyes widened, meanwhile you remained in your spot, staring at your phone, mindlessly scrolling through instagram.

However, as good of a guy that Cregan Stark is, you were the only person that was ever able to bring a different side out of him. You two rarely fought, but when you did, it was almost catastrophic and usually ended in very rough sex, or a heartwarming apology after ignoring one another for a few days. 

But you’d never broken up, you both took time to cool off in whatever way you needed.

Things are different now.

“For the last time, she came onto me! I’ve told you this thousands of times!” As he raised his voice, the frustration in his tone was evident, and his accent sounded thicker than usual-a key indicator that he was upset. So instead of backing down, you scoffed, now looking at him, fury evident on your features. 

“Yeah because a man your fucking size was so easily overpowered by her right! She just waltzed right up to you and beat you into submission or something?! Oh fuck you Cregan!” 

The two of you held eye contact, anger and frustration evident.

Aegon slowly sat down, leaning towards Jace and whispering “I think it’s working”, meanwhile Jace shook his head, having been witness to the few fights that you’d actually had with Cregan in the past.

“What would you have wanted me to do, I was shitfaced! Was I supposed to shove her to the ground and tell her to go fuck herself?!” you nodded your head at that, now sitting up, even closer to him than before. He stared down at you as you stared up at him.

“Yeah actually, that’s the best fucking idea I’d say you’ve ever had!” he scoffed.

“We weren’t even together and you hold that against me! Still!” That's what sent you over the edge.

“You fucking dumped me for no god damn reason, told me you loved me, and then went and fucked that Blackwood Bitch! The same fucking day! As if I meant nothing to you, we were together for two years Cregan! Two fucking years!” 

He heard the crack in your voice, everyone did. As you stared at him, he could see the way your eyes glossed over, he knew you too well. He knew the tears were coming.

“I tried to talk to you-you didn’t wanna hear anything!” you shrugged, gathering your things as fast as you possibly could, now looking anywhere but him.

“You don’t fucking deserve to talk to me you asshole”. Then you stood up and did what you always do in these situations, you ran away and left.

He was left there in shock, staring at the door, jaw clenched while he watched you leave. 

“Well that’s one way to start a game night” 

“Aegon shut up!” cue the smack “Ow! Baela! Stop hitting me! Go hit Benji, he likes that shit!-ow! Seriously?! Jace and Luke, get your cousin!”

Then in unison “she’s your cousin too!”

And finally, Benji piped up “is she talking about my cousin?” 

Instead of watching you waltz away, Cregan stood up, grabbing his things and mumbling his own apologies. Then he left, he knew exactly where you lived, so instead of taking the elevator, he rushed down the stairs, trying to cool off. 

When he stood in front of your door, it felt like a routine, something his body was so used to. As if this was muscle memory for him.

Then he knocked, once. No response. 

Twice. Nothing. 

Three times-maybe third times a charm. Nothing.

He stood there, his forehead leaned against the door. Cregan Stark was not a man of regrets, hell he prided himself on actually being a good guy, he was raised to be respectful, to be kind, to be strong, Stark men were not assholes. They weren’t childish, they weren’t selfish, they were supposed to be honorable in every way.

But here he is, leaning against his ex-girlfriend’s door, still in love with her, full of regret for ever breaking things off. He hadn’t even explained himself. He wanted to-he’d tried that day, but you stormed out, tears that he’d caused flowing down your cheeks. 

Then he felt the door shift, and you stood there, wrapped in the same blanket, eyes red as you stared up at him.

Gods, all he wanted to do was tell you he loved you, that he needed you, that you made him feel whole.

“I don’t have any fight left in me Cregan. It’s been months, why can’t you just leave me alone.” 

“Because I love you.” you sighed, shaking your head “no you don’t. If you loved me you wouldn’t have left me.” 

Sure you might’ve been being dramatic, but truthfully, you’d been heartbroken for months, following your breakup you’d lost ten pounds in two weeks. You’d never felt worse, and now, you were starting to feel alright, but it was no secret that there had been many nights full of tears, hugging a sweatshirt that you’d never washed, hoping to preserve the smell of his cologne.

“Can you just fucking listen to me for five minutes, please, I’ve been trying to talk to you for so long, just please-let me talk to you” you shrugged.

“Why?” he blinked a few times, taking a deep breath, running a hand through his hair-hair that you used to always touch, forcing him to sit between your thighs while you braid his hair, laughing when he’d complain, or when he’d do poses for you after you’d finished.

“I love you, I’ve never stopped loving you, I go to sleep at night and my dreams are filled with you, your smile, your laugh, even your fucking frowns. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. My heart fucking yearns for you. I can still feel the way you used to hold me, the way your breath felt against my neck, Gods, I think about you 24/7! I think about everything that I did, the way that I screwed up-I screwed us up. I love you! I’ll scream it from the fucking rooftops if that’s what you want!” 

You didn’t bother wiping away your tears, instead you stepped aside, leaving room for him to come in.

“You want to talk then talk.”

Then he walked inside, and shut the door the same way he used to. 

It truly was muscle memory, the way he walked to the couch and sat down in the same spot he was always in, then he waited for you.

He watched as you slowly sat next to him, still wrapped in a blanket like a sad burrito-Gods he spent too much time around Aegon. He didn’t hesitate to wipe the tears from under one of your eyes with his thumb, repeating the action on the other cheek.

“I didn’t want to break up with you. I never wanted to break up with you. My father’s-well he’s sick at home, I was going to leave, go back to Winterfell to take care of him, to take care of everyone. I just-I didn’t want you to be alone here, and I didn’t want to be your long distance boyfriend that you only ever see on fucking facetime. I just-I couldn’t do it.” 

You were silent, watching as he broke slightly, his voice cracking at the mention of his father, then at the mention of you being alone. 

It was no secret that Cregan and his father were close, you’d met Rickon Stark twice, and each time he’d embraced you with open arms and a warm heart. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he shrugged.

“Because, I’m supposed to be strong, I’m supposed to know my duty to my family, I’m supposed to be there for them, and it was hard-hard to say that I had to leave you for an unknown amount of time. I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to go a day without seeing you, you make me crazy in the best way, even now, whenever I see you on campus my heart practically flies out of my chest. Seeing you at my games, you’re like a ghost haunting me.” 

You slowly nodded, listening to him, watching the way he’d blink away his tears, the way his brows would furrow and jaw would clench slightly. 

“My dad’s the one who told me to stay. Told me not to throw my future away, that he’d be alright, y’know he’s a fighter-always has been. Told me to get my girl back-” he let out a small chuckle, the laugh laced in sadness “-but I think she doesn’t want me back. I went back up after we split up, just for a week, and he told me I was an idiot to leave it all behind. A full ride to Uni if I kept playing hockey? The girl of my dreams? Called me a bloke before he told me that he’s okay, he’s not letting go anytime soon” 

Cregan hadn’t been looking at you, he was focused on his hands, fists clenching slightly as he tried to swallow his own emotions. He hadn’t noticed the way that you’d been inching closer, not until your arms were wrapped around him, head leaning against his shoulder.

“You could’ve just told me from the beginning. I would’ve been your facetime girlfriend y’know? Would’ve figured out a way up there”

The familiarity of it all was what made him break, a small sob leaving his lips while you held him. It didn’t take long for you to shove him further into the couch and climb into his lap, the same way you used to when all you wanted to do was be as close to him as possible.

You held him, sat atop one of his thighs, arms wrapped around his shoulders while he cried into your shoulder. His arms gripping your waist, holding you against him. 

This is what should’ve happened all those months ago.

“I’m sorry for being a bitch” he laughed at that, and you felt his small smile. Meanwhile you ran a hand through his hair, fingers dancing through the dark locks before slowly running against his scalp. Your other hand traced small circles against his shoulder blade, you missed this.

You missed him.

“You weren’t a bitch-I probably deserved that.” you scoffed, moving back slightly, now holding eye contact with him as you brushed his tears away. “I was a bitch, I was the biggest bitch ever.”

He smiled, shaking his head “She really did come onto me. I did push her off-” you shushed him “I know. I believe you, I just-I dunno. I was hurt, then I saw that and it just stayed with me. I figured you dumped me for someone else, someone better-” he cut you off with a kiss.

It was so gentle, so soft, so sweet. Then he pulled away “there’s no one better than you for me. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest. I just-I didn’t want to look weak and I didn’t want to leave you and-” you shushed him again, this time holding a hand against his mouth.

“Shut the fuck up Cregan Stark.” Your tone was light hearted as you shook your head “You’re not weak for having emotions, and you aren’t weak for wanting to care for those that you love. Don’t be stupid, we’ve both been stupid enough.” he nodded his head, then you slid her hand down, now caressing his face, your thumb lightly pulling on his bottom lip.

“I missed you” you smiled, a small giggle leaving your lips.

“Based on the way you stare, I could tell” he rolled his eyes “gotta commit your beauty to memory somehow” you slightly shoved his shoulder “you cornball!” 

“I missed you too loverboy”

Then you kissed him again, a slow, passionate kiss full of emotions, smiles, and even a few giggles. He then slid his hands under your sweatshirt, and you quickly pulled apart, letting him take it off, leaving you in just your bralette, then his lips were on yours again.

Before anything else could happen the front door swung open, startling you both, leading to Cregan’s grip against you tightening, meanwhile Aegon and Jace both hit the floor, while Luke stood there awkwardly, Rhaena shook her head, and Baela looked as if she was being held back by Benji. Meanwhile Helaena and Aemond were nowhere to be seen.

At least until they moved closer to the doorway, both of them shaking their heads and muttering “fucking Aegon” in unison.

“I told you guys it would work! Look at them! Kissing and close!” Aegon still spoke, even from the floor while Jace was on top of him. Then Jace slowly rolled off, letting out an ‘oof’. 

“Were you all eavesdropping?” Aegon blinked a few times at your question, glancing back at everyone else. Then you noticed the flush on Luke’s face and Rhaena’s awkward expression. Plus Jace was nodding his head. 

“Why did the Gods make him our brother?” Aemond shook his head “I truly do not know.” 

“So are you two back together now?” 

You sighed, standing up and grasping Cregan’s hand, pulling him towards your bedroom.

Cregan glanced back, still laughing at the scene “yes. Now please, fuck off mate”

With that you pulled him into your room and locked the door.

“They’re all the worst” he nodded his head at you, he’d expected you to pull him into your bed, however you walked towards your desk, rummaging through the different drawers until you found something. 

You glanced at him “can you help me with this”, while holding up the necklace.

“I’d be honored” you rolled your eyes, a bright smile on your face while he walked over, taking the necklace then as gently as possible, clasping it around your neck. Then he left a line of open mouthed kisses from below your right ear, to the edge of your shoulder. 

“I love you” his voice was soft, a whisper, almost as if it was a secret shared between the both of you.

You smiled, spinning around, one hand now on his face, the other on the back of his neck, fingers tracing circles through his hair. “I love you too”

-

Taglist:

Girl it dont exist LMAO

[yuurei20]

Do you have information about Ramshackle dorm itself? Whether it be a character's opinions on it, or any history/lore from Crowley along the way through the main story/events? I know we don't know a lot about the dorm itself (I think that's intentional, as to leave interpretation up to the player), but combing through the whole story for lore has been difficult for me. Thank you in advance for your efforts and time. :>

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! 🏚

You are very right that we do not seem to have very much information about Ramshackle Dorm!

For characters' opinions we know that Malleus is fond of it (he likes abandoned ruins in general (more here ->)), and Crowley is maybe more ambivalent? He has a dialogue line referring to it as a "dilapidated old--" and then self-corrects to say, "historic building."

Crowley explains that it did once serve as a dorm for the school, and as for why it was abandoned, the ghosts who live there say that everyone got scared of them and ran away, which Crowley confirms.

This is a curious explanation as ghosts are regular staff members at the school with none of the students seeming frightened of them--if anything, the chef ghosts are more afraid of Lilia than any of the students are of them.

While searching for information that may have been missed, I found this fascinating theory by YouTuber Alai Legend:

According to Crowley, he was entrusted with NRC by the chairman of the school, whose identity we do not know. There is also Ambrose the 63rd, the headmage of Royal Sword Academy.

But the theory asks, what if Ambrose’s NRC counterpart is not actually Crowley—what if it was the Twst-equivalent of Yen Sid, from Disney’s 1940 film, Fantasia?

The animated short revolves around a character performing janitor-adjacent tasks who literally dreams of becoming a great mage, which sounds very familiar.

We have a comment from Trey that the dorms were constructed in order of Pomefiore -> Heartslabyul -> Diasomnia, which corresponds to those movies' years of release, but no mention of Ramshackle.

As acknowledged in vol. 1 of the Official Fanbook, Ramshackle has taken a lot of inspiration from the 1936 Mickey Mouse animation “Thru the Mirror.”

Which, in Japan, was released as “The Story of Mickey’s Dream.”

And Snow White, the basis for Pomefiore, was released a year later in 1937.

The theory suggests that Ramshackle is thus older than any other dorm, additionally supported by how it was built alongside the school itself rather than being established in a pocket dimension like the rest, because the school may not have had enough students to require multiple dorms when it first started out.

But if Yen Sid is the founder of the school, wouldn't he have a statue or something? And was he not particularly villainous?

And why is Ramshackle not treated with more respect by Crowley, at least, who is presumably the one person who knows what it used to be?

To counter this the theory asks, what if NRC was not always a villain school? Perhaps it was founded as something else, but at some point there was maybe a shift of power from Yen Sid to someone who decided to go in a different direction.

Someone who really likes the Great Seven.

That could have included a renovation that removed things from its previous incarnation like references to Yen Sid, and abandoning Ramshackle as a relic of what the school once was.

We know that Azul looked through the past 100 years of exam questions in Book 3, the same amount of time that NRC’s student selection process has been in use, the same amount of time that NRC has been losing competitions to RSA, the same time that STYX was established…so exactly happened 100 years ago?

A ghost mentions being the captain of a spelldrive team back when he was still alive 90 years in the past, so at least one of Ramshackle's ghosts moved in after whatever that event was.

The theory proposes that 100 years ago is when the school shifted its focus to the powers of darkness, only admitting students with those particular traits and no longer accepting students who would have been sorted into Ramshackle Dorm.

Is it possible that the prefect is someone who would have been sorted into Ramshackle like the students of the past if the school had not shifted gears? Is the prefect actually where they are supposed to be, just 100 years too late?

Whatever it is that happened 100 years ago, whatever secret it is about Crowley that Azul may or may not hold—the video creator guesses that Ramshackle Dorm is the key!

We just do not know the key to what 🔑

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

SPY × Family: Chapter 93 analysis

this is my first time doing something like this, and I'm no expert so please take my analysis with a grain of salt! all of this is my own theories, so you might disagree with me. please don't be mean, though (also, long post incoming!)

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 93 UNDER THE CUT

The chapter opens with the Eden kids getting the results of their marks, with Anya's...

overall rank shooting up, from 213th to 168th. Showing how she's slowly adjusting to the school and its pace of learning, despite being younger than everyone else (and, also, presumably doing extremely advanced things.... I remember seeing the pythagorean theorem on the board once in the anime)

Damian got highest in History (good job, buddy!), and Anya got second-highest in Classical Language (the one exam she genuinely studied hard for). But what I want to focus on is her expression:

Shock. She'd put up that front (that fake-face, if you will) in front of Becky, Damian, Emile and Ewen, pretending to be all cool and suave but when she sees her results, she's genuinely surprised to get good marks in Classical Language. And even her excited reaction. She was scared of disappointing Twilight (and maybe even Sigmund and Barbara) because she'd genuinely worked hard for this exam, tried to understand, and gave it her best attempt.

But, then, it all comes crashing down with her 24 points in math: but a win is a win!

Maybe this is Twilight's turning point in the fact that acquiring knowledge can be interesting, exciting, and not just a tool of survival? Twilight himself doesn't have a great relationship with studying, (see: his father scolding him as a child for not studying, later: his friends dying because he didn't know enough about the campaign they were going on... but Twilight's relationship with knowledge and its pursuit is a whole other post in itself).

Honestly, him realising that Anya is actually thriving in the setup where education is fun for her, opens up two new avenues:

Twilight himself trying to make learning fun for Anya (unlikely, he tried that before... it didn't work.)

Him leaning on Sigmund and Barbara to tutor Anya (this seems more likely- Endo is probably going to cement the Authens as recurring characters, so them being Anya's surrogate grandparents/neighbors/tutors would seem like a great way to do so!

And then...

My main focus is on the fact that he mumbles this (also his face. But that's irrelevant). Twilight may claim, "I don't understand children", but he's an extremely perceptive man. As much as I love to clown on him, he's highly skilled at picking up on cues of people's feelings. The few times he's failed are mostly due to Anya's shenanigans trying to hide her telepathy, mixed with his usual flavour of overthinking.

But the couple of things he knows about Anya are this:

She was probably raised in an environment where Classical Language was used.

She's not fond of talking about or remembering her past.

Which is why he didn't have the heart to fully sound out the question. In the case of Anya, this is an extremely delicate matter, and he doesn't want to upset her (or, in his words, "ruin Operation Strix.") The way he asked the question and it's portrayed made it feel like he'd been pondering on it for quite a while (which he has; since the beginning of the Cruise Arc), but more so usually. Most likely due to her high marks in the Classical Language tests (aka a dead language), and the fact that she got excellent marks in it, despite formally studying it for less than a year (at least, as far as he (and we) know.) He's been thinking of the possibility, and also thinking of a way to ask her. In the end, when he does ask her—

she lies.

and he lets her. (at least, that's my interpretation)

Obviously, he knows she's not ready to speak about it yet (though we know it's probably connected to her telepathy, so she's not ready to divulge that info).

Look, as much as I love talking about how clueless he is with his own feelings, in this scene, he was just... perceptive? I don't know if that's the right word. But he was trying to keep Anya happy, and bringing up this complex topic without ensuring proper care for her wouldn't be fair to her. And he knows that. So, he leaves it at, "Just forget about it, okay?"

This entire scene felt so... tense, and in itself felt like a fucking gut punch, so I don't know how I'll react to the reveal.)

And now, onto the main focus of the chapter:

him.

If I'm being honest, I thought Demetrius was, like, 16-19 (judging by his voice in the anime), and not... fucking twelve.

Honestly, that just makes his character all the more tragic: he's barely a teenager, and yet... he's going through this. From his awards ceremony, we can see that he got, what, 6 stellas? In addition to the eight he's gotten to be an Imperial Scholar, and if he performs this well in every exam... bro is literally hoarding the Stella supply of the school (sorry, bad joke).

But...

this panel comes up. It's definitely not Anya's telepathy malfunctioning, (heck, it works on Bond and even penguins). Honestly, I think, again, it could be one of two things:

He was experimented on, like Anya

He was trained, (most likely by Donovan), to keep his mind blank.

We're told that he and Donovan had an extremely close relationship:

This could be in support of both the theories: it could be Donovan checking up on his "experiment's" progress (a crude term to refer to him), or, it could have been him subconsciously training Demetrius to hide his thoughts, keep them safe. Anya's project is connected to Desmond's administration, and at the time she was "made", Demetrius would have been around 7 or 8. Old enough for him to figure out what he wanted to have been in life (ofc, that's different for everyone! It takes time, and 8 is an extremely young age to figure out what one wants to do). But, like, how Damian wants to be a politician, it's most likely that Demetrius, the prodigal, studious, first child, would have to follow the path of politics laid before him.

So it could have been Donovan teaching Demetrius to protect his sensitive thoughts from the "weapons" he himself was making: the test subject(s) of Anya's project (again, a crude term to refer to them). Donovan was putting a lot of faith into creating telepaths (most likely for covert work), and them having unwavering loyalty to his administration was not very likely.

And, even if Anya's project was the work of another administration or even country, there's no doubt that Donovan would want to keep his thoughts hidden from these kinds of spies: ones than can see into your very mind, especially if the world is at war: a physical battle or a war for information.

The first theory of Demetrius himself being a test subject is probably Not What Happened; so I think it's probably just Demetrius being trained to keep his thoughts hidden.

But then, we get some of his thoughts:

Which is a lot reminiscent of:

So, it's probable that Demetrius imbibed this from his dad.

It's honestly a bit scary to see how Donovan's "parenting" has affected him: for him, age 12, to be like this.

After this, the chapter ends lightheartedly: Anya trying to emulate Demetrius, and Loid Being Tired™️.

I'm mostly curious about Demetrius: I was so excited when he was finally revealed! But I hope we get to see more of his thoughts, soon. Especially more about his relationship with Damian. But, this chapter was fantastic!

(This was super fun to do- if i do posts like this for chapters as they come out, would you all like it? Again, I'm not an expert in psychology (or even analysis). It's just me and my silly lil thoughts. I hope you liked it!)

[serendipity-by-chance]

New Gen 11

so like ive been having thoughts about ng11 given the recent chapters and all and wondering. whats the point of them lol. this is like me questioning the author again lol.

like we were first introduced to them very early on with sae's intro. ever since then the 11 players of ng11 have been mysterious. even more so with how much the manga heaped praises on sae making him compete against all bllk players and still coming out on top. also being the only one (prior to charles) who could actually play with shidou. and given that sae is genuinely the best midfielder we've seen so far, it was obvious that we would be excited for the ng11. However, ng11 is still confusing. according to bllk wiki (bear with me i havent read the manga in a while and im too busy with finals to reread and find the panels but trust once exams are over i will!) ng11 are players who are categorised as the "next gen" of football superstars. which would give u the idea that theyre the best of the best in the current gen. but here's the thing. they're not. look at loki. he's the same age as sae (i think i forgot sae's age but loki is 17/18) but loki isn't part of ng11. which u can say maybe he isnt anymore cause he's pro but remember when we see Michael for the first time isagi knows he is part of ng11 (chapter 157) which means isagi knows who the ng11 are right? Also when we see lorenzo for the first time (210) once again isagi knows who he is. Which definitely means that isagi knows who ng11 are. but thats not the case for loki which can lead us to think loki was never part of ng11. but loki is definitely a better striker than kaiser so why isnt he part of ng11? my problem with ng11 is how it seems so inconsistent? what makes one part of ng11?

again bllk wiki says that ng11 players are those of the next gen who have skills that cant be copied by others in a sense? like we see when michael makes his first kaiser impact even noa admits that michael is better at his speed of shot than noa and thats not sth he can easily copy. not to mention sae with his flawless pass. so is that all that makes one ng11? a skill that others cant copy? so ig ng11 is just the bllk version of knb's miracle generation (this came to me when i was rambling to my sister). the whole concept and history of ng11 being still ??? is so weird to me especially given that we have 3/11 of them in the manga now with sae and michael playing such pivotal roles to the two biggest characters (isagi and rin).

anyways, this thought came up to me cause i was seeing people on twt being like "so rin is better than ng11!!!" cause kaisagi decided to team up to beat him which made me think "huh, is he?" which then made me start questioning what exactly makes one ng11.

but whether rin is better than ng11 or not is still up for debate. especially cause there's 8 other players we havent seen. also... they all play different position lmao. rin is definitely the best in bllk. with rin vs kaiser debate... hmmm. even im a bit like... confused. id say in terms of their personal skills they might be more evenly matched? the kaisagi team up is necessary bc while rin has pxg on his side the entire bm team is divided betn kaisagi with both of them in a tug of war to turn the team in their direction. the match of bm is never bm vs other team lol. its always isagi vs kaiser vs other team. kaiser doesnt fight with just rin he fights with rin AND isagi and the same goes for isagi. which is why the next chapters will be so interesting.

anways these are all my thoughts on ng11! maybe i'll do a better one when exams end and i reread the whole manga and take proper screenshots and notes.

[theallianceofcelestials]

I think you guys know what time it isssss…YAPP TIME‼️‼️‼️

I wanted to wait a bit longer than a week because it felt too soon but I also didn’t want to wait a whole month

-Sigma Anon

Dear Sigma Anon, you don't have to wait so long between Yapp Time ^^ It's okay to talk with us!

Anyway, I don't really know what to talk about, if I'm being honest, haha! But Moongleam made me a little wheel that helped me choose ≽^•⩊•^≼

So by the power of Spin The Wheel, I shall talk about another funky AU her and I have! It is also based off of an older Disney movie, like the Treasure Planet AU, What Waits For Me, but this AU is based off of Atlantis - The lost empire!

First of all, shame on Disney for not pushing its marketing more, and "being afraid" that because it's so much more different than their other movies, it's not good, or something, I dunno, I'm just rambling

So TSAMS Atlantis AU (Moongleam version, funnily enough) was chosen by the wheel, so, for those who haven't seen Atlantis - The lost empire yet, spoiler warnings and please go watch it

So, setting is the USA in 1914, and Eclipse and Solar work at a museum as a linguist and cartographer respectively. They want to get funds by the museum to go on an expedition to discover Atlantis, a mythical lost city, but fail miserably so. So, they do what anyone in their situation would do, and just say F U to everything. That night they meet eccentric millionare Golden Freddy, who is a great friend of their uncle, Ruin, and offers to fund the expedition, persuading the twins to join said expedition, and gives the two eclipse models a book called the Shepherd's Journal, which contains not only the history of, but a path to Atlantis. The twins obviously try to pretend to not be excited as they prepare for the expedition, which lead by Commander Sven Ivanov, or as he likes to be called, Commander The Creator, and includes the Commander's second-in-command Lieutenat Felix Sinclair (the last name is taken from the movie, it is not Trashcan Man/Felix's canonical last name), demolition expert and geologist Ruin, medical officer and mess cook Sun (who is the twin's older brother), with Solar taking the position of head mechanic, and Eclipse being the radio operator, which he's very enthusiastic about (lie)

Emergency Moongleam takeover, because Sunray got sick during the writing of this, and that's somewhat my fault. He'll either finish his yappin in the comments, or just edit this thing. Sunray both asks for, and sends all the virtual cat hugs if they don't survive /jk

So uhhh... This week was shit

I lost a bunch of sleep this week cuz of different scheduling, like I had a national competition on monday which if I succeed at getting at least 60% at, I'll pass one of my exams. So I obviously study for it yeah? As does everyone else. Problem is, all the questions were bullshit. Like we got asked something along the lines of (this is a translation): The maker of Git chose that word for it because of a british slang word that reflects his personality. Who was he and why did he make Git?

Now for those lucky people not studying anythin relatin to IT, you may wonder what the fuck is a Git. Well it is a version controller, which helps multiple people work on the same project without losing any of the previous versions.

Now you may wonder, what in the hell is this question doing in a software development related quiz thing? The answer should be nothing! But it was full of shit like that! With barely any software development relating stuff! We had more networking than software developing!

So I got over that, and I probs failed it, haha. After that, on Tuesday, which is usually online for me, we had to go in for a math test because the school wanted us to decide if we want to take the advance or the normal math exam at the end of it all, when everyone fucking knows what they want by this point. And whoever made that test woke up hating all of humanity, because they made one of the sneakiest, suckiest, pettiest and spiteful tests known to mankind. I already suck at math T_T

Wednsday went normally, aside from photos having to be made which I look absolutely hideous on, and this is with me not actually hating my appearance, and then Thursday came. Blasted, blasted Thursday.

I'm online during Thursdays too, which is perfectly fine by me. More sleep to me because I don't have to get up at the ass crack of dawn. Only, while I'm sitting in online classes, one of my girlies, who was also online, writes to me, asking me if I know about the bomb threats.

So uhh, schools were threatened with bombs in my country 👍 Everyone was sent home, and the suckers will have to make up for the day by going in on Saturday or something. I'm fine on that front, just a bit shooketh cuz nothin like that happened in my lifetime before. I don't actually know if anything has been found in any school though, ours is clear.

But on a lighter note, the reason why I had to take over for Sunray: So I bought a couple of those funky instant noodles from a newly opened asian store, cuz I'm a sucker for them and so is Sunray, and I made the first one back on Wednsday. It was fine, we did our usual ritual that we do with it by sharing.

I made the second one today, and let me tell you, that shit was foul. The seasoning was fine, nothin groundbreaking but the average for these kinds of stuff, but the pasta of it was weird.

You know how these things usually come in a rectangle shape and have a specific noodle for it? Well this one didn't! It looked like the love child of angel hairs and spaghetti! This was kinda funky at first, though it should have been the first sign.

Then when I was making it, It's stench just started permaneting in the air. Like that's all I could smell from it. Sunray could smell the spices, but I couldn't, and it did not get any better when I left the pasta to soften. That was the second strike.

So I start eating, and no matter how long I waited it did not soften fully, and we was in the middle of writing this when I proposed we eat dinner, so we wanted to get back to stuff. Well, I couldn't taste anything but the pasta.

I got about halfway when I couldn't take anymore of it, and passed the rest off to Sunray. Now I'm used to shitty digestion, because I don't treat my stomach well, but Sunray isn't. So he basically immediately had a visceral reaction to it, and almost threw up. Now he's sulking in the bed

But the worst part is! The worst part is I couldn't find the time, energy and motivation to write! :(

So now I need to put my wrist murdering tendencies to good use. Who cares about that anyway? /jk

I'm also feeling sick from the soup :D

[thescrumblingmidwife]

Hi! I know other people have sent similar asks before but I thought I'd send my own just to be sure. I can't fit more than a finger... up there. And even then its a tight fit. That's enough for me but I'm worried about if I go for a pap smear (I think that's what its called, I have a bad memory): something has to go up there right? Will it fit? What happens if it doesn't? Is it going to be a hassle to request a woman? How much do I need to "clean up"? No pressure to respond right away, I get that you're busy. I just wanna know what to expect. Thank you! 😊❤

Hi Anon!

How old are you? You don't need a pap smear until 21, and you don't need a pelvic exam at all before then unless you've got some kind of complaint or you want to get fitted for an IUD. If you are 21+ and have had zero sexual contact, you can discuss a modified schedule with your provider.

PELVIC EXAMS

Reminder - pelvic exam is when the doctor/midwife examines your pelvic area and vagina. This can include the use of a speculum or not, and be done for a number of reasons. Pap smear is a screening test where we take a cell sample (like a cheek swab) from your cervix to check for HPV/precancerous lesions. A pap smear is usually conducted in conjunction with a pelvic exam, but not all pelvic exams include a pap smear, as you don't usually need one every year.

Let's go through your questions one by one. But first I want to start by saying that medical consent is the same as regular consent - you have a right to refuse or defer any procedure or examination, or to stop one at any time. You have the right to fully understand everything you're consenting to, and ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable. If you make an initial appointment with an OBGYN or midwife, and she doesn't pass the vibe check, you are not obligated to go through with the exam. It can be scary to stand up to someone who seems like they're in a position of power, but you should know that you can.

"Something has to go up there, right?"

At your first GYN appointment, nothing has to go anywhere. You'll meet with a provider, she'll take your full medical history, your menstrual and sexual history, your family history, ask if there are any concerns you want to discuss. At this point, you should talk to her about your issues with insertion and your anxiety about it. She may want to have a look (literally just eyeballs) to ensure there's nothing going on, but she will ask permission before doing any touching, and explain everything she's doing. If she thinks it's worth attempting a pelvic exam, she would start very slowly and only with your full buy-in. It may be necessary to try to figure out if you've got an underlying problem.

When a pelvic exam is warranted (like when you need a pap), the provider may first insert fingers while pressing on your belly (called a bimanual exam) to assess your anatomy, and then use a device called a speculum, which allows us to actually see the inside of the vagina (speculum exam). The speculum will be lubricated, and the provider will coach you through the insertion process. You can also ask about inserting it yourself. Usually, you lie back and put your legs up in stirrups, and are coached to let your knees fall out and give a deep breath out, so as to relax your pelvic floor muscles, while the speculum is inserted down and back (towards your tailbone) in a smooth motion. You'll then feel a bit of pressure as the blades of the speculum are slowly opened so the provider can peek through. It shouldn't hurt, but it can be uncomfortable. I don't know anyone who actively enjoys speculum exams, but most people would say they're not too bad. The whole thing is over in a matter of seconds.

"Will it fit?"

Speculums come in a wide range of sizes, in plastic or metal (if metal, it will be warmed). You can ask for the smallest speculum they have (they make pediatric-sized speculums, so there are definitely small ones - see middle device in the image below, about the size of a finger). The provider will use one that should fit based on your history, anxiety/preferences, and her visual inspection of you - but don't be afraid to speak up.

"What happens if it doesn't?"

If you have an anatomical variation that means even a pediatric speculum could not fit, the provider will likely catch this before you get to the speculum stage. If you've got something going on like vaginismus, this will help her diagnose you. The most likely scenario is that you just need a competent and compassionate provider you trust and some good coaching. But what will NOT happen is the provider trying to jam something into you that doesn't fit!

"Is it going to be a hassle to request a woman?"

Absolutely not. It's very normal to have gender preferences with medical providers, especially for something so sensitive. Just ask for a female provider when you're requesting your appointment. You can also ask to see a midwife -- we're something like 96-99% female-identified, with most of the rest being AFAB trans/GNC/NB. (There ARE a few male midwives, but they're really rare).

"How much do I need to 'clean up'?"

If you've got time and it would make you feel better, take a shower before you come, wash with soap and water like normal. But if you can only get in on your lunch break or something, that's fine. Otherwise, you don't need to do anything! I promise your pubic hair is not so forest-like that we will not be able to examine you. Don't douche, or use any fragrances or lotions unless you would like some patient education about how you should not use "feminine products."

Okay Anon, that's an initial GYN visit in a nutshell!

[soleilceirinen]

Renaissance | teacher!Cillian Murphy x fem!Reader - Part 13*

Summary: you are an Art History student in your last year at university. Cillian is your teacher. A/N: in this story Cillian is about 20 years older than the reader. Everything happens in an alternative universe where he is not an actor or famous, he doesn't have a wife or kids like in real life. Warning: smut*, don't read or interact if you are a minor. Also, English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistake! Part 12 - CILLIAN MURPHY MASTERLIST

You spent the week before the Christmas holidays studying in the library. Right after the holidays you had two weeks of exams and you were dreading it with your whole soul. Looking up from your notes, you rubbed your eyes. The fluorescent lights from the ceiling were starting to give you a headache. With a small sigh, you stretched in the chair making your back crack. The boy sitting in front of you stared at you with an annoyed expression.

So you put your things in your backpack and left the room. Your university library was wonderful, it had that academic and ancient aura that transported you to another time. It seemed like a labyrinth full of rooms that connected to other rooms, if it was the first time you entered you could get lost but it was part of its charm, wasn’t it?.

You headed towards the exit, passing tables full of students who had had the same idea as you. Once outside, you stood on top of  the entrance steps, from where you could see the whole campus. The icy wind hurt your cheeks like little pins. After locating it, you walked towards the office building with determination, grateful for the warmth, and went up. 

Cillian’s office had the door open, so you looked into it and saw him sitting behind his desk. 

“Hey, are you busy?” 

He looked up, his face lighting up the moment he saw you. “Come in,” he said, inviting you in with his hand, “close the door, please.”

You obeyed, not wanting to be caught by surprise together by some random student like almost happened last time. You placed your backpack on a chair and headed towards Cillian to sit on his lap, burying your face in the crock of his neck. He held you, tracing circles on your back. 

“Is everything okay, love?” He wondered, a bit worried since you had been clinging to him for a while, without speaking. 

You let out a small whimper, changing your position on his lap to look at his face with your arms now intertwined around his neck. “Yes, everything is fine. I’m just tired of studying,” you complained, rolling your eyes. Cillian smiled, kissing the tip of your nose, which was still frozen like an ice cube. 

“You have little left to finish, it's your last year. A small last effort and you have it, you will see how it is worth it,” he encouraged you as he always did.

“I know,” you said, turning your head to the side to kiss his sharp jaw, “but it would be easier if my teacher could tell me what the exam is going to be like.” 

He put his big hand on the back of your neck and pressed his lips against yours. You opened your mouth slightly to let him in, closing your eyes and focusing on the warmth of his tongue dancing with yours. You rubbed your crotch against his bulge, which was starting to grow. He let out a small moan and pulled away from you, pressing your foreheads together. 

“What would your classmates say if they found out that I told you that?” he asked softly, caressing your swollen lips. 

You shrugged. “I don’t care what they say, “ you whispered, “also, they don’t have to find out. They haven’t found out that we fuck, either. Everybody knows that I’m your favourite student, it won’t be a surprise if I get really good marks.” 

Cillian frowned at the mention of you two being more than teacher and student but it disappeared the moment you slipped from his lap slowly, remaining between his legs and the desk. 

You glanced up at him from behind your eyelashes and bit your lip, running a hand up his length through his pants. Cillian watched you with an eyebrow raised. He nodded slightly, encouraging you to continue. 

So you unbuttoned his pants and freed his cock. 

You laced your fingers behind his trunk and spread some precum over his glans, using your thumbs to gently caress it. He let out a whimper and leaned back in his chair, throwing his head back, getting lost in the feeling. As you continued stroking his tip in circular motions, you saw Cillian’s Adam’s Apple rising and falling. 

The sight of Cillian enjoying your touch made you feel proud and wet. He looked down and caught you staring at him, so he reached and touched your hair tenderly. “So beautiful”, he murmured while panting. 

Without taking your eyes away from him, you changed your hands position to grab his length. After a small squeeze that made him throb, you caressed his balls as you slid your fingers along his cock. Cillian gripped the arms of his chair tightly, thrusting his hips towards you. 

You held the base of his cock firmly and left light kisses along his entire member. His moans of pleasure accompanied your movements rhythmically. With your tongue you licked his glans in circular motions once again, sucking softly from time to time. Cillian was close to cumming, his face was flushed and from the sounds escaping from his half open mouth, he was a mess. And it was all your doing. 

So you continued, until you felt his hand brush your face to pull you away. And then he came, which made you gasp in surprise since you weren't expecting it like that. You leaned on his thighs as you watched his penis return to its natural size. Cillian absentmindedly stroked your hair for a few minutes until his breathing returned back to normal again. 

You stood up and grabbed your backpack to look for a pack of tissues, taking one out and handing it for Cillian to clean himself. He was gawking at you, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

“What?” You wondered, amused. 

He sighed and shook his head. “Two essays with comments on a work of art seen in class by Donatello, Masaccio or Tiziano and thirty multiple choice questions. This is how the exam will be, I can't tell you more Y/N.”

“Thanks, Cill.” You kissed his cheek. “I was kind of joking when I asked for the exam, but it’s good to know.”

[elliepassmore]

Every Patient Tells a Story review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: nonfiction, medicine, medical mysteries

I ended up absolutely flying through this book. It was super engaging and I had trouble putting it down between chapters. While some of the information is a little outdated, most of the book focuses on diagnostic techniques and stories of patients whose diagnoses were discovered through various diagnostic means.

One of the reasons I found this book so interesting was because of its focus on diagnostics. Most of the books on medicine I've read focus on a very specific topic--cellular medicine, bacteriophages, Ebola, yellow fever, AIDS, etc.--but this one focuses on a topic that touches everything in medicine. It was really interesting to read about how diagnostic techniques have changed over the years, from the 1800s to early 2000s, and how some techniques have remained the same throughout history.

Sanders also touches on training physicians in the art of diagnostics and how in many ways the field has both improved and weakened. We have so much medical technology today that can tell us more than ever before about what's going on internally, but at the same time, that reliance on technology has resulted in a loss of some of the time-tested aspects of medicine, such as the physical exam. I found Sanders' discussion on the gains and losses of exams to be quite interesting (and am quite relieved that all my doctors still perform physical exams).

One of the highlights of this book are the patient stories Sanders tells throughout the book. Each chapter has at least one patient story, most have two, and they serve to illustrate the concepts she discusses in each chapter. The diagnoses of these patients ranges from something common, like ischemic colitis, to something more unusual, like schistosomiasis, and everything in between. The stories serve to humanize medicine and the patients, but they also humanize the doctors.

This is a pretty quick read and an enjoyable one if you're interested in medicine. I was definitely hooked from one chapter to the next and think I probably could've read the whole thing in a day if I didn't force myself to slow down.

[werewargs]

TwiCord NextGen Lineup (Minus Discord lol)

Here's Twilight and her babies :)))

Whole bunch of info below the cut!

The style for these guys is a whole lot looser than my SunPest lineup because I may or may not have made the canvas like 7835 pixels by 4604 pixels. Whyy did I do that lol? That's also why Discord isn't here lmao ;w;

I had to like color all of them on their own copy of the canvas and then paste them all together on the final one lmaoo making things so much harder for myself for no reason fr

From left to right we have:

Princess Twilight Sparkle, matriarch (she/her)

Starfall Swirl, eldest child (she/they/he)

Eldritch Whispers, middle child (he/they/it)

And Cryptic Cipher, youngest child (they/them)

I don't have a ton to say about these guys for right now since I'm still deciding what I want their dynamics to be like and what the family dynamic ought to be like as a whole.

Generally my ideas for them are Incredibly Charming Wizard Dork (SS), Silly Prankster with Comprehension of Horrors Beyond the Mortal Realm (EW), and Reclusive Prodigy with a little bit of Elphaba influence (CC)

Here's a link to my TH folder that houses all of my NextGen characters for this universe (which has yet to be named): https://toyhou.se/werewargs/characters/folder:6487822

Also here are the kiddos' concept doodles! :

They received very minimal changes. Overall they feel a bit less saturated which is shame (can't wait for Tumblr to desaturate them even more). Wonder if I did that on purpose I literally don't even know I drew these almost four months ago lol.

Extra Notes While I'm Thinkin'

- Starfall Swirl probably attends magic school with Solar Flare and acts as her biggest rival, albeit unknowingly. Starfall isn't nearly as competitive as Solar and is a bit slow to understand social cues the unicorn may be sending her way. Solar: *glaring at Starfall menacingly for getting a better score on a magic exam* Starfall: "Wow I sure am glad I don't have an intense stare like that. People would think I was mad at them all the time!"

- Eldritch Whispers very likely spends a lot of time training his chaos magic with his dad. Discord helps him learn to use such powers expertly, a skill that is mandatory if Whispers wants to use his magic to help ponies. I imagine he dreams of sealing away various incomprehensible horrors that slip through interdimensional rifts that pop up here and there in Equestria. I'm sure those are nothing to worry about.

- Cryptic Cipher is entirely focused on arcane codes and ciphers. They are quite gifted at making ones of their own, but they also specialize in decoding the ancient magic they research. Their primary occupation is doing such work. They strive to help further Equestria's understanding of its history, back to the era of Grogar and Gusty the Great.

- Cipher's magic also works much more similarly to how unicorns' magic does, as opposed to Draconequi (?). They can't use magic to levitate and have to use their wings for flight, and their horn acts as their only spellcasting focus (they can't cast spells by snapping their fingers, etc.)

- Starfall and Whispers can use magic using their horns (unicorn style) AND ALSO cast spells just by thinking/willing them (draconequus style).

- Starfall prefers using her horns to cast magic, as she was mainly taught that way by her mother and by other magic teachers at her magic school (all of whom were ponies).

- Whispers, however, is a lot like his dad in the way that he often simply snaps his fingers to cast a spell. BUT the rings of his horn glow whenever he uses any kind of magic. It can be hard for him to sneakily cast spells lol.

[maplefield]

ok i wanted to write like. a detailed amphoreus post with references and all but i quite literally have zero time for that and will probably not be able to do it in the foreseeable future either that's what you get when you have a full-time job plus an exam coming up so here are some of my thoughts, partly as a note for myself to look back on once we reach the end of this story to see if i managed to figure out anything or completely missed the mark. i wouldn't call them theories, they really are just thoughts and ideas.

contains spoilers up to and including patch 3.1 (main quest, side quests, and some readables).

does NOT CONTAIN LEAKS bc i hate those.

amphoreus is likely 1) a world that was destroyed long ago and was preserved by the remembrance, either as a memory-world or with the help of nous as a simulation, or 2) it never existed in the first place and has always been a simulation. i can even imagine a mix of these (for example it's based on the memories of a world that once existed, but not every memory related to it could be recovered so the rest was "calculated", similarly to how oronyx's power works) and i wouldn't rule out the possibility of a timeloop either where it constantly replays the history of the world's destruction, but with our arrival there is a chance to, quite literally, rewrite the ending/give it a new one.

in any case, it's certainly not an ordinary world, see: the involvement of three paths; the fact that there is virtually no information about it out there, save for what we learned from black swan (which is next to nothing) and what herta managed to collect from the SU (which is... interesting); or the whole allegory of the cave thing they keep bringin up

we know both the remembrance and the erudition are involved. as for the third path, my original guess was the destruction, but i saw some people mention the finality and tbh that would make sense too.

we also know that the goal of fuli is to preserve the memories of the universe and to "prepare for the rebirth after the destruction", and, consequently, their followers, the garden of recollection also want to “make sure the universe is remembered in the face of the Destruction”, they even managed to preserve at least one world we know of, and plan for it to be reborn in the "pristine land of Remembrance", so who says amphoreus can't be a similar case?

speaking of the garden of recollection, despite what she says, i highly doubt black swan's only goal here is to collect memories. what her real/other motive could be i don't know, but i'm fairly certain she knows at least a bit more than what she's letting on.

despite what everyone claims, amphoreus does seem to have had some kind of contact with the outside world before, so if it really is a destroyed world preserved by the remembrance, there should be at least some mention of it out there (more direct than what herta managed to find). that is unless it's 1) such an ancient civilization and/or had so little outside contact that those who remembered and the historical records perished with time, or its history was never really preserved/was (partially) attributed to other lost worlds, or 2) someone or something, likely fuli or one of their emanators, managed to seal every memory related to amphoreus, and (the replica of) it was deliberately hidden. i mean, in as i've written they literally refer to the chrysos heirs' stories as "those forgotten stories..." so...

there is a readable titled anecdotes of a numerophile which talks about how some people believed there was a higher being behind the titans, controlling them, a "machine with divinity". some assume this to be a thirteenth titan, "one that is indescribable by either language or numbers and beyond human comprehension. (...) an unknowable "One True God" Thirteenth Titan that grants the world chaos, from which order emerges." this 13th "titan" could either be an aeon (dan heng does speculate that the titans might be related to one), some supercomputer like the one mentioned in the occurence those remembered i-iii more on this later (nous technically covers both), or an "actual" titan, in which case it could very well have a connection to mem, who is more than likely (a part of) cyrene.

as for the flame reaver, they are most likely a version/part of phainon. either 1) the phainon that failed and is now willing to do anything to succeed kevin who, or 2) the phainon that succeeded but the price was too great to pay/the era nova wasn't what they thought it would be so now tries a different approach though i think this is less likely, or even 3) that not-so-perfect part of him, his dark side, since his "perfect vessel" state is constantly emphasized. i have more thoughts regarding phainon (and the flame reaver) but this post is long enough already. i might will probably write a separate post for him once i have a bit more time.

now back to the titans, we've been told that they're there to uphold the order of the world, quite literally, since once their coreflame is taken, a chrysos heir must take their place until the miracle of genesis comes, otherwise "the entire world will collapse before the prophecy comes true". they also prevent the people of amphoreus from venturing beyond the skies, or even questioning what lies there, while it seems like even they don't know what's beyond amphoreus. one more interesting thing is from beyond the veil, where according to the author the evernight veil is "the boundary that divides the sanity of mortals and the divine power of the Titans. I have begun to doubt my existence. (...) We believe that we are observing destiny, but perhaps we are the ones being observed... It is Oronyx that is observing us ridiculous mortals! (...) You should not investigate the divine power of the Titans, and their divine power cannot be observed". this further points at the titans having been created by some higher being.

i think oronyx deserves to be discussed separately. for one, they (and their kin/priests) "collect many eroded memories to prevent them from being forgotten". who else does this? that's right, fuli. then, during their interaction with the TB, after fuli's glance oronyx says "I've finally found it... Precious memory. At long last... I've caught THEIR gaze. Accompany him, Mem... He will make the memories of this world complete once again... He will find... Mother..." so in my understanding oronyx seems to be aware of fuli, and even wanted to draw their attention. they do seem to be taking on a role similar to THEM, so it's pausible they were created in THEIR image. (sorry about this sentence) as for who this "Mother" could be, since oronyx is not talking about mem here and they react this way when the TB takes out the camera, it seems likely they're referring to march.

before moving on to her, i also wanted to name the prophecy here briefly. when talking to tribios, oronyx calls it a "false prophecy" and this isn't the only time someone warns us about it. in another interesting readable, destiny weaver's missives (parts of which have "become illegible, either due to the passage of time or someone deliberately erasing them"), it's mentioned that the ancient prophecy texts are being altered. i'm actually just going to put two screenshots here because otherwise i would just copy this entire part:

this raises more questions than it answers. what word was there instead of "returning" in the original texts? i'm always unsure if the number of squares match the number of letters or not, but if they do then my only idea here is "regress". and who or what is the one whose records are vanishing? probably that certain thirteenth titan. "as though time itself is erasing that part of history" - it could be the remembrance behind it, but what reason would they have to do this? unless it's connected to march, who was for some reason removed from amphoreus, i don't really see the point based on the information we have. it was also mentioned earlier that the "threads of destiny are being corroded by an unseen force" which is likely the black tide so that could also be the reason behind the disappearance of the records. herrscher of corruption parallels? in the appendix, the number of black squares match the number of letters of "the twelve heirs" which would match the context. and we have another warning about not trusting the prophecies, since "fate has been altered" by whom/what? and the "truth has long been..." what? hidden? forgotten? or rewritten maybe? the last few lines are also quite ominous.

regarding march, with her condition, her camera affecting oronyx this way, her missing memories and her connection to the remembrance, it seems obvious that she has ties to amphoreus. as for whether she is mem/cyrene/the thirteenth titan, or rather one part of the person who was originally cyrene... if that's the case, and she was "removed" from amphoreus for some reason, that would explain why those records from the previous readable, as well as march's memories were subdued/erased/disappeared. as for my VERY personal opinion, i don't really want her to be connected to cyrene but oh well. i'm biased because of elysia but i'm trying to be objective in this post. but i also can't help but wonder if the "part" castorice is missing is actually a person (they love pulling stuff like this), and if that person might actually be march, death-and-rebirth style. i do not have anything to support this though, it was just a random idea. she could also be a powerful pathstrider of the remembrance who assisted fuli with (sealing the memories of) this world, and then her own memories were also sealed (either willingly or unwillingly), likely to protect amphoreus. or she could even be the one who created/helped create the titans - whether she really is connected to cyrene or not. oronyx does seem be somewhat aware of things, plus they do refer to someone as "mother" after all, and that someone seems to be march. we'll probably hopefully know more after the next quest.

and finally, about the black tide "from beyond the sky" - many have pointed out that it looks quite literally like data corruption, which, if amphoreus really is a replica/simulation, then it would make sense. since this is basically all we've learned about it so far, plus castorice's words that maybe "when life is devoured by the black tide, it loses its soul" i don't really have that many thoughts about it right now, but this might change with the next patch.

one more thing that could be completely unrelated but i found it interesting and this is my post so i do what i want and i want to include it:

when it comes to forgotten worlds, we got some interesting occurences/encounters/secrets during the human comedy extension. the one I think could have some relevance here is those remembered (i-iii). essentially, it's about a powerful device that's capable of storing the history of an entire planet, and that seems to be somewhat self-aware. a woman named xiaoya and her teacher, both members of the candalographos, work on/with it for about 10 years (regarding the name xiaoya, i would love to know which chinese characters they used for it for... reasons, so if anyone knows, please let me know, i haven't had luck finding it online). they then run away and bury it in the earth to prevent the history fictionologists from destroying it. before closing the lid, the teacher tells it that as long as it exists, "they will survive". in the dark, the device ponders who "they" are, spends ten amber eras recalling the history of this world, realizes "they" are humanity/civilazition, and eventually "A surge of compassion runs through your calculation unit. You begin to grow excited, excited for the light to appear once more, excited for this period of history to be once again known to the world, and excited to prove that they once lived". again, this could be unrelated, but I don’t think it completely is. even if it’s not the same world, its history could’ve similarly been preserved. (especially since hoyo loves leaving little hints in the patches prior to the release of a new world/region.)

that concludes it. i have come across so many interesting things but if i included all of them this already long post would reach the length of a novel and i really do not have the time for it either. i might write a separate post for some characters but we'll see if i actually get around to do it or not.

[doedipus]

it's really unfortunate that frieren is kinda less than the sum of its parts. I like the core cast a lot, and the ideas they brought up in the first couple episodes are a really cool take on the genre

but then like, very quickly the author seems to have largely abandoned the kinds of things that made it unique in the first place, like, there's very little sense of the passage of time past the first few episodes, when the dizzying timescale of the story is part of the point! like you're writing the fantasy equivalent of something like a canticle for leibowitz or dune, right, you gotta feel it

fern and stark have been traveling for at least 2-3 years as of the end of the anime, but you don't feel the transition from a teenager into a young adult you'd expect during that time. instead, episode 2 fern feels pretty identical to episode 26 fern

and not only do we not have a clear sense of how much time is passing with fern's party once they're on the road, we don't have any context for time with himmel's either! it was a 10 year voyage but the characters don't age or change costumes at all between flashbacks??

part of it I think is that serialization doesn't work for the premise- necessarily you're setting out to summarize twenty years of adventuring and something like a thousand years of frieren's other personal history, and for that kind of thing, being able to clearly organize the timelines and pace everything out in a way that's gripping and focused is the kind of work that requires an incredible amount of behind-closed-doors planning and editing that's not really feasible when trying to chase week to week engagement in a magazine. instead of focusing on character development and continuing to pull scenes from frieren's adventures that comment on the core characters and their development over the course of many years, the anime ends chasing spectacle in a retread of the chuunin exams for the whole second cour

the other thing is that I feel like they're really fighting the visual medium here. the interesting part of the story is getting a glimpse into frieren's really bizarre personality and the alien way she thinks about life, or alternatively into fern's experience growing up and living with someone like that, but it's harder to center that in a medium where narrative voice is inherently clunky and sidelined. as-is the point of view ball kind of orbits fern's party but we don't get very much insight into either character's interiority past the intro arc

I'm still like, glad I watched it, I liked seeing what frieren, fern, and stark were up to from week to week in their little episodic adventures, but it's just really frustrating that it has this much trouble with pacing and structure this quickly

[brightlotusmoon]

I get emails from the CBR newsletter (Comic Book Resources), and this was the latest one. Note: I have not seen "Agatha All Along" yet but it's on my pirate account.

_

Hi, reader! Brian Cronin here, I've been writing about comic books for CBR for almost 20 years now, primarily through my "Comics Should Be Good" series of recurring features (like Comic Book Legends Revealed, Drawing Crazy Patterns, and When We First Met). I've written two books about comics for Penguin-Random House – Was Superman a Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed and Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia! and one book, 100 Things X-Men Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, from Triumph Books.

In this newsletter, I'll share some of my knowledge of comic book history with you. This time around, we're looking at how the Marvel comic book universe never explained how, exactly, Scarlet Witch came to have two teenage sons in the comics. The TV series, Agatha All Along, has come up with its own explanation, which makes a lot more sense than the comic book explanation, which is logical, of course, as the comic book explanation doesn't make ANY sense.

How did Scarlet Witch's kids first appear in the comics?

Back in 1985, Steve Englehart and Richard Howell did a year-long Vision and Scarlet Witch mini-series that centered around Vision and Scarlet Witch moving to the suburbs, and trying to live an "ordinary" life away from the Avengers. Of course, since they ARE Avengers, the bad guys keep coming to THEM, and in an early issue, the heroes are captured by the the magical villains, the Salem's Seven, who prepare to sacrifice Wanda to Lucifer. There was a whole bunch of magick energy being contained by the leader of the Salem's Seven, Vertigo, and when Vertigo was defeated, there was now all of this magickal energy with no one to control it. So the Scarlet Witch takes control of it, while seeing a vision of her magic mentor, Agatha Harkness, basically hinting to Wanda that she should use the power for her own benefit.

Scarlet Witch gained a great deal of magical power

For lack of a better term, at that point Wanda essentially used the magick to make magic sperm there, impregnating her. In the next issue Wanda learns that she IS, in fact, pregnant, as Doctor Strange gives her both a medical exam AND a magical exam, as he essentially confirms that the magick created a baby inside of her. At the end of the series, Wanda gives birth to twin boys.

What happened to Wanda's children?

A few years later, during John Byrne's West Coast Avengers run (Englehart had brought the Vision and Scarlet Witch over to Avengers West Coast right before he left the book, with Byrne eventually becoming his replacement on the series), the twins, Billy and Tommy, begin to disappear whenever the Scarlet Witch isn't concentrating on them. In 1989's Avengers West Coast #52 (by Byrne and Mike Machlan), Agatha Harkness explains that the Scarlet Witch used her reality-altering powers to create the babies, using two souls she got from pieces of Mephisto.

Wanda created her own babies

Okay, so the babies were now gone. Years later, Scarlet Witch was reminded of her lost kids and she went nuts on the Avengers, blaming them for her lost kids. Basically a total mental breakdown. She destroyed Avengers Mansion and killed a few Avengers, including her former husband, the Vision.

How did Scarlet WItch's children return?

After Scarlet Witch's breakdown, the Avengers decided to disband for a while. During this period, a team of young heroes were forced to come together to answer an emergency situation the now-disbanded Avengers couldn't. The team ultimately began to be referred to as the Young Avengers. One of the members of the team was Billy Kaplan, a teenager who lived in Manhattan with his parents. He had a few different powers, including spell-casting. In 2005's Young Avengers #10 (by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Rob Stull, Dave Meikis, Dexter Vines and Justin Ponsor), the team freed another teen named Thomas Shepherd, who looked like Billy's twin.

In the next issue, a Skrull explains that Billy (now going by Wiccan) and Tommy (now known as Speed) are Scarlet Witch's lost twins!

Billy learns the truth

Billy and Tommy eventually accept that they are Scarlet Witch's reincarnated kids. In 2008's Young Avengers Presents #3 (by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Alina Urusov) they meet up with an old Avengers villain who once thought Scarlet Witch had used pieces of HIS soul to create her children. He realized that he was wrong, and when he met Billy and Tommy, he agreed that they WERE Scarlet Witch's sons. Eventually, in 2011's Avengers: Children's Crusade #6 (by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Mark Morales, John Livesay, Dave Meikis and Justin Ponsor), the twins meet Scarlet Witch (who is no longer mentally unbalanced) and she uses her powers to confirm that Billy and Tommy ARE her children.

Okay, so how does this make any sense?

The answer is that it doesn't, not really. The closest we have come to an answer about what the heck Billy and Tommy's deal are in the comics occurred in 2016's Scarlet Witch #8 (by James Robinson and Tula Lotay)

Some theories about the Scarlet Witch's children

There, Wanda lays down the two most realistic possibilities. Either Billy and Tommy, in effect, took over the souls of Billy Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd, or the souls traveled in time and joined them before they were being born and Billy and Tommy were simply raised by other people until their teen years. As you might imagine, either of those scenarios is rather sketchy. In both scenarios, the "real" Billy Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd had their existences destroyed for the sake of Wanda's children.

And even there, if they were just "souls," then why do Billy and Tommy LOOK like Wanda and her twin brother, Pietro? Why do they have superpowers like Wanda and Pietro? Wanda and Pietro aren't even mutants anymore, so how would Billy and Tommy inherit their powers, if only their "souls" are connected to Wanda? There can't be a genetic component because Billy and Tommy aren't genetically related to Wanda, and there couldn't be a genetic connection ANYways, because Wanda is not a mutant. None of it makes any sense.

Which is why Agatha All Alongcomes up with a third possibility...

How does Agatha All Along explain Billy as Scarlet Witch's son?

Close up of Teen Joe Lock with a blue magical headband that suggests he's Billy Maximoff (aka Wiccan) from Agatha All Along

First off, the show dispenses with the "he looks like Wanda" deal right off the bat, as Billy isn't meant to look like the teen version of Billy from WandaVision. So that solves one problem right away. They also solve the powers issue a bit, as if his powers are all magically-derived and/or telepathically derived, then just his mind alone would be enough for him to access said powers.

Finally, the show takes the approach of finding a teenager who HAD ALREADY DIED, and a spell by Wanda placed her son's soul into the DEAD TEEN's body. It is still certainly macabre, of course, but it takes away the sketchiness of Billy erasing the "real" Billy Kaplan, as the "real" Billy Kaplan was dead from an unrelated accident, so it wasn't Billy's responsibility for his death.

While the comics still have the genetic problem to deal with, otherwise, that's probably the solution the comic books should go with in the future, that Billy and Tommy took over the bodies of teens who had died. It makes a LITTLE sense, as opposed to the current comic book position of, "Eh, whatever, let's just not think about it."

-

[lastlycoris]

News has been going around in the prison that there's a new doctor going around aka me. I've already had three people screaming at me, saying they'll sue but then realize I have no money because I am just as much as a prisoner as they are.

I also had to deal with an exotic case this morning, not exotic metahuman - exotic batshit strange.

Large muscular guy has been in the prison for close to three years. He's been complaining of vague abdominal pains and painless vision loss in his left eye for two of those years, 6 visits total. The doctors and clinics have commented that he's just malingering for meds.

I see the notes. There was maybe one physical exam in the last 3 years but nothing else documented. Definitely wasn't an eye exam performed.

I take out my ophthalmoscope

First thing I see in his left eye is something wiggling inside it - some sort of worm or larva half the size of a quarter. I attach it to the clinic camera for documentation.

I go back through his history. Apparently before he got arrested for fraud (i didn't want to know), he was a successful businessman that liked to eat a lot of exotic foods including bushmeat.

He probably got a parasite from that, and it's been growing in his body for years since. I ordered an MRI of his head just in case because you do not fuck with vision loss, which appears to be what everyone else has been doing here.

I tell him what's going on. He starts turning bigger and redder and more muscular - metahuman, but he takes a deep breath and calms down and visibly turns smaller and asks what the next step is.

Probably surgery. He'll likely need a whole body CT to make sure if there's any other parasites lingering about before we give anti-parasitics. Brain MRI is part of that work-up.

He asks me if he has a case to sue the prison, which causes the prison guard escorts to tense up. I tell him that I'm not a lawyer, so I can't advise him on legal matters like this. I then say "but if you choose to get one, having the medical records could facilitate the process. So you want me to print out the records of your past six visits?" He goes yes, so I think he got the message.

I do so. He leaves.

So the lack of a proper ocular eyam can be somewhat forgiven. Not many know how to do one anymore; most people just check if the pupil constructs in response to light.

However not getting some sort of brain imaging in this situation is criminal, especially with vision loss at the complaint.

I honestly hope he brings a case and wins. Show the prison the consequences of its money-grubbing ways of hiring incompetent providers.

[nurfhurdur]

hehe you asked for questions so i wanted to ask - what do you think inspired doc to get into law? 🧐

(i mean, im assuming he does have a law degree cause there’s no way he could become a court judge without it right? and i’d assume it would be *after* the med degree.)

I've thought of the different possibilities and routes that could have gotten Doc that title and strangely enough a couple things took place today that helped me piece a headcannon together.

*****

When Doc was maybe mid-thirties/mid-forties he had a patient come through Radiator Springs with a severe infection in the lungs that could have been prevented. Their previous doctor had written it off as part of a chronic underlying health condition the patient had and because this infection was completely preventable Doc asked if the patient wished to file a grievance. This was the patient's lungs in danger. With his personal history, Doc wasn't going to just let that slide.

Filing a grievance calls the insurance of the patient and the malpractice insurance of the defending doctor into play. Hearings take place with a patient advocate where its the word of one doctor against another, and if found in the wrong, the defending physician will have that on their record and their malpractice insurance must repay what the patient's insurance originally covered.

While Doc wanted to make sure everything could be done correctly for the patient, he also found the whole process interesting, the research in building an argument and presenting yourself and your findings.

It's also a form of arguing in a sense and we all know Doc loves that...

Anyway, shortly after this instance Doc receives a notice from the state of Arizona that with the last census taken, they see that the population of the community is taking a downturn. Without a certain number of residents, the need for anything more than an acute care facility is highly unlikely. He is given a few options by the time the next census would be completed. Move to a larger populated area, downsize his practice to an acute care (emergency) facility, or 'take an early retirement'.

He's not letting something else in his life be taken from him, certainly after he worked so hard for his certification. and he's not hiring some big time lawyer from the city who probably doesn't care if his practice continues or not.

To get in to law school, a student only needs a bachelors degree and to pass the Law School Admission Test. Doc already has a doctorate and with 'fewer patients' as the state has pointed out to him, he has the time to pick up classes.

Like everything else in his life, he takes the unconventional route and takes the Bar Exam early. The first time just missing a passing grade by a few points and after taking a mental break to recollect himself he retakes the exam and passes a few months later.

So he defends himself against the state of Arizona essentially. While that is a little dramatic, this is Doc we're talking about. Winning his own case, he suddenly has certification in law as well and everyone is coming to him with every little document under the sun. They need a letter notarized or they want their will filed correctly.....

As years pass, he's the only one with legal knowledge aside from Sheriff and because Radiator Springs is apparently the county seat of Carburetor County (that's why the courthouse is there) the state of Arizona appoints him to county judge or 'common pleas judge'.

Basically so he can handle hooligans that tear the road apart in the middle of the night.