#anyway that was stressful but the premise of it is at least a little bit funny in hindsight

[todayisafridaynight]

Since you mentioned it, what did you think of Speak No Evil? I was thinking of watching it myself :0

i really liked it ............ my friend scoffed at me when i told her i was watchin it so take my opinion with a grain of salt tho </3

[thethingything]

I just realised I can report medication side effects so I've done that and now at least we know that this is like, actually going to be looked into because good god it would have been nice to know those were potential side effects before taking the medication.

but also the reporting thing lets you give details about the side effects you experienced which means I had a little moment of going "do I just say 'persecutory delusions' or do I explain that I thought I was being hunted by ghosts?"

[brakken-spideyverse]

Hi, first things first I *love* the whole Makeoververse premise, I've browsed through the page and many of your ideas seem so fresh for these characters, accompanied by the great art. So it got me wondering, are you mostly done with this AU? Like, don't, get me wrong, I see you've been still posting some stuff lately, like the F4 redesigns or other fun little arts, but you didn't really do much posts about the lore or story of this 'verse like you did in the past. If you feel like you've told in this regard everything you wanted or just don't have that much time to do that anymore, I must respect it. But damn, would love to hear more about the lore of this Spider-Man again someday, especially since you've said you thought of this as a story with an ending planned. Anyway, keep up the great work!

Thank you for the kind words! It is genuinely so heartening to hear that my AU has made an impression on you.

Am I done? That is a good question - sorry it took me a bit to get to it. The short answer is that no, I'm not yet done with this little 'verse - or at least don't want to be. My mind is always orbiting Spidey, and I have sketches to spare of various characters and comic ideas.

The longer answer is that this year has been pretty tough for me so far, in some respects. I had my askbox closed for a bit while I was busy managing other projects and some life stuff, and just when I reopened it with the intent of a nice big return, I got hit with what may have been the most stressful months of my life - which culminated in an unexpected moving of house, and the internet dropping out for nearly a month.

Not to dwell too much on frustrating stuff, but it was pretty upsetting to not be able to come back full force like I'd intended. I still want to get to people's requests, and finish up my set of Sinister Six strips, and also would really like to try streaming as a frequent thing.

So it's been a lot, and there are continuing things I'm managing, but I still enjoy developing this 'verse when I have the time, and to interact with folks here.

Ideally you'll see things pick up more steam in the near future. At the very least you should see more of the occasional design pop up. Glad for folks who continue taking a look :)

Keep climbin', keep swingin' 🕸🤟

[writinggremlin]

Red Dead Redemption: Bound and/or gagged for the Coffee shop pals???

Helloooooo anon! Everybody give it up for the one who prompted this entire series!!! Wooooo!!!!!!

Sorry it took me so long to respond! If this is your first time hearing of this series, then you might want to check out the masterlist (linked above the CW) so that you may have all of the context.

I am answering this with part 3 because this is the main juice. This is the part that contains the main premise of this ask. Then part 4 will contain the execution, actually going through with the binding, gagging, and killing(¿).

I hope you enjoy!

(Disclaimer: There is a character mentioned in here (Damien), who is not one of my characters. He belongs to a friend of mine that I rp with. They don't have a Tumblr, but they go by ducks._.andcoffee on the platform I know them on. Their character is only used in a passing mention here, but I just thought I should give credit anyway lol.)

Masterlist

CW (above cut): (Hypothetical) Murder Mention

CW (under cut): More Murder Mentions, Suicide Mention, Self Harm Mention, Threats To Harm Others, Manipulation/Coercion, Torture Mention, Restraints, Knife, Implied Drugging Mention, Brainwashing/Mind Control

(If I missed anything, feel free to let me know!)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Bind... Gag... Kill? (Pt. 3)

The Choice

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"WHAT?!" Kage snapped, temper boiling over.

"You just need to assign one per person," August calmly explained, "So, for example, let's say: bind Jacky, gag Sunni, and kill Mars!"

Mars objected, "HEY!! I get that I'm annoying sometimes but COME ON!!!"

August continued her explanation as if he didn't exist, "Whoever you choose to bind will be bound into a stress position, whoever you choose to gag will be made to wear that muzzle, and whoever you choose to kill will be, well, killed!"

Sunni objected too, "What the hell-- You can't just do that to us!!"

August smiled up at her, a look Jacky thought was too innocent for somebody so shamelessly unethical, "I can, and I will!" She turned back to Kage, gesturing to the three behind her, "So who will it be? Who will you choose to get what?"

Kage seemed to contemplate it, and for a moment, Jacky grew concerned.

"I choose to kill... myself."

"Hey now, you know that's not how--"

"Well FUCK that and FUCK you!! I am NOT gonna just-- choose one of them to die, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! What-- What happened to 'I'm not gonna hurt them', HUH?!"

Her smile seemed to stretch just a little too wide, "I'm not. I won't lay a single finger on any of them! Promise!"

It went silent for a few seconds, and Jacky almost felt like she was going to puke at the idea of what she was implying.

"What. The fuck," Kage finally said, "No, seriously, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, AUGUST?! YOU SICK, TWISTED-- FUCK-- NO!!! NO!!!! FUCK YOU, I'M NOT KILLING ANYONE YOU FUCKING-- NO!!!! FUCK YOU!! FUCK YOU!!!"

August stood there while he had his outburst, silently taking the screaming and the insults without taking even the slightest trace of offence. Or at least, that's what it looked like-- her demeanor and expression didn't change even the slightest bit. She merely just waited. Waited patiently for Kage to calm back down.

"Well..." She finally said, taking a step back. Then another, "You're either going to have to choose..." She turned and walked behind Jacky, whose heart started to beat frantically as August rested the knife she was holding right against her neck, "Or I'll have to choose for you."

Jacky raised her chin and tried to pull her neck away as much as the restraints would allow. She silently glared up at August, though no amount of that could hide the tremble in her body.

Sunni audibly thrashed against her restraints, "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, BITCH!!!"

Mars' eyes widened, and he looked over to Kage, "You're not actually going to kill any of us... right?"

Kage immediately shook his head, "No!! Fuck no!!! And none of ya are gonna die here. Because if any of you do and Damien finds out, he'll--"

"Ooo!!~" The sudden sound of August's voice made Jacky flinch. A dangerous thing to do in this situation, "So these three are under his protection too, hmm? Now that's interesting... I never would've guessed!"

"All of my friends are under my fiancé's protection, dipshit."

"Hm... That does throw a wrench in my plans though..." Jacky breathed a sigh of relief as the knife was lowered away from her neck. August stepped out in front of her and folded the blade back up, "Hm. Well, ok. Maybe not kill, but what about harm? I'll even let you pick the method! Is that better?"

Jacky caught the sight of Kage glaring daggers at August once again, as she stepped down and returned by his side. He clenched his jaw, his hands clenched the armrests on the chair, knuckles growing white.

"Well?"

The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, before he finally took a breath, his head dropping in defeat, "...Fine."

August clapped a few times, grinning excitedly, "Yay! Alright, then you may start whenever you're ready! Oh, and feel free to take your time with it. It's not like anyone is going to be going anywhere anytime soon."

Mars rolled his eyes, "Gee, I wonder why that is!"

She laughed, turning to face him, "Y'know, I really like you! Mars, right?"

He froze in place, stiffening like a statue, "Wait, how did you know my--"

"I have my methods!"

"Like torturing our friend?"

"Well, others may call it "torture", but I call it interrogation. I would never wish to inflict any more pain than what is absolutely necessary! Just the pin prick of a needle is all it takes-- if even that!" She laughed, turning back to Kage, "Isn't that right?"

He grumbled, "Shut up."

She put her hands up, "Ok, alright Mr. Grumpy Pants, I will. Sorry! I did get a little off track for a second there, didn't I?" She laughed, then cleared her throat, "Anyway, it's time for you to finally answer my question..."

She gestured to the others, "Who do you choose?"

Jacky's breathing picked up it's pace, becoming quicker and sharper, as the air grew still and quiet. She watched Kage as he silently looked over the three of them, his eyes slowly scanning across them one by one, his solemn expression weighing heavily on his features.

It was something that he had to do; there wasn't really a better option. She knew that, and she knew that he knew that too. But still, some part of her was still daring to hope that he wouldn't actually--

Tipping his head back, Kage let out a frustrated groan, "Bind... Mars."

Jacky's eyes widened as she watched August take the rope she presented earlier, and bring it to the metal plate in front of Mars, who looked utterly stunned.

"You're still young," Kage explained, raising his head back up to look at the other, "Probably still got some flexibility in ya. With any luck, it won't do too much damage; hopefully won't take ya too long to recover. And 'ey," He showed a half-smile that Jacky assumed was meant to be reassuring, "At least you'll have your mouth free so you can sass back and use all the sarcasm you'd like. That's gotta be somethin', right?"

Mars only gave a half-hearted chuckle and somber nod in response.

Kage's gaze seemed to linger for a moment, before dropping down to his lap, "I'm sorry, man..." he muttered.

Jacky couldn't help the tears that started pricking her eyes as the reality of the situation sank in. He was actually going through with this. And Mars getting bound meant that it was either going to be her or Sunni getting the worst option. Secretly, she hoped that he would choose Sunni for the muzzle, sparing her from the harm. Jacky looked over to the right, and found that Sunni was looking back.

Please just let her be safe. Please.

She'd gladly take the beating if it meant Sunni's safety. She wondered if she might've been feeling the same way; thinking the same thing. Maybe. It's possible. ...She looked back to Kage.

He was smart, she knew he was. He was great at thinking on his feet and strategizing. He was also great at making judgements about others, observing them and evaluating their behavior; picking apart every last detail about them until he knew them. Jacky knew that she wouldn't take it personally if he chose to hurt her.

But... did he know that?

Kage finally looked back up at August, "Gag... Sunni."

Jacky met Kage's eyes as August went to go place the muzzle in front of Sunni. A somber smile couldn't help but to cross her lips. Of course he would.

August turned back to Kage, "And that means..."

And that means...

"Harm..." He hesitated, drawing in a slow breath, before looking August dead in the eye, "...myself. I'm not hurting any of them. Fuck no."

A quiet breath of laughter escaped Jacky as she smiled further. Of course he would.

August got a dangerous glint in her eye, "Is that so?" She slowly stalked over to Kage, who kept his gaze level with hers. He didn't shrink back as she got closer, firmly holding his ground, a flame of determination alight in his eyes.

His voice was low and steady, "You aren't gonna make me. You can't make me." Jacky had to admit, it was a little eerie to hear him speak like that.

"I can't make you, hm?~" August crouched down behind him, getting close to his ear. She sounded unbothered, a little smug, even, and she wore a smirk to match, "You wanna bet?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder. Jacky could've sworn that just for a moment, just for the smallest fraction of a second, she saw him start to smile. But when she blinked, his expression only held confusion.

"What the hell are y--"

Snap.

His breath hitched.

"Sleep."

Jacky's eyes widened, and she helplessly watched as the determination, the spite, and even his very will seemed to drain from his face. She watched as the tension melted out of his muscles; as his eyes fluttered shut, and his head dropped forward. It was only a matter of seconds before he was completely limp in his seat, only being help up by the hand on his shoulder.

Snap.

August didn't even need to command him to wake, he just did so on his own. His head gradually rose, looking back up at-- no, through Jacky with glassy eyes and a blank expression. He looked empty... hollow...

A shiver ran down Jacky's spine.

August placed the knife from before into Kage's hand, "You've made your choice. Now follow through."

The restraints on his chair opened, and slowly, he stood.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ahaha... Whoops!! There he goes! Whoopsies!!

Turns out that you can't beat August at her own game.

Tune in next time to witness the carnage.

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Taglist: @whumperofworlds, @3-2-whump (:000!! Lookit that! A second person on the taglist!! Hello!! Hi!!! Thanks for reading, you two! :D!!)

If anyone would like to be added or removed from the taglist, please feel free to let me know!

(Holy shit I hit the tag limit. Wow.)

[trishacollins]

Felix Makes Choices/ML AU

Anyway, I am redic easy to enable and right now my brain is feeding on ML and all the neat little divergent points that could or couldn’t happen. This one is a divergent towards the end of “Strikeback” and basically follows the premise of “What if Felix took the Peacock and ran his little tail off”

Felix had been practicing slight of hand for years. They had first started as magic tricks to amuse himself – and then Chloe and Adrien, who were eternally fascinated by the way Felix could make things appear and disappear.

They were the only people in his life that he was really trying to impress at the time.

Still, playing a high stakes game of chicken with his uncle when it relied entirely on his ability to protect the pieces he had – Adrien’s amok and the Miraculous’ including the one he planned on using to get out of the situation – while getting the piece that he needed – namely, the Peacock and the Butterfly if he could manage it – was probably one of the most stressful experiences of his existence.

Topped only by waiting for his father to die and hoping that the man didn’t find something that could destroy his ring in the meantime.

His uncle was not a student of skill games, at least, so even through Felix put the amok flat on the table at first, it only took the shift of two fingers to switch it out with a decoy as soon as the Peacock – and his uncle’s ability to tell an amok from a ring – settled on the table between them.

After that, it was simple, really. He summoned the yoyo, he pulled out the horse – unified it with the dog – and away he ran.

“Adrien, don’t go home. Meet me on Rue De Rivoli near the Hôtel de Ville, try to stay out of sight.” He ordered the amok, as he frantically pulled the Miraculous out of the yoyo.

It vanished before he got them all, but he threw the ones he did have in the bag he had brought for the purpose and fled.

Something exploded behind him, and he cursed, tucking the amok away safely and dropping his transformation.

Barkk materialized and looked at him with confusion, the horse with supervision. “What’s going on?”

“Hawkmoth very much wants me dead.” He explained to the Kwami, because Nooroo and Duusu had been a foundational part of his childhood, the most consistently kind creatures in his life. He would not be cruel to the Kwami.

They had no more choice how they were used than sentis did. “I know you’re hungry.” He told her apologetically. “But right now, we need to get to somewhere safe. I have food for you there.”

And he was glad, so glad, that in his paranoia he had bought the apartment in Paris fully in cash. Even if the idea of getting Adrien to move out and live with him had been something he planned much further down the line.

Barkk seemed to consider it for a moment, and then darted into his shirt pocket.

“Where is the Guardian?” The horse Kwami demanded.

“I can explain later.” He held open the flap of the bag, and the horse stared at him for a long moment before darting inside.

He switched out his clothes, changing into a hoodie that he could pull up around his face. The last thing he wanted was for a ‘fan’ to spot him as he made his way quickly to the apartment.

“Adrien, come to the lobby.” He was never going to use the Amok again. Never. He would give it to Adrien, and explain everything, and then swear off creating sentis and let the Kwami have a good time and they’d all be free together.

It wasn’t a solid plan yet, but he was getting there.

Adrien looked pissed as he came storming in, faltering only a little bit when he saw Felix. “What are you doing in my head?!”

“I’ll explain. Upstairs. You have to trust me.” Felix told him.

“Trust you? Trust you! Felix, this is insane. This is a new level of-”

Felix grabbed his wrist. “Hawkmoth is going to try to kill me, and if we don’t get out of sight, someone is going to see us. Please, Adrien. You can leave afterwards. I’ll explain.”

Adrien scowled, looking down at the hand on his wrist. “You have twenty minutes. Then I’m gone.”

“That’s all I need.���

He had dreamed about this for so long, winning their freedom, stealing them both from their creators. Stealing Duusu – stealing Nooroo, too, and he would have to explain to Adrien that they needed to find a way to get Nooroo – that there might be another Amok, because his mother was wearing a ring. How to give counter orders, if there were.

He was almost dizzy with the possibilities as he used his key in the elevator, and let them into the flat. “There’s food in the fridge, Barkk. Tell me what you like.” He told the Kwami as he locked the door behind him, practically shoving Adrien inside.

[dontcallmecarrie]

ye olde Stress(TM) Reaction strikes again, aka the start of this was sitting in my drafts for weeks because my brain hates me apparently:

.

“So...considering how last time went, why are we being dragged into this?” Steve Rogers heard Clint ask, and he tried not to freeze or blush, and, if Natasha was anything to go by, failed miserably at both.

“I mean,” Clint continued and it took far more willpower than it should have to not glare at the teammate who regularly ate whipped cream out of the can because he should not be sounding so amused, “after what happened, why are the Avengers being invited, again?”

Alright, that did it— but before Steve could do more than turn to give his teammate the same glare he normally reserved for when Loki destroyed the top part of his uniform again, Agent Coulson gave a very tired sigh and spoke.

“Partly because multiple ambassadors liked your response time when the pink elephants made an appearance on the premises, partly because von Doom specifically requested you all. By name.”

 Across the table, Tony gave an incredulous scoff as he leaned back and crossed his arms. “And what, you’re letting a literal dictator call the shots?”

“Grumpy because he mentioned you too, aren’t you.” Clint smirked before Agent Coulson could say anything else, and Steve really, really tried not to scowl. Honest.

However, he couldn’t help but notice the way Tony’s expression went suspiciously blank, and something in the pit of his stomach clenched as Tony shifted in his seat a little.

“Okay, so maybe we weren’t finished before Loki interrupted. I didn’t hear any of you guys complaining.”

“That was you ‘gathering intel’?” Natasha asked, and Steve pointedly ignored her sidelong glance, “I thought you were looking pretty friendly there. Way more emotion than we’ve ever seen from von Doom before, anyway.”

Steve couldn’t help but snort. Understatement of the century, Steve hadn’t missed the venom in von Doom’s glare. If not for Loki barging in when he did, there would have been an international incident, and Steve wouldn’t have regretted it one bit.

“As... controversial as he is,” Agent Coulson rubbed his temples for a moment, “Latveria’s a very hot commodity right now, and State Department’s pushing for trade agreements. We can’t afford to alienate him.”

Everyone looked at him, and he fought to keep his shoulders from rising up. “If he’s got a problem with one of my team, don’t expect me to play nice.”

“My hero,” Tony rolled his eyes and so missed the way Clint’s shoulders shuddered, “Steve, I had it under control.”

“Nay, lord Stark.” Thor cut in, and Steve did not miss the way Agent Coulson’s eye twitched even as Clint got a very sudden and convenient coughing fit as the resident alien continued, “I am afraid you did not. I may not be familiar with Midgardian politics, but I do not believe duels are as acceptable here as they are back home.”

Everyone paused at that, and the silence was abrupt enough to startle Doctor Banner out of his reverie.

“Wait, what happened?” He asked, looking up from his tablet, and Steve couldn’t help but envy the fact that he was exempt from this. Sure, the risk of having the Hulk at a UN function would have been nothing less than a recipe for disaster, but at least Steve wouldn’t be suffering though this alone— case in point, this entire debrief.

“Oh, just how Tony almost caused an international incident last time.” Natasha said and Bruce made a strange face for a second before he peered over his glasses to look at everyone else around the table.

“Well, is Justin going to be at this next one?”

All eyes were now on Tony, who scowled and looked away even as he replied, “It’s one of the annual year-end fundraisers, of course he’s going to be there.”

Agent Coulson let out a slow breath. “You are certain you cannot convince him otherwise?”

Tony’s shoulders hunched almost imperceptibly. “It’s tradition at this point. Everyone knows I’m going to be there, so he’s going— and I’ll save us both the time, the man’s about as stubborn as I am.”

“You’re sure about that?” Clint asked, gaze suddenly sharp and the look he shared with Agent Coulson and Natasha abruptly reminded Steve of the exact circumstances in which Iron Man was born.

“The number things I’ve seen him accomplish out of sheer spite is...” Tony trailed off, before he shook his head and looked around the table. “It’s something. Pretty sure the only reason Hammer Industries didn’t come out with another element after I did is because it’d be breaking the laws of physics, and even then part of me was half-expecting otherwise.”

[lesharl-eclair]

lewis ot3 fic recs

for @f1ot3fest !! i promised myself i wouldn't ramble but this turned out ridiculously long so ... i actually need to learn to shut up

all fics below the cut; if you enjoyed these fics, please show the authors comment and kudo love; should you be the author of a fic that's here, and don't want to be here, please reach out to me and your wish is my command :)

NO this is so funny bcs half of this is fics by the creator/recced by the creator BUT ITS OK. THESE LITERALLY ARE SO DEAR TO ME *clutches to chest* please go read please go read

***

heist AU by @sionisjaune (sebcedes)

on golden sands (T, 6.2k)

Mark rolls his eyes. “Skip the crap, Jense. Who’s the mark.” Jenson lifts his whiskey and swallows the dregs. “One Baron Nico Rosberg. Currently installed in Greece, inherited the title from his mother. His father—” “Keke Rosberg. 1982 Formula One World Drivers Champion,” says Seb. The others look at him like he’s just materialized out of thin air. Lewis cocks his head thoughtfully, and the bizarre sleeves of his jacket rustle with the movement.

the ships that go sailing (E, 11.7k)

As it turns out, threesomes are not especially logistically challenging when two of the participants are experienced organizers of high-profile heists, and the third is determinedly horny.

err okay i think this was something i read before i had the concept of sebcedes or like ot3s. so it was a pure yOU CAN DO THAT??? visceral reaction the first time i read on golden sands. i was quaking in my seat. anyway upon sufficient rereads i have apparently collected my thoughts enough to say that the first part of the series is nothing like the second in terms of content (i read all the way to the middle of the ships that go sailing and suddenly realised that it was a sequel and uh. had a very violent reaction.)

the premise is wonderful, oceans 11 is great to begin with and the way every detail is taken care of in the au!! the characterisation of it all... the tangled mess of interpersonal relationship... it feels like every character has their space to shine, and this on top of a quasi-convoluted plot is quite incredible. aND THE SEBCEDES OH MY GOD THE SEBCEDES. the denouement. the start of something that seb can;t even begin to imagine. lewis and nico both being batshit crazy. sex retirement fic. somehow you managed to capture all the nuances (brocedes + seb + the emotional push pull + the competition?? a bit of quiet almost fragile sico? the boat scene hello??? brocedes being so chaotic it gives me whiplash?????) i actually cannot get enough of the way you write them

i can probably write so much more about this but i will stop here :0 maybe one day i will rereview this and end up with a five page essay or something. who knows.

***

Circle Endless by @antimonyandthyme (E, 2k) (brocedes + seb)

“It’s a two-for-one deal,” Nico said, very salesman like, as if he sensed Sebastian just needed an extra push.

the vibes here are so horrifically good. lowkey unhealthy. probably one of THE defining brocedes + seb fics - it's set up and played out as a 2v1 (in 2016!!), and the toxicity of it all is so asasasandsjfadjsfasdfs . there's so much conflict everywhere: within seb, the way brocedes also fight for dominance on the bed (bc of course they do), seb needing more despite whatever it's doing to him... that scene with kimi is pure poetry. so much to unpack in so little, and excellent excellent sex

***

made a hundred good stories by @red-flagging (E, 24.6k) (for a kinkmeme prompt) (alex + sewis)

“That problem you were telling me about,” Seb says, giving Alex a meaningful look. “I wanted to know if you wanted us to help you take care of it. Lewis and I.” This isn’t happening. Alex is having the most stressful, least erotic wet dream of all time. Helmut has gotten bored of subtle nudges and has graduated to full-on psychological warfare to get Alex to quit on his own and save the team from having to buy out his contract. Lewis actually did give him a concussion in Austria, and the long-term brain damage is only now starting to set in. "...You can't be serious," Alex says weakly. Seb shrugs. “You don’t have to say yes,” he says. “But if you’re just looking to have some fun–it might as well be with people who know what they’re doing.”

ok claire. coherence.

I CANNOT BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS FIC LIKE AT ALL??? i have tried so many times

the alex characterisation. the hellhole that is redbull. the exhaustion. so much DETAIL that it's painful to look at

the galex? the galex. oh my god the way it meanders in all the little spaces between alex's frankly ridiculously busy life, the LAYERS. the so much unsaid & the way they dance around each other even in texts. the way alex holds himself back but still wants.

alex/seb. seb being an all round menace to society (Quite honestly, he sort of forgets the conversation with Lewis even happened up until Bahrain, when Seb sidles up to him on some balcony on Thursday and says, casually, “So, gay cruising, eh?”) ?????? ? ? ? ? the perfect timing of seb's proposition. so much else but the deviousness of it all..

that little bit with alex and lewis. the painful awkwardness of that conversation (but also how much lewis eventually got out of it). seb's retirement & lewis' instant protectiveness!! ^^

the racing metaphors are so apt somehow (and even more fitting because alex has basically been consumed by the redbull grind........) this is a detail i personally really really enjoyed

THE SEX bro i cannot even?????? ???? i cannot do it justice here but um. the sewis is clearly there and framed so strikingly against a hesitant tired alex. the games sewis play. LEWIS GUIDING ALEX.SFSHHGSHGHHHHGG the car's still spinning and the walls that don't exist...... how at the end of it all it's still only glimpses of sewis that alex gets but how it's enough for him to maybe start figuring things out with georgie.... the post sex clarity....

oh this was so damn incoherent wasn't it. this fic made me, to quote @kritischetheologie, reconsider everything i thought i knew about alex albon.

***

a bedroom where your heart is by @hungerpunch (M, 1.5k) (vasewis)

“Someone will have to go for ingredients,” Valtteri says. He does not happen to keep vegan cheese stocked. “I vote the youngest,” Sebastian says, grin sly. Valtteri blinks. “Wait—” “Sorry,” Sebastian says, affecting a suspiciously convincing faux innocence, as if he’s truly apologetic but his hands are simply tied. “Seniority rules.”

closing this with some good achingly wholesome content. FOOD AS LOVE and i am so so so here for it oh my goddddd ... val taking care of sewis and finding the greatest satisfaction from it/it not being always about the sex (though the sex IS good!) and finding contentment in those small domestic-bliss moments/the scene-setting, the food described as lovingly as it's prepared, the quiet early-hour moments and seb in a way the middleground between val's discipline and lewis' indulgence when it comes to mornings... there's so much to just revel in and enjoy here!! a comfort fic in the truest senst of the word. :)

***

that was long. and probably extremely incoherent. oh well. thanks for reading till the end and remember to show the authors some love!!

as always, if you enjoyed this, or if i missed any fic, please let me know :) drop me an ask mayhaps if you would like more fic recs, and i will try my best to give timely unqualified opinions <3

[convenientalias]

Please Watch Circle: Two Worlds Connected (Another Manifesto)

After convincing some ppl to watch White Christmas, I am filled with hubris and thus have returned to try to convince y'all to watch another kdrama thriller. This times it's Circle: Two Worlds Connected (2017). It's sci-fi, it's whumpy, it's got a dual timeline going on, and it's got a great cast. It's also one of the first kdramas I ever watched--I started it back in 2017, lost access to the site I was streaming it from, and 3 years later, when I became actually competent at finding kdramas, I remembered to go find it again! I've now watched it... four times? five times? anyway it's a good show so let's dive in.

The Premise

Every episode of Circle has two parts to it.

The first part: In 2017, a college student named Kim Woo-jin is having family problems. His paranoid twin brother is convinced aliens exist and are killing ppl. Woo-jin met an alien once when he was a kid, but he's been repressing this and ignoring the implications ever since bc of related trauma. Then Woo-jin's twin goes missing, and Woo-jin goes haywire trying to track him down.

The second part: In 2037, society has become a little dystopian, particularly in a closed-off island city called "Smart Earth". "Smart Earth" is supposed to be a place without crime, but when a murder takes place, Detective Kim Joon-hyuk, an outsider, worms his way in to investigate. Secretly he's more interested in investigating Smart Earth itself... and trying to find his long lost brother.

HM I WONDER IF THERE'S A REASON THESE CHARACTERS BOTH HAVE KIM AS A SURNAME. PROBABLY JUST A COINCIDENCE I WOULDNT KNOW. IM SURE THESE TWO MYSTERIES HAVE NO RELATION TO EACH OTHER AT ALL.

The Characters

Kim Woo-jin:

Yes that is Yeo Jin-goo (I feel like most of my followers have watched Beyond Evil, but if you haven't, maybe you know him from Hotel del Luna or The Crowned Clown, idk, he's great). And yes, he is incredibly stressed and will be for pretty much the entire show.

I feel like the main selling point of the first half of this show, apart from the mystery itself, really is just "do you want to see Yeo Jin-goo be so, so tired and act in progressively more insane and risky ways over the course of twelve episodes".

He is a very good brother. He also is in a dynamic duo with a girl who may or may not be an alien. More on that below.

Kim Bum-gyun

He's paranoid and he's not always the best brother. But he's trying to be better and also. He may be (at least partly) right.

Han Jung-yeon

"Hey look at me I'm a normal college student and definitely not an alien. Despite the fact that I do kind of look identical to that alien you met like fifteen years ago."

"Regardless that was not me bc I am normal. Let's become a detective duo!"

Kim Joon-hyuk

Played by Kim Kang-woo! I feel like he's a bit less known than Yeo Jin-goo but I still love him. Very versatile actor. In this he's being your typical unruly cop but with Many Secrets. Going into much more detail than that would unfortunately give spoilers but I like seeing him piss Lee Ho-soo off.

Lee Ho-soo

Nicknamed "Pierrot" by Kim Joon-hyuk for the way he's ~always smiling~, Lee Ho-soo is Smart Earth's ideal peacekeeping employee. He thoroughly believes in their dystopian mood regulating technology and closed off society and no, he does not want to learn any deep dark secrets, thank you very much!!! Leave him alone!!!! (Yeah, he's going to go through all kinds of emotional breakdowns lols.) My favorite character on my first watch-through; later I began to stan Woo-jin more but it's a close thing.

So, so, so...

Is It Shippy?

Honestly, kind of depends on what you're looking for. The most obvious ships would be Kim Woo-jin/Han Jung-yeon, a ship that is very teased but never becomes canon, and Lee Ho-soo/Kim Joon-hyuk, a classic bickering-but-gradually-coming-to-understand-each-other type of duo. There are other shippy routes you could take... my friend for example ships two of Woo-jin's professors. I personally think certain reveals could lend themself to a [REDACTED] [REDACTED] shipping dynamic, which is all too rare, but since I redacted that part you will never know what I mean by that.

Is there shippy fanfic out there? NO BECAUSE THERE ARE A TOTAL OF FOUR FANFICS FOR THIS SHOW ON AO3 AND I CANT FIND ANY ELSEWHERE EITHER. yes three of those are shippy. YES I WANT MORE PLEASE.

More General Thoughts

Circle is a little melodramatic and messy, but it is also very clever. Even after the basic worldbuilding becomes clear, you probably won't be able to guess all the answers to the mysteries until mm. Episode eleven of twelve? I mean I'm sure there are people out there much better at guessing than me but. I didn't.

I also think it's more fun to watch this show (at least the first time) with a bunch of different theories in your mind as to what happened during the time skip. I had at least three running concurrently. No, none of them were correct. I never said I was good at guessing I only said I had fun.

Not EVERY loose thread gets tied up by the end. But things do get mostly resolved. And there's a lot of angst and suspense along the way!

Here are a few more pictures to convey the vibe:

I can also offer you a minimal number (two) of goofy gifsets.

Closing thoughts:

If you've watched Circle, pls come talk to me sometime. If you haven't watched Circle, I recommend giving it a try! I can tell you that anecdotally ppl who I've forced to watch White Christmas and Circle both like Circle better (except me, I like White Christmas better but also I am to be fair obsessed with both).

And for now, I have successfully exorcised my Circle feels for the day. Probably. I hope. (I may be back.)

[mageofseven]

The Boys' Opinions on MC's Dog

Same premise as the one with the cat, but this time with my sweet furbaby Elsa~

This is Elsa, my babygirl 🥰

I adopted her a few years back during a time of heavy depression and she has boosted me up for the better.

She is a chihuahua mix (or so the people I adopted from guessed; their other guess was a terrier mix) and was found wandering the streets. They think she escaped her previous owner's backyard, but aren't sure because no one came looking for her. I adopted her when she was one and a half.

Before anyone asks though, I will explain about her eyes. Those pinky red spots are her tear ducts, as I was told. We call them her cherry eyes and she's had them since I adopted her. I've talked about them with the vet and the lady said they don't hurt her or anything of the sort; they just sorta look strange when they pop out like this.

There is a surgery to fix it, but it's was too expensive and then she might have to have eye drops in her eyes for the rest of her life (and she hates eye drops a lot). Overall, I feel like it would cause her more harm than good to do it anyway.

I made sure explain this because I've literally had people (both irl and through me messaging them her picture) react like "Dear god, what is wrong with her eyes!!!" And it's like chill dude and stop insulting my dog.

She's still a beautiful and sweet little girl 🥰💕

So yeah! She's fine so there's no need to worry about the cherry eyes. She is however partially blind in one eye, but that is because...well, she dislikes cats and in the beginning of taking care of her brother Beanie, she wasn't his biggest fan. One day she had him cornered, he swatted her, and I had a $300 vet bill on my hands.

She is a sweet girl though! She just thinks she's bigger and tougher than she actually is. I call her my little Gryffindor sometimes lol.

Elsa's other names: Elsa Mae, Babygirl, Baby Love, Little Love, Baby Angel, Sweet Girl, and Little Bitch (jokingly since the non cuss word meaning of bitch is female dog and she's little, hence little bitch lol)

And lastly

The Queen 👑 hehe~

Now let's see how the Boys' handle her! She is quite needy so let's see how this goes hehe.

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

Lucifer:

Was honest less reluctant than he was in Beanie's timeline.

Lucifer preferred big dogs (evident by Cerberus), but believed small dogs have their own charms.

Elsa was just this little helpless girl and he quickly grew a soft spot for her.

She was bit annoying though since she was always crying about something

But she was easy to soothe and the pride demon did enjoy holding her close and comforting her

Once she got used to him at least.

In truth, Elsa is scared of men, something we guess to be a part of a past trauma, either from when she was on the streets or because her first owner treated her poorly.

Because of this, it takes her awhile to feel safe with any man

But Lucifer is very patient and soft with her and he soon becomes one of her favorite people.

She can often be found on his lap as he does paperwork and will gently distract him from his work with a nudge of her nose to his arm.

Though it was annoying to him at first, those brief periods of having to stop his work for a moment to pet the needy furbaby actually did wonders for his stress.

Overall, he finds Elsa slightly tiring, but very sweet and enjoys the comfort she gives him.

Mammon:

This dude likes making fun of the dog

And gets smacked by MC on the arm or back of the head every time they hear him say anything mean.

In truth, he does like the chubby little thing.

Elsa's cries for attention always make this need dude feel needed and that's a feeling Mammon really wishes he felt more.

He pretends to find her annoying, but in truth grows to love her.

Some nights he'll try to steal the pup from her mama's (MC's) bed just for the dog to turn on him and bark still the whole house knows he's doing shit.

Will sometimes bribe her with food to try to get Elsa to choose him over his other brothers and it will usually work since she's so food driven.

Overall, Elsa makes this man feel important and gets Mammon addicted to the feeling.

Leviathan:

This dog knows how to make him feel guilty and he hates it.

He can't even eat a meal without her staring at him.

Feels like she thinks he's some monster who would starve her just 'cause he eats his own food.

Elsa's big eyes are good at this so it's not just Levi.

The envy demon also hates when she tries to come into his room.

Levi isn't worried she'll mess with his stuff or anything like that since she's such a good dog.

However, his room is stuffed with things that could crush the tiny girl if they fell

And this man has too much anxiety to chance it

So instead she cries outside his bedroom till eventually she fall asleep against his door.

Almost stepped on her while leaving his room once and this dude still hasn't forgiven himself.

Overall is very anxious about her size and just tries to distance himself from what he sees as an incredibly fragile little thing.

Satan:

This man is a cat lover; we all know this.

Still, he treats Elsa nice enough.

Will sometimes have to excuse himself when she cries too much.

It really gets on his nerves and the Avatar of Wrath knows his limits at this point.

Will pet her and call her a good girl, but that is the extent of his interactions with her.

Another brother worried about Elsa coming into their room.

Satan has so many books and many cursed books.

The poor girl could get severely hurt if a pile fell on her

And there's always the risk of a curse one touching her and then Satan will have to explain to MC why her precious pup is now a baby chick or something like that.

It's just safer to keep her out.

Overall, Satan is good to her, but overall disinterested.

Asmodeus:

Omg she's too perfect!!!

Gushes over the furbaby and spoils her with love.

Will refuse to let her on his lap if she's been outside recently though; Elsa has dirtied his clothes like this in the past and it upset the lust demon when his favorite pants got mud on them.

Is usually the brother ready to snuggle her when she cries.

Overall, Asmo loves Elsa very much and will always give her the affection she craves.

Beelzebub:

The man who can never put her down.

This dog just activates his Daddy instincts and he can't help but take care of her.

Is literally terrified of stepping on her; he is a big man and she is a tiny girl after all.

This is a part of why he holds her so much; if she's in his arms then she can never be hurt.

Plus hugging her makes him oh so happy 🥺💕

Is the brother that helps with most of Elsa's needs.

Beel will trim her nails for MC, despite Elsa's loud wails the entire time like she's being murdered (she hates her paws being touched). It hurts his heart, but he knows it's good for her.

Will sometimes help MC give her a bath, but not always.

Her cry is extra sad and pathetic, enough to break the hearts of anyone within hearing distance and it's too much for Beely 😢

Finds it funny afterwards when she refuses the towel and dries herself on the carpet (she rolls around and does a funny dancer essentially) while staring at MC with accusatory eyes.

Unfortunately, Beel is always one to sneak her food as well 😅

Elsa is a bit overweight and the vet wants her to lose some pounds but this girl is always hungry.

For obvious reasons, this man empathizes with her and can't help but sneak her some dog-safe food at times.

Overall, Beel fell in love. MC may be this dog's mama but he wants to be the daddy so bad.

Please MC 🥺👉👈

Belphegor:

Gets annoyed with her easily and can say some pretty mean things to her.

Belphie doesn't mean it though! Boy is just grouchy when woken up and Elsa tends to do that a lot.

She can't jump on beds by herself so cries and cries till she is finally placed on it.

Once the pup snuggles up with him to join him for his nap, the sloth demon immediately feels like an ass.

Belphie is also the one Elsa runs to when there's a thunderstorm.

She'll hide under the blankets with Belphie and he'll do his best to stay awake long enough to give the shaking dog some comfort.

Overall, likes her but gets annoyed by her a lot.

Diavolo:

This man gets so excited when MC brings Elsa to the castle!

Barb has zero chance of getting the prince to do work when the sweet pup visits with her mama lol

Honestly, this man is probably one of the few Elsa bonds with the quickest.

Dia is just so happy and showers her in love and treats (he always has an excuse for MC for why it's perfectly fine for Elsa to have so many treats 'just this once').

Elsa will literally run to this man the very second she sees him.

This little girl loves her 'Uncle Dia' so much (and boy, does Diavolo love being called that 🥰)

Barb takes the interruption to the prince's work schedule in stride

And even will uses it a motivator to get the man through his paperwork without staring out the window for like ten minutes at a time.

Will often make deals like 'like finish x amount of papers today and I will ask MC to bring Elsa tomorrow afternoon and bam, the work is done in lightning speed.

Elsa is more of a help than a hindrance to the prince's work so it all works out well 🥰🤭

Overall, Dia loves Elsa to bits and wishes she could visit more.

Barbatos:

Honestly, this man is no where near as close to Elsa as he was was with Beanie.

He finds Elsa cute and a good motivator for Diavolo, but a bit of a trouble maker.

Elsa doesn't quite understand what the Little Ds around the castle are, but assumes they are strange animals.

She'll snarl and try chasing the Little Ds, only for some to push her back or scare her off, resulting in her running to Barbatos and hiding behind his leg as she shakes.

This prompts Barb to frown and make a small sigh before kneeling down and comforting the scared pup.

Elsa causes problems for herself and expects help from the butler; this is no different from some people he knows and so he is used to it.

I'll admit, he never completely got over the time she tracked her muddy footprints all over the castle after being in the garden on a damp day, but blames MC more than he blames the ignorant pup.

Overall, Barb likes Elsa, but is less than thrilled about some aspects of her.

Solomon:

Honestly finds the dog precious.

It takes a while for Elsa to get familiar with him and not let her fear of men include him though.

Solomon was patient though and had no issues with waiting.

Didn't go out his way to bribe or force affection onto Elsa; just let time do its thing.

Even once the two started bonding, Elsa would bark every time he comes into House of Lamentation.

Solomon just laughs it off and say HoL has a pretty good security system now.

Despite the rather loud greeting, the dog always has to sit on his lap for a bit and will whine to rush him to sit down.

Overall, Solomon likes Elsa and thinks she's funny.

Simeon:

#1 pet sitter right here.

This angel sees Elsa as one of the most precious beings he's ever seen and is always up for pet sitting when need be.

Despite her fear of men, Elsa was never the least bit scared of Simeon.

Why that is, MC has no clue, but it definitely made some of the other men jealous in the beginning.

Just Simeon's name alone will make the dog run to the door and whine, making her think he's here to visit her.

His name becomes a trigger word the residents of HoL have to spell in order not to hype her up for disappointment

Just for Elsa to somehow associate the spoken letters of his name to his name and react the same.

How the hell is this dog so good at spelling???

(She legit is. Spell 'treat' around her and she will lose her shit; idk man she is too smart for her own good lol)

They literally just have to refer to him as 'the angel' when he's not around, a fact that Simeon finds funny.

Overall, Simeon loves the sweet pup dearly and Elsa loves him to a degree that shocks others lol

Luke:

!!!!!!!!!!!

The best of friends, through and through.

Luke practically fell in love with the dog instantly and Elsa loves older kids so the feeling was mutual.

(She doesn't like toddlers because of the time my nephew hit her when he was two, but loves older kids who know how to be gentle).

Often begs MC to let him to sleepover HoL for a night so he can spend more time with Elsa and even snuggle her while he falls asleep.

Will also bake her peanut butter treats, a favorite of hers 💕

These two are freaking cute together and no one is immune to it.

Overall: Besties. What more can I say?

[silvery-bluish]

wip wednesday

Tagged by @glitchy-npc! Thanks for the tag :)

I'm gonna tag uuuh @thenightdayblogger @euelios @dogueteeth if any of y'all are up for it?

I've honestly been Kinda Slammed with like. life. this week. and last week. it's fine. But it also means I haven't done a ton of writing unfortunately.

Mostly, I've done some work on my Archival Thing - i'm into June of this year now! - and a tiiiny bit of writing, that I'll drop under the cut for being Retri Spoilers. Sidebar, having a general premise and at least two sentences is better than I'M doing on the exchange right now, so kudos for that! Its Fine we've got just under three whole months left.

More innocent ending musing, of the 'some people are working under the assumption that this is going to work out polyamory-wise but nobody's talked yet' variety, with a side of the Arsinoe Guilt Pressure Cooker.

But-- Daniel’s over anyway. Consistently. Sometimes with groceries or files for Ricardo to read so he doesn’t go nuts. The first couple times, you think he’s trying to figure out things to bring you to. What, cheer you up? Puzzle books and a neat pen and coffee that wasn’t made in Ortega’s kitchen. Carries you and your stupid casts from the bedroom to the couch to your wheelchair and back again, easy little smile and steady hands.   He won’t drop you. Stone-solid truth you can’t even touch.�� So. Daniel’s over a lot. And Ricardo’s around a lot, and doesn’t seem. Put out? Worried? Annoyed? By Daniel being in his apartment basically all the time.  You think Daniel cried, after they got you safe and ensconced in Ricardo’s spare room. After Chen and Argent had left. He didn’t let you see, stepped outside to the balcony when Ricardo was getting you settled in the bedroom, but he’d been barely-contained-stress-worry, right up there with you. Get through the crisis. Fall apart afterwards. You’re still getting through the crisis. Can’t afford to fall apart yet. Stumbling-- stumbling you can manage. Neither of them is making it any easier. Or-- they’re making it easier, but in a way that makes it harder? You don’t fucking know. You don’t have any sort of plan for the situation you’ve gotten yourself into. Either part of it, really, the mundane-frivolous worry of two people who say they love you - the you they think they know - or the clawing scraping tangle of something sharper, something more urgent, in your throat.

[limetameta]

The worst thing to come from rewatching hellsing ultimate is that now YET AGAIN I am thinking of my cringe Canon divergence fic I made up as a wee child where Quincey Harker's grandson and Integra Hellsing are matched by the Queen of England (no Alucard, much to your detriment your 1940s sweetheart won't let you change her mind - no changing your form into girlycard won't help)

But you see he's American^TM. Because Mina and Johnathan took one look at Abraham biding Alucard to the Hellsing family AND keeping him in England and said: We will run! We are leaving, good sirs!

Abraham: But you have nothing to worry about! He is bound! A servant! He is nothing!

Mina and Johnathan, absolutely traumatized, holding their baby boy Quincey: WE ARE LEAVING!

So they move to America. And stay there. But something is a little up with Quincey, though. He's just a tad stronger than you'd expect. A really killer athlete that can outrun most folks in his school.

Because the whole thing with Mina not turning into a vampire is that Dracula got killed. By not killing Dracula let's still say: OK Mina is in the clear! She didn't turn into a vampire. She was cured! (I feel like my man Johnathan would never let Abraham experiment on Mina to see HOW she did not turn, because Johnathan is a good man and Van Helsing is a wacky old mad scientist)

So let's assume for the sake of this au that Mina is human enough to pass, but that progressively it gets... harder to hide the vampirism. Not in its most natural state. But the Harker family is a bit odd.

Cut to Quinceys grandson - I don't know called Jeffrey or something. And he is a professional American hunter on all things occult. Looks human. Can go in the sunlight. Blunt teeth. Eats food. Except he doesn't necessarily hunt like a human.

But that's not important yet. Alucard will sniff that out and come to Integra to debrief.

The entire premise of this would be that it follows the hellsing ultimate beat. So it'd have 10 chapters. The biggest divergence would be that McAmerican Man over there is at the right place at the right time and stops the Cat Boi from doing the thing, and so Alucard doesn't disappear for 30 years.

I remember reading fics where Integra is told she must marry and in those fics she always takes it in stride. She is always like yes of course I will do my Hellsing duty. I am an old woman of 22 and so of course I must make haste and pop out at least 5 children. All male.

So my big idea was that in this fic both Alucard and Integra would be SO in on it and they would collaborate and work together to drive this McAmerican Man away - without of course him knowing they are doing this on purpose.

But the bit continues- McAmerican Man succeeds in surviving all of their trials and tribulations - PLUS he is endearing. There is something about that Johnathan Harker rizz that gets passed down. Integra is actually beginning to respect this man. Fuck. In Integra speak this is as close to her finding him adequate as you will get.

But their ticket out of this conundrum is Alucards revelation that McAmerican Man is a vampire or something alike.

But then you get eugenics from the round table that's like: combining the blood of a Hellsing, the family that Alucard is bound to serve - with the Harker blood that is giving its family abilities to withstand grievous harm and has them endure many hardships to be found in the vampire hunting business seems like a brilliant mix. Think of what your children will be?

Alucard: Doesn't this sound like eugenics? I thought Britain was above such things? *grinning like a lunatic. Having caught the round table red handed*

Integra: *can't see her glare from the cigar smoke* yes... it does...

But anyway. Pretending anyone from the Hellsing verse is not mad is like pretending the sky is green. I wanted to say red, but with the London siege it very well might be red.

I cannot stress enough how MUCH Alucard is trying to get rid of the McAmerican Man. But as he is ordered not to KILL or MAIM him or HARM him he needs to get creative.

But is he pissed off? Yes he is. Especially because dearest American boi looks the spitting image of his good friend Johnathan. The Dracula in Alucard is VERY MUCH rearing his head. He feels like this is his do over to kill him and drain him. Integra will allow it, he just needs to find A WAY to get her to mistrust him. You must have secrets McAmerican Man.

Seras and the dude are good buddies. The wild geese take him out drinking one night.

Only Integra and Integra's pet vampire SEETHE at this man.

Alucard: Master...

Integra: It will be obvious

Alucard: Not if you lock me up as punishment afterwards

Integra: *puff* *puff* *side eyes him* *is considering it ACTIVELY* *sighs* No...

Both of them are disappointed 😞

Anyway Integra gets wun over by McAmerican Man but she refuses to take his name.

[voidwhump]

yea what i was talking about to whither-wander-whump was Dragonlance, like you guessed. Dragonlance Legends specifically (so, in case you're not sure which one that was, the premise is basically that the mage Raistlin wants to become a god, his twin brother Caramon needs to do a bunch of character development and stop being emotionally dependent on Raistlin, and the cleric Crysania wants to redeem Raistlin and Raistlin uses that to manipulate her to help himself). I've just been having brainrot abt it, like Dragonlance isn't even really a main fandom for me - honestly I haven't even really looked into what sort of a fandom exists for it, i've just been. you know. having brainrot abt it and suffering silently on my own, lmao. (I haven't even read that much of the franchise, and I'm further hindered by the fact that my local library mostly only has translated copies which I refuse to touch because the one time I read one of the books translated, the translation quality was awful. So anyway for now all I've read is Chronicles, Legends, and the first book of Destinies.)

Anyway for some reason my brain has decided it's fun to poke at Caramon a little bit (literally this wasn't a choice my brain just went okay we're rotating him now, without asking my opinion, you know how it is sometimes) and i've been toying with some "okay no way in hell he's actually just fine at the end of the story, he's gotta be traumatized as fuck after all that, what if I make him break down a lil bit over everything and then throw in some comfort" kinda thing. Y'know, a good old-fashioned aftermath angst / hurt/comfort fic. And I just feel like a few extra scars and an injury that didn't really heal properly or some lil things like that could be fun to add into the mix. anyway yea idk i'll probably never actually write it anyway cuz my brain is stupid

(also i ended up even reading the books in literally the stupidest weirdest most roundabout "how the fuck did you even manage that" way, it's ridiculous, but that's beside the point)

Cool! Like I said, dragonlance has never been my main focus, but I definitely read at least the first book of chronicles and I remember Raistlin but not his twin for some reason. It might be because I read it somewhere between 8 and 11 years ago lmao.

If you do actually get words on paper, the two routes I primarily see in fanfic in D&D universes to keep cannon injuries around are 1. removing magical healing that happened in cannon or 2. making a unique injury harder to heal/fully recover from than was established in cannon. For injuries invented for the fanfic writers just exclude clerics and include limited healing potions it seems.

I just now thought of a secret third option that could be a vibe: phantom pain from an injury that was healed but for whatever reason that character's brain didn't catch on. Maintains cannon injury -> magical healing status but fits nicely with emotional stress.

Anyway fucking mood on not being able to find copies of these older series, I've been trying to hook myself up with legend of drizzt ebooks for a while but Hoopla straight up removed the prequel trilogy at some point and libby's options from my branch are sporadic at best and always checked out. If I'm buying books I want physical copies and I do NOT have the space for that lol. Or the funds really.

[gergthecat]

Farmer's Infatuation PT 2 - No POV Kady/Ezra

He’s decided that it’s the air. That’s the reason that Ezra can never seem to let go of Kady. Why they seem to wake up a little slower here, even though they just about have the weight of the galaxy on their shoulders. Why she sits just a bit closer to him at breakfast than normal. And why when he exits his room in his work clothes, she stays in his arms for a second longer before kissing him goodbye. 

He craves being with her, instead of stuck lugging around hay all day with Hanna. It’s all he thinks about. 

Kady wishes she had time to let her thoughts wander to Ezra, but she’s got the files to worry about. All with keeping them safe and making sure her Dad heals properly, she’s (to say the least) overwhelmed. He knows this, and as he leans to catch a glance of her through the window of their farmhouse while he carries piles of hay, he considers what he could do to improve her mood. Of course, there’s the obvious answer, but he feels as though he should do something more. 

Just as he lets go of his last bale, arching his back to relieve some of the stress it has fallen victim to, he notices Nik glaring at one of the other hands and receiving a seemingly well-deserved scowl in response. He watches, intrigued, as Hanna slips in a path of mud, and both boys dart to catch her, so as to make sure not a single inch of her is dirtied. 

Nik’s opponent reaches her first, and grabs her hand, just barely making it in time. Of course, Nik grumbles, and Ezra is hit with a stroke of brilliance. Thus begins the bargaining. 

In the end, Ezra wins his battle, switching jobs with Nik and winning his position to lord over the fields instead of spending all day in a tractor. Trailer. Whatever. His plan is in motion already; now, he has access to all the gardens on the farm. He is unstoppable ( mwah ha ha ha ha ) on his mission to make his girlfriend a fantastic dinner, one just like those he would make for her on their nights staying in back on Kerenza IV. He’ll need a lot of help.

After pretending to work for another hour, Ezra departs from his family of cows to consult Issac, and perhaps to acquire some nibbles as well. 

“That’s a… creative idea. I like the premise of throwing her a surprise dinner, but do you really think you’ll be able to pull it off?” Kady’s father says skeptically, “We know better than anyone that she is not easy to fool.”

“I’m confident enough,” Ezra responds, crossing his arms over his chest in an effort to make himself seem more self-assured.

“Confident enough about what?” A disembodied voice questions behind them.

The pair swivels around to find a dubious Kady leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just some farming stuff is all,” Ezra returns, eyes darting everywhere but to meet hers.

Her eyes narrow, beautiful ocean blues meeting his dusky brown ones. She leans forward, and Issac sighs, laboriously lifting himself from the stool he was sitting at and making as swift of an escape as his injury would permit. 

“You okay? You seem a little… weird. I was watching you while you were working,” she questions, concern swimming on her face.

He grumbles as he paces over to her, pressing her against the counter, burying his face in the crook of her neck, and wrapping his arms around her torso.

“I wanted you to have a good night. Not just sex, I wanted to make you dinner and we’d watch Super Turbo Awesome Team VS. Awesome Turbo Super Team on the couch. I just want you to relax,” he mumbles into her shoulder, “You’ve been stretched too thin; you’ve got too much to do by yourself.”

Kady sighs into his chest and lifts her hand to his face. He rises to look at her as she whispers to him,

“You’re so perfect,” she sighs, “Can’t we do that anyway? Sans surprise? I’d love it anyways; I just wanna spend time with you.”

The couple presses their foreheads together. They stay there for minutes. Used to the familiar feeling of each other’s arms, sharing a hug just like their final one on the Mao. Finally, they detach from one another, and while joking and giggling, they make dinner. They fall asleep on the couch, plates piled up on the coffee table, as Kady’s head lies tranquilly on her boyfriend’s shoulder, his arms thrown over her torso. They fit together like a perfect puzzle, manufactured to slide in place like they do nearly every night, like they do tonight.

Check me out on AO3 :)

Farmer's Infatuation Part 1

Masterlist :)

[plutobutartsy]

omg stella btw i have two new ocs they’re called beatrice ardovini & atlas caron & here is their premise;

dria goes to work at a magic school in the us in her ‘season two’ after the main vsor plot. this school is run by beatrice & atlas, two very argumentative individuals who have extreme differences of opinions on the regular. dria’s aunt stella recommended her for the teaching job to the two of them, so she’s a little bit in nepo baby fashion closer to the two than the rest of the teachers. so, dria is the first to discover

that beatrice and atlas are, in fact, married

and they have two twin five year old daughters, lætitia and honorine.

they have an AMAZING marriage. like their workplace arguments are dumped at the door and then they get home and have the most insanely loving marriage and are incredible parents. then they get to school again and are fangs bared #evilface towards each other!!! their separation of work & home is truly unmatched.

but idk what i want them to look like do u have any ideas lmao beatrice is a fire mage & atlas is a dark mage :3 no prob if not my mind is just completely blank and i wanted to yell about them anyways

OMG I LOVEEE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS LIKE THAT SQUEALING "hate each other in public, doting and affectionate in private" UHM. TOP 5 RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS EVER??

okay design ideas!!!

for beatrice you could really lean into her being a fire mage but in a way that isn't neccessarily just RED COLOUR PALLETTE!! RED RED RED!! you know

fire is dangerous so i associate angular shapes with it. this could translate into beatrice being rather thin and bony. sharp cheek bones, narrow nose, bony fingers etc. piercing gaze. thin, well defined eyebrows but!! fire is also strong obviously so i think her being really big and buff could work just as fine, since there's still a harshness to defined muscle.

now fire is also warm and nurturing and has kept humanity alive for millenia!! so there's a softness to it. this could be reflected by giving her big, soft eyes. maybe really voluminous hair. or make her muscles not quite as defined, maybe they're partly hidden under a layer of fat. so she'd still be super strong physically but her sillhouette would appear softer and combine both these aspects of fire.

uhmmm what else. fire is wild i suppose? so you could give her not only voluminous hair, but make it wild as well. tough to manage, hard to style. this could tie in with her being a (pressumably) stressed academic. you could have that wildness reflected in her style as well!! maybe have her wear punk or goth clothing? i think that would be a fun contrast to how most academic characters dress in media :3

for atlas maybe some name symbolism? i'm sure you know the greek myth. something something atlas forced to carry the sky (uranus) for all eternity to keep the earth (gaia) safe something something. so i think an earthy brown colour pallette with some light blues (sky -> air -> blue).

either like. a flowy wardrobe? clothes lightweight and long. thin scarves. long cardigans or coats or whatever. uhh long skirts and dresses maybe? or wide pants. FLOWY!! LIGHT!!

or OR

a really solid wardrobe? when i say solid i mean like. hiking gear lol. (because like. earth=rocks=mountains=hiking in my mind). secure shoes with thick soles but not heavy. maybe even boots. pants with lots of compartments. like cargo pants or sth similar. uhhh rain coat lmaooo. listen you could make atlas a walking fashion disaster i think that would be funny.

maybe you could even find a way to combine the two? or of course you could always go with more of a hippie style too? definitely ties into earth and sky

for body you could again go with somebody physically strong because that's just associate with earth (in my mind at least) but i'm not sure. for hair you could go either long and (i'm trying not to say flowy again but arrggghghgg). flowy. again, because air. lol. ORRRR idk if you have a race or ethnicity in mind yet but if you make atlas black you could have him wear it mostly natural to be reminiscient of clouds :3

yeah teehee this is what i came up with on the fly so if it sucks or doesn't make much sense! i will drop off the face of the earth directly into the sun (kidding ahahaha)

[classysushi]

uhhh so i don't write enough to be practiced at it but i wrote out sort of a plan/monologue/script for a little joanfk fan comic or fanart. my hyper-fixations tend to fizzle out fast so if i don't do this soon it probably won't happen. So I thought maybe i'd share my notes/script. the premise is kind of a "jfk catholic something something joan of arc worship something something " (lol if this looks familiar it's because i submitted it as a fic idea to toxic clone high takes)

anyway here it is under the readmore: (if you'd rather wait for the fanwork and dont wanna read this you can comment and i'll tag you when i decide for sure i won't finish it or when i actually do decide to do it and finish it!!)

“you know how it gets, when you start learning about your clone parent… how, uh, when you’re a kid, ya wanna get [starts gesturing in the air for empasis] really…. [sort hunches over and shakes his hands in front of himself, like he is shaking around a lot of little things in a jar, and also like he is in his own head, getting too deep into a thought as he looks for it] really… … [stops the shaking, looks a little embarrassed] er, uh, [rubs back of neck] …..obsessed with em. [faraway look] You want to be anything and everything they are… [looks at joan. Sees that really isn’t what she is doing at all] …at least, uh, for me… that’s what it was like.

And JFK was, uh… catholic. That was kind of a big deal. Not, uh… for him. It wasn’t really a big deal for him, but it was a big deal ABOUT him. He-he didn’t really care! He wasn’t really that devoted. [gets a cheeky little look on his face] He, er uh, certainly didn’t live by some of those values, if you know what I—…. … … [stops to waggle eyebrows then gets embarrassed by Joan’s intense stare]… … but, uh, anyway,… [brows furrow as he is refocusing] anyway,  it was… It was something that could have cost him the election. Americans thought that his loyalty to the pope would always outweigh his loyalty to the nation. 

So it was… this part of him he didn’t really ask for but it… affected him a great deal….

…but uh, as a kid it was… well, I’ve aways… liked, er uh, … stories. I still do. It’s why I do decent in history. [shrugs as he gets off topic a bit] and I’ve always really liked when a person becomes a story— a real hero… so I got really into the mythology of catholicism, I got really into the… into the … [trails off, gets red] the saints. 

[Joan starts to look pink]

[JFK is avoiding Joan’s gaze as he speaks] 

They were magic figures, religious heroes, unimportant to but still inexplicably tied to my clone dad. I imagined that maybe they were secretly protecting him and guiding him, like guardian angels! ….. I, uh….., I may have lost the plot a little when it came to the actual catholicism. I really didn’t have it in me to make myself read a bible or anything like that but… the saints… each one a patron to those who need them… Uh, it was… really… it felt really personal, really… special.

And maybe… I mean there were a few but… … there was also… ….one… there was one, I thought… well surely he and I should have the same saint watching us and… [pauses, covers his mouth. He can’t say her name.]… She was…. patron saint of…uh… those ridiculed for their faith…. and… those in need of courage… and… he was… one and I was… the other.

[gets quiet, looking off into the distance as he continues, whispering almost.]

 …you… AH, ..she- she would have… [trails off]

He-he was a confident guy but… I used to imagine her standing behind him and beside him… guarding him, sometimes gently but firmly pushing away his troubles with her sword…

Uh of course… a sword’s no match for a bullet [awkward chuckle/stress laugh]

…. But uh… maybe when I was born maybe she… she looked up and ….saw me? [looks at Joan, face RED, and she looks surprised]

 and maybe she thought uh “oh!” uh…. “ there you are. there you went. Oh how,” uh, “how… small you are, now.” “…let me give you some fresh… courage. It’s… a different world. And.. and you’ll need it…After what you’ve been through. ”

And I just always thought, …and I always… imagined… she was watching me, and … and I was watching her back but I never dreamed… that I… er… that I’d… I’d really.. see her.

[JFK looks joan in the eyes, red in the face but ultimately with longing and awe in his eyes.] "

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Putting aside the murder mystery, do you think Chekhov’s Sicilians might be likely? Marigold acts like there’s a big problem, and besides Drago, they’re the only third party that’ve been mentioned at this point, and it feels like we’re a good way into the story.

this might be a bit of a stretch, but I got curious and looked it up. Drago is an Italian surname, but is apparently most frequent found in the country of Malta, an island close to Sicily… he seems pretty lawful good, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out some kind of connection.

i think we can have it all, i.e. i think marigold's big problem could be related to the murder mystery, since mordecai went from "well i wish i knew what marigold's big problem was" to "i am going to interrogate this guy marigold wants dead instead of killing him and hide this from my coworkers and get all stressed and say i probably shouldn't be doing this, in order to try to find out what marigold's big problem is, and bring up that i'm This Driven about it b/c of some perceived possible connection to the murder mystery"....plus how bobby arbogast said that "whatever's giving [marigold] the nervous twitch lately" is what's causing marigold to station agents to hang around / monitor / patrol the premises, which has caused the shootout on the lackadaisy triumvirate's end....which will presumably cause some direct conflict between marigold and lackadaisy, which is. a factor

anyways, that's to say it sure seems pretty centrally encompassing, and the Murder Mystery does too, and it's at least linked in that mordecai supposing it Might Be connected is making him act up and increase stakes, conflicts, possibilities, etc

to finally get around to an answer: yeah, i was kinda getting at a chekov's sicilians theory lmao, since like you say, they and drago are the only specified third or fourth parties out here, And that with any Mystery thread it doesn't hurt to be on the alert for anything that's touched on that you might go "huh, weird" or "huh, that sounds like something that Could be important" but then is kind of glossed over, or some other specific element of it is focused on instead, which in this case, is the focus on exploring a specific flashback / talking about the history between the arbogasts' funeral home and atlas / lackadaisy / viktor (& mordecai)....and it's a speculative leap to go "like, mafia?" but it's not as though that'd be so irrelevant when the general topic here is prohibition. but, whoever they are, they could still be Out There, active and relevant to the story. could've been after atlas, marigold, or both

drago's truly a mystery as well, still....his lawful goodness could sure be either "i love cops, let's keep it honorable lads ha ha" or else "i hate cops, i'm just infiltrating the treasury department, i'll help you keep cash from them / get phonecalls to potentially get out of here"....sure can't nail down naming conventions as hard evidence lol like catch us going "pretty Romantic name you've got there, horatio bruno, if you catch our drift" anti-italianly microaggressing the lackadaisy doorman, or "and they say [politicians] with [maltese-american] can't become [u.s. secretary of transportation]"....but there's the added reason to question drago of how like, gracie's saying that he never had any real info to provide, but that didn't seem to bother them, Like They Just Like Hearing Me Talk....what's the good of having informants in the periphery of marigold? setting up a really long con infiltration, having them keep checking in just so you know they're still there, and hoping it's now easier to plant people a little deeper and get Any Real Info? i'm not rhetorically asking lol, maybe there Is some high-profile treasury department raid Straightforward Explanation in it, but it's hardly guaranteed....

at this time in writing things out i went off and had an exasperating experience lmao, let's see if i can get back into the swing of things. okay, so. walking through a theory that [drago is in turn a plant at the treasury dept] it's like....for whom? so far, like you say, we don't exactly know of any non marigold / lackadaisy (or non feds) parties besides Some Sicilians. could be an as yet undisclosed fourth party. or some personal agenda of his lol. and he seems interested in marigold, and uninterested in lackadaisy....with the feds going through all this trouble with informants for no obvious benefit yet, and marigold going through all this trouble with those same informants for no obvious benefit yet, in that mordecai notes it Should Be ultimately more lucrative to keep them on & pay off some parties than kill these dues-paying people....and gracie saying he's never been able to give any useful info as that informant. if it's not about the info (or isn't it???) or not about the money (or isn't it???) then. then it would be about different things lmfao.

really have to take baby steps and go over & over some presumptions and scrutinize them....like my confusion about mordecai in the same breath seeming to be worried about "were marigold and lackadaisy at odds after all" And "does marigold know how atlas died. b/c i thought that i did" which, yknow. Might simply be interpreted, as gracie seems to interpret it, as mordecai thinking marigold killed atlas. but we know there's some other layer in whatever shared secret he has with mitzi....have to like draw out some axes here to chart like, [mordecai killed atlas: if yes, if no] and [marigold knows what happened: if yes, if no] and whether there's any fitting Explanation for each combo and what we've seen so far. going back to a thought the other day that maybe what was so [??] to mordecai is that asa warning mitzi and saying he warned atlas too implies that asa Doesn't Believe that mitzi killed atlas, even though that's the scuttlebutt, as they say. also, sidebar, shoutout to gracie's humor in duress out here lol, in times like these i guess all you can do is laugh....anyways. it's like, if mordecai's concern is "i hope nobody knows i killed atlas"....if he's worried that Marigold knows that, i'm not sure it makes sense: so prior he'd have thought marigold believed mitzi killed atlas, but he's not acting as though he also ever thought they might kill mitzi over that. and it's not like marigold's evidently suffered after atlas's death, rather than benefitted. and, what, are they just planning to kill mordecai Eventually? idk. feels quite shaky

i'm going down the murder mystery route here to be sure lol, but hey, can't really disentangle them, and It Is My Passion....the possibility mordecai is questioning The Leadup to atlas's death / whether asa Really Did Have Something To Warn Atlas About. what does that change....mordecai Could just really really care to know. or he could be like "someone might wanna kill me, and i'm only just finding out now, and i need to ascertain this"....probably not marigold? suppose it's like, maybe anyone who wants revenge for the lodge incident. but this is evidently a lot of effort for that, And when it's like....so these people start agitating marigold overall, while mordecai's kept in the dark about things, instead of marigold just tossing him overboard to deal with it? unless, of course, this is just a reignited conflict with lackadaisy And marigold from these restored third parties....in which case, not like mordecai has much to be worried about from them directly. much like: would mordecai be very worried about a federal agent going after marigold, or after him Through marigold (though a prohibition agent would surely be more focused on the bootlegging and its central agents than even a hitman, who also only has so much info to offer (does mordecai even get to know who's higher up than asa? hardly established that he totally does))

and there's the like, timeline confusion of: say that, for whatever reason, mordecai's concern is All [marigold knows what happened re: atlas's death? they shouldn't]....asa talking about Warnings is something happening After the fact, about something that would have happened Before the fact....head in hands baja blast Musing Hard, like, god how does it figure in....if mordecai killed atlas: he wouldn't question that, only question Why [these circumstances Really came about] or Who Knows About It. if he didn't: he could question who really did, and who knows about it; apparently either way he thought marigold was uninvolved and had No Info.

wait fuck there's also the fact that mitzi thought mordecai Could have told asa something. which doesn't exactly lend itself to the idea that mordecai would live in mortal fear if he thought marigold knew anything about anything; and he sure doesn't have so dramatic an immediate reaction, even if he's willing to pull a stunt like [interrogate gracie, Who's Supposed To Be Dead]

i'm really not exaggerating that i ought to like, make charts lol. visuals would only help organize some thoughts....

speaking of visuals, i'll break up some text with this next relevant point:

there's A Pause before mordecai dismisses "let gracie pin atlas's death on marigold to his contact," such as that maybe he considered it at all for real, and the cited reason that he'd be without a real answer....even though he sure might be withholding things from gracie here / Maybe outright lying about some things, but i also doubt there's much of that, if any....Is he lookin to join the loose ends club himself over a dead man? Maybe, i.e. this is all about Emotional Motivations re: atlas (besides that potential "i'm afraid someone wants me dead" re: atlas's Death)

there's also the thought i was having that like, i think having a diable thrust upon him that provides illumination, and this scene having literal And figurative illumination, does suggest that now having this drago thread is indeed Relevant to whatever mordecai wants to ascertain out here. mysterious how, as per the last panel in which mordecai asks if they meet regularly, and where, it's suggested that mordecai plans to meet him, or at least see him from afar / undetected....but probably the former, since what tf does he learn from what he looks like? he's not doing this For marigold, and even if he was, a name's surely sufficient. but what does he think he can say to, or ask of, a prohibition agent....becoming a higher up informant? asking for information about marigold? not like drago, whether he's himself a plant or not, would just provide said info for mordecai's peace of mind....of course, it being mordecai, he could try for the [interrogation like with gracie here] route. but that'd be all the riskier, surely. try to follow him home, and go through his shit later?? is it about wanting drago's information, drago Being the information....what could any of it tell mordecai about whether marigold knows things about atlas's death....

i've been keeping [and what of the sicilians, maybe] in mind while i've been going through these other thoughts, lol, just haven't found any places where it seems Obvious they'd fill in some potential missing detail. let's say they've been bearing down on marigold: mordecai talks of paltry competition, and is hypothetically bringing up [could marigold warning of competitors mean they know how atlas died??] like....how's it figure in. supposing they're bearing down by going the "we can do a federal raid, with plants," couldn't they do it just as, or more easily with just the nonplanted federal agents? how would that factor in to anyone knowing more about atlas's death than they should....the feds take him out to simplify some shit; marigold's ceo is worried about the same fate?? while the one informant mordecai's talked to is saying he never had good info for his contact, mordecai might not even know who he works for, mordecai might be on the right track by now knowing Of drago....waugh. or trying on: the sicilians are working With marigold, marigold's insulating b/c why?? lord.

mordecai shoots atlas, asa having warned atlas of anything beforehand makes him question if asa knows how atlas died....how? just b/c he doesn't assume mitzi killed atlas? mordecai didn't shoot atlas, knows mitzi was't even there when atlas died, it was a private affair, asa warned atlas of something and mordecai's questioning if that means asa knows what happened to atlas, which mordecai Thought was a private affair....

now trying to follow that latter [okay, suppose mordecai didn't shoot him either] idea further: suppose that mordecai Knows mitzi didn't kill atlas because mordecai was with mitzi at the time. and was told something by atlas such that he thought he knew what was going to happen to atlas, and didn't himself question this after atlas died....i'm embracing this idea that mordecai is all riled up on his Professionalism b/c his involvement in atlas's death is such that he did whatever he did b/c atlas asked it of him (generous phrasing on my part) as a Professional request. or order. so now mordecai's alllll about citing his Professional Approach; he does it at the end of his proper introduction, even. maybe atlas's "do it for the professionalism" directive was about mordecai protecting mitzi for him instead of atlas, as he usually did as that apparent semi bodyguard. maybe it was about That, but also about protecting mordecai, in a "i'm absolutely going to be killed; as my right hand bodyguard man you'll be caught up in that; so go protect mitzi instead. that's an order XD but really, it is :I"....whether That's what mordecai Blames mitzi for, damnit if he wasn't married to you he wouldn't have sent me to protect You from [whatever threat] instead and i would of stopped it, rip to atlas's self-defense abilities but i'm different

why would mitzi hand mordecai, gunman, a gun in that case....he probably has his own?? or maybe he doesn't, it was too short notice (unlikely....). or maybe it was mordecai handing mitzi a gun, instead, for good measure.

to be sure, atlas being like "the [threat] are after me, imminently. mordecai, go bodyguard my wife instead, as my loyal and Professionally Committed employee who's really good at that and i wouldn't trust anyone else haha get outta here" and mordecai doing so, grabbing onto that Professionalism with both hands such as to have a death grip even now, resenting mitzi for atlas's death (b/c mordecai couldn't be present, though he thinks he knows how it happened) has given me a pang....Possible, though still has weaknesses like "what would the [threat] be such that mordecai considers it to have been a private affair if he didn't shoot atlas himself (which, if he did, i'm also embracing the theory of: it was also at atlas's Professional Request / Order)" / "what would be bearing down on atlas with enough short notice / Certainty that he couldn't manage to avoid his own death despite seeing it coming at all, even if he sent his best bodyguard elsewhere"

whether atlas was slowmo diving in front of a bullet for mitzi here (figuratively), which, who would be going directly after her? doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be phrased as Mitzi's culpability/fault....and, i dunno, if it was obvious that atlas died To Save Mitzi / Lackadaisy overall, mordecai might be devoted to either party. certainly atlas didn't request it of mordecai outright; while mitzi doesn't act like "oh i have to keep lackadaisy up & running For Atlas," rather than that she knows maybe it'd be better to close, but she's kinda doing it for Possibility still / old times' sake....makes most sense that of course atlas died Because of lackadaisy, but he didn't like refuse to take some approach in which he Could've Lived to instead die to better ensure its continuation. if that makes sense.

mentally rotating everything furiously, i'm reluctant to wrap up any of these posts as if i'm bound to just suddenly Solve That Mystery, what's new scooby doo....musing on the possible chekov's sicilians again for good measure....how much changes if mordecai thinks that marigold knows who killed atlas, and he doesn't? that he wants to Know if marigold Knows? that he wants to find out and get revenge on whomsoever it was, supposing in this case, of course, it wasn't himself? that maybe atlas lied to him about who/what was threatening him, whether or not he was then like "professionally shoot me" or "professionally leave me and make sure nobody shoots my wife, who isn't even living with me at this time, things have visibly deteriorated"....

augh it's quarter to one a.m. all of a sudden and i've mostly just talked about the murder mystery some more lol. but it's a "yeah maybe" from me re: your original question lmfao. and a standing invite to any and everyone to muse on this mystery with me / send insights/ideas