#but i can't figure out where i need to fix the thing until it's written because i can't see it when it's just in my head

[justalittlebluetiefling]

I do think the hardest part about actually writing a whole novel for the first time is having to constantly remind myself that first drafts are allowed to suck. They are not meant to be perfect. They're allowed to be filled with half thoughts where you need to go back later because you can't figure out what you need to fix until there are words on a page. Like, allowing myself to feel like I am bad at something and still continuing to push might be the biggest way I've grown in my entire life.

[sorcave]

After spending some time thinking about Peter Pettigrew, I’ve realized there’s a huge disconnect between how he’s portrayed in canon and how the fandom—especially within Marauders fanon—handles him. Let me preface this by saying, I get it. The Marauders era is filled with beloved, tragic characters like Sirius, Remus, and James, who are all charismatic in their own ways. It’s easy to frame Peter as the villain, the weak link in the group, because, well, he is the one who betrays them. But I can’t help feeling like fanon’s interpretation of him has become deeply flawed and even unfair in its simplification of his character.

Peter Pettigrew, as written in the books, is actually a much more complex figure than the rat-betrayer caricature that fanon often makes him out to be. He’s not some mustache-twirling villain, nor is he just a pathetic hanger-on who was lucky to be in the Marauders’ circle. If you really pay attention to the way his character is written, he’s someone who’s constantly underestimated by the people around him, including the very friends he ends up betraying. He’s not powerful in the traditional sense, but his cunning is what allows him to survive the chaos of two wizarding wars. He’s not a mastermind, sure, but he’s resourceful in a way that deserves more recognition than he gets. Canonically, it’s clear that he isn’t just bumbling around until he stumbles into Voldemort’s arms—he’s making calculated choices, and we need to give those choices the weight they deserve.

This brings me to why I think fanon’s insistence on reducing Peter to a one-dimensional villain is so misguided. There's this huge trend in Marauders fandom where Peter is either villainized beyond recognition or, worse, completely written out of the story. He’s often replaced in fanon with a random “better” Marauder, or he’s ignored entirely, as if his betrayal somehow disqualifies him from being part of the story. And here’s the thing: canon compliance isn’t a crime! In fact, canon gives us a far more interesting story. The tragedy of Peter’s betrayal is that he was their friend—he shared their dorm, their secrets, and their history. His actions were not driven by some inherent evil but by fear, survival instincts, and yes, cowardice. It’s a much richer narrative than reducing him to a monster.

In the fandom, there’s often this hyperfocus on moral purity when it comes to the Marauders, especially when it comes to ships and rewriting dynamics. Peter, however, disrupts that neat narrative, so fanon tries to erase him to preserve the integrity of the fan-created relationships. But that oversimplifies everything. Why should we villainize people for sticking to canon when canon is, arguably, what makes the Marauders’ story so compelling in the first place? The fall of the Marauders—this group of young, talented, promising boys—hinges on Peter’s betrayal. You can't just ignore that without losing a fundamental piece of what makes their story so tragic. He’s not a random character you can swap out. He’s the pivot point.

Peter’s character also raises some interesting discussions about how we view heroism and villainy in fandom spaces. For instance, we’re often quick to forgive other characters—Sirius, for all his bravado, is reckless and cruel to people like Snape, but we don’t hold it against him in the same way. We empathize with his trauma, his tragic backstory. So why is it that Peter, who is also a product of his circumstances, is written off? He wasn’t born evil; he was shaped by the same war that shaped all of them, but his path led him to make different choices. There’s something so fascinating about exploring how someone who was once a friend could betray everything. It’s a conversation about human flaws, not just villainy.

And yes, in a world full of Marauders fan content, it’s fine to like your AUs or write your fix-its. But let’s not pretend that sticking to canon, and appreciating Peter for the complex character he is, is somehow less valid. The fandom would benefit from looking at Peter as more than just “the betrayer” and instead as someone who, like everyone else in the story, is a deeply flawed person whose mistakes have devastating consequences. That makes the story richer, more painful, and ultimately, more meaningful.

forgive me for the ramble but Im going insane with my term paper and my thesis, unfortunately I've been diving too deep into the marauders again

[fictionobsession]

devotion

Pairing: Alastor x f!Reader

Summary: She would give anything for him.

Word Count: 1,997

Warnings: blood, canon typical violence, Alastor being psychotic

A/N: okay friends, first time writing for Al. this was not beta'd or really edited at all so if something seems weird just... assume I meant to fix it. also, this was written as a QPR, but there's a little feelings on reader's side if you squint. I'm not 100% on how in character this is for Alastor, but we tried and that's what matters right

---

She plopped onto the shitty couch and pulled her knees to her chest, looking around the shitty house where they'd been hiding out in the middle of this shitty swamp for the last two shitty weeks. The wallpaper was peeling and yellowed, the floors covered in mold and mildew, the running water only worked half the time, and, more importantly, the refrigerator was empty as of six nights prior. Her stomach rumbled just thinking about a nice juicy cut. She sighed, closing her eyes and allowing herself to sink into the daydream of food.

She knew when she'd gotten into this hobby with Alastor that there was a non-zero chance she would wind up on the run someday. She just wished they could have put it off a bit longer, had a bit more fun. She laid her head back against the rotting couch until she heard the creak of the floor near the front door.

Her eyes snapped open and her brows furrowed as she took in Alastor's hunting attire.

“Al, where do you think you're going?”

“Well, my dear, unless you feel like us both starving to death in this dismal abode, I thought I'd better go get some food.”

“Alastor. You know we've heard the dogs nearby. You can't possibly go out there without getting caught, at least until we've had a couple days where we haven't heard 'em.”

“Again, starving is not on my agenda, so we don't particularly have another choice.”

Another choice. Her face hardens as she realizes what another option might be. She stood up and crossed the room, grabbing Alastor's arm before he could open the door. “There is a way for us to make it out of this without you leaving. Or rather, a way for one of us to make it out of this.”

He hummed, and she could see the wheels turning as he put together what she was implying. “I'm not sacrificing myself for you to get away, you know.”

“I know. That's why I'm just asking you to get it over with quickly. You'll get more time, and I – well, I'll at least get to go out on my own terms. If I have to go, at least it'll be for you.”

His eyes widened just a bit, more reaction than she'd usually get, before he shrugged. “Okay. Painless it is. Not usually my style, but I think I can figure it out.”

She laughed, a genuine, full laugh. “I know, Al, and that's why we've worked out so well. But I think you could at least do that much for me.”

He pulled his hunting knife from where he had already slid it into his belt. “Are you ready?”

And with one nod, everything went black.

-

It seemed instantaneous, appearing in hell. She looked around, taking in the chaos around her. Literal dumpster fires, public sex, casual street murders, Hell had it all. Of course, arriving in Hell wasn't a surprise for her. You don't kill that many people and expect to get into Heaven. She wasn't even sure she had believed in the whole afterlife thing until she was experiencing it. She shrugged it off, finding the closest place with a mirror she could use for free.

Her body was... different, certainly. But intact, and honestly, she was quite happy with it. Given the various types of demons she'd seen just in her brief time there, it could've been a lot worse. She wandered, putting together a plan of action for getting herself set up in Hell. It seemed she would need income to make most things happen, which made finding a job a top priority. She also needed a place to sleep, as it seemed unsafe at best to stay on the streets.

She got a job fairly quickly at Ozzie's, though she wasn't thrilled with the outfit they made her wear for the whole thing. But it was money, and easy work, so she stuck with it. Asmodeus offered her a fairly decent rate on rent nearby, as well, so she could have done worse.

Shortly after getting settled, she started feeling pressure on her body in random locations and at seemingly random times, almost like someone was grabbing or poking her to get her attention. Occasionally she'd get hot spots, which she at first attributed to it being hot in Hell. Little scrapes and cuts would appear sometimes as well, but they always healed up quickly. It wasn't until the final time it happened that she realized what had been happening over the past few weeks.

A perfect bite imprint appeared on her forearm, accompanied by a sharp pain, and she realized it must have been an effect of Alastor in the living world. She traced her finger over the mark, which had healed into almost a scar, but not quite. It was a bit pink, but wasn't angry and fresh. She smiled a little to herself, happy that her sacrifice hadn't been in vain.

As time went on, she found herself tracing the mark when she was feeling stressed, upset, or particularly lonely. It never healed all the way, making it always a bit sensitive to touch, and served as a reminder of why she was here. The mark always made her feel closer to Al, which brought a little comfort when things got crazy.

She had managed to stay within the same few blocks that she knew were heavily policed by Asmodeus's people. However, six months into her stay in Hell, she finally had to leave her little neighborhood to buy some things for the bar. She packed her gun, a knife, and made sure she was dressed inconspicuously – the rumors about the surrounding areas were very...detailed...about what might happen to someone who ended up on the wrong side of a fight.

Unfortunately, her preparation didn't keep her from getting spotted by some Sharks outside the store as she started back toward her apartment. She tried to hurry, sliding between demons and other sinners, before slipping down an alley to attempt to lose her tail. It was too late by the time she realized it was a dead end, and the Sharks started cutting off her only entrance.

She took one step, two, keeping them in her sight until her back hit the brick wall behind her. Her hand reached for her gun, ready to pull it when the lead Shark got close enough. Their glares were paralyzing, and she could smell the smoke and alcohol on them at that distance. She felt herself start to shake, taking a deep breath to steady herself before -

“You wouldn't want people to think you're picking on those of fairer means would you?” The sound and feeling of static crackled through the air like lightning as a dark shape enveloped the opening to the alleyway. A long, thin shadow ripped through the air, straight through the lead Shark, throwing him against the side of the neighboring building.

Green sparks shone through the seemingly infinite blackness, a pair of what could only be described as antlers growing from the approaching shape. Two more tendrils, picking up the remaining Sharks and tossing them into the air like dolls. She wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't look away from the gore. Sure, she had seen a lot of violence in her time in Hell, but she hadn't seen that level of overkill in quite some time.

As the last of the Sharks fled only to get a tendril through the skull, she pressed herself as far into the corner as possible, sliding down the wall and pulling her knees to her chest. There was only the hope that the demon forgot she existed, and the knowledge that if he hadn't, she would likely be next up for second death.

The shadow approached, darkness fading as he got closer until finally it revealed a man. A tall man, with horns, but just a man, nonetheless. He was straightening out his red coat, and twirling something around in his hands as he approached. “Always good to have an excuse to let off a little steam. Always good.”

He put a hand out to help her up. As she lifted herself off the ground, he was already vaguely shaking her hand, introducing himself. “Name's Alastor, pleasure to meet you. Quite a pleasure.”

His name hit her ears about the time he caught a glimpse of her bite, and both stopped dead in the middle of introductions. She looked up, eyes widening as she realized that yes, that was a microphone, and yes, in fact, it had been quite a while since she'd seen that level of overkill, one could even say since her living days. He looked different now, sure, but as soon as she looked into his eyes, she knew that was her Al.

“Well maybe don't wait so long to come save my ass next time, eh, Al?” She smirked up at him, waiting for him to process what was happening. His nails traced the pattern of his own bite on her arm. She caught sight of his tongue tracing across his teeth, as if he was just then realizing how different they'd really become. “I bet your imprint looks a bit different now, doesn't it?” She spoke more to herself than to him as she reached to pull her sleeve down over the mark.

“Why, I should hope so, my dear. I should very much hope so. Let's see just how much it's changed then!” Without any more warning than that, he pulled her arm to his mouth and bit, hard. The new mark bled, sure, but it healed up more quickly than it probably should have, covering his old impression with his new one. His ears twitched subconsciously, his ever-present smile nearly faltering as he watched the blood drip, drip, drip down her arm. He shook himself out of whatever thoughts were distracting him rather quickly before acting like no time had passed at all since they'd been together last. “Now, I don't think I should leave you alone again. It seems to me that you still can't stay out of trouble, my dear! Come along, let me show you where I've been staying!”

“But – Hang on! Al! I've got to go to work!”

“Ah, there'll be no more need of that anymore. We'll send a notice to... whoever you're working for when you get settled.” He raised an eyebrow, practically daring her to argue. She knew, though, that she'd never gone against what he'd wanted before, and she didn't particularly want to start now. She took the elbow he'd offered her and allowed him to lead her out of the alley.

Occasionally, as they walked, she would catch sight of a shadow that seemed to be following them.

“Oh, don't mind them. They're just keeping an eye on your wellbeing. You better get used to it! Having a friend like me, why, other overlords will just be dying to get their hands on you!”

She scoffed, a look of adoration crossing her features before she tactfully replaced it with annoyance. “I'm not going to get any rest now, am I?”

“Oh contraire, ma cherie! You're going to get everything you've ever wanted and deserved. I owe you that after what you did for me up there, wouldn't you say?”

“Oh I just can't wait to show you Cannibaltown! You've got to meet Rosie, yes. You'll get along very well, very well indeed. And she makes the most delectable little treats! Maybe we'll go by tomorrow.”

As he continued rambling, she hummed approval when appropriate, watching him out of the corner of her eye with a mix of caution and longing. As he led her down streets she'd never seen before, she realized maybe this was all her afterlife had needed after all.

[demodraws0606]

WxS THEORY : Rui is driving himself into a corner

Ok I needed to make a big rambly analysis post again because I just read this post that absolutely rotted my brain (pls check it out) -> https://www.tumblr.com/sankatsuka/741871319388389377?source=share

I kinda want to share my overall thoughts on how Rui is being written overall and what I think it could possibly lead to.

Introduction.

So okay... we can agree how colorpalet writes Rui is weird as shit right ?

Like, this is very obvious when you look at Rui's two most recent events Backlight and Curtain. Both of them actually end on cliffhangers, leaving things open ended with hints at future problems. In fact Curtain Call's consequences haven't been fully addressed yet as Rui still hasn't talk about Asahi to WxS and we know he's coming back.

However, it's not just that that could be pointed out as strange, in fact, in both of these events Rui fails.

In Curtain Call, he fails to understand his own feelings as he accepts to join Arcland.

In Backlight, he fails to understand how to fix the issue in the movie

Not only that but those events both show Rui isolating himself from WxS (with varying levels of severity) trying to figure out the problem and fix it. Often to the point where WxS get mildly concerned for him and want to help him (again with varying levels of severity).

Both of these events seem to show that Rui is stuck on something, there is a reason why he can't seem to solve the problems that he's facing weither major or minor.

So, clearly there is a reocurring problem right ? If Rui seemingly keeps on failing then colorpalet has to be setting up something.

With Curtain Call it seemed like what they were setting up was some kind of confrontation about the disbandement but Rui is weirdly set aside in the Emu's event. Which it doesn't feel like a mistake considering they chose to make it an Emu event instead of Rui on purpose when they couldn't have it be a Tsukasa focus.

In Happy End, Rui's communication with WxS is very limited. His feelings never get personally confronted as he mostly just attempts to try and fix the situation until he's met with rejection to which he just very much gives up. It's only when Emu's brothers offer an olive branch that Rui finally jumps at the opportunity to speak.

However, despite it being a hopeful step forward...it doesn't fix Rui's issues here. In fact he withdraws from even speaking about his situation with Asahi which for me is the baseline of Rui being honest with his feelings.

Sure, he does end up helping in Happy End and his feelings are reafirmed but...he also fails here. His first plan to keep them together fails because he didn't communicate with them, it's Emu's brother that truly end up coming up with a solution at the end.

So what is Rui's problem ? What is the red flag that colorpalet keeps waving ?

2. A concerning pattern

Post-Curtain Call helped highlight a very clear pattern with Rui.

It's a toxic mix between his abandonnement issues and self sacrificing nature.

Rui gets insecure a lot about how his potentialy missgivings could affect WxS, to the point where it's become a concerning pattern.

-Dazzling Light Event (and Nene Canary Event) : Rui gets insecure over not being able to be a suitable director for Tsukasa and hurting his acting in the process. This insecurity comes back again in Nene's fourth event in Rui's side card story.

-Shibuya fes with Mafurui : He almost hurts his fucking leg because he couldn't bear the idea that he could inconvenience WxS

-Disbandement Arc : He refused to talk to WxS about his feelings and still hasn't talked fully about them with Asahi. He literally isolated himself to make a plan to keep WxS together behind their back.

All of these show that Rui still has this fear that he could do something that would set him apart from WxS and that often influences his actions.

Rui's issue here is a lack of priority and a self sacrificial nature that borderlines on self destructive at some poiints. Everything he does is motivated in some sense by WxS.

Recently when he mentions his dreams and ambition like in Tsukasa's most recent event, he wants to make WxS shine. It's the subject of one of his early second art stickers.

"I'll bring out your strength"

Which... let's talk about Rui's dreams and amibitons.

3. Rui and his dream

A lot of people characterise Rui as extremely passionate which is true....or is it really ?

Okay here me out, I don't think we can deny he definitely has a lot of passion for what he does but we can't deny there is definitely something going on.

First of all, Rui is the only character where we don't really have an event of him trying to progress towards his dream, backlight is the first one and it shows him failing.

Second of all, Rui is the only one to have been ready to compromise his dream for WxS which has not been the case for anyone else in WxS. Sure Emu left Pheonix Wonderland, but she knows she'll come back eventually.

Which like leads me to this realisation with his second event specifically it's name, Revival My Dream.

The event where we see Rui at his happiest, fully comfortable in where he was compared to now.

His dreams has never just been to bring people smiles, what he always wanted was a way to connect with people with shows to have a group of friends that actually liked him and didn't reject him for being weird.

But he was bullied into accepting that he didn't actually care about other people, he rationalised that maybe accomplishing his dream alone would make him happy but his friends are part of his dream.

It's this conflict between his dream and his relationship with WxS that is fucking him up especially post-curtain call.

He has to support WxS, he has to be the reliable one, he has to figure out how they can still stay together...

But why ? Why does he put that responsibility in himself

Even then in the Backlight event he's so obsessed with finding the answer himself

Because he's still on that mindset, similar to wonder-halloween just a lot less severe. WxS saved him and they mean the world to him that he'll just allow to be trampled just to make them happy. In fact you see that with even more simpple fun moments with how he ate Touya's rancid cupcake just to make him happy, it's shown time and time again he will sacrifice his own needs for the needs of others to a dangerous point.

4. What it means for Rui's future

I think all these things will end up catching up to Rui

We saw this with Tsukasa, we saw his ups and downs of trying to improve and fight his insecurities led to him having a breakdown.

All these things just keep on building up and colorpalet is very unsubtle with how strange they are with his sad expressions in the tetrad 2dmv and his trained cards (which i can go deeper into).

This could go again in different ways but eventually WxS will have to confront him about it, finally make him communicate his feelings for once.

Again we still have Cyberpunk Deadboy and what it could signify for the future of Rui's arc which I already talked about

It's all just really strange and weird there are even stranger things that i could talk about but i'm eepy so i'll leave it at that lol

[lorablackmane]

It's time for ghosts y'all!! I wanted to make this post once I finished a chapter or 2 of my AU's fic, but I've talked about these lil fuckers so much w/ Teal in the past month I figured it might be best to make a post b4 that so ppl aren't confused in the future.

The premise of this AU is after the night after the King is defeated, everyone is celebrating! ...Until odd things start to appear in the House. A giant bloodsplatter in the Death Corridor and a trail of blood leading from it to the King's room. A shattered shelf and knocked over pot missing it's contents in the kitchen. A frozen body near the storage room.

One by one, ghosts created from the breaking points of Siffrin's wish start to appear, and they're here to stay! For better... or for worse.

Below is how each ghost was made, their wishcraft's scent (I put too much thought into this info so I'm adding it), and a bit about them!

(Cw for the ghost's stories below: death, suicide, allergy attack)

The Stoned - Created in Act 1 - Smells like Copper and Sugar

(This one will get a proper ref later bc this doesn't fully capture him)

Despite their looks, The Stoned is the calmest out of all of them, even though their death was one of the most painful. It happened so quickly and also messed up enough that the Wishcraft couldn't fix most of their body after the boulder disappears... so he can't feel pain anymore. He can't really feel much honestly there's... there isn't many nerves to feel with anymore. The additional lack of bones is a detriment to their ability to move, making them have to crawl around and continuously shift so they won't lose their balance until they get items like crutches and a wheelchair to help.

The Stoned doesn't know the horrors of the House and so are innocent in a way even Bonnie isn't. They never even it made it to the second half of the first floor! So a lot of the things the others talk about fly over their head. The others don't leave them out of talks about the House though! ...Not that the Stoned... really speaks - but it's the thought that counts!! They have their buddy to speak for them, anyway.

Just like how Loop's Wishcraft made their body unique, each ghost has their own lil quirk due to the Wishcraft that powers their bodies. The Stoned has the oddest one: due to their lack of most their bones their body is almost completely powered by Wishcraft that is activated by the air he breathes in. Because of this, he can actually almost flatten himself by releasing all the air inside themself, and will stay that way until he breathes back in. He can't move like that, but it does sometimes come in handy - by releasing some instead of all the air they can make themself slightly more compact to get into tight places!

The Silent - Created in Act 2 - Smells like Saltwater Taffy

The Silent is a fearful one, they remember the pain the House offers but cannot feel it. They only truly remember up to Bonnie accidentally pushing them, however they know so much more. Each time Siffrin touched a tear he gave them the memories of that run, but to the Silent it was less like a memory and more like watching a play. Detached from themself... yet the fear is there. They aren't like Stone who only remembers his death, they know the blessing was a curse wrapped in a pretty bow and the thought that what they see is only a fragment of the loops Siffrin went through... it makes them retreat into themself, especially bc they see their existence as unneeded bc well... Siffrin already exists. They don't need another to bother them.

It's much easier to stay put, to let them become one with the House as the tears intended. They don't need to breathe, to eat, or anything really so it's quite easy for them to do so! For them to just... exist. Hiding in plain sight, like the books hidden on shelves of the House written in their mother tongue. So this is where they stay, until one day maybe people can hear them speak once more. They do occasionally move, mostly when they hear that the Housemaiden's need the area they're in, but only when they're certain no one is looking.

When it comes to fight, flight, or freeze they choose freeze every time... which isn't helped by the quirk of their body's Wishcraft. The Silent can freeze anything up to the size of a medium bowl if they hold it for long enough. The Unseen will sometimes use this to pull pranks on people who upset them, stealing their umbrellas and placing them in The Silent's hold. They find this very petty... but they don't like moving bc a Housemaiden might see them and it is funny so they don't stop the two from doing so.

The Unseen(Left) - Created in Act 3 - Smells like Candied Pineapples

The left one is similar in personality to the Stoned as when they were created Siffrin knews that something was wrong, but still had hope that things were okay. They are an odd one: they see their accidental death as nothing in the grand scheme of things considering how many deaths already happened before them. If anything, he sees his death as a vital piece of showing their love to their family oddly enough! His memory is spotty, but the answer to Bonnie's question is forever engraved upon their skin so none of them will ever forget (even if most cannot see them anymore except outta the corner of their eye). There is a great sorrow in them though, after meeting their counterpart and discovering that there was so much pain afterwards - that like them this fact is engraved into their counterpart... but they'll stay with them, and maybe... they can bring some joy back to the right.

They help keep their counterpart's pranks in check, as unlike the right left remembers how fragile people are and doesn't see them as actors or dolls. Most of the pranks they plan are leaving lil letters with terrible puns around the House. Like you go into the bathroom, there's a letter tied to the handle of the sink. You open it and it says something like, "water you doin, handsome?" Stupid stuff like that, that makes them feel like the funnyjokespunperson they were before everything. A way to reclaim what the loops took from them both.

The Lonely - Created in Act 3 - Smells of Sugar and Moldy Cloth

This ghost is the culmination of so, so many fragments Siffrin left in between those walls. For a long time they did not remember anything besides the motions to get to the King, yet they could never defeat him. They couldn't survive his major attack, no matter what they did. It feels like at one point he could though... wasn't there a way? It isn't until the ghost event that they remember what they lost and while it felt absolute euphoria in that moment, after that the loneliness became soul crushing. The hunger for someone, anyone to be with them hurt so much! ...It made them remember why they forgot their family the first time.

The Lonely's quirk unlike most of the others isn't seared on their skin. No, the Lonely's ability is actually only really useful for dealing with The Unseen - anytime one of the others is in danger or about to do something dangerous they sense it. The Vengeful is constantly ringing this mental alarm, but it can't do anything to help due to it constantly moving so they don't even try with them. The Unseen though, it is often seen dragging them by the ears before they do something like unleash a barrel full of marbles in a hallway.

The Vengeful - Created in Act 4 - Smells of Steel, Salt, and Sugar

It is the culmination of the King's cruelty and Siffrin's agony, a beast made of anger, pain, and sorrow in equal measures. It hates the King both bc Siffrin did and bc it sees him at fault for it's creation as it doesn't know of Wishcraft as it was created right on the line between 3 and 4. That is why it tore his right hand off and stole the gauntlet upon it - a punishment for the action that created it and a trophy for it to wear as proof that, even after such a horrid deed, he didn't win. It runs away from the House and it's former family because of this memory - it cannot confront the people it feels it failed even with the knowledge they survived, that it's sin wasn't permanent. In it's eyes it will always exist. It's eye will sometimes gleam with the same shade as the one that appeared when the world was breaking!

The Vengeful is the only ghost no one is completely sure the location of due to it throwing itself out of the first available window after completing it's mission. It mostly stays in forests or caverns where it can easily hide, only going near towns if someone reminds it of the King. Once it has dealt with said person however it views it needs to, mostly by scaring them, it returns to it's current hiding spot. The Vengeful is a lonely one, but it's not ready to be near people for long periods of time. It's afraid that due to how it was created it'll bring bad luck to those it spends too much time with - how couldn't it? It was created from a person trapped in the middle of an hourglass until they drowned in the golden sands and by a man who saw his will as absolute, who caused so much agony. One day, though, it'll realize that isn't true... but it'll be quite a while.

The Unseen(Right) - Created in Act 4 - Smells like Steel and Sugar

This one is the closest in personality to Loop. It mocks even though it has no voice, they play with the people around it to remind themself they're real. Without the left the right Unseen would be much more dangerous as it is so desensitized to death they have forgotten what is actually dangerous and so some of their mischief has to be tempered by the left one to avoid killing those around them. For a very long time they view others, besides left, as merely actors in a similar vein as Loop, only referring to others via titles if it needs to interact with anyone and left doesn't control the writing pen. As time passes this trait slowly disappears, as the days show more changes like rain upon the rooftops or snow in the gardens, things it long forgot.

Together with their counterpart The Unseen are the ones who were left behind through actions seen as small, but were greater than thought. The ones who cannot be seen without drastically changing the views of ones most loved by the person they once were. And so they stay hidden from sight by their own Wishcraft... but that is a lonely way to live they discovered. The two of them alone cannot satiate their need 4 company. And so they do little things that are easily noticed so they can be seen without breaking their rule: walking around with open, stolen umbrellas or pulling little pranks.

Most Housemaiden's don't talk to them, because they never get an answer they assume they don't like talking. This isn't the case though they cannot tell them that... neither can speak. The left's throat is closed up and the right's is... well u can probably guess why theirs wouldn't work even if they had a mouth to speak with. The Lonely though does speak to them often - it has a chalkboard in the room it lives in inside the House for them to write lil questions or answers on.

[mrsarcherofinfamy]

Gym Stalker

• Wardlow x Reader

Summary: You are a newer AEW wrestler. You go to the gym and Wardlow happens to be there.You have never talked to each other before. Why does it seem like he is always at the gym whenever you are?

_________________________________________

Sitting on a bench taking a breather in-between my squat sets, I adjust my headphones looking down at the floor. I feel a tap on my shoulder and look up seeing this big, muscular man standing next to me. He kinda looks familiar but I can't figure out where I saw him before. I move my one headphone off my ear and look up at him.

"Excuse me but are you using this bench or can I have it please?"

I stand up and motion for him to take it.

"All yours."

I walk over to the squat rack and fix the weights on it. I can feel a pair of eyes on me but I don't wanna turn around and look. I start doing squats on the machine listening to my music. I start struggling and having a hard time pushing the bar back up. I feel a pair of hands grab my side and stand me up putting the bar on the rack. I knock my headphones onto my neck and look back at who grabbed my sides. The mysterious muscular man is looking down at me.

"You need to be careful miss. You really could have hurt yourself."

"Thank you for your help."

He walks away and I start putting my weights away and wiping everything down. I grab my water and walk out to my car leaving the gym. I sit in my car rubbing my face wondering who this guy was.

_________________________________________

I walk into my locker room and the lights are off. I turn them on and there is a bouquet of flowers sitting on my coffee table. I toss my bags on the couch and walk over to the table. I crouch down and take the little card off of them.

"To Y/N, you are a beautiful woman. Don't ever change for anyone. From, your secret admirer."

I blush and smile looking at the flowers. I smell them and take a picture of the card and flowers. I go onto my Twitter and post the picture of the flowers and card for my fans to try and guess who they are from. I put my phone on the table and sit down watching the TV. There is a squash match going on at the moment. This guy gives his smaller opponent a huge powerbomb. My eyes go wide realizing that is the guy that helped me in the gym yesterday. The ref stops his match and Tony Schiavone is in the ring talking to him. He lifts up his arm showing MJF written on his wrist. He knocks Tony down on the ground and walks to the back. I shake my head smiling liking his gimmick.

_________________________________________

I walk into the gym and scan my little card. I am wearing a sleeveless tank top and some black shorts with black sneakers. I start walking over to the training room where I normally work out at but, I catch a big muscular frame out of the corner of my eye. I look over and he is trying to pose for a selfie in the mirror. I slowly walk up behind him, make a muscle and stick out my tongue. He doesn't seem to notice me so I walk over to the training room and get my workout done. My phone starts blowing up with tags and messages on Twitter. Everyone is tagging me in the picture of Wardlow and me at the gym saying that he is my secret admirer and how cute we are together. My eyes go wide reading all of this. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I jump looking behind me.

"So Y/N, why did you photobomb my selfie? My phone is blowing up about it. I didn't even notice you in the background until everyone started tagging and saying things about it."

I giggle and stand up infront of him looking up at him. He is looking down at me not smiling or anything.

"Well I thought it would be funny. That's all. I realized yesterday that we both are wrestlers in AEW."

"Wait you just noticed me?"

I scratch my head and look away.

"Nooooooo"

He slightly smiles looking down at me. I look at him and smile shrugging my shoulders.

"I wasn't really focused on anyone else but myself to be honest. I haven't had the best luck with relationships or friendships so, I decided to focus on me and no one else."

He puts a hand on my shoulder. I look at his hand than up at him.

"I totally get it. I haven't really been interested in anyone lately. That changed a couple days ago."

I look at him with a confused face.

"Anyways, I was wondering if I could get your number. We could like hang out before work. Or afterwards too. Whatever you wanna do."

"Sure! Give me your phone!"

He hands me his phone and I put my number in his phone. I hand it back and he walks away with a smile on his face. I finish working out for the day.

_________________________________________

*a week later*

Sitting in my locker room waiting until I get called for my match tonight, I am looking through my phone. Wardlow still hasn't messaged me since I gave him my number. Maybe he isn't the secret admirer that sent me the flowers. Maybe he just wants to be friends. There is a knock on my door which startles me from my thoughts. I get up, open the door and there is a man standing there.

"You are on in 10 minutes Y/N!"

"Okay thanks!"

I get up and run to gorilla to get ready. I was stretching and I didn't notice Wardlow was coming to the back from his match he just had. The camera is following behind him recording everything. My back is to him stretching. He walks up and shoves me out of the way. I fall forward smacking my head off of the production desk. I fall to the ground holding my head feeling it throbbing. I pull my hand back seeing blood. The medics are running over to me. The crowd is booing Wardlow. I get replaced in my match while the medics are cleaning my head. They sit me up cleaning it when one of them gets pushed out of the way. I look up and see Wardlow kneeling down next to me.

"Y/N! I am so sorry! I didn't think I pushed you that hard! I am really sorry!"

"Wardlow.... it's fine."

He puts his arm under my legs and his other around my waist and picks me up. I wrap my arms around his neck and lay my head on his shoulder. Not noticing the camera man recording everything for the crowd to see, Wardlow kisses my forehead and carries me to the medical office.

_________________________________________

This whole week has been nothing but fans making fanart of me and Wardlow, talking about how we are a couple and shipping us as a couple. I mean he still hasn't even texted me since I gave him my number. I decide going to the gym that I might run into him to talk to him. I go to the gym and kinda work out waiting to see if he shows up. I wait about an hour and he doesn't show up. I decide that I should just go home and maybe I will run into him at work. I walk out to my car and start putting my workout bag in the backseat when I get turned around, pushed into my car and kissed really hard. My eyes go wide seeing it is Wardlow. I try and push him off of me. He backs up looking at me.

"Y/N I am so sorry I never texted you! I get so nervous around you! Yes I am your secret admirer! I want to be with you! Ever since I laid my eyes on you here at the gym, there was just something about you I liked and wanted to know more about! Please forgive me! I am so sorry!"

I grab his face and kiss him. He kisses me back putting his hands on my sides. I wrap my arms around his neck deepening our kiss. I pull back looking up at him.

"You talk to much. But I forgive you. I just thought you weren't interested in me or something."

"No no no. I am so interested in you. I was just so nervous around you. But will you be my girlfriend?"

I giggle and kiss him again.

"Yes I will be your official girlfriend!"

He smiles really big, puts his hands on my face and pulls me into him giving me a big kiss. I pull back and look up at him with a little smirk.

"Soooo wanna break the internet?"

"Ummmm what are you thinking in that little evil brain of yours?"

I pull out my phone and turn the camera around to take a selfie. He wraps his arms around my waist from behind and pulls me into his body. He puts his chin on my head and I take a cute selfie with him than a funny one.

"I love both of these so they are both going online."

"Fine with me babe!"

I smile and upload the pictures on Twitter for the fans to freak out about. Seconds later, me and Wardlow's phone is blowing up about the pictures. I turn around and look up at him.

"Guess the fans are happy about us."

He laughs and kisses me.

"I am happy to be with you."

The End.

[gffa]

Did they at least fix what was wrong with Jason? like did Bruce at least fix what he did to Jason? Like im coming to terms with the fact that Jason as a character is now just a prop to serve Bruce whether to make him look good for saving the streetkid from becoming a Evil Criminal, or to give shock value to readers, or to dispense platitudes about the importance of family and how wonderful Bruce.

and that he will never be allowed to be or do anything good unless is in the service of batman in someway, but at least i need to know that Bruce fixed what he did wrong, and that they didnt just forget about that like the other time Bruce was awful to Jason.

I'm not really aware of them even specifically addressing it outside of maybe The Man Who Stopped Laughing, but like. That's kind of the things comics does, all comics I've read will do this at some point or another. They do over the top ridiculous nonsense and those plot threads often get dropped, I don't think we're meant to take them seriously, just like I don't think we're meant to look at Jason and think of him as the guy who shot an 11 year old child straight through the chest and probably right through his spine, and not forgive him for it. Comics are bonkers and I don't think they're meant to be taken with the seriousness we would of these actions in the real world--otherwise, almost ALL of these people have done things that they could never fix, you know? I don't know where your lines in the sand are, I don't know what you're looking to get out of comics, whether you're here for the canon or you're here for the fandom--and none of that is said with any shade, there's a whole wide variety of reasons to be a fan of something. I can't really give advice here because it's something you have to figure out what you want from comics and what you think they're meant to be might be totally different from what I think they're meant to be. And I'm struggling to word all of this, because I can feel how frustrated you are, how I've been there and felt heartsore about the place my faves occupy in canon, like I was and am a Pietro Maximoff fan in the comics, I have intimately known the pain of a character only being an extension of other characters, being written horribly by those who don't care about him, and desperately holding onto that one run where he was written brilliantly even though it was from 20-30 years ago. Versus that that's just the way comics often are, our faves just are not A-list characters, that comics are on a tiered hierarchy and we have to make our peace with that. Not all of the characters we like are the same ones the company likes or the writers like and that sucks. Whether that means walking away from comics (like I did after Marvel threw the X-Men under the bus for the Avengers in AvX, like I've stopped reading Quicksilver comics because my heart couldn't take it anymore) or just reading comics and then turning to fandom to realize the potential that canon never intended, whatever you need to do to make your peace with how comics operate, that's all any of us can do. I don't know if you're just in need of venting or if this is truly a breaking point for you, but it probably is true to some degree that Jason's always going to be written as an extension of Bruce's character, because Bruce Wayne Sells So Many Comics, of course DC is going to make everyone an extension of him, to some degree or another. (Honestly, right now, I think the only Bat escaping that is Dick and even he is still extremely tied to his relationship with Bruce.) Until those characters sell as many comics as Bruce does, I don't see that changing. All we can do is find the moments of something worth having fun with in the meantime, because comics are not a coherent medium, they are messy and tons of stuff is never addressed on-screen because every writer is coming in with their own agenda and it's pure chaos, and in my experience we just have to find joy in the whirlwind of it all.

[partywithponies]

Old Man Gene Hunt headcanons (for a "Alex returns to 2008 post-series 2 and meets a 74 year old Gene" AU that I may or may not do something with one day):

(Under a cut because this got long and I might as well have just written a fic)

Generally very lonely. The charges against him were dropped, but Ray, Chris, Shaz, Viv, and the gang all never fully believed he didn't shoot her on purpose, and he never bothered making new friends or getting close to anyone else

Has a tiny ridiculous dog (a very fluffy pomeranian in my head) called Sundance who he insults constantly but secretly dotes on

Unofficially gained possession of all of Alex's belongings when she "died" in 1982, couldn't get the energy to sort through and get rid of them, so just took most of it with him whenever he moved and still just has most of it in boxes in his flat and his lockup in 2008

Also still has the quattro in his lockup, and looks after it and keeps it in good condition, but doesn't really drive it out anymore

Currently drives around in a really shit transit van that he bought as a "project" with the intention to fix it up and sell it on, because a concerned neighbour told him he needed a hobby, but he got bored halfway through so now it's half painted and just has a lot of odd pieces of wood and engine parts in the back. Also has a mattress in the back because he drives out to the muddle of nowhere and sleeps in it sometimes, when he's either avoiding people and doesn't want to be bothered at his flat, or is just avoiding being alone with his thoughts at his flat (he doesn't have an office to sleep in to achieve this anymore)

His hair is thinning but fairly long, because he can't often be bothered getting it cut

(He genuinely isn't doing very well mentally and hasn't been for a long time, but if ever anyone voices concern or suggests he get help, they receive a barrage of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, so most people have given up on him)

EXTREMELY Grumpy Old Man when it comes to modern technology. Owns a laptop and a mobile, but point blank refuses to learn how to text or use the internet until he meets Molly and she becomes determined to drag him kicking and screaming into the 21st century (she's the one person he won't just tell to piss off. He's actually surprisingly soft for her)

Also owns a gun, very illegally. Does a lot of very illegal things these days

Is actually still surprisingly very strong and fit, for a fat old man who drinks and smokes even worse than he did before. Has drunk himself into the hospital a few times but always bounces back

Shortly before retiring in the late 90s, saw younger Alex at some kind of police conference, recognised her instantly, realised Alex had been telling the truth, and became a little bit unhinged. Just kind of obsessed with her. Moved back to London (had been working in Birmingham at the time) just to be closer to her, and basically stalked her for the next ten years, telling himself he "just wanted to keep an eye on her" and "just wanted to make sure she was okay", but after that first conference never actually let her see him

Gets into a lot of fights with criminals who hurt or threaten Alex, and at one point in the early 00s beats up and hospitalises an abusive ex-boyfriend of Alex's, getting him to leave her alone. Alex never figures out what happened to the ex to make him suddenly stop bothering and threatening her

Is actually the one to find Alex and get help after she's shot. Was keeping an extra close eye on her because he knew it had to happen soon, and when Layton took her, he knew where to look, and just went to where he first saw her

Didn't intend for her to see him after she wakes up again, and when they do end up meeting by accident (he was called into the station to give a statement on something at the same time she happened to be in visiting her colleagues for the first time since leaving hospital), he pretended he didn't know her, because he thought Alex would be able to move in quicker and ultimately be happier if she thought it was all in her head

By the time he realised that this had actually made everything so much worse, and that she was rapidly deteriorating both mentally and physically and looked more and sick and miserable every time he saw her, he still didn't say anything to her, because he thought if he said anything now she'd be really really pissed off at him

Only finally decides to talk to her when things have escalated so far that Alex's boss and Evan have both become so concerned that they've decided to get Alex sectioned, and Gene, upon hearing this, immediately "rescues" (kidnaps) Alex, only explaining everything once they're already on the road, and the two of them go on the run together

(They're both severely mentally unwell broken people, but they've decided they're going to look after each other now, so it's okay <3)

(Alex knows she should be super pissed at him, but right now she's too relieved to worry about that)

Gene is honestly confused and bewildered that Alex wants to be with him not only in the sense of wanting to stay on this impromptu roadtrip with him, but also in the biblical sense, given that he's 39 years older than her now and not in great shape, and she's still gorgeous even considering she hasn't really been looking after herself, and at first tries to nobly resist her attempts to seduce him, but she's quite persistent and he gives in quite quickly

(Yes, they fuck in the van)

Molly is at first a little weirded out by how old and weird he is when she meets her mum's new boyfriend, but she gets on really well with him and soon loves him. She gets on better with him than she does Alex (she's struggling to adjust to how different and damaged her mum is now and frustrated by the fact people keep pretending everything's fine, and they argue a lot, but they're trying)

(She's in her troubled preteen era, unstandably. very angry at the world, keeps getting in fights and bunking off school and getting in trouble. she finds Gene a kindred spirit and a sympathetic ear when she needs to rant, because he understands that people trying to comfort her or get her to talk about her emotions is just going to make her angrier)

Gene and Alex eventually come home and move in together and reunite with the quattro (very touching, that's their baby), and Molly gradually moves in with them full time (whenever Evan or Molly's dad try to take her away, she just runs away back to Gene and Alex anyway, so they might as well let her)

Evan is fucking furious. He doesn't trust Gene at all and is convinced he's manipulating both Alex and Molly. Evan becomes practically apoplectic when Gene and Alex become engaged

Gene and Alex are still both very confused and exhausted by everything and both aren't 100% sure they're not just completely mad, but eventually come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter at the end if the day if any of this is really real, as long as it feels real and they get to face it together

[mariamegale]

A future in the making

Burakhovsky, Rated E, 12,499 words. Chapter 1 of 2.

“I have reached a crossroads,” Daniil eventually admits, squinting out against the Steppe with a sigh. “One with no roads to take. No matter where I turn, it will be a walk into the nothingness of unpaved ground. I think I may stay in your Town for a while, yet.” It’s said in the way he says most things, which is oddly, but Artemy decides to interpret it how he wants to. He steps forward, pulling Daniil into an unresisted if unreciprocated hug. “I’m glad you want to,” Artemy says, realising how true it is. “It is a better Town for having you in it.” That's a blessing. There are so many things he needs to do, people he has neglected, and it's not until the words are out there that he realised how afraid he'd been of having to fix it all alone. OR: Turns out, having to rebuild after the apocalypse - and its end - is a slower process than he'd hoped. OR 2: Artemy just wants his children to be okay. He would also quite like to figure out what the fuck it is he feels towards Daniil, neither of which turn out to be an easy process.

Read it on AO3!

Tags: great that the world didn't end and all but what the FUCK do we do now, Slow Burn, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Banter, Kissing, Cuddling, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sort of?, as in I am no expert but I believe they all have it, llness Recovery, Sexual Tension, Romantic Tension, Artemy is incredibly tense, Daniil is mostly tense about figuring out how to get kids to like him, Steppe culture, Rebuilding, Socially Awkward Daniil, Socially Awkward Artemy, Turns out a plague is really good at covering up how horrible your people skills are, rated E for future installments, Post-Diurnal

A/N: Before we head on, I want to give a massive shout to the absolutely phenomenal, brilliant and extraordinarely talented @meirimerens , whose headcanons of the Children and their future selves was a massive inspiration for me. Sand Pest is no joke, and I love love love their thoughts on the long-term health effects, with intricate character designs and ever-gorgeous art to boot. Seriously, check it out, I owe half this fic to them and their work.

After much self-debate, I decided this really is a second work after the first, and not so much a 'chapter 2'. With that said, you probably can read this without having read "The future is a house built by people", although I can't guarantee the foundation for Artemy and Daniil's relationship will work flawlessly without it. If that was a story about a single event in their lives and how it pushed them forward, this is about the inevitable flux of limbo that happens after a catastrophe.

The other half of this is mostly written, but I wanted to get this out here. If you'd rather read a finished piece, drop back in a week or so!

[another-whump-sideblog]

Fixing Tracy -- Unemployment

TWs in the tags

Masterlist

The only weak spot, the only point of attack Tracy has, is the keys. Tracy’s only seen one, but she doubts Molly would go to the trouble of putting two locked doors between Tracy and the outside world and just have one key for both of them. Especially when the second door has so many locks.

If she tries to attack Molly and get the keys, she’ll just be shocked by the cattle prod. She hasn’t tested that, but she’s reasonably sure. 

Tracy’s well aware that knocking someone out doesn’t keep them down very long on its own. Even if she managed to knock Molly out, Molly would be awake again far too soon for Tracy to search her for the keys and unlock both the doors and get away when all Molly needs to do to stop her is take something out of her sleeve and press a button.

Would Molly ever go to sleep in front of her? She seems too smart to do that, but she also offered to stay with Tracy last night before leaving. So… maybe? Still, Molly would be able to shock her if Tracy made any missteps that woke her up, and Tracy doesn't know how heavy a sleeper Molly is, or where the keys to the second door are.

That leaves killing her. 

…Tracy doesn’t think she can actually do that, on an emotional or practical level. As much as she wants to, as much as she fantasizes about murdering Molly, actually doing it would be… well, she’s never killed someone before, even in much worse situations with people much worse than Molly. 

Practically, she doesn’t have access to anything that could kill Molly quickly, and she wouldn’t be able to beat her to death with the frying pan or anything because Molly would be able to shock her with the cattle prod and incapacitate her before she got very far.

Wait, wait wait wait— she’s been looking at this wrong. She doesn’t need to steal the keys, she needs to steal the cattle prod.

That’ll be way easier. She just needs to wait until Molly seems relaxed and grab it from under Molly’s sleeve. Then she can search Molly for the keys and shock her if she tries to resist, and then shock her if she tries to stop Tracy from leaving, and then run. Easy!

Tracy knows it would be smarter to wait a bit and build trust before trying to get the cattle prod, but… she has a life. She can't just sit around here for days, she'll lose her job, and then she won't be able to pay rent, and then she'll never get custody of her sister–

But if she gets out today, it will all be fine. She'll get written up for missing work, but it won't be enough to get her fired. She'll just tell everyone she was too sick to even check her phone for a couple of days, but she's better now, and it will be like this never even happened.

Except… Molly must know where she lives. If Molly was able to do this once, what would stop her from doing it again?

No, she doesn't need to worry about that yet. That'll be what she figures out after she escapes. Right now, the only thing she needs to focus on is escaping.

Molly has been really gentle with Tracy. She doesn't seem upset at all about all the stuff Tracy broke, and she even replaced most of it while Tracy was asleep. The only sign that anything happened at all last night is Tracy's bandaged hands.

Molly obviously sees Tracy as fragile, so Tracy's going to lean into that. She'll play the part of the rescued damsel in distress, and hopefully that'll let Molly's guard down enough for Tracy to grab the cattle prod.

Molly made Tracy breakfast, so she practices the wounded lamb routine with that. "I– um… Molly? Thank you for the breakfast, but… I know you've been nice so far, I just… I've been drugged before, and eating something I didn't make…"

"Oh! You don't have to eat this if you don't want to. I'll never stop you from getting your own food. I can take bites to show it's not drugged, if you want. You can tell me what bites to take, so you know I didn't plan a specific part to not drug so that I could eat that to prove it's not drugged…"

Tracy's such a good actress. She picks a few parts of the breakfast for Molly to try, and Molly eats them confidently. The breakfast could still be drugged, but at least she knows that if it is drugged the dosage isn't strong enough for a few bites to be risky. Ultimately, there's no guarantee that any of the food in the kitchen isn't drugged, so it's a moot point anyway.

"...thank you. I'm sorry, I just– I'm sorry." She starts eating and refuses to make eye contact with Molly, as if she's ashamed of being so suspicious of her kidnapper.

"There's no need to apologize. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me you felt unsafe."

Tracy tries not to clench her fists. She hates Molly so much.

After breakfast, Tracy asks if they can watch a movie, and Molly happily obliges. Tracy sits right next to Molly.

There's no need to jump the gun. She'll wait until Molly seems fully focused on the movie.

A few minutes into the movie, Tracy scooches closer to Molly. A few minutes after that, she rests her head on Molly's shoulder.

She's as close as she's going to get. She watches Molly watch the movie, trying to gauge how focused she is. Molly looks back at Tracy and smiles gently.

"Dear? If you try to take the cattle prod or my key, I will stop you. If you need to find that out for yourself, that's okay, but it'd be less painful for both of us if you could take my word for it."

She's not going to let her guard down. Tracy'll just have to be really fast. 

She grabs Molly's arm and reaches up her sleeve, and Molly punches Tracy in the face.

Tracy yelps and reels back, but she's got the cattle prod. A thrill of triumph runs through her, but then Molly pulls a cattle prod out of her other sleeve. Tracy frantically feels for the button on the cattle prod she grabbed, but she's too slow. Fire runs through Tracy's arm until she drops the cattle prod, screaming in pain and frustration.

Molly takes it and sets it aside, then pulls handcuffs out of her pocket, grabs Tracy's hands, and locks the cuffs around her wrists. 

"Sorry, sorry! Is your eye okay? This is why I prefer the cattle prod!" She still grasps Tracy's hands tightly. "I hate to have to restrain you, but you're a danger to yourself and others right now. Take some deep breaths."

Tracy's such an idiot. Even without the second cattle prod, Molly will always have the advantage in any physical fight. Tracy needs to find all the keys, get the doors unlocked, and get far away from this place to win, and even then there's always the risk of Molly finding her again. All Molly has to do to win is restrain or incapacitate Tracy in some way.

The hopelessness of Tracy's situation is starting to sink in. She tries to blink back tears.

Molly takes off her belt, and Tracy sobs, unable to hold it back anymore. "Please, I'm sorry!"

"I'm not going to hurt you." She knots the belt around the handcuff chain. "Sorry, I'll bring a longer rope next time, but this'll have to do for now."

She pulls Tracy over to the table and ties the other end of the belt to the leg, forcing Tracy to sit on the ground. The table is, of course, nailed down.

Molly goes into the kitchen and comes back with ice. "Let's take care of your eye." She sits next to Tracy and holds the ice against where she punched Tracy. "I'm really sorry."

"You don't get to say sorry when you fully plan on doing it again."

"I only plan on defending myself if necessary. If you don't try to attack me, I won't have to hurt you."

"Right. Of course it's my fault, it's always my fault, you just had to hurt me because I tried to escape my kidnapper." She's crying in full force now. She's trapped, she's really trapped.

"I wish there was a way to defend myself without hurting you. Do you think I should just let myself be hurt if someone attacks me?"

"I didn't even attack you! I tried to disarm you, I was acting in self-defense!"

"Are you saying you didn't plan on using the cattle prod on me?"

"Only if you didn't let me search you for the keys."

"You know I wouldn't, though. You fully planned on using that to hurt me."

"You knew I'd want to escape being kidnapped! You fully planned on using that cattle prod to hurt me!"

"I knew you'd try to escape, but I hoped it would be non-violently. I didn't plan on using the cattle prod, it was just there in case I needed it. I hoped I wouldn't, though. Can you honestly say you hoped you wouldn't have to use the cattle prod on me?"

"That– That doesn't matter! You kidnapped me! I–" Why does she keep getting into these arguments with Molly? Molly will never agree that Tracy should be let go, or that hurting her in 'self-defense' isn't justified.

Molly will never let her go. Tracy sobs and sobs, and when Molly wraps an arm around Tracy's shoulder Tracy doesn't stop her.

"I'm going to lose my job!" Tracy wails. "I worked so hard and it's all going to be for nothing! Because of you!"

"You hate your job, dear. You don't need a job to take care of yourself anymore. I know the idea of that rejection is painful, but it's going to be okay."

"My sister–"

"Say the word, and I'll bring her here for you."

"No! No, leave her alone!"

"I promise your sister is fine. I've been keeping an eye on her, okay? I won't let anything bad happen to her."

Nothing Tracy says will convince Molly to stop stalking Tracy's sister. Nothing Tracy says will convince Molly to do or stop anything. Tracy is completely powerless.

Tracy cries and cries until she has nothing left. She had a life, and Molly took all of it from her.

When Molly is satisfied that she's taken care of Tracy's eye, she puts the ice away and goes back to the sitting area to presumably put her cattle prods back up her sleeves. Then she sits back down next to Tracy and holds her while she cries and cries. The movie is still going.

Once Tracy's stopped crying and 'calmed down enough to not be a danger to herself or others,' Molly releases her from the handcuffs. She doesn't stop Tracy from locking herself in her room.

She– she can still ask Molly to stay overnight. She'll have to go to sleep eventually, right? And even if Tracy doesn't manage to get the cattle prod and keys, Molly can't stalk Tracy's sister down here.

She escaped her parents. She can escape this, she knows she can. She's just starting to worry it'll take another 18 years.

[wof-reworked]

dragon religion is an idea i think that is rlly awesome. i hope tui goes over it in the guide, anyway. if u have any specific religion ideas / hcs for dragons.. would they have jobs ?? like dragon priests orrrr idk tbh. sorry if this question is annoying im obsessed w the idea of dragons having religion and religion-based jobs

Originally I had like. a whole "series" of like. ideas for each tribe's religion and mythology, but in the interest of actually replying I'll do like. quick bullet points here and I'll try to fill in more later on ^^;;.

I have like. a lot of abstract feelings n concepts because I've always found it interesting how,,, little religion there is in wof at all. There's barely even really "magic", with only really animuses. wof's characters are occasionally superstitious, but all their superstition is based in like- historical events, like Darkstalker or Queen Oasis's murder, and not like. magic. so I want to keep some of that true because I think it's really fitting for a setting of dragons (who have historically usually *been* the gods, rather than the worshippers !!!) and it's also a rare opportunity to like. get into society without religion (this is a hostile zone for the great ice dragon, I'm sorry I Do Not Care About You and your One Off Mention, God Bless)

ANYWAY. Posting this under the cut bc it's kind of massive, read at ur own risk lol (cw for talk of death/funeral rites but that's really it)

Skywings:

Skywings for me have always been the clearest as like. focusing on historic figures as "saints" (though ik that's a pretty christian concept and word, just hang in there I prommy it goes places)

Point being- I've written about it before here, but for Skywings, the sky is alive and holy in its own right. They view it as the foundation of life and believe themselves (and all dragons, though the other tribes abandoned their way of living) as children of it, originally like birds.

It has some slight. monarchist overtures to it with how the sky itself is like an omnipresent parent, and its moods and shifting currents can be seen as a reflection of Skywing culture. When the sky is angry and casting out its children, there is a lesson that needs to be learned, and it is the collective punishment of all Skywings until the problem is fixed.

But past that, Skywings who achieve remarkable things can be recognized as local guardians and figures of protection- when Skywings die, they return to the sky in the form of clouds. Some Skywings also believe birds to be reincarnated Skywings, especially the spirits of those who rebuke the sky and strike off on their own (which is not an inherently bad thing, but a symbol of independence in its most neutral)

Some Skywing patrons I was thinking of were: the patron of duty- the first Skywing soldier, the patron of children/joy- the first kitemaker, the patron of guardians/parents- the lamplighter, and the patron of Skywing excellence/patriotism- the stormchaser.

Miners who die in Skywing tunnels also achieve something akin to a martyr status- spirits of those who bravely sacrificed their time in the sky to keep the caverns safe and protect those who would follow them. Not one patron, but the collective protection of spirits trapped underneath the ground

Sandwings

Sandwings are similar, but different: where Skywings have patrons who have been given a certain holy power, Sandwings have two kinds of spirits: the family spirits and folk heroes

I swear to god I wrote a Sandwing headcanon post, but I genuinely can't find it at all I don't know where it went. FOUND IT WHILE LOOKING FOR MY ICEWINGS POSTS. READ IT HERE. anyway tho starting with house/family spirits: Sandwings tend towards multigenerational homes, moreso than many other tribes, and remembering your family becomes increasingly important when there's so many of you

Most Sandwing houses keep a small shrine or altar for their dead relatives and their family history- some households have patron animals or spirits that they invoke for a little extra boost of fortune but these aren't like family crests as much as your family's,,, collective mythos

The Sandwing creation myth involves the First Sandwing tricking each animal into giving them a piece of themselves- the stinger and venom from scorpions, the quickness and wit of jackals, the resilience and scales of the lizards, and finally just snatching the wings and size from dragonbite vipers who used to rule the desert, who were reduced to their small snake status and have hated every Sandwing since. So if you want to pay special homage to your family being intelligent, the jackal might be your patron

This creation myth varies WILDLY- it can include many different animals or different exact retellings on what the original Sandwing tricked the animals into giving them, so patrons can vary and can be very house-specific

(I have a little draft, somewhere, of Thorn teaching Qibli her family history post-adoption/rescue and it being one of the moments that Qibli really starts to view her as family and not just the next Cobra)

Sandwing folk heroes are also super varied- I subscribe to Sandwings having a heavy oral storytelling tradition and general,,, art culture, so I'm not gonna write every single possible story you could tell with Sandwing folk heroes, but most of them embody those original Sandwing virtues- resilience, intelligence, and quick adaptability to come out on top

Mudwings

Mudwings already have their own dedicated post !!! yippeeeeee !!!! you can read it right over here :>

Mudwings are also big big oral storytellers but unlike Sandwings the gods are a more active part of these stories and the focus is rarely on individual Mudwings as much as the dynamics of the gods' dynamic as a sibling troupe.

Rarely,,, "worshipped" in the way Skywings will venerate their patrons or Sandwings will maintain their shrines, but passively appealed to and celebrated as like. the broadest encapsulation of what it is to be a Mudwing- the way they're moved by the seasons and their families moreso than anything else

Icewings

I wrote more lists originally about Icewing superstitions, which are right here, and I stand by basically all of that. I don't really know how to incorporate gods into that but I think a lot of Icewing superstition is just. vague cultural paranoia about Things Out There

Icewings have the strongest death beliefs/rituals out of any of the tribes imo- Icewing bodies need to be properly buried or the souls don't get to return to the soil, and become stuck on the ice.

Icewing funerals depend on if you live inland or on the coast- burials at sea are common for Icewings on the coast to allow the body to be taken by the water and allowed to disperse that way (though only when the ice isn't frozen over, as otherwise it may become trapped), and Icewings inland prefer open-air/sky burials that allow the body to decompose in nature.

Winter deaths are seen as bad luck, and are given extra caution and work (which also ties into Winter's role as a black sheep in the family- it's a bit of a dark name to give your child, especially as the youngest/least wanted heir of the family)

Great Ice Dragon,,,, I have no ideas for, I imagine just the source of all Icewings and their father who ensures that, despite it all, they can survive.

Seawings

least religious lets goooooooo

Seawings are just. straight up vibing. They're the most down to earth about being alive in the sense they're just animals like everything else (though they still have their own mixed feelings about dolphins from canon)

Seawings do put a lot of stock into destiny and fate though- almost as much as Nightwings, and they have a healthy stargazing culture and track the changing of seasons and time through the stars more than anything else.

Some Seawings think of themselves as fallen stars- scales still glowing from their core of starlight. Seawings who die return to the sky and come back in the form of comets, it's especially good luck to be born under a meteor shower.

Another common superstition is a Seawing's personal star- this can be as serious as knowing exactly where it is in the sky, or as lax as pointing to one and declaring it yours. This is the star that determins your destiny and is your personal guardian, you can look to it for good luck (plus if you pick right it can be a neat way to teach your children how to navigate).

Seawings LOVE tall-tales though. Almost everyone has a story of the time they 10000% saw A Sea Monster or a dolphin spoke to them in riddles, etc etc. Half the words out of a Seawing sailor's mouth are lies, and the other half are exagerrated beyond all reason (except of course,,, for the ones that are true)

This drives other tribes insane btw, especially the more devout ones like Skywings and Icewings. How are you going to make that shit up every time pls be serious for one moment (never)

Nightwings

The other least religious, but this time for complicated cultural reasons of. well. volcano.

Nightwings love science until they don't, essentially. Everything has a reason except the things we don't understand which are mysteries from beyond the pale that we just have to hope will one day become clear.

TL;DR: SO MANY GHOSTS. EVERYTHING IS HAUNTED.

Nightwings are like the closest to a lot of real world agnosticism- it could be real, but we just don't know yet. Lots of ghost sightings though and subtle signals from the universe. It's a bit of a collective coping mechanism for the loss of their powers + the amount of dragons, like Fatespeaker, who were born under the full moons but without a clear sky and thus only left with confusing powers.

(slaps the side of the canon Nightwing art) These bad boys can fit so much victorian ghost fear in them <3

Mastermind has and 100% would again drink absinthe to perform a seance to Nightwing seers of the past, prove me wrong

I think in older Nightwing mythology, there would have been lots of smaller gods and domains- complicated webs of connected esoteric spirits who each vied for power over the material world through their domains and contact with dragons.

The heart of it all is the Moons though- the three sisters of chance/luck, destiny/death, and soul. Something akin to the three fates but each in collaboration with each other over life.

In ye really olden days, some sects thought these spirits worked through scavengers. These guys are pretty broadly considered a strange cult though, and the history is scant at best.

Clearsight and Darkstalker would've grown up aware of these gods but given special privilege due to their powers- mostly as people exempt from the gods due to their connection to the moons as something surpassing the petty whims of spirits. Priests and priestesses would be preferred as powerless, as a clear head is needed to communicate with the gods fully.

Rainwings

Souls !! lots of souls !! Rainwings believe everything has a beating pulse and could be slash is alive in their own unique way.

The Rainwing gods are serpents- wingless but capable of moving through the trees as though they were flying, their scales a constant mass of brilliant colors. Names and identities are a WIP for me, bear with me as I flesh out these guys ;U;

Rainwings are big storytellers as well, and tend to create their own ideas and religions, in a sense. Being a puppeteer and performer especially is the closest to being a priest that a Rainwing can get- by embodying other things you are essentially changing your soul to align with them

Rainwings also aren't. super religious as much as just committed each to their own truth over a collective myth or story. Each Rainwing builds their own unique sense of mythology from the rainforest.

No gods no masters only fruit >:3c

I have some wips for each of these, some of them fics, some of them elaborations and continued myths, but I hope y'all enjoy them !!! All feedback welcome, as always.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Five Fics Friday: December 22/23

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you all are having a fantastic day, and I hope you guys will enjoy the fics that are on my radar this week to start off your Christmas weekend!! :D

RECENT MFLs

All I Want for Christmas (is Proof) by Raina_at (E, 6,471 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Fluff, Porn Without Plot, Christmas Party, Gay Club, Costume Party, Mistletoe, First Time, Hand Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Crack and Humour, Blow Jobs, Undercover for a Case) – John has been ridiculously in love with Sherlock for a while now, but he doesn't want to rock the boat if his interest isn't returned. Their newest case might be the catalyst they need to finally figure out whether they're on the same page. Or: Sherlock and John go undercover at a Christmas party in a gay club. In costume. Things... escalate.

The Way Home by Calais_Reno (M, 7,702 w., 1 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting AU || Christmas, Post-PTSD, Injury Recovery, Meeting the Parents, Coming Home, Past Drug Addiction, Developing Relationship, Moving in Together, Falling in Love, POV Sherlock Third Person) – It's Christmas Eve, and Sherlock's landlord has evicted him due to a little misunderstanding about a very small explosion that really only burned the curtains. Mrs Hudson isn't willing to let him move into 221B until after the holiday. He's left with only one alternative: go home. Spend Christmas with his family. On the train, he meets someone who might just be having an even worse holiday. Part 32 of Just Johnlock

A Case of You by Silvergirl (M, 8,165+ w., 4/8 Ch. || WiP || TEH Fix-It, Alcoholism, POV John, Anger Management, No Mary, Angst with Happy Ending) – Sherlock is marrying an American, and at the rehearsal dinner, best man John makes a drunken love confession he doesn’t remember the next day. Badly hungover, John can't find anyone to tell him what the hell happened to the wedding, where the grooms are, or how he can put it right so that Sherlock can be happy. But what if he's dead wrong about what will make Sherlock happy?

Murder Most Exquisite by PinkGloom (E, 38,343+ w., 17/22 Ch. || WiP || 1920s Egyptian Archeologist AU || Mystery, Murder, Anger Issues, Asshole Sherlock, Reincarnation, Minor Character Deaths, Alternating POV) – Retired Army Doctor John Watson works at Holmes Antiquities in Cairo. The Holmes brothers pay a visit and while they are there, mummies are unearthed. Murder, smut and a dash of adventure! (Was written with the Indian Jones trilogy, The Mummy and the amazing novels written by Elizabeth Peters in mind)

Distortion by holmesian_love (NR, 51,585 w., 23 Ch. || Post S4, Faked Suicide / Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Examination, PTSD, Psychological Horror, Blood, Spiders, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Parentlock with Rosie, Angry John, Confusion) – John Watson is persuaded to move back into Baker Street with Rosie. The friendship -though delicate - is mending slowly after everything they've been through. That is, until strange events start happening to John which begin to disrupt the happy life they have been creating. Is there a medical explanation, or is something more sinister at play? Will they discover the cause before it tears them apart for good?

[kimkhimhant]

Directors cut: if I can't hold you like a lover. No specific questions i can think of, but all the commentary?!?!

ooh okay !! thank you for the ask!!

so like, if i can't hold you as a lover started as just an exploration of autistic kim – a little bit of projection, as usual. But i'd just done a rewatch and found kim's body language and general presentation in different situations really interesting. like, he acts like a completely different person at the open house as wik vs in the studio with chay vs with korn or the people he's investigating, and he seems much more sure of himself & the dialogue he's exchanging with people when he's in Wik mode and Khimhant mode, compared to when he's alone with Chay. (i made a post last year about autistic kimchay – chay doesn't understand social cues intuitively, and he doesn't try to mask. kim doesn't understand them intuitively, and he resorts to following scripts based on who he's dealing with & then flounders a little when he can't find a script to follow, which happens repeatedly with chay when he does Chay things).

but anyway. the pining while fucking trope is delightful, and i think it works really well for kimchay. It especially works well for them when they're both struggling to really communicate effectively with each other. kimchay fandom in general focuses a lot on kim learning to communicate, but i wanted a story where they're both fucking up with communication a little, and they both have to see each other for who they really are and meet each other there in order to fix things.

chay is bold and assertive in this fic, but he thinks he's being more straightforward than he is, so he assumes kim understands what he wants and is like. intentionally disregarding that. but between kim's autism and his very deeply rooted trauma and self-worth issues, kim is misreading pretty much everything chay does and assuming the absolute worst.

they both spend the whole fic thinking that they love the other more, and waiting for the other to make a move and say what they want, or in kim's case, simply just accepting that maybe all chay wants from him is sex and being willing to settle for that because at least he'll have chay in some way, but they don't realize that until it finally comes to a head and they really take the time to understand each other and talk things through.

this is already really long, but a few final notes:

all of the 'tism characteristics are pulled from my own experiences

porsche saw himself in kim, a little, and chay's conversation with porsche at the compound was the push that chay needed to stop and talk things through with kim

kim is written as not knowing he's autistic – he knows there is something different about him, and that things that seem easy or okay for other people are difficult and distressing for him. chay figures it out before kim does. (i hc that the diagnosis was withheld intentionally when he was a kid – a diagnosis would give him more autonomy and confidence, and it would also be Dangerous and "shameful." i haven't quite decided if his mom knew he was autistic and hid it from korn, or if korn knew too)

i have more wips for the series still sitting in my drafts but they are very slow going....

thank you for the ask <3 i hope this was at least a somewhat comprehensive answer, but if anyone has any specific things they'd like clarification on, lmk!

[homosexual-radio-host]

Joel x platonic male reader

Summary:

So teen male reader is basically replacement of Ellie, And in the David situation David succeeds (To quickly be shot by Joel) Hurt/comfort with father figure Joel. Basically It is the aftermath of it, the actual assault isn't written since it's the comfort that comes after (I wrote this as a coping mechanism🥰)

Warnings: S/a (Described after it happened) Swearing? General violence

A gunshot rang through the air. David hit the ground, dead in an instant. There you where, on the ground sobbing until you puked.

Joel ran up to you pulling you into his arms, in your panicked state you screamed- it was a terrified scream that broke Joels heart, you shrieked for him to get off before seeing who it was, he remained unmoving as pounded your fists against his chest weakly, you felt his hands cup your face softly

"It's me.. it's me" he said, his voice soft and breaking, your eyes softened in recognition as you saw him, instantly throwing yourself into his arms, he held you, his hand cupping the back of your head gently "It's ok Babyboy, I'm here... I'm here" He assured, you barely registered it.

You turned your head to look towards where David had- had hurt you, But Joel gently redirected you to look at him, holding your face "Don't look at him, he's gone, he's dead, it's just me, I got you" he told you, his own eyes teared, you nodded, completely dazed, not even beginning to comprehend what had just happened.

"Wanna go" Was all you could muster out. He nodded and pulled his coat around you, and guided you out into the snow, heading to shelter.

The walk was quiet, apart from you're own sniffling, Joel didn't even know what to say. He saw what David was doing, he saw the way he was hurting you, And it broke his fucking heart. You where just a kid- practically a baby in his eyes, His baby. How anyone could do that disgusting thing to anyone let alone a child, an innocent child. Joel was fuming, he wished he could have prolonged David's death, make it hurt. But he knew you needed him more than you needed revenge.

"Sweetie?" he asked, you looked up at him, his tone suggesting he had been trying to get your attention awhile now, you only just realizing you here inside a house now "You hurt?" he asked, taking your bag from you. You shrugged, You hurt all over, it was hard to tell what was serious enough to bring up.

He eyed you carefully "Ok... Can I check?" You hesitated, you hated that you hesitated, it was Joel, he would never hurt you... but he could, easily- no, no you shouldn't think like that, he wouldn't, he would never.

Apparently you where quiet long enough that Joel caught on. "Sweetheart, I just need to make sure nothings broken, is that alright?" You nodded

He had you lay down on the couch. "Alright, where does it hurt?" he asked. You wanted to say everywhere, but your ribs hurt like a bitch. "Ribs" You answered blankly. He sighed and nodded "Alright...I'll need to check the damage, can I lift your top up? Just enough to check" he asked hesitantly, he knew this would be tough for you after... what just happened.

You didn't want him too, but you knew it had to be done. "Fine" You thought you where fine, when he lifted your top up he eyes your ribs, but when you felt him touch- you tenses, he noticed.

"Hey, hey look at me" he said, you did. He pushed the hair out of your face "It's ok, I just need to check, I'm sorry sweetie, if you need a break it's ok, I just need to check, it'll be quick" he assured softly. "I'm fine" You told him. He knew you weren't.

He ran his finger along your ribs gently, apologizing every time you winced. "Fractured" He said simply after a moment "Nothing we can't fix" He grunted as he stood. "I'll get some ice, icicle or something from outside for it tomorrow … you want to get all cleaned up?" he asked.

"Please" Your voice was small, you felt so fucking dirty- physically you could wash off the filth but... you knew the feeling still wouldn't go away.

"Alright, I just need to get some snow, I will be back ok?" You looked up at him, a wave of anxiety rushing over you "Don't go" You asked, your voice practically a whimper. He looked crushed to see you like this "Oh Babyboy..." He sighed, his heart ached, he cupped your face "I will be back ok? I promise you that, you'll be safe ok? five minutes tops" he promised.

"Promise?" "Promise"

He did come back shortly- you had no way to actually check the time, but he was quick, he had a bucket of snow which he melted by the fire he started in the fireplace. He used a spare shirt of his as a rag and came up to you again.

"Do you want me to?" He asked, he didn't want to touch you any more than you where comfortable with- hell if he went through what you did he wouldn't let anyone touch him for months. You nodded, you didn't want to move much.

He gently dabbed at your face, wiping away the blood, he wiped down your cuts on your ribs and stomach as well, you still tensed but you made no move to stop him.

He finished and you two sat in silence awhile, he had his arm around you at this point, you leant into his chest.

"Joel...Joel I was so scared" You finally spoke "I know baby, I know" he let you lay onto him, cry into him "Joel I- he- he" "I know...I know I'm so sorry sweetheart" He stroked your hair gently "You won't ever have to worry about him again" This honestly didn't make you feel better, the damage was done.

"Joel I'm gross" You sobbed, "No...No baby you're not, he was gross "I know- I know he was, but he still- he- to me" "I know...sweetheart I know what … what he did and I'm so sorry I wasn't there in time"

You broke down again, sobbing into him "I know baby I know... just breath for me, can you do that? In and out" He exaggerated his breaths. You tried, you really did, but in the end all he could really do was wait until you tired yourself out, he let you scream all you needed.

"Just let it out Babyboy it's ok... it's all going to be ok" he assured his gentle comforting words for as long as you needed, and then for longer.

Awhile past, everything was a blur, you didn't know how long you where crying, you felt broken, fucking destroyed and the only thing holding you together was Joel right now, hugging you with fatherly love.

"You alright?" "No" "Yea dumb question, sorry" he sighed and kissed the top of you head "You alright to sleep?" You sniffed "I don't wanna be alone" "You don't have to be, not ever again"

You watched, dazed as he set up the two of yours mats. He came up to you and lead you to them, helping you lay down, you winced, your ribs aching, shooting pain. You got laid down and Joel laid next to you. You stared at the ceiling awhile. "Can I move closer, please?" You asked, your voice cracking "Yea, course Babyboy" he replied, he moved himself closer to you so you wouldn't have to expend the effort, he was overly cautious with you, he didn't want to hurt you anymore than you already had been.

You nuzzled into his chest, he felt safe. He felt comforting, he hesitantly wrapped his arm around you, making sure you where ok, rubbing your back soothingly. "You'll be ok, everything will be ok, I'm here, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere" he told you, pressing soft kisses to your forehead, he assured you, spoke to you in a gentle voice until you fell asleep.

Once you did, he cried, he hugged you close and he cried, he had to keep it together for you but now he just ached, his little boy, his poor little boy hurt so bad, and he wasn't there- he should have been there for you. He'd never let anything happen to you again he swore, he had to keep himself safe so he could keep you safe, you where his everything he realized. He needed you as much as you needed him.

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 123 (May 2, 1988) - “We'll Always Have Paris”

Written by: Deborah Dean Davis & Hanna Louise Shearer Directed by: Robert Becker

The Breakdown

The Enterprise crew are prepping for shore leave (gotta boost crew morale after Tasha’s death, y’know), when a bunch of time-travel-ish space-whimsy plagues the ship by causing people to slightly rewind-and-replay a few seconds of their current conversations/tasks.  It’s a fairly minor inconvenience as far as Galaxy class shenanigans go, but it’s enough for Picard to postpone shore leave for at least 45 minutes (plus commercials). And wouldn’t you just know it, shortly thereafter a distress signal comes in from one Paul Manheim, a renowned scientist whose whole deal involves professionally mucking around with time, so naturally Picard puts two-and-two together.  However, the mere mention of Manheim (a man Picard admits to knowing only by reputation) causes the otherwise stoic Captain to become so tense that even Data starts taking notice.

So what gives?

It just so happens that Paul Manheim is married to a woman (Janice) who used to be Picard’s flame back in the day.  Essentially, our dear Captain ghosted her on the same day he'd agreed to meet with her, to say goodbye before he shipped off to pursue his Starfleet career. You see, he was “afraid he would lose his resolve to leave," since he loved her so much. So, he did a really unkind (one might even say, casually cruel) thing and left without saying anything to, y'know spare HIMSELF the pain. Anyways, breezing-right-past-unpacking-any-of-that, they would tragically never speak again until this episode. But it all works out very amicably, which is nice I guess, and they finally say a farewell the way the way he ought to have the first fucking time. so it all works out*.

*[If I'm being honest though, Janice is a way better sport about the whole thing than I would have been.  Like, she pretty much just lets him off the hook; to my knowledge that’s the last we'll ever hear of it.]

While Picard’s drama plays out on the side, the rest of the episode deals with the weird time-loop phenomenon that Manheim caused via (surprise surprise) a radical experiment gone wrong.  Long-story-short, Manheim created a temporal rift-or-whatever that causes moments in time to replay in inconsistent ways [sometimes you redo a moment in time, and other times you end up running into an earlier version of yourself; basically whatever helps move the plot along].  Apparently Manheim was working on the theory that there are actually infinite dimensions, and that our perception of time is… yada yada yada.  Honestly, I can't remember the explanation, but I promise you it doesn't matter. All we need to know is that somehow Manheim has untethered his consciousness so that he can perceive multiple dimensions (presumably of the “multi-verse” variety) at once, and it’s driving him crazy.  Not only that, but somehow the affect of Manheim’s temporal rift also has cascading universe-ending consequences if left un-mended.

During one of his more lucid moments, Manheim gives the Enterprise gang the necessary codes to bypass his lab's security protocols, and Data beams down to do some obligatory emergency-space-science; in this instance, placing a canister of anti-matter into a time-rift-fixing machine (no time-lab should be without one).  There’s a brief complication where Data has to coordinate the application the anti-matter to a precise countdown (for unspecified plot reasons), but then he splits into three versions of himself (for unspecified temporal reasons) with no way to tell which one of him should insert the antimatter at the end of the countdown (why not all three, you ask? Also unspecified).  Anyways, the middle Data figures out he’s the right one (with no further explanation as to how he came to that conclusion), and he's correct, which is pretty handy.

With the rift patched up, Manheim’s mind is also conveniently restored, and spared from any residual side affects that one might expect from having one’s consciousness volleyed between dimensions.  Thankfully he’s learned his lesson and vows that things will be different between him and Janice, who he has apparently been neglecting (that woman sure can pick ‘em), and this time he’s going to… keep doing his experiments?  But… *checks notes* uh, yeah no, that’s somehow correct. He’s just going to be more careful, moving forward, and apparently that’s good enough for Janice! So the universe can rest easy knowing that Manheim’s work will continue to go unchecked, except he promises to avoid any more catastrophic mistakes!

I certainly wouldn’t have any concerns.

The Verdict

God, this was dull.  I actually had to watch the episode twice, because I was so bored the first time that I zoned out, and forgot what happened. A little digging on memory-alpha reveals production was temporarily halted by the writers strike of ’88, because the script hadn’t been completed, which honestly explains a lot. On the one hand we have Picard grappling with regret and doubt over a lost love from his past, and on the other hand you have Paul Manheim trying to control the flow of time while ignoring his present relationship with the same woman Picard has longed for. I’m not saying it would win awards, but I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious thematic potential between those two threads any more than I already have. But the end result ends up being… just nothing really.

For starters, the relationship between Janice and Picard was just so underwhelmingly civil.  Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate it when adult characters behave like adults, but the point of this story was to address a regrettable choice from Picard’s past. And yet, when the two literally-star-crossed lovers finally meet for the first time in decades, the conflict between them amounts to little more than a quaint conversation, and an acknowledgment that mistakes were made. Janice offers almost immediate forgiveness, while barely (if all all) holding Picard accountable for his actions, or even addressing the longstanding emotional grief. 

Apparently the writers (Shearer and Davis) did want Picard and Janice to do the nasty, but that was kiboshed by the various powers-that-be. Now, I’m not saying that would have necessarily been the right way to go, but it certainly would have been more interesting than what we got.  Even a passionate kiss (or something to that effect) would have gone a long way to selling me on the idea that these two people had longed for each other, not to mention addressing Janice’s strained marriage to Manheim, and the internal conflict she ostensibly is meant to feel.  It’s not like the writers were being at all discreet about ripping off Casablanca, so why remove the one thing from that story to help make this narrative slog halfway interesting?

As for the time-dilation subplot, it just felt thematically disjointed, and ends up becoming kind of an afterthought.  Manheim also has virtually nothing in the way of a character arc.  You’re telling me he was SO obsessed with his work that he became an absent husband with a singular obsession, and in the end he’s still going to keep being obsessed, but he’s also somehow learned his lesson?  The script seems to genuinely back the idea that Manheim’s quest to control time shouldn’t be reevaluated at all (outside of avoiding of repeat the specific errors from his previous attempt), and that he and Janice will somehow be much happier (and safer) this time.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was some behind the scenes editorializing/censorship at work here.

But then again, who cares?

1 star (out of 5)

Additional Observations

You know, for a shining utopia that has rid itself of capitalism’s shackles, there’s still quite an emphasis on concepts like ‘careers’, and officers struggling to maintain steady relationships due to the demands of the job.  Kirk was an absentee father who never had time find a steady relationship, Spock’s betrothed dumped him via gladiatorial combat, Riker and Troi’s on-again-off-again romance was mainly off-again until the movies finally let them settle down, and Worf- …well Worf’s wives just get murdered, but that’s basically the Klingon equivalent of getting dumped. Now we have Picard, who evidently ran like a coward from the love of his life because of his crippling commitment issues. Speaking of the dear Captain…

Picard really IS an asshole: This episode establishes Picard as something of a heartbreaker, but the writing is so nonchalant about it, you almost wouldn’t notice.  This highlights one of the issues I’ve had with this season, generally speaking.  Apparently there was an intentional aversion to addressing character flaws/interpersonal conflicts amongst the crew, even when the story required it (because humanity had advanced beyond conflict and selfishness, you see), yet, Picard has spent much of the first season as a cranky, ill humoured, fuddy duddy (excuse my language). The thing is, I actually kind like how he starts off as cold and over-serious, and then begins to warm as the show progresses, but I have my doubts that the shift was executed with much thought or planning (maybe I’ll change my mind as I watch more episodes). Here especially, there was an opportunity to actually address some of his emotional short-comings, which is sadly overlooked.

Troi-SPIRACY: I have nothing concrete here, but this episode features a pretty classic example of Troi’s “I have abilities and can sense something is wrong with you” nonsense, when she approaches Picard about his emotional bagage. Like, oh really Deanna? Could you “sense” Picard was feeling “strong emotions”?  Surely it wasn’t the fact that he went as rigid as a lamp post at the mention of some random dude’s name, or the fact that he aggressively striking the palm of his hand with a tightly folded towel, did you?  No, I’m positive it must have been your magical powers picking up on the same thing the entire crew was also noticing. I’m telling you, Troi is a fraud who is so good at her job that she’s convinced everyone she has powers.

Holo-Horrors: So Picard loads up a holosuite program of some 24th century Paris Café, which comes fully staffed, and filled with customers (all holograms). Each of these holo-folk seem to have complex internal lives, with access to the full spectrum of human emotion, and relationships with histories. One of them (who is talking to a friend about her relationship woes) reminds Picard of Janice, even though she is otherwise entirely unique. So does that mean the ship computer is generating fully realized sentient background "programs" just for the sake of realism? I dunno man, the holosuite tech really does seem a lot more dystopian than I remember it being, growing up.

[domoz]

2, 21, 22 & 25 for tobirama? :]

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Okay easy mode is he's the trope of "cold-hearted bastard with a secret warm center." Has no problem saying rude things to people, killing people, trying to poke holes in their dreams, but he, too, wants a world where children don't have to die. He's such a downer (""realist"") and yet he throws his WHOLE pussy into building a village that he doesn't even really seem to believe will achieve his brothers goals. He's over here like "well it's not going to work if you're not willing to die for it" and then proves that he means it. Have you ever noticed that he will argue with Hashirama and then just do what he's told despite that??

He's got all this respect for Orders and Laws, except for like, the laws of physics and life/death. Like he just had to go and test them to make sure they work how everyone says they do. My guy????

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Tobirama is capable of recognizing when he feels emotions and even shows them sometimes. He's dogshit bad at recognizing when they're affecting his decision making.

But no way does he have the emotional intelligence to ever talk about them without being forced in to it. If Tobirama is crying, he needs to have a very damn good reason to do so.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

When other characters slowly begin to discover that he, too, is a man with goodness in him, despite everything.

In the negative: I feel like its common to... I guess the term is woobify him? Like, I, too, love to put him through angst and stress, but I refuse to believe his internal monologue would be about how much of a pathetic failure he is, nor would he be Fixed by the clan that killed his brothers being Nice to him (my god, if its one of those AUs where the whole Senju clan rejects him that would fuck him up even MORE).

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I'm sure I saw the chunin exam arc back in the day and I saw orochimaru summon him and probably thought 'whos this guy'. I don't think I figured it out (or cared) until years later when I was like "haha wouldn't it be funny if I read some naruto fic". I genuinely can't remember what I thought of him then, but he clearly grew on me. like so much fungus. that im looking under my microscope, because we understand so much about what he did and not what he thought.

Ask Meme