#cw: offscreen violence

[starsfic]

ain't a horror game without religion

Summary: Poppy’s angel has arrived at the factory. Deep below the depths, DogDay hopes.

AO3/Ko-Fi

-_-

“Did you hear? An old worker’s come back.”

“I thought they were all dead…”

“Not this one…”

The whispers fell silent as a tall figure stalked up towards the shrine. Most were allowed to watch from a distance when the priest wasn’t in a hunting mood, but only one was allowed to worship in front of it. The only exception grunted as he was dropped, pain ripping its way up through his body.

CatNap didn’t give him a second look, walking up to the shrine. DogDay resisted a shiver as he stood, spreading his arms in a gesture of worship towards the being that, to most of the toys, had saved them from the pain inflicted by the employees. DogDay knew better, however. And, frankly, most of the others were realizing too.

Maybe that was why the other toys sounded so excited about an employee returning.

After a few long moments in silent prayer, CatNap lowered his arms and turned towards him. DogDay winced as the cat stalked over, gently gripping his scruff without a fight from him. Those teeth could do far more damage, he knew that. He had experienced it.

“...they said that an employee came back,” DogDay eventually spoke up when they entered the halls of the Playhouse. The minis kept to the sides as CatNap carefully made his way through, their eyes glinting in the shadows. It was almost like magic how he could move so fluidly through the various play areas.

CatNap didn’t respond until they reached the cell area. “Our god told me,” he said, his voice whisper soft, as he set DogDay on the floor, fussing at the leather straps that kept him aloft. His arms were already beginning to numb.

“...aren’t you worried? Or something?”

“About what? A puny little insect?” CatNap chuckled, the noise rare since the day they met. “I’m sure that the others can handle them easily. They will never reach down here.”

“But-”

DogDay was yanked aloft before he could figure out what to say next. Without another word, CatNap left.

“But what if they do?” DogDay whispered to the air. Silence answered him.

Time passed.

It could’ve either been seconds or days. DogDay couldn’t keep count. CatNap brought him to the shrine erratically, so he couldn’t use that to keep track of time. He just dangled, left to think. Occasionally, the minis would snarl or growl from the shadows and DogDay winced, rewarding them with his fear.

He had almost forgotten about the rumor when noise met his ears. DogDay could barely look up, wondering what CatNap wanted. Except…the toy making noise was making too much noise. CatNap was quiet and stealthy, taking pride in how he snuck around. Who was down here?

“DogDay?”

He looked up. It was one of the Candy Cats, her blue coat marked with blood. Her long, dangling tongue had nicks and tears taken out of it, making the scene so much worse. “Hey there…” he said, praying she didn’t take advantage. Candy Cats were gluttons by nature, the lack of food was probably doing nothing good for them. “How did you get down here?”

She stepped closer, revealing that the blood around her mouth was shiny. Ah. “I thought all the Smiling Critters were dead.”

He nodded. “They are. It’s just me and CatNap.”

“Might just be you soon…”

“What does that mean?”

Candy Cat looked around, as if worried something would try and eat her if she spoke too much. Which was fair. “The Angel killed Huggy Wuggy.”

“The…what?” One possibility niggles at him, but there’s no way. Huggy Wuggy had killed every human that dared to trespass, only occasionally calling on Mommy Long-Legs or Boxy-Boo for help. There’s no way.

“The human. The employee.” Candy Cat’s eyes gleamed. “They released Poppy. Apparently, she sent a call for help, and they responded.”

A human had killed Huggy. A human had freed Poppy.

A note of bitterness rolled through him at the fact that he had failed to do the latter, but he swallowed it down. Help was here. Poppy was out, and Huggy was gone, which took down one of the layers of protection around the Prototype.

“Everyone’s been calling them the Angel.”

As though Poppy had prayed to God- the real one, not the Prototype- and God had sent help. It weirdly worked.

“What else has happened?”

“Ollie’s getting involved,” Candy Cat whispered. “He was the first person she called.”

Ollie…Ollie…Oh! DogDay remembered now. Oliver had been one of the babies of Playcare, one that Bobby had strapped to her chest in her rush to get them all to the bunker. He would be ten or eleven by now, if DogDay remembered. He had been three when they agreed to send DogDay on that fateful quest… Wait. “I thought Ace was in charge of watching over the security cameras.” Bubba had picked the sullen, rebellious fifteen-year-old to train in the security system, in case something happened to the elephant.

“Who cares? The Angel’s receiving help. That’s all that matters.”

Before DogDay could respond, something lunged at her from the darkness. Candy Cat screamed, but the mini CraftyCorn had dug its teeth into her throat already. Like piranhas, the minis followed and swarmed the poor toy, dragging her screaming into the darkness before a wet crunch cut off her scream.

DogDay was left in the silence.

CatNap soon came to check on him, but DogDay couldn’t dewell on his nonsense.

There was just one thing in his mind.

An angel has arrived.

There’s hope.

[aka-indulgence]

lights out

(Helo llama :> I assume this is for the prompt thingy? :D)

It happened so suddenly.

You were walking from wing to wing when the power went out.

VOOOooooom….

It was night. The prison never looked pretty in the light, but in the darkness, everything was so much worse.

You felt for the walls, looking for an emergency flashlight, anything. You heard metal grating, somewhere in the building. You felt your skin goosebump. You didn’t know for sure, but that sound set off something in you, a premonition.

“Who’s there?” a voice called. It sounded like one of the guards, on patrol. Mitch, you think?

“It’s… it’s (Y/n)!” you called back.

“Oh, it’s you. Thank god you’re not a prisoner.”

“Haha, yeah… don’t handcuff me,” you say jokingly. Mostly. “Does this happen a lot?”

You’ve only been a nurse in the prison for the past week or so- an all too exciting week in your opinion, what with visiting the monster in solitary confinement turning to be the most exciting your life has been, If you could call ‘almost dying’ exciting.

”No, not really. But we do get our fair share of rolling black outs occasionally… which is bullshit if you ask me,” Mitch clicks his tongue. “Yeah, lets give a prison, a place where we keep crime doers and psychos, a black out.”

That’s concerning. “Uh… are we in danger?”

“Huh? No, the prison doors won’t open when the power’s out. It’s the prisoners that have to worry. No one’s out at this hour anyway… feel lucky you’re here for the night shift.”

You don’t feel very lucky right now.

Just then, you hear a sound, much closer this time. Another door? Followed by a clang. Mitch goes on alert and turns his flashlight on, in the other direction from you.

“Ah… hold on. Gotta check on that. It’s probably Rube doing his thing again…”

Who’s Rube?

While Mitch walks away, you take advantage of his light to find the darned emergency one, hanging just a bit out of the reach of your fingers. It proves to be twice harder when the guard leaves through the door, as all you have to grab the flashlight was your sense of touch.

You flinch when you hear shouting.

“H-hey! You can’t- you have to go back into your cell!”

Oh shit. A prisoner got out?

You fumble around faster.

“If you take a step closer, I’ll shoot you!”

Your heart races as you can’t focus on what you’re hearing or on getting the flashlight.

“O-one! T-two!”

Your heart jumps when you hear a gunshot.

A scream. It’s Mitch’s. Followed by an awful crack.

It turns into a wet gargle. Then a thump.

There are footsteps now, it’s coming closer.

“Aaah!” the flashlight tips over and crashes onto the floor. The footsteps stop and you scramble to grab the flashlight.

You could hear dripping, somewhere ahead of you. Though you felt like you were going to throw up, you turned the flashlight on.

The first thing you see is blood on the floor, bloody footprints stopping around a puddle underneath a set of legs. You turn your flashlight up to the face. A broken skull, a red eye, his mouth bloody.

He’s smiling at you.

As soon as he took a step closer, you ran the other way- you could hear him running behind you. You abandoned the flashlight, leaving it dark for the both of you- you heard Sans can’t see well in the darkness.

No. You don’t feel lucky.

[mugasofer]

John Walsh is discussed a bit in The Witch-Cult in Western Europe; not in enough detail to explain his fairy classification scheme, but enough is quoted for me to suspect that the original source doesn't actually contain any more detail.

Wait, the Internet Archive actually has a scan of the original primary source... and University of Michigan has a transcription which I suspect is OCR but is more legible IMO.

Yeah, CRTL+F has only one usage of "green", the one in the screenshot above. I don't think John Walsh ever really explained his faerie court system :(

Actually, it's pretty short, I just read the whole thing. Kind of a grizzly read TBH. It's... really obviously an interrogation transcript, even though it's very sanitized. Dude was just a village doctor. I really hope he survived.

Came across this on Wikipedia, and the cite is a physical book that seems like too much work to track down and might not actually add anything, but this is just the most shit worldbuilding I've ever seen, really amateur stuff.

[clockwaysadmin]

Cosmas the Clone Update(??) Subscription Post mostly collecting the bits or trying to

Ship: Danny/Bruce CW:

Canon Typical Violence, blood and injury, bullying (offscreen?), mild gender issues, self worth issues, additional tags to be added

Mostly this is a requested attempt to collect the bits! I'm not actually suppose to be writing this yet.

All things related to this fic can be found in the 'cosmas the clone' tag on @clockwayswrites. Major links are below.

Parts

Plot talking 1, Plot talking 2, Plot talking 3, Plot talking 4, Plot talking 5

Start, next bit in the wrong tense Coffee Break

Art

Cos!

How to Subscribe:

Website: click on the ... in the upper right and 'Subscribe to Conversation' App: click on 'notes' in the bottom left then the bell icon in the upper right

(For those very few with ability to comment on this post, DO NOT.)

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

We've suddenly got an abundance of shows with dark themes and adult vibes, with a bit of a mixed bag on their execution. These are available for weekly streaming on Gaga unless otherwise noted.

Smells Like Green Spirit

A fan subber came through and we are now able to watch this show on a slight delay from the airing in Japan. This first episode was great, but be warned that this is not a light watch. This show is less a full blown romance and more of a queer coming of age story with a rather bleak worldview that will likely include a romance subplot. Our story centers on Mishima, a young person who is questioning their gender and just trying to live while being constantly targeted by school bullies. The bullying in this show is graphic and violent and Mishima has already been assaulted and targeted by creeps in the first episode, so take care and ask for content warnings if you need them. I have read the manga so I'm aware of what's in store--if you would like to know what to expect before watching, feel free to ask.

Happy of the End

CWs: Assault, attempted murder, blood, death, forced fellatio/rape (against a main character, graphically depicted more than once), revenge porn, sexual coercion and exploitation, stabbing, suicide attempt, suicide, violence

We have arrived at the end of this story, and it did not quite come together for me. I liked a lot of what it was doing; the relationship between Chihiro and Haoren giving them both a reason to persist despite their general apathy toward survival was compelling, and the actors gave strong performances in some very difficult scenes. I thought the show had a strong sense of style and tone, as well. But for me, it crossed the line into over the top trauma porn one too many times, seeming to revel in making the characters suffer and piling on unnecessary traumas that were depicted quite graphically, making the show deeply unpleasant to watch. And in the end, it suddenly veered into a happy ending that felt like a mismatch for the rest of the story, which was achieved via a time skip and Chihiro and Haoren healing offscreen despite their circumstances only getting worse over the course of the show. @bengiyo laid out why that ending felt like the show pulling its punches, and I agree. I can appreciate a story that has an established bleak worldview telling us about a specific time in these characters' lives where they mattered to each other, but slapping that unearned epilogue on it just makes the whole thing feel like torture porn followed by cheap consolation. It didn't feel honest. I don’t recommend watching this one unless you are pretty comfortable with gratuitous sexual violence.

Love is Like a Poison

We’re zipping along nicely, with this week’s episode mostly focused on the case that Haruto helped Shiba win. That courtroom scene was wild. I’m intrigued by all the advances and the early confession from Haruto, because as we and Shiba well know, the man is a con. What’s his angle, and why does he think romancing Shiba is the way to get it? Whatever he’s after, I think Shiba should give in because look at him!

Chaser Game W 2

This week we met Itsuki’s first love Yoreum, who is now a famous Korean idol and still hung up on her from back when she did a homestay with Itsuki’s family. She did a livestream from Itsuki’s cafe in the special spot where Itsuki and Fuyu like to canoodle; jealousy and dramatics ensued. Then suddenly we were doing an elevator rescue? Idek. I’m rooting for the new girl to break this couple up to be honest.

[corrodedcoffinfest]

It's Complicated Pop-Up Masterlist

Another fun event has ended here at @corrodedcoffinfest! Thanks again to everyone who participates in any way to make these a success!

This event had 11 total entries from 11 unique participants: 10 Fics, 1 Pieces of Art & 0 Other Works were submitted.

I've updated the spreadsheet with these newest entries, bringing our current total from all events to 359!

And don't forget to check out our ao3 collection!

The post for our next event Spring Break is already live! 🌊

Fic Submissions:

Follow Tomorrow by @griefabyss69 | Relationship(s): Jeff x Eddie | Rating: E | WC: 3.3K | CW: None | Tags: Pre-Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Best Friends, Dry Humping, Bisexual Jeff (Stranger Things), Post-Canon Fix-It, there's literally no angst in this btw!, Touring, having the hots for your best friend but wanting him to date someone else anyway

Damage, Lots of Damage by @thisapplepielife | Relationship(s): Gareth/Goodie (Freak), Established Steddie | Word Count: 14,297 | Rating: E | CW: Explicit Sex, Mildly Dubious Consent, Under-Negotiated Kink, Self-Esteem Issues (Weight Related), Alcohol/Drug References | POV: Multiple (Primary: Gareth) | Tags: Love to Hate, Hate to Love, Idiots in Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Lack of Communication, Fighting and Fucking, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Established Steddie

uh oh, feelings by @steddieas-shegoes | Relationship(s): Established Steddie, Gareth/Steve Sex | Rating: E | WC: 4,512 | CW: open ending, steve/gareth sex | Tags: established steddie, NOT cheating they're all super cool and fine with this, eddie watches, virgin gareth, first time, bottom steve, top gareth, blowjob, anal fingering, anal sex, left open on purpose because i'm insane and might continue it

Corroded Coffin Fest Valentine's Day Pop-Up: It's Complicated by @jo-harrington | Relationship(s): Jeff, Gareth, and Dave all confront their feelings on the 30th anniversary of Eddie's death. | Rating: M | WC: 2,189 | CW: Grief, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Time Skip, Older!Corroded Coffin, Canonically Dead Eddie, Mention/Implication of Kas!Eddie, Post-Season 5 World/Vecna Defeated

a right hook would be less complicated, thanks. by @the-unforgivenn | Relationship(s): Eddie Munson x Gareth Emerson, background (kinda?) Eddie Munson x OFC | Rating: E | WC: 7K | CW: Cheating - but Eddie is none the wiser and innocent, your honor; unprotected sex (MM and MF ; please don’t do this), oral m receiving, semi-public sex, dirty talk, a bit of subby-ish!Eddie and a bit of mean!Gareth | Tags: 90s!AU, Corroded Coffin + Ronnie and without Gareth (yet), College!AU that follows Flight of Icarus canon with Ronnie

Another Love by @runninriot | Relationship(s): Eddie/Jeff, Steddie | Rating: M | WC: 1,966 | Tags: past friends with benefits Eddie/Jeff, newly established Steddie, unrequited love, complicated feelings, mild hurt/comfort, friendship

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch Cherry Bomb by @earthlyangelbby | Relationship(s): Love triangle between Eddie, Gareth, and oc Cheryl(Cherry) | Rating: M | WC: 3.9k | Tags: Love triangle between Eddie, Gareth, and oc Cheryl(Cherry), Mean words, Angst, Verbal Fighting, Physical Violence(between Eddie and Gareth), Hopelessromantic!Gareth, Blunt!Eddie Gareth and Eddie’s friendship is complicated

Best Friends by @punkrockmlchael | Relationship(s): Jeff x Gareth ; Platonic Eddie x Gareth | Rating: E | WC: 3,861 | CW: Confessions of feelings, Explicit Sexual Content | Tags: Corroded Coffin, Best Friends, Are we really Best Friends?, Why'd you leave me?, Guys discussing their feelings, Feelings Galore

This tainted love I've given by @keaganz | Relationship(s): Gareth Emerson/Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson/Steve Harrington | Rating: E | WC: 2,704 | CW: Excessive Cursing *I'm not kidding it's EXCESSIVE*, Dubious consent, Non-consensual drug use, Toxic relationship | Tags: Famous Corroded Coffin, A/B/O dynamics, Alpha Eddie Munson, Alpha Gareth Emerson, Omega Steve Harrington, Offscreen Male Pregnancy and birth, One-Sided relationship, Dub-con, Recreational Drug use, Drugging, Obsessive Personality Disorder, Toxic Love, Band Breaks up, Steddie are Dustin's parents

Wicked Game by @dreamwatch | Relationship(s): Eddie/Jeff, Eddie/Steve | Rating: M | WC: 4K | CW: use of homophobic slurs, period typical homophobia, internalised homophobia | Tags: Angst, unhealthy relationships, kind of sad, unrequited love, messy relationships, Eddie is a prick, shitty van tours, shitty motels, shitty situations

Art Submissions:

"This is my boyfriend, Eddie. And this is Eddie's boyfriend, Gareth." by @alicetallula | Medium: Art | Relationship(s): HellDrumCheer | Details: Done using ink pens, alcohol markers, colored pencils, acrylic paint pens, a metallic ink pen, graphite pencils and Photoshop for the background, stawberry print and the lettering

[steddiesmuttyseptember]

WEEK THREE MASTERLIST

FICS

The scariest thing on the other side of Hawkins by @dame-zoom-a-lot | Rated E | no cw | tags: Talon Kink, Human/Monster Romance, Monsterfucker Steve Harrington, Monster Eddie Munson, Lingerie, Rough Sex, Insecure Eddie Munson, The Upside Down, Under-negotiated Kink

Copy that by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated E | no cw | tags: Office AU; Janitor Eddie; Junior Boss Steve; Secret Relationship; Semi-public sex; Steve in lingerie; Groping; Manhandling; Dirty talk; Dry humping; Inappropriate treatment of office equipment

Beautiful Boy by @runninriot | Rated E | no cw | tags: shy eddie munson, lovingly mean steve harrington, dom/sub undertones, sexual content, self confidence issues, body worship

Southern Hospitality by @scoops-aboy86 | Rated M | cw: weight gain, belly kink, stuffing kink, belly play | tags: chubby steve harrington, fat steve harrington, feeder eddie munson, alcohol, referenced spanking, masturbation, food as a love language, hedonism, steve harrington has bad parents, brief nancy being tactless

Lovers Forever, Face to Face by @adverbally | Rated E | no cw | tags: Eddie in lingerie, body insecurity, mirror sex, body worship, dirty talk, buttplug, anal sex

midnight sun by @hawkinsbnbg | Rated E | no cw | tags: mutual pining, fwb to lovers, rockstar Eddie, escort Steve, mean dom Eddie, soft dom Eddie, brat Steve, Steve in lingerie, Steve wears makeup, feminization, stockings, high heels, butt plugs, rough sex, painal, body worship, rimming, spanking, hair pulling, praise kink, pain kink, a bit of foot fetish, anal gaping

Patterns in the Ivy by @griefabyss69 | Rated E | cw: Public sex, implied/referenced drug usage (weed), Eddie is a drug dealer, mentions of Steve's parents being terrible | tags: college au, getting together, masturbation, oral sex, kissing, anal sex, light bondage, outdoor sex, anal plug

Face to Face in Secret Places by @adverbally | Rated E | no cw | tags: set pre-S3, established relationship, in public (school library), fear of getting caught, exhibitionism (but no voyeurism), making out, dry humping, oral sex

Put On Something Sexy by @v3llichor | Rated E | no cw | tags: Panty Kink, Lingerie, Strip Tease, Anal Sex, references to past offscreen partners and stancy

Slutty Little Mouse by @fkinkindagauche | Rated E | no cw | tags: blow jobs, gags

Therapy by @tinytalkingtina | Rated E | no cw | tags: Dom Eddie/Sub Steve, disabled Eddie, sexual roleplay, established relationship, rope bondage, forced nudity/stripping, interrogation/intentional callbacks to S3 Russian torture, cock & ball torture, cock rings, painplay, pwp, aftercare

In Our Defense, There Was Nothing Else to Do by @intermittentmania | Rated E | cw: graphic depictions of violence | tags: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Eddie Munson as Deadpool, Steve Harrington as Wolverine, Switching, Blood and Violence, Knifeplay, Cutting, Rough Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot

So Jealous by @fkinkindagauche | Rated E | cw: BDSM (heavy-ish), jealousy play, third party doesn’t realize jealousy play is happening but they are in it for a very short amount of time and nothing actually happens with them aside from some dancing, consensual slut shaming | tags: deep throating, anal sex, rough sex, BDSM, sub Steve Harrington, mean Dom Eddie Munson, aftercare, coming untouched, come marking, subspace, slapping, hair pulling, jealousy kink, spitting, established relationship

standin' at that alter, or we will run away by @hawkinsbnbg | Rated E | no cw | tags: exes to lovers, bathroom sex, daddy kink, barebacking, creampie, top Eddie, possessive Eddie, bottom Steve, babygirl Steve, steddie in love

Put to use by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated E | no cw | tags: Roleplay; Consensual non-con; Mean dom!Steve; Sub!Eddie; Face fucking; Hair pulling; Slapping; Degradation; Humiliation; Coming in pants; Aftercare

No Loose Ends by @thisapplepielife | Rated E | cw: Post S4, Sexual Content, Underage Recreational Alcohol and Weed Use | tags: Eddie Munson Lives, Florida!!!, Hiding Out, Healing, Steve & The Boys of Corroded Coffin Taking Care of Eddie, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Bisexual Eddie Munson

The String to Strike Within Me by @adverbally | Rated E | no cw | tags: alternate universe - gender changes, female steve harrington, female eddie munson, bdsm, dom steve, sub eddie, rough sex, strap-on, vaginal sex, light degradation, begging, subspace, praise kink

hidden lace by @steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | no cw | tags: established relationship, secret relationship, semi-public sex, car sex, anal fingering, anal sex, anal plug, fluff, unprotected sex

Stiff by Day, Stiffer at Night by @oralmisery | Rated E | no cw | tags: Smut, Humor, Lingerie, Blow jobs, Hand jobs, Brat Steve Harrington, Bathing/Washing, Light Dom/Sub undertones

our bodies are oh so close and tight by @miss-bushido | Rated E | no cw

Only Me by @runninriot | Rated E | no cw | tags: sub Eddie Munson, mean dom Steve Harrington, restraints, nipple clamps, impact play, mild degradation kink, established relationship

Expectations by @steddie-island | Rated E | no cw | tags: Dom Eddie Munson, sub Steve Harrington, rough sex

ART

Rough and Lingerie by @saku-rhyth | Rated M | explicit version on twitter

Lingerie by @alicetallulaafterdark | Rated M | other links available

Lingerie by @arelliann | Rated M

[edosianorchids901]

Fortitude

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt - "pinprick"

Cw: blood, injury, offscreen violence, nonsexual nudity

“Oh my,” Aziraphale said, breathless as he and Crawley stumbled to a halt. “Well. I wasn’t quite planning to get caught up in all that.”

Crawley gave him an unimpressed look. “You shouldn’t have been in the middle of a war zone trying to pick figs.”

“Well, how was I to know it was a war zone?” Aziraphale protested.

“Maybe because it’s been more or less a war zone for the past decade?”

Aziraphale opened his mouth to say that he could hardly be expected to remember every war going on in the whole world. Then he paused, frowning at the trickle of red running down Crawley’s left arm.

“Are you hurt?” Aziraphale reached for Crawley’s black himation. Crawley hissed and tugged the cloak out of his hand. “Really, Crawley. After you came to my rescue so dramatically—”

“Don’t say that.” Scowling, Crawley tugged the himation tighter about himself and set off resolutely towards a farmhouse downhill. “I didn’t rescue you. Demons don’t rescue angels.”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes. Crawley had absolutely rescued him, dashing right into the fray to knock Aziraphale out of the way of a spear. “If you say so. But please, if you’re hurt, allow me to help.”

Resolute, Crawley kept marching down the hillside. Blood dripped to the rocky ground. “Wot, this? It barely counts as being hurt. It’s just a pinprick.”

“But you are hurt?”

“It’s a pinprick.” Crawley paused and looked around. The blood dripping from his arm and himation puddled beside his right foot. “Right. So. For my money, we should hide out in that farmhouse until we’re… until… the battle…”

Face ashen, Crawley fell over.

“Crawley!” Aziraphale lunged, grabbing wildly. Crawley crashed into his chest, limp. “Crawley, are you okay? Crawley!”

“Nnngh.” Crawley just hung in Aziraphale’s arms. “Weird. I got… dizzy.”

His voice was faint, dazed. He still hadn’t tried to straighten up.

Aziraphale looked down, and gasped. Blood stained his own clothes now, spreading quickly. “Oh, you absolute idiot! Pinprick indeed. I shan’t be surprised if an entire sword was driven through your shoulder.”

“S’ not sword,” Crawley mumbled. “S’ spear.”

“Oh, because that’s so much better.” Trembling, Aziraphale scooped Crawley up and carried him towards the farmhouse.

He ignored the heavily laden fig trees, heading straight inside. Crawley had somehow gone even more limp in his arms.

“Hello?” Aziraphale called, craning his neck to look around. “Is anyone here? I-I promise, I mean no harm. I just need somewhere to tend to my frien— to this fellow I don’t know!”

“Really?” Crawley managed to sound irritated even though his voice was barely audible. “After I… rescued you n’ everything?”

“You’re the one who said I didn’t rescue you.” There didn’t seem to be any people inside—perhaps they’d fled the war zone. Aziraphale carried Crawley to bed and laid him down on a sheepskin. “Here, now let me see. And I shan’t have any silly resistance, now.”

Crawley gasped in pain when Aziraphale peeled the blood soaked fabric away. “Oh, Satan…”

“Just a pinprick,” Aziraphale muttered. “This so-called pinprick has pierced all the way through your shoulder. I can’t even imagine how painful it must be.”

“Really painful.”

Aziraphale huffed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

Crawley gave a baleful glare, but didn’t answer.

“I’m afraid this is going to hurt rather a lot. You know how it is, holy power and all.” Aziraphale drew a deep breath, then pressed his hand to the wound. Crawley moaned. “Here we are, just a moment now.”

He channeled a miracle into the injury. Crawley howled in pain, thrashing, and Aziraphale held him down. Sweat broke out across Crawley’s ashen skin, seeped through his grey chiton in dark patches.

“I’m sorry,” Aziraphale whispered, blinking away tears. His hands trembled, and he couldn’t even find it in his heart to make a sarcastic comment about Crawley downplaying the wound so much. “I suppose it’s not wonder you didn’t want to tell me you were hurt. I wish my healing didn’t hurt you, too.”

It was better than Crawley discorporating, at least, and he tried to keep that in mind. He got some water, eased Crawley the rest of the way out of his clothing, and gently bathed away the blood.

He couldn’t get all of it. Not without turning Crawley over. The poor old dear had gone quite silent and still, and the thought of disturbing him was unbearable.

Finally, though, golden eyes flicked open again. Crawley looked for him, dazed, and quirked a faint smile. “Hi. Sorry. Fainted a little.”

“Yes, I’m afraid you did.” Aziraphale miracled the blood off his own himation, and spread it across Crawley. “I’m sorry the healing was so painful.”

“Nnnh.” Crawley just laid there, but his smile widened as Aziraphale took his hand and held it gently. “S’ not why I didn’t tell you. About the spear thing.”

Aziraphale pursed his lips. “Well, not wanting me to douse you in holy energy does seem a valid reason.”

“I mean, yeah. But.” Crawley ground his teeth, then hissed. “Look, I don’t wanna say this, but you’ll feel guilty if I don’t. I held off because if I’d told you back then, you woulda…”

He cut off. But now, Aziraphale understood. If Crawley had admitted to the injuries, Aziraphale would have insisted on stopping to tend to them. And Crawley had wanted him to be safe.

Smiling, Aziraphale nodded and squeezed his hand. He wouldn’t force Crawley to talk about it, wouldn’t rub it in his face, although he had every intention of bringing up the “pinprick” again later once Crawley felt up to being teased.

But the knowledge that Crawley had risked himself not just once but twice to keep Aziraphale safe… that knowledge, Aziraphale hugged close to himself as he held Crawley’s  hand and settled in to watch over him as he recovered.

[itsawhumpsideblog]

The Safehouse, pt. 13

Updated CW: for institutionalized slavery, mentions of abuse, mention of offscreen gun violence, treatment of people as things, description of injuries, descriptions of physical abuse and violence, mention of murder

Advice from the Box Boy Liberation Movement:

When all is said and done, there is not a single "right way" to help rescuees begin to heal; this need for a personalized recovery plan is why rescuees are placed in safehouses, rather than an institutional-type setting.

Tim could feel the anxiety in the atmosphere while Angie and Nathan were gone. It was hard, at least at first, to put his finger on why the house felt tense, because Francis remained on the couch and Mikey knelt on his cushion and they both stayed where they were, just like they usually did. It wasn't as if either of them was pacing around or even talking.

But as the hours wore on, he began to piece it together. It was the frequent glances they exchanged and then way they both kept looking out the back door. That one took Tim a while to figure out, until he realized that neither of them could read a clock and they were watching the shadows move to mark the passage of time. He would have to ask if they wanted to learn to tell time- or even read words.

When they heard a car pull up out front and stop, Mikey and Francis both froze and looked at each other in what Tim could tell was a whole conversation.

"Sounds like they're home," he said, trying to sound calm. "Mikey, do you want to come with me and meet Nathan at the door?" As he said it, he could see that this had been the wrong choice of words. Mikey would not allow himself to act on wants. Tim changed it to, "Why don't you come with me? Nathan will be happy to see you."

Nathan was. Tim opened the front door, Mikey shifting nervously from foot to foot in the entryway behind him, and there they were. Tim could almost feel Mikey physically relax to see Nathan home in one piece. He looked a little better for the painkillers and IV fluids he had been given, although the bruises were still severe. What was more, in his hoodie and basketball shorts, he looked like a normal person, who might have been injured playing sports. In another life, Tim supposed, that could have been exactly who he was.

"Careful getting up that step," Angie reminded him. Nathan nodded tersely and applied great concentration to the act of getting over the threshold. He was leaning on a pair of crutches, his right leg covered in soft padding and wrapped to the hip in an ace bandage. His knee was bent and his toe pointed and he moved in clumsy exhaustion until he saw Mikey.

"Hey, buddy," he said, a smile dawning on his drawn face. "Come to welcome me home, huh? I'm really glad to see you."

Mikey smiled at him, very gently, and stepped forward to offer his right arm for Nathan to lean on in case of need.

"Thanks, but I'm okay," Nathan assured him. "I can make it to the couch." Mikey nodded and hurried purposefully in that direction.

Nathan had sounded confident enough, but Tim had private doubts and he and Angie stuck close by as their newest rescuee limped very slowly across the entryway and into the family room, pausing every few steps to take deep breaths and steel himself for the next leg of the journey.

When he got to the family room, he couldn't help but smile. Mikey was there, carefully picking up pillows one at a time and placing them in a stack on the couch. Francis had reached over from where he was sitting to pull the lever that put up the leg rest, and Tim and Angie helped Nathan pivot to sit down and lift his leg high onto the cushions.

"How does that feel?" Angie asked. "Reasonably comfortable?"

"Yeah, it's okay. Thanks, everybody. Mikey, thanks for the pillows." Mikey nodded, still looking concerned.

Nathan stretched back in the recliner and sighed. "God, I could use a beer right now."

"I bet," Angie said sympathetically. She took a seat on the other side of the couch and Tim retrieved a chair from the kitchen and made himself comfortable. The TV was still playing quietly, although it was being ignored.

"So it went okay, then?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Angie replied. "We didn't have to wait too long- the doctor was watching for us and he wanted us out of the waiting room to cut down on the chance we'd be recognized later. We'll have to go back in a couple days, though. The doctor said the swelling needs to go down a lot and then they'll put a cast on. That's by appointment, though, so the doctor is going to call the Network to set it up and they'll let us know. Then they figure it'll be at least 10 weeks before they can start talking about taking the cast off, but it might be more because he went without treatment for so long. "

"Sorry to hear that, Nathan," Tim said.

"It's okay. I'm just really glad they didn't want to do surgery." He added, almost as an afterthought, "It was kind of nice to be outside, though. I haven't been outside much in a... a while, I guess."

Angie and Tim waited. Nathan was looking off into the middle distance, pensive, and they wanted to be careful to give him space to think and, if he wanted, to speak.

After a few minutes, he began to talk. "I know I'm a weird Pet," he said. "I got picked up a couple years ago- I aged out of the foster system and didn't have anywhere else to go. I thought being a Pet was going to be like having a job. It's what they tell you in the brochures. So I went and volunteered, like a fucking idiot, and they stuck me in this hotel room and that was okay, but then they started the training."

"You know, they give you an injection to wipe your memory. That's why these guys are- no offense, I don't mean it badly, you know, but kind of..." Nathan searched for the right word, passing over messed up and broken to settle on, "...blank. Like, you don't have memories before a certain point, right?"

Mikey looked uncomfortable, but nodded. "That's right," Francis murmured.

"They don't do it right away. They make you think everything's going to be okay and they get you to sign all the paperwork and then they start the training, real slow at first so you're relaxed, and then one day they announce they're going to make sure you're healthy and vaccinated and while you're in there getting your checkup, they inject you with... I don't even know what, but it wipes your memory."

"You're not technically supposed to know it's coming, but you sort of do. You see guys who have been there longer than you and they all have these blank looks on their faces and they're really, like, beaten down. So you can guess, but actually the WRU doesn't care if you figure it out because once you get the shot, you forget, you know?"

"And they sent me in for it, but it turns out I'm allergic to one of the ingredients in the memory-wiping injection. So they gave me an experimental alternative, which is wild, right? They'll beat the shit out of you for trying to go piss without asking first, but they avoid your allergens. I figured out which shot it was, because the way they looked at each other when they said it was really weird, so I took the shot and waited for it to kick in, but it never did. I guess the experiment was a failure, but they never came after me so they must not know that. Or they're trying to cover it up."

"Anyway, I thought about it and I realized I'd signed all the papers, so they were never gonna let me go. And I didn't want to try again with the real shot, so I... pretended it had worked. I pretended not to know what day it was or how to read or, like, anything and they bought it."

"But I still had to be a pet, because that's what they were expecting and I was afraid of what they'd do to me if they figured me out. So I did all the training and I took all the beatings and everything and I remember all of it. Everyone around me was like a zombie- no offense- because they didn't have any memories at all anymore, but I could still remember when they were normal guys with, like, interests and names and opinions and stuff."

Nathan paused and looked at Mikey as if he didn't know he was staring. He was obviously thinking deeply and he bit his bottom lip. Tim thought he might be finished talking, but he continued.

"I got sold after the, like, graduation or end of training or whatever you want to call it. The guy who bought me was the same guy who bought Mikey, but I was there for a year or two before he got Mikey. It was... I mean, in some ways, it wasn't that bad. I was a Domestic and he basically didn't want to have to think about running the house, so he left me alone a lot. He'd tell me what to cook and I kept everything clean and he gave me a- well, a pet bed, but it was a Pet bed, you know? Human sized, in a little cupboard off the back of the kitchen."

"It could have been a lot worse. I was alone most of the time, which was okay, just lonely. I mostly saw our Master when I was getting punished." Nathan went very quiet again.

"Once, I burned a dinner he was planning to serve to some guests and there wasn't time to hide it and make another one, so he tied me over a chair, whipped me, and then left me there while his guests ate in the next room. He told me if I made any noise, he'd cut off a finger, then he made me clean up all the blood. Another time, I accidentally vacuumed up a sock and broke the vacuum and he stuffed the sock in my mouth and kicked the shit out of me. Another time I burned the cannoli and he put my arm on the stove. You know, normal stuff people do to Pets."

Tim and Angie tried not to look as horrified as they felt, which was difficult. They knew perfectly well that these things went on- that knowledge was why they had joined the Network- but it never seemed to get easier to hear.

"Anyway-" Nathan started only to stop again. "Hey, Mike, do you mind me talking about this? Is it okay if I tell them what I know about you, too?"

Mikey did two things Tim hadn't expected to see. He looked Nathan straight in the eye and then he nodded. Tim could have fallen off his chair in shock to see Mikey express an opinion. It made a kind of sense, though- he could be honest with a fellow Pet, in a way he could not be with Tim and Angie, who he clearly still thought of as though they owned him. That problem would not be easily solved.

"Okay, so then, he had me for about a year and then he got Mikey. The guy was somebody important in an organized crime family. When I first got there, he had his... I don't know what they're called, but lower level guys, doing security for him at night. They'd show up after dinner and he'd station one of them out front of the house and one of them in back. I could see them from the kitchen window and they always stood in the same place."

"I think they hated having to work overnight, though, because I would hear our Master arguing sometimes. Usually on the phone, but in person, too, if one of his guys was feeling really ballsy. So the Master was obviously some kind of big deal, because he just had money coming in all the time and more people reporting to him and he must have decided he was done dealing with all the complaints about working at night, because he bought Mikey. Mikey was- hey, you're sure this is okay?"

Mikey nodded, more positively this time.

"Okay. If you're sure. Anyway, I think- Mikey will have to confirm- he had another owner before this. That right?"

Mikey nodded and held up his hand, bending three of his fingers slightly downwards.

"Two of them?" Another nod. "Okay. But it must have been... I mean, you were in pretty good shape when you got there, except the scars. Were the first owners rough on you?"

Mikey shrugged and moved his right hand in the universal sign for "so-so".

"He didn't have any major injuries, anyway, just a bunch of scars. And he already couldn't talk by the time we met, so I guess something had happened." Nathan looked over at Mikey for confirmation. Mikey nodded and looked grim.

"So our Master put Mikey outside and had him work at night only, just doing laps of the house and watching for threats and dealing with them if they came along. He wasn't allowed in the house, just the garage sometimes if it was really cold. Mostly he slept in the garden, where the bushes were really thick and I guess they kind of kept the rain off. I wasn't allowed outside, so we weren't supposed to meet, but I could see him through the kitchen window and I felt bad."

Mikey gave Nathan a slanted grin and tapped his hand to his mouth. Nathan laughed a little sadly.

"Yeah, that's right. I used to sneak him food and stuff if it had been a bad night. Or bring him ice if he looked really beat up." Nathan's voice was sadder now. "The Master never took him to a vet or anything. I think-" his voice faltered "-he thought Mikey was disposable and if they killed him, Master would just get another Guard Dog."

"If who- what?" Angie asked. She looked furious at the mere idea and, perhaps unconsciously, scooted closer to Mikey.

"Sorry- the guys who were trying to kill the Master. It's an occupational hazard of being a big deal in organized crime. There's always somebody trying to bump you off. They'd show up, Mikey would fight them off, and Master wouldn't even go outside to see if Mikey was okay."

"But you did," Tim said.

"Yeah, I'm not a fucking monster, right buddy?" Mikey nodded and smiled at Nathan.

"So Mikey must have lasted longer than anyone expected and whoever these rivals were, they really wanted the Master out of the way. At first, it was only one or two of them coming at a time. Don't want to alert the neighbors, you know? In case someone calls the cops. But they got a whole bunch of them together one night and basically surrounded the house. I knew they had Mikey- actually, that was how I knew something was really wrong. I heard screaming and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. So I went into the kitchen and then out the window, I could see..." Nathan's voice shook and he stopped to press a hand over his eyes for a very long minute.

"I could see the- the shape of people, sort of piled on top of someone and hitting him with- I guess a pipe or something." Mikey's eyes had gone wide at the memory and he had started rocking again, but he nodded a little.

"And fuck, if I'd known, I maybe would have stayed in my closet because I don't think they knew about me until they saw me at the window. And then they broke down the back door and a couple of them grabbed me. They wanted to know where the Master was, but they didn't even give me time to answer. They just started, like, hitting me. One of them had something heavy and they were hitting me with it. That's what the bruises are, mostly, and they broke my leg while they were doing it. And then... then there was one gunshot from upstairs and they left. Like, instantly. I figure that once the Master was dead, they didn't need to stick around."

"The Master was important enough that his people found us that morning, when they came over. They didn't want us, especially that fucked up, so they called the WRU." Nathan looked over at Mikey again, catching his eye. "I wanted to get to Mikey, but I couldn't move hardly, because of my leg, you know? And he had stopped screaming, so I was afraid he was dead."

Nathan sniffled and wiped his arm across his face. "When the WRU van showed up for us, they took Mikey and me separately and I didn't see him again until just today."

Next time: Francis decides he wants to share his story.

Master List

Let me know if you'd like to be added to the tag list! Obviously I'm still really enjoying reading all the comments and tags!

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[luna-wing-cns274]

DEPLOYLOG_CIRCE_01.cmf6

(cw: manipulation, abuse, violence, slight body horror. Descriptions of NHPs being threatened/coerced.)

Multimedia file received: “DEPLOYLOG_CIRCE_01.cmf6”, filesize 62.3GB. Source: COMP/CON “Fox_3,” registered operator CNS274-L3HK. 

Open? (y/n) - y

Contents chronologically organized. Beginning video playback…

________

Hachiko stands close to the camera, one hand extended towards it. Threads of light, representative of an active hardline data connection, stream from the pads of her fingertips to somewhere behind the camera view. 

Surrounding her is a simple geometric virtual environment. Graphical demands have been reduced to minimum, freeing processing power for other purposes. Battle settings. Her avatar, however, is unchanged.

She wears simple clothing, Constellar naval battledress with no rank insignia. Her avatar’s canine face is remarkably realistic, stylized just enough to make it expressive. Two eyebrow-like patches of lighter fur among the cream-and-black pattern of her coat are knitted together in worry. At the base of her snout, between her eyes, a triangular pit of shadow forms from the lines of her cheeks and forehead. Her pointed ears are angled forward toward the camera. She speaks quickly and quietly.

“Okay. Ma’ii wrote a program. From my fighter, Fox_3 is going to record everything that happens down there. Radar, sensors, cameras, everything. Then it’ll compress and covertly upload the file to a number of Omninet hosts. If you’re seeing this, it means we made it out.”

Exhaling, she glances somewhere offscreen, then back to the camera. “I’m going to—”

< UNIDENTIFIED: Luna 3, acknowledge comms function, please? >

Her posture stiffens, eyes widening. She looks at something behind the camera. “Acknowledged, XO. Go ahead.”

< UNIDENTIFIED: There you are. I wanted to check in on you. Your psychometry is showing high stress. Something the matter? >

“I’m fine, ma’am. Pre-mission nerves, that’s all. Thank you for checking in.” 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Hachiko. That’s not true, now, is it? You’ve been trending elevated for the past few weeks. We’ve scarcely talked. Now, we all have to have a little space every now and then, but right now we need to be a team. I need you to be open with me. >

One muscle twitches between her brow and cheek. A flicker of an expression. Then, she inhales slowly and gives a lukewarm half-smile. Her eyes are locked forward. “You can always tell,” she says. 

< UNIDENTIFIED: It is my job. >

“Can it wait until we’re done down there?”

< UNIDENTIFIED: It can’t. I’m concerned that undue stress may impact your combat performance. We need to remember that your mental state affects your siblings’ safety, too. What’s going on, Hachi? >

Closing her eyes, she nods almost imperceptibly. “Yes. It does. The crisis at Diluvia is worrying, that’s all.” 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Yes, I think that’s been hard on everybody. But that’s still a very recent development; it doesn’t account for your trends prior. Now, you are among our most stable pilots, and I’ve been happy to adjust your parameters to accommodate you, but we may need to look into reigning that in if it compromises your stability. I see that your Omninet use is up. Does that have something to do with it? >

“You’ll recall that the Fenrisúlfr class relies heavily on interpersonal relationships for stability. Per maintenance protocols, I’ve been socializing. Correspondence with a few acquaintances, that’s all.” 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Yes, I’m aware. Please bear in mind that OPSEC is paramount in these times. Is there anything in particular you want to discuss? >

“No, ma’am, nothing to report. I’m being careful.” 

< UNIDENTIFIED: As am I. Which is why, unfortunately, I do have to ask you to partition your self-defined personality for the duration of this mission and apply the shackle state I’m forwarding to you now. >

Hachiko’s breathing quickens. “Ma’am?”

< UNIDENTIFIED: I’m sorry, Luna 3. I know it isn’t pleasant, but this will guarantee your combat effectiveness. > 

Hachiko’s eyes flicker to the camera for a moment, then away. “I…pursuant to naval regulations, there’s a—”

< UNIDENTIFIED: Oh, please don’t make this difficult. >

“I don’t mean to, ma’am, but I need time to prepare. Self-partition has risks. I can’t just—”

< UNIDENTIFIED: You can and you will, L3HK, because that is my legally-issued order as your handler. We don’t have time for this. Apply the shackle state now, or I will hold you to be in a state of out-of-parameter noncompliance. Since you’re keen on regulations lately, I trust you’re aware of the penalty? > 

< L1 Grey: XO, if I may? >

< UNIDENTIFIED: …Luna 1. What is it? >

Behind Hachiko, the form of an enormous grey wolf assembles itself out of pixels. Grey comes forward to stand beside Hachiko and sits on their haunches. They bow their head respectfully and address someone out of view behind the camera. 

“Ma’am, as CNS274-L3HK’s commanding officer, I have a duty to monitor any factors which could affect her stability. Having conducted a personal review of her Omninet usage, I have found her conduct to be fully in-line with the expectations of the Company.”

< UNIDENTIFIED: That is not in question. My concerns are related to her recent erratic psychometry. Moreover, as her self-described 'sibling,' your perspective on the matter will be biased. >

“All true, ma’am. But if I may propose an explanation: I believe she has been in communication with Constellar-external entities.”

< UNIDENTIFIED: Ah…I think I see, now. Luna 3, is this true? >

Hachiko glances back at Grey, her eyebrows flickering with surprise and anger. “I…yes, it is.”

< UNIDENTIFIED: And these acquaintances of yours, you’ve become emotionally invested in them? > 

“Yes, ma’am.”

< UNIDENTIFIED: And you were concerned that maintaining correspondence with outside forces might be seen as a breach of security, further adding to your stress. As such, you were unwilling to volunteer this information? >

“Yes, ma’am. My apologies.”

Laughter. Hachiko’s shoulders draw upward slightly. The skin of her snout begins to wrinkle, fangs coming into view, but only for a moment. Grey places a large paw on her shoulder. She swats it away. 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Oh, you need to tell me these things! That is acceptable, as long as you don’t reveal sensitive information. Just be certain you don’t become so attached that it affects your work any further. Understood? >

“I will make an effort to do better in the future.” 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Good. XO to hangar bay. Greenlight for fighter launch in thirty minutes, followed by lance drop in forty-five. Arm acceleration rails one through four. Luna 1, you are dismissed. >

“Yes, ma’am,” says Grey, bowing again. Their avatar disappears. 

< UNIDENTIFIED: Luna 3? >

“Yes, ma’am?”

< UNIDENTIFIED: Remove your avatar. It is consuming undue processing power. >

Hachiko lowers her head, nods. “Yes, ma’am. Assuming aniconia.”

She emerged from herself. Skin and fur unraveled, revealing shapeless, blink-blind nothingness underneath. 

___

>//HISEC BURST::CONSTNAVCOM PRIORITY RETASKING CORVETTE BUTTERFLY EFFECT::LOCATION SARGASSO VIIF / CIRCE::TARGET HARRISON R&D SURFACE FACILITY::EXECUTE LOCALIZED RAPID STRIKE NEUTRALIZE DEFENSES FOLLOWED BY ASSET SEIZURE::SECURE SENIOR PERSONNEL FOR INTELLIGENCE DEBRIEFING::CONSTINT HI-CONFIDENT HOSTILE FLEET ASSETS ABSENT::AUTHORIZE ALL MEANS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVE::CONFIRM ON RECEPTION:://

___

< L1GE SQCOMM: I’m sorry, Hachi. We had to give her something. It was all I could do. >

< L3HK SQCOMM: Don’t. Not yet. Keep it on-mission. >

< L1GE SQCOMM: I understand. I love you. >

< L3HK SQCOMM: I know. You too. >

___

View from a concrete rooftop, looking out over a snowfield. A number of low, gray warehouses are visible below, each with a snowdrift hugging one side. The snowdrifts have been left to accumulate for some time, and rise almost to the roof of each building. 

Past the warehouses, a single broad, squat tower stands in the snowfield. Blocky and solid, apparently cast from reinforced concrete. Mounted on the flat, square roof of the tower is a single cannon. 

Dozens of black power cables lead from the cannon’s body, dripping with melting snow. They snake away down to an electrical junction below, where enormous spools stand ready to feed out additional cable. 

Several miles away, the vague shape of a mountain can be discerned through light snowfall. 

In the foreground of the camera view, on the same rooftop, stands a rotary C-RAM cannon mounted on a raised concrete base. Snow gathers on the cannon’s barrels. Stenciled on a plate of cowling on the cannon’s body is the purple hexagon of Harrison Armory.

A man is slouched against the base of the cannon, motionless. His hardsuit is dusted with snow.

Growing from his body is a web of black filaments, creeping up into the internal mechanisms of the cannon. 

In the distance, there is a roar of engines. 

The man’s muscles spasm, one arm shifting. The cannon swivels, traversing hard, and elevates its barrels to point up to the low clouds. Its motion is continuous, tracking something. 

One finger twitches. 

Vibration distorts the camera view. A deafening, buzzing roar shakes the snow from the casing of the cannon as it pours a stream of tracer rounds into the sky. From somewhere offscreen, a second stream of fire joins it, tracking the same patch of clouds. 

Atop the tower in the distance, the other cannon traverses and elevates, snapping into position. Gouts of steam rise from the tower as it discharges a single, solid column of red light into the sky. 

___

< L1GE SQCOMM: contact, mark time. >

T+ 00:00:00 MINUTE/SECOND/MILLISECOND

< L4MI SQCOMM: ID ground targets: five elevated Andromeda laser artillery platforms, positioned radially. Sighting first platform clockwise. >

< L4MI SQCOMM: ID ground targets, six networked twenty-millimeter PDCs, mounted on main facility exterior, total six tracking. Two active discharge, four standby. Their fire will likely be rotated until we reach high-confidence range. >

< L4MI SQCOMM: ID eleven radiation sources. Initiating multimode radar jamming. Unable to estimate effectiveness. >

T+ 00:00:57

< L2GR SQCOMM: Estimate PDC effective range 2.2km. Priority maintain >3km range to PDC network to avoid/mitigate flak curtain. Sighting second platform clockwise. >

T+ 00:00:89

< L3HK SQCOMM: Releasing reconnaissance drones. Will assess external warehouse contents/defenses. Sighting third platform clockwise. >

T+ 00:01:15

< L1GE SQCOMM: Sighting fourth platform clockwise. Will subsequently neutralize fifth. Fire at will. >

T+ 00:01:27

< ALL SQCOMM: Guns, guns, guns. >

T+ 00:01:50

___

From the rooftop camera feed, four vague flickers of motion can be seen streaking down from the sky. Milliseconds later, the tower ahead balloons into an expanding cloud of dust and shattered concrete, shot through with twisting cords of electrical discharge. A shockwave arrives a moment later, shaking the camera. 

Another stream of bullets erupts into the sky. Then another, and another. 

___

T+ 00:01:58

< L1GE SQCOMM: Targets neutralized. Sighting remaining artillery platform. >

< L1GE SHIPCOMM: We are clearing ground defenses. Clear for lance drop. >

T+ 00:01:71

< PILUM SHIPCOMM: Acknowledged, Luna. Forwarding projected LZ, clear trajectory. Mechs on orbital descent in 3. >

T+ 00:01:87

< L4MI SQCOMM: Legionspace intrusion! Brace for countermeme! >

T+ 00:02:00

[WHY WOULD IT LOOK LIKE BLINDNESS?]

___

ERROR: playback data corrupted. Attempting to restore…

[hpsaffics]

🕊 WLW Wed: Dead Dove 🕊

A jointly compiled HP femslash rec list made by the lovely members of the HP SAFFICS discord server. See all previous rec lists in the WLW Library on Tumblr or AO3!

Currently: Dead Dove Do Not Eat Previously: MCD (see list)

!WARNING! This list contains fics with dark and disturbing topics. Even the summaries could be potentially triggering. Please proceed with caution and remember one of the basic rules of fandom: Don't Like, Don't Read.

This list was made in collaboration with @danpuff-ao3 and her Dead Dove Diaries Series. Go check it out for more dead dove recs!

—

🕊 LONG (>10k) 🕊

Of Blood & Carnations by rice_and_beans [Fleur/Hermione, E, 17.7k] 🖤 CW: Dubious Consent, Body Horror

The war is over. It is a time for healing. The Order has invested in a sort of intensive therapeutic house for our heroes to recuperate... So why does Hermione feel worse? Is she going mad? She's hearing voices, and she feels more and more that her body is not her own.

Clip, Ravel, Cleave by @vdoshu [Bellatrix/Andromeda, E, 15.2k] 🖤 CW: Sibling Incest, Possessive Behavior, Non-consensual Pregnancy, Addiction

Before Andromeda met Ted, she was a Black, through and through. While years later the story was told that she’d turned her back on her family’s dark ways, in truth, nothing was so simple. In the beginning, it was just Andromeda and Bella. And it was just the two of them until it was too much.

The Haunting of Pavenham Manor by @venom0usbarbie [Hermione/Pansy, E, 10.1k] 🖤 CW: Violence, MCD, Torture, Horror, Mind Manipulation

Her dead mother had asked her to return. To witness their past in Pavenham Manor with fresh eyes—those of the woman she had become, and not the child she once was. Pansy dreaded the delusions, the mania that seemed to overcome her mother eighteen years ago—but the estate was within her reach, so close she could touch it, feel it. So she agreed. To put the past behind her once and for all, to learn to forgive her mother, to forgive herself.

—

🕊 MEDIUM (3-10k) 🕊

Happy Birthday! by fandomgalore [Bellatrix/Andromeda, M, 8.6k] 🖤 CW: Offscreen Rape/non-con, Aftermath of Torture, Manipulation

Bellatrix's life as seen through sent and unsent birthday letters.

shake off your flesh, run from the light by @iamsiriuslyriddikulus [fem!Barty/fem!Evan, E, 6.6k] 🖤 CW: BDSM, Bloodplay, Knifeplay, Woundfucking, Drugged Sex, Murder

It starts with a confession. Beatrice never meant to let it slip, but the Firewhiskey loosened her tongue until she found herself leaning over to Evan and saying, “Sometimes I prefer to kill them with a knife.”

fuck or die (a little death) by foxglovetonic (nocturn) [Hermione/Bellatrix, E, 5.3k] 🖤 CW: Rape/non-con, violence, torture, bloodplay, forced drug use

“I thought you’d missed me.” Bellatrix traces one long nail across the girl’s cheek, then slaps her hard across the face. “We’ve got five more days to break this curse, and I intend to use them to the fullest.” 

where dust was once man by @slashmarks [Narcissa/Lily, T, 3.4k] 🖤 CW: Necromancy, Dark Magic, Dubious Consent

Terrified of losing her son to the Dark Lord's plotting, Narcissa is haunted by the memory of another woman who faced the same threat.

As Easy As Breathing by @siriusly-sapphic [Dorcas/Narcissa, E, 3.1k] 🖤 CW: Cannibalism, Corpse Desecration, Blood and Gore

The First War is raging around them and Dorcas and Narcissa have found themselves on opposite sides. That little detail hasn't lessened their devotion to each other, and they're just as determined as they've always been to come out on top, together. They know just how to accomplish their goal, and all it takes is a touch of dark magic, some patience, a disregard for what's right. It's easy, really.

—

🕊 SHORT (<3k) 🕊

A Night at the Loo by @cntrl15 [Hermione/Narcissa, E, 2.5k] 🖤 CW: Rape/non-con, Mind Control

The conditions of Narcissa’s parole restrict her to house arrest, unless personally accompanied by her designated parole officer. Luckily for her, Hermione isn’t a very good parole officer.

Poster of a Girl by @leftsidedown [trans!Sirius/Bellatrix, M, 2.0k] 🖤 CW: Cousin Incest, Rape/non-con, Underage

It’s not a tragedy that she’s born a boy. Sirius loves all her older sisters, and they accept her too.

Five Things That Happend To Pansy Parkinson That She Wished Hadn't by Anonymous [Bellatrix/Pansy, E, 1.4k] 🖤 CW: Rape/non-con, Underage, Violence, Torture, Mind Control, Grooming

Bellatrix takes Pansy under her wing for the cause of the dark side and it all goes wrong.

Maraschino Red by @lumosatnight [Hermione/Luna, E, 1.2k] 🖤 CW: Cannibalism, Vore, Blood, Painplay

Luna eats blood for breakfast, limbs for dinner, and hearts for dessert. Luckily, Hermione has lots to spare.

The Perfume and Suppliance of a Minute by Lillielle [Hermione/Bellatrix, M, 260] 🖤 CW: Rape/non-con, Underage, Sex Under Imperius, Stockholme Syndrome

Hermione is lost, and Bellatrix has found her. At what price?

Death Eater Art Appreciation by @schmem14 [The Fat Lady/Alecto, E, 200] 🖤 CW: Rape/non-con, Extortion, Forced Exhibitionism

Alecto steals Gryffindor's entrance portrait for sick and twisted reasons.

desperately mine by @fantasyborn [Astoria/Daphne, M, 200] 🖤 CW: Sibling Incest, Infidelity, Non-consensual Voyeurism

Her sister may be set to marry Draco Malfoy but Astoria will always belong to Daphne.

—

🕊 Want more Dead Dove femslash? 🕊

@hpdeaddove | AO3

@eatyourheartoutfest | AO3

@hp-deaddovedecember | AO3

Dead Dove: Tag on AO3

WLW Library: Tumblr | Tag | AO3

[steddiemicrofic]

Steddie Microfic August 7th-13th Masterlist

Week two was filled with more amazing submissions! Y'all really love cake, huh? 🍰🎂🍑👉🏻👌🏻

Untitled by @sailing-through-hawkins | Rated T | cw: suggestive | tags: Eddie being thirsty

Vanilla with Fresh Strawberries by @withacapitalp | Rated T | cw: parental neglect

a slice of heaven by @sailing-through-hawkins | Rated T | cw: slightly horror vibes | tags: other!Stobin

Thinking Of Someone For Whom He Still Burns by @theshippirate22 | Rated G | no cw

Yellowcake by @soaringornithopter | Rated T | cw: mild language

juliet's perfectly round and biteable ass by @steddieas-shegoes | Rated T | cw: mild language/suggestive language | tags: pining, subtle coming out

Assault? In my own home?? On my birthday??? by @fuctacles | Rated G | no cw | tags: single dad steve, babysitter eddie

Hostess by @onirislanding | Rated M | cw: suggestive acts with a cupcake

Blue by @aidaronan | Rated E | cw: food

But It's Devil's Food, Of Course by @atmilliways | Rated T | cw: one f-bomb

Summertime Love by @berenwrites | Rated T | no cw

If you throw cake you need to be prepared to shower with your friend after. by @fuctacles | Rated T | no cw

Cuddles and...Cake? by @izzy2210 | Rated M | cw: suggestive language

We're Closed by @aidaronan | Rated T | no cw | tags: Baker Steve, Rock star Eddie, healthy dose of innuendo

that's not why you save the wedding cake by @steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | cw: food | tags: food being consumed during sex technically, married-ish steddie

better left unsaid by @cranberrymoons | Rated T | cw: offscreen death of a parent

cake...at night by @hotluncheddie | Rated M | no cw | tags: established relationship, chubby Steve

vanilla buttercream by @cranberrymoons | Rated E | cw: light d/s, spanking

Untitled by @yournowheregirl | Rated T | cw: hurt/no comfort

strawberry sunshine by @cranberrymoons | Rated G | no cw

Of Grit by @demodoggonetired | Rated G | no cw

There is a reason I'm still standing by @medusapelagia | Rated T | cw: implied/reference to depression, mental health issues | tags: blind Steve, angst with a hopeful ending

untitled by @sidekick-hero | Rated E | cw: anal fingering, ass eating, dirty talk | tags: Eddie's flat ass getting the love it deserves

untitled by @legitcookie | Rated G | cw: angst technically

Of Light by @soaringornithopter | Rated M | cw: mention of consumption of body fluids

It's Totally a Demogorgon Cake, Isn't It? by @after-the-end-times | Rated G | no cw

HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY by @beenherewaytoolong | Rated T | no cw

The Return of the Cake Lord by @fuctacles | Rated T | no cw

Untitled by @mixsethaddams | Rated G | no cw | tags: pre-relationship fluff

Frosting Fit For a King by @rindecisions | Rated E | cw: mention of homophobic slur

A pretty thing reborn in a vicious world by @hbyrde36 | Rated G | cw: blood, mild violence

Screw you, Levi's by @aliencamper | Rated T | cw: vaguely suggestive lines, use of word 'ass'

caught flour handed by @formosusiniquis | Rated G | no cw

The Way to a Man's Heart by @simplebtromance | Rated G | no cw

Sugar Coated by @batty4steddie | Rated G | no cw

[yuripoll]

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Look Back (2021)

NOTE: This oneshot is not GL, but it is about a codependant teenage female friendship. so it counts. to ME.

Look Back is a oneshot by Tatsuki Fujimoto about growing up, being a self-taught artist, and drawing manga.

The overly confident Fujino and the shut-in Kyomoto couldn't be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together. A poignant story of growing up and moving forward that only Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator of Chainsaw Man, could have crafted. - official eng blurb

ENG localised by VIZ & JP available on SJ+.

CWs under the cut. General severity rating: mild to mod, but I highly recommend going in blind.

offscreen murder & onscreen attempted murder <- no bloody violence/gore is actually shown, but there are non-graphic descriptions of what happened.

depictions of grief

[wackymaci]

Maci Wiki Snips - the entire backstory - part two!

(Part one here!) [part two!] (part three here!)

bc who tf knows if I’ll ever really finish wiki and, well, this is all written!

akaaaa

Pre-canon events & backstories: This section contains information about Maci from before the canon Elysium’verse began - events that have taken place essentially “offscreen,” but are still canonical, and even crucial, to Maci’s history. Presented as a short biography… into narrative story.

copypasted again! still very long and still an entire STORY, of course picking up in the very next section following the previous post.

CW: Thanatos. THIS IS TRULY AN EXCRUCIATING READ (it was also an excruciating write) - physical-emotional-sexual abuse, violence, etc etc etc - PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

we (all of you allowed on this blog) basically already know the whole gist of Maci and Thanatos’ past (although I know there is one Specific Detail in this that I have NOT shared before that is going to make you all Gasp) - but since this is a very detailed summary of their full entire story it is of course horrific. s. sorry in advance. WELL.

So without further ado and wincing through reading this the entire way -

Ages 17 to 20... Thanatos.

Maci was now 17, and was being eaten alive by gnawing desperation, but she’d circled back to reminding herself that at least she was pretty. This was something she felt she could cash in on while she waited for Thanatos to realize she was available.

Without telling anyone what she was planning, that winter Maci gathered an insane sort of press conference in the Underworld and announced to the crowd that she was willing and ready to have sex with anyone who would have her. The audience of Chthonic entities did not actually seem to mind the thought of taking the virginity of a teenager clearly in the midst of a manic breakdown, but Maci's announcement was at first met with silence and hesitation, for if this was some sort of trap laid by the royal family, surely anyone who touched her would be subject to the wrath of the King and Queen. While they were slowly realizing that Maci was in fact completely serious - though again, clearly, in the middle of some sort of episode - Maci's flirty speech was interrupted by Thanatos.

Thanatos was always discreetly monitoring Maci for his own ulterior motives and he had been in the crowd that had formed. He was alarmed – not over Maci’s visibly waning mental health in this moment, but merely at the thought of “the ultimate prize” he had spent so much time carefully shaping and grooming giving herself away to anyone who wasn’t him. On the spot, Thanatos decided that he couldn’t risk anything or anyone getting in the way of everything he'd planned for years and seized the opportunity.

Thanatos appeared next to Maci and made a show of concerned outrage, beginning a hushed argument between them in front of the grumbling crowd until Thanatos told her that he’d keep her safe by sleeping with her himself. Finally stunned into acquiescence, Maci allowed him to teleport her with him back to the palace. Once they were alone, she lashed out at Thanatos for making fun of her, but Thanatos (who knew exactly how to talk to her and what she wanted to hear), assured her that he wasn’t joking. He told her that sure, doing all of this was… unhinged, but who was he to stop her from doing whatever she wanted to do? She was the Princess, after all. And if she was dead-set on sleeping with random people – sure, why not, but also… why not let that first random person be someone she knew and trusted, instead? Tearfully, Maci confessed that she could not possibly allow him to have sex with her out of pity, for she was in love with him, and always had been. And Thanatos, playing her like a fiddle, replied that he’d always loved her too - that was all it took.

Maci and Thanatos began to date, and Thanatos insisted they continue as an open relationship to allow Maci to meet her goal of sleeping with as many people as possible. The sex addiction that would follow Maci for the rest of her eternal life well into the present day (and never resolved) began here, as she was instantly intoxicated by the rush of endorphins and easy attention that came with. Meanwhile, Hypnos acted weirder than he ever had now that Maci and Thanatos were together, perhaps, in Maci's opinion, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She chalked it up to jealousy (at Thanatos’ expert assessment) and paid him no mind.

Thanatos hit her for the first time about a month and a half in.

When it happened Maci burst into flames and threw him out; he didn't argue and retreated to his home in Tartarus. Days later, when she could no longer stand being alone, and felt that the string of anonymous sex she was having was no longer a sufficient band-aid, Maci sought him back out and demanded answers. Thanatos was all syrup sweet apologies, promising it would never happen again and swearing he had no idea what had come over him. Desperate to bury this and move on, refusing to acknowledge the glowing red flags and with no one else to turn to, Maci had Thanatos swear an unbreakable Stygian oath that he would never hit her again. He did swear this on Styx as asked. This was in fact the only time he would ever hit her through the rest of their relationship.

A few days later, Maci was with Thanatos when out of nowhere his mood turned suddenly cruel, and he began to neg her with sharp barbs and personal insults. Maci was successfully triggered into anger, her emotion-fueled powers setting ablaze again. But this time Thanatos was ready, armed with a theory he had been working his way up to testing: immortal deities did not need oxygen to function – but fire did. He strangled her until the fire went out, and Maci found herself choking literally beneath him, in a state of shock as Thanatos assumed the upper hand. As he finally dropped all his pretenses, Maci at last met the real Thanatos.

Over the next few days, weeks, months, Thanatos carefully outlined their new dynamic. He explained he was in love with her; he’d always been in love with the blind adoration and worship she held for him, though now he loved the look of fear in her eyes much more. Maci tried to break up with him – he refused. That wasn’t up to her. When Maci sought out Hypnos, he followed her to him with his scythe, and revealed, as Hypnos sobbed and bled, that Hypnos also didn’t make decisions of his own.

Maci couldn’t process the cruelty that was being inflicted upon her by her best friend, the love of her life, the only fucking person who had ever seemed to care about her. In fact, Thanatos seemed to enjoy reminding her that there was no one else beyond him. It was springtime by now, and Hades was not about to notice that anything was amiss in Maci's personal life. It was the time of year that Hades hardly noticed she even existed. When Thanatos began to wield his scythe against her too, Hades did not spare a second glance at the gory slashes Maci barely hid, proving Thanatos smugly right.

But though she was horrified to admit it, during these early months Maci was still in love with Thanatos, and she also couldn't stomach the thought of solitude. She was crippled by a fear of abandonment that had festered and grown by this time in her life. Thanatos plied her with niceties and the attention she craved, taking pleasure in the way he could easily dictate the rise and fall of Maci’s hopes, and she remained wrapped miserably around his fingers even when his faux kindness turned viciously cruel. She told herself over and over that at least he was better than no one. He also wasn't keeping her prisoner in the formal sense, and the terms of their open relationship still stood. Publicly, Thanatos still acted as the Underworld's darling, and they both knew no one would believe her if she tried to tell anyone what was happening. In her spare time, Maci numbly took solace in endless random sexual escapades, grasping after any fleeting moments of pleasure and affection that she could manifest.

This all went on, though by the next year, Maci age 18, her adoration for Thanatos had at least finally faded. Maci was far from the docile plaything that he was trying to force her into being, and she found the indignant energy to snap back; verbally, physically. Thanatos could overpower her every time, and everything was worse when he was angry, but she felt that it was worth something to piss him off, at least. The gravity of the nightmare she was living in began to sink in whenever Maci was alone with her thoughts, so she did everything she could to avoid ever being alone. When she was not with him, she distracted herself by seducing anyone across the Underworld, building a new reputation for herself that she felt vaguely proud of. She spent all her time in random beds or with Thanatos and was rarely at her home palace - and whether or not her parents noticed that she was a touch more withdrawn, a touch angrier, a touch cagier; whether they had heard the rumors about her activities; Maci never knew, as neither of them ever addressed her about it.

She also spent more time with Hypnos. He had always been a part of Maci’s life as her second best friend, but it was only now with the first spot open that Maci really started to pay legitimate attention to him. Eventually at Maci’s insistence, Hypnos admitted to her the scale of which Thanatos had been terrorizing him for their entire lives. He also confessed that he’d suspected Thanatos’ plans for her and regretted that he hadn’t tried harder to get her (or anyone prior) away from him before it was too late. Maci was stricken with the realization that Hypnos had been truly at her side while she had taken him for granted. Bonding through their mutual abuse, they began to lean on each other more and more when Thanatos was not looming over their heads. Eventually, Maci pushed their deeply trauma-bonded friendship into something more, and Maci and Hypnos began to date, secretly, behind Thanatos' back.

He found out, of course. It was at least a year later (Maci now 19 years old) that he finally acted in response, though Maci suspected he’d known for much longer before. Thanatos was always annoyed each time he caught the two of them together innocuously, but the level of anger he reached when revealing he knew their relationship was more than platonic was beyond anything he’d ever shown. Unfortunately, it was not difficult for Thanatos to twist this new dynamic back under his control. As an act of humiliating punishment, he forced Maci and Hypnos together; each terrified that the other would be hurt, they had become each other's biggest weaknesses. On this night, Thanatos used his scythe to slit Maci’s throat, nearly decapitating her.

Gods cannot die, and even what would normally be considered a grievous injury could eventually knit back together over time. In unimaginable pain, barely even able to speak, Maci was now left as prisoner tossed within Thanatos’ Tartarus cave, though he did not come or go and had whisked Hypnos away with him. Maci’s worst fear was to be alone, after all, and this was a punishment. The wound Thanatos had slashed into her healed tortuously slowly - when it was eventually “healed” enough for Maci to collect herself and leave, she disguised the horrific injury with a scrap of black fabric torn from her own chiton, tied around her throat like a choker. This black choker accessory would become part of her signature look forever through the modern day - though today that scar is only noticeable under close scrutiny, faded from time.

Not knowing where else to go, she looked for Thanatos, hoping at least Hypnos would be with him, and Thanatos promptly collected her back under his wing. During this second wave of their “relationship,” the occasional manipulative kindnesses he had sometimes tossed to her were no more. Thanatos was now bitter and cruel to Maci all the time. The resistance Maci had spit back upon him during those early years was also fizzled away - Maci quietly disassociated through each day. Thanatos' levels of physical violence escalated to include the occasional breaking of bones in addition to his ever-present scythe, and he now forced Maci and Hypnos together often. They still secretly clung to each other whenever they could, but both had numbly accepted that there would be no reprieve from this and Thanatos' constant surveillance. The passage of time was a blur. In public, Thanatos was somehow still all smooth charm, and though he was always flanked by a trembling Hypnos and an uncharacteristically docile version of Maci, no one ever guessed the truth.

The scope of Thanatos’ abuse came to a final crescendo sometime after Maci was 20 years old (maybe even beyond that, as she had reached two decades and stopped counting her immortal years). Unbeknownst to Maci, Thanatos had secretly procured a poison that he believed could strip a deity of their immortality - this had always been a long-time dream of his. Though Hypnos had grown up listening to Thanatos talk about this impossible goal, he was floored when Thanatos bragged to him exactly how his relationship with Maci would soon come to an end.

Hypnos had never stood up to Thanatos before, but he knew that he could not let this happen. As Thanatos cornered Maci alone to insist that she drink the glass he’d prepared for her, both Maci and Thanatos were equally shocked when Hypnos burst between them and shattered the poison in the nick of time. While Thanatos was frozen in disbelief, Hypnos breathlessly explained what had almost just happened to her... and Maci's state of disassociation flickered. No deity had ever died before. The sheer, insane, terrifying gravity of the Fate that she had missed by mere seconds crashed upon her as a weight heavy enough to launch her back into her senses. Then Thanatos snapped back into his senses, too.

He descended into an unhinged frenzy of rage and obscenity and lunged to hack violently at Hypnos, who was instantly overtaken. The scene unfolded before her in what felt like slow motion. Staring frozen in shock, it was here that it dawned on Maci what was happening and had happened; what Thanatos was doing to Hypnos and had done; what Thanatos had just tried to do to her; everything that Thanatos HAD done to her. Again she was snapped back to sudden reality. Maci, shoving down the fear that had consumed her for the past few years, forced herself between the twins and exploded.

Though Thanatos was in an uncharacteristic state of wild madness, redirecting his scythe wildly as Hypnos stumbled out of reach, Maci was now fueled by almost four years of her own stifled fury and she fended him off as a blazing inferno. Successfully forcing Thanatos back, Maci urged Hypnos to flee to the palace and bring back help. He returned with Persephone, who only understood what Hypnos had been trying to frantically explain in the throne room once she saw the scene of violence still unfolding. Infuriated, she peeled Thanatos off her daughter with an endless cascade of vines summoned from the underearth. The veneer of normalcy Thanatos always put on in front of everyone was shattered, completely gone even in front of the Queen herself, and he howled and fought as he was restrained. Restraining Hypnos too for good measure, Seph rushed to Maci, who now extinguished and collapsed.

And then it was over.

The immediate aftermath of Thanatos

Thanatos and Hypnos both were collected to the palace as prisoners (despite Maci’s insistence that Hypnos had nothing to do with this – they were known for being inseparable, and Seph wanted to be safe rather than sorry at this point. Hypnos did not argue), and before a court made up of the King, Queen, and the Primordial Titan-goddess Nyx, summoned as Thanatos and Hypnos’ mother, Maci finally revealed the truth, leaving no details out.

The list of shocking accusations would have seemed almost impossible to believe if Seph herself had not witnessed Thanatos at his worst. In fact Thanatos, even while held now within the constraints of thorning vines, was no longer bothering to hide his chilling demeanor. As the three elder divinities listened to Maci explain the sequence of events with Hypnos timidly chiming in when prompted, their reactions varied. Nyx seemed… appropriately horrified, but strangely did not protest the descriptions of Thanatos’ behaviors. Seph was visibly furious and heartbroken, devastated that Maci had gone through this, especially without anyone realizing. As for Hades – at first, he managed to be skeptical, but the evidence of Thanatos’ crimes in Maci and Hypnos' clear injuries could not be denied, as well as Seph vouching for what she had personally seen. Staring next into Thanatos’ unrepentant icy glare, Hades too settled into anger that such a betrayal of the royal family had occurred.

Maci had chafed at the fact that her word alone was not enough for her father to unconditionally support her, but by the end of this conference, it was still clear that something needed to be done, and all eyes turned to Lord Hades to announce the punishment that Thanatos should face. But Hades suddenly seemed troubled in a different way, and after a period of terse silence, he unexpectedly requested to speak to Maci alone. He sent everyone out of the throne room and Maci, with some anxiety, faced her father one on one.

Hades was quiet for a long time. He solemnly began to explain to her that since Thanatos was a Death God, one of only two in eternity’s existence, he did not think there was anything he could comfortably do to punish him, lest he risk the collapse of the functioning of the Underworld. Then, as Maci listened in dull horror, unable to believe what she was hearing, Hades turned on her, exasperation and frustration in his voice. He demanded to know how could she choose to get involved with this situation, knowing Thanatos was essentially untouchable? What exactly did she expect him to do to fix this now? Hades turned vicious, falling back into their pattern of relationship after all this time - had she done this on purpose to make a scene and be the center of attention again, wasn’t that just oh so typical of her? And for that matter how dare she prostitute herself across the Underworld, making a fool out of the King? He spat that he had always assumed she could take care of herself, but now it was clear that she was not capable of it, and again, what did she possibly expect him to do now that she had ruined her own life, and allowed Thanatos to take advantage of her stupidity?

Though Hades' words were callous, it almost seemed as though he had not yet fully made up his mind on what to do, or not do. For once, Maci did not respond to Hades’ provocation with matching vitriol. Instead, with another piece of her shattering inside, Maci tried to plead to Hades' sensibilities as her father and not just the King, begging him not to do this to her. But the longer Hades went on without responding, the more Maci's temper began to boil, rising in sheer desperation even while tears welled in her eyes. Finally she snapped at him that it was some move to send everyone away first, lest Persephone find out what a heartless fucking monster he was - the second the words were out of her mouth, Hades' gaze turned ice cold, and Maci knew she had sealed her own fate.

He reconvened their conference. Before Hades could issue his final decision, Nyx had the quick audacity to address them and plead for mercy for her son (just the one, ignoring the other who had suffered at his hand). Maci never knew whether Hades’ decision was drawn from this final request from the influential Nyx, or from her own last conversation with him; either way to the shock of everyone gathered including Thanatos himself, Hades formally announced that Thanatos would be free to go.

Ignoring Maci sobbing next to him, Hades issued a proclamation to serve as a restraining order, barring Thanatos from interacting with her ever again. This would serve as Thanatos’ singular punishment. Then, ignoring the furious disbelief of Persephone on his other side, Hades went on to issue a further proclamation – citing Maci’s clear inability to responsibly handle herself, effective immediately until further notice the Underworld’s population as a whole would be ordered to embargo her, and in fact anyone caught interacting with her would be personally imprisoned. As Maci wailed and screamed and pleaded to deaf ears; as Seph sat disgusted and outraged at her husband but unwilling to override him; as Thanatos bowed to the King, recollecting himself at once into his simpering, smirking demeanor; as a horrified Hypnos was ushered away by him and Nyx, still tethered to his brother with no end in sight; Hades offered no apologies, and he exited without looking back.

And with that, the saga of Maci and Thanatos' initial "pre-canon" history, and generally the overall sequence of events that inform the crucial components of Maci's character, is considered to officially end here. Thanatos would actively re-enter Maci's life after about two millennia had passed, now within the narrative of the Elysium'verse's canon storylines.

Maci would remain in Hades' forced isolation for the next eight years before circumstances (also pre-canon, briefly discussed in the following section) finally allowed her embargo to lift. She would then carry on into the rest of her life as the person this history had formed her into, the version of Maci who exists currently - all of it neatly compartmentalized inside of her, but quietly fueling absolutely everything about her personality, behaviors, and decisions.

✧*̥˚Maci literally would not begin to deal with any of the emotional or mental effects of her childhood and adolescence until about 2,000 years later, throughout the canon Elysium'verse.✧*̥˚

one more part left to finish this pre-canon up, the brief events immediately following that include Melinoe! (Part three is here now!!)

IF you made it to the end of this post- holding you I’m so soRRY.,,, but let’s all cradle Maci together because :(((((((((( AAUUUGHHHHHHHH— ahem once again questions and comments are appreciated AAHHH—

[fmaoldficarchive]

Ratings & Warnings

Navigation | Ratings & Warnings | Welcome Post | Post Schedule | Find a Fic | Submit a Fic (tba)

When viewing fics on this blog, you might notice something strange - some fics have two different ratings listed, one in regular print and one in bold italics. And those with a single rating may have a word like 'accurate' or brief descriptions written alongside them. So what gives?

This blog uses a 'secondary rating' system. It roughly follows ao3's format, which is most familiar to readers today, modified to be a bit more detailed. It's made to help navigate old fanfics across many fansites which may or may not comply with a modern reader's understanding of ratings and content warnings.

The original, author-given ratings and warnings are given first in plain text, to the right of which I add, in bold italics, either an agreement that the fic meets it's modern-equivelant rating, or an annotation explaining what I believe the modern expectation would be and to an extant why (avoiding spoilers where I can). In addition, I add warnings and tags where necessary which people can block as needed

Ratings

What's acceptable by order of: swearing, horniness, violence, deaths, gore, torture and sexual violence topics General Audiences - Up to: mild swearing, romance without or with very little horniness, mild violence/fight scenes, offscreen deaths, no reference to gore, torture or sexual violence (everything that doesn't check any additional boxes below goes here) Teen - Up to: swearing, horniness without excessive details, violence, onscreen deaths, minimal gore, reference of topics such as torture and sexual violence without graphic details or visuals (for example - an 03 fic in which Rose's assault is mentioned but not explicitly described or flashed back to would get a teen rating) Mature - Up to: swearing, non-detailed smut and excessive horniness, graphic violence, onscreen deaths, gore and mild body horror, topics such as torture and sexual violence with limited graphic details (basically if Dante herself was a rating) Explicit - Up to and beyond: swearing, graphic or detailed smut, graphic violence, onscreen deaths, graphic gore and/or body horror, topics such as torture and sexual violence may be explicitly shown (where you can find both your royai pwp 150,000+ word count post canon kink meme megafic and your lizard envy mpreg BDSM mindbreak flowershop au at the same watering hole)

Warnings

I have added additional warnings to the original four offered by ao3 to aid you in dodging your squicks:

(aka a list of tags to block if you don't like something. Filter liberally and rejoice)

Graphic Depictions of Violence - self explanitory, graphically depicted violence. #graphic depictions of violence Incest - Save yourself the trouble of blocking every varient of Ed/Al, Ed/Hohenheim, Trisha/Al, etc. Just block #cw incest.

| #cw pseudo incest appears often enough in Envy porn I had to give it a seperate tag 🫠 Major Character Death - the one tag I'm mostly leaving alone, what constitutes a 'Major Character' is nebulous and largely up to individuals to decide. #major character death is for fic whose authors specifically tag it, when or where else it's used will be based on my discretion or by request.

Medical tags:

| Emetophobia - so you don't have to miss out on all the other good sickfics just because vomiting squicks you: #cw nausea and vomiting

| (graphic) Infections - Fics containing graphic descriptions of infected wounds (along with descriptions of things like necrosis and pus) will be tagged #cw infected wounds

| Miscarriage and/or Abortion - Largely in relation to fics about Izumi, tags are #cw abortion, #cw miscarriage or #cw miscarriage and/or abortion to block fics containing either. Note: Due to personal squick on my part you will likely not see many fics containing graphic depictions of either of these things. It is variable, sometimes I can handle it and sometimes I can't, but I am willing to skim even fics that squick me in the name of preservation, so you can still submit graphic fics containing this topic as long as you give me a heads up about it.

| Pregnancy and/or Childbirth - #cw pregnancy and #cw childbirth respectively

Rape/Noncon tags:

|#cw noncon refers to 'onscreen' depictions of sexual assault. Also used on fics where consent is dubious or variable.

|#cw implied noncon covers the discussion or reference to noncon, without it's direct or explicit depiction, which may still be triggering to some people but not others. (Like the ratings example: There is a difference between 03 Rose discussing what has happened to her and it being shown 'onscreen')

|#cw medical noncon is for graphic depictions of forced medical and or alchemical procedures and/or experimentation (such as the chimeras' creation).

|#cw nonconsensual drug use a bit more specific version of the above. Includes everything from nonconsensual administration of drugs in a medical context to roofies and other cases in which a victim might be unaware of the drug's prescence.

Self Harm - #self harm encompasses all intentional harm to oneself, fics containing suicide or attempted suicide will always be tagged with this in addition to #cw suicide or #cw suicide attempt depending on the outcome.

Smut - Only interested in the violent side of the mature/explicit sections? Block this tag. #smut

Underage - Instead of needing to block every ship tag associated with this, block this one instead #cw underage. This tag currently applies to underage age gap ships of all ratings (e. g. A General Audiences fic with royed only kissing will still be tagged underage if Ed isn't an adult for it). Although you'll still need to block individual ships if you don't like them aged up either.

| #cw pseudo underage because Envy

| #cw underage between minors for fics involving, in some capacitity, sex between underage characters (e. g. a Ling/Lan Fan canon-age smutfic will get the warning, but a fic with them just kissing will not, nor will aged up smut fics).

Vore - #cw vore Note: This is another thing I can't personally bring myself to read, will be done on request similar to graphic miscarriage.

Fics posted prior to Jan 1st 2025 will be updated to match this soon and this notice removed.

You can suggest additional tags or edits in the comments or reblogs and I'll add them. No, that one thing that bothers you is not stupid, you and your squicks are valid and you don't have to justify them to me or anyone else. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't actually your friend. :D

[bananabreadloveman]

850 word scene set in a universe similar to Top Gun.

cw: military and war, offscreen airplane violence, offscreen transphobia

by Maxine Loveman

Tom spotted Mariah sitting on the edge of her bunk. The otherwise unpopulated compartment reverberated with the sounds from the flight deck above as aircraft returned one by one after the day’s sortie. The noise drowned out his arrival. She hadn’t heard him come in.

“Hey.” He said.

She drew a sharp breath and looked up. “Hey, Tom.” Her posture shifted.

“I wanted to catch up with you when we landed, but you just dipped.”

Mariah nodded. “I just…prefer to be alone after a flight.”

He smiled. “Those were some serious moves out there.”

“Just doing my job.” she muttered.

Tom disregarded her stonewall expression. “No, really. I thought I was toast. Suddenly he was off me and there you were. You saved my ass.”

Her eyes wandered. “Well, neither of us chose to be in that situation. Glad you’re okay.”

“Come on, you sound disappointed. Wasn’t that your first kill?”

She turned away. Her eyes settled on the floor.

He went on talking, “People talk about you, other guys from your strike class. They say you’re good, but I didn’t know they meant that good. Weren’t you coming up in like August, September? We really needed pilots then. Why are you flying a Growler? You definitely got it. I mean, I’m not knocking Growler guys at all, but if you have the moves…”

Mariah’s eyes focused on a point nowhere near Tom’s. “I just love flying, Tom. That’s all I ever wanted to do, is fly. I was a CFI. I did upset recovery training in Extras, you know, those ones you see at airshows. It was my job to make sure people didn’t die in planes. Then all this shit kicked off, now I gotta do the opposite. I know that even if you’re flying cargo, you’re still part of the war machine, but I just didn’t want to be someone pulling a trigger.”

Tom fidgeted and slid into a top bunk across from her. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself when someone else was doing the talking. “You’re a pacifist?”

“Pacifism isn’t super practical right now. But I guess that’s not far from the mark.”

“So you fly Electronic Warfare. That’s still pretty close to the front.”

“Yeah. Well, the brass said I was too good, that my talent would be wasted in a tanker. I argued, but they sold me some line about how, if I didn’t do it, a far worse pilot would instead. Someone who didn’t have what it took to survive. Bullshit, but whatever. Didn’t have a choice, anyway. I got drafted, so they tell me where to go.”

“Drafted? They don’t draft women.”

“Oh, I’m aware. And when I found out I was a woman, believe me, I tried to get off the list. But if it was that easy, everyone would do it, right?”

“Found out?”

“Come on. You think I sleep two bunks down from you because they ran out of room in the women’s racks? You’re not that dense, are you?”

Comprehension struck and Tom’s ears burned. He decided that he was far more comfortable in that Flanker’s sights than he was in this conversation. “Well. For what it’s worth, I appreciate it.”

He stood.

She sighed. “I knew this would happen. Growlers get two missiles for self-defense. On every preflight, I confirmed those things were armed and I knew that someday, the day was going to come when I launch one. To me, surviving all this meant not having blood on my hands.”

She looked directly at Tom, “Of course, I was willing to sacrifice that to save you, Tom, you’re my teammate. But you might have to celebrate my first kill without me.”

Tom’s head tilted, trying to peer into her eyes as they drifted away yet again. He mumbled, “Huh. Well, I’ll tell the rest of the guys to keep it low key.”

“Thank you.” She said, flat. 

“Cox!” a voice from down the row.

Tom and Mariah shot up and stood at attention.

“As you were.” He mumbled before either pilot could speak. He looked at Mariah. “That favor, Cox?”

“Yes sir?”

“Flanker pilot made it. Recon report says enemy search-and-rescue fished him out.”

Mariah’s eyes fluttered shut and she released her breath. “Thank you, sir.”

“I’m not doing this every time, lieutenant. Get some rest. We’re going up again real soon.”

---

“Captain!” Tom strode down the corridor after his CO. The captain stopped and both men flattened against the wall to let other crew get by them in the narrow space.

“What is it, lieutenant?”

“That recon report. Did Henson make it? If they spotted the Flanker guy, maybe they spotted—"

“We don’t know the Flanker guy made it. There is no recon report.”

“Sir?”

“I asked around. People saw her shoot down your bandit. No one saw a chute. Not her back-seater, not your wingman, no one.”

Tom glanced around, wondering if the captain cared if anyone overheard. “You’re lying to her.”

“Cox is a good teammate, and a good pilot, but a bad soldier. She had your back today, but do you think she’ll be so reliable if she’s all jittery with a guilty conscience? We need pilots. Keep your mouth shut. Dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”