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lunatic-fandom-space · 3 years ago

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Comparing RWBY and YGO DM: The Handling and Evolution of Themes

Hey! Its been a hot minute since I last posted anything RWBY-related but Im laying in my bed right now and Im sick and bored so I guess we're doing this. Today I will do my best to analyze what I percieve to be the main themes and messages of both of these shows, or more specifically, how theyre handled narratively. Im mostly focusing on that part because, while these series do have similar themes and messaging, they are still a few things in which they are wildly different. And with that, lets start with this essay-post-thing!

1. Theres something we need to adress first

Okay so, before we can really talk about this, theres something I feel the need to clarify here: Neither of these stories was "planned from the beginning".

Now, I dont think a story being planned from the beginning or not nesscessarily makes the story any better or worse by default, however, it is still important to acknowledge because the way the story is planned is going to affect every facet of it. Things are not going to be foreshadowed properly, things are gonna be set up only for nothing to come of it, the story might drastically change directions, characters might act differently, etc, etc.

And, this is bit off-topic but, it's much better to just admit that the story was not planned than trying to pretend that it was. Like, there are a lot of reasons why I tend to be so forgiving towards YGO even though its not very good, but one of them is definitely the fact that, as far as Im aware atleast, the guy who wrote it isnt pretending to have had this big master plan all along and neither is the fandom. With RWBY on the other hand... yeaaaah, its kinda the opposite. From what Ive seen of RWBYs fandom, there seems to be this pretty popular narrative that everything was planned even though it clearly wasnt. Thats pretty bad and honestly lowers my opinion of the writers so much more than if they would just admit to not having a proper plan.

Like, I initially consumed YGO like this: Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, Yu-Gi-Oh (aka Season 0), like, a quarter of the Yu-Gi-Oh manga (I still havent finished it)

In all three of these we have the character of Yami Yuugi, or just Yami. Broadly speaking, he is an ancient egyptian gamer spirit who lives in a magical puzzle that has not been solved for 3000 years until this highschooler named Yuugi Mutou comes along and solves it, thus setting him free and allowing him to possess Yuugi and have access to the vague magical powers of the puzzle.

In Duel Monsters he's perfectly fine most of time, morally speaking. There is an instance of him almost murdering a guy and its a bit unclear what exactly happens to those he mindcrushes but overall he's very much a pretty good guy. In Season 0 most of what he does is set up these games for bad people, where they will go insane no matter what they do. From how I understand this whole Shadow Game, Penalty Game stuff, if you lose a Shadow Game, you get violent and intense hallucinations and you will always cuz yknow, gamer spirit. But if you try to cheat, which most of the bad people do in this show, you get violent and intense hallucinations as a punishment.

Since the two anime are generally considered two different continuities, its perfectly fine that Yamis characterization is wildly different in both of them. But in the manga both of these characterizations appear, basically one after the other with no real arc or consequences, for that matter. Why is that? Simply put, someone thought it was a good idea to try to turn an episodic, very slice of life-y light-horror manga into a more traditional, more plot-driven battle shounen. From what Ive heard, it was apparently largely because of network interference or something, but the point is, it changed directions incredibly drastically with little planning and everyone knows this and I can understand that for the most part.

In RWBY we have the character of Blake Belladonna, who, in the first 3 volumes/seasons atleast, was this aloof, more toned down loner-type character with a pretty strong sense of justice. She's an in-universe marginilized racial minority and she clearly cares about racial injustice. The way its initially framed makes it seem like she had a very hard life and no stable support system, which is what eventually pushed her to join a Civil Rights group/Terrorist organization (good god, the Faunus subplot is so awful, I could write a whole essay about it but Im already de-railing rn so I'll just save that for later).

Then, in volumes 4-5 it turns out her father is actually like, the mayor or chief of this island-place called Menagerie and she grew up in this big mansion with multiple guards/servants. Oh and also, apparently "space is a commodity" on there, so theres that. She still retains large parts of her personality but she's kinda like, worse somehow I think. I cant really describe it in a meaningful way but I hope you get what Im saying anyway. Then in Volume 6 she confronted her emotional abuser Adam (sorry for not mentioning him sooner but yeah, he was like, her abusive boyfriend, which is something that a lot of people disagree with but I wont really say anything about it either way because I dont really feel any specific way) with her friend, Yang, and ended up killing him.

After all that, she pretty much lost the rest of her personality, as well as her arc about all the Faunus stuff. She just kinda became the meek, generically nice, recovering abuse victim. Why? Well, the actual reason is that they didnt plan out shit and are just kinda flying by the seat of their oversized clown-pants and if they and the fandom just admitted it, I would have less of an issue. I still wouldnt be as forgiving towards RWBY as I am towards YGO because the crux of the issue, for me, is just that I dont particulary like RWBY but also like. Do you really expect me to take MKEK seriously as writers after admitting to not have a timeline because iT wOuLd CaUsE pLoThOlEs?

However, since they want us to believe that everything was planned out from the beginning, the explaination would be.... Idk, they deliberately butchered one of their main characters?? Because.. they hate her?? Maybe????

So yeah, that was quite a detour however, I would like you to keep this mind going forward.

2. Themes of the Early Series'

First, what do mean by 'Early Series' for both of these shows respectively? Well, for YGO that would have to be Season 0 or if youre reading the manga, everything pre-Duelist Kingdom. Basically, the part of the series thats a episodic, very slice of life-y light-horror series.

For RWBY that would be the first three Volumes, also known as the Poser-Era. Back then it was just kinda an action series that took place at Anime Warrior Academy (also known as Beacon) with some pretty bare minimum worldbuilding, character-driven plots and developments but now its more of an epic high-fantasy story with more of an emphasis on plot as opposed to just action.

The themes and messages in Early YGO are kinda vague, very confusing to me and if you were to follow any of it literally that would be pretty bad. For now Im just gonna say the main themes are Friendship and Identity and mostly focus on the Identity aspect.

Now, it took me a little while to figure out RWBYs deal but I think the main themes for Volumes 1-3 are also Friendship and Heroism. Once again, I'll mostly focus on Heroism and touch on Friendship more briefly later.

I dont have much more to add to YGOs themes right now, so I'll briefly go over Heroism in RWBY.

In RWBYs setting there are these man-eating monsters called Grimm that have basically infected the planet. In order to deal with that, they have people called huntsmen and huntresses that kill them and protect people. Theyre trained at special academies like Beacon and go on missions there and stuff like that. Our four main characters, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, are training to become huntresses and one day they go on this mission to clean up a grimm infested city block with one of their teachers. Obviously, that takes a long time so they have to camp out in one of the empty houses. Weiss, Blake and Yang cant sleep because theyve been thinking about this question that their teacher asked them when they were fighting grimm: "Why do you want to become a huntress?"

They have a heart to heart and we find out about their motivations; Weiss wants to bring honour back to her family, Blake want to distance herself from the White Fang (that terrorist organization I mentioned earlier) and as an extension from Adam, Yang wants to have a life of adventure. They also talk about why Ruby wants to be a huntress and it turns out that she judt wants to help people. Unlike the others, she has no motivation besides that. We're meant to listen to that and look at her as a sort-of personification of Heroism: kind, but not naive, strong and most of all, selfless. The others on her team are not portayed as bad for not being like Ruby by any means but we are clearly meant to admire her the most out of all of them.

Okay, now comes the part Ive been looking forward to the most:

3. How did these themes evolve in the Modern Series'?

Alright, before we can really delve into the way they evolved in YGO I'll have to give you a brief summary of the character progression. At the start of DM, during the Duelist Kingdom arc, Yami Yuugi is just that; A darker Yuugi. Hes more confident, bolder, his voice is deeper, hes somehow taller, more ruthless, all that good stuff. Notably, he doesnt actually seem more skilled than Yuugi even at the start of this story, but he's still dependent on Yami. Yami on the other hand, has no identity of his own or even hints at one at this point. He's just The Other Yuugi.

Then during the Battle City arc, they find out that Yami was actually a pharao prior to being sealed in the puzzle, he just didnt know because of amnesia, I guess. So now they need to find out his real name and then send him to the afterlife because hes meant to be dead, but not before saving the world from being swallowed by darkness, which is also a thing they have to do now.

Then we finally get to the Memory World arc, where Yami, Yuugi and the rest of the gang astralproject to ancient egypt via puzzle magic. Yami is trying to figure out what the hell is going on and who all these familiar people are, while Yuugi & Co are trying their best to help him. Then some weird shit happens and it turns out that all of that is not just Yamis sealed away memories, but also a giant D&D Shadow Game that will destroy the world if Yami loses. So now theres Pharao!Yami who is still clueless on the metaphorical and literal playing field and Player!Yami, who is kinda controlling himself now? I guess?? Yamis opponent, The Spirit of The Ring, has something similar to that going on where hes both controlling and properly participating in the game. So Player!Yami is now fighting against Player!TSoTR, Pharao!Yami is now fighting against Thief King Bakura (who is like, the human, ancient egyptian version of the Ring Spirit) and Yuugi is now fighting against Yami Bakura (who is like, the human, modern japanese version of the Ring Spirit). Yuugi gets Yamis real name, he and the gang go over to Pharao!Yami and tell him his name, meanwhile Player!Yami is also somehow helping as well and they defeat the Ring Spirit, thus saving the world. Then they travel to modern Egypt, the Ceremonial Duel happens and Yuugi wins, sending Yami to the Afterlife where he can finally rest and that was the series!

I originally wanted to recount the stuff that was going on with the Ring Spirit and his host as well because they parallel eachother, but this summary is already far too long and I think youll get the point without me needing to explain any more.

My point here is, that the story went from being vaguely about Identity, maybe? to being very clearly about Self-Discovery and Learning to Be Independent. I think this is a very good way to evolve the messaging of your story. How does RWBY track on that?

Well, uh... its not great. I will acknowledge that they have tried to introduce new themes and ideas since, even though I wont really be talking about them in this post. But yeah, the whole Heroism thing really regressed.

Like, I didnt explicitly say it when I was explaining grimm earlier, but theyre not going away. The grimm have always been there and people who sign up to become huntsmen and huntresses are effectively signing up for a job that will never truly be done, no matter what they do. Characters like Ruby and even more minor ones like Phyrrah have shown us that that doesnt matter when youre a hero. No life isnt worth saving, no grimm isnt worth killing, no criminal isnt worth arresting. Then, in volume 6 they find out about Salem. Salem is the Big Bad of the show, shes immortal, controls the grimm and is supposed to be very powerful.

What do our heroes do? They give up. Sike! They were just mindcontrolled by monsters or some shit, of course they didnt give up their mission (which is to bring an Important Macguffin to a city called Atlas, sorry I didnt mention it)!

But then they arrive in Atlas (which is llike, a city thats floating over another city called Mantle) and yknow, they do some plot stuff thats not really important right now until the city gets invaded by Salem and this big grimm army she has.

What do our heroes do? Well, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and some side characters are chilling, drinking tea in a mansion and Yang and the B Team were actually trying to do something, but even those efforts seem incredibly minimal.

Oh wait, I also forgot to mention that Ironwood (a fairly minor, vaguely antagonistic character up until now) wanted to lift Atlas even higher to save Atleasian civilians from danger while leaving Mantle vulnerable to Salems invasion.

What would be the most heroic thing to do?

A) Let Ironwood lift Atlas, get as much support as they can down to Mantle and save as many Mantle civilians as they can from the invasion

B) Prevent Ironwood from lifting Atlas but then split up in order to protect both Atlas and Mantle civilians

C) Prevent Ironwood from lifting Atlas and then dont do anything else

Congrats! If you choose C, you think exactly like the writers!

And I just

This is so mindboggling to me, I feel like I shouldnt even have explain how this is bad. And like, it wouldve been so easy to actually make them seem herokc through their actions, to make it seem like they did try but no.

I have never seen a central theme be this botched, how in the world did they do that? Why did they think it was a good idea for Ruby "The Embodiment of Heroism" Rose to sit in a mansion doing nothing, no planning, no organizing just ..... God, how are they this bad? Like, this doesnt even have anything to do with it being planned in any way, this is just straight up incompetence

4. Very briefly touching on friendship

The friendship is awful and its not solely because they all have the same opinions. They barely interact with eachother outside their designated pairs which leads to it all feeling incredibly hollow. Theyre also practically indistingushable from one another now, which is a shame because it wasnt always like that. Like, I dont think the characters were that well-developed in earlier volumes but they were very well-characterized. But now we've gotten to a point where you can literally copy and paste one characters dialogue onto another and literally nothing changes, it really sucks.

5. Some closing words

Damn, this took way longer than I thought it would and now Im pretty exhausted. I have no idea how yall always write these but props to you! I feel like this ended up a bit rambly but overall, Im pretty proud.

Please let me know what you think of the points I brought up! Id also really appreciate some tips on how to get better at these longer posts because I am planning on writing more in the future (not the near future, probably but yknow).

Thats all I have to say for now, thanks for reading!

#rwde #rwby critism #anti mkek #yu gi oh #ygo duel monsters #yu gi oh analasis

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sctigthethird · 5 months ago

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As a multishipper, I take this as permission to fuckin ramble /j /lh

1. DOGDAY X CATNAP

One of my top ships, after all it’s how I got into this fandom to begin with! Sun x Moon, Talkative x Listener, Opposites Attract. There’s so many tropes I love about them and I can’t help but adore it! I like to imagine a Childhood best friends dynamic with them too since I like them being an inseparable duo!

2. BUBBA X BOBBY

Oh I love this one. The brain and the heart type of dynamic and I am down for it! I can see Bubba being the type to be unaware of how to be a boyfriend, desperately fumbling through his attempts while he tries reading books about relationships while Bobby’s patiently helping him throughout all of it as the professional. So cute, I should do more of them

3. BOBBY X HOPPY

One of the first ships I shipped after slowly incorporating myself to the fandom! Found them while looking through posts to help me figure out the critter’s personalities and I was completely hooked. Tomboy girl x her equally awesome fangirl? Sign me up! Hear me out on Girlfailure Hoppy x Head over heels Bobby guys. One of my faves :D

4. CATNAP X HOPPY

Seen a few art about it, very few. And I can safely say that I want to see more of it. Energy ridden gf x Snoozin bf, it’s like Dogday x Catnap with the opposites attract thing, but with their energies, I love it. Catnap being a supportive bf by not sleeping through her match and cheering her on, and Hoppy gladly letting him rest while she carries him on her back. Girlboss x Malewife HEAR ME OUT /j

5. HOPPY X KICKINCHICKEN

Not even gonna lie, This was my second ship after Daynap for a while. Can you blame me? They’re such a chaotic and loveable duo. Tomboy girl and Cool guy and also with the “sharing a braincell” trope I like putting onto them, plus potential of a rivals to lovers thing there’s no way I wouldn’t adore them. I see them more as siblings currently but I wouldn’t pass up a chance to draw them being partners in crime.

6. BUBBA X KICKINCHICKEN

When I first saw this ship, I didn’t really see it. I mean I did get how other people shipped it, Smartass x Dumbass, typical dynamic I wasn’t too mad with it, I understood. Then when I decided to delve deeper into out of sheer curiosity… It started infecting me like a parasite. I made one drawing of them AND NOW I CANT STOP— Teasing flirt x Flustered, Height difference, Boyfailure x Finds it cute, SMARTASS X DUMBASS LIKE I SAID— god i just adore the two sm you cannot believe it.

7. BOBBY X CATNAP

Fluffy filled couple. Chill bf x Affectionate gf. I can see them being very adorable together, having seen some art about it a few times! There’s not much I can say about them other than I really like it and find it cute ^^

8. PICKYPIGGY X CATNAP

Saw some art bout it, neutral at first, now I adore it. I mean it’s not like I could say much about it, like I said with 7, I just find it very cute and adorable. Catnap would def let Picky have a portion of his meal or share some with her, or like maybe the two feeding each other and acting all lovey dovey while the others are just there lmao heheheheh.

9. PICKYPIGGY X BUBBA

To be honest here, one of my first ships back then. It’s kinda cute imo. Serious bf x Happy go lucky gf, Could see Bubba being all serious and Picky just going “Who wants pancakes~!?”, also I accidentally made them have mom and dad energy in my fanfic so that’s something lol.

Doesn't it happen to them that they want to give their opinion about a ship but they don't do it because no one asked them?

and since I want to waste my time..

here I ask you

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION (NEGATIVE OR GOOD)

OF THESE SHIPS:

1) DOGDAY X CATNAP

2) BUBBA X BOBBY

3) BOBBY X HOPPY

4) CATNAP X HOPPY

5) HOPPY X KICKENCHIKEN

6) BUBBA X KICKENCHIKEN

7) BOBBY X CATNAP

8) PICKYPIGGY X CATNAP

9) PICKYPIGGY X BUBBA

It doesn't matter if it's negative or positive.

shout how much you love a ship or how much you hate a ship!!

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fandom-imagination-ss · 5 years ago

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Requested Imagine By Rachelcarroll1819: Being Hanna Sister and Being in a relationship With Jason Dilaurentis

Author notes: So- it got more steamy then I normally do, but it’s Jason its hard not make it steamy with him! I love Pretty little liars ! And whenever I have the chance I will jump too do a imagine about him lol 😂 Did I proof read? Mostly! I tried but I have a wicked Head cold/ ear infection so I re read a lot. Hopefully it’s good! If Not I’m sorry! (sorry about the spacing)

Warnings: steamy (Not full steam but Steamy)

Fandom : Pretty little liars

“HANNA!”

Howling up the stairs, the entire time praying Neither Hanna your sister Or your Mother weren’t home. The main reason was because of the man wrapped around you. Jason Dilaurentis, Mr Hottie. The Hottest brother out of all your friends. (Well too be fair. You aren’t Friends with Alison, she was more your twin sisters friend. But he counted) he’s lips brushed over your neck kissing you just at the curve too your shoulder as you tried too keep your voice from giving away that Jason was attached too your neck. you felt Jason’s lips trace over your neck. He was holding you tightly against him as you called out again making sure no one was home “MOM?” Not hearing a peep. You turned your attention too Jason who smiled not your neck

“Guess no one is home.” He chuckled softly picking you up, he carried you over too the living room kissing you as he placed you on it. He climbed into the spot beside you as you pulled back caressing he’s face. God he’s beautiful. The complicated Love that is Jason Dilaurentis . He smiled at you reaching over kissing you as yu thought about how this all happened how you were the lucky girl too get Jason. Alison Hated you! Ever since you were kids. But Jason was always nice too you. Always looking out for you when Alison went too far. When you were complaining too Spencer about being annoyed you were the only one out of the girls who haven’t kissed anyone. Jason heard. Leaped over the Fence as he leaned down and kissed you. And from that moment on you had a crush on Jason.

Jason’s lips traced down your collar bone as you reached over caressing he’s abs, your hand found itself under h’s shirt as you soon pulled it over he’s head. Jason had a big smile as he kissed you again.

Your mind raced too the moment you and Jason got together, feeling he’s lips on you as he slide your shirt off as your mind slipped again.

Hanna, And the girls were all kidnapped, right after being charged for murder. You were woken up by your mom who told you the news about Hanna you were up and in the kitchen waiting for anything. Caleb was over, So was Toby,ezra, and all the parents was pacing. You sat on the island Listening too all the guys screaming about plans. When the door Rang you glanced at the time seeing It was two am. So you answered it seeing Jason. It was pouring rain as he looked gutted. He stepped into the house hugging you tightly.

“Oh God I thought- I heard you were taken too.” Hugging Jason back you shook your head, “No- I was in bed- how are you? God I can’t believe this!’ Jason held you tightly when you heard Jason crying. You hugged him tighter saying that Alison and Hanna will be alright as Jason spoke, “I’m more relieved your safe! God.. I cant lose you too!”

And that was the start of your complicated relationship with Jason. Those too be fair everything in Rosewood was complicated. Hanna your twin sister, Her life was so complicated and full of secrets. All your friends were involved in the secrets and lies. That you tried writing it all down too make sense of it all! At last it was too complicated and too twisty. for the most part A has left you alone. . You stayed away from Alison and you made sure the moment she came back. Alive you stayed the Hell away from her and the girls. A was the only One who Knew about you and Jason. And she she Or He. Or Whoever A Is. Found out. They Sent you a Text that you still had on your phone.

A: Now that is a good match, be good too him xoxo A

At first you wanted too Tell your sister about Jason but then you remembered the time she didn’t tell you that Caleb River was secretly living in the house. You discovered that when you were home sick. You were had the the chills and heat flashes and was bundled up in a blanket wearing PJ pants nad your bra. You were going Thur the fridge looking for ginger ale when you noticed Caleb open the basement door.you screamed throwing a jug of milk at him. Then of course the Time both Hanna and All your friends hide the Alison for weeks. From you when she came back from the dead (or Ran away you weren’t really sure the real story about that) the biggest reason too Hide Jason from your family, friends, the world was Jason was in a relationship with your mother. Well Not a serious relationship it was more a friend with Benefits sort of deal but Still! Your MOM!

Either way having Jason’s lips kissing your bare neck was starting too distract you from your thoughts about being distracted. You were sitting on his lap as he held you close too him. At first you thought this would be a Fling. But the moment you kissed him for the second time you Knew it wouldn’t be just a fling it was Jason! Your long time crush! Your madly in love with him.

Holding hes head softly. You were’t excatly keen on telling youR twin “Hey dating your Best friends brother, and your mom’s ex sex buddy!” But keeping him a secret was perfect. Everyone had one in the family, the entire town it was nice too have A normal, Boyfriend and act normal! Something that was rare in your life. Kissing Jason’s lips again, your head was spinning like crazy. until Jason pushed you back and you heard it. The front door opening and hearing Hanna’s voice. You quickly slipped on your shirt as you jumped over too the front door blocking Hanna too only discover Caleb was with her.

“Oh Hey! We were about too go study you want too join?”

Hear the back door open. Caleb spoke, up, “someone here?”

He went too walk as you reached over putting your arm up, “My secret Lover.”

Hanna laughed loudly pushing you aside slightly too see what was happening seeing No one you in the house, “See!” Hanna looked around the living room. Thankfully Jason cleaned up fast gathering he’s cloths as he ran off. Caleb stared you down as he questioned you , “your lips are swollen… and your lipstick is all smeared.” Glancing up at him, you were close with Caleb. If you were going too tell anyone about Jason it would be Caleb. But he also liked treating you like a sister, and you couldn’t Handle he’s judgement over Jason. You shook your head. Thinking up a lie quick, ‘I was- Having Spaghetti! I have too go I have plans.”

“oh! Y/N! Are you still close with Jason?” You nodded your head weakly, “Yea I guess why?”

“Long story short I need you too find out who Charles is.”

Staring at your sister. Caleb rubbed his face as you Asked, “A stuff?” “Yea you mind?”

Normally Anything too do with A you involved like the pledge but Right now your thought were mainly on Jason and getting him shirtless again. Playing up like it was a annoying you walked off. Smiling too yourself getting too he’s house. Jason answered as he smiled, “Hey did Hanna?” Shaking your head he smiled pulling you inside the house and into he’s arms before Long you were sitting on him and on he’s bed. He reached over cupping your face. Your perfect moment was disturb again when the door knocked hearing Alison annoying demanding Voice.

“Jase open up! I need too talk too you!” You cover your mouth as Jason pointed too the closet as you tipped toe into the closest.

“we need too talk about this Charles thing.”

When Ali, Emily, Aria , Spencer was kidnapped, you And Jason Got close and he was thankful that you weren’t taken. You knew about the dollhouse how Hanna was handling it, you couldn’t imagine how Alison was doing . Or the other girls. Crossing your arms softly hearing Jason speak up, “I don’t know Charles! Or a Charles! Get out!” Hearing some shuffling of feet. The door closed as your closet door opened too see Jason.

“Jason- Hanna asked me too ask you about that guy too! I wasn’t going too Ijust said I was too have.a excuse too see you but Now-“

“I don’t know- Honestly.” Nodding your head weakly, the stakes felt different the game was more advance, All the girls felt it. They were always scared. Staring up at. Jason you knew you were safe, A basically gave you their blessing too be with Jason. He was one of her dolls. And it terrified you that A could turn the tables onto you both.

“I don’t know anything babe.”

Rolling your shoulders as you spoke, “A wont Stop, until they are Dead or back in that Dollhouse!”

He sighed heavily as I spoke, “what if A turns on us? What if They tell Our parents? My Mom would send me straight or hell! Then Too my dad’s too graduate with my awful step sister! JasoN! I can go too my Dads!”

“Your mom hates me that much?” Shaking your head you spoke, ‘No- but I mean- I don’ think she would be thrilled too have her little girl dating her Ex- Boyfriend?”

“what you think we should do?” Breathing deeply, “Jason- I don’t know.. but we should be careful alright. It’s bad enough A has the knowledge about us. So please.” He agreed as you kissed him bye quickly and left.

A few days passed. Your mom was out of town for work, Hanna was being well Hanna. Running around finding clues for A. You had Jason under you as you were kissing his neck. Jason always makes a low rumbling moan when you kiss his neck. Neither you or Jason were pay attention too anything but each other so when your door flinged up too see Caleb, Hanna and Spencer at your door. All stunned. You gasped as Hanna spoke, ‘No!”

‘Oh God! Jase!”

Caleb was the only one who was quite as Jasons poke, “Oh.. Hey..”

“Y/N! NO!” Hanna snapped. You slide off he’s lap as Jason spoke, “ Hanna. I’m in love with your sister!”

Hanna stared at you both as she spoke, “Oh God! Mom is going too Freak out!”

#Pretty little liars #Pretty little liars imagine #PLL #PLL imagine #fandom imagine #imagine #fandom #hanna martin #hanna martin imagine #requested imagine #caleb river #caleb river imagine #jason dilaurentis #jason dilaurentis imagine #@Rachelcarroll1819

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howtotrainyouragents · 5 years ago

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Agent H’s AOS Rewatch

S2E10 “What They Become”

I wrote this out during the actual rewatch week, but I didn’t realize I never posted it! Boy, did this get long.

-I had to do a liveblog of this episode because it’s one of my favorites of the season, and we get SKYE’S TRANSFORMATION!

-Okay, so @the fandom who were around back then: at what point did people guess they were doing a terrigenesis/Inhumans storyline? Because I only learned that’s what they were doing via the internet frenzy after the episode was over

Ward, May, Coulson, and HYDRA

-MAY’S. EPIC. FLYING. FUDGE YYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH. This is so fucking brilliant of her, dead-dropping the plane and then cloaking.

-”I would put two of these (bullets) in his heads”. Plus, Coulson always looking at the good side: “you saved six agents”. I didn’t do a liveblog of 2x09, but that conversation with Bobbi about acceptable casualties is SO IMPORTANT and vital to who Coulson is and the show overall and you know that’s the moment Bobbi truly supported Coulson.

-Good callback: Before Coulson freaked out that Skye was taken. Now he’s confident that she’ll be able to handle herself until they can get in there.

-”Hand me your side arm, let’s find out”-Skye

-Is Ward’s personality shift (though still a psychopath) this first half of the season because he’s lost without Garrett or because he believes he can be redeemed through helping Skye? Both?

-Yass queen, pick up the diviner

- I loved seeing the bad guys maneuvering around each other in Season 2a, and all of that coming to a head this episode. But I don’t know why Ward and Skye and all attacked and then they just stopped. I think they could have taken the HYDRA goons easily

-“Never turn your back on the enemy.” You know I’m glad Skye shot Ward too. It’s closure on his belief that she can redeem him that’s been carrying him through these last ten episodes.

-I never realized that Agent 33′s voice was distorted

-HYDRA, SHIELD, and the aos writers treated Kara so badly, and I am yelling shame and ringing the bell at all of them.

Hunter and Bobbi

-“If he really is dead, the number of people I trust on this planet, just plummeted.” The Huntingbird hug is so beautiful! How strong Bobbi pretends to be (“Whenever this is all over, I’m gonna cry for like a week”= so real) and how she lets herself go with Hunter. She’s so surprised by the hug at first, and I love how much taller she is than him. He knows about the flashdrive, but he tries to comfort her anyway and that makes me sad and touched.

-”Diego’s early and he’s wearing a suit.”-Bobbi

-The kiss! Ugh, Huntingbird really does fill all the classic OTP tropes

-”Don’t die out there.” “He likes to hear it.” “Who doesn’t like to hear it??”

-”Join SHIELD, travel to excotic distant people, meet exciting unusal people, and kill them” -Hunter

Fitz, Simmons, Tripp, and the Koenigs

-Bahahaha, the Koenigs, His little thumbs up and Hunter rolling his eyes for his life (Hunter would die in the middle of saying something sarcastic, and I will stake my life on that). Also good reuse of the pod units but this time for good (rather than, you know, bottom of the ocean and dying). Sidenote, did we see the pods anytime before Skye gets shot?

-I love Fitzsimmons working together (finally) in the holding cell. I love how the minute they say they’re not gonna work together anymore, they have to work together. Here, they’re so polite but also they’ve got such a natural rhythm. Simmons seems like she wants to talk about them but he’s like oh no, wasn’t talking about myself! Fitz is both back to himself and also gotta new groove (his recovery is going well!). Simmons being genuinely worried for Mack. FITZ’s LOOK OF LOVE

-I only appreciated it on this rewatch, but the show has good continuity of Fitzsimmons/team vs alien tech/bio. They spend majority of season 1 finding 084s and researching their properties and learning how they interact with human biology. Then second season plays off the events of the first season: they’ve seen how many times alien tech/biology is dangerous and they’ve seen it infect and kill so many people. It makes perfect sense why Simmons and the others would be cautious about this alien stuff (Fitz is the loyal one, remembering that this is their friend they’re talking about it and he’s got (blind) faith when it comes to his friends). Season 2 is like introduction to actual aliens (as opposed to relics/artifacts/Asgardians) and how human Inhumans are. Season 3 builds on that further by exploring the good and bad sides of Inhumans.

-I didn’t do a liveblog of the previous episode, but Fitz’s “If you’re looking for vacation time, bribery will get you nowhere. I’ve tried.” is golden. I like the little character traits they give Fitz like, in addition to being a literal genius and all the trauma he’s faced, he’s just a quietly disgruntled SHIELD employee who just wants vacation time and warmer AC (re: season 4)

-Howling Commando gear!!!!!

-Aww, Tripp flirting with Simmons and Fitz is just like…

-The Koenig cloning jokes, hahaha (Poor Tripp)

-First mention of Theta protocol! Dun dun dunnn

-We don’t know what the alien tech is. But Hazmat suits should do the job. :)

-I remember the Fitz splitting off scene being hilarious. Is it because he’s miffed at the flirting, miffed at Simmons, or just genuinely proving that he can do things now?

-Simmons touching Fitz’s arm. And then him holding her later!!!

Cal and Skye

-Cal and Skye’s meeting! This is an emotional, painful reunion.

-I LOVE the actor who plays Cal, he does fantastic job. Seriously how did they get him and Dichen Lachmann to play her parents?? Well done, casting director

-I love that they make Skye biracial just like how Chloe Bennet is and it’s relevant to her storyline

-So to recap Skye’s backstory. Her mother is taken by Whitehall but is released when he gets captures in the 40s. She’s born to her parents, but Whitehall captures Jiaying again. Cal rescues Jiaying, and they return, but HYDRA had already taken Skye as an 084 (?). SHIELD teams led by Audrey then take care of SKye until she is given to an orphanage. Correct?

-”People liked me. I liked myself.” This line deserves much meta

-Teach you about the stars= Inhumans. I love how that’s a total throwaway innocent line, but it all makes sense once you know.

-Just when Skye has figured out life as a SHIELD spy, her world gets rocked again. But I think this path is a good development because she’s not just a regular SHIELD agent: She was born on the outside; learned to think in unusual ways; she’s bubbly and warm and compassionate when SHIELD agents before were typically taught to be rationale and merciless. She’s born to be a new kind of SHIELD agent as well as the bridge between Inhumans and SHIELD

-The lullaby :(

-”Best Day Ever” -Cal

-I mean the emotional manipulation of “After you change I’m the only one who’ll understand” is bad, but he was right in the sense that they all were afraid of her

-Skye wanting to stop the drill and get the obelisk as a way of making it up to Coulson and because she’s a good SHIELD agent. But, like, she knows that’s what her father wanted, so does she just believe she won’t get caught up in whatever is going on? Does she go because fate is pulling her? Does this show believe in fate?? *thinks about all the future time-travelling shenanigans and gets a headache*

THAT ENDING THO

-The thing with Mack presumed dead freaking broke my heart, but it’s a good fake out to blindside us with Tripp’s death.

-IMO, the obelisk is a good fake out for terrigenesis crystals. Even if I knew about Inhumans stuff before hand, I wouldn’t have put it together through what info they give us on the obelisk in previous episodes

-THE TRANSFORMATION. “”WHAT WE BECOME” AKA THE QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED WAY BACK IN SEASON ONE IS FINALLY GETTING ANSWERED. AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH. The chanting, man. Is it the same one we’ve heard before?

- “I gotta admit I’m just the tiniest bit nervous.” I could write an essay on why I love this line.

-SKYE’S TRANSFORMATION. IT’S SO POWERFUL AND SO HEARTBREAKING. THEY’RE BOTH JUST TRYING TO SAVE EACH OTHER. I’M CRYING.

-I probably just need to rewatch this again, but why didn’t anything happen to Tripp when the terrigenesis first activated but then he gets hurt when he gets hit? Like is it the terrigenesis won’t hurt him, but touching the crystals/obelisk will?

-Ya’ll are gonna hate me for this, but... I get why Tripp had to die. Like, it devastated me and still does and its racist and HE DID NOT DESERVE IT. But from the storyline POV, I see why he was chosen to die. Tripp was incorporated into the story in season 1 to replace Ward. We needed an action guy on the team because half the team is non-combat and we needed someone who was genuinely good to balance out the real Ward. But season 2, everyone’s shifted roles. We have Daisy, Hunter, Bobbi who all fill the action roles, so Tripp’s primary role is no longer necessary. He’s (intentionally?) underdeveloped: he does a variety of things, but he’s not filling any one role nor is he vital in any specific relationship, the way Coulson, May, Fitzsimmons, and Skye are, and he doesn’t contribute to the season’s plot the way Hunter, Bobbi, and Mack do. Plus, it’s a really shitty symbolism of how the show is progressing to darker tones by killing of their sunshine boy.

-Anyway, I cant believe they just end like that for a mid-season finale. Top ten moments of superhero genre, without question. Also, is this the first time we here’s Daisy’s theme song? Because I’ve mentioned before how powerful and sad-sounding it is

-GORDON!!!!!!!

#My grouping has either made this less or more confusing #and I can't tell which #I'm sorry #aos #aos s2 #aos rewatch #aos season 2 rewatch #aos s2 rewatch #may #tripp #coulson #ward #skye #daisy #huntingbird #fitzsimmons #agent h #agent aos rewatch #agent report

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gayhenrycreel · 5 months ago

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i am so sorry, but the western christianity community is absolutely insane. you are very unlikely to find other christians who respect you. i grew up atheist but still culturally christian, and heres the shit i dealt with (without even believing in god):

people will try to "save you". they are convinced that you are a disgusting sinner but they can get jesus points if they save you from hell, which is like, stopping you from feeling things. (fun fact, in some denominations theres an extra deadly sin; depression. like the mental illness. this is not explicit in other denominations but is inforced anyway)

the whole of society will shame you for anything they decide is sexual. queerness is treated as inherently sexual

jesus is literally god on earth, and questioning ANYTHING he said is the highest sin. you will be shunned if you dont obey. also, priests are supposedly the mouthpieces of jesus who is also his own dad, and christian communities will say that as such, priests are to be obeyed to the word. questioning a priest is questioning god.

you have to be a housewife, unless you are a sinner in which case you have to hate yourself, but dont be mentally ill because thats a sin and is ungrateful. sinners are bad slaves to their husbands.

christianity is the religion of saviourism. those natives who were forced to covert? they were being saved from their savage ways.

anything that came before is heathenry. i have a copy of the bible, a rare edition by john brown. heres a quote: "Detesting every species of false worship, let me rejoice that Jesus, the fruit of the earth..."

yeah he called non christians "species of false worship". john brown is apparently extremely popular in christian theology.

brown also claims the hebrews suffering under the egyptians was a punishment from god for unspecified reasons (it seems the punishment is for being jewish).

7. how could i forget the bible fandoms favourite weapon? satan is the cause of all evil. if a priest is a creep, the devil made him do it so its okay. if you are queer the devil possesses you and you must be cast out, lest the demon infect the servants of god.

8. in christian theology, christianity is often referred to as "the true religion". self explanatory really.

9. christianity is a more evolved form of judaism, which itself is savage and lost without the true god: some guy from a country that doesn't exist anymore so people can argue about where hes from and murder millions of people over it. the original texts of judaism are butchered into pieces. john brown himself admits that the old testament is actually pieces of the torah cut into bits and glued back together, centuries after jesus died.

10. the "bible" is literal. the flood actually happened and anything else is blasphemy. note that every time throughout history that the bible has been rewritten it has been altered. its not a translation. its a rewrite. old kings and popes changed it to control people by saying that what they made up is objectively true because they read it out of a book with "bible" written on it.

11. a sin is not a mistake. its an irredeemable crime against god.

12. thoughts of sin are sin. if you feel jealous of your neighbour, good job youve thought something greedy, you committed a deadly sin and now must hate yourself and cry to a priest. in a small room. with no one else around. often christian parents make their wayward children do this. we all know the track record of catholic priests.

13. ONCE AGAIN if you feel bad you are an ungrateful cunt who cant appreciate the crumbs jesus gave you.

14. if you are poor or otherwise suffering, its your fault. you angered god. this is your punishment.

side note, many christians believe the holocaust to be divine punishment for heathenry (being jewish)

i can garrentee that if you convert to christianity people will tell you your suffering is punishment for being jewish. i got told my suffering is punishment without a reason, and it WILL be worse for you.

please, dont make yourself go through what the rest of western society has gone through. christianity didnt even exist until after jesus died. he was not around to see the writing of the bible. it has zero direct quotes from him. its basically "this guy heard another guy say something and he wrote it down. its been translated through a dozen languages but lets assume this is his actual word".

christianity relies on literal interpretation. you can not suggest that it may be metaphor or paraphrased.

do not believe the words of a dead man who no one ever got direct evidence of. historians have evidence that jesus was real, but its indirect. the earliest known depiction of jesus is a piece of ancient graffiti making fun of a christian (google "aleximenos worshipping his god").

you would be expected to interpret the words in a thousand-time google translated book as objective reality.

please. dont join a community that believes in thought crimes. trust me, the idea of thought crime has ruined western civilization. dont think something you no longer believe in, dont dare think about suffering, dont think about that homeless person they are being rightly punished and you should not interfere, and DEFINITELY dont have intrusive thoughts.

theres a reason so many children of christians have ocd. its a religion that trains you to fear your thoughts. if you have a brief thought about maybe disobeying god, you better hide it. dont forget to beat yourself up over it. the next bad thing that happens to you is punishment for that thought.

its a cult. its an inherent part of a religion that teaches one to fear hell above all. hell as a concept is a tool of control. if you tell someone not to do something under fear of eternal punishment, they will obey your every word.

christianity is built in threat of punishment with no room for improvement. i fully understand how your mother feels. christianity has been used as a weapon against every demographic you can imagine. it did not originate like this, but in its current form it is inherently something else. it started as a weird offshoot of judaism, but now is a monster.

christians will fear for you because they believe you are going to be punished for jewishness and they don't want to be near you lest they get infected, and everyone else will fear for you because of how christians treat those who are not perfect.

please, it will give you guilt beyond what you can imagine. it will make you feel guilt for being a descendant of blasphemers. it will make you feel guilt for your private thoughts and distress.

i was raised by an agnostic atheist and an antitheist, and i still have to unpack this shit. dont make yourself suffer what the rest of us had. ive been trying to run from christianity my whole life and for good reason. if forces things onto you. it makes you feel like a sinner for being suicidal.

you can follow the word of jesus, but know that his modern followers are vile. current christianity hates those who are not perfect. you would have to be a christian without community, because said community hates people like you.

i dont want you to suffer like i did.

My mum just told me to go back to tumblr and keep talking because its keeping me quiet....my dear Jewish mother I hate to break it to you but I am on this app talking about how I love Jesus...Im sorry

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oswald-privileges · 6 years ago

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Loudmouth

(I wrote some statement fic. It’s been a heck of a while since I wrote anything for fandom.)

Statement of Ulla Ness, regarding, um... a peculiar transformation. Original statement given March 14th, 1999. Audio recording by Christopher Peake, in an… unprofessional capacity. Statement begins.

I still don’t see why I had to come to you. I know you have an email address, so wouldn’t it have been easier to just scan the form and send it to me? Hell, I would have taken a physical copy sent to me in the post. It would have been slower, but it would have meant I could have stayed at home. But no. I asked, and you just gave me a lot of waffle about how you have ‘strict acquisition policies’, alongside directions that had been copied from google maps. Which I know, because I checked.

It’s not that I’m lazy, you understand, far from it. I used to have what I regarded as quite the active social life. But recently that’s become impossible for me to maintain, for a number of reasons. Which are also the reasons that I’ve come to talk to you.

I used to be quite a religious person. Still am, I suppose. I’m not entirely sure. I was a member of the congregation of Saint Mary’s, a small anglican church in a small, anglican village up in Lincolnshire. Not everybody there was particularly devout, but it wasn’t one of those places where it especially mattered. It was more about the sense of community we had. Catching up with each other after communion on Thursdays, singing in the choir, arranging cake sales or coffee mornings as fundraisers for whatever bit of the building had fallen off now. I’ve been attending since I was little, and more or less grew up with the congregation.

I miss it quite badly, if I’m being honest. I’ve always been the sort to need other people, but I didn’t realise quite how much losing them would affect me. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone and all that, I suppose.

It started with another fundraiser, a jumble sale this time. I had volunteered to help manage the event, so I was in charge of sorting through the items that people had brought in for us to sell. Like I said, not everyone there was strictly devout, and didn’t always take care with what they decided to donate. Some people seemed to use it as more of an excuse to toss legitimate junk in our direction and call it a good deed.

This was definitely the case with Mister Ashley. He attended purely because his mother was too old to walk by herself, and I rather think that she insisted that he stay with her throughout the service. It was definitely at her behest that he took part in any communal activities. She would always announce that he would be happy to run stalls or make tea or some other menial duty, while he sat by her side, stony-faced, and saying nothing at all.

The only time I remember him giving any sort of reaction was when when his mother announced that her Jamie would be happy to donate some of his shop’s excess stock for the jumble sale. I remember, he turned to her with the strangest look on his face. At the time, I thought it was one of badly suppressed outrage. I assumed that she had simply gone a bit too far in volunteering his services; Mister Ashley was a second hand book seller, and owned the Jabberwock Bookshop just off from Memorial Square. It can’t have been all that easy to turn a profit. Thinking back on it now, though, and I wonder if his expression was something sharper than just anger. If it could have been alarmed, almost panicked. But I believe that is likely be nothing more than hindsight colouring my memories. If he had had some way of knowing, had been frightened of something like that which came to pass, then… well. I cannot honestly say I ever truly liked James Ashley, but neither can I believe that he would be as cruel or as cowardly as to not have said or done anything.

As it was, he brought the books to the side room the next day, where I was going through the donations and sorting the sellable items from those things too broken, torn, stained, or just plain unusable. I had just set aside yet another jigsaw- this one with almost two thirds of the pieces obviously missing- when he knocked on the outer door. In spite of the heavy rain, he wasn’t wearing a coat, hat, or boots. He didn’t say a word to me when I opened it, just shouldered his way in, dropped a heavy cardboard box on the floor by the unsorted donations, and walked out again. He did this three more times, leaving the door swinging behind him, letting in strong gusts of wind and rain, and reinscribing a damp trail of rainwater on the carpeted floor. Then he was gone as abruptly as he had arrived.

Ashley had taken better care to protect the books from the rain than himself. The cardboard was soaked through, but the books inside had been wrapped in several layers of plastic sheeting. They were stacked upright, and had been fitted in without any attempt to force too many into a single space. They were all, without exception, worn, faded, and almost completely without interest. Paperback romances long since out of print, old text books, children’s encyclopedias. It was rather a relief, if I’m honest. I could just reach into the boxes, grab a book, give it a flick through, and place it on the “for sale” pile.

I was about halfway through the last box when my fingers brushed something that did not feel at all like paper. It was dense and yielding, and ever so slightly damp. I recoiled, shock and disgust crawling their prickling way up my arm. My fingers looked clean, but the ghost feeling of something sticky still clung to them.

My first thought that it was some nasty practical joke. That Ashley, stung by his mother’s willingness to give away his stock, had put something disgusting in there by way of relieving his feelings. But that would have been ridiculous- he was a grown man, for goodness sakes, not a slighted child. It was more likely that the plastic keeping the books wrapped up had slipped, and allowed the rain to seep in through the sides. That was the more likely explanation.

It seemed as though I was right when I looked into the box properly, and saw nothing there but more books. But when I reached in again, all I felt was rough, dry paper. Confused, I went through the contents more slowly, looking where I placed my hand and at the books I chose.

I didn’t feel it again until the fifth book I picked up, that same almost-damp feeling. It was broad and set in landscape, almost like a sketchbook. It was dense with pages all jammed together- dense and heavy. It flopped bonelessly in my hand, and I needed to support it from underneath before I could read the title.

Hymnal, it read. The gold letters gleamed wetly on the slick cover.

It appeared to be full of sheet music. No titles or lyrics, just scratched staves and notes that meandered up and down the lines as though drunk. The smell that rose from the pages as I turned them was odd and unpleasant. I wondered if the leather binding them hadn’t been properly cured. Those areas of page that weren’t covered in music were full of sketches, but so dense and overlapping that I couldn’t tell what they were supposed to be. And, I realised with an unpleasant start, the cover beneath my hands was warm, as though I was touching a live thing.

Suddenly, I’d had enough. I was sitting here, working myself up over an old, graffitied book for no good reason. I shut the thing hurriedly, and it snapped closed with a heavy slithering of pages. I caught the soft part of my forefinger on one of them, and a tiny bead of scarlet began to well from the wound. The stinging was welcome- it gave me something to focus on, mundane annoyance drowning out the confusion that had been threatening to become fear.

I dropped the book onto the discard pile. I couldn’t sell something like that, that much was obvious. Then I picked it up again, and dashed through the rain to the rubbish bins outside. I tossed it in, and followed it up with as much of the discard pile as I could bag up in one go, burying the thing underneath threadbare scarves, broken plastic dolls, and half used art supplies.

I felt a little better when it was done, but not much. Whatever those hymns were praising, I don’t think it was Our Lord.

The cut on my finger didn’t heal like it should. It stopped bleeding without any trouble, but the edges became raised, reddened and sensitive to the touch. I dabbed at it with antiseptic and did my best to put it out of my mind. I succeeded at first. I had plenty to keep me busy, both at church and at my workplace, and for a day or two, I completely forgot about it.

At least until it opened up again.

I don’t remember what caused it, or if anything caused it at all. Just that I was reaching for something, and there was the feeling of… unpeeling, almost, the cold feeling of fresh air on wet skin. I checked to see if the cut was bleeding again.

Instead of a cut, I found myself looking at a tiny, fully formed mouth.

The raised, reddened edges I had thought were a sign of infection had become minute lips. They were slightly parted, and behind them I could see the tiniest slivers of white. And behind that, a dark space where something wet shifted.

I didn’t look at it for long. Already I was reaching for the first aid kit, hastily covering the cut- the mouth- with a plaster. I was already convincing myself that what I’d just seen was some kind of infection I was too squeamish to look at, and that since I couldn’t feel any pain, I should probably go to the doctors, in case it was nerve damage or something. The impression of having seen a mouth rather than a cut was an unpleasant trick my mind had played on me, and one I didn’t feel like closely examining. I told myself I had imagined it.

I hadn’t, though. I could taste the soft fabric patch on the plaster.

I really did mean to go to the doctors. Mouth or no mouth, whatever was happening to the cut on my finger worried me. I even got as far as making an appointment. But the next day I went into work, and there was an accident involving a slippery patch of floor and a very, very sharp knife that I was carrying at the time. I ended up with a nasty slice parallel with the underside of my ribcage.

This time, it was obvious how quickly it stopped bleeding, how it was practically dry before I even changed the gauze once. How the scabs began to flake before I even touched them, leaving nothing but those raised, reddening edges around the cut itself.

I didn’t go to that doctor’s appointment. I don’t think it would have helped me if I had.

It took longer for the second cut to open, but when it did, I could stand in front of the mirror to properly see the flat, white, human teeth, and the tongue that moved behind them.

It didn’t feel alien. That’s what surprised me most. I was scared, of course I was scared, I was growing new bits, opening up in places that I shouldn’t- but that was just it. It was my body doing this, not some… weird infection or surgery. Whatever was happening, it felt like an extension of myself.

I could move them, I found. Not as consciously as I could my original mouth, the one in its proper position on my face, but sort of like moving a limb after it’s fallen asleep. It took concentration, like I was working through partial numbness. Like I needed to focus to wake them up.

I didn’t spend very long doing that, though. I would realise with a start that what I was doing wasn’t normal, it wasn’t sane. I would pull my shirt back down or re-plaster my finger with a feeling almost like shame. I wasn’t as scared as I should have been, and that in itself was somehow a lot more frightening.

I’m not clumsy. I can’t be, considering the sharp tools I have to handle at work. But I started to accumulate injuries. Innocuous things at first. Paper cuts from the prayer books during mass, scrapes from the edges of the metal benches at work. And then other things. Pushing down a door-handle would lay my palm open as though I’d been struck with a metal ruler. The pressure of my jacket across my shoulders would tear the skin. I woke in bed one morning to discover that the folded sheets around me had left cuts going from my hip to my collar bone.

Every single one of them bled, reddened, and opened.

The mouths started to become restless as their number grew. They tried to chew on the clothes I wore to cover them, and if I didn’t focus, they would let out soft, but audible moans or sighs. I tried to quiet them. I even tried feeding them, though I only did that once. It seemed to help, but the mangled sensation of swallowing with a throat that seemed to be lodged under my right kidney was so disorienting I couldn’t bring myself to do it again.

I hadn’t stopped going out altogether. I left the house less, certainly, but as uncertain and uncomfortable as my changing existence was, I didn’t want to give up the company of other people altogether. I get lonely easily.

So, one Friday, when when there was so little skin left under my clothes and gloves that no new mouths could easily form, I patched my face and neck with gauze, and went to take my place in the choir again.

Nobody really seemed to notice anything different about me. I had all the right stories lined up for when I was asked about what had happened to my face, but almost nobody did. A few condolences, a few jokes, and that was it. People apparently preferred to gossip about the death of Mrs Ashley, and how her James had stopped coming to church now, and how they had known his heart wasn’t in it all along.

It felt awful. There I was, standing in the middle of them, skin to skin almost, with the most fragile disguise imaginable hiding a secret that would ruin their perception of the world for good- and they were too wrapped up in their own smug assurance of their own piety to notice. I offered up a brief prayer for patience, but like all my prayers lately, I don’t think I was offering it to the God whose praises we’d all gathered to sing.

And when we raised our voices together for All Things Bright And Beautiful, and I opened my mouth to join in, and then opened my mouth again, and opened my mouth again, and opened my mouth again- I wasn’t singing praises to that God either.

I didn’t realise that the others had stopped at first. It wasn’t until I glanced to one side, and saw Julie Wright staring at me with her powerless mouth open and unmoving, that I realised I was singing in harmony with myself.

I broke off, suddenly embarrassed and frightened by the way that they were all looking at me. There was something like awe in their expressions, but there was something else there too. Something that shuddered and recoiled. I desperately tried to remember the words I’d been singing, if I had gotten them right. I had the horrible sense that I might have subverted something holy.

Adam Bromley was the one to break the silence.

“Well now. You never told us you were getting private training!”

And just like that, the spell was broken. The unexpressed disgust sank back beneath their faces, and the others took up the idea almost with relief. A beautiful voice, they told me, what trick did they teach me to make it resonate like that? I forced a smile and said something non-committal and when we took up the tune again, I was careful to sing only the words that were on the page in front of me.

My own relief was short-lived. When I got home, I found the skin I had left was being pulled apart by the restless movements of the mouths. Blood stained the underside of my shirt, and I couldn’t stop the moans and hissings any more than I could have controlled a spasm or a muscular tic.

I didn’t sleep that night, and called in sick to work the next day. I lay on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, trying very hard not to move.

It wasn’t any use. My skin had become so fragile that even getting up and walking to the kitchen caused it to split, the blood barely having time to dry before the wound began to twitch and whisper. All my fascination was gone now, as were all my attempts to ignore what was happening. All I did was lie on the bed, and let myself slowly drown in my own body. I lived like that for a week.

When next Friday evening came, my entire body burst into song.

I writhed and moaned and hummed without will, without choice, throwing out snatches of hymn before discarding them as not what I wanted, not right. And for the first time, the indistinct murmurs and whispers grew louder, began to form words. Prayers that had been chewed out of shape, pleas for more, more mouths, more brothers and sisters, to come out of hiding and join the great curdling of flesh.

This went on for the entire night.

That was when I decided that I needed to do something. I’d let… whatever this was go on for too long, long beyond the point of saving myself. But I wanted to tell someone first. So I dragged myself to my computer, and searched as best I could. It’s difficult to type with only a confusion of tongues.

And that’s where you came in. You aren’t special. You were just the closest place that didn’t either ignore my emails, or reply with not so gentle suggestions that I see a psychologist.

I don’t think I’ll be leaving my home again, once I get back. I doubt I’ll even bother uncovering, although there’s no-one there to see me. For all that I wanted to let someone know, I don’t want to be seen.

The cupboard below the stairs locks from the inside. I can push the key out from underneath the crack in the door.

Whatever is happening to me, I won’t allow it come to fruition.

Post-statement follow-up: There wasn’t anyone under the stairs when I went to check. The lock on cupboard door was broken, and so was the one on the back door. Either Ms Ness was, um… successful in her attempts to… halt her transformation, and a housebreaker with some seriously questionable motives took what was- what was left of her. Or she wasn’t. And her resolve either waned or the situation was, um. Taken out of her hands. Or. Whatever she had instead of hands.

I wasn’t… going to record this. It’s not my job, strictly speaking, but I was reading some of the old statements, and this one just… sort of caught my eye. And I’ve seen the Archivist and some of the others do recordings, and it just looked so… I wanted to try it out. I’ll be taking the tape with me, though. None of the others need to know about this.

#The Magnus Archives #tma #the magnus institute #whoops its all OCs

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