#i can't tell if you wanted my input on the story/idea or just sharing and I don't wanna step over bounds. ty or sharing!!

[tethered-heartstrings]

I have too many fic idea and I can't start any of them *cry*

I don't know what to do so uhm, I'm sharing one with you if you don't mind :3

~What if Will Graham is a famous painter but he has this some sort of tendency to like, imagine or create a horrifiying gorey art (like murder or like those crime scene wed see at the NBC Hannibal) and sometimes, use blood (not human blood... Yet :) to draw his artwork.

And then there's Hannibal, who's of course, a therapist who'd apparently assigned as Will's therapist. Is he a cannibal? a serial killer? I don't know, I haven't thought about this yet :°

Basically the whole story is just about how Hannibal corrupt Will into murder. That's all I guess~

Also sorry if it's not understandable, I only have 2 and a half braincells rn so... yeah

Also wish you luck for your finals :D

I know that feeling! The idea part of it and sharing it with friends and mutuals is very exciting. I also have soooo many ideas, but actually opening up a document and *starting* it is hard.

and no worries, I understood it and don't mind you sharing at all! I think it is a really neat idea and I hope you are able to find the time and energy to execute it!

[fairuzfan]

During ancient times there was the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. But according to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) there was also the United Kingdom of Israel. BUT the thing is that a lot of ancient history about Jews is written in the Tanakh. And you can never really 100% trust religious books as historical sources. The Tanakh was written on stuff that can actually be preserved. While possible other sources on history of the Jews and other groups were written on things that perished. There is a lot of debate about the extent of the United Kingdom of Israel or that it even existed.

You have two kinds of historians when it comes to the Hebrew Bible:

The maximalists: accept everything unless proven incorrect by outside sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_maximalism

The minimalists: Hebrew Bible is limited in historical value. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_minimalism

Thanks so much for these links actually while looking at "biblical minimalism" I recognize some of the authors being cited in some of the works I read. I should check them out.

Also love reading academic beef the way that both groups named each other's "study" but neither operates with those labels lmaooo classic academics.

But also so people don't misunderstand me or try to take me out of context regarding this whole discussion: I also don't think the Quran is a 100% accurate historically, and it's stories are mostly used to educate on certain topics and ideas as it's primary purpose (think of aesop fables when i say this). Of course religiously I believe in the Quran, but most of the Quran is written in poetic verses in arabic and even as a baseline Muslims believe there's more to a quranic translation than just the direct translation. In quranic book history what we focus on a lot is the way books were made throughout history moreso than the actual contents (which religiously, we are not supposed to change at all... I believe the Hebrew Bible also is like that? Would love if someone could tell me more about it tho).

Even with the Birmingham Quran (the oldest quran that has been carbondated to around the time of Prophet Muhammad), i dont think its as important for the text itself (other than comparing contemporary and ancient to see if any changes happened through the few leaflets that survived), the most valuable parts of it is the fact we can carbon date it and see what sorts of materials they used back then and to see when the earliest surviving fragments came from. Plus we can analyze the script and rubrication to see if this was actually used to be read or used as a mnemonic device.

I can't say too much about archeological study more than this and that other post though. That's not exactly my field of interest or expertise. If people want to share more I can't provide much input unless you're talking about book history LOL.

But yeah just wanted to clarify so people don't assume bad faith/try to use my words to push their own agendas. In general historical studies should separate themselves from religion I feel if they go beyond analyzing societies the time in which the books/material were made or written.

Also here's a direct link to Birmingham Quran if the above one doesn't link:

[alexissara]

What A Year For Games! Top 10 Games of 2023 For Little Lesbians Like me!

I am on and off again with video games often switching between years where I am really into games and years where I am snoozing but I started to dedicate myself to finding and sharing more sapphic art so people can stop saying it doesn't exist lead me to playing tons more games and wow I played so many fucking amazing games this year it was an extremally hard year to pick a top 10 games. Now these aren't a top 10 sapphic games, it's just the best 10 games of the year, on an objective scale because I am the goddess of this world and there for right. Not all of these games will have come out in 2023, it's games I played in 2023 why limit ones self?

These games are roughly in order by how confident I am to put them on this list but each of these games did something different than me so I wouldn't say that a game is "better" rather than what I got out of it at the end of playing felt biggest.

Stray Gods

It's a musical, it's a video game, it's Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. This game is a really fun little Greek myth story telling experience with an neat interoperation of myth and the characters to provide a fun experience to people with or without attachment to the stories. The dynamic music changing to your choices is a really cool concept although I wish more of the songs were a bop. I also wish the game explored the idea of polyamory like the Greek gods were not monogamous and I see no reason I can't kiss Freddie and Persephone in the same playthrough. What is there though is still compelling, fun, and engaging with a great set of characters across the board romanceable and not.

Pokémon Emerald Rouge

Pokabbie's amazing Pokemon Rom Hack that shows the utterly wild shit possible for Pokemon experiences we could get. It's amazingly fun to do runs of Pokemon where you catch new pokemon, fight trainers and get to then recatch that species to use in later runs. It's a really great gameplay loop that really just uses what's fun about pokemon and allows for a lot of different run customization which leads to the loop not getting stale and makes it easier to find particular pokemon you want. This was my favorite Pokémon experience this year.

Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 has some of the worst monetization to date in fighting games. However, despite that it provided a lot of fun to me this year playing the base game's amazing World Tour mode and in enjoying the greatly designed new characters who I hope become Street Fighter staples. All while making my favorite SF character Juri even better with new interactions, a little bit of progress to her story and more. I hope that World Tour mode encourages a lot of other fighting game devs to step up the single player experiences in Fighting games and I also hope [as seems to be the industry trend] that "modern" controls take over. It was so nice to be able to do all the special moves consistently and more easily feel like I was in control of the game rather than feeling light I was fighting my hands to move out an input.

Drums Of War

I sure do wish a Fire Emblem game came out in 2023, it's been so long since Three Houses and Hopes is amazing but not the SRPG gameplay I came to love. Well if there was a Fire Emblem game I am sure it would have ENGAGED me, wait, there was the amazing Fire Emblem rom hack Drums Of War. Parrhesia utterly killed it with this take on Fire Emblem. The heart of the story being an emotionally damaged lesbian and the dancer with a big secret who fell for her makes for an utterly captivating romance paired with a real "war is hell" story that really does it's best to show you how fucked all sides of this conflict are until the player finally gets to forge their own path forward. Roxelana and Calista would be among my most favorite Fire Emblem lords if I was ranking them alongside all the lords of the series with both characters being utterly delightful and some charming side characters too like Estrelle. The gameplay itself aired a bit on the harder side to what I like but regardless I had a great time with the majority of maps and by the end of it I think I finally managed to get with the curve of the difficulty even if I wish there was an easier mode.

Cassette Beasts

The soundtrack alone would put this game on this list but luckily it has even more than a soundtrack. The whole cast are really charming, I totally fell for Viola and the other characters all have their own special charms. The game has plenty of faults I talked about in my review of it but despite the flaws of the game basically right until the very end where it massively declined for me this was one of the best games in all of monster tamers for me. The DLC was sadly not so great that came out later in the year but I didn't mind giving the extra money to the devs when the core game was so good. The monster taming is fun, the gameplay feels flexible enough for you to find the niche you like to play in and become really good at that niche, it allows for a lot of flexibility from folks who wanna swap partners all the time to people who will find their favorite characters and monsters and stick with them. I really hope the developers keep moving forward with Cassette Beasts and making new strives forward with their concepts because of all the indie monster tamers I've played this is leaps and strides above the rest.

En Garde!

This extremally short little romp is a compelling experience that is just a little bit longer than your average modern block buster. It's a simple and sweet swash buckling game where you play as a bisexual vigilante woman with a big crush on a sexy pirate woman trying to stop the oppressor of the people's evil schemes. Each chapter is like another adventure of Zoro short and puppy, fun and with ever so slight tension but you know the hero will come up on top. It's a really good experience and it has some great accessibility features for folks with reflex issues like me to still be able to enjoy it. The music is staller, the voice acting is fantastic, it's a great package that instead of padding itself out fills every second with greatness.

Luxaren Allure

I am a massive fan of turn based RPGs, I love getting to look at menus and think about my actions, being able to multitask while I play, enjoy a big juicy narrative and so I was very happy to play a JRPG style experience that's all about lesbians. An amazingly fun concept for a JRPG plot where one woman's beloved whom she chickened out of confessing too gets corrupted by an evil power and she is tasked with being the hero to take her out. This gives the interactions and the end goal a sense of uncertainty, will this be a sad case of tragic yuri, will she find joy with someone else, will she be able to save the woman she loves from this evil power, will she submit to the evil herself to be by her side? Everything feels uncertain with just this little angle added to a fairly typical JRPG formula. All while on the side having an adorable romance between a naga and a human girl giving us the good good lesbian sweetness between the dramatic tension.

Baldur's Gate 3

I am so often the contain, the noted hater but not on this day, nay I say, it was pretty fucking fun. The game is flawed, pretty flawed, like it's got a lot or fantasy racism shit I hate, it's tied to an IP I hate, it's got so many bugs that happened on my own run but if there is one game from this list I will probably think of the most and play the most in 2024 and beyond from this year it's probably this game. The games depth of interactivity, the wide breath of options, and the mods, oh the mods, the many many many mods, this game has so much to do and will for a very long time. It's rare to get a truly great multiplayer game and this game also provides that, this is a fantastic experience for playing online with others and makes for really great runs. Then there is the romances, oh the romances are really great, the girls are all fantastic and the side queers are super brilliant too. It's just a really fun video game and it does a good job exploring trauma and different takes on abusive relationships and overcoming [or succumbing] to them.

Thirsty Suitors

What a fucking great game, while the gameplay is mostly quick time events it does an amazing job of making each aspect of the game feel distinct from each other. While skateboarding in general kinda sucks in this game the combat and cooking all feels really great. Then there is the vocal performances and writing which are all fucking stellar. It's really great to see a fully fleshed out and fully real feeling queer woman who has had messy exes of all genders and has done a lot of fucked up things in her time. Jala's road to redemption with her family and exes all feels really great and this is a special story and I realized sometime after there is some level of variance too that I could have seen if I made some different choices. It's really great and even if it's not a dating sim like I thought it might be it's still a really great little thing. Then you factor in all the cool queer brown people in this game and wow, like I felt so scene by this game like the angry mess Tyler is speaks to my little transbian heart, the high fem lesbian struggle with family that Diya has I could feel echoed in my own life, I just, wow, it was great. I am so happy this game exists and I will likely always see this among the best narratives in all video games.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

My game of the year, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood fucking blew me away. In a shocking twist of fate while I complained about a lot of endings this year I didn't like my original ending for The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood either but then that drove me to go from liking the game to loving it as I ran the game again in spite of it, fueled by spite alone I felt a sense of determination, I would change my fate! This thematic fortune telling game where you make your own cards, help people or end up seeing a fate that only hurts them, I knew how to play it, I knew the systems now, I understood how the cards worked, the truth of my powers and the price I agreed to pay and I'd use all of that to make the happiest fucking story possible for Fortuna aka ME. So I dart through the game, I help the trans woman be herself and happy, I get my hot butch girlfriend, I help everyone out with their life problems crafting only the best cards possible to make sure I can give the best fates possible and then I hit the end point, the time to pay the price. I say no, the game says, you have to, I keep saying no, and then I draw my cards again and shape fate and in that I defied fate, made an ending I could be happy with, a better world for all my fellow witches, and so my story ends with my friends back by my side [probably gonna be a polycule] and a whole lot to look forward to. What a fucking experience, what a cool fucking game.

If you want to help me enjoy more art then consider checking out my Patreon or Ko-fi .and giving me a little bit of cash so I can do more of this kind of writing but also like make lots of my own art, art is hard to make and costs money and like maintain my chronically ill and trans body also takes money so anything helps, thank you.

[my-mt-heart]

I have some thoughts on Daryl’s arc that I want to share, but I’ll hold off a day or two because 1) it might get ugly and 2) I think Carol/Melissa deserve the spotlight a lot more right now.

Just seeing her on my screen again is a huge relief after so much uncertainty over the past year and a half, and of course the performance is insanely good. What I'm most grateful for is the fact that Carol has a clear emotional drive. We don't have to analyze her micro expressions for hours or turn over every stone to get a rough idea of her headspace. She says it herself. She's looking for Daryl. She's already gone to great lengths to find him when he doesn't turn up at the time he said he would, and thanks to the teaser, we know she'll keep going as long as there's hope he's still alive. I want to see where her determination takes her (once she gets across the ocean I mean), and obviously I want to watch the inevitable reunion between her and Daryl. It's the most anticipated scene of S2, so it needs to be big. Like, unambiguous canon big. It's what the characters and the fans deserve.

Bear with me though because I do have some issues with Carol's first appearance in 106. “God, MT, can't you just look on the bright side?” I could, but then I’d have to lower my standards, which enables AMC to keep lowering their standards when it comes to telling Daryl's and Carol's story. Theirs has always been an inspiring one, not because of all the people they've saved or all the things they've blown up, but because of the emotional core. They're two lost souls who find each other after the world ends, raising each other up to become stronger than the people around them, the audience, and even they themselves ever imagined. Their story is deep. It offers hope to fans facing their own challenges in life, so it has to be handled with a lot of care. Cheap gimmicks are beneath them, but cheap gimmicks are what we get in this scene.

It's a little bit like S7 when she runs into a group of saviors on the road, taking them out with a gun hidden up her sleeve. It reminds me that this woman is one of the most resourceful badasses in all of TWDU. And as a Caryl shipper, it delights me to see her ride off on Daryl’s bike—also badass for the record. To me though, when the nostalgia/shipper's high wears off, these things feel like distractions. There’s not really a compelling twist, like for example, finding out that Carol stowed away on the boat Daryl was on and had been in France the whole time. There's not enough momentum to keep me hyped through the long hiatus. The teaser does the vast majority of that right now, which is cool, but I want to see that same effort to market the show to me in the show itself. I want good writing. I want the connective tissue. I want the payoff. Will we ever see how Carol learned to ride a motorcycle in the first place or do I have to fill in the blanks myself just like I had to do throughout most of S11? Will we get Caryl beats that outdo the extremely unnecessary and OCC nunbaiting beats?

I don't trust Zabel to deliver everything I'm looking for. I don't think he's very clear on who Carol is, what she represents to the fans, or what her relationship with Daryl represents to the fans. Melissa does understand all of that though, so I have hope her input will make a difference. I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. I'm so happy she's back. I'm happy she seems so excited to be back. She deserves everything she's ever wanted for Carol.

[manonamora-if]

UX anon here - thank you for your response! I didn't realize the lack of resources in the community tbh. Would it be helpful if there was a master post of basic mobile UX principles to follow? Or would it be more helpful to gather a bunch of pre-existing twine templates and iterate them to be more in line with said principles? Or both?

Hi again Anon! :D

Yeah... it's kind of a common feeling. You [general you] don't know how much knowledge/resource/time/etc you need to invest until you actually make the thing you are enjoying. I've done the same when watching movies/series, believing I could write better dialogue... lol the audacity of my brain honestly...

I did make a Twine resource list some weeks back, with all I knew/could find, but I don't think there are any resource focused on mobile only. Though I do think most templates have some sort of mobile formatting/scaling in mind (even if not perfect). So this is definitely a niche to fill!

When it comes to the nitty-gritty of things, I can't really tell you which path to take (I am just one creator in the sea of many). You could send a poll to other authors, see their input.

I would advise against, though, reiterate pre-existing twine templates without the explicit consent of the creator (it might go without saying, but just in case). They might even prefer editing their templates with those advice instead of seeing their "updated" templates available out there (that's def the case for me).

But I do think the idea of a Master Post of Basic Principles with clear instructions (and images of what is good/not good!) would definitely be helpful. It leaves you open to go in more details about other principles in the future (if you want to do so, obviously you shouldn't feel pressured).

Last bit of advice, maybe check out Twine and how the different formats have built their visuals. It probably help you understand the limitations creators face when editing their UI. Theoretically, you could do anything on Twine, especially with SugarCube/Chapbook/Snowman (Harlowe is... wonky). But there are some class that have different rules depending on them being built through CSS or JavaScript.

EDIT: IF YOU POST SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON TUMBLR, TAG ME SO I CAN SHARE IT!!!

I'm also going on a bit more rambling, because I've realised I've had more feelings about the topic. PS: not directed at anyone in particular, just letting some steam out.

This is also my personal opinion, but I don't think (non-physical) IF was ever intended to be on mobile in the first place (ahem parsers/point-and-click...). When IF became a thing, there were no mobile (so that question was moot anyway). You just had a computer (maybe) that would run a program. I feels like it's been more of an evolution towards mobile use, as smaller/touch screens became the more prevalent device for entertainment (in general, not just IF). You have apps like CoG or HostedGames or those Story ones (they kind of look like VNs) that are very popular (and are incidentally fit for mobile...). And now we expect this of everyone that start with IF.***

While IF programs/format do allow for mobile support (to different degree), I do think we have to remind ourselves from time to time that IF creators still often create as a hobby, with often limited knowledge and resources. The fact that we sometimes/often uphold some IF to standard as high as actual game companies (who have headcounts and resources and knowledge to make things better) is just mind boggling to me (the number of asks/comments I get about my UI not looking professional because of a few mistakes...). Even trying to go through actual big company website is sometimes dreadful on mobile. Unileveeeeer *raise fist to the sky*...

Resources to make things more accessible (especially program/format specific) should be available to people, but we should leave some leeway to people who can't implement things or just don't want to. It might suck, but yeah... Think of it as computer exclusive projects (like you'd have with consoles :P ).

***Little side note, but we had a similar-ish discussion on the forum about Twine games during the IF Comp. It wasn't about mobile accessibility but the game being unstyled, and how many expected Twine entries to have some sort of styling and not just use the base UI, while the expectation was not as present (or not at all) for other programs. It is very interesting to go through.

[fullofsunsetwhispers]

I can really imagine Chase trying to do reconnaissance on the Xiaolin dragons so he asks Omi what happened during today's lesson with his Master Fung for spying reasons. But Omi was distracted during the lesson because he was staring at bumblebees again. So he just tells Chase about these two bumblebees who kept following each other around and how Omi is sure they were best friends playing a game of tag.

And Chase is just so charmed by how much fun Omi is having recounting the event that he doesn't even bother to stop him, he just listens the whole way through

Oh my! I couldn't agree more!

Let's not forget Omi is the youngest on his team so he can get easily distracted from time to time. I mean Omi's hyper-focused on his training overall but c'mon when a cool bug is in your sight you simply stop to look at it! In my opinion, Omi is taking his training too seriously at times. Let him indulge in kid activities! master Fung where are you. Help Omi develop his childish curiosity, hm!

Apart from that, It's reasonable to assume Omi would infodump Chase because the kid needs to give vent to his excitement!

Just imagine Clay telling Omi various fun facts about bumblebees and Omi once he learned all of that storms to Chase's citadel to share that knowledge with Chase <3 'Chase Young, did you know that!? Hm!? Di you know!?' - Omi's voice would echo in the lair's long halls

But let's return to anon's idea regarding Chase's failed attempts to infiltrate the temple via Omi's naivety. It's so funny because lol Chase's plans have fallen apart because Omi wasn't paying attention haha xD

However, Chase wouldn't feel defeated. It's a win-win because now he can spend quality time with Omi and share the excitement that results from listening to the bee story.

If you want that in the format of an incorrect quote, here we go.

Chase: haha I've gained Omi's trust now he'll tell me anything I need to know in order to make the temple fall!

Omi: Chasechasechasechase Yooooooung!

Chase: hello, little one! So, can you tell me what did you learn today?

Omi: (starts info-dumping about bees)

Chase: ... That's very interesting but what knowledge did Master Fung share with you and your fellow monks?

Omi: Oh, I don't know I was busy following the bees! But if you want to, I can explain how bees pollinate flowers!

Chase, encouraging Omi to talk more even though he already knows these things: Please, do. I adore it when you talk about things you're passionate about, little one!

Omi: Alright! Then ... (info-dumping continues)

Chase, breaking the 4th wall: Darn it, I guess no evil-doing today. However, it's fine because this way I can spend more time with Omi! <3

On another note, do you think Omi could come to the conclusion he should start naming every animal passing by the temple premises? because it would be so wholesome if Omi went straight to Chase for a second opinion.

Omi: Chase, these two bees visited me again! I can't tell them apart so I should name them! Do you have any suggestions?

Chase, whose experience in naming cats predates 1500 years: Goldie and Sunny.

Omi: I am most grateful for your input! (writes down the names of his new bee friends)

[rey-jake-therapist]

If I may say, regarding BBC Sherlock s4 outrage (no spoilers dw) - a LOT of that was bc of a whole bunch of interviews and quotes by the showrunners promising they'd do something groundbreaking with Sherlock, that they'd tell the story they think ACD truly wanted to tell but couldn't, that kind of thing that, together with a whole bunch of OTHER stuff they'd said over the course of the show, was really extremely queerbaity and disappointing. I imagine coming into it years later and having seen at least hints of the fallout back then and knowing already there WAS great disappointment would be much less, well, intensely disappointing bc the build-up is vefy different. Idk I guess I'm what I'm saying is just, if you watch it and just end up wondering if we were all off our rockers insane back then, remember it was a very different situation and we had a lot of hope, and please have pity on past us :')

Well thank you for your input and for the reminder! Surely I'll need it when I watch season 4 indeed. I wasn't there to witness the big meltdown, just heard of it a bit so I don't have any judgement to make about the Sherlock fandom and I won't 💜

I had my share of deceived hopes too! And there's the thing about not expecting alone: it's mostly awesome because you get to share theories, hopes, you read fanfics with great ideas, etc.... but then disappointment when the canon story happens hits even harder because you're not alone to experience it, but hundred even thousands sometimes, and wherever you go online you can't escape it! So believe me dear anon person, I know how you must have felt and I sympathize:)

I'm just happy I didn't experience it myself because last time I did for another fandom (Star Wars), it was dreadful and it ended up tarnishing the love I always had for the franchise. Not because fans were complaining, which frankly we had the right to, free speech and all! But the arguments that ensued, the name callings, the friendships that ended because of a disagreement over a ship or a theory... It was really unpleasant and I try my best to avoid finding myself in a similar situation now.

[strsburn]

destiny led me to you | loki (2)

pairing - loki laufeyson x female reader

synopsis - driven by the heartbreak of losing your entire world by the hands of thanos, you set out to find him, leaving destruction in your path in multiple universes; thus creating a horde of branches in the timeline and catching the attention of the TVA.

but you would do it all again if it meant you could see him once more.

chapter summary - loki finally comes face to face with the variant behind the attacks on the TVA and the truth is not at all what he expected. 

notes - thank you all for the continued support on this fic, i am so excited to continue this story and even more excited about the episodes as we dive deeper into the series ahh

[THIS SERIES WILL CONTAIN LOKI SPOILERS.]

idea credit - once again credits to @horrorisunknowntoyou for the idea!

warnings - angst, violence, smut (in later chapters)

wc : 1.9k

MASTERLIST • AO3 • PLAYLIST

T V A   U N K N O W N 

The sound of obnoxious clicking echoed around the otherwise quiet office as Loki swirled around in his seat. His thumb flicked the button of the pen in his hand repeatedly as he ignored the glares of those sharing the cubicles next to him.

Mobius had left him about thirty minutes ago, instructing him to watch the videos pertaining to the NEXUS events and time itself while he talked to the higher ups, and unsurprisingly Loki had abandoned the task almost immediately after it was assigned.

"C'mon Loki, I know you understand this stuff." Miss Minutes spoke up, her southern accent tinted with disapproval as she cocked a hip out. 

"Curious little thing you are. Tell me something, Miss Minutes. Are you alive or just a recording?" Loki piped up inquisitively as he leaned forward. 

The orange colored clock rose a brow disbelieving as she stared at the God unsure of how to answer.

"Uh..kind of both?" She offered with a shrug. A mischievous smile upturned the corner of his lips and before she could blink a wadded up jetski magazine came down on her, nearly colliding with her head. Miss Minutes jumped out of the way as the playful God attempted to swat her. Resembling that of a Cat with a string of yarn.

"Hey! Mind your manners! Jerk." The clock leaped for the screen before the God, her body returning to a two dimensional cartoon. Loki merely chuckled in amusement leaning back in his seat in smug content.

"Is that my jet ski magazine, put that down!" A familiar voice interrupted causing Loki to look up as the middle aged man walked over, his moustache twitching in either annoyance or amusement.

"Let's go. We have another case. The variant struck again." Mobius waved a jacket in Loki's direction, urging him to follow behind as he headed for the hall where the other agents were located.

Slipping the tan jacket on, Loki smirked in Mobius' direction.

"How do I look?" The God strutted ahead not noticing the smug looks the agents sent as the jacket headlined his status to the others. 

"C-20 and her team went dark sometime after entering the 1985 branch. All signs point to another ambush. We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's another Loki variant. But which kind remains unknown." Hunter B-15 speaks bluntly, seriousness laced in her tone. 

Despite the guarded looks on the agents' faces, Loki can't help but add his own unnecessary input.

"They're the lesser kind, to be clear." He grins amused, eyes alight with mischievousness. 

All traces of humor leave his face when he catches the sarcastic smirk on Hunter B-15's face as she suggests for him to turn around, his eyes catching the word VARIANT printed in a rusty orange across his broad back.

"I don't want anyone to forget what you are." She adds snidely.

Loki has to hide back the slight sting her words leave as he tilts his head mockingly.

"Oh, your only hope of capturing a murderer?"

"No. A cosmic mistake." This time the words are spoken with a sharp bite, leading him to snap his mouth closed with barely contained anger.

"Look, let's just find our guy alright." Mobius adds in, desperate to try and put a stop to the tension.

"If you find a Loki, prune him."

U N K N O W N

"How long have we been best friends?" You questioned, eyes gleaming as you took a sip of your margarita. Fairy lights glittered above you as music pulsed loudly in the background, yet your focus was trained on the pretty brunette before you.

"It feels like forever." She giggled as she danced along in her seat to the music, her drink swaying dangerously in her hand. 

"Hmm, then you'll have no problem telling me where the time keepers are." Your smile slid into a thin line as your eyes brightened an odd shade of gold.

"What?" The brunette suddenly froze in her tracks, the glazed look in her eyes fading as she came to her senses. Her eyes darted around nervously as recognition filled the lines in her face as she looked back at you, fear making itself known.

"I know this place, but I don't know you."

You grinned slyly as your hands took on a similar hue to your eyes, wisps of energy manipulated by your hands.

"You will."  

A L A B A M A   2 0 5 0

"Alright, our variant is somewhere in here so we need to group up in pairs, we don't know what this variant wants nor what he looks like, so we need to stay sharp. Loki and I will head-"

"No, he comes with me." Mobius stopped sharply as he looked to Hunter in disbelief, his moustache once again drooping with disapproval.

"What! No, I am his supervisor so he needs to come with me." 

"Look if you want to take this up with Renslayer-"

"Mobius, it's fine. You can trust me." Loki offers as he walks steadily to Hunter's side not bothering to hide his smirk as she obviously moves away from him, her displeasure clear.

"Why is it always the ones that you can't trust, say to trust them. Fine, go! Try not to lose the collar this time." Mobius shakes his head at the pair as he takes off in the opposite direction.

"I for one think it's great we are spending time together." Loki quips after a moment in tense silence. Hunter rolls her eyes motioning for him to be quiet as they come across a lone figure in the aisle.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Hunter called out as the figure turned slowly, obscured by the shelves lining the walkway. 

"Woah, it's okay! I was just buying some spring decor." Rounding the corner, a man spoke with his hands raised up in surrender. 

Loki eyed the man wearily as he exchanged looks with B-15. 

"In the middle of a storm?" He questioned. The male shrugged innocently as Hunter cast a suspicious glare at Loki.

"Could this be you?"

"Well I would have worn a suit, but yes." With that Hunter was stepping forward, her wand poised to attack.

Before the pair could blink the male was reaching forward, his hand locking around Hunter's forearm. A soft cloud of green was the only indication that anything had taken place.

"Hmm, you're not as handsome as she claimed you to be." Hunter piped up as the male fell limp. Loki looked up in surprise as a coy grin occupied the normally stoic agent's face. 

"Me, I presume?" He put the pieces together quite quickly.

"Not quite." Loki watched as the variant comfortably controlled the body of a stranger not at all feeling threatened by the God.

"What is it you want?" Loki found himself asking despite knowing he would not get an answer. If this Loki was anything like himself, they were manipulative and took joy in mind games.

"Such interesting questions, shame I don't feel like answering them." Hunter piped up with a swing in her step. Loki could only wonder if this was how Thor felt constantly when he was being a little shit. 

"Now I know why Thor thought this was annoying," Loki muttered "Enough mind games, what do you want from me?!" He shouted, eyes blazing.

"Do you guys need help finding the storm shelter?" A kind voice suddenly piped up, a man no older than twenty offering a shy grin.

"No." Loki, the lesser kind of course, replied and he watched as Hunter collapsed to the floor, the male taking her place.

"How long are you going to keep this game up, Loki?" He sneered as he watched on cautiously.

"Ugh, do not call me that." A grimace took over the male's face as he looked at his nametag, "You can call me Randy." 

Loki rolled his eyes as he straightened up, his eyes calculating.

"Alright then, Randy. I have a proposition." Randy titled his head in interest as he motioned for Loki to walk with him.

"I plan to overthrow the TVA and take the place of the timekeepers, and I'm in dire need of a second in command." 

Randy scoffed at his words, spinning on his heel with a flourish.

"Wow so you went undercover? You really think that's what this is about? You're even less intelligent than I thought."  Randy placed his hands behind his back as he walked away. Loki's lips slipped into a scowl as he followed close behind.

"Now wait just a minute." As he turned the corner he was suddenly hit with a kick to the chest, sending him careening into the display behind him and causing him to blink in shock as pain laced through his body.

He glanced up as a portly shaped man laughed wickedly as he stepped forward.

"Enough. I have shit to do, and you are irrelevant to my plans." 

Loki flipped his hair from his face theatrically as he sat back on his heels, his glare promising. 

"Rude." 

He leapt for the variant, aiming a punch to the throat that unfortunately was dodged. 

"Show yourself, or are you afraid?" Loki taunted as they danced around one another, dodging hits and kicks alike.

He blinked as the variant disappeared, the lights flickering, washing over his silhouette with an abundance of red.

"Prepare yourself, Loki." He turned as a hooded figure spoke, a smaller silhouette accompanying them.

His voice echoed back around them as the lights flickered along the aisles, the hooded figure's footsteps the only sound apart from his own breath.

Suddenly the figure lifted it's hood and he gasped as a head of blonde hair was revealed, dressed in a familiar garb of armor with a horned crown atop her head.

"Surprised are we? This was never about you." She smirked, stepping around him to grab the time charge as she turned the dials.

Loki could only watch as each time charge lit up, a countdown starting as they each buzzed with energy.

"So that's your plan, to blow us all up?" He questioned.

She shook her head as she opened a portal, a figure stepping through. 

"I wouldn't worry about that. After all, my friend has been looking forward to seeing you." 

Loki blinked in confusion as the figure, a female he concluded based on their physique, lifted their head. His eyes widened as he took in your face, recognition plastered on his own as he remembered seeing you on his file as his lover.

"Oh darling, how I've missed you."

taglist 💕

@horrorisunknowntoyou @thighs-of-betrayal-blog @pansexualproblemchild @deadpocts @starfirette @theswitch-er

[technowoah]

Rather Be Devisive Than Indecisive pt. 2

You weren't planning to help Techno again, but here you are with his horse.

- ANON REQUESTED!

- I really wanted to do second part anyways! So thanks a bunch!

- this story is long 😪 it'll all make sense though!

- part 1 is here!

- masterlist!

To say everything went south was a understatement. Everything went to hell, and you were currently living in it. You missed watching the sunset standing ontop L'Manburg's walls, you missed the peacefulness before the war. Maybe back then was too good to be true.

After the last encounter with Technoblade you had turned back to help Tommy and Tubbo. You tried to help wherever you could because you can see everyone drift apart, the main reason people came together was gone and dead. You tried to be a bigger sibling to both of them, and you tried to Tubbo and the former citizens repair the crater Wilbur left behind.

It took years, but L'Manburg was new and fresh again, with the help of Tubbo's new cabinet of trusted people L'Manburg was peaceful again. Tubbo had made you apart of his cabinet as well as Quackity, Fundy, Tommy and Karl. It was a new beginning.

There were days where you wondered if Wilbur would get a funeral. Schlatt had gotton a funeral, but you saw first hand how that went it wasnt a somber moment at all. It was for the best, they had mixed feelings about Wilbur and you dont blame them.

You had a new family, but there were things unkown to you, things that are being created out of your knowledge and that scared you. We have new L'manburg, but it isnt the same you dont know how long Tubbo could uphold peace in this new kingdom.

New things were created from the end of a old one.

It was a peaceful day in L'Manburg just as Tubbo promised the new citizens. You had stayed busy the whole day until a certian blonde came around your house frantically urging you to get outside and follow him

"C'mon! Just follow me! I have something to show you!"

"Tommy what are you talking about?!"

"Its VERY important, hurry! I dont want him to leave that spot."

Tommy had dragged you by the arm to the pier that evening and kept chanting that he had to show you something of utmost importance. You were trying to ask questions and keep up with his pace as he weaved through buildings claiming they were a "shortcut". Tommy stopped you at the pier and stood to your side, he was looking back and forth at the end of the pier to the water and back to you again.

You were about to ask why you were there until you saw a familiar man.

"Oh! Hello! Tommy who is this?"

He was pale, no, he was transparent. He looked pale, the sunset's dull rays made it seem like he still had skin. He had a yellow sweater on with brown pants and black shoes. He looked comfortable, he looked free. Next to his side there was a sheep on a leash with blue dye, you noticed it was poorly dyed too the dye was dripping from its wool. It was Wilbur, physically, but it wasn't HIM.

"He's Ghostbur." Tommy whispered to you while he stood between you two.

"Yes, I'm Ghostbur!" The ghost cheerfully said.

"This- this is y/n. Dont you remember?" Tommy cautiously asked Ghostbur.

Ghostbur had a look of confusion and curiosity on his face. He seemed so pure compared to when he was alive.

"No..I can't, but I would love to know." He stuck out his hand in a greeting.

"Hi I'm ghostbur!"

"I'm y/n." You said lowly.

You tried to reach out and grab his hand but it went straight through. You hated it, he's gone and you couldn't bring him back. It isn't him, but Ghostbur maybe better, Wilbur is gone and thats okay. Something came out of nothing, you kept telling yourself that everything was okay, but now seeing Ghostbur so naive and pure and free of the world's weight you believed everything would be fine.

"Im sorry. Im transparent, and I have no flesh." Ghostbur smiled.

"That's fine." You paused looking for the right words. "Do you know what you did? To L'Manburg?"

"Believe me, he dosen't. I tried." Tommy said to you.

"I couldn't belive I would do such a thing." Ghostbur added on.

"He shares no memories of Wilbur. Basically a new person." Tommy continued.

"That's great." You perked up. "It's bittersweet ya know. But Im happy you're here Ghostbur!"

"Im happy I'm here too, and Im happy I met you today." Ghostbur smiled at you while his sheep walked towards you, he unknowingly rubbed up against you putting blue dye on your clothes.

"Oh! This is Friend! I forgot to mention him to you. You can pet him!"

You didnt want to. He was dripping with dye, but you did it to appease Ghostbur. Tommy cringed while you petted the slightly wet, blue sheep. Once you were done your hand was blue, you rubbed it on your clothes that were already blue.

"I think he likes you." Ghostbur cheerfully said.

You were so thankful for Tommy bringing you to that pier. It was the closure you needed to move on and focus on building a new life for all of you. A peaceful life, but it seemed too good to be true. Days went by like normal and that sometimes was too much for you. You worked on new buildings and worked with Tubbo's cabinet too, that was a new normality for you.

The unknown scared you, but you had your family here. You had made amends with them and now and this is what you wanted. But then again it all seemed too good to be true.

Nobody had told you anything, you weren't in cabinet meetings, nor around Tubbo or Tommy. You felt shut out, you felt sick. The cabinet had decided to do something about Tommy and Dream started to become involved in Tommy's predicament. Soon after Tommy was in court, stripped away of his vice presidency, and had been put on probation.

Tubbo had come to you about Tommy being exiled. There was a huge meeting with the cabient and Dream about that situation and you had stayed silent the whole time. You wanted what was best for L'Manburg, but Tommy was like a brother to you, you couldn't send him away to fend for himself. You could see the confliction on Tubbo's face as he was going through the same dilemma as you were.

In the end Dream gave Tubboo 3 days to chose if to exile Tommy or not.

Tubbo had talked to you about the situation before the second day came. You two were in the same boat when it came to exiling him. You two had came to a conclusion, Tubbo just had to talk with the rest of his cabinent for a final conclusion.

The second day came and the plan switched immediately when Tommy came and introduced it. He wanted to fight back against Dream, of course he did, but he wanted another man to come and help. They wanted Technoblade to join their revolt. Quackity and Fundy agreed with the idea, but Tubbo was more cautious. You hated it.

Technoblade wasn't a subject nor person you wanted to be associated with ever since that night in Pogtopia. After all this time you had forgotten about him, you had forgotten your failed attempt at rekindling your friendship until now.

Tubbo was cautious, but you were 100% against it. Tubbo agreed with the rest of the cabinet and Tommy. They eventually asked you, and of course you said no, but it didn't matter, majority rules in this case.

You all approched Dream intop of the obsidian walls with your final decision.

"We have come to a decision. Look around." Tubbk leaded.

"There's giant, obsidian walls." Dream answered calmly.

"There is, there is Dream. And that's a problem, okay? This is funny actually." Tubbo turned back to Tommy. "Tommy, I am- I am so sorry."

Tubbo continues to talk to Dream. "I have come to the decision, that it'll be better for the nation the most logical thing to do is for Tommy to be exiled from L'Manburg."

"What?"

"Tubbo?!"

"Teaming up with Technoblade is an awful idea! It's an awful idea!"

Oh thank goodness.

"We just had this conversation!" Fundy yelled.

"No! No! Okay?! Nothing! Involving any kind of conflict is not safe for this nation! You've undermined my authority from the get go! Okay! All of you! No one here has respected me. You all jump on these merry little bandwagons of destruction. It's not okay!"

Tubbo was livid. His face was turning red and will keep doing so if he kept yelling. You felt a familiar breeze beside you as you saw Ghostbur standing next to you and behind Tommy. He smiled at you and continued yo listen to Tubbo's angry speech. You wondered why he was here, why he showed up at times and then left. Like he only needed to listen and not give any input.

"You cant go back on the plan now?! What the hell?!" Tommy yelled.

"When I was sworn in I made a promise to do what was best for the nation. And right now, Tommy you, your presence here is not the best for his nation."

Your heart dropped to your stomach and you think ghostbur noticed. You were happy that you didnt need to see Technoblade again, but you were going to lose what you would call a brother. You started to backtrack on your final decision, you belived Tubbo was in thr right. Tubbo wanted what was best for L'Manburg and what was best for L'Manburg was for Tommy to be exiled. You wished there was another way, but you know Tommy was stubborn it wouldn't work that easy.

Your mind kept wandering to if Tubbo decided to team with Technoblade. He was right there would be destruction, a huge war and probably the end of L'Manburg. You didn't want that again, you didn't want to see him again. You couldn't help but wonder if he knew L'Manburg was brand new.

"Dream, please detain and escort Tommy out of my country."

Tommy was gone. Its been weeks, four weeks to be exact. L'Manburg was peaceful, everywhere was peaceful, but you had to admit that you missed him. Fundy and Quackity tried to convince Tubbo to bring Tommy back, but he already made up his mind. He was confident in his decision, you were proud he was ruling L'Manburg confidently, but everyone was weary.

You haven't seen Ghostbur around either, he must've been floating around somewhere. It's none of your business.

The walls have been taken down and L'Manburg was independent again. There were sacrifices to be made. There were a lot of sacrifices to be made to keep L'Manburg up, and you kept asking yourself if everything was worth it. Was the discs worth that much to Tommy? Was L'Manburg even a good choice to begin with?

Was Technoblade right?

The Butcher Gang. They were calling themselves The Butcher Gang. The cabinet had several meeting and came ti the decisions that the biggest problems in L'Manburg were Technoblade and Dream. The cabinet decided not to kill Dream because of the fact that he was allies with L'Manburg, so they decided to try and kill Technoblade.

Dumbasses. You've mentioned to Tubbo that he was a very, very, very dangerous man. Tubbo has seen him before! You asked Tubbo constantly why did he wants to kill him when he says that he didn't want to team up with him. Tubbo said it was for the better of L'Manburg, but dosent he know that might cause even more trouble?

You didnt want to join them, you couldn't risk your life for something that is impossible to achieve. You separated from the cabinet, you couldn't watch them do this and you tried to stop them, but they insisted on the act.

Lately you've seen more of Ghostbur and that made you happy. It made you happy he wanted to spend time with you and it made you forget the trouble brewing in the cabinet.

"What's wrong?" Ghostbur asked while sitting on the edge of the pier with you, and Friend who was tied to one of the pier's poles.

"It's nothing Ghostbur." You said with a sigh.

"Good!" He cheerfully said.

"Can I actually tel you something?" You asked again, you wanted to get this off of your chest.

"Of course." He smiled.

You sighed and then began to speak as you looked out to the water. "It's the cabinet, its Tubbo, Fundy and Quackity that's the problem."

"But they are wonderful people! What can they do wrong?" Ghostbur suddenly asked.

"They want to kill someone, Ghostbur."

"Maybe it was a misunderstanding."

"I dont- I dont think so." You hung your head looking at your feet.

"Ghostbur, they want to kill Technoblade and I dont-"

"Technoblade?! That's my friend! Why- why would they want to kill him?"

Your heart felt heavy at his words. Another point not to kill Technoblade, you didn't want Ghostbur to hurt, not like Wilbur.

"He was a friend of mine too once. When L'Manburg first got blown up he- we betrayed L'Manburg and then spawned 3 wither skeletons to destroy the rest of the citizens." You explained to Ghostbur's disrught face.

"You wouldn't do that! You're kind!" Ghostbur exclaimed.

"It wasn't my best decision Ghostbur. People can make bad mistakes. A lot of people do. They aren't pure like you." You smiled softly at him.

A long hush fell over the two of you until Ghostbur perked up.

"We need to save Technoblade!" He exclaimed.

"Ghostbur I cant do that."

"Why not?"

"Because me and Techno aren't friends anymore." You said sadly.

"Why not?"

You couldn't answer that. You can, you can give the right answer, but at this moment you couldnt tell the ghost who suddenly stood up next to you.

"If I take you to where Technoblade lives will you feel better?" Ghostbur asked with Friend's leash in his hands.

Tubbo, Fundy and Quackity didnt know where Technoblade lives and desperately wanted to know to kill him. Maybe this was a good idea. You tried to convince yourself that as you walked side by side with Ghostbur. You had followed him through the woods as he weaved in and out of the trees. Friend was following Ghostbur as well, he wouldn't let Friend stay anywhere out of his sight.

You were getting special treatment, you were about to find out where Technoblade lived before The Butcher Gang would. Would you be considered a traitor again? Tubbo wouldn't want you back in the cabinet if you knew where Technoblade lived and you didnt tell him.

The atmosphere got colder as you two ventured on, you didnt know he would retreat all the way out here. It was snowing and you didn't bring any type of warm clothing considering L'Manburg was rather warm. Ghostbur had no problem, neither did Friend. Luckily you saw a light in the dark woods. It was further away, but you could see the light expand as you two treaded over towards it.

"That's the house!" Ghostbur pointed too.

You two reached the end of the woods and before you was an opening. There was blanket of white snow everywhere, there were footprints in the snow, but they were being covered by the falling snow above you. It was a valley and the only thing there was a beautiful wooden house. It was errie, the only civilization here was was Technoblade who lived in the house.

"It's pretty lonely." You said still cautious of the situation.

"Yeah it's sad, but we're here and it's okay!" Ghostbur said.

"Sure." You whispered as Ghostbur continues to lead the way.

You two got closer and closer to the house and you continued to try and back out. It's too late to do so now, you didnt even feel like walking back to L'Manburg after you confront Technoblade again. The two of you were heading up to his door, your heart was beating heavier as you got to his door. You brought your fist up to knock on the door, hopefully he was home because you were freezing cold. You harshly knocked on his door and awaited for his response.

You two waited for a while, but no one was opening the door.

"Ghostbur why don't you go inside?"

"I'll just peak my head in!" He answered and did so. His head phased through the door and then he came back out with a frown on his face. "No one is in there."

"Why did we come here?" You sulked and started to turn away from the door.

"Why the hell are you two here at night?!"

"Oh! Techno! Hi!"

Shit. You were looking into his eyes and you froze when he turned to you. This was the first time you've seen him in years ever since Pogtopia, you hated it. It was embarrassing you tried to become friends long ago, but that failed, and now you were here again. He probably saw you as desperate, coming back to him after betraying him.

"Hello Ghostbur. How are you?" Technoblade walked in between the two of you opening the door to his house. When he walked in he intentionally left the door open for you and Ghostbur. Luckily it was warmer inside and you welcomed it.

"Im good! But we are here for you." Ghostbur cheerfully said.

"Oh really?" Technoblade said while occupying himself with something else, not even bothering to look at the two of you standing awkwardly at his closed door.

"Yeah, Y/N tell him!" Ghostbur urged you on.

You paused for a second before speaking to Technoblade, who wasnt even paying attention. "There's these people called the Butcher Gang."

"Sounds stupid."

"Yeah it is. And they want you."

Techno scoffed. "Want me for what?"

You knew Technoblade was smarter than this. He was bouncing around the room not even sparing a glance towards you. He wasn't paying attention.

"They want to kill you Technoblade."

He stopped all of his movements, stood up to his full height and looked towards you and Ghostbur for the first time you've been in his house.

"You better not be screwing with me."

"Why would I?!" You got offended by his statement.

"I dont know, because you show up to my house out of nowhere and tell me that people are trying to kill me. This could be a setup! I cant trust-"

"Okay! The Butcher Gang is Tubbo, Quackity and Fundy. Thats all I know of who's in the group. They want to kill you because you are a threat to L'Manburg. Trust me!" You cut him off and explained.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Technoblade asked you.

"Dont kill them, but I wanted to warn you. They are being reckless and since you're out here they shouldn't bother you. They're looking for more trouble, Tubbo already has a lot on his plate, this isn't a good idea for you nor L'Manburg."

You finished your statement still weary of this whole situation. You hated being in this situation, Techno's presence didn't make you uncomfortable it was just seeing him and warning him of future danger. You two weren't even considered close, why were you here? You were here for L'Manburg.

"Okay. I'll try. No promises though." Techno smirked and continued doing whatever task he was doing.

You found somewhere to sit for the time being knowing that you two wouldn't talk. Looking around the room you realized that Friend was alone inside the house without Ghostbur. You looked outside and saw him walking from the woods again in a rushed pace. You didn't know he left, he phased back into the house.

"They say they're gonna kill you. Y/n was right." Ghostbur says.

"Were you two leading them to my house?!"

"No."

"No we didn't! We didn't even know they were coming today!" You stood up looking out the window in search of Tubbo and the rest of them.

"Ghostbur who was with them?" You asked as Techno ran around the rooms for weapons and armor.

"Um, Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity..Oh! And Ranboo."

"Ranboo?!" That poor kid. What is he doing?

"Eventhough I hate to say this. I don't trust you. Get out." Technoblade paused infront of you before rushing to the other room. "And tell them I'm not home!"

"And if that dosent work?!" You yelled back.

"Then to hell with them!"

You rushed outside with Ghostbur, hoping that the Butcher Gang dosen't notice you were leaving Technoblade's house. It was too late, they were already lined up outside with full netherite armor and gear.

"Y/n?!"

"Wait what are you doing here?" Tubbo asked as you made your way towards them.

"Im- I wanted to try and rekindle mine and Technoblade's relationship." You used an old lie to get yourself out of this situation. This was an already bad look on you, hopefully your lie would work.

"I thought your friendship ended a long time ago?" Tubbo asked again.

"It did, but I wanted to try again." This was embarrassing, now you really seem desperate.

"I see, then move out of our way." Tubbo asked you harshly.

"Uh- hey." Technoblade came out of his house with full netherite too, you weren't protected, so you will have to stay out of the way.

"Why have you guys come all the way over here to my humble abode?" Technoblade started walking towards his stable where he kelt his horse. He tried to lighten the mood, but it didn't seem to work. As he moved you moved with him trying not to be inbetween the dangerous men with swords and enchanted armor.

"You need to pay for your war crimes." Tubbo said while following Technoblade.

"That was like- that's in the past! Alright, that was a different Technoblade. Im a changed man now! Im in retirement! Im a good person now Tubbo!" Technoblade dragged on as Tubbo just hummed in response.

Quackity spoke up. "Technoblade you exploded L'Manburg with fucking withers."

"You literally spawned Withers everywhere!" Tubbo exclaimed.

"Im sorry, Im sorry Technoblade as much as you changed you have to be brought to justice for that." Quackity interrupted Tubbo.

The Butcher Gang tried to speak to Technoblade at the same time, when Technoblade spoke up over them all.

"Listen guys! I've gone through so much effort over the past month to change my violent ways! I've reformed alright? The voices, they demand blood! And I- I have been denying THEM! Ive been fighting back! Please! Please dont make me kill all of you, please just leave."

You guess he has changed, but you knew somewhere in your mind that he wasn't talking about just the Butcher Gang, he was including you too. You were somewhat confident that you wouldn't be attacked or killed, but you were terribly wrong before.

There was back and forth banter between the two of them. Techno had tried to show the gang his bees and tried to make a run for it.

"Techno!"

"Hey!"

"He's running!"

The gang started running towards him, but instead of continuing he stopped and turned to them. You were trailing behind trying to catch up to them, you kept running after them. You were not equipped for this night, you didn't know Ghostbur was going to bring you out in the open cold. You could hear Ghostbur behind you as you continued to run towards them.

"Y/N you're gonna damage yourself!" Ghostbur's voice became more echoed and further away as you tried to get closer to the gang before they got killed.

"There's no other way."

"Tubbo dont be stupid!" You were right behind the Butcher Gang.

"There's no other way!"

Fuck

"I CHOSE BLOOD!"

A cloud of smoke enveloped the 6 of you and you suddenly could see. You could only see the glint of everyone's armor.

"Y/N get behind us!" Tubbo tried to blocked you off from reaching Technoblade.

"Why didn't you bring any armor?!" Quackity yelled.

"I didn't think i was gonna be fucking out here!"

Technoblade must've set off multiple smoke bombs because the smoke wouldn't stop, the smoke made you woozy, but the others didnt seemed phased by it at all and kept fighting Technoblade. Your lungs felt full, and you felt like passing out, but you wouldn't allow yourself to do so.

"Tubbo stop this!" You yelled out when the smoke cleared a little.

"No! He needs to pay!" He said while fighting with Fundy.

The air was still hazy and you lost sight of people occasionally. Whipping your head around you were met with what felt like the butt of a axe. You quickly saw a split second of a shiny axe and then a pain in your chest spiked up. You double back and tried to recover, but then you've been sliced in the thigh and a deep cut in your side taking you down to the ground. You were bleeding out and desperately trying to heal the wound in your side. You felt your consciousness slowly slip from you as you laid on the snow. The warm contrast of your blood compared to the cold snow was sad. You always get hurt, no matter what you do. It's inevitable, and you finally gotten used to it.

The last thing you heard was yelling, but it slowly faded out.

You were warm, and not in the middle of nowhere anymore. You opened your eyes to see yourself staring at a polished wood ceiling, the soft pillows and blankets around you made everything feel so much better. Your whole body hurts, you dont want to move nor do you want to remember. Thank goodness that someone had patched you up, you didn't want to die. You tried shifting your body but the pain in your side was denying any movement.

"Oh! You're awake thank God!" A voice called out from your side. You looked over to see the half human hafl enderman sitting in a chair by a window. "I thought you weren't gonna wake up! Tubbo and the rest if the cabinet was worried as well."

"Were you the one who patched me up?" You asked carefully.

"Yeah! Luckily I can see in that fog, so I took you away and patched you up." Ranboo smiled.

"Who- who hit me?" You asked trying to sit up again.

Ranboo paused. "Technoblade." Ranboo said in a somber tone.

"I see." You sighed.

Ranboo helped you sit back on the headboard of the bed and you two continued to talk.

"Are you mad at him?"

"Im just upset. Its okay, he said he'll kill all of us so I knew he would." You kept your gaze at you lap.

"Yeah I get it." Ranboo replied.

"I have a question ranboo!" You perked up.

"Yeah? Shoot."

"Why did you join the Butcher Gang?" You asked the taller man. He stayed silent thinking of a right answer before actually speaking.

"They were nice to me. I trust people who are nice to me, that show me kindness and treat me with respect. I know its lame, my answer isn't fully fleshed out, but that's the reason." Ranboo shrugged and you nodded.

You would love to know Ranboo more, he seems like a great guy, but he's just lost.

"Oh! I forgot! You have a letter!" Ranboo walked around the bed and brought out a folded piece of paper and handed it to you.

You unfolded it and began to read.

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶

- 𝘋

"Execution site?" You looked towards Ranboo.

"Oh yeah! Technoblade's execution is today an-"

"How the hell did you get him?!" You interrupted him. "Im sorry."

Ranboo looked shocked before composing himself. "Dont worry! Well, we took his horse hostage and he immediately wanted to surrender if we didn't let Carl go." Ranboo gathered stuff around the room. "And the execution is today, happening in a few minutes and I need to be there. I'll be back soon to check up on you!"

You nodded and continued to listen to him.

"Are- are you coming?" Ranboo sent one last glance towards you before making his way out.

"You know you dont HAVE to go." You said trying to ease the tension.

"I know. I really do know." He sighed. "Are you sure you dont want to?"

"No, Im okay." You sent him a smile.

You had lied again. Of course you didn't want to see Technoblade get killed, but that note that was left made you go to the cave. You trudged you way up to said cave, even though the pain in your side was unbearable you continued on. Once you had gotton up to the cave, you peaked inside cautiously. You saw a man in a cloak with a familiar mask on with Technoblade's horse. You knew it was Dream.

"Hello."

"Hello Dream."

"I will cut right to the chase. Take Carl and wait here. I have other work to do." He handed you the reigns to Carl and started to leave.

"Excuse me!? What do I do? Why do I wait here?!" You yelled after him and he just waved you off.

You rolled your eyes and found a stone in the cave to rest against with Carl's reigns lazily in your hands.

You didnt know what time it was, but the sun was slowly going down, it wasn't particularly sunset, but you knew it was late. Your eyes began to close until your heard screaming in the distance. You sat up slowly, now fully alert. You held Carl's reigns tighter as you backed into the cave more and more.

Footsteps were heard in the distance coming up to the cave and you thought if Dream had set you up for failure. The footsteps grew louder until a panting Technoblade appeared at the entrance at the cave. He looked horrible, he was thinking the same thing about you.

You two exchanged no words. You didn't want to say anything, what would you even say? He rushed over to Carl and started petting him. "Carl you're okay!"

You hummed as you and Techno shared a glance. He smiled at you. He smiled at you. It's been so long since you've seen him smile. He didn't need words to communicate, his eyes and smile said enough. You matched his smile and gave him a knowing nod and he did the same.

"Feel better eh?" Technoblade started conversation.

"Not really. What about you?"

"Eh- used a totem of undying just now."

"What?! Really?" You exclaimed. "I guess that's why you're here now huh?"

"Yeah I'll tell you about it sometimes." He smiled and climbed atop of his horse and you could see him thinking. "Im sorry too. You almost died cause of me. Thats is unacceptable, I shouldn't- I shouldn't have attacked you. I couldn't-"

"You cant control it. It's gonna take me awhile to recover, but..." You touched your bandaged cut. "It'll take me some time."

Technoblade nodded knowing what you meant. He could always read your mind somehow, thats what made you two work. Knowing eachother. He sent you one last silent goodbye before riding out of the cave. You knew that trust was somewhat restored, and that you two were better than before. This might be a new beginning.

A very angry Quackity came running around the corner of the cave and spotted you leaving. He whipped his head around to you.

"Hey! Where the fuck is Techno?!" He yelled at you.

"I don't know-"

"Dont bullshit me!"

"I. Don't. Know." You said more sternly. He gave you a hard glare before running away.

You went the opposite way trying to make it back to the room you woke up in before Ranboo came back.

Earlier you were desperately trying to befriend Techno, but things come more naturally you learned. You cant rush things, nor control this world. Things will fall into place, your and Technoblade's friendship will blossom again.

You will never find peace, but that's okay. You should be used to it by now. Everything is chaotic, but everything will be okay.

[nanamisflowerfield]

Congrats, your blog is great! May I ask for a twst matchup? I will anyway so bear with me, please. I am interested in a quite a few topics which range from psychology, philosophy, theology, linguistics, history to neurology and toxicology. I get my all time favourite hobby would be researching, though I do like to sketch and write sometimes too. I am a bit of loner, which is partly willingly (or maybe I am telling that myself) and partly because I am just awful in making friends, because my lack of exposure has made my social skills rusty and I tend to come off as excentric or intimidating. I am usually a calm person and a good listener. I don't judge, but I do take things someone entrusts me with serious and I secretly might overthink their words when I am alone, furthermore I tend to rather try to learn as much as possible about the people that end up being close to me (unfortunately the friendships I make rarely hold on for more than a few months at best). I can kind of exaggerate in this aspect, there were instances were I would spend lots of time a day to read books, inform myself on websites and try to learn languages that are related to that person, of course outside their knowledge since I wouldn't want to creep my contact out, rather impress them with subtle inputs of my secretly aquired knowledge that can give them even more of a feeling to be safe with me. I tend to have a little bit of an oldfashioned personality my siblings tend to jokingly call me grannie (or boomer). I also dress kind of seriously and mature. I am wearing a long skirt, a longsleeved shirt and a scarf (I am freezing a lot), which are usually dark in colour. I gotta admit, I do have a goofy side, a very goofy side that I reserve for my friends, but once I showed them I showed them and they can't back out of it anymore, because I will have a hard time to contain my inner child, of course I will return to a more serious approach if the time calls for it. I am told that I can be quite witty and sly with my remarks. I am trying to be as honest and straight forward as I can, but sometimes the situation just calls for someone to point out it's absurdity lol. Another thing: I have 6 younger siblings and therefore people say I have the patience of a saint and I was often recommended to become a teacher, because apparently some people think my spontanous rambles about the things I researched or my opinions can be quite interesting. In a romantic scenario, I wouldn't mind being the one who confesses, as I said I like to be honest and straightforward, but I will do it with lots of consideration first, because I understand that some people might be uncomfortable by receiving one from me and if I do I will probably do it in a cheesy way, like putting together a little picture story as a way to subtly put out the things I admire on this person and their good points and also to have an excuse to draw them in fantastical scenarios lol. Initiating physical contact (WITH MY PARTNER) wouldn't be something I mind either. I think I would be a very dotting partner, but I am also someone who expects a little reaffirmation, it doesn't need to be grand but something obvious would be nice, since I might misinterpret things. I also value my privacy greatly. If I do share what I did the last weeks or what I think about a topic, I probably respect you and your ability to keep things to yourself haha. I think that is enough. Please keep it up! And thank you for everything!

Thank you!! And thanks for so much information for the matchup! I really hope that you will like it, it's just an idea and my opinion, so please don't be mad if you won't like it!

1k follower event

I ship you with...!

🐙 Azul would be happy to have such great, calm and smart partner. You are truly perfect for him! 🐙 I’m sure, that Azul will enjoy to see you interact with the twins, especially if they will be your new friends. As long as you all become friends, it will make the octavinelle dorm leader happy! 🐙 Many, many study dates! 🐙 Whenever you have a problem, Azul will be there to help you and he hopes that he can really on you as well! 🐙 He doesn’t know how to approach you romantically, but he will try to show you, by giving you hand kisses, a few kisses on your cheek and longing hugs. Hopefully you will understand those! 🐙 He will be flustered, but he will also tell you how much he cares and loves you, if you won’t understand his way of showing his love to you. 🐙 He really loves to hold your hand! Especially if you two are busy, but still want to hang around each other. It’s very romantic for him!

-----------------------------------------

It would be lovely to be supported with a small ko-fi.~ :3

[female-buckets]

I dunno if youre still looking for ATM suggestions but the one with Jimmy Butler was very good as well (I didn't love the DT one, which I know is blasphemy, but I found it became the Sue and DT show and you could see Megan becoming forgotten in it - which seemed to lead to her getting louder and I found it all uncomfortable. The other episodes were better about keeping everyone in it. Your gf and her friend spending hours reminiscing over stories you weren't there for on IG isn't my idea of fun)

Nah, no way. DT is the best one. I could listen to women tell stories for hours on end. That sounds like an ideal evening to me.

But, if you got tired of DT after that live, don't worry. She's not on social media. She's done three podcasts her whole career and she'll step back from public life completely after retirement. You won't see or hear from her again after this year.

Anyway, Diana would never leave someone out of a conversation. She wants everyone around her to feel included. She asked for Megan's input on everything. She brought up her favorite memories of Megan. She talked about topics Megan could relate to. When Megan talked over her and derailed the conversation away from her stories, Diana didn't mind. Penny actually had to stick up for Diana in that live to get her to finish stories. Diana would've let it go otherwise.

In all the soccer ATM's, Sue got sidelined completely. In 3.5 hours of Syd Leroux, I learned Syd's entire life story. Every last detail. And I barely heard from Sue.

In 4 hours of DT, we got egg pizza, Turkey, Maradona, and constant Megan. That's it. DT's done a lot more in life than put eggs on pizza. She grew up with a very different culture and language from everyone around her. She moved back and forth between the US and Argentina as a kid. And she loves talking but rarely talks about herself. She was willing to share things about herself on that live, so I wish we got to hear it.

I wish Megan let Sue and Dee tell stories the way Sue let Syd and Megan tell stories.

The Jimmy Butler episode is good. Megan's much more likable. She only had one major party foul at the end. Not a great look for Megan. Luckily for the NBA player involved, most people didn't catch what she said. But for the people who did catch it, yikes. The NBA is a different culture than the WNBA. You gotta respect there's money, reputation, sponsorships, and all kinds of things on the line. You just can't go around sharing a NBA guy's business like that.

[norahastuff]

idk how the credit/blame breaks down between any party for that disaster ending, (Dabb? Kripke? CW?), but I can't help but feel this would have played out a lot better if spn was on SYFY instead of The CW. particularly in the queer & found family departments. (see: Farscape, Wynnona, Vagrant Queen...)

(SYFY anon cont.) Killjoys!! can't forget. if spn had finished with half the spirit of Killjoys I'd have been a happy camper. and these shows are current contemporaries. so I guess I wanna blame the network a lot here. I really trusted Dabb.

I mean my issue isn’t with how explicit Dean and Cas’ romantic arc was or wasn’t. After this finale, that’s way way down the list of complaints I have. The thing is, the show didn’t even make it a thing. The argument about what the relationship between the two of them is doesn’t come up because Cas’ importance to the story in any capacity is essentially erased. 

I really don’t see how any of this has anything to do with network meddling, it’s the story itself that’s the issue. And this co-dependent, regressed brothers only ending is the story Dabb chose to tell.

I said this earlier in another post, but I don’t think the reason that Cas not meeting Dean at any point after he got to heaven was because of any “no-homo” or “not wanting to address the confession” reasons. There were a million different ways to leave Dean’s side ambiguous if they wanted to (and Spn should know - it’s been doing just that for years.) 

No the reason I don’t think we got a Dean/Cas reunion (even according to the rumours I’m hearing of Cas’ appearance that was cut, Misha was only supposed to appear in a cameo, not a real character moment) was because, we know how important Cas is to Dean. We’ve watched their relationship grow. Over the past few seasons, and especially s15, they’ve repeatedly emphasised how big a role he plays in Dean’s life and how much Dean cares about him. If he had appeared and had any real interaction with Dean, that would have been immediately clear, as it is in practically any moment that these two share.

The problem is, seemingly out of nowhere, the finale seemed to want to end on the thesis statement that Sam and Dean only care about each other. That these other characters that have become such an important part of their lives, don’t matter at all and barely register as a blip on their radar. All that matters is each other. Not even their own individual arcs. Any and all progress that had been made towards independence and self actualisation...none of it matters anymore, because everything is just about Sam and Dean. 

You can see that with Sam’s attitude towards Eileen/other unidentified brunette woman, too. She doesn’t matter, his son barely matters, it’s all about getting back to Dean. 

None of that has anything to do with network notes. That’s just the story they chose to tell. It’s the complete antithesis of the story they’ve been telling for at least the last few years, so honestly, I too am very confused as to why they decided to take this left turn right at the end. If you were adamant that this is the way you wanted your story to end, then why not build to it? I still wouldn’t have liked it but at least it would have made sense then.

As for Kripke, I really don’t think he had much input into this. Sure he can give his opinion but that’s as far as it goes. He’s not the showrunner, Dabb is. And I’ve seen people blaming Singer, but Singer did not write the story. Dabb did. I would understand people blaming Singer or the network if you felt there was something left out that shouldn’t have been or something like that, and if you thought one of them was responsible for that,  but the way I see it, the problem is with the entire story.

The message of the story. The way that story was crafted. It was crafted around the idea that Sam and Dean don’t love anything but each other. They haven’t grown or learned anything, and the only thing that lasts forever is this toxic codependency. The very codependency that Carver spent all those torturous seasons trying to highlight the dangers of. The same co-dependency that Dabb spent 3/4 seasons emphasising wasn’t enough to sustain them anymore. They needed more.

Only for none of that to wind up mattering in the end.

So unless someone can give me a reason otherwise, I do think credit/blame (depending on how you feel I guess) lies with Dabb. He’s the one who wrote the story. But I get it, I really didn’t expect this from him. Not even a little bit.

[sweetestlamb]

Come On Over Baby

Summary: continuation to "Keep Bugging Me". Dosan gets a new apartment and everyone has mixed reactions.

Author's note: I have so many ideas about this fake world I created and I'm just going to live here for a while 🤷🏽‍♀️ I want these things to happen but the show just keeps waking up and choosing violence when they could choose hugs and kisses, it's a damn shame. Anyway if you wanna live in ignorance with me here you gooooooo. 💞💃🏾 Am I back to naming my stories after cheesy songs? Hmmm nobody can prove it *Hums Christina Aguilera* 

It's not a easy decision, no chance at that when his mother stares at him like he admitted to killing puppies but he knows that he needs his own place. His phone calls with Dalmi are getting progressively more heated with them not able to get a moment alone since the event that must not be named.

The first time she asks him what he's wearing he looks down at his cable knit sweater and tells hers, "It's one hundred percent cotton. My mom bought it for me last week. It's very warm." Her silence and subsequent laughter makes him feel as if he's missed something important despite answering her question. With a giggle she replied, "You are really sweet Dosan. You're too good for this world." And he blushes immensely feeling hot under the collar at her excessive praise.

The next time, she simply sends him a message that causes his brain to go offline.

I miss your taste.

There's no way to misconstrue that statement and his brain supplies vivid images of what they did in this very room.

Gasping.

Slurping.

Moist.

He hurries to lock his door before letting his hands stray, her wet mouth filling his thoughts. Embarrassment isn't enough to deter him and her messages following make it clear she knows exactly the affect her seemingly innocuous message yielded.

So he starts looking for an apartment with Dalmi's help, she will be over a lot and it only makes sense that she should have some input. Her smile is honey sweet when he asks for her help, grinning at him with glee as she sips her iced Americano.

"I would love to help Dosan-ah."

The ordeal takes longer than expected but within weeks he finds a place, a mere twenty minute drive from his parents house and thirty minutes from Dalmi. They share identical sunny smiles as he signs the lease and buys their his new apartment. He has to repeatedly remind himself that he can afford this place regardless of the exorbitant amount of zero's. He's come a long way indeed.

Telling his parents about his move is uncomfortable to put it lightly, his mom is nonchalant and sulking in equal terms. Wailing that her only son is abandoning her for a pretty young thing, he's just thankful that Dalmi isn't around to hear her new nickname. His father on the other hand is over the moon, slapping him on the back and shouting about the strong will of Nam men. He fears he'll suffer from chronic back pain as a result of the thunderous pounds.

"Don't skip meals. Call if you need anything. You're always welcome to come back. " His mom promises, reaching out to smack his father as breezes by boasting on the phone that he has a free room in the house now and promises that they can use it for gatherings.

"Yes, yes! Bring the soju we should have a drink!"

But when it's time to bring all his belongings to the moving van, manned by Chul-san and Yong-san both parents are eying him with wet eyes from the doorway. He tries to keep his tears at bay but they all end up weeping in front of the gate, Chul-san screaming "They grow up too quickly!" Patting his mother compassionately on the back. He tries the same with his father but the dead glare stops him in his spot.

After a long day unpacking boxes, mostly his computer and tech supplies he collapses on the floor exhausted. With a dopey grin Chul-san is the first to leave, after Saha sends him a message complaining that she's bored and if he wants to hang him he better be there in ten minutes. Chul-san smiles like she sent him a love letter, he shakes his head but he's done trying to understand their relationship.

He waves goodbye to his friend, thanking him for his help and with then it's just him and Yong-san, who immediately starts to interrogate him about Dalmi and their relationship.

"How are things going?" Yong-san asks laying on the wooden floor with him as they both stare out the giant windows, the sunset is a majestic spill of colors.

His lips slide into an instantaneous grin, "I'm happy. Happier than I was in San Francisco."

Yong-san doesn't reply but he reaches across to squeeze his hand and wrap an arm around his shoulder.

They sit like that for a quiet moment.

Until his phone disrupts the gentle silence, the woman in question appearing on his phone. After a nod from his friend he answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Dosan-ah! Did you finish moving? I'm sorry I couldn't help you. Are you hungry? I can bring you food." Dalmi's voice is music to his ears, the rumbling of her engine vibrating in his ears.

He answers honestly, "Yes we finished, Chul-san and Yong-san helped me. It's okay I know you had to work today. I am a little hungry, fried chicken?" He knows now that he doesn't need to pretend to want fancy food, they both love fried chicken and its delicious simplicity.

She groaned knowingly, "I had a feeling you'd want chicken on a day like this. I already got some from that place you like. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

He smiles, nuzzling into Yong-san's shoulder contently before answering, "Okay. I'll see you soon."

He begins to lower the phone but then her voice rings out stopping him "Dosan-ah one more thing!" He immediately brings the phone back to his face humming to show his presence.

"I miss you. I love you."

His heart flutters never tiring of hearing those three words. If he could bottle it up and listen to it daily he would. He's addicted to her love.

"You too. I love you too."

Then they finally hang up cheesy smile etched in his handsome face.

"Wow. I see it now. You really are cockroaches in love. Gross but captivating." Yong-san teases pushing Dosan's head off his shoulder as he gathers his things. He temporarily feels a tinge of guilt, Yong-san is the only one in the group who doesn't have someone. He doesn't want his friend to feel like the fifth wheel.

His thoughts must play on his face because Yong-san mushes his face before sticking out his tongue, "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine we can't all be gross and in loveeee. I'll be stuffing my face with premium beef instead."

They both chuckle as he walks his friend it the door, saying their goodbyes with a quick embrace.

His nerves overtake him when he's alone. He checks his phone but there is nothing there to keep his attention so he starts at the spot where you would have a TV, then he realizes he has nothing here. What will he do with Dalmi? He contemplates texting her to let her know she should probably just go home. In the end his desire to see his girlfriend overwhelms his selflessness. They can be bored together.

Minutes pass and he buzzes her in, body twitching now from her nearing proximity. When she knocks at the door he all but races to answer the door, unshamed.

"Hi."

"Hey."

They stare at each other starry eyed before he moves out of the way and lets her in. Placing a pair of pink house slippers at her feet, at her curious look he explains with a shy shrug, "I bought them for you."

She smiles widely, thrusting the fried chicken at his broad chest.

"I come bearing gifts too."

The enticing aroma of the fried delicacy fills his senses and he takes the proffered bag, thankful that she thought to bring plastic plates and little plastic cups.

"I don't have anything to drink." He apologizes holding up the cups.

Pulling a bottle out of nowhere she then offers him a bottle of wine, deep red with a golden label. He is no connoisseur but it looks expensive.

"You didn't need to bring me wine."

She shrugs, "I wanted to. You're pretty cute when you're drunk."

He reddens remember that embarrassing night so many years ago, his first time sleeping at her house.

"Maybe we shouldn't drink that much."

She laughs loudly at his warning, pulling a bottle opener from her purse. He absently wonders what else is in there.

She pours the liquid into the plastic cups, handing it to him first and instinctively he leans in to smell the beverage. His nose dangerously close to the liquid before he realizes what he's doing and he hurriedly pulls away.

"Ummm... I-"

"Is that what you're supposed to do?" She asks before leaning in and sniffing her own wine loudly and without any grace. If he wasn't already in love, he would be falling right now.

They both sniff their wine gracelessly and munch on the crispy sweet meat, the dissonance of the meal doing nothing to stop their consumption.

Dalmi hums sweetly as she sits on the floor looking gorgeous with chicken grease on her lips.

"What?" She questions, licking her fingers clean.

He feels his throat tightening. Parched.

He looks at the ground, avoiding her eye as he downs his wine.

"Nothing. Just thinking. How was your day?"

And he listens as Dalmi tells him all about her long day complaining about her sister and how demanding she is, Dosan pointedly does not mention the fact that she's smiling or the fact that all of Injae's "annoying" habits sound like things that Dalmi herself does all the time. It didn't take him long to realize just how similar the sisters are but god forbid anyone mention that.

He smiles when she starts playing with her hair, thankful to be the one she shares her days with.

When he stands up to collect their garbage, walking into the spacious kitchen. She suddenly stops speaking droning off at the end of an incomplete sentence.

"Dalmi-ah?"

After throwing the garbage in the bin he washes his hands and wonders back over to his silent girlfriend, who is glaring at...the ground?

He calls her name again recapturing her attention.

Peering down he notices that she's staring at his phone. Which has a message notification.

Twisting his lips in thought he crouched down again rejoining Dalmi on the smooth glossy floor.

"I didn't mean to look. It was just right there." She's bites out taking a big gulp from her cup.

He has no idea what could possibly have her so worked up and he picks up his phone to see the answer.

I miss you stranger. Call me soon.

He gasps as soon as he sees those words on the screen: Han Ji Yoon.

He knew it wasn't mature but he'd never actually cut things off with her, he'd just slowly stopped calling her and answering her messages. Some might of considered it ghosting but he called it awkwardly disappearing, he'd never broken up with someone before so he just didn't know how. So he'd hoped she would get tired of him and stop trying to see him, it had been working until this message.

"Dalmi-ah I can explain."

He expects more of a fight but she looks at him, waiting. Expectant and glowering. Fire in her eyes.

"Okay. Go ahead."

He blinks at her stare and gulps when she scoots closer to him, invading his personal space. Not knowing how her proximity renders him useless at the best of times.

So he stutters out how he was too pathetic to tell the girl the truth and instead he'd ignored her and thought she got the memo.

Dalmi doesn't say anything at first and when she finally speaks her words make no sense and he wonders if he's drunker than he thought.

"Does she follow you on social media?"

He nods yes and before he knows what exactly is happening Dalmi is dragging him by his arm to the window and mashing their faces together to take a selfie on his phone.

"Stop looking nervous. Look natural. Smile. Dosan-ah."

She snaps away until she's satisfied and he watches in amazement as she posts the picture to his story with the caption, "New apartment with my love." She puts a little red heart and then decides against it.

"There you go. Now everyone will know that you're taken."

His chest is brimming with emotions and he finds his hands curled around her little chin, she leans into his touch easily swaying as if hypnotized.

"You're jealous."

Her lips pull into a sneer but something in his eyes kills her denial, her face breaking as she wraps her thin arms around his waist.

"Don't look so proud. I have people texting me too you know?"

And immediately he squints at her words, staring hard at the indent of her phone in her pocket as if to read said messages.

"Let's post that picture on your social media too." He demands feeling the fiery blaze of jealous lick at his heart.

Her eyes widen before she erupts into laughter, dragging him the rest of the distance between them pressing her joy into his mouth.

He sinks his fingers into her thick hair, swallowing the rest of her laughter allowing Dalmi to back her into the cool glass of the window. All his shyness melts away as he kisses her, emboldened by her moans and buckling of her knees. He catches her before she can fall, hoisting her up his long torso until he feels her legs latch around his waist. They kiss until his lips are sore, his tongue deep in her mouth as she nibbles at his mouth. The flavor of chicken and wine explode on his tongue as he licks deeper, intoxicated on Dalmi and her addicting lips. 

She teases the rim of his ears, breaking their kiss with a wet smack as they gaze into each other's eyes.

She looks as dazed as he feels. Eyes blown wide as she pants in his arms, almost boneless in his hold as she lets him take the full weight of her body. he barely notices, he has carried her too many times to count. It has become something of a habit. He’ll never recover from the spark in her eyes everything he lifts her, the faint blush on her cheeks. One of the only times that he can make her shy. 

"Dosan-ah."

He hums fighting to pay attention with Dalmi looking so breathtaking in his arms stroking his hot ears.

"We need to get you a bed. Very soon hmmm?"

This time he knows exactly what she means and he groans hiding in her shoulder as she rubs his head.

Bed. Yes. Getting that immediately. Maybe stores are open. He should go get it. 

Right now. 

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

Sequel to A Forgotted Memory

Somewhere out there

Beneath the pale moonlight

Someone's thinking of me

And loving me tonight…

Chapter 14 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Previous Chapter : Alex and Augustus

Meet Me Halfway

John "Soap" MacTavish

Task Force 141

Location Unknown

18 hours ago

He thought he was dead. He thought they were going to kill him. He wished they would, just to end the suffering. But he also wished they wouldn't. He had greater plans, he still wanted to enjoy his life. And it looked like Nero granted half his wish, while depriving him of the other half. He's going to live the rest of his years in hell.

He couldn't stop thinking about that song, he lay flat on the ground, feeling weak, powerless and defeated.

If I lay here… Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

He couldn't feel a thing but he knew he was being transported somewhere. Red flashes filled his eyes as he slowly slipped away from the conscious world.

~

2 Seconds.

A single drop of water plopped on the cold floor where he laid every 2 seconds. It was getting annoying, but he thanked it for actually waking him up.

Soap struggled to get up and forced himself to do so, grunting in pain as the muscles and bones of his body reacted to his sudden movements. Enduring all the pain, he gasped and got up, moving to the direction of the only ray of light from a crack in the ceiling.

He limped but he had hope, exhaling with excitement as the light got closer every step he took. Then clang! He hit his head on an iron bar. He's in a prison cell, deep underground.

"Shite." he cursed, dropping his knees on the ground, his energy already ran out and he felt thirsty.

"That's freshwater dripping down there." An unknown voice emerged from the darkness, Soap wanted to believe he's hallucinating, but an old figure emerged from the shadows. His hair mostly greyed out and it was long enough that Soap believed he'd been here for far too long.

"The name's Jack. And I suggest you rehydrate. I've been here long enough that you could trust that it's safe." he suggested. His tone was strict but helpful and Soap knew he's trustworthy. They're both prisoners and as the saying goes: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"

"So… uh Jake. What brings you to this dark and gloomy place?" Soap asked, his voice was barely audible but he was heading straight to the dripping freshwater.

"Turns out our friend Nero doesn't want me dead yet. He couldn't pry any information from me. I'm CIA, literally trained half my life to keep information away. He should've just killed me when he got the chance." He replied.

"So, that means he's going to get something out of you too…" he added, Soap looked worried, he didn't undergo some torture training and hes afraid of what Nero wants from him.

"Look kid, I know you're worried. That's why we won't let that happen. Okay? I have a plan." Jake patted Soap's shoulder, it still hurts from all the stomping and the tossing around but he knew he didn't mean it.

"So… CIA. Guess you crossed paths with Alex." Soap asked, his low accent echoed across the dark cage.

"Yeah. Alex. He was like my son, trained him and assisted him all throughout his CIA Career."

"He kinda disobeyed orders by joining the good side which looked bad in the eyes of the higher ups." Soap reported.

"Hm… It's very unusual of him to not follow orders, unless he believes it's for a better cause." Jack supplied to which Soap nodded, agreeing Jack's assumption.

"It was a good cause. Sacrificed himself for the greater good. Miraculously made it out, but lost his leg in the process." Soap continued, updating the old man about his protege, he's actually glad he did as he could feel the man's mood rising from grumpy prisoner to someone a little less grumpy.

"He had good morals, that kid. He could go far with that attitude… I just hoped that falling in love would not be his downfall… just like what happened to me…" he muttered. Soap didn't make out the last sentence so he assumed it was his own thoughts leaking out of his head. He didn't bother asking again.

The iron doors opened and a new patch of light opened. Jack looked at Soap with determination and nodded.

"Looks like it's showtime, sharkbait." Soap nodded noting the Finding Nemo reference at these trying times.

Jack was right. They had a practice of how to handle prisoners for interrogation. A few stomps, handcuffs, sack on the head and push you if you don't cooperate. Soap had to go through the whole thing, and as far as he knows, Jack must have gotten the key.

He limped his way to the interrogation room, buying enough time for Jack to blindly find the keyhole from the cell. He tried fighting back but the taser sticks were already giving him a bad time.

Just as Jack described, the interrogation room consisted of a dentist chair and a television, his captors were beside him preparing orders from Nero on the screen.

Soap squirmed his way out of the chair, trying to be convincing that he had no idea what's going on.

"Stop squirming! Tell us where the girl is… or I'll take a wild guess and destroy your base instead." Nero yelled. His voice was low, like it ran through a voice changer.

"Sod off…" Soap spat and squirmed again, receiving a shock from the taser. He groaned as tendrils of electricity ran through his body shaking him almost unconscious.

"Lower the voltage or he won't respond! Dumbasses! We need something from him!" Nero yelled at his henchmen.

"So… MacTavish…22nd Parachute Regiment, S.A.S., Now Task Force 141… Skilled in combat, Sniper and Demolitions… You know a proper brainwash would help me get the code from you right?" he mused.

"FOUR!" Soap roared from the top of his lungs, panting after he yelled.

"Four? What the fuck are you talking about?" Nero asked, looking confused. Addition to that, the ground shook and made everyone else in the room wonder.

"What's going on?" Nero asked.

"What? we're under attack? By who? How?" Soap's ears could hear the distress from their leader and from the looks of it, 141 already found him making it easier for him and Jack to get out of this hell hole.

"Augustus is gone? They're going to pay! Okay boys kill this man now. We have to send them a message!" Nero yelled angrily and the tv turned to static.

Meet me Halfway

Francine "France" Winters

Task Force 141

Task Force 141 Base - Briefing Room

"We're being pressured to capture Nero. With our base compromised, the Board would now decide for our force's future. Simon Riley is now researching Augustus' burner phone, if we're lucky enough, it could lead us to our next clue." Shepherd calmly informed the force about the status. He looked in distress but he had to keep pushing forward, to end this warfare.

"Some of Nero's forces are already in New York. It turns out he could command the brainwashed civilians to deploy EMP blasts but recon noticed that he could only command a few at a time. This means without the IP address, he is still powerless and trying hard." Shepherd added.

"I want you all to always be ready for an all out attack on Nero. Let's prove to the board that we're the best one for the job." He muttered and dismissed everyone. France decided to stay in the briefing room and let the quiet consume her thoughts.

"You okay?" A reassuring hand held her shoulder. She knew it was Gary and tears started to fall from her eyes.

"I… I can't stop worrying about him, Roach." She croaked and gave Roach a very pained stare. She actually missed John's presence even after being together for a short while, she felt that they shared a lot of common things together, the strive to become better, the response to danger even off duty and the determination to achieve a goal. Those were her traits that he also had, these same traits that made him like her despite his cocky first impression.

"Let's help out Ghost track that son of a bitch Nero down. And maybe it'll lead us to him." Roach assured them as they both stood up and went to Research.

"How… how can you still be so sure that he's okay?" she sobbed.

"The dogtags." Ghost interjected while typing furiously on the computer.

"If Soap was dead, he should've shown us his tag. That would cripple some of our Force's focus and would lead to his success in invading and capturing Samantha." Ghost continued, he made sense and France almost smiled with the two's support. Instead, she just breathed out and helped Ghost.

"So, have you traced each source?" France asked Ghost as she also started furiously typing codes and strings of data input.

"Yes, they're really sneaky with the encryption, but I keep on getting pings at one location before it spreads in different places." he explained.

"The nearest signal tower. Every packet almost goes through there. You see that?" France pointed at the screen.

"Yeah I do. Let's start tracing that source." Ghost muttered and the map already pinged the tower's location.

"Bingo." they both whispered and cheered, hugging each other as a sign of success. France felt Ghost's tight hug and felt something off about the guy, then he actually removes half of his mask and pouts his cheek close to hers.

"I…. uh… I'm sorry" Ghost shyly said as France pushed him away and felt awkward at the situation. Gary just stood there in shock as Price entered the room.

"What's the news?" he asked, looking at the three.

"We found him, Sir." Ghost cleared his throat and put back his mask.

"Well, bloody hell. Let's go then!" he said as they all ran towards the exit and prepared themselves. France didn't have the time to think about the events earlier as she was still worried about Soap's safety. She hopes that whatever lies in that place would give her an answer.

~

"FIRE!" Captain Price yelled as snipers quickly shot the guards surrounding the icy fortress. The gulag housed people that the world didn't want but couldn't kill, and she hoped that John MacTavish was on that list.

Danger close explosions crippled both attacking and defending forces as Price roared at Shepherd to be careful. France gulped as she saw a very open field that they're dropping in on and knew for a fact that she's very open and weak at these positions.

Her mind raced, looking at every angle. Tangos were everywhere carrying different kinds of weapons. With minimal angles to hide on, the force, led by Roach aggressively advanced to the Gulag, dodging heavy fire, grenades and RPG Rockets. As soon as they found the tunnel leading deep into the Gulag, France already felt comfortable. This was her playing zone and no one's going to stop her from getting into Nero.

The way in was almost clear, no enemies were against them but instead they ran further into the Gulag. Something was off.

Gunfire was heard deep into the Gulag and as soon as the team reached the control room, Ghost already did his magic. Opening gates, looking at the cameras and defending their six. The masked man helped them further advance into the Gulag.

"Nero's not here…" Ghost said.

"How so?" Price angrily muttered.

"He never set foot in this place. He only uses a television to communicate."

"Bloody hell. Now what?"

" I see two heat signatures behind that wall."

Roach quickly planted a c4 breach and as soon as it exploded Francine pounced at the closest person, raising her fist and looking at its eyes to see the punch go through.

Blue eyes. Those shades of blue. France stopped his fist as tears started to well from her eyes, dropping some on his bare chest.

"John…" she whimpered and smiled.

"Fra.." she didn't let him finish, she kissed him. She didn't care what everyone else thought. The gunfire and explosions suddenly felt nothing to her. She didn't care how John's lips tasted, all she cared about was that he's alive and she's on his arms.

Extraction quickly followed as Shepherd's forces already did a lot of damage on the old fortress. They barely got out just in time for the building's inevitable collapse but they're safe.

Next Chapter : Secret Alliances

Notification Squad my beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @smokeywhalee @beemybee @whimsywispsblog @ricinbach

[kuronanox]

Looking from afar - Kyoraku Shunsui

Rejection

Kyoraku looked into the distance, his best friend and the love of his life together and happy. He couldn't help but feel the pain of loss. Of course he covered up the act of sadness by chasing other girls and by having the player boy persona. The academy days were the worse. They were young and dumb, he had to endure seeing (Your Name) and Jushiro in love.

"Hey pretty lady what's wrong?!" He happily calls out to her as she smiles and run towards him. "I got done training! You and Jushiro are so talented I'll never be able to keep up." She pouts under him as he chuckles and places his hand on her head. "You are perfect the way you are." He teased as she lightly blushes and looks away.

"Tch, whatever play boy." She says as they both laugh as she sees Jushiro walks from behind and her face lights up. "Jushiro!" She calls out and give him a big hug. The white haired man blushes and lightly hugs her back. Kyoraku only stared at their direction and hid his discomfort.

"I'll get going love birds." He says and waves them a goodbye. "Hmm I was going to ask him to eat with us." Ukitake says tilting his head in confusion.

The two best friend successfully made it to the Gotei Court and achieved Captain status. They were a talented bunch trained by the strongest man in Seiteitei himself Genryusai.

"I'm jealous, I wanna be popular and strong like you guys." (Your Name) pouts as she sees them wear the haori. "Don't I look beautiful (Your Name)!" Kyoraku cheers throwing an arm around her shoulder as she looks up to him and smile. "Not to bad if I say so myself."

"Don't be a tease." Ukitake says to her and slightly pouts.

"Boo! You are just jealous I didn't hug you yet." (Your Name) sticks her tongue out. Kyoraku just smiles and lets her go to Ukitake.

"It's always like this, letting her go. Well I got new captain duties to attend!" Kyoraku excuses himself as they bid him a farewell. After a good distance away from them he takes a look back. His two best friends hand in hand happily walking back to their barracks.

Jealously

"You are invited to the marriage of Ukitake Jushiro and (Your Name)." Kyoraku reads the letter out loud and lightly places it on his desk. He knew this day was coming, he didn't want admit he was hurting but deep down it tore him apart. The love of his life in the arms of another man and yet this man was his best friend and companion. He could never betray both of them even if it killed him.

As the days of marriage came closer (Your Name) would visit Kyoraku often and tell him about her ideas and theme for the weddings. "With a Captain salary I'm sure we can pay for the wedding we are envisioning." She says showing him the notes she wrote down as inspiration. He talks, but most of the time he would only give small input and smile. That's all he could do without breaking down.

"This is my wedding dress." She then process and shows the drawing the designer had made for her. Kyoraku was breathless, the dress was absolutely stunning. He could only imagine how beautiful she were going to look in it.

"It's so beautiful (Your Name)." He says as her face lights up. "Right! Can't wait till I get to try it on!"

Short months past by and he was standing as the best man. This was the ultimate mood killer, the very moment he saw (Your Name) walked out to the aisle in the dress he was mesmerized. Her smile was glowing but the glowing smile was not to his direction. It was to Ukitake and Kyoraku could feel jealousy swell up as he looked away.

Ukitake was getting sick, he was already weak during the academy days but as years past it seemed like it was getting worse. (Your Name) had to leave work often to take care of him.

One fall night she came running to Kyoraku barracks in tears. "What's wrong?!" He holds her shoulders as the words stutter out. "J-Jushi-Jushiro hasn't waken up and it's been 3 days."

"He's fine, he will pull through like he always does."

"I'm scared. Lately he's been in bed and unable to function. His coughs keeps him up. I feel like he can't be at peace ."

Kyoraku signs as they walk to (Your Name) and Ukitake shared room. He was in bed asleep, his face looked discomfort. "Jushiro." She calls out and holds his hand tightly.

Kyoraku knew it was wrong to be upset at the moment even though his friend was unconscious but he was upset (Your Name) could never look at him that way. "Why am I acting like a jerk right now? She's asking for your comfort and I'm just standing here."

He takes a seat next to the bed and quietly gives her company. This was the best he could do for now. "(Your Name) believe in him as he believe in you. He will pull through this."

She wipes her tears and nods. "Thank you."

Pain

"Just in case something ever happens to me, I want you to watch over (Your Name) for me." Ukitake says to Kyoraku one night as they shared a cup of sake. "What are you taking about? We are a invincible duo!" He cheers lighting up the mood.

"I'm serious, my body feels like it's giving out soon. And I know your feelings for her. I feel like a bad friend for knowing all these years and acting like I didn't know." He admits looking down ashamed as Kyoraku lost his smiles and looks up to the moon.

"Don't apologize, it was just meant to be this way. Just because I have feelings for her doesn't mean I don't want you two to be happy."

Ukitake sadly smiles and recalls all the good memories they've had at the academy days. "I know you could give her a better life. When my time comes."

It was a heavy topic but was cut short as Kyoraku promised and told all the stories when he tried to peep into the ladies shower room.

The Quincy attack had came and left Soul Society in chaos. (Your Name) was with Ukitake at his side as he was prepared to give his life up to become the Soul King right hand. (Your Name) had to be pulled away as Ukitake gave her one last smile. She wasn't thinking about the enemy at the moment she just knew she couldn't lose him.

The look on Ukitake face was like him telling her not to cry and be angry. The soft and gentle smile she would never see again.

Kyoraku couldn't help but allow Ukitake to do as he wished, he knew this day was coming. "Goodbye my friend." No tears feel as Kyoraku watch him yell in pain.

The unexpected happen as Ywached pulled Mimihagi from Ukitake as he collapsed and died instantly.

(Your Name) fell onto the floor, the site of her husband murdered and she couldn't be next to him at his final moments. "You have to be kidding me." It was like she was frozen in time. Before she could hold his body she was retrieved by a fellow comrade they retreated from the shrine. "NO! I'm not leaving without him." She begged as the tears fell.

"(Your Name)! You have to pull yourself together! Now isn't the time to be throwing a fit! We have a duty to uphold!" Kyoraku grabs her and yells. She could see the pain in his face. Of course he was hurting as much as she was. Giving one last painful look at Ukitake body laying limp she turned away. "Saving Soul Society comes first."  

Without saying a word to Kyoraku she dashed out of site to help the others.

Sadness

The war was over and (Your Name) had been out of sight for a couple of days after the funeral and burial of Ukitake. She sat on top of the grassy hill looking up to the sky. No more unexpected gifts or watching him trim the bonsai or giving him his favorite food ohagi. The feeling of emptiness engulfed her, the warmth in her eyes were gone.

"There you are." Kyoraku calls out and takes a seat next to her.

"It hurts." she says holding her heart.

"I know." His voice in pain.

(Your Name) hugged her knees and hid her tears from falling again, she didn't want to show her best friend she was crying again. After all they knew each basically their whole lives. "I'm glad I didn't lose both of you."

"He did it for a good reason, it was very unfortunate Ywach took him away from us."

There was silence for a long time and she didn't move from her position. Kyoraku stood from behind and embraced her. "It's okay to cry now. No one is here."

"Time will heal everything." she finally says sinking into the embrace and lifted her head to face him. Her teary eyes the color of waterfall fell as she sadly smile. (Your Name) added "Looks like it's the two of us now".

Kyoraku caresses her hair and hums. "I promised him I would take care of her, thank you for giving me the chance my friend."

"I promise to be by your side (Your Name), when you need me the most."

She looks up and smiles lighty. "Mm I won't lose anyone else important to me anymore."

[sunlitroom]

Hello. I hope u do not mind asks. Just now became enthralled with Jeremiah Valeska. I am trying to write a story with him, but I am looking for input. I can't decide if he had some craziness in him before the gas or not. I know it's supposed to be up to interpretation I guess? But I'm just curious to know what you think. I like your blog :)

Hello anon.  I do not mind asks at all :)  I hope you are well.

What follows is a bit of an essay - sorry.  I love a bit of meta.  Feel free to pick and choose or discard completely.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter - too.  I agree that Jeremiah is a fascinating character.

So.  Did Jeremiah have some craziness in him before the gas?

It’s a tricky question. One of the things that Gotham did really well with Jerome and Jeremiah was to set them both up as unreliable narrators.  Jerome doesn’t ever claim to have been a good child, but he does specifically deny what Jeremiah accused him of.  Jeremiah, on the other hand, says that even though he might not specifically have done what he told their mother he did – Jerome definitely wanted him dead and was going to kill him.

You’re insane.  And I tried telling mom, but she didn’t want to listen to me.  You blame me for everything that’s gone wrong in your life – but this truth is, Jerome - you were born bad.

Born bad, huh.  So that’s why you made her think that I tried to kill you.  What was it again?  I put a blade to your throat – no I tried to light you on fire

We both know you wanted to!

Yes – that was a funny story

Ok - maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that.  But I didn’t have a choice and I was right.....You killed our mother.

She did deserve it, though, after that whore hid you away she gave up on me.  Poisoned by your stories.  You turned everyone I loved against me!  My own flesh and blood!  I guess it’s just like what they say.  We could all go insane with just one bad day.

Jeremiah wants to believe there was something fundamentally wrong with Jerome.  Jerome doesn’t deny this, but says that they share the same blood, so Jeremiah must be bad too.  

Interestingly, Jerome seems to see nuance here – though.   On one hand, he says that they both have insanity in their blood. On the other hand, he specifically tells Jeremiah that he caused/worsened Jerome’s insanity by turning everyone against him.  Which is true in Jerome’s mind?  It’s hard to say.

What about what we see of Jeremiah pre-gas – does that say anything to deny or support Jerome’s accusation?

Jeremiah is restrained in some respects, not in others.  He lives concealed in a labyrinth, hidden away – but constructing an entire labyrinth as a home in the first place is pretty self-indulgent and decadent.  He hides behind a pseudonym - but it’s a showy pseudonym: Xander Wilde.  He’s quiet-spoken and controlled in his manner, but he’s visibly short-tempered and quickly irritated by Jim.  His life looks uncomfortably spartan, but we see him help himself to a generous drink from a cut-glass decanter.   There’s an odd tension to how he lives his life.

Even his clothes have this duality to them.  They could just have put him in a version of Ed’s season one geeky ‘n clever get-up, or something boring and neutral - perfect for a man who wants to disappear.

If you look, though, although he’s ostensibly buttoned-up and professional, there are clues that there’s more to him. Look at this shirt:

It’s a silky purple paisley shirt.  That is not a restrained item.  Oswald would happily wear a waistcoat along those lines.  There’s the fit, too.  To use Ed as a reference, his season one clothes were often deliberately quite ill-fitting and unflattering– which highlighted his awkwardness: sleeves and trousers were often too short, making him look like an overgrown child, reinforcing the idea that he’s not a ‘proper man’ (something that torments Ed early on)

In contrast, Jeremiah’s clothes are form-fitting.  He’s buttoned up to the neck, yes – but, he’s definitely tailored to show his body to its best advantage.  Again – you’ve got that tension: covered-up and buttoned-up, but flattering his body.  

You could argue, given his fancy schooling, that he learned about good tailoring and how to present himself, but I can guarantee none of the other wealthy boys who attended his school are donning a purple paisley shirt and a jacket with a nipped waist for an average workday.  

There’s a great article on costuming in Hannibal that talks about how his clothing is often a red flag – letting us know that there’s something much more dangerous underlying the respectable exterior.  We see this with Oswald in season one, and I’d argue it’s present with pre-gas Jeremiah.

https://ew.com/article/2015/08/29/everything-hannibal-wore-hannibal/

Jeremiah might be afraid that there’s something to what Jerome says.  Maybe, then, he’s hiding not only from Jerome, but from himself?  They’re obviously physically identical, and Jerome is apparently intelligent enough to solve Jeremiah’s labyrinths.  Imagine watching someone who looked just like you acting out constantly, being chaotic and violent and frightening.  Maybe you might start to wonder whether there’s something of that in you – if you only let yourself go?  It’s possible that Jeremiah is hiding not only from Jerome, but is also unconsciously hiding from himself, impulses he can’t or won’t acknowledge, a shadow-self – much like Ed’s mirror self.

That doesn’t have to be criminal urges, or urges that would point to insanity. But maybe he became scrupulous and highly-controlled because he was so afraid of this possibility – clamping down on even natural feelings?    His reaction to Bruce seems intense and instant.  I honestly think it’s a case of love at first sight – but it’s possibly intensified and exacerbated because he has hidden himself away for so long, seemingly denying himself any relationship outside the professional.

Ultimately, for me, I wouldn’t say he was ‘crazy’ before the gas - but I would say that he was psychologically unhealthy, way more fragile and unstable than he might appear on the surface.  I think that Jeremiah’s tight rein on himself – adopted because of his horror of his brother’s behaviour, and unconscious fear that he might be like him – created a tinderbox of repressed feelings and fears.    The poison gas then acted like a match – igniting all those repressed feeling and thoughts, and then distorted them.

Thanks for the ask, anon!  I’d love to hear your own thoughts :)