#like something along the lines that after a point in the second or third season Juno had been dreaming everything up????

[abessive-art]

oh nooo i still havent caught up with tpp irl and yesterday I had a dream where i was listening to the finale and the last episode unveiled the twist that the whole junoverse had ALL BEEN A DREAM. god. I woke up devastated.

[arieslost]

loudest in the paddock | cl16

summary: you’re charlie’s biggest fan.

word count: 1,013

warnings: suggestive comments at the end, possible bad writing (apologies in advance if this ends up being true)

masterlist — join my tag list here!

© arieslost 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

being charles leclerc’s girlfriend is a badge of honor that you wear with pride, and you love to make it known to everyone, whether there’s a camera on you or not.

the fans have a field day with all of your reactions that get captured on camera during race weekends, to the point where charles has a folder on his phone that is home to a number of memes that they’ve made of you. you just get easily excited, and clips of you yelling about something, whether good or bad, have gone viral on many separate occasions.

things are a little different this race. since the moment max’s brakes caught fire and then exploded as he was coming into the pit lane, you’ve been laser focused on the fact that your boyfriend’s teammate is in the lead, with your boyfriend himself only a couple seconds behind in p2. the only time your eyes weren’t glued to the tv was when you noticed someone standing in front of you to block the camera’s view of your celebratory dance when it was official that max had DNFed.

you’re practically biting your nails off as the laps go by, praying harder than you ever have before that this race ends well for ferrari. you hadn’t been able to attend the last race, so the possibility of witnessing charles on the podium in the flesh had you shaking in your boots. especially after how rough last season was.

and then george crashes on the last lap.

“what?!” you exclaim, flying out of your chair and covering your mouth with both hands.

the tv switches to a different camera that shows his car on its side in the middle of the track, and you can feel your heart in your throat as you wait for what looks like an obvious red flag. you can hear someone say your name, and out of the corner of your eye you can see your own face on another tv. usually you smile, wave, or make a funny face at the camera when you catch it filming you, but right now you’re too worried about the fact that only a yellow flag has been called along with a virtual safety car. your hands go from your mouth to your head as it’s confirmed that the race will finish under the virtual safety car, meaning a guaranteed ferrari 1-2 and charles on the podium.

you waste no time in throwing your headset down and cheering, getting wrapped up in hugs by the team as they pass you by to head to the side of the track and cheer carlos and charles across the finish line. while they do so, you rush out of the garage to find your way to the podium in order to get the best spot to see both ferrari drivers up there and hear the dulcet tones of a different anthem than that of the dutch one.

the wait goes by quicker than you thought, and they’re announcing lando’s name as he walks onto the podium to claim his third place finish. then the graphics behind the podium change to charles’, and the second his name is called you do what you’ve been waiting to do since the moment max retired from the race.

years of attending concerts and dance competitions had thoroughly prepared you for this moment. you cup your hands around your mouth, and the second you spot charles, you shout as loud as you possibly can.

“CHARLIEEEE!”

your scream renders everyone else silent for a few shocked moments, and you giggle when charles nearly trips over his own feet as he cranes his neck to try and find you. you shout his name again, sending the ferrari team into a chorus of similar cheers, and when charles finally spots you, his smile grows impossibly brighter and he blows you a kiss from the second place position on the podium.

he looks nothing short of ethereal— his hair fluffy and messy from being encased in his helmet, the rings adorning his fingers, the way he holds his chin up with barely contained pride as the team sings the italian national anthem. you make a mental note to tell him he’s been looking a lot like tony stark lately, and you’re loving it. even more so when he gets drenched in champagne, the confetti sticking to his soaked skin.

he has no struggle in finding you after the ceremony— as soon as you spot him, you let out a wolf whistle that has him blushing.

“there’s my girl,” he laughs as you launch yourself into his arms, kissing the top of your head. “made sure i could hear you all the way from the podium, huh?”

“of course, what did you expect?” you ask, smiling widely as you look at the trophy that got sandwiched between you both. “i’m so proud of you, charles. the whole world needs to know about it.”

“here,” he holds the trophy out to you. “pour toi, ma belle.”

“you’re shouldn’t have,” you tease, taking it into your hands and admiring it as best you can while trying to ignore your reflection in its surface. “this is amazing. you’re amazing. where’s carlos?”

“i thought you were my girlfriend,” he snatches the trophy back. “no more trophy for you.”

“but he won,” you continue, rolling your eyes when he pouts. “hey, i only gave him gracious applause. i seem to recall screaming your name before.”

“and it’s the only name you ever will.” he says with a wink, and you elbow him in the ribs.

“you are so…” you trail off, at a loss for words courtesy of his audacity.

“correct?” he supplies, wrapping an arm around your waist and pressing a kiss to your temple.

“i was thinking ‘unbelievable.’”

“i’m taking that as a compliment.” he says, before leaning in and whispering in your ear. “now let’s go back to the hotel and see how loud you can be for me there, hmm?”

you can only hope that the hotel walls are soundproof.

note: for some reason writing for charles is like fucking impossible for me so if this flops i have nothing and no one to blame but myself 💪🏼💪🏼

my inbox is always open for comments, criticism, and conversation! feel free to pop in!

reblogs are greatly appreciated <33

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[justminawrites]

None of you understand Amber Bennett: She's just a girl, your honour. A review of the show writers' least favourite love story from Invincible season 1.

Now let me just preface this by saying I have 2 points to make. Just two, very long, super rambly points that does have mild spoilers for Invincible season 2. Read at your own risk.

Point 1: Amber isn't "understanding" enough is utter bullshit.

There’s no indication that civilians outside of the ones associated with the GDA have any idea how brutal fights are for superheroes. Amber quite literally has no idea what the hell Mark is going through, even after the superhero reveal. The only thing she has a smidgeon of understanding of is his dad beating his ass on live TV. And even that is a heavy maybe because we don’t know how much of the fight the cameras could cover and how much was broadcast to the general public. 

Point 2: Amber’s dated Losers before.

This is stated explicitly in canon, she's “been down that road." Furthermore, she’s also the daughter of a single-parent household. She used to hang out a community centre as a kid because her mom did late hours. Daddy Issues anyone? She’s got a lot of her own problems that we never get to unpack or linger on because the writing decided she wasn’t going to end up with Mark. 

What if she’d already dated an absolute bastard before Mark? Someone who seemed sweet and genuine at first, but then he started slacking. He’d be late to dates, stop taking an interest in anything she did, and just never show up for her in any way that mattered. Amber would make up excuses with her friends and family, oh he’s busy, he’s studying; he cares, I swear, he just has a strange way of showing it. 

Her friends and family don’t believe her completely but they humor her because she really seems to like him. And the ex-boyfriend isn’t a douchebag the whole time.. he brings gifts to make up for being late, he plies and pacifies her with honeyed words and promises to be better.

But each time the lies get more and more difficult to believe. Traffic and science projects, traffic and science projects, even when he shows up smelling like weed and alcohol. Her friends and family give her tight-lipped smiles when her ex-boyfriend gives her sloppy kisses and proclaims over and over “She’s too good for me, this one.”

She tries to be empathetic, she tries to be understanding when they’re alone, he can tell her what it is that’s wrong. But every-time she brings up giving them some space, he takes it as an indication of her not believing him and he guilts her with one sob story or another— she knows him, he was so gentle and respectful before they started dating, does she really think he’d do this to her if he didn’t have a good reason? Just a masterclass in gaslighting. So she gives him a second chance, third chance, fourth even. 

But then he begins cheating on her. Whenever she confronts him about it, he plays victim and accuses her of being “crazy” even though the entire school knows otherwise. She catches him one fine day, and dumps him on the spot. For a short while, Amber’s very proud of this but as time passes she starts to feel extremely embarrassed that it took that long for her to catch on. 

No one blames her, of course, but they all say something along the lines of “We never liked him anyway” which makes Amber doubt the perception of him she had. She internalises their support as a failing on her part to be vigilant, she didn’t want to end up making the same mistakes as her mom, after all. 

Amber becomes guarded. She doesn’t entertain male attention (from Todd, for example) but then she finds out resident wimp Mark Grayson takes a beating for her and she feels bad. 

So she gives him a chance. Mark was a nonissue, a nobody with no track record of being amazing or awful, just an in-between, normal guy who was maybe a little soft spoken and needed to stand up for himself more. 

But every time they try to hang out, something comes in between them. The excuses are laughably obvious this time and Amber is caught between trying to understand if Mark Grayson is trying to let her down easy because he’s not interested or if he’s just another douchebag taking her for a ride. 

He leaves her alone during their study date for an hour to do something shady and/or potentially related to Eve (I know she overheard him yelling at Cecil in his bedroom); Mark tells her he��s been to Mount Everest, but can’t tell her How he got there, and leaves on a non-specific trip for two weeks, right after their first date, and can’t even tell her Where he’s going or what he did when he was there?

So she does what she’d wished she’d done in her first relationship, she sets her boundaries. Firmly. She gives Mark multiple chances to come clean when she tells him she’s not riding that wave again. It’s been brought up a few times that Amber has lingering relationship-trauma.

During their study date Amber tells him she’s been in relationships with violent potentially abusive guys (“Met plenty of guys who were willing to throw a punch for me.”); or when he stands her up for the Dinner with her mom she tells him that he needs to make a choice because she’s “Been down this road before, and once was enough.”

But he still keeps at it and she starts getting tired of defending him to her friends and her mom. He’s just busy, he’s just studying; he cares, I swear, he just has a strange way of showing it. And this time they shake their heads and lightly imply that she’s stuck in a pattern. Amber can feel them comparing Mark to her old boyfriend and it all becomes a bit too much. 

Either he’s a no good drug dealing prick or he’s just wasting her time, whatever it is, Amber’s had enough of being left in the dark. 

The soup kitchen is the final straw, but then she finds out that he gets run over by a bus. He actually gets hurt, this is the first time Amber’s seen him hurt, and she feels awful because if she hadn’t pushed him to show up for her again and again maybe he would’ve been more careful. 

He doesn’t let her visit him in the hospital. A hit and run on the wrong side of town was the story this time— he can’t even tell her this, the specifics of his accident! Eve was his first point of contact after his parents?! At this point Amber is convinced that he’s involved in something violent or something to do with Eve, or both and she’s not sure she wants to keep going with this. 

Amber is confused and hurt but she also feels responsible for Mark’s injuries. Maybe she Was too paranoid, maybe she Was projecting all her relationship-trauma on him and he would tell her what happened at his own pace. So she backtracks, gives him another chance.

College is really the best of all worlds, Mark makes her promises that this time will be different, and Amber tentatively agrees to college together. (She’s still stressed out about his injuries and on edge the whole time though and asks if he has a concussion). 

This is really important because Amber ends up at Upstate U later. She decided to go to college with him, basically because of Him. This wasn’t any specific plan she had before, this was her making room in her life for this boy and potentially everything their lives could be together. 

Then the Reanimen Incident happens. And she loses her shit. Mark Grayson is not the flakey but well-intentioned boyfriend she thought he was.. Mark Grayson is not even a good person! He LEFT her and William at the drop of a hat to save his own slimy skin, that bastard! Her intuition was right, she never should’ve given him a chance. 

Amber was no longer going to give Mark Grayson the time of day, much less share a bed with the self-serving jerk; she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of spinning another tall tale. Or seeing her cry. She closes the door to the shower rooms behind her, and overhears Rick leaving to get them all some beer. Dorm room walls are thin, after all.

Then she hears something else.

“You’re Invincible!” William’s voice carries over excitedly, “And you never told me?”

Here goes the "problematic" bit.

I think Amber was lying when she told Mark she knew he was Invincible weeks ago. Amber didn’t even know who Invincible was until a few minutes after the Reanimen attack. She isn’t acting for anyone around her, she’s genuinely confused when the superhero jets off because she’s never seen him in her life. 

I think she overheard William freaking out about it in the dorm room and she pieced together Mark’s absences with his vague excuses and why couldn’t visit him at the hospital. She takes a shower to cool off but sitting and stewing on all of it just makes her angrier and she decides to go to the frat party just to get away from Mark for a while. 

Now why wouldn’t she just tell him she overheard them talking? 

Amber is an assertive independent character with a lot of pride. And that’s not a bad thing. Amber has a lot to be proud of. She has a strong sense of justice, she doesn’t take crap from anyone and she has too much self-worth to put up with liars. 

You can clearly see this in the way she approaches Mark in the beginning. She asks William if he’s dating Eve, and then instead of calling him herself, she gets Todd to give Mark her number so he can call her if he’s interested, despite the fact that she already is. She has too much pride to chase him. It’s one of her fixed flaws, and it’s consistent to her character. 

So finding out that Mark is actually Invincible almost by accident, is kind of embarrassing for Amber. Not only because she yelled at him for disappearing but for all the times he misled her and lied to her only to actually have a good reason for doing it. There’s a lot of mixed emotions there, shame, guilt, concern. Guilt.

Admitting that she overheard he was Invincible would be like admitting she was a stupid, nagging girlfriend who had no right to be a part of his life (the way the fandom perceives her) so she doesn’t. She tries to distract herself with the party, flirts with someone she just met not ten minutes ago, and feels awful because he immediately drops the girlfriend bomb. 

Now she’s forced to confront the fact that she has a boyfriend, and her flakey, well-intentioned superhero boyfriend is sitting and moping in the dorm room because she doesn’t have the guts to tell him she knows. Because telling him she knows would remove the choice he’d need to make when deciding whether or not he was serious about their relationship.

Amber was serious, Amber was going to change her life and potentially open her future to college with him, but was Mark really sure about Them if he couldn’t even tell her of his own accord? 

Telling him would be like giving him another out. And Amber was done giving him an out. 

When he finally confesses he doesn’t see why she’s mad at him, because he doesn’t see her at all. He can’t even begin to imagine what this roller coaster of a weekend has been for her because she’s been serious about him all this time and it took them breaking up completely for Mark to choose her back in the first place and go all in. 

Now it’s true that Mark is entitled to his secrets but Amber is also entitled to being upset that he can’t tell her 1 solid thing about his life. Not one thing does he trust her enough to explain, and at that point why should they even be dating each other? Why should she change the course of her future for a guy who can’t tell her where he was last weekend?

Then Omni-man beats him up on live TV, and now that she knows that he’s Invincible, she finally gets a glimpse into the bloody, gruesome world that is Mark’s. His Dad isn’t a superhero, his Dad is a Monster, and Mark is discovering this the same time as the rest of the world.

So she freaks out because she cares, and she’s so relieved to see him not beat to a bloody pulp like on TV that she kisses him. She likely had no intention of getting back together with him before that, but world-ending fiascos often come with heightened emotions, and they’re just kids at the end of the day. 

She’s not a manipulative, narcissistic villain, she’s just a proud girl, in love with a boy who can’t decided whether or not he loves her back. 

Now do I think Mark is a terrible jerk who doesn’t deserve Amber? No. I watched Invincible the same way it was intended, almost entirely through Mark’s eyes, and it’s hard to assign blame in this case because we see how horrifying and traumatic being a superhero actually is. But that’s the point, we only see one half of the story. 

We see Amber through Mark’s eyes and in his opinion she could afford to be more compassionate to his excuses the moment she finds out he’s a hero, the way Eve can, but that’s not true at all because Amber has no idea what being a hero is like. Eve does, and that’s the difference that Mark is wilfully blind to. 

But Mark also has no idea what Amber’s life is like and it’s easy to get lost in the sea of all the lives lost and villains fought, that he genuinely hasn’t spent any time with his girlfriend as a person beyond his Girlfriend. Amber isn’t a person to him, like William stopped being eventually; they became sort of tethers to Mark’s humanity, a way to distinguish himself from his Dad. A way to ground him. 

Seriously? When was the last time Mark even talked to William, his once Best Friend? They’re not his Mom, they’re concepts to him. They’re civilians, potential victims he could end up losing if he doesn’t police himself and his powers. Mark slowly becomes disillusioned to his own life as a human, the more the leans into the Viltrumite half of his parentage. 

It’s a little tragic but it’s the story we’re seeing. In season 2, when Mark and Amber break up and he gives up his dream for college, these two things are almost explicitly correlated. Mark is coming to terms with the fact that he’s going to outlive everyone he knows, even his new baby brother and that is just the most chaotic example of a slow-burn trauma if I’ve ever seen one. He’s giving up being human, but maybe not giving up his humanity. 

______________________________________________________________

TLDR: None of you understand Amber Bennett because the writers decided that Mark would outlive her before he ever had the chance to see things from her perspective and I am SALTY about it

[allio-corporations]

Another Hannibal (Hannigram) AU:

This time a G/t au! Or more correctly, a plethora of supernatural (monster/magic) g/t AUs and just plain g/t AUs!

This is a comp of a few avenues of g/t Hannibal.

- Supernatural AU! -

This AU has supernatural creatures, and mixing of different creatures leads to some going underground/traits not present unless something triggers their dna to do so

Will has empathy based psychic abilities, along with some lineage(s) that may explain what happens to him in this AU. One of them being part Veela (think Harry Potter type lore for that creature)

Hannibal has heightened senses, more so due to his bloodlines. A lineage of Wendigo that reappears in the family when he’s forced to eat Mischa. The wendigo traits are able to maintained and keep him civil due to his diet and other lineages. Lastly, he has a third line of inhuman species, called Nephilim - meaning giants but also in some interpretations of the Bible and Torah, it means children of (likely fallen) angels + humans. - It’s giants that are born of angels and humans, but some of the traits go quiet for many generations at a time and can only be triggered in someone due to certain circumstances. It explains the success and power the Lecters had in their lives, both sides, and essentially ensured their nobility (also Nephilim were seen to use magic to change or use abilities other creatures had, but every magic comes with a price of course).

Other lineages types include:

Jack - some type of griffin-human

Bella - siren, think fish type that can go on land and into water whenever

Alana - Selkie (mostly human)

Beverly - Wraith

Jimmy Price - vampire

Brian Zeller - human

Freddie - nymph + banshee (fire based)

Chilton - goblin + fae

Francis (red dragon) - obviously a dragon hybrid (maybe one that’s not seen as very powerful but he’s able to essentially become more feral with each kill)

Abigail - Wendigo

GJH - Wendigo

Randal Tierr - werewolf-esq hybrid (wolf-bear hybrid)

Mason - shape shifter + pig-hybrid

Margot - shape shifter (did not get the expressed pig gene)

Peter - human (with strong abilities to work well with animals)

I’ll think up more of them later, or would welcome any alternative ideas for the side characters aka ones besides the murder husbands

Alright, so some head canons or background situations, and a few different timeline/alteration ideas (I’ll try to make sure I mark ideas for when I write for different jumping off points!)

G/t AU 1: Divergent point from the second half of season 2 (the cases are the same, but Will is convinced to drop accusing Hannibal entirely, and Jack/Fbi stops suspecting him, but don’t think Will was to blame either, they just think the encephalitis confused Will).

- so Will is genuinely connecting with Hannibal, but is still debating on if he’s going to try and take him out on his own or give in to his own wants.

- obviously some aspects of the supernatural exist in this AU

- we’re skipping over their development to this point bc maybe I’ll cover it later. But by now they’re on good grounds (honest with each other, Abigail is alive and they make it seem like the ripper or copycat (who the fbi doesn’t know) let her go similar to Miriam Lass). So the three get a murder family that isn’t fleeing the country yet.

- Beverly is also alive. She didn’t go to Hannibal’s house, and girlie is thriving. (She doesn’t fully suspect Hannibal, but isn’t as social with him now.)

- Hannibal still helps consult on occasion, Will is still helping Jack, but in his own terms now

- After Abgail goes off to college (girlie wanted to go abroad to escape this mess and good for her, we’ll see her later), there’s a new normal. Will is over more often, the dogs usually join him now, the two are kind of together. Others don’t know if they’re properly together, but they essentially are - even if they are still learning to communicate and work around/with each other.

Now we go to the case that starts the shit show;

During one case, one not shown in the series, making one up - Will is pursuing the suspect. Jack got his leg hurt and Will is just going for it bc doing bad things to bad people feels good (he’s being honest with himself and Hannibal, or trying to be, it’s progress).

During the pursuit, Hannibal is slightly behind Will, because of course Hannibal would rather see Will go feral/see what Will does to a suspect.

Perp is some type of fae, so enjoys causing issues and it killing people or greatly changes them. Has bags of powder, think like the Love god episode of gravity falls. But not for love, for chaos and making people be honest/situations kind of like jigsaw.

Perp can tell that Will and Hannibal are kind of together but yknow, they’re them, so he hits each of them with a powder during the pursuit. (Powder’s actions essentially can trigger dormant traits/lineages in person). So it acts the same but the outcomes depend on the person. And while creatures and such are accepted and fairly common, some lines and traits aren’t and haven’t been present since the beginning of recorded history essentially.

Will starts choking from it, Hannibal stops bc if he can’t watch Will further his becoming, and he’s actively in distress, why pursue the fae? So the beloved sassy science squad (this time Beverly), comes in with a great shot, and stops the threat. Doesn’t kill the fae, but he is apprehended properly.

Since both got that powder on them, medical checks out Hannibal and Will, doesn’t know what it is. They take samples, do some tests. Besides higher BP and fatigue the two are fine. So, the two head back to Baltimore until the next case or whenever Will would need something from wolftrap. They think this case is done. They were very wrong.

At home, the two are making dinner and discussing the case. Hannibal is cooking a roast of loin and rump (from a very vocal pig who unapologetically spilled a hot cup of coffee on Will during a previous case). While Hannibal is down in the cellar picking out a wine, he hears a clatter, crash, and yelp from upstairs.

Hannibal, who chided himself on letting Will sous chef while not feeling well, turns the corner, and can’t find Will. He knows he couldn’t have left, and there’s no one else there. No blood, no sign of struggle beyond a knocked over pot and two lids on the ground. The pot had been empty as well when he went downstairs, not even on the stove yet.

After a few more moments of investigating, and calling out for Will, he hears a response - muffled and soft but definitely something or someone calling out his name (though likely he wouldn’t have been able to hear it if he was human). The even odder thing is that the sound came from the pot on the island.

Hannibal lifts the pot, finding what he had hoped wasn’t true: Will, under the pot, on the island, barely more than 3.5 inches tall. Safe to say, Hannibal is amused, and slightly concerned, though has a good theory of what happened.

Realizing that he was right in his assumption on what could make up Will’s lineage, and the fact the powder probably caused this, Hannibal realized that he should start monitoring any changes in himself as well.

Will, on the other hand, is not having a good time. He’s already knows this wasn’t Hannibal, that it was the damn fae who did this, but can’t help the anxiety that is coursing through his veins. Despite being pretty sure that Hannibal wouldn’t harm him - at least to a point he can’t fix - his nerves were still fried due to sensory overload and giant cannibal whose pot he is under at the moment. Likely thinking back to the damn endangered songbirds Hannibal had drowned, plucked, cooked, and ate whole. The only solace Will has from the powder is that his clothes were also affected, preserving his dignity, at least for a time.

Cutting back to Hannibal, he too is remembering the songbirds they had eaten not too long ago. But, he quickly concludes that he prefers Will not on a plate (at least now).

Hannibal has also decided that if there’s anyway he could find that fae, once they figure out the powder composition, he’s definitely stealing his pancreas and lungs.

When the two of them come out from their mind palaces/mind scapes, they work on finding a way to communicate easily without Will going deaf or sensory overload occurring. But before Will gets a word in, Hannibal decides it’s time to relive his days in the medical field, which Will is not happy about. It occurs without real incident once Will just goes with it, knowing it’d be faster than mildly inconveniencing Hannibal’s speed.

The two decide on a mix of whispering and writing things down, with some universal signs or part asl to help as well.

While Will is still partly anxious about Hannibal finding the thrill of the chase when Will inevitably freaks out, Hannibal doesn’t have much of a bloodlust of thrill of the chase when the target can’t escape an area without help, that he is always in arms reach of (at least most of the time).

One aspect that worsens is the amount of cannibal puns and jokes Hannibal makes on a daily basis. (As in his mongoose has turned into a morsel for the snake(s)). Will is not amused.

Will is also not a fan of how cold everything is now. While he didn’t enjoy the night terrors and waking up drowning in his own sweat, being constantly cold if left without a heat source within his personal space definitely was a downgrade in a lot of ways. (Though he didn’t hate the fact that he got to spend more time with Hannibal.)

Jack and the gang do in fact get told a little later about Will’s condition. The pair had been laying low for about 2-3 weeks, trying to play by ear, and take this time to actually work through things, but Jack got nosey, and the cat was out of the bag (more so, Will was out of the pocket).

During those few weeks of working things out, the two actually start communicating like adults when it matters, and learn to work with each other in more domestic settings. (Though domestic, it’s not normal).

Hannibal does essentially spoil Will - new clothes (too many in Will’s opinion), rigs and set ups to move around more efficiently, more warm blankets/articles and heaters around the house to keep Will’s body temp safer, even getting custom made pieces of furniture and appliances, even custom dishware and tools. Because while Hannibal enjoys having Will rely on him, he knows Will and that eventually he’d go stir crazy.

So, to make Will not lose his patience, plus the amusing nature of the situation, Will tags along to Hannibal’s therapy sessions with patients (asleep/listening while in his desk or where his handkerchief resides). Then, Hannibal attends the opera a bit, slightly less than usual, during that time period, reserving out and entire higher up booth to him and Will, as to better enjoy the opera but also be able to communicate with Will when/if necessary. In return he concedes in secretly taking Will to a scene with him, Jack not knowing what’s going on in the slightest. The two do get to hear about updates on what the powder was. (Midwest in origin, a mix of different magic/properties. Definitely needs more time to study and interrogate the fae before Hannibal can throw another proper dinner party).

Hannibal over time does become more unrested, irritable with anyone besides Will. Will finds it endearing but slightly worrisome. It at least keep Jack off his back, to the point where he sends Hannibal footage and pictures for Will rather than try to force Will out there (lessening the chance of Hannibal losing it on Jack).

When the rest of group finds out about Will, they all take it differently. Jack is still too loud, overbearing, and rough (causing a nasty set of bruises on Will’s rib cage once), and it takes Will pleading with Hannibal to not kill and cook Jack by flaying his skin to stop Hannibal from dropping the mask when he found out. Jimmy and Brian are a bit better, too inclined to stare at Will like a lab rat, which isn’t horrible since both are fond of animals, but just feels demeaning. Alana overcompensates trying to act normal and overprotective, so careful to the point of forgetting Will’s still himself. Beverly acts pretty normal, enjoys joking and is more careful, but can read a room better than apparently a psychiatrist (Alana) and the head of the BSU. Will ends up enjoying Hannibal and Beverly’s company the most to no one’s surprise.

Since Will was past his encephalitis, and decided to not turn in Hannibal/accepted his growing becoming, it’s easier to look. But, he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to. Jack can’t come and force him to do so, thanks to Hannibal. (If Will tells Jack he’s not feeling up to going/not feeling well, Hannibal takes his word for it and doesn’t take him to the scene. The crew won’t show up to try and convince Will, because Hannibal just won’t answer/repeats what Will said and excuses them out. Jack can’t even get them to budge.)

Though they two do visit the lab a fair bit to hear updates on the samples from the fae’s powder that hit them. Plus, do a basic physical and bloodwork once a week, usually if they’re already in the lab for a case. Will only lets Hannibal do his bloodwork, because of his surgical precision and as a form of trust. (Bc they are in the equivalent of a post fall communication era, but hiding in plain sight).

They find the powder isn’t entirely of fae origin, something from the Midwest, and a bit from the north east. Both of their vitals are steady. Will’s vitals come back faster, similar to small mammal’s in metabolism, need for heat, and just a faster heartbeat. Hannibal’s remains very similar to his base vitals, but they do notice while Hannibal’s vitals are normal and Will’s are faster, they’re still in sync with each other. (As in every fourth beat from Will, he and Hannibal sync up. Like a snare roll matching up and beating at the same time a timpani beats. Which I based off the study that couples who are shown to be in love/have high present levels of love hormones end up with matching heart beats/in sync with their partner). The science team find it endearing, Jack not so much, him and Alana are a bit unnerved.

Back to the boys: during the time Hannibal and Will are the only two (along with Abigail to an extent), know about Will’s condition, the two definitely learn to communicate. Because the first week consists of a lot of writing and whispering on Hannibal’s end.

During these early stages Hannibal takes it upon himself to get Will plenty of tools and day to day items. (Lots of clothes, with an accompanying wardrobe, his own bed which honestly doesn’t end up getting much use, small fashionable blankets to put around the house bc Will should not get cold when in this state, plenty of small appliances for hygiene and self care.) (Utensils, plates, kitchenware, furniture that matches the room’s aesthetic while still being comfortable, attachments to help Will get between rooms or on surfaces if need be, etc. But Hannibal still loves carrying Will around/having him within arms reach, and Will doesn’t complain much when Hannibal or eventually Winston carry him around. He hates being grabbed by essentially anyone or anything else though; enjoys being carried around by Winston but not the other dogs. Loves Hannibal carrying him around/Hannibal being the only person Will actively enjoys and seeks out to have physical contact with. He is okay with Abigail or Beverly helping him, but doesn’t like being held by them for long periods of time. Dislikes but tolerates Price (Jimmy) or Alana helping him out if needed. He actively avoids being touched or helped by Zeller or Jack, has risked falling multiple times just to avoid them bc his other options were not in the room or didn’t hear him. And the one time either of the Freddies, Lounds and Chilton, tried to be within a few inches of him, he nearly bit them before threatening to take a finger if they tried anything. Hannibal is was incredibly amused for the rest of the case.)

Hannibal doesn’t mind cooking the extra meals for Will, he enjoys being such a large part of Will’s day, especially considering the meals are just portioned smaller and last longer over time. Though he does let Will pick options more now bc not only is it their communicating + compromising era, but Hannibal is obviously simping for the Graham cracker.

First day, or partial day of this has Will trying to not retreat into himself. With Hannibal genuinely unsure of what do exactly do, because while he could never entirely predict Will, this is on another level.

Will, instead of running warm like he used to, now gets cold easily, so he’s essentially glued to either a heat source or Hannibal, usually the latter. And due to this, the first night, Will ends up sleeping with Hannibal (which would have been like normal for them, but due to circumstances, they had to rearrange). Pillow on Will’s side is swapped for a smaller pillow that won’t cause Will to easily roll off. Then temporarily until Hannibal can start spoiling Will, pocket squares and cuts of old fleece material (that had been packed away for Will to use to mend some of his fishing/outdoor gear) act as blankets. The pillow is set up near Hannibal’s head, and everything goes off without issue. Hannibal also turns up the heating in the house for him.

Even when Will gets proper bedding that is on Hannibal’s nightstand, Will ends up either in his old spot or on Hannibal (with Will refusing to move)

Should also bring back up the lineage stuff - Hannibal’s traits are usually muted, horns and such in one of his forms aren’t often present and usually Will is the only one to detect them, except for his eyes going red. Then he has the original wendigo shape of being longer and emaciated, which was what Will saw when he was sick in S1. Lastly there’s the incomprehensible form of being part nephilim, Will able to detect parts but doesn’t look at it fully, despite seeing Hannibal behind the human veil quite a lot. While Will’s eyes have a slight blue glow to them while he’s using his empathy in a controlled manner.

Hannibal ends up not being the only one with a slight thrill of the chase when Will darts around too quickly (Hannibal has enough self restraint and frontal lobe activity, unlike some, to not act on such impulses 99.99% of the time, at least not without thinking them through first). Jack ends up swiping at Will in the lab. Will had been pacing on one of the examination tables, doing his job. He had gotten lost in thought, and had begun to pace faster and look around the body more before he could zone in and “look”. As he’s turning to look the body in the face, Will sees something in the reflection of the table and a very quick shadow coming his way. Will scurried out of the way, ducking under the partially posed and elevated neck of the body he has been examining. As Will dove to hide, loud squeaks of shoes on the floor, and nearly incoherent rumbling from the others caused him to curl up and begin to lose himself/retreat inward. (Which wasn’t good considering he was just beginning to properly “look” at the situation for this case.)

Thankfully before the hand can reach where he has just been, a faster hand which had been the other mass in the table reflection grabbed the first wrist, twisting it sharply and efficiently. Jack had reached for Will, knocking over tools in the lab, unaware of his own actions/impulse. It wasn’t until Hannibal had quietly, near silent, grabbed his wrist, putting his body between Jack and Will, that Jack had snapped out of it. The rest of the crew were shocked, and a bit worried, not only for Will’s safety but also shocked by the actions of both Hannibal and Jack.

Once the commotion settled down, only then did Will even dare to look out, seeing Hannibal’s back to him, acting as a shield from the entire group. Jack not even being allowed to explain really. Will just quietly asking if everyone but Hannibal leave the room so he could focus, then he’d send over a report later. The team obviously complying, likely due to not wanting to further the situation, they waited outside in the hall.

When Hannibal walked out of the lab, the others noticed Will wasn’t in Hannibal’s hands or in his shoulder. They each had their own guess to what happened. Will hadn’t wanted to see or feel everyone’s eyes on him, especially Jack due to feeling fidgety still. So, he ended up hiding in Hannibal’s inner chest pocket of his suit, allowing him cover and not end up freezing.

Hannibal hadn’t let Jack even stop him as he walked out, knowing it may be rude, but nearly attacking an (unofficial but technical) employee was worse, he thought it fair to walk off, telling Jack he’d get the report and hear from himself or one of the others what the plan was going forward.

While it had been stressful, the two realized fairly quickly they’d both had such a strong reaction to Jack because not only is it a naturally stressful experience (mainly for Will) but also because it’s Jack. This being made more apparent when Beverly had suddenly moved to keep Will from falling off a counter in the lab a few weeks later - Will needing to just catch his breath due to nearly falling. Hannibal had still had a notable reaction though (shoulders slightly raised, more blunt in his tone at first, and moving closer to Will/acting as a barrier more so implicitly). Yet they didn’t leave suddenly and Will had continued his work that day fairly normally, with Hannibal remaining nearby, so not as nearly as strong of a reaction compared to Jack earlier.

This was further proven when Will decided that during a day in - more mundane and no cases, which was rare - that he’d get Hannibal to finally chase him. Will had been bored, unable to work on new lures, the dogs being in and out and besides Winston were too rowdy to safely deal with, and not much else to do. Will began to run around surfaces as Hannibal was reading. Thanks to the add ons Hannibal got so Will could move about easier, and using the coffee table, backs of furniture, etc. he was able to get Hannibal to silently set his book down. Hannibal could tell Will was enticing him, wanting to have a more physical recreation of their old “cat and mouse chase.” Which, who was he to turn down yet another surprise from Will?

Will would swear that if Hannibal had a tail it would have been swinging like a house cat tracking something, his eyes becoming an even more bloody shade of red. Once Will knew he had his attention, he took off towards the floor, where he knew he could get under furniture to prolong the chase. Hannibal, not immediately jumping up, rather watching to see his plan first, had toed off his shoes to be faster, then began the chase.

The chase and stalking lasted for about 15 minutes. During which Hannibal’s antlers had began to be visible, limbs looking more emaciated and longer, revealing that Hannibal was either not focused on maintaining his appearance during the chase or was shedding his human veil for the purpose of seeming more monstrous (possibly to make Will slip up). Didn’t matter which one it was, only that it was just them. Eventually, Will had given away his position on a bookshelf, and had no plan of escape. Will came out from behind the small stag sculpture on the shelf, allowing himself to get quickly swept up. By the time he was caught, Hannibal’s eyes were blood red, antlers longer than Hannibal’s forearms, and his limbs extended + emaciated, with his teeth sharpest they’d been in months. With a slight fuzziness around Hannibal, meaning he really hadn’t been keeping a lid on his veil or himself in check beyond his own nature.

Despite what should be terrifying, astronomically more dangerous than Jack’s mere swipe, Will wasn’t worried, wind slightly knocked out of him by the sudden grab yes, but not fearful. Once grabbed, Will saw Hannibal’s features spike then slowly fade back to what he looked like normally with his human veil tightly sewn on. Hannibal, surprised by how long the chase had been, remained somewhat hopeful that it wouldn’t be a one off thing.

The two going back to relaxing, this time in Hannibal’s study/library. Will going between curling up on the desk, next to Hannibal’s empty hand and book from earlier - Hannibal carefully helping Will relax by massaging the knots and kinks out of Will’s back to the point of him being putty. To then scurry to in crook of Hannibal’s neck & collar bone to lounge. Will moving around periodically to keep himself entertained until Hannibal was heading to cook dinner, once again one of Will’s favorites.

Of course their chases didn’t stop there, Will periodically deciding on days when they usually had little to do, he’d suddenly dash away, and their game would continue until one of them, almost always Will, got tired, or if Will reached a dead end. Then they would go back to what they were doing.

This was somewhat inconvenient at times. Especially when Will decided to run around Hannibal’s office shortly before a patient came in, Mason Verger.

Thankfully, Mason is too self absorbed to notice Will beyond asking Hannibal about his food preferences when he’d possibly picked up on a specific smell (which Hannibal thought he wouldn’t bc again it’s Mason, but because of his piggish nature, smell for him is increased significantly, nowhere near Hannibal’s but enough to smell Will and his, Hannibal approved aftershave/cologne). But beyond the rude remarks, he didn’t see Will quickly retreat to where Hannibal was, across the room. Both slightly tense, but unnoticeable to the untrained eye, until Will was again in Hannibal’s inner handkerchief pocket. With the appointment going the same as usual, Mason being insufferable for an hour.

All of this ends up paying off later during a case though - Jack insisting they join for the arrest, and Will feeling up to it putting them in that situation. In an old warehouse, with unsecured rooms, the assailant, a serial killer, another fae, using different people of different lineages to try and make…. Something. During the arrest, the two had walked in and the perpetrator lunged at Hannibal, causing Will to nearly fall off Hannibal, being placed down quickly as the attacker broke free from his cuffs to try and seemingly steal at least one of Hannibal’s eyes. Will had quickly gotten distance, knowing that he couldn’t fight back. But that mad dash took the assailant’s attention, causing an unprompted chase around the room. While it lasting for less than a minute, the moment the man had nearly grabbed Will before Hannibal had broken the man’s arm - from the bones near his second knuckle to the shoulder joint - and proceeded in dragging him away from Will had been tense.

The two left silently once they saw the man get loaded into an ambulance due to Hannibal’s interference.

Hannibal got a lot more…. Protective (well, possessive) over Will by that point, which didn’t seem to surprise the sassy science trio (more so Jack and Alana were surprised and off put to varying degrees).

They kind of settle into a new normal at this point. Well, normal for them, similar dynamic, but slowly becoming domestic bc it would be really not opportune to remove the scales from the other’s eyes about their nature at this point. So, focusing on finding out what happened/what the two were hit with, is the main focus while working with each other/learning how to be with one another.

Eventually, after enough tests are run and they’re waiting it to hear more news about what is found in the mixture, Hannibal is able to plan a trip to Europe, specifically Florence, with Will obviously accompanying him. While Beverly and Alan take turns watching the dogs. And on their trip, they plan to visit Abigail (she’s been let in on the situation but hasn’t seen the full on perspective).

They obviously travel private, thanks to Hannibal’s connections, and off the two went for a few weeks. And while doing tableau wasn’t out of the question, Hannibal having a set of drawings ready, they’d obviously have to be careful and not do an exact Ripper MO, but they both hoped that maybe this would help them clear their minds before anything else changed, since it seemed no new information would be found for a while.

(And while neither Hannibal or Will would admit it, at least not for a long while out loud, they were enjoying the situation to an extent, Hannibal more so than Will, and hoped that if they figured out what exactly this was, that they’d be able to find a way to control or at least use it again, if Will ever did return to his original state).

That is what I have for now, will definitely update this later. Let me know if yall got any ideas or suggestions to change some details or questions about plot points. This is mainly weeks of sleep deprivation in random bursts mixed with a few of my hyperfixations. I would love to hear some feedback! Thanks for reading.

[metatronhateblog]

Duck Duck what the Fuck pt. 2, Featuring Not to Be a Bearer of News

Okay in my previous post [link here] we talked about the appearance of ducks and ducks with accordions in the opening sequence. Now I didn't really have too much to say except fucking weird, right? But now I'm going to start digging around in this a bit more.

Welcome back to what is the big deal with ducks.

To start off, ducks are verbally mentioned in this show... 4 times. (I'm pretty sure it's 4 but it's highly possible I'm missing something.)

Our first case is in Season 1 episode 1. At approximately 26:45 we see a transition to the park where Crowley and Aziraphale are having a meeting. The quote here is stated by none other than our narrator God. She states...

"Everyone knows the best place for a clandestine meeting in London is and always has been Saint James' Park. They say the ducks are so used to being fed by secret agents that they've developed Pavlovian reactions to them. The Russian cultural attaché's black bread is particularly sought after by the more discerning duck. Crowley and Aziraphale have been meeting here for quite some time."

This quote has always been...a little sus to me. Now if you aren't entirely sure what Pavlovian effect is, I direct you to a situation that you quite possibly experience yourself. Have you ever heard the sound of an alarm clock, or the sound you set your own alarm clock as playing outside of a setting that isn't meant to wake you up? Have you had this knee jerk reaction where you feel yourself tense and need the sound to stop and maybe even feel a little bit more awake because of it? No? If not you are beyond lucky.

A Pavlovian reaction is a conditioned response to something, in my known knowledge I think it's generally accompanied by a sound (apologies for explaining this so poorly, if anyone wants to hop in the comments and explain better I will love you so much.) For example, some farmers ring a bell or something to let their cows know it's time to eat. The cows then associate that noise with food and will probably expect to be fed upon any point of hearing that bell.

So in this case...ducks hear the whisperings of secret agents and know that it means they get fed. The more recognizable the noise, the better the bread. Hence the line that the more discerning ducks go towards the Russian cultural attaché. Kinda fascinating right? And also a weird way to describe the ducks...

Moving on the second time ducks are mentioned is by Crowley in season 1 episode 2. He makes a comment in regards to suspicions about him saying something along the lines of suspicions slide off him 'like water slides off of....what does water slide off of?" And then later on at some random point (pretty sure it's in the same episode) yells 'DUCKS! That's what water slides off of.' (I'm paraphrasing here because this isn't a quote I needed to look up cause I knew it in my soul.)

Now the phrase 'Like water slides off a duck's back' generally tends to mean that someone is unaffected by something. Whatever it is, they are unperturbed. Okay...another interesting way to look at ducks.

Our third quote is in season 1 episode 3. Crowley once again speaks to us about ducks when he's talking to Aziraphale about ✨insurance.✨ No not that kind of insurance I'm talking about the Holy Water. When Crowley and Aziraphale meet in the park in their little top hats in 1862 the conversation goes something like this...

Crowley - "If it all goes wrong, I want insurance."

Aziraphale - "What?"

Crowley, handing Aziraphale a piece of paper - "I wrote it down. Walls have ears. Well ,not walls. Trees have ears. Ducks have ears. Do ducks have ears? Must do. That's how they hear other ducks."

That's...and interesting little throw away line right there that Aziraphale ignores to tell him no. And maybe it is a little throw away line...or maybe we're meant to pay attention to it. Why else would they continue talking about something if they don't want to emphasize it. Twice is a coincidence but threes a pattern.

Which leads me to our fourth quote (continuing our pattern) being from Season 2 this time in which Crowley (I'm slowly seeing a pattern of how it's almost always Crowley talking about ducks, and who's the one who tells Aziraphale when they're being watched???) yells at some agents not to feed the ducks bread. Shax then asks him what you're supposed to feed ducks, and once again it isn't until later on in the conversation that Crowley says 'Peas. You give ducks peas.'

Feeding ducks bread is not good. But I'm not sure there's any other little meaning in here.

Now that we've got that out of the way. I want to mention The Other times ducks are mentioned, and to me it only seems to get weirder.

The first appearance of a mention of ducks in season 2...is the first time we meet Mr. Brown (of Brown's world of carpets.)

In our second episode, Crowley and Aziraphale have a meeting at the PuB in which we meet Mr. Brown (of Brown's world of carpets) who corners Aziraphale about holding the Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeepers Association monthly? meeting. Buuuuuuut. We actually first see him BEFORE he comes over to Aziraphale. (Don't even get me started on the weird shit in the PuB)

Even here we can see he's got a something in his arm, which we quickly find out is a newspaper.

But notice how....whatever angle we're seeing him from, we can see the front of his newspaper? It's like a big flashing sign that says 'HEY LOOK AT ME!'

We even see him right here, moving towards Aziraphale while Crowley orders drinks. And what do we see? The front of the newspaper.

And he

spends

every

moment

showing us that newspaper.

And even better, tell me why it appears that Aziraphale is looking at the paper and not him?

And I know this shot is blurry but even as he leaves the PuB, he's still holding that newspaper towards the camera.

And then he's literally holding it in front of his face

Even when we see him days later!

So for starters. Why...why does he have the same newspaper over a span of multiple days. And more importantly. Why on Earth does it say 'Nebraskan Woman Taught Duck to Play Accordion.'

Now you might say it's dumb and unimportant. And normally I'd agree...if he wasn't flashing that newspaper around like a billboard.

It leads me to believe it's really important, but why I don't know. @lady-of-the-puddle and I are still agonizing over ducks and have yet to really figure out what significance there might be.

The only thought I have had....which seems so far-fetched I'm embarrassed to say it almost, is who, off the top of your head is the one person you can think of that would have the power to teach a duck to play an accordion considering they don't have posable thumbs....or hands for that matter?

If you said God then I feel a little less ridiculous...but also why would God teach a duck to play accordion. So not having anything to back that up or anything to further explore it with....But I feel like that might be thinking of the duck thing from the wrong angle since our most common discussion point about ducks seems to be them hearing things and all around being suspicious little feathered friends.

I have to say I am quite clueless on the matters of ducks but I feel they have to be important....

And don't get me started on newspapers...

[try-set-me-on-fire]

If you’re still taking soft prompts - can I request buddie in the bathtub? 🧡🧡🧡

I’ll count this under “long showers” because i do love to check off a to do list. Send me soft prompts! Find the finished ones on ao3!

It isn’t long into this apocalyptic fire season when they decide to take opposite shifts. It’s awful, being out here in the hills working himself to the bone without Buck at his side, and even worse when Buck is the one at the front line and Eddie is sitting at home and helpless to do anything if something goes wrong. It’s October, though, and the city has been staring up at flames on the horizon on and off since August, the sky a choking reddish gray, and after the first evacuation order for their neighborhood went out when they were both in turnouts up in Malibu beating back the other edge of the 200 acre blaze and they’d had to talk Carla through what to pack and where to find important documents over a call turned staticky by phone lines overtaxed by the scared and desperate, they’d decided that Christopher should have one of his parents with him whenever possible. So it’s been Buck for the last 30 hours that should have been 24 but replacements were held up in some other hellish pocket of usually picturesque landscape, stranding Eddie, and some members of the 133 and many people he’s never met before who aren’t even from LA, up near the Getty Villa. He’d been there just last spring, a field trip with Chris. The gardens had been nice.

Finally, finally he’s headed home. They’re back in the house again, for the third time. The fire itself had never actually gotten close, but they’d always returned to ash caked thick over the building, working its way through any crack in the house to coat their things in fine toxic dust. They’d spent their last overlapping downtime cleaning together, Chris still at Maddie’s place a little further out of the danger zone, washing everything that could be washed in water they’d been warned not to drink. That had been a full week ago. Eddie hadn’t seen his husband for more than a quick kiss hello-goodbye since, and he’s uselessly mad that the 24 hours they were supposed to have together before Buck heads out has been cut down to something more like 15 with travel time, and that he’s so exhausted he knows he’s going to sleep through most of it. He can hear Buck in the kitchen when he gets through the door and then slumps back against it, kicking off his shoes. It’s late, near one AM, so Chris is probably asleep even at the terribly old age of 14 where official bedtimes are mostly a thing of the past. Eddie can smell food of some sort. If he can just make himself walk a few more feet he’ll have a hot meal and loving arms around him. He takes a deep breath, head tilted against the door, eyes closed, trying to summon some impossible reserve of energy.

Buck, of course, comes to him.

“Hey,” he hears, soft and familiar, a moment before warm hands slide up his chest and rest on his shoulders. Eddie opens his eyes so he can just see Buck for a second before he folds forward into his arms.

“Hey, you,” he breathes into Buck’s clean shirt. Buck just hums, and kisses the side of his head. Eddie should tell him not to, he’s still filthy, but it just makes him relax further into his hold.

“You want food or a shower first?”

“Oh god,” Eddie lolls his head back to squint at him. “Dunno if I can stay upright long enough for either.”

Buck grins just a little, one half of his mouth, an eyebrow raised, and points a finger in the air. “I have a two part solution to this.”

Eddie laughs through his nose. “Please, enlighten me.”

Buck takes his hand, pulling him along to their bathroom and propping him up against that door instead, making a show of it and drawing more quieter laughter out of Eddie. “Wait just a second,” he says, kissing his cheek and darting back out to the kitchen and returning in record time with a still warm quesadilla on a paper plate. It’s cut into sixths and Eddie gratefully stuffs a triangle into his mouth as Buck moves around the room. He zones out a little, blinking when Buck appears in front of him again some amount of minutes later. He’s cleared the plate without even noticing, and Buck takes it from him and sets it on the counter.

“Figured it’d be good to make an easily eatable food. No utensils needed! All self-contained!” Buck smiles wide and pleased with himself and Eddie smiles back, and pulls him in for a clumsy little kiss.

“Good step one,” Eddie concedes, still sort of pressed against his lips. “What’s next?”

Buck gestures at the tub, now full of steaming water. “So you don’t have to stand up.”

Eddie could blame the fact that he tears up on how tired he is, but he gets blindsided by Buck’s gentle care often enough when he’s completely awake to know it would be a flimsy excuse. He tugs on him again, kissing him steadily, one hand coming up to hold his face as he tries to start undressing with the other. Buck huffs a little against his mouth, and joins his own hands in the effort, getting Eddie’s pants and underwear off, kissing him a little harder before they have to part to rid him of his shirt. Eddie leans in again, but Buck dodges.

“C’mon, get in.”

Eddie tries to pout at him, but it’s ruined by the adoration writ in every feature. Buck holds his elbow to steady him as he steps over the edge of the tub, provides strength to lean on as he lowers himself into the water. He groans a little as he’s submerged, the almost too hot water eating away at the aches in his muscles. Buck grabs his body wash as Eddie settles back against the edge of the tub, and lathers up a washcloth.

“Is it ok to even do this? Water advisory is still on.” Eddie mumbles as Buck starts carefully cleaning away dirt and soot.

“Just don’t swallow,” Buck says, voice shaped around a laugh that Eddie lets out. He taps on Eddie’s shoulder so he leans forward, and Buck scrubs at his neck and shoulders, taking his time over the left one. Eddie had stumbled up on a slope somewhere in the early morning dark towards the beginning of his shift, and he hadn’t had the time to check but he was pretty sure he’d gotten scratched up back there. Eddie watches Buck’s face. He looks concerned, but only gently, so it must not be too bad. Buck kisses the area when he’s done, and then hands Eddie the cloth to get at the submerged parts of himself as Buck grabs the shampoo. Eddie cleans himself quickly, and he can tell Buck wants to take the cloth back and make more careful work of it, but Eddie plugs his nose and dunks his head underwater before he can say anything. He wipes water away from his face when he reemerges, then leans over and leaves a wet handprint on Buck’s shirt as he goes for another kiss.

“Please,” Eddie says, nodding at the shampoo.

Eddie is not a man used to being taken care of- not in an intimate, physical way. The 118, and Frank, and even his family, have dragged him into accepting care and support from those around him, but relaxing enough to let another human being touch him, surrendering control, letting someone else do the work of maintaining his body is something that took him a long time to admit he wanted. Buck has always been good at finding ways to burrow past any wall Eddie constructs, however, and it had only taken three showers together after they’d started dating to discover how much they both enjoy it when Buck washes Eddie’s hair. Buck just likes touching him in general, in any way, as much as he can, and Eddie had been glad to overcome shyness and indulge him in the impulse.

Buck glides foamy fingers through his hair, combing out tangles and dirt as he goes. He works so slowly, paying absolute attention to the task at hand. His fingers against Eddie’s scalp makes the aches and fear of the day (the week, the last several months) melt away into the bath water. He relaxes utterly into his husband’s hands, very nearly lulling into sleep and not even worrying much about it. He knows Buck will keep him above water.

“Hold your breath,” Buck quietly instructs, and then there are rivers of water flowing over his scalp and face, again and again until he’s clean. He opens his eyes when it’s over, and Buck has his chin propped on his arm resting on the edge of the tub, just watching him. He smiles when they make eye contact.

“Hey,” Eddie whispers.

“Hey, you,” Buck says, tilting his head. He’s beautiful. He’s kneeling on the tile floor and his shirt is soaked and filthy and it’s probably closer to two now, judging by how tepid the water’s become, and it’s felt like the end of the world since August and probably since a long time before that, and here they are in it together, and Buck is beautiful. Eddie reaches out to touch his cheek.

“Conditioner?”

Eddie thinks about it as his fingers explore his nose, trace his birthmark for the thousandth time, but he shakes his head. The water is cold. “I want to go to bed.”

“Ok,” Buck says, turning his head quick to kiss Eddie’s fingers before getting up to grab a towel as Eddie pulls the drain. Buck gracefully ignores the ache-y noises Eddie makes as he stands, wrapping him up and leaving to grab clothes. He gives himself a onceover in the foggy mirror as he brushes his teeth. He’s looked worse, but he’s looked better. Buck comes in with sweatpants and an old Buckley LAFD shirt that’s permanently migrated to Eddie’s side of the dresser.

“You should probably change, yourself,” Eddie waves at the run off filth down Buck’s front. “Sorry.”

Buck shakes his head. “Probably should have stripped too,” he says, tossing in a wink because the sentence calls for it, heading back out for his own change of clothes.

Eddie follows, and then walks on tender feet further down the hall, opening Chris’s door as quietly as he can. His calm breathing competes for noise over the air purifier a few feet from his bed. There’s a book on his bedside table, and his DS on top of that, and the dinosaur stuffed animal Buck had got him at the natural history museum years ago that had lived on a shelf for a long time when he’d outgrown it is back on the bed beside him. He’s not as sound a sleeper as he was when he was a child, and Eddie can’t go to his side and press a kiss into his curls without waking him up, and they could all use any rest they can find, so he stays in the doorway and just watches until Buck comes to find him.

“He’s alright,” Buck whispers. “You know how brave he is.” He looks as haunted by the words as Eddie feels.

“Yeah,” he breathes, taking one last look. “I know.”

They walk back down the hall hand in hand, and Buck lets Eddie lead him to one side of the bed, laughing as Eddie pulls him down on top of him. With just a little bit of wiggling they’re able to get situated under the covers, Buck draped over his chest in the way he insists is comfortable and Eddie can never figure out how he manages without his neck getting stiff. He’ll never tell him to stop, though. Laying there with the weight of Buck over his heart is the safest place in the world, and always draws him immediately towards sleep. Eddie manages to resist the pull long enough to glance at the clock. 2:15. Buck has to leave at noon. He sighs and wraps his arms around him, and Buck burrows impossibly closer. For now. They have right now.

[crying-fantasies]

Killing me Softly with his song (4)

Masterlist

Part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4: Bite and cry | part 5

CW: blood, consumption of food (as in meat, insects, human, etc), body horror, depiction of bodies and corpses, vomiting, slight impression of starving.

The first time it happened Soundwave was worried, being as gentle as he could when he took the little larvae from Mayhem's servos, looking directly with a frowning visor to the rangers and you, giving one another food, eating these creatures.

Since a long time ago Soundwave accepted the fact of your need to consume other living beings in order to survive, he did it when your presence in his life was almost a must and didn't mind it when you finally touched his spark, but seeing his sparkling putting the carcass of a processed creature in his intake is where he paints the red line, taking a little cube of energon and putting it in his child's intake instead, getting a little of struggling against his actions when Mayhem tried to escape it but accepting anyway like the good sparkling he was and drinking all.

"It's just good ol' boiled weevil larvae" one man tells him while eating the little thing in amusement, you doing the same, trying to inform him and prevent any fear from it doing any harm to the sparkling, "tastes like deep fried pork-"

Soundwave's "Do not feed Mayhem unnecessary materials" was his way of informing and making your newfound friends almost jump by the fear of finally hearing Soundwave speak after so many years of knowing him.

The second time it happened Mayhem was with the cassettes, Rumble and Frenzy, maybe it wasn't the best idea but it was indeed funny, going around any little human settlement and spend time there, if the settlement was far and secluded then they would go with their holoforms and see around, when they go to the cities they just go along with it, but now they had a sparkling with them, bound to attract attention and that's what Mayhem did when he escaped their watch, a kind woman in a street food stall gave him warm food when she noticed he was alone and hungry, not caring that Mayhem was a bot when she noticed how desperate he was for some food, not even sure if he could eat it but pleased when the little guy started to eat like a starved man.

The twins found the sparkling when he was already finishing his chichinga, saying thanks and paying what he eat with shanix, maybe giving more than it really was needed but in a hurry to take the kid to any clinic, blessing the allspark for finding Soundwave's child in one piece, not uttering a word to him about what happened or the fact that Mayhem could eat human food when the sparkling was as good as new days after it.

The third time it happened Mayhem was what you called "maybe 10 or 11?", when Soundwave was with his son and Laserbeak while on patrol in a sector where the dry season got harder, Mayhem looked at the horizon, where a little body of water was being infected by the rotting corpse of a hyena, an animal that perished by the hard environment of the year, Soundwave looked how his son took the body of the animal and put it in another place, maybe then others could consume what little water was there, then Laserbeak shouted "Stop!", scared, Soundwave froze, almost terrified, when Mayhem put a piece of the rotting meat on his intake before he could do something, the casette impacted his whole body with the sparkling's faceplate to stop him but it was already too late, Mayhem swallowed the thing before making a face, Laserbeak taking his helm in his wings only to notice the strange expression on Mayhem.

"Bleh, it's horrible"

"Why did you do it then?!"

"It smelled funny!"

Mayhem puked the meat and all the energon he had all night long in some weird rainbow colored goo.

"How come that this didn't happen before?"

"Before?"

"Frenzy, you fragging idiot!"

"Explain: Before"

"Boss, it was an accident, wait, no, no, don't look at me like that!"

At that point Soundwave was worried, finally getting the information from the twins on what happened years ago.

"It can't be that bad" you told him, when Mayhem finally stopped his bizarre display, "he is supposed to have organic traits too"

As it's normal, you could feel the desperation behind your husband's visor, his worry going deep on the protected optics underneath, "any one, even a bot, can get a stomachache when eating something rotted, 'Wave" you took his index and middle in your hands, making him feel secure in your words and own understanding of organics being one, "He will grow out of this soon"

And Mayhem did, not wanting to eat anything that was organic for a while, taking his fill of energon at his hours much to Soundwave's delight, staying away from human's settlements and cities, also showing that he did go behind yours and Soundwave's back to eat organic food in every city on every country when you moved for Soundwave's work, now almost running away when the smell of organic food was near.

From time to time Mayhem acted a little more slow, almost dizzy, zoning out occasionally, but no medic found out what it was, only taking it for stress and telling him to take more energon.

It was all good, Mayhem had what you called "maybe sweet fifteen" and he was with Soundwave again in a patrol that took a turn to the worst when Ratbat found what they were searching for.

Humanity can be good or bad, sometimes both, just like his people, Soundwave learned that a long time ago, and he thought so again hearing the profanities said and cries of the staff in charge of the stolen buffalos of a national reserve when he got them where he found the headless bodies of some animals.

They still had hope the rest were alive.

It took a little moment, one when Soundwave was more concerned with searching for the poachers than centring on his son, more focused in his thirst for vengeance over other things, letting himself be dragged by his feelings, that has always been his downfall.

When he found the poachers camping zone, he found the skulls of the animals, he found many others and also some alive, cowering away, scared by something, he didn't find any human around and if he looked with more detail he could've realized that he wasn't the only cybertronian there, only noticing a track of blood that was dragged to the forest.

Nothing could've prepared Soundwave for the fourth time he found his son eating organic matter, or the fact that, what Mayhem had in his intake at that moment was the torso of a human, many other human bodies scattered around with missing parts, blood painting his armor and derma.

Mayhem, in his starving state, could only stop ingesting the meat in the ribs when Soundwave stopped him with all his might while shouting his name, stopping his son from continue such deviant act.

No one said a word, returning home when he could clean the mess, leaving the matter as closed when you greeted them, saying how sorry you were that things didn't go as planned while putting a hand on the side of your son's helm in an affectionate display.

Mayhem cried while hugging you, and Soundwave didn't say a word, if only he flinched a little while his EM field displayed how uneasy he felt by his son actions, you would never know, for sure, but Buzzsaw made a strange sound at your side, you just took it like they had a really bad day.

You weren't wrong.

[rainyinautumn]

So Secret Life is happening. And it's great. And it has potential to be a LONG series compared to other life installments.

Let me explain.

Historically, the biggest killers in the life series are fall damage, PvP, and TNT (if you're wondering how I know this, this is how). Let's look at how each of those makes you dead.

Fall damage gets people in one of two ways: either taking a fatal bit of damage after being almost killed by something else (ex. Tango's final death in Limited Life), or falling a massive distance that wipes all ten hearts in one go (ex. Grian's final death in Limited Life). Neither of these are particularly viable at killing someone in Secret Life, at least not for a while, given all the players have triple the amount of hearts as usual. As for big falls, a lethal fall for someone with a full 30 hearts would have to be roughly 63+ blocks (fall damage is half a heart for every block after the third, with some small discrepancies for tick timings). That's a LONG fall. I'm talking you could jump off the top of the Crastle from 3rd Life and survive just fine. Granted, people won't be on 30 hearts forever, so that number will gradually whittle down, but what's typically a big killer is going to be more of an inconvenience for people with higher hearts.

PvP is the only top cause of death that's based on consistent and deliberate lowering of health, and without the boogeyman, it's not even a factor until someone goes red. Grian has implied, however, that reds will get different (and likely more violent) secrets, so I expect that once one person goes red, things will go downhill for everyone else rather quickly. I'm curious to see how PvP will work for people with high hearts but no regeneration. It'll probably take longer—an unenchanted Netherite axe in the right hands can deal a full 30 hearts worth of damage in just 4 seconds, but against unenchanted diamond armor would take around a full 20 seconds, assuming the person (for some reason) didn't fight back at all. And keep in mind players are allowed to enchant to their heart's content this season. The goal of most confrontations is likely going to be just to put a big dent in another player's health and in the hopes that that endangers them enough to be killed by more natural causes, rather than putting in the effort to wipe them out completely. Reds will likely prefer seeking out players with lower health in order to complete their secrets, but they may have to break the mold if they can't find an ideal target. Additionally, I wouldn't be surprised if some red secrets are something along the lines of "deal [x] amount of damage to a player" instead of just "kill someone."

On to TNT. The idea when setting off an explosion is always to do the maximum amount of damage possible. Explosions are based on power (how hard a thing explodes (4 in the case of TNT and 6 for end crystals)) and impact (how hard the exploding thing hits you). Impact is based on exposure (how close you are to the exploding thing), which varies wildly every time, so it's hard to say exactly how much TNT it would take to kill someone with 30 hearts in one go. My best guess, based on TNT-related deaths we've seen, is probably sixish point-blank explosions (probably best reached with six stacked TNT minecarts). Personally, I would love to find out exactly how much TNT you would need, and I'm sure Secret Life will help me out here. In short, you need a LOT of TNT to kill someone, but iron and TNT can be earned from secret rewards, so it may not be all that hard to get. And players should invest in a piece of blast protection armor (just one, though, more than one doesn't do enough good to be worth it).

And, on top of all this, players can get hearts back. Not without some trials and tribulation, but they have three pretty substantial lives. Sure, people will have bad days (like Martyn) from natural hazards like caving and being exposed at night, but both those things become much easier to avoid after session one or two.

TL;DR—it's harder to lose a life in Secret Life. As long as people are careful and try to hang on to their green/yellow lives, it could easily be the longest life series installment yet.

[blueberreads]

Books good: all my 5 star reads of 2023

I didn’t realize before starting Jade Shards how much I missed The Green Bone Saga’s characters! It was such a treat getting more of their background. A reread of the whole series is imminent!

TJ Powar Has Something to Prove was so addictive I listened to the audiobook in one sitting. It was the perfect funny, light-hearted contemporary read.

I expected to like Tiger, Tiger, but not to completely fall in love with it! I had to immediately catch up with the webcomic after I finished book one. These characters are everything to my pirate rotten brain.

Ten Thousand Stitches was just as sweet and charming as Half a Soul, the first book in the series. Olivia Atwater is simply becoming one of my favorite authors.

Obviously, after reading it for the third time, The Unspoken Name remained the best book to be ever written. I’m forever grateful for this book’s world-building, simultaneously dark and hilarious story telling and the best queer found family of idiots.

The Sword of Kaigen was a surprise new favorite, with its amazing characters, complex family dynamics and stunning fighting scenes.

Imogen, Obviously was another cute and funny contemporary. A clueless, idiot teenager who thinks she isn’t even allowed to be queer? Not something that speaks to me though. Nope.

I rarely rate non fiction books, but I had to give all the stars to All Boys Aren’t Blue. It was a super emotional and interesting read.

Hey, it’s Olivia Atwater again! A gender fluid fallen angel tempting humans and stealing chocolate was all it took to make Small Miracles the sweetest romance.

Far From the Tree was another addictive audiobook I finished in one sitting. I enjoyed the complex family dynamics and totally get the comparisons with the This is Us tv show.

Ellen Outside the Lines was a delightful middle-grade story, about an autistic kid making friends and trying out new pronouns. I also had a great time mentally revisiting Barcelona—where I briefly lived—along with the MC!

After the second season of the tv series starring my emotional support angels, I had to reread Good Omens! This book has been one of my favorites for fifteen years and it’s still as funny and feel good as the first time I read it.

Moonstruck was such a stunning, sweet and funny graphic novel about mythical creatures navigating life—and at some point a magician trying to steal their powers.

In Other Lands was another addictive read. I loved the characters and magic school setting.

[honestmouse20]

okay now that all 10 episodes are out on youtube in english, Ful lthoughts on monkie kid s5! spoilers under the cut :)

So, the big one. I really hardly notice the chance in animiation studio. I still see people being upset about it and saying its worse. But if no one had told me, I wouldn't have noticed.

On to the Fun stuff (pain)

This season is so freaking heartbeaking yall. Like MK has always felt like things were His fault, that he was bringing the chaos to the world. And then his Worst fear comes true. Nyua tells him that she created him For that reason. He exists for taht sacrafice and the demon (what's his name? the guy at the end?) only sped things up. Woke him up early. That's Insane! He really is the beginning of the end. And even when he Tried to do the right thing, sacrafice himself so everyone else would be safe, the universe/gods/whatever still were going to take his sacrafice and rewrite the world again anyway. And that's what Gets me about this season. Bc yeah MK listens at first and sacrafices himself. But the seccond he learns they've been pulling his strings this whole time and that his friends Won't be safe, he realizes taht he's still in control. He goes back to spend their last moments with his family and That ends up being waht saves everything. They share the power and prove that they don't need someone else calling every shot. it's just... a Lot for a lego show and im so so pleased with it.

Second thing! Uh we need to talk about Wukong in episode 9 and 10 bc oooh boy. NOt only was the man who was Terrified of dying to the point of becoming multiple times over imortal and taking his name out of the book of the dead WILLING to die so that MK wouldn't. But he fought MK with what I am assuming was his full power for the first time. MK wasn't holding back either. And that means a lot I think. MK is finally stronger (or maybe AS strong as him). Also the fact that MK used the circlet on him guts me everytime.

Also, adding onto the whole Wukong those last two episodes. What the Hell were those screams when MK 'dies'??? I have never heard something like that in a lego show. it gave me Chills. Like I fully expected him to yk get angry get Mean again but not just LIke That. That was so real sounding. Props to his va bc Shit dudes

third thing! Speaking of VA's god MK's was doing Just as good. All those little moments where his voice wavers as he comes to belive that sacraficing himself is the only way. God and the way his voice sounds as he tells Piggsy that 'jsut because it's hard doesn't mean it's not the right thing' (or something along those lines). This season Hurt me so much yall. Especially as MK chose to come back and Wukong catches him. And he just keeps telling him he's okay??? PAIN??

Oh and at the end when MK is just crying??? IM fine. Yep. His voice actor really nailed all of this. 10/10

Fourth thing! I said it in my other post but uhhhh Macaque?? He sacrafices himself Twice in this season. First into the Pagoda and then by using up a lot of his strength getting them all out of those bindings so SWK can save MK. For all their bickering this season (some might say like an old married couple) Maqaque and Wukong really do seem to be making up yk? and i mean not to mention at the end when they all think it's over and Wukong reaches for him????

Fifth! Are we gonna talk about the memory demon thign showing Wukong The fight with Macaque???? Like of all the shitty/awful things he's done and lived through, That is what the demon shows him to hurt him the most. And it is the Most painful thing bc MK's is all about his monkie side and sacraficing himself. And that's His biggest fear. SO it makes sense that Wukong( and the others) were shown Their worst memories. And yk the fact taht after he's cut free there are Tears in his eyes??? god Im gonna have to watch this season a few more times to pick out all the little details cause the tears thing I only noticed bc someone pointed it out in the comments on the video i was watching.

Final thoughts lol

This season was Incredible! Not only did everything MK has been through Finally catch up with him, something they've been hinting at since s1, but it did in a very satisfying way. I was on the edge of my seat all through the 9th and 10th episodes. I genuinly didn't know who was gonna do the sacrafice. And then when MK jumpped in, I was in awe bc this is a lego show. They wouldn't kill the main charcter. But I really like how they got around that. BC it doesn't Feel like getting around it. It feels like the thing mk Would have done. IF the goddess had told him that his friends were safe, MK would have stayed. 100%. The way his voice breaks as his knees give out when he realizes (incorectly) that they're safe. He'd have died to save them. The only reason he comes back is bc it was a pointless sacrafice.

The season as a whole was also really good. I was a bit confused why it was so easy for MK to get al the stones but then it was revealed that it was Meant to be. This was supposed to be his destiny so things litterally fell into his lap. That was a really nice touch I think. I also really loved all the character interactions! Piggsy calling him son Repeatedly. MK saying he has a ton of dads. Just. Big emphasis on family and i Can't Wait to see how MK's almost sacrafice is gonna change things in following seasons! Bc that was a suicide attempt guys. He saw a world better without him in it and tried to die. if you take away all the fancy wording that's what it is. And ik lego would never yk Say that. but they're already tackling bigger themes than they have before (in this show and dreams and ninjago) so I have faith that they'll go somewhere with this too. Clearly Mk is still terrified and hurt by everything so I really hope eveyrone will come together to try and help him through all this. And yk the next big bad. Can Chaos be a big bad??? I'm so excited for S6!

[alizaphale]

Crowley watching through windows

Okay, guys, I am not finished with this thought but I need to share... I watched Good Omens season 2 again for the umph-teenth time yesterday and it occurred to me that we have three shots of Crowley watching things happening through windows.

One is obviously the time when he makes it rain and watches Nina and Maggie underneath the awning.

Second is when Aziraphale sends him off to fetch Nina and Maggie for the ball.

Third is after Crowley saved Nina and Maggie from nearly being turned into pillars of salt and comes back to the bookshop, just to stop outside the window and watch Aziraphale ring the bell to get everyone to "speak one at a time".

I'm not sure how the first scene fits in with this but... I know people have said before that season 2 is very much focused on Aziraphale, up to the point that whole minisodes are told from Aziraphale's point of view only. But this really made it clear to me how much Aziraphale (unintentionally?!) shuts him out in a way.

Aziraphale is very much taking the lead (despite the fact that he knows how much Crowley likes rescuing him and says he lets him...) and even tells Crowley to "wait an see".

Looking at Crowley during these scenes, he is entirely enraptured during the first scene (watching Nina and Maggie), but rather disappointed (maybe embarrassed?) when his plan doesn't work out. Did he loose confidence after that? Is that why he is happy watching Aziraphale "from afar" instead of taking a more active part? I mean, even when Aziraphale goes off to ask people to join the Whickber Street Traders Thingy Magic he just asks if he can "watch" and stays in the background throughout - messing about a bit here and there, but basically really just observing.

During the second scene, I think, he is thinking about Nina's words and reflecting on his feelings for Aziraphale, probably thinking something along the lines of "oh yeah, that's my angel. Damn it, she was right, I love him!"

During the third scene he just seems very proud of his angel, I think. He enjoys watching him taking charge and standing up to those bookshop-invaders.

I think there's a lot happening on the inside for Crowley during season 2. He's observing his surroundings and himself, collecting information (even when he goes to heaven, he "just" watches what has happened with Gabriel...) and processing. We don't really see that because Aziraphale is the narrator in most parts.

Aziraphale, on the other hand, would benefit from some introspection and stopping, but he's too busy trying to solve problems that aren't his to meddle with (Nina and Maggie) in order to show his love for Crowley (which would be so much easier if he just talked...).

It's just... it breaks my heart every time I see Crowley on the other side of a window, glancing in, getting an idea, probably wanting to be part of it but not quite there, and not being able to communicate, to bond and to connect because of that (literal!) invisible barrier between them that puts them on - hang on - different sides!

The fact that these window-gazing moments happen during major moments (Aziraphale going through with his ball, and Aziraphale dealing with angels and demons in his bookshop) just represents that they aren't on their own side (yet?! Please, let it be a "yet"!) when it comes to the big decisions and plans.

Now I'm gonna go, walk the dog and cry a bit. Because you all probably thought of all this ages ago but I only figured it out now. I will never look at Crowley gazing through a window the same again...

[ashleyfanfic]

Love your blog! Huge Jonerys shipper and just finished Seaosn 2 of Bridgerton and LOVE Polin! Kantony was amazing too! I am so excited for Season 3! Did you see the trailer! Would love yo know your thoughts! Hope you have a great day!

OH! SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS! Thanks for asking.

First, Jonerys will always be my OTP. Yeah, the show ended like a burning pile of dog turds, but in fan fiction they're living happily ever after as they should have. The one good thing is that Kit's show is not going to be made which means they will not be able to profit off Daenerys Death anymore than the already do. Kit, find you another franchise where you can swing a sword. I'll watch it. I sat through Pompeii I can do anything.

Second, I love KANTHONY!!! I mean, the PINING! THE UST! LOVE IT! All the glances and touches and the "You are the bane of my existence and the object of my every desire" yes, sir! PLEASE. Love them. So glad we get to see them happy and in love this season. Just a boon, for sure.

Third, POLIN! Ok, hang on, let me get this out of the way first because it is a huge concern to me. I do not, under any circumstances, want to see Eloise join in with Cressida to make fun of Penelope. I get it, she's hurt, but please don't let her do that because she knows all of the sensitive points about Penelope, not even counting Lady Whistledown. She knows the things she's sensitive about and stands to truly hurt her. I had my former best friend do that to me and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Though, Nicola and Luke were both adamant about their love for Eloise. So, here's hoping.

POLIN - Alright, I'm going to say what I'm sure many other people are thinking -- Colin needs to grovel in apology for what he said. It's already difficult enough for Pen, with her introverted nature, to meet and talk to people. That has been clearly established. But to then have an influential man in the ton declare that he would never dream of courting her? I mean, talk about ruining a girl's chances all around.

There are little things throughout the trailer that fascinate me. One being that I think Penelope isn't going to arrive to one of the balls with her family but fake an illness and stay home. Perhaps after seeing Eloise with Cressida at a garden party earlier that day. Something sparks within her and causes her to no longer lie there, but throw open her wardrobe and we see her getting dressed. We do see Pen see them walk away together. So, I think she comes in late, dressed in a different gown, with a different look. Perhaps she asked Madam Delacroix to make it for her outside of her mother's knowledge. Because we see her standing at the top of a staircase in a red cape and then dramatically allowing it to fall to the ground. Everyone turns and looks. (My favorite thing, is if you look at the crowd, her brother-in-law, Mr. Finch is smiling at her - such a sweet, cheese loving boy!). But Cressida and Eloise look shook. Also, in this same scene we do see Francesca and Pen later talking. This is important to me as it is said in the books, Colin is very close with Franny, especially once he starts traveling and she moves to Scotland. Lady Danbury is obviously speaking with the Queen about the possible matches that could be made. So far, all the writings we've seen about this season show that Mister Dankworth is interested in marriage, but instead of being along the lines of Nigel Berbrook, he's more along the lines of Prince Friedrich. You might root for him if Colin wasn't already in the picture. I have a feeling that while his interest will spark jealousy in Colin, it will also spark confidence in Penelope. Which, judging by some of these awkward convos we see her having with some of the other men of the ton, she really needs. But the sight of them dancing beneath the moonlight in the ballroom, and their heads close together over a book, and Colin having to sit back and watch as a bystander, is too sweet for me to take. Colin is the sort you have to hit over the head and drag him to it. Someone else finding her desirable could spark that wait, what have I missed. We love our leading man, but baby are you dense. The scene where he's sitting back and the flame slowly lights, it's like Colin's love for Penelope. It doesn't happen all at once, but as it grows and glows it gets brighter. Their trope is she falls first, but he falls harder. And in the books, that 100% true. He's my wife this, my wife that. Once he realizes that he's in love with her, there is nothing else that matters to him BUT her.

[kitkatt0430]

idk if youre still doing in it but tommy merlyn, oliver queen for the character ask game?

It's been a while, but not that long so sure :D I do enjoy answering these, after all

Tommy Merlyn

1: sexuality headcanon

He's bi. Definitely bi. More into women than men, but he's an equal opportunity flirt.

2: otp

Tommy/Oliver or Tommy/Oliver/Laurel - there are a few other ships for him I like, but not to the point I'd call them an OTP

3: brotp

Tommy & Oliver & Thea where Tommy is the unofficial third Queen sibling - after all, he is actually Thea's sibling for real already

4: notp

Tommy/Thea for what are probably pretty obvious reasons. I feel so bad for Thea in season 1 knowing that part of her freak out in season 2 over having her biological parentage kept from her is knowing that she hit on her own brother and her mother never warned her.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

In the Earth Prime universe, Tommy took Laurel's last name and became Tommy Lance. After his dad tried to blow up half the city and nearly killed Tommy along with it, he's not exactly keen to stay a Merlyn. So it makes sense that when he married Laurel, it was the Lance family name he wanted to honor and continue.

6: favorite line from this character

I really like this exchange:

Tommy: Dinah Laurel Lance always trying to save the world. Laurel: Hey. If I don't try and save it, who will?

It's very cute. And I do enjoy Tommy/Laurel even they're not an OTP to me, so having them be flirty while also kinda summing themselves up at the same time? He wants to support Laurel even though no one ever really taught him how to do that and she wants to save people be it as part of CNRI or as the Black Canary.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

Tommy struggles a lot with his feelings of not being good enough and when I was his age (when this show began he was older, now I am, how dare time work like this) so did I. Admittedly, for very different reasons. I've definitely found my sense of self confidence and self worth, though, and I'd like to think that Earth Prime Tommy did too, even though we didn't get to see it happen.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

He can be a little misogynistic at times. I do see it as something he's growing out of over the course of S1. End of season Tommy is way less prone to making an ass of himself objectifying women the way start of season Tommy is, so at least it's something he's got character growth about.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll, definitely

And now for...

Oliver Queen

1: sexuality headcanon

Bi or pan. Oliver definitely has a crush on Barry going on by the time the Flash season premier rolled around.

2: otp

Barry/Oliver and Tommy/Oliver

I used to really like Felicity/Oliver and then the ship became canon and I just... didn't like the way they kinda brought out the worst in each other at times *shrug* a good example of being careful what you wish for, I suppose. Some ships are better left to fanon.

I actually really like the show Laurel/Oliver as exes, that was a fun dynamic for them. Though for the comics its Dinah/Oliver all the way.

3: brotp

Oliver & Dig, Oliver & Barry, Oliver & Tommy

Oliver & Dig especially though. It is fun seeing their friendship grow and be tested and come out stronger in the end. I was glad that if Oliver had to show up one last time on the Flash that Dig was there to see him and say goodbye.

4: notp

McKenna Hall and Isabel Rochev

The former... I do like her and Ollie on the show, they're cute but... she's a cop and comics Oliver would never.

Isabel having been one of Oliver's father's affairs and her only sleeping with Oliver to get revenge on a dead man who chose not to abandon his children is gross and squicks me so much when it happens on the show.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Oliver tells Barry that he can inspire people with hope because he inspired Oliver first. Meeting and becoming friends with Barry made Oliver want to be a better version of himself and he just feels comfortable around Barry/trusting Barry in a way he doesn't with everyone else.

6: favorite line from this character

So I don't know what my favorite line is, Oliver gets a lot of good zingers in, but I really love this exchange with him and Malcolm every time I rewatch S1

Malcolm: What are your thoughts, Oliver?

Oliver: I think the vigilante needs a better code name then "The Hood" or "The Hood Guy."

Malcolm: I agree. How about Green Arrow?

Oliver: Lame.

And then what is Oliver's final code name? The Green Arrow, of course.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

Honestly, I don't really know that I relate to him. He's a very different person from me which is probably what makes him such an interesting character to delve into when writing.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

Joining the cops??? I thought his inability to stop lying to people about shit could not be topped and then the final season happened. Comics Oliver would disown show Oliver over that one. He may not have been an real police officer, but working with the cops like that was just... crossing a line that should not have been crossed with this character.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

so many problems, I love this character anyway :D

[rachi-roo]

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Blue Exorcist: Friendly Foe.

As the poll said! We need Lee Rin! And I'm more than happy to comply 😙 I love this stinky demon so much. My son 🥹 See you soon in season 3!

Summary: Due to Rin's constant falling asleep in lesson, Yukio volunteers him for a special task as punishment. One where Rin has to deal with an odd brand of demon.

Tiggle fic. Lee Rin, Ler demon.

Characters: Rin, Yukio, tiggle monster oc

Tw: Footer tiggles, overstimulation.

15/02/23

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"RIN!"

"AH!" A yell snapped the demon from his nap as a large book was slammed down on the desk in front of him. He looked around in shock, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he looked up, seeing an enraged Yukio standi over him.

"Uh, yeah?" Rin tried, smiling awkwardly as the rest of his class glared.

"This is the third time today! What do I have to do to make sure you stay awake?" Yukio scolded, pressing a finger against the boys forehead.

"Psh, I don't know. Don't be so boring or something?" Rin retorted, leaning back in his seat.

"Boring?! Rin these lessons are important. They contain vital information about the creatures we have to fight and-"

"Boring! You know I learn best by doing, Yukio. Not by sitting here listening."

Yukio just sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "If that's really how you think, see me after class today."

"Awwww!" Rin groaned, stretching over his desk, his tail falling limp and sad behind him.

--- Later that day ---

"Soooo... Why are we in the forest?" Rin enquired, wearing his shorts and t-shirt along with his little flip-flops. His sword sitting over his shoulder as always. "I thought you were just gonna make me write lines or something."

Yukio shook his head, guiding his brother deeper into the woods. "Nope. You say you learn best by doing, so I've found a job for you. It's a physical task, a tough one too."

"Yes! Finally what do I gotta kill?"

"You won't be killing anything."

"Hah?! But you said-"

"Sh-" Yukio hushed him suddenly, coming to a stop in the bushes. He tugged on Rins shirt, making him crouch by his side as he pointed. "See that..."

"What?... Oh, the flower?" Rin tilted his head, looking at a bizarre flower that stood alone in a grassy clearing. It was bright pink, shaped much like a little sunflower, with darker pollen spots on its face, resembling a smile.

"Your task, is to go grab the flower." Yukio explained. Rin just stared at him, an un-amused look on his face.

"We flower picking? Seriously? Uuuh, geez this is stupid." Rin stood, leaving his Katana with Yukio, casually sauntering over to the flower as Yukio stayed hidden. "Okay! Here I go! Picking the oh-so-scary flower!" He crouched, reaching for the flower, the second he touched it the ground quaked beneath him.

"What the?!" He stumbled, falling onto his backside with a- There was no impact. "Huh?" He looked at the ground where he should have landed. He wasn't sitting upon the grass, but instead a soft, plump surface, covered in a layer of fluffy fur.

There was a sound above him, much like a whale call. A peaceful sound. He looked up, a large creature looking down at him with a friendly gaze. It was covered in fur, and had a seemingly unlimited amount of furry tendrils protruding from its body. The little pink flower standing on it's forehead.

"Um, Yuki-Oh!" Rin yelped as a tendril wrapped around his chest, lifting him from the ground and close to the demons face. It hummed, sniffing at his hair before nuzzling his cheek. Rin, unsure if he was going to be eaten or not, tried to lean away as the demon continued to sniff and examine him.

"Yukio! What the hell is this?!" He called, looking down to see Yukio had gotten comfy on the grass nearby and was reading. "If you paid attention in class, you'd know." He smirked.

"This is a Chuggle. A lower-class earth-based demon. Completely harmless. One of the very few demons we rarely bother exercising. Chuggles are sometimes responsible for hysterical laughter. When you and a friend can't stop laughing over something that isn't funny, it's often because one of these is feeding."

"Feeding?" Rin stammered, still trying to push himself free. The Chuggle purring as it petted Rins hair. "What do you mean, feeding?"

"Again, we went over this in my lesson. Chuggles feed on laughter. They maximise the emotions that cause laughing whenever they get hungry. Allowing them to feed. However, if one hasn't fed in a while, it resorts to a different tactic." Yukio smirked, looking up from his book.

"Wh-What does it do?" Rin gulped, gasping as he felt a fluffy tendril slither around his bare tummy, starting to shift up and down, the tip just poking lightly at his side. "Uh-! H-Hehey! Wait a minute! That tihickles!"

"Precisely." Yukio winked, turning back to his book. "This could take a while. This Chuggle in particular likes to take its time. It uses this space for feeding, we've been feeding this one for years now."

"Yukio! You can't do thihi-! Ahaha!" Another tendril snaked up his back, tracing up and down his spine with the tip, making Rin try to arch his back away. "Ehehe! W-Wahait!"

His free-hanging legs soon came under attack too, the soft appendages coming to coil around his ankles, keeping his legs steady as they tickled the backs of his exposed knees and thighs. "Ahaha! Noho!"

Through all the kicking, his flip-flops slipped from his feet, falling to the ground. Rin grit his teeth, fearing what he knew was coming. "Don't, don't, do-Hahaha! Naaaaaah!" He squealed, feeling the light touch of fur skimming and teasing his vulnerable soles, just reaching under his toes.

"Yukiohoho! Plehehease!" He was blatantly ignored by his brother, who just casually turned the page in his book.

"Shihit! You're so dead! HEY!" He struggled, feeling yet more limbs wrap around his wrists, tugging them over his head. "NO! No don't you dahAHAHA!" He snorted as the tendrils snaked down his shirt sleeves, starring to poke and wriggle into his underarms. "Stahahap! Ahahaaa! I-I cahan't!"

So far, his worst spots were safe. He thought anyway. The Chuggle brought the laughing boy close again, seemingly examining his elf-like ears curiously. It hadn't seen any like these on humans before. The creature purred, starting to trace just inside and around the back of his ears.

"AH! NO! Nonono! Duhude!" Rin shook his head, trying to lean away from the tickling, still being attacked elsewhere. This only made the demon happier. It hummed, gently continuing the attack. "AHAHA! Oho god! Plehease! Nahaha!"

No matter how much he shook his head, or where he turned, the tickling tendrils just followed with unbearable precision. "Stahahap!"

Rins tail wagged happily behind him, the tip puffing up out of excitement. He couldn't hide the fact he was enjoying this even if he tried. The tail was a dead giveaway. The Chuggle soon noticed it too.

"Hahaha! Y-Yukioooo! Please! GAH-!" He yelped, his laughter suddenly jumped up in volume as he felt several soft appendages tracing up and down the length of his tail, one tendril holding the tip steady, only slightly restricting it's movement. "NO! OH GAHAHAHAAAAD! AHAHAHAHA!"

Yukio glanced up, seeing Rins scrunched up nose and crinkled eyes as he laughed uncontrollably. His fangs were visible with the huge smile he wore with his red cheeks, nose and ears. The little ticklish demon was in for a long night.

"HEHEHELP! I-IHIHI! AAAH!" The Chuggle paused, all tickling coming to a halt for a moment, leaving Rin panting heavily. The Chuggle petted his hair, almost as if it were being sympathetic or apologising, the whale like sounds emitted from it.

"Hah... A-Are we... done?" Rin panted, opening his eyes. Not a second later, the poor boy was bombarded with a ridiculous amount of tickles. Everything was being attacked at once. Tummy, ribs, underarms, hips, thighs, knees, feet! Everywhere the demon could reach, including the unbearable torment on his tail and ears.

"KYAAAAHAHAHAHA! AAAHAHA! NAAAAAHAHA!" He wriggled and thrashed in the Chuggles hold, tears pooling in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks as he flailed pathetically.

"NOHO MORE! THIHIS IS CRAZY! AHAHAHA!" His laughter turned to hiccups as he grew more and more out of breath.

"I think he likes you." Yukio teased, not showing any signs that he was going to help.

"DAMN YOU! BAHASTARD! AHAHA!" Rin managed to flip off his bully of a brother before the tickling sensations made his hands spazm again.

~~~

After a while, Yukio checked his watch, wondering how long Rin's punishment had been going on for. "Well, that makes an hour. Shouldn't be too long now." He chuckled.

Rin was a mess, still howling with laughter. His face was wet with tears, his hair tangled and soggy from sweat. Even the fur down his tail was ragged. He was still smiling though. Perhaps the fact he's a demon means he has more endurance, which in this case, was a blessing.

"Ahahaha! Hah- Shit- Shihit! Okahay! Aha... AHAHA!" He had grown tired though, only in the past twenty minutes or so. His laughter died down to breathy hiccups and giddy giggling.

"Plehease! Aha... Huh?..." He panted, lifting his head as he felt the tickling finally stop. "Oh god... Haha..." His body went limp, the tickle monster still holding him gently. Purring as it petted Rin's hair, stroking his cheek softly. "Ha... I-I'm okay..." He smiled, almost as if he understood what the creature was saying.

The Chuggle carefully moved Rin into a cradled position, purring as it played with his hair. It was thanking him for being helpful, even gently giving him his flip-flops back.

"Alright, time to go." Yukio sighed, standing and closing his book. Rin put his footwear back on as the Chuggle set him down, it's eyes smiling down at him before it slunked off into the forest.

"So... Where's it going now?" Rin asked, rubbing his tummy to rid it of the ghost tickles.

"Probably off to sleep, Chuggle usually do after a big meal." Yukio chuckled, poking Rin's side, earning a tired grunt in response. "Huh... A demon we don't exercise..." Rin smiled, looking in the direction the Chuggle went. He was glad. Chuggles seem like sweethearts.

We've all encountered one at some point.

[miloscat]

[Review] Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova (PS5)

I love to see budget licenced games still being made.

Prodigy is one of my favourites of the (many) new Star Trek shows. It’s got some Star Wars vibes, not just from the The Clone Wars-esque art style, but also the story of a band of misfits coming together to survive in a crapsack galaxy. Now that I’ve caught up with part 2 of season 1 (which was split in half for some reason) I thought I’d check out this companion game.

Like the show, the game could be classified as “for kids”. It’s not dissimilar to the Lego games which I always enjoy: a semi-isometric perspective, puzzles and simple combat, objects to bash and collectibles to find. The two main gameplay modes of puzzle-solving (via block-pushing and logic gates) and robot-battling (via bashing and pew-pewing variations on the show’s Watcher drone) are fairly well-developed if lacking in variety, while the rest of the experience is rough around the edges. These two modes are also very discrete, with rooms basically alternating between the two.

The game is wired for co-op but is technically playable solo by swapping between the two characters. Dal has more ranged options with different kinds of phasers, and for puzzles can lift heavy boxes and “camouflage” past security cameras. Gwyn is more melee with her “fretwork” heirloom morphing between sword, fists, and spear, and can also use it as a bridge or shield against certain lasers. Rescuing the rest of the crew is the main initial objective and once found, they can open certain themed doors and periodically activate a combat effect.

While the game is set in the mid-season gap, there’s a few plot details that are more impactful coming from the show’s second part as opposed to their insertion here. For example, the antagonist is a third Drednok from the Vau N’Akat Order who has enslaved the three-world system that is Supernova’s setting. It works well as an interquel adventure, and the show’s actors all reprise their roles nicely (although the two leads only having two oft-repeated attack and dash grunts gets grating).

The lead game designer and co-creative director Pere Suau Massanet of the upstart Spanish dev studio Tessera is credited with the original story, while actual writing fell to freelance Brit Martin Korda, many of whose most recent credits centre around the Fifa games’ story modes. Some questionable tendencies seem to have snuck their way into the game script, such as Janeway at one point cloaking the ship (something the Protostar is not supposed to be able to do!) using “Bajoran magic” (???), or out of nowhere giving Dal the character trait “constantly making shallow and nonsensical references to Star Trek stuff”, along the lines of “it’s hotter than a Cardassian fire pit” or “it’s colder than a Betazoid freezer”. On the other hand, there is some fun to be had such as with the collectibles, one being a toy version of Voyager’s Salamander Janeway, and I enjoyed the running gag of the crew picking up the expression “check it” from Dal as a part of their official communications.

After rolling credits, I considered replaying levels to find more relics for the captain’s quarters or to unlock more concept art, but having to redo the busywork of puzzles I’d solved before and undertake yet more repetitive combat was a prospect that lacked appeal. But I had a decent time playing through it once. I just wish there were more than two of those attractive, stylised motion comic-style cutscenes that bookend the game. Not that the in-game graphics don’t look good and match the show (except for Dal who looks a bit weird).

Two final notes. I called this a “budget” game because it has a budget feel on the development side, but on the consumer side it’s actually quite expensive at the A$70 mark. Try to get it on sale. And I loved seeing some casual nonbinary rep in this game from Lorn’ess, one of the two oppressed natives you meet. This is in addition to the main cast’s Zero of course, who joined the ranks in new Trek alongside Discovery’s Adira and Strange New Worlds’ Captain Angel. Pride!

[redwineconversation]

Fleury - OL Postgame Thoughts

There was a tweet when before the first UWCL game against Arsenal, where someone - it was even an Arsenal fan, I think - said something along the lines that it's better to play Lyon in the group stages than in the spring, because that's when the monster wakes up.

We saw that today. Lyon's eyes, especially right at the end, with the bullshit handball call, turned black. And I thought to myself, ah, the monster is awake now.

I'm only half being metaphorical. You could see them almost shaking with rage. They looked pissed off, and a vexed, vengeful Lyon is dangerous. They're bloodthirsty now. They've given up their facade of looking like they have reformed. Their eyes were so, so dark at the end of the game.

In the spring, as that individual said, the monster wakes up.

I have a lot of grievances about this game, so let me work my way through them.

First of all, it was very, very obvious that the referee had no control over the game. You could see the tension mount throughout the game, as more and more fouls were committed, most of them called against Lyon. To put things in context, the referee was so bad they actually got Delphine Cascarino to shove another player in frustration. Cascarino does not have a reputation of getting into a scuffle with opposing players. Lyon is good at keeping their cool, but the reaction towards the penalty, after the whistle was blown, was really significant.

Second, the flopping. Every time a Fleury player went down you would have thought they tore their ACL or had another season-ending injury, only for them to pop up a minute later and suddenly be in contention for the world record in sprints. Flop, flop, flop, sprint. Over and over again. And yet when Lyon players got completely bulldozed, they were lucky if the whistle was even blown.

Third, the ball quality. This again seems of how bad it was because it got Lyon players to break their professionalism. It takes a lot for that to happen. When you have Renard stop play to contest the air pressure in the ball, that's bad. Endler did the same thing. That deflated (?) balls happened in a professional league game is honestly appalling. I'm not sure if it was sheer incompetence or a tactic to try and throw Lyon off their game, but whatever it was, was unacceptable at best.

Fourth, Lyon's football intelligence. Their football IQ is pretty high. There was a moment where a majority of the Lyon players were up to take a corner, which left their defense exposed. The Fleury goalkeeper got the ball and Damaris immediately went to stand in front of the goalkeeper to buy time for the Lyon players to get back. It's just little things. (Another Damaris moment which made me chuckle a bit was when one of the Fleury players blatantly flopped and Damaris pointed at the player as if she was tattling to the ref.)

Fifth, let's talk about the penalty. There is so much to dissect here. It was a series of events which just pissed Lyon off: they were past the allocated four minutes of extra time, the ball literally hit Carpenter's cheek and was nowhere near her arm, which made it such a bullshit call. If it was legitimate Lyon would have been annoyed. I know the difference between Lyon being annoyed at a legitimate call and Lyon being furious at the wrong call. This was more than Lyon conceding a penalty, it was about a penalty that never should have been called. After the whistle blew the Lyon players immediately crowded the ref - which, again, is out of character for them. Bompastor got into a very heated discussion with both the referee and the assistant referees. The French audio picked up Bompastor threatening to appeal the call.

The players headed back to the locker room, their eyes dark. They almost looked like a predator.

Like a monster that has woken up.