#no offense to bethany

[altfire]

god i Have to go in and like. rewrite all the flavor in thatw from tes to aermainh. for my health. for my brain

[finn-m-corvex]

Lightning in a Cubicle Pt. 3

And here it is, a day before Pt. 2 so we can see just how factually incorrect this AU is! And it will also officially become an AU rather than just speculation. This one took a little rewriting but I got it somewhere that I'm happy with.

Words: 3.4k

No TWs! But there is a taglist: @rainofthetwilight @giftofjay @lightning-chicken @i-love-jay-walker @sir-robyn this is for all of you! Remember that if you want to be tagged, please tell me explicitly! Enjoy!

“..and that should be everything.” Jay finished, leaning back in his chair. He watched as Sora bit her lip in concentration, running the eraser on her pencil along the bullet points written on the paper to make sure that she had gotten everything. Her thoroughness made a bolt of pride shoot through Jay, and he was almost afraid of how quickly he had gotten attached to this kid.

Sora looked up, pencil tapping against the blue clipboard that Jay had lent her. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure, yeah,” but Jay still reached for the small manual that he had printed out while Sora had run to the bathroom. Before today, he didn’t know that the Administration’s website had an official ‘How to Train your Intern!’ handbook, and Jay figured it couldn’t hurt to try it. “At least, that’s everything in here. If you have any more questions, though, feel free to ask me.”

“Got it.” Sora gave him back his pencil, and Jay was quick to put it back in his pencil cup before he forgot. “Now where do I work, exactly?”

That-that was a great question, actually.

“Uh,” Jay said, flipping through the handbook and cursing the lack of a spine, “it says here that you’re just supposed to stay in your handler’s office, except, well…”

“Your office is smaller than my shoebox,” Sora joked, and Jay chuckled. She wasn’t wrong.

“Maybe this will finally be my excuse to get a proper office,” Jay said thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he mulled the idea over in his head. Even Shitty Sharon wouldn’t be able to deny him an office now, especially with an intern assigned to his name by the head of the department and not just his manager.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Sora leaned forward on her clipboard with a mischievous smile, “you only got the intern to get a squeaky new office? How could you?”

Jay put a hand on his chest, making a sound in mock offense. “Sora! Your dear superior would never! How could you think such a thing?”

“You have ‘get an office’ written as one of the things on the visionboard that I’m guessing you had to make during a work function.”

Quicker than lightning, Jay’s hand whipped out and grabbed the offending visionboard, tossing it over his cubicle wall in a perfect arc to land in their shredder. “You saw nothing.”

The girl looked surprised to hear the shredder start up as the board landed, starting to make its way into Bitchy Bethany’s next batch of paper-mache. “Did you just-”

“I did nothing,” Jay said quickly, whipping around to open his laptop up properly. He needed to start answering emails as soon as possible, who knows how many had already piled up in his inbox since yesterday? Gotta make himself look busy in case Shitty Sharon decided to show up.

Except the damn thing didn’t turn on.

Pressing the power button in frustration, Jay and Sora waited a couple seconds, both watching as the laptop did nothing. Jay pressed it again, growing impatient. He could feel his lightning start to come alive under his skin, and it took everything in him to stay in control. He could not afford to slip up now, with an Imperian intern sitting not even a foot away from him with everything to gain and nothing to lose from turning him over to Empress Beatrix.

Sora cleared her throat. “If you want, I can try to take a look at it?”

Waving his hand in a frustrated motion, Jay told her to have at it. He watched as the girl closed the screen and flipped it over, examining it and the holes hiding the screws. “Do you have a screwdriver, by any chance?” she asked, and Jay did a quick look over his desk and through his drawers only to come up empty-handed.

“No, sorry,” he said, “but it’s okay! We can just run it down to I.T. real quick. They like me so we should be able to just get in and out.”

Besides, he could always do with more time out of the office; it would help settle him down. Grabbing up his keycard and wallet, Jay stuffed the computer into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was close enough to lunchtime to warrant stopping by one of the restaurants on the upper floors, and it would be a nice way to get to know his new ward. Plus, he hadn’t splurged on some good food for himself in quite some time, so it should be a nice time for both of them.

Following behind him, Sora closed the door to the office as Jay punched them both out, and she took the time-card from his hand to stuff it back into her jacket pocket. “Thanks, Jay.”

“Anytime,” Jay said easily, making sure to shorten his stride so the girl could keep up. She was taller than he would’ve expected, but he still cleared her by a few inches, enough to make it difficult to walk at his pace. “You down to get some lunch while we’re out?”

Who was he expecting to see when he saw her?

“Only if you’re paying,” she joked, and Jay chuckled. Yeah, he liked this girl.

“Glad to see they finally hired someone with a sense of humor,” Jay remarked, waving hi to Luke the security guard as they passed by him. Luke had a friendly smile on his face, twirling the standard-issue baton in his hands.

“Who’s the kid?” Luke asked, and Sora stiffened on Jay’s other side.

“This is Sora, my new intern,” Jay explained, subtly moving in front of Sora to try and shield her from view. Why was he suddenly feeling so protective over her? “Sora, this is Luke, the security guard for our floor. He’s super chill.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sora said, reaching out to shake hands, but Jay saw how stilted the movements were. Maybe she didn’t like meeting new people?

Jay was quick to usher her along after Luke’s hand dropped away, giving the man a quick wave behind him. “See you later, Luke! We’re going to lunch!”

“Enjoy yourselves!” Luke called, and Jay gave him a quick thumbs-up. Sora looked almost relieved to be away from him, and Jay felt that protective instinct flare up from inside of him again. She smiled at him, and Jay had to stop walking with the wave of nostalgia that washed over him; there was a flash of blond hair in his vision, and he recognized it immediately as Lloyd’s.

What was going on?

Sora paused, looking back at him standing in the middle of the hallway. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” Jay stammered, starting to walk with her again to the elevators. “Just got lost in my head for a second.”

That’s one way to say it.

Flicking his keycard out from his pocket and swiping it, Jay noticed that Sora’s foot started tapping against the floor as they waited for the elevator, an exact mirror of how he would do it. He knew that whenever his foot started tapping it meant he was nervous, so was she feeling nervous? Over what?

“Is everything okay with you?” Jay asked, gently laying a hand on her arm. He noticed for the first time that she was wearing gloves over both hands; a rather odd choice for someone who had to use their hands all day.

Biting her lip, Sora looked nervous. “A-Are there any other Imperians in the building?”

“Huh?” Jay wheeled around, quickly checking around the hallway. Panic surged through his veins as his eyes searched for people, finding no one. There was only Luke whistling to himself as he checked his phone. “What Imperians?”

He was fucked if there were other Imperians in the building.

“That one that you just introduced me to,” Sora hissed, picking up on his urgency. “Is he the only one or are there others?”

“Luke isn’t Imperian,” Jay said, confused. He squinted at the man, searching his face for the signature markings. There wasn’t even a little trace of them, which left him even more confused as Sora pulled him into the elevator, punching in a random number just to make the doors close even faster. It was a miracle that the car was empty, especially at this time of day. Neither of them were paying close enough attention to Luke, turning to each other as the doors finally slid shut, and they didn’t see as the man pressed a button on a hidden communications unit around his wrist.

“We may have a complication, sir,” he said, and no one was around to listen to the rest of their conversation.

“What were you thinking?!” Jay said quickly, trying to figure out any way to stop the elevator. He was this close to ripping the control panel off and rewriting the whole damn thing, because they could absolutely not get off on the floor Sora had typed in.

“Is floor 154 bad?” Sora asked, raising an eyebrow at the way Jay started running his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth across the floor even though he could cross it in two strides.

“That’s the aquarium!” Jay exclaimed. “Do you know what they’ll do to us if they find us in the aquarium?!”

“...no?”

Oh right, she was still new here. He shouldn’t be surprised that she hadn’t gone over the directory yet. “Floors 150 to 160 are for families only. You cannot go there unless you have kids or you have a really good excuse, and in case you haven’t noticed we are lacking both.”

“That’s dumb,” Sora said, frowning. “Why can’t people just go to the aquarium whenever they want?”

“Because that’s not how it works around here!” Jay could feel a vein start to pop out on his forehead in frustration. “You don’t understand! If they catch us in there-”

“What? Are they gonna scan our keycards and find out that we aren’t long lost father and daughter?” Sora said mockingly, which only heightened Jay’s anxiety.

“YES!”

Her face fell. “They can actually do that?”

“The Administration is one of the most technologically advanced places in Ninjago,” Jay said angrily, “of course they can do that!”

Before he could start to chew her out thoroughly, the doors opened with a quiet hiss, and suddenly Jay was face-to-face with a security guard. The guard was taller than him, with large shoulders and sunglasses on his face with a red rim around the legs. He definitely looked much less chill than Luke ever could be in his life.

Holy shit they were so fucking hooped! He was so fucking fired.

Imperians had fucked him over just like he thought they would; he just wasn’t expecting it to be via wrong floor of the elevator rather than a lifetime of being drained like a damn battery.

The guard looked down the bridge of his nose at Jay, who could already feel the sweat starting to gather on his palms. “Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to the aquarium.”

“G-Good afternoon,” Jay said, plastering a phony smile on his face and standing in front of Sora, as if that would keep her hidden away and mitigate their punishment. “I’m so sorry for the inconvenience sir, we’ll just be on our way-”

“Nonsense!” the guard smiled, an uncharacteristically crooked grin splitting his face. “We just put in a new shark exhibit, and I’m sure you and your daughter would love to see it.”

“Daughter?” Jay caught himself. “Uh, yeah my daughter! Totally my daughter. Then I guess you wouldn’t mind us just walking in, right?”

Were they actually going to get away with this?

“Of course not, sir,” the guard said, “and please, call me Sam. I only have to look intimidating for those of us who don’t have kiddos at home. Gotta keep the peace around here somehow, you know?”

“Absolutely!” Jay said with as much fake joy as he could muster. He frantically signalled behind him to Sora with a gesture that he hoped she would understand, and the girl popped her head out from behind her shoulder to wave to the guard. “The peace, yup, that means everything to us lowly office drones! Pardon us, this is our first time here.”

Sam squinted, scrutizing the two of them, and Jay felt like sweating buckets. “Say, are you sure she’s your daughter?”

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-

“She’s adopted,” Jay blurted without even thinking about the implications of what he was saying, and he could only imagine how horrified Sora probably looked standing behind him, “we haven’t been together for very long, and I thought I would show her around the aquarium as a sort-of welcome home.”

A pang of something filled his chest from top to bottom when he thought more about what he had said. Adopted? Why did that word resonate so strongly with him?

Why was it making him feel sad?

Jay was not prepared for the force of the shoulderclap that Sam gave him, keeping his wince hidden and forcing another smile on his face as he shook himself out of his thoughts. “Good for you two! I better not keep you any longer, then. Have a good time!”

“Thank you!” Jay said forcefully, making himself take a couple steps out of the elevator; the feeling in his chest had grown into a small void. Sora wasn’t following him, he noticed, so he turned around to the girl still standing in the elevator. “Sora? You coming, kiddo?”

“Oh!” she said, walking out of the car and past Sam quickly. “Yeah! Coming, D-Dad!”

Dad. Another word that struck him in a way that almost knocked him off of his feet.

He wished he could remember what had happened to his dad. God, Pa must be so worried about him; was his pa even okay? Jay knew that his parents were on the older side, but still, surely he would’ve remembered if something had happened to him.

What was his life? He had barely known this girl for a few hours and now he was pretending to be someone as important as her father? Good grief, she must be so mad at him.

The hallway leading to the aquarium was dark and ocean-themed, painted floor to ceiling like tidal waves with fish under the sea in a scene that niggled at the back of Jay’s mind, the only sound being the echoes of their footsteps against the tile. It was one of the most awkward silences Jay could ever remember being in (not that it meant very much), and his eyes were darting around the corridor, looking for anything to latch onto other than the girl at his side.

“Hey, Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s an aquarium? Like, are we in danger?” Sora asked quietly, and Jay turned to look at her. She seemed nervous, wringing her hands together and biting her lip. That wouldn’t do, especially when they were supposed to be having fun.

Jay chuckled. “No kiddo, no danger. An aquarium is like a bunch of giant fish tanks all in the same building. They keep all sorts of stuff in them, they’re actually really neat. I went to the one in Ninjago years ago, before the Merge.” It was one of the few things he could remember from that time. He had been with his parents on his first trip to Ninjago City, and he could remember sitting on his Pa’s shoulders and looking through the glass with a sense of wonder, pointing to all of the sharks and the manta rays that would pass by.

Except his favorite one had been the giant octopus, and Jay felt himself blush at the memory of the tantrum he threw when his parents tried to take him away to another exhibit; that was how much he had loved the octopus. It wasn’t his fault that it was so cool!

“There weren’t any aquariums in Imperium,” Sora commented, and Jay forced himself to stop walking down memory lane and pay attention to her. “I don’t even think we had oceans.”

“And that’s why there’s a first time for everything,” Jay said, noticing as the hallway started to get brighter with blue light. They were getting close.

Sure, Jay had been in an aquarium before, but he wasn’t expecting one quite on this scale. Stepping out into the main hall was like walking straight into the sea, and Jay had to take a deep breath to double-check that he wasn’t underwater. Patterns danced across the now carpeted floor as the light warped and refracted off of the glass, and Jay felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he looked around at all of the tanks. They were filled with as much coral and plantlife as he would’ve expected from a place as loaded as the Administration, and all of the colorful fish looked right at home swimming back and forth in the humongous tanks.

He turned to look at Sora next to him, smiling at her awe-struck expression and the soft sound of amazement that left her mouth. “Like what you see?”

“This is so cool,” Sora breathed, and Jay was unprepared for her to grab at his arm and start tugging him towards the biggest tank. “Come on! I wanna go look at the sharks!”

“The sharks?” Jay asked. “Aren’t they a bit overrated?”

“You can never go wrong with sharks,” and when they finally stopped in front of the tank, Sora held up her hands and pressed her face against the glass, trying to get as close to the sea creatures as humanly possible. “Look how cool they are! And they’re so BIG!”

Something about seeing her so happy, so carefree as she looked at the fish with the biggest smile on her face made Jay’s chest squeeze. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been here before, done something similar to this with someone else in his life. A rush of ptotectiveness came over him, and even though he had only known this girl for a few hours Jay knew that she was filling a hole in his life that he didn’t even know he had.

Had he always been this much of a sap?

Catching his eye, Jay turned to a floor-to-ceiling cylinder tank, and something in his gut was tugging him in that direction. He walked up to it, placing a hand on the glass and reading the plaque on the side, almost as if he were in a trance.

Octopus. He found his favorite.

“Hey there,” Jay cooed, watching as the large creature slithered across the sand. Its head jiggled as it went, the sand under it flying through the water as it moved. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

Almost like it heard him, the octopus shifted around, waving two tentacles in the air before starting to move towards the edge of the tank. Jay watched, transfixed, as the octopus raised a single tentacle and placed it where Jay’s hand was resting. The moment was made even more magical when lightning surged from Jay’s fingertips without his permission, almost as if the creature was calling it. The blue glow was mesmerizing, and this wasn’t the first time that Jay would let sparks fly between his fingertips just to watch the energy move through the air. Jay let it flow, small enough so that it couldn’t be seen by any passerby. Never before had using his power felt so satisfying, so right.

Who was he in his past life? An octopus whisperer?

“Wow,” Sora said from next to him, scaring him out of his skin. The octopus quickly skittered away, and Jay was surprised at how saddened he felt watching it go. He couldn’t bring himself to be mad at Sora, though.

Turning to look at her, Jay readjusted his shirt collar and rolled up his sleeves, hoping that he had just looked like a crazy person rather than a personified livewire. “All done with the sharks? We still have a lot more to look at, and then we’re grabbing lunch.”

“On you?” Sora asked jokingly.

“Yup, so we’re gonna get whatever you want,” Jay smirked. “Gotta keep you out of the office for as long as possible.”

“Isn’t the whole reason I’m here to help you in the office?”

“No, they probably just assigned you to me to help keep me young,” Jay sighed.

8ut that was a good thing, he realized as Sora started leading them to the manta ray exhibit, because this whole intern thing was already so much better than he ever could’ve hoped for.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Suspect Arrested in Killings of 4 College Students in Moscow, Idaho

The man arrested over the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students has been named as Bryan Kohberger.

A SWAT team entered the location in Pennsylvania where Kohberger, 28, was staying and took him into custody around 3 a.m. today (30 December 2022). Police also seized a white Hyundai Elantra matching the description of a car police had being trying to locate from the scene of the murders.

Online records indicate Kohberger appears to have been pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, less than 10 miles from Moscow. Shortly after his arrest, the university took down a grad student page listing his name. A man with the same name is also listed as having received a master of arts in criminal justice from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., in 2022.

While at DeSales, Kohberger allegedly posted in a Reddit community for former prisoners to ask for help with a research survey about “how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” The post, which identified Kohberger as the “student investigator,” was purportedly interested in “the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience.”

Kohberger appeared briefly in a Monroe County court friday morning. Records showed he was ordered held without bail and is due to be extradited after a hearing on Jan. 3.

His arrest comes almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in their beds as they slept in their off-campus home on Nov. 13. The murders were the first in Moscow in seven years and have rocked the small college community. Earlier this week, police confirmed they were sifting through 20,000 tips in connection with the case.

Police say the four students were murdered sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. but they were not discovered until hours later after roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke became worried they could not reach their friends and called police, who made the grim discovery.

The Moscow Police Department, in conjunction with the FBI and investigators from the University of Idaho, is set to hold a press conference to address developments in the case at 1 p.m. local time Friday.

Meanwhile, a professional crime-scene clean up crew arrived on Friday at the home at 1122 King Road in Moscow where the stabbings occurred, but police stopped them from entering the house due to the developments in the case. After the conclusion of the investigation, it is unclear if the three-story house will be demolished or re-listed by the property owner.

[kirkwall-age]

probably about to reinvent the wheel here

but i think my favorite explanation for the off-screen Athenril fallout is pride before a fall

sidebar: i think i nearly always go the Athenril route because, well, Meeran asks you to straight up kill somebody as a job interview, and Athenril says in her pitch: we’re not slavers and we’re not murderers. and i think the majority of my Hawkes who just left a farm in Lothering are not exactly contract killer material

and the game requires you to walk away from both of them. from the doylist perspective = i get it.

but quitting Meeran’s crew is easy to explain away: the man’s a grade A asshole. but Athenril’s personable. she knows how to be polite which has taken her this far. and yet we know that she has done something so offensive that Hawke storms off and promises to never work with her again

in spite of which Athenril sends you three very politely worded letters (job offers for Loose Ends, Bait and Switch and The Bone Pit), keeping the line of communication open and fairly amiable

so the way i see it is:

Athenril’s crew is small. she is trying to get by without attracting too much attention from the Coterie or the Carta. that’s fact

Hawke joins her crew -- which betters Athenril’s business considerably. that’s also fact. we know from Varric’s introductiory speech that Athenril’s operation ended up growing large enough, and the only reason why the Coterie and the Carta didn’t succeed in wiping her out was Hawke

and, at first, I think things go pretty well. Athenril seems like she would try and get along with Hawke. keep her people happy. that’s speculation :)

but, I think, she does enjoy the power play, a little bit. that type of benevolence where you can offer the carrot because you know there is the unspoken threat of the stick. she’s really in control. and everyone knows it. and they should be grateful that she chooses the carrot.

Hawke + sibling have to work for her for a whole year, and they have no choice -- because of Gamlen’s debt, and because Fereldans don’t really have a lot of great options around Kirkwall, and also made worse by the fact that Hawke has to hide either their own magic, or Bethany’s. and, in conversation, Hawke literally refers to it as Athenril having Hawke’s life in her hands for the whole year.

so yeah, Athenril treats them well, but she knows she holds the leash, too

and Athenril sees how her business prospers with Hawke at her beck and call, and her ambition grows

Hawke improves Athenril’s crew overall skill and competency and standing by a large margin, and as other groups get either swallowed up or torn apart by the Carta and the Coterie, Athenril’s crew holds their ground

and Athenril starts telling herself that it is on her merit. that it is her command and her smarts that have gotten them this far, not Hawke’s. and whatever Hawke did to contribute to it — well, that’s still Athenril’s win for finding them and bringing them to heel

and Hawke, with some personality variations, grows either more and more concerned with Athenril’s gluttony for power, or more and more frustrated

and then the year is coming up on its expiration date, and Athenril tries to pressure Hawke into staying. threats are issued -- and fall on deaf ears because Hawke was never afraid of Athenril. she hurls insults, then offers bribes. standard manipulations tactics. arrogance and possessiveness abound

and that is the note on which Hawke leaves as the year is up, and the contract is done, and Hawke no longer has to deal with any of this

and Athenril’s business instantly starts to dwindle. and the power that she imagined starts to turn to sawdust in her hands. and the Coterie starts breathing down her neck (once again: fact) because Athenril no longer can back up her threats or offer sufficient pushback

so, from aggressive, Athenril turns plaintive, sending Hawke multiple letters that are kindly worded, trying to lure them back

the severance note she sends literally says: Your year’s up and you’re free to go. Despite what you think, we had a good thing working together. I might pass along an opportunity or two, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Stay safe. — entirely pleasant

and then, as stated above, she also sends letters for Fenris’s recruitment and for the Bone Pit chain. tasty morsels to win Hawke’s trust back. along the lines of: “see, wasn’t this profitable? aren’t i a good boss partner?”

but then when you go to meet her: she isn’t friendly at all. she’s showing some teeth. “Didn’t think you’d stoop to our kind again. Or are you not too proud to make some coin?”

so, some of this is a little contradictory -- and i just required a decent watsonian explanation to tie these loose threads together into a neat narrative

and, then, dealer’s choice. personality pending. in my current playthrough Hawke is pretty patient and doesn’t hold a grudge. she is willing to give Athenril a second chance. see if she came back to her senses. this bit is pure headcanon land. insert whatever rationalization fits the bill

but the thing is: Athenril didn’t change. if possible, she became worse. she’s paranoid, a little more desperate, and a lot more cruel? she started employing orphans and children and virtually abusing them?

so Hawke reneges. helps the kid. and then tells that to Athenril’s face. like: how dare you? are you insane? since when is this how you run your business? this is a far cry from when i agreed to work for you a year ago.

which sends Athenril into... well, pretty much murderous rage. which, i think, is just juicy untapped potential: how incredibly difficult it must be to have worked with/for someone for a year -- only for them to turn on you so completely that you have to put them down with your own hand

at the very least, that’s how this particular playthrough concluded for me. lying is always an option, of course. telling her the Coterie got to her goods first, and then leaving, knowing full well that the Coterie will finish her off. like seeing a person drowning and offering no safety net at all. that’s a good narrative too

either way, that’s my plausible headcanon for The Rise and Fall of Athenril between Prologue and Act 1

[ceoofhelaegon]

Idc how popular/unpopular this opinion is but Helaegon in the show deserves to be portrayed as a complex relationship and not as Aegon/Naerys 2.0 that this fandom desperately want.

Not to be offensive to anyone but saying that A*mond/Helaena are the original Naerys and Aemon is a braindead take

Received similar asks and I thought it was better to reply to both at the same time…so here we go:

Aegon IV:

Aenys was weak and Maegor was cruel and Aegon II was grasping, but no king before or after that would practice so much willful misrule.

—writings of Kaeth in Lives of Four Kings

'Fire and Blood' were the words of House Targaryen, but Dunk once heard Ser Arlan say that Aegon's should have been, 'Wash Her and Bring Her to My Bed'.

—thoughts of Duncan the Tall

Naerys: I have done my duty by you, and given you an heir. I beg you, let us live henceforth as brother and sister.

Aegon: That is what we are doing.

—Naerys and Aegon IV Targaryen

Nine mistresses:

Falena Stokeworth

Megette

Cassella Vaith

Bellegere Otherys

Barba Bracken

Melissa Blackwood

Bethany Bracken

Jeyne Lothston

Serenei of Lys

Other:

Daena Targaryen

Elaena Targaryen (rumored)

Daughters of Lord Butterwell (rumored)

Many others

Aegon II:

“When his grief had passed, King Aegon Il summoned his loyalists and made plans for his return to King's Landing, to reclaim the Iron Throne and be reunited once again with his lady mother, the Queen Dowager, who had at last emerged triumphant over her great rival, if only by outliving her. "Rhaenyra was never a queen," the king declared, insisting that henceforth, in all chronicles and court records, his half sister be referred to only as "princess," the title of queen being reserved only for his mother Alicent and his late wife and sister Helena, the "true queens." And so it was decreed.”

“Though Blood and Cheese spared her life, Queen Helaena cannot be said to have survived that fateful dusk. Afterward she would not eat, nor bathe, nor leave her chambers, and she could no longer stand to look upon her son Maelor, knowing that she had named him to die. The king had no recourse but to take the boy from her and give him over to their mother, the Dowager Queen Alicent, to raise as if he were her own. Aegon and his wife slept separately thereafter, and Queen Helaena sank deeper and deeper into madness, whilst the king raged, and drank, and raged."

I was going to put Aegon II’s lovers here but we don’t know them, he’s alleged to have 3 bastards, and none of them are confirmed.

Aemon:

Arianne: And the Dragonknight? The noblest knight who ever lived, you said, and he took his queen to bed and got her with child.

Arys: I will not believe that. The tale of Prince Aemon's treason with Queen Naerys was only that, a tale, a lie his brother told when he wished to set his trueborn son aside in favor of his bastard. Aegon was not called the Unworthy without cause.

—Arianne Martell and Arys Oakheart

Not every man has it in him to be Prince Aemon the Dragonknight or Symeon Star-Eyes...

—Wyman Manderly to Davos Seaworth

When he was born they named him for a hero who had died too young.

—Samwell Tarly recalling Aemon's namesake

Aemond:

Prince Aemond Targaryen, also known as Aemond One-Eye and Aemond the Kinslayer…

One-eyed Prince Aemond, nineteen, was found in the armory, donning plate and mail for his morning practice in the castle yard. "Is Aegon king?" he asked Ser Willis Fell, "or must we kneel and kiss the old whore's cunny?"

Helaena:

"Helaena was a pleasant, happy girl, and all agreed she would make a fine mother. And so she did, and quickly."

Naerys:

She almost died in the cradle and was sickly for most of her life, finding most physical activity to be very taxing. She ate but little and was painfully thin, almost emaciated.

She was also devout in her faith, and often found solace in the pages of The Seven-Pointed Star. She would have become a septa, had her father allowed it.

Aegon IV DESPISED Naerys, he disrespected her and by extent his own trueborn son because of that.

No matter what gaslighting the show tries to do, or other greenies that hate our Aegon…Aegon/Naerys/Aemon will NEVER be Aegon/Helaena/Aemond and in the words of Tywin Lannister:

Is not an opinion, it’s a fact!

[thedragonagelesbian]

A kiss shared during a game, for the kiss and tell prompt 👀

yay kiss prompts!!

a kiss shared during a game

"Knightly, stop making that face."

"What face? I'm not making a face."

"I find that face rather helpful," Fenris commented, the barest hint of a smirk poking out at the edges of his Wicked Grace cards, "for the rest of the table."

Varric sighed and shifted in his chair-- at least, as much as he could with Cyrus on top of him. When he wasn't broadcasting the quality of Varric's hand and or taking sips of rum (the only thing he'd drink as of late, despite it turning his head fuzzier than a dandelion quicker than a kid wishing on it), the elf pressed their bodies tight together. He was fidgety even repose, nuzzling Varric's neck or toying with the seams of his jacket or curling into the crook of his arm and shoulder to watch the game through heavy-lidded eyes, feet dangling over the arm of the chair and still twitching. As close to restful as Cyrus could get, and his body was still ready to start running again.

That, Varric had grown accustomed to over the years. What was new were all of those little quirks happening in his lap.

Cyrus gave his affection so readily--hand on Bethany's arm, head on Anders' shoulder, arms around Merrill's torso--but after a lifetime of loving in whispers and shadows, in quiet and thankless work, Varric still couldn't believe he'd ended up here, cuddling in the middle of the Hanged Man.

And still, Varric's grip on his waist tightened as Cyrus once more rearranged himself, slipping down to rest his head against Varric's chest.

The craziest of things became possible by his side.

"I'm fond of it too," Merrill commented, not-quite-chipper and thumbing her cards. Her gifted set, a soot-black kitten playing with flower petals. "With Isabela gone, you win most of the time anyway, Varric. Cyrus is just giving the rest of us a chance, aren't you, lethallan?"

"Planned it like that from the beginning," Anders added. "Sabotage."

And despite the strain in the mage's smile, it made Cyrus snicker, reverberations warm like thunder through Varric's chest.

"Sabotage?" Varric echoed with exaggerated offense. "That's what this is? You, the duplicitous double agent, me, the naive fool left teary-eyed and heartbroken by your betrayal?"

Cyrus' laughter grew from a clap to a storm until he was throwing his head back over Varric's arm and drawing the attention of every patron in the bar with his tipsy, infectious joy. With a light that had become harder and harder to see as of late.

"Yes, yes, you caught me, wicked spy that I am come to tease your Wicked Grace secrets out of you." Still giggling, Cyrus hooked his fingers underneath Varric's necklace and drew their faces close together. "Like this."

Whatever embarrassment Varric might've felt melted away with everything else. The whole world and all its wretched business of champions and stories, it evaporated into Cyrus' mouth, honey-soft and hot. And because that was all there was left--Cyrus' body, safe and present and alive--Varric put his cards down on the table so he could cradle his cheek. The touch of leather all but made Cyrus purr against his lips.

And if someone else meddled with those cards while he was distracted, well, it was a shit hand anyway.

[bohemian-nights]

It's always interesting how as soon as black women become a love interest in a straight ship 1 of 2 things will happen.

A third thing, the double standards, an example:

Laena x Rhaenyra ship- in the books we know they were close and some fans use the phrase"more than fond of"to reinforce they were a couple(nothing against this couple it's still fiction eh)

Everything normal here.

But when we learnt more about Rhaegar and Elia and their relationship, the sentence "fond" is still used to describe their relationship and now you have people saying "oh they were just friends" "oh he didn't love her" "oh Elia will be okay with Rhaegar and Lyanna being a couple"

First at all, the racism, Dorne is not okay with adultery in marraige, they don't care if if man or woman, UNMARRIED, take a paramour,UNMARRIED; it's different for them, a different mindset

•Convenient how now when their white fave needs to be paired up with a white character(nothing against Lyanna, the girl was 14 year old)when there are POC characters that show interest in them(Elia loved Rhaegar and I can dream he loved her, why? BECAUSE I LOVE ANGST)

CONVENIENCE MY DEAR FRIEND

Read about the Sophie's actress' scandal(if you called that) -just wtf.

Also Bethany's harassment.WTF.

If they are not happy with Sophie being black, then they are free to read the books or ignore it! It's not that difficult.

Bethany is gonna slay this season, so stay mad colonizers���

Sorry for the rant, tired of this nonsense🤣

Ps: Some people are starting shipping Dettles out of spite, for the racism's nonesense so yeah, IT'S GONNA BE A LONG YEAR HERE!!All of you are doing great sweeties🥰

Don’t apologize for ranting cause everything you said is the truth👏🏽

I hate Laenyra. People mainly hype it up to move attention away from Daemon and Laena’s marriage and center their self insert into their relationship .

Yeah it’s ironic that the same people hyping up Laryngitis and saying all those who oppose it are racistare the same people who love dunk on Elia non-stop and say that she was fine with her husband sleeping with Snow Becky because she’s dornish. The same people hyping up Jon’s parents are the same people who dunk on Dettles.

I’ll be the first one to say that I don’t give a damn about Ravioli and Snow Becky, but I’ll admit that it was GRRM’s intention to make them romantic(it’s definitely not supposed to be grooming even if I find the whole situation weird). I’ll even admit that there are plenty of similarities between Dettles and that ship, but you’d have an easier time finding a leprechauns gold than getting those people to admit the same.

Don’t get me started on the Bridgerton fandom. A bunch of ungrateful bigots who keep making demands of Shonda while at the same time degrading her and saying there are “too many Black people” on the show (and then crying when people call them out for being the anti-Black morons they are).

And I get that Masali hasn’t been officially announced as Sophie, and of course she’s not the only possibility, but she’s the only one whose name that has been circulating around that fits the casting call. Her schedule was cleared last year and she’s got no upcoming projects. She’s following multiple members of the cast and multiple members are following her back.

(Nicola, Hannah Dodd, Hannah New, Victor Ali who is suspected to be playing John, as well as one of the hairdressers who does the main casts hair to name a few. Hell, there was even one of the directors following her, but he mysteriously unfollowed her for some reason).

More importantly, no one else has produced another casting call to contradict said casting call or to show that the role she was cast for is a member of the Stirling family.

(I’m not going to get into it, but if you’re “evidence” hinges on Masali and Victor Ali looking alike please go down to Lens Crafters cause they don’t look nothing alike outside of being dark and Black. It’s fucking offensive as fuck to say they do).

And as I said in a previous ask, the Bridgerton team has cast a role with a specific race in mind cause they were looking for an Indian woman to play Kate(which is how some people figured Simone Ashley was playing Kate when most of Kates fancasts were white women👏🏽).

So the fact that you have so many people running around like a chicken with its head cut off claiming it’s impossible for Sophie to be Black, that Sophie should be x race, or just being racist jackasses is disturbing asf. You shouldn’t have to see this bullshit:

You bet your ass I took screenshots cause everybody likes to lie and hide their hands after typing out the most vile shit.

And yeah I get everyone wants representation, but people keep trying to silence and speak over Black people specifically Black women and that's where we have a problem.

Because for any other group, this behavior would be absolutely unacceptable. Especially if you are making demands that an EP not cast any more people of her race on her show, but with Black women that doesn't matter. They don’t care.

We haven’t even had a fucking fully Black female love interest get her happily ever after with a man(the people saying Masali should be a gender-bent Michael need to have several seats cause you’re creating a OC just because you don’t want to see her as Sophie) like everybody else and yet they want us to step aside and cheer them on. Fuck that.

This is why I don’t believe any of you hateful bitches when you say you care about misogynoir because the moment a Black woman is cast in a role you want, even in a role that’s meant for a Black woman like with Nettles, y’all either start demanding she be cut or made into something else.

This literally happens every single time Black female characters are involved and yet you can’t even talk about it because people want to ignore and perpetuate our oppression.

I’ll leave it there cause I’m too exhausted by all of this drama(it’s making my blood boil), but these fandoms piss me off so much. They make it hell for non-white and especially Black fans to exist within them. Even in shows created by Black people.

[the-heartlines]

ok I sent an ask in a little while ago and I also saw your recent post and I can't remember if I referred to the events that were revealed as fandom drama, I'm sorry if I did, that was insensitive of me...as a POC I was really hurt to see one of the main perpetrators being racist, especially because I'd actually opened up to her about deeply personal things thinking she was a nice person....and after seeing how she spoke and the things she said, I'm really just heartbroken to see it. She made me feel like her blog and her as a person were a safe space, and I stepped out of my bounds of comfort to open up, only to deeply regret it afterwards, when it was revealed the truth of her character.

I'm sorry if my earlier ask might've been offensive or insensitive, you're right, it's more than just drama, it's unforgivable behaviour. I just sent the earlier ask to show appreciation for your blog as not being a space like that. <3<3

oh god no, no! don't apologize!!!! PLEASE!!! my post wasn't in regards to you or responding to that. it is drama but to just boil it down to fandom drama— i'm 1000% pointing fingers at the perpetrators who just reduce it down that and think everyone will forgive them for allowing it to happen or being complicit in it! saying sorry publicly and making a broad statement isn't enough will never be enough, because the damage is DONE and you're sorry you got caught, not trying to truly make amends, atoning for past mistakes.

also, it was just a thought i have had all day because i saw the racism kelly marie tran and BIPOC reylos dealt with first hand after the last jedi came out. then bethany antonia's post about the racism she's dealing with.

and you, as POC, should never ever apologize to me! PLEASE i am a white cis woman in her 30s...and i am sorry you had to see that shit in a place you're suppose to find a fun outlet in, build fandom friendships in! no one should have to be subjected to such nastiness, but alas, this is fandom and racists will find a way and infiltrate spaces and be their nasty selves. i'm just glad they are being revealed.

again, this was no way shape or form in regards to the last anon you sent me, just a rant and something i felt i should speak up about because i feel if i had a responsibility to! ♥️♥️♥️

and i will try my best to continue to do in the future.

[asterroses]

hiii did NOT see your post earlier but i would love to hear more about your da protags.... do any of them have like a best friend or closest friends or like. just a dynamic like that that you'd like to talk about?

OUGHHH I LOVE THIS QUESTION

the most obvious answer in my head right now is how close denaris and alistair are platonically . i mean they've been by each others sides since Day 1 of Wardening ! denaris is never without him ; i think what denaris is with his kind of angry nature alistair balances that out with more . not reasonable but i guess kinder ? personality ? denaris isn't rlly a Kindly Guy - he did maul a man w his teeth lolol i dunnoooo i just think those two are so entwined . which what makes leaving ali in the fade hard :[ ah well there's other wardens [JOKING]

altho another bestieship im workshopping rn is isabela and nikolas AND merril and nikolas ! ! ! varric n hawke r kind of a given friendship so thats more obvious but aside from varric and obviously fenris , merrill and isabela are nikky's two closest friends . i think it's hard for nikky to feel like . Close with anders , if that makes sense . maybe it's his guilt for what happened to bethany , maybe it's his guilt for not being a magic user so he can maybe relate to anders' pain , who knows . thye may be kind and nice w one another , but theres a gap there . he thought he could maybe get close w aveline but that went absolutely down the drain , it started going down before but as soon as his mother died at the hands of someone THE GUARD COULD HAVE STOPPED AND CAUGHT their relationship is that of two attack dogs .

arcen is besties w sera , varric and josephine . it's kinda hard for me to see him close w a few inquisition members ! him and cassandra do not get along AT ALL , he and vivienne have a respectful workplace friendship but they do butt heads , solas n him start not seeing eye to eye bcus of solas's whole thing w the dalish [which arcen ithink would take offense to] , and blackwall and iron bull are too much of liars for him to get close enough to . dorian gets boyfriend status ^_^ idk some inquisiton relations r hard to place cus i just don't rlly . uhhh . Enjoy a few of the companions lololol

[hiraeth-witch-11]

Bond to Happen Part 7

Part 7: Team Bonding

Warnings: fantastical racism, Billy Russo, thoughts of death?

Word Count: 3600 ish

Billy regularly invited you out to lunch with the team, something you usually said no to. Eating around so many people was overwhelming. You preferred the relative quiet of your office. 

“Come on, Blue, it’s good team building to spend some time outside the office with some of the people you work with. You’ll at least like Josie, and you know I’m always good company.” Russo winks at you.

“Hah, you’re funny, Russo.” You continue ignoring his pleas, pretending to work on a report you’d finished yesterday.

“What’s it gonna take to get you to come?” He asks, leaning against the door frame and looking distractingly beautiful as always in his black 3 piece suit.

You pause and sigh. “I’ll come this time if you stop asking me in the future.”

Billy considers it. “Counter offer: I ask you once a week.”

“A month.”

“Once every two weeks and your acknowledgement that it is a standing offer and you are always welcome.”

“Deal.”

He tilts his head, as if waiting for you to say something.

“What?”

“I’m just waiting for you to say it.” He crosses his arms and you roll your eyes.

“I, Blue, do formally acknowledge the standing invitation to lunch.” You roll your eyes.

“And?” He prompts, arching an eyebrow.

“Gods you’re annoying sometimes,” you mutter under your breath. Of course he hears you, the man must have enhanced hearing of some sort.

“I prefer ‘persistent’, and I’m still waiting.” He grins.

“And I am always welcome,” you concede, shaking your head slightly at his antics.

“That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” He mocks.

“You’re paying for my food, Russo. And I’m sitting by you,” you add as an afterthought. Better to have his calming aura as a safety cushion than to be sandwiched between two normal ones. You stand and make your way around the desk.

“I knew you couldn’t resist my charms.” He smirks.

“You’re just the lesser evil, Russo. Don’t flatter yourself. Now move. You’re taking up the whole doorway.”

The diner was nearby and surprisingly empty for this time of day. It was really on you and the handful of Anvil employees who had been free for lunch hour today. 

“What sort of a name is Blue?” A woman- Bethany- you correct yourself, asks.

“I’m not a fan of my legal name so I prefer to go by nicknames. Blame Frank if you don’t like it.” Frank didn’t often come to these sorts of things. He kept himself busy and only came when he truly had nothing else to do. So, in true Frank fashion, he wasn’t here today.

“I’m glad you came out with us, Blue, it’ll be good to get to know you better,” Josie offers kindly. Her hair is a warm brown color and you’ve only ever seen her with it up in a tight bun. She’s a team lead and your favorite new coworker. Besides Russo, but you’d never tell him that.

“I’m just here for the food,” you joke awkwardly. Billy swoops in and starts a conversation about something, a sport, you think. You’re not paying attention. Instead you’re focused on the loud buzz of everyone’s energy. You pull your magic as tightly inward as you can, subconsciously leaning towards Russo. You’re present enough to smile and nod at the right time, and you order a simple burger and fries. 

“You don’t like pickles?” Russo asks you as he watches you pick them off your burger and isolate them on your plate away from the other food.

“No,” you say, wrinkling your nose. “Do you?”

“Yup, love ‘em,” he laughs at the face you make and your stomach flips at the noise.

“Help yourself then.” You turn your plate so the pickles are facing him. He doesn’t even put them on his own burger, he eats them plain. “Why anyone would ruin a perfectly good cucumber to make a  monstrosity is beyond me.”

He shakes his head at you and the interaction sparks a debate across the table.

“I don’t like them either,” Josie says.

“You’re my new favorite, Jo,” you say.

“I’ve been replaced?” Billy asks, pretending offense.

“You were never in the running, Frank was first. But he eats pickles too, and relish, and literally anything because he has no standards when it comes to food,” you lament.

“My sister always eats my pickles for me whenever we’re together,” Josie shares.

“Mine did too,” you grin at the memory before your face falls.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Josie says.

“I, uh, don’t. Anymore.”

The table is uncomfortably quiet. You don’t know what prompts you to share, but you add, “Not everyone is happy to find out their family member is a witch.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Russo offers, sounding sincere. Josie and a couple other people nod in agreement. But Bethany decides to continue on the topic.

“I thought having a witch as a romantic partner was like a status symbol or something. Is it not that way for family?”

You grit your teeth. “A status symbol like having a fancy car or an expensive watch is, sure. It doesn’t do anything to benefit the witch, though. They aren’t some sort of trophy for the elite.”

“Well, yeah, obviously, but I thought the whole ‘guardian’ thing protects witches by making sure they’re taken care of and it only matches people who are compatible. Isn’t that a good thing?” Bethany asks, seemingly genuine in her curiosity.

“If having to essentially be owned and have a ring on your finger or a collar on your neck to be treated like a real person is a good thing, then sure,” you snap. Geez, you usually can keep a hold of your temper better than this. Your magic shifts under your skin restlessly. You roll your shoulders back, trying to shake off the pressure.

Josie’s whispering something into Bethany’s ear, but she keeps going. “But I thought-”

Billy cuts her off. “I think we can all agree that the laws surrounding witchcraft are archaic and the recent legislation being proposed is appalling.” His tone is firm and final, ending the discussion. His aura settles around you almost protectively and you readily accept the distraction from the itch of your power.

“I’m sorry, Blue. I didn’t mean to offend. I’m just not very aware of what things are like for your kind in the world right now,” Bethany offers.

“I accept your apology. I’ve heard worse, it’s okay, really.” You try to smile at her, but it feels hollow. You aren't angry with her, not that much anyway. More the world that has created this reality for you and your kind. 

“You know, historically speaking, witches were actually most often healers and scholars,” someone on the other side of the table pipes in. She’s blonde and gorgeous, you think her name is Rose if you remember right. She looks at you and you notice the hazel color of her eyes.

You nod and shoot her a grateful smile.

“I heard that, too,” Josie adds. “Weren’t some of the greatest inventors in history theorized to be witches or at the very least, differentials?”

“Yeah, I mean, differential isn’t a term that was coined until the last century, but I’m pretty sure Da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin were witches,” you share.

The conversation evolved into a friendly and excited banter about which historical figures had to have been witches.

“He came back from the dead after resting in a dark tomb for 3 days, vampire for sure,” Michaelson- his first name, you’ve learned, is John- insists.

“He turned water to wine, walked on water, and isn’t there a story about him feeding a ton of people with a small amount of bread and fish or something?” You ask, waving your hands as you talk. “He has to have been a witch. I don’t know of any other species that could do half that.”

“Fair enough. Is there any truth to the whole immaculate conception thing?” John concedes as he bites into a fry.

“Oh gods, I don’t even know.” You think for a moment. “It’s possible, I guess. If a witch had enough power to create or transport matter. With the assumption that Jesus was a very powerful witch, his dad had to have been off the charts.”

“So an entire religion, like thousands of sub religions, might be based on a witch?” Bethany asks, curiously.

“Yup,” you say, popping the P and leaning back in your seat.

“That’s crazy,” she says to herself. Bethany had been more careful through the conversation, and you think she actually was eager to learn more.

“Especially when you take into account how many witch hunts were started by Christians,” Josie says with a frown.

“Many of the victims of those hunts were actually normal humans, but it was really damaging to witch culture,” you say softly. Sometimes you wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up with a coven, a family that loved you in your entirety, kept you safe and taught you instead of abandoning you. But covens since the height of the witch hunts were hollow mockeries of what they were before.

“That’s awful,” Rose states with a grimace.

“History is full of terrible things that get rewritten to fit the narrative of whoever’s in charge,” you comment.

“Now I’m wishing I paid more attention in school,” Russo says, lightening the mood. He’d kept quiet for the most part, preferring to listen and observe instead.

“Did everyone do those little crafts in elementary school where you’d make your own familiar or broom or hat or something for Witch History Month?” Josie asks.

“I loved those as a kid! I didn’t fully manifest my magic until I was an adult, but I’ve always wanted a familiar!”

“If you could, what type would you pick?” Billy asks, enjoying the way your eyes light up in excitement.

“A dog, 100%. I’ve always wanted some sort of dog, but my mom was allergic so I just collected little figurines and those little crafts we did and lined them up on my dresser,” you admit. 

“You’ve never had a dog?” Josie asks in surprise. 

You shake your head. “As soon as I was old enough, I started volunteering at a shelter, though. I spent most of my free time walking the dogs and trying to help with training.”

“One of these days, you gotta get a dog, Blue,” Bethany insists.

“And bring them to work so we can all meet them,” Rose adds.

“Now hold on there, I never agreed to dogs in the building,” Billy interjects.

“Come on, Russo,” Josie says. “It can be her emotional support animal and our unofficial mascot.”

You would love to have a dog and bond with it as a familiar, you really would. But you knew that your life expectancy wasn’t great right now. Your health was all over the place and while your conscious control over your magic was increasing in precision, the subconscious connection to auras and futures was all over the place. While you weren’t 100% certain what sort of creature you are, you did know that those who needed to feed to live would eventually waste away and die if they didn’t feed enough. The filter feeding you did was the equivalent of forcing a car to run on fumes every time you drove. You realized in this very moment that you’d come to accept that your death was likely on the horizon.

It wasn’t as painful a thought as you expected, it didn’t shock you. You suppose that you’d never really expected to live a full life after everything that happened since your parents kicked you out.

“I don’t think now is really the right time for me to have a pet,” you confess. “Maybe in a few years.” Odds are you only had one or two birthday’s left in you.

“Bummer,” Rose pouts with full, lightly glossed lips that you weren’t sure why you were paying such close attention to. 

“Sometimes I stop by my place and get Dawn, my bloodhound, for lunch if we’re going somewhere dog friendly,” John says.

“Guess you’ll have to come out with us again and meet Dawn then,” Billy smirks.

“We’ll see,” you grumble.

You hadn’t been expecting lunch to be that enjoyable, even with such a rocky start. While some of your coworkers had remained largely silent for it except for the occasional comment usually based on some sort of stereotype, you hoped you could dissuade them of some of their more ignorant witch opinions. 

******

Billy was pleased with how lunch had turned out. He knew he’d chosen today’s group wisely, though he was unhappy with how Bethany had behaved initially. He hadn’t realized how delicate of a topic witchcraft would be. Something he had made a mental note of for the future.

You’d come alive for a few moments there, grinning with your eyes their natural color still just as beautiful as they were when they flashed the cold blue of your magic. He’d known you would get along with Josie, but how well you interacted with Rose was a bit of a surprise. While it would’ve been almost unnoticeable to anyone else at the table, Billy was very familiar with what desire looked like. Yours was harder to sense, so much so that he suspected you purposefully repressed it. He’d noticed it a handful of times when you were talking with him, sometimes something as innocent as him leaning against a doorframe, smiling, or laughing would trigger a small amount of lustful energy from you. The first time he felt it, he thought he’d imagined it, but as he observed you more closely, he began to pick up on it more quickly. And he’d picked up on it today when you looked at Rose.

He knew Rose was a lesbian, he didn’t mind that, it would be a bit hypocritical of him considering his own nature. But he hadn’t expected her to be attracted to you. It’s not that you weren’t attractive, you were, in a softer way, something that was more subtle, almost like you hid it. Billy would have to watch the two of you, make sure Rose wasn’t a threat to his plans, make sure you stayed close to him.

******

Billy had been in a mood all week and you were honestly starting to get a little frustrated yourself. You knew that it was over a contract he’d been trying to get and the potential client was being stubborn. That day, you’d noticed he had arrived to work before you, not entirely unusual since he was a very hands on sort of guy who chose to work alongside his employees instead of above them. You’d left work around 5 that afternoon and Billy was still there. It was around 9 pm when you realized you’d left your Sight journal in your office, so you rushed back over, hoping someone was still in and hadn’t fully locked up. There were usually a couple people who worked overnight. 

You were in luck, and able to head up the stairs and grab your journal before noticing that Billy’s office light was still on and his door was open a few inches. You peer through the gap and see him still pouring over his work, dark hair tousled like he’d been running his fingers through it in frustration.

“What are you still doing here, Russo?” You ask from the doorway.

He doesn’t look up as he responds. “I'm trying to figure out what I’m missing. I have another meeting with Diaz tomorrow afternoon.”

You hesitate then offer, “You want some help?”

He shakes his head, looking up with a frown. “It’s late, I thought you went home hours ago?”

“I forgot something in my office,” you explain, lifting the hand holding your worn orange journal. He nods and focuses back on his notes. You really should leave it, but he seems so stressed and it’s almost physically uncomfortable to see him this way.

“Come on, Billy, let me help. Walk me through it and maybe that’ll help?” You sit down on the chair across from him and he leans back, assessing.

“There’s a lot that goes into it,” he warns.

“I’ll do my best to keep up,” you assure him. Some of the more technical things you don’t understand, you don’t actually know a whole lot about the inner workings of Anvil, only the parts you so readings for. Much of what Billy says has to do with interpersonal politics, something you’re clueless about without the help of your magic. But you get the gist of what he’s saying, he’s competing with an older private security company named Black Lake for the contract and has yet to secure it. Your magic is branching out around you as you try to get a more magical view of the situation.

With his permission, you reach for his laptop.

“We have a better track record than them in the last 5 years,” you say, mostly to yourself as you look into the company’s public records. Billy nods.

“They’ve had a couple public fumbles and Anvil has only been improving, especially since you started,” Billy adds.

You nod to yourself, continuing to look. “Anvil’s better in just about every area, they only have seniority.” You’re starting to understand his frustration. Your eyes flash blue for a moment and a thought comes to you. Something that might be able to help Anvil secure the contract over Black Lake.

After pulling up Diaz’s profile on social media, you dig through some articles on the Black Lake CEO to see if your hunch is correct. “This guy is an asshole!”

“I certainly think so, but I’m curious why you do?” Billy asks, a small smile on his lips for the first time in days.

“Okay, look,” you show him the articles you’ve pulled up along with some of the social media threads. “You know the whole affirmative action plan that includes certain species of supes, mostly witches and diffs?”

He nods, listening expectantly.

“Grayson Blacklake is anti-witch, specifically female witches. It’s not obvious until you start to see some of his comments on nonhumans and look into some of the complaints. Most of his employees are strictly human, it’s disproportionate especially when you look at who actually ends up trying to go into private security. It looks like he’s toeing the line to keep from being obvious, but he’s got some comments here about the importance of ‘pure blood’ and how magic goes ‘against God’. Here’s one where he’s liking a tweet with a bible quote about killing witches. That in and of itself, isn’t super out of the ordinary for these sorts of people but I know you and Frank were talking the other day and you mentioned Diaz has kids.” You look up at Billy expectantly.

“Yeah, he does, what does that have to do with Black Lake? Grayson has a couple kids and a grandkid on the way, he has us beat with the family angle,” Billy says. You shake your head with a grin.

“Diaz has an instagram account, probably run by his wife and it’s rarely updated, but it has some family pictures and both his daughters follow it. The older daughter, Grace, has her instagram private, but if you look at her profile picture, it’s of her at college graduation. Her younger sister, Zoe, has a public instagram and if you look, she has some pictures of Grace’s graduation along with some video clips. Grace is a witch, potions based it looks like. In all these photos, it looks like Jeffery Diaz is really supportive of his daughters-” you pause for a second, honing in on the photo of Diaz with his family, using a touch of sight to confirm your theory. “And I’m betting he would much rather hire a company that is ahead of the curve in witch affirmative action and hiring practices than a company whose CEO says they should burn.”

Billy looks a bit stunned for a moment. “Your eyes barely flashed blue the entire time you talked, that was all you just figuring it out?” He looks at you with a touch of admiration.

“My sight pointed me in the right direction and then I used it to confirm everything. I wouldn’t’ve known where to start otherwise,” you say with a shrug. “But I think this should give you the advantage tomorrow.”

“You’re brilliant,” he says, with a grin, and the heat of his gaze is almost too much for you. He looks at you like you’re the first growth of spring after a hard winter, like you’re the first bits of light in the sky before dawn, like you’re beautiful. But there’s something else there, something behind the smile and the charm, something you can’t quite name but have noticed before. Something you’ll regret not paying more attention to once you realize the truth.

“Do you need anything before I head out?” You ask, changing the topic.

“I’m good, sweetheart,” he says and you feel the tips of your ears burn at how the pet name sounds coming from him, borderline sinful. But you shove down those thoughts, he was your boss and it wouldn’t do you any good to let yourself think of him that way.

“Goodnight, Russo,” you say as you leave.

*****

Billy never thought you were unintelligent, never thought less of you for the way you were quiet until comfortable, for how you only really chimed into conversations when it was something related to your interests- usually something witch or magic related, or for how you seemed to still be completely fooled by Billy’s carefully cultivated aura. No, he didn’t think less of you for any of that. But he will admit to being surprised by your willingness to help with problems outside the realm of your job description and he definitely was not expecting you to actually be able to help him with the Diaz contract. The more he learned about you, the more certain he was that you would be useful.

Series List

If you want to be put on, or taken off my taglist, feel free to tell me!

@evyiione

[joelscruff]

Ok. I've had time to process and gather my thoughts. Amazing chapter! Not so much mad at you as I am at Joel. (But I also don't care considering it's Joel freaking Miller). Here are my organized thoughts:

I love how we got to see a lot of her catholic guilt struggles. with Bethany, her mom, etc. I had a friend just like Bethany, and even though I relate to reader in lots of ways, this chapter made me appreciate that I have a great relationship with my parents

as much as I love Joel and reader's relationship, I really love it how you show her other struggles. it shows she isn't defined just by her relationship.

grrrr Bethany. I hope she goes surfing one day and gets eaten by a shark. and dies slowly. and in an agonizing way.

poor reader! she was feeling so badass and confident with the bathroom/nude pics and then that stupid hag Bethany had to ruin everything.

Joel & Reader in this. My heart can't. both their sexy and soft moments. I mean just them cuddling in bed together is more sexy and romantic than the entirely of the fifty shades trilogy (no offense to people who love them). and when she gives him a bj and the thigh riding. HAWT. but also their tender moments. like when he comforted her about the catholic guilt and he admitted to being insecure about his age. when he said he was afraid to tell her his age but her honesty about being a virgin helped him open up, my JoelReader shipper heart did a backflip.

we've only had two scenes with Tasha and I love her already. she was definitely stunned and impressed when she heard Joel had grey hair.

THAT ENDING HOLY SHIT. it's one thing if they were on the date. but then he kissed her?!?! Joel has got lots and lots of explaining to do. I just want to give reader the biggest hug known to mankind. my poor baby.

amazing chapter as always. you balance fluff, smut, and angst so well. can't wait to see what happens next!

"as much as I love Joel and reader's relationship, I really love it how you show her other struggles. it shows she isn't defined just by her relationship" - thank you for saying this 🥺 obviously we're all here for joel miller (and that's why i'm writing it ofc) but i do try my best to add a bit of personality to reader where i can. i know a lot of people like writing/reading reader inserts that are very bare bones in the reader's personality so you can moreso insert yourself into the fic, but i've just never been able to do that 😭 probably because i'm still getting used to the whole ___ x reader format (i wasn't a wattpad girlie and never wrote/read these kinda fics). i hope that yall can still see yourself in her sometimes though 🥺

i'm also glad you like tasha!! she won't be TOO involved in this fic (i know a lot of people don't really like when OCs overstay their welcome) but she's vital in the next chapter cause reader needs someone to take care of her for a little bit :( so glad you enjoyed it 💖

[wildercrow]

Hi and happy DADWC! I'd love to see something for the prompt "❛ no offense, but you look terrible. ❜"

I do noooot have spoons to get this up on AO3 tonight, so this is like... even more slapped together than usual, but here have some Bethany & Carver featuring me projecting my health problems onto Bethany for @dadrunkwriting!

No major content warnings that I can think of for this one. Just a T-rated chronic pain fic. Enjoy!

~Nuri

~*~*~

“No offense, but you look like crap!” Carver’s voice startles Bethany out of her half-awake stupor with a yelp, sending her temporarily abandoned woodburning project clattering to the floor from her lap.

Carver tilts his head to read it. “’If I were a bird, I know who I'd shit on,’ huh? And who would that be?”

Bethany opens her mouth to answer, but the pain radiating up from her neck is so intense that she can’t think of anything clever to say, so instead she focuses on straightening her posture and tilting her head from side to side as slowly and gently as she possibly can in hopes of convincing her neck muscles to relax even a tiny bit. They’re so tight that numbness is beginning to creep into her jaw, and her head can barely tilt to the right at all without being met with a sickening crunch.

“What’re you even doing out here in the living room at four in the morning?” Carver asks, picking her woodburning project up off the floor and gently setting it down on the coffee table beside her tool kit before plopping down next to her on the couch.

The motion jars her neck so much that she has to bite down on her tongue to keep from crying out. She takes slow, deep breaths in an effort to hold back the tears stinging at her eyes. Crying now would be a surefire way to make her pain truly unbearable for days to come. Not to mention embarassing.

“Bethy?” Carver asks, concern seeping into his voice. “Did something happen? If you need me to beat up Fiadh, I will. I bet I can take ‘em in a fight!”

She barks out a laugh that she instantly regrets when pain reverberates through her head like someone hammered a chisel into the base of her skull. “You could definitely beat Fiadh in a fight,” she replies in a whisper, “but please don’t. They’re lovely. I’m out here because my neck hurt too much to stay in bed, and I can’t exactly woodburn in the dark.”

“Isn’t sleep supposed to decrease pain, not increase it?”

“You try sleeping with a neck that turns itself into a fucking brick every time you lay down for more than ten minutes!” she snaps.

“Hey, hey, calm down.” Carver holds his hands up in a placating gesture. “I wasn’t second-guessing you. I was just telling your neck to get its act together.”

“Oh,” she replies with a sheepish smile that tugs at her ear and makes her feel a bit nauseous. “Sorry. I… haven’t really slept all night.”

“Well, guess that answers my next question, which was gonna be ‘how long have you been up?’”

“Why are you up, anyways?” she asks.

“Time for my morning run!” he responds, flexing dramatically.

Bethany responds with an unimpressed snort. Or at least, that’s her intent. What actually comes out is more of a soft huff than an actual snort, but… close enough.

“But, uh…” Carver’s demeanor softens, “if you’re bored out of your skull, I can hang around here this morning instead. I’m running errands later, which is plenty of cardio for the day.”

“I’ve got my woodburning. I’ll be fine,” she says with a yawn that feels like it’s going to pull her eardrum right out of her head.

Carver raises an eyebrow. “The woodburning you were working on by… sleepily holding it in your lap with all the tools put away on the coffee table? That woodburning? So uh… tell me, how much woodburning have you gotten done, tonight?”

“I did a little!” she defends.

“Uh-huh,” he drawls. “Well, if you wanna keep doing that for another two hours until the rest of the house starts waking up, be my guest…” He mimes preparing to stand up.

“Alright, fine,” she says with a sigh. “I wouldn’t say no to the company.”

Carver’s face breaks into a victorious grin that Bethany would be rolling her eyes at if only the slightest eye movement didn’t make her head feel ready to explode.

“Not sure what you’re planning to do now that you’re here, but welcome to the un-slumber party,” she says dryly.

“I dunno, uh… I could give you a neck massage, I guess?” he proposes.

“No.”

“No? Why no? Neck massages always help me when I’ve got a stiff neck.”

She takes slow, even breaths to suppress her frustration, but even so she can feel her neck tightening in response to it. “Yes, well, this isn’t exactly an ordinary stiff neck. As we’ve established.”

“I mean, yeah, but a massage couldn’t hurt, right?”

“Poke my neck.”

“What?”

“Poke it.”

He scrunches up his face in confusion reaches out to hover a tentative finger a few inches away from her neck. “Uh… where?”

“The back. Or the side, really. Doesn’t matter much because it’s kind of everywhere. Just poke it.”

He gives her a dubious look but does as instructed. Almost as soon as his finger makes contact, his expression transforms from skepticism to horror as he recoils in alarm. “Eugh, that feels like hundred-year-old jerky! How do you live like this?!”

“Badly!”

“Seriously, are you sure you aren’t injured? Maybe Anders should—”

“Yes, I’m sure. It gets like this all the time. At least a couple times a month. More if I’m stressed. Fiadh’s uncle, the healer one, says it’s from when—” she cuts herself off, looking down at her lap and dropping back down to a whisper, “from when I hit my head…”

It’s not exactly new information. Carver knows most of her health problems are from that one fateful day more than a decade ago when her family left her for dead while fleeing the Blight. She’s told him it’s not his fault, because it isn’t. But she knows he blames himself, anyways. So it’s not often she talks about it so directly.

She takes a shaky breath and continues, “Something about my brain not healing quite right, so now it gets confused and tells my neck to tense up until it’s practically petrified itself.”

Carver’s brow furrows as he takes all this in. After what seems like an eternity, he says, “This… really fucks up your life, huh?”

She nods. Her neck disagrees with the movement, so she has to bob her entire upper body instead of just her head.

He scowls, but when he speaks he sounds more hurt than cross, “Why don’t we ever talk about this? We used to talk about everything.”

She thinks for a long moment. Not about the answer – she knows that – but about whether she wants to answer honestly. Finally, she makes up her mind and replies quietly, “I guess it’s just… I don’t always have the energy to reassure you that it’s not your fault, you know?”

His scowl deepens. “You don’t need to reassure me. That’s a me problem. C’mon, Bethy, I wanna be a part of your life again, even if it means I have to think about hard stuff sometimes. You gotta trust me to be able to handle my own shit.”

She casts a sideways glance in his direction, unable to really turn her head enough to make eye contact. “You’re sure?”

“I couldn’t be more sure if I tried! Seriously, how many other health problems have you been sweeping under the rug to spare my feelings? Gimme the whole laundry list! Out with it!”

“If you insist,” she says with a quiet puff of laughter at his enthusiasm. “Do we want to pick a day to do some catching up, or…?”

“How about, uh… as soon as I get us some breakfast?”

“Oh! You mean out with it now, okay. I mean… sure, why not? Not like I have anything better to do. Though I don’t know how much luck I’ll have with breakfast. My face hurts too much to chew.”

“Oh, I can solve that, easy. Lemme make you a protein shake! No chewing required.” Carver beams. She has to admit, that’s a clever idea.

“Okay, okay, make me one of your weird protein drinks and then I can tell you all the fun ways my body is broken. Perfectly normal morning here in the Hawke household!”

“One protein shake, coming right up!” Carver announces, already on his way to the kitchen.

“Don’t forget my straw!” she calls after him, then flinches at the ensuing pounding in her head. Despite the pain, though, a smile creeps onto her face, because at long last things are starting to feel a little more normal with Carver.

[mermaidsirennikita]

i imagine you heard about the cait corrain stuff?

Oh, yeah. I saw her recent non-apology. A couple thoughts on that:

A) as somewhat with mental health issues that can be somewhat severe when I'm not properly medicated/doing therapy (I have bipolar disorder) I find it pretty offensive when people blame their bad behavior on mental health issues. I'm not perfect; I've definitely done some shit I'm not proud of when in the midst of depressive or manic episodes. But I've never been incapable of some degree of awareness, and I tend to feel (based on many years of therapy and psychiatric treatment) that it is relatively rare for people with serious mental health conditions (including substance abuse) to be absolutely "not at the wheel" as it were. Yes, people do have psychotic episodes (although, I feel as somewhat with the diagnosis I have--I often see people with the same diagnosis treat mania as shorthand for a "psychotic episode", but mania and psychosis are not the same; mania can result in psychosis, but they do not inherently go hand in hand; I've been manic multiple times, but I have never been psychotic, and I've never had true delusions). Yes, people have delusions. I don't think that's what happened with Cait, and I'll tell you why.

Cait says she had a "complete psychological breakdown". This does not track for me. Based on her general behavior, I think Cait would've mentioned if she suffered from psychosis. Hell, I think Cait would have mentioned if she'd suffered from mania, as again, people tend to get this incorrect idea that mania means you have zero control of your actions. Because she didn't mention those things, I can believe she suffers from mental health issues, I can believe she has substance abuse issues, but I do think she absolutely used manipulative language here that left a lot to be interpreted. Does she owe us her diagnosis or diagnoses? Of course not. But "complete psychological breakdown" is some vague wording that imo is there to imply something bigger than "I was really depressed/anxious" (which can be a big deal! You can say that! It doesn't deprive you of responsibility, ut it's a big deal) without committing to a false diagnosis.

b) The lack of responsibility for the racially targeted nature of her sabotage is honestly... not surprising, but still so abhorrent. Cait did not solely go after authors of color (correct me if I'm wrong--I think there was at least one who was white) but she did primarily go after authors of color. Additionally, she--and I'll be honest, I do think this was calculated--either sicced her friend or passively let her friend essentially slander a disabled Black woman (the "albino in the hen house" comments, which I don't think were at all meant in an ableist fashion, and I genuinely don't see how a logical person could interpret them in any way other than "there is a white person who is a fox in the hen house". Come on.).

Furthermore, I noticed that least two of the authors Cait didn't mention there were authors of color. We know she low-starred Thea Guanzon's book, and Thea was apparently a legit friend who met Cait in person and blurbed her book? She also low-starred R.M. Virtues's books, which is truly deranged as R.M. writes books that really don't have much crossover with Cait's, aside from featuring Greek myths (I think? I know that's what he writes, her book is murkier to me) and poc. R.M. is a Black trans man, by the way, so...

c) I personally believe these were calculated moves as well. Thea has a big fanbase that Cait didn't want coming after her any more than they already are. Cait left R.M. Virtues off the list because she was afraid of being accused of not only racism, but transphobia. And she of course left off authors like Xiran Jay Zhao and Bethany Baptise because they had her number and she's afraid of them.

Plus, the authors she specifically apologized to were authors she essentially admitted to with her staged "Lilly" situation, so she couldn't avoid confirming that.

d) I've already seen white authors trying to excuse what she's done. And that's just so disgusting to me--as a writer, as a reader, as someone with basic human decency. There is basically nothing Cait can say to justify her actions. The best thing she could have done was own up, sincerely apologize, and take full responsibility.

e) I've seen some discussion surrounding Del Rey apparently moving Cait's book to a 2027 pub year. In their initial statement, they did say specifically that she was being removed from their 2024 schedule. That does leave some room for her to be published later.

Now, this could have to do with them still working out contract issues; it could be cold cost-benefits analysis; this could be all of the above. The thing is that there are books that I kind of doubt will ever be published unless things really change (Maya Banks's next Scottish book) that still have dates programmed in. I don't think Cait's book still having a release date means it's definitely coming out.

No matter what, she hurt people. It would be laughably stupid if the harm caused wasn't a reality. Ridiculous.

[coochiequeens]

Hope they fixed this problem

Before creating another problem for women

You need to be re-educated': That's how a group of NHS nurses say hospital chiefs reacted when they complained that a transgender colleague - who shared their women's changing room - stared as they got undressed

By DAISY GRAHAM-BROWN PUBLISHED: 22 June 2024 

When a group of female NHS nurses complained to hospital bosses about the ‘intimidating’ behaviour of a trans colleague in their shared changing room, they may have expected a sympathetic hearing at least.

But not only did officials dismiss the concerns of the long-serving staff members, they allegedly told the nurses they needed to get ‘educated’ and broaden their minds.

It was, the nurses say, an ‘offensive’ response to their legitimate complaints that their colleague’s presence was ‘degrading and humiliating’. They also told the HR department that the 26-year-old stared at their breasts when they were getting undressed and lingered ‘longer than necessary’ in the changing room.

The nurses say their colleague – who is understood not to have had gender reassignment surgery – had told fellow workers at Darlington Memorial Hospital they had stopped taking cross-sex hormones because they were trying to get their girlfriend pregnant and therefore is ‘a sexually active biological male’.

Now, after being dissatisfied with the response from bosses, eight of the nurses are launching an unprecedented employment tribunal against the NHS Trust that employs them, claiming harassment, indirect discrimination, victimisation and human rights violations.

Today, four of them have bravely chosen to speak to the Mail to describe how they are taking their legal action to stand up for women’s rights.

Bethany Hutchison, 34, a surgery nurse, said: ‘It’s disgraceful that nurses are ending up in tears prior to their shifts. We are there to be an emotional support for patients who are about to undergo surgery, and it’s very difficult to do that if you’re in a state of distress from having to change in front of a male.

‘I think women need to stop being fearful about this and use their voice. We have fought for so long to get women’s rights but it’s just gone backwards, and I’m not prepared to see that.’

Their legal claim, seen by the Mail, says that since August 2023 they have repeatedly raised concerns with hospital managers about the trans nurse, called Rose, who has been given access to the female changing room. The nurses allege that Rose ‘stares at female colleagues, in particular at their breast area, as they are getting changed’.

A formal complaint, signed by 26 nurses, was sent to bosses at the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust in April. But a human resources manager allegedly dismissed their concerns, and said the nurses needed to ‘broaden their mindset’, be ‘more inclusive’ and ‘be educated’.

Ms Hutchison said: ‘It is so offensive to us because we are all educated – we need a degree in order to do this job and some of us have multiple degrees. We’ve got very intelligent people on our ward so it was disgusting for them to say something like that to us.

‘We’re not transphobic and we’re not fearful of trans people – we believe they need their own changing space that’s safe for them.’

See rest of article

[thelastspeecher]

For the Pollution AU, what sort of other friends would Angie make at the boarding school in Gravity Falls?

Well, first off, Angie befriends San Diego native and smog powered awkward enby Marley Schmetterling. Marley has a tendency to accidentally become smog when startled but is working very hard on that. Marley bonds with Fiddleford over a mutual "our power gives us an odor" situation, though their odor is not even half as offensive as the one produced by Fiddleford.

Angie's roommate (as we've discussed) is Bethany, a young lady victimized by light pollution who can glow. Bethany is fascinated by Angie's power, particularly when she learns that Angie inherited it.

Boyish Dan Corduroy (as we've discussed) is one of the handful of Gravity Falls locals to be at the school. He experiences mutation via the same process as Octavia, the eight-legged cow. He gets himself an extra set of arms. It makes lumberjack work more efficient...once he's gotten used to the extra arms and also can keep his laser vision under control.

Finally, Angie befriends a young lady named Maria. She and her family moved to Gravity Falls from Mexico a few years before Angie arrives at the school. Not long after their move, Maria found herself in the vicinity of the crashed spaceship and spent a lot of time there, playing by herself or with her siblings. Unfortunately, this exposed her to some idk, radiation or energy or something emitted by the spaceship, which ended up giving her shapeshifting abilities when she became a teenager. Angie and Maria bond over the fact that they both remain human while using their powers to change themselves. For everyone else at the school, if they have some level of body altering powers, that alteration results in an inhuman form. (Dan doesn't count because he can't turn the extra arms on and off.)

The four of them, plus Fidds and Ford (and later Stan) make up the Angie Protection Squad. Angie is targeted by Jimmy Snakes, a fellow student at the school, for appearing to be too much of a "normie" to belong there. Her friends do their best to keep Angie away from Jimmy, intervene when he messes with her, and even get back at him. Stan isn't initially a member of the Angie Protection Squad because he's sorta kinda a thing with Jimmy and while he doesn't agree with Jimmy and intervenes sometimes, he doesn't do much more than that. Conflict of interest and all.

Side Note: No one in town knows the real source of Maria's powers. They assume it's the same way Dan got his.

(Also yes Maria is Soos's abuelita.)

[lumalilies]

picard: very well. you have your duties. dism-

BAGOCK!

picard: what in-! Mr. Data is that... a.... a chicken?"

BAGOCK!

data: (putting finger gently on chickens beak) shhhhhhh. yes sir. (chicken quiets down) specifically a "rhode island red" chicken aged 2 years, 18 days, 5-

picard: commander data, would you care to explain to me what the hell a chicken doing is doing in the observation lounge?

riker: (smiling all goofy like) i didn't realize you hired a new member of the senior staff.

picard: >_>

data: this chicken is not a member of the enterprise crew. rather, i have brought it with me to help me understand human nature.

picard: mr. data.... (sigh) how is having a living, breathing chicken with you during a senior staff meeting supposed to help you understand the human condition?

data: allow me to explain. in my analysis of human literature surrounding human emotion, I have found over 62,000 occurrences of the concept of "fear" and the word "chicken" in close proximity. for example, in the 1985 film back to the future, the character of "marty mcfly" becomes self conscious about--

picard: (shifts in his chair and looks at geordi, who shrugs)

data: --whenever the word "chicken" is used against him as an insult. Additionally, in the 1987 film "Spaceballs"-

riker: (looking around the room smiling) "space...balls?"

picard: mr. data that's enough!

data: pardon me sir. then you understand my reasoning in keeping this chicken nearby as i perform my duties? in order to better understand the human experience of fear?

picard: mr. data. I-! (sighs and sits back in chair) mr. data prior to this meeting, i've have spent the past 12 hours staring at one of the fish in my ready room. when.... (leans in) when i close my eyes, i can still see it. in my imagination! like it's right here in front of me. (starts to stare off into the distance) even now, i see its face staring back at me. sometimes... sometimes I almost think it's smiling (slowly starts to smile and chuckle to himself)

...

geordi: captain?

picard: (startled) apologies. (sigh) now, the point i intend to make is that in this moment, i don't even have the mental capacity to explain the abject lunacy of keeping a chicken in your lap while you serve as a member of my crew. now i'm going to have to order you to dispose of the chicken--

mr. data: bethany.

picard: -what?

data: the chicken's name is bethany.

picard: (looks around and brings down the tone of his voice) I'm going to have to ask you to dispose of...bethany... immediately.

data: i see sir. i am sorry, i did not realize bethany's presence would cause offense. i will immediately take her to shuttlebay 2 and decompress the airlock.

riker: I need to see this

geordi: right be behind you commander-

picard: dismiss-- wait! airlock!? mr. data that chicken is a living being! you can't simply...jettison it into space like...like an empty cargo container!

data: i apologize sir. i believe i misunderstood your intent. you see, when humans use the word "dispose" in relation to a living being, it is often meant with the connotation of causing death or irreparable injury. additionally, i have found humans traditionally place little value on the lives of chicken and other birds of poultry. current replicator logs show that over 80% of crew meals consist of cooked chicken meat. even during today's lunch captain, replicator activity shows you consumed a quote "chicken salad sand"-

picard: enough mr. data! (sigh, facepalms and rubs his temples)

geordi: wait data, how did you even get a chicken aboard the ship?

data: excellent question, geordi. i used the replicator in my quarters to synthesize a chicken egg, as these are often used in the cooking of breakfast foods. I then incubated it until the chicken was ready to hatch.

geordi: ...incubated it?

data: yes. i-

barkley: i-i'll take it

picard: mr. barkley?

barkley: the..the chicken. i...i can keep it.

geordi: wait, reg. you mean you're gonna keep it in your quarters?

barkley: y-yes. if that's. well. if that's alr-

picard: mr. barkley. this is an extraordinary responsbility. are you sure you are prepared to take on the duty of caring for this lifeform - no. bethany. until she reaches a healthy maturity?

barkley: a-absolutely.of course. i'll be sure to show her plenty of l-love... care. care. and attention. i'll. i'll keep her safe. you have my word.

picard: very well. mr. data, surrender the chicken to mr. barkley. dismissed.

i'm stopping this here i can't keep writing this