#please aloysius why are you encouraging her

[tfwhelen]

feast of noros

excerpt from Helen River’s diary (12 years ago)

This diary has always been a place where I might be completely honest with all of my thoughts, desires, and darkest secrets, so it is why I shall confess here, without shame, that I do have a favorite from amongst my nephews. It is a pity that my sister was not allowed to raise them as she wished: they all would have been better for it.

As it is, Arthur is arrogant and spoiled; Ambrose vain and ridiculous. Do not mistake me for loving Aloysius best due to the defects of his brothers alone. He has a myriad of qualities to recommend him, but I have always especially been fond of his wit, his charm, and his mischievous side (which I am afraid is often shameless encouraged by his aunt).

Today he was all excitement: it was to be his first Feast of Noros which he was able to attend properly.

“Your guards won’t know what to do with themselves. This is the first time in six years where they won’t have to chase you down and drag you back.”

You could tell my jest had hurt his pride because the smile on his face began to fade and he rather defensively reminded me that he always managed to outsmart them every year, despite them being prepared for it, and even though he never got to attend the feast as he intended, you had to admit that it was rather impressive.

(I knew better than to remind him that the Turner twins had both managed to attend when they were six, as that was likely most of the reason his failure stung so).

“I almost made it last year, too,” He was quick to remind me, “Still hoped I would have gotten farther with an accomplice to distract the guards.”

(As a royal subject, helping a prince escape the palace alone and go off into the woods to celebrate well into the night with strangers is far from my proudest moment, but as an aunt who felt her nephew was often deprived some life experiences, I was quite pleased with myself).

“Ah, as I recall, the terms of our agreement were that if I were to help you, you were never to speak of it again.”

(He was poised to make a remark, but noting my expression, closed his mouth instead. Good boy).

“That’s better.”

“Did you see any spirits your first time, Aunt Helen?” He asked.

“Oh, yes. Hundreds. And you should have seen me. I was terribly brave.”

“Really?”

“No, not really. 

“You were scared?”

“Oh, terrified. And I didn’t even see any spirits to warrant it.”

“Then what scared you?”

(Oh, how to answer such a question?! Everything at the time. Everything except the spirits that might be lurking in the woods. I was more afraid of myself and afraid of other people discovering who and what I really was to be able to be afraid of much else. I spent most of the evening hanging about my sister’s skirts and trying to avoid everyone I didn’t recognize which was, thanks to the disguises everyone wore, most of those in attendance. But none of this would make a fitting answer for Aloysius.)

“The mere thought of running out of Remembrance Cakes.”

“You’re not going to tell me what really scared you?” 

“Of course not. Do you think I shall give you an unfair advantage by letting you in on the secret? You will have to figure it out, like everyone else, what happens during your first Feast of Noros.”

[gossamerandshadow]

Mira Adler: Aloysius

Past the statues, past the works of grand art, past the vault of ancient and powerful weapons, past the maps, past the scrolls, past the rooms and rooms full of shelves and shelves of countless books, there is a window. Which is strange, considering that there is nothing outside these walls. But it would be stranger still if it wasn’t there. After all, the mistress of the Savoir would feel it incomplete without a window. A tall window, filtering grey light through the patter of raindrops against the broad panes of glass. A window set far into the wall between towering bookshelves. A window with a plush, comfortable window seat, a warm blanket, and a small table just beside, which is the perfect size for a tray with a teapot, cup, and a little bowl each of milk and sugar.

The window doesn’t actually look out onto anything. That would be impossible - there is nothing outside the Savoir to look out onto, save the void itself. But, if one does not look too close, the effect is quite convincing. The window looks out over a blanket of swirling grey, as if it were on a high floor of a skyscraper on a cloudy day. The mist moves in the way a cloud might, with occasional gaps that seem to peer out over the grey expanse of a wet cityscape when the mist parts. There is no cityscape - not really. The fractal patterns of grey blocks are a convincing illusion, though.

Mira had passed truly countless hours here, curled up under the blanket with her tea and one of the many books she’d stolen from one of the many Gossamer worlds she’d visited. But today, Mira isn’t reading. Today, in place of the dusty tome usually found in her lap, there is a sleek grey laptop. Instead of the music that normally filtered, muted, through the aisles of books from a large brass gramophone, she wears a pair of headphones, and the only sound outside of that comes from the continuous sound of the rain on the window is the occasional short giggle from the woman herself. She reaches out to refill her teacup, only to find the pot empty, and shrugs, returning her attention to the video on her computer.

“Shall I fetch you more tea, Ms Adler?”

Mira jumps, knocking her laptop into the window, and presses a hand over her chest. “You weren’t there a second ago?!” It comes out like a question, though it was meant as an accusation, and she looks up at Aloysius irritably, as if he’d startled her on purpose rather than it simply being an accident of her being unable to hear his approach.

Aloysius is a tall man, towering above most humans with a height that easily surpasses two meters. Though his hair is greying, he otherwise bears one of those faces that make it infuriatingly difficult to guess his age - he might be in his early 30s and simply greying prematurely, or he might be well into his eighties and simply keeps himself healthy and spry. Not that it matters, really, since he’s not human at all. And, despite being a veritable font of information on the Stair and its Lords, that is one thing he refuses to explain further to Mira. 

He arches one elegant eyebrow at her. His expression remains perfectly polite, perfectly neutral, but there’s a telling sparkle of amusement in his blue eyes which make it clear that he’s taking pleasure in Mira’s reaction. “My apologies, Ms Adler. I shall endeavour to stomp my feet when I approach next time, so as to avoid another such incident.”

Mira narrows her grey eyes, carefully inspecting his expression. After a moment, she leans back against the window and crosses her arms, flashing a grin up at him. “No you won’t. But that’s fine, my fault. But anyway, what was it you asked?”

“If you would like more tea.”

There is something in his manner that she simply can’t ignore. He is so very stiff and formal most of the time, and he is so tall and given what she had been watching all afternoon, the comparison was simply too easy. Besides, she’s always eager for a new way to tease the keeper of the Savoir. “If you please, Lurch.”

Aloysius blinks, confused by the nickname, sharp gaze snapping from her to the screen and back again. He doesn’t respond further, beyond a tiny shrug, and collects the tray, gliding off with it in such a way that left Mira feeling somewhat less surprised that he’d snuck up on her so effectively.

--------

The Door opens with its telltale creak. Mira pauses on the threshold, considering whether or not she should fix it - it is in her power. Hell, it requires nothing more than an errant thought. But she doesn’t. The creak is the same, every time she opens the Door, and it reminds her that she is home. That she has a home. With that warm thought on her mind, she closes the door behind her and sheds her coat, her clothing morphing quickly from leather armor to a set of comfortable pink pajamas. “Oh Luuuuuuurch!”

Aloysius appears from around a corner, his usual polite smile replaced with a pointedly blank expression. His voice, lower and more gravelly than usual, with a tenor that sounds almost bored. “You rang?”

Words cannot possibly express Mira’s delight.

--------

[gavemesomuchtoremember]

Heartbroken

Thanks for saying this @raimi​ I really appreciate it, and @fandomsandxfiles-writes​ for also encouraging me to post a while back too. 

Hey Everyone, so I finally have built up the courage to share the first Agent Carter fic I wrote. I wrote it back in May. 

Dottie Underwood x Reader

Jack Thompson x Reader

It’s a Jack Thompson x Reader situation though y/n’s conversation is mainly with Dottie about it. 

Summary: During a mission a drunk y/n has to distract Dottie, leading to sharing some secrets that she didn’t want to.

Another, Sameul y/n called out to the bartender, you knew it wasn’t very ladylike to be this drunk but you didn’t care; and you finally had a day off. You felt a tapping on your shoulder as you turned to see a worried Peggy Carter, a look you hadn’t often seen on the agent. “Peggy, what brings you here?” You questioned.

“I heard from Rose that you’ve been here all day” you watched her as she observed you. She noticed you had been slightly falling off the edge of the chair. “So I thought I’d come talk to you”.

“I’m fine Peg!” you exclaimed loudly, causing a table of men to turn and look in disappointment. Samuel placed the beer down in front of you, “Aah, my dear Sam, what took ya so long” you said taking a giant gulp of the drink.

“If I had put my money on it, I’d say this reaction is due to Jack”. You smirked hoping it would hide the fact she’d guessed correctly,”What makes you say that?”

“It’s the way he looks at you. I’ve also seen you avoid him”

“It’s a long story, are you going to the warehouse?” not wanting to continue the conversation as you sipped on your drink. “Yeah, we are. We need to catch Dottie.”

“She really is a pain in our backs, though I respect the diligence it takes to work that hard and love your job”.

“I really wish you weren’t drunk right now” She said quietly to herself but you heard the concern in her voice. “You need me don’t you. What’s going on, what do I need to do?”

“No, you stay, it’s your day off” “But, what’s the plan?” “We’re going to set up an electromagnetic field around the building to block her from leaving the premises. Four downstairs, four upstairs”. You stared at her for a second to process the information, “Won’t she see that?”

“I will be distracting Dottie while Rose, Dr Samberly, Mr Jarvis, Jack and Daniel set up everything” “Then what?”

“Dr Samberly will set it off”

You placed the glass down on the counter and fully gave her your attention, “don’t you or Sous need to be with him to help with that kind of power? I trust the guy but Aloysius crumbles under pressure”

“We don’t have a choice, they need to go set it up” “Exactly, so I’ll come. You need the help” “y/n, no you’re too drunk” “And you’re too outnumbered for a large space and a time limit, I can distract Dottie, everyone else can set up. You’ll have an extra hand downstairs and someone can be with Aloysius”.

“I said no, you’re drunk”. She gave you a look but gave in. Right outside the warehouse Peggy and you got to the meeting spot.

“You’re drunk!” Daniel called out to you when the two of you approached him. “I’m fine, let’s just focus on the task at hand” you said and waltz up to Jarvis and Rose to grab an earpiece.

Sousa turned his attention to Peggy, “you brought her here even though she’s drunk?”

“She insisted on coming along. Besides, I couldn’t stop her. She’s one of the few people we need right now. She can handle herself drunk, I’ve seen it”

You entered into the warehouse, making a mental note of the area, Jarvis split left and Peggy, with Rose went right on the bottom level. You continued to walk forward into the warehouse as Aloysius, Jack, and Sous went up the stairs to the second level.

Rose and Peggy reached their targets and started setting up the electromagnetic field they needed to cover the building. Jarvis reached his corner and had done the same. Jack and Daniel split up to cover all of the bases upstairs. Finally Aloysius had positioned himself above a steel box with an electromagnetic cannon ray thing Peggy was explaining on the way over. “I might have been a little too drunk to pay attention to the briefing” You thought to yourself.

You entered a smaller room located comically in the centre of the building. Your job was the most important, inside the box, the walls were a mint green and there was a little picnic bench type seating area. Dottie was sitting there with a book.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Brooklyn” “Dottie, always a pleasure”

You heard Peggy’s voice come in through your earpiece, “keep her distracted, were almost set up”. You made your way closer to the black widow, “What brings you here?”

“Wow agent, wasted on the job? That’s a new low, even for you. Boy troubles?” You ignored her comments, your eyes trailing her as she walked around the bench.

“You know what Dottie, I’ll do the talking here” “How about let’s play a game of truth?”

You paused a second and even thought about it. You really only had to distract Dottie, if she was doing all the work for you, why not. “Sure Dottie, what do you wanna know, my life is an open book”

“Have you ever been in love?” Dottie’s smile got bigger when she asked, it was a red flag but you were a little too numb to care, “I suppose I have”.

“When did you meet him?” She patted the bench as she sat back down, but you didn’t move a muscle, “We were six, We met outside a chapel, he popped my soccer ball and I hitchhiked in his daddy’s truck from Michigan all the way to New York”. 

“You run away from home”

“I’m an orphan, thought I could start a better life in New York”

“Did he break your heart?”

That’s when it clicked, she knew exactly what she was talking about, she wanted specific answers out of you. “Hold your horses there missy. You’ve asked a bunch of questions, my turn”

Jarvis’ voice came though on the earpiece, “I’m all set down here”, and Sousa’s voice followed, “copy that, Jarvis, can you go see if the south tower is set, while Peggy and Rose finish up the others”, “Of course chief”. You focused on the task at hand, “What was it really like growing up in Russia?”

“Oh y/n, it was wonderful, as I’ve told Peggy I was jealous of women like her who could do whatever they pleased, but living here for as long as I have, there’s no respect for women. In Russia it was such a wonderful learning experience”.  

“Being tied to a bed is your idea of wonderful?” “It was by choice”

In that moment you almost pitied her, she’d never known a life outside of that prison camp. “But here, even though some men don’t like it, we do have freedom”

“Women in your country are oppressed!”

“Not for long, I envision an America where women are in all positions of power”

“So tell me y/n, how did you end up in this line of work? You see I was born for this? In jail I heard a little rumour that a broken heart pushed you here”

And there it was, Dottie liked to pray on weakness, maybe it was because of her cold heart, but it was clear that the truth game was some sort of sick power move, “I don’t have to answer that”

“But you will, because you and I both know that this is an attempt to distract me. You won’t stop making mindless conversation with me until my dear friend Peggy tells you to”

You finally moved towards the bench, “well, if we both know this is a charade then I guess we don’t need to keep that up”

“I don’t do well when I’m bored. You can’t fight me because the SSR needs me alive and unless you tell me your story, I will walk out of here, ruining whatever it is that poor Peggy is up to”

You thought to yourself for a second, when Peggy’s voice rang in your ears followed by Daniel’s, “were almost done” “Us too y/n just hold off a little longer.

“I’m bored” Dottie said in a sing songy voice, “You seriously think I’m that drunk? That I’ll just spill all my secrets?”

She smirked, as she walked towards you, closing the gap

“You’ll never get away, not this time Dot” “y/n/n” “My name is y/n” “right, only Jack Thompson can call you y/n/n”

“That’s enough Dottie” You put your arm out to stop her from moving past you, but she just swatted it away and smiled again. You thought to yourself how could her smile possibly get any bigger. “Alright, you won’t tell me your story then I guess I’m leaving. Bye.”

You watched as she started to leave. There was no way you were going to tell her the story but she was leaving. Jack’s face appeared as you closed your eyes. You moved your hair behind your ear, revealing the earring mic. You couldn’t think straight, and she was right, you needed to wait for Peg’s order, so you couldn’t just let her leave.

“I set dinner for him”

Dottie stopped, immediately pulling a 180. Peggy and Rose shared a look, knowing this was not going to end well and Jack stopped dead in his tracks mentally kicking himself.

“I was young, in love, and, well stupid... I wanted to marry him” You started slowly, knowing they were almost done. “Rose and I are set, moving onto the next one” Peggy stated, “Same” Jarvis’ voice followed, finally Sousa spoke, “Jack, Samberly and I are working on it”

Dottie gave you a look and tapped her foot getting impatient, “He was drafted and I’d never been more proud of him. So I made this dinner, so we could celebrate. It was something he wanted to do. Fight for our freedom” Dottie smiled and sat down at the bench, once again trying to get you to sit with her. This time you did, “Go on” she cooed. “Keep stalling” Daniel’s voice rang in your ear. “His car was supposed to leave in 3 days, but he decided to get on the one that was leaving that night. I often think about why he stood outside my door, refusing to come in. All he had to say for himself was that he was leaving. I thought he was joking. But he was serious. And he left.”

“Then?”

You paused and stared at her. There was radio silence on the other end. You knew they were still working. You really didn’t want to talk about this.

“y/n, I’m waiting”

“Let’s talk about something else, maybe, say the great depression?” You tried to change the subject, “not a chance in hell. I won’t ask again”. You knew that wouldn’t work. Finally Peggy’s voice came through again, “We need more time”. You took in a breath to calm your nerves, sobering up having to talk about this while everyone could hear you, “I ran out after him, I begged him to at least talk to me, tell me why”

Rose and Peggy exchange a glance of utter shock as they’d never heard this story, not even on a girls night. Jarvis ran up to them to help finish the last magnetic tower.

“You know what I got as a response? His back walking down the street”

Daniel and Aloysius gave Jack a look, not surprised but disappointed.

You looked at Dottie, knowing that you’d have to continue, “On top of that, I was labeled as the broken one. The one who was left by-“

“People threw garbage at me, treated me like some sort of witch. One day I went for a walk and there were three guys that tried to abduct me. I beat them up and a Colonel saw it, Murdoch saw it, took me in and I ended up in Russia fighting more Russian assassins like yourself. It’s how I ended up in the war, it’s how I met Howard, it’s how I ended up in the SSR.”

Jarvis didn’t want to hear anymore of it so he removed his earpiece, “I can’t listen to this anymore” I heard Daniel say, “were almost done” for what felt like the millionth time.

“So to answer your question Dottie, yes. I did end up here because of a broken heart. It wasn’t the lifestyle I had always imagined, but I’m glad I’m not some blond asshole chief’s wife”

Aloysius had managed to get everything going, “give us 5 seconds” is all I heard.

“You know what Dottie, sometimes I feel like you like being locked up”

“Now”

You pulled out your gun and aimed at her, “Dottie Underwood, you are under arrest” She didn’t seem phased at all, simply replying, “wonderful”.

Dottie kicked the gun out of your hand and tried to escape, Luckily you saw it coming but your reaction times were a little delayed. She managed to free herself and kicked you in the face twice, but you weren’t having that, tackling her to the ground, in doing so activating bars that surrounded you. Inside a jail cell of electromagnets, “Well that was new” she said to herself. 

“Looks like we’re both stuck in this prison”, you placed those handcuffs on her and she laughed in your face, “at least the prison I’m going to, it’ll be easy to escape”

Daniel and Peggy grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away.

Once again Dottie Underwood was caught, but she was right. Jack was y/n’s prison and he broke your heart, but you still loved him.

THE END

[aratilightwood]

Lilly Chen travels back in time to the 1800s.

Twenty commentaries dedicated to characters from the series.

...

*Sees Charlotte stressed.*

“Mrs ‘I need some chamomile tea’ Branwell.”

*Sees Henry’s latest invention.*

“Mr ‘please take me to the hardware store* Branwell.”

*Sees Will insulting someone.*

“Mr ‘where’s my manners gone?’ Herondale.”

*Sees Tessa with a book all the time.*

“Miss ‘I read too much’ Gray.”

*Sees Jem in a newly tailored suit.*

“Mr ‘you can’t resist me’ Carstairs.*

*Sees Jessamine complain for the hundredth time.*

“Miss ‘stuff a sock in my mouth already’ Lovelace.”

*Sees Alexei at one of his parties.*

“Mr ‘I’m the reason why people don’t trust vampires’ de Quincey.”

*Sees Nate betraying everyone.*

“Mr ‘I’m nothing more than a nit’ Gray.”

*Sees Mortmain’s plans for world domination.*

“Mr ‘I’m a second rate mechanical engineer’ Mortmain.”

*Sees Camille’s treatment of Magnus.*

“Lady ‘have I ever been faithful?’ Belcourt.”

*Sees Benedict in the council chambers.*

“Mr ‘I don’t come with an off button’ Lightwood.”

*Sees Gabriel gloating about his fighting skills.*

“Mr ‘is my gob loud enough?’ Lightwood.”

*Sees Gideon in the training room.*

“Mr ‘why am I so serious?’ Lightwood.”

*Sees Magnus with Woolsey.*

“Mr ‘I play for both teams’ Bane.”

*Sees the Consul struggle to run the clave.*

“Consul ‘I’m too old for this’ Wayland.”

*Sees Bridget defeat Gabriel in a duel*

“Miss ‘I should get paid for embarrassing annoying Shadowhunters’ Daly.”

*Sees Sophie deny her feelings for Gideon.*

“Miss ‘I’m bad at concealing my relationship’ Collins.”

*Sees Aloysius’ collection of spoils.*

“Mr ‘prejudice was invented by people like me’ Starkweather.”

*Sees Cecily argue with her brother.*

“Miss ‘I’m on a mission to take you home’ Herondale.”

*Sees Tatiana place blame on the institute.*

“Miss ‘I’m so in denial’ Blackthorn.”

...

*Members of the institute are having dinner.*

“Jem, we wanted to talk to you about your- new friend,” Charlotte began.

“Lily? What about her?” Jem questioned.

“There’s no doubt she’s a lovely young lady, but lately, we think she’s become too familiar with everyone,” Henry explained.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Jem said even though he understood completely.

“Well she’s right about one thing: no can resist Jem. Just the other night, he looked handsome in his-“ Will started.

“Will!” Charlotte chided. “Don’t encourage this.”

Tessa wasn’t able to suppress the smile that appeared on her face.