#that makes it okay

[just-horrible-things]

'Verse: Resistance Story: Unlikely Salvation, co-author @whump-sprite Timeline: Pre-main-story, Ariadne is a senior interrogator

Protected Sources

The first taste of the whip is one of the points where people change their minds about their commitment to silence or to anger. If the sight of it isn’t enough, and the ritual of stripping their back and cuffing them to wall or floor isn’t enough, sometimes the revelation of exactly how much this will hurt is the tipping point.

For this reason, Ariadne typically leaves a pause between the first stroke and the second, or the second and the third. A chance for wait, wait wait, I’ve changed my mind.

This time the tune’s a little different. After the yelp and the gasped curse word, the witch blurts out, “Agent Thompson. I want – to talk to Agent Thompson.”

Ari coils the whip loosely, and walks round in front of her to meet her eyes. There’s still brazen fury mixed with the fear, but there’s more fear than there was before.

“What’s your name?” she asks. “Did you hear me? I’ll talk to Thompson. Not to you.” “There’s more than one Thompson in this building,” Ariadne points out. The witch looks thrown by this concept. Ari can practically see the dread taking hold of her, battling with the anger. This was supposed to be her way out, the one she didn’t want to use but was keeping in her back pocket – and she’s just now considering the possibility that it might not work. “I don’t – know his first name,” she flounders. “He didn’t say.”

“Give me your name – or whatever name he knows you by – and I’ll look you up. If you’re on our books, it’ll tell me which Thompson you’re looking for.” “What so you want to help me now?” There’s the anger, still. “If you’re on our books,” Ariadne answers levelly, “it should never have gotten this far.” A vague gesture with the whip – not towards the prisoner. “You should have said something sooner.” “I … don’t know if I’m on your books,” the witch admits in a small voice. Then, more hurriedly, “Maybe I want to be. Is, is that a thing?” “Of course it is.”

She could be stalling. Giving her the benefit of the doubt won’t do any harm though. At worst, it will lodge the possibility of better treatment in her mind. Ariadne drops the whip into the sink to clean later, and crouches to unlock the witch’s wrists from the floor. She tries to yank her hands out of Ariadne’s grip, but when it doesn’t work she gives up and lets herself be hauled up and led back to the table. 

Ariadne had been thinking about leaving her unattached, but after that show of resistance, she thinks better of it, and locks the cuffs to the edge of the table once again. The witch glowers up at her.

“Give me your name,” she repeats, “and I’ll look you up. If you’ve already got a file, I’ll match you to your Agent Thompson. If you haven’t, I’ll open one, and… I’ll see what I can do.” The witch barks a sharp, disbelieving laugh. “Am I supposed to believe you’re reasonable now?” “You can reason with me. I’m not nice, but I can be reasonable.” The witch shudders. Ariadne hopes it’s the realisation of her own helplessness sinking in.

“Name,” she prompts. “Come on, what do you think I’m going to do with your name? Put a curse on you?” “... Tansy.” “Tansy.” Ari waits. “More name? Am I supposed to look you up with just that?” “I didn’t tell your agent my last name.” “He should have asked.” “I, I think I lied.” A little flinch at the admission, but a defiant stare follows it. “I don’t remember what name I told him.”

Ari resists the urge to sigh. “You’re not making this easy for yourself,” she notes. “... I’ll see what I can do.”

She leaves Tansy – if that’s her name – cuffed to the table, while she goes to find the documents. The other interrogation room is still free, the witch shouldn’t be in anyone’s way. And they can move her if she is. Ariadne doesn’t offer her her shirt back. She hasn’t been cooperative enough for that kind of consideration.

On the way through the security room, she pauses to check the camera feed. Prisoners often forget about the cameras, and show more candid emotion when they think they’re no longer observed. Tansy just looks shell-shocked, staring into the middle distance. Fine.

One first name and one last name isn’t a lot to go on, but there aren’t that many protected sources in the city. If Ariadne has to leaf through all the files by hand, it should be doable. She does know one Thompson personally though, so she sends him a quick email with a snap of the witch’s face before she gets stuck into the paper records.

Connor doesn’t get back to her before she’s numbed her brain checking document after document. There is a supposedly central list of protected sources, and of course she checks that first, but people don’t keep it up to date.

Every file with a photo she can discard pretty rapidly, and every male. Tansy is not androgynous, no one’s likely to have gotten that much wrong. The dead and in custody are stored separately, so she doesn’t need to worry about those. The rest she has to skim for any notes regarding cooperation. If they were officially off-limits they should be stamped… but Tansy said she might not have an official relationship, yet. And she can only check out so many from storage at a time.

It’s not the most exciting work in the world.

Hall saunters into the office to print out some forms, and does a double take when he sees Ariadne’s stack of files. “Looking for someone?” “Yeah, my latest reckons she might be down as a source already but she’s not sure… or what name she’d have given us last time.” “That’s a bad start,” Hall observes. “Oh, who cares about fake names, they all want fake names. It’s the least important thing. She can have her fake names.” “So… you’re trying to find a file that may or may not exist, that could be under any name.” “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Why don’t you just draw up a new one? The paper pushers can sort it out later if they find the duplicate.” Ari leans back to give him an incredulous look, then rolls her eyes. “Just draw up a new one,” she echoes. “This is the exact reason the system’s such a mess in the first place.” Hall shrugs a not my problem shrug, and takes his forms to a desk to start filling out.

Ariadne checks her email. Connor’s gotten back to her – and he recognises the witch, thank god. Yeah, he knows her, he’ll make time to talk to her but he’s not sure when it’ll be. Good enough. Ari emails back to ask if “Tansy” has a file and if he remembers what name it might be under – then she takes the ones she has out back to storage.

She checks herself back in the cell block, checks that Tansy’s still where she left her, then fills out her action plan to reflect the new circumstances. She marks her on the rota for two meals a day and full water rations, and makes an extra note of “no violence” to stop anyone getting too eager with her.

Then she goes back to the interrogation room. The witch glares knives at her, but the fear is unmistakeable. Her brush with the whip has left its impression.

“Good news. I found your Thompson. That means he’ll be deciding whether you get to walk or whether you stay with me. So if I were you, I’d make it worth his while.” She picks up the witch’s t-shirt, still discarded on the floor, and hands it back to her, freeing her cuffs from each other and the table long enough for her to put it on. 

“Are you going to walk back to your cell, or will I be dragging you?” Tansy doesn’t answer, but she gets up, and when Ariadne takes her arm to lead her, she walks where she’s directed.

She’s not terrified enough to need reassuring that she won’t be hurt if she cooperates, and not compliant enough to deserve that comfort. Let her stew, wondering if Thompson’s coming to talk to her, wondering if they’ll keep beating her until then. Maybe it’ll do her attitude some good.

“On your knees, give me your hands. What, you don’t want them unlocked? You can stay like that if you prefer.” The witch offers her hands without getting down on the floor. Ariadne waits. Reluctantly, the prisoner sinks to her knees. Ariadne unlocks her wrists from each other again. “Stay down until I close the door.”

So far she’s resisted every time they’ve moved her. She’s familiar with the consequences. But this time, with the nebulous chance of getting out of this in the balance, she stays down. There’s naked, venomous hatred in her stare, but she stays down.

She looks for a moment like she has something unwise to say, but when Ari pauses to hear it, she thinks better of it and presses her lips together. Ariadne nods acknowledgement, and closes the door. As the lock clicks, she hears a single wordless sound of frustration from the cell.

[codecicle]

MY FAVORITE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS' PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE!!!!

[cuntylouis]

Ignoring the real possibility he intentionally let himself be caught from the little we know so far Luigi Mangione's case is a fascinating combination of astonishing brilliance and confusing stupidity. This young man plans and executes his assassination and escape with such a meticulous care and calmness that it's suspected that he's a professional hitman. He comes up with Riddler-sque moves like writing his manifesto poetically on the bullets and leaving his backpack behind full of Monopoly money. He carefully wears a mask to avoid being identified but removes it because a woman who was checking him into the hostel was flirting with him and wanted to see his smile. He still manages to escape the most surveilled city in the country in the midst of ongoing national manhunt only to get caught in the middle of bumfuck nowhere Pennsylvania while eating at the McDonalds. Because for some reason he had the same clothes and mask as in New York and was carrying the same gun and suppressor. And when the cops detained him he showed them the same fake id he used in New York. And oh yeah he's a frat bro gym rat who has a masters degree in computer science from Penn but reads stupid self-help books about being on the grind and is 'anti-woke' while being bisexual suffering from anxiety and wanting to end oppressive capitalism. Not even god himself could invent a person like this

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[lettuccine]

i cant stop thinking about a post by @possamble so i made this

inspired by this

based on a fanart by BugsGay on twitter

[goats-ablaze]

woke up today and realized that tumblr entirely killed fuck ya life bing bong so here ya go again

[housederiva]

Gaby Soto is a gift

Edit: I missed one!

[evercelle]

"tragedies: the love was there"

[paintedcrows]

*through tears* HER LITTLE POG CHAMP

[lizzibennet]

chappell roan’s got this sudden very huge burst of attention and since then she has

shown up to jimmy fallon in full drag

shown up to her concerts in even zainier outfits than before

worn a nun costume to one concert and when people were uncomfortable she was like good. toodles!

very clearly stated she will retreat from the public eye if she feels threatened by her fame

put very firm boundaries in place, not caring how that might make her look in today’s ass backward society that thinks artists owe everyone everything

she really is trying the hardest to do this in her own terms, in this industry that pretty much allows no wiggle room when it comes to being as big as she’s gotten. it’s clear to me she doesn’t care about maintaining the level of notoriety she has now, she cares about connecting to the subset of people who her art has always been aimed at and that is it. and i find it so admirable! it must be really hard to get what every artists out there is trying to and not let yourself get influenced by it, but she is remaining steadfastly herself. it’s so refreshing and it makes me like her so much more

[melonsharks]

au where everything is the same except mabel and dipper have been going to gravity falls every year before the show takes place since like kindergarten.

its a pretty simple premise that derives mostly from my desire to explore interpersonal relationships and the ways a place and people can change from a young child’s point of view. it doesn’t change canon that much either, admittedly, i just wanted to draw childhood friends stuff LOL. ill call it uhhhhhhhh every summer au.

[aesthetic-uni]

It’s that time of the year again

[codecicle]

whatever. 15k note post of me being crucified

[source 1] [source 2] [source 3] [source 4]. final art is a physical drawing hanging on my wall

[edwardbonnets]

how to ask the demon you've been smitten over for 6000 years to dance: an angel's guide

bonus:

[mintytrifecta]

[image description: the bugs bunny in a tuxedo "I wish all (blank) a very pleasant (blank)" meme edited to say "I wish all of my Jewish followers a very pleasant rosh hashanah". In front of Bugs there is a jar of honey, a stack of apples and pomegranates. In front of bug's mouth there is a shofar.]

[s0up1ta]

"so grunkle ford how do you know bill?"

"... that's not important."