#the answer is apparently “most of them”

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

In Another Life

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Prompt - ‘In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.’

Bucky Barnes was nothing if not a man who felt too much. He’d fight fiercely for those he loved, he’d make an idiot of himself to get the attention of the woman he loved. He let himself get knocked around if it meant he could catch a glimpse of her scowl that he’d always manage to turn into a smile.

“Seriously, Barnes?” You groan as you walk into the medical tent, seeing the familiar sight of James Barnes on one of your beds.

“It wasn’t my fault this time!” He lied, watching as you shook your head but there was a fondness to it.

Bucky could read you like his most favourite book at this point. You’d been appointed to 107th to join their medical team and it didn’t take long to capture the attention of the Sergeant. He had fallen for you in that first meeting, watching you boss around men twice the size of you, putting them into place without fear, putting him in his place when he tried to play off a pair of broken ribs as nothing.

Since then Bucky had done anything to be around you, he’d had his nose nearly broken, he’d fractured his wrist, he’d faked more stomach bugs than he could count. You didn’t buy any of them, you never did and yet you still let him take up one of the beds in the medical tent for hours on end. 

“We both know that’s bullshit.” You called him out and he didn’t even try and look guilty anymore, instead he shot you a bright grin and shrugged in a what can you do way causing you to roll your eyes though there was no heat in the gesture. “What is it this time?”

His smile widened impossibly as he lifted his shirt up, noticing the way your eyes took in the sight appreciatively before they widened at the cut across his torso, a blood soaked rag falling down as he lifted his shirt.

“You’re a real piece of work, Barnes, you know that?” You asked, starting to gather your supplies before sitting next to Bucky, the grin still firmly in place, slightly more smug now that he’d seen you take him in.

“Don’t deny it, doll, you love me patching me up.” Bucky said confidently, knowing that you could have demanded one of the other nurses deal with him if you really didn’t like him.

“There’s better ways to get my attention, no need to go get yourself all cut up on my behalf.” You told him, watching as his eyes widened slightly and a smirk pulled at his lips. “Ready?” 

“For you, doll, always.” He smirked and you groaned again causing him to laugh, though it was quickly silenced as you pushed the needle through his skin, slowly patching up the wound and letting Bucky fill the silence, fighting back a blush as he spoke.

“There’s my most favourite nurse!” Bucky called as he stumbled into the med tent, leaning heavily against another soldier, his skin pale and sweaty.

“What happened?” You ask straight away, gesturing for the soldier to put Bucky on the bed closest to you as you get to watch stripping the uniform of the man and frowning at the amount of blood pouring from two wounds on his stomach.

“He got shot, ma’am.” The soldier answered and your frown deepened, looking up at Bucky who’s eyes were half lidded but he was still grinning at you, apparently no injury was bad enough to wipe that damn grin off his face.

“‘M fine, Y/N.” He tried to assure you, seeing the frown between your eyebrows deepen and you could help but let out a soft huff of laughter, moving to get some needles, tweezers, gauze, pads and everything else you need.

“Told you there’s better ways to get my attention, didn’t mean go and get yourself shot, Buck.” You say softly, sitting next to him and cleaning the blood, checking him over and seeing both wounds were clean through, good no need to go digging for bullets.

“Shit, doll, you’re calling me by name. My dying?” He asked, slurring the words out and your heart ached at the slight tremor in his voice.

“Come on, it’s me we're talking about. You really think I'm about to let you die?” You ask him, forcing a smile onto your face and looking up at him assuringly before focusing on the worst of the two wounds.

“Better not let me die, Y/N/N, gotta take my girl out on a date.” He breathed out, looking at you so softly, groaning when you pressed down on his wound. “Fuck, doll.”

“Your girl, huh?” You shushed him softly, keeping him talking, needing him to stay alert for your own sanity more than anything.

You took a deep breath, knowing you needed to stay calm in order to make sure Bucky got through this, to make sure he didn’t lose any more blood than he had. You needed to push aside your feelings aside and focus on the patient.

Even if that patient was Bucky Barnes.

“Best girl around.” Bucky slurred out, a choked laugh escaping him and you let yourself smile. “Fixes me up all the damn time, even though she knows I’m an idiot.”

“You certainly are an idiot.” You agree easily, watching as he glares at you, a dazed smile still firmly in place. 

You had cleaned the wound well enough that the blood had stopped pouring from it and focused on patching it up, keeping Bucky talking the whole time, even as he winced and flinched, his eyes falling shut.

You were fine so long as he kept talking.

The second gunshot wound was much easier to patch up, you had it cleaned and packed quickly and once they were both dealt with you sat back heavily, looking at Bucky’s face, watching as he forced his eyes open and looked at you drained.

“All done, doll?” He asked, voice thick with tiredness and you smiled softly at him, eyes stinging slightly as you swallowed around the lump in your throat.

“All done, soldier. Get some rest.” You told him, your own voice thick with emotion and you stood up, needing a minute to yourself, eyes watering but a hand on your wrist stopped you from leaving.

“Stay, doll?” Bucky asked softly and you couldn’t bring yourself to say no, a single tear slipping down your cheek as you turned around and sat back down, Bucky forcing his heavy eyes open and frowning at you. “M’alright.”

You nodded, you knew he was, you were the one to patch him up and yet you felt like you couldn’t catch your breath now that you were done. Bucky practically lived in the med tent, you were used to him being hurt, used to fixing up his many injuries. This one was different though, this one was serious.

You’d never really had Bucky in your med bay because he needed saving. There were so many factors that could have changed the outcome, if the gunshots had caught Bucky a bit to the right it could have caused damage you couldn’t have fixed, if it had taken them any longer to get Bucky to you he could have lost too much blood. It was the first time you’d had Bucky in serious danger.

It’s not like you were stupid, you knew who he was, what his job was but when it was just the two of you it was easy to forget there was a war going on outside, easy to forget that seriousness of his job. 

“You’re alright.” You breathed out, another few tears making their way down your cheek and Bucky reached down, threading his fingers with yours and bringing them up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand, his eyes closed. “Sleep, Buck.”

Bucky nodded, following the command easily.

After that day you let yourself give into Bucky’s flirting, giving it back just as quickly as he gave it, realising it could all be snatched from you all too soon.

It was a few weeks later, you and Bucky had practically been inseparable. All his free time had been spent with you in the med bay and he savoured each moment he got with you, his little piece of heaven during the war.

You frowned as you walked towards the med bay, hearing one of the nurses raise her voice. It wasn’t entirely uncommon, most of the soldiers looked down at a woman doing a job, sometimes it was called for but when you stepped closer your eyes widened when you heard Bucky.

“Sergeant Barnes-” The nurse tried again but Bucky cut her off.

“No! I want Y/N.” Bucky demanded, like the med tent was the sort of place to be making demands. 

You rolled your eyes stepping into the tent, Bucky not noticing you but the nurse's face filled with relief as she saw you before glaring at Bucky.

“You know,” You say, causing Bucky’s head to snap over to you, your eyes immediately going to the trail of blood falling from his temple. “When your head’s bleeding, people usually aren’t picky about what nurse they have.”

“What can I say? I have my favourite nurse, no point ending up in this place if I don’t get to see my girl.” Bucky grinned at you and you rolled your eyes though there was a fondness you couldn’t deny and you nodded at the other nurse, taking over.

“What happened this time?” You asked, holding a damp rag against the wound.

“Cut my head jumping out of the way of a bullet.” Bucky told you and you sighed, pulling the rag away and seeing the blood had already begun to slow. “Hey, when are you finally gonna let me take you out?”

Bucky had been asking you out ever since he got shot and each time you never gave him a real answer because how could you? There was a war happening, even with his free time he couldn’t just leave to go on a date with you.

“Come find me when you’ve won the war.” You finally told him, watching a blinding grin spread across his face, eyes lighting up as he nodded.

“Doll, I’m gonna marry you once the war’s won.” He swore and the way he said it, you had no choice but to believe he would, you weren’t complaining, the rest of your life with Bucky Barnes seemed like a pretty good life.

“You promise?” You grin back at him, the man unable to help himself, pulling you closer to stand between his legs and closing the distance between you, his fingers tangling in your hair as he tilted your face up to his, his gaze intense, before his lips claimed yours in a fierce, passionate kiss full of promise of a future. You couldn’t help but gasp at the sudden intensity, your hands clutching at his shirt. The world around you faded away as you both lost yourselves in each other, the kiss leaving you both breathless.

“I promise. I’m gonna marry you when this is all over.” He promised and rested his forehead against yours. “On my life, we’re gonna spend the rest of our lives together.”

You hear the tent open and turn around from where you stood sorting through your supplies, rolling your eyes but not stopping the grin that spreads across your face.

“Here comes trouble.” You say to yourself, loud enough for Bucky to hear and he just grins back at you, sitting himself on the closest bed to you. “What is it this time then?”

“Oh nurse Y/N, you gotta help me.” Bucky groans, clutching his heart. “My heart is hurting so bad, think I’m having withdrawals from seeing my best girl, think you gotta cure for that?”

“You’re an idiot.” You laughed at him, swatting him with a rag before going back to organising your supplies, knowing the men were heading into another battle and you’d need everything ready for when they came back.

“Come on, doll.” He pouted dramatically over at you, jumping from the bed and turning you to face him. “A kiss for good luck?”

You rolled your eyes again, something you did a lot in the presence of James Barnes but couldn’t help but smile up at him. Bucky smiled down at you, his hand coming up to cup your cheek in his hand, delicately running his thumb across your cheek bone before he guided you up to him, meeting you halfway and then his lips found yours, gently at first. Slowly, he deepened the kiss, becoming more passionate as he pulled you impossibly closer, his other hand moving to the small of your back and you couldn’t help but melt into him, arms wrapping around his neck, a soft sigh escaping your lips.

“Come back to me, soldier.” You told him when the two of you finally pulled away, foreheads resting against each other.

“I got promises to keep, doll, course I’m coming back.” He said, watching as you blushed at the reminder of his promises.

Bucky stole another handful of kisses before one of the men came in, telling him he had to leave.

“See you soon, gorgeous.” He grinned, pressing one more breathtaking kiss to your lips before running out of the med tent and you sat on one of the beds, watching the spot where he had stood, smiling like a fool in love but you couldn’t deny that’s what you were.

Too much time passed, not enough information was given. You paced holes in the med tent floor, he should be back by now. Something was wrong, there were whispers but nobody would tell you anything, everything was on a need to know basis and it was driving you mad.

It had been well over a week since Bucky left and the ache in your chest grew as more and more days passed without a single word.

When the med bay tent opened your head shot round, there were dark circles under your eyes, your hair was a mess from the amount of times you’d ran your hands through it. You shook your head when you saw the commanding officer step into your tent.

“Don't.” You said firmly, eyes already filling with tears and the man frowned, a grim look on his face.

“Nurse Y/LN,” He started and you shook your head, “I regret to inform you that Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes is missing in action and after our best efforts to identify the location of him and the 107th, we believe he has died in the line of duty. I know this must be difficult news to hear, but please know that you have the full support of the military and all available resources to assist you during this difficult time." 

You felt your legs give out, hitting the floor and sobs wracked your body, the choking feeling you got seeing Bucky shot coming back in full force, head shaking as you pleaded with any god that would listen to bring him back.

The commanding officer left, leaving you a sobbing mess on the floor. 

“He promised.” You choked out to nobody. “He was meant to marry me.” 

You stayed there for a long while, crying for hours for the loss of what could have been. It would have been amazing, a lifetime with James Barnes and now, now you had to miss him for longer than you had known him.

Maybe in another life he came back to you, maybe in another life the war was won and he came back to you, swept you up in his arms and kept every promise he ever made. Maybe in another life, you had lazy mornings in bed, in another life you did the mundane stuff like taxes and laundry together.

Maybe in another life you had more time.

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[pidges-lost-robot]

Yes!! @pinkwerewolfprincess the coworker rumours are what I am here for?!?! Like genuinely imagine you had a weirdo coworker who barely ever spoke to or acknowledged you besides being the best at being rude back to rude patrons and always saying thank you really quietly and everyone talks about what he does when he leaves cause none of you ever see him, he never hangs out and any time he's asked he always says he is busy and yet you never see him around town and at least based on the minimal info you know about him he doesn't seem to have much in the way of friends or family.

Now let's say after being constant if also weirdly absent presence in your life, you notice you haven't seen him in for a shift in a while and you ask.your manager and they inform you that he no longer works there. You hear through the grapevine that after being a very reliable employee shift wise that he no showed on 2 weeks worth of shifts.

You're surprised. Sure he's not someone who would've said anything if he got a new job but he wouldn't have just not shown up. You go crazy, for the next week you spend ages trying to figure what his last name was so you can make sure he didn't like go missing or go to prison or something. You find nothing. He has not been reported missing if he is. However you do find conveniently that 3 Garrison students did go missing. You vaguely remember someone saying that it'd been on his CV but that he hadn't completed his course.

It's a bit weird those two things coinciding but whatever. You've got stuff to do and seemingly you've solved most of your mystery....

And then a week later it comes to you. Keith and these students must've of known something. There's a history of people disappearing, that whole Kerberos mission looked weird when you'd search engined it. Omg your coworker got disappeared by a government body.

Anyway all this speculation about a guy you didn't really know and weren't friends with is a bit much, your friends family and coworkers tell you. So you leave it and soon enough you forgrt about Keith Kogane, possible agent of truth....

5 years later, aliens have arrived. The planet is in chaos. The Garrison are apparently doing their best. The aliens are in.your neighbourhood and you are hiding. Suddenly a giant fuck off man robot appears from the sky smiting away the aliens' ships. And then the robot splits into 5 vaguely lion shaped robots of 5 colours.

The people who come off them are armoured and they run to help the people that are stranded and the one in the black lion robot runs over, white and red armour to help you all and... holy fucking SHIT!! ITS KEITH KOGANE, AGENT OF TRUTH- wait a minute he looks older than you now... wasn't he younger?- Never mind it doesn't matter right now you're saved and you have so many questions?!

You will never have them answered but holy shit man... insane stuff

All I can imagine is whether Keith had a job while he was out in that shack. In my head, he just works in a convenience store in a nearby town, and that poor guy goes in, gets yelled at by customers and then goes home and makes his conspiracy board and I just think about how his coworkers probably wonder what his deal is

[kkoga]

Pretty eyes, jeung yoonchae x IVE!fem!reader

A/N : this is my own little valentine special, so sorry it's a bit late. Had to work my ass off for the collab, and js so yk i also have a dani angst fic in the works so def watch out for that one

Warning ! Mentions of homophobia, foul words, definitely NOT proofread

Disclaimer ! Everything written is pure fiction. No person is an accurate representation of themselves.

Now playing ! Pretty eyes by zehdi

Wc — i don't know ok. I pulled this out my ass. Its not even valentines anymore. It was supposed to be a val special. Watch me jump off the cliff.

Divider creds : @steviebbboi

Yoonchae hesitantly holds hands with Y/n. Even though they were holding hands below the table, it was still incredibly risky. Considering the fact that both girls were idols, and from different groups no less, would completely destroy their career.

Yoonchae hated this. The korean hated the hiding, the concealing. She wants to show off her girlfriend to the world, to shout and tell them the one and only person she loved was none other than Y/n L/n.

But the Korean knew she had no choice. Gay people were gravely frowned upon in Korea. The girl doesn't even know whether or not her own parents would support her.

Y/n was even more popular than Yoonchae. The girl was a member of the famous girlgroup IVE, a group every junior admired.

The two had initially met at an award show. Y/n, ever so confident, approached the Korean first. Yoonchae was incredibly shy at first, thinking, "There is no way Y/n of IVE is talking to me right now."

But after a couple weeks, the two girls had grown close. Too close, for Yoonchae's liking. After a few months, Yoonchae noticed her heartbeat was too fast around the girl, her words almost always getting jumbled up whenever within the vicinity of her bestfriend. It was pathetic, really. Y/n never let's her live it down.

Yoonchae had a feeling she knew why she felt that way, but growing up in a traditional house, the girl tried convincing herself it wasn't true. She had nothing against gay people of course, but the internalised homophobia the Korean had to grow up with was starting to hit her hard.

Yoonchae ran to an old friend for help, who had calmly asked her two questions.

"Alright, let me ask you two questions. Would the world end if you came out as gay?" Yoonchae was weirded out by the question.

"What? That doesn't even make sense.." Her friend sighed.

"I didn't mean it literally, Yoons. I meant would it feel like your world was ending?" Yoonchae almost immediately answered.

"But my— my parents wouldn't... and the public, good god, my fans. I can't be—" Her friend then interrupted her.

"Now imagine Y/n with someone else. Someone who most definitely isn't you. Would you be able to bear that? Does that seem like it's worse than your world 'ending'?" Yoonchae paused, her expression filled with every negative emotion possible. Anger, sadness, and confusion were all neatly displayed on her face.

".... yes." Her friend smiled, content with Yoonchae's answer.

"There's your answer."

After the conversation, Yoonchae had taken a day off. To think about herself, and her feelings. It was definitely a big thing to process, the fact that she had apparently never liked men. The Korean had always questioned where the "spark" her friends always mentioned was. But now that she had thought about it, the girl now knew why.

It took a while, but eventually, Yoonchae had finally accepted herself for who she was. However, the Korean still come out to her members. She wasn't ready yet.

But now, after successfully confessing to Y/n and having been together for the past two years, the Korean finally considered herself ready.

And today, she was going to ask Y/n if she would like to meet her members. Not as a friend, but as her partner, as the love of her life.

As Yoonchae got in Y/n's newly acquired car, one she got right after earning her license, the Korean took it as a good time to ask.

"Y/n? Can i ask you something?" The girl was nervous. What if she said no?

"Yes Yoons? What's up?"

"I.. i want to introduce you. To my members, I mean." Y/n was shocked, but excited. Extremely excited.

"Really?"

"Really. I'm ready, Y/n. I want them to know I have a beautiful wonderful girlfriend who takes care of me every single day." Y/n, so enamoured by Yoonchae's braveness, leans over for an excited and cheeky kiss.

"Love you soo much Yoon!"

Yoonchae warmly smiles, "Love you too hun."

It was finally the day. Today, Y/n was going to introduce herself to Yoonchae's members as her girlfriend. Well, not immediately, but eventually.

Yoonchae had carefully planned out the afternoon. First, she would get her members to warm up to Y/n. Then during dinner, finally tell them something— or rather someone she's been keeping a secret for far too long.

Y/n nervously rings the doorbell, adjusting her collar just before Manon, one of Yoonchae's bandmates, answer the door.

"Hey girl so nice to meet you, Yoonchae's friend right?" Y/n nods, and returns Manon's smile.

"Come in girl, she's like in her room right now." Y/n hesitantly walks into the house and is met with Megan and Daniela on the couch, Sophia and Lara apparently in the kitchen, and Yoonchae exiting her room.

"Y/n! Hi! Sorry, I had to grab my switch. Let's play now." Yoonchae shot Y/n a cheeky smile, one she undoubtedly fell for.

"Oh you are going DOWN! Also hi, nice to meet you guys." Megan and Daniela sweetly greet the girl, finding the difference of her demeanour with them and Yoonchae silly.

It has been four hours since you and Yoonchae have started playing on her switch, the game projected on the TV. An hour in, Megan and Lara had joined you and Yoonchae's games of Mario Cart.

Yoonchae couldn't help the warm smile slowly creep up her face. It was nice. Seeing you interact with her members was just so— natural.

Sophia and Lara were peacefully sat on the couch, Manon taking pictures in the corner of the livingroom. It was as if Y/n was already a part of them, a part of their little family. And Yoonchae loved it.

By now, it was already dark outside. Dinnertime was approaching, and Yoonchae had to prepare herself. They liked her so far, nothing bad is gonna happen.

As they all ate on the dinner table, Manon started a conversation.

"I still can't believe you're friends with Y/n from IVE Yoonchae, How did you guys even meet?" The couple looked at each other, a cheeky smile on both their faces.

"Oh, we met because of a common friend. That's all." Manon nodded in response, and Lara looked at Yoonchae and Y/n a little suspiciously.

As they all finished off their food, Yoonchae had very suddenly asked them all to sit on the couch, which confused her members. But they obeyed nonetheless, curious as to what their maknae had to say.

They all lined up on the couch in order, Manon, Daniela, Lara, Megan, and Sophia. While Yoonchae and Y/n stood in front of the five.

"I just wanted to say..." Yoonchae said as she held your hand, doing so in a romantic manner. Lara's eyes shot up, as if saying "I FUCKING KNEW IT!"

"I'm dating Y/n. I like girls. The whole point of today was to get you all to warm up to her." Yoonchae wasn't sure how her members would react, but she was pretty sure at least Megan and Manon were gay, so it wouldn't be that bad.

Barrages of questions were shot from Daniela and Manon's mouth, and Lara asking for her 10 dollars from Megan could be heard too. But all Sophia did was send the couple a warm smile. The leader kindly asked them all to shut the fuck up, and after the rest did as she said, she calmly and proudly told the couple.

"I'm proud. Thank you both for trusting us, and congrats on your relationship. You don't have to give us all the information about your relationship now— you can do that as the night progresses. Let's just enjoy the night, yeah? You should sleep over Y/n." Yoonchae teared up, and Y/n did too, thankful the Katz were accepting.

Yoonchae leaned in to Y/n's ear, and whispered, "Love you." Y/n giggled like a little kid, and gave her a little cheek kiss, which resulted in reactions from the rest of Katseye.

[ask-nurse-curly]

as stated in the updated pinned post, we are diverging from the canon roleswap timeline starting nnnnnnnow :) ask boxes are open again!

[ Transcript under the cut ]

Hey Curly, I just wanted to check in with you. Things have been a little weird recently with this nearby satellite..

Are you doing okay?

Hey Captain!

Funny business, isn't it? I don't think we've ever had anything like this happen before.

It's okay, though. Sometimes I kind of want to follow Daisuke's example, but most people are nice.

What about you, everything alright on your end?

Me too, there's just so much going on at all times, haha.

Everything is mostly alright. I've got nice people, but some of them.. They're just getting under my skin. I should probably put the phone down.

How bad is it? My worst has been spam messages, mostly. Did you know the Halcyon colonies are reopening admission?

Makes you wonder why they need new people so soon after launch.

Oh yeah! I don't think I'm going to take their offer, I'm pretty content with Earth.

As for the messages.. I don't know. Some of them are just.. Mean, I guess. I don't want you to worry about it, I can handle it, it's just frustrating.

Have you gotten any fun messages though? I got one not that long ago asking about how I felt being a pilot, it was a nice question.

'Mean'? I'm sure you know that sounds worrisome. Are you okay?

Ah, I can't even remember all of them! There is this Martian scientist who gave me the scoop of planetary warfare amongst their kind, someone who is very intent on educating me about possums, and I even reconnected with someone from my med school years, that was pretty wild. Also someone from an actual gunship patched into our frequency, apparently their surname is the same as yours? Do you know a Hideo?

I'm really fine, if I couldn't handle a few weirdos, I wouldn't be on this ship lol

But.. That's very interesting. I don't know if I have any familiar faces on my end, so consider me jealous of you. I can't say that I know a Hideo? Should I?

Now who are you calling a weirdo? :-)

I don't know if you should! If it's a coincidence then certainly an amusing one, guess Musumes are just made to be captains. :-)

Maybe so.. I'll have to start a club then, Captain Musume club.

And I would NEVER call you a weirdo, Nurse Curly, never ever......

Uh huh. I believe you.

:-)

What is weird is just...how much some of these people seem to know. I wonder if our phones were hacked into somehow? Do you think I should be worried about my Meeboo subscription at this rate?

I feel like I should be more shocked but with how much of our data gets sold off and leaked on a daily basis, I can't find myself to be horrified.

You should definitely worry about your Meeboo subscription though.

...Fair point.

Well, if my streaming services are what takes the brunt of exposure, I suppose I could live with that.

Do you think that's how they found out about your nurses calendar? If that's even a real thing.. Did you ever model for a nursing calendar? Lol

Haha!

No, god no. I could never. Can you imagine me in a pin-up calendar? That would be bonkers.

No, I was just joking. I guess the very nature of their, uh, request was too much for my English sensibilities, so I turned to my trusty defence mechanism honed by generations of haughty stuck-ups.

...How did you know about that?

Well we certainly love a modest king..

I was told about it by one of the messages I got, I didn't know if it was true or not but I guess my curiosity was piqued. Sorry, it was inappropriate to ask.

Oh god, are they still harassing you about me? I'm so sorry.

They are strangely...invested.

I hope it's not too much of a bother. And I doubly hope they cease soon.

I don't mind too terribly, I just feel bad talking about you when you're unaware. I certainly try to keep my answers vague so that I can maintain your privacy.

Truly, I don't know if I should be offended or relieved they ask me more about you than they do myself, haha!

I'd go for relieved! Or perhaps even flattered. They seem to think highly of your captaining skills. :-)

They do! I'm not sure how they know about THAT information, but I'll take what I can get!

I can't say i blame them, it's pretty obvious!

I mean

Crew ratings should be public access, right? Based on delivery reviews and stuff. Or could be if they weren't and got leaked too.

I definitely don't doubt that...

I don't know, they seem fairly invested in my love life as well. Which goes beyond the scope of simple work appraisal. I've been asked if I'm single, who my type is. I felt like I was filling out a dating application lol

Haha, funny that

You could lean into that too, if you wanted to, let them do all the legwork. It's worse than the Wild West on those apps sometimes.

I'm not trying to find someone through texting strangers, besides, it seems they already have my ideal love interest picked out for me. They're trying to cause trouble is what they're doing.

And how do you even know what those apps are like? Isn't that like.. Cheating for you?

Oh shoot. Er

It would be! It totally would be if. If I were still in a relationship.

Which I'm not. For the record.

In any case, not that I prowl those apps much, it's not really uh, worth it for me.

What? Since when are you not??

You were just talking about Marie before we took off. Unless.. Did you break up when we got service...?

Yeah, haha, turns out it's not always great when familiar faces text you, right?

But yeah, she... It's not easy, I guess, dating someone who isn't there for half a year at a time at least, you know?

It was kind of a long time coming, so. She just was the braver one out of the two of us to cut the cord.

Sorry, didn't mean to be a downer. It really is okay though. We're good, and. I think I've kind of went through the stages of grief back when we were still earthside.

So. Not a big deal.

I'm so sorry, Curly :( I wish you would've told me. I'm still here if you need to talk, okay? Breaking up sucks, even if you see it coming.

Oh no, I promise it's okay! It really, really is

I'm okay, it's not a big deal.

I mean, it would be, it

But it's not like

I didn't really

She maybe...didn't really...exist?

Curly what are you saying right now

I am a fool is what I'm saying :-(

I'm so sorry.

Any chance we could pretend I never said anything?

How are we supposed to do that? I don't even know what to say.

Why would you lie about that?

...Could we talk?

I mean, in person.

I'll explain everything, just

I'm afraid of how much of this might get exposed.

Please.

Yeah

Are you in the medbay? I'm on my way.

Yes.

Thank you.

[leggerefiore]

Can I request how the dead inside trio (fuck it, giovanni too) would prepare for valentines? I have a deep craving for sweet old men 🙏❤️❤️

since cy is from sinnoh and gio is from kanto, Valentine's is a bit different over there... I tried

cw: Valentine's Day fluff,

characters: Nanu, Larry, Cyrus, Giovanni

🐈‍⬛️Nanu❤️‍🩹

🌑 He really had not an urge to do anything for Valentine’s Day… The day simply held nothing positive for him. Even with a partner, he felt it useless to engage in something so corporate for his lover. They can get gifts for each other any day of the year – Why fixate on a specific date? Even so, despite his disinterest, Acerola seemed insistent. The girl babbled to him about how important it is to show he cares. While he wanted to roll his eyes and ignore her words, those big eyes made him reconsider. Honestly, he hated that he simply could not be mean to her. So, he found himself walking off and working on plans.

🌑 Chocolates were easy enough to obtain as they were being sold literally anywhere. He cared not for specifics, so he just grabbed whatever seemed the nicest. Flowers… Well, being connected to a fertility deity has its benefits every so often. Tapu Bulu actually was ecstatic to see him, so a request for some flowers was answered with a familiar white species. Nanu grumbled, recognising them. Well, he could not exactly complain without risking angering a capricious deity, so he took them. Lastly, a date… He sighed. Ula'Ula was certainly scenic and seen as a romantic place to visit, but living there ruined that image in his mind. What was there to do? Every restaurant was booked, and the Malie Garden would be absolutely packed. There had to be a place with some privacy…

🌑 The black sands of the beach on Route 14 frequently caught the eyes of many visitors, but the ruined store tended to ward them off. No one wanted to piss off a guardian deity, really. Nanu knew the pokemon would not care too much for you both lingering on its sacred land. The waves lapped at the shore as he glanced at you. It was not exactly the most romantic activity, but Nanu found himself fine with it. You leaned against him as he grasped the wrapped chocolates. The flowers were a success when he gifted to them earlier. Your comment about it being a wedding bouquet did make him swallow his heart. He sighed as the setting sun shined on the horizon. Handing off the chocolates, he grasped your hand. “… Happy Valentine's Day,” his voice was a low mumble, still not really interested in the holiday, “Sorry for the shitty date—” You kissing him cut him off. Apparently, you quite enjoyed his attempt at romance.

💼Larry🏢

🍙 The holiday held little meaning to the businessman. While most of his coworkers rushed to get off and make plans for it, Larry simply worked on the extra workload that his boss seemed to enjoy dumping on him. Though, his plans for that year had a wrench in them. Rika lingered above his desk, watching him curiously. He could not tell what was on the woman's mind. Well, until she finally asked him what his plans were with his partner. He blinked. A simple answer of nothing apparently offended her. A hand came down on his desk as she insisted he do something, even offering to cover his work. It caught him off-guard. An attempt to reject the offer was met with the green-haired woman growing more demanding. She even involved Hassel, who seemed horrified at Larry's actions. He was basically chased out of the office.

🍙 So, he sighed. It seemed that this was happening. Many years had passed since he last put any energy into Valentine’s Day. He popped into a corner store to pick up a box of chocolates and a card. He sighed. Flowers were also a smart idea, but… There was no way to get any this late into the game. He opted to just focus on trying to get a table at a restaurant. Most had to be completely booked out, but the Treasure Eatery was more than happy to accommodate him. In fact, they were more shocked than anything that he called ahead to reserve anything since they usually kept a spot open just for him. He was not overly sure how that made him feel. A quick call to you led to an agreement to meet him there. There was a momentary debate of whether he should change clothes, but he opted against it.

🍙 You joining him at the table led to an awkward moment of silence as he presented the card and chocolates with little fanfare. There was a moment of bewilderment towards the actions, but you took the chocolates nonetheless. The restaurant was packed with couples, clearly trying to have a romantic evening. Larry felt completely out of his element. The card was a simple one with an Oricorio on it saying something, making one's heart dance like one. Your smile made his cheeks burn. He did not it expect you to actually enjoy it. “Happy Valentine's Day…” his voice was careful, “I apologise if this is not adequate enough—” You leaning in for a kiss silenced him. An assurance that this was enough made him relax. The evening went far better than he expected.

🌌Cyrus🛰

☄️ The Galactic Boss barely had noticed the holiday approaching. He simply felt no need to keep up with such trivial things while he was working on his plans. However, he did notice that his grunts were requesting time off while Mars seemed to babble about something that he did not care to listen to. His frustration was piling due to this, but he was caught off-guard at the red-head entering his office and asking him what he was doing for the holiday since he was apparently in a relationship. He bit his tongue. The urge to tell her off about prying into his personal life was interrupted by him blinking. His… relationship. Right, this was the time for women to give gifts to the important people in their lives. He groaned. Suddenly, he realised that he needed to take off from work at a reasonable time. Upsetting you was the last thing that he wanted to do.

☄️ While it was not typical for men to do anything, he felt the urge to do something to make up for any possible distress. A simple reservation at a restaurant seemed sufficient enough, but he still felt worried at the thought of failing to please you. So, he found himself trailing to a florist when he managed to finally free himself from work. Flowers were romantic enough, were they not? He struggled to pick any due to his uncertainty. The clerk seemed to take pity on him – the typical rose bouquet felt too common and apathetic for him. Yet, somehow, a certain kind of flower caught his eye. A purchase was made, and he headed home. This seemed more than enough to make up for any possible upset.

☄️ Unsurprisingly, he was greeted by chocolates when he came home. They were homemade and shaped by like the various forms of Rotom. He felt shocked by your dedication and relieved that he had done so much in return. The offer of dinner seemed to perk you up even more. He had booked the nicest restaurant in the area, after all. Though, his surprise of a sunflower bouquet also shocked you. The flowers gently brought a delicate warmth with their presence. You thanked him for such a thoughtful gift. While you held the bouquet to yourself, he opted to speak. “Happy Valentine's Day…” his voice was low and deep, “I apologise for being home so late.” Your hug and a peck to his cheek calmed him. As long as you were happy.

🚀Giovanni🐈

🟥 Valentine's Day… Giovanni would often receive many gifts. He certainly was a desired man, after all. Honestly, he was not the biggest fan of chocolates, but the attention fed his ego just right. Now, he was fully aware the holiday was celebrated differently all over. In Kanto, it was a time for women to gift chocolates to the men in their life. In somewhere like, say, Unova or Kalos, though, it was a mutual holiday with more expectation on the man. He felt himself debating whether he should obligate his partner like what they would expect from their culture… Really, he supposed it would be something different from the typical day of being showered in gifts from those desperate for his attention.

🟥 Chocolates were the typical gift for the holiday. He found himself in a premier chocolatier, debating just what his partner may enjoy. A variety seemed best. The price was certainly steep, but it was not as if he failed to have money to throw around. The chocolates were delicately wrapped in a scarlet box as he pondered what was next. Flowers were a common gift overseas. Roses, specifically. He quite found the idea of bouquet red roses enchanting. A stop at a florist provided his next gift. The flowers drove a high price again, but he once again found himself apathetic. Lastly, a location. A simple call to a preferred restaurant got him a private room that evening without question. Honestly, it was easy enough.

🟥 He had his driver bring you to him as he waited at the restaurant. His attire was far nicer than his typical suit. You were shocked as you stepped out of the car. A box of chocolates was in your hands. An exchange was made as you handed off your gifts for one another. Your reaction to the expensive chocolates left him smug. Yours for him were clearly homemade. He would appreciate the dedication. The shapes of a rocket and Persians left him entertained at least. Your arm was interlocked with his as he led you to the reserved area of the restaurant. “Happy Valentine's Day,” his voice was confident and proud, “… I have more planned for this evening.” Your reaction to that had him chuckle. He felt that he enjoyed celebrating like this all the same.

[mscherub]

Witchy Ways 🕸️

The long awaited part 3?

Reader is gender neutral, referred to as Prefect, Y/N,

Henchhuman(by Grim)

Warnings!:

Swearing

Half proof read

Part 1 (intro): "Alchemy Exams are...Easy?", Part 2: "Not the Intended Outcome", Part 3: “Impending Warnings.”

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

Part 3: Impending Warnings

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

After having a reasonable and very justifiable crash out session before getting into bed, caused by all that happened within one days time, all because you were just trying to be nice to your friends and help them out and now it’s started up this whole ordeal you don’t even know if you can reverse because the loquacious guys won’t leave you the hell alone and it’s really just eating away at you because they won’t stop asking for the stupid little fucking jar that’s filled with answers to all their problems and hopes and dreams apparently— ok, ok, calm down. You’re fine. Everything is fine. TOTALLY FINE, YESSSS!! As if you weren’t already stressed enough!

You sigh and you roll over on your side, dreading the day ahead as you look at the clock.

2:27 AM

Yesterday was…Monday, and you had to do this for four more days, well, most likely more if the idea stayed around long enough? Interacting with people all because they heard the little birdies(first years) chirp about how they passed the exams and the others didn’t because of the little object. If you could do a freezer spell to stop all this chit chat about you and what you did, you would, it’s sadly, and annoyingly, getting to that point. The game plan is to just ignore it until the thought of it around the school desiccates into just a little something that, hopefully, will be considered a coincidence by most. After all, if the others knew about what you did, about this otherworldly concept of magic, how the hell would they begin to perceive you then?

You didn’t exactly want to out yourself, you were used to keeping it a secret, hidden away from others in fear of, say, ridiculing from some religious groups, hence why not everyone freely admits they do whitchcraft back home. Plus, you were already viewed as awkward and weird anyways for your title of “Magicless Prefect,” and of course, being the “non-magic” user, at least to their standards, in a school specifically for mages is just a completely ironic situation on its own. Anyways, you didn’t need a new label… “Half Magic Prefect that Practices in Weird Magic and is Still not at our Level, Thereofre Still Weird and Not truly a Magic User so is Still Magicless.” You could see it happening…or it could take an opposite turn and they can end up exalting your alien abilities and deem you more powerful, which would be interesting to see happen, but you don’t want to think about that or deal with it. It just sounds like more stress, and you definitely don’t want that. Only fate can really tell at this point.

One thing you do know is that your intentions here are awkwardly much stronger and quicker to act. It’s different, and in all honestly, just slightly concerning. More than just slightly, actually. What, your magic acting effectively and efficiently being concerning? Yes. Yes, 100 times, and that’s for some obvious reasons. What if you mess up a spell and then it happens to backfire on you and now you’re stuck with negative effects of whatever you were trying to do! Now you had to be cautious, extremely cautious, like walking on eggshells around your own practice type of cautious, which keep in mind, you shouldn’t be doing! it’s frightening to think about, and just how much would you have to up your game here?

Grim lays on his back, his belly up as he continues to snooze away, not greatly affected by the increase of attention and popularity, in fact he was eating it up! In his mind people were seeing you and him as powerful now, and damn does that feed his ego. How lucky he is to just…worry about nothing. And that’s exactly what he’s doing, and thankfully so. At least he’s not trying to look too much into what you’re doing.

You roll on to your back again and stare up at the ceiling, your arms crossed as you chew on the inside of your cheek thoughtfully. Bringing back the subject of good luck, you definitely needed some. What was the symbol for that? Horseshoes…

Huh

With the question answered and no other subject for your brain to overthink on at the moment, your mind can finally shut off for the night.

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

Morning rolls around sooner than what you had wanted, the sun not even up to greet you as you sit up, rubbing your eyes and rolling your shoulders to alleviate the stiffness you gained over the night of tossing and turning.

You do your usual routine again, having to pry Grim off of the sheets this time, him mumbling obscenities as he’s still in a half dazed and asleep state. Great, now there’s claw marks on your sheets, thanks, Grim!

Breakfast is an easy feat and soon enough you’re out the door, walking along the path again up to the school.

“Henchhuman…” Grim looks over at you, his eyes narrowed in on you as you two walk up.

“Huh?” You spare him a quick glance before your eyes go back to looking at the patterns of the tiles along the path.

“Im glad you didn’t sell off whatever you did to Azul, now we can keep that for ourselves.” He sneers happily at the air, imagining it was Azul their himself.

“I’m glad you think that…” you nod.

“Since I’m like…family, you should let me in on the secret on whatever are in those little jar thingys.” He adds on, putting emphasis on the family part to sway your favor.

You didn’t exactly see why you shouldn’t give it to him, it wasn’t that big of a deal, again, however, the thought and fear of people finding out about what you do still gnawed away at the back of your mind. Right, it’s not that big of deal, who cares if they find out! No…actually, you don’t want them to. What if they try and abuse these powers out of you. It’s better just to ignore it at this point and maybe double down on how often you practice…that seems the better option. Too many negative things can come out of the positive thing you posses. It’s not worth the risk!

“Henchhuman!” Grim snaps as he continues to eye you.

“Sorry, got lost in thought. I guess I could, I’ll write it down when we get to class and you can try and make one yourself…don’t use all of our money to buy ingredients, Grim.”

“You spoil fun…” he mutters as he pouts and looks up ahead, his ears flattening and his tail lazily swishing behind him.

“I’m just trying to be the reasonable one, here. If your intention is to create and sell them, then we might as well have handed over the whole thing to Azul. And, making them to sell isn’t the purpose, at that point your just being greedy”

“I—“

“Exactly, Grim. Now, we should have what you need, anyways. Now don’t talk about it anymore, it’s starting to get too repetitive.” You sigh and adjust the books in your arms.

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

So, the thought didn’t leave you the rest of the day, the thought of spells gone wrong and their heightened effects, thoughts of what could happen to you if this little secret you were withholding got out. Yea…you’re not in a great mindset, and the idea of anything wrong or going wrong won’t ease up.

You drop Grim off at Heartslabyul, leaving him with Ace and telling him some half-assed reason about needing to go do this and then go do that and some other things and that Grim just couldn’t come, which had some truth behind it, but most of it was a conjured up lie on the spot to get rid of him for a bit.

You walk around campus, deep in thought as your shoes click against the ground.

Protection spells needed to be doubled, but wait! Didn’t you just say you’d stop practicing as much so people wouldn’t suspect anything and to draw less of a gaze from everyone. Shit, you did, ok…well you can’t just not practice, cause what if negative energy fills up again and really fucks things over? Ok, you have to practice then, protection spells, warding items, you needed it— but you can’t draw attention! This is proving to be more difficult than you had ever even intended. Protection, luck, you just needed it all at this moment.

You shouldn’t be scared anyways, but you didn’t quite know social standards here besides just inside of NRC. Luckily the guys here liked you to a certain extent so you were accepted in enough ways. Say they find out and it does happen to be socially acceptable here, then you have nothing to worry about. But what if your version of magic isn’t socially acceptable, and it’s maybe even against the law? What if they like…execute you or something for it? Great, get your mind off of the Salem Witch Trial thought here. That wouldn’t happen. Magic, in any type of way, shouldn’t be illegal since they’re quite literally practicing their own versions freely at a damn school.

But what if— drop the idea now, it’s not worth it to overthink it. It’s just not! You’ll be fine, everyone will be fine…you just needed some luck here, and look where you ended up.

The stables on campus.

You walk over to one of the fenced off areas, some horses grazing within the grassy fields, their soft neighs and trills moving across the small plain. One comes over to the edge and looks at you, tilting its head curiously as you gaze right back. You walk over to the edge of the fence and you lean against it.

“You animals have it easy sometimes…I wonder what you guys even think of.” You sigh as you put your hand out to the horse. Its coat was in perfect condition and its tail flicked behind it with interest.

It took a big sniff of your hand before it let out a small grunt and pushed its muzzle against your hand, giving you the go ahead to pet away. You do just that and sigh again.

“And you don’t have to pay any taxes…I think that’s a win on its own—“

“HUAMN!” Someone screeches from behind you, causing the horse to get spooked and bolt away. You turn around to the culprit, already suspecting who it was since only one person you were close with refereed to you with that choice of name.

“Do not touch those animals! That one especially, its attitude is not one of kindness, that’s why he is separated into the outer pens.” Sebek states sternly.

“It didn’t seem mean—“

“It is indeed!” His eyes widen and he shakes his head.

“I think you only say that, Sebek, is because the horses don’t like you that much.” Silver also approaches you two, a small smile on his face which is directed to you only. Sebek crosses his arms and lets out an annoyed puff of air before he narrows back in on you.

“Why are you here? Last time I recalled you’re not apart of this club. You should go before Riddle—“

“He wouldn’t kick me out.”

“You say that with too much confidence, Human…”

“Me and him are chill.” You nod.

“You…’chill?’ Odd words to use. Be formal when addressing someone in a higher class than you.” He gripes.

“We’re on good terms…” you correct yourself

“What are you here for, Prefect?” Silver chimes in, taking over the situation.

“I…I have an odd request, I suppose. I mean, it may seem odd.” You shrug.

“Nothing is too odd.” Silver gently reassures, moving his hair out of his face, nodding as to encourage you to speak.

“I need a horseshoe.”

…

…

“Come again?” He questions.

“A horseshoe.” You say again, prolonging the vowels and looking at him like he was the one to say something wrong.

“Why?”

“Um…You know…erm…aesthetic reasons.”

“Human, you are quite weird.” Sebek interjects, the words sounding judging enough—

“But I suppose we shall not pry into your decorative matters…we may have some old ones.” He sighs

“Oh! No, that’s perfect, actually! Thanks Sebby!” You beam overjoyed…maybe a little too much. He grimaces at the nickname and looks about ready to correct you yet again, but he refrains just this once. You got…lucky.

They go quiet at your excitement for the object and they look back at each other, conveying some sort of silent message between the two before Sebek nods and motions for you to follow him over to the barn.

The barn is well kept but it does have that natural barn smell of wood and of the animal inhabitants. Dried hay is scattered around on the ground and it crunches beneath both of your feet as you walk to, presumably, the tack room of the stable, which holds all of the materials they could need for proper animal care.

“We tend to change out our horses horseshoes every five or six weeks. We just changed some out this past week so we should have a few extra…though I can’t guarantee they’d be in the condition you’re hoping for.”

“That’s fine…it doesn’t matter to me. I just want one, no matter the, uh…appearance. The older the look the better, you know? Adds character?” You awkwardly carry on the conversation.

“I…see. Anyhow, here,” Sebek peers into a rack on the wall and pulls out the item you’ve been looking for. “This one should do…if it meets your standards.”

It’s not exactly pretty, but you are getting it for free, so there’s no real reason to complain. “It’s perfect. Thank you, again…really. Helps me out some”

He crosses his arms and nods. “Off now, Human.”

“Yea, yea, later Sebek. Thanks.” You give a small wave before you walk out and back along the path.

You scored what you wanted to get, so it worked out. All you had to do was red it up a bit, maybe clean it then polish it if you could find any stuff to do that, then it’ll look basically brand new. Voilà!And the most important thing, it should bring some luck in when you hang it above your door with the ends facing up. It’s a small detail, barely noticeable, and could only be deciphered if you really focused your eyes above the door.

Now, just time to get Grim—

Your phone buzzes in your pocket, you slip it out and see Aces profile picture and his caller ID. With a small click of the green button you put the phone up to your ear.

“PREFECT!”

You wince and pull the phone away from your ear for a second to allow him to throw his little temper tantrum before you push it back against you

“Dude…”

“Prefect! Come get Grim, he’s threatening to eat all the tarts that Trey’s making…say maybe I pissed Grim off and that’s why he’s doing that, BUT LISTEN, come get him! He’s gonna push the blame on me! Don’t you like me? Don’t let me suffer….” You could basically hear him pouting on the other side of the phone.

“I’m on my way…tell him he won’t get tuna if he does anything…”

“Awweee, you do care—“

“I only care enough for Grim’s sake.” You cut him off.

“You’re rude, really rude…anyways, Riddle wants to know if you wanna pop by for the unbirthday party.”

You consider and weigh the options in your head. For one, free food to satiate you and most importantly, Grim, and two, a much needed distraction, so the idea sounded plausible.

“I don’t see why not, I shouldn’t have much to do…”

“Niceeee, you help make Riddle a little less irritable so yea, saving me and Deuce here. K, later, and come get Grim.”

With that, he hangs up the phone.

Ok, then…it was a bit redundant to be told to get Grim then basically come back just a few minutes later, but whatever.

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

“Hahaaaa! Tarts, tarts, tarts!” Grim chirps almost too enthusiastically. He dashes over to the table and pulls the plate up from his assigned seat, but he’s quickly stopped by Deuce who reminds him of tea party etiquette, which he manages to forget with each unbirthday party you two attend. He’s very disappointed to find out that there’s quite literally an order to everything. He’ll get over it.

You go take your seat next to Riddle, quietly watching as he goes about checking everything over one last time before he nod and welcomes everyone. He takes the tea pot and pours you a cup of tea first, then Grim’s, and then the rest around the table. The tea steamed and you added in whatever you wanted to your cup and stirred quietly, noticing it was loose leaf tea.

The unbirthday party began, and of course it wasn’t a true experience without the scolding of some other students who decided not to follow the rules, but it was all in good fun. You slowly drank your tea down, sipping quietly and enjoying the arrangements of food all meticulously prepared by Trey, and Grim did exactly the same with his usual fervor.

Your tea cup became empty, and you kindly refused another cup. Barely any eyes were on you so maybe you could pull off a tea reading, but was it really worth the risk?

It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to do one, it’d be useful and provide some insight on some things…fuck it, you’ll do it anyways. Let’s just hope it’s not against a rule or something…

Everyone chats away and you pick up your cup, swirling the small bit of tea and the leaves around before you place it back down and grab the saucer, placing it over the cup. What do you really want to know? Well, obviously what’s to happen in the near future…especially with the discovery of your high tented abilities…good or bad things, that mainly what you wanted, no, needed to know.

By now Riddle was side eyeing you and watching your every move, silently judging. This wasn’t proper…

“Prefect.”

Shit.

“Riddle…” you smile bashfully, pausing in your movements.

“What are you doing?”

“Erm…something?” This is just amazing. You should have stuck with what you set earlier, not drawing attention. You can maybe twist the situation around, no? No, you can.

“I’m just doing something everyone does back in my world after drinking their tea, yeah…called tea reading! It’s really cool…if you’d want to try. You know, I’ve just been missing home and stuff so I decided I’d try to do it a little…but I get it if I can’t, I understand completely.” And perfect, guilt tripping at its finest there….

“No…that’s fine. It sounds peculiar, but I don’t have any disagreements to it, so long as you don’t damage the ceramics…” he sighs.

Ok! This is good…

“Ok…so, first you have to make sure you have a little bit of liquid in your cup, then you swirl it around a bit, place the saucer overtop the cup and then flip your cup over,” Riddle follows along simply out of curiosity, watching your every move to make sure he doesn’t mess up anything. “After that spin the cup clockwise three times…I mean, or counter clockwise, it doesn’t particularly matter, I do clockwise, then make sure the handle faces you again…”

You pivot the cup one last time to the handle is angled towards you, then you give three taps on the top of the cup.

“Tap three times, then lift the cup up. What do you see in yours?”

He peers into the cup and inspects it.

“I see…tea leaves. I don’t understand, what’s the purpose of this.” He huffs.

“You have to…ok, think of it this way, you have to see what images are made with the tea leaves, for instance, mine—“

You look into your cup and see various little symbols, the few standing out the most being a wheel, knots, a cat, and an umbrella.

The wheel for inevitable change and progress, the knot for stress and anxiety…fucking fantastic, the cat for gossip, great because that’s exactly what you need, and, the more concerning one of the symbols, an umbrella, signifying difficulty. It’s a good thing you got the damn horseshoe earlier…with this info, your future could be something else you aren’t prepared for based on this reading.

“Well?” Riddles voice pulls you from your thoughts and you give him a small nod.

“Sorry…yea, so, you see this?” You move your cup and saucer in his direction. “The symbols closest to the handle should signify the things sooner to happen—“

“Most of your…’symbols,’ are near the handle.” He notes.

“Yea, this one here kinda looks like a cat, and this one a wheel…this one here looks like a knot and then that one looks like an umbrella.”

“I can vaguely see it. Do they all mean something?” He questions as he gazes even more at the leaves.

“Yea. They all have their own, but let’s look at yours…what shapes can you make out?”

He tilts his cup towards you and points at the symbols, you can make out some to look like stars and a few squares.

“Don’t overthink it…what do you see?”

“Those look like squares, what’s the meaning? Assuming you know…” he hums, interested in the whole thing now.

“They can mean comfort and peace…have you been feeling that more often?”

“In a way, I suppose…it has been a little less stressful around here for once. I see…this is quite interesting, Prefect, I like the idea…how does this work?”

“That’s a question for another time—“

“It has to work a certain way, correct?” He questions again. “It almost seems like something to be done with magic…”

“Yea, no…it’s just, uh, you know, I guess it’s just like, the tea leaves…resonate?” Good one…

“I…guess.” He nods along. “It’s still quite interesting. Thank you for showing me a ritual from your world.” He smiles softly.

“Of course…”

The Unbirthday party carries on, celebrating, then like all things, eventually coming to an end. You and Grim leave, Trey kindly giving you leftovers which will and can not be rationed around Grim, but you take them anyways.

That tea reading is gonna bug you even more…so much for the unbirthday party being a distraction like you had hoped…

Hey…how yall doing…I JUST WANNA APOLOGIZE FOR HOW RUSHED THIS WAS, but I did it! Also, I’m doing a tag list on this now so if u want me to tag u on the next part just comment <3

THANKS FOR READING AND I LOVE U GUYS TYYYY KISSES TO ALL OF U 💋😘

Master List

Please don’t steal or copy any of my work! You may, however, reblog if you’d want to!

Pictures belong to Disney Twisted Wonderland but are edited by me :)

Tag List <3:

@w0nd3rhoy

[magnuspanoptes]

MAG 81 - "A Guest for Mr Spider // True Detective S01E01 - "The Long Bright Dark" // Judith L. Herman, Trauma and Recovery // MAG 157 - "Rotten Core" // MAG 39 - "Infestation" // MAG 3 - "Across the Street" // Susan J. Brison, Aftermath // MAG 130 - "Meat" // MAG 142 - "Scrutiny" // MAG 141 - "Doomed Voyage" // True Detective S01E05 - "The Secret Fate of All Life" // MAG 195 - "Adrift"

so like, a particularly repulsive thing about the eye (and the institute, since it's the primary site of this exchange) is that it assists with the very thing most people have difficulty with - the ability to verbalise their traumatic experience. and speaking about what happened can help them come to terms with it and begin the process of recovery, except in the world of the magnus archives this is the very thing that gets you. the institute is advertised as a centre where people can find answers for the traumatic incident that keeps haunting them (and it's a literal haunting, because ghosts and monsters are real). so many statements begin with some variation of "i need to tell someone what happened" and "[they] suggested i talk to your institute", it lures them in with that promise of potential understanding and closure and it does work for a bit there, the eye's "clarifying influence" allows statement givers to construct a proper narrative of what happened to them, an incident that was previously both unspeakable (it's a ghost story, who else is going to believe them?) and incomprehensible. which is why many describe it as a cathartic experience. of course most of them just die because the entity they crossed paths with wasn't quite finished with them yet, but the ones that survive don't get to walk away from it. whatever nightmares they had now recur with an even greater intensity, and memory doesn't really work like a film reel, but beholding can make it so—the dreams aren't simply reconstructions anymore, instead the victim will relive every painful detail of that event for the rest of their life. jon (and all his predecessors) is implicated in this right from s1. plus telling traumatised people to their faces that you don't believe them; that yes, they are mad; nothing happened—is not inconsequential behaviour and he's responsible for having caused some real harm, long before he became an avatar.

and. this is the same trap that catches jon. he joined the institute because of a guest for mr spider, he was invited there with the promise of answers, and what he got instead was a vivid re-enactment of that traumatic memory, this time as an apparently willing participant, as the spider ate all his assistants and then him too.

[clockwayswrites]

Some time ago you answered another ask talking about your writing system with star stickers and stuff (I can't find it right now but I'll try looking for it again when I have more time). I just wanted to ask, how did you go about developing this habit? I'm trying to get more consistent with my writing but it's not going very well

Feel free to answer whenever, because I remember you mentioned that you have some irl stuff going on and that's obviously more important.

Same anon as before, sorry to bother, previous ask went through before I could add that I really enjoy stories you make. Like, I studied some parts to get better at writing certain things level of enjoyed your stories. Thank you so much for creating them (especially abson, it has special place in my heart) I hope you have a fantastic day

Aaaah I'm all flustered that anyone would look at my work as an example. And thank you~ I still think abson and Shadow of a Bat are my two best.

Haaaaabit... so I'm really bad at forming habits, ngl. I actually stopped using the book due to effort/health and start making notes in a private discord server, meaning to write them down later but, welp lol. I did make it a year though with no gaps! And am back on it. I think it DID start with the book though. I got a nice pretty book so I had to use it or it was a waste of money. And then I'd been doing it for most of a year and I couldn't stop and waste all that effort... basically I guilted myself into it, apparently! Your millage may vary.

Good luck!

[takusan-no-ai]

Our Rising Star is the Mask We Wear

PAIRING: Astra x Male Reader (Platonic) (Fluff)

SUMMARY: (Y/N), Phaethon’s youngest brother, isn’t a fan of Astra’s music.

After you found out your older sister and brother were not only proxies, but THE Phaethon, your distance became very apparent. You didn’t spend as much time with them anymore, nor did you continue to pretend to have the same interests; before you would pretend to be somewhat intrigued, but now there just seemed to be no point to that.

The same could be said when your sister and brother kept begging Fairy to buy them Astra Yao tickets. You didn’t hold much of an interest in her, heck you outright disliked her music. Much to the chagrin of Wise and Belle. For the most part you just minded your own business, happy to fade even more into the background. Sadly, a chaotic fried rice decided to befriend your siblings.

That is to say that Astra found herself a lovely little hideout whenever she wanted to just run away. Belle and Wise were overjoyed to say the least. But for how happy Astra was to befriend them, she was saddened by your apparent apathy towards her, among other things.

So Astra made it her mission to put a smile on your face. From finding out your interests to building a bond, she wasn’t going to give up until you would proudly say, “Yeah, I know Astra Yao. She’s my friend.” But like a shooting star, your presence was there one moment and then gone the next for hours, sometimes days, on end.

“Oh, (Y/N)! There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” Astra had strode up to him, a skip in her step, with no apparent intention of leaving. His room quickly became her new hangout spot; she had already made herself comfortable on his bed. (Y/N), sitting at his desk with his headphones on, sighed.

He paused the song, turning around to look at her. “Wise and Belle aren’t here right now.”

Astra pouted. “I’m not here for them! You know why I’m here—now don’t be shy~ let’s hang out!” She said while hugging his spider pillow. (Y/N) finally got up and sat down next to Astra, flopping over on his bed. He curled halfway into the fetal position, eyes staring off into the distance.

“Do you ever feel like the people you love hide secrets from you?” He asked her.

Astra’s smile faded, her face becoming more pensive. She shifted over towards (Y/N), now lying face to face with him. “Yes. And I know what her secret is.”

“So do I. But it hurts, doesn’t it? Why keep such a secret? Where was the trust?”

Astra pondered for a moment before smiling. “I’m not sure what your situation is but…I know I can trust her. Thats why it didn’t bother me. And even if she never trusted me, I’d be happy. Because the moments that we spent were…,”

“Astra-nomical?” (Y/N) jested, a small smirk finally having lifted on his face. Astra nodded in agreement. “I can’t say that I agree with that, but I’m glad that I can confirm this at least.” Astra looked at him quizzically.

“Confirm what?”

“That you’re genuine. To be honest Astra, I don’t personally like your music. And I’m always suspicious of celebrities. So I’m happy to know that your personality isn’t a facade.” He stood up and went to his personal computer. “I may have my…issues with Belle and Wise, but I still don’t want to lose them; they’re the only family I have left.”

Astra, now standing up, hugged (Y/N). “This got a little too serious so let’s change the subject. What kind of music do you like?” She watched him with starry eyes.

“I like rock music. A lot.” He answered plainly.

“Ooh! That makes sense. Perhaps I’ll sing a rock song; then you’ll surely be an Astra Yao fan!” She giggled to herself.

(Y/N) looked at her confused. “Ignoring the part about you singing rock…what makes sense? About me liking rock?”

“You’re just really emo, so it makes sense!”

“???”

- Fin

[nordleuchten]

The time La Fayette though his son had died during their American Tour

Now, timewise, this post should come later as La Fayette’s Tour in 1825 progressed further. But this story is both too sweet and also too heartbreaking – because the Tour of 1824/25 was supposed to be an absolute highlight in La Fayette’s life, and for the most part it was. But there were a few hours after a naval accident where La Fayette believed, or at least very much feared, his son had just drowned.

To set the scene, we have the 6th of May 1825 and La Fayette, his entourage and several others have just boarded the steamship Artisan in Nashville to traverse a part of the Ohio river. In the night from the 7th to the 9th, around midnight, the Artisan collided with something in the water. Some passengers at first believed they had simply run aground a sand bank and that there was no reason to worry, but the captain soon ordered the ship to be evacuated. Apparently, the Artisan had crashed into one or several snags in the dark of night and water was flooding into the ship. La Fayette and his secretary Levasseur, the one who left us with this account, made it safely and quickly to the shore, but Georges had vanished from their side in the turmoil.

It was then only that the general perceived that his son was not with him, and immediately his habitual coolness in the presence of danger abandoned him. He was filled with anxiety, and in a state of the most violent agitation. He began to call, George! George! with all his strength, but his voice was drowned by the cries which from the vessel, and by the terrible noise made by steam escaping from the engine, and received no answer.

Levasseur, having at this point in time still every hope in Georges’ ability to look after himself, tried to calm La Fayette, but to no avail.

Nothing had any effect; he continued to traverse the shore calling on George.

Beside Georges there were still many others in the water and unaccounted for and Levasseur decided to lend whatever aide he might and to look for Georges in the process – who, by Levasseur’s account, was an excellent swimmer.

I [Levasseur] then threw myself into the boat with the captain to go to the succour of those who so much needed it. The vessel still floated, but almost on her beam ends. The captain mounted on board, and I received in his place a dozen persons, who precipitated themselves into the boat, and I whom carried to land, without having been able to speak to George, Mr. de Syon, or Bastien [La Fayette’s valet]. I dared not give an account of this first attempt to the general, and therefore made preparations for another trip, when a horrible crash and cries of despair announced to me that the vessel was sinking.

After several such trips and back on land again, there was still no sign of Georges and now even Levasseur was becoming very worried about La Fayette’s son.

At every instant, other persons arrived on shore, and among them I always expected to recognise Mr. George Lafayette; and the general demanded news of his son from all, but in vain. I now myself began to fear for him.

But instead of giving up, Levasseur again got into a boot to look for more people in need.

Thinking that there was an urgent necessity for succouring those who remained in this critical situation, I again entered the boat, and aided by a sailor approached the vessel. I first arrived at the prow; I called George with all my strength, but there was no answer. I then dropped along her side to the stern. In passing, I heard a voice over head cry out, “Is that you Mr. Levasseur?” I listened and examined attentively; it was our poor Bastien, who was holding with difficulty to the roof of the upper cabin, the pitch of which was very great from the oversetting of the vessel. As soon as I came near him, he slid down and fortunately fell into the boat. When I arrived at the stern, I again called George; he instantly answered me. His voice appeared to be perfectly calm. “Are you in safety?”, said I. “I could not be better”, replied he gaily. This reply gave me much relief, for my fears were really becoming serious.

There is no account in the notes how La Fayette reacted to this good news. But it is safe to assume that he was relieved beyond what words might express to here that his son was safe and sound.

I now returned to land with Bastien and two other persons I had received in the boat, and hastened to assure the general of the safety of his son.

I find this scene touching for obvious reasons, but it also gives us an interesting glimpse into La Fayette and the relation he had with his son. La Fayette, by all accounts, loved children and his own children most especially. He was a very devoted father and his letter home during the American Revolution were full of pleas to kiss and embrace his children for him, take care of them, look after them, tell them how much he loved them and then kiss them some more. Also, by all accounts, La Fayette was almost always able to keep his wits about him even in dangerous and stressful situations. There are not really any accounts of him loosing his cool during his time in prison in Austria and Prussia or the subsequent attempted escape, during the different battles he fought during the French or American Revolution, or even during the Battle of Brandywine where he was wounded. There is always the distinct possibility that the authors of these reports distorted La Fayette’s reactions and behaviors in an attempt of hero-worship or the like. Nevertheless, his behavior is very much consistent throughout all the accounts that we have. But now we can see him becoming very frantic as soon as his son is in danger. Interestingly, this is the only time we are able to follow La Fayette’s emotion “in real time”. When his son was wounded during the Napoleonic Wars for example, we again are presented with a very calm and collected La Fayette, but by the time that account was written, George had already been in contact with his family, his wounds had been dressed and looked after, and he was up and about again without the need of further assistance. The story about the sinking of the Artisan depicts La Fayette right in the moment of uncertainty.

But apparently, Georges had always been in charge of the situation, as the captain of the Artisan later explained.

In the midst of this occupation, Mr. George and Mr. de Syon, with the remainder of the passengers, arrived. We then learnt that at the moment of the wreck, Mr. George, seeing that I was in the boat to watch over his father, had returned to the cabin, into which the water had already penetrated, and had made Bastien and Mr. de Syon, who were imprudently endeavoring to save their effects, leave it. Then, only yielding ground as the water forced him, he had indefatigably occupied himself with the care of those around him. At one moment, the water reached to the middle of his body. But his coolness and presence of mind re-assured some persons, who, without him, would perhaps have been dismayed and exposed to the greatest danger. Finally, we were told, he would not leave the vessel, until he was satisfied, that all who remained on board belonged to her and could dispense with his assistance. “Mr. George Lafayette must often have been shipwrecked”, said the captain, “for he has behaved tonight as if he was accustomed to such adventures.”

Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or Journal of Travels in the United States, Translated from the French, Volume 2, New-York, 1829, p. 161-164.

[aryamistwood]

Disclaimer: I'm not shitting on people who miss the old events, OP just asked a lot of questions that have answers and thought listing them here would help provide closure.

From a player perspective, I've only been playing since 2021 so a lot of the events people say they miss, I didn't get to experience. That said, the last Valentine's event was 5 years ago, and from my research, it was 2 weeks long and consisted of collecting hearts (equivalent to event tokens) from 2 races that can be exchanged for a single clothing and tack set, and then you could buy additional outfits for js/sc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what people complain about being wrong with the other events now? Just being opportunities to buy time limited things with SC? I think I experienced 2 midsummers, but again it was just 1 set up quest and shopping, no?

Anyway, the real answers to your questions have been explained a few times over the last few years in different places that they wanted to:

- simplify with fewer, but larger events so their teams can work on more things we've also been asking for (quests, new areas to explore, new features)

- many of the older smaller events were (apparently) very buggy

- what they bring back year over year is what players are interacting with the most.

" We’re also trying to balance out which festivals (or parts of festivals) players engage with the most, which doesn’t always align with the sentiment we read from players online."

So at the end of the day, in order to better the game overall, they improved events (I believe summer is or SHOULD be revisited. In one of the posts they vaguely said it wasn't being treated like a true festival but a test for future permanent game play features, which is why it was lackluster last year. Rainbow was equally disappointing so I hope they combine the two into 1 better event) by limiting them to focus on what the community was asking for more of. There's only so much time and resources, they unfortunately can't do it all.

A valentines trailblazer would have been cool though.

Sources:

https://www.starstable.com/blog/december-2024

https://www.starstable.com/blog/future-festivals-2024

ok but despite the new name update and the new dragon horses, where the hell is the valentines update?? I know SSE said they weren't going to do holidays anymore (other than Christmas and halloween) but like??? ???? ??? why??? why why why??? what is their line of thinking?? do they not want players to actually engage in the game ?!?!

sso valentines,,,, I miss u....

[figgyblossom]

.

[skyward-floored]

Hey what are your thoughts on the groups from the latest update btw?? 👁️👁️

- hero-of-the-wolf

They’re really interesting!!! Some of them were pretty unexpected, but I’m excited to see how they all unfold.

I made a post about this already but Time putting Sky with Twilight was so smart of him. Sky is the best swordsman and best equipped to take care of the Shadow if he shows up, and I’m sure Time is remembering how Dink was actually running away from the Master Sword in shady escape. Dark Link is really unlikely to mess with Twilight with Sky there, and I appreciate how Time figured that out so well. I’m also curious about what kind of conversations they’ll have without Time or the others around, I’m betting the Master Sword will come up again 👀

Legend and Hyrule seems like an odd group, and Time even mentioned he regretted that he had to put such experienced people together, but aside from boomerang shenanigans it actually kind of makes sense. Legend is okay-ish with teamwork, but Hyrule seems like he’s allergic to it. Putting them together will hopefully make them realize it’s not a solo mission this time, and they’ve got to rely on each other’s instincts and knowledge. Plus downfall duooooo I can’t wait to see what they get up too AAAH

Warriors pointedly chose Wild to go with him. Obviously he’s finally going to follow through with his earlier statement from Sunset pt.5:

—and Wild (and Wind lol) knows it.

(I love Wind’s little “oooohhhh you’re in trouuuuble)

There’s been a lot of discussion about how Warriors is going to lecture Wild, and I personally think he’s going to be firm, but not mean. He’s not going to blow up at Wild, that’s not his style (unless Wild argues back and Warriors roses to the bait, but I don’t... think that’ll happen). I think he mostly just wants Wild to understand what was—and is—at stake.

Warriors is military. You follow orders in the military. When you don’t follow orders, you get yourself and others killed. You have to rely on your fellow soldiers and your plan of attack, you can’t just run off by yourself and deviate from the plan and Warriors knows that. He went through something similar on his adventure, he got cocky and thought he was invincible, started disregarding anyone except for himself. He nearly died because of it, and in this instance, Wild could have died because he was blinded by his emotion and risked being injured just as badly as Twilight.

It’s not exactly the same, but I’m sure Warriors is looking at this and going “well crap that’s me”. So I think he’s going to give Wild a quick “here’s what you did wrong and don’t do it again because I’m trying to keep us all alive and you’re making that difficult so try and listen to orders so we can accomplish our mission here???” lecture. And I’d bet good money ol’ Dink is going to interrupt him partway through because he’s out for both Warriors AND Wild now for multiple reasons and they’re totally doomed :D

Aaaaand Time Wind and Four. I think they’ll be really fun to follow, I can’t wait to see more of Four and Wind together especially. Maybe they’ll FINALLY NOTICE EACH OTHERS’ SHIELDS and put together maybe being related. I’m hoping. I’m hoping so bad. I’m also eager to see Time and Wind interact some more (yay!) and also Time and Four because we haven’t seen a lot of them together yet. Maybe even some realizations that Four comes before Time..? Maybe. We’ll see. I bet Four will have to shrink for a puzzle though.

So yeah I’m really excited to see how things are going to go :D

[incorrectskyrimquotes]

hello ive been bedridden for like three days now so i was messing around w this picrew, here r some ideas for my other doomed prisoners (the protagonists of the other mainline games)

Talyn, The Eternal Champion

Izath, The Agent

my Nerevarine, who is not yet named bc i cant think of anything and is just "Nera" wherever i mention them in my own notes and im probably getting attached to that as a name

Cornelia, Hero of Kvatch

[waxworkdaughter]

@randomfoggytiger replied: @waxworkdaughter Was thinking on your post and came back because I'm doubly curious: do you think Scully's bent as described above is due to the lazy writing as the show went on, or more... how do you say, CC wanting to be smart and sounding vastly unintelligent? I noticed in the Revival he wrote most of the scripts as if he had something to prove (I mean, after IWTB I can see why...) but there was so much negligent nonsense that, somehow, those few episodes were leagues worse than the 90s-early 00s (and with looser deadlines, apparently. Or hypothetically.) I might not concur with your final conclusion, but your observation does speak to an issue I think we can both agree on: garbage quality control. So! In short. XDDD What would you say is the root cause-- is it part of the roots' system, or did it get grafted in later? o.o

So I wanted to clarify that what I meant by 'conspiratorial' is actually kind of what you said "They reject basic facts because those facts are too rational for them." I don't mean the part of conspiracy theory where the person has started blaming (((someone))) for why "no one knows XYZ" or "here's what's really going on" but the start of it, linking disparate, half reasonable-half fantastical dots that don't really link and stating it as 'absolutely why such and such is happening." Her "rational" explanations are correct for our reality In Real Life. Sort of.

However, due to the structure of the show, where they decided early on that "Mulder is always right" (ish) and that the dangers of the conspiracy and the monsters had to be substantive and visible to the audience and the characters, the real world explanations are observably and basically incorrect. Her theories for the 'earthly' explanation using the basic facts of our world only feel rational for a certain amount of time, until the number of repeated, personal experiences she had and experiences that Mulder had (which, while the writing states "she trusts him more than anything, with her life, she trusts his judgement" her plot related actions show that she would have to completely distrust his judgement to dismiss all of it) begins to make her arguments seem irrational and half baked. Instead of using her scientist's mind to accept the improbable that is backed with consistent experience in waking life, at least around the syndicate/the greys/the hybrids/the oil virus/her abduction experience and others, plus a number of the mutants, she leaps past the 'basic facts' of their X-files reality to use conjecture and barely related pseudo science to come up with a more 'plausible' answer. It becomes "of course it's not [paranormal phenomenon that's not true irl but was just seen on screen] it's [also wild pseudo science of half understood concepts linked in ways they aren't meant to be linked, written by someone on a deadline who grabbed enough buzzwords to get through the episode]" and, it's scifi, it's technobable, it doesn't have to make sense or be 'real' science! but you cant then frame the character saying the equally bizarre things that are denying the reality the audience can see as, 'the rational reasonable one speaking for real world science" without that framing tarnishing, and quickly, in the audience's eyes.

In some ways it falls back into the old trope of the nag-wife tbh. Which is very unfair to how Scully was originally conceptualized, and the immense gentleness and empathy and curiosity that was part of her character at first.

I think it's a combination of the worldbuilding for the show (the monsters and aliens are real, and we should see them to prove mulder isn't a pathetic paranoiac) and the formula of "skeptic vs believer" plus the impulse to show that Scully is intelligent and grounded in our reality, to function as the 'voice of the audience' kind of character clashing in an unexpected way that makes her seem to be in denial of her own reality. You can come up with characterization based reasons for this, definitely, but it does seem to be basically a function of preserving the plot function ahead of everything. Even a basic understanding of occam's razor and a willingness to move the character arcs along could have tempered this, because sometimes the simplest answer in the X Files reality is that it was aliens or a mutant, and having her deny these basic facts in order to preserve the real-world-audience/skeptic voice ironically makes her begin to seem irrational and unscientific by the given values of the warped X-Files reality.

And also yes, the desire from CC (and others, but him especially) to sound really smart and broadly educated without really understanding a lot of the scientific concepts, or the theology, or the philosophy of science he's talking about. It makes her 'research and science' based conjectures sound more out-there and bizarre than they are intended to be (though from an in character point of view, tbh i do find this endearing). It also makes me wonder if there was an accidental or intentional conflation that happened between the regular-colloquial concept of being rational/reasonable (clear thinking and grounded in reality, educated reasoning) and the philosophical-epistemological rationalism (believing in systems of reasoning and that innate knowledge of what 'feels true' via previously established logic is what is true, sometimes even superseding experiential and physical evidence). Which is something interesting you can work with in watsonian characterization, too. Or ignore it completely, which is also fair lol.

But basically I think it comes from the fact that by s4 they were a big hit, and CC knew it and the network knew it and the personal relationship between M & S and the work banter formula got put into a holding pattern for a few seasons because that's what the people at the top of the food chain thought had made them a hit. It's just that we as a fandom tend to talk about the personal relationship side more... I personally find them more linked tbh. And then for a little while there, there was a lot of turnover in who was writing scripts. And it also seemed like in the last 3-4 seasons of the show CC was more and more entrenched in his own ego and his battle of wills with other writers, DD, and fans about how much the character arcs, Mulder's especially for some reason but of course this effected Scully too bc they're not separable characters, should be allowed to grow and change, and he kept hitting the reset button on their personal and professional positions.

everyone in the writer's room working on Scully past about season 4 had a really weird idea of what "logic" meant. and "science." and "rational." It's not even a colloquial vs epistemological issue it's this weird belief that scientific thinking = prescribed and traditionalist, instead of exploratory and evidence based and subject to change.

I've talked about this before but it gets so frustrating, because Early Scully has a very different and more open viewpoint. Her goal is to vet and find evidence and won't vouch for anything short of that as verifiable fact, but she does also judge by the evidence of her eyes and ears and Mulder's eyes and ears and says 'obviously something is going on here that's beyond the norm, we just can't define or swear to it what' and reels off theories that have some basis (...ish) in established scientific canon to give them more directions to investigate. It read as alternately a sincere effort play her part and work out what was happening, or as a running joke as part of a partnership, knowingly reeling off some largely absurd theory based on obscure research because they don't have anything more concrete to work on and the meeting Mulder's eye with a tiny shrug.

Later Scully has been trapped in the cultural box of """scientific""" and """skeptical""" so completely that her scientific theorizing -- aside from in the rare episodes that focus on her on her own and free her to play both the skeptic and the believer roles -- ends up feeling like she's re-imagining reality to fit her preconceptions of what "should" be happening, instead of trying to come up with some testable theory for what is happening. Because it's a show where the aliens and psychic powers and cryptids and mutants are visible, literally extant, and doing things in front of them more and more definitely as time goes on. Both the audience and the characters see the things at least to some extent in more cases than not.

This means that Scully's "rational explanations" end up feeling more like reality-denying conspiracy theories, even more so than Mulder's wild guesses, which are also usually wrong at first pass but as they work within the TXF reality that the audience can observe, they feel more accurate. With the later tone and framing ends up feeling like her role is to obstruct and poke holes, even ridicule in some instances. The banter and the "opposites" became more important than the collaboration, and being "scientific" was replaced by the irrationality of clinging to commonsense over experience.

I mean, I choose to ignore it entirely most of the time but can see where some of that kind of 'mean sarcastic scully' fanon comes from, and I think it's really unfortunate. it's not about how Scully's personality is framed or who she's meant to be as a person, it seems to come from basic misunderstanding in the largely turned-over writer's room about how scientific reasoning works and how their partnership felt so equal and well matched at first. And it's understandable that that kind of underpinning would get compromised in the absolutely brutal pace of writing for a 22+ episode season. It's just a shame that this doesn't really course correct until the last couple of seasons where there are so many other issues with the main plot that it gets lost in the shuffle. Thus, Mean Scully is essentially cemented in certain parts of pop culture and fanon perception.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I know that people are rarely their best selves at a funeral, but do you ever just watch your family move through the process of mourning the Patriarch and have a sudden and violent and vivid understanding of Why Everyone Is The Way They Are