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ananxiousgenz · 2 months

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Part 3 OF THE HADESTOWN FLASH FIC

for anyone who is actually reading these in order: they are not in any real kind of order. I am simply writing as the inspiration comes to me so the scenes are all over the fuckin place. also if this isn't as good as the prior parts, i apologize, i am eepy and my brain isnt working very well

@smidgen-of-hotboy and @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl psppsps come get your juice (@urjover and @one-joe-spoopy and @waters-and-the-wilde you guys can come read this too!!)

part 1 and 2 are on my account somewhere

the world straighted up and took notice the day peter nureyev walked into that bar.

well, maybe not the world.

but fate certainly did. and so did juno steel. and maybe that's close enough.

it was another day like they had all been in that eternal winter: windy, overcast, and grey, with a kind of chill that doesn't nip as much as sink its fangs into your bones and never let go. he'd come into the bar for the same reason everyone else had, juno assumed, trying to get out of the wind and cold and warm up a little. but there was no warmth to be found here. no true relief from the constant cold that had been the norm for years.

spring had disappeared. and the world had never really quite recovered from its loss.

juno wasn't discouraged, though. he knew there had to be a way to fix it, and then it came to him while he was stacking crates out behind the bar a few days ago. a simple song popped into his head, and when he sang it. oh, when he sang it. it was like spring with all of its warmth and goodness and chaos had come back into the world for just a moment. and then the moment was over, and juno left with the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, he could fix things. the song needed work, certainly, but even as it was, it could fix a lot.

not everything, but a lot. he knew deep down some things could simply never be fixed.

he was musing about how to continue the song while wiping down one of the bar tables that seemed to be perpetually sticky with old beer and fading finish when the door creaked open, announcing a new customer. the work never stopped here, did it? no matter, he'd get to them in a minute when he was finished with this table and then he'd-

oh.

he glanced up at the new customer and suddenly found himself rooted to the spot, heart pounding and face flushed.

he was.... he was.........

wow.

this new customer was quite possibly the most stunning man juno had ever seen. his hair was mussed from the wind outside and his face was flushed with cold. standing tall and lean in an oversized traveling coat, features sharp and clever as he spoke with juno's coworker at the bar. a streak of dirt rested on his cheek just below his wire rimmed glasses as he wriggled his warm leather gloves off.

he was clearly tired. everyone was. hard times do that to a people. but this man wore the exhaustion like a fine diamond bracelet, made for him in a way that complimented his countenance perfectly.

he was beautiful.

and that made him dangerous.

not that juno cared. he was quite fond of danger.

the man finally sat down at a table and sighed deeply, propping his head up on his hand as he waited for the drink he ordered. juno simply kept staring. he wasn't quite sure what to do next outside of stare. a thousand words were flooding his brain and all of them were stuck in his throat.

rita, his coworker, noticed. "you really wanna talk to him, dontcha boss?"

juno could only nod. dammit, why couldn't he say anything??

"then go DO it, boss!! whataya waitin' for?"

he opened his mouth to make some snappy remark, but nothing came out, so he just closed his mouth and nodded.

"oh, and mista steel?"

"yes, rita?"

"don't come on too strong, okay? I know you get a little excited about meetin' pretty people sometimes-"

"oh gods, rita, that was one time!!"

"well, it still cost lil old rita about a week's wages to replace the whiskey bottles you shattered from bein' so clumsy, so don't do it again!"

juno rolled his eyes and grabbed the stranger's drink to set down on his table. it was only a few steps to move, but somehow it felt like crossing mountains and rivers. juno's hands were shaking by the time he finally reached the man's side.

"ah, thank you, darling."

gods. even his voice was stunning. low and even and smooth as glass.

juno didn't even realize he was staring again until the man looked at him, slight concern etched onto his features. "are you alright? do you need something from me? I'm quite sure I paid at the bar but if you're looking for a tip-"

"come home with me." the words were out of juno's mouth before he could even think about them.

the man's eyebrows shot up and juno felt his face redden. he was quiet for a moment before responding. "you want me to go home with you?"

"yes."

"i don't even know who you are."

"i'm juno. i'm going to marry you."

there was another pause and internally, juno cringed. the one chance he gets to talk to someone attractive and he can't even act like a normal human being. of course it would be like this.

the man studied him for a moment before leaning back towards the bar to look at rita, who had been studying this interaction with all the curiosity of a child watching rabbits in the forest. "is he always like this?"

rita nodded vigorously. "absolutely, mista stranger-guy."

the man nodded thoughtfully before turning back to face juno. "i'm peter. peter nureyev."

#aaaaand that's all for part 3 kids!!#i might make a part 4 but we'll see if i get more inspo #love you all <3 #the penumbra podcast #tpp #hadestown

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smidgen-of-hotboy · 2 months

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Our Angel of Brahma, pt. v

Sorry not sorry.

@ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @ananxiousgenz @the-private-eye @demonic-panini @gwenlena

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING BEGINS. (MUFFLED SNIFFLING) BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): It’s been– ten years. A decade. And I thought I was over it by now. I thought I was past this. I– I didn’t even cry this much last year over my dad. Fucking hell… I didn’t even cry over my mom! SOUND: FIST BANGING AGAINST TABLE. BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): I love my mom. I love her so much, but I forgot about what she did for me. I forgot about feeling sad for her… (BIG SNIFFLE) We have not seen our Angel of Brahma, for fifteen years. It has been fifteen years, and I am still waiting for my mom to come home. I am still waiting to bury my dead. It’s been ten years, and I’m still waiting to bury you, Charlie. There’s nothing left of your old life. I tried looking for something, anything, but I kept coming up empty-handed. I miss your Mom’s cooking, and I miss your Dad’s jokes. I miss your baby sister’s chubby little cheeks, and I miss– (BAIRD COUGHS) I miss singing for you. I’m still singing but what good is it if the only person I wanted to let hear me isn’t around? Can’t be here? SOUND: KNOCKING ON DOOR. HINGES CREAK. HUSHED VOICE. BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): Get out! SOUND: METAL CAN HITTING DOOR. DOOR SLAMMING SHUT. (BAIRD HUFFING) BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): Fuck. Iris is going to kill me later. Heh– maybe it’s for the best… You wouldn’t want me talking like that. (BAIRD CLEARING HIS THROAT) Last week on Brahma: Josie’s girls saved up enough creds from doing their little odd jobs around the block to barter for chocolate from a Constable. Josie found out, and she was livid. The girls gave me their chocolate and wished me a happy birthday. This week on Brahma: I have not celebrated my birthday in ten years. I forgot I even had one. It has been ten years since we lost you, Charlie. Josie’s girls are grounded for another week. Talia is counting on me to help organize the next community meeting. We’ve heard rumors from the Constables about expansion plans to New Kinshasa. But we’ve also heard rumors that they’ve caught the Angel. I don’t wanna believe it, but… (BAIRD SIGHS) I’m not going to. I miss you, Charlie. I miss my mom and dad. I miss Hank’s dog. I miss Mrs. Darius… And I miss you. There’s so much I miss but if I could have just one more day with you, one more adventure, one last kiss, one final goodbye– I’d give up anything in a heartbeat. I’d lose my voice if it meant you would scream at me again like I was sixteen, trying to get involved with Talia in the revolution with our “book club”. (SNORT) If only you could see me now… I gotta go, Charlie. Promise me you’ll be waiting for me on the other side. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

(CALYPSO HICCUPS AND BLOWS HER NOSE)

- Baird was 16 when he started his “book club” with Talia. Their first “reading” was Fahrenheit 451. There are no libraries left on Brahma (TRUE). Baird mentions a “community meeting”. The book club was a cover up (and Charlie got mad? Why?)

- He was 16 when Josie’s twins were born (SIDE NOTE: they would be about 10 at the time of recording). 16 when Hank’s dog died and Mrs. Darius was diagnosed with radiation poisoning.

- 16+10= 26? Baird is/about 26(?) at time of recording

- 26-15= 11? Baird was/about 11(?) when Peter Nureyev threatened the G.A.S., and Baird’s mom “vanished” overnight

- 26-1= 25-10= 15, Baird was/about 15(?) when Dad was beaten, taken, and presumably killed by the Constables?

- Who is Iris? Another neighbor/community member? Why would they come into the place Baird’s at so nonchalantly?

- CHOCOLATE AGAIN! It likely did come from New Kinshasa back when Baird agreed to sing for Charlie.

- Baird didn’t expect to have such big emotions over Charlie. What did happen to Charlie? Presumably dead? Why? Did they both get caught up in the revolution? Must be what happened to Baird’s parents now happening to them. What happened to Charlie’s family? Also presumably dead? (SIDE NOTE: Frannie says there’s a way to trace older recordings, but it would take her a long time and cost me more creds than I have right now. Is it worth it? She also did not like me mentioning Dark Matters. Something about her friend getting caught up in that mess 3 to 4 years ago because she became a pirate?? Unclear what this means. But she did say that if I waited a bit I would get a nice juicy email with all the information about every single Baird in the galaxy, all I needed to give her was a rough age range.)

#ask to be tagged or removed #i deeply enjoy writing this so much #bc i have a clear vision about where this is heading #but i gotta build up to it first so it at least somewhat makes sense #unedited as usual tho. 1am bullshit #the penumbra podcast #the penumbra fanfic #private eye's keys go jingle jangle #a hotboy's writing #our angel of brahma

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toms-topic · 7 months

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Magical Girl Jon au (Sketches)

Explanation and Notes:

Jon grabbed a Leitner which let the Entities speak to him. They mostly send him to stop rituals because they hate each other.

He's still the Ceaseless Watcher's special little boy, but he technically isn't an Eye avatar.

The Eye and Web are both heavily tied to Jon (for fairly obvious reasons) but also they want him as an avatar.

Jon goes by D'Ville when he's stopping rituals, and tries to hide his face so he's not as recognizable. He isn't aware the Stranger helps him. Also his hair is just entirely dark brown without the gray streaks when he's D'Ville.

Jon gets headaches when he ignores the pull of entities. He also did not choose to look like Jonny D'Ville, he was forced into it, but he did willingly accessorize, the mask and goggles were his doing.

Sasha and Martin have no clue Jon is D'Ville, but Tim say D'Ville say "Good Lord" and he was like "THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO STILL SAYS THAT, JON???" So Tim has to help Jon come up with cover stories.

If Martin and Sasha falling for Jon/D'Ville was just a fall, Tim slipped and spiraled down a hill into being in love. L for him though because he knows that both Sasha and Martin are in love with the same man as he is and he knows.

Jon asking them to dinner was kinda supposed to be him asking them on a date but him getting his shit wrecked by the bomb prolonged that.

Jon fell for Tim first, before realizing he also loves Sasha and Martin. He didn't ask Tim out because he wasn't sure on how and was too scared.

Jon was the one that set off the explosion, but because he's god's least favorite he survived but ended up comatosed aw :(

Elias HATES D'Ville and the Eye just won't let him know who D'Ville is. He finds out it's Jon before the Eyepocalypse.

Jon's eyes change colors depending on the entity sent him, and he has corresponding powers he mostly has green eyes and it's actually starting to bleed into his life as Jon since his eyes start to turn Hazel with the ring of green around his eyes due to the Eye sending him out so much

D'Ville is a lot more chaotic than Jon despite being the same guy. Jon wants to be seen as professional and fully qualified for his job. Him as D'Ville...he is much more open to do whatever to get the job done

The assistants are technically busy when Jon's in the coma. Martin is with Peter Lukas, Sasha ends up meeting and working with Annabelle Cane while Tim is trying to see how he can get the archives functional again.

Technically because of D'Ville, Sasha, Martin and Tim are marked by every entity in a way (especially Tim.) In fact it's Tim who ends up forced to start the Eyepocalypse despite not being the Archivist. Due to Jon's coma and Sasha/Martin being out of the picture, Tim is the person taking care of the Archives and basically ends up being in some way an Archivist. Jon and Martin were in the Safehouse while Tim and Sasha were going to head over, but Tim was like "eh I already started reading the statement it won't hurt to finish it."(it did)

The statement did still say "Hello Jon." Which Tim was like "wow fuck you"

Jon technically isn't an Avatar since he didn't die, but he came close a lot. And also when he was in that coma every single entity wanted dibs.

Jon adopted a cat and named her Mr. President. She's a tuxedo cat, but she acts like an orange cat.

Jon still changes when he enters domains.

The au ends HAPPY the Eyepocalypse is STOPPED everything goes back to NORMAL Jon and Martin are FINE and the Archive group gets to go to DINNER

Leitner still gets his dome caved in btw he's dead I just wanted to add that (Elias frames Jon so Jon had to try to live as D'Ville but he only changes when spooky shit is happening)

#the magnus archives #jon sims #jonathan sims #tma #artists on tumblr #art #polychives #tim stoker #tma tim #tma martin #martin blackwood #tma sasha #sasha james

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spooksier · 9 months

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could you share more about the time travel au in your head? u have the best ideas and character insights always.. would love to hear them if ur willing to share ^_^ the idea of s5 jon interacting with everyone during s3 era is so. augh. would soo be a mess

it would be SUCH A MESS!!

s3 and s5 are the season with 1. the most iconic characters present 2. the ones where jon goes THROUGH IT (importantly in two very different ways) (and 3. my favorites lol)

s3 jon is new to all of it and at all turns being tormented by people who are no longer people and is being told that he is becoming like them. and he doesn't even notice the changes until they happen. but he tells himself that he can avoid it, that he doesn't have to be a monster, he's not like them and he never will be.

s5 jon is literally the antichrist girl.... he's deeper in it than any other avatar prolly and he's fucking great at it. it's second fucking nature! he's the ceaseless watcher's special little boy! he's never more comfortable than he is out in the apocalypse and he hates it and he loves it and the people who made him so afraid are scared of him now. but he still wants to be good!!!!!! so!! bad!!!

they're like inverses of each other! the same person as prey and apex predator! they would want to rip each others throats out the whole time and would rather jump out a window than speak to each other.

#ask!#plus there's no fucking way paper statements would do anything for him post-mag 200 #and wouldn't that be fun to have to hide from your-staff-but-a-year-and-a-half-ago-and-also-you #i love writing out meta you never have to be afraid of asking me to #now i might actually write this #martin would be there too ofc #there's some drama in s3 vs s5 martin too

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shortguyswag · 2 years

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@ettawritesnstudies thank you so much for askingt

Okay so basically the whole premise is what if a few years after the end of breath of the wild Zelda gets kinda bored with not studying things and (understandably) doesn't really want to go back to the sheikah magitech stuff. So instead she starts to study a bunch of weird supernatural stuff that castle scholars also used to study.

Of course this will end well for basically no one, but it will take a while to get there.

so her first statement is basically link hearing her talk about how much she'd like to restart the ✨Hyrule Library for the Supernatural✨ and goes "okay" and finds her an old diary entry about an island that was basically entirely silent with a village steeped in the uncanny valley. Then they extract things from the old library, and record those, and link finds an old letter from his sister and almost cries while reading it. After that, idk stuff happens, I'm still outlining plot.

One of my FAVORITE things about this au right now though, is the character designs. Link is growing out his hair, and he has this super sick skirt with buttons down the side front so when he has to fight he just unbuttons them and boom any issues in moving around and doing kick flips in a fight purely to look cool are gone! He also has this scarf that's embroidered with flowers that Zelda made for him.

Zelda's outfit sticks a little bit closer to her normal design though. She wears a short sleeved knitted sweater that's blue on the upper half, gold stripe on the middle, white on the lower half, with black slacks and a long sleeve button up. She's also rocking her gorgeous bob.

my favorite scene I've written so far was one where some dude sneaks in to bother zelda and whenever she asks a question they're like "a valid point, but all reality is subjective" and also they talk about the fear gods they basically got possessed by like they would to someone who knows what's going on, which well. Zelda and Link do not. Link knows a little bit more by nature of being slightly more realized/a fully realized avatar, but even he doesn't know much. He does know something's up and if he doesn't hunt down some bokos in a way that's "unethical" every so often he feels really nauseous and figures statements are a similar thing for zelda. Though hunting down statements can tide him over a bit, even though it's not the same.

(secretly he wonders if hunting people would be even more filling. But that's a line he refuses to cross. It's a slippery slope from hunting criminals and feasting on the terror of innocent people. He doesn't want to end up there.) (This may end up being a plot point where he does cross that line and has a moral crisis over it)

Zelda is eye aligned, which was an amazing coincidence because you know who else has eye imagery? The sheikah. Which means in this au, the sheikah will be closely tied to the watcher, so I'll have to figure out why Zelda would be the new archivist/ceaseless watcher's special little girl and not you know. Another sheikah. But when there was a basically world ending event barely outside living memory (impa purah and robbie are outliers and should not be counted) and it's implied that it was really dangerous even in towns for a good while after the event itself, it probably won't be too hard to figure something out.

#Orion is writin #Hyrule library for the supernatural #tma au #The hunt #the eye

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funky-sea-cryptid · 2 years

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god of the ruined world, ceaseless watchers special little girl, and bringer of the apocalypse, dresses like a five year old about to get ice cream in the summer, still murders people.

#tma au s5 #malcolm tma au #they’re still gonna kill you they just look like a little guy #funky sea art

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ceaseless-watchers-special-girl · 2 months

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booping the watcher's special little girl <3

ceaseless watcher, turn your gaze upon this wretched blog

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medusaesque · 3 years

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weird girl jonathan sims outfit

#because EVERYONE tags my horror weird girl outfit as him. i'll give u the ceaseless watcher's special little weird girl #jonathan sims #the magnus archives #tma #fits #shoplook #🏺

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alabasterstoned · 3 years

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#AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU BITCH #FUCKING GET IT GIRL #FUCK IT UP BITCH FUCK IT UP!!!!!!#IVE NEVER BEEN MORE PROUD OF ANYONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE #OH MY GOSH THAT'S MY MOM #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH #FUCK IT UP BABY #THE EYES SPECIAL LITTLE BOY CEASELESS WATCHER EAT THIS PUSSY BOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYY #bah bah bah bah bah #WAHOO LADYS ITS GONNA BE A WET ONE IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT #PAINT THEM WALLS RED #EAT IT #AAAAAA #.txt

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fox-guardian · 4 years

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[ID: Two digital drawings depicting scenes from The Magnus Archives. The first image is fully colored and shows Georgie Barker, a tall, fat black woman with freckles, a mesh shirt and black tank top, and her hair in a pink wrap. She’s smiling awkwardly while standing next to Melanie King, a shorter white woman with short black hair, a gray hoodie, and black and purple jersey jacket. Her eyes are closed and have small scars over the lids and she has two lip piercings. She’s frowning. Off to the side is a less detailed drawing of Martin Blackwood but only his head, drawn in blue with no other color, indicating he’s speaking but isn’t actually standing next to them in frame. He has freckles, circular glasses, a mullet and a beard, and looks confused. The speech bubbles are just sections of the transcripts outlined in purple for Melanie, pink for Georgie, and blue for Martin.

Melanie says: It’s fine, Georgie. You can use the “c” word.

Martin says: E-Excuse me?

Georgie says: Fine. We’ve got, sort of a… cult.

The second image has almost no color and shows Melanie King from the waist up smirking at Jonathan Sims, who is colored in solid gray. He has long wavy hair with half of it pulled into a bun that’s mostly out of shot, a full beard, many scars all over his face, and half-moon glasses. He’s facing profile and is positioned very close to the viewer, with only his head and neck in frame. He’s frowning and rolling his eyes. The speech bubbles are in the same style as the first image, with purple for Melanie and green for Jon.

Melanie says: Everyone is so excited to see the Ceaseless Watcher’s special little boy.

Jon says: Yes, well.

end ID]

THE GIRLS ARE BACK BABEYYYY

#fg's art #the magnus archives #tma #georgie barker #melanie king #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tma spoilers #mag 189 #cult mention #cult tw #ive never done an image id before feel free to correct me on anything #if i mess up ill try to fix it #dang these are surprisingly hard. mad respect for people who add these to posts all the time

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ananxiousgenz · 2 months

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SONG FOR A CAGED LOVEBIRD: PART 14

yaaaay part 14!!! my favorite number!!!! i love this!!! apologies for the delay, school has been kicking my ass lately lol

okay kids, settle in: it's story time!!! this one is a longer one (around 2,000 words!!) which is part of why it took me a while lol

@smidgen-of-hotboy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @urjover @one-joe-spoopy @waters-and-the-wilde @demonic-panini @the-private-eye (@gwenlena? idk if you wanna read this? but i can start tagging you if you want?)

The first thing he became aware of was the smell. Coal dust and dry wood and faint fire smoke, like some kind of strange cologne. The air was thick and heavy with it and he struggled to breathe in. The second thing was the dull pain traveling through his skull. It pulsed in time with his heartbeat, radiating out from a central point of the back of his skull.

His eye blinked open slowly and painfully to reveal several stacks of wooden crates, a few garbage cans, and the stone walls of some building. He didn’t know where he was.

Juno groaned, and tried to sit up and see more of his surroundings before a wave of dizziness hit him like a sledgehammer, and he fell backwards against the ground. He closed his eye again in the hopes the world might stop spinning long enough for him to be able to get up and escape this place.

Slowly, it all began to come back to him.

Peter’s deal and lack of voice. His insistence to save him. Slip telling him to leave. Juno refusing to go. Slip calling the executives. One of them whacking him on the back of the head. The world going dark.

He wasn’t sure what had happened after that, but he knew his body hurt like hell. After a few minutes, he figured the worst of the damage was probably a cracked rib or two that screamed whenever he tried to breathe normally. Everything else seemed to be a bruise or scrape. They must have beat the hell out of him and then dragged him to this alley.

He lay there for a few more minutes trying to work up the strength to stand, but couldn’t find it in him.

Suddenly, there were footsteps approaching, quiet and even. He couldn’t tell from where.

The workers? The executives? Slip himself?

A shot of adrenaline raced through his veins.

He pushed himself into a corner and grabbed the neck of a shattered bottle in defense. It might not have been his preferred weapon, but it was better than nothing.

The footsteps got closer.

Juno’s breathing was painful and shaky.

Even closer.

A figure rounded the corner. They spotted Juno, and raised their hands in defense.

“Whoaaa!! Hey, buddy, I don’t mean any harm! Man, if I had a nickel for every time I found someone in an alley who started pointing a weapon at me...”

Juno’s eye widened. It couldn’t be.

The figure stepped forward, and a little of the orange glow of the nearby metalworks fell on their face. “Hey, are you hurt? Do you need help at all?” they asked, crouching down to just above Juno’s level.

He knew this man’s face. He would know that voice even at the ends of the earth. Both had haunted his dreams for the last 20 years, and still echoed in his waking.

Benten.

His face floated across from Juno, smiling and slightly sheepish, but just exactly as Juno remembered him. Warm eyes, vaguely mischievous expression, gap-toothed smile, gentle hands, hair in neat braids knotted on top of his head. Juno felt his face going pale and the bottleneck slipping from his grip as this ghost looked at him in increasing concern. And suddenly a strange sort of fear began creeping over him.

“I’m dead, aren’t I? Oh gods, I’m dead. I died.”

The specter of Ben snorted and rolled its eyes. “Yeahhhh, sure, let’s go with that. Pretty much everyone is in Hadestown. Kind of comes with the territory, you know?”

Juno couldn’t say anything in response. His mouth had gone completely dry. He just kept staring, breathing hard and ragged. The bottle clinked to the hard ground and Ben’s brow furrowed in concern.

“Are you sure you don’t need…” Ben’s voice trailed off as he leaned a bit closer to Juno’s face.

His eyes went wider the longer he looked. Ben drew in a sharp breath.

“Oh gods. I don’t……. Juno?” he asked, so quietly Juno barely heard it over the distant clanging of pickaxes and the grinding of factory gears.

“Ben,” Juno choked out.

And then Ben catapulted himself into Juno’s arms, and they were both laughing and crying. Juno didn’t even mind the pain. He hadn’t felt this full of joy in a very long time. His brother was here again, solid and real and warm in his arms. And gods, if it didn’t make him feel like he could tear down this whole damn town with nothing but his own two hands.

“Juno!!! Super Steel!! It’s been so long, did you miss me? How in Hades did you get down here? Did you die? Or did you sneak in? If you did, it’s a little unlike you, because I was always better at getting into trouble and you were better at planning it but not really carrying through. OH, and you’ll never guess who I met! I ran into your HUSBAND. Your HUSBAND, man!! I can’t believe you got married and never told me!” Ben chattered away, eyes glittering with excitement and joy and a few tears he couldn’t stop from rolling down his face.

“Slow down, Ben, give me a second!” Juno hissed through his teeth as a spike of pain lanced his lungs.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“About as good as I can be considering I think I just had the hell beat out of me. Could you help me up? Feels like I got hit by an angry toddler with a brick.”

Ben stood, wrapped his arm around Juno’s shoulders, and pulled him onto his feet before giving him a peculiar look that Juno was in a bit too much pain to decipher.

“What is it, Ben?”

“Nothing, it’s just-” he sighed, “It’s good to see you again. I missed you.”

A smile crept onto Juno’s face. “I missed you too. Loser.”

“Oh come on, I am NOT a loser!”

“Yes, you are. You just don’t want to admit it.”

“If I’m a loser then you’re…. Well, I’m not sure what you are, but at least I’ve never ended up bloody and bruised in a random alley somewhere.”

“You’re acting like you never took a punch when we were kids.”

“The only punches I ever took were from you, and you hit like a feather, Super Steel.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! I knocked Mick out once.”

“You and I both know Mick could get knocked out from tripping over his own shoelaces. That does not give you bragging rights.”

Juno stuck out his tongue in response and Ben recoiled, one hand pressed to his chest in mock offense and disdain.

“Really! I thought we were a little more grown up than that! If you keep behaving like that, I won’t be able to take you back to the hideout! You see, we only allow adults in there, and you, Super Steel, are not acting like an adult right now.”

Juno rolled his eye and sighed the deeply exasperated sigh only produced by interacting with one’s sibling. “Okay, fine. I apologize for sticking my tongue out at you.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“Aaaaaand for calling you a loser.”

“That’s more like it! I’ll take you back to see Vespa. She’ll be able to do something about those bruises and scrapes of yours. By the way, what happened to the eye? You lose a bet or something?”

—----------------------------------

It was slow going to get back to the hideout. Juno couldn’t walk too fast from a shooting pain in his shin and the probably cracked rib, but Ben was more than happy to spend the time talking and catching up on everything he missed. Juno told him about the bar he worked at, about Buddy and Jet and Rita, about the nasty winter that hadn’t let up for years, about his reason for the journey down here. In return, Ben told him about Hadestown, the work hours, the jobs, the forgetfulness, the cruelty of Slip and the executives.

“Why haven’t you fought back yet?” Juno asked, limping through the door to the hideout before gingerly lowering himself onto a mat on the floor.

Ben shot him a confused look. “What are you talking about, Super Steel?”

“Against the executives. Against Slip. This whole thing is so unfair. Why haven’t you guys tried to fight back yet?”

“Not sure.” A tall person with long white dreads who was seated at the table responded as they entered. “Maybe it’s because they own all of us?”

“Hey, Vespa? You here? We got someone who needs some patching up!” Ben called into the recesses of the house.

A moment or two later, a woman with short, spiky, neon green hair emerged, rubbing her eyes. “This better be good, Steel. I was in the middle of a nap,” she muttered, shooting daggers at Ben.

“It’s my brother. My twin. He’s got some scrapes and a couple nasty bruises you might wanna look at.”

The woman, Vespa, glanced between Ben and Juno before giving Ben a glare that could have singed wood. “You woke me up for some scrapes and bruises?”

Ben went completely silent and stared at the floor. The person opened their mouth to speak, but Juno beat them to it. “Yeah, he did. I think I got a broken rib, too.”

Vespa’s lazer-sharp gaze turned on him the second he began speaking. Juno stared right back. She looked him up and down for a moment before letting out a small huff and turning back down the dark hallway she came from. She returned shortly after, carrying a small bag filled with medical supplies that she threw down next to Juno.

“Is it true?” Juno asked, wincing occasionally as Vespa began to take a small antiseptic wipe to some of the more prominent scrapes.

“Is what true?” Ben countered, leaning against one wall.

“That Nureyev signed the contract. That there’s nothing I can do to save him.”

“Yup,” chirped Vespa. “We’re all fucked down here.”

“Vespa,” the person at the table said, shooting a warning glance in her direction. “Leave him be. He just lost his husband.”

Vespa sighed. “I know, I know, M’tendere, but if he’s going to be down here, he should at least know what he’s up against.”

“It’s just…. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. None of this is fair!”

“We know, Juno,” Ben sighed. “We also don’t think it’s fair that the world is like this, but that’s the way it is.”

There was silence for a minute as Juno chewed on his lip and Vespa finished bandaging one of the more major cuts.

“It shouldn’t be that way,” Juno finally whispered into the silence. “If I can’t save him, then what’s the point of me even being here? If none of you can ever work your way out of here, then what is the point of working at all?”

Ben, Vespa, and M’tendere exchanged a look. Juno continued staring at the floor, biting his tongue. This was just… so unfair. And he was so sick and tired of having to deal with it. He was slowly losing everything he had to Hadestown: his husband, his brother, his health, and now his ability to change anything for the better. It didn’t work on the surface, so why should it work down here?

But slowly, M’tendere began to nod. “He’s right, you know. Why should we even be working if we aren’t getting anything out of it?”

“You said it yourself! Because they own us,” Ben said as he threw his hands up to the ceiling.

“But there’s more of us than there are of them. Strength in numbers and all that. It isn’t right that a small group should tell everyone what is true and what is right. The many should decide that for themselves.” Vespa stood from where she had been crouching next to Juno on the floor.

“You could bring Hadestown to a standstill if you all just stopped working for a few days,” Juno said, easing himself up off the ground to stand next to Vespa. “Coal miners used to do it back on the surface to get better working conditions and pay. It could work here too.”

Ben was quiet for a minute, and Juno noticed that his face had gone suddenly thoughtful. “Huh. They couldn’t stop all of us, could they? If we partied around and had wine and flowers for a few days?”

A slow grin crept over Juno’s face. “No. No, they could only try.”

A matching grin appeared on Ben’s face. “Well, then. In that case, M’tendere, would you mind drafting some invitations? And Vespa, would you mind spreading them around? It seems we’ve got a party to plan.”

#this one isn't super angsty which is nice #but its still a bit painful lmao #as always #i hope y'all enjoy <3 #i love you guys!!!!!#the penumbra podcast #tpp #tpp hadestown au #hadestown #song for a caged lovebird

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smidgen-of-hotboy · 2 months

Text

Our Angel of Brahma, pt. ix

Travelers. Friends. Mutuals. @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @ananxiousgenz @the-private-eye @demonic-panini @gwenlena

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING BEGINS. MOTHERLY VOICE: I finally got a moment to myself thanks to Eber and Camilla… Thank the Goddess… I don’t know what I would be doing without them. (THE PERSON SIGHS) Where do I begin? I guess… my name would be a good start. (CLEARING THEIR THROAT) My name is Eevee Bell, and I am one of three to four dozen Dome Wardens on Brahma. Our duty is to perform routine maintenance on the planet’s Dome, track incoming and outgoing shuttles and ships, and monitor Brahma’s severe weather outside the Dome. I love my job. I think I do my job very well. From what I’ve heard about other planets, they have robotics and computers to do this job now. Artificial intelligence that the Solar Planets spent a fortune to perfect. Of course just like with everything else though, Brahma gets left behind in the dust. (EEVEE CHUCKLES UNDER HER BREATH) EEVEE: Goddess bless our savior New Kinshasa. (EEVEE LAUGHS A BIT HARSHER) EEVEE: What happened to us though has been brewing under their noses for some time now. I guess it was only a matter of time before… something was done. To be honest I’m still not entirely sure what did happen. I know that our alarms went off when the Reactor Core was removed, and I know they stopped going off when the Core was put back. I know that the Chief Constable called all of our stations, and ordered us to go home. I know that we have not gone back to our stations for nearly ten days. I know that if we don’t accept any imports within the next seven days Brahma will begin to suffer. And if we fall, New Kinshasa falls with us. Cyrus called me while I was rushing to get home to Baird. He asked me how much I knew and after I told him, I asked how much he knew. He said it would be better if he came to speak to me in person. He lives across town with Iris. I told him it wouldn’t be wise to meet up so late, especially with a curfew in place. He disagreed, but I talked enough sense into him that he waited until morning to catch a tram over here to the apartments. Baird was not enthused to see him. He was rather… indifferent, actually. I know it hurt Cyrus’ feelings, I do plan on talking about it with Baird when I can, but it’s so hard to talk about anything seriously right now. I’d rather keep things as light-hearted as possible. I sent Baird over to Camilla and Eber’s apartment while I had tea with Cyrus. He looked so worried. He asked me if I saw the Chief Constable’s broadcast about the Revolutionary, Peter Nureyev. I have. I watched it with Baird the night before after I got home from my post. Cyrus said that he doesn’t know of any Peter Nureyevs in any of his revolution circles. He surprised me by asking me for my thoughts about the Constable they allegedly found murdered by the Revolutionary. I didn’t at the time, and I still don’t now. Cyrus said that he has reason to believe that part was a lie. He doesn’t believe the Revolutionary killed a Constable. He thinks it might be an elaborate lie or cover-up for some more vain truth. (EEVEE INHALES SHARPLY) The revolutionaries are holding a meeting tonight. Cyrus invited me to come. He wants me there. I don’t want to get in trouble, but… I need to keep Cyrus and Baird safe. And by extension, it’s my job to keep Brahma safe. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS: EEVEE: What the fuck! NEW VOICE: What are you doing? EEVEE: What am I doing I’m recording you idiot! Cyrus, don’t you see? If what was discussed tonight has any truth to it, New Kinshasa isn’t going to let any of this get out. More than– I bet you my next paycheck that Dark Matters is going to play a role in covering it all up! (CYRUS TRIES TO SHUSH EEVEE) CYRUS: Alright, alright– you have a point. Keep your voice down alright the streets have ears… You really hope your little comms though is going to play a role in– This? EEVEE: Mark my word, I think my little comms will outlive both of us. If Baird’s lucky it will outlive them. (CYRUS GROANS. EEVEE GIGGLES) Okay, okay… I attended the meeting– CYRUS: The book club. We went to a late-night book club meeting. What? Don’t give me that look. Plausible deniability, Eve. EEVEE: Right. The Book Club. We attended Book Club and talked about the climax of a war story. In the story, the main character kills a man with radical ideas to overthrow their government. The man he killed was not popular amongst the rebels. In theory, they should have agreed with him. CYRUS: In practice, however, the rebels do not condone murdering hundreds of thousands of people. Thus the whole unpopular amongst the rebels. EEVEE: Of course, word got out about the man’s death, and to cover it up, the government claimed him as an Enforcer. And they were getting away with it because the last clothes the man was found in was a stolen Enforcer uniform. I don’t know if I believe the rebel or the government’s of the story– CYRUS: Eve– EEVEE: But! But. But I do believe that it was the right call for the rebels to sit back and wait for information to trickle out to them slowly… I think I’ll need to attend the next meeting to really make sure I understand what I’m getting myself into. Oh– I’m so tired. Can we discuss all this in the morning? With hopefully less ears listening in? (CYRUS HUMS AFFIRMATIVELY) CYRUS: I’ll even let you sleep in if you let me crash on your couch. EEVEE: Of course, I wouldn’t make you walk across town while already breaking our curfew. CYRUS: Thanks, Eve. (LONG PAUSE) Baird’s not going to be mad to see me, is he? EEVEE: This late at night? I doubt it. If anything he’s staying over at that Spade’s apartment probably fast asleep with Charlie. Oh, they’re so sweet together. I went to say good night to them one evening and I couldn’t kiss Baird’s head because Charlie had a death grip on his shoulders. He's always polite and entertains all of Baird’s whims�� I wish you were around more to see it happen. CYRUS: You and I both know why that can’t happen. (BOTH OF THEM SIGH) EEVEE: You know he’s only so pouty around you because you and I split up, right? He just wants us all together again. Like a proper family. CYRUS: We are a proper family. Mom who works too hard, dad who left to get milk and never came back– see? Proper family. (EEVEE LAUGHS CAUSING CYRUS TO LAUGH) UNFAMILIAR VOICE: Hey, state your business and show your credentials. CYRUS: Shit, Constables. Run Eve! SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. RECORDING BEGINS. (EEVEE WHISPERS) EEVEE: Cyrus and I got away from the Constables last week perfectly fine. This week on Brahma: we went to another revolution meeting. A few old timers took roll call and one of them said he had reason to believe that the person the Angel of Brahma killed was one of theirs. A man who wasn’t the least bit popular in any particular revolutionary circle. Apparently, he wanted to drop New Kinshasa out of the sky and saw it perfectly fit to kill all of Brahma in the process. (EEVEE SCOFFS) The nerve of some people. No one at the meeting could remember his name though, and no one still knows who Peter Nureyev is outside of the photos projected on every billboard on the planet now. He looks so young. Those dark and haunting eyes and sharp teeth. I find it hard to believe that he’s just a teenager. But– he is. I’m trying to keep my voice down right now because Baird is asleep. The meeting was held before curfew this time so Cyrus went home to Iris and I walked alone back to the apartment. Eber was waiting for me just outside and before I could say hello he was dragging me down the halls to Hank’s apartment. His dog Missy was sprawled out on the sofa but Hank, Camilla, and Josie were all gathered around the dinner table. Mrs. Darius was upstairs with Talia, Charlie, and Baird. I sat down and told them everything I could. The revolutionaries wouldn’t let me record anything with my comms during the meeting, but there wasn’t much that I think needed to be recorded. Just talk about who was storing what, who was leaving their doors open to help others. There was a lot of talk about going on strike. Either food or labor. They want to send a message to New Kinshasa. I don’t think I can afford to do much of anything. Me and the other Dome Wardens just went back to work two days ago, we are working through a backlog of off-planet imports and exports still. If I strike alone I’ll just be fired. If all the Wardens strike, then the Constables will take over and that will lead to certain catastrophe. And if I stop eating then Baird will stop eating and he’s already so… short. Oh– I wish I got a chance to talk to Cyrus before we went our separate ways. He’d help me think of some way I can help. Better yet, he’d probably be able to give the others here at the apartments the answers they wanted from me. Hank didn’t say anything other than telling us to get out. Eber, Camilla, Josie, and I were silent on the walk upstairs. The kids were delighted to see us. Eber walked Talia back down to Hank, Josie was trying to fill in Mrs. Darius, and Camilla and I watched the boys play some sort of game where they kept pinching each other and trying to not shriek? I think that was the objective? Children’s games used to be much less violent when I was that age. I remember when– BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Memma? EEVEE: Bairdy! What are you doing awake? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I couldn’t sleep. You were being too loud. (EEVEE TSKS) EEVEE: Then let’s put you back to bed alright baby? C’mon. I’ll even sing for you if you’d like. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: I have either made the best decision of the revolution that will turn the tides in favor of Brahma, or the worst mistake of my life. I told the old-timers at this past meeting that I work as a Dome Warden, and that a few of my colleagues seemed interested in joining the rebellion but were uncertain on how to go about it. The old-timers were delighted for a number of reasons and had drawn the same conclusion that I had a few weeks ago when a labor strike was first brought up. They think it would be very good if I was able to get some of the other Wardens on board with the revolution. Cyrus was very quiet during the meeting. I asked him before we left if he had any opinions he was holding back, and all he said was to trust my gut. So… I trusted my gut. I told the other Wardens at my post about the meetings. I told them about going on strike. A few seemed skeptical. Others wanted to know when the next meeting was. I’m going to contact Cyrus and get him to help me get the others to the next meeting. I hope… this wasn’t a mistake. I guess time will only tell. SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. NEW RECORDING BEGINS. EEVEE: –you turned it on. Good job, baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Mom, why are you showing me how to use your comms? Is something going to happen to us? Is something bad going to happen to you? EEVEE: What? Oh no, baby. Nothing is going to happen to me. I just think you would find more use out of my comms than I would. Look, since you got it to record you can start recording all those little songs you like to sing. Or maybe you can get Charlie to record a story for you. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): But Mom, I like your singing and your stories more. Will you sing for me? And tell me a story tonight? EEVEE: Absolutely not. You get one or the other. Take your pick. And whatever you don’t choose, you have to give to me. (BAIRD POUTS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… I want a story from you, and then I’ll give you a song. EEVEE: Good choice, Bairdy. What kind of story would you like? (BAIRD HUMS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): I want a story about Brahma. EEVEE: A story about Brahma? Well… there once was a boy born on Brahma with nothing. Not even a name. He grew up just like everyone else, hungry for more. More food, more freedom, more time. The boy followed a man who dreamed of dropping the New Kinshasa on top of the planet. The boy was very tired. Tired of being poor, tired of being hungry, tired of being alone. But he knew, that if he let that man drop New Kinshasa out of the sky, he would never be able to forgive himself. Brahma is his home. He looked down at Brahma from up high, and saw them: his people. Starving young faces just like his looked up to the sky and stared back at the city as it trembled. The boy had the power at his fingertips to stop a tragedy. This is it. The people thought. This is how we go out. Not with the big bang, but crushed under the heel of our jailor. The boy heard their thoughts. He felt a rush of adrenaline and stopped the man from getting away. The city of New Kinshasa never fell out of the sky that day. The people were ordered to retreat to their homes. But that evening, everyone heard about the great threat against the Guardian Angel System. And everyone learned the name Peter Nureyev. And for the first time in the last half-century, hope bloomed on Brahma. The Boy, The Legend, The Angel of Brahma. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): That’s not a story Memma, that’s history. EEVEE: And what is history but a story we have to learn from? Now, I believe you owe me a song. (BAIRD GROANS AND HUFFS) BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Fine… (BAIRD TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND HUMS. THE SOUND GETS CLEARER LIKE HE’S BROUGHT THE COMMS CLOSER) My angel, I must ask you keep singing for me. How sweet your tune, like a songbird at noon. What a lovely trill, it makes me feel ill. O’ My heart overflows, I could never let go. Like chimes in the wind, it must be destined. I’ll find my way home, with your voice I’ll never be alone. Happy? (EEVEE SNIFFLES) EEVEE: Very. Thank you, Baird. That was beautiful. (FABRIC RUSTLES, BOTH BAIRD AND EEVEE HUM) Promise me you’ll never stop singing baby. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Of course, Memma. I don’t think I could even if I tried. EEVEE: Good. Now– (EEVEE PRESSES A KISS TO BAIRD’S HEAD) Get some sleep. Okay? We have a long day tomorrow. And Bairdy? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Yes, Mom? EEVEE: You know that I love you, right? BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): To the moons and back, yeah… Mom you promised nothing bad was going to happen to you. EEVEE: And nothing will. Good night, Baird. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Night Mom. SOUND: DOOR CLOSING. BAIRD (FUTURE REVOLUTIONARY): Which button was it to end the recording? Was it this o– SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS.

- EEVEE BELL. BAIRD BELL. must contact Frannie’s friend about both of those names. - Dome Wardens are indeed an old, out of date job. Eve is right, they’ve been replaced with robots. It’s actually kinda scary how right she was about things. About that, about Dark Matters probably covering everything up with New Kinshasa. - Cyrus and Eve sound so fun together. I can see why they got married and had a kid together. - Bairdy and Memma… right up there with Charls and Dearest. - Oh Baird, he was 12 when these recordings were made. 12. Just almost a teenager, not quite. Almost too old to be called a baby. - Eve loved Baird so much. She reminds me of my mother a bit. And she knew exactly what she was doing tucking Baird into bed that final time. There’s no doubt in my mind this is the last recording with her in it. She was taken away after this and never came back. The Dome Wardens did go on strike at some point according to Baird in other recordings, so did someone snitch to a Constable? Did she the Constable that almost caught her and Cyrus track her down? - I think that’s the most frustrating part of my job. No matter how much I dig and research, there are some things that will be lost to me forever.

#at some point this was like pulling teeth #so i may revisit it and rewrite some of it #or elaborate/add more #BUT im happy rn #funfact: the story eve tells is almost word for word what i wrote on buzzkillgirls post #about nureyev the legend vs nureyev the man #our angel of brahma #the penumbra podcast #private eye's keys go jingle jangle #the penumbra fanfic #a hotboy's writing #FUCKGING BIRDS NEED TO SHUT UP NOW SO I CAN SLEEP-

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