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charliemwrites · 2 months

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Mean Simon Part 4

CW: non-descriptive panic attack, followed by comfort and gaslighting; please be safe and careful 💕

Simon’s got a bit of a puzzle on his hands. More accurately, you’re a puzzle that’s not in his hands. And getting you there, of your own free will, is only part of it.

Sure, he could just grab you or order you. You would be helpless to his will either way. It would be simple and easy, but it wouldn’t be satisfying. Not as much as coaxing you into the trap by your own volition, anyway.

Once you were just a shy thing, now you’re downright skittish. Quick to bend the knee and bow your head, but you don’t relish in doing so. Johnny has been nothing but adoring and sweet to you, yet Simon notices you still resist flinching and tensing on contact. Never mind if Simon himself were to attempt the same, you’d work yourself into hysteria over a pat to the shoulder. Seducing you would be its own challenge - but that leaves the contradictory matter of training you.

You would be so good. He knows it.

You’re quick to learn, eager to please. But it comes from a place of fear and distrust. The former has its place, the latter its natural offspring - but neither suits Simon’s purpose in this instance. Punishment and discipline would only serve to reinforce the trenches in your mind. To stay quiet and unseen, to avoid Simon at all costs and tolerate Johnny out of self-preservation. That neither of them can be trusted, are not objects for your affection or desire. Only a facsimile with a pretty face, that makes pretty noises, and soothes Johnny with pretty touches. Nothing real; nothing either of them can actually sink their teeth into.

And so there lies the puzzle. He needs (wants) to train you into the sweet doll he knows you can be, but he has to do it in a way fundamentally different to his instinct - or he risks breaking you entirely.

Luckily, he’s a patient man. Your behavior has been acceptable so far with the barest monitoring. He has time to develop a strategy.

“Um… excuse me, Mister?” you soft voice calls.

He grunts, turning his eyes to you. You shift, fingers twisting together tightly.

“I can’t, um… so there’s a light out? In the kitchen?”

He tilts his head, waiting for you to continue.

“And I don’t know where the bulbs are,” you finish.

He tilts his head. “You didn’t go looking?”

You shake out your hands a bit, shifting. “I didn’t know if I, um, if I should? Snooping, and all…”

Simon tries to recall if he’s ever implied that you shouldn’t go through the house. He knows he explicitly warned you not to go in his bedroom and the garage. But you’ve inferred it somehow, likely from those first few months after he got you for Johnny - when he would have had some objection to you treating the house as if it were your own.

You’re well past that by now, though. Spend more time here than either of them, cleaning and cooking and sleeping. In fact, he’s surprised you haven’t stumbled across the bulbs sooner.

“Hall closet by my room.”

You hesitate for another moment. “And is there, um… a step stool anywhere…?”

He blinks. “No.”

“Oh. Uhh…” you jolt a bit. “Oh! I’ll just use a dining chair. Thank you! Um, sir.”

You dart away before he can reply. That’s going to be the first bad habit he breaks, he decides.

For lack of sating himself with you, Johnny’s been especially needy. Simon accounted for this, of course, and despite it being a punishment, he’s not so cruel as to leave Johnny hanging. It’s meant to be a learning experience too.

So Johnny is still allowed to cuddle with you (to some extent) and exchange kisses (in moderation) while Simon takes the edge off the ever-burning inferno that is his libido. Sniper he may be, Simon might have miscalculated regardless. He’s already touched-out for the day.

You’re in the kitchen, prepping for a nicer dinner at Simon’s request before their next deployment. It’ll take a couple hours to cook, so you’re assembling everything early. Or at least trying to - because Johnny will not leave you the fuck alone.

He’s underfoot, making a nuisance of himself. Kissing at your neck and face, wrapping himself around you while you bustle about, stealing ingredients off of cutting boards, talking in your ear nonstop. Most days you wouldn’t mind - or would appear that way, at least. But today is not most days.

Simon is sitting on a stool on the other side of the counter when you reach capacity.

With Johnny still plastered to your back, you try to reach for something (for the umpteenth time) and trip over his feet. You knock over an open carton of stock, splattering translucent brown all over the floors, counters, cabinets, and yourselves.

“Fuck,” you cry, “Johnny.”

Your voice breaks on his name. Johnny freezes. Simon can see fault lines in every inch of your stiff body. How carefully you manage each movement as you disentangle yourself from Johnny and usher him away from the worst of the mess. You’re about to fall apart.

“Och, I’m sorry, hen. Lemme help—“

“It’s alright,” you interrupt, chin low as you pivot, snagging the paper towels off the counter. “I’ve got it. Just… stay there.”

Johnny opens his mouth to protest, about to help anyway, but Simon tuts in disapproval.

The kitchen is smothered in an awful silence as you clean, Johnny growing more shame-faced with each rip of the towel roll.

Unobstructed, you manage to clean up in only a couple of minutes, making an extra pass with a damp towel to wipe up any residue. When you’re finished, you wet another and offer it to Johnny to wipe off. Then do the same for yourself. Always, you keep your face obscured or hidden, body oriented away, tight and rigid.

When you spin to gather up the dirty towels, Simon sees how your eyes glimmer. You remember he’s there too at the same time.

“Sir, I’m so sorry. I d-don’t, um…” you have to take a breath to gather your voice. “There’s not enough for dinner now.”

Simon considers that for a beat.

“Johnny’ll run out ‘n get more.”

You swallow thickly. “Okay. I’m sorry, sir.”

“‘S not your fault. Kitchen only needed one cook, yeah?”

You make a noise that, if he was hard of hearing and listening through earmuffs, could almost be agreement.

“I-I’m gonna go wash off…” you rub your hands together nervously. “If that’s alright.”

“G’on.”

You’re gone in an instant. Simon can already hear you sniffling. He stands.

Johnny turns huge, pathetic eyes on him.

“‘M sorry, Si. Really, I didn’t mean to—“

“But you did,” Simon interrupts sharply. “Because you were being a rude little shit and playing too rough.”

Johnny gulps, looks a bit misty-eyed himself. Simon sighs and scrubs an exasperated hand through his mohawk.

“Go get the stock,” he orders, milder. “And an extra treat for the sweetie. Something actually for her. Understood?”

Johnny always does better with clear instructions. He perks up at being given a mission - and an avenue for making things up to you. He hurries off with a pep in his step.

Simon waits until the door is shut before seeking you out. You’re in the bathroom, as you said you would be. He can hear you muffling cries behind the door.

He taps his knuckles twice against the wood. It goes dead silent.

“Jus’ me,” he calls.

There’s a quick splash of water, the flutter of fabric, and then you crack the door open. Your face is cry-flushed, eyes red-rimmed and still glossy. You can’t look past his chest, mouth curved down.

“I-I’m really sorry about the-the mess, and dinner, and…”

“Stop apologizing,” he says, gentling his voice to take the edge off the command. “If there was something to be sorry for, you’d know.”

You swipe quickly at a tear that squeezes out. He tsks softly.

“Bit strung out today, eh?”

“Just… didn’t sleep well, is all,” you answer. “And I didn’t get a chance to nap.”

Right, he’s noted that, in the back of his mind. That you spend small portions of the day sleeping. Usually an hour or two at a time. But Johnny’s been so high maintenance today that you’ve hardly had a moment of peace.

“Cranky? Is that it?” he asks.

You look more miserable. “Just tired,” you answer.

He hums. Willing to bet it’s more than just a bad night of sleep. Poor thing.

“Sor - I mean… I know I’m not supposed to…” you rub at your eyes, drooping.

He tilts his head. “Not s’posed to what?”

“Cry or-or be annoying or…”

He coos. “You’ve got all these rules for yourself, don’t you?”

You sniffle again, hugging yourself tightly as you shrug.

The hunter in Simon perks. There.

“Look’it.” He takes your chin between thumb and forefinger, guiding your gaze up to his.

You blink slowly, heavily, wet lashes sticking together.

“What sort of terrible world have you built up in your mind, hm?” he soothes. “Never told you not to do any of that, did I?”

You blink, confused and upset.

“N-no, I guess… not.”

“No,” he confirms. “You’re spun up so tight you’re starting to fray, little one.”

You shudder, swaying into him a bit. He used the movement to slide his hand to your jaw, massaging his thumb into the tight muscle by your ear.

“From now on, you only follow the rules I give you, yeah?” he says, low and quiet. “Dunno why you think I’m so mean. I won’t punish you if you don’t know better.”

You squeeze your eyes shut, as if trying to resist the hypnotic lull of letting someone else think for you. But you still lean into his palm.

“How’s this,” he offers, “if you’re ever unsure, you ask me. Wont get mad at you for asking. Yeah?”

And finally, that wire twisted up between your shoulder blades loosens.

“Yes, sir.”

Johnny comes home with a chocolate cupcake. Simon approves it before sending him to you, decompressing on the couch with a cuppa.

You blink as Johnny drops heavily to his knees, placing the packaged cupcake in your hand.

“Lass, I’m sorry for bein’ so rough,” he begins, bowing his forehead to your knees. “Dinnae mean to, but I still upset ye, interrupted dinner when ye were workin’ so hard.” He tilts his face up, hitting you with the full force of his apologetic blue eyes. “Forgive me?”

You mouth parts, genuine shock washing over your features. “Y-yeah, Johnny, of course. I know you didn’t mean to. I was just having a bad day.”

But that doesn’t mollify him.

“I couldnae tell. You were just… goin’ on as usual.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

You set your tea aside to place your hand over his, trying to reassure him. But Simon knows his pup and you’ve just unwittingly put a thorn in his paw.

“I’ll get back to dinner now.” You lean in, drop a kiss to Johnny’s furrowed brow. “Thank you for apologizing. And the cupcake.”

Johnny stands with you. “At least let me help proper this time?”

You smile, though it’s tinged with exhaustion. “Sure. C’mon.”

Simon takes his place at the counter again and keeps a careful eye on you both. Things are a lot smoother this time round. Johnny follows your quiet instructions, happy to be useful. You seem to settle with dinner plans back on track.

Once everything is set to slow cook, Simon herds you and Johnny back to the den.

“Pick a movie, lamb.”

You blink from the corner of the couch you’ve curled up in. “Me?”

“You.”

You seem so surprised that you just blurt out a title. Simon hums and queues it up while Johnny all but interrogates you for the plot. As the opening scenes flicker across the screen, you snuggle in further, even tugging a blanket off the back of the couch to bundle up on.

Johnny shoots you a longing look - you’re too engrossed in the movie - so Simon snags him by the back of the neck and tucks him into his side.

You fall asleep two-thirds of the way through, but Simon lets you. Likes watching you breathe, face soft and smooth. Can’t for the life of him even recall what’s on the telly.

That night, after a quiet (but peaceful) dinner, and everyone’s showers, Simon ushers Johnny to the room he usually shares with you. Hope flickers across the pup’s face, confusion and trepidation across yours.

“In the middle, Johnny,” Simon rumbles. “The little one by the window.”

You and Johnny comply, cuddling in. Simon takes the side closest to the door, grunting a bit when Johnny instantly clings on.

“Is this the new arrangement?” Johnny asks eagerly.

“Go to sleep,” Simon answers.

He grumbles, but settles in. On the other side of the bed, there’s a bit of shuffling. Then your voice whispering, “Good night.”

#cod #my writing #fanfiction #reader fic #dark fic #mean simon ghost riley #mean simon #john soap mctavish x reader #simon ghost riley x john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley x reader #ghoap x reader #panic attack #tw gaslighting

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mo-mode · 4 months

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Back on my Screenwriter soap box while watching PJO: They should have bought a bunch of oil diffusers.

(Edit: This post was made before someone pointed out to me that I missed a key line of dialogue, but my points and theories still stand for the same reasons backing up my original post so I’m not changing anything. The dialogue I missed lets us know that Hermes told Percy the lotus was being pumped into the air off-screen. It’s also implies (? I’m still on the fence about this one?) that Hermes told him what day it is, but I missed these during my first three watches because of how quick and vague it was. Which actually kind of supports my point on why visual indicators are so important. Without these, it’s easy to miss key information. And remember, it’s a kid’s show. ANYWAY my conclusions haven’t changed, and I still believe these edits would work better than the quick line of dialogue so just keep this in mind. Thanks.)

(I’m not being nit-picky. I swear. Just hear me out.) So the weirdest thing to me in episode six was how Percy just…learned everything so quickly without any visual indicators? Like they know time passed because it’s dark outside, but how did he know it was Thursday? They know they were affected by the lotus flowers, but how does he know it was pumped into the air? This irked me because even if he’s smart enough to figure some of this out himself (which he is) we as the audience should still be able to follow his thought process instead of learning after the fact.

What if there were oil diffusers?

So imagine the trio walks into the Lotus, figures out this is like the Odyssey, and decides not to eat anything. They waltz in super confident that they cracked the code, but they were wrong. How do we know? Because the moment they enter the crowd, we get an establishing shot of a lotus-branded oil diffuser letting out steam.

Immediately, we as the audience realize their mistake, making it just that more tantalizing to watch. As the episode continues, we realize they’re everywhere. There’s a diffuser in the plants, on the counter, between the game tables, always right out of the corner of our eyes. They just keep churning out lotus-scented oil into the air, which we can infer because we’re smart. (Remember that.)

Now when Percy realizes what’s going on, we know HOW they’re doing it and HOW Percy knows without being told!! Because they were there the whole time.

Onto Thursday.

Consider: A watch.

What if Hermes has the only watch in the casino until the trio walks in with their own?

Let’s give Annabeth one of those cheap, funky watches that gives the time, day, month, year, etc. Something you get from a kids toy catalogue. It’s waterproof, glows in the dark, has an alarm or whatever. I feel like Annabeth would have one of those. (And honestly, she might already. I forgot.) The most important feature for us, though, is the day. It clearly tells us the day of the week.

It’s pretty easy to establish that Annabeth has the watch. Just do it the same way they establish the date: Percabeth arguing over it in the truck. Annabeth shows him the watch. Establishing shot of the watch’s face. That’s it. No bells or whistles necessary. Then when they get to the casino, Annabeth checks it one more time (without an establishing shot, she just does it casually) and they walk in.

(It’s so easy. I promise.)

While Grover is walking around alone, he tries to check the time and realizes there’s no clocks. (Which ngl is super common in casinos already, but it’s creepy nonetheless.) Yada yada, he gets sucked in by Augustus and that’s how he gets got.

Meanwhile, Percy and Annabeth keep meaning to check the time, but every time they do, someone tries to hand them an appetizer or a drink, which makes them forget OR Annabeth’s hubris keeps her from checking. (Percy: Time check? Annabeth: Its only been five minutes. We’re fine. We need to focus.)

And that brings us to Hermes. After their chat, yada yada, Annabeth “leaves” and Hermes gets all cryptic, then he makes a BIG show of checking his watch, and THAT’S when Percy realizes something’s wrong because oh no they haven’t checked the time. So he finds Annabeth, they see it’s dark outside, they check her watch, and it’s Thursday.

“But we didn’t eat anything!” Annabeth says. Percy looks at the diffusers by the entrance. It dawns on him. “They’re pumping it into the air.”

That’s how you VISUALLY SHOW US THINGS instead of Percy just figuring everything out off-camera and telling us!!!!

Now, you may be thinking “Oh but do they have the budget for that??” Do you know how cheap these props are? Just bulk buy like six oil diffusers, slap a homemade sticker of a lotus flower on them, and keep moving them into every shot. And they’re quiet!! They wouldn’t interfere with the sound, the steam is visible enough to be caught on camera without messing with the lighting, they actually look really cool in some lighting, and they fit the atmosphere of a hotel/casino!! Then the watch is like $15, fits with Annabeth’s character, and totally matches her outfit.

It’s CHEAP! It’s EASY! It DOESN’T CUT INTO THE RUN TIME! It’s AESTHETICALLY PLEASING! ANNABETH GETS A SICK WATCH!! NO DOWNSIDES!!!!

The biggest problem with this show isn’t how accurate it is to the book or how much money they have or that they’re “Disney-fying” it. The problem is they are TELLING US things instead of SHOWING us. And not to beat a dead horse because everyone’s heard of “Show Don’t Tell” but like??? This is exactly why everyone is taught this over and over again in school?? Because people still do it anyway all the time???

There’s also something else I learned (or really just picked up) when I got my B.A. in Creative Writing: Good shows are predictable.

Whether it’s a case of the audience learning what’s going to happen before it happens or them watching the show again and realizing how obvious the answer was the whole time, audiences always want to feel smart. They want to interact with the material. If you don’t give them the opportunity to pick apart the mystery themselves by setting down clues, they’ll give up on interacting with the show and lose interest. That’s why you SHOW them things. There are several moments where this show is completely unpredictable, not because it’s complex but because it doesn’t let you predict it. That doesn’t make it bad—the comedy and character development is doing a great job of carrying the show’s weight so far. But it definitely doesn’t make the show good.

It’s like Rube Goldberg machines. Or dominoes! We don’t watch those crazy 1000+ domino videos so we can watch the last one fall. We watch it to see HOW they fall. Take one domino out, and it’s unsatisfactory. It doesn’t work anymore.

But some oil diffusers and a watch??? Little clues that make the realization that more visually appealing??? THAT’S SATISFYING

Anyway, these are just two things that could have been done, but weren’t. Most of the show is stellar. I think it just needs a little bit of editing here and there. I studied this for like years, and I needed to get this off my chest. That’s it.

Rick Riordan, if you ever see this, I am available for hire :) I would love to be a script doctor please please please please

#THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME YOU DONT UNDERSTAND #I swear I can be so helpful Rick #hire me #i’m a screenwriter i promise i’m legit #btw this is NOT an opportunity to say you hate the show in the notes I will find you #percy jackson #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo tv show #percy jackson tv show #pjo spoilers #percy jackson the lightning thief #pjo series #screenwriting #grover underwood #annabeth chase #hermes

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 10 days

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A Guiding Hand 3

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, parental neglect, depression, inference of self harm, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: your online academics are affected by your personal struggles but your professor won’t let you give up so easy.

Characters: Raymond Smith, Lee Bodecker in the background

Note: happy sunday.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

You stop in the openness of the library. Just ahead is the long counter that arcs in front of the windows that look into an office space lined with desks. There are monitors facing away from you, those meant for the librarians and their assistants, and along the far edge, a sign denotes the stations meant for self-checkout.

You always thought of coming down but never found the energy. Besides, you wouldn’t want to borrow books that could be ruined at home. Beyond that, venturing into public has never been a simple task for you. You go for biweekly trips to spend the food credits on groceries and that’s about it.

Your eyes skitter around frantically. You hear the babble of children in the kids’ section with its bright colourful chairs and couches and a table of toys for the tots. You quickly surpass it and wander into the stretch of tables and chairs by the reference section. You put your bag down on a chair and sit next to it, folding your hands on the table then pulling them back into your lap.

You look over at the wall of tall windows that look out into a narrow strip of foliage. The brick walls are covered in thickly woven vines and birds flit in and out of the leaves. It’s pretty. You feel entirely out of place here.

You check the time on your digital watch. Almost ten. You can at least tick the early box, even though you might fall short of everything else.

You twiddle your fingers and keep your head down. Your toes tap in your sneakers and you fidget as the time ticks on. What if he doesn’t come? What if you’re not worth it? Should you check your email?

As you reach your bag, a figure approaches the table from the other side. You retract your arm and peer up at the man as he sets a leather briefcase on the wooden surface. Professor Smith nods at you and greets you by name. You feel like you should stand to greet him.

He offers his hand as you struggle to get to your feet. You tremble as you hesitantly accept the gesture. You don’t touch people and they certainly don’t touch you. It’s only a handshake. His grasp is firm and his skin slightly rough. Your hand feels weak and tiny in his confident grip.

He let you go as your fingers tingle, “good morning.”

“Morning, Professor, er, sir,” you stutter dumbly.

“Please,” he pulls out the chair on his side and you lower yourself back to the seat. “How are you today?”

“Mm, okay...” you swallow dryly, “er... you?”

You almost cringe. It must be rude to forget that. You’re not so use to interaction and you’re certain it shows.

You cross your arms over the table as his cheeks twitch and he smooths back his blond hair, “good, good,” he answers in his edged accent, “lovely sunshine today.”

“Erm, yeah, uh...” you don’t know what to say or do.

You close your eyes and reproach yourself. You must look totally lost. You drag your bag into your lap and unzip it. You take out your notebook and fish around for the chewed bic pen. You flip back the cover and flutter the pages, looking for a blank one. Your conscious of every single move you make as you feel his gaze on you.

“Right, so, I suppose you’re eager to be done with it,” he begins, “was their particular activities you found challenging? Maybe a formula in particular--”

“No, I... I think I got it but...” you twirl the pen and try to look at him. You get as far as the knot of his tie, the rest of it tucked beneath a sweater that seems rather much given the weather. “I just... fell behind. I’m s-sorry.”

“Well, that’s fine. It happens. So, if you can do the work, I can wait on it,” he assures you. “I’m not here to reprimands, that hardly fruitful for either of us. I want us to come to an accord. Let agree on a course of action.”

“Oh, alright,” you answer stuntedly, “well, I guess if I start Coursebook Four tonight I could have it done by—by Monday?”

“That’s a good first step,” he encourages as he pushes his glasses up his nose, drawing your eyes up to his. They are icy blue but not cold. “I like it. Setting your own goals. I find for some, it’s more effective than tossing a bunch of dates at them.”

“Thanks, professor, I... I really appreciate you... doing this,” you can’t help the shame that seeps into your voice. He pities you, you know it. You can see it in his face so you put your focus back to the table.

“Mm, given your...situation I think it’s understandable,” he says, “not easy to work in a racket.”

“Professor,” you put your hand to your forehead, dipping your head to hide behind it.

“Very concerning to hear,” he says, “and to think of a young woman in that environment.”

“Just my mom and her boyfriend. They don’t bother me.”

“Seems they do with all that yelling.”

“I-- I guess but—I—I need to use the bathroom,” you stand up and sway, “sorry.”

"As you will," he allows lightly, "I'll be here."

He sits back and checks his watch. It's much nicer than your plastic casio. You nod and sidle out from between the chair and the table. You shuffle away, only looking for a sign as you come out next to the front counter. You have to turn back to get to the bathrooms, your clueless meandering adding to the heat in your cheeks.

You lock yourself in a stall and try to muster the strength to come back out. Why did you come here? You feel so much worse sitting across from that man. Look at him. How could he not judge you?

You take and breath and try to shake away the anxiety. Someone else comes in and you make yourself leave. You wash your hands and steel yourself for another delve into the general public. You emerge and stop before the room of tables.

Professor Smith sits patiently across from your things. You round the table and close your notebook, sliding the pen back in the spiral. You chew your lip and slide it into your bag.

“I will have Assignment Four done like I said,” you speak barely above a whisper.

“Sounds great,” he stands as well, “I must thank you for going to the trouble of meeting me here today. I do find virtual appointments hardly have the same... effect. Might I buy you a coffee for the inconvenience?”

“A coffee? I... no, that’s--”

“Or a tea?” He suggests.

“Professor, um, no, that’s okay.”

“I insist,” he says, “I saw a cafe on my way in. Just on the corner.”

“I didn’t... bring my wallet.”

“As I said, my treat,” he intones, “don’t worry, we won’t be talking business.”

“Erm,” you sniff and slant your mouth one way then the other, “well, I...” you hate to keep saying no, it’s starting to feel rude. “Sure, er, okay, thanks.”

“My pleasure,” he gestures you ahead of him, “ladies first.”

You sling your bag on your shoulder and step past the table. You cross the library floor and tread by the curved counter. As you come to the doors, he quickly gets ahead of you and pushes the door open, holding it for you. He’s polite, almost to a stifling degree.

The sunshine you casts a yellow haze, warming the dark fabric of your hoodie. You descend the steps and he catches up to you, keeping pace as he stays at your side. He points you to the left, “this way.”

You obey and feel the brush of his sleeve against yours. Pedestrians across the street seem to stare at you. No doubt they can see how you don’t belong with that man. Him in his prim outfit; his sweater pulled over a tidy collared-shirt and tie, and his glasses denoting and air of professionality. But you, in your wrinkled hoodie and jeans, must make a paltry contrast to the man.

“Right ahead,” he nudges the back of your arm gently before you can veer in the wrong direction, “would you like to sit outside? It’s beautiful out and I see a free table.”

“Er, if you like,” you shrug and cross your arms, “you really don’t have to...”

“I want to,” he assures as you come up to the patio area before the corner cafe, “please, you find a table and I’ll go inside. What would you like?”

You stop just beside the short wooden fencing that block off the seating area. Tea is usually cheaper. You’d rather not stretch his pity past a few dollars.

“Black tea.”

“Milk?” He asks.

“No, thanks.”

“Sugar?” He arches a brow.

“Just tea.”

“Ah, got it,” he dips his chin, “I will return. Please, have a seat.”

He turns on his heel and as he struts up to the front door, you search the patio. You find a table for two near the wall. You won’t be centre stage there. You put your bag under the chair and sit with your back to the street.

What are you doing? You could leave now. You could just go home. You came to talk about your schoolwork. So why are you here getting tea with this man? You need to go home and get started on it. You hang your head and lean back in the chair, arms folded as you gnaw your chapped lip.

The voices of the patrons around you buzz in the air. You catch snippets of conversations; excitement over a date they just had, or complaints about their work life, and even the low murmurs of intimate partners cooing at each other. Life is all around you, happening to other people but you remain in your corner.

You wince as Professor Smith returns. He places a porcelain cup before you. One you can’t just run off with. He sits across from you as you look up.

“Thank you, sir,” you utter as you sit up.

“Not at all,” he blows over his mug, a dark coffee with a thin layer of foam around the sides. You can smell it. “I do get curious,” he sets the steaming cup own, “about my students. Teaching from a screen can be rather disconnecting. I meet all sorts in my work but you... I didn’t see your name in the introductory forum.”

You look evasively at the brick wall. You untangle your arms and pinch the tag of the tea bag dangling over the brim. You shrug.

“I must’ve forgot to post.”

“Ah, never to worry, I won’t dock marks for it,” he kids, “so, you live with your mother.”

You nod and your eyes drop to the table.

“She must be proud.”

You tear the tag from the string and it recoils and falls into the tea.

“Proud?”

“Yes, well, you’re going to school. It’s not nothing.”

“Yeah, but...” it goes without saying; you’re not doing very well.

“Like I said, you’ve shown you can do the work, so do it,” he intones.

“I know.”

“What made you choose this program?”

“I don’t... know.”

“Well, you seem to have a natural affinity for numbers. Did anyone ever mention it?”

“I guess,” you lift the cup by the handle and blow over the top. You cautiously taste it and burn yourself nonetheless. You put it back down and cover your singed lip, the tip of your tongue pulsing.

“You alright?” He asks.

You nod furiously.

“Mm, well, I must admit, I am rather bad at subterfuge. This is a bad ploy,” he sits back, one hand on the table as he taps his index against his thumb, “I’d rather you take your time with the tea and not only for the sake of your tongue. I... hoped to keep you busy so that you needn’t return home so quickly. To that.”

“That?”

“What I overheard,” he says.

“Oh, I told you--”

“It may be usual for you but it doesn’t make it any safer,” he interjects. “I don’t know if you saw the email but I sent some resource you might look into. Grants. Some for housing. You could extricate yourself. You should.”

You’re breathless. It’s humiliating. How pathetic you must be in his eyes.

“I didn’t come to embarrass you,” he leans forward and slides his hand across the table.

You turn your head and gulp, the lump in your throat suffocating. Your nose tingles as your face scalds. You shudder and push your shoulders up.

“You’re a bright young woman, I only thought I might...” he struggles to find words, “well, I did not begin as a professor. I did not even start as some high and above pupil. No, I was a miserable lad. Barely made it through my first year but... all I’m saying is I might not have been where you are, but I get it.”

Your lashes flutter as you fight back tears. You’re so tired of crying. You’re exhausted of feeling this way. No matter what you do or where you are, you just feel like you don’t belong.

You look at your watch, “I’ll have to go soon.” You won’t even come up with a lie. You need to go before you break down completely.

He sighs, “right.”

#raymond smith #dark raymond smith #dark!raymond smith #raymond smith x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #a guiding hand #series #the gentlemen

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flower-boi16 · 1 month

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”you want everything to be spelt out to you!” “The show doesn’t need to explicitly spell it out for you!” “You can just infer it!”

This is the exact same defense I always get whenever I argue with Viv fans when I criticize Viv’s piss-poor writing. And the thing is this IS true; shows don't need to explicitly spell things out to the audience, as there are conclusions that the viewer can draw on their own without having to be explicitly told by the text, usually by the text giving direct hints to that explanation.

The problem is that Viv fans' definition of inferring isn't "drawing conclusions on our own with direct explicit hints given from the text that is the canon explanation the story wants you to come to" it's "making shit up to try and explain and/or justify Viv's terrible writing".

There are three times where I got this defense when arguing with HH/HB fans all three times I lost several brain cells in the process.

The first time was in a discord server where I posted an HB episode tier list and put Truth Seekers in C tier (the mediocre one). One of users commented on this and I explained my reasoning why I thought the episode was meh. One of these reasons was the plot hole of why the Dhorks didn't send the footage they already had to the government.

The user then countered that with "how do you know didn't send that old footage?". Well, the reason why I know that is because the episode gives no actual indication that they sent it, and when I said that the user countered that with "because there was also no indication that they didn't send the footage". And then after that the argument spiraled into both of us repeating the same counterarguments over and over again.

The user says that it's logical for the audience to assume they sent the footage because it's the logical thing to do cuz why would they keep it. Which, ok, you can assume that they did send the footage but there's no indication of that within the story. This does not change the fact that this is an unanswered question that the story itself didn't answer, did they or did they not send the footage?

That's a pretty important question to answer and the show can't just leave it there. And then the user tells me "you don't need to be told, Its in your face how they act". There is no way to infer if they did send the footage because the story gives a SINGLE hint that they do, and the story DOES need to say if it they sent it or not.

This is not inferring. This is making shit up to explain Viv's writing for her. Did they or did they not send the footage? This is a big question that the episode does not answer even though this is a major plot hole and it can't just leave it hanging there for fans to just guess. The episode gave no indication that they sent the footage, so I have no reason to believe that they did. You can't infer ANYTHING from this.

This explanation is simply something made up, not a conclusion that's given direct hints from the show. If the next never said it happened, it did not fucking happen. This assumption is literally just headcanon.

The next argument was from an ask I got calling me media literate for my point about how fans shouldn't have to create fan theories to explain Viv's writing for her and Viv should explain her world-building herself. It stated that the explanation for why sinners are confined to the pride ring (making the exterminations more efficient/easier) is the clear explanation that the show doesn't have to spell out because 1) The show says that there are annual exterminations which aren't viable without the confinement and 2) Lucifer gets control over which ring his subjects go to.

Both of these explanations suck, here's why.

The exterminations simply being there does not explain the confinement. Also, this explanation doesn't work to begin with as I've talked about before

Lucifer having control over where he sends his subjects to doesn't inherently explain why he sends them to the pride ring specifically.

The "sinners are confined to the pride ring to make exterminations easier" was a fan theory created by the fans to explain this because the show itself didn't bother giving an answer. That's bad world-building.

The show itself needs to explain these things rather than having fans create explanations for it. There isn't any way to infer that because the show never once gives any hints that this is the reason. And, like I said before, the explanation doesn't even work anyway.

There is no way to infer why the sinners are confined to the pride ring at all, this explanation is once again a headcanon. But when I pointed this out, the anon said that I just want everything spelled out for me.

The third and final instance of this is with our good ol friend truffhollowell. Ya know, the person who's been going around on Hazbin critical posts spouting nothing but complete bullshit.

This argument was under this post about why Vaggie's turn around made 0 sense. In the post truff tried countering my argument with "uuuuh, actually, not all murderers are heartless monsters!" even though that is explicitly what the exorcists are shown to be.

They then go around and say that Vaggie could've been thinking "how could a child end up in hell" and she realizes Heaven's corrupt systems and develops her own identity (at least that's what I remember them saying since they deleted all of their replies once they lost the argument lmao)....even though there is NO indication within the show that this is what's happening.

This is not inferring. This is just a headcanon. But truff says that you CAN infer it because...child murder is bad...

...umm...WHY TF WOULD THE EXORCISTS GIVE A SHIT IF CHILD MURDER WAS BAD IF THAT CHILD IS A FUCKING SINNER????? And THEN they hit me with that same fucking claim of "oh, you want shows to spell things out for you!".

Ya, well, guess what, I can't infer any of this because that's not what's happening. This is not what's happening in the scene, this is just a headcanon truff made up.

There's more to their arguments than just that but that was the general point they were making.

I'm so sick of always getting this stupid-ass defense because NO, I DON'T want everything spelled out for me, I want things to actually make sense. I'm looking at specifically what the text itself is saying, the information that it gives out and what's happening within the show.

Not your headcanon you made up to explain Viv's terrible writing. None of these explanations are people infering things based on direct evidence from the show. They are just headcanons/theories with nothing in the text hinting towards it.

So, to anyone who is going to give me the "you can just infer it yourself!" excuse to defend these shows whenever I criticize them...

Shut the fuck up.

#vivziepop critical #hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critical #vivziepop criticism #helluva boss criticism #hazbin hotel criticism #arguing with viv fans is a headache inducing nightmare #sorry #I just wanted to vent about this #because it's SO FUCKING ANNOYING getting this same argument over and over again whenever I complain about Viv's shit writting

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etirabys · 4 months

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What were the major factors for you in deciding whether to have kids?

Unwillingness to forego one of the most intense and unique human relationships possible: "The key to the sociobiology of mammals is milk. Because young animals depend on their mothers during a substantial part of their early development, the mother-offspring group is the universal nuclear unit of mammalian societies."

When I was younger, my major objection to having kids was that it would interfere with my career. I cared a lot about my career and looked forward to transitioning from a student who worked really hard and excelled in classes to a professional who worked really hard and excelled in the workplace and also earned a boatload of money. But then it turned out that I wasn't a hard worker, I just loved studying and taking exams. I don't have a career or the relationship to a career I envisioned, so that's the major obstacle removed.

Seven years ago, I went to a meetup hosted by an economist who liked historical reenactments. His three adult children were in SCA garb, served the guests food from a medieval Persian cookbook, and sat around arguing with him (and the rest of us) about economics. It was my first encounter with a family where the children shared interests with their parents and talked like peers. It fundamentally changed my mind on what families could look like.

Similar story: I visited my friend's family two years ago, and stayed in his teen daughter's room because there had been an in-house auction to determine whose room would go to the guest. She won and was monetarily compensated for it. In addition to having another example of a Relatable Family Where The Members Actually Like Each Other, I found my friend and his spouse's financial philosophy appealing and will be compensated for pregnancy and childcare by my spouse. 20% of my objection to having kids was objection to the financial arrangements of traditional marriage (which imo fucked over both of my parents when their relationship broke down... but more so my mom), so it shifted me on the kids issue to see & adopt a financial arrangement that to me feels more autonomy-preserving, egalitarian, and respectful of my labor and opportunity costs.

I knew I didn't want to be pregnant, didn't particularly like infants, didn't want to interact with toddlers for more than an hour (I like them but get very fatigued and have to go lie face down to recharge), which seemed like a good argument to not have kids. But I also simulated being 70 and childless and it felt distinctly bad. Among other reasons I noticed for the first time that I want a connection to the coming generations, which was startling.

It was hard not to notice that the giant would make an excellent dad, and also that we have complementary skill sets and preferences qua parents.

I read "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids" after I'd already decided to have kids, but when I was discussing the decision with friends, multiple of them brought the book up. Its basic argument is that we (I suppose I mean Americans and East Asians here) invest in our children well past the point where it matters, which increases the quality of life difference between parents and nonparents, which sucks because lots of people would enjoy raising kids if the unnecessary expectations were dropped. Once I actually read the book I found it suspect (I stopped reading when Caplan described a study and then drew an inference that didn't logically follow), but the conclusion seems true based on observation and common sense. My own parents and I had a lot of conflict over piano lessons because proficiency in an instrument was expected in their milieu. My mom regularly fought me to make me eat breakfast (to this day I don't eat in the morning, my body just isn't made for that) even though it would have been fine to send me off to school with a banana to tide me over until lunch. People trade away health and career points to breastfeed even though the evidence is shaky that it matters. My sister is pursuing a zero screen policy with her child and said this choice significantly increases work and emotional toll. Once I noticed I was the type to be an overworked neurotic parent and that I'd priced my own terrible personality in when simulating how hard childrearing would be, I also noticed I could (with effort) not be that person and have an easier time. So my expectations of parenting changed.

#rambl #dashreplies #parenting #about #I admit I'm also really worried about screens.#but mostly I worry about the interactable apps and the children's video ecosystem. tv seems fine. i'll do more research when it's relevant

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lavenderxskys · 1 year

Text

i dont believe in love at first sight... but god-damn - part one

pairing: buck barnes x reader

summary: its not normal for bucky to instantly feel something for a women. but you're just too good to ignore...

includes: strangers to lovers, inferred female reader (pronouns, descriptions, etc), implied smut?, alcohol intoxication, drinking, steve rogers ofc, story doesnt really follow any movie plots so no spoliers!, all characters are of drinking age, pet names?: sweetheart, doll

the night has barely even started and you're already halfway drunk, laughing over the loud music with your friend at the bar. your best friend, steve, orders another round and turns to you.

"are we just gonna sit here all night or are you finally gonna find someone to go home with?" steve cocks his head playfully and smiles, his obvious playful demeanor poking right through.

you roll your eyes, taking a sip of your drink, "psh. you really think anyone here wants me? plus we're in the bad part of town, i'd probably get murdered."

"not necessarily, i know plenty of good people that go here often. and you know, actually, i think today's the day that my friend bucky comes and grabs a couple drinks."

you smile, "ahh the infamous bucky, i would love to meet him, he's all you used to talk about after all."

steve agrees with you that if bucky shows up he'll introduce you, so you lay back on the drinks just in case you like the guy.

an hour or so pass with you a steve laughing about god knows what and getting excited when one of you twos favorite songs play. you almost forget you might be meeting bucky when steves face lights up towards the door and waves.

"hey bucky! over here!" steve motions for bucky to join the two of you.

you turn around and your heart pounds, the man walking over is gorgeous, even the way he walks over to the two of you sends heat to your face.

buckys not so quick to notice you, more focussed on asking his friend why he's here. but when he finally notices you, his sentence falters. his eyes travel to all parts of you, your hair framing your face perfectly, and the way your outfit showed off the features of your body had him almost drooling. he looks away quickly though, finishing his sentence.

steve smiles and nudges you with his shoulder, "y/n and i like to go here sometimes after work, gets the nerves to settle ya' know?"

bucky nods, turning his head to make eye contact with you, "y/n, huh? never heard of her, are you two..."

steve nervously laughs, "no,no. just friends. she is looking, though."

you roll your eyes, embarrassed. meanwhile, bucky is looking you over again, his own mind confused on why he's feeling this way.

steve exchanges a glance between the two of you, sipping his drink, "buttt i do know that buck is very 'hard to get' in that area so sorry y/n, he's probably not interested."

you gasp and shoot him a look, "i never said anything about being into him," you glance at bucky, "no offense."

"none taken sweetheart." your heart basically stops at the nickname, but you power through and take a sip of your drink while steve laughs.

"okay okay, sorry. how about we order some more drinks? gotta catch you up to speed james." steve smiles and orders more drinks for the three of you.

the drinks continue, so many rounds that you stopped counting after steve both you and bucky to the dance floor. the three of you danced pitifully, laughing whenever a new song played and the style of dance was altered.

after about twenty minutes of this, you left steve and bucky and sat down at a nearby booth, laying your head agasint the table, this hangover was gonna suck.

"tired already?" buckys deep voice sent shivers down your spine.

you lifted your head and groaned, "don't pay me any mind, i'm sure steve needs a dance partner." i look over to steve who's still going at it for whatever reason.

bucky scoffs a little, "you know hes not even drunk right? the sss makes it so he can't."

"of course i know, i think he has the placebo effect though, whatever makes him happy i guess." you smile, glad at least someone can have fun without the repercussions the next morning.

there's a moment of silence between the two of you. bucky looks down at you, wearing a subtle smirk that you can't decipher if it's a drunken one or something more than that.

bucky knows he feels something for you, but he's trying so hard to fight it.

james buchanan barnes does not believe in love at first sight.

but there you were, you're unmistakably stunning, every thing about you make bucky want more. all he knew was your name, and he still wanted you.

he clears his throat, using it as a way to clear his thoughts, "so you and steve, you guys aren't a thing? that's a surprise actually, the way he looks at you and all." there's a slight hint of jealously in his voice, even though he has no reason to be jealous.

you raise your eyebrow, baffled that someone would even think that, there's no way there's anything between the two of you, "we definitely are not a thing, steve's like my brother."

bucky nods and moves to sit down across from you, the intoxication beginning to mess with his head.

you giggle, "you and steve aren't a thing either?" you smile playfully.

"haha. you're funny." bucky says sarcastically, "no, we just go way back." he returns your smile, making your heart speed up.

you both can hear steve pleading the two of you to come back and dance. bucky makes eye contact with you then bursts out laughing, "i guess we should go and dance with him." he says between chuckles while he gets up and walks back to the dance floor. you sigh and follow him, a headache starting to form in your temples.

for whatever reason, captian america himself has amazing dance skills when it comes down to it. you and bucky cheer him on, joining in with him every so often. but it comes to the points where you're drunkenly swaying to the music, right against buckys front side.

you don't essentially realize how close you two are until you turn around and you're inches from his face.

you both pause for a beat, your breaths fanning out onto each others faces. bucky face is hot, whatever you did with your hips has his pants growing tighter by the second. but he holds himself together and hovers his hands above your waist.

"may i?"

you pause, but then nod, figuring it was harmless. he places his hands on your waist, surprisingly gentle, and sways to the music with you.

steve laughs, "jeez that didn't take long, thank god." he winks and walks over to a group of girls that has just walked in.

before you know it, you and bucky are stumbling out of the bar, leaving steve behind. your lips are crashing together as the both of you try to make it to buckys car.

you're desperate at this point, the alchol making you want to commit all types of unholy. you hold on the the collar of his shirt, kissing him deeply.

"now hold on doll, this is a public parking lot, let's go somewhere more private." you reach the car and bucky unlocks it, opening the car door for you.

you slide in and he closes the door, walking over the the other side and getting in.

bucky starts the car and starts to drive off, not worried about his drunken state. his right hand leaves the steering wheel and finds your thigh.

inching higher. and higher.

at this point you've lost your breath, biting your lip as your senses light up, little fireworks going off in your body.

finally, bucky pulls off onto a back road and stops the car, his hands moving further up onto your waist, pulling you over to his side and pulling you into another deep kiss.

his hands find your thighs again and your heart pounds, grinding down on his lap.

bucky chuckles, "needy are we? let me help you out then, sweetheart."

a/n: there is gonna be a part twooo so stay tuned for that

im not very good at writing the slow shit so i apologize if this is really boring but i think i'll improve in the next part because it is my area of expertise...

also dont drink and drive folks

#fanfic #marvel #bucky x female reader #bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #winter soldier #james buchanan barnes #steve rogers #the winter soldier #smut #marvel mcu #avengers #mcu #bucky smut #james bucky buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #captain america

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seabirdtxt · 11 months

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Event batch 6

We're finally here! Last batch of event requests, I can't believe how many amazing ideas you guys trusted me to write for you! 🤭🩵 thank you all for being here and supporting my little fics!

🩵 Check out my other event requests! 🩵

All three of these are part of the same request, by @resident-cryptid 🩵🤗 an exploration of the SAGAU archons that aren't Zhongli, and the regret of their own actions!

SAGAU!Venti - Imposter AU, angst, on-screen violence, Creator does reincarnate

SAGAU!Ei - Imposter AU, angst, on-screen violence, torture, Creator does not reincarnate

SAGAU!Nahida - Imposter AU, angst, off-screen violence, Creator’s post-death status unknown

----- ⚘ -----

SHAKE

The wind never lies. That’s the only thought that runs through Venti’s head as he chases the impostor through the Whispering Woods. The wind is the origin of all speech, of stories and truths and whispers under your breath. The people who speak can tell falsehoods as much as they please, but the wind itself will never lie.

Which is why Venti doesn’t know what to do with his own heart when the wind tells him that the person on their hands and knees crawling away from him, because he’d shot both of their heel tendons with his impeccable accuracy, is the true Creator.

But Venti has his orders, and he has his bow, and he lifts the weapon with shaking hands as he takes aim. You plead to him in a language he doesn’t understand, and the tears that fall from your agonized expression shimmer like crystals as they fall to the ground. You drag yourself further, leaving furrows in the dirt.

A turquoise arrow pins your left hand to the underbrush, and you let out another shriek of pain. The universal language of all living things. Venti’s stomach churns.

Another arrow grazes your cheek as you turn your head to beg him for mercy, and though Venti is not usually one to drag something like this out there’s just something clawing at the back of his mind that wants him to stopstopstopstOPSTOPSTOP-

The next arrow does not miss its mark, but only just. There is a scream both in the air and deep within Venti’s skull as the arrow pierces the side of your neck. The sensation is debilitating, it sends the bard to his knees and he holds his head in both hands as he watches in horror as you writhe and suffer from the poor shot, pulsing dark red through the wound rather than the merciful shot he’d been trying for.

It’s almost a relief when you finally expire, the screaming cuts off abruptly from all sources and Venti collapses on his hands in relief. There’s nothing as he watches your body turn to glittering dust, the wind sighing as if in relief. As if in pain.

The dust coalesces a few feet away, you. On your rump, you scoot away with all four intact limbs, gasping and trembling. The wind betrays its Archon as it sweeps you up in a whirlwind of twigs and leaves and raw Anemo, leaving Venti alone in the woods.

The worst part about atonement is people assuming you regret the wrong thing. When Venti returns to Mond with the revelation that the impostor has been killed, at the expense of his own powers, people believe he regrets having given up his elemental connection.

In truth, what he regrets most are the words he says and fails to say. He knows now, he thinks, that the true impostor is the one who ordered your death. The one he carried out. But, in order to protect you from others who would seek your end, the same way he sought it mere hours before, he needed to lie.

That’s when his voice fails, and his breath is stolen from him by the very Anemo he used to command. The tall tale he'd spend the entire journey back practicing? It never leaves his lips. For the first time in a long time, the bard is silent. He isn't sure he can ever speak again.

The people infer the outcome on their own, but Venti never tells them, because to say he killed an imposter would be a lie. And the wind, the air that freezes inside him and prevents him from blaspheming further, never lies.

----- ⚘ -----

RATTLE

Is it overkill to order the entire Shogunate forces to bring in the imposter? It’s been so long since EI had waged an honest war. The Raiden Shogun had overseen the VIsion Hunt Decree, leaving EI mostly out of the action, and being in command of the armies once more is a feeling that the Electro Archon had sorely missed.

Maybe it’s that feeling of elation that carries her as she leads the hunt herself, at the forefront of her army. It's no competition for who finds the imposter first, and Ei’s own hand clasps around the pathetic creature’s wrists as she leads them to the Tenryou detention center.

The heavily guarded detention center is cleared out of all prisoners save for one: the imposter, you.

There's a thrill under Ei’s artificial skin as she drags the point of her spear over the impostor's skin. In the low light of the prison cell, the blood that spills looks almost black.

“Tell me why you have impersonated our Creator,” Ei demands, easing up on the pressure of her blade momentarily. “What is your purpose? If you tell the truth, I will make what follows as painless as possible.”

You spit a wad of blood with a weak cough, a result of punctured lungs from earlier sessions. “I don’t- don’t know what you’re talking about…” you wheeze through gritted teeth, the same answer you’d given every other time you’d been asked the same question.

The room is dark, to prevent you from seeing shadows through your blindfold and guessing your gaoler's next move. You can hear her moving around you, but without the advantage of seeing her shadow you have no idea what she’s about to do.

“You are persistent,” Ei remarks coolly. “You would be commended for your perseverance in the face of danger, were you one of my own soldiers.”

The flat of her blade tilts your chin upward, making you strain your neck to avoid being decapitated.

“... Unfortunately, you are not one of my soldiers. And I tire of your incessant lies.”

You let out a bloodcurdling scream as Ei’s spear comes down with finality, piercing straight through your inner thigh and severing the artery there with deadly precision.

Ei watches almost dispassionately as you bleed out, mere seconds passing before you slump over, lifeless. With a single gesture, she commands for the torches to be lit once more.

The scene that greets her is horrific.

The dark blood she assumed was red is, in fact, a stunning deep gold. It’s splashed across every surface, decorating the room like foil leaf, and it pools under your body like a mirror, reflecting your empty, accusatory eyes back at her.

The realization strikes her like thunder. The bloodlust drains from her, directionless now that she finally spilled the blood she had unthinkingly demanded. The soldiers present witness as the usually stoic Archon crumples to her knees with a cry, palms clutching uselessly at the golden puddle as if she could put it back into your body with her own two hands.

What has she done? This is all her fault, if she’d only taken a moment to think deeper on her actions, if she’d lit the torches earlier, if she’d followed the instinct that roiled in her like a brewing storm, begging her not to do this…

This is all her fault. It’s Kitsune Saiguu all over again. It’s Makoto all over again. She paints your skin with your own blood, clumsy fingers trying to hold your wounds shut despite you already growing cold in her hands, until it disintegrates under her touch and you burst into thousands of shining particles. An unfelt breeze disperses your remains until every speck vanishes forever.

Ei gasps as something in her shatters, something she’d been trying to repair for such a long time. She retreats to the Plane of Euthymia, and leaves the confused Shogun puppet in her wake to deal with her mistakes.

----- ⚘ -----

ROLL

Nahida needs to know. She heard the rumors, she received the call to action, but she couldn’t be sure about the true intention of the so-called impostor.

What if it were simply an unfortunate circumstance? Surely it is to be expected, with the rate at which children are born in this world, that at least one or two lucky (or unlucky) people would be born with features similar to the Creator.

This, instead of ordering a manhunt, she requests that the forces of Sumeru retrieve the impostor and bring them in for questioning. She would hate for this to be the product of a divine misunderstanding, after all.

Or, maybe, she feels a strange kinship with the one who is accused of masquerading as a god. After all, didn’t Nahida also often feel as though she were but a mere replacement for another, better god? But that can’t be right, because Nahida has always been the Dendro Archon, and Irminsul would not lie to her.

It’s difficult to mass organize now that the Akashi system has been deprecated. Nahida’s orders are given via the matra, and spread to the various mercenary groups by letter or word of mouth. Somehow, along the way, the order is warped. Or, maybe, someone with an agenda purposefully gave the wrong order.

Which is why Nahida only hears about it happening secondhand, the letter finding her in her sanctuary, that the imposter has been caught and interrogated by Eremites somewhere in the Dharma forest. Dread seizes her, and she casts her consciousnesses out toward anyone familiar.

She finds the General Mahamatra on his way back to the city. In his mind, she begs the general to seek out this band of Eremites and prevent the loss of their prisoner. She impresses the importance that the prisoner be brought to her alive.

The swiftness at which Cyno travels is, unfortunately, not enough to prevent your demise. When he arrives at the scene, Nahida still riding behind his eyes, you have already been wrapped in a loose shroud, loaded onto the back of a cart to be taken into the city by sumpter beasts tomorrow morning. A shipment of one wanted criminal, dead or alive.

Nahida despairs in Cyno’s mind, feeling the world being overwritten. Knowledge seeps into the earth as the shroud covering you slowly deflates, your body evaporating into glittering particles.

As the keeper of wisdom, she is the first to know that you are not the impostor. In fact, she comes to the understanding quite quickly, as information filters directly through Irminsul and into her consciousness, that you might have been the only one who has kept their true face all along.

Venti embodying his dearest friend. Ei fashioning and possessing a puppet made in her sister’s image. Rex Lapis staging his own death to live as a human and cast off his responsibilities as a god.

And herself, who is a mere cutting from a larger, stronger, better plant. She remembers, now, the hopes that Lord Rukkhadevata had placed on her shoulders as she had entrusted the care of Sumeru to a lone, trembling leaf.

As all the world’s knowledge is restored, so too is the memory of the corruption returned to Irminsul, and Nahida isn’t sure what’s worse; knowing that she had let the Creator, you, die by her command? Or that your death may have placed her people in danger once more?

Is it selfish, she wonders, that she wishes she never had to know?

#self aware genshin #genshin sagau #sagau #genshin self aware au #genshin isekai #sagau impostor au #genshin imposter au #sagau cult au #genshin cult au #genshin venti #sagau venti #genshin ei #genshin raiden shogun #sagau ei #sagau raiden shogun #genshin nahida #sagau nahida #seabird.txt #birdy.thanks

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winters-rose-daughterofcain · 6 months

Text

Part 2 of Everlark and their parents lets go Peeta your turn now.

Now this one is harder. We know very little explicit information about Peeta's family so a lot of this will be inference and my own personal interpretation of the family and their dynamic based on what we do see, what we don't see, and the way Peeta acts, so if you disagree with me that's all good lol.

So first, Peeta grew up in an absuive household. That's not a debate that's explicitly canon. Him mother not only hits him, implied to be with something, but also calls him a worthless creature when he burns the bread for Katniss. No matter that circumstance that is not how you treat your eleven year old child, that is not how you treat any child period, and this clearly isn't a one off or first time. Even though we personally see very little of the abuse on page, I at least think its impact of Peeta is very clear.

This boy has abysmal self esteem, when he discovers Katniss and Haymich have hidden things from him again he feels as if they view him as weak and stupid and too dumb to get it, that's the automatic assumption even though we know that's so far from the truth it's laughable. But for a child that grew up being consistently insulted and belittled it's not that far of a jump to make.

His ability to lie, also I think is relevant here. That kind of ability with words doesn't come from nowhere, that doesn't just happen that's something practiced. A theme with Katniss and Peeta's talents throughout the trilogy is that even the things they are good at and that help them were born from necessity. Katniss is so good with a bow and practical survival skills because she had to be, because even though she grew to love hunting, she and her family would have died without it. Peeta's skill with art comes from working at the bakery it comes from years worth or practise and labor he put in as a child, and I think his ability to lie, manipulate, mask his true feelings and talk his way though things stems from a similar place. His mother is called 'the witch' colloquially, we see she clearly has a temper and resorts to violence and insults quickly. A lot of children who grow up in abuse grow to be very charming, they learn how to lie and manipulate the situation to get themselves out of trouble and to keep themselves and potentially their siblings safe. At least to me Peeta's unmatched ability to impact and morph a situation with just his words could very easily be linked back to his childhood. We all love that Peeta is such a good manipulator but only ever uses it for good, and I think this is partially why, because he doesn't even want to be necessarily, it was a skill born for survival. His mothers cruelty is also shown very much to not be reserved purely for him, she chases starving children away from their empty bins, speaks awfully about the seam and the people from it.

His father is a complicated man. he clearly dose have love for Peeta and is shown many times to be a kind man at his core. But he is passive. He may bring Katniss cookies and make generous trades, he may have been the one to impart that inherent kindness we see in him onto Peeta, and may have been the only safe adult in the house, but he is passive. We don't know the extent of how much he steps in when his wife starts acting out, but from what we can see of her effect of Peeta clearly not enough. He also doesn't come to live with him after the games, none of them do. And while I understand practically that might not be the most reasonable situation, a newly disabled, traumatised sixteen year old boy was still left to live alone. His family may have visited often, they still talk we see him going to dinner with them, but I think their lack of mention speaks more than anything else here.

The relationship between his parents was also not exactly the best model to grow up observing. When he is five years old his dad tells Peeta is was in love with another woman, he points out her child to him, explains how he lost her. There is no addendum of how much he loves his mother now, how it was in the past. Peeta grew up with parents he was acutely aware did not love each other and from what we see and here, don't even pretend to act like it.

Now how dose this relate to Katniss. This first part is more my own speculation so ignore me if you disagree, but Katniss in the first games mentions Peeta doing certain things with her she remembers her parents doing, and wondering where he learnt it from, thinking surely not his own parents. And I think she's right, I think he learnt it from hers. Peeta is observant, I think after his father pointed out Katniss and her mother he payed attention, not just to Katniss but to her parents as well. I think he was a little fascinated by this family, these parents who clearly adore each other these children with skin clear of bruises who have never been made to feel like nothing from there parents who clearly think the world of them. There was six years from when Peeta noticed her to Mr Everdeens death, that's six years for him to observe this family and their love. Not obsessively, not even knowingly, but I think it happened. I think the Everdeens weren't just Katniss's reference for a relationship but Peeta's as well. I don't think she was the only one drawing comparisons, even if he didn't completely realise what he was doing.

(Additional evidence for this pointed out by @intellectual-punk in Mockingjay Haymitch tells Katniss the doctors showed Peeta the propo of her singing The Hanging Tree and he recognized the song and Katniss says she doesn’t know how he could as he never heard her sing it. Haymitch says he remembers her father singing it as their fathers traded. Peeta hasn't heard this song since he was 11, he’s 17 at the time of remembering it. So for him to remembering it after so long after last hearing it and clearly not hearing it around the house we can imagine that her father must have sang it near every time the two men traded and that Peeta was either specifically listening to his singing as he knows from his father that that is how Mr Everdeen won over Mrs Everdeen or he was just generally paying attention to the man either on his own or in relation to Katniss.)*Found in notes {Thank you so much for this}

I also think, going back to people seeking out the familiar, that Katniss reminded him in certain ways of his father. They're both quiet, both people associated with providing food in one way or another. I think he see's her in the way that while they both clearly love him, they both struggle to show him, leaving him to question it for a long time. But where his father fails to protect him, Katniss doesn't. Katniss doesn't have his fathers passivity, far from it, Katniss Everdeen is anything but passive. She actively works to protect him and others, she speaks out loudly when she finds something wrong, she still has that kindness, but it never gets in the way of what's necessary.

This is also where I see his mother come in, I think he dose see some similarities there. In their tempter, in the sharp way they can use their words, in the way she underestimates him in the beginning and even hurts him on occasion, shoving him into the vase (I think?) and cutting his hands after the first interview. But in so many ways Katniss is the opposite. Peeta may have developed a crush because of her voice, but he falls in love because of the way she helps people, because he knows her intrinsically and intrinsically Katniss is someone who cares. He always comments on her healing ability, even if she finds it lacking it's clearly something he loves about her, hands that heal instead of hurt. His mother was cruel to everyone especially those less fortunate, meanwhile Katniss would give everything on her to those who need it more. He see's the similarities yes, and unconsciously that familiarity might be a small drive towards her, but ultimately he loves Katniss for the ways in which she is different from his mother, the ways in which his mother failed, for the ways in which she stepped in where his father fell short. As well as for a lot of other reasons of course, but I think his parents impact is definitely something to consider.

#peeta mellark #katniss everdeen #everlark #mr mellark #mrs mellark #the hunger games #thg #katniss and peeta #tw: abuse #part 2 #i love him so much #my love I'm sorry you didn't deserve that #they deserved so much better #character analysis

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volturissideslut · 2 years

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Can you do the guards meeting their human mate during New Moon when Bella goes to save Edward. Maybe their mate is Bellas sister or friend or something.

𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖎 𝖌𝖚𝖆𝖗𝖉

In this you're bellas sister. Also currently listening to Stephen Sanchez's album "what was, not now" and was vibing and a bunch of words came to my mind so enjoy my word vomit

also I keep accidentally clicking post instead of save draft so if its incomplete just wait a minute

Alec

Was actually zoned out until he glanced at you and his world came to a crashing halt

his banal daydreams freezing like an idle painting in the background as images of you and him for eternity consume him and in that moment all he knew was you

he was surprisingly content with that too and it's only after that that the situation dawns on him

you

oh glorious you

human

trapped between a vicious king and a vicious girl, all to consumed by an eternity of her own, about to trade her sister for her lover

Alec's stomach lurched as he dreamed up a perfect nightmare, one leaving him so inconsolable he was unable to contain himself for the first time in forever

heaving forward with a newfound desperation, he stops the swan girl he hadn't cared enough to learn the name on as a wrathful fire burned within him

they would not end his eternal love before he even got to know them, it would be a tragedy to great to bear

Marcus, gifed with the ability to see these eternal binds between lovers, halts Aro in his actions

reaching out his scarred and shaky hands, Aro grants Alec a favour - no doubt to be returned soon - and allows him to take you to his chaimbers

Jane

Jane - just the name sends shivers down the spine of those who know, those who have heard, and those who can guess

not you though

it confounds her that you can look at her with such soft curiosity as she leads your party to the overzealous throne room

surely you cannot feel the connection? human concepts of emotion are pathetically watered down compared to the theatrics of a vampiric spectrum of infatuated devotion to sickening abhorrence

one she has delivered the Cullens back to the king she let's it finally weigh on her - she has met her forever love

casting a glance to her master, she allows him into her mind with a simple touch and he immediately gratifys her allowing her two minutes only to pull yiu to the side eventually but for now she is needed

she has waited for you for forever, she can wait five minutes more; though she is surprisingly chipper, allowing a miniature smile to grace her features

unlike the usually sadistic ones, this one held a worlds worth of impatience as she would only take her eyes off of yiu for a minute at a time

though she could not touch you, she could not feel you, for now it was enough to listen to your heartbeat and know you were alive and had finally arrived

not that she'd ever tell you this, as for now she must remain stoic and not let your sister in on her little secret love

oh she couldn't wait to have you all alone away from that pest you call family

Demetri

Silence replaced his ever racing thoughts as a wonderous scent made itself prominently known in his mind

the opera of the elevator had left an era of awkwardness around the group bu still he found himself subconsciously inching further from his guard friend and more toward you, the source of his unbridled euphoria

without any hesitation his hand enclosed around your wrist as the elevator chimed and opened

neglecting to realise his meal was arriving at the castle, he practically dragged you to his chambered only interrupting his mission to give a sharp glare to Felix when he called for him

for now he just needs you

he needs to hold you close to his chest, wrapped tightly in your arms while he gently explains anything and everything to you

Felix would have to infer the situation for himself and tell the kings about his whereabouts

surely he his absence would be excused, he was not necessary for this one and the unforseen circumstance of meeting his mate needed to be accounted for. He would not allow her to witness the horrors of a trial before they had even spoken yet

Felix

Ignited deep within him, the fire and passion for his infitiy grows the moment he lays his eyes onto you

looking into your eyes was ethereal, a bond worth more that all the gems and treasures in the world growing deeper and deeper and the seconds pass

neither of you had said a word to each other and yet there was some agreement between the two of you that, be it God, the universe or whatever lays dormant behind the story's of the stars had placed you both on this earth for one reason: eachother

it was destiny in his eyes and perhaps even yours that you two would be each others infinities

the light in his eyes and the joy in his heart was rejuvenated the moment your eyes and souls connected and already he dreaded a life with you not by his side

any distance could not be far enough that he would do all withing his power to return to you

He could not care less about the other girl here for her mate- he has met his infinity and that was all that mattered to him now

okay wow this is an edit from about an hour later and I've stopped listening to the music and read it and I hate it

#twilight #twilight renascence #twilight saga #volturi #volturi guards #alec volturi #jane volturi #demetri volturi #felix volturi #x reader #hc #headcannons #volturissideslut

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haee-elia · 8 months

Text

spence-tober: day 14 - middle school teacher

pairing: middle school teacher!spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: in which you greet your new colleague who happens to be the same age as you

word count: 1634

warnings: fluff, awkward, its a meet cute

spence-tober masterlist

As you turn down the colorfully, painted hallway of the middle school classrooms, you spot an unfamiliar sight.

Usually so early in the morning, you were one of the few to be in the school and to your knowledge, you were the only middle school teacher who came so early to prep for the school day.

Carrying your tote bag and your large to-go coffee cup and dressed for the school day, your interest peaks as you spot a man sprawled out on the floor on his hands and knees, collecting a large amount of papers that had obviously escaped from his hands.

You rush down the hall, your flat shoes clicking on the tile of the hallway, and then set your stuff on the ground, bending down to help the man.

Even though his face is angled to the floor, the man looks to be about your age. His face is slightly flushed, you guess by embarrassment, but it’s a rather handsome face you can tell. He’s dressed in a nice button up with a cardigan over it and some nice slacks with some white vans on his feet. His brown hair is messy, but short enough that it doesn’t roam about around his face.

“Are you okay?” You ask, him, trying to search his face to see if he had slipped and fallen.

He looks up at you and gives you a small, shy, smile, “Yeah, I just tripped.” The tips of his ears turn a bit red.

“I didn’t fall.” He corrects, “But I did send all of these papers flying.” He chuckles, nervously, “Thank you, for the help,” He says, gesturing to the collection of papers you have gathered from around the hallway for him.

You shrug it off and offer him a kind smile of your own, “It’s no problem. Are you new to the school?” You inquire.

You, yourself, have been working as a middle school teacher at this school for about six years now, having started right after you graduated with your degree. You had interned as a student teacher in your last year of college to gain experience and then accepted the offer by your mentor to take her place when she retired.

The man nods and gratefully takes the papers from your hand, adding it to the pile in his own, “Uh, yeah, I am. I’m Spencer, by the way.” He introduces. He offers his free hand not holding the stack of papers for you to shake.

You give him your name and shake his hand with yours.

“What are you teaching, Spencer?” You ask, wanting to get to know your new co-worker more.

“English for 7th and Math for 6th.” He responds, his nervousness starting to dissipate. “How about you?”

“Science for 7th and 6th.” You answer, “I’ve never been very good at grammar or inferences.” You admit to him.

“Well, you must be pretty good at math to teach a variety of sciences.” Spencer assures you.

You giggle and shake your head, “As long as I’ve got a calculator, I’m fine.”

Spencer chuckles back at you, “A calculator never hurts to have.”

You glance at the stack of papers in his arms, “So those are your first day activities?” You ask him, pointing down at the pile held by his hands.

The top paper is one of those get to know me print out sheets that could be found all over the internet. If you’re not mistaken, you used that exact print out during your first official year of teaching.

Spencer nods and neatly tucks in the paper edges of the stack to be more uniform, “Oh, yeah. Um, just some get to know me’s. I have some math puzzle sheets and a few of my favorite short stories too.”

“That’s really nice of you to share your favorites.” You compliment with a warm smile, “Don’t worry, the middle schoolers aren’t too ruthless.” You joke.

He returns with a smile equally as warm as your own, “That’s good to know. I don’t want to get eaten alive on my first day.” He quips.

“Oh, I wouldn’t let them.” You assure him, playfully bantering back and forth now.

Neither of you go to leave and still stay, standing stagnant in the hallway together alone. “Do you, um, usually come to school this early?” Spencer asks, trying to make some small talk.

You nod, “Yeah, I usually like to get the work day started. Leaves me less to do at the end of the day and all that.”

He grins at you, “That’s really smart.” He holds up the stack of papers in his hands, “I wanted to get everything printed and ready for today.” There’s a hint of nervousness in his expressions.

He adjusts the stack once again and seems to struggle a little bit when he has to readjust the glasses up further on his nose. “Can I help you with that?” You ask, pointing to the papers.

Spencer looks like he’s about to refuse your offer when the papers slide once again. You chuckle and go ahead and take about half the stack in your free hand, having grabbed your own possessions off the floor but easily juggling them.

He profusely thanks you for the help, but you brush it off.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll get easier to carry stacks of papers when there’s a crowd of students in the hallway and you only have time to make one trip to and back. Trust me.” You inform him, trying to calm some of his nerves, “Everything will get a lot easier. Teaching’s the easy part, wrangling middle schoolers who are in the midst of drama is much harder.”

“Thanks,” Spencer says again, “First day jitters are getting to me and all that.” He chuckles, nervously.

“Well, my classroom is the one with my name on the door.” You say, pointing down the hallway a little further back, “Let me know if I can help you. I swear, I had first day jitters my entire first year of student teaching.”

He nods, “Hopefully I can get into the routine of things. I, uh, was teaching at a community college for some time, but realized I wanted to teach a little younger. This is my first time with middle schoolers.” Spencer walks with you until you reach a door. It’s like yours, just a little bit more plain and instead has his name on it, Mr. Spencer Reid.

He holds the door open for you and gestures you to go first, “Here, if you could just put it on my desk.” He directs.

You do as he says and find a space on the crowded desk for the papers. He follows behind you and piles on the rest of the papers in his hand.

While he straightens things out, you decide to look around the classroom. You were familiar with it, of course, you knew the older teacher who retired last year and often came into the classroom for supplies or otherwise. All of the decorations from the prior teacher were gone and it was still quite bare bones, but you could see the little things Spencer has started to add.

The large shelves were filled with many books of different variety and sorted by genre. You could spot The Hunger Games Trilogy, the Illiad, Geronimo Stilton, and Magic Tree House, to name a few. The walls were pretty bare, but there were some brand new dinosaur themed garlands decorating the tops of the cabinets and bulletin boards. Judging by the plastic bags resting on the floor near the teacher’s desk, Spencer wasn’t quite done with decorating yet.

Spencer turns back to you when he’s finished straightening out his desk. He watches your eyes take in the room around you, “It’s not done yet, I, uh, didn’t realize how much stuff I need to fill a classroom.” He chuckles, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

“It looks really good so far.” You compliment, looking back at Spencer with a smile.

“Sorry, bye the way.” Spencer blurts out next, like he had been sitting on saying it for a while.

You furrow your eyebrows, “What?”

“I’m sorry,” Spencer repeats, a bit bashful this time. “For keeping you. You came early to get things done and I’ve kept occupied. You haven’t even bene able to put your stuff down.” He gestures with his hands towards the tote on your shoulder and the travel coffee cup in your hand.

Before you can respond, a school bell sounds off and Spencer visibly panics. You know the panic all too well and hold up your hand to stop him in his tracks, “That’s the teacher bell. No students yet. They test the bell on the first day to let all the teachers know its 30 minutes until students will show up.”

“Oh,” Spence relaxes and his tense shoulders melt with your explanation.

“I should get going though and sort out my classroom.” You say, looking at the watch on your wrist, “And don’t worry about keeping me today, any time you need help, just come find me. The first year teaching middle school can be stressful.” You tell him, honestly, “I’m here early every day and I leave about an hour after school ends.”

You collect yourself and move towards the door, turning around one last time, “Have a good first day.” You say, wishing him the best.

“You too!” He says, catching you right before you left down the hallway.

It would be years before you would tell Spencer that when you left his classroom starting down the hallway towards your own, that the other teachers were giving you very knowing looks.

When you did finally tell him, it would be on your honeymoon.

a/n: i am not very happy with how this turned out but at least its done? at this point (sorta halfway through writing the month) all these prompts and blurbs are running together...

#criminal minds #criminalminds #spencer reid #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fluff #dr. spencer reid #criminal minds fic #dr. spencer reid x reader #spencer reid au #spencer reid fanfic #dr. spencer reid x fem!reader #dr. spencer reid x you #dr. spencer reid

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t4llhum4n · 8 months

Text

So. It's time to fulfill my promise about Porter lmao.

Theory (and spoilers for Vincent and Sam's playlists as well as Sam's bonus scene) will be below the cut.

Well, at least we know now that he isn't Hush's brother.

In all seriousness though, I had no idea how to approach a theory about this guy that hasn't already been shouted from the rooftops on tumblr. So, I started with the bonus scene, and upon relistening, I heard something that I found.. odd.

Why, and how, was Porter the one texting Sam?

Everyone that I've seen is talking about Vincent and Porter's history (which is something I ended up doing too whoops), so with this, I want to theorize about Sam and Porter's (potential) history. Bear with me, I kind of lost interest in the Solaire's storylines in light of things like the Balance and Carpe Deus, so I might mess some things up lmao.

I've seen, and agree with, the "Porter is Alexis' progeny" theory, at least at its basic level. I do think that Porter was potentially turned by Alexis, hence the "Solaire," but I'm wondering if his situation wasn't closer Sam's than we originally thought. Let me cook real quick.

We don't know how old Porter is. We don't know when Porter was turned. Hell, we don't even know if this guy was empowered or not (different can of worms, I'm putting that aside). All we have is that he uses the last name "Solaire" and that he has Sam's contact information. Admittedly, we don't know much about Alexis past her age, but for the sake of this theory, that's all we really need.

If Alexis has been a vampire for over fifty years, and Sam has been a vampire for under twenty, then that leaves a little over thirty years where Alexis' could've been fucking around and finding out. The thing that people (including myself) tend to forget when thinking about Sam's turning is that Alexis knew how to do it. Sure, it was done to her by William, but we know from the timeline that she was badly injured when she was turned, so she probably didn't learn it just from that first instance. Furthermore, considering that she has been described as "difficult" and "a hellion" along with the fact that she was apparently so awful that William swore he'd never turn another person again, I'm guessing that she didn't study up on vampires and how they work.

So, what else is there? Hands-on experience; the best teacher. Enter, Porter. I'm not going to give an estimate of his age beyond "older than Sam," because an exact number doesn't really matter for this. I am, however, going to do what I do best, and point out parallels that I've noticed. Namely, the parallels between Fred and "Bright Eyes'" turning, and Sam's own experience with turning.

Time for a quick run-down for those who aren't too familiar with the Fred/"Bright Eyes" storyline! Basically, Quinn leaves both Fred and "Bright" on the brink of death. Sam sees Fred, turns him to save his life, and then tells Fred how to turn other people so he can save "Bright," which he does. From there, Sam takes on both vampires as his own, seeing as Fred is too inexperienced with, well, everything, to be a proper Maker. He teaches them for a couple of years, and then lets them go off on their own once he thinks they're ready. And at the end of it all, Fred decides to take Sam's last name.

Cool, great recap, but why am I bringing it up? Well, let's look over to Sam's story real quick. He was turned, though against his will, by Alexis, someone who we can infer isn't responsible enough to be a proper Maker. We know that once William caught wind of the full situation, he took matters into his own hands, separated the two, and set Sam up in a cabin on his own, as per his request. Knowing William, he most likely offered more help, but knowing Sam, he probably declined, and opted to live alone comfortably on the edge of the territory. In both situations, we have someone who can't or isn't a good Maker, and said vampire's Maker taking responsibility for their progeny's progeny.

What if this isn't William's first rodeo with caring for one of Alexis' progeny? What if Porter was one of Alexis' first progeny, with circumstances being similar to that of Sam's turning, and William took him under his wing? The difference this time, though, is that Porter accepted William's offer of more help. Now, this could be because William heard about Porter's situation sooner after it happened, or that Porter was unempowered and had no clue about anything -- either way, this next claim stands. What if Porter took the name "Solaire" from William, not Alexis?

If this is true, it would explain two things; 1) why Porter has Sam's number, and 2) why Porter and Vincent were at odds. The first reason is kind of self-explanatory. If Porter heard about what happened with Sam and Alexis via someone else in the clan and he empathized with it, then he probably would've reached out to offer support. What became of him reaching out could be a number of things, but it ended with the two of them exchanging contact information, and that's why Porter has Sam's number.

Now, on to the rockier claim. Let's start with this: I'm going to say that Porter is older than Vincent. If we run with the assumption that what I said earlier about William and Porter's relationship is true, Porter would've seen William as his true Maker, despite William not being the one to turn him. So, when Vincent gets turned, and William starts devoting his time to him, we can assume that Porter might get a little jealous. And that jealousy grew over time, especially because Vincent kept refusing the help that William was offering. He had the privilege of actually having a good and competent Maker, and he was spitting in his face? If what I theorized about Porter's past is true, then it's natural that that would irk him.

He kept it under wraps, though, and it got easier to tolerate Vincent; especially when he put his pride away and stopped being so difficult. But part of him was always stewing with jealousy. Now, I'm not saying that jealousy is the only reason why Porter and Vincent got into a fight that almost resulted in their deaths. I think that there was something that initiated it. Maybe it was something one of them said or did to the other -- I'm not sure. That being said, whatever it was brought all that jealousy to a head, and that's why they fought.

I don't know though! And I'm more than open to other interpretations. I have a few floater thoughts if we look at Porter in a more sinister light (e.g. Alexis and Porter are close and he got the number from her right before he sent the text), but I hadn't seen anyone make him out to be more sympathetic yet, so I decided to go that route! I hope you enjoyed this mess of a theory, and as always, if you notice any plotholes or have any evidence that contradicts this, please let me know :)

#i didn't promise this forever ago what do you meannn??#at least i did it tho #redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted theories #redacted sam #redacted vincent #redacted william #redacted alexis #redacted porter #gonna wait until the ea is public before i write my theory about all that #because sheesh #there is so much to unpack there

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canarymithrun · 2 months

Text

Everyone and their brother has analyzed the succubus chapter but I want to throw my hat into the ring too, specifically on looking at the hunting techniques the succubi show

The succubi seem to have two primary forms of getting prey which are 1. Ambush and 2. Swarming

Starting with Chilchuck, he gets the classic succubus form, attractive women who wanna kiss you. Chilchuck has experience with succubi and is well aware of what to look for, so the mind games we see the succubi use on other characters probably wouldn't be effective. As a result the succubi go after him as a swarm, no need for fancy tricks beyond looking hot because they're trying to overwhelm him in numbers

In the Senshi's Journal portion of the new adventurer's bible we finally learn what Senshi's succubus appeared as (kind of). The details are vague but we can infer that this isn't someone Senshi was romantically attracted to but someone who was important to him in childhood that he misses dearly, a similar strategy to what we see with Izutsumi later. Putting together what happened is fairly straightforward, Senshi was caught alone and the succubus ambushed him. It being a one on one confrontation gave it the opportunity to rely on more mind games more

Marcille's is of course this lady Oscar looking elf. It's easy to write this one off as a pure physical attraction appearance like Chilchuck's but I think it's more than that. This succubus specifically takes after character(s) from the dalitan book series (best guess is it's meant to be General Hareus but we don't know enough about the series to know if it's them specifically or a mix of characters). Marcille is a known romantic but she got into this specific series because it has a half elf character, and that character being well written and reflective of her own struggles made the series very dear to her. Because of this, I think the succubus is also preying on her desire to be accepted for who she is. It's using a combination of the techniques seen with Chilchuck and Senshi, most likely to supplement the fact that it can't perfectly ambush her.

Laios' succubus is an interesting one, especially because he almost catches it because it takes the form of Marcille who he's not attracted to. I remember thinking at the time "why would the succubus not just appear as a succubus, Laios would love to learn more about any monster and their magic would make him forget the danger" but that's because his succubus goes fully psychological in its ambush. The alluring aspect of his succubus is not just that it can turn him into a monster, but that it can turn all his friends into monsters and also they all love that outcome. The succubus knows his desire to be inhuman isn't enough to lower his guard, he also wants to be fully accepted by his friends and have shared interests. (Which for the record I think they do, this is just a clearly very deeply rooted insecurity)

Izutsumi is where I think the succubi's hunting tech really shine through though. They start off with a single succubus, trying to ambush Izutsumi with about as deep of a psychological cut as you can get for her. When that doesn't work because of her two souls they immediately switch into fully swarming her, dropping any mind games and going fully for numbers.

The succubi aren't a species I felt we needed more explanation for in canon, but I am vaguely curious which hunting technique is more common since it's pretty evenly split for the group

#dungeon meshi #bone chatter #this was meant to be a quick post and then it got super long whoops #delicious in dungeon

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badgerhuan · 3 months

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Mitsurugi took the bear and went to find Itonokogiri, and they investigated the origins of the bear together.

In Saraba, Gyakuten (Farewell, My Turnabout), Itonokogiri helps Naruhodou and Harumi figure out that Fujimino's hotel room had been planted with a spy camera. And then, he decided to help by investigating the origins of the camera, to see if they can figure out who bought it. It might take all night, but he's determined to do it, and promises Naruhodou that he'll have the answer by morning.

After he leaves the room, fired up about his new task, the following happens:

Harumi: But. Keiji-san, is such a nice person. Harumi: For Mayoi-sama's sake, pushing himself that hard... ???: ...though the way he's going about it is completely reckless. Naruhodou: (...that voice...!) Mitsurugi: Excuse me. ...I overheard you talking. Naruhodou: ...Mi-Mitsurugi...!

Mitsurugi appears, cutting in at just the right time to comment on Itonokogiri's behavior, with a smile on his face.

After he informs Naruhodou that a taskforce has been assemble to find Mayoi, Mitsurugi then goes to check on the bear, commenting that it's a rare, high-class brand that only a few gets imported to Japan. He checks the time, commenting that it's not too late. He then takes the bear from Naruhodou and leaves.

Naruhodou and Harumi leave as well, furthering their own investigation into Fujimino's murder. It's not until much later that Naruhodou suddenly gets a phonecall from Itonokogiri.

Itonokogiri: It's not good! Itonokogiri: I'll...I'll be back at the office soon! Naruhodou: Wh-what happened- Itonokogiri: Something unbelievable has happened! Itonokogiri: Mitsurugi-kenji was, uh... Naruhodou: (Mitsurugi...?) Itonokogiri: Anyway, hurry and come back! Itonokogiri: I, don't know what's what anymore! It's bad! It's finished! I am- Phone: ...beep... Naruhodou: ...huh, he got cut off.

Itonokogiri's call gets cut short in the middle of his panicked ramble. It's as if someone had hung up the phone for him before he could spiral too far. Also, he lets slip Mitsurugi's name before seemingly catching himself.

When Naruhodou and Harumi get back to the office, this is what Itonokogiri greets them with:

Itonokogiri: You're too late! Mitsurugi-kenji already left!

We know from the start of the phone call that when he made the call, he wasn't at the office yet, and there seemed to be someone else with him. And now, he's talking as if Naruhodou would've been able to also meet Mitsurugi if he had come back to to the office sooner. This would imply that up until Itonokogiri got back to the office, the person who had been with him the entire time is Mitsurugi.

And, most decisively, Itonokogiri is not only carrying the camera and transmitter he took from the hotel room, but also the bear and all the items related to its investigation. When Naruhodou asks him about the bear, he says:

Itonokogiri: I met with the clerk of the department store. Itonokogiri: This is the credit card receipt. Itonokogiri: ...38000 yen. That's exactly the cost of that bear. Naruhodou: ...receipt...? Itonokogiri: Of course, it's not just the receipt. I also got the clerk's testimony. Itonokogiri: "I'm sure I sold it to Outorou"...that's what they testified. Itonokogiri: On top of that, it seems that the clerk also got a signature. Itonokogiri: The one who bought the bear, is definitely Outorou!

Not only does Itonokogiri say that he met the clerk, he was also able to quote the clerk directly. This proves that he definitely has met the clerk in person.

After this, Itonokogiri gives Naruhodou back all three pieces of evidence he had on him: the camera, the transmitter....and, the bear, which he had somehow came in possession of.

In conclusion, what we can infer happened:

Mitsurugi overheard the entire conversation about the spy camera and the transmitter in the bear, and saw Itonokogiri rush out of the hotel room, razor focused on his new task: finding out who bought the camera.

Mitsurugi knew, instantly, that as much as Itonokogiri's determination was in the right place, that that search would be a fruitless one. So he went into the room, commented with a smile that Itonokogiri was being reckless, and immediately went to confirm that the bear was as rare as he thought it was.

Once he was sure, Mitsurugi hauled the giant ass bear with him, and went and found Itonokogiri, somehow. He could've left Itonokogiri running around the city looking into the camera all night...but he didn't. Instead, he looked for him, found him, and gave him the bear and told him to look into it, steering him in the right direction.

Together, they headed to the department store and found out who bought the bear. Upon learning the disturbing truth, Itonokogiri called Naruhodou in a panic, and before he could spiral too far, Mitsurugi intervened and hung up the phone for him.

Then, together, they made it back to Naruhodou Law Office, with the bear and the receipt. After making sure everything was in order, Mitsurugi left before Naruhodou came back.

Even when they're not working together anymore, even when Itonokogiri had been fired, even when Mitsurugi has no obligation to Itonokogiri anymore, they still went and found each other. Still worked together. They fall in step with each other so naturally. I doubt either one of them even thought twice about it.

bonus, when Mitsurugi says that looking into the camera would be fruitless, he says:

"The camera that the hasty keiji-kun took with him is no clue."

I need everyone who hasn't played the game in Japanese to understand, that Mitsurugi only ever uses "-kun" for people younger than him. And the only other person he's used the "occupation+kun" combination to refer to is Naruhodou, as bengoshi-kun, in the courtroom, whenever he thinks Naruhodou is being naive. This is the only time he's ever referred to Itonokogiri as such, and 1) at this point, Itonokogiri isn't a keiji anymore, and 2) he doesn't say this within Itonokogiri's earshot.

He's unable to stop thinking of Itonokogiri as a keiji (which is, in Japanese, very specifically a police detective), and he doesn't let Itonokogiri hear this half-affectionate nickname that he knows Itonokogiri would understand as an insult.

bonus 2, before Mitsurugi leaves the hotel room with the bear, Naruhodou stops him:

Naruhodou: Why...? What on earth are you planning! Mitsurugi: ............ Mitsurugi: I'm not interested in explaining myself to someone who can't understand.

He doesn't explain anything to Naruhodou, knowing he wouldn't understand. This would imply that whoever he does tell about the bear and what to do with it is someone he knows can understand him.

Itonokogiri has always been able to understand him.

And he personally saw to it that Itonokogiri is the one to figure this out and deliver Naruhodou the news.

#ace attorney #miles edgeworth #dick gumshoe #gumworth #roch speaks #gyakuten saiban #itonokogiri keisuke #mitsurugi reiji #mitsunoko #roch metas #everything about mitsunoko is implied and happen off screen and if you think about it just a little bit you'll crash head first into it #how else would itonokogiri had gotten the bear?#how else would he have figured it out about the bear when he was razor focused (adhd) on the camera and the transmitter?#(which btw are more his area of expertise)#mitsurugi commented on him being reckless and took the bear and somehow itonokogiri ends up with the bear and all the investigation details #this is the only way things could've happened given the evidence #i rest my case

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tozettastone · 2 months

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RE: "there's so little F/F fanfiction," and its supposed relationship to misogyny, unexamined "fandom truly hates women," statements, and also why "eating your veggies" ala dutyfic is all kind of... inadequate and poorly expressed, in my view (and in my experience, as an AFAB person).

"Fandom hates women," is a statement that's usually written as though the person writing it does not hate women themselves. I think feminists who can't acknowledge their own misogyny are probably living the unexamined life (sorry, Socrates).

These people are right that misogyny is a problem. But they are wrong about how, why, and whether or not the amount of F/F fanfiction or female character-centric works is a proxy for measuring it.

I think there must be room to accept that among the people who happen to be assigned female at birth, even the most liberated suffer from some amount of internalised misogyny — or even just the relentless examination of their own thoughts in trying to root out the misogyny they know is in there. It's an ugly thing people really try to pretend isn't real. Feminists are also misogynists. Society has raised us all ugly and correcting it is a lifestyle, not a one-and-done deep clean.

Sometimes we've thought about it so much that every line of text is haunted by the long shadow of that misogyny. I know I often start and don't finish, or finish and just don't post, my f/f fanfics. It's not just because it attracts more harassment (although it sure used to, at least; I don't know now), but also because I overthink what I'm putting into the world: Is her vulnerability in this moment an attitude of feminine weakness? Is her stoicism just me the writer falling into a bland stoic butch trope because it's easy? Am I replicating gendered things I hate in M/F fanfiction but don't notice in F/F? Is this just writing in character, or is it a sexist stereotype? Hey, what if writing "in character" IS a sexist stereotype? What does this female character, a representative of her entire constructed identity, say about women? Shall I write another scene where she cuts her soft hair and rejects pink girly things and takes her job ever so seriously as part of a power fantasy, in which the excision of femininity goes hand in hand with the attainment of that power?

Every line of text might be a new enfilade in the long identity war. It's Schrodinger's sexism. Who's reading? What will this imply? What will they infer?

I just feel like, personally, until you can exist in society as someone that other people view as a woman, in a way that isn't being perpetually dissected and examined (by yourself, by others, by the people who feel insecure and defensive and want to respond to this saying "uhmmm sweetie that's YOUR problem, I'm an enlightened woman who genders and fucks how I want actually, YOU'RE the only misogynist here, you just suck," as though that's not yet another permutation of exactly the high-pressure, high-critique behaviour I just described), there will simply be fewer people putting their writing about female characters (and by extension F/F) into the public eye, and fewer people who want to do that writing at all.

It's just so fucking exhausting. I think it must be nice, sometimes, writing deathly boring (to me) M/F romance that openly embraces gender stereotypes, where she's always taken by surprise, and he's always competent. Ha.

But then you attempt a M/M romance, and you have to think, "isn't writing masculinity as the totally unexamined default actually kind of an act of collusion, too?" It doesn't have to be. But it sure can be, when you feel like this. And then you throw your laptop out the window. (I'm writing this on my phone. How did you guess?)

You have to draw a line somewhere, horribly, between your existence in a politicised body, your representation of politicised bodies in your art, and your existence as an individual who wants to enjoy their fucking hobby.

Maybe that means you delete all your social media accounts and go herd goats on a mountainside. Or you write about aliens for five years and give them whatever genitals you feel like today. But, like, listen. It's going to be fine. Gender is made up. I know, I know, pretty much everyone else thinks it's a holy binary, just like good and evil, and you have to live in the same world with them, sending coded gender messages all day every day and unable to stop. I know. But it is made up anyway.

Key takeaways: People should write whatever they enjoy writing and kind of just worry less about it. Worrying isn't helping you make fun art. And the amount of fanfiction about female characters and F/F relationships is a poor proxy for whatever we think we mean when we say, "fandom hates women."

#tozette.txt #just venting lol #I do not write long unhinged posts like this very often anymore #but what's a blog for if not to have a whinge about fandom wank now and again #fandom wank

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buckybarnesss · 1 year

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laura hale: darling, dearest, dead

welcome to where i care way too much about teen wolf in the year 2023.

i have no shame.

i've been working on this meta for a few weeks now and it’s definitely grown past its original scope. at first, i just wanted to do a deep dive into the weirdness around laura’s death but of course that expanded as i sat down and hashed out my thoughts.

@renninflight 's tags on one of my posts really gave me the push for this because i've apparently just been waiting for the opportunity to talk about the mysterious murder of laura hale

shoutout also to my teen wolf buddy and tumblr mutual of forever @dear-massacre our teen wolf talks definitely helped, probably wormed their way in here and this wouldn’t have existed without you.

laura's death is the core mystery of the first season and i’ve always been intrigued by the circumstances surrounding it.

i’m definitely not the first to question the circumstances surrounding laura’s death but i’m going to put on my tinfoil conspiracy theory hat and discuss the events just prior to wolf moon and how laura hale haunts me the narrative.

buckle up buttercups this is long.

just to get this out of the way immediately, i need you to understand that teen wolf's plots and timeline were apparently written on a soggy napkin found crumbled up under the seat cushion of jeff davis's couch. season 1's story is the most cohesive but there wasn't a show bible for a long time, which explains its loose relationship with keeping consistent canon. this post on the teen wolf wiki from september 2013 says explicitly that some assistant was tasked with writing one. this would've placed it after 3a had aired but before 3b did.

while i won’t be digging into the teen wolf timeline here, i will be working from my own understanding of it.

a lot of teen wolf is left to implication, inference and subtext as we the audience are locked into scott mccall's point of view and his knowledge of what's happening. this allows for scott to be ignorant about the world he unwittingly and unwillingly enters so that information can be doled out at a steady drip and the mysteries heightened.

that said, onwards to what has become my teen wolf magnum opus.

introduction: the dead girl

laura hale is the ultimate dead girl trope in teen wolf which is a show littered with the corpses of dead girls. it makes sense of course when you know she is the narrative sister of laura palmer of twin peaks fame.

unlike laura palmer though, laura hale never gets to tell her story. she is dead before the show begins.her corpse is treated cavalierly by scott and stiles, desecrated by the argents and stripped of her personhood.

interestingly, david lynch’s daughter jennifer lynch not only a authored a spin off novel for twin peaks told from laura palmer’s perspective called the secret diary of laura palmer but also directed four episodes of teen wolf (silverfinger, i.e.d, perishable and codominance).

it's a cool connection.

i like this quote from esquire about laura palmer and the creation of the dead girl trope:

“we don't see laura with any control over her circumstances. we meet her after she's been wrapped in a plastic bag and left to rot, which essentially leaves her narrative and legacy to be largely determined by those who are investigating her. we don't learn about laura through laura—we learn about laura by piecing together what she left behind.”

laura hale’s murder also invokes a visual similarity to a real life beautiful dead girl as well.

elizabeth short.

elizabeth short is known to history as the black dahlia. her naked, posed, and bisected corpse was discovered in a vacant lot in january 1947. she was 22 years old.

when betty bersinger discovered elizabeth that morning she thought she’d stumbled upon a mannequin. in a way, she had. the person elizabeth short was is often lost amongst the sensationalized headlines, salacious gossip and speculation surrounding her case. instead, she has become the perfect, posable victim unable to tell her own story.

elizabeth short is the template for all the dead girls in modern media.

what makes laura hale different though is how she’s a non-character within teen wolf despite her death’s significance as the unpreventable, fixed event within the show’s universe.

laura hale has the most in common with the other dead beautiful girls erica reyes and paige krasikeva. each of them killed before their full potential could be realized their ghosts left to haunt the narrative.

as i said earlier though, the circumstances surrounding her death have always intrigued me. i’ve always believed there was a sort of convergence of events happening prior to wolf moon that led to the inciting incident of laura hale's murder.

we’re even told this throughout the show if you’re paying attention.

one of the things i always wished we’d gotten from teen wolf was more information about not just laura herself but what exactly she knew prior to her death but we can infer quite a bit.

let’s take a look at what we do know.

a history lesson: drinking poison from the same vine

to understand what happened to laura hale when she was killed we have to step back and look at what happened before the first scenes of the show.

in particular we have to take a look at peter hale, the argents and the alpha pack. this means revisiting visionary among some other relevant episodes.

visionary is probably one of if not the most central lore episode within the series and it also gives us a glimpse of both talia and laura hale while they were still alive.

laura herself is more of an afterthought in this episode as she's never named on screen.

so what does visionary tell us about laura?

it tells us that she was already in a leadership position within the hale pack by this time and is clearly put forth as talia's natural, intended successor due to her very presence at the summit. it also tells us kali, ennis and deucalion knew laura hale personally even if it was a fleeting acquaintance.

in the finer details of the episode we learn a few other things such as talia, laura and peter were all aware of the threat of the argents. we learn one of ennis’s betas was killed in retaliation for killing two hunters. the death of the beta seems very cruel and unusual as we learn that he was shot through the throat, his claws were ripped out and he was cut in half.

the last point in particular is notable as there’s only one hunter we know of that cuts werewolves in half.

gerard argent.

motel california is just a few episodes prior to visionary where it’s revealed that alexander argent killed himself in 1977 at the glen capri motel after being bitten. gerard claims it was deucalion that bit his brother which is how he justifies his actions in visionary.

is it the full truth? doubtful. maybe alexander argent was bitten by deucalion and maybe he wasn’t but gerard seems to believe he was and that is what matters.

belief in the teen wolf universe is a real, tangible concept but it’s incredibly important to the narrative conceit of this episode. gerard and peter are both unreliable narrators who purposefully minimize their roles in the stories they tell. maybe they even believe their own lies to a degree.

what we know as the audience as it’s proven multiple times throughout the series is that gerard rejects the idea of peace and is known for being brutal and cruel in his methods.

visionary also goes a long way to illustrate that peter hale has always been, you know, Like That. he skulks around the story even in his own version of events where he’s trying to minimize his own role in paige’s death.

i believe that the non-existence of laura in his story except for a throwaway mention about how laura told derek about the packs being in town is two fold. one, peter was jealous of laura’s position in the pack and two, his guilt over killing her.

peter’s guilt is an interesting thing because he is first and foremost all about the survival of peter hale but he does care about those he perceives as his. for him, killing laura was something he regretted but was necessary so that peter could gain the alpha power.

laura was a sacrifice.

another thing about visionary is the absence of peter and talia’s relationship but who else would’ve told her about derek and what happened? talia isn’t surprised when she finds derek in the cellar.

over the course of the show we do not get a lot about talia and peter’s relationship which is a thing that keeps me up at night but i don’t think it’s too far of a leap to conclude that talia knew her brother’s nature and probably saw it as useful in it’s own way so long as she was the one holding the leash. the way peter advises derek is probably not too far off from how he advised talia.

there’s a tiny glimpse of this in season 4’s monstrous.

meredith walker is subjected to peter’s inner ravings while he’s comatose as they somehow connected mental frequencies.

there’s parts in there about how he’ll be a vengeful god and remake the supernatural of beacon hills in his own image and blah blah blah it all tracks for peter but the parts about talia are interesting not only because it gives us a glimpse into how peter perceived talia but also because he specifically name drops the argents as the threat.

is it the full truth? no. peter subscribes to the from-a-certain-point-of-view version of the truth and we have to remember this is peter just after the fire. he’s comatose, horrifically injured and on some level he’s aware that most of his family is now deceased.

what looking at this gives us is peter’s perspective and what he latched onto post-fire thus creating the peter we meet.

“i predicted this. i told talia this was going to happen. something like this was going to happen. i said they were going to come for us. the argents. they’re going to come for us. they’re gonna burn us to the ground. they’re going to burn us to the ground. did she listen? of course not. did anyone listen? they listened to her. yes! say that everything was going to be fine. that we were all perfectly safe. but she made us weak! she made us weak. and what happens to the weakest in the herd? they get picked off by the predators. we used to be the apex predators. until talia turned us into sheep.”

there is another key point about talia and peter that i think cannot be overlooked. the removal of memories. she took the memory of the nemeton’s location from both him and derek after their experiences there and she also took the memory of his tryst with corrine that resulted in malia’s birth.

i think what these things together tell us is that peter hale is vengeful and resentful but not just towards the argents but also talia but talia is beyond his reach. laura isn’t.

the last player that needs to be examined is the alpha pack. visionary gives us a version of events of why deucalion is the way he is and it ends with him killing his beta marco absorbing his power. this in itself isn’t actually all that interesting as this was the foregone conclusion.

when you combine it with what jennifer tells derek in the overlooked though it was just a few months after this she is attacked by kali at the base of the nemeton, which means the creation of the alpha pack was already underway mere weeks after deucalion is blinded by gerard.

we know talia hale was aware of what happened to deucalion along with gerard argent’s involvement so it would also stand to reason she would then be aware of the creation of the alpha pack. i cannot imagine it would escape her notice that both ennis and kali’s packs were decimated by their alphas and then they joined with deucalion. that seems like a cataclysmic event that’d get through the supernatural grapevine quickly.

if talia knew then so did laura as she was like i said clearly talia’s successor.

the mysterious death of laura hale part I: who cut laura in half?

let’s revisit the scene of the crime to examine the absolutely hinky circumstances surrounding laura's death and what the hell was happening in the woods the night scott was bitten by peter.

if i learned anything from gil grissom the first piece of evidence is the body. this is how we and scott meet laura hale.

i don’t think it’s speculation to say that peter hale killed laura but it was gerard argent who cut her in half.

in the season 2 opening episode omega we meet gerard argent and learn of his propensity to use a broadsword to cut werewolves in half but it is chris that gives scott the warning.

chris: "scott do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

scott: "i have a feeling i don't want to."

chris: "a medical term for amputating somebody at the waist. cutting them in half. takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that."

this foreshadows what happens to the omega at the end of the episode but it reminds the viewer that we’ve already seen a corpse like that.

it may be a drop in the bucket compared to all the trauma scott has experienced since that night but i don’t think laura’s severed corpse is a sight he’s forgotten. which is what i believe argent is counting on here.

he knows what his father did.

he’s intimidating scott as much as he’s warning him not just about lydia but also about his father’s impending arrival and what gerard is capable of.

by this point chris knows kate broke the code by killing the hales in such a gruesome fashion but what does kate say when chris confronts her in code breaker?

chris: “i know what you did.”

kate: “i did what i was told to do.”

gee, i wonder who gave kate the carte blanche on killing the hales? i bet he also used paige’s death as a way to manipulate her as we see him do with allison. he was in town after all when paige was attacked by ennis and subsequently died. it's not a stretch to believe that a seasoned hunter like gerard would be able to spot a supernatural death cover up via animal attack.

the argents talk a big game about their women being leaders but gerard is the puppet master tugging on kate’s strings just like he did allison’s in season 2. this doesn’t minimize kate’s own sociopathy. kate can be a victim and a perpetrator.

we know from visionary that the argents have been known to operate around the beacon hills area to hunt but they don’t live there until chris and his family move there just prior to wolf moon.

i think we can infer that gerard ordered chris to move to beacon hills in response to laura hale being back in the area for the first time since the fire and i don’t think he aimed to just keep an eye on her.

there’s another overlooked aspect as to why gerard would be very interested in laura hale. he wants to cure his cancer via the bite. in fact, i wouldn’t be surprised if he would have offered her kate in exchange for the bite.

sure, it’s speculative, but i think there are enough pieces to support it as a working theory.

unlike peter there is never a confession from gerard about his part in the crime so why am i certain he did it?

let’s go back to the body for a moment.

while there’s a lot of gore, most of the blood is on laura herself.

there’s a significant lack of blood either around or underneath laura. with the amount of trauma we can see on her body there should be a bloody mess but there isn’t.

also notice how her arms are splayed out. it’s like she was dropped there.

she also doesn’t appear to be all that decayed so she’s still pretty, uh, fresh.

so again why do i believe gerard cut her in half if peter killed her?

not only can we infer in the subtext from the conversation chris has with scott in omega but looking at the cut on laura’s body it is too clean to be from being ripped in half by an animal or a werecreature.

however, a person with a sharp, heavy sword with the know-how that we know does this? seems a bit more plausible doesn’t it?

also kate literally tells us that hunters did it. she doesn’t name gerard but she informs derek in the tell:

“yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to catch you. unpleasant, and frankly a little too texas chainsaw massacre for my taste, but quite true. but here’s the part that’s really going to kick you in the balls. we didn’t kill her.”

neither the audience nor derek know if kate can be believed. i don’t think she’s lying here. she’s taunting but not lying.

why lie when she knows how badly this knowledge will hurt derek?

she goes on to add:

“found bite marks on your sister’s body derek. what do you think did that? a mountain lion?”

this i believe was a fib. were there bite marks? possibly, but more likely from savangers than peter taking a bite out of laura.

also the fact that laura’s lower half was found by joggers probably means it was visible from a path which gives some credibility to the idea that the hunter's strew laura’s corpse around the preserve. they wanted it to be found.

not only would two pieces be less heavy than a whole body but it just shows how they don’t care. laura isn’t a person to them. she’s vermin, she’s subhuman, she’s not worthy of respect.

she’s no better than bait to other werewolves to them.

they leave laura to rot.

notice how kate never refers to laura by name instead calling her “your sister” to derek. kate lured derek out with insults towards laura but this one is the greatest of them all. kate is refusing laura hale’s personhood.

the final reason i don’t believe peter tore laura in half is we’ve seen how peter kills. claws from behind are consistent with how he goes at derek at the end of heart monitor and jackson in master plan or throat slashing which we see in the tell with the video store clerk, kate in code breaker and jennifer in lunar eclipse.

or he mauls them viscerally like we see with the mute in the benefactor.

a creature of habit he calls himself.

in none of peter’s kills either as alpha or as a beta does he tear someone in half.

while peter hale is a dramatic king and doesn’t mind getting his hands bloody, i think he’d be offended if someone accused him of tearing laura in half.

the mysterious death of laura hale II: why does peter kill laura?

speaking of peter, why did he kill laura?

the obvious answer is for the alpha power so he could fully heal..he says as much in wolf’s bane.

peter: “yes, becoming an alpha, taking that from laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process.”

but with peter hale nothing is ever so simple. there’s always layers.

in alpha pact, peter gives derek this speech when he’s winding derek up about how to heal cora:

“you know, normal wolves never abandon an injured member of the pack. they care for it. they even bring it food from a kill and then regurgitate it into the mouth of the injured wolf. they even give it physical and emotional comfort by intensely grooming it. in a way they can do more than just ease pain. they can be instrumental in healing their own."

as i mentioned earlier, i think peter not only holds a lot of resentment towards talia for what he perceived as inaction but also towards laura.

after the fire, laura did what cora says in visionary they were taught to do when hunters find them.

cora: "waiting. hiding. that's what we're told to do when the hunters find us. hide and heal."

in all the trauma and grief, laura did the only thing that she could reasonably do in response to such a horrific tragedy. she packed up her little brother who she’d suddenly become the guardian of and put an entire continent between them and beacon hills.

in doing so she left behind peter. i don’t blame her for leaving beacon hills. she was reacting to the threat of the hunters by trying to protect what little was left of her family and herself.

you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help others.

however, in leaving peter behind he was left to not only slowly go mad but he was also left vulnerable.

peter may have felt laura not only abandoned him as a member of the pack but abdicated her right to be the alpha.

derek tells scott in riddled:

“my family didn’t just live in beacon hills.they protected it.”

laura left beacon hills unprotected and she left peter alone.

peter killed laura for the alpha power he always saw as rightfully his so he could heal and do the job he felt talia and laura were both too weak to do.

while peter killed laura his culpability does come into question.

in co-captain he performs the memory sharing ritual with scott which gives us a small glimpse of peter’s memories in the moments before laura’s death.

laura enters the scene looking around as if she hears something and then laura calls out his name in question. when peter turns he doesn’t look like a man in control with his eyes rolling, mouth agape.

his actions look autonomous. peter the man is not at the wheel.

if we take what peter says in wolf’s bane at face value about how he was being driven by pure instinct then we can surmise that the wolf was in control and acted on impulse and peter’s deepest thoughts and desires.

the same ones we hear peter raving and ranting at meredith in monstrous.

vengeance.

i think the truth seems to be somewhere in the middle.

peter often downplays his own involvement as a manipulation tactic. so while he lacked inhibition, killing laura for the alpha power was premeditated as we know his nurse was acting on his behalf. i do wonder though if laura’s body hadn’t been severed by hunters would peter have resurrected her?

what’s a little murder between family members, you know?

the mysterious death of laura hale III: the conspiracy

there are two conspiracies in season 1.

the conspiracy to kill the hales and the conspiracy to lure laura hale back to beacon hills.

about three months before her death laura was sent the picture of the revenge spiral on the deer which brought her back to beacon hills. to the territory she had left unattended for six years. in pack mentality, derek says that laura came back to beacon hills looking for the alpha and that she told him she was close to figuring something out about the fire.

luring laura back to beacon hills wasn’t just about killing her. that was the endgame, but first peter needed her to do the leg work in finding the conspirators that set the fire.

the conspiracy itself hinges on one person since peter was still unable to do all of it himself due to him still recovering and we know nothing about her.

nurse jennifer plagues me. her motivations for helping peter were never given. she’s merely a tool to help peter enact his revenge.

all we have are theories and i have found precious few in my searches through old meta.

the most popular theory and i use that word loosely is that she was jennifer blake sowing the seeds for her eventual return to take on the alpha pack. i’ve considered this one and i think a skilled writer could make it work, but within the context we’re given i don’t think so.

i do believe jennifer blake definitely scouted out beacon hills just as the alpha pack did but i don’t think she and nurse jennifer are one in the same. besides, we do see nurse jennifer’s corpse in code breaker.

another theory i came across was that she’s a banshee compelled in the same way lydia was by peter. again because we have such little information there’s enough room for it to be possible but i doubt it.

the conclusion i have come to about nurse jennifer is that she’s someone like dr. fenris and brunski from eichen house. while we do not learn about eichen house until season 3b dr fenris is introduced in wolf’s bane and is in the search for a cure.

mostly, i think she’s simply a reference to nurse ratched from one flew over the cuckoo’s nest. her nurse's uniform is even anachronistic.

but what was nurse jennifer’s role in the conspiracy?

she is the one who sent the picture of the deer spiral to laura hale to spur her to come back to beacon hills. nurse jennifer is also the one who sent allison the text to come to the school during night school. like laura, nurse jennifer did a lot of footwork for peter to make his plans work and it’s a damn shame we’ll never know why.

the mysterious death of laura hale iv: the fixed point

laura’s death is what i think of as a fixed point in the universe of teen wolf. the idea of which is something i shamelessly took from doctor who.

in doctor who a fixed point is considered a lynchpin of the structure of ordered history. they cannot be altered as any attempts to do so would unravel linear time.

laura hale’s death is that fixed point. it was unavoidable, unpreventable. poor laura hale doomed by the narrative.

in the events surrounding the murder of laura hale there are two more players i haven’t really discussed. they exist on the periphery but are no less important.

doctor alan deaton and the nemeton.

cora says this in visionary:

"they keep us connected to humanity but they're a secret even within the pack. sometimes only the alpha knows who the emissary is. derek and i had no idea about deaton."

as talia’s successor laura would’ve had to know who their pack’s emissary was.

this is confirmed in fury when deaton not only insults derek to his face but reveals that he made a promise to talia to help her children and derek recalls laura mentioning deaton indirectly as some kind of advisor.

i say indirectly because if laura had told derek explicitly that deaton was someone who could help and advise than he wouldn’t have suspected him as the alpha in season 1.

did laura see deaton at all during her time in beacon hills? i would say it’s probable but i get the impression laura played her cards close to her chest. deaton was very unnerved by what was happening and with laura’s death probably concerned for his own wellbeing.

deaton doesn’t reveal himself to derek because he has no idea if derek’s the one who killed laura or not. there’s no established relationship between the two for trust to go either way.

truly the greatest villain of teen wolf is miscommunication, but i digress.

now here comes the part where i put on my tin foil conspiracy theory hat. i believe laura was killed near or at the nemeton.

an unintended and unacknowledged sacrifice.

peter may not have consciously remembered its location, but who's to say it didn’t draw him there.

we know from jennifer’s speech in the overlooked that the nemeton had a small spark of power from paige’s death. it was enough power to keep her alive after kali left her for dead so it isn’t difficult to believe it could’ve drawn peter to it as well.

we know gerard knows its location despite what he tells allison about him not remembering. i don’t believe that geriatric bastard anymore than i believe peter as peter is able to find the nemeton easy enough because he shows up to kill jennifer there.

now, i have zero proof of this. it’s all speculation from vibes and what we see in lunar eclipse but considering laura’s body was moved from wherever she originally died and was severed it’s possible.

it’s easy to imagine a scenario where laura finds peter at the nemeton where he kills her and leaves her body where it fell. later, gerard and his hunters discover her corpse and in frustration and anger at his plan falling through, gerard decides to use laura as bait for either the werewolf that killed her, derek or whatever other werewolves come along. waste not, want not after all.

either way an alpha’s blood is spilled there giving the nemeton just a little bit more power.

in lunar eclipse allison, scott and stiles perform a proxy ritual sacrifice to find out the location of the nemeton so they can rescue their parents. it’s successful, but only because the nemeton allows them to know its location.

in revealing itself to them it chooses them as its champions and.it’s magic takes them back to the night scott was bitten, to the fixed point in the teen wolf universe.

laura hale’s death.

haunting the narrative: laura hale’s uneasy ghost

“and so, the woman dies. the woman dies so the man can be sad about it. the woman dies so the man can suffer. she dies to give him a destiny. dies so he can fall to the dark side. dies so he can lament her death. as he stands there, brimming with grief, brimming with life, the woman lies there in silence.”

by aoko matsuda, translated by polly barton

once the first season comes to a close and laura hale’s murder is solved she is no longer mentioned save a few precious times, but the ghost of laura lingers.

laura haunts the narrative.

derek has forgiven many transgressions against himself and his person but he will never forgive peter for laura’s murder. her death underscores every single one of their interactions.

laura’s the specter that hangs between cora and derek. cora loses her sister twice and derek’s words “sorry to disappoint you” only speak to how he feels he cannot live up to the ghost of not only his mother but also laura.

this, however, is not the only way laura remains in the narrative. they allude to her in other ways.

in anchors scott reprises the scene from wolf moon where he tells stiles they’re going to go out into the woods to find a dead body but in a reverse uno of wolf moon though, scott is able to save the naked hale girl in the woods and bring her back to her family.

at the beginning of party guessed, lydia has one of her banshee visions. if you pay attention you can catch a girl in the bleachers that doesn’t quite belong. in fact, she’s crying out distressed and frightened.

that girl is laura hale.

while uncredited the actress looks a lot like haley roe murphy who played laura in the first season and the necklace around her neck has a red pendant that alludes to her alpha status.

lydia sees an echo of laura hale as a warning.

i like this shot in second chance at first line when scott is at the morgue. he pulls out the drawer containing laura's lower half and the pov for the shot is almost like laura is watching despite her upper half not being there.

the very last time we see laura’s body is after stiles and scott dig it up.

from this new perspective, laura’s stare has gone from vacant to accusatory.

it’s a jump scare, the transition from laura as a wolf to laura as human. it’s meant to freak stiles and scott out and confuse them.

what it’s always said to me though is how dare you.

whether or not it was intentional (and let’s be real this is teen wolf so it’s probably half and half if we’re being generous) the murder of laura remains one of the most intriguing incidents on teen wolf and her being one of the most untapped characters.

i said earlier i wanted to know what laura knew before her death. what had she uncovered about the fire? had she learned about cora being alive? did she know about kate and derek?

the answer is that it doesn’t matter. It no longer matters because laura died. we can never know what she knew.

in teen wolf it doesn’t matter because laura is a non-character while being the most important character of them all.

laura hale is the beautiful dead girl.

she is the inciting incident, the fixed point, the name unsaid and the spirit unexercised.

“an anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young-- a dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.” lenore by edgar allen poe

#my blog #teen wolf #laura hale #teen wolf meta #thoughts on teen wolf #did i have a lot of thoughts? yes

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