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pterodactylterrace · 3 years

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Guys Like You Chapter 17

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 17

Chapter Summary: We'll get through this, I promise.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: I'm almost 100% sure this is legally inaccurate. It's a work of fiction, though so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, vomiting and mentions of anxiety/poor mental state. Mentions of prior abuse.

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13} {Chapter 14} {Chapter 15} {Chapter 16}

Lawyers, attorneys, case building, legal proceedings and court dates all swam around Faye's head to the point she was dizzy. Henry had taken immediate action and gotten in touch with his legal team right away, ultimately being referred to someone more specialized in custody cases who agreed to work with Faye's sister on the case. He as not about to let that slime ball come back after years and take their baby from them.

First, they had to file for Faye to be the sole parent and guardian of Briar, sighting the years long abandonment for terminating any rights he may have had. Then, they had to gather up everything they could proving he was an unfit father, picking at old wounds that Faye would rather be left alone. All she'd had to do was get in contact with her sister and within minutes she had over a dozen pictures of just as many occasions with Faye battered and bruised, or with her fingers in casts, or her lip split. Faye hadn't even known her sister had been taking them, but she had also blocked out a lot of that time of her life. Her sister had always been the more responsible level headed one anyway. She'd probably taken them just in case something like this ever happened.

Her sister had also filed for a restraining order against him on her behalf. She knew what kind of person he was and having a legal order of protection against him was a solid idea. It prevented him from intimidating Faye or trying to just take Briar.

Overall, they were assured by almost everyone that he stood no chance. He had walked out of her life before she was even born and never tried to be in contact since. No judge in their right mind would listen to a word he had to say.

That did very little to settle Faye's anxiety. Over the next few weeks Henry would often find her crying silently, her mind a million miles away dwelling on the what ifs. Briar had moved to sleeping in their bed the same night they had gotten the letter, more for Faye's sake than anything else. Having her daughter close was one of the few things that calmed her down anymore. Henry had tried everything he could think of to take her mind off of what was happening, but with little success. All it would take is one look at Briar and Faye would start tearing up again.

Faye had gotten so bad she would barely eat. She would only pick at her food, nibbling on a few bites here and there. Henry could tell she was losing weight, but he was unable to convince her to actually eat more. She just kept telling him she felt sick all the time. A few times she had even worked herself up into such an anxious mess that she was physically sick. Henry had yet to meet her ex, but he knew he hated him more than he had ever hated anyone in his life. Whoever that slime ball was, he had severely crossed the line. The woman he loved was a wreck because of him, something had to be done.

Henry took it upon himself to pack everyone for the trip to the states, not wanting to add anymore stress to Faye if he didn't have to. Briar had been given Dramamine before the flight and again almost halfway through to keep her from getting sick. Faye's chronically empty stomach faired far worse. She was in and out of the small airplane bathroom, Henry dutifully following each time as she brought up bile or nothing at all, her stomach desperate to rid itself of contents it didn't even have. She even threw up the Dramamine he'd gotten her to take. It was times like this he was eternally grateful he was able to fly privately. The entire flight would have been a nightmare if they had to deal with other passengers at the same time.

He had booked the biggest suite he could within a reasonable distance of the court house where hearings were meant to be held. They wanted to have some privacy before everything happened, though they were planning on staying with Faye's parents afterwards until they went back home. Faye wanted to be impressed and thankful for everything he was doing for her and her daughter, once again, but she didn't have the energy to do much more than squeeze him tight, resting her weary head against his strong chest.

"It'll be alright, darling. No one is going to take our princess away." Henry assured, tilting her head up to kiss her gently.

"It's just dredging up so many bad memories." Faye admitted shakily, wiping her eyes before more tears could fall. Between throwing up and crying she was sure she was dehydrated, her head pounding in synch with her heart to prove it.

"I know, but they're in the past now."

"But they're not." Faye hiccupped, hiding her face in his chest again. "All of this is happening right now."

"This is the last time he is going to have any contact with either of you. Go and take a long shower, darling. Try to relax. You need your sleep."

"I know I look awful." Faye sighed, reluctantly stepping away from him.

"Just as beautiful as ever." Henry corrected, digging through the bags to find Faye's shower bag and something for her to change into. While she was in the bathroom, Henry convinced the half asleep toddler to get ready for bed, handing her a pair of zip up pajamas along with her diaper, reminding her to go potty before he would zip her up.

The child was tucked into the middle of one of the beds, hugging her stuffed bunny tightly and falling asleep almost instantly. Henry went to check on Faye once he was sure she was asleep, smiling softly when he saw her stepping out of the shower.

"Feeling any better?"

"Not really." Faye sighed, letting Henry take the towel from her and dry her off.

"It will be over soon, I promise." Henry assured, pulling one of the shirts she had stolen from him over her head.

"Not soon enough."

~*~

"She ran out as soon as she found out she was pregnant. I tried to track her down for years, but I never could find her. That's the only reason I haven't been in my daughter's life. I could never find an address for either of them. She just vanished."

Faye felt her skin crawl at his words, physically shrinking away from him the moment he laid eyes on her. Everything just came flooding back, and suddenly she was right where she was years ago, having to put up with his lies and manipulations. She could feel more bile threatening to creep up her throat every time she looked at him.

"As you can see, the defendant never filed for sole custody of the child until very recently. It is our belief that she is using the child against my client for some perceived wrongs. She has even fled the country to make sure that my client has no access to the child."

"Alright. Miss Warren?" The judge shifted his attention to the other side of the room. "Is the plaintiff the biological father of the child?"

"Yes." Faye answered softly.

"And did you try to reach out to him after the birth of the child?"

"No, I did not. He left the second he found out I was pregnant. He avoided my attempts to contact him up until I gave birth. He made it pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with us."

"And did you in fact leave the country with the child in an effort to avoid contact with the plaintiff?"

"No. I left because I had a job offer in another country. My daughter came with me, because she is my daughter."

"Your honor, if I may?" Delilah stepped in, squeezing her sister's hand supportively.

"Go ahead Miss... Warren."

"As you can see from the documents I have provided, my client has only moved three times in the last five years. The first was into an apartment in the same town she resided in with the plaintiff before their split. She held a lease in that same apartment until a year and a half ago when she moved to England. She only recently moved from there into a home that she shares with her current boyfriend. For the plaintiff to be unable to locate my client, he would have had put little to no effort into actually looking for her."

"Does Mr. Young have any evidence of him attempting to locate the defendant? What efforts did he make?"

"My client did the searching by himself, there is no paper trail of his efforts."

"So you cannot provide any evidence of his attempts to locate the defendant or the child in question?"

"No your honor."

"Now, Miss Warren... the lawyer, do you have a statement to make?"

"Yes, your honor. As you can see from the documents I have provided you with, my client suffered abuse at the hands of the plaintiff for years. There are not only pictures of the injuries, but also documentation from several emergency room visits due to 'blunt force trauma' along with multiple domestic violence reports against the plaintiff. The plaintiff left shortly after my client revealed her pregnancy and no attempts to contact my client or the child in question are able to be confirmed. Tell me, Mr. Young. If you were so invested in your unborn child, what was the child's expected due date? On what day did my client suffer a miscarriage of one of the children she was carrying? What do you even know about the child you want in your life so badly now?"

"I don't know anything, that bit- the defendant kept her from me."

"Kept her from you, or you didn't try to make any contact?"

"I tried to make contact!"

"Enough, Mr. Young." The judge sighed, leaning back to look at the papers in front of him. "Tell me Miss Warren, what does the child in question know about the plaintiff?"

"Nothing." Faye replied softly. "She didn't have a father in her life."

"Would it be alright if we spoke to the child?" The judge asked, looking over to where Briar sat in the back of the room, playing with her stuffed bunny under Henry's watchful eye.

"Briar?" Faye called, the child popping up and running over to her mother. "Would you be ok talking to everyone?"

"Ok, Mama!" Briar eagerly accepted, scurrying over to the chair she had seen everyone else take a turn sitting in.

"Hello Briar." The judge greeted, smiling warmly at the child.

"Hi." Briar giggled, squeezing her bunny to her chest.

"I like your bunny. He is very well behaved."

"We be good." Briar confirmed, nodding her head surely.

"Now, Briar, can you tell me about your family?"

"Yeah! I have my mama and that my aunt Lilah! I see Nana and Grampy on the phone too! Oh! And I met Papa family too! We play in the big yard, then we all went to sleep in the couch room and they were all giggling, but I was good!"

"You met your Papa's family?" The judge asked, his brow furrowing.

"I like Papa family." Briar giggled.

"Mr. Young, has the child had contact with your family?" The judge asked.

"Yes, she has recently met my family."

"Mama?"

"Hold on sweetie, Mommy needs to talk to Aunt Delilah." Faye rushed out, turning her terrified eyes to her sister. "What is he doing? Briar has never met his family. I've never met his family!"

"I thought he just congealed in a gutter somewhere. What is Briar talking about? Who's family did she meet?" Delilah whispered back.

"Henry's. She calls him Papa, we met them just a few weeks ago."

"That's kind of adorable, we will circle back to that after we deal with this douchebag. Can you prove she's never met dingus's family?"

"We've only been back in the States for two days. I don't even know where his family lives. Like I said, I never even met them!"

"That's something. Where's her passport?" Delilah mumbled to herself, shifting through the various papers in front of her.

"Papa? Papa, I gotta go!" Briar whimpered, squirming in her seat.

"I'll take you since Miss Warren is too busy." David quickly offered, popping up and reaching for the child before anyone else had a chance to react.

"No!" Briar screamed, kicking and wiggling when he picked her up. "No! Not Papa! Not Papa! Help! Mama!"

"Hey, it's me. It's Papa!" David tried, attempting to wrangle the thrashing child.

"NOT PAPA! WANT HENRY PAPA!" Briar screeched, hitting him in the face with her stuffed bunny.

"David, put her down! You're scaring her!" Faye yelled, anxious tears welling in her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was her heart in her throat, or if the water she'd been sipping on was trying to make a reappearance. The sight of him touching her daughter was enough to make her sick.

"Mr. Young!" The Judge barked, finally succeeding in getting him to release the struggling child. Briar dashed to the back of the room, throwing her arms around Henry's legs, frantically trying to climb him as she cried.

"Hey, it's ok Princess." Henry soothed, lifting her up and holding her tight. "Can you go and sit by Mama after you go potty?"

"NO!" Briar squealed again. "Papa stay! Bad man! Mama!" Briar blubbered almost incoherently, squeezing her bunny tight as she gasped between sobs.

"Ok, ok. I'll be right here. I'll make sure the mean man doesn't touch you or Mummy again, I promise." Henry assured, grimacing when he felt a warm wetness soaking through his shirt. "Princess? Did you have an accident?" Henry asked her quietly, glaring daggers at the other man when she shakily nodded her head.

"He... he scare me."

"I know, it's alright. We'll get you cleaned up, ok?"

"Your honor, may I ask the child a question?" Delilah ventured, standing up and placing her hand on Briar's back to get her attention. "Briar, who is your Papa?"

"Papa." Briar sniveled, hiding her snotty, tear stained face in Henry's neck.

"Your honor, as you can see from the copy of the child's passport, she has only been back in the United States for just over two days. She has never met the plaintiff's parents in her life. She is clearly terrified of him, too. Can we please stop all this nonsense?"

"I've heard all I need to." The Judge decided, turning to look at David. "Mr. Young, you have lied to me several times and provided me no substantial evidence regarding any of your claims. The child does not feel safe with you, and for good reason considering the numerous cases of domestic violence against you. Your parental rights are hereby terminated, and the defendant's request for an order of protection is granted, effective immediately."

"You can't be serious!" He growled, turning his furious eyes to the judge.

"I am very serious, Mr. Young. Even if you did genuinely want to be in the child's life, your previous convictions against the defendant prove you to be unfit to care for her." The Judge continued.

"She's ok." Faye breathed shakily, finally forcing herself to stand on shaky legs, Henry instantly wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her.

"I told you everything would be ok." Henry whispered, kissing her forehead softly. "No one is taking our princess away."

"I sorry Mama. I had accident." Briar sniffled.

"It's ok baby. Did you pee on the mean man?"

"Uh-hu. He scary." Briar mumbled. "No sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to him." Henry assured. "How about we go back to the hotel and get you a bath? We can go out for ice cream after."

"Please." Briar whimpered, continuing to hide in Henry's neck.

"No need to be upset. You're not in any trouble." Faye soothed.

"How about you? How are you doing?" Henry asked Faye, gently leading her out the door.

"Better? I don't know. I'm happy but still so anxious." Faye admitted.

"After all of this I don't blame you, but it's over now, darling. It's all over."

Faye and Briar ended up sharing a long bath when they got back to the hotel, giving Henry time to use the exercise room to relieve some of his own tensions. He had no idea what he would have done if they had been ordered to share custody. He hadn't known the little girl for very long, but she was still his world. He was willing to give up anything if it meant keeping his family together.

When he had gotten back to the hotel room, both of his girls were dressed, Briar happily attempting to dry her mother's hair while she sat on the floor, calling out directions to the little girl. She handed the dryer off to her mother as soon as she saw Henry, happily throwing her arms around his legs.

"You back!"

"Yes, sweetheart, I'm back." Henry chuckled, picking her up and kissing her forehead. "You have to try harder than that to get rid of me."

"Ewww! Papa you smelly!" Briar whined, covering her nose with both hands.

"The audacity!" Henry gasped, hugging her even tighter, laughing when she groaned in protest. "I in no way smell like a sweaty gym sock."

"You icky, Papa!" Briar repeated, pushing his face away with one hand, the other covering her nose. "You take a bath. I get you toys!" She decided, wiggling to be let down. Both adults nodded along as Briar monologued her choices in what Henry should take with him, tossing each one into the tub. She had decided upon a rubber duck, a wash cloth, a Captain America action figure, a horse figurine, the hotel mouthwash and carefully placed his razor on the side of the tub, sternly reminding him not to cut his hair again.

"Ok, princess. Promise I won't cut my hair again." Henry agreed for what had to be the hundredth time since he'd had to cut his hair for work months ago.

"Briar, how about we go finish getting ready, and then when Papa's done, we can all go see Nana and Grampy?" Faye offered, wincing at the decibel of the scream that erupted from the little girl's chest.

"NANA! GRAMPY!" She cheered, racing past her mother, digging through her bag to look for her shoes.

"You might want to hurry, I don't know how long I can keep her here." Faye chuckled, her brows crinkling when she saw the look on Henry's face. "What? You said you were ok with meeting my parents..."

"No, it's not that. That's the first time I've seen you laugh in weeks." Henry pointed out, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"I'm trying to do better. Sorry I've been miserable to be around."

"Don't apologize for how you feel. Anyone would be upset if they had to go through that. I want you happy again, but I don't want you to force it. I want you to be really happy."

"Well, you can make me happier if you showered. The man stink is overwhelming." Faye teased, Henry rolling his eyes at her. "I see how it is, right back to teaming up on me. Just so you know, Kal is usually on my side."

"Guess we'll have to have a tiebreaker then." Faye shrugged, smirking as she left him alone in the bathroom with a shocked smile on his face.

When they finally arrived at Faye's parents home, Briar was about to burst from her seat in excitement. Faye barely got her out of the car before she was scurrying up the front steps, frantically ringing the doorbell. Faye followed behind her daughter, relaxing even more once she was in the familiar surroundings.

Delilah was the one to answer the door, her hair still up in it's sleek, professional updo, though she had changed into more comfortable clothes once she had gotten back to her parent's house. Briar audibly groaned when she saw her aunt for the second time that day. "Aunt Lilah! Where Nana?"

"She's in the kitchen, waiting on you." Delilah laughed, moving out of the child's way and wrapping her sister in a hug. "Told you we'd get through this."

"My sister, always there to save my ass."

"And you thought law school was a stupid idea."

"You said the same thing about art school, and look what it got me." Faye teased, nodding at Henry as he made his way up the stairs.

"Ok, you got me there. No one in my law firm looks anything like that. All the ones that ask me out for drinks are fat, bald and married."

"Is that where your standards are now?"

"Basically." Delilah laughed, ushering the two inside.

"Faye!" A short older woman cheered, bustling in from the back of the house with Briar on her hip.

"Hi Mom!" Faye greeted, pulling away from Henry to hug her mother. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my partner, Henry."

"Partner?" Her mother questioned, giving her daughter a strange look.

"It just sounds better than 'boyfriend'. More sophisticated."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Warren." Henry cut in, offering his hand to her only to be pulled into a surprisingly tight bear hug.

"Now, now! We hug around here!"

"Papa give good hugs!" Briar giggled.

"Yes, he does." The older woman agreed, patting his shoulder before venturing back into the house.

"Dad is around here somewhere. Probably break-fixing something." Faye mumbled, taking a quick glance around in an attempt to discern where he was.

"Just follow the sound of objects crying, you'll find him." Delilah laughed. "I think he said something about fixing the ceiling fan in the gremlin's room."

"Which one are you staying in?" Faye asked.

"I'll bite the bullet and sleep in the gremlin room. Not very often you have the chance to score in your childhood bedroom." Delilah teased, Henry shifting his gaze uncomfortably anywhere else.

"Like that isn't what happened when we visited your parents." Faye scoffed, grabbing his hand to lead him down the hallway.

"That's different." Henry mumbled, hefting their bags up as she pulled him away.

"How?"

"They're my family. There's not much I could do by now that one of us hasn't done before."

"Relax, I'm pretty sure my sister knows we've had sex by now. I would know, I told her."

"Only good things I assume?"

"Well the conversation started with me telling her she gave me the wrong size condoms when I moved away."

"Wonderful." Henry sighed, fighting back a laugh when he was led into a room with two twin beds against opposing walls.

"If you want I can help you push those together." A voice from behind offered. "Hi, I'm the dad."

"Hello, sir. I'm Henry." He greeted, setting the bags down and offering his hand, the other man gripping it firmly and resting his other hand on his elbow, giving a curt nod.

Faye's father wasted no time in sequestering Henry off into a different bedroom to hold up the ceiling fan while he worked on it. Henry wasn't sure what he was doing, and he had a feeling he didn't know what he was doing himself. He was either trying to find a bad wire, or attempting to electrocute both of them.

Faye and her sister had wandered back to the living room, curling up on the couch with her head in her sister's lap catching up on everything that had happened while they had been apart. Delilah had been killing it in her law firm, to say the least. She'd bought her first condo and a cat to go with it. The cat hated her, despite her many attempts to befriend the feline now sharing her home.

Briar spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen with her Nana, 'helping' her make cookies and brownies. Naturally, she had to sample everything that was being made. She also got sole ownership of the spatula, and she made sure everyone knew it, loudly yelling it to the rest of the house.

They weren't all back in the same room again until dinner time, Briar happily explaining to Henry that she had been the one to make the 'sketti' as she kept calling it. He had doubts to the validity of that statement. He also quickly figured out where Faye had learned to cook. Faye finally did more than pick at her food, actually inhaling three plates of her favorite comfort dish. After they had all stuffed themselves, the three travelers decided to head to bed, the combination of jet lag, the day's events, and the amount of carbs they had just consumed almost putting them into a coma at the table.

Briar went straight into the room at the end of the hall as soon as her pajamas were on, happily leaping onto the giant canopy bed. Surrounding it were stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes, along with tumble mats, a slide, a small ball pit, a mini trampoline and the biggest dollhouse Henry had ever seen. One wall was a chalkboard, several of Briar's artworks still decorating it from the last time she was there, the other walls were painted a soft purple, her name written in big silver letters on the wall behind the bed, peering proudly through the posters of the canopy.

"It's her room at my parent's house." Faye shrugged.

"Tell me again how I'm the one that spoils her?"

"There's more stuff in here now than there used to be."

"No there's not!" Delilah called from down the hall, Faye shooting an annoyed look over her shoulder.

"They're her grandparents, they're supposed to spoil her."

"Is this the biggest room in the house?"

"It used to be our playroom. Dad wanted to turn it into a home theater before I had Briar."

"Papa, watch!" Briar gasped, picking up a remote and turning on the TV mounted on the wall across from her bed.

"A TV of her own in her room." Henry half laughed. "And I get yelled at for sneaking her a biscuit!"

"You sneak her cookies just before dinner!"

"Your mother has been stuffing her with cookies since we got here."

"She hasn't seen her in a while?"

"That settles it, until I end up getting that kid her own pony I don't want to hear another word about me spoiling her." Henry snorted.

"She asked you for a pony, didn't she?"

"It's come up." Henry confirmed, tucking the sleepy, squirmy child in tightly with her bunny under her arm.

"She's not getting a pony." Faye grouched, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"But I want a pony." Briar pouted.

"Where will you keep a pony?"

"The stable where Papa ride horseys."

"You know, Mommy is pretty sure she asked Papa not to take you out there." Faye grouched accusingly, glaring at Henry as he pointedly avoided her gaze.

"She started crying." Henry mumbled, giving her a pathetic look. "I can't say no when she's that upset. It was just the once, I promise. She only pat them, she didn't get on a single horse."

"Wanna ride horsey."

"Anything else you do that I should know about?" Faye asked, raising a brow at her boyfriend.

"I leave my underwear on the bathroom floor every night then put them in the hamper each morning before you wake up."

"Strangely specific."

"It has been eating me up inside for ages. I finally feel free."

It felt like no time at all that Faye was curled up in her old bed, Henry sleeping in the one that used to be her sisters. It felt like even less time before she was jerked out of sleep, her stomach protesting strongly, bile rising into her throat. She jumped out of bed and rushed across the hall to the bathroom, not even taking the time to turn on the lights before violently emptying herself of everything she had eaten that day. Henry was right there only a few seconds later, having been awoken by her frantic rush to the bathroom. He held her hair back at the base of her neck, rubbing her back softly and trying to focus on anything other than her vomiting. He should have been used to it after Faye being literally worried sick for weeks, but the smell got to him every time.

"I think I ate too much." Faye whimpered, using some tissue to wipe her mouth and tossing it into the bowl, flushing it along with everything she'd just thrown up.

"You haven't eaten much in weeks, darling. Maybe you should try pacing yourself more?" Henry suggested, slowly helping her to her feet to rinse her mouth out.

"I know, but I just love my mom's spaghetti so much." Faye whined.

"I'm sure she'll make it again if you just ask her."

"Well that seems obvious now."

"Think you can go back to bed?" Henry asked, leading her back across the hall at her small nod.

After another two days of feeling nauseous, they had all come to the conclusion that her immune system must have been weakened by the stress of everything and caused her to catch some stomach bug. After a week and a half, she was wondering what kind of super bug she had managed to contract. The only time she could keep food down was when she would nibble at things throughout the day. Just how long would it take for her stomach to get used to food again before she could keep it down? She'd hoped she would be able to stomach something more substantial on their last full day with her family, muscling down her mother's homemade waffles until lunchtime. Two bites of mashed potatoes was all it took to tip her over the top, landing right back in the bathroom with Henry holding her hair back.

Thankfully they had noticed the pattern of small bits of food staying down in time for them to fly back to England. The fatigue of her being sick, along with how emotional she was about not being able to actually spend as much time with her family as she would have liked while she was there had her sleeping almost the entire flight. That left Henry dealing with Briar's motion sickness. He was slowly becoming convinced his entire world would be nothing but vomit for the foreseeable future. Faye finally gets to where she can eat just fine, only for Briar to be throwing up kool-aid and vanilla wafers while her mother got some well deserved rest. It was a good thing he loved his girls, otherwise he may begin to resent them soon.

@weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay @nostalgicb-txh

Ok, my taglist got deleted somehow. If I missed anyone, I’m sorry. If you want to be added, let me know. I’m doing my best to make the tags work, but it’s not going great, my dudes.

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #guys like you #guys like you fic

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royallyprincesslilly · 3 years

Text

Title: Kismet {9}

Henry Cavill x Famous OFC Aliya Taylor

Warning: Slow Burn, Mild Cursing, Dialogue Heavy, POV Changes

Words: 3.5k

Summary: Aliya is a singer turned model turned actress. Since she was fifteen, she’s been creating her empire in the entertainment world. As the daughter of a famous fashion model/designer and Hollywood director, you’d think life is easy for her, but her past has been anything but easy. Due to past trauma, she’s forever changed and no longer trusts any man that is not in her family and a select few in her team. She’s sworn off love and serious relationships and has planned never to fall again, but love isn’t something that can be planned. It just happens when it’s meant to. Can Aliya outrun a love that seems hellbent on holding tight to her, a love that is Kismet?

If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!! 😘

As always, thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

The change within you was instantaneous, and your body fought it like a foreign virus. You’d barely slept a wink the night before. You tossed. You rolled. You took up your phone and hovered over Henry’s contact only to put it back down and toss and turn some more. Half of you wanted to talk to him so badly, but the other half wanted you to practice some restraint. There was no happy middle ground, and because there wasn’t, you struggled to find any peace in your mind. By the time you managed to fall asleep, it was one hour before you had to get up to prep for your day. When you opened your eyes, the first thing you saw was a message from the culprit to your sleeplessness himself.

MSG Henry: Good morning, beautiful. I didn’t sleep a wink. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I must have picked up my phone ten times to text or call you. It’s torture not being able to hear the one voice you want to hear more than anything.

As soon as you read the words, your heart literally melted, and butterflies filled your belly.

“Christ almighty,” you whispered as your fingers itched to rapid-fire. Before you could catch yourself, you’d already typed out a reply and sent it.

MSG: Good Morning to you too, handsome. I know what you mean. I didn’t sleep either. I almost called you so many times. I think you’re addicting.

You reread the message then groaned at the last sentence.

“Really, Aliya, addicting?” You rolled your eyes hard and pushed to get yourself ready for the day.

By the time you’d left the hotel, he still hadn’t replied, and you regretted responding altogether. So, here you were sitting in one of your four meetings for the day trying to keep your head in the game and your mind off of Henry’s lips, or his eyes, or the feel of his muscular arms around you. It was proving more complicated than it sounded. When you weren’t thinking of his lips, or his eyes, or his arms and kisses, you were overthinking your message and his lack of response.

A little more than halfway in your first meeting, your phone went off, and you had to make yourself slow down and not leap for it. Nonchalantly, you glanced at the screen and saw Henry’s name.

MSG Henry: Addicting, huh? I like that, but you should not be talking. I have been addicted to you since the day you bumped into me.

Any worries you’d had the last few hours melted away, and a smile spread across your face.

MSG: Do tell me more, Mr. Cavill.

Barely a minute passed before another message came in.

MSG Henry: I would rather tell you while looking in your eyes so you can see the depth of which I mean them in my eyes.

You bit your bottom lip and closed your eyes. He was different alright, you thought.

MSG Henry: I’m sorry it took me this long to reply. I’m trying to finish up all business between today and tomorrow. I had to hide my phone from myself, or else I would have been messaging you this entire time.

You couldn’t lie. That felt good to know that he was having as much of a struggle going about his typical day to day tasks as you were. The knowledge of that comforted you, but it also worried you. This thing was still so new. For the duration of your meeting, you texted on and off. It continued as you moved to your second and third meetings, and by then, your focus was shot. The only thing you cared about was what he was saying.

You loved how open he was. He always found a way to describe to you just what he was thinking or feeling while still remaining mysterious enough to have you wondering what he felt and thought. It was interesting. You’d always been able to predict every man that tried to enter your life. You could predict their motives, what tactics they’d use to try to weasel themselves in, and you often could predict how things would end. With Henry, you’d been having a difficult time with those predictions. It bothered you.

By the time you got back to your hotel room, it was nearing seven o’clock. You wasted no time putting your phone on silent to concentrate on a little self-care beginning with a soak in the jetted tub. You did your best to keep your mind open to allow the meditation track you played to really work at loosening the knots in your shoulders and tension in your neck. The stress of your life, mainly from work, was really beginning to show. It had always shown, you just never listened to your body whenever it told you to slow down or take it easy.

Many of your friends and family teased you that you lived to work instead of working to live. There were times you were inclined to agree with them because you didn’t need to work so much to maintain the lifestyle you were accustomed to. You had more money than you knew what to do with. You could afford to take time off to recharge but, you’d lived with the belief that the less time you had to be idle, the better it was for your mental and emotional health. Idle hands, after all, were the devil’s playground. You’d grown so accustomed to working nonstop that you didn’t know how to just do nothing.

After almost two hours in the bath, as you walked into the bedroom, you saw your phone light up. It was an incoming call from Henry. Sighing, you plopped onto the bed, trying to fight back the smile that wanted freedom. The smile won the battle.

“Hello?”

“Did I wake you? I called earlier but--.”

“No, I’m awake. I put my phone on silent and took a long bath,” you clarified.

“Ah, that sounds relaxing. Maybe I should try that. I’m feeling this burnout more and more.”

“Those who are serious about their craft work too much.”

Henry sighed softly, and you wondered if there was a hint of mint and Guinness on his lips.

“I don’t want to work tonight,” Henry declared. “Tonight, I want to be with you.”

You dropped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Oh, do you now?”

“Yes,” Henry confirmed, his voice dropping in baritone. Your belly fluttered, making you press your palm against it.

“Have you eaten?”

“I haven’t,” you breathlessly replied.

“Good. I’ll be around for you in forty-five minutes.”

You sprang upward. “That’s not enough time.”

“Oh no? High maintenance are you?”

You snorted and shook your head, hearing the tease and challenge in his voice.

“Forty-five minutes then, just don’t get mad when I don’t look like pictures in magazines,” you quipped.

“Come as you are.”

Your reflection caught your eye. Because you’d gotten your hair slightly wet in the tub, it was now in a half natural half blown out state, making you look crazy. You doubted forty-five would be enough to tame it.

“See you soon,” you said before hanging up to focus on getting yourself together.

Forty-nine minutes later, you were dressed and on your way down in the elevator. As it made its way down, you assessed your appearance, thankful you were able to straighten your hair again to add a few loose curls. Part of you hadn’t wanted to bother, but you knew the dress you were going to wear would be better complemented with a sleek look. Your eyes skimmed the half sheer and half bodycon black dress you wore, loving that it was the right mix between sexy and classic. You added another layer of your mauve tinted lip gloss and just in time for the doors to open.

It didn’t take long for you to spot him sitting in the lobby where one of the big-screen TVs were placed. He was watching a rugby match. You crossed the black and white designed tiled floors and approached behind him. When you dipped to his ear, his scent almost had a moan escaping you—almost.

“Either, no matter where you are, you gravitate to rugby, or I took too long,” you whispered.

Henry turned, and the moment his eyes landed on you, a dumbfounded look washed across his face. You tried not to bashfully look away as you watched his jaw drop when his eyes took in the full view.

“Wow.”

A giggle that would have been nauseating from someone else slipped from you, making you press your fingertips to your lips.

“You’re breathtaking.”

You smiled, then gently tapped his chest.

“Stop.”

“I’m being completely truthful.”

Those damn butterflies made their presence known once again.

“Thank you,” you whispered.

Henry held out a single peony to you. “For you.”

As you took it, your smile widened. “Wow, one of my favorite flowers.”

“Is that so?”

You nodded.

“Hmm, happy coincidence,” Henry replied as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket. Once done, he held out his arm for you. “Shall we?”

You nodded and looped yours with his, ready for whatever the night brought on.

-Henry-

As you sat across from him under the hanging flowers and dim lighting of the restaurant perusing the menu, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. It could have been the way the golden light bathed your skin, giving it an almost glowing aura. Or it could have been the soft smile pasted to your subtle painted lips. It could have even been the spell of the restaurant, the classical music playing, and the sweet scent of flowers that surrounded the two of you. Whatever it was, he itched to touch you, itched to get closer, and itched to do nothing but find a way to keep a smile on your face.

“What?”

Realizing you were now looking at him, he smiled back at you.

“Nothing.”

“No, no. That’s a something look,” you said, still not able to not smile.

“It’s nothing,” he repeated.

“Henry, seriously. What is it?”

You reached out and gently slapped his hand, then rested it on top of the table.

“Nothing, really. It’s just—I can’t seem to keep my eyes off of you,” he admitted.

Your smile slipped, revealing a serious expression for a few seconds before you smiled again and dipped your head in a bashful way. Unable to keep his hands to himself any longer, he closed the gap between your hands and took yours.

“Your parents must be proud to have raised such a charming son.”

He smiled, then shrugged. “She has five of them.”

“Bless her heart,” you added, making him chuckle.

A comfortable silence drifted between you as he enjoyed the softness of your hand in his and the way your warmth mingled with his. He could get used to this, he thought to himself. When the waiter returned to the table to pour the chosen wine into your glasses, you pulled your hand away, but he didn’t take offense.

“So, by this time next week, I will be off the grid,” he said after the waiter walked off again.

A quizzical look swept across your face.

“Off the grid? Are you a spy?”

He smiled. “I promise I’m not.”

Another waiter approached the table, this time carrying your selected third and final courses. He thanked the waiter as he laid the plates before you before he retreated.

“You were saying,” you prompted, lifting your dinner fork from the selection of three different ones to your right.

“I’ve earned some much needed R&R.”

With your fork paused at your lips, you smiled. “Oh, that’s great. Congratulations. When was the last time you took a holiday?”

He watched you chew and quickly got lost watching your mouth. It took him several seconds to regain his train of thought.

“Eh-em, uh—perhaps a year and a half, if we are talking about a true holiday.”

“Wow, that’s a long time.”

“What about you?”

You smirked, then scoffed. “Define holiday.”

He returned your smirk then rested his knife and fork atop the braised beef on his plate before he replied. “Time off, no work, nothing that you have to worry about that can cause stress, anxiety, or tension. Oh, and of course, sleeping late, drinking until three or four in the morning, fun every day, and feeling refreshed upon return.”

You smiled as you finished chewing. He watched you take another sip from your glass and knew the wine was only making your lips even sweeter than they already were.

“Ha! Jeez, when you define it like that, it’s been years upon years,” you replied.

“Not good at all.”

You nodded. “Tell me about it.” A soft smile was still on your lips as you placed another forkful of the pan-seared sea bass you were eating.

With those words, a thought formulated in his mind, and it was a thought he wondered if he put words to would you be receptive. The remainder of dinner passed comfortably. Another reason why he couldn’t stop thinking about you and enjoyed being around you was because your conversation was always excellent. There was never any form of discomfort or awkwardness between you. You easily talked about so many things, and the things you said were always thought-provoking and intelligent. While everyone thought you were just a pretty face, you’d repeatedly allowed him to see that the world knew nothing.

His hand was rarely without yours in it, and when he held your hand, you softly raked your fingernails against the palm and fingers. Every time you did it, the goosebumps that raced across his skin sparked a reaction that was visible much, much lower than his hand. Everyone else in the restaurant could have disappeared for all he knew because you’d captivated him and every single one of his senses.

By the time you left the restaurant, it was close to midnight, but you didn’t seem to care what time it was. You held onto his hand as you walked along The River Thames. He often did this late at night when he couldn’t sleep. It was really the only time he could come and not be bothered or recognized because he was more than likely the only one there. Tonight your laughter danced through the air, and the gentle ebb and flow of the water only helped the glistening light from the bridge and neighboring buildings shimmer that much more. It was quite romantic.

You stopped and pressed your back to the iron gating that kept pedestrians out of the river. You stretched your arms out, leaning back as if to really enjoy the gentle breeze.

“It’s a beautiful night,” you sighed out.

Just like that, he drifted closer to you until there were only a few inches between your bodies. When you came upright again, your smile was still bright, even realizing he was so close.

“Are you trying to push me in?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Never.”

“Oh no?”

“No,” he repeated, taking another step to you.

You bit your bottom lip then sucked it into your mouth, and he became even more painfully aware that he hadn’t sampled them since the night before.

“Unacceptable,” he whispered.

“What?”

Reaching out, he cupped your jaw and slid his thumb across your cheekbone while he slowly traced every inch of your face to his memory. When his eyes met yours, he fell another foot or two deep into the quicksand-like pit of his growing feelings for you. He was so close to going under it was alarming.

“It’s unacceptable that I haven’t tasted your lips in over twelve hours.”

He heard a soft gasp escape your lips, and it was the only sound you made before his lips pressed to yours. The only move you made was to entangle your fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. The feel of your fingers against his skin brought those familiar goosebumps. He moaned, then pulled you flush against him. The feel of your body against his made his heart thump rapidly, and when you moaned against his lips, the need to consume you took precedence.

When he delved his tongue into your mouth, he was shocked when you swirled yours around his, and the sensual move had him pressing you firmly against the iron behind you. It was out of character for him to do this so wide in the open, but he felt himself doing things that no one would ever guess he would do when he was with you. Your soft nibbled on his bottom lip brought his mind back to the rising dilemma, rising being the operative word.

Pulling his lips from yours, he rested his forehead to yours. Both of you didn’t speak; instead, you were both lost in trying to catch your breath. Long moments passed, and in those moments, he fought to regain his composure. He’d never reacted to anyone the way he reacted to you.

“Come with me,” he whispered, his voice shakier than he’d expected.

Your eyes fluttered open, and he didn’t know if it was wishful thinking, but he swore he saw actual stars in them that put the night sky to shame.

“Where?”

“Away on holiday.”

You pulled back a few centimeters and gazed into his eyes more intently. He watched them dart from his left eye, then to the right and back again. Slowly the stars vanished, and humor replaced them.

“Good one,” you said before you laughed out loud, pulling your body from his.

“Oh my god, you really had me going for a second,” you said through laughter.

You took two steps as if to continue walking, but he laced his fingers with yours and pulled you back before him. You gasped, and the sound of it made him close the space between you again, pressing you onto the iron bars. With his body pressed to yours leaving no evidence of there being two bodies, you moaned, and the sound almost had him capturing your lips again. If he did though, he didn’t know if his hands would remain respectful.

“I wasn’t kidding.”

Your eyes were on his lips, and the desire for you to take control, almost overrode his desire to be in control—almost.

“What?”

“Come on holiday with me, just the two of us, a beach wine somewhere—anywhere.”

He saw the moment you realized he was as serious as a heart attack.

“You’re serious,” you reiterated.

“More serious than I’ve been about anything.”

You didn’t speak for the next minute, but you also didn’t move away. He decided he’d give you the time to consider it.

You scoffed before you spoke. “What? Henry—we can’t.”

“Why?”

You gaped at him as if he were insane.

“Why?” That was when you pulled away from him and took a few steps sideways while still leaning against the gate. “We—we don’t--.”

You looked as if you were wracking your brain for a response, but you also looked like you were trying to catch your breath.

“We don’t know anything about each other.”

He took a step to you. You didn’t move.

“Which is why a private holiday would aid in us getting to know each other—uninterrupted without the pretexts,” he replied.

Your eyes widened before you shook your head then turned to face the water. You peered out silently, baffled. “Henry—we can’t.”

He approached you, and as he leaned against the gate, you looked at him. “Tell me why,” he requested.

“Why—because—I—I don’t do—that,” you stuttered.

“What holidays?”

He saw the exasperation wash across your face before it went blank. You stepped away again, then cleared your throat.

“I have an early flight out tomorrow.”

It was hard not to feel the rejection, but he hid it the best he could. Nodding, he held out his arm for you to take.

“Then let’s get you back to your hotel.”

The entire ten-minute walk, his mind went from one thing to the next. He worried he’d come on too strong, or that he’d said the wrong thing, or somehow offended you. Then he went back and forth with his decision to even ask you. Part of him felt like maybe he was jumping a little too far ahead, but the other part of him felt there was nothing wrong with inviting you especially based on how things had gone the entire night and the vibes he picked up. That made him wonder if he’d read the evening entirely wrong.

When he stopped with you in your hotel's lobby, he was in no hurry to ask you again. He’d begun to feel quite stupid. His hurt feelings needed the night to recover. He took your arm from the crook of his elbow and held your hand. Again, you didn’t pull away. Deciding he couldn't afford to give you the time to, he lowered your hand and stepped away from you.

“Thank you for dinner.”

“T—thank you,” you said barely above a whisper.

He nodded and debated his next move. He took a timid step forward and kissed your cheek.

“Have a safe flight.”

“Thank you.”

This one was a whisper.

“Good night, Aliya,” he breathed out before he quickly kissed your forehead then walked away out the door and down the street without looking back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged/untagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TagList:

@dangerouslovefanfic @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @momobaby227 @naturalthrone22 @emjayewrites @chaneajoyyy @caramara3 @caplover22@kikimiyazaki @sonjashuterbugjohnson @minton131 @aar-journey @sincerelyglowing @theonewithherheadintheclouds @shar74nett @livinglifeformemyselfandi @night-of-the-living-shred @munteanhorewrites @kittykatlow @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @simply-heaven @winchwm @maximumninjavoid @offrostandstarlight @angrybirdcr @maxcullen

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#kismet fic #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill x you #henry cavill x black reader #henry cavill x black ofc #black fanfiction #slow burn fanfic

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obae-me · 4 years

Text

The Demons Inside- Part 3

Part 1 (Lucifer) Part 2 (Mammon)

Word Count: 2185

Description: Levi’s Part of the request “The brothers reacting to an MC crying suddenly in front of them and then trying to act as if nothing happened”

Levi had been waiting for tonight. He’d been antsy about it for days, anticipating it so immensely, he was jittery. Although, it’s entirely possible his twitches and little shakes were thanks to the many energy drinks he had downed today. No matter. He needed to be fully awake and aware in the present. Today he would be spending every hour with the resident human. His Henry, MC.

Envy had nearly driven him mad these past few weeks. MC had done nothing but spend seemingly every precious moment with one of his brothers. Everyone but him. And he knew why, it wasn’t hard to guess. Lucifer was perfect in every way. Mammon--despite his general scumminess--was fun to be around. Satan was vastly intelligent. Asmo was gorgeous and friendly. Beel was strong and supportive. Belphie was relatively calm and clever. And him? Well, he was an eccentric shut in. But despite all that, MC had made sure to hang out with him today, on a day where they both knew no one would be around to bother them.

He jolted out of his frantic thoughts as soon as a knock could be heard from the door. Usually, he’d have his visitor answer, but he was aware of who it was, and he was so excited to get on with their activities he had no patience for his many passwords. Swinging the door open with quite a wild look in his eyes, MC appeared a bit startled. Levi, feeling embarrassment seep into his bones over his eagerness, had his face flush a bright red. Adjusting to his normal sheepish behavior let MC smile, holding up some grocery bags he could see were filled with a plethora of snacks and drinks.

“Sorry I’m a bit late,” MC apologized as Levi held the door open for them to enter his room. “Not only did I buy some snacks, but I had to shoo away my chauffeur.”

Levi shook his head, his long bangs threatening to cover his vision. His core sin threatened to burn at the thought of, again, any sibling other than himself hanging out with MC. Maybe he had wanted to go to the store to buy snacks, so why did MC not ask him? You hate the grocery store, you know that, he reprimanded himself. “No worries, it gave me time to clean my room a bit!” Levi pushed his intrusive thoughts to the back of his mind as he gestured proudly at his now immaculate room. Trash was devoid from the floor, old clothes were put in the laundry bin-- “And I even dusted off all my figures!” To prove his claim, he snatched a frilly figure off one of his many shelves, holding it out to MC as they observed it.

They beamed at him, forcing a persistent flutter in Levi’s chest. “It looks great!” Levi noticed something lacking from their expression, like they seemed a bit drained. This urged him to take the items from them and shut his door before the human could think of leaving. Was that faded smile due to him? Had they not been looking forward to this as much as he had? Did they not want to be here? Panic made it hard for him to breathe, but he handled it as best as he could as he pulled up a second chair to his desk for the human to sit in. MC’s eyes flickered over his fancy monitors and equipment, slightly transfixed by all the pretty lights.

“I’ve got lots of things planned, if that’s okay,” Levi told them, the confidence in his voice wavering. The last thing Levi wanted was for himself to blow this fun day with something stupid.

They nodded to assure him, and while their smile might’ve still shown hints of something more, Levi’s panic melted away. “Of course! What’re we doing first?”

Too giddy for words, he opened a game on his desktop, doing his best to explain the rules to MC as he handed them a controller. It was some kind of online fighting fantasy game, and while there were many like it, Levi promised that this was the best of the bunch. They both settled in, picking their characters. Without a second thought, Levi picked his; a bright colored female character with a glowing staff and too many bows on their clothes to be considered natural.

“This is Luma, she’s my main! Who’re you choosing?” Levi squirmed in his seat, ready to get started.

“I don’t know...there’s so many to select from...I’ll just pick someone random for now,” MC shrugged, clicking on the first character that caught their eye. Not wanting to waste any more time, Levi set up a lobby for their matches.

Everything had gone fine...at first. Of course, MC kept dying, but Levi assured them it was their first time playing the game, and the character they had picked was set at a larger difficulty than others. The human nodded and pushed forward. The first match ended with MC getting no kills, stacking up the most deaths, and looking at Levi’s score in shame as the demon had racked up more K.O.s than any other player combined.

MC laughed sheepishly, letting the controller settle languidly in their hands. “Guess I’m no good at this game.”

A pang of something familiar flashed through their eyes, and Levi felt the pain. “Not true! Here, try this character, they’re ranged and a little op, so you’ll be just fine!” They started again, Levi bursting forward from the starting point, already landing a triple kill. Meanwhile, all MC got ten seconds away from base was a magical explosion to the face, killing them rather instantaneously. The further they went forward, the more MC’s shoulders slumped. The more they died, the more the fun light they had started with drained in their eyes. At one point, after MC had gotten nuked right after they respawned, their character stopped moving. Levi glanced to the side, watching as MC placed the controller away from them on his desk as they used their hands to cover tears starting to drift down their face.

Panic flared in his chest again, his skin prickling. He practically threw his own controller away from him, turning in his fancy gaming chair as he placed his hands on their knees. “What?! What happened? What did I do? Oh no, you hate me now, right?” As they sniffled and sobbed, his lungs felt themselves shrink smaller and smaller, air struggling to get in. The match ended, and before it could automatically have them play again, he turned to the screen to leave the lobby. Fumbling with the cursor, he ended up closing the game altogether instead of trying to remember where the Leave Match button was. Swiveling back to look at the human, he blinked in confusion when their eyes were dry and their grin was fully repainted on their lips.

“MC? But you were--”

“--Oh, it was nothing, I had an eyelash in my eye. Want more snacks?” They interrupted him as well as quickly changing the subject. They lied to him, right to his face. Something was up, and yet they would rather do anything else than tell him. Despair overtook his thoughts as MC refused to look at him, opting instead to reach for a bag of puffy chips.

Speaking low, the demon of envy clutched the fabric over his heart as he felt it breaking. “You can’t stand me now, is that it?” Levi brought his arm up to cover his eyes as his mind swirled in dark reasoning, coming to the wrong conclusions out of self-depreciation. “You didn’t even want to hang out with me in the first place?! You came to my room out of pity?! You’re so ashamed to be with me you had to cry?!” His demon form slid into view, his tail slinking against the cold tiles of his floor. Hot salty drops of tears streamed down his own cheeks, his fingers moving up to wrap themselves in his hair as his Envy began to spiral out of control. “Of course you’d rather be with my brothers, of course. Why would you want to hang out with someone like me when...when…”

“When you’re a demon? When you’re a powerful ruler of hell? When you have extraordinary powers?!” Levi lowered his hands and opened his eyes at MC’s escalating volume. Their lip quivered, the bag of snacks fell from their grasp, now abandoned on the floor. “These past few weeks since I’ve been hanging out with your brothers really just drove home how...useless I am. I’ll never be as put-together as Lucifer. I’ll never be as cool as Mammon. I’ll never be as smart as Satan, as pretty as Asmo, as strong as Beel, as witty as Belphie. And I--and I thought maybe hanging out with you would make me feel better but--” Their voice cracked, resulting in the demon nearly flinching as the pain in their voice almost physically hurt him. He expected them to list the many reasons they couldn’t stand to be around him, how he had done everything wrong. Expecting the worst, he curled up in his seat. “But I can’t even play a game correctly...I can’t do anything...I just wanted to be fun like you…”

He had seen so many shows and anime, read so many perfect fantasy romance novels, played so many dating games, he knew exactly what to do. He’d wrap them into his arms and say some gushy poetic speech that would make sparks fly and every bit of doubt in each of them flow away. And yet...all he could bring himself to say was, “H--huh??” A few lingering tear droplets let themselves drift down his face as he attempted to process the words he had just heard. They both sat in a painful silence for a moment, both blubbering messes, both ashamed to be looked at by the other. But as Levi finally comprehended what MC had told him, he began to laugh. “You were envious of me?!” Falling into a giggle fit, MC stared at him, jaw agape. “I was worried that--that you thought I wasn’t good enough for you!”

MC briefly wondered if they had broken him. “But you’re a powerful demon!”

“You’re an amazing human! You watched me dance in cosplay for four hours the other day!” The mental image of the situation bubbled in MC’s brain, causing their tears to transform into laughter alongside Levi. The two of them chuckled uncontrollably, drying their cheeks, thankful they were alone in the room, far from judging eyes.

“You made a cute magical girl,” MC grinned, no malice or intent to harm behind the teasing words. “But...I still don’t see how you can possibly think I’m amazing. I have little talent, no grand prospects for my future, no powers to speak off, a plain personality, and I have the obvious penchant for crying over silly things.”

Biting his lip, Levi slid his own chair closer to theirs, the armrests brushing side by side. “Umm...well...the--the way I see it, you have things that are almost impossible for demons to have. Compassion, empathy, an open mind, it takes a lot of effort for demons to feel those things. It’s something that is rare to find in any living being nowadays, except for maybe angels, but even then you’ve heard Luke’s opinions on demons. Angels do like to condemn. I don’t know what’s typical in the human world but you seem rather extraordinary to me.” Taking a deep breath, he gently used his thumb to wipe away the last stray tear on the human’s face. With a single finger, he rubbed absentminded circles into MC’s knee. “Anyone different would’ve taken one look at my brothers and I and ran away as fast as they could...and yet you stayed. We’ve done everything we can to push you away, and yet you never gave up on us...on me...You’re wonderful, more than I could ask for, I--” He cut himself off, cheeks burning red as he bit his tongue to stop himself from speaking. He’d almost let something embarrassing slip. Racking his brain for something else to say, he felt the tips of his ears start to burn as MC grabbed his hand and let it settle in their palm. “I don’t think,” Levi blurted, recalling and nearly quoting a line from a Ruri-Chan anime, “that worth is defined by power and popularity. I like you just the way you are, isn’t that enough?”

MC initiated it first, almost fully sliding into his lap as they moved from their chair into his to hug him. To prevent them from falling since his seat was only made for one person, he wrapped his arms tightly around their waist. Both of them felt the heat and warmth from one another. It made Levi want to melt and yet explode at the same time. MC pulled him close, his face pressed against their shoulder. “Thank you, Levi.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #obey me levi #obey me levi x mc #obey me levi x reader

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voyagis-infinitum · 3 years

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Person I fallow is posting Treasure Planet OCs. so... Here we go.

My Treasure Planet OC 'Lucky' John Flint Captain 'Lucky' John Flint "The Man Who Dances with Death" Species: Falmahaution Age: 265 years old (about 26 in human years) Family: dozens of nieces, nephiews, cousins, aunts and uncles making up Flint Pirate Clan Immediate Family: Rudolf 'The Red' Flint (brother) Isabell 'La Syrena' Flint (Sister) 'Wild Sarah' Flint (Sister, Deceased) Nathanial Flint (Father, deceased) Elizabeth Iron Flint (mother, deceased) Cassandra 'The Gypsy' (wife) William Flint (eldest son) Nathanial Flint II (youngest son) Jamaica Flint (Daughter) Ships Crewed: Fancy under Avery (As master at Arms) Wild Rover (As Captain) Weapons used: cutlass, Laser flintlock, laser blunderbuss, various cyborg appendages Strengths: intelegence, unique anotomy which results in Very capable fighter (Falmahautions have three lungs and two hearts among other things) strong cyborg limbs made out of specially forged steel, resourcefulness, expert marksman, master engineer (builds and races his own solar surfer) Knowlege of ancient technology (from studying Forefathers and Treasure Planet) Friends in high places, knowelege of how to extract and manipulate pure darkmatter, cunning Weaknesses: 1/3 of his lungs is collapsed, 1/2 of another is damaged, 1 heart poisoned in duel, overconfident, relies too much on luck and is therefore reckless, superstitious, damaged body which would be superior to most species, is now only just on par with humans, heavy drinker, conscious weighs heavily on him Captain Lucky John is the son of the notorious Nathanial Flint, and the rightful heir to Treasure Planet, in his youth, he sailed with his father while he collected the famed 'Loot of a Thousand Worlds'. Due to Nathanial Flint keep Treasure Planet's power for himself, rather than share with his beurocratic Pirate Family out of spite, Nathanial Flint was disowned by his father, and took Lucky John, his siblings and his wife plundering his own using Treasure Planet. Later, after his father was wounded in a mutiny, and he and Billy Bones fled the planet Lucky John sailed with several pirates and smugglers. The most notable of which was Captain Avery on the Fancy as Master at Arms and Marksman. Avery was, at the time, the Pirate Lord of Madagascar in the Brethren Court. Fallowing the Gunsway Heist Avery retired and ruled his Pirate Colony on Madagascar. Trouble was brewing with the Powerful Flint Pirate Clan, and the Teague Pirate Clan however. The Teagues and the Brethren Court argued that the Flints should abide by the Pirate Code though this was just the latest in a long list of grievances in their rivalry. The Flints responded that their Clan predated the Code, and had their species' longevity to prove it. Eventually, after the Flint and Teague clans erupted into open warfare with each other, and threatened to destroy the Brethren Court, and Greater Piracy as a whole, an agreement was reached. A Member of the Flint Clan would sit on the Brethren Court and call themselves one of the 9 Pirate Lords. The Flints, would, in return, agree to adhere to the Pirates Code. Avery, remembering Lucky John fondly, passed his Piece of Eight and seat to his old ship's officer. decades later, Lucky John would be injured in a duel, and fearing Death, pass his piece of eight, and seat on the Brethren Court to the only person he trusted at the time, One of his own Fleet's officers. None other than a young Edward Teague, later Keeper of the Pirate Code. Fallowing his recovery, The Flint Patriarch, Big Ben was livid, and disowned Nathanial Flint's Bloodline for a second time. Eventually, Lucky John took aboard his ship a young John Silver, who he nicknamed 'Long John Silver' for his tall tales of adventure. He was like a son to him. At the time, Billy Bones was also the ship's Helmsman, as he had been for years. Over time, John Silver became Quartermaster on the Wild Rover. After years of Comradery however, Silver began pressuring the Captain to go after Treasure Planet again, knowing Lucky John Still had the map. This eventually led to a mutiny. Silver's ruthlessness and betrayal even though he trusted him so much, as well as his two faced lies, led Lucky John to fear Silver. Flint was marooned with his loyalists on a small island, while Billy Bones Fled the ship, entrusted with the map by Lucky John. Silver hoped a few weeks on the island would convince Lucky John to change his mind. True to his luck however, a Ship loyal to Lucky John's pirate clan, a barque happened across the island. It was fleeing a Navy patrol. Flint returned to his stronghold to find Silver lamenting his actions, he had told the rest of Flint's crew and captains that he was dead. Lucky John subsequently took Silver to Protious I to the infamous Dead Man's Chest, a barren and notoriously tall platue which was a popular spot for pirates to maroon people and leave them to die atop of. The same planet, was, incidentally where Silver had rescued Morph from some years before. Lucky John's last action upon seeing Silver, was to take Silver's hand as revenge. Silver, and a handful of others, including Turnbuckle, Hands, Onus, Birdbrain Mary, Scroop and Meltdown were those who would survive the ordeal and become part of Silver's Crew later on Occasionally he sailed with Terran Letters of Marque during wars with the Procyons. He even fought along side Captain Amelia and became friends with her and had a brief thing with her. After the wars, however, Lucky John returned to pyracy, and for that, Amelia never forgave him, and they often exchanged broadsides when the notorious space pirate and the navy captain sighted each other's ships. During the Voyage to Treasure Planet, Silver used his galleon Argentum to try and intercept Billy Bones cutter as it left Spaceport Crescentia to rendezvous with Lucky John. Billy Bones had been in hiding for years, and was unable to contact his captain. While the Argentum and the Wilde Rover conducted a ferocious space battle, Silver Fled in a small gunboat with several members of his crew to try and fallow Billy Bones down to Montressor. The Argentum was heavily damaged and burning when Flint left her, and Silver beached her to return to later, as he infiltrated the RLS Legacy's crew. Flint subsequently would later give chase to the RLS Legacy but would arrive too late to take the treasure and watched from orbit as Treasure Planet Exploded. During the Ironclad conflict, Lucky John acted as one of the main Smuggler Lords who helped the Procyons build their ironclads, fallowing the end of the conflict, and Jim Hawkins promotion, Lucky John would develop a fierce rivalry with Commodore Hawkins of the Terran Royal Navy. they would fight many times and the pirate would come to remark that "Young Master Hawkins is the most worthy Challenge I have had in a long time." The rest of his life and events can be read in my, (abandoned sorry,) Fanfic www.deviantart.com/edward-smee… Eventually, Lucky John became the Falmahaution Abbassador To the Terran Empire and retired to Spaceport Cresentia. He and his crew are frequent patrons of the rebuilt Benbow Inn on Montresser. Lucky John eventually got over the loss of Treasurte Planet and came to be good friends with the Hawkins, the Dopplers and John Silver, who was an old shipmate of Lucky John's.

Lucky John and ‘Ginnie’ Flint, the OC of a friend from old rps. They are half siblings. among other aspects of my world building lore, the species of Flint, which i dubbed ‘Faulmahaltions’ is a hybridized crocodile and scorpian species, and as such further interspecies breeding is made difficult, ironically, Ginnie’s creator maintains that Ginnie had a birth defect and so was put into Stasis by Nathanial Flint, and emerged centuries later, on Lucky John’s shoulder is his pet Candarian Zapwing, Skullduggery

Lucky John was bornb beneath three lucky stars which, on his homeworld denote great fortune, and luck. Lucky John, as a result is blessed with inane and almost unbeleivable luck, and has been banished from almost all gambling establishments in the Etherium. He just is that lucky. These three fate gauging die, are a method of fortune telling used by his people, and incidentally depict the three stars Lucky John was born under.

Lucky John’s Jolly Roger is actually much more lighthearted than the pirate himself, and depicts himself dancing with Death. this is, due to the high number of times that Lucky John narrowly escaped Death due to his luck. Here he is pictured at the transom of his ship, Jolly Roger flying while weilding his cutlass, and blunderbuss, while his ship’s Long Tom sits on postion on the transom. Skullduggery perches on her master’s shoulder

Lucky John owns a number of ornate weapons he uses when pirating. A blunderbuss with a rotating series of energy cells to maximize the number of rounds without reloading, a curved dagger, and curved cutlass. After his Father’s Demise, Lucky John became a member of the crew of the famed Pirate Henry Avery, and was the ship’s Master At Arms. Avery subsequently gifted Lucky John the finest pistol aboard the Gunsway after the infamous raid. Lucky John’s musket was perhaps the most common of his weapons in the days before his own captaincy, and his ability as a sharpshooter with his cybernetic eye was made infamous. Lucky John was also infamous for once saying “If ye have one shot, and yer pinned down, shoot somewhere random, and pray for the best.” before a brick wall collapsed on Royal Marines and enabled the pirates an escape.

Lucky John is also not just a famed pirate, but also a loving and caring father. He has three children with a gypsy wife. Their hybridization was easier due to Lucky John’s knowlege of the medical technology of Treasure Planet, His daughter is named ‘Jamaica’ after his favorite pirate island, and his sons are Nathanial and Billy, after his father, and best freind. Here, Lucky John sits in the cabin of his ship, showing his children a bedtime story about his Father and the legend of Treasure Planet, while his beloved wife scoops ice cream for her children. Out the stern ligh windows are a planet and spaceport, and a pirate Barque and fast attack who serve Lucky John’s pirate clan

Lucky John’s ship the Wild Rover, named for the favorite song of Lucky John is a 30 gun pirate galleon.

Class: Galleon Designer: Lucky John Affiliation: Pirate/ Flint Pyrate clan Captain: Lucky John\ Crew: 150 space pirates of various species, and robot manufacturers. Armentment: 30 heavy laser cannons, 1 heavy long Tom projectile Cannon, 3 arm mounted grappling claws, 1 arm mounted drill, 2 arm mounted circuler saw blades Special shipboard systems: Pure Darkmatter crystal power core, cloaking device, smuggling compartments The 'Wild Rover' was built by A Falmahaultion Shipyard on Lucky John's Homeworld. He made several modifications to her systems based on things he learned studying the systems of Treasure Planet in his youth. Others, including her extremly effeciant power and engine systems, he learned from solarsurfing. Lucky John Has used the Wild Rover for 83 years, ever since he took command at the young age of 182. She has sailed under many flags since her Launch. Including the Emblem of the Falmalhaltion Empire, The Skull and Orbits, and both Terran, and Procyon Privateer Flags. Not to Mention False colors and Smugglers flags. Lucky John had used her to battle rival Pirates, His own family, Royal Light Ships, Procyon Star Runners, and Arcturian Armada Galleons, not to mention countless numbers of Richly laden merchant ships, and Rich Spaceports. Lucky John Commanded her during The Pirate Civil Wars between the Teague Clan and the Flints, which threatened to destroy the Brethren Court. He also fought several battles between Admiral Amelia, Commodore Hawkins, other Prominent Terran naval Officers, and John Silver.

Falmahaultions are native to the Planet Candaria. Their name is actually in reference to two ancestral species. a crocodilian and scorpian species who interbred, Fal’ Mah-Hault is actually a translation meaning ‘Children of Mah and Hault’ the first two who interbred. due to this hybridization it made their species difficult to hybridize further, resulting in birth defects. unique anatomical features include:

Three lungs. one large interlocking respiratory system

Two hearts, completely separate circulatory systems, one is cold blooded, the other is warm blooded, they even each other out, and regulate the body.

an external ‘exoskeletal brace’ prominant on the hands and faces, the ‘brace’ is what remains of the scorpian ancestors exoskeleton, and serves to protect joints, as in the knuckles, and bones, as well as protect sensitive nerve endings. in both the hands, and the face around the eyes, these nerve endings sense chemicals in their air, like a snake’s tongue.

three pairs of eyes. each vertical pair sees color in different wavelengths, and gives a great field of vision as well. ultra violet normal light etc.

Increased tolerance to poison etc. Falmahaultions also retain their scorpian poison glands, though they migrated to their talons, and fangs, and are, in most cases underdeveloped, and have to be stimulated with certain herbs to reach full maturity, and toxicity.

another interesting feature, is the split nails of the Falmahaultions. This is a cosmetic choice, rather than a genetic trait. it is one talon per finger, which certain warrior classes, or others of particular wealth and stature began splitting with knives and permitting to grew in a bifurcated look. The practice was widely adopted by both males and females, but began with the female warrior caste. despite the wholly cosmetic nature of the procedure, Falmahaultion doctors have noted that the remnant poison glands flow easier under such circumstances.

Sensative smell- large noses and nostrils permit Falmahaultions excellent smell

Dense muscles, their species hails from a jungle world, with aztec like architecture and as a result, are known for their great physical strength, and survival abilities, which is only aided by additional respiratory and circulatory systems.

LUCKY JOHN’S TRAITS IN REGARD TO THE ABOVE WORLDBUILDING

Lucky John has lost one heart and one and half of another lung to a duel with a poisoned blade. His body was unable to process the poison due to its extreme potency, and destroyed one of his hearts, one of his lungs, and caused a lung collapse in his middle lung. This incident lowered his all around ability for athleticism and strength and as a result put him on par with most humans, and humanoid species. His luck enabled him to survive.

Lucky John lost his lower right eye in another incident and had damage caused to his nerve endings. He was forced to replace it with a cybernetic eye having all the standard features, and replace one of the nerve endings as well. eventually, he had a special protective placed secured over the central ridge of nerves that journeyed up his face in between his eyes. he forged both from gold.

Lucky John Split his fingernails. Both in homage to warrior caste traditions, and out of a cosmetic choice. sometimes he paints them, or lets his wife paint them. Though traditional nail paint is made from a mix of pigments and the individuals own venom. In the case of his lost arm, his has curved knife blades with no splits in them.

A heraldic Candarian Zapwing and the Flag of the Flint Pirate Clan. The Central Clan has hundreds of Flints, aunts, neices nephews, uncles, brothers, sisters, all under the leadership of Lucky John’s Grandfather, and Nathanial Flint’s Father, Big Ben Flint. Who has disowned Nathanial Flint’s Bloodline multiple occasions. Each subsequent member of the clan however, has their own flagship, command fleet, and Pirate Clan under their leadership with many fleets and hideouts, giving way to a powerful pirate dynasty, and empire. a dynsasty and Empire which Nathanial Flint outshone when he took Treasure Planet for himself to spite his greedy and powerhungry father Big Ben, thus earning his ire.

The Pride of Candaria, a stolen royal Flagship bearing Candarian symbols on her sails. the Flagship of the Flint Pirate Clan, and the ship of Big Ben himself. The whole stern is the site of not just cabins but pirate administrative offices from which the massive pirate clan can run their empire.

For your consideration @lootofathousandsworld I haven’t touched these guys in so long. I miss them.

#flint #captain flint #treasure planet #OC #original character #space pirates #alien pirate #space galleon #solar galleon #original art.

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lucas-koh · 4 years

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Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC V

Parts 1-4 are linked in my bio.

Doesn’t exactly follow canon, but elements of canon. FWB.

Song: Sudden Desire - Hayley Williams

Rating: M; implied sex, sexual language, swearing, mentions of medical procedures

Word Count: 3305

Taglist: @lahellacute @lahamseiroshoe @anotherbeingsworld @fuseboxmusebox @choicesficwriterscreations @bubblelaureno @bratzlahela

Chapter Five: The Tale and The Missed Moment

Bryce and Suki’s Fuck Buddy Agreement:

1. No work-place hookups.

2. No staying the night.

3. Always use the signal. 👃

4. No drunk texting a sober person.

5. No visible marks.

6. Proof of sexual health.

7. Keep it casual.

—-

Santa Fe: this is Suki hello

Santa Fe: i’ve sent the list

Scalpel Jockey: 👃

Santa Fe: that’s it, 👃

Scalpel Jockey: 👄

Scalpel Jockey: shit I meant 👃

Scalpel Jockey: big thumbs oops!

Seen on 15th October

—-

The following weeks felt like months. Work was long, it was stressful, and it was exhausting. Sometimes all Suki wanted to do was curl up into a ball in bed and sleep for as long as possible, letting the stress of working long hours in hospital compress out of her. Sometimes, she wanted to bundle up on the sofa and watch movies with her roommates. But sometimes, Suki wanted to release her tension in other ways. Ways that involved Bryce Lahela.

They left before the morning, were careful with their grip and kisses so as to not leave any marks, and they kept work at work. The arrangement was working out perfectly, and the rules proved successful as well.

So, on paper, everything was going fine.

And everything was still fine when Halloween rolled around and the roommates planned a relaxed evening at Donahue’s followed by horror movies. They didn’t really get a chance to dress up due to work schedules and a lack of time, but they were dressed up in spirit.

They arrived early and snagged a booth: Jackie and Suki squeezing in on one side and Sienna and Aurora on the other. Elijah wheeled his chair under the head of the table. They chatted for a bit before Sienna jumped up to order a round.

A few beers and shots (courtesy of Jackie) later, the group were having some in depth conversations, making jokes, and generally enjoying each others company.

There was a rowdy, annoying group of surgical interns stood nearby the entrance. No sign of Bryce there, however. Suki was somewhat disappointed, it was an amusing thought to her to see Bryce out the open again since they’d made their rules. She’d been to his a couple of times since then, but they hadn’t seen each other all that much really. Those times had been quick and at the end of long work days too, so Suki was looking forward to being able to draw things out a bit more at some point soon. She’d been quite obviously avoiding hookups at her house if it could be helped, because there were too many risk factors.

Plus, with him being a surgeon his hours were completely different to Suki’s, and actually stealing moments could prove tricky. She might’ve been one of the best medical interns, but word at Edenbrook was that Bryce was excelling over all the surgical interns, actually being able to watch a few surgeries, too.

That being said, she was glad he wasn’t there. She was able to enjoy a lovely evening with her roommates without thinking about only her carnal desires.

But as though the world was sending her a sign, the bell over the door rang to indicate someone entering. Bryce entered by himself, walking straight past the rowdy group of surgical interns and heading right for the roommates. He was wearing a plain black tee and distressed blue jeans, a very different look to his green scrubs.

What was he doing here, if not to see the surgical interns? Had he come to drink… alone? Or had one of the roommates told him they’d be there? They had invited him to the housewarming party, after all.

Then again, if it wasn’t for that party, they never would have come to their little agreement.

There was a knowing smirk on his face as he got closer to the group.

Suki felt her stomach contract a little; they hadn’t really interacted that much as a group since the two had devised their little plan. She wasn’t going to let anything slip, but she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t be maybe a little awkward. Just a tad.

“Hey man! Come join us,” Elijah invited. Bryce grinned and squeezed in beside Suki on the bench.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, not looking Bryce in the eye as she gave a greeting nod. His leg pressed against hers where they sat, and he was now so close that Suki could smell his cologne. Of course, nowadays, she only smelt that when they were having sex, so the smell brought her head right back to all those moments.

“Don’t you have friends over there?” Suki asked, motioning her head to where the group of surgical interns were congregated. They were now laughing obnoxiously about something.

An odd expression flashed over his face suddenly but was quickly warped into a smirk. “Well I’d rather spend time with you lovely nose wipers.”

“Oi!” Protested Jackie.

“Welcome! Enjoy our Halloween celebrations. They’re pretty lowkey this year, I wish we could all dress up and go to a party or something but, work calls,” Sienna rushed, smiling at Bryce opposite her.

Now that he was closer, and his hands lay casually on the table in front of him, Suki could see a few silver rings assorted over his long fingers. Interesting. She had an impulse to reach out and brush her fingers over them, or to have them dig into her own fingers, her body. And from that moment, she was screwed for the rest of the night. Serves you right for being so goddamn thirsty.

A few hours later, more drinks down and the thoughts having continued through her head, Suki nudged Bryce gently with her shoulder. They’d all been talking as a group for the night, so they hadn’t spoken one-on-one at all yet. He looked over at her, his face pretty close due to them sitting in such proximity. She brushed her nose with her middle finger - she could pass it off as a simple scratch. Bryce smirked. His eyes flicked subtlety down to Suki’s lips, and he chuckled under his breath, moving a thumb over his bottom lip and hanging his head when he looked away from her.

Just as he was about to slide off the bench and make up an excuse to leave, Sienna shouted:

“Guys! According to google maps there’s a walking ghost tour nearby. We should go!”

“I’m kinda spent-“ Bryce began.

“No! No way you’re bailing on this, Lahela. You’re one of us ‘nose wipers’ now. We bought you drinks!” Sienna cut him off, her sweet features contorting into mock anger.

He blew air from his cheeks, but he didn’t seem annoyed. “Is everyone going?”

“I… guess?” Added Suki.

“I’m… not sure,” hesitated Elijah.

“They’re not scary, Elijah. It’s just a load of paranormal bullshit,” Jackie said.

After a bit of coaxing and a couple more shots, the group headed out of Donahue’s. They walked down a few roads before they found a man in a long leather coat holding a lantern. Sienna bounded up to him and handed him some money, the others pointing out they’d pay her back later. He introduced himself as Henry and noted that they’d wait for some more people.

Bryce and Suki kept glancing at each-other, knowing their previous plans were probably not likely to happen. Nonetheless, Sienna’s excitement was rubbing off on everyone, and even Elijah seemed into the idea. Jackie and Aurora were discussing whether or not they believed in ghosts.

Soon enough, a large group had formed around Henry, and he went into an animated sing-songy tale about the ghost history around that area of Boston.

“And in this very alley…” Henry said dramatically a little later, “is where the ghost resides. AH!” Henry let out a loud shout, causing Suki to jump back into Aurora.

“You okay?” Aurora laughed. Suki nodded with a flustered chuckle, then Henry continued leading them down the road.

Well, that wasn’t at all embarrassing.

“Awwww, don’t tell me you’re scared, Santa Fe?” Bryce sidled up beside her.

“Of course I’m not scared!” She protested, “it’s easy to be shocked by a jump scare,” she turned her face ever so slightly, obstructing the tell-tale look on her face from Bryce’s gaze.

Henry was a fantastic story teller, emphasising the right parts and using his face and body to convey the different emotions; the group found themselves being swept up in the story. Or, facts, if one believed in the supernatural. Things were calming down a little in terms of the group being freaked out, and every now and again Bryce would lean over to Suki and whisper some kind of commentary about Henry’s story. She could just tell he was the type to talk through movies. But she didn’t mind, and actually found it quite amusing.

Then, just seconds later, a young group of guys were walking past and noticed the ghost tour, and simultaneously jumped and shouted at the touring group. It was a poor attempt to scare them. At this, however, Bryce himself yelped loudly and backed into Suki. She caught him, even though he was heavy.

“Awww, don’t tell me you’re scared, Scalpel Jockey? And of teenagers?” Suki mocked in an echo of his words before, holding the backs of his biceps in support. He had no jacket on, so his arms were chilly and she could feel the faint goosebumps on his skin. She found herself hoping her grip might warm him up a little. She was a doctor, after all. After a few seconds Suki let go of Bryce and the two scrambled a little to catch up with the group.

“How was I supposed to know they were just kids?!”

Suki threw her head back with a cackle as the image of Bryce cowering away from a group of teenage boys replayed in her mind. She raised an eyebrow at him, pulling her lips into her mouth.

“I wasn’t scared, obviously. No ones scared of teenagers. Well, maybe those people Gerard Way was talking about,” he laughed, his cocky demeanour flooding back into his words and face.

“And old people. Actually – lots of people find teenagers scary.”

“Well, not me.”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you as an MCR kid, though.”

“Only on the down-low,” he gave her a wink, “I was far too cool for that at school.”

“Right,” she scoffed, “Just too cool. Cool enough that you basically shat yourself at a random guy fucking with us.”

“You jumped a minute ago!”

“Yeah, along with half the tour group.”

He harrumphed. She shoved him playfully with her shoulder, partly as part of the conversation, but partly to put a little distance between them. There was still some alcohol lurking in her system and she just wanted to pull him into the alley from before, but, she couldn’t. He didn’t come closer again after the nudge.

“Shhh!” Chastised Jackie from in front of them, who was utterly engaged in Henry’s commentary. Bryce and Suki exchanged a look and tried to keep their laughter as quiet as possible.

—-

Later on, the group were walking up toward their apartment, discussing the night’s events. Everyone had a great time, even if it might not have been the Halloween they were all used to. They walked in a staggered lump, moving fluidly between each-other. Their voices carried down the empty Boston residential blocks, yellowed streetlights illuminating their smiling faces, setting the mood for the comedown of the night perfectly.

“…The Shining, duh. And we can’t forget The Conjuring, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These are classics, Aurora,” Elijah babbled along to the group.

“I vote Halloweentown,” piped up Sienna. Aurora laughed and dug her keys out of her pocket.

“Bryce, you coming in for movies?” Asked Elijah.

“Ah,” he looked over at Suki very briefly, “best not. It might be Halloween but I don’t function well on no sleep. Plus, I’ve intruded for long enough.”

Suki knew that if Bryce stayed there was every chance he’d be ending the night in her bedroom, and she’d been avoiding that since the Aurora situation.

“Killjoy,” chuckled Jackie, giving him a friendly smack on the back before entering the apartment building.

“See you next time!” Sienna pulled Bryce in for a hug, her tiny frame dwarfed by his six odd feet and broad stature. Elijah and Aurora chimed in with their farewells.

“Well… goodnight then,” nodded Suki. She didn’t go in for any kind of farewell, it wasn’t really their style. Particularly not in the company of others.

“Yeah. See you around.”

There was a moment where they kind of stared at each-other that felt like it went on for hours, but in reality was brief.

And with that, Bryce walked off down the road. There was an odd pang in Suki’s chest at the missed opportunity as she watched his figure get smaller and smaller. She’d been waiting since she’d given him the signal at Donahue’s for a chance to sneak off, trying not to look at him too much during the ghost tour or walk too close to him. There was just something ridiculously engaging about paying too much attention to Bryce Lahela that made her lose all her other thoughts. Even if she didn’t really want him to come in given everyone else, there was a sort of disappointment that he hadn’t seemed to want to come in. He’d only given her the briefest look and there was no signal, no attempt to continue the night. But it obviously just wasn’t in the cards for her to get laid that night.

That being said, Suki had enjoyed herself way more than she’d anticipated: the tour itself was entertaining, and of course spending time with her friends. And… Bryce wasn’t all that bad. Maybe sex wasn’t all he was good for. But either way, she couldn’t let herself get too tangled up in the other aspects of his personality, it would get messy.

“Come on then,” Sienna ushered the rest of them inside.

—-

“Hey,” Bryce’s voice rose up from behind where Suki sat eating a sandwich in the cafeteria. She turned to face him, bread stuffed in her mouth, and followed him with her eyes as he took the seat opposite her.

“Hmi,” she tried to say through her mouthful.

He barked out a laugh and pulled a shiny red apple from his pocket, flipping it round in his hands.

“When you’ve finished your mouthful,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “you free tonight?”

“Yeah, why?”

He gave her a disbelieving smirk. “You know why.” He took a casual bite from the apple, the crisp crunch ringing in her ears over the ruckus of the cafeteria.

She laughed, realising. “Sorry, still in Doctor mode. You could’ve texted, you know.”

“Eh, you were here, I needed a seat to eat my apple in. So?”

“Yeah, I’m free. I’ll drop by after my shift.”

“Cool.” He took another crunch from his apple and stood from the table, gave Suki a nod, and then swaggered off out of the cafeteria without a look back.

“See ya,” she muttered to herself.

Didn’t he just say he wanted to sit down and eat his apple?

—-

Suki exhaled breathlessly as Bryce rolled away from her body. They were both left in a sheen of sweat and exhausted. After a couple of moments for the duo to catch their breath, Bryce turned to face his body to her, propping his head up on his hand.

“So, not to be a bed brag or anything but… you just had sex with the guy who’s assisting on Dr Tanaka’s next surgery.”

Suki let out a breathy chuckle.

“You are a brag.” Then she turned so that she faced him from the other pillow, also propping up her head on her hand, “Well done, though.” Her voice went softer, and her face took on a disarming sincerity.

Bryce was taken aback by her genuine praise, but he couldn’t let her know that.

“Thanks,” he said, eyebrows furrowed with humour, “I’m actually really excited.”

“What’s the surgery?”

“Only an appendectomy.”

“Only?”

He laughed, sinking his head back down onto the pillow. His hands cradled under his head.

“Yeah, it’s not particularly advanced. Still, gonna be fun.”

They were talking as though they were friends, which wasn’t really a label Suki had felt appropriate to ascribe to their relationship.

“When is it?” Suki, stop asking him questions! Then again, at this point it would be awkward if she just up and left.

“Next week. Pencil it in your calendar because you are going to have the best sex of your life that night.”

Suki let out a cackle. “Is there anything you don’t think you’re amazing at?”

Again, Bryce propped himself back up so that he was facing Suki. There seemed to be a restlessness to all this changing of positions.

“I’m not lying though, am I?” As he said this his voice was low and sultry, deep mahogany eyes watching her from under his lashes. Those were sticking together slightly from the sweat, Suki was close enough to notice. He brought one of his hands down under the covers and rested it on Suki’s hip.

“If you’re trying to get me to boost your ego - It won’t work.”

He smirked, knowing that the answer he’d been looking for was hidden in those words. And she did agree. He was amazing in bed.

Bryce drew barely-there circles on Suki’s hip, before pulling it towards him. Then he leaned his face right in, so that it was inches from hers.

“I don’t need you to say it because I can see it in your eyes,” and yes, he was looking straight into her eyes. But she felt sort of drunkenly infatuated with it, her desire growing by the second. “and feel it on your skin.” His grip on her hip tightened, the sweat condensing between their skin-on-skin contact. Now they were close enough that they could do it all over again if they wanted to.

Bryce trailed his finger up from Suki’s hip slowly, tickling her skin and giving her goosebumps, over the dip of her waist, the rise of her ribcage; all the way up to her neck. He splayed his hand out flat over the front of her neck, and tightened his grip. Just enough that she could feel it. Face still inches from her, he said:

“I just have an effect on people.”

And then in one swift movement, and a melodious laugh, Bryce pulled his hand and his body from hers, falling once again on his back at the pillow beside Suki’s.

Fucking hell. Talk about flustered! Suki tried to pretend she was unaffected, also flopping back onto her pillow. He did have an effect on people and he knew full well by now that Suki, despite her best efforts to conceal the fact, was not someone who handled being flustered well. And let’s be honest, she wouldn’t keep sleeping with the guy if it wasn’t something she was enjoying.

Despite that, though, there she was, lying in Bryce’s bed post-lay and completely naked, and not worrying about it. Not in the way she’d worried their first morning, shuffling to cover herself with her bedsheets. She supposed by now he knew her body inside and out, and that emotional intimacy she’d been scared of had warped into a purely carnal intimacy. Plus, the fact that she hadn’t just woken up next to him, slightly hungover, probably helped.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,” she practically choked out, as though his hand was still splayed over her neck.

He could tell he’d affected her, and that classic smirk spread wider over his face as he stared at his bedroom ceiling.

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corie-the-writer · 4 years

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Fate - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been almost thirty six hours since Jay had physically seen Aubrey and Henry, and he felt like he was losing his mind. Even though he had exchanged a number of texts with Aubrey, letting him know that their son was safe in Cindy Hermann's home, and that she was safe, he needed to see them. This outbreak had been considered an act of terrorism, and Jay was scared out of his mind that Aubrey would be infected, since Chicago Med had a number of victims.

Jay and the entire Intelligence team had been running their selves into the ground trying to find Doctor David Seldon, and the last Jay had heard, Seldon had been at Chicago Med.

As Jay sat in the passenger seat of Hank's SUV, Jay kept trying to reach Aubrey or Will, neither of them answering their phones, causing panic to set in.

"They aren't answering." Jay grumbled.

"We're almost there." Hank answered, his foot pressing on the gas a little more as he sped through the streets of Chicago.

Seeing the hospital quickly approaching, Jay took his seat belt off, bracing himself for Hank to slam on his breaks. Hank pulled under the awning to the emergency department, Jay jumping out of the car before the vehicle could stop. Jay rushed into the building with Hank on his heels, "Where's Aubrey and Will?" Jay questioned as he walked quickly past the nurses station, his eyes scanning the faces as he passed.

"Last I heard, they were in the lab." The nurse stated, "Second floor, the stairs will be quicker."

Jay took off running towards the stairs, Hank right behind him, dodging and weaving the by standers as they reached the second floor. Jay's heart was beating wildly in his chest, searching for Aubrey's face and Will. Jay spotted the lab, picking up his speed, barreling into the door.

"Aubrey, Will?!" Jay rushed into the room, seeing Will picking himself up off the floor, his forehead bleeding, "What the hell?!" Jay rushed to his brother, "Where's Aubrey?" Jay questioned, helping his brother up.

"I...I think Seldon took her." Will reached for his head, "I tried to stop him, he cold cocked me over the head."

Jay's blood ran cold, his knees going weak, "How long ago?" Hank's voice caused him to blink a few times, trying to control his emotions from taking over.

"It couldn't have been long." Will sighed, "Jay, I tried..."

"He might still be in the building." Hank stated.

Jay was out the door before either of them could say anything, quickly getting on the two-way to get a description of Seldon and Aubrey out on the radio. He was searching the halls as he was racing towards the security room, to see if any cameras had picked either of them up.

The Detective watched the security footage, seeing Seldon holding something to Aubrey as they moved through the halls, using her ID badge to get through different doors to head towards the exit, trying to go as un-noticed as possible. Jay's jaw clenched seeing Seldon shove Aubrey into his truck. Jay felt like he was going to be sick, as Hank came in a few moments later.

"Ruzek brought in the wife, she's being questioned now." Hank stated, "We're gonna find her." Hank added, trying to bring relief to him, "Jay, you gotta keep your head on right now." Hank spoke quietly, before calling Seldon's license plate number over the two-way.

"I can't do this without her." Jay spoke so quietly that Hank almost didn't hear him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"You won't have to." . . . Aubrey's hands were trembling as Seldon ushered her into an office meeting, filled with a number of men and women. The man shoved her into an empty chair in front of all of the board members, she quickly realized. Aubrey watched as Doctor Seldon began to rant about how his virus was life changing, how the world could be changed with his new discovery, and Aubrey realized he had lost his mind. All because his funding denied.

Considering who her father was, Hank had always taught her and Justin that if for some reason they were ever taken, to keep your mouth shut, do as the person says, and wait. It scared the hell out of her, but she knew that her father would stop at nothing to find either of them, and she had to trust that Hank or Jay would find her.

Aubrey thought of Henry, closing her eyes, remembering the little boys face, so thankful that she was able to get away from Noah, and come back to Chicago. She wasn't sure what Seldon was planning, but she knew that Henry would be safe in Chicago with Jay. Aubrey thought of Jay, and everything that they have been through together. She knew that if she walked out of this, Aubrey was going to tell Jay how much she loved him. . . . Jay pulled up to the building, watching as a dark haired woman fell from several floors up, he let out a sigh of relief seeing that it wasn't Aubrey, and quickly pulled his gun out with Atwater and Rixton beside him.

Making his way into the building with Atwater, while Rixton dealt with the body, Jay took off running towards the stairs, being led by the people trying to escape. When Jay made it to the correct floor, he heard a gun shot and several screams, and he swore he stopped breathing for a moment. As he approached the door, he slowly opened it to see Seldon holding a gun aimed at the door, a knife to Aubrey's throat.

"Doctor Seldon, I just want to talk, can I come in there in talk?" Jay questioned, moving to the other side of the door.

"No. Do not come in!" Seldon shouted.

"It's either me talking or a team of men shooting." Jay stated, "Believe me, whatever your here to do, it's better with me in there and keeping them out. What's it gonna be?" Jay questioned, hoping like hell he could get into the office to get the knife away from Aubrey's throat.

A few seconds later Seldon spoke up, "Okay, but come in slowly and drop the weapon." Seldon instructed, Jay quickly grabbed his phone, telling him he was going in and to keep the line open, removing his gun from his hand and showing Seldon that he was going to drop it to the ground.

Jay's eyes locked with Aubrey, seeing the tears start to build in her eyes, and he looked back to Seldon as he instructed him to turn around, walking in backwords, then instructed to close the door. . . . Aubrey watched as Jay unarmed his gun, dropping it to the ground. His hands held in the air, his eyes looking to hers for a moment and then around the room, "Everything is going to be okay, everybody just stay calm." Jay spoke, and as much as Aubrey wanted to sigh in relief, she couldn't do to the knife at her throat.

"Okay, so why are we here? What can I help you with?" Jay questioned walking towards Seldon, Aubrey sighed in relief as Seldon moved away from her with the knife, and towards Jay, the gun aimed at him, as Seldon began to talk about the virus, to see how the world is going to end, because of the bacteria. All due to fear.

Jay tensed when Seldon aimed the gun at Aubrey as he began to rant about not funding the grant he needed to do the research he needed.

"So how do you want me to help? You want me to get the media here? You want me to arrange the funding?" Jay questioned.

"No, no it's too late for that. It's time for them to decided." Seldon shouted, pointing the gun back to Aubrey, with a knife in the other hand.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'll help you prove your right." Jay slightly panicked, taking a step towards Seldon, "I believe you, so let me do it." Jay added.

Aubrey watched in horror as Seldon tossed Jay the knife, demanding that he pick up the knife. She wanted him to scream at him to not do it as he glanced to the already infected man across from her, and then watched as Jay cut his arm, grimacing as he winced. Aubrey let the tears fall as Seldon rolled the spray bottle towards Jay, demanding that he pick it up and spray it. Her heart was in her throat when his eyes locked with hers, and aimed the spray bottle at his arm, and stalled for a half of second, and Aubrey heard the shots, the door busting in and her father shooting Seldon.

A moment later, Aubrey was out of her chair running straight into Jay's arms, his large hands wrapping around her, "Don't ever fucking do that again." Aubrey cried, her face burying into his chest, "Please, don't ever do that again." Aubrey felt Jay kiss the top of her head and a moment later she was pulled from the man's arm and into her father's, then Will's.

"You okay?" Will questioned to Jay and Aubrey, making sure that they didn't get any of the bacteria on them.

"Yeah." Aubrey nodded, then looked over to Jay, who wouldn't tear his eyes away from her, "Yeah, I'm good." Jay answered, "Let's go home." Jay looked to Aubrey, holding out his hand and watched as she took it a moment later.

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#detective jay halstead #jay halstead #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead x oc #jay halstead series #fate chapter 3

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directdogman · 5 years

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DSaFTales: Nothing.

(I wrote a story explaining what happened to Henry after DSaF 3′s GOOD ending and showing an unseen but important exchange that William and Henry exchanged before the events of ANY scene you’ve seen in the DSaF timeline. Enjoy.) The charred remains of a husk, vaguely arranged in the shape of a man, stood in an unfathomably inky abyss. Not a speck of light so much as attempted to penetrate the surrounding darkness. For the second time in his life, Dr Henry Miller was facing his wildest, most crippling fear head-on. Utter and relentless uncertainty. As the Voidwalker stood in the darkness, a memory drifted from eye to eye, crossing the bare threshold of what it was and wasn't. A much younger Henry, dressed in a decidedly much dirtier overcoat than he was wearing before, stained with motor-oil and grease, carrying traces of sawdust and metallic shreddings in its many fibers and stitches. Dr Miller, not so much as glancing away from the near-tightened bolt he was adjusting with his rusted wrench, asked his scrawny and deformed assistant a casual question. "Willy..." Dr Miller casually blurted out, still transfixed by the near tightened bolt, "Do you think that in theory, different types of nothing could potentially exist?" Dr Miller's assistant remained leaning against the wall, his vacuous mouth still left blissfully agape. "What's that, Henry?-"

"Nothing-" Miller retorted, before being interrupted by his dimwitted colleague. "Oh, that's fine, then." William replied nonchalantly, "Could'a sworn you'd asked me a-" “Willy." Miller stated, retaking control of the narrative and now focused on winding a small metallic springloaded mechanism, which looked not unlike a mousetrap attached to a rod-shaped fastener, "Do you think that there's different kinds of nothing in this world, or not?"

William placed his expansive palm over his chin, now in deep thought. "Well, prolly not, Henry, since y'know... Nothin' is..." William spoke hesitantly, "Well- Nothin' is just NOTHIN', y'know, so I don't see how there could POSSIBLY be different types o-" Dr Miller stopped meticulously recoiling the spring in his hand for a moment, wondering how to explain his vision to his simple friend. "You know, Willy..." Miller mumbled, "Nothing and darkness are very similar to the untrained eye, but fundamentally different, once you notice the difference at least once." William leaned his head forward, rubbing his mitt-like hands along his plum-hued scalp, almost certainly attempting to run his fingers through hair he didn't have. "Explain." William demanded of Henry. Henry smiled, coiling the spring again, knowing his trap was set. "You see, Willy-" Henry murmured, "I want you to note EXACTLY what you can see out of both of your eyes right now." William nodded and gazed forward, absorbing his immediate visible surroundings. "Well?" Henry cooed. William internalized the dingy surroundings of the dark room they found themselves in, now prepared to describe Henry's workshop in detail. "From my left eye..." William started, still gazing fixed upon a horizon far beyond the concrete confines of the room he found himself in, "I can see a table, some tools, some blueprints printed on left-over stock card from when you let me draft up our menus, and my lunchbox, can't ferget that." "And what of your other eye?" Henry inquired, "What does THAT eye see?" "Well, obviously, I can see you, windin' up some kind of device, ready to put it into your unfinished bot, right?" Dave responded, now hesitant of whether or not he was bumbling his way into one of Henry's (quite typical) cruel lessons. "Crudely stated, but ultimately correct. Well done." Henry replied, validating William’s response, before giving his partner a second instruction. "Now, close both eyes." Henry dictated to William. William shut both of his eyes tightly. "Well, now I see nothin', Henry." William replied, sure of his answer. Due to his lack of visual awareness, William had no time to brace himself before he received an unyielding impact, courtesy of the wrench still in Dr Miller's left hand. William yelped like a confused animal, held his jaw tightly, and paced a few steps backwards, careful not to expose his back to Henry. "DARKNESS." Henry barked, breaking his previously lucid composure, waving his wrench around within striking distance of William, "You didn't see NOTHING. You saw DARKNESS, WILLIAM." Henry slowly turned back to his work, and continued cranking the coil of the mechanism that was again holding his sole interest, now that William was disciplined. Henry didn't bother to turn back to check if William had fled the room, he knew that his assistant wouldn't. "I-I don't understand-" William stuttered, sniffling back tears. Henry sighed deeply. "Well, yield those incessant waterworks and tell me what you can see from your right eye, again." Henry responded nonchalantly. William took a moment to compose himself, and replied to Henry again, reiterating his last answer. "I-I see YOU, Henry." William replied, brokenhearted. Henry grinned, wide and terrible, showing his rarely seen teeth. "Now, close your right eye, then." Henry responded, "But, this time, keep the left one open, so you can still see the tools and our blueprints sitting on the desk." William nodded, following the command faithfully and without hesitation. "What can you see from your right eye NOW?" Henry asked William. William stood in silence for a moment, before responding with the nature of his sad, pitiful realization. "Nothing." William replied, his greatest fear coming to light, "Where I saw you, I now see nothing." Henry chuckled. "Nothing may APPEAR to be remarkably similar to darkness, before you notice its key difference." Henry stated, "In darkness, there is life, hiding behind a threshold of undetectability, in every abyss, potential for something to lurk beyond the confines of where simple observation merely cannot reach. Darkness is simply that which light cannot touch..." Henry finished tightening the coil at last, finishing the final touches on his masterpiece. "Within nothing, there is no light trapped beneath the waves of obscurity, no surrounding air to fill the vaccuum, no substance to obscure any nuance, oblique or otherwise, no potential or sustenance. Nothing is a cancer, that cannot be filled, cannot be quenched, and will consume any space that simply... isn't. A place where light could be, but won't ever be." Henry affectionately placed his hand on William's now bloodied chin. "Now that you see it too, don't you want to protect others from it?" Henry asked him, "Don't you want to stay here, in the light, knowing that I won't let you ever become nothing?" William forced a shaky smile, and frantically nodded, tears in his eyes. Henry's face contorted into a smile, no less sinister, but noticeably wider, but with closed lips, holding back all of the words Henry's conscience would be commanding Henry to warn William with, had Dr Miller actually possessed a conscience, no matter how minute. Dr Miller stretched his hand out whimsically, referring to the costume now sitting on the table. "How does it look, William?" Henry asked, turning to face his partner, who turned back, fixating himself on the costume to stop his very being from straying towards inconsolability. "Is-Is that MINE?" William stuttered, pacing slowly towards it. Henry chuckled. "Yes." Henry responded, needing no more words to complete the exchange. William's hand outstretched slowly, running down the stitched curvature of the suit's hips. "It... It matches YOURS." William stated, noting the golden fabric with purple highlights, "It's GOLD." Henry's mouth stretched into something not quite a smile, not quite a grimace, gaping and soulless. "You deserve no less, partner." Henry replied, putting a hand on William's shoulder, "And NOTHING could change that." As the memory drifted from Henry's eyes, so did the last speck of remaining light along with it. The vision before Henry proved his theories right in ways that he never hoped he would have to face. The prison, the void in which he spent forty grueling years, he could now see wasn't quite a void as he'd pictured it. He'd dwelled in a place visually not unlike where he was now, a place without light or warmth, a place that existed outside of light and warmth, but existed as a void, waiting to be filled by both. But, unlike that place, this place didn't merely lack visible light, it lacked darkness to obscure anything that wasn't himself. Instead, he merely saw... nothing. "I-" Henry attempted to say aloud, but the words came out in his head, as there was no air for the words to travel through, "I can't be dead..." Henry thought to pace, but there was nowhere for him to go, no way to tell if he was moving at all. "T-There's an infinite number of parallel dimensions and timelines, from dimensions 1 through 10, impossibility to the event horizon-" Henry rambled, attempting to justify to himself that which he'd just realized wasn't truly proven by result, "In one of those infinite instances, I must be alive and breathing, Schrodinger, Bohr, Heisenberg, they knew-" Henry began sweating. "If there's infinity possibility, all extending from the c-confirmed wave function, in at least ONE of those dimensions, I must be alive, there has to be a way back." Henry gasped for air that was no longer there, "I can't be dead, for if I wasn't, I wouldn't be, and until that happens, and it won't-" Henry continued to bumble through his frantic self-justification. "Like the Ship of Theseus, we are concepts, always changing, being assembled and disassembled, but a change of location doesn't- I'm still here, and until I die, which I can't observe, because if I was to- If I were dead, I wouldn't be around to observe it, therefore, I CANNOT be dead, I MUST be the version of myself that will continue to live, the protagonist, I must exist, I-" A set of eyes appeared before the Voidwalker, in the darkness, somehow not quite there, but undoubtedly inescapable. As the crimson eyes gazed into the voidwalker’s very being, or lack there of, Henry felt a hunger emanate from the eyes, and a voice come from deep within his brain, chilling and certain, undoubtedly speaking on behalf of the eyes. "Who's to say that you aren't dead?"

#dsaf #dayshift at freddy's #henry miller #henry dsaf #dsaf dave #dave dsaf

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oldfritz · 4 years

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this was surprisingly hard because half of them I wanted to throw in f, but then felt guilty about it so here’s where we are. explanations under the cut to be nice (fair warning: I’m writing this while tipsy so this is a journey)

S-tier

Old Fritz: look me in the eyes. look at me. are you looking? good. where else was I was going to put him? where? in C with the other losers? foolish. I am ruining my life for this man, I’m going to go into debt so I can be moderately qualified to write books on him so Tim Blanning and Christopher Clark don’t boo my off the stage. I sit here sometimes and I’m like ‘y’know, I would start a podcast to talk about his life’ as if I’m some straight white guy who thinks any of you want to listen to me for an hour. he’s a bastard, a smug bastard, and is the epitome of self-destructive tendencies. and, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he wasn’t so fucking misogynistic all the time. ‘oh women aren’t fit to rule’ shut up Fritz before I time travel to fuck your wife and make her have one night where life feels worthwhile. but he’s funny, I enjoy how he does foreign policy, and he’s unfortunately relatable to me. cheers, Fritz. here’s to never being satisfied from one gay disaster with anger issues to another. may we burn in hell together

A-tier

Friedrich iii: “Suzanne, he was only on the throne for 99 days!! how can he be this high up when some of these bastards refused to die?” I hear you, my friends, and I have answers. I’ll tell you two words you’ll be shocked to hear put together: liberal Hohenzollern. a rare breed, isn’t it? imagine, friends, a world where he got over his throat cancer because he listened to a doctor and we get through the 1910s, 20s, even the 30s without Wilhelm II Electric Boogaloo being in power. Prussia is still on the map, the Anglo-Prussian alliance is strong, and I live in peace. but no. this stupid man had to keep smoking. because he’s selfish and doesn’t care about my needs. you know, he actually loved his wife. rare in this family. loved her and wasn’t abusive. the bar is so low, guys. and his wife is amazing too, Victoria. the world would’ve been in competent hands if they’d been in power longer (and Bismarck would’ve been out of a job still but at least these guys are smart. their son inherited grandma Vicki’s IQ). I would sleep with both of them and would thank them for the honor (when it should always be the other way around, remember that)

B-tier

Friedrich I: if your name is Friedrich and only Friedrich, we’re buds. that’s my rule. I have to give him credit where credit’s due. he was the first. while I agree with Fritz in his proscription that he was ‘small in big ways and big in small ways’ (I may have flipped that around), he wasn’t a bad guy. he just was born into the wrong job for him. I appreciate that he rode on his father’s coattails of proving useful to the Habsburgs and did a little himself to get that sweet, sweet kingship. smart move. I also like that he saw Louis XIV and said to himself “I stan, I kin, on God we’re gonna do that’ and tried. only for have his stupid, ungrateful, unclassy son to do away with that. I, too, am a woman of luxury and self-indulgance and if I had all the riches of Brandenburg and Prussia at the time (not much), I would spend them ridiculously on outfits and music and art. now, what did he do as king? what policy legacy did he leave behind? that’s a good one :)

C-tier

Friedrich Wilhelm III: now as a king he sucks. and I stand by this because, you know, he lost to him *imagine me pretending to be short and saying ‘oui, oui’ in a bad french accent*. and as any proper Englishwoman I can’t support a monarch who goes around losing to the French unless their name is Mary I. but, he’s a pathetic little man. he really is. so indecisive, so unsure of himself. what are you doing little guy? you think because your last name is Hohenzollern, God thinks you’re a good king? well it is like 1805 and, while divine right isn’t really being used as much, it’s as good as any reason on why you’re the chosen one and my family is eating dirt in Sicily and on the Scottish border. he’s really just a dude, nothing extraordinary about him except that his wife was the only one with brains and was the first to establish that (sorry Wilhelm I). he cried when he found out that his children didn’t call him ‘papa’ and went into a deep depressive state when his wife suddenly died. he’s an average man, of average abilities, but of big heart. and the big heart is what bumps him up, for me, from his old place as an F to a C. though, his moralizing is tedious

Friedrich Wilhelm II: this man should have partied with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. everyone’s got that one ruler whose all about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. for the US it’s JFK, for the UK it’s Margaret Thatcher Charles II, France has Louis XIV. Prussia has this guy and we should thank him. so many mistresses, so much sex, so much revelry and debauchery and sin! this guy’s personal life is like a treasure trove of political and sexual intrigue. if you’re into that - as I am as a town gossip - you’ll love him. I am constantly amazed by the fact that some STD didn’t kill him. syphilis, herpes, crabs. something, man, anything. but he didn’t. he’s a shit king though. absolutely horrible. all he did was whine that he didn’t get taught anything by Uncle Fritz and, yes, that’s not good if it’s true (but it’s not completely because the treatises are detailed but I guess he didn’t have time to read) but c’mon. actually apply yourself and learn on the job. I know that would’ve required him to not be balls deep somewhere, but unfortunately he’s not Dorian Gray. there’s work that needed to be done and he didn’t do it. boo!!

D-tier

Wilhelm I: apparently he was a good guy, unlike the other 3 who populate the lowest rungs of Prussian kinghood. so I give him that and I can respect that. but what did he do? what were his own ideas? I thought about putting Bismarck as king instead because, really, he was. Bismarck was a minister who ran around the king’s back to set things up exactly as he liked and it fucking worked because he was the brains. his wife was intelligent too, but theirs wasn’t a wamr and loving marriage. and Bismarck worked to get Wilhelm to distrust her because she was liberal and the fact that Wilhelm would listen to Otto even if it meant allowing himself to be drowned in the Rhine is pathetic. fun party at Versailles though. hope it was worth the war reparations

F-tier (bastard time) I’m going in a different order because I want to go from the ones I hate least to most xoxo

Friedrich Wilhelm IV: “I won’t accept a crown from the gutter” then you won’t accept a crown at all, stupid idiot! god, the smugness. the authoritarian impulses. I know it was the cool thing in 1848 to put down any revolts/protests with as much force as possible, but man, at least the Habsburgs were transparent. homie was like “yeah guys lol I’ll make a constitution and it’ll be epic! you’ll have so many rights! xoxo gossip girl” and then...nope. and AND he wanted the Habsburgs in charge of things too! Mr. ‘I’m Nostalgic For When HRE Was Great And We Blew Austrian Dick!’ grow up man. it’s Prussia time buddy, Austria is beginning to fall apart. don’t look to the past, look to the future, but you didn’t have that vision did you?

Wilhelm II: *banging pots and pans* I blame this man for everything! now, intellectually, does Germany take all the blame for WWI? no, that’s foolish and propaganda of the Allies only. if you’re a European power in 1914, you get to share the blame (ex: why did UK need to make this a naval arms race? Austria should’ve declared war on Serbia sooner if that’s what it wished to do. Russia, please stay out of the Balkans then and forever). but does my irrational hatred of Wilhelm blind me to this truth when I see his stupid face and that ugly fucking mustache that I wish to yank off? my god, yes. I see him and Rule Britannia and The Yanks Are Coming start playing so loud in my head and I’m like ‘yeah, the kaiser’s gonna pay.’ I’m sorry that Bismarck’s ego was bigger than yours but did you have to prove him right by getting incompetent buffoons who were playing checkers when he set the board up for chess to replace him? Did you have to prove Freud right by displacing private problems onto public life with your little tit-for-tat with George IV (VI?) because his mummy loved you more? Why did you need to fuck every naval vessel you saw like an inferior of Peter the Great who believed he was Sir Francis Drake? but that’s just the first war and he lived to see things setting up for the second. wasn’t in convenient for you to be close with the N@zis when you thought they might want a king back on the throne and you could reclaim your little tyrant. like every goddamn Prussian conservative or Junker, you thought you could play the tyrannical cockroach. sure, you figured out earlier that he was no pal, but you still collaborated and you still allowed yourself to get played like the weak man of conscience you are. cheers!

Friedrich Wilhelm I: ladies and gentleman, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! the biggest bastard straight outta Berlin, FW1! and who doesn’t love an abusive father? who doesn’t love a man, so insecure and pathetic, that he needs to terrorize children to be able to look at himself and have a little pride. I understand that it was because he wanted his kids, specifically Fritz, to be best. but being best and perfect meant being miniature versions of him and aren’t we supposed to want our children to be better than a carbon-copy of a small man? honestly, I could live with the occasional smack for this time period. it’s within the norm and, while horrible, isn’t irreparably damaging. this guy really had to beat the shit out of Fritz and Wilhelmina and I’m sure Augustus and Henry and Amalia and all the others (so many kids) didn’t get spared either because if you hit one, you’ll hit ‘em all. and I judge them for their flaws all the same but, for some of them, it gets hard to. because what fighting chance did they have when their father was telling them how worthless they were and beating them senseless and threatening death and life imprisonment on some? I’m constantly impressed by Henry and Fritz and Wilhelmina for amounting to any semblance of maturity, even though it’s always fleeting, because this man didn’t give them the tools to be functioning adults. but each of them managed to be greater than their father, as did Amalia managing a really cool coup in Sweden. and what did FW1 get? he built up his army, had a tall guy fetish, increased the treasury, and made the cabinet and executive offices more efficient. there used to be this one guy on here that would argue that that was all a good king made and that this lowlife didn’t deserve the contempt he got by some on here (an obvious vague of me) for his behavior as a father. and maybe I’m a crackpot, but I believe the quality of a man outshines all those other achievements and that that’s meaningless to me, in my personal life. and when I get to hell, before I go to any of these other men, I’ll go to him and ask him how hell’s fires feel because, if his God was real, it would never love him. and that’s beautiful

#i just wanted to give you guys the mental image of ol maggie doing lines of coke #i dont like her i just like to give nicknames to all my enemies #makes them uncomfortable #im very tipsy so this is weird #i apologize #but i hope its kinda funny and enjoyable #frederick the great #old fritz #the name frederick officially looks meaningless to me #frederick william i #frederick i #frederick iii #frederick william ii #frederick william iii #frederick william iv #wilhelm i #wilhelm ii #prussian shitposting

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giveamadeuschohisownmovie · 5 years

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Hypothetical plot outline for season 1 of Hulu’s Ghost Rider series

Before we start, here is our main cast:

1) Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider

2) Lorenzo James Henrie as Gabe Reyes, Robbie’s younger brother

3) Jose Zuniga as Eli Morrow, Robbie’s uncle and the main antagonist of the season

4) Jessica Parker Kennedy as Lisa Gardner, a detective and Robbie’s main love interest (at least as of season 1)

5) Derek Mio as Kenshiro “Zero” Cochrane, a hacker who befriends Robbie and eventually becomes his go-to tech guy (the “Cisco Ramon” of the show)

6) Josh Segarra as Hamilton Slade, a college professor who is dating Lisa Gardner, thinks Ghost Rider is a menace

7) Becky G as Alejandra Jones / All-New Ghost Rider, a woman whose soul becomes bonded to Eli’s after making a deal with him

8) Malese Jow as Sister Sara Yang / The Caretaker, a warrior nun who reluctantly joins forces with Robbie in order to battle the supernatural

Now, the episodes. Since this is the first season and Marvel might consider costs in making the series, I thought that 10 episodes would be a reasonable amount.

Episode 1: Still Angry

* A plot: Introduction to all the main characters. Robbie is a loner who helps a local church during the day and goes out as Ghost Rider at night. The opening scene is of Robbie destroying a local gang. Gabe Reyes is going to a nearby college, which is the real reason why Robbie moved to Texas. Lisa and Hamilton also volunteer at Robbie’s church, which is how Robbie develops a crush on her, despite her being in a relationship. Hamilton is friendly to Robbie but you can also tells he’s the “jealous / possessive boyfriend” type.

* B plot: Sister Sara Yang, also known as “The Caretaker”, arrives in Texas with the mission to capture the Ghost Rider for the Catholic Church. She recruits Rising Tide hacktavist Kenshiro “Zero” Cochrane by blackmailing him (“if you don’t help me, I’ll report all your cybercrimes”).

* C plot: Alejandra Jones is trying to cross the border from Mexico to the USA in order to find her long-lost father. In the episode stinger, we learn that she’s being stalked by a ghost, who we’ll learn later on is Eli Morrow.

* The climax of the episode is Sister Sara confronting the Ghost Rider. The two fight and Robbie easily defeats her. Instead of killing her, Robbie spares her when he realizes she’s not evil. Sara asks why and Robbie just tells her to leave and never come back.

Episode 2: A Good Man

* A plot: Robbie tries to go back to his normal routine but is confronted by Sister Sara and Kenshiro. Gabe, who is fully aware of his brother’s nightly activities, tries to convince them that Robbie is a good man but Sara is unconvinced. Sara says Robbie needs to prove to her that he’s a good man or else he will have to come back with her to the Vatican City. Robbie proves he’s on her side by taking down a gang of human traffickers and saving all the people they captured. All the people who Robbie saved bless him, calling him an “angel of vengeance”. Sara and Kenshiro leave, with Sara’s faith shaken and unsure of continuing her mission.

* B plot: Lisa and Hamilton go on a date where they discuss the Ghost Rider. Hamilton hates the man but Lisa thinks he’s a hero. Lisa tries to pry into Hamilton’s past and he tells her bits and pieces but stops short of going into his “family legacy”. Curious, Lisa asks and Hamilton rudely tells her to “stop digging”.

* C plot: Alejandra tries crossing the border but the cartel suspect her of wrongdoing (she was framed by another person). The cartel kill her on the spot, leading to her making a deal with Eli Morrow. Episode ends with her becoming the second Ghost Rider.

Episode 3: The Other Rider

* A plot: While patrolling one night, Robbie hears about a horrifying incident on the other side of the border. A Ghost Rider-like monster led a massacre of a cartel, leaving barely any survivors. As he investigates, he comes across Lisa, who is also on patrol that night, and Sara, who was investigating on her own. Survivors of the cartel attack the three of them, with the cartel shooters wanting payback. Robbie, Sara, and Lisa fight them off and Robbie drives all of them away to safety. Robbie drops Lisa back at the police station and drives away with Sara. Robbie tells Sara he wasn’t responsible for the massacre and Sara believes him.

* B plot: Gabe is at college, where he meets Kenshiro. They mostly have a humorous subplot, with Kenshiro trying to befriend Gabe since he has no friends in the area and that Sister Sara told him to get close to the Ghost Rider’s family. We learn more about Kenshiro and Gabe’s backstories. We also learn that Hamilton Slade is one of Gabe’s professors but is unaware that Gabe’s brother is the Ghost Rider.

* C plot: Alejandra wakes up in the middle of the road, not sure of what she did. Her plot is mostly just learning that she’s now bonded to the soul of Eli Morrow and that he has some control over her. She gets into a fight with some truckers and accidentally kills them due to Eli’s influence.

Episode 4: The Big Man from Down Below

* A plot: This episode is mainly backstory. Robbie and Sara make it back to Robbie’s church, where they discuss last night’s events. As they come up with a plan to track down the second Ghost Rider, we go into some flashbacks which explains what Robbie has been doing since AOS season 4 without actually referencing AOS. Flashbacks include him taking the Darkhold to some unknown hell dimension, a fight scene with some gang that he wipes out, dealing with his dark legacy, and meeting Mephisto for the first time (who says Robbie’s soul is damned). At the end of the episode, Robbie and Sara decide to officially team up since they have the same goal of catching this other Ghost Rider. With Gabe and Kenshiro, the four of them form “Team Ghost Rider”.

* B plot: Similar to Robbie’s plot this episode, we go into Eli Morrow’s backstory. Alejandra learns, from Eli, that he was turned into a Spirit of Vengeance by Mephisto. When Alejandra asks why, Eli chooses not to tell her. We learn that all Spirits of Vengeance have similar stories to his, implying that Robbie’s Spirit of Vengeance became that way because of a deal with Mephisto. We see Alejandra become the All-New Ghost Rider at the end of the episode and she steals someone’s motorcycle.

* C plot: Lisa tries to explain to her superiors what happened last night. Her superiors tell her that Ghost Rider killed a bunch of people on the other side of the border but she’s convinced that Robbie wasn’t responsible. Hamilton also tries to tell her she’s wrong, leading to their first fight.

* End episode stinger: Alejandra/Eli opens up a portal to an unknown dimension and a group of demons come out. Alejandra/Eli says, “Welcome to Earth”, ending the episode.

Episode 5: Hell Hath No Fury

* Main plot: Robbie, Sara, Kenshiro, and Gabe start investigating the second Ghost Rider while also trying to dodge Lisa, who tells them that GR is wanted for the massacre. She’s part of the investigation but it’s clear she thinks GR is innocent. The investigation leads them to a survivor, who Robbie tracks down. The survivor, who turns out to be the person who framed Alejandra and got her killed, says that Alejandra was murdered by the cartel, then the Ghost Rider showed up and killed everyone. The team finds out that Alejandra’s body was not among the dead. Sensing the dark aura in the area, Robbie puts the pieces together and realizes Alejandra made a deal with the devil. When Sara asks how does he know, he gives her a look that says that his situation was similar. He also points out that the attack happened immediately after Alejandra made that deal, as if the devil was waiting for her.

* Main plot (continued): After interrogating the survivor, Team Ghost Rider is confronted by the All-New Ghost Rider. Alejandra Jones, fully under Eli Morrow’s control, says that she needs to speak with Robbie. Robbie and Alejandra/Eli battle it out for the first time but the fight between the two Ghost Riders leads to a stalemate, even with Sara, Gabe, and Kenshiro’s help. Lisa and the rest of the police arrive, leading to a shootout between them and Alejandra/Eli. Alejandra/Eli kills most of the police force but Robbie is able to save Lisa in time. He creates a portal and takes Lisa away from the scene, but Alejandra-Eli orders her demon henchmen to go after them. Episode ends on that cliffhanger.

* Subplot: Hamilton Slade finishes up a class and we see him in his private study. As he looks through his photo albums, he comes across a picture of a burial site. Immediately, he shuts the book away, disturbed by the memory. We get a flashback to the moment when the photograph was taken and it’s revealed that Hamilton found the burial site of his ancestor, Lincoln Slade, who was a predecessor of the Ghost Rider.

Episode 6: Like a Woman Scorned

* A plot: Picking up right after the previous episode, Robbie and Lisa emerge on the other side of the portal. It’s revealed that Robbie took them back to his scrapyard in Los Angeles. Although Robbie tries to hide his identity, he realizes he needs Lisa to trust him and turns back to his normal self. Lisa is surprised to find out Robbie is the Ghost Rider and says he should’ve just told her. As they talk, Alejandra/Eli opens up a portal outside the scrapyard. One of the main demons, nicknamed Hive Mind, has mind control powers and takes control of several L.A. citizens to form an army. Robbie and Lisa fight the mind-controlled army but are hesitant to actually kill anyone. Eventually, the fight comes down to Robbie and Alejandra/Eli and her minions. Lisa leaves, with Robbie telling her to find “Father Reyes”. Alone, Robbie puts up a good fight but is overwhelmed and defeated. Before Robbie passes out, Eli (through Alejandra) reveals himself and says that he’s gonna finish what he started.

* B plot: Sara, Gabe, and Kenshiro are battling Alejandra’s demon henchmen (the ones who didn’t cross over to Los Angeles). During this battle, we get backstory on Sara. It’s revealed Sara was once a normal nun who had an interest in the supernatural. One night, she fends off an attack by a vampire, partly due to her studying on how vampires worked. Impressed by this, the church offers her a place in their top-secret division dedicated to hunting supernatural monsters. Also during this fight, Hamilton Slade, who is driving at this time, accidentally gets involved when a demon attacks his car. Kenshiro rescues him, thus bringing Slade into their group.

* Side note: For the B plot, Gabe starts reflecting on Alejandra Jones. From what he knows about her, he says that he’s sad that she was killed by the cartel and was turned into a Ghost Rider. He questions why she would be wreaking havok. Gabe’s interest in Alejandra Jones will be important later on.

Episode 7: Tio

* Cold opening dream sequence: Robbie wakes up in the church and sees (to the audience’s surprise) Chloe Bennet. However, she introduces herself as the Ghost Rider, revealing that the Rider took the form of Daisy to talk to Robbie. Daisy and AOS is briefly referenced. Daisy-GR tells Robbie that he’s in way over his head and that it’s rethinking their deal. Robbie says that he can beat Eli but before we can go any further, Robbie wakes up from his dream.

* A plot: Robbie wakes up on some desert planet. Alejandra-Eli is there. They have a chat where we learn that Eli is planning on building a portal machine with the help of the Darkhold. Robbie asks why and Eli says that he wants to open a portal to hell large enough to allow Mephisto’s army to go through and conquer Earth and turn it into a new hell dimension. Robbie realizes the truth; not only was Eli Morrow turned into a Spirit of Vengeance by Mephisto, he was now Mephisto’s lackey. Mephisto is planning on conquering Earth. Robbie says he’ll never give up the Darkhold but Eli says that he already found it, revealing that Hive Mind used mind control on Robbie to make him give up the location of the Darkhold. Robbie and Alejandra-Eli fight but Alejandra-Eli escapes back to Earth, leaving Robbie stranded on the desert planet.

* A plot (continued): Robbie tries to make a portal back to Earth but realizes that Alejandra-Eli took his chains with her/him. He starts to wander around, trying to figure out how to get back home. As he does, he’s visited by the “ghosts” / hallucinations of Lisa, Gabe, Sara, and Kenshiro, who urge him on. He’s also visited by Daisy-Ghost-Rider and his parents, who we haven’t seen until this episode. Fueled by pure hatred and anger towards his uncle, Robbie uses the resources around him to find a way back home. He collects iron ores from the desert and uses the Ghost Rider fire to make a makeshift Sling Ring. He crosses through the portal, pissed as fuck.

* B plot: Sara, Kenshiro, and Gabe try to calm Hamilton Slade down, who is hysterical since being attacked by a demon. While dealing with this, police reinforcements arrive and arrest the four of them. They’re brought to the police station and questioned on what happened. While being interrogated, a werewolf attacks the police station, killing several people. Sara, Kenshiro, Gabe, and Hamilton work together with the police to kill the werewolf. After taking the werewolf down, the head police chief lets them go, realizing he has a whole city to clean up.

* C plot: Lisa finds Father Reyes, who is revealed to be Robbie and Gabe’s estranged father. The two talk, with Lisa saying that his son is a hero (without actually saying that Robbie is the Ghost Rider). Father Reyes agrees, although he’s worried about his son. Father Reyes and Lisa talk about Robbie and we learn more about Robbie’s childhood.

* End episode stinger: Alejandra-Eli is seen holding the Darkhold. Eli starts making plans to build a machine that could unlock a portal to Mephisto’s hell dimension. However, Alejandra briefly takes over, revealing that Eli doesn’t have as strong of a hold on her as he thought.

Episode 8: The Phantom

* A plot: Robbie reconnects with Team Ghost Rider, who are all tired from battling the demons. He also brings back Lisa from Los Angeles. Before he goes back to his team, Robbie chats with his father. Father Reyes reveals that he knows Robbie is the Ghost Rider (“You can’t fool me, son”) and that he figured it out several years ago. He also says that he doesn’t think Robbie’s soul is damned, despite Robbie claiming he made a deal with the devil. He says that Robbie is using his powers to fight the forces of evil and that makes him a warrior for God in his eyes. Father Reyes also says that he thinks Robbie hasn’t fully explored his powers, indirectly hinting at the Penance Stare (will become important later on).

* A plot (continued): With the whole team together, Robbie says that Alejandra/Eli is planning on building a machine that will open a portal to hell. He also tells them that Alejandra/Eli is working for Mephisto, who turned Eli into one of his minions in exchange for Spirit of Vengeance abilities. The team starts making a plan to destroy the portal machine, send Eli back to hell, and reclaim the Darkhold. However, Hamilton Slade doesn’t trust Robbie. He leaves the group with a plan to expose Robbie as the Ghost Rider

* A plot (continued): However, the team stops Hamilton in time and in an angry fit, he reveals that he despises the Ghost Rider since it’s his family legacy. His ancestor, Lincoln Slade, was a Ghost Rider but he abused his power. Robbie says that the Rider isn’t evil, it’s the user. He says that he’s using his powers to fight evil and that he’ll do whatever it takes to stop Eli Morrow and any other villain with plans to destroy the world. Robbie’s conviction to his mission is what finally convinces Hamilton that Robbie is a hero and abandons his plans.

* B plot: Alejandra’s battle for control over her own body gets heated as she tries destroying the portal machine whenever she’s in control. This leads to a surreal sequence where Alejandra and Eli play a game of mental hide-and-seek, with both of them fighting to be the dominant personality. Alejandra gets the upper hand near the end of the fight but, sadly, Eli overpowers her. Now in full control, Eli says to his henchmen, “The woman won’t be a problem anymore”. As he says this, he learns that his machine is close to finish.

Episode 9: Wrath

* Main plot: Picking up right at the end of the previous episode, Team Ghost Rider tries searching for Eli Morrow, realizing that he could be anywhere around the world. Robbie, knowing how he hid the Darkhold, begins retracing his steps to see if he could stumble across a clue on where Eli is. This leads to a sequence where Robbie and the team confront a demon named Hoss, who was keeping the Darkhold with him. When the team asks why Robbie trusted the book to Hoss, Robbie says it’s because Hoss is a collector whose personal vault is near-impenetrable. Hoss is also a demon bounty hunter, taking monsters back to hell just like Robbie, which is another reason why Robbie trusted him (although Hoss took demons back for pay).

* Main plot (continued): At first, Hoss claims that someone broke into his vault and stole the Darkhold. However, after some investigating, the team learns that Hoss backstabbed Robbie by giving Eli Morrow the Darkhold willingly. Hoss says that he wants Earth to becomes a hell dimension, leading to Robbie beating him up. Robbie forces Hoss to give up Eli’s location, which he does.

* Main plot (continued): The location turns out to be the old Momentum Labs. Eli Morrow, seeing that Robbie and his allies have found him, sends his demon army out to stop them. The rest of this episode consists of confrontations. Robbie battles and kills Hive Mind, avenging his previous defeat. Sara and Lisa team up and kill several demon minions. Kenshiro, despite being a non-fighter, manages to use his wits to take several demon minions down. While this is happening, Gabe tells Hamilton to wheel him to Alejandra. Hamilton questions him and Gabe says that he wants to talk to Alejandra.

* Main plot (continued): Hamilton takes Gabe into the heart of Momentum Labs without telling the rest of the group and they confront Alejandra/Eli together. Gabe appeals to Alejandra’s humanity and even to his uncle. He asks Eli if he wants to be Mephisto’s servant for the rest of his life and for the first time in the series, Eli doubts his plan. This moment of self-doubt leads to Alejandra resurfacing. She quickly tells Gabe and Hamilton to destroy the portal machine before Eli activates it since the portal will be self-sustaining once activated (meaning, destroying the machine won’t do anything). Alejandra also says they need to kill her before Eli comes back. Unfortunately, Eli does return and, angered, he turns into the All-New Ghost Rider and attacks Gabe and Hamilton.

* Main plot (continued): Robbie enters the scene just in time and the two Ghost Riders fight again. This time, with the help of Sara, Lisa, and Kenshiro, Robbie defeats Alejandra/Eli. However, before Robbie can burn Eli, “Alejandra” comes back and begs for mercy. Gabe stops Robbie and “Alejandra” begs them to save her before Eli comes back. But this turns out to be a ruse. It’s Eli pretending to be Alejandra. Eli activates the portal machine and the episode ends on the massive cliffhanger of Mephisto’s demon army ready to attack Earth!

Episode 10: Ghost Rider

(Season finale time! If you’re still reading this, I just wanna say, thank you, you’re a real trooper)

We start off right at the end of the previous episode. Robbie immediately destroys the portal machine but realizes that the portal is self-sustaining. Team Ghost Rider flees Momentum Labs as Mephisto’s demon army starts swarming Los Angeles. Things are going bonkers as police and National Guard come in to battle the army of darkness. As this is happening, Eli/Alejandra slips away.

The group barricades themselves in an abandoned office and Robbie says it’s his fault that Eli managed to activate the portal and he’s the only one with the ability to close the gate. Robbie tells the group to leave but they tell him that they’re with him to the end of the line. They make a new plan; Robbie and Sara will fight their way back to Momentum Labs to close the gate, Kenshiro will be their “guy in the chair” as well as search for Eli/Alejandra, and Lisa and Hamilton will take Gabe and flee the city.

As they prepare to exit the building, we get some interesting interactions. Lisa breaks up with Hamilton, saying that they’re better off as friends, and Hamilton wonders if it’s because she has feelings for Robbie. Hamilton tells Robbie that he’s surprised that he went from despising the Ghost Riders to working with one. Gabe tells Robbie that he needs to find a way to spare Alejandra since she’s an innocent in all this. Sara says to Kenshiro that she was wrong about Robbie and that he’s a warrior for God. Kenshiro admits that he has a huge crush on Sara but Sara says they can’t be together since she’s a nun.

The groups head out of the building. To summarize what happens, Robbie and Sister Sara battle their way through the demon hordes back to Momentum Labs. Robbie gets his “Thor: Ragnarok” moment and goes HAM on the demon army as heavy metal music blares in the background. He manages to close the portal with his chain, foiling Eli/Alejandra’s plans.

While this is happening, Lisa, Hamilton, and Gabe try to flee the city. Demons attack them and while fighting them off, Hamilton is fatally wounded. He tells Lisa that he loves her as he dies in her arms. After closing the portal, Robbie catches up with Lisa and Gabe and learns about what happened to Hamilton, enraging him. Kenshiro, who was guiding both groups this whole time, tells Robbie where Eli/Alejandra is, leading to our final confrontation.

Similar to Luke Cage season 1, Robbie confronts Eli/Alejandra while several bystanders watch. The two Ghost Riders go at it, with several big moments such as Robbie destroying Eli/Alejandra’s motorcyle, Eli/Alejandra destroying Robbie’s charger (temporarily, the car comes back of course), and so on. The fight eventually ends with Robbie defeating Eli/Alejandra and ready to destroy them.

Just then, Father Reyes’ words come back to Robbie and, for the first time in the whole series, Robbie uses the Penance Stare on Eli/Alejandra. Eli’s soul is burned by this but Alejandra is spared. Robbie is unsure how he knew he could do that and Sara suggests that “God gave him the power”. Battle ends with Alejandra thanking Robbie as she’s arrested.

Cut to several days later. The team attends Hamilton Slade’s funeral. Sara and Kenshiro decide to stay in Texas as Robbie’s main support team. Gabe also embraces his role as a member of Team Ghost Rider. Lisa is the last to join, saying that she always believed in the Ghost Rider. Robbie comforts her, telling her that he’s sorry for her loss, and Lisa thanks him for that. There are some signs of romantic feelings but nothing too blatant since Lisa is in mourning.

Robbie sees that the news are calling him a hero. Robbie doesn’t see himself that way and he rides off into the night, off to battle another demon.

As he rides off, we quickly cut back to Alejandra Jones, who is in a holding cell. In the cell’s mirror, she sees Eli Morrow looking back at her. He’s still there but it’s clear he has no power over her anymore.

The episode ends with Robbie riding off into the night...just as a motorcycle starts to follow him. We’re not shown who is following Robbie. Is it Johnny Blaze? Is it Danny Ketch? Is it Carter Slade? You’ll have to find out...in season two!

tagging (sorry, i know this is a long post): @angel-starbeam, @whistlingwindtree, @lostinthespeedforce, @agentmilayawithshield, @happilyshanghaied, @acerobbiereyes, @isisparker, @shutyourmoustache, @clarasghosts

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darkestunderpass · 5 years

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The Amityville Murders: Before the Horror House

Located at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, NY. It was the home of Ronald DeFeo Sr.;the car salesman, his wife, two daughters and two sons who were found shot to death in 1974. Ronald DeFeo Jr., 23, was theonly surviving member of the family

On November 13, 1974 in the early hours of the morning 23-year-old Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. brutally murdered his enitre family including his parents and four siblings using a .35 caliber Marlin rifle while they were asleep (DeFeo told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It went so fast.”)

Ronald Jr. was the eldest child and confessed to murdering his entire family in cold blood

Dead were Louise and Ronald DeFeo Sr. (Parents), 18-year-old Dawn, 13-year-old Allison, 12-year-old Marc, and 9-year-old John Matthew. The parents were killed with two shots and all of the children were killed with one. Louise and Allison were thought to be still alive when they were murdered due to physical evidence.

Some people argue that an evil spirit already lived in the home and prompted Ronald Jr. to murder his whole family

Ronald Jr.’s childhood was momentarily content but his father was known to be an abusive man and his mother seemed to fade into the background of the picture under Ronald Sr.’s overbearing personality, Ronald Jr. became increasingly troubled into his young adulthood

He used drugs and alcohol to cope with his issues, he often lashed out very violently, often yelling and getting physical as well as threatening his father with a gun. His parents tried to resolve the issue by getting Ronald Jr. gifts weekly to try to appease him in some way or another

At 18 Ronald Jr. was heir to the family-owned car dealership but rarely showed up

On the day of the murders Ronald Jr. left the dealership early out of boredom at noon, leaving to meet his friends at Henry Bar complaining that no one would listen to him and calling the house phone multiple times and having no one answer he eventually left the bar and there are no reported sightings of him till morning

At around 6:30 a.m Ronald supposedly reentered the bar shouting “You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!” the bar patrons followed him back to 112 Ocean Avenue and found the site of a grisly murder

All 6 bodies were found lying on their stomachs still in their beds appearing to be shot with a high powered rifle at around 3:15 a.m

The strange thing is that there was absolutely no sign of a struggle, no report of gunshots by neighbours, only the sound of the family dog barking into the night.

Ronald Jr.’s alibi was that he was at work and then the bar, but it began to crumble when police noted that the family was dead before 6 a.m. then changed his story and repeatedly did so throughout the investigation, at one point even claiming that infamous mobster hitman Louis Falini killed his family while he was forced to watch, but to Ronald’s dismay Falini had a concrete out-of-state alibi and soon Ronald confessed to what is assumed to be the truth, that he killed his family by himself.

Ronald stood trial with his attorney William Webber on October 14, 1975 they mounted an insanity plea, they stated that the defendant (Ronald) heard voices that told him to kill his family but the prosecution said that the though drug-abusing Ronald was indeed very troubled, he knew what he was doing while he commited the murders. The jury decided to convict Ronald of six counts of second-degree-murder and sentenced him to, fittingly, six consectative life sentences.

Later Ronald claims to several other situations he alleges that his sister Dawn killed the father and then the distraught mother kills all of the siblings and then Ronald kills his mother in presumably defence He stated that he took the blame because he was afraid to say anything negative about his mother to her father, Michael Brigante Sr., and his father's uncle, out of fear that they would kill him., and in another telling Dawn shoots all the other family members in this scenario Ronald kills only Dawn.

There’s theories of a second shooter in the home

Ronald’s motives were unclear but while in custody asked when he’d be able to collect his father’s insurance policies which was then put as a possible motive of the murder other than the voices in his head telling him to do it

According to Osuna, DeFeo Jr. claimed that he had committed the murders with his sister Dawn and two friends, Augie Degenero and Bobby Kelske, "out of desperation" because his parents had plotted to kill him. Allegedly, Ronald claimed that after a fight with his father, he and his sister plotted to murder their parents and that Dawn murdered the children in order to eliminate them as witnesses. He said that he was enraged on discovering his sister's actions, knocked her unconscious on to her bed and shot her in the head. Police found traces of unburned gunpowder on Dawn's nightgown, which DeFeo proponents allege proves she discharged a firearm. However, at trial, the ballistics expert, Alfred Della Penna, testified that unburned gunpowder is discharged through the muzzle of a weapon, indicating that she was in proximity to the muzzle of the weapon when it was discharged and not that she fired the weapon.

Strange Events: The bodies were all found without evidence of a struggle and without a trace of sedative drugs, the large amount of killings in such a short period of time, no gunshots heard by neighbours, only the dog seemed to be alerted by the murders, no muffling device found on the gun or in the home to deafen the gunshots, and Ronald supposedly heard voices telling him to kill his whole family.

There are theories that Ronald was possessed by evil spirits which would place demonic presences in the home before the Amityville Horror House events occurred.

Theory 1: Ronald did kill the whole family by himself, he used a homemade muffler and snuck into each of his family members bedrooms killing each and everyone of them without mercy. He ran to the local bar because he didn’t want to be pinned as a suspect. The murders were not premeditated he just snapped.

Theory 2: Ronald was working with several other shooters who he took the fall for or they were his sister and her friends like Ronald had claimed. The other shooters left the house then Ronald ran to the bar to brush off suspicions also to act as the victim. In this version the murders were premeditated.

Theory 3: (Least likely) Ronald was possessed by a demonic presence which wanted the family dead for reasons, which would explain the strange events with demonic powers and all. After the deed was done Ronald came to and freaked out because he couldn't remember what happened, he woke up with blood all over his clothes and he’s scared and confused so he runs to the bar, but then later recollects that he did it and confesses to it.

Thank you for reading! I put alot of reasearch into this.

#true crime #the amityville horror

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adobe-outdesign · 5 years

Text

Re-Created: Chapter 5

After Joey passes away, Henry finds a way to make everyone look human again, one by one, using the Ink Machine. And this story is going to have a happy ending, even if he has to write it himself.

“I don’t think we should be doing this.”

“We’re not doing anything except going down to the Music Department,” Thomas points out. “Nothing wrong with that.”

“And visiting a sermon lead by a guy who wants to kill us,” Allison counters, placing her sword into its sheath.

“Listen, we either sit back and let Sammy keep ruining everyone’s lives, or we hear whatever crazy bullshit he has to say and see if there’s anything we can use to prove him wrong.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t think it was a good idea. I just said I don’t think we should be doing this.”

“So you think it is a good idea?”

“No.”

Tom lets out a snort of laughter and Allison smiles, then gazes down the hallway in anticipation.

“Shouldn’t we at least tell Henry?” she asks. They start down the stairs, Thomas leading.

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Besides, if we tell him he’ll probably insist on coming with us, and we’d all be screwed if something happened to him.”

“And if something happens to us?”

Thomas doesn’t answer.

They arrive in the Music Department less than fifteen minutes later after traveling through a complex series of stairs and doors that Thomas could’t hope to understand. “How the hell do you remember where you’re going?”

“I’ve tried mapping this place before with no luck. You learn the layout of everything after a while, but it doesn’t connect logically, so- shh.” She holds out her hand, Thomas grumbling that he wasn’t saying anything. Sammy’s voice drifts down the hallway to the left.

“This way.” They move in the opposite direction, ducking down into an open area with a recording sign decorating the far wall, then into a larger room that was probably intended for a band back when the studio was still open. They slide into a nearby recording booth, ducking down behind the wall where the glass ended.

“I remember this!” Allison whispers, grinning excitedly. “I used to spend hours in here recording my lines. Sammy would stand nearby and complain about my pitch.”

“I’m sure you sounded wonderful,” Thomas whispers back with a smile. He motions for her to be quiet as the room starts to fill with voices.

Allison peers over the ledge, watching as the once empty space suddenly becomes crowded. Inky figures appear, some entering through the door, some seeping out of the walls in a black mass. The recreated Lost Ones had claimed that Sammy announced the times of the sermons from within the ink, as it was near impossible to tell time in the studio. Apparently, everybody had gotten the message.

“There he is,” mutters Thomas as a black shape forms into something vaguely human-like up on the balcony above. Sammy clears his throat, and the crowd goes quiet.

“I’m glad to see you here, my sheep. As always, it is an honor to have so many attend our sermon. May those who don’t be shown mercy by our Savior.” His gaze sweeps over the crowd, expression unreadable due to the mask covering his face. A soft chorus of murmured agreements rise from the group.

“I’m sure you’re all well aware of the... issue of the false prophet, claiming he can free us from the ink.” Sammy leans forward on the balcony, resting his hands on the guard rail. Allison leans forward in anticipation.

“Remember, my sheep. The creatures this newcomer makes only look human. That is because only our Lord is capable of freeing us from the ink, restoring our bodies back to flesh and blood. If you follow the false prophet’s advice... that would be blasphemy, and your resulting sin would keep you from ever truly being saved. We must remain devout to our Savior and be patient... can I get an amen?”

A few “amens” rise from the gathered Lost Ones. Allison puts a hand on Tom’s shoulder and squeezes it, noticing the way his fist is clenched in anger.

“Furthermore, I have proof that the false prophet lives up to his title. He visited our humble Music Department the other day, claiming he could save Jack... I’m sure you’re all familiar with him at this point, correct?” Sammy pauses,waiting for confirmation, and a few people nod.

“I could not leave the studio to watch, for as we all know that would be against our Savior’s will. However, I did return to the dark abyss once more to see what had happened, and Jack was still there, lost to the ink. May our Lord have mercy on him.” Sammy turns towards the recording booth, and Allison feels her heartbeat pick up.

"Of course, if you still feel inclined to believe these lies, we have two visitors here that can offer some insight. Come on out, my sheep. I know you’re there.”

Allison feels a pit form in her stomach as turns to Tom. “How did he-?”

“Never mind that,” Tom growls. “What the hell are we going to do? There’s a lot more of them then I thought there would be.” He pulls his axe close to his chest, peering over the edge of the booth.

“Now, now. Come on out. We just want to talk,” Sammy calls. “Don’t make us force you out. The results could be... unpleasant.”

“Let’s just go with it for right now,” Allison whispers, grabbing Tom’s arm. “We can make a run for it once we have an opening.”

Tom gives her a solemn nod and the two exit the booth, uncomfortably aware of the dozens of glowing eyes focused on them.

Sammy seeps down the edge of the balcony, reforming on the floor below as they approach. He beckons them over. “Leave your weapons on the ground, please. We don’t allow them during our sermons.”

Tom mutters some kind of insult and drops his axe on the ground. Allison follows, setting her sword down next to the axe considerably more gently.

“There. Now that we’re all situated, may I ask what brings you here? I doubt you’ve come to worship the savior like the rest of us. Or, perhaps, you’re merely here to spy?”

Neither of them speak.

“That’s what I thought.” He leans in close to Allison. “Do I know you? You seem familiar...”

“We used to work together, remember? I took over Susie’s role as Alice. I used to be Alice,” Allison mutters in a reserved tone, subtly glancing at the exit. The Lost Ones were scattered haphazardly around the room, and a few Searchers had spawned at some point. They’d have to fight through at least twenty or so of them to get to the door, and that wasn’t counting the ones who would inevitably pursue.

“That’s right, I remember now! You always had a lovely voice.” Sammy leans in, mere inches from her face. Tom grabs her and pulls her away, looking like he was about to punch the music director any second now.

“Easy, now. I’ll let you go... if you do one thing first.”

“What makes you think you get to bargain?” Tom snaps. Sammy turns towards him, ink dripping from his form.

“What do you want?” Allison asks, stepping in front of Tom before he can say anything else that might put them in jeopardy.

“Simply admit that the false prophet did nothing to save you, and that he can’t do anything to save us. Admit your sins before the Lord, so that you can be forgiven for them.” A Bendy cutout stares at then unnervingly from the corner.

“I...” Allison glances at Tom, who had wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. “I... confess. Henry didn’t do anything to save us.” The words feel bitter on her tongue.

“That’s right. Thank you for confession, and may our Lord have mercy on you.” He motions two Lost Ones from the crowd forward. “Please, escort these two back to the upper levels. We’ll be holding onto the weapons, just to make sure you don’t try anything.”

They walk in silence out of the department.

Tom waits until they’re out of earshot to speak. “I’m going to goddamn kill him,” he mutters.

There’s a chattering noise coming from outside.

“Easy, buddy,” Henry murmurs, standing up from the table where his drawings are. He eyes the door warily. “I’ll go take care of it.”

Allison and Tom had left to pick up supplies a while ago, and the other former Lost Ones had left the hideout to work on clearing out some suitable living spaces in the lower levels, as the small room was getting overcrowded. He was alone save for Boris, who, judging by the way he was currently cowering in the corner, wasn’t going to be much help in a fight.

He grabs a pipe wrench off the table and ducks down by the base of the makeshift door, which was really just a large plank of wood leaning up against the open frame. He nudges it forward, peeking around the edge. A single Butcher Gang member - one of the Pipers - stands in the hall, making a strange garbled noise. Henry expects it to attack, but instead it just stares.

“Help,” it finally manages to say. “Me?”

“You want me... to hep you?” Henry repeats, not sure if heard that correctly. The creature nods. Henry hesitates, glancing back at the still-cowing Boris, who had climbed on top of the chair for safety. He was so used to seeing the cartoons as enemies that it was hard to remember that they must have been people too, if what Tom said was to be believed.

“Wait. That message.” He nods to the writing near the bottom of the nearby wall, asking for help. “Did you leave that?”

“Of course,” it rasps, the noise mostly a mess of garbled syllables. “Who did you think?”

Henry glances back to the hideout one more time before making his decision. “Okay. You can come in. But you have to leave the wrench here.” He nudges the wood open the rest of the way and the Piper slips through the entranceway, obediently dropping the weapon on the ground.

“It’s okay Boris,” Henry calls, pulling the door back into place. “He won’t hurt you. I think.” The wolf slowly uncovers his eyes and sniffs at the newcomer, but doesn’t dare to get down from the chair. Charley drags himself slowly to the far wall, collapsing against it with a light thud. He breathes with an awful rasping sound.

“Are you... okay? You seem hurt.”

“Always hurt,” the creature snaps.

“Right,” Henry says, not entirely sure how to respond. “Well, Allison and Tom are out. We’ll need to wait until they get back to get things set up. In the meantime, we can at least figure out who you are-”

“Shawn,” the Piper rasps between labored breaths, sitting up straight to stare at him with half blind eyes.

“Wait, you mean like the guy who worked in the toy department?” He had never meet the man, but he had learned about him through the tapes and Joey’s notes. “Shawn... Foley?”

“Flynn,” the cartoon corrects. Now that he thought about it, the creature did seem to have an accent underneath of the garbled tones.

“Well... that’s one mystery solved, I guess. Now we just have to wait for Allison and Tom to get back.”

There’s a knock on the makeshift door.

“Wow,” is all Henry can say after the two have finished explaining. “You guys aren’t hurt, right?”

“Thankfully not,” Allison mutters. “Sorry. It was a pretty stupid plan in hindsight.”

“It would’ve worked fine if Sammy didn’t see us,” Tom mutters. Allison shoots him a look.

“Did you find out anything useful, at least?”

“Not really. He just talked about how you can’t be trusted because you can’t actually free us from the ink. Which isn’t true,” she adds quickly, noticing the expression on Henry’s face.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah... he mentioned that Jack guy. Used him as an example of how you can’t save people very well,” Thomas muses. Henry swears softly.

“What?”

“Sammy said that Jack knew where to find him once he was remade, but that was the first attempt. After all of the chaos I completely forgot to tell Jack to go back and talk to him.”

“No wonder he thinks you’re a failure,” Alice muses, leaning back in her chair. “Do you think Sammy will change his mind if he sees him now?”

“I have no idea. Can’t hurt to try, I suppose.” Henry’s gaze drifts back to Charley, who had procured a needle and thread from somewhere and was now stitching one of the many holes in his side shut. Tom follows his gaze.

“So you want to tell us why you let that thing in here?” he asks, clearly not happy about the arrangement. The Piper emits a low warning snarl at the word “thing”.

Henry briefly goes back over what Shawn had told him. “I figured we should help him too,” he says in a low voice, keeping his eye on the Piper as he speaks. “It’s not really fair to leave them out, especially if they were once human. Even if they keep attacking us.”

“Look, I respect what you’re trying to do here, but those things are dangerous. You’re going to get yourself killed one day letting every sorry soul who shows up at the door in here.”

“So you won’t help?”

Tom averts eye contact. “I didn’t say that.”

“We can go get the Machine prepped while you get the ritual set up,” Allison offers. Henry nods and utters a quick thanks as the two get up to leave. Allison walks out, but Tom stays behind, motioning Henry into the corner.

“I don’t mean to stick my nose in places it shouldn’t be, but I figured it was worth asking,” he intones in a low voice, grabbing a nearby chair to sit in. “When are you going to change the dog back?”

Henry looks back at the table. Charley had finished with his impromptu stitching and had joined Boris, who was happily lounging on one of the many cots. The wolf sniffs at him cautiously for a moment, then moves aside to let the other cartoon join him. “You mean Boris?”

“I keep expecting you to announce that he’s next, but instead you keep ignoring him completely. I mean, have you even talked to him about it?”

“I mean- no, I haven’t. I didn’t realize...” He looks back at Boris, feeling unnerved. With the others, it was obvious they were once human - you could see it in their off-model designs, in how out of character they acted. Boris just seemed like Boris.

“How many times do have to tell you this before you get it? Every living thing in this studio used to be human. That includes him.” Tom crosses his arms.

“I... guess we could try something. We’d need to figure out who he was first-”

“He’s Franks,” Thomas interjects. Henry stares at him dumbly.

“You mean the janitor? How can you-?”

“I have my ways of knowing, all right? Besides, you can tell just by looking at him. Kid was always a dumbass.” There’s a strange, evasive tone to Thomas’ voice.

Henry opens his mouth, then closes it agin, struggling to find the right words. “I’ll talk to him about it,” he finally finds himself saying.

“Good. Let me know how it goes.” Thomas pushes the chair back with a screech and leaves, taking a toolbox with him. Henry sits there for a while, thinking, then goes over to Boris and gives him a gentle scratch on the nose.

“Hey buddy. You want to play rummy? I’ll deal. Shawn, you can join us if you want.” Boris nods his approval and Charley falls off the cot, stumbling over to the table with them.

He wasn’t lying. He would talk to Boris, of course.

Later.

#bendy and the ink machine #batim #henry stein #shawn flynn #boris #thomas connor #allison pendle #sammy lawrence #outdesign posts things #outdesign attempts to write #recreated au #this chapter and the next one were supposed to be one chapter originally but this is getting long so i'll split it here

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wipbigbang · 5 years

Text

Art Claims are a GO!

Claims for artists are open! The first round will go this week and then I'll post a new round on Thursday, opening it up for seconds. Everybody spread the word! Grab your artist friends, stuff them in a potato sack, and drag them here kicking and screaming if you have to! This year, art claims are working a little differently than in years past. We are using a google form to streamline things, which should make things easier both for you as participants and us mods. To claim a story, the form requires email, check in ID, and the identifying number of your first choice of story. Putting your top three choices is best in case your first or second has already been chosen. Please be sure you've read the FAQ before claiming.

Click here to claim a story.

Stories are listed by fandom in alphabetical order and then by story name, with a number identifying that story (for our records). Stories are first come, first serve. I'll update the post as stories are claimed. On Thursday, I'll temporarily close the form and post the stories that are left. Hopefully everything will get claimed this week. I have faith. WE CAN DO THIS, GUYS.

Official posting dates begin on July 27th. Once all stories are claimed and all artists/authors have been notified, I will put up a sign-up sheet so authors and artists can choose their posting dates.

Authors, if something is wrong with the info for your stories, please let me know ASAP here or via email at [email protected].

See all fandoms in a google doc.

A Song of Ice and Fire #1 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Ned Stark/Cersei Lannister Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Ned Stark and Cersei Lannister are made to marry after the Rebellion ends Afterlife with Archie/Riverdale/The Trailsman #2 Story Title: (Blank Space was the working title but I believe I'm going to change it.) Pairings, Characters: Skye Fargo/Hoby Cotton, a little bit of Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge and Cheryl Blossom/Sabrina Spellman. (Also includes characters from Riverdale: Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Josie McCoy, Valerie Brown, Kevin Keller, Reggie Mantle.) Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence, Graphic Violence just to be careful because as a zombie and vampire story there's lots of blood and such. Summary: After a long history of life on the run, vampires Hoby Cotton and Skye Fargo decide to settle down in Riverdale. Fargo takes a position as a high school history teacher at Riverdale HIgh, which is fortunate because his survival skills prove invaluable for the students when a zombie outbreak takes place at a high school dance. Arrow #3 Story Title: No Regrets: A Love Unexpected Pairings, Characters: Oliver Queen/Roy Harper Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: An A/B/O love story. Roy learns that he’s not a beta like he always thought and has to cope with starting to have omega heats. Due to circumstances, and latent affection, alpha Oliver agrees to help Roy through his first. They unexpectedly bond during that first time, and the successive chapters each explore another aspect of the couple coping with their relationship: a heat coming on suddenly while Oliver is out of town, and Oliver going into rut while they’re in public, finishing up with a softer chapter of some romance and switching, ending on a hopeful note. Lots of feels and smut. Batman #4 Story Title: Scenes From a Gotham Romance Pairings, Characters: Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Bruce finally pops the question to Selina and she accepts. Slowly, they begin building a family together. #5 Story Title: The Purrfect Crime Pairings, Characters: Batman/Catwoman, Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: All kinds of cats in Gotham are disappearing! When several expensive animals are stolen, Batman's top suspect is Catwoman. But is there more to these thefts than meets the eye? BBC Sherlock #6 Story Title: ...And All The Men And Women Merely Players Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Mary Morstan/John Watson, Eurus Holmes/Jim Moriarty; Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper, Greg Lestrade, John Watson, Mary Morstan, Anthea, Janine, Eurus Holmes, Jim Moriarty, Original Child Character(s), Mummy Holmes, Siger Holmes Rating: Mature | M Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Mycroft Holmes is not-so-subtly trying to make sure there's a reconciliation between his youngest sibling Sherlock and his ex-wife, Molly Hooper, by forcing them to work together on a theatre project. But it isn't all smooth sailing when his and Sherlock's sister comes back from the States with a boyfriend who is the devil incarnate...and all hell is about to break loose. #7 Story Title: A Boon For You, A Boon For Me Pairings, Characters: Mycroft Holmes/Molly Hooper; Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes, Eurus Holmes, James Moriarty, Siger Holmes, Mummy Holmes Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: When Molly saves the life of a fairy prince, she’s given the chance to ask for whatever her heart most desires, and since what she wants to do most is help others, she’s given the ability to grant boons by the prince’s eldest brother. Little does she imagine such a simple and generous wish will change her life forever... #8 Story Title: A Merry Christmas After All Pairings, Characters: Mycroft Holmes/Sally Donovan; Sally Donovan, Mycroft Holmes, Anthea, brief appearance by Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Sally and Mycroft make an arrangement to have a pretend relationship together, culminating in a spectacular break-up at a destination wedding in Hawaii. But what they intend to have happen doesn't go according to plan when pesky feelings decide to get involved. #9 Story Title: A Study In Pink Pairings, Characters: Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Mary Morstan (though not in this story), fake!“John Watson”/Mary Morstan and Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper one-sided infatuation; Mary Morstan, Mike Stamford, Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, Greg Lestrade, the cabbie, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Rosamund Mary Watson had never expected to set foot in London again, but she finds herself in need of employment and a better flat. Enter her old professor Mike Stamford, who tells her about the man who will change her life forever... #10 Story Title: All The Little Signs Pairings, Characters: Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, John Watson/Mary Morstan, past Tom/Molly Hooper, one-sided Greg Lestrade/Molly Hooper; Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, John Watson, Mary Morstan, Greg Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, others TBD Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: The repercussions from Sherlock’s faked death did more than just affect his relationships with his friends, Sherlock realizes when Molly loses her position at St. Bart’s for falsifying medical documents and loses her fiancé in the process. While Molly gets her life sorted out and decides what she wants Sherlock does the same, but is it too late when he decides what he wants in his life is Molly? #11 Story Title: As Long As You Love Me Truly Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper; Molly Hooper, Mrs. Hudson, Greg Lestrade, Philip Anderson, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Sally Donovan, Henry Knight, Irene Adler Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: All Molly Hooper wants to do is get her big break on the London stage. She might have a chance when she's asked to be the lead in one of the most anticipated productions on the West End, and by the star himself, Sherlock Holmes. But things don't exactly go according to the plan she had in her head of how she would become a well known actress, and as time goes on she needs to figure out whether she wants fame or whether she wants something more fulfilling. #12 Story Title: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes/Anthea, Mr. & Mrs. Holmes, OC pairings; Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, Mycroft HOlmes, Anthea, Mummy HOlmes, Siger Holmes, OC Holmes Brother, assorted OFCs and OMCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: It all begins with an invitation to Mycroft's wedding to his PA and seven days at a resort in Jamaica, with the assumption that Molly pretends to be his girlfriend that his mother might be under the impression that he's going to propose to sooner rather than later. It ends up being so much more than that... #13 Story Title: Ever Changing, Ever Growing Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, background Mycroft Holmes/OC and John Watson/Mary Morstan Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Major Character Death Summary: They make the arrangement to present what society wants from them to the world as husband and wife, but childhood friends Sherlock Holmes and Margaret Hooper agree that their lives are their own. But with the death of Sherlock's brother and an unexpected scandal, their marriage of convenience is shaken. Will their friendship remain intact as their marriage falls apart, or will they decide that it is in their best interest to make this a true marriage between partners instead? #14 Story Title: It Can Be As Real As You Or I Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper with background John Watson/Mary Morstan and Janine Hawkins/OMC; Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, Janine Hawkins, Kitty Reilly, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: At the very beginning of a case to help Janine, it comes out that the very eligible and spectacular stud in the bedroom Sherlock Holmes has married local specialist registrar, Dr. Molly Hooper. Which would be fine and all, except it's a fake marriage...that Sherlock wants to make real by the end of the case. But Kitty Riley's constant hounding of him throughout the case, turning every tidbit she hears (always out of context) into tabloid fodder, is going to make that virtually impossible, he fears...though he might very well be surprised himself. #15 Story Title: It Takes The Whole Of London Pairings, Characters: Background John Watson/Mary Morstan and mentioned fake!Sherlock Holmes/Janine, but generally no pairings; Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, John Watson, Tom, Meena, Greg Lestrade, Sally Donovan, Mike Stamford, Sherlock Holmes, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Original character death offscreen Summary: When one of Molly's best friends and her husband die in a car accident, Molly finds herself the guardian of their six-month-old daughter, and in an instant her entire life changes, and she comes to find solace in the fact that there is truth in the old adage"it takes a village"when she finds herself raising Maya on her own. #16 Story Title: Jam Session Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper with background Mycroft Holmes/Sally Donovan and John Watson/Mary Morstan; Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, Sally Donovan, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes. Jim Moriarty, John Watson Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Molly Hooper is known for making some of the best baked goods in all of England, and no one knows what her secret is. Her most popular dish is her Jam Tartlets, and it’s a recipe she shares with absolutely no one, not even those who work in her shop. When a new resident arrives in the village, an apiarist named Sherlock Holmes, they begin an exchange: some of her special jams in exchange for his honey. But what starts as a simple trade of sweet foodstuffs becomes so much more when Molly’s shop is broken into and ransacked by someone looking for the secret recipe. #17 Story Title: Like Night And Day Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, background John Watson/Mary Morstan; Molly Hooper, Sally Donovan, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Mary Morstan, Meena, Mike Stamford Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Illegal drug use, drug overdose and withdrawal symptoms Summary: Molly loves Sherlock, she does, but one night when Sherlock makes a decision that nearly costs him his life, she knows she can't be his caretaker anymore without dragging herself down too. Trying to make a clean break of things, she leaves the university they attend together and goes to the States to finish medical school and put it all behind her. But after graduation, Fate has other ideas... #18 Story Title: My Chosen Queen, To Rule By My Side Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper; Molly Hooper, Hooper OCs, Sherlock Holmes, James Moriarty, other OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Ten years ago, Molly Hooper got lost in the forest near her brother's cottage trying to find her niece. She found the girl as well as an injured man who was more than he seemed. Now, Molly's niece is missing again and so Molly ventures into the forest once more to find her, with decidedly different results this time. #19 Story Title: Neither Living Dead Nor Fully Living Pairings, Characters: Sebastian Moran/Molly Hooper, past Sebastian Moran/James Moriarty and James Moriarty/Molly Hooper; Sebastian Moran, Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, OCs Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Major Character Death, Character death is temporary, as character is turned into a vampire Summary: When Sebastian Moran inherits a building, a business and a servant from James Moriarty, he tries to live as normal a life as he can. But when Molly Hooper does the unthinkable and falls in love with him, he finds himself fighting a battle he'd never imagined he'd be in. #21 Story Title: Nothing's Changed That Matters Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, past Mycroft Holmes/Anthea; Sherlock Holmes. Molly Hooper, John Watson, Eurus Holmes, Greg Lestrade Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Major Character Death Summary: When Sherlock comes to Molly in Oxford ten years after their divorce with a favour to ask, she agrees to help. While a lot has changed some things remain very much the same...including the love that Sherlock and Molly once shared. #22 Story Title: Old Books & New Flames Pairings, Characters: Sebastian Moran/Molly Hooper, Greg Lestrade/Sally Donovan, John Watson/Mary Morstan; Molly Hooper, Sebastian Moran, Mary Morstan, Sally Donovan, Greg Lestrade, John Watson, Jim Moriarty Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: When Sebastian Moran asks local bookstore owner Molly Hooper for a job, all he wants is a second chance to live the life he should have been living before prison. What Molly gets is more than a loyal employee and good friend. What she ends up with is what she had always wanted her entire life: happiness. #23 Story Title: Pawns On The Board, Flies On The Web Pairings, Characters: Mycroft Holmes/Anthea, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper; Anthea, Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes, Elizabeth Smallwood, Greg Lestrade, Sebastian Moran Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Violence, OC character death Summary: When an American politician is murdered and deposited in Mycroft’s office, it’s Sebastian Moran’s sign that he is done allowing Mycroft and Sherlock their little game at dismantling Moriarty’s organization. But with Sherlock having returned to London, albeit not in time to stop the plot from being put into motion, Moran’s ploy may not be as effective as he hopes it to be, not with Mycroft, Sherlock, Anthea, Molly and others working hard to stop him in his tracks. #24 Story Title: Rectifying Past Mistakes Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Mary Morstan; Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Anthea, Mary Morstan, John Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Molly Hooper, Greg Lestrade, Sebastian Moran Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: When Mycroft gets Sherlock out of Serbia, he drops a bombshell on him he isn't quite prepared for: after years of being gone out of his life, Sherlock's ex-wife Elizabeth has reappeared, under the name Mary Morstan. While he was off taking care of Moriarty's mess she was protecting those he cared about and helping his brother, for reasons, he finds, that she is keeping close to the vest. But when they're forced to stay in close quarters at Baker Street both secrets and old wounds come to light and, perhaps, things might turn out for the best after all. #25 Story Title: The Babe On The Doorstep Pairings, Characters: Mycroft Holmes/Anthea; Mycroft Holmes, Anthea, Greg Lestrade, OCs Rating: General | G Warnings: Child Abandonment Summary: One morning an infant is left on Mycroft’s doorstep with a note, signed by a woman named Laura. As Mycroft tries to find out who would entrust a child into his care he slowly opens his heart to the infant and lets the other people in his life that he’s kept at arms length in more, bit by bit. #26 Story Title: The Cursed Dragon Pairings, Characters: Sebastian Moran/Molly Hooper, forced engagement between Charles Augustus Magnussen/Mrs. Hooper; Margaret Hooper, Mrs. Hooper, Charles Augustus Magnussen, Mary Morstan, Sally Donovan, Irene Adler, Meena, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Major Character Death Summary: On the eve of Princess Molly's twenty-fifth birthday, a dragon comes to lay waste to her kingdom. Eventually, a lottery is set up to give the dragon a virgin sacrifice, but when Molly stumbles onto a wicked scheme by the royal advisor Magnussen, she finds herself picked as the next sacrifice and kept from telling the truth to her mother. Prepared to fight the dragon on her own if need be, she is taken to a remote part of her kingdom by the dragon...who is not quite what he seems. #28 Story Title: The Head Knows What The Heart Wants Pairings, Characters: Sebastian Moran/Molly Hooper, background John Watson/Mary Morstan; Sebastian Moran, Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, Mary Morstan, Mycroft Holmes, Eurus Holmes, OCs Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Mild violence Summary: After the revelation that there had been some plotting between Moriarty and Eurus before his death, Sebastian Moran had decided to do whatever it took to keep Molly safe...even if that meant ruining whatever the results of his ex-lover's collusion with the Holmes sister were. But after enough time had gone by, things changed, and that was when Eurus decided to strike. That was when Sebastian couldn't deny the truth any longer: Molly Hooper had become the most important person in his life...and he would do whatever it took to make sure she was safe. #29 Story Title: The Pesky Virginity Issue Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, John Watson/Mary Morstan, past Tom/Molly Hooper; Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Tom, OCs Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After Molly's engagement ends she decides she wants to rid herself of her virginity since that was a major cause of the dissolution of her relationship with her ex. When her friend Mary suggests she knows the perfect person, things don't go quite according to any sort of plan she may have had in her head...but it has a pleasantly surprising result nonetheless. #30 Story Title: To Live Again Pairings, Characters: Pre-Mycroft Holmes/Mary Morstan, background Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, past John Watson/Mary Morstan;Mary Morstan, Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After the events at the aquarium which leaves most of the world thinking Mary Watson is dead, Mary deals with conflicting feelings and moving on in the wake of knowing her marriage is, for all intents and purposes, over. #31 Story Title: What Could Have Been, What Will Be In Its Stead Pairings, Characters: Mycroft Holmes/Molly Hooper, past Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, mentioned Anthea/Kate and Mr & Mrs. Holmes; Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper, Siger Holmes, Mummy Holmes, Greg Lestrade, Anthea, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Major Character Death Summary: When Sherlock dies, he leaves behind a woman he planned to marry and a child he did not know about. Mycroft is determined to take care of them both in his brother's stead, but nothing is ever as easy as one plans. That is the true Holmes legacy. BBC Sherlock/Doctor Who #32 Story Title: The Detective And The Hound Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Amy Pond, background John Watson/Lorna Bucket; Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Amy Pond, Henry Knight; other Sherlock characters in"The Hounds of Baskerville" Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Unconcensual drug use Summary: Sherlock and John get given a case from Henry Knight, who believes his father was killed years prior by a hound in the moors. But what starts as a much needed break from the tedium that Sherlock is experiencing turns into a case that has him questioning many things and feeling something he has not felt in a long time: the type of fear that leaves you with a chill in your bones. #33 Story Title: When In University Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Amy Pond; Amy Po/nd, Sherlock Holmes, Aunt Sharon, Mummy Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, Rory Williams Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Sherlock Holmes was a jerk the first time she met him. She had no idea how much he was going to grow on her as time went on... BBC Sherlock/Marvel Cinematic Universe #34 Story Title: A Potential Loophole To Exploit Pairings, Characters: Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, implied Loki Laufeyson/Darcy Lewis, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Antoine Triplett/Daisy Johnson, Jemma Simmons/Leo Fitz and Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff; Thor Odinson, Loki Laufeyson, Frigga, Phil Coulson, Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Jane Foster, Melinda May, Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz, Antoine Triplett, Daisy Johnson, Darcy Lewis, Sif, Heimdall, OCs Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After Thor and Loki leave a meeting with their mother, they start to talk about what can be done to stave off the foretold arrival of their sister, Hela, and begin to make plans. #35 Story Title: Playing The Game: Act II – Knights & Knowledge, Romance & Regret Pairings, Characters: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, implied Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff and pre Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett/Skye | Daisy Johnson; Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, Phil Coulson, Mary Morstan, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Melinda May, Skye | Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Antoine Triplett Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After tracking down Phil Coulson and his team, Molly and the others join him on their hunt for Grant Ward so that Molly can get retribution for Victoria’s death and Nat and Clint can further Fury’s assignment to help deal with all of the escapees from the Fridge. But as things get more complicated with the appearance of the Diviner and all the entails, Molly begins to wonder if she will ever get her end goal of Ward disappearing in a deep dark hole where no one can find him. #36 Story Title: The Forgotten Wife Pairings, Characters: Stephen/Molly, past Stephen/Christine, eventual past Tom/Molly; Stephen Strange, Molly Hooper, Wong, Christine Palmer, Baron Mordo, Tom Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Fifteen years ago, to fulfill the dying wish of someone who inspired him, Stephen Strange married Molly Hooper on a whim. And then life happened. A life full of many different things for both of them. But when Molly turns up at the Sanctum Santorum demanding an annulment so she can marry her fiancee, it presents an entire situation where neither of them have any idea how to approach a marriage that they aren't sure they want to end as they get to know each other better. BBC Sherlock/Midsomer Murders #37 Story Title: Every English Village Has Its Secrets Pairings, Characters: Past/Unrequited Mycroft Holmes/Gregory Lestrade, Tom Barnaby/Joyce Barnaby, Sally Donovan/OMC; Greg Lestrade, Sally Donovan, Mycroft Holmes, Tom Barnaby, Gavin Troy, OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Summary: When Greg and Sally get called to Midsomer County for a case, right from the start Greg knows it will be a headache when Mycroft offers him lodging (so long as he's alright with his former lover being his housemate for his time there), and it doesn't get much better when he meets DCI Tom Barnaby and immediately their Detective Sergeants take an instant dislike to each other when Sally arrives the next evening. And that isn't even getting into the actual case itself and all the secrets hidden in the village of Elverton-cum-Latterley... BBC Sherlock/Star Trek: AOS #38 Story Title: Serendipity & Coincidence Pairings, Characters: Leonard McCoy/Molly Hooper, background Jim Kirk/Carol Marcus and Spock/Nyota Uhura; Leonard McCoy, Molly Hooper, Jim Kirk, Carol Marcus, Spock, Nyota Uhura, Joanna McCoy, OCs Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Bones knows one thing: he likes Dr. Molly Hooper and doesn't want his friendship with her to change...even if the voice in the back of his head says he'd like more than just a friendship with the female Starfleet officer. But a dare from Jim leads to more than he had expected and certainly more than he wanted...or could ever have hoped for. Black Sails #39 Story Title: a tide of hope Pairings, Characters: Abigail Ashe/Billy Bones Rating: Mature | M Warnings: mild violence Summary: "My point being, unless my crew decides that they don’t want to give me up for dead, and if what you say is true and no one will come looking for you, then we are very much stranded on this island.” Abigail Ashe awakens to find herself shipwrecked on an island. However, she is not alone. Abigail Ashe/Billy Bones, post season 3. Boku No Hero Academia/Star Vs the Forces of Evil #40 Story Title: Princess' guide (title may be subject to change) Pairings, Characters: Star Butterfly/Tenya Iida Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: A Sequel to 'An Earthling's Guide to Dealing with Mewberty' Star was serious when she offered to take Iida on a multidimensional adventure as a thank you for helping her get through Mewberty, and after hearing about the Hero Killer's capture, and Iida's own encounter with Stain, Star is more sure than anything else, that her friend could use some uncomplicated fun. Buffy the Vampire Slayer #41 Story Title: Like Stone Pairings, Characters: Connor, Dawn Summers, Buffy Summers, Angel, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (and pretty much the complete cast), not shippy fic but there is Angel/Buffy and Connor/Dawn) Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: Twenty years after the battle with the First and the aftermath of Jasmine’s reign, life still isn’t easy for Buffy and Angel and their friends and family. Connor has been on the outside of his father’s life for years and isn’t particularly happy to be brought back in when Dawn shows up in L.A. with a case that requires his attention. But that is just the beginning of the badness threatening to swallow them all whole. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Hellblazer #42 Story Title: Insert Hell Pun Here Pairings, Characters: Rupert Giles & John Constantine, Willow Rosenburg/Tara Maclay, Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins, implied John Constantine/Spike Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Giles thought he'd never see John Constantine again. But when John turns up at the Magic Box looking for help, it brings back some memories Giles would much rather forget. Some sins you don't get absolution for. Code Geass #43 Story Title: World Enough and Time Pairings, Characters: Suzaku/Lelouch and Gino/Kallen (both minor) Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: Six months after Ragnarok, all Kallen wants to do is protect the people she loves, even if it means betraying everything in her heart to serve a Britannian prince. Suzaku wants to reverse a mistake he made but would never take back. Euphemia is willing to risk everything of herself in order to be a better person and find a cure. And Lelouch... Lelouch wants to make the world safe for his little sister, even if it means destroying everything in his path. (The AU where the royal family controls the elements through music instead of Geass, and the Ragnarok Connection united the living and dead... by bringing back the dead.) Critical Role Campaign One/Dragon Age Origins (Awakening) #44 Story Title: TBA Pairings, Characters: Vax'ildan/Keyleth; Vax'ildan, Percy, Vex'alia, Scanlan, Keyleth, M!Mahariel, probably others from both canons, Grey Wardens from Awakening Rating: No Rating Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: Merging of the two canons, but mainly in the Dragon Age setting with some Critical Role characters. Vox Machina finds the ancient thaig containing the tomb of the Raven Queen's champion, but in the process Vax'ildan is infected with the Blight. Only Loral Mahariel, hero of Ferelden, can save Vax's life -- but will he be willing to pay the price? Crossing Lines/Grey's Anatomy/Hawaii Five-0/Marvel Cinematic Universe/The Sentinel/S.W.A.T. #45 Story Title: This is our sanctuary Pairings, Characters: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark, Clint Barton/James Street, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Ellie Defont-Bogard/Sebastian Berger Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: Clint Barton and Jim Street have been together for about a month as Guide and Sentinel when Jimmy's mom is released from prison. Clint wants Jimmy to have nothing to do with his emotionally abusive, Hydra mother. But Jimmy feels he owes Karen Street too much to abandon her, and Clint loves Jimmy too much to break his Sentinel's heart. So despite Clint's misgivings, they go to Los Angeles to visit her. The idea is to spend a couple hours with Karen and then hopefully never see her again. But what not even Jimmy realizes is how much Karen hates Clint for being Jimmy's Guide instead of her. Or how far she'll go to get her son back. Because Karen Street will do anything to get her son back. The problem is, Clint and Jimmy might not survive it. CSI: NY #46 Story Title: Twist Of Fate Pairings, Characters: Don Flack, Jr./Jessica Angell; Don Flack, Jr., Jessica Angell, Mac Taylor, Stella Bonasera, Lindsay Monroe, Danny Messer, Samantha Flack, Don Flack Sr., Sheldon Hawkes, Adam Ross Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: What if Jessica had a very good reason for not escorting Connor Dunbrook's kid to trial? What might have been? CSI: NY/Law & Order #47 Story Title: Theraputic Pairings, Characters: Eventual Danny Messer/Lindsay Monroe; Danny Messer, Mac Taylor, Emil Skoda, Don Flack Jr., Lindsay Monroe, Lennie Briscoe Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Major Character Death, Character deaths are in the past, but they were characters from CSI: NY Danny knew Summary: In Danny's eyes, the hits just keep on coming...though this particular hit may turn out all right in the end. Daredevil #48 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Brett Maloney Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Brett Maloney has no magic. He is not magic and he likes it that way because it means that magic is not his proble- Oh who is he kidding. It's totally his problem. Especially since this latest serial killer case he's sticking his nose into has magic written all over it and he's the best cop to investigate. Now to catch this guy before he targets another Hell's Kitchen witch like Foggy... DC Extended Universe #49 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Dick Grayson Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: After Superman dies, Dick Grayson reconnects with his father Doctor Who/Marvel Cinematic Universe #50 Story Title: All Screwed To Hell And Eternity And Space And Back Pairings, Characters: Bucky Barnes/Clara Oswald, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Thor Odinson/Brunhilde, Loki Laufeyson/Ashildr; mentioned Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau; Bucky Barnes, Shuri, Clara Oswald, Ashildr, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Thor Odisnson, Brunhilde, Loki Laufeyson, Carol Danvers, Stephen Strange, Wong, mentions of Marvel comics characters Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Everyone has a countdown on their wrist to when they will find their soulmate. If they don't, they die. Even Steve Rogers's ran in one direction, though it took him ninety years to meet his. But Bucky's has never run normally, not in the 40s, not when he was the Winter Soldier, and not now that the whole mess with the Infinity Gauntlet has been fixed. But now it's stuck and he has no idea why. Meanwhile, Clara's is still running despite being taken out of the timeline, though never in any way that makes sense or has ever made sense. Not to her, not to the Doctor, not to Ashildr. She'd expected it to disappear. But it's simply counting down to her inevitable demise. And yet? Fate has it ways to make these two meet...even if it takes a TARDIS and the Avengers to make it happen. Doctor Who/St. Trinian's #51 Story Title: Adventures In Unexpected Places Pairings, Characters: Rory Williams/Amy Pond; Amy Pond, Camilla Fritton, Kelly Jones, Eleventh Doctor, Rory Williams, Mels Zucker Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After being sent to the worst school in the whole of England, Amy meets up with the man whose fault it is that she’s there, and things go vastly more differently than anyone expected. Dragon Age #52 Story Title: loves to learn, love to burn Pairings, Characters: fenris/f!hawke, carver hawke & f!hawke, Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence, there's an implication that a character might consider suicide (from a different character's perspective): there are no mentions of suicidal ideation expressed as such. haven't decided if i'll keep that in or not but it is currently in one of the snippets. Summary: pictures at an exhibition sort of thing about what we don't see from a fenris rivalmance from playing da2. if you're not a total music nerd then I guess i'd describe it as scenes loosely arranged around a central plot of a rocky romance, and of finding family- broadly following the chronology of the game. also explores how carver and marianne hawke deal with the changes to their family (losing bethany and their mom, etc). #53 Story Title: The Path Not Taken Pairings, Characters: Ser Barris/Female Trevalyen Rating: General | G Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: After the events at Val Royeaux, Barris and several other Templars decide to leave the Order. Football RPF #54 Story Title: It's A Long Way Up When You Hit the Ground Pairings, Characters: Christian Eriksen/Vincent Janssen Rating: Mature | M Warnings: No Warnings Apply Summary: Vincent's future is still uncertain, but rather than dwell on it, all he wants to do is welcome Christian home from the World Cup and find a few moments of bliss in each other's company before the world comes along and sweeps them away again. Christian, however, isn't making things at all easy, and Vincent starts wondering if maybe he has other ideas. A story about moving in, uncertainty, finding true friendships, and questioning everything about your past, present, and future. Gilmore Girls #55 Story Title: The Thing He Carried Pairings, Characters: Rory Gilmore/Jess Mariano and Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply, Minor violence Summary: This story is based on a post on Tumblr pertaining to what if Jess did not go to California. It is also based on 'The Things That He Carried' by Tim O'Brien, who also wrote an episode of 'This Is Us'. It's about growth and acceptance. it's about love and relationships. It's about rising above adversity. Glee #56 Story Title: Merry and Bright Pairings, Characters: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Kurt's built his life to cut out all feelings. The cute singer that comes into the Lima Bean every Thursday night breaks that idea. Guardian #57 Story Title: As Winter Fades Pairings, Characters: Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: dub-con Summary: Zhao Yunlan is a proud omega, but when he gets thrust back into Old Haixing, his life depends on impersonating alpha Kunlun. Then he meets Shen Wei and it all goes to hell. #58 Story Title: TBD Pairings, Characters: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: canon typical violence Summary: Dixing is one of the last States standing against Emperor Zhao Xinci’s attempt to conquer and unite all the lands. The Crown Prince, Zhao Yunlan, has been fighting at the front lines of the war against Dixing for years when his mother gifts him with a concubine. Shen Wei is beautiful and magnetic and Zhao Yunlan falls in love with him instantly. But Shen Wei isn’t just a concubine; he’s a Dixing operative who’s being embedded in Zhao Yunlan’s household to gather intel and potentially assassinate the prince. He never expected to fall in love. [A wuxia-inspired AU in an ancient China-inspired setting.] Hannibal #59 Story Title: The Art of Her Mind Pairings, Characters: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham, Aralie/Travis Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depiction of drug use Summary: A young girl was accused of murdering her entire family, but one clever psychologist got her to serve a five year sentence at a mental institution. The day she is released from the hospital, Aralie has to adjust to life beyond her past. Aralie finds that when her anxiety becomes to much she occupies her mind with sketching the world around her and losing herself in ballet. Harry Potter #60 Story Title: All The King's Men Pairings, Characters: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Hermione makes a deal with the Malfoys, trading her newfound status as war heroine against what remains of their power and fortune. The Statute of Secrecy is only two generations old, and the Muggles still remember burning witches. Marrying Draco is Hermione's lever to change the Wizarding world – fortunately he doesn't realise the extent of her ambitions... 18th century AU #61 Story Title: Lionhearted Girl Pairings, Characters: Regulus Black/Severus Snape (minor), no other pairings at this time, but future Female!Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply, Forced Amnesia Summary: Roswitha Artemis Black had gone from orphan to heiress to daughter in remarkably short time frame, like a dream come true. Now starting her first year of Hogwarts, she faces challenges she is certain regular first years don't have to deal with -- like the castle talking to her and demanding she find and evict an artifact deep beneath the stone floors. Or how whispers of another girl, nameed Heather Potter, stir some strange dream within her. #62 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: OMC/Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy Rating: Warnings: Summary: Evan Potter grew up knowing two things were true: that he was the Boy Who Lived, and that because of that, it wasn't safe for his squib brother Harry to live in the magical world. He'd be an easy target for any angry Death Eater who wanted revenge. No matter how badly he wants to be an ordinary kid with an ordinary brother, his life is never going to work that way. Then it turns out that Harry isn't a squib after all. And when Evan follows him into Slytherin to protect him... well, maybe his life isn't as set in stone as he'd always thought it would be. Hetalia #63 Story Title: From Spacious Skies, To Perilous Fight Pairings, Characters: America (Hetalia); Canada (Hetalia); Germany (Hetalia); North Italy (Hetalia); England (Hetalia); France (Hetalia); Molossia (Hetalia); Additional micronations Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence, Invasive Medical Procedures Summary: America’s explosive appearance on the national stage sent ripples of shock throughout the world. As he grapples to find his place as the Personification of the United State of America, dark forces begin to stir once more. Sequel to"In Need of Representation". James Bond #64 Story Title: GoldenEye Interrupted Pairings, Characters: James Bond/Alec Trevelyan Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply, Canon-Typical Violence Summary: James Bond meets up with his partner, Alec Trevelyan, to complete a mission — destroy a chemical weapons facility. When he finds Alec, he quickly discovers there’s something else going on. Following his instincts, he talks to Alec, leading the pair to realize they have two different sets of orders. The two partners know that if they had followed their separate orders, they might both have been killed. Now, they will carry out James’ orders to destroy the facility, and then they will go hunting. There’s a mole in MI6, and they’re just the Double O’s to catch him. #65 Story Title: My Partner the Car Pairings, Characters: James Bond/Alec Trevelyan/Q Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply, Canon-Typical Violence Summary: James Bond's partner, Alec Trevelyan, recently died. When he goes to pick up Alec's old car, he discovers there's more to the Jaguar than he realized, and that Alec wasn't as dead as everyone thought. With the assistance of MI6's Quartermaster, James has to find Alec's body, and somehow return Alec's spirit to his body. It might be an impossible task for some, but not for MI6's best Double O's. Law & Order #66 Story Title: a moment of transition Pairings, Characters: Mike Logan/Elizabeth Olivet; Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Elizabeth Olivet (Carolyn McCormick), Caroline Olivet (I'm picturing Madeline Zima), Lucas de Motigny (OC, I'm picturing Tom Sturridge) Rating: Mature | M Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Caroline Olivet starts her first semester at Yale. Les Miserables #67 Story Title: We’ll take a cup of kindness, yet Pairings, Characters: Minor/Background relationships. Grantaire, Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Joly, Musichetta, Bossuet, Bahorel, Bahorel’s laughing mistress, Feuilly, Jean"Jehan"Pouvoir, Eponine Thenardier, Marius Pontmercy; Cosette; Gavroche Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply, Alcohol, mentions of marijuana, Summary: They’re having some sort of winter holiday… thing. She’s never quite sure what to call these gatherings. They're not religious, and they’re not meetings; they have regular meetings and this is not one. But, it’s not quite a party, either. It could be if they decided on a theme or reason, beyond"its cold and we’re all busy and everyone else is getting together, so let’s eat food and enjoy each other."So, it’s a thing. That works right? They’re having a December Thing. In which R discovers Enjolras can cook, Cosette tricks Gavroche into eating vegetables, Bossuet both forgets and wins at White Elephant, and having close friends is just generally awesome. Lucifer #68 Story Title: Put a Net There to Catch My Fall Pairings, Characters: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar Rating: Teen | T Warnings: passive suicidal ideation Summary: One of the benefits of having a partner who was, for all intents and purposes, unable to be killed was that you didn't have to worry. Bullets, fire, axe-weilding mad-men, none of it mattered when you could send your devil of a partner in first. And he'd always come out unscathed. ...Right? #69 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Mentions of abuse Summary: After Lucifer's bad day, the next one is even worse. It's a good thing that Detective Decker is there for him. Marvel Cinematic Universe #70 Story Title: it's in the past we can make this leap Pairings, Characters: Characters: Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, a few OCs, some Howard Stark, Colonel Phillips, Daniel Sousa, and Angie Martinelli. Pairings: Mostly gen, with minor Steve/Peggy, minor Clint/Natasha Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After a mission goes horribly wrong, the Avengers end up separated and scattered in time. Clint joins forces with someone unexpected while Steve meets a kid who’s in way over his head. They both try not to completely screw up history. #71 Story Title: till human voices wake us Pairings, Characters: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Clint Barton, James"Bucky"Barnes, James"Rhodey"Rhodes, Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: Tony is called out on a rescue mission. Things deteriorate from there. [post-Civil War sort-of fix-it reconciliation fic, de-aging (kid!Steve), action/adventure, ensemble, eventual Steve/Tony] #72 Story Title: Untitled at the moment Pairings, Characters: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Major Character Death, It's set after Infinity War so the deaths are canon (no other ones) Summary: After Thanos fulfills his promise to erase half the universe, the ones left behind need to find a way to move on. But just when Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov are finding a way to do just that — together — Natasha's past comes back to haunt them in a way they never expected. (Will probably include spoilers for Endgame.) #73 Story Title: Whoops, I slipped Pairings, Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and the rest of the Avengers in more of a supporting role Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: There's an explosion in the labs and Tony Stark finds himself in the body of a 3 or 4 year old. Unfortunately, his adult brain is calibrated for an adult body and all of the connections are scrambled, so he's in a bit a pickle. It's hard to let your teammates know that you're capable of rational thought when you can't even figure out how to operate the controls that enable you to walk and talk. #74 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker; Peter Parker & Tony Stark Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Matt never liked Tony Stark until he met Peter Parker. Now... now he HATES him. But he's not going to be the one to start a fight. End it yes, but there's no way he'll risk Peter's anger by starting it. And what does Stark mean, Peter's missing? Marvel Cinematic Universe/Torchwood #75 Story Title: The Stars Lead Me to You Pairings, Characters: James 'Bucky' Barnes/Ianto Jones, Natasha Romanoff/Toshiko Sato, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Thor/Loki, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson Rating: Teen | T Warnings: MPREG, Miscarriage, a/o/b Summary: A person can only take so much being someone's second or in Ianto Jones case third or even fourth choice but still he stays with Jack because he loves him until the case with the Space Whale cost him the child he didn't know he was carrying, unable to watch Jack fawn over Gwen anymore Ianto decides to leave. Seeking out his father Phil Coulson advice Ianto ends up becoming the second handler to the Avengers and finds himself growing closer to the former Winter Soldier Bucky, who seems to know him from another time and many just find happiness with him. Merlin #76 Story Title: A Midwinter Prince Pairings, Characters: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon Rating: Mature | M Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: A modern AU remix of Netflix's A CHRISTMAS PRINCE and Merlin (TV show). All Merlin wants is the chance to prove his merits as a journalist. His opportunity comes when he's sent to Camelot to cover the upcoming coronation -- or abdication. The tabloids have turned Camelot's"Playboy Prince"into a scandal, photographing him at nightclubs throughout Europe, and the whole world is asking the question: Will Prince Arthur settle down and take his place as the King of Camelot on his twenty-fifth birthday or will he abdicate in favour of a lifestyle of partying? Sent to find answers, Merlin ends up sneaking into Camelot Castle, where a strange old man by the name of"Mr Kilgharrah"mistakes him for Princess Morgana's tutor, Emrys. Between Morgana's powerful visions, the possibility Queen Ygraine once had a secret lover, and a growing attraction to Arthur, Merlin has his hands full trying to balance his job as a reporter and his growing sense of guilt over his false identity. And when the truth behind Arthur's birth comes crashing down in the middle of the coronation, Merlin has to betray Arthur's trust to give him a chance at happiness. Once Upon A Time #77 Story Title: The Stowaways Pairings, Characters: Ruby/Belle, Killian/Emma Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: On a much needed vacation, Emma and Killian find that they are not alone on the Jolly Roger. Original Works #78 Story Title: Taking Over Pairings, Characters: Original Male Character/Orc, Original Male Character/Original Male Character Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Graphic Violence, Major Character Death, Chooses not to use Warnings, Past abusive relationship, PWP that grew plot, Summary: The King is dead, long live the King... As king's consort, Teyrin had never expected any strife. Then the orcs attacked. Now Teyrin has found himself torn between two world: rebellion against the new King of Athary is brewing in Neith. However, stuck at the castle, Teyrin finds himself falling in love not just with the Orckish culture, but with their king as well. As the consequences get more dire, Teyrin finds the stakes increasing. It's no longer just his life that hangs in the balance. #79 Story Title: The Naked Legion Pairings, Characters: Original Male Character/Original Male Character Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Graphic Violence, Tentacle sex, ovipositioning, inflation, symbiotes Summary: Rio's husband Shen has joined the Bio-Armor Division of the Stellar Marines, those who bond with a symbiote to gain living armor in order to fight powerful extraterrestrial threats. Six months after Shen, Rio is now ready to go through the intense bonding process with his own symbiote and join his husband in the Naked Legion so they can make a difference in the fight against the cruel and uncaring Krellians... Peaky Blinders #80 Story Title: A Battle Joined Pairings, Characters: Esme Shelby/Tommy Shelby Rating: No Rating Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: "Your wife is gone, Tommy. Does it matter how?" A sprawling tale of family and deceit, love and regret, anchored by Esme and Tommy's complicated arranged marriage. Primeval (BBC) #81 Story Title: untitled role reversal fic Pairings, Characters: Nick/Stephen, Ensemble Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Nick emerges from an anomaly into a world where Stephen is still alive . . . and Nick is the person who betrayed the team by siding with Helen. Nick doesn't know if he could return to his own 'verse even if he wanted to, but finds that Stephen is reason enough to make him want to stay in this one. At first Nick is distrusted, especially by Claudia. Nick helps the ARC by pointing out the differences between his world and this one and helping them try to figure out what Helen's up to. Eventually he is allowed back on the team; this time with Stephen as the team leader. Connor and Abby welcome Nick back with open arms (even if he isn't ~their Nick) and the four of them hang out together as a team and as friends. Nick and Stephen rekindle their friendship and grow even closer until they admit that the relationship they want is far different from the one they had before. (If you're familiar with Primeval, this fic was started for the role reversal square for trope_bingo.) Star Trek: AOS #82 Story Title: The Paths We Take, Glittering And Entwined Pairings, Characters: James Kirk/Spock, Leonard McCoy/Christine Chapel, may be other ships; Spock, James Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Christine Chapel, Nyota Uhura, other characters TBD Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Drug use; drug withdrawals Summary: When Captain Spock is assigned captainship of the USS Enterprise, he thinks it will be nothing more than a chance to improve upon his last post...until he finds himself in the same room with Ensign James T. Kirk. They find themselves both on the receiving end of a mental link that they now share, which brings complications for them both: for Spock, it is how to remain unattached in the face of a crisis and for Kirk it is how to keep the secret he is keeping from both his captain and his best friend. But in the face of a threat that could bring about the end of the Federation as they know it, perhaps this link is the best thing for both of them in the end. Star Trek: DS9 #83 Story Title: Shared Burden Pairings, Characters: Keiko O'Brien/Kira Nerys, Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Pregnancy, description of injuries, infidelity Summary: After Keiko is injured, her unborn child is transferred to Major Kira to finish its gestation. The O’Briens invite Kira to stay with them while she is pregnant with their child, but she and Keiko share more than one burden. The attraction that existed previously now blooms to something far more serious and complicated. Star Trek: TOS #84 Story Title: Day Of The Cypok Pairings, Characters: Pavel Chekov/Irina Galliulin Rating: Mature | M Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Pavel Chekov experiences his own version of Groundhog Day--aboard his new command, USS Integer. Star Wars #85 Story Title: a million lightyears away (from you) Pairings, Characters: Kylo Ren/Armitage Hux Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings, canon typical violence, injury recovery, developing relationships Summary: Following Crait, Hux takes a medical leave, to recover from his injuries. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren does not approve. #86 Story Title: Cinnamon Sugar Pairings, Characters: Finn/Rey Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Rey is a pretzel stand worker hoping to go to Republic University right across the way when she meets a handsome student, Finn... #87 Story Title: Out to Sea Pairings, Characters: Kylo Ren/Hux Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: A hundred years ago, a lord's son was lured to the sea by a mermaid and was never seen again. Now a mermaid has appeared once more, and she seems to have her sights set on Kylo. As the mermaid promises Kylo a better life under the sea but can he trust her? If what she is saying is true, then Kylo needs to decide between paradise and his family. Based off the book"Forbidden Sea." #88 Story Title: Pivotal moments (working title) Pairings, Characters: Luke Skywalker/Han Solo Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Han wasn't used to looking at life through its pivotal moments #89 Story Title: Still un-named Pairings, Characters: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Kylo Amidala is the drag queen who keeps getting arrested by Hux nearly every week. #90 Story Title: Strike True Pairings, Characters: Kylo Ren/Armitage hux Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: Seducing the new Supreme Leader is the best course of action, Hux decides, both for the order and for his own personal safety. #91 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Anakin Skywalker/Padme Naberrie, Obi-Wan Kenobi Rating: Warnings: Summary: There haven't been any more major changes in Obi-Wan's life in the months since Anakin and Padme's not-so-secret marriage (and pregnancy) became public. He's almost let himself become optimistic since Dooku's death: all they have to do is stop Grievous and the war will be over for good - and, after this amount of time, the Council can't possibly change their minds about allowing Anakin to be a married Jedi. Everything's going to work out the way he wants it. Life, of course, is never that simple. Star Wars Legends, X-Wing series #92 Story Title: Just Like That, Everything Changes Pairings, Characters: Wes Janson/Derek"Hobbie"Klivian, Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, minor characters Rating: General | G Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: After years of being"just friends", an imminent separation forces Wes and Hobbie to finally accept their feelings for the other, and in time, they may even admit this to each other. Supernatural #93 Story Title: Angel of the Morning Pairings, Characters: Gabriel/Christa(OFC) Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: slightly inspired by the Juice Newton song of the same name. sequel to Invisible Touch (OC Edition). Things don't go as planned for our golden-eyed Archangel (do they ever?) Not every human has an Angel as a soulmate, but every Angel has a human as a theirs. Will Christa be able to accept the truth when she finds out just how deep the bond between her and Gabriel goes? Or will she reject him forever? Can true love really conquer all? #94 Story Title: Minus One Pairings, Characters: Jody Mills Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: When Dean turns up on Jody's doorstep, injured and minus Sam, she and Bobby have to work out what happened in order to save both Winchesters. #96 Story Title: surrender feels safe Pairings, Characters: Gabriel/Sam Winchester Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: Sam just lost his job. And no, it wasn’t his fault or his employer’s. This isn’t the best of times for small enterprises in Detroit. He is also a week away from being evicted from his apartment and nobody seems to want to employ him. But let’s take a step back and think about the mysterious job offer he receives on the night he becomes unemployed. With no options left, he gives it a try. He doesn’t expect to throw his new employer’s world off-kilter, forge an unexpected friendship with the oldest being in creation and be swept off his feet along with all of it (not necessarily in that order). Things just happen, right? Right. Supernatural RPF #95 Story Title: My Empire of Blood Pairings, Characters: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Graphic Violence, Non-con/Rape Summary: Jared Padalecki was the hottest thing to grace a courtroom since Matlock. He won every case he worked with hard work and a clever mind - and maybe a little luck. But what happens when a new job in the Big Apple uncovers things he never could have imagined and advantages he never thought he had? #97 Story Title: Spies, Suits and Alpha's Pairings, Characters: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Minor original character death, a/o/b, attempted rape (not by either J's), alpha!Jensen, omega!Jared Summary: J2 version of Kingsman. Jensen Ackles made it his mission to look after his fallen partner's family, especially his omega son Jared, promising Jared he would always be there for him. When Jared's step father attempts to claim him Jared runs and calls Jensen for help as a Kingsman Legacy Jared's world is changed as he proves that just because he is an omega he is as good as any alpha and deserves his spot. Transformers Generation One #98 Story Title: Pairings, Characters: Prowl & Barricade, Prowl & Bluestreak, Prowl & Bluestreak & Barricade, Prowl/Starscream, Prowl/Jazz, Codicil, First Aid, Lifeline, Nightstalker, Accord, Trailbreaker, Crosscut, Pulse, Incidental OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply, Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: Prowl, a young single parent, manages raising his creation, the demands of his own neglectful former guardian, and seeks to enter into a relationship. TVXQ #99 Story Title: Digital Stockholm Pairings, Characters: Jung Yunho/Shim Changmin Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: mentions of suicide, stress induced anxiety, depression symptoms Summary: Yunho has no idea why there are concerning videos of Changmin on his laptop, but it might just unhinge the volatile and complicated relationship he’s maintained with Changmin for the last decade. Set at the end of 2014, a psycho-dramatic get-together fic. Vampire Hunter D #100 Story Title: Delivery Pairings, Characters: D, Left Hand, Necessary OCs Rating: Teen | T Warnings: Chooses not to use Warnings Summary: Vampire Hunter D has his most difficult bounty yet...taking care of a six month old child across the Frontier! Voltron: Legendary Defender #101 Story Title: An Inconvenient Attachment Pairings, Characters: Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt, Ryan Kinkade/James Griffin (mentioned), past Pidge | Katie Holt/Original Male character, Pidge | Katie Holt Shiro (Voltron) Keith (Voltron) Iverson (Voltron) James Griffin (Voltron) Ryan Kinkade Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: No Warnings apply, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Accidental Voyeurism, Summary: In the aftermath of the failed Kerberos mission, Katie Holt descended into despair. No amount of skill would give her the information she wanted, especially after being banned from Garrison property by Commander Iverson. Thus there was only one solution in her mind. She had to infiltrate the Galaxy Garrison, to be close to the source and enable her to find what she needed to find to know the fate of her father and brother. Getting in was the easy part. Being able to stay? That was a little harder. Remaining unattached so she could focus entirely on finding her family? That was the hardest part, harder than she ever could expect after years of being brushed aside. #102 Story Title: Fear no Man nor Galra. Pairings, Characters: Takashi Shirogane/Lance McClain Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: During a mission, Lance and Shiro are captured by a sadistic Galra commander by the name of Ventra who is hellbent on extracting information about the coalition by any means necessary. Meanwhile the other paladins are in a race against the clock to rescue Shiro and Lance before they are put out of their reach forever. #103 Story Title: home is just another word Pairings, Characters: Keith Kogane/Lance McClain Rating: Teen | T Warnings: No Warnings apply Summary: When Lance and Allura break up, it’s quiet. Keith doesn’t understand why that bothers him so much. OR: after a kinder, gentler season eight, Keith and Lance go on a road trip, and Keith doesn't have any reference points for the ways he's starting to feel. #104 Story Title: show me what you're made of Pairings, Characters: Pidge | Katie Holt/Original Male Character, Pidge | Katie Holt/Ryou Shirogane, Pidge| Katie Holt, Ryou Shirogane Rating: Explicit | E Warnings: Underage Drinking, Dubcon, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Ryou is Shiro's twin brother, Trans female Pidge, Transphobia, trans slurs Summary: Katie Holt, graduate student at the Taylor-Keaton Institute of Technology, was proud of the work that her father and brother did at the Galaxy Garrison. Even knowing they were going to be gone for several months at the least going the furthest any manned mission had gone, filled her more with pride than with dread. Months passed, and then days passed without word from Matt. And then she saw the news. And her world crumbled apart. (A story in five parts about mourning, denial, and coming into adulthood by throwing oneself in the deep end and struggling to stay afloat.) Watch Dogs (Video Games) #105 Story Title: Hurricane Pairings, Characters: Aiden Pearce/Jordi Chin, Marcus Holloway/Wrench (Watch Dogs) Rating: Mature | M Warnings: Graphic Violence Summary: People keep going missing in downtown San Francisco, including a member of DedSec. When Marcus and the rest of the gang start to investigate, their mission runs face first into one that Aiden Pearce is involved in too—but this time, close and personal instead of from behind the safety of a camera and a drone. When all of that piles on top of a job Jordi Chin's on, Marcus begins to wonder if he's pissed off any unloving gods recently.

#WIP Big Bang #WIPBigBang #2019 #mod post #art claims #artist sign ups

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hetaces · 5 years

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@whatsnew-lgbtq‘s 31 days of pride day 9!! i know I haven’t been doing ‘em all but that’s okay.

day 9: books

so books are my area of expertise honestly so I picked a few favorites to talk about a lil bit here (I’ll put it under a cut).

And feel free to ask me about more books because I’m Like That.

These are all ownvoices in at least one way. Ownvoices rep will be italicized in the list.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley When you hear what this book is about, it sounds really bad. Like “Girl decides to ‘fix’ agoraphobic gay boy and her boyfriend gets ~close~ with him” is essentially what the synopsis says. It sets it up for every bad trope. And then uses none of them. It’s so good, has great portrayal of good accommodations, healthy friendship, and a bunch of Star Trek references. Representation: Sol is gay and agoraphobic

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston Don’t look up the synopsis yourself, go right to goodreads (i’d link but you know how tumblr is with links), some of the synopses that come up automatically start with a “it’s like [story] in space” and it’s a spoiler. I’ll put the first part of it here bc it’s hard to get the words. Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Representation: Ana is written as acespec (not Super clear but it was the intent) Captain Siege is a lesbian. Telle is a lesbian. Robb is gay. Jax is gay.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee So, there’s a lot of hype around Gentleman’s Guide and I was sort of expecting to be let down, but it more than lived up to it. Henry "Monty" Montague is going on his Tour of the continent (travel around Europe and have fun one last time, is the idea). Chaotic disaster bisexual Monty causes trouble, of course. So then on the way to dropping his sister off at finishing school before returning home early, they get attacked. Because Monty is a dumbass (it’s actually his fault). Cue rich kids travelling with no money & trying to avoid a growing number of people. Mackenzi Lee has hit the nail on the head with growth. Not only does she get that sometimes, growth does happen because of one moment of learning, she also writes it well, which is a really difficult thing to write. There’s a lot of heavy stuff in it, but none of it was thrown in for no reason, it’s actually important to the books and to the characters. Representation: Monty is bi, has PTSD, and (at the end of the first book, so spoilers) deaf on one side Percy is mixed, mlm, and (you find out part way through so if you’re picky about it it could be spoilers), epileptic. Felicity is aroace. Many other characters who aren’t white and a wlw character in the second book.

I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver After Ben comes out to their parents, things don’t exactly go well. They get kicked out, and have to go live with their sister who they haven’t seen in 10 years. They start over at a new school, only out to their sister, her husband, and their therapist (because hey, look how well coming out went last time). This book is so damn cute. And a book with a nonbinary main character! Representation: Ben is nonbinary Nathan is bisexual and black

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire Think Narnia, but with more worlds and less religion and you've got the concept of the doorways. Children have always been disappearing - going through a door that's appeared to them. But magic worlds rarely have use for used up miracle children. So they're sent back. But they don't come back the same. The children at Elanor West's Home for Wayward Children have all tumbled once. And they all want to get back. But with Nancy's arrival, things start going wrong. Representation: Nancy is asexual Jack is pan and has OCD Kade is a trans guy Sumi is bi (Seanan McGuire is a queer cis woman)

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman Ariel Stone is a perfect student: he’s a community volunteer, first chair violin, and is on track to be valedictorian. And then he fails a calc test. When he finds he can’t fix it himself, he reluctantly gets a tutor. And he may not like calc, but he might like Amir. I started recommending this book to people when I was 5 pages into it. Ariel is so explicitly Jewish that Laura Silverman put her grandmother’s matzo ball soup recipe in the back because it’s not fair to rave about it so much and not provide a recipe. He’s explicitly bisexual by page 8. Amir and Sook’s eyes are both described as “warm” and I honestly think it’s the first time I’ve seen characters of color’s eyes described as anything but “dark”. Representation: Ariel is bisexual and Jewish Amir is a gay Pakistani Muslim Sook is a chubby Korean lesbian

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson Shaun is back with more “so... the world might be ending?” and I absolutely love it. Dino’s ex-best-friend July died suddenly 4 days ago, and his family runs the funeral home. Dino is touching up July’s makeup (he knows how she wore it and everyone was doing it wrong), and she wakes up. But she’s not exactly... alive. She’s just not-dead. And then... other people just stop dying. So they have to figure out what’s happening. How July came back - or at least how to re-kill her when nobody can die. So not only is it a super interesting book, it’s also like... Shaun goes in on topics like “gay people making gay jokes and straight people making gay jokes are different” and “a cis guy might (might) not mind if you call him a girl, but do not call a trans guy a girl” Also I recommend anything by Shaun David Hutchinson. Representation: Dino is gay Rafi is trans, mlm, and mixed (white/Pakistani) Multiple LGBTQ+ minor characters

On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis It’s an end-of-the-world type book (via comet strike). Due to strange circumstances, Denise and her mother end up not at their government assigned shelter, but on a generation ship. And Denise has just a few days to find her sister and prove that her skills are worth 3 spots on a ship with limited resources. Representation: Denise is mixed (Surinamese/white) and autistic Iris is mixed (Surinamese/white) and a bi trans woman. Els is wlw. Leyla is wlw. Samira and Nordin are Muslim Some minor characters.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman I’m just gonna give y’all the actual synopsis this time

You probably think that Aled Last and I are going to fall in love or something. Since he is a boy and I am a girl. I just wanted to say—we don’t. Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. When she’s not studying, she’s up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City. Everyone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight As. But no one knows he’s the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence. When Frances gets a message from Radio Silence asking if she’ll collaborate with him, everything changes. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. They get each other when no one else does. But when Aled’s identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City—and their friendship—is at risk. Aled helped her find her voice. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence?

This book is so good but fair warning, it gets really heavy.

Representation: Aled is demisexual (Alice is queer/aroace) Frances is bi and mixed (white/Ethiopian) Daniel is gay and Korean Carys is a lesbian Raine is pan, Indian, and Hindu

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis Otherbound is set in two worlds - Nolan’s (ours) and Amara’s (the Dunelands, where magic is real). Amara is on the run with the former princess, Cilla, whose family was overthrown by the ministers. Cilla has been cursed and is being hunted, and Amara’s particular type of healing magic is, basically, convenient for redirecting Cilla’s curse. Since they were children, Nolan has been experiencing Amara’s world through her every time he closes his eyes. He sees through her eyes, feels what she feels, smells what she smells. But he’s just a silent observer. She doesn’t even know he’s there. Until now. Representation: Nolan is Mexica and disabled Amara is not white, mute (due to mutilation), and bi Cilla is not white, fat, and a lesbian The majority of other characters are also not white.

#books #whatsnewpride #i am both very sorry for the length of this post #and absolutely not sorry at all

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metaphoreala · 4 years

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Most of the online population window-shops Wikipedia for their information, but if you happen to be interested in psi (or any anomalous phenomena), its accounting of facts and history can be outrageously selective revisionism. The entries would be laughable if their writers weren’t so blatantly dishonest.

Anyone who’s spent time researching psi on Wikipedia can discern in seconds the editors’ bias in favor of anydebunking explanation. Look up pretty much any paranormal subject and you’ll find the same pattern: an insultingly cursory outline of the anomaly, followed by sometimes ludicrous “explanations” that demonstrate the editor(s) did virtually no work in investigating the original reports and probably nutshelled what little information is presented only from books written by pseudoskeptics—who themselves have cherry-picked aspects of the cases to bolster their perspective.

The trashing of a particular phenomenon or character assassination of a psi-talented individual very often revolves around a core of “celebrity” debunkers associated with the Committee for Skeptical Investigation (CSI)[1] such as Joe Nickell, Martin Gardner, Susan Blackmore, Elizabeth Loftus, James Alcock, and Paul Kurtz. When an appeal to authority is needed, there will often be offered a quote from superstars Carl Sagan (despite Sagan’s professed openness to investigating telepathy and reincarnation), Michael Shermer, Alcock, or the “Amazing” Randi to snark upon the poor, “deluded,” and long-dead psi researchers of yestercentury and today.

Of these debunking sources, only a few are genuine scientists—and even a fewer number than that are still active in CSI. Bill Nye isn’t a scientist. The Amusing Randi isn’t a scientist. In fact, in the early years a group of “hard” scientist members bailed on the organization because of its dogmatic, anti-scientific attitude.[2]

Meanwhile, the number of academically credentialed paranormal investigators increases by the day.

In addressing the thousands of psi studies and the meta-analyses of these studies, references to “methodological faults” come up quite often—conveniently footnoted to articles by Joe Nickell, Martin Gardner, James Alcock, or even the non-scientist Randi. How wide-ranging in sources! As Craig Weiler points out:

“Since alternative sciences are mostly shut out from mainstream consideration, the evidence isn’t examined closely in many mainstream scientific discussions. In other words, there are very, very few solid scientific sources for skeptics to work with. There are no sources that sufficiently support statements about parapsychology or many other frontier science such as “this is pseudoscience” “rejected by the scientific community” or “negatively impacts the public understanding of science.” No one has ever gone to the trouble to try to prove these things scientifically. And it’s very doubtful that it’s even possible.

So skeptics have to resort a lot of the time to sources that are created “in house” so to speak. These come in the form of skeptics being interviewed, skeptical articles, newsletters, blogs by notable skeptics, etc. This is especially true on Wikipedia when it comes to psychics. It is very tough to make the case that any of them are frauds or deluded without resorting to opinion or (the failure of James Randi Foundation’s) Million Dollar Challenge. (To award a psychic for genuine psi abilities). Mainstream sources generally stay away from landing on one side or the other of this debate because of either liability issues or fear of losing audience by being too skeptical.

This is undoubtedly why the Guerrilla Skeptics work so closely with CSI and JREF. Without the sourcing from these two reactionary organizations or their fellows and other skeptical organizations, many of their assertions would be just about impossible to make.”

Further, the rebuttals by the original psi investigators to these criticisms—who often clearly enumerate the mistakes, mischaracterizations, or outright falsehoods made by these pseudoskeptics—are never mentioned in the Wikipedia entries.

The use of this small core debunking crowd as final authorities is akin to having the Wikipedia entries for Impressionist movement and artists referencing a core of ten or so Impressionist-hating critics, when there in fact have been thousands of art critics.

Again, the references and “further reading” sections at the articles’ ends rarely contain the primary references/reports on the phenomena or the work of paranormal researchers. It’s inevitably debunking books or articles you’ll find…Almost as if they want to short-circuit your interest; as if they don’t want you to do independent research and make up your own mind.

Thus, Rule 1: Try to avoid reference primary sources, that is, the lengthy investigations by the persons who initially researched and often witnessed the anomalous activity. Always reference only the debunking material, or the opinion of some member of CSI. You’ll know this is so if the book referenced is published by Prometheus Books, the house organ of CSI.[3]

I don’t have any problem with giving skeptical, non-paranormal explanations the primary place in an article—if the explanations offered were honest and credible in the mechanical-physical specifics of their explanations—but Wikipedia entries don’t exhibit this equality, because the debunkers’ explanations usually don’t.

That’s because there is a “mafia” of pseudoskeptics controlling the editing process of Wikipedia entries on anything paranormal. CSI and Guerrilla Skeptics have pages devoted to how one should debunk anything they deem “non-science,” both in real life and in online contexts.[4]

First, the “RationalWiki” (the pseudoskeptic’s safe space) entry covering the Society for Psychical Research is a shambles. The Guerilla Skeptics unfairly downplays the first generation of SPR. Richard Hodgson, Edmund Gurney, Henry and Nora Sidgwick, Frank Podmore, and (on the American side) William James all busted dozens upon dozens of fraudulent mediums. Hodgson exposed Theosophy founder Madame Blavatsky of several types of imposture in 1885. Podmore worked on collating the accounts contained in Hodgson and Myers’s massive Phantasms of the Living (1886) yet himself remained unconvinced of mediumship and postmortem survival (he concluded telepathy was probably responsible for mediums’ “hits”). But Podmore didn’t stop trying to find the evidence. William James revealed many spiritualist seances as conjuring feats (which alienated the original Spiritualist contingent within the ASPR into rejecting that organization, ironically, as a bunch of debunkers). The wiki entry doesn’t mention the SPR’s in-depth and failed attempts to disprove the mediumship of Leonora Piper.

Yet the Guerillas reveal little to none of these facts in their trite account—because these Victorian searchers professed and applied what the mafia don’t practice: a skeptical yet open-minded commitment to discovering the truth. Truth cannot be “absolutely settled” in science—that is what makes it unique in human intellectual history. As William James said, “Science means, first of all, a certain dispassionate method. To suppose that it means a certain set of results that one should pin one’s faith upon and hug forever is sadly to mistake its genius and degrade the scientific body to the status of a cult.”

This is the deeper truth about the role of science the Guerilla Skeptics cannot bear to face, but was foundational to the SPR pioneers, because the latter were philosophers and philologists and lawyers unburdened with a worship of a materialism that can be as corrosively dogmatic as Baptist literalism.

Next, take the subject of poltergeists. The Wiki mafia editors are very selective as to which cases to debunk by granting them a dedicated page. The Amityville, Enfield, and Borley Rectory cases get the longest Wiki pages by far—and they were deemed fraudulent by investigators from the Society for Psychical Research as well as the committed debunkers.[5]On the SPR’s investigation of poltergeists, the wiki prominently mentions Lambert’s discredited hypothesis that the phenomenon was caused wholesale by underground seismic or liquid vibrations and weather factors. This conjecture was soundly disproven by the SPR’s Alan Gauld and Tony Cornell.[6] Is Gauld and Cornell’s scientific experimentation to prove or disprove Lambert’s hypothesis even mentioned? No.

The Wiki entry for the well-documented 1967 Rosenheim poltergeist is a particularly decrepit specimen of attempted ledgermain. There are no mentions of the 1967 Tropication Arts poltergeist in Miami (exhaustively investigated as it occurred by Roll and Pratt), the Stratford, Connecticut poltergeist of 1850 (witnessed by thousands of persons over seven months, detailed in diary form by Rev. Eliakim Phelps, owner of the house, and investigated by skeptical scientists, journalists, and clergy who came away convinced the phenomenon was paranormal), or the Sauchie, Scotland poltergeist of 1960 (investigated by A.R. Owen and witnessed by a clergyman, three medical doctors, and a teacher). These three cases are conspicuous absences in the Wiki data, due either to their impeccable documentation or, relatedly, the fact that no close to credible debunking explanations exist by the “experts.”

Rule 2: Always highly emphasize the crudely-produced frauds, then tar the entire phenomenon with these selected instances—and try not to use the debunking work of genuine skeptics who busted the frauds, such as SPR investigators Frank Podmore, Henry Sidgwick, William James, Nora Sidgwick, Alan Gauld, Richard Hodgson, or E. J. Dingwall. Mentioning their work only gives them respectability, and no dispassionate psi investigator should ever be tolerated in a Wikipedia article on the subject.

The 1967 Zeitoun, Egypt Marian apparition entry is apparently a fluke in that the descriptive entry about it is surprisingly longer and more detailed than the “mass hysteria” explanation made by the skeptics further down the page (meaning: we have no idea how so many people could see and even photographed repeatedly an identical apparition, therefore here’s an unproved accounting for it)…Which brings us to the core of their mindset: they often suggest “natural” explanations that beggar belief in their convoluted, pseudoscientific chutzpah.

According to these “rational” authorities, multiple witnesses to apparitions like Zeitoun can be primed to suffer simultaneous and identical hallucinations of Mother Mary, levitating bedsheets, candlesticks, and even phantom people, the lack of scientific/psychological evidence for “group hallucinations” be damned…The mafia would prefer us to believe women mediums merely fake trances during which they surreptitiously manipulate unseen but necessarily present “concealed ropes” that can pull 50-pound bureaus a foot and a half across the floor and back again in seconds…And did you know that 10-year-olds can easily fool professional magicians and a dozen trained observers during a poltergeist outbreak? And that these kids obviously place dozens of stones into their houses’ walls to disgorge themselves by means of invisible networks of threads (that are never found)—and then float across rooms and land with no contact sound?

These are remarkable feats for untrained, pre-adolescent conjurers—many of whom had never actually seen a stage magic act in their life.

Rule 3: Use anything within the realms of standard, cause-and-effect Newtonian physics, psychology, cognitive science, or sociology, even if unproven, obsolete, or just plain pseudoscience (like “mass hysteria”), to explain away the phenomenon in an ad hoc manner.

We’ll take a look at mediums. The Wiki editors’ bias is most easily demonstrated by the amount of page space given over to the rationalizations which always outweigh the compressed anecdotes on the mediums’ feats (the latter which, a curious individual’s further scrutiny will find, are told through often highly detailed accounts that what was experienced clearly violates physics as we know it).

Again, the entries for individual mediums such as Leonora Piper all consist of very short summaries (or outright omission) of the prodigious examples of their talents and the laborious screening-out processes for fraud undertaken by investigators. The debunking “explanations” amount to a hand-wave mention of “conjuring tricks” and one of two instances of witnessed fraud meant to negate the psi they exhibited.

A jury would inevitably find the grounds of these debunkings as weak hearsay compared to the oft-mountains of evidence in favor of the abilities’ existence. Thus

Rule 4: Always refer to case studies as sets of anecdotes or anecdotal. This is supposed to insulate them entirely from consideration as evidence, and it applies doubly to case studies of the careers of individual psychics or trance mediums; in this case, one can then proceed to Wikifraud! them further and attack the person as a charlatan. As in Rule 2, if one instance of anything ambiguously fraudulent is found in a medium’s career—in other words, an anecdote of fraud—raise this one anecdote to the status of unimpeachable truth and tar the person’s entire career with fraud, despite any contrary evidence from investigators and reliable witnesses. This is an example of the double-standard fallacy many pseudoskeptics use. Fraud discovered=true fact; Psi demonstration that is far beyond what chance would predict= “non-evidential.”

SHORT CUTS:

Lourdes: In 1858, 14 year-old Bernadette Soubirous spoke with a “white lady” at an ancient grotto in southern France. The apparition told her to dig in the ground near the cave and Bernadette did, causing a spring to appear whose waters have become a potable shrine to millions. Both the Vatican and independent medical authorities have verified 69 medically inexplicable healings.

The Wiki response: the placebo effect, natch…But have the debunkers any clue how an idea or a suggestion in the mind can induce the near-instantaneous healing of fractured bones, cancer-eaten tissue, or blindness (all medically documented)? Nope. No one does. Move along. It seems the editor stopped short. The less said about this one the better.

vicka 011.jpg The six young visionaries having an apparition in 1981 L to R: Vicka Ivankovic, Jakov Colo, Mirjana Dragicevic, Ivanka Ivankovic, Marija Pavolic, Ivan Dragicevic Medjugorje Early apparition Chris Rogers Mobile:+447808913186 Skype: chris.johnrogers http://www.blackandwhitetv.net

Fátima & Medjugorje: Well, there are no Guerilla Skeptic interpolations in the Fatima entry at all—no section on possible alternate explanations, nothing but a sentence offering possible “retinal effects” due to looking at the sky near the sun, natural meteorological optical effects, or the “suggestibility” of the huge (30-50,000) crowd during the “Miracle of the Sun” on October 13, 1917. Apparently, even a Guerilla Skeptic doesn’t (or rather, isn’t allowed to) mess with canonical Catholic beliefs.

The papal blessing on Fatiman Lucia Santos as a saint and the authentication of the mass visions probably explains the different treatment the mafia offers in the Medjugorje entry (and the fact that it occurred 51 years closer to the present, 1971, when we should know better about these things, right?). The Medjugorje visions were never given Roman official seal of authenticity, nor were the young women involved ever canonized. Open season, then! In the skeptic section, there are two references by Joe Nickell, one to a CSI’s Skeptical Inquirer magazine article, and a skeptical weighing-in by Pope Francis.

The difference in treatment between the Fatima and Medjugorje events is striking. One wonders if the mafia would have been given a hands-off if the Bosnian events had been recognized as genuine and the primary “seers” beatified or even canonized.

Padre Pio: Like Saint Lucia Santos, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina has been canonized, so there’s minimal interference by the mafia. As far as the accounts of his stigmata go: The skeptic attempt to use an ad hoc that Pio bought carbolic acid to fake the wounds is immediately countered by the admission that Pio and his monastery brother Paolinopurchased the chemical to sterilize needles for Spanish Flu immunizations. No evidence at all is offered that the stigmata could have been caused by the acid.

Geraldine Cummins: The entry on automatic writing medium Geraldine Cummins actually quotes psychical researcher Harry Price, of all people, as debunking her voluminous writings as “products of her subconscious.” Now go over to Wikipedia’s Harry Price page to see how his character and career fare as a whole in the mafia’s eyes; they do not note the many times he credulously boosted his “star” psychics. The man was very protective of his test subjects. Using Price’s opinion of Cummins in the entry is blatant cherry-picking, in other words. Cummins herself is on record as being skeptical of her own channeling’s sources, which is in fact mentioned in passing in the “reception” entry. Then go to other sources on Harry Price’s career as a psi researcher and you’ll find a firm believer in the anomalous abilities, but only when it suited him. He was, if nothing else, a promoter for the abilities of Harry Price.

Gladys Osborne Leonard: The Gladys Osborne Leonard entry goes into no detail whatsoever about the many spontaneous “hits” the trance medium Leonard/her control “Feda” made that neither Leonard nor her sitters could possibly have known—because they were proxy sitters two (or sometimes three) times removed from the actual questioner.[7] How could Leonard have known who the real sitters’ identities were asking the questions? It would seem impossible, yet “Feda” was accurate in names, times, descriptions, and life-events of these thrice-removed sitters more than half the time. If fraud is ruled out (and on testimony of the SPR investigators, who had Leonard trailed by detectives, she was of impeccable character vouched for by all her friends) the only alternative for the mafia is telepathy or even super-psi—but they can never use those explanations, of course…So the mafia cites only attempts at explanation from skeptics wielding the usual techniques (fishing, cold reading, fraud). Explaining away “Feda” as a “second personality” of Leonard’s, as some of the referenced skeptics do, explains nothing, for this second personality apparently was either telepathically gifted or in fact a disincarnate intelligence.

Eileen Garrett: Trance medium Eileen Garrett was more curious about and flummoxed by the source of her abilities than perhaps any other medium, and tried for decades to understand it, enlisting psychologists, psychiatrists, and scientists. Of all people, the wiki entry on her clairvoyance uses the opinion of parapsychology’s worst fraud-perpetrator Samuel Soal to dismiss her ability to replicate J.B. Rhine’s experimental successes with him, Soal. Thus—

Rule 2b: anyone’s opinion is apparently permitted, as long as it debunks with extreme prejudice, and

Rule 2c: researchers who believe(d) in the existence one type of paranormal phenomena are occasionally 100% okay to use as sources of authority as long as they are debunking another paranormal phenomenon.

In the Garrett wiki writer’s case this is ironic, in that Soal was known to be deeply envious of Rhine’s experimental work and, when could not replicate his famous telepathy studies, Soal produced them fraudulently by altering score cards.

In 1930, Garrett was “spontaneously contacted” by the consciousness of Herbert Irwin, captain of the R101 airship that had crashed two days before, killing Irwin and 47 others.

CSI house organ Prometheus Books’ two authors John Booth and Melvin Harris both get ample quotes from their books explaining the results of her R101 sittings by not explaining them at all as fraudulent, trivial, non-evidential. No rebuttals by direct witnesses or other parapsychologists are permitted; the “final word” by Booth and Harris is she was a fraud.

DEEP DIVES:

I’m going to take four examples of Wikipedia’s blindered approach and look at them in-depth.

Stefan Ossowiecki

Polish industrialist and remote-viewer/psychometrist Stefan Ossowiecki was nationally famous in Europe for his ability to not only read multiply-sealed letters but often tell the investigator what occurred while the letter was written (the writer’s gender, age, appearance, health condition, describe the room or house where it was composed, etc.) His “hits” at reading the contents of envelopes far outweighed his misses, and there is no way short of “hot reading” (extensive detective work done on the target material beforehand) that he could have known about the writers’ lives—but in many cases neither Ossowiecki nor even the investigator knew they would be performing an experiment on the spur-of-the-moment. Many times, someone Ossowiecki did not know (a Parisian, say) who had written a letter that was given to someone else and then given at the last moment to the investigator to test him. How could he possibly have known what was written (or drawn) in the letter? He would then not only describe what was written or drawn inside, but spontaneously describe the writer. Furthermore, he several times told the investigator personal details about the writer and the people through whom the letter passed to his hand, who he also didn’t personally know, or even had an idea existed.

This led researchers Charles Richet, Gustav Geley, and Eugene Osty to conclude Ossowiecki was a not only a “superpsi”-level clairvoyant (remote viewer) but an astounding psychometrist: by touching the envelopes, he could see into the past and somehow watch the person write the note/drawing, and sense the scene.

For this one, the Wiki editors roll out psychologist C.E.M. Hansel for the inevitable “conjuring trick” claim with no further elaboration, then hit us with this: “Psychologist E. F. O’Doherty wrote that the clairvoyance experiments with Ossowiecki were not scientific.”[8] This is a strictly true criticism; but still, triple-blinded tests of the man’s ability while he is being closely watched by the experimenters for fraud (dozens upon dozens of times) makes for compelling anecdotes that he possessed an extraordinary talent.

The editors’ omission of the preparations the investigators made to test Ossowiecki is a refusal to wrestle with the details, as is usually the case in their entries. It serves to demonstrate their bedrock faiththat there is literally no possible test debunkers would call scientific with regard to psi abilities. Which is exactly their intended program: it doesn’t exist, simply because it can’t, therefore there is no way to test it.

Leonora Piper

In the first stub, we have Mrs. Piper characterized as a cold reader, a fisher for information, and muscle reader. None of the authors cited for these statements sat with Leonora for a reading, nor did they interview any of the persons who did; it appears they simply came to the subject with these explanations based upon the SPR reports. With complete disingenuousness, it ignores the fact that A/SPR members William James, Richard Hodgson, Frederic Myers, James Hyslop, and Oliver Lodge conducted strenuous measures against cold reading, hot reading, and muscle reading. These trained philosophers and scientists weren’t stupid and gullible as the pseudoskeptics would like you to think. Richard Hodgson was so flummoxed by her abilities that he hired private detectives to secretly trail Mrs. Piper and her family for several months, watching them for meetings with “cut-outs” between their friends and the SPR who might be feeding her any information (the “hot reading”). They turned up absolutely no evidence of fraud, which impressed Hodgson and the other investigators. Over the years Hodgson continued to periodically monitor as closely as he could Piper’s social activities but again came up with no evidence at all for hot reading. They even paid for she and her daughters to travel to England for strenuous examination by the British SPR and use dozens of random strangers as sitters, where there was no possibility of her gaining a hot reading.

These facts go conveniently unmentioned anywhere in the article.

While it is true that Mrs. Piper often had the sitters hold her hands or place their hands against her forehead, which could open her to charges of muscle reading in gauging how close her answers were, the quality of double or triple-blinded information she on occasion gave—ostensibly evidential of either spirit communication or omniclairvoyance (superpsi)—would lead one to think that even if she did use muscle reading, it was irrelevant to her results, because the information would have to have been conveyed via unconscious telepathy by the sitters themselves to Mrs. Piper; even the sitters were often unaware of the information she provided, which was found later by them to be true.

This is a possibility the Wiki editors never consider. And she did fish, but the sitters were for the most part told to remain silent and poker-faced as her controls sought for names, dates, or concepts.

The biography section says she “made a fortune” from her readings. It doesn’t make clear that this money was paid to her by the SPR to keep her exclusively their subject, with an investigator and stenographer/note-taker present at every sitting. She was essentially a salaried test subject for some 15 years.

Two examples of Piper’s sittings amongst many serve to demonstrate what sort of inexplicable talent they found themselves compelled to explain:

For a period of several years, Mrs. Piper’s main “spirit control” was the coarse-speaking French physician “Phinuit.” A man named John Hart had a sitting with Leonora which was suddenly interrupted by the “spirit” of George Pellew, (GP), who was a recently deceased friend of Hodgson and Hart both whom Piper did not know about. GP successfully spelled out his name for the two surprised men (Hodgson sat in on the sessions most of the time). Pellew, speaking through Phinuit, described a specific pair of shoes he was wearing that had been originally given to Hart by Pellew’s parents (a true past event). This of course would count towards nothing but possible telepathy. GP then asked Hart to get in touch with Pellew’s friends Jim and Mary Howard to have a sitting with Mrs. Piper, and described a specific conversation on metaphysics he once had with the Howards’ 15 year-old daughter Katharine—another event that turned out to have occurred (but neither Hodgson nor Hart knew about at the time). GP mentioned a specific book he had failed to finish reading when he died which Hodgson knew to be true.

The Howards then came in for a sitting (pseudonymously, at Hodgson’s ever-skeptical insistence). This time GP communicated directly, bypassing Phinuit. GP corrected Jim Howard’s wayward assertion that a mutual friend (Rogers) was writing a novel by telling him that Rogers was actually working on a memorial to him, GP. This was correct. GP described Rogers’s deceased daughter as being nearby (that is, “on the other side”) as she still fretted over her condition during her final days, in which she had to be fed with a tube. GP then mentioned “Berwick” and “Orenberg,” more friends of the Howards. Mrs. Piper knew of none of these persons, and all the information and connections given were true.

At their next sitting the Howards brought their daughter Katharine. GP joked about her terrible violin playing, to which Mrs. Howard took offense but Katharine later clarified was a running joke between she and GP—his spirit was apparently attempting to establish “bona fides” with the teenager. Mrs. Piper passed out of trance then back in as Phinuit returned and carried on a conversation in French with Katharine, which the girl knew fluently from living in France. Mrs. Piper consciously knew no French.

The GP control apparently exhibited either remote viewing (clairvoyance) or “retroactive” telepathy on one occasion. With the Howards at home, Hodgson asked GP to visit their house and give a report on what he perceived. Mrs. Howard was writing letters to GP’s mother and someone named Tyson. GP also perceived her holding one of his own books as she wondered if his spirit were around her at that moment. When Hodgson checked with Mrs. Howard he discovered that the events as seen were true but had occurred on the previous day. Hodgson conjectured that Mrs. Piper was either retroactively remote viewed the past or telepathically accessed Mrs. Howard’s mind in real time as she thought of the previous day’s activities. Either way, this is a possible astounding feat of superpsi.[9]

Next, Sir Oliver Lodge wanted to eliminate the possibility of telepathy in Piper’s sittings. So he in effect double-blinded himself by means of an object gotten from an elderly uncle he with whom he was not close. It was a gold watch owned originally by the uncle’s twin brother, who had died decades ago. Lodge handed it to Mrs. Piper, whose control immediately declared it was once owned by the physicist’s uncle. The control, Phinuit, said that this uncle was very fond of another uncle whose name was Robert—another hit; it was true, the living uncle’s name was Robert. Her voice then changed from Phinuit’s to the dead twin, who called himself Jerry (third hit).

Lodge then asked for something only Jerry and Robert would know between them. Phinuit spoke of the two nearly drowning in a dangerous creek while young, killing a cat in “Smith’s field” with a rifle, and that Jerry treasured a “skin” that he’d found. Robert, it turned out, still possessed his brother’s beloved snakeskin, and they did swim in a perilous creek.

This wasn’t enough for Lodge, so he wrote to his younger uncle asking for any memories involving a creek and a cat in the twins’ youth. The third uncle recalled it all: the dangerous creek and the poor cat they shot in the field. They were so mortified of their behavior they’d all kept it secret, but it got out, to their shame.

Despite the true statements around the pocket watch—handed to Piper with no contextual information at all about it—Lodge still insisted on sending detectives to the town where his three uncles grew up to find out if recent enquiries had been made about the family. The detectives reported back: no, and not even any evidence that the shameful activities of the brothers long ago had been documented in public records in any way.[10]

These are two examples of Piper’s mediumship, and there several more of equal power, which we need not go into—and the Guerilla Skeptics would really prefer you didn’t. You might catch curiosity that there’s something to these strange things.

The Wiki entry on Piper emphasizes repeatedly the disagreements between members of the A/SPR over the nature of her talent, as if their clashes in toto negate her authenticity, when in fact James, Hyslop, and even skeptic Frank Podmore simply favored a belief that it was due to telepathy—but even this professional consensus on a paranormal explanation is a no-no that the Wikivigilantes cannot dare mention.

Out of thousands of quotes that could’ve be chosen to characterize the ever-cautious Hodgson’s strenuous work with Piper, we are offered Morton Prince’s observation that her mediumship “wrecked his mind” after Hodgson began to favor the spirit hypothesis over telepathy. In the editors’ selective reading, Frank Podmore is said to have concluded that “Hyslop’s séance sittings with Piper ‘do not obviously call for any supernormal explanation’ and ‘I cannot point to a single instance in which a precise and unambiguous piece of information has been furnished of a kind which could not have proceeded from the medium’s own mind, working upon the materials provided and the hints let drop by the sitter.’”[11]

Podmore’s is an incredibly poor assessment of the evidence, as the Howards and Lodge episodes above reveal; both sittings exhibited precise and unambiguous pieces of information that could not have proceeded only from Mrs. Piper’s mind. According to Ghost Hunters author Deborah Blum, Podmore concluded that “…Leonora Piper was a woman with some telepathic skills and an excellent memory for facts shared casually by her sitters. He had no proof of the latter…but her overall record, although impressive, failed to convince…Perhaps this was too cynical, Podmore allowed: ‘The accurate appreciation of evidence of this kind is almost an impossible task,’ (Podmore) wrote in his book Modern Spiritualism. ‘Mrs. Piper would be a much more convincing apparition if she could have come to us out of the blue, instead of trailing behind her a nebulous ancestry of magnetic somnambules, witchridden children, and ecstatic nuns.’[12] (emphasis added)

To be clear: There was no proof at all for her possessing “an excellent memory for facts shared by her sitters” that in turn fooled investigators. This says it all as far as using Podmore as a credible source on Leonora Piper. Again, the Guerilla squad makes no mention of his ambivalent conclusion on telepathy. And his lumping her together with the hundreds of fraudulent “show” mediums is insulting.

After a cherry-picked tally of her failures and sprinklings of dismissive evaluations in her bio and career, were given a lengthy “skeptical reception” section. As if it were needed.

Few of her many hundreds of “hits” are mentioned. When Piper accurately described the recently deceased daughter of a Reverend Sutton to he and his wife during an 1893 sitting, then gave her cause of death, her nickname and the nicknames of the girl’s brother and sister, “ John G. Taylor suggested that the information Piper gave could naturally be explained if she had read an obituary notice in the local newspaper. Taylor also suggested Piper may have picked up clues from the sitters about the girl’s nickname.” (emphasis added)

Read that closely again. There is no proof here, just “what ifs,” nor any evidence of how Piper could have gleaned clues from the grieving Suttons to declare specific information.

Her “miss” rate was openly acknowledged by James, Hodgson, Hyslop, and others as a problem. The nuanced (yet unfalsifiable) explanation for this is that a person in trance would have difficulty gaining any instantly coherent information from a “widened” or “higher” source while in an unconscious state. As Piper’s own controls explained the problem, the deceased individual to whom the sitter wishes to speak sometimes has to have their own control “on the other side,” and it becomes extremely difficult to convey information across three barriers to the living.

This gross equivocation, even if it were entirely false, still doesn’t explain her consistent hit rate. Podmore and James tended to believe Mrs. Piper had very strong secondary personalities, but as James and Myers would point out, these personalities, emanations of the Subliminal Self as Myers called it, can do impossible things.

DANIEL DUNGLAS HOME

Home gets much Wiki debunkery upside his head simply because his feats were witnessed by many hundreds of people, including scientists, skeptics, and heads of state and, it’s been claimed, that “every attempt to bust him as a fraud failed.” No soup for you.

Quote from the page:

Gordon Stein has noted that “While the statement that Home was never caught in fraud has been made many times, it simply is not true… It is simply that Home was never publicly exposed in fraud. Privately, he was caught in fraud several times. In addition, there are natural explanations both possible and likely for each of his phenomena.”

Does the page give specific examples of Home being busted by any individuals? Nope. Here, Michael Prescott goes into James Randi’s attempted dismissal of Home with regard to Sir William Crookes’s thorough investigations of him, and Randi’s devious (yes, devious) “revisions”:

https://michaelprescott.typepad.com/michael_prescotts_blog/2015/10/blast-from-the-past-under-the-table.html

The Wikibunkers explain away the most spectacular Home levitation, wherein he allegedly floated out a three-story window and back in another, as their wide brush to tar his other levitations.

And their story goes like this: the feat was done in near-darkness, and Home could have been standing on those four-inch ledges outside the window…Therefore he did stand on those ledges. Nothing more to it! Here’s another gem:

“Science historian Sherrie Lynne Lyons has stated that a possible explanation for Home’s alleged levitation phenomena was revealed in the twentieth century by Clarence E. Willard (1882–1962). Willard revealed his technique in 1958 to members of the Society of American Magicians. He demonstrated how he could add two inches to his height by stretching. According to Lyons “it is quite likely that [Home] used a similar technique to the one that Willard used decades later.”

Two inches? One problem with that: Home was witnessed levitating three to five feet off the ground during his trips, by at least a dozen people.

And again: “Historian Simon During has suggested the levitation of Home was a magic trick, influenced by Robert-Houdin.”

Do they take the time going into During’s specific details (if he even had them) of exactly how this was accomplished by Home or Robert-Houdin?

Nope. Didn’t think he would. It’s a trade secret. And Houdini never replicated any of Home’s feats.

INDRIDI INDRIDASON

So weak. Perhaps the lamest debunking attempt of all Wikiskeptic antics.

Prior to Indridason, a “simple farm boy,” there were no spiritualists let alone physical mediums in Iceland.[13] The 22-year-old happened to be asked to sit in on a séance in early 1905 and immediately produced tremors and rattling in the table before which they sat. It is noted that Indridi had never before seen a conjuring act, which were extremely rare in the country.[14]

The first psychical research society in Iceland was set up in 1905 to study Indridason and kept him on retainer, much like the SPR paid Leonora Piper as a subject for 17 years. Most of his manifestations occurred while he was in a trance. They included multiple direct voices, wind gusts, instrument playing, the levitation of objects and the medium himself, light phenomena of various types, materialization, rappings, and, most bizarrely, the dematerialization of his arm. These events were witnessed at times by upwards of 80 persons in the “experimental house” space, specially constructed by the psychical society, in which he lived from 1906 to 1909.[15] In this space, Indridason was usually held by investigators or strapped down in a chair that sat behind a wire mesh-barrier that could be examined for signs of tampering during his sessions. Some of these manifestations took place in plain light.

Indridason’s primary control, at first, was his paternal grand-uncle Konrad Gislason. While in trance he was repeatedly tested with needle pokes to no reaction, as if in a depicted hypnotic state. In November 1905, four persons testified that tables levitated as high as 7 feet several times during Indridi’s trance. All attempts to pull them down failed. It also occurred spontaneously while he was in a full waking state. A seance on November 24, 1905 was interrupted at roughly 9pm by a personality named “Emil Jensen,” a “manufacturer,” who spoke of a fire burning at that moment in a Copenhagen factory. It was brought under control within an hour. Three accounts of this particular séance were written down, one of them immediate, but many more people were present.[16]

The next issues of the leading Danish newspaper Politiken were delivered to the island four weeks later, at Christmas, 1905, and “Jensen’s” declarations had been true: a large fire at a lamp and chandelier factory in Copenhagen had occurred on the late night of November 24. Of the four fires that had occurred in Copenhagen within a month’s period, this was the only to befall a factory. There were no telephones or even telegraph service between Iceland and Denmark. In 2009, researcher Erlendur Haraldsson searched Copenhagen’s city records and found a manufacturer and coffee merchant Thomas Emil Jensen who had lived two doors down from the burnt lamp factory and had died at 50 in 1898; on further research it was discovered that the man had lived his entire life within two blocks of the site of the fire.[17]

In December 1907 to early 1908, an interloping spirit named Jon Einarsson caused very destructive poltergeist activity while Indridi was both in and out of trance, but was pacified somehow by a group of “ministering” spirits who insulated Indridi from Jon’s anger by anointing the medium’s forehead. Afterward Jon became a primary control. Two other “spirits” controlled Indridason: a Spanish-French opera diva (possibly Maria Felicia Malibran) who often sang from within the room, and a Norwegian doctor who later was tentatively identified as leprosy expert Daniel Cornelius Danielssen.

In late 1908, Dr. Gudmundur Hannesson became involved. Hannesson was a professor of medicine at the University of Iceland, an anthropologist, a Reykjavik city councilman, an honorary member of the Icelandic and Danish Association of Physicians, and served as President of the University of Iceland for two terms. This was no woo-woo guy and he was determined to debunk Indridi’s exhibitions, which were causing uproars in the press (Indridason had become the most famous person in Iceland).

Hannesson witnessed the near full array of Indridason’s talents—apart from levitation, which occurred a few times but in darkness. To confound the possibility of Indridi or an accomplice moving objects outside the mesh barrier, he placed newfangled glow-in-the-dark tape on the musical instruments and objects about the room. He saw a zither fly about high as the ceiling and dart at incredible speeds as it played snatches of tunes whose acoustics followed the location of the instrument at every second. He heard two disembodied voices, an accomplished female singer and a low male voice sing a duet in harmony, separated in space by eight to ten feet from one another in the hall with only five people (and no women) present at the seance. Many separate voices had been already witnessed in the surrounding space of the hall by hundreds of seance-goers over the years. With this personal witness Hannesson completely ruled out ventriloquism, which was a consistent charge leveled against the medium by skeptics (nearly all of whom had never attended one of Indridi’s seances).

While the Wiki summary of his career is unusually detailed and even-handed, all of the further “rational criticism” is just opinions at second and third hand and beyond, mostly from the contemporary Icelandic press (who were incredibly hostile towards him for religious reasons) with not a single eyewitness account in the lot. The remainder are tired pseudoskeptical takes on what possibly could have accounted for the events: the usual ventriloquism, conjuring tricks, confidence schemes amongst his assistants. This is utterly disingenuous, for the firsthand witnesses and Indridi’s assistants were of high standing. A quote by an Antonio da Silva Mello claims the sittings weren’t “scientific.” For this, as mentioned above, Indridason was the first trance medium in Iceland’s history; the country had no formal “parapsychology labs,” nor were they aware of the SPR’s protocols for testing mediums. In any case, Dr. Hannesson’s strict settings for testing Indridason were very close to those used by the SPR: Indridi was physically restrained and isolated by thick mesh netting from the areas where the majority of the PK activity took place. The experimental house was thoroughly examined three times before each seance and one successful seance took place at Dr. Hannesson’s own house in a room he chose at the last moment.

EPISTEMOLOGY

The psi of the laboratory and psi of the medium are obviously of different character. Lab telepathy has been shown to exist but is weak-to-moderate in effect…But quantifying the likelihood of someone like Mrs Piper correctly guessingthousands of items about the sitters present before her, or about the proxy sitters substituting for them, and evidential facts about the deceased surely beats the lab numbers by several orders of magnitude beyond chance.

In short, telepathy, superpsi, and survival communication are three entirely different things, although the mechanism by which they utilize the brain may be similar or even the same, as elusive as it presently is.

By the 1930s, the medium of information delivery for the existence of psi largely changed from individual case studies to laboratory reports—and that wasn’t enough for the mainstream scientists to pick up the ball. Even design protocols for psi experiments that would garner little to no criticism if new pharma drugs were their subject are claimed by pseudoskeptics to be compromised by “file drawer problems,” “selective reporting,” and “confirmation biases.”

These are bullshit wavings-away of evidence. Facts are adduced indirectly in science all the time, and their existence is assumed to hold until more firm evidence backs up the experimental assays. And this is certainly the case with forms of psi. It has been indirectly proven; that is, what is displayed in thousands of lab experiments, after all confounding factors are eliminated, calls for the most parsimonious explanation: that a form of anomalous cognition that entirely bypasses the physical senses exists. This may be called evidence type 2.

Debunkers ask for direct evidence (evidence type 1, as is displayed by a physics or chemistry experiment) and think poorly of non-supportive of indirect evidence (evidence 2). I suppose the only acceptable direct evidence is…well, as I’ve pointed out above, the pseudoskeptics have consistently moved the goalpost for at least a century and a half, so I suppose we can’t expect there can’t be any in the near future.

The Wikipedia entry on telepathy leads off with this:

“There is no convincing evidence that telepathy exists, and the topic is generally considered by the scientific community to be pseudoscience.” (emphasis added).

The first clause is patently false, and the second is true—yet are any of those outlier members of the “scientific community” who don’t consider it pseudoscience mentioned in the ensuing article, much less given an airing of why or how they consider it possible? No.

Then there’s this curious statement: “Psychical researcher Eric Dingwall criticized SPR founding members Frederic W. H. Myers and William F. Barrett for trying to ‘prove’ telepathy rather than objectively analyze whether or not it existed.”

Now, doesn’t the phrase “trying to ‘prove’ telepathy” semantically equate with demonstrating it exists? That’s some bad equivocation there. How can “objective analysis” occur without instances showing strong correlation or uncorrelation between the states and contents of two minds?

And the insistence on “objective” analysis is disingenuous. The onus is on the stub writer to outline what would constitute such analysis; no doubt some form of instrumentation would be involved, and not the exacting experimental conditions used by J.B. Rhine, Helmut Schmidt, Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne, and Daryl Bem.

The “Scientific Reception” subheading kicks off with there is “no scientific evidence that it exists,” without elaboration. Does this mean there have never been results in any methodologically solid telepathy experiment that are statistically beyond chance? This raises the nagging question: roughly (or exactly) how many demonstrations of beyond-chance anomalous cognition would it take for the scientific community to recognize telepathy as real?Just as the soundness of a theory depends on the non-falsification of projected effects of that theory, to my knowledge no scientist has come forward to explain what exactly the conditions for accepting telepathy as real would be.

Anyway, here’s part of the first footnote supporting this blanket statement:

“One reason for this difference between the scientist and the non-scientist is that the former relies on his own experiences and anecdotal reports of psi phenomena, whereas the scientist at least officially requires replicable results from well controlled experiments to believe in such phenomena—results which according to the prevailing view among scientists, do not exist.”

Apart from there being some error in the quote’s construction (former should read latter), it nicely smooths over all the complexities and problems that real telepathy investigators have encountered in the lab.

For one, it’s rare that telepathy can be induced on demand in lab settings. But apparently on demand is a part of the debunkers’ definition, and this shows ignorance of what has been observed of the phenomenon. Their conception, apparently, is a garbled fantasy version of telepathy that has been internalized and projected from fictional depictions.

Two, it’s been found that a researcher’s lack of attention while setting up a comfortable lab situation, and even the experiment design, can actually inhibit demonstrations of telepathy.

Three, in many instances, telepathy has strongly occurred during life-threatening situations in which the purported “sender” is in physical or extreme emotional trouble and the “receiver” in a relaxed or abstracted state of mind. Experiments that have simulated threats to the “sending” party have shown results.[18]

Four, results beyond chance have been demonstrated in the lab in experiments whose design and assays are beyond reproach.

The “thought reading” section in the telepathy wiki is completely irrelevant. It’s composed of two examples, and both are claimed to be the result of readings of ideomotor bodily cues by stage magicians. “Cold” and “hot” readings have nothing to do with real, spontaneous telepathy, as anyone who has steeped themselves in the 150-years of psychic literature can tell you…Again, like depictions in paranormal fiction, the wiki writer-editors’ conception of telepathy is entirely modeled on images that merely ape the real thing, in this case what stage magicians can do, and it is apparent the wiki writers either have no familiarity with the real-world conditions under which it occurs. Either that, or they are being disingenuous or dishonest.

Debunkers and skeptics alike are ever ready to point out the “file drawer effect” when evaluating the results of psi experiments—but a better example of it contra telepathy can’t be found than the contents of the “case studies” section; this stub is itself victim of file drawer effect. It’s risible: Four instances of admitted frauds, two instances of discovered fraud, three examples of tests with “negative results,” and explanations such as hyperaesthesia (acute hearing on the part of the “receiver”) and coincidence to explain the rest. Louisa and J.B. Rhine’s many thousands of trial runs with Zener cards showing above-chance levels are waved away as the result of “sensory leakage,” meaning conscious or unconscious fraud.[19] The academically published experiments of the SRI remote viewers 1974-1996, Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne at Princeton, Helmut Schmidt, Dean Radin, and Daryl Bem—all which showed positive results—are not mentioned in the wiki. Nor is psi researchers’ rebuttals to the above “explanations.”

The Ganzfeld section actually contains a detailed description of only one side of the debate between Charles Honorton and Ray Hyman to determine whether telepathy was shown during a series of tests; of course, it is Hyman’s attempts to debunk the meta-analyses conducted by the both of them that is highlighted. Honorton’s rebuttals are nowhere to be found. Conveniently unmentioned is the fact that Hyman and Honorton jointly wrote a statementafter years of sparring that concedes that, even were their file drawer effects and some of the studies were ruled out, the results in favor of telepathic demonstration were still above chance and there was no credible alterative explanation. Here’s an excerpt from that statement on the Psi Encyclopedia website:

‘There is an overall significant effect that cannot be reasonably explained by selective reporting or multiple analysis. We continue to differ over the degree to which the effect constitutes evidence for psi, but we agree the final version awaits the outcome of future experiments conducted by a broader range of investigators and according to more stringent standards.’

We may conduct further psi trials and gather more experimental material supporting the previous conclusions that telepathy, remote viewing, precognition, and retrocognition exist. The pseudoskeptic asserts these phenomena are impossible; the other side maintains not only that they are possible but do happen. Both views depend upon axioms what is possible and probable about the world—but one advocate’s position is open-descriptive (the “believers,” neutrals, and true skeptics), and the others’ is closed-prescriptive (the debunkers’). This means the former’s views are open to be refuted by evidence, the latter’s impossible to be refuted due to a priori assumptions about the world.

The axioms of cause and effect are at the heart of the dispute. Here is Mary Barrington’s precis of how a believer might characterize a reality in which the anomalous occurs:

The one overriding law that unifies is normal and paranormal under one system is the law of probability.

Probability is the default mode of the observable cosmos.

What is the relationship between information (something anomalous, say) and its

probability?

Mechanistic sequentiality, the default mode, is the usual way in which successive events unfold, indeed, so usual as to seem universal and inevitable. But it is not either. It is just very, very probable, almost certain—almost.

So while sequential causality is nearly universal, it is not inevitable because while a law of nature (probability) is absolute, a directive (sequential causality) can be overridden. If the basic law is probability, then while most events will be highly probable—normal—a few will be highly improbable, and the more improbable the event, the less rigorous will be its relationship with causality. A manifestly paranormal event is one that occurs at this extreme end of the probability curve, a curve that drops from a very high point close to certainty and plunges down to trail off in a very long tail.[20] (emphasis added)

When one considers that the quantum world as we currently understand it operates entirely by probability, why is so difficult to conceive that the macroscopic world may operate using the same default mode and its occasional outlier, as she suggests? For debunkers, this may is a never.

The information collected through public surveys or questionnaires/solicitations, such as that of the SPR, Alister Hardy’s studies on spiritual experiences, Kenneth Ring’s studies of Near-Death Experiences, is usually quite voluminous. The original SPR’s investigations resulted in two massive books of anecdotes and analysis. Its members were able to contact the persons they solicited in public queries and verify the details of their paranormal accounts as well as gather character references on the witnesses. The sheer number of these accounts cannot be dismissed. There is always the temptation to ascribe to them the neuropathological turn or some other variants of explaining-away by means of physicalism: hallucinations, seizures, temporal lobe transients, etc. But contemporary narratives of NDEs or encounters with deceased relatives and “spirits” and “aliens” tally with James McClenon’s studies of the concrete and universal yet extraordinary experiences of people that he ties to the origins of religions.[21] Thus does physicalism belittle and seek to erase some of the most meaningful human experiences.

Tens of millions of firsthand accounts of extraordinary spiritual phenomena cannot simply be brushed aside. It’s no secret that editor-fact wars have been going on for years in hundreds of Wikipedia entries since its inception. Some involve famous persons (George W. Bush) and some less so famous (Rupert Sheldrake).[22] There are only a handful of Internet articles criticizing the Guerrilla Skeptics’ takeover of the “paranormal” subject entries, and one book by Craig Weiler, so I’ve joined a small chorus.

But the fact that, like clockwork, founder Jimmy Wales begs for dollars on every Wikipedia page to keep it going despite solvency can only be a good thing. Personally, I would contribute to keep Wikipedia going—but only if there were a way of sending a direct email to a complaints department about its one-sided treatment of psi topics and addressing their toleration of a small groups’ takeover of an entire subject. But of course there is no complaints department, because it’s a deliberate anarchive. Consider this blog posting my rebuttal, and some words towards addressing Wikipedia’s absence of integrity.

—————————

[1] Until 2006, it was called CSICOP, Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.

[2] CSI doesn’t do scientific experiments debunking paranormal phenomena—because in their early years they tried and failed. Back in 1975, a group of CSI debunkers attempted to provide an “objective way for unambiguous corroboration or disconfirmation” of a study showing an unusually high number of exceptional European athletes had been born during the planet Mars’s rising or transiting (the “Mars effect”). The effect itself had been noted by a pair of French skeptics trying to disprove astrological influence. The French study had shown that 22% of these athletes had been born during these periods when a 17% chance rate should be expected. The sample size was 2,088, so the odds against this being chance were millions to one. CSI challenged the French duo to do a control experiment: find an additional data pool of random people and determine if they had been born during the same short periods, expecting the random non-athlete group to be distributed at the same 22%. Two years later (!) CSI released their analysis of the report. The results weren’t as predicted; the non-athletes were born 17% of the time during those intervals, as chance predicts. Instead of accepting a possible Mars effect, the debunkers instead chose to criticize the original French study by breaking down the raw data into categories and eliminating sets of athletes (female athletes, by geographical locales, etc.) to dilute the numbers and lower the 22% figure.

CSI astronomer Dennis Rawlins resigned the organization in protest of the disingenuous methodology. He revealed in 1981 that when the analysis of the new data went south, CSI founder Kurtz, statistician Paul Zelin, and astronomer George Abell stonewalled (hence the publication delay from receiving the data from the new challenge) and decided to try to dilute the original French statistics instead. Rawlins’s appeals and alerts to his fellow debunkers such as Randi, Gardner, and Philip Klass fell on deaf ears; they had no interest in supporting the truth. An independent investigation found that Rawlins’s belief in the French team’s sound method and analysis of the original data, the new data, and their conclusion, were all justified. A group of genuinely skeptical scientists within CSI resigned as a result of the attempted fudging—and coverup. In short, CSI demonstrated it was no good at disinterested science, and consequently swore off formally investigating any paranormal claims to this day. See Carter, Chris. Science and Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the House of Skeptics, Inner Traditions, 2012, pgs. 28-37.

[3] Here’s an article demonstrating a variation of this practice of circular source attribution (the Wikipedia problem of ‘citogenesis’) but in the context of pharma claims that utilize corporate-sponsored studies that in turn cite Wikipedia for supporting evidence.

[4] Hint: If one needs instruction in how to debunk something (since you’ve become a cub atheist or newly minted woo-killer) maybe you’ve already got a problem with understanding logic and critical thinking/rhetorical skills and need to take a step back from your new obsession…Why do both debunkers and open-minded persons like myself get so angry at each other? I admit that my blood pressure jumps whenever I encounter an evidence-free yet arrogant dismissal of any “paranormal” event by some message board junior master of the universe who’s just discovered atheism and SCIENCEã. Some of us “psi defenders” are just as emotionally volatile as religious fundamentalists when it comes these matters. An impassive, intelligent observer might think that both camps are defending unfalsifiable theses—and this may be true, not just because we weren’t present to witness these things firsthand, but because metaphysical positions are involved in how we characterize these events, whether we want to admit it or not. Most debunkers, however, think metaphysics is bunk to begin with, and will deny that they operate from any fundamental “axioms” other than those the hard sciences such as “normal physics” provide.

[5] The tiresome CSICOP stage magician Joe Nickell, who inevitably gets more citations in the Enfield Wiki entry than anyone else, “examined the reports” and concluded the girls in the case must have been using ventriloquism. He offers no evidence for this assertion.

[6] See their book Poltergeists, White Crow Books, 2018, pgs. 330-37.

[7] See Heywood, Rosalind. The Sixth Sense, Chatto and Windus Ltd., 1959, pgs. 112-127; Beloff, John. Parapsychology: A Concise History, pgs. 120-24; Haynes, Renee. The Society for Psychical Research 1882-1982: A History, McDonald & Co. Ltd., 1982, pgs. 83-88; Carter, Chris. Science and the Afterlife Experience, Inner Traditions, 2012, pgs. 145-50, 151-53, 166-69, 177-78, 183-85.

[8] What personal psychology leads one to become a stage magician in the first place? There are many within the field of pseudoskeptics, and this has held from the 19th century beginnings of psychical research. But prevarication can work both ways: misdirection can be used upon the skeptic and “believer” alike. The psychological tactic behind debunking is similar to a stage trick, and simple: generally, one should direct the reader’s attention to the frauds or “rationally amenable” fraudulent techniques that have been used in different instances than that which is the subject of the article, and apply them as the only possible explanation. Direct the reader’s attention away from their immediate experience that something anomalous may have happened. This skews the mind’s repertoire of activities from the holistically perceptive right hemisphere to the “part-focused,” linear, and logic-oriented left. See Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, Yale University Press, 2012, pgs.

[9] Tymn, Michael. Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, White Crow Books, 2013. 65-71.

[10] Blum, Deborah. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death, The Penguin Press, 2006. Pgs. 165-67; Tymn (2013), pgs. 41-44.

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Piper

[12] Blum, 2006. pg 311.

[13] Haraldsson, Erlendur and Gissurarson, Loftur R., Indridi Indridason: The Icelandic Physical Medium, White Crow Books, 2015, pgs. 2, 7-9.

[14] Ibid, pg. 8.

[15] Ibid, pgs. 3, 12, 22.

[16] Ibid, pgs. 29-34.

[17] Ibid, pgs. 32-46.

[18] See the works of Guy Lyon Playfair: Twin Telepathy; If this Be Magic; and The Indefinite Boundary.

[19] The linked wiki entry on “sensory leakage” helpfully informs us, “Due to the methodological problems, parapsychologists no longer utilize card-guessing studies.” It doesn’t follow up with any kind of description of what replaced the Zener cards, such as the autoganzfeld test with randomized images generated by computer, and the fact that the senders and receivers may be in soundproofed rooms or even a thousand miles away from each other and still often show statistically significant results.

[20] Barrington, Mary Rose. JOTT: when things disappear…and come back or relocate–and why it really happens, Anomalist Books, 2018.

[21] McClenon, James. Wondrous Events: Foundations of Religious Belief, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994; Wondrous Healing: Shamanism, Human Evolution, and the Origin of Religion, Northern Illinois University Press, 2001; The Entity Letters: A Sociologist on the Trail of a Supernatural Mystery, Anomalist Books, 2018.

[22] See this also on the Guerilla Skeptics’ attack on Sheldrake.

Wikipedia’s Anti-Psi Mafia & the Revenge of the Damned Most of the online population window-shops Wikipedia for their information, but if you happen to be interested in psi (or any anomalous phenomena), its accounting of facts and history can be outrageously selective revisionism.

#CSI #CSICOP #Culture #Guerilla Skeptics #history #parapsychology #philosophy #pseudoskeptics #psi #psychology #religion #science #skepticism #Wikipedia

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