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succubusdaydream · 5 months

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By The Grace of The Moon || Astarion x Werewolf!Selunite!Reader

Masterlist || Words: 2865

Started on 10/14/23- Finished on 1/6/24

AN: Dialogue later on may seem a bit ooc, as well as characters themselves. I had to look up and go back through dialogue to get lines right. I am also trying to keep the reader gender neutral and I will be referring to them as Tav later on. Enjoy my second writing and my first BG3 fic, more is defiantly on it's way. This is also only the FIRST part. I wrote more than I thought I would so I've decided to split them into parts. I'm writing more onto the second part so I'll try to have it up soon <3

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Why would your goddess do this to you? Had you done something to anger your Silver Lady? No. You worshipped her beneath every beautiful moon she would raise. The twinkling of her stars were music to your ears. So why. Why did your heart stop when you met his piercing red eyes? Why did you get so scared when he would get injured? And why did you seek and crave his presence? A vampire. Your natural enemy.

You had been cursed with Lycanthropy from a young age. Your parents had gone to any cleric or healer they could find. But none could help you condition. So they turned to Selune. Goddess of the moon. The very thing you would stare at every night. Waiting. Waiting to turn into a beast once its full beauty would light up the village you lived in. They started praying to her, crying out for help. And help she did.

Your goddess sent down a light. It helped control you condition, keeping your beast from rampaging every month. You still had your enhanced abilities. Sight, smell, hearing, agility. And with research, your parents helped you though your young years with the continued worship of Selune.

With that research, came a longing. Every young child dreams of love. And with your sickness, your Goddess promised you a love. A soulmate. One every Lycan is blessed with. You would dream of them every night as a child. How much they would love you, and you them. How you wedding would be like that of a fairytale read to little ones before bed. A large white dress, a beautiful train and the most hypnotizing of melodies playing as you danced the night away.

But those dreams were halted that night. The night the Illithids appeared over your village. And you were forced to wake up. The tadpole that now squirmed in your head made you powers unpredictable. You feared how following nights would be.

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You had awoken on a beach, surrounded by the crashed ship that once held you prisoner. You couldn’t recall everything that happened, but you do remember fighting devils and imps with a Githyanki. ‘Lae’zel’, you recalled. You didn’t see her around anywhere, but also no body. ‘Hopefully she’s alive, she was strong so I doubt she got taken out by anything close by.’

Not too far in front of you lied a woman. Long dark hair held by chains, a dark circlet decorating her forehead. Slowly approaching, you could both hear her breath and see her chest heaving. In her hand was an oddly shaped…thing. Choosing to ignore is in favor of her wellbeing, you reached forward. Grasping her shoulders and shaking her awake.

“Wha- I’m alive? You’re alive.” Helping her to her feet, she looked around at the wreck that surrounded you. “How is this possible.”

“I’m not sure. Are you hurt? I don’t remember seeing you on the ship.” The Githyanki was the only person you came across. You had assumed there were others, but with the ship crashing and buring, you were in a bit of a rush to escape.

“Not that I know of. I remember being stuck in that pod. I think I saw you running away with another person. And then the ship crashed.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think to check for others. I wouldn’t have tried to help you.” You wrung your fingers together and looked down the beach, examining the path that stretched on. “What now?”

“I suppose we find a healer. What ever those monsters put into out heads can’t be good.”

After making sure neither of you were injured and making proper introductions, learning her name was Shadowheart, you set forward and came across three of the brain creatures you had seen wandering the ship. They weren’t too tough to handle, but after getting rid of them your hearing picked up a static to your right.

It was coming from a rune. An out of control looking rune, it’s magic swirling violently. As you reach out to touch the rune, a hand suddenly emerge from it and a voice immediately follows. “A hand? Anyone?” It was a male’s voice. Your senses hadn’t alerted you to any danger, so you reach to intertwine your hand with his, you other hand on his wrist.

And with a strong pull, a body dawned in purple robes flew out from it. You stood and brushed your clothes off as he spoke his thanks. “Hello. I’m Gale, of Waterdeep.” He reaches forward to shake your hand. “Apologies, I’m normally better at these sorts of things.”

“At introductions?” You shook is hand in return, a smirk passing your lips as you tried to lightly joke with him. It seemed to work, as he let out a small chuckle.

“At magic. Say, but I know you, don’t I? I saw you, upon the nautilloid.” Gods, just how many people did you run past? With all the chaos happening you suppose your senses couldn’t keep up. But you didn’t realize just how many people were stuck in pods on the same ship.

“I was, I guess I missed more people than I thought, had I seen you I assure you I would have done my best to help.” You looked him over for injuries but didn’t catch any scents of blood.

“No worries. But I suppose it’s safe to say you were a victim too. On the receiving end of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region?” He tapped the side of his head, right next to his eye no doubt referring to the worm that now infected your brain.

“I suppose that’s one way to put it. Not the most pleasant experience I’ve dealt with in my life.” You crossed your arms and tilted your head, able to tell he wasn’t done talking yet.

“Yes well, no use sugar coating it. This parasite we carry, are you aware that after a few days of extrusion gestation, it will turn us into mindflayers?” His pitched was raised in a slight panic. Understandable, you had a worm in your brain that’s going to turn you into tentacle monsters within a certain number of very painful days. “You don’t happen to be a cleric by any chance, do you?”

It was at this point that Shadowheart spoke up from behind you. “It seems you know enough about out condition to know that this is far beyond a cleric’s skill.”

“Most, but I hope to be in the presence of the few who are able to help. You don’t happen to be one of them?” He eyed between you two.

“No, I can treat most injuries and sicknesses, but I am no cleric.” You weren’t wrong. While you worshipped Selune and did almost everything in her name, you were not a cleric. More of a hunter who was able to make remedies and teas with herbs that you would scavenge for.

“Well then, we’re most going to need a healer, and quite soon too. How about we lend each other a helping hand once more and look for one together?” He gestures between himself and you, raising a brow in anticipation. And with a shrug, Gale of Waterdeep was following your two man, now three man, party as you turned back to the direction you came from.

Although, as you turned, a strong gust of wind brought you a wonderful smell. That of Rosemary, bergamot, and…brandy? Either way, it made you heart flutter and your feet move faster. You swiftly walked passed the creatures you had taken out, you thoughts running as the scent got stronger.

‘Is this it? This sweet scent, my aching and racing heart all point to it. My mate. They smell amazing. Nothing has smelt like this to me before. Selune, my lady of silver, if you have blessed with my mate after this tragedy I thank you.’

Rounding over a small hill, you saw the source of the scent. A white-haired elf dressed in elegant purple clothing. Your body froze at the sight of him. It looked as if the heavens shown behind him as he turned to beckon you closer. And when he spoke, he sounded like an angel singing praise. “Hurry! I’ve cornered one of those brain things. You can kill it, can’t you? Like you killed the others?”

Snapping back to reality, you cleared your throat and nearly jumped at the chance to protect him. “Easily, step back.” You stepped forward, a slight pungent smell hit your nose. A boar shot out of the bushes as you jumped, the noise startling you. And from the corner of you eye, you noticed a glint. Spinning around you came face to face with your mate, holding a knife up at you in a defensive position.

“I saw you on the ship, strutting about while I was trapped in that pod!” His knife raised higher as you shuffled away, holding your hands up in defense. “What did you and those tentacled freaks do to me?” His voice was low as his red eyes glared into yours.

“No! I was taken to! I had nothing to do with them.”

“I’m not an idiot! I saw-agh!” He cried out as your minds merged. You were looking through his eyes and out to dark street. Lurking as people passed. But before you could look further, the image faded. “What was that? What’s going on?”

You breath heaved as you looked deeper into his eyes, a small smile appearing as his knife lowered. “I-I don’t know, but something connected us.” Something other than my goddess.

“It’s those monsters. Whatever they did you us caused that link. They took you too. I saw it.” He sighed and put away his weapon. “Ands to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.” His voice truly was like music.

“Apology accepted. I might have done the same if the roles were reversed.” I wouldn’t.

“Ah~ A kindred spirit. My name’s Astarion. I was in Baldur’s Gate when those beasts snatched me.” Astarion? Even his name is angelic. No wonder it’s taken so long for you to meet him. Your village was located a few days away from the big city. You never made trips there, only your father and hunting parties would make the travel. Selling crops, clothing and any other good your village made.

“From the city? I lived quite a ways away. I was taken while hunting. I’m not sure how long it’s been.” It wasn’t entirely wrong. You were hunting but not the type people would assume. It was late when you were snatched. A beautiful moon guided your path as you ran after a deer, your paws silently hitting the ground as your muzzle snapped for its tail.

“Oh? A hunter? That could be useful. So, do you know anything about these worms?” He placed his hands on his hips and raised a brow.

“Yes. Unfortunately, they’ll turn us into mind flayers.” As if I couldn’t become more of a beast. Your thoughts though were swiftly cut by his scoff of disbelief.

“Turn us into-ha…haha! Of course it’ll turn me into a monster. What else did I expect?” His words trailed off as he looked to the dirt road beneath you. “Although…it hasn’t happened yet. If we find an expert, someone that can control these things- there still might be time.” He raised his hand to his chin in thought.

If we find someone? He wanted to travel together? With you? “Y-you could come along with us. Our odds are better if we travel together.” Gods, do I sound desperate? Please take my offer.

His eyes met yours again as a smirk formed on his face. “You know, I was ready to go this alone, but…maybe sticking with you isn’t such a bad idea.” Yes! A perfect idea. “You seem like a useful person to know.” His words seemed like they held something behind them, but you didn’t much care. As long as your mate followed. “Alright! I accept, lead on.”

You could barely suppress the smile that tried to cross your face. “Ahem, alright. Let’s move then.” You cleared your throat and finally broke eye contact, looking further down the road and heading that direction. “I hear something ahead, we’ll start there.” As you walked passed him, his scent filled your nose once more. He truly did smell heavenly. I’ll keep him safe.

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Further down the trail, you had encountered a group of refugees begging at a gate. At the top were tieflings, refusing to open until their supposed leader showed up, demanding the gates be open as a pack of goblins appeared to attack. It didn’t take long for you to help defeat them and you quickly slipped through the gate with everyone, making sure your group was okay and mostly uninjured.

You found yourselves in a Druid’s Grove. Although with their issues, you weren’t sure how long you were going to last. It was to be closed off soon and everyone but the druids themselves were to be kicked out. After communing with the leader of the tieflings, you had decided your day had been busy enough and had led your group to a clear spot deeper into the grove.

You had all set up tents around a fire and laid out bedrolls for when you were all ready to sleep. As you finished setting out supplies and changing out of you day clothes, your gaze drifted over to your silver haired mate. He sat outside his tent, a thick book in his hands and his eyes lazily drifting over its contents. You quickly took a deep breath, muttering a quick ‘you got this’ before making your way over to his figure.

Hearing your approach, he glanced up. “Yes?” Ouch, not the greeting I was hoping for. Did he not feel the connection you goddess had blessed you with? Even non-Lycans were rumored to feel something.

You let out an embarrassing laugh and cleared your throat. “I uh- I was just wanting to check on you. What do you think about our journey so far?” You could tell me anything and I’d listen, please just talk to me.

“Well, not much has happened. We’re in a grove that’s close to impending doom and we have worms in our brain. Pretty shit journey so far, wouldn’t you say.” Ok, so he’s not having a very good time right now, but who would? Defiantly not you.

“That’s true. I’m sure we can find a healer here, they’re druids after all. Perhaps we’ll be rewarded if we help out with their little issue.” You let out a short chuckle but quickly closed you lips as a sneer appeared on his.

“Help out? It’s not our issue. I say we find a healer and move on. No need to get caught up in fights that aren’t ours.” Okay, a little self-centered but it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with someone like him. And he’s pretty, so it’s ok.

“You don’t think we, should help out? Even for a reward?” He shook his head, and stood, setting his book down to give you his full attention.

“The reward better be big if we stick around to help a little war. Either way, I still don’t like it.” His eyes met yours. “Was there anything else?” Let’s turn to other matters.

“Uuuhh, tell me a bit about yourself. It’s good to get to know each other if we’ll be traveling closely. What did you use to do in the city? I’ve never been so I want to know all about it.” I want to know all about you.

He scoffed. “Oh what’s to tell? I’m a magistrate back in the city, it’s all rather tedious.” A magistrate? I should have guessed he was in a position of high power; his clothes look like it.

“A magistrate? That sounds cool. What’s the city like?” Don’t stop talking. I still want to know more about you.

You couldn’t quite tell, but his eyes seemed to hold that of annoyance. You’re lucky that your ears and tails weren’t visible unless you were shifted. If they were, your laid-back ears and tucked tail would give away your worry to this. That’s possibly the last thing that you want right now, to upset your mate and annoy him.

“Depends on the area I suppose. The main upper city is quite busy. Especially at night, people out and about, drinking and…well the whole city is busy. I don’t normally get out much though.” His sentence trailed off, a smirk crossing his face before it quickly vanished. “Now was there something else you wanted to talk about.”

“Oh, umm, no. No I suppose that’s really it. Goodnight, Astarion, sleep well. I’ll be keeping watch so, you don’t have to worry about anything attacking.” I would gladly give up any sleep to make sure you’re protected.

“Why thank you, Darling. I’ll surely sleep better knowing you’re watching.” And with his words, you would spend the night walking the perimeter of your camp with your heart racing and thoughts spinning out of control.

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Masterlist || Part 2

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 x reader #baldurs gate 3 x reader #astarion ancunin #astarion #astarion x reader #astarion ancunin x reader #astarion x tav #bg3 x tav #tav reader

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galaxycunt · 3 months

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My Dinner With Buggy pt 2

I love playing with dialog so I figured why not keep going. As with part one it’s all dialogue so enjoy the ride everyone lol

Tagging @gingernut1314 @gayafsatan as yall requested a part 2 a million years ago

Sea spray hits your face as you left the restaurant, “so, what’s the move?”

Hands appear in front of you holding two bottles of wine, “one for each of us.”

“Really? In front of a lieutenant like that?”

“You gonna handcuff me, officer?”

You giggle, “miss Impel Down that much, huh?”

“God! Let’s not talk about that fucked up place. Take the wine, honey.”

“I let you order steak and this is how you repay me?”

He wags his tongue, “I’m covering dessert.”

“Gross.”

“You love it, shut up. So where’s this room you got?”

“Couple blocks down. You don’t wanna go to a bar?”

“I haven’t seen you in at least 6 years. I wanna make up for lost time.”

“Tch. Shooting for the stars tonight?”

Buggy frowns, “I thought this was a date.”

You falter, “hey. I thought we were teasing. Come here, Bug.”

Your lips taste sweet, “I missed you a lot. I’m not the only salty dog missing their lost love, but hey, you’re more important, so there.”

You kiss him again, “let’s go out for a little bit?”

“Sure, I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go. Oh shit! I forgot, I left something for you on the ship.”

“We got road wine, let’s go get it”

“This is nice, by the way.”

“It is. Too bad you ain’t a civ, easier. Even easier if you were a marine.”

“I’m gonna ask again. You’d like it.”

“I dunno, man. Lot of baggage with that. Especially on the Grand Line.”

“Not with me.”

“You already got captured once, baby.”

“I know, I know. But you hate this shit. Been in the game too long, why?”

“I dunno, maybe I felt we were doing something good. Too old for that shit, I guess”, the Big Top is as nice as you remember it, “there’s the old girl.”

He smiles, “my two girls, together at last.”

“I wonder if that note I left is still there.”

“Note? What-“

“-captain! Oh shit, look who it is!”

“-Cabaji! Glad someone’s keeping Bug outta trouble!”

He smiles at the two of you, “we should catch up. Later.”

“Thanks, man. See ya.”

“So what note?”

“Oh! It’s uh, not important. Just something I wrote last time I was here.”

“Where’d you hide it?”

“In the galley, deep, deep in the pantry.”

He kisses you, “let’s go find it then.”

“Buggy, no. Come on, you’re supposed to take me out.”

“Real quick. I promise.”

You tug him away, to no avail, “Buggy. It’s really stupid, you’ll enjoy it after a few drinks.”

“I got a few bottles in my room. We can read it there.”

“What about my gift?”

“Just a buncha jewelry, who cares? I’m finding that letter.”

Turns out he can find anything with ease if he wanted to, “aw. Your handwriting is so cute sometimes.”

“Oh, shut up.”

He kisses your temple, he’s getting very touchy, you realize, “lemme guess, treasure map?”

“Look, it’s something I wrote when we were like 18.”

“….really?”

“Uh huh.”

He jerks his chin toward his cabin, “let’s take this somewhere quiet.”

You hear your heart beat in your ears, cheeks on fire, “it’s really cringey. I was 18.”

“Do you really not want me to read it?”

“You’ll make fun of me.”

“I won’t. I really won’t.”

“Okay.”

“I already know you love me.”

You laugh, “shit. Guess you’re right.”

He clears his throat, “Buggy, our paths are unwinding, the red string of fate tugging us apart.”

“Oh Jesus, it’s worse than I thought.”

Heightening his voice he continues, “if only I knew the devil’s pact I made, and the one you sold your soul to. My love I can’t bear it. You don’t even know I love you.”

“See, that’s why I didn’t wanna read it.”

“So why even give it to me?”

“Because I didn’t think you loved me.”

He grows serious, “I did. Why did you think I did that stupid shit? To impress you, dummy.”

“You’re such a clown.”

“Exactly! You liked clowns.”

You smile, “yeah, I remember that asshole at the pier.”

“Join my crew, I’ll marry ya.”

“Only if I join?”

“We been apart too long, I’m not waiting until I hit some shitty village every six months to see you.”

“Ah, that makes sense now.”

“Sometimes I’d lower the Jolly Roger, just see if our boats can pass by, if I can see you on the deck.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah.”

You stare at his lips, you wouldn’t be the only Marine turning, “marry me tonight then.”

“Don’t think captains can officiate their own wedding.”

“Let’s find someone.”

He looks at the clock, “and if we can’t?”

“Ask me again tomorrow. Do it for real.”

Buggy picks you up instead, “can we just skip to the wedding night?”

“I’m not gonna marry you then.”

He smirks, “according to that letter, we’ve been married for 18 years already.”

#buggy the clown #buggy x reader #buggy x you #one piece

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inception-bigbang · 26 days

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Inception Big Bang 2024

Schedule/Rules/Guidelines/FAQ

Sign-ups May 13-20 Author summaries due May 29 Artist claims start June 1 Pairing announcement June 15 First check-in July 1 Second check-in July 15 Posting date July 31

A Big Bang is a fandom event where authors and artists work together on a two-part project. When signing-up, authors submit a summary of the fic they’ll be working on during the event, as well as the rating and relevant tags. Fics are later claimed by artists during two rounds (if needed) of fic claims.

(Details below the break)

For authors:

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an Inception fanfic

written for the Big Bang (no reposting of old works)

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Other than that, we are open to all ships and gen stories!

IMPORTANT: During sign-ups and fic claims the authors are anonymous. This keeps things fun! We want artists to choose based on the fics alone. Don’t make posts that give away which fic is yours. After claims talk to your artist! Keep each other updated - the best thing about a fandom Bang is working with each other!

Frequently asked questions of authors:

1. How much do I need to write before signing-up?

We recommend writing a summary of your story, the rating, and a couple relevant tags. Remember, what you submit is what we send to the artists! Make it easy to understand your story.

2. Can I change my mind about my submission?

Before fic claims you can send us updates or even send us a different story altogether. All’s fair.

After fic claims, any big changes should be discussed with your artist. You cannot change the rating from G, T or M into explicit. If you believe your fic might go down that road submit the tag before fic claims.

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5. Can it be OT3 / Major Character Death / Kink ?

Sure! Just keep in mind that the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for one of our artists to connect with it. This is true for anything you may come up with - crossovers, PWPs, squeamish themes, you name it. We encourage creativity! But use the appropriate tags when you send us your summary and consider being flexible if our artists might have a hard time with that one.

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We work with artists interested in all different kinds of fics! We also have very cool and open-minded pinch-hitters. In our recent years all fics were claimed.

That being said, yes, there is the possibility. It ties back into the OT3 / major character death / kink topic – the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for our artists to connect with it. Also, the harder it may be to actually depict the story. Be considerate of our artists when picking the fic to submit for the Big Bang.

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You will be choosing one (or more!) fics to make art for. Between fic claims and the final posting date you and your author will have one and a half months to work on your collaboration.

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If you want to create something we haven’t mentioned here, check in with us first, but chances are you’re fine. As long as it's something you can submit within the deadline it’s fair game.

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Panic time, I won’t be able to make the deadline! What now?

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#inception #inception big bang #inception big bang 2024

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danceswithsporks · 1 year

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Warm-Part 1

Part 1 of 6 in the Complete Series!

Part 2

Ship- Tech x Fem!Reader

Warnings- No mention of Y/N, Tsunami,Death,Explosions,near drowning. Not too much in this first part but things will pick up.

Time- Before and after the season 2 finale. Enter at your own risk.

About: Your life on Pabu is simple. Wake up, Chores, Work, Dinner, and Bed. Rinse and repeat day in and day out. While life on Pabu should be a paradise you find it lacking something. Something that keeps you from truly feeling warm. Then they show up and something inside starts to kindle.

Author Note: I plan for this to be at minimum 3 parts. I may extended it depending on if anyone’s reading this and how I decide I want things to go.

Warm, that’s how you would describe the temperature on Pabu. It was never hot like your home planet, or cold like the planet your family had first escaped to. No, Pabu was that perfect middle ground of never having to wear a jacket for longer than a few hours at night and never sweating through your clothes. Pabu was perfect, well almost perfect.

It wasn’t imperfect, the weather was comfortable and the people were kind. Fights were few and far between and pirates just never seemed to find your home. It was paradise, that’s what your mother had said when your family had finally found your way here. The day Phee had personally flown you in and shown you your home. You’d only known the woman a few days and yet she’d taken your entire family in and shown you a wonderful home.

You’d lived on Pabu for a year now, all six of you. Well, five now. Your mother passed only a few months after arriving. A sickness of the blood the doctor had said, with no cure. Her final days had been comfortable and peaceful. That warm sea air hugged her like a gossamer blanket. You could still remember the night she passed, how she held your hand and finally revealed the secret to how she landed your father.

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. My special tea, make it for the one you desire. He won’t be able to find it anywhere else and so he’ll always think about you.”

You’d never made the tea, never found someone who made your heart flutter like a thousand butterflies dancing inside you. Sure, some of the men on Pabu tried to ask you out. Asked to comm you some time. Your father always said you were why so many men came to the tea shop, maybe he was right. But none of them ever seemed to draw your attention, until he arrived.

What a clone looked like wasn’t unknown to you. They’d liberated your homeworld from a Separatist warlord in the early days of the wars. You easily could remember the white and pink armor as they marched through your town and drove the Separatists out. How they’d sounded through the faceless helmets of theirs and how they’d been so kind, so understanding. But you’d never seen their face, even when you’d offered caf to them, free of charge for helping you all. They’d sighted some rules they had to follow before continuing.

You hadn’t even seen their faces when they evacuated your town only a few months later. It seemed if the Separatists couldn’t have your planet, no one could. In the chaos of everyone running and screaming one of them had picked you up and carried you to the transport. Even though you couldn’t see his eyes, you knew he was worried. Not for his safety, but yours. Maybe that was part of their training, but it truly felt like this one was genuinely worried about you.

“You’ll be ok, little one. My brothers will get you to safety.”

Little one, it made you smile. You were far from being little, you were almost 18. But against him you were little, they were all so tall.

“Will I see you again?” You weren’t sure how you’d tell them apart, how you would know if it was him or not.

Maybe it was the way his head tilted, or how a chuckle came through his helmet. But somehow you knew he was smirking. He took his glove off and for once you got a glimpse of their skin tone, a lovely tan color. Sun-kissed was how your mom would have described it.

The clone placed his hand under your chin and gently ran his thumb across your cheek. A chuckle came from him as he spoke. “If I’m lucky enough, I’ll see you soon.”

It made your heart flutter for the first time in your life. But then everything happened in slow motion. The pilot of the transport yelled about incoming fighters and the clone in front of you handed you his glove and promised to get it back from you soon. Then he was gone, off towards your home to fight once more. The last image you saw of that clone was the back of his armor before your transport took off. You were barely in the air when the bombs fell. The transport shook violently and the door was ripped open. You watched in horror as your town went up in flames.

You never got the chance to return the glove.

Two years after that night and you’d finally seen what they looked like below the helmet. It was everything you’d imagined. Warm Brown eyes that reminded you of chocolate, lips that made your heart flutter once more, and the same calloused fingers you’d felt one other time. Calloused fingers that wrapped around your wrist and guided you towards upper Pabu. It was happening, a tsunami was actually about to hit your home.

Your brothers and father had been safely evacuated but you’d fallen behind. The chaos of the crowds had caused you to fall to the ground where you’d cowered in fear. This is how you’d die, either trampled to death or drowned. But his voice had pulled you out of the darkness that was beginning to pull you in.

“We must hurry. It is not safe to stay here.” He’d said it so calmly that you instantly felt safe. It was funny how the only times you’d truly felt safe were around the clones.

He’d helped you stand and guide you along the winding path behind the others. Phee had been the one to scream down that you wouldn’t make it, that the water was moving too fast. It wasn’t fair that he’d die because of your clumsiness. “Go! Help the others.” What was your one life compared to those ahead of you who needed help as well?

He’d gripped your wrist and pulled you against him before firing a line to the upper levels. His arm snaked around your waist protectively and quickly you began to rise into the air. “I calculate the others will successfully be out of harm's way before the waters arrive. We however would not have made it.” He was so straightforward, you didn’t remember them being like that. His goggled eyes looked behind you as the roaring sound of rushing water became louder and louder. “It seems I may have miscalculated our ascent speed.”

You felt your eyes widen at the realization that you still wouldn’t make it to safety. “It’s my weight slowing you down. Let me go.” It was ok, you wouldn’t hold it against him. His brothers needed him, everyone needed him.

“Nonsense, even factoring your weight out, I still would not survive. Besides, your life is important.” Then he was thrusting a rebreather into your mouth and pinning you against the stone wall. “Close your eyes and do not let go. I will be using my body as a shield for yours. I am sorry for the closeness.”

“T-thank you.” It seemed you were always being saved by a clone. You stuttered out your name quickly seeing the massive wave getting closer and closer behind him.

“Tech.” Came from him before the wave hit you with the force of a thousand speeders. Even with the rebreather in your mouth, you gasped at the sudden coldness and force. Salty sea water rushed down your throat before the rebreather was thrust back into your mouth and his hand held the device in your mouth tightly as you coughed against it.

He’d told you to keep your eyes closed, no doubt to protect them from being injured from the force of the wave. But you couldn’t fight the urge to open them and you found yourself staring into those chocolate-brown eyes once more. They stared at you intently and you wondered if it was because he liked your eyes as well, but you understood it was most likely to read your body and make sure you weren’t injured.

It took you a moment to break away from those eyes, they made you feel safe like everything would be ok. Maybe it would be? The tightness in which he was holding you let you know he wasn’t going to let you go anytime soon. He’d keep you safe for as long as he could. Which may not be too much longer as you finally realized that he didn’t have a rebreather. He’d given his only one to you. No, you couldn’t lose another clone again.

Taking as deep a breath as you could, you pulled the device from your mouth and offered it to him, your eyes pleading with him to take it. But he shook his head and motioned for you to put it back in your mouth. No, you’d fight for him to take it. You moved it in front of his mouth and pressed it against his lips. A second later and his mouth was around it. Breathing in the life-saving air quickly before motioning for you to take it back. You shook your head quickly, you could hold your breath for a decent while. He needed that air as well.

Tech rolled his eyes before trying to place the device forcibly in your mouth. You turned your head away and continued to do so. You wouldn’t use it, not yet. When you refused to take it, Tech did something you didn’t expect. In one swift movement, his lips were on yours. So incredibly warm and soft. A gasp escaped your lips at the sudden feeling and he took the opening to shove the device back into your mouth. He’d tricked you!

A tug was felt on the line and suddenly you two were pulled out of the water. He continued to hold you tight, his warmth the only thing stopping you from shivering. Your legs wrapped around his waist and you buried your face into his chest as you finally allowed the coughs to escape your body. “Y-you tricked me!” Came out between coughs and you felt his chest shake as a laugh found its way out of him.

“It was the only logical way to get you to take the rebreather. I am sorry if I offended you.” He looked up as his brothers pulled the rope continuously. It would take a minute or so before you’d be safe once more.

Offended you? Did he think that offended you? The kiss had sent lightning through your body as you’d never felt before and he thought you were offended? Looking up at him, you allowed your eyes to follow the line of his jaw. It was so perfect and tan. “I’m not offended.” Your lips spoke before your brain could stop it. Was it too late to be dropped into the rushing water below? Would the drop kill you?

His hand tightened against your back and he hoped you hadn’t noticed it. It seemed his body was reacting on its own. “That is good to know.” Though he would never admit it, he had enjoyed the brief kiss. Your lips were soft and plump and for some reason, he felt energized after kissing you. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of the situation. It seemed he would need to research this reaction later.

Your face felt on fire, thank the stars he was looking above you. Allowing your forehead to fall against his chest, you enjoyed his warmth for the rest of your time until you felt familiar arms pull you over the wall and onto the ground.

“Dove, you’re safe.” Your father pulled you into his arms and held you tightly. Almost too tightly, it felt like you couldn’t breathe!

“Papa! Can’t. Breath!” A gasp was released when you felt your brothers pull you from your father. Sighing into their hugs as well, you realized how lucky you’d been.

A strong hand rubbed the top of your head as your oldest brother checked you over. “Classic little sister. Tripped over your own feet didn’t ya?”

He was not about to start with this, was he? Behind you, you could hear Tech speaking with Phee. Thank goodness he wasn’t paying attention to you anymore. “I tripped because someone was running too fast ahead of me.” You shot daggers at him before hearing your father stand with a grunt.

“I’m sorry Phee, do you mind if I have a word with this clone?” He wanted to personally thank him for saving your life.

“Of course.” Phee nudged Tech with a smirk before heading toward Hunter and the others. “I’ll see ya later, Brown eyes.”

How she looked at him and how she spoke to him didn’t go unnoticed by you. A twinge of jealousy pulled at your heart. Between the two of you, Phee was the more desirable one. She was pretty, well-traveled, had unbelievable adventures, and could fight and defend herself. You? You were a waitress in your family’s tea shop. That was it.

Tech couldn’t understand why Phee continued to call him that. All of the clones had brown eyes as he’d explained twice before. It seemed she didn’t comprehend it. The large man who’d pulled you over the wall approached him with a smile. “Sir? You wished to speak to me?”

“Thank you, for saving my daughter.” Came from your father before he pulled Tech into a tight hug. The surprise in the clone's eyes made you chuckle. A move that drew your brother's attention to the clone.

“You know little sis, I’d say you had a thing for clones saving your life.” Your brother closest to your age spoke as he walked over to Tech as well. “She had to be carried to the transport when we evacuated our planet.”

“Pretty sure she wasn’t complaining. Think she had a thing for that clone.” Your middle brother followed in step and stood next to your father.

You wanted to scream, you’d kill them both for this! Stars, why did they always try to embarrass you like this?

“Remember the look on her face when he handed her his glove? It looked like she'd practically fallen in love with him!�� Your brother nudged you with a playful smirk. The way your cheeks were lighting up right now was hilarious.

How fast could you make it to the wall and jump over it? Surely faster than anyone could stop ya. You’d rather face the waters below than stand here and continue to be embarrassed.

Your older brother rolled his eyes and placed a protective hand on your shoulder before looking at your youngest brother. “I’m sorry, was it you who had a massive crush on Phee after she rescued us? How’s that crush going?” He was thankfully the only one understanding how you’d felt when the pink clone had been killed. The pain you felt and the guilt that it had been because of you that he’d died.

“I…well…shut up.” A flustered stutter came from your brother as he tried to fight back against your older brother.

Tech watched the interaction between you all. How your brothers poked and prodded at you. It reminded him of his brothers. His mind flashed to Crosshair, how the clone always has something snarky to say but stood up for all of the batch without hesitation. They’d parted ways under the worst of circumstances, but he was still their brother. Maybe one-day Crosshair would come to his senses and join them once more. It was a nice thought, no matter how unlikely it would be. Tech watched as your cheeks began to flush, the words of your brothers seemed to be built on a bit of truth.

There it was again, the feeling of his heart skipping a beat. Had he developed a heart problem? They’d just done physicals on the Marauder, perhaps he’d missed something. “It was nothing. Part of the job, so to say.”

“Part of the job or not. We are indebted to you. Once we get the shop cleaned up, you’ll be welcome to as many free cups of tea as you want.” Smiling, your father walked over to you and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Do you have anything to say, dove?”

Swallowing, you took a step forward and extended your hand to him. “Thank you, Tech.” When he took your hand you used the moment to pull him towards you and hug him tightly.

Tech stood surprised by your action. Though he didn’t entirely hate it. Compared to him you were a small thing and he noticed you standing on your tiptoes to hug him. “Of course.” He felt your hug loosen and before he could move you placed a kiss on his cheek. A gloved hand hovered over the place you’d kissed as you walked away with your family. Behind him, the sound of boots on the ground drew his attention.

“What do you think, Tech? Should we stay here?” Hunter had been discussing the idea with Phee and Shep. They need help rebuilding lower Pabu and Omega seemed at home here. He’d seen her smile in a way he hadn’t seen in a long time. Maybe some R and R here would do some good for all of them.

Brown eyes shifted over towards you and your family as they looked over you once more. The afternoon sun hugged your body like a warm golden halo and Tech found himself experiencing another new sensation. Warmth. Not in the way that he was physically warm. But in the way that his heart felt warmer as he watched you smile and laugh with your family. Maybe staying here for a while wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Without hesitation, he nodded before looking back to his brother. “I believe that is a splendid idea. It’s quite warm here. I like it.”

#the bad batch #bad batch fanfic #tech x reader #tech x you #bad batch season two #the bad batch season 2 spoilers #clone wars fic #clone wars fanfiction #star wars fanfiction #bad batch #tbb tech

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casdeans-pie · 6 months

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Fanfiction Q&A

Tagged by @thepagemistress thanks so much for the tag!! I love stuff like this asdfghjkl

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

311,091

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Supernatural because it's my most recent fandom and I have extreme destiel related brainworms - but I do also still write Izuocha/My Hero Academia stories from time to time. I've officially 'left the fandom' but I find the ship cosy to write, so they're easy to come back to every so often. I would really like to get back into writing for Genshin too at some point! There are so many characters and their personalities are all so barely defined that it's a lot of fun to shake the grab bag of them and play around with ships and tropes.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ahh they're all MHA. I wrote them at kind of the emergence of the MHA fic scene though. So it was just good timing. It's crazy that they've remained my most popular fics even this many years later wow.

Also fun fact, the two ships here had fandoms that actively hated each other because Ochako is in both of them. I was living my best multi shipping life.

Also also, the jump in number between #1 and #2 is wild. BBB is a fandom experience I will treasure forever.

#1 Beep Beep Beep - Izuocha / My Hero Academia - 2,245

#2 Saw This. Thought of You - Izuocha / My Hero Academia - 787

#3 Ceiling Scorch Marks - Kacchako / My Hero Academia - 675

#4 Green's Your Colour - Izuocha / My Hero Academia - 582

#5 Sweaty Palms - Kacchako / My Hero Academia - 544

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Heck yeah!! It may take me anywhere between a day and a month, but I will always reply at some point. I like to repay the kindness of leaving a comment with acknowledgement <3 even if all I can manage back is a keyboard smash and a thank you

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh, easily easily Don't Stop Dreaming (Izuocha/MHA) I cackle like a classic disney villain every time someone leaves a comment about how they didn't notice the main character death tag and the ending broke them. Did I put it in the middle of the tags simply to make missing it easier? maybe so.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Okay this one is hard. Because 99% of my fics are fluff. They pretty much all have a happy ending lmaoooo

The cheesiest happy ending might have to go to Cat Thief (Reddie/IT) though - that whole fic I tried to capture the vibe of a cheesy Hallmark movie and then for the ending I really dialled it up to ten. Cavity inducing honestly aaa

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think so??? I've had the odd piece of criticism here and there, which makes me like >:( because I didn't ask for crit and I'm doing all this for freeeee

But otherwise, nope <3

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not anything I've ever published (because it's not very good asdfghjkl) It's honestly very vanilla and mostly about the ooey gooey feelings more than the smut itself, so I don't know whether it would really appeal?

Either way any smut I ever decide to post on AO3 would have to be anonymously. Too many people I know in real life know my Izupie username and just the thought of one of them googling me one day and finding my AO3 is bad enough even without any smut fics being on there RIP

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Hmm, not really crossovers? I write AU's of other worlds - like, I wouldn't write the cast of IT meeting the characters of Soul Eater, but I wrote the characters of IT in the world of Soul Eater. Does that make sense??

Two birds with stone because Dances of the Souls (Reddie/IT/Soul Eater) is also the craziest 'crossover' I've ever written. I saw some fanart and got inspired, and to this day I can't believe I wrote like 10k words of that.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I did !! Many manyyy years ago. Someone sent me a message to say that they'd noticed somebody had reposted one of my fics but just changed the characters. Can't even remember what fandom they'd made it for.... They'd stolen a whole bunch of Izuocha fics and just changed the names! So a few affected Izuocha writers including myself sent them messages asking them to take the stolen fics down and within a few hours their whole profile had been deleted.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No!! But I would LOVE that !! Anyone who ever wants to translate any of my fics, please know the answer will be yes!!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I'm the process of that actually with Seal My Heart (Izuocha/MHA)!! It's been such a fun process but I feel so bad because I'm really bad at procrastinating and getting distracted by working on multiple things at once and I don't have a whole lot of free time, so I am probably the worst collab partner you could have!!! (sorry!!!!)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I usually change this answer based on my current fandom tbh! Right now I can't imagine any ship affecting my brain in quite the same way as Destiel.

I think it's the ALMOST of it that has given me infinite brainworms and hurts my soul. And they have just the most delicious dynamic. They're best friends. They're fighting. They're soft. They're gonna burn the whole world for each other. They're wearing silly cowboy hats. etc etc

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I wish I had it in me to write part 2 of Barks (Reddie/IT). I had this whole extra plot with all these conspiracies and saving the town and ultimately wanted to end it with Eddie getting turned into a werewolf too, but it had already gone on to nearly 100k words and I just wanted to write other things asdfkl

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm.... I would say maybe the way that I create a mood? I like to really appeal to all the senses when I write to kind of make you feel like you're there in the scene. Changing my writing style to add to the atmosphere is also something I think I do quite well? Like short choppy sentences for tension etc etc.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. Dialogue all day. If everyone could just, not speak? That would be great. I really struggle to capture characters specific voices.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic.

I can't say I've ever given it much thought... I think it would be okay as long as you're VERY sure that it's correct.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ahh that would be my Yu-Gi-Oh self insert fanfiction all hand written in a little notebook that I wrote as a child :') I wrote me and a friend into so many adventures with the Yu-Gi-Oh characters. It's extremely cute.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Beep Beep Beep without a doubt. I had so so so much fun with it. I have a whole notebook filled with plans and notes about each character (even the ones that appear for small scenes or are only mentioned!) and I just had a blast the whole time coming up with what cameos I could insert and little references I could scatter around. I had backstories planned out that didn't even make it into the fic but helped inform how this universe had changed the characters from their canon counterparts.

Updating it and having people anticipating the updates was such a buzz I can't even explain. I would get messages about it, some very kind artists drew fanart of it! The whole experience was all I had ever wanted as a fanfic writer. I loved every moment.

On a more recent note - I haven't written anything as self indulgent as Flicker, Fizzle, Pop (Destiel/Supernatural) for a long long time and I LOVE that for me. I had soooo much fun! And I was so excited to update it because I had so many people excited to read it! Very very fond of this fic <3

Phew that went on for longer than I expected - turns out I can ramble about my own writing for a long time, who knew right???? asdfghjkl;

Tagging some writers! @encyclopika @amynchan @citrinediamondeyes @velvethopewrites @loserchildhotpants @king4aday @fivefeetfangirl @jemariel @microsuedemouse No pressure though! (I'm just curious about your answers hehehe) But also if you see this and you're not tagged and wanna do it anyway - do eeeeet!!

#thanks again for the tag!!#I have sooooo much fun with these aaaaa #fanfiction tag games #it's Izupie btw for anyone that I tag with this blog who doesn't know this is my side account lmao

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thewillofdeez · 1 year

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The Warlord and the Revolutionary: A Dracule Mihawk/OC Romance - Chapter 6: Over the Transponder Snail

Summary: Mihawk has never been big on surprises, but when Zoro and Perona showed up on Kuraigana, Mihawk took it in stride. He learned how to adjust and even slowly began to enjoy their company. Just under a year later, another surprise showed up on his island - his ex-girlfriend, on the verge of death. The one he hasn't seen in fifteen years. And he might still love her.

Slice of life goth family cuteness headcanons mixed with OC romance.

Chapter 6 word count: 2263

The storm passed through the island overnight, leaving the next day to be unseasonably warm and sunny. As with anywhere on the Grand Line, the weather on Kuraigana carried a certain amount of chaos.

After breakfast, Olivia took advantage of the warmth to make her way to her ship, wanting to retrieve her transponder snail and a few extra items for her long stay. She couldn’t believe it had only been a few days since she arrived on the island. It had been quite the whirlwind. Taking in the sight of her small ship, the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been given her situation - it was afloat, at least, if a little worse for wear. She’d certainly need help getting back out to sea, but there didn’t seem to be anything that couldn’t be fixed up with the help of a few strapping men and some planks of wood.

She climbed the ladder and walked across the deck and into the cabin, where a familiar sound greeted her.

Mmmm badabadabada. Mmmm badabadabada.

Running towards the transponder snail, which had fallen on its side, the poor thing, Olivia brought it back upright, grabbing the receiver. Cuh-lick.

“Hello?” she said into the receiver.

“Olivia? Is that you??”

“Hey, Koala.”

A squeal came through the receiver, causing Olivia to hold it farther away from her head. “SABO! IT’S OLIVIA! SHE’S ALIVE!”

The sound of running footsteps came through the snail. “Olivia!” Sabo’s voice came through. “Holy hell, Liv, we were all so worried!”

“I know, guys, I’m so sorry,” Olivia replied. “I have so much to tell you.” Olivia launched into the story for the two younger Revolutionaries, starting with her arrival on the winter island which housed the abandoned government lab, her attempt at completing the mission, the eventual realization that she’d have to bail as the virus took hold of her, and sailing through a storm to reach her current location. “And Koala, you’ll never guess who lives on the island where I wound up.”

“Who?” she asked.

“My ex-boyfriend.”

“You’re on MIHAWK’S island?” Koala cried.

Sabo chimed in. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”

“You idiot,” Koala said, “Olivia and Mihawk were together years ago. And she’s there. With him. It must be fate!” The snail took on Koala’s starry-eyed look. Olivia had told the younger woman about her and Mihawk some time ago, knowing she was a sucker for a good love story, a trait the two of them shared.

“Ohhhh. Yeah, okay.” Sabo didn’t quite get women or romance just yet, something Koala was unfortunately reminded of every single day.

From there, Olivia told them about her recovery over the last few days and when she expected to be cleared to return to sea. “I know a month is a long time, but that’s what the doctor ordered.”

“Don’t worry about it, Liv,” said Sabo, “Take all the time you need, we’ll handle the mission, and I’ll fill Dragon in on the situation. Just take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yes, Liv,” added Koala, “Make sure to let Mihawk take really good care of you.”

“Koala!” Olivia said. “He’s still a Warlord. You know, the thing that caused us to break up in the first place?”

“Well, he is now, but maybe not for long.”

“What do you mean?”

Sabo took over. “There have been some rumors going around lately about the next Reverie…”

The three of them continued catching up. Olivia was shocked to learn that there was the potential for a vote to disband the Warlords system coming up the next time fifty of the world’s leaders met at Mariejois. While information shared amongst Revolutionaries was usually to remain hush hush, she knew she would have to tell Mihawk at some point. This did affect his life, after all, and she cared about him too much to let him be blindsided. And anyway, it was just a rumor, who knew if it would actually happen? The Reverie was still a long way away.

“Keep in touch, guys, and be safe out there,” Olivia said.

“We will, Liv. We’ll call if we need anything. Bye!”

They hung up, and Olivia began gathering a few extra items from her room to take back to the castle: some extra clothes, her transponder snail, and a book she had been reading. She then made her way to a small jewelry box on the dresser and opened it, looking for one item in particular.

Ahh, there it is, she thought. Lifting the bracelet from the box, she admired it as the sun entering through the window glinted off the white gold band and made the adorning amethysts sparkle. Olivia placed it on her wrist, adjusting the cuff to fit. She held out her hand and admired the way it rested on her skin. It was a fancy piece, sure, but not overly gaudy. Mihawk had given her the bracelet in the early days of their relationship, and until they broke up she had worn it every single day. She missed the feeling of its weight on her wrist…but she wasn’t quite ready to show Mihawk that she still had it just yet, at least not until she knew what she was going to do about the wealth of feelings coursing through her body. Removing the bracelet, Olivia tucked it into her bag and exited the cabin, crossing the deck. She then descended the ladder and made her way back to the front of the castle, where Mihawk and Zoro had just ended their training for the day.

“Everything all right, Liv?” asked Zoro, nodding in greeting. She noticed the young man was sporting quite the lump on his head, and a bruise was beginning to form. She wasn’t sure what happened, but she knew Perona probably enjoyed watching it.

“All good, just getting some more stuff from the ship and catching up with the Revolutionaries. They’d been worried about me. What, um, what happened here?” she asked, gesturing to the slowly forming patch of purple.

“It was great, Liv!” Perona piped in, “Zoro was sassing Mihawk so Mihawk whapped him with the pommel of his sword.” She laughed at the memory, kicking her legs in the air.

“Mihawk!” Olivia said admonishingly. “Was that really necessary?” He turned to face her with a grin.

“He deserved it,” said Mihawk.

“He absolutely deserved it,” added Perona.

“Oh there’s no question I deserved it,” said Zoro. Despite the pain, the young man sported a devilish grin. Olivia wondered what he’d said to earn the injury.

“What’s that Rayleigh used to like to say?” Mihawk asked Olivia, bringing Yoru up to rest on his shoulder. “‘Talk shit, get hit?’”

Olivia giggled. “How could I forget?”

They all made their way into the castle, where Mihawk and Zoro split off to clean up after training, leaving Olivia and Perona to prepare lunch.

Making his way up the long, winding staircase, Mihawk reflected over the last few days. So much had happened in the span of less than a week. One day his life was continuing as normal (well, his new normal anyway), and the next the only woman he ever loved was in his house after fifteen years apart. And now he was falling in love with her again? And he couldn’t be sure, but he felt somewhat confident that she felt the same. Holy hell, how did this happen? It was a lot to take in.

Nothing’s really changed, Mihawk thought as he stepped into the shower. He was still a Warlord. She was still a Revolutionary. But they were also much older now, and so much stronger and more powerful in their own rights. There had to be something that was able to give in order to make this work, right?

Washing the sweat from his body, Mihawk decided he wasn’t going to approach Olivia about the subject, or at least not yet. Despite the fact that he was pretty sure his feelings were mutual, and he knew that their time was limited, he couldn’t rush into this. There was just too much to consider before making that leap, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it if it didn’t work out…not again, not a second time.

Mihawk had just stepped out of the shower, when a noise from his bedroom caught his attention. Throwing on a black cotton robe, he made his way to the sitting area by the far window, where a transponder snail sat.

Mmmm badabadabada. Mmmm badabadabada.

Mihawk lifted the receiver. Cuh-lick.

“Hello?”

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaawk!”

Mihawk sighed. “Hello, Shanks.”

“How’s it going, buddy?” Shank’s cheerful voice came through the phone. Though the two men were rivals for a time, they were also close friends, even after so many years. He’d never say it out loud, but Mihawk considered Shanks to be his best friend. Of the original foursome that set sail all those years ago after Roger’s execution, Mihawk was always the least close with Buggy. Which isn’t to say he didn’t consider him a friend, he did….but he and Buggy were basically polar opposites, and Mihawk could only handle the clown in small doses. Olivia had been the one Buggy was closest to of the group, and he was sure they were still friends today.

“It’s…Shanks, I have so much to tell you.” Mihawk quickly launched into the events of the last few days.

“Holy shit, Hawk-eyes,” Shanks said when his friend finished recounting his tale. “I can’t believe the winds of fate brought you two back together!” The snail took on Shanks’s crooked grin and brightly shining, starry eyes. He had always been the couple’s biggest supporter. It had been Shanks, after all, who was constantly pushing Mihawk to tell Olivia how he felt when Mihawk was absolutely terrified to do so.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Mihawk responded. “It’s certainly a coincidence, and a happy one at that, but I still haven’t quite decided how to go about pursuing this, if I pursue her at all.”

“Okay,” said Shanks, “But you know you have to, right? Are you really gonna let her walk away again?”

Mihawk gripped the bridge of his nose with two fingers, his forehead creasing in frustration. “I don’t know, Shanks. There’s so much to consider. I don’t know if I can have her back as my partner, but I can definitely have her back as my friend. And maybe if she’s willing we could even –”

“Well, you’ve got a little less than a month, right? You have time. And speaking of things happening in a little less than a month, I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh?” Mihawk said cautiously. One never knew what might be included in a proposition from Shanks.

“The crew’s been working their asses off lately, and I was hoping to reward them with something nice. What would you say to having my guys come by Kuraigana to ring in the New Year together?”

Mihawk smiled. While a mostly solitary man, he did enjoy a good party every once in a while, and Shanks’s crew certainly knew how to party. It could be fun. He didn’t get to see Shanks very often, and he knew Olivia would love the opportunity to see her old friend. Plus, he also knew Shanks was dying to meet Zoro and hear about all of his adventures with Luffy.

“I think we can arrange that.”

The snail beamed. “Great! Expect us to make port on the 31st. See ya then, Hawk-eyes! And tell Olivia I said hi.”

“Will do. See you then, Shanks.” Mihawk hung up the receiver. This would prove to be interesting.

Mihawk entered the kitchen to see a plate of onigiri laid out and waiting for him along with Olivia, Zoro, and Perona. “Sorry for the delay, Shanks called.”

Olivia’s head shot up as Zoro reached past her to grab one. “Shanks! How’s my favorite red-headed amputee doing? I haven’t seen him in almost a year.”

Mihawk chuckled, reaching for an onigiri of his own. “He’s doing just fine, and he says hi by the way. He actually asked if he could come by with his crew to celebrate New Year’s Eve with us.”

“Oh, I love a party!” Perona said, taking a bite. “I’m gonna bake so much cake!”

“Wait,” Zoro said, his mouth adorned with rice. “Shanks the Emperor is coming here??”

“Yes, Shanks, my friend, who also happens to be one of the Four Emperors, will be here. That is, if you’re all willing to help me get the place in order to host his crew.”

“It’s not even a question, Mihawk!” Perona squealed, flying in circles around the older man. Olivia nodded in agreement, her mouth full.

Zoro paused for a moment, the gears turning in his brain. “Can I fight him?” he asked with a joking smile.

Mihawk rolled his eyes. “You can ask him when he gets here, but I’d prefer not to have to scrub your blood out of the stone floors.”

“So glad to see you have faith in my abilities, Mihawk. Really, you’re great at building my confidence. The guy has one arm for God’s sake.”

“Hey, don’t let that one arm lure you into a false sense of security,” Olivia chimed in. “That’s how he gets you.”

Mihawk patted Zoro’s back affectionately, something that surprised the both of them but Mihawk didn’t let it show. “You’ll get there in time, Zoro. You’ll have to if you want to help Luffy become King of the Pirates before Shanks does.”

The ending is weak af, I'm sorry.

Previous - Chapter 5: Laughing in the Rain

Next - Chapter 7: Bonding

#dracule mihawk x oc #dracule mihawk x reader #dracule mihawk #hawkeye mihawk #takanome mihawk #one piece goth fam #goth family

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lgcmanager · 11 months

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TRAINEE MISSION 014

SCHEDULE TYPE: TRIMESTER ( PART 1 OUT OF 1 ) SCHEDULE RESTRICTIONS: Cannot be paired with another trimester schedule, unless stated otherwise. for reference as to whether your muse is eligible for this event, please click over HERE.

the days after the project origin musical were rather quiet as the trainees went about with their everyday schedules. it wasn't until THURSDAY, JULY 13, when most of the trainees were called to meet at the auditorium.

based on the previous terms, one would have expected SEO YOUNGJAE to make an appearance, but many trainees were left in confusion as they see REO KANGDAE, head manager of lgc creatives and currently the one behind many of the songs released by the company. it’s evident on his face that he’s lacking some sleep, but who could blame him when he and his team had spent the last couple of months releasing song after song from various lgc groups?

“hi, so some of you may not know me but i’m REO KANGDAE. YOUNGJAE has been called to an urgent meeting so i was told that i would be announcing some important news for you.” he hesitated over the thought that he was only assigned such a task because he would be one step closer to getting his well-deserved vacation. “since project origin the musical has been a success, the coaches and the higher representatives decided to reward all of you for your hard work. later tonight, all of you will be packing up your belongings because we’ll be going on a cruise.” he pauses to let out a yawn before repeating his words. “yes, on a cruise. one of the staff members’ brother works in the cruise industry and was able to secure us a cruise ship to rent for two weeks. since it’ll only be mostly the legacy staff and the trainees, we’ve adjusted all of your schedules so that you can still attend, get some practice in, and rest too.”

staring at all of the trainees, KANGDAE warned them, “i’m aware that it was a stressful time for some of you in the past few months so if you want to enjoy this vacation a bit longer, don’t cause any trouble, alright? you know the rules, don’t break them unless all of you would like a repeat of the past and see LEE HYEMI again.”

another staff member arrives and begins handing out all of the important files that the trainees will need for their trip, including their itinerary. there is a lot of information regarding the itinerary, so you can click over HERE for all of the details.

as listed on the document, there are TWO days when the trainees will be at sea. during this time, they will be given a chance to head to one of the rooms where they can record their own reflection vlog. in the video, they get to talk about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences during the trip. the video can last anywhere between 5 minutes to 20 minutes depending on what the trainee has to say, but ic wise everyone would have gone through this regardless if they did the writing component for this.

after this trip is done, all of the trainees will be resuming their regular training schedules. with the writing requirements, this will be the only one for the term and while the deadline for it is earlier than usual, trainees will then be working on FAMILY CONCERT 2K23 after the deadline for this has passed.

WRITING REQUIREMENTS

SPECIALIZED WORKSHOPS: write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines ) thread with another trainee about anything related to the workshops that they are participating in for +10 POINTS IN SINGING, DANCING, RAPPING, ACTING, KOREAN, JAPANESE, OR MANDARIN !

VACATION TIME: write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines ) thread with another trainee about anything else not related to the workshops ( visiting the landmarks, formal dining, free time, etc. ) for +8 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE and +2 NOTORIETY !

REFLECTION VLOG: write a 300+ word solo about your muse reflecting on their feelings, experiences, and lessons learned from the trip for +6 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE and +4 NOTORIETY !

make sure to use the hashtag lgc:traineemission for the tasks. you have until AUGUST 12, 2023 at 11:59PM EDT to complete the requirements and validate your points. please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog.

MUSE NAME ∙ TRAINEE MISSION 014 - SPECIALIZED WORKSHOPS: +10 ( singing, dancing, rapping, acting, korean, japanese, OR mandarin ) [ LINK ] - VACATION TIME: +8 ( skill points distribution ), +2 notoriety [ LINK ] - REFLECTION VLOG: +6 ( skill points distribution ), +4 notoriety [ LINK ]

#lgc:event #lgc:q32023 #lgc:traineemission

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deathbypixelz · 1 year

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Hello! I saw the caption "night elf secession au go brr" and desperately want to know more. If you don't have a post somewhere I didn't see (sorry if I missed it) would you feel up to sharing at some point?

I don’t already have a full post about it anywhere because I’m constantly in the process of adding finer details. I made an “adjusted timeline” post on my deathbydarkelves sideblog a while ago, but that’s old by now and I’ve changed some things around. Even so, I will not lie, I have been WAITING for someone to ask me about it >:) so *cracks my knuckles* guess it’s time to make that post.

(GIGANTIC info dump incoming)

The basic things to know about this AU are 1.) Shadowlands never happens (my dislike of SL was actually what inspired me to make this AU in the first place), and 2.) the timeline is stretched out so things happen at a slightly more reasonable pace. In the canon timeline, all of the expansions (minus Dragonflight ofc) happen right after each other and each take place over 1-2 years, which is silly in my opinion. I did leave some of them alone length-wise, sometimes 1-2 years is fine, but almost all of the expansions now have a few years in between. Breathing room is good to have if you ask me. Oh also the N’Zoth/Azshara stuff doesn’t happen during the Fourth War, that’ll happen somewhere later down the line. But that’s not the main point…

Everything up until the middle/end of the Fourth War is pretty much the same, except for the aforementioned lengthening of the timeline. Teldrassil happens in 45 ADP, whereas in the game it’s 33 ADP, for example. So Teldrassil burns, the war happens in basically the same way it does in canon, and it ends with the mak’gora outside Orgrimmar (in 47 ADP). Then the actual changes begin.

Maiev joins Tyrande to track down Sylvanas, and Malfurion takes Tyrande’s place as a temporary leader for the night elves (aided by Shandris). Then for 5 or 6 years, really not much happens. Things are… fine on Kalimdor. Mt. Hyjal sorta becomes the new population center for the night elves (and handful of worgen) who stayed, and rebuilding efforts are definitely underway. But they don’t have the resources or the ships to bring all the refugees back. A portal that could support that many people would be far too demanding and risky to use.

(Note: I changed how portals work slightly to make them less OP, and in a nutshell, you can only make portals at specific points on Azeroth, specifically where natural ley lines connect. If you want a bigger portal, or one independent from ley lines, you either need an outside power source (see: the Dark Portal) or you need to be on top of a gigantic web of interconnecting ley lines. Some places have more ley lines than others (example: Suramar). Also it takes a lot of a mage’s energy to keep a portal of any size open for very long. They opened portals to Stormwind during the burning of Teldrassil, but only because it was such a bad situation; portals that go across such a long distance are very unstable and very expensive to both conjure and maintain. They also could only create them in specific places, which is why they couldn't get nearly as many people out as they would've liked :c)

So, with no way to bring them back, the refugees have just got to stay in Stormwind City and Elwynn. It’s rough; very few of the night elves speak Human (I renamed Common because I don’t like the undertones with that name), and the Stormwind government is being pretty laissez-faire about the whole thing. They have to worry about helping Kul Tiras and Stromgarde so they can rebuild, after all :) Building new ships and collecting all the supplies for the months-long voyage to Kalimdor is too expensive, the government says. But it'll happen, definitely, don't worry. It'll definitely happen. Eventually.

So night elf-Alliance relations decay. Stormwindians are tired of having homeless elves on their streets, the elves are tired of being homeless. There’s he-said-she-said stories of humble, hard-working humans being robbed at night by elves on the brink of starvation, and there are she-said-he-said stories of humans setting fire to tents on the edges of their property to scare off humble, hard-working elves just trying to find a place to live. In not so many words: animosity grows. This isn’t out of the blue; historically (even in canon), the other races of the Alliance haven’t really done much for the night elves except for when they helped push the orcs out of Ashenvale all the way back during the Third War (which was 30 years ago at this point). They’ve really just used them for an extra source of soldiers. The “deterrence from Horde attack” benefit the night elves were promised back then was proven false with Teldrassil, and that’s not to speak of smaller skirmishes that had happened every now and then even before the Fourth War. If anything, being part of the Alliance made the night elves a target. Sylvanas burned Teldrassil to provoke the Alliance into a war (note: I am still working on her exact motivations, since I deleted the Jailer and that weird thing with Elune because um??? no?????). Logically, if they hadn’t been a part of the Alliance, they would’ve probably been left alone. And that’s the realization Tyrande comes to, after tracking Sylvanas down in Northrend — where she and her closest followers had decided to hide out until things calmed down — and killing her.

Then she and Maiev return from their 6 or 7 year-long journey, and Tyrande is outraged at the way her people have been treated. Malfurion had also been made aware in the intervening time, and he’d started showing the Alliance that even though he didn’t have as much executive power as Tyrande, he could still rock the boat as it were. After the requests he made directly of Anduin and other Alliance leaders to give the refugees at least, like, a little support were either half-fulfilled or not at all, he basically starts a mild trade war. This was a pretty controversial move even among the night elves, but there wasn’t much else he could do. But during the Long Vigil, the night elves had perfected the art of being self-sufficient, and it definitely hurt the Eastern Kingdoms more than it hurt them. So with that set into motion, and Tyrande’s mind made up, she returns to her place as High Priestess and diverts every available resource into finally bringing the refugees home. It’s a very slow process, and relations continue to decay as it happens. But eventually everyone who wants to go back to Kalimdor does. A portion of worgen stay, and even some night elves who had their own reasons. But the majority do go back.

Then, after negotiating borders with the (now much more diplomatic) Horde, Tyrande cuts off ties with the Alliance. Relations had been iffy at best ever since they joined — their alliance had been built on “enemy of my enemy”, after all — but the other nations showed their true colors during and after the Fourth War. The Alliance’s High King himself had failed to send troops to help reclaim Darkshore when he had very clearly shown he was more than willing to send soldiers to Arathi, Lordaeron, and Kul Tiras. And again, the whole “if we hadn’t been a part of the Alliance, Sylvanas wouldn’t have seen us as a target” thing. So, with Darkshore, Moonglade, Winterspring, Felwood, Mount Hyjal, most of Ashenvale, and portions of Stonetalon now within their control again, the night elves settle into another period of isolation. It’s not quite a second Long Vigil — there’s some trade/interaction with the draenei (due to proximity and shared trauma) and tauren (due to shared values) — but all in all, they’re on their own now. Relations with the Horde aren’t good per se, but both sides are willing to agree on a “if you don’t fuck with us, we won’t fuck with you” policy. They both want to avoid anything like Teldrassil ever happening again, and that’s ultimately what allows northern Kalimdor to exist in relative peace.

I don’t have quite so many details decided after this point, but I do still have a general idea. Dragonflight happens about ten or fifteen years-ish after the night elves secede, and since they’re still keeping an eye on the other factions and the world in general with magic, spies, and magic spies, they decide to send their own expedition to the Dragon Isles. They keep to their own, and any accidental interactions with Alliance adventurers are tense at best. We’ll have to see how this expansion plays out, but I intend on using the dragons (specifically the Aspects) to fix the sword in Silithus somehow. It’s definitely still a big problem, and it’s been causing climate change-like effects this entire time (unpredictable and extreme weather events globally) as well as its own unique, “fun” issues (weird tectonic anomalies, the elements are extremely agitated, and azerite is still a thing people fight over). I actually already had the “elements are cranky” idea before that was revealed to be a thing in Dragonflight, so I’m glad that lined up because that saves me some work lmao.

(Also just wanted to say that a lot of night elves see azerite as the reason for the Fourth War and, by extension, Teldrassil. They want absolutely nothing to do with it.)

I’m also considering putting a version of the N’Zoth and Azshara story around there, when the sword is removed, since I figure such a big disturbance to Azeroth would be enough to wake up an Old God. But that’s for later down the line and it depends on whether that would clutter the story too much or not. Either way, after whatever’s gonna happen in Dragonflight (or rather, how much of it I decide to keep) and after the sword is fixed, the night elves are gonna stick to their own unless there’s a dire need for them to leave Kalimdor. They’re tired, man. They need time to rebuild, and to heal.

However, I do have concepts for a little Alliance-night elf conflict that could crop up at some point. The Horde may have agreed to leave the night elves alone, but the Alliance are imperialists. And aren’t too happy that they were, in their eyes, betrayed by a long-time ally…

So yeah! That’s my night elf secession AU. It’s extremely self-indulgent and a lot of fun to explore for me. WoW really has not given the night elves a lot of opportunities to be the badass mysterious amazon nation they are in Warcraft III, so I wanted to bring that back while also preserving some of what WoW DID add to their story, because I really do think Teldrassil is such a good jumping-off point for a huge shift in the overall Warcraft narrative... as much as it hurts me and as much as I am genuinely incapable of watching the Warbringers: Sylvanas or Old Soldier cinematics anymore. Night elves have meant a lot to me for a very long time and stories of people going through hell and still coming out okay on the other side are my favorite stories, so I want to tell my own.

I’m also open to more questions about this AU, I have a lot of little things I changed both in regards to things like how magic works and minor lore changes, like how I made Teldrassil at least a couple thousand years old, as opposed to the 15 (or so) years it had existed in canon before it was burned. They only planted it after the Third War. You can check. It’s extremely stupid and everyone ignores that little detail so I will too <3

Anyway, thank you so much for asking, I’ve been dying to share all this and I didn’t realize that until you asked JHNDJSKJ

#ask box #au lore #night elf #kaldorei #not art

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rainyday-deer · 1 year

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Things I have learned while living in Maritime Canada for the last 6 months, as a person who was born and raised in Arizona:

Fog makes things wet. One of my most shocking revelations tbh. It seems so obvious in retrospect, but somehow it never occurred to me at all.

Paying taxes as a US citizen when you’re NOT in the states is a huge pain in the ass. 0/10, do not recommend.

At least where I am, air conditioning seems to be hard to come by. Heaters are understandably more important (However I sleep warm, and thus was dying, and had to sleep with my window wide open all winter.)

There’s jellyfish this far up north! I’ve seen Sea Gooseberries and I was Astounded.

Buildings built in the 1800s (and some 1700s) still being used today is Super Normal Actually, and they even get a fancy lil plaque.

Boat parts just laying around.

GRASS GETS SO LONG????? SO LONG. WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME GRASS GETS THAT LONG, AND SO FAST.

Spring is??? So slow???? It’s already May and the trees are only now budding, and flowers are only now blooming. In AZ it would already well be considered summer and most of the plants would be on their way to being shriveled husks.

DANDELIONS CLOSE AT NIGHT???? MOST FLOWERS DO???? I’ve only seen Desert Poppies do that.

sunset is around 8:30 right now. It used to go down at 5. The disparity confuses me.

Daylight Savings also confuses me and I Hate It

The most dangerous animals here aren’t venomous and are Also hard to come by. I will keep you all posted on any Moose Sightings.

Canada is REALLY patriotic. There’s jokes about the US leaning hard on the ‘made in America!’ thing, but Canada takes it even further I find. Maple leaves everywhere. ‘Canadian made/grown/raised’ on everything. The fast food joints have a maple leaf stuck gracefully somewhere in their logo so you know this is the CANADIAN version of that thing. A friend explained why to me but it’s still something I’m amused by.

The post office doesn’t close at 5. I am still shocked.

Bus tickets can also be used for Ferries, if your city has one!

Like Coffeemate creamer??? Good fucking luck finding that shit. And if you can, good luck finding a flavor besides Hazelnut or French Vanilla. (The After 8 flavor is good tho, if you can find it.)

Reddiwhip cannot be found anywhere and I miss it SO Much

I miss Target too.

Lots of stuff I miss, actually, that I didn’t realize Canada just Didn’t Have. RIP.

Canadian Shipping my Beloathed. Expensive + takes forever + more expensive if you get charged Duty on your items so That Sucks

Paper straws and resuable bags, yes, HOWEVER, also useless extra plastic in other ways, or taking away things in packaging that would ordinarily prevent using MORE plastic, only to use more of it anyway bc it’s gone. Very questionable.

I think I have more reusable shopping bags than I will ever need in my lifetime now.

I will presumably update my Canada Log™ at a later date, but for now thats all I can think of.

#Mo Chatter #Canada Log

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a-little-bit-of-tradition · 5 months

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Hello! Some of you may have seen me around. I'm technically a nobody in this fandom on here as I like to keep to myself, but am taking a plunge and getting this off my chest now that the show's over for me. I don't see myself as a writer, but I have my own headcanons now for how I would have taken the Upstead story that I've written out and thought I'd share in case it helps other people. I've lost a lot of ships in my time! It never gets easier, you just learn new coping mechanisms. Will continue posting/reblogging content of older seasons to remember what we had. 💕

As I mentioned here in tags, events may have given them a nudge, but all their decisions were made out of love. They may have experienced trauma and their own demons that influenced their methods, but this relationship and being together was always where they wanted to be. Their relationship was never a trauma response. Immediately leaning on someone else is a trauma response.

Headcanon 1: (personal fave) Tracy leaves first half of season.

In those 6 months, Jay and Hailey were talking and were both starting to open up and connect again. We learn divorce is brought up but they choose to work through it. Hailey was therefore feeling less pain and reintegrating herself back in the team. Jay lets her know that he has an end date and he wants to come home to her if she wants him too and that he's sorry. He thought that was what he needed but now knows all he wants is a life with Hailey.

Hailey decides that she's experienced enough in Intelligence and wants to try something new and lets Voight know she's leaving and that she and Jay are good. We learn Hailey and Jay have made plans to leave Chicago as they both have too many ghosts and need a fresh chapter. (Insert casual reference/joke to starting with a very belated honeymoon/reconcilation time, perhaps in a cabin in Northern Wisconsin if that still exists, or just anywhere).

Once Hailey has left, we later learn through a team conversation in passing, that they are in Seattle (humour me!) and she has taken up a new position in a role that's closer to the cop she wants to be. And Jay is doing something quieter in a more educator/training position rather than full combat. The two are happy and now prioritising their marriage and joining their lives together.

Headcanon 2: More in line with canon with my attempt to try and make sense of it...

Hailey and Jay are now divorced. Jay could hear Hailey was in pain in those 6 months and felt obligated as the cause of it to free her from him, even though we as the audience knew it was the opposite of what Hailey wanted from him which was to just come home. Hailey's mad because it's not how she wanted things to go but doesn't actually tell Jay that, thinking she has to let him go, so now has to bear a life without the man she loves and focus on the one thing she has avoided, (according to canon) herself.

Through talking with Kim she hesitantly decides to start therapy and in the next 5/6 months, slowly starts to think about who Hailey is and what Hailey wants. She decides that she's ready to leave Intelligence and try different areas of policing. She's a "good cop" but wants to be a better one.

Then in the last 2 eps, Hailey has reached out to Jay, to let him know she's ok and hopes he is too. He's thrilled to hear it as he didn't want to reach out in case it caused her more pain and feared she hated him. She's in a better place and at this point they can talk as old friends and she tells him she has a new job and will leave soon. Jay later mentions he has an end date and that he'd love to see her if that's something she'd want. She cautiously agrees, as she knows that is in fact what she does want, and they make plans to. We learn next season through the team that they are trying again with a fresh start.

💕

#didn't we almost have it all #chicago pd #upstead #hailey upton #jay halstead #completely ignoring the jason part #my headcanons #upsteadforever

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pandapupremade · 2 years

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Babysitting Cream

WORDS: 1918

SHIP: Mephiles / Infinite x Lila Kitty (poly selfship)

CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of food, discussions involving past events of villain actions which are not relevant to the actual fic but yknow

SUMMARY: A trio of idiots babysits a 6 year old. It's fine. Everything's fine.

author note: I have worked on-off for this since like. idk months ago a loong time. possibly even since 2021. either way i find it very funny and finally finished it. enjoy

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"You don't mind, do you?" Lila asked as she poured herself some coffee that morning, "I mean, it's not like you two have other plans, right?" She received blank stares in response. Well, Mephiles always stared blankly, but Infinite's stares were usually more disappointed...Ah, that's besides the point.

She had, for context, just dropped the awkward (not for her) bomb that she had agreed to Mephiles, Infinite and herself babysitting six year old Cream the Rabbit while her mom, Vanilla, went out on a day trip with a friend. (Which was a little strange to Lila, because normally Vanilla would simply take Cream along, but it seems the friend wanted some alone time, whoever it was...)

Anyway, the babysitting thing; it was going to start around noon, and Lila hadn't bothered to tell either of her partners before the morning of. It's fine, she knew they never really went anywhere without her, so if they hadn't been able to help out, she would've known!

Infinite sighed, moving forward and crossing his elbows on the kitchen table. "Interesting mother the child must have, to entrust her daughter to the likes of us..."

Lila paused. "...Yeaaah, I guess that's true - Mephiles almost destroyed the essence of time, you kinda reigned terror for a while..." She tapped her chin. "..Ah well. What's done is done and well in the past." ...Technically what Mephiles did never happened in this timeline, though. Infinite has less excuse.

"There would also be you, who is a danger to everyone, including herself." Infinite added, to which Lila huffed.

"I'm more careful when it's not my life on the line!" She told him, putting her hand on her hip and sipping her coffee a moment after. She froze, then, and glared at Mephiles now - "Don't you say a WORD about it, Mr. Ruined Timeline."

Infinite also glanced at Mephiles, who had been quiet so far (though had a minor air of amusement at Lila's words). "...What about you? You have no complaints?"

Mephiles said nothing a moment longer, then looked up at him. "...No." A goo monster of few words. Oh well.

"Glad to hear it! Vanilla is really sweet, so I would hate to let her down!" Lila hummed. If that's truly the case, maybe she should've checked with Infinite and Mephiles BEFORE the day of, buuut...That's not how Lila rolls, and everyone knows it.

"I do wonder, though," She mused as she leaned against the counter, "Who exactly is she going out with...? Is she dating someone? Hmm..."

"It's not your business, is it?" Infinite shook his head. "There you go again, observing everyone's lives..."

"I'm just curious! It's not like I'd ASK HER something so personal!" Press the X button to doubt, as the kids say. Infinite and Mephiles would mash that button if it were physical.

...........

A little later, the three would depart, and a bit after that would arrive at the little cottage that Cream and her mother called home.

"Well, we're here!" Lila smiled with the announcement of her presence, skipping up the decorative garden-barriered walkway. "Man, it's always so cozy here..."

"That's a word for it," Infinite eyed the home with a bit of distaste. Clearly, it was too cutesy for him. Mephiles also seemed a little...put off by the bright colors. He began to reach out, actually, for a flower, but Lila stopped him.

"Hey! Don't touch the flowers! Cream worked hard to plant those."

"...The child planted these?" Mephiles seemed...curious. Weird.

"Yes, and I don't need you upsetting her before we even get inside." Lila scolded him. Still, her attention was caught by the front door opening, and a very tall rabbit stepping out.

"Miss Lila, is that you?" the woman spoke with a restful expression; probably a demeanor unfitting of her greeting two ex-villains and the singular and irresponsible thing keeping them from returning to said villainy. Yeah, Lila was that singular thing, somehow.

"Ah! Miss Vanilla!" Lila beamed, "You look lovely today!"

"Thank you, dear. Please, all of you - do come in..." She opened her front door a tad wider, and Lila gestured for her partners to follow as she walked inside. The interior was comfortable, but somehow bigger than the outside had implied. "Cream shouldn't be any trouble for you today...In fact, she seems quite excited to see you."

"Oh, she could never be any trouble." Lila shook her head. "She's so sweet, after all...Where is she now?"

"Ah, she's in her room with Cheese and Chocola..."

"Well, we'll go see her, then." Lila nodded, and started towards the hallway.

"Oh, do you know which room is hers?"

Vanilla gently called after her, and the feline stopped.

"Er...." Didn't think so. Vanilla would inform her, though, and they'd actually make their way there.

Voices were audible, once getting closer - well, one mobian voice, and two chao voices. "Cheese, please pass the sugar."

"Chao, chao!"

"Thank you. More tea, Chocola?"

"Chao, chao, chaaao!"

"Certainly!"

"Tea parties..." Infinite grimaced, but Lila shushed him.

"You will enjoy a lovely tea party with Cream, Finni." She smiled in a way he did not exactly feel emotionally supported by. "And you'll play dress up, eat her toy cooking, compliment her pictures, give her friendship bracelets..."

"Joyous day. Shall I allow her piggyback riding as well?"

"Oh! Great idea!"

Infinite's hand brought itself to his face. There was no backing out now, was there? Absolutely not, and it was worthless to even ask.

"Hi Cream!" Lila popped her head into the room, followed by stepping in with a bit of a sway in her movements. "And Cheese and Chocola, of course! I hope I'm not interrupting..."

"Oh, hello Miss Lila!" The soft spoken little rabbit smiled - although, she actually wasn't much shorter than Lila. Lila was small for an adult mobian, you see. "Please don't worry! You're always an invited guest."

She then blinked as Infinite peered his head in behind Lila. Lila glanced at the Jackal. "Oh, um...I brought along some friends - is that alright, Cream?" She smiled a tad...nervously now.

Cream tilted her head. "Hm? Oh!" Another blink, and a surprised expression. "Of course, Miss Lila! I'm sorry for staring, Mister Infinite. Please, do come in."

Infinite hesitated, seeming to be more on edge than before. Lila, on the other hand, relaxed tremendously. Then, Cream spoke again.

"Miss Lila, you said you brought friends...But I only see you and Mister Infinite."

Lila glanced around. "Ah - oop - one second. Mephy, where are you?" The cat moved to leave and search...Leaving Infinite and a child alone.

A child, to be specific, who knew all about the destruction and fear he had caused. Infinite could only give a feeble, fleeting prayer that she at least hadn't witnessed it first hand.

Yet the girl said nothing to him, really. For all he knew as she turned back to her Chao, her intentions were to ignore him. Maybe for the first time in his stubborn life, Infinite was fine with no acknowledgement. He watched her pick up another little teacup and fill it with some apple juice - sorry, tea - with just as sweet a smile as before. Infinite figured it was for Lila, and tilted his head to gaze around the tiny little room.

"...Here you are, Mister Infinite."

The direct referral certainly took him off guard. He looked back at Cream, bewildered at her offering out the teacup she had just poured. "...What?"

"It's for you. I do insist you drink it while it's hot."

Infinite blinked, but took it in his hands with more gentleness than maybe anyone expected. But Cream did not waver. She retained her pleasant demeanor and seemed delighted he took the tea. "I..." Infinite averted his eyes. "...Thank you, Miss Cream."

What had he gotten himself into?!

...........

Meanwhile, Lila was hunting down Mephiles. It seemed to her like he'd just vanished! Not unlike him, but not convenient right now. Lila did run into Vanilla, though, who seemed to be taking care of chores while she waited for her date to arrive.

"Um, Miss Vanilla...Did you see Mephiles come through here?"

"Mh? Mephiles?" Vanilla turned to the cat with a thoughtful frown. "I'm afraid not. Perhaps he stepped outside?"

"Hmm..." Lila tapped her chin, gaze shifting to the doorway. "It is possible. He showed interest in Cream's flowers earli - AH!" Lila's shout caught Vanilla off guard, but the cat didn't notice the concern and rushed out towards the front of the cottage again.

As Lila very naturally and accurately predicted based on the presented clues (she praised herself for such cunning intellect), Mephiles was crouched by a patch of flowers. Immediately, she panicked. Knowing Mephiles, he had turned Cream's precious garden to gooey shadow or crystalized it or...

....Or perhaps he was helping them grow? The flowers looked taller than before, and very much blooming vibrantly. Lila blinked, confused. "Um...Mephy?"

Mephiles looked up at Lila upon her approach. As he stood, she noticed a fading purple from his hand, and she deduced a usage of his powers. (All this exaggerated journalism vocabulary was getting tiresome.)

"Did you, um...?" She pointed to the flowers. Mephiles nodded. Lila pursed her lips. "...So my next question is how you did that."

"It's simple." Mephiles replied, "I have a decent control over time and space...I chose to manipulate the growth of the plant to a more notable appearance."

"...Notable?"

"They were unimpressive before."

Lila stared at him. He stared back, as blank as ever. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, well. Let's get back inside now."

Mephiles nodded, abd the two started for the front door...but their destination would be reached first by someone else. Lila instantly recognized the culprit, and all the clues came together at last.

What clues, the audience asked? (What audience it is remains irrelevant to Lila's thought process.) Well, to go over them...Lila was used to Vanilla taking Cream out when she had to leave the house, meaning whomever she was going on a date with had romantic intent. Vanilla had many friends who could've watched Cream, and not just Lila's mismatched trio. Finally, Lila just remembered she technically owed someone ten bucks.

With all this, it was finally clear! Vanilla was going on a date with Vector the Crocodile. Sure enough, the tall green reptile was strolling up the walk, bouquet in hand, possibly listening to music based on his rhythm filled walk cycle. However...He froze at the sight of Lila, and quickly turned his headphones off.

"You?! What're you doing here?"

"Watching a child." Lila replied confidently. Vector blinked, his eyes shifting to Mephiles. Lila rolled her eyes. "Not him. I mean Cream."

"Alright, yeah, okay. That makes more sense." Vector rubbed his forehead. "What're ya being hired to watch 'er for, though? Can't she get Amy?"

"I'm making up the ten I owe you." That was not the real reason, but Vector bought it. Well, whatever.

Vector and Vanilla would have to be on their way, so there was hardly time for more chit-chat. Lila had more hope in herself, and she guessed she kind of had hope in her companions, too. Mephiles would likely please Cream with having helped her flowers, and as for Infinite...

Lila paused.

"...You think we would be able to ditch him here?" She turned to Mephiles hopefully. "Maybe instead we could follow Vector and Vanilla and take notes for blackm..."

Mephiles now gave a chill inducing effect in his stare, and Lila shivered.

"Joking, I was joking. Let's go back inside."

#ok 2 reblog #🐱✏️ lila kitty (self insert)#💍🤍 ruby romance (infinite the jackal)#🦔🖤 crystalline goop (mephiles the dark)#kermitwriting #ask to tag

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studentofetherium · 2 years

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How does your writing process usually go?

i start screaming, and anywhere between 60 minutes and 6 months later, a story is done

more seriously, it can vary a lot, but it can usually be split into three categories. the first is "stories for characters", which is to say, i have the thought "i want to write something for this character/these characters/this ship". these tend to not be very long, but also can be a bit rough to write since i don't know where i'm going with any of it, it ends up being mostly stream of consciousness. this can be a bit annoying, and often these stories don't go anywhere. i don't mind when one of these goes nowhere, because it's basically a doodle for writing, but that does mean that a lot never get released

the second is stories without endings. this is stories where i have an idea for a plot, but i don't think on it too long, so i start before i have an idea of where i'm going with it. it's a bit more structures, since i have an idea of what it's supposed to be, but figuring out the ending is often an issue. i've been working on one of these lately, where the idea is "trans Satsuki" and i have most of the plot in mind, but in trying to figure out where it's supposed to end (and thus, how to start moving towards that ending), there are issues

and the last is stories with endings. in these cases, i worked out the plot from start to finish, typically beat for beat, before starting it. these usually end up being multi-chapter stories, and often they end up being my longest projects. but since i know how the plot is going to go, these are my most cohesive stories, especially since knowing the next part before i write it means i can start thinking ahead to future scenes, meaning i can have some ideas about how it works out in practice, like dialogue or narration. unfortunately, since i'm sticking to my notes, it can be a bit stifling, so sometimes i get stuck (i was stuck on my current long fic for like a month before figuring out how to end a scene, but now that i'm done i'm making a ton of progress and might even be done soon) and also sometimes i just start writing what feels natural for the scene and it begins to deviate from my notes, so i have to change things. which is fun but can also be annoying

#my writing

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powerwash · 2 months

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Direct Drive vs. Belt Drive vs. Gear Drive

There is a huge misconception about what a gear driven power washer is. Because it is “almost” directly coupled to the engine and not assembled as a belt drive, people assume it cannot pull water from a tank. This is incorrect.

I ran my first gear driven machine in 2017 because I had a fleet washing contract that required I get a machine immediately rather than later. What did Fred and I do? Build a quick gear driven system that took us only a few days to get up and running, rather than a belt drive that would have taken a week for us to construct.

I was hesitant about this process because my first machine was belt driven and I had no issues with the system that we built that had been in use for 2 years. But the amount of time it took to fabricate it to Fred’s standards was unreasonable for this situation and I needed something immediately.

We ran our gear driven system to wash garbage trucks and the 2 5.5 gallon machines we built were “somewhat” a success. Originally we used a Predator and a Duramax engine to save on cost and for fast delivery. The Duramax shook so much that after 2 jobs the fuel tank rattled off and most of the bolts on the engine were loose (this is after 12 hours of use). The predator lasted about 1 month and then the muffler broke off while running and shot a blue flame, causing my cleaning technicians to shut down. We switched our engines to Kohler and these issues stopped occurring.

The gear driven system had nothing to do with the engines failing, they were just extremely tempting because of the cost of the engines (at the time 289$ free shipping).

I spent in the ball park of 6 hours of my time to take off the gear assemblies, replacing the engines with new ones and spending the time to haggle with harbor freight to get a refund on the predator engine. The 6 hours I wasted cost me more than just buying 2 Kohler engines from lost opportunity.

Back to gear drives! I ran a Comet RWS5535 (https://washmart.com/collections/pumps/products/comet-rws-5535-s-solid-shaft-pressure-washer-pump) with a Comet gear box from 2017 to… It still runs today. This bottom machine has ran for 5 years, and is used weekly. The hour usage on it is approximately 1200-1500 hours (it has generated in the ballpark of 150,000$ over this time frame for my cleaning accounts).

When I then built another trailer with 2 more gear drives (this time with Kohler CH730s) We have run the same 2 engines and the same 2 Comet RWS6040 pumps since 2018. We have had to change the unloader valve twice and the two machines have been running for nearly 2000 hours. This machine has been rented, abused and beat down and still going!. This convinced me that gear driven units weren’t as bad as I had been advised.

Now what is the difference between a gear drive and a direct drive? A direct drive is directly coupled to the engine and generally runs anywhere from 3000 RPM to 3600 RPM (3400 RPM is the industry standard). What does this mean? It means that the RPM on the pump is so high, that it will struggle to create a vacuum (venturi effect) and can sometimes have difficulty pulling water. What we have found with direct drive pumps is that many CAN pull from a tank without positive pressure, but the lifespan on the pumps is greatly reduced. CAT makes a DX model pump that actually was designed to pull water from a tank, and does this well for a direct drive.

A gear drive is an intermediate piece between the pump and the engine reducing the RPM ratio. If you have a 3600 RPM engine (in the USA this is standard) and run a gearbox rated at 1750 RPM, you will have nearly a 2 to 1 ratio (meaning the pump is rotating at 1750ish RPM) and the pump can pull water from a tank with ease, without positive pressure. This is the same principle as when you use a 6 inch pulley on the pump and a 3 inch pulley on the engine. You will get approximately a 1750ish RPM with a belt drive when you use this pulley ratio.

One thing we have found with direct drives is they are actually very reliable pumps as long as they are not left running without being used. If you don’t release the trigger gun and allow the water to travel, a direct drive that has a closed loop will recirculate the water causing the water to get hotter every time it recirculates. Eventually the temperature gets over 150 degrees and begins to melt your water seals and check valves (the non metallic parts).

Gear driven machines are an interesting wrench in our industry. Where a belt driven machine is what I consider a more reliable system (when built properly) it has one major drawback, power transfer. What we have found is that with a gear driven IGX800 we can get 4200 PSI at 8.5 GPM when pairing with the AR XWAM8G35 (https://washmart.com/collections/pumps/products/xwam8g35n-pump) . When we ran the same pump and engine as a belt drive the maximum we could get was 3700 PSI at 8 GPM. And why is this substantial? It is substantial because they both use the same amount of energy but one does produce more work. What we have recommended is if you are a sole operator and mechanically adept at fixing your own equipment, gear drive is the way to go. If you are running a larger company with multiple trucks and using multiple operators I recommend going with a belt driven system.

Direct drives are still great tools as backup power washers and we always recommend to our customers that they have 1 inexpensive direct drive cart on standby in case their primary rig goes down. We have been running the same Comet ZWD4040 (https://washmart.com/collections/pumps/products/zwd4040) on a direct drive Kohler since 2017 and the amount of hours on it is unknown (but heavy).

Some people have had entirely different results with the products above I have mentioned and it is fair that some of this information can become “subjective”. But with the volume of work we put out this has been our experience. Between Fred and I, there is extensive experience between building and using the equipment.

When we ran the same pump and engine as a belt drive the maximum we could get was 3700 PSI at 8 GPM. And why is this substantial? It is substantial because they both use the same amount of energy but one does produce more work. What we have recommended is if you are a sole operator and mechanically adept at fixing your own equipment, gear drive is the way to go. If you are running a larger company with multiple trucks and using multiple operators I recommend going with a belt driven system. Direct drives are still great tools as backup power washers and we always recommend to our customers that they have 1 inexpensive direct drive cart on standby in case their primary rig goes down. We have been running the same Comet ZWD4040 on a direct drive Kohler since 2017 and the amount of hours on it is unknown (but heavy). Some people have had entirely different results with the products above I have mentioned and it is fair that some of this information can become “subjective”. But with the volume of work we put out this has been our experience. Between Fred and I, there is extensive experience between building and using the equipment.

#power washing #pressurewashing #diy

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lindsaystravelblogs3 · 5 months

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Greenland. (Months later - 6 January 2024!)

It is several months since I wrote anything for this blog. We have been home for three months and it has been a frantically busy time – so much so that a lot of the detail of the end of our trip (the Northwest Passage component) has become blurry or worse. As a result, I will try to summarise the last four weeks of our trip in less detail and only describe a few things I can remember in reasonable detail.

Day 90 was 23 August and we were up well before dawn and in a taxi to the airport, flying first to Frankfurt for a few hours, and then on to Toronto, skipping across numerous time zones and arriving before noon (Toronto time) after some 15 hours getting there.

Day 91 24 August

Heather needed a haircut so she arranged an appointment at another hotel further down the road. We asked the concierge at our hotel how to get there – could we walk? No, no, no, nobody walks anywhere in Canada!!! – so he arranged a taxi. We had no Canadian dollars, and the driver wouldn’t take card, so he calculated how much it would cost in US dollars and extracted an exorbitant sum from us in cash before he would take us anywhere. Then we were off to the other hotel – maybe 300 metres, maybe less, further down the road!!! Unbelievable and the cabbie must have been laughing his head off at his huge rip-off. Heather then had an extremely expensive haircut, but at least it was entertaining with the two brothers who ran the salon exchanging stories and travel tales with us for at least an hour.

We decided to walk back to our hotel – a long trek and something no Canadian would ever do. What a wonderful decision. We walked along the verge of the highway and saw lots of wildflowers and a few interesting birds in a copse below us as we crossed an overpass. A huge Cooper’s Hawk flew down and sat on a pylon right in front of us and just above eye-level, and stayed there so we could have an excellent examination of it – quite beautiful.

We ate a massive lunch at a diner across the road from our hotel – another great experience talking with the wait-staff and watching the world (and a few more of its birds) go by outside. All up, Heather’s tonsorial excursion occupied close to five delightful hours, studded with entertaining and educational conversation and combined with notable flora and fauna encounters.

Day 92 25 August

We stayed at the airport hotel overnight again, and next morning were whisked off to Kangerlussuaq on a chartered flight where we were Zodiac-ed out to our home for the next couple of weeks – Aurora’s Sylvia Earle, the same ship we enjoyed in the Antarctic last Christmas/New Year. We had 75 fellow-expeditioners to meet, and staff by the score. We settled in, enjoyed some welcome drinks, suffered the initial briefing and lifeboat drill, and ate dinner before crashing into bed so we would be ready for the next day’s excitement.

Day 93 26 August

We moved to Sisimiut overnight and were taken on a bus trip around the town during the morning. Sisimiut is Greenland’s second largest town and has been inhabited for at least 4,500 years – one year for nearly every Greenlandic dog camped in the local dog-town. We had done a similar bus trip when we were in Sisimiut a year or two ago, but it was still interesting, and I added a few more bird species to my list along the way. The houses are all very brightly painted with the colours historically used to indicate of the nature of the building – red for churches, schools, and related staff houses; yellow for hospitals and health-care workers; blue for fish factories; black for police stations, and so on.

Over lunch, we watched a demonstration by a champion kayaker turning all sorts of underwater somersaults (a very strange national sport) beside the ship and there were more celebrations at the Captain’s Cocktail Party before another sumptuous dinner.

Day 94 27 August

We awoke to find ourselves almost surrounded by huge icebergs as we sailed into Ilulissat where the world’s fastest flowing glacier meets the ocean – more than fifty kilometres from its source at the edge of the world’s second largest icecap.

We were taken on a small boat to explore the edge of the glacier and skirted many of the mammoth icebergs floating in the harbour. We saw quite a bit of wildlife on the excursion, with seals popping their heads up to examine us and lots of birds to fascinate me. We were then bussed to the start of the boardwalk that took us down to the edge of the glacier a couple of kilometres ‘upstream’. There is an Ice Museum there and we spent half an hour in there, but it was crowded and a bit too touristy for us, so we walked a kilometre or two along the boardwalk, exploring the plants and colourful flowers on either side, as well as spying quite a few more species of birds. Last time we were here, we went to the end of the boardwalk, and I climbed to the very edge of the glacier, but we chose not to tackle the steeper sections this time and simply explored the rocks and natural beauty from where it was a little easier to return to the bus that took us back to the ship for lunch.

The ice in the harbour is treacherous, often blocking ingress and egress as the wind takes the giant icebergs from the glacier into the mouth of the harbour and our captain decided that it was safer to depart before the incoming ice impacted our ability to continue our voyage.

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