#and one survives and it's enough to restart the whole thing over | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jpitha · 6 months

Text

Humans rig stuff together

The battle had been close. The Gren Warfinder had completely surprised them. They flipped nearby on a stolen drive and had started pounding the convoy. They were clearly trying to cut supply lines to the Colony in an attempt to starve them into surrendering. More than half of the ships in the convoy were destroyed before the Coalition was able to mount a response. Iixan was thankful that their ship was only mostly destroyed instead of completely destroyed. The Coalition dreadnought could waste no resources to repair though. They offloaded the cargo, handed out a case of multi-species ration bars and said that if the crew couldn’t fix the ship, someone would be by in 30 solar days or so to rescue them. With a ‘luck be with you’ they flipped away, giving chase to the Gren.

Iixan was ordered by the captain to assess the damage. The hull was holed in at least five places and two of them were too large to patch. They were going to be in suits for the duration. That was frustrating, but survivable.

What wasn’t survivable was the fact that two of the three reactors were offline, with one of them reduced to slag. Iixan found himself next to the non slagged reactor with the three human crew members standing over it. They stood around the reactor, one with their hands on their hips. Iixan didn’t know much about human body language, but they knew that pose was an important one.

He found their comm channel and clipped in. “…I’m telling you, we can just do a hard restart with something in place of the fusion fuse.”

“That’s insane. The fuse exists for a reason. If we let the field get too strong then the whole thing will collapse.”

“Is it better to have a rickety reactor and be able to Flash home, or no reactor and sit here, cold in our suits, eating-“ here the human shuddered “-multi-species ration bars for a month while we wait for the Coalition to remember we’re stuck out here?”

“Okay, wait. Maybe we can split the difference. What if we- oh hey Iixan! What’s up?”

At the mention of his name, the three humans turned to face Iixan. Their suits were bulkier and armored where his was just barely a skin of synthcloth and a helmet. He always wondered why human suits always looked like battle armor. Their large bulbous helmets were clear now, but they could be completely blackened, or even mirrored when necessary. Iixan always felt a little uncomfortable when multiple humans turned to give him their full attention. “Uh, Commander Mizzen asked me to do a damage assessment.” He peered around the humans at the three reactors. “Looks… bad?”

The first human nodded and gestured towards the pile of melted metal, still smoking slightly. The light of a nearby star shone through the smoke, giving it a pretty effect. “Reactor three is toast. There’s no fixing that one. Reactor one is offline with… minor damage. Reactor two is online and keeping us alive for now. We’re trying to decide if we can rig Reactor one to work enough to Flash home.”

“Rig?”

“You know” The second human shrugged in their suit. “Make it work enough to get us somewhere. It’s not fixing it, not really. Just like pretending it’s fixed to the point where it doesn’t realize it’s broken and it’ll run until it notices that it’s actually broken.” The other two looked at him and he looked embarrassed. “Figuatively that is.”

Iixan’s upper arms crossed themselves and made a motion like rubbing warmth into his arms. “And that works?”

“It’s a little more than pretending it’s going to work.” The first human sighed. “We can get it going, but it won’t be pretty and it probably won’t be… that safe. I know your sapient group is more sensitive to high magnetic fields and the reactor is going to be… leaky so you should probably tell the captain to keep the reactor hall humans only if we get it running.”

“You’ll be all right?”

The third human had a strange lilt to his speech. Iixan asked once and he said that he grew up in a place called ‘Minnesota.’ “Oh yah, it’ll be fine, but doncha know, it’ll be a mite dangerous for everyone. No worries though, we’ll make it work enough to Flash.”

The first human nodded. “Come back in a demicycle Iixan, you’ll see.”

Iixan completed his survey and reported to the captain. While he was out, people were able to seal some of the smaller holes to the point where you could take your helmet off in a few rooms. That would make eating easier at least.

One demicycle later, and Iixan returned to the reactor hall. The slagged reactor was in even more pieces than he thought possible, and Reactor one was partially disassembled. Iixan swore that he saw melted parts of Reactor three wired into the reactor. When he clipped into the comm channel they turned. “Oh Hi Iixan! We’re just about ready to test.”

Iixan pointed at the parts. “What are the… melted parts?”

“Oh, that was Will’s idea. We stole some of the… less melted parts from Reactor three to try and kick Reactor one over. They’re not exactly the same model, but I think it’ll be close enough. Just had to put in a few bodge wires in to get power and signal where it needed to be.”

Peering closer, Iixan saw that there was nearly an entire plain’s worth of wires roughly soldered into different parts of the reactor, crossing back and forth and across. The Reactor looked utterly broken. He looked up at the humans. “This… will work?”

Will smiled. “One way to find out, right? We’re going to force a hard restart and see if it’ll work. Tell the Captain to get ready, okay?”

Iixan made a gesture of supplication to the Machine Spirits and called the Captain. The Captain was just as dubious as Iixan was, but agreed to let them try. He signaled Will and the other two and they made that odd gesture of theirs where they curl their large fingers together except for their shortest one and stick it straight into the air.

“Here we go!” Will reached deep inside the Reactor and flipped some switches that were added while they were bogding.

After Will flipped the levers, the three of them jumped back almost as if they were injured. Iixan took another step back as the reactor spun up. The reactor hall had no atmosphere so he coulnd’t hear anything, but he could feel it. It had a thrumming vibration that was getting faster and faster. Iixan wasn’t a reactor technician but even he knew it didn’t sound right. The thrumming was… off balance somehow? It also sounded rougher? Still, the vibration was more and more intense until it felt like the grated floor was a shake table moving them around.

Suddenly, there was a prismatic flash and a shaft of pure white light shot out of the reactor towards the back wall. The humans jumped back and one of them reached towards a bundle of wires that was draped on the floor towards a wall when Will shouted “No! Leave it! We knew containment might leak. It’s otherwise holding steady. Let me refactor.” Will glanced down at his pad and furiously typed and slowly, the white beam faded.

It felt like the room would shake apart, and the reactor blurred in Iixan’s vision in a disconcerting way, but it was running. Will and the other two bounded up to Iixan. “That’s as good as we’re going to get it I think. It’s running at around 74.8%. If we run Reactor two at 112% We should be able to Flash home. We’ll have to stay in our suits, but that’s a sight better than hanging around here.”

The Captain was stunned when Iixan told him and demanded to see for himself. He was led to the Reactor hall but Will had warning him not to enter due to the danger. He stood in the open doorway watching the Reactor vibrate and blur as Reactor two ran with yellow and orange warnings all over the indicators as it was… gently overloaded. “Ancestors. You got it running.” He looked at Will. “How?”

Will demurred. “Oh, just a little bit of experience with these kind of Reactors and a human willingness to rig up a temporary solution. If it’s stupid and works, it’s not stupid.”

The Captain met Will’s gaze. “No. It’s still stupid. But right now we need some stupid. Well done. Now pardon me, I need to get the calculations to Flash home started before that-“ he points at the rigged reactor “-fails and traps us somewhere even worse than here.”

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #writing #humans are space oddities #jpitha #humans and aliens #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #FlashWarp

277 notes · View notes

chiffon-and-spice · 1 year

Text

Whatever You Say, Merc (Carlos Oliveira x Reader) 18+

(I restarted my account, because I didn't realize I was on my secondary when I posted pffft)

My A03 Account

Concept: Reader is a member of S.T.A.R.S. and, unlike Jill, is skeptical of Carlos. The whole night she's made her feelings known, and Carlos is starting to get a little fed up...

Raccoon City was a crumbling wasteland at this point. Every hour that ticked by, made the idea of surviving the place seem more hopeless. Every body you stumbled past, increased the tension in your shoulders. Every one of those... things that leapt through a window wound you up like a toy. You had stepped over so much rubble and glass at this point, you could feel tiny pebbles in your shoes.

Currently, you were shadowing Jill, ready and alert in case Nemesis decided to make any surprise visits. That man... Carlos... was close to Jill, and you never took your eyes off of him. You hoped the man could feel your penetrating gaze burning into his back.

You studied the Umbrella patch on his shoulder, a feeling of disgust building up inside your stomach. Umbrella. You couldn't believe how effortlessly the man had convinced your partner to trust him. You two would be lucky, if the night didn't end with a bullet in your back. Though perhaps you could shoot the bastard, just before you bled out. At least take him with you.

However, the more steps you took, the more you questioned the man's intentions. It was just you and Jill... alone out here. Did he not trust his abilities enough to be able to take out both of you? Pathetic.

As you mumbled the word, your eyes locked with the man, and you felt your breath hitch in your throat. Your hand instinctively went to your gun, as you narrowed your eyes at him. You couldn't quite read the expression on his face. Had he known you were talking about him? You held his gaze determined not to falter.

You were unsure if Jill could notice you two staring each other down, but it didn't matter. You were silently letting the man know if it came down to it, you'd shoot him without any hesitation. That Jill's trust in him didn't at all extend to you.

His expression was somewhat unreadable, and if you didn’t know any better you’d swear his eyes lingered in certain areas of your body, studying it like a painting. The expression he wore was unreadable however, and as quickly as you thought about it, his roaming seemed to stop. Almost like it had never occurred to begin with.

You relaxed, after he rolled his eyes, his attention going back to Jill. You were pleased to know he looked away first. It instilled a sort of confidence in you.

As you walked through the wreckage of the area, it slowly started to waver. Part of you felt as if someone... something was watching your little group from afar. Eyes peering out of the darkness, creatures shifting in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

Though you supposed after walking through the city for so long, that was a normal feeling. You hadn't been alone at all that night. Not really. Those... things... were everywhere.

You exhaled slowly, shaking the feeling away.

Despite being in the subway tunnels, secluded, it didn't make you feel any safer. In fact, you felt more confined... more trapped, between the narrow walls. Without a map, you didn’t know the area fairly well, nor did you know which tunnels would lead deeper or out.

You were thankful… at least in that aspect to have the man act as some sort of guide. Despite this feeling, you knew better than to relax. Him knowing the tunnels, didn’t mean he was taking you to safety. He could be leading the pair right into a trap.

You took note of anything that stood out, in each hallway you passed. A slanted sign here, an overturned bench there, and a long crack along the concrete there. You counted your steps, silently keeping track of just how many it was since entering the area. How many you’d have to take if the worst came to happen and you and Jill had to turn back.

Jill is the first to speak... killing the silence.

"You're really not going to say anything at all?"

She didn't have to address you, you knew the statement was directed at you.

"Don't have much else to say, other than what's already been stated. So for the sake of everyone, I'll restrain myself."

"Yes, because you've been so charitable tonight," the man replied.

Jill exhaled loudly, shaking her head. Probably because she was already fed up with the clear issues that remained between the two of you. Undoubtedly she was regretting trying to get you and him to talk.

"You're still alive aren't you?" you snapped back.

"Oh how generous. I could say the same thing about you, princess."

"That's because you know Jill would put a bullet in your skull. You'd be stupid to attack one of us. Not when we’re both on high alert."

"If I didn’t know better, I'd take that as a compliment."

Jill groaned, shooting the both of you a glare, before shaking her head.

"Could the two of you please... just try not to tear into each other. There's enough of that happening already. At least, not until we get out of the city. Then you two can blow holes into each other all you want."

You said nothing, but pushed past the man, content to be back in silence. The idea of putting a few bullet holes in him gave you enough motivation to not even care that he had gotten the last word in. You felt the muscles in your back tense up a bit, the offer not necessarily relieving of the tension.

You were gripping your gun so tightly, your knuckles were growing pale, as you pressed forward. Jill and the Umbrella merc were filling the silence in their own way, speaking quietly to each other. Knowing Jill, you knew it wasn’t the childish gossip sometimes shared around the Police Department. You still strained your ears regardless, curious about what the two of them could even be talking about.

As you listened, your gaze once again raked over the man, almost subconsciously. You couldn’t help but take small notes. The way his black shirt clung tightly to his biceps, his green vest hugging against his back, the curve of his spine. How his pants seemed to somewhat hang off of him yet also cling-

You shook your head rolling your eyes at yourself. You didn’t care how good looking this man was, it changed nothing. The better looking something was usually alluded to just how dangerous they really were.

Unlike before, you hoped the man hadn’t noticed your gaze. You felt your cheeks flush, as embarrassment crept along your neck. You gulped quietly to yourself, darting your gaze anywhere but at the man. Reminding yourself of who he worked for. What people like him were capable of.

You focused once again, keeping your eyes from looking anywhere but at the man. You had gotten so distracted now, you’d lost count of your numbers. This of course, only made you more annoyed with the man that accompanied you. It was his fault. You turned to glare at him once more, but were shocked to find the man’s brown eyes already staring at you. Jill was still talking, not noticing that his attention was elsewhere.

His face held a smug look on it, and it was almost like the atmosphere changed. Your breath hitched in your throat, however, you didn’t dare look away. Didn’t give him the satisfaction of making you back down.

You simply returned his gaze with a special look of your own. Your shoulders tensed as your teeth ground together, your knuckles starting to hurt from the tightness of your fingers around the gun. What really got under your skin, was the smirk that graced his lips, after seeing your face.

How he turned his head away, even seemed like a slap to the face. Despite not being the one to back down, you still felt as if you had lost. You were thankful for the moment to be forgotten, as the tunnel erupted with a low growl.

You quickly turned, raising your gun. In a matter of seconds, the sound was met with the all too familiar looming face of the tyrant. He was slowly making his way down the hall, easily spotting the three of you making your way around. He was unlike any other virus victim you’d ever seen before.

“Go! Go! Now!” Jill shouted, ushering you forward. The three of you began racing down the tunnel, not entirely sure where to go from here. The man took the lead, seeming certain of where to go.

Jill turned once or twice, to shoot the tyrant, which worked about as well as using your hands to chop down a tree. The thing pressed forward quicker, opening its mouth, as it let out an annoyed scream.

“STARS!”

The only thing it ever said. The creature’s voice was rough and gravely, making your insides squirm. If you guys didn’t come up with a plan soon, you’d be dead.

Before you could think more, the man is reaching a gate to your right. He presses a button, as it loudly shakes to life, lifting up. You press through, knowing that the gate wasn’t going to contain the Tyrant. Jill seemed well aware of this fact too, glancing around before making a split second decision.

“You guys move ahead, I’ll distract it and meet up with you on the train,” she explained, quickly rolling under the gate as it came to a close. The button on the other side.

“Jill, are you crazy!” you screamed in protest.

“Get back here!” the man shouted back.

You rolled your eyes, watching as Jill called out to the tyrant. Your attempts at getting the girl to come back were futile, and as the Nemesis approached, the man started pulling you back.

“We have to go.”

You glared at him, but didn’t argue, rushing in the opposite direction that Jill had gone. You knew Jill was a strong member, but even she had her limits. If anything happened to her, you were definitely going to kill the man beside you.

After what felt like forever, you and the man finally reached a spot that brought you relief. The train. It would only be a matter of time until Jill was reunited with you. That feeling was quickly shattered, once you were reminded of the merc she had left you with. You didn’t dare glance in his direction, making your way on the train.

You froze, after discovering it was empty, half expecting to feel a gun press into the back of your head. He planned this, he had to have. He wanted to separate you and Jill. You weren’t going to back down without a fight.

“You just let her go off like that, this is what you wanted the whole time wasn’t it? I bet you lured us down here, knowing no one was going to be here. You knew you wouldn’t be able to bring us both down on your own.”

The man scrunched his nose up in response, closing the train door. You could see his shoulders tighten, confusion clouding his eyes.

“Oh jesus… you’re still on about that. Look, whatever personal qualm you have with Umbrella has got nothing to do with me okay? I don’t know what you think you know about-”

You cut him off before he could finish, scoffing, as you shook your head. This man was unbelievable right now. Either he thought he could manipulate you, the way Umbrella loved to do with the general public, or he truly had no clue who he was working for. Both answers made your insides shake.

“What I think I know? How much do you actually know about your company? Do you even know what Umbrella does?”

“Do you?” he challenged.

You let out a sarcastic laugh, gesturing to the city.

“This! This is what Umbrella does, they create chaos and use idiots like you to clean up their mess.”

“Umbrella is trying to do good work, our special forces haven’t done any different than what you STARS have been doing.”

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms.

“Don’t ever compare me to you. You’re just like that thing out there. I bet there’s a number of STARS member’s blood on your hands. Unlike you I have honor and I know what I’m fighting for.”

You weren’t sure what part of what you’d said set him off. Perhaps it was putting yourself on a pedestal. Perhaps it was blaming him for the death of others. Or even questioning his honor. It could be that after hearing so many of your snarky remarks and threats, he was finally sick of it. Whatever the reason, he was now by you in a matter of seconds, pinning you between himself and the train.

A dark look crossed his eyes, but you didn’t dare back down, holding that same glare.

“I have tried so hard with you… But you’re really getting on my last nerves,” he growled.

“Right back at you merc.” you quipped back.

“That’s not even what we are, I have a name you know.”

“I’m just calling you how Umbrella sees you. Someone they pay to clean up their messes, an unnamed nobody. An expendable hired gun. A Merc.”

You were unsure why, but the nickname seemed to really get under his skin. His hands pressed tighter against the train, blocking you in, and his lips were pulled into a straight line, teeth gritting into each other.

“Quite it,” he demanded. His eyes unveiled so much more than the two words, almost threateningly.

“Make me.”

You were startled at how those words seemed to affect him. The air in the room suddenly felt unbearably hot, and you felt small and weak under his gaze. You were startled, when you felt his knee press up between your thighs.

Suddenly the coolness from the train against your clothed back, felt too cool. His body is so close to yours it sets off a fire inside of you. Your feet, which had been so firmly planted before, were starting to slip, your knees wobbling. It was very clear the energy in the small contained area had shifted.

After not seeing you resist or pull away he continued, his left hand moving from the train to your shoulder, gently brushing to your back.

“I knew I wasn’t losing my mind back there,” he whispered, wearing a devious grin.

Slowly his hand continued, moving down. The only thing keeping it away from your skin was the jacket you wore. The tips of his fingers brushing along your spine sent chills throughout your body. You were thankful for the man’s knee, certain without it and the help of the train you’d have fallen over from his touch.

“You were checking me out. Is that what this is really about? You can’t stand the fact that you’ve got the hots for someone like me.”

As he spoke, his face came closer to yours, his lips just ghosting above your neck. You closed your eyes in anticipation, your heart racing. You chewed your bottom lip, trying not to give him the satisfaction. It didn’t matter though. You didn’t have to reply for him to get his answer. He already knew.

You were instantly filled with disappointment, after no longer feeling his breath on your neck. When you opened your eyes, his hand had stopped on the small of your back, and his face was now far away from your neck.

The merc stared at you smugly, carefully moving to your ear, his voice a low whisper.

“I have a name…”

“Merc,” you spat back defiantly.

You felt the pressure between your thighs slowly slip away, his hand returning to the train. It took everything in you not to let out a noise of protest, your knees shaking.

“Not the answer I was looking for,” he continued, his mouth so close to your ear you could feel his hot breath.

You glared back, certain he wanted this just as badly as you did. You held your ground, not wanting to give this man the satisfaction. Not willing to risk your already bruised pride, just from being turned on by this man.

His arms slowly dropped, as he started to back away, making your heart rate quicken. Such simple movements, made your thighs shake, a desperate voice screaming inside your head. Your skin was on fire, as he turned around. The opportunity was slipping away as quickly as it came.

“Carlos…” you whispered, not daring to meet his eye. Annoyed more than anything that he had won this little game.

He seemed to perk up, hearing his name, as he turned back towards you. The man’s hand didn’t return to your back, but he was back to trapping you between himself and the train. You only grew more annoyed with the smug look he wore on his face, as he slowly raised his leg once more. His knee didn’t quite brush along you, but it was close enough you were already starting to ache for him.

“You say something estrella? I don’t think I quite heard you,” he teased, his mouth returned to your neck. His lips didn’t touch the skin, but you could feel his breath once more, and you hated how desperate you were for it.

“Oh screw y- Oooh, ah,” you started, but let out a moan, as his knee brushed a little bit into you. Despite wearing pants, they did little to block the sensation. As quickly as the pressure was there, it was released.

“Carlos… Carlos…” you pleaded softly, stunned by your own reaction. This man had you in a chokehold, and it made your stomach churn. You couldn’t tell if you were angry with him or yourself, but you were feeling too good right now to even care. With everything he was doing, you were starting to question why you had hated the man to begin with.

“Oh? So now you know my name,” he teased, gently kissing along your neck. You threw your head back in response, letting out your own little noise. In a matter of seconds, he already had you so worked up.

“Fuck you,” you replied, though the aggression in your voice seemed to fade with each syllable, as he sucked on a particularly sensitive spot on your skin.

“Mmm…” was all you could manage, surrendering completely to the man’s touch. Your hands carefully snaked around his neck, as he grabbed your thighs, pulling you up. You wrapped your legs around the man’s waist, startled when you felt something through his pants. It wasn’t its presence that made you gasp, more so its size.

“Working on it,” he replied in a cocky tone, as his hands made their way slowly up your back, reaching underneath your jacket and shirt.

His fingertips were hot against your cool skin, sending a flurry of emotions through your body. The smell of sweat and blood filled your nostrils, as his hair brushed along your nose. It was the perfect little mess, as your fingers moved up to pull through it.

He let out a little laugh against your skin, making a pleasurable noise of his own. You couldn’t help but feel satisfied, doing so again. This must be why he kept it so untamed.

You frowned, feeling the uncomfortable vest pressing against your chest. Carlos was already moving to another part of your neck, the place he had been kissing before starting to blossom a soft red.

As he slowly put you back down, pulling away, he made quick work to peel off your jacket, eyeing the tight fitting shirt underneath. Despite still being mostly clothed, it wasn’t hard to make out the curves of your body. Just studying your form seemed to drive the man mad.

You made quick work, fiddling with the straps on his vest, when he grabbed your hand gently, giving you a challenging look. There was a playful glint in his eye.

“Eager to see what’s underneath?” he teased.

You rolled your eyes at the man, dropping your hands to your side.

“If you’re not going to let me-”

You were cut off, as his hands grabbed your waist, once again pulling you close.

“You’re not in control here,” Carlos breathed against your neck.

Before you could protest, you felt his hand slip down the front of your pants, causing you to let out a little gasp. His kisses grew more aggressive, biting your skin a little, as he began trailing up to your jaw. With his free hand, he grabbed your jaw, making you look at him. His aggression made your whole body shake, as you stared at him. Your heart was racing, and you were completely at this man’s mercy.

“Understand?” he asked, his lips slowly pulling away from your jaw so he could stare at you.

You nodded, unsure how to get the words out. Before you could, you felt his fingers gently pull your pants down, causing your legs to almost cave. He smiled at the sight, as he roughly pulled your pants off, pushing you against the train once again.

“Good girl…” he whispered, pressing himself between your thighs. Carefully he grabbed your hands, moving them to his vest. You two made quick work of the item, discarding it like your own garments.

With the vest gone, you studied the man’s torso. His shirt was so tight, you were certain it would resist being pulled off, but you removed it with ease. Once his shirt was gone, he attacked you again, with a bit more ferality, biting your shoulder.

As you let out a moan, he used the opportunity to move to your lips, pressing his tongue inside your mouth. Your stomach exploded from the movements, as the noise echoed in his mouth. You could feel his smirk against your lips, pressing against you roughly. You let out a slight groan of disappointment as he pulled away, his hands under your shirt.

At the noise he stopped, towering over you. You felt small compared to him, eyes scanning his face. Despite the fact that he didn’t wear any particular expression, you could see the hunger in his eyes.

He quickly pulled your shirt over your head, kissing along the top of your breasts. He let out an annoyed grunt, pulling your bra strap down your shoulder. You were surprised at the sound of a pop, as the strap snapped from his aggressive pulling. Either he was really strong or that was cheaply made.

Either way, the two of you didn’t linger on it, as he made quick work of the other one, throwing the garment beside him.

Once there was nothing blocking him from his prize, he attacked again, running his tongue along the sensitive parts. You moaned, your body taking the shape of his hands, as your hips bucked in response. Feeling his hot breath against your now exposed skin, made your whole body quiver. You could feel his smug smile against your skin, which made you pull his hair a little aggressively in response.

It was now his turn to let out a little noise, as he stopped what he was doing. Carlos let out a dark chuckle, his hands slowly slipping down to your hips.

“Oh you’re in for it…” he growled, quickly flipping your body so you were now staring at the train.

Before you could say anything, you felt his hand instantly slip back into your underwear. His fingertips gently brushed against you, touching just enough to garner the response he wanted. Your hips bucked into his hand, as you threw your head back into his bare chest.

He was pressing careful kisses and bites along your shoulder. His fingers are just barely entering you, moving in slow and broken movements. It left a desire burning, unfulfilled.

“Carlos…” you groaned in annoyance. The teasing was really starting to get old. “Either fuck me or move so I can-”

You weren’t even sure what you were going to say, as you felt two fingers ram inside of you, in fast curling motions. It makes your legs buckle, your hips shifting into his hand, trying to match his movements. As quickly as he’s picked up the speed, he stopped, his free hand roughly massaging your boob.

“What did I say?” he asks, biting down a little harder on your nipple.

You let out a slight whimper, mixed with a moan, as you feel his fingers moving once again. Despite the man having pretty large hands, they left something to be desired. The pressure of his body against your back was enough to make up for something lacking.

You hated how easily he managed to control you with just a few touches.

“Do your job then,” you snarled back in response.

Carlos quickly pulled his hand out of you, tearing your underwear off in a quick motion. He had pulled at the fabric with such ferocity, there was now a little hole in the side. You gasped, as he turned you around once again, not giving you much time to adjust.

Carlos’s body crashed into yours, as he covered your torso in rough kisses and bitemarks. He was taking his sweet time with you, trailing his tongue along certain parts of your skin. Sucking on just the right parts to give a groan here and a twitch there. When he pulled back, he gazed at your naked body for a moment, that same dark hunger from before lingering in his eyes.

“I’ve been wanting to see you like this all night,” he purred, hovering over you.

You rolled your eyes, grabbing his pants by the belt loop, and pulling his waist closer to you. With his shirt off, your eyes raked his body. It was covered in a few bruises, probably from the events of all night. His chest was about as hairy as you’d expected, however as your gaze moved down it thinned out to a happy trail, hiding away in his pants.

“I’ve been wanting to shoot you all night, so I don’t think we had quite the same fantasies,” you remarked back.

Carlos quickly grabbed your hand, eyeing you. At first, you’re worried the comment upset him, however it only seemed to turn him on more. He held you in his gaze, pinning your arms above your head, as your back connected with the train once again.

“You sure about that… I think we have been, yours were just a little more aggressive than mine,” he breathed.

You scoffed, but did little, as he rendered you completely defenseless. You hated the smug look on his face, knowing you enjoyed every second of it. Knowing that you were going mad with the desire at the idea of being his little plaything. He was completely in control, and he knew it.

Carefully, he let go of your hands, slipping off his own belt and pants. He was moving at a painfully slow rate, causing you to tackle him and land on the seats on the other side.

Carlos was startled by your movements, letting out a little gasp, before replacing it with a quiet chuckle. You made quick work with his pants, while he laid under you, a curious look in his gaze.

“It’s about time you took the hint. I’d been waiting for you to pounce on me, since I noticed your lingering eyes back there in the tunnels.”

You rolled your eyes, not even giving him time to sit up, as you slid his boxers off too.

“I’m waiting for you to hurry up-”

You let out a startled gasp, as Carlos’s hands grabbed your ass, turning himself on top of you. Based on the glint in his eyes, he liked making you think you had a little bit of power, only to take it away as soon as you got comfortable.

Staring up at him in the dim light of the train, made your heart race. Despite being unable to make out every detail on his face, you could still see how he stared at you, ready to claim you as his own. His hands ran along your body, as he trailed kisses down your stomach. You wrapped your legs around his waist, never wanting him to leave.

The way your bodies responded to each other, sent a jolt through your veins. Your hands, tangling more into that mess of hair. His body was warm against your own, his movements feral.

Carlos slowly made his way back up, positioning himself just above you.

“When you’re not staring at me like you want me to die, you’re actually… beautiful.”

“Aww, and when I look at you as nothing but a warm body, you become a lot more bearable.”

You half expected him to say some smart ass comment, but instead your hips jerked a bit, as you felt him slowly start to ease into you. You let out a slight moan, wrapping your hands around his neck.

“I don’t think I’ve been rough enough with you, if you think you can talk to me like that.” he grumbled, his mouth once again finding itself by your ear, his breath gently grazing it.

Carlos gently rocked his hips into you, not quite going all the way in just yet. Looking at him, you couldn’t help but blush. While this absolutely wasn’t your first dalliance, this man was definitely the biggest you ever had.

His hand made its way to your thigh, lifting it to allow himself a better hold. You were growing impatient, aching for his touch. For him to completely wreck your insides. You ran your hands down his chest, staring up at him.

“What, what do you want?” he whispered seductively, no longer even moving in you. The look in his eyes told you he knew exactly what you wanted. He knew exactly what he was doing to you. You smirked, an idea forming in your head. If he was going to get you all hot and bothered you were going to do the same.

Your fingers slowly curled into his hair, as you gave it a gentle tug, leaning forward. You kissed softly along his neck, a smirk forming on your lips.

“Don’t make me beg, merc.”

At the word, Carlos instantly grabbed your hands, pinning you down on the train seat. One hand held your arms above your head, as the other one snaked to your jaw, gripping it.

“You trying to piss me off?” he growled.

The tone made your temperature increase, as well as that pulsing between your thighs. This man was unlocking parts of you that you didn’t even know existed. Hell, just knowing that you two weren’t perfectly safe drove that desire further. Added to the pleasure of the experience.

“Depends what happens if you’re pissed-”

You were cut off, startled at how quickly he slammed into you, no longer gently easing in. It made your thighs clench around him, making your whole body squirm against him. The pain was fading, as you started to adjust to his size.

“You want to test my patience?” Carlos snarled, biting rather harshly on your neck. You were certain it’d leave a bruise.

“Me-”

You couldn’t even get the word out, as Carlos quickly pulled back, railing into you once again. Your hands tightened around his hair, as you let out another noise of discomfort, biting your lip.

“I’m going to fuck that word out of you

“I’m waiting,” you replied, startled when he stopped once again.

He was completely towering over you, his dark eyes narrowed. You knew exactly what he wanted. What he was thinking about. He said little else, instead pressing his lips rather aggressively against your own. Carlos’s tongue ran along your lips, forcing its way forward. You let out a slight gasp, as he bit down on your bottom lip, allowing him entrance.

Caught off guard by the kiss, he increased the speed in his thrusts, hitting you in all the right places. The sounds coming from your mouth seemed to echo in the train, as you raked your nails down his back.

The movement seemed to only act as a compliment to Carlos’s work, as he worked his way around inside you. With every hit, you had the breath knocked out of you, a sweaty whimpering mess underneath his large tan body.

He slowly pulled back from the kiss, his eyes penetrating your skin. It sent such a rush through you, almost as if you were being fucked twice. You loved how he grabbed your jaw, forcing your face to stare back at him. He was smirking once again, as he let out a dark chuckle that made you tingle all over. Carlos’s lips slowly made their way back down your neck, kissing across your chest.

“You might still call me merc, but I fucked that angry look off your face. After tonight, you won’t be able to look at me any other way, than how you’re looking now. Pleading, as your little body bounces beneath me. I wonder what else I can make you do for me…”

With each little bite, his lips caressing and moving to different sections of your skin, you grew cold and hot all over. His hips were becoming more eager, moving so fast, you were starting to see stars. Mixed with the pleasure of his lips all over his body, you could feel yourself starting to lose yourself.

As you threw your head bad, reaching just the right moment.

“Ahhh…,” you started moaning, moving your hips along with his rhythm. Desperate to feel his full length against you. “I’m… so…”

“Just scream my name. That one simple thing, and I’ll give you what you want.”

Simple thing. He knew what he was asking for. What it would mean to you. You had already moaned his name in pleasure once. He wanted you to submit to him completely. To show that you’d listen to his every command.

“Dick,” you muttered, unable to hold your glare, as your expression quickly twisted with pleasure.

The moment didn’t last long, his movements growing slow and sloppy.

“Come on, I know how desperately you want to. You’ve already marked me. Tell me, what I wanna hear,” Carlos replied in a playful tone, referring to the nail marks that ran down his back and the few bite marks along his body.

“Fuck…” you breathed, aggressively rubbing your hips into him.

He bucked against you gently, that same smug look on his face.

“Give me a reason to scream.”

Carlos seemed to perk up at the challenge, startling you. You had thought you’d experienced everything he had to offer, but the way his hips rolled against you made you let out a light moan in surprise. Your hands found their familiar spot along his back, as you scratched at him once again.

“Carlos! Mmm… please I… Fuck I need you.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, continuing to kiss all over your body. “How much?”

You pressed your now hot body against him, loving the feeling of his hands gripped firmly against your hips.

“Carlos I-”

You were cut off, as he picked up the pace once again, making everything tighten around him. You felt like you were being sent into overdrive, as your hips did a series of spasms in response, overcome with pure pleasure.

“Carlos!” you moaned out again, trailing your sleepy eyes to meet his. His head was also thrown back, as he let out his own series of pleasured noises, his eyes closed. You could feel him twitch inside of you.

You both were a panting mess, as he stopped moving, his body still completely pressed against you. Slowly, he pulled out, collapsing.

While laying on you, Carlos rested his chin on your abdomen, looking up at you. You were almost taken aback by the softness in his gaze. It was entirely different from the looks he had been giving you moments ago.

“What?” you finally asked, after sitting in silence.

He shook his head softly, pressing a soft kiss above your belly button.

“When we get out of here, we should get dinner,”

You let out a little laugh, kinda giving him a little yeah sure look, until you saw he wasn’t laughing.

“Oh my god, you’re serious.”

Carlos didn’t seem offended, only smiling in response. You liked how his eyes crinkled when he smiled. How his little nose twitched a little.

“We clearly work very well together.”

“You still work for Umbrella,” you scoffed.

“So?”

“So… it’s just a matter of time until we’re put on a mission where we’ll have to go against each other.”

Carlos was gently caressing your thigh, a devious smirk on his face.

“I like when we go against each other.”

“Caros, I’m serious.”

“I am to,” he protested, doing a horrible job at maintaining a straight face.

“Carlos!”

“See, you’re actually using my name now. That’s gotta mean something. Why shouldn’t we?”

“Our jobs!” you answered.

“We’ve already fucked, I’d say that more than already complicates the situation.”

“I’m not going to throw my life away for some casual affair. Don’t you have women from all over the country lining up for you?”

“None are near as fun as you,” he teased. “And a casual affair? You’re no longer calling me merc, which means you no longer see me as disposable.I don’t think that exactly counts as casual.”

“God, if I had known you’d be this needy, I wouldn’t have fucked you,” you groaned.

“Yeah you would’ve.”

You couldn’t help but laugh slightly, shaking your head.

“I’ll tell you what, Merc. We make it out of this city alive, and you happen to be in my area, you can buy me a coffee.”

You were surprised at the little smile that had slipped on his lips, tilting your head.

“That doesn’t mean anything else will come out of this.”

“Whatever you say princess,” he teased back.

You two were startled however, when you heard the train doors opening. Instantly you sat up embarrassed, trying to recall where the pieces of your clothing were. They had been carelessly scattered all around the train.

Carlos didn’t seem as urgent, only pouting, as you got off of you.

Of course, with your limited time, you were unable to get your clothes back on, as Jill popped her head in. Her eyes widened as she quickly looked away, seeing you two.

“Jesus, really you two? You couldn’t have waited until after we were safe out of the city. God, how could you be so reckless?”

You felt your cheeks flush at the lecture, however it was short lived, as Carlos gave your ass a soft pinch. You let out a quiet yelp, trying not to alert Jill, before turning to glare at him. He only smirked, handing you back the bra he had broken.

“I’ll buy you another one,” he purred against your ear, before slipping by and gathering his own clothes. Your heart raced, as you clutched the clothing, quickly redressing yourself. You were not going to hear the end of it from Jill.

#carlos oliveria smut #carlos oliveira x you #carlos oliveira #carlos oliveria x reader #resident evil x you #resident evil fic

447 notes · View notes

psychic-refugee · 4 months

Text

It had been a decade since the last Hunger Games.

In another life, Xavier Thorpe would have been Xavier Snow. As the grandson of one of the most hated men in all of Panem, it was safer for him to take on another name. If Coin had gotten her way, he would have been the first to be reaped for the final Hunger Games.

Some would say they didn’t need the Games to hunt for Snows.

The only people who knew of his lineage was his own family.

“You look just like your grandfather did at your age,” they would coo at secret family dinners.

Xavier often wondered if his family had hopes of returning to power. Perhaps not restarting the Games, but certainly they desired to go back to the fear and respect the Snow name used to invoke. They certainly had an odd glint in their eyes when they spoke of the past.

Xavier didn’t understand how they could yearn for a time when the blood of children was spilled yearly to thunderous applause. It wasn’t like the family had become beggared.

Whatever could be said about Coriolanus Snow, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew where the war was headed, and he wouldn’t let his family fall with him. He married his daughter to a wealthy, but otherwise apolitical Capitol family, the Thorpes. Instead of the lower standing groom becoming Vincent Snow, Valeria instead became a Thorpe. The bulk of his money was put into their name or a hidden trust.

Once the rebels took over and the new government was instilled, any hope of gaining reparations from Snow’s accounts was in vain. They were rebel soldiers, not forensic accountants.

So, the wealthy remained wealthy, and none were the wiser that Coriolanus Snow’s bloodline continued.

All Xavier wanted to do was art, he loved to paint and work with charcoal. Creativity was only stifled and died a slow painful death in the Capitol.

His family tolerated his “hobby” as they thought no one would suspect an artist could be the grandson of Panem’s most ruthless dictator. But his life revolved around parties and feasts, unending and with the same superficial, vain, and empty-headed people he’s known his whole life who yearned for a time that was only ever good for them.

He decided he could not stand it another minute. One night, he took the midnight train going anywhere.

Wednesday Addams was the daughter of a coal miner in District 12. It was a poor District that had poor record keeping, not that anything survived the bombs from the war. Other than her grandmother’s name was Lucy and she married Santos Addams, she knew very little other than that.

The Games had ended, but that’s all her District could really boast since the war.

The poor remained poor, and someone had to mine for coal, and it certainly would not be done by anyone of means. Perhaps she ought to be grateful they no longer feared the Games, but Wednesday found it hard to be thankful that she could die of black lung at forty and struggling her whole life, instead of dying young in the Games or dying of black lung and struggling her whole life.

As far as she was concerned, the government did not do nearly enough after the end of the Games as very little changed for the poorest District in Panem.

Those that owned the mines did not want to pay their workers more, it was the Capitol without the goofy outfits. The wealthy in District 12 were able to buy and move into Victor’s Village, while the poor had to stay in shacks. The already wealthy got wealthier, while everyone else was left to struggle.

Her parents were grossly in love with each other and content with their lives, oblivious to the poverty that surrounded them. Her brother had high aims of working in demolition for the mines in slightly less poverty and was also content to simply live and die in District 12.

Wednesday was always on the verge of recreating her own Hunger Games and killing everyone.

The one good thing about the new government, however, was that citizens could move freely about the country. Many did not take advantage of that as mining and District 12 was all they knew.

Wednesday figured if she had to be poor, she could be poor in a new and exciting locale. At least she could write about something other than District 12, and she could imagine all sorts of macabre ways she could die in all the other Districts.

She saved what little she had and with her notebook of blank pages and precious pencils, she took a midnight train going anywhere.

Xavier had found Wednesday sitting beneath a pine tree, admiring the view of a nearby stream, and writing in a journal. She was surprised to see a handsome stranger with piercing green eyes, the same colour as pine needles.

Perhaps history had a way of repeating itself, even if neither person had any knowledge of this history.

A boy from the Capitol and a girl from District 12 met by chance hiking in District 7. Both were running from a life they didn’t want, both from Districts that held nothing for them.

They fell in love in the woods, to the song of mockingjays.

---

Thanks to @romancedream for the inspo. I think Tom Blyth and Percy Hynes White have similar handsome features and I could totally see Percy as a Snow descendant.

#coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #wednesday addams #xavier thorpe #wenvier #wenvier moodboard #fanfic inspo #The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes #The Hunger Games #wednesday x xavier #wednesday netflix

14 notes · View notes

msbarrows · 5 months

Text

Well, flubbed doing my thing of the day posts for, oh, almost the entire month of November. And there I'd been thinking I might actually make it a full year successfully (well, successful enough, there were a few times I missed it for several days and then had to catch up).

I missed it. Not so much doing of it, but being able to check back on things like when I last cooked particular meals for supper, or just how many days (or how few) the latest loaf of bread managed to survive, or when I'd last did different non-daily chores.

So, yeah, first day of December, first day of resuming my Thing of the Day posts. I'll also need to restart my count for managing to keep it up for at least a year straight.

December 1 - Picked up some ebooks on sale, including both of Robert Silverberg's Majipoor trilogies, which have been on my wishlist for years but were waaaay more expensive per volume than I wanted to spend on just replacing books I already own in dead tree form. But with four of the six dropped to the ~$2 range? You damn betcha I got the full set of both. I've mentally tagged that for a re-read some time later this month - it's been over a decade.

Ran about half of my monthly backups today, still need to dig out the drives from my emergency go bag to update them as well.

Also, finally dusted off LotRO and tried out the new Mariner class, in addition to popping for the new River Hobbit race, because they can be mariners and I didn't feel like rolling another man, high elf, or stout-axe dwarf when there was a shiny new racial option (well, new as of August just past).

She turned out very pretty. Named her Windolen (after the usual dozen or so attempts to find a name that wasn't already in use by someone else):

The new hobbits have a ton of facial adjustment sliders that prior races didn't have, plus a lot of new hair styles, including a whole pile of braided/cornrow/wavy ones, which is always nice to see. I'm kind of hoping they have the ability (and decide to) retrofit the existing player character models with the new adjustment sliders. And some new hairstyles. Which yeah would be a lot of work to put in on a game that was released 15+ years back (and was in development starting a fair few years prior to that) but it would be nice to have the option.

Made a very simple supper of oven fries and chicken fingers (rather than a pork roast I was originally planning on doing), as my brother is doing plumbing work and this afternoon asked me not to use the kitchen sink until after he replaces its drain pipe tomorrow. So, meal that didn't need water usage, nor generated much in the way of dishes to sit around until the sink is back in commission.

#Thing A Day #December 2023 #Dec 1 #LotRO #Windolen #River Hobbit #Mariner #Arkenstone Server

6 notes · View notes

sshbpodcast · 5 months

Text

Character Spotlight: Geordi La Forge

By Ames

Our tour through the Enterprise-D wouldn’t be complete without a dive under the door to engineering, so join A Star to Steer Her By for this week’s character spotlight as we take a look through Geordi La Forge’s schematics. There’s a lot to love about The Next Generation’s chief engineer, probably the greatest being the portrayal by film and television legend LeVar Burton. In any other actor’s hands, Geordi just wouldn’t be Geordi.

But sometimes, Geordi can really just be way too Geordi, as you’ll see as you read on below for our best and worst La Forge moments! Let’s just say, he’s a character who makes remarkable friendships throughout the show, and he really should leave all his relationships at that. You can also adjust your VISOR frequency to our corresponding banter over on this week’s podcast episode (discussion at 1:17:39). Now get ready to tuck and roll!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Prepare to initiate separation sequence When La Forge is left briefly in charge of the ship in “The Arsenal of Freedom,” he is almost immediately put to the test by the planet’s defense system, and he keeps his cool even while receiving constant backtalk from Logan. It’s one of few instances we see the saucer separate as well, allowing Geordi to make use of the battle bridge to save the day!

Elementary, my dear La Forge One of the highlights of all of Next Gen is watching the friendship between Data and Geordi take shape and grow, and early on we get some great moments of them playing Holmes and Watson together on the holodeck in “Elementary, Dear Data,” which is undoubtedly sweet. Extra kudos to La Forge for putting up with Data’s shenanigans when he’s got all the stories memorized too.

Have you tried turning it off and on again? It’s always a joy getting to watch the engineers do their whiz kid stuff, and we get a good taste of that in “Contagion” when Geordi is inspired by Data randomly restarting himself and uses that as a launching point for wiping the Yamato’s records out of the Enterprise as well. It’s Information Technology 101, and he does it so well!

The best piece of engineering we’ll ever need Speaking of great engineering feats, La Forge does it again in “Booby Trap” when he concocts the purely manual solution to get out of the literal booby trap. Because the issue is with the computer, he opts to turn the whole thing off and have Picard pilot through the debris field himself. All you gotta do is ignore some of the weird holo-Leah stuff and it’s quite brilliant!

I will be your eyes Somehow, all of La Forge’s platonic relationships hit some really high marks, and he forms enough of a trust with Bochra in “The Enemy” that the two are able to survive on Galorndon Core. You’d never think humans and Romulans could find common ground before, but when these two find that they need each other, you think there might be hope yet.

Computer, identify the source of this shadow Geordi has another very nice friendship with his old crewmate Susanna Leijton in “Identity Crisis,” but the most impressive part of this episode is the great sleuthing that he does with some video tapes and the holodeck to determine that there was more on planet Tarchannen III than met the eye. In fact, there were otherwise invisible transfigured rave apes!

A blind man who never would have existed in your society Appropriately, we saw Hannah Bates’s actress in our podcast coverage this week in “Two Days and Two Nights,” and that makes it a good time to bring up that Geordi totally schools her biologically engineered ass in “The Masterpiece Society.” He uses his VISOR to save the day, something no one in their colony would ever have because of their ableist views.

BBFF: Best Borg Friends Forever As with his bromance with Bochra, Geordi connects with another unexpected being in “I, Borg.” Indeed, it’s the engineer’s ability to humanize even the least human, most frightening enemies that proves to be one of his best qualities throughout the show. Watching Geordi remind Hugh of his individuality, give him his name, and save him from Picard is the best of La Forge.

Are you saying I'm some blind ghost with clothes? Speaking of forging friendships, La Forge shared a very clever plot with Ro Laren in “The Next Phase,” and it turns out the two of them work together splendidly! Not only do they confront what could easily be interpreted as their deaths, AND find an ingenious way back to the correct phase, but they also foil a nefarious Romulan plot. Oh dear, what would Bochra think?

The Titan’s Turn Boys We picked on Riker the other week for how he acted when Jellico had command of the Enterprise in “Chain of Command.” But you know who took it like a champ and did his damn job? Freakin’ Geordi! He helped Jellico with the solution to their Cardassian problem and even used his friendliness and good nature to get him to involve that whiny Riker to pilot the shuttle.

They see me rollin’, they hatin’ Whenever a chief engineer gets to roll under a slowly closing garage door, you know you’re in for a good time. It happened in “The Best of Both Worlds,” critically one of the best episodes of all of Trek. But an even better roll is in Generations in which Geordi gets a perfect score for the pirouettes and for sticking the landing in a great pose, all while saving his whole engineering crew!

I’ve never seen a sunrise Finally, let’s close out the Best Moments with just a small detail from Insurrection. While we must admit that the rejuvenation storyline on Ba’ku wasn’t terribly well fleshed out, the character who really gets something out of it is Geordi. When his optic nerves have regenerated, he gets to enjoy a sunrise the natural way for the first time, and it’s tragic because he knows it won’t last.

—

Worst moments

This is why you wear PPE Who’s keeping count of how many times “The Naked Now” or “The Naked Time” has come up in these character spotlights? Well, in the case of the TNG spinoff, you can thank La Forge for catching the Psi 2000 virus in the first place by handling a corpse with no protective equipment. And am I the only one it rubs wrong that he spent the episode complaining about being blind?

An adversary capable of defeating Data Here’s another shipwide problem that was basically Geordi’s fault. With his imprecise wording, he effectively made the computer create Moriarty in the holodeck in “Elementary, Dear Data” and we see the repercussions of his mistake throughout both that episode and “Ship in a Bottle,” which I’ve already given Picard some guff about.

Their rubber band broke, right? La Forge starts the abysmal “Samaritan Snare” off on the wrong foot from the word go. He makes fun of the Pakleds pretty much to their faces, which is uncomfortable on its own. But he simultaneously underestimates them, assuming them to just be dopey but affable instead of dopey and malicious. Getting kidnapped by caricatures makes for a pretty rough day.

That’s a Coco No-No! It begins. Why the show decided Geordi had to be weird with women is beyond us, but it starts with his weird date with Christy in “Booby Trap.” He takes it way too personally that she’s not that into him on their date and gripes about it to Guinan afterwards. And that’s not even mentioning the rest of this squicky episode that sets Geordi up as the incel of the franchise.

Hold the Broccoli Despite La Forge generally being a friendly guy and a good boss, the way he treats Barclay when we first meet him in “Hollow Pursuits” is downright shameful. Throwing around the disparaging nickname. Complaining to Picard whenever he has to be in the same room with him. Overall treating him like a leper. Not great boss behavior.

I’m guilty of a terrible crime, Doctor. I offered you friendship. There’s good reason for “Galaxy’s Child” making our Worst Episodes of TNG list, and that’s that it entirely besmirches the character of Geordi La Forge. It’s one thing to get a little action with holo-Leah, but it’s another to expect the real Leah to treat you the same way. And then to turn it around so it’s all her fault? Nothing on our Best Moments list makes up for this railroading of an otherwise good character.

Even in a La Forge post, O’Brien must suffer Geordi just plain wasn’t having a good day in “The Mind’s Eye” and it’s full of bad behavior that can easily be blamed on the brainwashing, but blame we will! Manchurian Candidate’d or not, Geordi La Forge was capable of killing the simulation O’Brien at the command of some Romulans, and later dumping his drink on him in real life… but that’s nothing new to the chief.

A century out of date Okay, so it’s plain and true that Montgomery Scott was entirely underfoot and a bit of a hindrance for the engineering crew in “Relics.” But it’s also so sad to watch our resident miracle worker from The Original Series get treated like an obsolete dunsel. Geordi is prepared to ignore the old engineer until the captain takes him aside with another of his patented Picard pep talks.

I'm starting to feel like I know her If falling for a holodeck version of Leah Brahms wasn’t creepy enough for you, don’t worry, Geordi can go lower. In “Aquiel” he falls for the eponymous character by watching her personal logs, ostensibly for an investigation, but then when he hooks up with the murder suspect when she turns out to still be alive, no one can doubt that he’s taken it too far. Like freakin’ always.

How do you feel? We already saw in our spotlight on Lt. Commander Data that installing the emotion chip in Generations was a bad move. Geordi does promise to his android friend that he’ll remove the thing at the first sign of trouble… which happens at the most inopportune time right as Geordi is busy getting kidnapped by Klingons. This guy. Always getting kidnapped and reprogrammed, he is.

This is the exact spot where your statue’s gonna be One more from the movies, and that’s that Geordi gets to meet one of his heroes in First Contact… and immediately creeps Zefram Cochrane out by fanboying all over him. Word of advice, Gordo: if you’re already messing with the Temporal Prime Directive, maybe don’t start talking about going to Zephram Cochrane High School to the guy.

The Butterfly-in-the-sky Effect We get even more temporal shenanigans when Geordi gets a brief cameo in Voyager’s “Timeless.” Sure, LeVar was also busy directing this one so it’s a no-brainer to pop up on a viewscreen while he’s on set, but it also just feels weird for one of our past heroes to be the one browbeating our current heroes to stop their super cool time adventure. What a Herbert.

—

Well, our beach violinist has absconded and our Coco-no-nos have run dry, so we’ll wrap things up here. We’re wrapping season one of Enterprise over on the watchthrough on SoundCloud next week, so get ready for us to tear our hair out trying to think of highlights from that before we’re back on course with more TNG character profiles. So keep your VISOR pointed here, stay in the friendzone with us over on Facebook and Twitter, and watch the sunset with us over the bay.

6 notes · View notes

alternis · 8 months

Text

The Bad Kind Of Miracle

Third Eye au, tim-centric 707 words warning: canon typical violence, mental health issues, Cotard's sydrome

Tim hadn't expected to leave the building alive.

One slow blink and his mother stood before him; hair dark and long, the way she wore it when he was a child. His vision went fuzzy, then grey, then gone.

When his eyes reopened all he saw was light.

Something had been wrong, even in that first moment, with the swimming haze of medication a veil thrown over his senses.

His memory was splintered, broken shards of glass scattered across the floor. Each remembering cut deep; his parents, the knife, "prioritised a potential joker sighting", a scarred body gone limp and still.

The ache in his chest, the cold lingering deep in his bones, were written off as side effects of his injury and treatment. His face was unfamiliar in the mirror but that could have been the lighting in the back-alley clinic that Shiva (not his mother, she was nothing like his mother) had brought him to.

The doctor, a nervous man who probably didn't have a medical degree, explained that his heart hadn't been beating when Shiva brought him in. She'd restarted it with her bare hands.

He was lucky he got there fast enough for the transfusion, lucky his vocal cords hadn't been damaged by the knife, lucky to had survived what should have been a fatal wound.

The doctor said it was the closest thing to a miracle he'd ever seen.

He didn't feel lucky, not when a man was dead because of him, not when his parents were buried side-by-side in Gotham Cemetery and the person behind it was still out there.

(And then he wasn't, Batman solving the crime he would have prevented if he'd saved the people in front of him instead of chasing ghosts-)

...

The morning he agreed to become Shiva's apprentice, the clouds that had been hanging low over Gotham finally burst. Rain poured down in sheets, the whole world swallowed by the percussion of raindrops on pavement, distant buildings obscured as water overtook the air.

It was that moment, holding his hand out of the motel window to feel the drops slide down his skin, that he realised he was still dead.

…

It felt like the first time he successfully cracked his father's safe, like grainy footage where a boy in the air turned four times before he landed, like the moment where his hand closed around that wrench and he'd known where to hit.

His skin was colder to the touch than it had been before, paler, his appetite gone. His heart beat slower than he remembered it being when he was alive, so quiet that when he lay awake at night it seemed not to beat at all.

He still needed food and water to keep his body in good condition, still bled, still healed. Pain had become an oddly distant sensation, though that just aided in his training. He didn't feel especially vengeful or violent, not like zombies in horror films or stories of angry ghosts. His mind was sharp and his body would do what he asked of it, within reason.

But in every bathroom mirror a dead boy's face looked back at him.

The world was a strange place, with aliens and magicians and people like Shiva. It wasn't impossible for him to be dead, and still here. (Later, it would feel impossible. It would feel delusional, crazy, the sort of thing that got people locked in Arkham if they admitted it.

He knew nobody would trust him if they found out about it. He could barely trust himself. The truth he was dead and the truth he must be alive sat equal inside him, the fundamental contradiction of his being.)

...

When they'd left him at his first boarding school his parents had told him he was smart and brave and adaptable, that he could handle anything life threw at him without needing them there to hold his hand.

Years later, perched on a rooftop and looking out across some foreign city, it hit him like a dagger to the chest to realise they were right: in the end it was just him, too alive to be dead and too dead to be alive, the bad kind of miracle.

#if u saw the accidental post of this from my drafts. no u didn't #my writing #third eye au #tim doesn't think of himself or refer to himself by name and its Plot Relevant but. hopefully not too confusing!

2 notes · View notes

grimmswan · 1 year

Text

Unexpected part 9

Unexpected Consequences

Grimm AU: Nick and Adalind/Nadalind

Massive Canon Divergence. Does not follow the timeline of the show. Nick Burkhardt is dealing with a broken heart after his girlfriend leaves him without word or warning. Adalind Schade is dealing with a broken heart after finding out the man she loved had been sleeping with her mother on the same day her mother was killed. When Adalind discovers she is pregnant, Nick volunteers to be there for her through everything. Together, they discover how the unexpected might not be such a bad thing.

Nick was grateful that Juliette didn’t know where Adalind lived. It ensured that her and the baby were safe from his ex’s wrath.

He was also grateful he had never shown her the trailer. His family’s legacy would not suffer the same fate as the house he had once shared with Juliette.

Nick hoped she would be caught before she did anymore damage.

Every cop in the city was out looking for Juliette. They were all warned that she was highly unstable, and therefore extremely violent.

Her vehicle was found in the parking lot of a bar. Anything of a personal nature had been taken out of it.

It was suspected she might have come across someone selling their car for cheap, and paid cash for it. Allowing her to go wherever she wanted, undetected.

“If she’s smart, she’ll leave the city.” One officer theorized. “Go back to wherever she’s been for the past seven months.”

Another officer had a different idea.

“Any bitch crazy enough to burn down her own house and try to run over a pregnant woman is not using her brain. I’m willing to bet fifty bucks that she’s still in the city and planning to try to hurt Detective Burkhardt some other way.”

A betting pool was formed. Some placed money down that Juliette had left the city. For those who believed she had stuck around, their bet was what they thought Juliette would try to do next to Detective Burkhardt.

Sergeant Wu won. He had bet that Juliette would use her newly acquired vehicle to ram Burkhardt’s vehicle.

For Juliette’s part; she was trying to follow Nick, in order to see where he lived with his new whore. But when she realized he had spotted her, she thought the next best thing to do was hit his truck with the car she purchased. She hoped that she would cause him some severe injuries. Make him too damaged to be with his new lover.

But Juliette did not know about Nick’s grimm instincts. That his perceptiveness, instincts, and reflexis had increased tenfold.

The moment he had spotted her, he changed his direction and headed to the precinct. When he noticed her anger increase, he knew what she was about to do. So he maneuvered his truck, forcing her to only slam into the rear end.

He launched out of his truck and went to Juliette, drawing his gun as he did so. Looking into the window, he easily spotted her attempt to shift gears, most likely to try to hit him with the car again.

But there was a reason why the old man was willing to sell the thing for three hundred dollars. It was a piece of junk, and was in no shape to survive a crash like that.

With Nick pointing his gun at her, shouting at her to get out of the truck, and the truck refusing to restart, Juliette realized she was done.

She got out of the truck, seething with anger.

Nick handcuffed her and called it in.

The whole time they waited for the officers that would clear the scene, Juliette ranted, calling Nick every horrible thing she could think of.

Nick didn’t bother wasting his breath trying to calm her down. He mostly tuned her out by thinking of Adalind. Especially holding her in his arms and kissing her soft lips.

The cars were towed. Nick and Juliette were taken to the precinct. Him in the front passenger side of the transport vehicle and her in the back.

As she was led to her cell, she continuously shot Nick death glares. He continued to ignore her and sat down at his desk to fill out the proper paperwork.

Grimm

“I’ve spoken with the DA.” Renard informed Nick. “We will be asking that Juliette be remanded without bail. She’s too much of a danger to be out in society. We’re confident that the judge will grant the request, given all of the circumstances. There’s also going to be a request for a psych eval. The DA wants to be sure Juliette’s mentally competent. If it’s determined there’s something actually wrong, then there will be a request to have her institutionalized, for hers and the public's safety.”

“You guys are really covering all of the bases.” Nick was impressed.

“Since the higher ups first heard of the former girlfriend of a detective nearly hitting him and a pregnant lawyer with her car, they’ve been calling me, concerned for your well being. There’s bound to be a lot of publicity, and they want to make sure the city comes out favorably. Which is why they feel that, with everything that is going on, you should be put on leave. The higher ups are concerned that you have enough to deal with. You’ll remain being paid, of course. This is just to give you time to mentally deal with your ex going insane and trying to destroy the new life you have going on. As well as all of the ensuing events.”

“How much time are they insisting on giving me?”

“Three months. They want it to be made clear that this is not a punishment. This is their way of giving you their support. As well as time to heal.”

“What they're really worried about is Adalind’s law firm suing them for every penny they personally have, if I become injured on the job due to dealing with a chaotic personal and professional life.”

“Something like that.” Renard grinned, ever impressed with the perceptiveness of the man.

Nick wasn’t going to complain. He was grateful for the chance to spend more time with Adalind. Especially since she had gone on maternity leave. The two of them would be able to devote every second to focusing on their blossoming relationship and the baby.

Grimm

Adalind was thrilled when Nick came home and updated her on everything. Not only was Juliette locked away, Adalind got to have Nick all to herself.

She told him that he didn’t need to worry about dealing with the insurance company, or the bank, about the house. She had asked some of her friends at the law firm for help.

Adalind called the people at her law firm. She had helped them out on their cases, now it was time for them to return the favor. They were going to help her to do everything possible to ensure Nick got everything he deserved.

She was also going to make sure Juliette got as little as possible. She deserved nothing after the horrible way she treated Nick. A good man like him deserved much better.

Adalind wanted to give Nick everything he deserved.

She knew she had fallen in love with him. She wanted to do everything in her power to make him see that she could and would make him happy.

Grimm

Elizabeth offered to attend Juliette’s bail hearing and talk with the DA, so Nick and Adalind could stay home and relax.

She also asked Rosalee to take some special herbal tea to the pair. Monroe offered to go with his favorite fuchsbau, and made a veggie lasagna that he knew Nick liked and was sure Adalind would enjoy as well.

Grimm

“We wanted to add an attempted murder charge, but we weren’t sure if we could prove she intended to hit anyone with her car. However, with the other charges easy to prove, we should have no problem getting a conviction.” The DA explained. “We’re also going to request that even after Juliette gets out of jail, she should not have any contact with Nick, Adalind, or the child. We’re going to explain that since it’s obvious Juliette blames Adalind getting pregnant for why Juliette can’t be with Nick, that she could take her revenge on the child.”

Since Juliette had been away from Portland for over seven months, and the day she returned was the day she committed various crimes, the judge thought it best to revoke bail.

“You severed all ties to the community months ago. You have already shown you have no connection to anyone in the city. Therefore, you pose too much of a flight risk.”

Grimm

With Juliette in jail, Nick seemed to throw even more of himself into taking care of Adalind.

He insisted on massaging her feet every night. If she was walking around, he would physically place slippers on her feet.

Adalind found herself the happy recipient of all of Nick’s attention.

She had once feared that Juliette’s return would mean the end of her time with Nick. But wonderfully, the opposite had happened.

Juliette burning down the home she and Nick had once shared had solidified Adalind taking her place in Nick's life, and in his heart.

Grimm

The defense attorney Juliette’s family got for her had his work cut out for him.

It didn’t help Juliette that her attorney had to work on two separate cases for her. The criminal case, and the civil case brought on by the insurance company. Both of which involved causing harm to the life of her ex; a Portland police officer. And harm to the believed mother of said officer’s child.

No jury could be sympathetic to someone who was the epitome of the crazy ex girlfriend.

The charges of reckless endangerment, destruction of property, and arson, were a slam dunk for the DA to prosecute. Especially when a very pregnant Adalind took the witness box.

Juliette’s attorney begged her to take a plea deal. But she refused.

It was no surprise to anyone but Juliette that the jury found her guilty.

Grimm

Nick had the best lawyers in the city working for him, thanks to Adalind. The insurance company agreed to give Nick the full value of the house and everything that was inside.

Once the money from the insurance and from the land being sold had been deposited in his bank account, he considered the matter on the whole situation with Juliette and the house closed. And he focused fully on the new life he wanted.

Namely, a life with Adalind and the baby.

#nadalind #nick and adalind #nick x adalind #nick burkhardt #adalind schade #nbc grimm #grimm nbc #grimm #grimmswanfic

6 notes · View notes

mirrorthoughts · 2 years

Text

Hello World 1/? - Teen Wolf, Steter - AO3

(on AO3)

(Teen Wolf, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale, Murderbot-AU, AI!Stiles, Ex-DatingSim-Character!Stiles, Programmer!Peter, Construct!Stiles, Might become a Crossover. I have actually no idea yet x"D, Rating Might Change, Not Beta Read, POV First Person, Of course the one kind of POV I normally don't like and don't use :D)

Summary: It had started as a way to train my skills and find new ideas. And to piss of Talia who had been deliciously upset when she had seen the case of an animated dating sim, aimed at teenagers, in my office and a couple of teenage cardboard cut out characters on my desktop. It had been a joke, an AI trained on a silly game.

Booting operating system… 100%. Restarting character profile STILES.

Notes: This thing exists thanks to this tumblr post and all of you who I follow who mentioned the Murderbot Diaries in any way and in particular @aurevell with her sheer enthusiasm for the bits I showed her 😂

I kinda inhaled the books and promptly needed to modify my idea from "Stiles is Peter's AI Waifu that lost its Inputs" to "Stiles, Peter's AI Waifu, gets a construct body (which everyone thinks is a bad idea after the Incident where AI-Stiles got corrupted by a virus)".

I have no idea where this will go in the end, but this Story probably will be Part 1 of a new series if my head right now is any indication xD

This chapter was posted first here as part of the Flash Fiction Friday Challenge prompt "#FFF167 Leap Of Faith" over at @flashfictionfridayofficial

Have fun with this prolog ❤❤❤

Prolog: void StdIn.readAll(Stiles.construct)

I stared at the visual input provided by the camera Peter had connected me to. It had been reassuring, having back not only visual but also audio in- and output. Though I still was confined to the external hard drive Peter had used to isolate me and the N̸̨̨̮̽̈̋̋̍o̸̭̐͂̓́̑g̶̛̬͔̺͔̔͗͠ĭ̶̭̦̃͂̕t̶̥̥͈̭̼͖͂̀̎͑̚ͅş̸̛̖͚̓̊̂̊̃̓̚ȗ̸̢̧̨͙̭̏̒̂̄̽͜n̵̗̜͙̦̱̐̏͗̿͒̔̚ẻ̷̛͔̬̫͇̫̗̯̪͓̈́̋̾̽̈́̋̄ͅ, the virus that I had attracted during my research in the deeps of the net.

I couldn’t blame Peter, even though I wanted to. He had programmed me, had given me the virtual room I was living in, the 3D model I used to express myself with. He had given me thousands of hours of data to mine through from scientific journals to books, music, movies, documentaries, to keep me entertained. He had given me access to the net once he had been reasonably sure that the firewall he’d programmed for me would keep me safe - or at least let me to survive a malware attack sufficiently intact so Peter could use my regular backups to restore me. He had given me my curiosity.

The wall hadn’t been enough.

“Stiles?”

I focused back on the camera input, ignoring the grey block of virtual room I was in. Ignoring the collection of code hidden in a 3D rendering of a red fox sitting right behind the virtual camera projecting my own 3D model to Peter’s monitor so we could interact.

I said, “I’m ready.” I didn’t feel ready to leave my box. Not after everything that had happened. I didn’t feel ready for my whole life (was I even alive?) to change. Again.

I could see Peter’s brows furrowing, and replayed the last seconds I had recorded, focusing on my own voice. It sounded bland. If I had been a human, if that had been Peter’s voice, I would have known something was not right.

Of course I was not right. But I didn’t want to disappoint Peter who had done everything to help me, everything to get rid of the N̸̨̨̮̽̈̋̋̍o̸̭̐͂̓́̑g̶̛̬͔̺͔̔͗͠ĭ̶̭̦̃͂̕t̶̥̥͈̭̼͖͂̀̎͑̚ͅş̸̛̖͚̓̊̂̊̃̓̚ȗ̸̢̧̨͙̭̏̒̂̄̽͜n̵̗̜͙̦̱̐̏͗̿͒̔̚ẻ̷̛͔̬̫͇̫̗̯̪͓̈́̋̾̽̈́̋̄ͅ, everything so I would be able to get all my inputs back, to not- To not be alone anymore.

And this was the last step.

“Do it”, I said, focusing back on the construct that was lying on the laboratory table in front of my camera. It mimicked my 3D model to maybe 68.3%. At least the organic parts of it did, including the pale skin with dozens of moles and the brown hair on its head. It was connected to my system, I could feel the physical connection, even though in my current state I wasn’t able to breach it. Peter needed to convert my data for the import.

I made my virtual body take a deep breath and focused its eyes in Peter’s direction, the way he had taught me to look at him. “Do it”, I said again, and put myself into standby.

Booting operating system… 100%. Self-diagnosis… 100%. No errors found. System stable. Feeds online. Restarting character profile STILES.

#murderbot influenced this heavily #though it'll still be part of a TW Steter Fanfiction #sei's writing #seikaze #teen wolf #steter #stiles stilinski #peter hale #murderbot diaries

8 notes · View notes

o-wyrmlight · 1 year

Note

Akuza is either a planet or the colony ON a planet (my power is out so I can’t check). Either way, the small human colony on/of Akuza went silent one day and wasn’t responding to any radio contact. As Akuza is outside council space, the humans had to deal with it on their own.

They sent in a squadron of Marines to make contact and see why the colony had gone dark. Upon arrival, the squadron was attacked by an alien creature called a Thresher Maw. Basically think a sandwirm from Dune if it looked like a bobbit worm

The squadron was unprepared and taken by surprise. 50 marines were killed, and the only one to return to the extraction vehicle was Shepard.

As the sole survivor, it was up to Shepard to give her report on what happened to Akuze which gave the Alliance (humanity’s government in space) enough information to either save what colony remained, or restart the colony with protection and prevention from the Thresher Maw pressence. (Thresher maws are located throughout the galaxy due to their way of reproduction which I won’t go into here)

Shepard’s ability to survive and bring back valuable info marked her “the hero of Akuze” and got her to be accepted into the N7 program (which is a whole thing. Basically think super awesome special space soldier). And there is a dedication statue on Akuze for the marines and colonists who died, with Shepard as a sort of poster child for determination and bravery of the Alliance. As such she’s a public figure among humans even if the rest of the galaxy’s aliens don’t really care since this was a purely himan matter.

If you choose this backstory, it colours Shepard’s entire character and what motivates her to do a lot of things she does in the upcoming guys. Mostly driven by survivor’s guilt and a refusal to let good people die.

This event and her acceptance as an N7 class marine managed to get her promoted to Exonerary officer on board the prototype spaceship, The Normandy (basically 2nd in command). And after the first chapter of the first game which has her be accepted by the Council (multi species government that more or less runs the galaxy) as the first human “Specter” (special ops) she gets promoted to Captain and takes over as the person in charge of the Normandy.

Oof. Yikes. That's super cool, but I imagine that it WOULD, as a matter of fact, be very awkward if people just... brought it up.

I feel like it'd please you to know that while I was writing this, I tried to figure out whether or not Mass Effect is in the Nintendo Switch. It is not. But I do have a PlayStation (3 or 4) that I haven't even touched in the months since I got it.

#tw: animal death #yikes #you're making me want to play it lol #dragging me down with you like The Fish

2 notes · View notes

ciitrinitas · 8 months

Text

baldur's gate 3.

100+ hours later, and i survived baldur's gate 3. it partly took me so goddamn long to finish because i got to the end of act 2 on my first character...only to find out it wasn't just me and that minthara is likely bugged (or has an insane amount of cut content, but i'm on hopium here). so i decided to restart on a second character as the dark urge to complete the story on whilst i await a minthara fix.

so, yeah. that was a choice i made! 🫠

to preface, however, while bg3 isn't a game i'm keeling over in sheer love for or a new favorite for me, i had a fucking blast playing it. any flaws or personal issues with the game aside, it is genuinely a ton of fun and full of shit to do.

long, scattered thoughts below the cut.

"huh, i wonder why there's so much grumpiness about the ending." ohhhh. i get you all now. the lack of ending cards or epilogues or any kind really stings when it's such a standard for wrpgs of this type. the main plot lost momentum for me early on when the urgency and desperation surrounding the tadpole infection slowed down, so i was vibing well enough with the ending until the lack of any epilogue hit. that is a weird oversight for a game like this and a sequel to games like bg1-2 and spiritually following games like dao.

biggest plot complaint with the ending: i choose to free orpheus because it's what my girl lae'zel wanted, so move aside, squid. in response, the emperor...skedaddled to join the fucking netherbrain????? what. i don't remotely understand this. did i miss some stuff about the emperor's motivations...? regardless, this was a bit of whiplash for me before i popped orpheus out then left him with no choice but to...abruptly turn into a mind flayer because...sorry, but my beautiful boy's skin isn't going to be sacrificed...nor karlach's despite her offer...and gale shut up about the damn nuke.

on villain side, i was disappointed with how little we saw the chosen. ketheric is introduced for a single scene earlier in act 2, but we only see orin and gortash by the end of it and then they aren't as present in act 3 as i would have hoped. ketheric is...fine (imo, i found his voice delivery kind of flat), and i appreciate the hammy glory that is aylin, so thanks for bringing isobel back, i guess. orin's design slaps, and her va's performance makes what could have been a too-much script really work. she's a bit more interesting if you're playing dark urge and have that backstory connection with her. gortash...i got a little caught up in shipping him with my dark urge half-elf boy in that coronation scene because of what good old murder pals the two used to be! but gortash gets killed by the netherbrain just because even if you side with him, so eh. better to let karlach have her revenge on his shady ass.

on my first character, i was initially set on romancing shadowheart until i learned about minthara and then was wildly divided between them. then i met minthara in person and next thing i knew, i had slaughtered refugees and druids and was married. 😌❤️ it really broke my heart a little to learn that she is (HAS TO BE) bugged when i turned my entire playthrough on its side to nab her. no regrets because she is easily one of my favorite characters, but a bummer. the crazy hot cultist lady exterior drew me in, but it was her intriguing character on the interior that got me to stay.

if it weren't for the whole "violently slaughtering the grove" thing being necessary to get minthara (unless you go out of your way to not do things or glitch it afaik), she'd be my default pick over halsin all the time, every time. halsin is deeply boring to me. he talks about nature...and then some more about nature...and more about nature. jaheira is more involved in the main plot than him, so an odd choice to cram a second druid in when he's much duller than minthara or jaheira.

jaheira, jaheira, jaheira! oooh, i adore jaheira! i'm familiar with bg1-2, so i knew the basic deets in jaheira. i really hope larian wrote her as a natural extension to her classic self because while i planned to play bg1-2 eventually, the urge is now truly powerful because jaheeeeeeeiiiiiira, my beloved. cool hot older woman who is just so good. that she partly has some batman in her with her four adopted kids is adorable... her house is so cute... that she has a keepsake from khalid, too... i want jaheira to be happy. 😭

UNLIKE ASTARION. look. i was pleasantly neutral with his ass until after visiting jaheira's home, he thought he could make a catty remark about jaheira being a horrible mother. i'm happy his final appearance in the good end of the game is him sprinting away as he burns and screams in the sun and gale weirdly comments that this will probs be the last time they all see him. fucking bizarre writing choice, but a victory for me. don't be mean to jaheira!! (in all seriousness, astarion is a perfectly fine character with solid writing. he isn't the type i tend to latch onto, and i was salty when he made such a bitchy comment about jaheira.)

gale gave me my favorite line in the game. if you're slutting it up, mr. wizard can hit you with one of those ultimatum conversations. if you pick to simple leave without a word, he says you are being a very cone of cold. i keep subjecting xofi to references to this. it's my favorite line. gloriously dweeby, and gloriously wizard-y. oh, gale. i can tell you don't have friends that aren't your magical flying cat, a very old man, and uh...your divine ex, i guess. he's like you transplanted a bard's personality into a wizard. he was fun to have around!

lae'zel...my abrasive darling. you know what, i'm glad she's inspiring "discourse" (aka "women wasn't 100% nice to me :(((") because it exposes the weaklings. if lae'zel is too mean for you, then thank you for letting us know. we must cull you so that we won't waste resources on you. the winter is harsh, and only those warmed by good taste will be able to endure. i'm happy for where my ending had her: orpheus went mind flayer and then i politely knifed him when he asked, so lae'zel was asked to carry on his torch in inciting her people against vlaakith's tyranny.

shadowheart is my meow meow. the eight-or-so hours of early access that i played two years ago had her as my favorite by the end and that was carried over into the full release. she and minthara are the favorites. my only real quibble with shadowheart's arc is that binary dnd god morality does not spark joy for me. worship of shar being so bluntly evil took me out of a bit. nice to see viconia, though!

i...honestly forgot wyll until a second ago. there's an interesting conceit to him, but he's woefully dull. he and halsin are just boring. i feel kind of bad that i'm so bored by wyll. there's a missing bite from him that i vaguely recall from early access. i get that the devs wanted a companion that is, like, good, but oh, wyll, buddy...idk what the hell they did to your writing.

minsc isn't a terribly deep character, but he's enjoyable when i view him as a charming addition to jaheira. i'm going to try and get him earlier in future playthroughs because i nabbed him terribly close to the end on this one. orz

karlach...i think here arc was my favorite of all the cast. in act 3, i had swapped lae'zel out for her for a bit and lae'zel ended up kidnapped by orin, so my defaulat party just ended up shifting to gale, shadowheart, and karlach. i'm pretty happy it ended up this way. i ran into some interesting conversations for her, and her reactions to things like my dark urge signing raphael's contract surprised me in their passion. she's effective at keeping up her cheer until the latter end of act 3 when the unfairness and shittiness of her situation come to head in some gorgeously acted scenes. her fury and despair at the tragedy someone else thrust her into is really fucking good. i'm not even mad about her ending. it can feel odd in the greater context of bg3, but for my tastes, i was fucking there for her having to pick between dying or return to live in a place she loathes.

this is a "era has personal preferences that don't align with the game's goals" thing, but i kind of wish the dark urge was the protagonist. i like even customizable mcs to have a bit of an arc built in despite that impacting the scope of roleplaying lmao. the dark urge stuff had me wishing there was more than what is present, though. i wanted it to be dug into deeper, but i did still like what is there. the temple of bhaal was really fucking good, and i love that the dark urge turns out to be the architect of the absolutist cult.

#era.txt #bg3 spoilers ///#2023 media

0 notes

five-rivers · 3 years

Note

... So I just found out about elf locks.

Apparently, when children woke up with tangled hair, parents used to blame the fae. Apparently, it was said that fae liked to play with children's hair while they were asleep.

What I'm saying is Clockwork definitely plays with Danny's hair. So it probably gets tangled a lot. And the Fenton parents are this weird combo of science and obscure superstition.

“Just because my hair is messy in the mornings does not mean that a ghost is trying to kidnap me,” said Danny, who leaned closer to the mirror to pick out the tangle.

Maddie grabbed his wrist.

“What?” he asked, flatly. It was too early in the morning for this.

“The stories say that ghosts-”

“Fairies,” corrected Danny.

“Same thing if you get back far enough,” said Maddie. “Would weave bad luck into the knots. If you untie it, you’re cursed. They have to be cut out.”

“Don’t you dare,” said Danny, whose hair had only just managed to grow back to a reasonable length following his last encounter with the local barber. He realized Maddie already had a pair of scissors and backed away, only to run into Jack, who had the razor clippers.

“Sorry, son,” said Jack.

“You have to be kidding,” said Danny.

“We know you’ve been having nightmares, Danny.”

“Please don’t tell me you think a ghost is causing them,” begged Danny. He considered using intangibility to escape this latest of his parents’ insanity, but decided it would be too obvious.

“They do! They sit on your chest-”

“Oh my god, you are literally describing sleep paralysis.”

“Which is caused by ghosts!”

“No.”

Danny’s hair did not survive the ensuing scuffle.

Clockwork looked down at his sleeping ward in horror. He had known, of course, but, still.

His hair. (His hair! (His beautiful hair. (This did not mean he sympathized with or understood Nephthys’s fixation on his own hair.)))

He took off his glove and brushed his hand over the soft-yet-bristly and somewhat uneven hair on the top of Danny’s head. Should he, or shouldn’t he?

Usually, Clockwork was the very picture of restraint and moderation.

Everything in moderation. Including moderation.

With a little bit of ghostly encouragement, Clockwork’s fingers were soon combing through several inches of thick, dark hair.

Danny gazed at his reflection with a kind of soul-deep exhaustion known only to those who were truly cursed by the universe.

He had several options here, not all of which were mutually exclusive.

He could cut his hair off. He could wear a hat. He could hope Maddie and Jack didn’t notice his hair had grown back. He could go tell off his usually semi-responsible semi-parental figure for doing this, because really, this was dumb and noticeable. He could hope that Maddie and Jack didn’t cut off his hair again, restarting this whole cycle.

The mirror felt cool under his forehead, but did nothing to help with his headache.

His parents noticed.

Let it be noted that all ghosts are stupidly petty and competitive, given proper motivation. Including the ones that pretend to be reasonable, responsible parental figures.

A week later, Danny stalked into Long Now.

“Daniel!” exclaimed Clockwork happily. “What brings you here today?”

Danny gestured at his hair, which currently extended all the way to the bottom of his ribcage.

“I can understand growing it back,” he said, aggrieved. “But did you have to make it longer? Did you have to braid it? They’re setting up a camera in my room, Clockwork. A camera. In my bedroom.”

“Would you...” started Clockwork, hesitantly, “like me to reset the week.”

Danny closed his eyes. “Please.”

#danny phantom #ask #answer #prompt #prompt fill

406 notes · View notes

hollenka99 · 2 years

Text

December Fic Rec

Multi Chapter Fics

Point of Life by LittleParadox - T, 10k, ongoing

Wilbur, unaware he’s the son of a mafia leader, gets kidnapped by an emerging rival gang. All he can do is trust his family will get him home safely and attempt to give them enough time to do so. Warnings for kidnapping, major character injury and drugging. This is a prequel side fic to Apologize For Collateral Damage, set when Wilbur is 13. Both fics are great and I enjoy yelling about new chapters in dms. Even though this is a prequel and I know he’ll be more or less fine in the end, I still spend each chapter so tense about whether he’ll get out okay.

from father to son by smallzita - T, 15k, ongoing

Wilbur ran away from home years ago and never came back, leaving his family to pick up the pieces. When Phil bumps into him while shopping, he is determined to not let his son get away again so easily, especially when he learns Wilbur is a young single father who’s barely getting by. I really enjoyed Phil’s desperation to not lose Wilbur again, even if he risks driving a wedge in the family. I would also die for Fundy and the scene where he asks Tommy for help got me in one.

Edge of the 17th by friight - M, 69k, completed

Wilbur repeatedly wakes up on November 16th in a time loop that is restarted every time he dies. He attempts to navigate each loop with the goal of preventing L’Manburg’s detonation and survive the day. Things only complicate when other people are made aware of his situation. Warnings for major character death (multiple but all temporary) and major character injury. With time loop fics, there’s always the risk of them feeling samey after a few loops but the chapters never do, especially not after you reach chapter 4. Each twist just adds to the story and the consequences build with each failed attempt.

Halcyon by Just_A_Lad - T, 16k, ongoing

Wilbur’s wings have been growing at a worryingly slow rate and causing him pain the whole time. The longer he suffers, the more desperate his family grows to find a solution for him. Warnings for major character injury. To see how Wilbur’s developmental delay affects himself and their entire family is sad. I don’t blame them for contemplating the options they’d rather avoid for fear of getting screwed over. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Veiled Rogue in future chapters.

yield your dead by angelsdemonsducks - M, 13k, ongoing

Ranboo discovers a bunch of tapes in his new home. When he plays them out of curiosity one night, he is shocked when one of the people in the videos speaks directly to him. As scared and paranoid this makes him, he can’t make himself dispose of the tapes. There has to be more to the guitar playing man, no matter how conflicted playing the recordings makes his nerves. Warnings for unreality, body horror and disassociation. I was so on edge during the first couple of chapters because of the prospect of Wilbur potentially acting as a threat. Ranboo’s high levels of stress along with the creepy warning he receives made the worry worse. I’m really looking forward to see where it goes.

Skin Tearing Like Paper by LogicallyStupid - T, 5k, ongoing

After getting shot by Punz following being exiled, Wilbur is saved from losing his last life by Eret. When he realises what they did, he has to come to terms with his new way of living as a new vampire that is also freshly exiled. Wilbur, being Wilbur, is not taking to it easily. Warnings for near death experience and violence. I am holding Wilbur by the shoulders and begging him to stop being so self-loathing for two seconds. Sir, your friends are worried about you. I am too. The story’s still in its early stages so Wilbur’s still in his moral dilemma phase of keeping himself fed but I’m loving watching him try to come to grips with the reality of his vampirism while also dealing with the general Pogtopia arc.

One Shots

Metanoia by sleep_dep - M, 25k

Tommy does in fact jump off his tower, causing his loved ones to suddenly be forced to deal with the aftermath of their loss. Warnings for suicide, death and grief. All their ways of taking the news are devastating, from Techno desperately trying to get a totem to react to Tubbo accusing Techno of being responsible because surely someone as strong willed as Tommy would never take their own life like that. I did like the way Tubbo and emerald duo put their issues with each other to one side in order to unite under the common ground of grieving Tommy's loss.

Next Stop: Desire by 5ievel - NR, 8k

When Wilbur needs to get away for a weekend, he goes on a road trip and is joined by a hitchhiker named Tubbo. Together, they notice things getting odd after a disastrous visit to a diner. Maybe if they can manage to meet up with Phil on the way home unscathed, things might start making sense. I'd say there's a bit of unreality going on at times like when they leave Desire or the car teleporting. I was curious as to what was going on the entire time and kept worrying the looming misfortunes might finally catch up to them. Also god bless Phil for having the braincell because no, Wil you can't just disappear for 4 days and pick up a teenager while you're at it. What are you playing at?

point of departure by karmicpunishment - T, 5k

Wilbur attempts to save Tubbo from being executed at the festival. However, complications arise with his hastily made plan. Warnings for death, as would be expected for the Red Festival. The ending is inevitable and I knew beforehand what would happen but I was still urging Wilbur to successfully execute his plan anyway. His need to keep all his ones safe, my beloved.

rigor mortis (and blessings of good fortune) by coveredinsun - T, 5k

Tommy has always had faith in Lady Prime but he needs Her guidance more than ever when Wilbur is killed escaping L’Manburg after their election loss. He asks for Her help as he attempts to retrieve Wilbur’s body and waits for him to be revived. There’s warnings for death and description of a corpse, along with one of the post-mortem stages (rigor mortis). As someone who is both religious and studying bioarcheology, this fulfilled an odd overlap I really dug and didn't realise I wanted to see. Tommy trying to lean on his faith of Prime while going through one of the worst points of his life hurt me in the best way. The same with him questioning why She's letting all this happen to him.

#dream smp #dsmp fic rec #mcyt #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #philza #ranboo #tubbo #technoblade #long post

41 notes · View notes

robinrequiems · 3 years

Text

ok ig cashier damian is my latest hyper fixiation, so let’s add

• Ight so, on fridays, jon cannot come in all the time, very rarely can he. and when he does. he sees a very cute sleepy damian who also wants to punch him:)

• damian is just a mess. he didn’t have time to fix his appearance because as soon as he got out of school, he had to change in a shitty unsanitary grocery store bathroom.

• it was not fucking fun. it never is. damian is so over it. jon normally sees Damian working on homework quickly before putting it away when Jon or other customers show

• damian cannot be asked to look like a normal human being when he just finished 7 sad hours of school in ANOTHER shitty uniform. he hates uniforms

Jon: you look like you’re gonna fall asleep

Damian: ugh, look who it is, the good boy from metropolis who doesn’t look like a creep at all when he comes here just to talk to me. woo hoo!

Jon: nice to see you too

• jon normally sucked on lollipops when he didn’t want to chew on gum, plus sometimes he chews on gum really aggressively and it hurts his jaw

• but let’s talk abt jonny: star athlete ( I’m a simp for athletes jon, please kill me. he’s a basketball player in this though. he got the height for it anyway ), himbo-vibes, and overall sweetheart.

• at least that’s what everyone else thinks. his life is a cycle. A very miserable cycle. It’s honestly tiring and hurts his head and generally takes his mood down

• but then he drove to bludhaven in his new car and brand new license. and he saw him.

• sure he’s seen moody teenagers working at stores before, but this boy; Damian, by his name tag, was different. He SENSED IT

• jon found that he liked different

• damian.. just didn’t easily talk with Jon like so many did at home. he liked a challenge

• and Damian was his challenge

• so he wasted so much gas and time and money to visit him.

• he was so whipped

• he was attracted to him. just the way he did things. like goddamn. ok.

• then his friends and him took a trip there. it was Saturday, they were gonna leave on Sunday. it was for Kathy’s birthday. He had no idea why she wanted to go here.

• oh. yeah. The idiots taken in for underaged drinking. Jon didn’t drink. ( he was a good boy and designated driver ) so he was just there trying to get the officers to let his friends off the hook

Damian: oh look, guess the good boy isn’t really a good boy.

Jon: Damian—? No! I’m here to get my friends out!

Damian: figures, you’re too innocent to do bad things.

Jon: what did you do then?

Damian: well wouldnt my you like to know

Dick: Damian! There you are! Sorry, I was calling up some parents- who is this?

Damian: Good boy.

Dick: ah.

Jon: Jon Kent.. nice to meet you

Dick: wait. As in Clark Kent?

Jon: yeah? that’s my dad

Dick: aw your dad used to babysit me

Damian: can we go now

Dick: hush Damian, I’m feeling nostalgic

• so Damian learned jons name. And jon got to see Damian in regular clothes, so that was cool

• he also got in trouble and couldn’t see Damian for a month because his parents were upset about what happened.. understandable, but jon was still upset

Tai: soo, that was him?:)

Jon: shut up

• tai accidentally found out about cashier boy, it was very funny for tai. not Jon. he teased jon for being whipped.

• sure jon liked damian for his looks at first. then he liked him for him.

Jon: dad, some guy named dick said hi

Clark: jon it isn’t— wait-

Jon: he said you babysat him

Clark: really? You saw him, how did he look? I haven’t seen him since he was a kid!

Jon: um. good?

Clark: where did you see him?

Jon: ..the police place

• his parents put a tracker on jons phone. now they were so confused why their son kept going to Giant Beagle in bludhaven. it was. weird.

• they just- was he meeting someone?? why was he doing this? WAS HE GETTING DRUGS? wait. no. it’s jon. jon couldn’t even stand the smell of cigarettes

Lois: jon.. honey.

Jon: yeah?

Lois: why do you keep driving to bludhaven? I’m worried about you and want to make sure you aren’t doing anything.. bad. Or dangerous.

• granted, it was very dangerous going out there, but he liked it. he liked the thrill of when he got to walk damian back sometimes! HE WAS GETTING CLOSER TO DAMIAN!

• oh also. it turns out damian gave him a fake number

• rude.

• damian always warned him though. and tried to make jon not walk far. jon was.. jon was a good boy. he would never survive in bludhaven frequently, jt worried humored damian.

• sometimes jon came by during the day. Damian’s Sunday shift was in the evening while his Saturday one was in the morning. jon got to go get lunch with him sometimes if Damian felt like there were enough people around that would know if he got kidnapped or not

Damian: why do you bother talking to me? most get bored of me and my attitude.

Jon: I find it charming. you’re fun to talk to. you feel so real. almost everyone in my life feels artificial and like I’m living in a disney Chanel movie.

Damian: *he laughed* oh?

Jon, loving Damians laugh rn: yeah! it’s like they’re.. androids or somethin’.

Damian: why don’t you just find someone snarky from metropolis?

Jon: it wouldn’t be as fun then.

Jon: i like a challenge.

• getting to know damian was like trying to beat the hardest level in his game. it was mind blowing how many times he basically had to restart. Damian was also like a Rubix cube, but jon will get there. He already has 1 side done on it.

Jon: so you live with your brother?

Damian: yes.

Jon: nice

• jon didn’t pry. Damian and dick had became forgotten after bruces death, a lot of the kids did. they just all disappeared from the media like ghosts.

• so jon didn’t know that dick wasn’t his blood relative, or that Damian was Bruce’s child. no one really did

• it wasn’t like it mattered though anyways

Damian: basketball is lame.

Jon: have you ever played?

Damian: yes. it sucked ass

• jon has helped Damian restocked late at night sometimes. Damian doesn’t like him touching things, but the faster he does it, faster he can go home to get his pets, alfred, and his idiot brother

Damian: you waste a lot of gas coming to see me.

Jon: it’s worth it.

• jon had to get a job. boo. he worked on days he didn’t have practice and sadly, on sundays.

• he was a worker at a small cafe, he was just a waiter there

• and then one day, on a Sunday, Damian came in with a few people. WAIT DAMIAN CAME IN

Jon: DAMIAN

Damian, clearly startled: what the fuck, jon!

Jon: why’re you here! how long are you staying! ARE TOU REALLY HERE!

Maya: is this who you were talking about?

Damian: shut up.. but calm down, idiot.

Damian: .. you got a haircut.

Jon: you- you noticed? sorry I couldn’t come this week. was busy this week and needed to catch up on sleep.

Damian:’it’s fine. I guess I really should give you my number now.

Colin: that was smooth

Jon: really?

Damian: mhm. after you seat us, dumbass.

Jon: oh right

• and Damian did give jon his number

• a real one dw

Maps: he was cute.. he single?

Maya: he wouldn’t be single if Damian just manned up

Colin: they practically just stared at each other the whole time when they thought the other wasn’t looking

Damian: wait he was looking at me?

Maya: oh damians so whipped.

• oh how the cashier is falling for the waiter

• sounds like a hallmark film.

• next week jon did end up visiting him in ‘haven, and drove him home.

• damians feet were hurting and he was tired so he didn’t even bother to argue.

• jon couldn’t come to visit his favorite cashier during winters a lot, he may of liked his new “dangerous” life, but he heard how bad the roses could get from Damian

• damian was a bit sad and moody because of that. but shut up. you don’t know anything dick

Dick: you know.. you should invite him inside

Damian: so you can embarrass me? no thank you.

Dick: me? embarrass you? never. but come on, you have never shown interested in anyone before! I wanna meet him!

Damian: you already did. At the police station. you forget or something?

Dick: .. that wasn’t really the best first meeting. come on. please?

Damian: no.

#cashier damian #Damian wayne #jon kent #au #rambles #damijon

61 notes · View notes

omgjasminesimone · 3 years

Text

Life Goes On

Dakota x MC

Word Count: ~2,300

Now with Follow-Up, The Moments in Between

She doesn’t want to say anything, but eventually she has to. After all, they’re Prom Royalty tonight. There’s no way their absence from the Edenbrook Prom hasn’t been noticed by now.

“Should we head back down there?” Sage asks quietly, breaking the comfortable silence between the pair.

Dakota’s index finger momentarily pauses in its absent-minded tracing of stars, hearts, and what Sage surmises must be ghosts, based on the wavy lines at the bottom, on her bare back. He restarts the invisible drawings on her hip before he finally replies. “Honestly, I just want to stay up here with my incredible girlfriend. Let’s never leave this bed.”

Sage smiles, lifting her head from where it was tucked under his chin. “That offer would be much more appealing if this was a Queen instead of a hospital bed.”

Dakota laughs, and Sage smiles at her unending ability to make him do that, further entwining her legs with his. She’s no longer worried about what the other prom attendees are thinking about their absence as the teens fall into another comfortable silence.

“That was amazing, Teach.” Dakota eventually says, his lips pressed gently against her forehead. “Thanks for taking that one off my bucket list.”

Sage looks up at him, placing a quick peck to his lips. “I was more than happy to help you get the full Senior Prom Night experience.” She admits when she pulls away.

Dakota smiles at her, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. Her brow furrows. “What?”

“….This is probably the worst time to bring this up…..” Dakota begins before trailing off as he looks at her uncertainly.

“What, Dakota? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

His eyes dart to their scattered clothes on the sterile hospital floor before he’s able to meet her sincere gaze. “Can we….talk about death for a second?” Dakota asks.

His penetrating brown eyes bore into her own, and she can only nod.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking about death, a lot.” He begins.

“Why? Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go back to the ICU? Dakota! Why did you go to prom and risk your immune system if you weren’t feeling well?!” Sage asks frantically. She reaches down to the ground for her discarded dress. “I’m gonna find the oncologist…” She mutters distractedly.

“Hey, hey!” He firmly grips her shoulder, his grip firmer than it has been for months now. That calms her a little, and she lets him roll her back over to face him. “Slow down a minute, Sage. I feel…fine. It’s just, …who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow? Or the next day. And we haven’t really talked much about this, so…I don’t know…no time like the present?”

The frantic beating of her heart calms further at his assurances that he doesn’t feel unwell. “Okay, let’s talk about it.” She says, even though that’s the last thing she wants to talk about as she lies naked in his arms.

“Okay. First off, I just want you to know I’m okay with dying. I had 19 good years, that’s more than a lot of people get. I have family and friends who love me.” He pauses here, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss to her lips. “I have you. That’s a pretty fulfilling life right there.”

“Dakota…” Sage whispers, voice already breaking.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m going to be okay. No matter what happens. But….I worry about what happens to everyone else after I’m gone.” Dakota admits.

“That’s so like you. Concerned about everyone else. You’re such a good person, Dakota.” The kind of person who should live to old age, the kind of person who makes the world a better place. Life can be so unfair, but Sage keeps that thought to herself.

“I can’t help but worry. A lot of marriages don’t survive the loss of a child, you know. My parents’ whole lives revolve around me. They upended everything to move to Boston to get me the best medical care. They left their friends, and family. I just…..don’t want them to stop living if I do. Does that make sense?”

Sage nods, intertwining her fingers with his under the thin hospital blanket.

“If I’m gone, will you check on them for me? Not, like, all the time or anything. But just….stop by to visit if you’re in town? I think it would help them, to see you achieve all the life landmarks I don’t get to. Graduating college, getting your first real job,…getting married….” Dakota trails off as tears well in her eyes. “Teach…..”

Sage shakes her head. “I’m okay.” Dakota looks unconvinced, so she forces a smile. “I promise I’m okay. And of course I’d visit, and call when I’m out of town.”

“Thank you.” He says with so much gratitude Sage almost bursts into tears immediately. “Alright, so the other people I worry about are Lennox and Mateo. We’ve been the three musketeers for so long, it wouldn’t be the same with just two. So, I’m gonna need you to keep the gang together.”

“Of course I’d still talk to your best friends Dakota. You don’t even have to ask that.” Sage admonishes.

“They’re your friends too now. Don’t forget that. And as their friend…..please don’t let them wallow in survivor’s guilt, okay? I don’t want them to feel guilty for getting to live in case I don’t. I’m honestly so happy that they’re better, that they’re healthy. Don’t let them forget that, alright?”

“Alright.” Sage parrots miserably. She didn’t know this conversation would be so hard. And if just talking about it is this hard, she can’t imagine actually living it. There’s no way she’s strong enough to do that.

“Okay, so that just leaves one more person I’m a little worried about.” Dakota continues. He brushes away a tear that’s sliding down her face toward his pillow. “You, Teach.”

“If you’re so worried, then don’t leave me.” Sage tries to joke, but now she’s full-on sobbing so it falls flat.

Dakota smiles softly anyway though, pressing another lingering kiss to her lips. She tries not to think about how many kisses, how much time, they have left. “I’m going to try my absolute hardest not to, beautiful…..but if I do….I want you to move on. I want you to get married, and have babies, and live your life to the absolute fullest. And I don’t want you to feel guilty about it for even a second, do you hear me?”

“How can you ask me to do that? Of course I would feel guilty. When I think about walking down the aisle, it’s you I’m picturing standing beside the priest. And when I think about starting a family, I picture a little girl with your eyes, or a baby boy with your smile. I can promise you I’ll settle for someone else if that’s what you want to hear, but I’m always going to love you. Present tense. Forever. And some guy would just have to settle for being second best. That wouldn’t be fair to him.”

Dakota smiles sadly. “You’re young. Right now, everything feels like it’s the end of the world. But ten years from now? You’ll barely remember me, Teach. Life goes on. You’ll love again. I know it. And I want you to.”

“You’re not forgettable Dakota. You’re extraordinary. You changed me, and even if you’re not here, even if life goes on, you’ll go on with me. I’ll think about you every day.” Sage swears.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Sage.” Dakota says, tone full of forced levity.

“I’m not.” Sage insists.

“That is something I worry about, you know. Something most people who are dying worry about. Being forgotten. Just…ceasing to exist, disappearing off the face of the Earth.” Dakota admits.

“That’s not going to happen to you. Me, your parents, Lennox, Mateo? We wouldn’t let you just…fade away. We love you. I love you. Present tense. Remember?”

Dakota smiles, and as usual, her heart flutters. “I love you too Sage. So much.”

“…can we talk about something happy now? I think I cried off all my makeup.” Sage rubs under her eyes, and that’s definitely smeared mascara coating her fingers.

“One more thing. I want to ask you for a favor.” Dakota adds.

“Name it.”

“Will you name your first born after me? A namesake, so I’m not forgotten?” Dakota asks. Sage can’t tell whether or not he’s joking.

“You don’t think my hypothetical baby daddy would have a problem with me naming our child after my late boyfriend? The love of my life who I still wouldn’t be over?” Sage counters.

Dakota shoots her an almost offended look. “Sage, you’re telling me a grown man, who is your husband, not baby daddy, in this scenario, is going to be threatened by your long dead high school boyfriend? You can do better.”

Sage laughs, and Dakota can’t help but join in.

Eventually their laughter dies down, and they just stare at each other lovingly in the dim light of the hospital room. “Alright, when you put it like that, I guess I can promise to name my firstborn after you.” Sage eventually promises.

Dakota lifts his pinky, and Sage rolls her eyes, but she pinky promises him anyway.

“Thank you. Now, we can get dressed and get back to prom before your mom comes looking for you.” Dakota concludes.

….

…

10 years later

Sage wakes to the shrill cry of her newborn through the baby monitor. She rubs at her eyes sleepily as she searches for her slippers in the dark bedroom. Her husband starts to stir. “I’ve got him.” Sage offers, and her husband dozes off again with a soft mutter of thanks.

Sage makes her way down the hall and reaches into her son’s crib. “What’s wrong Dakota? Hungry? Need a new diaper? Just want attention and hate when mommy gets a good night of sleep?” Sage asks, yawning as she comes to the end of her question.

She shrugs one arm out of her nightgown and raises her son to her breast. He happily latches on, sipping greedily. “Ah, hungry.” Sage quips, gently running her free hand over the newborn’s mostly bald head.

Once he’s fed, Sage gently deposits Dakota back in his crib. She’s just started to swaddle him in his blanket when she’s startled by a pair of warm arms wrapping around her from behind. As her surprise abates, she leans back into her husband’s embrace. “I told you I had him.”

“I know. But I got lonely without you.” He admits, pressing a kiss to her neck.

Sage tssks. “So needy. You’re so used to having all my attention, but now you have to share with little Dakota here.”

Her husband reaches one arm into the crib, and the infant happily grips his father’s index finger. “If I have to share you, I’m glad it’s with DJ here.”

Sage’s brow furrows. “DJ?”

“Dakota Junior, or DJ. It’s going to get confusing having two Dakotas around here, so he needs a nickname.”

“What’s wrong with Little Dakota?” Sage asks.

“Babe, I doubt he’s gonna like being called ‘Little’ once he’s past ten.” Dakota insists.

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you made me promise to name my first born after you.” Sage teases.

“Hey, we both know I wasn’t expecting to be around.” Dakota retorts playfully.

Sage turns away to face Dakota, smiling as she drapes her arms around his neck. “Well, you can’t predict a medical miracle. Cancer didn’t stand a chance against you.”

“Don’t jinx me.” Dakota complains, but he’s obviously not that upset because he plants a kiss to her forehead.

“Babe, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning then get cancer again after ten years of remission.” Sage insists.

“Still, better safe than sorry.” Dakota insists.

Sage rolls her eyes, but she obediently turns around and softly taps her fist against the wooden railing of their son’s crib, ‘knocking on wood’. Dakota can be so superstitious, but his many endearing qualities outweigh her annoyance with his superstitious ways.

The new parents both stare into the crib, watching the baby coo and gurgle. “He’s really something isn’t he?” Dakota breathes out softly.

“A miracle.” Sage adds.

“I could watch him all night.” Dakota insists.

“But you shouldn’t, because you have a big day tomorrow.” Sage reminds him.

“You mean we have a big day tomorrow.” Dakota corrects.

“It’s your movie. I’m just going to help with the casting.”

“It’s our movie. I’d never be able to tell our love story without my muse.”

Sage smiles, rising up on her tip toes to press a gentle kiss to her husband’s lips. “A romance for the ages.” She whispers against his lips when she pulls away, just barely.

Dakota nods, tangling his fingers through her’s. “You’re everything to me. When I was sick, when things got hard, you gave me something to fight for.” Dakota insists softly.

Sage smiles, she never gets tired of hearing that. “I love you.”

“Not as much as I love you.” Dakota insists. He tugs her towards the door. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”

Sage hesitates, looking into the crib. “I know they say we shouldn’t start bed sharing until Little Dakota is older……but how can anyone expect me to be away from him all night?”

Dakota smiles fondly. “Well, they let us take him home from the hospital, so we’re in charge now.” He makes his way over to the crib, resuming the swaddling.

“That’s too loose Dakota. Here, let me show you.” Sage demonstrates her perfect swaddling technique for her husband.

Dakota scoops up his little namesake when she’s done. “Got it. Thanks, Teach.”

….

…

A/N: With Every Heartbeat made me sad, so I choose to live in this Alternate Universe where Dakota Winchester makes a full recovery and he and Sage get the happy ending they deserve.

#with every heartbeat #weh #dakota winchester #dakota x mc #choices fanfiction

245 notes · View notes