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#it might take me a while cause i'm slow at getting stuff done
shadow-pixelle · 15 days
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Braided Fates 2
(Masterpost)
Part two of the Danny Phantom stuff for this AU! This thing just keeps getting longer and longer the more I think about it.
Updates might slow down a bit on this side of things, because I've got some events I'm doing fics for and also various real life events that're gonna give me less writing time, so it might be a bit before more gets added. We'll see.
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Keeping track of days was… difficult, in the Realms.
As a whole, there wasn’t really a way to keep track of time. There wasn’t a sun or moon in the Realms as a whole, adding one to a Haunt was difficult without putting in a lot of time- hah- and focus into it, and that could still be inconsistent since a Haunt responded to the ghost in charge. At least they did in the Infinite Realms, since it was more flexible than the Living Realm. And not even clocks could help, since while they usually followed the passage of time pretty well, they sometimes skipped forwards or backwards at random, and unless you noticed it would make keeping track hard.
Even Clockwork struggled to keep entirely accurate track of time in the Realms, which really said something.
Tucker was determined to figure out a way to keep proper track of things, which Danny thought might be a lost cause, but he had no idea. It’d been a project for three years now, though, which made him think it might be pretty much impossible.
Still, all projects like that had been put to the side for the first while in the Realms. Instead, the three of them all focused on getting settled in. Because of the mess around Realms time, they hadn’t ever stayed in Danny’s Lair before. The most they’d done was visit, entering the Portal and rushing over there in order to look around, and added supplies to the house in case they hadn’t been able to get to any of the go bags in town. But aside from knowing what the place looked like, they hadn’t spent much time in the Lair, or the Haunt as a whole.
So now they were sorting it out to live in. Properly, this time.
With their families taking things so well, the trio had been able to gather all of the various go bags they’d stashed away for themselves and brought them all into the Lair with them, which would make living easier at the very least. They had fake identities and plenty of money as well, so if they needed to leave the Realms and go back to their home dimension for anything, they could, as long as they were careful of the GIW. And with Danny’s parents on their side, there was always a chance that the Anti-Ecto Acts would get removed at some point, and they could go home.
But until then, they were staying here, and had to make the most of it.
The nicest part about them living in Danny’s Lair was that he could make adjustments to things. It was a part of his Haunt, after all, and unlike having a Haunt and Lair in the Living Realm like he had before, the Infinite Realms were flexible.
He was able to make changes to the inside of his Lair, which meant that he could customise their rooms much further than they could do on their own. Sam’s was dark and gothic, Tucker’s was like his one at home but with more space for all his computer equipment, and Danny’s own was more like a planetarium, with his bed floating in the middle of the room and the walls looking like a starry sky.
They’d quickly learned they had to set up a bell to get Danny’s attention when they walked into the room, otherwise he’d be perfectly happy curling into a ball and watching the stars.
Sam and Tucker had wandered in and out of their own rooms for hours, sorting things out and asking Danny to make changes. Danny had kept out of his for the most part, after the first hour or so and the addition of the bell. He kept getting distracted by the stars, so he’d needed to change his room to not have stars on the walls before he unpacked everything he’d brought, putting it away on the floating cases and shelves that made up the room. Instead, while the other two had worked, he’d gone around the hallways to make more adjustments to the house, being careful to stay within shouting range of Sam and Tucker.
Apparently, the layout of the Lair would also respond to his subconscious, as well as his conscious desires and the requests he made.
The house was taller. The Ops Center on the top was as empty as it had always been, but there was more room now. There was an extra bedroom, right at the end of the hall, and when he peered in it was a mirror of his parents’.
They had a basement now.
The living room was currently a mirror of his Living home’s. Danny liked that, right now. It felt like he was at home, rather than hiding in the Realms because he’d half-died once and it’d put everyone in danger by opening the Portal.
That was where he settled, once he’d finished looking around everything. Curled up on the couch, listening to Sam and Tucker go in and out organising things, and sat there focusing on making a star cycle. He’d ended up making both a sun and a moon with a functioning lunar cycle, and patterned the stars to be precisely like the ones over Amity, just because he could. And by that point the other two were done as well, and had come to curl up beside him, all three of them nested together in a big pile like they were at home.
Not that they’d ever done this in that house in Amity, but that was besides the point.
Unpacking had taken up pretty much their entire first day, or what felt kind of like a day, and eventually, Danny knew they’d have to move. Get back to scouting out his Haunt, because while nothing would attack them here it was still a good idea to know what their territory looked like. They’d need to map things out, in case the subconscious changes to the Lair meant that he could also make subconscious changes to the Haunt, and if that happened they’d need to be able to compare the changes.
At some point, they’d need to map out the castle. They knew it was slowly changing to be more Danny’s, rather than Pariah’s- Clockwork had assured them of that- but Danny still wasn’t looking forward to scouting out the entire place. It was huge, after all, made for the Ghost King. It wasn’t as big as his Haunt, obviously, but it was still big and more likely to be dangerous than Danny’s Haunt. Who knew how much time and effort it would to map out the entire place, especially if it kept changing.
They really needed to figure out a communication method, too. Danny had no idea how that worked in the Realms normally, but hopefully if Tucker’s focused obsession on making a working time-keep for the Realms didn’t pan out, he might be able to use something in the system for messages instead. Or maybe Danny could do it. They had the basement lab now, which he could use for his work, depending on what it looked like down there. They could check that out sometime.
And when they’d done all that, there was still gonna be the house to deal with as well. Sure, the house was fine for right now; it being an almost-replica of the Fenton house in Amity, it was definitely functional for living in, but eventually Danny knew it was gonna get cramped. Even just disregarding the fact that the three of them had never lived together before, they were eventually going to need more rooms for things, and that was gonna require talking stuff over.
Like maybe replicating the games room from Sam’s, or the bowling alley, or the movie room. Maybe adding rooms from Tucker’s house as well, just to make things feel more comfortable. Add things outside of the Lair so Sam could have her greenhouses, assuming there was anything they could grow here. They’d done a few experiments with keeping food from getting so ecto-contaminated that it came alive, though they’d never applied it at the Fenton’s, so maybe at some point the kitchen would expand, or they’d gain a big freezer level somewhere.
But all of that was going to need them to sit down, probably with a floor plan of some kind, in order to plan out what they wanted to do. And at the end of their unpacking, all they wanted to do was sit, curled together on the couch, and pretend that they hadn’t had to run away from the only place that had ever been home.
-x-
The next few days went much the same, with them wandering around the house and making little changes, and exploring outside to see what the rest of the Haunt looked like. For the most part, it was a mirror of Amity’s parks, the main ones that the trio had used to visit most often. But none of the plants were quite right; Living Realm plants didn’t seem to like the Realms, Sam had discovered, so while they appeared much like Living plants, there was enough of an ectoplasmic tinge to them that they were warped into something not quite a Living plant.
Which was pretty neat, honestly. They didn’t really do much interesting, aside from the occasional swaying towards them when they walked past- which was really weird with the trees- they just… looked a bit spooky.
Mapping it was still a nightmare, but that’s just how the Realms were. Without the Infini-Map, mapping a place like the Realms wasn’t really possible properly. It was just a case of doing what they could to make something they could follow. Other than that, they made what adjustments they wanted; it wasn’t much, but they moved some of the parks and expanded them into a garden instead, added a greenhouse for Sam, and gave it more of a personal flare.
Then, finally, after what felt like about three days in the Realms, they went to deal with Pariah’s former Lair.
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Hello! I've been kinda stalling sending this for absolutely no reason, but I'm gonna do it today because it's going to rot in my brain if I don't. Actually, maybe you've done this ask before? Idk, my brain is all scrambled up rn but I'm gonna ask this anyway cause why not
What would happen if Yuu got their period in the Kaiju!AU? How would the Kaiju react?
I can imagine Grim and Crowley freaking out, trying to figure out what's wrong with Yuu. And all the while, Yuu's like, "What are you guys doing? Hey, stop bombarding me! Personal space! What- why are you guys sniffing me!?" And since Yuu doesn't understand what they're saying, they can't answer them on why they smell like blood. Or it the scenario could work with any other of the Kaiju's, too
Wait, how would Yuu even get menstrual products anyway? Do they get them from Sam?? How would they even get those type of products from Sam??? Maybe he get some of them from that wreck of a lab from the beginning somehow? Idk, but I thought it'd be a fun idea
Yeah, this is all I have rn since my brain is cranked all the way up on slow mode today. I hope you have a good day and goodbye! (Oh, and this can be a gender neutral thing with Yuu just being AFAB)
WARNING: Menstrual cycle discussion under read more! Will be using they/them pronouns since gender neutral/AFAB was requested.
Oh goodness, being in the Kaiju AU is going to be a little more difficult for Yuu whether they’re female or AFAB. 😂 Between staying in Crewel’s den or at Crowley’s nest, it’s tricky to get the supplies that they need or communicate to the Kaiju that this stuff they’ve piled up is necessary. Given that Grim does understand what Yuu is saying though, he is able to help at least get that point across…when it suits him anyway (if Yuu makes even more of a fuss than usual, he’ll translate for the others).
I’ll go ahead and explain that—at first—Yuu had to get a bit creative with their monthly cycle once it actually hit. I’d imagine that their body might temporarily shut down that function due to the stress of their new environment, being surrounded by giant monsters that could literally level mountains with a swipe, and the near constant sense of impending doom—even if they’re safe with the guardian trio. This is good for Yuu as it gives them time to finally venture out of the den with Grim to explore the other facilities as it would take a while before they can get back to the original lab.
Luckily for Yuu, the closest facility—although abandoned—was still in good condition and had most of the supplies that they’ll need. In fact, this is where they found the music player that Grim thought was a chew toy! So imagine the sheer excitement and relief Yuu would have the moment they found not one, not two, but a whole crate full of pads, tampons, period cups, and even extra unopened packages of underwear!
You might be wondering why there was so much. Well, because there are female researchers on the teams and the island is not exactly in the most convenient of places, which means that getting supply drops are far and few. Especially when you have creatures that aren’t the Kaiju who can and will attempt to attack any vehicle that comes near the island. I’ll get a bit more detail on the island’s setup and whatnot, but that’s a bit of context on how Yuu is essentially set when it comes to non-perishable items that could be used for a comfortable existence on the island of behemoths!
Sam may have found a few crates of other supplies that had been washed up, but it’s not like he knows what they’re used for unless he observed the humans using the tools out in the field. Even so, Sam will know when Yuu needs something and will make sure to have them available on his next visit. How else did he know to bring a bed when Yuu wanted something comfortable to sleep on?
Now, as for how the Kaiju would react when Yuu finally starts their cycle. If you were expecting Crowley to be freaking out over Yuu’s health like he did in the Twisted Monsterland AU, you’d be mistaken. He does get flustered, but more like a “my tiny human is too young to mate!!!” sort of way while Crewel just sighs at his theatrics. They would be concerned to notice if Yuu’s cycle causes them a lot of pain and discomfort, but luckily the facilities have plenty of painkillers and antibiotics that are available—all that’s required is MIRA to access the appropriate amount needed to get Yuu through their current cycle!
Surprisingly, Grim becomes more protective over Yuu whenever they’re around the other Kaiju. Whenever he notices that they’re uncomfortable (whether they just took painkillers or they’re exhausted or some other feeling they get during this time), he will pick them up or curl around them to purr up a storm and hiss at whoever comes near too fast.
He’s swatted at the first years more than once. 😆
The other Kaiju boys would be confused as to what’s happening. Sure, they know about cycles on an instinctive level (and they understand what it means), they’re just more confused as to the frequency. Do humans not have specific mating seasons? Eventually it does get to the point where they know to be less rowdy when it’s that time of the month, either bringing Yuu their favorite treats or snacks that they managed to get (and once it became clear that one particular fruit tasted exactly like chocolate pudding to Yuu, it became a staple) or taking naps with them. Yuu is going to be one very comfortable human once they figure out a good rhythm to manage things!
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but there's more than one way to survive in the wild, and with MIRA at Yuu's side, their chances of survival were better than they were before! UvU Also fun fact, there really is a fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding! 0v0
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the-ace-with-spades · 7 months
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Dunno if I'm going to ever finish it (written in bits and pieces at the moment, about 2 out 9 chapters done + dialogues for the rest) but I might as well post it here. It was supposed to be part 1 of a series (the cure series) but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
'cause boys don't cry AU after Eddie leaves 118. When Eddie says a few words too much during an argument, Buck decides to leave LA but still stays in contact with everyone and still acts like Chris' second parent despite being miles away. It takes him two years hopping around the country to realize that his family will still be there without their workplace holding them together. It takes Eddie less to realize he misses him like a lung. Buck-centric, character study, slow burn, mutual pinning, getting together
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Any kind of holiday cheer has left Buck and by the time he and Taylor are back in his loft, all he wants to do is sleep and forget the whole day happened.
Taylor takes it in stride. Buck has long suspected that she knows a bit too much about the feelings he has regarding Eddie—the feelings that are also too much. She’s been patient with him, like no one else has ever been, to the point that Buck felt guilt about how she was giving him more than he was giving her.
She lets Buck fester in his own mind while she keeps herself busy with unpacking the leftovers and tupperware Bobby handed them on their way out. She puts it all in the fridge which Buck will have to rearrange later and switch some of the stuff into the freezer. He has his own system and she doesn't know it, even after almost a year of dating. It’s fine.
"I know we promised not to talk about it until after New Year," Taylor says when she closes the fridge, voice soft and soothing in the silence of the loft, "but maybe it's a sign."
"Maybe," he agrees.
A few days before Christmas, Taylor got a job offer. In New York. They promised to talk about that first thing first, in January. They haven't talked about it beyond the offer that Buck could be a firefighter in New York. It was Taylor's offer, a compromise that would keep their both careers intact; an offer that seemed perfect on paper.
One thing is clear—Taylor is going, with or without Buck.
And the thing is, Buck would never hold her back, would never ask her to stay in LA with him and that was probably saying more about their relationship than he'd like to admit. But up until this point, he'd been thinking about a way they should go about their split up—because Buck couldn't do a long-distance relationship again—and not whether he actually could be a firefighter in New York. The wait has, so far, been unexpectedly good for them—maybe a deadline to judge how true their I love yous and I miss yous were and deciding whether the last year really proved they were better as a couple than as friends, maybe it was a good thing. Maybe the certainty that by January, they will know what the rest of their year will look like was something they both needed.
"Let me write some emails before going to bed," he tells her.
She smiles back at him, in a way that's almost calming. Not quite, but maybe in a couple of years…
Three hours later, Buck is tired. He's researched how external transfer could work—and it's manageable even if barely—and he's sent seven different emails with his firefighter CV and certs to various chiefs, admins and HR people.
Maybe it's impulsive. Maybe he should wait a bit and cool down. But maybe this is how he should do things—with his heart as the only guide. And his heart is hurt enough that he would do anything to leave LA as fast as he can.
Taylor brings him a mug of cinnamon tea and he gives her a kiss and the only thing his brain wants to acknowledge right at the moment is that Eddie hates cinnamon.
.
The next day, they are at work—having the Christmas Day off means going to work before or after it, or both, in Buck's case—and Buck is tying his shoes on the bench in the locker room.
Everyone is quiet. There's no Eddie. The only familiar faces are Hen and Ravi but the rest of the crew is also avoiding Buck's eyes, like they know he can break at the right look.
"You alright, Buck?" Hen asks, in the end, because someone has to and Bobby is already in his office.
"Peachy."
There's nothing else to say. Eddie was right—he has no right to be angry, about anything, or sad or disappointed or—It's not Buck's place to feel anything regarding Eddie or Christopher and he might have forgotten about it but now that he remembers, he's fine. He is.
Everyone leaves the locker room without a word. It's still ten minutes before the shift begins.
Buck keeps on trying and trying but he can't tie his shoes correctly, his hands shaking enough that both ends tangle together before he can make a proper knot.
Hen steps closer, because she won't leave him alone like this. But that's the thing—she will. Three years and she will be doing rounds in a hospital with other med students. And maybe she gave them a lot of heads up to get used to the idea and maybe, definitely, she will be a brilliant doctor, but it's all the same.
Hen stops his hands from tugging on the shoelaces. Her fingers wrap around his palms, embracing the tense muscles until he loosens the grip. She guides them away, closer to her waist.
"Buck," she says. "Don't lie to me."
"I'm fine, Hen."
There's no other truth. He has no right to any other truth.
"I know you're mad, Buck, and I know you don't want Eddie to leave but—"
"I'm not mad, Hen," he interrupts and it's not a lie. He's not mad—he's hurt and he feels stupid that he forgot his place and that he let himself get comfortable and hopeful again. Things with Eddie hadn't been great ever since the shooting and only spiraled downhill once Buck moved out of Eddie's house after he recovered enough to take care of himself and Christopher on his own—he should have known that it was Eddie's choice, that he was recreating boundaries for Buck so he wouldn't cross into a territory he shouldn't.
But it was too late for that.
Buck has already crossed every boundary anyone from the One-Eighteen had set for him. It wasn't intentional—he just thought his boundaries were in the same spots as everyone else's, that they weren't playing house, that they were living it, the same way he did.
"I think Eddie is making the right decision," Buck tells her because that's also the truth and he doesn't like lying.
If Eddie had talked to him about it, Buck would have told him that too—he would have been supportive, would have helped him with shortlisting potential jobs, would have helped him with talking about it with Christopher, would have set a budget and time-off plan, would have put some order into the chaos the decision was. Eddie was doing what was best for Christopher and that—that's something Buck would never deny him. But Eddie hadn't talked to him about it.
And that hurt. That hurt because one of the things Buck has always thought he would have, no matter what his feelings for Eddie were—platonic, romantic or too messed up to name—was that little place in Eddie's family.
And it was like Maddie all over again, too. Because he thought he had that little place in Maddie and Chim's family, that he would be part of the struggle and the decisions and he would be part of the help. It wasn’t about Maddie not being there for him, it was about Maddie not allowing him to be there for her. It's never been about being left behind—it's always been about being part of someone else, having a place with someone.
And if Buck's not part of any of the two, then who exactly is he? Who is Evan Buckley? Maybe it's time to figure it out, on his own. Maybe it's just part of being a human, leaving others behind, never really settling down with anyone, and maybe Buck needs to do exactly that.
He clenches his jaw and slides his hands out of Hen's grip.
He gives her a small smile and uses the same shaking hands to finally tie his boots. He can't look her in the eyes, at least not for more than a millisecond.
"I'm fine, Hen. Really."
.
Eddie doesn't show up to the shift, or the rest of his shifts, before his two weeks notice runs out—Bobby said he used up the leftover PTO he had, to focus on finding a new job and adjusting to a new life.
Buck picks up Christopher on both Wednesdays and they have a little trip to the cinema and to the new interactive science exhibition for kids they opened just after New Year's. Buck worked on New Year's Eve and on New Year's Day. He takes Chris back home but never walks him past the porch, just watches Eddie open the door for Chris, like he was waiting at the entrance since he heard Buck's Jeep park on his driveway.
He texts Eddie for the first time in two weeks, still sitting in his car in Eddie's driveway, seeing the light turning on in the kitchen of Eddie's house. His engine is on, waiting for Buck to make the escape, to be chased or to be chased out.
To Eddie: Ill pick him up from school for a sleepover next fri
Then, he adds, because he realizes he should be asking for permission;
To Eddie: If its alright with you
A text comes in a minute later.
From Eddie: I have a taster day on sat To Eddie: Ill take him to your abuela b4 my shift then
He puts the Jeep in reverse. He drives to the loft and once he is in the underground parking lot of his apartment complex, he texts Taylor.
To Taylor: Lets do it
There's no signal underground so the text doesn't go through until he's in the elevator. He could unsent it in the next three minutes it takes him to go across the parking lot, if he wanted.
He doesn't unsent it.
He cooks dinner—too much because he never really stopped being used to cooking for two grown men and a growing pre-teen, but Taylor can always take some to work for lunch the next day. It’s a compromise.
Taylor doesn't text him but when she finally comes back from work, she has a soft smile on her face.
She takes a look at Buck, sitting on his couch with an open laptop and filled-out application forms and drafted reply emails to both the chief and the HR admin from FDNY, and she looks at him and steps closer and guides Buck's head onto her chest.
Buck sighs when she brushes her fingers through the short hair on the back of his neck.
It's not quite what he wants but it's something he can grasp now and something that a new place, maybe, can shape into something he wants.
.
On Thursday, Buck goes to work early. Or earlier than he usually would. He goes through the motions—puts on freshly washed and dried uniform, button after button, even getting done the collar one today, slips his boots on and folds his civvies into a neat pile, packs it all back into the sports bag. He goes through the locker too, packs the athletic wear he has to wash between a small towel and gets rid of the little notes, photos and trinkets he has pinned to the inside of the door. It all lands in the trash can, except for the drawing he has from Christopher, of Buck in turnout gear, now years old, and a little origami flower he got from a kid he had rescued from a pile-up his first year on the job.
His name tag is still missing on his chest and as he looks into the mirror on the wall, checking if he's pinning it down straight and while staring at the Buckley written on the silver plate, he realizes he will have to give back his uniform on his last day.
FDNY doesn't have name tags. Their surnames are embroidered onto the uniform in a bright red thread, permanent in a way that Buck would have loved not so long ago.
"Buck," is what shakes him out of his head.
He looks up in the mirror and Bobby's face is already catching his eyes in the reflection.
"You're early," Bobby continues, in that level-headed, monotone voice he uses when he isn't sure what's going on but has a feeling about it. "There's over half an hour left before the shift starts."
Buck doesn't know what to say to that so he asks, "Can we talk? In private?"
Bobby takes him upstairs, to his office. They are quiet on the way there and Bobby's hand is warm on the small of his back when he closes the door behind them. He doesn't sit down, instead, he leans on his desk and looks at Buck. His arms are open like he's preparing for a hug—Buck expected them to be crossed over his chest.
"Cap—" he says and then he corrects himself. "Bobby, I didn't want you to hear from anyone else but I already submitted a copy to the chief."
He hands him the manila folder he snatched from his locker before following him out of the changing area. Bobby opens the elastic in a second and reads the papers inside.
“I think it’s time,” Buck adds when Bobby doesn't say anything.
This stirs something. Bobby looks almost angry—it's a look Buck's never seen on him. Disappointed, disapproving, defeated? Buck's seen that, not this.
“Time for what? I thought this is what you wanted, what you fought for. Buck, you can’t just—”
“It’s an external transfer, Cap, not a resignation letter," he interrupts. Bobby could, probably, talk him out of this and he knows it.
He needs him not to talk him out of this.
“I need a minute to myself, find a place in—with someone. I got too attached to this,” he admits, without really admitting what this means. “To the station, to the crew, to… We might act like it sometimes, but it isn't a family, isn’t that what you told me? I think I took it too far and—it's not—”
Healthy. It's not healthy for him.
Bobby flinches at the words, maybe because he hasn’t remembered them until now or maybe because he hasn’t thought that Buck would remember them. And he hadn't, not until a few days ago when his heart started breaking after sustaining too many cracks in the last months. It’s been five years and Buck still remembers. This is not a family.
And that's Buck's main point here—it's been five years and Buck is in the same place as he started, maybe there's less stolen trucks and meaningless hookups but emotionally, he's stuck. Desperate for a family. Loving with his whole heart without being loved back the same amount. With no clue who he is, except that he is a firefighter, and although this, somehow, might give him a lifeline to grasp, it's not enough anymore. He doesn't want to just survive, he wants to thrive.
“We are a family, Buck. This crew, we all love you, we will always be your family—”
Buck wants to believe it—
“On shift, maybe.” —he knows better now though. “But after the shift, you all will have your real families. You’ve got Athena, and May, and Harry, and Micheal, Hen has Karen and Denny and her fosters, and—and Chim will have Maddie and Jee and I—I just have an empty apartment and way too many feelings. I hate it, Bobby, I hate how this makes me feel so angry and so desperate and so empty, and I need to be less attached. I need to know who I am again without questioning how much of this is real and how much I imagined.”
He can't look Bobby in the eyes—he knows what he would see if he does. Defeat. Sadness. Maybe even a bit of a heartbreak.
“Taylor got a job offer in New York, I checked with the command and they would need me to recertify there if I wanted to be a fully trained firefighter on the crew or squad but they will gladly let me be a floater in the meantime, I don't even have to redo the full training, just pass the ones reciprocity can't be reached on. I’ll technically belong to Station Two-Fifty-Two but I’ll be bouncing around to whichever house will need me at the time. It’ll be good for me, not getting too involved, you know? Just doing what I love with no strings attached.”
No boundaries to cross or to overstretch. Just Buck, in his purest form. Just Buck, not the imagined version he created in his own mind. No Buck 1.0, no Buck 2.0, no Buck 3.0, no Buck 4.0. Just Buck.
Just Evan.
"It'll be good, I promise," he says and it almost sounds like he's saying, I'll be good.
Bobby stands there, his arms falling down his sides. And then he opens them again, this time wider, this time leaning into Buck's space from afar.
Buck lets him hug him. Lets him hold his nape in his palm and lets him guide Buck's face into his shoulder. Lets him sway Buck from side to side until Bobby's breathing, shallow and rapid, is back to normal. Lets himself have this for the last time.
"Please don't tell anyone about it, Bobby," he pleads into his shoulder. "I have two weeks left. I want them to be normal."
Bobby squeezes his shoulders tighter.
.
On Friday, he picks up Chris from school.
First thing in the morning, while, he knows, Eddie is driving Chris to school, he parks on the driveway and uses the spare key to get in. He tries not to look around—at the dirty dishes in the sink, at the thrown over the couch blankets, at Eddie's unused work shoes, sitting near the entrance.
It's not his place, to look at them.
Instead, he packs an overnight bag for Chris—his favorite PJs, two in case something gets spilled, clothes for the next day, his weekend workbook, his space-themed notebook, his comfort blanket, the one he had since he was a baby, and Chris's meds for two days.
He hesitates before going back out to his car. Turns around back to the kitchen and takes a sticky note from the fridge and writes down what he doesn't want to say.
Packed stuff for Chris for the weekend. Don't freak out if anything is missing.
The key is under the mat
– Buck
He leaves the sticky note on the fridge and leaves the spare key under the mat. He's flying out in two days, on an overnight flight on Sunday, it's not like he's going to use it again.
Chris is happy to see him. Just like Buck suspected, Eddie hasn't told him the plan for the day. Buck clenches his jaw before saying something along the lines, Glad you liked the surprise, buddy.
The day is good. They start up by making dough for a homemade pizza and the loft looks like a warzone afterwards but Buck doesn't care. While the dough is left to grow, he helps Chris with his homework and then, they finish up the pizza, making a monstrosity of various toppings that probably shouldn't go together. It’s something they’d done multiple times over the years, even if Eddie is usually there with them.
Chris is amazing the whole day like he always is. They play a mix of video games and board games and even play some modified Uno. Chris rambles about his school day throughout the whole ordeal and runs down possible ideas for his upcoming projects by Buck and they discuss the idea of making a giant soda volcano, just to spite Eddie when it inevitably erupts in their living room—Buck makes him promise he will take a picture of Eddie's face when it happens.
They finish up with a healthy snack—veggies and hummus—and Chris and he brush their teeth before they go to bed for their half an hour of before-bed quiet reading time, each with their own book. When Chris's eyes get tired, Buck finishes up the chapter for him, reading out loud, until Chris curls into his chest on the brink of sleep.
Buck tucks them both in. Chris falls asleep as soon as he kisses his forehead.
He remembers the first time like this, back when Eddie was dating Ana and Chris came for a sleepover in the loft while his dad was breaking Buck's heart, laughing in a restaurant with a woman that wasn't Buck. He had been anxious the whole evening and trying desperately not to think why Eddie wanted Chris to sleep at Buck's and not Buck at their house. But as soon as Chris was under Buck's covers, the only thing he could think about was just how scared he was to sleep with Chris in the same bed. 
Because no matter how big it was, Chris was so small and Buck was not and Buck was a kicker—and a snorer, according to Chris and Eddie—and the thought of hurting Chris, even by accident, or even putting him in any form of discomfort, made him want to grab a spare blanket and sleep on the floor next to the bed.
He stayed awake for about an hour after Chris fell asleep with his head on his chest, contemplating just not going to sleep, when he felt Chris's own legs kicking his thigh with a single, abrupt movement. And then, somehow, he knew Chris would be fine.
And he holds Chris, for an hour, without falling asleep, just like back then, and he knows Chris will be fine with him leaving. He will be fine because he will make sure of that. It's not going to be like his dad leaving for the army or like his mom leaving for LA after breaking down.
It’s a normal day. The upcoming days will also be normal, even if different.
They are eating breakfast in Buck’s kitchen the next morning, Taylor comes in, says hi to Chris and leaves within minutes with her laptop. Before she goes, she stops in the doorframe, looking at Chris’s back, at how unsuspecting he is, and gives Buck a smile that feels like a squeeze of a hand. He nods back at her and smiles, his cheeks protesting at the motion.
Chris is still half-awake but he finishes his choco-chip pancakes without problems. It’s slow, and quiet, and sunny and Buck hates it.
"There's something we should talk about," he starts when Chris is scrapping off the whipped cream off the side of his plate. Buck hasn’t even tried to eat. "Something I have to tell you."
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musicfeedsmysoul12 · 2 years
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Omegaverse where like Bowerbirds Alphas build homes to attract mates. Like it’s this huge thing to make the PERFECT home for your mate to live in and it’s supposed to be a reflection of both you and your mate. It can be an apartment but you’ve gotta like redecorate and clean and everything. Even then, an apartment is a 'starter' home. Alphas gotta build a house still- or at least design and make sure it's good. (Sometimes they stay in the apartment but usually no.)
So like it’s a HUGE deal when someone is seen buying paint if they’re known to be an alpha courting an Omega. Or if they're looking at furniture. It means they're taking the next step.
When an Alpha builds the home, they show it to the Omega and then give them keys. The Alpha leaves for the next 24 hours. If by the time they come back, the Omega has built a nest in the 'bower' then it's accepted. If the keys are left, it's rejected.
An Alpha can ask why. It's supposed to be done in private, but the news gets around about why. If an Omega says: you don't know me at all, then it's a shock to everyone since... why build a bower?! If an Omega wasn't actually that into the Alpha... well shit that's both sad and embarrassing.
Wait, thought: Apartments tend to be occupied more by Betas. Not because of a hierarchy crap, it's because Betas here tend to prefer to 'cluster' together like a flock. Alphas are much more solitary then not. Omegas are also more 'pack' then not, but they're very happy with being a little distant to.
This AU would totally have Pintrest be like an alpha thing where they get all their ideas. Usually, Omegas are supposed to not have a say in how the whole thing is done (they can make changes later but this is supposed to be the utmost expression of love, that you know them this well you can create this without them) but in more modern times, sometimes an alpha drops a link to the Omega. If the Omega quietly deletes the board, it's a 'no' and the dating/courting ends. If they say: to fast, Alpha slows down. If they maybe take away a few things they don't like, the Alpha tries harder.
If the Omega tracks down their alpha to make out... it is a yes.
The entire thing is partly subconcious as often an Alpha will start building/looking at things without being aware they want to take the next step.
Underneath are fandom ramble thoughts I had for this idea (Batman and MHA) And @anastasian-dreamer came up with some to.
-EraserMightMic with All Might as an older Omega who while he's kinda dating the two, doesn't know how serious they are until they send him a link. Hes very flushed.
-Inko and Hisashi are a beta couple and Inko loves her Omega son. Only the best blankets for his nest.
-Bakugou is a Beta and while he's a little relieved since he doesn't like the idea of being driven to build a nest or anything, he hates not being seen as a strong solitary person. (His mom is an alpha and dad an omega)
-Uraraka is an Alpha and her family isn't really poor as construction makes bank in this AU.
-Todoroki is an Alpha but Endeavour is a beta. He's both please and annoyed at this.
-Rody is an Alpha, as is Iida. I'm thinking Aoyama is one to solely cause the sparkly makes me think of a bird trying to sway someone. Dabi is an Alpha to. So is Yaoyorozu and Shinsou. They may or may not all have pintrest boards and are constantly updating what they think is perfect for themselves. (Dabi did but stopped after everything).
-In the Batman, Tim Drake is the lone Omega in the Batfam cause I like that trope. This makes anyone wanting to court him nervous cause 'expensive tastes!' which ha, no. He likes simple stuff.
-I generally think an Omega Tim Drake is treated wildly different by Damian in any AU. I imagine little Damian deciding to protect his omega brother fiercely.
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wanderinginksplot · 7 months
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Clone Trooper Rambles
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Think imaginary friends, but they're clone troopers.
Warnings: references to medication, mentions of COVID-19.
---
Sore
“Do you normally take so many pain meds in a day?” Jesse asked. 
The question drew immediate attention and I made a face at Jesse. He at least had the grace to look apologetic, but the heavy silence warned that I would need to answer. "No, I try not to. I'm just really sore and I want to move without groaning." 
"You haven't done anything to be sore," Trapper reminded me. 
"I know, but I am," I said with a shrug. "I'm thinking it's because I helped unload that stock order. It wasn't much and the stuff wasn't very heavy, but it was different enough that it might have caused it." 
"Makes sense," Jesse pitched in, encouragement in his tone. "Want me to get Kix?" 
"No thanks. I'm going to take some pain medicine and see if it works for me." 
The medicine worked, but only for a little while. Before long, I was just as sore as I had been and it was starting to get worrisome. 
"So what's your next step?" Rex asked, easing down onto the couch beside me. I sent him a sidelong look and he gestured at the way I was rubbing my temples. "Obviously, the meds didn't work." 
“Sleep, I think,” I mused slowly. My brain hurt, and it felt as if even my thoughts were dragging. “I’m really tired. I have been all day.”
I was exhausted, but not exhausted enough to miss the way the troopers looked at each other. For once, I decided not to push them about it. If nothing else, that told me how tired I really was. 
Despite how exhausted I felt, sleep was slow to come and fitful once it arrived. It felt like I had only just dropped off when I surfaced again, needing to cough or scratch my face or turn over. 
When I woke up with a desert in my mouth, I blearily made my way through the living room and into the kitchen to gulp some water. When I turned, Kix was there. He looked sympathetic, which was never a good sign. “How are you feeling?” 
“Bad,” I told him, coughing a little as if my body had decided to prove the point. “Why are you awake?”
He shrugged. “My sleep schedule is a little weird. Medic shifts, you know?”
“Not personally,” I hedged. “But I can imagine.”
Kix nodded slowly, then inclined his head toward the countertop beside him. “This is for you.”
As soon as he pointed it out, I could see a pale box sitting there. When I went to look at it, I found a COVID test with a sticky note attached to it with my name written in neat script. I glanced at Kix, frowning. “How did you manage to find a COVID test?”
His eyebrows shot upward. “It’s not from me. Cole left it. I think he heard you coughing and got worried.” 
“Ah.” That made a lot more sense, actually. I picked it up from the counter, waggling it at Kix. "Thanks for pointing it out, then. I'll take it in the morning."
---
Previous | Next | Masterlist
Author's Note - Looking back on the time I had COVID again, but didn't recognize it. This was a while ago, but there's a new strain that is proving to be highly contagious and the symptoms aren't fun. Take care of yourselves, friends!
Feeling the odd urge to apologize for a few non-exciting Rambles back-to-back, but this is how it goes. It was a boring few weeks. The next few are more interesting, but please remember that these are basically journaling exercises. Sometimes, life just gets a little dull for a while. Thanks for reading anyway!
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apocalypticavolition · 8 months
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Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 10: Leavetaking
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I feel like saying "Hello" at the start of these is silly, but I don't know what else to do to start up each section of this reread! This reread is filled with more spoilers than a Cliff's Notes Omnibus, so if you're trying to avoid them you should avoid this post too. Run away like the gang is skipping town!
This chapter has Moiraine's staff for its icon and I think it's just because she's taking charge of everyone's fates now, or trying to. The Wheel's gonna weave though, whether she likes it or not.
“I looked,” Perrin replied. “There’s nobody here but us. Why would anybody hide—”
Why would anybody try to destroy your hometown, Perrin? I think people think you're slow because of stupid questions like this.
Rand thought about flourishing the sword, but Lan being there stopped him. The Warder was not even looking in his direction, but he was sure the man was aware of everything that went on around him.
Rand's constant need for Lan's approval in all things is wonderful and I'm going to point it out every time it happens. If you don't like it, join the people afraid of spoilers.
“Master Luhhan made it about two years ago, for a wool-buyer’s guard. But when it was done the fellow wouldn’t pay what he had agreed, and Master Luhhan would not take less. He gave it to me when”—he cleared his throat, then shot Rand the same warning frown he’d given Mat—“when he found me practicing with it. He said I might as well have it since he couldn’t make anything useful from it.”
A DIscord buddy of mine said that Perrin is basically what happens when King Arthur grows up next to Crystal Dragon Jesus, and boy is he desperate to prove it, since he also has a weapon inherited from a father figure but it's nowhere near as cool as Rand's Bladed Certificate of Badassery.
Anything can be a weapon, if the man or woman who holds it has the nerve and will to make it so.
Lan, meanwhile, once accepted a challenge to defeat a rampaging Trolloc army by using all the items in an abandoned Borderlander farm once each. Kind of a shame that we end up sticking mostly to traditional weapons and magic as the series goes on; stuff like Rand boiling the Trolloc with the kettle always has an extra fun element.
“We left notes,” Mat said. “For our families. They’ll find them in the morning. Rand, my mother thinks Tar Valon is the next thing to Shayol Ghul.” He gave a little laugh to show he did not share her opinion. It was not very convincing. “She’d try to lock me in the cellar if she believed I was even thinking of going there.”
Frankly Mat, I think that as long as you weren't being dragged off in irons, your mother would be quite happy to have you out of the house for a few months to grow up and not cause trouble.
Also, it's really weird that Perrin only mentions the Luhhans and not his own family. I'm aware that as Perrin is an apprentice he needs his teacher's approval to do things, but you'd think his parents would have a problem with this too. I hope Perrin actually left them a note too instead of just Luhahan; it would really suck if he missed this opportunity to say goodbye what with their imminent demise.
“Not without me.” Egwene slipped into the stable, a shawl-wrapped bundle in her arms. Rand nearly fell over his own feet.
One of my favorite things about the story is that our young lady is jumping at the chance for adventure and taking every opportunity to get while our young gents are being painfully dragged towards their doom. Egwene's not a ta'veren because the Pattern doesn't need to drag her around by the heels like it does with the layabouts; she's probably already planning on becoming Amyriln and she doesn't even know she can channel yet.
Do you think you three are the only ones who want to see what’s outside? I’ve dreamed about it as long as you have, and I don’t intend to miss this chance.
Sadly though, she does have a tendency to project. Absolutely none of the boys are leaving out of curiosity about the outside world; camping trips to the mountains are as far as they're interested in going.
A startled expression darted across Lan’s face. It was gone in an instant, leaving him outwardly calm, but furious words erupted from him. “No, Moiraine!”
It may seem a bit strange for stoic Lan to be having this outburst, but I stand by my fake dialogue from several chapters ago: dude is (rightly) convinced that Rand is the real deal and (wrongly) convinced that the others are just a waste of time. Now Moiraine's not even adding plausible candidates to their entourage, and who gets to hide all of their tracks? Lan. Dude might be loving the idea of becoming the Dragon Reborn's personal sword sensei, but babysitting the rest of these idiots is making him long to just go die in the Blight like he was going to twenty years ago.
“That will not be possible,” came Thom Merrilin’s resonant voice from the hayloft. Lan’s sword left its sheath this time, and he did not put it back as he stared up at the gleeman.
If this chapter was from Lan's POV, this is the point where his internal monologue would be lots of funny Borderland swears. And jeez Perrin, you "didn't think" of looking in the loft? That's like the most obvious hiding place!
Thom put his feet on the stable floor and turned from the ladder, brushing straw from his patch-covered cloak. “In fact,” he said in more normal tones, “you might say that I insist on traveling in company. I have given many hours over many mugs of ale to thinking of how I might end my days. A Trolloc’s cookpot was not one of the thoughts.”
Also, Thom may be using the Trollocs and lure of Tar Valon (not quoted but mentioned earlier) as excuses, but they're both BS. He knows damn well that he's not a target and that Moiraine's party is, so joining them only increases his risk. Further, he has no reason to go to Tar Valon unless he's ready to die by trying to off whatever Red Ajah witches killed his nephew, and right now he doesn't even know their names. He's just worried that one of the boys - all of the boys - might have the ability to channel and that they're being led to their doom, and he's willing to put up with a lot to save them if that's the case. Nobody in this stable is a paragon of morality, but they all have the hearts of heroes. As far as I'm concerned, all of them EXCEPT Mat (who doesn't wanna be) are bound to the Horn and this is just one hell of a crossover episode.
“Bela,” Rand said, getting a look from Lan that made him wish he had kept silent. But he knew he could not dissuade Egwene; the only thing left was to help.
Speaking of good hearts, I love the way that the EF5 are almost incapable of getting along but will still assist each other at nearly every opportunity.
The only horse left riderless was Cloud, a tall gray with a black mane and tail that belonged to Jon Thane, or had. 
Rand started this story with Bela and now that he's realized he's eight or nine years overdue for a properly mid-life crisis, he's traded her in for a racing model. Boy is gonna go through a lot of horses before this is over. Current horse count: 2
(There is no way I will remember this count by the time we get to the third horse, let alone the finale.)
“Wolves!” Perrin exclaimed, and the Warder favored him with a flat stare.
Foreshadowing! Boy deserves some since he hasn't really had much yet.
“Two Dha’vol Trollocs would have them all for breakfast,” Lan muttered when the sound of their boots had faded, “but they have eyes and ears.” He turned his stallion back. “Come.”
We don't know much about the Trolloc bands, but we can probably gather from this that the Dha'vols (guess the etymology!) are some of the least threatening.
Rand peered at the high-peaked houses in the dark, trying to impress them on his memory. A fine adventurer I am, he thought. He was not even out of the village yet, and already he was homesick. But he did not stop looking.
Don't be too hard on yourself, Rand. You're not coming back, not in this lifetime, and maybe even not in the next. Also your home is several miles away so you're further off than all the others.
A black shape flew slowly across the silvery ball of the moon. Rand’s involuntary jerk on the reins halted the gray. A bat, he thought weakly, but he knew it was not.
Meet the draghkar. I'm not quite certain where their name comes from (it seems to be a dragon variant), but they're pretty obviously (suc/in)cubi with hints of siren or vampire. Like the other variants of Shadowspawn seen thus far, draghkar are made from human beings, which makes me wonder: is there some sort of Fade equivalent to them, like what Trollocs have? Or is the genetic manipulation severe enough that the channeler gene doesn't exist in them, so no such throwbacks occur? Both options are frightening in different ways.
Also note that despite being potentially really effective threats against our heroes (one almost takes out Moiraine in book two after all), they pretty much drop off the face of the earth after book five or so. Sanderson brings them back for the Last Battle though, but sadly not in a way that really lets them shine. It might have just been too hard for either author to keep coming up with organic ways to include them that didn't end too much like previous encounters or with the readers going, "Yeah that person should be dead now." Or maybe the gholam ended up filling the same sort of niche too well.
It was Thom Merrilin who answered her hoarsely. “In the war that ended the Age of Legends, worse than Trollocs and Halfmen were created.” Moiraine’s head jerked toward him as he spoke. Not even the dark could hide the sharpness of her look.
Moiraine was born eons too late-early to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, but if she could see it, like me she would absolutely hate it when Picard asks the away team what's happening and Riker answers, "Trouble" or something else that is only an answer in the most useless sense of the word. She really doesn't appreciate it coming from someone who knows they need to be quiet and whose contributions are doing nothing but scaring the children she's trying to kidnap. Thom, meanwhile, really doesn't appreciate it when women are Aes Sedai in his presence. Naturally, Jordan thinks they're soul mates.
But that's an unsatisfying romance for another book, and we're closing out another chapter, bringing us closer to the somewhat unsatisfying romance in this book! Next time: The Road to Taren Ferry!
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picnokinesis · 25 days
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not to bother (absolutely take your time writing) but any updates on roads part 7?
Hello!! Alas, things are very slow going with part 7, for a variety of reasons (including creative slumps, irl stuff, other projects with deadlines and other things besides). However, I think I have realised what some of the problems were that were causing me to hit a block, as well as realise some things that I want to happen, which is really good news because it means that it is...I wanna say tackle-able, if that makes sense? It can be done. I just gotta do it! So, it's gonna take a while for me to write it, sorry! But I believe it will happen. I also thing my brain is kinda craving more input at the moment, so I'm allowing myself to take my time - which I'm hoping will help me come back to it fresh sooner rather than later.
Things I am working on at the moment, if you're interested: I'm taking part in a fanfic exchange, which has a deadline coming up imminently which, uh, I have NOT finished my fic for (mostly because it's too long HAHA it's like 20k at this point rip) so what will happen there is that either I'll blitz the ending of that fic in the next few days, or I'll bail and write my emergency shorter fic idea which I'll actually be able to finish in time. We'll see. I'm kinda hoping I can get the big one done because I love it a lot. And either way, it'll be a spydoc fic (....sort of?? I feel like, with both, they're not shippy, just incredibly rancid and rather bloody...so shippy for spydoc!). I might write the shorter one anyway, for vibes. But then I'm also working on the music for The History Between Us zine audio book! Aaaaaaaaand I've got a few commissions going on plus working on seeing if I can release an original album of music, AND keeping my ear to the ground with original script calls (I actually need to write more original scripts and short films.....I need like, a bank of things so I don't have to keep scrambling every time a script call comes out) so like, there's a lot of things sort of pulling at my brain, in both very exciting ways but also slightly stressful ways. Plus, yknow, life. But roads is a story that is very dear to my heart and I am REALLY keen to write the whole thing - because like, I want YOU guys to find out about the backstory stuff so bad because, well, I wanna see if I can stick the landing hahah but also like!! I've been working up to these moments for soooooooo long now, and you guys have been wanting to know what's going on, so it's definitely on the cards. It's mostly a case of having time, and energy, and being able to wrangle my brain all at the same time - I think a lot of the problem is also that my brain is less hyperfocused on doctor who than it was when I first started writing - which is only natural. But I believe in the power of campervan!13 to call me back hahaha. Like I said, her story is something I really wanna tell in it's full.
But thank you for the lack of pressure hahhaha, I appreciate that a lot!! <3 I am sorry if you have to end up waiting a while for it. But I believe that I will get there with it, at some point.
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teamfortraven · 2 years
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Medic T-Word Alphabet
Gonna be doing @otomiya-tickles 's Tickly Alphabet for all the mercs, but instead of having people ask, nah, I'm gonna give it to you up-front, all of them (spare a few for personal reasons).
Also, this is my first actual post, so I might as well make tags for these guys-
Alright, let's get to the headcanons, doc is first :]
A: Aftercare | What is their aftercare like after a heavy round of tickling?:)
Medic will absolutely be wanting to take your temperature or some weird shit (mad doctor, he can't help but be curious) after he's done wrecking you. So once you're done swatting his hand away and giving him a questioning look, he'll finally sigh and grab his Medi gun, granting you a quick zap that will have you feeling like nothing ever happened. If that's not what you want and start complaining, he'll call you ungrateful and threaten to wreck you again.
However... if he's in a particularly good mood, or you're exceptionally close, he'll sit down and massage you instead, rub your shoulders, nice things to help you relax and wind down... All while verbally recalling every embarrassing moment of what just happened, much to your dismay (he thinks it's funny).
B: Bondage | How do they react to bondage, do they enjoy it and if yes, what is their favorite pose?
When being the ler, he's extremely calculated, so, if the lee is alright with it, he'll sometimes want to have them pinned, in some way. He doesn't exactly care how, as long as it leaves them exposed, just so he can get at every single nerve and test their reactions to things.
When he's the lee? He's absolutely good with it, but he'll fight against it while they attempt to get him ensnared. If you somehow managed to get him pinned, he's all yours. Will probably act super dramatic about it, stuff like "OH NOOO, I've been trapped!". Then he'll just sit there with this expectant look on his face until you actually do something. Nerd.
C: Chase | What are their chances in a chase, both as a lee and ler?
When he's the ler, you're 100% going to have a problem getting away from this guy. Given how intelligent he is, and the fact that he's faster than a lot of members of the team, he's either going to outrun or outsmart you. If you're getting to far ahead, he'll take a different route, making you think you lost him, just to suddenly hear his boots clacking loudly behind you. He'll also attempt to purposely scare you into dead ends, just so he can watch the panic that sets in as he slows to a calm walk, knowing that you have absolutely nowhere to go.
As the lee, he's the biggest smart-ass about it. "Getting outrun by a doctor? How embarrassing!" "I diagnose you with 'not going to catch me'!" His favorite thing is definitely flustering the ler before they can even get their hands on him. "You're supposed to be making my face red!" Won't slow down, will avoid all dead ends. You started a game that you will not win. The only way to get to him is being Scout TF2, sorry. Therefore, I highly recommend starting the chase when he's already cornered, or not even starting one, just immediately pouncing.
D: Death Spot | What is their most ticklish spot?
Oh my god, shoulders and shoulder blades. His gear covers it for the most part during battles, but when it's not? Sneaking up on him and clawing down his back will cause him to shriek, promptly turning to face his attacker. Also lets out the most adorable giggles if you gently spider across those areas, blushes and squirms and everything. If you somehow manage to pin him onto his stomach, tickling harshly across his shoulder blades will have him cackling almost maniacally. As soon as you let him go, you better run, because unless it's your immediate first move, he's going to grab your ankle and drag you down to the floor with him, enacting his revenge.
E: Expression | How do they express their wish to tickle/be tickled?
If he's intent on tickling you, he'll simply clear his throat to grab your attention before wiggling his fingers in the air. As if that's not bad enough, he'll say shit like "I'm only going to check for broken bones..." "Just going to make sure your lungs are working!" If you don't start laughing at the stupid teases, you're going to the minute his fingers make contact with you.
If he wants to be tickled, he'll probably try to purposely annoy/piss you off, somehow, or at least provoke you. "I bet you can't make me laugh." "You are the worst at tickling. Oh? Going to prove me wrong? Ja, okay, sure." Depending on how heated the argument gets, you may both end up yelling at each other, but that shit-eating grin is gonna be on his face the entire time.
F: Fight | What is their behavior in a tickle fight like?
If there's an entire group going at it, he'll single someone out, sneaking up behind them to take them by surprise, and immediately jab his fingers into the most sensitive spots on their body (he's responsible for giving the mercs check-ups, so believe me, he knows all the spots). After they've crumpled to the floor, he'll become much more teasing about it, unless he's pissed. If that's the case, pray someone else goes after him, and, hopefully, not just join in on tickling you to death.
If it's just you and him, he knows you'll be much more focused, so he'll have to resort to simply pinning your wrists above your head with one of his hands and pretending he doesn't know exactly where to strike with his other one to make you lose it. Eventually circling back to those spots will have him saying things like "What an interesting discovery..." and the extremely ominous "Typical for a mortal to be sensitive here..." No one questions it; they're usually too busy laughing and squirming away from his touch to truly process it, anyways.
G: Gentle | How do they react to gentle tickles?
He actively welcomes them :] it's actually extremely cute. He'll squirm around a bit, but it's all involuntary. He actually finds them extremely comforting; if you gently tickle him while he's trying to work, he'll attempt to scold you for it, but it melts away through bubbly giggles. Half the time, he'll basically fall asleep once you're done. No doubt after he wakes up, though, he's going to hunt you down and get revenge for 'taking several hours out of his day in place of sleep'. Get some fucking rest, doc, you kind of need it. Badly.
H: Habits | As a lee/ler or both, do they have specific habits when it comes to tickling?
Be afraid if he takes his glasses off and sets them somewhere safe. He's about to get serious. No matter how hard you may flail, he's going to abuse every weak point he can reach, with incredible accuracy.
Giving him gentle tickles sometimes causes the cutest thing ever to occur. If you slowly try to draw your hand back, he'll slump forwards subconsciously, attempting to follow it with his eyes shut like a big, dumb cat. As soon as he snaps out of it, his face is redder than his uniform (works for both teams LMAO). Bonus points if you laugh at his reaction, because he's going to have you beneath him, screaming in laughter in under 5 seconds (with that flustered look remaining on his face the entire time).
I: Interrogation | How well would they handle a tickle interrogation?
If he's conducting the interrogation? Girl put me in that chair-
Anyways, he could be laughing at full volume the entire time, but not a single secret is gonna slip from this man. He'll throw you a bunch of sassy remarks, but that's about it. Again, he loves flustering the ler(s), so if he can get you to blush, it's a massive confidence boost to him. He's especially going to threaten them with what he's going to do once they release him. "Be careful when you let me go... You're going to be sitting in this chair, next." Laughs even harder if the interrogator clearly has some thoughts about that idea.
J: Joy | Their absolute favorite thing about tickling?
Being mostly a ler, probably gauging the other person’s reactions. He’s super interested in seeing how they react to certain things, practically turns it into an experiment, but he has a lot of fun doing it, too. Bastard will sometimes be muttering things to himself like he’s taking notes while the person beneath him is just gasping for air. Will ask questions like “Where does it tickle most?” If he doesn’t get a response… “Fine. I’ll find it myself.”
K: Killer Move | As a ler, do they have special skills to use against their lees and drive them crazy with?
If he pulls out his Medi gun before the onslaught is over, do not trust it. If he has you pinned down, he’ll expose you wherever you’re most ticklish before zapping that area with the beam from his gun. WORST THING EVER. It creates a weird vibrating-tickling feeling, absolutely gonna drive you insane. Worst part is, it’s not like you can shove the beam away like you can a hand; you’re just gonna have to try covering yourself to the best of your ability. Seeing you lose it will spur comments like “What? I’m just healing you”, and yet he’ll sit there and watch with his head leaning into his hand, propped up on his elbow with a smirk on his face.
L: Laughter | What does their laughter sound like when they are tickled?
Medic does that loud cackle most of the time, unless you’re either just starting to tickle him or doing it gently. Then you’ll hear the cutest giggles ever. As long as you’re being aggressive enough, he won’t blush, and usually won’t even try fighting back. Once he’s had enough, though, he’ll either push you off or jab at you methodically until you involuntarily collapse in on yourself to protect from his retaliation.
M: Mornings | Their tickle behavior during mornings?
He’s usually up bright and early (as he is to bed super late), but he definitely is not a morning person. He just gets up early to get more work done. In the case where he’s had his morning coffee, if you’re lucky, it’ll put him in a really good mood, and he’ll be super playful. Poking at him will give the exact reaction you’re looking for; he can tell whether you want to make him squirm, or be the one getting poked, just from looking at you. Will get this cheerful smile on his face and go “Ah, alright!” Is usually gentle when he gets like this, almost loving. Won’t even try taking your temperature afterwards :]
However… if he’s not in a good mood? Better not piss him off; this man will not hesitate. If you try to initiate something, he’ll turn on you in a whirlwind and have you down before you even know what’s happening. He’ll watch you squirm around frantically and say shit like “Oh, was? You want more? Well, if you insist.” Won’t stop until he will probably need to use the Medi gun on you, even then he’ll go through a round of “Oh, you want me to heal you? I guess that’s just too bad.” before he gives in and grants you a quick zap. Yeah, his reactions can vary extremely.
N: Nights | Their tickle behavior during nights?
He works very late into the night, and he usually doesn’t get tired until the last hour or so he’s awake. If you try provoking him during that last hour, he’ll just clumsily swat you away, muttering “nein, nein” under his breath. However, before then? If you insist on having a chase, he will get super fucking excited. He loves nothing more than the fear of not knowing what’s in the dark, whether he’s the one feeling it or he’s instilling it in you. This is actually one of those rare cases where you actually might be able to catch him. He doesn’t exactly have night vision (and you don’t either) so resorting to stalking the other in the shadows is bound to happen.
O: Online | Text messaging and social media, do they have some kind of online tickly behavior to tease their lee or ler with?
The doc is extremely good at writing, so uhh… you can imagine just how skilled he would be at flustering someone over text/call. Shit like “You’re not going to be so confident once I get my hands around your waist…” and “Oh, you think that’s funny? I can make you laugh even harder. Come to the infirmary ;)”. Going to be a smug bitch the next time he sees you. If he’s teasing his ler, however, will say stuff like “Well, too bad, you’re not going to get at me because the door is locked.” Definitely going to get wrecked the next time if he gets his ler a little too riled up.
P: Partner In Crime | If they were to go after a lee and accept the aid of a tickle partner, who do they prefer to join hands with and why?
Well, the obvious answer here would be Heavy. They hang out a lot, so chances are, if he's going to gang up on you with someone else, it's gonna be Heavy. He can very easily hold someone in place (although he is very careful about it), while Medic uses his extremely skilled hands.
However, I propose an alternative, as well... Medic is obviously pretty damn strong. He can absolutely hold his lee down himself, no problem. Given this... two sets of hands are always worse better than one. I think Spy would probably be his 2nd biggest partner in crime. For example, if he's in the middle of a chase with you, you might accidentally slam into something... invisible. Before you know it, Spy has you on the ground, an amused look on his face. He was finding it fairly entertaining watching the two of you run around, and decided it would be even better if he helped the already scarily talented doctor wrench even more laughter out of you. Two lers who have horribly flexible hands... this can only go well.
Q: Question | Their response to the question ‘are you ticklish’?
You're never gonna get a direct answer out of this bastard. He'll slowly turn to you, an innocent smile stretching across his face, his hands clasped together.
"Why don't you find out?"
It's an invitation as much as it is a taunt. A fight is 100% going to break out- a tickle fight, that is. But then again, that's only if you have the nerve to engage with how confidently he's looking at you. Either way, he'll get what he wants.
R: Role | Lee or ler, what is generally their main role?
Almost always a ler, enjoying the feeling of having control over others. The very thought of everyone else knowing that he knows exactly how to make them crumple to the floor gets him excited. Most people don't mess with him unless they're A) pissed at him or B) just really wanna get wrecked.
However, when he's in a lee mood, it's a refreshing change. Just as teasing about it, specifically to provoke the other, but he'll rarely fight back.
T: Teasing | Their most favorite methods of teasing their lee/ler?
Doc definitely pretends it's a medical exam, or a surgery, or something along the lines of that.
"Now, this is a very important procedure, so I'm going to need you to hold still," he says as he tickles you as fast as humanly possible.
"Oops! Sorry, didn't mean to... tickle your funny bone?" He'll laugh at his own stupid joke, his barely audible over yours. "Oh, you thought that was funny, ja? How flattering!"
Hell, he just enjoys verbally teasing in general.
"I wonder what would happen if I tried to play you like my violin?" He'll suddenly scratch horizontally across whatever area he's targeting, fast. Will probably start humming whatever tune he's picturing playing before sparing you a glance. "Oh, how peculiar... it appears I forgot to tune it." Before you can register what's happening, he's focusing quick jabs into your most sensitive spot.
Basically, you're going to be a blushing mess (he'll probably pull some shit like 'oh my, you look like you're running a fever').
U: Unusual | Do they have some unusual tickle spots? Where?
Will screech like a startled dove if you pinch at his hips. It is the funniest thing, and he will absolutely not let you get away with it. That is... if you let up on it. If you keep drilling your fingers into those two spots, he'll be out for the count, legitimately blushing out of pure embarrassment. It might not be his most sensitive spot, but it sure is one he doesn't want anyone else knowing about (surprisingly).
V: Victim | As a ler, who is their favorite lee and what makes this person their ultimate victim?
This is a super biased headcanon, but Engineer (I totally don't ship Engie and Medic /s). Since he's always healing everyone else, he usually has to make semi-frequent trips to dispensers during battles. Unless he's out on a quick adventure for scrap metal, Engineer will be right there, working on one of his buildings. "Hallo, Herr Engineer!" is all the poor man hears before two sets of fingers are poking him on either side, causing him to jump and stifle a few giggles. It's basically his way of saying 'thanks for the provisions' before running back to the front.
But when they aren't in battle? The two will often visit each other to see how each's experiments are going (both of very different natures). So different, in fact, sometimes when Engie asks how it's going, Medic will hum before saying, "Let me check." Knowing how the doctor views the other mercs, you get where this is going... He finds it adorable how Engineer forgets every single time, laughing in a tone of genuine surprise as Medic tickles him.
W: Word | What is their reaction to the T-word? Can they say it out loud or do they get embarrassed?
Oh, he can say it, alright. In fact, he immensely enjoys saying it just to tease whoever is about to be his lee, especially if they've got it so bad that they can't keep a straight face hearing the word. Upon seeing their reaction to what he uttered, he'll get a delighted grin on his face.
"What's wrong? You seemed to get a little nervous when I said 'tickle', mein freund. Ah, there it is again!" He'll repeat it as many times as he pleases, much to the lee's dismay, until they're practically begging him to just stop and do it, already.
If that happens, he'll giggle a bit. "Alright. If you insist!"
-
Ohhh it's done. Wow. That took much longer than anticipated. Still, I can't wait to do all the other mercs, it's really fun :]
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chipped-chimera · 1 month
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Thought I'd do a little bit of a personal update! I'm doing the reorganising thing which is still slow but really motivating - enough that I'm having good energy days where I'm getting more done! I should be able to start work on the new fish tank soon!
More commentary/thoughts/where I'm going creatively below the cut. (It might be a bit heavy, you've been warned - check tags for more info)
EDIT: Fixed Tumblr borking this, now looks like how this WAS SUPPOSED TO oof
So I'm in the process of redoing my entire office just to fit this fish thank (which has now been leak tested so we're good to go), as well as reorganising based on tips I picked up from this book for people with ADHD that I've found massively helpful. Honestly it's been great for helping me just THROW SHIT OUT because while I can have my moments of ruthless detachment and clear inventory my family is very much a 'use/reuse/reappropriate' kind of deal, which while great often gives me hesitation throwing stuff out primarily because of that pressure - especially when I'm stuck living with them. Now I know it's necessary to get everything to a state where it will STAY organised.
It's also let me take inventory of the stupid amount of traditional media art supplies which have been sitting there since high school in near pristine unused condition (we are talking a LOT of very useable acrylic paints here) and get them all organised. After chatting with my psychologist yesterday I've bought more/replacements for things I had to throw out (literally dry as a bone markers) as she literally said she 'very much encouraged' my idea of starting a visual art diary to help process emotions and stuff.
I know over the years my inspiration to do stuff has withered, usually because it's been hammered by bad moods (caused primarily by external forces I could not control on top of my already battered neurology). I know now because of shit in my past that has been largely unresolved, art has never been an outlet for emotions for me because I'm so afraid of taking up space. Despite emotions being a powerful source for art, I rarely draw on them both because I have spent so much time trying not to feel them or hiding them because unfortunately my history is one of a lot of rejection, right down to a very young age where my caregivers should have been way more on the ball. It's helped me acknowledge my way of expressing love and affection is kind of fucked - when I feel close to someone or like them a lot it has the opposite effect where I instinctively want to pull away from them because I'm scared I'm going to 'ruin it', like my life is tainted and by associating with them I'll drag them down somehow. I know it's silly but it's very hard to get past because it's automatic - that was the only way I was guarenteed to get affection, if I was the most borin, biddable, palatable child in existence who caused no problems, even if it meant enduring physical and emotional pain alone. I inherently find it hard to trust people being genuine about liking me as a person because I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop when they realise I'm too much hassle - which unfortunately was the circumstance my relationship ended around so yeah, that did not fucking help. Basically I go from being really comfortable around someone to masking intensely and yeah that is NOT GOOD. I also legit feel the reason I have alexytheimia is because I had to develop a buffer so early in my life just to survive as far as I have.
I'm hoping art journalling will help me process some of those thoughts and feelings and I still want to try and show them, just to show myself they DO have value, they are a valid part of the human experience and they should be allowed to take up space - I do not need to hide them away or cut pieces of myself out to become more 'palateable' to people. So yeah um, I guess there will be some vent art, I don't know if I'll post only to my art blog or here because it's more sketchy shit and I reserve the art blog for finished pieces now ... either way knowing me it's going to be highly metaphorical and symbolic so I don't know how 'triggering' it could be but either way I'll probably tag the absolute shit out of it just to make sure I don't adversely effect someone (yes I am aware of the irony in me saying that as it's basically me trying to 'not ruin' things again but even putting it out there at all is a big enough step - also tags are just basic decency).
So uh ... That's what I've been up to? Also why I've been kind of shit about WIP Wednesday tagging and responding to other tag games (which I am now once again remembering a bunch of that I STILL have sitting in my motifs cause I still wanna do them ; m ;) I think I tend to get something like reverse SAD this time of year, arguably for the same reasons SAD develops - it gets so damn hot that I have the curtains closed in my office (which has the biggest window in the house) all day to keep the heat out. So arguably I have just made 'tiny dark winter' for about two months because I ain't going outside when it's over 30C (aka the temp tomorrow. And the day after THAT. Fuck I hate summer). Just instead of dark and cold it's dark and sweaty - feeling clammy also being a sensory problem for me so all around BAD TIME until the season changes :/
Outside of all that I'm speculating writing a wlw romance in a western setting because I have had on off cowboy rot since forever and I should probably do something with that already. Currently speculative Native American love interest/secondary protagonist with a background that probably touches on maybe the boarding schools and then reconnection with culture. We've had similar stories with our indigenous population in Australia unfortunately (colonialism is a plague) so I can sort of have some understanding but I probably need to hit the books on that one. For any Americans/Canadians reading this if you know some good books, PLEASE send me your references, I really want to make sure I do this right. I reblogged a post a few days ago about how Native Americans are often dehumanised in westerns and they just become part of the landscape, and I really want to push against that. Also do some contrasting against how oppressive western colonial era culture was by comparison to native culture honestly because I feel that would be a really interesting dynamic. Idk when/if stuff with this project will start happening but we'll see.
If you read this far, thanks! It's pretty validating to know people care this much, since it's hard for me to believe people do care a lot of the time because of all the above bullshit. So just so you know, I love you guys 💖 and you get a bonus cat:
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Tiny p.s. living with my parents now is very different from when I was a child, I know the people who caused me hurt are long, long gone. They are not the same people anymore - so I am okay! It's still frustrating but more for the reasons of wishing I had my own (bigger) space to live in and put all my stuff and just 'I am a 30 year old extremely supressed lesbian speed running puberty and this environment is not conducive to exploring that' if anything. While I'm out with my Mum I can't like ... talk about that shit lol. So yeah, frustrating but for entirely different reasons. Just clearing that up.
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Solar Opposites: Ultra Opposites The Movie Ch. 10 (from @avaveevo)
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Korvo and Janiz are coming up with ideas for the design of the Ultra Opposites HQ
Janiz: Wow. This HQ is gonna be amazing.
Korvo: I know. It isn't much but it's perfect.
Janiz: Yep. We just need to put the finish touches and we’re done.
AISHA and EVA appear
AISHA: Hey guys! How’s the HQ going?
Janiz: It's going good. Where's Terry?
EVA: Don’t know.
We then cut to Terry who is reading about Mundanes. Korvo comes in.
Korvo: Hey honey. You doing more research on your bloodline?
Terry: Pretty much.
Korvo: What else did you learn about the Mundanes?
Terry: They have a mega form...
Korvo: Really? A mega Mundane? You must’ve have one too.
Terry: Yeah. Cool.
Korvo: Well, I believe in you Terry. You can control this beast.
Terry smiles tearfully.
Terry: Thanks sweetie.
The husbands were about to kiss but then...
Terry: I love you-
Something shot the husbands that caused them to shrink as they scream.
Korvo: What the fuck was that?!
Terry: I don’t know but someone shrink us! Korvo, we gotta do something!
Suddenly, Terry is tied up
Terry: What the fuck is happening now?!
Two Wallian guards appear
Wallian Guard #1: Holt! We gotta you two now!
Korvo: What?! What are you talking-
Korvo gets tied up as the two husbands get taken by the guards.
Korvo: Let! Me! *eyes turn aquamarine* GO!
Korvo starts growling as his fingertips turn black as the two guards try to restrain him.
Wallian Guard #1: We can't restrain him!
Wallian Guard #2: Then just take the green one!
Terry: Oh no! Korvy! *gets taken by the guards* Don’t worry, I’ll come back for you!
Korvo: TERRY!
Korvo breaks down into tears. Suddenly, a woman named Mia appears and gasps upon seeing Korvo.
Mia: Oh my goodness! Are you okay?!
Korvo: *crying* No. My husband was taken away...
Mia: That's okay. I'll take you to Nova. She can do anything!
Korvo: N-Nova?
Mia: She's the Wall's leader. After the Bowinian Church was taken down, things have been...different but better.
Korvo: She can help me find Terry? Oh thank thank you!
Korvo hugs Mia while crying
Mia: Wow! I’m really good at this. I’m Mia by the way.
Korvo: Korvo. Nice to meet you.
Mia: Come. Let me take you to her.
Mia walks off and Korvo looks determined
Korvo: Hang on, Terry-bear.
Korvo then heads inside the wall as he grows amazed by the Wall village.
Korvo: Woah...
Korvo looks around and sees the Wallians and their amazing culture. He then sees a painting of Yumyulack and gasp.
Korvo: Is that...
Korvo sighs in dismay.
Korvo: For fuck's sake, Yumyulack...
Mia: Wait. You know him? *suddenly looks at the similarities back n forth* Wait. You’re Yumyulack’s father, correct?!
Korvo nods and sighs sadly
Korvo: I am so sorry. I had no idea he would go this far. I mean I am amazed by this culture. But, I’m sorry for what my son did you to you guys.
Mia smiles
Mia: D’aw it’s okay. He really made our lives more peaceful and stuff. Now come on, Nova is not far. She’s having a meeting with the council.
We then cut to the meeting. Inside the Council Room a group of Wallians gather around as a map of the Wall rises.
Wall Council: Council! Your attention! Sister Sisto, now Echo, has joined forces with Ophelia and is headed toward our Wall. Her new power will make her invincible. And now revived and swearing vengeance, we will be destroyed.
(Wallians gasp in horror)
Joan: Nova, what are we gonna do?
Nova: I will not let him hurt you. (walks down) Because, we are going to stop Echo and Ophelia.
Joan: How? Look at us. We're tiny.
Nova: I'm going to find a band of heroes to help us. Together, we'll annihilate those monsters.
Wall Council: There hasn’t been any heroes lately. It might be all for nothing..
Nova: I’ll find them. When I get here, I'll leave in the morning to find our band of warriors
Wall Council: Good Luck, Nova. For all our sakes.
Nova leaves the throne room then hears something. It was Korvo as she gasp.
Korvo: *slow-motion* Nova!
Nova screams and stabs Korvo as he cries out in pain.
Korvo: Fuck! You stabbed me! What the fuck?!
Nova: Oh my God! I am so sorry! I thought you were somebody else! I swear! Is your shoulder okay?!
Korvo: *holding his shoulder* N-no…
Nova: Here let me get that for you…
Nova wraps a bandage around Korvo’s bleeding shoulder.
Nova: Oh my God! You’re an alien.
Korvo: And my husband Terry, we accidentally got shrunk. And now he's lost somewhere in the Wall.
Nova: Then it's only a matter of time until he's captured by the guards. But you're in luck. I’ll go talk to them
Korvo: Great! Then take me to him!
Korvo: Well, now that that's out of the way, take me with you.
Nova: These guys are very tough. They are tough guys. They will eat you for breakfast. They won't even notice it properly. Cause you're an alien.
Korvo: You know what? Make fun of me all you want. But you're gonna help me find my husband. Please?
Nova: (realizes) Okay. I’ll help you.
Korvo: Is that a yea?
Nova: Mm-hmm. Come.
Korvo follows Nova to the Wall's murel
Korvo: Whoa. Your Wall has a huge history.
Nova sighs
Nova: Yeah… a history actually based on lies and deception and corruption ever since we came here.
Korvo: What happened?
Nova: Long ago, we ruled by the Duke, who thought was evil. But he wasn’t. He was a good man in the end. We were deceived by a false hero named Tim, who wanted power. The real hero was Cherie. A true warrior who was thought dead.
Korvo: Cherie?
Nova shows Korvo the painting of Cherie. Then, Korvo recognize her
Korvo: *gasps* Wait! That's the chef from Benihana!
Nova: Wait, you know her?
Korvo: I do...but how did she...
Nova: She got shrunk because Yumyulack didn’t want shrimp after Cherie gave it to her.
Korvo sighs
Korvo: Well to be honest that is true. He inherited that allergy from my late mother.
Nova: *gasps* Oh my God. I am so sorry. I'll have to explain that to Cherie...if I can find her...
Korvo: What do you mean? Where is she?
Nova: She's probably somewhere outside the Wall. But first, we must find her and your husband.
Korvo: Okay. Well, don’t worry, I’m sure will-
Korvo throws up
Nova: Oh my goodness! Are you okay?
Korvo: No...I've been throwing up a lot lately...
Nova: Don’t worry! Let’s find your husband and then-
Terry: *offscreen* GET OFF ME!
Korvo: *gasp in tears of joy* TERRY!
Nova: Terry? Who's Terry?
Korvo: My husband! The one I was telling you about! Come on!
Nova runs after Korvo. We then cut to Terry who is being restrained by the guards
Terry: *grunting while his eyes starts glowing orange*
Wallian Guard #1: Hold him down!
Terry: *crying in rage as his skin turns black and he starts growing bigger and muscular*
Wallian Guard #2: What the hell?!
Terry roars as he fully transforms so to his Mundane form while his clothes and shoes rip apart as he roars loudly. The guards kept trying to restrain by wrapping ropes around his hands. Korvo and Nova arrive and gasp.
Nova: Holy shit! That’s your husband?!
Korvo: Yep! *runs up to Mundane Terry* TERRY!
Mundane Terry roars as he throws the guards down rips apart his restraints. Korvo gasps and runs up to his husband and soothes his face.
Korvo: Shh… it’s okay… I’m here…
Mundane Terry snarls but stops upon recognizing Korvo
Mundane Terry: *whining*
A tear falls down Nova's cheek
Nova: *smiling in tears at Korvo’s devoted love for Terry* Oh my God…
Korvo: I’m here *rubs Mundane Terry’s back softly* It’s okay my love…
Mundane Terry purrs
Korvo: There’s my Terry-bear…
Mundane Terry turns back into his Shlorpian form
Terry: Korvy… *kisses Korvo on the lips as they moan lovingly*
Nova smiles and hugs Terry
Nova: Thank goodness you’re okay.
Terry: Whoa. Who's this?
Korvo: This is Nova. She helped me find you.
Terry: Huh. Nice to meet you.
Nova: Nice to meet you too.
Terry: Thank you Nova. For reuniting me and my husband
Korvo smiles and kisses Terry on the forehead. We then cut to Ophelia's fortress where she is looking through her crystal ball.
Ophelia: Hmm… so Nova has found them?
???: Let me handle her. I have a score to settle with that bitch.
Ophelia: Very well…
We then cut to where Cherie and Montez are
Cherie: *senses something* Wh-what’s happening?
Montez: I don't know but we must head back to the wall for safety.
Cherie: On it! *picks up Pezlie* Come on Pezlie.
Pezlie: *coos*
Cherie and Montez head inside the Wall and his from the mysterious figure. The mysterious figure laughs evilly as she reveals herself to be...Sister Sisto?!
Sister Sisto: I’m back bitches!
Cherie gasps
Cherie: Sisto?!
Montez: *whispering* That’s impossible! Jesse killed her!
Korvo, Terry, and Nova arrive to see what's going on. Nova sees Sisto and gasps.
Nova: Sisto?!
Sister Sisto sees Nova and smirks evilly
Sister Sisto: Hello Nova.
Nova backs away in fear as Korvo stands protectively in front of her.
Korvo: Stay away from her whoever you are!
Sister Sisto: So you're the Legendary Super Shlorpian. Ophelia has wanted your power for days!
Nova: Huh? Wait. You’re a superhero?!
Korvo: That's right! *transforms into Legendary Super Shlorpian as Terry transforms into Solar Flare*
Terry/Solar Flare: Fuck off bitch!
Sister Sisto laughs evilly
Sister Sisto: Prepare to meet the wrath of Echo!
Sister Sisto transforms into Echo as she laughs evilly and traps Legendary Super Shlorpian and Nova.
Nova: Hey! No! Let us go, Sisto!
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Why are you doing this?!
Sister Sisto/Echo: Oh. You want a lullaby? Well... I don't see why not.
When I walk past a mirror, I scare myself
I'm the queen of mean
Don't care about anybody other than meIsn't that lovely?
Don't ask me to be nice, I don't want toI don't play fair
I'm giving you the heat you can't handle
And I don't care
I'm a villain (glamorous and mean)
I'm a villain (evil as can be)
Darling, I'm a villain (make you shiver through your teeth)
Don't you cry now, it will all be fine
I'm a villain
I'm a villain
Hush, little Wallian, don't say a word
Or you'll get cursed
Can you feel the flames getting closer?
Ain't that the worst?
Don't ask me to be nice, I don't want toI don't play fair
I'm giving you the heat you can't handle
And I don't care
I'm a villain (glamorous and mean)
I'm a villain (evil as can be)
I'm a villain (make you shiver through your teeth)
Don't you cry now, it will all be fine
I'm a villain
Ooh, I'm a villain
I'm a villain
[laughs evilly]
Oh, I'm so scary.
Terry/Solar Flare: Let my hubby and new friend go!
Echo laughs evilly as Solar Flare growls as his eyes glow orange then his skin turns black and he grows bigger and muscular as he rips apart his suit and roars. Echo gasps but then grows impressed.
Sister Sisto/Echo: Nice form… for a monster. *chuckles evilly*
Mundane Solar Flare snarls at that response as he roars and punches Echo. This causes her traps to fall apart and Legendary Super Shlorpian and Nova are free. Mundane Solar Flare manages to keep his anger under control as he runs up to his husband.
Mundane Terry/Solar Flare: Sweetie! Are you hurt?!
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: No. I'm fine.
Mundane Solar Flare notices the bandages on Legendary Super Shlorpian's shoulder
Mundane Terry/Solar Flare: Oh dear. What happened to your shoulder?
Nova: That was my fault. I accidently stabbed him.
Mundane Terry/Solar Flare: You did? Oh I’m sure you didn’t mean it. But why did you stab my husband accidentally?
Nova: I thought he was someone else and
Sister Sisto/Echo: *getting back up* FUCKING SAVAGE ANIMAL!
Nova gasps
Nova: Look out!
Echo is about to attack but Cherie punches her, knocking her out
Nova: *gasp* Cherie?
Cherie: Nova?
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Cherie?!
Cherie: How do you know who I-
Legendary Super Shlorpian grabs Cherie, as they, Solar Flare and Nova head to the backyard.
Cherie: What's going on?!
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Your people are in danger! Ophelia and Echo are coming after us!
Cherie: I know who Echo is but who's Ophelia?
Mundane Terry/Solar Flare: An evil empress! She wants our powers!
Cherie gasps
Cherie: Let me help you.
Nova: R-really?
Suddenly, a giant crow appears
Cherie: Oh shit! Crow! Quick! Head for shelter!
Solar Flare, Legendary Super Shlorpian, Cherie and Nova hides from the crow. Cherie and Nova grow thankful.
Nova: Wow. You saved us. Thank you.
Cherie: You guys really are heroes.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Why thank you-
Suddenly, Legendary Super Shlorpian starts barfing to the ground.
Terry/Solar Flare: Oh my God! Honey, you don’t look so good.
Nova: Don’t worry, I have something for you.
Nova does the pregnancy test the Wallians do on Korvo and then it makes a success.
Nova: Oh my goodness. You’re pregnant.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: I-I am? Oh my God! I had no idea!
Nova: Congratulations. I think you might have a new-
Suddenly, L.S.S.’s water breaks.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Oh my God. How long was I pregnant for?
Cherie: About… nine months?
Terry/Solar Flare: And we didn’t know? Oh my God! Korvo, does that mean-
Legendary Super Shlorpian goes into labor as he moans in pain.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: No! Not now!
Legendary Super Shlorpian cries out as Cherie gets out a blanket.
Cherie: Stay calm! Just breath in and out! Push! Push!
Legendary Super Shlorpian bites his arms as Solar Flare hold his hand.
Terry/Solar Flare: Okay honey, keep breathing.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: FUUUUUUUCK! OH GOD!
Legendary Super Shlorpian keeps pushing as blood spews out. Legendary Super Shlorpian cries out as the baby is finally coming out and Cherie manages to catch it with the blanket. The baby Shlorpian starts crying as Solar Flare and Legendaty Super Shlorpian burst into tears of joy and Legendary Super Shlorpian holds it.
Cherie: It’s a girl!
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Shh… it’s okay. It’s okay.
The baby calms down as Legendary Super Shlorpian holds her close.
Terry/Solar Flare: She’s perfect. She’s like a flower of hope. I think we should name her… Lili. Little Lili.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Oh look she has the same skin color as you Terry.
Terry/Solar Flare: Yes. Yes she does.
Lili coos.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Wait a second. How do we explain this to the replicants?
Terry: Oh yeah and to Pupa and Sonya too?
Cherie: Huh? What are you talking about?
Cherie then gasp upon recognizing Korvo and Terry’s faces
Cherie: You're Yumyulack and Jesse's parents, aren't you?
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: *sigh* Yes. And don’t worry we didn’t know about this. We had no idea Yumyulack would go this far.
Cherie scowls but then her face softens as she looks at Lili who is cooing
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Plus I am sorry that our son shrunk you for giving him shrimp. But to be honest, he is allergic to shrimp. He inherited from my dead mother.
Cherie: *smiles* It's all good. We should head back before-
Suddenly, the sound of Pupa killing the crow is heard as the quartet peek from outside.
Nova: Whoa. That Pupa is a tough cookie...
Cherie: *sighs in relief* Thank you strange creature. Again.
Pupa: I like Lightning McQueen.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: We should probably head back and find a way to make us big again.
Meanwhile with Echo...
Sister Sisto/Echo: These fools are greeting more stronger! But don’t worry, we’ll have them at our grasp soon enough!
Ophelia: I hope so. I need that power!
Back with the quartet, they have just reached the Wall but are met with Wallians with toothpick spears
Terry/Solar Flare: Oh right. They still don’t trust us.
Jean: Stand down now.
Cherie: No it’s okay. We were wrong about these guys. They’re good people.
Terry/Solar Flare: Yeah! Drop your toothpicks! Now! *gets poked with a toothpick* OW! Hey!
Bucky: Silence! How could you two trust them after what their kids do to us?!
The Wallians shout in agreement. This causes Legendary Super Shlorpian to snap.
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: ENOUGH! Let us tell you!
The Wallians go silent
Lou: Ha! You think your authority scares us?! Bucky and I know everything.
Nova: No it’s okay they are good aliens. Not bad ones.
Jean: Nova, please. That's enough.
Nova: But, they were was right, Jean They showed us a soul can improve They saw the light, Jean Checked all the boxes that you said would Prove a person deserves a second chance Now, we turn our backs, no second glance?
Jean: It's not as simple as you think Not everything is spelled in ink
Terry/Solar Flare: It's not fair, Jean! Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Careful, Terry, keep a cool head
Terry/Solar Flare: No! Don't you care, Jean? That just because someone is dead, it doesn't Mean they can't resolve to change their ways Turn the page, escape infernal blaze
Jean: I'm sure you wish it could be so But, there's a lot that you don't know
Bucky: What are we even talkin' about? Some crack-whore who fucked up already? He blew his shot, like the cocks in his mouth This discussion is senseless and petty
Bucky and Lou: There's no question to be posed He's unholy, case closed Did you forget that "The Wall is forever"?
Bucky: A man only lives once We'll see you in one month Gotta say, I can't wait to—
Jean: Bucky...
Bucky: Come down and exterminate you!
Nova: Wait!
Bucky: Shit!
Nova: What are you saying? Let me get this straight You go down there and kill those poor souls?
Terry/Solar Flare: You didn't know?
Bucky: Whoops! Lou: Guess the cat's out of the bag Bucky: What's the big deal?
Nova: Jean, tell me that you didn't know
Jean: I thought, since I'm older It's my load to shoulder
Nova: No.
Jean: You have to listen, it was such a hard decision I wanted to save you the anguish it takes to Do what was required
Nova: To think that I admired you Well, I don't need your condescension I'm not a child to protect Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naïve to expect you To heed the morals you're purveying?
Terry/Solar Flare: That's what the fuck I've been saying!
Terry/Solar Flare and Nova: If Earth is forever, then the Wall must be a lie
Jean: Nova!
Terry/Solar Flare and Nova: If Wallians can do whatever, and remain in the Wall The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again
Terry/Solar Flare: I was told not to trust in Bowinians
Bucky: By her? Lou: Ha! She should know Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: We should go
Terry/Solar Flare: No! Don't you see? We've come so close Look at them fighting They're at each other's throats
Bucky: Don't you act all high and mighty Did you ever think your little husband might be a monster?
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Don't, Bucky, please!
Bucky: What's the fuss? Why hide the fact that you're a Super Shlorpian?
Nova looks at Legendary Super Shlorpian in shock
Nova: Wh-What?
Nova then realizes those black fingertips but doesn’t look scared. Nova hugs Korvo who smiles and hugs back. Montez comes by while holding Pezlie and is surprised by what is happening right now.
Montez: Is that...
Montez then suddenly see through the two alien husbands’ true colors and decided to give them a chance as he walks up to them. Bucky however isn’t allowing it.
Bucky: ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!
Montez: Hey hey whoa whoa! What’s going on here?!
Terry/Solar Flare: Your friends here want us dead! Listen, we can help you become big again! All you have to do is-
Bucky: These two here are Yumyulack and Jesse’s parents! Do something!
Montez: I do plan to do something. I say we help them.
Bucky and Lou: WHAT?!
Pezlie: Mama! Mama!
Lili: *cries*
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Shh.. *soothes Lili* It’s okay Lili… daddy’s here…
Legendary Super Shlorpian then decided to sing a lullaby to his baby. Cherie smiles as Korvo soothes his new baby daughter.
[LEGENDARY SUPER SHLORPIAN]
Little sproutling, you are safe.
There is no to be afraid.
I am here right here in the night.
Don’t fear because I am here.
Little sproutling, it’s okay.
I will never go sailing away from you…
Lili falls asleep.
The Wallians: Aww...
Pezlie: *reaching to Cherie in joy* Mama!
Cherie: Pezlie! *shed tears of joy and kisses Pezlie on the forehead*
Montez smiles and kisses Cherie on the cheek
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Wait? You had a baby?
Cherie: Yes. It's Tim's baby but...you probably know what happened...
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Yes. Nova told us everyone. I am so sorry you had to go through all that.
The Wallians drop their toothpick spears. Then, a teenage Wall Girl named Sherbet peaks through the crowd while Bucky grows furious.
Bucky: I will not allow this!
Lou: Bucky, calm down.
Luckily, Cherie, Montez, Pezlie and Nova gets in a defense position in front of Legendary Super Shlorpian and Solar Flare.
Cherie: Back! The fuck! OFF!
Bucky growls and storms off.
Montez: *sighs* Don’t worry, they won’t bother you guys anymore.
Legendary Super Shlorpian and Solar Flare then prepares to leave, until Nova realized she has something to say to them.
Nova: Hey! Wait! I am so sorry about how they treated you back there. They're just not used to newcomers.
Cherie: Yeah. We'd like to help you return to your normal size and maybe you can help us become big again too, right?
Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Of course.
Meanwhile, the Replicants and Sonya are looking for Korvo and Terry
Sonya: Korvo?! Terry?! Where are you guys?!
Yumyulack: Auntie Janiz, I'm scared...
Janiz: It’s okay Yumyulack. I’m sure your dads will be okay.
4 days later...
The kids were asleep until suddenly come shadows appear before them.
Terry: Hey kids.
Yumyulack and Jesse wake up and gasp. Sonya wakes up and gasp as well. It's Korvo and Terry with the Wallians.
Korvo: Hey kids.
Yumyulack, Jesse and Sonya: KORVO! TERRY! *hugs their dads in tears of joy*
Nova smiles
Yumyulack: Are you guys okay?
Korvo: Yeah, we're fine.
Jesse then notices Lili.
Jesse: Aw, is that a cute sproutling?
Korvo and Terry look at each other nervously.
Korvo: Um kids it turns out for the past 9 months, I was pregnant which would explain why I was throwing up. So this is your new baby sister Lili.
Yumyulack looks at his dads in shock.
Terry: Also, we got shrunk and Lili was born in the Wall.
Yumyulack: Wait, so you guys had a baby while you were in the Wall and we didn’t know?!
Cherie: Pretty much.
Terry: Yeah, your dad and I didn’t know either until we got shrunk.
Sonya: *smiling at Lili* Hello baby sister.
Lili: *coos*
The three siblings then falls in love with their new baby sister as she coos. Then, Pupa comes in and falls in love with his baby sister as well.
Pupa: Sister?
Lili: *giggles as she touches Pupa’s face, as he smiles at his new baby sister*
Janiz comes in and gasps
Janiz: Oh my God! A new baby?! I’m an aunt again. *picks up Lili who touches her face* Hi there sweetie. I’m your aunt Janiz.
Lili: *giggles*
Janiz: So, what do we do now?
Yumyulack, feeling bad for what he did, decides to apologize
Yumyulack: I’m sorry for shrinking all of you. And for shrinking one of you for giving me shrimp even though it turns out I am allergic. I’m really sorry.
Cherie gasps.
Cherie: Oh honey. It’s okay. I’m sorry I didn’t know you were allergic either.
Yumyulack and Cherie hug.
Cherie: Korvo, can you please show us around?
Nova: We would love for you to do it.
Korvo: I don't see why not.
The family then heads out with the Wallians to show them around. Later, Korvo and Terry are having sex.
Terry: *moaning* Baby you were so heroic! *moans*
Korvo: *moaning lovingly* Come on baby! Let me sex you so hard! Ooooh!
Terry: Yes! Yes! I'm gonna-
The two husbands the cum in ecstatic which caused turn into their monster forms as they roar and moan. Super Shlorpian Korvo giggles as he flaps his wings.
Super Shlorpian Korvo: You bad dirty Mundane… *gets his ass slapped seductively by Mundane Terry, which made him giggle*
The two monster aliens kiss and moan. Lili is then heard cooing. The two monster husbands then looks at Lili in her crib who is sleeping peacefully while sucking her thumb as they smile.
Mundane Terry: She's our little sprout.
Super Shlorpian Korvo: So are all five… Nighty night my love…
Mundane Terry: Good night...
The two monster alien husbands then snuggle with each other as they fall fast asleep.
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leatafandom · 3 months
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20 Questions For Fic Writers
Thank you so much for the tag @incorrectcoldflashblog! This was really nice to think about and look at the stats since I don't normally look at them. It was a pleasant reminder.
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
I've been writing on Ao3 since '19 and I have 116 works right now, hopefully, it'll be 117 by the end of the weekend if I can get my shit together
2. What’s your total A03 word count?
843,577
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Supernatural, Spideypool, Merthur, and Buffy Verse (mainly Spangel though)
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
Distraction: Scars - Rated Mature (1,173 Kudos)
This is a Bad Idea, Rated Explicit (920 Kudos)
Waiting for the Perfect Time, Rated Teen (654 Kudos)
Distraction: Voice(s), Rated Explicit (614 Kudos)
Breakfast, Rated Explicit (427 Kudos)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
Yes! Always! I might be slow sometimes, but I always respond to a comment. I appreciate them so much. It always makes my day to know someone else besides me enjoyed a story I wrote. I also just love talking about my stories.
6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Hahaha, I write so many sad and angsty things. I normally try to make a happyish ending cause I know people enjoy that (not sure if I always hit the mark, but I try). So this one took me a while to dig through stuff. I think it would be Foolishness? It's pretty sad and tragic. I enjoy it.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
I live in the bitter-sweet and I don't think I have many that are purely happy. I feel like the happiest of endings will not be published till next year though. I think The Valley Kingdoms is pretty happy. Even if in my mind it's not an end more like a middle, but it is the end of that part of the story.
8. Do you get hate on your fic?
No, not yet.
9. Do you write smut?
Yes. So much smut.
10. Do you write crossovers?
Hehe, I write crossovers of my own stories. But no not of fandoms.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I'm aware of as of now.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Yes, I've had two fics translated, and I am beside myself with joy that someone wanted to take the time to translate them for others. Wine and Dine is available in Russian as well as some of Learn (I believe they have only done up to chapter 5 of Learn on Ficbooks)
13. Have you ever co-written a fic?
Nope, not yet.
14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?
I swoon for Spideypool every single time, forever.
15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Dude this question is evil right now. I am currently trying desperately to empty my drive of my WIPs (not counting my multi-chapter fics) before switching how I store my stories. I still have so many not-posted works, and I want to finish them all. But, I know I won't. I probably won't finish Once and Future Soulmates. It's an angsty sci-fi meets fantasy Merthur idea I started writing that has a few chapters written, but it's a big project and idk I just haven't gotten to it. As far as posted WIPs I plan on finishing them all.
16. What’s your writing strengths?
World building and that blend of happy sad. I think I'm pretty good at that
17. What’s your writing weaknesses?
Word choice and like lack of repetition with body movements. I struggle with body movements and tracking.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I typically don't, other than like phrases I know. Writing in character dialogue is hard enough, to be completely honest.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Lord of the Rings! I still have some of it posted on my Ao3 but my old drives and the internet ate the rest of the story and my prequel ;-;
20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?
It would be a tie between any of the Monster Eater Verse fics and the Common Deadpool Distractions series. I love those verses so so dearly and I re-read them often.
Thank you so much for tagging me this was truly a pleasure to sit and think about and look over the things I've written over the years.
No Pressure Tags: @idabbleincrazy, @hobbyistauthor, @fantasticstoryteller, @maggot-monger and anyone else who would like to <3
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Reckless [With My Heart] (Chapter Two)
Summary: This is Part Twelve of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.
Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)
Rating: Teen Audiences and Up
Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz
Warnings: Undercover job gone wrong, canon-typical violence, major character injury, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending.
A/N: I'll post the link to the ao3 page at the bottom. This story has not only an OC character, but some quirky elements which may or may not be everyone's jam. Just FYI. Updates will be slow coming as I pick away at them during breaks from work. I couldn't take a full break from this though - I'm too excited to write it so I made working on this series my reward for when I get stuff done, lol
Click here for Chapter One
Chapter Two
Bex
Bex fought hard to keep the surprise off of her face. A feat that was especially difficult when her brain was also calculating the many ways this situation was going sideways.
She’d clearly walked in on the middle of Jay’s undercover operation and who knew how her presence would affect things. She might have just blown the whole deal.
There was no way Jay and his team were going to let her play at this bar tonight which would cause all kinds of trouble for Emery.
Less important than one and two, but still headache worthy: Her brothers were about to find out the truth about her band activities. She’d finally told them a while ago that she was in one and had mentioned playing weddings and birthday parties. She’d left out the whole ‘playing gigs at bars of varying levels of seediness’ aspect though. None of them had ever been as bad as Leon’s, but she had a feeling Jay wouldn’t care about that distinction.
Not ideal on all levels.
Jay’s operation was the most pressing disaster at the moment and she was determined not to ruin it any more than she possibly already had.
She kept her smile easy as she nodded at Cal and pulled the papers out of her bag. “Got the contract and I hear you can sign it for me?”
“So professional,” Cal said, with a laughing wink at Jay. “Told you, Ry. Cute as hell.”
Biting back a sigh, she walked up to the bar to hand over the contract. “Just sign it, please.”
“Impatient too,” he smirked at her before accepting the papers. “Better work on that attitude before coming in tonight if you want to please Vinnie.”
“It’s not my job to please Vinnie,” Bex said shortly, keeping her eyes on Cal because she knew she didn’t want to see the look in Jay’s. “My only job is to play music. Says so right there in the contract.”
Cal barked out a laugh as he signed with a flourish. “Sweetheart, everybody’s job here is to please Vinnie. Contract or no contract.” He handed the papers back to her. “Sooner you wrap your brain around that the better.”
Bex snatched up the papers and stuffed them in her bag. “We’ll be here by eight to set up. And Cal?” she said, leaning in close. He leaned in and waggled his eyebrows at her, startling when she grabbed the front of his shirt. “After tonight,” Bex whispered into his ear. “Ty is in the clear with you. Understood?”
He scoffed and brushed off her grasp. “Fine,” he said. “For now. Never takes long for Ty to get himself back in trouble.”
And Emery too.
One problem at a time.
Bex nodded at him and left.
***
Jay
What the hell was Bex thinking? Playing here? Of all places?
He hadn’t been able to get close enough to hear what she’d whispered to Cal, but it couldn’t mean anything good. The fact that she felt the need to keep something quiet?
What was she up to? Cal said something about Ty…why did he know that name?
Right. Emery’s boyfriend. Bex hated him though. So why was she talking to Cal about him?
He never in a million years would have thought Bex could get mixed up in something…but he hadn’t exactly been paying attention to anything outside of the job lately.
He’d just needed to shut everything out for a while. Have a clear mission to focus on.
But what had he missed in the meantime?
He tuned back in to Cal’s rambling and hoped that the team would scoop Bex up in time to get some answers before his next check in.
***
Bex
She made it four blocks before the van pulled up to the curb. Bex internally cursed the Tin Can 2.0 for crapping out on her today of all days when she could have used a better escape route.
Antonio peered at her from behind the wheel while Al sat with an unreadable face beside him.
“Get in the van,” Antonio barked out and the side door slid open to reveal Mouse inside.
“What?” Bex crossed her arms. “No candy?”
“Oh,” Mouse’s eyes lit up as he looked around his little desk set-up. “I, uh, have peanut butter M&Ms somewhere.”
“Get in, Bex,” Al said quietly and she steeled herself before climbing in. The idea of having him tell her all the ways she’d screwed this up in that calm, soft voice was almost as bad as the thought of what Jay was going to say. She’d barely taken a seat before they were pulling away from the curb.
Mouse settled in beside her, holding up the promised candy bag with a little smile.
“How bad is it?” she asked as she held out a hand.
He shook out a few candies for her and shrugged. “You, uh, you covered pretty well, you know,” Mouse said. “Didn’t let on that you knew Jay so Cal didn’t clock you or him. That’s good. But, I don’t know what the sarge is going to say about it all.”
Oh, great. They were taking her to see Voight.
Mouse caught the look on her face and passed her the rest of the M&Ms.
Soon, too soon, they were pulling into a darkened garage and the side door slid open to reveal the lowest level of the station. Voight was standing there waiting, arms crossed and a frown on his face. He jerked his head for her to come out and walked away.
Taking a deep breath, she left the van and followed—Al, Antonio, and Mouse on her heels. They all gathered in a small room where Kevin, Adam, and Kim were waiting.
Kim shot her an encouraging smile which Bex tried to return. She’d moved up to Intelligence after Erin left and Bex’s friend Sam was now Julie’s patrol partner. All these different threads of her life kept intertwining tighter and tighter.
She never thought these particular threads would cross though.
A scraping sound startled her as Voight pulled out a chair and gestured for her to take a seat.
“Start at the beginning,” he said, his gravelly voice more serious than she’d ever heard it. “Don’t leave anything out.”
***
Al
The kid had really stepped in it this time. Good intentions didn’t change the end result.
He listened to Bex tell Hank about how she’d ended up taking this gig and he could tell there were details she wasn’t sharing. Probably about this cousin of Cal’s who was dating her friend. Dirtbag ran deep in that particular family tree.
“Walk me through what happened in the office with Vinnie again,” Hank said to Bex. Al had to hand it to her for not sighing or getting frustrated. They’d been through it twice already, but in a case like this, no detail was too small. Kid seemed to understand that well enough.
“What exactly did Cal say when he interrupted?” Antonio asked Bex and she closed her eyes, thinking for a moment.
“There was a phone call,” she finally said. “Cal said it was…Ramsay? Vinnie got mad at him for interrupting and told him to shut up. He got me out of there pretty quickly after that.”
Al shot a quick look at Hank and caught the same light of recognition in his eyes. “You sure he said Ramsay?” he asked Bex.
She nodded. “Positive.”
“Who’s Ramsay?” Burgess asked.
“Book cooker,” Al said. “Hence the nickname. Slippery too. No one’s ever been able to pin him down.”
“But if he’s calling Vinnie, odds are they’re working together,” Antonio said, picking up his line of thought. “And now we know what Vinnie’s doing with Leon’s.”
“Okay, let’s run it down,” Hank said. “Bex, thanks for this. You really helped.”
Bex slumped down in her chair, sighing in relief. “Oh, good. I was worried I’d ruined everything.”
“No, you’re good, kid,” Al nodded at her. “Kept it together like a pro when you saw Jay and you gave us a solid lead.”
“Now what we need you to do is stay out of trouble and steer clear of Leon’s,” Hank said.
“After my gig,” Bex agreed and the team stopped to stare at her. Al pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned softly. Mini-Halstead was living up to her name.
“Bex,” Hank pinned her with a stony stare. “You’re not going back there.”
“Yes, I am,” Bex sat up, glaring right back at Hank. “And if you’d give me five minutes to explain, I guarantee you’re going to agree with me.”
Click here for Chapter Three
Click here for Chapter Four
Click here for Chapter Five
Click here for Chapter Six
(Here is the link to read Reckless [With My Heart] on ao3.)
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seanettlles · 2 years
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SO the Human Clock Bruno fic is gonna take a while to write bc i have a bajillion things to do that aren't writing it, unfortunately (ditto for Bruno's Door Fic)
but here's some fun thoughts i had about this... au?? canon divergence??? Different Flavor Of Bruno???? it kinda wound up turning into more or less of a rambling outline of some of the movie events and how things might be a bit different, but i hope you like it anyway!!!
@sionnaach talked with me about some of these which helped me expand on them 'cause she's lovely :D thank you!!!!! 💕
(btw do you guys like... enjoy seeing lil writing snippets, or??? 👀 i do have some from Bruno's Door Fic too, but i don't wanna post them if you'd rather just like. wait for the fic, since it has absolutely no tentative publish date. lemme know!!)
Bruno having a "perfect sense of time" means he always knows the current date and time relative to himself (if he went to another country, his sense would adjust to its local time), down to the second
he ALSO has an exact measure of time (different than sense) because seconds tick away in his head and are perfectly spaced out. an old clock will eventually slow down and fall out of time, but the seconds being counted out in his head will never have this issue
in addition to the above two things, his mind also (x2 combo) keeps a running count of the time since he got his gift; when he touched the doorknob would be 0 years, 0 days, 00:00:00 hours, then would start ticking upward
(i'm undecided how the candle going out and then being restored would affect that particular count. add in the time without his power?? or start back up from the moment the house fell??? kinda leaning towards the former)
if you need someone to time shit or keep track of something baking or w/e, He's Your Man
several family members have asked him for things just like the above, and, while it's done maybe a lil reluctantly, he does help them because he actually feels useful for once as a glorified human timer, pre-walls
post-walls in Casita 2.0, they pretty much entirely abstain from the above (minus Camilo when he's being a lil shit, but he'll get chewed out by Pepa, Mirabel, or Dolores for it real quick), but once he gets more comfortable with being back in family life, he'd make offers to help when he was feeling alright enough to; Antonio once asked him what time it was without knowing about his tío's little quirk, and Bruno freaked out juuust a wee bit, but later sat down with Antonio and explained why he doesn't like being asked that question very often (Tonio was extremely apologetic, thinking he hurt his great "new" tío, but Bruno reassured him. hugs abound, lots of cuteness was had. hooray!!)
another part of why they abstain is because Bruno is actually a bit self-conscious about it; unlike his prophecy gift, it was something that was discouraged rather than encouraged as he grew up. plus then later on as he got older it was kinda like, well, he already had the whole "creepy fortune teller of doom who likes gross rats and also has these weird superstitious compulsions he can't help" stuff going on, why would he wanna add "weird guy who counts a lot and answers questions in numbers instead of actual answers sometimes" on top of that??
post-walls they'd try and help him make peace with that part of himself, try to show him it was fine!! it was just another thing that made him Bruno!!
he has a slightly warped sense of "time of day" - instead of looking at the sun or a clock, he mostly just thinks "enough seconds/minutes/hours have accumulated in my head today that now i know it to be day/night".
he's aware of the sun, sure, but it's just. not what his brain connects telling the time of day with. it's kinda just a pretty thing in the sky to him
as for asking him when he did something/went somewhere... "Bruno, when did you get more salt from the market?" "sixteen hours, ten minutes, and forty-three seconds into the day. or if you meant when did i leave for the market, that was--"
^ he rarely ever answers in that way out loud, it's just how his mind thinks of it. he'd just say "a bit after 4pm" like a "normal" person (usually. if he's very tired or distracted, sometimes the number answer slips out)
he'd prolly actually like to answer with numbers (it feels More Exact which satisfies him a lot), buuut it's more or less been discouraged out of him
as shown in the lil fic preview, all of this overwhelmed his poor lil 5yr-old brain when he first received his gift; he eventually learned how to tune it out in the back of his mind by listening to the sand in his room and focusing on that. he'd then imagine that sound to ground himself whenever the numbers start getting too loud again
carries around a bag of sand tied to his hip that he'd also let run through his fingers when he needed some external grounding instead and wasn't in/near his room. other sounds he likes to use as white noise are rivers, wind chimes (not metal, metal's too sharp a sound), and leaves/grass blowing in the wind. he and Pepa would comfort each other in this vein; she would rant about her feelings and get it out of her system, and Bruno would listen while her raining and quiet thundering soothed his mind
the counting, not the visions, is where roughly 80% of his headaches come from (or maybe the counting exaserbates what wouldn't otherwise be much of a headache from visions?? point being, It Contributes)
when he got a better hang of his counting and was mostly able to function normally again, he took all of the clocks in Casita and adjusted every single one so that they were perfectly in time down to the second (he asked for any clocks in people's bedrooms; he wasn't gonna invade their privacy, he Wasn't Raised In A Barn Thank You Very Much)
going back to his perfect measure of time, it influences his compulsions a lot: the first five knocks all have to be done in two seconds, and the last "knock on wood" chant on his head has to be done in the following third second (it's usually always Very Exact, but if for some reason it's not (or he feels like it's not) he will keep repeating this until it's correct); salt must only be thrown on even-numbered seconds (to ward bad luck away from them), while sugar can only be thrown on odd-numbered ones (to add good luck to them); he can only enter a room (fingers crossed and breath held, ofc) at the top of a second, and can only release the breath at the top of another second when he's in the room proper; he'll count under his breath, often (sorry Dolores), sometimes just in ten sets of "uno, dos, tres, four, five, six", sometimes each individual second, "thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two..." etc.
if he's already stressed when someone asks him for the time, he'll give it, but then often gets stuck and just. keeps. counting. seconds. until he's able to snap out of the looping
he really doesn't like being asked for the time in general since the above tends to happen fairly frequently :( since he's stressed fairly frequently
but if he's asked he also Can't Not Answer. he'd try to but usually winds up losing to the impulse and blurts it out in the end
it's easier to snap him out of his looping when he's only counting in sixes
his whole gripping his arm tic also helps snap him out of it, if just trying to get his attention verbally doesn't work (if someone else wanted his attention, instead of Bruno gripping his own arm in this case, someone would gently squeeze it or his shoulder instead) or if someone isn't around to help him; technically any loud noise/sudden surprise/injury could snap him out of a counting loop, but gentle firm pressure is obviously the most healthy of the methods
when Dolores got her gift, he was an extremely crucial part of her learning how to adjust to and live with all the noise she suddenly heard, as he had already gone through something similar with his counting
he carved her some wooden windchimes for her room :)
his mind keeps track of every agonizing second when he's getting beat up :( no dissociating out of it for him
despite instances like the above, he does like that the counting only helps in making him an even more observant person than he already is, as it keeps him more or less perma-focused on things around him (although he may not seem like he's observant, as he's learned to keep a lot of his time/count-related thoughts to himself), and thinks it useful in other ways too
as Kit pointed out to me (because i?? forgot music exists??? i guess????? what is my brain even), Bruno would have perfect tempo and could keep time without fail when it comes to music!! the man can subdivide like no one's business
Agustín and Félix would invite him to their music jam sessions!! it would help him relax and cheer up with the good company, plus he'd be able to satisfy his counting compulsion while they kept time with it; they'd actually make him think that maybe it's Not Just Some Weird and Bad Thing
he surprises them both during one of these sessions by accidentally revealing he can play the tiple, and pretty darn well!! he'd play it alone in his room, using the music to help give an outlet to all the numbers in his head
one situation where he actually finds his counting soothing and reassuring is when he has involuntary visions, as knowing how long he was out/what time it is when he comes to helps ground and reorient him to the present quickly
speaking of visions!!! when he does his big sand prophecies, if he wants to, he can tell what date/time it is when the vision will happen, however, it will always result in a migraine; the more precisely he narrows down the time, the worse the resulting pain afterwards
he absolutely does not tell Alma he can do the above, ever, until maybe Casita 2.0 times; before then, he'd be worried that she'd try and persuade him for more accurate readings if he let her know he could give them, as the pain might be "a necessary concession for the good of the Encanto" or some such thing
he looked into the exact time of Mirabel's prophecy, though (he'd do anything for his family!!!), and got two different times; the time of collapse for the breaking angle of the prophecy, and the time Casita 2.0 would be completed for the repairing angle; so while he didn't have all of the context of what would actually take place for both versions (particularly the repairing half), him telling Mirabel "you're exactly what this family needs" was still able to be said with total confidence, as he firmly believed she'd help bring about the second angle of the vision, whatever doing that may entail
he still left the night of her ceremony, not because he thought the prophecy could be prevented if he did (although he did hope that it would maybe change before the time he foresaw), but because he still didn't want her to be treated like him if the contents of the tablet got out (along with, y'know, all the other reasons he had: the village hating and mistreating him, the strained relationships with his family, overall feelings of being useless and bad luck... etc.)
he attempted to Actually Leave the Encanto (wanted to see if being outside of it would make the counting stop), failed, came back to Casita to try and figure out his next move, and the house opened up the walls for him
he knew exactly how long, down to the second, he was gonna be in there. it made it a biiit more grueling for the first 3/4ths of the 10 years, but towards the end he was starting to at least get hopeful about the fact that one way or another, whether he'd be accepted or berated or shunned, something would happen that would hopefully let him leave the walls in the end
he made the "days since last vision" number board from the storyboards for the movie!! mostly just because having that particular set of numbers somewhere other than his head would be a lil soothing. but since having just days would bother him so much, he stole parts over the first few months and rigged up a very rudimentary flip clock for the rest of the variables (idk if there's a better name for them??? like the one in Pacific Rim, where the numbers are like. sheets/tiles. that flip.)
the rat telenovellas aired precisely at 8pm every evening, and Dolores always referred to them as her "8pm alarm" in her head
she often worried about Bruno because his count-spiraling would get pretty severe in the walls with nothing but his arm-gripping to help ground him (the dude can only throw so much salt for white noise :( and he lost his sand pouch in the failed mountain expedition)
"i can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling" as he counts hours and hours and hours away in the walls like the world's saddest clock, to the point of totally losing his voice for a while
he made up Hernando and Jorge to help combat this, as they didn't feel the need to count like Bruno did. why would they count?? they don't have clocks in their heads
when the candle goes out, everyone, including Bruno, thinks it'd be a relief for him, but they are So Very Wrong
since he never had a "normal" sense of time, or ever needed to tell time the "normal" way (by looking at a fucking clock, any clock, ever; he only messed with clocks when they were ticking off-second and he needed to fix them), he immediately loses all sense of time without it ticking in his head
some of the scenarios that come from this are funny, some are not
"why is Tío Bruno making enough breakfast for everyone? it's like 1am???" "i don't... think he realizes that." "...we should prolly stop him and get him to bed, huh?"
"Tío, are you okay? you've been sitting here for four hours staring at this telenovela set painting and haven't moved. ...liiike at all, not even a little bit." "f-four hours? no no no, it's only been ten minutes! i'm still planning out what to paint?" ".........."
he also gets stuck in his compulsions Extremely Often, since without being perfectly timed to the second, they almost always feel wrong now, but no, this time he'll get it, he's sure of it, just one more time-- (Pepa finds him a distressed mess one such time and gently coaxes him to stop, then holds him and comforts him while Julieta bandages his knuckles before joining the cuddle pile herself. a fun time is had by no one, but they do begin to bridge the gap between them of getting to know each other again pretty significantly during that. Bruno is very grateful to them both)
the family get him a pocket watch after enough of these instances and Mirabel gives it to him, while she and Julieta try to (gently) inform him about the reality of the situation that necessitates him needing a watch at all times for now (that yes, hermanito, you Really Do Need To Look At)
they also get him a metronome and/or a Really Fucking Loud ticking clock, as he struggles to sleep without the counting and just has a hard time like... existing when theres 1. no counting and 2. nothing to distract him sufficiently in place of the counting
Dolores, for much the same reasons as Bruno, also enjoys the noise of the metronome and clock; the two of them literally carry it from room to room if they're inside and have nothing else to distract them, and everyone can hear them coming
as the family slowly begin to try weaning him off the constant metronome and clock noise, Casita 2.0 is finished and the magic returns!! time to re-orient All Over Again!! (yikes)
Camilo immediately asks Bruno what time it is
Mirabel bodily tackles him before he can get the whole question out
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ravenousaberration · 9 months
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So many people compare mental illnesses to visible injuries like broken legs and say "imagine if they talked to this person on crutches the same way they talked to this person taking ADHD meds"
I like this comparison but I want to add onto it because I pulled a muscle in my neck yesterday and I as I sit here in pain I think it perfectly represents an invisible illness
Anyone who has pulled a muscle in their neck knows it sucks, it limits your range of motion a lot because bending over or even accidentally moving your head too fast (or sometimes at all even if your careful) will cause shooting pains through your neck.
You might have tasks that are way harder than usual, bending over to pick up objects might be something that turns from a trivial task to a painful and slow task so it takes up much more of your energy. Something like washing your hair in the shower might be next to impossible without excruciating pain so you decide to put it off until you feel better, because hurting your neck more might cause this to last longer.
Most people would believe if you told them you needed to take it easy for a few days while your neck recovered, even though they can't see the pain they still give you the benefit of the doubt because they know pulling a muscle hurts like hell. You take a few days and you are fine and catch up on all your busy work and chores.
But now imagine you were born with some sort of genetic difference that makes it way easier for you to sprain your neck or maybe you got into an accident and it fucked up your neck and you now pull a muscle almost weekly from just sleeping slightly wrong.
You are constantly falling behind others who can bend over and move their necks fine because it takes you much more time to get your chores done.
You might get advice from your friends and loved ones that you should sleep with a neck pillow or put a heating pad on it because that's what helped them when they sprained their neck that one time.
You try these things and it might help a little but since your prone to neck sprains you still end up with them a lot of the time, your family and friends start to believe you are making excuses and being lazy on purpose because everyone sprains their necks sometimes and they still get stuff done.
So you try to just push yourself harder, you exert yourself beyond what your body can tolerate a lot just to keep up with others and it makes the pain worse and worse until you wake up in bed one morning and if you move at all your vision gets blurry and you almost pass out from the pain and end up having to go to the hospital where if they are good doctors and don't immediately dismiss your problems like everyone else has been doing they might give you some pain medicine and a neck brace that helps bring you down to an 11 out of 10 pain to a 4 out of 10 but doesn't cure your chronic neck pain.
Or maybe you try to get stuff done on your good days, you try to Speedrun through all your chores on the few days of respite in-between your constant sprain. You spend all your good days pushing yourself really hard to get through everything you've been unable to do for weeks. This cycle is unsustainable though, though not as painful as pushing through while at your worst you still are over-exerting yourself to catch up which sometimes causes you to pull a muscle faster but you also lose out on time to do anything fun since you either are in pain or way too busy at any given moment.
This is what mental illness feels like for me, I desperately want to be able to keep up with my peers and not have small tasks exhaust me but no matter how hard I try to force it, I just end up exacerbating my symptoms and getting burnt out.
Maybe this explanation will help someone :) or maybe I'm shouting into the void, who knows.
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izzy-b-hands · 1 year
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harvest, amber, and maize!
!!!! Thank u!!
TW for mental health stuff and a past incident with misogyny involved. The answers weren't gonna get serious but then they did, sorry y'all. If any of u read this all pls have this virtual prize: 🎃
Harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why?
There's a good few on that list, but let's go with a recent one, and the one that'll piss off my regular Izzy Hands hater anon lmaooo. Hey bud, hope ur well! EDIT: ooh enjoy what essentially became my I Love Izzy essay aksjkfngn
Obviously, I mean Izzy. I'm gonna be like brutally honest abt myself now because why not frankly?
Like Izzy, I get left out of shit, or I'm the butt of the joke for being stringent abt rules and getting shit done before fucking around, and then fucking around mindfully if possible (but only with ppl who show they can't do both at the same time. It's a skill, honest.) It's happened since I was very little, and boy howdy you think I would learn right away that this means most ppl will hate u, but my little autistic ass did not! Izzy also apparently has not learned that yet, but I have my fingers crossed for him.
Like Izzy, I pick up the slack where I see it, in the hopes ppl I care abt aren't affected by any issues said slack might cause them. What my clinic job taught me with that, is that you make yourself indispensable and dependable yeah, but then they never promote you and stack more work on you until you break like that oar cracked over Ed's thigh. And that's bad!!! My mental and physical health prove it lmao. For Izzy's sake, I sort of hope something or someone in S2 makes him slow down before he either takes a fatal blow meant for Ed, or has a heart attack from stress.
Like Izzy, I'm not real good with love or affection. I hold a lot but I can't ever seem to figure out how to set it down or share it right with others. Compliments unsettle me before I can remind myself to shut the fuck up and just say thank you for it. I prefer, in work and school at least, to be mostly ignored as proof I'm doing well. Being pulled aside or asked for a meeting is instantly a sign I've fucked up, at least in the first instant lmao. I want to be more comfortable around others and be a better friend, a better son, a better person over all. But I don't know how to do it yet. I'm trying though. I know Izzy might not get that at all in the show, but ngl it would be cool if he did.
I'm noting the negatives mostly here because, like Izzy, the above shit means I've fucked up a lot. I've hurt ppl i didn't mean to, and ruined opportunities for myself. I've hidden from living my life beyond work and caring for others while neglecting myself, sometimes because I feel like that's all I deserve and other times to feel something.
But I'm not totally ruined, and in my opinion neither is Izzy. It'll take work on him as a character and what is in his arc for him to do and be better in any way, but I have a feeling that's not what we're too likely to get. And that's okay too, I'll just be happy for more Izzy aksnkfng. Even if he just let someone give him a hug by the end of the show, I'll take that.
Also, like Izzy, I'm a wonderful shag and I do look fucking amazing in leather 🖤
Amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have.
Tbh I think the above essay might be it lmaooo
But here's a silly one to contrast the above answer: Ketchup is disgusting. It just is. Tomatoes are only good for pizza sauce, nothing else. Beating the tomato into a pulp and adding water and sugar does nothing good for it unless!! this is in the process to make the aforementioned pizza sauce.
Maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street.
Tbh my weirdest one is also my scariest one:
Back when I first started at the clinic and before I was out as trans/still wearing fancy dresses to work and heels (now they're an at home thing, not brave enough to wear them out anymore even when I want to)
this older dude started following me, trying to make conversation as I walked from my house to the downtown clinic (approx 12 blocks, through the downtown area of shops/restaurants, all not really open yet cuz it was like 640 AM). He's making me uncomfortable with the topics he brings up, i can only go so fast without outright running and i feel if i do that he'll just grab me. i tell him ill call the cops if he doesn't stop following me (i was dumb and like 19, now i wouldn't bother with the cops or want them involved at all)
i was lying. Back then i had a shitty iphone i hated and never used cuz no one ever called or texted me lmaoo so I lived on my ipod touch instead. this meant i never kept it charged, so it was a brick in my purse.
he met me on block four. He followed me until block eleven.
I kept trying to ignore him while i walked on, knowing I'd be late to open the clinic and fearing that fucking lecture from my asshole manager (fuck u Colette, get help before u manage anyone else)
But he's trying to snag my arm now, holding out his flip phone and telling me go ahead, do it, call the fucking cops! whore, slut, bitch, I'd pissed him off good. He claims he only wanted to find out the time from me, and that was his first question, before he asked if i wanted any company (even if i had, he wasn't my type)
I had passed only closed businesses until then, and i was starting to freak the fuck out. But, i was at block eleven, the clinic was within sight, just over the train tracks. if i could get a little closer to it, i could run and hopefully unlock the employee entrance, get in, and lock it before he caught up
Then, I see a woman cleaning the glass door of the Mexican restaurant a crosswalk and some feet away (it was in a historic train station building and had excellent food because an actual Mexican family owned it. It's since closed, and now a shitty microbrewery is in the building. Im still mad abt it lmaoo).
I bolt across the street to get there, ignoring one honked horn from a truck when i am still ninety percent sure it was not his light anyway, and scare the everloving shit out of this poor kind woman. The door is locked, the guy is now across the street and walking briskly towards us while i beat on the glass, sobbing, and beg her to let me in.
at the last second, she does. she doesn't speak a lot of English, i don't speak much Spanish, but we spanglish the moment and she locks the door once im in, shouting at the dude as he now bangs on it
y'all i wish i could thank that family so much more past what i did that day. The woman, the mom, got me some tortilla chips and water and sat me in the dining area. The dad called the cops, and their two twenty something and mid teen something sons go out the back door and start telling him to fuck off or they'd all make sure the cops took him away. They had no real obligation to even let me in, let alone shelter me more, and they did.
cops show up, and proceed to be cops: useless. They take statements from everyone, then tell the family that im being dramatic and the guy just needed to know the time. one cop asks if i want a ride to work now. I say no thanks, because im now realizing im very late and no one knows where i am/whats happening, and i just want to run the last little bit to work.
Nope, he now insists i ride in the back of his squad car while he lectures me on giving a polite man trouble like that. Before we drive off, the family gives me a wave and the guy that followed me walks off the way he came.
then i went to work, told everyone what happened in tears, got told to clean up and get to work. worked the late part of that day too after a coworker left sick. fkn sucked lmao.
Now my family refuses to let me walk anywhere alone and i feel like a child at 28. I probably shouldn't have told them abt the above lmaooo
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2022 Writer Year-In-Review
@inkspellangel tagged me for this, so let's see how 2022 writing went! I got rambly, so a read more!
Total number of completed works:
Um..... None? Oops. Really thought I was going to finish Hell's Casino when I started on it in August and then I didn't!
Total number of WIPs worked on this year:
Six, unless you count the vague concepts that all I've done is try to design characters. Then it's eight, but I don't count ones that I haven't done any writing on.
WIPs neglected this year:
That depends on the way you want to define 'neglected' because each WIP has kind of been left mostly untouched as soon as I started a new one. I've definitely gotten a little more on some of them, but honestly, all of them have been at least a little neglected except Reapers as it's my newest one.
Total word count:
I have a few things I haven't typed up, so those aren't counted, but with what I do have typed. 27,455 words.
Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected?:
Oh, way more. I had stopped writing for a few years, and then just. It all came rushing back in August this year and I really didn't think I'd get very far.
Did you take any writing risks this year?:
The honest answer is probably no, but just getting back into writing at all felt like a huge risk in a way I don't know how to explain.
Do you have any goals for the new year?:
To just not stop, no matter how slow it feels.
Biggest disappointment?:
I think that would be the fact that Hell's Casino has kind of gotten buried under everything else. It's a pretty straight forward story and I'd like to get back to it. Every other WIP has so many more moving pieces so to speak.
Biggest surprise?:
Honestly? Just how much all of my stories have gotten attention. I know there are others here who get way more attention, but that doesn't really matter to me tbh. I have a nice handful of people who get super excited about what I do write, and honestly? The tags and such are so much more valuable than twice as many likes and nothing else, you know?
Most popular story of the year?:
This is hard to judge because each story has had about the same amount of interest, just from different people it feels like. I might have to give the title to Reapers though, as it's the one that caused me to actually make a tag list, because I got a request from someone to be added to it.
What's your own favourite story of the year?:
Oh, you're going to make me pick a favorite child? Honestly, it's hard to say because I love them all for different reasons. Reapers has given me the most moments of absolute giddiness writing it so far though, so I guess Reapers wins another award lol.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Cross Over could use some more love to be completely honest, but I also can't say I'm super surprised. That one is just completely self indulgent shenanigans and also didn't have as much posted about it.
Most fun story to write:
That's been Only Human. While Reapers has won out on making me absolutely giddy, Only Human has made me really think a lot about where I'm going with it, and gotten me to smile a lot while also getting me both out of my comfort zone and into it at just the right moments. Out because I usually don't write such low stakes type stories, but in because it's always there with my completely queer cast of almost no humans. It's fun because some aspects have been challenging, but also a refreshing break from some of the more heavy stuff I've been writing.
Most unintentionally telling story:
I feel like this might be Only Human, just because of how much of my personality and identity William stole from me. Although, Reapers is likely a close second, but only for the parts that haven't been shared, which hardly counts I think. To be honest though, I feel like all of my stories are very telling and I'm kind of aware of this whenever I write. I see the me going into every piece, and I know that the only way to hide it would be to write something I'd hate, which I just can't do.
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