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apompkwrites · 10 months

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happy production day || ortho shroud

masterlist characters: ortho & idia (platonic) genre: angst contains: ortho birthday !!!!, pov switches again, ending might be confusing with how I formatted it but please ask if you have questions !! summary: two birthday parties fit for a shroud. notes: hihi :] I promise I love the shrouds. btw not a part of the canon black sheep series!! or, at least, not in timeline yet :)

"a little to the left," idia called to you, waving his hand. "no, back over."

"right here?" you chirped, tilting your head slightly to look at your older brother.

"yep! perfect," idia gave you a toothy grin before walking over, holding up his arms to help you down from the ladder. you took a single step down before idia's hands landed at your sides, picking you up to place you on the floor.

"what next? what next?" you beamed, practically bouncing in place. idia laughed at your excitement, reaching down to ruffling your hair. the blue fire flared under his touch, a trait you had noticed in all of your family members.

"we're gonna set up a game," idia revealed, him sharp teeth poking out from his lips as he grinned. with just that one sentence alone, your eyes glimmered with curiosity.

"what kind of game?"

"a scavenger hunt," idia explained. and before you knew it, you were rushing around your house, planting little puzzles and clues for your brother to find. it took you a few hours, but that time was cut down since idia was the one to actually make the puzzles

so, when the time came for your little brother's birthday, you woke him up by shaking him, excitedly pulling him out of bed to begin the hunt.

little did you know, that was the last birthday you'd throw for your little brother.

"a little to the right," you directed, watching as one of the ignihyde member's drones flew through the air. "too far... there we go!"

one of the dorm members let out a soft sigh of relief, waving for his drone to return to him. he walked off, presumably to gather with some of his other friends. but you had no time to dwell on that.

you walked over to where the tables were set up, inspecting each one carefully. you hummed in satisfaction, moving on to set up the plates in a pile beside the silverware.

once you finished setting up the plates, you wandered the venue. it was nice, all decorated with blue. streamers, banners, screens, everything that screamed a celebration could be found in the dorm's main hall. the perpetual flames that flickered on the porcelain pedestals only added to the atmosphere.

maybe you could light the birthday candles using those flames. what a funny thought.

with nothing else to do but wait, you found yourself floating down the hall towards the dorm rooms. and you reached that oh so familiar room that you spent most of your days in.

your metal knuckles tapped against the door. it immediately opened, revealing your two brothers inside.

"(name)!" ortho cheered upon seeing you. he stood up from where he sat on the floor, immediately grabbing your hand to pull you into the room. idia greeted you with a small grin, his eyes staying glued to his phone as he tapped furiously at his screen.

ortho sat you down beside him and immediately handed you a controller. when you looked to the tv screen, you noticed it was an open world RPG, one fitted with multiplayer. it was ortho's favorite to play in your downtime while idea busied himself with his dailies on his mobile games.

you logged into your account and let yourself become consumed by the game. and ortho did the same, idia's room now filled with sounds of the main characters yelling and enemies dying.

hours passed since you started playing. idia had finished his dailies long ago and had taken to just watching you and ortho play. that was until he reached over your shoulder to grab your controller and pause the game. with that single look, you knew it was time.

you helped ortho up from the ground and held his hand. idia smiled softly at the sight of you two and (begrudgingly as always) left his room.

"oh, are the decorations ready?" ortho beamed, his voice peaking slightly as he spoke.

"mhm! i spent all morning getting the others to help!" you explained, floating behind idea towards the venue. "the rest of the afternoon let the dorm members prepare their gifts!"

"gifts? they didn't have to!" ortho gasped, which drew out a wheeze-like laugh from idia.

"trust me, they did," he remarked, earning a deadpan stare from both you and ortho.

"big brother... what did you do?" ortho asked. idia paused for a moment before shrugging. and you didn't get anything else out of him, no matter how much you two pried.

"happy birthday ortho," a handful of dorm members cheered.

"key phrase detected. now playing special voice message: "i thank you for celebrating my production date," ortho read off from a script. it earned a few laughs from the other dorm members.

meanwhile, idia stood off to the side, idly watching as his two younger siblings conversed. you were adjusting the sash that sat around ortho's torso, brushing off some of the streamers that fired from the confetti cannons.

it was a strange day. it always was. idia never liked celebrating them. it was cruel. two cruel days out of the year that always reminded him of how much of a failure he was for his siblings.

i should of been there, he would think. if I was, they would still be here.

we could celebrate their birthdays for real. i could give (name) and ortho the birthday treasure hunts they deserved.

but, he couldn't spend long wallowing in his thoughts. not when you and ortho looked up at him with those sparkly, glassy eyes, illuminating with everything except that pure childlike wonder he had grown up seeing before that day.

but, for now, if he thought long and hard, used his imagination to escape...

he could see them.

"big brother! look at the gifts i got!" ortho cheered, holding up a box with a figurine of his favorite video game hero. you stood beside him, smiling brightly as ortho showed the figurine off.

yeah... he could see them.

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mikhailwrites · 6 months

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Waiting for Connection 5 / Ghost x Soap NerdAU

Ghost is retired and plays milsim videogame. Soap is still in the force and sometimes plays that same videogame...

Previous chapter | AO3

Since that first custom-made mission, every time they get to play together, Soap, without fail, asks if Ghost has another one. He doesn’t because it takes a lot of time to make it good, and Ghost wouldn’t be happy with anything less than perfect. It goes on like this for a week until Ghost can’t help but get curious as well.

“You have a downtime? Haven’t seen you online so much as this past week,” Simon asks while they idle in the game menu.

Soap takes a minute to answer, a telltale sign of him considering whether to tell or not. “Sort of?” he finally says.

“If you can’t tell me, just say so. I understand,” Ghost says, staring at Soap’s avatar on the screen as if it was really Soap.

“Nah, I just… hate lying. Uhm, I’m on medical leave,” John finally admits, and he honestly sounds as if he would like it much better if Ghost didn’t know.

“No shame in that unless you injured yourself while drunk off-duty,” Simon tells him, hoping his voice carries all the conviction it can. He’s not saying it just to make Soap feel better, damn, he’s been injured so many times he lost track. “Just focus on healing and getting better. Don’t lie to your commanding officer if you’re not feeling up for active duty yet.”

John chuckles. “I’d ask if you’ve ever been so diligent yourself, but I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Do as I say, not as I do.” Ghost clicks on the Start the game button, hoping to change the topic.

“Yes, sir,” Soap says in a tone that spells mockery.

The game is fine. It’s a mission they’ve both played before and know what to expect, which takes away a lot of the thrill. So much so that fifteen minutes in, they ditch any semblance of tactical comms and straight-up chat. Ghost is very aware he is *that* person now but can’t bring himself to care. Not even when two other players try to shut them up.

In the end, they both get kicked out of the party. “Alright, that was unexpected,” Soap notes, “how about we play your mission?”

“Again?” Ghost asks. They’ve played it so many times and so many different ways he remembers every little detail by now. One time, they even went totally overboard, Soap bringing a jet and Ghost controlling a tank. It was utter nonsense, of course, but a ton of fun nonetheless.

“You know, I was thinking…,” Soap starts and suddenly, Ghost regrets he didn’t just start the custom mission.

“Well, congratulations on that,” Ghost ribs Soap in the hopes of derailing whatever inquisitive shit he had planned. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Ha-fucking-ha. Anyway. How come you’ve never joined one of those hardcore mil-sim groups? I know they’re out there, and if I know, you must also know.”

“I don’t want to,” Ghost answers, honest, plain and simple as he starts the mission nonetheless. Maybe, just maybe, it could steer the conversation elsewhere.

“But… why? You don’t like to play with kids,” Soap asks, digging deeper. Ghost doesn’t like it, yet he doesn’t tell him off.

“I don’t like to play with fetishists, either,” Ghost deadpans as he checks the gear and starts walking towards the buildings.

“Alright. What about other pros?”

“Soap…,” Ghost groans, leaning back in his chair, tapping the armrests with his fingers, “I… don’t usually get along well with other people, as you might’ve noticed by now.”

“I thought you were only pissed about the lack of skill,” Soap says, stopping his character next to Ghost’s, waiting for him to move.

“It’s not the only reason,” Ghost admits, feeling the uneasiness grip his body. It must somehow reflect in his voice because Soap eases up on the interrogation tone.

“Should I feel special, then? That you want to play with me?” It’s a genuine question masquerading as a joke.

“Would it matter if I said no?”

“No.” He can practically hear the shit-eating grin in Soap’s voice. “But… what if I recommended someone?”

“John…,” Ghost sighs.

“No, let me finish, Simon. They are my friends and my team members as well. They’re really good and if you like me, then… I think you will get along with them just fine.” Ghost is tempted to end the call. He has been through countless discussions just like this one, and it’s bringing him memories he doesn’t want to think about right now.

After a moment of silence, Ghost moves up, killing a single enemy way out in the dark so as not to be an easy target. He also decides to turn the tables on Soap. “Why are you doing this?”

“So you don’t have to play alone while I’m gone?”

“Fearing I’d get lonely? Touching,” Ghost retorts, his tone carrying a trace of bitterness.

“You can be a right prick sometimes, Ghost,” John replies, more serious and somehow… disappointed. Simon closes his eyes, ignoring a pang of regret.

Before he can reply, another voice joins the chat. Stripey sits on the table, as usual, looking at Ghost with his big amber eyes. “Meow!” Ghost raises an eyebrow at the rare occurrence.

“What was that?” John asks, audibly surprised.

“Just my cat, Stripey,” Ghost replies calmly, aligning the iron sights and clicking the mouse two times to two-burst the enemy.

The voice chat goes silent for a dozen seconds. Then: “You have a cat? And you named your cat a Sergeant?”

“Well, technically, it’s Sgt. Stripey, so…,” Ghost trails off as another enemy opens fire at them. Great, now it’s no longer a stealth operation. Not that it matters, really.

There’s a very heartfelt groan. “So that’s a Sergeant Sergeant… ye ken, that could pass as animal cruelty, Ghost.”

“Touchy on the subject of Sergeants, Sergeant?” Simon chuckles.

“How did you… well, no, but it’s a horrible name for a cat.”

“How do I know you’re a Sergeant? You sound too young and driven to be anything higher up the chain and too skilled and experienced to be anything less, Soap,” Ghost imparts his opinion. “As for the cat… well, he, too, is too young and driven, and I’m definitely not making a Lieutenant out of him and risk finding myself in a situation where I would’ve to take orders from him.”

John laughs at that, an honest, clear sound that makes Ghost smile as well before he spots an enemy peeking from behind a building. “Tango, front, fifty feet, corner of the red building.”

He sees John’s avatar turn immediately, weapon at the ready, corner in his sights. “Covering the corner, sir,” Soap says.

“Well spotted, keep an eye on it. I’ll go around,” Ghost instructs as he checks the magazine.

They breeze through the rest of the mission, finishing it in almost record time, which is impressive, given the amount of idle chat.

Later that evening, when he bids John a good night and turns off the computer, Ghost finds himself lingering in his chair. Slowly, he reaches out and takes his phone. Ghost hesitates, looking at the name in the Contacts menu for a while before he finally hits the dial button. It’s time to do some due diligence.

#call of duty #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #ghostsoap #soapghost #ghost x soap #ghoap #ghost mw2 #soap mw2

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popatochisssp · 8 months

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if you feel up to it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how vi and hunters relationship evolves after gaster dies and they move to the surface

like what's the vibe of their dynamic after all that? how does it change over time?

Their relationship is…complicated.

They both just got out of a situation that was toxic and pretty fucked up, to say the least.

Hunter was controlled, used like a tool, changed physically and mentally against his will, and his brother wasn’t the one making the call to do that, but he was enforcing it. He fully believed he couldn’t trust or talk genuinely to anyone around him, because one of those people was Gaster and the other acted like he was on his side but then turned around and heeled whenever Gaster whistled.

Vi was controlled too, but it was made invisible, he couldn’t talk about it and he had to act like he was broken in to Gaster’s will while fighting the temptation to do just that, to give up. He was constantly stuck between a rock and a hard place—Gaster’s orders and seemingly 24/7 surveillance and Hunter’s defiance and open scorn of his actions.

They both hurt each other, failed each other in different ways.

Vi didn’t protect Hunter from Gaster and he kept too many secrets to be someone Hunter could trust.

Hunter gave Vi no grace or benefit of the doubt and often put him in hard situations where he would either catch hell from Gaster, Hunter, or both no matter what he did.

They were both severely isolated and learned intimately what it was like to have their free will taken away from them.

So…they’re cagey with each other, after it all.

Wary.

Awkward.

Hunter knows now that Vi was just as leashed as he was, and Vi no longer has the axe hanging over his head for if he slips up, no one for either of them to answer to…

But there’s still a lot of ingrained patterns to undo, ways of thinking to unlearn.

When they have a common goal, they still work together like a well-oiled machine, ruthlessly efficient and totally unhesitating, but in the downtime they still stumble—and there’s a lot more downtime these days than there used to be, now that they’re cut loose.

They’re still figuring out how they work without Gaster in between them to make it hostile, learning to trust each other and be more open, but it’s not something either has any practice with so they do mess up.

Vi tries to assume too much control of what Hunter is doing and has to intentionally back off, Hunter blows Vi off when he means well and realizes later he probably shouldn’t have, but…y’know, the rest of the time, they’re…pretty okay?

They can talk to each other and joke and be, what seems to be, brothers, moments that used to be interrupted by Gaster intervening, or the stain of him felt even when he wasn’t there.

Sometimes even now the ghost of him will do that, making moments feel awkward and uncomfortable when they remember what things used to be like, what he would’ve said in that situation…but that’s fading with time.

Some of the best bonding they manage to do is in the process of delinquent type shit—they both like getting into places they probably shouldn’t be and picking locks, parkouring up to drop a fire escape ladder, or helping each other over barbed wire fences is an easy way to feel in-sync and get somewhere quiet where they won’t be interrupted.

They can’t talk about what happened to them, not and look each other in the eye-socket, so when they do end up actually talking about the tough stuff, it’s usually on a roof somewhere—one will go up and sit down and start thinking deep thoughts, and the other will eventually come join him and sit back-to-back until the words come out. They don’t always, sometimes there’s just silence, but…even that helps, a little.

It's a work-in-progress, those two, and it's not always easy but they’re trying.

#anonymous #headcanons #swapfell fruition #sff!sans #sff!papyrus

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jjellysoo · 2 months

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what are your headcanons for xs? im starving for content too sksld so i wanna know your thoughts/headcanons on them!

Hi, thank you for the ask!! >:)

Not many general headcanons make it into my work because I tend to write about specific concepts, so this was fun!

I love all interpretations of the XS timeline, but I don't think they were together during the story's canon. Post-canon and I can see an argument for the TYL arc. Extremely dubious on anything pre-cradle affair.

Xanxus is absolutely the jealous type, but he won't address it in a practical way. He's known to cling to his possessions, right?

On that note - Dino, count your days.

Xanxus is very much into Squalo's hair. If he can touch it, he will, whether that's a pleasant touch or not.

Besta likes Squalo the most after Xanxus himself, and will try to smother him and kiss him, which Xanxus ignores like he's getting paid for it.

It's a private relationship, for several reasons. Not many people know about it, and if they do, they're not going to comment on it lest they want to part ways with their face.

Except for Luss, of course, who bombards Squalo with dumb questions when they have downtime, none of which are answered. That 101 battles was ROUGH.

No pet names other than the usual insults that probablyyy count as pet names. But don't tell them I said that.

Xanxus runs warm because of his flame (why he can run around half shirtless), and Squalo runs cold (why he wears fur and coats and earmuffs all the time!) The ideal temperature equilibrium for cuddling.

This is canon, but Xanxus is overall calmer when Squalo is around HQ.

Squalo finds Xanxus' scars attractive as they relate to his rage, but he wouldn't mention it because of the sore topic. If Xanxus ever lost control over his scars in a sexual context, well....

Squalo has had feelings for Xanxus since the beginning. He must've been pretty convinced things were going to work out, huh? When you know you know etc. etc.

Xanxus has some Avengers level threat internalized homophobia. His whole complex is over being heir to the Vongola, and part of that role is having a family and children, so being with a man would be really hard for him to comes to terms with. Also, the stereotypes of gay men that he'd be acquainted with go against the persona he's made for himself.

In effect, it's really hard for him to be openly affectionate. Queue glass throwing and hair pulling.

SAME TANGENT because I see this way too much but these two could not be a casual FWB situation given Xanxus' complex.

Okay so this is based on the inheritance ceremony where Timoteo is a little bitch to Squalo for no reason. THOSE TWO BEEF LIKE CRAZY IN THE MOST PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE "IN LAWS" WAY POSSIBLE. Squalo obviously dislikes him because he ruined Xanxus' life and is dismissive of the Varia as a whole, Timoteo dislikes him because he thinks he's trying to get with his son and go against what a right hand man is supposed to be.

If there's one thing that's going to fluster (fluster!?) Varia Captain and Sword Emperor Superbia Squalo, it's going to be Xanxus. Squalo never expected to get this far, so when he spends his life in respectful admiration and is suddenly getting bombarded with what would otherwise be normal couple behavior, he doesn't know what to do.

Xanxus pretends to be unaware of the effect he has, but definitely knows and extorts it because it's cute

I'm not kidding when I say I have more than this, but that's where I'm cutting it off for today. Hope this feeds you well enough, for now, anon! :D

#katekyo hitman reborn #khr #xanxus #squalo superbi #headcanons #ship headcanons #ask #hcs #xanxus x squalo #khr xs #khr headcanons

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invisibleraven · 4 months

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"I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you."

Peterpatterlina

PROMPT #800 BABY! Couldn't have gotten here without all of you, but especially my canoe crew who are my constant support and dearest friends. Love you all!

If there was once place on Earth more hated than a hospital, Julie had yet to find it. She hated the weird smell that never seemed to leave her nose until long after. She hated the cafeteria food that always seemed so bland and tasteless-even the pudding, and how did someone mess up pudding? She hated the constant noise from the machines and alerts and various people coming and going.

But most of all she hated seeing her mother in here.

Rose who was so jubilant and full of life was now a pale reflection of her former self as she willingly pumped poison into her veins to hopefully fight the cancer threatening her life. She still tried to stay happy and upbeat for her family, but the chemo was taking it's toll, and her smiles didn't reach her eyes any more.

"You don't have to come with me every time mija," Rose assured her. "And you definitely don't have to stay in here. Why not go exploring, see if there's any kids your age you can hang out with?"

Julie was reluctant to leave her mom, but her father practically pushed her out so she supposed the choice was made for her. She knew she didn't have to come, Carlos didn't, and she bet he was having a great time with tia right now. But her mom had always called her a good luck charm, so maybe, just maybe that would help?

She would rather believe that than the fact that her mother was slowly dying.

So she wandered the halls, until a kindly nurse pointed her to the children's longue, a place where both the sick kids and visitors could just relax. It was pretty empty, save a lone boy with a giant clunky cast on his leg who was playing a game, the tip of his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

"Whatcha playin'?" she asked as she took a seat next to him on the lumpy couch.

"Mario, you ever play?" he asked, voice rough and with a tiny hint of a twangy accent. Julie noticed how the fluorescent lights washed him out, but she could see a spray of freckles across his cheeks and nose, which fascinated her-she'd never seen someone with so many freckles before.

"I've played a bit with my brother, though he's way better at it than I am," she replied. "I could never get him to the top of the flagpole like you can."

"You want me to teach you?" he asked, turning to her, the full force of his green eyes hitting her, and Julie had to clench her hands by her sides so as to not play with her curls.

"Sure," she said, and the boy-Reggie-handed her the controller, explaining what to do, giving her tips and secrets on how to get a high score in the game. "How do you know so much about this?"

"I've been here a while," Reggie explained, pointing to his foot. "This is going to be my third or fourth surgery on it, and that means a lot of downtime. So I've gotten pretty good. Plus my grandparents got me a Nintendo for my Bar Mitzvah last year."

"Are there any other games here?" Julie asked, excited to see what else they could play together. She liked Reggie-there was a sadness around him, yes, but he never stopped smiling, and making her laugh with little jokes and comments as she stumbled through each level of the mushroom kingdom.

"Tons!" Reggie enthused, and went through the collection that was there. Julie didn't really want to play Duck Hunt-guns were a big nope for her, but Zelda sounded right up her alley-she loved stories about adventure and princesses.

They whiled away a good chunk of the afternoon playing games together, just chatting and laughing. Nothing too deep, but she told Reggie why she was here and he gave her a sympathetic smile, squeezing her hand. He told her he had been in a bad car accident, thus his mangled foot, but his grandparents smuggled him in good food so he didn't have to put up with the awful pudding.

"Mija?"

Julie turned and there was her papi, smiling kindly at her. "It's time to go. Your mami is tired and I think she'd much prefer to nap at home."

She nodded, but then paused. "If you're still here next week can we play more Zelda?" she asked Reggie.

"I'll be here, recovery time is long," he assured her.

"Then I'll be sure to bring you some real pudding," she promised, and Reggie laughed aloud at that.

Julie and her father left the room, but a nurse caught them down the hallway. "Were-were you just in the game room with Reggie?" she asked.

"Yes," Julie answered. "Was I not supposed to be?"

"No no, nothing like that," the nurse assured her. "But...I heard him laugh?"

"Yeah, we were joking about the pudding here," Julie said, confused.

"Sweetheart, Reggie hasn't spoken more than two words since his accident almost six months ago," the nurse said. "So if you managed to make him crawl out of his shell, well you must be some sort of angel. Do you think you would mind coming back to play with him again?"

"I'll be back next week," Julie assured her. She felt a wave of pity for Reggie-did he have no friends to come visit him? What about his family, couldn't they get him to talk? So Julie made it her mission to come as often as she could, and make Reggie laugh as often as possible.

So she did-every week she went with Rose to the hospital, and hung out with Reggie. Some weeks he was more subdued than others, whispering he was in pain, but always lit up when Julie handed him a pilfered snack from her house, often a pudding, like their little private joke.

Even after Rose entered remission, she still asked to go visit Reggie, and her parents were more than happy to let her. "You're a good friend to this boy mija," Rose told her. "I hope he gets out of there soon though."

"Me too," Julie replied.

It was only a few weeks later that fate intervened-Reggie told Julie he was finally going to be released. But unfortunately, he was going home with his grandparents, back to Georgia. "They've been away from the farm too long as it is, and there's no one else..." he trailed off.

Julie knew this of course, how he and his mom had left his abusive dad and come to LA to make a new life. How the car accident that broke Reggie's foot took his mom's life. That his grandparents had come to look after him while he recovered.

But she still cried at the thought of losing him. "We could always write?' he suggested tearily. Julie agreed, and got his address before leaving. It wouldn't be the same as spending their afternoons playing games and talking together, but it would at least be something.

Reggie hated the cold. Why oh why did the most prestigious game design school have to be in the North East? More so why couldn't he have been happy enough going to a school back home in Georgia, or even in LA? But of course, he knew why. He wanted to make games that would help kids just like Mario and Zelda had helped him. And to do that, he had to come to this school even though the cold made his foot ache, the ice and snow were not great for moving around in when you relied on a cane, and he missed MeeMaw and Pops so bad he could scream.

He just had to reassure himself that it would be worth it in the end, even as he hobbled through the crowds trying to get home.

"Reggie!"

He could have sworn he heard a voice calling his name-it wasn't like Reggie was all that common. But when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone he knew. But then, there it was again, a little closer.

"Reggie! Reggie Peters! Your princess is in another castle!"

Finally she came into view-Julie Molina, all grown up, but still recognizable even seven years later. They had kept in touch with letters for a bit, but then lost it after Rose's cancer came back. Reggie always felt bad about that, wishing he had tried harder for the girl who had gotten him through one of the worst parts of his adolescence.

"You got a fire flower or something for me at least?" he said with a grin and then opened his arms for a hug, holding her tight as she rushed in to accept it. Her curls were cut shorter, but still just as curly. Her smile was just as vibrant, and God Reggie had missed her. "What the heck are you doing here Molina?"

"I could ask the same of you!" she exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. "I'm here for college, studying graphic design!"

"Same, only for games!" Reggie replied. "Gosh it's good to see you again, you have time for a coffee?"

Julie bit her lip and shook her head. "Sorry, I've actually got to get to class, but give me your number, we can meet up?"

Reggie nodded and handed over his card, taking hers in turn and waving as she got on her train before hobbling off home. He sighed as he finally got to sit down, and pulled out the card that Julie gave him.

"Whatcha got there bud?" Luke asked as he slumped down on the couch next to him. "Ooh, got a number?"

"It's not like that you doof," Reggie said, shoving him away playfully. "This is from Julie, we were friends as teens, and I ran into her in the station. Apparently she's here studying graphic design."

"Oh cool," Luke said, snuggling back into Reggie's side, and by this time, Reggie had gotten used to his cuddly nature-having lived together for a few years made you used to a lot of things. "She a good artist?"

Reggie recalled the various doodles that covered his casts during his hospital stay-Julie insisting on signing it as it was blank when she met him. Even though Reggie told her he would be getting an new one after his surgery.

"Well I'll sign that one too," she had said with a grin-and she did. Reggie had honestly been a little sad to see them cut off and all Julie's artwork destroyed.

"Yeah she really is," Reggie mused.

"Well then call her!" Luke insisted. "Even if not for dates, just to reconnect. Or hell, you need a designer for your game right?"

"Well it's your game too," Reggie reasoned.

"Eh," Luke shrugged. "I wrote the story and music, but you helped with both of those, and you're doing all the programming."

"Maybe," Reggie said, looking at the card again. "Maybe."

It turned out that Julie was very interested in making a game with Reggie, and that summer it was a familiar sight to find her in Luke and Reggie's apartment making the art and helping Reggie play test sequences with each character.

Luke was absent, as his parents insisted he return home to his folks house but he happily let them use the apartment, and claimed he couldn't wait to see what they had gotten done when he returned-and to meeting Julie, since fate hadn't allowed that to happen thus far.

Reggie loved that summer-he and Julie renewed their friendship, they worked together constantly, and while he didn't experience any pain-that would never be a reality for him-he found it lessened due to him keeping busy. Plus Luke had made their apartment as handi capable as possible, so he barely had to use his cane.

Sure, Luke had claimed he would get lost in the clutter if they let it build up, but Reggie knew the truth. Luke was determined to look after him, and while some would resent that, Reggie loved being cared for, and appreciated how much Luke did to make his life easier. And it wasn't like Reggie didn't do anything for him-he made sure Luke went to all his classes and performances on time, as he was involved in the school's music program, and even helped the orchestra for the drama department while he got his English and Musical Composition degrees.

Reggie had even gone to every showing of the school's production of Macbeth, just because Luke was down in the pit every night, and it was his composition that they used to signify the storm-a raucous, crashing thing that made you really feel like the weather was about to change.

That was the only drawback of the summer-that Luke wasn't there. So when he returned, Reggie was almost fit to burst, pulling him in for a hug almost immediately.

"Missed you too buddy," Luke whispered into his shoulder. They broke apart then, exchanging slightly watery smiles before Luke coughed and cast his eyes over to where Julie was standing. "Hi, you must be Julie!"

"And you must be Luke," she replied, giving a little oof as he caught her in a hug. "Oh, you're a hugger."

Luke stepped back then, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. It's a thing."

"It's okay," Julie assured him, "But maybe a little warning next time?" She then offered him a smile. "Now I wanna pick your brain about a few plot points of your story..."

By the end of the summer, they had made good progress on their game, but it was nowhere near done. "We can still work on it," Julie said, "Just not at the same rate."

Reggie sighed in defeat. He knew they weren't going to finish the game, but he had hoped they would be a bit further along. "Maybe... maybe I should take the semester off? Keep at it?"

"Reg you can't do that, your education is important!" Julie insisted.

"It's also extremely expensive, and my grandparents can only help so much," Reggie explained. "A semester off would be a big help to them, and I can always do a class or two through distance if I want."

"I would love to take the semester off too, but since my folks are paying the rent here, I need to stay in school to keep a roof over our heads," Luke lamented. "But my part of things is essentially over anyways."

"We still need to figure out a lot of the score mister," Julie answered him. "Hire musicians and the like."

"Why would we need to do that?" Luke asked. "I play guitar, Reggie plays almost everything, our friend Alex does drums, we just need a vocalist."

Julie was silent at that for a moment. "I-I could do it."

Luke grinned, and handed her the song they had written for the end credits-a lilting ballad that spoke of their main character's journey and her longing to find a place she belonged. A bit cliché, but it was leagues better than Girl In The Tower which had gotten legit radio play, so Luke figured they were good.

Only when Julie started singing, both guys were blown away. Her voice was angelic, the perfect one to elevate the song into greatness. They sat there stunned for a bit after she finished until Luke cleared his throat. "I think you've got the job Molina."

She beamed with happiness, jumping up and down and then ran off to call her dad. Luke turned to Reggie. "How come you never told me she could sing like that?"

"I didn't know!" Reggie insisted.

Later on that night after Julie had gone home, Luke looked at Reggie. "Would you be mad if I asked Julie out?"

An unpleasant feeling settled in Reggie's gut at that, which was ridiculous. Luke and Julie were his two best friends, incredibly well suited for each other, why shouldn't they be happy together? "Maybe wait until the game is done?"

"That's fair," Luke conceded. "And you're sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Reggie asked. Luke looked at him queerly for a moment then shook it off, wishing Reggie a good night, a sentiment Reggie echoed. But he found that he couldn't sleep that night, and the feeling in his gut never did go away.

It took nearly a year, but they finally finished their game. One of Reggie's professors was going to help them shop it around to different publishers, but the game was done!

"This calls for a celebration!" Luke exclaimed, pulling out a bottle of champagne, pouring them all a glass. Their various friends were scattered around, all of them involved in the process in some way, and they had all ssured the trio the game was amazing.

Reggie toasted but put the glass down-he didn't drink, not after the hell his dad had put him and his mom through. He didn't think about the man often, couldn't really care less where he was. But that memory of whiskey laden breath and heavy hands would never leave him.

Plus his stomach was roiling as he watched Luke pull Julie aside, watched her light up as he spoke, and then-she pulled him in for a kiss. Not a friendly peck, but a deep, romantic kiss that made Reggie have to look away.

God, what was wrong with him? He knew it was coming, had seen the sparks fly between them. It must be the stress of the past year and the anxiety over selling the game getting to him.

"I need some air," he said to no one, as the party raged on around him. He grabbed his cane and went out to walk a little-it usually hurt to do so for too long, but it also always helped clear his head. He was sure he would be back before anyone noticed.

Only he still couldn't get the image of Luke and Julie kissing out of his head, and eventually sat down on a bench. Why did it bother him so much? He never reacted this way when he saw other couples kiss. Heck he'd seen Luke go through a bevvy of girls and guys when they first started living together... though that had started to bother him after a while. He had chalked it up to Luke being careless with his body and heart, and after he voiced his concerns, Luke seemed to have been perpetually single.

Did... did he just not want to be left alone? Was that it?

He was sure Luke and Julie would still make time for him even if they started dating. But it wouldn't be the same. No more late nights chatting until the sun came up about everything and anything. No more of Luke quoting Macbeth ad nauseum due to months of shows, with Julie and Reggie playing the other parts. No more sunrise runs for cheap fast food to keep going even though they should sleep, and then passing out in a pile on the couch.

No more waking up to Julie and Luke snuggled into his side, or making sure he had someone by his side for his appointments. No more of Julie's sunny smile meant only for him, or Luke's teasing as Reggie made eggs for them since Luke was hopeless in the kitchen. No more movie nights or trying out new games together, no more tears when the doubt set in that they were wasting their time trying to make this game.

Reggie rubbed at his chest, as if that would make the pain go away. Kept picturing Luke and Julie, and wishing he was there. Not instead of them, but with them.

"Oh fuck," he swore. "I'm in love with them."

He had to tell them-they didn't keep secrets-and even if it ruined everything, he couldn't bare them not knowing, and living a life where he was silent about his unrequited feelings.

He got up, heading back towards the apartment, going as fast as he could. Only he didn't see the curb, and slipped, feeling the pain radiating through his ankle as he fell. Or the blackness that set in as his head hit the concrete.

Reggie hates hospitals.

He knows he's in one before he even opens his eyes-the smell, the beeping, the feeling of various tubes in him. He blinks open his eyes and sees the same generic tiled ceiling and groans.

"Oh thank God you're awake."

Reggie turns his head, and there is Luke and Julie, looking equally worried and relieved. "Hey guys," he rasps. "How long was I out?"

"Few hours, but you still had us worried sick," Julie admonishes. "We didn't even know you'd left the party until Luke got a call from the hospital as your emergency contact!"

"Sorry, needed some air," Reggie replies, and sighs when Luke puts the straw of a juice box to his lips, allowing him to drink, "Didn't mean to slip and knock myself out."

"And bust your ankle," Luke said apologetically.

"Of course I did," Reggie moans.

The doctor has worse news for him-a bunch of pins had come loose-his foot is even more mangled. "It might be time to let it go son," he cautions.

He takes a lot of time to consider it-they always told him it was a possibility-and Reggie had held on for longer than he probably should have to the old thing. So he agrees to the procedure, even though it will mean even more time in this dreaded place.

The night before the surgery, Luke and Julie are by his side. Julie jokes that she won't have a cast to design on now, but Reggie jests she can always glam up the prosthetic he's getting. She lets out a sob at this.

"Too dark?" Reggie asks.

"No, it's just... when Luke first got that call, we were both fearing the worst," she explains. "We thought we had lost you. And we realized... we couldn't bear to lose you."

"We love you Reg," Luke piped up. "Not as a friend, but as the person... our person. The one person we want to be with."

"Me? The both of you?" Reggie squeaked.

"You," Julie said, squeezing his hand. "You make our heart containers full."

Reggie laughed uproariously at that, wiping a tear from his eye. "I love you guys too. And I will tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow."

"That's my line," Luke chuckled.

"Mine now," Reggie said, and grinned as his partners leaned in to kiss him.

The night of the Game Awards, Reggie wasn't nervous. Their game had done phenomenally well, and even if they didn't win, he had something better than a dumb old trophy-he had Luke and Julie on his arms. They were far better, plus it meant he could leave his cane at home-they would keep him upright.

But it was still a shock when their names were called, and Reggie beamed as they helped him up the stairs-he was still getting used to his new prosthetic, all covered in Julie's doodles and Luke's song lyrics.

He watched them both speak, thanking everyone they needed to before ceding the mic to Reggie.

"I haven't had the easiest life," he stated. "It's been one quest after another, and I've barely made it out of some of them with all my hearts intact. But I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you. The both of you, and I wouldn't be standing here without your support, your talent, and your love. Thank you."

Julie and Luke leaned in, kissing his cheeks, and Reggie smiled brighter than the blinding lights as they led him off the stage, never once letting him stumble or fall. And they never would.

#filled prompts #ficlet #rukebox #peterpatterlina #julie and the phantoms #this is very much based on tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow-but you don't have to read it to get the context #gosh this got long

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edelorion · 9 months

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pso2 chess headcanons because i felt like it!!

this will contain a bit of spoilers so do finish episode 6 maybe -w-

okay so.

Afin: he's a beginner. he knows how the horse moves but if you throw an en passant on him he'll be very confused. leaves pawns and pieces hanging constantly. but he's a good sport about it! "Aw crikey, didn't see that one! Good game, mate!"

Matoi: okay so as klariskrays 2 she never had the time to play and even now after the defeat of the primordial darkness she never really has an interest in chess. however, she's not bad at it. her playstyle is very defensive and while necessary sacrifices have to be made sometimes if she can avert the taking of a piece or a pawn on her sideshe usually does.

Quna: like matoi, as zelsius quna AND an idol she never had the time to play but after the defeat of tpd i think she's probably taken it up as a hobby. and just like her former assignment as zelsius she's completely unassuming until she suddenly ICBMs your queen and there's nothing you can do about it.

Casra: okay he's actually taken the time to learn how to play chess. and he's good at it. he could win against anyone in the Oracle fleet with a bit of effort bar from anyone whose name starts with x. he's fancy and unconventional to stump players whenever he knows they can't handle it, but he's very defensive and by the book whenever he's playing against an actual competent opponent. CAN'T resist an en passant.

Zig: really good. picked up chess in his downtime. can hold a candle against casra. his philosophy while playing is that diamonds are formed under extreme heat and pressure and as such he's super offensive in his play. he breaks you down, so you can build yourself up. and if he finds the opponent survived his trial he's okay with... letting them win a bit. as a treat. especially does this with matoi. he's really good at blitz chess in particular.

Io: best girl BEST GIRL how does she perform?? pretty alright! but she breaks down easily whenever things don't go as she planned. she's very bold in her plays but whenever she's threatened she's internally screaming. probably taunts a little -w-

Pietro: failboy. does the bongcloud unironically because he genuinely doesn't know it's a bad opening. anytime he plays it's like a trainwreck that you can't look away from

Zeno: not that great. tried picking up chess after the defeat of tpd but never got the hang of it. at most he plays a casual match against echo or matoi but he's not that great.

Echo: comeback queen. she knows the openings, but her midgame is a little weak, however she's good at persisting after pieces are lost. probably won a few times against io after io took her queen and was SO assured of her victory

Risa and Hariette: do i even need to say it. risa would rather be shooting things than be playing chess but every game is HELLISH NIGHTMARE. she's more offensive than Zig and plays EXPLICITLY to see the doom in people's eyes as she trumps them at every aspect. and hariette? she knows this. and she helps. whenever hariette's in full control though she plays a good, clean, and strategic game on her own, and her decisionmaking skills really shine through. xiao's pleasantly surprised to see either of them play like this.

Pati: does not care for chess. but every time someone else plays she commentates and makes up random names for the attacks and gambits and defenses like "The Tyrell Defense, Rico Variation" and "The Flowen Gambit" to make it seem more exciting to people and to make herself seem smart until Tia calls her out on the nonsense.

Tia: actually knows alot of chess theory, but has very little practice. a pretty good commentator with quite a bit of insight however. can't help but backseat play a little though... until pati starts shouting about a "Kireek Method Attack" or something like that.

Melrandia: actually learnt chess from melfonseana, her sister, who probably won an arks chess championship one time. as for melrandia herself, she's also rather good but kinda shy about it. focuses alot on defense, and doesn't do anything fancy bar for a scholar's mate sometimes since that's the first thing melfonseana taught her. she pulled it against io once and she made her cry

Maria: she's pretty good. as non-CAST she picked it up as pastime whenever she's not busy, but nowadays she has little time for it. but when she plays, she's a menace. she especially strives in high-speed, high-stakes scenarios like blitz or bullet chess. she knows most of the good openings and knows how to make the best of them and carries that momentum all the way to endgame.

Regius: bold and brash when he first picked it up, but has since quenched it, and now as a CAST, he's just pretty good... but does like doing the more unconventional tactics sometimes. but against maria, he's super serious. he'll beat her one day.

Xion: beyond stockfish. any move she plays is the best in its situation. she has never lost a game. she will never lose a game. she knows everything about her opponent and WILL play the perfect game each and every time. she is a menace. cold. calculated. an utter destroyer. may the akashic records have mercy on your soul, since its librarian has none to spare ゴゴゴゴ

Xiao: almost on the same level as xion. but he's much less player as he is teacher. each game he plays he invites the opponent to improve. he lets them figure out their flaws, lets them improve on them, and then decimates them. often leads on casra into thinking he's winning against him before pulling the rug right under him

Xiera: cheater. she's decent but any time she's losing she taps into xiao and uses his processing power to completely decimate her opponent. she thinks she's sneaky about it but she really isn't. it's gotten so bad that xiao personally comes down to shame xiera each time she does this.

main character: lemme paint you a picture for this.

Xiao: "Oof, you lost a piece there..." MC: "..." Xiao: "Wait, it's the Timestream-- Stop! How far back are you trying to go?!" <AP 2XX, 10 seconds before> MC: "...So I castle instead." Xiao: "hhhh you cheater."

if any of you have more chess HCs esp. for characters i've missed (pso2 or ngs) please reblog and share them!!

#pso2 #phantasy star online 2

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superlativesamsara · 3 months

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Okay I've been procrastinating long enough and I've got like fifteen minutes of downtime so who wants to learn about Soul, and more specifically spirit particles and the Quincy arts?

Okay, now below the cut, hey there, glad you're interested. Weird shit upfront, Quincy Powers are funky, in that on paper anyone can use them with a focus, they're also hereditary, that is to say, using them extensively will cause gradual, subtle alterations in the makeup of your soul that will allow your children (and theirs and etc) to use the powers. I figure things like blood adoption or inheritance rituals should also transfer this ability retroactively but I've never tested it so good luck have fun there I guess.

Now, without Further Ado! Part 1: What's a Quincy and How Do They Work?

Well essentially, what differentiates a Quincy from a baseline human, is the natural capacity to interact with and to varying extents control spirit particles, which will henceforth be referred to as Reishi. This is accomplished by expenditure of Reiki, spirit energy. Reishi is produced and naturally shed by the souls of all living beings as they grow and mature. In animist worlds, they can probably also come from rocks and stuff that have spirits but, again, never tested, so not relevant to the discussion. Reiki, likewise, is produced by the soul, much like other forms of spiritual energy such as Ki, Hado, etc.

The original original Quincy Order draws its lineage from an incarnate deity, the Soul King, though the specific nature of said deity and their relation to it is variable from universe to universe. What doesn't vary, however, is that the most effective focus for Quincy powers, whether wielded by born Quincy or baseline humanity, is the Soul King's personal crest, a five-pointed cross, typically worn as a silver charm on the wrist. Through this symbol, even those without the natural propensity for such an ability can channel Reiki to manipulate Reishi.

The Quincy Order, in their native universe, were founded by a man with the dubious distinction of housing a large fragment of the soul of the Soul King, granting him great power and strange abilities relating to the forming and manipulation of Reishi. He founded the organization with the intent to protect humanity from the predation of spiritual beings that were commonplace in his world but nigh unheard of in the greater multiverse, so I shan't dwell on them for now. I will however note that, with the aid of the lovely @valorxdrive, I can confirm that Reishi-forged weaponry is effective against Heartless, should that be an issue relevant to your local slice of multiverse.

Anyway, back to the history lesson, given that, at the time, since the abilities were in their infancy, the average Quincy could hardly be expected to stand up to a race of spiritual being all but evolved to predate upon humanity, the order used their newfound powers to forge bows and arrows of spiritual energy, that they might engage their foes from a safer distance. Over time, techniques were invented that would level the playing field, such as abilities that harness Reishi to reinforce the body's strength and durability, and a variation of the flashstep, but despite this fact it remained the traditional Quincy doctrine to primarily favor bows and other forms of ranged weaponry.

But! Now that we've passed the basics of the history lesson (feel free to drop asks in my box if you want more details later) we can move on to the meat of "you keep talking about these powers but how do they actually *work*, Rose?"

Well! Simple, really, once you've got a feel for your spiritual senses (or a focus to do half the work for you). You lightly expand your Reiki into the air around you, saturating the ambient Reishi particles with it, and then you *pull* on that energy to drag the particles along with it into the desired form. Depending on the person, and with extensive practice, you might find that combining your Reiki and Reishi in the proper shapes or formulas will naturally create interesting effects. For example, in the proper ratios, my Reiki turns Reishi shadowy and causes it to take on a vaporous appearance.

Additionally, through practice, one will obtain a sensitivity to the spiritual aspects of the material plane, able to sense spiritual beings or significant expenditures of spiritual power nearby. The range of this is dependent on the person in question and the magnitude of what they're trying to sense.

That's about all I have to ramble without any prompting (again, ask box, right there :D), but as a bit of a tidbit because I know someone wants to ask: yes, you can harden things other than your skin with Reishi. No, I would not recommend trying to stand on air without extensive practice because it is very hard to get the amount of self-applied back force just right.

#feeling loopy (ic)#exposition dump #Quincy #religious iconography #((yes I'm aware this is a heavy bastardization of bleach canon #((no I don't care about that fact this is my horrific crossover sandbox and I am building the most beautiful shitty mound castle in it

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direwolfrules · 1 year

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Star Trek: Voyager But The Caretaker Also Grabbed Ships From A Galaxy Far Far Away

I don't know, maybe the Star Wars Galaxy is in the same direction as the Alpha Quadrant anyway. So, joining Voyager it is!

Aaannnd I've decided in the five seconds I stepped away that Season 4 Ghost Crew + Rex and Kallus is the most interesting.

Hera would tell the rest of her crew that since the Ghost is toast, they're kinda dependent on the Voyager crew to get even somewhat closer to their home, so if the strange people want you to wear their weird uniforms and answer up a chain of command, you go do it. Space mom's orders are to be followed.

I don't think any of them actually become temporary Starfleet personnel, just Civilians like Neelix and Kes. At least at first, they could potentially join down the line. Part of this is they're already part of a command structure, one they'd very much like to get back to, and part of it is they don't know how anything works?

Star Wars and Star Trek technology are very different. Like, warp drives must seem ridiculous from the perspective of people raised on hyperdrives, but replicators are almost more magical than Force powers. Universal translators instead of super annoying protocol droids providing a running commentary? Insane. Wait, what do you mean the murder droid technically qualifies as sentient by your laws, and therefore we aren't allowed to turn him off? That's the only thing that gets him to stop threatening our lives!

Intake physicals reveal, in no particular order: Hera's pregnant (to the surprise of everyone but Kanan), Federation medical technology can restore Kanan's vision (he jumps on the chance to see his family again like a Corellian jumps on a freighter), and the EMH has several potential therapies that could not only stop Rex's rapid aging, but also reverse it (Starfleet ships keep getting hit by aging diseases, temporal anomalies, and weird transporter accidents, they've learned a thing or two after a few centuries).

Janeway's dealing with an internal debate over whether letting the Ghost crew join up is a violation of the Prime Directive or not. They don't have warp capability but their hyperdrives seem to be even better? Does it count when they seem to have bypassed warp tech entirely and instead developed dimension-shifting FTL tech? If the answer is no can she make an exception anyway because the Space Wizards seem useful?

Anyway, I think the Rebels would try to make themselves as useful as possible in order to get home.

Hera has them all studying Federation education modules in their downtime so they can better understand all the new tech. Hera's also practicing flight simulators in the holodeck, because she's never met a ship she couldn't fly and she's not going to let a helm console hold her back.

Her and Tom have a mini feud over who's the best pilot on the ship. If we go by Federation controls, Tom is, but only because he has more experience with them. When Tom builds the Delta Flyer with the classic flight controls, Hera beats him in a race. Easily. He winds up crying on B'Elanna's couch. Then after B'Elanna kicks him out he winds up crying on Harry's couch.

Sabine's basically a tech prodigy, so I don't think she'll have too much trouble understanding the engineering principles behind things. It's more convenient plot wise anyway. Hera has to negotiate with Janeway on her behalf to get permission to paint in certain areas of the ship. Personal quarters, the mess hall, etc., she can paint as long as it's appropriate and not interfering in ship operations.

Sabine, once she gains a sufficient understanding of Federation technology, starts volunteering for shifts in Engineering. It starts with her doing basic maintenance and later as she grows more proficient she starts helping with things like warp core refits. She also starts experimenting with various pieces of equipment, and at one point figures out how to replicate beskar. This is important for later plot points.

Ezra basically gets kidnapped by Samantha Wildman. His whole "connecting to animals" thing? Yeah, the ship's Xenobiologist isn't going to pass up the walking, talking research tool. Also, Ezra could always use more Space Moms. This one just happens to lack protagonist energy.

When he's not helping keep the feral creature of the week from killing the entire crew of the ship, he's joining away missions because having a Space Wizard with a laser sword on your team should just be standard protocol.

Ezra's also the one to figure out there's something wrong with Seska. She always feels slimy in the Force, and cold. She reminds him of several Imperial officers he'd come up against, a sense of viciousness-ambition-hunger that makes the very air in the room feel like poison. His danger sense never seems to stop going off when she's nearby.

He reports the bad feeling to Chakotay, and while a note is made to keep a closer eye on her, it's not like they can really do anything. Until Seska takes an action that endangers the ship and its crew, they cannot take action. How would it look to the Maquis crew if one of their own was locked in the brig thanks to the Wizard Boy's feelings? They'd have a ship-wide mutiny in less than two hours.

Sometimes Tom and Harry kidnap him for shenanigans related purposes, including but not limited to Captain Proton holodeck adventures. Sometimes they include Sabine and her and Tom bond over the crushing weight of parental expectations. Sabine hates the lack of color in the Captain Proton holoprogram, and has taken to programing "color bombs" into it with Ezra's help.

Kanan is Hera's house husband that watches Jacen and tries to stop his space children from having a mental breakdown. (They're all halfway to a breakdown, that's an undercurrent of this whole AU, they just do a semi-decent job of hiding it until it all bursts forth at once, usually at a highly inconvenient time. Except Ezra, he gets mega angsty for a bit.)

Kanan occasionally joins away missions as well. Him and Tuvok kinda bond in a "we're both Space Dads" way. They also kinda low-key hate each other. Tuvok's all about that Vulcan logic and Kanan believes in following the Force. The Force makes no logical sense, and half the time you're relying on your own potentially faulty interpretation of its warnings. They're frenemies. It's fun until Neelix tries to force them to bond.

Zeb helps out in Security. He's also Naomi and Jacen's second favorite babysitter. Him and Neelix have a small rivalry over this.

Also, Zeb's basically Neelix's biggest supporter when Dr. Jarel shows up. Threatens to throw the guy out an airlock if he so much as scans Neelix. (Listen, I'm not saying Zeb and Neelix get drunk one night and cry on each others' shoulders about the Purging of Lasan and the Metreon Cascade's effect on Rinax, but I'm also not not saying it.)

Also, I think it would be funny if leola root tasted exactly like a common ingredient in some traditional Lasat dishes. Zeb basically never uses his replicator rations because his Lasat taste buds find so much of Neelix's fare to be downright pleasant. Basically Zeb in this AU is a giant murder machine who enjoys Neelix's cooking and always has a stockpile of one of the most valuable currencies on the ship. The crew views him as some sort of mythical deity because of this.

Kallus helps Tuvok with threat assessments and the like. Janeway also drafts him to investigate the Maquis crew, sniff out potential bad actors so that a closer eye can be kept on them. It's thanks to this Lon Sudar is caught and given psychiatric help before he can go full Lon Sudar.

Once Kes sets up the Aeroponics Bay Kallus starts to basically live in there. Neelix does a whole segment on it for his morning show, "Stressed City Boy Learns Joy Of Gardening". It's a big hit for the audience of two (Samantha and Zeb).

Rex is everyone's grandpa. Seriously, he just is. Before his aging is fixed to what it should be, he's like an armored Santa Claus. Even after it's fixed most of the crew can't really get the image of Grandpa Rex out of their heads. He tells the best stories about his brothers, and about his Jedi General and Commander.

Over drinks one night in the holographic bar though, Rex's stories...morph.

Halfway through a story about when Fives and Echo tried to explain to a shiny why you shouldn't enter any room the General and Senator Amidala were in alone without knocking, he just breaks down and starts crying about how Fives had been shot by a brother. How Fives had tried to save them all, and how he'd paid for it with his own life.

A story about General Skywalker getting ambushed with glitter by an Initiate Clan is interrupted by a tear-filled rendition of the March on the Temple. It's awful and heartbreaking and it's only made worse when Rex reveals he heard the story from a freshly dechipped brother, one who'd only been a shiny at the time of Order 66. A brother who after a single day without the endless drone of "Good soldiers follow orders" buzzing around his skull decided to eat his own blaster. The kid hadn't even picked out a name yet.

After that, people tend to tread on eggshells around him for a bit. It's just, it's a lot. For what feels like the millionth time since they first got stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway curses whoever at Starfleet Command decided the original mission was too short to justify a ship's counselor.

Chopper, he likes exactly three members of Voyager's crew and they are Samantha Wildman, Naomi Wildman, and Seven of Nine when she shows up. Chopper finds himself unable to hate Samantha because she's simply too nice, and Hera seems to like her (they're pregnancy buddies). Then she produces her offspring, and Naomi's a good child who helps Chopper and Jacen pull pranks on the crew.

Then there's Seven. Seven, who post-Borg happens to agree with Chopper on a lot of things. At least until she learns about morals and stuff, and gets in touch with her human side. But by then the murder-bonding has been completed, and Chopper counts her as one of the "do not murder" organics.

Also, the Universal Translator is able to translate Binary, which is...just fantastic. Chopper hates it, because now he can't slyly insult people in a language they don't understand. Eventually someone, possibly B'Elanna, takes pity on the children and Harry and shuts down translation of anything Chopper says.

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satureja13 · 2 years

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They were all in a better mood after they got the message that Jeb found Ji Ho! And Vlad suddenly felt a lot better too ;) - though he’s still very pale. Doctor: “So, how do you deal with the bloodlust?” Vlad: “Uh - I don’t?” Doctor: “Makes things a bit spicy, huh?” Giga: “There is nothing spicy between them ;) ” Vlad (through his teeth): “Shut up! - (and to the doctor) I went to hell after I bit him and just came back...”

Doctor: “... and there was no opportunity to tighten the bond. I see...” Vlad: “... to ...tighten... the bond?” Giga: “He means if you had sex with him! Gods...” Vlad: “Of course not!”

Vlad: “So - is there something I can do about it? It’s really hard to endure when he’s around me.” Doctor: “So you can have sex with your partner? Understandable. Of course, there’s a lot you can do. First... “ Vlad: “No! The bloodlust! I was speaking of the bloodlust!”

Doctor: “The bloodlust... right, right. So this will get better if you and your partner drink of this mixture ... *scribbles receipt* ... every morning....

...Then you can start to - slowly - approch each other. I would say after around a week? Make sure you have someone with you to keep you under control during the time the bloodlust still overwhelms you. Curing bloodlust takes time and you'll have to work steady on it. No downtimes - every day practice! Then you'll slowly get used to it and it doesn’t take control over you anymore. And as soon as the bond is tightened, it will vanish completely. Erased from earth!”

Giga: “Oh - I can’t wait to see that! Thank you Doctor!” Barfolomew: “Don’t worry, Vlad. You outlived mermaids blood - you’ll outlive this too!” *chuckles*

Friendly reminder that we do not forget: 1. about the curse. But Ji Ho won’t fall in love with Vlad anyway because he only loved Luci. Strange that the Doctor didn’t mention this. He seemed to know about everything else... 2. the fun fact that Vlad and Ji Ho never really talked to each other, except the first day they met when Vlad scolded Ji Ho for being late. (as far as I remember. When Ji Ho wasn’t himself under Genji’s spell doesn’t really count because Ji Ho doesn’t remember. Ji Ho talking to Luci also doesn’t count.)

Barfolomew: “Let’s go, we’re already late for school!” Giga: “Vlad has to go to school? But he’s blind!” Barfolomew: “So what? He even went to school when he was dead!”

From the Beginning ~ Underwater Love ~ Latest

#Underwater Love #Vlad is back and blind #sims 4 #sims 4 simblr #sims 4 story #occult sims #Vladimir Tepesz #giga byte #the adventures of kili #barf the mawg #The Gang Doctor's Hospital #willow creek #tightening the bond

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eveandtheturtles · 1 year

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Started with a Kiss - Chapter 7: Confessions

Summary: After the failed kidnapping Kara and Donnie have things to discuss. But first some downtime!

A/N: This used to be one chapter with the previous one but after my Beta advice, I split it in two. I hope you enjoy this! Check my masterlist for previous chapter o/ Feel free to shoot me an ask!

Tag: @madammuffins @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @m1dnyt3-w0lf @scholastic-dragon @leosgirl82 @sharpwindow @dilucsflame33 @tinkabelle19 @pheradream-15

Cheryl arrived the next day around the afternoon. When she heard from April what happened she wanted to rush back to the lair immediately. Unfortunately, she first had to sort out what she could at the lab first. She knew her friend would want to know how everyone else and her projects were doing. So, she had to anxiously wait.

Once she got to the lair saw Kara still on the sofa playing on her Switch. She rushed to Kara’s side. The two women hugged each other tightly.

<Why is that whenever I leave you alone for five minutes you get into trouble?> She gently scolded Kara.

<Talent,> the other shrugged cheekily, earning herself a light smack over the shoulder.

<Don’t you think that you should maybe get like a bodyguard?> She gently asked her friend. They kept their hands closer to their bodies, basically whispering to each other.

<It only happened because I got pissed at Donnie,> Kara’s lips were in thin line. She did say that with a small smile though, giving a playful glance towards where Raph was practicing his swings with a baseball bat and balls with a moving target, aka Mikey, while Leo tossed the ‘ammunition’. Donnie was at his computers, head stuck in his monitors.

<You don’t hate them though?> Cheryl raised an eyebrow at her, teasing.

The two grinned at each other. They switched the topic to academics.

she said.

Kara replied, throwing a look towards Donnie’s lab, where the purple turtle currently was. There just wasn't enough time for the whole thing to go through, not for at least a couple of days.

<Why do you look mad?> Cheryl asked.

Kara sighed. <I’m just…> she tried to gather her thoughts. Her eyes dropped down to think before looking back up at Cheryl. <Annoyed at a lot of things, right now.>

<Is most of those things Donnie?> Cheryl raised her eyebrow and smirked knowingly.

Karaa glared at her unamused.

<Sorry,> Cheryl corrected herself.

<You’re right though, I just- I don’t-.> She bit her lips and folded her hands, feeling the negative emotions building up, and tried to wait out the wave until she could continue.

<IDon’t ask me, I’ve got even less idea than you,> Cheryl joked. <You’re right though. Some things he shouldn’t be touching. I think I can understand his perspective though.> She looked over the lair. <I’ve been talking to April about them. He wants to protect his family. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing in his place.>

Kara winced and frowned, burrowing herself in her blankets, of which she had many. She knew that Cheryl was right. She just didn’t want to admit it.

<How’s the lab?> She quickly changed the subject.

<Oh, lab’s fine, your team has everything under control,> Cheryl informed her with a smile. <They got me a list of things they wanted to discuss with you though, you haven’t been checking your emails lately.>

Another wince on Kara’s face. She had completely forgotten to check her work email with everything that’s been going on.

<Lay it on me,> she told Cheryl.

Her friend filled her in on all the tasks but also brought her work laptop for her. Apparently, some of her electronics had survived the robbery, because Kara had forgotten them at the lab. Small blessings.

Once Cheryl had to go Kara finally had things to do. It felt good to distract herself with the work. It kept her busy, kept her mind going in the right direction, despite it wanting to just spiral down into the past misery. She got so engrossed that she barely registered a plate being slid her way by Raph around dinner time.

She kind of expected Leo or Mikey, so she blinked surprised seeing the red brute standing over her. He was staring at her tablet.

She raised an eyebrow at him waiting to say something. He just glared at her, sensing a challenge.

The stare-off lasted about a minute. Finally, Raph relented and shoved a piece of paper in front of her face. She had to pull her head back.

" Can you make that drink from yesterday?"

She looked at him, grinning like the cat who got the canary. Then gave him a thumbs up.

She was going to get up but Raph instead just picked her up in one arm and carried her to the kitchen. She didn't know how to feel about it, since Raph held her on his arm like a toddler, while she pointed to him the various things she needed for the latte. She wondered if he didn't realize he could put her down or perhaps he didn’t want to - showing off his muscles.

At some point, she looked at him and wrote on her phone.

" Do I weigh anything to you?"

" Nah, it's like holding a couple of grapes." He wrote back.

She glared at him and he snickered.

" Do you want sprinkles or laxatives with your coffee?" she asked, but the little head tilt and amused curve to her mouth told him she was joking.

Raph still eyed her cautiously. She had a very similar air around her that Donnie had when was pissed off. She was definitely plotting something. In the meantime, they assembled his drink together.

He sniffed it. It smelled delicious, sweet, and nutty.

"Mmm, thanks," he said. Then looked at her. "Right, uh-" he then mouthed the most exaggerated 'thank you' Kara had ever seen.

She snorted and pinched his cheek. Then she gestured her hand, from him to her in a sort of a scooping motion. <You're welcome.> She mouthed as well.

He repeated the motion. She tilted her head. Then she did the 'thank you' sign mouthing the word. He repeated it. She gave him a thumbs up. Proud of himself he carried her back to the sofa and set her down. Immediately, Kara got back up and walked to the bathroom.

Donnie couldn't help but to feel like Kara was avoiding him. She would either be hanging out with Splinter playing shogi, go, or chess, with Raph who was trying to learn ASL from her, with Mikey playing games since the sofa was their entertainment zone, or with Leo working on the legalities. Whenever he'd approach she would pretend she didn't see him, turn her head away or just high tail it out of the room.

He tried to be understanding. He touched on part of her past that must have been horrible, he thought back to the reports and court proceedings he found, plus her offhand remark and the scar on her throat. He knew he did the right thing by his family but he still felt terrible about this. And he couldn’t escape from her for long enough to bury it.

He just wanted all his feelings connected with her to go away.

He didn't like how he felt watching her playfully shove Mikey, or when she congratulated Raph on a new sign mastered. He absolutely despised himself at the burning emotion whenever Leo would lean closer to her. He had no right. No reason. Illogical. Infuriating.

It was an absolutely ridiculous feeling when he saw her high-five Mikey after they put cellophane at the entrance to the Weight Room and caught Raph in it. She didn't prank him anymore. Sure, she'd still make those coffee abominations but it was never staged to make him rant. It irritated him that he was irritated over the lack of attention.

About a week after Kara started living with them April dropped in for a visit.

"Wow, someone really must have pissed you off," she noted. She basically had to put her face between him and the screen to get his attention.

Donnie jumped back, almost falling backward with his chair, spooked. His limbs raised to shield himself. “April!” He yelped.

“What’s up?” His elder sister just sat on the edge of his desk, eating her wasabi peas.

“Nothing,” he muttered as he collected himself.

“Uh-huh,” she said, clearly not buying his shit. She popped another pea in her mouth. “So any news on if you’ll have to move the lair again?”

“Oh, that’s apparently not a problem,” he replied, immediately starting typing away on the keyboard. “Leo interrogated the leader of the kidnappers. They had someone follow Cheryl to the sewers from the apartment. We unfortunately used the same entrance she did and then Kara, remembering the path when we got back from the meeting, used that again,” he explained. “They thought that she just moved through the canals, not that she lives here. It was just pure bad luck. We cut that way off by the way. No one’s allowed to go with it anymore and I increased security.”

“That explains some things,” April thought back to the unexpected identity check she had to go through before she could enter the lair.

“Better safer than sorry,” he shrugged, slowly getting dragged back into whatever he was doing on the computers.

April eyed him for a moment, letting him drift just a little bit before speaking again.

“So! California was a ride, huh?”

Donnie hummed in reply, only listening to her with half his attention.

“Mobsters, gunfire, unexpected friends,” she continued.

“Uh-huh.”

“And I bet Kara is a great kisser.”

“Yeah… Wait, no, nooo," he looked horrified at his slip-up. "She’s terri- I mean I don’t know what you are talking about 'cause I have no base of knowledge for that!”

April was amused but very much not buying the terrible cover-up job. “I saw you guys in California."

Oh boy. Donnie swallowed.

"Just to clarify - she kissed me."

April chuckled. "Fair, but you do find her attractive right? It’s not wrong-”

“But it is! And even if it wasn't-! It's not like-," he huffed frustrated. "I am a 7-foot-tall, mutant turtle living in a sewer with 3 brothers and a rat for a father. Tell me how is that even remotely attractive to the outside world?"

He looked hurt and April took some pity on him. She touched his shoulder.

"Listen, it doesn't matter what the outside world feels like. What matters is you and the person you like."

He snorted bitterly. "Yeah, heard something similar to that before. Like 4 years ago."

"There are people who accept you!" It was April's turn to get annoyed. "Whole communities who see you four as heroes! It's not wrong to want to be loved as a person as well." She gestured towards the ceiling.

"It's all neat and dandy, April," he sighed. "But she won't even look at me after what I did. I highly doubt she has any feelings for me. Hell, I don't know how I feel!"

"What did you do?" She crossed her arms.

"I snooped around into an old case involving her and her abusive ex, who is most likely involved in the case. It… it was bad," he admitted.

Ah, that complicated things. April thought for a moment. "I see," she said slowly. "On one hand if he's involved in this she probably should have at least mentioned it- is he still in jail?"

"Recently released on parole, right when we were leaving California," he told her. "I think he was behind the break-in to their flat too."

"Ah." Even more complications. Since getting more serious jobs at the TV station and working closely with turtles April had had more contact with abuse survivors. Of course, no case was 1-to-1 but they all shared sad similarities. No matter how smart or self-assured the victim was.

She thought of Kara and with the little interactions she had had with her, April figured that someone as proud and stubborn as the small woman was, might have been ashamed for ‘allowing’ herself to be in that situation in the first place. Her ex being so recently released must have sparked some serious fear and that never caused the most logical thinking. So she probably wanted to deal with it all on her own.

"Give her some time and apologize when she is ready to hear you. I get why you did it but you can’t invade her privacy like this. Not with such a delicate topic," April instructed him softly. "For someone whose life has been controlled by someone else-”

“I get it,” he rubbed over his eyes. He glared at his screens, sagging in his chair. “I’m no better than her ex.”

“I didn’t say that, but you do sometimes have an issue with people’s privacy,” she gave him a pointed look, to which he turned his head away, feeling the guilt.

He cleared his throat and tried to get them back on track. “So, I apologize to her then what?”

“Then give her space to digest it. After you clear the air up, just let her know you are interested in dating her." April smiled. “Be honest and be yourself.”

"How do I even know if it's not just… physical attraction?" He frowned.

"That's why you date. You ask somebody out and then you see if you fit together," she said.

Donnie paused. "That's why people go on dates?"

"Yeah, you see someone hot and you wonder if they are right for you, if not, you split up," she explained patiently.

Donnie blinked. The concept seemed so odd to him.

"Look, think about it," she patted his hand. "Figure out if you just wanna take a chance on it, if not then I'll be here with some ice cream and whatever movies you'll feel like."

Donnie chuckled. "Leo will not be happy."

"There are very few things that make Leo happy," she joked and winked at him.

He snorted. "Yeah…"

Kara felt better after a couple of days of rest. She knew she couldn't avoid talking to Donnie for long. Mostly because the lair had limited space and it was inevitable they would run into each other at some point. What would they even talk about?

She had a couple of ideas and that didn't make her more willing to do that.

She busied herself instead with the whole legal work to put the mob bosses away, teaching Raph - and eventually Leo and Splinter - sign language so she could talk with someone other than Donnie, and having fun with Mikey.

She needed to get back to streaming but rebuilding her rig and computer would be a nightmare when she had no access to proper resources. She could ask Donnie but… yeah.

There was one thing she also wanted to do. Go outside on her own. Unfortunately, she was getting paranoid about it. Most of the legal stuff they did on Zoom, and documents to sign were brought by Mikey, so she was pretty cooped up in the lair. Her hair was suffering, as well as her mental health. She wanted to see the sun, and visit her lab. She missed people there. She was going to raise the issue with Leo. Try and see what they can work out. For now, she had to wait.

One night, when the lair was quiet and everyone was asleep, Kara woke up to grab a glass of water. On her way back to bed she noticed something. Donnie wasn’t at his workstation. The monitors were on though. One of them displayed feed from a NASA telescope. The night sky in its full glory. She paused and since no one was there she sat in his funky chair for a moment to enjoy the view of nebulas and constellations. You didn’t get a view like that in New York unless it was on screen like this.

She couldn’t remember the last time she sat down to just enjoy the stars. Another thing she missed from way, way back…

She was lost in her memories and didn’t notice when Donnie returned.

He didn’t mean to startle her, he just didn’t expect anyone to be in his chair. So when he spun it around he came face to face with Kara.

She tried to slip by him quickly but he stopped her. <Wait, please,> he signed.

She paused. He rushed past her, going through some makeshift drawers. Then he turned around.

he said.

<Thanks.> She took the hearing aids from him carefully. She really should be more careful with them. Yeah, she could fix them or build new ones, but that wasn't the point.

She put them on to test how well they performed. No one else had fixed them for her before so she wondered how Donnie managed.

<Say something,> she told him.

"I'm sorry."

There was some statics but she still heard it. She paused and looked at him.

Donnie was holding his hands together, fiddling with his fingers. Looking but also trying to avoid her eyes, glancing up and away from her. He was waiting for her reaction.

Kara sighed and adjusted the aids again. <Continue,> she signed for him to carry on.

Donnie took a deep breath. He began to speak but also sign.

"I am sorry for digging into your past with no real grounds for it when you already promised to help us." It was clearly something he practiced in his head many times over. "I should have extended the trust you already gave us to not turn you in and waited for you to share that information. I am sorry I hurt you but I’m not sorry for wanting to protect my family."

She nodded then took her aids out again. Then she looked down on the ground to give herself time to process.

Donnie waited for her answer with bated breath.

<I-,> she hesitated for a moment with hands raised. <I’m sorry I got so mad at you, it was stupid. It got me in trouble. If you feel bad about snooping around my life… good. You should, I’m still mad about it. But I guess before that point I didn’t exactly give you a reason to trust me, so I am going to accept your apology, cause- I know I’d do the same in your place.>

Donnie felt a weight off of his shoulders. He let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

<Yeah, don’t mention it.>

They stood in front of each other awkwardly for a moment.

<So what are you doing in my lab?> He finally asked.

<Oh yeah.> She glanced over her shoulder.

He walked up to the monitor to take a closer look. <You’re into astrophysics?>

<Not really,> she replied. Her hands were still raised although her fingers curled back as she hesitated. <They are showing Triangulum Galaxy. I haven’t seen it in years.>

<Why this one?> He tilted his head curiously.

She smiled softly and scratched her eyebrow awkwardly before answering. <It’s the first galaxy my father showed me.>

<Oh, I’m sorry if it’s private-,> he began but she stopped him.

<No, no, I mean it is, yes but it’s fine.> She gave him a small smile. <My cousin had a telescope he got for Christmas. My dad, he, well, he was a professor at a university. Astrophysicist,> she chuckled. <He showed us the sky. We used to stay up late in the summer at my cousin’s place, watching the sky for comets.> She recalled.

Donnie pulled up a chair for her and they both sat down. Kara leaned on the desk, resting one arm on it.

<Same, only I scavenged my first telescope from spare parts and trash I found…> he mimicked her body language and leaned to the side.

<You rebel> She joked.

<Yeah,> he chuckled. <Mikey caught me a couple of times so if I wanted him to stay quiet he had to tag along and watch with me. Then Raph and finally Leo caught up one night. All four of us went topside. Which was objectively a bad idea. My brothers started fighting over who would get the next turn on the telescope. Especially Leo and Raph. They broke it and then Dad caught us. We got in so much trouble that night.>

<Sounds like fun.> She chuckled and yawned. <Did you get in trouble a lot as a kid?> She tried to imagine a tiny Donnie, probably a tall and lanky kid if his current look was a hint.

<Sometimes, mostly by trying to sneak up top to get parts for my inventions, or when they would backfire,> he smiled at the memory. <One time I caused a blackout on accident in the entire block.>

She grinned.

<What about you?> He smirked.

<My dad had friends in the history and archeology departments at a university. One day I was playing tag with one of the teaching aides. Broke a 6th-century vase. Almost got banned.> She wiggled closer to the blanket that was over his legs.

<Ah, so you were always a menace,> he joked.

<Obviously> She scoffed. <And so were you.> She bumped her knee into his.

<A little less.> He bumped back and they both snickered.

<I’ll ask Leo, I bet he will have a different opinion of that,> she winked at him then poked his side.

Donnie jumped, grinning to himself.

<Well, I liked the archeology department people. They always had cool stories to tell me, although digging through the dust for months to find a spoon wasn’t and still isn’t something I’d call fun… I liked the mythologies. Greek, Sumer, Mesoamerica.> She recalled. It’s really been too long since she thought about all that…

<Really?>

<Yeah, the demigods were cool even if most of them always ended up dead.> She snorted.

<Ah, still better than being a giant turtle.> He pointed out. <The monsters in myths never ended well.>

<Are you kidding me?> She almost looked offended. <If you spun your tale right you could be treated as messengers from gods. You could pass for Hephaestus' right hand with your big brain.> She shoved him lightly at the end.

He chuckled, shaking his head. <You might be right. I can see Raph being hailed as Ares.>

<Oh yeah?> She relaxed, her side leaning against the sofa again. The large figure of Raph, with a red bandana and flexing muscles definitely inspired a very Ares-like image. <What about the others?>

Donnie mused.

<Athena, he would definitely work for Athena.> She suggested <He and Raph butt heads often from what I’ve seen.>

<Oh, yeah.>

She snickered. <Then it would work perfectly. What about Mikey?>

<Is there like a god of accidents and parties?> Donnie smiled at first then winced remembering the latest incident involving one of his screens and Mikey's reckless flying.

She snorted. <Hmmm, Hermes or Dionysius?> She suggested. <One was the messenger of gods but also a god of thieves and trade, while the other was a god of wine and debauchery if I remember right.>

<The wine and parties sound more like him> Donnie said amused.

<What were you into aside from science as a kid?> she asked. <Besides Star Trek and Star Wars.>

<You’re gonna laugh,> he bit his cheek.

she was grinning widely.

He sensed that was a lie. <I… used to collect action figures and plastic dinosaurs.>

<No way.> She bit her lips trying not to laugh.

<Yes. Mikey used to steal all my figurines and play with them. We fought a lot over them. When he broke one I wouldn’t speak to him for weeks. He cried and begged me for so long until I forgave him. Mostly because dad said I should, as a ‘good brother’.> He rolled his eyes, clearly not happy about that.

<Sucks, siblings are hard.> She grimaced.

<Well, I have a brother.> The way he tilted his head and blinked made her snort. <Here's another puzzle piece for you.>

He fought off the urge to hit record on his shoulder camera.

<What's his name?>

She scrunched her nose squinting at him. <Are we doing an interview?>

<No, no, purely conversationally,> he assured her.

<It's Seth,> she told him.

She grinned. <No. We are actually the same age. My parents adopted him.>

Donnie thought back to the only photo of evidence of her past he found. Ah.

<I… actually don't know,> she admitted. She looked ashamed of that. <After I left for New York we kept in touch until,> she took a deep breath. God, it was so hard to think about it.

<Ryan?>

She nodded.

<Listen, you don't have to tell me anything,> he tried to soothe her as the name brought her visibly down.

Her shoulders dropped and she suddenly looked so deflated.

<You know the ending… might as well fill in some blanks.> She gestured for him to pass her the glass she forgot she placed on his desk.

Donnie handed it to her and she took a sip to buy herself time.

<I heard about Ryan at 17. He was 21 and a business major. People generally loved him. The popular guy on campus. Always pleasant, from a ‘good’ family. He charmed people around him so easily. But not me. I was already on my third Ph.D. and working at the Uni as a researcher and getting my breakthroughs. I barely registered his existence.

Until we met at a party. He was… amusing but not relationship material. I think he heard of me and kind of… set his eyes on me? Suddenly, he was everywhere. Just ‘passing by’...> She grimaced and rolled her eyes. She frowned deeply, mad at her past self. <We started dating. He was so loving, praising me for my ideas, and said we should open our own company that could rival TCRI with me as head scientist and him as CEO. I found him silly but sweet. Big dreams, you know.> Her frown turned sad, reflective.

<I think that was the moment things started turning sour. Just those first no’s. At first, I chalked it up to him having a bad day since he’d be back to normal the next day. Then he started picking up on my appearance. ‘My parents are conservative. Dress more modestly maybe?’ or ‘Oh, this isn’t really the dress code at the restaurant,’> she exaggerated her body movement and facial expressions. <He’d buy me clothes so I didn’t complain much although it was not a style I liked. But they were gifts for special occasions. Then it was everyday clothes, little second-hand criticism thinly veiled as ‘good advice’. Pushing me to vocalize more rather than sign. I ate it all up, like a fucking idiot. Always trying to please him, always making excuses for him. It was never his fucking fault.> Her jaw clenched and her eyes teared up.

Donnie wanted to reach out to her but she wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt, shook her head, and took a deep breath.

<He stole an idea or two from me, selling it to his buddies in my department. Those dicks. Never reported him although I should have…I was so busy pleasing him. Cheryl… Cheryl tried to get me to open my eyes but after 3 years of our relationship…> She took a deep breath in and shook her head. <I’m stubborn, which I guess often acts to my detriment.> She smiled bitterly.

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

<In our last year of relationship… he really started to push me to step down from my work even though it was always my greatest joy. It paid well enough, I was getting more and more commercial and governmental interest. He I don’t like that, so he started talking about having a family and getting married. I said no. If there is one thing I’m solid steel sure of it is that didn’t want any kids. I didn’t want to get married just yet either. I and Cheryl were still renting together. I wanted myself to be more secure. So he tampered with my birth control,> she swallowed hard.

The hardest part was coming. She tried to separate herself from the story somehow. To think of it as something from her past self that didn’t exist anymore but it was still difficult.

She needed a moment to calm down again. <Of course I have no proof but I guess the fact of finding out I was pregnant was sort of a proof in itself. When I told him he was so happy. Then I told him I was going to terminate. He got pissed. We fought so hard on that day. He left the apartment and went god knows where. When Cheryl came home... I told her everything and she immediately drove me to the nearest clinic…> She took a deep breath in and wrung her hands.

Donnie never considered himself a violent person. Not when you had Walking Unresolved Anger Issues living with you under the same roof. No, he thought of himself as logical, and realistic. The longer he listened though the more he wanted to go find the guy on his own and drive his bō staff through his skull. He could do it. He already came up with at least 10 ways to cover his tracks.

<When the painkillers wore off I saw officers come into my room to charge Cheryl with assault on him.> Her lips turned into a thin line. <If I had any sliver of denial left it was gone at that moment. I needed to get the best fucking lawyer in town because I knew it would be the word of a black woman against his pasty white ass.>There was resolve painted on her face. Hardness. This explained so much about her. <I got a message to one of my colleagues. He brought my laptop to the hospital. I needed money and I needed to know I was in control of something. It was reactionary at the time. The chip… It wasn’t for the money, I just wanted to test it, and see how it performed. Archambault’s was going to be the last one.>

<From what he said you charged an arm and a leg,> Donnie tried to lighten the mood and he got a weak smile out of her.

<Do you remember the text I got on our way to New York?> She asked but it was rhetorical. <It was from the only cop in the precinct who actually helped in my case and after it was done he got fired for some bullshit reason. He warned me that Ryan was out. I didn’t want you to get the wind of it.> She leaned back taking a break. She was chewing her bottom lip, trying to not let the tears escape.

Donnie didn't know what to say. He didn't quite prepare himself for… all that. 'Sorry' felt so flat and out of place. What can you even say to all that?? He felt so uncomfortable in his own inability to react.

They sat there not exchanging a single word after that. Finally, she made the first move. She stood up and made another attempt to leave. Donnie caught her hand. Her head turned.

He opened his mouth and raised his hand, desperate to say anything but nothing came to his mind.

She smiled softly. Gently, she pried her fingers from his hand and then traced a finger over his chin and jaw. He closed his mouth wanting to ask her to stay but he said nothing.

Kara then left for bed and all he could listen to were her footsteps putting more distance between them.

#tmnt 2016 #tmnt #bayverse turtles #tmnt bayverse #tmnt 2014 #tmnt fanfiction #bayverse donnie #eve scribbles #bayverse donatello #donnie x kara #karello #donatello x oc

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blackjackkent · 1 month

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🎮 🎶🍃💛 for Hector

(Details about OCs!)

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Hector's primary activities in the monastery were reading, meditation, and martial arts training, and to be honest, these are still his primary leisure activities during the Great Tadpole War and then the Great Avernus War following. I think his taste in books becomes far more wide-ranging now that he's out in the real world. I mentioned in a previous headcanon post that he develops a taste for detective fiction. XD

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

Y'know this is one I haven't thought about at all. :O

It seems likely to me that Hector probably wasn't exposed to much music at all for most of his life except for whatever equivalent Selunites have to religious hymns, which is actually kind of sad for me to think about for him because music is wonderful.

When Karlach finds out about this, once they make it to the city she absolutely drags him very excitedly to see bards playing at various taverns during downtime. He at first enjoys this primarily because of how excited she is about it but he is immediately struck by some of the more downbeat, slow/pretty tunes that some of them play. He decides he prefers flute/pipe music most because he likes following the melodies.

Sometimes he tries to sing some of the songs to Karlach later because he is able to remember many things after only hearing them once, but he can't carry a tune in a bucket. XD

🍃 LEAVES FLUTTERING IN WIND — what is/was your oc's favorite subject in school?

The vast majority of Hector's training at the monastery was around being a scribe in Silverlight's library - copying ancient texts to newer parchment, transcribing the stories of people who passed through the area. So he's fairly well-read and educated in a lot of areas (academically if not practically), but his favorite was always history.

💛 YELLOW HEART — how many languages does your oc speak? what language(s) are they learning, if any?

Hector is really only fully fluent in Common, but I think he knows a smattering of phrases in a ton of different languages. He could probably ask where the bathroom is and hold a very mediocre conversation in elvish and dwarvish.

#the-night-wizard #hector carlisle #ask meme #ty! :D

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duhragonball · 2 months

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Neon Genesis Evangelion 10

It's a shitty episode, that's what this is.

Why does this episode suck? Well, we start off with Kaji taking Asuka shopping for bathing suits. She's going on a school trip to Okinawa, you see. She asks him if he went on any school trips when he was her age, and he says he couldn't because Second Impact was happening back then. Anyway, Kaji sucks and I hate him.

As it turns out, she can't even go on the stupid trip, because NERV wants the Eva pilots on standby in case of an Angel attack. You'd think this would be a standing order year-round, but Asuka is gobsmacked to find out she's not allowed to just do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. You're in the army now, kid.

Here's the thing about Asuka. I was kind of looking forward to her introduction into the story, because Rei and Shinji were practically comatose throughout the early episodes of this show. At least she would bring some energy to this thing, I thought. And she does, but mostly it's a whiny, bratty, irrational energy that gets old pretty quickly. When Misato tells Asuka she can't go on the trip, Asuka demands to know who gave the order. Well, Misato did, dummy. She's your commanding officer. When she can't argue with that, she argues with Shinji, expecting him to say something to resolve this, like he has any control over the situation. But Shinji kind of expected this to happen, so he never got excited about the trip in the first place.

This is the origin of that "so you've given up?" meme. I always took it at face value. That is, I assumed the scene was Asuka asking Shinji if he was quitting something hard, and he just casually admits that he's collapsing in the face of adversity. But the actual context is that Asuka is trying to cajole Shinji into the impossible task of getting them a furlough from their indispensable child soldier jobs. When that doesn't work, he insults his manhood, then asks Misato why they don't just find the Angels and destroy them first, so they're not always on stand-by to defend against an attack. Misato's like, kid, if we knew how to do that, don't you think we'd have already done it?

Misato points out that both Shinji and Asuka can use the downtime to catch up on their studies, seeing as their grades haven't been very good. At this, Asuka tries to claim that the school's grading system is irrelevant. Kid, just shut up. You're not gonna win this one.

Anyway, Big Rigg Mahoney sends his regards from Okinawa.

So at the base, Shinji studies, and Asuka tries to do scuba diving in the pool, since she can't do it at Okinawa. Turns out Asuka's already graduated college? She claims the physics problem Shinji is working on is easy, but her grades were poor because she hasn't learned enough Kanji to read the questions. Also Asuka wonders aloud if thermal expansion would make her bust bigger. I wasn't going to say anything, but I think the animators on this episode already made her bust bigger, because Asuka looks like Boa Hancock in this turkey.

Meanwhile, a joint NERV-SSDF mission discovers a juvenile Angel inside a volcano. This is a huge opportunity to study the things and learn more about them, so the Eva pilots are mobilized to go in and retrieve it.

Asuka insists on being the one to actually made the dive, because I guess she drank like fifteen cups of coffee before this episode started. Settle down, dammit.

Asuka is chosen to make the dive, but her Eva will have to wear this dorky looking exosuit to withstand the temperature and pressure.

Also, Asuka herself has to wear a modified plugsuit that looks like this for... some reason? It's supposed to protect her from the heat, but she's going to be surrounded by the Eva, which will also be surrounded by an exosuit. How much more protection does she need? And why does inflating the plugsuit make it safer?

Asuka whines about these intolerable conditions, until Rei offers to pilot Unit 02 in her place. Asuka quickly changes her mind, since she can't bear the thought of getting left out of the mission. Geez, she's like a toddler!

So we go on the mission, and Asuka asks if Kaji will be here to see her in action, and Misato informs her that this is none of his damn business. It's called "professionalism", Asuka, look into it.

As they prepare, Misato explains that if the Angel can't be captured, or if it matures into adult form, then they'll have to destroy it. And if they fail, the UN will blow up the whole volcano, and all of them along with it. Shinji asks who would order such extreme measures, and duh, it's his dad, the guy in charge of the whole organization.

From here, most of the episode looks like it was filmed inside a Nintendo Virtual Boy. This probably was considered pretty badass in the late 90s, but no, it looks like crap. They just keep lowering Asuka further and further down in search of this thing, and then she finds it and puts it in some kind of rectangle.

Rectangle secured, mission accomplished, OR IS IT?

Turns out the Angel hatches just as Asuka starts heading back for the surface, and the device she used to contain the Angel can't handle its adult form. Misato orders her to release it and head back to the surface as quickly as she can.

The fight sucks because you can't see anything. Asuka had a "progressive knife" when she went down, but she dropped it during the descent. So Shinji tosses down his own and she catches it and fights back, but the thing is still incredibly strong and durable, becuase it lives inside a volcano for crying out loud.

At last, Asuka remembers that conversation about thermal expansion and uses that to win. Something about diverting the coolant in her Eva while she attacks with the progressive knife, but I can't see what she's doing and I probably wouldn't understand it anyway. The Angel disintegrates... I guess? And she returns to the surface.

So Misato takes them to a hot spring near the volcano to celebrate a job well done. The girls ask Shinji to toss them a bottle of shampoo over the retaining wall, and then he hears them... tickling each other? And he gets a boner? I guess that's a joke? A plot point? Why the fuck is this in the show?

There's also a cryptic exchange between Misato and Asuka. Misato has a scar on her abdomen which she says she got during Second Impact. Asuka asks Misato if she knows about her past, and Misato does but assures Asuka that they need to put it behind them. So I guess we'll find out what that means one of these days.

And there we are. This was dumb. Most of the show was Asuka babbling like an idiot, or people watching machines lower other machines into lava. The show continues to drop all these hints and clues about the characters' backstories, but it never puts any of the pieces together. It just gets really formulaic, and I think the best evidence of this is the fact that I got mixed up while playing this DVD, and I accidentally watched Episode 11 first, thinking it was 10. So I had to go back and watch this one, but I could have just as easily skipped it, because nothing happened that had any long-term consequences.

#neon gensis evangelion #2024ngeliveblog #shinji ikari #asuka langley soryu #rei ayanami #misato katsuragi #kaji ryoji #ritsuko akagi #pen pen #big rigg mahoney

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