#// I wanted to use Fallout more and also I feel like these two running around the commonwealth??? GOLDEN-

[saiibeo]

Are these assholes still with us? - from maisie (tlou or fallout?) / @uncxntrxllable the last of us rp starters status: accepting !

deciphering file: fallout — successful. file: maisie and fox — access granted.

☠ ⟼ their lungs burned as they panted in a desperate attempt to regain some of their oxygen, hands planted firmly on their thighs as they were hunched over while staring in the direct of where they had ran from. at least it was a bunch of humans and not some of the gnarly creatures the irradiated land had to offer. that was the only thing that had come to mind when maisie spoke and they shook their head hesitantly and lazily shrugged their shoulders while they made some attempt to respond.

❝ i don't... think so. ❞ they stood up straight when they were able, wincing at the potential feeling of soreness in their body that they knew would be prevalent the next day. they were just happy her and fox were around. having to deal with the commonwealth alone for a long while was a task itself, especially since most of the time they didn't travel with river. and having a friend who understood them for once was nice.

finally, they laughed, eye creasing at the corners and dual colored hues brightening at the relief of their escape. corrine still had yet to come down from their adrenaline high, only making the situation seem that much more humorous to them. fun wasn't the word they would use for it, but it certainly wasn't dull in the slightest.

❝ we're lucky they weren't slavers or anything. haven't seen those around in a while though, not since the minutemen made sure their numbers dwindled down to nothing. they were just mindless raiders. most of the guys don't know the different between left and right from what i've seen. it's like a group of people lacking any sense just come together to make packs. ❞

[revelboo]

Hey, Happy Halloween, would you consider writing for Rodimus/Hot Rod?

Yep, I absolutely did. It’s fixed now 😅

Attractive Today Pt 1

MTMTE Rodimus x Reader

• How can one very large mech just disappear when he wants to? Venting as he walks, Rodimus keeps searching for his missing co-captain. He’d assumed Megatron would be on the bridge, in his quarters, or in Rung’s office. Because all in all, the former warlord isn’t that exciting. He doesn’t hang out in Swerve’s or mingle with the crew unless made to. Having to hunt him down for a meeting is a novelty he doesn’t appreciate, because Megatron is hiding from him. And the former warlord calls him immature.

• The high pitched scream shocks him from his thoughts and he’s moving toward the sound, because that hasn’t been a Cybertronian and it had sounded terrified. Rung’s therapy human? Rounding a corner, he’s not startled to see Whirl, though Trailbreaker is a surprise. But it’s the human running from Whirl’s outstretched claws that snags his attention, because it’s the wrong human. He only has a moment of consternation before it spots him, shrieks at the top of its lungs, Whirl lunges, and it bolts. Face first into a wall and bounces right off. And then Whirl is doubled over laughing, reaching for it. “Oh, this one’s mine. It’s defective,” Whirl says, but Rodimus catches him by the wrist.

• “Absolutely not,” he says as he carefully lifts the limp form to cradle against his chassis. You’re out cold, head lolling against him as he glares at the other two. Trailbreaker’s already lost interest, heading in the direction of Swerve’s as Whirl straightens to his full height like he’s considering trying to just take you. “Where’d it come from?”

• “No idea. It just glitched into what sounded like very painful existence in the hall, saw us and ran screaming,” Whirl grumbles, claws opening and closing. “And I saw it first.”

• Primus, help him. “No,” he growls, looking around for Magnus or Megatron. Someone else to deal with this. All he does know is that he’s not just handing you over to Whirl, the mech is unpredictable at best and not exactly trustworthy. Ignoring that problem, he glances at your little form. Glitched into existence? Brainstorm. Groaning, he starts walking, aware of Whirl following. Somehow that maniac has to be responsible for this. They’d never figured out how Rung’s little human had gotten on the ship and it hadn’t been able to provide any answers, either. It had just came to on board and found Rung. “Go make sure there’s no more stowaways.”

• Whirl stares at him from his one optic, helm tipped disconcertingly. “If I find one, I’m keeping it and teaching it Cybertronian swears,” he mutters before walking away. “The good ones,” he calls over his shoulder and Rodimus isn’t sure if that’s a threat or a promise, but he doesn’t have time to figure it out, either. Heading to Brainstorm’s lab space shared with Perceptor, he lets himself in and the other mech looks up from where he’s bent over something. And immediately stiffens when he notices the human. “I have no idea where that came from,” he says just a bit too quickly. “And I can’t send it back.”

• “You knew this whole time where Rung’s human came from?” He demands, suddenly understanding why Ultra Magnus is always so exhausted. He can feel your little heart beating against his servos, the warmth of you, helping calm his frustration. “Why did you bring them here?”

• “It’s not like I was trying to. It wasn’t supposed to be able to move organic life. I was working on a sort of mini space bridge, a compact version, and things went a bit sideways through no fault of mine,” Brainstorm says in a tone that clearly implies that he’s also not dealing with the fallout from his mistake.

• “There’s just the two, right?” Rodimus growls, servos flexing before he remembers you and eases his grip.

• Brainstorm rolls his hand in a vague gesture. “That’s a bit unclear. There might be two on the Lost Light. There might be a few others. Maybe some not on the ship.” Brainstorm shrugs and Rodimus grits his denta. Reminds himself that as the co-captain, he shouldn’t punch his crew in the face. Even if he dearly wants to. Some not on the ship, what in Primus does that even mean?

Next

[vultures-and-scavengers]

okay i have SO many thoughts on the blorbo cullen but my biggest ones are that i wish inquisition showed him In Withdrawal more. like this is terrible but pls make him shaky and unable to eat and like,,, coping with being the leader of the military but physically unable to fight. does this make sense?? 😭

it ENTIRELY makes sense. have you seen his concept art? the bags under his eyes are so big, if he tried to fly on an airline, they'd charge him for each one. he's super gaunt looking. he looks awful. its fantastic.

and then in game he's just pretty boy.

(this got way long, putting the rest under a cut)

and honestly, inquisition did not do a very good job of making the military an actual military? it's very hand-waved, running off the vague pop culture ideas of fantasy militaries, but like. irl, you do not have the #1 boss out on the field. that's not a thing that happens.

and cullen is the equivalent of like. the american joint chiefs of staff. he is in charge of everything. his decisions are going to be bigger than punishing individual soldiers, handling any one units requisitions, etc. he should also definitely have an actual staff. like a small herd of people who can advise and inform and gatekeep anyone who comes to him with questions.

and running the inquisition military alone SHOULD be overwhelming and awful and the sort of stress that ages you by 10 years each week. but nah, he just. is fine. signs some papers. swings a sword around. like, i want to know what your rations look like. what about your supply lines. how are you feeding/outfitting/housing/paying an entire army?

AND THEN they just hand-wave lyrium symptoms, so YEAH, i want to know more. chronic pain, temper, joint issues-- i feel like we can sort of somewhat see those in-game in. you know. the single cutscene we get where he gets into why he's doing this and how its affecting him.

and then he's fine in every other cutscene. and he acts like he's fit to fight and he'll go out into the field, in arbor wilds and shrine of dumat. so whats up, baby girl? whats going on?

so its like this mess of them not reading even a single wikipedia page on militaries (or trebuchets. they have a max effective range of around 350 meters. haven cutscene, i just want to talk.), and then giving us no clear answer on what lyrium does to those trying to get off it, but then since the player might tell him to get back on, permanently or temporarily, the player might not even talk to him, or the player will tell him to stay off it, like, you might have to write four different sets of dialogue afterwards, thinking about how the battles are going?

AUGH.

he's so inconsistent. and some of that is just DAI being a video game, which inherently limits what you can do. but some of it is just like. can we get one or two other people on this story?

and i think his writer was given an impossible task, which ive spoken some with @fenrisisms about: how the hell do you handle emotional fallout from torture, participation in an oppressive system that is encouraged and glorified by the main dominant cultural force in thedas AND was the system that oppressed those that also tortured him, drug addiction and withdrawals, and leading a military that he's 100% not qualified to lead (which i have so many thoughts on) in half a dozen cutscenes? and then add a romance? someone say a prayer for his writer.

and so we get this dude who we're told is suffering from withdrawal because he's trying to quit a substance that has killed or driven mad everyone else that's tried to get off, and he's... fine? outside the one cutscene? while also taking on a monstrously difficult task he's not qualified for (and then succeeds at)?

UGH.

DAI my beloved, you could have been even more.

[aemondapologistfrfr]

Dethrone - Chapter 3

Warnings: mention of mutilation, swearing, mentions of bullying

Authors Note: two year time jump, the story fr starts now, high valyrian is going to be in italics, we finally meet our mans

Word Count: 3.1k

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹ ⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹ ⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ 

It’s been just over two years since I’ve arrived at Dragonstone. Things were going well, but could always be better. My father never really got better at being a father. He does give me whatever I ask for, but I think it’s just to get me away from him. Rheanrya on the other hand, was hands down the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. I have no idea how she puts up with my father. Knaenna has also lived here with me and has remained my rock and my breath of calm air. 

My dream continues to occur and I feel as if I’m always on the lookout for my white haired King. The only thing that has started to change within it is the amount of witnesses to our union. I feel as though I’ll find him any day now and it’s causing me to be jittery and jumpy.

I’ve been training everyday again with Jace and Luke. It took a lot of persuading when I had first asked them to let me train with them. Now they get mad at me when I drag getting up to meet them at the beach. It helps me feel a sense of control and boosts my confidence to wield a weapon again. They were both surprised to see how light I am on my feet and how easy I was able to best them. 

I’m fairly close with Jace and Luke, but they don’t hesitate to remind me of my life in Runestone. I usually just brush it off as siblings fighting, but sometimes it digs too deep. More days than not, I still feel like an outsider who invaded this family. I’m just thankful to be surrounded by more people than just people whose job it is to take care of me.

Me and Jace were sparing when my father interrupted us. He said they received a raven from Baela, who’s staying at Driftmark, saying there are rumors of Viserys declining health and it seems like crows may be waiting for the throne which piques my interest. Over the years it has always surprised me that Rheanrya is the heir and how little her and my father attend court. They have no idea what’s going on in the realm because they stay holed up here at Dragonstone. 

“This is such bullshit.” Jace scoffs handing the message back to Daemon.

My father leads us back to the castle. We’re all to meet in the hall to discuss what to do now. I’ve been been somewhat caught up on the family fallouts. Everyone tries to avoid talking about our family in Kings Landing as much as possible, at least around me. I’ve been able to read about them, but Jace and Luke have no issue telling me how terrible our cousins are.

“Thank you all for getting here so quickly. You’ve heard the news, which means we’re heading for Kings Landing in the morning. Please pack your things. I need you to be ready by first light.” Rheanrya says decisively. 

We’re sent off to our chambers to begin packing. I wish the circumstances were better as to why we were heading to Kings Landing. I’ve heard plenty of good and bad stories. I want to see for myself. I’m excited to finally be leaving Dragonstone. I do have more freedom here but I was able to explore everything in under a turn of the moon.

Although I haven’t heard much good of our family there, I’m still excited to meet them. It does make me nervous that they’ll shun me. They’ve been sent ravens of my existence, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be as welcoming. I’m secretly hoping I’ll find my King there among our estranged family so I can finally start paving our future.

The rest of the night is a blur. There is so much commotion with all of the preparations for our departure. I close myself off in my room because I’m getting overwhelmed. I try to find sleep, but my mind refuses to turn off. My brain is running in circles of all of the possibilities. 

It seems right when I fall asleep there’s a knock at my door. It’s Kaenna telling me I have to start getting ready. I slowly get out of bed trying to wipe whatever sleep I had off my eyes. 

“It’s so fucking early.” I groan pulling a dress out of my wardrobe. 

“How did you sleep?” Kaenna asks softly trying to tame my hair. 

“I didn’t.” I grumbled pulling my dress up. 

She doesn’t respond. She ties up the back of my dress and leads me over to my vanity so she can start on my hair. We sit in comfortable silence and once she’s done, she walks over my bags to grab them. 

We walk down to the main entrance and I see everyone gathered there. Some men come and grab our bags to bring to the ship. At least I’ll be able to get some sleep on our journey. 

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹ ⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹ ⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ 

It seems like we have been sailing forever. We’re all stir crazy and just ready to be on solid ground again. When we start to see the outline of King Landing we are practically jumping off the boat. 

When we finally dock and get off no one is there to welcome us. My father didn’t take this lightly, but Rheanrya did her best to calm him down. She told Jace and Luke to show me around and explore while she and my father go seek out Viserys and Alicent. 

They seemed to have a destination in mind by their fast pace. I trail behind taking in the new scenery. When I finally catch up, I see they lead me to the training yard. Of course. Why would we explore when we could train. I roll my eyes and stand next to them.

They’re pointing out weapons they used to train with and are showing me their favorite ones. Jace points out a spot in the brick that Luke had broken in their younger years. Loud shouts divert our attention to the two men surrounded by a group. 

We walk over and push our way to the front of the circle. I am immediately entranced with the man with the blinding white hair. He’s so graceful with his sword it looks like it’s dancing. I know I’m staring, but I can’t help it there’s just something about him pulling me in and stealing all of my attention.

“No fucking way that’s him.” I hear Jace whisper to Luke. That’s when I notice the eyepatch. Fuck. That’s Aemond? 

“Glad he finally got an eye patch to cover some of that scar.” Luke says with disgust. 

They way they described Aemond to me was not accurate. They made it seem like he was repulsive and I wouldn’t be able to look at him. Here I am and now I can’t take my eyes off of him. I’m conflicted. I know the history between him and Luke, but I can’t help it. 

“Why are you staring at him like that?” Jace whisper yells to me breaking my trance. 

“Nephews, would you like to train with me?” our heads snap in the direction of the velvet voice. “And who is this?” Aemomd turns to me and starts walking over. 

“I’m Viktorya.” I say standing tall trying to calm my nerves as he walks even closer. 

“The infamous, hidden, Princess Viktorya.” He says grabbing my hand and kissing it. “I’m Aemond.” he looks at me with a piercing violet eye as I feel my heart stop.

It’s him. My King. My heart begins to beat again, more rapidly this time. I’ve been looking for him in every man with white hair since I can remember. I can’t help the butterflies in my stomach when he grabs my hand. It feels like pure fire radiating between us. I realize we’re just standing there with our hands in each others and step back and try to find words but I’m at a loss.

“Hm,” Aemond smirks. “I’ll come find you later. Nephews.” he says to Jace and Luke never breaking eye contact with me until he walks away.

He’ll come find me later? What does that mean? I’m nervous to turn towards Jace and Luke. I know they’ll have something to say about that interaction. I couldn’t care less what they have to say. I’m barely able to contain myself to not follow after Aemond like a lost kitten.

“What was that??” Luke asks with raised eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” I respond trying to sound innocent. 

“You were practically eye fucking him since you saw him. Are you not ashamed? That’s Aemond.” Jace says voice getting louder. 

“I was not. You’re being so fucking dramatic.” I huff and walk away not wanting to deal with this. We’ve been locked up on a ship for three days and I’m ready to do something and hopefully run into Aemond.

“You don’t even know where you’re going.” Luke calls after me and I turn back towards him. 

“Rheanrya said we could explore so, I’m going to explore.” I say dully and start walking in the opposite direction of them. 

Kings Landing is filled with people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in one place. The streets are filled with shouting and laughter. There’s so much to take in. I walk in between bodies and carts taking in all the new smells of food.

I feel bad for leaving Jace and Luke, but I didn’t want to be questioned. I honestly needed some space to clear my head. I feel like my family will think me a traitor for even having a thought of Aemond and never talk to me again. I know I’ve only just met him but all of my feelings just went crazy the moment he grabbed my hand.

I’m walking along aimlessly looking at all of the shops. Stopping to talk with some people on the street. The only goal I have in mind right now is seeing as much as I can. I’m continuously taking in my surroundings trying to memorize it all as if I’ll never be able to return. 

“Should you really be walking around unattended.” Aemond says from behind me making me jump. 

“I didn’t know when you said later, that you meant in 20 minutes.” I turn towards him a smile splitting across my face.

“It wasn’t hard to find you. Your hair stands out.” he says brushing a strand away from my face. 

He’s not making this easy. I can feel my face heat up as I look at him. I barely know him, only what others have told me. I also feel like I’ve known him my whole life because he is quite literally the man of my dreams. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to contain myself with him in front of me. The heat rises between us and I have to step back again and he chuckles. 

“Could I show you around?” he smiles down at me. 

“That would be lovely.” I smile back to him. 

Aemond holds out his arm for me to grab and I smile warmly and grab on. We leisurely walk through the streets as he points out different shops. I have no care to what my family will think. This is my future and they just wouldn’t understand. 

I’m still holding on to his arm as we leisurely stroll around Kings Landing. We walk around in comfortable silence and I have to rein myself in from continuously staring at him. My King. My husband. My love. 

“What have you seen so far?” Aemond asks looking down at me snapping me out of my thoughts. 

“Pretty much just you training.” I look up to him.

“Then you’ve seen it all.” he smirks at me. 

“Yes, of course. I’ve only come here for you.” I roll my eyes and smirk at how true my statement is. 

“Have you now?” Aemond smirks. “Did your “brothers” tell you much about me?” he says leading me down the streets. 

I can hear the strain when he says brothers. Truth is I wouldn’t necessarily consider them my brothers. They never refrained from talking about the mutilation but avoided any other talk of him. This is my chance to gain more insight and see who my “brothers” truly are.

“Um, not much. Just some basics.” I say nervous to upset him over his past. I know it’s been years, but how could one move past being mutilated. 

He leads us into the garden. It’s more beautiful than I expected. I’m so glad he brought me here first. This was one of the main places I was adamant on finding. There are so many plants and flowers I’ve never seen before. I’m enchanted by the life growing around us.

He brings us to a small table with two chairs. He pulls out my chair for me and sits across from me. We stare at each other in silence for a couple of moments until a young woman brings us some drinks. 

“What do the basics of me include?” he asks raising an eyebrow and grabbing his cup to take a sip. 

“They didn’t say very much or much good honestly.” I let out in a breath. “They told me you stole a dragon and that you used to bully all of them. Mostly they’ve just told me of the gruesome night they took your eye.” I look up to him. 

Every time they talk about that night it makes my stomach turn. How they feel so victorious for hurting a family member. I understand that he bullied them, or so they say, but taking his eye is baffling. The viciousness in their voices when they speak about that night never sits well with me.

“That’s what they’ve told you?” he inquires. 

“It never sounded right to me. What they did was malicious regardless of what was said. I’d rather hear about you from you anyways.” I say finally looking up to him to see his face soften. 

“You want to hear my side?” he asks skeptical almost shocked.

“I think they lied. You didn’t when you called them what you did. That’s why I’m sitting here with you.” I say hesitantly reaching across to squeeze his hand. He looks down at my hand in shock. I’m shocked myself. I should be thinking about how we could be seen, but instead I want to know more about this beautiful man.

“Do I not scare you?” he asks leaning back in his chair. 

“What do I have to be scared of?” I ask tilting my head. 

“You only know what you’ve been told about me. As you’ve said, none of it was good. You see this scar on my face. Yet, you sit with me, completely calm.” he says intensely. 

“You want me to be scared of stories and scar?” I ask smiling. 

“I expect it.” he says solemnly looking away from me. 

“Personally, I see you as the rider of the mighty Vhagar, who also happens to have a scar which may make him more attractive.” I say truthfully as he turns to me with his eye squinted. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, I’m blinded by his beauty and all my thoughts are just spilling out.

“Attractive?” he questions tilting his head slightly.

“Yes.” I say definitely slightly nodding my head.

“Hm,” he hums scanning my face. 

“So, tell me how you stole a dragon.” I ask leaning forward. 

“I didn’t steal Vhagar. You can’t steal a dragon.” he says folding his hands. 

“Then tell me. Please.” I search his face for any emotion. 

“She called to me and I answered.” he answers shortly. 

“Aemond just tell me. I want to hear. Good or bad I want to know.” I say looking at him intently. 

I wish I knew what he was thinking. I can tell he doesn’t trust me which is fair. I’m living with the kids who have taken his eye. He expects me to be on their side. I feel like I have no place to take sides when I have no context and wasn’t there. I know things got out of hand, but no one has ever told me the full story. 

“I claimed Vhagar the night of Baela and Rhenas mothers funeral. Vhagar was their mothers. Yet, she called out to me. They were upset when they found out I was the one who claimed her. We all threw vicious words at each other. They all started physically attacking me and Luke ended up cutting my eye out. No one cared. Not even my father. My mother was the only one to advocate for me.” his voice softens as he ends his story looking away from me.

I can tell he’s upset and I have no idea what to say. I reach across the small table to take his hand in mine. I rub his hand with my thumb and then he finally looks up to me with a sad confused expression. 

“You didn’t deserve that.” I say softly still rubbing his hand offering him a soft smile.

“Are you just saying that?” he asks pulling his hand away making me frown. 

“It shouldn’t have gotten to that point. No one deserves to lose an eye over words.” I respond. 

“They’ve always bullied me. I was the only one without a dragon. Do you know how hard that was? Your brothers and Aegon would torment me together. No one was in my corner. I had no one and I still have no one.” he says looking away. 

“I’m sorry. You deserved more.” I say softly. 

“It’s done and over with. Now I have a hideous scar.” he says brushing over his eyepatch. 

“May I see?” I ask nervously biting my lip.

“No.” Aemond says flatly. 

“Please?” I ask in a sweet voice batting my eyelashes.

“If I show you, you’ll never want to see me again.” he looks to me his expression sad.

“I sincerely doubt that.” I say looking at him expectantly. 

“Fine.” he sighs removing his eyepatch. 

I’m in awe. I only expected to see a long, jagged scar. He has a beautifully sculpted sapphire in place of his eye. He’s truly stunning. I know I’m in trouble now. I have no intention of leaving him alone. I realize I’ve just been staring and not saying anything and he grabs his eyepatch to cover up.

“No, no. May I?” I ask gesturing for me to come look closer. 

“As you wish.” he says helping me pull my chair closer. 

As I come closer I can see all of the tiny details and colors of his crystal. It compliments his skin perfectly. I bring my hand up to ghost over his scar when he grabs my wrist to stop my movements. 

“I’m sorry.” I pull back as he quickly puts his eyepatch back on. 

“Are you disgusted?” he asks looking at me intensely. 

“Quite the opposite. I think you’re very pretty.” I admit shamelessly admiring him. 

“Pretty.” he scoffs.

“You’re like sculpted by the Gods. Perfection.” I breathe out. 

Aemond brushes off this compliment and stands up. He offers me his hand and I accept. I’m glad I haven’t ruined this yet. I have no idea where he’s taking me, but I’d follow him anywhere. 

“Where are we going now?” I ask looking to him. 

“I want to show you what I gained when I lost my eye.” he says proudly.

[its-in-the-woods]

The Woman Who Couldn’t Die Part 9

master list

Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Pairing: The Ghoul/Cooper Howard x Original Character

Synopsis: “I don’t know if I can lose someone again.”

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning: This is based on Fallout expect typical horror as well as: Blo0d, G0re, Death, Bodily injury, mentions of SH, death, drugs use, soft!cooper, angst, slow burn, hurt/comfort, Dead dove,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

*thank you to everyone that reads <3 You all make the world go round. I've really fallen in love with this story

The next two outposts were the same burnt outside, body parts, and not much else. The third one left Cooper feeling frustrated as they went over the whole place trying to find something worthwhile. Food, water, and chems were low. They could probably go a few more days, but it was making his fingers itch. He didn’t like to run low on anything, as it would mean withdrawals, withdrawals lead to going feral. He glances over at Jade, he was not going feral. No. They’d figure this out, or he’d off himself before that happened. 

Jade had started lifting floorboards around a desk, the woman was convinced something was under the floor. Ghoul was less optimistic, it wasn’t the first time she’d torn into a wall or floor thinking there might be more behind it. Jade hadn’t said much about whatever was happening, she’d curl up against him at night, and while they walked she’d occasionally hold his hand. She’d kissed him a couple of times too, it left him feeling slightly dizzy, the world didn’t feel so dark with her in it. She was a vicious killing machine when it called for, but also full of ridiculous optimism. How? He didn’t try to understand. The more he learned about her life the more he questioned why she kept going. Why did anyone keep going? Jade just wanted to live, she lived for each day, and each morning. Somehow grateful that she got to keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

“Yes!” He hears her call out, taking him out of his thoughts. She had dropped down below the floor, just her hand sticking up out of the hole she jumped into. “Chems!”

The Ghoul moves over looking down into the dark hole. Jade had a big smile on her dirt-covered face shaking the case of chems above her head like she’d struck gold. He reached down, grabbing the box before placing them on the old table. Opening it up, six bottles of his chem, he couldn’t help the small smile tug on his lips.  

“Hell yah,” He says, turning to look back down at her, there were half a dozen or so crates scattered over the basement. She was going through each carefully, a small stack of cans beside her, some water purifying tablets.  

“Start passing stuff up’er, Pip-Squeak.” Cooper leaning down, she turns face to him, now covered in more dust and dirt. She grabbed a few things wrapping them up in her coat to hand to the man. 

“Think we should be good for a little while now,” Jade smiles at him, he couldn’t help the way his heart twitches seeing her grinning.  She looks at him like the sun revolves around him, eyes lit up like fire. 

“Grab whatever else, then we should get you outta here, don't know what could be down there.” He states, squatting down to hand her the jacket again. 

After one more load, he helps Jade out from under the floor, they are both covered in dirt. Jade was over the moon with her small find, “This should keep us supplied until we get to the next town. God I hope we get to -”

A click of a gun had Cooper whirling his own gun up, as he turns to face the two men who stand in the doorway. He fires at them, his other hand pushing Jade down, he hears her drop as gunfire goes off. His gun blasts a hole in one of the men, the man falls as the other blasts scattershot. The shot hitting the Ghoul in the chest, but that didn’t stop him, instead the Ghoul was already aiming his gun at the man. The blast coming out and blowing the man's hand clear off. Another shot from outside hit the Ghoul's side, Jade standing up beside him firing at the man. Her speed and accuracy were no match for the other man as he was hit by both of them. The one man was dead on the floor, the other screaming holding the stump of his hand up. The man outside had chunks out of him but was taking off. Cooper was already at the door grabbing the man and dragging him back to the door. Jade stood over the blood-covered man as he begged her to end it. 

“Why are you here!” She yells at him, Cooper slamming the other man’s blood body beside the door. The other man was coughing and sputtering blood all over the ground as he oozed. 

“There’s a bounty on you two,” The man sobs, his face starting to go pale as blood gushes out of him. He wouldn’t be long for this world, not without them fixing up his stump, which isn't going to happen. 

“A bounty huh,” The Ghoul said, crouching in front of him, watching him try to squirm away from his gaze.

“You killed the wrong guy's brother, Ghoul,” The man beside the door choked out, blood foaming down his face. His eyes were going in and out of focus, words more a slur than speak. 

“Whose brother!” Jade gritted, her hand grabbing stumpy's stump and pushing a finger in. 

The man howled, “Stop, please. Please no more.” He whimpered tears covering his dirt-smeared face. “Joel, Joel Pedro. Dom Pedro’s brother, you dumb cunt.”

Jade looked up at the Ghoul, the two immediately recognizing the name. The ghoul handed her a knife, she took the knife and cut his throat, blood squirting out as he sputtered and choked. 

The Ghoul had a foot on the other man pressing it down into its chest, the man wailing as he pushed on it, “Who the fuck is Dom Predo?”

The man shrivels back, squirming in his own icker. “He’s coming for yah Ghoul. He’s going to take you and the experiment girl alive.”

Cooper shot him without hesitation, the splash of blood on the doorway dripping down. Jade stood there with a confused look on her face, before moving towards the bodies, digging around in pockets. She pulls out a sheet of paper, unfolds it, and holds it up to the Ghoul. 

His face sans hat was on there, and beside him was a poorly done drawing of Jade. Both drawings were half-assed but it was clearly them. A large bounty for them both found alive, less if they were dead. A bit more info was below, they were to be brought to the southern west coast. Details were sparse but it was enough to give them a direction. 

“Well fuck, looks like you got your first bounty on your head, Tiny” The Ghoul states before he folds up the paper and puts it back into his pocket. Trying not to think too hard on the fact that Jade was now in danger because of him. 

“First? You’ve had this happen before?” Jade pushes, Cooper shrugging as he starts to go over the dead men. He had lost track of how many times someone had wanted his head on a platter, it never ended well for the ones looking for him. You didn’t stay alive for this long without killing a few fellas. 

“Won’t be doin’ good if I wasn’t on the boards myself,” He said, grabbing a good bag of caps from one of the men, they’d be well stocked now. The Ghoul pondering a change of course now that there was a bounty on their heads. 

“How’d they know it was us?” Jade asks, pulling out some ammo and pocketing it. Her pants and bag were already heavily weighed down by her findings. 

“Always someone watching, could have been someone in one of the towns or outposts that recognized you.” He replies, fishing out a couple vials of chem, as well as another inhaler. Never hurt to have a spare one or three. The old saying, ‘One is none, and two is one’, came to mind.  

Jade sitting back on her heels looking at the mess, “I wish I could remember their faces, at least we could avoid them then.”

The Ghoul watching her, he could see the wheels turning in her head, he got up and went to her. Crouching beside Jade to look at the body, really what was left of the body. 

“Look’er, I can give you some bullshit 'bout how it’s gonna be okay. That they’ll never catch us dead or alive. But I know you Jade, you’ve seen this world for what it is. It ain’t gonna get better, you decided to follow me. You decided to jump down that creature's throat. We both know that chances of us makin’ it to the other side unscared, much less alive, is low.”  He states, he didn’t know why he needed a speech, but it felt right. “Now ya can try and dig those memories up, to make sense of it’ll. But I’ve been wandering this bullshit for two hundred years, and most memories that’re gone are best left gone.”

Jade looked at him, brown eyes watching him before she stands up and stretches, audible pops as she moves. “I think that’s the most words you’ve said to me.”

The Ghoul huffed, “Yeah, you're welcome, Pip-Squeak. Good it gets me.” He rolls his shoulder under the duster grabbing his bag, hoping that maybe some of the words crept into that thick skull of hers. 

Jade has a small smile as she goes back into the building rummaging through the last dead body. “Well, it does get you a bunch of Chems, and a good amount of caps. I am not a completely useless sidekick”

She jingled the cap and held out the chems, the Ghoul took them. Letting his hand linger on her fingers a little longer. Watching as her cheeks go a little pink, the girl had just killed three people with him and was now blushing at the touch of his glove. Maybe he was still stuck in the forest somewhere living in a daydream.

“Think we should head south at the next intersection.” He said as he stashes the bottles in his bag, Jade doing the same thing, making sure all their loot was tucked away.

“Why south?” Jade asks, closing up her own bag. The Ghoul was grateful to see her not wincing when she shifted it onto her back. He had taken out the stitches at the second outpost. Most of her bruises and cuts are now gone, but he'd catch her every now and again wincing in pain. “Thought we would be heading west?”

The Ghoul pulls out the paper that had their bounty on it. Rereading the words.“Want to know more about this fella. Dom Pedro. So we know what we are walking into.”

“Walking into?” Jade pries, as she walks over to him. “Are we planning on going after him?”

“Won't be who I was if I ran from every slimsnake that wanted my head.” He clicked his tongue, standing up and taking a hit of chem, the numbness easing his mind. “I know of a small town that should be able to get us some information. If you're game?”

Jade shrugs, looking around the place, before back at him. “Don't got any other plans.”

They continued west until they hit a crossroads, the beat-to-hell pavement more sand and gravel than the once black tarmac. Jade stands beside her companion watching him look at the different directions. His eyes squinting, head tipping as he listens. His senses were much sharper than hers, he often stop to do just this. Listen, look, smell, and take stock of what is around them. Since the forest incident, he had been extra cautious about anywhere they went. Constantly making her stay somewhere so he could scope it out. Jade would have called it annoying, but really she knew he was just trying to keep her safe. 

As he turns she saw the wreckage of the scattershot he had taken. Grimacing a little at the wounds, she hopes he’d let her dig them out. It had to be painful, right? He finally faces south, squirting down the way.

“What is it?” Jade finally asks, trying to see what he could. She moves to stand right behind him, shifting the weight of her bag on her shoulders. Regretting having taken those extra cans of cram, the bag's weight pressing down on her tender joints. 

The Ghoul huffs, rolling his shoulders, “I am not sure, something feels wrong.” Jade tried to let her senses feel out, when she had been in the forest she had felt the strangest, the wrongness of the place. Here though, it didn’t feel any different than any of the other trails they’d been on. 

Jade shifts her weight onto her other foot. The thought that they could be going down another fucked up forest trail was not high on her to-do list. “Can we not go that way?” She gestures towards the western trail. 

He turns to her, looking to where she is pointing. “You scared now pip-squeak? Thought you went on instinct.”

Jade rolls her eyes at him, at the moment her instincts are dull. She had blamed it on the many stimpaks and med-x shots she’d taken, but standing there she wondered if it was something else. “Instinct would like me to live, not go through another monster-being-dropped-on-my-head forest walk,” Jade replies sarcastically, trying not to let the fear creep into her voice. 

The Ghoul let out a wheezing cough of laughter, a crooked smile on his face, “Yeah, I would rather not carry your dead weight around.” Jade gives him a dirty look at the comment, “We should keep going West then, it will be a bit roundabout.”

“Roundabout, but alive sounds better than, straightforward and dead.” Jade sighs, turning towards the western path. She is about ten steps down the road before realizing he hasn’t moved yet, “You losin' it, old man.” 

The Ghoul turns towards her, eyes covered by the shade of his hat. “Dotcha think it’s a little odd, how everytime we try to go in a directions somethin is standin in our way?”

Jade shrugs again, she hadn’t really thought about it that much. Really she hadn’t thought further than the next place they slept. Was it weird? Maybe, but this was the Wastes, and it wasn’t uncommon to run into issues. 

“It’s really only the one time?” Jade said, walking back over to him. “Not like we’ve been traveling for months here.” 

“Fifteen days,” The Ghoul said, still staring down the southern path. Jade standing beside him, wondering why he had kept track of how many days. Maybe it was an old-world way she didn’t understand. 

“If you really want to go south, we can,” Jade states, yeah she was not really up for another battle, but she wasn’t going anywhere without him either. Sense dulled or not, she couldn’t imagine being alone out here. The realization that she is heavily relying on him, made her heart clench. Did he even feel the same way? Was this a hint that they would be splitting?

The Ghoul turns to her, his hazel eyes looking over her face. Jade held his eye contact, wishing he would just tell her what he was thinking instead of staring at her. The silence was always so much worse than the arguing. 

“Well, let’s go,” He said, moving past her down the western trail, in a flurry of material swishing behind him.

Jade’s shoulders slump as she follows him, working hard to keep up with his long-legged pace. Wondering why he had decided to move at the speed of sound all of sudden. She thought about his comment, about how there always seemed to be something in their way. 

“What did you mean back there,” She finally asks, “About something being in our way?”

The Ghoul was quiet, Jade’s boots echoing around them as they moved. Jade stops, waiting for the Ghoul to do the same. He turns back looking at her, she still couldn’t make out the expression on his face. Maybe this was it, he had finally decided he was done carrying her dead weight.

“What?” He asks, throwing his hands up. “We're going West, will go around. Save us the headache of finding another critter.”

“What do you mean what?” Jade asks, “You were standing there like you were contemplating the meaning of life instead of which direction we should go."

“Just doesn’t feel right is all.” Ghoul huffs, making as if he is going to leave but doesn’t move much. Instead pacing back and forth. “We should.” He swallows, looking away towards the trees. “I can’t,”

Jade is moving towards him, but he is still staring off face covered in shadow. “What is it? Is this ‘cause of the bounty? Thought you said this wasn’t uncommon?”

“It’s not safe traveling with me. Yah got a bounty on your head, you almost got killed. Cause you are following me.” The last words are so quiet she almost doesn’t hear them, his shoulders drawn up like he was trying to hide himself away from her. 

Jade stands in front of him, seeing the pain in his eyes makes her heartache. The holes in his chest had mostly stopped bleeding, but would need to be tended to. At the moment his mind was what needed tending. She reaches up to touch his face, but he moves away from her touch.

“Stop it.” He says, the words holding no venom, he takes a step back from her. Jade wasn’t having it, moving backward with him.

“Me? Stop it?” Jade cusses, “You think I can’t make my own choices?” This time when she reaches for him she pushes him backwards. He barely moves, head tipped down, not looking at her. “Treating me like a child.” Jade is now raising her voice, “I am here, following you. Cause I want to be here.” She shoves him again, “My life has been a living hell for years, and the last however many fuckin days, have been some of the best ones. Even if the monster almost killed me.”

She goes to shove him again, the Ghoul is grabbing both her wrists holding them in iron-like vices. He pushes her back, she stumbles until her back hits a tree with a thump. Thankful that her backpack cushions it. Jade’s hands are pinned against the branch, the Ghoul is right in her face, eyes lit like fire as he glares down at her. Jade's Heart pounding in her chest as his eyes flow over her face. 

“You are so frustrating,” He growls at her, Jade staring right back at him with just as much venom, “I can’t keep you safe forever.”

Jade grits her teeth, struggling against his grip, knowing she most likely won’t break free. But there was no way in hell she was going down easily. “I am not asking you to. You vacuum-sealed raisin.”

A small smile twitches his lips at her insult, “Look who's talking, smooth skin.” 

Then he leaned down and pressing his lips against hers. Jade froze for a moment, brain trying to figure out how they went from arguing to kissing. Pushing that out of her mind, she pushes back, the bridge of his nose bumping against hers, the warm brush of air as he breathes out. Her whole body reacts when he opens his mouth and sucks her lip into his, keening as she pushes her body against his. Feeling her wrists being let go, his hands traveled down her body, pulling her close. She reached down and held his face, his rough skin under her hands, feeling each scar and mark. Trying to remember the way they felt and how he tastes, all of it. 

As suddenly as it started it stopped, the Ghoul pulling away, resting his forehead against hers, hat shading both of them. Their breath mixes as they try and catch it, hearts thundering under their clothes. 

“I don’t need you to save me,” Jade whispers, opening her eyes so she can see him. Feeling how his brow furrows at the words. “I just need you with me. For however long we get.” His breath is evening out, eyes still closed, Jade wishing he would look at her. “Please, I don’t know how long I will get. But I’d rather spend it with you.”

She hears him swallowing, his hand coming to cover the sides of her face. “I don’t know if I can lose someone again.”

The hurt in his voice had Jade wrapping her arms around him, hugging him close to her body. Feeling him tremble a little as she held on, refusing to let go of him. She didn’t care about anything else but holding onto him. Holding onto a man, who had seen every part of his world destroyed. Lost family, friends, and more to this horrid wasteland. 

“I will follow you, wherever you go. Until this world of ours ends,” Jade whispers, holding him tight for a moment more.

Part 10

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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*Updating one a week depending, please note my schedule is getting hectic but I will continue to update! Please be patient with me

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Music Monday, WIP Wednesday & WIP Ask Game

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Two songs for The UnTitledverse on a Transformers Prime WIP called Trust In Us, the sequel to Honour Thy Father, a snippet WIP for A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore, which has a Trigger Warning because the Raiders have evil intentions (but are unable to follow through with them) and also for graphically detailed bloody violence (because Alph is a champ and Ress believes the punishment should fit the wrongs), which is the main reason why this post is labelled mature. And lastly, a list of WIPs from The Silver Chronicles that you can ask about. You can listen and read these below the cut:

There's around two plot points to Trust In Us; the first is simply the Autobots finding a possible Energon Lab that Arcee took the decipherable coordinates of in Honour Thy Father, pushing back against the Decepticons and have them go on a wild goose chase so they can find the lab, and then getting ambushed by the Decepticons at the location. Second plot point is Arcee and Soundwave finding themselves in that lab and finding The Horrors(TM), with faulty equipment and weapons, wounded (from each other LOL) and being hunted by deranged A.Is. Sneaking around and outwitting their foes is a key part of this fic... considering the "deranged A.Is" are smarter than they act. Which is why I chose "You Can't Hide" as a song for this fic:

"I knew I was right to think I would find you over here Well, isn't it intriguing that you seem to be just A little bit weary enough to run off on me* Well, there's no need We know you want to deactivate us But we just can't let that happen Every night, always, it never changes But we can make accidents happen."

"We can make accidents happen We can make accidents happen We can make accidents happen We can make accidents happen."

[*Bon-Bon doesn't exist in this universe so had to change it up here to better fit the context]

During the second half of the plot, Arcee and Soundwave meet a Cybertronian who claims to have had "deserted the Decepticon cause" and found himself trapped down in the lab. They come to know him as Flatline, and while he is inherently suspicious, they must rely on his medical expertise and mapping knowledge to get out of the laboratory alive. Tumult arises when Arcee begins to trust one of the less deranged A.I's who only pokes holes in Flatline's story, which leads to a conflict on who to trust. Soundwave, while displeased with Flatline's desertion of Lord Megatron, does put more trust in him than the Autobot he's stuck with and the A.I she's been listening to. Shame that both options lead them to the same conclusion.

"Feel the grove Feel the grove Feel the grove Feel the grove Keep moving Keep moving Keep moving Keep moving

I feel like, you are not trusting me enough And I know what's right, I will guide you safely through this night And though it's true I kidnapped you, please know it was for your own good I've kept you hidden, now phase* four can begin, begin Now phase four can- Now phase four can- Know- I- can begin Know- it's true, I- can begin I kidnapped you

Safely, safely Please know Safely hidden, safely

You are not trusting me enough Trusting me enough You are not trusting me enough."

[*Night four doesn't make sense as a lyric in this context. Phase four better fits Flatline's plans]

Here's a snippet for my Fallout 3 WIP The Waters Of Life Flow. Alph and Amata are held captive by raiders in their first ten minutes of being on the surface. Fortunately (not for the raiders), a bigger fish shows up to steal from the small fry. [TW: While physically "Mohawk" only manhandles Amata, his and the other raiders words indicate more depraved intentions with her and Alph. Nothing graphic ever occurs though. However, TW for graphically bloody and detailed violence, courtesy of Alph's resistance and Ress' mercilessness in a Fallout world. Also strong language]. Read below:

Alph struggled against two of his captors as Mohawk howled with laughter at Amata's frenzied defiance. He had her restrained against the ruin's wall, a grin unnaturally wide filled with a wicked glee.

Sideburn and Iron Nose cackled and guffawed respectively at the display, manic grins all around on most of the thugs. The two that kept Alph pinned to his knees didn't wear smiles, though more from apathy corrupting their hearts than any moral discontent with the situation.

Mohawk chuckles died into a mockery of Amata's terror, mouth gaped wide into an open frown as he sputtered out an exaggerated cry. He soon replaced it with a tainted smile, hungry eyes roaming over Amata's figure.

He glanced over to Sideburn and Iron Nose, cocking his head to Alph, "I reckon we should all treat ourselves to a bit of early desert for lunch... and dinner if the meat lasts long enough."

The other woman, shorter than Sideburn, tittered cheerfully on the locker she kicked her feet on, the attention of her wide soulless eyes locking onto Alph, caressing the flamer beside her.

Alarmed, Alph pushed himself against the weight holding him down, but all for naught as he exerted his limits. He breathed rapidly, panic surged into his heart at how Mohawk gripped Amata's arms above her. Once more powerless to help. And it's all my fault.

Amata shook her head rapidly, a begging no, a choked plea going unsaid. Mohawk was undeterred, "What does everyone think? Nothing like a good fuck to release some steam, eh?"

His gang of monsters cheered in unison, amoral to the evil they were going to inflict. Mohawk bared his dark yellow teeth, "Alright then! Trix, you have a turn of the red-head first. This one's mine."

Trix cackled as she leapt off the locker, skipping her way over to Alph. The vault dweller in question shook his head in pure shock of the immorality the demons in flesh were willing to partake. His eyes became glassy as Mohawk pushed himself further into Amata's space, her desperate attempts to shake out of his hold futile.

When Trix came closer to him, he felt one of the goon's slacken in their hold. He felt a bold and ferocious fire ignite, and with Amata's life hanging in the balance, he delved into a source of fury he's only felt towards Butch and the Overseer.

Once Trix leaned too close, Alph bounced up into a pounce, his forehead colliding with Trix's nose.

A resounding crunch stopped everyone in their tracks, and a blood curdling scream from Trix filled the sparse seconds of silence, crimson splattering her mouth and face.

Alph shook off the pain that pulsed at his forehead. He took advantage of his captor's shock, pulling one arm from the guy on the left before elbowing his mouth, and proceeded to gut punch the other to his right.

Alph didn't spare a second to claim back his baton clumsily strapped to rightie's leg.

Alph made a dash for Mohawk, an action that made the depraved leader shove himself off of Amata for a chance to reach his sawed-off shotgun.

It didn't matter once Iron Nose's fist collided with Alph's jaw.

Alph lost his grip on the baton, and once he fell to the hard ground, he felt the dazed pain of a missing tooth and torn flesh on his lips.

"Alph!" Amata rushed over to Alph's side, hastily turning him over and pulling him up to check on him. She glanced to the approaching Mohawk, and she tried to drag a disoriented Alph to the corner of the ruins to put some distance between them and the thugs.

Mohawk stared at Alph, letting out a bemused chuckle, his eyes narrowing onto the two vault dwellers.

"Motherfucker!" Trix screeched, cradling her broken nose spilling red on the ground, "Fucking cunt broke my nose!"

Sideburn rolled her eyes at Trix, while Mohawk grinned in excitement, "Yeah, these vaulties got some bite in them."

Alph leaned onto Amata for support, spitting out the tooth that had broken off. He attempted to push himself in front of Amata, but his best friend remained firm, eyeing Mohawk with a fury to try and distract them from the tremors of her body.

Mohawk bit his bottom lip in thought, and tsked, "A shame really. We can't have our meat biting us back now can we?"

His hand pulled the sawed-off shotgun from his side, aiming it at Alph, "Let's see how much fight the damsel has when her hero drops dead."

Fear grasped Alph and Amata, the latter of whom hugged Alph closely to her as he weakly tried to push her away, eyes wet from the thought of his failure to protect Amata and find his dad, all the while surrounded by dirty and vile vultures of human beings, who grinned with eager anticipation to reach satisfaction.

"Now is that really necessary?"

Mohawk's gang and their captives turned their attention to the additional voice, spotting a tall woman standing above them on the crest of the slope.

Alph and Amata held onto each other, their eyes scanning the stranger. Her long platinum hair singled her out from the blue sky behind her, dark-tinted shades displaying Mohawk and his gang in the reflection, hiding her eyes from them. Her skin was darker than Amata's, she was cleaner than everyone in the ruins too; including her attire.

She was wearing a black zip-up leather jacket, with a high collar that was broad. She had matching slim black pants and dress boots, a fancy contrast from the blues of the vault dwellers and the faded garbs of the marauders.

"Who the fuck are you?" Mohawk questioned, the vaulties at his mercy forgotten at the appearance of the woman.

"Marissa Bishop," she introduced herself, her head bowing into a tilt, "But my family only have the right to call me that. So how about Ress instead?"

"How'd you even get in here? Jeremy should have splattered your brains against the pavement," Mohawk inquired, aiming his weapon at this 'Ress'.

Ress' lips opened up into a wide grin, showing off teeth too pearly for someone that's living on the surface.

"Well," she said, taking a step down the slope to walk closer to them, "I think I did have a run-in with this 'Jeremy', but our introductions ended with a handshake."

She stopped when she was at even leveling with Mohawk, surveying the group, "But I'd be more worried for yourselves than of him."

Mohawk blinked at her with an incredulous expression, though Trix seemed to have a more visceral reaction at the news.

Alph watched as Trix sauntered up to Ress, mouth and nose stained with her own dried blood, pulling out Amata's 10mm pistol, aiming it at Ress' face.

"What have you done to him you freaky bitch?! What the fuck did you do to my Jeremy?!" Trix shouted at the taller woman, who didn't change her expression.

"Aww, how cute," Ress cooed, replying, "To answer your question; nothing more than trash like him deserved. And the sames going to happen to all of you."

Trix sneered at the taller woman, while Alph and Amata glanced to each other, wondering how the newcomer was even keeping a straight face from being threatened with certain death.

"Oh yeah? Newsflash fucker; I'm the bitch with the gun," Trix cocked the slide back.

Ress hummed, taking a step back before lifting her hand in front of Trix's face; pinkie and ring finger curled into her palm, index and middle finger stacked together and point forwards, with her thumb standing up.

Is... is she for real?

Alph was baffled by the woman mimicking a gun with her hands, and couldn't help but wonder what joke she was trying to pull off, and the sensation of dread at the sinking chances of the likely unwell woman succeeding against Mohawk's gang being as close as Alph and Amata got to actual rescue.

"Mine's bigger," Ress replied, reeking of overconfidence and delusion as Alph began to mutter a prayer.

Mohawk and his cronies burst into laughter, the leader pointing his shotgun downwards as he nearly doubled-over from the embarrassing display.

Trix cackled at Ress' face, shocked and enraged and bemused. The taller woman, with her "gun" still pointed towards the broken nose of Trix, merely shrugged at the reactions. Her "hammer" pressed down onto her index.

Alph could have sworn her saw a small blue light leave from her fingertips until he witnessed Trix's skull caved into the back of her head in an explosion of crimson blood and white cartilage with bits of brain matter spattering onto the concrete ground.

Trix's headless body stumbled back, Amata's pistol falling from its grip as it fell to the floor with a massive thump.

Mohawk and his goons stood shocked, trying to process what they just witnessed, while Alph and Amata began to drag themselves to the corner wall, making distance.

Ress, however, merely wiped away the gunk that got onto her face, taking off her stained sunglasses to reveal captivating ocean blue irises, putting it away in one of her pockets.

She looked from Mohawk, to Sideburn, to Iron Nose, to the two goons who had sullied themselves.

"So," Ress stated, pulling the raiders out of their stupor, "Who's next?"

And lasting the WIP Ask Game for The Silver Chronicles.

Rules: Make a new post (I've broken this rule already) with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPS.

Some of these are NSFW (which in this case only refers to sexual themes, because otherwise I'd have to put an asterisk on everything LOL) so I marked them with an asterisk in case you wanted to ask about something (relatively) SFW.

The Silver Chronicles

Silva's Hope

La Última En Pie

Old Dusk

Call To Arms Duology

Ain't It A Joy?

No One's Safe At Home

An unnamed Bloodborne fic that's straight up depression for the soul like the game but with twin sibling Hunters and a demigod, as well as a mix of the worst unrequited toxic yaoi I've made thus far between the demigod and his ex-buddy.

All Yours*

Faithful

Generosity (or the fic where the sexual tension is strong between Silva and Faith aka Faith tends to Silva's wounds to symbolize the intimacy of trust or something)

Hands On Bare Skin*

No Snake, Only A Boa In The Garden

Only One Person Can Frustrate Me (And That's You)*

Strawberries

The Most Wonderful Of Mistakes*

Weaponizing The Obstacle

We're Primal Beasts After All

Where She Belongs

[been-around-seen-things]

CW: discussion of suicide

I’ve been mulling over a number of thoughts after eps 1-3 about Ed’s storyline, and I want to get them down before the new episodes come out, so here goes.

I’ve seen so many folks hard hit by Ed’s suicidality, needing to mind their mental health before rewatching, and—yeah. Folks who know me as a fic writer and who have read A Bug to Remember can glean some idea of where this topic has touched me. My own lowest time was literally two decades ago, so for me it’s not so much about that.

I just keep thinking about the okayness Ed performs in ep 2, which obviously isn’t entirely convincing, but nevertheless covers up that he’s already made his decision.

Which makes me think about someone I mentored and who died by suicide in 2019. Her name was Katie. I’m going to speak her name here because talking about her and thinking about her keeps her present for me.

Katie was deeply complicated, but, well, so is Ed, obviously. Ep 2 reminded me so vividly of her performance of okayness. She was professionally successful, organized, seemed to have it all together. I know others who also loved her have had the very natural “I should have known” reaction, but I don’t necessarily feel that way. For people like me whom she saw as mentors, she very deliberately hid the cracks, the pain, the suffering. Looking back on it now, I can see how our closeness was more about how much she made me feel comfortable sharing myself, while she remained pretty thoroughly walled off.

All of this makes me think about all the lies, the terrible lies our brains tell us. I talked in sort of a jumbled way on Twitter about the stories Ed tells and tries to tell about himself. The stories we tell and believe about ourselves are so fundamental to our very existence, and Ed has so much trouble believing any positive story about himself.

We first see him trapped in the narrative of Blackbeard, in which he is a “ghost.” He imagines himself as Stede Bonnet, but that’s a violent story with an intended murderous end. Jeff the Accountant is a story that’s fun at first, but the fallout just ends up hitting him where he’s most sensitive, his deepest feelings of unworthiness.

The most believable story for him is the Kraken. Clearly he wants something else, but it feels like literally the only option.

He tries to imagine himself as Jeff the Innkeeper, but he can’t keep from being a dick to himself long enough to even fully imagine how that story could play out.

His only positive stories, of course, are with Stede: first, playfully imagining himself as a chef, someone who can do anything. That one ends happily, albeit only temporarily—the brief dream of being co-captains. And then the possibility of running off to China together—but that’s an option that means Ed leaving his whole identity behind. It’s a running away, not an integration of the stories he carries. And then losing the possibility of that story—well, we know what happens.

And so. Here we are. Ed is alive, and he needs a new story that doesn’t cause himself and everyone else around him so much suffering. Ngl I had a real hard time on my first watch with how much pain there was all around. But that’s because, as always, this show is emotionally truthful even as the events are sometimes preposterous. I’m excited to see what other story possibilities are there for Ed. What he can find himself able to believe.

[tulipsinthedas]

Just finished binging the Fallout tv show and 🤯 I've got so many thoughts running through this little brain of mine. So here's a very long rant no one asked for. Maybe I'll make a more digestible version later. Obviously SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Be warned!

First off - the lore. So many interesting things were added into the lore by this show that I find so fascinating, as well as theories I've had that were touched upon. All of which makes this very exciting but also leaves me DESPERATE for season two. The main thing that has really stuck with me is the confirmation that Vault-Tec were the ones to drop the bombs like hello??? I've always had an inkling ever since I started delving into fallout lore a good year or two ago that they were behind everything, but finally having it confirmed is so fun. Of course, some people out there are going to be irritated (L take) but this imo will make replays so much more interesting. Same with the addition of ghouls needing medication to keep from becoming feral. Although this begs some questions; what is the medicine? Is it just radaway, or something else entirely? Maybe it's connected to whatever Hancock used to ghoulify himself? Or maybe it's connected to Doctor Barrows' research into ghouls fom Fallout 3? Idk! But I hope it's answered in season 2.

Cooper being the inspiration behind the iconic vault boy mascot absolutely gagged me. It was kinda hinted at even in the beginning at the kids birthday party but I was still surprised. Pleasantly, of course. Other smaller things, like the BOS branding and helmets opening up, among other things, were also fun touches that develop the lore in ways that the games probably never would have. It's small things like this that despite livening up the wasteland, would be unnecessary uses of resources from a game-development standpoint. So I think if season 2 ends up being a banger like season 1, we could see a lot more tiny additions to the lore like this!

Secondly - the characters. I don't even know where to start. They were written so well which is such a critical part of a good series. Lucy, despite everything she goes through, stays true to her morals and by doing so, probably unknowingly, is changing those around her. Despite being stubborn, she's willing to listen and understand other viewpoints and adapt herself. It's so refreshing to see a main female lead who isn't written as either weak and naive or strong and boneheaded; she'd a perfect mix of both. I also appreciate them not making her a total push over, even in the beginning before she is given any reason to change. She grows, but never fails to stay true to herself. Plus the whole sex positive thing is an amazing touch to add as well, especially for a woman.

And while on this topic, Maximus is such a cutie pie. Writing characters that are selflessly aligned can definitely be a hit or miss, and without properly being fleshed out, can be one-dimensional, but I never felt that way with him. Despite trying to help others and be a good person, he still has flaws and does feels selfish things. They took the trope of the knight in shining armor, literally, and gave him actual human characteristics that made him feel real. Underneath his heroic demeanor, he's just a little guy who likes slippers and vault popcorn. Who just wants to be somewhere safe away from war and danger, to be where he can just relax and not have to worry. And his romance arc with Lucy is just way too cute. From the moment they met in Filly I knew something was going to happen and I was so excited when they finally kissed lmao. The sweet, innocent love at first sight thing they have going on is the perfect dichotomy to all the bloodshed and heavy themes going on in the rest of the show.

And finally, Cooper is reviving the inner ghoul lover in me and I cannot complain at all. As a certified Hancock lover, I feel seen ✋ also Walton Goggins is just incredibly fine. But that's besides the point. His character is arguably the best written because despite being an undeniably evil person, he is still likeable. 200 years have turned him into a man who had to lose his humanity to survive, and the pre-war flashbacks being shown through his eyes give him, and the story, so much depth. Despite his ways, you can't help but still feel for him, to still root for him and hope that he still has a little bit of that humanity left within him. Which imo was shown multiple times; for example him not killing Maximus in episode two even though he easily could have done so. And the fact that he's still searching for his family all these years later? When he was asked what has been keeping him going so long, I think they are his reason. Whether he is searching to reunite or to exact revenge on Barb for dropping the bombs while him and Janey were outside idk. But it makes his story all the more heartbreaking. I also love the writing for Norm, Moldaver, Dane, and so many others, but this is already too long ass it is.

Overall, this series was so good and I'll be impatiently awaiting season 2! Some things I'm hoping to see next seasons are super mutants for sure, as well as synths and more of the enclave. I think they went easy this season to test the waters and see just how interested people are. And now that they know people are very interested, I think they'll be more willing to invest a larger budget, and add more. Rant over!

[traincat]

got the sudden urge to re-read 'work song' this weekend after years of not really being into spideytorch anymore. the fic is still incredible, it's reminding me why i used to love them, but it got me wondering -- was there ever any canon fallout from sue, reed, and the kids being gone like that? i had already stopped reading the comics at that point.

It's funny, I've been thinking of Work Song recently too. I obviously like to get into the guts of canon in a lot of my fic, but Work Song was really an exercise in getting into the emotional fallout that comics tend not to deal with -- for both good and bad reasons. (I think the modern lack of dealing with pretty much any emotional fallout is bad, but also if you have a serial story you have to keep a certain amount of action going. Idk, complicated thoughts about pacing and sacrifices made for genre standards and the shifting of those standards from decade to decade, etc., etc.)

And the answer to whether the fallout is ever addressed in 616 canon is... kind of no? I think there were attempts made -- both Zdarsky in his Two-in-One series and Bendis, somewhat, in Infamous Iron Man were sort of digging into things, albeit notably before Reed and Sue were actually back. (Both of those series deal HEAVILY with their absence, though.) But both of those series were also cut short, and they have finales I'm not quite satisfied with, which in this case is the fault of neither author. I think Zdarsky tried with his final two issues of Two-in-One especially, especially the one that focuses on Johnny and Sue, but just didn't have the space to address the issue of Reed and Sue essentially leaving Johnny and Ben with the gravitas and nuance that it deserved. And given that Johnny is, you know, flat out suicidal over this issue in the first ten issues of Two-in-One, that's a problem. (IIM also has a disappointing final two issues, but it focuses much more on Ben and Doom than on Johnny. Hell of a setup, wish it didn't feature the biggest copout resolution of all time.) And again I don't think this is either writer's fault -- they were both clearly trying to do something interesting and emotional, and 2n1 had a really good set up and character work. It just wasn't given the space to stick any kind of landing before everything had to be wrapped up in a tidy little bow so Slott could write some mystifyingly bad stories. (I don't believe Slott ever seriously addresses the fallout, but I could be wrong. I skimmed the back half of that run hard.)

And also I think this was something of a foundational problem that sprung from Reed and Sue and the kids going missing not as an actual story point but as a hissy fit over film rights. There was never any solid plan in action for where they were or what they were doing or what Ben and Johnny fought over that caused Ben to leave for space and Johnny to spiral out of control -- it was all just "this is happening now because we canceled the Fantastic Four comic because we want the film rights." It's very hard to build a story on shaky ground like that when you've got multiple writers, all who seemed to have slightly different takes, and apparently no one on an editorial level actually managing all of that to make sure there was a cohesive story in place. Even if the reader doesn't have that information, there should be some kind of established story for the writers to follow, and it kind of seemed like there just wasn't. (I say "kind of seemed" because obviously I wasn't there and I don't know for sure, but also like, we know for sure that there wasn't. By reading the comics it was very clear that there wasn't.) It's frustrating to think about it now because it could have been some really great storytelling, and instead it was addressed just barely and then kind of rushed along. And I feel similarly about Superior Spider-Man's fallout, except they keep resurrecting that concept every two years and kicking it around like it has anything interesting left in it.

[nitrozem]

OC Deep Dive Questionnaire

Thanks for the tag @natolesims ! I love doing these.

Think I'll do my werewolf boi, Ajay this time (I did Miguel for the last one)

1. What uncommon/common fear do they have?

The dude acts fearless but he has one fear and it's stink bugs. Why? Well werewolf pups like practicing their hunting on small insects and stuff that cross their path and young Ajay decided to pounce on a stink bug and had a very bad time lol

bonus pic of smol pup Ajay

2. Do they have any pet peeves?

He doesn't like it when people move his stuff around. He's not organized but it works for him cause he has his weird disorganized places he keeps his things.

3. What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

his werewolf toy, this crystal light shaped like a moon that Sid made for him, something random he may have dug up during a rampage and forgot about (usually shoes, rocks and trash)

4. What do they notice first in a person?

Their smell, werewolf super smell and all. He can figure out if a person is an occult by the smell.

5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

A 10, he's been in so many werewolf brawls, and running through the forest, it takes a lot to actually get him to be very bothered by pain and he heals quickly. He wears his scars like badges of honor lol

6. Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Fight fight fight! He likes fighting and hates to appear like a wimp.

7. Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

No, he was an only child, had a mom and dad and that's it. He has a big family now though. (4 children, his husband, and his father who is still kicking) I would say he is a family person, he loves all his kids and is protective over them and his husband.

bonus family photo :)

and grandpa (ajay's father, Ravi) cause we love him and his terrible dad jokes

8. What animal represents them best?

Well...a wolf

9. What is a smell that they dislike?

Vampires have a necrotic undead smell he hates like most werewolves. He also hates coming across somewhere that was "marked" by another werewolf and gets territorial.

10. Have they broken any bones?

Nope

11. How would a stranger likely describe them?

Depends. If he's dressed nicely and calm, people see he's sure of himself or confident. When he's high fury/wearing his torn or rocker clothes, he still has that confident vibe but in a more intimidating way.

12. Are they a night owl or a morning bird?

Night Owl because werewolves are nocturnal, he'll be up in the morning anyway because he doesn't sleep much.

13. What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

He hates all artificial fruit candy, as for a flavor he loves, a steak, seasoned right (and very very rare)

14. Do they have any hobbies?

Yes, he likes to knit and paint mostly. He likes to read and likes tor forage/hunt for crystals or mushrooms that Sid might need

15. Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

I'd say he's pretty stoked

16. Do they like to wear jewelry?

Yeah, his moon necklace his mother gave him and other bracelets Sid makes him

17. Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

It's actually very neat!

18. What are two emotions they feel the most?

Energetic and confident

19. Do they have a favorite fabric?

really soft fleece, he'll fall asleep real quick in a pile of fleece sweaters lol

20. What kind of accent do they have?

subtle indian accent (mother had an indian accent, father has a southern usa accent so it's a mix of that)

The closest voice claim I have for him is Dr. Carrington from Fallout 4 I like imagining that he sounds very eloquent and chill (well at least until his fury gets high enough, then he's just loud, rough sounding and growly)

If you just want to talk about yours OC's just do this and say I tagged you or w/e, use all excuses to talk about your OC's and stories 👍🏼

(that and I'm not very active on here atm due to not wanting to play sims, social media detox and attempts at better habits in life.)

[myimaginarywonderland]

I am certain that Roger ap Gwilliam will play a bigger role in season two and I am also fully convinced that he is related to Ruby in some way.

We learned that the name of Ruby's father is William Benjamin Garnet. I would assume seeing as he now is 34 he might have had another child, who could maybe be around 5-8 years old. I feel like Ruby finding out she has siblings is an obvious plotline and I think her mother wasn't show with children so they would have to be from her father.

Now, Roger ap Gwilliam in 2046 is in my opinion in his early 30s? I know the actor is older but to me it felt like the character was angled to be a younger politician from what we have seen. Ap is used to say son/describe someone's relation and I personally just don't think Gwilliam was his actual name (might be, not much idea on any sort of genuine Welsh last names.) I assumed it was William and some other name, maybe a first or last name. With just his whole image he has I assumed that it was his dad's first name and last name mixed together that he used to run his campaign instead of going by his actual name. I figured someone with that much dramatics would have maybe assumed a slightly different name to appeal more to the masses, to make himself more interesting. And seeing as this is set in the future, who is to say he even has to run with his actual name, he might as well just have made something up to hide his actual identity of he maybe had a fallout with his family etc.

William Garnet could easily shortened to Gwilliam.

To me the entire hints about him plus leading to his actual appearance in 73 yards never felt like a true resolve. I always thought that there was sure to be more to his story because the way he has been talked about made him seem like a genuine threat that could potentially endanger the entire planet. Remember that regardless of what Ruby did in that episode, it never actually carried over into the actual timeline so he will still happen and the Doctor will clearly be the one to stop him in the future.

Ruby's father almost felt like an afterthought and I just refuse to see that as not deliberate. The entire time we were so focused on her mother who turned out to just be a teen in a bad situation that the real possibility that Ruby's father could be trouble never really occurred to us. I feel like they are definitely lying some groundwork for Ruby to have a bad or rude awakening because so far her story has been so positive really. She grew up with an incredibly loving and caring family and now has potentially found another member for that family that wants to get to know her. There is a rude awakening coming and what could be worse than finding out that not only does your father not want you but he is also responsible for one of the most dangerous man of the planet? One of the worst people you can think off?

It would perfectly fit that gut punching feeling most companion stories have at some point and lay a true ground work for her and the Doctor to have a conflict. Maybe somehow Ruby starts to remember the events of 73 yards and can't do it again because now she has seen this sweet boy and she can't imagine that is the same person. The Doctor would have to make a decision that will hurt in one way or another.

I think Ruby and Roger have a deeper connection than we think and being siblings would absolutely make sense for me.

[tumblingxelian]

How to make Hawk Moth Relevent - ML Rewrite:

I Had some ML AU thoughts, specifically on how to have Gabriel keep the Butterfly & feel like a threat & be 'sympathetic' if one wants.

Character wise, its pretty simple, S1/2 era Gabriel. He's proud, stubborn, controlling, & never left the bargaining stage of grief. His decisions are bad, but he either thinks he's doing what's best for Adrien or if he's doing something wrong that he can outsmart the fallout. Also uses kids less in general, but still does it.

He's also learning about his powers the same as the heroes, though some of his weaknesses with it come from struggling with some of the necessary emotional skills. As well as not liking to listen to things that challenge his world view.

IE, "Why did you not tell me this could happen?" - "I tried to tell you it was a danger, you tuned me out!" - "I don't have time for this." - "There you go again! You are so obnoxiously frustrating!"

Finally, he's not using the butterfly right anyway, because doing so would risk his identity. Its meant to make champions, but if he used someone who shared his goals then it'd eventually become obvious who he is. So he has to keep working through bargains and deceptions with people in a manic state. So his defeats are less on him.

Moving on, status quo updates: Introduce some other rogues to pad out the episodes.

A sorcerer who wants Miraculous. A temple monk survivor who wants to get Fu. A left over Nazi who Fu & Marianne defeated; some rogue Miraculous Users & perma-Akuma, IE Imago.

Also have Audrey be there from the start of the season, either she's around to try and cajole Gabriel back into design work, or just splits her time between Paris & New York & introduce some players early.

Specific Story Beat Changes: At the end of Origins show several other soon to be notable figures:

A sorceress pondering their orb, a militant looking bastard smirking, a monk meditating and opening their eyes. Tomoe contacting Kagami & saying they will be moving to Paris. Then cap it off with Lila & Trixx staring open mouthed at a TV, fast food raised halfway to their mouths just staring boggle eyed.

Mentor-Fu Because of these new issues and threats cropping up, Fu is a more active mentor, possibly with Marianne at his side, to serve as foils/counterparts to Marinette & Adrien.

Hawk Moth He makes a strong debut & has some fairly impressive Akuma, but is also clearly experimenting with the power. He also picks several adults like the movie villains. He's also clearly running into walls VS how much he can actually get them to do.

He blames their unhinged state until Antibug when Chloe goes "No U" at the Akuma trying to control her & refuses to un-mask Chat Noir. She wants to prove a point to the heroes not actually help Hawk Moth, & he can't call back the Akuma.

Besides that, the major shifts would be some of his fellow villains compromising his Akuma for their own ends. Him finding out Akuma can become Imago, thanks to Audrey just staying Style Queen. She is having a blast, no one else is.

Lila-Volpina-Chameleon & Trixx She found Tirxx's Miraculous in a second hand shop & since accidentally awakening him the pair have become con artists and mischief makers all over Europe.

They aren't malevolent, but they aren't good either, and Lila goes to Paris in part cos she's being pursued by a sorcerer after Trixx & she wants the others to help protect her.

She's on the team for awhile before losing Trixx in battle and ends up claiming an Akuma to try and get power back. Leaving her straddling a line between humanity & monster-hood.

The Tsurugi's: They have at least two Miraculous, perhaps three, this playing a part in why Fu would even put Tikki & Plagg out there given the risk. The dragon is a must, but beyond that it could range from tiger, to mouse to snake or some combo there-of.

Their goals are enigmatic, with Kagami's stance being that the Kwami are divinity and being their chosen is an honor. While Tomoe is more cold, still respecting the Kwami's power more than the Order, but very pointedly aiming to use said power to benefit her family line.

As a result they are more anti-villain's/antagonists than full on villains.

Audrey & Chloe: Thanks to Audrey being present, the toxic nature of the family is on display from minute one.

With Andre passively rolling with every horrid thing Audrey says or does to Chloe, then using Chloe's rejection to make himself feel big. All while Chloe desperately seeks her mothers affection & allows her fathers self serving idea of 'love' and heeds his terrible advice.

This makes Chloe's redemption arc faster as where she's coming from is obvious from parents day at earliest. Audrey becoming the first on screen Imago helps. No jail time cos no one but Hawk Moth knows at first. She abuses her powers & becomes a key Chloe villain.

Final Note: Awhile ago I realized that one could re-work the Peacock's power into the Butterfly so I'd probably do that too. IE, its power is transmission & transformation.

So in the case of making Sentimonsters it transmits Butterfly energy in to the subject, then the emotions back out of the subject, then transforms them into a 'Familiar'.

This does remove the mind control rings, but there may still be an Akumatized object which can allow a butterfly user easier access to the target, or they are just not a thing.

This also means Gabriel only needs one Miraculous, & Nathalie instead of being Mayura stays on as Catalyst. Letting him make small teams of villains, familiars, or super strong Akuma.

There could still be negative health ramifications from this, either from being constantly Akumatized or from getting powers up to so often. If sympathetic Gabriel is intended, he's the one getting sick.

[thatstartrekguy]

gimme a mcspirk fic where both Spock and Bones are in love with Jim (who's in love with both of them) and it's through an accidental bonding between Spock and Bones that they end up all getting together

I'm thinking aliens did it and they're a long ways away from a Vulcan healer who can break the bond--maybe they're on a high priority mission and can't take the time outta they're schedule, so they've gotta live with it for a while.

Right after it happens they go and tell Jim and he short circuits, says something like: "No, I'm fine, this is fine. Why would I be upset? It's just technically you guys are Vulcan married. But that's fine. Everything's fine. I'm fine, you're fine-- really, we're all fine!"

Meanwhile Spock and Bones get to experience different sides of each other:

Bones gets to see the emotion and genuine care Spock hides behind his Vulcanness. Gets to see he's not a walking computer, that when he uses logic it's not because he doesn't feel but because he's been taught that feeling is dangerous. So he allows himself to seem cold hearted because it's expected of him to be.

Maybe instead of seeing him as insensitive, he starts to see how many pitfalls and nuances there are to human interactions, and that Spock tries really hard not to compromise either his Vulcan culture or the comfort/normalcy/social customs of those around him.

And he sees how affectionate Spock really is towards Jim, and how that carries into his actions and causes Spock to worry about Jim. Maybe he'll get to see some of Spock's humor and playfulness, and other things he usually only shows Jim.

And Spock gets to see that Bones hides his affection behind his grumpiness (because it's safer that way: he lost his marriage and his daughter the last time he was vulnerable), but also that he's not always cranky: maybe he gets to see Bones heal someone other than Jim, and see that he's good at making others comfortable. He starts to appreciate the logic that Bones uses not just because he's a doctor but also because only a smart, caring person could be so adaptable, and that there's a reason he's CMO-- he earned it.

And maybe the reason why he's so passionate about things is because he's personally seen the damage and fallout of mistakes, miscalculations, and ambivalence. As a doctor he's witnessed so much pain and death. Cutting out all emotion in decisions involving the fates of living beings runs the risk of forgetting they're living beings, and that dehumanization is dangerous.

His emotion is logical because sometimes it's the only way to remind others and call attention to the fact that individual life matters. Pain, death, and destruction matter. And in a lot of ways, he speaks for the dead and for those too damaged to speak for themselves.

They start to see why they really fight so much: Bones didn't understand that Spock does care and does act sometimes from emotion, and Spock didn't understand that there's logic in emotionalism sometimes and that Bones is more logical and rational than he originally considered.

Eventually they even bond over they're shared affection (and worry) for Jim, but individually believe Jim to be in love with the other.

All the while Jim can see the budding affection between them. He watches them fall in love, thinking now he's lost the two people most important to him-- and to each other.

But really, they're all just in love with each other. It all comes to a head when they're finally meeting up with a Vulcan healer, and they decide they don't want to break the bond.

Jim's devastated at first but quickly it turns from 'we came here to break our bond' to 'we don't want to break our bond' to 'actually, we'd like to add someone to our bond'

The potential angst for this is astronomical, but also think of all the great soft moments there'd be between these three idiots who're in love with each otherrrrrrrrr

[vickyvicarious]

An absolutely stellar quote for each of the villains from 'The Hundred Days':

Villefort shuddered at the idea of the prisoner cursing him in the darkness and silence, but he had gone too far to retreat. Dantes would have to be broken between the cogs of his ambition.

God, that second line is so good. What I love about this line is how deliberate and at the same time resigned it is. Villefort will sacrifice anything to his ambition, and by doing so finds himself somewhat trapped by his own choices. He has no way out but forward. While he may cringe a bit, and dreads the idea of reprisal from his enemies, he knowingly continues to walk this path.

...his denunciation had been accurate and, like all men with a certain natural aptitude for crime and only average understanding of ordinary life, he described this strange coincidence as 'a decree of Providence'. But when Napoleon had returned to Paris and his voice, imperious and powerful, was heard once more in the land, Danglars knew fear.

While his decision to leave here does end up working for him, it's motivated by no great strategic mind; rather, he is described as having criminal instincts but not a great deal more. He fears revenge (and that last line is fantastic) but, for all his scheming, he isn't the character who sees the picture around him most clearly (except in one distinct way - he remembers Dantes, and fears him, rather than any official/larger-scale fallout. He knows the kind of man Dantes is more than the others). That's Villefort, who is described above and earlier in the chapter as being quite aware of his situation and possible future ramifications, as well as having good instincts. So Danglars runs, always hoping to rebuild anew somewhere else.

As for Fernand, he understood nothing. Dantes had gone away; that was enough. What had happened to him? Fernand did not try to find out.

Look, this guy's dumb. He's a loser. He wants Mercedes, he hates Dantes, and that's as far as he goes. His lack of curiosity or awareness of what is truly going on around him makes him in some ways the easiest mark of them all, certainly compared to the two schemers above. This quote made me laugh.

Caderousse was called up as Fernand had been; but, being eight years older than the Catalan and married, he was not recruited until the third wave of conscription and sent to guard the coast.

Okay, I admit this stretches 'absolutely stellar quote' to the limit. It's not really at all, but I do feel like it kind of sums his role up decently. He's kind of a sucky guy, but not as much as the other three. He hangs back, in terms of villainy, both in convicting Dantes and in profiting off his absence, compared to the others. While he does get drawn in to the villainy repeatedly, it is more reluctantly/gradually... but it does still happen. He succumbs to temptation. He gets used, he keeps quiet out of cowardice, he gets greedy, etc. I dunno, it's probably just because I thought some of the other lines were somewhat character-defining, but I thought this line about his eventual conscription sort of matches his role among the villains.

Also, a couple bonus lines that I love:

So it was that Dantes, during the Hundred Days and after Waterloo, remained under lock and key, forgotten, if not by men, at least by God.

The reversal of the usual phrase here, where he may be remembered by men but has been forgotten by God, is delicious.

It was not the fact that Mercedes lacked the courage to carry out this intention, but the succour of religion that saved her from suicide.

I dunno, I love the emphasis on her bravery and her genuine love for Edmond. Also the contrast of her 'hopeless expectation' driving her to suicide being held back by her religion and the comfort she recieves from Fernand is such an interesting contrast to Dantes' own suicidal thoughts in prison.

[technoturian]

So, I'm of two minds about the Brotherhood of Steel plotline. On one hand I expected more, but I also expected maybe too much, and I don't think they really delivered what I wanted. But on the other hand, they were still one of the most compelling storylines in my opinion.

When the Brotherhood arrives in Fallout 4, they start sending out parties to "clean up the Commonwealth", and unless you've made enemies of them, they don't attack civilians. They're there to "help". You'll just be running around the open world, hear gunfire, and then check your targets because there's one or two guys in power armor and a couple of subordinates, all with NPC (aka not hostile) bars, just there to wreck every hostile in their way. It was a powerful feeling to be like, "Oh crap, there's BoS here. Tread lightly and don't accidentally hit them and bring down the thunder." They were impenetrable but clear in intent. I didn't have to start a war with them, but I did have to stay out of their way.

And so yeah, I was a little disappointed at the choice to make them all hypocrites and idiots whose belief only holds so far as they fear reprisals for disobeying. I think they wanted to tell a story about the toxicity and cult-like mentality of military culture which uses fear and intimidation to force people to act on their worst impulses, and yeah that's real and yeah it was very interesting to watch... I just wanted the zealots. I wanted the true believers. See, I found the Brotherhood so interesting and frightening not because they were spouting a bunch of stuff they didn't even believe, but because they did believe it. Whereas in the show, every BoS character seemed like an opportunist. I understand they even referenced this with the elder saying they'd lost their way. And perhaps a new wave of zealotry is forming for the next generation, but that didn't seem to be his implication, which was more like, "We lost our way, fine, let's drop the act and just get messy."

I don't think the way they did it was more or less realistic, it's just where they decided to take it and the story they wanted to tell. I am interested to see if as Maximus gets dragged further in if we see more of that side of it, the knights who actually, fervently believe in "the cause" and that warped, rigid idea of duty and honor, not just bullies in power armor looking for any excuse to hit something. Because I find the former much more frightening than the latter.

[its-in-the-woods]

Down the Rabbit Hole Chapter 14

Chapter one here, two here, three here, four here , five here, six here, seven here, eight here,nine here, ten here, eleven here , twelve here , thirthen here

master list

Pairing: Walton Goggins x You

Rating/Warning:  As always minor get out. Like why are you even here leave. Alcohol use, angst/fluff, hurt/comfort, domestic cuteness,

Synopsis: Updated synopsis, Saturday evening doesn't go quite as planned but sometimes that's exactly what is needed.

Note: These are going to be spaced out going further as I have a fallout AU I want to start releasing. But these will still be coming out every 2-3 days <3  Thank you for all the love and support it's greatly appreciated!Keep reading

*To the readers who are new hello! Welcome. It's been so fun seeing y'all pop up in my notifications! Don't be shy leave a comment <3. To those who have been with me since the beginning thank you so much for still being here!*

***

The two of you lay there for a while curled around each other. You enjoy that comfortable silence just listening to the other one breathe, heartbeats pounding in sync. Fingers roving over each other with no other purpose than to feel. The sun starts to go down through the trees as the time ticks by. Something about just getting to spend time together, nothing else in the way.

“Do you want to have a shower?” Walton mumbled hands still tracing patterns against your side.

You hum for a minute, “Probably not a bad idea, What do you want to do for dinner?” 

Walton leans and gives you a slow kiss, tongue running along your teeth, before laying back, “I got some fish that would be nice. Can do up the bbq, outside, enjoy the evening air.”

“That sounds wonderful,” You grin, before sliding off of him. You wince slightly as your butt hits the sheets.

“It still stings?” Walton asks sliding over and off the bed, he wanders into the bathroom coming out with a bottle of advil. 

You shake your head, “It’s okay, I should probably take it with food.”

Walton’s eyebrows go up wrinkling his forehead, “Grab something from the trays and take one.”

“Okay, I will take one as long as I am allowed some cheese,” You grin, grabbing the bottle from his hands. 

“You can have whatever you like,” He gives you a kiss, hands rubbing at your butt. 

You rub your nose against him, “Going to have one with me?”

“Already got the water running,” He smiles, and you follow him into the bathroom. 

The shower is quick, Walton making sure to put more cream on your wrist and ass. Also, you snack on something and take advil. Then he was grabbing a pair of worn sweatpants and an oversized shirt, telling you to put them on because it’s cool outside. You don’t mind slipping into the soft clothes, Walton doing the same. It makes you feel like you’re being hugged by him. He grabs a brush, comb, and elastics out of your toiletry bag. You raise an eyebrow but he doesn’t say anything just walking out of the bedroom. 

You follow him out into the living room, he swings the windows open letting in the cooler evening air. Placing the hair tools on the dining table before he wanders into the kitchen. You help him dig out several items, laying them out on the counter. He also grabs a couple of bottles of booze, a mixer, and glasses. 

“Come over here,” Walton asks, pulling a chair out from the kitchen table, you sit down still unsure of what he is up to. 

He brushes through your hair, in long fluid strokes of someone who had done this before. Being gentle on any tangles you might have, fingers carefully working the knots out. You are surprised at how adept he is at it. Large hands use the comb to part the hair into sections before braiding it easily. He then ties it off and lets it rest against your back, hand running back over the strands. 

“How do you know how to do that?” You ask, fingers going over the twisted strands. It’s tight enough to keep its shape, but loose enough that it won’t pull against your scalp. 

Walton smiles as he walks over starting to pour various liquids into the shaker. “Grew up around a lot of amazing women. Taught me a thing or two. Also, Trevor mentioned how much you liked having your hair that way.”

“Of course, Trevor would be giving away all my secrets,” You tease happily, taking the drink he handed to you. It tastes amazing, and you can’t help but take another sip. 

“Ahh yes 'cause you have so many skeletons hanging in your closet,” Walton winked sipping on his drink. 

The two of you move outside, sitting on a patio set as Walton fusses over the BBQ. You lean back in your chair enjoying the cooler evening. Taking another sip of the drink, it had grapefruit, mint, and gin. A lovely combo that had the start of a buzz thrumming at your temples. Walton sat beside you, drink in hand as he melted into the chair. 

“Mmm, it's a lovely evening,” He hummed, fingers tapping on the chair. “I was wanting to talk to you about a few things. To do with work.”.

You nod your head as you stretch out your toes, getting comfortable in the wooden seat. The night air was different here, you could smell hints of the city. There was the noise of the car in the distance, a slight buzz of ambient noise, just enough of a humm to let you know the city lay a few streets away.  

“For some odd reason, I've become quite attached to you.” He smiled as you rolled your eyes at his teases. “So I was hoping you'd come with me to my next gig. Douglas my agent, has someone who works for him. Charlotte, she's a sweetheart. She is happy to take you on as a client if you like of course. But she will help you with paperwork, visas, banking, and so on.” 

“Oh wow,” You swallow, It was a lot to take in. You hadn't thought about much, passed this week. Still in the trenches of the show, you were currently on. “Yeah, that would be fantastic. I have very little knowledge about this end of things. Are you sure they are okay with helping me?”

Walton took your free hand in his, “I promise if they weren't legitimate I won't offer. It can be stressful to figure out all the legalese of things. The agency I am with is very knowledgeable about how that all works. They'll be able to make sure you can go where you need to when you need to without worry.”

You nod, the reality of it sinking into your chest. This was actually happening, you were going to be moving to LA, and traveling with Walton. It was wild, a few months ago you were wondering if you could even afford to live in a one-bedroom. Now this. 

Walton is up and moving around by the BBQ leaving your hand empty and your stomach knotting. You instinctively curled into a ball. Knees tucked against your chest, could feel yourself trembling a little, but it wasn’t from the cold. Your heart starts hammering in your chest. Panic had gripped your lungs in a vice and you were close to hyperventilating. You got up and were moving back inside hurriedly, you didn’t know where you were heading but you needed to move. Your bare feet hit the tile and you feel dizzy. Walton’s voice behind you, you head into the bedroom pacing back and forth trying to get your heart to stop trying to rattle its way out of your chest. 

A voice in the back of your head screaming that you needed to run. That nothing good ever came easy, that all of this could disappear as fast as it appeared. The doubt and worries, the night spent on the shower floor flood over you with a sob. 

Warm arms are wrapping themselves around you, your first instinct is to try and push him away. No. Nothing was easy. Life was cruel and you were bound to end up hurt again. The words rattling around your brain. Walton wasn’t going to let go though, he was much stronger than you letting you push without giving up space. Tears flowed out of you in a rush of emotions as you collapsed against him. 

He rubs at the back of your head soothing you, the feeling of guilt flooding over you. He had been nothing but kind, had flown you down to LA, and here you were a blubbering mess in his arms. You try to slow your breathing, lungs hitching and spasming as you finally calm yourself down. Relaxing you hug him back, letting the warmth and smell of him bring the moment back into focus. You pull back and he finally eases up a little, looking down at you worry lining his face. 

You look down at his shirt, feeling foolish for letting things get so bad. Your mind could be its own worst enemy, especially when you start to feel vulnerable. Anyone poking at those walls, disrupting your routine, but this wasn't that. This was new and you hadn’t let yourself feel these feelings in a long time. Your fingers work over the soft material of his shirt trying to dig words out of your mind that feel like scrambled eggs. 

“I-I- Umm,” You stutter clenching your fist, “I am sorry, I got overwhelmed.” It’s a lame thing to say, but your brain is so frazzled you can’t come up with much else. 

“Hush,” He whispers, kissing your forehead softly, “You got nothing to be sorry about. Been an intense day and I had to bring up work.”

You shake your head still feeling flustered but trying to listen to what he is saying. Even though your head is spinning in circles. Why couldn’t you just accept that things could be okay? 

“Hey,” He touches your cheek, having you look up at him, “It’s okay. We don’t have to worry about work or any of that until Monday.”

“No,” You shake your head, “It’s important, I just,” You take a few breaths, Walton giving you a little space to try and find your words. “My life isn’t easy, this,” You gestured around the space, “Is a lot to take in. A few months ago I was wondering how to make rent. And my brain just keeps running in circles about how easily this could all disappear”

Walton nodded guiding you over to sit on the bed, “Life has been hard, and I don’t know. This relationship between us is so easy.” He holds your hand, rubbing it between his own.

“I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall,” You say quietly, “I keep waiting for this to somehow end.”

He pulls you close to him, “You know we can’t know what’s to come. I know you know that. If I could promise you that it would never change. That it would only get better. But I don’t make a habit out of lying to people I care for. Sometimes our brain can be our own worst enemy.”

You nodded, wiping tears from your cheeks with your free hand. “It really can be. Thank you for understanding.”

He hums kissing where your tears fell, “And you aren’t alone in this. Even if things go south, I am not gonna leave you high and dry in a new city. That’s why you’re getting your own agent with all your own info, accounts all of it. Everything will be set up so that if things don’t work out between us you have a fallback.”

Worrying at your lip, he had a fallback plan, but not for him. For you. The man had only ever been kind, thoughtful, sometimes stupid, but he didn’t want to hurt you. He just wanted to be with you, whatever that meant. 

“Your brain is running again,” He whispered, “Let me in, please,”

You turn to him, kissing him softly, the two of you just sat there for a moment. The buzz that had infiltrated your mind was finally gone. 

“It’s never not running,” You say quietly, “Except when I am with you, when I am with you it’s quiet. Like the noise just goes away, and it scares me.”

“You don’t have to be scared. Not the only one whose mind is quiet when we are together. It is okay to enjoy the silence. Even if it’s just for a day or an hour. He stands offering you a hand, you take it and walk with him. “Me and you, whatever comes. We will get through it.”

Your lungs finally fill with air again, as you grab his hand and wrap your fingers with his. Heart slowing down and body easing as you follow him back out. 

“Ever consider writing poetry?” You tease at him as you grab a sip of your drink.

“Only across your backside,” He teases back, hand rubbing over your sore butt. “Pretty writing all over that,”

You flush, “still a little sensitive,” You pout a little but wiggle against his hand. 

“Hopefully the food is still semi-alive.” He says, giving you a quick kiss before going over to the BBQ.

You are more than a little bit tipsy, somewhere along the way Walton had turned the music on. The night had gotten cooler as the sun had disappeared and the two of you had curled up together on the sofa with the windows open. Blanket thrown haphazardly over top of tangle legs, as you sip on something that tastes like blackberries and honey. 

“Whatever you put in these,” You giggle as you run your hand over his legs. Something about the two of you just snuggled in each other's lap was so intimate. “Is addictive.”

Walton chuckles sliding further down the sofa cushions, eyes half closed, “Mmm, if there is one thing I know how to do, it’s make good cocktails.”

You rub at his feet, he groans watching you as you work them over. You carefully put the glass down on the coffee table so you can work at his arches.“You know how to do a few other things,” You grin, pushing your thumb in the right spot and watching him slide right onto the seats. 

He groans again, “What sort of things, sugar.” You can’t see his face but can tell he is smiling. 

“Mmm not sure I can say it out here, might scare the neighbors.” You tickle his toes making him try to grab them back. But you hold on until he’s sitting up swaying back and forth as much as you are. 

“Hey,” He glares at you, which is hilarious as his eyes can’t focus and his hair is disheveled. He squeaks as you hold his feet tickling again until he is rolling off the couch, you somehow are wrapped up in his legs and also end up on the floor.

There is a scuffle of blankets and legs as you both try and find a way out. You run smack into his chest, knocking him off balance and you fall on top of him in a fit of giggles. Throwing the blanket off the man who somehow still has his drink in his hand. You grab the drink and take a sip as you sit on his lap. He groans, taking the drink back from you and taking a sip. 

“How’d we end up here,” He grins, words slurring together as his free hand runs up your thigh.

“I am not sure,” You also slur, a little, “I think we got to go to bed.”

Walton chuckles somehow getting the glass onto the table beside yours. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news but uhh that ain’t happening again tonight.”

You let out a snort, wobbling yourself up, almost falling back onto the couch, “Mmm, no. Sleep. Actual sleep, you horny old man.”

Walton waves his hand in circles before you come over to pull him up. He is also wobbling, as you both try to make it down the hallway on unsteady feet. Giggling back and forth as you bump into each other, along with walls and doors. Once in the bedroom, you plunk him onto the bed, he groans and lays there as if he is unconscious. 

Running around you grab glasses of water and the bottle of advil putting them onto the side table. Head spinning a little as you try and keep yourself upright. Now you then need to deal with the half-asleep man who has somehow mostly slid off the bed. Poking him, you manage to get him mostly in bed. Getting him undressed was another matter.

“Walton,” You groan trying to get something off this man, he is not being overly cooperative.  “You got to help me out here.”

He grumbles trying to sit up, you get his shirt off and he flops back down. You throw your hands up and almost knock yourself over. Managing to get yourself undressed, you come around and flop the covers over.  Walt sat up slightly and crawled over to the spot like a drunken tiger, flopping into the open spot. Laughing, you go around and climb in on the other side. He immediately comes over and wraps himself around you. You move yourself as much as possible, getting comfortable and tucking the two of you in. 

“Mmm, you,” He grumbles against your shoulder, “Smell nice.” Walton’s words slurring so much that you can almost not understand what he says. 

Running your hand over his arm, squeezing at it a little, “Go to sleep, already.”

The sun is shining and you are warm. Walton is on top of you, groaning as you try to untangle yourself. A headache pushing at your eyeballs, you fumble managing to grab Advil and water downing both. Your teeth were fuzzy, dizziness floating around as you tried to figure out what way was up. Turning around you nudge Walton, he blinks a few times one eyeball fully open, hair in disarray. 

“Dear god, how do you still look good,” He grins, and you hand him some water and pills. Which he downs without a fuss, before scooting back to make room for you. Your face was flush as you slid in beside him

“You flatter me,” You grin against his side as you snuggle in, not bothering to cover yourself as you are both warm. “So what’s the plan for the day?”

Walton snorts, “Damn girl, I just got my eyeballs open.”

You pat his chest, “Can’t help myself, you’re just too handsome. Got me all wound up.” 

“Oh really now?” He says tickling your side, you squeal and try to squirm away. “What if I say you’d have to wait until those bruises heal?”

You pout, and huff at that, “I suppose I’d have to listen to you.” Sliding up you kiss him softly, he watches you, eyebrows raised. 

“Something tells me you aren’t very good at listening,” He says leaning in and giving you a quick kiss. Before sliding out, you huff but lean over to grab some water. 

You get up and stretch wondering what was going to happen. It was hard not to dwell on the previous night, you mulled it over a little more than you should be. Letting out a sigh you grab your toothbrush and brush your teeth. No. Today was a new day, no more overthinking, as if just the thought would magically make your brain stop. Grumbling at your internal monologue, remembering what Walton had said earlier. One day, one hour, that’s all you need. Letting out a breath you close your eyes, trying to let that aching feeling in your stomach leave. 

“You okay,” He stood in the doorway, still missing his shirt as he watched you. 

“One day at a time, right?” You reply, moving over to him, Walt wraps himself around you. “I plan on enjoying today.”

Walton hums squeezing you a little, how was he so warm all the time. You let yourself sag a little against him, if you could stay there for the day you would. He rubs your back and kisses your collarbone. 

“That’s all I can ask for.” He says, leaning back slightly to look at you. Why did he look at you like, making you feel like he could see right inside. “Today, just me and you.”

fifteen

*This got a little bit more angsty than intended but I am not mad about it

*I am still working on developing this relationship and their dynamic. It's interesting to dive into.

*as always likes, comments, reblogs are appreciated and keep the demons fed