#Adri talks in the tags

[wowa-bublord]

little oc refs,, Adrie and Jack (I need to rework Adries outfit a little more but agagagaghagsga)

[spearxwind]

Idk if this counts as spoilers but if Adri is essentially like a computer virus where did he get a physical body from?? Did he steal it from someone or was it provided for him to he put into??? So much to think about........

GREAT QUESTION! He stole it :)

He stole the body and the body's name for himself, and then fabricated an appearance and personality and mannerisms.

His body is one of the previously many nanomachine systems set in place in the Old World to safeguard and maintain both people and machinery. They were known as Guardian Arrays, but now they are referred to as Angels. Only two are currently known to still be fully operational, Adri being one of them.

The Fall (Otherwise known as the literal end of the world) was an apocalypse event where a system bug caused every advanced enough AI to go rogue and turn on mankind. It started small, but spread far and wide exponentially and it irreparably changed whatever it infected. The Arrays, being as important as they were, had more safeguards in place against this stuff but it still didn't stop them from becoming infected. Especially ADRIEL. The corruption inside it became severe enough that it first became a virus, and then grew into a full fledged self compiled AI that was notorious enough to be given its own name "Usurper", though you know it as "The Hydra".

The only way to avoid being completely wiped out during this event was to mass purge absolutely EVERYTHING (so humanity lost basically 99% of their tech and their knowledge). Did this work? kiiiind of.

Because of it's self compiled nature, ADRIEL was never able to be properly purged, so instead it was (after a monumental, worldwide effort) put to sleep beneath the earth, never to be disturbed again.

Until....

[elfdyke]

stunned i forgot to upload this. it was a christmas gift for @wiisnorkeling2006 <3 its about roe and pewter reuniting after they broke up and all the heavy feelings of want and loss that come with that

[maxipowell]

i'm bored! get to know me

thank you for tagging me, @kniesguy 🤍

1. Do you make your bed? i love to just tidy up the blanket and put my pillows & stuffed animals on it so it’s as comfy as possible 🥹

2. Favourite number? 4 and its multiple numbers

3. What's your job? administrative analyst at a legal department (no i’m not graduated in law school yes it is a long story)

4. If you could go back to school, would you?

fuck no! i love learning but girl no. absolutely not! i’ve already been through the horrors once, i don’t want it again

5. Can you parallel park? hmmm yes? at least guided by someone but yes

6. Do you think aliens are real? i’m scared of aliens so i hope they aren’t real because i’m not ready if they decide to come over here 😭

7. Can you drive a manual car? yep!

8. Guilty pleasure? reality shows and it goes from big brother to 90 days fiance, love is blind and etc I LOVE THOSE ESPECIALLY

9. Tattoos? i have two! a little heart on my left wrist and another one in my left upper arm

10. Favourite colour? green 💚

11. Favourite type of music? pop, rap, r&b, indie… just anything but country

12. Do you like puzzles? this is literally my favourite hobby, give me any puzzles and i’ll be 👁️👄👁️

13. Any phobias? trypophobia and ships. i hate big ships and i am so fucking scared of them like nope. no no no no!

14. Favourite childhood sport? swimming! i took swimming classes for 10 years so i love me some swimming 🥹

15. Do you talk to yourself? absolutely yes

16. Tea or coffee? both

17. First thing you wanted to be when growing up? a singer and then i wanted to be a professional swimmer (none of those went right so 😭)

18. What movies do you adore? legally blonde, 13 going on 30, school of rock, devil wears prada, how to lose a guy in 10 days, letters to juliet, love, rosie, carrie (the 1976 one, that’s the best one fr), scream, forrest gump, grease, to wong foo, dirty dancing... these are the movies i always stop to watch when they're on tv or when i need some comfort (yes even the horror ones)

i'm tagging @wmnylander @abruiseblue @kniesout @23knies @xariarte @maddenrichard @danielshoneybadger @blackzoebarnes @olliebjorkstrand @somborshuffling @lukevangelista & anyone who wants to do this, you can say i tagged you 💓

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

hii ari !! abt the second timeline where adriana was the protagonist .. i remember ur carrd saying that she was in a relationship w luna in that timeline too — would u imagine it being different in any way , compared to the third timeline ? would there be a case where one of them may remember parts of their relationship from the second, or have a 'gut feeling' / 'intuition' that was rly memories from the timeline before ? i hope this all makes sense LOL

Oh!!! This absolutely does make sense; thank you so much for such an intriguing question!

Hmm.. I think that it would be at least a little bit different, by virtue of the fact that in the second timeline, Adriana fully took the role of the player as seen in-game, with no-one else surviving Grandview Station. So, as a result, while I do think that she and Luna would fall in love in the same way - Luna’s feelings appearing quite suddenly after Adri saves Gardevoir and later herself from the sanctum, which was midway through Adri’s own attraction rising slowly over time since meeting her - I also think that Adriana wouldn’t have been able to spend quite as much time with Luna as she had wanted, because she had more responsibilities as the spearhead of the movement to take down Team Meteor. As a result, it’s plausible to say that while we were definitely still close, it was not to as much of an extent (or at least had not developed to that extent yet).

Conversely, in the third/current timeline, Adri doesn’t have to be there for every single event, because there is now someone else travelling the region (in the form of the player), whom she is now mirroring by continuing to collect badges but doesn’t have to constantly be glued to. So, for example, she can spend more time with Luna after returning to Reborn City by not having to go through the Devon Corp raid. By the time the player has done that + defeated Adrienn + explored potentially the entirety of Tourmaline Desert (which is massive) + gone all the way through Titania’s gym, all that Adriana has to do in the same timeframe is just defeat Adrienn, fly from Beryl Ward to the top of Mirage Tower (to pick up Corybantia), then continue north to Never After - because she catches up with the player right before they battle Titania, at least if they’re on Reshiram Route. This (and other examples throughout the story, which I’ll admit I haven’t fully come up with yet) gives her much more downtime compared to the player.

What I haven’t considered as much as I could have is the last part of what you were saying, about feelings and memories of the previous timeline poking through. And I think that is a VERY fun concept to play with - the game sort of touches on it right at the end, but not really to much of an extent. In fact, something that I was considering was saying that Adriana’s experience - so, the second timeline - was closer to Episode 18 than it was to Episode 19, because the game itself was still only on Episode 18 when I myself first played it. This allows for some fun moments in terms of things like Adriana being surprised to hear the name Borealis so early, or being apprehensive to enter Agate until Cain and the player arrive, or suddenly feeling a lot less sure of things after defeating Hardy (because E18 only went up to his Gym battle even though Adri herself did actually get all the way to the end of maingame), or - to bring it back to an F/O-focused perspective - being even more shocked than everyone else that Elias tries to shave off Luna’s hair.

I think that Adriana would be the only one to really have these moments of.. I suppose you could call them anamnesis, but she isn’t necessarily remembering the previous timeline, just getting vague intuitions of things. This is because she’s the only one to have more explicitly been brought back in from the previous timeline - and brought back from her fate in that timeline - because of Anna’s feelings of guilt causing her to intervene more. If she hadn’t intervened beyond the point of a simple reset, it wouldn’t have been guaranteed that Adri still travelled out to Reborn (because she wasn’t the chosen hero for this timeline), defeating the main point of bringing her back - which was to make sure enough people would be present to power Anna’s wish if the new chosen hero, the player, had to be saved like that as she was. I do think there is potential for her to eventually become more anamnestic, certainly moreso than Fern, but that may not actually occur until.. maybe the Giratina quest. Which is late into postgame.

..I think it’s safe to say that I could ramble on about this for ages considering how much I’ve already written here in one go. So, thank you very much for such a question, friend - I am very grateful to have been asked it and it’s given me a LOT to think about!!

[asianfrootloops]

so my brother uses a pouch I won at some event for school and I needed one for my design course so this child hunts around and finds this one he got as a return gift I love him so much

[balladetto]

✿ … but also Link and Leu????? 🥺

let ray yell about our muses / accepting / @hyaciiintho ( Leuko )

YES, OF COURSE!! ahhhh, i have so many things i want to talk about with them!! crying over all that leu does for link over the course of their journey and how absolutely integral his support is in carrying link, whole, through events and situations that would've otherwise had him shattering and gluing pieces of himself back together with navi as his only anchor — but also! link tries so hard to look after leu in return, and one of the ways this manifests is through dogged attempts to get him to eat more.

it starts off as worry for his poor health, then flows into the enormous love link feels like he can't find the words to express. whether it be with foraged goods, leu's own cooking, food at their accommodations, or link's cooking, he develops a habit of regularly pushing more onto leu's plate or in his hands and making full use of the Pleaseeeee? stare nobody tells him he's got because he'd be too powerful if he knew asfkdjfl

gently weeping at the concept of leuko teaching link how to read and write way earlier than he'd learn to in what canon i have for him too! he'd be so receptive to learning from leu given their connection ♡

and now i'm cheating by adding one more tidbit but i need you to imagine this with me. musically inclined twins who duet when the world doesn't seem like it's going to end in their next breath, and— and if leu sings or uses his voice in any capacity, sometimes link uses the ocarina, sometimes link hums right along with leu. having his voice be a constant, daily presence would actually help so much in getting link used to his own voice while he's in that older body 😭😭

[pizzaplex-stargazer]

some INSANE person just paid for 4 sets of pins to be given away so. when i hit 400 ill let yall know how i plan on doin this :D

[stickar00s]

going through the great god grove tag is so crazy you mean to tell me that not everyone played this game for 6 hours straight to get to the ending as soon as possible because they needed to inject the plot into their veins?

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟦: 𝖥𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝖨𝗆𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝖬𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋

the cast // series masterlist

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5 || chap. 6 || chap. 7 || chap. 8

‼️ DISCLAIMERS FOR THIS CHAPTER ‼️

Dealing with Grief and Losses, Trauma Responses, Trauma Bonding, Implied Mentions of PTSD, Mentions of Multiple Deaths & Reader pulling bitches??! 🤭

Italics alone are the Reader’s Thoughts

word count: 5.3k+

tag list: @s0r0ws @starvviss @kjisbae17 @lov3rgiiirl @starless-nightz @random-girls-loves @coolgirl458

author’s note: anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please don’t be a silent reader and interact within the chapter. ahhh clarisse and reader FINALLY meet!! and so did adrianna and reader!!

🌊 🐚 ✘ 🔥🗡️

CHAPTER 4, EPISODE ONE

Your mind was hazy, blurring visions glitching as you managed to make sense of everything. Through your half-lidded eyes, you saw two figures standing above you balancing out the scenery of the thunderstorm outside.

“Where am I?”

“Trust me, new girl, you don’t wanna know.” The unknown girl spoke, appearing to have braided hair.

“You look pretty banged up, so you should rest, to recover from recent injuries.”

“…Who are you? What are me and my brother doing here?”

“I’m Annabeth, and your parentage is the reason why you’re here.”

“What– what does that mean?!”

“That means it’s our godly parent’s fault for making us the way we are,” Another figure appears, this time having blonde hair.

“Adrianna.” The younger girl’s figure shushes.

“It is their fault regardless!” She protested.

“Don’t freak her out!”

“Annabeth…” you whisper woozy, “That’s a pretty name, and I really like your braids, wanna be sisters sometime? I promise to protect and love you forever and ever way more than the asshole who abandoned you. You too Adrianna, you sound like my new best friend.”

“…Is she high?” Annabeth asked. “What did Cassandra give her?”

“I don’t fucking know, but I want whatever Cassy gave her,” Adrianna chuckles.

Annabeth hits her on the arm.

“Anna Banana, can I call you that?”

“No you may not,” she answered monotonously, crossing her arms.

“We’ll see, I’ll warm up to you, I always do with everybody,” You grinned, shifting your focus to the other girl, “Adri, that’s a cute nickname!”

“Only you can call me that,”

“Really? Oh, that makes me feel so special!” You rejoiced, stretching your arms out, “Don’t worry, Annabeth, I’ll figure you out, one way or another,”

“You sure she isn’t your actual sister from a different father?” Adrianna inquires.

“I wouldn’t mind it either way, she seems smart and honest so I like that about her,”

You fall back into a dark abyss of unconsciousness as the girls’ voices begin to fade out all around.

Eventually, you woke up with a groan, everything began to hit you like a train wreck. You had no idea how long you were out for, the only thing coming to your mind was the two unknown girls from the other day, peering down and talking about you.

The rainy thunderous night, while desperately trying to escape a demigod killer. The car crashed onto the side of the street and everyone waking up battled and bruised. It was your mom’s last moment, in the car, telling you to be safe and discover your true potential. Your cries still echoed in your mind as you shuddered at the faint memory, struggling to keep the fresh tears at bay.

More importantly, the fight with the Minotaur was one you’d never forget. That wretched monster killed your other mom, Sally and so you killed it, driven by vengeance and grief.

It was a wonder how you survived so far, the aching heartbreak of recent losses still lingering in your mind.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” Grover starts.

“Y/N, you’re awake!” Percy states, rushing to you for a hug. You winced slightly at the impact but returned the hug.

“How long was I out for?” You examined your body, recognizing the same pair of clothes from the Minotaur fight.

“Two days straight.”

“Is there— Are our moms…?!” You gulp, too heartbroken to finish your statement.

They both looked down, refusing to admittedly say it, knowing the losses were a sore subject to discuss.

You frantically searched for the necklace, sighing in relief when you pulled it out, dangling the necklace in your face. You held the sentimental item to your chest, whispered a quick prayer to your parents, and briefly kissed the necklace. The bracelet you wore on your right wrist reminded you of your mother, Sally, gifted on your 10th birthday. It was a Pandora charm bracelet, matching ones, yours was silver and hers was gold.

“I just wanna be left alone right now, if that’s okay.”

You wished the earth swallowed you whole.

“Well, it’s a big deal to kill a monster like that.”

“Did you see it?” Percy asked.

“So, I wanted everyone to know–“

“Did you see it? Did you see what happened to our moms?”

You blinked away the unshed tears, clutching onto your mom’s necklace with one hand and using the other, fiddling with your mother’s bracelet.

“I did,” Grover spoke after some time. “Y’know Y/N most people would go for the eyes but you went for the neck, I’m impressed.”

“She went for both, but okay,” Percy mutters.

“Thanks, Grover, please can we keep the commentary to ourselves for right now?”

“Oh…” Grover catches on, his eyes crinkling in sadness as he holds his head down, “I’m sorry….”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“For not doing my job properly,” His ears dejected as he looked down shamefully “…I failed you both.”

“What happened to my moms wasn’t your fault, you couldn’t have predicted that or stopped it.”

“But I still feel guilty.”

You remained silent, eyes stuck on the ground before a sudden weight crashed into you, catching you by surprise.

“I know I can’t take your sadness away, believe me, if I could I definitely would. So I’m going for the next best thing, a hug.”

A small genuine smile appears on your face at Grover’s statement as you reciprocate the hug before feeling another presence join the hug. Percy nuzzled his head, smiling as you three lingered in silence for a while, comforted by each other.

“Wait,” you backtrack, being the first to pull away from the group hug. You noticed the Minotaur’s horn on the table, “That fight with that thing was real??”

“Oh yeah,” Grover nods, “It’s also called a Minotaur, that doesn’t matter and you probably don’t care.”

“Look at you catching on, I’ve never been prouder.” You joked, finally taking in your surroundings. “Where the hell are we?” You inspected the room, getting up from the bed.

“Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”

“That’s a stupid ass name.”

“It kinda is.”

“Guys,” Grover stares at the sibling duo, “Not the right focus.”

“Totally.”

“My bad,”

“Y/N, I think you should change into something a little less…dirty.” Grover insists, gesturing to your dirty outfit.

“Good call,” you click your tongue, “Where’s the shower? I’m due for a nice hot steamy shower,”

Grover looked at you with a hesitant smile.

“Oh, please don’t tell me this is an actual outdoor camp where I shower in a communal?!”

The rest of the day went by slowly for you and somewhat, gloomy. Taking a nice shower and changing into fresh clothes was one way to ease your mind, but it only numbed halfway. You wore a bright orange shirt, consisting of the engraved words ‘Camp Half-Blood’ warped around a circle, surrounding a flying horse, and a pegasus, all in black.

Not going to lie, the specific choice of color was too blinding for your taste but you had to tolerate it. Apparently, this shirt was all they had…probably the only one they’d give you, so you took the shirt with gratitude.

However, your beige cargo pants and simple black converse shoes, pulled it all together, making you look presentable.

You complained when viewing the shirt in the full-length mirror in the bathroom though.

How can a camp be in a shortage of decent shirts but have many of these human-size walking traffic lights just lying around? How many kids do they want to come to this camp? You couldn’t even stand a school full of students, and now, this camp is filled with them, you couldn’t escape kids no matter what.

Getting bored of loathing your shirt, you ventured through the infirmary, hoping to be entertained.

The lingering effects of your parents’ deaths still took a toll on you. Your mood was dampened, despite attempting to hide your emotions from your brother, Percy, to not worry him even further.

You found yourself sitting on one of the lounge chairs on the patio outside.

“Hey, new girl,” A voice calls out to you.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, sitting up slightly at the new presence of a stranger.

A pretty stranger too…seems to be around your age, and looks to be a natural blonde white girl. Who also seems to be wearing the eye-soring orange of a shirt.

“Yeah?” You answered hesitantly.

“Is that chair taken?” She points to the empty chair.

“I wanna say yes but I feel obliged to tell you to fuck off,” You honestly respond, shrugging your shoulders.

The blonde girl stared at you in amusement at your honesty, and so were you, shocked even by your unusual behavior. You winced at your harsh tone, refusing to believe your own ears at your words. Great, be an absolute bitch to the girl who wants to be friends with you, nice going Y/N!

Most of the time, you were nice to everyone, but your patience and kindness wore thin so you spoke the first thing on your mind.

“Yes or no?”

“Sure,” you exhale.

You closed your eyes, leaning back in your chair, ruining your posture completely. The footsteps pad against the wooden floorboard and halt when she sits down.

“To be honest I thought you were nicer,” She started, “Sucks to discover you’re just a pretty girl with an ugly personality, message received,”

“Just caught me on a bad day, I’m quite interesting once you get to know me.”

“Oh, I’m certain.”

“Can I confide in you?” You asked quietly, leaning toward her as if you were entrusting her with a major secret.

It was random for you to trust the promise of a stranger, but she felt different, she felt trustworthy enough. Either way, you need to rant your true feelings about recent events to someone. Just to freely talk with them without judgment or their personal opinions, only them listening. You’d talk with Percy, but you doubt he’d be able to assist due to his many lack of experiences in life as yet or burden him with your issues.

“Hit me.” She replies.

“My life changed drastically in only a few hours, and I don’t know how to…cope with it… with everything regarding it. Especially…”

“I lost my mother too,” she hums lowly, casting her eyes downward, a faint sad smile as she recalls the traumatic memory. “When I was 8…she died right in front of me. We were arguing about my father and how I had to leave for my own safety, but I refused to hear her out. So in a desperate plea to end the conversation…I didn’t know where this blinding source of energy, this new power came from, and…it scared me so much. Next thing I knew, the kitchen stove turned on and everything else happened way too fast. The horrid desperate screams, her helpless body being engulfed with flames, and the wretched sound of her body hitting the floor with a final thud. I still relive her death in my nightmares at times, I think my dad does it to haunt me, or maybe it’s my own self-consciousness telling me I did that to my own mother…”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, it must have been horrible for you, a little girl, to endure hardships this early in her life,” You leaned closer, resting your hand on top of hers before hesitantly pulling her into a comforting hug. “Don’t blame yourself for your mother’s death, it was never your fault.”

You frown, noticing the blonde slightly flinch away from your touch. You quickly moved your hand away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable again.

“Sorry, I like to comfort people, it’s an annoying habit…I know–“

Taking you by surprise, she instantly pulls you in another hug to soothe her worries.

“Thanks, I guess I really needed that. Sorry if I was crossing any boundaries or being too clingy.” She pulls away from the hug.

“Of course, anytime. I’m always here to help a friend, especially if they’re coping with a past trauma.”

“It’s fine, it’s in the past,” she wipes away stray tears, dismissing the tragic experience of hers.

“No it’s not fine, it’ll never be fine. That shouldn’t have happened to you.”

“I believe you owe me a tragic story too,” she chuckles, trying to diminish the somber mood.

You send her a weak smile, “Prepared to get one story for the price of two then,” You exhaled heavily, “On the way here…to camp half-blood, me and my family were outrunning the Minotaur, and if that couldn’t get worse enough, it’d rammed itself into our car, knocking us off the road. I was the first to wake up and get everyone out of the car, and…when I went to rescue my mom…she wasn’t moving, unresponsive and quietly still, that’s when I realized she was dead, although my poor attempts to revive her weren’t clearly working out. By the time me and my brother managed some distance from the Minotaur because of her distraction, that monster crushed her with his…bare hands, and she turned into…” You hesitated, pondering whether to proceed with the following information, “She died from the crushing impact…I killed the Minotaur for that. I killed the Minotaur for killing my mothers,”

“Oh…wow, just so you know…I’m so sorry that happened to you and your brother. Your mothers sounded very brave and loving,” Adrianna murmurs, squeezing your hand gently.

“Well, that’s life, what can you do?” You wiped the tears away.

Hearing the quiet sniffles coming from you, a frown tugged at the blonde girl’s lips, “I don’t know how to comfort you very well, so would you like a hug?” she negotiated with you, “Ask for one, get one free?” She joked.

“Sure, I would love a hug!” Your sobs came out in a hearty laughter, accepting the comforting hug.

“I just get a feeling that she’s still somewhere here with me,” you played with your necklace.

“She is,”

“And so is your mother, she knows what happened to her isn’t your fault,”

“I like you, let’s be best friends.”

“Sure, okay.”

“Huh, that was easy,”

“I think we get along so well because of similar past experiences,”

“It’s been proved that therapists call that trauma bonding,”

“We don’t have any of those here – therapists, I mean…but trauma bonding, ohh, there’s plenty enough to go around!” she whistles, “We’re destined to be each other’s therapist and forced to deal with our own shit in the process. It’s a lose-lose situation, we all cope here differently.”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice.” You muttered, noticing the sunset arriving on the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, maybe this camp wouldn’t be as bad as you thought it would be, considering you made a new first friend.

Adrianna exhaled, standing up and patting off any dust off her pants, “I gotta go, but someone will be back with dinner for you and your brother,”

“How long until me and Percy can actually reacquaint with other people our age?”

“Not too long, trust me. Whenever you reach, keep an eye out for me, okay?”

“Of course,”

“See you later, Y/N!”

She leaves your sight, heading back towards the actual camp alongside the other campers.

“See you later, Adri!”

Huh, your first true friend you made all on your own. Your parents would be very proud of this, you know they truly would...but they weren’t here. They won’t ever come back, and sooner or later, despite the grief, you’d have to overcome their losses and move on with your life.

Your eyes flicker down in sadness, reminiscing on your mothers, your favorite memories of them, and celebrating your milestones. Gosh, they missed so much, making you wonder how much more they will be missing out on in your life.

Later that evening, the crickets chirped loudly in the grass as you stared at the sky. Percy was still inside the infirmary cabin, lying in the bed, keeping his thoughts to himself.

You wanted to be there in his time of need, but you knew he processes things differently from you. You weren’t always going to be there for him, to be his steady rock every time. It pained him to come to that realization, but he knew it was true, that you had your own life to manage.

So reluctantly with a heavy heart, you knocked on the door lightly, nervously chewing on your bottom lip. Of course, Percy locked the door, demanding some privacy and time to reconcile with his grief as well.

“Hey, I’m here if you need to talk…we don’t even have to talk…we’ll just wallow in silence if you prefer. Just know I’m here for you.” You stammered.

He remained silent, waiting as you left him alone once again.

“I’m sorry I was unable to protect our mothers, I felt like I should have done something more, or if I’d known ahead of time, I would have prevented their deaths. I’m just…I’m so sorry Percy, I never meant for any of these to happen to us. Please, you have to believe me, this was never my true intention,” You cried, pressing your body weight against the door. No tears left your eyes, it was just your voice cracking with each word.

Still, he stayed silent, even to your desperate pleas.

“Okay, I get it you’re silent now, but whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here, so I’ll be outside.”

You turned to walk away but stopped yourself to say one more thing. “I love you, Percy, and I’ll never let anything happen to you,” You promised.

“I love you too, Y/N.” He murmurs, hoping you’ll hear him.

“Dinner is soon coming, so please eat.”

“Okay, tell me when it’s here,”

As your footsteps retreat from the door, a small smile curls up on his face, content with your presence.

Opening the front door, you stepped outside, closing it behind you, overlooking the sight before you.

Another girl walks up to the patio of the infirmary, balancing two trays of food in her hand, them being foiled-wrapped, supposedly being your dinner. She is absolutely gorgeous! Her skin was beautiful, an olive tone, as the golden hour sunkissed her body, showing off her muscular arms that slowly strained with every movement.

She has curly hair, seemingly refusing to restrain it, which probably tangles quickly, giving her a hassle to handle but you doubt she cares. The olive-skinned girl wore the same dreadful orange camp shirt and a simple pair of blue jeans.

Why am I talking so much about her hair? Snap out of it! Focus on what she’s saying instead of wondering what flavor shampoo she uses.

“What’s up with you? You’ve been saying nothing for a little while, it’s getting quite concerning. I can assure you there’s nothing special about this place. The whole thing is a dump,”

Oh, shit, she noticed me staring at her! She probably thinks I’m weird now. How did I proceed? What do I say to justify myself? Is there anything possible to say to justify my peering eyes on her? Nope, I don’t think there is. This is so fucking embarrassing!

“Just….” You cleared your throat, scratching the back of your neck, rambling anything, “Getting used to my surroundings,” You finished off, trying to convince her about your whereabouts. Who were you trying to convince here more? You or her?

“Huh-uh,” she agrees unconvinced by your excuse, walking closer to you, “Well while you get used to your surroundings, you can eat something, if you fill your stomach with food, then perhaps your mind can regain control too.” she handed you a tray, filled with different sorts of food. She rested the other one on the mini table.

“Thanks for the food…” you squint your eyes, hoping to remember her name, if she even told you it yet.

She finishes, sitting on one of the patio steps. “Clueless and you are…?”

“Y/N.”

“Do you lack a last name or something?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Matthews-Jackson, call me any which one is fine by me.” You unwrapped your foil, glancing at your dinner choices.

“Clarisse La Rue,”

“Great. Quick question!”

“Ask away, clueless.”

“Where the hell are we?!”

She chuckles, “God, you’re really living up to that nickname of yours, clueless.” The girl sneaks a grape off your plate and munches on the fruit, “Just know it’s keeping people like us safe.”

You stared at the curly-haired girl unimpressed by her vague response, expecting more.

“Already told that, say something new.” You stated.

“Okay…for starters, I’ve taken a liking to you, which is saying something, even for me,”

She steps closer, causing you to gulp down your fear of personal space.

“I don’t know why or how you intrigue me so much when I barely know you, but trust me, I intend to find out.” her gaze pierced through yours, eyes analyzing your facial features and she smirked slightly at your body language. You flushed underneath her gaze, and your eyes averted elsewhere.

Her flirtatious smile sent an intense feeling in your stomach and your heart accelerated at an alarming speed. Thankfully, your brown skin concealed your blush or else a generous amount of teasing would be sent your way. Was it butterflies…bursting into millions of more butterflies?! No! No! Could it be…?! Maybe you felt slightly attracted to Clarisse, but could it go further beyond being acquaintances?! Guess, we’ll see soon…

“What’s this camp’s deal?”

“That’s not my place to tell you,” She distanced herself away, sitting down and leaning her head against the wooden frame. The two girls sat on the patio steps, continuing their conversation.

“But you could.”

“Yes, I could.”

“So tell me, then!”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because I could but I won’t,”

You roll your eyes, “That isn’t fair,” you cross your arms, huffing slightly.

“Nothing in life is, Matthews,” She muses, shuffling closer to you, “Now eat your food, I’m sure you’re starving.”

“Yes ma’am,” You playfully comment, picking around your food with the fork.

She smiles at your behavior, getting startled when your entire demeanor changes in an instant. Your wholesome voice was replaced by a firm tone of authority. It almost scared her a little bit to witness a whirlwind of emotions appear in an unexpected moment.

“Percy!” You yelled for your younger brother inside the infirmary room.

“What?!” His voice rang from inside.

“Dinner’s here! Come eat now or you’ll starve tonight!”

“Y/N, don’t touch my plate at all!”

“Can’t make no promises!”

Clarisse turned to you, “You have a brother?”

“Yep,”

“I thought you came here alone.”

“You thought wrong then.”

“Is he annoying?”

“All brothers are!”

“I heard that!”

“Perhaps I should repeat myself: all brothers are annoying, especially my overdue growth spurt of a baby brother, who goes by the full government name of Percy Jackson-Matthews!”

“My growth spurt just hasn’t caught up to me yet. It’s perfectly normal for guys my age. Also, leave my name out of this!”

“Whatever, blondie. Either come in 30 seconds or your grapes are gone.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, but I would,” You challenged with a teasing smile, “We both know that I’m a big foodie.”

Happy to know that Percy’s feeling better and the sound of food only dignified that. God, he really was your brother.

The following day was a recurring one, you and Percy remained in the infirmary cabin, both deciding to get introduced to the head adults of this camp.

Your brother’s eyes caught onto another small building, an open room, a few feet away and you two stumbled across there.

“Excuse me, sir, I’m Percy Jackson-Matthews.”

“And I’m Y/N Jackson-Matthews, we’re new here,”

“Peter Johnson and Y/N Morgan are here.” He shouts to no one, creating an echo.

“Okay,” Percy shuffled on his feet, looking clueless, “That isn’t really our names.”

“Not even remotely close.” you shake your head at the man before you, “Do you know where the office is? Or who’s in charge of this…dump?” You peer at the stacked old dusty wooden box against the wall, instinctively jumping away when a spider appears. Percy scoffs at your sudden clinginess, wondering what scared you but he flinches away, noticing the large spider on the box too.

The man slides his shades down, getting a much better look at the two siblings.

“For your information, missy, this camp isn’t a dump.”

“Then what is it? I doubt it’s a heaven.”

“You’re right, it’s a hellhole, my personal hell, and you just happened to spawn here without warning.”

Grover’s hurried tone appears throughout the room as he runs inside, standing in between the two Jackson siblings.

“Percy and Y/N, this is Mr. D. He’s the camp director.” He introduced you two.

“Mr. D. This is Percy and Y/N Jackson-Matthews.”

“Yeah, Grover,” he throws his sunglasses on the table, “I heard them the first time.”

You tilted your head at the man, “But did you?”

Grover pulled you and Percy aside in a small corner of the room.

“You don’t really wanna start with this guy,” Grover warns.

“Don’t wanna start with him but he’s starting with us,” You retaliated.

“Y/N, the D is for Dionysus, that’s Dionysus,” He recorrects himself.

“What do you mean Dionysus?” You inquired, “That’s an ancient ass name, who names their kid Dionysus?”

“Like the god Dionysus?” Percy persisted.

“No way!”

“Yes, way!”

“There’s no fucking way!”

“You’re not supposed to be cursing,” Percy gasps.

“Oh, and what are you gonna do? Bite me, blondie boy,” You snarled at your brother.

“Do you wanna go? Do you wanna go right now because we can go right now?”

“Shut up you doofus. We’d both know you’d lose, even Grover knows it,”

“Make me, loser,” Percy stuck his tongue out at you.

“Guys let’s not…do that right here. Can you both please be civilized people, at least for a couple of minutes?”

“I can, I have more self-control than Percy,”

“My sister is an excellent liar,”

The three of you turned back to him, walking forward to his table.

“Excuse me, your highness.” Percy starts. You close your eyes, whispering an incoherent prayer as you shake your head in embarrassment. Dionysus grumbles in disapproval and you roll your eyes, slapping Percy in the back of his head, lunging his head forward a little bit.

“Ow, Y/N, what was that for?” He held his head, spinning to you in shock.

“Why are you calling him your highness? He’s not a god or royalty.”

“Yes, he is. Grover just told us.”

“No you imbecile, he told us Dionysus was a god, not a powerful god or not one of the gods.”

“He doesn’t have to be important, he’s still a god.”

“Very obviously not an important god if he works at this dump of a camp, this is probably some punishment for him,”

“Anyways,” he focuses his attention back onto Dionysus, “I think my dad may be around here somewhere, and I don’t know how to ask for him…we don’t even know his name, but I think we should see him,” he says, glancing at you, “I think we really need that right now. Can you help us?” he blinks at Dionysus.

“Yeah, he owes us that much,” You snort, crossing your arms, “Years of abandonment and he doesn’t have the decency to show up.”

After Percy’s sentimental confession, Dionysus sits upright, resting his coke can on the table, and begins to speak. “Actually I think I can….son.” he concludes, keeping a neutral face as he looks at you, “and my beloved daughter.”

“Dad…” Percy initiates, stunned at the revelation.

“Hold up, what?”

“Yes, Peter?”

“It’s Percy.”

“Exactly.”

“You idiot, he’s not our dad.”

“He so could be.”

“How? Tell me how Percy?”

“Save the sibling theatrics for later. Now, before we get to know each other, there’s something very important I wasn’t you to do for me, okay?”

Percy agrees to the instructions.

“In the galley,” You looked at the open door, staring at the far distant green galley, “There is a bottle of 1985 Château Haut-Brion. Will you go fetch that for me?”

“Uhh, fuck no, my brother’s not your lap dog, he may have the personality for it, but he’s not doing that.”

“No one’s talking to you, missy!” The older man rebuts.

“Is that really all you have to say to us?”

“Hey, um, Mr. D, even if Percy was–“

“Uh, uh, uh, bup! Grover, quiet, please. This is a nice moment, don’t ruin it.”

You stifled a laugh as Grover was rendered silent.

“The galley is right down that path. Grab that bottle and I’ll talk to you about whatever you want. You know, uh…you, uh…me, who cares?”

Percy contemplated his decision for a minute before concluding. He motioned to walk outside the room, but he stopped in his tracks, eyes intensely focused on a moving presence, the sound of hooves against the hardwood floor.

“Holy shit, what the fuck–“

Okay, you were clearly losing it now!

Mr. Brunner stalked closer towards you two, confident in his movements as he halted, staring at the siblings.

He clicked his tongue, “Percy. Y/N.”

“Mr. Brunner?” Percy asked, appalled.

“What are you?!” You inquired, bewildered.

At that, the man remained quiet.

“Uh, Mr. Brunner’s real name is Chiron.” Grover informs, “Camp activities directory, immortal trainer of heroes, he is–“

“Grover, thank you. I’ll take it from here.”

“Oh, Y/N and Percy, this must be a lot for you to process.”

“You being half horse is adding more to that,” You crossed your arms.

“Oh, no. It’s–it’s fine. I mean you’re a horse, my father won’t talk to me unless I get him a drink. Well this all seems totally normal and reasonable–“

“Dionysus has no clue who we are, do you?”

“Yes, I do.” Mr. D replied nonchalantly, “What kind of father would I be if I didn’t.”

“A horrible deadbeat one, that’s for sure.”

“Aren’t you the life of the party?”

“You just wanted to get drunk, did you?”

“Well, if I have to deal with kids like you, I’m gonna need one every hour of the day.”

“No, no, no.” Chiron explains, “Mr. D is not your father, either of you.” The siblings turned to him.

“Told you, dummy.” You grit your teeth at your brother.

“I could be.” he reaffirms with a nod.

“Yes, but are you?”

“Why must you ruin everything?”

“I was right,”

“Aren’t you a little miss know it all? I’m sure you’d fit in right with Athena’s children, possibly another sister of Annabeth.”

“Mr. D knows that Zeus has forbidden him from consuming alcohol and that demigods can do things for gods that gods are forbidden to do for themselves. Mr. D was taking advantage of that. Hmm?”

Your brother faced Mr. D and he only offered a shrug and displeased face.

“Percy, Y/N, walk with me and we’ll start again,” He bargains.

Agreeing with the man’s kind words, you and Percy follow after Chiron, to which Grover trails behind until Chiron stops him.

“Uh, Grover, please give us a moment,”

The boy sighed and fell back, watching you and Percy walking with Chiron towards the camp.

likes, comments and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

[wowa-bublord]

Greeting my friend, can you loredump about ur evil lesbian mermaid who I only JUST learned about?

( @izunias-meme-hole )

YES I CAN

her name is Adrie Koyla, she's a pirate in her late thirties, early forties

She's a mermaid from a magic city at the bottom of the ocean who was swept away and found by a crew of evil pirates, and after that point she was raised by them her entire life. From an early age she worked on the boat with the crew doing. generally evil and violent things. to earn her place and receive protection from the outside world in exchange. Only recently has she escaped from them and is struggling to find her own footing in her life without the power the bad guys gave her over others, while coming to terms with the guilt of her actions and the realization that the world isn't as dangerous as she's been lead to believe

[gallaghersgal]

NEW YEAR, SAME OLD MISTAKES, lip gallagher

chapter four of borderline, lip x bsf!reader (nickname: MK)

TAGS & WARNINGS → MATURE 18+. angst & fluff, smoking (🍃+🚬), oblivious idiots, adri psychoanalyzing lip, sad reader.

CHAPTER SUMMARY → you're left reeling after a kiss you never saw coming, with a boy who remembers nothing of the night. grappling with the outcome of the karen situation, lip decides to apply to MIT.

A/N → here she is!! got this chapter out quicker than i thought i would honestly. enjoy!!

WC → 2.7k

It’s nearly three in the morning now. After getting Lip to bed and helping Adri clean up from the party, you’ve been relegated to the fire pit in her backyard while you smoke down a prerolled joint from your bag. “Do I really have to?” you ask, only teasing her. “It’s freezing out here.”

“You know how my parents are about that,” she responds, standing a good five feet away as she pulls one of the chairs back. “Don’t care if it’s legal, they’d be pissed if they smelled it.”

You smile in return, taking a deep hit before blowing it out. The warm smoke soothes you, melting away the anxieties you’ve been losing yourself in all day. “They don’t really care if you smoke though? And they’re not even here…”

Adri shrugs. The way you’re avoiding mention of what you’re really out here to talk about doesn’t go unnoticed, but she knows not to push it. She’ll let you come around in your own time, or you’ll share the joint with her and she’ll bug you until you open up. 

Either way, Adri will get to play therapist. She’s looking at you from across the fire pit, the flames keeping the winter chill at bay. You decide to get it out of the way. 

“He kissed me,” you tell her. You take another deep drag, watching her face contort in shock, confusion, and something akin to horror. For everything the night has brought, you can’t help the laugh that escapes you at her reaction. 

“Pass me the fucking blunt,” she grumbles, scooting a bit closer. You laugh again, tendrils of smoke spilling from the corners of your mouth. You toss the altoids tin in your lap to Adri, it holds another joint along with your mini lighter. She lights the thing and inhales, wrinkles her nose at the taste of the smoke, and coughs out a question for you. “So, how did that happen huh?”

You stay quiet for a minute, lingering in the warm feeling in your chest. “I don’t know, really. He kinda just… did?” Your eyes meet Adri’s as you take another hit, fingers pinching the filtered end. She gives you that look, and you know you have to elaborate. “I was telling him that I’ll always be there for him,” you add, voice quieter this time. 

Her brow pinches and you can tell she’s thinking, running over any and every concept she’s learned in her pursuance of psychology that could explain tonight’s events. Despite your aversion to studying the subject, you appreciate Adri’s encyclopedic knowledge and rational nature, it keeps you grounded. 

“Loss for words? Or is the joint already kicking your ass,” you tease.

Adri shakes her head, “he didn’t say anything? Just kissed you?” She takes a hit from the joint and the smoke goes down easier this time.

“He was kinda yellin’ at me?” you tell her, watching as Adri rolls her eyes. “he said don’t you ever leave me, and then he kissed me”

Adri hums, nodding slowly. “Do you think he loves Karen? Or, do you think he loves you.”

Your brow furrows at the mention of her name, thinking back on the events of the night. Lip’s cold fingers wrapped around your arm, warm lips on yours. The way he tasted like whiskey. And regret. The way his body curved into yours, pressing into your heat as he kissed you. The way you kissed him back. 

“Adri, I love him,” you admit. You’ve never said it aloud before. As you bring the joint to your lips you feel a shiver run down your body, not from the cold. You love Lip Gallagher. God, you’re in deep.

The two of you are quiet for a moment longer, the relative silence of the night shrouds you. The only sounds are that of the cold breeze, the crackling of the fire pit, and your breathing. You miss the inner city for a moment, the bustle and noise, it’s never quiet. Even at this hour. You never feel alone.

“So theres this thing called attachment theory.” You raise an eyebrow and she continues. “He was neglected as a child, yeah?”

“Jesus Adri–”

“Stay with me,” she urges, taking a hit before stubbing out the blunt on the chair’s arm. Careful fingers place it back into your altoids tin along with the lighter. “When children aren’t given what they need in early development, they form a disorganized attachment style. You’ve always been secure for him,  and he doesnt know how to tell  between his feelings for you and for Karen.”

You scowl, tucking your knees up in the chair and holding your hand out for the tin. If Adri won’t finish that joint, you sure as hell will. You need it more than she does anyway. Another deep inhale of the bitter, citrusy smoke numbs the butterflies in your stomach long enough to ask quietly, “so, he probably doesn’t feel the same?”

She shakes her head, “that’s not what I said. All I’m saying is that, especially with the baby in the mix, he’s got this sort of cognitive dissonance going on. Theres you, and theres Karen, and there was supposed to be a baby. I’m sure fatherhood is important to him?”

You nod along, remembering the videos he was taking for his unborn son, the sweet smile on his face when he talked about painting a nursery for Karen, the baby sneakers he bought in preparation. You know in your heart that Lip is more devastated that he’s ever been.

“There’s a sense of responsibility too, to step up and be a father, no matter the situation. He got so attached to the idea that he didn’t know what to do when it fell apart.”

You sigh, head resting in your hand as you think it over. You understand, his life hasn’t been easy. You know how much he wanted this baby, and how much he wanted to make a life with Karen. You scowl. “He was forcing it, though.” Now it’s Adri’s turn to nod along, “she’s not right for him, and I’m right here, I’m right in front of him and I have been for years. But he doesn’t see it.”

Her lips purse and you let her think, smoking down the joint, it’s nearly finished now. “Well, I wouldn’t say you’re right in front of him.”

You roll your eyes, “Adri–you know I love you–are you blind? We see each other every day, literally. I don’t think I’ve gone a week without him since I was five years old.”

“You haven’t said anything though, have you?” she asks. You’re silent in return. “Exactly. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. ”

“What–” you swallow, your throat thick. You pretend it’s from the smoke, you pretend you don’t understand. “What does that mean?”

You know you’re lying. Adri knows you’re lying. You wait to see if she’ll call your bluff.

“He looks at you like you hung his moon and stars,” she tells you bluntly, deep brown eyes locking with yours. “He doesn’t want to ruin what you two have, and neither do you. You’re stuck in between.”

It hits you sharply, an overwhelming feeling flooding your body while a lump forms in your throat. Statistically, there are few outcomes where he stays. Where your relationship stays, or changes for the better. Many, many roads seem to lead to a desolate end. To growing apart, to never speaking again, to watching the boy you love stay trapped in the wrong relationship. Your eyes well with tears. 

“I don’t– I-I dunno how to tell him, Adri,” you whisper.

She moves closer to you, standing from her seat to stand at your side. You’ve stubbed out your joint now, flicked the filtered end into the fire pit and watched it burn up. Adri’s hand on your knee grounds you, she comes down into your space and takes one of your hands. “You’re a good person, MK. You’re an empathetic person. But you need to protect your heart. If you let him keep it for too long, it could end up shattered.”

[divider]

By four, Lip is awake and apologetic. By five, the two of you are sitting on your roof, sharing a cigarette. A small space heater in your window blows warm air onto your backs, and your head is tilted up to the sky. 

“Y’know, that’s the first time I ain’t had a new years kiss since I was… thirteen, I think?”

You swallow around the lump in your throat, reminding yourself you saw it coming. He has a tendency to drink until his brain shuts out the memories. He’s done it over lesser blights.

“Don’t really care about your romantic prospects, Gallagher,” you snap, holding out your hand for the cigarette. 

Lip passes it to you silently, he looks hurt. You don’t apologize. 

“Yeah well,” he scoffs after a moment’s time. “You’ll be happy to know shit’s done with Kar– Karen.” The way he stumbles over the fond nickname doesn’t go unnoticed either. “I’m not pickin’ up when she calls. That is if she calls, psycho cunt.”

You roll your eyes and take a drag from the cig he handed you. You lean back until your shoulders rest on the roof tile. You relax your body for the first time in a while, comforted by the moon above you. It wouldn’t be so bad it he was close by, if Lip used his potential here in Chicago. “You know, you could always apply–”

“What if I went to MIT?” he blurts out. You’re sure you’re hearing things. 

You force yourself to take a deep breath first. Four counts in and four counts out, like you’re at the barre again. Years later, the training sticks with you. “Massachussets. Lip, that would be…” you trail off, swallowing thickly and taking a drag of the woody smoke before passing the cig back. The end was burning your fingers anyway. “That would be amazing. Have you finished the application?”

Lip stubs out the cigarette, his fingers itching for another only to meet the memory of his empty pack. He shakes his head. “You got a cig? Chainsmoking helps the hangover.”

Now it’s your turn to scoff, you move the heater to crawl through your window, then beckon him back inside. He knows to lower the window to a crack when stepping back in, slumping into one of the two chairs you keep by your window. You think briefly on how you’ve always needed that second chair, lip over to smoke at your house just as often as you were at his. A constant presence. You’ll miss him. 

You hold out your pack of american spirits, turquoise. Lip wrinkles up his nose but takes the thing anyway, “these taste like fuckin’ cardboard MK.” 

At least after everything that happened last night, he’s still the same old Lip. That’s good, you tell yourself. It’s not convincing. 

You just roll your eyes and hold up your lighter, flicking it on as you draw your faces closer together to light both cigs at once. After a drag to soothe your nerves you tell him, “you have a personal statement from your UChi app, right?” You turn toward your desk and open your laptop, sitting it on your thighs as you cross your legs. “And your SAT records?”

Lip nods, “yeah I got ‘em, saved on my school account I think?”

You pass your computer to him then stand up. “Okay. I’m gonna get some snacks, and then we’re gonna get that application done.” His face lights up at the mention of food. “And then we need to finish our packets for AP Lit.” You giggle at the way he rolls his eyes, heading downstairs to find something to whip up. 

The next few hours tick by with comfortable conversation, mini pancakes, and plenty of application questions from Lip. He’s so unaware about some of these things, you wonder how his other applications looked. Well, application. Singular. From what you know, he’s only applied to UChi. And only under your encouragement.

At 6:53 Lip closes your laptop and stretches his limbs, finally finished. The sun is rising outside your windows, and your head lays in his lap. You’d moved down to the living room about half an hour ago, setting up a tray table for the laptop and switching on the TV. Your eyes were fluttering closed a mere ten minutes later, and your head had slumped to his shoulder soon after. You wake when he cards his fingers through your hair, mumbling to you.

“Hey, wake up. Look here,” he shows you an email on his phone, confirming his application was submitted. 

You rub at your eyes groggily, but a smile graces your lips. “Mm, proud of you,” you murmur, sitting up and stretching. “We can go to bed now?”

Lip nods, then wraps his arms around you. “Living in Massachusetts could be nice, I think. Thanks f’everything, MK. Gonna get home, but I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Slumping back onto the couch after he lets go, you nod sleepily. “Mmhm, AP Lit. homework.” You peer up at him as he ruffles your hair with one hand, the other pulling a cig from your pack before tossing it back to you. You ache a bit, watching as he leaves with a little salute.

Only when the door clicks shut do the tears begin to fall. 

Weeks pass one after the next, anxiously waiting for your college decisions. On a chilly March morning you wake in the Gallagher’s living room. Lip is already awake, fixing up something for his younger siblings. You rise from your spot in the recliner, closing the legs and stretching your aching limbs. You shuffle into the kitchen and steal a strip of bacon from the plate on the counter. 

“Can’t believe you let me sleep all night in that chair,” you tease, directed at Lip as you cover Liam’s little ears with your hands to add, “fuck you for that.”

Lip just scoffs, “yeah you’d love that,” he teases, and you open the fridge to hide the embarrassed flush on your cheeks. “Looked real comfy, didn’t wanna wake you. It was like two in the morning anyways.”

At that moment Debbie steps in the door from checking the mail. She screams Lip’s name, making him jump as she runs up, waving a thick red and black envelope. “It’s for you! Look!”

The fridge is closed just as quickly as you opened it, anxiously peering over his shoulder as he fumbles to open the envelope. “Shit! You do it MK, I can’t look.” When he passes it over you notice he’s trembling. With careful hands you tug at the opening flap, pulling out a folder with a letter enclosed. 

You read from the paper, “Phillip Gallagher, congratulations on your acceptance to Massachusets Institute of Technology!” 

You watch Lip’s eyes go wide, fingers reaching for the paper. He scans it over then continues where you left off. “Additionally, you have been selected to receive our presidential scholarship for academic achievement… which will cover the full cost of tuition.”

You hear quick thumps as Fiona and Ian clamber down the stairs. “You got in?” the older asks excitedly.�� 

“I-I got in… And I got a fuckin’ scholarship,” he states in awe. 

Before Lip can register, Fiona is throwing her arms around him. “Knew you could do it, look at you, a Gallagher goin’ to college!” She holds him at arms length, tears welling in her eyes.

When she finally lets him go, Lip turns to you with a proud smile. “I did it, MK.”

You swallow thickly, forcing a smile. “I’m so proud of you, Lip,” you tell him, pulling him in for a hug of your own. When you pull away you wipe tears from your eyes, hoping the assumption will be that they’re tears of joy. “Gotta go home, get dressed an’ all that. I’ll see you at school.”

You walk quickly from the room, hand covering your mouth to conceal a sob the moment you step out into the morning chill. You’re happy for him, really, you are. But your stomach twists in knots at the thought. You’d applied to a few schools, but your eyes were set on UChi from the beginning. Beautiful campus, and close enough to come home if you wanted. Staying in your city will be nice, but reality has started to settle in. 

It’ll still be your city, just without your best friend. You wonder if it’ll feel emptier. 

© gallaghersgal, 2024.

THX 4 READING → this chapter is dedicated to @ariiireads, and is 100% un beta'd :D

[hazellevessque]

ALRIGHT I FINISHED CRESS

I feel like I should start with this post I made because. Wow. Guys that was my crack theory I was joking 😭

While we’re on this topic DR. ERLAND??? WHAT THE FUCK??? DUDE I LIKED THAT GUY CAN WE KEEP HIM AROUND A LITTLE LONGER???

Ok back to my actual thoughts I think this book is my favorite so far. I can see why everyone said they loved it

Honestly I really really like Cress she’s so relatable and I love her imagination

Also <333 Cress and Throne <333 I love them <333

But their age difference does make me feel a little weird!!

We had so many deaths this book what. Sybil, Erland, like damn people were dropping dead left and right

Cinder is still my favorite character, I don’t think anyone could make me hate her honestly. I really loved the scene where she went back to the apartment and glamoured Adri and then after she was like “that was something Levana would have done.” I got chills

INDIAN LUNAR CHRONICLES CHARACTER LETS GO EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR MY GIRL TASHMI

I was also not expecting the wedding to be in THIS book. I thought it would be the series finally but hey I’m not mad

KAI AND CINDER. THE TENSION BETWEEN THEM OMG. MY SISTER WAS ABLE TO TELL WHEN I WAS READING A SCENE WITH THEM BECAUSE I WAS GASPING SO MUCH

They stress me out but I love them

And every review (these are not formal enough to be reviews) I need to talk about Iko because she’s SO fun. I love that she got a new body and the way she mad Kai look away towards the end

Based on the one (1) chapter we got with Winter I already love her and I’m so excited for her to be a main character! Also I’m starting to see what y’all are talking about with her and Scarlet…

Anyways I’m gonna probably start the last book tonight…oh wow I can’t believe I’m already at the last book. At least I have Stars Above and Fairest after this

Tags (ask to be added/removed): @caliburn-the-sword @permanently-stressed @winterrhayle @writergracethepanda

@typingwithmyhandstied @rosaadiazs @rxsewqter @qylinscafvne @hijabi-desi-bookworm

@livie1507 @silverstarssart

[toytle]

RULES: make a new post with the names of your WIP files. let people send you an ask w the title(s) that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them smth abt it!

tagged by: @bitchyblkqueer (ty for the tag!!)

i don’t rly write fics (yet), but i do have wips for my comic/art ideas! some of them might be script format, some might be art sneakpeeks, send an ask and find out! :]

1) toons [options: clark, batfam, barry, hal, nika]

2) does it matter who wins the argument? [batboys]

3) speedster love gaslighting iris [wally + iris]

4) gag gift [wally + barry]

5) bedtime story [halbarry]

6) pretty ugly [t4t hb au]

7) more than this [t4t hb au]

8) beach day [t4t hb au]

9) t4t yuri au [halberry]

10) talking out loud [westallen]

11) kiss and tell [westhallen, nsfw-ish]

12) misc. wips: one, two, three, four, five, six [halbarry, nsfw]

13) spiderverse au [oc: dayta]

14) karaoke [oc: dayta, crossover w friend]

15) kiss meme [31cg]

16) hair meme [31cg, oc: adri]

17) 31st century kids [31cg, ocs: bea, iris]

18) misc. wips: one, two, three, four [31cg]

19) new character concepts [oc: arya]

tagging: @f0rvalaka @hornbeetlethoughts @urutt @cutemeat if you have any wips/drafts to share 🫶

[one-winged-dreams]

OKAY, I considered a few Spiritbox lyrics so -gestures- Help

[away-ward]

I don't know if you've answered this query before, but I'd love to hear your opinion on one of the most controversial devil's night's characters... Damon Torrance.

He's a very divisive character in the fandom and for good reason. Yet, Damon arguably has the highest importance in the series due to how he is both an instigator of many key events, and he is also the character connecting a lot of relationships links and plot threads together.

In particular, I think Damon's relationships with both Will and Banks are fascinating to think about. Two people that he did dirty in the series (Will in Corrupt, Banks all through hideaway), yet he also claimed to love both to the point of insanity. It's an interesting paradox, yet for Damon character, it does make perfect sense that love and suffering are entwined for a good while.

Heyy! Adri, how are you? hope you're good.

I have talked some about Damon, certainly received and responded to plenty of rants about him, but don’t remember if I’ve ever had a question specifically about him like this.

If you are ever curious, I am usually pretty good with my tags, so you could search ‘#damon torrance’ but that might not bring up everything. And it's probably not as fun as my #will grayson iii tag, but what can you do? (most of the good stuff is in the tags)

Anyway. I probably don’t understand Damon very well. I’d like to think I do, but the truth his way of thinking is sort of an anomaly to me. Which is probably for the best.

He gets a lot of hype for being so dark and mysterious. But I wasn’t impressed with him? He just seemed to me to be the king of sad and mean, and a lot of his darkness felt like posturing. This isn’t to discredit what he went through, but… I just didn’t get the vibe that "dark" is who he really is. I think he was just hurt, and once that pain had been addressed, he seemed okay? He's not normal by any means, but then none of the these characters are, and I think that's the point.

However, much like everything with DN, I like the concept of Damon more than the execution. He is the driving force behind the serious, and most of the time, the group is either reacting to actions Damon took, or ones he might take. It seems that he’s the foundation of the group, and everything goes through him or is linked by him. On the one hand, I think this is great. I love the idea that these characters are so intrinsically connected. But I hate that Damon seems to be the only character this exists for. I hate that it seems like he’s the glue, without which this group would eventually fall apart. A true found/chosen family feels different. Each character is a piece of the puzzle, which together creates the final image.

I also think his relationships with Will and Banks are the most compelling for his story arc. Likewise, Banks and Will being the two he did the worst to is so interesting, because it’s an insane concept to wrap your head around. He was so focused on “saving” them, that he caused them seemingly irreversible pain and suffering. His claws were dug in so deep; he wasn’t just drawing blood, he was tearing them apart. There was a part of him that would rather see Banks and Will dead than alive and happy without him. He needed them to need him, because without them… there was nothing good left.

And speaking of goodness, in a weird way, he was “saving” them by trying to keep them innocent, away from anything dark and painful, almost to their own detriment. It’s like he wanted to take anything good left in him and pour it into them, to keep it safe.

What I wished for Damon, if he had to be in this role (and as we’ve spoken about before), was that he was a true guardian of the group. Always watching, always suspecting, always ready. I’ve also written about his relationship with Emory, and how I think those two should be the ones who know when things just need to get done and do it. No debating, no questioning about the method or the “right time.” Just quietly handle whatever problem comes up. I really do see him as somewhat of an enforcer. I remember in Corrupt, when Michael was talking about Damon’s playing style:

“He rarely thought about anything he did, and if someone put a wall in his way – justified or not – he came in swinging without hesitation or regret. This had been a useful quality on our high school basketball team. His reputation spread, and just the sight of him by the opposite team had them pissing themselves.”

This version of Damon is my favorite Damon. I understand he had to grow up. He needed to start thinking seriously about things. But a Damon that had this sort of backbone that also planned his moves? That’s dangerous. He just didn’t seem to have any of this drive or seriousness in Nightfall, which was a bit of a let-down.

I also have a post discussing the Damon and Christiane issue (which basically says Rika’s right, but she needs to mind her own business anyway). I used to think Damon was just being stubborn because PD needed him to be so he and Rika can fight, but after thinking about it, he has every right not to want his children around Christiane.

Overall, I think what this serious is desperately missing is an understanding of out each character interacts and relates to each other character. We have the most understanding with Damon. And yet, after Corrupt and then Damon’s redemption, I’m still unclear how he and Michael interact. Michael’s the leader, but is Damon really a follower? Is he happy to let Michael lead now that he’s gotten everything he wanted, or is it like “I let him lead because I can’t be bothered.” I don’t know. Strangely, I think we would understand Damon better if we also had better insight to the other characters.

Let's see, some more fun facts...

I've previously stated that instead of weird group sex to be the "initiation" into their "gang", everyone should get the chance to stab Damon and if they can do it, they're in. I stand by that.

When I hear NF, I think of Damon most of the time. Occasionally, it's Will.

I headcanon that weddings are weird in Thunder Bay because when their old schoolmates invite the town locals to their wedding, local business owner Damon Torrance shows up with his (2) two previously unknown sisters, conveniently married to his best friends, and his (1) one and only business partner that's married to his other best friend. That first year, nobody focused on the brides and it ruined everything.

I also headcanon that Damon wasn't supposed to be in the literature class with Will and Emory in NF. He was supposed to be in whatever class he had with the lit teacher from the beginning of KS, but he wanted to be with his friends and none of the staff had the energy to stop him.

I think Damon being good with kids actually fits his character really well, and I like that it was included (dude, he threw out his entire build and started over when he learned the kid like pirates just because. This is a man who cherishes children, no matter how gruff he is about it.). I wish it had been made clear that this is a unique trait for him, but it seems that the whole group just magically knows how to parent or has kids perfectly suited to their style of parenting.

I would have liked to know that he and Banks develop a healthy, separate relationship as they grow up, but still remain close enough to understand each other without much conversation. They naturally grow apart as their lives turn towards their families, but they can still keep their root systems.

I don't have anymore at the moment. And I hope this answered your questions... I'm not quite sure. But I'm also up to discuss certain points! Thanks for stopping in!

-ko