#Anna: have her stick around longer

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

posts that could be spn episodes

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[cobrakaisb]

ballad of a homeschooled girl

summary: a new arrival at camp half-blood is anything but extraordinary, but your attachment to the broody head counselor and claims of a mother who supposedly has no children cause suspicions to arise

word count: 3.9k

featuring: broody!luke who is somewhat soft for reader, angst, reader seems delulu (but she’s not trust 🤞), mostly primer for my upcoming luke series  

series masterlist ||| next part

the air is humid, causing the sheets to stick to your already clammy skin. you shift in the small cot, peeling the bedding off your skin, relaxing when the cool breeze caresses your arms and legs. it’s peaceful, and your chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. just as you’re about to cross back into dreamland, a girl’s voice causes your eyes to open. 

“she’s waking up! look!” she yells, and you know that she’s pointing at you. 

you sigh, propping yourself up on your elbows. you look around drowsily, trying to make sense of your surroundings. it’s when you make eye contact with a girl who has light pink hair, that you realize you’re no longer walking down a busy city street, hustling through the crowd. confusion settles in, and you wonder how you ended up in this infirmary, and whatever happened to that crazy lady who was trailing you. you open your mouth, trying to speak, but the girl just shoves a cup with a straw in it towards you. 

“drink,” she demands. 

you hesitate, uncertainty clear on your face. how can you even trust this girl? she seems to sense your emotions, because her hand rests gently on your forearm, pushing the drink closer to your chapped lips. 

“drink,” she repeats, and you nod. 

a small sip can’t hurt, you decide, and your lips wrap delicately around the straw. as you drink the liquid, you realize that it tastes like the pina coladas your dad would make with the fresh pineapple from the farmers market over the summer. you smile fondly at the memory, relaxing further into the uncomfortable mattress. you sigh in relief, feeling the throbbing in your head diminish. the tranquility, however, doesn’t last for long because the girl with the pink hair returns. 

“i’m anna,” she starts, taking a seat on the edge of your bed. “how much do you remember before you got here?” she continues. 

“where is here exactly?” you ask, shifting in the bed to put some distance between the two of you. 

her eyes widen, and something along the lines of confusion and distrust cross her features. she doesn’t say anything, just spending a few minutes analyzing you. a wave of self-consciousness washes over you; do you really look that distraught? 

“you have no idea what you are, what we are,” she mumbles. there’s both amazement and sympathy in her voice. 

“i’m a girl, if that’s what you’re asking,” you snap, crossing your arms over your chest. 

she laughs at you. “you’re in for a rude awakening,” anna replies between giggles.

the next day, you're walking out of the infirmary with strict instructions to go see chiron. you have no idea who this guy is, but all the med staff assure you that you’ll know when you see him. it’s only when you come face to face with a half-horse, half-human -- a centaur -- that you understand exactly what they meant. he smiles at you, and you assume that he’s trying to be comforting, but you still feel so uneasy.

“come. we have a lot to discuss,” he says, resting a firm hand on your shoulder as he leads you towards another room in the old victorian house. 

you nod, walking along the veranda towards an open-aired room. the walk feels like a thousand years, as other campers point and whisper in your direction. you want to shrink in on yourself, but you don’t. miraculously, this air of confidence envelops you, and you march into the room with steady and sure strides. the other person in the room looks at you and chiron. he’s older, adorning black sunglasses and holding a diet coke. he rolls his eyes at the sight of you, getting up from his adirondack chair, grumbling about how much he hates kids and wishes he could have a drink. you raise your eyebrows, looking to chiron for an explanation, but he just shakes his head. 

“sit, then we’ll talk,” he promises, gesturing to one of the empty seats. 

once you’re both seated, it’s quiet. you don’t really have anything to say to the older man in front of you. you’re still confused by anna, and all the cryptic comments she made these past two days. you have no memory of how you got here, or why. nothing makes sense to you. 

chiron seems to know that though, as he says, “i understand this can all be very confusing. so let’s start with the basics. you’re at camp half-blood, a safe haven for demi-gods. for people like you.” 

he pauses for a moment, probably expecting you to say something, but you don’t. instead, you turn to the left, staring out to the water. it’s so serene, completely contrasting your inner turmoil. when chiron realizes you don’t have anything to say, he continues on:

“here you’ll prepare for battle, complete quests, make friends, and live your life free of worry. at the end of the summer, you’ll have the option of returning home, or remaining as a year-round camper. for now though, i’ll have one of our older, more experienced demi-gods give you a tour. unless of course, there’s something else you’d like to discuss?”

the way he’s looking at you suggests that you should have more to say -- some deep dark secret waiting to be revealed -- but you don’t. he waits, but once you don’t acknowledge his words, he sighs, rising from his seat. you follow, moving towards the door with him. as you hand grasps the handle, it tumbles open, and your body moves forward. thankfully, you don’t crash to your feet, or collide with the person in the doorway, but your cheeks flame in embarrassment. 

when you look up, you’re surprised to see a boy. he looks to be about your age with his tall stature and muscular frame. his face is blank, almost bored looking, except for the hints of anger and annoyance in his brown eyes. his jaw is firm and locked, as he crosses his arms and gives you a once over. he hates me already, you think, and while you wish you didn’t care, it stings just a bit. 

“this is luke, our head counselor. he’ll show you around camp, and help you settle into the hermes cabin, your temporary home,” chiron explains. 

you nod towards luke, but don’t comment on anything chiron says. without another word, he turns on his heel and marches down the steps of the front porch. his pace is brisk, and his long strides make it hard for you to catch up with him, but you manage. once you’re walking side by side with him, it’s quiet between the two of you. he doesn’t point out any of the details, and his speed makes it hard for you to actually absorb anything. 

“if you’re gonna walk so fast, the least you could do is explain what everything is,” you snap, annoyed.

he stops walking all together, huffs, and turns to face you. in the bright light of the sun, you notice his scar. it’s pale white and risen above the skin, alerting you that it’s still fairly new, and runs from the corner of his eye to his jawline. he should look scary or intimidating, but you only think that he looks angelic. you gasp softly at the realization, lips parting. his eyes dart down to your mouth, and there’s something almost sinister in his gaze when he finally starts talking. 

“archery range, lava wall, and training arena,” he grumbles, pointing out all the spots closest to you. 

instead of looking at all the places, your gaze is still focused on him. he rolls his eyes, facing forward and continuing on his walk. 

“if you’re going to ask me to point stuff out, at least pay attention when i do,” he snaps. 

now it’s your turn to roll your eyes as you follow him towards a horseshoe of cabins. each one is different and seems to represent their own thing. as you’re walking past the center, you notice that there are two lone cabins in the middle. you freeze. your head tilts as you observe the cabin on the right. you feel a strange pull towards it, and start following the invisible string tying you to the building.

“what are you doing?” luke asks, and from his tone you know his arms are crossed. 

“i need to go there,” you explain, looking over your shoulder at him. 

“the hera cabin?” he questions, following you. 

you nod, continuing on your path towards the cabin. you climb up the stairs, and tentatively touch the door handle. it creaks open, daring you to come inside. you turn back to luke, who’s waiting at the bottom of the stairs with an uncertain look in his eyes. 

“i have to go in here, but i have no idea why,” you explain, feeling something close to bashful. 

he nods, swallowing an imaginary liquid, before climbing up the stairs after you. he waits patiently behind you, his left shoulder grazing your right as the two of you stand on the porch. you want to go inside, need to go inside, but the rational side of you is preventing you from doing so. it all feels like a trap. 

luke, noticing your unease, mumbles, “there’s a barrier. nothing can hurt you here, not like they could out there.” 

he doesn’t clarify what the other there and in here are, but you know exactly what he means. the creepy, often imaginative figures you’d see out in the city aren’t present here. you haven’t felt their presence since you woke up in that tiny bed in the infirmary. whatever is drawing you to this cabin, is something else, a higher being. before you can continue to deliberate, you push open the door and step inside. 

it doesn’t look much like a cabin, rather a temple. the entire thing is made of marble, complete with large columns from floor to ceiling. on the walls, there are several engravings, and when you look closely, you recognize them as peacocks. your fingers trace over the intricate design, and your sense of anxiety quells tremendously. when you look towards the center, at the giant statue, you feel somewhat relieved. 

“this is my cabin,” you announce. the statement shocks both you and luke. 

“what? no it’s not. hera doesn’t have kids, that’s zeus’s job,” luke says. 

“c’mon, time to go,” he continues, grabbing your shoulder and trying to push you out the door.

you dig your heels into the floor, refusing to move. you know everything you’ve said so far sounds crazy, is crazy, but you have to be here. you try to come up with an explanation, anything to make sense of the situation, but remain empty handed. 

“you’re right. let’s just go. sorry,” you reply, letting him lead you back out the door and down the stairs. 

it isn’t until you step foot in the hermes cabin, his cabin, that you realize your duffle bag is missing. all the other kids, which is a surprisingly large number, have various personal belongings scattered around their sleeping area. some of them have comic books, others have small trinkets, and a couple even dare to show off their stuffed animals. luke walks further into the cabin, the crowd parting like the red sea. they’re quiet, and watch eagerly as he opens a closet door and pulls out a well-loved sleeping bag. the whispers don’t start until he waves you over, and places the item directly next to his bed. 

“you sleep here,” he mumbles, pointing to the spot on the floor. 

“what? i told you about the other cabin,” you shout, frustration present in your voice. 

the hermes cabin is quiet, all of them listen in on your conversation with their head counselor, their older brother.

“and i told you to drop it,” he replies, and there’s a subtle warning in his voice. you can’t decide if he’s trying to say this isn’t the time or place or if he’s insinuating that you’re fucking crazy and he wants nothing to do with it. 

“where’s your stuff?” he asks, completely changing the subject. 

you notice he does that a lot, but answer, “i don’t know. my duffle’s missing.” 

his eyebrows furrow at your words, and he crosses his arms again. he throws his head back, gritting his teeth. 

“alright! who took her stuff? cough it up, let's go!” he shouts. 

luke’s met with silence, which irks him even more. he turns away from you, facing the swarm of pre-teens and teens. he flashes them his most unamused look, one he’s been carrying with you all day, but continues to wait patiently. 

“somebody better own up to it, or i’m taking away dessert privileges,” he announces. 

the room immediately grows noisy with everyone whispering to each other. some kids are trying to determine who it could be, while others are fully putting the blame on their siblings. there’s even one girl who whispers about how luke never does this for anyone, so you must be special. 

you try to come up with an answer to luke’s question. who took your bag? but you can’t seem to figure it out. you know you had it with you when you left your dad’s house, but then things turned messy extremely fast. you remember the strap when that weird dog thing followed you into the alley, and how you grabbed it by the handles to shove it in the overhead compartment of the amtrak. but after that, everything gets kind of blurry; days melting into one. finally, you decide that it must not have made it to camp. 

you tap luke’s bicep, and he turns away from the crowd to meet your eyes. “i don’t even think it made it here,” you whisper, biting your bottom lip. 

luke sucks in a breath, nodding his head before turning back to the crowd. “never mind guys, as you were,” he dismisses. 

you crouch down, hoping to set up your sleeping bag and take a nap, but he stops you with a hand on your arm. he gestures for you to follow him with a tilt of his head, and you agree. he leads you towards the back of the cabin, outside a supposedly hidden door. when you step out into the bright sunlight, you stop and let your hand cover your eyes, but luke is already walking towards a forest. you follow, easily catching up since he’s walking slower, and match his strides. once the two of you are far enough into the woods, out of the earshot of nosey campers, he sits down in the grass, beckoning for you to follow. 

“tell me everything you remember,” he says, a serious look on his face.

you look down, fingers twiddling with the strands of grass. you pull your knees up to your chest, wrapping your right arm around your kneecaps as you continue to braid the grass with your left hand. from your observations, you know luke is anything but patient, but he doesn’t push you to say anything. he just sits there, palms splayed on the grass as he leans back on them, looking at the fluffy white clouds and clear blue sky. 

“i don’t know how i got here. i keep replaying everything in my head, but i wasn’t even near the woods. then, i was just here,” you whisper, finally looking towards him. 

you find that he’s already looking at you. intense brown eyes meeting your lost and confused gaze. he nods his head, signaling that he’s trying to process your words; looking for a meaning in the code, one that even you can’t decipher.

“why’d you leave?” he asks, and you stop fiddling with the grass. “your house i mean…why leave?” he continues.

he’s looking down at his bright red converse, and there’s a certain vulnerability in his gaze that you’re all too familiar with. you raise your eyebrows at his expression, thinking about what his question reveals about him. maybe he doesn’t have a family. and that thought just makes you sad, so you decide to answer him honestly.

“i love my dad, but there were too many odd things happening, things he couldn’t explain, and stuff my therapist didn't believe. there were winged horses, their manes the color of the pitch black night. or dogs the size of a dumpster, and then that brunette lady who follows me around everywhere. i just wanted to keep him safe, so i left,” you explain, meeting luke’s eyes for the second time. 

“i get that, wanting to protect your family, i mean. i’d do the same for my sisters,” he replies. 

you hum in acknowledgment, leaning back on your elbows and extending your legs in a straight position. you tilt your head back, enjoying the warm sun on your exposed neck, and the soft rustle of the flora around you. you turn your head, eyes squinting to look at luke, and your gaze is immediately drawn to the scar on the left side of his face.

“what happened to you?” you ask, tentatively. 

luke sucks in a breath of air. his jaw clenches and anger swarms around in his already dark eyes. his hands ball into fists at his sides, and you realize that maybe that was too personal of a question.

“you don’t have to answer,” you backtrack, “it just seems like a story worth telling.”

he laughs bitterly, “it’s not. my dad sent me on a fucking joke of a quest, and this was the result. all pain, no glory.” 

you frown at his words. you don’t want to pity luke, because you know that luke doesn’t want that from you. he wants people to understand him; to listen to his feelings of resentment and disappointment, and despite only knowing him for an hour max, you decide that you’d do that for him. 

“don’t beat yourself up about it. the gods are stupid anyway, my mother’s cabin doesn’t even have a bed for me to sleep in,” you say. 

there you go again with the mother thing.

“your mother can’t be hera,” luke announces, finality in his tone. 

“i know that. but i know that she is. she’s the one that’s been helping me; the one who brought me here,” you explain, finally making the connection.

luke shakes his head in disbelief, “i think you’re going crazy from lack of food.”

you open your mouth, ready to protest his accusations, but luke cuts you off with a fierce look and wave of his hand. he stands up from the grass, holding his hand out to you. you huff, but wrap your hand around his, as he helps life you off the ground and to your feet. once you’re on your feet, you go to remove your hand from his, but you find yourself face to face. he’s already looking at you with a mix of admiration and curiosity. no one’s ever looked at you that way, and you can’t fathom why he is. 

“what? is there dirt on my face?” you ask, pulling hand from his to wipe at your chin. 

he laughs, loud and joyous, then answers, “no. you’re just different.” 

you huff, again, and cross your arms defensively. “my therapist says i’m just unique,” you say. 

luke laughs again. his shoulders shake and he has to stop walking to gain his composure. you wait the few minutes it takes for him to collect himself, and feel the smile taking over your features. there’s something enchanting about his laugh, you think, and that thought scares you. you shouldn’t be getting this attached. not yet. 

“can we go to lunch, please? i’m so hungry,” you complain, breaking the aura of radiance and joy.    

the sound of your voice sobers luke up, and he nods in agreement. he doesn’t even acknowledge you any further, just walks through the path in the woods, towards the center of camp. his strides are back to being quick and long, and you struggle to keep up with him. but you chose to ignore it; you shut him out. 

the walk back feels infinitely longer, and you’re relieved to see the dining pavilion. it’s a large mess hall, with picnic tables inside the building as opposed to out. each one of them holds various campers, and you notice how there is a giant fire pit burning in the middle of the room. it seems counter intuitive; no need for the warmth of the fire in the stifling summer heat, which becomes more apparent now that luke’s cold nature is back. 

you chance a look at said boy, and find that he’s already watching you. without saying a word, his hand comes to rest at the small of your back; palm splayed on the region between your jean shorts and the hem of your bright orange camp shirt. he gently pushes you forward, and you comply, following his lead. as you walk, you hear the campers whispering. they’re not subtle. 

“that’s the new girl.” 

“anna says she’s crazy, has no clue what a demigod even is.”

“i heard she’s not even a real demigod, just someone to bewitch luke.”

“oh he’s bewitched alright.” 

you clench your jaw at their words, an angry fire in your eyes. you hate when people talk about you behind your back, and you’re not afraid to let these thirteen year olds know that. you whip your head around, so fast you’re surprised you don’t whiplash. as your mouth opens, ready to spew out insults, luke pushes you forward and away from the culprits. your anger only shifts from them to him. 

“what’s your problem?” you demand, stopping in your tracks to face him head on. 

“i’m not the one with the problem here,” luke mumbles. 

for some reason, that statement hurts you more than it should. you laugh bitterly, blinking back the tears that are threatening to come out. it’s been a day and everyone already hates me. 

“right, i get it,” you reply, stepping away from him when he tries to reach out for you.

“no that’s not what i meant,” luke says, desperation in his voice. 

“fuck this. i don’t even want to be here anyways,” you announce. 

before he can say or do anything, you’re out the door.

you wander through the camp grounds, fighting off tears. there’s no reason for you to be acting like this; people have always hated you, so why would camp half-blood be different? because it was supposed to be different, you thought. the path you meant to take, back to the hermes cabin, veers off course until you’re standing in front of the hera cabin. you don’t hesitate this time, to climb the steps and take refuge inside.

once the door closes, and the lock clicks, you come face to face with the looming statue. her eyes pierce your soul, and you sink back in on yourself. it’s a statue, you remind yourself, and that boosts your confidence somehow. you look her in the eyes, and swear her gaze meets yours. 

“why would you bring me here?” you ask, voice wobbly from the tears. 

“i hate it here! and i hate you!” you shout, stomping your foot like a child. you feel like a child. 

you sink down to your knees, forehead coming to rest on the ruffle of her toga. the marble is cool and smooth against your hot skin. the temperature change grounds you, and slowly, your tears subside. 

you decide, in that very moment, that these people won’t see you cry. ever.       

[thesummerstorms]

I actually really like the idea in the Annabeth Wayne verse of Annabeth's perception of love being kind of... Messed up.

Like I don't know that Bruce was ever the kind of father to casually say "I love you". He has problems with emotions. I think Dick and maybe Jason definitely told Annabeth that Bruce loved her, and pointed out specific actions that proved as much.

But in the end, Bruce didn't try (from her then seven year old perspective) to understand her or protect her from the monsters. I generally right now headcanon that shortly before she ran, he implied that Jason's death was her fault because she knew Jason was sneaking out to find his mom.

And he was horrified with himself by that interaction. Combined with his escalating violence/inability to deal with his grief, he deliberately put a lot of distance between himself and Anna(beth) with the intent of actually protecting her from himself. He may or may not have considered leaving her with his cousin, Magnus's mother, for a while.

That ultimately did the opposite of what he intended because she felt rejected/neglected, so when the next monster attack happened and Bruce was still avoiding her and Dick didn't seem to be coming home, she decided to run. Bruce didn't get a chance to talk through what happened, and she spent years wondering whether he loved or wanted her or not.

Jason loved her, but he was dead. Dick loved her, but not enough to stick around with Bruce. And she didn't know that he was off world with the Titans when Jason died or that Bruce didn't tell him about the funeral, so also, it appeared, he didn't love her enough to come back for her.

Thalia loved her, for however short a time. Thalia died like Jason.

Chiron was at least fond of her, and she wondered for years if he could love her in a parental fashion or if that was asking too much from someone who has raised and buried thousands of years worth of children. She never really was clear on the answer.

And Athena... Athena might love her. A mother is supposed to love their children, so she told herself Athena might. Athena lead her out of Gotham, and she was definitely one of Athena's favorites. But in the few conversations they actually had, Athena spent a lot of time trying to get Annabeth's friends killed, judging her choices, or sending her on a suicide mission insane due to the Greek/Roman schism. Athena loves her, but a Goddess's love isn't gentle.

Luke loved her. For years, he was the only one she was sure of. And to the end, he did love her. It was why he died and why the world was saved. He loved her and he also abandoned her and he also hurt her worse than anyone else possibly could have.

Thalia came back. Thalia still loves her, but Thalia couldn't stay. Thalia left her for the Hunters.

If Jason or Dick say they love her now... What does that even mean? Will they hesitate to leave her? Or use her? To hurt her or sell her out if their cause is important enough? She loves them and knows, to an extent, she is loved in return. But that doesn't mean anything about trusting them.

Percy is the only real exception. The only one whose intent is perfectly clear. He loves her and she knows exactly what he wants from her and what he would do for her rather than to her. It took years, but she no longer is afraid of what choice he will make in the end.

She will look at her brothers and more or less tell them, "I know that you love me, but I have no idea what that means to you."

But looking at Percy, he's the only one for whom love also equates to total trust.

[mitamicah]

Gig repport: Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki July 5 2024

Here follows my experiences with Käärijä at Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki on July 5 2024.

Having a bit longer to the venue than with Backas two days prior I went out around 7 and met up with @jaarijani and @pianist-chan at the queue. I was genuinely surprised to learn how many people had made personalized bracelets for me including @n3ongold3n that made ‘greatful’ and ‘the bojan’ (hopefully I remember right :'3) plus Anna (a finnish fan that doesn’t have tumblr) that had made a bracelet saying sunflower ‘auringonkukka’ inspired by the original version of Cha Cha Cha and because I “shine like a sunflower”. I sticked one of my Allas stickers on the bridge next to the venue and later learned that @omppupiiras had put cornpea Kä next to it, although sadly I’ve been told that cornpea Käärijä is gone now. It was also so cool seeing my own art being printed as stickers by @krishoney <333

@hika-chachachan joined our group going to breakfast and we got to play some Uno at the café. (We later learned that had we stayed at the venue we’d seen Häärijä do random stuff behind the gate).

Back in the queue I started regretting having left my sign at home (I had made a sign asking Jere to write ‘Are You’ for a tattoo to match the one I have from Bojan, but I’d left the sign in Denmark since I’d experienced it gave me nothing but trouble when brought it to Böle). Then I noticed some empty pizza boxes so I asked the kääryle next to them if I could borrow the lid and they were more than happy to give it to me when I told them the occasion. Not long after having made my spontaneous new sign was finished, me and @teal-skull went to get some food from the market in front of Allas, where I again got reindeer this time in form of a hotdog (I was too curious).

Jesse had been very active around the queue jumping back and forth over the fence and just before 5 I noticed him standing a bit behind doing his job. I tried to sneakily gift him one of my last stickers yet the moment I had decided to try a security person called for us to form the line so instead of being subtle I ended up skipping to Jesse, giving him a smile and a nod and skipping back in line without another word.

We (me, Skull and Cass) ended up getting second row just in the middle of the stage. Waiting for the concert to start Cass commented that she heard Trafik! Everywhere so we went to Joost’s tiktok where he is known to randomly share his music sometimes out of the blue and a snippet of the song had been released to IG music. That together with Joker Out randomly confirming that Šta Bih Ja (a song we’ve waited and craved since march) would be released next week – made us over the moon excited.

Jessica was right behind us so given I had a bit better of a spot I offered to film Huhhahhei for her with her GoPro. Not far after Käärijä was done performing that song he started “Are You”ing the crowd so I immediately threw my sign in the air an he noticed and jokingly said he’d write it on my ass later. The set today was also amazing, yet it was hard to compete with Backas for me. I must admit that getting Fantastista (a song I never believed I’d be lucky to hear live) was a treat tho.

After the gig I decided to make it my goal to bring my tattoo journey to a homerun looking for Jesse or Häärijä to get my autograph book to Jere (since he had technically been promising me the tattoo now). Yet both times I was able to spot Jesse I wasn’t fast enough – one of those times I had to choose between being rude to @icbimakb that went to talk and to offer stickers or let Jesse go and I chose the latter. At the merch table I was very alert and obviously nervous which Anna (the person that gave me the sunflower bracelet) noticed. They offered to talk with security since they had experience in the tv industry so they knew how to handle security – also they could speak Finnish much better than I can. I gave Anna my book, pen and sign right before the other security started to rush us out, so for a moment I feared I’d lost my book (that already held Bojan’s Are You and cute Backas messages inside) for good. Right before we were tossed out, Anna came back with a signed book, and the people next to me thought I was going to faint (I went into semi shock). Having to calm down me and Anna said goodbye to the others and placed ourselves in front of the fence outside Allas so we were accidentally present when Jere, Häärijä, Jesse and the bodyguard came out waving goodbye at the crowd (my voice was so destroyed all I could do was cheer at him with a sound that wasn’t unlike the chicken at the end of Kot Kot). Anna and I then went together to the central station just talking (amongst other things we agreed to meet up Tuesday since Anna had a Cha Cha Cha beer can she wanted to gift me).

Trinkets from Allas v

My quickly made sign + Jere's handwriting

Official Häärijä shirt

Auringokukka bracelet from Anna (not on tumblr)

Bojere card from Elmi (not on tumblr)

Dalton sticker (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Sticker collection from @icbimakb <3

Barry, Koppi Tulles, Rock Rock and Paidaton Riehuja bracelets (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Piña Colada and Glöggi bracelets from @hika-chachachan

Toiset Samanleiset sticker from lov.illust (not sure about your tumblr url if you have one)

Hojan, Häärijä and Bojere bracelets (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Pokemon card (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Kris, Bojan (both my art - printed with permission) and Joker Out sticker by @krishoney

Are You and Are We bracelets from @carpblu

Greatful and The Bojan bracelets from @n3ongold3n (again let me know if this is wrong :'D)

[mercy-thompson-fanfiction]

Hey! I really like your Alpha and Omega fics. You said that you take requests so if you ever have time could you write an alternate universe fic where Charles gets to spend some time courting Anna instead of immediately taking her to Montana (which is something he mentioned wanting to do in On The Prowl)

“No, you definitely cannot do that.”

Samuel’s voice was boiling over with amusement on the other end of the phone call as Charles described his predicament.

“And da said what?”

“Send her to Adam.” Charles closed his eyes, thoroughly defeated by the sound of his brother’s cackling laughter and his own predicament.

Over the moon infatuated, that’s what he was. He couldn’t get the look in her eyes out of his mind when he told her that he would be back. It was killing him not to already be back, but there were things to sort out and paperwork to handle now that Leo and Isabella were dead.

Anna. Brother Wolf reminded him of her name, as if he could forget any piece of her that she’d share. Mate.

“What does my sister-in-law want?” Samuel was laying this on thick for his benefit.

And yet, was good to hear him laughing. It put Charles at ease just as much as it put him on edge.

What did Anna want? He had only asked her a million times. She didn’t want to stay in Chicago, even with Boyd she was—not broken. Anna wasn’t broken.

She was hurting.

A pang of guilt struck him for having left her, but it was just as much for her benefit. The Omega settled the wolf, but Charles was finding the man a problem which was not something he was used to dealing with.

Gut instinct told him to take her with him. Anna was hurting and anxious in a pack that had caused her harm before. When he ran the idea by his da, he’d received a goofy grin—he could hear it in his voice—and a reminder that creating a situation where she was entirely dependent on him was manipulative and, given the circumstances, cruel. Same issue caused the next best thing (furnishing her apartment and putting food on the table) to be shot down. He got by with getting her a better job, but that had been against his father’s advice as well.

Because somehow being the reason she got the job was also detrimental to her mental health and general well-being. His brother had only just agreed with everything he had already had thrown back in his face by their shared parent.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t ask her?”

Charles had asked, and that was part of the dilemma, too. She hadn’t been in a good mind space when he’d suggested coming to Montana and then she had felt guilted into it. When she felt confident enough a few hours later, she brought it up again and said she might like to stick around a little longer.

Take a trip out to her family now that her nightmare was over.

That she didn’t want to stay in Boyd’s pack longer than she had to, but that following blindly just because he told her how he felt didn’t put her any more at ease.

“I don’t think, at this time, that she is of sound enough mind to make a decision like that.” Charles said finally. “And she feels she would like to learn a little more about it all before she jumps headfirst again. They kept many secrets from her. And that’s how it stands.”

“You mean to do this properly then,” His brother was definitely still grinning. “Da is right. Adam’s would be safest.”

Adam would be safest. Of course, there were still plenty of downsides. Adam was relatively recently divorced and unmated, so he was entirely unspoken for. Charles didn’t think Anna would find that to be a problem, but he certainly felt it was going to be a problem. Adam Hauptman was, as he understood it, not at all unattractive.

There was also the matter of that wolf there who had unsavory problems, Charles thought his name might have been Ben. Ben lived there, that was one to look out for.

Then there was his brother who Charles suspected wasn’t quite well, though his energy in this conversation suggested otherwise.

The image was already forefront on his mind of Samuel sitting far too close to Anna for Charles’ own comfort. He bit his tongue to keep from growling at the thought of Samuel’s arm around her in a vision that hadn’t even happened.

There was rustling on the other end of the line.

“Everything ok?” Charles came back down to earth for the moment.

“Can’t ever find anything in Mercy’s place. I’m not sure how she survived before I started putting forks back in their proper utensil slots.” Samuel snorted.

That explained the metallic clinking he was hearing, then.

And it also reminded him of another precarious detail about Adam’s and what sending Anna there entailed.

Mercy. Aptly named, if you looked at those whose lives she had touched, except maybe his brother’s.

“Where would she live?” Charles sighed finally, giving in.

They were both right. Adam’s would be safest short term, even if he wanted Aspen Creek to be best for her. He did hope it would be short term.

Samuel hummed some tune that Charles recognized innately but blocked out with his own thoughts.

“She could bunk with Mercy. Small room, but it might do her good to have a female roommate.”

“Mercy doesn’t do well with female wolves,” Rather, most female wolves didn’t do well with Mercy. “It would be impolite to ask her to put one up in her home.”

Charles suspected that might have been Leah’s doing and not Mercy’s own ability to get under everyone’s skin in a lovably, very-coyote fashion. Nonetheless, it would make Mercy uncomfortable.

And this was of course forgetting that Mercy was already sharing in more ways than one. Samuel had stolen her spare room and Adam shared her back fence.

Asking for more of her was in poor taste.

“Adam’s is out of the question even for a little?” Samuel tried. “He has a daughter she might like, you said she’s young. Adam would give her plenty of space and he wouldn’t step on toes.”

It didn’t matter if he wouldn’t “step on toes” so to speak. Charles would feel like his toes were being stepped on, regardless.

“If she was ok with it, maybe.” That was a lie and even over the phone his brother knew it and laughed, but this time it didn’t sound quite right.

Charles would circle back to that later when he had time to consider it.

“If you’re worried she can be stolen, maybe try wooing her a little better, brother.”

“Isabelle liked Adam.” Because his brain supplied the information.

Samuel laughed again, but this time for real.

“Isabelle would have taken any wolf with a heartbeat to her bed.” That was true, too. “If she hadn’t tried to sleep with him, I understand that she and Christy may have gotten along.”

Apparently, Samuel was calling to mind the same incident.

He was stuck at square one again.

“What do you want me to suggest?” Samuel sighed, but then he added, “Adam has a wolf who calls herself Honey. Her mate, Peter, is submissive. She could feel safe there.”

Charles knew Honey. She and Peter both were old, submissive wolves tended to live long lives, and they’d crossed paths a few times.

“Would Adam suggest it?” Charles questioned, thinking about the possibility very seriously.

There were boxes to check before they could even get that far. The Tri-Cities weren’t the perfect spot as far as location accessibility, but he could pull off the commute. He would happily pull off the commute for Anna’s sake.

Samuel said something along the lines of “probably” while Charles was lost momentarily in thought. Somewhere on the other end of the call was the distinct sound of a key scraping into a lock and the familiar “click” of said lock releasing before a door opened.

“Do you always lock Mercy out of her own home?” Charles asked just as Samuel was greeting his roommate.

Mercy stilled, he could tell without being in the room because he suddenly didn’t hear her. Any phone call he had with his brother was done intentionally when Samuel was either in the car or Mercy wasn’t home. She was prone to be a little skittish, their coyote.

Or, if he were being honest, she was more prone to being angry.

“Charles called to tell me some great news,” For all intents and purposes, Samuel sounded incredibly casual and unbothered by Mercy’s clear discomfort.

“Which is?” Mercy sounded not the least bit interested, but at least she took the bait.

“Family reunion, Mercy,” His brother told her. “Charles wants us to meet the new sister-in-law.”

Closing his eyes, Charles tried not to wonder if the kiss he had just heard was on the lips or on the forehead. It could go either way with Samuel and it wasn’t a relationship he needed all the information on in this moment. In fact, he was actively trying to stay out of it and hoped his father knew what he was doing.

They’d almost lost him already. Mercy might be a death sentence.

“Oh, Mercy, it’ll be like the good old days!”

Mercy had groaned.

Were there any good old days? Charles thought wryly about the crashed car and the peanut butter. There was the time she’d forgotten to close the pasture gate. Couldn’t forget the mystery of the missing left shoes. The disaster that was his father discovering Samuel and Mercy’s plot to run away—Charles still wondered where Samuel thought he would be able to disappear to that they couldn’t find him fast enough. Once upon a time, she had numbered no less than thirty-four toy ducks. There might have been more than thirty-four—they were currently numbered up to 1076, but they doubted there were that many. Only thirty-four were discovered.

Charles had been almost disappointed in Mercy at the time when he learned that they hadn’t been real ducks.

There was, of course, the Watergate Scandal. That might’ve been a “good old day”, he supposed with a small smile. The three of them had laughed, at the very least. Hundreds of tiny cups of water peppered the floor like little landmines. Mercy had started the trail at the front door and meticulously covered the entire home, including the basement stairs. They were pretty sure she exited over the garage and hopped down off the roof there, but Charles himself had never asked.

Leah’s scream of frustration could have been heard for miles when she came home the following morning. His father had come straight home from his business trip to see what the fuss was and to make Mercy clean it up. The Marrok then proceeded in through an upper story window thinking the water was only blocking the door.

He was wrong.

Charles and Samuel had helped Mercy clean up that prank. They might have indirectly been involved with the acquisition (and storage) of the millions of cups.

Memories of Mercedes were a strange combination of fond recollections of innocent pranks and then reminders of her delicate mortality and trusting nature. Those that fell into the latter category made him grit his teeth and wonder how none of them had succumbed to heart attacks or aneurysms. Surely, the frequency at which they’d had them should be deadly even to werewolves.

“Are the good old days in the room with us?”

Charles found himself hiding a smile from no one. He was alone in his home after all.

“We’ve had plenty of good times.” Was that an intentional double entendre or was Charles reading too deeply into a circumstance he still didn’t understand?

He couldn’t decide and thought maybe it would be best if he didn’t try and work that one out. He would come to learn more than he necessarily wanted to know if this all came to fruition.

“Wait, did you say ‘sister-in-law?’”

***

Very little went according to plan, as was typical with Mercedes Thompson. It was only a few weeks later that Charles found himself in the car with Anna on their way to Mercy’s trailer home.

Apparently, years of emotional abuse from the Marrok’s mate had not dampened her desire to help when someone needed it—even when that someone was a female werewolf.

“Oh, so she’s your sister!” Anna smiled brightly.

Charles’ heart warmed. He loved it when she smiled, the way her eyes seemed to sparkle and the edges crinkled upwards. She stuck her tongue between her front teeth sometimes, when she was trying not to laugh, and it was so obvious she was laughing anyways. It made him want to laugh aloud just from watching her.

“She might not like that comparison,” He shouldn’t have been smiling, but hers was so contagious. “Mercy didn’t have an easy time in Aspen Creek.”

That was maybe saying the least. He was sure Anna, of all people, would be able to get the story out of Mercy. Charles was an adult watching Mercy grow up, fairly complicit in how she was being raised. With Bryan and Evelyn, it had been ok, Mercy had grown up as normally as a coyote in a wolf pack could.

But then things had happened. Circumstances had changed. Lives were lost and Mercy was left stranded somewhere in the middle.

“And your brother doesn’t think of her the same way?”

“I don’t know what he thinks.” Charles admitted as honestly as he could. “Theirs is a unique history.”

Maybe not that unique, Charles thought while casting a sideways glance at her. Anna herself was little more than a child when she had undergone the Change against her will under horrifically traumatic circumstances. That was only a few short years ago and the years hadn’t proven kind to her in the least bit.

It was partly that reason, he supposed, that they were doing this—that he had even agreed to this. It wasn’t the age gap that upset him, theirs was tame by the standard of some others. It was the dynamic.

Charles didn’t consider himself a saviour by any stretch of the imagination and, truth be told, Anna had entirely saved herself from her biggest monsters. But she was fresh out of a situation where she had been intentionally made to feel weaker, to feel dependent on someone’s kindness, to cater to someone because of the dependency. He would be playing a dangerous game keeping her fed with a roof over her head, most especially in a town off the beaten path where she knew no one but him.

Safe. Mine.

Yes, he thought, very dangerous.

“And Mercy is a coyote, but you don’t know really how she is?” Anna recapped.

Not entirely, and he explained as much. Charles knew there used to be plenty of people like Mercy. He had met, he thought, at least one. Although, they hadn’t been a coyote.

He definitely would have known.

But he didn’t know what she was beyond the idea that others had once existed. Seemingly, the knowledge had disappeared with the people who would have held it.

There was a wave of sadness at the thought, one that Anna washed away with her own tsunami of peace.

“You said at home the spirits sometimes speak to you,” Anna began. “That they like you? They didn’t tell you what she is?”

“It would seem,” Charles smiled a little fondly at a memory of a coyote pup disappearing into the surrounding woods for a disastrously long and successful (for Mercy) game of hide-and-seek. “That they like her more.”

They turned, finally, upon the road Mercy’s home was on according to the address Samuel had sent.

It was one Charles already knew like the back of his hand. He had Mercy’s number memorized, too, if you asked him to recite it—both her shop and her cell.

And he’d throw in Margi’s for good measure if Anna were asking.

It wasn’t until they had parked that Charles realized that Anna had been the only person he had ever confided in about Mercy. It was possible even the coyote herself didn’t know how he felt about her. Samuel had always been the one to love kids. As he grew older, certainly as decades turned into centuries, Charles had come to assume that key part of his brother’s nature was why he’d taken to him despite all their centuries difference in age. Mercy, knowing her from practically-birth to sixteen and then even longer from afar…

He had come to realize sometimes the age difference in a family didn’t matter. Mercy was as much his sister as Samuel was a brother, even if she weren’t blood.

And—maybe most importantly—Anna wasn’t jealous.

Charles knew Anna was able to feel that way about him, and it had been incredibly satisfying to come to know it even if he discovered it at possibly the most inopportune time.

“Does Mercy know anything about me?” Anna asked him before they cut the engine.

She didn’t sound nervous, but her pulse had quickened and the adrenaline kicked in giving away her fear.

“She knows you’re important to me.” Charles tried to veil his frustration with the way his own brother had introduced the concept of Anna without ever speaking of her as a person by name. “And, through no fault of my own, she believes us to be dating.”

Or married.

“Well,” And she at least sounded amused now as her freckles nearly blended into her undeniably blushing cheeks. “We did go on one date, so I guess it could qualify us as dating.”

One date which had ended incredibly poorly with an attempt on his life which had fortunately missed but caused them to quickly return to her home and regroup before meeting Leo and his poor-shot of a mate.

“We could try again,” Charles suggested, “While I’m here.”

Anna smiled, tongue between her teeth because he himself had made her heart skip a beat.

“Yeah? I’d like that, I think.”

Even over the engine and outside the home, he could hear his brother’s cackle.

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

When Jack wakes up, there's a name on his lips that he doesn't recognize. The name slips further and further from his mind with each second he stays awake. As the rest of his senses kick in, he finds that there is very little he recognizes in his surroundings.

The hut is quaint and cramped and musty - likely from all the animal hide hanging around. Alright. So far, not so bad. He appears to be in a trapper's home. Perhaps his mother brought him here because this was the closest dwelling around.

His mother!

Jack bolts straight up, before a sharp pain bursts from his ribs, piercing into his spine. He collapses back on the - well, from what he can tell, he's lying on top of a bed. There's heavy, knitted blankets piled on top of him, a stuffed-soft mattress under him, and the telltale creak of wood protesting his abrupt activity. He groans, keeping his eyes open via sheer force of will. He takes a look around, noting whatever he can. Right by his head, there's a rickety table with a bowl and jug. On the opposite wall, there's a fireplace and some kind of pot bubbling thickly. Ough. Yeah, whatever's in there, he is Not a fan.

With a heavy sigh, he gives up and allows his eyes to close. He must have fallen asleep because when he next rouses, he's no longer alone. An old crone of a woman stands at the foot of his bed. She peers at him with flinty, squinty eyes. Is she the trapper's wife? For his sake, he hopes not. Well, what does he know? The trapper could be just as whithered and ancient as she is. He wishes them a happy and fulfilling marriage if it isn't one already.

The old crone frowns, shuffles back and out the door stuck to the furthest wall from him. Oh look, there's a door. Now if he could only just move this stupid body of his...

But what could he do? From the looks of it, he's right where he's supposed to be, at the tender mercies of whatever good samaritan that his mother found for him. And oh, the tongue lashing that he's bound to get from her! Jack is sooo not looking forward to that.

But at least... He thinks, fuzzily as his eyes droop shut. At least, he has something to look forward to. After the ice began to crack, he... Well, he had no regrets. Anna would have made it home, safe and sound. That was the only important thing.

He must have dozed off again because when he next opens his eyes, the fireplace is cheerily ablaze and there's someone new in here with him. It's a boy that looks about his age, and just as skinny. He's got brown hair, green eyes, and all the elbows and knees of a boy not yet grown into his body. His gaze haphazardly falls on Jack and well, Mom always said "make a good first impression". So, Jack offers as much of a grin as he can manage given... everything. He wonders if this was how jerky felt - stretched thin and brittle as he does now.

It must have not been a very good grin because the boy jumps back, hard enough that he trips over something out of Jack's sight. In his rush to regain his balance, he upsets the table, the bowl and the jug go flying, and so now, Jack is staring at a very damp, unknown boy. The very damp, unknown boy stares back, a bright flush beginning to color his whole face.

Before Jack could properly react to that whole... to whatever just happened, the hut's door slams open and the old crone hobbles back in. She gives the boy a hard look as he scrambles up, tottering a little to the side. He's a step away from fleeing, likely never to be seen again. But the old crone blocks him with a mighty crack of her walking stick? staff? She points - like an empress to her peon - at Jack, which Jack does not appreciate. The boy doesn't appreciate it either from the great big roll of his eyes as he turns to face Jack, yet avoids his eyes. A drop of water slides down the boy's nose as he sighs, starting to talk.

"@#$&?"

Jack blinks. "I'm sorry?"

Now the boy looks at him. "$@#-ot understand me?"

If Jack could lift his head or move in any way, he would jump or wince or something. But all he manages is a slight wrinkle in his brow.

"Wha - You - You weren't speaking English a second ago?"

The boy appears properly concerned. He wipes the water sliding down his chin as he turns to the old crone. "English? You heard him say English, right? Like the language from the south?"

With each word the boy speaks, Jack understands him better and better. The slight - It was strange. It was as if he skipped a few seconds of time. Sound lagged behind his sight, or it used to. Everything's fine now. That was probably just the water in his ears. Wait, no. What did the boy say?

"South? What? Did I end up Canada or something?" Jack murmurs.

The boy's head snaps towards him. "Oh! You speak Norse?"

Jack groans, his head spinning, with his stomach is threatening to crawl out his mouth. Norse? Did the boy say Norse? Well... Perhaps some Norsemen made it to the New World? Granted, no one he knew. But it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Jack can't shake the strange feeling in the back of his mind. It thrums and hums like a melody that should have words but for the life of him, Jack cannot remember. There's something wrong here. But what... What...

The old crone elbows the boy. He yelps and shoots her a wary glance. She uses her walking stick to scribble something on the floor. The boy squints, rubbing his chin, then he sighs.

"Yeah, I guess that's fair..."

The boy nods at the old crone and throws one final look at Jack. "Get well soon, I guess. Gothi says that I'm stressing you out so I gotta... Yeah... I'll see you around." Then he trudges for the door, murmuring under his breath. "Maybe he won't remember it. I mean, he's barely conscious. He probably won't. Please just this once let things go my way."

Jack probably wasn't supposed to hear that. So he saves his laugh when the boy is well and gone. Of course, given the state of his lungs, the laugh quickly turns into a rib-rattling cough. The old crone piles more furs on him. Jack wants to stop her, let her know that he's fine. Really. He's practically burning up. Haha. Is she trying to cure him or cook him? She already looks like a witch, he supposes.

Not that he would say any of this to her, mostly because he could feel sleep dragging him down. Also because Mom would box his ears if she heard. But also... also...

He can't speak Norse in the first place.

With that final thought, Jack knew no more.

[labselkie]

Day 12 | Magic

this was going to be closer to the prompt but i got sidetracked. again. there’s not even any magic here dude it’s just marie confessing

The witch’s basement as dark as usual, an odd state of permanent dusk still hanging over the stone room. Agatha had a strange morning, one she’d refused to explain. So, she called Annamarie down to take it out on her.

She paced in a circle beneath the vaulted ceiling, aimlessly fidgeting with a golden pendant in her hands. Agatha was saving her most extravagant dress for her grand finale, but she still enjoyed experimenting with the layers, as the outfit’s deep violet shawl swished with each step.

“Agatha?” A familiar voice chirps from just out of sight. The tone is steeped in emotion, and it’s one Agatha knows all too well. Marie rushes down in a flurry of feathers, stopping between the first two columns.

“Took you long enough,” Agatha rolls her eyes, trying to disguise her voice in a cloak of hatred. “The Hex is changing, Anna, and you can’t be sitting around just waiting for Wanda to find us.”

Marie stops in her tracks, tilting her head like any curious bird. This was unlike Agatha, she’d only come off as cold if she was faced with something she disliked, but before Marie could ponder any longer she’s ushered over by a sharp wave.

“What happened? Did you see something? Was it the kids?”

“No and no.” The witch holds out her closed hand to Marie, looking to the side as she does so. “It’s just that.. The Hex knows you’re with me.”

She opens her hand, and in her palm is a pendant. It’s a shiny little thing, a small heron with its wings outstretched in a crescent. A hole is punched into the brass tail to connect a small violet gem on a thin chain link.

Marie takes a hesitant step forward, and she takes a moment to inspect the necklace. Agatha looks back, her brows furrowing when she shakes her hand a bit. Marie gets the message and quickly plucks it up.

“Where’d you find this?” She asked, golden eyes fixated on the carved bird cradled in her hand.

“Bedside table, it was next to my amulet.” Agatha almost sounded offended that something associated with Marie would materialize near her. “Witches, we- Many of them gift their familiar a sort of pendant.. Anything worn near the head or heart works.”

Marie glances up, her hand closes around the pendant and she holds it closer.

“Are they usually enchanted?”

Agatha scowls, “Maybe half the time. I can assure you it won’t choke you, I didn’t have the time to curse it.”

The mutant swallows hard, she’s nervous. Would bring a familiar be detrimental? Let alone being Agatha’s familiar. So, she stalls, “You really trust me with whatever familiars do?”

“Not really,” She scoffs, “But you’ve been helping already, and Scratchy doesn’t count.”

Marie brings the necklace to her collar, letting the cool pendant rest on her skin as she clips it on in the back. A perfect fit, lying just above the dip of her dress. With her hands still behind her head, she keeps her eyes down, “Then does this mean you care about me..?”

Agatha grows tense, sharp blue eyes scrutinize Marie’s every movement, and she crosses her arms. “Of course not- Witches lose their familiars all the time! You’re being bound to suffer as I do- It’s- It’s just easier to have an extra soul to sell!”

The witch practically floundered to find her words, she was still upset that something as unpredictable as Wanda’s spell would stick her together with someone as fundamentally different than her as Marie.

But still, Marie smiles; it’s a slightly worried gesture, but a smile nonetheless. “But we’re bound, that’s why you’re so upset.”

“Oh, shove it..”

“The spell! That is why! It sees us, it’s basing itself on your thoughts!” Even through her racing heart, she’s excited, it’s not every day that you get to see into Agatha’s mind. Her right hand flies up to hold onto the necklace, the material warming up some. Agatha was bristling at this point, but not exactly with rage. Rather, embarrassment flooded her heart. Agatha Harkness shouldn’t feel of let anyone get close. And no one should get close to her.

Agatha recoils when Marie steps forward. “You care!” The mutant exclaims, her wings puffing up with a few excited flaps.

“I can’t, I-“ Agatha stutters, her expression wracked with grief. She pushes past Marie, storming away, “I don’t care, it’s like caring for another animal! It’s just a chore!”

Marie whirls around, her wings causing dust below her to swirl. Her hand lowers from the necklace and joins the other in fidgeting with one of her dress’s ruffles. Her brows knit together with her focus before she blurts out: “That’s what caring for you is like too!”

Agatha pauses at the bottom of the stairs, her hand lingering over the railing.

“You make it impossible, I know why you do, but it doesn’t work on everyone. Agatha Harkness of Salem, I like you- I care for you, I love you. It isn’t a chore to me, it’s what I want to do.”

[cafemilk-tea]

Coffee Stain

❒ pairing - anna x joshua

❒ word count - 1.2K

❒ synopsis - anna gets her drink spilled on her backstage at mcountdown

❒ time - 2019

🏷️ taglist - @justmochi @ateezjuliet @itzy-eve @seolboba @mingis-wrld @smh-anon @jenoslov @enhacolor @alixnsuperstxr

a/n : introducing anna’s love interest

“Ugh, I’m so exhausted,” Anna whined as she stood up from the sofa in the dressing room, stretching her arms above her arms until she heard a slight crack. Already changed out of her performance outfit, she couldn’t wait to get back to the dorm, take a nice hot shower, and just relax until she fell asleep. The first few days of promotions were always the hardest and waking up early in the mornings never got any easier.

“You worked so hard today,” Jihyo came from behind and wrapped her arms around Anna’s midsection, snuggling into her back comfortably. Anna held onto her arms and swayed the two of them back and forth, watching as the other members were laid out resting just as she was prior.

“And we’ve only just about started,” Anna snorted, patting Jihyo’s hands. The sudden urge for the bathroom crept up on her. Her body had finally come back to reality and was no longer running on work mode and all of the drinks she had throughout the day.

“I’m heading for the bathroom before we head out,” Anna reached down and grabbed her now watered down coffee from earlier, grimacing when she took a sip, “Maybe I can finish this on the way there and finally be done with it. It definitely doesn’t taste any better than it did this morning, that’s for sure.”

She shook the cup jokingly as Jihyo patted her on the stomach, letting her go and pulling out her phone, plopping down on the couch next to Jeongyeon.

Anna slipped out of the dressing room and made her way down the hallway, bowing her head to passing by staff members and cheering on the younger idols that greeted her, wishing them well for the future.

Just as she turned the corner at the end of the hall, a large body collided with hers, crushing the rest of her drink in between the two of them. The moment was instantaneous as her hands flew to his chest to steady herself. She internally cringed as the lukewarm coffee saturated into her clothes, the fabric sticking to her body.

“Ah- I am so so sorry,” Her voice was panicky, removing her hands from his chest rather quickly. Her normal peppy and cheerful voice had turned shy and timid. The rush of shock and embarrassment settling in the pit of her stomach. She crouched down and reached for his phone that he had dropped during the collision, the least she could do for him after spilling her drink all over him.

“No no, I should be the one saying sorry!” His soft voice was just as frantic as hers, crouching down as well and grabbing her now empty cup, “I came around the corner too quick and wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay really! I wasn’t looking,” She rushed out, waving her hands around, “I really hope this didn’t break when it fell- Oh Jisoo!”

Her eyes widened when she realized who she had run into, her cheeks becoming dusted with a faint pink color. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat being this close to him. They hadn’t interacted much personally outside of their respective groups and she was embarrassed at this being their first interaction with each other.

“Jisoo, I-I’m really sorry about-.”

“It was an accident, you don’t have to keep apologizing,” His smile was breathtaking, effectively stopping her from repeating herself for another time. He reached his hand out for hers and pulled them both up from where they had been on the floor, “If anything, I take the blame for doing that to you.” He gestured to her clothes with a nod, the huge coffee stain on her shirt that was more noticeable now that she’s stood up.

Anna’s eyes flicked down to where he motioned, pouting her lips after seeing how big the stain actually was. She was starting to regret wearing white or just bringing her coffee with her at all.

Their hands were still connected, his warm hand around her freezing one felt very much like fire and ice. She bit the inside of her cheek as she yanked her hand back a little too quickly.

“Right sorry- I mean-,” She wanted to kick herself for being so awkward. Her eyes landed on his phone that she was still holding, bringing it forward to hand it off, “This belongs to you, I’m sorry again.”

The blush painted on her cheeks was radiating as she turned on her heels to hide her mortified expression from him. The feeling of needing to use the restroom long gone from her thoughts as she vacated up the hallway, too embarrassed to be there a second longer.

Nayeon was the first to greet Anna as she pushed open the door to the dressing room, her arms covering the stain on her shirt the best she could. It wasn’t doing much for the size of the stain, but most of the members hadn’t caught on to it yet. Everyone but Nayeon.

“Annie, what happened to you? Are you okay?” She ran her hand up and down Anna’s back, taking in Anna’s flushed face.

“I’m fine,” Anna’s tone wavered, hugging her arms tighter to her body, “It was just an accident, no biggie.” Nayeon was quick to remove her flannel from her body, draping it over Anna’s shoulders to help cover the stain.

“Was it intentional? I’ll hunt them down if it was.”

“No, not at all!,” Anna’s eyes widened at Nayeon’s bluntness, sending a smile her way instead, “Joshua and I just ran into each other, it’s okay.”

[Inside Seventeen’s dressing room]

Joshua walked into the dressing room, hands shoved into his front pockets. He should’ve brought his jacket with him to cover the obvious droplets of a stain on his shirt but it was too late now. He was left defenseless at the curiosity of the members.

“Hyung, what happened to you,” Dino looked up from where he was tying his shoelaces, catching the attention of some of the others. Hoshi walked closer with Seungkwan to get a closer look at his stained shirt.

“You didn’t leave with a coffee did you?” Seungkwan picked at Joshua’s shirt between his fingers, the stain was now partially dried.

“There was an accident and it was my fault.” He admitted sheepishly, eyeing the furrowed brows of the members.

“What? With who?”

“I ran into Youngmi and her drink was crushed between us,” He rubbed at the back of his neck, the heat of embarrassment crawled up the back of his neck at the memory, “She’s wearing most of it.”

“You ran into Annie?” Seungkwan's eyes widened as he slapped a hand over his mouth in shock, followed by Hoshi’s voice echoing through the dressing room as he nudged at Joshua’s shoulder with his hand, “Yah, how could you do that to her.”

“Not on purpose!” Joshua swallowed thickly, waving his hands nervously, “We both turned the corner too quickly and ran into each other.”

“At least it was you and not me,” Seungkwan sighed, putting a hand to his chest, “I’ve had way too many awkward encounters with them to count.” He clapped Hoshi on the back before pulling him back to their conversation with Dk and Vernon.

Joshua cleared his throat, feeling his ears turn a light shade of pink. The look on Anna’s face when she left stuck in his mind. He could tell she was taking the blame for their mishap without saying it. He dragged himself over to the couch and sank down onto the cushion, pulling his phone out of his pocket to sit comfortably.

His gaze fell onto the top right corner, swiping his thumb across the very obvious crack on his screen that wasn’t there before.

feel free to send in an ask if you’d like to be added to evelyn/anna’s taglist ✨

[rainfallnightmare]

Chapter 6

Deadly Mistake

(Experiment Sun, Moon and Eclipse x Caretaker Y/n)

Genre: Angst to Fluff

Warning: Shocks, Swearing, character death, Blood

word counts: 1257

--------------------------------------------------------------------

July 22th, 2087

CBR

Sunny’s POV:

Y/n has been staying with us in the facility for almost 2 days now. I was both happy and worried since this Marcus human has been a problem to Y/n. It was both a good and bad thing since when Y/n is here. Cause the good would be that Marcus littles helpers won’t be bugging us very much but it’s a bad thing because Y/n can still get hurt because of these helpers.

It was around midday and Y/n was away for a little bit cause they mentioned getting something from home. Now I wouldn’t be worried if Simone was there with them to get whatever they needed. But with Marcus out there and Y/n was alone to retrieve their belongings worries me ten times more. “Sun I know you're worried about Y/n safety but you got to believe in them” Moon said as he placed his hand on my shoulder as he and Eclipse were by my side.

“I know Moon” 

Letting out a soft sigh. I changed into my “Ghost” form that Y/n called and floated in the air for a bit. As we waited for Y/n to get back. I heard a door open as both Moon and I turned to see Marcus co-workers were in our chambers. Both Moon and I hissed that the humans since they always caused us harm when Y/n not here. “Oh quit your hissing you freaks” Marcus’s right hand man said rudely making Moon and I even more defensive. Soon as the humans got closer, I didn’t see that they had their stun sticks with them til I heard a zipping sound.

“Be gone you humans, before you ask for a quick death!”

The Humans just laughed as the right hand man walked even closer. “Not going to happen” Before I could say anything, all of us heard a door open and saw Y/n walking in on time.

Y/N POV:

When I got back from retrieving my laptop and a few books. I stopped when I entered my celestial astral’s chamber to be met with Marcus' crew. Seeing Anna, Marcus's right hand man/gal, I had a bad feeling that she was trying to do something with the subjects.

“Why are you here? You guys were told multiple times to not be here as they are no longer your concerns!” I glared at Anna who just let out a sarcastic laugh as she turned towards my direction. “Like we were gonna listen to you or the director, you of all people should have been the one to have left but as these freaks were nothing more then experiments to test and kill” Anna said holding one of the stun sticks that caused Sun and Moon to growl at. Eclipse was watching as two of Marcus' men were keeping him at bay while the rest was with Sun, Moon and I.

“Like I would let you do that to them, now leave or else” I tossed my belongings to the ground as they were in a secure case so my laptop wouldn’t get broken. I looked to see that Moon and Sun were ready to attack Anna or the others if they made a wrong move as I walked over to her. “Or else what you monster lover, you have no power over me or my crew” Anna pointed the stun stick at my torso as she was ready to press the button to shock me.

“Their not monster’s unlike you and Marcus, Now call your crew back and leave before you get them killed”

Anna was itching to do some kind of harm whether it was towards me or to the guys. She does like taking orders from anyone who is lower rank than her but I didn’t give a damn since she was no better like Marcus. “Be careful sunstar” Sun said worryingly as Anna quickly turned towards him and Moon. “Shut your mouth experiment!” Anna growled as she turned to me.

Before I could have said anything. All of us heard screaming as Anna and I looked to see two of her crew were slaughtered by Eclipse. Anna then got trigger happy and turned on the stun stick that gave me a painful shock to my system.

“*Groans*”

It was so painful. Anna smirks and shocks me again til I drop to the ground. “Pathetic” Anna turned off the stun stick but then gasped when she got tackled down and was held by her throat. "Wrong move human" I heard as I painfully opened one eye to see that Sunny was ready to kill Anna.

Before I could say anything. Sun picked Anna up and threw up to a wall that caused her to die from the impact. "S-Sunny" I called out to him while I goran at the pain that was inflicted onto me from the stun stick. The rest of Anna and Marcus' crew quickly booked it as they didn't want to die. I felt someone picking me up and had me against their chest.

"I got you comet" 

It was Eclipse as he had me in his arms while Sun and Moon chased out or killed any person that was in Anna’s crew that stayed behind. I tried to move my arm but the pain only got worse as I gritted my teeth and my arm just went limp for now. “Fuck it hurts” I laid my head against Escipse chest as he just holds me in his arms that was covered in blood.

“Are you alright Star” Moon and Sun came over to us once everyone was gone or dead. I wanted to move but I didn’t know how long the pain from the stun stick would last. “In pain but alive” I gave the trio a painful smile as Sun slightly cupped my cheek against his large astral hand. “Only if they would have listened to your warning sunstar, now you're in this condition because of their foolish act” Sun lightly caressed my cheek while moon carefully took my limp hand in his and Eclipse just held me and gently ran a claw lightly against my hair. “People are just selfish and ignorant here, sometimes I wonder if I am the same as them” I closed my eyes and tried to relax to let the stun pain ease up a bit.

“Your not like them comet”

Eclipse spoke as Moon and Sun agreed with him. I open my eyes to look at the three. “How do you know that?” I ask even tho it was a very dumb question for them to answer. “We know because sunstar, your heart glows with care, sympathy, love and bravery to us astral beings” Sun said as he gently tilted my head towards him. As I was about to comment on his statement, I was silent by sun pressing his astral lips against mine in a kiss.

This took my breath away for a moment as Sun broke the kiss. I was speechless yet happy as Moon took his turn and kissed me. After Moon had his moment of kissing me, Eclipse had his turn when moon broke away. I was warm both inside and out when all three of them showed me this side of them. “Hope you understand that your ours comet” Eclipse mentions once he broke the kiss. I chuckled softly and nodded my head since I chose this fate of mine.

“I know”

[actual-changeling]

Hey buddy. Do you have a therapist or medical professional that you can call? I think it might not be a bad idea to reach out to them to let them know you're in crisis.

If you don't, please think about reaching out to the Crisis Text Line. They are an amazing program that has live volunteers who can talk you through a moment. Their number will never show up on your phone bill in case that would be unsafe. They are a free service open to anyone with text capabilities. They are at crisistextline[.]org

I hope things get better, friend. Please know that you matter, and we all want you to stick around! ❤️

hi anon <3

i do have a therapist (if you ever see me talking about anna that's her) who i see weekly and a psychiatrist to manage my meds (whom i'll see in the first week of december iirc), so it's. under control? if you can call it that.

but yeah i've been doing this for a while and i'm resilient, i just cycle through a lot of different phases. as anna puts it, me feeling okay is the rare exception, my default is just being depressed. only good (or bad depending on the situation) thing about bpd is that i forget emotions once i no longer feel them.

maybe i gotta up my bupropion dosage, we'll see. thank you for checking in, although i promise there's no need to worry, and if there was i have my contingency plans to fall back on. 💚

[lonelier-version-of-you]

So... wow, just... wow. And that's a complimentary "wow", because, though intense, Casualty tonight was an excellent piece of television.

Such a fantastic ep all around. Wonderfully written by Rebekah Harrison, and great acting all throughout. I don't know how much I'll have to say for it, as I'm struggling a bit with putting words together at the moment, but I'll try.

The inter-connecting storyline of the women's march was brilliantly done. I loved how it spanned across the ep, affecting almost every character's story in some way or another. I thought it was really powerful.

Donna, as usual, was a highlight of the episode. I've been very pleased that Donna has confessed at this point in the storyline - I don't think it would have worked to continue the "will she or won't she" thing for much longer. And Jaye Jacobs keeps out-doing herself when it comes to acting. Tonight felt like a perfect showcase of her talent. Donna's phonecall to Mia at the start almost made me cry.

I thought they did really well at tying Donna's storyline into the episode while also involving her in the story about the women's march. Donna feels like a proper leading character of Casualty now, which I'm very happy about, especially as I almost never felt like she was given that kind of prominence in her second stint on Holby.

I also loved Donna and Max kissing, because I think there is so much potential in this relationship! Even if it's just a short fling it could add a lot to both their storylines, and they're both characters I love, so yeah. I like a bit of personal drama on Casualty every now and then when it's done well, so hopefully this will be. I'm so intrigued by what it could mean that I'll even forgive how it feels - at least to me - to have sort of come out of nowhere. It's still believeable, especially with the stress they're both going through, I just think there could have been a bit more buildup.

I felt very sorry for Dylan being left alone waiting for Donna, though. I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of this being a love triangle, it depends on how it's handled. I just hope that whatever happens, Dylan and Donna get to still be close, because their dynamic is fantastic.

Also, I feel like Dylan/Max/Donna is likely to be a more usual media love triangle with all the drama that comes with that, because sticking Dylan and Max at opposite sides of a love triangle feels like something the show would love to do... so are we going to get two love triangle stories at once, or is Teddy/Paige/Sah going to lead to a polyamorous relationship? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Rida was brilliant, which is no surprise. I really, really like Rida, she's such a good character. And Sarah Seggari's acting was great in this ep, again, as usual!

Rida's family friend Mariam showing up makes me wonder if we're about to get some exploration of Rida's family. I think that would be great. I've been waiting for more backstory for her for months.

The scene near the end with Jodie sitting next to Rida on the hospital bed, and their conversation about the discrimination they face as women, was possibly the best part of the episode. Like just about everything else, it was so good.

The patient stories were great. I particularly adored Jan's lovely assurance to the woman who hadn't gone to the march - because other attendees had made her feel unwelcome for being trans - that not everyone thinks that way, feminism is for all women, and that Jan would be glad to march alongside her. That was wonderful.

Stevie didn't get as much to do tonight as some other characters, but she was still great. I just love Stevie.

I did think the useage of the incidental music was a bit much tonight, but it's not like it took anything away from my appreciation of the ep, I still loved it.

Jodie was excellent as well. Anna Chell is such a good actress! The scene where Jodie started crying and Max hugged her was particularly emotional.

I almost didn't realise Faith was there, which was nice. She didn't do much in this episode that couldn't have been done by any other character, she was basically in the background, and while I'd rather she leave entirely I still appreciated this.

There weren't many Jacob scenes tonight either, but I get why, because the episode was really focused on other characters, and it was still nice to see him anyway. :)

So, yeah, tonight was fantastic. Good job, Casualty! Next week, we get two eps, both of which seem to be very Faith-centric from what I've seen... but they also seem very Max and Jodie-centric, which is great, because they're two of my favourite characters at the moment.

[takaraphoenix]

From what I remember from the Chasingverse, I think Percy Junior and Hazel Pandora died before Percy's 100th bday? I still think this remains to be the biggest mystery to date bc I wanna know who Dora's love interest is, how Percy Junior and Dora died, how did Silly eventually become a thing with Jimmy and Basty and it quite makes me curious what happens in your universe next

Let's start this slightly in reverse and do Silly and Jimmy first. The fic that would have told their story would have been Mad Magic, and their section of the fic (it was planned to be three parts, spanning the generations between my next gen and the rebirth generation; I had fics in this vein planned for all the tree branches).

And! I actually put a concrete summary into the document! Yay, me! So I can actually tell you how him, Basty and Silly got together!

Seven years after 'Chasing Fireflies', in 2039. Jimmy di Angelo has had enough of watching his best friend Basty swapping spite with his twin-sister, so Jimmy gets himself a girlfriend too, since that's the trend. Everybody gets girlfriends and boyfriends. But Basty and Silly don't like that Jimmy is now dating Bella la Fey, a daughter of Ares.

Percy Junior died on June 6th 2054, so yes, before his 100th birthday.

I can tell you a bit about Dora, I am very mad that I never took more detailed notes on what I wanted to happen in the story itself, like, plotwise, but I do still have some notes.

Her story, and the story that consequently would have seen Percy Junior's death happen, is called The Quest for Firestorm and it would have resolved around Dora and her questing party.

Dora didn't have a fixed planned love-interest, mainly due to Sam-esque reasons (i.e., Sam Raser was never meant to be a main character, much less to develop a romantic relationship with Trend or Derek, it just all... happened naturally as I got to flesh these characters out more while writing the story, and since I had planned a longer multi-chapter fic to tell Dora's story, I didn't want to lock myself in with giving her a definite love interest and instead let the story tell me where she would lean and who she would be with).

The members include Tom Grace, Cal di Angelo, Eli Raser, Anna & Nick Chase (Luke/Thess' twins), Yuki Murdock (Loki/Blance's daughter), Yone Mikaelson (Marshall/Sara's son), Saphira Foxx (Joe/Nico's daughter), and their satryr guide Chuck Hedge (the only non-OC lol).

Sadly, I am an absolute fool and did not include a summary for this fic. It infuriates me.

What I do remember is that I wanted to reuse the second Great Prophecy for it, in a "what, you thought both Great Prophecies happen within half a year of each other lol no the Giant War wasn't it" kind of way. Hence the name "Firestorm" - the line to storm or fire, the world must fall. The story would have also involved Erebus/Nyx and Hemera/Aether, to stick with the PJO tradition of climbing further up the godly family tree.

[survivalchances]

ANNALIESE BLACKLEY is here. Turns out the 51 year-old used to be a pathologist, but now they contribute as a surgeon. Better watch it — they’re known to be both maternal and anxious. They’ve been around for four years, but we’ll keep an eye on them just in case. They remind me of muffled cries in the dead of night, working hard to avoid sleepless nights, a smile desperately trying to remain bright anyway. — raquel cassidy / she/her / cis woman

Basics

Name: Annaliese Blackley Age: 51 Old Job: Pathologist New Role: Surgeon Gender, Pronouns and Sexuality: Cis woman, she/her and Bisexual Time in group: 4 years Family: Mother (Annabelle Blackley) deceased pre-apocolypse, Father (Andrew Blackley) deceased in the early days, Sister (Angela Blackley) deceased recently. Partner (utp) status unknown. Children? up for plotting.

Character Inspo

Elizabeth Waring (Raquel's guest chara in DCI Banks), Angelica (Hamilton), Emily Prentiss (Criminal Minds), Amy Santiago (Brooklyn 99), Martha Jones (Doctor Who), Lisa Cuddy (House MD), Marcus Bell (Elementary)

Biography

Annaliese, affectionately called Anna, was the eldest of the two Blackley daughters. She doesn't remember life without her little sister and from a young age she took great pride in the title of 'big sister. They were a close knit family and Anna always lived near her parents.

She was always very shy growing up, tending to stick to the sides if she could. A typical wallflower. Anna would have a few close friends though that she is extremely loyal too. Loyalty is still a trait she holds dear.

When time came for college Anna decided to go into medicine. She was good at science and wanted to help people. In the end though it didn't work out. Whilst she was good with her studies and even managed a suitable (if slightly serious) bed manner her anxiety worsened. She worried about hurting people or being unable to help.

In the end she became a pathologist, she was able to use what she learnt for medicine and still help people in finding closure.

She worked at a local hospital in Arizona when the virus began. Anna tried to help in the beginning but it spread so quickly. When her own father got bitten when she was away trying to find a group the guilt was too much. She and her sister left their home to find safety and joined the group that set up in the prison.

Anna is likely known by htose in the original group but she didn't take a leadership role like her sister. Shetreid to help anyone who needed it and settled into life.

She campaigned for the doors to be opened to newcomers, again she wanted to help.

Now though Angela died/turned under mysterious circumstances. She feels extreme guilt and grief about it all. She no longer trusts newcomers, unable to believe that the people she's lived with for years would hurt Angela.

Wanted Connections

Partner - can be any gender. Most details can be up for plotting but I like the idea that they are Anna's opposite mannerisms wise so quite outgoing and overly friendly.

Best Friend - Anna's really going through it right now, give her a ride-or-die friend who is by her side and understanding even when she's being rude.

[bitemescftly]

& @lecheroustaint // plotted.

Her walk through the forest had stretched for a little bit longer than she had thought but thankfully Anna was prepared. The brunette untied the hoodie from around her waist and began to put it on, nearly tripping over her own feet as she got a first real inhale of the scent that seemed to cling to it. An intense, intoxicating and mind-blowing mix of dangerously musky and manly scents that she had ever had a chance to come across. What seemed to be even weirder was that she could have sworn that a much more diluted fragrance like this had been following her for a couple of days now, maybe even weeks. She was not sure what it was, where it came from, but as her lungs filled with the smell - all her rational thoughts seemed to come to a halt. The brunette put her arms through the sleeves and her head through the neck hole, looking around the forest quickly before walking to the nearest tree. She leaned against it with her back, hiking the hoodie up above her hips so that she'd be able to stick her hand inside of the elastic band of her yoga pants and then into her panties. Anna gasped in shock as she found herself absolutely drenched, just a few seconds of smelling the fragrance doing enough to get her turned on and ready to fuck. Sadly there was not a single man in her life that could accomplish such a task and so - the woman was left with the second best thing. The brunette grasped the collar of the hoodie and tugged it up to her nose, slowly inhaling her new addiction as her right hand's fingers began to rhytmically rub her clit. In the middle of the woods, with no one there to see, she hoped to do this quickly and then be on her way - to go back home and use her favorite toys.

[stylistic-nightmare]

Find the Phrase

Tagged by: @randomstupidchaos and @gigglebug

My phrases: ‘I think so’ and ‘What do you mean’

Both excerpts from an untitled piece I’ve been working on.

-----

1 - ‘I think so’

"What happened?" she asks, as she studies the wound.

"He got jumped outside Mystique," Nikki replies, standing just to my left. She probably expects me to pitch off the bench onto my face at any moment. "It was Anna and Talbot. He took Talbot’s knife to the shoulder."

Red clucks her tongue, then pulls back and shakes her head. "The venom's damaged all the flesh around the wound." She pats my head softly. "How long has it been?"

"I don't know. Thirty minutes."

Closer to forty, I'd say, but I just don't have the energy to answer at this point. It's too much. I just want to sleep, but I can't, so sitting very still and breathing deeply is the best I can do for now.

Her eyes widen again and she looks down at me, brow furrowed. "He should be dead already. Are you sure it's been that long?"

"Longer, probably," Nikki tells her, also looking down at my face. "I was late to the party, happened to show up just in time to lend a hand. He'd already been stabbed by then."

"And he was still fighting?"

"Yeah."

"He's been conscious the whole time?"

"I think so. He fell once, but otherwise, he's been awake."

By now, she's crouched in front of me, staring into my eyes. I try to turn my head when she reaches out and lifts one eyelid high, but Nikki holds my head still and I don't have the strength to fight. "Follow my finger, all right?" She moves the finger slowly around, and my eyes follow it. After a moment, she frowns and straightens up. "I think... I think his body is fighting off the venom."

-----

2 - ‘What do you mean’

I take up position to the right of the door, and motion for Garth to stop right behind it. I mime opening the door and point to him and he nods. Raising my hand, I hold up three fingers and slowly put them down, one by one, as he reaches out and grabs the door handle. When the last one falls, he pulls the door open and I burst through into a completely dark room, the only light coming from the dim bulb over the door. As soon as he steps in behind me, and closes the door, the room is plunged into darkness, no light breaking through the boarded-up windows. It’s pitch black and completely silent inside, and that’s when I realise something’s not right.

My night vision is pretty good, so despite the darkness, I can see what looks like shelving units lining all the walls of the empty room. But I ignore that for a moment, going completely still and focusing my hearing as best I can. It only takes a second to confirm my initial impression.

“There’s nobody here.”

There are no heartbeats other than mine and his. No breathing, no snuffling, no clearing of throats or creaking of the floor. There aren’t even any rats or mice. My hearing is very good, and in a building as quiet as this one, anybody trying to hide would stick out like a sore thumb.

“What do you mean?” Garth asks, voice a nervous whisper as he tries to pierce the darkness with his eyes.

“There’s nobody in the building but us. What the fuck is this, Garth?”

He shrinks back as I turn to him, somehow aware of where I am despite his current vision problem. He puts his hands up in a placating gesture as I loom over him, and says, “There were supposed to be guards here, man. I cruised by earlier and they were here. What, you think I like throwing money at meatheads like you for the fucking fun of it? Come the fuck on, man!”

That’s not a bad point, as far as points go. But seven hundred bucks is chump change to a guy like the Pilot, so I don’t know. He does seem genuinely upset, and I don’t think he’s that good of an actor.

“Okay, all right. What’s our move? You want to split?”

-----

Tagging: @stoic-rose, @sarcasticfina, and whichever other of my mutuals/followers are also writers

Your phrase: ‘What do you want’ or something similar

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Episode 2: The Trials of Vasselheim

What's bad here is going to keep coming into play further down the road, so I wanted to get into it now.

The Bad (or at least not great)

At The Gate

The bit at the gate with Percy and the guard already felt off before I realized what they were trying to set up with Diplomacy. Then it just felt contrived, especially since it doesn't fit well. Remember how Percy wasn't the de Rolo kid who was meant to rule and probably wasn't being taught how to talk to people in an official capacity? Remember that he's been effectively homeless and away from money and the trappings of the aristocracy for what's probably been years? So even if he had been taught, he'd have no reason to be confident in his ability to talk his way into anything?

Yeah.

One way to make this moment more natural is to have Percy mutter as he and Vex walk away: "That always worked when Father/Julius did it." This reminds the audience that Percy wasn't and isn't experienced in this; he's just trying to ape what he's seen. Plus, it adds a touch of emotional depth to what he's meaning to do.  

In The Black Powder Shop

I wanted more Victor. Just saying. Also, more context about black powder would've been nice. The world building around it is interesting, and it establishes just how big of a crackpot Victor, Percy, and Anna are.

Also, the fuck was Ripley doing in Issylra? In the stream, she passed through there on her way to Marquet, chasing after multiple Vestiges that could be found there and never returned to Tal'dorei. But here, Ripley seems to have gone straight to Vasselheim from Whitestone, then back to Tal'dorei again. It makes sense she'd go back for the Vestiges if she's after them, but why did she leave in the first place? And the reason Ripley came to Vasselheim couldn't be because she was following Vox Machina, since she bought black powder there before they arrived.

Nitpicks

Vex exclaims out loud that she hopes Keyleth catches them. That feels unnecessary. Of course she would hope that, why do we need her to say it out loud? Maybe something like this?

Vex(whistling): Over hee-ere! Does Polly want a cracker?

Vax: That's parrots, idiot.

Vex: Shut up!

Eagle!Keyleth: *catches the twins*

Meh. Not great, but if the twins have to say something there, that sounds better. 

~~~

So they're switching out the Platinum Dragon for the Law Bearer, which is actually cool. She deserves more love and given her domain it might even make more sense….but the place is still called the Platinum Sanctuary? Isn't that potentially confusing?

~~~

This is a pedantic-ass nitpick, but the hell with it, this sounds better to me:

"You're still sticking bits of dead things in your hair."

~~~

As I pointed out in the season one review, we need more badass Grog moments so that when he gets bested, like with Groon, it's more of a shock. Even a background gag of Grog repeatedly showing up bruised or with blood on him to imply he's been in a fight offscreen would be fun. Or maybe just screaming off screen (Y'all ever see the TF2 short with the Sandvich? Like that.) and then Grog ambles on screen. Vax asks him "Have fun, big man?" Grog's like: "Yep."

Osysa And Keyleth

The thing about what Osysa says to Keyleth is…Okay. I could be totally wrong here, but the impression I got watching the stream was that Keyleth having a lifespan that would be way longer than anyone else's was an example of gameplay and story integration. 

In D&D 5e, Druids have something called Timeless Body, which kicks in after level 18. For every ten years that an 18th-level or higher Druid lives, they age only one. So they can live for a very long time. So, the idea that Keyleth would live longer than everyone else wasn't inherent to her but something she could achieve.

This could then be a big part of Keyleth's internal conflict. Why she's always so torn between her friends and her people: what propagates her indecisiveness and lack of confidence. She wants to lead the Ashari, but she isn't sure that she wants to be the one that remains, having to endure losing all her friends and family, as she'll outlive all of them.

On top of that, I rather like the idea that achieving a Timeless Body was expected and required of somebody trying to pass their Aramenté; not only do you have to be strong enough to acquire that, but acting as the leader of the Ashari demands someone who will live for centuries and will learn from them to become the wise and experienced guardian that their people need. 

If all that was the case in the stream and is the case here, what Osysa says to Keyleth doesn't make sense.

Osysa: Fleeing from your duties again, Keyleth? Tell me, what do you fear more…failing your Aramenté? Or knowing no one will live long enough to see you achieve it?

Because if getting strong enough to pass her Aramenté grants her the story equivalent of level 18 and Timeless Body, she can't keep trying long after everyone else is gone. If she fails to reach that peak for too long, she'll age out of the challenge and die with the other half-elves. She can't take too long and still out live everybody.

Osysa And Keyleth: Redundancy.

However, even if my impression was wrong or they're changing things up, neither of which is unlikely: the line is still redundant. It basically boils down to: "You suck, and you'll never be good enough to pass your trials." Said twice in two sentences. In either case, a better line would be something like this:

Osysa: Fleeing from your duties again, Keyleth? Tell me, what do you fear more…failing your Aramenté? Or failing the people that have come to depend on you on your journey to achieve it?

This is more varied. And it highlights Keyleth's internal conflict: she's being pulled in two very different directions. 

Osysa and Vox Machina

And then there's this line.

Osysa: You want to turn your back and run, like you have all your lives.

And this one from Pike last episode.

Pike: I thought we stopped running from our problems.

There's no qualifiers here or questions of lore. This....just doesn't make sense here.

Because, at this point, we've seen at least twelve episodes of Vox Machina running from none of their problems. 

Forget about any past characterizations of these guys either in the stream, pre-stream, or the comic book adaptation. The Vox Machina of the animated series has never failed to confront its problems. Not as far as we've seen. They decided to confront Brimscythe, even when they could've walked away and had no reason to believe they'd survive the fight. They chased the Briarwoods back to Whitestone and were ready to die under the Sun Tree until Pike arrived to turn the tide. Even when Grog and Scanlan bring up running before the final confrontation, the idea is abandoned almost immediately and never seriously considered. 

They ran from the Chroma Conclave, but any sane person would. And only in surviving that initial attack do they have a chance to stop the dragons now. Osysa could be talking about events in their pasts we haven't seen before this episode...but the only person I could see that being a legitimate criticism of is Scanlan. Because Grog should've gotten out of the Herd, the twins were better off out of Syngorn, and if Percy hadn't gotten out of Whitestone, he'd be dead or a slave like Cassandra. Despite her hesitancy, Keyleth is still trying to complete her Aramenté, and I don't know how Osysa's words might relate to Pike. 

The script tells us things about these characters that contradict what we see of them. And this is not going to be the last time, either. This is irksome, especially since it should be an easy pitfall to avoid for professional writers who have so much character establishment to draw from in the original.

That's it for this one. Lot's of stuff to unpack here, and we're just getting started on this season. Grab your coats and don't let your shoes stick to the floor.