#for Connor it's the fact that he's alive when so many are not

[multibodied]

Hank 🤝 Connor: feeling guilty for experiencing joy

[devils-little-sistaaa]

In the last Olympian Percy’s says there were 40 demigods that went fighting into battle of manhattan and later on the ares cabin joined so they weren’t even counted in that 40.

And in the end of the book Percy’s says there were only about “20 odd” demigods that survived and made it back to camp.

Roughly half of the whole entire camp perished in battle of manhattan.

And I’ve done the math and figured out who all the veteran characters are. Most of these are all characters mentioned both before and after the battle of manhattan and some of them were introduced in HoO but said to have been at camp since the titan war. These are the only known true survivors of BoM and it adds up to about 20. This is all of them. None of them are unknown. Do with this what you will

All of the battle of manhattan veterans in order of their cabin numbers :

Percy Jackson

Katie Gardiner

Miranda Gardener

Clarrise La Rue

Sherman Yang

Ellis Wakefield

Annabeth Chase

Malcolm Pace

Will Solace

Austin Lake

Kayla Knowles

Jake Mason

Nyssa Barrera

Harley

Drew Tanaka

Lacy

Mitchel

Chris Rodriguez

Travis Stoll

Connor Stoll

Pollux

Nico di Angelo

Butch Walker

Holly Victor

Laurel Victor

Can you imagine them all going back to camp together in only of those Delphi strawberry busses when they came in four busses. All of them together in a tiny bus grieving their lost siblings together.

Percy Annabeth And Nico went on a wild goose chase after Rachel who had just highjacked Black Jack and that’s how they got back to camp they weren’t on the bus.

Malcolm was all alone and might have believed Annabeth died out there in the streets somewhere or in the Empire State Building. (He’s elated to find her alive at camp later. But god that was a scary couple of hours on the bus thinking he’s all alone now)

Malcolm sits with Butch and Pollux because they’re the only other campers on the bus without siblings. Butch just because he happens to be the only known iris kid at camp and Pollux because he lost Castor in battle of the labyrinth.

All the others sit with their siblings. Or what’s left of them. Entire large cabins that used to have 10-20 kids on average now reduced down to 1-3 kids. Some died. Some joined Luke and probably died soon after.

Edit : And since I’ve seen some Titan army hate in these comments for no reason here’s something else I should have said.

If they joined Luke but somehow survived they were probably wrongfully murdered by the gods for rebelling or brutally punished somehow like Alabaster Torrington. So many titan army kids perished too. Don’t forget them. They fought for a noble cause. They didn’t die for nothing. They were just kids with dreams of making things less shitty for everyone. They suffered just as much if not more than the camp halfblood kids all at the hands of the gods and the titans and even other demigods that were higher up on the Olympus hierarchy. Nico, Ethan, any kid who’s not a child of the big 12 were not treated as equals at camp back then just because of their parentage or lack of powers or unique or scary powers. A lot of titan army kids were from minor gods who suffered because of the big 12 and their children. Camp halfblood wasn’t so nice to them in fact pretty cruel and rude and mean just because of that stupid hierarchy. Of course they felt hurt and fell into Kronos’s trap of trying to make things better. Of course Luke being their counselor at camp cause Hermes takes in all the minor god kids saw all them suffering and tried his best to help. Of course Luke fell into Krnos’s trap as well. and I refuse to tolerate any hate or misunderstanding of them.

[poppadom0912]

Is it too late?

Warnings: Mentions of periods, hospitals, surgery, pain and illness

Summary: When your older brother is a fancy surgeon, being sick is the last thing you want.  

Requested by @1chicago5021

A/N: I'm still alive people. I had a sudden burst of inspiration and thought I'd finally get all these requests done before the next round of exams. I am in a lesson right now so I can’t do the usual aesthetic collage I always do. This was sent quite a while ago but I actually had so much fun writing this so thank you! I hope this lives up to your standards <3

*****

Two weeks ago now, your body randomly started not working the way you wanted it to, but you put all the blame on your period whose cramps hadn't been very forthcoming.

The painkillers were a coming in at a constant stream, hot water bottles never having the chance to go room temperature.

Your never-ending migraines and 24/7 cramps were a constant, so you expected to feel relief once you were back to normal. But that never came because this week started and somehow, you felt even worse.

When you woke up this morning to your throat feeling weird, you knew something was wrong when you drank water and the feeling didn’t go away.  

Despite that, you went to school anyways, bidding your brother goodbye when he dropped you off, completely unaware of your wellbeing. But you couldn’t blame the guy, he was stressed enough over work as it is, you didn’t need to add to his already overflowing workload.  

You only felt worse as the day progressed. It was only spring, nearing summer, but your body temperature wouldn’t stop fluctuating. One minute you were shivering and asking to borrow your friend's hoodie but the next you were sweating like you had just finished a marathon and was trying to get rid of as many layers as possible.  

The cramps were immense. The worst you ever had and to consider you just got off your period, you weren’t a stranger to post period cramps, but this was on another level. You hadn’t been in this much pain ever even while on your reds. None of the pain killers your friends kindly provided for you alleviated the pain. Death would feel ever so sweet right about now.  

You knew you were seriously sick when you were on the verge of collapsing at lunch. Your friends all shouted in alarm when you faltered on your feet in the cafeteria. You ignored their efforts and attempts to get you to the nurse's office. There wasn’t long left of the school day, there wasn’t any point in leaving with barely two hours left.  

As soon as you got home, you fell face first into bed. As soon as your head hit the pillow and you pulled the covers over your body with however much strength remained in your arms that got heavier as the day went on.  

You were in a deep sleep, so deep in fact that your dreams were non-existent. You weren’t too sure what time it was, but you felt someone shaking you, going from gentle to a hand tightly holding your shoulder, a muffled voice inaudible as you came in and out of your slumber.  

Their gestures were painful, but you didn’t have it in you to tell the intruder as you struggled to even muster a groan. Your eyes fluttered, face digging even deeper into the pillow as if to suffocate yourself. That was all the indication the person needed to shake you harder, adamant to wake you up.  

With a blocked nose, breathing out through your mouth proved itself to be a much more difficult task than it should’ve been. And stuffing your face into your pillow might not have been the best idea taking that into consideration.

Their voice sounded way too far away, as though they weren’t in the room with you. One second they were roughly holding you, the next, all pressure ceased but the pain didn’t.

Before you could even register what they were doing now, your eyes heavy with sleep dropped once more as you were enveloped into darkness again.

*****

Over the past two weeks, Connor had noticed your depleting energy but when the mood swings came along with your hot water bottles, he didn’t think any much more of the matter.

But then you showed no signs of improvements and at first, he could hardly notice. You hid it quite well at first but as the week progressed, it was apparent to him you were getting sick, and you were too stubborn to admit that to your surgeon brother.

Nonetheless, things didn’t look too bad that staying home was necessary. You were managing quite well, going to school the entire week without complaints, so he found no reason to intervene into something he knew would end up in an argument that would result in you holding a grudge and not talking to him for a few days.

He dropped you off and drove to work expecting nothing. You smiled at him when you left the car, and nothing seemed physically wrong when you picked up the pace to meet your friends.

His twelve-hour shift seemed to never end. When he had a moment to himself, he messaged you as he waited for his coffee, staring at his message that sat alone with no replies for hours. School has finished, you were sure to be home now, so why weren’t you answering?

He didn’t think much of it till he was meant to go home at twelve. He was all ready standing at his locker but then Maggie called his name and he saw several ambulances piling up outside.

As amazing as he was, his attention couldn’t be in two places at once and unfortunately for you, car crashes had more significance in this situation. But as soon as this was all over, you’d be his number one priority once more.

It was all over six hours later when he came out of the second surgery he had to take lead in.

Stepping out of the surgery theatre, he thanked all his co-workers and was dashing away to collect his things, not wanting to be here any longer. Having time to finally check his phone again, his concern skyrocketed when you still hadn’t replied to his messages.

Waving off the few staff remaining in the emergency department, Connor wasted no time in driving off. His adrenaline had yet to die down from the rush of a packed-out emergency room and doing several successful surgeries. Adding to this was his building concern for you. Maybe you were just sleeping, and your phone was on charge. Maybe it was on silent, and you didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was stolen, and you couldn’t contact him-

Connor sighed as he parked the car. Wasting no time, his body still thrumming from the surgery high, he walked into the building and took the stairs instead, taking large strides as he skipped every two.

The house was drop dead silent when he opened the door which you hadn’t locked from the inside like you usually would. That and the completely pitch-black apartment was the first things that put him on edge.

He locked the door behind him, walking in further and inspecting the living room and kitchen that didn’t look lived in. Everything was in its same place as he left it in this morning. Closing the blinds in the living room, he walked towards your bedroom, your door slightly ajar which had never been the case since you started living with him. You always shouted at him whenever he left the door even a slither open, you always needed complete darkness to sleep. The tiniest bit of light always hindering your sleeping ability.

Pushing the door open, Connor poked his head inside first to survey the room. He finally let himself relax at the sight of you lying in bed, your figure completely drowning in your duvet. The weird lump in your sheets being the only reason he could identify you.

He felt himself relax, his body physically deflating now that he had eyes on you, knowing for sure that nothing was wrong.

For some reason, your curtains were still open which they never were since you were young, always complaining, once again, that you needed complete darkness to be able to sleep. Closing your curtains, he found your phone on your bedside desk, and it was littered with notifications from not only him but all of your friends too. All of them were asking in variations if you were okay, if you felt better, did you get home safe and how you were feeling.

They were all sent at three in the afternoon. It was now two in the morning.

Concerned at the topic of the messages, Connor came over to the side of the bed you were laying on and placed his hand on your forehead, his eyes widening immediately. He felt himself warming up just from how hot you were.

Sitting down on the space by your knees, Connor shook you gently, trying to rouse you from your apparent very deep sleep but the only movement you made was from what he was doing.

“Y/N? Hey, wake up. Can you get up for me really quick?”

The adrenaline that was just dying down was picking up again along with his heart rate, why weren’t you waking up?

He shook you once again but this time, he was more rough, his worry meaning he gripped your shoulder tightly and shook you with a force that he’d never use on you before as his baby sister.

This time he tried calling you name while he tried getting you up. Lifting the duvet off your body, not only were you shivering but you were sweating a very unusual amount.

Swallowing harshly, Connor tried one more time, calling your name and roughly shaking you. “Come one, I need to you wake up Y/N.”

“Y/N. Y/N get up.”

But you just wouldn’t budge.

Deciding that enough was enough, he scooped you into his arms and it must’ve been the sudden movement that caused you to let out a small whimper in what was clearly pain. It was small but it was the most he’d gotten from you since he got home and that was better than nothing.

Foregoing his jacket, Connor made sure to slip your cardigan over your torso, so you weren’t going to die from the cold outside. He quickly slipped into his own shoes and left the building not a moment later.

*****

No one had been expecting Connor to be back at work so soon, not even him. It was a few minutes to three and the ED was relatively calm taking into account the big accident not too long ago, but Connor was grateful.

Getting out the car, Connor looked into the ED and called for the first person he saw.

“April! Get me a gurney!”

Said nurse was caught completely off guard, jumping from where she stood at the nurse's desk with Will not too standing behind her. He too clearly was confused but Connor had no time to dwell on them.

Not checking if she was listening, Connor rounded the car and picked you back into his arms, your head resting on his bicep and your legs on the inside of his elbow. Slamming the door shut, Connor strode into the emergency department and luckily for him, April and Will were more than ready to help.

“All the gurneys are used up from before, but we’ve got a free bed.” April said, leading the surgeon into an empty treatment room where Will was lowering the bedside rails.

“Talk to me Connor.” Will said, understanding there was no time for formalities when he saw it was you Connor was carrying.

“No clue what happened but she’s as hot as anything, she’s shivering and sweating at the same time and will not wake up for anything.” Connor started, gently laying you down and standing back to let Will and April do their jobs. He was itching to help but physically had to move further away from you so that he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

“Pretty sure she’s been sick and in pain for a while now, but she never said anything.” He continued, looking at all the numbers on the machines that were popping up as they were connected to your body. “When I asked last week, she just kept saying it was her period cramps.”

As April hooked you up onto an IV drip, Will started palpating your body in search for any particular place of pain. And when he came to a particular area in your lower abdomen and you cried out, the three of them looked at each other knowingly.

“Kieran should still be on shift.” Connor said, remembering the surgeon he left behind that was in charge and available.

Will nodded in confirmation, “Let’s move.”

*****

Waking up felt different to all the times before. Your levels of disorientation and haziness and confusion were on another level.

As soon as you opened your eyes, the first thing you noticed was the lack of pain. You couldn’t feel not even a pinch in your stomach, maybe it was weird to say but it felt liberating to not be in debilitating pain.

“Oh, thank goodness your awake.” Connor looked dead on his feet in the doorway of the room but the immense relief painting his face was like no other.

You made him feel and look like that- Shit, what happened, what did you do?

Before you could say anything, Connor beat you to it. “How are you feeling? In any pain?”

As he questioned you, a poured you a cup of water, holding it so all you had to do was drink and not need to exert energy that he knew from experience, you didn’t have.

Once again, before you could ask, he answered for you. “It was appendicitis. Your period cramps were in fact your appendix and last night it burst.”

“But it’s all good. We got you into surgery and your appendix is gone as should your pain.”

“Wow.” You said shakily, your voice so quiet from the lack of use.

“Please don’t do that next time.” Connor said, sitting on the empty seat by the bed, taking your hand into his. “Please tell me when you're in pain and when you feel sick. You matter to me; all your small or big problems are mine too. I don’t care how trivial they are.”

Silence followed as he set the glass aside. “You scared the shit out of me kiddo.”

And to say you felt guilty was an understatement.

“Claire’s pissed.” You both winced at the thought of your sister finding out. “She’s going to visit when she’s finished with work. I told her your healthy and out of surgery but she’s still pissed.”

“M’Sorry.” You apologised, voice hoarse and lips chapped. “I didn’t want-“

“Y/N.” Connors face made it look like he was in pain from your admission he cut off. “You’re never a bother to me okay? Me being a doctor is a good thing, use it to your advantage.”

You nodded, confirming to change next time if there was another time. Fingers crossed there isn’t.

“How hard was it to not do the surgery?” You smiled, squeezing his hand and poking his bicep. He was still in his scrubs from his shift last night.

Connor rolled his eyes and groaned. Such a sight made you laugh.

[mediumgayitalian]

Nico is going to be smote by Hermes.

As he trudges through the muddy lake water, seething, he weighs each elaborated murder he has planned for each member of Cabin Eleven against how harshly Hermes will punish him for it. Connor will be flayed alive. Travis will be cooked over an open flame. Julia will be strapped to a rocket and blasted into the sun. Alice will face death by a thousand paper cuts.

And Cecil.

Fucking Cecil.

Cecil Markowitz will face a death so tortuous and harrowing that the constraints of the crime cannot be adequately covered in any mortal tongue. Crucified is too light a term. Nico is going to kill him in a way that is unspeakable — to hell with Hermes and his wrath. Nico is going to smite his dumbass children himself, and it will be worth it.

His boyfriend waits for him, lips pressed together and eyes trained to the sky, on the dock, holding several towels.

“Say nothing,” Nico hisses, slamming his sword on the wood and dragging himself up after it.

“Wasn’t going to,” Will lies. He immediately begins to cough, face turning slightly red. “Well, if I were to say anything —”

“William,” Nico warns.

“I just mean to say,” he soldiers on, setting all but one of the towels down, “that you look —”

He cuts himself off with a quickly smothered giggle.

“I swear to all that is fucking holy, Son of Phoebus.”

He lets Will maneuver him about, towel turning almost black with all the mud it’s absorbing off Nico’s clothes. He has to move on to another towel once he’s finished just Nico’s arm, dripping the soaked towel with a wet plop.

“It’s not that bad.”

Nico stares at him, deadpan. In fact he has to swipe pond scum out of his eyes and hair to glare properly.

“I am the fucking Creature of the Black Lagoon, Solace.”

Will bites his lip, hard. A burst of laughter escapes anyway, heedless of his desperate attempt to smother it, and the worst part is that it’s gorgeous and it makes his eyes light up and his stupid face looks stupid divine, when he’s giggly about something, and it makes Nico want to crush him a little. In the facial region, with his own face.

Except his own face is covered in stinky lake mud.

And Will is laughing.

Hard.

“I mean,” he manages around giggles, holding up a new towel to dab at Nico’s face, “it brings out your eyes, honestly.”

Nico closes his eyes. He lets that sit for a moment. He exhales for ten solid seconds.

“William Andrew.”

“It does! I mean, it’s really the perfect shade —”

“Romance is actually, genuinely dead.”

“— makes them look very deep, actually —”

“I should’ve listened to Demeter and married a doctor.”

“— and lake mud has so many uses! Most of the microbes on you are excellent for the skin. Who wouldn’t want to be compared to lake mud?”

“Oh wait! That is useless advice.”

“And you didn’t even pick up any leeches! Just all this dark, beautiful lake mud, as brown and beautiful as your eyes —”

“I’m returning you to whatever lab you were created in. Obviously you’re defective and I want a new model.”

“— in fact I’ll write a haiku about it.” He clears his throat. “My boyfriend is so hot —”

“Enough,” Nico interrupts, slapping his semi-clean hand over Will’s motormouth before things get any worse. Unfortunately the mud still caked into the lines of his skin contrasts beautifully with Will’s sparkling eyes, making them even bluer somehow. That’s a felony. “Also, that’s six syllables, dumbass.”

“I’ll revise,” he shoots back, muffled.

“If you promise not to, I’ll move my hand.”

Will presses a kiss to his palm because he’s a sappy loser who knows exactly what he does for Nico’s heart problems, based on the wiggle of his stupid perfect eyebrows.

“Deal.”

Nico removes his hand slowly. He lifts it back up when Will opens his mouth, threatening, but luckily he changes course before Nico has to make good on the threat, leaning down to kiss Nico softly, properly.

“I’m crucifying your best friend,” he mumbles against his lips. “That is step one of a ten step torture process.”

“‘Kay.”

“His siblings, too.”

“Sounds good.”

“Hermes might grind me to dust, after.”

“Trying really, really hard to focus on something right now, babe.”

“Right,” Nico breathes. There is still mud drying onto him and it is the Worst, actually, and he still has several homicides to play out, but.

But.

He can spend a little time kissing his boyfriend first.

(As long as that will keep him from spouting any more damn haikus.)

[c0nn0rsseur]

Okay but WHAT IF it was Nines instead of Sixty in the Cyberlife Tower chapter? Hear me out.

I mean I love Sixty so much, but imagine if Cyberlife had sent the upgraded model to torment and end Connor, that would’ve been poetic.

Nines could’ve bragged about being superior, ”equipped with the latest technologies” and stated how Connor is already obsolete and means nothing to Cyberlife. (I know Amanda already tells all of this to Connor in one of the bad endings, but if it was Nines himself instead rahhh, imagine a better version of yourself degrading you, such a harrowing thought)

Like my friend said, ”Cyberlife would be that petty.” Damn right.

Imo Sixty’s personality and mannerisms suit Nines so well too, tho I usually my headcanon for (deviant) Nines is him being a bit more machine like than Connor, very loyal and a tad bit more calculating but still his heart being in the right place (or thirium pump). I would like to know Bryan’s spin on Nines’ voice, would he have sounded different from the original Connor and Sixty? I know it would’ve been something equally delicious. I think we all have our own idea of Nines because the canon RK900 is a total blank page, so y’all might disagree with me about Nines’ personality. And I think it’s wonderful, it’s like make-your-own Connor, no interpretation is wrong! Sixty tho, he’s a ecoistical lil’ shit, it makes him so much fun too. Tho I like to think he’s somewhat redeemable (if he’d survive that is).

Of course the tormenter being Sixty is already amazing and I enjoy the Sixty vs Connor showdown immensely, imo it emphasizes how Connor is just one of many and not special at all in Cyberlife’s eyes, and so so easily replaceable (even when he’s a state-of-the-art prototype). And on top of it all, a defective model at that. Sixty even thinks Hank won’t notice any differences between the two RK800s and makes a whole ass plan around that fact. So without Sixty there wouldn’t be that brilliant scene where Hank has to indentify the real Connor. It’s an amazing conclusion to Connor’s deviancy journey and Hank’s final acceptance of Connor being alive and his own person. It would’ve been a shame if they didn’t include that scene, it’s an integral part of Connor and Hank’s story. So, thank you Sixty?

The brilliant clip and the shot with the mod in this post are requested from the loveliest Lama (Lama.aep on TikTok, check out her amazing edits, she cooks killer Connor food)! Thank you 🫶

[goldenlikedayl1ght]

just like heaven | connor, rk800

ART CREDIT: @possumy (Original post) a/n: hi everybody happy april im happy to still be here my detroit become human hyperfixation is alive and well. also so much love to @possumy if you see this and want me to change the header, i will!!! please just send me a dm/ask!! your art was just perfect for how i was imagining connor to look in this fic and its just. i am obsessed with it your art is so lovely. and one more shoutout to this post by @salt-and-a-dash-of-pepper made that sort of inspired this fic. warnings: cursing, kissing, connor being autistic and also learning emotional regulation, connors first relationship, fuck gavin reed, Gavin is awful to Connor and is weird to reader, canon typical violence, connor snaps at reader, connor is so awkward, mostly canon accurate, established relationship, bridge to terabithia, hank is hank, lots of complicated emotions lots of connor learns how to be a person, uhhh i guess thats it wordcount: 3.1k summary: connor feels a lot of strong emotions and has no 'emotional regulation' feature. pairing: deviant!connor, rk800 x gn!reader now playing: just like heaven - the cure "show me how you do it/and i promise you/ i promise that I'll run away with you/i'll run away with you"

The one thing no one ever tells you about being a deviant is that you need to learn emotional regulation, you know, that thing that small children learn in elementary school?

…Well maybe someone did tell Connor, given how long he spent hunting deviants before becoming one.

But with the revolution and the high stakes scenario surrounding Detroit, he sort of.. skipped that step.

Now, as the dust settles, he’s… adjusting to his new life. And there are so many things that are new-- 

Including emotions. He never imagined feeling the sort of things he does now..

So, here’s an incomplete list of the emotions that Connor deals with after becoming deviant.

--

Anger

He can’t help himself. He can’t control it.

Gavin Reed is just so fucking annoying.

And he can’t figure out why—

Androids are on their way to becoming human’s equals. Sure, they’re not there yet because humans are in fact self-righteous creatures who are very stubborn, but slowly, more and more are becoming increasingly tolerant.

Except for Gavin. He still hates androids. Especially Connor.

And all he wanted was to make you a coffee before you got out of your meeting with a witness, a human with a sharp disdain for androids. Hank had gone with you to ask the right questions.

So, he went into the breakroom to make you a warm drink..

That’s what boyfriends do, right?

“What’re you doing, bolts?”

Even at the sound of his voice, a pang of agitation ran through him.

“I’m making coffee for—”

The cup is smacked out of his hand and into the nearby sink before he can fully turn around.

Anger immediately starts to build in the pit of his stomach.

“Androids don’t drink coffee,” He reminded, “Androids don’t eat or drink anything. Stop fucking pretending you’re like everyone else.” He spits, and Connor takes a moment.

He inhales, remembering your advice.

Just ignore him, Connor. He’s a dick who just wants to make you feel as worthless as he does.

“It’s not for me.” He starts, turning now to go make you another cup of coffee, but before he can turn, Gavin grabs his shoulder to turn him again.

“Who’s it for then, Bolts?” He asks, and he steps closer to Connor, his face closer to his. Connor’s cheeks twitch, resisting the urge to scrunch his nose at the smell of cigarettes that wafts off him. “Hank?” When Connor doesn’t answer, Gavin’s face lights up in realization.

“Oh, it’s for your little crush. What a pair you two make.” Gavin scoffs. “For a bot, you have good taste. I might just have to show them what a real man could—”

Connor can’t help himself. He shoves Gavin back a bit. It makes Gavin laugh.

“I’ve been waiting to beat the shit out of you since you attacked me in the archive.” He says, swinging a punch Connor’s way before he can even react.

-

You thought your session with the witness was going well. Then, from outside the interrogation room, you heard shouting. You glanced over to Hank, your movements coming to a stop.

“Uh,” He clears his throat and stands up, nodding you over to the door, “We’ll be right back, Ma’am.” He says to the witness.

Your stomach fills with dread, hoping Connor was able to stay out of trouble (Yeah, right.).

You see the crowd gathering around the breakroom, and before you can even ask yourself who this fight could be between.. Gavin Reed is thrown across the precinct, and you realize who the other person in this fight is.

Hank realizes it too as Gavin gets up and quickly runs at Connor, as they start to hit each other, fighting like two hormonal, angry teenagers. It’s certainly what Connor feels like in this moment. Well, it would be, if Connor was thinking about anything except seeing Reed’s blood splattered across the precinct floor.

Hank looks to you and before you can register his strides towards the fight, he says,

“I’ll get Reed, you get Connor out of here.”

You’re the one who wanted to date him, remember?

You shove through the crowd, pushing big burly cops who should definitely break this fight up cheer—They’re either cheering for the long overdue ass-kicking of Gavin Reed or the annoying android that won’t seem to quit.

You move to Connor as Hank pulls Gavin back, face bloody but no longer throwing punches—Still hurling insults.

“Connor!” You raise your voice as best you can, and you even hear a few giggles from behind you. To your coworkers, it sounds like a cat trying to bark. Connor takes a step towards Reed but the sound of your voice pulls him out of this trance.

His head snaps towards you, and you can see the way he’s panting; Not from exhaustion. Androids don’t run out of breath.

Connor’s chest is falling dramatically, up and down, because of the hot anger that flows through him. Blue blood runs down his face, staining his shirt. His knuckles are wiped in Reed’s blood, and he turns towards you with such anger.

And then he blinks, his LED blinking yellow. But he’s still angry. All you can think to do is grab his wrist and pull him away to one of the bathrooms.

Connor leans against the sink, just breathing heavily. He doesn’t say anything as you slip off his jacket, and then his tie. You untie it and run it under warm water in the sink. He’s still seething as you use the tie to wipe away the blue blood from under his nose, dripped down his lips, down his chin and neck.

“What happened?” You ask after a moment.

Connor’s LED flashes red and his grip on the sink tightens.

“What do you think happened?”

A frown tugs on your lips.

“I think you let Reed get to you.”

Connor’s LED blinks red again.

“Get to me? He was fishing for a fight, and I just—” He feels his anger bubbling again. “I couldn’t take it anymore—”

You believe him.

“It’ll get easier,” You start, and Connor just shakes his head.

“Stop it,” He turns from you, pacing around the bathroom.

“It will, he’ll get tired of it, and—”

“You don’t know that!” He snaps, raising his voice at you.

You freeze. So does Connor.

Your name tumbles from his lips, and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

“I’m sorry,” Connor says softly, “I didn’t mean to yell at you, I just.. I got so angry, and I know that’s not an excuse, I just..” Connor’s shoulders finally slump, exhaustion taking over his anger. “I can’t stand the way he talks about you.”

The two of you look at each other, both of you looking for the other to break this silence with sage words of wisdom.

But, neither of you find the words.

Instead, you just step forward and wrap your arms around him, and he doesn’t hesitate to hug back. Connor inhales and exhales deeply. He’s found these hugs to be the best solution to these intense outbursts.

-

Sadness

Fridays become movie night.

You, Connor and Hank order a pizza and longue on the couch, Sumo at your feet. When movie night first started, Connor challenged Hank to be sober for it. So, he no longer drinks on Fridays. But, in exchange for his sobriety, Hank challenges Connor to experiment with showing affection for you.

It starts with making you tea or snacks, but slowly, you find yourself with his arm around your shoulder, or his hand intwined with yours.

That doesn’t really affect this story, but you think about it every Friday night.

Tonight, you’ve chosen to watch this old movie your mom always put on for you as a kid—Bridge To Terabithia.

Connor enjoys it more than he thought he would, but then he gets towards the end. His face falls when he sees the solemn tone the main character comes home to after a day at the museum.. He feels this.. horrible sadness, and he’s not sure when he starts to cry..

All he knows is that he watches the last few moments of the movie with tears running down his face. He glances to the side and notices your eyes on him. A wave of embarrassment washes over him, and he feels like he’s done something wrong by crying at a stupid kid’s movie.

That feeling goes away when he feels your head leaning on his shoulder.

-

Jealousy

Another emotion Connor just cannot help but feel.

He’s not stupid—You’re gorgeous, of course people are going to flirt with you! The worst part, in his opinion is the fact that you don’t even seem to notice it.

You’ll go out to dinner, and the waitress will give you a free dessert.

You’ll get phone numbers from witnesses.

And worst of all?

Gavin loves to flirt with you.

Connor is just sitting at his desk, painstakingly waiting for you to step out of the interrogation room where you’re helping interview a perp for a case Reed’s working on. He knows you have no interest in Reed. In fact, you really fucking hate Reed, the way he tortures poor Connor. But even more than that, you have no interest in Reed because you are utterly devoted to Connor, even if he doesn’t see that.

His head picks up when he sees you and Gavin leaving the room, talking by the doorway. What were you two talking about?

And Connor is very bad at social cues, so he squints, trying to analyze your body language to gauge what you’re feeling in this moment.

Hank is talking about—Well, Connor doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he stopped paying attention to the subject matter a couple of minutes ago. He’s trying to assess how quickly he can cross the room and rip Gavin’s hand off as it lands on your upper arm.

“And then, I said—” Connor is up and moving as Hank talks, “Connor, what the fuck—Oh, god,” That last part happens when Hank realizes what has grabbed Connor’s attention.

“Detective Reed,” He starts, and to you, it feels like he just shows up out of thin air, “I believe I heard Captain Fowler was looking for you.”

Reed scoffs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, bolts?” He rolls his eyes, “Guess I should see what the old man wants.” His eyes flicker to you, glancing you up and down, “See you later, hun.”

Connor recognizes the pet name. Pet names. A very human quirk that Connor cannot seem to get the hang of. But, he can certainly try, no?

An arm is wrapped around your shoulder, but because Connor is not a physically affectionate person, your face twists in confusion.

“Goodbye, Detective.” His head tilts towards you, “Would you like to get lunch.. darling?”

You smile at his awkwardness.

“Sure. Lunch sounds nice.” And you let him walk you out of the police station, not even sure where the two of you were going to lunch. But as soon as you’re out on the street, you have to mention it, “I didn’t know you get jealous,” you tease.

Connor blinks, his LED light flashing yellow.

“It wasn’t—” He shakes his head, “I’d hardly call it jealousy.”

“Oh yeah?” You wonder, “Then why’d you come interrupt me and Reed?”

“Well, you were clearly uncomfortable,” He starts, and then he takes a deep breath, “Besides.. I’m your boyfriend. Not.. Gavin.” Connor says his name with disgust.

You just giggle.

“I think you’re cute when you’re jealous.” There’s no bite to your bark—You really do love your oblivious, amazing boyfriend. Why would you complain that you have someone as handsome and as kind as Connor being so unknowingly jealous?

You decide to ignore the way his ears flush blue. Or at least, you decide not to tease him about it.

-

Yearning

This one’s my favorite. It’s Connor’s favorite. It’s bound to be your favorite.

Office parties at the DPD always get a little too out of hand.. the vicious mix of ego and alcohol is always a dangerous equation.

But, Ben Collins is a friend of yours, so you and Connor showed up to his retirement party. They decided to host it at the police station, pushing the desks to the back so they could have a makeshift dance floor.

Everyone is dressed nice—Mostly in suits, but now, with the night winding on, everyone’s taken off their jackets, loosened their ties..

Connor’s sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and the first two buttons of his shirt are undone. He looks.. so fucking good.

You’re socializing, having had a drink or two, your hair messier than it had been when you came in. You’re just talking, but when the person you’re talking to leaves, Connor approaches, a smile on his face.

Your handsome— No, gorgeous—No, Pretty boyfriend with those beautiful eyes of his. You know Connor doesn’t really believe in more than numbers and science—psychology over astrology type of guy, or at least, as far as he’s expressed.

But you thank your lucky stars that you have him in your life, but if you told Connor that you’d guess he’d just scrunch his nose and ask what astronomy had to do with the two of you meeting.

(“I’m just thankful for it. I mean what are the odds?”

“Considering I was designed to be a detective where you work, to be your partner? Rather high, I’d say, but if you’d like the exact number, I could run a calculation.”)

You grin.

“Hi, pretty boy,” You coo, just a little tipsy. You watch as he blushes, a deep blue creeping onto his skin.

“Hello,” He says softly, unable to tear his eyes from you. “Are you doing okay?” He rubs your arm gently, his thumb brushing back and forth a bit. You just smile wider, blushing just as much as him.

Maybe it’s the fact that everyone here is too drunk to notice, or maybe it’s just that he feels this deep, crushing affection for you. Like he needs to be as close to you as possible. He’s not sure why, but he can’t find it in himself to deny it or push it away.

He his hands find yours, and just for a moment, Connor thinks about retracting the skin on his hands, a sign of intimacy from Deviants, but he gets too scared.

Instead, he begins to assess the risk of various spots.

Everyone’s in and out of the restrooms, you can’t go there. It seems wrong to drag you to the evidence room or even the interrogation room.

Connor glances back to the desks behind you. How no one’s paying attention to them. How even if they were, they’d be too drunk to care.

So, he leads you by the hand over to a particular desk he’s looking for, before patting the desk.

“Here, sit.”

You raise an eyebrow. Your eyes flicker down to the name on the desk, and you smile.

“Connor—”

He just looks at you, waiting. But you can see the corner of his lips twitch up as you sit right on Reed’s desk.

“Isn’t it normal to engage in a bit of friendly practical joking?” he asked, and he steps towards you, his hands landing on either side of you on the desk, caging you in. You just smile and your hands rest on his shoulder.

“You’re going to, what, prank Reed by making out with me on his desk?” You ask, a teasing edge to your voice.

Connor’s LED flickers pink, and then stays that color as he leans in, his nose barely touching yours. He’s just close enough to feel your warm breath against his lips.

“There’s nothing wrong with some harmless fun..” He mumbles, “We’re all friends here, right, Detective?”

Your heart thumps.

And maybe it’s the alcohol, but all you can to think to say is,

“You and I were never just friends, Connor.”

Something about your words recall memories of his—

Meeting you for the first time.

Saving you instead of catching a deviant.

He thinks about sitting with you on the steps of your porch, sipping hot tea, and listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof above him, your body leaning against his.

He wasn’t even a deviant at that point.

So yeah. The two of you were never ‘just’ friends.

But instead of justifying your claim, Connor’s resolve diminishes, and he presses his lips against yours, and for a rare moment—it’s all worth it.

All the hate he experiences from humans, all the hot, dangerous anger he can’t keep down, the horrible shame, the deep, overwhelming sadness—

It’s all worth it for this moment, when he feels truly alive.

He deepens the kiss and doesn’t stop you when he feels his hand on his jaw, then barely brushing past the collar of his shirt. He doesn’t know what he wants, but he knows he has to get as close to you as possible.

His hands wander, his fingertips just barely dipping beneath your top—

And just the tips of his fingers retract his skin, white fingertips brushing against your skin. He can’t help it. He pulls away from the kiss and begins to kiss your cheek, and then your jaw, and then your neck—

Each kiss is precise, calculated by him to elicit the reactions he knows you’re capable of, trying to satisfy the hunger he finds himself unable to conquer.

Connor had always considered himself an expert on Deviant Behavior—But you, the way you tug on his collar to bring him closer with one hand while playing with his hair with the other, and the vague, fuzzy-at-the-moment memory of you holding your umbrella over Connor’s head, one of the first true kindnesses he remembers—it makes him realize that he knows nothing about deviant behavior or the concept of desire.

But when the sound of small gasps leave your lips, quiet, only for him to hear over the loud music and people laughing, crying, yelling, singing, and the feeling of your warm skin beneath his ivory fingertips, Connor realizes he’s more than willing to educate himself.  

Properly.

Thoroughly.

He decides to make it his mission.

And Connor always accomplishes his mission.

[witchygagirlwrites]

Mine (Pt.2 /2)

Kelly Severide x Reader

You're in love with Kelly and Jay is your best friend but when you're hurt on the job it puts them at odds.

Warnings: cursing, character (temporarily) dying, fluff

When Sylvie and Emily arrived on scene Kevin and Adam had to forcefully move Jay from your side so they could do their job. "Save her" Jay barely managed to get out as he looked down to see your blood smeared thickly across his hands and chest. Emily and Sylvie were forced to push any thought out their heads besides saving your life. They couldn't think that this was one of their friends bleeding out in front of them.

Emily and Sylvie worked fast loading you into the ambulance and shooting questions off at the same time as to just what had happened. "She took a damn bullet to block for me" Jay managed to get out before tears starting streaming down his face. Hank clarified what caliber as Emily nodded then ran to the driver's seat."We'll give you an escourt" Adam told her before slamming the back of the ambulance. Him and Kevin ran to their car to clear the way to med while Jay,Kim,Hailey and Hank watched them pull away.

"Jay you and Upton go to med. Me,Kim and the uniforms can handle this" Hank offered and Jay nodded blankly "She can't die. She just can't" Hank touched Jay's shoulder to bring him back to his own head and when he looked him in the eye half smiled "She's strong as hell Jay and Gaffney has the best doctors that will be waiting on her to get there"

"C'mon let's get going" Hailey offered slipping an arm around Jay's shoulders to lead him outside but he couldn't help but look back one more time at the thick puddle of your blood staining the concrete and wondered if that would be the last time he ever saw you alive.

----

Firehouse fifty one was a family plain and simple. When one was hurting everyone was there to back them so the moment they knew why Kelly and Matt was headed to med Herrman and Mouch was right behind them.

Matt kept glancing at Kelly as he drove for the simple fact he was afraid he may be going into shock. Every other time someone close to him had been hurt Kelly showed a temper but this time? It was like he was barely holding on, as if the moment the bullet had hit you one had hit him as well.

Kelly felt like he could barely breathe. If only he'd knew he would've held you just a little longer than morning. Kissed you a little deeper or just flat out refused to let you out of bed. He couldn't lose you. Any time he pictured the future you were front and center. Without you there wasn't a future he wanted to live in.

When Matt pulled into med Kelly hardly gave him time to get the truck stopped before he was heading inside. He spotted Sylvie and Emily standing in front of an exam room and felt like his entire body had been dipped in ice water the moment he saw the bloody gloves they were both taking off. The tears they were both fighting to hide told him everything he needed to know before he even got in the door good.

Every person in the emergency department might as well have been non existent for all he cared. You laid on a bed covered in so much blood as Connor and Will worked desperately to save your life. He barely registered hearing Matt,Adam and Jay walk up behind him.

He knew you'd lost too much blood just from the color of your skin. The usual warmth that you radiated was gone replaced by a shallowness he'd seen too many times. "Shit we gotta get that bullet out" Connor spoke moving around to your abdomen. "We gotta get her stable enough to move her" Will said glancing up when the screen monitoring your vitals started getting off a loud pitch alarm.

"GET ME A CRASH CART" Will hollered and April pushed past them all into your room. "Push a round of epi" that alarm was making Kelly flinch every time it sounded off as he watched praying to see the flat line start moving again. "Charge the paddles...Clear"

When Will touched the paddles to your chest your body jumped but the line remained flat "Shit another round of epi" he ordered so April quickly did as he said. "Clear" this time when your body jumped they were rewarded with the sound of the alarm being replaced by your heart beat "She's back" Will annouced letting out a breath as Connor and April quickly wheeled you out towards surgery.

"Rhodes wait!" Adam tried but Connor shook his head "Will can update we gotta move!"

----

"Will is she going to live?" Kelly asked before anyone else could even get it out. Will let out a sharp breath and said "Her body took alot of damage mixed with the blood loss honestly it's a situation where I don't want to say yes one way or another. If Connor can successfully remove the round and repair the damage there's a good chance she could but this early it's too soon to tell" then spoke to Jay "I promise we're going to do everything we can. She's like a sister to me too remember?"

Herrman and Mouch started trying to wrangle everyone towards the waiting room but despite his better judgement screaming at him that you would never want him and Jay fighting he had to know what happened. Why didn't your partner protect you?

"Where the fuck were you?" He asked feeling his voice break at the end and saw a flare of anger in Jay's eyes "Don't just fucking don't Kelly" He knew it was a bad idea he really did but the thought of losing you was pushing him a little too close to the edge of that person he'd been years before. He shoved Jay's chest hard enough he stumbled "YOU PROMISED TO BRING HER BACK IN ONE PIECE"

Jay regained his footing and shoved him back "I'VE KNOWN HER FIFTEEN YEARS ASSHOLE. DO YOU THINK I WANT TO SEE HER LIKE THIS?"

-----

Matt grabbed Kelly's arm pulling him back from Jay while Adam grabbed Jay's arm pulling him back from Kelly. Maggie who had witnessed what had just happened slid between both men and put a hand on either of their chests "Both of you back off! Jay she is your best friend hell she's basically a third Halstead and Kelly we all know you're in love with her but she needs both of you right now. If she does pull through you think she's gonna be top notch over night? No. She'll need you both at her side now stop this stupidity. Take your behinds to the waiting area and Will or myself will update you as soon as we can. She's strong and she loves you both more than anything remember that"

They looked at each other across Maggie and slowly nodded. Matt and Adam walked close to the two of them as they headed for the waiting area. By then all of intelligence and most of fifty one had showed up as well to see how you were but they'd all given the two men hurting the most some space.

----

Kelly was the one to break the silence first. "Jay man I'm sorry about what I said" "Don't stress it" Jay answered not looking up. "Jay I just I can't lose her" He admitted feelings tears flowing from his eyes again. When Jay finally looked up Kelly saw the tears in his eyes "We won't. You know for a fact me and you both have been through alot that we shouldn't have walked away from. She's stronger than either of us"

Kelly nodded wanting so very much to believe Jay's words. "You know I didn't know she even considered us friends until Shay died" He said and Jay cut his eyes back up "What'd she do?"

A small smile slipped onto Kelly's face at the memory "She showed up and wouldn't leave. I asked her to so she threatened to climb the fire escape to get back in" Jay laughed slightly and nodded "Sounds like her" "Turned out she and Shay were close. Shay had made her promise long before she died that she'd keep an eye on me if she ever couldn't" Kelly said closing his eyes to fight back tears.

"You really do love her don't you?" Jay asked already knowing the answer before Kelly opened his eyes and said "I'd trade places with her in a heartbeat if I could"

"She's gonna pull through this man. We just have to believe that until her very last breath we got to have faith in her. If there's anything I've learned from the years I've known her is to never bet against her" Jay offered and Kelly half smiled "Yea she hates getting told she can't do something"

----

Hours passed with Kelly and Jay taking turns pacing the waiting area while everyone else sat around talking or silently asking whoever was listening to bring good news about you.

Finally Will emerged and glanced around before his eyes landed on Kelly and Jay. He motioned for them to come to the edge of the group and when they did he smiled "Surgery went well. They got the bullet out. It grazed her spleen but they were able to repair it. We've given her several pints of blood and her vitals are holding stable. She's currently on a vent just to help take some stress off her body until she wakes up but it's looking promising. I can take you two back to see her if you want"

With the news of hearing you had a better chance before they thought of themselves Kelly pulled Jay into a hug. They laughed when they pulled apart then Jay said "Let us tell everyone and then yea we wanna see her"

----

Kelly followed close to Will as he lead them down the halls then lead them into one room. He had to take a deep breath to keep his emotions in check as he took in the sight before him. Your body from neck to waist was wrapped in gauze and you had wires seemingly springing from every part of your body. The noise the vent made was jarring but hearing the solid beep that marked your heart beating was music to his ears.

"You can sit with her. If anything changes hit the call button" Will advised before leaving the room.

Jay walked to the left side of your bed while Kelly headed to the right. He could see Jay was struggling as much as he was before Jay squeezed your left hand gently and said "Partner you scared the hell out of me. You're the closest thing to a sister I have. When I was in a really bad head space you pulled me back now I need you to come do that again please"

He leaned down and left a light kiss on your hand before glancing at Kelly "I'm gonna step in the hall and get some air. I'll be right back" Kelly nodded hearing the way Jay's words broke at the end of his sentence.

----

Kelly sat in the quiet simply holding your hand in his, tracing every line. When he finally spoke it was to say "Sweetheart I've never been more scared than I am right now. Burning buildings? Guns pointed to my head? Carwrecks? None of that scares me like the thought of waking up without you by the side. I love you more than I ever knew I was capable of. You came along like a damn hurricane just when I needed to be knocked flat on my ass. Please wake up baby. I need you. Jay needs you.This whole city needs you"

He leaned his head down on the bed and felt your fingers when they slowly curled around his hand and his eyes flew up to see your face twitching like you were trying to wake up. "Baby?" he asked and when your grip on his hand tightened he hit the call button summoning both Jay and Will back in the room.

----

Your eyes slowly opened and you glanced around in a panic from the breathing tube down your throat. Will quickly moved to the head of your bed and smiled "This is going to be uncomfortable but I'm gonna get that tube out ok?" you nodded so Will began to pull the tube out causing you to gag then cough which in turn made a look of pain flash across your face as you grabbed your stomach.

"What happened?" You asked your voice hoarse as your eyes jumped from Will to Jay then to Kelly. "You remember getting shot?" Jay asked and you nodded. "Well Connor patched you up" Will offered with a smile until Jay elbowed him and said "This bozo helped save your life too. Same as Sylvie and Emily. You've got a whole army behind you partner"

"Glad to know" you said with a smile before hugging both Will then Jay. "I'm going to grab you some pain meds. I'll be back in a few" Will offered kissing your forehead before leaving. Jay kissed your cheek then said "We have a waiting room full of cops, firemen and paramedics who are getting antsy to know you're ok so I'm going to go tell them"

You grabbed his hand and smiled "Thanks for not letting me go Jay" He smiled "Always" then walked out the room.

----

Once it was just you and Kelly you cut your eyes over at him "I'm sorry for scaring you" "You heard that?" He asked with a slight grin. "Every word baby, I think that's what helped pull me back. I knew I had so many people waiting here for me" He smiled and leaned up almost to your lips "I can handle just about anything in this world but I can't lose you. Not today not tommorow not fifty years from now. I love you sweetheart. You're it for me" You smiled and said "Good because you're it for me too Kelly Severide" He closed the space between you to lightly brush a kiss against your lips then sat back down beside you holding your hand.

"Thank you for coming back to me" He said before laying his head over on your hand. You turned it to cup his cheek to make him look up at you and said "I'll always find my way back to you"

Part 1

[pupmkincake2000]

I'm pretty much tired of people using that Hank's "every time you died it made me think of Cole" line as a proof Hank considers Connor a son. Since it really sucks as a proof at all. So let's talk about that very scene.

First of all

this topic doesn't even come up unless Connor dies multiple times. Instead of it Hank says this

he basically calls Connor selfish, ruthless, and brulat.

To hear it at all, you need to avoid any good relationship with Hank, any hints of friendship. Which means, when Hank says these words to Connor, he dislikes if not hates him to the bone, there is no hint of friendship between them, even if Connor is deviant at that moment. So, to get such a result, Connor needs to remain a machine and/or show no sympathy for androids and die many times. But shouldn't parental love be unconditional? After all, parents love and accept their children no matter what, while Hank hates Connor, even if he became a deviant, but did a lot of unpleasant things before.

Not only he hates Connor here but the humanity in general. He gave up all hopes for the better future.

Secondly, read the phrase again.

Hank says: every time you died and came bak IT made me think of Cole. IT. The fact of death, and not Connor himself. It is not Connor who reminds him of Cole, but simply the fact that humans are mortal. Hank knows humans do not come back. It is this fact that upsets him the most. He is indignant that the machine, which he feels the strongest dislike for, can "die" and come back with ease, while his little boy cannot. This phrase does not mean that he compares Connor to Cole or that he sees Cole in Connor, it is just an unpleasant fact that humans DIE FOREVER, and no matter how much someone wants to, they will not be able to return from the dead, while a machine that is "not alive at all" can be sorta reborn over and over again.

And this is what kills Hank, he cannot bear such injustice and therefore unalives himself. He does not care about Connor at that moment, he does not consider him his son, he does not compare him to Cole, he only understands that machines have no consciousness and no soul, he does not listen even to the deviant Connor. So those who say that this line of Hank's is a proof of their father-son relationship, just didn't watch this moment well. Because it means Hank's despair and dissapointment in humanity and androids, that's all.

And what I mean is that people can, of course, see them as father&son if they wish, but this scene pretty much sucks as an argument they use against shippers.

[toasttt11]

first game

October 2, 2019

Hayden spaced out as she was eating her pregame meal and flinched slightly when Ellen sat down next to her.

“You okay Haydes?” Ellen asked her looking at her in concern. Ellen knew what today day, Harrison’s birthday and Hayden’s first game.

Jim and Ellen had come to Edmonton for Hayden’n first game as Hayden and Quinn are playing each other so they get to see two of their kids play their first game.

Luke was very upset that he couldn’t come because he had two games the same time in Michigan and he wanted to miss his games to be able to see Hayden but Hayden managed to convince him to play his games and she had bought him the Oilers package so he could watch every game of hers if he wanted to.

“Yeah.” Hayden nodded not showing much emotion making Ellen worry more. Ellen has noticed how off Hayden has been since she moved to Edmonton and she had a feeling it has something to do with the fact Hayden is living in her childhood house and it’s only reminders of her parents and Ellen is sure the rink has just as many reminders of Harrison and instead of Hayden healing she’s worried Hayden is just sitting in her grief.

“Okay.” Ellen accepted Hayden’s answer not pushing her, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of Hayden’s head, “You can tell me if your not.” Ellen quietly reassured Hayden.

Hayden nodded and stood up putting her dishes away and her phone in her pocket, she hugged Ellen and Jim and petted Archie before she headed into the garage and got into her car and started the drive to the rink.

Hayden pulled into the arena and parked in her spot, she stood her breath and let out an annoyed chuckle as her first ever game would be on her father’s birthday, something she would be happy about if he was alive.

Hayden took a deep breath and knew she needed to enjoy this as much as possible because that’s what her parents would want, they would want her to be happy and to enjoy all of the moments, so she promised to herself that she would try.

She grabbed her headphones and pulled them on and turned on her playlist that is from Jack that has become a routine to listen to before games.

Hayden grabbed her keys and played with the little croissant keychain that Matt got her years ago that she keeps with her always. She fixed her outfit, she was wearing a pair of black pinstripe pants and a white long sleeve with blue converse.

She got out of her car and walked past all of the cameras into their arena, she headed down the hallways nodding to staff as she headed to the locker room.

Hayden paused by the mural of her father and pressed a kiss to her fingers and pressed her fingers to her father’s face, “Happy birthday Dad. I’ll make you proud, i promise.” Hayden mumbled barely audible.

Hayden took a deep breath and headed into the locker room and to her stall.

Hayden didn’t really linger around any of the team and headed right to her stall and in her own little world as she got dressed in her warm up outfit.

Hayden liked to warm up alone now that she doesn’t play with Jack. It was weird playing games and not having Jack there, not being on the ice and immediately knowing where Jack is to pass, not having to tape Jack’s stick, no longer having celly’s with Jack.

Hayden has and will always think of Jack as her other half, her platonic soulmate, the closest thing to a twin she will ever have and it’s really difficult not knowing seeing him everyday and no longer knowing everything going on in his life.

Hayden shook her head and headed out of the locker room and warmed up until she had to go back to the locker room and start getting ready for her first NHL game.

Hayden slipped off her father’s bracket into her stall and tucked her mother’s necklace under her compression shirt.

“Ready for this?” Connor leaned over and asked Hayden once she was done getting ready.

Hayden looked at Connor and saw his encouraging eyes and she nodded making him smile slightly and clap her shoulder, “Than go enjoy your lap, rookie.” Connor told her with a fond smile.

Hayden nodded and stood up and followed Leon out of the locker room, she got many pats on the back and fist bumps as she walked down the tunnel for her rookie lap.

She paused at the ice and looked up quickly scanning her father’s banner hanging and took a deep breath before hopping onto the ice and knocking pucks onto the ice. Hayden shot a few pucks onto the ice and skated around the half.

Quinn watched with a fond and very proud smile watching his baby sister complete her rookie lap.

Hayden finished her lap and looked over at the Canucks bench seeing Quinn already watching her proudly and she smiled seeing him.

Hayden skated over to the end of her bench as Quinn hopped onto the ice and skated over to her, “Happy first game.” Quinn smiled softly and pulled her into a tight hug, he squeezed her a bit tighter hating that she doesn’t get to have her parents on her big day and he wished they were here too.

Hayden let out a small fond laugh and hugged her brother back, “See you after.” Hayden patted his arm and sent one more smile.

Quinn nodded and smiled at her as he watched her leave.

Quinn and Hayden both got lucky as Quinn was staying in Edmonton the night and most the day tomorrow so they get to spend time together, something that Jack and Luke are both pouting about.

Hayden finished warming up and got ready for the game to start. She was on a line with Connor and Leon, a line she has been on a lot in practices and preseason games and it’s a damn good line.

Hayden was proving immediately she is a damn good player and playing so smoothly as if she has been in the NHL for years already.

Before the first period was over, Connor skated down the ice with the puck and passed across the ice to Leon who stick handled the puck before passing the puck backwards through his legs right to Hayden and Hayden smacked the puck right into the back of the net.

Hayden let out shocking laugh and beamed as she realized she just scored her first goal in the NHL, she was hugged from both sides and Leon and Connor were both beaming as they celebrated with her.

Hayden laughed giddily in the hug making Connor and Leon share a determined look knowing they wouldn’t stop until they got Hayden to smile and laugh like that more.

Hayden skated by the bench hive fiving her team and saw Quinn on his bench sitting closest to her bench and he had a very proud smile on his face and his hand out for her. She smiled and high fived him.

Hayden didn’t score another goal in the game but she assisted on both Connor and Leon’s goals in the game. The game ended 3-2 and Hayden won her first ever game.

Hayden was taking off her gear in the locker room as Connor stood up holding the puck from the game, she didn’t know it was the one hit into the net.

“Great game everyone and a good way to start the season. I think it’s obvious who’s getting this today.” Connor told the team as he shook the puck in his hand, “Hayden. Well done today and congrats on your first game.” Connor gave her a smile as she stood up and took the puck and accepted the small hug from him before she sat back down.

Hayden didn’t mange to escape media as it was her first game so once she finished answering all of the questions she took a quick shower and got dressed.

She grabbed her things before heading out of the locker room and down the hallway seeing Ellen, Jim and Quinn all waiting for her.

Ellen smiled seeing her girl and pulled her into a tight but gently hug, “Well done Hay.” Ellen praised her goddaughter making Hayden flash a thankful smile at her.

Jim pulled her into a tight and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Hayden leaned into Quinn’s side as his arm rested over her shoulder as they walked out together.

[the-ghost-king]

Asking you because you Know Things. But... does it actually say in PJO that demigods rarely live beyond teenage years or am I making that up? Or is it because of the war? Or do all demigods just expect never to make 20????

Thankyou great wise one

Haha, I had to do some thinking about this one actually- the first bit that came to mind was this scene from Son of Neptune

Just before this scene (after they meet Octavian) Percy describes the various actions of people out and about and what they're doing and it's in the way he describes it you get a sense of shock almost from him. He doesn't seem to quite believe what he's seeing, he feels like it's too many people to make sense for what he knows, but it's not the most explicit.

The other time I remembered was in PJO I believed Annabeth had told him something along the lines of "demigods don't stand a chance" so some digging... I pulled this up next (SoM), not super explicit but Percy does mention that demigods don't get happy endings and that he doesn't believe he will live long:

In BOTL Clarisse says this:

I couldn't find anything more explicit than variations on scenes like this, not even the scene with Annabeth I thought I remembered. Nobody ever explicitly outright says anything about when most demigods don't make it to their 20s but it sounds like the odds are poor. There's a lot of points where Percy talks about feeling like he's going to die or he makes comments like "I won't make it that long" I do think this is connected to the fact that Percy thinks he is going to die before 16 because of his prophecy, and because Percy is forced to handle more quests of a higher caliber than most other demigods seem to get tasked with.

So some of it seems like demigods die young, especially because characters like Clarisse (who rarely agrees with Percy on anything) also seem to hold similiar opinion. However, part of it is also very likely depression (Percy talks about wishing he could fade away/drown/etc, and people with depression struggle to imagine a future) and trauma (people with PTSD struggle to imagine a future). There's also a contrast with other characters, for example Jason somewhere in HoO (I don't remember where I'm so sorry, maybe House of Hades?) mentions having dreams of growing old and having grandkids- which means as a roman demigod even if things were hard Jason does imagine a future for himself, which Percy only does a few times within the boundaries of New Rome he's never allowed himself before then to have that sort of a dream (well, technically one of the fates shows him his future after Luke dies).

I think maybe it's one of those things were just supposed to assume? Demigods need to go to CHB to be safe, demigods smell more as they get older, demigods never return to CHB after they leave (we never have any warm welcomes for past demigods stopping by). I don't think it can be as cut and dry as "in their 20s" though, in ToA we're informed one of the Stoll brothers is in college (I'm not even going to try to remember if it's Connor or Travis- it's the older one but I can't remember) and that he only returns to CHB over holiday breaks. So this means we have a son of Hermes in his 20s living at college and doing college things and he's only returning to camp for a few weeks or months at a time, so, I mean, he's alive. Apollo in ToA also mentions having some demigod children in various aspects of show business and if you look up those celebs they're not all people who died young.

I can't remember where, or again if it wasn't something outright said but just something the audience was supposed to figure out from implication- but we get the sense that children of the big 3 are most effected by leaving camp and struggle the most to stay alive outside of magic anti-monster boundaries, then it sounds like children of the 12 Olympians (or 9 in this case if we strip Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon, and we can go down to 8 because Artemis's hunt isn't her children) are effected the next most. Then it seems like demigods of minor gods, Hypnos, Iris, etc. are effected the least out of any of the demigods by monster attacks. I would make a personal argument that it's possible theres an even smaller group of extremely unknown dieties children who may be effected next to not at all by these things, outside of people deeply invested in Greek myths people probably don't know who say Aristaeus or Markaria are, so it's possible if we go by a more complex ranking system they could be even less effected by monsters, I would even argue you could make a smaller tier for dieties like Angela or Plutus (different from Hades/Pluto)- that's not explained well in text and would be personal world building, would a child of Plutus be less effected by monsters than a child of Morpheus? I don't know and I doubt Rick's ever considered it, so the reader doesn't know either.

I don't really have a clear cut answer for you based on what I know and could find, sorry nonnie. It's possible someone else remembers a specific scene I don't (maybe that Annabeth scene I'm not entirely sure I didn't make up or misremember from a fic or the movies) and may have more information but by my best guess- the stakes and their severity are based on how you interpret the text. Do demigods live long lifes? No, and that's cannon until were introduced to New Rome and the safety it provides. However what constitutes as a "short life"? Teens? Twenties? Thirties? Fourties? Another question is: how much do you believe that what Percy is describing is his personal opinions/traumas/concerns vs what he has been told? How much of the weight of Percy's life on his shoulders is dictated by the weight of the prophecy and the high stakes of his life rather than what's typical for demigods? Etc.

Hopefully this is at least a jumping off point even if it's not such a clear cut answer! Good luck!

[aydaptic]

If writers word is law and canon must always be respected then Reed900 is also wrong?

Given that Cage has said that he doesn't make games for faggots?

In the game itself it is never explicitly stated that Hank and Connor are father and son, and myself and thousands of others never picked up that they were supposed to be. Writers saying things outside of the media when they chose not to explicitly put it in is meaningless. Like JK Rowling constantly tweeting things that aren't in her books.

If they wanted it Canon, they could have explicitly added it. They chose not to.

(1/2) At what point did Williams/Cage say something like "Gav sees Niner as a son" -- which would make shipping them equally as bad -- like they've come out and said "Hank sees Con as a son?"

You've lost all credibility comparing the two.

Cage allegedly saying what you claim, to my knowledge, is nothing but an unproven accusation. Where's the proof? Anyone can throw accusations.

An author stating something outside of a product is not "meaningless." To think you can override the creator/dictate what's canon is self-entitlement. It's their sandbox, and if they want to change the sand, that's their right. The rest of us are just playing in it. It's like saying that whatever I reply in an ASK -- when ppl ask about my Reed900 Alive series -- isn't canon in my very own ficverse.

Someone: "What does your Niner do when he's severely stressed?" Me: "Singing 'Hold On' to soothe himself -" Someone: "That isn't canon bc I didn't see him doing so!"

I hope you understand where your arguments fall apart now.

As this ASK was sent less than 5 minutes before another, I assume you're the same anon, so I'll add it here not to clutter tags/dashboards.

(2/2) Other ASK below the cut:

I repeat... It's "objectively creepy/wrong to ship two characters" when the lead writers themselves coded them father/son.

Hank isn't "replacing" Cole. A man can have several sons. I've heard this ridiculous argument so many times and it boggles the mind that ppl still use it. My big brother didn't cease to exist when I was born.

Just bc you need them to state so in-game doesn't mean it's not canon. The world doesn't revolve around you. Just as the world doesn't revolve around me. Ppl have different opinions/takes on many things. To demand everyone think the same is to erase individuality.

Clancy Brown isn't a lead writer. He's an actor. Neil Newbon has said plenty of things himself about Gav/Elijah. Those are their own fanon headcanons of the characters they played. Not objective facts. The only objective fact about Gav that Neil has talked about, as far as I'm aware, was when Neil said he and Cage agreed the nose scar was recent. It's also proven by the scar being red still and not white/healed.

If you have more to say -- as I don't wanna clutter the tags/dashboards with ASKs talking about the exact same thing -- do it in the replies.

[multibodied]

Hank's spiritual beliefs is something that is rarely talked about but it's one of the aspects of his character that is really interesting to me. His suicidal ideations coexist with his doubts and concerns about the possibility of the afterlife or the lack thereof. Especially it is interesting to me what happens to them in the version of the events Connor keeps dying in front of him and coming back as if nothing happened. It challenges his idea of life and death when he stops to consider androids as living beings because the implications of having both androids being alive and the possibility of bringing them back from the dead as if death means nothing aren't exactly favourable for his views of the existence of afterlife, which from CyberLife Tower scene where he dies, we learn is something that he believes in. His faith in many ways keeps him going because part of him believes that when he all of it will finally be over, he'll get to see his son again and so he speeds up the process as much as he can. Even in time of playing Russian roulette the first time we learn he plays it, I think he does it with an afterlife in mind. He says he just doesn't have a guts to do it, but I think he also sees it as a loophole: it's not a suicide if he's just playing a game of chance. He doesn't directly kills himself in case he gets shot -- there's a plausible deniability that it was caused by luck, God's permission if you will, not him.

In the event of him coming to the rooftop to confront Connor, he knows that there's a huge risk of him not making it out alive but it doesn't stop him because even in case of his failure, he gets to die fighting for something he thinks is right and hence increases chances of his afterlife being something other than eternal damnation that many christian religions promise to those who commit suicide through more direct means. In this sense, him coming to the rooftop is him playing his game of chance again but this time with actual stakes and something to fight for. Whether he'll stop this Connor or dies trying he'll get what he wants.

Which, leads me to the scene of him actually committing suicide. I think in this ending he no longer believes in any afterlife for himself or anyone else, or God, or humanity as a whole or a better future. He comes to conclusion that androids are in fact people, but he doesn't like people (as a whole rather than individuals--to those he may feel sympathy) and thinks of them as an overall lost cause. There's no hope for them, or him. Before Connor drives a nail into the coffin of his spiritual beliefs about the scarcity of death he could at least grasp for his hope of afterlife. Connor coming back from the dead as if it means nothing combined with mind boggling cruelty of the world around him he observed over the course of last years culminating within the last week of his close contact with the deviants has taken this faith away from him. And this is precisely why he finally kills himself. I believe, in the moment he does it, he believed there'd be--as Connor said--nothing, and he prefers this nothingness to living another day in a pointlessly cruel place he sees neither hope or God nor meaning.

I don't think this time he was playing russian roulette. I think this time his gun was loaded.

[goldenheart-supremacy]

Nimona AU - How to train your Dragon

@kestrel-wylde I kinda went nuts here...

During a dragon raid, the chief of Berk, Valerin's husband died.

They were both alternating battling dragons and helping their people.

When Valerin found her dead husband's body, she saw that he'd been burned badly.

Then she found that the reason his arms were tucked into himself was because he had been doing his best to protect a small bundle in his arms.

It was a baby. Since his parents seemed to have died in the raid as well, Valerin had decided to take the child under her care and adopted him since she and her husband haven't the chance to conceive yet.

Time skip to the future.

Ballister was an only child to his biological parents but if he ever did have siblings, he would've been considered the 'runt of the litter', as he didn't seem as well built for a Viking child his age.

At least, compared to the other Viking children his age.

Maybe Valerin and Ballister has a better relationship than Stoick and Hiccup did in the start of this AU story.

The conflict for Ballister is getting the village to accept his as the chiefess's scion and future chief.

Maybe when Ballister finds out and starts training Nimona, his reason for wanting to keep the secret is as to not make his reputation worse. [I don't know yet how he ends up injuring her like Hiccup did Toothless in the movie]

I just added my OCs for more character dynamics, like the original team had in the movie but feel free to use them or not or make your own OPs for the AU hahaha 😆

Some dialogue ideas...

Ballister, voiceover as a narrator: [Tomorrow, when training begins, I'm going to prove myself and show that I can stand at par with the others. Aerin Shieldstone, Connor Silverlock, Todd Sureblade, Abigail Swiftfeet, Atticus Valorarm and...]

Ambrosius was running away from some dragons, and he jumped over some barrels as a Zippleback launched a fireball at him.

Ballister, in a dreamily way: [... Ambrosius...]

Avoiding the impact of the blast, Ambrosius used the remaining leverage from jumping over the barrels to backflip away and ended up landing unto Ballister's arms...

Ambrosius, grinning: Good looking out, Bal.

Ambrosius pinches Ballister's cheek affectionately before leaping out of his arms, grabbing his axe and a bucket to see if there's anywhere else he needs to be...

Ambrosius: Look alive, Bal! Let's get rid of these beasts! Ballister, grabbing a sword: Right behind you, Ambs!

Trainer: Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder! Atticus, mumbling: Speed: eight; Armor: sixteen. Trainer: The Hideous Zippleback! Atticus: Plus eleven stealth times two. Trainer: ...The Monstrous Nightmare! Atticus: Firepower: fifteen. Trainer: The Terrible Terror! Atticus: Attack: eight; Venom: twelve! Trainer: CAN YOU STOP THAT?! Trainer, sighing: And the Gronkle. Atticus, more quietly: Jaw strength: eight. Connor, smirking: Someone's done some advanced reading... Ambrosius, chuckling: Only about a lot, too Atticus, smiling sheepishly: I read the book seven times. Ambrosius and Connor: Wow.

During training with the Gronkle to avoid getting hit...

Aerin, keeping his eyes on the Gronkle's location: Todd, keeping his eyes on Aerin: So, I moved to my parent's basement. Todd: Got some weights in there, you should come over some time to work out. Aerin, barrel rolls away: Todd, calling out to him: You look like you work out!

Then, the Gronkle hits a shot on the spot Todd was standing at...

Aerin and Connor - my OCs, besties Atticus and Abigail - OCs I remembered reading from your fic 'Love At First Fight', I just gave Atticus a temporary last name. Unless, you know, @kestrel-wylde wants to make it final haha I didn't write Abigal yet since I don't know much how to write the character. Atticus is based off the otter knight from the movie, so I kinda headcanon him as someone nerdy with animal facts, so I made him like Fishlegs here.

Edit: Please check out Kestrel's Httyd Nimona AU art!

[oldfangirl81]

I feel like around college but summers are particularly in need of stories about what Stiles was doing. It would be extra fun for brief crossovers.

"Hey Dad, sorry about earlier. Turns out I'm out a job again. This place wasn't lying about being the most haunted city in America. Oh, no it wasn't the ghosts who destroyed my place of employment but local ghost hunters. The ghosts are neat."

"Derek, I promise I'll be there for Eli's first birthday. A friend is going to fly me. Um, no need to pick me up from the airport. Connor just wants to meet you in return. Something about winning a bet against his boyfriend."

"Hey Scott, do you know anything about baby foxes? Yes, Damian, I promise he can be trusted to find out what we should do next."

"Hey Melissa, can you make sure Dad got the package? Not sure when I'll be on the planet again...I mean back in town."

"Boyd, I'm going to need you to keep the pack from watching the news. I might have gotten caught up in a tiny Tsunami in Santa Monica."

"Peter, how could you not warn me that royal family is actually werewolves and that Doctor Who was just really lampshading facts? Also, there is one less Argent alive. Apparently trying for the first son's lover is a bad thing for longevity."

"Erica, make sure to repeat I'm fine and on my way home if Derek sees the news. But the BAU was impressed by my internship over the summer. So really it is a win. I should get a punch card over how many serial killers take me hostage."

[jdm21brazilian]

Weird theory or take of the RPG Trilogy, or quadrilogy if including Shadows

We all know how polemic the RPG is due to big changes in gameplay and history matter, and basically leaving the Juno modern era plot to comic books. Which, liking or not, deeply hurted the franchise.

Many people would say it was Unity or Rogue or Syndicate's fault cause their many bad issues (mostly Unity), and forced Ubisoft to rethink how to get back with franchise, resulting in them many changes retcons. But what if i told you, here comes crackhead theory , that we shouldn't put all the blame in Unity and Syndicate, but also blame one of the most successful and loved titles in the franchise,

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag.

PLEASE HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU SKIN ME ALIVE

SPOILER ALERT ABOUT AC4 IN CASE IN HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME.

One of the things draw people's attention about the game is the fact that you're supposedly playing as Assassin, like Ezio or Altair, acting as a pirate, and as bonus, being the grandfather of the protagonist of the previous title, Connor, a potential to have continuous rich lore about the Kenway family.

But guess what?!?!

For most of the story, Edward is basically just a pirate with the ambition to gain the most as possible, who in the year the game begins encounters an Assassin-turned-Templar, and ends up learning about the existence of the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order.

Right after, Ed pretends to be said traitor in order to obtain his supposed bounty of coins, resulting in him killing Assassins in the process to obtain his supposed Templar bounty. He then flees after they discover his scheme, and is safe considering they probably believe he was killed by a storm on the open sea. From there, he returns to his old life as a pirate, keeping the skills and blades hidden from his encounter with both secret societies to use to his advantage, and doing it so alongside other infamous pirate of the time, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Anne Bonney, and of course, the most infamous one, Edward Teach aka Black Beard.

And the most impressive gameplay features is not the stealth (which was a improvement from the previous title. But the naval combat gameplay and the naval exploration on the new wide open world with many locations and activities on it.

Most player definitely spent and still spends hours and hours just sailing through the open world and attacking navy ships, which guess what?! It works with health bars to see how much damage you have to inflict to beat the enemy ship, or incapacitate it to then board it. Which was the COOLEST part of the game. And sailing in free roam in open sea while hearing shanties from the crew, divine man, divine.

There were indeed on land activities but mostly about looting, hunting animals, get collectives, treasure hunting. To achieve more money and resources to upgrade your character's personal equipment and The Jackdaw. The exploration of the cities maps was kinda in second place, even though being pretty fun. Havana, Kingston and Nassau, had a good maps for parkour. Personally, i kinda missed the notoriety system feature of notoriety levels and acts to decrease it.

Very specific things in the game has to do with the Assassin-Templar war, the main story mission and some major side missions and side activities. Mostly when Edward runs in on into the Templars and their associates or the Assassins in a way or in other, acting like a third element.

In matter fighting the templars is mostly for personal gain, like when he killed Du Casse to capture the island hideout

And an uneasy ally of the Assassins, considering he killed assassins in Havana, but then helping them identify the return of a Sage, doing assassination contracts all across the West Indies, and helping major assassins in the main locations of the game, for the sake of collecting some templar keys though.

And just after paying the consequences of his choices, seeing almost all people he holds dear to his life die, he has a morality crisis and he decides to join the Brotherhood, even having an flag of the Creed in his ship.

And after saying all that based on the fact that we play as a pirate who, throughout most of the games does just pirate stuff, that turns into a assassin just in the end of the story. AC4 is still one of the biggest successes of the franchise rivaling the Ezio trilogy. So we can a thought pattern of why ubisoft reached the conclusion that it should focus applying rpg elements, elements that makes the players complete vast quantities of side missions and activities to gain enough xp and level so it can proceed in the story. A story which doesn’t resolve mainly around the Assassin-templar war we saw previously, but flirts with it. These RPG-style titles have main characters who are NOT Assassins and/or have no interest in becoming one, but are involved in conflicts that precede or parallel the Assassin-Templar conflict, and their gameplay focuses on the features that Ubisoft THINKS players are most interested in.

It's more about exploring worlds by sea and/or land, searching for resources, and other things, not to mention the world maps being incredibly big and open without much places like the cities from previous games to do parkour, having much of the exploration at foot or mount or a boat. By

Much opposite of the main characters of the supposedly disappointing three titles Unity, Rogue and Syndicate, who were members of the brotherhood (later the templar order in Shay's case) through most of the story or even the entire story, and occurring in big cities, maybe without exception of Rogue, considering two of the maps of the game is the countryside of the Thirteen Colonies and North Atlantic, having mini cities implemented in the open map.

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite mechanical characters, be they robots, androids, cyborgs, or something else? And what do like about them?

OOOOH...

Well, first, gotta mention my man Data.

A lot of people has said that he is autism-coded in the way that he is presented, and in how other people react to him. And I kind of agree tbh. He's also just a sweetheart, and his bonds with the crew (especially Laforge), his cat Spot, and sometimes with people who are briefly onboard are so lovely.

I also feel I should mention Connor,

Because his arc has probably inspired so many OCs at this point. Bryan Dechart did such an excellent job playing him, and his growing bond with Hank is very well-written. I think it's honestly touching how it's often emotional bonds that show humanity.

Another I feel would be a crime not to mention,

Because between the iconic lines and the dynamic he has with John Connor, and the way it shapes his various decisions, how could I not? And yes I'm specifically talking Terminator 2 here. Though I will say he makes an EXCELLENT force of nature and presence of absolute horror in the first movie.

Then, of course, the sapphic community's favourite,

Because "Want You Gone" hurts me on a personal level, and I don't just mean because it's how GLaDOS says farewell. I relate to that song so much (and did a cover of it :D) and, in general, relate with much of her story. Of course, she's a sassy motherfucker who you can't help but love. But for how much Portal 2 is considered the inferior game, it really does make her story into one of self-discovery and complicated morality. I guess it just gets overshadowed by Oh hi. How are you holding up.

Next,

I MEAN. COME ON. This guy used to be, and honestly still is, one of my biggest fictional crushes. His charisma is magnetic, of course. His STORY being wrapped up by the connections he used to have being rekindled, resulting in him choosing to be a star for those who need one most, rather than a star for the most people possible???? Ugh, poetic cinema.

Speaking of stars,

[vibrating] I have so many headcanons when it comes to this one But more to the point, Star Dream is an absolute force of nature. Its boss fight is incredible, an absolute marvel of multiple types of play styles coming together. The themes? Slap.

Star Dream's draw, for me, is that its sentience is so…debatable. I'm on the side of “had sentience the whole time”, and more to the point, “based on how much Haltmann copied homework, it's possible he brought something back from the dead” but I dunno, I don't like arguing my case when it comes to the second. The point is, for many of things that it does, it's uncertain whether that's just part of its program, or if it's a sentient decision. Was Susie sent away because of something accidental, or was it Star Dream's intention? The fact that Haltmann became so focused on its creation after her disappearance, in my eyes, kind of implies the latter…

… It's also interesting that even without Haltmann giving it a voice via him-being-possessed, it only chooses to speak to Meta Knight.

Can you tell I have The Kirby Autism, is it noticeable, is it obvious—

Also I'm gonna put two of my OCs here, because self-indulgence is alive and well.

This is Palharine and Mayday! They're my favourites out of a group of robot/android characters I created about three years ago, and have finally taken the time to draw recently:

From left to right, you got Eodel Remidoros, Palharine, Mayday, and Ziah Hyperion. All very different interpretations of robotic.

Palharine and Mayday stand out to me due to their emotional states. They're kind of opposites, in that regard. Mayday is a very sensitive gal, who has been through a lot of pain, and is trying to become stronger so she can confidently say she has no doubt in who she is. Palharine, as far as they're aware, has no emotions. Which is interesting, since the other three all seem to, to some degree. Among the four, Palharine is also unique in that they're programmed to dream. Both of these things shape them a lot.

But these two have a very sweet bond, where they're both passionate about biology, especially botany. Mayday, in a training exercise, also nearly wipes the floor with Palharine. It's more touching than it sounds.

Also, Palharine's genderfluid and Maydays a trans woman, so those things just inherently spark joy for me, haha!

This has been, real robotic character hours.