#her love of poetry is canon but it's important to me that she has some very silly moments

[esteemed-excellency]

12 for the Devilless!

12. What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific! (for the deviless!!)

She won't admit it if you ask her, but she loves limericks, both the nonsensical and the clever ones. Regardless of the type of humor, she thinks that the amphibrach metre is very fun, and its circular cadence is always lovely to hear!

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

The Dangers of Hope Ch. 5

Series Summary: When Y/N shows up at Camp Chitaqua with her little girl in tow, her bloodshot eyes leave no doubt that she's infected. Or is she? Everything Dean has come to know for certain over the last five hellish years, is about to be challenged.

Pairings/Characters in the series: Endverse!Dean x Reader, Emma (OFC), Castiel, Sam Winchester, Lucifer, Michael, Zachariah, Risa, Johnston (OMC), Patrick (OMC), Theresa (OFC), other survivors and soldiers.

Series Explicit 18 +/Warnings: Show level violence, some gore, angst, smut, fluff all the usual for a series of mine. ❤️ Endverse!Dean (that's a warning for his anger and callousness as well as his extreme hotness. 😁) Each chapter will have their own specific warnings.

Chapter Warnings: Nothing major.

Word Count: 5,402

A/N: So, I've had this idea for quite a while. Basically since I watched The Last of Us. I loved Pedro in the role of Joel, but I kept thinking how incredible Jensen would have been. Which then made me think of how amazing he was as Endverse!Dean which then led me to this idea. Lol! I've stolen the premise of Ellie's storyline from TLOU, but made her a grown up, a reader insert, and a love interest for Dean.

If you've never seen TLOU, don't worry - you don't need to have seen it to understand this story. 😊

I've taken some liberties with the Endverse in my story, changed a few things from canon, but kept lots of things too.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. It will be ten chapters and I will do my very best to post one chapter every weekend. ❤️

A/N 2: Sorry, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 😘

Series Master List || Main Master List || Tag Lists

The dividers below were created by @saradika

Over the next two weeks, Dean did whatever he could to avoid being around Y/N.  He was determined that the morning at the river was simply going to be a weird one off. It was some kind of reaction to Y/N’s unfamiliar presence. Her emotions and her rose-colored outlook on the world had contaminated him somehow. 

He didn’t know why, but there was something about her that always made him question his decisions, constantly rework his plans. She just brought something out in him, so he stayed the hell away from her as much as possible.

He knew she’d set up the school and begun teaching. But there again, she’d made him change his plans. The plan had been to use the sheds behind the cabin for storage; that was the whole reason for building them! 

But apparently Y/N had worked her magic with Brandy and before he knew it the sensible, practical woman had him convinced to let Y/N and the kids take up one of their very limited storage spaces, just to sit around doing algebra and reading poetry - or whatever she was teaching them. 

It was ridiculous. 

But even though he avoided her during the day, there was no turning off his brain at night, when he closed his eyes and visions of her soft curves and the memory of her silky skin beneath his fingers plagued his thoughts. He told himself to smarten up, that he had so many more important things to be thinking about. 

He decided he just needed sex; it had been too long. So one night he showed up in Risa’s tent after midnight and she opened her arms to him the way she always did. 

But as he kissed her and moved his hands over her body, her gentle sighs and soft moans weren’t doing what he needed them to, and he realized he was being an asshole trying to replace one woman with another. Risa was a good soldier and she’d been a soft place for him to land too many times to just use her as a distraction. 

So he got up and left, giving her a lame excuse, “I forgot I have to be up early tomorrow to…go over things with Johnston.” He tried not to notice Risa’s frown. He couldn't tell if she was mad or sad, and he didn't really want to stick around to find out. 

As the days moved on, he realized it was next to impossible to completely avoid Y/N, whether day or night. Because no matter how he tried to ignore her, he saw her influence everywhere. He could sense a shift in the air, he swore people were smiling more and every once in a while, he could hear kids laughing loudly.

That was a foreign sound nowadays, and it unnerved him. And smiling seemed foolish. What was there to smile about? Being happy just invited tragedy. He knew in the old days he would have been called a pessimist. But he was simply being a realist as he'd always been. He called things as they were, and he wasn't about to let a pretty smile and a bouncy attitude change that.

One evening, about a month after Y/N arrived at the camp, Dean was headed to the storage shed to take a thorough inventory before they left the next day on a raid - one of their last before the snows came in mid November. He knew they were gonna need more propane than what they had stored in order to run the generator over the winter. The generator ran the fridge and freezer where they kept their food stored. 

It could also power the electricity in the big cabin for a little while if needed. There had been nearly a week last winter that had been so piercingly cold that they’d all needed to jam themselves into the cabin and run the electric heat as much as possible. It had simply been too cold for the little camp stoves in the tents; the wood-burning stoves just couldn’t generate enough heat to combat the intense cold that seeped through the thick canvas walls. 

So their generator had saved them, and it ran on propane, which meant they needed more than enough to last through another possible cold snap.

Dean had deliberately waited to start the task until it was nearly sundown since the school would be empty by then and he could avoid running into the teacher that worked there. 

But as he approached the small building he could see a wavering light in the window - a lamp moving towards him. Before he could turn and leave (he wasn’t going to call it running away) Y/N stepped out into the semi-darkness and gasped as she saw him standing there.

She put the hand not holding the kerosene lamp to her chest. “Oh my lord!” She breathed out raggedly. “You scared me half to death.” But she was chuckling as she said it and walked closer to him.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I uh…I thought you’d be gone.” He knew he sounded slightly accusatory. “Why are you still here? Haven’t the kids been gone for hours?”

Y/N nodded. “Yeah. I came back to put up the gift we got from Tom Richardson.” She waved him towards the building behind her. “You should come see the school.”

Dean shook his head. “No, I’ve got…I have to -”

She cut him off with wide, pleading eyes. “Please?” She added a bright, imploring smile and Dean shook his head. Why was he even bothering to say no to her at this point? He gestured for her to lead the way into the little building and he followed at a distance. 

They walked in and she set the lamp on the small table in the corner and turned it up full so that it completely lit up the tiny room. She held her arms out to the sides, showing off her little schoolroom with pride.

“What do you think?”

He shook his head. “It’s uh…pretty empty.” He said looking around. 

Y/N shrugged and seemed a little deflated. “It’s a work in progress.”

Dean grunted his acknowledgement and continued his sweep of the room. On the floor against the back, Northern, wall were a couple of piles of wool blankets, and right above them was a mural of multicolored leaves stuck to the wall. 

When she saw him looking at it and frowning, Y/N explained. “I got the kids to find a bunch of pretty, fallen leaves, and then we used some tree sap as glue to stick them up. I got to teach them a little bit about trees and ecosystems, and we also made something pretty to hang on the wall.”

He nodded at the blankets. “Is that where the kids sit?”

“Yeah.” She said with another shrug. “We’re a little packed in, but it keeps us warm. The blankets just take the chill out of the floor and make it a bit softer to sit on.”

Dean nodded absently and looked left, his eye catching on the only other object in the room. It was a paper map hanging on the western wall, held in place by two small nails. 

Dean frowned again. “Is that a map of America?”

Y/N nodded excitedly. “Yeah, that was the gift from Tom Richardson. It was so kind of him. His son, Jonah is a sweet little guy, but I guess he’s been pretty quiet over the last year or so. He lost his mom just before he and Tom got to Chitaqua?” She said, clearly using the words as a question to see if he knew who she was talking about.

Dean nodded, a vague recollection coming to his mind of a big burly guy and a scrawny little kid. He remembered thinking the guy would be a hard worker, and the kid probably wasn’t gonna make it. He’d looked pretty sick.

Y/N continued. “Well, I guess since he started school he’s been talking more in the evenings, even asking Tom questions about The Knights of the Round Table. I’ve been sharing some of the legends with them this week. So, Tom was grateful and as a thank you, he gave us this map that he’d kept tucked away in his backpack all this time. Said it made him feel peaceful to look at it and remember better times. But he thought we could use it more.”

She smiled wistfully and gazed at the slightly ratty map.

“Why?” Dean asked with a slight jolt in his gut. He waved at the map. “It’s not like this anymore.”

Y/N nodded and lowered her gaze to the ground. “Yeah, I know, but the general shape of the country is still the same, and I can use it as half geography, half history.”

When she looked back up at him, her face was set in lines of disappointment. She waved her hand to encompass the whole hundred and fifty square feet. “You don’t like it?” She asked with a weak chuckle.

Dean shrugged. “No it's, I mean, it’s fine. You know, work in progress, like you said.”

Y/N nodded and smiled, looking a little bolstered. “Yeah, slow but sure. And you know,” her smile turned shy, “I’ve really wanted to thank you for giving up the space for the school, I know this wasn’t what the shed was earmarked for.”

Dean cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, Brandy made sense. Can’t have the kids wandering around outside after the cold comes.”

Y/N frowned. “I’ve wanted to thank you, but every time I’ve looked for you, I seem to have just missed you.”

Dean scowled defensively. “Just busy.” 

Y/N nodded.

“Well look,” Dean said, backing away, “I gotta get to…stuff.” He shook his head. “I mean, we’re leaving on a raid tomorrow and I gotta prepare for it.”

“Oh, be careful.” Y/N said, biting her lip in concern.

It was far too hard for Dean to rip his eyes away from where her teeth sunk into the satiny sweep of her bottom lip. But he jerked his head up and then spun away as he answered her. “Always am.”

***

The raid was successful; in fact it was one of the most successful ones they’d ever had. They’d traveled all the way to St. Louis, hoping to find some gas stations there that hadn’t been picked clean. But they had no luck. Since going home empty-handed wasn’t an option, they went North to Springfield and hit the jackpot. 

They found an old Costco on the outskirts of the city that had barely been hit. They filled and loaded up enough propane tanks to see them through the winter and then some. 

They also loaded up as much food as they could, and even found some usable meds left in the pharmacy there. They grabbed clothes and kitchen things like plates and pots, utensils, also managing to find a few things that had become rare and quite precious, like eyeglasses and sunglasses. They also found spare tires and car parts, and a few simple pieces of practical furniture. They took as much as they could load into the back of two trucks and a Jeep. 

Dean packed up one more big box, setting it on top of the others; it was just something he thought might come in handy. He refused to think too long about why he’d gathered together the things in the box.

They made it back to camp less than two days after they left, a record for a raid. They usually took a week or more because they had to scavenge through a bunch of different cities, and fight off masses of Croats. But this time, they didn't see any Croats at all, and they'd scored an incredible haul quickly, which meant that, barring some kind of catastrophe, they wouldn't have to go out again until the snow melted. 

They pulled into the camp around noon and Dean spent a few hours helping to unload the trucks and organize where everything went. When the campers saw the piles of booty in the trucks, people actually started clapping. An air of joviality pervaded as they all worked together to put things away until the next day. At which point they'd begin accounting for it all, sharing what was needed immediately, and then safely storing away the rest. 

Y/N and her students left their little schoolroom to come help as well and the kid’s eyes were wide and excited, looking at everything that had been brought back as though it was Christmas Eve. 

When everything was unloaded, Dean grabbed the box he’d put aside and brought it to Y/N who’d returned to the school to drop off the two folding chairs she’d claimed for the classroom.

He knocked on the open door, grateful for the hard wood beneath his knuckles this time. Y/N turned to face him and her eyes were almost as bright and excited as the kids’.

“Hi!” She said enthusiastically. “Wow, you guys sure brought home the bacon on this raid!”

Dean shook his head. “No bacon. It was fairly rancid.”

Y/N chuckled lightly and scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, wise decision to leave that behind.”

Dean nodded and set the big box on the plywood floor with a heavy thump. “This is for you. For the school.” He amended.

Y/N looked a bit dumbfounded for a moment and her eyes got even rounder before she dropped to her knees and pulled open the flaps of the box. 

When she saw what was inside her gasp was deep and her hands flew to her mouth. She looked up at him in complete shock before reaching reverently into the box to take out one of the books that sat inside.

“Books.” She whispered, as she stared at the paperback in her hands. She reached into the box again and pulled out another book and then another and another until her arms were full of them.

She looked up at him, tears falling and her gaze rapturous. “Oh my god, Dean.”

Dean felt his face flush and he looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just figured the classroom could use ‘em and they were just sitting there on the shelves. There’s a bunch of kids books underneath,” he said pointing inside the box. “And paper and pencils and some crayons, a few coloring books. There weren’t many of them so-”

He was interrupted as Y/N dropped the books back into the box and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tight. He stood stock still for a minute before he patted her back awkwardly and dropped his arms back to his side.

She pulled back and brushed away her happy tears, sniffling loudly. “Sorry. I just…” She knelt down again and picked up another book, holding it tight to her chest. She shook her head. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed books. It’s been years since I’ve even seen one let alone had the chance to read one.”

She reached in for one of the children’s books and laughed. “Oh my gosh, the kids are gonna be ecstatic.”

Dean shrugged, thoroughly embarrassed by Y/N’s joy and gratitude. He cleared his throat before speaking. “There’s a limited supply of paper and pencils, and I have no idea how long it will be before we find more, if we ever do, so…”

He trailed off and Y/N put the books back into the box and folded the flaps closed again. “So, we’ll be sure to write very tiny, erase a lot, and wear the pencils down to little nubs.” She said as she stood and bent to heft the box up from the floor. Dean stepped forward to grab it from her as she staggered slightly beneath its weight.

“You’ll break your back.” Dean barked at her as he reached for the box. 

But she just shook her head and turned away with the box still in her arms. “N’ah I’m stronger than I look.” She said, huffing and puffing as she dropped it onto the table. 

Dean shook his head. Yeah, I bet you are. He thought.

After a moment Y/N turned and walked slowly back towards him. “So, I can’t exactly buy you dinner as a thank you. But if you bring your rations over to our tent, I can cook them all up for us.”

She smiled at him, friendly and sweet, but Dean was backing away. “No, that’s not necessary.”

“I know it isn’t, but it will make me feel good to do this one small favor for you in return for this amazingness.” She said with a wave towards the box.

Dean planned to say no, had it on the tip of his tongue but when he opened his mouth what came out was, “Okay.”

So barely an hour later he found himself sitting at her table with dinner laid out in front of him. It was a sufficiently celebratory meal of salted venison from an eight point buck the camp hunters had taken down in early summer, boiled potatoes, and a can of green beans that was older than Emma.

It was the best meal Dean had eaten in a long time.  

After the food was finished and the dishes were washed, Y/N made them a cup of coffee and he sat drinking it as she settled Emma into bed with a kiss. His stomach was full of decent food, the coffee smelled old but still strong, and the sound of Y/N’s soft voice as she tucked her daughter in, was incredibly soothing. He found himself relaxing into his chair in a way he hadn’t in a very long time. His muscles lost some of their rigidity and he breathed out a long sigh, as though he’d been holding his breath for too long.

After a few minutes Y/N came back to the table and sat down with her own soft exhale. She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Dean over the rim of her tin cup. “You know, I don’t think you really understand what you’ve done here.”

Dean cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, questioning her. She smiled and set down her cup, shifting slightly in her chair.

“Since all of this started, we’ve been on the move, Emma and I. In the beginning, when Emma was still a baby, I’d come across different groups of people and we’d travel together for a while or we’d manage to hole up somewhere for the winter and wait out the cold together. But inevitably the groups always fell away; sometimes we’d just decide to go in separate directions, but sometimes animosity or greed would take over and violence would erupt. People would fight over who was in charge and they’d fight over resources.” Y/N shook her head. “It almost always ended up a disaster.”

She shrugged. “So after a while, I just lit out on my own with Emma. It was scary as hell, of course - no back up, no partners, all on my own with a four year old. But it also meant no one stealing my stuff, or throwing me to the wolves at the first sign of trouble.” 

She took another sip of coffee and Dean wondered at the shadows in her usually bright eyes. What stories in her past had created them?

Her voice was soft when she continued. “It’s been incredibly hard and there’s been,” her eyelashes fluttered and closed, “there's been a lot of bad.” 

She set down her cup and sat back in her chair, rubbing at her eyes with her fingers like she was scratching out the images behind her eyelids.

When she looked at him again, her eyes were soft and warm. “So, to come here, to see what you’ve accomplished in just a few years?” Her voice was full of wonder. “Dean, it’s like a miracle. I mean you’ve made it safe here, at least a hell of a lot safer than anywhere else out there - there are guards protecting us! People work together, contribute their skills and strengths for the benefit of the group as well as themselves.”

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen anything like it in a very long time. What you’ve created here is an oasis.”

Dean snorted at that. “Oasis?” He asked incredulously. Her praise and wonderment made him feel an itchy kind of awkwardness. He didn’t deserve it.

But Y/N was nodding solemnly. “Yes. It’s a safe haven in a world filled with evil. What would you call it?”

Dean took a gulp of coffee and then licked his lips, looking at her for a moment before speaking. “Y/N this is only an oasis in the sense that it’s a mirage in a desert; it’s an illusion. We’re managing to get by through lucky choices and good timing. We push through from day to day, but I’m telling you this whole place could fall apart in an instant. One long, bad, winter, or one coordinated attack from another camp or a pack of Croats, and we’re done.”

He paused to try and let that sink in before continuing. “And the survivors here work together because it’s beneficial to them. But if things get desperate again,” he looked at her pointedly, “don’t think for one second that they'll hesitate to throw you to the wolves like all the others.” He shrugged. “It’s human nature, survival of the fittest, and anyone who thinks otherwise is gonna get trampled.”

He said it as a warning, still determined to dislodge the Pollyanna ideal of good and virtuous humanity from her mind.

But Y/N just smiled and leaned across the table to squeeze his hand. “Guess we’ll see. But in the meantime, you should be proud. No matter what happens, you’ve done good.”

Dean swallowed down the rest of his coffee in one gulp and stood up, pulling his hand away from her warm touch. He was desperate to get away from the softness and understanding in her gaze. He thanked her for cooking dinner and left quickly, promising himself as he walked back to his tent that he wasn’t going to do that again.

But as with most things to do with Y/N that decision didn’t last long, and soon enough that one evening turned into a bit of a ritual. Every few days or so Dean would show up with some of his rations and Y/N would combine them with what they had, and they’d all eat together at their tiny table.

Every time he left her tent, he told himself he’d had his last meal there with Y/N and Emma. Yet within a few days, he’d be back again. He told himself it was just something to break the monotony of camp life, just something a little different from the ordinary.

But the truth was he was beginning to crave the evenings spent across from Y/N, listening to her rattle on about her students and their achievements, or else answering her seemingly endless questions about the camp and how it had come to be. He even enjoyed listening to her talk to Emma, telling her stories before she tucked her in for the night. 

Once the little girl was asleep, Dean usually hightailed it out of there, because without the kid as a buffer it became much harder to ignore Y/N’s inviting lips and tempting curves.

But one night, three weeks after returning home from the raid, Y/N followed him outside as he abruptly left the tent. 

“Dean.” She called after him. 

The sun had set almost an hour before and the night was dark and cold; Dean returned to her side and admonished her. “It’s freezing out here, go back inside.”

Y/N just rubbed her hands up and down her arms and shrugged. “I’m fine.”

He shook his head at her stubbornness, and then waited silently. When she didn’t say anything right away he spread his arms wide.

“What?” He asked impatiently. 

“I just…” Y/N stuttered for a moment. “I just wanted to say that I really like when you come for dinner.”

Dean clenched his jaw as she looked up at him with heat in her gaze, an invitation in her eyes, plain as day. He told himself to walk away but instead, he raised his hand to trail his fingers down her cheek. 

“You should go inside.” He warned her again, even as he lowered his head towards her. “S’cold.”

Y/N shook her head. “I’m very warm.” She smiled and licked her lips and it was his undoing.

He yanked her up against him and crushed her lips with his own. He plundered her mouth with his tongue, inhaling her sweet scent and hardening at the way she clutched the front of his jacket and whimpered softly. He moved his hands so that one clutched at her waist and the other one grabbed hold of the back of her head so he could keep her pressed to him tightly.

He didn't know how long he would have continued kissing her, or whether he might have taken things even further. But luckily there was a loud noise of something crashing somewhere in camp, followed by laughter. 

The sound was like a bucket of cold water being poured on him and Dean ripped himself away from Y/N's mouth. They were both breathing heavily, panting really.

“Fuck.” Dean swore roughly before he turned abruptly and left. He fully admitted to himself that this time, he was definitely running away.

***

Dean barely slept and woke up the next day berating himself for the night before. For fuck’s sake he’d been making out with Y/N with her kid just on the other side of a canvas wall - kissing her in the wide open, where any other camper might have walked by. He didn’t need things to be more complicated than they were already. 

As the morning wore on, he made up his mind to talk to Y/N that very afternoon. He'd just tell her straight out that what happened between them just couldn't happen again. It was only going to confuse things and make everything harder than it needed to be. 

He nodded; he could do this. He was practical and he didn't hem and haw or tiptoe around things. He'd just tell her straight out how things were going to be. 

He knew she'd be in the big cabin as the school day ended, so he walked over and stepped inside the door, hoping she'd be almost done for the day.

Ever since he brought her the books, she'd been reading to the kids at the end of every school day. Parents had started swinging by the school, ostensibly to meet their kids, but really, they wanted to watch their kids' faces and listen to their giggles as Y/N read the stories in funny voices and occasionally got the kids to join her in acting out silliness from the books. 

But the crowd of parents and kids had gotten a bit too big for the tiny schoolroom, so on the last day of every week, Y/N had taken to reading to the kids and parents together in the big cabin. The adults usually sat on the floor behind the kids, keeping their hands busy with mending clothes or knitting, or else they stood at a table and worked on something like repairing holes in tents or making snares for the hunters. The work allowed them to justify their enjoyment of the stories. 

As Dean walked inside now, Y/N was finishing up the storybook in her hand. He could see it was The Paper Bag Princess and Y/N was on the last page.

“‘Ronald’, said Elizabeth, ‘your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat.” Y/N read aloud in Elizabeth’s decisive voice. 

“You look like a real prince. But you,” Y/N paused for effect, “are a bum.’”

All the kids were giggling as she read the last line. 

“They didn't get married after all.”

The kids clapped and even the parents were chuckling at the way the paper bag princess had put the snooty prince in his place.

“I love that story!!” A little redheaded girl in the front gushed. 

“It's my mommy's favorite story.” Emma said loudly. “Right Mommy?”

Y/N nodded. “When I was your age for sure.”

Dean pushed away from the wall he was leaning on, trying to signal Y/N so she'd hurry up and finish. But the little girl in the front demanded her full attention as she bounced up to lean against Y/N's knees where she sat in the chair.

“Cause your mommy read it to you?”

Dean was seriously considering ordering everyone out. He wanted to get this over with.

But Y/N's next words stopped him dead in his tracks. 

She was shaking her head as she tucked the little girl's red hair behind her ear. “No, my mommy passed away a long time ago when I was just a baby. So she never really got to read me stories.”

Y/N kept talking, but Dean only heard a hot, pulsing, rushing sound in his ears. A million thoughts were slamming through his mind at once as he felt a cold shiver run through him.

He yelled over the sound of the people around him beginning to chatter and get ready to leave.

“How?”

Y/N looked up at his bellow, her face shocked. “What?”

Dean was aware of his surroundings only just enough to brusquely order everyone out of the cabin.

“Now!” He barked and the mood in the room shifted quickly as parents grabbed up their children and gave The Boss a wide berth as his eyes burned at Y/N like green fire.

Everyone disappeared and it was just Y/N, Dean and Emma left. 

Dean felt his heart hammering in his chest as he took a step back from where she stood. 

Y/N's face was completely confused and clearly perplexed. “Dean what-”

He cut her off. “How?” He bellowed again before swallowing and asking in a slightly quieter tone. “How did your mother die when you were a baby?”

Y/N shook her head. “Why? What are you-”

“Answer me.” Dean's voice wasn't loud, but his words were clipped and he could hear the steel behind his words, feel the cold seeping into his bones as the tumblers in his mind fell into place, opening the lock concealing the reason behind Y/N’s miraculous survival of the virus.

Y/N blinked rapidly for a moment before exhaling slowly. “It was a - a fire. Some kind of electrical short or something.”

“In your nursery.” Dean said softly.

Y/N shrugged, her face scrunched up in confusion. “I'm not sure. My dad didn't really like to talk about it.”

As he stood staring at the woman with the bloodshot eyes, a moment from so long ago, once again from that first time they'd faced the Croatoan virus, materialized in his memory.

Again his brother's face bloomed in his mind, and he heard his own voice speaking.

“I swear I'm gonna lose sleep over this one. I mean why here, why now?”

And Sam's bewildered reply. “And why was I immune?”

Well now he knew why his brother had been immune. Because Yellow Eyes had wanted him to be, to make him a better soldier, a better, more powerful psychic to lead his demon army. And of course, he’d needed to be sure Lucifer's true vessel was strong and able enough to withstand the demon germ warfare he planned to release upon the world as a way to kickstart the apocalypse.

Dean stared at Y/N, angry beyond belief. Angry at her and what she really was, angry at himself for taking so long to figure it out and for falling for her game, and unbelievably angry at the universe for proving once again that it was laughing at him. 

His voice was ice when he spoke. “What kind of psychic are you? What can you do?” He shook his head. “What have you done already?"

Jensen RPF and Any/All Characters:

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22 for Jin-Lo!!!

and then 3 & 17 for Jocasta :D

22) headcanon for Jin Lo!!

JIN-LO RAYCE MY BELOVED!! So, maybe this is a broader head canon than just Jin Lo, but I picture the Temple as almost a magic entity itself - an absolute maze of secret passages, fake doors, hallways that seem to go nowhere, hidden chambers that are used for something specific and then lost for generations and rediscovered. And the Archives being one of the oldest existing parts of the Temple and such an important place, they're some of the most riddled with secrets.

Jin-Lo spent his Padawan years with Jocasta determined to find as many of its secrets as possible, and every so often, when Jocasta thinks he needs a pick-me-up, she just casually reaches over to scratch the nose of one of the busts and a giant secret door opens in one of the bookcases. Jin-Lo's mouth drops. She just laughs. "Enjoy." She'll probably expect to see him again in another few days.

3) NoTP?

I think you meant generally, but I was already thinking about Jocasta for the second half of this, and got mad. :D

This is a funny answer because obviously I ship Dooku and Jocasta in all kinds of various iterations - as a couple, as a polycule with Sifo-Dyas, as friends with benefits… (hell, I might love writing them best as bitter exes in Thunder Answered Back) but I think I would have really hated whatever they were going to do with the love story between them in AotC. Like ughhh, can you imagine how annoying that plot would be for me personally?? First, the 1.0 reheat of the Romance Leads to the Dark Side plotline (already fraught) and how little that makes sense in Dooku's greater story. Also, what it reduces Jocasta to.

Even now, some within the fandom have pinned the Deserving Fall of the Jedi Order on her for being checks notes ah yes, lightly snarky to Obi-Wan that one time, so I can't imagine the hate she would have got for being a female character who has the audacity to exist onscreen taking up plot while being older who bore some "responsibility" for Dooku's fall. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see expanded screentime in AotC for either of those characters, but I shudder to think of the takes.

17) What's a book, movie, or show you think Jocasta would like?

Actually, like Dooku, I think Jocasta reads EVERYTHING. I think her ability to consume books is legendary and she has an opinion on everything from Space BookTok to Palpatine's ghostwritten and highly fictional memoir Sheev: an Understated Courage to poetry and lit crit. She manages to stay on top of this impressive heap of reading despite her Archive responsibilities because she does not sleep.

And yes, ahem, Bride is on her holds list. She makes direct eye contact with the Archive acolyte who hands her the holobook and thanks them politely. She's going to read it in her office over lunchbreak with her salad. Why not?

[kayrockerqog]

okay this is gonna be my general reaction post for episodes 2-4 of the reboot, so spoilers are UNDER. THE. CUT.

okay so one: I have never been more conflicted about a ship in my fucking life

this is ripaxel specific, because of course it is, what else would we be talking about here

on the one hand, no, not in a million years, what are the writers thinking, what insanity is this, I'm so confused and not in a good way at all

but on the OTHER hand...he did opt for using something she liked in a unique way to get her attention, and was like, mega cringefail about it but it still worked??? SHE liked it??? that's the important part.

so???? i'd have to see further how they progress with this before I decide, because oh god was the secondhand embarrassment horrifying during these past few episodes

now, two: caleb and priya

cute pairing! great potential. but GIRL IF I AM NOT FEARING FOR THAT GIRL'S EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW!!!! I CANT TELL IF HE'S LIKE GENUINELY LEADING HER ON FOR AN ALLIANCE OR JUST FUCKING STUPID AND DOESNT REALIZE SHE'S LIKE, INTO HIM INTO HIM!!! if he hurts her I'm suing, I'm going insane, he will be dead by dawn

three: rajbow + Wayne and the in-game cheating

again, never been so conflicted in my life, me and Bowie are twinning

on the one hand, I am SO glad he's like actually conflicted and doesn't like lying to Raj. Again, surpassing my expectations on behalf of the writers because I would've 100% expected them to make him lean into cheating without repercussions

on the other...Raj and Wayne being upset about cheating actually makes ME kinda upset despite how much I adore MK and Julia's antics!!! like!!!! the boys just want a fair fun game!!!!! how can you say no to those faces???? they're like puppies I stg

i AM relieved this is like, a cheating in the GAME plot and not a cheating in the RELATIONSHIP plot because that is ALSO a TD Taboo and I was afraid, they're still adorable and have an actual narrative, god bless

four: mkulia

canon, it's canon, idk what else you want me to say man

also, very important MK image

look at her go... i love her actually

five: sha-lightning round

Millie and Damien's entire feud and make-up was surprisingly well done!! and despite the fact she got eliminated that episode it was still a happy ending that fit really well with both of them!! I'm glad Damien's actually getting some play this season so far :D!!

Zee with Olivia Von Trashpanda is by far the best thing I've ever seen in my life, I love them sm

the besties,,,

i wish I was Emma in the scene where Axel ran her finger by her chin threateningly (I'm shameless I know but come ON I WISH THAT ME!!!!!)

Nichelle getting to slay is the best thing ever lowkey???? I'm so proud of her!!

Chase getting kicked out second was the best, get dunked on loser!!!

Emma has also been returned to my good graces for dunking on him, thank you girly

Chris missing Scary Girl is so real, I miss her too man :<

and, well

I now know I never want to participate in would you rather challenge irl, those questions were horrid

except the one with Axel and poetry, that's a really nice character touch despite what it leads to

and...yeah! general thoughts dump. I'll still be making separate posts and I actually feel motivated to draw canon for once..back on my total drama bullshit? /pos

[crazy-ache]

Fanfiction Ask Game

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 21

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 184,514

3. What fandoms do you write for? ACOTAR (my current obsession), and I used to write quite bit for Avatar: The Last Airbender (back in the DAY with fanfiction.net and livejournal.com just to show my AGE), and I have dabbled briefly in GOT haha

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  

when destiny keeps calling (Zutara, ATLA)

the other side of mercy (Zutara, ATLA)

surround me (Zutara, ATLA)

Call Me Selfish, Call Me Wreck (Elucien, ACOTAR)

Dear Lucien, Dear Elain (Elucien, ACOTAR)

Major love to my old Zutara fandom.

5. Do you respond to comments? I didn't always understand the importance of doing it and I used to be very shy in fandom, but now I do my best to always respond! I have made friends from engaging on fics on Ao3 which I love. It makes the writing experience feel like a community event which has been really fulfilling.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I usually leave on a hopeful note, but I did write water can heal, water can break which was slightly Zutara with anti Kataang vibes and the implications of the ending break my heart because they were aligned with the canon for Katara. I basically was so disappointed by the absence of her story in LoK that I needed to explain why it wasn't her fault and her own internal heartbreak about it.

Call Me Selfish, Call Me Wrecked is happy but also has my special mix of angsty-HEA. 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them LOL. But maybe Courting Lucien Vanserra because I was just in a silly goofy mood when I wrote it. But I also still technically need to write the epilogue....shit....

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh! I used to not. @zenkindoflove influenced me lmao. Now I am getting better at it. So, yes, I do. I'm going to call it smut-with-lots-of-feelings.

9. Do you write crossovers? I have not!

10. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but please tell me if you do LOL

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Oooh yes. Me and @zenkindoflove have written two works together. I highly recommend it to anyone else considering it. It was some of the most fun I had writing in a long while- a true creative experiment. We basically have our own "Canon" universe of crazykindoflove that we have established in our heads. It helps we very much have the same tastes.

12. What is your all-time favorite ship? Zuko/Katara was the ship that started it all for me. It taught me fandom obsession, fandom community, it spurred a life-long passion for writing....I think I have to give it credit where it is due. Elain/Lucien is getting up there. Their book might be the very thing that puts them into the number one slot.

13. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Divine Punishments....the multi-chapter fic I had grand plans for that I abandoned after the first chapter LOL.

14. What are your writing strengths? Metaphors. I can come up with a damn good metaphor. That's my poetry background coming into play. My writing is very lyrical, descriptive, and introspective. I love finding a beautiful metaphor that just perfectly describes an emotion or situation.

Because were she to ever wear the dress, those stitched sunflowers, with their bright yellow petals, would be a declaration to the whole world exactly what his heart intended. That she was the sun and he was the humble sunflower, forever loyal to follow her, forever in adoration of her shine; for the sunflower only grows facing the sun’s light, in an eternal chase of her orbit. It didn’t matter where either of them moved, he would be there, waiting to bloom at her smile. 

Like damn look at this. I still think about this one LOL

15. What are your writing weaknesses?  Plot LOL. I was a oneshot girl my entire life and could never tackle multi-chapter works with elaborate plots. Until ACOWAR (Elucien's Version)!!

16. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I'd love to incorporate my Spanish but haven't had a reason to yet in a fic.

17. First fandom you wrote for? ATLA!

18. Favorite fic you’ve written? This is really hard. Several are near and dear to my heart. But I'm going to say ACOWAR (Elucien's Version). Because I'm really proud of the quality of the writing, the interesting take on Canon AU, the characterizations, and the time spent mapping out the chapters. I'm halfway through and it's already been beyond rewarding.

I feel as though everyone has been tagged on this one, so feel free to steal and share!!!

[goldeneyedgirl]

I know you have so many projects to work on, but I was just reading that fic you posted here where alice is kind of a witch (??) and jasper kind of kills her in the end (i forgot the title I'm sorry 😭) and I was thinking about how I think that one version of alice fits so much my idea of highschooler human alice and even the way her relationship with jasper starts. And all of that just to say: how do you picture a completely average human high school version of the cullens? Honestly, even as humans, I don't think that weirdos could ever be average.

Hi Anon!

The Dark and the Unknown! I'm actively working on it as we speak (it's being very difficult).

I absolutely love coming up with ordinary versions of the Cullens so I am obsessed with this question. I think any version of the Cullen family as they are in canon is going to be Weird, but being human makes it a little less obvious.

I will say that for me, one of the defining human-Cullen interpretations has to be Midnight Run by Inthemadhouse (tragically unfinished but one of the best Jalice fics online), so that has probably coloured some of my personal headcanons.

Strap yourself in, it's going to be long.

I'm working from the idea the family are Exactly As Presented in canon: Carlisle and Esme adopted a bunch of teenagers who then promptly hooked up with each other, with Edward being the first adoption, then Emmett, then Alice, and then the acquisition of Esme's twin niece and nephew. Obviously the ages of when they were acquired by Carlisle and Esme have to be fudged a little to make this work.

family stuff.

There is 0 chance that Esme and Carlisle (who I'm estimating are in their 30s because it's highly unlikely they would be approved for that combination of kids in their early 20s) would be paying out of pocket for five Ivy League educations plus dorm and books (approx 300k per student for undergrad). Without hundreds of years to build their wealth, Carlisle and Esme Normal Wealthy, not Batman Villain Wealthy.

I think Esme and Carlisle would want to teach a good work ethic, and set the kids up for success as adults. College would be an unspoken expectation because of white privilege and their wealth, but Esme and Carlisle would also accept a post high school plan that was realistic and researched. I also think Carlisle and Esme would be big on community service and volunteering, and not letting the kids just lie around during the summer.

Esme would have a small office/studio to run her architecture/interiors business out of, and she juggles work with running the household, and tries to give the kids more responsibility now that they're getting older. Carlisle would work long hours, but emphasise the importance of family time when he's off work - one of the reasons they go camping so often.

edward.

Edward is very literary and a bit pretentious. He reads the classics and has strong opinions and thinks that a lot of trends and pop culture is beneath him. He's the one wearing sweater vests and button downs to school - with a leather satchel - and his notebooks are all moleskines.

He thinks he's very artistic and spends a lot of time writing poetry and music for the piano, and pining for someone to understand him. He is insanely self-conscious about his appearance - especially his skin - and kind of awkward around his peers. He's not nearly as religiously coded as a human, but is determined to prove to Carlisle that he was worth the hassle of the adoption.

His best subjects are English Lit, Music, and European History. His co-curricular is probably the school play, where he plays piano. He's a nightmare to drag out of bed in the morning, and he tends to be very bossy with his family because he's been with the Cullens the longest. He's closest to Alice, but I see him actually getting along with Ben, Eric, and Angela at school. I think he'd kind of want to be friends with Jacob but try to be cool about it and come off as a snob. Edward cannot stand Rose or Jasper.

Edward would have been attracted to Bella's standoffish attitude when she arrived; the long-suffering thing is something he understands (he lives with four 'siblings' and only two bathrooms). They bond over classic novels and feeling out of place with their peers and whilst they get a little dramatic, they're very happy with each other.

bella.

We know teenage Bella but if she and Edward were humans together? Oof. Bella is starry-eyed over Edward from Day One, but knows how to hide it - she realizes that would put Edward off pretty fast.

I think Jacob and Bella would be quite close from her arrival in Forks, but Bella would be kind of on the fringes of her social set for all of high school. I also like to think that Jacob has his own friends and girlfriend, and doesn't spend his high school years pining after Bella.

I cannot see Bella and Alice being close friends in an all-human universe because Alice isn't starved for friends in this world, and Bella's got less of a reason to get her on side when immortality isn't the prize. I think they get along and hang out but they just don't have enough in common. I think Bella would irritate the shit out of Rose, getting caught asking too many questions about the family around school.

Bella would absolutely get pregnant before graduation. Edward has less religious hangups plus a contemporary upbringing... yeah, Ness was an accident. But Edward would definitely want to marry Bella before they went to college - I can definitely see Edward turning down Ivy League to stay with Bella at a public university.

emmett.

Emmett is sport like Ken is beach. I feel like Emmett plays two sports every season, probably coaches a kiddie league on the weekends, has a summer boy scout troupe, and works delivering pizzas after school. He loves the outdoors, loves activity. His grades are not great, honestly, but he does his best and he passes. He's definitely the student whispering if anyone did the homework and could he just... have a quick look two minutes before class starts. Emmett's one of those people who just has a lot of friends, though he would claim his best friend is either Edward or Jasper.

He's extremely popular because he's so friendly, and he's the kind of kid that adults go "Emmett Cullen doesn't sleep til noon on a Saturday. He's already coached two first grade basketball games and washed his mom's care by 10am." (Esme would look at them, unamused, and explain that she literally keeps two water jugs in the upstairs bathroom: one to wake up Edward and one to wake up Emmett.)

Emmett is also almost always the source of alcohol at high school parties, and makes the best fake I.Ds in the county. Charlie Swan knows it's Emmett, he just has no tangible proof. Yet.

Emmett has very little trauma due to being adopted, and definitely sees being a Cullen as winning the life lottery. He's the heart and soul of the family, and tends to use that to get out of any serious trouble.

I think that Rose and Jasper probably joined the family around age 12ish, and Emmett was probably smitten with Rose from first sight, and made a bit of a fool of himself and annoyed Rose for a few weeks before he relaxed and was just himself. He was naturally accepting of her boundaries, respectful, and the appropriate amount of protective over her when needed. I actually think Rose and Emmett got together after Alice and Jasper, probably around Freshman year. I know it's common that they are the pair that have the on-again, off-again dramatics, but I don't see it - perfect match. Emmett takes jokes about him dumping Rose for a cheerleader with 0 humor and shoots down any female - or male - that tries to flirt with him.

His best subjects are Gym and Chemistry. He's really easy-going and I can see him opting for a state university close to Rose because she has such strong preferences for her education. He gets along really well with the guys on the Res, hangs out there a lot, and is definitely a big brother figure for Seth after Harry's heart attack. He'd probably want to study something like video game design on a football scholarship in college.

rose.

Rose would not be a popular cheerleader. I need that out there. She has no interest in the social aspect, no interest in the culture of cheerleading, and has tunnel vision about her college plans.

I see Rose having a very type-A high school experience - all her classes are AP or college credit, she volunteers at the hospital in the summer (pediatrics), she runs a study group for STEM subjects because Forks High won't let her start a full-on robotics club, she's a member of the cross country team, and she works after school at Esme's office until she gets a job at a garage. She is utterly humorless about her grades, and she's going to be valedictorian, get into an Ivy League (ideally MIT, but she's flexible) on at least one decent scholarship.

And she makes it all look completely effortless. Meanwhile, she's still got a lot of baggage and trauma from before she joined the Cullen family, she's got a lot of anger, and she's just determined to rise about it without really dealing with it in a healthy way; Esme and Carlisle are terrified she's going to put all this work in, only to burn out before she makes it to college.

She intimidates the shit out of her classmates, and I feel like her closest friends at school would be, like, two other intense overachieving girls. She catches Bella trying to get gossip about the family from other students, and hates her from that moment on because Rose hates feeling like she's not normal. She knows their family is weird, but she wants the world to pretend it isn't.

I think Rose would actually become good friends with Leah Clearwater when she meets them via Emmett, and that she's insanely popular over at the Res with the boys because of her interest and knowledge in cars; between Rose, Jacob, and Sam, there is no car that they cannot get running again. I also think that Rose would stay in touch with Vera throughout their lives.

Rose and Edward hate each other with the fire of a thousand suns; Edward resents that Rose isn't grateful to Esme and Carlisle for taking her in because she should be honored (projecting just a little); Rosalie thinks that Edward is spoiled and has the self-awareness of a shoe-box and resents how treasured he is by the Cullens, but family therapy was just kind of a lot of yelling, so there's a mutual Cold War in the household.

Rose is also the most competent cook out of all the kids, but resents the fuck out of everyone when she's the one that the responsibility of cooking falls to on night's when the kids are cooking. The others learned fast that they had to participate or face her wrath.

Jasper and Rose are close in the way that siblings who have gone through something terrible together are, but their trauma is so different that it's hard for them to always related to the other. Emmett is Rosalie's foundation, her tether, and the person she hears no matter what. To the outsider, she seems like an ice-cold, controlling girlfriend but even when she's researching her college options, she's taking into account Emmett's wants and needs with those decisions. Rose feels so deeply that it makes her vulnerable so she hides it.

jasper.

I feel like before Forks, Jasper would have become very acquainted with drugs to cope with his past, and Carlisle and Esme had to intervene majorly - and that might have been one of the reasons that they decided to relocate the family to Forks. So like, now weed is his one vice to stay calm and get through the day, and he's pretty transparent with Esme, Emmett, and Alice about his smoking because of his previous addiction.

Jasper would be very quiet, and kind of just loom behind Alice at all times - I think 90% of the time, he'd have earbuds in. But he'd have a nasty temper and would definitely get into more than one fight, especially if someone said anything negative about Rose or Alice. And Jasper doesn't pick fights he won't win. He's kind of seen as the problem child of the family by the local gossips, even though Charlie Swan thinks that Jasper's a hell of a lot less trouble than Emmett. Charlie is, of course, totally incorrect as Jasper is the co-conspirer behind the fake I.D.s Emmett supplies, and has supplied a few parties with weed when he's feeling generous.

He absolutely got blackout drunk at a few parties before he quit drinking. He's kind of a sad and angry drunk, so it was for the best.

Jasper pretty much attached himself to Alice from his first day in the Cullen house, and they were definitely the first two to get together - Jasper has simped for Alice since he was 12, and has no plans to stop at any point. She's his favourite person, his best friend, and he's happy when she's happy, so he'll go to Homecoming, to the Winter Ball, to Spring Fling, Prom, anything to make her smile. He'll attend the school play every night because Alice designed the costumes.

At school, Jasper is the perpetual 'so smart, knows the material, puts 0 effort in'; he loves arguing with his teachers, and can turn a class into a three ring circus with minimal effort, but likes to save that for a couple of times a semester. He's the kind of asshole who shows up to finals, gets a perfect score, but hasn't handed in a single piece of homework. He's not really big on making friends, but he kind of does peripherally through Emmett and Alice. He'd argue his best friend is Peter, and they stay in touch for life. But he and Emmett get along great and are as close as bio brothers (even if Emmett cheerfully threatened to beat the shit out of him the first time he got caught with his hand up Alice's shirt.) Jasper definitely goes surfing at La Push and considers it meditative.

He and Edward have a frustrating relationship because of how much attention Jasper's struggles got him from Carlisle and Esme; Edward was jealous of how easily Carlisle told Jasper he was proud of him, and how Jasper was standoffish to Carlisle when he'd just been given the thing Edward craves more than anything. Carlisle also has an interest in history, and he and Jasper have long discussions about that together. Jasper finds Edward immature and spoiled but tries to keep the peace for Alice's sake.

He's most interested in American History and Technology. His co-curricular would be AV Club, but he really only shows up when they're pitching in for the school play. I definitely see Esme and Carlisle insisting he gets a job during the summer, and it would be something like helping run movies in the park during the summer, or working at the Forks Historical Society on Saturdays. He has no real plans for college, but I can see Jasper being one of those assholes who just gets a full ride to a really good school for reasons that are a mystery to everyone else.

alice.

Alice would be the most noticeable weirdo; I can see Alice being an Art Kid, and joining the school play just to design and make costumes, plus she wears a lot of homemade and customized clothing to school, as well as detailed make-up. But she's definitely up for joining clubs and socialising; I can't see her being a cheerleader because of the time commitment, but maybe doing ballet or gymnastics. Maybe a language club? And a photography club?

She's one of those people that just considers everyone a friend; I wouldn't be surprised if Esme and Carlisle had meetings to be like "no, Alice isn't ADHD. She's been tested, she's just high energy." I think she gets along really well with Jessica, kind of overwhelms Angela, and has a kind of Cold War of politeness going with Lauren. She's really welcoming to Bella and enthusiastic about her and Edward, but they don't have a ton in common so it's the odd movie night/sleepover when Bella's over at the Cullens.

Alice would be the peace-keeper between Edward and Rose and Jasper because she can translate Edward's dramatics into something tolerable for the others. She and Rose aren't super close, but they get along okay, and go shopping together often. Alice and Emmett probably have the most traditionally typical brother-sister relationship.

Alice seems a lot more innocent than she is, and that's partially her lack of memories from her childhood. She's very, very protective of Jasper in a subtle way; if he's drinking or getting high, she's staying by his side stone-cold sober, and she's definitely started at least one fight when someone said something about Jasper's scars. I think she'd have a lot of guilt over not being able to help Jasper with his addictions more than she did, even though she was a kid.

She's also the financial manager of Jasper and Emmett's little I.D. enterprise, and is definitely the sneakiest in the family - I think Alice would have a klepto streak as a human, and definitely be the one that knew her way around a lock-pick.

Her best classes would be Art, Economics, and maybe Forensics? She'd have no interest in English Lit or Sciences, but she'd get okay marks across the board - she's highly motivated if Carlisle is offering to pay them for As. She'd be looking at Parsons, Pratt, or RISD for college; maybe NYU. She'd have numerous jobs because Forks doesn't really have the kind of stores she'd aspire to work in, but I figure she negotiates selling accessories online with Carlisle and Esme instead of a traditional job. She'd volunteer to work on all the elementary school, middle school, and church plays.

--

I thin that's everything? I hope that's what you were looking for anon, but I had such a good time thinking about all this!

[agentnatesewell]

OOOH okay! So I have been reading plenty of this blog about your N-Sewell thoughts would just like to say "I tip my hat to you from one legend to another" xD.

Now I gotta ask! Since I am also somewhat new, if you have some fun information or headcannons about your Detective Suri and Nate!!!

Especially now that the relationship route in book 3 is both steamy but also sweet!!!!

Hello, my friend! You are so very sweet - thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts! Truly, I have so very many of them regarding my favorite fictional character.

Thank you for asking! Here are some of my favorite Nate and Suri, “Nuri” headcanons (you’ll see some align with canon and some are just what I’ve cultivated in my mind and with friends between the books):

* At some point, Nate and Suri elope. It’s a wonderfully impulsive and romantic decision. Afterwards, Suri is Suri Batra-Sewell and she will gently inform, remind, correct anyone that calls her Batra (I guess it’ll be Agent now? Agent Batra-Sewell)

* They adopt a dog, a small terrier. Fluffy, furry, full of personality , and very cute. Perhaps up to fifteen pounds. His name is Bishop

* Suri’s grandfather is Arab and she’s always wanted to learn Arabic to be, at least, conversational. It is a very good opportunity for them to learn together

* There is a lot of romantic and romantic, physical affection between them (pretty touchy-feely)

* Adam is important to Nate, his oldest friend. Thus, Suri has made an effort to get to know him and befriend him, and she is glad she has. Because Adam is actually pretty great

* Suri likes poetry, and sneaks in a few lines to Nate. Whether spoken in a private moment or written on a note and left in his jacket pocket or in a book he’s reading. Favorite poets include Rumi, Khalil Gibran, and Pablo Neruda

* Whether they’ve communicated it or not, they both know that despite the attraction and feelings of love have come easy, this relationship isn’t necessarily so. They know that it’ll take time, work, and believing in each other and themselves (well she does, anyway!)

*Suri is as protective of Nate as he is of her

* Before book three, my friend and I hc’d that Nate called Suri ‘hayati’ and she called him ‘rouhi’. Now after book three, that’s switched!

Thank you so much for asking and letting me talk about my loves! Please, please feel free to send me your headcanons about your detectives and their ros!

[ussjellyfish]

1, 3 and/or 24 for the fic writer asks! (These are questions that could run long answering, so feel free to answer as many or as few as you like, please!)

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

I wrote several drabbles, which was so much fun. I love how they're like poetry and you're so limited with what you can do or come up with. It's all about the economy of it, and I get wordy or have too much talking, so drabbles are really good for me. They're an excellent challenge.

They were fun to write and turned out well! people enjoyed them. I'm really into my niche little OTP at the moment so my audience is small, kind, and generous. They were enjoyed. I got to really think about how to make the most use out of the words I have.

Another new thing I did was write in second person POV? I have this very odd little fic (you will be mentioned in their biographies) which is about a side character to my current OTP, and how he perceives them, and it was neat to write. I had been having a bit of a block, so somehow writing that cleared my thoughts and I was able to work on Quantum (which is wonderful).

I have only written second person pov once before, so this was an adventure, but it let me say some fun poetic things and really get into how someone like Vance (who is the shining example of a good admiral, good dad, good person, but not extraordinary). He's a utility admiral, where he does a great job, but he's not a protagonist (like Janeway, or Sisko, or Kirk).

Michael is, and how strange it must be to have someone like her just turn up and turn your universe upside down, because she's that once in a blue moon, virtuoso kind of captain.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

The USSJellyfish signature fic (because I am the babyfic specialist) is the long, slow moving, character gets pregnant (usually through accidental-magical-handwavy means) and goes on a long emotional journey before giving birth under unpredictable circumstances (I think I have about 10 of these, depending on how I define it). Sometimes I don't get to the birth, depending on how long the story is. Sometimes my head moves on before I get there, some of these are REALLY long and took me more than two years to complete.

This is one of my favorite things to write. I get to fully immerse myself into the character's feelings. I get to do the big world building, I get to go on a journey...they're wonderful fics to write.

They take work, and it's HARD to sustain that kind of effort and inspiration for two years or so. i have a few that I burned out on the ship before I finished, or swapped.

The first one I posted was started in 2007, so I've been at this for 16 years.

It's the most self indulgent wonderful thing to write (for me). It's so much fun when it goes well and I love it and getting to the birth is wonderful because there's so much I can do with a birth scene, I love them. Usually my favorite characters haven't had children in canon so I have to do some cheating (Star Trek makes it easy, so does Once Upon a Time, and Agents of SHIELD).

I feel guilty about writing them. They're just babyfic and not important and not really plotty and no one really needs them and just niche for me and...self indulgent. So very self indulgent.

And that's okay. (I sort of believe it typing it but, I know intellectually that they're wonderful and fill a space and people should write what they want to write and enjoy it. What really matters is that they're bringing joy, to me writing them, to the handful of people reading them.

I learned in 2022 that I could write without needing to get feedback. Firefly (Star Trek Discovery, Mirror Philippa Georgiou & learning to have feelings), has several chapters that have no comments, and I wasn't sure if anyone was reading them, but I enjoyed writing them.

I got a little spoilt in 2022 and 2023 having people who would workshop plot ideas with me, and they're much busier than they were so that's gone for the moment. So I have to get back to the independent writing place. (I'm kind of there, it's less fun). It's also hard writing something that takes two years, because if you want to work on it with people, you need people who will be into what you're into for two years, and have time to play with you, for two years. I have several stories that have outlasted the friendship I had at the beginning. Usually I made other friends by the end, but it's a long, lonely endeavor.

There's a venn diagram of niche ship and having time to work on it and sustained interest and I feel rather alone at the moment (again, I've been there before) and it's okay. It's a good challenge to work through things on my own and have a dialogue with myself about what I'm writing. It's doable. It's less fun.

Life in general is a lonely place at the moment. I need to make new offline friends and branch out my online friends and...

One of the ways I make friends online is talking about writing and shipping and when I'm really into my tiny tiny ship. (as I am in the moment) it's not the easiest way to make friends.

The thing I'm trying to say that I've learned about myself as a writer, is that I am capable of being a self-sustaining creature. When I'm really into something, it's nice to just let myself enjoy it, and write what I want to write. I shouldn't (but do) feel bad for that, and lonely, but...the only way out is through. So I need to write what I like, and enjoy it. The other option is not writing, which is miserable. Writing by myself is better than not writing because I don't have people, but it's a different kind of energy. Less of a yes and, sort of thing, more of a find your joy.

Embrace it? I learn to be less self-conscious of a writer as I go, but it's always a process.

Right now I'm writing the "giving birth under unpredictable circumstances" chapters for my favorite ship at the moment (Michael/Laira) which is my emotional climax to my favorite ship at the moment in my favorite kind of fic to write so it's everything I like at one time.

AND IT'S HARD.

I need to get it right and find the right emotions and I have to drag myself into it to write it with the right emotional truth and detail and senses and...

It's the best but it's hard, and I'm on with it, so extra hard. (who wants to plot babyfic birth scenes...it's super niche).

I feel guilty for having likes that are so...unliked? That's a thing.

I enjoy it enough to keep going though.

[vanderwoodlings]

Hm. Time for me to throw some more spaghetti at the wall: pjo hyperfixation edition

Dan:

- unclaimed or a minor god, literally no other options allowed he’s Lonely Boy. C’mon

- Dan as a son of Nemesis has an Energy but I can’t really expand on it other than that. Good vibes ig???

- Also Calliope, muse of epic poetry. Any of the Muses would be relatively appropriate for Dan, but Calliope is specifically most associated with what we would know think of as storytelling, so, like. Author boy. I like this one better on account of uh,,, having reasons

Serena:

- theoretically appropriate godly parents include Apollo, Aphrodite, and Zeus

- I think Zeus is definitely in terms of the Helen of Troy of it all—the Importance, the way she draws people to her, the being every woman ever and also just the one—rather than in terms of having a relationship to his domain. Also I could definitely see Lily going for him

- Aphrodite is, I think, kinda obvious, while Apollo comes around to the golden girl, the way light is always so relevant to Serena as a concept

- But I think that Hermes would be the most interesting and fucked up. She runs away from everything and she has no home. God of travelers baby <3 also Serena forever being surveilled and interpreted vs god of messengers

Nate:

- son boy!!! (Like serena: sun boy!!! If you’re into that. Personally no. Or Aphrodite bc it’s Nate and he’s so fucked up by people thinking he’s beautiful. He’s so fucked up in general)

- My personal pitch is actually for Dionysus! Actor!Nate? We see it in canon and we see him go a little nuts about it (when theatrical) and make a joke about how he actually acts all the time for everyone else (when cinematic)

Blair:

- She is,,,, difficult.

- I do think it would be fucking hilarious to have her as a child of Ares. On the other hand, her form of War much more suits Athena—and Blair is um… really fucking smart? She loves her tactics and her cleverness

- Aphrodite because it’s fucked up (again) but in a different, more intense way—Blair wants to Be Enough to fool everyone into liking her at all times, and that means performing beauty. And also she is such a romantic which has this flip side of like,,, no she really believes in love. She really does

Vanessa:

- Okay look i could pretend to explore some other options here but I think it’s blatantly obvious that she’s a child of Apollo

- He’s the god of the arts? She makes movies! Maybe they’re documentaries but they’re a heck of an artistry anyway and she’s shown to have a love for the whole of the concept and other stuff like music (taking Nate to Ruby’s concert) and paintings (helping out at the gallery)

- Also he’s the god of knowledge and prophecy and like,,,, Vanessa is the one who knows what going on and that it’s Not Good

[cathwritestragediesnotsins]

~Hello Cath! I hope you’re having a wonderful day :)

If you’re still assigning mha ships, then i’d like to request one.

(Panromantic asexual, INTJ, they/them)

Hobbies: I love writing! I mostly write Arabic poetry, I also read a lot. I have two (kind of random) special interests, antimicrobial resistance (and how horribly antibiotics are administered), and sound waves (more specifically the usage of sound waves in things like sonar and ultrasound).

Physical description: I’m 5’7, i have mid length brown hair and green eyes, I’m kind of yellowish pale. Also skinny and flat.

<3

Hi! Sorry this took me a hot minute to get to, I hope it’s worth the wait :) (since you use they/them pronouns I kinda operated under the idea that you might be non-binary but if this is incorrect let me know and I can fix it no problem!)

I SHIP YOU WITH: TOGA HIMIKO

Ok, I was looking through the characters whose personality types were compatible with yours and as soon as I came across Toga is just felt right.

Like, special interests that may come off as a little odd to other people? Toga has been there done that since the beginning of time. She has got your back 100%. She is constantly asking you about your interests and is genuinely so happy to hear you talk about them because the more you explain it the more she finds it fascinating as well. You both have very inquisitive minds. She also just loves to see the way your face lights up like hers does when she sees blood, she thinks it’s so cute.

Toga is so extroverted and with you being an introvert I just love the idea of her dragging you around with her while she stops to look at every sparkly thing and talk to every person and you’re just like “Himiko, please, the child does not want to hear about the time you made it rain blood.”

Also, it’s canon that Toga does not stand for any of that misgendering shit so if someone calls you by the wrong pronouns she is immediately threatening them. God help them if they say something to invalidate your gender. You are her precious darling and she will do anything to protect you from physical and emotional harm.

Toga can be a bit yandere sometimes but it’s only because of how scared she is of losing you. You mean everything to her. Toga is extremely loyal but she hasn’t really had anyone return the favor for her so she doesn’t quite believe that at some point you won’t get sick of or weirded out by her and leave. Please I’m begging you remind her every day that she is worthy of love and that not everyone is going to abandon her.

Toga could care less about your body type. No curves? No problem! What really draws her to people is their passion. She absolutely adores your passion for sound waves and anti microbial resistance. Even though she doesn’t understand it at first, she listens intently as you explain it to her and probably even takes notes to help her remember the long words. Eventually she becomes more well versed in it and you two are able to have in-depth conversations on the topic. It’s important to her because it’s important to you. Now none of this is to say that she doesn’t love how you look as well. Trust me, she is so obsessed with you she thinks everything about you is absolutely adorable and perfect. She would not in a million years change a thing.

Toga also doesn’t mind at all that you’re asexual. What she really longs for is a deep emotional connection, she’s not very sexually focused at all, she really just wants to cuddle you and observe you and just be with you.

100/10 so wholesome. I love this ship.

[quantummindclassicalheart]

Master post of quantum's Critical Role fic

You can now find me on AO3 as FiveCamellia! I will be gradually archiving older fic there. Various other things I’ve written including scicomm stuff and poetry live in my general #writing tag, feel free to check it out! For scicomm specifically, check out my #quantum talks quantum tag.

(This is a repost of my old pinned post, but with the new post format.)

a dream within a dream (AO3, Tumblr. New! Completed 2023/01/21.) > When the fog of Rumblecusp steals away Caleb’s memories, Jester must help him remember. But this time, it’s going to take a little more than a fifth-level spell slot. For Widojest Secret Santa 2022.

The Lovers’ Lie (original song) > There is an old folk song that is sung in Exandria.  It goes by a lot of titles–In Marquet it’s commonly known as The Liar’s Love, while natives of Xhorhas would know it as The Fey Groom, and the elves of Syngorn’s version has a title that translates to “The Sacrifice of Truth for Love.” This is one bard’s rendition of the song in Common, as accompanied by ukulele.

verbal and somatic (AO3) > In which Jester has a creative idea for how to use the Polymorph spell, and with a truly heroic effort (and the benefit of War Caster), Caleb succeeds on a series of concentration checks with increasingly high DC. (AKA: Widojest body swap sexy times.) (Post-campaign, established relationship AU.)

a soft place to land (AO3) > A few years after their travels with the Mighty Nein, Caleb and Jester reunite for the summer and kinda sorta fall in love all over again. (Post-campaign, as the summary suggests, but more or less canon-compliant)

a dream of flight (AO3) > My first Loquaerryn fic, about their first dance (and what comes after). Laerryn is used to taking the lead, but when she meets Loquatius Seelie, he challenges everything she knows about following.

rainy days and twisting braids > Yasha braids Beau’s hair, and softness follows. For Beauyasha Week 2022 Day 2: Hair. (Takes place post-campaign.)

like it’s the last time > A Widojest epilogue “missing scene,” i.e. the final conversation Caleb and Jester never got in canon. It’s the night before Fjord and Jester leave Nicodranas, and the Nein are throwing a party. Everything should be great. Except Caleb’s been distant lately, and Jester wants to know why. (Takes place during the Campaign 2 finale, roughly.)

waves of memory > A short Shadowgast piece based on some merperson!Essek AU art.

we must all tend our gardens > A character study of everyone's favorite drow hotboi and his complicated relationship with faith, as told through gardening. (Takes place during the Campaign 2 finale.)

[podfic] Die Smaragdwelle (Jade_Sabre) > A reading of Die Smaragdwelle, a fairy tale about a princess swallowed up by an emerald wave and the wizard who had to find her. (Featuring my vocal impressions of all the Mighty Nein.)

und andere Zemnische Volksmärchen > What if things had gone just a little differently post-Katzenprinz? (Fluff. Fluff is what happens.) For Widojest Week 2021 Day 6: Der Katzenprinz.

four-and-a-half waltzes of caleb widogast > A series of vignettes in which Caleb shares four dances with four of the most important people in his life, and learns to embrace the magic of possibility. (Spoilers for all of Campaign 2, minus the finale.)

the divine transmutation of the self > In which magic changes Veth, and Veth changes her mind about magic. (Spoilers through C2E97)

drawn together > Making stuff for (and with) the people you care about is a love language. In which Beau decides to learn how to draw, and also learns a few other things along the way. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111) 

a taste of summer > In which Caleb’s hidden talent for baking and Jester’s love of sweets collide in the best possible way. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111) 

sunrise over eiselcross > A little scene between Fjord and Jester from the morning after their big conversation in C2E118.

you're still there > Beau has a nightmare about a path not taken. Yasha’s there to help her through it. Cuddles ensue. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111)

disguise selves > An AU where Caleb and Jester are (human) roommates, preparing for a Halloween costume party over Zoom. Jester being Jester, she insists on a photo shoot in costume. Everything goes better than expected. (no spoilers)

the nature of possibility > Two things possessed me to write this: the concept of including some actual thermodynamics in a fic about dunamancy, and the idea of hand contact during a spellcraft lesson. What ensued was nearly a thousand words of Shadowgast. (Takes place sometime post-C2E77)

an unnatural tide > Caleb doesn't normally forget things. But Rumblecusp isn't a normal island. What did he forget that last morning? Here's my best guess. (Spoilers for C2E105)

[graylinesspam]

Well well if it isn’t the foreshadowing of the clone rebellion on kamino we’re witnessing (is it? IS IT??? Please be it).

No but really, are you actually planning on writing this kind of ending or you’re sticking to the canon?

Anyway im having a lot of thoughts, most of them are AGAFAGGAZGAVAVAVVAAGHAVSVSSVS I LOVE IT. IT WAS SO CUTE AND THEN GOT SO FREAKING SAD AND THEN GOT CUTE AGAIN AND THEN THE PLOT TWIST????? ALPHA PLANNING A COUP RIGHT UNDER THE LONG NECK’S NOSES HELLO????? BRILLIANT

Also

DID REX OFFICIALLY ADOPT AHSOKA MANDO STYLE ???? Did the rest of the torrent do the same omfg they’re literally family 🥹🥹🥹

Rex trying to keep teenage cadets away from Ashoka is both cute and hilarious. He is such a dad.. ahem… brother material 👀

And I absolutely love the way you characterized Shaak Ti. Everyone always portray her as this wise Jedi that cares about the clones just like Plo Koon. And that’s true to some extent but she is so wrong for sitting in her own bubble and refusing to see the way kaminoans and trainers abuse them. She's a kind soul and means well but she totally lacks critical thinking. (but also yeah I would love to see her finally being able to adopt a few baby clones and raise them as her own sons. Such a touching moment it was, right until the aiwha baits ruined it that is)

And Kamino being compared to the eye of the storm is such a poetry honestly yk it rhymes

In conclusion, wonderful chapter as usual.

Okay. So much happened this chapter. Let me bullet point my response.

I likely won't get around to writing a clone rebellion in SH, though one is definitely planned for ASOI. I just can't see the war ended (without the empire's rise) and there nit being a clone uprising. But yeah ask me about that for ASOI and I might tell you my plans.

Yes, Rex officially adopted Ahsoka previously in SH. Off-screen. He knows her name as his sister and all that. I chose Rex partially because he's more traditional and sentimental than a lot of her other brothers. Kix has also said the vows but the rest of Torrent didn't feel the need to. They heard that Rex adopted her and basically went,"Sister? Ah ok, sister." *vigorous nodding*

I don't like to focus too much on Ahsoka's relationships with boys, but also y'know everyone (within age or developmental range) had a crush on her during the war. Cal, Kannan, Lux, Korkie, some clone cadets. She's just a pretty girl. But yeah no Rex overheard like one remark about her and moved an entire class and had them running laps for hours. He does not play.

He is absolutely her Dad-ish in the beginning. They develop a more on par relationship as she grows up and then eventually he fully relinquishes social rank to her. IE not being her elder anymore. But the whole Brothers raising brothers, line was the most important from that section.

Shaak Ti is traumatized and depressed. That's what this is. The Jedi never should have been in a war. That's it. And trying to run a war when you're completely unqualified hurts everyone. Which isn't to say they have a lot of choice. Realistically if she stood up one day and decided that the Kaminoans needed to surrender all of the clones to the jedi and stop producing them she'd be removed from her station and ignored. There's really nothing she can do. And she knows it. Which is why she lives with her hands over her "ears". Because if she just holds on and does a little good every day maybe she can actually change something one day. (the pessimistic view being it's futile in the face of the rising empire of which she's an active participant in building.) (and the more optimistic AU view being that Ahsoka succeeds in ASOI and the clones go free but they have to unpack their abuse in a plee for citizenship forcing the galaxy to realize what Kamino did and what Shaak participated in. Likely resulting in her retirement.) either way not pleasant for her.

Maybe she does end up with some sons, depending in which older clones decide they want to ally with her. It's all gonna be communal raising of the children.

The whole theme of this arc was really that there is no peace in war. So long as the storm rages you'll always have to step back into it. Only by pushing through to the other side can you escape it. But yeah I put SO much effort into the environmental symbolism. I was planning this for months before I started writing it.

So thank you so much for the ask and for reading the latest chapters. I had a blast writing them. Fingers crossed no one is too mad about my characterization of Shaak, I guess we'll find out.

[purrincess-chat]

I’ve seen that you’re a Swiftie and I was wondering, which album do you think each of the MLB characters are? Like if you had to assign an album to one character, out of the most relevant characters in the show I guess 👀

Okay, I had to think about it, but I think I got it. So, I couldn't think of other important characters that fit into some of the eras, so I ranked Marinette, Adrien, Ladybug, and Chat Noir separately, so here we go.

Marinette: Speak Now

She just gives lost in her head fairytale vibes, dreaming of romance and sparks flying and perfect scenarios. I also think she would absolutely stand up at Adrien and Kagami's arranged wedding and sweep him off his feet. And he would be here for it.

Adrien: Lover

Baby boy just wants love so bad. He is absolutely the type to swoon and sigh over his lover and write sappy poetry about how he wants to marry his beloved and live a very normal, mundane life together.

Alya: folklore

So, this one was tricky because aesthetically, I was thinking Red, but Alya has been in a committed relationship for 4 and a half seasons now, so I couldn't see her singing Taylor's quintessential break-up album. folklore, on the other hand, is a bunch of made up stories, and given that Alya is a journalist and a writer, I think she thrives off telling other people's stories. It just seemed like a perfect fit. Plus invisible string for her and Nino? Adorable!

Nino: 1989

I knew this one almost immediately. Just absolute party vibes. He's here for a good time. Nothing but bops.

Kagami: evermore

I also knew this one pretty quickly. Sad girl vibes. Baby just wants to live her life. Also gold rush? willow? "Wait for the signal, and I'll meet you after dark?" Feligami? Hello? Plus, right where you left me for the first portion of s5 where she's still torn up about her feelings for Adrien, but he's moved on with someone else? She wrote this album.

Felix: Reputation

Rep is my favorite album, and I think it fits Felix quite well. On the surface, he's very rough and aggressive and villainous, but underneath when you get to know him, he's actually very sweet and romantic and well-meaning. He's just been hurt by people in the past, so he had to do some shady shit to overcome all of that and carve his own happy ending. Plus, homie literally does not have the greatest reputation right now in canon.

Zoe: Fearless

Zoe was one I hesitated to include bc she's newer to the show, but they did kind of elevate her character in Kwami's Choice, and I felt like Fearless would be a good fit for her. Just someone who has been hurt before, but who's finding herself and learning to be more carefree and open.

Ladybug: Midnights

I went back and forth with Marinette/Ladybug on several albums because I feel like she is the most developed of all the characters, so she could relate to really any album, but I picked Midnights for her because Midnights as a concept is about the things that keep you up at night. Your past, your mistakes, your insecurities, your intrusive thoughts, the weight of the world. And I felt like Ladybug embodied that, especially after this season. Plus, she is the literal Mastermind, and Sweet Nothing is absolutely for her and Chat Noir post Strike Back coming into this season. "And the voices that implore, you should be doing more, to you I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it." Hello? Also, I've always kind of had Would've, Could've, Should've in my head for her, not from a romantic standpoint, but from the standpoint of someone who has had their childhood ripped away from them because of a grown ass man.

Chat Noir: Red

This one I rolled around on, but hear me out. I feel like Chat embodies this album in a somewhat ironic sense. Red is a break-up album, but it's also kind of fun and tongue-in-cheek. I can see him singing We Are Never Getting Back Together to LB who is like but we never even dated bro wtf? Red is dramatic AF at times, and I feel like Chat would have a good time with it.

Chloe: Debut

Chloe was another one I hesitated to include, but I couldn't think of anyone that truly embodied Debut more than her. There are some truly shady and angry songs on Debut, plus the whole concept of directly writing people's names into songs where you trash talk them seems like a very Chloe thing to do. And Picture to Burn (homophobic version)? "There's no time for tears, I'm just sitting here planning my revenge." "My daddy's gonna show you how sorry you'll be"??? Absolutely Chloe.

[space-specs]

I, T and X <333

Thanks for the ask bestie, this was very fun!!

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

BBC Sherlock. I really wanted to watch this show when it was all over tumblr and all my friends were watching it back in like 2014, but I never got around to it. Eventually, people stepped back and were like "actually, so much about this show sucks so much", and I was just kinda glad I'd never actually watched it yet and now I won't. If I want Sherlock content, tbh, I'll probably just rewatch "Elementary, Dear Data" from Star Trek: TNG. Or finally finish the Enola Holmes stuff.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

Duke Thomas cannot make direct eye contact with people. It gives him a splitting headache. Since eyes both absorb and reflect light, looking directly at someone's eyes creates a sort of feedback loop of light beams for him.

Cass is, in all actuality, older than Jason. However, because there is some ambiguity about her precise age, both of them frequently insist they are the older sibling of the two. They could very easily confirm who is older; they both refuse because they don't want to be wrong.

Steph is more of the common sense in the batfam than people give her credit for. Don't get me wrong, she is far from normal (she is vigilante, she grew up in Gotham), but she is the one with the wherewithal to, idk, solve her problems by actually talking to people. She's clever and witty and quick on her feet and actually some really good and really practical people skills.

Duke and Jason are both functionally immortal for different reasons. (Also, they are good brothers and DC needs to bring back the two of them getting to interact).

Tim doesn't call Bruce "dad" and probably never will. Not because he doesn't see Bruce as his parent, but because "dad" has some very complex connotations for him and he doesn't want to apply those to Bruce. More specifically, because good batdad is canon to me, Bruce is better than what "dad" means to him. (It’s also important to me that Jack does try to be a father to Tim and does love him. But loving your kid is not always enough. Sometimes you still hurt them).

There's definitely something I'm forgetting that I'm even more die hard about, but this is already more than I intended on writing for this one 😂 needless to say this is a fun question. (Also maybe putting this out will kickstart me writing the fics I have planned based on 3 of these)

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

Tried very hard not to just put every single batkid on this list but know that I would go to war for any of them I love them all so much.

In no particular order

1. Jason Todd -- listen, do I think his philosophy on crime should be applied to the real world? No, absolutely not. Has he done anything wrong ever? Also no.

2. Duke Thomas (bonus: the whole We Are Robin crew) -- if you hate Duke Thomas, meet me in Denny's parking lot. Something is clearly wrong with you and I will right it via blunt force trauma /j.

3. Tim Drake -- Catch me untangling the mess that is his fanon and canon characterizations and weaving a beautiful tapestry out of it. I see so many wrong interpretations about him and I am tired. Very carefully sorting out what should and shouldn't be kept from both fanon and canon every time I write him.

4. Cassandra Cain -- she has done nothing wrong ever and she deserves to be Batman. my favorite weirdgirl ever <3

5. Trevor Belmont -- my wife /p just introduced me to Castlevania and I did not expect to love it this much. Trevor is my babygirl and I would die for him.

6. Sypha -- I love her soooo much and I am dreading any potential romantic arcs to come about since she's the female lead because I really don't think she needs it. Please let her be cool af and single and not ruined in favor of the inevitable contrived romance, oh god.

7. Rise!Mikey -- I started my dive into tmnt content with Rise and then I tried to go back and watch 2012 because people said it was also good but they were so mean to Mikey 😭 I couldn't do it. He is like a squeaky toy to me.

8. Rise!Donnie -- I am captivated by his autism swag. Enough said. (Him and Mikey as a brother duo is so precious to me).

9. Razer -- Watch Green Lantern: The Animated Series if you haven't already. Do it. I promise you will not regret it. I won't say anything because spoilers but I have so much to say.

10. Talia al Ghul -- I am taking a knife to canon and carving out the parts I don't like because she is a good mom, goddammit!

Bonus: Koriand'r. I haven't read enough comics to know much about her, but I respect woman juice everyday for my favorite 6+ ft buff alien woman. (She should get to be huge and strong and I will fight for that).

[ultraviolet-ink]

For the ask meme: R, U, W!

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? As a big mystery dork, I really do try to emulate Agatha Christie when I set out little plot points, it's this unique ability to really add something important without all this flourish until you realize on a second reading that it was right there! I also try to emulate Arthur Conan Doyle for the same reasons U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. Emerald_Leaf!! My best friend!! I love how she creates this poetic prose, that's the best way I can describe it! It's like poetry, with its own rhythm, and her attention to detail is something I admire so much!!

Youuuuuuu <3 I love the atmosphere you create, it really does feel like a gothic novel and your love for Baskerzieks really is so inspiring!!

hechima!! One of my favorite HomuMiko authors, they really capture the love and partnership between the two of them!! It's amazing!!

fondochlorine!! I've just discovered their fics, and they are quickly becoming one of my favorite RyuuSusa authors!! They really capture the heart and fluff that I love with these two dorks!

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones? I do prefer something that has some meat on it, but broad enough that I can get creative with it. Like if someone gives me a prompt, I do like to think "hmm, is there a pairing, is this an au or canon compliant, what else here?"

[booksandwords]

Murders and Metaphors by Amanda Flower

Series: Magical Bookshop, #2 Read time: 5 Days Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: I wish I could say I was surprised to see you here, but then we'd both know I'd be lying. — David Rainwater

I keep coming back to this series. Amanda Flower has created such a wonderful and endearing world with characters that you want to either get their happiness or their comeuppance or oddly in one case both (look I don't like Nathan and I make no apologies for that). I was reading this addition while I was commuting which means I was reading in a bit of a stop-start fashion. What is important to know when picking up Murders and Metaphors is that it was written in 2019 some 3 years after the previous entry, Prose and Cons. As such her style has changed, her voice for some of the characters has changed and her characterisations have altered. It feels like in 2016 some of the characters would have been less blatantly written. But for those reading them close together it can be a bit disconcerting, even if it is nice in a way to see someones evolution.

The associated text for Murders and Metaphors is Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I feel it is a much better choice than the previous Edger Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and The Purloined Letter. Alcott's work is maybe more accessible it is certainly a classic and extremely widely read, as both a studied text in schools and as recreational reading. Lord knows how Verse and Vengance is going to work out using the works of Walt Whitman at first Leaves of Grass and maybe others. On how Little Women is used... there is the canonical interpretation of the hints given by the bookshop then there is the other one I saw. For a bit of context as much as this book is about finding out who killed Belinda and helping Lacey it is about Violet making her choice between Rainwater and Nathan. You can read the quotes as Charming Books giving her direction as to her choice. Whom it would like her to choose. Whom would expect her truths, its truths. The bookshop has an opinion and it's expressing it. Or that is another way I read it. Especially while I was trying to figure out the clues given by Little Women. Particularly when you consider Charming Books revealing its secret to Rainwater in a shocking turn of events.

Through the course of the story we meet the new members of the Red Inkers. Renee, we've met before the university librarian whom Richard is massively sweet on. The other is Simon. Simon is new to the area and writes poetry. He has a crush on Sadie. But like Renee is blind to Richard's affections Sadie is blind to Simon's. It's a theme. Because readers of the series will remember that Violet was somewhat blind to Rainwater's (or at least perceived it as one-sided). I like Renee, I always have, she is a prime example of a well-written librarian. Making me think Amanda Flower definitely knows a librarian, Renee is that on point. Simon is just so, so sweet. He and Sadie will be so good for each other.

Have a dump of comments and quotes.

At one point Violet infiltrates a meeting of the Cascade Springs Winemaker Guild kinda half unknowingly she ends up sitting next to someone who will become important. It's made clear who that person is

My black-and-white tuxedo cat, Emerson, was strangely MIA. He was usually the first on the scene when there was any promise of commotion, Emerson loved commotion, loved being in the midst of it, and he certainly loved making it. — This is such a fair description of Emerson. When he goes missing you have to start to worry. (Violet, p.4)

"You are the most determined woman I have ever met. I guess that's why I find you so fascinating." — Fascinating is a good way to describe her. He does know how to flatter a girl. (Rainwater, p.114)

"Are we all settled now?" The cat and crow stared at me expectedly. I shook my head. If my friends back in Chicago could have seen me now, looking for guidance from magical books and talking to animals, they'd have had me committed. —  What is wrong with talking to the animals Violet? They are trying to help you and they are cute. (Violet, p.163)

 "I'll be there tomorrow. I have two morning classes back to back. Both are freshman comp, and therefore, no one in either room wants to be there, including me." — I like this moment. Just that reality of no one ever really wanting to do that early morning class or shift. (Violet, p.168)

Okay. So Bunnicula... Yeah, it's a thing. And as an audiobook it's brilliant. Bunnicula was written by James and Deborah Howe. Victor Garber does the narration on the audiobook his narration is fantastic.

Violet has the sweetest confession. It made me soft.

I did not see the baddie, the killer coming in this one. Again I'm not sure the hints are truly there. Though I'm not well versed in Little Women and its themes. Just some warnings there is murder (as is the norm), attempted murder (because you know Violet) and psychological abuse. It is a great entry to the series. It has an important epilogue, setting the scene in an unexpected way. I'm looking forward to reading Verse and Vengance.