#i got very emotional about the questions about halfway through and that's entirely on me <333 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

austinswh0re · 2 years

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Confidential.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Wife!reader

Warnings: Smut!!! so please if you’re not into that do not continue reading!, fluff, Angry Chris?

This is my first time posting any sort of writing on here so please don’t come for me💀 I’m hoping this comes out as well as it is in my head lmao. Enjoy! Also! i’m aware Endgame did not come out in 2021, im switching up the timeline a little bit lol

Y/n gets ask a question she had been preparing to answer, but when it gets asked she doesn’t know how to feel about it. Chris keeps in everything he wants to say until later that night.

(The gif is making me scream)

…………………………………………

Press conferences. I always had a love hate relationship with them. I loved answering questions and being with all my friends at once but what i didn’t enjoy so much were the extremely personal questions. Such as mine and Chris’ private life.

Chris and I got engaged late 2020, we planned our wedding for July 2021, we wanted a summer wedding, getting engaged in December didn’t really give us much time to plan, but one thing we knew for sure was that we would not wait a whole year before we were married. It was a small wedding, we got married on the beach with all our closest friends and family. We went on our dream honeymoon to Hawaii, and once we came home it was time for a premier.

Filming Endgame was definitely filled with tons of emotion. It was mine a his last Marvel movie together and everyone was aware of this. After we had filmed the last scene tears were shed from almost the entire cast and crew. We still had the premiere, which I will forever be grateful for. We hadn’t posted that we had gotten married on any social media platform, well up until the night I posted a photo of us and my username had changed. I didn’t think much of it considering us being engaged was very much public, but many people were still shocked by the name change.

y/nEvans

“your favorite couple has arrived:) So extremely proud of this guy right here, I love you infinitely.”

1,234,536 likes

ChrisEvans: Thank you honey, I love you more than you know❤️

robertdowneyjr: Love these two!!

tomholland2013: I think you guys come in a close second to me and z

Y/nEvans: replying to tomholland2013: yeah yeah

user1256: sobbing. her username is y/nEvans.

user1437: Shut up. I cant do this rn. im so happy for them🥹

^^^^^^ the post in question*

We also had the press conference which gave me a few extra days with the people i love the most. We both knew the risk of having personal questions asked was high but that didn’t make it any less jarring.

Upon our arrival to the hotel we had been informed that we only had one bed in our room, which considering we were married wasn’t an issue. Although everyone else wasn’t to happy about this.

“Chris, can you come here please?” I called out from the bathroom slightly out of breath from struggling to zip my dress. “What’s up?” he said as he made his way through the door. “Could you please help me zip this dress, i can only get it halfway” “yeah of course baby”

He slipped behind me and slowly began zipping up the dress. Once he had finally zipped it all the way up he slid his hands around my hips and kissed the exposed skin on my shoulder and neck. “Chris we don’t have ti-“ “shh, I know, just trying to make a mental note of what’s happening when we get back” as if I hadn’t been turned on enough by the way his hands were roaming my body, the heat pooling in my underwear just grew more and more as he stood behind me and stared at us in the mirror.

Once we finally broke apart from each other and left the room, we made our way out to the limousine where many of our friends were sat waiting for us. “took you two long enough” Robert said as Chris climed and shut the door behind him. small talk was made amongst the group during the short ride to the event. The dress I was wearing was beautiful, and matched the green felt pants Chris had on

I had went for a felt dress as well, just so the colors would be a closer match.

Halfway there, Chris tapped on my thigh and pointed towards my phone. When i picked it up, I saw multiple messages from Chris all displaying the plans he had made for later that night.

“The way your body looks in that dress is making it hard for me to not take you right here in this car”

“you’re in for it when we get back, I can’t wait to taste you, hear those sweet noises you always make for me”

My eyes widened as I quickly turn the brightness down hoping no one was nosey enough to read the text. I shoot Chris a glare, one that says “seriously?” and he responds with his signature smirk.

Finally, after what had felt like forever, we arrived to the conference, the second we stepped out of the car Chris grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze, reassuring me it’s okay. This wasn’t my first, but I still have quite a bit of nerves every time. We make our way into the building after tons of pictures and quick “i love you” glances to one another. We both took our seats, which luckily were right beside each other. Eventually the question began and the small pool of anxiety grew.

“This next one is for y/n, we heard you two got married, congratulations!” I slightly adjusted in my chair and crossed my legs towards Chris before replying “yes, we did, thank you!” “Of course, now this may be some what personal-“ great. I glanced at Chris and could tell he was focused on the person asking and he didn’t look to happy about it. “So many people have been wondering, how is he in bed? We’re sure he’s fantastic but we want to hear it from the one who gets to experience it.” There it was. The dreaded question of how he was in bed. Although he was fantastic and you thoroughly enjoyed sex with Chris, it wasn’t something you cared to share with the public.

“well, listen I don’t want to come off as rude by saying this but i’m not sure that’s really any of yours, or anyone else’s business besides ours.” Chris was furious, his eyes had slightly darkened and his jaw was clenched keeping him from losing his mind. “Can we please move on?” my voice came out slightly smaller than I had wanted but at the moment I felt uncomfortable and upset.

Chris on the other hand was pissed. He hated how uncomfortable the question made you feel and wanted to beat the shit out of the man who asked it. Instead, he looked at you with a sympathetic look and you responded by mouthing “it’s okay”, because you knew if you didn’t, Chris would kill this guy.

Once everyone had asked their questions, and many laughs had been shared, the group made their way back to the hotel. Chris and you were the first people out of the car and after sharing your goodbyes, he grabbed you by the hand and the two of you stormed up to your room. Before a word could be spoken between you and him he had you pinned against the door. His lips were on yours in seconds. The kiss was hot and sloppy, but you didn’t care at all. “Chris” you breathlessly moaned his name out. he responded with a hmm and continued to work his lips against yours.

He pulled away, his lips red, puffy, and stained with your lipstick. “We need to get this thing off if you” was the first words he said, spinning you around and unzipping the dress painfully slow. “Could you go any slower?” you questioned, usually you would be patient, but on this specific night you were extremely horny and needed him more than ever. “If you keep having that attitude i’ll go even slower” once the dress was off of you, Chris picked you up bridal style and dropped you on the bed. “You are the only woman who gets to know how I am in bed, fuck everyone else” he began kissing down your body. He pulled you up slightly, bringing his hands up the clasp of your bra and undoing it. His hands began to grasp and squeeze every part of you that was exposed.

“Chris please” you begged, your tone was needy but you didn’t care. “please what sweetheart?” He teased, “I need you” “what do you need? use your words” he continued to tease you through your underwear. “Fuck Chris just fuck me already” That was all he needed to hear. He quickly undid his belt and dropped him pants and his boxers, exposing his hard dick, already leaking with precum. He pulled down your panties taking in the sight of you. “you’re so beautiful, and all mine” he said as he stroked himself a few times. He parted your legs and began to tease your entrance with his tip. “Chris, I swear if you don’t-“ he leaned down and kissed your lips, hard and rough as he slid into you. both of you moaning into each others mouths. “that’s it, good girl” he grunted as he stared to slowly move in and out of you “Please, faster” you moaned making him fasten his movements. The noises coming from the two of you were all you could hear, and you were sure everyone else on the floor could hear it too. “oh my god Chris” “Oh fuck i’m close baby” He grunted in your ear “you’re taking my cock so well, taking all of me, fuck you’re so tight” That only made you squeeze around him, moaning his name as if it was the only word you knew. “Chris please don’t stop, i’m so close” you moaned “cum for me, come on baby” he said as he slid his hand between the two of you and began rubbing circles on your clit. “This. This is confidential. No one gets to know what I do to you” “oh yeah, that’s it sweet girl, cum for me i know you want to” was all he said and it sent you over the edge. You were a moaning screaming mess as you and him finished at the same time. His body rolling off of yours as you both steady your breathing

“That was , that was amazing” you breathed out turning over to look at him “only the best for you my love. I love you” He said pulling you into him “I love you more” was the last thing you said before the two of you drifted off to sleep.

#chris evans #marvel #chris evans smut

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hopeymchope · 8 months

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"Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" might've had a lot less kaiju action than the previous attempt to translate Godzilla into a TV series, but it more than made up for that in quality storytelling!

My sundry observations, gripes, praises and questions:

They really went out of their way to honor the Japanese roots of the source material, didn't they? We're in Japan for a ton of the show, dealing with Japanese and/or Japanese-descended characters for the majority of it, and have a surprising amount of Japanese dialogue throughout — it's nice.

I know Wyatt Russell is a Nepo Baby, but he's honestly still very good at what he does. I don't think the series has any bad acting... but the two Russells (because Kurt Russell is, ofc, amazing), Mari Yamamota (Keiko Miura) and Joe Tippett (Tim) are still the absolute highlights for most of the run, IMO. The Russells and Yamamota do the emotional heavy lifting with aplomb, whereas Tippett is so naturalistic and likable that it's hard not to find him engaging.

Cate starts off the series being such an asshole who doesn't show any empathy for people going through the EXACT SAME SHIT that she is, but I think the later reveal of her trauma on "G-Day" somewhat explains her attitude problem. She then manages to pivot to being much more likable JUUUUST in time for the episode where we get the flashbacks revealing she was a shitty person even BEFORE G-Day. LOL.

May ALSO swings between being likable and being a total ass, and while that sounds like a complaint, I actually sort of appreciate it. We're seeing the main female characters get the kind of nuance and depth to them that they aren't often afforde in mass-market media, and that's cool.

On the flip side, there's Kentaro. The fact that both Cate and May get to act both likable and dickishreally me expect the same thing for Kentaro. They're the trio of young people who make up the titular "Legacy," right? (Well, I guess that's mostly meant to refer to Cate/Kentaro.) So... I was shocked when Kentaro's chance to be a total prick never came around. He's pretty likable and understandable throughout! Even when he's being SUPER harsh on Hiroshi, I still understand it in light of what Hiroshi's done to their families. I feel like maybe Kentaro got something of a short shrift on this front. He gets adequate backstory, mind you, but he also never gets either A) as much focus time as May and Cate, nor B) a chance to come off like kind of a dick like May and Cate sometimes do? It's a little tempting to say that making him the more "pure" of the trio comes off as sexist, but... the way that he gradually is shoved into the background of the story's focus and doesn't even get to go on the big final adventure makes it pretty clear that this ISN'T because the producers favor Kentaro. More like the opposite....

In fact, take particular note of how nobody really gives him credit for how he was the ENTIRE REASON THEY SURVIVED Episode 4. They diss him and don't believe him, and when he's ultimately proven right in a way that saves all their asses? May gives the credit for her survival to Cate for some inexplicable reason. (Except for ONE later moment when neither Kentaro or Cate can know or hear her admit Kentaro saved them.) WTF. I found that frustrating.

That episode was the start of Cate and May becoming incredibly tight-knight with one another, and I'm still not clear on how/why that happened. Is it just because they both vascillate between being chlidish assholes and likable adults?? By the halfway point of the show, I was really getting strong shippy vibes off them. Which would be super cute and sweet if it wasn't also, y'know... kinda shitty. Because May used to be with her brother? Who clearly still had feelings for her when the series starts, just a few days prior? MMM.... not cool, May. To be fair, however, not always caring about their own hurtful/sketchy behavior is actually pretty in-character for them both, so maybe it works. And I suppose you gotta take that happiness where you can get it in this crazy, now-kaiju-laden world.

The character who shows up at the end of Episode 9 completely shocked me. They got me there. And in light of that twist — that character who disappears near the end of the finale? Perhaps this goes without saying, but there's no way we've seen the last of them. ZERO chance... unless the person portraying them doesn't renew their contract for season 2 or something. :P

This is, of course, a "Monsterverse" series. But the logic of how the Hollow Earth works in this show doesn't seem to REMOTELY align with how it was portrayed in Godzilla vs Kong, does it? Not even KIND OF. I wonder if Godzilla x Kong will get that disconnect to retroactively make sense.

At least one returning actor from the Monsterverse films shows up to provide a link... for one scene.

And speaking of the Monsterverse, that's hardly the only Continuity Sketchiness going on here! Serizawa only gets name-dropped ONCE in this series despite the fact that he's still presumably the HEAD DUDE IN CHARGE over there. They keep calling Verdugo the Deputy Director because Serizawa is the director, right?? Though Verdugo sure does make unilateral decisions about the whole-ass organizations multiple times in this show.

All of my prior point is especially goofy when the idea of HELPING Godzilla is treated as this shocking, bizarre concept ..... despite the fact that it's Serizawa's entire fucking philosophy since BEFORE this takes place???

Okay, let's shift back to positives: Takehiro Hira doesn't get as much screen time as many cast members, but his performances over the last two episodes are friggin' emotionally devastating. Fantastic.

The lack of more Toho monsters in the Monsterverse has been something of a downer for me personally, but they still do pull out some really cool original designs. That Frost Vark is pretty badass.

#godzilla #monsterverse #monarch #monarch: legacy of monsters #kaiju

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yeyinde · 2 years

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recently saw a barry sloane edit which got me having inspiration to do art again, and halfway through as I was sketching i had an idea:

imagine, reader sketching price. it's the little things to that she subtly catches her eye— him in the training grounds, him just getting a cup of tea, the mundane and the silent things she's gotten used to while being with him.

it's only one time that he catches her drawing— and he finds her sketchbook filled with him, little details and notes of hers to try and get his essence right.

thoughts?

I adore this so much, honestly!! 🤩

I see Price as a man who doesn't let himself have much - especially with the chaos of his life - so finding someone who appreciates him enough to stress and worry over getting something as mundane (to him) as the curve of his lower lash line right, or the angle of his beard, the shape of his lips, the veins in his hands all right and perfect because it means something to them would be quite overwhelming (in a very good way) to him. He'd probably get very emotional, and need a minute to himself to collect his thoughts, but he'd probably remember every note. Each detail.

He'd suddenly make things a lot easier for you to focus on. If you're having trouble with his profile, he'd turn his head whenever he caught you studying him. He'd pause longer between smoking his cigar if he noticed you scribbling away in your sketchpad.

If he was feeling bold, I'd imagine he'd buy you a new sketchbook, and jot down some of the answers to your burning questions on the first page. A cheeky little, if you wanted a model, all you had to do was ask, love, added at the bottom.

I can't tell you how utterly obsessed I am with this entire idea! 🥰 The idea of John sitting in a chair while you draw him, teasing you about how you always make him look like that crazy block from Hollyoaks, and just indulging you and being relaxed and open and soft is such a dream.

#iddkkkk man #this hit me so hard in the heart #ahhhhh #this is messy because i had to get my thoughts out quickly #captain john price

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lesbianrobin · 2 months

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okay 1) what is your favorite fic that you have written

2) how do you usually sleep? like face up, face down? do you move around? temp? etc

3) who is your favorite musical artist/band right now?

thank you for askinggggg 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

1) ok so i went to my ao3 to look at all my fics bc i didn't have an Immediate answer to this question and apparently i have written/posted 40 fics. which is bonkers. that's so many. ok ANYWAY this answer is maybe surprising but i think my favorite fic that i've written is nancy drew and the mystery of the magnetic closet!

i'm something of a nancy wheeler hater like i have a very tumultuous love-hate relationship with her and i think she is like kinda deranged and often lacks emotional intelligence. but those things made her So insanely fun to write about!! i made her like very obviously flawed from the start and it was great to just write my protagonist being messy and kinda terrible from her own perspective. it was also really fun to write my beloved steve and robin from the pov of somebody who doesn't quite Get them or what they're going through. i think it's probably one of the more complicated things i've written and so i'm proud of it <3 also nancy has a sicknasty nightmare in that fic that was an absolute Blast to write.

2) i'm a side sleeper but i wish so so badly that i could be a stomach sleeper. unfortunately my tits r too big and it's just never quite comfortable enough for me to fall asleep. in terms of temperature i used to sleep with the fan on but that was bad for my asthma so i had to stop 💔 but i like to be warm and toasty i always wear socks to bed bc otherwise my feet get too cold. i know i used to move around and kick a lot when i was little but i think i outgrew that bc i tend to wake up more or less in the same place i fell asleep.

3) i've been listening to the front bottoms like crazyyyy lately !! fun fact i took my dad to a front bottoms concert bc my sister bailed on me and at the concert my dad got totally smashed and left halfway through to go nap in my car and he slept the entire drive home + like half an hour in the driveway at home before i went out and dragged him inside. then in the morning he found out that his dad had died and he had to go out to oklahoma for the funeral and he missed my college graduation bc of it so i'm like Eternally grateful that my sister bailed and i had to bring my dad to a concert for a band he hates bc i absolutely treasure that stupid silly night we had together way more than my graduation day.

thank u again for asking!!! wonderful questions this was so fun!!!

anonymously ask me 3 things you want to know about me!

#asks

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screaming--incoherently · 2 months

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Traitorous - Chapter 2

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Swearing, Dylan being a bitch

| Prologue/Chapter 1 |

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Odessa was not having a good time. In the span of ten minutes, her whole world had turned upside down. And now she stood on an uneven concrete sidewalk, beside her former friend now enemy who apparently got amnesia and just so happened to wake up on her school bus, with all of her friends convinced they knew him.

Plus, it was really cold. Odessa hated winter with a burning passion and she dressed like it: black boot-cut jeans over fleece-lined tights, fluffy socks and steel-toed combat boots (just in case), and a long-sleeved black sweater with a dark grey oversized fleece-lined denim jacket on top.

Coach Hedge blew his obnoxiously loud whistle, herding everyone toward the museum. The four of them—Odessa, Piper, Jason, and Leo—hung back, trailing slightly behind the main group so they were out of earshot.

“So,” Leo started, in a helpful tone that meant he was going to be anything but helpful. “We go to the ‘Wilderness School’”—Leo made air quotes with his fingers— “Which means we’re ‘bad kids.’ Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, ‘boarding school’—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on ‘educational’ field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?”

Odessa rolled her eyes at Leo’s explanation. He made them sound like hardened criminals—which wasn't wrong, but certainly wasn't helping Jason, who was now staring wide-eyed at the other kids like he thought one of them was going to axe murder him.

“Our class is mostly just kids with theft or drug charges,” Odessa assured him, not wanting Jason to freak out and accidentally fry someone. “The most dangerous person here is Leo, but that's only because he likes to mess with the electrical outlets and start fires.”

Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes at Odessa's comment. “That was one time, and I barely caused any damage!”

Jason was shaking, clearly overwhelmed with the entire situation. Or maybe he was just shivering from the cold. Taking a better look at him, Odessa frowned, noticing the purple t-shirt that was clearly a Camp Jupiter shirt without the letters. Jason was dressed for California weather, not Nevada in December, who/whatever had brought him here clearly hadn't thought it through very well.

“Here,” Odessa shrugged off her fleece-lined jacket, a jacket—she suddenly remembered—that Jason had given her a year earlier during a quest up in Montana. Shoving down the sudden onslaught of conflicting emotions, Odessa held it out for Jason to take, hoping he didn't question why it fit him perfectly. She wasn’t Jason’s biggest fan at the moment, but it wouldn’t be helpful if he froze. “We don't want you to have frostbite and amnesia.”

“Thank you,” Jason said, gratefully taking the jacket and slipping it on. Some of the tension left his shoulders almost immediately, and when Jason smiled at her, Odessa fought the urge to scream, or cry, or maybe both.

A few moments went by, and Odessa didn't realize she'd just been standing there, holding eye contact with Jason, until Piper cleared her throat. “Yeah, no problem,” Odessa said quickly, a slightly awkward smile on her face. She looked away, mentally cursing herself for not being able to get it together.

Leo—as always—quickly filled the silence. “Anyway, the three of us”—he pointed at himself, Piper, and Jason—”started out here together this semester, and Odessa joined about halfway through November. We're all best friends, and you do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—”

“Leo!” Piper glared at him.

Leo raised his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, okay, ignore that last part. Except for the friends part, we are friends.” He paused for a moment, smirking at Piper, “well, Piper's a little more than your friend, and Odessa's secretly in love with m—”

Odessa elbowed Leo in the side just as Piper snapped, “Leo! Stop it.”

Piper looked incredibly flustered, and Jason also was suddenly very red. More than a friend?… It took Odessa a moment longer than it should have to realize the meaning behind that statement. She was silent for a moment, doing her best to keep her expression as neutral as possible.

Leo—who had doubled over after Odessa elbowed him—took a moment to catch his breath before straightening. He shot Odessa a playful glare before turning back to Piper and Jason with an impish grin on his face. “What?” He teased, “Jason should know that—”

“Leo!” Piper insisted, her eyes wide as she looked between him and Jason. “He's got amnesia of something,” she said, sounding genuinely worried. Piper turned to Odessa, obviously not trusting Leo to take the situation seriously. “We should tell somebody.”

Odessa grimaced, quickly shaking her head in response. Telling somebody was the last thing they should do, getting mortals involved into half-blood business was always a terrible idea. It was bad enough that Piper and Leo had gotten dragged into this, Odessa didn't need adults getting in her way too.

Thankfully, Leo seemed equally against the idea. “Who would we tell?” He countered, raising his eyebrows at Piper, “Coach Hedge? He'd try and fix Jason by whacking him upside the head with his bat.”

Odessa nodded in agreement. Hedge could see through the Mist, and that made him a gamble she wasn't willing to take right now. While Odessa had originally been all for the idea of handing Jason over to Hedge, now that she knew he'd lost his memories, clearly someone had sent him to where she was going to school for a reason. Odessa wasn’t going to involve anyone unless she knew for certain they weren’t a threat.

“But guys,” Piper continued to insist, “Jason needs help. He's got a concussion or—”

“Yo, 'Dessa.”

Odessa stilled, recognizing the voice instantly. Her patience was already stretched thin with the whole Jason-showing-up-with-amnesia-and-fucking-shit-up situation, Odessa didn't want to have to deal with Dylan too.

Dylan was like if Superman only had a third grade education. Muscular, handsome, the whitest smile known to man, but absolutely fucking stupid. He was dressed like he was going to a Stampede, and he spoke with a southern drawl that Odessa knew was fake as fuck.

Dylan wedged his way between Odessa and Jason, flashing her a smile clearly designed to drive women crazy. “Don't talk to these bottom feeders,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “you're my partner remember?”

“Like hell I am,” Odessa replied, attempting to push him away.

Dylan was surprisingly strong and didn't budge as she shoved him. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and Dylan laughed as if she'd cracked a joke. “Don't be difficult, darling,” he chided, beginning to half lead/half drag Odessa away from the group. “Come on, this is your lucky day!”

“Hey!” Jason stepped forward, grabbing Dylan's arm, “she said she doesn't want to go with you.”

Dylan scoffed, sizing up Jason with a laid-back grin. He didn't take his arm off of Odessa's shoulders, instead tightening his hold on her. “Careful now,” Dylan warned, leaning a little closer to Jason and whispering, “I’ll give her back afterwards, no need to start picking fights.”

Odessa rolled her eyes, trying and failing to pull away from Dylan one last time before giving up. Coach Hedge was already suspicious of Jason, she didn't want to push it by causing a scene. “It's fine Jason,” Odessa told him, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, “I'll catch up with you guys later.”

Dylan smirked triumphantly and Odessa was tempted to let Jason fight him just to wipe that stupid grin off his face. She let Dylan lead her towards the museum, tuning out whatever nonsense he was rambling on about.

Odessa didn’t pay much attention to the exhibits. She halfheartedly scanned a few infographics, the tour guide’s voice fading to incoherent background noise. Odessa was too busy worrying about Jason, about how he got his amnesia, about how he'd react to her presence when he got his memories back.

If he got his memories back.

Odessa stilled as that thought crossed her mind. If. Jason might not regain his memories. She didn't have to search for whatever monster caused his amnesia. If Jason didn't remember the war, didn't remember the arguments, the choices that had driven them apart, Odessa could have a second chance, without the pressure of being half-bloods weighing them down.

She glanced back at Jason, and the thought immediately disappeared from her mind. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he was looking at the world with wide, lost eyes. Instantly Odessa knew she was going to do whatever it took to get Jason's memories back. She might not be his biggest fan right now, but she wasn’t cruel enough to manipulate him into being her friend again.

“Thinking about something interesting?”

Odessa flinched, suddenly pulled out of her thoughts and back into reality. Dylan had gotten even closer to her, leaning in to whisper his question in her ear, his surprisingly cold breath tickling her neck. At some point while she was distracted they'd left the museum and entered onto the skywalk, a long horseshoe shaped walkway made entirely of glass.

“No,” Odessa lied smoothly, fighting back the urge to glance over at Jason. “I’m just tired, it's been a long day.”

The wind blew a little stronger now than it had before, her dark tresses fluttering like tendrils of shadows. Dylan chuckled, the sound as annoyingly perfect as his smile. “I'm sure it has been,” he agreed, leaning casually against the railing. “How does it feel to see Jason again after all that happened between you two?”

Odessa stilled. She started to reach for her knife before realizing she'd given her jacket to Jason. Shit. Dylan smirked at her, as if he could sense her realization that she was absolutely fucked. Over Dylan's shoulder, Odessa could see Jason and Leo, both of them looking up at the sky instead of down at the canyon. Glancing up, it became very obvious why. A circle of storm clouds, perfectly positioned over the walkway, while the rest of the sky was perfectly clear.

“You're a ventus,” Odessa muttered, cursing herself for not noticing the signs earlier. “What do you want with me? How do you know about Jason?”

Electricity crackled in Dylan's eyes, his grin widening. “I’m impressed, ‘Dessa,” Dylan praised, dropping his fake southern accent, “even your so-called protector hasn't caught on to what I am yet.” He nodded towards Coach Hedge, who was still glaring over at Jason every few seconds.

Odessa frowned. Protector? She wasn't entirely sure what Coach Hedge was, but he certainly wasn’t much of a protector. In her peripherals, she noticed Jason mutter something to Leo and Piper before walking towards Coach Hedge. They made brief eye contact as he walked past and Odessa forced a smile before turning back to Dylan.

“What do you know about Jason's amnesia?” She demanded, not bothering to keep her voice down. The wind had picked up enough that only Dylan was close enough to hear her, the storm clouds growing darker and darker the longer they spent on the skywalk.

Dylan shrugged, his blinding smile disappearing for a moment while he contemplated his answer. “Not much. My mistress is not responsible for it, I know that for sure.” He leaned back against the railing, scanning the clusters of teenagers spread out around the skywalk. “She is a fair lady, much less volatile than Saturn was. I'm sure you two would get along well.”

The wind around them calmed down slightly, the eye of the storm forming around Dylan. “I don't involve myself with that kind of business anymore,” she told him firmly, her eyes still watching Jason as he spoke to Hedge across the skywalk. “I've made that mistake once, I'm not doing it again.”

Dylan sighed disappointedly. “You’ve chosen your side out of fear, Odessa,” he warned her, his eyes crackling with electricity. “You are stronger than that.” Dylan pushed himself off of the railing, momentarily blinding her with that freakishly white smile. “My offer remains, if you change your mind later,” he promised, glancing up at the storm clouds gathering above. “I'd go back inside, if I were you. My mistress has business with the other half-bloods, and I don't want to hurt you if I don't have to.”

Odessa's attention snapped to Dylan, “what business? What other half-bloods?”

Dylan grinned, nodding in the direction of Leo and Piper. “Your friends. You didn't know they were demigods?” He chuckled, shaking his head, “well, I guess it is harder for you to sense it than it is for me.” He shrugged nonchalantly, giving Odessa one last award-winning smile. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill your friends.”

And before Odessa could react, Dylan snapped his fingers and the storm descended on the skywalk in full force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2 is up! I'm so glad that people are actually reading this fanfic, I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Next chapter will be posted next week! <3 Mack

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caguaydreams · 2 years

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JOTAHAN FANWORKS IS A03???

I DONT KNOW HOW TO USE THE WEBSITE SO LIKEE-

CAN U LINK SOME OF THEM

A fellow Jotahan enjoyer is DESPERATE for the crumbs. The time has come, I shall unveil my true nature in order to lend you a hand. We'll survive this together, Anon!

Ohhh boy, where to even begin. I know the bewildering absolute lack of fanart out there and my comment about crumbs might sound discouraging, and could make it seem like a worse situation than it actually is. But do not fret! AO3 got ur back! (I must apologise in advance for rambling, but honestly many of these fics are amazing and I owe their writers my life. Feel free to scroll down to the bit where I put the links to fics, lists, and authors that sometimes carry this ship on their backs).

I'm gonna list a bunch that I've recently been bookmarking in the website, as part of my months long personal crusade to read every single Jotahan work up there, and I'm kinda halfway through now I think, so I've got the stuff. Currently, there's a total of 393 Jotahan fics on the Archive, not all of them are the best quality, naturally, but that's okay, because the good fics are— and I'm gonna stress this out— The. Shit. Some Jotahan writers are wonderful masters of their craft, to the point you'll most likely eventually forget that, canonically, Rohan and Jotaro barely even exhange a few words in the first place! There is utterly delightful, suuuch delectable material here; fics that made the ship for me and elevated it from lol funny crackship to one of my top tier favorite romances/relationships of all time, in all of media, period.

You'd think, initially, that authors have to do some crazy acrobatics to settle on how they'd go about fulfilling the task of feeding dying starving suckers like me; how they'd go about making a relationship between these characters believable and feasible. But! surprisingly, there have come to be actual tropes in Jotahan narratives, stemming from how oddly natural their dynamic flows when you just give it some thought. My brain decided to conclude one day, that this is sorta like stepping into different possibilities of how Rohan and Jotaro would hit it up, because some fics can be quite similar in their approaches, but nonetheless distinctive and remarkable all the same. These characters can work SO well together, for better or worse, that there's no questioning it anymore for me. You'll understand, or maybe not (maybe you already do) but regardless I think you'll have fun checking these out!

So without further ado, and before I go on an errand of an essay about how this ship deserves more love and attention than it gets, I'm gonna drop the links. I know AO3 can look messy or be intimidating for people who are not familiar with the interface, but the first thing that will come in handy is knowing about pairing tags: your typical character/character tag that is often the first one you see following the title of a fic. If its got the characters of your preference, click on it, and you'll be sent to all the works in the Archive that feature that tag . You can start browsing for goodies from there! here's the tag to the huge assortment of fics starring the couple of mildly disfunctional adults that we want to see together.

And here is a lil bit of my latest (on-going) effort to build up a personal list of favorites and must-reads:

Underneath Perfection by Shorktooth ; I'm gonna be biased, because this one right here is my absolute. favorite. Nothing comes close. I'm even getting a little emotional by barely thinking about it. Actually, not entirely sure, but it was the fic that first sold me on this pairing when I wanted to give it a chance. Get-together fic, fairly long but definitely worth it. Not tedious, very fun, lots of variety, lots of incredibly sweet moments, it's a good deal all around. Of course there are little details here and there that keep it from being perfect, but they're minor and insignificant when viewing the whole picture. Much respect for how the author handles these characters, the progression of events, the story's pacing, and overall how organic everything feels; how natural. There are a bunch of scenes that have been embedded in my mind for months, and bits of dialogue I even reference and feel are strongly akin to what Jotaro or Rohan would actually say, even if this is fanwork. Okay, okay, I'll stop here because I'm saving my final thoughts for when I finish reading this story; Stone Ocean's animated adaptation must reach its end first. This fic follows Rohan and Jotaro across parts 4 to 6 of JJBA, so if anyone's avoiding spoilers they might have to be wary of those, skip this fic, or put it on hold like I did. Can't wait for part 6 to be over so I can get back to this work lmao. Its ending will probably crush me and be painful as hell but I don't care

How Soon Is Now? by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Listen, one cannot talk about Jotahan fanfiction without mentioning "How Soon Is Now?". Underneath Perfection is my personal favorite no questions asked, but this series??? this is a must-read. Mandatory almost. Fuck, I haven't even gotten past the first three or four works in this collection but I tell you it's amazing (forever saving the rest for when I have the time to sit down and immerse myself into it because it is that special). It's got 10 single chapter stories in total, varying in lenght. Crimsonherbarium is one of those authors that manage to rightfully appropiate these characters and what they're about; nothing feels out of place, and the writing is just *chef kiss* it is thoroughly polished and hooks me in instantly, every single time. This fanfic even has its own playlist! and the songs selection, both for it and the fic titles, I think is fitting as hell for Jotahan, what else can I say?? read this series. go go go!!! have a feast!!

oh i know (it goes on, it gets old) by theultimateburrito ; Oh man... this one is something else. Is its own thing, I believe. Single chapter, kind of a long read, but you'll be enthralled. Feels like a novel, and it's not ncesarily out there, romantically speaking. The words I'm looking for to describe it are subtlety, and patience. It's a very unique short story that features comfortable company, familiarity, introspection, Rohan being his insatiably curious self, and one intriguing mystery that sounds straight out of Araki's work. I won't spoil it, but there's a particular place that I didn't even know existed irl until I read this fic and that on itself is maddeningly funny to me.

Now, some improvised picks of mine, done in speedreading fashion, because I've read too many works by now and can't actually think of what to put in here (keeping this list relatively brief and simple was more difficult than I thought). A list consisting of short stories to pick up on the go, separated by the general feeling I get from them:

Short and sweet:

Art Kids by anarchaick ; mild parallels made between Rohan and Noriaki, as well as Jotakak mentions are quite common. How these affect the mood of the story or the nature of Rohan and Jotaro's relationship is up to the fic, but in this one that is simply heartwarming

old recipe, new need by bishounen_curious ; this one's a sickfic, and it encapsulates some aspects of their dynamic SO well. I love this ficlet. It's all in the details, and the Domesticity

Ecotone by kujo (curricle) ; please read this one. That's it just read it. It is plain, bitesized perfection

the loneliest whale by pinkdarkboy ; wholesome, cute, and works as a comfort story

Short and steamy (not necesarily explicit):

Falling In Love by Kinda sad this one's by an orphan account :') regardless, it is a great read

Short and angsty/bittersweet:

It Is What It Is by illmoure ; .... sigh. Conflicting feelings about this one, but because it is an incredible work expertly written to achieve that purpose. Also, last Jotahan fic (yet...?) by one of the BEST writers for this ship. I'll later just drop a link to them directly

Save the speeches, flowers are for funerals by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Hanahaki disease, I eat that shit up. It is the perfect combination of angst and romantic yearning, and as it is to be expected from this fic's writer here, this is another banger.

Short and funny:

useless questions by bishounen_curious ; weed shenanigans. It's pretty humorous, but that isn't mutually exclusive with tenderness, or physical intimacy. Therefore, I was torn between putting this one under the Short And Steamy category, but the first half is fairly hilarious on its own right so, yeah.

the death of kishibe rohan (1999, colorized) by oredatte ; Rohan being ridiculous, give it a read if you're looking for pure absurdity. Just satire here, and a bit of second-hand embarrasment

Short AU ficlets that are really nice:

A Sort of Homecoming by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Japanese folklore inspired, in which Rohan is a yokai inhabiting a long abandoned place that belongs to Jotaro's family. I JUST noticed the fic was temporarily removed, but I read it long ago and still remember how beautiful it was. Actually, anything written by Morioh-Cho-Radio is absolute gold. ... pssst, you can still find this story via the Wayback Machine, but you didn't hear it from me—

Beyond the Sea by illmoure ; Mermay fic :) Marine Biologist Kujo Jotaro has a fascinating encounter. This one's just straight up lovely and refreshing

tears of heliades by pinkdarkboy ; inspired by the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea from Greek mythology

I was planning on listing authors who deserve way more than a honorable mention, but the post was getting too long, and I simply find it hard to rush a selection like that. Maybe some other time? Although, definitely do check out some of the writers whose work has already been featured above!

Oof.... Being honest, there are many more titles I wish I could just gather in one place but I haven't had the time yet. This pairing has provided me with an endless amount of comfort, besides being mostly a what-if scenario, but it quickly turned just as important to me as the source material it came from. Fanfiction can feel just as valid and impactful as media published by conventional means, and I'll think about these stories from here on out, long after I found them. I'll think of these characters, and the silly little made up reality in my head where they're genuinely happy, finding comfort and a safe space with each other, growing and developing with time, and it'll make me smile like a total fool. I really don't mind that in the slightest 🎶

#jotahan #lmao why can't I be normal about anything ever #should put up an additional warning that makes it known what one faces against when they ask me anything remotely related to my interests #Welcome to rarepair hell my dudes #should also be technical about the matter at hand and say that Jotahan is more of a crackship than a rarepair #although honestly at this point I consider them canon.... Listen—#—there's nothing in there that contradicts this pairing so I'm choosing to die on this silly hill of my own concoction #sigh... there were a couple of truly amazing fics I couldn't find nor their creators so I'm assuming they're lost media now. Ah well #at least I got to enjoy them at some point <3 #shutupcaguay #I feel the need to make actual fanart for this ship but something is holding me back. That something being my own anxious self dammit #must figure out how to manage my time better #longpost #just in case

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tadpolesonalgae · 4 months

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CBMTHY gang, unite.

In all honesty, regarding your question about reader and mor forgiving each other i think it'd be complicated.

Reader is passive enough to let mor walk over her (for now), as seen by her just walking away rather than defend herself. Mor however? I think for her to completely forgive reader, part of her would also have to acknowledge that Eris isn't the monster that she believes he is.

For example, when i imagine Mor TRULY regretting what shes said to reader it couldn't be an argument or a disagreement of any kind. Mor is too stubborn for that imo, i think she would personally have to see how eris and reader speak with one another. And i have a feeling even then, with how shes been spoken about in acowar (amren mentioning theres truths even THE truth teller is avoiding as well as eris implying theres more to the story several times to several different characters) i don't know if she would be able to *ACCEPT* that about him. (the IC's blind rage when something bad happens to one of their own is sweet from their POVs? but theyre DEFINITELY biased so i cant trust any of their takes atp 😭)

Part of me admittedly wants to see eris get defensive over reader in an older sibling way against specifically mor. i think that would be a real stone to the head for ALL of them. To know that she found family in someone that they found so horrible, and to know in the back of their heads that eris was better to her than she was? and for that to torment them all for a long while.

Now, I've had a theory for a while that eris KNEW that if he laid a hand on mor at the border that she would be chained to him permanently and that not helping her 💫directly💫 wouldve been best. Think about beron, if eris had taken mor home and HE found out what mor did? i think beron would've killed them both for the disgrace. We already know eris isnt what he seems, so this seems plausible to me 👀Especially because eris said "how do you think lucien got to the border" to feyre when she implies in acowar that he helped kill jesminda. I think he may have done something similar here and sent an anonymous tip of sorts to the night court, that fuckery was happening on autumn's borders... where mor happened to have been left by her family.

As for CC and TOG 👀 cc starts really 💫dense💫 a lot of information all at once and it made it very difficult to begin, (similar to priory of the orange tree imo). But its easily SJMs best written series that is currently published, acotar and tog both were started very early in her career and it shows. While not perfect, CC shows that that sadistic woman has improved 😭 (she pulled off the ending to CC2, which at the time of reading i can say i debated whether buying CC3 would even be worth it)

and id LOVE to chat about TOG however, last time i did i accidentally info dumped to my ex for six hours (he was a great sport 😭) so uhhh brace urself 😂

-🤠

Warnings: big spoilers for the Crescent City series, some pretty heavy CC slander on my part so please look away if you don’t want to read!!!, also spoilers for the Throne of Glass series 🧡💛

Small note: I feel I should also mention that I haven’t finished CC3—I got about halfway through and had to put the book down so if some massive stuff happens at the end, I have no idea about it 🫣🫢

I think I agree with you about Mor being kind of stubborn in her forgiveness but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad trait of hers? I think for the most part Mor’s able to stand her ground perfectly fine and reader did kind of mess up to be fair? So yeah, if reader were to just amble up to Mor, even if it was done in private, entirely sincerely and reader explained her side of things with perfect clarity (explained her side as in, reader saying she didn’t do it to hurt or betray Mor, but reader would leave out all the personal/emotional stuff because it’s reader 🤨) Mor just wouldn’t be able to do it? I think it would have to be a candid/genuine moment? Especially if because of Mor’s past she feels reader is being kind of manipulative (even if she might not mean to be) it would take Mor witnessing reader either interacting with Eris on her own or seeing reader do something genuine that isn’t just apologising and trying to sweep it under the rug for her to understand fully/see reader’s side?

‘(amren mentioning theres truths even THE truth teller is avoiding as well as eris implying theres more to the story several times to several different characters)’

While I’m kind of interested to see what Miss Maas will do with this plot line, I’m 100% not even going to attempt to touch on it in cbmthy because I think my head would explode trying weave that into the stuff I’m already trying to remember to do 😭

‘Part of me admittedly wants to see eris get defensive over reader in an older sibling way against specifically mor.’

I would so love to write a scene like this too, and I’ve thought about putting it in, but I feel it would ultimately undermine reader further and make her more doubtful? And also just wrongly portraying the IC? To make them only forgive/understand reader when Eris/a male character steps in? That’s one of the reasons I want reader to handle it herself because while it would be super satisfying in theory to get a scene of Eris ripping into them, it would be too unrealistic for me :/

‘But its easily SJMs best written series that is currently published, acotar and tog both were started very early in her career and it shows.’

Okay this is absolutely WILD to me since Crescent City is easily the series of hers that I despise most? In fairness I do struggle a lot when fantasy is set in a modern word because in my opinion it defeats the point of fantasy—I read it to escape from the real world so making it contemporary immediately puts me off.

When you say ‘it shows’ I’d genuinely love to hear what parts in particular you mean since for me there’s no competition between ToG and acotar, and CC? Particularly the slightly eldritch-y feeling we get in Throne of Glass when Aelin’s first discovering the Wyrd marks, the portals, the strange creature hunting in the dark, gothic halls of the palace? I love that stuff so much, having the sense of something so vastly larger than yourself?

‘While not perfect, CC shows that that sadistic woman has improved 😭 (she pulled off the ending to CC2, which at the time of reading i can say i debated whether buying CC3 would even be worth it)’

The ending for CC2 I agree was mind blowing (for me at least) and I spent ages in a absolute awe over the connections, however it wasn’t enough to compensate for the intense boredom and disinterest I experienced through the rest of the first two books? I feel I should also mention that I genuinely can’t stand Bryce, and struggle a lot with Hunt, so I’m sure not clicking with the two main characters impacts my perception of the story a lot.

For me, while I can see how making Danika such a mystery could be really cool for the plot, it got way too repetitive? Everything being related back to Danika after Bryce was so insistent they shared everything with one another got old so quickly? I can see how miss Maas might have been trying to make it sad, with Bryce caring so much for Danika then finding out how little she really knew about her would eat at Bryce, but it did not work for me and felt cheap and repetitive.

(Also Bryce having the fourth item of the dread trove? Nesta said it looked like a skull, I think in the vision she got from Lanthys, so turning it into a trumpet felt like Miss Maas hadn’t planned it properly? A trumpet and a skull look nothing alike?)

What I most dislike about Bryce is how inelegant and uncompromising she is, which might very well be the reason other people like her (I suppose it could be interpreted as strong-willed or being brave/courageous? Having a strong fighting spirit?)

She comes off as narcissistic and narrow minded to me, particularly when being put in the acotar world how she immediately assumed the worst of the fae and her prejudices come out? I can understand with how humans are treated in the CC world why she would have those views, but they were hardly mentioned in the CC books? If we’d had a section dedicated to actually showing the imbalance between vanir and non-vanir, the violence that’s probably inflicted and maybe Bryce personally experiencing that inequality it would feel so much more justified, but none of that was shown so to me it just came off as hateful and baseless? That and also since I easily adore acotar and intensely dislike CC it was difficult to see Bryce treat the acotar characters as such untrustworthy people? I understand that from Bryce’s pov she doesn’t know the IC, but I kind of feel like Miss Maas should have taken that into account?

Then also I kind of have a problem with how Bryce is described physically? It feels like she was made plus-size to try and be more inclusive but she feels so over-sexualised, both through how much sex Bryce and Hunt have (that’s a whole other point though) and how the words ‘luscious curves’ were used for a couple of female characters? I felt Miss Maas included plus-size characters but then made them all fit into conventionally attractive shapes that would appeal to a male-gaze? Feyre and Aelin are both described as beautiful in my memory, as well as being given traits of strong-will and having overcome numerous difficulties, whereas for Bryce so many of her character’s descriptions are about how sexy she is or how good her body looks? It feels disingenuous and like she isn’t a real character and it’s such a missed opportunity (in my opinion)? I would have loved a Bryce who was a little more human (ironically) and experienced the thoughts and doubts that I think are pretty common in women regardless of their size or shape, so to dismiss that side of things entirely, particularly in a book series that’s set in a modern world? It frustrates me a lot :/

(That and also the moment in CC3 where Hunt is in the Asteri’s dungeons, being tortured, not knowing where his mate is or what state she’s in and all he wants is to have sex with her? I think the line is something like ‘and all he wanted was to slide into her sweet heat’ like are you kidding Hunt? Your mate could be in awful danger and that’s what you’re thinking about? You’re in awful danger and that’s what you’re thinking about? It felt so shallow and lust-fuelled?)

‘and id LOVE to chat about TOG however, last time i did i accidentally info dumped to my ex for six hours (he was a great sport 😭) so uhhh brace urself 😂’

Genuinely if you’re up for it I would love to hear your reply because I haven’t come across someone who’s been so enthusiastic about Crescent City and I would genuinely adore the chance to hear why you love it so much? We read the same books so I’d love to find out why we had such different reactions to it? And with Throne of Glass too, give me all of your thoughts!! Please!! I love getting to have discussions like this (as long as you don’t mind me possibly arguing against you with CC things? I don’t know if I was too harsh or unfair in my expression of what I think about CC/Bryce but I am sorry if it sounded mean) 🧡💛

#🤠 anon <3 #🤠#cbmthy #please no one be mad for this #I might have been a bit harsh so read with caution?#🧡💛

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organchordsandlightning · 8 months

Text

20 questions for fic writers!

tagged by @bluejayblueskies!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 175, all told! Looks like twelve anonymous.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

3,404,353!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I have ongoing longfics in: Phoenix Wright M*A*S*H* Malevolent House, MD

But I've also recently written for Pentiment + Pathologic. Big previous fandoms include TMA and Disco Elysium. I also really want to start writing Sherlock Holmes again, tbh.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Moving Forward, Circuit by Circuit (DBH) (💀)

Some Air (Nimona)

The Catacomb Killer (Disco Elysium)

Tenth of a Second (Disco Elysium)

To Spare Little Revenges (Our Flag Means Death)

(it's so so so funny that none of them are Malev + TMA)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do! Around once a week I'll go through and try to get them. Sometimes I can't think of what to say, sometimes it's a quick 'thank you!'.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I can think of two: Catacomb Killer explicitly ends with war breaking out after the case is solved. I debated on this for a long time, but in the end, one of the main decisions the protags make in the end is to give a sensitive piece of intel to what would be the rebels, knowing that it might encourage them to act quickly. And, you know! Consequences.

road trip of the damned (an ode to good cows) doesn't end angstily necessarily, but the entire fic basically ends with 'and Jon gets home and goes to his grandmother's funeral and grieves'. The fic didn't revolve around grief until about halfway thrugh outlining it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Lighthouse might take the cake - many characters are back from the dead and living in an extended family situation. The Prodigal (or, a Planet Called Petunia) is one of my biggest 'from rock bottom to right on top' stories (because god bless, even Arthur Lester only gets the gift of having more horrors once he scrapes himself off the pavement).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Every once in a while! Usually not anything intentionally malicious, though. Mostly people not reading the room.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Typically not exclusively smut! A sex scene every once in a blue moon, though, if the characters vibe. I think subconsciously I include a similar amount of sex that is in the source material.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not regularly, but a few! I've cross-overed Mistholme with TMA once, and Monstrous Agonies with TMA + Malevolent.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

aw man let's hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! Incredibly kind, it always makes me want to learn the translated language.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I think Spirk is the one that will always stick with me, but Johnlock and Jonmartin have had such an impact on me.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I've got two Holmes longfics all outlined out that really excite me, but... oh, man. For some reason sitting down to write them hasn't happened. I also have a Malevolent longfic based on the original stories of the King in Yellow book - which I do want to finish, but it will be horrifically long.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm decent with 'oh, so this is what the story's about' moments - like, oh, this story is about discovering meaning or falling in love or learning forgiveness or w/e. I like big, flashy finales. I've also been told my pacing is very good, and generally speaking, I think I'm halfway decent with humor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I think in my drive to push the plot along, I strip away a lot of the fluffier character-buildy moments - and emotional throughlines for characters can be a bear. I've also noticed a recent thing where I'm, like. Omitting a very important part of the scene and just writing a reaction to it. Which is wild and fun to edit with.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Sometimes! Usually when there's no direct translation (or the 'direct translation' is way too stiff).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

BBC Sherlock, 100% positive.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh, I don't know if I could pick a favorite! Catacomb Killer was so fun to play with the dialogue, and doing the research for formaldehyde and i'm afraid to come home in the dark was cool. I think I might actually pick Interim? (I Hardly Know Him) just because my usual longfics are angsty-ish, but writing Wooden Overcoats fanfic was like writing a sitcom. Was fun!

tagging @magnetarmadda, @romanticslimecreature, and @shadow0haven if y'all want to do it!

#eyyy thanks for the tag

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justmeinatree · 5 months

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i love talking about my writing so i do not mind all the questions 😂 i've been part of too many fandoms to name here but some of the ones i was the most involved in include Supernatural (still love the show, just don't engage with the fandom much anymore), the MCU (stopped watching the movies after Endgame, went to see Eternals because Harry was in the post credits scene and then fell asleep halfway through and missed him), Star Wars (was more into this when i was younger, these days the only Star Wars media i really care for is Rogue One and nobody else seemed to like that movie lol), Star Trek (mostly TOS), Doctor Who (same thing as Supernatural, still love it just not in the fandom anymore, and the 12th Doctor is my favorite <3), Community (still love the show, probably going to be getting back into the fandom when the movie drops), Les Miserables (i've read the book, seen the Hugh Jackman movie too many times to count, and saw a performance of it a few years back! still love the musical but the fandom feels like it's mostly dead now), Harry Potter (for obvious reasons, I have distanced myself from this one as much as possible but I was a Ravenclaw if anyone was wondering), the Throne of Glass books by Sarah J Maas (actually planning to reread this over the summer! may get back into the fandom, we'll see) and I've been active in the fandom for just about every mainstream horror franchise (and plenty of the more obscure ones too lol). I could probably spend hours creating a comprehensive list of fandoms but i think this is enough for now, unless you're just dying to know more 😂 i started writing in first grade, so around 6 years old. i've known i want to be a writer almost my entire life. i think the first bit of fanfic i ever wrote was for Harry Potter actually, but i don't remember anything about it. and i don't actually know what got me into reading fanfic...i just kind of always remember it being my go-to form of entertainment when i was bored. i am SO sorry for putting a whole novel in your askbox...apparently we're both in very chatty moods today lol

dialogue is the hardest thing for me to write because i always have to rewrite the conversation ten times before i feel like it sounds the way two people would actually speak. i'm much better at giving overly flowery descriptions of the space, and of character's appearances, emotions, etc. i tend to try and limit dialogue as much as i can when possible. my other writing crutch is semi-colons...i simply cannot go a paragraph without including one.

now the pressure is on to keep the fic good for the two of you 😂 i think this is the first time i've been told that two of my readers were talking about my fic beyond the comments section.

i think she's 3 years old? but i always forget. i'll have to ask my mom next time i call her, she's the one that keeps track 😂

-🤘

wow, i cannot comment on any of the fandoms 🫣 don’t rip me apart or anything but i’ve literally never watched a single movie or episode related to any of them 😅 to be fair though, i rewatch the same like 10 tv shows on repeat and i’m not much one for movies 😬 but still that’s so impressive ! HOW did you find so many things that you enjoyed enough to join a fandom ? honestly love all of that for you, and apparently i need to broaden my horizons 😅

that’s crazy how it’s so opposite for us ! conversation is so easy for me to imagine. i wouldn’t even know how to avoid it 😅 semi colons !! never use those bad boys but i’m told i use too many commas. love me a good comma 😂

SHE’S SO CUTE !! i’ve seen the photos you sent and omggg she’s seriously adorable. i don’t know what i was picturing but honestly she’s surpassed the image ! such a fkn cutie 😍😍

#asks #🤘anon

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dracotheocracy · 2 years

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CONGRATULATIONS DIPSHIT! YOU HAVE WON ONE FREE PASS TO TALK ABOUT A BLORBO FOR BEING MY FRIEND!

oh yeah let me just pause that ska cover of no children. engage's release reawakened (<- intentional wording) an old demon you are in for a treat

once upon a time in 2018 or 2017 idk time is fake i played a game called fire emblem awakening and my brain chemistry was altered forever. i got particularly attached to the avatar protagonist (read: character you're supposed to project onto despite being a more or less fully realized character) who's some person named robin. yes, i have had category 7 adhd moments about two characters named robin and you can make the argument that it happened back to back. sue me etc

fun fact i did the math, i've watched every single support conversation with robin in it multiple times. there's 43 characters in awakening according to my notes and because robin is an avatar they get a support chain (4 conversations but we're calling it 3 because i never watched most of the S supports) with every character in the game. across two genders and assuming that i included spotpass characters which i in all likelihood actually didn't, that's 252 conversations that each take 1 or 2 minutes to get through, or about 4 hours of content for one session of watching every single robin support.

point is i know a lot about the character and am so normal. so so normal i promise

now i can tell when i've taken a couple facets of a canon character and sprinted off into the sunset with them. absolutely, without question, i did that here. so robin's story potential in a setting where awakening could be better written contributes a normal amount to why i like the character so much. i'm just gonna talk about why

in short, the deal with robin fire emblem is that they woke up in a field with no memories and as it turns out that's probably for the best because they're the child of the high priest of the religion centered around reviving the BBEG, and also they carry the blood of the BBEG in them and can get possessed by it. and the BBEG wants to bring about the apocalypse also important note. in the original awakening timeline robin befriends chrom (mortal enemy by blood) and later betrays and murders him before being possessed by grima BBEG and bringing about the end of the world. it's also worth noting that chrom and robin have chemistry they're not just a popular ship because they're both major characters i really love chrobin and i do also fluctuate between reading robin as aro/ace and bi because like, look. maybe i'm projecting a little but disregarding the S supports because they have to write the C-B-A supports as almost entirely nonromantic due to how awakening's matchmaking mechanics function they really do strike me as married to the grind in a way that's pretty aro of them tbh

there's a part of my brain that sincerely believes they would not have gone the amnesia route if robin wasn't meant to be an avatar protagonist (they're a deuteragonist until act 3 but who's keeping track really (me. i am)), and if they had not gone the amnesia route awakening would have been a lot cooler, because the mortal enemies by blood thing would've been on the table way before halfway through act 2. it's a very good source of emotional conflict for both robin and chrom though i imagine chrom wouldn't really discover this information until the middle part of act 2 or potentially act 3. there's a lot of different ways to write robin in this scenario that are SO COOL AND INTERESTING also like on the one hand robin could be completely on board with the infiltrate the shepherds and kill chrom before ascending to satanhood bit but gradually become genuine friends with a lot of the shepherds and realize "oh what if... what if this is all really fucked up actually and i don't want to bring about the end of the world" there is so much potential in that, alternatively robin starts already wanting out of everything the grimleal stand for and has to grapple with knowing their time with the shepherds is not built to last, or at least thinking that, because you know they're the child of the high priest of a cult that is extremely influential in their home country, they would've grown up entrenched in certain rhetoric about the state of the world and their place in it. if robin's character arc was about cult indoctrination and escaping that it would FUCKING BANG! IT WOULD GO HARD AS HELL! and you don't have to ditch the wider story theme about defying destiny and how people are made strong by their relationships even a little bit to pursue that because adding that element in would synergize perfectly with the broader theme already

either way if robin wasn't an amnesiac it would create some fantastic points of tension in the story if handled properly because a) ylisse (good guy country) and plegia (grimleal bad guy country) have a very poor relationship politically for a good though severely underexplained reason, which either gives the shepherds a reason to be very wary of robin at first or gives robin a reason to be very wary of the shepherds at first depending on how you're playing out the prologue. as an aside frederick should have recognized robin's outift as that of a grimleal worshipper it's a stupidly minor detail that i will die mad about. b) idk i feel like the stuff that happens with robin in act 3 where they for real get possessed and forced to betray the shepherds a few times would hit more like a freight train if there was more context, mostly because i think it would affect robin a lot more knowing the amount of effort they had to put into to getting this far and distancing themself so much from grima only to succumb to something outside their control just by getting within like 20 feet of their dad or something idk c) if you go the covert enemies to found family route i don't think robin can be normal about that and it sets up for a potentially really fun confrontation about robin's motives that would have to happen in the late game after the character has progressed in the optimal direction for it

also they fit the bill for a [mars] character very well like i would play a character with that sort of personality and that sort of backstory in a TTRPG campaign and that's the condensed way to describe my blorbo formula. i've said this before but i like playing characters that are just some guy personality-wise, both robins fit the bill for that but m!robin a little more cause yeah i don't play a lot of women in TTRPGs and the [mars] character formula for women is a little bit different. not by a lot mind you but eh. generally though yeah sure they're a very shrewd tactician and pretty good at reading people from what i remember, their accomplishments and backstory in-game might make them seem larger than life but you know in reality they're a generally pleasant person albeit a bit sarcastic and prone to social blunders that are mostly benign. like as a character both robins are more grounded than a decent portion of the cast and my gimmick as a player and as an enjoyer of characters in silly media is going for the most grounded characters. you know like you could very believably meet someone like that in real life. anyway i'm a fan of characters that are hypercompetent in a specific field and at least a little dorky outside of that. robin is a hypercompetent dork so it's perfect

#trashfire media containment breach #but maaarrrsss!#that-house #started answering this ask at around 11:15pm. finished writing it at 1:15am. this took me 2 hours.#this post is almost triple discord's character limit btw i love how long you can make tumblr posts

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stillness-in-green · 2 years

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I'm still of the belief that Tsu would have made for a better 'rival/counterpart' to Spinner than Shoji, but I'm glad he's gonna get some of that lovely screentime.

A belated enough answer that I have to wonder if you still feel the same, @shockersalvage. XD Tsuyu, though… Man, I wonder what happened with her. Like, she ranked on the first few character polls, and it’s not like she’s fallen into complete obscurity since, but it feels like after Kamino, she’s just had nothing to do. Appearances during school activities, of course, the requisite showing vs. Edgy Deku, but as far as the overarching plot goes, the best she’s been able to do is piggyback on Uraraka’s ongoing plot with Toga, and even there, she’s always showing up halfway through, never around from the start

I wonder if, rather than foiling Spinner in some fashion, she’d be better served to actually be an equal player in the Uraraka/Toga drama. Specifically, one of the problems Uraraka and Toga have is that Toga is just so bad at communicating her feelings in a way Uraraka can grasp, so even though Toga made a real good faith effort to open her heart for Uraraka, Uraraka just got indignant and angry about what sounded to her like claims of unrepentant violence.

Tsuyu, by contrast, is far more level-headed(1) and has, via her middle school friend Habuko, considerable prior experience with someone who acted creepy and predatory and was really bad at communicating, but who ultimately just wanted to be friends. Tsuyu’s emotional intuition was totally on the mark, helped along, I don’t doubt, by an impressive ability to remain calm, rational and observant under pressure. I wonder how Toga’s plot would be looking right now if she’d gone to Tsuyu to ask her question about what these young heroes wanted to do with her?

As to Tsuyu’s actual place in the story, she feels like Hori had a strong idea for her first major plot (being the Lawful voice in the room after the training camp), but, unfortunately for her, that Lawful voice means she’s just very ill-suited to carrying much plot in a genre that deals as much in Trusting Your Gut And Fighting For What’s Right as Shonen Jump battle comics. And anyway, there’s not much point in having a voice that advocates strongly for Following The Rules when your main character will ultimately prove so disinclined to challenge authority.

But, those are just my thoughts on Tsuyu and her current rather reduced presence. I admit I draw a bit of a blank on foiling her with Spinner because I don’t think she and Shouji are hugely different, personality-wise, so I don’t know how much difference it would make, save utilizing a character who’s been more prominent in the story up to this point. She has a less traumatic backstory, for sure, but it’s not like we knew about the extent of Shouji’s horrific childhood back when this ask was originally sent (and sorry again for the delay in answering)!

That said, I’m curious, shockersalvage, what you would do with her to foil her with Spinner! Tell me about your BNHA AU where they’re written as proper foils from the start!

---

1: I got an anon ask about this back in March and it's still true: the two most level-headed people in the class are both heteromorphs, and it's entirely possible that that's no coincidence. If anything, it's been made more explicit than ever with Shouji's recent explanation that he wears the mask because he already knows what kinds of conclusions people will jump to if they see his scars.

#bnha #shockersalvage #asui tsuyu #heteromorph discrimination plot #stillness answers

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riversofmars · 2 years

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Chapter 19: Flashback

Escapism is a wonderful thing. Whether it‘s through stories or simply a break from the day-to-day. Having time away from the things that weigh you down is freeing, restorative and just what‘s needed every now and then. That‘s exactly what our excursion to Africa felt like to me. I had been getting so bogged down in the oppressive reality of being stranded in 2020, haunted by past demons rearing their heads and caught between my feelings for Helen and the obligation I felt to Tania. Being away changed all that and gave Helen and I the opportunity to work things out. Finally, I was seeing things clearly, freed of an emotional burden that I had been buckling under and I got the sense that Helen felt better for it too. The honeymoon phase, as you might call it, would not last for very long. We were due to make our return to London and with it, to reality.

“Wakey-wakey, rise and shine!”

We woke to River’s sing-song voice. I groaned. Sleeping sitting up in a car was far from comfortable. My neck ached and my left arm had fallen asleep and yet, I couldn’t help a small smile when I realised why. Helen stirred on my shoulder, her head nudging against mine as she sat up slowly and released the tight hold that she’d had on my arm. It was hard to tell whether her cheeks were rosy from sleep or if she’d blushed, still somewhat insecure about being in my personal space, but either way, she was a lovely sight to wake up to.

“Sleep okay?” I questioned softly and shook out my tingling limb, hoping she wouldn’t take offense at the gesture.

“Yeah, I suppose…” She answered and sounded quite drowsy still. Her blonde hair was tussled, the bun halfway undone in her sleep, and she yawned. I don’t think I can quite describe all the emotions I felt: the deep adoration the endearing image evoked in me, the surprising contentment and comfort of waking up next to her, and the longing to lean over and kiss her good morning. I settled for allowing her to come around in her own time as she blinked against the lights that were illuminating the inside of the car. Outside, it remained pitch black. Perhaps we hadn’t slept for quite as long as I thought. I looked around as well and it seemed the Doctor and River had swapped places as the Professor was in the passenger seat now, looking around with a knowing smile but silent.

“Where are we?” I asked to avoid any comment that she might have been saving until we were fully awake.

“Little air base we came across. We‘ve been driving for a while but should have a few hours of cover of night left. The Doctor is just having a look if there are any usable planes, if so, we might be able to make the hop across to the British Isles tonight,” she answered pleasantly. “Maybe you should see what she’s come up with? I imagine she’s expecting you to fly it.”

“Yeah, I guess I’d better,” I nodded and cast a quick glance around to Helen. She gave me a soft smile and nod of agreement. It wasn’t that I needed her permission of course, but I knew it meant leaving her with River. That wasn’t a problem as such, their friendship was certainly closer than between River and me, but I expected Helen might become subject to probing questions from the professor, which I wasn’t sure she would appreciate just yet. The fact that Helen didn’t seem to care was reassuring. Perhaps she wasn’t quite as insecure in her feelings as I feared. “See you in a minute,” I reached for her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze before getting out of the car.

The night-time air was pleasantly cool as it hit my face and blew away the remnants of sleep. I felt surprisingly well-rested. My dreams had turned more mellow, recalling events that weren’t entirely unpleasant and I knew Helen’s immediate proximity had a lot to do with it. I smiled to myself, allowing for a brief moment of joy, as I looked around to see where the Doctor had gotten off to.

Airbase was a generous term for what I found. With only the light of the moon to guide me, I found my way in between two large hangers alongside a short airstrip. Touchdown and refueling, that was all I could imagine had taken place here, but I spotted one of the hangars having been opened - with a sonic screwdriver I imagined - and a figure was moving in the shadows, skirting a small plane.

“That’ll be cosy,“ I commented as I stepped into the hangar. The Doctor looked up, her face illuminated by the shine of her sonic screwdriver, and she grinned:

“And much better suited to flying under the radar as it were,“ she observed and gave the hatch a buzz. Results were instantaneous as the plane‘s security features were no match for her implement of choice: the hatch creaked open and lowered to the ground. Without hesitation, she climbed inside and I followed. It wasn‘t a bad find. The small military plane was made for five people, a pilot and four additional seats behind, two to either side. It would serve us nicely.

“Fuel?” I prompted the Doctor who dropped into the pilot seat and set about checking the state of the vessel. I leaned onto the back of the pilot seat, looking on, familiarising myself with the controls already. They weren‘t much different from the passenger plane we had used on the way here, which made things easy.

“Full tank by the looks of it,“ the Doctor answered, evidently pleased. “Luck is certainly-”

“On our side, yes, makes sense,“ I completed her sentence as it was an observation we had made far too many times by now. It did get me thinking about the potency of the quantum crystalliser and its limitations. A small part of me wondered if its presence had influenced the way in which Helen and I had been able to make sense of our feelings; if under different circumstances, we would have continued the painful back and forth that I feared would have broken me in the end.

“Doesn’t mean we can get complacent,“ the Doctor interrupted my musings. “There is a lot that can go wrong at every turn. It’s not a guarantee,“ she warned sternly and jumped to her feet.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I hummed, casting a glance at my bandaged forearms that rested on the headrest of the pilot‘s seat. I straightened up as well. “But yeah, this seems perfect, I can definitely fly it.”

“Wonderful,“ the Doctor grinned and offered up the seat to me. “I’ll get the others, you start her up.“ She skipped past me towards the hatch.

“Sure thing,” I agreed and dropped into the pilot seat, testing the yoke in my hands.

“Liv?” The Doctor spoke and I turned in my seat to look around, curious as to why she was delaying.

“Yeah?” I responded and found her looking at me with a smile that reminded me an awful lot of the Doctor we usually travelled with. There was a softness about her expression, a sense of boundless optimism and joy.

“I’m happy for you,“ she said simply and not unlike a proud parent. While perhaps slightly bewildering, it wasn‘t unpleasant as she seemed so utterly sincere. “Truly. It’s been a long time coming.” She gave me a smile and since I am me, I couldn‘t simply accept her warm words gracefully. I gave a snotty response that made me feel less self-conscious:

“You know, if it was that obvious you could have said something, saved us the time and-” I argued but the Doctor just chuckled and interrupted:

“Would you have listened?”

“Well-” It was a fair point. I didn‘t like taking the Doctor‘s advice at the best of times - certainly not without a lot of complaining. If they had offered their advice on matters of the heart, matters where I wouldn‘t have taken kindly to them interfering, it would have resulted in nothing but a lot of sniping and sarcasm. The Doctor had a point.

“Nobody can convince you of the things you’re not ready to hear,” she elaborated knowingly. “Helen needed this time. And maybe you did too.”

“Maybe…” I conceded, and the Doctor ducked out of the hatch, leaving me to the controls and my thoughts.

---

“This is snug,“ River commented and while I didn‘t turn to see what was going on in the passenger seats behind me, I could imagine her taking full advantage of sitting so close to her wife.

“It is rather,“ Helen agreed, sounding amused.

“You won’t hear me complaining about being stuck in a tight space with three gorgeous women,” the professor carried on her teasing and the familiar wave of jealousy I felt way back when River and Helen had been keeping secrets behind my back resurfaced.

“River!” I shot her a stern glance of warning over my shoulder. I couldn‘t leave the controls, or rather, I wouldn‘t. Not after what happened last time. Even as I allowed the autopilot to steer, I scanned the dark sky with keen eyes. So far there were no Daleks in sight and we had been flying for a few hours.

“I’m just saying, the fun we could have,“ River replied innocently and flashed me a bright, playful smile.

“As nice as it is to see you again, that’s not an image I need in my head,“ I retorted as dryly as I could manage,though I was glad for the interruption of the tense atmosphere. The Doctor had taken to fiddling with the crystalliser, Helen seemed somewhat lost in her thoughts, and River was clearly bored.

“I, on the other hand-” she hummed mischievously.

“River!” I snapped again, taking great offence at the notion that over over-active imagination might involve my girlfriend. The term was unfamiliar still. It thrilled and unnerved me in equal measures. It just didn‘t sit quite right with me, strangely. Tania had been my girlfriend... but for Helen, the term seemed so... weak. It didn‘t do justice to describe how I felt for her. I cast her a quick glance and caught her looking at me. Where before, one - or both - of us would have turned away, pretended to be doing something else, I smiled at her and she mirrored me. I was pleased that she didn‘t seem bothered by River‘s constant innuendo, she simply leaned back in her chair shaking her head at our friend, bemused.

“Looks like we’re entering British air space,“ the Doctor interjected to change the topic of conversation.

“No fun…” River huffed in response.

As we approached London, I felt the weight of reality slowly setting in and my thoughts turned to the concerns Helen had uttered. Being off on an adventure with the future Doctor had been a strange break in the day to day, we had hit pause on where we had been, and the closer we got to London, the more real things became. The honeymoon, wonderful as it had been, had been short-lived. I considered asking the Doctor to take over for a minute, just so I could be close to Helen for the little time we had left before our return. Perhaps I could steal a few more kisses in the twilight of the back of the plane…

Every now and then I thought I could feel Helen’s eyes on me and wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

“Is that London?” The Doctor asked when the lights of a big city came into view on the horizon. She had taken to pacing the small plane, pushing past River and Helen‘s knees to their constant annoyance. She came to stand behind me, peering out of the windscreen with the sky slowly greying as dawn was breaking.

“Of course it is, can you think of any other big sprawling cities that we might be heading towards in this part of the-” I quipped, as usual jumping at the chance to poke fun, but the Doctor didn‘t let me finish. She grabbed my shoulders in a bid to silence me.

“Liv, Liv!” She shushed me and drew my attention back to the city we were approaching, gesturing towards the lights. Time Lords had superior eyesight so it took me a moment to realise what she was referring to but then, I saw it too. What I had presumed were the bright lights of London, were in fact skyscrapers that stood in flames.

“Oh my God…” I breathed and the horror must have been more than obvious in my voice.

“What is it, Liv?“ Helen sounded immediately concerned and I heard belts being unbuckled as I didn‘t answer, stunned into silence. I clawed my hands into the yoke, knuckles turning white, as I fought the memories of Nixyce VII back. This was not the time or place, I had to keep a level head. I knew what it meant to see a city burn and dread took me over like a gust of cold wind that made me shudder and cease up. Moments later, River was behind me too, whispering curses under her breath as she took in the destruction we were approaching. Helen was there as well, to my right hand-side and she audibly gasped at the sight of her hometown. I released my tight hold on the steering, with one hand at least, and quickly reached for hers. I couldn’t bring myself to form words but I squeezed her hand and knew she understood.

“What happened?“ Helen broke the silence at last, her voice trembling, and I held on to her tightly.

“Something must have prompted this,“ River observed darkly and my thougths jumped to our friends that were somewhere down there. The Doctor, Kate, Osgood, Tania, Martha, Yaz, Ryan, Graham...

“I’m taking us straight down!“ I announced, unwilling to waste time on indecision. Our friends needed our help. They might be injured or worse... I eased the yoke down. “I’ll find a place to land, a park or-” The plane was small. I knew I could practically land it anywhere and in the ruins below, it would hardly make a difference if I caused some havoc of my own. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My brain simply refused to compute it.

“Is that wise? What if the Daleks-” River sought to protest but the Doctor was quick to agree:

“No, no, she’s right, we can’t waste any time.” Her voice was uncharacteristically calm, utterly devoid of the bubbliness and joy I had come to associate with her. It only drove home the seriousness of the situation. “People need our help. Our friends will need our help.” She confirmed what we all already feared.

“It‘ll be alright,“ I told Helen, averting my eyes from our approach for a moment, just long enough to pull her hand to my lips and press a kiss on top of it. I didn‘t know how else to give her comfort, not when I was struggling with my own demons.

“How? How could it possibly be alright?“ She whispered in response and I didn‘t have an answer.

“Buckle up, Helen,“ River took the initiative and ushered Helen back to her seat. I released her hand unwillingly but knew it was far safer.

“Hold on tight,” I told them as we approached central London and I aimed for Hyde Park.

---

The one saving grace was that there were no Daleks as yet. I didn't know why and where they had retreated at the time but I wasn't about to question it as we touched down in Hyde Park. It was a rough landing but I managed to avoid knocking into trees and there were far greater concerns than our comfort.

"Everybody okay?" I questioned when we had come to a halt and the engines fell silent. I looked around to find my friends already on their feet.

"Stay behind me," River advised sternly, readying her blaster. I could hardly argue with that. We were about to walk into a war zone with the rest of us unarmed.

"First aid kit, not much but it's something," the Doctor threw a small parcel towards me as I got out of the pilot seat. She must have found it under one of the seats. She followed River who was opening the hatch, and I met Helen in the middle of the plane, waiting right behind our friends.

"This is not how it was meant to go..." She said softly and I knew what she meant. The timeline had just taken an unexpected turn for the worse, one that had never been mentioned in the notes River had provided us with. From here on in, everything was new, the only advantage we had left was River herself and given the concerned expression on the professor's face, that was not a guarantee.

“Good God…” Helen mumbled as we climbed out of the small plane. There was a lot of smoke and the air was cold despite the fires that were flickering and dancing in sharp winter winds.

“Where is everyone?” River questioned, looking around. The park was empty of humans and Daleks alike. A few trees had been singed, a couple continued to smoulder, and I realised they weren't fresh flames. They were dying down.

“Guess the attack happened a while back…” the Doctor observed the same thing as we ventured further away from our plane. Even as we arrived on the main road beside the park, there was not a living soul in sight. There were, however, bodies. Helen clasped her hand to her mouth and I carried out the grim task of checking for vital signs, knowing full well I wouldn't find any. Anyone who had been able to had fled and barricaded themselves away, and while I couldn't see any Daleks anywhere, I knew we would do well to do the same.

“We need to find the others, get out of the open. If the Daleks are around, they would have seen us landing and will come to investigate," the Doctor instructed.

"Let's get a move on!" River urged us along, towards the underground station at Hyde Park Corner and I realised why: there were Daleks at the far end of the street, shooting towards us. They must have indeed witnessed our landing.

---

It was a mad dash to the underground. River was down the stairs first and her arms flung out to slow our advance!

"Careful!" She yelled, nearly tripping over the rubble that obscured the steps. Destruction had rained from above: half of the entrance to the underground station had collapsed.

"Keep going, it's our best option. We just need to get into the tunnels," the Doctor was bringing up the rear, urging us to keep going as bolts of energy shot over our heads with the Daleks growing closer.

"Euston isn't far. Four or five stops," Helen confirmed and River sought a way forward, keeping a close eye on the stability of the ceiling as we pushed on. We clambered over bits of wall and metal railing that had come loose.

"If the tunnel hasn't collapsed," I observed grimly, dreading what we would find as we advanced further. We were hard-pressed for other options but the thought that we might be heading for a dead-end occurred. "What happened here?"

"Something really, really bad. We won't find out until we find the others," the Doctor put the matter off. The 'what had happened' was obvious enough, the 'why' was the more pressing question.

Luck was, as ever of late, on our side. The underpass at the bottom of the stairs was mostly unharmed, seemingly made of sturdy stuff. The Doctor guided our way with her sonic screwdriver, the only light source underground. Inside the station, schedule boards and overhead lights had crashed to the ground, a wall to the left had collapsed, but for the time being, the ceilling appeared to be holding and the escalators were unobscured. The one thing that was an awful lot to deal with was that there were more bodies: not many but enough. People that had sought to flee into the underground much like us and appeared to have been shot down in front of the ticket barriers that had hindered their flight.

"HALT. DO NOT MOVE OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED," the Daleks screeched, moving along the underpass behind us, blue blasts of energy shooting down the tunnel, illuminating our surroundings in garish hues. Their metal voices echoed through the chamber and startled us out of our petrified horror.

"Keep going!" River shouted over the sound of energy weapons fire and readied her blaster once more.

"River, what are you doing?" Helen exclaimed, mortified as the professor retraced our steps.

"If I can make the underpass collapse-" She answered, aiming her weapon up.

"What makes you think it'll just be the underpass?!" I shouted, realising her intentions. "We might get buried alive!"

"Not with luck on our side!" She gave a daredevil grin and beside us, the Doctor blasted the ticket barriers with her screwdriver.

"Keep going you two!" She told us sternly as River took a first shot at a Dalek that had made it within range. She didn't seem to want to risk collapsing the roof until we had made it further into the station. The Doctor tossed me her sonic, our only source of light, then reached into her coat and retrieved the Quantum Crystalliser. “Take it with you, just in case.” She pressed it into my hand and I didn’t want to take it. It was as if she was allowing for the possibility of them not making it but I knew I couldn’t argue.

"Come on, Helen." I pushed the Crystalliser into my pocket, then grabbed Helen’s hand. We didn't have a moment to lose on indecision. Neither River nor the Doctor could be reasoned with once they had made up their minds so it wasn't wise to try and delay. We had to trust them and I did. Keeping Helen safe became my priority, as it always had been if we're being perfectly honest. As the Doctor joined River, I pulled Helen with me.

"Liv-" She tried to protest but I didn't relent. The escalators weren't far. I clasped the sonic as firmly as Helen's hand, lighting our way as best as I could. The escalators at Hype Park Corner were incredibly steep and we hurried down as fast as we dared.

We were halfway down when the explosion rocked the underground station, the sound of collapsing stone echoed down the tunnels and I lost my balance, my footing and the sonic screwdriver.

And the world was plunged into complete darkness.

---

The lights went off expectantly as I was elbow deep in the engine array. Bright illumination to pitch black. It did what it surely had been intended to do: disorient, unsettle and hinder any progress we had made in the test so far. You would have thought I was used to it by then, after weeks of various tests measuring out aptitudes and problem solving skills, but some obstacles were impossible to prepare for. I wouldn't have expected my reaction to be as strong as it was but those things were far beyond my control.

"Shit!" I gasped as I touched my wrench to a live wire. Not enough to seriously harm me, but enough to give me a painful jolt.

"Liv?" Dal’s voice sounded across the intercom. It was a joint test, all four of us had different tasks and I realised I was falling short and letting my team down by stalling.

"Yes, I'm here, I'm nearly done," I shot back, trying to get back on track with the repairs to the power connections.

"Just keep going, you can do this blind if you need to," he encouraged calmly as a good captain ought to, but sadly I wasn't quite the model crewman. My journey - still unknown to my teammates - had left many marks and bruises, some of which I hadn't really been aware of until that moment.

"I am doing it blind!" I snapped, airing my frustration with myself. As I felt my way forward to the next step, my hands were shaking.

The darkness was all encompassing and I felt an unfamiliar sense of panic slowly creeping up my back. Cold sweat gathered on my forehead and the muscles of my chest cramped up, squeezing my lungs, unwilling to do the work they were designed for. It wasn't the task itself that was to blame. Dal was right, I could do this blind! I'm a good technician and I had the designs and schematics of the Orpheus down flat, we all did. We needed to. All sorts of circumstances could befall us on the way to the end of the universe, we all had to be capable of seeing to our ship. Emergencies like a sudden loss of power, drifting through space, unable to carry on with our journey. Perhaps the engines had exploded and-

"You can do this, Liv."

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the rising panic as a flash of memory forced itself upon me. Memories of working my way through computer systems and data highways, memories of an explosion and the power failing, memories of floating in suffocating darkness, awaiting death.

"Nearly there."

I tried to concentrate, mapping out steps in my mind's eye and letting my fingers do the rest. My heart was going at a frantic pace. As I recoupled the connectors, I counted along to the beats, hoping it would help slow my pulse but it didn't. I was just short of going into arrhythmia, I could sense it. Maybe this was it: full metabolic collapse. I knew it would happen eventually and could at any time. The beginnings of a panic attack might be just the thing to kick it off. I waited for the thundering in my ears to fall silent, for things to end, if they had to, paranoid about every skip of my heart, every sharp pain, every-

I continued working as if on autopilot, hoping it would distract me from my looming demise but it didn’t. While I wasn't dead yet, I might as well keep going.

The last set of link-ups connected and with it, the lights turned back on. It was almost as disorienting as the plunge into darkness had been. Applause sounded at another task completed and slowly, the panic that had been squeezing my chest dispersed and allowed me to breathe more freely again.

I stepped away from the engine array and dropped the wrench unceremoniously into a nearby tool box. My head was spinning and I considered the irony if after everything, I simply collapsed now. My heart began to slow but not because it gave out, I was able to relax.

"Are you alright, Med-tech Chenka?" One of the staffers inquired as they set up the room for the next practice run.

"Yes. Quite. Just need a moment..." I tried to sound reassuring, as I pressed my hand to my aching chest.

"Do you have a problem with tight spaces?" The staffer frowned, trying to make sense of my state of being. "Or with pressure? You have to be absolutely reliable. Do you have an issue with the dark?"

"No and surely, it doesn't matter," I interrupted, trying my best to sound calm and collected when in reality, my mind was still aboard the isotope carrier, fighting back the darkness. "We completed the task, right?"

"So you did," he couldn't argue with that. We were interrupted by the door to the practice suit sliding open and revealing Dal Broke.

"Well done, Liv," he praised with a kind smile and I barely managed one in return. My body was still shaking from the unpleasant experience. He seemed to notice as much as he turned to the staffer to carry on: "We've been at this for hours, how about a break?"

"We are due to break up for lunch, yes," the young man confirmed. "Testing will resume in an hour." The ISI were running a tight schedule and gruelling as it was at times, it was also nice to be back in a routine. So we nodded in confirmation and the captain led me out of the room.

"Are you alright, Liv?" He asked, as we made our way down the corridor, at the end of which Vi and Bron were waiting for us.

"Yeah just... wasn't prepared for the lights to go out..." I hummed, not exactly eager to share any more than that, particularly when we were about to rejoin our colleagues. I had managed to build something of a relationship of mutual respect and appreciation with Dal over the past few weeks. The same wasn't quite true for the other two.

"I can sense there is a story there," Dal observed and I shook my head, almost instantaneously.

"Nothing worth telling..." I assured him and it was obvious that he didn't believe me.

"Hm..." He gave me a quick sideways glance. "Does it have something to do with why you're here?" He pushed on. "You haven't spoken much about that."

"And I'd rather not," I countered as Vi and Bron joined us.

"I think it would help if you did. Not only to build our relationships but also to-" the captain carried on and I interrupted him, pre-empting the curious glances from the other two.

"I'm sure ISI have a psych on staff that will help me work through my trauma in due course."

"You do keep your cards close to your chest, don't you? I'll figure you out eventually," Dal gave a good-natured laugh as we made for the dining hall.

"Excuse me everyone?" It was one of the lead scientists that approached our table once we had settled for lunch.

"Not a moment's peace and quiet..." I mumbled into my salad and Dal gave me a bemused smile. The scientist however remained unfazed:

"I am pleased to announce that all test results thus far have been exemplary. Your abilities compliment each other and you have developed into a well-working unit. We will be moving forward with all of you once all the formalities are out of the way. Our focus will shift from assessment to preparation."

"Excellent," Dal beamed and Vi and Bron seemed pleased as well. As for me? It wasn't entirely surprising, after all the time they had invested in us already and given the fact that we had become an excellent team. Either way, it was a relief. I was about to join in with the raising of glasses in celebration when the scientist focused on me.

"Records indicate that you still haven't completed your physical, med-tech Chenka?" It was an accusation hidden in a question and it pushed my body back towards panic. I did my best not to let on.

"Oh uhh yeah... just haven't had the time," I tried to put him off. I had yet to find a way around the whole thing. If I had a proper physical, my condition would immediately be revealed and that would be the end of the whole experience.

"It's just a formality, a last but necessary thing to be ticked off the list. You'll be excused from the afternoon activities to take it. We want to move forward as quickly as possible so if for whatever reason your health is compromised, we would need time to find a replacement."

"Right, yes of course," I tried my best to remain calm. I had to find a solution and quickly.

"This afternoon please!" He prompted, making clear that there would be no more delays.

---

Helen's arms were around me in an instant and we braced against the handrail of the escalator. It was pitch-black, we wouldn't have seen death hurtling towards us if the tunnels collapsed in their entirety but at the time, I took solace in knowing if that was to be, I would die in Helen's arms. We waited for the tremors to subside or death to find us - whichever happened first - as we cowered together, hands digging into shoulders and arms, holding onto each other as much as we were holding our breaths.

"Are you okay?" Helen whispered at last and I nodded, doing my best not to let the darkness unnerve me.

"Yes, I think so, but the sonic... must have tumbled down the steps..." I reported mournfully though the far more important thing was that we were alive.

"We may yet find it," I could tell Helen was trying to sound optimistic but her voice came out flat, echoing through the darkness.

"Just hold on to my hand," I told her, attempting to muster optimism of my own and pushed away the thought that River and the Doctor might well have been buried in the collapse. "How did we lose the sonic when we have that blood lucky charm..." I huffed and Helen gave a chuckle:

"If in any other iteration of this, we would have fallen to our deaths, I suppose that is the least unfortunate outcome..." I could feel her reluctance as we slowly made our way down the stairs, feeling our way forward in the dark. "River and the Doctor-" She said at last, explaining her holding back.

"-will be fine, they will catch up, we have to keep going," I tried to sound as sure as I possibly could and ignore the nagging doubts.

"Liv... I really don't like the dark..." Helen squeezed my hand as if to make sure I was really there.

"Neither do I," I conceded. "Always been a bit of a weakness..."

It was a long way down still.

#Doctor Who #fanfiction #eighth doctor #thirteenth doctor #river song #liv chenka #helen sinclair #liv x helen #liv/helen #stranded #doom coaltion #action/adventure #dw fanfiction #femslash #big finish #extended universe

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