#i have an inkling of what show i was watching based of the style I had at the time

[miraclesnail]

kronus AU, title still pending

chapter 16, 17, 18, 19

First chapter, previous chapter, next chapter

@oopsies-i-did-a-thing

16

To add/rewrite later

Travis zones out

Shadow travel

Build a portal

make the clovers/fix the door?

Will try to heal the wound

Percy and travis look at the window and buildings

Travis tells percy to shut up. 

Setting sun

House rules. 

End call. 

After making sure Bianca is okay, the other-him continues with a hesitant “Get some sleep, guys. We’ll figure out the game plan then. Call me once it’s daylight. Or call me if any problems occur. Call me if you want to talk actually. Second thought, maybe I should just stay on the line and—” 

“We’ll be fine. You’re going to grow gray hair with all this fretting, Travis,” Bianca jokes with a trembling voice. 

Bianca ends the call and immediately plops down and curls into an impossibly tiny ball. She’s trying to stifle it, but Travis can tell she’s crying. He doesn’t know Bianca all that well. Well, he doesn’t know her at all. Today is their first meeting, but it’s not in Travis to leave someone in distress. Should he… comfort her? How does he comfort her? The same way Nico likes to be comforted? How does Nico like to be comforted? Or should he just wing it and go from there? Maybe he should call Will. Will’s bound to know what to do in this situation. 

Silena stops him with a gentle hand on his wrist, shaking her head just slightly. She tucks a thin blanket around Bianca’s shaking body and then passes him his own thin blanket. 

Sleep.

They want him to take a nap when he just got delivered the worst bombshell of his life. 

No way can they be serious.

But Silena lays down beside Bianca and pats beside her and well… he can’t say no, can he? So he bunkers down and stares at the ceiling and listens to the torrenting rain that once had not stopped. 

A minute passes in complete, utter silence before he breaks it. 

“So about the zombies—”

“Our Travis will tell you in the morning,” Silena says without facing him. 

Alright. 

He waits some more and then asks, “So about Annabeth and Lou Ellen—”

“In the morning,” is all Silena says.

“Okay, but how about Michael—”

“Morning,” Silena stresses, rolling over to curl up against Bianca, her back to him now, message loud and clear. 

So Travis goes back to staring at the ceiling, definitely not pouting and fuming. 

This sucks. 

xxxxxx

As soon as Bianca hangs up, the questions start. From Clarisse and Nico and Piper and Leo and Will and Perseus and Connor, about Bianca, about Silena, about him, about their world, about the differences, about the zombies, about this person, about that camper, about Chiron, about the gods, about the camp, about this, about that, about about about and it’s too much. Their voices overlap. Their words bounce and crash off each other. Some go in one ear and out the other. Some stay and linger and he remembers dying screams and pleads of mercy that no amount of blinking pushes away. 

He sighs, rubs the heel of his hand into his eyes, and debates running to the forest and hiding until he’s needed. 

He wonders if that would be a bad look. 

[it would be bad. Especially since you establish some kind of understanding]

Understanding? What understanding?

[That you mean no harm]

Then take over. Answer for me. You basically know it all. 

[But what if they ask about what happened before the titan? And I'm wary of Annabeth to be honest. I rather not be near her.]

Well, I want to hide so what is it going to be?

“Hey,” Annabeth’s voice, strong and clear, cuts through the chaos.

He peeks an eye to find the room dead silent now for some reason. They’re all still here, all looking at him, but none of them talk. Annabeth’s kneeling on one knee in front of him, her eyes searching his own with a careful intensity he doesn’t like.

“Are you okay?” is all she asks with an earnest face.

What a ridiculous question. He would laugh if he had the energy. He would laugh if he had the spirit. 

“There’s not something else you'd rather ask about?”

He winces when Annabeth’s eyebrows crease with concealed concern. 

“Of course, I have other questions. But I can’t interrogate you if you’re feeling unwell. So are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” he lies.

“Liar,” Annabeth says without pause, eyes cutting straight through him. “Nectar? Ambrosia?”

He grimaces as a stab of white hot pain punches through his temples. But nothing more. He goes to rub his neck but at Annabeth’s scowl, at Will’s frown, at Connor’s worry, he stops and instead digs his nails into his wrist hidden from everyone’s eyes.

“No thanks. I’m good,” he mumbles, looking down at the floor. 

“Right. Sure, you are,” Annabeth says without an ounce of belief in her voice. She stands and pats her knees free of dust. She rests her hands on her hips, staring down at him for a moment with inquisitive eyes. Eyes searching his that makes him uncomfortable.

After a few moments, Annabeth says, “You said the Titan lost his powers? Just that? He’s not scattered into a million particles in the dust like he is here?”

A… million particles? How does that even happen? Sounds like a fever dream. Sounds like a good dream. What he would do to have that… Annabeth reads his face and clicks her tongue, arms crossing over her chest. Her eyes grow a slight bit colder and he can’t help but freeze [fight back] under her gaze, can’t help but be reminded of his Annabeth and her determination for the kill. 

“So he’s still whole in your world. Are you still working for the Titan then? Are you here to start another Titan War?”

He shakes his head. 

“No.”

Annabeth stays silent, waiting for more. 

He should say more. 

Everybody stares at him. Someone coughs. Someone else taps their foot.

He needs to say more.

But his mind is blanking on what to say, on where to start, on what actually needs to be said. It all happened years ago. None of it is relevant anymore. So he was Kronos’s spy. So he lost his brother. So Bianca and Silena are alive. So Annabeth is dead. So his world is a mess. Knowing that history won’t help them even a little bit get their Travis back. 

So what’s the point of telling them anything? 

“Travis. Hey. Are you still with us?” Annabeth says, a hand reaching for him. A hug? A head pat? A light punch on the shoulder? It doesn’t matter. He thinks of sharpened needles and reacts, flinching and halting her by grabbing the wrist. Annabeth immediately withdraws her hand. 

And he blurts, “I'm sorry.” 

It's the wrong thing to say. He watches Annabwth’s face grow furious and he squashes the urge to run and hide. Not her not her it's not her so don’t attack don’t attack don’t attack. 

Annabeth inhales and her face goes emotionless, turning her back on him.

“What are you sorry for?” Annabeth asks. Sorry? What is he sorry for? For Existing. Fucking up. Not being enough. Not doing enough. Never succeeding. Never amounting to anything. Not— 

“Nevermind,” Annabeth says, scowling at nothing, “Forget I said anything.” 

He could feel her disappointment like a crushing weight and it makes him sicker than he already is. 

[I don’t think that’s disappointment.] Then what is it? [Anger. She’s angry but not at you.]

“Everybody out. I need to talk to him alone.”

The awkward silence comes again. Nobody moves. Perseus opens his mouth but shakes his head like he thought better. Clarisse growls, “Are you stu—” but shuts up too. Nobody dares disobey or challenge her. They just file out through the hacked open wall made by Perseus earlier. 

When the last demigod leaves through the door, Annabeth turns to him, crouches on one knee so they’re eye-level again, almost hesitantly, asking quietly, “You’re not really… all Travis, are you?” 

Oh. [She figured that out fast.] Of course she did. It’s Annabeth. How could he expect anything else? [though I guess it wasn’t really subtle to begin with] 

“You’re hosting the titan,” she says, not as a question but as a fact. “And there’s another person in there with you.”

Is it that obvious?

“It’s pretty obvious,” Annabeth announces, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve known you since I was seven.”

He grimaces and immediately wipes it from his face. [you are easy to read] 

“Travis, I know you’re overwhelmed right now and want nothing more than to sleep. I have dozens of questions but I'm willing to hold back until tomorrow if you just answer me this. You said you won’t start another titan war. But the titan inside you, is he going to try? If he’s not a million particles then what is his condition?”

“The Titan.” he winces at the spike of pain. “The Titan is weakened, not as bad as when Zeus chopped him up the first time but not as healed when he first started talking with Luke. He’s linked to me and all he sees is what I see. Sometimes, if I'm tired, he can control my body but we have ways around it. It’s not a problem as long as nobody interferes.”

Annabeth's gray eyes harden and he cows a bit under her glare. Even her turning away doesn’t make him feel better. 

“What’s his goal then? If it’s not to bring the Olympians down, then what does he want?”

[tell her the truth] 

He thinks desperately of a lie that will work.

“Don’t,” Annabeth says without hesitation. “Your eyes are wandering like they do when you’re being dishonest. Tell me the truth, Travis. Stop trying to spare my feelings. What does Kronos want?”

He bites his tongue and considers continuing trying to think up something. [Tell her the truth. You’re the one that ended him. Own up to it. Don’t ruin the fragile peace with secrets] But Annabeth and him are unrelenting and he hates how similar both of them are. He gives in, pathetically, like he always does, shoulders drooping as he leans his head back on the wall. 

“Revenge, not against the Gods, but me for burning Luke alive while he was still hosting the titan.”

17 ANNABETH

“Are you fucking stupid?” 

Is what Annabeth hears first thing when she steps into the conference room where all the counselors are present. She had Chris and Miranda switch with her to keep an eye over their dimensional guest. 

“Hey,” Percy defends, shooting Clarisse a warning glare. “I’m sure Annabeth has her reasons for trusting Travis.” 

But Clarisse slams her fist on the conference room table and repeats herself again, louder, angrier, fear disguised as rage. “Are you really that fucking stupid?” 

“He had several opportunities to kill us,” Nico says, “Especially that time he froze all of us on the spot. He could have taken a couple of us out before he passed from exhaustion. He had me in a chokehold too. If he wanted, a snap of his leg and I would have died. Plus, he tried to save our Travis from being kebabed by the other-Annabeth.” 

“I second Nico,” Will says, “I think Travis is harmless.” 

“But he was a spy,” Butch inputs. “He worked against the camp. Who knows who he killed or what he did in that world.” 

“Maybe he had a change of heart like Silena did here,” Percy starts but Clarisse’s death glare stops him. 

“Silena is different. She died a hero. I don’t see that traitor dead.” 

“There’s ways to prove you changed sides without dying, Clarisse,” Percy argues.

“Are we forgetting he tried to kill Percy and attacked two immortals when he first got here,” Leo says.

“How are Mr. D and Chiron doing by the way?” 

“Travis,” Annabeth finally says after watching the counselors argue back and forth for minutes. All eyes turn to her, the room quiets. There’s a tumult in the room, Connor is watching her with hope in his eyes, and she watches it disintegrate when she says. 

“Travis is hosting Kronos.” 

Everybody spoke all at once. Chairs scoot back. Someone drew a sword. The room grows hotter and smoke fills the air.

“Then we should kill him then.” “Are you sure?” “Maybe he’s lying to us?” “No way. I don’t believe it.” “Why did you leave him alone then?! Someone go watch him so he doesn’t escape!”

It’s expected. Her feelings flew through the five stages as she tried to process her thoughts when Travis confessed.

“Travis was the one to deal the final blow to Kronos,” Annabeth says and the chaos comes to a screeching halt. 

Percy stares at her, pale. “Not Luke?”

Annabeth nods. “Not Luke.” 

“What were you and I doing then?” 

Annabeth narrows her eyes. “You’re alive but I’m dead in that world. I don’t look younger than 16 and assuming zombies don’t age, maybe Luke did end up killing me that day.” At Percy’s horrified face, Annabeth rectifies. “Or maybe I died earlier in the war. It’s hard to say unless we asked.”

“Let’s go back to Kronos first,” Katie cuts in, “So Travis dealt the final blow. But Kronos isn’t a million pieces? He’s Kronos’s host now? And without bearing the Achilles’ Curse? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either,” Annabeth admits, “We would have to ask Travis once he wakes up.” 

“How do you know he’s harmless, Annabeth?” Clarisse asks, voice strain. Her fist shakes minutely and there’s a desperate glint in her eyes, like she wants to believe too. “How do you know he won’t start a war again? How can you just trust him like that?”

It’s something she asked herself when she left him in the room. There’s a benevolent titan in her childhood friend who already showed signs of violence. He’s not completely in control either. Travis even said it himself. So why did the more she looked at Travis, the more her worry disappeared? Why was it her worry turned into anger the more she looked? Why did she feel a burning rage and the violent urge to eviscerate whoever hurt him?  

Even with the unknown powers. Even with a titan and someone else inside him. It’s still Travis. He’s still that same protective, goofy, sweet, impulsive liar she met all those years ago. Even in pieces and fragments, Annabeth can see him underneath the confident and competent facade he has up. 

“Because it’s Travis,” Annabeth states confidently. “And I know Travis wouldn’t hurt us.”

18 

Alright. 

Yes. 

Yeah. 

Definitely. 

Of course. 

After two solid hours of listening to the rain drops and staring at the barely visible, very moldy and leaky ceiling, Travis can safely say with 100% certainty that he absolutely cannot sleep in these conditions. Shocker, he knows. Totally unbelievable. It’s not like he was delivered one of the worst news one can ever get. Him? A traitor. Connor? Dead. Hotel? Trivago. 

Travis pushes up upright, glancing down at his two companions illuminated with the occasional lightning outside. Bianca is curled into a tight ball, face buried in to her knees. Silena is on her back, a frown on her face as she tosses and turns. 

But both are asleep. Both unable to stop him from taking a quick walk. Just a walk. All he needs is a walk to clear his thoughts. 

So Travis stands and tiptoes out of the room, shutting the door behind him. It’s pitch black in the contained building. Not cool, but not a problem. Travis takes out Silena’s cellphone he snatched before leaving. There’s still Bianca’s phone so it’s okay if he takes Silena’s, right? If Other-Him wants to contact them, he still can through Bianca. Besides, he’s going for a quick walk. There’s going to be exactly zero troubles!

Now to activate the flashlight… all phones have some kind of flashlight right? Travis turns the device in his hand over and over but can’t figure it out so he taps on the screen to turn the screen on and flips it around so the dim light illuminates the way. 

Just a quick walk. Should be fine, he reasons. 

Just to clear his mind. Then he can finally sleep. 

Without looking back, Travis breaks out into a run into the abyss. 

xxxx

Rest. 

Annabeth left him almost alone to rest and recuperate.

Rest… 

Like he has the time and the right to do that. He already took an hour nap. That’s plenty of rest. 

[I think you really should though. You still feel exhausted. Your body feels like it’s running on fumes. And—] 

“I have to use the restroom,” he announces to his two bodyguards fidgeting awkwardly beside him. He glances at Chris, waiting to see if this version of his half-brother can pick up on lies. Guess not, because Chris isn’t calling him out at all. 

“Oh. Sure,” Miranda says, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She glances at his alive-again half-brother. “Chris will have to be in there with you if that’s okay.”

“Yeah. That’s fine.” 

He stands from his spot against the wall and immediately his head spins. [see?] He grasps the wall for support. [Rest. Please. If not for you, then for me.] 

Just let me steal a couple Ambrosia squares for Bianca and Silena. There’s a stash underneath the sink for easy access. Then I’ll sleep. [Promise?] Promise. 

So he pulls himself to his feet and walks outside with Miranda and Chris meandering behind him. He passes by the conference room. He can hear Annabeth’s voice and others. Yelling. Arguing. Complaining. And he really doesn’t like the thought of it being about him. 

He reaches for the door of the restroom, but it opens on its own from the inside. A body nearly collides with his, but he swerves to the side in time. The yelp of surprise is still grating on the ears though. 

“Jesus Christ, Travis. You’re so quiet,” Leo Valdez says, with a high-pitched laugh that borders more on the fearful side, “We need to get you a bell, man.” 

He smelled it first before he saw it. The acrid, volatile stench of smoke. And fire. 

The smallest of fire, barely a wisp that's snuffed out faster than it's been alive, but fire still the same. 

The barest of heat touches his skin. It’s automatic. He could feel the other person shy away from the surface and shut down and go unconscious. The burning on his neck goes from aching and manageable to excruciating and unbearable. 

His knees crumple and he hits the floor hard. 

Leo’s yelling now. A hand shaking his shoulder. The Titan’s power leaks from his body, manifesting memories into visions. Leo, 14 and scrawny. His push didn’t even make him budge an inch. But fire goes from his hands and onto him. A beautiful, painful array of red, orange, and pink as he burns alive. Leo, 15 and unyielding. Even with him holding a knife against his throat. Even with him pleading to stop it, to let it go, to just live without revenge. Leo, dead, throat slitted, the knife still drips wet with blood and he’s throwing up and why couldn’t Leo just listen to him why did this have to happen this isn’t fair this isn’t fair this isn’t —

Stop it. 

He squeezes his eyes shut but he still hears it happening, the memories playing out loud. 

Stop it.

[When we’re having this much fun without that wet blanket? Not a chance.] 

Stop it, go away, die, drown, disappear like you did here you goddamn stupid loser of an immortal  

The ground vibrates with running feet. There’s new sets of voices. 

“Leo? What happened? What did you do?” 

“I didn’t do anything! I just came out of the toilet and bam! He just fell over.”

New memories come forth. New visions that burst into reality. 

Annabeth, fighting against Luke and pleading for him to fight against the titan and come back to them. A blast of magic that goes astray and hits the wrong target. Annabeth, crumbling in a heap, dead in an instant. And ah. He sees this scene enough times, thinks about this moment more than enough, has it embedded to the memory but still he squeezes his eyes shut and covers his ears and pretends he can’t hear Connor screaming Annabeth's name and Luke freezing in horror, gold eyes finally fading back to blue, and Lou Ellen clinging to him with trembling fingers. It was an accident. It wasn’t supposed to hit Annabeth. It was an accident. It was an accident. 

“Holy shit. Lou Ellen killed —”

Perseus, bursting into the room, seeing Annabeth’s dead body, Connor’s right beside her, the stupid titan charm dangling on his brother’s wrist, and he doesn’t know why Percy just assumed that they could ever — that Connor could ever hurt — when they knew Annabeth twice as long as Percy and she’s their friend too. They would never hurt her much less kill her. His body moves the instant Percy draws his sword. But Lou Ellen holds him back with an iron grip still muttering (It was an accident. It was an accident) and he could only watch as Connor scrambles back against Percy’s onslaught. When he finally pries her fingers away from his shirt, Connor’s dead, there’s blood on Percy’s blade. Sea-green eyes turn to them and Lou Ellen whimpers, crawling behind him. Connor is dead. Annabeth is dead. Luke ran off to who knows where. Lou Ellen is still here, still clinging to him. Percy is asking if they’re with the titan and he’s coming closer and Lou Ellen is still shaking and Connor is dead, Connor is gone, Connor was killed and he just stood there. He just stood there and let his brother be killed. 

“I… killed Connor?”

“Travis? Travis! Will, can’t you do something!?”

Connor. Nothing more than a stumbling corpse, patches of flesh and meat sewn and held together by threads. The lopsided smile they share is off and cold. “What do you say? Wouldn’t it be better if you’re dead with me too? You’re lonely all by yourself, aren’t you? You can’t do anything without me, right?” 

“I don’t know what to do here! This is the titan projecting the memories. How am I supposed to stop that?” 

Will. Nose missing. Left eye gone. His intestines held inside by his hand. Minutes away from death and high on their last supply of morphine. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Is what he recites to himself as he listens to Will says his final wishes. 

“Well, do something! I don’t want to see these crappy images anymore!”

Clarisse’s hand on his shirt as she shakes him hard again. Her eyes are pained but determined, a fire that isn't dampened at all by the rain around them. “Live,” is all she says with defiant eyes. Live? When Connor’s dead? How could he live without his brother? She shakes him again. Harder this time. Almost desperate-like as she sneers with fake belligerence. “Don’t make that pathetic face. Your only option is to live. I don’t want to hear anything about giving up.” 

“Let him go. Touch him again and you'll regret it, Clarisse.”

Nico. And Bianca. Both in Manhattan and both wearing armor from the head to the toe. Yelling and shoving at each other. He should break it up. But Will, alive and whole, is asking him what happened, where’s Connor (dead), where’s Annabeth (dead), where’s Perseus (who cares). Michael is pointing at someone stranded in raging waters and seconds away from drowning. Clarisse is shaking him by the shoulders and yelling what the fuck is wrong with you, stop zoning out (everything. Everything is wrong. Connor is dead.). Chris is pleading with Clarisse to drop it. There’s about a dozen more things going on, a dozen more emotions he hasn’t even begun to process, that he just ignores the two children of Hades’ screaming match. Then the ground rumbles and cracks and the undead claw their way up from below.

“Can’t we just knock him out? That’s relatively fast and almost painless.” 

Piper, quiet and despondent and hurting and mute and clutching the front of his jacket, not speaking, just mouthing the words, over and over and over. I’m sorry. 

Lou Ellen, a hand on his shirt, mumbling, “Why did you protect me? You should have let Percy kill me.”

Chris, pulling him out of rubble, pleading, “I can't do this without you. Don’t give up. You can’t give up on us. Please. Travis, please.” 

Luke, a crispy corpse still somehow alive, eyes shifting between gold and blue, looking at him, begging him with pained eyes to do something about the unbearable pain. 

Chiron, face weary and resigned as he draws his bow and aims at them as he and they, Katie and Michael and Will, begs for Chiron to please help them, to please side with them and not the gods. 

Michael, face hardened, dried tear tracks rubbed away, now the sole remaining child of Apollo, a hand extended towards him, the gauze at his wrist fresh with wet blood. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?” 

Connor, humming a song as he dangles from the pipes by the intestines. “Are you mad? Does it hurt? Sorry. Next time, it’ll be instant.”

Connor, grinning as he lops the head off with a single swipe of his machete, body moving without his input. “I’ll make it painless. I swear. Pinkie promise.”

Connor, laughing as he hacks up the bits and pieces of limbs and double-bagging them to toss into the ocean. “I heard free falling isn’t a bad way to go if you land head first. Pretty painless too.” 

A tower of water, clashing against New York City. Buildings, toppling like dominoes. Bodies upon countless bodies, in the dark murky water amongst the debris. 

A golf-size hole that becomes a giant chasm the size of a football stadium. Spirits that clamber out of the pit and to their broken, destroyed bodies, their screams of agony all starting together. 

Their voices all cascade and grind against each other. Snapping back and forth. Overlapping like glaciers trying to stay afloat. Just a constant barrage of memories that refuse to be drowned out. 

He can feel the titan grinning in his mind, can practically see his sneer. 

He likes it when you’re in pain, Hermes told him once upon a time.  So don’t react or give him fuel, is all the advice he gets before the titan’s soul was pulled from Luke’s and pushed onto his. 

So he curls up tighter, presses his hands over his ears harder, and pretends he doesn’t hear it at all. 

Then somewhere in the middle of it all, he hears someone humming. 

19 ANNABETH

“You have bacterial meningitis,” Annabeth, 7, says rather frankly and lowers her book about the myth of Niobe. “Connor has it too. Probably from when you guys were living in the streets. Kind of bad timing. We’re out of nectar from treating the newcomers 5 days ago. Luke went to get more from Mount Olympus. He should be back in a couple more hours.”

Travis, 7 also, stares blankly at her with glassy eyes, fever-ridden and probably delirious and definitely not all there. All of Annabeth’s words probably went over his head and she opens her mouth to recite it all again when Travis’s eyes move past her and around the room. He squirms and tries to rise, falling weakly back to the bed. 

“Connor? Where’s Connor?” camp’s newest addition croaks. 

Annabeth shifts and juts a thumb to the bed beside her. Connor, 6, is unconscious with a frown marring his features. 

Travis stares at his little brother with conflict.

“Do you think I would be a bad brother waking him up?” 

“Why do you need him up for?” Annabeth questions with an eyebrow quirked. 

“... because I want him to tell me everything will be okay,” Travis mumbles, looking away with shame.

“Yeah,” Annabeth says, “That would be pretty selfish. If I were him, I would punch you and go back to sleep.”

“Okay. That’s what I thought too,” Travis says miserably and Annabeth flips back open her book. She can’t focus on the words though. Travis tosses and turns every few seconds, and it’s hard to focus when someone whimpers and whines every other second. 

“Why don’t you go back to sleep? It’ll pass the time faster until Luke gets back.”

“I’m trying. I just can’t sleep,” Travis groans on his side, head tucked between a pillow and arm, eyes squeezed shut. 

“Well, close your eyes and try harder. I want to go back to my book.”

“Everything hurts though.”

And Annabeth, 7 and not really good with her emotions, not really good with displaying concern, just in general not good with other people that’s not Luke, sighs and puts her book aside. She stands and ignores Luke’s and Chiron’s warning of not getting too close, else she’ll get sick too. She gets up right to the bed, right next to Travis’s face, arms crossed across her chest. 

“Well, what will make you feel better? You’re annoying like this.” 

“Connor usually sings for us,” Travis says with his face in the pillow before flipping around then to his side. 

“What kind of song?”

“Any song.”

“And if I sing a song, you’ll sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Annabeth takes a second to think and sings. 

xxxxxx

It was a gamble, a chance, based on the fact that this Travis seems similar enough to theirs. A stupid song she made up on the spot to appease and lull the stupid son of Hermes back to a painless sleep. She doesn’t even know why she thought of it now. Maybe because Travis isn’t responding to any of them, maybe because he’s curled up like how he was when he was sick, maybe because Travis is whimpering and whining just like how he did all those years ago that Annabeth remembered the song and sung it out of desperation. 

The images of Manhattan being destroyed by a wave of water, of Percy with dark, hate-filled eyes and a bloodstained Riptide, of Connor hacked and slashed and dead, all of it disappear, replaced with an infirmary and 3 children. 

Annabeth watches the memory play out exactly how it happened all those years ago. Everything’s the same. Right down to her little grin when Travis’s eyes started drifting close. To the little pats she gave to Travis’s messy, uncombed hair. To the little sag of her shoulders she did right before Travis fell asleep. 

In reality, in the present, Travis’s erratic breathing slows and steadies. A hand grips her wrist tightly, not enough to hurt but enough to be an anchor.

“Jeez,” Her 7 year old self sighs and rests her arms on her hips with the beginnings of a fond smile. “You really can’t do anything by yourself, huh, Travis?” 

The memory ends. 

Annabeth stops singing. 

Travis blinks once. Twice. Focus coming back into his glassy eyes. His eyes roll over to meet hers and a new memory appears. This time of her, 16 and neck bruised purple, her knee on his chest, her hand on the knife digging through Travis’s shoulder, and her other hand pulling that knife out. 

“Fight?” Travis whispers in a quiet, heartbroken voice. He stares at her dead counterpart emotionlessly. Not a semblance of pain. Like his shoulder isn’t stabbed. “Without you or Connor?” 

“Yeah, that’s right,” other-Annabeth grits out behind clenched teeth. 

“You’re going to live.” The knife comes down. It veers off course and shatters against the tile beside Travis’s unflinching ear. 

“And you’re going to fight.” A hand snaps to Travis’s throat and squeezes for a second before she lets go. 

“And you’re going to try.” A hand fist itself in dirt-caked, brown hair, pulling back and stopping short of slamming down. 

“No giving up. Promise me. Promise me you won’t give up, Tr-Tra-vis.” 

And Travis, squeezes his eyes shut, tears slipping from the corner of his eye, and nods before he slips his feet under her and kicks her off him and out the open window. She sees Travis’s grief-stricken face mold to something not so fragile, not so open as he turns to the outlines of 4 others running to him. 

The memory shifts. To Travis with a pitchfork through her collarbone and pleading as he pins her throat down with his foot. “Please, Annabeth, I know you’re in there. I need your help. I tried like you asked but … but it’s not working out. Nothing I do works out. I can’t plan ahead like you and Connor. I can’t help anyone without you and Connor. I need your help. I-I need Connor. I need—” Travis’s head lowers, but the way his shoulders shake, the way his voice cracks, the rain and thunder does nothing to hide the sob that erupts from Travis. “I need you guys. Connor’s never himself so it’s only you. You’re the only one I can ask… so please, Annabeth…  please help me.” 

It shifts again, to Travis standing in front of a broken mirror with a messily wrapped gauze around his neck, already saturated with blood. His eyes are a darker shade of blue. A more electrifying shade of blue as hands raise to grip the edges of the bathroom mirror. 

“Let’s make a deal,” Travis says to the fractured mirror, voice brimming with uncharacteristic conviction and determination. “I’ll help you. Bianca. Silena. Chris. Lou Ellen. Nico and the others. The undead. I’ll lend you my strength. I’ll help you find safety and peace for all of them. In return, you just keep your head straight.” 

Travis blinks and his face falls, conviction turning to uncertainty, eyes a paler shade of blue, the shade of the ocean surface rather than electric-blue. The hands lower to hug his arms. “That’s all you want from me? Seems unfair on my end but I guess I can do that,” Travis mumbles, eyes wandering away from the mirror. 

Another blink and Travis with the electric blue eyes is smiling. A sweet and soft smile as Travis’s fist rises to the mirror for a little tap and a spark of electricity flies from Travis’s closed hand. 

“Alright, then, partner. It’s you and me. Let’s do our best.” 

It cuts to Chris with an arrow flying through his chest, to Lou Ellen tying a tourniquet with blood-slick fingers over her thigh, to Connor as his head is sliced off, to Piper with a hole where her heart should be, to Leo with a knife in his throat, to Holly with a dent in her head, to Laurel blue tinged skin and soaking wet, to Cecil with black veins running all over his body, to Will gored and bitten and in pieces.

To Travis on top of the Empire State Building, soaked under the torrenting rain and frighteningly still with a blank stare to his pale blue eyes as he stare quietly out into the horizon, 

To Travis falling off a building head first, eyes closed, body relaxed, falling, falling, before his eyes snapped open, irises electric blue, and the air whirling around him. 

To Travis hesitating before a zombie, weapon lowering, stance loosening, eyes wide as the thing stumbles closer and closer and closer. It was a whisper, but Annabeth heard it loud and clear. Connor? Before the thing leans forward and sinks its teeth into Travis’s neck.

To Travis stumbling back with half his neck torn off as Chris rams a baseball bat in between the two brothers. 

To Travis writhing and screaming, to Chris frantically pressing a towel against the wound, to Silena cowering in a corner, to Bianca on Travis’s other side, to Lou Ellen standing frozen and Hermes yelling for everybody to shut up, that it’s going to be fine, that Travis isn’t going to die from something as small as that, not with the titan inside him.

And that’s enough. 

She has seen enough. 

“Travis,” Annabeth grits out behind clenched teeth. 

When the memories don’t end, Annabeth shakes Travis by the shoulder. The memory cut to her digging a knife through Travis’s shoulder. 

“Travis!” Annabeth shakes harder. A new memory of her snapping Travis’s arm. 

“Travis!” Annabeth yells. Another memory of her swinging a shovel and hearing a kneecap shattering. “Look at me.” 

Travis does as she asks, ocean-blue eyes staring back at her with barely held back tears and she’s reminded again of her earliest memory of Travis, sick and desperate for his brother. 

“I’ll help you,” Annabeth says, hand going to pat Travis’s dirty, unkempt hair. He doesn’t flinch away this time. If anything he clings tighter. 

“Jeez, you really can’t do anything by yourself, huh?” 

“Your problems, your goals. Whatever they are, leave them to me, Travis. I’ll fix them for you.”

xxxxxx

Hours pass. What used to be all the counselors present is now a select few. Her. Piper. Percy. Will and Nico. Connor. 

Exhaustion takes its toll finally and Travis’s eyes droop, little by little slowly closing. Travis digs his nails into his forearm in an attempt to stay awake. Ah, that’s what he’s concerned about, Annabeth realizes. 

“Don’t worry,” Annabeth tells him, clasping his hands in hers tightly. “I understand what we have to do. So sleep and trust us.”

Travis is doubtful and he manages to stay awake for five more minutes before Travis’s eyes close and his body slumps over. When they reopen, they’re tinted gold. 

The titan barely had time for a second blink before Piper is on it.

“Sleep.”

[erisawrites]

How Windbreaker men would be if they dated women like them

Context: A refresher from the generic trope of grumpy guy x sunshine girl where their lovers share the same traits and personalities as them, causing to bring out something besides their usual behaviour

Pairing: WB men x f!reader

Owen Knight

Wc: 1046 words

Note : 10 reblogs for Vinny version!

M A S T E R L I S T

It's not a surprise the most popular boy's love life had everyone's binoculars glued onto it. And by everyone, this also spanned onto the many foreign fan bases that Light Cavalry's charisma had swooned the hearts of many.

It was a ridiculously large amount, even more ridiculous were those scoops of what sort of woman's heart he captured, a piece at the epicenter of gossip following a rare paparazzi shot of him blushing behind a bouquet of roses.

That triggered another fresh wave of rumors, the intel and scoops almost becoming unbearable for the other members, who were forced to fend off all sorts of creeps in his absence, each revealing themselves as his ‘secret lover’ who ‘truly knew everything about him’.

Though if these self-proclaimed lovers had even an inkling of their idol, they would have realized from the blushing photograph that he hadn't captured a heart, but rather his was captured first.

“Did you like the roses I sent you?”

She sent more than roses, and Owen was grateful she sent over his chauffeur before he collapsed on the zebra crossing, “They're nice.”,he grinned, stifling his gushing for a moment, “Though I've seen better in London.”

“So should I send over a plane ticket next?”,the man rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.

“You spoil me too much, remember I'm the man in this relationship?”

“Remember you're my man in this relationship?”,he could pick up that awful smirk in her voice, “I haven't even paid back half of what you've done for me.”

“That's because they're not supposed to be paid for.”,his voice stressed, though joy was bouncing in his eyes as he gazed out the window, “You're supposed to keep quiet and enjoy them. My money looks better on you.”

“Same over here! Money never bought me happiness unless it was spent on you.”,hearing her voice constricted his heart. Part of him urged to remind her that she didn’t need to spend anything, while the other reminded him that her actions were no different from his. Unsurprisingly, the two had found someone who’s love language is the exact same as the other.

“If I was given all the money in the world.”,he dropped the bouquet onto his lap, his forehead pressed against the cool window glass. Only moments ago, the streets were bathed in the warm sunlight, illuminating the dreary shops and pavement into a square of liveliness. The Sun seemed to take a momentary break now, as thick clouds coalesced overhead, casting shadows over his tanned cheeks. “I’d spent all of it on bringing you back.”

Her soft sigh was like music to his ears, a melody so rejuvenating that he yearned to hear it in real life, “If it were up to me, I’d walk over next block and host the match in their hotel reception itself. But oh well.”

“Nonsense, your championship’s the main priority here,”,he reaffirmed, taking a mental note to free up his schedule to watch her live matches, “I’m getting a new TV soon, so make sure to beat these semis. Then,I have something interesting to show off on Live Feed.”

“You and your rotten spoiled tendencies…”,she huffed, and he could hear the eye roll in her voice, “And here I thought my beloved would bless me with words of encouragements.”

“Bring the cup home so I can brag about you.”

“I’ll bring home your body.”

“Bridal style, please!”,he crossed his legs in mock interest, “I don’t mind being carried in your arms, you too need something to brag about.”

“Man, I forget how insufferable you are…”

“You also forget how deeply in love I am with you, to the point only your presence makes me content.”

Silence elapsed in the call, with each person biting back smiles that fought to stretch wide across their faces, “Whe-Where are you headed?”

“What’s gotten you shy all of the sudden?”,he grinned, before frowning as he looked through the front window, “And how am I supposed to know? Didn’t you book this ride for…for….”

Static noises filled the call, but this didn’t register in his mind as he was too occupied with what’s before him, something so bizarre, so unimaginable, that it had his heart swelling in elation.

He stumbled out of the car before the frightened chauffeur could react, his feet taking off instantly, kicking up sand as he raced towards the beach’s shoreline, where the small silhouette of a woman was highlighted by the sunset.

“Hm? It seems you’ve cut my call.”,she swiveled around as she heard footsteps, her phone pressed against her ear, right next to smiling lips, “Or it seems I have faster connection.”

“Y/N!”,the man shrieked joyously, locking his arms around her waist as he embraced her deeply. The woman burrowed her face in his shoulders as he spun her around, the woman's laughter mixing with the strong winds, “Oh, my baby, you came!”

“Yes I did, love.”,she cupped his cheeks, eyes swirling with deep affection and admiration, “I came. For you.”

“For…me?”,his smile slowly morphed into confusion, “But what about the finals?”

“Let’s just say…”,her fingers fiddled with her lanyard that he overlooked, with a bold print stamped at the bottom of the card reading ‘FINALISTS’, ”They agreed to give away the cup at the homes of the final groups. You can thank my charisma for that.”

“I can’t believe it!”,he dropped her gently, hands never leaving her waist, “You’re gonna do your finals here? Oh, baby, I’m so proud of you!”

“Who isn’t?”,she smirked, lifting her shoulders, “I got a long list of admirers everywhere I go!”

“A long list of admirers,”,Owen brought their faces closer, his forehead pressing against her soft skin, “Where I’m standing at the front.”

The nonchalant coolness left her face, replaced with a lovestruck blush that widened her eyes in admiration, “More like fought his way to the front!”

“Brutally.”,he added, eyes squinting in an innocent smile

Though she forever deflects his smooth advances with her playfulness, she failed to deflect his eyes off her abashed smile and reddened cheeks, and she had the whole world's admiration at her feet, yet only swells with pride upon receiving his.

[coredrill]

bravern

i’m rly vibing w senor bighands design thus far………………i hope it looks good in action!!! the deathdrives’ designs have been pretty hit or miss for me tbh, like i rly love superbia and cupiridas but knuth/pessimism/vanitas are more meh…….like i generally enjoy the unique shapes in THEORY but i just feel like they also suffer a lot from being overdesigned the way a lot of modern 3d mecha are and it makes them kind of hard to parse out on screen which is :/ like so many of the shots are just so BUSY that it’s hard for me to get a handle on what is going on yknow? i can’t stop thinking abt what that shot of bravern saluting smith would look like if there were less details fjdbjfjdndbdn

if burn bravern + superbia gattai. that robot will literally be red + yellow + green + blue + purple. 🤨🏳️‍🌈⁉️

if on the off chance it turns out lulu IS biologically related to smith. i think it’ll make that one scene from ep3 where the hotel owner is like “🤨 she doesn’t LOOK like your sister” a fucking million times funnier LMFAO. also i am still suspicious of why her name is lulu if NOT being just the repeated first syllable of smith’s name like a noriko -> nono situation. this has fr been my tin foil hat theory since ep3 and i am not letting go until the end!!!!!! (although also side note that in general i am not EXPECTING any of this lmao. i honestly am mostly just finding such joy in the fact that this show is batshit insane enough that stuff like this is like. relatively plausible? at least to consider floating around? like it’s the same w the “lulu is biologically smith AND isami’s daughter cause isami’s blood dripped in bravern and her hair is blue and her eyes are red and she pilots the PURPLE deathdrive�� thing - like the fact that i’m not immediately rolling my eyes at the idea tickles me greatly LMAO)

the way that the pieces for this episode have been positioned intrigues me to no end. like. it’s bravern + lulu + superbia(? i assume) Who Know and isami Who Doesn’t. and the side characters who ALSO don’t know are also not there (at least in the setup). although tbh i could see miyu having an inkling abt it or at the very least being super chill like she was in the Bad Future. like that rly opens the floor up from both a plot perspective (don’t have to worry about whatever power these new DDs have cause only the core cast will be affected) and from a character perspective (don’t have to cut to the faces of Literally anyone but isami going like 😲 once the truth is revealed. if isami doesn’t figure it out for himself first. or however that plays out) and its so smart on the whole and i’m genuinely so excited to watch it play out!!!!!! like even if miyu et al roll up in the last two minutes to help save the day with um. idk it’d have to be smth completely new i suppose cause they sure do have like one gun that is marginally effective against the DDs FNDJFJJDJS it pares things down for max efficiency which is really smart imo

japan and the US jointly developing a mech that reads your brainwaves is the most sus thing in the world LMAO like i could not sleep at night if that thing were real even moreso than the deathdrives themselves

i think there’s at least one more twist left. like ep9 was The Twist and then they pulled time travel AGAIN in ep10 which is genuinely WILD to me. so like. idk maybe ep11 is Old Man Isami coming back from ANOTHER future to sunbathe in the volcano FNNDNFN

i am also not counting out a g gundam style ending yet and Getting Smith Outta That Thing. obviously my own biases are very much at play here but like. if the moral of this show is that you gotta live no matter what you just HAVE to live and fuck time and space and convention because the people who love you will make sure you live. like. if any show is gonna have its cake and eat it too and keep both bravern AND smith around? i feel like this one could pull it off!!!! not placing bets ofc but like its possible yknow? but again that is also based on the assumption that the end point of the show is at all congruous with its current status quo, and something that my feeble human mind can even conceive of with the information that is given, so we shall see. LMAO. the idea that they’re all just gonna be fucking isekai’d into the florist AU that staff loves so much is ANOTHER idea that tickles me greatly for being something so in line with the insanity of this show that i cannot IMMEDIATELY rule it out even if i very much doubt that’s where we’re going LMFAO. bc smth like that sure would fucking vibe w the final battle taking place somewhere “unexpected” (again, if that’s true, idr if it was just a rumor or not) and also how uninterested the show has been w the state of the world at large barring a few scenes. HM.

anyways final predictions for this ep is that i will cry atleast once 👍

[berylcups]

La Squadra Splatoon Au/Crossover Pt 2 of 2

Okay here’s the final part! As I said before, the kits aren’t balanced, just based on how I think their stands would translate into. Also their personalities on how they would act in this type of situation.

Sigh I’m finally done 😩 this took longer than I thought. Well I hope you guys like it !

Pesci:

Ink/Octoling: Octoling

Species type: dumbo octopus - a little unusual looking but very charming! Just needs more confidence.

Ink color: dark sea foam

Weapon: splatana wiper- light weight and can keep others at a distance. He can steady his aim and use a vertical swipe to pack an extra punch. It feels similar to a fishing rod so he will get comfortable with his weapon real quick!

Sub weapon: torpedo - like sensing who’s near by this sub will weed out anyone in its radius.

Special: stingray - just like beach boy going through walls, this powerful special can too and if he’s lucky he might get a catch!

Play style: He’s a nervous guy so he likes to keep his distance but don’t expect him to be a pushover. Taunt him enough or splat him enough times and he’ll get pissed enough to get serious and ready to chase your ass down ! But unprovoked, he’s most likely going to be painting. (Until prosciutto yells at him to be more assertive of course)

Melone:

Ink/Octoling: octoling

Species type: Graneledone boreopacifica octopus - this the best known mother in all of the animal kingdom. It holds its brood for roughly 4 years. Nobody is more dedicated to their young than Melone.

Ink color: periwinkle

Weapon: E-Liter - He prefers long range, and he wants to be as far removed from the action as possible. Work still needs to be done so an intimidating E-Liter will keep any enemies at bay.

Sub weapon: Autobomb - it’s a mini junior! He can throw one or two of these and have it (slowly) chase after who came within his radius.

Special: super chump- another automated round of “juniors “ to show up and blow the place sky high. They can be cancelled out by shooting at them but nobody can get rid of them all. Worst case scenario he paints some turf-which is what is needed anyway!

Play style: Mel doesn’t like being in the heat of the battle. He plays as defensively as possible. His preferred role is guarding the base and spawn points. The more turf that’s taken the closer he’ll move in and pressure the enemy back into their own base. Throw some auto bombs in for good measure. He didn’t raise/program those things to collect dust.

Ghiaccio:

Ink/Octoling: inkling

Species type: Humboldt squid- the most aggressive squid known to man! He has sharp teeth to grind out of pure rage, but there’s plenty of them on the tentacles too 😬

Ink color: turquoise

Weapon: Octobrush - brush users are fast and they are AGGRESSIVE. They are on the opposite side of the map and the next second you’re getting your cheeks clapped by the brush and you respawn.

Sub weapon: Fizzy bomb - another aggressive type of bomb. You shake it with everything you got and chuck it at your opponent and watch it blast them away.

Special: Kraken Royale - white album is impenetrable and it’s highly destructive. Going into kraken mode and chasing down his enemies is going to be a blood bath. All you can do is hope to out run him until he powers down and then attack him back during that one second he’s vulnerable.

Play style: OFFENSIVELY OFFENSIVE. Ghiaccio is the embodiment of pure rage. He will go and chase anyone who has the misfortune of catching his eye and splatting them repeatedly. He will easily zigzag through splattling fire and charger shots and somehow make his way up to you and splat you. You better hope he runs out of ink.

[adultswim2021]

The Boondocks #19: “Stinkmeaner Strikes Back” | October 29, 2007 - 11:30PM | S02E04

The binge-watcher detests a recap. What’s the point of sitting through a “previously on” montage when you literally just watched whatever episode earlier that afternoon? But I am not a binge-watcher, and I am not binge-watching. So when the previously-on segment rolled, my paranoid inklings of needing to rewatch last season’s “Granddad's Fight” before watching this faded away. Huey, my child friend who talks to me through the television, reminded me of the concept of a “(soft-a n-word) moment”, a personality flaw that can affect all black men where destructive anger can be triggered by the most trifling matters (like having your new shoes stepped on). 

The story of this episode is that Stinkmeaner, the elderly disabled man who Granddad killed in a fight after one of these resulting soft-a n-word moments, comes back by possessing Tom Dubois, the Freeman’s neighbor. He’s shown honing his martial arts skills in hell before returning to Earth. We get some really funny scenes where Stinkmeaner’s personality comes out while inside Tom’s body, causing Tom to act not himself, intimidating and physically besting various people in a way Tom would never dare try. Stinkmeaner as Tom also has sex with Tom’s wife, who seems to be really into Tom’s personality change. Is this technically rape? This might be for Tom to sort out. He is a lawyer, after all. 

Huey has been having prophetic dreams about the return of Stinkmeaner, but Granddad won’t listen. He’s completely preoccupied by his dating profile on Myspace. Huey is also being visited by the ghostly apparition of Ghost Face Killah, who isn’t dead, but ghost is in high demand for this episode. Admittedly, my white ��ass” had to look this up to confirm, but I assumed that’s who it was based on the pun and the jokes about him not being dead yet despite being a ghost. 

This episode doesn’t have a full opening sequence. Instead there’s a title card inspired by the Shaw Brothers logo. The first act contains a lot of martial arts style action between Stinkmeaner and the entire Freeman family. Tom, possessed by Stinkmeaner, Shinings his way through Granddad’s bathroom door (uncensored dong on HBOMax, everyone) and starts whooping the tar out of him. Eventually the three of them are able to knock him out and they tie him to Riley’s bed.

From here it turns into a full-on Exorcist parody, with Uncle Ruckus acting as Father Karras. He shows up with a bag full of items to combat the soft-a n-word inside Tom, including a lot of slave-driver accessories and the capper: a job application. 

This is one of those old-television style episodes where insane supernatural things happen, but it’s confined to this episode, so it shouldn’t bother anyone who’s canon-obsessed, even though it still might. That doesn’t seem to be the case: this is a fan-favorite episode and it’s absolutely earned it’s reputation. This is a GREAT one, and there’s nary a dull moment in the entire episode. The writers let themselves cut loose here and we’re all the better for it. Bravo, Boondocks! You did it! And plus, I think you’re nice!

[kindredhearts13]

A MAJOR Dissection of The Cleaning Lady, "The Crown" (1x10)

Okay, y'all! I am finally finding the time to sit down and write this all out; so after several rewatches of the finale and an entire re-watch of the first season, let's break this episode down! This will 1000% be a long one, folks. Y'all already know how loquacious I am in these posts. That being said, I'm breaking from my usual format for these posts, and focusing on specific moments and what they tell me about the characters rather than highlighting character by character. Same level of analysis, just a better organized format for all that I want to touch on today. Alright, let's begin!

THE OPENING

I had an inkling from the jump that this scene in Manila was going to be a flashback, and what a flashback it was! We learned SO MUCH information from this scene, alone; and I want to go ahead and give a content warning now that this post is going to touch on spousal abuse.

I'm going to go ahead and say it, y'all: Thony is in an abusive relationship with Marco. I know that the show hasn't said that directly and that we've all kind of been feeling some signs of that; but the entire flashback so broke my heart for Thony in an entirely new way; and what truly re-framed how I looked at this scene AND Thony's marriage to Marco was the discovery that there is almost no viable path to divorce in the Philippines. I am going to touch on that more, with sources, later on; but I want to express how high Thony's level of desperation was in this scene. Let's take a look:

On the one hand, it was pretty great getting to have a glimpse into Thony's life before the show began. We got to see a bit of her decor style and the way that she blends different styles while still highlighting the cultures she's a part of. I know that Manila is more lush, but it wasn't lost on me that there were plants in the house- which speak to the nurturing nature of their home (and also reminds me of a connection to Arman, as his father was Hayak's gardener. While in contrast, the home that Arman and Nadia share feels a bit barren. They have plants and some greenery, but it feels more like a design choice and less like something that they personally tend to and nurture, it feels a bit more staged. It's beautiful and absolutely valid, but in terms of looking at the show from a design perspective/pulling meaning from design choices, knowing that Arman is the son of a gardener, I assume he knows how to keep a garden and- based off of Hayak's grounds- how to bring even the desert of Vegas to life with plants; yet he chooses something that feels so different from his background. It pulls me back to the Thony reminding Arman of the man he used to/wants to be idea).

Now, the rest of that scene, what made me so sad for Thony, is what we really need to get into. I knew that Marco was being unsupportive of Thony, that he kept on trying to guilt and convince her to bring Luca home, and that he pretty much gambled their life away. When he arrived in Vegas, I pin-pointed how uncomfortable Thony seemed around him. She was trying, but even in trying, she just seemed like she needed to get away from him when they were alone. Watching her fearfully tiptoe around her own home, quietly unlock a drawer and grab passports, and then run away with Luca in the midst of a major storm was heartbreaking; and all I could think of were the countless amount of women that have had to do something similar. If Marco posed zero threat to Thony, she could've left in the daytime or with his knowledge. Even if they argued, she could've walked out that door and gotten the help needed for her son; but her REALITY was that she was afraid of Marco and how he would react. She was afraid that he would stop her from saving their son's life, and she ran quite literally for her son's life in the middle of the night. While I cannot say with absolute certainty that Marco is physically abusive, I can say that they chose to feature a shot of him aggressively grabbing her arm and trying to force her to stay; and her finally pushing back from him, having to physically push him out of the way and jump into the taxi to leave. What strikes me about this moment, outside of the obvious, are two things:

1) The taxi driver didn't have much of a reaction. At first, I wasn't entirely sure why they would make that choice, but upon some research, I think I have an understanding of what they were potentially hinting at with that choice. Research showed that a disparagingly larger amount of women are left without proper recourse to leave abusive marriages in the Philippines. Often, the blame and responsibility of the problems in the marriage are put on them, and limited resources to legally solve these problems- they're left with finding their own solutions. I feel like the taxi driver's general detachment was meant to mirror the normality around situations like this with women in the Philippines. It is a horrifying thought, but a necessary reality check for everyone.

Here is a great source with more info: Violence Against Women from the Philippine Commission on Women

2) Thony was absolutely terrified when she watched Marco from the back of that cab. Her eyes were wide as saucers and it was almost like a scene in a horror film, where you don't know if the victim is going to get away and you're praying that the attacker doesn't catch up to them. I could feel her fear. She was so scared and I was scared for her, even with knowing that she does make it to the states and all that happened later. I wanted to cry thinking about what she must've lived through all these years for her to be that scared.

It makes me think of that office scene back in 1x03 (and the one in 1x02, for that matter). As someone who has dealt with trauma, it is easier to compartmentalize things in order to process them. While Thony knew that Arman could be violent, she technically hadn't seen him behave violently until that scene in the kitchen in 1x03. While she heard what happened with Jimmy and saw the damage to his knuckles when he walked back into the office, she blamed herself for what happened and didn't actually see Arman do anything. The first time Thony physically witnessed any amount of violence from Arman was that moment in the kitchen, and she had that same level of debilitating fear (as we saw in that scene in Manila) once she snapped to and realized just what he was capable of. I think seeing him kiss Isabel on her wedding day definitely added fuel to the fire, but I stand by the idea that her comment was less about that specifically and more about the fact that she was triggered by what she'd witnessed in the kitchen and how he spoke to her after. She was afraid to let him touch her, trembled and even let out a yelp when he yelled at her; and though she gained her footing and fought back with her words by the end, having the context of how she left Manila, it definitely makes me feel that she was reliving trauma in that moment (tripled by Tarik) and Arman was completely unaware.

While I can see that Thony tended to temper what she said to Marco, she clearly never stopped standing her ground with him- which I am sure he wasn't happy about. Watching Thony fight for herself and find her voice and power over the course of these 10 episodes has been truly wonderful, and I just want to say that I am so proud of her. She is unbelievably resilient and she deserves nothing less than everything good in this world.

THE CLUB/THE MEETING WITH GARRETT

The standoff between Nadia and Thony was a long time coming, and while it was rather short; I think it told us exactly what we needed to know. Nadia was firm, but gracious and Thony was genuine and kind in response. These two have never had an actual issue with each other, Thony has always gone out of her way to treat Nadia with kindness and I don't think that Nadia was able to just ignore that.

The two times that Arman and Thony have kissed, Thony has pulled away and looked so incredibly conflicted while walking or running away. I could see that conflict and guilt when she saw Nadia, she has literally NEVER had the intention of hurting this woman; and, technically speaking, has been the only one out of her and Arman trying to put a boundary in place. She's incredibly observant, so I think she knows (or at least suspects) that their relationship isn't exactly what it seems and that they aren't really in love, but I also don't think she ever had any intention of getting wrapped up in anything having to do with their relationship or lack thereof.

The exchange between Nadia and Arman was essentially him telling her that he needed to speak with Thony and Nadia asking if this was a joke and if he called her, then Arman dismissing her and walking away. It sucks to watch as someone who also enjoys Nadia; but I think that she needed to have that moment to receive  an answer as to where things stand with Arman. While it doesn't strike me that she is in love with him, I still think that she has love for him and all that they've been through together; and she's clearly hurting as she watches the man she built so much with slip away from her. I want more for both her AND Arman.

A few things about Thony and Arman's exchange in the office:

1) It was truly touching to see how much their dynamic has shifted. Not only was he so tender when speaking to her and checking on her, but he was very vulnerable with her. In the past, he's growled and told her to just do her job when she asked questions- and more than often, he was vague. But now, he shares his fears with her, let's her see how shaken he truly is. Arman has dropped so many walls with her and is truly showing her that he views her as his equal. It reminds me of the way that Darcy spoke to Elizabeth once she'd visited him at Pemberly (in Pride & Prejudice); how much softer he became when speaking to her in this place that was so personal to him. Mexico was kind of Arman's Pemberly, and he let his walls down with her while they were there, and now he's continuing to.

2) How differently they were in that shared space. Ever since that kiss happened, something changed and when they're back in the office, Thony moves about the space with a lot more freedom than we've seen from her in there before. She takes the initiative to sit with him, talk to him, and be frank and even a little short with him. While she is usually so cautious in what she says  and how she says things to him, we see that she's allowed most of her walls to come down, too and she doesn't hold back when showing her own fear and concerns. They've been able to penetrate each other's walls- Arman still has some work to do on Thony's, but there is this implicit trust and understanding there that we don't see in any other dynamic on the show.

3) The parallel to the Marco vs Arman scene. There is literally exact dialogue used to contrast between Arman and Thony's relationship and Thony and Marco's relationship:

"What other choice do we have?"

Thony says this to BOTH men and this leads to a confrontation between each man and the person they feel is a threat of some kind. (Granted, a threat for very different reasons).

In Marco's case, he responds to this by forcing his way into Thony's job and embarrassing her. In Arman's case, he reluctantly agrees to a meeting- but shows up with her knowledge. When Marco sees Arman, he shows his ass. When Arman sees Garrett, he shows his ass a bit, too but he mostly cuts it out when Thony speaks.

"Arman/Marco, please."

Is where we truly see the divergence of these men and their respect for and trust in Thony.

When Thony says "Marco, please" during that standoff, Marco looks at her and then back at Arman and then walks away. And THEN, he steals from his own son and gambles all of her savings out of spite.

When Thony says "Arman, please" he looks at her, deflates the attitude, and then looks away and then at Garrett, then back at Thony again. THEN, he makes a deal that ENSURES Thony's freedom. Arman chooses Thony over his bruised ego, and acts out of compassion rather than pride. He affords her the respect she deserves and puts himself in a risky spot to do it.

Let's not forget: Arman was there for THONY. (Period.)

I also want to point out that this was the most humble we’ve seen Garrett. I was ready to write him off completely after his “not all white men” monologue while completely missing the point of his privilege last episode, but seeing him actually listen to Thony (truthfully, she was his last hope, so he had to) and meet with Arman while trying to come from a place of respect was actually pretty great to see. I feel more interested in his character now, and actually wonder what it would look like if he was competent at his job. We have definitely seen some growth in Garrett, VERY MINIMAL GROWTH, but some and I have a feeling that next season is going to serve as a major wake up call for him. Even with Katherine keeping him on the team, he’s going to be on an even shorter leash and have the higher ups really tracking his every move. I want to see what this growth looks like for him. 

ARMAN AND NADIA MEET WITH NOAH

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Nadia and Arman make much better friends/business partners than they do a married couple. I LOVED this scene for Nadia. It showed just how vital she is to this entire operation. We’ve truly been shown that this entire season, she is the secret weapon to close a deal, but we truly got to see how smart and quick on her feet she can be. She is vital to Arman’s success and I have a feeling we’re going to see her truly come into her power in coming seasons. This was Nadia’s moment, and the men were purely spectators. 

It also showed that Arman made a decision about Nadia. He let her know that he had a plan so that she wouldn’t be completely blind-sided, but he also made it clear that he didn’t trust her enough to tell her what the plan was. For me, that goes back to the previous episode when they have their argument at the motel. Despite her deflecting and gaslighting afterwards (what she yells at him in Spanish), he does catch her in this moment of being more concerned about their money than she is about their (specifically his) safety. I don’t think it was framed in a way that was entirely fair to her in that moment, because she clearly does care about Arman- but you can also see that their socioeconomic status is the main thing on her mind. 

If she hadn’t said that to him, I feel as though he would’ve clued her in a bit more. But, Arman is smart and just like Thony- he is observant. He was very specific with how things played out and he was that way for a reason.  

ARMAN TELLS THONY ABOUT HIS PLAN

This was a defining scene for both Arman and Thony. Even though we, the audience, had to wait and watch the plan play out with everyone else on the show- it says a lot that these two have reached this level of trust. Arman references Thony asking if he trusted her back in episode one, and we’ve watched the growth and challenges applied to that trust along the way. Even though we didn’t have Thony openly saying that she trusts Arman until this episode, we’ve literally been able to watch her come to trust him more and more as time has gone on. She trusted him enough to chance showing up at the club with a dying Luca in her arms. She trusted him enough to tell him about Luca’s donor and accept his help- she even trusted that he would, at the very least- hear her when she told him not to hurt anyone. She trusted him enough to put her life (and Fiona’s) at risk by telling him the truth about the FBI. She trusted him enough to get her across the border to save her son’s life. She trusted him enough to dance with him and be vulnerable. She even trusted him enough to confide in him about her arrest and all that was going on, then to try and come up with a solution with him- not just betray him. And from the first episode, she trusted him to keep his word that he would keep Luca safe- Thony trusted Arman with Luca’s life. 

So, when Arman asked her if she trusted him, I already knew the answer; she’d shown time and time again that she always has.

One of the things that I love about this show, and specifically the dynamic of Arman and Thony, is that it deals with love and asks the viewer what lengths they would go to for the ones that they love. While Arman and Thony fell in love over the course of the show, that love grew from their continued acts of love towards each other. Not JUST in trusting each other, but in choosing each other over and over again. Even when they were both justified in walking away, even when they hurt each other, even when they let the other down, even when they were put at risk by others for choosing each other- they consistently chose to protect each other AND to not only see the best in the other person and move forward; but to accept the other person as they were, flaws and all, while still challenging each other to evolve. For me, this scene was a culmination of all of that. They’ve officially reached this equal playing field and they’re acknowledging where they stand.

While I wish the show took the time to flesh out these smaller moments in between, which would give us even more growth for these characters and their relationships; I appreciate this scene being that smaller moment we’ve been craving, in a way. Just a stripped back moment when we saw them having a purely open and vulnerable conversation with each other. 

It was also great to see Thony challenge Arman in the way that she did, so much so that he took a step back for a moment out of shock. And instead of raising his voice at her or trying to get her to back down, he just spoke with her and was honest. That was enough for them to move forward- learning how to communicate throughout this season. I’m hopeful that we see this continue to build in season 2 and beyond. 

HAYAK VS ARMAN

I knew this was coming, but was pleasantly surprised with how it all played out. Personally, I didn’t want Hayak to die- so I am quite pleased with the fact that we still get to see the inevitable vengeance of Hayak in the future. That being said, I am so excited for what doors this opens for Arman and his character’s arc come season 2. 

Arman definitely caught onto the fact that he was still “the help” in episode 3, but to watch that relationship continually deteriorate and the way that Hayak tried to break Arman down was truly something. For me, him saying “you have nothing, you are nothing” was tame in comparison to him belittling Arman’s father and family in a previous episode (1x05, I believe). Because his comment about Arman’s father was essentially saying “your entire line and heritage are nothing, meaningless.”

Hayak truly thinks so little of Arman and his abilities and intelligence. When Arman confronted him in the club, he was shocked by the man’s gall and how smartly he framed the situation. What strikes me is that he knew that Arman was useful and had enough talent to do what Hayak needed, but he still viewed him as beneath him enough that they would never quite exist on the same level. Even now, I don’t think his opinion of Arman has changed much, at all, I just think that Arman was incredibly astute to know that isolating Hayak from everyone would force his hand.

My hope is that this shift in relationship with Hayak pushes Arman towards a reconciliation with his father. He clearly is still protective over him- Hayak’s comment stung- and I just want to see Eduardo and Arman on good terms and Arman realize that his father never stopped loving him. 

THONY & FIONA BEING THE TRUE QUEENS OF THE SEASON

I honestly don’t have much to say here outside of the fact that Thony and Fiona are two of my favorite women in television. I’ve openly shared my love for Stella Kidd from Chicago Fire and they are written in a way that mirrors what I so love about her character. 

It is so indescribably beautiful and empowering to see women of color portrayed in a way that feels honest and whole on television. 

 We have two women that are allowed to be angry and wrong and they can cry and be vulnerable, but that never takes away from their strength. They are allowed to make mistakes and be messy and choose what is right and wrong for them. They have desires and history and joy and heartache and we get to witness all of these varied moments and just fall more in love with them. And they love each other through it all, even when they’re furious with each other. And it is so beautiful.

That shot of Fiona proudly walking from the cart after Arman, Noah, and Hayak go into the suite was so satisfying. After a season of her feeling so helpless and out of control, knowing how much fear she lives in and how measured her moments of freedom can be- to watch her feel so powerful in that moment was brilliant and I smile every time I see it. 

I am so excited for what season 2 will bring for them and their relationship. And I am so proud of Fi. She’s finding her voice, even when people keep trying to take it from her. 

On that note, a quick touch on her relationship with Marco. We learn that Fiona’s father spoke down to her and damaged their relationship, and that she’s pretty much made to feel less than in her own family; and watching Marco use that knowledge to try and tear her down was infuriating. I know that siblings can hit below the belt better than anyone, but that was just horrible. I’m so glad that Chris was there to not only stand up for his mother, but to also better understand why she did what she did to leave Manila. 

I just want the world for Fiona, she deserves it.

THONY VISITING ARMAN IN PRISON

Oh, this gem of a scene. Genuinely, this was probably one of the best written scenes in the entire first season. Everything about it was brilliant and I have watched it on repeat. 

Outside of the similarities to Pride & Prejudice, the first thing that struck me about this scene was how much it reminded me of the proposal scene from Jane Eyre. In the book, Jane and Rochester have this exchange where she tells him that she’s speaking to him as an equal (and from her heart) and he acknowledges that they are equals and that he feels as if their very beings, their souls, are linked and he fears that if she leaves- that link will be severed and that it will essentially kill him.

“...it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt...I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, -you’d forget me.” (Jane Eyre, Chapter 23)

I feel as though Arman is a bit like Rochester (and Darcy). He’s married to a woman that is a bit of a mystery and, like Rochester, their marriage isn’t really a marriage anymore and he’s found his soulmate in someone that he at first tried to intimidate and had a wall up with, but ultimately fell in love with (and not for anything superficial like looks, though Arman is physically attracted to her, but with her soul- with who she is and who he’s come to know her as). This exchange felt like that moment for me, where Arman asked a question but his face said all of these things he was too afraid to voice. And Thony telling him that she would stay was so overwhelming for him and meant so much that he couldn’t even express it in words. As I said, they’ve learned how to communicate and they had the most intimate conversation while vocalizing absolutely nothing at all. 

I truly believe that even if Thony said she was leaving, Arman would’ve given her money anyway- just to ensure her future and security in Manila. But knowing that she was staying, making him her home in a way, was all he needed to entrust her with everything and to tell her that they are equals and work together now.

It was just such a beautiful example of them, again, choosing each other and somehow more romantic than any other romantic scene between them. 

Because it hasn’t been explicitly stated on the show, I don’t think that Arman knows that Thony can’t get a divorce- not without very specific elements at play. What will be interesting is seeing how they navigate things and what happens with Nadia- will they stay together for financial/legal reasons for a while? I am so intrigued and curious. 

THONY DISCOVERS THAT MARCO TOOK LUCA

Okay, so as predicted, Marco was absolute trash and took Luca. I know we’re supposed to make room for the argument that he felt justified in what he did- that Thony was tied up with criminals and that his son wouldn’t need to take extreme measures to see a doctor back home- BUT the reality is this:

Marco willingly and purposely took his son, recovering from a very recent liver transplant, out of the country and back home where Thony’s only choice would be to go back to the Philippines and essentially stay there. Once in Manila, she would be left with very little to no autonomy over her life, possibly a long uphill battle to re-enter her career in medicine, and no true recourse because she CANNOT GET A DIVORCE. He literally took all choice from her and so manipulated the situation in such a way that I don’t think I can even fully describe how fucked up it is. 

If you want to better understand Divorce in the Philippines, follow this link from the Philippine Commission on Women to better understand how devastating actions like Marco’s are for women like Thony- even worse than many of us originally realized. 

Élodie’s performance was so brilliant during this scene and I commend her on how masterfully she handled that entire moment, but wow- was it gut-wrenching. We saw Thony truly happy for the first time in the top of that scene. She was laughing with her family, hopeful about the future, finally acknowledged that she had something with Arman; and when she walked into the house, she had this sing-song cadence to her voice and just looked so light and free; and to watch her entire world crumble around her still brings tears to my eyes. I cannot imagine someone just taking a kid from their mother like that, but for Thony to have gone through ALL that she’s gone through, for her to have had to operate on her son, to escape from her husband, get dragged into this mob-world, and live life in a country with no empathy for her just to have Marco show up and snatch her baby away? There are no words.

What Thony did a year ago was out of fear for her child’s life. What Marco did was out of spite and pure toxic control. And while I still believe that Marco has good parts to him, he is so undeserving of Thony (and right now Luca) and needs to get help. 

I am interested to see what happens next season. If they’ll pick up right away or down the line once Arman has been released and Thony has been without Luca for a while. What will happen when Arman finds out and how long it will take for her to get Luca back? How might Garrett  play a role in all of this? I’m also curious about how this will affect Fiona and Thony. I don’t think Fiona will be able to defend her brother at this point, so I imagine that we’ll see her become even more protective of Thony and this will color how she interacts with Arman and anyone outside of their family. 

Lastly, I want to say that I am so sad that we won’t have Carlos in season 2. Re-watching the show allowed me to really pay attention to him in each scene and he brought this quiet bit of both levity and depth to everything. Watching his silent reactions to Thony and Arman crack me up, and seeing how much he deeply cared for Arman but also had this level of respect and gentleness towards Thony really struck me. When he brought her to Hayak, he wasn’t as rough or heartless as I originally thought. He saw she was with her child and while he didn’t show emotion, he didn’t really try to intimidate her like we know he is capable of. He wasn’t particularly rough with her (especially when he was out of sight of everyone else) and he seemed to be in tune with Arman to find a way to keep her alive when Hayak was ready to kill her. I wish they didn’t kill him off because he could’ve been such a great character with so much growth in coming seasons. 

Thank you for sticking with me through this incredibly long post. I could probably write more, but I feel that this is long and descriptive enough to convey my main thoughts on everything. I have truly loved this first season and getting to enjoy it with all of you. Thank you for your questions, responses, support, and continuing to celebrate a show that focuses on women in such an honest light. 

XO

[jaehyunfirstlove]

CONGRATS ON YOUR 1K MILESTONE <3 can i please request a dad!jaehyun smut? 🥺💗

Pairing: single dad!jaehyun x teacher's aide!f. reader

Genre: fluff, smut (18+ only)

Warnings: cheesy flirting, unprotected sex, oral sex (f. receiving)

Word count: 2k

A/N: aaaanndd another one i got carried away with lol! hope you like it, anon, and thanks for sending it in!

It was the first day of school and also your first day on the job as a teacher’s aide, and you were ushering the kids into the building when you noticed a boy standing off to the side, clinging to his dad’s leg. You noticed his dad had bent down, attempting to encourage the boy to enter the school with the rest of his classmates, but the boy just shook his head, holding even tighter to his dad’s leg. You walked over to see if you could help.

“Hi there!” you said in your sweetest voice, addressing the boy, “you must be Jeffrey. I’m Ms. L/N, your teacher’s helper.” You held out your hand for him to shake, but he just buried his face further into his dad’s leg.

“I’m sorry,” Jeffrey’s dad shrugged, looking at you with anxious eyes, “he’s just really shy since he doesn’t know anyone.”

“It’s fine,” you smiled, suddenly struck with how attractive Jeffrey’s dad was. Indeed, most of the parents and teachers milling about in the school yard were staring at him. “I’ve been trained for this sort of thing,” you reassured him. You bent down to be eye level with Jeffrey.

“I’m new too, just like you,” you told him, and this got his attention, as he peeked at you from behind his dad’s leg. “And I see you like Pokemon,” you continued, pointing at the keychain on his backpack. Now you really got his attention, and he finally emerged from behind his dad’s back. “I have some Pokemon stickers in the classroom, do you want to see them?”

Jeffrey nodded, smiling widely as he took your hand and followed you into the building. You glanced back at his father, who smiled gratefully at you, and you felt a stutter in your chest at the sight of the dimples that emerged in his cheeks.

---

Over the next few weeks Jeffrey became really attached to you, bonding with you over your shared love of Pokemon. He would sometimes play with the other kids, but mostly he would shadow you as you did your rounds during recess. He’d even opened up to you, telling you how his parents had separated and he’d moved into the area with his dad. You were intrigued by the story, by this sweet little boy who obviously missed his home, and a doting dad who had upended his life to take care of his son.

One day, Jeffrey’s dad was late to pick him up so you offered to stay with him while he waited. When Mr. Jeong finally pulled into the parking lot, he was frazzled, apologizing to you profusely for being late to pick up Jeffrey.

“I’m so sorry,” he’d put his hands together in a placating gesture, his eyes pleading, and you couldn’t help but smile at how endearing it all was. “I had a meeting that went late at work, I promise it won’t happen again.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, and he looked at you in surprise. “Mr. Jeong, those aren’t the kinds of promises you should be making,” you said jokingly. You’d only meant to lighten the tone of the situation, but he looked at you then, gears whirring in his head.

“Well Ms. L/N, what kinds of promises do you suggest I make, then?” he tilted his head at you, and your brain was busily trying to decipher if he was being flirtatious or not. You noticed that Jeffrey had wandered off to kick at the wood chips in the playground, and therefore couldn’t hear your conversation, so you decided to be bold.

“Maybe… the kind where I can benefit too, Mr. Jeong?” you raised your eyebrows at him, and he broke into a wide grin.

“You can call me Jaehyun,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he regarded you.

“Then you can call me Y/N,” you answered, then leaned in, whispering, “but not in front of Jeffrey.”

He laughed, a beautiful, velvety sound that was like music to your ears. “How’s this for a promise then,” he put a finger to his lips, pretending like he was thinking hard, “I promise that I’ll be on time to pick you up for our date this Friday night.”

“Is that your way of asking me out?” you asked cheekily.

“Yes? Do you accept?” he asked, now a little unsure but still encouraged by your lighthearted tone.

“I accept,” you nodded, “but let’s see if you can keep that promise.”

---

Friday night came and Jaehyun was indeed late, but just by a few minutes. You couldn’t help but tease him about it the entire time you were out together, and he took your teasing with a very good nature that impressed you. When it finally came time to take you home, he was silent as he walked you to your door, his face pensive.

“Everything okay?” you asked, noticing the change in his demeanor and wondering if you’d done or said something wrong.

“Yeah, I just… I just haven’t done this in a while… the whole dating thing,” he said hesitantly, running a hand through his hair. You noticed he would do that when he was shy or embarrassed, and to you it was the most endearing thing.

“I get it,” you nodded, “so there’s one new rule you need to know about.”

He looked at you questioningly. “What is it?”

“Well, breaking a promise on the first date means you have to come inside and have a coffee with me.”

He suppressed a smile, nodding his head and furrowing his brow. “Ah I see. Well, I would hate to break the rules, so let’s do it.”

When the coffee was done and a lot of heavy looks had been exchanged, but no actual move had been made, Jaehyun got up from the sofa with a sigh.

“Well I guess I’d better go, it’s getting late and the babysitter needs to get home.” Rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, he clearly seemed hesitant to leave, but he knew his responsibilities, something about him you really respected.

“Of course,” you responded, but you didn’t want him to leave either. When he turned his back to you, you had the sudden urge to touch him, just to be close, so you placed your hand gently on his back. At your touch he stopped and turned to you, and before you knew it he was gathering you in his arms, kissing you gently, tentatively, his lips soft and warm against yours. You sighed into his mouth, and that made him grip you tighter, and soon enough the kiss became heated and you had the sudden urge to rip his clothes off. But he eventually pulled away, ever so reluctantly, resting his forehead against yours as he tried to breathe properly again.

“I really have to go,” he said, and before you could pull him back and tempt him some more he walked towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” he winked at you, before pulling your door closed behind him.

---

The next time he asked you out he surprised you by inviting you over to his place, saying he wanted to flex his cooking skills. You asked where Jeffrey would be and he said he’d be staying over at a cousin’s for the weekend, and that gave you an inkling that you’d have more than just dinner in store for you.

You showed up at his door wearing your most killer outfit, and it definitely had that effect, because when he opened his door and took one look at you he looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

“Ms. L/N? Is that you?” his mouth had dropped open, eyes roaming all over your figure hungrily.

“Yes it is, Mr. Jeong. Do you not approve of what I’m wearing?” you asked innocently.

“I believe it violates every article of the dress code,” he said, shaking his head.

“Does that mean I have to take it off?” you asked with a smirk, and that was enough for him. He pulled you inside, slamming the door closed behind you, his hands rough and needy on your body as he pulled you to him.

“A violation like that requires a hands-on punishment,” he growled, in between sucking on your lips and then your neck, “which means I get to take it off you.”

He pulled you towards his bedroom, both of you stumbling over Jeffrey’s toys while he apologized between kisses and you alternated between giggling and moaning as his hands squeezed your ass, and then your breasts.

“Oh, Jaehyun,” you moaned, when he finally got you onto his bed, his body engulfing you as he hiked your skirt up to your hips. He groaned deep in his throat when he found you bare, his hand going straight to your pussy.

“Ms. L/N you are naughtier than I thought,” he said, shaking his head in awe, and you only had a moment to smile devilishly at him before he bent down and sucked your clit into his mouth.

You cried out, your body reacting instantly to the way he was pleasuring you, his eyes dark and hooded as he watched you fall apart. You threaded your fingers into his hair as you felt your orgasm coming on, biting your lip to keep from screaming as he continued to suck harshly, like you were the sweetest lollipop he’d ever tasted. Your orgasm came hot and fast, and instantly he released your abused clit, hastily pulling off his clothes before hovering over you.

You looked up at him, eyes half-lidded, lips flushed and shiny with your juices, his beautifully styled hair now falling messily into his eyes. “Are you going to give me my punishment now, Mr. Jeong?”

He smirked, before he reached down, peeled your dress off of you, slowly. Once it was off he ran his hands all over your body, admiring, watching your reaction as he flicked a nipple, or dipped a finger into your folds. When he had you panting and whining for more, he slid his cock into you, so deep that your back arched off the bed and your fingers dug into his skin.

“Y/N,” he groaned huskily into your ear, losing himself in the feel of you as he drilled you into the mattress, “fuck, you feel so good.”

You couldn’t even respond, every sound stuck in your throat as his cock hit you in just the right spot. You clung to his shoulders, his hips snapping into you so hard you’d be surprised if you didn’t have bruises by morning. The knot in your stomach started to form ridiculously fast, spurred on by the sounds he was making as he fucked you, low, deep, from the base of his throat, the reverberations in his chest going straight to your core.

“Jaehyun, fuck, that feels good, just like that,” you moaned, and your encouragement fueled him, his pace quickening.

“Like that, baby?” he asked, watching as you started to fall apart. He tweaked a nipple, and as your mouth opened to cry out, your orgasm finally hitting you, he crashed his lips against yours, swallowing your cries as you came, your body shuddering, pussy pulsing around his cock.

He released your lips to let you breathe, but he continued pumping into you, pulling you flush against him and pressing sloppy kisses to your neck. His thrusts started to stutter, and with one last deep thrust that took your breath away, he came with a low groan, face buried in your neck.

You were both breathing hard, bathed in sweat, but he still stayed inside you, nuzzling into your neck. You ran your fingers through his hair, and soon enough he pulled back to look at you, his eyes soft.

“I haven’t done that in a long time, so I hope it was okay,” he said sheepishly, a blush creeping up to the tips of his ears.

“Mr. Jeong,” you smiled, continuing to card your fingers through his hair, “I give you an A plus for that.”

[echonk3]

been rewatching the nirvanai trailers a noticed a few things which is fun and made some theories

-in the story trailer the small flashes to what look like old videos look similar to the hiddenbat videos in terms of both the style they use and feel

-ryuki says "i cant forget about what I did" so maybe murder?????

-yoooooo we get a mention of bats490 and the bats motif

-that purple haired woman (Tukiko it seems) may be a part of the nirvana initiative, which kinda seems to be the thing happening in the arg

-she also might be related to Boss due to similar voice (or they just used the same va for the trailers) and also general look

-APPARENTLY HER LAST NAME CAN BE READ AS A WORDPLAY OF 490 SO ALMOST CERTAINLY CONNECTED TO THE HIDDENBATS ACCOUNT IF NOT THE RUNNER

-tiny theory: it finds people who have committed crimes and gotten away with it and who have like a thing for the morphogenetic field and after a whole time period of breaking them down blackmails them to join or else they'll go to the police

-ryuki also may be a part of it cause of the "NO MERCYYYY" thing

-more of the bats490 video

-and also a dude watching it. my second thought is that it's like a viral video (my first was "watch it and in nine days you'll die")

-so somebody, likely mizuki, is supposed to help ryuki by dispelling his hallucinations. interesting

-imagine if the "terrible terrible terrible terrible that guy can just die" is referring to binato lmao

-"your best friend and your family is about to die but you can only save one" what if this has to do with the thing of aine's and binato's fates? like a choice like we might have to do

-wait another mention of that guy who might've said he'd fix everything for ryuki. how... interesting

-looked back at the sunaiku website and noticed one of the first posts mentions finding somebody. my first thought is that its ryuki. i know it says that their family was contacted butttttt do we reallyyyy trust sunaiku, especially since they might be connected to naix? plus ryuki being found in the mountains does tbh sound like something that'd happen to a protag

-okay so somebody said this on twitter and I'm running with it? What if A (who I still think is ryuki) and the victim, Jin, were part of a balance game??? And Jin lost. So he was split into two, a balance. with one half of his body being found in different times, maybe two different timelines. and binato's death message merely said he was sent off this world. i know mizuki remembers the bodies which does help disprove this theory but potentially the truth has an inkling of this theory, like half of Jin's body had been briefly in a different timeline where time moves a lot slower than ours

-WAIT A SECOND IN THE ARG WE HAVE A MESSAGE ON THE SUNAIKU SITE WHEN YOU INPUT ONE OF THE CODES MENTIONING IF YOU KEEP FINDING THE PROOFS OF PROOFS YOULL EVENTUALLY HIT A WALL OR SOMETHING AND ANOTHER MESSAGES ASKS IF EVERYBODY ELSE IS JUST AN NPC AND THE TRAILER TALKS ABOUT FINDING THE TRUTH OF THE WORLD AND IT STARTS WITH THE NIRVANA INITIATIVE AKA FINDING PROOFS OF PROOFS

-somebody on twitter already pointed this out but binato was totally screwing around with the sunaiku's ceo's wife considering the wife of a CEO was mentioned in his burner account

-also the ceo going missing probably means he did some sort of crime and is going through a similar situation to aine and binato

-unlikely theory: that man that ryuki refers to is the ceo

-the unknown assailant in the trailers might be kizuna (mainly basing this off of the assailant's colour scheme)

-my theory is that the victim in nirvanai that's first found committed a crime, likely murder and got punished for it and due to the morphogenetic field or some shit, half of his body showed up six years later

-or he has a twin or a doppelganger or something that also got cut in half and showed up

-they better have a big dance number at the end I mean they have amalee voicing a character and she has good singing it'd be like have jonathan groff in the first frozen movie and never using him for singing again

-another theory: shoma the sixth grader is A

[sanstropfremir]

I’d love your thoughts on BTS and their current image and music if you have them and aren’t afraid of the mindless internet hoards.

Personally, I liked a lot of their older stuff, but haven’t liked anything since I think the Fake Love promotions 3+ years ago. They’d started losing their personality and soul before that album cycle, but it feels like the sanitization of their image and artistry really kicked into hyperdrive after that. Now most of what they do seems like a sterile money grab driven by the Hybe hive mind which is a shame.

ok alrighty (cracks knuckles) let's get into it.

now that i've fully given myself a headache watching the majority of the bts videography, here are three points i'm going to cover:

performative character and the lack thereof

interesting aesthetics and the lack thereof, and

the inevitable cracking of perfection

ready, set, let's begin.

1.

idol music is very clearly definited by spectacle based aesthetics. and it's had that structure for its entire existence. so i gotta hand it to hybe for this one, because they managed to revolutionize being utterly fucking average. the triumph of bts is that they're just some guys and they look like just some guys. hybe found a niche in the system and then gamed that system to the tune of one of the largest musical acts in the world. they're not marketing bts as a romantic parasocial relationship, they're marketing them as your friends. and that is just as insidious to lonely kids as a run of the mill romantic fantasy. but that's not what i'm here to talk about today.

there's a pattern i find very interesting with bts mvs and that is that i don't remember anything about them. specifically, i don't remember the stuff that's happening IN the video; not the styling, not the setpieces, if i didn't know the members i doubt i would remember them either. what i DO remember, is how expensive the production is, and specific shots. i couldn't tell you what a single member was wearing, but i sure as hell remember that first upward angle shot of jungkook and the rusted park ride in spring day. or every single time they do that birdseye shot of jin in like every video. honestly as far as i'm aware jin has only ever worn a loose fitting beige longsleeve shirt.

it took bts a long time to establish any kind of consistent visual character. and the character they did establish.... i don't know if you can call a family-friendly-style clean aesthetic 'character'. they debuted as a hip hop group to little (comparative) success, and then made a switch to doing an early version of where they're currently at right now. if you've seen any of the mvs, you know that this is a pretty significant visual change. i don't think it is inherently a bad change, since the visual branding for hiphop based groups always tips over into iffy terrritory, but it is dramatic enough and early enough that it doesn't strike me as a natural evolution. concept switch ups are common, but they usually work because the members have established a bit of character for themselves, used their performance abilities and presence to fit into a niche in the group. the idol mould is perfect for showcasing the performers; that's its function. the groups that are the most fun to watch are the ones with stage presence, the ones who know how to perform, who can act all the parts they need to play. and bts? 4/7 actual performers on a good day. in my personal opinion it's 2/7.

i'm gonna expand on what i said about jimin here (this is technically the first part of this series), because it does apply to the rest of the group on the whole:

and i think here is where we see the main crux of the difference between taemin and jimin as performers: taemin has both an artistic and an idol persona. we know and understand him to do solo work that has a separate artistic meaning to just him being an idol. even though this performance was pre-move, i would still say this applies, because he's hot off press your number, where he's acting in a story based mv. jimin on the other hand just has his idol persona. he's not known for creating the same kind of storytelling that taemin is.

bts has been very insistent on the image of the group as a single unit. despite having the size of fanbase and the revenue that would make any official solo debut a massive success, none of them have done any substantial solo work. this isn't artistically a problem, and i think it's very admirable of them to be so dedicated to the image and the legacy of the group, when that can be an uncommon trait in the industry. i do however, think it starts to become an issue when we want to discuss what the artistic visions and images of groups are. shinee taemin and solo taemin have two distinct artistic representations, and taemin himself will attest to that. it's the same with all the shinee members that have solo careers, and the same with other groups. jackson, bambam, yugyeom, and jaebeom's solo work is all very different from got7. yixing's solo work is very different from exo's. even the subunits within exo all have their own character (cbx and sc). kpop groups all ostensibly are trained under the same system, so why the disparity with bts? mostly, it's their brand of "authenticity." it's impossible to perform authentically, by the nature of performance as a medium it is unnatural, and tragically, not everyone is naturally interesting, or suited to performing: that's why the performing arts even exist in the first place. it required painstaking training to be good at performing; it is a complex set of skills and those skills are not learnt by "being authentic." being an idol is not just the singing, dancing, rapping; that's only half the work. you need to be able to act to be a compelling performer. pulling your true self and emotions out on stage every night is a fast track to burnout and psychological issues, there's plenty of evidence. the only member of bts of whom i can say for some certainty has a persona and a stage presence is jhope/hoseok, a) because he's kept up a very specific brand in the solo work that he has done, and b) he has actual dance training, not just kpop dance training. the rest of them may have the kpop dance and the kpop vocal training, but what they do not have is the ability to market themselves as compelling performers on stage. taehyung is the only other member i would hesitantly give a semblance of persona and ability to, but i think he stumbled onto that mostly by accident. and if all the pieces don't each have a distinctive colour, how can the whole machine be visually interesting?

2.

bts may never have been able to establish an aesthetic brand, but what they did establish is an intellectual one. if you talk to a fan, the schtick they give is that "it's about the lyrics." as noble as having an intellectual or cerebral message is, what does that look like? how do you portray intellectual on stage, on film? what about intellectual is interesting to watch? cerebral, by it's literal nature as a descriptor, is very difficult to communicate in visual language because it is internal. to successfully communicate cerebrality and intellect in a short form medium like music videos requires a deft hand with metaphor that can elude even an experienced designer. and honestly? i don't know whether to applaud hybe's visual team for being the most successful subtle contemporary designers i've every seen, or to decry them as worst kpop designers i've ever seen. maybe both. regardless, i don't think they're able to cross the gap.

there are exactly four mvs where i actually remember the content of the mv and not the frame it sits in, and those are dna, idol, the singularity comeback trailer with taehyung, and war of hormone. and of an eight year career......that's not very many. these four mvs have at least an inkling of interesting spectacle and character, but even then, it's still a stretch. there is absolutely nothing to write home about in the styling for dna, other than it's well colour matched. I don't even know if I should include singularity because it involves none of the other members. idol is probably their most interesting mv because it actually has alternative styling and varies (at least a little bit) from the standard hybe boom crane shot-that-shows-off-how-we-can-afford-big-studio-spaces-and-locations. the company and the group would be loathe to admit it, but war of hormone is a well designed and interesting mv for the time it was made, with a well crafted gimmick and some actual showing of character from the members. it was the start of a potential that they squashed quite quickly because it wasn't picking up in the hiphop-group-saturated market of 2014. but the rest of their mvs? remarkably uninspired styling. like it's truly impressive how boring the styling is. and like i've said, that is the triumph in their aesthetics: they all look like normal dudes (if you had professional skin + makeup techs looking after them for the last 8 years).

all of this is a carefully crafted image that's tailored to hooking an audience, especially an international one. the mvs are boring in the relative scale of kpop, but they're just different enough from a western pop mv to catch attention. and once you do sink a hook, there's a direct clickfunnel of content that bills itself on these men being "authentic" and "self-producing," which is a huge draw to international fans, because people are racist and believe that the kpop industry is a factory that produces idols like clones, where none of them know how to do anything other than sing and dance and all the music is just handed to them by companies. and they have SO much content that there's no way a new fan can get to it all in a timely manner, so they'll never have to engage with any other kpop artists' work if they don't actively seek it out. but that's another essay for another time.

3.

that brings us to current day, in which at least the last five bts releases have been in the same aesthetic vein of positive, sanitized, and pristine. i said it in one of my txt responses and i will say it again here: money scrubs the humanity from the aesthetic of living. minimalism is for rich white people. hybe and bts may have pivoted their style and brand directly into the lane of mass appeal, but when you pair that with the amount of money funding them, there's a cognitive dissonance between the message and the aesthetics in which it's portrayed. some people do like the clean cut looks, and i won't say that they don't work, but as you've likely gleaned from this response, it isn't my style and if you've been around and reading my writing for longer you'll know that my tastes runs much closer to the messy and the weird, so very little about any of bts' visuals have appeal to me. i do find the contradiction of applying the appeal of radical relatability with the aesthetics of expansive (and expensive) minimalism interesting; it's an extremely fine line that hybe is walking and eventually they are going to tip over, the porcelain mask will not hold forever. maintaining the all ages aesthetic is going to be difficult now that all of them are grown ass men. with other groups of this member age and generation there's very obviously been a shift to a more adult tone, and not necessarily explicitly. got7, mx, nu'est, btob, shinee, 2pm, and groups that have older members like a.c.e and sf9 have all made slow shifts in tone that are undeniably aimed at a maturing audience: they know their core fanbases are aging with them and they (the fans) are not as interested in the 'boy' in boy group. and most of them have telltale visual styles, enough so that i can distinguish a specific group's mv. the last year and change of mx mvs have a very distinctive character; got7 too, since easily as far back as if you do. i can always tell an a.c.e mv by its impeccable fashion and formic styling, and although shinee has always had a more experimental aesthetic edge, their sound and voices are unmistakable.

honestly, i can't predict what bts is going to do in the future, but i personally don't believe they can keep up their clean aesthetic indefinitely without some fallout. part of the fun of following bands is watching them grow musically, and the last couple of years of bts haven't felt like growth. there are fans that have already started realizing it, and there's likely to be more soon.

---

the third part is here, which is a short followup about some of bts' industry influence.

[zaptap]

ive made a few of these bingo sheets and theyre fun so i decided to make one not just for e3 but also JUST for splatoon 3 (not just for e3 but for like the whole lifetime of the game). also heres my updated list of characters id like to see in smash, ordered generally by which id like more and/or think are the most realistic

since min min got in i took out helix, and since i couldnt decide whether to add in waluigi or madeline i added another row (realistically i dont think any indies are getting in but i threw some in anyway). also i was like “oh yeah maybe theyd put in a gen viii pokemon” so i threw in hatterene since thats one of my favorites.

also as for waluigi (and shovel knight for that matter) i think it would be nice to see an assist trophy get in just to break that rule. also i remember being super surprised he wasnt in brawl (back then i thought he and wario were equally important) and even though that was based on a wrong impression ive still felt like he should be in there ever since

notes about the bingos under the cut

really is about time for those n64 games, especially now that mario is dead so theyre free to release sm64 on it. game boy games would be nice sometime too

would also make sense to include banjo-kazooie in that, nintendos had a good relationship with microsoft lately and the total absence of anything banjo-kazooie on the switch is odd since it’s a dlc character (every other one has a game on switch they can use for cross-marketing, even if joker’s took a while) and i think the best explanation for that would be that theyre holding off for the nso n64 app (this is easiest from a technical standpoint because all they have to do is make a deal to use the roms)

when are they putting octolings in mk8d

xenoblade chronicles x is one of the only wii u games left that they could port (aside from ones that wouldnt make much sense like splatoon and ssb4) so i guess that might as well happen sometime. also monolith soft might be doing something else besides helping with splatoon 3

im not ready for metroid prime 4 (im over halfway through mp2 and therefore the trilogy as a whole) but it’s been a while, they might show it and it could even come out this year

hal apparently recently hinted at a new kirby game or something

the upgraded switch is obviously going to be called the Nintendo Switch ͥ  since they already did the ds lite so theyre clearly naming everything in the family after the ds family, theres absolutely no flaw in this logic. idk if theyre showing it, but unlike 2019 they didnt say they werent showing new hardware (just that they were showing software, which could be taken as denying rumors, but they sometimes specify when certain things arent being shown)

metroid prime trilogy also might come this year. would make sense to release it before mp4 since not everyone is going to buy a wii u to get it (and at this point that doesnt get nintendo any money since they stopped making them)

where is detective pikachu 2. i hope it has the blue pikachu from that first tease they gave us in like 2014 (2013? that was a loooong time ago idk)

they said this was MOSTLY 2021 so i am absolutely getting my hopes up for splatoon 2

the two sinnoh games could likely be there

would be super cool if oddity came to switch. and almost as ironic as megalovania getting into smash

we havent seen the botw sequel for a couple years so we’re kind of due for an update on that

it’s ace attorney’s 20th anniversary this year so maybe theyre doing something. theyre already porting those games though so idk. maybe he’s getting in smash

whats with that watermelon mario render

i held off on watching a playthrough for ndrv3 on the off chance it came to switch and i could play a dangan ronpa game for real for once but it’s now been 4 years and we just passed the 10th anniversary of the series (albeit during a pandemic when i wouldnt expect them to have done anything) so it would be cool to see the series come to switch. i think if it still doesnt after this though i’ll just watch the playthrough, 4 years is long enough. amazed ive avoided spoilers this long, i still know next to nothing about the game

im about done with acnh but im still waiting on those splatoon items. and i ran out of storage in february so i need more of that too

nintendo did stuff for zelda’s 30th anniversary so i doubt theyre forgetting the 35th. maybe wwhd/tphd ports, idk

been a couple years since fire emblem, intelligent systems is probably up to something besides planning yet another paper mario spinoff

miyamoto forgot pikmin 4 in the oven 6 years ago and it got burnt to a crisp and thats why it hasnt come out yet because he had to start over

and splatoon

the inklings scared daft punk into quitting so now that theres no competition in the robot musician scene they should have a daft punk style group

i waited and waited and neither of my top two splatoon stages (flounder and d’alfonsino) came back in splatoon 2 so i hope just because splatoon 3 isnt in inkopolis doesnt mean they still wont return

would be sick as hell if there was a real hide and seek mode instead of just sticking to your own rules in private battles. havent played that since 2015 but it was super fun

show us the effects of the chaos world

i wanted mc craig to have a song in octo expansion and they didnt deliver. heres another chance

splatnet 3 baby

cant wait for nogami to do a funny 3 pose

abxy came back for splatoon 2.... am i gonna be that lucky again...?

salmon run doesnt make sense if youre friends with a smallfry but they could either change the story context (you just fight “evil” salmonids?) or replace it with an equally fun co-op mode

amiibo!!! i think i said this before but they should label them by weapons if these cephalopods dont have genders, would make more sense (the gendered ones had different weapons anyway)

returning characters!!!! would like to see everyone have a role of some kind

maybe #GearForAll wasnt successful in getting the emperor/spy/mecha gear, but perhaps theyll at least consider not making that stuff exclusive this time around

squid girl gear should be back. and they should call it a dress instead of a tunic because its a dress. and theres no gender now anyway

as ive said before... TRIPLIES!! you hold one in each hand and another in your mouth. and you can spin around like the tasmanian devil

remove splatfest tee annoyances: you should have a prompt at the end of a splatfest to pay to scrub your tee (to make sure you get the chunks) also it should be on a neutral brand so you dont end up with an overabundance of ink resistance up (or whatever else)

better online and cloud saves would certainly justify having a second splatoon game on the same console, as much as im loving that it exists

hopefully theres a global testfire again

sooner or later the workers will rise up and kill mr grizz

remember in splatoon 1 where if you had squid beatz (via the amiibo) you could “play” it in the lobby and change the music? then you were stuck listening to only bubble bath in splatoon 2? why did they take that option away they should bring it back

looking at those apartment buildings in the trailer i think it would be cool if you had your own room and could decorate it

an octavio redemption arc would be fun to see. in the manga he stole the zapfish because the octarians had an energy crisis, and in the end they worked out a deal to share the electricity

[konig-is-bbygrl]

Lost Promises. Gibbs x Reader Angst

Word Count: 2014

Pairing: Gibbs x Reader

Warnings: THIS IS SAD! Also, guns, gunshot wounds, blood, and death. be WARNED ALL WHO ENTER HERE. 

Written for: @oneworthsaving

Jethro woke up to the sounds of you vomiting into the toilet in the attached bathroom. It had been happening every morning for quite a while. Most days it was just nausea and an aversion to certain foods. Other days it was a little worse with vomiting. Today was a bad day. He was beginning to get worried about you. Getting out of the bed, he noticed the sun hadn’t even risen yet. Checking the clock, it read 4:45 am, much earlier than you normally got up. He walked to the closed bathroom door and knocked.

“(Y/N)? Are you okay?”

“Don’t come in,” you croaked, your voice raw.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” he asked, not allowing the subtle feeling of panic rise to his voice. 

The toilet flushed and the sink ran. You opened the door after a few moments and looked at Jethro. You looked awful, your hair was a mess and you looked ragged from throwing up. In one of your hands was a pregnancy test. His eyes widened and the breath seemed to leave his lungs.

“Jethro,” you began hesitantly, a shy smile gracing your lips, “I have something very important to tell you.”

He pulled you into his arms and hugged you close. He had an inkling of an idea of what it was.

“Are you…” he trailed off.

You nodded into his shoulder and grinned. A smile spread across his face. His heart filled with joy. He truly was happy. He pulled away from the hug just slightly and kissed your head before tugging you back into the firm hug. 

“Well, there’s no point in going back to sleep. Get dressed,” he chuckled, pulling away fully from the hug.

You two went through your morning routines, every now and again giving each other meaningful kisses. As Jethro tucked into his oatmeal, a thought came to his mind. 

“You aren’t going to any more crime scenes. They’re too dangerous.”

“What? Jethro, I’ll be fine. I’m not staying on the sidelines,” you protested stubbornly.

“I’m not risking you getting injured and possibly losing our unborn child, (Y/N).”

“Crime scenes are nothing to be scared of Jethro!” You snapped angrily. 

“What if you get shot while on a scene? Huh? You risk not only the baby’s safety but yours as well and I’m not losing you!” Jethro’s voice raised slightly in volume.

You turned sharply away from him, looking down at the frying pan where you had been frying some eggs. Sighing, he stood from his chair and moved to stand behind you. His strong arms wrapped around your waist. His chin rested gently on your shoulder and he pulled you closer by your hips.

“I’m sorry, dear. I’m just worried about your safety and the safety of our baby. You can have this one last case, then you’re on deskwork until you go on maternity leave. Okay?” he asked softly.

You sighed and nodded. “Fine. I’m sorry I’m so stubborn.”

You turned around and pressed your forehead to his. You stared at each other for a long moment before sharing a sweet kiss. You turned back to your eggs and finished cooking them. When you both were finished with your breakfasts, you both left for work. 

You walked into the office together and into the elevator together. Jethro looked at you with admiration in his gaze. You were carrying his child. He had never considered having another child after Shannon and Kelly. His hands slid around your waist and pulled you close. 

“I love you so much,” he hummed. 

You chuckled and kissed his cheek as the door opened. You two separated and stepped into the office. Jethro went to the top offices for his morning meetings and you went to your desk. Your hand moved to the small swell low in your stomach. You smiled down at your belly.

The other agents steadily trickled in. Looking at the amount of paperwork on your desk, you frowned at it. Dinozzo walked passed your desk to get to his.

“You don’t look too happy,” he commented.

“I’m not,” you muttered as your frown deepened.

“Why not? Did the boss saddle you with more paperwork?”

“No, after today I can’t go into the field.”

“How long?” Bishop asked, setting her things down on her desk.

“Oh, about nine months,” you uttered with a smirk.

Everyone’s heads snapped to you in pure shock. They had known about your relationship with Jethro for about six months. They still didn’t know about the little courthouse wedding the pair of you had had two months ago. No one had noticed the modest ring adorning your left ring finger, nor the wedding band Gibbs now wore. Ducky was the only one who knew about the wedding because he was the one to witness it. 

Bishop rushed over and hugged you, gently tipping you back in your chair a bit. Abby came in and asked what had happened. After a quick explanation, she rushed over and hugged you as well. The men of the office stood there rather awkwardly as the women chatted.

Jethro came down the stairs. “Got a body.”

Everyone nodded and got ready to leave. They paired off to drive to the scene. Jethro grabbed your arm and told you to hang back for a moment. 

“Remember our talk. Please, I want you to wear a vest,” his eyes were pleading.

“Jethro,” you groaned, “it’s just a crime scene. I’ll be okay. I promise.”

This promise did nothing to ease his anxiety. They left quickly to go to the crime scene. It was a dead petty officer, hung from a flagpole in the middle of the woods. This raised many questions. Things like why is there a flagpole in the woods? What was he doing in the woods? It was just the team, no police. This was confusing for the team.

“I feel like we’re being watched,” Bishop hummed, still investigating the scene. 

You were looking around the base of the flagpole. A gunshot rang out in the stillness of the woods. Everyone crouched and drew their guns. Pain erupted in your side and you fell into the grass. 

“(Y/N)!” Jethro yelled, running to you. 

His hands found their way to your gunshot wound. Pain tore through your stomach and side. Warmth poured down your side and under your back. Blood. Panic rose in your throat and you began to tremble. 

“Jethro, Jethro, I’m scared,” you whimpered, your hands moving to clutch his shirt, staining it with your blood. 

“Sh, it’ll be fine, (Y/N). It’ll be okay. Just don’t worry about it. Try to stay calm. McGee! Call an ambulance!” Jethro barked.

He didn’t allow the panic to rise to his voice, but his shoulders were trembling. Your hands kept clutching his shirt, tears gathering in your eyes. Fear overrode the pain. 

“Jethro, I don’t wanna die. Please don’t let me die,” you begged, your voice thick with tears. 

“Y-You aren’t going to die! I promise!” Jethro said, the panic he was hiding now manifesting in his voice. 

Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes and a sob left his throat. His hands pressed harder onto the wound. You were beginning to lose feeling in your lower extremities. The realization shook you but was oddly calming. You brought your hand to his cheek.

“Jethro…” you mumbled to him, “I can’t feel my legs.”

Another sob left his throat as he pulled his hands from your side and gathered you into his arms. He buried his face in your hair and let his tears fall freely. 

“Why… Why again? Our baby would’ve been so beautiful,” he sobbed. 

“Hey, hey. Don’t let me hold you back from being happy,” you told him, staring into his eyes.

“How can I be happy if you aren’t with me?” he asked in distress.

“Jethro… I’m so tired…” you hummed, black rimming your vision.

“Y-You should sleep, then. Go to sleep, when you wake up, you’ll feel so much better.”

He leaned down shakily and kissed your forehead. 

“I love you, Jethro…” you mumbled as you took your last breath.

“I love you too, (Y/N)... I love you,” he sobbed, kissing your hair. 

By the time the ambulance got there, you were long gone. Your body had gone cold and Jethro was sobbing. His throat had gone dry and his hand rested over the small swell of your belly. Today, he lost two loves. His wife and his baby. Again. 

Nearly a week later, the case was solved and the funeral had been planned. Everyone from NCIS, the base in New Orleans, and the BAU showed up to mourn your death. You had helped with cases with all the agencies in the past.

It rained that day. A cold, pouring rain. Everyone was inside for the visitation and funeral. It was an open casket. As Jethro walked passed the casket, tears fell from his eyes. You were beautiful. Your hair styled in soft curls and wore the dress you had worn on your first date with Jethro. It still fit, even with your small bump. Everyone took their seats and the pastor gave a beautiful sermon about you reaching heaven. Jethro was then invited to give his eulogy. He stood at the podium and looked at the casket.

“(Y/N) was a...she was…” he took a deep breath. He couldn’t focus his eyes as they clouded with tears. 

Several sobs left the attendees. In the front was the team from NCIS including director Vance. Behind them was the New Orleans team and towards the back was the BAU team. 

Jethro took another deep breath. “She was a light to all of our lives. She always knew to smile. She couldn’t stop smiling. She loved working on the boat with me in the basement and she loved helping everyone, as is evident in how many of you are here. She was my wife, but my best friend. She… She was carrying my child. This is the second time I’ve lost a wife and a child. It doesn’t seem fair. She was taken away from me too early. I can’t help but blame myself that I didn’t force her to stay at the office. That I didn’t make her wear a vest. I want her back. I want her in my arms again…” His voice died in his throat. 

He went back to his seat between Ducky and Pride. Behind him sat Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi. Rossi’s hand gently squeezed Jethro’s shoulder. More people got up to give speeches about her including Abby, Ducky, Bishop, Pride, and some of the BAU members. One woman, whom they called Garcia, could barely get through half her speech without bursting into tears and going back to her seat next to a taller black man. 

The group left the funeral home and drove in a procession to the graveyard, where they lowered the casket into the hole in the ground. On the headstone was your name, birth, and death dates and an engraving that looked similar to yours and Jethro’s marriage certificate. Jethro leaned on Pride as he watched the casket be lowered into the ground. 

After the burial, everyone went back to Jethro’s home to mourn together. The group cleared out after a few hours, everyone giving their condolences to Jethro but also offering fun stories of you.  Once everyone left, Jethro went upstairs. Everything of yours was just how you’d left it at the beginning of the week. He pulled a sweatshirt you had taken from him and claimed as your own. He held it to his face and breathed in your scent. He started to cry again, curling up on the bed in his suit and sobbing into the sweatshirt. He couldn’t believe you weren’t next to him in the bed, your soft hands running through his hair as he ranted about the meetings he attended that morning. He cried himself to sleep, his dreams filled with nothing but you and your arms around him.

[emdythewriter]

In my dreams | chapter one (elriel)

Summary:

Elain Archeron has just woken up with no memory due to a car accident. When she comes to she finds that she’s in the middle of a divorce with her cheating husband, who wants to take advantage of her amnesia and get back together. She also finds that she’s in a new relationship with her close friends for years Azriel who is totally willing to give up their romance if she chooses. It’s the most complicated love triangle to wake up in but all Elain cares about is finding out who she was before then accident and who she is after.

She was told she had been in a car accident. It was the middle of winter and her car had skidded on a patch of black ice causing her to lose control of the car. Just a few moments ago she had woken up in a hospital bed and the only thing she could remember was her name, Elain Archeron. The doctor asked if she wanted them to call her emergency contact again, apparently whoever it was had been out of reach in the 32 hours she had been out. She had nodded because she felt speechless and didn’t know what else to do.

Elain hoped whoever she had listed as an emergency contact would be able to tell her...anything. She wanted to know if she had family that was waiting for her somewhere. She wanted to know what she was like before her memory was erased. She wanted to know why she had made the choice to drive during a snowstorm in the dark. Where had she been headed for that matter.

A knock came at the door followed by a “Mrs. Archeron,” she turned to find a nurse and a man standing in the doorway. The man that looked like he had lost the 32 hours of sleep she had been stuck in stood out to Elain. Something in her gut told her she knew him but she didn’t know how. Didn’t know why she got the inkling to cup her face and run a finger down the scar on the left side of his face. Why she felt like brushing her hand through the long red hair that was a tangled mess.

“Elain,” he whispered so brokenly as he came over to her bed and decided to grab hold of her hand after a moment of hesitation. Elain got the feeling he had wanted to hug her and she wanted him to but decided now wouldn’t be the time. He kissed her knuckles, letting a few tears drop onto the scratched skin.

“Who are you?” Elain whispered so softly she wasn’t sure if this man had heard her speak. Her throat hurt and she hoped he had so she wouldn’t have to attempt being louder. Luckily based on the chuckle he released she knew he had.

“My name’s Lucien Vanserra,” he said as his amber eyes met hers and continued to roam over her face. “I’m your husband.” Elain furrowed her brows in confusion, looking from Lucien to her left hand where she expected to see a ring but didn’t.

“Where’s my ring?” she asked starting to fear she had lost it in the accident. She wondered if it was just as beautiful as this man before her.

“You forget to put it back on sometimes after work, but it’s on your dresser at home,” he answered as he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Elain watched his fingers move and found herself unconsciously leaning into his touch.

“Why was I driving?” she found herself asking before she could stop. There was so much curiosity flowing through her it was impossible to keep every bit of it contained. Lucien started to open his mouth to answer but was cut off when the wooden door to her room banged open.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” a woman screamed at the man next to Elain’s bed. The woman was boiling with anger, her gray eyes looking like they were turning red and hoping to fry Lucien with them. Her brown hair was pulled up tightly in a braid that wrapped her head like a crown, and Elain couldn’t help but think she would be a no nonsense ruler.

“I’m her emergency contact Nesta,” Lucien said, his sweet and calming voice fading and being replaced by a venom. Elain didn’t like the sound of it, it gave her goosebumps.

“I don’t give a damn you need to leave,” the woman, Nesta shot back, taking a step closer to the man. If a fight broke out Elain wasn’t sure who she would bet on winning.

“I’m not leaving my wife,” Lucien shot back, that venom growing.

“You have no right to call her that!” Nesta screamed even louder, getting right up in Lucien’s face which was unmoving and shielded from emotion. “Not anymore!”

“What’s going on?” Elain asked softly, sure neither one of them would hear her based on how loud the tension between them is.

“Nothing,” Lucien lied and she was sure it was a lie because no one was this mad at someone over nothing.

“Nothing?” Nesta asked incredulously. “This isn’t your redemption arc Lucien! You fucked up, literally!”

“Elain doesn’t remember anything Nesta and I’m not going to throw that on her right now!” Lucien yelled, finally showing a hint of emotion. Elain watched as his chest heaved up and down and his eyes lined with silver once more.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Nesta said quietly. Then to both Elain and Lucien’s surprise the other woman started laughing, laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” came a male voice and next thing Elain knew a big and strapping man walked into her room. His skin was brown from days in the sun and his dark hair was tied into a bun at the top of his head but she could still tell it was curly. “Nesta, babe are you okay?” he reached out and grabbed the woman’s arms trying to catch her gaze.

“Oh Cass you won’t believe this,” Nesta said still laughing but looking at the new stranger in Elain’s room. “Elain has amnesia and Lucien here,” she pointed to the red-haired man standing next to Elain and still gripping her hand. Cassian’s gaze narrowed on him and not in a friendly way. What had her husband done to make these people look at him that way. “He thinks he can make up for everything he did! A redemption arc in real life, hysterical.”

“You’re still her emergency contact aren’t you?” Cassian asked Lucien not letting his voice get as high as Nesta’s had but still with that same hostility.

“Yes,” Lucien said short and simple. Before anyone could get another word in three more strangers walked into the room, one rushed to the other side of her bed and pulled her into his chest.

“Elain,” he whispered into her hair as he stroked it and she felt and overwhelming welcoming to his presence, even more so than she did when Lucien had arrived. She found herself wrapping her free arm around him and holding him as best she could, but she wanted him closer. “I was going out of my mind when you never made it to my apartment the other night, I thought I lost you,” Elain moved her other hand from Lucien’s grasp and let it settle on this man’s neck, cupping it in comfort.

“I don’t remember you,” she felt the man’s breath hitch, his heart skipped a beat too. “But I’m here.” he relaxed once more and held her tighter.

“I should’ve come and picked you up,” he whispered into her ear. “Your tires are no good on icy roads.”

“As I’ve discovered,” he chuckled into her neck, sending a shiver down her spine before pulling back to get a good look at her. Elain felt her heart skip a beat this time, this man in front of her was stunning. He had dark hair that hung over his forehead but was swept to the side to be kept out of his face. His shoulders were broad and she could see the rest of the muscles that lined his body through the gray fleece he was wearing. His hazel had caught hers and memorized her, letting her forget about the rest of the people around her. “What’s your name?”

“Azriel,” Elain loved the name instantly. It fit him so much and her chest felt so light hearing him talk, she just wanted to listen to him for the rest of eternity.

“How do I know you?” Elain asked and then added a second question before he could answer. “And what so you mean to me?”

“We met through your sister Feyre,” he pointed to another woman who had long light brown hair that rest passed her shoulders. Blue-gray eyes that matched Nesta’s and a tattoo of swirls going up her left arm. She was leaning into the side of a man with styled dark hair that almost look blue and violet eyes. His skin was also the same tone as Azriel and Cassian. “I’m close friends with her husband Rhys,” he pointed to the other man she hadn’t known the name of previously. “And as to what we mean to each other, well your my girlfriend.”

Elain furrowed her eyebrows just as she heard Lucien sigh heavily. She looked to him as he rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. Then she looked to the people at the foot of her bed, Nesta was smiling the broadest and the only one that looked like she could be a villian in a disney movie. Lastly Elain met Azriel’s gaze again and he smiled at her softly letting her know it was okay and he would let her figure everything out on her own if that’s what she wished.

“Are we divorced?” Elain asked looking over to Lucien, feeling a small bubble of anger start to boil in her bloodstream. Lucien looked back over at her, rubbing his jaw before answering her.

“Not yet, we’re still separated.”

“Why are we getting divorced?” Elain asked next, wanting to know the truth. She mostly wanted to hear so she knew who had caused the separation and so she could decide who to stay with when they discharged her from the hospital.

“Because the bastard cheated,” Nesta answered. She was now leaning her back against Cassian’s chest looking totally relaxed. “Multiple times.”

“And how long have we been dating?” Elain asked turning back to Azriel who seemed like the only person in the room that made her feel as if nothing was wrong.

“Three months, but we’ve been good friends for years now,” he said and she could hear the other meaning behind his words. If she wanted to go back to being friends during this time he wouldn’t blame her, in fact she knew Azriel support her in her decision whether he liked it or not.

“This is a lot to take in,” Elain finally said after a few moments of silence, falling back onto the pillows that had been propped up behind her. “I don’t even know my relationship with some of you.” She looked forward at the four people she hadn’t really asked questions to yet.

“I’m Feyre, your younger sister,” the woman Azriel had originally pointed out started. “ and this is my husband Rhysand,” she gestured to the man next to her.

“Everyone calls me Rhys,” he said sending Elain a smile that she felt like returning.

“This is Nesta,” Feyre continued as she gestured to the woman that had come storming in with a vengeance. “Our older sister and your guard dog,” Nesta rolled her eyes at that causing Elain to laugh softly. “And her husband Cassian,” the man waved, smiling broadly at Elain. She laughed softly again at the friendliness of it.

“So your my family,” Elain said more so than asked but Feyre still nodded in answer. “Lucien,” Elain said looking over to the man that was still her husband for the time being.

“Yes love,” her heart swelled slightly at what she guessed was his pet name for her, but she pushed the feeling aside for now. She would decide what she wanted with him first by getting to reknow everyone and hopefully gaining her memories back.

“I think I’m going to stay with my sisters once they release me,” she told him tentatively trying to ease the pain, but Lucien still winced. “I need some time to get to know myself before I decide what to do with our marriage or my relationship with Azriel.” Elain looked over and found the other man smiling, proud of her choice. Her heart started to beat faster.

“I understand,” Lucien nodded before leaving the room, deciding he was no longer needed if it wasn’t already apparent he wasn’t welcomed.

“Finally,” Nesta said coming to sit on the end of the bed. Elain scooted over to let Azriel sit next to her as well. She could tell by the way he was moving from one foot to the other he was getting tired of standing. Azriel sent her a grateful smile as he took the spot she had created. “I thought I was going to have to drag the bastard out by the ear.”

Cassian laughed as he pulled up a chair to the foot of the bed, still at his wife’s side. “He would never come around Elain anymore, that's for sure.”

“Dammit I should’ve done it,” Nesta said snapping her fingers for effect.

“I’m sure you’ll get another chance,” Rhys said as took the other chair and sat on the other side of Elain’s hospital bed, Feyre taking a seat in her husband’s lap.

“Do you really hate him that much?” Elain asked, her voice still soft from lack of use.

“No one messes with my sisters,” Nesta answered.

“You should’ve seen her when she found out about you and Az,” Cassian said causing Azriel to groan.

“Let’s not talk about that,” Az said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed for a brief moment.

“What happened?” Elain asked as she watched the male next to her.

“I found you two fucking on the island of his kitchen,” Nesta answered.

“Oh,” Elain watched as Azriel turned red and she could feel her own cheeks growing hot as well. “Maybe I should’ve waited for that memory to come back.”

“Did the doctor say you could regain your memories,” Feyre asked, grabbing Elain’s hand.

“They said it would take time but going places I’ve been or seeing something familiar or pictures could help recharge my brain.”

“Good thing someone likes taking pictures,” Nesta said pointing a glare at Feyre. Their younger sister stuck her tongue out at them. Elain smiled as they continued to talk and she felt much better about the journey to finding herself, because now she didn’t feel so alone. She let their voices draw her to sleep, not knowing how she could be tired after being out for 32 hours, but she let it happen. Elain’s head fell against Azriel’s shoulder and she closed her eyes just as he wrapped his arm around her frame.

(Let me know if you want to be tagged!)

[shockapella-sweet]

Mortal Kombat Fanfic Ideas

‘Cause after watching the Story Mode for Mortal Kombat 11, I’ve been hit by a ton of feels and needed to let them out before my candyfloss brain melted:

A series of ficlets where, just before Liu Kang and Kitana create a new timeline from scratch, various characters/OTPs (eg. Hanzo and Kuai, Ermac and Kenshi, Cassie and her parents, etc) are temporarily stuck in a purgatory-like void where they reminisce over everything that’s happened to them from MK9′s events onward, question what will become of them, and finally say their last farewells - or, possibly, “Until meet again” - in case they do/don’t ever see each other again in the new timeline.

Past!Jax and Jacqui Briggs talking about Takeda on the boat en-route to Shang Tsung’s Island, with Jax hearing about how they got engaged and how they want to plan their wedding, to how Present!Jax is still wary of Takeda marrying his baby girl and the possibility of being left alone on the farm. It can sort of end with past!Jax promising Jacqui to support her marriage to Takeda, and that when the time comes, he wants to walk her down the aisle.

A look at how Johnny Cage and Sony Blade reconciled between the events of MKX and MK11 (’cause God alone knows I wanna know how that happened).

A slashfic that also explains why Kung Jin isn’t in MK11: perhaps some time after the events of MKX, he pursues a romantic/sexual relationship with Erron Black, something which Dark Raiden and the Shaolin monastery don’t approve of (not so much because of his orientation, but more so because he’s seeing a member of Kotal Kahn’s court, making Black an enemy of Earthrealm). So Dark Raiden has Jin return to the White Lotus as punishment, and he can’t even help out in MK11. Then, in Liu Kang and Kitana’s new timeline, evil characters like Shang Tsung don’t exist, meaning Erron isn’t and can’t become immortal; he’s still born in the American Frontier years, and goes on to become one of the most famous outlaws in history, but eventually dies due to his normal human lifespan. Hundreds of years later, Jin - also alive in this new timeline - is a Law student/Shaolin monk-in-training. However, when he finds out about Erron Black in his research about past crimes and Earthrealm laws at a library (or in the Shaolin archives), he suddenly remembers that he knows this outlaw from somewhere, and the only possible person who can explain everything is Raiden. Cue all the angst, finger-pointing and even more angst.

Past!Kabal is apprehended by Special Forces after Sonya Blade’s chapter in MK11 (and directly after Kano’s death). He’s taken to an interrogation room of sorts, where Present!Johnny Cage is there to meet him. Kabal expects Johnny to torture and burn him alive, as Kano claimed would happen at the fight club. Instead, Johnny shows Kabal a picture of Stryker, explaining that the police officer was his partner (professionally and possibly romantically). Johnny tells him the truth about his burns and his becoming a revenant, and that if Kabal had continued his police training instead of joining the Black Dragon, perhaps he would have had a shot at true happiness, no matter how brief it lasted.

A slashfic about Kenshi and Ermac, and their last moments dying together in the Krypt, based on @paleicelight​‘s stunning artwork.

Hanzo Hasashi recounts his entire life-story spanning from MK9 to MK11 ... in the style of Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Kitana reuniting with Sindel and King Jerrod in a peaceful Edenia.

A Hangover-type fic where, after Shinnok’s defeat in MKX, S-F, the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu clans have a raucous celebration ... come the next morning, Johnny and Sonya are suddenly married again after flying out to Vegas, Hanzo ends up with a mysterious love-bite on his neck, Jacqui thinks Takeda and Cassie hooked up after finding them in bed together, Raiden goes missing, Shinnok’s decapitated head is found lying in a puddle of beer (and may or may not be slightly tipsy), and Erron Black comes all the way from Outworld claiming that everyone at the palace has been frozen in ice and that someone stole his hat in the middle of the night. The only one who knows what’s going on is Kung Jin, who doesn’t drink. Of course, he’s not gonna explain what happened that easily.

Kuai Liang breaks down some time after fighting Noob Saibot, and Hanzo tries to comfort him, because he knows the pain of losing loved ones. Could be slash or not.

Smoke is alone and afraid in the Netherrealm, feeling like he’s been abandoned by Kuai Liang after all these years of suffering. Suddenly, Geras appears out of nowhere and tries to persuade him to join Kronika’s cause. In the process, Smoke either makes a genuine friend or “disappears” if he refuses.

Liu Kang and Kitana start out crafting the new timeline with good intentions. However, after a long while, they start manipulating time to suit their own needs, and repeatedly reboot the timeline when they see fit, even going as far as to erase their friends and allies from history altogether. In other words, they become the very thing Liu-liu defeated: Kronika ..

After passing on his protector duties to Liu Kang, Raiden feels at peace for the first time in years. After advising Liu Kang and Kitana in shaping the new timeline, he enjoys his mortal state and its little pleasures. From seeing the Kombat Kids moving onto new ventures in their lives, to seeing Earthrealm, Outworld, Edenia and all the other realms working together, Raiden can’t be any more happier. By the time he dies - in a warm bed at the Sky Temple, perhaps surrounded by his friends and loved ones - he is truly at peace, and is ready for the joys of the afterlife.

A complete retelling of MK11′s Story Mode ... BUT with some of the missing characters from MKX. Picture it: Kronika brings back Mileena to help Shao Kahn (also by bringing her back, it appeases Shao Kahn and makes him trust Kronika more). However, Mileena is conflicted between helping Daddy Dearest when he’s indirectly working with D’Vorah, her executioner, or working with Kitana to take back Outworld’s throne - although that means working with Kotal Kahn, who also had a hand in her death. Meawhile, Reptile and Ferra/Torr are convinced by Kronika to join her in her cause, as they see the potential of their races coming back to life in the timeline reboot (seeing her bring back past kombatants solidifies their trust in her - if she’s got that kind of power, then surely she can restore their races without question). Kuai Liang and Hanzo bump into Noob Saibot and Revenant!Smoke at the factory: not only does it pain Kuai to see his brother still alive and quite evil, but to see his best friend - his brother in arms - working alongside Noob for Kronika’s cause just about breaks him. For the Jax and Jacqui story arc, instead of a crown of souls they have to fetch, it’s actually Ermac that Kronika’s really after (being a huge soul collective and all); given he’s still part of Kotal Kahn’s remaining court, the emperor has the construct protected; in steps Kenshi, who has an inkling that he and Ermac were close friends in a past timeline, so he picks himself to guard Ermac. This causes conflict with both past!Jax (who’s miffed about losing his arms) and present!Jax (who’s equally miffed PLUS needs to take Ermac - alive - to Kronika). Cue a conflict of interest also erupting between Kenshi and Jax, and how this may affect Takeda and Jacqui’s relationship. Meanwhile, Kung Jin is back with the White Lotus (possibly for the reasons above or not), and is able to help out after Dark Raiden’s demise: he fights alongside Kung Lao and Liu Kang (which has so much potential for family fluff, introspection on their past lives, discussion of cultural values, Jin’s homosexuality, etc), as well as assist S-F (maybe during the Black Dragons’ assault on S-F, or when they raid the fight club). With his knowledge, maybe Raiden and everyone could potentially find Kronika’s Keep a lot sooner than later. Also, “By the Elder Gods, Black, walking around in the Outworld sun did you no f****** favours in the future.”

Kabal settling down with Sareena, based on his Tower Ending ... ha ha, just kidding! As if I’d do something like that. XP

That’s it. I think that’s all I’ve got so far. I think it’s a decent-ish mix of drama, romance and humour.

Whether or not I will actually write these fics some day, I don’t know. But it’s fun thinking about the possibilities, especially after how MK11′s Story Mode broke me. ^3^

[theonyxpath]

This week we’re releasing the core rulebook for Dystopia Rising: Evolution into both stores (the traditionally printed version) and on DriveThruRPG with the PDF and physical book PoD versions.

When Mighty Matt McElroy brought up the idea of talking to the DR folks, the only thing I knew about Dystopia Rising was that a fair number of people I knew with good gaming taste enjoyed getting dressed up in Mad Max style gear and heading out to its live action events. I did see a ton of DR players at several Mid Winter Conventions leading up to sitting down with Michael and Ashley, so I had an inkling of the setting, at least.

Talking with them, and subsequently taking a deep dive into the already existing material made me impressed by what they had accomplished, and pretty sure that we could create an evocative TTRPG version. My big concern with any new game is whether we’ll be retreading ground we’re already covering, and while we had touched on post-apocalyptic milieus, we had not yet gone all in.

The chance to work with a post-apocalyptic setting, and then to adapt the Storypath System, which was just in its infancy when we decided to use it, combined for a very exciting project on both the setting and system levels. The final result, which you’ll be able to get on Wednesday, delivers both those things, and combines them, in ways we had only hoped to achieve when we first decided to make the game.

Eddy, as developer, was able to take the base Storypath System and, as we had hoped with the System, tweak it and add in elements like scavenging/building rules to better portray the setting.

Scion Companion art by Andrea Payne

So, the question has come up as to whether this post-apocalyptic opus is appropriate to offer right now. Certainly, a lot of folks are feeling like they are living in a plague movie right now, and I’d certainly understand not wanting to be reminded of that.

One of my thoughts about DR:E since first reading Eddy’s text, is how the setting demonstrates the adaptability of humanity in the face of seismic changes to civilization and society. DR:E isn’t set during the fall of society, but after humanity (in a wider definition of that term) has begun rebuilding. Which in its own way is a positive message that we can use in challenging times, like now.

Plus, there a a lot of different zombies to fight!

Along the same lines, as the rebuilding of communities is very important in the game, so are the live-action communities that have been built have been the key to DR’s success all these years. We like art imitating life imitating art, so in the interest of the tabletopDR:E‘s community we’ll be opening its Community Content site next month.

Now, as a bit of an aside, we’re not sure how many stores are actually going to be able to order this, get it, and then sell it. If they have an online store component, and you’ve been buying from them that way, please let them know that their store can get copies from Studio2 and IPR. And if you don’t have a store option right now, you too can direct order.

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Brian LeBlanc

How Are We Doing?

A question we share with old friends, co-workers, family far more now, and with good cause. We asked our developers, in two “town hall” group meetings last week, this very thing.

Mostly, our creators are doing okay, with varying degrees of focus from day to day (hour to hour?) on their projects. So far, two of our creators have been diagnosed with Covid 19, and so far they are doing okay. We also fielded some concerned questions as to the state of Onyx Path these days.

So far, so good. Like I’ve mentioned these last few weeks, our variety of sales channels have helped us, and we’re still rolling along with our projects even while being responsive to the challenges in the lives of our creators.

And in this taxing time, it is also tax time.

In terms of the work that we’re not just still doing but are really excited about, here’s an interview with Dixie, Neall Raemonn Price, and Monica Speca talking about Exalted Essence, a pretty innovative and important project that they continue to pull together. Lots of new details from the book in this interview: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/exalted-essence-dev-team-interview

Let The Streets Run Red art by Michael Gaydos

Finally, as a personal example of finding ways to find the fun while being shut-in, this Easter I created an Easter Bunny scenario for the Gloomhaven boardgame for my kids, and their characters chased him through maps of the city streets, dodging the Easter Eggs he was blocking their way with. Each egg they picked up corresponded to a plastic egg with prizes inside I was hiding under the game table!

It was fun, plus I got an even better appreciation for how the designers set up and balanced Gloomhaven. Which I’ll consider as we review our own games, but it’s worth noting that info came through a diversion. Sometimes that’s what we need; we need to come at things indirectly. Even moreso when under stress.

Here’s hoping we’re providing you folks with a similar break, and a similar chance to explore new ideas…not to mention our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

We’ve cancelled the Legendlore Kickstarter for the time being. While we wait for that happy day, here’s a fantastic Legendlore interview with developer Steffie de Vaan, hosted over at High Level Games! https://www.highlevelgames.ca/blog/legendlore-rpg-from-onyx-path-publishing-an-interview-with-steffie-de-vaan

We’ll get Legendlore back on KS as soon as we can, and meanwhile we are building the M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday is the Onyx Pathcast‘s 100th full episode! Huge congrats to Dixie Cochran, Eddy Webb, and Matthew Dawkins! Here’s to another 100!

This week, the Terrific Trio present a brand-new episode of Scion Actual Play! So if you’ve ever wondered how Scion plays – this is your chance to hear it in all its glory!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

As we mentioned last week, Virtual Horror Con took place raising lots of money for charity! If you haven’t already, do check out their website https://www.gehennagaming.com/, and if you missed some of their actual plays of our games, please check them out here:

CofD Mortals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdPfkI0FLFk

Trinity Continuum: Æon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7masQukyjQ

Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13UtpbAFAfk

And here’s Gehenna Gaming’s Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/gehennagaming

If you’re self-isolating or locked down, you can always tune in to our games this week. A few of our usual hosts are having breaks due to the situation in the world right now, but we’ve got plenty coming over the next few days, including V5, Scion, Pugmire, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, and a Dark ErasWerewolf: The Forsaken chronicle!

There are also several shows not yet on the schedule that are revving up to fill in for those who need a break right now, so please check out our Twitch channel during the week and keep an eye on Onyx Path social media for announcements of new programming!

This week you should really check out the new Scion game we’ve got going on our channel. You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Trinity Continuum – Aberrant: Community Service: https://youtu.be/51-Y_Diaefg

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/uysogPwNFOM

Vampire: The Masquerade: Blood City – Chicago by Night: https://youtu.be/MKoMRxi9x0w

And still more Trinity Continuum – Aberrant: Community Service: https://youtu.be/5SXY7Q-Z80M

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

Have you checked out the Botch Pit‘s gaming transcripts? Have a look on their clean, beautiful website, and check this one out for a Chronicles of Darkness game: http://thebotchpit.com/new-england-by-night-season-1-session-01-im-not-making-anyone-a-supernatural-yet-transcript/

https://ift.tt/3b89G4W

More new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans:

Episode 96: Other Mages With the dark gift of a vampire’s patronage looming over their heads, the cabal seek out the names and identities of mages they think are appropriate sacrifices to the vampires’ bloodlust.https://youtu.be/3m0-va-JvdM

Episode 97: Short Straight The cabal gathers together their collected grimoires in one place, checking for further magical resonance and consult the ghost of a dead mage for further information.https://youtu.be/fjG2wPalY-s

Here’s the Story Told Podcast with an excellent interview with Dixie Cochran, Neall Raemonn Price, and Monica Speca on the subject of Exalted Essence: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/exalted-essence-dev-team-interview

Garblag Games have commenced a new series of Mage: The Ascension, which has got off to a rocking start right here: https://youtu.be/yN47_NjYxtA

And if you loved V5 Chicago by Night, tune in to Junie von Esch’s channel to watch her group play through some Vampire: https://www.twitch.tv/junie_von_esch

Roll the Role continue with their Scarred Lands Gauntlet of Spiragos actual play! Roll the Role is a fantastic show, so please do give them a look: https://www.twitch.tv/rolltherole

And the bizarrely named Scabby Rooster continue their actual play of Scion, right here on their Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/scabbyrooster

One of Matthew’s personal favourites, Devil’s Luck Gaming, continues their Werewolf: The Forsaken chronicle over here: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming Please do give them a follow!

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

Update: the devs are working on the updates for the roller in both Android and iOS; here is the rundown from them:

1) Redo the UI for system for Android. It will look the same as the current design. My goal is to have something ready by Saturday to send out to the Facebook users, asking them if this fixes the issues. This will be a beta type thing. This will break several of the fancy dice.

2) If the above worked out and the android users give all the clear, we’ll redo the graphics system to fix the fancy dice that got broken. We’ll do another Android beta through Facebook. This might take up to two weeks, as my schedule allows.

3) If everything worked well, we’ll release to Android for real at that point.

4) Port all of the existing stuff to iOS and release on that.

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

Deluxe Exalted 3rd Edition continues its fantastic sale at IPR, soon to be joined by Game-Line Bundles! Check them out!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This week the Dystopia Rising: Evolution core book will be available in PDF and PoD versions on DriveThruRPG on Wednesday, and the physical traditionally printed books will be available in stores via Studio2 and IPR!

No one knows how long it’s been since the world was blasted with nuclear radiation and became infested with the undead. The survivors of the Fall were the first strain of deviation of the human condition and were able to make it through the rapidly spreading epidemic. Finding a community of decent size in this world is rare; finding one that has any concept of equality or morality is rarer still.

Oh, and people have the unnerving ability to come back from the dead, regrown from the very virus that destroyed the world.

Some highlights of Dystopia Rising: Evolutioninclude:

Rules for creating characters for 24 different Strains, variations on humanity that survived the Fall. 

Details on the powers of faith and psionics.

Advice on running action-adventure stories, webs of personal intrigue, and procedural investigations.

Dozens of antagonists, including a variety of zombies and raiders to use in your series.

Welcome to the Evolution!

We’re also offering the Dystopia Rising: Evolution Gaming Screen on Weds!

Conventions!

Though dates are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s our current list of upcoming conventions:

UKGames Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/

Tabletop Scotland: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

V5 The Faithful Undead (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Editing

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Indexing

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Scion Titanomachy – Wrapping up contracting.

Tales of Aquatic Terror – Contracted.

TC Aeon Terra Firma – Most of the art is in, maybe all of it.

V5 Let the Streets Run Red – Tweaking some art re: WW art approvals.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

WoD Ghost Hunters

Aberrant – Contacting and contracting – wrapping up half-pagers and portraits.

Pugmire Adventure 

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant – Rolling along.

Legendlore – Kickstarter on hiatus.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – Art and graphics ready to go.

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Contagion Chronicle

Vigil Watch

Duke Rollo Book

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart 

Pirates of Pugmire 

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Inputting proofing comments.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Awaiting 2nd proof notes.

Scion Companion – Tweaking art re: proofing notes.

At Press

TC Distant Worlds

Night Horrors : Nameless and Accursed – Awaiting Errata.

Dark Eras 2 – PoD proof shipping.

VtR Spilled Blood – PoD proof shipping.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – On Sale this Wednesday!

DR:E Screen & Booklet – On Sale this Wednesday!

DR:E Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Geist 2e Screen

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Reviewing Indexing.

Geist 2e Anthology – PoD proof ordered.

C:tL 2e Oak, Ash, & Thorn – Awaiting Errata.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Happy Birthday! to the 5th Doctor: in 1951 Peter Davison was born. He’s looking at me right now from my 2020 Doctor Who calendar, as April is the month he appears in this year. Must have been a tough assignment following Tom Baker after the 4th Doctor had been burned into people’s minds for 8 years. Yet, for many, Davison’s Doctor is Their Doctor, which is the way it should be – so kudos to him for creating another version and era of the classic character!

[carnistcervine]

Avatar Azula AU(Concept)

I say concept, because at the moment, I have no intention to write this. It was just a fun thought experiment. (But I mean if any of ya’ll like it, you’re welcome to use it :’D)

Here's my interpretation of Azula being the Avatar.

-First things, first. My poor bby Aang must die. ;^; Yes, it is mighty sad, but the Avatar is a reincarnating shithead, so there can only be one at a time(AUs notwithstanding wink wonk). I imagine that he still runs away, because him dying with the Air Nomads would include the chance that he dies in the avatar state... But when he is thrown underwater by the storm, instead of going into the avatar state to save himself, he just drowns with Appa. :c There is a water Avatar, but she is disowned by her village for firebending and dies alone and afraid. Then the earth Avatar after her is born into obscurity and dies from a plague. (Or basically just, two other Avatars are born and fail to stop the Fire Nation before they eventually die) When Azula is born, there has been no confirmed Avatar for a century.

-From a young age, Azula knew she was the Avatar. How? The past Avatars, not wishing for the Fire Nation to corrupt or kill their newest incarnation attempt to consul her and sway her to their side. She does not listen to them, and at first dismisses them as nothing more than her imagination. Her first ability as an Avatar is the ability to: splash water and startle the turtle-ducks. She tells her father of her ability in confidence, hoping to gain his favor. It works! Kinda... Ozai views his children as tools for him to use, and what better than an obedient Avatar daughter? However, he always keeps in the back of his mind, the story of how Roku, the last fire Avatar, nearly killed Sozin. So Ozai keeps an order at the ready, to execute Azula if she ever shows any inkling of treachery. Ozai also uses his Avatar daughter to gain an in with Azulon. Ozai has the Avatar under his control, he may be of use to Azulon after all.

-So rather than killing the remaining captured waterbenders, Azulon keeps them for training his granddaughter. He also sends out soldiers and scouts to capture earthbending masters, and find any air scrolls. Seeing as, Sozin's lack of foresight means the fire Avatar doesn't have an air master to learn from.

-I know that the traditional idea is that Azula's a prodigy, so she must be a prodigy at all elements right? :'D Yeaaaaaahhhhhh, about that... Azula is a firebending prodigy, and very determined. Now, determination is a great thing to have when trying to master any discipline, but Azula lacks the right mindset to master the other elements. She has the drive and will to dominate opponents that makes her a great (corrupt)firebender. In fact the reason she excels in the corrupted firebending style is because she perfectly embodies the drive to crush and destroy others. She's like Zhao, if Zhao had some fucking self-control(and intelligence). However, the other elements do not submit to domination. Air requires freedom, Azula is not free. She is very much under the oppressive thumb of her father and fully within his control. Water requires adaptability and a willingness to bend and flow with change. While Azula is a great strategist, who can adapt her fighting strategies on the fly, she lacks the mental and spiritual fluidity to control water. Azula is rigid in her ways and does not flow. A good example of this being how she broke down completely when her world changed. And I know that traditionally the Avatar has the most difficulty with their opposite element, I feel like she would have the most dificulty with earth. Earth requires stability, and even some stubbornness to control. Azula is most definitely not stable. Her mental and spiritual foundations are shaky at best. Also, I would venture to say that Azula is not stubborn. She often gets what she wants, because she has the ability to dominate others into giving her what she wants. Power and intimidation do not equate to stubbornness. Rather than taking the bull by the horns, Azula would find another angle, and probably scare it off. This is particularly exemplified in her relationship with Ozai. She cannot stand her ground against Ozai, she already knows from Zuko that doing so would earn her a face full of fire. So Azula has two options, intimidate others into following her along, or stand down and admit she's weaker. She's powerful enough that she can overpower(or at least believes she can overpower) most opponents, but the one she feels she cannot, she immediately folds to.

*By contrast, I would like to point out why Aang was an overall bending protegy. He's a free spirit, which allows him to easily master air. He's very adaptable, and his teachings from the monks about pacifism gives him the perfect mindset to flow and seek out other pathways like water. Making him a natural at water as well. Also, there's the fact that he's adaptable enough that he takes on the role of Avatar without too much resistance. Despite his initial greivences. He isn't able to budge earth at all, until he learns to put his foot down. But again, he's open-minded enough that he's a quick study for adapting to other mindsets. He's determined enough to master all four elements in less than a year, so that alone gives him what it takes to take on fire.

*Katara and Toph are a good example of stubborn women. Katara knew she couldn't take down a waterbending master, but refused to back down. Toph's refusal to be helpless fuels her stubborn determination. In fact, she's so stubborn, that she stubborned her way into metal bending.

-Azula soon finds that unlike fire, the other elements will not submit to her will. The previous Avatars are completely unhelpful. They constantly rant in her head, scolding her or pleading for her to do the right thing. She initially tries to bite back, but there's far too many of them and they aren't intimidated by her. So eventually, she learns to tune them out. Their voices resolving to a constant, dull roar in the back of her head. Like a headache that won't cease. Forced to face the fact that she is not perfect, and steadily loosing her father's good grace, Azula's grip on her sanity steadily loosens. As her mental state declines, she starts to see the ghostly forms of the past Avatars haunting her in the background. Their faces are stern, lips set into a thin line. When Ozai realizes that Azula cannot master the four elements, he calls her a failure and dismisses her. Soon after that, Ursa joins the other Avatars, watching her from the background, face soaked in pity rather than contempt. Azula breaks.

-Seeing as Azula can no longer be used as an in to claim the throne, Ozai tosses his daughter aside and opts to have her imprisoned and executed.

-Azula cannot believe that her own father completely turned against her like this. At first, she's deeply hurt and nearly unable to do anything. Then, she's angry. How DARE Ozai abandon her, his own loyal daughter. All the sacrifices she made for him, and he tosses her aside like yesterday's leftovers. She starts to rebuild herself, using her desire for revenge against Ozai as the base. Seeing an opportunity, the past Avatars open up to Azula and help her escape.

-Zuko is completely shook by Azula's downfall. She was Ozai favorite, the golden child. And he just tossed her aside when she stopped being useful to him. Zuko starts to doubt his father. But it isn't until Ozai burns his face and banishes him, sending him to track down his sister, that Zuko finally accepts that his father is an awful, unpleasable man.

-Iroh joins Zuko on his Avatar quest, not to capture Azula, but to join her. They want to help her take down Ozai.

-The past Avatars lead Azula to the Order of the White Lotus. Azula isn't thrilled to be surrounded by kooky old people, and has no interest in being a creature of balance. But taking out Ozai sounds mighty delicious, so she's willing to play along. She also has no interest in the Fire Nation's conquest or war machine, she used to only care about pleasing Ozai, and now she only cares about killing him. Painfully.

-She learns the other three elements as she recovers from Ozai's abuse. Now that she has cut her ties to her father, she is free and masters air. Without the strict regime of her nation looming over her head, she slowly begins to open her mind and masters water. She learns how to stand up for herself without putting others down and masters earth.

-Her initial relationship with the members of the White Lotus is very strained. It's basically the same energy of two cats staring each other down from across the room. As she recovers and starts to open her mind, their relationship improves and she becomes more of a salty/bitter, sass-talking companion.

-She'd never admit it, but she does slowly grow to love those stupid old people and her dum dum of a brother.

-As she slowly recovers, Azula starts to wonder if vengeance is the right path. She's quick to dismiss the thoughts of course, but it's an idea that lingers in her mind.

-On the day of the comet, she confronts Ozai and nearly hesitates at the look of pure fear in her father's eyes. Instead she looks away as she strikes the final blow. Finding that she's unable to look him in the eyes as she kills him. Ozai's death is swift and painless. Not the horrible death Azula originally imagined. Afterwards, Azula initially feels vindicated, then she feels hollow. On the surface she blames the past Avatars for softening her, but deep inside, she realizes that the true reason is because vengeance is empty. Also, she finds that now her fire has lost it's power. She lost the thing driving her, so now she must find another source for her flame.

-With Ozai gone, Zuko ascends the throne, with Iroh as his regent. Zuko tries to reconcile with his sister, but she blows him off and goes to re-master firebending in solitude.

-Ozai goes down gloriously in the history books, a martyr for his cause. Many try to rise up and follow in his footsteps, several attempt to challenge the throne. They're mysteriously picked off by an unknown assailant. (coughAzulacough)

[latetotherant]

“Are you rich?” Is Shrill too Economically Idealistic for Its Own Good? ••• By Meredith Salisbury

“Oh My God. What’s happening? I’m afraid that I am feeling myself.” These are the words we here Annie (Aidy Bryant) say to her best friend and roommate Fran (Lolly Adefope) while she’s dancing in a new dress and enjoying some new found self-love towards the end of the first episode of Hulu’s comedy Shrill. The show, which is based off of Lindy West’s memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Women, follows Annie as she navigates life as a fat millennial woman living in Portland, Oregon. Shrill has been rightfully praised for its blunt and realistic depictions of everyday life as a fat woman and for its nonchalant handling of abortion. For all the care Shrill puts into authentic depictions of Annie’s everyday life, Shrill does so at the expense of showing the larger and more systemic issues fat women face. The omission of these larger cultural forces makes Annie’s transformation seem idealistic, unrealistic, and impossible for the women watching replicate.

Shrill is set in Portland, Oregon. It makes sense that one of the most accepting and liberal cities in the popular imagination is the setting for televisions first radically positive representation of fat women. Like Portlandia, another socially conscious television show set in Portland, Shrill uses comedy to point out where its liberal audience fails in their liberalness. In Shrill, radical self love, queerness, and anti-capitalist ideals are all casually accepted from the get go. Annie’s parents praise Fran’s, who is a lesbian’s, love life with her rotating door of queer partners and Annie’s ex-punk gen-x boss Gabe (John Cameron Mitchell) vilifies “the establishment” regularly. In a way Shrill feels like it teeters on the line between comedy and parody. It is unclear that the Portland represented in Shrill is different than the one created by the sketch comedy show Portlandia. Carrie Brownstein, the creator and star of Portlandia, even directed the Shrill episode “Date.” The similarities between the shows’ representation of Portland is not necessarily a bad thing—Portlandia did a great job at pointing out to liberal people where their liberal ideologies fell short—and Shrill picks up where Portlandia left off and continues this crusade. The issue is that Portlandia was satirical whereas Shrill is meant to be realistic. Shrill, like Portlandia, does not take into account Oregon’s white supremacist past or the fact that Portland is the whitest large city in America nor does it acknowledge how Oregon is one of the most expensive states to live in and that Portland is experiencing an affordable housing crisis.

The fact that Annie and Fran are never plagued with systemic issues leaves room for the show to explore interpersonal ones like Annie’s relationship with her boss Gabe. Gabe is Shrill’s villain. He is the editor-in-chief of The Weekly Throne, the alt-weekly newspaper Annie works for. At first he frustrates her by passively blowing off her pitches and asking her to keep working her way up, but by the fourth episode, the one titled “Pool” he begins a crusade against fatness. After learning The Weekly Thorn can save “a buttload of money” if the staff can “pry [their] cheese-thighs off the couch more than once a week” he gets rid of the vending machines and requires the staff to do “one heart healthy grouptivity once a month.” At the first “grouptivity” Gabe mutters “lazy bodies lazy minds” under is breath. He goes on to question whether Annie takes work seriously and tell her that “success is about an effort” and that “[she] didn’t [try] today.”

Through Gabe, the show pushes people who believe they are fighting against dominant culture to see that they still have biases they need to work on. Gabe is portrayed as a gen-x, ex-punk, and “feminist” through jokes about being the “original bassist in Bikini Kill,” by wearing band t-shirts for bands like Quasi (Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney fame’s band), and the fact that Gabe is played by John Cameron Mitchell who is an queer gen-x icon in his own right. We are led to believe that Gabe’s work was once gritty and boundary pushing. He claims when he was Annie’s age he was already “burnin’ shit down and fuckin shit up.” But, what we see now is someone who was on the right side of history, but lost his way as he became older and more financially stable. He is a former radical who is hindering Annie’s growth professionally and personally.

The way Gabe treats Annie at The Weekly Thorne is terrible. Shrill uses Annie and Gabe’s work relationship to drive Annie to find self confidence. The thing is for women work is not just another place for interpersonal relationships. It is a place that provides people with an income and (hopefully) benefits. Individuals need these to survive. In Shrill Annie never once thinks about the financial ramifications of her actions. At work she is not very professional. She is seen sitting on tables, hugging her boss when he gives her an assignment, pestering him about pitches, and posts an article to the paper’s site without permission. While some workplaces are significantly more informal than others, Annie’s behavior at work does not make it appear as though she values her job. Gabe is by no accounts a good boss and she has every right to be upset with the way he is treating her, but it is still fascinating to me that Annie never once seems concerned about the possibility of losing her job. She even quits in a fit of rage in the last episode. It is known that fat women face discrimination when they are applying for jobs and full time jobs in any media industry are nearly impossible to find these days. There is never a moment where Annie stops and worries about what the implications of leaving her job would be. Sure she stood up for herself, but at what cost? She walked away from an income and health insurance without batting an eyelash. What other millennial women who works in media could do that?  

Annie and Fran’s financial situation remains a mystery throughout the six episodes. How is it that two marginalized women in creative careers can have very little financial anxiety? The only inkling of concern comes from Fran when she asks Annie “Are you rich? That’s like $50 every time you have sex with Ryan” when she finds out Annie has been taking the morning after pill every time she has sex with Ryan. Annie never addresses this, she is rightfully preoccupied with the abortion she needs to have, but it still leaves the viewer wondering how she is finacially staying afloat.

Annie’s spending on the morning after pill is not the only unexplained expense in the show. A quick google search revealed that Annie and Fran live in a home that last sold in 2016 for $500,158 and rents for similar houses in the same neighborhood are around $2400 a month. It is unclear how they can afford to live there with Annie working for a small alt-weekly newspaper and Fran cutting people’s hair out of her house. It’s even more baffling when you add in the fact that Fran does not even require payment for her work. The only time we see her compinstated for her work she is paid in stolen clothes. How do these two afford a multi-bedroom house in Portland, Oregon, a place that is notorious for unaffordable housing, while working in independent publishing and freelance hair styling?

The walls of Annie and Fran’s home are adorned with art prints like this one that used to be sold at Otherwild and Fran is often spotted in Wildfang overalls and coveralls. Both brands have become trendy in recent years and are recognizable in queer urban circles as marker for a type of queer financial stability. Wildfang coveralls are the velour Juicy Couture track suit of lesbian culture. Rachel Syme explains that the “Juicy’s suit was just pricey enough to radiate status, but attainable enough to become a part of the everyday wardrobes of thousands of high-school girls.” Wildfang’s clothes do the same thing for queer women. Fran’s $188 coveralls signal to queer women watching that she is financially stable, yet still relatable, but it is never addressed how she got this way.

Annie quits her job in a fit of rage after Gabe writes a rebuttal to her article claiming her fatness. In this moment we see Annie stand up for herself. She calls Gabe a “bully” and tells him he is “stomp[ing] over an entire group of people.” We are supposed to cheer Annie on in this moment—she has finally began to believe in herself—but she just walks out of her job without any real concern about her future. This moment is the climax of the season. But what is she going to do now? Study after study has found that fat women face major discrimination when applying for jobs; especially in the media industry. I am proud of her for standing up for herself, but I do not see how any real person could do that without some type of financial safety net.

For fat women and queer women Annie and Fran appear to be wonderful role models. Annie is smart, and stylish, and finding her voice in a way many of us hope to and Fran is strong, and unwavering in her sexuality and standards. Shrill does a wonderful job creating inspiring role models, but Annie and Fran’s lives are impossible to replicate in everyday life. Throughout the season we see Annie strutting around Portland in a collection of adorable and perfectly tailored dresses. It turns out that almost all of Annie’s clothes were custom made for the show by costume designer Amanda Needham. Fran’s strength is a linchpin of the show and she is portrayed as the foil to Annie. In her review of Shrill Emily Nussbaum explains that Fran “specialize in brassy self-assertion, a bravado that doubles as a shield and as a weapon.”  and later explains that it’s Annie’s “niceness ... that fuels the show.” Fran’s self-assertion comes from her ability to opt-out of interacting with straight men, other than her brother or the occasional boy Annie brings home. Shrill leads us to believe that Fran’s lesbianism is what makes her that brash woman who refuses take shit and this is why she is able to empower Annie. Although all women are taught throughout their lives to seek the validation of men; coming out as a lesbian frees you from some of those expectations. Although male bosses, relatives, and friends still exist; there is no longer the expectation that one of the men in your life could be your future partner and this alleviates some of the compulsory need to please them. Annie on the other hand still believes she needs to placate a boy and win over a boss and those needs hinder her ability to stand up for herself. The thing is that queerness does not suddenly alleviate all of those pressures. As much as I would love to exist in a world without problematic straight men and the patriarchal nonsense they bring with them it is not possible. Fran has created a life where she only cuts cute girls’ hair and somehow still has a roof over her head a wardrobe full of $200 Wildfang overalls. Her queerness and lack of traditional employment may allow her to accept herself without pause, but the lack of hardship or pushback she receives is implausible and unlike the experiences of any queer women I have ever known or heard about.

Shrill represents a radical hope for fat women’s futures. It presents a nuanced depiction of the everyday struggles of fat women, but refuses to complicate its narrative with the broader and more systemic sexist and homophobic struggles fat women face. By diving deep into specificities it allows Annie to overcome her personal problems but misses the mark on addressing larger structural ones. In Shrill’s universe, Annie can quit her job without ever acknowledging how hard it is for fat women to get hired in the first place and Fran can live a blissful queer life in Portland without ever facing a racist or homophobic person. And both of them never have a financial care in the world while living in one of the most expensive cities and working in underpaying careers. I wish the lessons taught in Shrill were applicable to everyday life. I wish I could call out a fat-phobic boss on the internet without the fear of losing my employment and possibly my health insurance. I wish I could only cut cute girls’ hair and still have a roof over my head and some of the most stylish clothes in queer culture today. But alas I do not live in the world Shrill has created and I do not think I ever will.