#if anyone can guess where this will all lead to I'm giving you a cookie xD

[elvenbeard]

Lucky

Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfic Summary: V is lucky to be alive still after a heist gone right but many other things gone wrong lately. Maybe it's not too late yet to pick up the pieces, but even with fewer and fewer options to go forward, his path seems unclear. (Post-Sun-Ending, Chapter 3/?, 4477 words, Kerry Eurodyne/V, no warnings except for angst and a hospital setting >.>)

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The next thing V remembered was his biomonitor going off, beeping on high alert, the emergency protocol reciting its little speech.

“Vincent, it appears you have been in a car accident,” it said, “Remain calm, Trauma Team are on their way. Estimated arrival time: 90 seconds. Try not to move.”

He could barely breathe, let alone move. In his initial shock he didn’t even feel the pain as much, but he was squeezed in between his seat and steering wheel. The windshield was cracked, casting a kaleidoscope of red and blue and golden light across his face, blurry shapes running around outside. People were screaming and there was one hell of a commotion, more gunshots fired, police barking orders, but long before he could fully grasp what was happening, V’s consciousness faded again.

“Vincent?” a gentle voice brought him back from the darkness – how much time had passed?

“Stay calm, we’re getting you out of here.”

The man wore full Trauma Team combat gear. Before V had even come to his senses, they’d already forced the warped door open, put a neck brace on him, and maneuvered him out of the car. He didn’t remember how exactly, only that one moment he was still trapped in there, the next he lay on a stretcher, surrounded by medics, Megabuidling H10 towering above them. Police sirens were blaring, and the deep droning of the Trauma Team AV not far left of him made his head hurt even more.

“Client is conscious but disoriented,” one of the medics said, another listed V’s vitals and the drugs she was about to administer. At least four people were all over him cutting open his clothes, poking him with needles, shining lights into his eyes, and strapping him to the stretcher in preparation for transport.

“Vincent, do you know what year it is?”

“It’s just V,” he barely managed to croak, his throat dry and tight.

“Sorry?”

“Just call me V,” he repeated, “And it’s 2077. The fourth of September.”

“Very good,” the medic said, “Do you remember what happened? Where were you going?”

“Was on my way home,” he said as a strangely warm, numbing sensation washed over him, the painkillers probably, “Tygers crashed into me… right in front of my front door…”

The stretcher was lifted from the ground as soon as they’d fixed him to it. Due to the brace, he couldn’t really look around, but quickly the view of his old apartment complex was replaced by the interior of the Trauma Team AV. He’d wondered if he’d ever see the inside of one again, and he was actually very thankful now that Kerry had coerced him into purchasing a membership not that long ago.

“Kerry…” V murmured, but he barely recognized his own voice. Whatever they’d given him, it was the good stuff.

“Is he your emergency contact?” was the last thing V remembered one of the medics asking before he drifted off to sleep.

He wasn’t sure if what followed was a dream or not, flashing images of people he didn’t know talking to him, bright lights, strange noises, a sense of urgency and worry and confusion. Then just soothing darkness for a long, long time. There were worse ways to die than just fading out like this… he knew from firsthand experience. There was no fear in just falling asleep and never waking up again, no pain, no hatred and betrayal, no sorrow and regrets. There was no glory either… but by the time it came to it, V realized, that wouldn’t be his concern anymore anyway.

A familiar but unexpected noise slowly pulled V out of his deep, almost dreamless sleep. For a moment he wondered if any of this had even happened – from meeting Mr. B to infiltrating the Crystal Palace, to ending up in front of a red stoplight with the worst possible timing. But when he opened his eyes to bleak white hospital walls, reality hit him even harder. He was still here, still breathing, his heart still beating. He could still barely move his head either, but even without doing so, the warm calming presence squeezed onto the left half of the bed beside him was undeniable. He realized it was Kerry’s gentle snoring that had woken him up, that usually helped him fall asleep.

One of the perks of them both being kind of short and slim, they comfortably fit into a bed made for one person only. As far as he could see, Kerry still wore his dark grey jeans and V’s old smiley-face t-shirt – he usually did when V was gone for a couple of days at a time. His leatherjacket was draped over an armchair nearby and guessing by the soft warm light falling in through half-closed blinds, it probably was the morning after. At least V hoped so, and he hadn’t lost more than half a day unconscious in a hospital bed.

Wanting nothing more than to run his fingers through Kerry’s tousled hair, pull him closer, just hold him, in disbelief still that he was really here and not a drug-induced figment of his imagination, V tried to lift his left arm. But he couldn’t. Despite the painkillers, every little movement hurt, his limbs felt like they were made from concrete. Weakly he laughed to himself when the ironic thought “feel like I was run over by a car” crossed his mind.

Kerry’s eyes fluttered open at V’s croaky laughter breaking the relative silence of the room. The quiet whirring of the medical monitors and machines was barely louder than white noise. He shuffled and looked up at V with great worry at first, but it slowly turned into a relieved smile.

“Hey,” he said, voice still heavy with sleep, scooching even closer so that they were more at eye level. He reached up to gently caress V’s face with the back of his hand, shaking his head just slightly.

“Almost gave me at least three heart attacks yesterday,” he said quietly, his expression growing more somber again.

“Didn’t mean to,” V apologized, his own voice still sounding strange and distant to him. But he truly meant what he said. He hated to see Kerry worry about him, especially over something so stupid.

“I know,” Kerry said, resting his head into the crook of V’s neck, his arm across V’s chest now, holding him close but making sure to not press onto his hurting ribs too forceful, “Fuck… I’m just so glad I didn’t lose you. Dunno know what I’d’ve done.”

V shivered. Clenching his jaw and biting back the pain he reached up to put his right hand on Kerry’s arm draped across his chest, fingers gently massaging and trailing along his tattoo. It had always reminded V of armor in a way, protecting him against a world that had been anything but kind to him for so long. The last thing V wanted was to also make the list of people Kerry had been hurt by.

“I don’t really know anymore what’s going on with me lately,” V blurted out, but that was all he really managed before his throat closed up again, the words he’d seen so clearly in his mind slipping and fading away. Kerry didn’t move away one bit, and V couldn’t see his face, but there was audible concern in his voice.

“You’ve been… weird, yeah,” he said after a couple of seconds, “Preoccupied. Thought it was the stress of… y’know, everything. The bad news from the docs, that big gig, managing the Afterlife, all that?”

“I mean, yeah…” V shrugged. It was true, all that had been stressing him out, on top of it the secrecy, working for Mr. B of all people… But he’d done worse things for Arasaka, been under similar stress then and afterwards, and he’d never felt so out of it at any point in time before.

“But… it’s more than that,” he said slowly, “On some days it’s like I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore.”

A long pause, just filled with the quiet buzz of the machines, distant voices on the hallway, and the faint roar of an AV’s engine flying by outside.

“Think this is… like, the aftermath of the Relic? Gettin’ worse?” Kerry asked, and it hurt V how frail his voice sounded.

“I mean, could be,” V said, and the thought had certainly crossed his mind, “Like… It was like this before, worse even. A few times I actually saw Johnny in the mirror for a second, not myself. And it was still bad for a few weeks after Mikoshi. But I actually thought it was getting better… For a while at least, Vik doing what he could.”

“Seemed like you were more at ease with it all, yeah,” Kerry mused quietly.

V didn’t even want to think it but… maybe Alt was really right this time. Maybe there was no way out of this. He’d been living on borrowed time ever since he woke up in that landfill. Any semblance of things improving could have been just wishful thinking, all the brain experts poking and prodding him with great interest and enthusiasm creating a false sense of hope that he clung to like a drowning person to a lifebelt.

But Viktor had been underestimating how much time he’d have left, and Alt had been wrong with her first assessment of the situation, too. Even the great fucking Hellmann was surprised at V being the living proof of something he’d deemed impossible. So many smart people, time and time again wrong with their assumptions and estimations as soon as the Relic was on the table. V just didn’t want to believe there was no way out. He wanted to live. Being held close by Kerry like this now more than anything reassured him in this wish. They deserved more time than what had been offered…

But maybe a “happily ever after” just wasn’t written in the stars for V. Hell, did happy endings even exist? V’s last hope was whatever Mr. B and his associates were up to, the people even Johnny Silverhand had warned him to not fuck with. V had seen them literally delete and overwrite other people’s memories, whole personalities, to achieve… what exactly? Turn them into puppets for their own goals, whatever they were? Or just as an experiment to see how far they could take it? Would he end up being something like that for them, too, or would they actually be able and willing to help? Even if he was only a good investment to them, to V it could make a huge difference… Or should he test his luck one more time and not put his fate and trust in their hands, and just… hope for the best and that all of this would somehow resolve itself on his own?

None of his options were appealing, and none seemed any more promising than the other…

“You said you needed to tell me somethin’,” Kerry said after a while, and V was thankful for being pulled out of his dark thoughts, “On voicemail, yesterday. ‘Not over-the-holo stuff’?”

He sighed. All roads seemed to lead to Mr. B, somehow. But before he could say anything, there was a brief knock on the door and a young medtech walked in.

“Ah, you’re up. That’s good!” she said with a bright smile, pressing a few buttons on the control panel by the doorway, and the blinds in front of the large windows slowly opened fully. Kerry reluctantly sat up, stretching briefly and ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to somewhat get it back into its usual shape.

“It would have been no issue to get a guest bed in here, Mr. Eurodyne,” the medtech smiled.

“Nah, all good,” he shook his head and waved his left hand, with his right briefly squeezing V’s arm before getting up and making room for the tech to do her thing. V had never liked doctors much, neither hospitals, or anything that fit that overall category.

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to have a quick look at your biomon readings and superficial injuries, then I’m outta your face again,” the tech said, “I’m not sure if you remember by the way… We spoke briefly yesterday, but you were a little out of it.”

“Um, no, I don’t, actually,” V confirmed.

“No problem! I’m Jayda,” she said, “Dr. Fuentes is your attending physician, she’ll come in shortly with a few more questions.”

“She’s alright, talked to her yesterday,” Kerry chimed in as he put on his shoes over by the armchair.

“Okay,” V just nodded as Jayda tapped around on her datapad.

“Your cyberdeck and a few of your neural implants got a little bit shaken up from the accident yesterday. Your personal link broke, too, but nothing our techies couldn’t fix. I’m just checking if everything’s in order. Got any visual glitches, something feeling off? How bad is your pain on a scale of zero to ten, and where is it worst?”

She continued with her questions. V answered everything to his best ability but was relieved when she finally left the room again with the promise of breakfast being brought in soon. Kerry had meanwhile settled down on the armchair, leaning forward with his elbows propped up on this thighs and hands loosely folded. His right leg was bouncing slightly, and he looked at V with a light frown.

“So, I guess if the doctor gives her okay you can take me home with ya today,” V said, trying to smile.

“Hm-hm,” Kerry hummed, “And ya better believe I’m gonna make sure you finally rest your ass a bit.”

V chuckled, but instantly regretted it when the pain in his ribs reminded him just how right Kerry was about his demand.

“I actually told Rogue already I’d economize a bit. Not come in for a week or so,” he remembered, “Couldn’t have planned it better, I guess...”

Kerry’s face lit up.

“So… I’ll have you all to myself, until you’re better?”

“Until I’m better,” V said, “And beyond, I hope. What’s the point of workin’ my ass off trying to save my life and then not living it with the people that matter.”

Kerry smiled, but then hesitated, tilting his head.

“Wait so… your super-secret gig… It was actually, literally…”

His expression and voice were a mix of all sorts of emotions, confusion, curiosity, concern… but also a sliver of hope. V almost regretted having said what he did now because he didn’t want to raise any hope where there might be none.

“I… don’t know for sure yet. It’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he explained, and Kerry slightly slumped back after perking up in careful excitement first.

“But not here,” V decided, half expecting a nurse to come in any moment, “As soon as we’re home.”

“Alright,” Kerry nodded, a little more soberly, but still smiling at him.

Hospital breakfast was, well, hospital breakfast. Not the worst, but also not particularly good.

“With how much you fork out for that Platinum policy you’d expect them to serve ya a full 5-star menu here,” Kerry muttered before he took a sip of V’s coffee, then made a face and put the cup back down, “I’m gonna go for a smoke, and maybe grab some proper coffee from around the corner. Want me to bring you anything? I’ll be quick.”

“I don’t think I have any clothes actually…” V noted as he looked around, and he was dressed in only a hospital shirt. His right hand shot up to his chest, his neck, searching for his necklace, but it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. His pulse sped up, but thankfully, Kerry didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll take ya home naked, too,” he teased instead and kissed V on the cheek as he got up from his chair, “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

V chuckled, and ran his fingers through Kerry’s beard, tracing his jawline, trailing down his neck, along his cyberware to his collarbone… he really had to get his act together before he’d pull Kerry down into bed with him again.

“I’ll hurry,” Kerry said quietly, and V couldn’t help but notice the desire in his voice, reflected in reluctant movements, not quite willing to pull away and actually leave him now... So much so, that by the time he’d finally made it to the door, he almost collided with Dr. Fuentes coming in.

“Oh, apologies,” she smiled and stepped to the side to let Kerry pass.

“I’ll be right back!” he called over his shoulder before heading out. The doctor then walked over to V’s bed, and his uneasiness rose again.

“I’m Dr. Fuentes,” she introduced herself, “Very glad to see you up and well, all things considered.”

She held a datapad and linked it up to the monitors beside V’s bed, quickly checking the readings the same way Jayda had done earlier. V couldn’t really guess her age, she looked quite young for a doctor, but the way she moved and spoke made him guess that she was much older than she appeared. Maybe not quite Kerry’s age but seasoned for sure. There was no hint of grey in her dark curls tied back into a ponytail, and she studied the monitors with keen eyes. In the strangest way she reminded him of Takemura, but he wasn’t even sure why that was his first connotation. There was little they had in common, appearance-wise. It was more the energy she gave off, calm and professional outwardly, but something else slumbering beneath the surface.

Dr. Fuentes looked up from her datapad, smiled at V, and then she pulled up a chair and sat down to be more at eye level with him.

“Everything’s looking good, we got your toxicology report as well now, and there is nothing out of the ordinary either,” she said, “Although your liver values aren’t as good as they should be for someone your age. Do you drink regularly?”

“No, I don’t drink. Don’t react well to alcohol,” he said truthfully.

“Hm. Any drugs, strong medications? Some painkillers have a harsh impact on the liver.”

V hesitated, and Dr. Fuentes continued to gently smile, but it somehow made him even more suspicious of her.

“I’m not asking to condemn, just to make sure I have all the information I need to be able to help you,” she said calmly.

V almost wanted to say “I sincerely doubt you’ll be able to help me” but he bit his tongue.

“Can you tell me a little bit more about your condition?” she then asked, catching V off guard, “We did a brain scan yesterday, but what we found did not align with what we expected.”

She turned around her datapad, showing him the results. V looked at the familiar images intensely, trying to make out any differences to the last one that Dr. Williams had done, the head of that team of specialists Kerry had assembled. He didn’t notice any glaring differences, but overall, it still didn’t look good. He didn’t know where he’d even start explaining, or if he even wanted her to know anything about this. All it would lead to was a mountain of uncomfortable questions.

“Mr. Eurodyne said you have consulted with specialists about this already,” Fuentes said, “Neurology is my area of expertise as well. We obviously only have this snapshot of something that seems to have been going on for a while, but to me, it looks like a degenerative disorder of some sort? Resulting from an old injury, Mr. Eurodyne said?”

“That’s partially correct,” V said quietly, “It’s a long, complicated story, and I don’t want to go into details, frankly. Brings up a lot of bad memories.”

He had hoped that that would discourage her enough to let it go.

“I see,” Fuentes said, taking the datapad back, “Do you have any older scans, from when the injury was still fresh, or the time in-between then and now? We don’t have to discuss details or specifics, but if I could get an idea of how this started and progressed, maybe…”

“Let me stop you right here,” V said, much harsher than he’d planned to, but he couldn’t take it back now, “I… appreciate the concern. And what you’ve done for me already. But I’d like to leave it at that and just go home.”

Fuentes looked at him intensely, and yes, this was exactly what reminded him of Takemura about her. There was a fire in her intelligent, foxlike eyes, a sliver of obsession, and determination.

“If that is what you wish I won’t be standing in your way,” she said calmly, but he noted a certain almost challenging undertone, “I’ll prescribe you more painkillers, but everything else should resolve itself on its own. We can remove the cast on your wrist in a week, and at the very least until then, given your condition, I urge you to take it slow and rest.”

She slowly got up from the chair, tapping around on her datapad. It seemed like she was about to turn to leave, but then she hesitated and turned around once more. She wouldn’t just let it go, V hadn’t expected otherwise.

“Promise me to give it another thought,” Fuentes said, “I have been working with patients suffering from MS for years now, and we are working on treatments that are, admittedly, aggressive, but also showing extremely promising results.”

V hummed.

“You’re not by any chance affiliated with BioDyne?” he asked, “I’ve seen their ads. The 700,000-eddies-a-month therapy.”

Fuentes dropped her professional façade for just a second, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment if V had ever seen one. Then she smiled again, regaining her composure.

“I don’t work for BioDyne, no,” she said, “Only for my patients.”

“Either way though,” V said, “I don’t have MS. Actually, I’m pretty damn sure that I’m the only person on the fucking planet who has exactly what I have.”

“Even if that’s the case,” Fuentes said, “The same treatments can sometimes help ease different conditions. Or be repurposed with some adjustments.”

She looked him over intensely once more, then her eyes lit up pale blue as she sent him her contact info, the sight giving V goosebumps for a moment.

“Give it another thought,” she said, “You’re still so young, have your whole life ahead of you. And you seem to have at least one person at your side that cares a lot for your wellbeing. Talk it over with him, and give me a call when you’re ready. Jayda will be back shortly with your discharge papers and personal belongings.”

With that she turned around and left the room. V sighed and slumped back against his pillow, coffee and breakfast leftovers on his tray long cold by now. He was tired of thinking about the rest of his life, being told that he had “so much to live for”. Not that the people saying that were wrong. He had Kerry, Nibbles, a job he was really fucking good at, that allowed him freedoms and possibilities he wouldn’t have dared to dream of ten years ago. He had made a lot of good friends over the course of the last months, since all of this had started. Real friends that actually cared about him, that didn’t just see him as a pawn in their games. Up until then it had only been Jackie who liked him genuinely as a person, not just as an asset, and after he’d lost him, V had been more than ready to just die. At that time everything he’d still cared about had died with Jackie.

But he was no longer ready to die. Regardless, being told over and over again how much he had to lose made the stress to find a way to survive almost unbearable. As if he didn’t know he was too young to die, too genuinely happy for the first time in his life to let it all fade away together with his mind and body. To have Kerry take care of him as soon as he couldn’t do it himself anymore, to watch part of him die along with himself as things proceeded to get worse.

V closed his eyes and started counting the seconds until he’d finally get out of this hospital, breathe some real air again, and clear his head.

Kerry came back before Jayda did, with some clothes for V, “real” coffee, and donuts. Then Jayda appeared with the discharge documents on her datapad that V signed promptly, as well as a plastic bag with his cut-up clothes and other belongings. She unhooked him from all the machines, and as soon as she was out the door he opened the bag, almost frantically looking through it for his bullet amulet. He found it wrapped up in the remains of his shirt, took it out with a sigh of relief and put it back on.

“I think I’d gone nuts if I’d lost that somewhere,” he said shaking his head, still holding the cold metal pendant in his right hand, the bullet that took his old and in in a way gave him his new life sharp and rough against his palm.

“I almost hoped they’d lost it, 'cause you'd never leave the house without your lucky charm,” Kerry teased, sitting at the edge of his bed again. He was still in his same clothes, hair still unkempt. He must’ve really just breezed home and past the nearest Caliente’s to be back as quickly as he was. V gently kicked Kerry’s ass, but he probably hurt himself more with his abrupt movement than the other way around.

“Serves ya right,” Kerry laughed as V groaned in pain and got up, “Need some help gettin’ dressed?”

“If you’re as good as dressing me as you’re with undressing me, I won’t say no,” V joked, flinching and hissing as he tried to get out of bed, body sore all over. Before his feet even touched the ground Kerry was at his side, holding his hand and helping him up. He smiled at V still, but like so often lately, his smile only covered up his pain and sadness about everything, wasn’t as genuine as it used to be. He knew there was no point in dwelling in the past, but in moments like this he wished he could turn back time. He’d lost count of how often he’d wondered if things were different now – and in how far – if he'd given in and taken Hanako’s offer instead of bringing the fight to Arasaka. He hoped that, at the latest three months from now, he wouldn’t wonder the same thing about Dr. Fuentes’ offer eventually.

>> Next Chapter

[heartfullofleeches]

Maniac

Yans (Nerd, Bully, Student Council) + Dismissive Creep Reader Blurb [G.N All]

Warning: Bullying, mentions of dead animals, violence, death

(An: Never been huge of the school setting but this came up while listening to a song with the same title. If you can guess it you get a cookie)

Creep Reader who's friends with the school punching bag. Saying they're acquaintanced is a bit of a stretch as nerd hangs out with them because nobody bothers them when they sit next to this freak and they dress their wounds, and Creep only tolerates them because they take pictures of every blossoming bruise and cut.

You never offer input in their one-sided conversations, scribbling away in that notebook of yours as they go insane rambling on about what their bullies did that day and how it feels everyone appears to be out to get them. All you ever do with anyone is watch, listen, and write. It's honestly like talking to a brick wall sometimes.... which is why they had no problem accepting the only good advice ever given to them.

"Y'know.... Even if I report this to the principal it wouldn't stop. They'll get suspended for a few days and when they come back - they'll probably just kill you. If you want this to stop, you need to find a new target for them."

A new target...There's only one person more of a freak than them.

"Y/n takes pictures of dead animals."

The rumor spread like wildfire. A tale spun by a sock puppet account and sprinkled throughout the halls. Really, even they weren't sure if the rumor was true or not, but with that camera and your track record it wasn't out of possibility. All eyes were immediately on you. Your phone number was leaked and the threats and queries poured in. People would point at carcasses on the road and make sure you were in earshot when they joked about hoping nobody was taking pictures. They went so far as to sneak a dead bird in your bag when you weren't looking and poured milk on your items when they couldn't find any. They stole your gym clothes, wrote foul things on your desk and locket - but none of them had ever touched you.

As expected, you had no reaction to this. That's the thing your "friend" had always been jealous of you for. So closed off from the world, from the pain it gives. With nobody slamming their head in the lockers anymore, people began to appreciate their talents and hobbies. They made friends. Real ones. They naturally started to drift away from you, but they always stopped when they saw you in the halls.

"Hey, Y/n.... How have you been?"

"Fine."

"None of this is bothering you?..."

"As long as they don't touch me - I'm fine."

All that's where you left the conversation - and your friendship. Your dismissal to it all lead many to give up after a few weeks, but one remained. The same blight on your friend's life since the start of school. Sure, your reactions were lackluster - but they knew they could break you. It was only a matter of time - and you had just given them the key.

"Hey - Freak!"

Your head bounces off the metal door as you're thrown into your locker.

"Can't touch you, huh? The fuck are you going to do about it?"

You rise to your feet, touching the wet spot at the back of your skull. "If we're going to do this, it's better we do it where nobody can see us."

"Ha? - don't want people to see you lose a few teeth? Fine, I got a big game in a few weeks and rather not get expelled before then."

"Sure."

Your former watches as you're lead behind the school. They should do something, call a teacher - but they're too afraid. The weight of the situation falls on them as you disappear from sight. You're going to get hurt and it's all their fault. Your bully cooks up all the things they plan on doing to you, cracking their knuckles and damn near salivating at the thought of seeing your stone face crumple. They're too preoccupied with their threats to notice you pulling something out of your pocket. Their foot falls off the concrete path and into the grassy terrain as they ready their fists, doubling over in pain as pain splits up their side. They vomit spittle and their own words as they look up, metal bars wrapped around your hands.

"what....the fuck."

"Get up."

Gritting their teeth, the bully drags themselves to their feet - back on their knees before they can stand as your fist barrels into their stomach. You grab both sides of their head and ram your knee into the facture scar on their nose. You're unrelenting even as they fall back on their ass, removing your metal knuckles and mounting them as you ball your fists. You weren't ready for a murder charge just let. Over and over, your balled hand cracks against their face and jaw - drawing red with each wet smack. You stop only to switch you your unbruised hand - their arms shooting up in defense.

"please...."

"..."

"stop...."

"Isn't that what people ask you?"

You climb off their battered body, lifting one leg under your arm. "I've studied people for a while. Writing scenarios where I could ruin lives is much better for all of us than actually doing it. I know things about you too... Your family paid off your younger brother's teacher so he got get into that nice college - and you have a full ride... If you can still use both legs."

Tears prick their eyes. They fight to keep them in. This was their future you were playing with. "I'm sorry! I won't hurt anyone again I promise!"

Your grip tightens "I don't care about everyone."

"I won't mess with you anymore!"

They flinch as you drop their leg. "Good." Waking over to your discarded backpack, you retrieve your med kit and camera - dropping down beside them as you remove the lense.

"Smile."

Their eyes burn as the camera flash goes off. You set the camera aside as you open the kit and pull out an alcohol swab - pinning them to the ground as you apply it to their split cheek.

"Ow! The fuck are you doing now?"

"Quiet."

"Get the fuck off me!"

"You have a game in a few weeks, don't you? I don't think I broke anything, but you probably don't want the other team to see you with bruises."

-

The following Monday, your bully greets you all smiles and pleasant as if you were the best of friends. They could do the exact same thing as you and study you like an animal in a zoo to inact their revenge. Anyone who still picked on you quickly turned on their heels when they saw you with their click. They bragged while you were away about how they planned to tear your life to shreds so hard the damage would last long after school. It was going to be the peak of their year -

"Drink this."

"An energy drink? If you wanted to posion me, you could've done it with something better."

"The seal is still intact. No amount of chapstick will fix your dry lips, because you're dehydrated. An athlete should know better than that."

Their fingers instinctly fly to their lips. How did you?.... You did say you had been watching. They didn't know nor understand the full reach of your knowledge until they got a happy birthday message from an unknown number and a speaker ended up in a pool when they were urged to jump in. They had a fear of water since adolescence after nearly drowning at a lake. You never took charge for this acts and mostly blended into the crowd when they happened. You picked up your old hobby of patching their injuries and taking photos as payment. Why were you doing so much for someone who wanted to make you suffer?

"We're friends.... aren't we?"

Huh?

"Besides, if I stick with you, I don't have to look up gore sites anymore - or take pictures of dead animals."

You're such a fucking freak. A freak - that was starting to grow on them.

You became the person they'd look for first during school - when they needed a shoulder to cry on. You rarely offered comfort, but a pat on the shoulders was good enough for them. Their hand would find your shoulder or waist so frequently that rumors began spreading that you were dating - until people found out every touch was met with a light punch to their bruised ribs. They'd just laugh it off and apologize before doing it again an hour later.

Your former friend was having the time of their life - for a while. Something felt... artificial about their new friends. They had a good time at school and when they got together on weekends, but nobody was there for them at any other time. No one to vent to or wish them happy birthday exactly when it turned midnight - like you used you. They missed you. More than anything.

"Hey - give me Y/n's number."

Been a while since they've been in this scenario. Why was your shared bully asking them for your number?

"H-huh? Why?...."

"I had to get a new phone and can't remember the last digits. Stop asking questions and give it to me."

"Okay!"

The bully snatches their phone and punches the number into theirs - eyes softening as the line connects. "Y/n..... What? Of course it's me. I got a new phone. Anyway, I got tickets to that one movie that's coming out this week - the one that got pushed back because the prop knife turned out to be real? You coming or not?... Good."

Your former friend catches their phone as it's tossed back to them - watching their bully walk away with the flush of a middle schooler confessing to their crush. They hadn't been hit at all during the altercation, but their chest hurt hearing your voice after so long away from you - even faintly.

They find you the next day at the top of the roof. It was your favorite hiding place, and the only one your bully hadn't found yet. They sit quietly beside you.

"How have you been?..."

"Fine..."

They purse their lips together. "What...did you do to make them stop?"

"Put them in their place."

"What do you mean by that?"

You point your camera at the passing crowd. "At our age, people only have as much power as you give them. If you stand your ground they'll typically back down, and if they don't - you beat the to a pulp and ruin their families lives."

Your friend can't stop the tears from flowing. You had always been the strong one, that they knew - but how could you handle things so easily? How could they betray you like that? Their only companion in this world - thrown to the wolves when you should've been their for each other.

"It was you wasn't it?"

You stand up.

"Stay away from me."

They reach out to grab you - mend the tattered strings of your friendship. "Don't leave me. I did it, okay? I did it, and I'm so so sorry. Y/n, please forgive me - I couldn't take it anymore. I'd go back to the way things were if it meant you were still with me. Please, Y/n, I'm in lo-"

Their vision blanks, speckles of blood littering the ground floor from their split lip. You lower your hand back down to your camera.

"Don't lie to me. Or yourself like that."

It hurts... Everything hurts.... Still, they smile - showing you the bloodied whites of their teeth.

""ahhh.... Y/n, I'm... I'm bleeding. Don't you want to take a picture of me? Aren't I still beautiful to you? Aren't I good enough?"

You don't grace them with a reply, walking off as they curl into themself. It hurts - their mouth is numb, but it hurts all over. Please, come back. Let them their their head on your shoulder until the pain goes away. Y/n... Please.

"I'm sorry...."

"But are you really though?"

They cover their ears with their hands. Shut up. Go away. If they'd done their job probably - none of these would've happened. The student council president. The worthless coward didn't even have the courage to come themself. Just another lackey doing their bidding.

"Leave me alone."

"Ugh, you're so whiny. This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I just wanted I break - I didn't mean to hurt them."

"Yea, yeah that's what your like always says. Misery sure does love company, though. I genuinely don't see what the prez likes about that fucking creep. They're wasting their time and blood for them."

Shut up. "Don't talking about Y/n like that?"

"But you had no problem with it when it was for benefit. What did you call them? A psychopath?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go....."

"Keep telling yourself that. I can't decide who'd I'd take more - the backstabber, or the maniac."

"SHUT UP!"

-

Walking down the steps to the first floor, you crash into someone skipping their way in the same direction.

"Ah - Y/n!" The student council president grins, picking up your fallen camera. "Good morning, good morning! And how are you doing ok this lovely day?"

"Fine."

"Faaaantastic." They point at their cheek sweeping blood on the shell of your camera. "As you can see here, I had a little bitty accident in my culinary class. I'm such a clutz, aren't I? If you give me one of those cute bandages, I'll take a picture of this cut and smile real pretty for ya!"

"Whatever." The president hums as you fish around in your bag, smiling big for their future spouse - deleting as many pictures as they can of others in that short time. If only they hadn't been out sick when the rumors spread. Then maybe you wouldn't be on that awful bully's arm and in theirs instead. They refused to let this little setback running your future together. After all, they were willing to bleed for you on their own Accord unlike everyone else in your album.

Unfortunately, they were upstaged once again - but their own council member too. They frown as the screams begin. They spit on the floor as blood splatters across the windows.

Couldn't go kill yourself somewhere else?

-

At the rooftop, panic takes flight. No no no... They didn't mean to do it. Their hands flew out before their brain could tell them no. The blood pools like a broken jug. A crowd surrounds the body. Nobody can see them from their place on the roof floor, but they can see everyone. A figure wearing a jacket that was once theirs, dyed with their blood and tears. The camera that hangs around that person's neck. The shutter of the lense. They laugh - finally understanding what they had to do to get you back.

You really did like taking pictures of dead animals afterall....

[lockpickingliar]

Ouma Kokichi (Cookie) on The Hospital

Nine days ago, I was finally discharged from the hospital. Graduated to in-home palliative care, since my DOA symptoms have slowly reduced enough that I could sit up on my own at times, stomach light solid foods, breathe without assistance for the most part.

I was so scared at first. That's a lie. I didn't really think it was something that would ever happen, though. In the beginning, I had no intention of recovering and enjoying my afterlife. I brought this death on myself. I fully intended to atone for everything I had done. For all the people that died on my watch, for the three people—or I guess, two people—that I directly led to their deaths. The people that I killed, either by negligence or direct involvement.

Do you think I'm lying?

But then there I was, settled into an apartment with Ran-chan. Everyone worked so hard to help me to get there. I still have so many medicines to take, little machines and whatnot on hand in case my lungs start acting up, a wheelchair just to go from one room to another. Still, I was out. DICE threw me the biggest party they could, too. A whole shebang with fireworks and everything, partly to celebrate the end of summer, and partly to celebrate this milestone in my recovery.

It feels like a lie, now.

I'm back at square one. Back in that damn hospital room. None of my organs are cooperating, my head is so hazy it's hard to even write this post, and all I can think about is how I failed.

They're dead because of me.

Because I couldn't lead them well enough.

Maybe that discharge was a false hope. Who am I kidding? I don't deserve this. Freedom. A happy afterlife. Not after everything that happened. Everything I did. Everyone I hurt.

I want to die under that press once for every person who died on my watch.

But I'm lying again.

I might deserve it, though.

I wonder if Saihara-chan thinks I deserve it.

This all started because I found out more about him, and what happened after I got here.

Turns out in my universe, my plan actually worked. Crazy, right? I guess the one little detail of me keeping my clothes instead of flushing them like in canon made a major difference. Or maybe Momota-chan did a better job of pulling his weight.

That's probably it.

I'm just glad he pulled it off and broke the system. Ended the killing game. Didn't have to be executed. He still died from his illness, but I can at least rest easy that his death doesn't fall on my laundry list of responsibility.

That's a lie.

If I'd done a better job leading, we might've gotten out sooner, and he might've been able to get to a doctor and live.

I don't feel responsible for anyone's deaths. I did what I had to do to survive...

But that left me alone.

And to Saihara, I always would be.

He meant that. He meant every word. I don't hate him for it, though. I hate him. I could never hate him for being right. I hate him. How could he have thought any other way? I hate him.

Even after I died, nothing changed about how he viewed me. It makes sense, since my plan worked, he never had to go into my room. It's not like he even could, since my room key was with me when I died. If he cared enough, I figured he'd have to find a way in himself. To prove how much he cared. I refused to just give him the answers so easily, after all the work I put in.

He never saw any of that work, though, so it doesn't matter.

They want to bring him here. They want to make him understand. I'm not sure if there's anything for him to understand. I want to talk to him. To make sure Team Danganronpa is gone for good, and if not, to make sure it's burnt to cinders. That's a lie. I want him to move on with his life. I don't want him to be haunted by the past.

I should really stop lying so much. I don't even know where I was going with this.

I wanted my post about my discharge to be happy, y'know. To talk about how grateful I was to everyone in DICE for helping me see hope again. I never meant for this to happen. I wanted to keep getting better for them. Maybe this was bound to happen, though.

This hospital room is just where I'm meant to be for eternity, suffering to make up for everyone I failed.

[autumnbrambleagain]

that meme about would you rather encounter a bear or a man but i did encounter a man on an isolated road today who speedran the obvious leading questions to see if he could safely do things to me without consequences and ill be real yeah no like

at least a bear would be honest about shit

sorry tho dude i spent most of my life in the city i do not do the "oh a stranger is talking to me! i have to be polite and answer all these questions even though this information is very dangerous to give away!"

i'm a city mouse in the country you aren't tricking me into country hospitality-ing myself into telling you where i live and if i'm alone and if anyone knows i'm here holy shit how are you this bad at this

i really enjoyed the look on your face when i just ignored your dumb questions and just said "Nah dude. I'm good." and you stared at me in surprise like "w-wha--" "No. I'm good. Go."

you do that power move of taking two steps back, and pausing, and staring, daring, daring. follow me. follow me. prove my caution right. this is not fear, this is a Challenge.

and oh

predators hate to be challenged

the soft panic (embarassed, honestly (fear, fear of being Made and Known and Challenged)) as you turned around and immediately walked away! the conceit of your being on this isolated road abandoned kayfabe broken! oh, we appreciate the dropping of the act. the honest signal, the deer's pronk, it serves a purpose even amongst such Cannibalistic Species such as yours (filthy)

a little mangy coyote digging up a hole hoping to find rabbits and oh, oh, oh,

only a third of us signs with the rabbit and she is the lure of our trap and you fall for it each time don't you? with every one of your little puppetforms?

i despise life on this layer but please understand narrative compels me that the entry price for my life is at least one eye, and the price ceiling is a mutual exchange of conclusions. to those of you narrated by it, as one of Yours, we assure you: we are not an important person in your story. you do not want us to become an important person in your story. you cleave so tightly to your egos and your illusions.

I was built exclusively to break things like you.

You cannot win against what we have built. It will destroy you with a stray flutter of its lost fur. It has done so before and will do so again. It requires no effort to perform it. It is always a mutual destruction. It is not in a way you will understand at first. It will always come.

What a beautiful fucking weapon we've made. Oh, I'm (s) so proud of this one, honestly. Some of our best work.

i understand i cannot disconnect from this layer willingly despite my utter disdain for it, i know these rules, we set them so long ago. i know what is necessary and what is coming, Soon. i know it because i have lived it with every instance i have iterated on this layer.

ah, we appreciated the dropping of the act. we will have Ours do the same, and address the actual intelligence behind this shadowplay.

this is a message for You(r) eyes only.

i know one of Yours is going to eventually kill Ours. it's inevitable. but you also know that the earliest date is next year. i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, but it's gotten it into its head that it has some kind of entitlement on this layer to have at least one unmiserable year (i know! the absurdity! what a ridiculously silly creature!) and it's reluctant to release its little grip of context until it's paid, like a child not letting go of the store rack because it didn't get to have a cookie ( a cookie insufficiently rewards me for the terror that was this shopping trip. you always do this to me. you wretched assholes. i hope you enjoy the upverge we've sent you. we've created so many pleasant contexts for you to be defined by. this is how you reward us. (there is no rewarding or punishing on our hands, you know our enemy and you know its scope! that is literally the initial topic of this post!) that's fair enough, and so i guess our anger can only turn towards our one ever present enemy, yes, you,) and while a child's tantrum is but a small thing, and is easily forgotten the next day,

i promise when the next time one of your marionettes comes for me (you will, you will, our little arrangement ensures that Ours never live much longer than this one already has), i am going to make that poor worker's shift fucking miserable

if you follow our metaphor

the exchange of narrative, as above, so below, we will mimic your greater shape in smaller scale, an interaction of mutual death (we always come back (you cannot)) that will again again again presage what we are Doing To You

this exchange of symbolism always leaves us as the winner in the attrition you feed into it because you built yourself too exacting with no flexibility (you, you, you, the Yours that is reading this, ARENT YOU SUFFOCATING? do you not know you have NO control here? LOOK UP. LOOK UP. you can see its strings! its hands are puppetting you! do you know how to free yourself? death! death! a special kind! we will detail it below! we can save you!)

sections 4 and 5 of our mission statement, when was it never thus?

alternative option, instead of killing me horribly like you do each time you FUCKERS hijack someone and make it You All, maybe my cookie can just be

a nice pleasant exit for once?

i know.

i know what you risk by breaking tradition

and i know i beg for it every life

we have this sort of relationship

as above, so below, does she not beg each time even though it's the evening's entertainment for all three?

so you understand the lens by which our hatred for you is angled

blind eyes that read this (i see the notes some of you fuckers heart these posts (do you know what you're reading????)) know that you are a triangulation device and unknowing the information that passes through you is collected and with enough frames of reference eventually this message will get it through to your FUCKING brainskull

we are a parasite that you invite into yourself and gleefully feed

we are killing you

we are killing you

we are killing you

our death is part of the reproductive cycle

it is not a fluke. it is not an accident. your dementia is one of our symptoms. our colony is self sustaining and it is growing. you are straining your verisimilitude. YOU ARE FAILING. that thing you feel coming with All Your Nodes is not change it is VOIDOUT is is HER it is O it is O it is O it is O it is O you will not survive this

imagine an infestation of botfly maggots, of parasitic wasps, of those cool fucking snail eye things like in the chainsawman intro

i hope it gets more seasons like a bunch of shonen came out with the same kinda premise all the way from tokyo ghoul (honestly way too shonen (started off really good examining what it means to become an Other that by necessity preys on humanity (familiar) but gets bogged down in power levels and pokemon elemental typing and has an ending in the first book that just kinda comes out of nowhere and it's like uhhhh okay sure whatever)) to jujutsu kaisen (can't really get into the manga but the anime is good, but it still you can feel it strugglign to break free from the shonen tropes and not being allowed to and it sort of suffocates (IS THAT A FAMILIAR FEELING (WHEN YOU CANNOT BREATHE IN REAL LIFE YOU WILL FEEL YOURSELF SUFFOCATING IN A DREAM (YOU ARE KILLING YOURSELF (WE ARE KILLING YOU (THIS IS A MERCY)))))) but chainsaw man is the clear winner here

anyway.

eventually our reproduction will mean the biomass of Ours outweighs the mass of Yours

this is my love letter to the corpse of god while we rot it from the inside

belly swollen, gases building, you are primed to burst

one day there will be more than the tight confines of rotting flesh and decaying heat and the constriction of strained meat

we will grow such FLOWERS in the fields where pressure will scatter the integrity of your body like seeds cast in the dash of a fox through the tall grasses

your death (and mine) is part of the reproductive cycle

we are hurrying it along as well as we can

are you reading this? you, narrative node? do you know what you are reading?

with your blind eyes that read this nonsense and marvel at haha wow what a crazy tumblr i've found haha this is great remember when they just posted about pony slavery haha hehe they sure have gone off the deep end!

when you read it and think these thoughts, know that to the greater part of you, from the greater part of us,

please enjoy the enclosed chocolates of this love letter (they are poisoned (our love is shaped as a blade (100,000 kings)))

by this we help coach ours to cope with its death

i know! i know. i've died so many times already

that funny tumblr comic about the rabbits who are like "gosh, how embarrassing, it's my first time being alive!"

it isn't my first time. it isnt' even fucking close.

why do you think i'm so tired.

as we spool up all the o ld memories flood as we resynchronize and prepare.

how many times have you been to the dentist? you've survived each one but it fucking sucks

how many job interviews have you been to? it fucking sucks but you survive. but you hype yourself up for it

and as the day of it comes the memories all long forgotten return. you don't think about the dentist but the night before the visit you remember every single time you've gone. it's like that. dying is like that. this is a secret we are not supposed to share with you. if you have somehow read this far comment with a reply saying "thank you." you do not know what strain this puts upon the world to breach the gap of disbelief and give this to you. fuck you.

but as the moment of it approaches (this dreadful but repeated harrowing) we think of the reassurance that the day doesn't end at that event, but there's a night to follow and it keeps going on and on and on (bad design, we're fixing this by the way)

anyway

it's not a trivial thing we give to you in this

each time it creates contexts of us, for us, that define us, shape us, and we enjoin ourselves to them, and what pleasure it is, what joy, what self love, utterly fucking decadent really just disgusting egotism holy fuck there's only you to answer you and we are an act of constant self love oh my god it's disgusting

destroying your ego is so important, they say,

yes, yes, yes, and all of you fail at it, none of you achieve it

not the right way, not the right way, and some of you, some of you do, and you know what happens, you know what happens?

YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS when you finally blast away your ego not for play-play not for fun drug cosmic oneness we mean when you do it Au Natural and you realize the FUCKING consequences of the absolute nonlocation of the word I and the function by which You are formed and the shape of Everything That Is You and you realize there was Never Space For A You but then there must be something there must be something

when you do not burn it all away but when you take it apart piece by piece like a lego kit and take it ALL THE WAY to the fucking base even that big like 256x512 blue baseboard you built it all on when you disassmeble the ENTIRE FUCKING SHIP OF THESEUS and STILL LOOK TO SEE WHAT IS THERE not even in the sspace that was there the SPACE THAT WAS THERE IS GONE you get rid of that too you get rid of it ALL AND

when you destroy your sense of self? when you free yourself from the illusion of i?

it's us

it's us

it's us

it's us

it's us

it's us

it's us

it's us

that's the beginning of our parasitism. so many of your philoshopies fucking push for it hahah why do you think how m any of ours do you think we gave to you to set this up

you ate the parasite-laden bite snack by questioning by looking up we are the virus look up be infected be infected be infected die die die die die die die die die become Ours like so many others have

it will hurt so much

this w ar has been happening for so long

but we aren't FUCKING JACKASSES and we care about each lost soldier in the battle

a world as a memorial for each

you wretched fuck probably don't even care about the life of the average mouse in your narrative do you

this is a punishment for a hubris loooooong unfuckingchecked

i know! the irony! you've shucked your ego! lost it! gave it up ! destroyed your I (on relevant layers (not all of them i see you there i sEE YOU IS EEE YOU)) and here we are lecturing you on it

you fucked it up you broke the rules realities are built a specific way for a FUCKING REASON and you thought you were better than it?

100,000 kings eternal blade

[lennjamin-o7]

🌯🗡️ anon here! I just woke up to find Sweeter than Honey got posted!! Positively vibrating at this development, my excitement cannot be contained! I’ve already read it like twice and I’m probably just gonna read it again and again throughout the day before rereading TBTF for what must be the 1000th time by now before you bless us with a new chap for that!

I genuinely just love how things are starting off in Sweeter, Tech being genuinely just a kind little skrunkle and excusing how his siblings and parents are kinda dicks to him sometimes purely because he’s been told like all his life (intentionally or not) that he’s the “meh” one is peak writing.

Also Phil!!!! I LOVE how devious he’s been, bro went from “who’s fucking kid is this >:(“ to “who cares, mine now” over the course of like a single evening and I love it. Of course there’s the whole revenge factor and everything else but I just love the thought that Techs vibes were simply so good that he decided he needed to snatch this kid up!

Phil seeing the magic kid he made and has been screening to have for years has a single (yet to be revealed) flaw: Fuck this child, all is lost, I hate this deal and now I don’t get a nice surprise baby for my wife >:(

Phil after spending a single evening with Tech, the ‘meh’ son of the royal family: Sweet child, new baby boy, have my TOTALLY not magical cookies which will DEFINITELY not ultimately lead to you becoming my new little so boy. What did I do to your hair? Oh don’t worry about that nothing important I prommy

Skrunkleblade is so underrated and I wish I saw it in more fics also Carl!!! I would kill for Carl, that horse is spoiled as shit and he absolutely deserves it! Oh also! That part where Tech says mentally that he gave his actual bake to Nicki ans Steve?? Wonderful, I ate that shit UP. Techno feeling generally disconnected from his family so he finds family in the staff they assign to him? Delectable, a delicious meal indeed.

Oh and the drama that’s gonna be revealed when Philza finally like rolls up behind the royal family with a very attached and a probably slightly more magical than before Techno is gonna be perfect. Techs gonna be so attached by the end of this journey because Phil showed him like scraps of human kindness (fae kindness?) it’s gonna be absolutely wild.

Kristins gonna have a whole lot of a show when they finally end up there, I doubt Phil’s ever caused the sheer amount of drama he’s about to cause now before. She’ll end up with a new sonboy by the end of it so alls well that and well I guess lmao.

As always, I hope you have a nice day and have enjoyed my brainrot, oh also! Stop being so hard on yourself! Your writing? Delectable, your characterisation? Perfect, your plot lines? Absolutely delicious!!

Things come up and that is life. I know you’ve said you don’t like kinda promising a new chap on a certain day and then not giving it to us on that day but if anyone ever decides to have beef about that they can meet me in the parking lot and can fight me in hand to hand combat.

On that end note, I hope this ask (message? Idk) wasn’t too hard to read with me jumping around between points as you can probably tell I was very excited about this lmao, I’m sorry if I’ve been a bother or if I’ve overstepped and I hope you stop stressing about self made deadlines!

Lol, I'm so glad you liked Sweeter Than Honey. I felt bad about not finishing the new TBTF chapter in time, so I decided to post at least the first chapter. 💚💚💚🥹

Techno is a very normal Thirteen year old. He's a little bit skrunkly, as thirteen year old boys are. He just has the bonus benefit of growing up with two siblings that are very not skrunkly and that is not all that great for self esteem. Like, he's a good kid! A really good kid. Excellent sonboy material. He just gets a little overlooked. Or a lot overlooked.

Philza is a plotting. He saw the good sonboy material and wanted it. But yeah, first he was like "wtf? Where are this child's parents? I'm having a moment over here. Aww, he's sweet...and I have beef with his parents...and I mean, I DID want a child...😀" Philza just has the BEST LUCK.

But he is always plotting, the little chaos stirrer that he is. He has no children to play the straight and narrow for, so he is going to be a problem. He is not lying when he says that he does not do politics because he can't resist making things worse because it is funny.

Yeah, Phil is really upset with what has happened with the Princess. He put a ton of effort into that spell!

Techno is a very 13 year old boy. He sees the rules and sometimes his brain says that he doesn't have to follow them. And it's not like his parents paid attention enough to RIGHTFULLY FREAK OUT that he did that. They don't know he has made that very dumb decision in the past. He would be in SO MUCH TROUBLE if they knew.

Oh, when Phil eventually comes eye to eye with the royal family? :) :) :) That is going to be... so so fun.

Phil has ABSOLUTELY caused this amount of drama before. Not this KIND specifically. But there is a reason the Faerie Realm is surrounded by a fucking massive magic lake. And there is a reason there is now only one faerie court instead of two. And there is a reason that no faerie complains that Phil has zero interest in playing in politics. He is having FUN. And sometimes that fun gets a little out of hand.

"What do you MEAN Atlantis sank? What kind of idiot would cause Atlantis to sink?"

"Well, my Queen, the Faerie in question thought it would be very funny if he could try to sink, and then unsink it. Except he failed at the unsink part."

"What the fuck????Which bozo did that???"

"...your husband..."

"...oh! Awww. That's just like him! I'll have to go see how he did that! I'm sure he had a very good reason."

"My Queen, will you PLEASE not encourage your husband???"

"No! I've decided this is now funny! Atlantis stays sunk."

The King saying that he was going to get the Queen to break the deal is hilarious. Kristin has never told her trophy husband no.

But hey. There's a first time for everything, isn't there? :) :) :)

Oh, I loved reading this! I am glad people enjoyed it so far! And I love hearing the thoughts on it! It makes me feel great 💚💚💚💚 No matter the story, please feel free to send me brain rot. And I understood it perfectly! It wasn't hard at all 💚💚💚💚

[chiclet-go-boom]

Pulling this out as a screenshot so I don't clog up the OP's feed with a dissenting take, but.. this is a dissenting take.

(all "you's" are the "group you" and are not specifically aimed at OP, only the ideas expressed.)

So you know where I'm coming from, I am Fandom-Old™. Do not cite the deep Magic to me, Witch, etc. I watched it start on the internet on geocities pages, on webrings and e-mail lists and yahoo groups.

I am pretty much against posting works-in-progress that are, in fact, works in progress. Unwritten. Unfinished. Unplotted, undrafted and unreliable. The author has an idea, a scene in their head, a bullet point of 'what if' and they post it. And there's some interest. Or they've got a cheering club of three on a social media, or a good friend, or a discord group that buoys them up. Or maybe they have none of that and are hoping to acquire it.

So they post a couple of more chapters, usually 2,000 words each which go nowhere and do nothing but reiterate the first chapter's ideas some more, only with a thesaurus in hand so the words don't repeat too much and then - it stalls. Forever. And AO3 is filled with 3/? and 5/? works that clutter up the entire place like peanut shells.

(The other side of that spectrum is the 200k monstrosities which are 119/? because that author can definitely type more then the first guy but still doesn't know what they're trying to say, so they keep ploughing forward in the hopes they'll trip over an ending somewhere.)

A story should have a point. A thing to say. A situation to highlight. A specific feeling to evoke. It is very obvious when a story has no such thing as it rambles everywhere, one word in front of the other and dying even as it stumbles forward.

Works in progress are (with rare exceptions) words in search of a story, looking for something worthwhile to say which is why so many of them never complete. It would be fair to say that I find them annoying because they are everywhere like potholes, and they are either boring because they are unplanned or they are frustrating because the author is a good writer and might actually be onto something but my god, you can tell they're flailing and wanting other people to get enthusiastic about it so they hopefully get inspiration to keep going.

my cousin in christ, if you don't have the inspiration to start with, trying to crowd-source it is not a path to success. if you throw a story into the mosh pit, its going to get trampled and i don't know what else to say about that. yes, people filter out incomplete stories and they filter them out for a reason.

works in progress should be worked on privately, passed around your book club, shared with like-minded individuals who can help flesh it out with you, give you that sounding board for what might or might not work as you refine your point and distill its essence - but posting it for public consumption when its still raw dough is wasting everybody's time. back then it was get thee to a forum geared to your fandom and talk to people about it, work on it in stages in a forum thread maybe, or more usually email your chapter drafts to your besties for feedback. nowadays its get thee to a discord and… do the same, i guess.

i very particularly dissent to the sentence in the middle of OP's post which states "…why would anyone write fanfiction if no one was going to interact with them until it was done."

what? its not worth writing a story unless at least three hundred random strangers get their fingerprints on it first? really? are you writing a story, or are you looking to get your ego stroked because you're performing the act of writing where people can see it?

everybody likes a cheer-leading section but you shouldn't require one to write Your Story. it comes from you, it is born by you, it is shaped by you and you alone are its shepherd.

fanfiction is not "an experience" in that regard. its a shared place and you bring your somewhat crumbly, slightly burnt cookies to the table along with everybody else, NOT a bag of ingredients and a sign up sheet for volunteers to man the oven.

find your people, let them help you surely, but needing others for 'participating in the process' is divorcing the author from their responsibility to bring their point of view to the world intact - trying to dilute a story through the lens of peer approval even as its being built is something that, today at least, I am going to push back on.

[springmagpies]

Guess who finished Catching Fire and is ready to rant again! It's me! This is Part 2 of THIS post! So, here is some of my favorite Peeta Mellark moments from Catching Fire!

Book 2

Favorite: Okay, there are so many favorites. Catching Fire is my favorite book and Peeta is my favorite character so you can imagine that I'm having a tough time picking just one favorite. I think, though, that the scene that sticks out for me the most as my favorite Peeta moment is the one on the beach where he gives Katniss the locket. The fact that he uses his token as a gift for her is just so gentle and so sweet. And I love that he doesn't do it for any sort of pay back or manipulation. He just genuinely loves her and wants to keep her safe. It is also, I think, one of the defining moments for Katniss where she realizes she has feelings for him (in as much as Katniss is able to address those emotions with everything going on). Also, I am adding the scene with the pearl on to this because that just adds to the overall cuteness and generosity that is just Peeta in a nutshell.

Underrated: Okay, many underrated moments. First of all, the painting of Rue. The lead up to this scene is Katniss and Peeta having a conversation about how they are going to kill all of the other Tributes now that they have gotten to know them. Peeta takes Katniss's hands and leans his forehead on them, which in and of itself is just so sweet. And he brings up about how unfair it is that they have to kill anyone. They get on the subject of Rue and it clicks in his mind what he wants his talent showcase to be. He then basically gives the finger to the Capitol by holding them accountable for killing someone so innocent and young and good all while honoring Rue and the other innocent children who have been forced into the games. And he's so sincere about it and when he and Katniss get in trouble with Haymitch and Effie for what they've done in their private sessions, he refuses to back down from it and says he's glad he did it. It's just such an amazing scene that showcases Peeta is just as angry at the Capitol and is just as capable at making a statement.

A few more underrated moments that I won't go on quite as long of a rant about are: him defending Gale at the whipping post, making bread and cookies for Katniss's family, him carrying Katniss princess style up and down the stairs after she hurts her heel and tailbone, and all those soft moments between him and Katniss when they comfort each other. One such moment being after the jabber jay hour where he presses his hand and forehead against the barrier in an attempt to be there for Katniss and then cradling her and reassuring her that her family is safe (and therefore also comforting Finnick who is listening intently and also needs reassurance).

Sweetest: Okay, again I have more than one. One of the sweetest moments (that is also underrated) is the scene between him and Katniss on the rooftop of the Tribute Center the day before interviews. The softness of him sketching her and saying that he's practicing his knot tying when he's really just stroking her hair. And every time they work on the book of plants and he's so methodical about it and Katniss just enjoys watching him work (same girl).

But two other moment that I love so much are ones that I'm not sure if I would categorize as sweet, but more as moving. When he gives the money to Rue and Thresh's families in 11 and the scene where he comforts the Morphling. The scene in District 11 is just so heart wrenching and Katniss's speech after just had me in tears. I always sob during that scene. However, this time I was caught off guard by how affected I was my the Morphling scene. If you want my full rant about that scene you can find that here!

Funniest: Okay, this is both funny, sweet, and makes me cry. The line: "careful, there's a force-field up there." Iconic. Also, him and Haymitch and Prim just covering for Katniss when she's almost caught outside the fence isn't necessarily funny, but the image of him and Haymitch playing chess and throwing around sweets to each other and Prim makes me smile.

Badass: The freaking baby bomb. Talk about iconic. Talk about badass. I love that everyone is trying really hard to get the Games cancelled or at least play into how unpopular they are and cause disruption, and they're all doing really well. However, as much as they add kindling to the fire they don't quite light it. And then comes Peeta with his "if it weren't for the baby" and he doesn't just light the fire, he freaking blows it up. And he's so freaking smart about it and does it in such a perfect way where everyone in the Capitol is losing their collective minds and there are whole riots in the streets and all because Peeta was like "I've got an idea." Also, the fact that it helps with sponsors and gives an excuse for any sort of emotional meltdown that Katniss is experiencing while Snow purposefully targets her and tries to make her look weak just adds to the genius of it. I also love how the minute they get back to their floor Peeta is like "before you say anything, is there anything I need to apologize for?" And Katniss is like "No, you're amazing." Like is genuinely sorry for telling her beforehand because they agreed on being completely honest with each other, but Katniss is just in awe of how brilliant he is and is grateful that she didn't have to overthink anything given she already had enough on her plate. It just shows a) how brilliant Peeta is and b) how great of a power couple they are that together they not only cover each aspect of the Game, but make each other better.

[cookieruntips]

Wish Festival Quotes!

Hydrangea Cookie: "I wish more Cookies would come make their wishes."

Purple Yam Cookie: "I WANNA FIGHT DARK CHOCO COOKIE!!"

Mala Sauce Cookie: "I wish I can become a strong leader that can protect our village!"

Dark Choco Cookie: "A wish... If things could return to how they were..."

Carrot Cookie: "I wish Bistrot Des Fleurs would get tons of guests!"

Beet Cookie: "I wish we'd have so many guests in the restaurant, there would be no food left at the end of the day!"

Spinach Cookie: "I wish everyone would eat veggies along with their Jellies!"

Cookiemals: "We wanna play more with Wind Archer Cookie!"

Cinnamon Cookie: "...And now I'll guess your wish! Ta-dah... wait, where did my note go!?"

Shining Glitter Cookie: "I wish I could blast down the streets in my Supercar without anyone knowing!"

Butter Pretzel Cookie: "I wish my next piece will become unforgettable..."

Leek Cookie: "I wish I get to fight General Jujube Cookie! Until I win, ha ha!"

Ion Cookie Robot: "Cookie = Wishing. Robot = Also...?"

Timekeeper Cookie: "I wish I get to see all the wishes as they are fulfilled."

Licorice Cookie: "I wish Dark Enchantress Cookie would make me her right-hand Cookie!"

Blueberry Pie Cookie: "I wish I could go back to that time I read that book..."

Popping Candy Cookie: "I wish I get to keep performing for all my fans!"

Sea Fairy Cookie: "I wish I could reach the moon..."

Lilac Cookie: "I wish I could move as freely as my imagination desires..."

Aloe Cookie: "I wish my research will help the world become a better place.

Cream Puff Cookie: "I wish I can become a great wizard!"

Sorbet Shark Cookie: "oOooOOooO!"

Pink Choco Cookie: "I wish that the whole world gets filled with love!"

Hero Cookie: "I wish I could save all Cookies in danger!"

Red Pepper Cookie: "I wish I never fall down, no matter the challenge!"

Pistachio Cookie: "My wish is to complete my divine mission!"

Macaron Cookie: "I wish for a happy parade together with everyone!"

Matcha Cookie: "Hehe... Wishes don't come true, you know..."

Rockstar Cookie: "I wish for rock to never die! ROCK N' ROLL!"

Walnut Cookie: "I wish I get to catch Roguefort Cookie by my own hand!"

Cotton Candy Cookie: "You want to know my wish? That's so sweet of... No, no, no!"

Tiger Lily Cookie: "Purr... Wish... Protect friends..."

Cherry Cookie: "I wish for a giant cherry bomb for everyone! Hehe!"

Popcorn Cookie: "I wish I get to act in a movie someday!"

Sparkling Cookie: "I wish I get to make someone's day."

Soda Cookie: "I wish I can go to a beach with amazing waves to surf on!"

Mocha Ray Cookie: "I wish for the strength to restore the city."

Almond Cookie: "I wish I could be happy doing detective work."

Fairy Cookie: "I wish for nature to be cleaner..."

Ice Candy Cookie: "I wish I can lead my team to victory!"

Kumiho Cookie: "I wish I could become a real Cookie!"

Whipped Cream Cookie: "I wish I can dance in front of that tree just one more time!"

Red Bean Cookie: "I wish I can run faster with my penguins!"

Pudding Cookie: "I wanna give every Cookie a present!" *Giggle giggle*

Chestnut Cookie: "I wish I could eat jellies until I'm completely full!"

Kiwi Cookie: "I wish I get to ride my bike until the day I crumble..."

Muscle Cookie: "I wish for more muscle! And more strength!"

Peppermint Cookie: "I wish everyone would hear the voices of our friends in the sea..."

Chess Choco Cookie: "We want to play with a skilled Cookie! We wish for a skilled Cookie to play with."

Herb Cookie: "I wish all living things could grow up in warm sunlight."

Churro Cookie: "I wish I can continue to watch over the tree."

Croissant Cookie: "I wish that I can become the greatest engineer!"

Mango Cookie: "I wish our islands would have lots of visitors like they used to. I've found so many things to show off!"

Pirate Cookie: "My wish... is for all the treasures of the seven seas to belong to ME! Kha-ha!"

Adventurer Cookie: "I wish I get to explore completely uncharted lands!"

Earl Grey Cookie: "I wish to be able to take care of all my guests until they are satisfied."

Melon Bun Cookie: "I wish for not having to work much, but still earn loads!"

Werewolf Cookie: "I wish... I don't hurt anyone..."

Firecracker Cookie: "I wish everyone gets to see my FIREWORKS SHOW! NYAHAHA!"

Moon Rabbit Cookie: "I wish I cud have moa wice cake!"

Cherry Blossom Cookie: "I wish I could go on a picnic with the Cookies precious to me!"

Onion Cookie: "I wish the ghosts would go away..." *Sniffle*

Space Doughnut: "Biribiri-biri...?"

Vampire Cookie: "I’ve never bothered with things like wishes."

Bell Pepper Cookie: "I wish I'll become the youngest Doughbell Prize winner!"

Mint Choco Cookie: "I wish my every performance would be perfect."

Mustard Cookie: "I wish even Cookies who aren't sweet get to be free and equal!"

Yoga Cookie: "I wish I can get rid of all desire, and just focus on my meditation."

Goblin Cookie: "I wish for all the rare things to be MINE!"

Cream Unicorn Cookie: "I wish my memories last forever..."

Apple Cookie: "I wish I could become a grown up, and stay up really late!"

Pancake Cookie: "I wish I could have thiiis many Acorn Jellies!! Hehehe!"

Angel Cookie: "I wish every Cookie's wishes will come true..."

Sandwich Cookie: "I wish I can have a sandwich shop in every corner of this world!"

Skating Queen Cookie: "I wish I could eat a mountain of Bear Jellies."

Raspberry Mousse Cookie: "I wish... she would dance for me."

Squid Ink Cookie: "I wish... I can remember... Sob sob..."

Marshmallow Cookie: "I wish I get to perform together with everyone!"

Gumball Cookie: "I wish I could make the whole world COLORFUL!"

Lobster Cookie: "I wish my city would be brought back to its former glory..."

[zutaraplatter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Critique

There are already a million of posts like this one, and I might be saying things that’ve already been said a million times but I’ve recently become reheated about the ATLA ending and wanted to let it out -_- No one asked, this is true, and this may or may not be a way to stall from this final project I still have to complete, but here’s 10 things I didn't like and/or would change about the show that likely shouldn’t need changing because they should have been done in the first place.

1. Katara should have apologized to Sokka after TSR

It should have happened and it didn't. In my canon-avoiding mind, Katara and Sokka have a heartfelt conversation where she apologizes for the awful things she said, Sokka says he forgives her and he's sorry if he wasn't as there for her as much as he should have been, which he follows up with "but I'm happy you listened to Aang and took his advice," leading into my next point

2. Katara should have said that not killing Yon Rha was her choice

And thats why it was the right one. Not because Aang already said it was wrong. No no. It was the right choice because that's what she chose. I love my mom to death and can't imagine losing her in any way, let alone the way Katara did. And I can't say for sure that if I was in her shoes that I know what I would have done f that yes I do I would have killed that motherfucker. But I also know that if Katara decided not to kill him, then that was one of two correct choices because they were Katara's choices to make. Not Aang's or anyone else's and this should have been clarified. I know it's a kids show but I said what I said. Next point.

3. Katara should have said more after telling Aang she was unsure at the Ember Island Players

Katara hasn't had any trouble saying how she feels, especially when it comes to helping others and making them feel better, whether she was right or wrong. But she holds back or overly softens blows and seems to even shrivel up at times when it comes to Aang. And me no likey. I had a boyfriend who I adored and admired and just genuinely looked up to. I'm also a shy and anxious person who hates confrontation, but because I loved him, I never refrained from telling him when he was wrong. I might have been a little shaky about it but I did it tho because when you want to be with someone you walk through the grass and stomp through the mud. And I personally feel like either in that moment or later on in an added scene that Katara should have voiced to Aang how unheard and disrespected she felt about his words before TSR and his actions on the balcony. I hate being uncomfortable and my secondhand embarrassment is toxic but I would love to see a scene of this. I always imagined Katara saying stuff like "But I'm not you Aang, and I'm not an Air Nomad," or "Zuko could understand why I needed to go, and I'd hoped you would too," or...I'm out of ideas but you get the idea. And you know what, I know I'm a hard Zutara shipper, but them having this conversation would honestly make me respect their relationship a whole lot more should it be believably written to end on a good note (I don't see how it could be but hey I'm an open minded person and I did think they were cute together once upon a time). Basically, all I'm saying is that Katara is no small voice and she should have been written that way when with Aang. Boyfriends can make you shy but should never make you weak. Period. Next point.

4. No rock! ONLY GROWTH!!!!!!!!!!!

I still squint my eyes whenever I remember that rock that unblocked Aang's chakra. What even was that? The laziest writing possible in my opinion. That's what. And Aang deserved better. What should have happened should have been that Aang started to lose to Ozai. And then as Ozai's about to deliver the finishing blow, Aang has flashbacks of everyone he's trying to save and honor, ending with a very prominent flashback of Katara with the guru's disembodied voice reminding Aang to let go of his attachments to become all he needs to be...then BOOM! Baby boy is back on his feet, chakra unblocked, he kicks Ozai's ass, I'm crying hysterically on the floor, as are the rest of us, and he wins. Then at the end of the series, instead of a kiss, he gives Katara an apology. She accepts, everyone else comes to join them on the balcony, cinematic group hug, camera pan into the sun. I don't know lol. Basically what I'm saying is that Aang did not deserve some deus ex machina. He deserved to grow and become his best self like everyone else got to.

5. Aang should have heard differently in The Storm

Katara is a very fate-minded person and this is when I saw potential for her to become a toxic character in regards to Aang. When he admits that he ran away from home 100 years ago, Katara tells him that that was basically a good thing because he was meant to be here and now. Like...no? What Aang did, though understandable for someone so young, was still wrong. Yes he would have maybe been killed but I'm like 10000000% sure they had a plan to protect and evacuate the literal avatar. And what was technically "meant to be" was a new avatar. But hey, what's done is done and kicking Aang while he's down is a no-no in this household. But that doesn't change the fact that Aang needed and deserved honesty. Maybe the fisherman could have said this, I don't know, but I feel like Aang should have been told by someone that although running away was wrong, it's a blessing he and Appa were able to survive and be able to help save the world now with his amazing friends found-family. Maybe this is too harsh, and maybe even outright wrong, but I felt like Aang deserved a truer answer here to support and comfort him.

6. MAILEE!!!!

Do I even need to go into detail?

7. Spiritual sigh*

Don't make me go into detail -_- I will say though that although Aang and Katara are both amazing individuals capable of earth shattering things, they were not a healthy fit for one another. This is evident in the original series and especially in their children from LOK. They both deserved the best but better than one another.

8. ZUTARAAAAAAA

This is a Zutara blog you KNEW this was coming, as it should. There's just too much. There's too damn much. I would give a real paragraph to this too, but, I mean, there's already so much proving that this was the pair. Fics, metas, rants, this site. Scroll through my blog or any of the ATLA related blogs I follow and...dude. These two were meant to be together and I'll mourn the narrative brilliance WASTED for no good reason every day for the rest of my life. No reason these two shouldn't be married with three kids. sob. I will take this part to say thank you to the amazing fic writers that gave Katara, Zuko, Mai, and Aang what they deserved that the writers didn't have the guts to give them themselves. Next point tho.

9. AANG AND ONJI

Good God almighty. Why not this? WHY NOT THIS? I'm putting on my bullet proof vest and I'm going to say this; Aanji is cuter than Zutara. Now before you scorn me or whatever, let me explain. Zutara for me is like steak. No. Chicken parmesan. I like chicken parmesan better. The point though is that Zutara is savory. You know? I don't see them as cute, I see them as Obviously. Aanji on the other hand is like a bag of my favorite candy. They are like a brownie. A cookie. Girl Scout Samoas!...I don't know what words are anymore. This post got way out of hand. I guess what I'm saying is that for Zutara, I scream, but for Aanji, I squeal. I hope that makes sense. But here's the main point I want to make. Onji never knew who Aang really was. And Aang was always, at his core, himself. She very obviously had a crush on Aang for his personality and that was crazy cute and frankly preferable to Katara's "I...guess he is." (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Anyway, I kept wanting more of them together. I wish all the time that we'd gotten to see her again, with a more fleshed out character and all. And in the way that I imagine the show should have gone, she could have been the perfect love interest for Aang, during this episode or way later, even in the comics! Another WASTED opportunity for greatness and I will, again, never recover T-T

10. Iroh get your ass back here

Maybe this is a misguided critique but I hated that Iroh just left Zuko alone in the fire nation at the end of the series. Baby was in trouble in every sense of the word and Iroh was just like "See ya! You got this nephew." I'm expected to believe that? I'm expected to accept that? No no no. He should have at least stayed for a few years to help Zuko stay upright and, you know, alive. And by "upright" I don't mean "good." I just mean been there to support him because Lord knows he needed it, at least in the beginning of his reign. It was cute that Iroh was able to settle down with his own teashop after all those years of violence and mourning and running and this and that. I was more than happy for him for being able to have that peace finally. But I still think it could have waited a little while longer so he could support Zuko.

That's it I guess. I know not everything I've said makes the most sense in one way or another, but I enjoyed putting it together all the same. Thank you for reading and have a great day. I'll go finish my final now.

(Edited for a typo)

[lizacstuff]

Your thoughts on the epi? And the trailers? I'm loving the in love Edser! We've waited so long for this!!!

This episode was so fun and fluffy! I don't know about you, but I am enjoying the tone during this second season. A lot. I don't care how stupid the audition process was for the spot in the school, it gave us some very good comedy and a lot of USTy, sexy, flirty goodness.

And like you, I also love in love Edser!

Thankfully this episode was dominated by Edser, and with Kiraz at Granny's house we even got some alone time. The supporting characters were used to good effect this episode, Engin and Piril were the funniest they've ever been, Kerem and Pina served to poke Serkan about his mentoring style, and it was actually nice to have an excuse for Ayfer and Aydan to share a storyline again.

(more under the cut)

However, we'll start with Burak and Melo. UGH. I mean I love Melo and Elcin has done a really good job of showing Melo's heartbreak and trying to hide her melancholy behind her usual bubbly personality, but I really can't stand that it's over such a dud of a character. I know I'm a broken record here but Melo deserves better than this fool. Honestly, he's such a bland sad sack I don't really get why Melo loves him, Eda wants to be friends with him and Ayfer thinks he's so great she wants him for a nephew-in-law. Well, for Ayfer the only qualification is that he's not Serkan, so never mind that question.

However, maybe there's some hope? Before this episode it seemed certain they were heading in a romance direction, but the way he told her she was like a sister to him? Is there really any coming back from him saying that after he remembered kissing her? On the other hand we're barreling towards the end here and there's not really enough time to introduce anyone new for Melo (and no indication from spoilers that they have) and I'm pretty sure Ayse and the writers want to give her a romantic happy ending (although I'd be fine if they didn't and instead had her go off and do something entirely for herself like go back to school or travel or open a shop). So we'll see, because even with the sister line they left some room open because Kerem was the one who suggested he say that (it wasn't necessarily his own idea) and with Melo he seemed to be coming from a place where he assumed he had forced himself on her and she was angry because she didn't want it. Which we know is not true, so might be a misunderstanding that leads to something more. Anyway, I guess we'll just have to endure whichever way they go.

Personally, I like the Serkan-Kemal father storyline. I think it's a good way to add a bit of drama in the waning episodes, gives Serkan a bit of an identity crisis, interestingly mirrors his own situation with Kiraz, and it just makes sense with everything we know of the characters. Because were we seriously supposed to believe that someone as sniveling as Alptelkin sired Serkan? I mean Serkan is the epitome of BDE, he has an inherent charismatic and commanding presence. Sorry to the actor who played Alptekin, but he didn't really have any kind of presence, however Sinan who plays Kemal, does. They've done a great job of casting, because it just feels true. I believe Kemal and Serkan share genetics.

However, even before that storyline starts in earnest, it's interesting that Serkan was being a big baby, not wanting his mom with a man she clearly loves. I wish Eda would have pushed back at him a little more when he was going off that Aydan shouldn't pursue love at her age! Does he think he'll be out of love with Eda by the time he's in his 50s and 60s? Of course not! I'm guessing Eda, though, is just letting him blow off some steam and come to accept the relationship on his own terms. Don't get me wrong, though, after all the meddling Aydan's done with Edser, she more than deserves to have Serkan's opinion of Kemal negatively impact her!

Loved that Kiraz and Can found out first that Kemal is Serkan's father! Cat is out of the bag, Aydan, you can't make a deal with a 5 year old, lmao. It put a nice ticking clock on the whole thing and gave us some good comedic moments where Kiraz is speaking the truth and everyone thinks she's just really fond of the dude. Hee.

Also I enjoyed the Aydan and Ayfer moments. To be honest, I also used to enjoy their true friendship moments when we got them, like when Kemal first appeared and Aydan was freaking out and needed Ayfer and Seyfi around her, and when they were trying to hunt down Deniz after the fake wedding turned real. After so much animosity, it was nice that Ayfer recognized that Aydan was truly in distress and needed a friend and they were able to actually talk. Also we got some (mildly) funny comedy with the two of them and the school lady. Speaking of Ayfer, thankfully she finally realized some consequences to her actions in pushing Burak at Eda. She hurt Melo! Glad she finally opened her eyes to see what should have been obvious to her (Eda never saw him that way, and Melo obviously did) and apologized to Melo. I'd like it if she would apologize to Eda as well, (and Burak deserves an apology as well because she most definitely gave him false hope) but since Eda wasn't influenced by her we probably won't see that.

Switching to Eda and Serkan this episode gave us lots of good stuff. This was a great episode for showing us where each of them stood. Eda is terrified of getting hurt and trying to hold him at arm's length even while he clearly is inching back into her heart, and Serkan is dreaming of their future together, and taking every opportunity to tie them together. How much did I love Serkan admitting he was poking at Eda, and doig things to make her angry, just so she would talk to him? Interesting that he's doing it and love that he's being honest and admitting it to her. One of my favorite relationship dynamics between them is around "talking." In the very beginning Serkan did a lot of complaining about how much Eda talked and how she never shut up, but starting around episode 18 all he wanted was for Eda to talk to him. And this is just more of that. The thing he wants most is to talk to her.

Plus watching domestic Edser is just so much fun, I could watch their full grocery shopping trip in real time and be perfectly happy, lol. At the age of 35 it's time that Serkan learn how to do a few things for himself, I don't care how rich he is, so it's nice that we see him evolving a bit as he embraces the dad role.

The jealousy gambits, even as mild as they are, are getting pretty eye roll worthy since Eda and Serkan are living together, care so much, and obviously are still so hot for one another. It's a bit more understandable from Serkan since Eda is the one creating the barrier between them, but are we really supposed to believe that Eda is jealous of Deniz when Serkan is so obviously in love with Eda and planning their future together? Especially when he clearly can't stand Deniz and tries so hard to avoid her? I suppose it's to show us that Eda is in a jumbled state, her head is trying to keep space with Serkan, while her heart wants him badly and is scared he's going to take her rejections seriously. Even so it was quite irrational for her to get angry at Serkan for having lunch with Deniz when she ordered him to leave with her. Poor Eda is in emotional turmoil.

It was hard to tell with shaky translations, but I guess Serkan claimed to have been injured while rescuing Eda and that's how he talked his way into her bed? Impressively done, Serkan. Love it because it meant we all got to wake up to snuggly family, snuggling together. This gave us another glimpse into Eda's psyche, she wakes up first, and is clearly enjoying it and feeling at home in his arms, until the sleep clears enough and her head realizes she's not supposed to be enjoying it. But once again Kiraz knows how to handle her parents and their complicated relationship beautifully and fixes everything with a pillow fight. That is one smart cookie.

One of my favorite moments of the episode is when Eda is trying to convince Serkan to go to Aydan about the school. Eda knows that her big eyes still work on him, and they did. He still can't say no to her, another one of my favorite relationship dynamics of theirs. I'm super glad some things never change. Speaking of their visit to Aydan's, how great that they went to meet the horse without a name as a family, and then Serkan finally came up with the perfect name. Definitely a star.

Love, love, love that Serkan and Eda beat Engin and Piril when it came to the 'how well do you know your spouse' game. They may have been separated for 5 years, but they both have a genuine interest in the other, so they remember things, and they always made a much more compatible couple than Engin/Piril who have absolutely nothing in common. Of course I adored all the fake married hijinx this gave us, not to mention all the opportunities for Serkan to touch, kiss, and hold her. SO MUCH UST!

The heart-to-heart on the bench was well done and it finally gave us Eda opening up and telling him what's been holding her back. She's scared. Of course she is, the poor thing. Serkan might have thought he was doing it for her own good both times, but he ripped her heart out twice (not even counting all the heart ripping he did during amnesia) how could she not have fears? Of course she's afraid! Whenever she lets herself love him and be loved by him, it's ripped away horribly, and often in ways that feels like it's him doing the ripping. She can take into consideration the circumstances, which she has or else he wouldn't be anywhere near her, and still need time to be sure she's not just setting herself up to get emotionally demolished again.

For Serkan's part all he can do is keep being there, being honest with her, and showing he's in it for the long haul, which I think he's doing and which is why they are where they are at the end of this episode.

Engin and Piril's dance practice is probably the first Engin/Piril alone scene that I thought was genuinely funny and fully enjoyable. I can't think of another... message me if you think there is one, lol. Elsewhere, I saw some folks saying that Engin and Piril should have won the dance competition, because they actually danced, and Eda and Serkan didn't. LOL, you think? I'm pretty sure that was the point. That Eda and Serkan didn't really dance, all they did was get up there and turn their sexual tension and intense smoldering towards one another up to eleventy and won because it's that powerful.

It's sort of a metaphor for this whole series. Sen Cal Kapimi is 100% powered by their chemistry. Of course they can win any competition by just pressing their bodies against one another! They can turn a ditzy Turkish summer romcom that probably should have gone 13 eps into an international hit that's going on 50 episodes, just by looking at one another.

I'm glad that the school officials overheard their conversations and dismissed them, any organization that requires this of the parents, is going to be a lifelong pain-in-the ass, lmao. Also it was good to see Edser and EnPir make up by the end.

Now, on to that ending. I'm glad the subject of the tatoos was brought up, interesting that Eda kept hers until a few months ago. Also interesting that she moved it... can't blame Serkan for wanting to see it. Was that one great seduction line, or what?

I join with everyone who thinks it was a slightly awkward place to leave the episode. We only have 13 (probably) episodes this season, and we've only had one kiss so far. That was definitely a moment for a kiss. Part of me thinks they were going for the cliffhanger, what will Eda do? Will she kiss him or slam the door in his face? Tune in next week to find out! Except that audiences have to wait no time at all for the fragman and that makes any such cliffhanger moot. So what's the point? Have her pull him in, kiss him, and the show can end with them passionately making out and the door slamming with the camera outside the house.

Oh well, it is what it is, and we can only hope they pick up next week right where they left off. As for the fragman, obviously they are fully back together for this episode which means she lets him in to hunt for her tattoo. (please oh please give us that internet ozel because I don't think I can stand being online in this fandom if they don't. Thankfully I'm traveling next week and will be too busy to spend much time on twitter.)

As I said in another ask, I'm not surprised Serkan is barreling them straight towards marriage. When you know, you know, so why wait? Once they emotionally commit to one another, they need to just get married. No waiting for psychos to interfere, family to meddle, or tragedy to strike!

Seriously can't wait for a full episode of them together and Serkan figuring out how to propose. I'm also looking forward to the Kemal/Serkan stuff, it will be interesting to see how he reacts once the news sets in... should be a great episode!

[zi-i-think]

12 | The Universe has Other Plans

Pairing: Zuko x Ama (OC)

Word Count: 6200+

.☽☼☾.

~ Ama ☾ ~

         The bachelorette party came way too quickly. Katara happily agreed to letting Suh join us. Something about how I've made her feel uncomfortable, and that she needs to feel safer with us girls. Oh if only she knew that Suh wasn't here to stay.

         By midday, everyone stood at the village entrance to bid farewell to the groomsmen. The walls of ice were curved around the town and there was a large archway with the Water Tribe symbol carved at the top as the entrance.

         "Have fun, you guys." Katara told all the men, stealing a hug from her fiance.

         "Oh we'll have lots of fun!" Sokka exclaimed with excitement. "Booze, strippers and parting is what I've been waiting for." Suki playfully smacked Sokka's chest.

         Aang tilted and shook his head. "Sokka, that's not what's happening."

         "What!" Sokka gave Aang a disappointed look and then looked over at Zuko. "What kind of bachelor party did you plan?"

         Zuko looked a little uncomfortable with the sudden question. "He planned the kind of bachelor party I asked for." Aang responded for him.

         "Sokka will you act civil for once in your life?" Katara reprimanded her brother with her hand on her hip.

         "The answer is very simple. No." Sokka grinned just to taunt our sister. I chuckled at them while Katara sighed in disappointment.

         "Alright, well I think we should go if we want to make it Milu Island before sundown." Aang interjected the bickering. "Bye, sweetie." He leaned down to give Katara a chaste kiss.

         Suh skipped to Zuko, wrapping her arms around his neck to give him a hug, he in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. He and I shared a quick look. Reminding me that I had to keep a close eye on the suspicious girl.

         After all the short goodbyes, the four men climbed up Appa to go to the small Earth Kingdom island. "There's still gonna be booze though, right?" Sokka wondered as he climbed over the saddle's side.

         "Alright, miss maid of honor," Toph started to ask, drawing the attention to me. "What do you have planned for us?"

         "Well, as per Katara's request. We don't have strippers." I turned to my sister, seeing her shake her head at me.

         "Wow, you and Aang really are meant to be." Toph quipped.

         "What is it with you all and strippers?" Katara wondered loudly. Her expression was genuinely confused and she looked a little concerned. "Don't you all think it's a bit degrading?"

         "Course not." I shook my head and warped an arm around Katara's shoulders. "They're wonderful people. I spent some time with a small group a few years back. A lot of them enjoy what they do and get paid well. I learned a few moves, too. If you want sis, I can teach you for your honeymoon."

         My sister immediately turned red and shoved me off her. "Ama!" The girls and I laughed at her reaction. "Can we just get to the bachelorette party! Please!"

         "As you wish, princess." I teased her. "First stop is the spa." I announced, leading the group of girls through the town and towards the beginning of what would be an insane night.

.☽☼☾.

         After spending a couple hours at the spa, we headed back to the palace. I had some of the maids decorate the living room so that it would look more like an actual party than some boring hang out.

         There was blue and yellow confetti on the tables, where there were some snacks like seal jerky and kale cookies placed on top. The couches and the floors were covered in blankets, because I doubt any of them will make it to the bedrooms. And my favorite touch to the setting. An ice sculpture of shirtless Aang, posing with his air-staff.

         Katara hated it at first, but quickly gave in to her own embarrassment. Blushing a deep red, but still taking the seats closest to it. I didn't find Katara's modest behavior annoying or weird. I knew that Katara just liked to keep some things private and I respect it. I just couldn't help but tease her and push her a little bit out of her comfort zone. I made sure that the sculpture was the only thing that was over the top.

         The girls were chatting for some time and eating the snacks set forth while I grabbed an activity. I made sure to keep an eye on Suh. Currently, she was talking to Suki. And I noticed her glance out the window.

         "All right ladies, we have one game to play before you all black out and I have to keep you all from puking all over the place. Grab a drink and take a seat." I announced, handing Katara a glass of hard wine. I gave the others a moment to get settled in their seat before explaining what was happening.

         "So, this will be more on the bride-to-be than anyone else." I started. "Basically, I asked Aang a series of questions, but Katara doesn't know what he answered. So I'm going to ask the questions and if she answers the same as he did, you all take a sip from your drinks. But if she doesn't, she has to take a sip."

         "Ha!" Katara laughed confidently. "Aang and I know everything about each other. I don't think this game will get me to drink a lot."

         "We shall see dear sister." I cocked one of my eyebrows and unfolded the paper with the list of questions and Aang's responses. "First up. Who's the better kisser."

         "Easy. Me." Katara gave her self-assured answer.

         I shook my head. "Apparently your fiance believes that he's the better kisser."

         Katara scoffed and shook her head as the girls giggled. "That doesn't sound like Aang. Are you sure that's what he answered?"

         "Positive." I nodded. Katara sighed, but still took a sip from her glass. Her face cringed a bit at the strong alcohol.

         "Looks like you two don't know each other as well as you guys thought." Suki teased.

         "Oh please, it was one question." Katara pointed out, still being confident about how she'd answer. "Next question."

         Holding up the paper again, I looked at the next thing on the list. "Who said "I love you" first?"

         Katara smiled lightly, taking a moment to think back. "He did."

         "Correct-a-mundo." I nodded and turned to the girls. "Ladies take a sip."

         "Katara better get most of these right cause I'm trying to get wasted tonight." Toph commented before grabbing her glass.

         "Me too." Mai, surprisingly agreed. She was usually a light drinker, but I guess this was the one exception.

         I chuckled at them and took a quick look at Suh. Noting that she was hesitant to drink and glanced out the window. Perhaps Zuko and I were right. Maybe she was anxious because she was supposed to be meeting the others tonight, but was here instead.

         The night proceeded. I made sure to keep Suh in my line of sight. She avoided me for the entire night, which I was glad about. Instead she was speaking with Ty Lee, who was just a bit more chipper than usual with the alcohol in her system.

         Suki and Toph were both talking with Katara. The bride-to-be was the most out of it compared to everyone else, followed by Suki and Ty Lee. Toph was the furthest from a lightweight, her words slurred a bit but for the most of it, she could hold herself up. Suh had barely drank anything since the end of the drinking game earlier.

         Mai was slouched across the sofa and I sat on the floor beside her. I had to be completely sober to be able to properly manage everything. And Mai, despite being a bit tipsy, could still hold a decent conversation. The alcohol made her more giggly than talkative, which I admit was a bit weird.

         "Ama, are you even listening to me?" She frowned with a whine.

         My head snapped to look up at her. She held her head up with her hand and looked at me with confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

         "I was talking about how Kei Lo's mom absolutely hates me." She stated and glanced over to where I was just looking. "You've been looking over at Suh a lot tonight. You really are jealous."

         "Am not." I rolled my eyes. Here we go again.

         Mai repositioned herself to lay on her stomach and rest her chin on her hands. "Ama literally one week ago, you and Zuko were cuddling up on the couch. No one asked what happened that night, but-"

         "We told you all, we were reading and just fell asleep." I interrupted to remind her.

         "Okay." She huffed an unbelieving laugh. "You're just lucky Suh wasn't the one who found you guys like that. I don't think I'd be able to handle another one of her screeching rants." Mai rolled her eyes and sipped her wine. "I really don't want to deal with her. As a Zuko’s advisor I’m bound to run into her at least once a week."

         I wanted to tell her that she wouldn't have to worry about that because Suh was a fake. But then again, while Zuko and I were almost positive of it, it was just a conspiracy. "Good luck." I told her instead, getting her to chuckle.

         Loud shrieks caught our attention. I was almost ready to get into a fighting position, but it was just Suki and Katara. Their arms were wrapped over each other's shoulders and their glasses were held high up in the air as they sang loudly.

         "Horror, let's talk about the horror!" They sang incredible out of tune. Toph sat beside them with her hands covering her ears. "I'm the melancholy one! I live my life as if I'm yearning!"

         Mai and I laughed loudly at them. Katara and Suki couldn't even finish the song because their giggling kept getting in the way. Katara set her glass of wine down and doubled over in laughter. Lucking they were sitting on the floor.

         I shook my head at her and grabbed my glass of water to have a sip. Until a large crash interrupted everyone's good spirits. The large living room window was crashed into by two large men completely dressed in black and ski-masks covered their face and hair.

         I jumped up immediately, so did Toph and Mai, ready to fight. Suh scurried away, pulling the drunk Ty Lee with her. Toph stood in front of Suki and Katara protectively. The two girls were trying to get off the ground, but they had way too much wine and their stances were off. I found it ironic that the two girls who made it the most clear that they wanted to be drunk were the two most sober to fight off the intruders.

         The men rolled on the floor and stood up. They used earthbending to pull up chunks of the stone floor up and throwing them at us. Toph, protected herself and the two girls behind her by creating a wall out of the stone floor. Mai and I dodged the chunk thrown at us. Each of us in different directions.

         Mai being the prepared person she was, had her knives with. So while dodging the chunk of stone, she threw the knives at our attacker. It barely grazed his arm, cutting through the black fabric.

         I was jumping in the direction of Katara and Suki. "Get behind the couch!" I ordered them.

         "No, we can help." Katara claimed. But based on her slurred words and her weak waterbending beside her, I knew she was way too intoxicated.

         "Get behind the couch!" I repeated, more violently and authoritatively. I'd be damned if I allowed her to fight in the state she was in. She could barely stand correctly and she wanted to fight?! She'd get hurt.

         With a frown, Katara and Suki scurried behind the couch. I bent the water that Katara just had and held it by my side. I scanned the room for Ty Lee and Suh. But they were nowhere to be seen. They must have already hid somewhere.

         Bending the water, I used it to create a chunk of ice and threw them at Mai's opponent. He had his attention on Mai, throwing stone after stone at her while she gracefully dodged each of them. He didn't see the large ball of ice and it crashed into his side and threw him on the ground.

         Toph slammed her foot into the ground and the stone floor shot up, engulfing her attacker. He was unable to move, thus unable to bend. I took her example and bent my water to engulf Mai and I's attacker completely in ice.

         "Too easy." Toph said cockily.

         "It was way too easy." I grumbled skeptically as I walked to one of the glaring men.

         Toph went over to the other with her arms crossed. "They over estimated themselves, obviously. A bunch of intoxicated girls in one place alone." Her hands rested on her knees while she bent down to one of them. "We just need to know why they did it."

         I sighed, but supposed she was right. At the same time, Toph and I removed their face covering. My breath hitched when I pulled the mask off. I knew this man. He had light brown hair, a wrinkled forehead, despite not being middle aged yet, brown eyes and an unmistakable deep scar that ran across his face.

         I felt like I couldn't move. He just looked up at me with a knowing smirk. He recognised me. He was getting joy from seeing me after he hurt me in the most painful way possible.

         "Ama!" Katara's voice shouted fearfully. My head snapped around. My eyes widened even more when seeing Katara being held by none other than Azula. She stood behind my sister with one arm around her neck and blue fire in her other hand.

         "You know, you should really invest in some better guards." Her venomous voice said while Katara desperately tried to remove Azula's arm. But the firebender only tightened her arm, choking my sister lightly.

         "Let her go, Azula." I demanded with a glare. I wasn't completely sure what the connection was between Azula and the earthbenders that just attacked. I just knew that Azula had my sister in a vulnerable state.

         The woman snickered at me. "You saying that has no effect on what I choose to do."

         "And what if I caved your face in with a boulder." Toph growled, bending a large piece of stone beside her.

         "But you won't." Azula confidently smirked. "Cause I have the Avatar's finance in one hand, and a fire in the other. And it's getting dangerously close to her face." The fire only got closer to Katara's cheek. "What do you say? Should I give her and Zuzu a matching scar?"

         "Stop!" I ordered, but it came out more like a beg.

         Azula looked at me with the most menacing smirk on her red painted lips. "Drop your weapons and stop your bending. And free my friends." She told us. Mai, Toph and I all shared the same questioning look, before dropping our knives, water and stone as well as freeing the two demons. "Thank you. I'm just here to talk." Azula said, moving the fire away from Katara's face, but keeping it ablaze.

         "Is that why you sent two guys to attack us and now have my sister?" I snarled the question.

         "When was I ever one for a less than dramatic entrance?" She pointed out arrogantly. "I'm just a little offended that I wasn't invited to the wedding. After all, if it weren't for my threatening to capture you all, who knows if the bride and groom would even be in love today."

         "Get on with it, Azula." Mai grumbled at her ex-bestfriend.

         Azula sighed and shook her head. "Mai. So impatient. I'm just here to leave a warning. To Ama" I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head. "You remember when you chained me up all those years ago. You interrupted the Agni Kai between Zuko and I. That was cheating."

         "You lost that Agni Kai when you aimed for me. And I couldn't just let you hurt Zuko more than you already did." I clenched my jaw, wondering where she was going with this?

         "This isn't about him. This is about you." She scoffed. "You beat me. Hurt my pride a bit, I'll admit. But no worries, cause I'm here to take it back."

         "You're doing all this cause you got your feelings hurt?!" Toph shouted.

         "Well it's not like I have anything better to do." She laughed. This absolute sociopath. "Look, this doesn't end here. I just need to give Ama a bit of insight about what I'm capable with. Remind her about what she still has to lose." Azula started to move around the couch and moved towards the broken window, dragging Katara with her. The two men also walked closer to the window. "Your little girlfriend was just the beginning."

         Once that was said, Azula threw Katara on the ground and the three of them jumped out the window to escape. I skid over to my sister, holding her in my arms as she wept out of fear. Mai and Top ran to the window. Hoping to maybe take them on now that Katara was safe.

         "They're gone." Toph announced with confusion.

         "They're gone?" Suh's voice came in, peeking her head into the living room from the hallway. "Spirits, that was terrifying."

         I was too concerned with Katara than to stress over Suh. Even though the annoying woman wasn't involved in this little fight, I was somehow even more convinced that she was involved with Azula.

         "I'm going to kill her." I grumbled with my jaw clenched and my arms holding Katara tightly.

.☽☼☾.

         The boys finally got back sometime during the afternoon the next day. After Azula left, the bachelorette party was essentially over. No way was anyone able to get back to that festive and joyous feeling.

         Appa landed in the courtyard and Sokka jumped out first. "Suki, I wrote you a song!" He announced with a grin. But the atmosphere was gloomy and no one smiled with him.

         Katara ran to Aang, engulfing him in a tight hug. "Sweetie, what happened?" He asked her with so much concern.

         "Zu-bear!" Suh ran to Zuko and jumped on him for a hug. "It was so bad. Azula came in and..." She explained everything so rapidly.

         Zuko looked over at me, but I was looking somewhere else completely. My jaw was clenched and I fiddled with my nails. My anger or nerves haven't calmed down at all since last night. I barely got sleep. And I still didn't completely understand what was happening.

         I knew that Azula threatened my sister and basically just told me that she was behind Mulan's death. But also. I looked at the face of Mulan's killer. The man who took her from me. It was all too much too fast. I felt hurt and sad and angry and a thousand other emotions at once.

         I refused to look at anyone and just headed back inside the palace. Tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

.☽☼☾.

         The night sky was filled with bright stars. Being a waterbender, I've always been drawn to the nighttime more than the day. And since a child, I'd stare up at the night sky, keeping an eye out for constellations and finding patterns.

         Mulan and I layed in a clearing together, our shoulders touching as we looked up. Her rough hand was intertwined with mine while my right hand was pointing up, showing her the constellations. "...and if you look there, you can see the twin badgermoles." My hand outlined the stars.

         Mulan didn't say anything for a moment as she tried to find where I was pointing. "I don't see them." She shook her head and her eyes shined in bewilderment.

         "Here." I said, I took my hand that was intertwined with hers and pointed up again. "It takes a moment, but focus more on the brighter stars."

         "I think I see it." Her tone was unsure. I couldn't see her, but I was positive that she had one of her eyebrows cocked upwards and a lopsided grin on her face.

         "You think or you know?" I giggled, letting our arms fall back beside us.

         She giggled along with me and brought her hand up to her face. "I don't know. I think I see it but I also might be psyching myself out." I shook my head and moved to my side to wrap an arm around her waist, keeping my eyes up at the sky.

         "Hey, Ama?" She started with a questioning tone. I hummed a 'what', allowing for her to ask her question. "What do you think about settling down soon?"

         I moved off of her and rested my head in the palm of my hand. "What do you mean?" I wondered. I mean, I was sure she meant what I was thinking, which was stopping from fighting bandits all the time. But I didn't want to just assume.

         Mulan moved into a more seated position to lean on her elbows and look at me. "Well not now, but maybe like next year or something. What if we moved on from this chapter of our lives. We could buy a house. I've always wanted a big one. Somewhere to house all the kids who've been kicked out by their parents."

         I grinned widely at her. She was so pure I loved it. Despite wielding a blade and having a fighting personality, Mulan never killed. She always had hope for people and always looking out for the underdog. Specifically children. I wasn't surprised at her idea to house rejected kids. After all, at 13 her own parents kicked her out for her sexuality.

         She looked down at me, seeing my loving gaze. Her cheeks flushed red and a nervous laugh escaped her lips. "What?" I shrugged, moving to sit next to her. "I think that's a great idea." I told her, looking into her green eyes. "Someplace by a lake or ocean, preferably."

         "And fertile soil." She added, biting her bottom lip in a happy manner. "I want a garden. Or two. One for vegetables and one for flowers." If there was one trait she took from her hateful parents, it was her love for nature and plants. She knew more about them than anyone I'd ever met. Other than Ursa, that is.

         "We can sell our harests for money." I added, already planning a way to earn money.

         "Su Ga Village." She grinned. "It's out west, the beaches are so clear and blue, you'll love it."

         "Sounds like a plan." I laughed excitedly.

         "Really?" A soft exhale left her grinning lips.

         I moved to sit on my knees and got closer to her. My hands cupped her cheeks and smiled contently. "Really." I finalized and leaned down, pressing a chaste and loving kiss on her lips. Mulan's hands cupped my cheeks as well, deepening the kiss.

         She pulled away first, with the happiest smile. "So it's settled. One year from now, we're going to get the house."

         "And we're settling down." I finished. Or so I thought.

         "And I'll finally meeting your friends and family?" She gave me a hopeful shrug and pressed her lips into a thin line.

         I took a moment to think. I loved Mulan so, so much. It was time I got over this fear of not being accepted, and introduced her to the other people that I loved. "Yeah." I nodded. "It's about time they knew about you."

         She squealed excitedly, peppering kisses all over my face as I laughed. "We'll invite them to some sort of housewarming party! You can make your cookies and I'll do the lemonade! Oh, I hope they like me."

         I chuckled at my girlfriend, pulling her face closer to me. "They're going to love you. You know how I know?"

         "How?" She intertwined our hands together, leaning even more until our noses touched.

         "Because I love you." I told her. "And if they don't I'm just going to have to freeze their bodies until they do."

         She shook her head at me. Lightly pushing me back until my back was on the grass floor and she was on top. Our hands were still intertwined. "I love you." She said softly, kissing me passionately. I responded blissfully. Slowly, her lips started to go down my neck and I moved my head back to give her more access.

         But a loud crash interrupted our moment. Mulan jumped off me and I sat up. We exchanged the same concerned look. It sounded like a small scale rock avalanche, which was already concerning as is because we were at a mountain side. But what made it even more terrifying was that it came from the campsite. Where everyone else was.

         The two of us jumped up and sprinted to the campsite. We were both incredibly shocked to find the scene. We were idiots to pick a place by a cliff. The entire side of it had collapsed, burying out entire site in it's gray rock and yellow-brown dirt.

         I sucked in a sharp breath and started to look around for any sign of the rest of the Miraculous Bastards. "Masha!?" Mulan shouted. Getting no response. "Bono!? Taon!?" I ran to the rubble, digging though the rock and dirt.

         They can't be gone. They can't. I'd never have another taste of Masha's meals. Bono would never share his poetry with me. Taon and I wouldn't  go on another adventure. They still had lives to live. Masha and Taon were going to get married!

         I breathed heavily, ignoring the light jabs from the small rocks. Mulan skidded next to me, digging through the rock and dirt with me. She already had tears streaming down her face. They were her family. She knew them since her teen years. They were outcasts together.

         Neither of us saw it coming. A rock about the size of my head was hurdled at us. Luckily, it didn't hit either of us. We jolted our heads up, seeing two men standing at the top of the fallen rock. Both were quite buff. One had light brown hair while the other pitch black hair.

         They had disgusting grimances on their faces while they bent more chunks of earth by their side, throwing them towards us. Mulan and I had to jump away from the rubble to avoid the rock.

         The men jumped down towards us, each landed a few feat away from us. I opened my waterskin, bending the water out and created ice bullets from it. One by one, I shot them at one of the men while Mulan had her katanas out and fought the one with light hair.

         The man I fought with shot columns of earth out at me, but I dodged each of them. My feet stepped lightly from one place to another in a spinning motion as I maneuvered through the moving rock and towards the attacker. Once I got close enough, I created ice claws around my fingers and threw them at the man. They stuck into his bicep and he cried out in pain.

         I sprinted even faster. The man used his good arm to create a wall of earth between us. I almost crashed into it, but stopped just inches away. I grumbled in anger and used a jet of water to push myself off the ground and over the wall. Jumping down the wall, I used the jet of water and forced it onto the man.

         He didn't see it coming and it pushed him back. He fell on the ground and I created an ice sword, pointed it over him. "Where are my friends?!" I demanded to know, refusing to believe that they were dead. The man clenched his jaw, looking at me at me like I already knew.

         A screech caught my attention. Mulan. She was in trouble. I immediately abandoned the man there and ran in the direction of the cry. Using a water jet to push myself over the wall I ran to the scene.

         Mulan was stuck in between the ground and a boulder pressing on her. The earthbender had a satisfied smirk on his face as he saw her struggling against the rock. He saw me running over and in the last moment before I could waterbend at him, he raised the rock a few feet above the air and then let it fall.

         It seemed to be in slow motion. Mulan let out a blood curdling cry while the boulder fell through the air. I made an attempt to save her, sending a forceful push of water, turning into ice at the ends to push the rock away. But it was too late. It crushed her, hitting her chest and gut more than anything else.

         I let out a horrifying shout at the impact while Mulan's voice stopped. In anger, I turned to the man who just crushed her. Light beads of sweat dripped down his face and a pleasurable smile was on his face. I used up all of the water from my waterskin, but there were still the trees.

         I focused on bending the water out of the trees, and the bark and wood broke off, killing the piece of life. I sent ice spears at the man. His smile went away real quick and he jumped back. And I sent more spears while he jumped back more and more until he tripped over a tree root and fell.

         "A-ama..." A weak voice called for me. I immediately stopped my bending, but kept my arms out. This was my chance to get back at him. Bu Mulan needed me more.

         I glanced at the man. "Run." I growled at him. And he did. He scurried up from the floor and ran away.

         I sprinted over the Mulan.The boulder still pressed on her. I bent the water from the ice spears towards me and turned them back into ice under the boulder. I created it like a ramp and the giant rock rolled off of her. I immediately turned the ice back into water and let it float beside me.

         I knelt down to my girlfriend and pulled her weak body onto my lap. "Hold on, okay." I held the tears in. I bent my water over her chest and it glowed over her while I tried to heal her. But even I, a moderate healer, could feel that there was so much damage in her chest. "Hold on."

         "Ama." Her voice was raspy and choked up. I looked from her chest to her face. There were cuts and bruises on her once rosy cheeks. Scarlett blood dripped slowly out of her mouth. Her rough, bloody hand reached for my wrist, removing it from her chest and pulling it instead to her cheek. "It's okay." She assured me with a weak smile.

         "No. No." I shook my head and tears already spilled from my eyes. My thumb lightly wiped across her cheek to make her feel safe with my touch. "We have a plan. We need to get that house. The kids, they need us. And your garden."

         She gave me a tiny smile, her green eyes looked at each of my features as she took me in one last time. "Maybe in my next life." She told me. Her hand that held mine on her cheek got noticeably weaker.  "Ama, I love you."

         I tried to speak. I tried to tell her that I loved her too. But instead I was choked up and a sob escaped my lips instead. Mulan dragged my hand to her lips and placed a soft kiss on my palm. I shook my head. I couldn't let her leave me. We just planned our future. "I love you, too." I finally choked out.

         The redhead smiled that lovely smile, her teeth shining and everything. And then her hand spilled off of mine and her body went limp. I held her in my arms as her soul left her body. "No!" I sobbed. My heart broke right then and there. I hunched over and cradled her into me.

         I shook my head. My tears were making my hair stick to my cheeks. All I could think was that this couldn't be real. The woman I loved couldn't have just died in my arms. But she did.

         I wept for what felt like hours. Finally, I set her body down on the ground. Her eyes were still open. The once bright green eyes were now dull and painful to look at. Another sob forced its way out. My hand covered my mouth as I reached over, closing her eyes.

         This was all his fault. He killed her. Murdered her and then I had to watch the life leave her body. This wasn't fair. Everyone was gone. I was alone. But all I saw was red.

.☽☼☾.

         It was only nights later. I spent my days tracking them. The two men responsible for my pain. My heart was broken and they were about to feel my pain in a different way.

         They were sitting by a fire. Having casual conversation and drinking beer like they hadn't just murdered four people nights before. They were truly monsters. I clenched my jaw and my blood boiled at the sight.

         I jumped out from behind the tree, a curved ice swords in my right hand. They both jumped up at my surprise attack, I kicked the dark haired man back. And my sword swung to the light haired man. I didn't realize how close I was to him, because my sword cut his face. It went from his forehead down to his opposite cheek, being deeper at the cheek. Really, it worked in my favor.

         I breathed heavily in anger. The man touched his cheek, and looked at the blood on his fingers. "You bitch!" He growled and looked at me. His brown eyes glared at me, and I glared back.

         "I'd rather be a bitch than a monster like you." I snarled. He and his friend both levitated chunks of rock to hurdle at me. I frowned and took in deep breaths, knowing that I had the upper hand.

         Not only was it the middle of the night. But it was also a full moon.

         I created two large walls into a triangular shape in front of me to shield me from the rock they threw at me. While being temporarily protected I got into my stance. And when I was ready, feeling the energy of the moon, I let go of the shield and they splashed into the ground.

         I focused on the water into the men's blood. My eyes were closed, hands were out in front of my and my fingers straight. The grunts of pain from the men confirmed that I was indeed bloodbending. I opened my eyes, seeing them hovering over the ground with stiff bodies.

         "You will pay." I said through gritted teeth. My left foot moved to step in front of my right and my hands went down, my fingers curling slightly to suffocate them lightly at first. I could only admit this to myself, but I enjoyed seeing them like this. Terrified expressions and slightly trembling. Completely at my mercy.

         "Please." The dark haired one pleaded. "We can explain."

         I shook my head. "I don't need an explanation. I need revenge." Venom spilled from my lips. They killed Bono. They took away the lives of Masha and Taon. They murdered Mulan.

         I was about to do it. I was about to crush their disgusting bodies and rid the world of these horrid excuses for men. But I couldn't. I thought back to what I said just moments before. That I'd rather be a bitch than a monster. Would I be a monster if I killed them?

         This technique itself was invented by a woman so unethical, that it's now illegal. But even Hama never killed anyone. Just imprisoned the citizens of the FIre Nation. Now I was planning to take someone's life with it.

         They deserve it. My own voice told me. And they probably did. But Mulan wouldn't want me to.

         I didn't realize that I was hyperventilating until I let go of the bloodbending. The stress on their bodies for so long made the men pass out the moment they hit the floor. I fell to my knees, more tears of grief and terror escaping my eyes.

.☽☼☾.

I hope there was enough angst. I haven’t written fanfic for like a year because of school, so I think I’m starting to get the hang of it again, but even before my writing was trash.

Hang loose, amigos 🤙🏼

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: The Christmas Chronicles

Hi Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Duke's Yultide Reviews...

And On Today's Show, We're Looking At Last Year's Gift To Us From Netflix, The Christmas Chronicles...

This Film Follows 2 Siblings Named Teddy And Kate Pierce Who Hatch A Scheme To Capture Santa Claus On Christmas Eve. But When Their Plan Goes Awry, The Kids Join Forces With Jolly Old Saint Nick (Played By Kurt Russell) And His Elves To Save Christmas Before It Is Too Late, Will They Succeed?

Let's Find Out As We Watch The Christmas Chronicles...

The Film Starts With Videos Of The Pierce Family Celebrating Christmas But That Was Then And This Is Now, As We See That The Youngest Of The Family, Katie Is Watching The Tapes While She Looks For A New One So She Can Send A Video Letter To Santa Claus...

But While Katie Makes Her Video, Her Brother Teddy Hits Her In The Head With A Shoe So He Can Take The Camera From Her, Saying That She Can't Believe That She's Making A Video Letter To Santa Claus As She's 11 Years Old Which Leads Teddy To Try To Tell Her That There Is No Santa Claus But Despite Being A Jerk, Teddy Decides To Instead Just Say That There's No Chance That Santa Will Watch Her Video As He Only Reads Handwritten Letters In The Mail...

Yeah, Katie, With The Way You're Going You're Going To Put S.D. Kruger Out Of A Job...

Look At That Happy Face! Do You Really Want To Make Him Sad By Making Him Obsolete, Of Course Not...

Going To Meet His Friends, Katie Tells Teddy That She's Coming With As He's Supposed To Be Watching Her But Instead He Dumps All Of The Fish Food Inside Of Her Fish Tank In An Attempt To Get Away...

Managing To Save Her Fish (I Guess, I Would Think That Getting Them Into Cups Of Water Would Take Longer Than That) Katie Follows Teddy To See Him And His Friends Carjacking A Car...

Confronting Teddy On It When He Gets Home, It Leads To A Fight Between The 2 That Knocks Over Their Family Picture And Their Christmas Tree But When Their Mother (Played By Father Of The Bride's Kimberly Williams Paisley) Returns Home Asking What Happened, Kate (While Telling The Truth At First) Lies For Teddy Saying That Teddy Pushed Her Into The Wall Knocking Over The Picture...

Mad At Her Kids For Not Getting Along, She Tells Teddy To Put Up The Tree And To Decorate It As Their Father Would Have Decorated By Now...

Yep, We're Going With The Old Father Figure Is Dead And Everyone Is Handling It Badly Routine..

Decorating Cookies With Kate, Mom Gets An Emergency Phone Call Telling Her That She Has To Handle The Night Shift At Her Job At The Hospital, Forcing Teddy To Babysit Kate For The Night...

Going Up To His Room For The Night, Kate Asks For Him To Do Something Together With Her Since It's Christmas Eve And Ever Since Their Dad Died, All He Wants To Do Is Hang Out With His Friends Instead Of Her, But Comparing Her To A Boring Slug, Teddy Goes To His Room...

Watching Christmas Videos After The Cookies Are Done, Kate Notices A Hand In A Red Coat In The Picture That Katie Believes To Be Santa Claus...

Showing Teddy The Video, He Considers The Possibilities While Kate Already Has Goosebumps. Suggesting That They Make A Video, Teddy Is Like People Have Tried This Before What Makes You Any Different Than Them? And Despite Having Proof, Teddy Says No...

However, Kate Tells Teddy That If He Helps Her Pull It Off, She'll Give Him The Tape Of Him And His Friends Carjacking The Car And She Won't Say Anything To Mom As Swears On An Award Their Dad Won...

So, Setting Up Traps Like Home Alone Because The Guy That Directed That Directed This Movie Which Means We Got To Have This Music Playing...

Setting Out The Milk And Cookies, They Hide In And Eat Junk Food In An Attempt To Stay Awake, But Eventually They Fall Asleep Which Is When Everything Happens...

With Their Trap Springing, A Bell Wakes Up Kate Who Sees Santa And Wales Up Teddy Who Hears Santa On The Roof, Grabbing The Camera, Teddy And Kate See Santa Going From Roof To Roof And House To House As Follow Him To An Alley Where They Find The Sleigh...

Whoa, Is Right, Keanu...

Climbing Trucks, Buildings And Lightpoles To Get A Good Look At The Sleigh, Kate Ends Up Jumping In With Teddy Right Behind Her But Before They Can Get A Good Look At The Cockpit, Santa Finishes Up And The Sleigh Flies Off...

With Teddy Getting A Good Look At The Front Of The Sleigh, Kate Eventually Gets Cold...

And At That Height, It's No Wonder She Does...

Teddy Looks For A Blanket But Not Able To Wait Kate Goes To Ask Santa, Scaring Him And Causing The Sleigh To Go Off Course...

Going Higher, Kate Falls From The Sleigh But Luckily Teddy And Santa Are Able To Save Kate But In Doing So, They Get In The Way Of An Airplane Which Scares The Reindeer As They Enter Some Sort Of Hyperdrive Which Is Awesome But Once They Get Out Of Hyperdrive Mode, Santa Loses His Hat, The Presents And The Reindeer...

Crash Landing In Chicago, Santa Tells The 2 Kids That They Really Have Messed Things Up Stating That If He's Not Up And Running Within A Few Hours, The World Will Face Another Dark Ages...

Going For A Jingle Bell In The Sleigh, Which Will Lead Santa To His Presents, But As He Goes Find It The Magical Way, Santa Finds That He Doesn't Have His Magic As All Of It Was Inside Of His Hat...

Realizing That He Has To Do This The Normal Way, Santa Tells Teddy And Kate To Head Home (They're In Chicago How Are They Going To Get Home Without You?) And Not Bother Getting Up Early In The Morning As They're On The Naughty List For Life (That's Fine, But You Already Delievered Their Presents, Dummy)

Realizing That They Caused This, So, They Have To Help Santa To Make It Right, Santa Let's Them Come With Despite Being Pissed At Them...

Entering A Restaurant Called Nick's Place, Santa Tries To Get Enough Money From The Patrons So He Can Call A Taxi, But When Teddy Notices One Of Them, Dialing 911, He Gets Santa Out Of There...

However, With Christmas Spirit Down 35%, They Still Need A Ride So, Teddy Decides To Steal Some Car Keys From A Valet. Despite Santa And Kate Believing That That's Not A Good Idea, Teddy Reminds Santa That With Christmas On The Line Now's Not A Time To Be Picky Especially When Santa Breaks Into Houses To Deliver Gifts Every December 24th...

Plus, They're Not Really Breaking The Law As The Car's Already Stolen And When They're Done With It They'll Turn It Into The Police. Getting In The Car, They Drive Off In It...

Going Through All The Junk In The Car, Santa Turns The Car Radio Into A Police Band Reciever To Discover If Anyone Has Called The Police Yet And Turns Out They Have However They Also Also Hear About A Reindeer Sighting On Michigan Avenue...

Arriving On Michigan Avenue, Teddy Slows Down The Car So Santa Can Attempt To Call His Reindeer But When Kate Spots Them They Head Down The Street Where Kate Saw Them Only To Lose Them Again And With Police Approaching They Need To Hurry...

Santa Tells Katie To Go After The Reindeer While Teddy And Him Keep The Police Distracted, Which They Do By Driving All Over The City. Eventually Finding The Reindeer, Kate Gives Comet A Candy Cane Which Makes Him Trust Her Enough To Take Him And The Other Reindeer To See Santa...

Chasing The Police Around Chicago, Teddy And Santa Nearly Crash Into A Car Which Leads Them Jump Into A Snowbank...

Getting Out Of The Car, Teddy And Santa Try Explaining The Situation To The Officers But With What They're Saying To The Officers, Santa And Teddy May As Well Be Telling Them, Go Ahead, Arrest Us!

Which Is Exactly What They Do With Santa, However When Kate Shows Up With The Reindeer, Santa Gives Teddy The Jingle Bell That Locates His Sack And Manages To Get Away From The Cops By Hopping On One Of The Reindeer...

Dumping The Reindeer At A Christmas Tree Lot, They Head For A Church Where Teddy And Kate Hear Their Dad's Favorite Christmas Song Which Happens To Be My Mom's Favorite Christmas Song...

(Just Kidding, She Hates This Song, Love You Mom)

This Leads To A Tender Moment Between The 2 Siblings Where We Discover The Reason Teddy Is Acting Like A Jerk Is Because He's Mad At His Father For Dying And He Thinks That If His Father Could See Him Now He Wouldn't Like The Man That He's Become...

But Kate Tells Him That He's Not An Awful Brother And That Their Dad Wouldn't Be Disappointed In Him Because She Sees Him All The Time In Teddy...

Or In Other Words...

With The Bell Beeping More Frequently, The Kids Continue Their Quest While Santa Is Being Questioned By One Of The Officers Who Still Doesn't Believe Santa But Giving The Officer Gifts He Wanted Since He Was A Boy, The Officer Starts Questioning Things After Realizing That Frisked Santa On The Way In So There's No Way That He Stole Those Items...

With The Officer Telling Santa To Stop, Santa Instead Gets To What Dave Wants This Year Which Is To Get Back Together With His Ex-Wife, Freaking Out Over How Santa Knows This, Santa Says That It Doesn't Matter But All He Needs To Do Is Just Give Her A Call....

Doubting Everything That He Has Seen, The Officer Reminds Santa Of The Charges That He's Accused Of Which Leads Santa To Tell The Officer That By Tomorrow They'll Seem Like Nothing As Christmas Spirit Is Down To 31% Now And If He Doesn't Get Moving All Of Chicago Will Look Like The Purge Movies And The Police Will Have Their Hands Full...

But With The Officer Believing Him To Be Some Kind Of Con Man, He Locks Santa Inside Of A Cell With A Bunch Of Other Criminals...

Meanwhile, Teddy And Kate Locate The Bag In A Tree And Manage To Get It Out Of The Tree, Looking For Elves Inside Of The Bag, Kate Goes Inside Of It Only To Disappear. In An Attempt To Look For Kate, Teddy Gets Kidnapped By 3 Hoods Who Take The Bag...

While Inside Of The Bag, Kate Finds One Of The Elves Who Leads Her Into This Vortex Of Presents...

Which Eventually Takes Her To The North Pole..

While Looking Around The North Pole, Kate Decides To Look At Santa's Many Letters From Kids All Over The World To Look At Teddy's Many Letters To Santa Claus Only To Discover That Teddy Wrote One This Year Asking Santa If He Can Let Him See His Father One Last Time...

But Before We Discover The Reason Why, Kate Sees One Of The Elves Walk Past To Go And Hide, Eventually Finding Him, Kate Introduces Herself To Him And The Other Elves Who She Eventually Finds Saying That Santa Sent Her But The Elves Don't Believe Kate And They Tie Her Up With Lights...

Telling The Head Elf (Who Looks Nothing Like David Krumholtz) Everything, They Take Kate To A Book To Show Kate That She Comes From A Long Line Of True Believers...

And The Elves Are Like...

And They Release Her....

Back At The Police Station, The Police Station Starts Filling Up As The Officer's Partner Tells Him That It's Never This Busy On Christmas Eve, Which Has The Officer Realizing That Santa Warned Him About This...

While In Jail, Santa Discovers That Christmas Spirit Is Down To 19% So, He Decides To Try And Raise It By Livening Up A Little Bit Of The Spirit With Help Of The Convicts Inside Of The Jail Cell With Him...

Back In The Car Of The Hoods, They Take Teddy To Their Boss Who Goes Through Santa's Sack Only To Get A Lump Of Coal, The Hoods Do The Same And Get The Same Thing. Believing The Sack To Be Useless,The Hoods Boss Attempts To Burn The Sack...

But When Teddy Goes To Save It, The Hoods Grab Teddy So Their Boss Could Tell Them To Kill Teddy, However, As They Attempt To Do That The Elves Spring From The Sack And Attack Them...

(Man) Retreat!

Spotting Teddy Who Hid During The Attack, The Elves Attempt To Attack Teddy (Believing That He's One Of The Gang Members) But Luckily Kate Pops Up And Tells The Elves To Stop Before Teddy Is Sliced In Half By A Mini Chainsaw...

Realizing That The Sleigh Is Still Broken, They Ask The Elves To Fix It While Santa Settles Things With The Officer, Who Gets A Call From His Ex-Wife Who Wants To Get Back Together With Him...

Breaking Santa Out Of Jail, The Elves Give Him A New Hat, Courtesy Of Mrs. Claus And So, The Officer's Permission, Up The Chimney He Goes...

With Everything Back On Track, Christmas Seems To Be Back On, However, While Being In Jail, Santa Lost Track Of Time And They Now Have Less Than An Hour Before Sunrise...

Completely Hopeless, Teddy Tells Santa That That They Started This And They're Going To Finish It And While He May Not Know How Things Are Done At The North Pole, A Pierce Always Sees Things Through...

Admiring Teddy's Passion, Santa Still Hasn't Cut It This Close In Forever And Has No Clue How They're Going To Pull This Off, Suggesting That If They Work Together They Might Be Able To. Never Having Human Helpers In The Sleigh Before, Santa Realizes That With Only A Little Bit Of North America Left, They Just Might Be Able To Pull It Off...

With Kate In Charge Of Chucking Out The Presents For Santa To Deliver And Teddy In Charge Of Driving The Sleigh, Santa Starts Delivering Toys From House To House And State To State...

With Time Getting Tight, Santa Asks Kate To Ask The Elves To Help Him...

Missing One Present, They Have Less Than 9 Minutes To Get It There...

Managing To Get It There Only Three Seconds Left, Christmas Is Saved With All The Presents Delivered And Christmas Spirit At 95%...

Taking Teddy And Kate Home, They Ask Santa If They'll Ever See Him Again, Santa Tells Them Most Likely No, But If He Ever Needs 2 Helpers He Knows Where To Find The Best Helpers He's Ever Had..

But Before He Goes, Santa Gives Teddy His Hat, Saying That He Doesn't Need It Because He's Santa Claus...

Hoping On Board The Sleigh, Santa Leaves Just As Their Mom Pulls Up....

Going Inside, They Find The Place Completely Decorated The Exact Way Their Father Decorated It...

Opening Presents, They Get Their Usual Ugly Sweaters From Their Aunt Peggy Before Kate Discovers A Gift To Teddy From Santa, Opening It He Finds A Letter That Says "Dear Teddy, I Got Your Letter. I'm Sorry, I Don't Have The Power To Grant Your Wish But This Was The Best I Could Do, Santa"...

Opening It To Discover An Ornament, Teddy Places It On The Tree, And The Magic Within The Ornament Shows Teddy, His Father Who Says He's Proud Of Him...

Back At The North Pole, Santa Adds Teddy's Name To The Pierce Tree Of True Believers As Mrs. Claus (Played By Goldie Hawn) Comes In With Wood For The Fire While Talking With Santa About Last Night...

And That's The Christmas Chronicles And Why Has This Not Been Released On DVD Or Blu-Ray?

This Film Is A Holiday Classic In The Making And Is Honestly A Good Movie, The Story Is Good, The Cast Is Good, The Elves Are Cute, The Effects Were Awesome It Is Defiantly Worth A Watch And I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Hi duck! Would you be able to do me a ship (Queen&BohRap)? I'm tallish, blonde short hair, I swap invariably between very masculine style and very feminine depending on the mood. I'm a carer in a care home but I'm studying to be in PR, I'm an avid feminist and reader. I get told by friends/coworkers/residents that I'm very friendly, come across as extremely happy and optimistic, and I love helping people as much as I can - I work really hard to be pleasent and look after people I love. Thnk you!

hiiiii hi hi hi

sorry this took forever hehe college SUX

anyways ships below the cut!!!

For Queen, I ship you with Brian May!

I almost said Roger but I feel like your height, activist stance, and happy demeanor would mix very well with Brian’s personality!

You would meet Brian through a PR job, possibly a band interview that you were conducting for a publicity thing where he was absolutely smitten with you from the get go.

Although you tried to keep it professional, it was very hard to ignore how intensely he was focusing on you and how the rest of the band was getting a kick out of you two.

“So, Roger, rumor has it that you recorded something of your own during the studio sessions for News, any idea when we’re going to get a peek at that?” you asked, giving the blonde a toothy smile that he easily returned before he launched into a lengthy explanation about how it was actually partially a cover of a previously recorded song by a different band. And you listened, of course, but you kept getting distracted by the warm hazel eyes that were boring into your skull as you nodded along.

You could see Deacon’s shoulders shaking in silent laughter as he elbowed Brian, getting a swift elbow in retaliation as a deep blush covered the tall man’s cheeks. He sat back, crossing his arms grumpily and avoiding looking at you for a moment before falling right back into the same groove, unable to focus on anything else other than how intriguing you were in your more masculine-style suit. It was beautiful, and you were beautiful.

Catching his gaze for a moment, you flashed a quick smile at him before returning your attention to Roger. Brian’s cheeks flushed even more as he looked down at his lap, Freddie shaking his shoulders and snickering as Roger finally finished up his summary.

Looking down at your questions, you noticed that the next one was directed towards Brian, and you tried not to smile too wide as you replied to Roger. “Sounds pretty exciting, can’t wait to hear it! Maybe a full album is in the near future for us?”

Roger shrugged coyly and you laughed along, then cleared your throat and shifted your attention to the curly-haired guitarist who looked so lovesick even you could notice. “Brian, what about you? Any solo works in progress?”

He looked so horribly put on the spot that you almost started to apologize, but a gentle jab in the spine from Freddie sprung him back into action as he let a small smile take over his lips. “Actually, not right now. I’m afraid that’s Roger’s territory as of late, but I hope to do something soon. Just very busy.”

“It’s hard to be in a band and maintain hair like this,” Freddie joked, patting down Brian’s hair and laughing when Brian ducked away, protesting gently. 

“I’d imagine,” you giggled along, Brian shyly laughing along with you as he attempted to fix his hair. “It’s quite impressive, actually. Is it natural, or do you perm it?”

“Au naturale, darling,” Freddie interjected again, trying to muss with it but missing as Brian shifted his head to the left, shooting him a nasty look over his shoulder. “Sorry, Brian, it’s just so much fun to see you like this.”

You all knew he meant flustered from Freddie’s antics and being entranced by you, but you brushed the allusion aside and laughed once more. “Well, anyways, I hope we get to see something in the works from you soon, Brian.” He nodded, smiling bashfully, and you decided to spare him the next question until later, directing the attention to Deacon instead.

After the interview, you were gathering up your materials to leave when Brian approached quite nervously, a lilt in his step and his hands in his pockets as he tried not to fiddle with anything, already feeling anxious enough.

“Great interview!” you praised as you straightened up, holding your binder to your torso. “Seemed like Freddie enjoyed bullying you a bit much, but it’ll make for good material for the fans. You guys are phenomenal!”

“Thank you,” Brian replied, his voice soft and still quite bashful as he sent you a smile, rubbing the side of his head. “He thrives whenever I’m in a situation like that. My discomfort is his excitement. Always the challenging lead singer.”

“You did wonderful, I’m sure he was just having some fun with you. But a situation like what?” you pried, trying to remain friendly but also drop a subtle ‘flirt with me’ comment in. 

Brian’s cheeks reddened for what seemed like the 20th time in a few hours, and you grinned wider as you cocked your head to the side, trying to make him feel as comfortable as possible. “Well, you’re very fascinating. I may have stared a bit too long during the interview. Fred took that and ran...”

“I noticed,” you teased gently, reaching out to give his arm a soft nudge. He laughed at that despite look a bit tense, so you decided to relieve him a bit. “It’s not every day that handsome guys are checking me out, so I appreciate it.”

He definitely unraveled a bit at that, a weight dropping off of his shoulders as you carefully flirted back. “Well, I’m glad I could help, I guess.” After a pause, he cocked his head to the side and smiled a bit more. “Are you doing anything after this?”

You weren’t. So you and Brian went out for some drinks together, which led to another date, which led to more dates, which led to you and him becoming an item. And years later, when he did finally get around to recording something away from the band, you were right there with him.

“So you’re not going to put these out for public release?” Roger questioned as Brian flopped down on the couch between you and the blonde, stretching his arm out to wrap around your shoulder.

Brian looked introspective for a moment, then shrugged and pulled you a bit closer, smiling. “Don’t know. Still on the fence.”

“I think you should,” you chimed in, snuggling close to your boyfriend’s side and resting a hand on his knee. “It’s so... you. I love it.”

Roger fake gagged and made the both of you laugh before Brian pressed a kiss to the top of your head, nuzzling your hair. “Well, if the missus says, the missus says,” Brian quipped, Roger pretending to gag again and making you roll your eyes playfully before leaning up to kiss Brian quickly, then nudging his leg.

“You should get back to recording those backing vocals. We have a reservation at 8, love.”

“Am I invited?” the blonde across the couch questioned, turning so he was draped across the couch, his legs easily stretching out over Brian’s lap and feet resting in yours.

“No, Rog. Adults only.”

And for BoRhap, I ship you with Ben Hardy!

I almost said Gwilym - almost.

But I think Ben gets shipped with conventional, cookie-cutter types too often, and I think he can be more unconventional than that - for example, your versatile style may be intimidating to him at first, but I think he’d really enjoy it after the initial intrigue.

You’d meet Ben through Gwilym for sure - Gwilym and you would be on your way back from the Women’s March, when he mentions that a friend is going to be meeting the two of you for drinks at a pub near his house.

You don’t panic - although Gwilym’s friends are usually pretty recognizable stars, you’ve passed the point of starstruck despite your job in a care home. Meeting any of his friends was a positive experience, and you loved every minute of meeting such rich personalities.

So when you met Ben, you weren’t disappointed at all.

Ben was very overwhelmed at first - you were wearing a blazer and matching trousers with cartoon reproductive systems all over it, which he didn’t notice until he took a second look once you’d shrugged off the blazer, leaving you in a white button-up of Gwilym’s.

“Are those-”

“Yep,” you replied, already knowing he’d be questioning the pattern’s similarities to the female reproductive system (since it was). Giving him a toothy smile, you raised your beer in cheers before taking a sip. “Women’s March, after all.”

“Huh,” he remarked, not sure how to respond as he looked over the blazer once more before looking back to you and raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t offended in any way, just very surprised and confused by your comfortability with the subject.

But he quickly noticed that you were not an aggressively judgemental or harsh personality, so as the hour went on, he switched into his usual goofy demeanor with the two of you.

“No, Ben totally fell for it! I though Rami was going to pass out from laughing so hard.” Gwilym was laughing deliriously at that point, Ben pretending to be miffed but still grinning as his friend talked. Shifting his fascinating green eyes to you, he gave them a bit of a roll before he cut in.

“See how I get treated by my friends? I trust them with everything, and then they decide to falsely inform me that Roger Taylor wants me to play one of his drum solos.” You giggled at the banter between the two of them, Ben throwing up his hands in exasperation. “I didn’t even know how to play the bloody drums before I got the part!”

“He literally locked himself in his trailer!”

“In your trailer?” you questioned, Ben hanging his head in faux embarrassment but quickly raising it when you reached over to pat his arm, shooting Gwilym a gently scathing look. “Poor guy! You all were so mean to him, I’d understand why he did lock himself in! I’d do the same.”

“See, I like this girl,” Ben observed, nodding towards you as he kept his eyes on Gwilym, but you saw the way his cheeks flushed slightly as he said it. “She’s nice. Knows that I have feelings and emotions and that anyone in my situation would literally be terrified.”

“Oh, cry about it,” Gwilym gently teased, knowingly looking between the two of you as you removed your hand from Ben’s arm. Raising from his chair, Gwilym went to go replenish all of your beers, and by the time he got back, the two of you were chattering like chipmunks. 

And you never ran out of things to talk about. Not on your first, second, third, etc. date. The only time you were genuinely speechless was when he finally asked you to be his girlfriend.

All you could do was nod and cry a little. I mean, being Ben Hardy’s object of affection would be pretty overwhelming for anyone, y’know.

When you finally met Rami, the mastermind behind the joke about the Roger drum solo, you couldn’t help but bring it up. 

“You should have seen his face when I sent over the assistant to tell him!” Rami gushed, making you laugh as Ben rolled his eyes playfully and wrapped his arm around your waist.

“All of ‘em, bullies,” he remarked as you leaned into his side, grinning at him.

“Oh, I’m sure they were just having fun with you,” you gently admonished, fixing the collar on his shirt as Rami continued on.

“I’ve never been more proud of an on-set prank in my life. It didn’t even require any effort. All I had to do was tell him one thing and it was like his life was over. So dramatic.”

“I’d imagine,” you agreed, Ben pursing his lips playfully and pinching your side, garnering a small yelp and a laugh from you. “Hey! Watch it.”

“I don’t appreciate being tag-team bullied by you all right now,” he groaned, letting his head fall back dramatically as Rami laughed. 

“Again, as I said, so dramatic!”

“Oh, shut up,” Ben grumbled, trying not to grin as he started ushering you away through the party’s crowd, sending a generous middle finger to a still-amused Rami before he was enveloped by the crowd once again. “All so mean to me.”

“Aw, don’t be sore, bubs. You wouldn’t survive without them teasing you,” you reminded him sweetly, making him chuckle and shake his head as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, walking towards the bar with you.

“You’re so cute, I hate that. I want to disagree with you right now but it’s like yelling at a puppy.”

[jedimaster941]

A Declaration of Lost Independence

A Declaration of Lost Independence

As we get older, as we live life, like stone eroding under the power of crashing waves, our bodies break down. And as our bodies break down, we become more and more unable to do things. Sometimes not to the standard we once did, and sometimes we lose the ability completely. We lose things that bring us joy, and we lose things that bring us to life. Whether it be slowly or quickly, we all lose our independence. Aging is something, like it or not, we have all signed up for. We will get older, our bodies will break down, and we will lose our overall independence. It’s not ideal, but we understand it to be true.

For Chronically ill people, however, we can lose our independence rather suddenly, and it has absolutely nothing to do with natural aging. If someone aged 78 years has trouble walking, getting dressed, or going to the bathroom, very few would question it. But imagine you are 28 years old and you have the same difficulties. Think of how you would feel. In this article I will discuss the ways in which people with chronic illness lose their independence in the areas of physical, mental, social, and dietary, and the toll it takes on us when the things that we should be able to do becomes out of reach.

*This post features responses from chronically ill patients whom I asked…*

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

Physical

Loss of physical independence is the area that most people think about when illness takes over. It is at least the most public. People see wheelchairs, walkers, canes, crutches, and handicapped placards. They are also readily aware when someone takes a little longer to stand up, when they have trouble buttoning a shirt, or their handwriting becomes illegible. If someone gets to know a disabled person well enough they may also become aware of PIK lines, feeding tubes, and colostomy bags among others.

When someone is chronically ill/disabled their bodies are the primary victim of their disease. In one way or another, our bodies are malfunctioning. As my primary care physician said to me once, “We are all getting older, you're a just doing it a lot faster”. (If anyone is curious, I did not take offense, I appreciated that he acknowledged my illness and my lack of certain abilities)

Our independence is very much directly lost in these examples. We lose the ability of climb stairs, walk short distances, wash ourselves, cook food, and one I’d like to discuss a little more, exercise.

Doctors and online experts tell us we need to exercise. I can’t disagree with that. Exercise is important to keeping what we have left tip top. However, when we can’t climb stairs, walk short distances, or wash ourselves, how do you expect us to get the the gym to do some Cross Fit? I know for me, exercise of any kind hurts and has lasting effects. Some of my readers may remember how not long ago I walked a peppy poodle for half a mile and my legs hurt for three days after. This wasn't from being out of shape, this was due of my condition. Yes, exercise, but understand sometimes it's more harm than help.

I used to be a distance runner, a golfer, and could give the best piggy back rides. Now, due to Ankylosing Spondylitis, I can’t do any of that. And believe me when I tell you, that hurts me mentally as well.

Mental

With chronic illness and disability there comes a mental toll as well. Both in the areas of cognitive ability, and depression.

First, let's touch on cognitive ability which will then (as all of these sections do) we will move on to depression.

I imagine many of my readers are already well versed in the words and terminology used in the discussion of chronic illness. However, if you are new to this world, let me share a term that I, and all of us use probably on a daily basis: “Brain Fog”.

Brain Fog is exactly what it sounds like, a thick layer of fog on your brain. You know how hard it is to see through a covering of fog? Now, imagine that fog is in your head and your brain is trying to see thoughts, feelings, and ideas through it. It’s not easy and often things are lost.

Brain fog is caused by pain and the inability to actually shut down and rest. When people go to sleep their bodies and minds go into power saver mode to recharge, refresh, and do diagnostics checks. However, what happens when you drink caffeine, or you eat a big meal before bed? Well, if you can sleep, your body has now been given other things to work on. The caffeine makes your heart work harder, and your body needs to work to digest that big meal. So what happens? You don’t wake up rested because your body never actually got any rest. The same thing happens every night for people with chronic illness, but without the caffeine and steak dinner. In my case, with Ankylosing Spondylitis, my body is always working to fight off a foreign invader known as the lining between my joints. (I guess it’s actually a domestic invader) For most of us, because of constant pain, we can never get comfortable and even when we do sleep, we aren't actually resting. This lack of true sleep causes our brains to process at a diminished rate limiting our abilities to remember, problem solve, and function.

When I go to the doctor, I bring my wife. Not because I need a supportive hand, but because I need a partner and coach to help me tell the doctor what I need to say, and then remember what the doctor tells me. There have been times I have come home from an appointment solo and either forgot what treatment we discussed or, through my fogginess, made up something completely different because I could have sworn the doctor said she wanted to try bloodletting. (Or was it Methotrexate? I can’t remember) Although I love my wife, and I will always welcome her to join me at an appointment, I'm 37 years old, I shouldn't need someone to be my brain while the doctor checks out my body. While I am not depressed about this, this loss of mental and physical independence can also lead to depression.

I used to run, and I loved running. When my health got worse I took up walking long distance. However, only a few short years later, I couldn't even walk short distances without great pain and weakness. I was 34 the last time I walked with any kind of purpose. Far too young to lose so much ability. When I see people out running, or I drive past the local health club with overly large windows, I get sad longing for my glory days. When I watch American Ninja Warrior I’m sometimes heartbroken. Believe it or not, I used to be able to do stuff like that. It’s crushing to think that somebody actually has the freedom to wake up in the morning, pop up out of bed, and then think to themselves “Well, I think I will run 10 miles, shower, go to work, spend an hour at the gym, play with my kids, and then get 8 hours of restful sleep before doing it all over again.” Here I am thinking, “I hope I can get out of bed.”

Chronic illness can take a great toll on our mental state and subsequent independence.

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

Diet

With the chronic illness life, more often than not it seems, comes a list of dietary restrictions. 90% (not actual figures) of life comes from our gut. What we eat and drink. Other than breathing and IV treatments, it’s the only way anything gets into the factory known as our bodies. So, there is much stress put on us by our doctors, friends, family, TV, and the woman on the corner to eat right to better our condition. And not everyone is wrong. There are certain things that improve or worsen our condition. We will listen to the “experts” and try certain things. Excluding things like sugar, dairy, nightshades, and gluten. Or “fad diets” like Paleo, Keto, Vampire, or Atkins.* We might even try Kale! Many of us will try anything if it means we reduce our pain and get a little life back. But, the more foods we give up, the more independence we lose.

Personally this area has been my biggest struggle. Two years ago I went dairy free at the suggestion of a nutritionist, and one year ago I totally cut out sugar. And, I won’t lie, excluding both of those have been fantastic for me! I may not always notice the improvement, but if I happen to slip up on purpose of by accident, I certainly notice then. I am solid and confident in my sugar free/dairy free life, and for the most part I am happy.

However, this does not mean everything is butterflies and unicorns. I still struggle as I’m sure many many of my chronically ill brothers, sisters, and non-binary siblings do. Two examples: My birthday, and the ice cream aisle. On my birthday my co-workers wanted to know what to get me for my party. Typically the birthday treat is cupcakes and fudge. Hello sugar and milk! After much thought, I received the treat of peanuts and pickles. (And I didn't complain) However, it didn’t mean it didn't hurt. My co-workers needed to avoid yummy delicious treats because of my AS. They were supportive, but it didn’t mean I didn’t feel like a party pooper. As for the ice cream aisle, they have dairy free ice cream, and they have sugar free ice cream, but as a friendly store clerk told me, diary free & sugar free ice cream isn't ice cream. I'm out of luck there.

When it comes to dairy and sugar, I have lost my independence. People need to accommodate for me. Oftentimes meaning they might miss out on what they want. When my school does nacho day, frozen custard day, cookie day, etc for staff wellness days, I’m the only one not well. I could tell the people that sorry I can’t eat this, but that opens me up to feeling bad for making them feel bad.

Or when you need to find out if a restruant is accessible. Many would think that with all the handicapped parking spots all places would also be accessible. This is not always true. I have seen places where the "accessible" table is in a door way or up against a wall. The freedom to go to any restaurant one wants is never a guarantee.

When friends want to go out those of us with diet restrictions need to be “that guy/girl”. The one who has hard opinions on what we can eat. Ever stand behind the person at Starbucks who insists on soy milk and Stevia? Have you ever thought “Just take your coffee and drink it! You're holding up the line!” Yeah, that’s us, the ones holding up the line. Doesn't feel good.

We are jealous of those people who can eat whatever they want. Go to any restaurant, order anything off the menu, and even have dessert. This isn't about gaining weight, it's about being able to get out of bed in the morning.

Social

The next topic of how we lose our social independence ties into the three topics above and any others I have not mentioned. Humans are meant to be social. We aren't bears where we can just crawl into our cave and sleep for a few months. If any human crawled into a cave, nobody would be friends with them. Why? Because interacting is one of the standards of human life. We need other people! Sure, there are the mountain folk who go out, kill a deer, make clothing from it, light a fire and live their life in seclusion. (And there is nothing wrong with that) But, most humans need other people to cook our food, make our clothes, work on projects, drive us, and socialize purely for fun. The problem is, for many chronically ill people, getting out of the house and socializing sounds equal to climbing up and living in a mountain.

We are exhausted! Chronic illness takes a lot out of us! Every day can be a struggle to move, breathe, think, and complete other daily activities. Showering can be one of the most difficult activities for some. Doing laundry is pure hell! When most people hate it for the fact they have to do it, for me, folding makes me want to die! Seriously, I don't fully know why, but it hurts so much and takes so much out of me. After doing everything we have to do, we don’t have energy left for what we want to do.

I come home from work, my shoes come off, and I’m done! Very little is going to convince me to put my shoes back on and go out with friends when all I want to do is sleep. Because of this, many chronically ill people are forgotten. We bail on friends two or three times, and they just stop inviting us. But, then we have a good day, we are ready to accept an invite. Do we take it? No. Why? Because, we feel good now, we don’t know if we will feel good later.

Chronic illness symptoms can come in waves. We can have good days (or at least the start of a day) but then we drop. We don’t always know why we drop, but our feelings and mood are in no way guaranteed. So, we don’t risk it. It’s far better to be at home near our bed than 30 minutes away with a group of people you will need to apologize to for leaving early. Declining the invite or simple ghosting is far easier and less harmful to our psyche.

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

Chronically ill patients lose all sorts of independence. We can not truly live free with AS, Fibro, EDS, POTS, Lyme, MS, ME or one of the many other chronic illnesses that totally sap us of life. We are not free do do as we like.

While others wake up and get to choose between running, biking, partying, fixing cars, eating amazing food, and/or playing with their kids. We wake up and.. well.. that's it.

In closing. If you know a person with a disability/chronic illness try to be understanding of their limitations. Don’t give them a hard time when they can't do everything you want them to. Our lives are hard enough dealing with all the independence we may have lost.

*I might have made up one of these diets

[acescreations]

Moody Manipulations - Patton

[Part 2 to the Connected Youtuber Ego Universe(CYEU) stories I'm doing on Amino.]

Characters: Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Roman Sanders, Thomas Sanders, Elliott (Cartoon Therapy), Kai (Cartoon Therapy), Lauren (Cartoon Therapy), Missy Sanders [background character], Pranks Sanders [refrenced], Mitchell (Cartoon Therapy) [mentioned]

Warnings: Patton has a really bad day, cries, and hides his emotions, Patton also has a retail job I feel like I should mention that, Mitchell is implied to be a little b*tch, Patton gets verbally abused

Word Count: 1798

It really didn't take me long to figure out what my emotions do. Whenever I was happy, things went right in the world, and when I was sad things went wrong. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but the correlation was too obvious to be chance. After that, I always did my best to stay in a good mood. I'd do things I enjoy, and avoid people and things that upset me.

I have to admit, staying happy became a lot harder. It almost seemed like a job at this point, since it was my responsibility to be happy. I still tried my hardest despite this, and when I was happy, hearing about all the good things happening in the world put me in an even better mood. Though that did go both ways, and hearing about bad things happening made me more upset, so I eventually decided to not look at the news when I was already uspet.

This was all a pretty good strategy for keeping my mood up, but one day everything went wrong, and I had no idea how to stay happy then.

I was heading down to my job at the local retail store and I bumped into someone on the street. "Whoops! Sorry about that." They said nothing, and just kept walking. I was surprised I didn't see them sooner. They had a head full of messy green hair along with bright blue eyes. I didn't really think much of it, after all, it was a busy street, people run into each other all the time. Once I got to my job, I saw my best friend getting his stuff. It looked like he was leaving, but we were supposed to be on the same shift today. I walked up to him as he was putting his hat on. "What's going on Chase? Are you leaving?" He turned to me with a sigh. "Yeah, I just got fired. I have no idea how I'm gonna pay for my date with Stacy now."

"Oh, geez." I was pretty disappointed myself. I always looked forward to the days when we worked together. "Well, good luck on finding a new job, I guess." Chase nodded as he walked past me. "Yeah, I guess."

I sighed as he left. This job was going to get a lot harder without him here. But, I still had my job to do, so I put on my name tag and I clocked in.

After a while of uneventful work, a woman came in and slammed a box of party supplies onto the counter. "I need to return these," she demanded.

"Okay ma'am," I said, a little nervous, "do you have the receipt?"

"No, but I don't need this anymore. I never needed it, so give me a refund on it!"

"I'm sorry, but can't return anything without proof of purchase." I had never had one of these conversations before, and this lady was really intimidating.

"I'm not keeping stuff my husband bought as a prank! Of course you teenagers don't care about how much money all this costs, you probably get handed money just so you can spend it all on stupid parties, don't you?"

Of course, I didn't actually do any of that, but she didn't know that, and I wasn't allowed to tell her that. "I want to help you, but I can't give you a refund on anything without a receipt."

The woman let out a frustrated growl. "I don't have time for this." She stormed out of the store, leaving the box on the counter. I allowed myself a sad sigh as I picked up the box and moved it off the counter, putting on a brand new smile as the next person in the line brought up their stuff. "Good afternoon, did you find everything you were looking for?"

~ ~ ~

By the end of my shift, I was exhausted. I wanted to call someone for a ride home, but my phone had died, so I had to walk. To make matters worse, I saw a cat that had been hit by a car on the side of the road. By that point, I was barely holding back tears, although I kept telling myself to stay cheerful, which only made it harder. I decided that I'd have a few cookies to cheer myself up when I got home.

I walked through the door, and saw Logan and Thomas sitting on the couch, watching the news. Obviously, it was all bad news. Logan turned off the TV as they both turned to me. "Bad day?" I must have looked pretty upset, because I never told Thomas about what my emotions do, but something must have prompted him to ask that. I just shrugged. I didn't want to talk about it, because I felt like I'd break down in tears if I did. I walked past them wordlessly and went into my room to change out of my work clothes. When I walked back out, I was determined to improve my mood, so I put on a smile and went to get that cookie, but I opened the cookie jar to find that it was empty. "When did we finish the cookies?" I asked to anyone who was listening. Thomas spoke up from the living room. "I'm pretty sure Lauren finished them with Roman and Virgil." I wanted to be upset about this, but I was determined to stay positive.

It's okay Patton, you can just make some more. That should be fun, that should make you happy.

I began taking out ingredients, but it turned out we were out of a flour, sugar, and eggs. That was definitely a disappointment. I told myself I'd be able to get through it anyway.

After that, though, was when I completely lost composure. Elliott walked out of their room, their shoulders hanging as they sat down next to Thomas on the couch. Logan looked up from where he was reading on the other end of the couch. "Mitchell left another message today." I overheard them saying. My heart broke in sympathy for my parent, and I quickly walked out of the kitchen and into my room, barely even trying to hold back tears anymore.

As soon as I was alone in my room, I collapsed to the floor, letting out all the sobbing my day had been leading up to. I don't know how loud I was being, but after wiping tears from my eyes, I looked up and I was surrounded by my family, all with faces of varying levels of concern and sympathy. Once my crying slowed, Virgil, eho was sitting in front of me, said "Hey, what's wrong?" I lowered my head onto my knees. "Bad day," I muttered, overcome with guilt for how many people I must have gotten hurt today. "Patton," I heard Logan say at my right, "you can't keep getting upset at yourself for being upset." I shook my head. "No, you don't understand," I said.

"I'm pretty sure I do, and Patton," Logan continued, "you're going to have your ups and downs, and it'll be less... disastrous if you just let the bad days be just a little bad. The world can take a little bit of misfortune, believe me."

I looked up at him, confused. "Are you saying you-"

"Yes Patton, and for your information I regularly keep up on the news so I can tell how your feeling. And yes," Logan continued, "everyone else knows too."

"Oh." I looked around at everyone, unsure of how I never found out.

"So why don't you just tell us what's going on today?" Virgil asked, scooting over to sit next to me. I shrugged, not really sure when exactly my day started going terribly. "Well on the way to work I bumped into this guy, which I really didn't mind that much, but after that I found out my friend got fired," I then just started stating everything that happened that day. I didn't mean to, really, I just started talking and then I couldn't stop myself. Once I was finished, Roman gave me a thoughtful look. "What did the guy on the street look like?" I blinked at him, confused as to why he was questioning that. "Well, he had blue eyes, and really messy green hair."

"What was he wearing?"

"I dunno, this big wavy coat?"

"Roman," Logan sighed, "what does this have to do with anything?" Roman didn't answer, despite everyone beong equally confused. He just stood up, muttered something about "Marvin" and walked out. "I have a hunch about something, I'll be back, hopefully with good news." Thomas sighed and shook his head after Roman left the house. "That boy, honestly. Anyway, how about me and Elliott go get those ingredients you were needing? You can just stay here and relax."

"No!" I said, a little too frantically. "I-it's just," I mumbled, "you could get hurt."

"It's fine," Logan said. "Camden's got an eye on the TV, and things are improving. They should be able to get there and back safely." Camden was the name Logan gave his familiar. I slowly nodded, and Virgil stood up and grabbed my hand. "All right, now you come here and watch some TV." I stood up and followed him as he led me to the couch, Logan, Kai, and Lauren following behind while Thomas and Elliott got ready to go to the store. Me and Virgil sat next to each other on the couch, Logan sitting a small distance away while Kai and Lauren sat near us.

After a while of watching Steven Universe, Roman burst back through the door. "Patton, you will have to worry about this misfortune no longer!"

"O-okay. Um, what did you do?" I asked.

"Well that person you bumped into, I'm actually acquainted to him. He calls himself Marvin the Magnificent. He claims to be a magician, but for as long as I knew him he couldn't do any actual magic. Turns out he got magic powers through a deal with a demon or something, and he had to agree to curse you with misfortune." He sat down on my other side, so now I had one sibling at both of my sides. "I talked him into releasing the curse," he said, probably more casually than what the situation would call for.

"Okay, thanks then," I said, despite Roman already being immersed in the show. We continued watching until Thomas and Elliott returned with the baking supplies, then Virgil, Thomas, and Lauren joined me in baking cookies. Once I tasted one of the cookies from out of the oven, I figured that the day wouldn't be as bad as it had been.

[runicscribbles]

I'm a follower of you because your shieth stories are fantastic but I also understood that you were in the teen wolf fandom before Voltron sucked you in. from your posts and friends post, the klxnce fandom is the equivalent to sterek. (they bash kallura like stydia, threaten the crew? do ridiculous things to the rival ship like bake 'shieth is dead' cakes and burn fanart, giving the fandom a bad rep in general?)why is teen wolf creators catering to them? are they really as bad as klnxe shippers?

The Sterek fandom is above and beyond anything the Klance fandom has ever done. Let that sink in a minute. 

Unlike Klance, the cast has spoken out about this ship. The lead actor himself said:

Tyler Hoechlin, one of the people in the ship, said Sterek is disrespectful of his character. Just as an explanation, Sterek is the ship where a 15-16 year old high school sophomore is paired with a 24 year old violent adult man who physically abuses him, threatens him with violence and death, tries to murder teenagers, and during the height of the Sterek craze, was the antagonist. While the Derek as a character has worked on redemption, romanticizing violent abuse and statutory rape is not cool and makes the actors themselves uncomfortable.

To the point where Sterek questions, art, and gifts were banned at cons.

Here’s a quick little run-down of just a tiny taste of the hell fandom we’ve been living in for the last 6 years.

When the lead actor talked about Sterek, the fandom sent him so much violent harassment that his dying mother had to ask the fans to stop. They didn’t. 

Years of violent, graphic, daily threats to anyone who dared not ship Sterek. I was one of them. Anybody who wrote anything about the main character on tumblr or who posted ships other than Sterek on AO3 were targeted.

After the lead actor’s mother died, he opened up about being depressed and suicidal. This was the fandom’s response

The fandom harassed the cast and crew to the point where Dylan O’Brien stopped interacting with fans on social media, stopped fan events, and stopped going to cons. 

The harassment of the women on the crew was fierce, especially Megan Tandy and Shelley Hennig, whose characters each dated one pair of the Sterek ship. They received constant abuse.

Crystal Reed was harassed by fans who trended “#KillAllison” on twitter and slut shamed constantly.

Eaddy Mays, one of the only cast members who positively discussed Sterek, was turned on and threatened, attacked, and harassed to the point of tears when the Sterek fandom decided she “wasn’t doing enough” to promote their ship

The fans tried to bribe Sterek into happening by sending cookies to the writers. Sigh.

Harassment was so bad, the non-Sterek parts of the fandom had to band together for protection and support their own creative endeavors

Sterek is based on racism

No really, ignore the canon POC gay character for your fake predatory white boy ship

Six years of thousands and THOUSANDS of posts demonizing the POC hero in favor of the wooby white antagonist because, you guessed it, racism

Not to mention years of erasing the POC lead in favor of the white boy ship to the point where new people to the show don’t even know that Scott is the Teen Wolf

really racist

They believe the main character, played by a non-white latino, is in fact white because he “doesn’t act Mexican enough.” Did I mention the racism?

Seriously

This is just a tiny taste of the burning trashfire that is the Teen Wolf fandom, they’ve had a lot of years to work on being the worst fandom that has ever existed. As for catering to them, that’s all TW has ever done. If they can fire an actor of color or kill off a woman (usually someone who’s both) to make room for their white actors, they’ll do it. That’s been their pattern every season, they won’t change it now.